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“Life Gets Tee-Jus (Tedious,) Don’t It?”

Local Columns

Ever since I was a young boy I have had an interest in electronics. With a patience and a lot of luck I repaired our family TV set when I was 11 years old. Then, in sixth grade, I read a story about a young boy riding his bike along a country road when he was passed by an automobile. The driver of the car was talking on a telephone. This was in 1960 when a phone in the car was a rare sight. The story explained that a mobile car radio operated from a trunk-mounted transmitter to a regional tower that covered a radius of about 40-60 miles. More than a decade later I read a related ...

Share the Loads laundry ministry launches in Webster City

Local Columns

Share the Loads Laundry Ministry Launches in Webster City A new community ministry is coming to Webster City with a simple message: everyone feels better in, and deserves clean clothes. The Webster City Ministerial Association is launching Share the Loads, a community-wide laundry ministry designed to provide free access to laundry services for anyone who needs it. The program is built on the belief that clean clothes are more than a basic necessity—they can help people feel better about themselves, face the day with greater confidence, and experience the support of a caring ...

Hamilton County Dispatch Center: the heartbeat of safety

Local Columns

The last time I wrote, it was about the importance of the Hamilton County Jail and why a strong, properly staffed jail, with great leadership is such an important part of keeping our community safe. But the jail is only one piece of the public safety puzzle. There is another part of our operation that works around the clock, often without proper recognition and is just as critical to protecting the people of Hamilton County. The Hamilton County Dispatch Center. Someone has to answer the phone. Someone has to listen. Someone has to determine what is happening. Someone must get ...

I miss the dime stores of years ago

Local Columns

By the time one reaches his late 70s there are things from his past that are missed. I miss dime stores. Dime stores were also known as five-and-dime stores. They sold low-price merchandise at fixed prices of five or ten cents and were introduced to American shoppers in the late 1800s. One of the dime stores’ attractions was openly displayed merchandise so shoppers didn’t have to ask a clerk to view the items. Early American dime stores were started by Franklin Winfield Woolworth and Sebastian Spering Kresge. Many cities had both an F.W. Woolworth’s and an ...

Midwest Fishing: Fall for crappies

Iowa News

Many very accomplished and well-known anglers have made the observation that crappies are a mysterious fish. In mid and late summer in a good number of lakes, they seem to disappear from areas where they were abundant just a few weeks earlier. But if you keep a few things in mind, you can catch’em when they re-appear in the fall. Crappies are crepuscular. This means that they are most active early and late in the day much of the year. In the fall though, they’ll often bite all day. Depending on where you’re fishing, there are a couple of very good ways to catch crappies right ...

Our Neighborhood: Atkinson built Willson Avenue Post Office

Local Columns

I would have enjoyed the rain we had a couple of weeks back; I was in Omaha that week and heat indexes were consistently above 105. It was HOT!! While visiting family there, I so wanted to see Fort Atkinson. Even though I worked in the Postal Service for nearly 30 years, my heart has always been in tune with our nation’s history. A chance to see another mid 1800’s site is sure to give me goosebumps. So… imagine my surprise, and a little joy, when I spotted an “Atkinson” address while walking through Our Neighborhood on our return to Webster City. Charles E. Atkinson was ...