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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 ...

Supports renovation of High School

Letters to Editor

Letter to the editor - Bahr To the editor, I want to express my support for the renovation of our high school facility - not only to provide a better educational environment for our students, but also to strengthen and enhance our entire community. I have visited schools in Humboldt, Iowa Falls and Clear Lake and have seen firsthand the significant renovations those communities have made to their school facilities. Their schools have become a source of pride and a major selling point for their communities. It reinforced for me that when we invest in our schools, we are investing in ...

Wants unbiased governance

Letters to Editor

To the editor, Voters expect basic honesty, transparency and equal treatment from elected officials. Unfortunately, recent actions by Webster City leadership demonstrate a troubling patter of arbitrary enforcement and selective governance. While the city recently used a “City Beautification” initiative to issue code violations against senior citizens and individuals in nursing care - vulnerable residents who promptly corrected the notices-administration simultaneously looks the other way on glaring, long-term violations. For instance, commercial residential hedges at 1401 and ...

The Adventures of Adam and Eve

Local Columns

Adam was growing weary of naming animals when he heard a voice call out, “Adam.” Since there was no one else around he correctly assumed it was the voice of God. “Yes, Lord!” Adam said. “Adam, you look lonely.” “Well, yeah, it’s just me and the animals. By the way, I named that big animal over there a cow but I don’t know what to call the dangly things under it.” “Don’t worry about the dangly things, “God said. “I want to talk with you about a woman.” “What’s a woman?” “A woman will be your helpmate,” God explained. “She will help you ...