Webster City suffered an unimaginable loss Saturday with the passing of Webster City Assistant City Manager and Recreation & Public Grounds Director Kent Harfst in a bicycling accident. The staff of the Freeman Journal wish to extend their deepest sympathies to both the Harfst family and ...
Ah. . . Sunday afternoon. I’m not sure there is any more delicious time of the week. Just by the nature of when it falls during our seven-day week, and the way our culture has evolved, Sunday afternoon is unique. It’s a time to do what we want, to relax, perhaps, to see our friends and ...
When I was a youngster I read everything I could… including signs. I was particularly intrigued by a sign I saw on buildings in some Iowa towns: “Odd Fellows Hall.” I had heard my parents say of someone a bit different, “He’s really odd.” In my limited understanding of the world ...
Is small scale manufacturing even possible in your town? Just what is small scale manufacturing? It's the artisan makers, the prototyping to small scale, it's the production at scale, the makerspaces and the shared commercial kitchens and workshops. You'd be looking for craft ...
Wherever people fish anywhere in North America, and that's almost everywhere, there's an excitement right now about fishing. Fall is a wonderful season to be on the water trying to get a fish to bite. And, if you put your bait in front a fish, chances are good that it will eat that bait. In ...
Well, they’re at it again, trying to pit Americans against each other and thus, disrupting the upcoming presidential eletion. The Russians? We don’t know, although it is certain that the Kremlin’s online campaign of inciting dissention among us never stopped. Someone decided ...
So here we are in September. The official summer season is almost over. Autumn officially begins on September 23 and then we know that winter isn’t too far away. We Iowans are subjected to the extremes of weather – from beastly hot, humid summers to bone-chilling winter cold ...
To the Editor: Webster City and Hamilton County, I have lived here for the past 19 plus years and am very happy to call this home and tell people where I live and am proud to do so. I however was not born here and no matter what happens in my life, that can never change. This makes me ...
Recently I read an article on finding your place, which got me to thinking about the various ways we talk about our place and how that changes during the travel of life. Take the phrase “There’s no place like home.” Does that mean a real, physical place, or is it wherever the ...
Occasionally I read something that really speaks to me. Maybe you’ve had that experience, too, when a piece feels like it’s targeting you individually-- addressing what’s been on your mind, perhaps, or just appealing to your sense of humor or resonating with where you are at the ...
One of the news stories getting air time and ink in Iowa this summer was the report that Iowans are now the fourth most obese people in the United States. According to the study by ConsumerProduct.com, 36.4 percent of Iowa’s adult population struggles with obesity. The study determined that ...
To the Editor: Just curious if anyone else has noticed the weeds growing on the slope on the north side of Bank Street immediately west of the river bridge. When we moved into town 22 years ago, that slope was mowed with the park and looked very nice. Then at some point the mowing stopped and ...
Autumn is in the air! Birds are gathered on power lines, butterflies are getting together to prepare for their southerly journey, there have even been reports of tree leaves changing colors. Summer fishing is different than spring fishing, and fishing in the fall in several very important ...
The key part Iowa’s caucuses play in the process through which our major political parties select their nominees for president will put Iowa at the heart of the 2020 campaign for the next few months. Our caucuses get enormous attention from the national news media because they come at the ...
It seemed a little creepy at first. Reading someone else’s mail just doesn’t feel right. After my mother passed away last November, one of my brothers came upon a stack of letters our father had sent to his parents during his training in the U.S. Army. I read them recently. Dad was ...
So there I was, sitting in my favorite camp dining hall in New Hampshire, with about 30 other central staff as we waited for our mid-summer banquet. The summer session was half over, campers and staff were gone for now, and the rest of us were just relaxing, kicking back before we were soon ...
There are some wonderful outdoor surprises awaiting anyone who thinks Iowa is just acre after acre of corn and soybean fields. Right here in the Fort Dodge region there are two scenic rivers. The Des Moines River flows through Webster County while the Boone River flows through Hamilton ...
A few days ago I went to a small gathering to celebrate the birthday of a friend. Keep in mind that the other women there were all about my age, so it was nothing rowdy or boisterous, to say the least. We had a nice time visiting, taking some time to catch up with each other, and, of course, ...
To the Editor: I take umbrage that Kent Krause thinks I’ll believe that 455 points on the Master Matrix is “well above” the 440 minimum required. 51.7 percent is not “well above” 50 percent. Fact: The Master Matrix has 44 criteria. Meet all the requirements and you get 880 ...
That sweet new baby you adore ̶ he/she is selfish, self-centered and ill-tempered. Just watch that baby when it’s time to eat or have a diaper changed. Or when big sister takes his binkie. We are all born that way but early in life, our parents work to change us. From the time we ...