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Did I ever tell you the story of that ditch?

Local Columns

In the late fall of 1979, the Iowa Department of Transportation learned that there is nothing simple about installing a 150-foot ditch. It happened in Highview. Karen Strunk didn't mind losing a little business this fall to road construction. She didn’t even raise her voice when traffic was temporarily detoured through her parking lot. But last Monday, upon returning home from a short trip, Karen Strunk found what she had feared — a freshly dug ditch in front of her cafe in Highview — she had finally had enough. The Department of Transportation had informed her the ditch was ...

There's a doo-hickie for that

Local Columns

Perfectly in line with a personal belief that any DIY plumbing repair attempt requires at least two trips to the hardware store, a recent one of mine did just that. Thank goodness there are resources right here in Webster City. Having at least one source for household fix-it supplies was ...

Singin' the haircut blues

Local Columns

A few decades ago singer Ray Stevens wrote and made famous a comical number called “The Haircut Song.” “When you get a haircut,” Stevens sang, “be sure to go back home. When you get a haircut, get a barber you have known.” He goes on to tell of the harrowing experiences he experienced in unfamiliar barbershops. While it’s a fictional number, I can tell you “The Haircut Song” is close to the truth. As a youngster, Dad decided who would cut my hair. After all, he was paying the bill. After I was old enough to pay for my own haircuts, I tried out several barbers. ...

Iowa’s wind generation will be an exportable energy source

Letters to Editor

To the editor: While reading the editorial in last Friday’s paper (September 20) I found myself agreeing with most of the statements about Reynolds, Feenstra and eminent domain. I also wish that we would have gotten the three windmills that had been proposed for the hill north of Webster City and the river bluff south of town, but the wind farm by Blairsburg precluded that becoming a reality. I disagree with the statement that wind energy is inefficient and characterizes it as only possible because of government support. It’s the same support that was used after World War II ...

There's a ribbon for that

Local Columns

Anna Woodward gave me a ride after the open house at Community & Family Resources Wednesday and there in the passenger seat of her SUV was a giant roll of ribbon. It’s no secret that the pace of ribbon cuttings has ramped up recently. And with good reason. Webster City has long pined for new manufacturing. That a firm will roll out mass quantities of cookies is a real sweet surprise. After watching firms close that manufactured laundry appliances, central vacuums and other products for decades, Webster City is now home to a cookie factory. Tic Tac Dough, the new bakery and ...

Basic Elements of Economic Development

Letters to Editor

To the editor: To the typical person, economic development is a single, simple, one-time announcement. However, from the other side of an announcement are years of planning, research, revising, anxious days and sleepless nights. For example, the volunteer Board of Directors of the Riverview Early Childcare Center began in 2022 working on identifying what would best serve Webster City’s child development. First identifying what the future likelihood would look like for the infant through the 12 years of age population. First Children’s Financial was consulted and assisted ...