March 2020

The Coronavirus changed Cassie Peyton’s study abroad program in Spain very quickly.
The 2018 Humboldt High School graduate is a sophomore at Iowa State University. She was studying at the University of Extremadura at Caceres, Spain, a program that started at the end of January.
On March 12, Iowa State University notified students studying abroad that they would have to come home. They said they would need to return home by March 23. So Cassie and her roommates booked a flight back on March 19. But on March 13, the President of Spain put the entire country on lockdown and Cassie’s group re-booked their flight for Monday, March 16. They had to wait on hold for three hours just to talk to someone to change their flights because so many people were calling to rebook their flights.

By Phil Monson

The last four months have been a whirlwind for Bryan Larson but the Humboldt native wouldn’t have it any other way.
Larson, a 2013 Humboldt High School graduate and 2017 graduate of Iowa State University, is now the offensive line coach and run game coordinator at Pittsburg State University in Pittsburg, KS.
Pittsburg, located in the southeast corner of Kansas, is an NCAA Division II school in the Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association.
“I’m really excited. Since I took the job here on Dec. 12, it is a fantastic job and a fantastic community. Coach Brian Wright, the new head football coach, gave me the opportunity to come here and as he has put a new staff together, it has been a really positive experience,” Larson said.
“It is certainly a big challenge, but that’s what excites me as we go about this,” Larson said.

The Humboldt County Board of Supervisors have made the decision to close the county courthouse to the public effective noon on March 23, to limit the spread of COVID-19. This will continue until further notice. "Our goal is to protect the citizens and employees of Humboldt County. Our employees will continue to perform essential county services only by appointment. Please contact the Department you need by phone if you have questions regarding services or to make an appointment," Humboldt County Auditor Peggy Rice said in a prepared release. During its regular Monday meeting, the Board discussed future meetings and the format those meetings should take, all while seated a few feet in distance from one another. After some discussion the Board agreed to continue weekly meetings, but the meetings beginning next week will be conducted through teleconference, using a cloud platform for video/audio conferencing like Zoom.