News

By KENT THOMPSON
The Humboldt County Ministerial Association and Upper Des Moines Opportunity Inc. (UDMO) in Humboldt County have cooperatively operated the Humboldt County Food Pantry the past few years. Now the organizations are joining forces for a central location in downtown Humboldt that will serve as the new Food Pantry location and the service office for UDMO.

In a special meeting on Monday morning, the Humboldt County Memorial Hospital Board of Trustees awarded a contract to Sande Construction to build a new Emergency Preparedness and Response Building.
Sande Construction had the low bid of $1,011,542. Woodruff Construction’s bid was $1,406,300. The project was estimated at $908,930.
The hospital will be able to utilize CARES funds gathered from the U.S. Health and Human Services Department due to the pandemic.
The building will be approximately 4,000 square feet and will be built on the grassy knoll east of the helipad, on the northeast corner of the HCMH campus.
Construction start date is December 7 and the project is slated to be completed by June 30, 2021. Read more about how HCMH is coping with the pandemic in this week's Humboldt Independent, your trusted source for local news and sports.

The number of COVID-19 cases in Humboldt County have more than doubled in the past month.
Also on Wednesday, Humboldt County Public Health confirmed the fourth and fifth COVID-19 deaths in the county.
“These additional losses are a reminder that we must all do our part to protect our most vulnerable. This means stay home if you are sick, maintain six feet social distance from those outside your household, wash hands often and wear a face covering when social distancing is not possible,” Humboldt County Public Health said in a release.
On Nov. 1, Humboldt County reported 353 positive cases since the first recorded case in the county last April. On Tuesday, Dec. 1, the county reported 807 total positive cases since the virus first began. On Wednesday, Dec. 2, an additional nine cases were reported, bringing the total to 816.
Of that number, 544 have recovered with 267 active positive cases.

By Phil Monson
Plans to build a new multi-purpose facility at the high school, along with new field turf and other upgrades at the football field, were unveiled at the regular monthly meeting of the Humboldt School Board Monday night, Nov. 16.
Organizers of the project, Joel Armitage, Trevor Dielemann and Dallas Clark, presented the potential project to the board during open forum.
The entire project is expected to cost from $3.5 to $3.7 million and will be funded entirely through donations.
The project calls for the construction of a new multi-purpose facility to be built north of the softball diamond, where the tennis courts are located. It would house the weight room along with an auxiliary gym (regulation size) that can be converted into two courts with a total of six baskets.

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Humboldt County Community Foundation (HCCF) will not be holding its annual mandatory meeting for grant applicants.
The Community Foundation does not want to discourage area non-profits from applying.
Grant applicants are required to pick up the application, information sheet and sign-in at Humboldt City Hall, 29 5th St. S., during the week of Monday, Nov. 30 – Friday, Dec. 4, between the hours of 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. The pre-application is mandatory to be eligible to be considered for a Humboldt County Community Foundation grant award in 2021.
The application deadline is Monday, Jan. 4, 2021 at 4 p.m. Applications should be mailed or delivered to Humboldt City Hall, 29 5th St. S., by that time.

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Humboldt-Dakota City Noon Kiwanis regret to inform the public that Kiwanis Christmasland will not be open for in-person visits during the upcoming holiday season.
After exploring several alternatives, it was not realistic to offer an in-person experience given the public health parameters. It was a difficult decision as this would have been the 38th season of providing joy for children and families.
The Noon Kiwanis believe that every child deserves Christmas and is exploring some virtual ways to show Christmasland and give children a chance to see Santa. The club is quite excited with this opportunity and more details will be coming out in the near future.
Also, the club is partnering with local businesses and the artistic talents of the Humboldt High School art students to create a Christmasland coloring book that will be distributed, with a chance for children to enter to win prizes.

By KENT THOMPSON
Humboldt and Twin Rivers Superintendent of Schools Jim Murray said despite rising COVID-19 positive rates in the community, school absenteeism rates remain low and the Humboldt Community School District continues with its in-person learning model with a few exceptions.
Murray said the district monitors and counts the number of students who have tested positive for COVID-19. “On Tuesday, Nov. 3, we had one high school student and two middle school students,” he said.
“Daily attendance rates are still consistently high, our students are at school and students that are quarantined have, for the most part, been exposed to a family member or someone in the home,” Murray said. He said school absenteeism rates are consistent with previous years, despite the virus and some students having to quarantine due to exposure.

By KENT THOMPSON
After an early visit on Oct. 25, Humboldt County residents can get ready for another round of snow, soon.
Earlier, it was inaccurately reported that the city of Humboldt snow no parking ordinance went into effect Nov. 1. That is not correct. It goes into effect Dec. 1 and runs through March 31. The ordinance prohibits parking on city streets between the hours of 3-7 a.m.
In getting ready for the winter season, the Independent decided it was good for everyone to have a refresher course on what the requirements are for snow removal and vehicle parking and for snow emergency declarations. We decided to ask Humboldt City Administrator Travis Goedken to fill our readers in. Read what he has to say as well as a reprinting of the city's snow route emergency declaration policy in this week's Humboldt Independent, your trusted source for local news and sports.