News

By PHIL MONSON
R. Wesley Carlson Auditorium at Humboldt High School is 40 years old and in need of improvements.
During the regular monthly meeting of the Humboldt Board of Education Monday night, May 15, Humboldt School Superintendent Jim Murray unveiled plans generated from a recent committee meeting and begin fundraising for the project.
“The one facility area that we did not hit with our bond issue was the high school auditorium. The high school auditorium is functional and the sound system is of good quality, but it does need some updates and improvements,” Murray said.
Exterior and interior work is expected to cost $672,000, including contingencies.
“This is a project we are going to fundraise for. We are going to start gauging community interest almost like the sports facility when folks who are really interested in improving it went out and raised donations,” Murray said.

By PHIL MONSON
The building trades program at Humboldt High School will be replaced with a new initiative after action by the Humboldt School Board Monday night, May 15.
At the board’s regular monthly meeting, the board approved discontinuing the building trades program and re-purpose the funds into trades courses and internships with local business and industry.
The program, which has been in place for 25 years, has been taught by an in-school instructor or by an instructor shared with Iowa Central Community College in Fort Dodge.
“Building trades is a four-period course with an instructor at approximately $45,000. That cost is about $3,000 per student when you consider we have 15 students participating during the school year,” Humboldt School Superintendent Jim Murray said.
“We don’t have any program comparatively at that expense,” Murray said.

By KENT THOMPSON
A handful of residents attended Monday night’s Humboldt City Council meeting not with a complaint about dogs but a desire for more freedom for their pets.
A group wanting a dog park in Humboldt has formed and came before the Humboldt City Council on Monday to make their desires known.
Jenny Wyckoff served as the spokesperson for the group and addressed the Council.
“We are here to ask permission to put a dog park on city land. We are not sure where exactly to put this park but feel strongly that Humboldt needs one.”
Wyckoff said one thing the group would like is a fountain. Ramps, a plastic slide, tires and cones are some of the other amenities of many mentioned.
“We would ask all users of the park to have their dogs up-to-date on shots,” Wyckoff said.

Legacy Beef Co-op has announced a new packing plant investment opportunity that would give family farm beef producers in Iowa, Nebraska, Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri and South Dakota access to a larger portion of the retail beef dollar.
Legacy Beef Co-op is affiliated with Cattlemen’s Heritage Beef Company, a 2,000-head-per-day plant to be built east of Omaha-Council Bluffs in Mills County. Legacy Beef Co-op members will share in the processing plant’s profitability. In addition, members would become suppliers to the Cattlemen’s Heritage facility and enjoy pricing options typically available only to large corporate feedlots.

By APRIL KELLEY
After 15 years of attempts, Humboldt County has finally gotten approval for funding to replace Murray Bridge in Humboldt County.
“We applied for the last 15 years and have fallen just short of the criteria or just short of the top 3 that they use to select.
This particular year they had additional funding. So they are able to award more than just the top three,” Ben Loots, Humboldt County Engineer told the board at Monday’s meeting.
The bridge is located on Florida Avenue west of Rutland in Avery Township. It was constructed by A.H. Austin in 1905.
“Murray Bridge was selected for a county bridge construction fund for fiscal year 2024 for up to $2,000,000 for replacement,” Loots continued.

By KENT THOMPSON
“I think they like us,” said Delores Telford.
“I think it’s wonderful. It’s just great,” added Marian Williams.
The Springvale Assisted Living residents didn’t seem to mind the 80-plus year difference in ages.
The 7- and 8-year-olds in Annie Schreier’s second grade class at Gilmore City-Bradgate (GC-B) didn’t give it a thought either.
Young students and retirees who all averaged over the age of 90, had a bond. One built through a pen pal program started by Schreier, the second grade teacher at GC-B.
“The residents just love the little ones,” Springvale Senior Living Assisted Living Manager Tammy Kuehnast said.
Read more about the program in this week's Humboldt Independent, your trusted source for local news and sports.

By April Kelley
The end of a long hard winter can get anyone to think of summer sun and swimming in a nice cool pool or sitting in the hot tub, sipping a cool refreshing drink.
Chris and Rachel McPeak decided not to buy just one pool or hot tub, they decided to buy the store. The McPeaks purchased Palmer Pools and Spas in Renwick from Penny Palmer in March of 2023.
“We have never been in the pool business but Penny was thinking about retiring and it just seemed like the perfect time,” Chris said.
Penny Palmer and her daughter, Katie Cameron, have been a lot of help during the transition.
“Since we didn’t know a lot about pools and spas, Penny and Katie have been instrumental in helping to teach us, there is so much to learn,” Rachel said.

This Saturday, May 6, will be the rescheduled burn date for the city of Humboldt. Open burning could not be held on April 15 because of Humboldt County being in a burn ban.
Open burning of landscape waste (grass, leaves and vegetative matter) only will be allowed from 8 a.m. until 6 p.m. All burns must be controlled and attended and residents should have a ready source of water available on the scene.
The city appreciates the public’s cooperation in adhering to the burn date rules.

By KENT THOMPSON
Holstein cattle have been part of the DeWall family farm for a long, long time.

Only now rather than milking Holsteins, Dan and Carlton (Carl) DeWall are raising them for meat.

The father/son combination not only farm and raise cattle together, they are in a business partnership as well. The DeWalls recently relocated their financial planning business from Fort Dodge to Gilmore City.

“We’ve had dairy for a long time,” Dan DeWall said. “The bloodlines date back to my grandfather’s time.”

Read about their family story in the Salute to Area Beef Producers section exclusively in this week's Humboldt Independent.

By KENT THOMPSON
The Humboldt City Council on Monday approved a contractor for a major runway rehabilitation project at the Humboldt Municipal Airport.
The Council unanimously approved a resolution accepting a bid and awarding a contract in the amount of $2,487,095 to Godbersen-Smith of Ida Grove to conduct rehabilitation of the airport runway. The resolution is contingent on receipt and execution of a grant agreement with the Federal Aviation Administration.
Other bids received were $2,466,392 from Wicks Construction of Decorah and $2,525,690 from Croell Inc. of New Hampton.
The engineer’s estimate of probable cost was $2,395,605, $52,430 below the final bid.
“This project covers taking the existing asphalt runway and milling it in place and adding a binder that will serve as a base for a six-inch concrete overlay. This is a pavement that should last the airport for a very long time,” Project Manager Joshua Dank with Clapsaddle-Garbert said.