News

UDMO, who manages the local food pantry for the Ministerial Association, is partnering with Jennifer Tille coordinator of the “Shag the Drag” event being held on Friday nights from 7-8 p.m. Rebecca Jensen, Outreach Specialist, with UDMO reached out to Jennifer and suggested a food drive along with the “Shag the Drag” event she started to help keep the community positive during the Covid-19 Pandemic. Jennifer was gracious enough to accept the challenge and “roll” with it.
They are just focusing on food needs right now to help feed our families in crisis in Humboldt County. A few suggestions would be cereal, canned vegetables and fruits, peanut butter and jelly, macaroni and cheese boxes, instant potatoes, rice and pasta packages, Ramen soup, soups, spaghetti sauce and noodles, Chef Boyardee canned meals. They might look at having non-food items donated in the future such as laundry detergent, shampoo, soap and yes that dirty word toilet paper!

Event will be held Dec. 20

Algona native approved by board in special meeting

By Phil Monson

Humboldt’s new school superintendent is coming back home to north central Iowa.
Jim Murray, principal at Tilford Elementary School in the Vinton-Shellsburg Community School District in eastern Iowa, has accepted the position as Humboldt’s school superintendent starting July 1.
Murray’s hiring was approved unanimously by the Humboldt School Board in a brief, special meeting held Monday night, March 23.

By Phil Monson
The Humboldt School District is making plans to educate students online over the next four weeks. That was the word at Monday's Humboldt Board of Education meeting.
“The administrative team discussed this morning on how students could take online classes. We also discussed a list of resources parents can use once we get to that point, along with providing resources for parents with special needs students,” Interim Superintendent Mike Sherwood said. “Once we provide the resources, then we have to make sure there is Internet access for all students.”
“We’ll be finding out who has Internet access and who doesn’t. How do we match those resources and specific needs? I know Greg (Wickett) is working on providing Google Classroom and resource training videos for staff to be able to post things online,” Sherwood said.

By KENT THOMPSON
You could call her a pioneer, but she would be preferred to be known as farmer Pat.
Humboldt’s Pat Hill was a female in a male-dominated profession before it was cool.
And that’s OK with Pat, because farming and helping in the fields has always been part of the Beaver Township resident’s Modus operandi.
A self-described “tomboy,” Pat said she grew up raising and riding horses and helping the guys in the field. “I had horses starting at age 4,” she said.
Read more about how "farm wife became farm life" for the Beaver Township agriculturalist in this week's Salute to Ag Producers. It is just one of several local stories and advertisements in the Humboldt Independent. Get your copy delivered by clicking on the link at the top of this page.

By Carolyn Saul Logan
There is a long history of Victorian Teas at the Humboldt Museum. There were usually two sittings with the Mill Farm House ballroom and dining room filled with decorated tables. Some years overflow was served at the round kitchen table. There was a bevy of volunteers dressed to suit the occasion serving hot tea. One memorable year they were serving champagne. All sorts of delicious finger food, provided by volunteers from the Humboldt County Historical Association, was laid out on a decorated table and background music got lost in the chatter. China from the museum’s collections graced the tables and for several years Sharon Reedy shared her collection of antique teacups.

By KENT THOMPSON
The calm of a spring-like late winter afternoon was shattered Saturday when thick black and gray smoke billowed out of a home at 2202 West River Drive in Humboldt, the home of Bret and Deb Davis.
The Davises were entertaining guests in the living room about 1:30 p.m. Saturday when they saw smoke coming through the (floor) registers. “We had an aunt and a cousin here visiting,” Deb Davis said.
Bret said he immediately ran down the basement and noticed that Polyethylene cross-linked tubing had melted. “It appeared to have started in the furnace,” he said. “By the time I got back upstairs you couldn’t see because of the smoke,” Bret said.
The Davises and their guests were able to safely exit the structure with no injuries and were able to move their vehicles out of the garage.
They have an security alarm system alert that notifies the Law Enforcement Center. Deb Davis made the 911 call at 1:31 p.m.

By KENT THOMPSON
Humboldt could be getting more residential housing. The Humboldt City Council took the first steps Monday night toward a possible residential development on 15th Street North.
The Council set public hearings for Monday, April 6 at 5:30 p.m. to enter into a development agreement with Jeff and Karen Berte of Humboldt. The council also set the same evening as the time for a public hearing on a proposed North Residential Urban Renewal Area for the proposed development located on farmland southwest of Liguria Foods.
According to Humboldt City Administrator Travis Goedken, the Bertes want to develop the property into multiple-family housing units. The first phase would be the construction of eight duplex houses, a total of 16 development units.

By Phil Monson
The Humboldt and Twin Rivers School Districts plan to have a new superintendent named on March 20.
The two boards met in joint session for 48 minutes on Feb. 25 and discussed plans moving forward. Jeff Herzberg, head of the Prairie Lakes AEA who also has been hired to find a new superintendent, was at the meeting to report on the timeline of events and interviews leading up to an eventual hire.
“As of today we have 14 applications for the superintendent position and I wouldn’t be surprised if we end up having 20 to 25 applicants or more for the position,” Herzberg said. “This is a really attractive position and so I have been in contact with some really good candidates already.”
“I’m trying to find the best fit for this position,” Herzberg said.
Read more about this story in this week's Humboldt Independent, on sale today or subscribe by clicking on the link at the top of this page and read all about it!