December 2025

By APRIL KELLEY
Humboldt County Engineer Ben Loots requested permission from the Humboldt County Board of Supervisors to reapply for the BUILD grant for the third year during the Supervisors' regular weekly meeting on Monday, Dec. 29.

Humboldt County has applied for the grant along with six other counties for the past two years. Butler County is taking the lead on the grant, applying for all seven counties.

The grant funding would be used to replace the Murray Bridge located between Rutland and Bradgate. At present, the bridge is only load rated up to a pickup, not ideal on Iowa’s agricultural roadways. The specifications for the new bridge also require the direction of the bridge to be adjusted to create a straighter travel trajectory.

The group’s application was rejected the first year due to several areas that needed to be revised.

Kaleb McCullough takes nothing for granted.

Humble.

Hard working.

He knows all about adversity.

He lost a father at a young age and had to overcome a broken leg and major knee surgery before he graduated from Humboldt High School in 2023.

He’s taken on every challenge he’s faced and emerged a success story. Good things happen to those who pay their dues.

It was announced last week that McCullough, who finished his first season as a starting left tackle on offense for the Northwest Missouri State University football team, was named Second Team All-America NCAA Division II.

The 6-foot-2, 282-pounder, took it all in stride in his usual fashion. Earlier it as announced he was first-team all-conference in the Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association.

By KYLIE PORTZ
Humboldt Newspapers has a longstanding history, with its earliest publication dating back to 1860, making it likely the oldest business in Humboldt still in operation today. It remains the only newspaper serving Humboldt County. As such, Humboldt Newspapers has been dedicated to preserving and documenting Humboldt's history over the years, maintaining archives of its publications since 1904.

In the spirit of Christmas, this humble reporter decided to take a look into Christmas Past - breaking out the archival pages of the Humboldt Republican from 1925. Here is what I found.

A.B White Company, a department store, published a full-page ad in the paper on Dec. 18 inviting the community to its store to meet Santa Claus. The ad reads, "Bring the children and let them tell him their stories." The advertisement also provided some gift ideas, including hosiery, footwear, handkerchiefs and "Snappy Dresses."

By APRIL KELLEY
HUMBOLDT - The Humboldt County Conservation Board and The City of Humboldt agreed to an updated 28E agreement during the Conservation Board’s regular meeting on Wednesday, Dec. 17.

City Administrator Cole Bockelmann attended the meeting to discuss the new terms of the agreement concerning Eagle Ridge.

When the development of Eagle Ridge began, a 28E agreement was signed on April 15, 2013, between the Conservation Department, the City of Humboldt and the Humboldt County Housing Development Corporation (HCHDC).

Now that the land has been developed, the HCHDC no longer has an interest in maintaining the remaining ground which is held by the City of Humboldt and Humboldt County Conservation. This meant that a new 28E agreement needs to be reached between the City of Humboldt and Humboldt County Conservation.