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GOOD NEIGHBOR DAYS
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THURSDAY, MAY 28, 2026 VOL. 23 NO. 11 www.readthecitizen.com $1.50
WHITE BEAR SCHOOL BOARD: Censures member PAGE 15
Sheriff gives last report ahead of retirement
Getting Our Kicks Since 197 6
GOOD NEIGHBOR DAYS HU GO LI ON S VO LU NT EE R PA JU NE 5- 7 20 26
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PARADE • RIBFEST • CRAFT FAIR • TALENT CONTEST LIVE MUSIC AND FIREWORKS
BY SHANNON GRANHOLM MANAGING EDITOR
Saturday Saturday PM PM
Friday Friday 5PM--8PM ............................ CRAFT FAIR 5PM--10PM ..................... FOOD TRUCKS 5PM--11PM ................CARNIVAL RIDES 6PM--12AM .............SHUTTLE SERVICE 7:00PM ............ DANCE PERFORMANCE 7:30--11:30PM ...
12PM--4PM ..... BATTLE OF THE BANDS 1PM--5PM ....................PAVILION BINGO 1PM--4PM ............. SKATEPARK DEMOS 3:30-5:30......... RIBFEST COMPETITION 7:30--11:30 ..........
Maiden Dixie 10PM .........................FIREWORKS
Saturday Saturday AM AM
Sunday Sunday
10AM--6PM .........................CRAFT FAIR 10AM--4PM .......................... CORNHOLE 10AM--3PM .........................CRAFT FAIR FILE PHOTOS 10AM--10PM ...................FOOD TRUCKS 10AM--4PM .....................FOOD TRUCKS 10AM--5PM ........... HISTORY DISPLAYS 11AM--4PM ............... CARNIVAL RIDES 11AM--11PM ............. CARNIVAL RIDES 11AM--12PM .........KIDS NICKEL DASH 11AM--12PM ..............................PARADE 12PM--3PM ....................FREE KIDZONE 2026 marks the 50th anniversary of Hugo Good Neighbor Days. This year’s celebration, scheduled for June 5-7 at Lions Vol12PM--3PM ......... HUGO’S GOT TALENT unteer11AM--12AM Park, will include a......... parade,SHUTTLE Ribfest, craft SERVICE fair, talent contest, live music, Kid Zone and more. Find more information in the special insert inside this issue. 12PM--3PM ...................FREE KIDZONE 12PM--3PM .................PAVILION BINGO 12PM-- ............ RIBFEST TICKET SALES 1PM--3PM ............. SKATEPARK DEMOS 3PM ...................... AWARDS CEREMONY
Summer starts here
HUGO — The city of Hugo will pay the sheriff’s office $1,768,814 for services in 2026. That breaks down to $102.56 per resident. “Employee wages and benefits are the main drivers of that,” said Washington County Sheriff Dan Starry. “We need to be competitive with our neighbors, so we do not lose our deputies to other cities or counties.” Starry recently visited the City Council to present his last annual report ahead of his retirement after his term ends in January. Washington County Sheriff’s Office (WCSO) deputies received 10,040 calls for service within the city in 2025, a 2.6% increase over 2024. “That is a lot of calls in a year. That is approximately 27 calls for service a day throughout the year,” Starry said. “The deputies that are on the streets are doing a great job going to the calls, but also doing the additional stuff as well, stopping traffic, getting out and doing community engagement and meeting the families and kids.” In addition to deputies staying busy in Hugo, detectives and investigators also remain hard at work. Starry noted that the detective assigned to Hugo investigated 265 cases within the city in 2025, which more than doubled from the prior year. The busiest time for calls in 2025 was 6 p.m., and the slowest time was 5 a.m. Starry says if residents see something suspicious, no matter what SEE ANNUAL REPORT, PAGE 7
Centennial www.goodneighbordays.com School Board approves addition of ballot questions Residents within the Centennial School District can expect to see two additional questions on their ballot next election season EAGLEregarding an operating levy and BALD bond referendum associated with the district’s longrange plan, also known as Centennial Forward. According to Superintendent Jeff Holmberg, the bond referendum will total approximately $108,890,000 million. These funds would be used to address facility
Included in the projects’ costs is room for 20% inflation. maintenance, safety, academic capacity and education“Deferred maintenance was the starting point of this al programs across the district. The proposed operating levy, bond referendum and the addition of the ballot process…There is not enough money through LTFM (long term facilities maintenance) funding to keep our questions were approved by the Centennial School buildings afloat because we only receive $2.7 million a Board at its most recent meeting. FRIDAY & SATURDAY year,” Chaffey explained. “That’s not enough to keep Originally, the long-range plan was estimated to the repairs going.” cost around $225 million. However, revisions made $7.00 any 10"onHanging Basket Chaffey said this spurred a discussion about how the throughout the planning process, based stakeholddistrict was going to keep up with the deferred mainteer, community and school board feedback, (Reg. member value $32.99) allowed Executive Director of Business Services Patrick Chaffey and his staff to bring the total costs down. SEE BALLOT ADDITIONS, PAGE 11
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