Custer County Chronicle

County OKs LEO vehicles, gear

Published by admin on Wed, 09/30/2026 - 2:46pm

The Custer County Commission has approved over $500,000 in purchases for the Custer County Sheriff’s Office to help it fulfill its contract to provide law enforcement for the City of Custer.
The commission approved the purchases, which could be paid for by both supplement of the county’s 2026 budget as well as out of its 2027 budget, at its Sept. 23 meeting.
Custer County Sheriff Derrick Reifenrath came before the commission to discuss the requested expenditures, saying he wanted to make sure everyone was on the same page as to how to go about making the purchases.

DUI arrest in DOT lot

Published by admin on Wed, 09/30/2026 - 2:45pm

A 41-year old Custer man was arrested for suspicion of driving under the influence of alcohol the evening of Sept. 24 after he hit a crosswalk sign in front of a Custer County Sheriff’s Office deputy.
According to Custer County Sheriff Derrick Reifenrath, the man, driving a South Dakota Department of Transportation (DOT) vehicle, came upon a deputy near the intersection of Mt. Rushmore Road and N. 2nd Street when the man crossed the center line and hit the sign, launching the sign into the front of the deputy’s patrol car, breaking the headlight and grill.

Board approves CTE housing project

Published by admin on Wed, 09/23/2026 - 12:24pm

The foundation is laid, but the Custer School District (CSD) Board of Education has a few stipulations before the Custer Career Technical Education (CTE) Community Homes program can start building. 
In close coordination with the CSD, the Black Hills Area Community Foundation opened the Custer CTE Community Homes Fund in January. The fund exists to support a CTE homebuilding construction trade program. Since its creation, roughly $12,500 has been raised. The funds will be used to cover the costs of building a single-family home as part of the CTE curriculum. 

Buffalo Gap may lose its post office

Published by admin on Wed, 09/23/2026 - 12:23pm

Residents of the Buffalo Gap area received notice last week that the United States Postal Service is considering a plan to permanently close the Buffalo Gap Post Office.
On Aug. 5, 2024, the USPS placed the Post Office on “emergency suspension” whereas services were shut down “due to irreparable safety and health concerns for our employees and customers” in the leased building facilities, located at 200 N. Walnut Street.

New bus route for Hermosa

Published by admin on Wed, 09/23/2026 - 12:22pm

Hermosa is getting a new bus route to cover areas where parents were previously transporting their children to school in the Custer School District (CSD). The route was discussed at the Sept. 14 Board of Education meeting in Custer. 

Residents asked to help find ‘news deserts’

Published by admin on Wed, 09/23/2026 - 9:38am
As a new foundation launches to help fund media organizations, two upcoming discussions will focus on how people get their news in order to ensure access to trusted information.
Eda Uzunlar spent part of this year traveling across the nation of Turkey to learn how people get their news, and now the Rapid City native plans to conduct similar research in the United States.

Custer County rescinds burn burn

Published by admin on Fri, 09/18/2026 - 3:00pm

Feel the Roundup rumble in Custer Sept. 25

Published by admin on Wed, 09/16/2026 - 2:50pm

Are you ready to feel the rumble of 1,500 buffalo crossing the prairie? 
Cowboys and cowgirls are already gearing up to round up and drive a herd of approximately 1,500 buffalo across the park for the 61st Annual Governor’s Buffalo Roundup, Friday, Sept. 25 at 9 a.m.
Rounding up the buffalo has always been a land management practice in the park. Originally, it was attended by park personnel, and it grew to include friends and family. Then, in the 1990s, the roundup developed into the attraction it is today. 

City budget just under $13 million

Published by admin on Wed, 09/16/2026 - 2:49pm

The City of Custer is set to spend $12,944,472 in 2027 after the Custer City Council passed the first reading of its appropriations ordinance for next year at its Sept. 8 meeting, which was held on a Tuesday due to Labor Day. The budget is around $3.5 million more than last year, and more in line with the 2025 budget, which was  $12.6 million.

SAR second in defender service award

Published by admin on Wed, 09/16/2026 - 2:48pm

Six months of preparation and it all came down to one night. Around a hundred people gathered at Mt. Rushmore Brewing Co. Sept. 12 to learn the results of the 2026 Land Rover Defender Service Awards. Friends of Custer County Search and Rescue (CCSAR) was one of two organizations to advance to the final round of this nationwide award.  
“We started this back in the spring of this year, so we’ve been working on the Defender Service Awards for six months now,” said CCSAR director Sam Smolnisky.