News

Guns in courthouse resolution holstered

Published by admin on Wed, 11/25/2020 - 9:18am

If you had planned to bring a gun into the Custer County Courthouse, you can’t do that just yet.
A recently-approved resolution by the Custer County Commission to allow the general public to carry firearms onto and into county property—whether concealed or not—will be revisited Nov. 30 at a special meeting. The meeting was scheduled after two judges from the Seventh Judicial Circuit spoke out against allowing the general public to carry in the courthouse during the commission’s Nov. 18 meeting.

Three alarm fire destroys home

Published by admin on Wed, 11/25/2020 - 9:18am

An early morning house fire last Wednesday on the north end of Hermosa destroyed an occupied home and sparked a grassfire that threatened another dozen homes.
At approximately 4:45 a.m. Nov. 18, the Battle Creek Fire Department responded to a report of a residential structure fire on Gumbo Lily Lane.
Pennington County fire administrator Jerome Harvey reported that as firefighters arrived on scene, they observed the fire was free burning in a large two-story, primary residence, so they immediately struck a second alarm.

Residents wary of wastewaterplant renovation

Published by admin on Wed, 11/25/2020 - 9:16am

Residents who live adjacent to land proposed to be used in the upcoming expansion of the City of Custer’s wastewater treatment plant know the plant renovations are needed, but are wary they could cost them in terms of peace of mind, views and property values.

BID Board receives $200k

Published by admin on Wed, 11/25/2020 - 9:14am

The Custer Business Improvement District (BID) Board has $200,000 in government grant money to encourage people to come to Custer — and it has to spend it by Dec. 30.

District adopts close contact policy

Published by admin on Thu, 11/19/2020 - 10:52am

A “close contact” protocol for the district was approved by the Hill City School Board at its most recent meeting. There was no discussion on the matter.

The protocol allows for “students to return upon the completion of a 72 hour quarantine from their last contact with a COVID positive individual.” Additionally, “students must not have any symptoms.”

Superintendent Blake Gardner, who was not present at the meeting, provided the board with statistics, which show 38 percent of districts in South Dakota require three to five days of quarantine after exposure.

Distance learning Thursday, Friday

Published by admin on Thu, 11/19/2020 - 10:52am

For Thursday and Friday of this week only, the Hill City School District will be going virtual for the state volleyball tournament in Watertown, for which Hill City qualified for the first time last week,

Blake Gardner, superintendent of the district, made the announcement in a YouTube video after the game.

Vets program held outdoors

Published by admin on Thu, 11/19/2020 - 9:04am

It was a sunny, but brisk and breezy day for Custer School District’s unique outdoor Veterans Day Program last Wednesday at Veterans Memorial Park. Temperatures hovered in the mid-30s and the park’s flags were billowing under a steady breeze as an estimated crowd of 125 people gathered to honor veterans living and dead in the 26th annual event.

City wants to cull male deer

Published by admin on Thu, 11/19/2020 - 9:03am

“Reluctantly, yes.”
That was how Custer City Council alderman Todd Pechota cast his vote in approving this year’s culling of the deer herd in Custer, usually a yearly program the city undertakes to manage the population of deer within city limits.
Pechota wasn’t against the program or the number of deer taken; he was against what has become the annual ritual of culling only female deer, which he said is detrimental to herd health.

Healing Garden gets intention, prayer house

Published by admin on Thu, 11/19/2020 - 9:03am

The Healing Garden at Monument Hospital  Custer is getting a new addition that is hoped will be a place of meditation and prayer for folks in the community and may possibly aid in the prevention of suicide. A second-hand garden shed is being converted into an intention and prayer house through the efforts of a number of volunteers and contributors in the community and is open to everyone at all times.

Fauci: ‘The cavalry is coming’

Published by admin on Thu, 11/19/2020 - 9:02am

One day after Dr. Michael Osterholm, a member of president-elect Joe Biden’s coronavirus task force, suggested in an interview that four to six weeks of a nationwide lockdown could bring the numbers down drastically, Dr. Anthony Fauci said he doesn’t believe the United States will need to go into lockdown to fight the coronavirus if people double down on wearing masks and social distancing, according to a report by the Associated Press.
Fauci said “the cavalry is coming” in the form of vaccines.
“Help is really on the way,” he said.