News

School board wraps and begins new year

Published by admin on Wed, 07/23/2025 - 9:29am
The Hill City School District Board of Education’s (HCSDBE) July meeting served as the final meeting of the 2024-25 school year and the inaugural meeting for the 2025-26 year, while reorganizing and swearing in re-elected members for their next term and recognizing board achievements. 

Task force tasked with diverse state demands

Published by admin on Wed, 07/23/2025 - 9:27am
The South Dakota  Comprehensive Property Tax Task Force 2025 met at the School of Mines in Rapid City July 20. The message from the meeting was very clear—there is no one size fits all for South Dakota when it comes to fiscal issues.
The meeting began with a discussion amongst committee members about Tax Increment Financing (TIF) districts, with Sen. Taffy Howard, R-District 34, taking repeated jabs at Rapid City for its continued use of the concept. 

Jail expansion project met with tough questions

Published by admin on Wed, 07/23/2025 - 9:25am
About 30 people were at the Monument in Rapid City July 15 to hear about the proposed Pennington County Jail Expansion project.
After 14 months of design and five initial options, there are now only two options on the table—Option B, adding 296 beds in two housing floors, or  Option C, which is Option B plus two additional shelled floors for future growth.
Pennington County Sheriff Brian Mueller said, “I think that on the current course that we’re looking at if we had two finished floors that would be 2040” when the jail would reach capacity. 

Body extracted from Hippie Hole

Published by admin on Wed, 07/16/2025 - 9:32am
The body of 23-year-old Jaden White Plume of Box Elder was recovered between 10:30 and 11 p.m. the night of July 12 at Hippie Hole outside of Keystone.

Goodwin pitches state prison to Hill City

Published by admin on Wed, 07/16/2025 - 9:31am
Hill City Common Council members discussed putting in a bid for a new men’s South Dakota State Prison at its July 14 meeting. The matter was brought to the council by District 30 Rep. Tim Goodwin.
Goodwin said Box Elder had recently withdrawn its application, however, it was not clear why. He said currently if someone goes to the penitentiary to visit an inmate, they have to travel to Sioux Falls and that having a site West River might be more convenient for people since the area has a high recidivism rate.

Downtown merchandise displays discussed

Published by admin on Wed, 07/16/2025 - 9:30am
The Hill City Planning and Zoning (P&Z) Commission discussed downtown merchandise displays at its July 7 meeting. The discussion centered on a proposed ordinance and no action was taken on the matter.
The proposed ordinance reads, in part, that it will be unlawful to display merchandise by affixing it to the exterior of any permanent or temporary structure within the city’s Central Business District or Sign Transition Area.

Continuance granted for protection order between Keystone trustees

Published by admin on Wed, 07/16/2025 - 9:24am
A July 14 hearing for an order of protection filed by Keystone Town Board president Casey McNulty against fellow Keystone town trustee Matt Fullilove will be continued until Aug. 25. 
The case refers to an incident that McNulty alleges took place June 29 at 2 p.m. The petition claims that McNulty was sitting on a deck with his business partner, Randal Connelly, when Fullilove approached them and began to threaten to start a fight. 

How Wall is building a model to encourage housing growth

Published by admin on Wed, 07/16/2025 - 9:22am
This small western South Dakota town known internationally for Wall Drug and its proximity to Badlands National Park seemed like the perfect place for Ana Komar to fulfill her dream of running a scenic flight business.
Komar, 30, has been a licensed pilot for five years and owns a four-seat Cessna. She was looking for a spot to use her skills and feed her adventurous spirit and love of natural beauty by launching a business flying tourists over dramatic terrain.
In many ways, Wall was perfect.

Smaller subdividing sought

Published by admin on Wed, 07/16/2025 - 8:54am

Whether or not Custer County should allow the subdivision of land below one acre parcels once again came before the Custer County Commission at the commission’s July 9 meeting, as local developer Mark Nielsen approached the commission during its public comment portion of the meeting to gauge the commission’s thoughts on the issue.

City talks setback volation

Published by admin on Wed, 07/16/2025 - 8:53am

A woman who says a neighbor’s shed is encroaching onto her property plans to provide proof to the Custer City Council, with the hope the council will make the neighbor move the shed.
The issue was raised at the July 7 meeting of the Custer City Council, when Brenda Hite said her Harney Street neighbor was violating the six-foot setback required by city planning in regards to the shed, and the shed encroaches onto her property just over an inch, meaning it violates the setback by a total of just over six feet, one inch.