News

Clubs innovating after budget shortfalls

Published by admin on Wed, 09/17/2025 - 9:46am
Boys and Girls Clubs in some of the most vulnerable communities across South Dakota are finding ways to innovate in the midst of budget cuts.
“The level of disruption that we’re seeing as an organization is, in some ways, trivial compared to the everyday life of most of the kids we serve,” said Rachel Kocak, program director of the Rosebud Boys and Girls Club, which operates in Parmelee, Rosebud and Mission on the Rosebud Indian Reservation.

Hwy. 16A project will detour onto county roads

Published by admin on Wed, 09/10/2025 - 4:56pm

A state project that will replace culverts, see new asphalt surfacing, repair in-slope erosion and improving the intersection of Hwy. 16A and Wildlife Loop Road in Custer State Park is underway and will run through next summer.
Custer County Highway Department superintendent Jess Doyle talked about the project at the Sept. 3 meeting of the Custer County Commission, saying the project will detour motorists off Hwy. 16A to county gravel roads, including Rittberger Road, Cobb Road and LH Road.

Homecoming starts Monday

Published by admin on Wed, 09/10/2025 - 4:47pm

Get your Wildcat pride on, grab your purple and gold and celebrate homecoming with Custer Jr/Sr High School Sept. 15-19.
“Homecoming is all about being a community. It gives people the opportunity to recognize and celebrate the people they are currently sharing their life with or reconnect with people they used to share their life with. It’s about knowing where you came from and acknowledging how it impacts the direction your life can take. Homecoming is a great way to show pride in your community, school and yourself,” said high school student council advisor Megan Hanis.

City sets budget, but it will likely change

Published by admin on Wed, 09/10/2025 - 4:43pm

The Custer City Council passed the first reading of the 2026 appropriation ordinance at its Sept. 2 meeting, setting the city budget at $9,063,639, which is over $3 million  less than a year ago. 

Keystone Museum getting painted

Published by admin on Wed, 09/10/2025 - 9:54am
Despite some concerns, Keystone trustees approved a painting contractor for the  Keystone Museum. Trustee David Cofoid asked the item be put on the Sept. 3 Keystone Town Board agenda, wanting the project started prior to winter. 
“I went and looked at it myself,” Cofoid said. He showed pictures to a contractor who he said agreed it should be done this year.
“It’s got places all the way around where the paint is coming off,” Cofoid said about the building.

Dewey Burdock project could get expedited

Published by admin on Wed, 09/10/2025 - 9:35am
Federal officials have chosen a long-lingering uranium mining proposal in southwestern South Dakota for an expedited permitting process.
That doesn’t mean the Dewey Burdock project is greenlit. Instead, it means the project will be included in FAST-41, a federal process meant to improve coordination among permitting agencies and hold them accountable to deadlines. The 25-person federal Permitting Council says it can shave 18 months off a project’s review time.

Three of five SD governor hopefuls endorse statewide approach to cellphones

Published by admin on Wed, 09/10/2025 - 9:34am
Three candidates hoping to be South Dakota’s next governor support a statewide policy or law banning cellphones from school classrooms. Another said the decision should be left to local school districts, while a potential candidate is seeking local input on the issue.

School board reports positive start to the school year

Published by admin on Wed, 09/10/2025 - 9:33am
It was a full house, or rather staff, at the Hill City School District Board of Education meeting Monday night. With reports from board members and each department director, it was a full agenda, touching on a range of topics.

Stange sentenced to 55 years for Pringle fires

Published by admin on Wed, 09/03/2025 - 12:13pm

A Pringle man was sentenced to 55 years in prison last Thursday afternoon for starting a series of fires in the Pringle area late last summer.
Jerimiah James Stange, 32, received the maximum sentence agreed upon by both the state and the defense after Stange agreed to plead guilty but mentally ill to all nine charges he faced for the arson spree.

Resident questions property tax process

Published by admin on Wed, 09/03/2025 - 12:11pm

Taxes were discussed—if only briefly—at the Aug. 20 meeting of the Custer County Commission, as resident David Reid touched on a meeting he attended that was hosted by the state legislative committee working on addressing skyrocketing property taxes.
Reid talked about the meeting during the commission’s open comment time, saying owner occupied status is at the forefront of the movement, while adding half of his property isn’t classified as owner occupied, although he said he is in every one of the buildings on his property every day.