News

Fairburn board member faces recall vote

Published by admin on Wed, 09/03/2025 - 12:10pm

A member of the Town of Fairburn Board of Trustees will face a recall election Oct. 7 after his request for a temporary restraining order (TRO) to stop the election was denied at a hearing in Seventh Judicial Circuit Court Aug. 26.

Agenda change leads to exodus from Hermosa board meeting

Published by admin on Wed, 09/03/2025 - 12:10pm

The Hermosa Board of Trustees met for a special meeting Aug. 27, primarily to discuss the budget for 2026, but with a number of items on the agenda, including a number of items from the town engineer and a proposal from a potential town attorney following the controversy that has surrounded Kent Hagg, the current attorney.
However, the first action by the board president Kel Koontz was to make a motion to defer discussion of two items, including the attorney proposal, to the next regular meeting. This was seconded by trustee Shanna Harris who was in attendance over the phone. 

Two die in UTV crash south of Custer

Published by admin on Wed, 09/03/2025 - 12:08pm

Two men died in a single vehicle UTV crash Monday evening seven miles south of Custer. The names of the persons involved have not been released pending notification of family members.
Preliminary crash information indicates the driver of a 2023 Can-Am Maverick Side-by-Side, a 60-year-old male from Long Pine, Neb., was traveling southbound on Flynn Creek Road.

Accident injures one

Published by admin on Wed, 09/03/2025 - 12:06pm

A motorcycle rider was transported with injuries after it collided with a vehicle on Hwy. 16/385 just north of town Aug. 21.
According to the Custer County Sheriff’s Office, at 7:32 a.m. a call came in regarding the accident, during which a Harley- Davidson with a single male rider from Scottsbluff, Neb., was northbound next to a Dodge Caravan passing the Harley on the inside lane.
As they were passing a southbound Nissan Rogue pulled into oncoming lanes in a No Passing Zone.

State denies accusation regarding gender language

Published by admin on Wed, 09/03/2025 - 12:05pm

The Trump administration’s accusation that South Dakota’s federally grant-funded sex education materials contain “gender ideology” is not accurate, according to state officials, while advocates for transgender people are condemning the federal government’s demand to remove language referencing them.

Leak repair approved for big blue

Published by admin on Wed, 09/03/2025 - 9:41am
The big blue tower leak is one step closer to being repaired. Aldermen voted to approve a quote from TMS in the amount of $16,875. The approval came at the Aug. 25 Hill City Common Council (HCCC) meeting. The quote was not the lowest one received. However, public works director Justin Asher said he is confident that it is the only company to guarantee to fix the tower. 
The other quote, from Great Plains Structures, was for $11,500, but according to Asher, if they show up with a small manlift, “They won’t be able to reach it.” 

County cattle guards failing

Published by admin on Wed, 08/27/2025 - 5:40pm

First, the good news—the overwhelming majority of the culverts in the county that are managed by the county are in very good shape.
Now, the bad news.
The same cannot be said for the cattle guard situation in the county, as of the 148 cattle guards on the county system, 64 percent, are failing.

Federal cuts result in SDPB cuts

Published by admin on Wed, 08/27/2025 - 5:40pm

South Dakota Public Broadcasting executive director Julie Overgaard announced Thursday that the organization plans to lay off 15 employees and eliminate two locally produced shows due to a loss of federal funding. 
SDPB depended on $2.2 million in annual funding from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, which was about 20 percent of SDPB’s budget. Congress and President Donald Trump rescinded $1.1 billion in previously approved nationwide funding for the corporation earlier this summer, causing the corporation to announce it will cease operations.

West Dam work to resume in October

Published by admin on Wed, 08/27/2025 - 5:39pm

After previously stating the contractor working on digging material out of West Dam would seek to get a head start on the fall by beginning work in September, RESPEC engineer Steve Bareis told the Custer City Council at the council’s Aug. 17 meeting the work will now resume Oct. 15 when Rocky Knolls Golf Course closes.
“That may change, but that is his plans as of today,” Bareis said.

County freezes hiring temporarily

Published by admin on Wed, 08/27/2025 - 4:48pm

Creative ways to cut. That seemed to be the sentiment of the Pennington County Commissioners when they met Aug. 19 to discuss the 2026 provisional budget, among other things. 
Commissioner Jerry Derr’s sentiment seemed to be in favor of consolidating services by means of finding commonalities in certain county positions.
“One of the biggest issues that I’ve seen coming in is trying to get a handle on our personnel and what those costs are,” Derr said.