Nancy Martinz fought to control her emotions as she keyed the police radio mic in her National Park Service patrol vehicle the morning of Dec. 31, 2019. It would be her final 10-7 (out of service) call after over 30 years as a federal law enforcement officer.
Martinz, who has worked at Jewel Cave National Monument for the past four years, was retiring that day because she had reached the mandatory retirement age for her position.
10 years ago, 2010 — The Black Hills mountain lion season closed after the limit of 40 lions was met ... Concert pianist Eugene Gienger, 56, was the newest addition to Custer, joining the ranks of artists and other eclectic personalities in Custer County ... Custer Community Improvement Committee commended Tanya Olson for her presentation of the Custer City Design and Maintenance Guidelines to the planning commission.
One of the top trail running races in the world, the Coastal Challenge, is being run this week in the Latin American country of Costa Rica and will have a participant who started her running career as a student in Custer.
A 2009 graduate of the ACE alternative high school, Ashton Keck now lives in Costa Rica and is participating in the 236km (Nearly 147 miles) Coastal Challenge race. The competition lasts six days (Feb. 7-12) and will have her running through rainforests, along the tropical coastline and on mountain trails near the Pacific Ocean.
10 years ago, 2010 — Shane Gruber, 17, Custer, shot a 134-pound male mountain lion northwest of Custer while hunting with his father, Gary. A total of 30 lions had been taken at this point in the season ... Banished from Custer State Park for a growing list of reasons, the Black Hills Playhouse show planned to go on during the summer, but in mobile fashion ... Information about the four-day school week was provided to Custer School Board by Supt. Dr. Tim Creal.
A movie made in the Black Hills nearly five years ago and released in 2017 is finding a whole new audience in 2020, thanks to a deal worked out with Amazon.com.
The movie “Lakota Girls” was produced by local filmmakers Russell and Mollianne Cameron and featured Custer resident Ilona McDill as well as other amateur and professional actors from around the region and beyond.
Anyone who has been to the Alpine Inn knows its excellence, however, the Hill City restaurant received perhaps one of its greatest honors to date recently.
The Alpine Inn, owned and operated by Moni Matush with the assistance of her mother, Wally Matush (who started the restaurant in 1984), has been named South Dakota Restaurant of the Year by the South Dakota Retailers Association (SDRA).
