Custer County Chronicle

Rally wrecks pile up in county

Published by admin on Thu, 08/20/2020 - 9:00am
With the influx of bikers to the Black Hills for the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally comes motorcycle accidents. The following is a list of accidents that are local, involve local people or were fatal from Aug. 11 through Aug. 16.

Bikers ride the Hills from here

Published by admin on Thu, 08/13/2020 - 9:19am
Monday of motorcycle rally week was a bad one for bikes and their drivers in and around Custer State Park (CSP). At least half a dozen motorcycle wrecks and other traffic incidents Monday afternoon resulted in a busy few hours for the Custer County Sheriff’s Office, S.D. Highway Patrol, CSP  rangers, Custer County Search and Rescue (SAR) and Custer other ambulance services. 

County now has 36 cases

Published by admin on Thu, 08/13/2020 - 9:19am
As the United States shot past five million cases of COVID-19, officials have bemoaned July 4 gatherings, graduation parties, no-mask weddings and crowded bars as being among the reasons there are reasons the U.S. has racked up more than 5 million coronavirus deaths, by far the most of any country, and has the most confirmed infections in the world.

School sets ’20-’21 budget

Published by admin on Thu, 08/13/2020 - 9:18am
Two months later than normal, the Custer School District Board of Education passed its fiscal year 2020-21 budget and tax levies at its August meeting on Monday. In the meeting held in the lunchroom of Hermosa School, the board approved a general fund budget of $7,754,291 for the fiscal year which began  July 1. 
The budget also includes a special education fund of $1.7 million, an Impact Aid fund of $750,000 and a $13.2 million capital outlay fund which includes $10 million for the Hermosa School building project which is in progress.

Mental health services to be offered

Published by admin on Thu, 08/13/2020 - 9:18am
A pilot program is bringing mental health professionals to those in crisis in Custer County, with the goal of providing mental health services to those in need rather than transporting them to a hospital or, worse, getting the criminal justice system involved.

More landlocked property causes consternation

Published by admin on Thu, 08/13/2020 - 9:17am
A dispute over access to landlocked property came before the Custer County Commission at its Aug. 5 meeting, but it wasn’t the same two disputes that have consumed portions of commission meetings for the better part of three years.

Cleanup mostly complete

Published by admin on Thu, 08/06/2020 - 9:00am
It’s been over a year since a massive influx of rain (up to seven inches, by some accounts) poured down on the French Creek watershed and subsequently led to a flood that reached 100-year levels, causing extensive damage to both public and private property.
Most of the cleanup and reconstruction to be done by governmental entities was done in the year that has passed, with city planning administrator Tim Hartmann saying, save for some wood chips for the Gates Park playground and a little bit of debris, the city has been cleaned up.

Fair to start on Thursday

Published by admin on Thu, 08/06/2020 - 8:59am
The annual Custer County Fair begins this Thursday, Aug. 6, and a full slate of action is scheduled despite the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. 
The action begins Thursday, Aug. 8,  at 2 p.m. with poultry and rabbit entries, as well as open class entries sans livestock and crops. At 5 p.m. the annual kickoff supper will take place, followed at 7 p.m. by the Barnyard Olympics, a competition of team games with events such as goat roping, bucket race, sack race, cow milking, egg race and more. 

Higher rally traffic expected

Published by admin on Thu, 08/06/2020 - 8:56am
As thousands of motorcycles descend on the Black Hills for the 80th annual Sturgis Motorcycle Rally, some are predicting higher numbers of visitors to Custer County and they believe the bikers will be here longer this year. 
That appeared to be the consensus of the approximately 30 first responders who attended a meeting last Thursday at Custer County Search and Rescue (SAR) headquarters. 

Cops crack card case

Published by admin on Thu, 08/06/2020 - 8:56am
Team effort and a little old-fashioned police work paid off for the Custer County Sheriff’s Office recently in solving the case of a missing credit card which led to the arrest of a Custer man on grand theft charges. 
A visitor from California staying in the area got a call July 24 from the fraud protection unit of his credit card informing him there had been suspicious charges on the card. It wasn’t until that moment the man realized the card was missing and he began thinking about the last time he had used it, which was the day before.