Custer County Chronicle

First RX pot app pitched

Published by admin on Thu, 03/24/2022 - 9:38am

The City of Custer has received its first application for a medical cannabis cultivation facility, which, if approved, would operate within the former Shopko building on Mt. Rushmore Road, which more recently has been home to Hills Self Storage and Black Hills Federal Credit Union (BHFCU).
The Custer City Council discussed the application at its March 21 meeting, as two representatives of Greenlight, the parent company of GLP Custer, LLC, the name of the applicant, came before the council to discuss the application.

Hespen is new hospital president

Published by admin on Thu, 03/24/2022 - 9:36am

Barb Hespen has been selected as the new President of Monument Health Custer Hospital and Market. Beginning March 21, She will lead Monument Health’s health care operations in the southern Black Hills.

‘This is about our freedoms’

Published by admin on Thu, 03/24/2022 - 9:31am

The ongoing trucker Freedom Convoy to Washington, D.C. has at least one Custer County connection. Former 18-wheeler driver Eric Butler, a recent resident of the Argyle area, and his wife Linda Brayton Butler traveled by pickup truck to the nation’s capital last week to participate in the rally, taking along a load of donated food and water for those who are demonstrating for freedom.

Mail thefts reported locally

Published by admin on Thu, 03/24/2022 - 9:29am

Stage coach robberies involving mail have been a part of Black Hills history for nearly 150 years and now 21st Century bandits are putting a new twist on the practice. Using a process known as check washing, those who steal outgoing mail from mailboxes erase the name of the payee on a check with common household chemicals and then rewrite the checks to the order of themselves. The fraud can result in hundreds or even thousands of dollars stolen.

High school soccer kicks off this fall

Published by admin on Thu, 03/24/2022 - 9:28am

Supporters of restarting coed high school soccer crowded into the Custer School District Board of Education meeting room on Thursday night to lobby for their cause and eventually got what they wanted. The board voted to fund a soccer team for grades 8-12 with games starting this fall.
The reason for the crowd of nearly 40 people became evident in the opening moments of the meeting during the open forum time. Five community members rose to speak in favor of adding soccer to football and cross country as a fall sport.

BA.2 on the rise in some areas

Published by admin on Thu, 03/24/2022 - 9:27am

The BA.2 sub-lineage of the Omicron variant now makes up nearly a quarter of new COVID-19 infections nationwide, the Centers for Disease Control  (CDC) and Prevention estimated last week, up from around one in 10 new cases just a week prior.

County ‘turning into a Vail or Breckenridge’

Published by admin on Thu, 03/17/2022 - 9:26am

The Custer County Commission knows property assessments and taxes are rising at an unsustainable level. Custer County Department of Equalization director Leah Vissia knows that, as well. The around 60 people who packed the Custer County Commission meeting room, with some spilling out into the hallway, at the March 9 meeting of the commissioner definitely know that’s the case.

City deer hunt returns

Published by admin on Thu, 03/17/2022 - 9:23am

The Custer Archery Deer Permit Program will return for another year after it was unanimously approved by the Custer City Council at the council’s March 7 meeting.
The program, which is part of the city’s annual deer-thinning program within city limits, allows for the hunting of deer within the city limits with the use of a bow. Only antlerless deer can be harvested through the program, which is administered by the South Dakota Department of Game, Fish & Parks (GFP) in conjunction with the City of Custer and the Custer County Sheriff’s Office.

Missing hunter found safe

Published by admin on Thu, 03/17/2022 - 9:22am

More than a dozen different agencies were involved in the overnight search for a lost hunter in a rugged area northwest of Custer last week. Fortunately, the missing man was located Wednesday afternoon. He was safe and healthy but miles away from where he had started out.

‘I’m done crying, I’m just angry’

Published by admin on Thu, 03/17/2022 - 9:22am

While saying she is sad about the loss of innocent lives in Russia’s invasion of her homeland, Ukrainian Yulia Yehle of Custer says her overwhelming emotion related to the situation is simply anger.
“I’m done crying,” said Yehle last week. “I’m just angry! I want to punish them. I want to kick them out of my land.”