Hill City Prevailer

We’re down but we’re not out

Published by admin on Wed, 02/07/2024 - 9:07am
Greetings from Pierre! 
Well, it was a tough week at the capital this week. SB 167, the bill to cap property valuation for tax purposes (started out at HB 1040), was heard in the Senate Taxation committee. 
The bill passed out of committee but had opposition from 17 highly-paid lobbyists more interested in the cause they were hired to represent than the homeowners.  To our surprise, SB 167 was heard on the floor of the Senate the very next day.

Hard for me to say

Published by admin on Wed, 01/31/2024 - 9:00am
We’ve all said it. Those three little  words that some of us hear each and every day, I must have heard it over a dozen times yesterday. And it made me a bit sadder each time. 
Wait.
What??
No not those three little words.
How often in the course of your day do you say these three little words: 
I’m sorry (you see it really is three words, not two).
I was at my other job yesterday and heard the waitress say it each time she passed me by. 
“I’m sorry.”
“I’m sorry, hun.”

Why karate makes me feel strong

Published by admin on Thu, 01/25/2024 - 9:55am
In September, my dad started a karate dojo in Custer called Southern Hills Shotokan Karate. Most of my family has done karate for years, and it was really hard to leave our dojo in Minnesota. So starting a dojo here was a great way for us to get back to karate and share it with others at the same time. 
It’s been fun to get back to karate. There’s an energy in the room when you work together as a class to master a concept. Everyone is trying and everyone is focused, and it drives you to work harder. 

Tomorrow is too late

Published by admin on Wed, 01/17/2024 - 9:20am
I think it is high time we got personal here in the Hills. It’s difficult to bare all, I know.
But I think it is the only way to get some serious change to occur. After all we have tried to be patient. We have listened to their excuses in meetings. I have even gone through their appeal process. 
And yet here I am with another 30 percent increase in my property taxes. 
And I cannot afford another increase like this next year.

Permission to rest

Published by admin on Wed, 01/10/2024 - 8:55am
Do you ever feel like you have to justify your need to rest? We live in a culture that never really stops. We’re afraid of missing out because you only live once. So we go and we go and we go. No one wants to be the one to admit they’re tired. No one wants to be the downer who can’t keep up. Instead, we chug some caffeine and keep going. 
I tried to do this recently. One of my closest friends was getting married so I traveled to Long Beach, Calif., right after Christmas to be her maid of honor. 

Shed my skin and start again

Published by admin on Wed, 01/03/2024 - 4:55pm

A friend of mine invited me to yoga the other day for the winter solstice. Although I didn’t go, something she said stuck with me.
“Winter is a good time to shed yourself of things that no longer serve you.”
She likened the season as a time of death, when things are dormant, in hibernation, slower, darker.
Many people set New Year’s resolutions, goals they hope to achieve or accomplish. But what if, instead, we focused on what we want to get rid of, shed, what “no longer serves us?”

Reflecting on the year that was

Published by admin on Wed, 01/03/2024 - 4:36pm

Welcome to the new year! As we step into 2024, it’s with great pleasure that I reflect on the accomplishments and growth of our school district in the past year.
The first semester of this school year was one of significant achievement and progress. Noteworthy is the top five ranking of our school and the progress our students have made. Across all grades and subjects, our students have shown growth on the NWEA test. This success is a reflection of the commitment of our educators, the support of families and the determination of our students to excel academically.

It’s a new day

Published by admin on Wed, 12/27/2023 - 10:00am
In just a few days, the calendar will flip. We’ll say goodbye to 2023 and hello to 2024. We’ll start the first of 365 blank canvases and try harder to get things right this time. Mistakes will be made for sure. Some resolutions will completely flop. But that doesn’t stop us from trying. 

Season of serendipity

Published by admin on Wed, 12/20/2023 - 10:18am
I was walking in the woods with a friend of mine today. I was looking for a rock formation that I’ve been on top of before and for some reason haven’t been able to locate since. This time again was a complete failure. 
As we were walking back to the trailhead I told her the real trail to the formation says something about a box spring but I’ve never been able to locate that either.
She stopped and looked at me and said,  “you mean this box spring?”
I couldn’t believe it.

Property tax relief bill ready to go

Published by admin on Wed, 12/13/2023 - 8:39am
We can all agree that property taxes are skyrocketing! It is no longer an East River or West River issue—it’s statewide and it’s only getting worse. Many homeowners, whether they live in the city, in the county or on a farm or a ranch, have reached out to their legislators regarding their property taxes, acknowledging their willingness to pay their property taxes, but voicing their concerns about the increased financial burden.