Hill City Prevailer

On budget

Published by admin on Wed, 12/30/2020 - 3:14pm

For the first time in the last 5 years all of Keystone’s departments have come in under budget.

Cassandra Ott, Keystone’s finance officer, thinks conservative budgeting and fiscal prudence helped the town get to this point.

“We operated extremely conservatively as we did not expect the revenue to be there due to COVID limiting the tourism season,” she said. “Also, the board passed a very conservative budget.”

Ott feels the town “operated responsibly with tax payer money and the extra funds will end up in the savings accounts for each fund.”

Fatal accident near Keystone

Published by admin on Wed, 12/30/2020 - 3:13pm

A 63-year-old man died in an early morning Dec.27 one-vehicle crash east of Keystone, the South Dakota Department of Public Safety announced in a release

The name of the person involved is not yet being released pending notification of family members.

A 2017 Kia Sportage Ex was traveling on South Dakota Hwy. 40 when the vehicle left the roadway, entered the north ditch and rolled. The driver, who was not wearing a seat belt, was pronounced dead at the scene. He was the vehicle’s lone occupant.

Hill City has new benches downtown

Published by admin on Wed, 12/30/2020 - 3:13pm

With the recently renovated and improved sidewalk on Main Street in Hill City, Brett McMacken, city administrator, said he knew there was the need for more.

Trashcans were put up along Main Street toward the end of summer, but over the past month, new additions have popped up: benches.

Forest usage up

Published by admin on Wed, 12/30/2020 - 3:13pm

Hikers in the Black Hills National Forest might have noticed some changes to registration once needed to access the Black Elk Wilderness areas.

The area used to require hikers to register the number of people and stock in their party in addition to the trailhead of entry and exit.

According to Scott Jacobson, public affairs officer for the forest service, these forms have been eliminated — at least temporarily.

“The form being used to register people was an outdated form,” he said.

Sheriff contract under review

Published by admin on Wed, 12/30/2020 - 3:12pm

The Pennington County Sheriff’s Office has presented Hill City with a new contract.

At Monday’s Hill City Common Council meeting, the council discussed the contract and any potential changes.

“This agreement is similar to the existing one,” said Brett McMacken, city administrator for Hill City. “The changes were mostly done to clean up language.”

The existing contract renews automatically, McMacken said, but this one would lock Hill City into a three-year contract followed by two one-year terms, as well.

Vagrant served with notice

Published by admin on Wed, 12/23/2020 - 3:09pm

A vagrant in Keystone was served with a notice of trespassing order during the most recent Keystone Town Board meeting on Dec. 16.

The individual, who according to Pennington County Sheriff’s Office deputy Chris Plawman is moving to Alaska and had been “bouncing between Keystone and Mount Rushmore,” was not a threat, although he had been sleeping in the community center parking lot.

Hill City chamber gets marketing grant

Published by admin on Wed, 12/23/2020 - 3:08pm

The Hill City Area Chamber of Commerce has secured a Destination Marketing Organization (DMO) Marketing Assistance Program Grant.

The grant is administered by the South Dakota Department of Tourism and is funded by the federal Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security (CARES) Act, which was passed to aid recovery during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

District COVID update

Published by admin on Wed, 12/23/2020 - 3:05pm

As the first semester ends and Christmas break begins, Blake Gardner, superintendent of the Hill City School District, has provided an update on COVID-19 cases in the district and changes to the district’s COVID-19 plan.

The updates came via a YouTube video published Dec. 18.

“The very first thing I want to do...is give a heartfelt thank you,” Gardner said. “Take a moment to celebrate. We are at semester break. We are at the midpoint of our year. We have done a phenomenal job.”

School board updates COVID plan

Published by admin on Wed, 12/23/2020 - 3:04pm

The Hill City School Board voted to approve updates to the school district’s COVID plan at the most recent school board meeting.

The plan comes on the heels of the district preparing for the second half of the year.

“I think it’s diligent of us to update it as COVID evolves,” said district superintendent Blake Gardner. “There have been no changes in phase one procedures, which are enacted when there are no or limited cases of COVID in school buildings. If numbers increase to roughly six to seven percent of the building population the district may change to level 2.”

Tourism up this Christmas season

Published by admin on Thu, 12/17/2020 - 10:58am

The Lane of Lights is having its intended goal: it’s bringing people to Hill City.

Lorena Freis, owner of The Farmer’s Daughter, said at Monday’s meeting of the Hill City Common Council she has had several people come into her store who said they were brought to Hill City because they wanted to see the Lane of Lights.

“So kudos to the mayor and the city staff,” she said. “It’s accomplishing what we want it to do.”