News

Highway will inspect approaches

Published by admin on Wed, 11/11/2026 - 3:44pm

By Jason Ferguson

City council OKs additional FD funding

Published by admin on Wed, 11/11/2026 - 3:43pm

The Custer Volunteer Fire Department will receive $269,500 in additional funding from the City of Custer in 2026, this after the Custer City Council approved the allocation of the additional funding at its Nov. 2 meeting.
The deparment intially requested the addtional funding at the council’s July 20 meeting, but at that time department chief Matt Spring was told the council wanted more information about the department’s proposed budget.

Voter turnout was record low

Published by admin on Wed, 11/11/2026 - 1:43pm

“This year’s general election saw the lowest voter turnout in the state in more than 50 years,” wrote Molly Wetsch with South Dakota News Watch in her article “General election: SD voter turnout hits historic low, sales tax increases fail.”
In the 2022 midterm election, nearly 60 percent of registered voters headed to the polls, according to Wetsch. 

Buffalo auction sets record

Published by admin on Wed, 11/11/2026 - 10:33am

It was a big day for Custer State Park last Saturday, Nov. 7, as the park sold 579 bison for a total of $1,577,000 at its 61st annual bison auction. Both the number of bison sold and the total sales set records for the park’s auction, according to park visitor services supervisor Lydia Austin.
Austin said there were 66 bidders from 17 states participating online and in person.

Concerns raised over court merger

Published by admin on Wed, 11/11/2026 - 10:04am

The South Dakota Supreme Court heard concerns Monday at the Capitol in Pierre from people who said the proposed merger of two western judicial circuits could leave rural communities behind. 
The proposal would combine the state’s 4th and 7th Judicial Circuits into a single 12-county 4th Circuit headquartered in Rapid City, reducing the number of judicial circuits in South Dakota from seven to six.
The 4th Judicial Circuit encompasses the northwestern part of the state, including Butte, Corson, Dewey, Harding, Lawrence, Meade, Perkins and Ziebach counties. 

Election results are in

Published by admin on Wed, 11/11/2026 - 9:39am
Voters across South Dakota headed to the polls Nov. 3 to decide a number of state and local races as well as important decisions for communities throughout the Black Hills. 
Pennington County reported 43.28 percent voter turnout, falling below the statewide average of 48.37 percent. Only 310,298 of South Dakota’s 628,563 registered voters participated in the general election.

Multiple resignations for Keystone

Published by admin on Wed, 11/11/2026 - 9:38am
The Town of Keystone is experiencing some upheaval with a number of resignations taking place at a special meeting Oct. 26 followed by additional resignations submitted Nov. 6.  
On Sept. 21, the Keystone Board of Trustees had held a special meeting to accept the resignation of public works supervisor Jerry Przybylski. 

Keystone considers water, marketing, bike trails

Published by admin on Wed, 11/11/2026 - 9:34am
Personnel issues have garnered much of the attention at recent Keystone Board of Trustees meetings, but water concerns, a mountain bike trail grant and marketing radius questions were also topics of discussion at the Nov. 4 regularly scheduled meeting. 

PUC approves BHE rate hike

Published by admin on Wed, 11/11/2026 - 9:32am
South Dakota utility regulators unanimously approved a rate increase last week that will add about $16 to the typical Black Hills Energy residential customer’s monthly electric bill, while an additional request from the company to add a $20 surcharge is pending.

Veterans Day celebrations

Published by admin on Wed, 11/04/2026 - 2:44pm

Custer County is getting ready to honor veterans for their service with events Nov. 11 and 12.
Starting in late October, Hometown Hero banners were hung on light poles around the City of Custer. The banners individually recognize veterans with photos in uniform and brief descriptions of their service.