News

Project to go out to bid

Published by admin on Thu, 04/15/2021 - 11:05am

Much was accomplished at Monday night’s meeting of the Hill City Common Council

Finance officer Stacia Tallon announced there will be an election this year in Hill City in Ward II. Incumbent Gary Auch filed again and will be opposed by former alderman John Johnson. In Ward I, there will be no election as only one person filed to run, and that was incumbent Carl Doaty.

The Hill City Business Improvement District Board (BID Board) will once again go out to bid.

Noem asks Biden to bring back fireworks

Published by admin on Thu, 04/15/2021 - 11:05am

South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem has sent a letter to President Joe Biden asking for the restoration of Independence Day fireworks at Mount Rushmore National Memorial.

In the letter, dated April 13, Noem said she is raising issue with the National Park Service’s (NPS) decision to cancel the fireworks show at the memorial, which Noem described as contradictory.

“I am raising this issue with you because the letter we received from NPS contradicts statements you made in March that held up Independence Day as a target date for Americans to begin returning to normal,” Noem wrote.

BIG denial discussed at meeting

Published by admin on Thu, 04/15/2021 - 11:03am

Keystone town engineer Ron Bengs presented a report on the Roy Street bridges at the most recent Keystone Town Board meeting.

He also tried to clarify why one of the bridges was not eligible for the Bridge Improvement Grant (BIG).

“I don’t have a good explanation,” said Bengs, who pulled reports on the structure in question.

In 2018 the decking was rated four and all other ratings were five. In 2019 all ratings were five. In 2020 all ratings were five.

The lower the rating the more serious the need for repair or replacement.

What to do with the sawmill location

Published by admin on Thu, 04/15/2021 - 11:02am

This is the third part of our series on looking at the impact of the closure of the Rushmore Forest Products Sawmill

Work is being done to figure out what to do with the location of the Rushmore Forest Products sawmill once it has been shut down.

Ron Rossknecht, a member of the Hill City Economic Development Corporation (EDC) and vice president of the Pennington County Commission said nothing has been decided.

Arson suspected in community center fire

Published by admin on Thu, 04/15/2021 - 9:15am

The cause of a suspicious Sunday evening fire in Custer Community Center—formerly Custer Elementary School—at the intersection of 4th and Crook streets is under investigation by the Custer County Sheriff’s Office. Fire resources from around the area, including a ladder truck from Rapid City, were called in to help battle the blaze which appeared to have been contained to the old school kitchen.

Ag landowners have a beef

Published by admin on Thu, 04/15/2021 - 9:13am

You can add some agricultural landowners to the list of people who are up in arms over the assessed value of their property.
 At a special meeting of the Custer County Commission April 6, county director of equalization department head Leah Vissia discussed steps with the commission that were taken to bring the county into compliance with state law regarding property values, part of which was removing adjustments from agricultural land.

School board approves new math curricula

Published by admin on Thu, 04/15/2021 - 9:12am

Students in Custer School District will have new and hopefully more effective ways of learning math next year, thanks to action by the board of education Monday. At its regular April meeting, the board gave the nod to the purchase of Big Idea math texts for grades K-5 and the Envisions curriculum for grades 6-12.

Former Forest Service worker: closure was a ‘perfect storm’

Published by admin on Thu, 04/15/2021 - 9:12am

This is our second story looking at the impact the Rushmore Forest Products sawmill could have on the Hill City community

CDC: Stop over-sanitizing

Published by admin on Thu, 04/15/2021 - 9:06am

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has changed its guidelines on cleaning household surfaces. The agency now says cleaning alone is usually enough and that disinfecting is needed only in some circumstances.
“Cleaning with a household cleaner that contains soap or detergent reduces germs on surfaces and decreases risk of infection from surfaces,” the guidelines say. “In most situations, cleaning alone removes most virus particles on surfaces.”

Gardner gives COVID update

Published by admin on Thu, 04/08/2021 - 11:19am

Right before Easter Break last week, Blake Gardner, superintendent of the Hill City School District, released a video discussing the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic in his school district, in the county and in the state.

Gardner has released similar videos before Thanksgiving and Christmas breaks, and this video marked significant improvement regarding COVID-19 in general.