News

Supreme court affirms decision on county courthouse

Published by admin on Thu, 01/14/2021 - 4:54pm

The South Dakota Supreme Court has reviewed the recently-passed resolution by the Custer County Commission that allows for the carrying of firearms in Custer County. It has issued an ordered affirming the Seventh Judicial Circuit Court’s decision to stop holding court in Custer County.
The order approving the Seventh Judicial Court’s ruling is signed by Steven R. Jensen, chief justice of the South Dakota Supreme Court.
The order regarding the courthouse reads:

Council votes on commercial definition changes

Published by admin on Thu, 01/14/2021 - 10:55am

On Monday night, the Hill City Common Council approved the first reading of commercial zone definition changes.

The changes were first approved by the Hill City Planning and Zoning Commission, who had been discussing the changes since September 2018.

Town continues talk about selling land

Published by admin on Thu, 01/14/2021 - 10:55am

Sale of the ambulance property was discussed at the most recent Keystone Town Board meeting. The ambulance property (land only) was appraised at $75,000. Several sealed bids from electricians for fixing the electric switch over of wells and the cost of a new generator ranged from $34,700 to $46,972.

“We don’t have a ton of money to spend to buy the land,” said ambulance director, Matt Thompson. “We would like to keep the cost as low as possible.”

Thompson discussed a “set dollar amount for the land” instead of providing a land/generator swap.

New restaurant sets up on Main Street

Published by admin on Thu, 01/14/2021 - 10:55am

Main Street Hill City has a new place to eat.

Boxcar Eats and Treats, owned and operated by Dutch and Cerise VanLuven, is the new restaurant located in the old Dairy Queen.

“I bought all the ice cream machines from them,” Dutch said. “So we aren’t Dairy Queen anymore, but we are going to do ice cream cones, malts, shakes, burgers, fries. We are also going to do buffalo burgers, elk burgers, buffalo brats, elk brats, buffalo and elk hotdogs, things like that. Kind of a similar fast food place.”

School district updates

Published by admin on Thu, 01/14/2021 - 10:55am

The second half of the school year is underway.

As of Jan. 8, the Hill City School District is reporting zero active cases.

In the elementary school, two students have been identified as close contacts, which means they were within six feet of someone with COVID-19 for 15 minutes. Per school rules, these students must quarantine for 72 hours.

Beetle will burn Saturday

Published by admin on Thu, 01/14/2021 - 9:30am

For nearly a decade, many have marched, crawled and gathered in the name of Burning Beetle. While this year will look a little bit different, the annual event continues.
This year’s event will be held Saturday, Jan. 16.

Man arrested for home invasion

Published by admin on Thu, 01/14/2021 - 9:29am

The transition from 2020 to ‛21 has not produced any relief of stress for Custer County Sheriff Marty Mechaley and his deputies. On Jan. 3 a deputy was involved in a shooting in Custer and on New Year’s Day two other officers arrested a man who allegedly invaded a Custer home and assaulted the occupants.
Mechaley said at 8:22 p.m. Jan. 1, dispatch received a call reporting that an unknown man had “barged in” to a home on Clay Street in Custer.

Pot to be hot issue in 2021 session

Published by admin on Thu, 01/14/2021 - 9:27am

Marijuana looks to be one of the major issues to be tackled by the S.D. Legislature in the 2021 session, according to District 30 legislators. Veteran house member Tim Goodwin of Hill City, incoming senator Julie Frye-Mueller of Rapid City and freshman representative Trish Ladner of Hot Springs all identified Amendment A and the legalization of marijuana as one of the expected hot button issues in this session.

‘The Best’ coming Jan. 20

Published by admin on Thu, 01/14/2021 - 9:27am

On Jan. 20, the Custer County Chronicle and Hill City Prevailer News will put a new spin on the year in review when they publish the fourth annual “The Best” featuring photos and short descriptions of many of the things that happened in Custer County, Hill City and Keystone.
This separate publication will be printed in tabloid size in color, making for a great keepsake. It will be inserted into the Jan. 20 issues of both newspapers.

City gives OK to dentist money

Published by admin on Thu, 01/14/2021 - 9:26am

Get those teeth ready; a new dentist is coming to town.
Thanks to a unanimous vote (with an abstention by Dixie Whitaker) by the Custer City Council Jan. 4 to help fund a portion of a program that will help bring the dentist to town, Custer will have a dentist operating in town for the first time in nearly two years, with Dr. Kari Bolen, DDS, an 11-year veteran of dentistry, set to open a practice in Custer and start taking patients sometime this spring.