News

School board receives top state award

Published by admin on Wed, 08/06/2025 - 10:19am
For the sixth consecutive year  the Hill City School Board of Education (HCSBE) has achieved Gold Level Status from the Associated School Boards of South Dakota (ASBSD). This year the board has taken its successful record to the next level, earning the prestigious 2025 School Board Award of Excellence, the highest distinction a school board can receive in the state.
Superintendent Blake Gardner surprised the board with the announcement at the July school board meeting on the 14th.

Provisional county budget tops $132 million

Published by admin on Wed, 08/06/2025 - 10:15am
Pennington County  Commissioners have approved a  $132,234,641 provisional budget for the upcoming fiscal year, just shy of the $132,327,295 provisional budget of Minnehaha County.
Commissioner Jerry Derr referenced that Minnehaha was making substantial cuts to its budget with commissioner Gary  Drewes saying he has heard they are “preparing for the future” with a concern over property taxes being cut statewide. 
The  provisional Pennington County 2026 budget is up 1.4 percent over last year.

President Trump expected at Mount Rushmore next July 4

Published by admin on Wed, 07/30/2025 - 9:43am
The Pennington County Sheriff’s Office has confirmed that President Donald Trump will  come to Keystone in 2026. The confirmation came from Sgt. Amanda Swanson as she spoke with the Keystone Town Board at its July 23 meeting. Swanson spoke about the visit after being asked about the recent visit of vice president JD Vance.
“President Trump is coming next year. That will be another busy time,” said Swanson, who has already been talking to the town board about the visit. “I’m sure you guys will be very busy next summer.”

Feeding South Dakota requests $3 million from legislature

Published by admin on Wed, 07/30/2025 - 9:34am
Feeding South Dakota is the first of what could be multiple nonprofits asking the Legislature for help to recover from federal funding cuts.
Executive Director Lori Dykstra requested $3 million in one-time funds at the legislative Appropriations Committee meeting Wednesday in Pierre to offset 1.5 million pounds of food no longer being provided by the U.S. Department of Agriculture since March.

WWTP delay costing city $20k, possibly more

Published by admin on Wed, 07/30/2025 - 8:55am
A delay in the startup of the City of Custer’s wastewater treatment plant to its new discharge location is costing the city thousands of dollars, it was learned at the July 21 meeting of the Custer City Council.

West Dam work to resume in September

Published by admin on Wed, 07/30/2025 - 8:47am
If you’re among those who heard the work on West Dam stopped in June due to a lack of funding, you heard wrong.
The reasons the work stopped are two that are familiar to Custer—golf and tourism.
Contractors working on the second phase of the project—the removal of 100,000 cubic yards of silt and material out of the reservoir—actually worked a little later into June than initially anticipated, and will resume work earlier as well. Initially the work was to resume in mid-October, but instead will resume in September.

Task force tasked with diverse state demands

Published by admin on Wed, 07/30/2025 - 8:45am
The South Dakota  Comprehensive Property Tax Task Force 2025 met at the School of Mines in Rapid City July 20. The message from the meeting was very clear—there is no “one size fits all” for South Dakota when it comes to fiscal issues.
The meeting began with a discussion amongst committee members about Tax Increment Financing (TIF) districts, with Sen. Taffy Howard, R-District 34, taking repeated jabs at Rapid City for its continued use of the concept. 

Delay, additional cost for West Dam project

Published by admin on Wed, 07/30/2025 - 8:44am
A late geotechnical discovery by the engineering firm working on the West Dam reconstruction for the City of Custer will add to the overall cost of the project, it was revealed at the July 21 meeting of the Custer City Council.

Operation Prairie Thunder’ will assist with deportations

Published by admin on Wed, 07/30/2025 - 8:24am

The state of South Dakota will spend more time and money in the coming months to police the streets of Sioux Falls, and to help federal agents deport immigrants who lack legal status.
The work will support the state’s fast-growing city, Gov. Larry Rhoden said, and help the state’s seven federal immigration agents add to their current arrest tally of 262 in the state since President Donald Trump took office.
Rhoden made the announcement Monday morning at the Sioux Falls Public Safety Administration Building.

GDD results listed

Published by admin on Wed, 07/23/2025 - 9:41am

Winners at the annual Gold Discovery Days are as follows:
Bob Plaisted
Memorial Car Show
Best of Show Car Stock—1967 Camaro owned by David and Kammi Doud of Rapid City.
Best of Show Car Modified—1963 Chevy Impala owned by Ron Axtel of North Platte, Neb.
Best of Show Truck Stock—1933 Dodge Brothers Commercial Car Model HC owned by Terry Downing of Lead.
Best of show Truck Modified—1956 Ford F-100 owned by Tom Hofer of Hot Springs.
Best of Show Convertible—1963 Vette owned by Mark Svoboda of Custer.