Custer County Chronicle

Chronicle stacks up SDNA awards

Published by admin on Wed, 04/30/2025 - 12:26pm

The Custer County Chronicle won 16 awards at last week’s South Dakota NewsMedia Association (SDNA) Better News Media Contest last Friday in Aberdeen, including the coveted Sweepstakes Award that honors the most-awarded newspaper in its class. The awards luncheon was part of the 142nd SDNA convention.
The Chronicle competed in Division II of the competition as one of the smallest papers in that category, which covers media in cities from 3,000 to 15,000 in population.

Water leak billing, annexation discussed

Published by admin on Wed, 04/30/2025 - 12:23pm

The lengthy Hermosa Board of Trustees meeting covered a lot of ground Tuesday, April 15. The meeting was chaired by trustee Kel Koontz in Linda Kramer’s physical absence.

Wildcats get to greens between cancellations

Published by admin on Wed, 04/30/2025 - 12:15pm

Despite scattered cancellations due to weather, the Custer High School girls golf team made it out to the Black Hills Pre-Conference tournament in Douglas April 22.
“I was happy with scores at Douglas. The girls felt pretty good about it, and it was a good day,” said head coach Haley Uphoff.
Jordan Uphoff led the Wildcats with a 12th place finish and a score of 94.

City council asked to block F3 water use

Published by admin on Wed, 04/30/2025 - 12:08pm

A concerned citizen wants the City of Custer to deny the use of its bulk water for a planned search for gold by F3 Gold.
At the April 21 meeting of the Custer City Council the council heard from county resident Gary Placco, who has been outspoken in his opposition in regards to the proposed drilling.
“They’ve got their approval from the Forest Service and can start sometime after May 1,” Placco said.

Opt out petition rejected by district

Published by admin on Wed, 04/30/2025 - 8:54am
About 20 people packed into the Hayward Fire Station to attend a special meeting of the Battle Creek Fire Protection District to discuss a petition for the district opt out to go to a public vote.
The all-volunteer district board is made up of former fire board members from Hermosa and Hayward as well as two Keystone residents. 
Those that attended came from Hayward and  Hermosa predominantly, with a varying number of newer residents and lifelong residents, including Jim Baker, who created the petition.

Custer commission agrees with jail partnership

Published by admin on Wed, 04/30/2025 - 8:45am
A $6 million partnership is not usually a cinch, but in this case, the Custer County (CC) Commission sees financially supporting the Pennington County (PC) jail expansion project as mutually beneficial.
At the April 23 commission meeting, PC sheriff Brian Mueller, along with PC commissioner Jerry Derr and PC buildings and grounds director Davis Purcell, provided the commission with more information about the jail expansion project. 

Sarah Wedge receives Shining Star award

Published by admin on Wed, 04/23/2025 - 12:25pm

The Custer School District (CSD) has a new shining star. At the district’s board of education meeting in Hermosa April 14, business manager Sarah Wedge was presented the 2025 South Dakota Association of School Business Officials (SDASBO) Shining Star award.
The SDASBO presents this award to a business manager in their first five years as a business official. The business manager must demonstrate remarkable innovation and leadership qualities and make a positive impact on their school and community.

County, Carter settle lawsuit

Published by admin on Wed, 04/23/2025 - 12:24pm

A lawsuit filed by a former Custer County employee against the county has been dismissed, while a countersuit filed by the county against the former employee has been dropped.
At the end of it all neither side has admitted fault and no money changed hands, with both sides essentially agreeing to go their separate ways after three years of litigation.
It was January 2022 when former county emergency services director Mike Carter filed his lawsuit after it was alleged money he was promised by the county in exchange for his retirement was never received.

City council hears chamber update

Published by admin on Wed, 04/23/2025 - 12:23pm

It was a busy year in 2024 for the Custer Area Chamber of Commerce, with 21,625 visitors coming into the office, plenty of community events put on or supported and 298 members to attend to.
Those were among the numbers given to the Custer City Council by chamber executive director Dawn Murray at the council’s April 7 meeting.
Murray said the chamber maintains a 95.4 percent retention rate of its members, gave out $41,000 in Custer Cash last year and gives nearly that much back to the community through promotion.

Questions posed on Battle Creek opt out

Published by admin on Wed, 04/23/2025 - 12:23pm

Representatives from the Battle Creek Fire Protection District board recently held outreach meetings in Hermosa and Keystone. These informal meetings were to listen to concerns from constituents about a proposed $225,000 opt out for a five-year time frame beginning this year for taxes payable in 2026.
While not very well attended, the discussions did offer some insight about the district and the three stations it mans, as well as its budget and a petition asking the opt out be moved to a taxpayer vote.