Custer County Chronicle

Custer graduate elected ELCA bishop

Published by admin on Wed, 06/07/2023 - 11:37am

The Rev. Meggan H. Manlove, Nampa, Idaho, was elected April 29 to serve a six-year term as bishop of the Northwest Intermountain Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA). The election took place during the synod assembly, April 28-30, at the Red Lion Airport Hotel and Conference Center in Pasco, Wash.

Bearded Buffalo will bring resort, housing

Published by admin on Wed, 06/07/2023 - 11:36am

Bearded Buffalo Resort and Bearded Buffalo Trading Co. are taking shape east of town, and initially will have four cabins and 35 RV slots, and further down the road will provide the City of Custer with much-needed housing.
Jeremy Roemen, owner of Bearded Buffalo, said the resort will be home to a temporary store this year, with T-shirts, flannels, hats and other fun South Dakota memorabilia for sale. The actual larger-scale trading company part of the business will come online down the road.

BHP stirs excitement for 2023 season

Published by admin on Wed, 06/07/2023 - 9:02am

Pine loopers may loop back for second year of devastating defoliation

Published by admin on Wed, 06/07/2023 - 8:56am
Last summer, property owners near Pringle began to notice the disappearance of needles from surrounding pine trees, making the ridge along Beaver Creek appear gray and bare.  The cause of the defoliation was a recent outbreak of pine loopers, a moth that feeds exclusively on pine needles during its larval caterpillar stage. Pine loopers are native to the Black Hills, but usually appear in fewer numbers, affecting only small pockets of forest. Sometimes, however, the population explodes into an outbreak, lasting one or two years, typically. 

Community support needed for nursing home

Published by admin on Wed, 05/31/2023 - 11:57am

“It will take a village,” said many at the Nursing Home Open House last Tuesday—and the village showed up. The Pine Room at the Custer County Library filled with people eager to hear what plans Caring Professionals (the company who will be running the facility) and the newly formed Custer Cares committee has in the works as they work on reopening the nursing home facility closed by Monument Health in 2021. The town hall meeting was the fruit of over a years worth of labor by many on the Custer Cares committee and many others in the community.

Election next Tuesday

Published by admin on Wed, 05/31/2023 - 11:56am

Next Tuesday, June 6, is election day, and voters in the City of Custer and Town of Hermosa will vote on a new mayor, council members, town board members and a few ballot issues.
In the race for the City of Custer Mayor, incumbent Bob Brown will face challenger Gary Carr for a two-year term. The other city race is for a two-year term on the council in Ward III, as incumbent Peg Ryan will face challenger Faith Lewis.

STAR Valley home saga drags on

Published by admin on Wed, 05/31/2023 - 11:55am

Two weeks after he told the Custer County Commission he would be in front of them to discuss three homes he owns blocking the right of way on Galaxy Trail in the Star Valley Subdivision, Tom McDill was absent from the May 23 meeting of the Custer County Commission.
Because of that, another call was placed to McDill at his residence in Austin, Texas, with McDill saying the reason he wasn’t at the meeting is because he had been dealing with some medical issues.

Crazy Horse Volksmarch set for this Saturday

Published by admin on Wed, 05/31/2023 - 11:53am

Crazy Horse Memorial will once again be holding a Volksmarch at the memorial, this time for the 37th year. The Crazy Horse Volksmarch is an opportunity for hikers to scale what will one day be the largest mountain carving in the world.
Since its inception, the Crazy Horse Volksmarch has become the most popular organized hike in the entire country. One year they had as many as 15,000 participants. The event is sponsored by the Black Hills Chapter of the American Volksmarch Assosication.

Noem pulls support for grocery tax measure

Published by admin on Wed, 05/31/2023 - 11:49am

A citizen-led campaign to eliminate South Dakota’s state grocery tax through a measure on the 2024 ballot won’t have the backing of Gov. Kristi Noem’s administration despite earlier indications she would support it.
The sticking point is concern expressed by attorney general Marty Jackley in his official ballot explanation.

Prison workshops bleeding money despite requirement to break even

Published by admin on Wed, 05/31/2023 - 11:31am

The South Dakota Department of Corrections is required to operate its prison workshops without losing money, but the DOC has long failed to live up to that expectation.
Not only do some shops lose as much as $400,000 a year, but inmates aren’t spending enough of their work time filling customer orders. Inmates regularly tag just 15% of their work hours to the job orders they’re meant to fill in the carpentry, metal fabrication or sign-making shops.