Hill City Prevailer

Lawn watering restrictions pending

Published by admin on Wed, 09/23/2026 - 9:43am
It’s time to stop watering lawns. At least, that is what the Hill City Common Council is requesting after a discussion at the Sept. 14 meeting at city hall. 
Public works director Justin Asher reported that the Tracy Park well is only putting out 40-60 gallons per minute instead of 110. As a result, they are transferring water from the low side to the high side during the day to give the well a chance to recover. 

Residents asked to help find ‘news deserts’

Published by admin on Wed, 09/23/2026 - 9:38am
As a new foundation launches to help fund media organizations, two upcoming discussions will focus on how people get their news in order to ensure access to trusted information.
Eda Uzunlar spent part of this year traveling across the nation of Turkey to learn how people get their news, and now the Rapid City native plans to conduct similar research in the United States.

School board approves FY 2027 budget

Published by admin on Wed, 09/23/2026 - 9:37am
The Hill City School District Board of Education (HCSDBE) met Sept. 14 to review district achievements, departmental reports and approve the upcoming budget. 
In the good news portion of the agenda, superintendent Blake Gardner reported that U.S. News and World Report has ranked Hill City as the number three school in the state following Sioux Falls Lincoln and Brandon Valley. The ranking is supported by metrics including Advanced Placement (AP) participation, ACT scores and graduation rates. 

Public encouraged to attend proposed tax sessions

Published by admin on Wed, 09/16/2026 - 9:49am
Hill City will vote on an additional one percent sales tax levy Nov. 3. To help voters understand more about the proposal, there will be two informational meetings Sept. 23 at the Hill City Center. An afternoon meeting will be held at 3:30 p.m. while an evening meeting will take place at 7 p.m.
People are encouraged to attend either session to ask questions, provide feedback or to understand how the additional tax, if approved, will impact them.

Votes approve new members, way forward

Published by admin on Wed, 09/16/2026 - 9:44am
The Keystone Chamber of Commerce held a meeting to discuss its future. About 30 people filled the meeting room at Sprockets Fun Foundry Sept. 9 and listened to current chamber secretary John Wells talk about the state of the chamber.
“There are several open positions on the chamber,” said Wells, including vice president and treasurer.

Keystone citizens make accusations to board

Published by admin on Wed, 09/09/2026 - 10:16am
William Waggoner  again came to the Keystone Town Board, this time demanding the town freeze water and sewer allocations to the KBarS Lodge.
The request came in front of a packed house at the Sept. 3 Keystone Town Board meeting.
Waggoner referred to several codified laws stating that “trust has been fundamentally broken” in regards to Keystone’s water and utility infrastructure.  
“This leadership has allowed our infrastructure to degrade,” Waggoner said. 

How donors in De Smet are bringing big projects to little town on the prairie

Published by admin on Wed, 09/09/2026 - 10:06am
Even though it happened more than a decade ago, Rita Anderson can still recall the worry she felt as all her hard work, planning and fundraising to build a community and event center in De Smet appeared to be fizzling out at the very last minute.
Anderson was the director of the De Smet Economic Development Corp. (EDC) in 2013 and had raised most of the money in private local donations to pay for the building that would include a senior center, theater, kitchen, workout room, meeting spaces and a new lighted high school football field outside.

BHE now seeks both rate increase, surcharge

Published by admin on Wed, 09/02/2026 - 9:35am
The average Black Hills Energy residential electric customer in South Dakota faces a monthly bill that will be $45 higher if state regulators approve a pending rate increase and surcharge.

Hill City takes the top spot West River

Published by admin on Wed, 09/02/2026 - 9:34am
Hill City once again is taking a top ranking in schools across the state, ranking third in this year’s U.S. News and World Report. The rankings, which were reported Aug. 18, shows Hill City was the highest-ranked high school in West River. It ranked behind Lincoln High School in Sioux Falls and Brandon Valley High School in Brandon. 

More discussion on subsidizing rates

Published by admin on Wed, 09/02/2026 - 9:32am
Aldermen once again discussed subsidizing water and sewer rates at the Aug. 24 Hill City Common Council (HCCC) meeting. No action was taken on the matter, but the item was on the agenda as a discussion. 
Alderwoman Lori Miner said she was in favor of subsidizing the sewer rates due to seeing a need in increased operations and expenses (O&M). Miner suggested using an expiring government (GO) bond for approximately $200,000 to help subsidize rates. 
“The end result to the user would be lessened,” Miner said.