News

Rushmore fireworks would be July 3

Published by admin on Thu, 01/30/2020 - 10:12am

The National Park Service (NPS) is evaluating a proposal from South Dakota to host a fireworks display at Mount Rushmore National Memorial.

The display would be held July 3.

Alpine Inn wins restaurant of the year

Published by admin on Thu, 01/30/2020 - 10:12am

Anyone who has been to the Alpine Inn knows its excellence; however, the Hill City institution received perhaps one of its greatest honors to date recently.

The Alpine Inn, owned and operated by Moni Matush with the assistance of her mother, Wally Matush (who started the restaurant in 1984) has been named South Dakota Restaurant of the Year by the South Dakota Retailers Association (SDRA).

Keystone chamber board president resigns

Published by admin on Thu, 01/30/2020 - 10:12am

The Keystone Chamber of Commerce is once again experiencing leadership change as board president Julie Smoragiewicz resigned. She was voted in as board president to serve a two-year term Sept. 20, 2019, according to the chamber newsletter of Sept. 26. 

Wounded Knee with a wounded knee

Published by admin on Thu, 01/30/2020 - 10:11am

Yay, I have a torn meniscus That means I’m grounded from some things I love for a bit. No climbing, hiking or yoga. Basically no fun.

I realize a ton of things on my 50 firsts list involve me being active so it’s hard for me to make progress there. But after reading the South Dakota One Book for 2019 I put going to Wounded Knee on my bucket list. And what better time to go to Wounded Knee then with a wounded, knee, right?

Convention liquor up for vote

Published by admin on Thu, 01/30/2020 - 10:11am

Keystone may soon have another business with a convention liquor license according to town finance officer Cassandra Ott.

K Bar S Lodge is applying for a convention liquor license. A town of 300 is only allowed to have three on-sale liquor licenses. Currently BaRLees, the Ruby House and Grizzly Creek hold those. The town, however, also created an ordinance for convention liquor licenses.

No firm date set for permanent Mount Rushmore superintendent

Published by admin on Thu, 01/30/2020 - 10:11am

A firm date has not been set on when the permanent superintendent position will be announced at Mount Rushmore National Memorial, according to Maureen McGee-Ballinger, chief of interpretation at the memorial.

In the meantime, Patricia Trap has taken over as interim superintendent for the memorial, it was announced earlier in January, the second interim superintendent the memorial has had since the spring.

Elevator issues plague area parks

Published by admin on Thu, 01/30/2020 - 9:32am
Nearly seven months to the day that they first went down, the elevators at Wind Cave National Park still aren’t operational.
Consultants were brought in last week to chart a path to fix the elevators. Those consultants will write up a scope of work and a contractor will be sought to repair the ailing elevators.
“We will know more in the coming months,” said Wind Cave chief of interpretation Tom Farrell about what it will take to get the elevators operational again.

Celebrate Recovery comes to Custer

Published by admin on Thu, 01/30/2020 - 9:31am
People in the Custer area who are struggling with addictions now have a local resource for getting help with their recovery. In fact, Celebrate Recovery (CR) ministry leader Marge Beam said the meetings being held at Living Outreach Church on Thursday nights are for people dealing with all sorts of “hurts, habits and hang-ups.” 
“We don’t want people to think it’s just for people who have a drug and alcohol problem,” said Beam. “It’s any hang-up or hurt.” 

Citizen heated about burn permit issues

Published by admin on Thu, 01/30/2020 - 9:30am
When it comes to issuing and overseeing the city of Custer’s open burn permits, the Custer Volunteer Fire Department has at least one city resident less than pleased.
In a letter penned to the city and discussed at the Jan. 21 meeting of the Custer City Council, Frank Carroll wrote that the fire department “is not able to provide appropriate customer service with regard to issuing the permit. City ordinance puts the fire department in charge of overseeing in-town burn permits, and the fire department assigns a fire department member to head up the program.”

Fire services study goes forward

Published by admin on Thu, 01/30/2020 - 9:29am
The Custer County Commission made it clear at its Jan. 22 meeting it doesn’t want to wait until a fire call comes and volunteers don’t arrive to get a handle on the dwindling number of volunteer firefighters in Custer County.
The commission moved ahead with a request for proposal (RFP) for a study “of the current situation of fire department service delivery within Custer County with recommendations for strengthening and enhancing the future delivery of such services to Custer County residents and visitors” (see legal notices in this week’s issue for full text).