Custer County Chronicle

Arrest made for Meshell Will murder

Published by admin on Thu, 07/22/2021 - 10:43am

Eight years after her body was found dumped in a wooded area just off a Pigtail Bridge on Iron Mountain Road in Pennington County, law enforcement believes they have found Meshell Will’s killer.
Richard Melvin Schmitz, 53, a former resident of Custer who was living near Hill City, was taken into custody at his home and charged with second-degree murder.
Nancy Herman, a Custer resident who for the past eight years has advocated for Will through social media and yearly vigils, said she started to shake and cry when she was told an arrest had been made.

County $14.3 million in errors

Published by admin on Thu, 07/22/2021 - 10:42am

Saying it was one of the most difficult audits he has ever had to work on, Bruce Hintz of the S.D. Department of Legislative Audit discussed the county’s 2018-19 audit at the Custer County Commission’s July 14 meeting, which he said had a combined $14.3 million in reporting errors on its financial statements.
Hintz said he typically spends around 250 hours on a Custer County audit. For the aforementioned two-year period he spent 250 hours auditing just cash alone. The total audit took around 534 hours.

Property transfers keep ROD busy

Published by admin on Thu, 07/22/2021 - 10:40am

Part 8 of a series of articles examining the numerous economic and lifestyle impacts of the in-migration to Custer County.
Custer County’s growing pains are being felt all over, such as in the county register of deeds office where collection of fees has more than doubled in the past decade.
Register of Deeds Teri Morgan said when she joined the office nine years ago under former office-holder Dennis Zellner it was bringing in an average of about $10,000 in fees, most of which were for property transfers.

Man claims county commission is ‘illegitimate’

Published by admin on Thu, 07/22/2021 - 10:39am

The Custer County Commission is illegitimate.
That was the claim made by a man who, according to the meeting agenda for the July 14 meeting of the commission, was on the agenda to talk about American Rescue Act funds. However, the man ended up cutting his presentation short and accusing the commission of being illegitimate and attempting to vote on something it has no information on.

Commission continues talks on guns in courthouse

Published by admin on Thu, 07/22/2021 - 10:39am

Firearms in the Custer County Courthouse were discussed again by the Custer County Commission at its July 14 meeting, as commissioner Craig Hindle discussed correspondence he recently had with Seventh Judicial Circuit Court judge Craig Pfeifle on the issue.

County approves former STAR Academy plat

Published by admin on Thu, 07/22/2021 - 10:38am

A 138-acre plat for the Star Valley Estates Subdivision was approved by the Custer County Commission at its July 14 meeting, with the commission bypassing the usual step of another look at the plat by the county’s planning commission.
Mark Nielsen, who along with wife, Kim, and Paul and Haylee Vershure purchased the property at the former State Treatment and Rehabilitation (STAR) Academy Feb. 12, came before the commission to ask for the corrected plat to be approved after what Nielsen said were some “fairly minor” contingencies caused the planning commission to table it.

Wildlife Loop Road work begins

Published by admin on Thu, 07/22/2021 - 10:33am

If you plan to take a drive down Wildlife Loop Road in Custer State Park in the next couple of months, prepare to be patient.
On July 12 work began on an overlay of the entire 18 miles of the road, a project park visitor services program manager Kobee Stalder said is five years in the making, the last three of which have consisted of planning and securing funds for the $2.8 million project.

Gold Discovery Days with full slate returns

Published by admin on Thu, 07/15/2021 - 10:05am

Gold Discovery Days kicks off Thursday evening and a full slate of activities are scheduled after last year’s festivities were tempered somewhat due to COVID-19.
The carnival returns to Washington Street between 6th and 8th streets again  and will kick off the weekend’s activities at 5 p.m. Thursday, July 15. It will remain open until 10 p.m.
Things get started Friday with the arts and crafts festival from 11 a.m. to 8:30 p.m. on Washington Street between 5th and 6th streets. At noon the carnival resumes and runs until 10 p.m.

No CRT at CSD

Published by admin on Thu, 07/15/2021 - 9:56am

It’s the hot button issue of our day. School boards across the nation have heard impassioned speeches from parents calling for its abolishment, while one of the nation’s largest teachers unions has vowed to “fight back” against its critics. The issue is Critical Race Theory (CRT), a form of “anti-racist” education which critics say is racist at its core.
In discussion at Thursday’s monthly meeting of Custer School District Board of Educa-tion, it was made clear that CRT is not part of the district’s curriculum and there are no plans to incorporate the ideology in the future.

1st Miss GDD returns as parade marshal

Published by admin on Thu, 07/15/2021 - 9:53am

Nearly 70 years after making her first parade appearance as Miss Gold Discovery Days 1952, Colleen Mahrt will ride in Saturday’s Gold Discovery Days (GDD) parade. This time, however, she will do so as parade marshal along with her husband, Marty, who, along with being a decorated United States Air Force veteran, is also a veteran of the Pageant of Paha Sapa.