Custer County Chronicle

County DOE: Appraisals still lag behind market values

Published by admin on Thu, 10/06/2022 - 9:18am

A familiar refrain was heard at the Sept. 28 meeting of the Custer County Commission, as the county’s director of equalization, Leah Vissia, told the commission that for the most part county assessments were still well below market value of property in Custer County. By law, the county must assess property at 100 percent of what is known as “full and true,” the market value of the home. If the county does not do that, the state comes in and gives a factor that it multiplies the assessed value times to make sure the property is being taxed at the appropriate value.

Harvest Moon Festival Saturday

Published by admin on Thu, 10/06/2022 - 9:15am

Bracketing the end to summer tourism and the Buffalo Roundup, the second annual Harvest Moon Festival is this Saturday, Oct. 8, at Buffalo Ridge Camp Resort.
This yearly hoorah is hosted by Custer Hospitality and will celebrate with a full day of events.
From 11 a.m. to 9 p.m., games, live music and food vendors will be taking over the campground.
The festival is family-friendly and includes a bouncy house for children, and a fall carnival theme with cotton candy, popcorn, a pumpkin patch and hay rides.

Buffalo Roundup this weekend

Published by admin on Thu, 09/29/2022 - 9:52am
 
 
The Governor’s Buffalo Roundup starts this week with essentially something for everyone as there’s the roundup, an arts and crafts festival and the Crazy Horse Volksmarch. 
 
Custer State Park’s Buffalo Roundup is now a 57-year tradition where the public is invited to watch as approximately 1,300 buffalo are herded into corrals.
 
South Dakota Game, Fish & Parks uses the help of many local citizens on horseback and in designated vehicles to run the dense herd of buffalo. 
 

Hartmann resigns as city planning head

Published by admin on Thu, 09/29/2022 - 9:29am

The City of Custer will soon be without a planning administrator after current planning administrator Tim Hartmann’s resignation was accepted at the Sept. 19 meeting of the Custer City Council.
The resignation came after a quick regular meeting that was followed by an executive session, after which the council accepted the resignation.
Reached after the meeting, Hartmann said his last official day with the city is Oct. 7, although he spent his last full day in the office Sept. 23. Hartmann said he was leaving the city to “pursue a new opportunity.”

It’s homecoming week in the Custer School District

Published by admin on Thu, 09/29/2022 - 9:28am

Custer High School’s 2022 homecoming is full of events from Oct. 3 through Oct. 7.
The Wildcat’s coronation ceremony is 7 p.m. Monday, Oct. 3 at Custer High School.
Royalty candidates were announced and in the running for homecoming queen are Ally Cass, Ramsey Karim, Allie Kelley and Alice Sedlacek.
The homecoming king candidates are Blake Boyster, Jackson Drew, Remington Miklos and Landon Woodward.
Junior royalty include Ava Jaure, Kian Rusch, JoJo Larsen, Jackson Wiles, Chloe Carder and Sam Gaulke.

History conference returns to its roots

Published by admin on Thu, 09/29/2022 - 9:23am

For its 30th anniversary year, the West River History Conference (WRHC) is returning to where it all began. When around 100 professional and amateur historians meet Oct. 5-8 they will gather in the Black Hills, beginning in Custer State Park and concluding in Keystone.
The conference was first held in Keystone in 1993 and will return there with a public celebration on Saturday. Additional events that will include the general public are also planned to celebrate the anniversary, according to conference executive director Laura Hovey Neubert.

State releases public lands movies

Published by admin on Thu, 09/29/2022 - 8:59am
The South Dakota Department of Tourism has announced the release of a short film focused on Buffalo Gap National Grassland. This release marks the final film of a three-part series highlighting South Dakota’s public lands.
 
“Putting a focus on the incredible resource that Buffalo Gap National Grassland offers is an exciting opportunity for us,” said James Hagen, secretary of the South Dakota Department of Tourism. “Buffalo Gap surrounds the incredibly popular Badlands National Park but has remained one of South Dakota’s most beautiful hidden gems.”

Election signs not allowed in ROW

Published by admin on Thu, 09/29/2022 - 8:56am
The South Dakota Department of Transportation (SDDOT) reminds the public that political campaign and ballot-issue signs cannot be placed on state highway rights-of-way.  
 
“Election signs are showing up along the state’s roadways,” says Craig Smith, director of operations. “Illegal signs create a safety hazard and may distract motorists from seeing important regulatory or directional signing.” 
 

Assisting with the escape - Part IV

Published by admin on Thu, 09/22/2022 - 9:45am

This is the fourth and final story in a series about Marty and Jen Mechaley and their involvement in assisting several of Warren Jeffs’ daughters to leave the FLDS.
If you attended a Custer High School football game in the fall of 2021, chances are you saw—or maybe even briefly interacted with—one of the ten daughters of self-proclaimed Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (FLDS) prophet Warren Jeffs who Marty and Jen Mechaley helped leave the FLDS.

Preparing for ‘What if?’

Published by admin on Thu, 09/22/2022 - 9:42am

For four days last week, a group of around 15 people took part in a Civilian Rescuer and Austere Environment Medical Training. Such training is just one of the many types of trainings undertaken by members of a local group called “American Contingency (AMCON),” a local branch that is part of a nationwide assembly of small, local groups organized and training in the name of being prepared for the unexpected.