News

Going virtual

Published by admin on Thu, 02/11/2021 - 10:51am

Thanks to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, for the first time the Black Hills Film Festival is going entirely online.

Chris VanNess, executive director of the Black Hills Film Festival, said she is excited about this change as it can usher in a new era of the film festival.

“We have connected with a partner called Film Festivals Flix, and they are a streaming channel. So we are a virtual festival on their streaming channel,” she said. “And then phase two, we will also have our own streaming channel that will be up year-round.”

Hearing set for property sale

Published by admin on Thu, 02/11/2021 - 10:50am

A public hearing to discuss the ambulance property sale will occur at the board’s next meeting Feb. 17, according to the most recent Keystone Town Board meeting.

The contract “looks good” to the town’s attorney who feels a public hearing is “appropriate” for this matter.

The board accepted the ambulance district’s $50,000 offer to buy the property the ambulance building currently sits on.

The board approved a motion to allow public works supervisor Jerry Przybylski to assist with unloading food from the food assistance truck when possible.

Vacation rental conditional use permit rejected

Published by admin on Thu, 02/11/2021 - 10:50am

The Hill City Common Council rejected a conditional use permit for a vacation rental.

The council cited several issues with the home including parking and the fact that Susan Scheirbeck, the applicant, had been using it as a nightly vacation rental after the council rejected the application last May.

Dani Schade, development service coordinator, said there were two comments submitted regarding the application. Both were not in favor of granting the conditional use permit.

STAR auction is Friday

Published by admin on Thu, 02/11/2021 - 10:11am

The former State Treatment and Rehabilitation Academy (STAR) will hit the auction block again Friday, but with a drastically reduced price from the last time it was offered for sale.
The price of the campus has been reduced to $1 million, which is $680,000 less than the previous listed price after $320,00 was subtracted from the property value following the sale of 40 acres of the property at the previous auction in September. The state has tried three times unsuccessfully to sell the campus and buildings, of which 133 acres and all the buildings, homes, etc., remain.

Blazes burn bales, barn

Published by admin on Thu, 02/11/2021 - 10:09am

Fires on opposite sides of Custer County within the same hour destroyed a large amount of hay and burned over 50 acres of public and private land last Wednesday.
The Hazelrodt Cutoff fire two miles southeast of Custer was reported at 1:06 p.m. and fire crews from Custer and surrounding agencies were on the scene in minutes.
The fire, whipped up by swirling winds, destroyed a barn and two other outbuildings on property owned by Carl Cundy, then spread to nearby national forest land.

Victim says exposure laws too lax

Published by admin on Thu, 02/11/2021 - 10:07am

The woman who reported an incident of indecent exposure in Custer County last month says she is willing to testify against the man in court, but also wants state laws changed to get serial exhibitionists off the street.

Change order OK’d for Hermosa School

Published by admin on Thu, 02/11/2021 - 10:07am

The Hermosa School project once again took center stage at the February meeting of the Custer School District Board of Education on Monday, as the board heard a construction update and approved a nearly $17,000 change order on the project.
Architect Jeremy Altman of Architects, Inc. told the board a mistake had been made which resulted in the steel decking on the second floor of the building being kinked during the pouring of concrete. He said workers had put a piece of equipment in the wrong place which caused the deformation of the deck.

Beware vaccine scams

Published by admin on Thu, 02/11/2021 - 10:03am

The FBI, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and the Better Business Bureau (BBB) warn of scams that are circulating as the Unites States continues to roll out COVID-19 vaccinations.
Know that you won’t have to pay to receive the COVID-19 vaccine when it’s your turn. If you’re asked to pay or provide private information, that’s not legit.

How sweet it is: Kaitlinn Verchio starts chocolate company

Published by admin on Thu, 02/04/2021 - 9:59am

Kaitlinn Verchio is the very definition of local kid done good.

The 2012 Hill City High School graduate who was born and raised in Hill City went to culinary school after high school and has now started her own chocolate business: Dazed on Sugar, which was officially launched in November 2020.

“Thinsg are going great,” she said. “Way better than what I expected. People have been super generous and kind and super excited for me. That has been making my journey easier because starting a business is stressful and scary and hard.”

New city employee starts

Published by admin on Thu, 02/04/2021 - 9:59am

City hall in Hill City has a new fish in its pond.

Tracy Fish is the newest employee at city hall, starting last month as the office assistant.

“I am...helping the finance office with organizing and filing and catching up on some things,” she said. “And I’m learning a lot, too.”

Fish was born in South Dakota and grew up in a small town south of Sioux Falls. She married into the military and had been away for some time. She and her husband had some land in Custer, and upon his retirement from the Army, they moved back here.