News

City to spend $9.3 million

Published by admin on Thu, 09/12/2019 - 9:57am

The Custer City Council passed the first reading of its 2020 budget at its Sept. 3 meeting for $9.3 million, an amount $1.2 million higher than the 2019 budget, which had been $2.664 million more than the previous year.

County approves $1.7 million in funding

Published by admin on Thu, 09/12/2019 - 9:56am
Custer County Search and Rescue, Custer Senior Center, the 1881 Courthouse Museum and the Custer County Airport are among the entities set to benefit from a Sept. 3 decision by the Custer County Commission to allocate over $1.7 million in funding from its unassigned reserve fund.

Hermosa School moves forward

Published by admin on Thu, 09/12/2019 - 9:51am
A year ago the new grade school to be built at Hermosa seemed a distant dream, but actions by the Custer School District Board of Education Monday evening are evidence that today the project is much nearer to becoming a reality.
In introducing the agenda item entitled “Hermosa Planning Update,” Superintendent Mark Naugle noted that the board has not officially approved the project, nor has it decided how to fund it, but added, “I’m pleased with where we’re at.” 

Access issues: To condemn or not?

Published by admin on Thu, 09/12/2019 - 9:45am
The top two officials of the local offices of the U.S. Forest Service were on hand to discuss a litany of issues with the Custer County Commission at the Sept. 3 commission meeting, but the two sides stopped short of coming up with a compromise on one of the biggest issues that sees the them at loggerheads.
Both Black Hills National Forest supervisor Mark Van Every and Hell Canyon District ranger Tracy Anderson were present, with Van Every reiterating an earlier statement that the Forest Service wants to be a good neighbor to both the county and taxpayers.

Flood cleanup slowly continues

Published by admin on Thu, 09/05/2019 - 11:14am

City of Custer officials know some in the community feel like the pace of cleanup from the Aug. 2 flood has moved along more slowly than it should, but say to rest assured that the cleanup continues each day.

Rape victim sues Mechaley, deputies

Published by admin on Thu, 09/05/2019 - 10:23am

Custer County Sheriff Marty Mechaley and other deputies at the Custer County Sheriff’s Office are among the defendants named in a civil lawsuit recently filed federally by a rural Custer County woman who was kidnapped and raped in September 2017.

Tourism numbers appear down

Published by admin on Thu, 09/05/2019 - 10:13am

The summer of 2019 appeared to be a solid—although slightly down—year in terms of tourist spending in Custer, with several factors cited as the reason.

Van Every addresses county’s Forest concerns

Published by admin on Thu, 09/05/2019 - 10:01am
Black Hills National Forest supervisor Mark Van Every is not interested in getting into a battle with Custer County.
“I view them as a partner and we want to work together,” he said. “They are in a tought spot, too. Neither one of us has all the resources we need. We all have rules and laws we have to follow.”

Rain reign continues

Published by admin on Thu, 08/29/2019 - 10:12am
Fresh off the wettest year in the recorded history of Custer — 2018 — Custer is on pace to have ... the wettest year in the recorded history of Custer.
To date, Custer has officially received 21.03 inches of precipitation in 2019 (the Aug. 2 storm produced “only” 2.03 inches of rain at the official recording point at the Custer County Airport), putting it a mere 5.54 inches of precipitation away from last year’s all-time high of 26.57 inches.

Holey [buffalo] calf

Published by admin on Thu, 08/29/2019 - 10:08am
No, that wasn’t a huge prairie dog sticking his head out of a hole in the prairie of Custer State Park (CSP) Monday evening, Aug. 19. It was a buffalo bull calf and it took a team of rescuers several minutes and the aid of a couple of shovels to dig the little fellow out. 
“He had himself wedged in there pretty tight,” said CSP herd manager Chad Kremer of the calf that was discovered by tour Jeep drivers shortly before sundown.