News

When the State of South Dakota decided to shut down its schools two weeks ago due to the coronavirus, parents throughout Custer County got a new title added to their resume: teacher.

For the past two weeks, parents have been sent scrambling to collect packets of work assigned by teachers at the school to give to their children at home, while also helping them with that work and trying to make sure their children are supervised, taken care of and, in some cases, fed, throughout the day.

Infighting on the Hermosa Town Board has led to an unprofessional, toxic environment that is ruining the board’s ability to effectively govern, says the former finance officer for the town.

Lynn Bauter, who abruptly resigned as the town’s finance officer earlier this month after only seven months on the job, said she did so due to the dysfunction on the board. At the center of the discord is a dispute between board president Vicki Henrichsen and board member Dan Holsworth.

A “public service announcement” to address the COVID-19 pandemic passed by the Custer City Council at a special Monday meeting admittedly has no enforcement teeth, said city attorney Chris Beesley. However, the city plans to fast track an ordinance regarding the limiting or outright closure of “non-essential” businesses during the pandemic, mirroring similar rules being voted in around the country, including in Rapid City and Huron.

The 2020 session of the South Dakota Legislature is in the books, and District 30 legislators have mixed feelings on how the session went, the bills that will become law and the bills that were not passed.

“It generally went OK,” District 30 Sen. Lance Russell said. “I was pleasantly surprised. The governor’s office came up with the money to satisfy the 2 percent (increase) for education. That was a step in the right direction and ended on a positive note.”