Local News – April 17, 2017

An accident occurred at 1:00 Thursday afternoon in Shannon County that took the life of a Salem man. According to the highway patrol report, a 1999 Ford Explorer driven by 64-year old Kevin Richards of Salem was traveling eastbound on Shannon County Road 258 about ten miles north of Round Spring. Richards entered a turn too fast and left the right side of the roadway. The Ford Explorer overturned into a pond. Richards was pronounced dead by Shannon County Coroner Tim Denton at 1:15 Thursday afternoon. He was not wearing a seat restraint at the time of the accident. The Ford Explorer was totaled and removed from the scene by Whitaker’s Towing of Salem. Richards body was taken to the Wilson Mortuary in Salem.

An accident occurred Saturday afternoon at 4:10 in Phelps County on Route F about 1 1/2 miles south of Rolla. According to the highway patrol report, a 2016 Nissan Sentra, driven by 30-year old Milan Koirala of Rolla, crossed the center line of the roadway on a hillcrest and struck an oncoming 2007 Chevrolet 2500,
driven by 72-year old James D. Fullerton of St. James. Koirala sustained serious injuries and was transported by Phelps County Ambulance to Phelps County Regional Medical Center Helipad and airlifted by Arch Air Ambulance to UMC-Columbia Hospital. Fullerton, along with a passenger 62-year old Patricia L. Fullerton, sustained moderate injuries and were transported by Phelps County Ambulance to PCRMC. According to the report all occupants were wearing safety restraints. Both vehicles were totaled and the Chevrolet was removed by C & C Towing, while the Nissan was removed by Ron Dishman Towing.

The Salem R-80 Board of Education held a re-organizational as well as their regular meeting Thursday evening at the boardroom. The Salem R-80 Board had three seats available and incumbents Holly Erway, Drew Whitaker and Larry Maxwell each re-filed for those positions and were unopposed, thus an election was not needed. Bernie Sirois was re-elected as President and Dustin Howard was re-elected as Vice President, while Holly Erway was elected as Secretary and Chris Heavin was re-elected as Treasurer. The Board also voted to re-elect Larry Maxwell as the MSBA delegate and Carry Snider as the alternate. The Board voted to move into their regular monthly meeting. After approval of the agenda, McColloch discussed with the Board in length a facilities need for a new restroom facility at the football field, storage for equipment, lockers $7,417.68. The Board then approved a request from Project Graduation for two busses and two drivers. After a discussion, the Board considered and voted to hire another IT person. It was and an update to the press box. In new business, the Board voted to leave the tuition for 2017-2018 school year at noted that as many as 450 Chrome Books will be added each of the next three years that the district will totally be maintaining on site. The Board then addressed changes to the support staff employee manual, most of which were just the wording, but McColloch noted that one was to reduce the probation period for support staff from 90 to 30 days the same as for the certified staff and the Board agreed. The Board received numerous 2017A MSBA updates and agreed to accept them. Based on the facilities update earlier in the meeting, and much discussion, the Board voted to go with McKinstry for a detailed engineering study agreement for the cost of $20,000. The initial items that are most pressing that need immediate attention are a new restroom facility at the football field, followed by storage and lockers and then down the line to update the press box. The Board declared surplus property consisting of 12 bus radios 6 tires and accepted the one bid that came in for each. The Board then voted to go into closed session for the purpose of discussing personnel.

The City of Salem Board of Alderman will conduct a re-organizational meeting after canvassing the election results electing a new president of the boar, as well as appointing a City Clerk and City Attorney. They will then hold their regular meeting tonight at 7:00 at the City Hall Council Chambers. In bids, the City had requested bids to tear off the existing roof, clean up and haul away all trash, install felt,
new pipe boots, two black turbines, one black flat air vent and white roof edging on the Al Brown Field Concession Stand. The three bids
received will be presented to the Board for consideration. City Administrator Ray Walden will then update the Board on various present and future issues and projects concerning the City of Salem, followed by reports from Mayor Nash. In new and miscellaneous business, Water/Sewer Superintendent Jack Emory will request approval to repair 2 Flygt Mixers that need to be repaired at the Waste Water Treatment Facility. One repair is in the amount of $2,903.50 and the other is $3,514.78. The Board will then vote to go into closed session for the purpose of discussing real estate, litigation and contracts. The meeting of the City of Salem Board of Alderman is open to the public.