Local News – Wednesday, October 25th, 2017

The Salem R-80 Board of Education met last Thursday at the District Administrative Offices Boardroom for their regular monthly meeting. Superintendent John McColloch reported the September membership count was 1,343 students enrolled in Kindergarten through the 12th grade, and 1,434 students enrolled in the district from Pre-kindergarten through the 12th grade. Superintendent McColloch and all seven board members recently attended the MSBA/MASA Annual Fall Conference. The board members attended a myriad of informative sessions. In the individual school reports, principal Marty Anderson reported the high school has enrollment of 604 students which is 15 more than last year. His report showed there were 43 students inducted into the National Honor Society which is more than double the 2016 number of 20. The report showed there were 11 students on probation for Activities or Athletic participation after the first mid-term. That is down 19 students from the 2016 year. In Principal Scott Roberts report for the Salem Middle School, enrollment currently stands at 213 students. He also sent out congratulations to Mrs. Ritchey and Mrs. McKee for being awarded DonorsChoose.org grants for technology in the classroom. Each grant was for approximately $400 worth of supplies. At the Salem Upper Elementary School, no current enrollment numbers were given by Principal Melanie Wisdom, but she did report that there are 131 children with 100% attendance. Principal Kriste Crocker reported the William Lynch Elementary School enrollment currently stands at 240 students made up of 70 pre-kindergarten students, 83 kindergarten students and 87 first grade students. The board approved a bid from T & W Masonry for $112,000 for the demolition of masonry, and a bid from Auxier for $65,011 for construction of an EFIS system and framing work at William Lynch Elementary. The board approved a contingency budget of up to a total of $300,000 that includes the two accepted bids of $177,011 for the replacement of the parapet wall at William Lynch Elementary. The board also approved the job description updates as presented. The board went into closed session at 6:40 and after no votes were taken there, the meeting came back into open session and was adjourned at 6:54.

The Salem High School Chamber Choir will have concessions available at the Halloween Nightmare haunted house October 27th and 28th. They open at dark and continue on until midnight. Cheddar brats, jalapeño brats, hot dogs, fried potatoes, and all kinds of sweets will be available, so come on out for a good scare, or just to eat some good food! Take Highway 32 west to Route F, then onto Dent County Road 6400. Watch for signs!

The Missouri Department of Conservation (MDC) needs the help of deer hunters to keep the deadly deer disease called chronic wasting disease (CWD) from spreading to more deer in more areas of Missouri. MDC will be conducting mandatory CWD sampling of harvested deer in 25 counties opening weekend of the fall firearms deer season, November 11th and 12th. Hunters who harvest deer in any of these select counties of MDC’s CWD Management Zone during opening weekend MUST present their harvested deer at one of the Department’s 56 CWD sampling stations so staff can collect tissue samples to test the animals for CWD. The 25 mandatory CWD sampling counties are: Adair, Barry, Benton, Cedar, Cole, Crawford, Dade, Franklin, Hickory, Jefferson, Knox, Linn, Macon, Moniteau, Ozark, Polk, St. Charles, St. Clair, St. Francois, Ste. Genevieve, Stone, Sullivan, Taney, Warren, and Washington. The 25 mandatory sampling counties include ones recently added to the CWD Management Zone after cases of CWD were found there in 2016-2017, counties with previous CWD positives, and counties very near where cases of CWD have been found. Find mandatory sampling stations online and in MDC’s 2017 Fall Deer & Turkey Hunting Regulations and Information booklet, available where permits are sold. Voluntary samples can also be done by hunters. To find those stations, again check the 2017 Fall Deer and Turkey Hunting Regulations and Information Booklet for their locations. You can also find outmore information on CWD from the MDC website at mdc.mo.gov/cwd.

Healthy Dent County and The Salem United Methodist Church will present their Fall Festival this Friday night from 6:00 to 9:00 at the Salem Upper Elementary. The Festival is free for all ages and will include a bounce house, crafts, face painting, music, pumpkin decoration, bean bag toss and apple bobbing. Healthy food of apples bananas and clementines will be provided, plus apple cider and water to drink. From 8:00 until 9:00 pm you can walk the Tiger Trail to see what scary things come out after dark. Bring your best decorated or carved pumpkin from home for the carving/decorating contest. One winner will be selected from each of the following age groups; 0-7, 8-10, 11-13, 14-17 and 18 and over. Each age group winner will receive a $50 gift card. No registration is required and if you need more information about the event call (573) 729-8163.

The “Haunting at the Mill” event is held on the Saturday before Halloween, October 28th and presents history from a unique perspective. Bring the entire family to experience this unique, non-scary, night time tour of the historic Montauk Mill located across the road from the picnic shelter. You may see bats, hear voices and see ghosts from the past at the old grist mill as the history of Montauk comes to life. Join rangers for one of three tours starting at 6:30 p.m., 7:30 p.m. and 8:30 p.m. Only the first 80 visitors will be allowed in for each tour. Please bring appropriate clothing in case you have to wait outside for the next tour. This free event is sponsored by Missouri State Parks.