Archive for 2017

The Dent County Commission held their regular meeting Monday morning at the courthouse. Presiding Commissioner Darrell Skiles was ill and did not attend. District 1 Commissioner Dennis Purcell acted as Presiding Commissioner in Skiles’ absence. In the public comments, the commission applauded the Salem Marching Band on their efforts on Saturday, September 23rd at Sullivan earning second in their class, placing 8th in the finals and receiving overall captions for Drum Major and Color Guard; congratulating Alex Sellers and the Salem Alumni Foundation for having a great alumni event at the high school, and also to salute the City of Salem and the Salem Parks and Recreation Department as well as all the contributors that helped make “Billy’s Playground in Honor of Carol Perdue” at the Salem City Park a reality which is an all-accessible park that allows all children to play, even those who have a handicapped or a disability. In the road report, Commissioner Purcell stated grading would be done on Dent County Roads 5080 and 5610 that received rain Sunday. He said materials would also be added to county road 5610 and brush would be cut on county road 5440. District 2 Commissioner Gary Larson said brush would be cut on Dent County Roads 2405, 3233 and 6130. He went on to say materials would be added to county roads 2405 and 4380. Larson reported a crossover pipe would be installed on county road 4430 and materials would be added to that road. Zach Woolsey, a grant writer from Monarch Solutions, discussed the Neighborhood Assistance Grant the SMDH hospital is applying for to replace the roof, change the lighting to LED and also to get a new backup generator. The NAP grant would be for $350,000. The Commission voted 2-0 to go ahead and sign the certification showing their support of the project and that it did not violate any county ordinances. The next meeting of the Dent County Commission will be Thursday morning at 9:00 at the courthouse and the meeting is open to the public.

The City of Salem Park and Recreation Board will be meeting today at 5:30 at the City Administrative Offices. After the roll call and agenda is approved, the board will go into closed session to discuss Requests for Qualifications for the pool project. The open session will resume around 7:00 with a report from Park and Recreation Director Tye Lydon. He will give a program update on Flag Football, Co-Ed Volleyball and the upcoming basketball program. Lydon will also review all the improvements being made at the city parks since the last meeting. A report on the grand opening of Billy’s Playground at the City Park will be given followed by updates on work being done at the Al Brown Fields and Soccer Park. The Board will also hear details on a request to create an ATV recreational trail before hearing about the vandalism that occurred at the city park and measures taken to try to prevent that from happening in the future. The board will address any other business that comes before them before adjourning. The City of Salem Park and Recreation Board regular meeting is open to the public.

The Dent County Health Center Board of Trustees met on Monday, September 18th for their regular meeting. Administrator Kendra Mobray presented the preliminary audit report for 2015 and 2016 that was received from Maloney, Wright and Robbins on September 14th. According to the audit findings, proper cash balances were reported on all financial statements, all the bank accounts were adequately secured by pledged securities, all the property tax revenues were properly recorded and accounted for, and all revenue/receipts were properly accounted for. The audit also found there were no exceptions noted regarding credit cards and cash disbursements or expenditures, and all the wages reported as well as employee leave and overtime were verified with no exceptions or findings. The board approved the good audit report. The board also discussed and reviewed the updated personnel manual before approving the revised manual. Administrator Mobray reported the contract for WIC for fiscal year 2018 has been signed by Dent County Health Center and Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services. Mobray also reported that Roma Jones has completed and submitted all lodging inspections for 2017. Mobray said flu shots are now available at the Health Center. They are able to bill private insurance as well as child Medicaid. Flu shots are $37 for those who are uninsured. Mobray said there was one case of E Coli investigated by the communicable disease nurses as well as three cases of Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever. Administrator Mobray reported the outpatient lab services will begin after building renovations are complete. The meeting was then adjourned.

At the Salem High School Homecoming held Friday night as part of the Alumni Weekend, Madi Shaw was crowned the 2018 Salem Football Homecoming Queen. Her court consisted of seniors Trista Heavin and Savannah Tuttle, junior Olivia Erway, sophomore Emma Southards and freshman Reggie Parks.

The Salem Marching Blue started the year off with a bang at the Sullivan Marching Festival. They placed second in their class and qualified to perform at finals among 15 other schools. In the finals, the Salem Marching Blue placed 8th and received overall captions for Drum Major and Color Guard. Salem’s Drum Majors are Laura Benowitz, Nathaniel Alterauge & Kristen Pike. The Color Guard is coached by Kelsey Schatz and consists of 8 members: Rachel Counts, Shada Malone, Alyssa Mayes, Mikayela McCall, Kristen Pike, Marcus Sapaugh & Katelyn Schwartz. High School Band Director David Schatz said it has been a long time since the Salem Marching Band has done this well at a school sized competition and the first time since he became band director in 2014. He said the old trophies in the band room show that making finals and winning overall captions hasn’t happened since the 1990s.

The Salem R-80 Board of Education met Thursday evening for their regular monthly meeting. Superintendent John McColloch gave an update on the William Lynch project and problem with the mortar. Bids are due in early October with construction to begin in early November. The football field project bids on the building of a new locker room facility on the south side of the field are due on September 29th. McColloch introduced Quin Blankenship who is the new student liaison for the Board of Education for the 2017-2018 school year. Assistant Superintendent John Smith gave a report of the district’s MAP/EOC results for the 2016-2017 school year. He pointed out there were significant gains shown in several testing areas. The board heard from 3 members of the Salem FFA Chapter who made a presentation about their Washington Leadership Conference from July. The board then heard from Mary Beth Cook from the Dent County Community Foundation gave a presentation about what they do and are trying to do in the community. In the principal’s reports, Kriste Crocker from William Lynch Elementary reported there are currently 244 students enrolled broken down to 70 Pre-Kindergarteners, 86 Kindergarteners and 88 students in the first grade. Principal Scott Roberts of the Salem Middle School reports enrollment currently standing at 216 students, and High School Principal Marty Anderson indicates there were 607 students enrolled at the Salem High School with 161 students being freshman, 157 of them are sophomores, 143 students are juniors and 146 of them are seniors. Anderson said the lunch participation is up 32% from last year from 320 students to 470 students, and breakfast is up almost 50% from 90 to 179 students. Anderson went on to report that a College Fair will be held September 28th from 1:00-2:30 where over 40 colleges and/or universities usually attend. The board approved the bus routes for the 2017-2018 school year, approved the Special Education Compliance Plan, and approved setting the graduation date on Friday, May 18th at 7:00 at the SHS Football Field. With no votes taken in closed session, the meeting was then adjourned.

An accident happened at 3:40 Saturday afternoon in Dent County about 13 miles southwest of Salem on Highway 119. According to the highway patrol report, a 1990 Olds Cutlass Ciera driven by 18-year old Evan Lunn of Salem, traveled off the right side of the road, came back on to Highway 119, then went back off the right side of the road where the vehicle impacted a concrete culvert. Lunn suffered serious injuries and was life-flighted to Cox South Hospital in Springfield. The Ciera was totaled and removed from the scene by Whitaker’s Towing of Salem. Linn was wearing a seat restraint at time of the accident.

An accident happened in Pulaski County Saturday at 1:15 on Interstate 44 at mile marker 148. According to the highway patrol report, a 2000 Buick LeSabre driven westbound by 36-year old Cory Watkins of Salem traveled off the right side of the roadway and struck a rock embankment. Watkins and a passenger in the LeSabre, 15-year old Samantha Watkins of St. James, suffered minor injuries and were taken by the Pulaski County Ambulance to the Phelps County Regional Medical Center. All involved were wearing seat restraints at the time of the accident. The Buick was totaled and removed from the scene by Jack’s Towing.

The Dent County Commissioners met for their regular meeting Thursday morning in the Dent County Courthouse. In the road report, District One Commissioner Dennis Purcell said that due to the extremely dry conditions with no measurable precipitation for 27 days, full roadway grading was suspended until it rains. He said that spot grading would be done on Dent County Road 6435 and brush would be cut on county road 5460. Purcell added that ditch work, tail grading and material addition would take place on Dent County Roads 6435 and 5610. He noted that Dump Truck #121 had an electrical wiring fire on Wednesday in the Bunker area and would have to be towed in. Fortunately there was limited damage to the truck. Purcell said that Monday evening he attended a Tourism Commission meeting where five reimbursement requests and one proposal were approved. District Two Commissioner Gary Larson echoed Purcell’s comments and noted that as dry and hard as the roadways are, a set of grader blades that normally take about two weeks to wear out would have to be replaced in a day and a half so his crews have also suspended grading. He noted that brush would be cut on Dent County Road 2560, while three pipes would be installed and materials would be added to county road 4380. Presiding Commissioner Darrell Skiles reported that he attended the Hazardous Mitigation Planning meeting on Monday and that it was well attended by nearly all of the interested entities. Then on Tuesday he attended the Ozark Region Solid Waste District meeting to review grant applications. Skiles noted that they reviewed sixteen grants for waste reduction or recycling that totaled $342,500.00 and the Board has $197,500.00 available to be awarded. They will be meeting again next week to allocate the funds. Dent Clerk Angie Curley said bills were being approved by the Commissioners for payment. She presented the Quit Claim Deed for Commissioners’ signatures for railroad right of way to Cedar Bluff Land Co. LLC , and that Dent County Treasurer Denita Williams had received the $500.00 check for the transaction. Williams was in with the CART receipts for the month of September in the amount of $61,422.92, which makes the year-to-date CART receipts up by $12,277.53 or 2.44%. Doug Barnes of Town and Country Bank was in to have the lease-purchase agreement signed for the two Sheriff’s Department vehicles purchased in May. The amount of the agreement was for $58,705.05 at 2.09%. Dent County Sheriff Bob Wells was also in to pick up the applicable paperwork for the vehicles. Propane bids were opened and the low bid of $1.289 per gallon for 3,500 gallon from Ferrell Gas was approved 3-0. Libby Sanders was in to request that the Commissioners be the Certifying Local Governmental Agency for the Bonebrake Center’s NAP Grant Application. The Commissioners approved the request 3-0 and signed the application which, if approved, will be used for capital improvements in the upstairs level of the house. The next meeting of the Commissioners will be Monday morning at 9:00 at the Courthouse and the meeting is open to the public.

The Salem Police Department released their report for the month of August. During the month, they wrote three equipment repair orders, four summons to appear in court, 12 warning tickets, and 11 traffic tickets. The Salem Police Department investigated 12 accidents, two assaults, one burglary, one report of disorderly conduct, three reports of domestic violence, three reports of driving while being intoxicated, four reports of driving while having a revoked and/or suspended license, one fraud report, and one report of property damage. The department also investigated two leaving the scene of accident reports, two lost or stolen license plate reports, five reports of possession of a controlled substance, three possession of drug paraphernalia reports, one report of the unlawful use of a firearm, one report of the violation of an exparte order, one report of resisting and/or interring with an arrest, one tampering report and eight reports of stealing. The police department received 1,292 calls for service during the month and handled 94 walk-ins to the station. They spent ten hours in court testifying and ten hours as court bailiff. The Salem Police Department drove a total of 7,812 miles and arrested 21 males and six females during the month of August.

The City of Salem, Unlimited Play and City of Salem Parks and Recreation Department would like to invite everyone out to the grand opening of “Billy’s Playground” for Carol Perdue. The grand opening is being held in conjunction with the Salem High School Alumni Weekend. The ribbon cutting event will be held on Saturday morning at 10:00 at the Salem City Park after the breakfast fundraiser at the Salem High School. Billy’s playground was made possible by donations and work provided by the City of Salem Park Board, SB 40 Board, Unlimited Play, Youth Bridge Community Foundation, City of Salem, Healthy Dent County, Bank of Salem, and the Salem Memorial District Hospital. Billy’s Playground is a place where limitations are forgotten and differences are celebrated. The Salem City Park is located at 1100 W. Rolla Road in Salem.

It will be Homecoming tonight at the SHS Football Field. The attendants this year is freshman Reggie Parks, sophomore Emma Southards, junior Olivia Erway and the senior homecoming candidates are Trista Heavin, Madi Shaw, and Savanna Tuttle. The ceremony will take place on the field prior to the game.