Archive for 2018

Missouri Attorney General Josh Hawley announced that his office has filed a felony complaint in Shannon County against former City of Winona Clerk Terri Denton. The complaint alleges that Denton, during her time as city clerk, misappropriated at least five hundred dollars. The charges allege that Denton was employed by the City of Winona between 2015 and 2017. During that time, Denton allegedly stole cash that had accumulated in the city’s vault and used it on personal expenses. While conducting an audit, the Auditor’s Office discovered at least several thousand dollars were not deposited in the city’s accounts during that time frame and a total of $42,000 remains unaccounted for. The Attorney General’s Public Corruption Team is prosecuting the case with the assistance of the Missouri State Highway Patrol and the Missouri State Auditor’s Office. The Attorney General’s Office was appointed special prosecutor at the request of the Shannon County Prosecuting Attorney because of a conflict. Attorney General Hawley reminds the public that the charges against Denton are just accusations and, as in all criminal cases, the defendant is presumed innocent unless or until proven guilty in a court of law.

Dent County Collector Dennis Medlock has announced the hours the collector’s Office will be open over the holidays to pay your taxes. The Collector’s office will be closed on Christmas Eve, Monday, December 24th and Tuesday, Christmas Day, December 25th. The office will have extended hours on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday, December 26th through the 28th. The office will also be open with extended hours on New Year Eve, Monday, December 31st. The extended hours on these days will be from 8:00 in the morning until 5:30 in the evening. If you mail your taxes in on New Year’s Eve, your taxes MUST be postmarked December 31st, 2018. Take you payment inside and have the postal clerk hand stamp your payment. Otherwise, you could be responsible for a late payment and interest. You can also drop off your payment in the drop box in the front southwest corner of the courthouse lawn. Again, that needs to be dropped off before midnight, December 31st. You can also pay your taxes online. Refer to your tax bill on instructions on how to pay online. There are additional fees associated with paying your bill online with a debit or credit card. If you have any questions, please call the Dent County Collector’s Office at 729-3911.

Election filing is going on now for the school board positions at all schools, the Salem Memorial District Hospital Board of Directors, the Dent County Fire Protection District Board of Directors, Dent County Health Department Board of Directors and for an East and West Wards Alderman for the City of Salem. The filing period will end on January 15th, 2019. Filing for school boards should be done at each school’s administrative offices and there is no cost to file. Filing for the Salem Memorial District Hospital Board of Directors needs to be done at the Hospital in the Administration Department and there is no charge to file. Sign ups for the Dent County Fire Protection District Board of Directors will be held at the Dent County Firehouse and there is a $50 filing fee. Filing for the aldermanic seats for the city will be at the City Administrative Building at the 4th and Iron Street and there is a $25 filing fee. To file for the Dent County Health Board of Directors, you will need to file at the Dent County Clerks Office and there is no filing fee. Please be sure to read the qualifications to file for each position. This may include a determined number of years of residency, proof of payment of all real estate and property taxes, and other requirements. Filing will not be held on legal holidays and before or after normal working hours. Contact the entity you may be interested in to get all the details.

Elephant Rocks State Park hosts Mother Nature’s Christmas lights viewing starting at 5:00 Friday afternoon, December 14th until sunrise on December 15th. To mark this year’s most spectacular meteor shower, the Geminids Meteor shower, Elephant Rocks State Park will be open to the public for a rare after-dark event. Park staff will be available to direct you to the best and safest areas to view the shower. If you like star gazing, light shows and are able to brave the cold, come out and create a lifetime memory at Elephant Rocks State Park. It is December, so dress for very cold winter conditions. It is often colder on the rocks than the average local temperature, so you can become chilled sitting for long periods in the park even on a mild night. You are welcome to bring portable chairs and blankets to keep warm. Please remember to bring in only what you will be able to carry out when you leave. Trash receptacles are provided at the park’s parking lot. Please be respectful of other visitors’ experience and avoid excessive use of artificial lights and excessive noise during the event. This shower can be viewed with the naked eye, and telescopes or binoculars are welcome but not needed. No tents, propane heaters, lanterns or campfires will be allowed. Elephant Rocks State Park is located at 7406 Highway 21 in Belleview. For more information about the event, call the site at 573-546-3454.

The Salem Memorial District Hospital regular board meeting was held Tuesday at noon in the Hospital Library. In the summary of operations for the month of November, the hospital had 87 inpatient admissions with 315 inpatient census days. Patients per day in Acute Care came in at 10.5 in November, down from the 11.5 in October. The hospital showed a loss from operations of $32,494 and expenses over revenues after taxes of $39,987. Cash increased for the month by $102,513, and the days in net account receivables dropped to 60 from 61 days last month. During the month, there were 663 emergency room visits to go with 182 ambulance runs with 120 patients being transported, 19 surgery cases, 1,529 outpatient registrations, 315 home health visits, 7,625 lab tests, 1,105 radiological procedures and 676 rehab treatments. Chief of Nursing Debbie Hines gave the updated report on the Quality Improvement Program where the hospital is focusing on two areas and said the transition of care continues to gradually improve with the physician to physician communication the biggest challenge. The Hospital Auxiliary met and had 14 members present at their “bring a friend” lunch. Their next meeting will be February 5th at noon at the Salem Community Center@The Armory. Hospital COO Chris Strickland said the hospital foundation had a resignation from their board of Leon Kreisler, but have four new board members that include S.N. Ball, Andrew Curley, Chris Holliday and Andrew Wynn. He said about half of the tables to the “Dancing with the Salem Stars” have been sold and he would be sending out mailers and e-mails to sponsors for the golf tournament to be held in June. Strickland also announced a new fundraiser that will be held August 3rd, 2019 at the Commons that will be the 1st Annual SMDH Foundation Benefit Concert and Wing Off. Strickland went on to report that the hospital had a large presence at the Heroes Marathon in November that included sports medicine, an aid station, refreshments station and ambulance. The hospital float in the Salem Chamber of Commerce parade took 1st place in the Commercial division. Hospital Administrator Kasey Lucas said that A.J. Seay has resigned his position on the board as he has moved from his district. He said election filing has begun for District 6 for the a total of six years for the position currently occupied by George Gruendel, and also for District 2 for two years for the unexpired term of A.J. Seay. The board approved a resolution in support of the Time Critical Diagnosis Designation for the Salem Memorial District Hospital and approved the board meeting dates for 2019. The board approved the budgeted purchase of a blanket and towel warmer for the Long-Term Care from Steris Corp. for $7,810, and approved the budgeted purchase of a Blood Bank Incubator and Workstation for the Laboratory for $4,999 from Ortho Clinical Diagnostics. The board tabled a decision on the purchase of a new Bi-Pap Machine for Cardio-Pulmonary until they can meet with the medical staff and see if they want to offer non-invasive and invasive treatments or just stay with the non-invasive treatments. The board then went into closed session.

The Salem Police Department has released more reports for December 3rd and 4th. The night of December 3rd at approximately 11:52, an officer was dispatched to Wal-Mart in reference to a shoplifter. The investigation of the report led to the arrest of a 21-year old female of Salem for stealing merchandise valued at $26.91. The suspect was issued a summons to appear in court and released. Then on Tuesday morning, November 4th at about 11:58, an officer was dispatched to a residence in the 1800 bock of South Oak in reference to property damage. The investigation of the report revealed a 21- year-old male of Salem had cut two tires on a white 2005 Toyota passenger vehicle valued at $400. Further investigation led to the arrest of the suspect who was issued a summons to appear in court and released. Please contact the Salem Police Department at (573) 729-4242 if you have any information regarding any ongoing investigation.

Current River State Park invites you to celebrate a Country Christmas from 11:00 in the morning until 2:00 in the afternoon this Saturday. Come make nature-inspired decorations and gifts. Enjoy hot chocolate and bake some cookies. Current River State Park is located on Hwy 19 approximately 23 miles south of Salem and approximately 15 miles north of Eminence. For more information about the event, call Connie Weber at 573-751-1224.

The Dent County Commission met Monday morning for their regular meeting at the courthouse. Dent County Treasurer Denita Williams presented the sales tax figures for the money received by the county from the state. She stated the General Revenue Fund Sales Tax and the Law Enforcement Sales Tax each came in at about $71,057.07 and year-to-date Dent County has seen an increase of $92,631.29 in the fund which comes to a 10.47% increase. Williams presented the Road and Bridge Fund Sales Tax figures that showed that funds received $33,125.63 and year to date, the Road and Bridge Fund is $32,365.48 ahead of the previous year with a 7.85% increase. Williams wanted to remind the commission that last year, the county received two payments in December for sales tax and Road and Bridge. This is not expected this year. Williams said each jail fund received $66,135.44 this month, and year to date each fund has a fund balance of over $886,600. Dent County Collector Dennis Medlock also brought in his November monthly report that was being reviewed by the commission. In the road report, District 1 Commissioner Dennis Purcell said a crew will be tail ditching roads in the Bunker area and also on Dent County Road 5550. Tree limbs will also be trimmed on county road 5550. Purcell stated brush would be cut on county road 5380, but the roads are too frozen to grade. He said with the cold weather, workers are doing service on county truck #66 and on loader #924. General shop maintenance is also being done. District 2 Commissioner Gary Larson said a crew is replacing signs on Dent County Roads 4010 and 4020. He went on to report service was being done on truck #70 and he will have some workers helping District 1 with the loader service. He did state that pipes were being cleaned out on county roads 4280 and 4290 and while the men were out, they would pick up old pipes that had been replaced on county roads 3260 and 4050. Dent County Clerk Angie Curley said the 2019 budget work continues. Commissioner Purcell reported he attended the Missouri Department of Conservation workshop on the possibility of elk hunting in the 2020 season in Eminence on Thursday. There was discussion on the permit applications which would only be open to Missouri residents, landowner opportunities, possible season dates as well as hunting methods. No final decisions were made on anything. The board heard from Mike Elliott on the county’s MOPERM Insurance. The next meeting of the Dent County Commissioners will be Thursday at 9:00 and the meeting is open the public.

The Missouri Public Service Commission has established the deadline for those wishing to intervene and participate in a natural gas rate case filed by Union Electric Company d/b/a Ameren Missouri. Individual citizens wishing to comment should contact either the Office of the Public Counsel (Governor Office Building, 200 Madison Street, Suite 650, P.O. Box 2230, Jefferson City, Missouri 65102-2230, or call (866) 922-2959 or the Public Service Commission Staff, P.O. Box 360, Jefferson City, Missouri 65102-0360, or call telephone 1-800-392-4211. The Office of the Public Counsel is a separate state agency that represents the general public in matters before the Commission. On December 3rd, Ameren Missouri filed a natural gas rate case with the Missouri Public Service Commission seeking to increase annual natural gas revenues by approximately $4.26 million. According to Ameren Missouri’s filing, the average annual change in natural gas rates for residential customers will be approximately $26 a year. As part of its filing, Ameren Missouri seeks an interim rate reduction of approximately 1.43% to reflect the impact of the change in the federal corporate income tax rate from 35% to 21% under the federal Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017. Ameren Missouri is seeking to implement the interim rate reduction on January 2, 2019 and it would remain in effect until the Commission decides the natural gas rate case.