Archive for 2019

Dent County Prosecuting Attorney Andrew Curley has released reports from court cases heard in the 42nd associate Circuit Court Monday in Dent County in front of Judge Kelly Parker. In the first case heard, Angela Wofford of Salem pled guilty to felony charges for the possession of a controlled substance as well as possession of a controlled substance in a county jail. She was sentenced to four years in the Department of Corrections on each count, to run concurrently. In the another case heard, Judge Parker revoked the probation of John Simmons, IV for the felony of possession of a controlled substance charge that he pled guilty to in May. Simmons has been sentenced to seven years in the Department of Corrections. In yet another case, Judge Parker revoked the probation of Jereme Roark of Rolla. He had been charged and pled guilty in February of 2014 with a Class B Felony for the distribution, delivery, manufacturing, producing of a controlled substance. Roark was sentenced to 10 years in the Department of Corrections as requested by the state.

Preliminary data from the Missouri Department of Conservation (MDC) shows that deer hunters in Missouri harvested 88,843 deer during the opening weekend of the November portion of the fall firearms deer season November 16th and 17th. Of the 88,843 deer harvested, 51,086 were antlered bucks, 8,115 were button bucks, and 29,642 were does. Top harvest counties for opening weekend were Franklin with 2,078 deer checked, Texas with 1,931, and Callaway with 1,735. In our area, Dent County had 1,685 deer harvested, Crawford has 1,469 deer checked, Shannon County reported 1,338 deer had been taken, Phelps County had 1,176 deer harvested and Reynolds County reported 738 deer taken. Last year, hunters checked 99,470 deer during the opening weekend of the 2018 November portion of firearms deer season.

Healthy Dent County at the Salem Community Center@The Armory is hosting two one hour focus groups this Thursday from 2:00 to 3:00 and from 3:30 until 4:30 to better understand what it means to be healthy from the perspective of Missouri residents. Participants will receive a $25 incentive for their time and may only attend one of the focus group session. This is being held as part of research being conducted by NORC from the University of Chicago on behalf of the Missouri Foundation for Health. Your opinion matters and if you are interested in participating, you must register in advance by contacting Healthy Dent County by calling 573-729-8163 or e-mailing judy@salemcommunitycenter.org. Light refreshments will be provided.

The Collection Week for the Operation Christmas Child boxes is going on now through this Friday, the 22nd. There are several churches in the area that are collection points. They include the Salem First Baptist Church at 201 North McArthur Street. Their collection times start at 8:00 in the morning and stay open to 4:00 today through Thursday, and from 8:00 AM to 2:00 PM Friday; the Licking First Baptist Church at 223 S Main Street and their collection times will be through Friday from 5:00 until 7:00 in the evening; the Rolla First Baptist Church at 801 Cedar Street and their collection will be from 12:00 noon through 2:00 through Friday, plus Thursday night from 5:00 to 7:00; and the St. James First Baptist Church from 10:00 in the morning until noon Wednesday and Friday, and from 5:00 to 7:00 Thursday evening. It is not too late to do a box if you would like. Contact Linda Williams at 573-263-9550 if you have any questions.

The Salem Police Department has released reports on activities by the department for November 10th through the 12th. On Sunday,
November the 10th at approximately 12:35 in the morning, a vehicle was stopped for a traffic violation. The stop led to the arrest of a 20-year-old male of Salem for driving while having his license suspended. The suspect was issued a summons to appear in court and released. A couple of hours later near 2:22, an officer located a 31-year-old male of Salem in the 800 block of West Rolla Road who had an active arrest warrant from Phelps County. The suspect was taken into custody on the warrant and incarcerated pending extradition. That same day at about 5:19, an officer was contacted at the Salem Police Department in reference to an assault. An investigation revealed that a 32-year-old male of Salem had assaulted a 30-year-old female of Rolla while at a residence in the 100 block of Laura Street which led to the arrest of the suspect. He was issued a summons to appear in court and released. On Veterans Day, November 11th at 3:26 in the afternoon, an officer located a 36-year-old male of Salem who had an active arrest warrant from Jefferson County at Walmart. The suspect was taken into custody on the warrant and incarcerated pending extradition. And finally on the morning of Tuesday, November 12th at 10:27, an officer was contacted at the Salem Police Department in reference to a theft from a vehicle. The investigation revealed that a person or persons unknown took a wallet and its contents valued at $780.00 from a vehicle parked in the 600 block of South Macarthur. That report is under investigation. Please contact the Salem Police Department at (573) 729-4242 if you have any information regarding an ongoing investigation.

The Salem Board of Aldermen met Monday night at the City Hall Council Chambers. The board heard from Mary Ann Williams and Kathy Weldon about AirBNB’s and an in-home rental as well as comments on some of the suggestions by the Salem Planning and Zoning Commission. Gary Brown, the chairman of the Planning and Zoning Commission, first reported that the commission wanted to recommend to the board to allow a conditional use permit for a beauty salon at 1400 Mildred Blvd owned by Noah and Melissa Shlag and the board approved the conditional use permit. Brown then reviewed a series of 13 survey questions the planning and zoning board answered on short term rentals. Brown said the alderman need to put the results of the survey into ordinance form for the commission and the aldermen to discuss and make final decisions on. The board approved the bid from L&B Electronics of Eldon for a replacement transformer for a storm damaged storm siren for $11,750 and the purchase of a new transformer for a new storm siren for $13,250 for a total of $25,000. The storm damaged transformer will be paid for by insurance. After the consent agenda was approved, City Administrator Ray Walden discussed the electrical outage on Veteran’s Day. City crews worked most of the day and into the night to get everyone back on in bad weather conditions. Walden wanted to remind Salem residents that if they have an outage after hours or on holidays to please call the Salem Police Department at 729-4242 and let them know your issue. The Salem Community Center@The Armory had 4,536 participants for activities during the month of October. A reception for the new Park and Rec Director Melissa DuBois will be held on Tuesday, November 26th from 5:00 to 6:30 followed by a Park Board meeting at the Salem Community Center@The Armory. Walden said the city offices would be closed on Thanksgiving, November 28th and Friday, November 29th. He also gave the results of the public nuisance survey that was sent out and 185 people responded. That data will be used to come back with recommendations to the board of aldermen. The board approved Resolution 25-2019 that set up a municipal election for mayor, an east ward alderman and a west ward alderman. Signups for those positions will be held at the city administrative offices starting at 8:00 in the morning December 17th until 5:00 in the afternoon on January 21st. The board did not approve Resolution 26-2019 to execute the agreement with Riverways Federal Credit Union for consulting services as the old agreement had been changed and the city attorney had not seen the old agreement to make a an opinion on the this new agreement. The board then adjourned.

The Salem Police Department has released reports on activities by the department for November 7th through the 9th. On Thursday, November 7th at about 6:16 in the evening, an officer was contacted at the Salem Police Department in reference to a theft from a vehicle. Further investigation revealed that a person or persons unknown took a purse and its contents valued at $220.00 from a gray 2003 Chevrolet Tahoe that was parked in the 100 block on North Orchard. The next morning at 9:54, an officer was contacted at the Salem Police Department for the fraudulent use of a credit card. The investigation revealed a 38-year-old male and a 31-year-old female both of Salem had fraudulently used a debit card of another person to make transactions valued at $2,324.87. Further investigation led to the arrest of the two suspects who were issued summonses to appear in court and released. Later that same night at approximately 9:09, an officer was dispatched to Walmart in reference to a shoplifter. An investigation led to the arrest of a 31-year-old female of Salem for stealing and also for being in possession of heroin. The suspect was issued summonses to appear in court and released. On Saturday, November 9th near 5:42 in the evening, an officer was dispatched to Walmart in reference to a person trying to make a fraudulent return. The investigation of the report led to the arrest of a 31-year-old female of Salem for possession of methamphetamine and possession of drug paraphernalia. The suspect was issued summonses to appear in court and released. Please contact the Salem Police Department at (573) 729-4242 if you have any information regarding an ongoing investigation.

The Salem Memorial District Hospital Board of Directors will conduct their November meeting tonight in the hospital library beginning at 6:00 pm. After approval of the agenda, will be the administrator’s report that includes a summary of the operations for the month of October with Monica Stogsdill, the Chief of Nursing Report for the month with Debbie Hines, a report on the hospital foundation as well as the marketing and community perception with COO Jason Edwards, and Administrator Kasey Lucas will present the auxiliary report. After the Chief of Staff report, the Board will be updated on the hospital expansion and expansion financing options. In new business, the board will hear about purchases and the election filing dates for a board member for the municipal election to be held in April. The November board meeting of the Salem Memorial District Hospital Board of Directors is open to the public.