Archive for 2019

The Dent County Commissioners met Thursday morning at the Dent County Courthouse. Melissa Weed from US Bank was in to have some paperwork signed by the commissioners on the new graders financed through US Bank. In the road report, District 1 Commissioner Dennis Purcell said a man would be cutting brush on Dent County Road 2480 while a work crew would be completing the assembly of a spreader box and installing it on a truck. Purcell stated another crew would be out replacing road signs that are missing or have been stolen near the Bunker area, especially on county roads 5680 and 5690. District 2 Commissioner Gary Larson said a man would be cutting brush on Dent County Road 2300 while a work crew would be out repairing and checking road signs. Another crew would be doing maintenance at the shop according to Larson. Presiding Commissioner Darrell Skiles reported that all the three commissioners attended an economic development meeting at Intercounty Electric in Licking Tuesday where about 50 people were in attendance. Skiles said the consensus of the group to improve economic development was the tremendous need to have better broadband Internet in the area. Skiles also attended the Meramec Regional Emergency Planning Committee meeting where Dent County finished three training grant applications. Those training grant classes to be held in Dent County were for anhydrous ammonia awareness, for chemical suicides, and for flammable liquids and ethanol fuels. Dent County Clerk Angie Curley reported she was working on the county budget for 2020. She also reported that she will sign a contract with Cyber Defense Election Strategy Assessment to provide cyber security assessment services for elections. This is being paid for by the Missouri Secretary of State office. The commission heard a presentation by Jeff Pabst from LAGERS about the county retirement plan as they are just exploring the different retirement options available to their employees. The Dent County Commission will meet Monday morning at 9:00 at the courthouse and the meeting is open to the public.

“A Night in the French Quarter Masquerade Ball” Casino Night will be held Saturday night at the Salem Community Center@The Armory. This is a fundraiser for Healthy Dent County and is co-sponsored this year by Cahill Construction. The doors will open at 6:00 with the gaming events beginning at 6:30 and last until 9:30. Players will be able to play roulette, craps and black jack plus other games of chance for a chance at outstanding prizes. Tickets are available at the Salem Community Center@The Armory today for $50 per person, or $85 for a couple. Each ticket will provide the player with $10,000 worth of gaming money and if you come in proper masquerade attire, you will receive an additional $1,000 worth of gaming money as a bonus. The gaming will come to an end near 9:30 and all players will then trade in the gaming money for tickets. Those tickets will be placed in containers to determine prize winners of the prizes available. Prizes to be awarded include a four night stay at La Belle Maison in New Orleans near the French Quarter, a one week stay in Branson at Stormy Point Resort, a 55” Smart TV, St. Louis Blues Hockey Tickets, Missouri Tiger Basketball Tickets, zero gravity chairs with a fire pit, a three piece wicker furniture set, an I-Pad, an I-Life robot vacuum cleaner, a T/C Compass bolt action rifle, a folding wagon and cooler, a decorative barrel donated by Independent Stave and more. Tickets will also be available at the door the night of the event. For more information, call 729-8163.

City of Salem Public Works Director Mark Nash reports that the Municipal Electric crews have begun changing out old electric meters for the new AMI digital meters on the east side of town. This first area includes all areas east of Highway 19 and this is expected to continue through at least next Friday. City personnel will be coming by each persons home to let them know what they will be doing and when, but if you are not at home when they come by, the Municipal Electric crews will still change out your electric meter when they reach your address. All city residents outage should only be a few minutes as the workers are only swapping out your old electric meter for a new electric meter. Once exchanged, your power will resume as normal. The City of Salem thanks you for your understanding and cooperation! If you have questions, please call the Salem City Administrative offices at 729-4117.

A Downtown Salem Historic Ghost Tour will be held this Friday night, November 1st starting at 9:30. The time of the tour was moved back due to the district football game being held in Salem this Friday night. The event is free and the public is welcome to attend. Prepare to be spooked at our scariest ghost tour yet! We will be talking about all of the things that go bump in the night. Come bundled up for the chilly weather and watch the past come to life! Those interested can meet at the Dent County Courthouse gazebo on the square, downtown.Jacob Stotler will be your host for the historic ghost tour in Salem! Other events to be held earlier in the night will include the telling of scary stories on the Courthouse lawn at 7:30! Bring your favorite story to tell! A downtown scavenger hunt is also planned for the evening starting at 7:30. Then at 9:30, the ghost tour will begin. See you there!

Tonight is Halloween and the stipulated Trick or Treat hours in the City of Salem is from 6:00 until 8:00 PM. There are numerous locations holding Trunk or Treats in and around town, plus Northwood R-4 school will be having a Jack-o-Lantern Jam. Remember, there are some road closures due to the Trunk or Treats in town so be aware of youngsters being on or crossing the road!