Archive for 2019

Dent County Coroner Gina White released a report from an incident that occurred on Saturday, July 27th at the Southeast Missouri Behavioral Health Center in Salem at 203 North Grand. Her office received a report of a death at the facility of 59-year old Ramon Kerr from the Springfield, Missouri area who had been a patient at the facility since July 13th. He was pronounced dead at the treatment center by White at 4:35 as he was discovered during the staff’s hourly bed checks. An autopsy was scheduled for Monday, July 29th at the Boone County Medical Examiner’s office and will be completed by Dr. Eddie Adelstein. A complete report is expected in about six weeks. The case is being investigated by the Dent County Coroner’s Office and the Salem Police Department.

An accident occurred Monday morning at 8:51 in Laclede County on Interstate 44 at the 139.6 mile marker about nine miles east of Lebanon that left a Salem man with injuries. The accident occurred when 21 year-old Brandon Mendenhall of Salem lost control of a westbound 2008 Chevrolet Impala, which then traveled off the left side of Interstate 44, struck the metal guardrail and then the median cable barrier. According to the highway patrol report, the accident left 29-year old Patrick Mendenhall of Salem with moderate injuries and he was transported by Trooper C.M. Stauffer to the Mercy Hospital in Lebanon. The report stated that neither occupant of the Chevrolet was wearing a safety restraint at the time of the accident. The Impala was totaled and removed from the scene by Steve’s Towing.

Registration will be held soon at the Salem schools. At the Salem Upper Elementary, new and current students can register from 9:00 to 5:30 on Monday, August 5th and Tuesday, August 6th, while only current students may register on Wednesday, August 7th. For more information, call 729-4812. At the Salem Middle School, students who are new to the area and have not been registered in any Salem school district in grades 6 through 8 may register on Monday, August 5th. All students can register on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, August 6th through the 8th, and on Friday, August 9th. All 6th, 7th and 8th grade students will enroll in the Cafeteria of the Middle School building and a parent or guardian must attend and complete the necessary required enrollment forms and paperwork. For more information, call 729-4261. At the Salem Senior High, seniors will register on Monday, August 5th from 1:00 – 5:00 PM; juniors will register Tuesday, August 6th from 1:00 – 5:00 PM; sophomores will register from 1:00 – 5:00 PM Wednesday, August 7th and freshman will register Thursday, August 8th from 1:00 – 5:00 PM. On Friday, August 9th, anyone who missed registration can register from 8:00 AM – 2:00 PM. For more information about registration, call the Salem Senior High School at 729-6641. Don’t forget your vaccinations must be up to date before you can register your child. Contact the Dent County Health Center if you have questions about which vaccinations are required for each grade level at 729-3106.

The Dent County Sheriffs Department has released a number of reports. On Friday, July 12th, deputies conducted a traffic stop on Dent County Road 3250. During the course of the traffic stop, a 27-year-old Salem woman was arrested for driving while having her license revoked or suspended, a 1st offense. The woman was transported to the Dent County Sheriff’s Office where she was fingerprinted, issued summons and released. On Saturday, July 13th, deputies conducted a traffic stop with a motorcycle at Highway 32 and Route MM. During the course of the traffic stop, a 23-year-old Salem man was arrested for operating a motorcycle with a drivers’ license not validated for such operations. The man was transported to the Dent County Sheriff’s Office where he was fingerprinted, issued summons and released. Then on Thursday the 18th, deputies conducted a traffic stop on Dent County Road 4150. During the course of the traffic stop, a 56-year-old Salem woman was arrested for possession of a controlled substance, 35 grams or less of marijuana/synthetic cannabinoid and exceeding posted speed limit by 11-15 mph. The woman was transported to the Dent County Sheriff’s Office where she was fingerprinted, issued summons and released. The next day on the 19th, deputies responded to the Missouri Private Probation Services to attempt to serve an arrest warrant. During the course of the incident, a 26-year-old Doolittle woman was arrested for an active warrant through Dent County. The woman was transported to the Dent County Sheriff’s Office Jail and incarcerated. If anyone has any information regarding an ongoing investigation, please contact the Dent County Sheriff’s Office at 729-3241.

A fatality accident occurred Monday afternoon at 3:32 in Phelps County on Interstate 44 at the 175 mile marker about nine miles west of Rolla. According to the highway patrol report, 59 year-old Roman Zeragia of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania was westbound when his 2015 Hino Box Truck traveled off the right side of the roadway, overturned and came to rest. Zeragia was pronounced dead at the scene by Phelps County Coroner Andy Davis at 3:57. The body was taken to James and Gahr Mortuary in Rolla. The truck was totaled and removed from the scene by I-44 Towing of Rolla.

Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt announced that former City Clerk for Winona, Terri Denton, has been sentenced following a June 4th guilty plea to one count of the class C felony of Receiving Stolen Property in the Circuit Court of Shannon County. At sentencing, Shannon County Associate Circuit Judge Sandra West sentenced Denton to seven years in the Missouri Department of Corrections and placed Denton on 5 years supervised probation. She was also ordered to serve thirty days shock incarceration immediately in the Shannon County Jail. Denton will also have to complete one hundred hours of community service and pay $4,000 in restitution, with interest. Finally, Denton was ordered to write a letter of apology to the City of Winona for her theft. Denton was employed as City Clerk between 2015 and 2017. Following a complaint by the Chief of Police, the Missouri State Highway Patrol and the State Auditor’s Office investigated the alleged mismanagement of funds by Denton. Auditors discovered that several thousands of dollars in cash had not been deposited while Denton was employed as City Clerk. The investigators with the Missouri Highway Patrol interviewed Denton, who admitted to the theft of “somewhere between $2,000 and $4,000” in cash that had accumulated in the city vault. Denton admitted that the cash was used to pay personal expenses. The Missouri State Highway Patrol, the State Auditor’s Office, and Missouri Attorney General Investigator David Southard investigated this case. Assistant Attorney General Tony Brown prosecuted the case.

The Dent County Commissioners met Monday morning for their regular meeting. Sheriff Bob Wells was in and said the TV show ‘Unsolved Mysteries” will be in Salem on August 12th about the disappearance of Lena Chapin in 2006. They would like to use the upstairs council boardroom for interviews and possibly the courtroom. Wells wasn’t sure if the commission needed to approve this request or if he just needed to get in touch with the extension to make sure the room was available. The commissioners said to talk with the extension and see if anyone was using the room but they had no problem with the request. They did thank Wells for the heads up about them being in town. In the road report, District 1 Commissioner Dennis Purcell said that with the rains Monday, service work was going to be done on the brush cutting tractor #8, replacing a flat tire on truck #121 and correcting a windshield problem on truck #125. He said a man would be stockpiling chips at the shed for the upcoming chip and seal project and workers would be responding to any calls for downed limbs or trees as well as culverts backing up. District 2 Commissioner Gary Larson stated brush was being cut on Dent County Road 2070 and a washout on county road 2270 was going to be repaired. Larson also reported a man would be hauling in brown rock to the shed, two men would be servicing truck #75 and another worker would be going to Springfield to get oil for chip and seal repair. Presiding Commissioner Darrell Skiles was in Cape Girardeau last Wednesday through Friday for the CCAM meeting to discuss and schedule the 2020 commissioner training. He also said they discussed legislative priorities of which one was getting the counties reimbursed for housing state prisoners. Skiles believed Dent County was owed more then $200,000. Skiles went on to report there was a discussion on the notice to counties about another increase in the full time prosecutor’s salary. There was also a lengthy discussion on the ban of hunting feral hogs on forest service. He said the Missouri Department of Conservation and National Forest Service representatives were in attendance at the meeting and the commissioners concern was that if they want to ban hunting, Representative Jason Smith, Senator Hawley and Roy Blunt along with the National Forest and Conservation Departments will have to figure out a way tohave the manpower available to protect private landowners property when the feral hogs come on those properties. The next meeting of the Dent County Commissioners will be Thursday morning at 9:00 at the courthouse and the meeting is open to the public.

Dent County Prosecuting Attorney Andrew Curley released a couple of reports from court held in Crawford County in front of Judge Kelly Parker on Tuesday, July 23rd. A bench trial was held for the charges of two counts of delivery of a controlled substance, class C felonies against Ronald Ball from Rolla. Prosecutor Andrew M. Curley presented evidence that Ronald Ball distributed heroin and methamphetamine in April of 2017. At the conclusion of the trial, Ronald Ball was found guilty of both counts by Circuit Judge Kelly Parker. His sentencing is scheduled in September. Each count carries a potential range of punishment of up to 10 years in Department of Corrections. That same day, Marvin Stephens of Poplar Bluff pled guilty to two counts of possession of child pornography, both class D felonies. The range of punishment authorized was up to seven years in prison on each count. The defendant was sentenced to 14 years in the Department of Corrections pursuant to RSMO 559.115.

An accident occurred Sunday afternoon at 3:30 in Crawford County on Cedar Hill Road about 3 miles southeast of Steelville. According to the highway patrol, a 1989 GMC 1500 Pickup, driven by 54-year old William J. Altom of Cook Station, traveled off the left side of the roadway, struck a low water crossing and came to rest. Altom suffered minor injuries and was taken to the Missouri Baptist Hospital in Sullivan. Altom was not wearing a seat restraint at the time of the accident and the GMC was removed by Miles and Sons Towing of Steelville.

Missouri State Auditor Nicole Galloway released an audit of Dent County which received an overall rating of “good”. The audit identified several repeat concerns from previous audits regarding proper accounting procedures in the sheriff’s office and made recommendations to improve cybersecurity in county offices. The audit found the sheriff’s office lacked proper oversight of financial processes and did not always make deposits timely or intact. Additionally, the office could improve procedures for tracking and disbursing commissary net proceeds. The audit also found insufficient cybersecurity measures across several county offices. The offices of county assessor, county collector, county clerk, county treasurer, and recorder of deeds did not have adequate password controls to reduce the risk of unauthorized access to computers and data. The audit also recommended better security controls for computers in the office of the recorder of deeds to ensure they lock after too many incorrect logon attempts and that computer data in the public administrator’s office be backed up and stored at a secure off-site location. The audit also finds the Prosecuting Attorney’s office does not always timely disburse bad check payments to victims or fees received to the County Treasurer. The Prosecuting Attorney also does not ensure that a monthly list of the liabilities for the office’s main bank account is prepared and agreed to in the reconciled bank balance. The audit also showed that the Public Administrator does not always file annual status reports timely or accurately with numerous extensions being granted by the court. All office holders were able to respond to the auditors concerning the weaknesses that they discovered. The entire audit report can be found by entering this address in your browser: https://auditor.mo.gov. Once on the site, enter Dent County in the search box to find the entire audit document.

The Salem Police Department has released a number of reports. On Wednesday morning, July 17th at about 6:02, an officer was dispatched to Heartland Metal in reference to property damage. The investigation of the report revealed that a person or persons unknown attempted to forcibly enter the building and caused damage valued at $95.00 to a door. The report is under investigation. That same afternoon at 2:17, an officer located a 17-year-old male of Salem in the 1000 block of East Hawkins who had an active arrest warrant from Pulaski County. The suspect was taken into custody on the warrant and incarcerated pending extradition. Just a little over an hour later near 3:35, a vehicle was stopped for a warrant investigation. The investigation led to the arrest of a 36-year-old female of Salem on active arrest warrants from Crawford County and Dent County. The suspect was incarcerated pending a court appearance. On Thursday, July 18th near 4:56 in the afternoon, an officer was dispatched to the Show Me Storage located at International and Grand in reference to a theft. The investigation of the report revealed that a person or persons unknown forcibly entered a storage unit and took items valued at $668.00. The report is under investigation. That same evening at 10:08, an officer was dispatched to Wal-Mart in reference to a shoplifter. The investigation of the report led to the arrest of a 29-year-old female of Rolla for stealing merchandise valued at $18.59. The suspect was issued a summons to appear in court and released. If anyone has any information regarding an ongoing investigation, please contact the Salem Police Department at 729-4242.

Black bears are an important resource in Missouri for their value as a game species and their contributions to regional biodiversity and ecosystem health. Sightings have become more common in recent years. Join Missouri Department of Conservation staff at 8:30 a.m., Saturday, Aug. 3 at the Echo Bluff State Park amphitheater to learn about the scientific data collected in the Missouri Black Bear Project and what the future of Missouri Black Bears holds. Learn about bear history and the surprises found in test results. Echo Bluff State Park is located on Hwy 19, approximately 25 miles south of Salem and approximately 14 miles north of Eminence. For more information about the event, contact Missouri State Parks at 573-751-1224. For more information on state parks and historic sites, visit mostateparks.com. Missouri State Parks is a division of the Missouri Department of Natural Resources.

Beginners and experienced folks alike are welcomed to come to a Stained Glass Workshop on Tuesday, August 6th from 5:30 until 8:00 and make a stained-glass sun catcher to take home or begin a LONG-TERM project, as this will be future workshops in the late fall. Led by artist and teacher Amber Pryor, all materials are provided to make a project. The cost is $25 per person and reservations can be made by calling (573) 247-0279 or stopping by the Ozark Natural and Cultural Resource Center to pay the $25 fee to reserve your spot. Registrations will be limited to only EIGHT participants, so reserve EARLY!