Archive for 2019

The Dent County Commissioners met Monday morning at the Dent County Courthouse. Bennie Cook, a field representative with Representative Jason Smith’s office in Rolla, was in attendance to let the commission know Representative Smith did sign a letter of support for the Delta Regional Authority grant to chip and seal the road from Route YY to Tan Vat to slow road erosion. Cook said that Smith will e-mail the Delta Regional Authority to get updates on the progress of the grant and keep the commission informed. Cook also said Smith’s annual Farm tour will be held again this year, but it has not yet been finalized. He also reported that he was at the meeting last Tuesday in Rolla on the feral hog problem. He said Representative Smith is monitoring the hog situation and reminding people to make their comments to the National Forest Service. People can submit comments via email or through regular mail during the 60-day comment period. The comment period is currently underway and all comments must be received or postmarked no later than July 23rd, for consideration. Send comments via email to SM.FS.MTFeralSwine@usda.gov or to the mailing address is at: Forest Supervisor; ATTN: Feral Swine Comment; Mark Twain National Forest; 401 Fairgrounds Road; Rolla, MO 65401. You can also call Jason Smith’s office in Rolla and let them know your feelings at 573-364-2455. In the road report, District 1 Commissioner Dennis Purcell stated his district received about two inches of rain and received extreme high winds. Work crews will be out checking for any storm damages to roads as well as removing any debris, cleaning out culverts, removing downed or low hanging limbs and clearing trees where needed. Purcell also said brush cutting would be done on Dent County Road 4110. District 2 Commissioner Gary Larson said his crew would be out checking for damages and also be brush cutting on Dent County Road 6130, 6140 and 6150. Larson also said a man was sent to Springfield to get oil for chip and seal repair. Presiding Commissioner Darrell Skiles said he would be attending a Workforce Development Caucus meeting today in Jefferson City. Dent County Clerk Angie Curley wanted to remind those businesses that sell liquor by the glass or package that all county liquor license renewal applications are due this Friday afternoon at 4:30 in her office. The next meeting of the commissioners will be Thursday morning at 9:00 at the courthouse and the meeting is open to the public.

The Salem R-80 Board of Education met Thursday night at the district administrative offices. At the meeting, the board heard from Joel Gundelfinger and Isaac Fones from McKinstry presented the board with the results of the facility assessment audit. Superintendent John McColloch talked about the Summer Schools attendance at all the schools and the success of the program as 101 students were awarded from William Lynch Elementary and another 158 received gift cards from the Upper Elementary school. Board of Education committee assignments were made for the 2019-2020 school year. The CSIP Committee assignment went to Holly Erway, the federal Programs assignment went to Drew Whitaker, the A+ assignment was taken by Larry Maxwell, Dustin Howard took the safety assignment while Chris Heavin got the technology assignment and Carrie Snider was given the Health Services assignment. The Summer School students at the high school completed their work as seven students completed their Personal Finance course and 12 more completed their credit. The board approved the proposed budget for the 2019-2020 school year that shows anticipated revenues of $13,430,262 and anticipated expenses of $13,269,430. They also approved revisions to the current budget, the MSBA 2019A update and they accepted the bids for the surplus property. The board then moved into closed session for a personnel matter before adjourning the meeting.

Dent County Prosecuting Attorney Andrew Curley has released these reports from the Dent County Circuit Court last Tuesday in front of Judge Kelly Parker. In court that day, Curley reported that probation was revoked for James Robson of Salem. He was sentenced to seven years in the Department of Corrections under RSMO Section 559.115. Also last Tuesday, Angel Steelman of Salem pled guilty to possession with the intent to distribute methamphetamine. Her sentencing will be held on August 28th. Curley also reported that Monica Eaton of Salem had her probation revoked last Tuesday and was sentenced to five years in the Department of Corrections for failure to complete drug court. Also last Tuesday, Shauna Klieber of Cuba pled guilty to one count of the distribution of heroin. She will be sentenced on August 28th. Curley went on to report that Travis Russell of Salem was sentenced to seven years in the Department of Corrections for his probation case. A new offense of a Class A Felony for trafficking, a Class E Felony for tampering with evidence and a Class E Felony for creating a public nuisance are scheduled for a preliminary hearing that will be held on Thursday at 1:00.

The City of Salem’s Capital Improvement Committee and the Finance Committee will be holding a joint meeting tonight at 6:30 at the Salem Community Center@The Armory located at 1200 West Rolla Road. The meeting is being held to discuss the 2019-2020 City of Salem budget. The meeting is open to the public.

The Salem Police department has released reports from June 6th through 11th. On Friday evening, June 7th, at about 9:21, an officer located a 36-year-old male of Salem near the 800 block of South Hickory who had an active arrest warrant from Jefferson County. The suspect was taken into custody on the warrant and incarcerated pending extradition. About an hour later that same night, near 10:30, an officer was dispatched to a residence in the 800 block of East Ellis in reference to someone trying to break into a residence. The investigation of the report revealed a 21-year-old male of Hillsboro broke a door in of the residence, assaulted the resident, then fled the scene on foot. The report is under investigation. On Saturday afternoon, June 8th, at about 5:36, an officer located a 22-year-old male of Salem near Craig Industrial Drive and Highway 32 who had two active arrest warrants from the City of Salem. The suspect was taken into custody on the warrants and incarcerated pending a court appearance. On Sunday morning, June 9th, near 7:35, an officer was dispatched to the area of Center and Hickory Streets in reference to a suspicious vehicle. The investigation of the vehicle led to the arrest of an 18-year-old male of Salem for minor in possession of intoxicants. The suspect was issued a summons to appear in court and released. Later that same evening at approximately 8:40, an officer located a 51-year-old Salem male near Highway 32 and Highway 19 who had an active arrest warrant from Dent County. The suspect was taken into custody on the warrant and incarcerated pending a court appearance. On Tuesday evening, June 11th at about 9:11, an officer was contacted at the Salem Police Department in reference to an assault. That investigation revealed a 26-year-old male of Salem had assaulted a 36-year-old female of Salem at a residence in the 200 block of East Roosevelt. Further investigation led to the arrest of the suspect who was incarcerated pending the application for a warrant. Please contact the Salem Police Department at 573-729-4242 if you have any information regarding any ongoing investigation.

An accident occurred Saturday evening at 6:40 in Maries County on Highway 63 about 1 1/2 miles south of Route A. According to the highway patrol report, a 2008 Chevrolet Cobalt driven by 21-year old Juana Parker of Vienna, was traveling southbound when she turned into the path of a 2008 Toyota Tundra driven by 65-year old Donald Moore of Salem. The Chevrolet traveled off the roadway and overturned. Parker sustained minor injuries and was transported to Phelps Health Rolla by Maries Osage Ambulance. Moore was not injured in the accident. Both drivers were wearing safety restraints at the time of the accident. The Chevrolet was totaled and removed from the scene by Plaza Towing. The Toyota sustained minor damage and was towed from the scene by C & C Towing.

The Ozark Rivers Solid Waste Management District announced three Salem R-80 6th graders students were honored with a first place award and two honorable mentions in the Annual Earth Day Poster, Trash and Graphic Art contest. This year’s contest theme was “Be Waste Wise.” The contest required participants to re-purpose trash into three-dimensional pieces of art or create posters (hand drawn or graphically designed), based on this year’s theme. There were 518 entries from 14 schools. The contest was open to kindergarten through 12th grade, home school, college and university students who reside or attend school in Crawford, Dent, Gasconade, Maries, Phelps, Pulaski and Washington counties. The winners from Salem R-80 Middle School were Jade Rathbun who captured First Place; while Kaylynn Sites and Nautia Nickles attained Honorable Mentions in the contest. The Salem R-80 students participating in the contest were under the direction of teacher Angela Dingess.

The Salem Area Chamber of Commerce and the City of Salem present this year’s Independence Day Parade in Salem with the theme an “Ozark 4th” Parade. Entry forms are now available for the parade that will begin at 6:00 in the evening on July 4th. This year’s route will be the same as it has been in the past starting from the SBU Salem campus and traveling east on Franklin, then moving north on McArthur before heading east on 4th Street and finishing up around the courthouse square. Those interested in being the parade can pick up a copy of the parade rules at the Salem Area Chamber of Commerce office at 200 South Main Street along with their entry form. Entry forms need to be submitted by July 1st and can be dropped off at the chamber office, e-mail them to chamber@salemmo.com, mail them to the chamber office at 200 South Main, Salem, MO 65560 or fax them to 573-729-6741. On July 4th, the parade will begin lining up at 5:30. Following the parade, the annual Independence Day Fireworks display will again be held at The Commons starting after 9:00. If you have questions, contact Tabitha at the Chamber of Commerce office at 729-6900.