Archive for 2020

An accident happened on Thursday afternoon, October 29th shortly before 4:00 at the intersection of Highway 19 and Truman. The report from the Salem Police Department states that a 2001 Ford F-250 being driven by Kelley Rector of Salem and owned by Ronald Lewis of Salem, was traveling southbound on Highway 19 approaching Truman Street. The Ford had stopped in traffic and was signaling to turn left. At that time, a 2001 Dodge Ram 3500 being driven by Tyler Harrison of Salem and owned by Jannelle Harrison of Salem, was also traveling south on Highway 19 approaching Truman. Harrison stated he looked down for a moment and then realized the Ford was stopped. The Dodge then started to skid on the wet road surface and struck the Ford from behind. A passenger in the Dodge suffered probable minor injuries but refused medical treatment. Harrison suffered probable minor injuries and was transported by a private vehicle to the Salem Memorial District Hospital for evaluation and treatment. The Dodge had moderate damage and the Ford had minor damage. The report states that the crash was not investigated at the scene.

The Dent County Fire Protection Board of Directors met Tuesday evening at the fire station. After approval of the consent agenda, minutes from the October meeting were reviewed and approved as presented. The board then heard the financial report with bills being presented and approved. The budget showed an ending balance of $136,466.49 as of October 31st. The Calendar was then reviewed before the hearing of the monthly reimbursement report. The department had a total of 20 calls for the month of October including four structure fires, one flu fire, three brush fires, five first responder calls, three vehicle accidents, two training calls and two listed as other. Total calls year to date stand at 201 with the average cost per call of $117.15. Chief Nash reported that the building project is still ongoing with the ceiling tiles and lights being replaced. The front room and the kitchen are now complete. The date for the next meeting was set for Tuesday, December 1st at 6:00 at the fire station at #2 South Main Street. That meeting will be open to the public.

An audit of Edgar Springs found numerous problems with the city’s accounting controls and procedures, as well as other operations of city government. State Auditor Nicole Galloway conducted the audit at the request of residents who submitted a petition to her office. The report gave a rating of “poor.” Galloway said the audit of Edgar Springs found several significant concerns, including incomplete budgets and inaccurate financial statements. These are serious issues that impact transparency for citizens on how their taxpayer dollars are used and went on to say that city officials need to address and implement the recommendations in the audit in order to get on the right track. The audit found city officials did not prepare complete annual budgets as required by state law or monitor budgets appropriately. City officials also did not prepare and maintain accurate financial statements and accounting records, resulting in errors on monthly financial statements. In addition, city officials did not publish complete and accurate financial statements or file accurate and timely financial reports with the State Auditor’s Office, as required by state law. The audit also found several concerns with accounting controls and procedures in the operation of the city’s sewer system, including how rates are determined and how deposits, adjustments and delinquent accounts are handled. The city also needs to segregate accounting duties and improve receipting and depositing procedures to safeguard monies collected, and to improve procedures over disbursements. In addition, the audit found the city does not have a bidding policy to ensure taxpayers get the best deal for services. For example, the city did not solicit bids or document the process for selecting a vendor that completed street and building repairs funded through federal grants and totaling more than $37,000. The audit also found city officials did not always comply with the Sunshine Law. In March, after city hall was closed to the public due to COVID-19, the former Mayor directed the city clerk to only process and bill sewer payments. In June, the former Mayor resigned and the city clerk resumed responding to records requests.

The Dent County Sheriff’s Department has released the following reports. On Tuesday, October 17th, a deputy conducted a traffic stop at Highway 68 and Dent County Road 3260. During the course of the traffic stop, a 33-year-old Salem man was arrested for having an active warrant through Dent County and driving while having his license revoked or suspended, a 1st offense. The man was transported to the Dent County Jail where he was fingerprinted and issued a summons. The man later posted bond on the Dent County warrant and was released. On Thursday, October 19th, a deputy observed a 40-year-old Salem man in the parking lot of the Dent County Jail. The deputy knew the man to have an active warrant through Dent County. The man was arrested and taken to the Dent County Jail. On Monday the 23rd, a deputy conducted a traffic stop at Shawnee Mac Conservation Area. During the course of the traffic stop, a 43-year-old Salem man was arrested for driving while having his license revoked or suspended. The man was transported to the Dent County Jail where he was fingerprinted, issued a summons and released. Then on Wednesday the 25th, a deputy responded to a residence in the 3500 block of Route W for an ambulance assist. During the course of the incident, a 45-year-old Salem man was arrested for having an active warrant through Phelps County and Pulaski County. The man was transported to the Dent County Jail and incarcerated. If anyone has any information about an ongoing investigation, please call the Dent County Sheriff’s Department at 729-3241.

The Salem Police department has released the following reports. On the morning of October 17th at approximately 8:20 an officer was dispatched to the 200 block of east Truman Street for a report of property damage. It was reported that a vehicle parked there had the tires slashed and the windshield broken. It was estimated that the damage to the vehicle was $1,440. This incident is under investigation. That same evening at approximately 10:00 an officer was dispatched to the 1200 block of West Franklin for a report of a person slumped over the wheel. Contact was made with the driver of the vehicle and during the investigation it was found the driver was under the influence. As a result of the investigation a 39 year-old Salem female was arrested and issued a summons for DWI and child endangerment as the female had a 6 year-old female juvenile in the vehicle with her. The next day during the afternoon of October 18th at around 12:30 an officer was dispatched to the 600 block of East Fourth for a report of a stolen motor vehicle. The victim reported that she was contacted by the Highway Patrol about her car being involved in an accident in Crawford County. She stated that last that she knew the car was at her residence was 9:00 the night before. The car was towed and held for the victim. This incident is under investigation. During the afternoon of the 19th just after 4:00 an officer was dispatched to the 800 block of East Missouri highway 32 for a well being check. As a result of the investigation a female was seen to be passed out in her vehicle. Contact was made with the female and a strong odor of Marijuana was detected. A subsequent search of the vehicle located suspected marijuana and methamphetamine. The female, a 47 year-old Salem resident, was arrested and issued summons for possession of a controlled substance. On Tuesday morning October 20th around 10:53 an officer was dispatched to the 300 block of east Second Street for a report of two females possibly using drugs in a shed. Contact was made with the females and no drug activity was located. One of the females did have an active warrant for her arrest out of the Phelps County Sheriffs Office. As a result, the 40 year-old Salem female was arrested and incarcerated at the Dent County Jail awaiting extradition. Later that same day around 1:00 in the afternoon an officer was dispatched to the 1000 block of Craig Industrial Drive for a report of a theft. It was reported that approximately $450 worth of tools had been stolen. This incident is still under investigation. Later that same night at 8:43 an officer contacted a 26 year-old Rolla man that had an active warrant for his arrest. The warrant was confirmed, and the male was arrested and incarcerated at the Dent County Jail awaiting extradition. Please contact the Salem Police Department at (573) 729-4242 if you have any information regarding an ongoing investigation.

A General Election was held Tuesday nationally to determine a number of state and national offices as well as number of county offices. In Dent County, 7,224 ballots were cast which comes to 73.27% of registered voters cast their ballot. Only the locally contested races directly affecting Dent County are presented here. These results are unofficial. * Denotes winner

Dent County Commissioner-District One

Wes Mobray* (Repub) 2,416 votes
Larry Lundy (Dem) 1,056 votes

Dent County Commissioner-District Two

Gary Larson* (Repub) 2,596 votes
Tom Welch (Dem) 740 votes
Kourt Gustav Tiefenthaler (Lib) 140 votes

US Representative District 8
(All counties reported)

Jason Smith* (Repub) 253,646 votes
Kathy Ellis (Dem) 70,504 votes
Tom Schmitz (Lib) 5,846 votes

The City of Salem Board of Aldermen met in the Bank of Salem Courtesy Room Monday night. Teresa Stark of 1203 South Washington says her neighbor has two big dogs, a pit bull and lab and she is afraid they will get into her yard and hurt her smaller dog. She also said that the tenant of the house constantly burns when winds are high and the flames occasionally climb higher than the home. He also has a disabled camper in his yard. Police Chief Joe Chase said he addressed the issues with the owner of the property and now has met with the tenant about violation of city ordinances. He has five business days to show he is trying to address the violations. Samara Dozier of 1506 South Main asked the Board of Aldermen to provide her with a written permit for her mini pigs. She said she has four mini pigs for now and she has two large dogs. City Ordinances prohibit swine in the city unless the Alderman gave her permission to have the pigs. The board postponed any decision on this until they can investigate this further and get a legal opinion. The board approved the bid from Municipal Equipment Company out of St. Louis for $27,810 for a grinder pump station equipment package for the Highway 72 and Route J Sewer Project. Mary Happel reported on the Planning and Zoning Commission meeting held October 20th and said they recommended the approval of the subdivision of part of the Master’s Industrial Park with Tract A being 2.9 acres, Tract B being five acres and Tract C being 25 acres. They also discussed the subdivision of the lots of 712 North Hickory and 713 North Oak and the movement of the property line. That issue was sent to the Planning and Zoning Board of Adjustment for their recommendation. Administrator Ray Walden gave his report and said the on-going renovation work at the City Administrative Building was delayed a couple of weeks waiting on materials. The renovation should be completed by November 16th. Walden said a video was posted to the City of Salem Facebook page on Friday that explained the AMI system, the utility billing and also gave an update on the city hall auditorium improvements. Walden said he is going to get with Everything Cinema to try to get the theatre project completed. Public Works Director Mark Nash said the city replaced 44 water meters and those bills will be out no later than today day. Nash said electric meters from 911-1027 cannot be read by Incode and they need to be updated with a new download from Incode. This can’t be done until after the billing cycle is complete. Walden also said the city offices would be closed on Wednesday, November 11th. The board then approved Bill #3465 that allowed for the subdivision of the Masters Industrial Park as recommended by the Planning and Zoning Commission. The meeting was then adjourned.

Preliminary data from the Missouri Department of Conservation shows that young hunters ages 6 through 15 harvested 15,591 deer during Missouri’s early youth portion of the 2020 deer hunting season on October 31st and November 1st. Top counties were Franklin with youth hunters harvesting 336 deer, Howell with 324, and Osage with 320. Locally, Texas County harvested 277 deer, Reynolds County had 227 deer taken, Dent County had 224 deer harvested, Shannon County had 201 deer taken, Crawford County had 162 deer harvested while Iron County had 102 deer taken. Last year, youth hunters harvested 18,289 deer during the early youth portion. The firearm portion of deer season will begin on November 13th and run through November 25th.

Preliminary data from the Missouri Department of Conservation shows that hunters checked 2,127 turkeys during Missouri’s fall firearms turkey season, October 1st through the 31st. Top harvest counties were Greene with 70 birds harvested, Maries with 58, and Franklin with 55. Dent County had 42 birds taken. Other counties in our area include Crawford with 44, 33 in Phelps, and 45 in Texas county. Hunters harvested 1,953 birds during the 2019 fall firearms turkey season. Fall archery turkey hunting continues through November 13th and resumes November 25th through January 15th, 2021. Get more information about fall turkey hunting from MDC’s 2020 Fall Deer & Turkey Hunting Regulations and Information booklet, available where hunting permits are sold and online at huntfish.mdc.mo.gov.