Archive for 2022

An accident happened Sunday evening at 6:30 in Dent County on Route H about a mile and half west of Route C. According to the highway patrol report, a 2006 Yamaha V-Star being operated by 42-year-old Stephen Morgan of Lenox, was traveling west when he lost control which caused the bike to travel off the left side of the road and overturn. Both Morgan and a passenger, 44-year-old Branda Gamblin, also of Lenox, were thrown from the bike. Gamblin suffered serious injuries and was flown by Phelps Air to University Hospital in Columbia. Morgan and Gamblin were both wearing safety equipment at the time of the accident.

An accident occurred Saturday morning at 11:31 in Phelps County on Route Y about three miles west of Rolla. According to the highway patrol report, an eastbound 2017 Kia Forte, driven by 19-year-old Eric Ware of Rolla, crossed the center line of the roadway and struck a westbound 2016 Ford F-250, operated by 39-year-old Joshua Grisham, also of Rolla. Ware suffered serious injuries and was transported by Phelps Air to University Hospital in Columbia. Grisham suffered moderate injuries and was transported by a private conveyance to Phelps Health Hospital in Rolla. According to the report, Grisham was wearing a safety restraint at the time of the accident, while it was unknown if Ware was. Both vehicles sustained extensive damage. The Kia was removed from the scene by C&C Towing, while the Ford was removed by Ron Dishman’s Towing.

An accident occurred Saturday evening around 10:12 on Highway 42 about three miles west of Vienna. According to the highway patrol report, a 2015 Harley Davidson ridden by 58-year-old Troy Downs of Steelville, was traveling eastbound and travelled off the right side of the roadway and struck a fence. Downs suffered serious injuries and was flown by Phelps Air to the University Hospital in Columbia. The Harley was totaled and removed from the scene by 9 Lines Towing.

An accident occurred Saturday evening around 5:28 on Highway 19 near the 208-mile marker overpass at I-44. According to the highway patrol report a 2014 Buick Enclave driven by 72-year-old Nora Buchannan of Leasburg attempted to merge into the right turn lane and side swiped a 2022 Buick Envision driven by 27-year-old Breanna King of Steelville. A 6-year-old juvenile male in the Envision from Steelville, suffered minor injuries and was transported to Phelps Health by private conveyance. He was wearing a safety restraint at the time of the accident. The Envision sustained moderate damage and the Enclave sustained minor damage, both vehicles were driven from the scene.

An accident occurred Saturday morning in Phelps County at 6:17 on Highway 63 at county road 5020. According to the highway patrol report, a northbound 2017 Ford Escape, driven by 77-year-old Norma Wallace of Rolla, was slowing to make a turn and was struck in the rear by a 1999 Chevrolet Cavalier operated by 40-year-old Joel Anderson also of Rolla. Wallace suffered minor injuries and was transported to Phelps Health in Rolla. The report stated that both drivers were wearing safety restraints at the time of the accident. The Escape sustained minor damage and was left at the scene. The Cavalier sustained extensive damage and was removed by Ron Dishman’s Towing.

The Dent County Commissioners met Monday morning at the courthouse. In the road report, District 1 Commissioner Wes Mobray stated grading would be done on Dent County Roads 5080 and 6630 while brush would be cut on county roads 4080 and 4090. Mobray said they would be hauling off dirt from Dent County Road 5080, better known as the Schwartz Road, to get it ready for asphalt. The workers are also putting on new cutting edges on Grader #36. District 2 Commissioner Gary Larson said workers would be installing new driveway pipes on Dent County Roads 3250 and 6150 with additional materials being hauled to those roads. He said ditch work would be done on county road 3010. Presiding Commissioner Darrell Skiles said he would be attending a Meramec Community Enhancement Corporation meeting Wednesday in St. James. The commissioners are contacting local financial institutions to bid on a five-year lease/purchase annual interest agreement for $382,245.90 for two new graders with those bids due in by 10:00 at the county clerk’s office on Thursday, September 29th. They also approved the bid from Viebrock Sales for 20 30-foot long, 16 gauge, 15-inch-wide culverts for $10,320. Dent County Clerk Angie Curley said the last day to register for the November election will be October 12th and the first day to vote absentee is September 27th. At the last meeting, Curt Faigle from the 100-Acre Wood Rally was in attendance and said the rally this year would be held March 17th and 18th. Sarah Massengale from the University of Missouri Extension visited with the commission. The next meeting of the Dent County Commission will be Thursday morning at 9:00.

The Salem Memorial District Hospital Board of Directors will meet tonight at 6:00 at the hospital library. The board will hear the summary of operations and statistics for the month of August as well as the Chief Nursing Officer report, get a staffing update, talk about the clinic, get an update on the hospital foundation and talk about marketing and community relations. After the Chief of Staff’s report, the board will be updated on the status of the needed transformer before discussing new purchases. The board will also talk about the kitchen drain repair, the annual bylaw committee meeting, a strategic planning retreat, appointments to the finance committee and the MHA conference. The meeting tonight is open to the public.

An accident happened Thursday evening at approximately 7:20 in Dent County on Route H about 12 miles west of Salem. According to the highway patrol report, a 2016 Isuzu NPR box truck being driven east by 47-year-old Jody Wondell of Lenox, attempted to avoid a vehicle that was traveling on the wrong side of the roadway by driving off the roadway, then striking a tree. Wondell suffered moderate injuries and was taken by Salem EMS to the Salem Memorial District Hospital for treatment. The Isuzu was removed from the scene by Big Boys Towing with moderate damage. Wondell was wearing a seat restraint at the time of the accident.

An accident happened Thursday afternoon at around 1:45 in Shannon County of State Route KK near Akers. The report from the highway patrol states that a 2012 Harley Davidson being operated 58-year-old Timothy LeCroy of Wentzville, crossed the center of the roadway, ran off the left side of the roadway, struck an embankment and overturned. LeCroy suffered serious injuries and was taken by Air Evac to Mercy Hospital in St. Louis. The Harley received extensive damage and was removed from the scene by Whitakers Towing. The report went on to state that LeCroy was wearing safety equipment at the time of the accident.

The Salem Board of Alderman met Thursday evening at the City Hall Council Chambers. The board approved the appointment of Assistant City Clerk Erica Sheppard before Mayor Greg Parker gave her the oath of office. Mayor Parker then nominated Amanda Duncan to fill the seat vacated by Tod Kinerk who had resigned on Tuesday. East Ward Alderwoman Kala Sisco then recommended Ben Pursiful for the West Ward position and the board elected to review each recommendation and make a decision at the next meeting. The board approved the mayor’s recommendation of adding Stacey Jones to the Park and Recreation Board, and also approved adding David Weiss to the Utility Committee to replace Gary Brown who resigned due to church commitments. The board approved the request from Skip Dahms for the city to close 4th Street from MacArthur to Henderson for the annual Kids Carnival on October 8th starting at 11:30 that morning. The board approved Bill #3519 that creates an ordinance to allow Mayor Parker on behalf of the city to enter into a power supply and administration agreement among Missouri Joint Municipal Electric Utility Commission doing business as the Missouri Electric Commission, and make the city a member of the Mid-Missouri Municipal Power Energy Pool. They also approved Bill #3520 that created a new ordinance amending Chapter 230, Article II, Section 250.150 concerning the free pickup of tree limbs and yard waste. That will be eliminated as of January 1st, and there will be a $40-charge for the street department to pick up your bundled limbs and bagged yard waste. Residents will have to come to the City Administrative offices, fill out a work order and pay their $40 before the pickup. Of course, people can take their own yard waste to the city disposal area in the Masters Industrial Park. The board tabled Bill #3521 to raise the sewer rates due to a needed clarification, then tabled Resolutions 26 through 30-2022 for the demolition program due to the bids from the companies for the demolition not being presented at the meeting for the board to accept or reject. Public Work Director Mark Nash presented a bid for the cleaning of the fuel tank at the airport from Akin Environmental from Arkansas for $2,852.00 which the board accepted. This is a budgeted item. Nash presented a bid to replace the leaking roof on the salt storage building on Center Street. Since this was a non-budgeted item, the alderman wanted to know what budget adjustment was going to be made affecting what accounts. The bid was tabled until the next meeting. Nash presented a bid for repair clamps for water main repairs from Core and Main for $3,193 which will come from the Equipment Maintenance budget for the Water Department. The board approved the purchase. The board tabled Code Officer Travis Roberts’ request for a Live Trap Rental Agreement that will require a deposit. The current rental agreement is for a $50 deposit, but the cost to replace a broken or stolen trap is $60 to $80 so the board felt $50 was not enough. The board also tabled the requested increase in the airport hangar rental of $10 per month by the airport board. Economic Development Director Sally Burbridge reported the Construction Trades and Computer Technology Building Fund bank account needed to have $438,000 in it by Thursday, and it had $448,005 as reported by Salem R-80 Superintendent Dr. Lynne Reed. This will allow for the city and school to move forward and qualify for a $500,000 CDBG grant. Alderman Shawn Bolerjack said the Community Wide Yard Sale will be held October 1st and that people can rent a space at the City Administration Parking Lot for $8.00 for a double space. Call the city offices at 729-4117 for more information or stop by 400 North Iron Street. Parker said the City Cleanup Week will be October 10th through the 14th on your normal trash pickup day. Alderman Kyle Williams said the 9-hole disc golf course at the Salem City Park is now complete. The board then went into closed session.

The Dent County Commissioners met Thursday morning at the courthouse and welcomed Grant Wilson from Congressman Jason Smith’s office. Wilson said Smith was back in Washington D.C. for the next three weeks after a successful Farm Tour in the 8th District. In the road report, District 1 Commissioner Wes Mobray stated materials would be added and grading done on Dent County Road 6633 while brush would be cut on county road 4080. He said he had two men patching chip and seal on county road 4210. District 2 Commissioner Gary Larson said grading would be done on Dent County Roads 3233 and 3235 while materials would be added to county road 2330. Larson indicated maintenance work would be done in the garage and grader #2 would get an oil change and new tires would be put on truck #124. Other general maintenance would also be done. Presiding Commissioner Darrell Skiles said he attended the Ozark Rivers Solid Waste Management District Executive Board meeting Tuesday to review and score grant applications for recycling efforts in the region. He said there were 10 grants submitted that totaled over $310,000 while there is only about $185,000 available. They will meet again to determine how the money is to be awarded. Skiles did report on the Ozark Run Scenic By-Way public hearing held in West Plains Tuesday where about 50 people in opposition to the project voiced their opinion on the property limitations. Skiles said the county received the Re-Monumentation Contract from the Missouri Department of Agriculture that will pay the county up to $350 for each surveying corner that is re-monumented up to 10 corners. The commission took no action until talking with the county surveyor. Commissioner Mobray said he applied for and received a FLAP grant to asphalt Dent County Road 6670 from Route YY to Montauk State Park. The grant for the 1.4-mile stretch is $806,339.60 for the asphalt and guard rails where required. This work is projected to be completed by 2024. Mobray also said MoDOT wants to rebid FLAP projects 56 and 57 which are the replacement of the Cooley Bridge and the Tan Vat paving project. The bid will be advertised in the Salem News starting September 20th, then again on the 27th and finally on October 4th. The bids will be due in the Dent County Clerk’s Office at 4:30 on October 12th. The bids will be opened at 10:00 at the regular commissioner meeting on October 13th at the courthouse. The next meeting of the commission will be Monday morning at 9:00 and the meeting is open to the public.

Dent County Clerk Angie Curley wants to remind people that on August 28th, the new election law passed by the Missouri Legislature went into effect where Missouri voters will now be expected to show a Missouri issued photo ID to vote in the November election. The photo will need to be an unexpired Missouri Driver’s License, an unexpired Missouri non-driver’s license, a US Passport, or an unexpired US military ID with a photo. If you do not have a photo ID, free ID’s are available for voting from the Department of Revenue. The Missouri Secretary of State Office can help you get the required documents for free. For more information on free ID’s, contact the Dent County Clerk’s office in the courthouse or go to “showit2vote.com.” Curley also said any voter can cast a normal excused absentee ballot beginning September 27th for the November election, and any voter can cast a no excuse absentee ballot in the Dent County Clerk’s Office between October 25th and November 7th. The last day to mailout an absentee ballot will be October 26th. If you are NOT registered to vote, you will need to do so by October 12th. If you are registered to vote but do not have a valid photo ID, you can vote a provisional ballot. If you vote a provisional ballot, you can come back to your polling location on election day and show a valid photo ID and your vote will count, of if your signature matches the signature in the voter registry, your vote will count. For more information on the free photo ID, you can also call the Voter ID hotline at 866-868-3245 or visit www.sos.mo.gov.

The Missouri Department of Conservation (MDC) reminds hunters that bicycles, and certain types of electric bicycles are now allowed on service roads and multi-use trails at about 300 conservation areas, including some also open for deer hunting. Approximately 30 of these areas will be closed to bicycle and electric bicycle use during all portions of the firearms deer hunting season. Bicycle use on most of MDC’s approximately 1,100 conservation areas is still restricted to roads open to public-vehicle traffic and some multi-use trails. Cyclists may not ride off-road or off-trail. Find MDC multi-use bicycle trails and service roads online through the MDC webpage — Find Places to Go — at mdc.mo.gov/discover-nature/places. Bike trails and service roads can be searched for by using the Advanced Search feature. Learn more about cycling on MDC areas at mdc.mo.gov/discover-nature/activities/bicycling.