Archive for 2022

The Dent County Commissioners met Monday morning for their regular meeting at the courthouse. Dent Collector Shannon VanKirk gave the March turnover report that showed collections during the month of $161,610.08. She said collections for January through March in 2022 are down about 1% from the collections in 2021 for the first three months. VanKirk and the commission discussed a need to upgrade the security camera system from standard definition to HD. The commissioners approved to put the changeover out to bid in the Salem News next week with all bids due to the county clerk by 10:00 the morning of Thursday, May 12th. The improvements will be partially paid out of the collector’s tax maintenance fund. In the road report, 1st District Commissioner Wes Mobray said workers were removing a tree that was across Dent County Road 5530 from the winds of Sunday and early Monday morning. He said crews would be out checking other roads for downed limbs or trees as well as any clogged culverts. Gary Larson, the 2nd District Commissioner, stated his crews would also be out checking roads for downed trees or limbs as well as doing shop maintenance. Presiding Commissioner Darrell Skiles said he would be attending a CCAM meeting this morning before attending the MAC Legislative Day in Jefferson City where they will speak with legislators about their concerns during the afternoon. Skiles said the other commissioners will also be attending the MAC Legislative Day as well as Dent County Clerk Angie Curley. Curley did say that she balanced with the collector and assessor on all collections, abatements and add-ons for the month of March. At the last meeting, Devan Johnson from the Missouri State Auditor’s Office came in and visited with the commission about the scope of their work. The next meeting of the Dent County Commissioners will be Thursday morning at 9:00 at the courthouse and the meeting will be open to the public.

Preliminary data from the Missouri Department of Conservation shows that young turkey hunters in Missouri harvested 2,881 birds over the past youth weekend, April 9th and 10th. The top harvest counties were Miller with 87 birds harvested, Osage with 71, and Franklin with 71. In the immediate area, Texas County had 61 turkeys harvested while Phelps County had 57 turkeys taken. Dent County recorded 39 birds taken followed by Crawford County had 30 turkey harvested, Shannon County with 17 birds checked, Reynolds County with 13 turkeys harvested and Iron County with 11 birds taken. Young hunters checked 2,795 turkeys during the 2021 spring youth weekend. The regular spring turkey season runs April 18th through May 8th. For more on spring turkey hunting in Missouri, visit mdc.mo.com.

Salem Area Community Betterment Association (SACBA) of Salem is proud to present an evening of recognizing local volunteer achievements of fellow community members. On Saturday evening, May 7th at 5:30, the evening will commence with a progressive finger food meal around the SACBA property featuring each aspect of our not-for-profit organization. The evening will conclude with an awards presentation honoring local volunteer individuals and groups. Tickets are $30.00 per person and includes delicious eats and treats from our featured event caterers: County Road Coffee, Hometown Sweets, Arandas Mexican Restaurant and JB Malone’s. Tickets are available at the Salem Public Library (cash only), Salem Area Chamber of Commerce (cash and credit cards) and the Community Center @ the Armory (cash only). Credit card purchases are subject to applicable fees. Tickets must be presented at the event. Event location is at the Ozark Natural & Cultural Resource Center (ONCRC) located at 202 S. Main. We are pleased to announce our 2022 nominees as follows: Education & Youth: Marty Anderson & A.J. Tinker, Warm My Heart Foundation, Janet Price, Friends of the Salem Public Library and Kala Sisco. Community Enhancement and Preservation: MO Gamblers 500, Sarah Arnett, Jake Stotlerand and the AARP Tax Aide Volunteers. Arts & Culture: Jamin Bray and Michael Helms (posthumously). Humanitarian: Sarah Arnett, Lyndell Decker, Michelle Smith, Ahleesha Elwood, Nancy Eudy, Grace Harbor and Dianne Godi. Outstanding Youth Volunteer: Sierra Rusco, Denise Stoner and Northwood R-4 JAG Class. Congratulations to all the nominees! In addition, the board will present the “Community Trailblazer” award to the late Libby Sanders for her many hours of volunteerism to our community. For more information find us on Facebook, email us at sacba@salemmo.com or call 573-729-6983.

The City of Salem Public Water Supply Annual Water Quality Report has been released and there were no violations that occurred for the calendar year 2021. All levels of contaminants found were lower than required by government regulations. If you would like to see the City of Salem Annual Water Quality Report, a copy can be found at the City of Salem Administration Building at 4th and Iron Streets, the dent County Courthouse, the Salem Public Library, at the Salem Water Department Office or at the KSMO Radio studios.

An accident occurred Saturday evening in Crawford County on Highway C & Route CC about 8 miles north of Cuba. According to the highway patrol report, a 2005 Chevrolet Impala driven by 26-year-old Tara Maness of Cuba, was traveling eastbound and failed to stop at a stop sign and began to enter the intersection. At that time, a 2012 Toyota Camry driven by 39-year-old Amanda Caravelli of Cuba, was travelling westbound and attempted to swerve to avoid the Chevrolet but was struck. Maness suffered moderate injuries and Caravelli suffered minor injuries. Both parties refused medical treatment at the scene. They both were wearing safety restraints at the time of the accident. The Chevrolet was totaled, and the Toyota sustained extensive damage. Both vehicles were removed from the scene by Chris & Sons Towing.

The Missouri Department of Transportation crews will begin the annual process of striping roadways across mid-Missouri, beginning Monday, April 11th. Crews will start on minor routes where paint has faded, or no shoulder lines are in place. The process will then move to major routes, such as interstates and four-lane roadways, later this spring. Motorists will encounter slow-moving lines of trucks with flashing lights, boards with flashing arrows and signs that say, “Wet Paint.” Drivers are reminded to stay behind the last truck in the striping train, which is placed well behind the striping truck. This will give the new paint time to dry and keep drivers from tracking fresh paint across the lanes and damaging the new stripes. It also will prevent paint from getting onto vehicles. If you do drive through the wet paint, which is water-based, clean your car as quickly as possible with a high-powered water hose such as those used in car washes. On two-lane highways where crews will begin working next week, striping vehicles will pull over where it is safe to let traffic congestion clear. For more information, please call 1-888-ASK-MoDOT (275-6636) or visit www.modot.org/central.

Intercounty Electric Cooperative Association rate adjustment went into effect on April 1st. The rate adjustment decreases the kWh charge and increases the service availability rate from $1.24 to $1.29 per day for residential and single-phase members. The adjustment was done to establish a rate schedule in which the co-op can better stabilize financial uncertainties caused by weather fluctuations. If you have any questions, you can contact member accounts at 866-621-3679.

The City of Salem Board of Aldermen will meet Tuesday evening at 6:00 at the City Hall Council Chambers. The board will discuss old business of Bill No. 3503 that would create an ordinance amending the annual budget for the City of Salem and the appropriation of funds. Then the board will go over bids for a new truck for Salem Department of Parks and Recreation. The board will hear reports from City Administrator Ray Walden, Mayor Kim Steelman, Public Works Director Mark Nash, Economic Development Director Sally Burbridge, Park and Recreation Director Melissa DuBois and any alderman reports. After the reports, the board will certify the April 5th election results. The City Clerk will then administer the Oath of Office to newly elected officials. The board may then go into closed session to discuss contracts before they adjourn. The meeting is open to the public.

The Salem Arts Council will be holding clogging practice and instruction on Monday evenings in April from 5:30 till 7:30 at the Creative Arts Center. Enjoy the cultural art of clogging and try it out for yourself, or just come by and watch. For more information or to register, call 247-0651, message on Facebook or you can e-mail salemartscouncil@outlook.com.

The Dent County Commission met for their regular meeting Thursday morning in the courthouse. Dent County Treasurer Denita Williams was in with the sales tax receipt for April. She reported that the General Revenue and LEST both received $100,589.11 compared to $17,855.87 each in April of 2021 during the DOR sales tax issue. Year-to-date they are each up $289,114.87. Williams and the Commissioners thanked the voters for their support of the Road and Bridge Sales Tax which generated $45,723.80 and is up year-to-date $140,107.47. She said the Jail Operations Fund and Jail Trust Fund each received $90,891.50 and are up year-to-date $279,481.79. It is important to note that the Road and Bridge Fund and the Jail Funds received no sales tax in April of 2021, again due to the DOR sales tax issue. In the road report District One Commissioner Wes Mobray said grading would be done on Dent County Road 5610 and grading would be done on county road 2440, plus two trucks were hauling materials to that road. He also reported that his district’s brush cutter tractor is to be back next week. District Two Commissioner Gary Larson reported that grading was to be done on Dent County Roads 3030, 3080, 3090, 4430 & 2380, while materials were to be added to county roads 4430 and 3060. Larson said that brush would be cut on county road 4380. Presiding Commissioner Darrell Skiles reported on the Hazardous Mitigation Planning Meeting held Tuesday at the Community Center at the Armory. He said that he was disappointed that only two of the county schools were represented at the meeting. Skiles said the ARPA Distribution Agreement was received from MRPC for the Salem Memorial District Hospital to complete their application for funds for the new generator. The commission signed the distribution agreement. Brad Nash, Dent County Fire Chief and Emergency Management Director, was in to discuss extrication since SMDH is out of the extrication business. Currently the tools the fire department have won’t cut the new vehicles and most of the rural fire departments’ tools are in bad shape. Nash had two proposals. The first was with Alex Air Apparatus, which consisted of four sets of tools with each consisting of a cutter, spreader, ram and two batteries with chargers for each set. Included would be four years of training and service of the tools for a cost of $126,310. The second was from Sentinel Emergency Solutions for four sets of tools with cutter, spreader, ram and batteries for $115,905. No training would be included. Nash said Emergency Management would pay the $50/year insurance on each set, plus a memorandum of understanding would be signed if the county purchased the tools. The proposals were discussed, but no decision was made, and plans are to re-visit the issue with Nash. Dent County Clerk Angie Curley said that the commissioners were approving bills for payment. She also noted that 1,125 citizens, which was 11.92% of Dent County registered voters, voted in Tuesday’s election. The next regular meeting of the commission will be Monday morning at 9:00 and the meeting is open to the public.

The Salem Community Carden will be offering a variety of Growing Green Educational Workshops. The first workshop will be on Saturday morning at 9:00. This will be the opening of the garden and a 101 Garden Workshop. The garden is located behind the Salem Methodist Church at 801 East Scenic Rivers Bld. For more information contact Charlie Grimm at 573-368-9902.

Team members at Current River State Park invite the public to learn to make wildflower jelly from 9:00 in the morning until 2:00 in the afternoon this Saturday and Sunday. If you have ever wondered how to make wildflower jelly that you see everyone posting about on social media, this class is for you. Participants should bring their lunch, a water bottle, and small jars to the workshop. Space is limited, so registration is required. For more information and to register, contact Connie Weber at 573-751-1224 or email connie.weber@dnr.mo.gov. Current River State Park is located on Highway 19, approximately 23 miles south of Salem and approximately 15 miles north of Eminence. 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.