Archive for 2023

At the Salem High School Baseball Field Tuesday night between the Salem varsity and JV baseball games, KSMO General Manager Stan Podorski was honored for broadcasting Salem Tiger sports since 1984 including football, baseball, volleyball, softball and basketball as well as hosting numerous local fundraising events, serving on a number of civic boards and volunteering his services for numerous community projects. He received a home plate plaque from the Salem High School 2023 Baseball team, gift cards from the Salem High School Cheerleaders, a proclamation from City of Salem Alderman Shawn Bolerjack and will also be receiving a proclamation for his many years of community service from State Representative Ron Copeland who could not make it to the event. Podorski, who was taken totally by surprise by the event, shook hands with the entire baseball team as well as a those friends, civic leaders, parents, coaches, and a long line of well wishers who attended the game. Podorski was visibly touched by the community support thanking all those who made the event possible. Podorski starting calling Salem Tiger Football games for KSMO Radio in 1984, added boys basketball to his resume in 1986, added select girls basketball in 1989, then started calling baseball games and volleyball in the mid 90’s, and softball in the 2000’s.

The City of Salem held a joint Finance and Capital Improvements Committee meeting on Monday evening at the Salem Community Center @ the Armory. Finance Director Stacey Houston reviewed the financial statements for the third quarter of the fiscal year. Fund balances began the fiscal year at $5,321,805 and the balance to date is $7,350,656. Sales Tax Revenue in the General Revenue Fund through April is $1,276,912, which is 8% over last year’s totals. The Park and Recreation sales tax revenue is $478,828 and Capital Improvements sales tax is $638,457. General Fund revenues totaled $2,243,028 with expenditures at $2,103,784 and the fund is expected to end the year with a balance of $318,188 after transferring in from the electric fund $977,396 and transferring out to other departments $285,233. The Park and Recreation budget is projected to end the year with $37,689; the Capital Improvements Fund is projected to end with $200,042, and the Electric Fund is projected to end the year with $143,155. The Electric Funds including the Electric Reserve and Electric D&R Funds are projected to end the year with a balance of $737,310 while the all the Sewer Funds including the Sewer Reserve and Sewer D&R Fund balances are projected to be $486,709 at the end of the fiscal year. Houston also updated the group on several grant projects including the $3.7 million Drinking Water grant for a new well and well house. Archer Elgin Engineering is currently proceeding with this project. The City is currently getting easements for the Downtown Sidewalk TAP Grant Project from business owners and this project must be out for bid by August 1st. The Sewer Bond project and Lead Service Line Project are proceeding with Missouri Department of Natural Resouces guidance. Additional committee meetings will be held in the next few months to work on the 2023-2024 proposed budget that will need to be approved by the Board of Alderman before July 1st.

The Salem Senior Center will be hosting a Trivia Night Fundraiser and Silent Auction on May 13th at the Salem Community Center @ The Armory at 6:30. There will be 10 rounds of 10 questions and the cost for a table of six people is $100 or come as an individual and pay $20 per person. The winner gets $300 and 2nd place will receive $200. Concessions will be available and there will be mulligans sold but only for cash! This is an adult only venue and to register a team, sponsor a round or to donate to the silent auction, contact Jody Schaefer at 729-2373 or email her at jschaefer@agingbest.org. The doors will open at 5:45. This is your chance to support our Salem Senior Center who each year serves almost 20,000 meals at the center and delivers another 36,000 to homebound seniors in Salem and Dent County. The Salem Senior Center provides social activities, educational speakers and provides other important services for local seniors. Last year they also provided the free lunch program for school aged children during the summer. Any age is welcome to eat at the Salem Nutrition Site inside the Salem Senior Center with a cost of $7.00 per meal for those under 60-years of age, and a suggested contribution of $5.00 for those 60 and over. Enter your team today and help support a great service to our community.

The Salem Planning and Zoning Board of Commissioners meeting scheduled for tonight has been canceled due to the passing of former Salem Mayor Gary Brown. No makeup date for the meeting has been announced.

The Dent County Commissioners met Monday morning for their regular meeting. It was the first meeting for new Presiding Commissioner Gary Larson after being sworn in last week. He wanted to thank everyone that made it possible for him to move into his new role. In the road report, District 1 Commissioner Wes Mobray stated materials would be added and grading done on Dent County Roads 6600 and 6610 while only grading would be done on county road 5510. He said a flat tire on a grader had to be repaired as well. In the District 2 report, Commissioner Larson said materials would be added and grading done on Dent County Roads 2135 and 2330 while only grading would be done on county roads 3140 and 3150. Larson said a man was going to Springfield to get more oil for chip and seal repair. Last week, the commission put out bids for 7,000 gallons of diesel fuel and the lowest bid was Phil-Mart at $2.75 per gallon below the bids from County Fuels and MFA Oil. The commission also approved appointing Lori Hasten to the Dent County Health Center Board of Trustees to replace Sandra Headrick who resigned. She will serve until next the Municipal Election in April of 2024. With the appointment and confirmation of Gary Larson as Presiding Commissioner, a vacancy for District Two Commissioner has been created. County office vacancies are filled by gubernatorial appointment. Any person interested in that position may apply online at http://boards.mo.gov. They would need to create an account and complete the application on that website. After the account is created, those interested will be able to select “Dent County District Two Commissioner” on their application. State law allows the current county commissioners to designate an interim commissioner until the Boards and Commissions office makes an appointment. They would have until May 12th to make such an appointment. Whomever the commissioners would designate, that appointee would also have to complete the online application process if they would be interested in receiving the appointment from the governor’s office. According to Kyle Aubuchon, the Boards and Commissions Director, he anticipates an appointment being made around mid-June by the governor. He recommends the central committees and clubs meet in late-May if they want to submit a recommendation to their office. This will allow potential candidates to come forward for the next couple weeks, apply with their office, and make their candidacy known to the committees and clubs. The Boards and Commissions background check process takes a few weeks to complete before any appointment can be made prompting the expected date to be mid-June. The Commission will not be meeting on May 8th due to Truman’s Birthday or on May 11th as there will not be enough for a quarum. The next meeting of the commissioners will be Thursday morning at 9:00 and the meeting is open to the public.

Governor Mike Parson announced 169 school districts and charter schools have received grants from the newly created School Safety Grant Program. The grant program aims to support school safety improvements, including physical security upgrades and associated technology in school facilities such as door locks, monitoring systems, bleeding control kits, and automatic external defibrillators. The $20 million grant was part of Governor Parson’s Fiscal Year 2023 early supplemental budget request. Governor Parson’s Fiscal Year 2024 budget proposal includes an additional $50 million for the program, if approved by the General Assembly. Schools in our are that received the grant include the Salem R-80 School District who received $150,000; Oak Hill R-1 School District who received $50,000; the Steelville R-3 School District and they will get $150,000; the St. James R1 School District who received $200,000; the Bunker R-3 School District and they received $50,000 and the Licking R-8 School District and they received $150,000. The School Safety Grant Program scoring was based on points calculated by the average building age of the district, the assessed value per ADA points and the status survey points. Schools that scored 56 points or more in the survey were awarded funding.

The Dent County Sheriff’s Department has released some reports. On Saturday, April 22nd, a deputy arrested a man in the 600 block of East Hunt Street. The 40-year-old Salem man, had two active arrest warrants and was apprehended after a brief foot pursuit. He was transported to the Dent County Jail where he was incarcerated on the warrants. On Monday, April 24th, deputies arrested a man in the 14000 block of West Highway 32 after a motor vehicle crash. The suspect, a 29-year-old Licking man, was arrested for driving while being intoxicated and transported to the Dent County Jail for processing. On Wednesday, April 26th, a deputy arrested a female after a traffic stop at Salem High School. The 32-year-old Salem woman was arrested on an active arrest warrant and transported to the Dent County Jail for processing. And finally, on Friday, April 28th, a deputy arrested a 28-year-old Gerald man after he turned himself in to the Dent County Sheriff’s Office. He was transported to the Dent County Jail where he was processed, then released from custody after posting bond. If anyone has any information regarding an ongoing investigation, contact the Dent County Sheriff’s Department at 729-3241.