Archive for 2024

The City of Salem will launch a city-wide fire hydrant maintenance program on Monday, November 4th, with all work, including painting, expected to be completed in December by Fire Hydrant Services and Repair out of Arkansas. The project will address all 290 hydrants across Salem, with a focus on ensuring optimal functionality and uniform appearance. Over the next month, crews will clear vegetation, replace bonnet seals, oil internal components, inspect outlet threads, and install reflective rings on each hydrant. Fire Hydrant Services and Repair will be documenting each hydrant’s condition, including any leaks, damage, or worn parts, which will help the City proactively address issues moving forward. The Dent County Fire Department has endorsed the use of safety yellow paint for all public hydrant barrels, in alignment with NFPA 291 recommendations. This safety yellow color is designed for visibility and rapid identification, particularly at night, further enhancing each hydrant’s visibility. Water valves for the hydrants will also be painted in the same safety yellow color to maintain consistency. The City of Salem is proud to be taking proactive steps to maintain and beautify our infrastructure in the interest of public safety and aesthetics. For more information, please contact the City of Salem at (573) 729-4811.

For the eighth year, the Missouri Department of Transportation and the Missouri Coalition for Roadway Safety, along with various safety partners, schools and businesses throughout the state, are encouraging better driving behaviors as part of the annual “Buckle Up – Phone Down” Day today. The day challenges all drivers to do the two most important steps while driving to reduce your risk of a fatal crash. The goal of BUPD Day is to have zero traffic fatalities on Missouri roads throughout the day. To date in 2024, of the more than 740 fatalities in Missouri, 63% of vehicle occupants killed were unbuckled. Distracted driving is also a leading cause of crashes in Missouri. In 2023, distracted driving was cited in crashes that claimed 106 lives. In August of 2023, the Siddens-Bening Hands-Free Law took effect in Missouri, prohibiting all drivers from using a handheld electronic communication device while driving. The law aims to address distracted driving, which contributed to crashes that claimed the lives of more than 800 people across the state during the last decade. Paired with the requirement to wear a seat belt, the enactment of the hands-free legislation means BUPD is officially law in Missouri. Additionally, the Missouri State Highway Patrol has been educating drivers on the new law for the past year, and law enforcement agencies throughout the state will begin writing citations for driving distracted beginning January 1, 2025. Drivers can accept the challenge to BUPD at modot.org/bupd.

The 3rd Annual Trunk or Treat is in the works and the committee is looking for amazing organizations and businesses to participate. Some ways you can contribute is by handing out candy on 4th street Halloween evening this Thursday from 6:00 until 8:00. If you are unable to hand out candy due to personnel, time, or wanting to attend with your children donations of prepackaged candy or monetary contributions to purchase more candy is being excepted. As a community, we can help keep our children safe with a blocked off section of 4th street between MacArther and Main Streets. For more information, please contact Deputy Derrick Marfitt at dmarfitt@dentcountysheriff.org or Patrolman John Brown at jmbrown@salemmo.com.

The Missouri Department of Conservation has announced important changes to fall turkey hunting regulations. Hunters must now purchase a new fall turkey permit, regardless of whether they’re using firearms or archery. This permit is separate from the archery deer-hunting permit. The combined harvest limit for fall turkey hunting has been reduced from four to two birds of either sex. In the Ozark Region, the average fall turkey harvest over the past five years has been 597 turkeys, with 55% to 75% being hens. For deer hunters, the antler-point restriction has been removed for counties within the Chronic Wasting Disease Management Zone, affecting 13 counties including Phelps. MDC Protection Captain Gerald Smith reminds hunters to purchase permits before hunting, properly notch permits immediately after harvesting an animal, and check deer or turkey by 10 p.m. on the day of harvest. Notching can be done on paper permitsor through the MO Hunting mobile app, even without cell service. The archery turkey season runs through November 15, reopens November 27, and continues until January 15, 2025. Fall firearms turkey hunting is now through October 31st in open counties. For more information, hunters can visit the MDC website.

University of Missouri Extension website lists numerous apps to help in decision-making on the farm, says MU Extension agricultural engineering specialist Charles Ellis. Ellis says these apps can help you make objective decisions to better manage your crops and livestock. By entering information from your farm, you can get answers specific to your operation. MU Extension has a large list of helpful apps on their website. Another comprehensive app website is AgPhD. It contains a planting population calculator, spray tip guides and apps on fertilizer removal and corn and soybean diseases, among others. Find it at agphd.com/agphdmobileapps.

The Missouri Department of Conservation’s George O. White State Forest Nursery, just north of Licking, is now taking orders for native tree and shrub seedlings. These low-cost seedlings can improve wildlife habitat, soil and water conservation, and property value. Available species include pine, oak, walnut, maple, redbud, elderberry, and many others. Seedlings are sold in bundles of 10 or increments of 25, with prices ranging from 40 cents to $1.17 per seedling. Orders can be placed now through April 15, 2025. Early ordering is recommended for best selection. Seedlings will be available for shipping or pickup from February through May. To order or for more information, visit mdc.mo.gov/trees-plants/tree-seedlings.

The Dent County Commissioners met for their regular meeting this morning in the courthouse. Presiding Commissioner Gary Larson was not in attendance due to a prior commitment and County Clerk Angie Curley appointed Wes Mobray as temporary presiding commissioner. Dent County Treasurer Denita Williams gave the updated CART Tax report and said the county received $88,956.90 which is $6,325.44 more than October of 2023. Year-to-date, the county has received over $130,000 more than in 2023 which is a 17% increase. In the District One report, Commissioner Mobray congratulated KSMO General Manager Stan Podorski on receiving the Eugene E. Northern Award and Bryce Mobray on receiving an Outstanding Youth Volunteer Award Thursday night at the MRPC Annual Awards Dinner and Banquet in Linn, Missouri.  In the road report, he said culverts were being installed and rock would be added to Dent County Roads 5600 and 5615. He added that a man would be going to Springfield to get a load of oil for chip and seal repair. District Two Commissioner Gary Polk said work crews would be cleaning up gravel and concrete around the section of the bridge on Dent County Road 4480 that was replaced. He went on to report that bridge repair would be made on Dent County Road 2110 and brush would be cut on county roads 2370 and 5260. Dent County Clerk Angie Curley said “no excuse” absentee voting continues at the courthouse, and as of Friday, over 1,030 people have voted absentee. The last day to absentee vote will be Monday, November 4th from 8:00 in the morning until 5:00 in the afternoon at the courthouse. Curley said her office will be open from 8:00 in the morning until 12:00 noon this Saturday, November 2nd for absentee voting. If you need to make changes to your voter registration such as a name or address change, please do that as soon as possible so that it will be completed before you go to vote. On Tuesday, November 5th, the polls will be open from 6:00 in the morning until 7:00, and you must vote at your polling location. Bring a photo ID with you when you go to vote.  The next meeting of the commission will be Thursday morning at 9:00 at the courthouse and the meeting is open to the public.

The Salem Memorial Hospital Board of Directors will hold their regular meeting this evening at 6:30 in the hospital library. At the meeting, the Board will review and approve minutes from previous meetings, before they hear the report from CEO Brooke Bollman. The Board will then hear the summary of operations and statistics for the month of September, be updated on the 340B program, hear the Chief Nursing Officer report, and be updated on Human Resources before hearing a report on quality information. The Board will address old business followed by new business that includes CD investments and the foundation bylaw review. The board may then vote to go into closed session. The Salem Memorial Hospital Board of Directors meeting tonight at 6:30 at the hospital library is open to the public. To attend the meeting electronically, contact the hospital administration office at 729-6626, extension 4005.

KSMO General Manager Stan Podorski was presented the Eugene E. Northern Award at the Meramec Regional Planning Commission Annual Awards Dinner Thursday night in Linn, Missouri at the Osage View. It is the highest award presented by the MRPC for volunteerism. Podorski came to Salem in 1984 and was a volunteer on the Police Personnel Board, Handicapped Services of Dent County Board and the Salem Area Chamber of Commerce. A few years later, Podorski served on the Salem Park and Recreation Board for eight years, then assisted the Dent County Fall Festival Board with their sound system at the old fairgrounds, then installed the new sound system at the Commons Youth Building, the rodeo arena, the grandstand and livestock arena. Podorski went on to raise over $9,000 in funds for the press box renovations for both the football and baseball press boxes in 2009 and no school funds were used for the improvements. In 2017, Podorski volunteered to help the newly formed Salem Park and Recreation Board and was voted in as president. That board went on to get a TAP grant to create a trail from the park to the high school baseball field, install a splash pad at the city park, renovate the Alice Lou Craig Municipal Pool and pool house, finish the all-inclusive Billy’s Playground, installed concrete at the blue softball field at the concession stand, renovated the pavilions and secured the old fairgrounds property for the purpose of creating soccer fields. Podorski was instrumental in creating Your World Today in 1991 which is a FREE four-page publication, and in 2022, helped create Town Screen in Salem. Podorski is the second consecutive Dent Countian to receive this prestigious award as last year, Deloris Gray Wood was honored with the Eugene E. Northern Award. Also honored from Dent County was Bryce Mobray, the son of Wes and Kendra Mobray, as he received the Youth Volunteer Award for his work with the Spring Creek 4-H and being a youth project leader for beef projects. Mobray offers market steers and breeding stock heifers for local and state youth involved in beef projects at an affordable price, then helps them to succeed with the development of the animal to show and sell. Congratulations to Stan and Bryce!!!

Missouri is home to more than 900 black bears and their numbers are growing. Many Missourians find these furbearers fascinating and have many questions about them. Are all black bears black? Where do bears spend the winter? What can bear scat show about diet and other things? What’s the biggest bear recorded in Missouri? Why is a fed bear a dead bear? How can people and communities Be Bear Aware? Why is fall a prime time for people and bears to encounter each other out in the woods or on the roads? Get answers to these and other questions through the Missouri Department of Conservation’s (MDC) upcoming Wild Webcast on Black Bears in Missouri and How to Be Bear Aware tomorrow from noon to 1:00. MDC Black Bear Biologist Nate Bowersock will present information and facts about black bears in Missouri. Vist mdc.gov to register for free.

An accident occurred at the intersection of Missouri Highway 32 and Missouri Highway 19 at approximately 7:08 Saturday evening that left a Rolla man with serious injuries and Salem woman with moderate injuries. According to the Missouri State Highway Patrol report, 42 year-old Felton Metcalf of Rolla was traveling eastbound on Highway 32 in a 2011 Cadillac CTS and entered the Highway 32/19 intersection while the light was red striking a southbound 2014 Ford Expedition driven by 44 year-old Ronald Terrill of Salem, both vehicles then came to rest in the roadway. An occupant of the Expedition identified as 42 year-old Amy Terrill of Salem suffered moderate injuries while wearing a safety restraint and was transported by Salem EMS to the Salem Memorial Hospital in Salem. Metcalf, who was not wearing a safety device, suffered serious injuries and was transported by Phelps Air Ambulance to the Missouri University Hospital in Columbia. The Cadillac CTS was removed from the scene by American Auto Towing while the Ford Expedition was removed by Whitakers Towing. Metcalf would later be charged with felony resisting, felony DWI, felony driving while revoked, failure to properly affix plates, failure to signal, failure to stop at a stop sign, and for not wearing a seatbelt. These charges are accusations and not evidence of guilt as evidence in support of the charges must be presented before a court to determine guilt or innocence.

The City of Salem is excited to announce the beginning of the Downtown Sidewalk Project, aimed at enhancing accessibility and the overall aesthetic appeal of our community’s core. The work begins this week, and the project will include the demolition, reconstruction, and re-pouring of sidewalks on 4th Street between Iron Street and Washington Street. The project will also include pavers, temporary lighting, and infrastructure improvements along the way. The project will begin Monday on the south side of 4th Street between Highway 19/Main Street and Iron Street. Then on or around November 18th, construction will tentatively start on the south side of 4th Street between Washington Street and Highway 19/Main Street. The construction is expected to shift to the north side of 4th Street between Washington Street and Highway 19/Main Street around December 9th. Only half a block will be under sidewalk construction at any given time to minimize disruption. In March of 2025, the permanent light poles and fixtures will be installed. The City of Salem wants to remind persons that storefronts and parking will not be accessible during the specific section’s construction period on 4th Street. Most businesses will offer access via rear entrances during construction. Public parking is available behind the City Admin Building at 400 N Iron St, and immediately across the street on East 4th Street. Public parking is also available in two city parking lots on 3rd Street along Washington Street and also on the corner of 3rd Street and Highway 19/Main Street. Please continue to patronize the local downtown businesses during this time and through the holiday season. During the construction, it will be necessary to temporarily close off access for the safety of everyone. For more information, please contact the City of Salem at 573-729-4811.

The Dent County Sheriff’s Office has released the following reports for October 15th through the 23rd. On Tuesday, the 15th, Deputies responded to the 1900 block of Highway 119 for a reported trespassing complaint. During the course of the investigation, it was determined that a female subject at the location had an active arrest warrant. The suspect, a 23-year-old Raymondville woman, was arrested and transported to the Dent County Jail. The next day Deputies responded to Salem Memorial Hospital for a reported dog bite. The victim, a 17-year-old Salem juvenile, had been bitten while breaking up a dog fight in the 4000 block of Highway CC.  Medical attention was sought, and the dog was up to date on vaccinations. Then on Saturday, the 19th, Deputies conducted a traffic stop on an ATV at West Highway 32 and Babb Lane. During the course of the stop, the operator was found to have a revoked driving status. A 31-year-old Salem woman was arrested and transported to the Dent County Jail. On Sunday, the 20th, Deputies responded to the 2000 block of Highway W for a property damage complaint. The victim, a 57-year-old Salem man, advised his stepdaughter had thrown an object through his window causing damage.  The suspect, a 22-year-old Salem woman, was trespassed from the property at the victim’s request. Finally on Wednesday, the 23rd, Deputies took a report for property damage that occurred in the 4600 block of N. Highway 19. The unidentified suspect(s) had damaged a parking lot at the location with their vehicle. The investigation is ongoing. If you have any information about any ongoing investigation, please contact the Dent County Sheriff’s Office at 573-729-3241.