Archive for 2024

KSMO Media is proud to announce the winners of the Big Family Christmas Giveaway at Southtown Furniture and Terrill’s Complete Auto Care, and the Kid’s Christmas Giveaway at Aaron’s Rent-to-Own and Jet Tires and Auto. In the Big Family Christmas Giveaway, the winners of merchandise valued over $2,500 were Laylah McGraw at Southtown Furniture and Kate McBride at Terrill’s Complete Auto Care. The winner of Kids’ Christmas Giveaway was Becca Counts at Jet Tires and Auto, while Jonathan Stroot was the winner drawn at Aaron’s Rent-to-Own. KSMO Media congratulates these winners and thanks all those who entered the contest. They also want to thank this year’s sponsors for making it possible to hold these contests here in Salem. Merry Christmas to all from KSMO Media!

The Salem Memorial Hospital Board of Directors will hold their regular meeting Monday evening at 7:00 in the hospital library. At the meeting, the Board will review and approve minutes from the October Special meeting and the November regular meeting, before they hear the report from CEO Brooke Bollman. The Board will then hear the summary of operations and statistics for the month of November, 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 candidate filing update, Finance Committee members, and Board meeting dates. The board may then vote to go into closed session. The Salem Memorial Hospital Board of Directors meeting Monday night at 7:00 at the hospital library is open to the public. To attend the meeting electronically, contact the hospital administration office at 729-6626, extension 4005.

The Dent County Commission held their regular meeting Monday morning at the Dent County Courthouse. In the road report, District 1 Commissioner Wes Mobray said rock would be added and grading was being done on Dent County Roads 5150, 5170 and 5130; while only brush was going to be cut on county road 5600. District 2 Commissioner Gary Polk stated rock would be added and grading was being done on Dent County Roads 4290 and 4340. Presiding Commissioner Gary Larson said the county needed to address available positions on the Enhanced Enterprise Zone Board that are five-year terms. Larson said both Dustin Howard and Daniel Salyer agreed to be re-appointed and the commission approved their re-appointment. Dent County Clerk Angie Curley said she continues to work on the 2025 county budget. She said the courthouse would be closed Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. She also wanted to remind all vendors to have their invoices and statements submitted Monday morning, December 30th, if they want to have them paid this year. Starting in January, the only payments the county can make is payroll until their budget is approved. If you have questions, please contact the county clerk’s office at 729-4144. At 10:00, bids were opened for county surplus property. Billy Shepherd had the highest bid for the 1997 Dodge 1500 4×4 pickup at $1,226, and $75 for the air compressor. Jason Akins had the high bid for the Salt Dog Salt Spreader at $500. Mike Elliott from Town and Country Insurance was in to review vehicle and building coverage for the county as the commissioners have elected to reduce the coverage on all the older road and bridge department and other county vehicles to liability only to help save some money. This does NOT include any of the sheriff’s department vehicles. The commission also doubled the coverage from $50,000 to $100,000 on the contents of the road and bridge department building. Elliott will make the requested changes to help reduce the premium that came in at $272,000 from Tokio Marine HCC. The next meeting of the commission will be Thursday morning at 9:00 and it will be open to the public.

Preliminary data from the Missouri Department of Conservation (MDC) shows deer hunters harvested 14,607 deer during the late antlerless portion of firearms deer season, December 7th through 15th. Top harvest counties were Pike with 477 deer harvested, Callaway with 391, and Lincoln with 382. In our area Crawford County harvest was 110, Dent 125, Maries 86, Phelps 79, Reynolds County 66, Shannon County harvest total was 80, and Texas County totaled 147. This year’s harvest total was down from last year’s late antlerless portion harvest total of 18,916 and slightly (4%) below the previous five-year average. For current ongoing preliminary harvest totals by season, county, and type of deer, visit the MDC website at mdc.mo.gov. Archery deer hunting continues through January 15th, 2025. The alternative methods portion will run December 28th through January 7th, 2025. Get more information on Missouri deer hunting from online at mdc.mo.gov.

Relative to the fire on Tuesday that destroyed the Scenic Rivers Industries, investigators say the cause of the massive fire that destroyed the recycling facility and over 130 bags of toys is undetermined. Firefighters do not believe the fire is suspicious. A spokesperson for the Missouri Department of Public Safety mistakenly told KY3 News midday on Friday that the fire had become a criminal investigation. KY3 has updated the story online to reflect the mistake.

The Salem R-80 School Board of Education held their regular meeting on Thursday evening at 5:30 in the district office. After approving the agenda and consent agenda, the Board recognized six students from the Salem Upper Elementary School who had their artwork chosen for the art show. Assistant Superintendent Dan Copeland updated the board on the performance results. The overall test score for the district is 78.7 APR, which is up from last year’s results, and above the state’s average. The Salem R-80 district has also seen substantial improvements in math and is up two points on attendance scores. Superintendent Nathan Wills gave an update on the FEMA shelter construction and stated that some of the principals attended the West Plains job fair, to make connections and meet people that may be interested in coming to Salem. During the administration reports, Dr. Blau stated that the students at William Lynch Elementary were able to provide Christmas for twelve families and with the help of Oak Grove Baptist Church, passed out twenty food baskets, thanks to their Community Benevolence program. Mr. Piatt stated that thanks to various donors from the community the Upper Elementary was able to provide Christmas for eight families. Dr. Green stated that the students at the Salem Middle School decided to donate $300, the proceeds from ticket sales of their winter dance, to the Shelter Workshop. Mrs Heavin stated that Salem High School allows students who have at least 95% attendance and no in-school or out-of-school suspensions the option to opt out of one of their finals. This semester, there were 400 students that qualified for final exemptions. Two students from the High School updated the Board on their attendance at the Missouri Association of Student Council Meeting. The Board approved the 2025-2026 tuition rate of $9,775.00. After discussing the recent resignations and new hires, the meeting adjourned to closed session.

An accident occurred Friday morning at 7:20 on County Road 8360, one mile west of Highway 63. According to the Highway Patrol report a 2007 Jeep Liberty, driven by a 26-year-old Licking female, crossed the center line and struck a 2012 Ford Escape, driven by a 73-year-old Rolla female. The Licking female suffered moderate injuries and was transported by Phelps Health Ambulance to Phelps Health. The Rolla female suffered minor injuries and was transported by a private conveyance to an unknown hospital. The report stated that the 26-year-old female was not wearing a safety device, while the 73-year-old woman was. Both vehicles were totaled and removed from the scene by C & C Towing.

Dent County Prosecuting Attorney Andrew Curley released this court case on Wednesday December 18, Tristan Gaddy of Salem, was on probation for possession of a controlled substance, meth. He originally pled guilty in March of 2022. His probation was extended by 1 year in 2024 due to violations of probation. On Wednesday December 18, 2024 the defendant was again found to have violated probation. Prosecutor Curley sought revocation under 559.115. Gaddy sought continued probation with in-patient treatment at Teen Challenge. Over the objection of the state, the defendant will continue on probation by Judge Randazzo.

There will be no Your World Today tomorrow or on Christmas Day. From All of us a KSMO Radio, KSMO Media, and Your World Today, we wish you a very merry Christmas and safe holiday travels.

Dent County Commission held their regular meeting Thursday morning at the Dent County Courthouse. Rick Emory, Sr was in attendance to comment on the poor condition and culvert problem with Dent County Road 5130 as well as work that needs to be done on county roads 5150 and 5170. District 1 Commissioner Wes Mobray said the county is getting to all the roads affected by the heavy rains making sure they are “passable,” not in pristine condition. In the road report, Mobray stated rock would be added and grading was being done on Dent County Roads 6245 and 6460. For District 2, Commissioner Gary Polk stated grading was being done on Dent County Roads 2090, 3170, 3173, 5320 and 5325. He said rock would be added to county roads 2210 and 4030. Presiding Commissioner Gary Larson said he attended the Tourism Tax Meeting Monday night where three applications were submitted, and one was denied. He said there were four reimbursements approved. Dent County Clerk Angie Curley said she continues to work on the 2025 county budget. Larson talked with the commission about a new policy for county office holders and their employees on submitting a grant request. The policy says they must bring a request to apply for the grant to an open commissioner meeting and continue to update the commission on its progress in open meetings. The signing of any grant awarded with commission approval must be at an open session of a commission meeting with the submission of all appropriate grant paperwork. This policy is being adopted to make sure the commission is aware of possible grant awards and timing of those awards that will have to be accounted for in current or future county budgets. Commissioner Larson also announced that all Rural Addressing correspondence will go to the Sheriff’s Department Dispatch office located at the back of the Judicial Building at 112 E. 5th Street starting January 1st, 2025. Dent County Treasurer Denita Williams reported on the CART tax received for the month of December. The county received $92,239.35, and the CART funds year-to-date are 5.6% more than last year’s total. Commissioner Gary Polk wanted to express his concern about people posting misinformation on Facebook about what the county is and is not doing without having all the facts. As an example, county road employees cannot grade frozen roads and may have to wait some time that day before they begin grading the road, or they are waiting for the grader to warm up before being operational. He said it is not fair comments are made by people without knowing everything required by the job or conditions that can prohibit work being completed. The next meeting of the commissioners will be Monday morning at 9:00 at the courthouse and the meeting is open to the public.

The City of Salem has announced the participants in this year’s Holiday Lighting Contest. The contest was open to both residential and commercial properties, encouraging those to show festive displays that celebrate the spirit of the holidays. This year’s participants are located at 1104 North Main Street, 600 North 10th Street, 711 North Pershing Avenue, 1106 Bay Court, 403 East Scenic Rivers Blvd, 1401 South Louise Street and 13 Westwood Drive. The winners will be announced on December 27th. Winning entries in each category will receive credits on their City Utility bills starting with $25 for 3rd Place, $50 for 2nd Place and $100 for 1st Place. Funds for contest awards come from the Community Support line in the City’s General Fund.