Archive for 2024

A municipal election was held Tuesday in Dent County and a total of 2,209 voters cast ballots for 23.74% of the 9,304 registered voters. The unofficial results of challenged races are from Dent County only and are as follows:

• indicates winners

CITY OF SALEM WEST WARD ALDERMAN:

Catherine Dent* 209 votes
Richard Labrash 196 votes

CITY OF SALEM EAST WARD ALDERMAN:

Kala Sisco* 252 votes
James Vance 115 votes

CITY OF SALEM MAYOR

Greg Parker* 441 votes
Lisa Elliott 73 votes
Grover “Mike” Whitley 97 votes
Eddie Fleetwood 182 votes

DENT COUNTY USE TAX QUESTION

Yes 623 votes
No* 1,532 votes

DENT COUNTY MARIJUANA SALES TAX QUESTION

Yes* 1,312 votes
No 882 votes

SMH HOSPITAL BOARD DISTRICT 5
BOARD OF DIRECTOR – SIX-YEAR TERM

Ray Bruno 420 votes
N. Dwayne Land 482 votes
Frank A. Barnitz 875 votes
Colleen Lake 226 votes

SMH HOSPITAL BOARD DISTRICT 4
BOARD OF DIRECTOR – FIVE-YEAR TERM

Zachary Moser 1,054 votes
C. David Kerr 938 votes

SMH HOSPITAL BOARD DISTRICT 6
BOARD OF DIRECTOR – ONE-YEAR TERM

Leigh Ann Price 1,256 votes
Susan Jordan 688 votes

SALEM R-80 SCHOOL BOARD: (two elected)

Steve Patterson 620 votes
Jason Green 499 votes
Lauren Prugh 468 votes

SALEM R-80 SCHOOL DISTRICT PROP E
INCREASE TAX LEVY

Yes 369 votes
No* 834 votes

SALEM R-80 SCHOOL DISTRICT PROP W
BOND ISSUE

Yes 412 votes
No* 828 votes

OAK HILL R-1 SCHOOL BOARD: (two elected)
THREE-YEAR TERM

Nathan Ragsdale 111 votes
Rhonda Wolfe-Hutsell 92 votes
Mikel Chambers 81 votes

OAK HILL R-1 SCHOOL BOARD:
ONE-YEAR TERM

April Greener* 176 votes

The Dent County Commission met Monday for their regular meeting. There was no road report as the road crews had Monday off due to the other county workers being off on Good Friday. They will be on call in case of any damages caused by the storms. Presiding Commissioner Gary Larson also had nothing to report while County Clerk Angie Curley reminded everyone who wants to vote to please bring with them an ID that is either a Missouri Driver’s or Non-Driver’s License, a passport or a military ID. The polls will be open from 6:00 in the morning until 7:00 at night. The next meeting of the commissioners will be Thursday at 9:00 at the courthouse and it is open to the public.

Alderwoman Kala Sisco has called for a meeting of the Community Involvement Committee of the City of Salem. The meeting is to be held at the Salem Community Center at the Armory this evening at 6:00. The purpose of the meeting is to discuss ideas on how to help raise funds for the annual City of Salem Fourth of July Fireworks display and consider other Community Involvement Ideas. The meeting is open to the public.

This Saturday at the Ozark Natural and Cultural Resource Center on Highway 19 at the exhibit called “Crossroads: Change in Rural America,” There will be a panel discussion with community residents beginning at 10:00 on “Salem’s Past and Present.” Then from 6:00 until 8:00 in the evening, there will be a Cruise-In around the ONCRC. The exhibit is open Monday through Saturday and there is no charge to visit the exhibit. The “Crossroads” exhibit is part of the “Museum on Main Street,” a collaboration between the Smithsonian Institution and state humanities councils nationwide. Support for Museum on Main Street has been provided by the United States Congress.

If you are a person who is considering or has opted for weight loss injections, an informational meeting will be held on Wednesday, April 3rd at 5:30 at the Salem Community Center @ the Armory located at 1200 W. Rolla Road in Salem, to learn more about the potential to reach new fitness goals through lifestyle changes. Healthy Dent County will host an informational meeting about the popular weight loss injections available through medical providers. Their aim is to enhance our community’s overall health and wellness by providing comprehensive solutions that address diverse needs. A collaboration between Ozark Healthcare LLC and the Healthy Dent County Fitness Center can significantly impact our community’s health and well-being. By leveraging experts in weight management and utilizing HDC’s Fitness Center for fitness and exercise, they can offer a comprehensive approach to weight loss that empowers individuals to achieve lasting results by incorporating aspects such as diet, exercise, and, where suitable, medical interventions like GLP-1 agonist therapy. Within this educational framework, they will introduce their collaborative program tailored for individuals seeking fitness guidance while incorporating GLP-1 agonists into their regimens. As participants embark on GLP-1 therapy, they can guide them toward two pathways: either consulting their primary care physician for guidance or connecting them with a trusted local provider who offers telehealth consultations. For questions, please e-mail Susie Cahill at susie@salemcommunitycenter.org or call 573-729-8163.

The Municipal Election will be held on Tuesday, April 2nd which will determine a number of school district boards, hospital board, health center board, as well as City of Salem and Bunker city position elections. Candidates running for the two-year terms for the City of Salem Mayor are incumbent Greg Parker, Lisa Elliott, Grover “Mike” Whitley and Eddie Fleetwood; while Catherine Dent and Richard LaBrash are running for the West Ward Alderman seat; and incumbent Kala Sisco and James Vance are running for the East Ward Alderman seat. For the City of Bunker, all the current office holders are running unopposed for two year terms which include Mayor Gary Conway, Jr., Aldermen Tom Case and James McClanahan, and City Tax Collector Nancy Amaral. For the Dent County Health Center Board of Trustees which are four-year terms, incumbents Carol Lacy and Lori Hasten are the only one running for the two available seats. For the Salem Memorial Hospital Board of Directors, three district positions will be available with different terms. The District 5 seat is the only open position that will run the full six years and the candidates are incumbent Ray Bruno, N. Dwayne Land, Frank Barnitz and Colleen Lake; the District 4 seat has five-years left on its term and running are incumbent Zach Moser and C. David Kerr; and the District 6 seat has one year left on its term and the candidates are incumbent Dr. Leigh Ann Price and Susan Jordan. Three school boards had their available openings filled by incumbents and those districts were Green Forest R-2, Dent-Phelps R-3 and Northwood R-4 so there will be no election at those districts. For the Salem R-80 School Board, running for the two open positions are incumbent Steven Patterson along with Lauren Prugh and Jason Green. For the Bunker R-3 School District, running for their two open positions are incumbent Mike Dickerson, Kelly Gant and Jason Lee Lacey. For the Oak Hill R-1 School District running for their two open three-year positions are incumbent Nathan Ragsdale along with Rhonda Wolfe-Hutsell and Mikel Chambers. For the one-year position available at Oak Hill, only April Greener filed for the position. The Quad County Fire District had two people file for the open director on their board that will serve a six-year term and Robert Hicks and Karla Payne are running for that seat. For the Rolla Rural Fire Protection District, they have two openings on their board and voters will need to select two from these four candidates: Ryan Long, Jason Shenefield, Keith Grayson and Chad Engelke. Remember, the polls will be open from 6:00 in the morning until 7:00 in the evening Tuesday and you can still vote absentee today at the Dent County Courthouse until 5:00 today. Remember, you must bring a photo ID such as a valid Missouri Drivers License, a valid Missouri non-Drivers License, a US passport or a military ID.

Also on the ballot, Dent County has two issues for all county voters to decide. The first is to impose a local use sales tax rate of 2.25% that would be collected on out-of-state sales or those on the Internet by Dent County citizens where these sales taxes are currently not being collected. It is compensatory tax on those items where you would pay the same sales tax rate when buying items on the Internet or out-of-state as if you were buying them locally. This does not affect the current sales tax rate already charged by brick and mortar stores in Salem and Dent County. The other issue would be to impose a countywide sales tax of three percent on the retails sales of adult use marijuana sold in Dent County. The other issues on the ballot are for Salem R-80 voters with Proposition E asking voters to raise the operating tax levy from the state minimum of $2.75 per $100 assessed valuation to $3.65 per $100 assessed valuation, or an additional 90 cents. Proposition W is asking the voters to issue additional General Obligation Bonds for $6,000,000 for the purchase of the SBU Building on Grand, the construction of the FEMA shelter at the Upper Elementary campus, additions to the Construction Trades Building, renovations to the Ag building and the acquisition of new school busses. If passed, this would increase the debt service levy of the Salem R-80 district from 45 cents per $100 assessed valuation to 79 cents per $100 assessed valuation, an increase of 34 cents. If both issues pass, Salem R-80 voters would see their real estate and personal property tax rates increase by an additional $1.24 per $100 assessed valuation.

Local author Julia Boardman will visit the children’s area of the Salem Public Library Tuesday from 11:00 in the morning until 1:00 in the afternoon to share her two picture books. The first book is When Pigs Fly, the second book is What Is A Black Hole. Also the Salem Public Library will be closed on Monday, April 8^th from 1:30 in the afternoon till 2:30. The Library will reopen at 2:30 and close at its usual time of 5:00 in the evening.