Archive for 2024

The Dent County Commissioners met Monday morning for their regular meeting. Presiding Commissioner Gary Larson was not in attendance due to a prior commitment, so County Clerk Angie Curley appointed District 1 Commissioner Wes Mobray as the acting presiding commissioner. A road issue was brought to the attention of the commission on Dent County Road 5015 by Mr. Moore who said the county dug a ditch in front of his gate and was wondering if they are putting culvert there or what. He also asked about the pipes being unclogged up road from his residence. Commissioner Mobray said he would check this out. In the road report, District 1 Commissioner Mobray said crews were still cleaning up roads and two workers were removing trees from last week’s storms. Another crew was repairing any damages done to the roads by the road rally. He also said shocks were being replaced on County Truck #125. District 2 Commissioner Gary Polk said crews would be repairing any road damage from the road rally. They would also be adding rock and grading on Dent County Roads 3180, 4330 and 4340. He also said brush would be cut on county roads 3360 and 4480 and a flat was going to be fixed on grader #42. Dent County Clerk Angie Curley said “no excuse” absentee voting begins today at the courthouse and the last day to request a mail-out ballot will be Wednesday. She said her office would be open for absentee voting on March 30th from 8:00 in the morning until noon. She also said the last day for anyone to sign up to run for a county office would be March 26th at 5:00. The next meeting of the commission will be Thursday at 9:00 at the courthouse and the meeting is open to the public.

The Salem R-80 Board of Education met last Thursday at the District Administrative Offices for their regular meeting. In the Superintendent’s Report, Dr. Lynne Reed said the Tin Gym Project with ESP has been concluded, and the the HVAC, plumbing and electrical plans for the FEMA Storm Shelter/Classroom have been reviewed. The school is hoping to open bids in April. She said students are pursuing adding wrestling as a club sport. Dr. Nathan Wills gave a report on the water testing and said a filter has been placed on the hydrant near the track and a waterline is being replaced at William Lynch Elementary which concludes the district remediation once they are tested. It was also reported there is a scheduled retreat of the board for July 9th. After the building reports, the board approved the content/filter classroom system Blocksi, approved the MSBA policy updates, approved the MSBA membership, approved the high school courses that offer Family and Consumer Sciences, approved the ancillary insurance renewal with standard and UHC for health, and approved the e-rate contract. The board also approved setting the Summer School dates for May 20th through June 7th with Memorial Day off, approved the salary schedule steps for all employees for the 2024-25 school year, and approved setting the meeting date for April 16th. The board approved the resignations of coaches Krystle Smith as the middle school volleyball coach and Bekah Hayes as the Girls Basketball Assistant Coach. They also approved resignations of high school English teacher Judy Moore, 3rd grade teacher Hannah Brown, high school science teacher Britney Sibiga, middle school special education teacher Rene Moncrief, middle school math teacher Juliana Skeeters, middle school English teacher Janet Creek, middle school social studies teacher Dustin Bell and Mia Billings as SLP. The board also accepted the resignation of paraprofessional Stephanie Cook and custodian Matt Oppelt before going into closed session.

An accident happened in Dent County Saturday evening around 7:20 at 119 Route DD. According to the highway patrol report, a Go-Kart being driven westbound by a seven-year-old male juvenile from Rolla, crashed as the driver made an abrupt turn, causing the passenger, 31-year-old Andrea Bowers of Rolla, to be ejected from the Go-Kart. Bowers suffered moderate injuries and was transported to Phelps Health. Everyone involved was wearing safety equipment. The Go-Kart sustained no damage and was left at the scene.

The Salem Memorial Hospital Board of Directors will hold their regular meeting at 6:00 in the hospital library this evening. At the meeting, Interim Administrator Jason Edwards will give his report before the board hears the summary of operations for the month of February as well as statistics for the month. The board will hear about the 340B program, receive the Chief Nursing Officer report from Ashley Owens and be updated on Human Resources. After the Chief of Staff’s report, the board will discuss the state and matching fund update as well as strategic planning before they discuss the medical staff bylaw review. The board will also discuss approving the bids received for the sale of an ambulance. The board may then vote to go into closed session. The Salem Memorial Hospital Board of Directors meeting tonight is open to the public. To attend the meeting electronically, contact the hospital administration office at 729-6626, ext 4005.

There will be a Toothbrush Rug Beginner Class Thursday evening, March 21st, from 6:00 until 8:00 with Amy Terrill. Join them for a fun rug-making, hands-on workshop. Learn an easy technique to make a rug with torn strips of fabric and a modified toothbrush. These rugs are quick to make and require no sewing. In this class, you’ll learn how to begin a toothbrush rug or table runner. You will leave class with a small rug that you can either use as a trivet or continue to build at home as large as you want it to be! All projects are machine washable, dry-able and last for years! No previous experience or skills necessary. The cost of of the class is $20 which includes all the supplies. The course is for those age 18 and above. A minimum of two people need to sign up and they will max out at 10. Regsiter online at the SACBA website. Under programs, find the Creative Arts Center, and registrations are on a first come, first served basis.

This past Saturday night near 7:30, the Dent County Sheriff’s Office received a 911 call reporting a domestic disturbance at a residence located on Denty County Road 2520. The female caller reported that during this domestic disturbance, she had shot her husband, who was now deceased and located inside the residence. When officers arrived on the scene, they located a male, identified as 40-year-old Travis Lee Bailey, deceased inside the residence. The Dent County Sheriff’s Office requested the assistance of the Missouri State Highway Patrol’s Division of Drug and Crime Control with the investigation into Bailey’s death. The investigation is currently on-going. Any future developments will be released as soon as they are received by law enforcement.

The team of Brandon Semenuk and Keaton Williams took 1st place at the 2024 100-acre Rally in the Woods in their Subaru WRX ARA24 with a time of 1:30:38.6, again beating the team of Barry McKenna and Leon Jordan in their 2019 Ford Fiesta who finished with a time of 1:32:27.1, falling short by about 1:50 seconds. Finishing in 3rd place was the team of Travis Pastrana and Rhianon Gelsomino in the their Subaru WRX ARA24 as they finished with a time of 1:33:19.1. The ARA wants to thank everyone attending the Parc Expose and those at the spectator points for attending.

The Dent County Fire Protection District board of directors met Tuesday evening. After the roll call and approval of the consent agenda and approval of the minutes from the February meeting, the financial report was presented showing an ending balance of 202,313.63 as of February 29th. Bills, payments, and statements were reviewed and approved, followed by the review and approval of the 2024 budget as presented. During the calendar review, it was noted on March 30th the department will be holding a vehicle firefighting class. It is an open invitation so that other departments can attend. Also, April 2nd will be the general election voting at the department. The monthly reimbursement report showed a total of 32 calls for the month of February bringing the total calls year to date to 72. Of those calls, 16 were for fires, five were responding to alarms, three were agency assist calls, two calls each responding to accidents, HazMat calls, and two listed as other. The department also had one each public service and utility call. In old business Feld Fire Service brought Scotts air bottles into the department on February 15th to demonstrate and have the firefighters try out and test. The SCBA bottles for both MSA and Scotts were tried out at training later that night. The bid given for the Scotts bottles was 97,053.66. To get the same as MSA the total would be 129,372.66 for the Scotts Air packs. The MSA bid was for 118,036.20. The Chief reported that the department had tried both and their recommendation was the MSA as they had a better warranty and repair time and were easier to put on and operate. Both were about 60 days out to receive shipment. The lawn care service was tabled until the next meeting awaiting pricing. The tower lease was tabled until the next meeting due to no contact with the company. The damaged water line has been repaired and capped. Bids are being obtained for the repair of the walls and will be presented at the next meeting. The board also requested that the treasurer order an audit to be completed due to the loss of an employee. Documents are being compiled for the audit and made available to the auditor. The audit will cost around 3,000 depending on the time required. The exact date of the audit completion has not yet been set. The pricing of a new truck has been obtained at approximately 250,000.00 and the board will check with financial institutions for financing to see if the department can obtain a new pumper truck. The truck is necessary to both keep the ISO ratings down for Dent County and to have enough trucks to help in mutual aid to neighboring departments for safety. In new business, there was a policy change for the approval of Executive Session Minutes. Secretary Dave Wells will investigate a bylaw for approval of executive minutes and will present it at the next meeting. In closed session, an interview was held with Andrew Baker and upon returning to open session, the board approved adding Baker to the department as a probationary firefighter. Chief Floyd then gave his report and said that the department is growing and coming together, and that money is the issue to get everything that is needed for the department. The date of the next meeting was then set for Tuesday, April 9th at 6:00 and the meeting will be open to the public.