Archive for 2025

The Missouri State Highway Patrol wishes everyone a merry and safe Christmas and holiday. When traveling during the holidays, remember to wear your seat belt and obey traffic laws. Over the 2024 Christmas holiday, there were 295 traffic crashes statewide during the 30-hour counting period. In those crashes, five people were killed and another 133 were injured. The 2025 Christmas Day holiday period runs from 6:00 this evening through 11:59 Sunday night, December 28th. If you plan to travel during the holiday, be aware of work zones, obey all traffic laws, adjust driving speeds to the weather, and make sure everyone in your vehicle is wearing a seat belt or secured in the appropriate child safety seat for their size and age. Remember: Missouri is a hands-free state, so put the phone down and buckle up. There is never a reason to speed, drive aggressively, or drive impaired. The public is encouraged to call the Patrol’s Emergency Report Line 800-525-5555 or *55 on your cellular phone if they witness criminal activity, observe driving behavior that could cause a crash, or experience an emergency. If your holiday festivities include intoxicants, designate someone else to drive. Don’t become a statistic.

With funding from the Delta Regional Authority’s State Economic Development Assistance Program, the city of Edgar Springs will begin improvements to Broadway Street, which is the main street in town that accesses small businesses and organizations serving the community and surrounding rural areas. Broadway Street connects Highway 63 to routes ZZ and H. The project will address drainage issues that causes localized flooding, repave the driving surface, install storm boxes and storm pipes, add concrete and granular paving and complete asphalt repair with a chip and seal. These improvements will decrease flooding and create a more resilient surface to withstand local and truck traffic. The total project will cost approximately $272,680 of which $267,500 will be covered by the Delta Regional Authority’s grant, which includes administrative costs. There are 27 Missouri counties in the Delta Regional Authorities eight-state service area, including Dent, Crawford, Phelps and Washington counties within the Meramec Region. Meramec Regional Planning Commission is the designated Local Development District for the four Meramec counties in the regional authority. To learn more about the Delta Regional Authority’s programs and initiatives, visit www.dra.gov. 

The Dent County Commission attended a hearing last Thursday in the Judicial Building on the Carty Property and the Former Burlington Railroad Easement. The hearing was held in the Judicial Building courtroom. Ben Carty and his wife, represented by Attorney Steven Patterson; Brian Carty and his wife, represented by Attorney Kenegy Brooks; Prosecutor Andrew Curley, Collector Shannon VanKirk and Kenny VanKirk were all present, along with Sergeant Len Pabin. The commissioners heard from both attorneys representing their clients, with each one wanting the county owned Burlington Railroad piece of property to be quit claimed to their client. Each attorney presented their case. The exception was left off the deed, and the tax bills were created based on the way the deed was read. Ben has been paying taxes since 2018. The commission has four options to consider: the county can keep the land as they own it, they could quit-claim it to Ben, they could quit-claim it to Brian; or they could quit-claim it to both. No decision was made as the commission will look at the records, discuss it and meet again.

The Dent County Fire Protection District recently announced they’ll be holding a family friendly New Years Eve party on December 31st from 8:00 in the evening until midnight. This party is open to the public as a small way to say thank you to the community for all of its support to the DCFPD. The department will have hot dogs, and chili while supplies last. There are plans to have a movie playing in the training room, as well as possibly a karaoke machine and corn hole tournament. There is no cost to attend the event, and feel free to bring any non-alcoholic beverages to the party. If you, your business, or organization would like to contribute to the festivities you are welcome to do so by either providing supplies or a fun activity. If you’d like to learn more please contact the DCFPD on their facebook page at facebook.com/DCFPD.

From all of us at Your World Today, we’d like to  wish you and your family a very Merry Christmas! The next edition of Your World Today will be distributed on Monday, December 29th.

The Salem R-80 Board of Education held its regular meeting Thursday evening at the administration building. Following the unanimous approval of the meeting agenda and consent agenda, Dr. Rachel Green recognized the Middle School Student Leadership Team, honoring teacher Lori Wilson and students Jermaine Watson, Zola Mendenhall, and Tayah Terrill for their leadership and involvement. During the superintendent’s report, Dr. Nathan Wills provided updates on district improvement goals, food service operations, and the Annual Performance Review. He also informed the board on student leadership initiatives, recent building visits, and ongoing facility projects, including roof repairs at the Upper Elementary and track drainage repairs at the senior high school. Dr. Wills thanked the Judson Young Foundation for its generous donations benefiting the construction trades program, the chamber choir, and the district as a whole. Additional updates were presented on Missouri’s average total spending per student and its national ranking, school modernization efforts, and the Missouri State Board of Education’s support of open enrollment. Administrative reports were also presented by district principals and department leaders. In new business, the board unanimously approved MSBA policy updates, a memorandum of understanding for the School Resource Officer program, FFA student trips to the Washington Leadership Conference and Industry Leadership Tour, and the district’s 2026–2027 tuition rate.The board recognized the hiring of Janine Edwards as a high school paraprofessional and accepted the resignations of Ron Light, Chastity McConnell, and Rowdy Mackley. The board then entered executive session to discuss personnel and student matters before adjourning.

Time is running out if you have not yet visited the 2025 Trees and Trains “Candy Cane Lane” display at the Ozark Natural and Cultural Resource center on 202 South Main Street in Salem. The display will be open today from 9:00 in the morning until 5:00 in the afternoon. Tomorrow, which is Christmas Eve, they will be open for the final day of the display from 9:00 in the morning until 12:00 noon. These beautiful and unique tree displays come from many organizations and businesses is truly a Christmas gift to our community. The fun trains that run around the exhibit hall adds to the festive atmosphere. There is no charge to attend the exhibit. However, donations are accepted at the Ozark Natural and Cultural Resource Center. The Salem Area Community Betterment Association wants to send out their thanks to all the volunteers who give their time during the holidays to make this event special.

The DCFPD members, their families, and close friends of the DCFPD met the evening of December 13th to honor volunteers and celebrate Chief Dennis Floyd’s retirement. Rookie of the Year and Firefighter of the Year, which is chosen by the Firefighters, went to Firefighter Dell Hoffmeister. Firefighter Sarah Montoya was named the Firefighter of the Year, which is an Officers’ Choice award, plus the Top Responder with 186 calls responded to. The Officers’ award of Top Responder went to Assistant Chief Derrick Marfitt with 136 calls. The Firefighters Choice Officer of the Year was also awarded to Marfitt. Lt. Greg Thies was awarded the Officer of the Year, which is an Officer’s Choice award. Fire Chief (Retired) Dennis Floyd was celebrated after having served the DCFPD for 33 years. Floyd was presented with multiple gifts, including a retired ceremonial pickhead fire ax from DCFPD’s original aerial snorkel truck, an award from the Missouri Division of Fire Safety, his retired firefighting helmet, a shadow box containing his firefighting coat, and a newly commissioned sign proclaiming the department’s training room as the “Fire Chief Dennis L. Floyd Training Center.” 

The Missouri State Highway Patrol has announced the driver and written examinations normally held in Salem at the Salem Community Center@The Armory on Wednesdays will not be held on Christmas Eve, December 24th. They also want to remind everyone that all driver examination stations throughout the state will be closed on Thursday, December 25th and Friday, December 26th in observance of Christmas. For more information, call 573-466-1740.

The Dent County Commission met Thursday morning at the courthouse. In the road report, District 1 Commissioner Keith Green said brush will be cut on Dent County Road 5610 and maintenance will be done at the shop. District 2 Commissioner Jimmy Williams reported a crew will be doing some grading on Dent County Road 2440, plus they will be doing maintenance on a county dump truck. Crews will also be patching potholes on county road 3290. Presiding Commissioner Gary Larson said he attended an MCEC Zoom meeting Wednesday where that board reviewed financial information. He mentioned he also attended a Tourism Tax Committee meeting Tuesday where one application was partially funded by the committee. They also approved three requests for reimbursement and denied one. Dent County Clerk Angie Curley said the courthouse will be closed December 24th through the 26th. They will reopen on Monday, December 29th with extended hours in the Collector’s office from 8:00 to 5:30 through Wednesday, December 31st. She also mentioned candidates can still file for offices for the April 7th Municipal Election for school boards, hospital boards, City of Salem alderman positions, etc. She said those who want to file will do so at the entities office, NOT at the courthouse, and if they have any questions about the qualifications to run for the position they choose, potential candidates need to contact those individual entities themselves, not her office. She also wanted to remind those candidates to call the taxing entities to find out about their holiday hours, especially those wanting to run for school boards, as they may only have those hours posted on the door. She also mentioned that her office continues working on the budget for 2026. Curley went on to say she has prepared an updated personnel policy for the commission to review before it is approved. At the last meeting, the commission discussed FEMA funding and projects with Emergency Management Director Derrick Marfitt, and they heard from Assessor Alisa Brookshire who indicated she would be asking for more funds to be transferred from the County General Revenue Fund to the Assessment Operating Fund due to rising costs when she submits her budget as it has been at $39,000 for many years. The next meeting of the Dent County Commissioners will be this morning at the courthouse at 9:00 and the meeting is open to the public. 

An accident happened at 10:23 Thursday morning in Phelps County on Highway 63 about five miles south of Rolla. According to the highway patrol report, a 2016 Hyundai Veloster driven northbound by a 36-year-old male from Licking, traveled off the right side of the roadway where the vehicle became airborne and overturned. The driver of the Hyundai suffered moderate injuries, and a four-year-old female passenger suffered minor injuries in the crash. Both were taken by the Phelps Health Ambulance to Phelps Health in Rolla. The driver was not wearing a seat restraint at the time of the accident while the four-year-old girl was wearing a seat restraint. The vehicle was totaled and removed from the scene by D&D Towing.