Archive for 2025

The Dent County Commission met Thursday morning at the courthouse for their regular meeting. Dent County Treasurer Denita Williams gave the report on the CART taxes received by the county. She said the county received $74,778.75 this month and that is up $3,990.86 from march of 2024, and year-to-date, the CART taxes are up $21,468.74 which is an increase of 9.5%. Williams also said she was accepted to serve on the Missouri Association of Counties Trust Board which oversees workman’s comp. In the road report, District 1 Commissioner Keith Green said rock will be added and grading done on Dent County Roads 6495 and 6505, while only grading will be done on county roads 6240, 6245 and 6370. Green said brush will be cut on county road 6500 and the county Mantis brush cutter will be taken to get welded. District 2 Commissioner Jimmy Williams said rock will be added and grading will be done on Dent County Road 3180 and on the hill of county road 4060. Williams said rock will also be added to county roads 2245 and 2250 where new driveway pipes are being installed. He went on to say brush would be cut on county roads 4270 and 4280, patching will be done on chip and seal county road 3260, and maintenance will be done on some of the equipment. Presiding Commissioner Gary Larson stated he attended the Ozark Rivers Solid Waste Management District Executive Board meeting Tuesday where new members had to be appointed. He said it appears he will again be the president of the board as he was the only one nominated for the position, but the vote has not yet been taken. He did say that an electronics waste recycling collection and tire disposal would be held at Brewer Science in Rolla on June 14th. He also said he attended the Tourism Tax Committee meeting where five reimbursements were requested and approved. Larson said he has the new pulley for the flagpole, but with the heavy winds expected to continue, the county will not be putting up flags until the part is replaced. Dent County Clerk Angie Curley indicated the excused absentee voting for the Municipal Election continues through April 7th, and non-excused absentee voting will begin on Tuesday, March 25th. The last day to have a ballot mailed out will be Wednesday, March 26th, and her office will be open for absentee voting on Saturday, April 5th from 8:00 in the morning until 12:00 noon. She also said the voters at Oak Hill R-1 will still cast their vote at the school gymnasium on April 8th for the Dent County Fire Protection District Bond Issue. With no school board election, she said there are 242 possible voters registered that will vote at R-1. Curley stated she balanced with the treasurer on all accounts for the month of February. She went on to say that the Missouri Secretary of State Denny Hoskins has reported the local election authorities have removed 18,637 deceased persons from the voter rolls in the first 60 days of his term. Curley said a canvassing will be held in the summer to update the rolls from those who have moved, changed their name, or who have not voted in the last two federal elections. Dent County Collector Shannon VanKirk said the issue with an altered check with Marsha Geninatti that was brought to the attention of the county commission Monday, was resolved after Geninatti met with VanKirk and the issue was investigated. It was asked if the applications for the Homestead Tax Credit would be ready by April 1st and VanKirk said they would be available in her office by Tuesday, April 1st. The applications are free and if you have any questions, please contact Collector Shannon VanKirk at 573-729-3911. The next meeting of the Dent County Commission will be Thursday morning at the courthouse and the meeting is open to the public.

Salem R-80 Superintendent Nathan Wills reported on an incident that occurred at William Lynch Elementary Wednesday morning at 9:45. Staff detected a suspicious smoke smell and as a precautionary measure, and the fire department was contacted immediately. Firefighters responded promptly, assessed the situation, and determined that there was no active fire or danger to students and staff. There was a blower unit within the ceiling that went out. The building was thoroughly checked, and normal school activities resumed once it was deemed safe. The safety of our students and staff is always our top priority, and we appreciate the quick response from our fire department. If you have any questions or concerns, please feel free to contact Salem R-80 Central office at 573-729-6642.

The Salem R-80 Board of Education will be meeting today at 5:30 in the R-80 Board Room. After the Call to Order and the Pledge of Allegiance the Board will approve the agenda and the consent agenda. The Board will hear thank you from the Sue Tucker Family and DESE regarding emergency relocation of the Ozark Hills State School, followed by recognition of William Lynch Elementary students.  In the Superintendent’s Report CSIP Goals will be addressed, there will be an update on the FEMA building, teacher dress code will be addressed, and Senior Citizens passes are to be considered. Also, the Licking VFW will be thanked for their $1,000 donation to the Salem HS robotics team, the Construction Trades Block Development Grant is to be closed out, and Dr. Blau is to represent Salem R80 to Dent County 8th graders and their families for orientation. Administration reports will be heard from William Lynch, Upper Elementary, Middle School, High School, Athletics and Activities, Special Education, Technology, and Maintenance. In new business the board will approve the Opaa contract, approve an out of state trip for 2 Construction Trades students to Skills USA, approve gate prices for non-conference 2025-2026 activities, approve Mickes/DeBeer Litigation Group as attorneys, and discuss Fireworks display location. The Board will address hires and transfers before adjourning and moving into Executive Session to hear personnel issues.

Missouri Department of Conservation staff, partner federal agencies, and partnering fire departments fought more than 224 wildfires covering more than 15,500 Missouri acres between March 10th through the 16th. Dry conditions and high winds sparked hundreds of wildfires around Missouri last week, primarily on March 13th and 14th before severe thunderstorms and tornados swept into the state and quenched many of the blazes. While more than 20 homes and numerous vehicles and outbuildings were lost to the flames, there were no reported injuries or deaths. More than 90 specially trained Department of Conservation staff responded to 83 of the wildfires around the state, covering nearly 9,000 acres. According to the department, the Camdenton area in central Missouri had 42 fires with a total of 6,086 acres burned, including 761 acres on Granny’s Acres Conservation Area in Benton County. More than 30 MDC staff responded. Department of Conservation staff fought 19 fires in the Ozark region of the state covering nearly 1,500 acres, including nearly 300 acres of conservation lands. They reported that extreme weather conditions had one of its teams fighting a fire one minute and then taking shelter in a Dent County homeowner’s basement for a tornado warning the next. Department staff in the St. Louis region assisted with six separate fires covering nearly 300 acres, including in Davisville, on Highway 47 near Potosi, on 178 acres at River ‘Round Conservation Area in Franklin County, and on nearly 80 acres on the Glassberg Family Conservation Area in Jefferson County. Staff also assisted local fire departments in containing a 12-acre fire on private land in Reynolds County north of Current River Conservation Area. While these fires have been contained and extinguished, the National Weather Service still has Red Flag Warnings for parts of Missouri. A red flag warning is issued to inform the public, firefighters, and land management agencies that conditions are ideal for wildfire ignition and rapid spread. Some wildfires are set by vandals. Help stop arson by calling Operation Forest Arson at 800-392-1111. Callers will remain anonymous and rewards are possible. 

Campground and access point repairs are continuing at Ozark National Scenic Riverways following a record-setting flood in November 2024. Tentative plans for summer operations have been set. Some areas may look different than in the past, with altered landscapes and amenities. Areas that were heavily damaged may remain closed in 2025. Starting with developed campgrounds and group sites, major repairs are still needed at Akers, Round Spring and Pulltite. Akers and Round Spring are expected to reopen their group sites by Memorial Day, while Pulltite is expected to partially reopen around the same time. Updates on reservations for these locations will be posted on Recreation.gov, Facebook and the park website. During the flood, Pulltite sustained the most damage of any park location. The front half of the campground was scoured by floodwaters, and multiple amenities were destroyed or made inoperable. However, the two restroom buildings farther back are in good condition. As a result, a partial reopening is planned by Memorial Day weekend. As expected, the number of sites at Pulltite will be temporarily reduced. All three group sites are expected to reopen, but only about 35 family sites will reopen. Approximately 20 sites will likely remain closed pending major repairs to the landscape, roadways and restroom/shower house. Restrooms will be available at Group Site 1, Group Site 3 and the amphitheater. Showers will be available at the Group Site 1 restroom building. Reservations for all available campsites should be made on Recreation.gov. Pulltite landing is a high priority for the maintenance division as they work to ensure smooth operation for the summer season. Pavement and parking repairs are key challenges. Visitors should be mindful of construction zones and closures during the work. Backcountry campgrounds are expected to open in time for the summer season unless unforeseen delays or additional flooding occur. Sinking Creek, Cedar Grove, Jerktail and Broadfoot all require further work. The park will post updates as these campgrounds open. The exception is the Dee Murray Campground and it will remain closed due to heavy flood damage, but the day-use area is expected to open alongside other backcountry sites. The reopening of some campgrounds may occur earlier or later than Memorial Day. We appreciate your patience as crews complete repairs. For questions and updates, call (573) 323-4236. To reserve developed campsites, go to Recreation.gov or call (877) 444-6777. For more information on developed, backcountry or primitive camping options, visit the park’s camping page at go.nps.gov/OZARcamping.

According to the Salem Police Department, the City of Salem will be testing the Storm Sirens this morning at 10:00.  If there is any inclement weather the test will be postponed to Wednesday, the 26th.

At the Dent County Commission meeting Monday morning, Presiding Commissioner Gary Larson as well as District 1 and 2 Commissioners, Keith Green and Jimmy Williams, wanted to thank all the first responders, Intercounty Electric and all the fire departments for their assistance in controlling and putting out the fire in northeastern Dent County. Marsha Geninatti was in attendance about an altered check from the Collector’s office and was told by the Missouri Attorney General’s office to take her concern to the commissioners. The commission told her she would need to talk with the collector directly about the issue as they have no control over the operations of her office except when it came time to prepare the budget. In the road report, District 1 Commissioner Green said grading will occur on Dent County Road 6090, and crews will try to get to all the roads used during the rally over the weekend, but that may take a couple of days as crews will have to fix a tire on one of the graders before it can be used. Rock may also be added to the race routes where needed. Brush could be cut on county road 6300 if they can get the brush-cutter welded. District 2 Commissioner Williams said patch grading will be done on the hills on Dent County Roads 2330 and 3334, while grading will be done on county road 3180. Williams said rock will be added to county roads 2330, 3180, 4330 and 4340, and crews will also be checking the roads used during the road rally for any needed repairs. Commissioner Larson said he attended the South Central County Commissioner Association meeting in Houston Friday and reported there is very little movement on Senate Bill 57 concerning sales tax on groceries. He also attended the MRPC meeting Thursday and heard from Michael King from Vesper Energy for Vichy Solar. The project is designed to create long-term economic growth for Maries County. Over the life of the project, it is expected to bring in millions of dollars in tax revenue which directly benefits the community, local schools, and other organizations most in need. Larson attended the Ozark Solid Waste Management Board meeting Tuesday.  He also apologized for not having the flag out Friday as there is a ball bearing out on the pulley. He said that is being repaired and flag should be flying everyday, but it will be harder to raise and lower the flag. Dent County Clerk Angie Curley said the excused absentee voting for the Municipal Election continues through April 7th, and non-excused absentee voting will begin on March 25th. The last day to have ballot mailed out will be March 26th, and her office will be open for absentee voting on Saturday, April 5th from 8:00 in the morning until 12:00 noon. Curley also said the voting equipment public test will be April 1st at 9:00 in the morning. At the last meeting, Dent County Health Department Director Zach Moser updated the commissioners with their monthly update. Also last Thursday, the commissioners visited the William Lynch Elementary School to look at their stair chairlift. Custom Home Elevators of St. Louis installed that one and after being called by Commissioner Larson, they will have representative here March 24th. The next meeting of the Dent County Commission will be Thursday morning at the courthouse and the meeting is open to the public.

The Missouri Rural Water Association (MRWA) returned to the Branson Convention Center in March for its 2025 Annual Conference after a 5-year hiatus following the country’s shutdown from the COVID-19 pandemic. A record 900 Missourians made themselves at home in the convention center for most of the four-day event. This year’s participants included city council and district board members, managers, office professionals, water and wastewater specialists, spouses, vendors, and MRWA board and staff members. At the conference, numerous water system representatives from distant parts of the state brought water samples to compete for one of the top spots in the MRWA Show-Me-Tap-Water-Roundup. Preliminary judging at the conference narrowed the field to five finalists. Those samples selected as superior in the three judging categories of clarity, bouquet, and taste were from four municipalities and a subdivision. The top five were the City of Berger, the City of Koshkonong, the City of Salem, the City of Waverly and the Stonebridge West Subdivision. Water specialists from these systems will bring a quart of water to the MRWA Open House on April 23rd for final judging. The ultimate winner will receive an MRWA WaterDrop trophy and represent Missouri in the 2026 NRWA Great American Water Taste Test, competing against entries from all other states. The winner also receives from MRWA, flight and hotel accommodation for two system representatives to attend this event in Washington, D.C.

The Missouri Department of Revenue has temporarily closed the license office in Rolla, located at 1038 S. Bishop, due to storm damage sustained on March 15. A reopening date has not yet been determined. Customers needing motor vehicle and driver licensing services are encouraged to visit nearby offices, including here in Salem, local residents should be aware that this could increase wait times. While utility and internet services are being restored in Rolla, local residents unaffected can access online services for license plate renewals, check registration renewal requirements, or use the Department’s chatbot “DORA”, for assistance. Additionally, vehicle and watercraft registrations can be renewed by calling (573) 751-1957, Monday through Friday, 8 AM to 4:30 PM.