News – Friday, March 14th 2025

The Dent County Commission met Thursday morning at the courthouse. In the road report, District 1 Commissioner Keith Green said materials would be added and grading done on Dent County Roads 5380, 5580 and 6580, while repairs are still being made to the Mantis brush cutter. Green said grading would also be done on county road 6590. District 2 Commissioner Jimmy Williams said workers would be adding rock and removing a tree from county road 5305, and adding riprap rock around a bridge on county road 5300. Williams said brush would be cut on county roads 4280, while rock will be added and grading done on Dent County Roads 3300 and 3310. Grading will also be done on county roads 2330, 2340 and 5225; while additional rock will be added to county roads 5300, 5305 and 2240. Presiding Commissioner Gary Larson said he attended the MRPC board meeting Thursday night and will be attending the South Central County Commissioner meeting this morning in Houston. Larson recommended and the other commissioners agreed to appoint Ray Walden to the Meramec Community Enhancement Corporation as a representative of Dent County. Dent County Clerk Angie Curley said the first day to vote absentee with no excuse will be March 25th, and the last day to mail out a ballot for the Municipal Election will be March 26th. Excused absentee voting continues at the courthouse until April 7th. At the last meeting, the commission appointed Troy Bemis to the Tourism Tax Committee. The next meeting of the Dent County Commission will be Monday morning at the courthouse at 9:00.

This year’s 100-Acre in the Wood Rally will start off today in Washington County and continue tomorrow in Dent County only. There were 61 entries as of Tuesday morning that will compete this year in one of the most popular venues on the road rally tour. The City of Potosi will kick off the event Friday at 12:00 with their Parc Expose followed by two spectator points at Stage 3 around 2:25, and Stage 7 around 6:15. On Saturday, the Rally moves to Dent County where the Parc Expose on 4th Street in Salem around the courthouse square will start at 9:30 giving fans another opportunity to see their favorite teams up close before the Rally begins. Saturday also provides spectators several opportunities to see the cars on course at full speed starting at Stage 10 at 11:30 in the morning as well as afternoon locations starting at Stage 12 at 1:28 which this year has an admission charge, stage 13 A&B at 2:14, Stage 15 at 5:03, and Stage 17 A&B at 7:34. Maps on the locations of the spectator points are available at the Salem Area Chamber of Commerce in the Crossroads Shopping Center or you can also access the maps on the American Rally Association website: www.americanrallyassociation.org/100aw. There is no charge for the maps. The 100AW organizers would like to remind all rally participants and spectators that Missouri’s “No Trespassing” Laws and “Purple Paint” Statute are still in effect during the rally and are asking everyone to watch for those signs and purple paint on trees, etc. Please respect all property owners by avoiding private property and if a landowner does not want you to spectate on their land, please move to a new location.

An accident happened in Reynolds County in Bunker on Highway 72 Wednesday evening at 5:10. According to the highway patrol report, a 2014 Dodge Ram driven eastbound by a 74-year-old man from Bunker, failed to yield to a 2005 Ford Escape driven eastbound by a 17-year-old girl from Bunker resulting in a collision. The 17-year-old woman was transported by the Iron County EMS to Salem Memorial District Hospital with moderate injuries. The highway patrol was assisted at the scene by the Reynolds County Sheriff’s Department, Reynolds County Fire Department, the Reynolds County First Responders and the Iron County EMS. Both vehicles sustained moderate damages and were removed from the scene by Rowdy’s Towing at the request of the vehicle owners. The girl was wearing a seat restraint at the time of the accident while the 74-year-old man was not.