Local News – Friday, March 30th, 2018
The Dent County Commissioners met for their regular meeting Thursday morning at the Dent County Courthouse. At the meeting, Dent County Court Advocate Cheryl Parker asked the commission if she could put up flags on the courthouse lawn in honor of April being Sexual Assault Awareness Month. The commission approved her request. In the road report, Commissioner Dennis Purcell said worker in the 1st District would be taking a backhoe to the bridge on Dent County Road 6080 and removing the debris away from the bridge and road. Purcell said they would then go clean out the large culverts on county road 2470 and 2490. Another crew will be out checking and cleaning out smaller culverts. He and 2nd District Commissioner Gary Larson have both had crews out cleaning out culverts in anticipation of the spring rains for the last few weeks said they feel that because of that, there has not been any major washouts reported with this rain. Purcell did say some materials would be added and patch grading done on county roads 5450 and 6230. Purcell went on to report that if time permits, workers will be doing regular maintenance on the Dura-Patcher and they would also be installing new hoses. Commissioner Larson said his crews would be hauling materials and patching a number of pot holes that have been reported on numerous roads. He also said brush would be cut on Dent County Road 6160. Presiding Commissioner Darrell Skiles reported the time for the Jail Committee meeting to be held Thursday, April 5th at the Salem Community Center@The Armory has been changed from 3:00 in the afternoon until 6:00 in the evening to accommodate those who wish to attend. Dent County Clerk Angie Curley reported absentee voting continues until Monday, April 2nd at her office and that includes this Saturday from 8:00 in the morning until 12:00 noon. The polls will open Tuesday morning at 6:00 and be open until 7:00 in the evening and this is the first year you will have to show a picture ID. Her office is still asking that if you have moved since the last time you voted to please contact her office to make sure of your voting locations. Curley also said sample ballots are available at the Secretary of States website. Enter your address and it will tell you your voting location and allow you to look at the sample ballots. You can also go to www.salemmo.com and that will have a link to the Secretary of States website. In the fuel bids taken, the commissioners took the low bid of $2.10 per gallon for diesel fuel from Phil-Mart and $2.0121 per gallon from MFA Oil. At a special meeting held Tuesday, the commissioners approved a bid from Erb Equipment Company for two new graders for $249,577.62 with a trade-in allowance and Buy-back price after five years at $134,648. The approval was contingent on Erb providing two graders until the new graders arrived in about 30 days or so and Erb agreed to that condition. The commission will seek lease/financing options from local financing institutions. The next meeting of the Dent County Commissioners will be Monday morning at 9:00 and it is open to the public.
MoDOT and the Department of Health and Senior Services know that car crashes are a leading cause of death for children ages 1 to 13 in the United States. Safety professionals continue to stress the importance of buckling children in an age-appropriate safety seat. It's their best defense in a traffic crash. In 2016, 18 children less than eight years-of-age were killed and 47 suffered serious injuries in motor vehicle crashes in Missouri. Twenty-nine percent of the children killed were not restrained in a car seat or seat belt. Additionally in 2016, motor vehicle crashes were responsible for eight maternal deaths (the death of a mother while pregnant or up to a year after delivery) in Missouri. Missouri child safety seat technicians can provide education and car seat inspections.. In our area, the car seat inspections can be done at the City of Rolla Fire and Rescue on Route BB. To make an appointment, contact Jason Goebel at 1490 Route BB in Rolla or call 573-364-3989. MoDOT urges everyone to get their child safety seats inspected.