News – Tuesday, September 23rd 2025

The Salem Board of Aldermen will be meeting tonight at 6:00 at the City Hall Auditorium. After public comments, the Library Board has recommended for the Board of Alderman’s consideration that S.N. Ball IV become a member of the Library Board of Trustees. In new and miscellaneous business, the board will hear about four requests for community support funding from not-for-profit organizations that total $28,200 which is more than the allocated amount of $20,000 in the budget. The city received applications from Sleep in Heavenly Peace, the Fireworks Committee, the Dent County Extension and SACBA. The board will then discuss getting eight new HP elite Mini 800 Desktops for $7,744.00 with a three-year warranty, and also eight refurbished to replace the current laptops in the police department, all that have Windows 10. The board will discuss the annual contract with SumnerOne with the Laserfiche Cloud for $6,077.00 and also discuss the annual contract with Trumpia for the city texting service for $6,000.00. The board will also hear about the intergovernmental agreement with the Dent County Commission for lighting structures for the county’s TAP grant for new sidewalks around the courthouse for $25,000.00. The board will also hear three first readings of bills including Bill #3689 to create an ordinance establishing fees for dusk-to-dawn lights provided by the city; Bill #3690 to create an ordinance establishing criteria for determining utility disconnects during extreme weather conditions; and Bill #3691 to create an ordinance amending the amount of utility deposits for the city. After the reports of city officials, the board will go into closed session to discuss personnel. The meeting of the City of Salem Board of Aldermen tonight is open to the public.

The Dent County Commission met Monday morning at the courthouse for their regular meeting. Presiding Commissioner Gary Larson was not in attendance due to a previous commitment and Commissioner Keith Green was appointed as the Acting Presiding Commissioner for the meeting. In the road report, District 1 Commissioner Green said backhoe work is still being done near the creek in the Montauk area. He also reported crews will grade Dent County Roads 4160 and 6470 if road conditions allow, and brush will be cut on county road 5600. District 2 Commissioner Jimmy Williams indicated crews will be working on low-water crossings and unclogging pipes. He went on to say brush would be cut on county roads in the Lecoma area. Dent County Clerk Angie Curley reported she attended her Missouri Association of County Clerks conference last week in Kansas City and heard from a number of excellent speakers. She also said clerks across Missouri are starting to prepare now for the elections in 2026. Dent County Collector Shannon VanKirk said the Dent County Assessor Alisa Brookshire has verified the values for the Senate Bill 190 tax credits that will be going out on the tax bills in November. VanKirk wanted to let those who signed up for the credits know they should be getting an e-mail to let them know they will be receiving their credits. It is just an informational e-mail. The next meeting of the Dent County Commissioners will be Thursday morning at the courthouse at 9:00 and the meeting is open to the public.

This week is Child Passenger Safety week. Children rely on adults to keep them safe, in and outside of the vehicle, which is why it’s so important to include child safety in a communication plan. MODOT offers communication material related to child passenger safety, including car and booster seats, and pediatric heatstroke prevention. Car crashes are a leading cause of death for children. Every day in 2023, on average, two children under 14 were killed and 345 were injured in traffic crashes while riding in passenger vehicles. A total of 700 children were killed in traffic crashes while riding in passenger vehicles in 2023, and over 125,000 were injured.