News – Tuesday, February 10th 2026

The Dent County Fire Protection District Board of Directors will meet this evening at 6:00 at the Fire Station at #2 South Main. After the Call to Order and Roll Call will be the approval of the Consent Agenda, which includes review of previous meeting minutes, the financial report and approval of bills, plus the budget review. In Old Business the Board will address the Junior FF Program, Fidelity (CTI) Tower Lease, and the Chief spending limit.  In New Business the Board will consider the Red Knights Club and meet with Ben Pursifull. Chief Thomas will give his report, which will include the Monthly Reimbursement Report, followed by the setting of the date for the next meeting and closed session, if necessary, before adjournment. The regular meeting of the DCFPD Board of Directors is open to the public.

The Dent County Commission met Monday morning at the courthouse. Dent County Treasurer Denita Williams gave the sales tax receipts report for February. She stated the General Revenue and Law Enforcement Sales Tax Funds each received $98,718.40, and year-to-date those funds are $13,851.22 over the total collected through February 2025. That is about a 7.6% increase. The Road and Bridge Fund received $49,359.19 in February, and that fund is up year-to-date $13,368.41 from the same time last year which is about a 15.7% increase. Williams reported both Jail Funds received $99,139.52, and year-to-date those funds are each up $26,677.14 over what was received through February of 2025. In the road report, District 1 Commissioner Keith Green said grading work will try to be done on Dent County Roads 4210 and 6090 with some rock being added to county road 6090 as needed. He also stated that a crew will be out patching potholes in chip and seal roads with the ultimate paving material where needed. District 2 Commissioner Jimmy Williams reported some of his crew will also be checking chip and seal roads for potholes and filling them with UPM. Williams went on to say some of his workers will be washing the trucks and road equipment to remove the salt. Presiding Commissioner Gary Larson said he will be attending the Transportation Advisory Committee meeting Wednesday at 4:30 as well as the MRPC regular meeting around 7:30. Those meetings were moved up from Thursday due to Lincoln’s Birthday. Dent County Clerk Angie Curley said excused absentee voting will begin on February 24th at the courthouse. There will be no commissioner meeting on Thursday due to Lincoln’s Birthday, and no meeting on Monday due to President’s Day. The next meeting of the Dent County Commissioners will be Thursday morning, February 19th, at the courthouse at 9:00 and the meeting is open to the public. 

The Missouri Department of Natural Resources’ State Historic Preservation Office announced the opening of the 2026 application cycle for Historic Preservation Fund grants. The program expects to bring more than $400,000 to Missouri’s historic communities. Pre-applications are due February 27. The grants support projects relating to the identification, evaluation or protection of historic properties. Eligible uses include construction projects for protecting, rehabilitating or restoring properties listed on the National Register of Historic Places that have maintained historic integrity. Only one construction project will be awarded in this grant round. Other eligible uses include training for historic preservation commission members or city staff, workshops and conferences, walking tours of National Register sites, preservation plans, design guidelines, historic contexts, internships, inventorying archival files, architectural and archeological surveys, nominations to the National Register, and maintenance and construction documents for publicly owned National Register-listed buildings. Certified Local Governments, county governmental entities, municipalities and nonprofit organizations with a historic preservation mission are eligible to apply. The department will first consider applications from Certified Local Governments in accordance with federal regulations. For more information or to apply, visit the Missouri State Parks website. For questions contact the Missouri State Historic Preservation Office grants manager at 573-751-7958 or moshpo@dnr.mo.gov.