Posts by Stan Podorski

Thursday morning at the Dent County Commission meeting at the courthouse, Jeff Banderet and Austin from Great Rivers Engineering were in attendance to talk about the TAP grant for the sidewalks around the courthouse. The project is still estimated to come in at $441,000, and MoDOT’s portion will be $316,000 with the county responsible for the rest. The preliminary plans and the estimate have been completed. The project will include new sidewalks around the entire courthouse property as well as sidewalks from the four corners of the property to the front and back doors. An ADA accessible path will be located at the southwest corner of the property and discussion for additional ADA parking spots was held as the county currently only has two. The county would be responsible for the signing and painting of the ADA parking spots. The commission considered matching the city’s stamped bricks and concrete for this project, but it would be more expensive. The commission instead voted to use stamped concrete buffers without the brick pavers to save money. There will also be new retaining walls where needed, a dumpster pad and the removal of the brick trash cans before the project begins. The county will still need to get with the city electric department about relocating some electric poles. Banderet also discussed the FLAP Project 077 for Dent County Road 6670 which is the road that goes to the backside of Montauk State Park. The preliminary plans and estimate have been completed, and the project estimate is $720,000 which will be paid for solely by a federal grant. Banderet said they are confident the funding is secure although all new federal grants may be on hold at this time. Work continues on environmental clearances, roadway property acquisition and finalizing permits. Banderet feels the project should be completed by December 1st of this year. In the road report, District 1 Commissioner Keith Green said crews are brush cutting and screening sand. Workers are also replacing a couple of pipes and performing maintenance. District 2 Commissioner Jimmy Williams said grading was being done on Dent County Road 4290, while hole patching was being done on county roads 2330, 2340 and 6160. Materials were also being added on county roads 2330, 2340 and 4290. Brush cutting was being done on county road 4300 and workers were removing a fallen tree. Williams also signed the CART program agreement for 2025 which is a cost-share program for maintaining the public roads serving Missouri Department of Conservation areas and adding new white rock where needed. Presiding Commissioner Gary Larson said he attended a Tourism Tax Committee meeting and there was one new request that was tabled, and four reimbursements that were approved. Dent County Clerk Angie said excused absentee voting continues at the courthouse for the Municipal Election, and the last day to register to vote is March 12th. Curley also said her office balanced with the collector and assessor for collections, add-ons and abatements for the month of February. Dent County Collector Shannon VanKirk said she is distributing her collections from February of $615,070.86 to the appropriate taxing entities. The next meeting of the Dent County Commission will be Monday morning at 9:00 at the courthouse and the meeting is open to the public.

Dent County Recorder Cindy Ard wants people to be aware of a new website where you can sign up to find out if someone is recording a document or changing a recorded document with your name on it. The website is deedwatch.com and once signed up, you would receive an e-mail letting you know if a document is recorded with your name on it. There is no charge for this service. Just go to the website, and in the drop-down box, select Dent County, Missouri. In the second box, enter your e-mail that you want the notification to come to. From that point, just follow the directions to finish signing up. You could include the name that should be on your deed, or any other form of your name the deed may have been recorded. This service is provided by the Dent County Recorder’s Office to prevent anyone from being scammed out of their property or having someone attached their name to your deed without your knowledge. If you have questions about this service, contact Cindy Ard at  573-729-2198. You can also e-mail her at dcrecorder07@gmail.com.

State Representative Don Mayhew has introduced House Bill 1442 called the “Natural Resource and Community Protection Act,” to end federal overreach in the Ozark National Scenic Riverways and other federally managed lands within Missouri. The bill ensures that local residents are not unfairly targeted by federal park rangers and that Missouri retains authority over its natural resources, wildlife, water rights, and land use. HB 1442 prioritizes the rights of local residents by preventing the NPS from issuing federal tickets for minor infractions, prohibiting unconstitutional property seizures, stopping unreasonable land use restrictions, and blocking unilateral road closures by federal authorities. The bill also reaffirms Missouri’s authority over its natural resources, wildlife, water rights, roads, and highways by requiring federal agencies to coordinate with state and local officials before imposing new regulations or enforcement actions. This bill is a direct results of citizen complaints and concerns.

On Thursday, March 6th, Dent County Prosecuting Attorney Andrew Curley reports that Travis Fudge pled guilty to tampering with a motor vehicle, burglary in the 2nd degree, felony stealing and the possession of a controlled substance-methamphetamine. Fudge was sentenced to serve six years in the Missouri Department of Corrections as recommended by Prosecutor Curley.

Intercounty Electric Cooperative recently announced their Youth Tour essay finalist this past Monday. The Youth Tour is an all-expenses paid trip to our nation’s capitol where participants go with more than 100 students from the Show-Me state and over 2000 students nationwide to tour museums, visit America’s most cherished monuments and even meet their elected officials. All while learning about electric cooperatives and their role in the community. The top three finalist for Salem include Makena Faulkner, Riley Remster, and Knox Smith. Licking’s finalist are Karson Walker, Noah Umfleet, and Sadie Hutsell. Ariella Tarvin, Katie Carpenter, and Keiran Goodridge are the finalist from St. James and Valery Liang, Maria Polizzi, and Lukas Barnes are Rolla’s finalist. Congratulations to all of these students as well as the finalist in Mountain Grove, Houston, Summersville, and Cabool. The first place winners from each school will earn a seat on the Youth Tour in Washington D.C. while runners up from each school will receive an all-expenses paid trip to participate in the Cooperative Youth Conference and Leadership Experience (CYCLE) in Jefferson City, Missouri. If you’d like to learn more you can contact Intercounty Electric at 866-621-3679.

Today is KSMO’s Annual FFA Day at the KSMO Studios where former FFA Advisor Bob Parsons will be interviewing current Salem FFA students live on KSMO Radio (AM 1340 and 95.7 FM) and those interviews will be streamed live on KSMO Media (ksmoradio.com, KSMO Stream Facebook Page and KSMO YouTube.) Originally scheduled for February 21st, the day had to be rescheduled due to school being postponed. The students will be answering questions on their experience with FFA including their SAE Projects, awards, projects, record books, future plans, what got them interested in FFA and more. Interviews normally begin between 8:20 and 8:30 in the morning and will be held throughout the day ending near 3:00. If you can’t listen or watch live, the interviews will be able to be played back later on Facebook and YouTube.

An accident happened Monday morning around 9:20 in Iron County on Highway 32 about eight miles east of Bixby that took the of two young adults. According to the highway patrol report, a 2011 Toyota Camry driven westbound by a 21-year-old male from Desloge, was passing an uninvolved vehicle and struck a 2021 Nissan Sentra driven eastbound by a 67-year old woman from Salem, head on. The driver of the Toyota was pronounced dead at the scene by Deputy Coroner Johnny Setzer from Iron County. The 21-year-old female occupant of the Camry, who was from Viburnum, was taken to Mercy Hospital in St. Louis where she was pronounced dead at 4:00 Monday afternoon by Physicians Assistant Elizabeth Watson. The Salem woman suffered moderate injuries and was taken by Arch Helicopter to Mercy Hospital in St. Louis. According to the report, no one was wearing a seat restraint at the time of the accident. Both vehicles were totaled and removed from the scene by Abney’s Towing.

An accident happened in Phelps County Tuesday afternoon at 12:34 on Highway 63 south of Magnolia Lane that left a woman from Licking with moderate injuries. According to the highway patrol report, a 2011 Kia Sorento driven northbound by a 62-year-old female from Licking, traveled off the right side of the roadway and struck two trees. The woman, who was wearing a seat restraint, suffered moderate injuries and was taken to Phelps Health in Rolla by the Phelps Health EMS. The Kia was self-towed.