Posts by Stan Podorski

The Salem Memorial Hospital is excited to announce its partnership with the Family Support Division of Missouri and Healthy Dent County to launch the MO Kiosk Project, an initiative within the Transformation of Rural Community Health (ToRCH) Program. This collaboration will improve access to essential services for Dent County residents. The MO Kiosk Project introduces two self-service kiosks that are now available at the SMH Family Medicine Clinic and at the Salem Community Center @ the Armory. These kiosks will allow residents to conveniently access a range of services provided by the Family Support Division, including applying for benefits, uploading documents, reporting changes, checking case status, and accessing the Family Support Division benefit portal. Additionally, the kiosks will provide information on how to request new EBT or Medicaid cards and include general program and contact details. According to Salem Hospital CEO Brooke Bollman, the hospital is thrilled to collaborate with the Family Support Division and Healthy Dent County on the MO Kiosk Project, as this initiative supports the ToRCH Program’s mission to transform healthcare and service access in rural communities. By providing these convenient, easy-to-use kiosks, the hospital is helping ensure that community members can efficiently access the services they need. The kiosks are designed to be user-friendly, providing an accessible solution for individuals who may not have regular internet access or face transportation challenges. The locations were selected to ensure that all residents in Dent County can easily access these essential services.

Intercounty Electric Cooperative recently announced their annual Washington, DC Youth Tour winners and Jefferson City CYCLE Tour particpants following their interviews. The Youth Tour is an all-expenses paid trip to our nation’s capitol and selected this year from Licking was Karson Walker; Makena Faulkner was chosen from Salem, Valery Liang was selected from Rolla, and Ariella Tarvin was chosen from St. James. Congratulations to these winners! The students not selected for the Washington, DC Youth Tour are eligible to go on an all-expenses paid trip to participate in the Cooperative Youth Conference and Leadership Experience (CYCLE) in Jefferson City, Missouri. These students include Riley Remster and Knox Smith from Salem; Noah Umfleet and Sadie Hutsell from Licking; Katie Carpenter from St. James; and Maria Polizzi and Lukas Barnes from Rolla. Congratulations to all of these students as well as the Youth Tour winners and CYCLE winners in Mountain Grove, Houston, Plato, Summersville, and Cabool. If you’d like to learn more about the Youth Essay Contest held each February which is for high school juniors only, you can contact Intercounty Electric at 866-621-3679.

The Doe Run Company’s Maroon mine rescue team took home multiple awards, including the coveted Grand Champion award, at the 2025 Tennessee Southeast Regional mine rescue contest last month in Sevierville, Tenn. Doe Run congratulates the Maroon team members Jarred Tackett, Mike Snyder, Luke Davis, Andrew Hampton, Jake Piatt, Ben Moore, and Brandon Roderman for taking home first place on the first day and second place on the second day of the field problem competition. The team also took first place overall in the grand champion category, which includes results for field, tech, bench, and first aid, combined. The Maroon team members Jake Piatt and Ben Moore also competed against coal and metal/non-metal mine rescue teams to earn first place overall in the team technician’s competition. Hosted by the Tennessee Mine Rescue Association, the Southeast Regional competition is a three-day event with 23 teams participating, including five metal/nonmetal and 18 coal teams. The first two days of the competition consisted of separate mine rescue field problems that simulate underground emergency situations. The third day included a first-aid competition involving CPR and a first-responder scenario. Each event also included a written test to assess the team’s knowledge. Doe Run’s mine rescue teams train on a voluntary basis and compete in mine rescue competitions annually. The teams consistently place near or at the top at regional and national mine rescue competitions. Doe Run’s focus on safety is evident beyond mine rescue. Across the company, Doe Run employees annually complete approximately 35,000 hours of environmental, health, and safety training.

The Dent County Commission met Thursday morning at the courthouse. Dent County Collector Shannon VanKirk was in with the March monthly report for add-on, collections and abatement. She also said since the Dent County Fire Protection District Bond Issue passed, there will be an increase in the amounts for those applying for the Senior Tax Credit as bond indebtedness cannot be forgiven as it is NOT an assessment against the property. She also said she is working out the kinks in the online application for the Senior Tax Credits as it continues to be a “work-in-progress.” VanKirk says 170 applications have been picked up to date with about 60 of them being completed and submitted. Grant Wilson from Representative Jason Smith’s office was in attendance and said Smith and other congressional leaders sent a letter to President Trump asking him to declare disaster assistance for the areas affected by the March tornadoes. He said the Ways and Means Committee heard from Jamieson Greer, the US Trade Representative, who said trade policies that went in effect are to help and protect American workers. The goal is to have equal trade with other nations and thus the higher tariffs, and now over 70 countries have come to the table to negotiate new tariffs and trade agreements. Wilson used the example of the old Briggs and Stratton plant in Rolla that closed, and those local jobs were sent to Mexico and China meaning 450 people lost their jobs due to those nations having favorable trade with the US. In the road report, District 1 Commissioner Keith Green said rock would be added and grading done on Dent County Road 2490, while grading will also be done on county roads 4220 and 5680. He said brush would be cut on county road 5390 and a crew will be taking out the backhoe to clean out culverts and remove debris from bridges moving toward the Bunker area. Green also said a mirror would be replaced on one of the graders. District 2 Commissioner Jimmy Williams said his crew would be adding rock and grading Dent County Roads 2390, 6120 and 6123; while another crew would be doing bridge repair and cutting ditches on Dent County Road 3260. He said a crew would be installing a driveway culvert on Dent County Road 3210 and adding rock to that road as well. Williams said repairs will be made to county road 2500 that suffered washout damage in the last storm, and they will also be installing a “Children at Play” sign on county road 3233. Presiding Commissioner Gary Larson attended the MRPC meeting Thursday night as well as the TAC, External Relations Committee and the Phelps County Public Housing Authority meetings. He also wanted to remind everyone that on June 14th, there will be an electronics recycling and tire collection at Brewer Science in Rolla from 8:00 in the morning until 12:00 noon. Dent County Clerk Angie Curley wanted to thank everyone involved with the election on Tuesday as it went very smooth with a little over 15% of the eligible registered voters participating. She said some people were confused on the fire district bond issue as they thought they could vote on the issue since it said the “Dent County Fire Protection District”, but they didn’t live in the actual district boundaries and were not eligible to vote. Curley said the “Election Harassment Bill” in the Missouri House of Representatives passed and is being sent to the Missouri Senate. Dent County Health Department Administrator Zach Moser gave the commissioners an update on the Measles outbreak in Texas, and also told the commission they could do drug testing of the Road and Bridge Department employees starting at 7:00 in the morning. Commissioner Larson said each month two employees are chosen at random to be tested. Moser said the Health Department cost would be $16.00 per employee. The commission voted to cancel the drug testing services with TOMO and begin using the Dent County Health Department immediately. The Commission also signed the service agreement between GIS National LLC and the county regarding customers desire to engage the company to perform certain administrative services for medical plans. There is no cost to the county and this agreement falls under the MAGIC Consortium Health Insurance Group. Due to the commissioners, clerk and treasurer attending the MAC legislative conference at the Capital, there will be no commissioner meeting today. The next meeting of the Dent County Commission will be Thursday morning at 9:00 at the courthouse and the meeting is open to the public.

The City of Salem Administrative Building and Utility Office will delay opening until Monday afternoon at 1:00 to accommodate necessary system maintenance. During this time, the offices will be unable to process payments or conduct transactions, and staff will have limited access to internet services. However, residents may continue to make utility payments using the following methods: online payment portal by going to www.salemmo.com/city, automated phone system by calling 1-888-443-4087, or the drop box located in the drive thru. We appreciate the community’s patience as we work to ensure the continued security and reliability of our systems. For questions, please contact the Utility Office at (573) 729-4117.

Missouri State Fair Director Jason Moore announced that 62 youth, selected from Missouri 4-H and FFA State Fair exhibitors, will be awarded scholarships by the Missouri State Fair and the Youth in Agriculture committee. These students are seeking higher education at a university or college of their choice and will be recognized on April 24th during the annual State FFA Convention in Columbia. Scholarship applicants were evaluated in a variety of areas including Missouri State Fair participation, grade point average, community involvement and leadership roles. Since 1992, the Youth in Agriculture committee has now awarded 941 scholarships totaling $1,190,250. The scholarships are funded through the generosity of Youth in Agriculture sponsors and buyers of the livestock sold during the annual Sale of Champions; and the sponsors and buyers list is available online. A portion of each animal’s total sale value is allocated to the scholarship program. Chosen to receive a $1,750 scholarship, sponsored by Youth in Agriculture supporters, is Raymond Cunningham of Salem. The Youth in Agriculture committee is comprised of volunteers from across the state who work throughout the year to raise funds for the annual Sale of Champions auction and scholarships. 

The Dent County Prosecutor’s Office has issued a notice to all deer and turkey hunters for this season. Whether using a traditional paper permit or the MO hunting app, hunters must notch their permit immediately after harvesting a deer or turkey and then tele-check their harvest. To notch a paper permit, hunters should tear a small notch in the month and day of harvest on the permit. To notch a permit using the MO Hunting app, hunters should select the permit they wish  to use from the list in the app and follow the short prompts on the screen. Once the permit is notched, hunters may transport their deer or turkey within Missouri. Carcass movement regulations apply in CWD management Zone counties. As long as hunters stay with their harvested game, they don’t need to tag it, but if they leave their deer or turkey, they must attach a tag. Hunters with paper permits can simply attach their notched permit to the deer or turkey. It is recommended to seal the permit in a zip-top bag and attach the bag with a string, wire, or tape. Hunters using the MO Hunting app must attach a label with their full name, address, permit number, and date of harvest to the deer or turkey. All deer or turkey must be telechecked by 10:00 pm on the day of harvest, before processing the game, or before leaving the state, whichever comes first. After the deer or turkey has been telechecked, it may be processed, stored, or transported by anyone as long as it is labeled with the hunter’s full name, address, date taken, and Telecheck confirmation number.