Your World Today

The opening of trout season begins Wednesday morning at Montauk State Park near Salem at 6:30. Remember, anyone fishing will need a trout tag as well as a fishing license. Licenses are required for those Missouri residents who are aged 16 to 64 and for non-residents who are 16-years-old and older. A daily trout tag costs $4 for adults and $3 for youngsters who are 15 years of age and younger. Daily fishing permits are available for $8. The daily limit is four trout. Anglers are encouraged to purchase their fishing permits ahead of time from any of numerous vendors around the state, online at mdc.mo.gov/buypermits or through Missouri Department of Conservation’s free mobile apps, MO Hunting and MO Fishing. However, trout tags can only be bought at the state park store. At Montauk, the park store will be open from 8:00 in the morning until 10:00 at night this Tuesday, and from 4:30 Wednesday morning until 8:30 Wednesday night. The parks’ lodging units, campgrounds and restaurants are expected to be busy. Visitors should come prepared with water and snacks, and dress appropriately for the weather. Anglers can share their opening day photos through social media by tagging @MoStateParks or using #MOTrout on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. For more information, call Montauk State Park at 573-548-2201. Trout season in Missouri is a cooperative effort of Missouri State Parks managing the state parks and the Missouri Department of Conservation operating the hatcheries and stocking the streams with trout.

Friday was FFA Day on KSMO Media and fomer FFA Advisor Bob Parsons interviewed seven groups on five Salem FFA students from freshman to seniors about their FFA experiences. Those interviews are available on the KSMO YouTube page under “Live” for anyone who missed any of the interviews.

A Central Missouri Forage and Beef Conference will be held on March 3rd from 1:00 until 6:00 in Vienna, Missouri at the Knights of Columbus Hall. Attendees will have several opportunities to visit with the vendors at the trade show also. Speakers will cover topics including the beef market outlook, toxic weeds and pasture spraying, vaccination programs, how to extend your grazing year and grazing more with less. There will be the popular producer panel with insights from area producers on how they have diversified their operations forage and income strategies. Those interested can register online at extension.missouri.edu/events or call the Maries County Soil & Water District at (573)422-3342. Attendees will need to pay $10 per person at the door for the meal. Please reserve your spot TODAY!

Preparations are underway for Ozark National Scenic Riverways to accomplish several prescribed burns this spring through mid-April. The burns will be carefully planned and monitored by the park’s Fire Management staff. The scheduling of these prescribed burns is dependent on weather and vegetation meeting certain conditions. During prescribed burns, park operations will continue as usual, although temporary closure of trails or roads adjacent to the burn unit may be necessary for visitor safety. The prescribed burns planned in the Ozark Riverways this year will be cooperative efforts between the National Park Service (NPS) and other land management agencies. The scheduled burns include the Thorny Creek prescribed burn unit of 2,206 acres and that is located northeast of Rocky Falls and will be conducted with Missouri Department of Conservation; and the Devils Well prescribed burn will be 909 acres and is located in northern Shannon County off Route KK and will be conducted jointly with Pioneer Forest. Other prescribed burns will be in the Big Spring area on the Lower Current River. These include the Partney burn of 200 acres and the Longbay burn of 1,200 acres along Route Z south of Big Spring. Other burns scheduled are the Big Spring Ridge burn of 797 acres, the Sweezie Hollow burn of 374 acres along Peavine Road, and the Campbell Point/Beaver Pond of 605 acres that is along Brown’s Road. In order to ensure the safety of firefighters and the public, foot and vehicle travel in or near the prescribed fire operations may be temporarily restricted. Firefighters plan to conduct prescribed burns during weather conditions that will allow for smoke to disperse without causing negative impacts. However, smoke may impair visibility in the vicinity of the prescribed burn and could linger low in the atmosphere over a broad geographic area. Individuals with respiratory ailments are encouraged to take extra precautions to avoid exposure to smoke. Anyone who is concerned about the potential impacts of smoke from a prescribed burn can request to be added to the park’s notification list in order to be contacted in advance. For more information about prescribed burns in the Ozark National Scenic Riverways or to be included on the park’s notification list, contact Josh Chilton at (573) 226-3945 or josh_chilton@nps.gov. If you would like to receive additional information about other prescribed burns in the local area, please contact Missouri Department of Conservation at (573) 226-3616 or the U.S. Forest Service at (573) 364-4621. To stay up to date on the when the burns will occur or be cancelled, visit the park’s website at www.nps.gov/ozar or their Facebook page for further updates.

At Thursday’s Commissioners meeting Presiding Commissioner Darrell Skiles noted that an opportunity has presented itself that he can’t pass up so effective as of midnight Saturday, February 25th, he is resigning as Dent County Presiding Commissioner. Skiles said he has thoroughly enjoyed the last 16 years and was very complimentary of the office holders, the staff and the community in meeting the needs of Dent County. He said he sincerely appreciates the trust citizens placed in him and it’s been an honor and a privilege to serve as Presiding Commissioner. In his last report as Presiding Commissioner Thursday, Skiles said he attended a number of meetings via phone over the last few weeks, which included the Transportation Advisory Committee and the Public Housing Authority. Skiles said that PHA is in need of HUD rental units and anyone interested should contact Don Keeney at MRPC. He also attended the MRPC February meeting via phone. Skiles stated that a year ago when it came time to file for the Presiding Commissioner’s position, he considered not filing but wanted to see the Department of Revenue tax situation come to its conclusion, as well as the renovation of the courthouse exterior to begin. He said he didn’t feel like he could walk away from those two issues. Skiles went on to say the Department of Revenue situation is very near finalization and there will be scaffolding going up around the courthouse this spring as that project moves forward. Dent County Clerk Angie Curley will notify the Governor’s Office and follow State Statute Chapter 49 and 105 for a replacement to be named.

The Dent County Commissioners met Thursday morning at the courthouse. Presiding Commissioner Darrell Skiles opened the meeting by apologizing for missing meetings due to his concussion and the protocol associated with it. Sherry Lea, George Gruendel and Jamie Myers were in representing the Health Dent County Prevention Coalition. Lea noted that Gruendel and Myers are the Co-Chairs of the Opiod Prevention Coalition and the group is here to provide expertise and guidance once the Opiod Settlement guidelines are established and released. Craig Siers was in to point out that chip and seal materials on Dent County Road 3230 have washed into his yard and are several inches deep. District Two Commissioner Gary Larson said he would have his crew work on the removal of the materials. In the road report, District One Commissioner Wes Mobray said rock would be added and grading would be done on Dent County Road 5600, while grading only will be done on county road 6370. He also reported that brush would be cut on 5610. Commissioner Larson reported that grading would be done and rock would be added to Dent County Roads 3180, 3225, and 4280. He also said that brush would be cut on the short roads around Anutt, which are county roads 2180, 2183, 2185, 2195, and 2200. Presiding Commissioner Skiles noted that the Notice of Decision on the $30,000 ARPA Funds for the Senior Citizens Center needed to be signed by the Commissioners which they did. He also reported that the final Flood Hazard Mitigation determination from FEMA was sent to the Commission. The Commissioners agreed to an invitation to bid for the road improvement project Flap 056 project and will take bids until March 16th at 10:00. For more information interested parties should contact Great Rivers Engineering at (417) 886-7171. Dent County Clerk Angie Curley said that the financial statement has been prepared and needed to be signed by the Commissioners, plus bills were being approved for payment. Curley said that absentee voting continues through April 3rd, the last day to register to vote is March 3rd, the last day to request a mail out absentee ballot is March 22nd, and March 21st through April 3rd “no excuse” absentee voting can be done in her office. Curley also reported she attended the MAC Board meeting in Jefferson City Wednesday, plus it was County Clerks Legislative Day. Corky Stack with Stack Engineering joined the Commissioners for the opening of bids for the Jail Sewer Repairs and Grinder Installation. The bid by BuildTec from St. James was for $62,000 and unit charges were additional. The P. J. Myers bid from Cuba was for $42,500 and unit charges were additional. The Commissioners voted 2-0 to accept the P. J. Myers bid. The project will begin next Monday with paperwork, then 10 days of providing insurance and bonding. Work will begin at the end of March and it will be a week long project. The Commission agreed 2-0 to purchase a used Ford F-450 plow and snow truck for the road department. Phone calls were made and the Commissioners found a 2006 Ford F-450 for $25,000. A motion to buy the truck was approved 2-0. The Commissioner will not meet on Thursday, March 2nd, due to their annual conference. The next meeting of the Commissioners will be Monday morning at 9:00 at the Dent County Courthouse and the meeting is open to the public.

The Salem Memorial Hospital regular board meeting was held Tuesday evening in the hospital library. Hospital CEO Wayne Reid gave the Summary of Operations report for the month of January. Inpatient admissions were 88 with 11 Swingbed admissions and 458 patient census days. The average length of stay for medical and surgical stays was 4.41 days while the swingbed length of stay was 17.73 days in January. There were 1,374 Outpatient Registrations, 2,833 Cardiopulmonary Procedures, 6,251 Lab Tests, 1,467 Radiology Procedures, 693 Rehabilitation Treatments, 28 Surgical Procedures and 223 Home Health Visits. In January, 682 people visited the Emergency Department with 62 patients being admitted and 41 being transferred. There 279 ambulance runs during January with 196 patients being transported with 83 dry runs. The new Chief Financial Officer William Giles gave the financial report for the month. The total revenues for January were $2,577,056 and while total expenses for the month were $2,765,050, which shows a loss from operations of $187,993. With the unrestricted tax revenue of $367,127, the hospital showed an excess of revenues over expenses for January of $179,133. Reid reported the proposal to fix the kitchen drain came in between $400,000 and $500,000. He said grants and loans will be sought to help with this cost. Reid discussed several outstanding risk issues the hospital may be incurring in the future. One is a possible fine by the IRS for two infractions at $100,000 each for Form 1095 reporting violations and another could be a charge from Cerner for cancellation of their contract. Reid reported that the weekend walk-in clinic is doing very well and the hospital was recently at capacity for admissions and had to divert 4 patients. The Medical Staff reviewed and recommended approval by the board of the revised Medical Staff Bylaws. This update was needed to meet the “plan of correction” noted by the state in a recent survey. The bylaws hadn’t been updated since 2001 and Hospital Attorney Mark Weaver created the new bylaws using a template from the Missouri Hospital Association. Article 5 of the template mentioned “Mid Level” staff and since the hospital currently does not use “mid-level” staff, this article was not used in the final review. Some Board members thought this article should still be included because the administration, on recommendation from RHG, is looking at adding “mid level” staff to assist the doctors in the future. The board provisionally approved the Medical Staff Bylaw updates for 60 days to have further discussions with the Medical Staff. The board approved Judy Thomspon to serve as the board secretary. Ashley Sullins gave the Chief Nursing Officer report. Three new full time positions have been created: one night RN position open in Med-Surg as well as the Emergency Department, and one daytime RN position in Med Surg. In the Human Resources update, recent hires included two Pharmacy Techs. The Hospital Foundation will be having a Cornhole Tournament on March 11th at the Salem Community Center @ the Armory, a Golf Tournament on June 2nd at the Spring Creek Golf Course and gun raffle tickets are now on sale. The board approved several medical staff reappointments. The board then went into closed session.

The Creative Arts Center will be holding a two-day barn quilt class with Terrie Welch and Tana Kettner this Sunday from 4:00 until 7:00, and on Monday from 4:00 to 8:30. Participants will design their own plywood painted quilt to be displayed on your barn or home. Quilt patterns will be painted on 2X2 plywood squares. Many patterns are available or you can bring your own. Participants MUST register by Friday, February 24th, and the cost is $55 per person and all supplies are provided. For more information, call or text 573-247-0651 or go online at salemcommunitybetterment.com and look for the Salem Creative Arts Center tab.

Mayor Greg Parker has called a special meeting of the Salem Board of Aldermen for tonight at 5:00 at the City Hall Council Chambers. The board will discuss Resolution #6-2023 which is a resolution authorizing the filing of an application with the Missouri Department of Natural Resources, Clean State Revolving Fund Program for an engineering grant under the Missouri Clean Water Law. The board will then go into closed session to discuss contracts before they adjourn. The special meeting is open to the public.

Dent County Assessor Jamie Homeyer wants to remind everyone your annual assessment forms that list your personal and business property for 2023 will be due on Wednesday, March 1st. Those forms MUST be in the Dent County Assessor’s Office by that day or postmarked that day to avoid paying a penalty. You may drop off your assessment list at the assessor’s office at the courthouse and they are open from 8:00 in the morning until 4:30 in the afternoon, weekdays. There is also a drop box on the front lawn of the courthouse for your convenience if you can’t make it by until after hours. You can also mail in your assessment list forms but make sure you have the postal clerk postmark your envelope. You can also e-file your assessment list form online. Just follow the instructions on the assessment form you received in the mail. If you have lost your assessment list form or never received one, or you are new to the area, additional blank forms are available at the Dent County Assessor’s Office in the Dent County Courthouse. The penalty for not getting in your assessment form on time is determined at $10 per every $1,000 of assessed valuation with a maximum penalty of $100 if you have assessed valuation of $10,000 or more. A quick reminder for those wanting to file their form online, you can only e-file your assessment list form until April 30th. If you have any questions or need assistance with the online form, call Dent County Assessor Jamie Homeyer at the Dent County Courthouse at 729-6010 or stop by during regular business hours at the corner of Highway 19 and 4th Street in downtown Salem.

The Salem Acoustic Jam will be held this Saturday evening at 6:30 at the Creative Arts Center and everyone is invited to attend. Bring your instrument to play or just come and tap your feet. The event is free!