Your World Today

GFL has notified the City of Salem that due to icy road conditions south and west of Salem that recycling will not be picked up this week. All recycling on the north half of town and the north side of Center St. will be picked up on Wednesday, February 8th; and all recycling on the south half of town and the south side of Center St. will be picked up on Thursday, February 9th. The City of Salem apologizes for the inconvenience and appreciates your understanding.

The Salem R-80 Board of Education will hold a special meeting this evening at 6:00 to go into executive session to discuss hiring a football coach and approving the contract of the superintendent. The board will then come back into open session to adjourn.

Project RISE is a program that will help teach individuals to reach financial independence through support and education. This program, sponsored by Healthy Dent County, will help families reach personal and financial goals through employment and career development, time management, goal setting, relationship building, money management and community involvement. The objectives of Project RISE are to increase support systems, resources and community connections as well as providing education that will allow families to develop tools that can improve their financial health and empowerment. While enrolled, families can earn gift cards and other financial incentives, plus meals and childcare are provided during the meetings. The program is 16 weeks long and only 4-7 families will be selected. Families will meet weekly during the evening hours to focus on succeeding in life. Ms. Lacey Walker, Administrative Professional with Healthy Dent County, will serve as the coordinator for this program. To make this project a success, Healthy Dent County will work with social service agencies, churches, health care and employment specialists and community leaders. The wealth of knowledge from these professionals will be invaluable to improving the lives of these families for generations to come. Applications are available at the Salem Community Center@The Armory office. For more information on Project RISE or to determine a family’s eligibility, please contact Lacey Walker at 729-8163 or e-mail her at lacey@salemcommunitycenter.org.

The Ozark Rivers Solid Waste Management District is now accepting submissions for its 32nd Annual Earth Day Trash Art, Poster and Graphic Art contest. The theme for this year’s art contest is “Rescue Earth’s Resources: Become a First Responder for the Planet.” The Ozark Rivers Earth Day contest is a poster, trash art, and graphic art competition open to all students in grades kindergarten through 12th in Crawford, Dent, Gasconade, Maries, Phelps, Pulaski and Washington counties. Homeschool students meeting these criteria are eligible and encouraged to participate. The graphic art portion of the contest is also open to post-secondary students. MRPC provides the day-to-day management of the solid waste district. Students have the opportunity to participate in multiple contest categories, including posters with hand-drawn and graphic arts, and re-purposing recyclables and trash into three-dimensional pieces of trash art. All art entries should echo the theme of the contest and an underlying solid waste management theme to reduce, reuse, and recycle. First and second place contest winners will be awarded prizes, made possible by sponsor donations. Honorable mention projects will also be recognized. All prizes will be earth-friendly, with the first prize valued at $30, second prize valued at $10 and honorable mention prizes valued at $5 approximately. Entries for all categories will be accepted from March 1st through 17th and may be dropped off at the county clerk offices at the nearest courthouse or at MRPC, located at #4 Industrial Drive in St. James. Posters must not exceed 28” x 22”, and trash art projects must not exceed 12”x 12” x 12”. Only one entry per category per student will be accepted, but students may submit entries for all three categories. All entries must be clearly marked with the student’s name, grade, school district, school name and teacher’s name. If any information is not labeled, the entry will be disqualified. If you or your business would like to be a sponsor or for more information about the contest, call 573-265-2993.

The Missouri Department of Conservation wants to remind fisherman that the last day of the catch and Release Season at Montauk State Park will be February 13th. The second Monday of February every year marks the end of the winter Catch-and-Release season. No fishing will be allowed at the park until the opening day of Trout Season which will be on March 1st. For more information on fishing of all types in Missouri as well as fishing licenses, visit the Missouri Department of Conservation website at mdc.mo.gov.

The Dent County Commission held their 2023 budget hearing Monday morning at the commissioner’s office in the courthouse. Presiding Commissioner Darrell Skiles went over the major funds that comprise the budget. The General Revenue Fund ended 2022 with net cash available at $2,442,212.51. The estimated revenues for 2023 are 2.121 million dollars while estimated expenses for this year are 3.381 million dollars, resulting in an estimated ending balance of $1,182,616.97 as of December 31st, 2023. Skiles stated that $800,000 was budgeted for repairs to be done on the courthouse in 2022 of which $347,000 were spent, then another one million dollars was appropriated for 2023 for additional courthouse repairs. The Road and Bridge Fund ending cash balance in 2022 was $511,493.16. The commissioners have estimated revenues in 2023 at 2.643 million dollars and estimated expenses of 2.785 million dollars that would result in an estimated ending balance of $369,573.16 at the end of 2023. The Assessment Fund ending balance for 2022 was $148,137.78. The commissioners estimated revenues in 2023 of $218,350.00 and with estimated expenses of $291,642.60, the estimated ending balance at the end of 2023 would be $74,845.18. The Law Enforcement Sales Tax (LEST) Fund ending balance in 2022 was $836,645.31 that was helped with increase in actual revenues by ARPA funds in 2022. The commissioners estimate revenues in 2023 to be 1.231 million dollars while the estimated deductions came in at 1.486 million dollars leaving an estimated ending balance of $582,537.59 at the end of 2023. The 9-1-1 fund had an ending balance of $61,250.72 in 2022 that showed an increase in revenues of over $4,500 for the year. Expected estimated revenues are $42,633 in 2023 and with estimated expenses of $40,500.00, there would be an ending balance at the end of 2023 of $63,383.78. The Jail Construction and Operations Fund finished the 2022 year with cash available of $2,263,325.29. The fund has expected revenues in 2023 of 2.068 million dollars and estimated expenses of 2.485 million dollars that would leave an ending balance of $1,845,817.88 at the end of 2023. The Jail Construction Trust Fund finished 2022 with an ending balance of $1.705 million dollars. The commissioners estimated revenues of $1,032,427.03 and with anticipated expenses of $1,201,857.50, the fund would have an ending balance of 1.536 million dollars at the end of 2023. Skiles also went over the new budgets for the SB40 fund and offered to revue smaller funds to see if there were questions, but there were none. The budget for 2023 was then approved by a 2-1 vote with Commissioner Skiles voting against the budget due to a 4% COLA increase for all employees including elected officials who also received an increase around 1% due to the assessed valuation increase. Skiles said the increase for employees was about $1,200 while the office holders were going to get about an increase of about $2,400. The hearing was then adjourned.

Missouri turkey hunters can apply online during February for 2023 spring turkey managed hunts through the Missouri Department of Conservation (MDC) website at mdc.mo.gov. Managed hunt details and application procedures are outlined on the webpage.Drawing results will be posted starting March 15th. The spring turkey hunting youth portion will be April 1 and 2 with the regular spring season running April 17th through May 7th. Detailed information on spring turkey hunting will be available in the MDC 2023 Spring Turkey Hunting Regulations and Information booklet, available where permits are sold beginning in March. To learn more about turkey hunting, visit MDC’s website at mdc.mo.gov/hunting-trapping/species/turkey. Buy Missouri hunting permits from numerous vendors around the state, online at mdc.mo.gov/buypermits, or through the MDC free mobile app (MO Hunting) available for download through Google Play for Android devices or the App Store for Apple devices.

The Salem Area Council presents a four-week Stained Glass Class with Jennifer Curry starting Tuesday, February 7th at the Creative Arts Center. You can learn the art of stained glass and create a panel of your own. Students will use some basic stained glass cutting and soldering techniques and be introduced to the vocabulary and materials used while creating a beautifully designed piece. Curry will provide the materials and equipment as well as the instruction and knowledge for each student to have a successful and enjoyable experience. Class time are 1:00 until 4:00 in the afternoon of 5:00 to 8:00 in the evening. The cost of the program is $150 which includes the supplies and safety equipment. There must be a minimum of two students for the class to be held and no more than five students can be in one class. To sign up, call or text 573-247-0651, or go online at salemcommunitybetterment.com and look under programs for the Salem Creative Arts Center.

The Dent County Historical Society will be holding their next meeting on Monday, February 6th, at 5:00 at James and Gahr Fellowship Hall. Cemeteries and burial sites along the Current River will be discused as well as the Project which is to have wayside panels at pull-outs at places on private land with an agreement with the landowner. Discussion will also be held about the National Park Service Ozark National Scenic Riverways. The meetings are open to everyone. For more information or if people want to share or have ideas of possible stories, call Deloris Gray Wood at 573 729-2545 or e-mail her at delorisgraywood@gmail.com.

The Healthy Dent County Fitness Center will offer their Line Dancing classes again this year Tuesday nights through the month of February at 6:30 at the Salem Community Center @ The Armory. The cost to attend is $5.00 and just pay at the door. The class instructor is Rosalie Wright. For more information call 739-1127 or e-mail susie@salemcommunitycenter.org.