Your World Today

The Salem Area Community Betterment Association, better known as SACBA, is bringing back their Gift of Time volunteer awards to recognize volunteers who have made a significant contribution to Salem and Dent County. Individuals or organizations who have volunteered or made a significant impact for our community from 2020-2021 are eligible. Nomination Forms are available at: The City of Salem Administrative Office, Chamber of Commerce, Salem Public Library, Healthy Dent County/Salem Community Center, Bank of Salem, and Steelman Abstract & Title Company. Nominations must be submitted by March 31st, 2022. This year’s nomination categories are: Education & Youth, Community Enhancement or Preservation, Arts & Culture, Humanitarian and Outstanding Youth Volunteer for those who are 18 and under. Only one category nomination per submission may be accepted. You can submit separate nominations if nominating a nominee for more than one category. Please refer to the Nomination Form for additional eligibility information and nominee questionnaire. In addition to the form locations, nominations may also be emailed to “sacba@salemmo.com”, or mailed to Salem Area Community Betterment Association, P.O. Box 732, Salem, MO 65560. An awards banquet to honor category winners, as well as an Open House at the SACBA complex at 200 S. Main St., will be held in May. For more information or for nomination questions, send an email to sacba@salemmo.com, or message on Facebook @SalemAreaCommunityBettermentAssociation. As always, SACBA values the support of the community, and looks forward to honoring those who support our community.

The Salem Police Department has released a number of reports for February. On Monday February 7th at around 2:00 in the morning, officers were dispatched to the 100 block of South Carty for a report of gunshots being fired into a residence. It was reported that someone had drove by the residence and fired shots at the residence. The scene was processed, and evidence was obtained, and the incident is still under investigation. Later that same afternoon around 4:00 officers took a report of an assault that had occurred at the Cedar Grove cemetery. It was reported that two men had a disagreement and one of the men assaulted the other. As a result, a 63-year-old Salem man was arrested and later released on a summons to appear in court. Then at around 7:00 during the evening of Thursday February 10th, an officer arrested 25-year-old Michael Shaw of Salem for an outstanding warrant out of Dent County. Shaw was incarcerated at the Dent County jail. On Sunday evening February 13th near 8:00 officers were dispatched to the 100 block of North Pershing for a report of a subject that had unlawfully entered a residence. It was reported that a man had entered the residence and when the homeowners located the man, he was held at gunpoint until officers arrived. As a result, a 39-year-old Salem man was arrested and incarcerated at the Dent County Jail. During the afternoon of Wednesday February 16th at around 1:00 an officer arrested 43-year-old Robert Nussbickel of Salem for an outstanding arrest warrant out of Crawford County. Nussbickel was incarcerated at the Dent County Jail awaiting extradition. At around 1:00 on the afternoon of Saturday, February 10th, an officer arrested 33-year-old Elvis Meadows of Salem for 2 warrants out of Dent County. Meadows was incarcerated in the Dent County Jail. Then finally at around noon on Tuesday February 22nd, officers arrested 41-year-old Heather Onkle of Salem for warrants for her arrest out of Jefferson County. Onkle was incarcerated at the Dent County Jail awaiting extradition. Please contact the Salem Police Department at (573) 729-4242 if you have any information regarding an ongoing investigation.

The Salem R-80 Board of Education will be holding their regular meeting Thursday evening at 6:00 at the Salem R-80 Administration Board Room. After approval of the consent agenda, Chris Salzman and Doug Adams will give an ESP building project update. Superintendent Dr. Lynne Reed will then give her report to the board on the budget and rural school tuition followed by the principals’ reports from William Lynch Elementary, the upper elementary, middle school and senior high as well as the activities and athletics report. In new business, the board will declare two vehicles for surplus that include a 1990 Dodge Ram half-ton truck and a 2010 International Max 4 bus. The board will discuss approving for all employees one-step up on the salary schedule for the 2022-2023 school year, go over the revisions of the SRCSP, set summer school dates, and determine a secondary usage of FEMA safe room for grant application. Also in new business, the board will consider Food Service Management bids for the 2022-23 school year, consider submitted gym floor advertisement bids, and set a date for the reorganization meeting following the Municipal Election on April 5th. The board will hear any resignations before voting to go into executive session to discuss personnel. The meeting of the Salem R-80 Board of Education Thursday night at 6:00 is open to the public.

The Dent County Commissioners met Monday morning at the courthouse for their regular meeting. Grant Wilson from the Congressman Jason Smith’s Rolla office was in attendance. He told the commission Smith voted “No” on the Consolidation Appropriations Act, better known as H.R. 2471, that came in at 1.5 trillion dollars. Smith voted against the bill because nothing in it would benefit the people of the 8th District. He also wanted to let the commission know that Smith will not run for the Senate and stay in the House where he is on the Ways and Means Committee. Dent County Collector Shannon VanKirk presented the commission with the Collector’s Annual Settlement form for her year which runs from March 1st through February 28th. This report was for collections in 2021. In the report, collections came in at $8,799,537.38 with an additional $679,848.52 in delinquent payments and another $41,802.34 in abatements. Major distributions noted on the report were $5,722,025.54 to schools, $721,645.21 to the county for General Revenue and Road and Bridge, and $443,987.66 for the hospital. She said there was an increase in collections from 2020 of $392,148.37. In the road report, District 1 Commissioner Wes Mobray stated materials would be added and grading done on Dent County 5650 while only grading would be done on county road 6500. Mobray said brush would be cut on Dent County Road 2440. District 2 Commissioner Gary Larson indicated materials would be added and grading done on Dent County Roads 2590, 2610, 3120, 3180 and 5240 while only grading would be done on county roads 3190, 4370 and 5280. Larson also said it was time to put out bids for grader blades and the commission agreed to accept bids until 10:00 on March 28th. Bids will be opened after that time in the regular meeting. Presiding Commissioner Darrell Skiles said he attended the TAC meeting last Thursday and reported the district engineer said they are scoping the Route TT area in Sligo for a new bridge over Crooked Creek. At the MRPC meeting, the group met with federal and state legislators or their representatives. He said on Friday all the commissioners attended the South Central Missouri County Commissioners Association in Houston, Missouri; and also attended the FFA Labor and Pie Auction Friday night. Skiles said he will be meeting with Attorney Travis Elliott either Wednesday or Thursday along with Department of Revenue representatives to work on a solution to the sales tax debacle by the state. Dent County Clerk Angie Curley said absentee voting continues in her office at the courthouse for the April 5th Municipal Election. She said the state auditors will arrive this week to start their performance audit which is due every four years. The next meeting of the commission will be Thursday morning at 9:00 and the meeting is open to the public

Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt announced Wednesday that Rodney G. Durbin, who owned and operated “Honey Do’s Handy Service,” from Belle, Missouri, has been charged with consumer fraud and, on account of those charges, has been arrested. Durbin faces nine counts in Maries County for defrauding consumers and financially exploiting elderly Missourians. The charges allege Durbin falsely promised consumers that he would provide construction and moving services in exchange for upfront payments. However, once paid, Durbin only performed a minimal amount of work before abandoning the projects and refusing to issue refunds. On three occasions, the victims of this fraud were elderly. The prosecution of Durbin is being jointly conducted by the Missouri Attorney General and the Maries County Prosecuting Attorney Richard Skouby. Missourians who believe they may have been scammed by a contractor should file a complaint with the Missouri Attorney General’s Office by calling the Consumer Protection hotline at 800-392-8222 or online at ago.mo.gov.

An accident occurred Sunday evening around 10:30 in Maries County on Highway 68 about five miles west of St. James. According to the highway patrol report, a 2006 Chrysler Seabring driven by 62-year-old Kenneth Allen of Rolla, was travelling westbound and travelled off the right side of the roadway and struck a ditch. Allen suffered minor injuries and was transported by St. James Ambulance to Phelps Health. He was not wearing a safety restraint at the time of the accident. The Chrysler sustained extensive damage and was removed from the scene by Spurgeon’s Towing.

The Healthy Dent County Fitness Center will be offering Two-Step dance classes every Tuesday evening at 6:30 in March at the Salem Community Center @ the Armory. The Two-Step Dance will be taught tonight & March 22nd with a combination Two-Step and Swing dance night to be held March 29th. The instructor will be Rosalie Wright and the cost is $10 per couple at the door. Call 739-1127 for more information.

Learn to weave scarves and sashes without a loom, as the American Indians who lived in this area did. Learn from instructor Susan Wilson who has over 30 years’ experience with finger weaving. The workshop will be tonight from 5:30 until 7:30. Enrollees will get a book and instructions on how to create a piece of their own design and will weave a bookmark in the class. All supplies will be provided and the fee for the class is $20. For more information or to register, call 247-0651 or 247-5306 or you can e-mail salemartscouncil@outlook.com.

A Salem woman was injured in an accident that happened on Tuesday evening, March 1st just after 7:30. According to report from the Salem Police Department a 2007 Ford Expedition being operated by Laura Benstine of Salem was stopped in traffic facing west on Rolla Road due to a transmission failure. Benstine exited the vehicle to speak with a Dent County deputy who was assisting on the scene. As the deputy was backing up to clear a space to provide for removal of the vehicle, Benstine got back in the vehicle and put the transmission in neutral then got back out of the vehicle. The Ford began to roll backward out of control, striking Benstine with the open front door knocking her to the roadway. The vehicle then began turning to the right sweeping over top of the driver pinning her underneath the Expedition. Deputies and several people standing near by were able to move the vehicle off the driver. Benstine was taken to the helipad at SMDH and was flown by Air Evac to Mercy St. Louis Hospital. Salem police were assisted on the scene by the Dent County Sheriff’s department and the Missouri State Highway patrol.

Salem High School Senior Justin Arthur from the Salem R-80 Construction Trades Program placed first in the district for the practical application of carpentry at the SkillsUSA competition hosted in Lebanon on Wednesday, March 2nd. Justin also scored third place for a written carpentry test. Justin is now eligible to participate in the state competition that will be held April 7th through the 9th at Missouri State Technical College in Linn. Depending on his placement there, he may be eligible for the national competition. Jason McCarter of Salem scored third in the skills portion and, if either first or second place winners cannot participate, he will be eligible to compete at state. The Salem R-80 Construction Trades Program is instructed by A.J. Tinker.

The Salem Police Department have released a report confirming the arrest of 57-year-old Timothy Bruce Dooley from Salem after a search warrant was served Sunday evening, March 6th, on his government subsidized apartment on 502 West Independence in Salem. He was charged with three felony counts of distribution of a controlled substance in a protected location and three misdemeanor counts of unlawful possession of drug paraphernalia. His bond was set at $500,000. As a result of the search warrant, approximately 16 grams of methamphetamine, 104 heroin beans, 19 grams of loose heroin, 199 grams of marijuana along with numerous items of drug paraphernalia were seized. Cash was also found in the amount of about $14,000. Dooley was interviewed at the Salem Police Department and admitted to the distribution of heroin, methamphetamine and marijuana. After the interview was concluded, Dooley was taken to the Dent County Jail.

The Missouri Department of Conservation will begin allowing the expanded use of bicycles and electric bicycles on many department-area service roads and multi-use trails starting February 28th. Multi-use trails allow a variety of users, such as horseback riders, bicyclists, and hikers. Service roads are non-public roads on MDC areas used by staff to conduct resource management activities. Many service roads are currently used as walking paths by the public. MDC notes that conditions of service roads on department areas vary and are not maintained at the level of public-use trails and public roads. The regulation change will impact approximately 300 MDC areas and provide access to more than 1,500 additional miles of roads for cyclists. Approximately 30 of these areas will be closed to bicycle and electric bicycle use during all portions of the firearms deer hunting season and the spring turkey hunting seasons. Bicycle use on most of MDC’s approximately 1,100 conservation areas is still restricted to roads open to public-vehicle traffic and some multi-use trails because the areas do not have applicable service roads. Bicycles are not allowed on service roads on department lands associated with nature and education centers, fish hatcheries, staffed ranges, offices, designated natural areas where bicycle use could cause damage to sensitive habitats, and other conservation areas. Electric bicycles are defined by MDC as “any two-wheeled or three-wheeled device equipped with fully operable pedals, a saddle or seat for the rider, and an electric motor of not more than 750 watts. MDC adds that cyclists are expected to follow appropriate trail etiquette, including yielding to pedestrians and horseback riders, maintaining a safe speed, staying on designated trails or service roads, and avoiding damaging trails by not riding in wet conditions. Find MDC multi-use bicycle trails and allowed service roads online through the MDC webpage titled “Find Places to Go” at mdc.mo.gov/discover-nature/places. Bike trails can be searched for by using the Advanced Search feature. Service roads can be identified by searching for a conservation area and then checking the online map for the area to see if service roads exist that allow bicycles.