Your World Today

The Dent County Sheriff’s Department has released more reports for the month of September. On Friday, September 10th, a deputy conducted a traffic stop near 101 North Main Street. During the stop, a 24-year-old Salem woman was arrested for operating a vehicle on a highway without a valid license, a 1st offense. She was transported to the Dent County Jail where she was fingerprinted, issued a summons, and released. That same day, a deputy conducted a traffic stop in the 200 block of South Highway 19. During the traffic stop, a 36-year-old Salem woman was arrested for operating a motor vehicle on a highway without a valid license, a 1st offense. The woman was taken to the Dent County Jail where she was fingerprinted, issued a summons and released. Still later that same day, a deputy traveled to a location in the 400 block of East 4th Street to serve an arrest warrant. As a result, a 45-year-old Salem man was arrested for the active warrant through Dent County. The man was transported to the Dent County Jail and incarcerated. The next day, September 11th, a deputy conducted a traffic stop on East Gibbs Street. During the traffic stop, a 20-year-old Salem man was arrested for having a blood alcohol content. The man was transported to the Dent County Jail where he was fingerprinted, issued a summons and released. That same day a deputy conducted a traffic stop in the 800 block of West Highway 32. As a result, a 58-year-old Salem man was arrested for an active warrant through Phelps County and delivery of a controlled substance and driving while having his license revoked. The man was transported to the Dent County Jail where he was later transported to Phelps County for the warrant through their agency. Later the same day, a deputy conducted a traffic stop on South Pershing Street. During the course of the traffic stop, a 31-year-old Rolla man was arrested for possession of a controlled substance except for 35 grams or less of marijuana or synthetic cannabinoid. The man was transported to the Dent County Jail, where he was fingerprinted, and issued a summons.

The 2021 Football Homecoming Court has been announced. They are Liberty Ross for the freshmen class, Neely Leathers for the sophomores, and Raegan Neff will represent the juniors. The three senior contenders for homecoming queen are Shelby Pogue, Lizbeth Blanco, and Hailey Baldwin. Congratulations girls on your selection.

Representatives from Missouri State Parks invite the public to attend an informational meeting at Dillard Mill State Historic Site this Saturday. The meeting will begin at 12:00 noon at the mill. The public is invited to share comments and ask questions about the site and its operations. Representatives from the site will be present to provide information and to answer questions. Input from the public is important to Missouri State Parks. These informational meetings, which are being held in all state parks and historic sites, help create two-way communication with the public. The meetings give staff the opportunity to let people know the current status and future plans for the park or historic site, and they offer visitors the opportunity to comment on the facilities. The public is strongly encouraged to follow social-distancing guidelines and be proactive in protecting themselves and others. Dillard Mill State Historic Site is located at 1142 Dillard Mill Road in Davisville. For more information about the meeting, call 573-244-3120.

The Federal Home Loan Bank of Des Moines announced the workforce and community development focused Salem R-80 Construction Trades Program has been selected as one of four Strong Communities Award finalists competing for $15,000. The Bank of Salem, a FHLB Des Moines member, partnered with Sally Burbridge, the Economic Development Director for Salem and Dent County as well as the Salem R-80 Construction Trades Program to apply for the Strong Communities Award. According to the Construction Trades Instructor A.J. Tinker, the Salem R80 Construction Trades Program focuses on providing hands on training in construction techniques and disciplines while providing a tool for rejuvenating the community. He urges the public to go online and vote for this important project to win this year’s Strong Communities Award. The Strong Communities Award honors the projects, people and programs that promote local small business growth and retention. The winners will be determined through a five-day public voting period beginning on October 4th and ending on October 8th this year. Members of the Salem community can cast their votes in favor of the Salem R-80 Construction Trades Program by visiting the Strong Communities Award homepage at www.fhlbdm.com/award. The voting serves as a component of the selection process to select the winners. The winners will be awarded $15,000 each, and runners-up will be awarded $3,000 each. The public can find out more about the award program at the same webpage.

The Dent County Commissioners met Monday morning at the Dent County Courthouse. Dent County Treasurer Denita Williams gave the report on CART funds and said the county is up $444.84 from money received last September with a total of $61,826.39 being collected. Year-to-date, the CART funds for 2021 received are up $49,946.08 over the 2020 year. District 1 Commissioner Wes Mobray said materials would be added and grading done on Dent County Road 5690 while only materials would be added to county road 5600. He went on to say dirt work and the approaches to the new bridge on Dent County Road 4210 were being finished and the road is now open. District 2 Commissioner Gary Larson was not available and Travis Turner give the road report. He said materials would be added and grading done on Dent County Road 2245 while brush will be cut on county road 3050. Turner also stated two men would be doing patch work on chip and seal roads with EPM material. Presiding Commissioner Darrell Skiles said he would be attending an Ozark Rivers Solid Waste Management Executive Board meeting today to review and score grant applications for solid waste reduction and/or recycling. Skiles said he, Commissioner Mobray and Dent County Clerk Angie Curley would be attending a meeting at the MRPC to hear Attorney Travis Elliott explain how counties can use their ARPA funds. Skiles also indicated he had a CCAM Executive Board Meeting Thursday in Jefferson City. Dent County Clerk Angie Curley said she balanced with the treasurer on all accounts for the month of August. Also at the meeting were Director of Marketing and Public Affairs Kent Sherrow and General Manager of Steelville Telephone Exchange, Kevin Ancell. They explained they have laid 4.4 miles of fiber in Dent County to date at a cost of about $270,000, plus they have another $30,000 in engineering costs. They are currently laying fiber in the northeastern part of the county that they already serve and actually have the fiber all the way to the bridge at Short Bend. Ancell said it costs between $28,000 to $30,000 a mile to lay the fiber. Ancell said Steelville Telephone Exchange has sent out a postcard to 4,593 people who fall in the “donut holes” of high speed Internet services where the speeds they have are 25 mbs download speed and three mbs upload speed or lower. People are asked to download the QR Code and fill out the survey and get it back to them if you are interested in high speed Internet. Their goal is to have at least six percent of the surveys returned, but their last survey actually had a response rate of over 12%. Ancell said Steelville Telephone Exchanges has run over 640 square miles of fiber in Crawford County with a download and upload speed of 100 mbs each. He said the telephone exchange is interested in providing services to Dent County and will be attempting to get government funding. Ancell was curious to find out if the county commission was going to use ARPA funds to help pay for better Internet services in Dent County and Presiding Commissioner Skiles said the commissioners have not made any decisions and won’t until after they here from Attorney Elliott on Wednesday. Sherrow said the Viburnum and Steelville areas have been designated Smart Rural Communities due to the investment by Steelville Telephone Exchange in fiber which can provide the Internet speeds people are looking for in their homes and businesses which can add value to personal property and allow people to relocate and work from home if they choose. Steelville was not awarded the service areas in the FCC auction to provide Internet services, but they are anxious to fill in the areas those providers would not, and if a provider backs out, they said they would be applying to replace them as a provider. The commissioners then approved the bid from Ferrellgas to provide propane for the courthouse beginning October 1st and lasting through the winter for $1.99 per gallon. The next meeting will be Monday morning at 9:00 at the courthouse and the meeting will be open to the public.

The City of Salem Curbside Yard Waste Pickup is being RESCHEDULED to the week of October 18th. The City of Salem Streets Crew will be performing crack sealing on multiple city streets the first two weeks of October and will not be able to pick up yard waste during that time. Please be courteous while city crews are repairing and maintaining your streets. Again, please DO NOT set out yard waste until the weekend of October 16th.