Your World Today

A fatal crash Saturday evening at 7:40 in Maries County on Highway 63 about five miles south of Vienna took the life of a Salem man. According to the highway patrol report, a 2009 Chevrolet Cobalt driven by 23-year-old Nathan Reid of Salem, was travelling northbound when he travelled off the right side of the roadway and then returned the road. The Cobalt began skidding, travelled off the right side of the road again where the Cobalt struck a rock embankment and partially ejected Reid. The Cobalt came to rest blocking the northbound lane. Reid was not wearing a safety restraint at the time of the accident. Reid was pronounced dead at the scene at 8:05 that evening by Dr. Garcia. Reid’s body was transported to the Birmingham Martin Funeral Home in Vienna by the Maries Conty Coroner. The Cobalt was totaled and removed from the scene by DLH Auto. The highway patrol was assisted by deputies from the Maries County Sheriff’s Department, the Maries/Osage Ambulance District, and the Vichy Fire Department.

A motorcycle accident happened Friday evening at around 8:30 in Dent County on Dent County Road 6670, about sixteen miles southwest of Salem. The report from the highway patrol states that a 2001 Harley Davidson Ultra Classic being operated by 35-year-old Damon Robertson of Salem, lost control of the motorcycle in a curve, traveled off the left side of the road and overturned. A passenger, 36-year-old Belinda Watson, also of Salem, suffered moderate injuries and was taken by ambulance to Salem Memorial District Hospital for treatment. Robertson received minor injuries but refused treatment. The report went on state that neither were wearing safety devices at the time of the accident. The Harley was totaled in the accident and removed from the scene by Whitaker Towing.

A special Board of Aldermen meeting called by Alderwoman Kim Steelman and Alderman Shawn Bolerjack will be held this evening at 5:45 at the Civic Theater in the old city hall auditorium at 202 North Washington to consider resolution #17-2021, a lease proposal on a new Terex TL48 bucket truck for the city. After adjournment of the board of Aldermen meeting, the City of Salem Capital Improvement Committee and Finance Committee will hold a joint meeting at 6:00. Following an update on the 2020-2021 fiscal year projects and overall financial status, there will be a discussion of proposed 2021-2022 capital projects along with a discussion of other 2021-2022 budgeted items before adjourning. The meeting this evening of the board of Aldermen, Capital Improvement committee, and the Finance committee are open to the public.

The Salem R-80 Board of Education met Thursday for their regular meeting. Superintendent Dr. Lynne Reed told the board the open enrollment has been completed for our new insurance before reviewing budget revisions for June. Reed stated she was still working on increasing the starting pay to $10.00 for all support staff before sharing the results of the building climate survey with the board. She also said the Central Office will continue to work on communications for the 21-22 school year. After the building reports, the board approved the adult meal prices for the 2021-2022 school year. They will be $2.50 for breakfast and $4.00 for lunch. The board approved the purchase of two leased busses for $64,000 per bus before approving both a fall and spring softball schedule for 2021-2022. The board went on to approve a contract with Shield Solutions in the amount of $8,500 and also the bid to remove a trailer. The board tabled bids on a storage building, but did accept the surplus property bids. They also agreed to keep the next meeting date for June 17th, 2021. The board accepted the resignations of high school math instructor George Alex, middle school football coach Richard Beckett, upper elementary nurse Kristina Barton, paraprofessionals Katelyn Swyers and Shelly Kerr, and Tabitha Mackley will leave food service and move to transportation. The board then went into closed session.

The 136th Graduation of the Salem R-80 High School will be held this evening at 7:00 at the Salem High School Football Field. After the procession of 132 graduating students, the National Anthem will be performed by Jake Casper, Audrey Crocker, Tristan James, Ashton Monk, McKenzie Norfolk, and Annabelle Pryor. Assistant Principal Conrad Prugh will then present the Senior Class Citizenship Award as well as the Best All-Around Boy and Girl Award. Principal Marty Anderson will introduce two Salutatorians, Amy Chen and Tyler Seabaugh, as well as the five Valedictorians that include Ryon Coursen, Brecklyn Holtz, Monica Jessen, Martin Jones and Isabella Knaack. Anderson will also recognize the A Plus students, students who are entering the military, as well as those entering the work force and going to college. Diplomas will then be awarded to the Class of 2021 students followed by the recessional. The graduation exercises will be streamed live on www.ksmoradio.com on Twitch, on Facebook at “KSMO Stream” and the stream is also available on the Salem R-80 web site at www.salemr80.org and that will be on YouTube. There is no charge to stream the services. Graduation DVD’S will be available to order from KSMO. To purchase a DVD please call 729-6117.

The Salem Memorial District Hospital regular board meeting was held Tuesday at noon in the Hospital Library. In the summary of operations for the month of April, the hospital had 99 inpatient admissions with 248 inpatient census days. The average amount of patients per day in Acute Care was 8.3. The hospital showed a loss from operations of $440,841 and expenses over revenues after taxes of $428,788. During the month, there were 587 emergency room visits to go with 179 ambulance runs where 126 patients were transported, 109 medical/surgical cases, 1,745 outpatient registrations, 6,343 lab tests, 1,264 radiological procedures, 184 Home Health visits and 716 rehab treatments. The cash flow statement showed the hospital had a cash decrease for the month of $522,916 and the days in accounts receivable was at 88, a decrease of 4 days from March. The Acute Care Staffing by Patient Acuity report showed the average acuity at 18 per day with 8 average patients per day. During the Covid update it was reported that May 7th was the last Covid vaccine clinic, and 89 doses of Pfizer vaccine were administered. Lucas was asked what people are to do that want the Covid vaccine and he said that they would need to contact the Dent County Health Center. Lucas noted that the door screeners have been removed and those individuals were transitioned to part-time positions. He noted that the Hospital will continue to monitor positivity rates and active cases in Dent County for changes that need be made in the visitor policy. Lucas reported that the next meeting of the Hospital Auxiliary is scheduled for September 7th. Chief Operating Officer Jason Edwards said the Golf Tournament is scheduled for June 4th and the hospital has received 16 sponsorships so far and 18 teams have signed up. Edwards said the TytoCare Program was ran through with a rural school and was completed May 4th. SMDH is reviewing the telemedicine consent form for approval. Edwards noted that the next steps are to approve consent forms and attain Tytocare kits for surrounding rural schools. He said the goal is for the SMDH Rural School Telemedicine Program to begin with the 2021-2022 school year. Lucas gave the Chief of Staff Report and said that a Med-Staff meeting was held May 17th with Summary of Operations, Chief Nursing Report, and Pharmacy and Therapeutics being discussed. He said Courtesy Staff privileges for Saman Ibrahim, M.D. and Monica Drylewicz, M.D., both Teleradiologists, were approved and recommended for Board approval. The recommendation was approved by the Board. In old business Lucas reported on the hospital expansion and said the new water heater and water softener has been installed which finishes the expansion project. He said a final walk through with the architect was done and a “punch list” of things to be done was created. Lucas said the Cerner Conversion for payroll continues and the first payroll using Cerner will be dated July 2nd. He also said the departments are all working on creating workbooks for the conversion to be done in early fall with Microsoft Dynamics 365. Lucas said the finance committee met May 14th and approved the proposed budget for review and Board approval. Finance Committee Chair Mike Swyers reviewed the proposed budget with the Board and it was approved. There were no purchases for the month to discuss. Board Chair Judy Thompson read a thank you card from Karen Brown, who was attending her last SMDH Board meeting. Brown will be retiring in June after 20 of service to the Hospital. The Board voted to adjourn and then went into closed session.

Make plans to attend the Salem Area Chamber of Commerce Chamber Expo. It will be held this Saturday from 10:00 in the morning until 1:00 that afternoon at the Salem Area Chamber of Commerce and Visitor Center parking lot at the Crossroads shopping center. The Business Expo is a great opportunity for area businesses to introduce themselves to potential customers and showcase their products and services. One table will be provided for each chamber member who reserves a booth and tents are also welcome. A business who is not a chamber member may participate but will have to purchase their booth space or inquire about becoming a chamber member. Giveaways, drawings, and samples are encouraged for participants, but exhibitors are NOT eligible for prizes. For more information or to get an entry form, call Tabitha today at the Salem Area of Commerce office at 729-6900 or e-mail her at chamber@salemmo.com.