Your World Today

The Board of Directors of Salem Memorial District Hospital will conduct a special meeting Monday, August 5th, at 7:00 in the Hospital Library. After the call to order and roll call the Board will vote to go into closed session. After the closed session the meeting will be adjourned.

The 2024 Primary election will be held in Dent County tomorrow. Voters will have to choose a party before voting and they have four choices this year in Dent County: Republican, Democrat, Libertarian and Non-Partisan which allows voters to only vote for the two amendments on the ballot. Besides the statewide races, there are some contested races in the area. In the race for the United States Representative seat for District 8, Republicans Jason Smith, James Snider and Grant Heithold are running while Democratic party candidates for District 8 are Randi McCallian and Franklin Delano Roth II. Candidates running for the State Representative District 120 seat are Republicans John W. Hewkin and Lancer Blair, and Democrat Jen Tracy. All other local races have only Republican Party candidates. Wes Mobray and Keith Green are running for 1st District County Commissioner seat, while the race for 2nd District Commissioner is between Denver Ellis, Gary Polk, and Jimmy Williams. Bob Wells and Michael Loveday are running for Dent County Sheriff, Alisa Brookshire and Jamie L. Homeyer are running for Dent County Assessor, and Tim Bell and James D. Crocker are running for the Meramec East Township Committeeman. Be sure to take part in our local elections and go vote tomorrow.

The Missouri Department of Conservation (MDC) and Meramec Hills Master Naturalist Chapter are hosting a free catch-and-release fishing event for students returning to school. The event will take place on August 8th from 5 to 7 p.m. at Bray Conservation Area in Rolla off of Bridge School Road. The event is open to school-aged children and their families, but registration is required. Participants can register online at the MDC website. Fishing poles and bait will be provided for all school-age children. MDC staff and master naturalists will offer information on fish identification, native plants, and ways to connect with nature. The first 50 participating students will receive free school desk items courtesy of MDC. Attendees are advised to bring extra drinking water. For more information, interested parties can contact Dwight Warnke at Dwight.Warnke@mdc.mo.gov.

Calling all Missouri veterans with a passion for hunting! Missouri State Parks is excited to team up with the Missouri Veterans Commission to offer 35 lucky veterans the opportunity for a weekend deer hunt at Mark Twain State Park for the Hero Hunt or Crowder State Park for the General Crowder Hunt. These special hunts are being offered November 8th through 10th, 2024. Apply now for one of these all-inclusive hunting trips. Lodging and meals are provided along with a hunting guide, and if guests harvest deer, there will be limited processing as well. Applications must be picked up and returned to a local Veterans Service Office by September 6th. Veterans in Dent, Crawford, Maries and Phelps counties can pick up applications from Cassondra Stevens, Veteran Service Officer, Missouri Veterans Home, 620 N. Jefferson, St. James or Laura Turner, Veteran Service Officer, 1101 Kingshighway in Rolla. Mark Twain State Park is located at 37352 Shrine Road in Florida, Missouri. Crowder State Park is located at 76 NW Highway 128, Trenton, Missouri. For more information contact: Mark Twain Hero Hunt at 573-248-9985 or General Crowder Hunt at 660-359-6473. For more information on state parks and historic sites, visit mostateparks.com. Missouri State Parks is a division of the Missouri Department of Natural Resources.

As the new school year begins, the Salem R80 School District wants to highlight the crucial role of regular attendance in academic and personal success. In a letter from the R80 Superintendent, Nate Wills, he emphasized the importance of being present in class. He outlines in a letter how consistent attendance fosters engagement, responsibility, and a positive learning environment. Missouri’s 90/90 rule requires that 90% of students attend 90% of the time, impacting school funding and performance ratings. Last year, Salem R80 had a 77% compliance rate. To improve, the district is launching campaigns and offering incentives for good attendance, alongside support measures for chronically absent students. Salem R80 will notify families of daily absences and provide additional support as absences accumulate, involving school coordinators and the juvenile office if necessary. The district encourages families to prioritize attendance, underscoring the collective effort needed to help students thrive. The letter from Superintendent Wills is available on our KSMO Radio, Your World Today Facebook page. If you have any questions you can contact the Salem R80 School District office at 573-729-6642.

The 2024 School Readiness Event will be held on August 17th at the Salem Community Center@The Armory from 9:00 until 11:00 in the morning. At the event, kids will be given free backpacks and school supplies. There will be prizes and giveaways as well, but pre-registration is required. You can pre-register August 14th at the Dent County Community Action Agency at 1405 South Wines Street in Salem from 8:00 in the morning until 4:00. For more information, call 573-729-3500, extension 10.

This weekend is the “Back to School” Sales Tax holiday in the state of Missouri. It begins at 12:01 this morning, and runs through Sunday night at 11:59. Certain back-to-school purchases, such as clothing, school supplies, computers, and other items as defined by the statute, are exempt from sales tax for this time period only. The 2024 Back-to-School Sales Tax Holiday exempts all state and local sales or use tax taxes during the exemption period on qualifying items with some limitations. Those limitations are on clothing which can be any article having a taxable value of $100 or less; school supplies which cannot exceed $50 per purchase; computer software where the taxable value is $350 or less; personal computers which cannot exceed $1,500; computer peripheral devices which cannot exceed $1,500; and graphing calculators which cannot exceed $150. During prior years only state and some local sales and use taxes were exempt. Senate Bill 153 changed this by exempting all local sales and use tax on qualifying items. For more information you can visit the Missouri Department of Revenue website at dor.mo.gov and click on the “Taxation” tab.

The Dent County Commission met Thursday morning at the courthouse where in the road report, District 1 Commissioner Wes Mobray said rock would be added and grading done on Dent County Road 4215 while only grading would be done on county roads 5680 and 6590. He also stated brush would be cut on county roads 4210 and 4120. District 2 Commissioner Gary Polk said grading would be done on Dent County Roads 4340 and 4370, while rock would be added to county roads 4430 and 4290. He also stated brush would be cut on county roads 4430 and 5310. Polk went on to say a cylinder hose was being replaced on a dump truck. Presiding Commissioner Gary Larson reported electrician Chad Heithold and the city electrical department were getting ready to repair some of the issues with wiring at the courthouse and also providing a new service connection to the courthouse which was part of the renovation. Larson said Heithold may stop by the courthouse to provide some options the commission may consider. Larson stated tourism tax collections for the month of July were $11,008.78 as reported by the collector. This fund is made up of fees from camping, Air BNB’s and lodging. Dent County Clerk Angie Curley said no-excuse absentee voting continues through Monday, August 5th at 5:00 at the courthouse, and voters should make sure personal information on file in the clerk’s office is up to date such as their address or any name change. Voters can also contact her office to see where they will be voting in the Primary on Tuesday, August 6th. Her office phone number is 729-4144. Election Day will be Tuesday when the polls will be open from 6:00 in the morning until 7:00 in the evening. Curley said her office in the courthouse will be open this Saturday from 8:00 in the morning until noon for absentee voting. Sample ballots are available at her office, or she can e-mail one to you. This is a Primary election so all voters will have to declare a party for whom they will cast their vote from Republican, Democrat, Libertarian and Non-Partisan, which only allows the voter to vote for the Amendments. Don’t forget to bring a photo ID with you when you vote. Also don’t forget, there is no electioneering within 25 feet of any voting locations and that includes political shirts, caps, signs, etc. Curley also said she applied for and received $11,750 from the “Help America Vote Act” grant for the 2024-25 year as part of the state allocation. At the last meeting, resident Terry Baker agreed to pay the county $7,000 for 1/5th of a mile to be chip and sealed on Dent County Road 2220 for the first layer of chip and seal. A second installment of chip and seal shall be applied within five years and the second payment will be due at the time the work is to be done. As part of the agreement, an exhibit was attached and should Mr. Baker pass away, the agreement would be settled through his estate. The next meeting of the commission will be Monday morning at the courthouse at 9:00 and the meeting is open to the public.

The Dry Creek Bridge on Route HH, near Cherryville, has reopened to traffic as of July 31. MoDOT announced that rehabilitation work on the bridge has been completed. The bridge has been closed since June 3rd. The construction involved replacing the bridge deck, which had deteriorated over time. Officials noted that while the bridge’s supporting structures, dating back to 1961, remain in good condition, the driving surface required replacement. The reopening of this route should ease travel for local residents and commuters in the area. MoDOT encourages drivers to use caution when crossing newly reopened bridges and to obey all posted traffic signs.

Join Bob Phelan on Sunday afternoons this month from 2:00 till 4:00 for Photographing Missouri’s Beauty. Get to know your digital (or film) camera and what it can do for you. Learn what all those buttons do and how you use them to tell YOUR visual story! Your camera should have adjustable settings. The Missouri Conservationist Magazine will be used to show you how their great photographers make you feel that you are right there in the story, so you can use some of their techniques. If you have questions you can email Bob at: bphelan352@gmail.com. The cost is $20 per session, per person. To register, go the SACBA website and find the Programs tab. Find the Creative Arts Center and click to register for the class. Registrations online are on a first come, first serve basis.

The City of Salem is pleased to inform you that late Tuesday, they successfully brought the main well back online with a new pump. The new well pump coming online and the recent use of fire hydrants for a structure fire has temporarily increased turbidity in our water system, with the northeast part of town being the most impacted. The city will be flushing hydrants in the northeast part of town to help remove sediment and reduce turbidity. The water should begin to clear up over the next couple of days. The City of Salem appreciates your patience and understanding as we work to ensure the quality of our water.

The Salem Memorial District Hospital (SMDH) Board of Directors had their regular meeting on Tuesday, July 30th in the Doctor’s Library at the hospital. This was the first official board meeting attended by the hospital’s new CEO Brooke Bollman. During the Administrator’s Report, Ms. Bollman stated the hospital is getting a new vaccine refrigerator for their clinic, and one of the two freezers in the dietary department has been repaired. The hospital received three free on the hospital’s financial situation. The board moved on to the Summary of Operations for the month of June and CFO Kayla Chamberlain provided the updates that shows the overall Inpatient Admissions and Outpatient Registrations for June 2024 are lower than they were for June 2023. Emergency room visits and ambulance runs were also down compared to last year. For the month of June, the clinic experienced a net loss of $6,751.89. The hospital’s net operating revenue for June was near $1.6 million dollars while their total operating expenses were around $1.7 million dollars providing a loss from operations from June of $79,359.46. After taxes, the hospital had an excess of expenses over revenues of $79,202.61. SMDH’s ending cash balance for June as indicated by their cash flow statement was $214,289. The 340B program revenue totaled $24,577 for the month of June. The Chief Nursing Officer report was given by Kayla Chamberlain. She said the hospital plans to reimplement the Student Intern Program. The transmission on one of the ambulances went out and that is in the process of being repaired. There are multiple openings for employment within the hospital, to including many nursing positions, Long Term Care Director, and Chief Nursing officer. Board president Dr. Leigh Ann Price, asked for clarification on staffing shortages. It was explained that area hospitals continue raising the amount hospital employees are paid and SMDH remains the lowest paying employer in the area. Ms. Bollman stated they plan to prioritize that issue. In the month of June, the hospital hired six new people, and seven left employment, for various reasons. During the Chief of Staff Report, the board voted and unanimously approved new privileges for physicians: Dr. Natasha Nazari (Telepsychiatry), Dr. Henry Onyeaka (Telepsychiatry), and Dr. Brian Quigley (Telepsychiatry). The QAPI Report was unanimously approved by the board. When the board moved on to Old Business, the strategic planning update was tabled until the first of the year to allow Ms. Bollman time to acclimate herself to the area as well as the hospital’s administration. The tax levy increase discussion was also tabled to a further date. For new business, the hospital board voted and unanimously approved to change their meeting time to the last Tuesday of the month at 7:00 PM. A “Conflict of Interest” resolution was unanimously approved without further discussion, and the Public Tax Hearing was set for August 27th at 6:45 PM. The board then moved into closed session.

The Missouri Agricultural and Small Business Development Authority (MASBDA) will launch a new program supporting beginning farmers today. The initiative offers tax deductions to farm owners who sell or lease land to qualifying beginning farmers. Farm owners selling land to beginning farmers after August 28, 2023, may qualify for capital gains deductions on their Missouri adjusted gross income. The deduction percentage varies based on the capital gain amount, ranging from 100% for gains up to $2 million to 20% for gains between $5-6 million. For those renting or leasing to beginning farmers, a deduction of up to $25,000 per tax year is available on income received from these arrangements. MASBDA Executive Director Jill Wood stated this program complements their existing Beginning Farmer Loan program. Agriculture Director Chris Chinn emphasized the initiative’s role in supporting farmland transition to the next generation. Farm owners must obtain certification from MASBDA to claim the deduction. For more information or to apply, visit masbda.com or contact MASBDA at 573-751-2129 or masbda@mda.mo.gov.

The Salem Parks & Recreation board held a workshop on Monday, July 29th to discuss ongoing updates on the city swimming pool, and discuss plans for the upcoming 3-5 years. The workshop was live streamed by Alderman Sean Bolderjack to the City of Salem, Missouri YouTube channel. Melissa Dubois provided the updates on the city’s public pool as follows: The pool is being repaired by a subcontractor working through WestPort Pools. (the company that installed the first liner/pool for the city.) As of this week, all the old, and damaged, material has been ripped out, and the company has started installing the new material around small fixtures in the pool. The material being installed will be a new and improved product. The workers are doing their best to “beat the heat”, working in the early hours of the morning and late into the night, so as to avoid working during the hottest part of the day. They do try to be as considerate as possible to the surrounding residential areas, and will cease working if they notice too many neighbors complaining about the noise. The estimated time of completion for the project from start to finish is about a month, as weather allows. The City of Salem Parks and Recs department announced on their FaceBook page that construction on the city pool began on July 15th. Melissa has not yet heard back in regards to whether or not this repair will be covered by insurance, and how much will be covered, if so. Once completed, the pool will need to be filled to capacity to ensure everything is in proper working order. The Parks and Rec board discussed whether or not it would be beneficial to have the pool open to the public, before having to winterize it. It was noted that many of the lifeguards are students that play sports, most of the managers are also teachers working for the district and it is likely that opening the pool to the public could cause a conflict in their schedules. There is also a cost associated with purchasing the necessary chemicals for safe swimming, and stocking the concession stand, that needs to also be considered. Before the board moved on to discussing their plans for the next 3-5 years, Melissa and Alderwoman Kayla Sisco stated there have been reports of people getting stung by wasps, yellow jackets, hornets etc. at the city park. She asked that if anyone notices these insects to please contact the City Administrator’s office and they will work on getting that taken care of. As far as the Parks and Rec’s wish list of executable projects for the next 3-5 years, they are all Capital Improvement plans. Some of the biggest tasks they wish to tackle include: Modifying Al Brown fields to eventually host qualifying tournaments, installing new tennis/pickleball courts, adding additional lights and cameras to combat vandalism at the park and Al Brown fields, planting more shade trees, and developing the Old Fairgrounds property. The board plans to release a survey to the public for input on what the citizens of Salem would like to see happen with the Old Fairgrounds. Board member Luke Heithold also suggested a survey go out to the youth sports coaches for input on what they liked/did not like in regards to that season, and if they would change anything moving forward. He also stated he would like to see more adult programs offered, such as volleyball or softball. Before the workshop adjourned, Board President, Carlos Lopez stated that going forward, Parks and Recs meetings will be held at the Civic theater. Meeting adjourned at 7:00 in the evening.

You are invited to attend the next Salem and Dent County meeting of “Sleep in Heavenly Peace” Monday afternoon, August 5th, at 5:30 in the evening at the Salem Community Center@The Armory! “Sleep in Heavenly Peace” is an international non-profit 501(C).(3) organization that builds, assembles and delivers new beds to children in need, who do not have a bed. The Rolla Chapter of Sleep in Heavenly Peace is already helping to provide new beds to children in need in our Salem community, and efforts are underway to start a Dent County Chapter. They are looking for volunteers if you are interested! For more information, contact Patti at 703-964-6495. You can also e-mail Patti at patti.mckeown@shpbeds.org.

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) announced last Tuesday $19 million in new grant and loan awards to 32 properties across the country under its Green and Resilient Retrofit Program (GRRP). These grants and loans will support significant energy efficiency and climate resilience renovations in more than 4,260 homes occupied by low-income individuals, families, and seniors. The awards include $1.5M for properties in Iowa and $1.5M for properties in Missouri. The total funding awarded under this program to more than $773 million, serving 20,752 homes. HUD’s Deputy Assistant Secretary for Multifamily Housing Programs Ethan Handelman announced this new funding last week Tuesday at a press conference at Plymouth Square Village in Detroit, Michigan.