Your World Today

A fatality accident occurred Thursday at 12:00 noon on westbound I-44 at the 170 mile marker that took the life of a Salem resident. According to the highway patrol report, a 2004 Kawasaki, operated by 54-year-old Thomas Zielinski of Salem, traveled off the left side of the roadway and overturned ejecting Zielinski. Zielinski was transported by the Phelps Health EMS to Phelps Health where he was pronounced dead at 12:52 by Doctor E. R. Cameron. The Kawasaki continued into the eastbound lane and was struck by a 2012 Kia Sedona, operated by 74-year-old Gail Petersen of Milwaukee, Wisconsin. The report stated that Zielinski was wearing safety equipment at the time of the accident. The Kawasaki was totaled and removed from the scene by C & C Towing. The Kia sustained moderate damage and was driven from the scene.

The Dent County Commission met Thursday morning for their regular meeting at the courthouse. Democrat Jen Tracy running for the 120th District House of Representatives seat was in attendance to introduce herself to all the commissioners. In the road report, District 1 Commissioner Wes Mobray said crews are still working on road repairs from the storms over the weekend and Wednesday night. He said ditch line repairs are being made to Dent County Road 4110 where it is eroding the chip and seal. He said they will be reinforcing the ditch with rock. Mobray stated if there is time, oil will be changed on a grader and crews will be cleaning out culverts. District 2 commissioner Gary Polk said rock was being added and grading done on Dent County Road 4060 while only grading was being done on county roads 2110, 5300 and 5310. He said rock would also be added to county road 4110 and a crew is cleaning storm debris off a bridge in Boss. Presiding Commissioner Gary Larson said he was able to reach John Smith and he is still interested in remaining on the MRPC board at the “at large for profit” board position. The board approved his re-appointment. At the last meeting after speaking with Sheriff Bob Wells and Deputy Roderman, the commission approved proceeding with the NG911 Data Services Project Assessment Agreement Grant for $58,555 as presented to them by Rural Address Coordinator Sherry Lea at the April 26th meeting. The next meeting of the commission will be Monday morning at 9:00 at the courthouse and it is open to the public.

In Tuesday’s edition of Your World Today in the story concerning Sara Lynn Cunningham, the kidnapping charge in the 1st degree from the original probable cause statement was dismissed by the prosecutor. We apologize for the ommission.

It was recently announced by U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, that the ‘Huzzah Creek Fish Passage Restoration Project’ received funding through Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, National Fish Passage Project funds. The project was awarded $1,459,850 to remove two Huzzah Creek fish passage barriers and replace them with climate resilient bridges located at John Coleman and Seller roads in Crawford County, Missouri. Removing these barriers builds on a recent Huzzah National Fish Passage Program aquatic organism passage project. This will continue to restore natural hydrological conditions and provide open passage to an additional 25 miles of stream habitat for the benefit of federally listed species. Native species that will benefit include endangered eastern hellbender, endangered mussel species, mussel hosts species and game species such as the smallmouth bass. Local communities will benefit from reduced maintenance costs, increased safety, and greater public and emergency vehicle access during high-flow events. Key partners for this project include Crawford County leadership, USFWS, The Nature Conservancy, and Missouri Department of Conservation. They all worked closely with the Forest Service to collaboratively bring the Huzzah bridge replacement project to a point where it could compete for this type of funding opportunity. This is the first Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, National Fish Passage project of its type to come to Missouri. All partners involved are looking forward to working together to accomplish this work in the coming years. To see updates about this and many other Forest projects, follow us at facebook.com/marktwainnationalforest. The National Fish Passage Program is a national leader connecting watersheds and people. The program has decades of experience implementing infrastructure projects with partners. Fish passage project proposals can be initiated by any individual, organization, government, or agency.

This Saturday will be the Community Wide Yard Sale in Salem as yard sales will be occurring all over town and out in the county. Maps for the location of local yard sales are available at the Salem Chamber of Commerce in the Crossroads. A central sale location will be held at the city administration building on Saturday. You can still reserve a space on the city parking lot at 4th and Iron Street for $8.00 per space by calling 729-4811. Those spaces are reserved on a first come, first serve basis. Don’t forget that the following two weeks in the City of Salem is the semi-annual GFL Residential Spring Clean-Up Weeks. This is for Salem residents only and is done on your normal trash day from May 6th through the 10th and again May 13th through the 17th Remember, tires, appliances, yard waste, car batteries, oil, chemicals, solvents and paint as well as non-compactable items like concrete, tree stumps, steel, etc. cannot be picked up. If anyone has questions about what can be or cannot be picked up, they are welcome to contact GFL at 1-800-926-3953 of 1-417-741-7714.

The Secure Rural Schools program is another way that the USDA Forest Service provides benefits to communities in and around the Forest. The program provides critical funding for schools, roads, and other municipal services to more than 700 counties across the U.S. and Puerto Rico. Twenty-seven counties across Missouri received funding through the “Secure Rural Schools Act.” This comes from a portion of Forest Service funds generated through multi-use activities such as grazing, timber production, and special use permits being distributed back to the counties where these activities occur; and for Missouri, that translates to those that serve as the home of Mark Twain National Forest. This year’s programs payments, made up of funds from 2023, were distributed to states this April. The counties decide how they will utilize the payments, starting with what percentage they want for different categories, known as Title 1 for road and schools; Title 2 for projects on federal land; and Title 3 for county projects. Dent County got $150,403.00, Iron County gets $195,692.15, Reynolds County gets $190,129.19, Shannon County got $181,553.60, and $132,771.75 goes to Texas County. The 2023 program funds going to Missouri total over $2.6 million. Most of the funding by each county usually is selected to go to Title 1 funding, which does great work for the school systems and roadways in our forest communities. Although only a few Missouri counties have contributed to Title 2 funds over the past several years, a community-driven Resource Advisory Committee will meet later this year to discuss where to allocate those funds for projects on federal land. Some counties decide to utilize some of the money for Title 3 to increase their fire readiness; and the Forest Service is always excited to find ways to support and partner with counties and communities that are performing wildfire reduction activities. So, the next time you hear about a Title 1 school program or drive down a freshly paved road in a community near Mark Twain National Forest, you can think about how the Secure Rural Schools program benefits the communities that it serves.

A West Plains man was sentenced in federal court on Tuesday, April 29th, for illegally harvesting and stealing trees from Mark Twain National Forest. Justin Lee Massey was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Roseann Ketchmark to serve two years and six months in federal prison without parole. The court ordered the federal sentence to be served consecutively to the unrelated state criminal convictions for which Massey is currently incarcerated. The court also ordered Massey to pay $30,000 in restitution to the U.S. Forest Service, and to forfeit to the government $30,000, which represents the proceeds of his theft. On July 19th, 2023, Massey pleaded guilty to one count of theft of government property. Massey admitted that he illegally cut down trees in Mark Twain National Forest, in the area of Howell County Road 5120 between December 15th, 2020, and January 20th, 2021. According to his plea agreement, Massey cut down at least 10 trees. The trees were removed from the area and taken to a local sawmill, where they were sold. Based on the value of the trees illegally harvested and stolen from Mark Twain National Forest and those trees damaged due to the illegal harvesting, the total restitution is $30,000. This case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Patrick Carney. It was investigated by the U.S. Forest Service.

This Saturday at the Ozark Natural and Cultural Resource Center on Highway 19 will be the final day for the exhibit called “Crossroads: Change in Rural America.” If you haven’t yet attended this incredible display, time is running out. The “Crossroads” exhibit is part of the “Museum on Main Street,” a collaboration between the Smithsonian Institution and state humanities councils nationwide. Support for Museum on Main Street has been provided by the United States Congress.