Local News – Friday, April 22nd, 2022
The Dent County Commissioners met Thursday morning at the courthouse. Dent County Treasurer Denita Williams brought in the CART Receipts of $57,925.88, which was up $4,347.36 from April of 2021. She said that year-to-date CART is up $22,619.42 or 10.4%. Leroy Kunkel dropped by to invite the Commission to the Jadwin Fire Department Annual meeting and bar-b-que Saturday, April 30th. In the road report District One Commissioner Wes Mobray said he was happy to report that his crew got one day of grading in this week and was looking forward to lots of grading once the roads dried out some. He said that District One crews were checking for clogged culverts and wash outs, plus they were patching chip and seal potholes. District Two Commissioner Gary Larson was absent due to a prior commitment, so Travis Turner presented the report for the district. He said that materials would be added to Dent County Roads 2560, 2340 and 4050, plus pothole patching would take place in the district. Presiding Commissioner Darrell Skiles said he attended the Transportation Advisory Committee meeting in St. James last Thursday were a request for a letter of support for the nearly 70-million-dollar state expenditure for the proposed Rock Island Trail State Park was presented. At the meeting Skiles pointed out that state parks like Montauk
are in much need of state funds for repairs and maintenance, plus upgrades to the sewer system. Neither the TAC nor MRPC took any action on the request for the letter. The Commission will advertise for bids on four sets of vehicle extrication equipment for the four Dent County Fire Departments. Bids are to be submitted by Thursday, May 5th at 10:00. Dent County Clerk Angie Curley said that the Commission was approving bills for payment. The meeting adjourned at 10:00 so both Commissioners Mobray and Skiles could attend the Economic Development Regional Meeting in Houston organized by Salem and Dent County Economic Development Director Sally Burbridge. The next meeting of the commission will be Monday morning at 9:00 at the courthouse and the meeting is open to the public.
The Salem R-80 Board of Education held their re-organizational meeting Tuesday evening at the R-80 Board room. After the election results were certified, Board Secretary Amanda Walker swore-in board members Sammi Parker and Phillip Mercer. Superintendent Lynne Reed then served as the temporary chairperson during the election of the new board president and vice president. The board elected Steven Patterson as president, Holly Erway as vice-president, Amanda Walker as secretary and Andrew Wynn as board treasurer. The board appointed Sammi Parker as the MSBA delegate and Phillip Mercer as the MSBA alternate delegate. In the regular meeting, Upper Elementary music teacher Shannon Phelps discussed their upcoming musical before Superintendent Reed gave a budget update and a Construction Trades update. Assistant Superintendent John Smith gave an update on Salem’s curriculum which is now accessible online. The Board will vote in May to approve the curriculum. The board heard from each building principal with their monthly report. After some discussion, the board approved the tin gym building project base budget along with the CMU half-wall and painting, discussed and approved the insurance plan with an increase of $57,000 district wide going from $490.00 per employee per month to $514.00 per employee per month. The board approved setting the 2022-2023 tuition rate at $8,000 per student per year and also approved changing the tuition billing to the percentage of enrollment based on the highest attendance percentage from the previous year instead of attendance hours. The board went on to approve publishing the surplus list from William Lynch and Upper Elementary schools before agreeing to let out bids for a new Suburban. After agreeing to adopt the MSBA policies and forms, the board approved employing Corky Stack as the architect and engineer for the Construction Trades building. The board agreed to let out bids for the new gym mats and runners before approving adding 6th grade girls and boys basketball. The board accepted the resignations of Bryan Carty as a high school science teacher, head boys basketball coach and assistant football coach; Travis Sampson as a high school social studies teacher, head cross country coach and assistant track coach; Bessie Sanders as a high school science instructor; and Sally Wood as upper elementary speech implementer. The board also accepted resignation letters from Jennifer Fleener as an upper elementary paraprofessional, Chris Crocker who is the William Lynch paraprofessional and bus driver Jimmy Hanger. The board then went into closed session.
In Crawford County on Tuesday in front of Judge Michael Randazzo, Dent County Prosecuting Attorney Andrew Curley reports that Johnnie Barton of Salem pled guilty to his 4th DWI conviction. Prosecutor Curley sought seven years under Section 559.115 while the defendant sought probation with 60 days in jail which is the minimum required under the statute. Barton was given a suspended sentence with 60 days in jail over the objection of the state. Also Tuesday, Bobbie Laramie of Salem previously pled guilty to the distribution of meth. After the sentencing hearing was held, Curley sought ten years in the Department of Corrections under Section 559.115 while Laramie sought probation. The judge sentenced Laramie to the ten years under Section 559.115 as requested by the state.
The University of Missouri Extension will be offering a Food Preservation Workshop on Pressure Canning on April 30th at the Salem Community Center @the Armory located at 1200 West Rolla Road from 10:00 till noon. Pre-registration is required and there are only 8 spots. For the April class you must register by April 25th. There is a $25 cost per class. To register call 573-729-3196.