Local News – Friday, April 28th, 2023
The Dent County Commission met Thursday morning at the Dent County Courthouse. At the meeting, County Clerk Angie Curley appointed Gary Larson as the acting presiding commissioner for the meeting. In the road report, District One Commissioner Wes Mobray stated the crews would be stock piling rock and doing maintenance in the shop as Mobray says the county saves a lot of money when the crews perform their own maintenance on equipment. District Two Commissioner Larson said crews in his district would be adding materials and grading Dent County Roads 2210, 3260 and 3270 while only grading would be done on county roads 2120, 3273 and 3275. He said brush would be cut on county roads 2110 and 2370. Three members of the Industrial Development Authority Board terms were up for appointment and the commission re-appointed current members Chris Holliday, Jack Todd and Bob Parsons to the board. Later in the morning, 2nd District Commissioner Gary Larson was sworn in officially as the Dent County Presiding Commissioner to replace former Presiding Commissioner Darrell Skiles who resigned on February 25th. Matt Lloyd with Fabick and Company came in and visited with the commission. The next commissioner meeting will be Monday morning at 9:00 the courthouse and the meeting is open to the public.
An accident happened Wednesday evening just before 7:15 in Crawford County on Highway 19 at Seven Cedars Road. According to the highway patrol report, a Honda motorcycle being operated by 21-year-old Sawyer Counts of Steelville, was traveling northbound when he failed to negotiate a curve and traveled off the left side of the roadway. Sawyer suffered moderate injuries and was transported to a hospital by a private party. The Honda was totaled and removed from the scene by a private party.
A special meeting of the Salem R-80 school board was held Thursday morning. The meeting was held to discuss insurance coverage. After a discussion, the board members approved the United Health Care option #2 for medical insurance, and approved the ancillary renewal for insurance with Principal. The meeting was then adjourned.
A meeting of the City of Salem Finance and Capital Improvement Committees has been called by finance committee chair Alderwoman Kala Sisco and Capital Improvements chair Alderman Shawn Bolerjack. The meeting will take place Monday at 6:00 at the Salem Community Center @ the Armory located at 1200 West Rolla Road. The agenda for the meeting will include an update on the passage of the additional 1% sales tax and what effect it will have on future budgets, a review of the third quarter financials along with a year-to-date review of capital improvement projects. The committees will also discuss the scheduling of future committee meetings before the meeting is adjourned. The meeting Monday evening at 6:00 will be open to the public.
This spring, the Doe Run Company has shown its dedication to furthering education in Southeast Missouri by donating $6,000 to support STEM curricula and activities in four local school districts. These contributions will expand access to potential career pathways for primary and secondary school students near Doe Run’s operations. In the Bunker R-III School District, Doe Run’s donation is providing elementary students with the supplies necessary to build a STEM Club, as well as offering high schoolers more comprehensive STEM courses. The funds will allow the school district to create a 3D printing program and buy a go-cart kit for students to experiment with motors, speed and motion. Doe Run presented Potosi R-III School District with funds to help them purchase additional VEX IQ robotics, giving more students the chance to learn the science and technology behind robotics. With more robotics equipment, students will be able to put their mathematics and computing skills to the test, improving their ability to think critically and create their own designs. At Lincoln Intermediate School in Farmington, Doe Run’s contribution will help pupils build a compost pile and learn about the science of growing food, as well as hydroponic gardening. Meanwhile, Iron County C-4 will use the donation to expand their 3D printer and robotics technology, teaching kids the basics of coding and providing hands-on activities. Their program has expanded from seventh- and eighth-grade students to now include sixth-grade students. Doe Run takes pride in providing scholarships and STEM programs to students of both elementary and high schools to equip the future generations with more chances to learn and to prepare them for their career paths.