Local News – Friday, July 8th, 2022
On June 28th, a letter was sent from the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services Administrator John Langston to the Salem Memorial District Hospital regarding their unannounced onsite CLIA revisit to the Salem Memorial District Hospital’s Lab that was made on June 15th of this year, stated that “all deficiencies noted on the survey conducted on October 21, 2021 are corrected. The facility is now in substantial compliance with the regulations for laboratories 42 CFR Part 493.” With this documented determination, the hospital lab is again fully operational.
The Dent County Commissioners met Thursday morning at the Dent County Courthouse. At the meeting, Salem and Dent County Economic Development Director Sally Burbridge gave her monthly report for June. She said the “Welcome Home” program first round of homes has had their pre-inspections completed and the second round of homes has signed all the paperwork. They still need more veterans to apply as they have had nine new pre-applications, but none of them are veterans. Burbridge said the Voluntary Residential Demolition Program will have bids let out in July for three residences and a foundation. She said the certified Site Application has been submitted and the technical review committee had five additional questions on the application before the final review. She also discussed her findings on the amount of people who live in Dent County and work in other counties and the breakdowns on those jobs, as well as the unemployment rate for Dent County that came in at 3.3% for May. She also said she expects to get an update on the broadband situation this week. John McIntire was in attendance to ask the commission about parking restrictions on county roads. He was told by the sheriff there are no county laws concerning parking on county roads and he would like for the county to investigate this and see if other counties or regions have restrictions. Presiding Commissioner Darrell Skiles said the county is limited by statute on what they can do but would ask the district attorney to look into it. In the road report, District 1 Commissioner Wes Mobray said materials would be added and graded, plus ditch work would be done on Dent County Road 5600. He said work crews would be patching the creek crossing on county road 6575 and grading would be done on county road 2480. He said workers would be adding material and rebuilding Dent County Road 5220 known as the Quarry Road to widen it so that trucks could pass safely on it. He went on to say brush would be cut on county roads 5080 and 6180. District 2 Commissioner Gary Larson said workers would be adding materials and replacing culvert pipes on Dent County Roads 3070 and 3340, adding materials and repairing the culvert on county road 3370, grading on Dent County Road 3350 and adding materials to county road 4050. Commissioner Skiles said the county had received a Quit Claim request from the Bahr Family in Crawford County for the railroad right-of-way. He also reiterated about applications for grants for recycling through the Ozark Rivers Solid Waste Management District can now be submitted with a total amount available of near $150,000, but they must be submitted by noon on August 19th. Dent County Clerk Angie Curley said her office and the treasurer balanced on all accounts for the month of June. With the August Primary fast approaching, Curley said absentee voting continues in her office, the last day to mail out an absentee ballot is July 20th, and voters will need to choose a specific party when they vote between the Republican, Democrat, Libertarian or the Constitution Party. The commission opened two bids for asphalt paving: one from Stewarts Asphalt Paving from Anderson, Missouri; and Boyd Schleicher from Carl Junction, Missouri. No decision was made at the time as the bids were being reviewed. Roma Jones from the Dent County Health Center visited with the commission before they adjourned. The next meeting of the commissioners will be Monday morning at 9:00 at the courthouse and the meeting will be open to the public.
The results are in and with your help, Johnson’s Shut-Ins won #1 “Best State Park for RVing/Camping” in the nation! The wilderness qualities and geology of Johnson’s Shut-Ins State Park and the surrounding St. Francois Mountains make this park a special place to visit. Its rugged character provides the perfect backdrop for camping, hiking, picnicking, splashing in the shut-ins, exploring nature or just relaxing. It’s no wonder it was nominated in May as the #1 “Best State Park for RVing/Camping” in the nation by USA Today’s 10Best Readers’ Choice Awards. For more information about Johnson’s Shut-Ins State Park, visit mostateparks.com/park.
The Salem License Office in the Crossroads Shopping Center will close at noon TODAY.