Local News – Friday, June 1st, 2018

The Dent County Sheriff’s Department released two reports of suspected drug arrests. On Thursday, May 31st, the South Central Drug Task Force and the Dent County Sheriff's Office concluded a short term narcotics investigation in the 1200 block of South Gertrude in Salem. A search warrant was served at a residence in connection with the investigation. As a result of the search warrant, officers located and seized suspected heroin and drug paraphernalia. Four Salem residents were arrested in connection with the items seized and they are 32-year old Rachel L. Casey, 20-year old Tristan J. Dubois, 19-year old Haven D. Casey, and 23-year old Angel L. Steelman. All four were incarcerated at the Dent County Jail pending warrant applications. The Missouri State Highway Patrol, Salem Police Department and the Missouri Department of Conservation assisted with the incident. On May 22nd, the South Central Drug Task Force and the Dent County Sheriff's Office concluded a short term narcotics investigation in the 700 block of East Jack Street in Salem. A search warrant was served at a residence in connection with the investigation. As a result of the search warrant, officers located and seized approximately thirty (30) grams of suspected methamphetamine, forty five (45) suspected heroin capsules, twenty seven (27) suspected Alprazolam tablets, seven (7) suspected Oxycodone tablets, two (2) suspected hydrocodone tablets, and drug paraphernalia. Two Salem residents were arrested in connection with the items seized and they are 36-year old Lisa M. McGraw and 43-year old David A. McGraw. Both subjects were incarcerated at the Dent County Jail pending warrant applications. The charges for which Rachel Casey, Tristan Dubois, Haven Casey, Angel Steelman, Lisa McGraw and David McGraw were arrested are only accusations and are not evidence of guilt. The evidence in support of the charges must be presented before a court of competent jurisdiction whose duty is to determine guilt or innocence.

Have you signed up your child for the Outdoor Adventure Camp that starts Monday at the Salem City Park sponsored by the Salem Park and Recreation Department? This is an activity camp for children six years of age and above that includes crafts, soap carving, scuba diving, music, bees and more that will be instructed by representatives from businesses, the Missouri Conservation Department, the US Forest Service, citizens and from members of the Salem Area Arts Council. The program starts at 8:00 in the morning weekdays and concludes at noon. Dave Ingram from the Conservation Department will be the first presenter and instruct the children on camping on Monday, June 4th, and then instruct them on kayaking on Tuesday, June 5th. On Wednesday, June 6th, the children will learn about fly fishing with instruction by personnel from J-Cook Fly Rods as they will cast into the city pool. On Thursday, June 6th, David Massengale from the US Forest Service will show the kids how to identify trees; and on Friday, June 7th, Travis Mills will teach the kids about archery. A healthy lunch will be served to the children following the days’ activities at 11:30 at the Salem Community Center@The Armory. The cost for the entire program that will last through July 26th is $150.00. Payments per week of $25.00 and per day payments of $6.00 will also be accepted. This is a great chance for children to have fun and learn at the same time! For more information about the camp, e-mail Salem Parks and Recreation Director Tye Lydon at salemparks@salemmo.com or call at 729-6290.

The Dent County Commissioners met Thursday morning at the courthouse. John McIntyre from the Adams Subdivision was in to let 1st District Commissioner Dennis Purcell know the electric and water lines have still not been marked for the county to do the ditch work from 1-800 Dig Rite. Purcell will check on that before the work begins. In the road report, Purcell said a crew would be removing a downed tree from Dent County Road 4220 that was blocking passage from storm Thursday morning. Another tree across Dent County Road 5110 was also to be removed that came down during the storm. He said a crew would be checking the Bunker area for damages and also in the Montauk area where some debris and limbs were on the roads. A man would also be stockpiling gravel at the shop. District 2 Road Supervisor Sam Gorman gave the report for Commissioner Gary Larson who had a previous commitment. He said storm debris would be removed from the bridges on Dent County Road 2110 and also roads were being checked for any possible washouts. Gorman said the county is trying to get to all the roads that have sustained damages from storms over the last week and is asking the people to please have patience as the weather has not co-operated in allowing the crews to get to all the roads. He said a man would also be stockpiling rock at the shed. Presiding Commissioner Darrell Skiles said he attended a Region I Homeland Security Oversight Committee meeting and they have determined the new scoring for the 2018 HSOC grants. Skiles said they are still accepting bids for the carpet for the courtroom at the courthouse and the window installment on the 3rd floor of the courthouse through Monday morning at 10:00. For more information on the bid specs, see the Dent County Clerk Angie Curley at the courthouse or call 729-4144. Curley said phone bids were taken on unleaded gas and diesel fuel. The lowest bid for gasoline was from MFA Oil at $2.24.41 per gallon and Phil-Mart has the lowest bid for diesel at $2.34 per gallon. The Dent County Sheriff’s Department is seeking bids to perform the oil changes on the sheriff department’s fleet of 18 vehicles. The bids will be due on June 28th and will be opened at 10:00 at the commissioner’s meeting that morning. Again, for bid specs on the oil changes, contact the Dent County Clerk at 729-4144 or stop by the courthouse. The next meeting of the commissioners will be Monday morning at 9:00 and the meeting is open to the public.

Montauk State Park invites the public to an informational meeting beginning at 8:00 tomorrow night at the park’s amphitheater. These informational meetings help create two-way communication with the public. For more information, contact the park at 573-548-2201.