Local News – Friday, June 8th, 2018
Thursday, the South Central Drug Task Force and the Dent County Sheriff’s Office concluded a short term narcotics investigation in the 600 block of East Gibbs 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 methamphetamine packaged for sales and drug paraphernalia. Arrested in connection with the items seized were 51-year old Carla A. Loughridge of Salem and 63-year old Stephen E. Cochran of Salem. They were incarcerated at the Dent County Jail pending warrant applications. The Missouri State Highway Patrol and the Salem Police Department assisted with the incident. The charges for which Loughridge and Cochran were arrested are only accusations and are not evidence of guilt. Evidence in support of the charges must be presented before a court of competent jurisdiction whose duty is to determine guilt or innocence.
The Dent County Commissioners met for their regular meeting Thursday morning in the Courthouse. Jan Gott from Country Mart
Pharmacy, Sherman Odom from Vandivort Drug, and Kendra Mobray, Administrator of the Dent County Health Center, were all in concerning the proposed Dent County Ordinance to join the St. Louis County Prescription Drug Monitoring Program (PCMP). Questions were posed concerning costs, enforcement, and penalties. It was noted that the grant for the program from the Department of Justice is a two-year grant ending in May of 2019. After lengthy discussion, the Commissioners voted 3-0 to postpone adopting an ordinance until more information is obtained. In the road report, District 1 Commissioner Dennis Purcell said that grading would be done and materials would be added to Dent County Roads 5100, 5103 and 5105, plus grading only would be done on county roads 5590 and 5615. He added that he had an operator cleaning flood debris from the bridge on Dent County Road 6080. Purcell went on to say that his crews were also cleaning debris from culverts on Dent County Roads 5105, 6200 and 5030. He said the County’s maintenance program of cleaning culverts and ditches has been beneficial in reducing roadway damages during times of excessive rainfall. District 2 Commissioner Gary Larson reported grading would be done on Dent County Roads 2185, 5320 and 5325, while materials would be added and grading would be done on county roads 2180, 2183 and 4060. He also noted that he had a man cutting limbs on Dent County Road 3230. Deputy Dent County Clerk Crystal Pilkington reported the Clerk’s office balanced with the County Treasurer on all accounts for the month of May and that she was working on verification of signatures on the medical marijuana petition. The next regular meeting of the Commission will be Monday morning in the Courthouse and the meeting is open to the public.
A special waste collection for electronics, appliances and tires will be held from 8:00 a.m. until noon on Saturday, June 9th in the parking lot of Brewer Science at 2401 Brewer Drive in Rolla. Stoves, washers, dryers, hot water heaters, and other appliances will be collected free of charge. Free electronics also include computer components, laptop computers, keyboards, hair dryers, VCR/DVD players, cell phones or anything that runs on a cord or battery. Oil and gas must be removed from tanks of any items such as push mowers, weed eaters, etc. Fees on certain items will be collected. There will be a fee of $25 collected for CRT TVs over 27 inches and wood console TVs, $20 for CRT TVs under 26 inches, $15 for flat screen TVs, $10 for all computer monitors and refrigerated appliances with freon. Fees for tires are $2 each for passenger tires, $7.50 each for truck tires and $35 each for tractor tires. Program participants are required to unload the items themselves. The collection is open to any households in the Ozark Rivers District. For more information on what is and is not accepted or the fee structure, please contact Jill Hollowell at MRPC at 573-265-2993 Ext. 109.
On Tuesday afternoon at about 3:00, a train collision in a remote canyon outside of Truxton, Arizona, left a Salem man with significant injuries. A freight train belong to BNSF Railway collided with maintenance equipment belonging to Herzog Railroad Services, Inc being pushed by the other train as the equipment had been derailed. A man from Lenexa, KS was killed and 26-year old Matthew Thompson of Salem, Missouri sustained significant injuries. He was airlifted from the scene and taken to the University Medical Center in Southern Nevada where he was listed in stable condition. Thompson was an employee of Herzog Railroad Services. All the occupants in the BNSF train were accounted for and no other injuries were reported.
Highway 106 in Reynolds and Shannon Counties will be reduced to one lane as Missouri Department of Transportation crews seal the roadway with a mixture of rock and oil. This section of roadway is located from Highway 21 to Route H. Weather permitting, this work will take place starting on Monday and lasting through Thursday, June 14th from 7:00 in the morning until 5:00 in the afternoon daily. Fore more information, log onto to www.modot.org or call 1-888 275 6636.