Local News – Friday, March 15th, 2019

The Dent County Commissioners met for their regular meeting Thursday morning at the courthouse. Dent County Treasurer Denita Williams presented the sales tax figures received in the month of March. She said the General Revenue Fund and Law Enforcement Sales Tax fund both showed receipts in March of over $82,679.53 which is down from the 2018 figure of $101,118.00. The year-to-date total through March is $17,703 less than for the first three months of 2018 which is about 7.00%. In the Road and Bridge Fund, Sales taxes received came to $37,417.92 and that amount is $7,107.23 less than the 2018 March figure. The Road and Bridge Fund year-to-date is down $3,759.13 which comes to about 3.39%. The amount for each jail fund came in just over $74,749.00 and that is $12,414.00 less than the 2018 amount for March. Each jail fund year-to-date is down about $3,339. The commissioners also signed the quarterly budgeted transfer of $21,250 to the Salem Nutrition Site and SMTS Bus service. In the road report, District 1 Commissioner Dennis Purcell said crews will be spreading gravel over muddy areas and working on some potholes. He went on to say Truck #123 was getting new tires and a new radiator hose, Truck #121 was getting new tires and the spreader box on Truck #119 was being removed. He went on to say that repairs were being made to Dent County Road 5013 and road signs that had been stolen on county road 6580 were being replaced. Purcell further indicated that culverts and areas under bridges will be cleaned out plus crews will be out looking for downed limbs. District 2 Commissioner Gary Larson stated materials will be added and spot grading will be done on Dent County Roads 2340, 3370, 4290 and 4340. He said a culvert is going to be replaced on Dent County Road 3280 and he attended the Salem Economic Development Workshop Wednesday night at the fire station. The next meeting will be March 28th at 5:30 at the fire station. Dent County Presiding Commissioner Darrell Skiles said he attended the Meramec Community Enhancement Corporation Board meeting where they were updated on a $100,000 grant from the Amerisource Bergen Foundation to help four counties battle the opiod crisis and provide education about the drug. This grant does not help Crawford, Phelps or Dent County. He also said they sponsored a grant for the Duke Rural Fire Department. The Commissioners and Dent County Clerk Angie Curley will attend the South Central County Commissioners meeting today in Houston. Curley said diesel bids were taken by phone for 7,000 gallons of fuel and Phil-Mart was awarded the bid at $2.16 per gallon. Sheriff Bob Wells and Richard LaBrash were in to talk about the Spring ATV “Ride for America” sponsored by Cowtown USA, the American Volunteers and the Dent County Sheriff’s Department. The ride will begin and end at Danny Black’s Farm and travel to the southeast of Salem with stops planned at the G&S Store in Bunker and Loggers Lake with a total of about 70 miles being covered. For more information, contact the American Volunteers at 729-1394 or Cowtown USA at (573) 885-6300. Riders can also register at Cowtown USA or on their website. Dent County Sheriff Bob Wells also wanted to introduce a Dent County Community Crime Watch where citizens will be on the lookout for things out of the ordinary and let law enforcement know. Wells will provide the first 30 signs for those who want to register up for the program. He also said the Community Crime Watch would have it’s own Facebook page. He looks to start the program around the end of the month. Look for more information in the near future. Curt Faigle with the “Rally in the 100 Acre Wood” was in to make sure there were no problems such as impassible low water crossing or other problems and was assured that everything was ready to go. The next meeting of the Dent County Commissioners will be Monday morning at 9:00 at the courthouse and the meeting is open to the public.

Seven Salem R-80 students had their art work accepted into the Young Artist Showcase in St Louis. There were over 400 entries submitted and less than 200 were accepted! Those Salem artists whose work was accepted included Rachel Counts, Kullen Myers, Scilar Gibbs, Leigh Ann Pope, Isabelle Knaack and Madi Keith. This outstanding show will be open until the end of March at the St Louis Artist Guild for those who would like to see the art work.

The Ozark Natural and Cultural Resource Center on Highway 19 South is hosting “Art Across the Ages” sponsored by the Salem Area Arts Council and the ONCRC. This show, for all ages of artists, is a celebration of Youth Art Month which is recognized during the month of March. Numerous individuals as well as the Salem R-80 art classes are participating in the local art show which reveals how much artistic talent is in the Ozarks! The show is open to the public Monday through Friday from 9:00 in the morning until 5:00 in the afternoon through April 12th.