Local News – Friday, May 17th, 2024

The 139th Graduation Ceremonies of the Salem R-80 High School will be held Friday night at 7:00 at the Salem High School Football Field. After the procession of 124 graduating students, the National Anthem will be performed by the Salem High School Chamber Choir Singers. Assistant Principal Laci Kolbe will then present the Senior Class Citizenship Awards, the Best Female and Male Leader Awards, and salute students who earned the Missouri Seal of Biliteracy Awards. Principal Jody Heavin will introduce the A Plus students, students who are entering the military, as well as the career and technical certified students. Senior Class President Leya Russell will then give her speech before Senior Class-Vice President Jonathan Stokes gives his speech. Diplomas will then be awarded to the Class of 2024 students by Superintendent Lynne Reed and President of the R-80 Board of Education, Drusilla Howard, followed by the tossing of the caps. The graduation exercises will be streamed live on KSMO Media. Those wanting to stream the graduation exercises can go to the Salem R-80 website which is www.salemr80.org, go to their menu and you will find a link to ksmoradio.com which is our Twitch account. People can also go directly to the KSMO Radio website at www.ksmoradio.com and from the homepage, they can click on the stream of their choice including the KSMO Stream Facebook page, KSMO Twitch page and on KSMO’s YouTube page. There is NO charge to stream the services. Should the exercises be rained out, they will be held Sunday afternoon at 2:00.

The Dent County Commissioners met Thursday morning. Grant Wilson from Congressman Jason Smith’s Rolla office was in attendance and informed the commission that the Ways and Means Committee has sent through six bills to the full house that deal with improving rural health care through funding for telehealth, emergency access, quality care through training and incentives, and second chances for hospitals that closed. Wilson said much of the information that led to these bills being created came from citizens from town hall meetings and the committee remote hearings. He will keep the commission informed on the progress of these bills. In the road report, District 1 Commissioner Wes Mobray said his crew would be out checking pipes and culverts and removing any blockage. District 2 Commissioner Gary Polk stated brush would be cut on Dent County Road 4290, repairing a clutch fan assembly on truck #116, servicing dump truck #122 and also cleaning out culverts. Presiding Commissioner Gary Larson reported he attended the Ozark Rivers Solid Waste Management District meeting on Tuesday at St. James where he will become their new president on July 1st. Larson said an electronic, appliance, tire and media storage recycling collection for residents will be held in Rolla on June 8th at Brewer Science from 8:00 until noon sponsored by the management district, City of Rolla, Brewer Science and the Missouri Department of Natural Resources. On May 9th, the commission decided to not renew the Rural Addressing Agreement with Healthy Dent County for 2025 to provide rural addressing for the county, and move the service into the county assessor’s office. They needed to give a six-month notice as per the agreement. They felt by having rural addressing in the assessor’s office, it would make it more convenient to the public who already see the assessor for their real estate needs to get an address as well. A timeline will be discussed to make sure services are still provided during the transition. The next meeting of the commissioners will be Monday morning at 9:00 at the courthouse and it is open to the public.

The Salem Area Community Betterment Association held their “Gift of Tine” Awards banquet at the Ozark Natural and Cultural Resource Center Thursday night to honor volunteers in a number of categories for their work in making Salem a better community. The winner of the “Gift of Time” Award for the Art and Culture Category was Danielle Norris, while Christina Pierce was honored with the award in the Education and Youth Category. The “Gift of Time” Award winner in the Category of Community Enhancement and Preservation was the Bonebrake Center of Nature History with Mike Godi accepting that award on behalf of the center. In the Outstanding Youth Category, Khloe Baldwin was presented the “Gift of Time” Award,while Tod Kinerk was honored with the award in the Humanitarian Category. The SACBA Board, in honor of the 30th anniversary of the organization, presented the Community Trailblazer Award to Jerry Craig for all his hard work over the years in promoting and preserving the Salem community. David Spear, the artist and painter who designed and painted the mural on the Ozark Natural and Cultural Resource Center, was the keynote speaker at the event.

The Dent County Sheriff’s office has released some reports. On Saturday, May 4th, deputies responded to the 19000 block of East Highway 32 for a wanted subject. Deputies arrested a 30-year-old Salem woman on her warrants and incarcerated her in the Dent County jail. On Tuesday, May 7th, deputies responded to the 19000 block of Route C for a reported burglary. During the investigation, a 64-year-old Lenox man discovered an unknown female stealing items from his residence. The woman fled and after a multi-jurisdictional investigation, a 39-year-old woman from St. Louis was arrested in Rolla. On May 10th, deputies responded to the 500 block of 5th Street in Bunker for a domestic dispute with a weapon involved. During the investigation, it was determined a 33-year-old Bunker man had exhibited a handgun while arguing with his 32-year-old spouse. The man was arrested for unlawful use of a weapon and transported to the Dent County jail. That same day, a deputy responded to the 1100 block of Highway 68 to take a property damage report. The victim told deputies an unknown person had broken the rear window of their vehicle. The investigation is ongoing. If you have any information regarding an investigation please call the Dent County sheriffs office at 729-3241.