Local News – Friday, September 22nd, 2017
The Dent County Commissioners met for their regular meeting Thursday morning in the Dent County Courthouse. In the road report, District One Commissioner Dennis Purcell said that due to the extremely dry conditions with no measurable precipitation for 27 days, full roadway grading was suspended until it rains. He said that spot grading would be done on Dent County Road 6435 and brush would be cut on county road 5460. Purcell added that ditch work, tail grading and material addition would take place on Dent County Roads 6435 and 5610. He noted that Dump Truck #121 had an electrical wiring fire on Wednesday in the Bunker area and would have to be towed in. Fortunately there was limited damage to the truck. Purcell said that Monday evening he attended a Tourism Commission meeting where five reimbursement requests and one proposal were approved. District Two Commissioner Gary Larson echoed Purcell’s comments and noted that as dry and hard as the roadways are, a set of grader blades that normally take about two weeks to wear out would have to be replaced in a day and a half so his crews have also suspended grading. He noted that brush would be cut on Dent County Road 2560, while three pipes would be installed and materials would be added to county road 4380. Presiding Commissioner Darrell Skiles reported that he attended the Hazardous Mitigation Planning meeting on Monday and that it was well attended by nearly all of the interested entities. Then on Tuesday he attended the Ozark Region Solid Waste District meeting to review grant applications. Skiles noted that they reviewed sixteen grants for waste reduction or recycling that totaled $342,500.00 and the Board has $197,500.00 available to be awarded. They will be meeting again next week to allocate the funds. Dent Clerk Angie Curley said bills were being approved by the Commissioners for payment. She presented the Quit Claim Deed for Commissioners’ signatures for railroad right of way to Cedar Bluff Land Co. LLC , and that Dent County Treasurer Denita Williams had received the $500.00 check for the transaction. Williams was in with the CART receipts for the month of September in the amount of $61,422.92, which makes the year-to-date CART receipts up by $12,277.53 or 2.44%. Doug Barnes of Town and Country Bank was in to have the lease-purchase agreement signed for the two Sheriff’s Department vehicles purchased in May. The amount of the agreement was for $58,705.05 at 2.09%. Dent County Sheriff Bob Wells was also in to pick up the applicable paperwork for the vehicles. Propane bids were opened and the low bid of $1.289 per gallon for 3,500 gallon from Ferrell Gas was approved 3-0. Libby Sanders was in to request that the Commissioners be the Certifying Local Governmental Agency for the Bonebrake Center’s NAP Grant Application. The Commissioners approved the request 3-0 and signed the application which, if approved, will be used for capital improvements in the upstairs level of the house. The next meeting of the Commissioners will be Monday morning at 9:00 at the Courthouse and the meeting is open to the public.
The Salem Police Department released their report for the month of August. During the month, they wrote three equipment repair orders, four summons to appear in court, 12 warning tickets, and 11 traffic tickets. The Salem Police Department investigated 12 accidents, two assaults, one burglary, one report of disorderly conduct, three reports of domestic violence, three reports of driving while being intoxicated, four reports of driving while having a revoked and/or suspended license, one fraud report, and one report of property damage. The department also investigated two leaving the scene of accident reports, two lost or stolen license plate reports, five reports of possession of a controlled substance, three possession of drug paraphernalia reports, one report of the unlawful use of a firearm, one report of the violation of an exparte order, one report of resisting and/or interring with an arrest, one tampering report and eight reports of stealing. The police department received 1,292 calls for service during the month and handled 94 walk-ins to the station. They spent ten hours in court testifying and ten hours as court bailiff. The Salem Police Department drove a total of 7,812 miles and arrested 21 males and six females during the month of August.
The City of Salem, Unlimited Play and City of Salem Parks and Recreation Department would like to invite everyone out to the grand opening of “Billy’s Playground” for Carol Perdue. The grand opening is being held in conjunction with the Salem High School Alumni Weekend. The ribbon cutting event will be held on Saturday morning at 10:00 at the Salem City Park after the breakfast fundraiser at the Salem High School. Billy’s playground was made possible by donations and work provided by the City of Salem Park Board, SB 40 Board, Unlimited Play, Youth Bridge Community Foundation, City of Salem, Healthy Dent County, Bank of Salem, and the Salem Memorial District Hospital. Billy’s Playground is a place where limitations are forgotten and differences are celebrated. The Salem City Park is located at 1100 W. Rolla Road in Salem.
It will be Homecoming tonight at the SHS Football Field. The attendants this year is freshman Reggie Parks, sophomore Emma Southards, junior Olivia Erway and the senior homecoming candidates are Trista Heavin, Madi Shaw, and Savanna Tuttle. The ceremony will take place on the field prior to the game.