Local News – Monday, August 12th, 2019
A one day bench trial held on Monday, July 29th in front of Judge Randall Head resulted in him finding Manual Lee of Salem not guilty on the charge of making a terrorist threat in the 1st degree. Head also in his directive discharged Lee from any further charges from the incident. Dent County Prosecuting Attorney charged Lee from an incident that occurred on March 9th, 2018, when Lee posted a Snapchat image of himself that had a caption that included “There’s a storm coming and it’s going to hit Salem R80 hard.” Lee was arrested and interviewed by the Salem Police Department and told them the post was not meant to be terroristic in nature and he had no intention of conducting a school shooting. He said a student had snitched on him chewing tobacco at school and another incident involved his girlfriend. A search warrant was executed on the Lee’s home and knives were found in his bedroom while firearms were found in the bedroom of his parents. In a statement released from the Dent County Prosecutor’s office, Curley indicated if confronted with a similar situation in the future, he would respond in the same fashion as he went on to say that children attending school should never be in fear for their safety. Curley also wanted to thank the school children and parents that reported this incident to the school and law enforcement. He reminds anyone that in light of the latest rounds of shootings that if you are aware of any person making statements about harming the school, a business or any other organization, or any individual for that matter, to please report the threat immediately to law enforcement.
A one vehicle accident happened early Thursday morning at 5:15 in Reynolds County on Route KK, about six miles north of Bunker. According to the highway patrol report, Brandon Santhuff of Centerville, was driving a 1998 Pontiac Grand Prix southbound when he traveled off the right side of the roadway and struck a tree. Santhuff suffered serious injuries and was transported by the Iron County Ambulance to the Iron County Hospital before being transferred to Barnes Jewish in St. Louis by ground ambulance. According to the report, Santhuff was wearing a safety restraint at the time of the accident. The Pontiac was totaled and removed from the scene by Aissie Tow and Auto of Ellington.
A one vehicle accident happened around 11:40 Saturday morning in Iron County that left two children from Arcadia with injuries. According to the report from the highway patrol, a 2015 Can Am ATV driven by Christae Morris of Arcadia, was traveling southbound on Iron County Road 205, about five miles south of Arcadia, when the vehicle overturned and ejected the passengers. Receiving minor injuries was eight-year old Troy Dean while nine-year old Aiden Morris suffered serious injuries. Dean was transported by ambulance to Iron County Medical Center while Morris was flown by Air Evac to Children’s Hospital in St. Louis. According to the report, no one was wearing any type of safety device. The ATV sustained minor damage and was driven from the scene.
An accident happened in Phelps County at 10:45 Saturday night on Route Y about two miles east of Rolla that left a Rolla man with moderate injuries. According to the highway patrol report, a 1997 Chevy Blazer driven eastbound by 26-year old Trevor Smith of Rolla, went off the right side of the roadway and struck a tree. Smith was taken by the Phelps Health Ambulance to Phelas Health with moderate injuries. Smith was wearing a seat restraint at ttime of the accident. The Blazer was totaled and removed from the scene by Ron Dishman’s Towing of Rolla.
Theresa Davidson, the Acting District Ranger of the Mark Twain National Forest, Salem Ranger District, will be the speaker at the Dent County Historic Society Speaker Series at 6:00 Tuesday evening at the Salem Pizza Inn meeting room. Theresa has invited Clint Davis, the new District Ranger; Lester Lakey, the District Archaeologist; and Cory Roegner the Recreation Program Manager in Rolla or Chris Woods, District Recreation Manager. Davidson believes there are some wonderful opportunities to partner with projects proposed by the Dent County Historical Society. One of those is led by Tom Botkins, who has been working on the documentation for exhibits where Howes Mill was located in the Mark Twain National Forest; while another is led by Deloris Gray Wood and the Missouri Chapter Trail of Tears Association, to get exhibits at the Marcoot Towers across Highway 72 from where the marker is located on Reynolds County Road 903. For more information, call Deloris at 573-729-2545 or Theresa at 573-729-6656. Theresa is the Forest Service Wildlife and Fisheries Biologist with the Mark Twain National Forest and can be reached at 573-341-7499, when her duties return her to Rolla. Theresa can also be contacted online at theresa.davidson@usda.gov.
Contractors working for the Missouri Department of Transportation will begin a project to repair the Interstate 44 and Route V interchange in Rolla on Friday, August 16th. Crews will replace the current asphalt on the entrance and exit ramps with full-depth concrete pavement, which will handle the high volume of tractor trailers utilizing the ramps at the interchange. The work will require a full shutdown of the ramps and overpass for ten days. I-44 traffic will not be impacted by the work. Motorists utilizing Route V are advised to seek an alternate route around the work area. For more information about this project or other transportation-related matters, please call 1-888-ASK-MoDOT (275-6636) or visit www.modot.org/central.