Local News – Monday, July 3, 2023

The Salem Area Chamber of Commerce and the City of Salem will hold their annual 4th of July Independence Day Parade Tuesday evening stating at 6:00. This year’s Grand Marshall is Keith Steelman. The parade will leave from the SBU-Salem campus and progress east on Franklin to MacArthur, then make a left turn and travel north to 4th Street where the parade will veer right and head down to the Dent County Courthouse. Everyone is invited to come out and enjoy the parade. Bring your lawn chairs and cold beverages to stay well hydrated. If you can’t make it to the parade, KSMO Media will be streaming the parade LIVE on the KSMO Stream Facebook page, the KSMO YouTube channel and on ksmoradio.com which is our Twitch channel. All three of the streams will be available at the KSMO website home page (ksmoradio.com). The parade will probably begin streaming around 6:15. There is no cost to stream the parade and if you can’t watch it live, it will be archived for playback at a later time.

This Fourth of July, the Ozark National Scenic Riverways is partnering with local law enforcement agencies to emphasize the importance of driving sober and saving lives on America’s roads. Visitors will see an increased presence of officers working together in and around the park during this holiday weekend to take impaired drivers off the roads. These expanded efforts to protect against impaired driving will be conducted in a fair and equitable way. You can “Beat the Heat” by making a commitment to sober driving. From 2017 to 2021, there were 1,460 drivers killed in motor vehicle traffic crashes over the Fourth of July holiday period and 38% of the drivers killed were drunk. Sadly, many people think driving impaired is no big deal. Though Missouri has legalized marijuana for recreational use, it is still illegal to use it on federal lands, including national parks like Ozark National Scenic Riverways. Driving while impaired by marijuana is illegal everywhere. If you plan on coming to the park for the holiday, be sure to celebrate safely. It’s important for everyone to understand that federal law prohibits any open alcohol containers in a motor vehicle, to include use by passengers, and that UTVs are also motor vehicles. A simple rule is to keep alcohol stowed away, out of reach, until arriving at your final destination –including taking a trip to national parks. This Fourth of July, commit to only driving 100% sober. Don’t lose your independence on Independence Day, and don’t be a deadly risk to yourself and other innocent people.

The Doe Run Company has promoted Brian Mangogna to the role of vice president of operations and chief operating officer. In his new role, Mangogna will oversee day-to-day operations for the company’s mining and metals operations, providing the oversight and strategic guidance for Doe Run’s battery recycling plant as well as its mines and mills. Mangogna will celebrate 25 years with Doe Run this September. He began his career as a metallurgist, advancing over the years as mill superintendent, mill manager and general manager for the company’s Southeast Missouri (SEMO) Mining and Milling Division. In 2021, he joined the executive team and was promoted to vice president of mining and milling. According to Mongogna, Doe Run has a long history of being a preferred global provider of lead, copper and zinc, the three base metals that enable modern society, but says they also have resources and technologies that can recover cobalt, nickel, tin and antimony from resources within our control, whether ore bodies or metal byproducts. He says these metals have never been more important to U.S. mineral security and he looks forward to bringing forward new technologies to diversify and sustain our operations for future generations. Mangogna received a bachelor’s degree in metallurgical engineering from University of Missouri in Rolla (now Missouri S&T) and a master’s degree in business administration from Webster University. The Mangogna family resides with his family in Salem, Missouri.

Do you own a kayak but want to increase your paddling skills? Have you wanted to learn how to safely paddle down the river? You’re in luck! Missouri State Parks’ Learn2 Paddle River program can help you learn more about kayaking on the river. The program requires preregistration but is FREE. Participants must bring their own kayaks, life jackets, paddles, lunches, sunscreen, hats and sunglasses and wear appropriate attire for getting wet. The program will include a ground school where there will be an in-depth discussion on river safety, plans, equipment and paddling technique before the water school where participants will learn river paddling skills including ferries, eddy turns and low braces. Those in attendance will also learn how to read the river and river rescues. Classes will be held at the Current River State Park on July 9th from 10:00 in the morning until 3:00 in the afternoon and you can register for that class now. To find out more infromation or to regsiter, go online to mostateparks.com/learn2-paddle-river. If a class is full, please enroll using the waitlist function. If an opening in the class becomes available, you will be notified by the Learn2 staff via email or phone call. If you have any questions, email Taylor.Ratcliff@dnr.mo.gov.

Recently, Missouri State Treasurer Vivek Malek reached $51,817,543.80 in returning unclaimed property to its proper owner for fiscal year 2023. This breaks the previous fiscal year payout record of $50.2 million dollars. The number of accounts returned record was also broken earlier this fiscal year. The record set in fiscal year 2022 was 233,769 and as of last week, Treasurer Malek had returned property from 255,627 accounts for fiscal year 2023. There is still a tremendous amount of unclaimed property in the Missouri State Treasury’s office and at last check, the number comes to about 1.39 BILLION dollars. To see if you or a family member may have unclaimed property, please go to ShowMeMoney.com. There is no charge to use the site and unclaimed amounts can be as little as a dollar to thousands of dollars.