Local News – Monday, March 22nd, 2021

The team of Travis Pastrana and Rhianon Gelsomino won the 100 Acre in the Wood Rally in Dent and Crawford County this past weekend with a time of 1 hour, 23 minutes and 7.6 seconds as they beat out seven-time 100 Acre in the Woods champion Ken Block and his co-pilot Alessandro Gelsomino by 29.0 seconds. The team of Brandon Semenuk and John Hall took 3rd place finishing 1 minute and 14.1 seconds behind Pastrana. Pastrana and Semenuk drove Subaru vehicles while Block drove a Škoda.

A five-vehicle accident occurred Saturday morning at 10:25 on Interstate 44 at mile marker 161 in the westbound lane. According to the highway patrol report, a 2019 Ram 1500 driven by 34-year-old Dustin Gaines of Rolla was stopped in traffic due to an incident ahead. Slowing down was a 2008 Chrysler Town and Country driven by 43-year-old Jerri Ellis of Chanute, Kansas who was travelling behind the Ram. At that time, a 2016 Chevrolet Equinox driven by 24-year-old Courtney Vance of Linn then came to a stop behind the Chrysler and was struck in the rear by a 1998 Pontiac Bonneville driven by 50-year-old James Quick of Salem. Immediately after that collision, a 2019 Subaru Ascent driven by 66-year-old Bruce Buffington of Belleville, Pennsylvania, struck the Pontiac causing a chain reaction with the Pontiac striking the Chevrolet again which then struck the Chrysler which in turn struck the Ram. Two Salem residents suffered minor injuries and they were both occupants in the Pontiac. They were 25-year-old Miranda Quick and an 11-year-old male juvenile who were both transported to Phelps Health Rolla by the Pulaski County Ambulance. They were wearing safety restraints at the time of the accident. The Ram and Subaru sustained minor damage and were driven from the scene. The Chrysler sustained moderate damage and was driven from the scene. The Chevrolet sustained extensive damage and was towed by Sight Towing. The Pontiac was totaled and was removed from the scene by Sight Towing. The Highway Patrol was assisted at the scene by the St. Robert Police Department.

The Salem R-80 Board of Education met Thursday at the SHS High School Library. Superintendent Dr. Lynne Reed reported that she has four insurance brokers working on quotes for the school, but the current health history of the district is making the search challenging. She stated R-80 will have summer school for Kindergarten through 12th graders, but no dates have been set. In reporting about legislative issues, Reed said House Bill 543 could have a detrimental effect on public schools and was pleased that Representative Ron Copeland was against the bill for the damage it could do for the funding of the schools. Reed said in preparing for the budget, she had 168 staff members participate in a salary and benefits survey with the biggest issue being support staff pay followed by the increase in the teacher base pay. An increase to $10 per hour minimum for support staff would cost the district an additional $69,582 and if the teacher base were also increased, the cost would the district approximately $133,000. Reed also said the district should consider buying their busses rather than leasing then with the additional federal money coming as it would save money in the long run. She will build these number into the 2021-2022 R-80 budget. Reed also said that with the county currently not having any COVID cases, and if there is no spike in cases after spring break, the district should consider removing the mask mandate for teachers and students. After the building principals gave their reports, the board heard from Dr. Irwin about the Seal of Biliteracy that deals with students who are proficient in English and a foreign language who do a project in the community. This year there were 15 people in the program where last year there was just one. It was announced that high school prom would be held on April 12th at the gym and there will be 8 tickets available per graduating senior for graduation which will be held at the high school football field on May 21st. Superintendent Reed and Board president Dustin Howard reminded each board member their board training must be completed by the end of the month. The board approved setting their organizational meeting after the April election for April 15th at 5:45 before their next regular scheduled meeting at 6:00. They also approved moving the softball program to the spring beginning the 2022-23 school year, approved a request for proposals for a performance contractor to review the HVAC systems, a new Tin Gym and more; and approved the letting of bids to get a new district auditor as the former school auditor, Matt James, has retired. The board approved the 2021-2022 school calendar that included a start date of August 25, 2021 and the last day of school being May 19, 2022. The calendar shows a full week off for Thanksgiving, an 11-school day vacation for Christmas and a week off for Spring break from March 28th through April 1st. The board also agreed to the letting of bids for a new high school gymnasium floor. With each of the bids, the board would not be obligated to the work described unless there were monies available. The board accepted the resignations of high school science teacher and assistant track coach Angela Loughridge, Lenette Beeson as assistant band director, bus driver Kim McKelvie, speech implementer Carol Pendergrass, custodial Tim Knight, high school math teacher Lindsay Major, middle school girls’ basketball coach Nick Frillman, high school cheerleading coach Jodi Heavin, and high school ag instructor and assistant football coach Lane Howard. They also accepted the retirement of high school art instructor Tana Kettner before going into closed session.