Local News – Monday, October 30th, 2023
A fatality accident occurred in Phelps County at 9:15 Friday morning on Highway 68 about a quarter of a mile west of Highway 8. According to the highway patrol report, a westbound 1999 Dodge Ram 1500, driven by 17-year-old Ethan Parrott of St. James, was negotiating a curve when the Dodge began to skid. Parrott overcorrected causing the vehicle to travel off the left side of the roadway and overturn. The juvenile was partially ejected and the vehicle came to rest off the roadway. Parrott was pronounced dead at the scene at 9:24 by St. James Ambulance personnel. The body was released to the Phelps County Coroner and taken to the Jones Funeral Home in St. James. Parrott was not wearing a seat belt at the time of the accident. The Dodge was totaled and removed from the scene by Spurgeon’s Towing.
Congratulations to Deloris Gray Wood who Thursday night was recognized for her volunteer efforts in the county, and was then presented the Eugene E. Northern Award which is the Meramec Regional Planning Commission’s highest honor for volunteerism at the annual awards banquet in Hermann. Nominated by Presiding Commissioner Gay Larson, Wood is the President of the Dent County Historical Society and has worked on a number of projects including the microfilming of old courthouse records, the designation of the “Trail of Tears” in Dent County and a new project of telling the “History of the Current River from the Road” to name a few. Wood has graciously dedicated her time to making Dent County a better place through its colorful history and her receiving the Eugene E. Northern Award was well deserved. Also honored at the banquet was Easton May who received the Dent County 2023 Outstanding Youth Volunteer Award, as he was also nominated by Commissioner Larson.
In the Salem R-80 Board of Education closed sessions from October 12th and the 19th, the board approved employing Krystie Smith as the Middle School Volleyball Coach and approved employing Dan Copeland as the new Assistant Superintendent beginning July 1, 2024. Also during the closed sessions, the board sent a real estate contract to Southwest Baptist University on October 12th, then approved the purchase of the SBU Building at the October 19th meeting.
In honor of Mine Rescue Day, October 30th, the Doe Run Company recognizes the dedication of its skilled mine rescue teams and celebrates their recent accomplishments at the 41st Annual Missouri Mine Rescue Competition. Doe Run’s Maroon team won first place in the mine rescue field competition and second place in the first aid competition. Doe Run’s Grey team was also successful, earning the top spot in the first aid competition and third place in the mine rescue field competition. In addition to the group wins, Grey team members Mark Barton and Sara Laskowsky placed second in the team technician competition and Gary Moore placed second in the bench technician competition. Missouri University of Science and Technology in Rolla hosted the annual contest with the Missouri Mine Rescue Association. The competition is the only one of its kind held underground in the United States and was attended by nine teams from six states. As part of the company’s underground safety program, mine rescue teams complete eight hours of training monthly. They do so on a voluntary basis. The teams compete in mine rescue competitions annually to keep their skills sharp and prepare them to help fellow miners in real-life situations. Company wide, Doe Run employees went through more than 37,000 hours of training in 2022, including extensive health and safety training. Several sites have gone years without a lost-time accident: Sweetwater Mill has reached 26 consecutive years with no lost time, Brushy Creek Mill has reached 17 years, and Buick Mill at 12 years. In addition, the Sweetwater Mine surface team has reached 19 years with no lost time.
In response to lead being found in water samples taken in the schools of the Salem R-80 district, Dent County Health Center Administrator Zach Moser released the reports of the lab results of water tested for lead in the City of Salem’s water system generated by the Missouri State Public Health Laboratory taken at three different locations. The water tested was taken directly from the city’s fire hydrants as the health department wanted to pull water directly off of the water main. The locations the water was tested were at 1300 West 3rd Street, 700 East Franklin and at West 1st Street at North Washington Street at the William Lynch Elementary School. The test for metal in the water was done using an ICP Mass Spectrometer and the results for each test showed less than 0.005 milligrams of lead per liter of water showing no lead contamination. These tests would show evidence that suggests the contamination at the schools is most likely coming from internal plumbing at the schools and not from the city’s water system.