Local News – Thursday, February 2nd, 2023

GFL has notified the City of Salem that due to icy road conditions south and west of Salem that recycling will not be picked up this week. All recycling on the north half of town and the north side of Center St. will be picked up on Wednesday, February 8th; and all recycling on the south half of town and the south side of Center St. will be picked up on Thursday, February 9th. The City of Salem apologizes for the inconvenience and appreciates your understanding.

The Salem R-80 Board of Education will hold a special meeting this evening at 6:00 to go into executive session to discuss hiring a football coach and approving the contract of the superintendent. The board will then come back into open session to adjourn.

Project RISE is a program that will help teach individuals to reach financial independence through support and education. This program, sponsored by Healthy Dent County, will help families reach personal and financial goals through employment and career development, time management, goal setting, relationship building, money management and community involvement. The objectives of Project RISE are to increase support systems, resources and community connections as well as providing education that will allow families to develop tools that can improve their financial health and empowerment. While enrolled, families can earn gift cards and other financial incentives, plus meals and childcare are provided during the meetings. The program is 16 weeks long and only 4-7 families will be selected. Families will meet weekly during the evening hours to focus on succeeding in life. Ms. Lacey Walker, Administrative Professional with Healthy Dent County, will serve as the coordinator for this program. To make this project a success, Healthy Dent County will work with social service agencies, churches, health care and employment specialists and community leaders. The wealth of knowledge from these professionals will be invaluable to improving the lives of these families for generations to come. Applications are available at the Salem Community Center@The Armory office. For more information on Project RISE or to determine a family’s eligibility, please contact Lacey Walker at 729-8163 or e-mail her at lacey@salemcommunitycenter.org.

The Ozark Rivers Solid Waste Management District is now accepting submissions for its 32nd Annual Earth Day Trash Art, Poster and Graphic Art contest. The theme for this year’s art contest is “Rescue Earth’s Resources: Become a First Responder for the Planet.” The Ozark Rivers Earth Day contest is a poster, trash art, and graphic art competition open to all students in grades kindergarten through 12th in Crawford, Dent, Gasconade, Maries, Phelps, Pulaski and Washington counties. Homeschool students meeting these criteria are eligible and encouraged to participate. The graphic art portion of the contest is also open to post-secondary students. MRPC provides the day-to-day management of the solid waste district. Students have the opportunity to participate in multiple contest categories, including posters with hand-drawn and graphic arts, and re-purposing recyclables and trash into three-dimensional pieces of trash art. All art entries should echo the theme of the contest and an underlying solid waste management theme to reduce, reuse, and recycle. First and second place contest winners will be awarded prizes, made possible by sponsor donations. Honorable mention projects will also be recognized. All prizes will be earth-friendly, with the first prize valued at $30, second prize valued at $10 and honorable mention prizes valued at $5 approximately. Entries for all categories will be accepted from March 1st through 17th and may be dropped off at the county clerk offices at the nearest courthouse or at MRPC, located at #4 Industrial Drive in St. James. Posters must not exceed 28” x 22”, and trash art projects must not exceed 12”x 12” x 12”. Only one entry per category per student will be accepted, but students may submit entries for all three categories. All entries must be clearly marked with the student’s name, grade, school district, school name and teacher’s name. If any information is not labeled, the entry will be disqualified. If you or your business would like to be a sponsor or for more information about the contest, call 573-265-2993.

The Missouri Department of Conservation wants to remind fisherman that the last day of the catch and Release Season at Montauk State Park will be February 13th. The second Monday of February every year marks the end of the winter Catch-and-Release season. No fishing will be allowed at the park until the opening day of Trout Season which will be on March 1st. For more information on fishing of all types in Missouri as well as fishing licenses, visit the Missouri Department of Conservation website at mdc.mo.gov.