Local News – Thursday, October 27th, 2022
Dent County Prosecutor Andrew Curley reported on cases heard on Friday, October 21st in Dent County in front of Judge Michael Randazzo. In the first case heard, Roger Burgess of Eunice, Missouri, was on probation for the felony possession of a controlled substance. At the hearing, the defendant admitted to violating his probation and was he sentenced to serve seven years in the Department of Corrections as requested by Prosecutor Curley. Next, Stephane Culberson of Salem, pled guilty to the distribution of methamphetamine from a 2018 incident. Curley sought 10 years in the Missouri Department of Corrections due to the prior and persistent felony offender status of the defendant. The defense sought probation with a conviction. Over the objection of the state, the Culberson was sentenced to serve five years’ probation with a 10-year suspended sentence, as recommended by probation and parole. In the next case, Jeffrey Clark of Columbia, Missouri, pled guilty to the possession of a controlled substance (meth) in the jail. This came in connection with a traffic stop and subsequent arrest. Clark was sentenced to 10 years in the Department of Corrections as a requested by Prosecutor Curley. The defendant requested a 120-day incarceration through state’s RSMO 559.115 program. His request was denied due to his prior felony criminal history and persistent drug offender status. In the last case of the day, Damon Stiff of Salem pled guilty to failing to register as a sex offender. Stiff was sentenced to 10-years in the Department of Corrections as requested by Prosecutor Curley.
A one vehicle accident happened Wednesday morning just after 8:00 in Dent County on Highway 72 about a mile north of Salem. According to the highway patrol report a 2015 Dodge Dart being driven by 58-year-old Penny Dawson of Salem swerved to avoid a southbound vehicle which was traveling in her lane. Dawson traveled off the right side of the roadway and struck a tree. Dawson suffered minor injuries and was taken by Salem ambulance to the Salem Memorial District Hospital for treatment. The Dodge was totaled and removed from the scene by American Automotive and Towing. The report went on to state that Dawson was wearing a safety restraint at the time of the accident.
This Saturday from 10:00 in the morning until 2:00 in the afternoon, you can turn in your unneeded or outdated medication during the DEA “National Drug Takeback Day” at Country Mart and Wal-Mart in Salem. Any prescriptions you no longer take, that are old, those who may have belonged to a loved one who has passed on, or drugs you have in the medicine cabinet that you are not sure what they actually are can be dropped off at either Country Mart or Wal-Mart. The Dent County Prevention Coalition, the Prevention Consultants of Missouri and Healthy Dent County are sponsoring Drug Takeback Day locally. A big thank you goes out to the Salem Police Department and the Dent County Sheriff’s Department. Remember, this is extremely important if you have children. Keep your children safe by clearing those unneeded prescriptions out of your home and taking them back where they can be properly handled and destroyed. If you can’t make it to Country Mart or Wal-Mart this Saturday, you can also visit DEAtakeback.com for a collection site near you that can accept your medication drop-off.
The Dent County Senior Service Board will be holding a special budget meeting to discuss budget adjustments for the current fiscal year on Monday, October 31st at noon in the Salem Housing Authority meeting room at 606 McGrath Lane. The meeting is open to the public.
The Salem Memorial District Hospital board of directors will be holding a special meeting this afternoon at 1:00 in hospital library. After the call to order and roll call, new business to be addressed will be a resolution and discussion on the masking policy. The meeting will then be adjourned. The meeting will be open to the public via Zoom.
Fall is in the air and Halloween is in the park! Come on out to Echo Bluff State Park this Saturday for a fun-filled afternoon and night of spooky, exciting activities. Event activities start with a special Halloween Hike – animals that “trick” you! Visitors should meet at 2:00 in the afternoon at the “Stairs to No WHERE” for the hike. Also starting at 2:00 that afternoon the grab-and-go craft bags will be available across from the check station while supplies last. All campers participating in the camper decorating contest will need submit forms to the check station no later than 3:00 in the afternoon. All cabin door decorating participants will need to submit paperwork to the front desk no later than 3:00 also. The trick-or-treating parade starts at 5:00 in the evening. Participants should meet at the cemetery. The last event will be the night program and contest winner announcements. Winners must be present to accept prizes. The night program starts at 8:00 and includes Ozark stories and songs at the fire ring in the field by the cemetery. Echo Bluff State Park is located at 35244 Echo Bluff Drive in Eminence. For more information, call 573-751-5211.
Dent County Clerk Angie Curley is reminding everyone they have sample ballots available for you if you would like to pick one up before voting in the November General Election at the courthouse in her office. They are free. She can also e-mail or fax one to you. Just call her office at 729-4144. On the ballot, there are contested races for the US Senator seat, a state auditor, US Representative for the 8th District, State Senator Seat for the 16th District, Missouri Supreme Court Judges, Missouri Appellate Court Judges in the Southern District and four constitutional amendments. They also have in the office the plain language explanations of those constitutional amendments. They are lengthy and are too large to be copied by the clerk’s office, but you are more than welcome to bring your phone and photograph them to review at your leisure. Unexcused absentee voting will continue through Monday, November 7th during normal business hours, and you must have a photo ID to vote. Acceptable photo ID’s are a nonexpired Missouri driver or non-driver license; a nonexpired military ID, including a veteran’s ID card; a nonexpired United States passport; or another photo ID issued by the United States or the state of Missouri which is either not expired or expired after the date of the most recent general election.