Local News – Tuesday, April 14th, 2020

The Dent Commissioners met Monday morning at the Dent County Courthouse. Dent County Treasurer Denita Williams presented the sales tax monies received by the county in April. It showed that in 2019, the General Revenue sales tax was $105,219.98 while this year the county received $80,783.40. That is a $24,436.64 decrease comparing April 2020 and April 2019. Year-to-date, the county has received $22,927.19 less than for this time last year in General Revenue. The Road and Bridge Department received $36,363.00 this April while last year during April the county received $48,661.70. That is reduction of $12,298.70 for the month and that fund is down year-to-date by over $9,240.28 which is a 5.94% reduction. Each jail fund received $72,690.37 from the collections in April, but that month-to-date total for each fund is down $24,534.21 and year-to-date, each fund is $17,617.17 less than last year. The money received due to the Secure Rural Schools Act from the National Forest came to $208,935.62. The Road and Bridge Fund will receive 25% of that amount which comes to $52,233.91. The other 75% of the funds will be disbursed to school districts with Salem R-80 receiving $38,329.24; Bunker R-3 will get $60,643.55; Oak Hill R-1 will receive $31,653.75; the Iron County C-4 school will get $24,745.20 and Northwood R-4 will receive $1,331.97. Dent County Collector Shannon VanKirk reported collections during the month of March came to $143,865.78 and that is down from the March 2019 collection report. In the road report, District 1 Commissioner Dennis Purcell said crews would be out checking roads for downed tree and limbs and possibly some washouts. Purcell stated that some grading or patch grading would occur on Dent County Road 5150 and roads in the 2400’s north of Highway 32, and brush was to be cut on county roads 5510 and 6255. Purcell stated that the transmission went out on the Cat grader that serves the Bunker area. They are looking for a loaner to replace the Cat grader while that one is being repaired. Purcell also reported on the 2% Dent County Tourism tax income for the month of March and it was down $804.06 from the March figure of last year. Commissioner Gary Larson reported grading would be done on Dent County Roads 3370 and 4030 while materials would be added and grading done on county road 2070. Larson said two men were working on dump truck #115 and then they would be hauling rock. Preisidng Commissioner Darrell Skiles stated he has been attending numerous COVID-19 meetings with Dent County Health Director Kendra Mobray and Dent County Emergency Director Brad Nash about the virus. Skiles said Dent County still does not have a reported case. He does say that with the “stay at home” order, the economic impact the county faces will be tremendous and he is asking every office holder to be overly conservative in their spending. Dent County Clerk Angie Curley said absentee voting continues until June 1st for the June 2nd Municipal election. She said the last day to mail out an absentee ballot will be May 20th. She said the county and state primary will be held on August 4th. She mentioned that she balanced with the treasurer on all accounts for the month of March. The next meeting of the Dent County Commissioners will be Monday, April 20th at the courthouse at 9:00 in the morning and the meeting is open to the public.

University of Missouri Extension is offering online town hall meetings led by agronomy, livestock and horticulture specialists. State and regional extension specialists will hold the weekly town hall question-and-answer sessions on Wednesdays. The times and topics are 11:00 in the morning until noon for home horticulture; from noon until 1:00 for commercial horticulture; from 1:30 to 2:30 in the afternoon for forages and livestock; and from 2:30 to 3:30 PM for field crops. The sessions will be via the Zoom teleconferencing system. Registration is required to receive email with the Zoom link and instructions. Register and submit questions at ipm.missouri.edu/TownHalls.

Time is running out to get a variety of low cost native tree and shrub seedlings from the Missouri Department of Conservation’s George O. White State Forest Nursery near Licking. Right now they are offering residents a variety of those low-cost native tree and shrub seedlings for reforestation, windbreaks, erosion control, and wildlife food and cover. Orders are being accepted through TOMORROW! The Department of Conservation has extended the seedling shipping time frame through the end of May. According to MDC, the shipping season typically winds down in early May after nursery staff has shipped millions of seedlings to schools, landowners, and MDC staff for planting all over the state. Since the precautionary measures were put in place to decrease the spread of COVID-19, the nursery has been closed to the public and they have plenty of seedlings left. Order your seedlings online: mdc.mo.gov/seedlings, or fax an order form to 573-674-4047. Contact the nursery at 674-3229 or email them for an order form: StateForestNursery@mdc.mo.gov. You can take a virtual tour of the nursery are available at short.mdc.mo.gov/Zey.

The Missouri Department of Revenue wants the public to know that the new REAL ID compliant driver’s license and ID cards are now available. The Department began offering REAL ID compliant driver’s licenses and ID cards last year in March. Under Missouri law, applying for a REAL ID-compliant driver license or ID card is optional. Effective this October 1st, residents of every U.S. state and territory will be required to present a REAL ID-compliant driver license or ID card, or another form of ID accepted by the Transportation Security Administration, to board federally regulated domestic flights. Individuals will also be required to present a REAL ID-compliant driver license or ID card, or another form of acceptable ID, to access federal facilities, including military bases and federal courthouses, and to enter nuclear power plants. “REAL ID” comes from the REAL ID Act of 2005, a federal law that focused on fraud protection, anti-terrorism, and driver licenses and non-driver ID card security. The REAL ID Act established minimum security standards for state-issued driver licenses and ID cards and prohibits federal agencies from accepting for official purposes driver licenses and ID cards from states that do not meet these standards. You can apply for your REAL ID at the Salem License office next week when they reopen on Monday, April 20th. For more information, visit
dor.mo.gov/drivers/real-id-information.