Local News – Tuesday, April 16th, 2019
The Dent County Commissioners met Thursday morning for their regular meeting at the Dent County Courthouse. Presiding Commissioner Darrell Skiles was not in attendance due to a prior commitment. District 2 Commissioner Gary Larson was selected to act as the presiding commissioner for the meeting. In the road report, District 1 Commissioner Dennis Purcell and Commissioner Larson both reported about 1.3 inches of rain fell from Saturday through Sunday morning in many areas of the county. High winds were also prevalent around the county and trees were reported down on Dent County Roads 5450 and 6370. Purcell said the tree across county road 5450 closed the road for a time while the tree on county road 6370 was in the roadway. Both trees will be removed. Purcell said patch grading would be done on Dent County Road 4220 while materials will be added and grading done on Dent County Roads 5590 and 6600. Purcell went on to say that grading would also be done on county road 6620 while materials would be added to county road 4220. Commissioner Larson from District 2 said workers would be adding materials and grading Dent County Road 5260 if it was dry enough, while another man would be stockpiling white rock at the maintenance shed for use after hours. Larson reported that two driveway culvert pipes bought by the property owners were scheduled to be installed if the ground is dry enough. These were to be installed on county roads 2240 and 2350. Dent County Clerk Angie Curley stated she attended the county health consortium meeting held in Springfield Thursday. They updated attendees about the health plan and described a new program that is now available to employees that deal with disease management. The next meeting of the Dent County Commission will be Thursday morning at 9:00 at the courthouse and the meeting is open to the public.
The Salem Memorial District Hospital Board of Directors will hold their regular meeting at 6:00 tonight at the hospital library. Administrator Kasey Lucas will report the summary of operations for the month of March, hear the report from CNO Debbie Hines, get the report on the hospital Foundation from COO Chris Strickland and hear the auxiliary report from Lucas. The board will also hear the marketing and community perception report from Chris Strickland on their involvement with different events. Patient Satisfaction survey results will also be reviewed. The board will discuss the fiscal year 2020 Finance Committee meeting report before reviewing purchases. The board may then vote to go into closed session before adjourning. The regular meeting of the Salem Memorial District Hospital Board of Directors is open to the public.
The Salem R-80 Board of Education will hold meetings starting at 6:00 this evening at the Salem District Administrative Offices Boardroom. After approval of the agenda for the re-organizational meeting the Board will certify the Election Results, newly elected members will be sworn in, and the Board President, Vice President, Secretary and Treasurer will be elected. The Board will also elect the MSBA Delegate and Alternate. The meeting will be adjourned and the Board will move into the regular monthly meeting. The Board will approve the Food Service report, approve the substitute list, and approve Program Evaluations for Food Service and Health Services. Superintendent John McColloch will give a budget update and report on Construction Trades. After the Principals’ Building Reports the Board will address new business including consider an out-of-state travel request. The Board will hear resignations and then adjourn and move into an executive session. The April regular monthly meeting of the Salem R-80 Board of Education is open to the public.
Congressman Jason Smith reminds everyone that the 2019 Congressional Art Competition is now accepting entries from high school students across southeast and south central Missouri. Each of the five district offices in Missouri’s 8th Congressional District will select two winning pieces from their region to move on to the “Best of Show” competition, where an overall winner will be selected. The overall winner’s artwork will be displayed in the United States Capitol for a year, where lawmakers and thousands of visitors will walk past it each day. Each regional winner will have the opportunity to have their artwork showcased in local offices for all visitors to see. Last year’s winner was Avery Coffman from Salem R-80, who created her artwork of the St. Jude Chapel in Montauk by burning a drawing of the church into a piece of wood. For winning “Best of Show,” Avery received two round-trip plane tickets to Washington, D.C. to attend the Congressional Art Competition reception with other winners from across the country. To be considered for the Congressional Art Competition, artwork should be submitted to the respective district office no later than this Wednesday, April 17th. Regional winners will be announced shortly thereafter, and the “Best of Show” competition will be held on May 13th, 2019. Local high schools have been notified of the competition and how to submit students’ artwork to local offices. If any students wishing to participate would like more information or wish to see the complete participation rules manual, call the district office at (573) 364-2455.