Local News – Tuesday, December 12th, 2017
There’s still time to Adopt-an-Angel from the 2017 Salvation Army’s Angel Tree program, but you will have to hurry. There has been great support from the community but more is needed and now time is of the essence. A total of 181 angels have been placed on the tree and there are 60 left that still need to be adopted. The Angel Tree is located at the Salem Community Center @ the Armory at 1200 West Rolla Road in Salem in the front lobby. If you cannot make it to the Community Center to pick up an Angel to shop for, there are still ways you can help. You can send a cash donation and volunteers will do the shopping for your angel, you can call Healthy Dent County at 729-8163, or email sherry@salemcommunitycenter.org and an angel will be e-mailed or texted to you. All Angel Tree gifts need to be returned by this Friday afternoon at 4:30 so this week will be your last opportunity to help make Christmas brighter for a Dent County child. The Angel Tree this year is a cooperative effort of the Dent County Service Unit of the Salvation Army and Healthy Dent County. For more information about the Angel Tree, or the Dent County Service Unit of the Salvation Army, call 729-8163.
The Dent County Commissioners met for their regular meeting Monday morning in the Dent County Courthouse. In the road report, District One Commissioner Dennis Purcell said that he had a crew on Dent County Road 5060 doing ditch work and adding materials to that area. He went on to say that another crew was cleaning out crossover pipes and would be replacing missing road signs on county road 4090. Purcell added that brush would be cut on Dent County Road 6615 and rough spots would graded on county road 5360. District Two Commissioner Gary Larson said that he had two grader operators opening up Public Road 401, which will be designated as Dent County Road 4340. Larson clarified that the road did not belong to the County until the transfer from the Forest Service to Dent County was completed. He noted that materials would be added to 4340. Larson said the brush cutting on Dent County Road 2150 should be completed Monday. Presiding Commissioner Darrell Skiles said that he would be attending a meeting with a SEMA representative today at The Community Center @ The Armory. The purpose of the meeting was to update FEMA maps. Dent County Clerk Angie Curley said that payroll was being approved. Dent County Treasurer Denita Williams reported on sales tax receipts for December. She said general revenue receipts were $98,522.39 and that the year-to-date totaled $857,257.55. The road and bridge receipts were $43,627.47 to bring that 2017 total to $398,934.82. Williams went on to say that the receipts for the Jail Construction and the Jail Operations sales taxes were $57,971.61 each. The Commissioners approved County Ordinance 12-11-17 by a vote of 3-0 banning open burning and outdoor burning for up to 30 days due to current dry conditions. The Commission can terminate the burn ban when moisture conditions improve. The next meeting of the Commissioners will be Thursday morning in the Courthouse and the meeting is open to the public.
The mining industry is continuously growing, with a need for 50,000 new employees by 2019, and 3.5 million manufacturing jobs expected over the next decade. The Doe Run Company (Doe Run) continued its commitment to providing Missouri students with educational tools necessary for careers in mining and manufacturing with donations to Missouri University of Science and Technology (Missouri S&T) and Valley R-VI schools. This fall, Doe Run donated a new Ingersoll Rand R1101 air compressor valued at $50,000 to Missouri S&T. More than 300 undergraduate and graduate students throughout the mining engineering, civil, explosives and certificate programs will utilize the compressor in the university’s drilling and blasting classes. Doe Run also donated $10,000 to Valley R-VI school district’s Project Lead The Way which is a four-year STEM curriculum that focuses on project-based learning and prepares students to solve real-world problems in a collaborative environment. The Project Lead the Way prepares students for STEM careers, including those in the growing mining and manufacturing industries, which employ more than 270,000 people throughout Missouri. Valley R-VI school district has 400 students in kindergarten through 12th grade. According to Trina Pritchett, the Valley R-VI high school science teacher who will be the Project lead the Way gateway instructor said the partnership with Doe Run, along with their generous gift, made the project possible.
The Salem Memorial Hospital Board of Directors will hold their regular meeting this afternoon at noon at the hospital library. In the administrator’s report, the board will receive information on the summary of operations for the month of November followed by the Chief of Nursing report. There will also be a report on the Hospital Foundation followed by the auxiliary report. In old business, the board will discuss the election filings beginning today and ending January 16th, 2018. In new business the board will go over purchases. The regular meeting of the Salem Memorial District Hospital Board of Directors will be at noon today at the hospital library and the meeting is open to the public.