Local News – Tuesday, July 10th, 2018
The Dent County Commissioners met for their regular meeting Monday the Dent County Courthouse. Presiding Commissioner Darrell Skiles was not in attendance so District 1 Commissioner Dennis Purcell was appointed as the acting Presiding Commissioner for the meeting. In the road report, Purcell said West Contracting from Sullivan would be in town this week to begin work on a number of chip and seal road recoats. Purcell said men were out doing last minute patching on numerous roads, and other men were out preparing the other chip and seal for the overlay. Purcell said crews would be cutting brush on Dent County Roads 2400 and 6510. Second District Commissioner Gary Larson said his men were also preparing roads for the chip and seal overlay. He did say the road at the Stone Hill Cemetery was going to need a double layer, but it is a very short road of maybe 1/10th of a mile. Larson stated grading was going to be attempted on Dent County Road 4280 if it had enough moisture content. He went on to say a man would be loading chips the county provides for the chip and seal roads in to the trucks from West Contracting. Dent County Clerk Angie Curley said she balanced with the Dent County Treasurer on all accounts in June, and she also balanced with the Dent County Collector and Dent County Assessor on collections, abatements and add-ons for the month of June. Curley wanted to remind everyone that if you are not registered to vote in the Primary Election, you have until this Wednesday, July 11th at 4:30 to get registered. The next meeting of the Dent County Commissioners will be Thursday morning at the courthouse and the meeting is open to the public.
The photography collection of Dent County native Ron Lewis is on display at the Ozarks Cultural and Natural Resource Center now until July 31st. Stop by and visit his work of scenes of rural Dent County and surrounding areas including Montauk, Alley Spring and breathtaking night skies. The Ozark Natural and Cultural Resource Center is open daily Monday through Friday from 9:00 in the morning until 5:00 in the afternoon, and on Saturday from 9:00 in the morning until 12:00 noon at 202 S Main Street in Salem. The exhibit is free and open to everyone. For more information, contact the ONCRC at 573-729-0029.
The Salem Chamber of Commerce 4th of July Parade featured numerous entries ranging from classic cars to tractors and many political floats and displays. According to Tabitha Utley, Chamber Executive Director there were over 85 entries. Utley also noted that the Non-Commercial entry winner was Developmental Disabilities Board, while the Commercial entry winner was Riverways Federal Credit Union and the Horsemanship winner was Alyssa McBee. The Salem Area Chamber of Commerce and the entire audience want to thank those taking part in the parade.
The Salem Area Chamber of Commerce will hold their first Business Education Session on Thursday, July 19th from 12:00 noon until 1:00 in the afternoon at the Salem Area Chamber of Commerce Office. These sessions are free for anyone who would like to attend. The Salem GRO Economic Advisor, Hrishue Mahalaha will be presenting, “How Can Your Business Benefit from our local Economic Development Efforts?” Due to the limited amount of space, please e-mail the chamber of your intentions to attend or to get more information about the session.
The Doe Run Company’s two mine rescue teams recently earned high honors at competitive mine rescue contests. The Gray Team won first place in three different competitions at the Northern Regional Mine Rescue Contest. The Maroon Team also received high honors at the Southeast Regional Mine Rescue Contest. At the Northern Regional Mine Rescue Contest, the Gray Team won first place in the field competition, which measures how well team members adhere to mine rescue procedures during a simulated mine emergency, and first place in the first aid competition, which consisted of a CPR and first-responder scenario. The Gray Team also won first place in the team trainer competition. The contest took place from June 4th through June 8th in Clymer, New York. The Maroon Team won first place in team tech at the Southeast Regional Mine Rescue Contest. Luke Davis, benchman for the Maroon Team, won the Dragerman Trophy, which recognizes his ability to test and maintain the Drager brand breathing apparatus. Additionally, the team placed fourth in the field competition and fourth in combination scoring out of 15 participating teams. The contest took place from May 21st through May 24th in Franklin, Tennessee. Doe Run’s mine rescue teams participate in voluntary training for at least eight hours per month and compete in mine rescue competitions annually. Companywide, Doe Run employees go through more than 16,000 hours of training annually.
The City of Salem Planning and Zoning Board of Commissioners Chairman Gary Brown has called a special meeting of the Board for Monday, July 16th at 6:30 pm in the City Hall Council Chambers, 202 North Washington. The meeting is to address a request to vacate an undeveloped portion of South Oak Street. The undeveloped street is more specifically described as all the undeveloped portion of South Oak Street platted as 50 feet in width which runs north and south and which lies between the south right of way of Franklin Avenue as platted and the north right of way of East Hunt Street as platted. The meeting of the Planning and Zoning Board is open to the public.