Local News – Tuesday, March 15th, 2022
The Dent County Commissioners met Monday morning at the courthouse for their regular meeting. Grant Wilson from the Congressman Jason Smith’s Rolla office was in attendance. He told the commission Smith voted “No” on the Consolidation Appropriations Act, better known as H.R. 2471, that came in at 1.5 trillion dollars. Smith voted against the bill because nothing in it would benefit the people of the 8th District. He also wanted to let the commission know that Smith will not run for the Senate and stay in the House where he is on the Ways and Means Committee. Dent County Collector Shannon VanKirk presented the commission with the Collector’s Annual Settlement form for her year which runs from March 1st through February 28th. This report was for collections in 2021. In the report, collections came in at $8,799,537.38 with an additional $679,848.52 in delinquent payments and another $41,802.34 in abatements. Major distributions noted on the report were $5,722,025.54 to schools, $721,645.21 to the county for General Revenue and Road and Bridge, and $443,987.66 for the hospital. She said there was an increase in collections from 2020 of $392,148.37. In the road report, District 1 Commissioner Wes Mobray stated materials would be added and grading done on Dent County 5650 while only grading would be done on county road 6500. Mobray said brush would be cut on Dent County Road 2440. District 2 Commissioner Gary Larson indicated materials would be added and grading done on Dent County Roads 2590, 2610, 3120, 3180 and 5240 while only grading would be done on county roads 3190, 4370 and 5280. Larson also said it was time to put out bids for grader blades and the commission agreed to accept bids until 10:00 on March 28th. Bids will be opened after that time in the regular meeting. Presiding Commissioner Darrell Skiles said he attended the TAC meeting last Thursday and reported the district engineer said they are scoping the Route TT area in Sligo for a new bridge over Crooked Creek. At the MRPC meeting, the group met with federal and state legislators or their representatives. He said on Friday all the commissioners attended the South Central Missouri County Commissioners Association in Houston, Missouri; and also attended the FFA Labor and Pie Auction Friday night. Skiles said he will be meeting with Attorney Travis Elliott either Wednesday or Thursday along with Department of Revenue representatives to work on a solution to the sales tax debacle by the state. Dent County Clerk Angie Curley said absentee voting continues in her office at the courthouse for the April 5th Municipal Election. She said the state auditors will arrive this week to start their performance audit which is due every four years. The next meeting of the commission will be Thursday morning at 9:00 and the meeting is open to the public
Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt announced Wednesday that Rodney G. Durbin, who owned and operated “Honey Do’s Handy Service,” from Belle, Missouri, has been charged with consumer fraud and, on account of those charges, has been arrested. Durbin faces nine counts in Maries County for defrauding consumers and financially exploiting elderly Missourians. The charges allege Durbin falsely promised consumers that he would provide construction and moving services in exchange for upfront payments. However, once paid, Durbin only performed a minimal amount of work before abandoning the projects and refusing to issue refunds. On three occasions, the victims of this fraud were elderly. The prosecution of Durbin is being jointly conducted by the Missouri Attorney General and the Maries County Prosecuting Attorney Richard Skouby. Missourians who believe they may have been scammed by a contractor should file a complaint with the Missouri Attorney General’s Office by calling the Consumer Protection hotline at 800-392-8222 or online at ago.mo.gov.
An accident occurred Sunday evening around 10:30 in Maries County on Highway 68 about five miles west of St. James. According to the highway patrol report, a 2006 Chrysler Seabring driven by 62-year-old Kenneth Allen of Rolla, was travelling westbound and travelled off the right side of the roadway and struck a ditch. Allen suffered minor injuries and was transported by St. James Ambulance to Phelps Health. He was not wearing a safety restraint at the time of the accident. The Chrysler sustained extensive damage and was removed from the scene by Spurgeon’s Towing.
The Healthy Dent County Fitness Center will be offering Two-Step dance classes every Tuesday evening at 6:30 in March at the Salem Community Center @ the Armory. The Two-Step Dance will be taught tonight & March 22nd with a combination Two-Step and Swing dance night to be held March 29th. The instructor will be Rosalie Wright and the cost is $10 per couple at the door. Call 739-1127 for more information.
Learn to weave scarves and sashes without a loom, as the American Indians who lived in this area did. Learn from instructor Susan Wilson who has over 30 years’ experience with finger weaving. The workshop will be tonight from 5:30 until 7:30. Enrollees will get a book and instructions on how to create a piece of their own design and will weave a bookmark in the class. All supplies will be provided and the fee for the class is $20. For more information or to register, call 247-0651 or 247-5306 or you can e-mail salemartscouncil@outlook.com.