Local News – Tuesday, May 26th, 2020

The City of Salem has indicated that May utility bills started going out this past Saturday and customers who haven’t received a bill by this Friday, May 29th, are asked to contact the utility office at 729-4117. While the bills reflect the new AMI system’s capability for more recent meter reads, the Board of Aldermen have provided different options for customers to select how they want to be billed through the transition to the new system. Businesses with COVID-19 PPP loans will have the information needed to make eligible utility payments under the program. June bills will be processed after customers indicate their preferred billing preferences going forward. Anyone with questions about their May bill is asked to contact the utility office at 729-4117.

An accident occurred on Saturday evening at 5:45 in Dent County on Highway 68 about one mile north of Highway 19. According to the highway patrol report, a 1997 Toyota 4 Runner driven by 66-year old Timothy Pogue of Salem was traveling southbound when the Toyota traveled off the right side of the roadway and struck a driveway. The 4 Runner then became airborne, struck a ditch and overturned. Pogue suffered moderate injuries and was transported to the Salem Memorial Hospital. Pogue was wearing a safety restraint at the time of the accident. The 4 Runner was totaled and removed from the scene by Whitaker’s Towing.

An accident happened Thursday evening shortly after 6:15 on Maries County Road 522 about a mile north of Highway 63. The report from the highway patrol states that a Honda Sport Trax 400 ATV being ridden north by 17-year old Heston Parsons of Rolla traveled across the center of the roadway, went off the left side of the road and struck a tree before coming to a rest. Parsons suffered serious injuries and was transported by Phelps Health Ambulance before being airlifted by Arch Air Medical to University Hospital in Columbia. The Honda sustained minor damage and was removed from the scene by the owner.

An accident occurred Friday afternoon at 4:09 in Phelps County on the South Service Road adjacent to Interstate 44. According to the highway patrol report, a 1998 GMC Sonoma being driven by a 33-year old Adam Piper of Cuba, traveled off the right side of the south service road where the Sonoma struck a culvert and overturned before coming to rest. Piper received moderate injuries and was transported to Phelps Health Hospital in Rolla by St. James Ambulance. Piper was not wearing a safety restraint at the time of the accident. The GMC was totaled and removed from the scene by Spurgeon’s Towing.

The Salem R-80 Board of Education held their regular meeting Thursday evening at the district administrative offices. Superintendent John McCollloch discussed the property purchased by the school right next to the district administrative offices on Route J, and accepted the bid from Godi Excavating to tear down the house, remove the debris and fill in the opening for $5,500. The board approved the adult meal prices for the 2020-2021 school year at $2.50 for breakfast and $4.00 for lunch. The children will receive free meals again for the next school year. The board approved a number of revisions for the 2019-2020 school budget with the insurance assessment the big blow, the lighting project for $280,000 of which the school should get about $240,000 back, and a new engine for Bus #5 for about $29,000. The board tabled approving a preliminary budget for the 2020-2021 school year as McColloch said the school just received some information that will make substantial changes to the budget figures. The board approved to advertise for sale surplus property that will be mostly made up of all the weight equipment from the tin gym. It will be advertised in the paper and it will be on the R-80 website as well. Brendon Smith was in with a request to hold Baccalaureate for the 2020 graduating class. He explained the parameters of how the event will be held as well as a preliminary ceremony itinerary. The event would be held on Wednesday, June 3rd from 7:00 to 8:00 at the football field and the school board approved the request. Superintendent McColloch asked the board to consider a change in the support staff salary schedule as the district was falling behind in wages to food service personnel, custodial persons, bus drivers, secretarial staff and more. McColloch suggested to the board to drop the lowest two steps on the salary schedule, and Step 3 would become the new Step 1 with two more steps being added at the back end of the schedule. The total cost would be $61,298 to make that adjustment and move up everyone three steps. The board unanimously approved the proposed changes to the schedule. The board set their reorganizational meeting and next regular meeting for June 16th at 6:00 as that is 14 days after the June 2nd Municipal Election. The board accepted the resignations of Kim Pogue as a middle school counselor, Heidi Ross as an instructional coach and Jessica Haberman as the high school special education instructor. Principal Marty Anderson gave an update on the graduation exercises for June 5th at the high school football field. The gates will open at 5:30 for the 7:00 event and those attending must have a ticket to get in. Once the ticket has been dropped off in the box upon entry, the person may not leave the enclosed area as they will not be allowed back in. Persons attending should bring their own lawn chairs and set up around the track. There will not be any band or choir performances this year but there will be 11 valedictorian speeches. He said once the ceremony is over, students will be released from their rows in an orderly fashion to leave the field while spectators will not be allowed to collect on the track. He said about 250 chairs will be on the track and seating in the bleachers will be in every other row with proper separation. KSMO will live stream the event on their website and on Facebook, plus it will be later placed that evening on You Tube for viewing. Graduation will also be aired a few times in the days after the graduation on Channel 95. If parents want a DVD of the ceremony, they will be made available a few days after graduation at a reasonable cost. The board then voted to go into closed session.