Local News – Tuesday, September 19, 2017
On Friday, September 15th at approximately 10:00 at night, the officers of the Salem Police Department were investigating an incident of property damage that occurred at the Salem City Park on September 8th. During the investigation, the officers learned of two suspects that possibly had involvement in the damage. On Saturday, September 16th, further investigation led to the arrest of a 22-year old male of Licking and a 17-year old male of Salem for causing the damage that had been reported. The two suspects were issued City of Salem summonses to appear in court on November 9th and were released. Please contact the Salem Police Department at (573) 729-4242 if you have information regarding any ongoing investigation.
The Dent County Commissioners met Monday morning at the courthouse for their regular meeting. The District 2 Road Supervisor sat in for Commission Larson who was unable to attend. In the road report, District 1 Commissioner Dennis Purcell reported materials would be added and grading done on Dent County Road 5650 which is also known as the Lake Road, while brush will be cut on county road 5130. Purcell went on to say that Ultimate Pavement Material would be used to repair potholes and edging on chip and seal county roads 2400, 6180, 6300 and 6380. Sam Gorman gave the road report for District 2 and said a pipe was going to be put in on Dent County Roads 3330 and 4060, and materials would be hauled to those roads. He also said materials would be added to Dent County Roads 2120 and 3220, and brush was going to be cut on Dent County Road 2550. Presiding Commissioner Darrell Skiles reported on the External Relations Committee meeting from the MRPC and said invitations and notifications for the MRPC Annual Dinner on October 26th at the Salem Community Center@The Armory were going out in the mail. He went onto report they reviewed the State Legislative priorities they would like to see addressed and sent that out to the MRPC members for their feedback. Skiles said at the regular MRPC meeting that Janie Dunning acting as a consultant for the Missouri Farm Bureau is working with the Missouri Broadband Initiative in trying to meet the challenges of providing broadband Internet access into rural areas. Dunning says their statistics show that 69% of Missouri rural areas do not have broadband and for rural America, that number is 39%. He also said that he recommended the appointment of Gary Brown as an At-Large MRPC Board Member representing for-profit businesses and that was approved. Skiles went on to report that he spoke with CenturyLink representative Lynne Zinsser about the problems at the courthouse with their long distance services. Zinsser asked the county to appoint one person as their contact person and the commission appointed Dent County Clerk Angie Curley as that representative. Skiles said he would be at the MRPC today to review Ozark Rivers Solid Waste Management District Recycling Grant applications. Dent County Clerk Angie Curley is reminding everyone that if you have NOT received your voter registration card in the mail to please call her office at 729-4144. She said the county has received a number of the voter registration cards back because addresses have changed and you will have to have a good address before elections in 2018. Prosecuting Attorney Andrew Curley brought in the contract for the county purchase of the White property across Rolla Road from the future location of the jail and justice center. The commission approved signing the paperwork and proceeding with the closing. The next meeting of the commissioners will be Thursday morning at 9:00 and the meeting is open the public.
The Salem Memorial Hospital Board of Directors will hold their regular board meeting tonight at 6:00 at the hospital library. In the administrator’s report, the board will receive information on the summary of operations for the month of August 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 Annual Bylaw Review before discussing purchases for the hospital in New Business. The board may then vote to go into closed session. The regular board meeting of the Salem Memorial District Hospital Board of Directors will be tonight starting at 6:00 at the hospital library and the meeting is open to the public.
An accident happened at 2:35 Saturday morning in Crawford County about six miles north of Viburnum on Highway 49. According to the highway patrol report, a 2009 Chevy Pickup driven by 21-year old Bryan Black of Cherryville, ran off the left side of the roadway. The Chevy overturned and struck a fence before overturning again. Black suffered minor injuries and was transported by the Iron County EMS to the Missouri Baptist Hospital in Sullivan. Black was wearing a seat restraint at the time of the accident. The Chevy was totaled and removed from the scene by Whipperwill Recycling of Davisville.