Local News – Wednesday, August 14th, 2019

The Dent County Commissioners met for their regular meeting Monday morning at the Dent County Courthouse. At the meeting Dent County Treasurer Denita Williams brought in the sales tax monies received by the county in August. She reported that the General Revenue Fund and LEST Fund each received $76,705.66 this month while last year in August, the county received $88,425.39. That is $11,719.73 less than last year and year-to-date, those funds are down over $31,133.00, a drop of 4.75%. The Road and Bridge Sales Tax Fund received $36,402.78 this month which is down from the 2018 August figure of $41,923.63 which is a decline of $5,520.85. Year-to-date, the fund is down over $9,784 which is a reduction of about 3.27%. The jail project funds both came in at $72,829.73 this month and that is down from august of 2018 by $10,415.08. Year-to-date, both funds are down just over $10,000. In the road report, District 1 Commissioner Dennis Purcell stated grading would be done on Dent County Roads 5650 and 6435 while brush would be cut on county roads 4126, 5130, 5140 and 5450. District 2 Commissioner Gary Larson reported grading would be done on Dent County Road 2130, while materials would be added and grading done on county roads 4060 and 4480. He said brush would be cut on county road 5240 and a man would be heading to Springfield to get more oil for chip and seal repair. Presiding Commissioner Darrell Skiles reported on the TAC meeting held last Thursday in St. James and said the Interstate 70 bridge in Rocheport over the Missouri River would be replaced in the near future and that will force more traffic onto Highway 50 and Interstate 44 as Interstate 70 will be reduced to one lane in each direction. He said Thursday he would be attending Senator Blunt’s Agriculture Advisory Meeting at Sedalia and would not be at the Commission meeting. At the last meeting, Collector Shannon VanKirk discussed the Timber Industries properties with the commission and will proceed with the procedures of selling six pieces of that property for the tax sale. Sheriff Bob Wells discussed the need to seek bids for a new telephone system that will link the sheriff’s office to the new jail phone system. Bids will be accepted until 10:00 in the morning on Monday, August 19th. The next meeting of the commissioners will be Thursday morning at 9:00 at the courthouse and it is open to the public.

An accident occurred Sunday night at 9:20 in Crawford County on Highway 19 just south of the Cuba city limits. According to the highway patrol report, a southbound 2004 Mitsubishi Outlander, driven by 16-year-old Jewel Conaway of Steelville, traveled into the northbound lane. Conaway then overcorrected causing the Mitsubishi to overturn and come to rest in the ditch. Conaway suffered moderate injuries, while a passenger, 16-year-old McKayla Brown of Steelville, suffered minor injuries. Both girls were transported by Crawford County Ambulance to Missouri Baptist Hospital in Sullivan. According to the report both the driver and passenger were wearing safety restraints at the time of the accident. The Mitsubishi was totaled and removed from the scene by Miles and Sons Towing.

The Salem Police Department has released a number of reports for the first part of August. On Thursday morning, August 1st at about 8:13, an officer was dispatched to Wal-Mart reference a shoplifter. An investigation of the report led to the arrest of a 19-year-old female of Salem for stealing merchandise valued at $23.92. The suspect was issued a summons to appear in court and released. Later that evening at approximately 9:00, an officer was conducting an investigation regarding a convicted sex offender who failed to register with the Dent County Sheriffs Department. Police found that a 45-year-old male of Salem, who was a convicted sex offender, had failed to register with the Dent County Sheriffs Department and was also living within 1000 feet of a school. The suspect was taken into custody and incarcerated pending the application for a warrant. Then on Friday night, the 2nd of August at about 9:25, an officer was dispatched to Wal-Mart in reference to a shoplifter. That investigation led to the arrest of a 24-year-old female of Salem for stealing merchandise on two occasions valued at $42.86. The suspect was issued a summons to appear in court and released. On the afternoon of August 3rd at about 2:30, an officer transported a 31-year-old male of St. Louis from St. Francis County to the Dent County Jail due to an active arrest warrant from the City of Salem. That same evening at around 7:50 an officer was dispatched to Wal-Mart in reference to a shoplifter. After an investigation, a 56-year-old female of Salem was arrested for stealing merchandise valued at $42.13. The suspect was issued a summons to appear in court and released. Please contact the Salem Police Department at (573) 729-4242 if you have information regarding an ongoing investigation.