Local News – Wednesday, October 4th, 2023
Next week from Monday, October 9th through Friday, the 13th, the GFL Green For Life Environmental Services will be providing the semi-annual residential Community Cleanup for Salem residents on your normal trash pick up day. To have your items picked up, residents should place items curbside the night before your regularly scheduled trash pickup for the week. These special Community Cleanups assist residents with the disposal of items not regularly accepted for trash pickup. It is important that residents note that there are some restrictions on the types of items that may be disposed of during Community Cleanup week. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) will not allow collection yard waste (leaves, grass or twigs,) batteries, tires, motor oil, chemicals or solvents, paint, appliances or non-compactable items such as concrete, tree stumps, steel, construction debris, etc. For questions about the Fall Community Cleanup, call GFL at 1-800-926-3953 or 1-417-741-7714. If you need help with removing your yard waste such as limbs, grass bags or leaf bags, you may schedule a pickup with the City for $40 per pick-up by calling the Utility Office at 729-4117
The annual Producers Field Day for 2023 at the Wurdack Extension and Education Center at Cook Station will be this Friday from 9:30 until 12:00 noon. A variety of featured speakers will share information on topics including utilizing winter annual forages in cool-season pastures, incorporating native warm-season grasses into producers’ operations, the economics of keeping cattle through a drought, beef management during a drought with forage shortages, winter grazing grain sorghum, Missouri weather and resources, and feral hog elimination. For more information contact Gatlin Bunton, Director, Wurdack Extension and Education Center at (573) 775-2135 or online at e-mail him at buntong@missouri.edu.
Time is coming to an end for those turkey hunters who want to comment on possible changes to the spring and fall wild turkey hunting seasons, including all-day spring hunting and reduced harvest limits for fall seasons. In the nearly 20 years since the last significant regulations change for turkey hunting, much has changed for both hunters and wild turkeys as both turkey populations have declined and turkey hunting participation, over time, has also declined. According to Missouri Department of Conservation, research indicates that the current season structure, combined with the reproductive ecology of turkeys, has resulted in relatively low harvest rates on juvenile and adult gobblers over the years. This means that a small increase in the total number of the males harvested each spring would be sustainable. Extending shooting hours during the spring season may expand the opportunity for individuals to take up turkey hunting or offer more time for others to return to the field while maintaining a healthy turkey population. The department is considering changes to fall turkey hunting regulations that aim to balance the wellbeing of the turkey population while trying to maximize hunting opportunities. The Conservation Department encourages turkey hunters to go online to mdc.mo.gov/turkey-regs for more information on potential regulation changes and to provide comments. The comment period closes this Friday.
A Collage ‘N’ Sip Art Party with Lexie Mutch at the Creative Arts Center will be held Saturday evening from 5:00 to 6:00. Join us for an art night out, cutting and pasting a piece of collage art for yourself or as a gift for a friend. A man with a pansy head in suit and tie? A flower-headed women contemplating life in the cosmos? We will play with hybridization and re-contextualization. Snacks and non-spiked cider will be there ready to share! Feel free to bring your own magazines and ephemera ready to cut too (many magazines will be available first come first serve, but to ensure you’re inspired by your source materials, it may be fitting to bring your own). Let’s cut and glue a new scene or two, enjoy a laugh and the company of others! The cost is $10, there is a minimum of five attendees and a maximum of 20. This workshop is for participants 12-years-old and up. The cost is $10 per person for ages 12 and up. There is a minimum of 5 attendees and a maximum of 20 attendees. Interested persons can sign up under “Programs” at the salemcommunitybetterment.com website for activities at the Creative Arts Center.
The Salem Park Board met Tuesday at the Salem Community Center@The Armory,. At the meeting, the board voted unanimously to recommend to the Board of Aldermen to appoint Luke Heithold to the Park Board to replace Tiffin Felkerson who resigned. The other person interested in serving was Tracy Kent. The board discussed the railroad trail project with John Hambacker and Jay Anderson where they talked about signage and additional benches parallel to the trail totaling three on each side. The large 5 by 8 foot sign issue will still need to be reviewed by building inspector Jared Brown before it can be approved. The board approved allowing Hambacker and Anderson to develop a plan with Park and Recreation Director Melissa Dubois, then bring the final plan back to the board for their approval. The board also discussed creating a policy for the parks to set definitive hours of operation, probably 11:00 PM to 5:00 AM, and also to prevent loitering or after hour access to the park. Dubois is to create the ordinance to be reviewed by the city attorney before being brought to the Park Board for their review. The board then went into closed session.