News – Friday, April 4th 2025

The Dent County Commission met Thursday morning at the courthouse. In the road report, District 1 Commissioner Keith Green said crews would be out checking roads for washouts and other damages and do patching where needed in anticipation of more heavy rain Friday and Saturday. District 2 Commissioner Jimmy Williams said his crew would be out checking roads and repairing those that were damaged the most and putting orange cones out on roads that have some damage that are still passable that crews can’t get to knowing that more heavy rain is anticipated that could do further damage to those roads. He also said a crew had to remove a downed tree. Commissioner Gary Larson said he did not have to attend the Solid Waste Advisory Board meeting Wednesday in Jefferson City. He had nothing else to report. Dent County Clerk Angie Curley said the unexcused and excused absentee voting for the Municipal Election continues at the courthouse. Her office will be open this Saturday morning from 8:00 until 12:00 noon to vote absentee or update your voter registration, and the last day to vote absentee will be Monday, April 7th from 8:00 in the morning until 5:00 in the afternoon. She also said the polling locations at Green Forest R-2 and Dent-Phelps R-3 will not be open due to no elections for those school boards or issues. The polls will be open Tuesday, April 8th from 6:00 in the morning until 7:00 that evening, and bring your ID when go to vote. Curley said her office balanced with the treasurer on all accounts for the month of March, and her office also balanced with the assessor and collector on all collections, abatements and add-ons for March. Dent County Collector Shannon VanKirk said she has passed out 47 applications for the “Senior Real Estate Property Tax Relief Program” so far with no online applications, and 11 of those applications have been returned and submitted for approval. Applications are available at her office along with a “Frequently Asked Question” sheet. She said people who want to apply will need to have an ID which could be a driver’s license, your voter registration or passport; a copy of your deed from the recorder’s office of which there is no charge if needed for this application, or you can have the recorder list the book and page number your deed is recorded in on the application; and you will need a copy of your paid tax receipt which the collector can also provide. All applications will NOT have to be signed by a notary, but they will need to be signed in front of and witnessed by a county official.  These applications will need to be submitted by June 30th to qualify for the property tax relief this year. The next meeting of the Dent County Commission will be Monday morning at 9:00 at the courthouse, the meeting is open to the public.

The Missouri Department of Natural Resources is now accepting entries for its annual photo contest. Winning entries will be featured on the department’s website and social media platforms. The deadline to submit photos is September 1st. Entries can include images from anywhere in Missouri, featuring beautiful natural resources, unique state parks and historic sites, outdoor recreation, weather, wildlife and people enjoying the outdoors. Contestants can submit entries in the following categories: Natural Resources: Photographs of Missouri’s air, landscapes and waterways. Unique Places: Photographs taken within one of Missouri’s state parks and historic sites. People Enjoying Missouri’s Outdoors: Photographs of people enjoying and exploring Missouri’s great outdoors. Judges will choose first, second, third and honorable mention winners for each category. For more information or to submit photos, visit dnr.mo.gov/photo-contest. Please send questions about the photo contest to socialmedia@dnr.mo.gov.