News – Friday, February 21st 2025

The Dent County Commissioners met for their regular meeting Thursday morning. In the road report, District 1 Commissioner Keith Green and District 2 Commissioner Jimmy Williams stated that crews would be out grading, plowing and salting roads still covered with snow and ice. Presiding Commissioner Gary Larson stated he had been in touch with an elevator company to discuss installing one at the courthouse and they needed more information from him. Dent County Clerk Angie Curley attended a Missouri Association of Counties Board meeting by Zoom and heard from Ray McCarty from Associated Industries of Missouri about a use tax, heard from Trent Watson who gave legislative updates, and heard from attorney Travis Elliott on the medical marijuana tax. Curley said she applied for and received an election grant from the Missouri Secretary of State’s office in the amount of $3,135.60. She said any political subdivision holding an election needs to get their estimated election costs submitted to the clerk’s office by the end of the month. Curley went on to say the first day to vote absentee with an excused absence is Tuesday, February 25th. Curley also reported that State Representative John Hewkin was in support of the new election bill that will protect election officials, poll workers and others. She also stated that Curt Faigle from the 100-Acre Wood Rally would be at the commissioner’s meeting on Monday. Commissioner Larson said the commission would not be meeting on February 27th due to their required training. Deputy Rick Letchworth came in with the recommendations made by the Opioid Fund Committee to the MRPC, who then reviewed the applications to make sure they met the required qualifications. Four applications were then presented by Letchworth to the commissioners for their review.  The applications were from the Dent County Sheriff’s Department for 75,380.00; Dent County Health Center for $53,000.00; Council for Healthy Dent County for $55,108; and the Salem Memorial Hospital for $62,522. The total amount of funding came to $246,910.97. The commissioners approved the applications. The Commission signed a letter of support for the 100-Acre Wood Rally and also a letter of support for the Conexon Connects Bead Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment Program which will provide high speed internet, who is currently building within multiple counties in Missouri.  The next meeting of the Dent County Commission will be Monday morning at 9:00 at the courthouse and the meeting will be open to the public.

The Salem Area Arts Council will be presenting “Art Across the Ages,” a Community Art Show starting March 3rd and lasting until March 31st at the Ozark Natural and Cultural Resource Center to celebrate the arts in our community. March is “Youth Art Month” and the Arts Council wants to recognize the amazing talent and creativity that exists in our schools and community! They are excited to invite individuals of all ages from around our area to submit recent artwork to the show for free! This is a family friendly art show and artwork may be left to the discretion of the committee to accept or reject pieces based on the number of submissions, the space available, tasteful content, etc. There is a wide variety of artists who give many perspectives, adding to the vision of an artist evolving from childhood to adult. Maturity adds to and sometimes detracts from vision and the ability to express ideas, which is why having art examples from both youth and adults is so much fun! To submit artwork for display (2-D or 3-D), please email salemartscenter@salemcommunitybetterment.com. You can then arrange a time to come and hang your work/set up your display. This year the Arts Council are adding a couple of new things.  First, they hope to have live music at the reception; and second, they plan to give each artist an opportunity to sell their artwork if they want. No money will be handled at the show, but the artist is welcome to write their price on the name tag attached to the piece. The Arts Council will collect phone numbers with each entry, and if someone expresses an interest in purchasing a particular piece, they can share the phone number with that person with the artist’s permission. Come and enjoy this unique art exhibit highlighting the talent of area artists of all ages. The exhibit begins Monday, March 3rd at the ONCRC, with an open house and reception for all artists & families being held on Tuesday, March 4th, from 4:00 until 7:00.  Live music and light snacks will be provided.  The reception provides a great opportunity for families to meet the child’s art teacher and other artists, as well as take photos. Set-up will be in the ONCRC gallery room on Thursday and Friday, February 27th and 28th, from 9:00 in the morning until 4:00 in the afternoon; as well as on Saturday, March 1 from 10:00 in the morning until 12:00 noon. The exhibit will have visiting hours from 9:00 in the morning until 5:00 in the afternoon, Monday through Friday depending on the volunteers available.