News – Friday, October 18th 2024
The Dent County Commissioners met for their regular meeting Thursday morning in the courthouse. Commissioner Wes Mobray was not in attendance due to a prior commitment. In the road report, District Two Commissioner Gary Polk said it was too dry to grade and the work crews would be replacing a crossover pipe on Dent County Road 4290. There was no report given for District 1. Presiding Commissioner Gary Larson said he attended the Transportation Advisory Committee meeting last Thursday at the MRPC and most of the discussion was on the concrete problems with the Interstate 44 and some of it will have to be replaced. He said he also attended the South Central County Commissioners Association meeting Friday in Houston. He said the commissioners discussed stories concerning mistreatment of citizens by the National Park Service rangers in the Ozark National Scenic Riverways and are creating a plan of action to bring to the NPS to see what can be done. Dent County Clerk Angie Curley said she balanced with the treasurer on all monthly accounts for September. She said Tuesday will be the first day for “no excuse” absentee voting, Wednesday is the last day to request a mail out ballot, her office will be open from 8:00 in the morning until 12:00 noon on November 2nd for absentee voting or changes to your voter registration, and the last day to absentee vote will be Monday, November 4th from 8:00 in the morning until 5:00 in the afternoon at the courthouse. She said so far about 300 people have voted absentee during the “Excused” portion of that voting. The next meeting of the commission will be Monday morning at 9:00 at the courthouse and the meeting is open to the public.
An accident occurred in Dent County Thursday morning at 7:45 on Highway H on mile east of Lenox. According to the Highway Patrol report a 2000 Ford Ranger, driven by a 17-year-old female juvenile, ran off the right side of the roadway and struck a ditch. The juvenile suffered minor injuries and was transported by a private conveyance to Salem Memorial Hospital. The report state that she was wearing a safety restraint. The Ford sustained minor damage and was removed by a private party.
The Missouri Department of Conservation encourages people to enjoy fall foliage through camping, hiking, driving tours, or even floating. In our area of the state, autumn has been slow to arrive. Flowering dogwoods have bright red berries that match the brilliance of their changing leaves. The black, mockernut, and pignut hickories are showing signs of their bright beautiful yellows. Perhaps you may have noticed some dots of purple near the ground: That’s our native aromatic aster that’s so important for late-season pollinators. The best place to see color so far is down by our scenic rivers you may notice some of the bottomland species changing color. Sycamore is either yellow or entirely defoliated. Enjoying the fall colors along the river is a refreshing change after months surrounded by deep greens. Take advantage of the great weather and get yourself and your family outside! For reports on other areas of the state, the conservation department offers weekly online fall color updates from agency foresters all over the state at mdc.mo.gov/fallcolor