News – Thursday, October 22nd, 2026
The Dent County Opioid Settlement Committee will hold a meeting this evening at 6:00 in the Dent County Associate Courtroom. After reading and approving the minutes from the previous meeting, the board will discuss and approve priorities for funding as well as the amount of funding that is available. The committee will set the meeting dates for the 2027 year and also discuss adding a new member to the committee before adjourning. The Dent County Opioid Settlement Committee meeting Thursday is open to the public.
The Dent County area school districts of Salem R-80, Oak Hill R-I, Green Forest R-II, Dent-Phelps R-III, and North Wood R-IV, have collectively released a letter encouraging community members to advocate for the full funding of public education from state legislators and Gov. Mike Kehoe. The letter specifies that during the 2025 Missouri legislative session, a total of $190 million was withheld from public school funding for 2026. During the September Missouri State Board of Education meeting, the full amount of approximately $300 million required to fully fund the Foundation Formula was ultimately not requested from the state legislature. The letter continues to warn that without full funding, area school districts will face significant financial losses. Superintendent of Salem R-80, Nathan Wills, stated continued losses could result in the loss of staff, extracurriculars, CIPs, cutting bus routes, or freezing salaries. For Salem R-80, $365,725 is projected to be lost; For Oak Hill R-I, $65,278; For Green Forest R-II, $71,446; For Dent-Phelps R-III, $113,070; and for North Wood R-IV, $75,602. These projections are calculated for each district should the Student Adequacy Target (SAT) be paid at $6,830 rather than the fully funded $7,145. If residents would like more information, contact your district’s superintendent and see how these funding decisions may impact your district.
The Healthy Dent County Prevention Coalition, along with local law enforcement, will collect unused, unwanted or expired medications at Walmart on Saturday, Oct. 24th from 10:00 to noon. Residents are encouraged to clean out their medicine cabinets and stop by for free, safe medication disposal. The local collection is part of National Prescription Drug Take Back Day, a campaign led by the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) each April and October to help prevent prescription drug misuse. Leftover medication from a surgery, an unfinished prescription or an expired bottle can easily be forgotten. Keeping these medications in the home can allow them to fall into the wrong hands. Safe disposal helps protect families and reduces opportunities for prescription drug misuse. Residents are invited to the Drug Take Back event but are also reminded that there are two permanent medication drop boxes located at the Dent County Sheriff’s Office and the Salem Police Department. These free disposal options provide a safe, convenient way to turn in unused or unwanted medications. Collected medications are handled by local law enforcement for proper disposal through incineration.
The Bunker R-III School District invites all area veterans to join students and staff for a Veteran’s Day Assembly in the New Gym on Friday, Nov. 13th at 12:30 in the afternoon. Your service will be honored with guest speakers, gifts, music, and refreshments. The district thanks you for your service!
Staff of Montauk State Park invites all to attend a Campground Costume Showdown on Saturday, Oct. 24th from 6:00 to 7:00 in the evening at Site 201. Join the campground hosts for a spooky time by dressing up, voting for your favorite hosts’ costume, and enjoying some Halloween treats.
Seventy high school marching bands from across the region will perform at The Dome at America’s Center this Friday and Saturday, Oct. 23rd and 24th, as part of the “Bands of America” St. Louis Super Regional Championship, presented by Yamaha and Sweetwater. Bands of America Championships are the nation’s premier marching band events, showcasing outstanding student musicians and visual performances. About 181,000 students will perform at Bands of America Championships this fall. One of the schools participating will be the Rolla High School, and they will be performing Friday afternoon at 2:15. Gates will open for preliminary competition at 8:45 Friday morning and 6:45 Saturday morning, and 6:00 Saturday night for the finals. The full schedule of performing bands can be found at marching.musicforall.org/st-louis-super-regional. Performances will be evaluated by a panel of nationally recognized music educators and marching band experts. The 14 highest-scoring bands will advance to the Saturday evening finals with the top-scoring band named champion at the end of the night.