News – Tuesday, June 3rd 2025

The Missouri State Highway Patrol reports that a 63-year-old Salem woman drowned Sunday, June 1st, while kayaking on the Current River. According to the report a strong current pushed the woman into a downed tree, causing the kayak to overturn. Other floaters pulled the woman from the water. The patrol stated that the woman was not wearing a life jacket.

An accident occurred Sunday afternoon at 3:00 in Iron County on Highway 21 two miles west of Glover. According to the Highway Patrol report a westbound 2017 Ford Escape, driven by a 70-year-old Salem woman, traveled off the right side of the roadway, struck a tree, and overturned. The woman suffered moderate injuries and was transported by EMS to Iron County Medical Center. The report stated that the woman was wearing a safety restraint. The Ford was totaled and removed from the scene by Adam’s Custom Auto.

The City of Salem Board of Aldermen held a special meeting on Thursday evening in the Old City Hall Auditorium located at 202 N. Washington. After calling the meeting to order, the Board went into executive session to discuss litigation pertaining to the request for utilities by Terry Perkins. During the regular session, the Board announced that water service would be extended to the Perkins property contingent upon voluntary annexation into the City limits. Previous cases in which water service had been provided without annexation following the adoption of this policy, were brought to the Board’s attention, and due to lack of consensus, no resolution was reached and the Board voted to table the matter until the end of June. The Board then discussed nine bills from Bill #3663 to Bill #3671 that establishes a user charge system for the City of Salem’s wastewater system to provide funds needed to pay for all expenses associated with the wastewater system. Customers within City limits will have a base rate of $12.00, and $11.04 per 1,000 gallons. Customers outside of City limits can expect a base rate of $24.00, and $13.84 per 1,000 gallons. The monthly sewer rate for customers without a water meter will be $103.05 for the first unit and each additional unit will be $68.76 thereafter. The next Aldermen meeting is scheduled for June 10th, and is open to the public.

The Dent County Commission met Monday morning at the courthouse.  In the road report, District 1 Commissioner Keith Green said men will be installing crossover pipes in the Phillips Subdivision and also doing drainage work. Green said grading was going to be done in the Turtle area and on county road 5390. He also said pipes would be installed on county road 6100 and rock would be hauled where needed. District 2 Commissioner Jimmy Williams said rock would be added and grading would be done on Dent County Road 4060 as well as on county roads 5333 and 5340 in Boss. Williams indicated grading was going to be done on Dent County Road 2303 and brush cut on county road 6150. Dent County Presiding Commissioner Gary Larson had nothing to report. Dent County Clerk Angie Curley reiterate her request for any business that has a liquor license in the county, will need to have the license request submitted to the county clerk’s office by June 30th. If anyone has questions, please call the clerk’s office at 573-729-4144. Van Kitchens and Tyler Rensch from Attentive Management Company were in attendance to reveal to the commissioners what they had calculated the savings the county could have by going with their plan to utilize the Section 125 savings that provides benefits to county employers and provides FICA tax savings to the commissioners. They said each employee would have an average of about $150 per month to use for benefits that many of the employees already pay out of their checks which would come to about $13,569 per month. The Section 125 of the ACA Act allows employers to deduct those costs to provide additional benefits to employees before taxes, which would lower the FICA Tax liability for the county and keep the take home pay for the employee about the same or it could increase slightly. The total savings would be about $48,000 net to the county after their fee, and that would be divided among the different funds that have payroll. There was some concern about the reduction in Social Security benefits with this program, but Kitchens said that over time, the difference is minimal. It would also not affect the employees tax return much as their withholding can be what the employee wishes per paycheck. Commissioner Green wanted to talk with the other counties and businesses that have used this program before going any further, and Kitchens and Rensch said they would get them a list of references to contact. Dent County Treasurer Denita Williams brought in the CART Tax money received in May and said the county took in $87,096.19 which is $5,502.42 over last May, and year-to-date, the CART tax receipts are up $30,767.01. The commission then opened bids to sell the gazebo in the front yard of the courthouse. They received two bids: on from Eli Trower and one from Healthy Dent County, but they rejected both bids. They will get bids to repair the gazebo and keep it on the courthouse lawn. Mike Smith from Hope Construction was in to report on the leak in the annex building. He said there is hail damage to the brick wall next door to the annex which is causing much of the problem and until that is corrected, he is limited in what he feels he can do without wasting the county’s money. They did ask him to do a temporary dry seal until he can contact the insurance company and find out what they will do about the problem. The next meeting of the commissioners will be Thursday morning at 9:00 at the courthouse and is open to the public.

Agingbest wants to see every person live the best life possible. To help our community do this they are asking for volunteers. There are many volunteer opportunities here are a few; meal delivery to homebound clients, lawn care, technology education assistance, and pet care assistance. Call 800-369-5211 to volunteer in one of the 19 counties in Central Missouri.