News – Wednesday, August 19th, 2026

According to the Highway Patrol’s Online Arrest Report, the following charges have been filed against 18-year-old Kaiden D. Birdsong of Salem: Felony DWI resulting in serious physical injury and failure to drive on the right half of the roadway, resulting in a crash. The report went on to state that Birdsong has been released. The charges are mere accusations and not evidence of guilt. Evidence in support of the charges must be presented before a court of competent jurisdiction whose duty is to determine guilt or innocence.

The Dent County Collector’s Office has released that the 2026 Delinquent Tax Sale will be on Monday, Aug. 24th at 10:00 in the morning. Registration has begun for bidding. To sign up, visit the collector’s office at the Dent County Courthouse from 8:00 in the morning through 4:30 in the afternoon. For any questions or more information, contact the collector’s office at 573-729-3911. 

The Salem R-80 Board of Education will be holding a Tax Rate Hearing this Thursday evening at 5:30 to be immediately followed by its regularly scheduled board meeting at the Salem R-80 Administration Office. After approval of the consent agenda, containing previous board minutes, bills, food service report, program evaluations, and sub list, the board will hear a report from Superintendent Nathan Wills on facilities and CSIP goals. Administration reports are to follow. Under new business, the board will consider approval of MSBA 2026 policy updates and the preliminary 2025-26 Annual Secretary of the Board Report (ASBR.) Non-certified staffing changes will then be approved before the board moves into executive session for the purposes of discussing personnel. Until closed, this meeting is open to the public.

The Salem Area Arts Council “The Creative Arts Center” will be holding its monthly meeting in the evening of Tuesday, Aug. 25th from 6:00 to 7:15. Everyone is invited to help plan classes and activities for the arts center. Instructors are expected to attend as much as possible. The arts council strives to celebrate the arts in the community and wants to involve the public, display and recognize local art and artists, and help bring art related activities to the community. The public is invited to attend this meeting!

The Dent County Sheriff’s Office has released that seal coating on Hwy. F will take place next week beginning on Monday. Blevins Asphalt will be completing the work over two days and will be out from 7:00 in the morning to 5:00 in the evening. Striping on the road will take place approximately seven days after the chip sealing is finished.

Montauk State Park invites the public to a townhall-style meeting for the park with representatives from Missouri State Parks on hand to provide information and answer questions. This will take place at the park’s campground amphitheater and will begin at 5:00 in the evening Wednesday, Sept. 16th. For more information, contact the park at 573-548-2201. The public is encouraged to attend and share comments or questions about the park and its operations. These public meetings, which are being held for all state parks and historic sites, help create two-way communication with the public. The meetings give representatives the opportunity to let people know the current statuses and future plans for the parks and sites, and they offer visitors the opportunity to comment.

Alley Spring Campground will be closed for paving from Tuesday, Sept. 8th through Monday, Sept. 21st. This closure will include the river access and the “Bluff Hole” swimming area. Floaters putting in or taking out at Alley Spring will need to use the Burr Oak river access on the other side of the river. All pre-existing reservations during the closure have been cancelled or altered and refunds issued. For questions during the process, call the Alley Spring Ranger Station at 573-226-3945 or the Big Spring Entrance Station at 573-323-4236. Repaving at the Alley Spring Campground is part of a park-wide project to repair and renew roadways throughout the Ozark National Scenic Riverways.

The Missouri Department of Transportation (MoDOT) invites the central district to discuss the updated draft of the High-Priority Unfunded Needs list. Participants can view information about unfunded transportation needs in the region and provide feedback in-person at a meeting at MoDOT’s Central District Office, located at 1511 Missouri Boulevard in Jefferson City. Can’t attend the meeting in person? The draft HPUN document and comment forms will be available online through Thursday, Sept. 10th at modot.org/unfundedneeds. Dent County is on the unfunded multimodal needs list, with a project description of needing sidewalk added from Center Street to Hwy. 32 within Salem. Estimated funding needed for that project is $620,000.

Watch for bid opportunities from the City of Salem. For purchases over $12,000, the city formally advertises Requests for Bids (RFBs) in the local newspaper, as required by state statute, and it also posts them online. Visit the city’s website at salemmo.com and search “City of Salem Bids” for a list of opportunities. Want to know when a new bid is posted? You can sign up for city notifications right from the city’s website. Scroll to the bottom of the page to “#KeepCurrent – Sign Up for Notifications” and enter your email address. You may be asked to enter it a couple of times as you complete the setup, then you can choose email or text notifications for the pages you want to follow. Select the Bids/RFB page, and you’ll be notified whenever the city posts a new opportunity.