News – Wednesday, December 24th 2025

The Missouri State Highway Patrol wishes everyone a merry and safe Christmas and holiday. When traveling during the holidays, remember to wear your seat belt and obey traffic laws. Over the 2024 Christmas holiday, there were 295 traffic crashes statewide during the 30-hour counting period. In those crashes, five people were killed and another 133 were injured. The 2025 Christmas Day holiday period runs from 6:00 this evening through 11:59 Sunday night, December 28th. If you plan to travel during the holiday, be aware of work zones, obey all traffic laws, adjust driving speeds to the weather, and make sure everyone in your vehicle is wearing a seat belt or secured in the appropriate child safety seat for their size and age. Remember: Missouri is a hands-free state, so put the phone down and buckle up. There is never a reason to speed, drive aggressively, or drive impaired. The public is encouraged to call the Patrol’s Emergency Report Line 800-525-5555 or *55 on your cellular phone if they witness criminal activity, observe driving behavior that could cause a crash, or experience an emergency. If your holiday festivities include intoxicants, designate someone else to drive. Don’t become a statistic.

With funding from the Delta Regional Authority’s State Economic Development Assistance Program, the city of Edgar Springs will begin improvements to Broadway Street, which is the main street in town that accesses small businesses and organizations serving the community and surrounding rural areas. Broadway Street connects Highway 63 to routes ZZ and H. The project will address drainage issues that causes localized flooding, repave the driving surface, install storm boxes and storm pipes, add concrete and granular paving and complete asphalt repair with a chip and seal. These improvements will decrease flooding and create a more resilient surface to withstand local and truck traffic. The total project will cost approximately $272,680 of which $267,500 will be covered by the Delta Regional Authority’s grant, which includes administrative costs. There are 27 Missouri counties in the Delta Regional Authorities eight-state service area, including Dent, Crawford, Phelps and Washington counties within the Meramec Region. Meramec Regional Planning Commission is the designated Local Development District for the four Meramec counties in the regional authority. To learn more about the Delta Regional Authority’s programs and initiatives, visit www.dra.gov. 

The Dent County Commission attended a hearing last Thursday in the Judicial Building on the Carty Property and the Former Burlington Railroad Easement. The hearing was held in the Judicial Building courtroom. Ben Carty and his wife, represented by Attorney Steven Patterson; Brian Carty and his wife, represented by Attorney Kenegy Brooks; Prosecutor Andrew Curley, Collector Shannon VanKirk and Kenny VanKirk were all present, along with Sergeant Len Pabin. The commissioners heard from both attorneys representing their clients, with each one wanting the county owned Burlington Railroad piece of property to be quit claimed to their client. Each attorney presented their case. The exception was left off the deed, and the tax bills were created based on the way the deed was read. Ben has been paying taxes since 2018. The commission has four options to consider: the county can keep the land as they own it, they could quit-claim it to Ben, they could quit-claim it to Brian; or they could quit-claim it to both. No decision was made as the commission will look at the records, discuss it and meet again.

The Dent County Fire Protection District recently announced they’ll be holding a family friendly New Years Eve party on December 31st from 8:00 in the evening until midnight. This party is open to the public as a small way to say thank you to the community for all of its support to the DCFPD. The department will have hot dogs, and chili while supplies last. There are plans to have a movie playing in the training room, as well as possibly a karaoke machine and corn hole tournament. There is no cost to attend the event, and feel free to bring any non-alcoholic beverages to the party. If you, your business, or organization would like to contribute to the festivities you are welcome to do so by either providing supplies or a fun activity. If you’d like to learn more please contact the DCFPD on their facebook page at facebook.com/DCFPD.

From all of us at Your World Today, we’d like to  wish you and your family a very Merry Christmas! The next edition of Your World Today will be distributed on Monday, December 29th.