Local News – Tuesday, December 8th, 2020
The Dent County Commissioners met Tuesday morning at the courthouse for their regular meeting. At the meeting, Salem and Dent County Economic Development Director Sally Burbridge was in attendance to present her monthly report. She said a couple of new businesses have opened and the unemployment rate in October for Dent County is back to where it was before the COVID-19 pandemic, but there were about 240 less people looking for work than in September. She said the certified site application at the industrial park may be delayed as the US Fish and Wildlife Services recommended getting an Indiana Bat habitat survey done before proceeding further. This could delay this project by a year or more. She said there will be a Business@Breakfast meeting to be held from 7:00 to 7:45 on Thursday, January 14th to discuss the MRPC’s CARES Revolving Loan Fund. More information can be found by calling the Dent County Extension office at 729-3196. She also asked the commission to re-appoint two members of the Enhanced Enterprise Zone Board and they are Salem R-80 Superintendent Dr. Lynne Reed and Hospital Administrator Kasey Lucas. Also in attendance was Lori Plank who was inquiring about the CARES Act money and how much money remained. Presiding Commissioner Darrell Skiles said it looked like over $230,000 was left as of the last awarding of applications, but that did not include applications already submitted. Plank said she hadn’t heard from anyone at the MRPC and Skiles said that if they need more information, they would be in touch. He reminded Plank that the MRPC was doing this for numerous counties in the Meramec Region and to just be patient. In the road report, District 1 Commissioner Dennis Purcell stated grading would be done on Dent County Roads 4090, 4215 and 5615 while materials would be added to county roads 5130 and 5150 as well as on county road 5400 where a crossover pipe was installed and the rock settled. Purcell also said brush would be cut on county road 5610. District 2 Commissioner Gary Larson reported grading would be done on Dent County Roads 2160, 2190 and 5330 while brush would be cut on county roads 4020 and 4030. Larson also said service would be done on county truck #12. Commissioner Skiles said he attended an Industrial Development Board meeting last Wednesday where they heard from a manager of the Steelville Telephone Exchange about the broadband Internet expansion in northern parts of Dent County and near Boss. He also said he would be attending by conference call a meeting of the Ozarks Rivers Solid Waste Management District Full Council meeting today. Then on Thursday, he will be attending by Zoom the Transportation Advisory Committee to present transportation priorities to MoDOT for the local area. He also said the county received a letter from the attorneys about the opiod lawsuit and they will be in touch with the commission in the near future. Skiles said three CARES Act applications were received and will be reviewed by the commission. Skiles also discussed with the commission setting the date of January 11th at 10:00 as the due date for the request for proposals for the assessment of needs at the courthouse and that was approved. Dent County Clerk Angie Curley continues to work on the 2021 county budget and the commission needed to sign off on the contract between the county and Pictometry International Corporation to provide video services for the Dent County Assessor’s Office. The next meeting will be next Monday at the courthouse and it will be open to the public.
An accident happened in Dent County Sunday around noon on Highway 19 just north of Route B. According to the highway patrol report, a 2009 Ford Escape driven north bound by 71-year old Shirley Donovan of Salem, was stopped to make a left turn when the Ford was struck from behind by a 2004 GMC Sierra driven north bound by 52-year old Harold Mendenhall of Salem. Mendenhall failed to see that the Ford had stopped in front of him. Donovan suffered moderate injuries and was transported to the Salem Memorial District Hospital. Everyone was wearing a seat restraint at the time of the accident. The Ford sustained extensive damage while the GMC had moderate damage. Both vehicles were removed from the scene by Whitaker’s Towing of Salem.
Preliminary data from the Missouri Department of Conservation (MDC) shows that deer hunters in Missouri harvested 15,425 deer during the antlerless portion of the firearms deer season, December 4th through the 6th. Top harvest counties were Callaway with 438 deer harvested, Morgan with 377, and Osage with 352. The 2019 antlerless-portion harvest total was 10,597. Dent County had 135 deer checked along with 94 in Phelps, 153 were checked in Texas County, 210 in Shannon County and only one was taken in Iron County. Archery deer season continues through January 15, 2021. The alternative methods portion runs December 26th through January 5th, 2021. You can find more information on deer hunting from MDC’s 2020 Fall Deer & Turkey Hunting Regulations and Information booklet, available where hunting permits are sold and online at huntfish.mdc.mo.gov
Preliminary data from the Missouri Department of Conservation shows that young hunters ages 6 through 15 harvested 3,899 deer during Missouri’s late youth portion of the 2020 deer hunting season, November 27th through the 29th. Of the 3,899 deer harvested, 1,433 were antlered bucks, 520 were button bucks, and 1,946 were does.