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The Dent County Commissioners met Thursday morning at the Dent County Courthouse for the regular meeting. In the road report, District 1 Commissioner Dennis Purcell said that the roads are froze and it is too cold to haul gravel. He said that some brush piles were going to be cleaned up and workers will check for downed county road signs. He said that a stop sign was being replaced on Dent County Road 5013 and general maintenance was being done at the shop. District 2 Commissioner Gary Larson said that a transfer case was being replaced on a truck and some brush work was being done by the COPIC work crew. Presiding Commissioner Darrell Skiles attended a Meramec Regional Emergency Planning Committee meeting as they were working on their annual update. He did say that the oversight committee was contacting each county as to where they want to have their satellite phone housed. He also said that Ron Smith with the Rolla Fire and Rescue made a presentation showing that they can provide help in the time of an emergency including providing a mobile 9-1-1 van if electric is out so that 9-1-1 can still be called. Dent County Coroner Gina White brought in two rental agreements from Wilson Mortuary. One included the freezer and other office needs such as a fax, phone, file storage and more for $300.00 per month. The other agreement included everything in the first proposal as well as a vehicle to pick up bodies and that agreement was for $437.50 per month. White also asked for $6,000 for her Deputy Coroner as she will be unavailable two days a week with her other job that the deputy would have to cover. The budgeted amount in the past has been $1,350. Commissioner Larson said that the additional money she requested should be paid by her since she knew the job was full time when she ran for the office and Commissioner Purcell supported that stand. Larson also said that the Dent County Memorial Chapel was looking at getting a cooler for bodies already, but Chris Raulston from James and Gahr said that Donn James was non-committal as he said they already have a cooler at their Rolla location. The county does not want to show favoritism to any funeral home, but they would all need to have a cooler. Presiding Commissioner Skiles said that the Salem Memorial District Hospital did not have an interest in having a cooler at their location at this time. The Commissioners said that they would review all the information later and make a decision regarding her budget although they did say that the $1,000 for a computer and printer was acceptable. Commissioner Skiles brought in Dent County Collector Dennis Medlock to discuss tax abatements with the new commissioners on tax bills where vehicles are sold or a house burned down on the property changing the value of the tax bill. He did say the collector’s office has distributed $4,632,473.61 in real estate and property taxes to the proper entities as well as utility payments of $280,059.59. Dent County Prosecutor Jessica Sparks brought in her budget for the commission to review. The courthouse will be closed on Monday for Martin Luther King Day so the next scheduled commissioner meeting will be held on Thursday at 9:00 at the courthouse and the meeting is open to the public.

The City of Salem Planning & Zoning Commission will hold a public hearing on Tuesday, January 20th beginning at 6:45 pm in the City Hall Council Chambers located 202 North Washington for the consideration of the subdivision lot at 904 North Pershing owned by Joe Lato. The hearing of the Planning & Zoning Commission is open to the public.

Senator Frank Barnitz announced that District Legislative Assistant Wilma Rowden of Vienna would continue her listening posts in January at locations throughout the 16th Senate District. Rowden will be at the Phelps County Courthouse on Thursday, January 22nd from 9:00 to 11:00 am. Those who cannot make it to the listening post can contact Rowden in the district office by calling (573) 201-6207.

Sports [TOP]

The Winter Youth Basketball signups for boys and girls in the 1^st through 6^th grade will be held today from 4:00 to 6:00 at the Salem Freedom Activity Center. Another signup will be held on Thursday, January 22^nd and Friday, January 23^rd also from 4:00 to 6:00 at the Salem Freedom Activity Center. The cost is $15.00 per child. These will be the only signups for the basketball program. For more information, call 729-6290.

The Salem Lady Basketball Tigers defeated the Lady Bears of Willow Springs Thursday night by the score of 37-30. Salem is now 2-1 in the SCA and 6-8 overall. They will host Owensville Tuesday night at the SHS Gym starting at 6:00.

The Salem Boys Basketball Tigers will open their SCA season tonight as they will host the Houston Tigers at the SHS Gym. The JV will start things out at 6:00 and the varsity game will follow. You can hear the varsity contest on KSMO Radio and online at ksmoradio.com. Salem is 5-8 on the year.

T.J. Oshie recorded a goal and two assists as St. Louis topped Colorado, 5-2, at Scottrade Center. Patrik Berglund, Cam Janssen, Brad Boyes, David Backes also scored for the Blues, who snapped a two-game losing streak. Berglund leads all rookies in goals with 14. Manny Legace stopped 24 shots for the win. The Blues will host Chicago Saturday night at 7:30 and you can hear the game on KSMO.

St. Louis Blues did recall center Trent Whitfield from Peoria (AHL).

The Missouri Tigers will face Iowa State Saturday at 12:15 in Big 12 play. Missouri is 14-3 overall and 1-1 in the Big 12. You can hear the game on KSMO Radio.

St. Louis Rams interim head coach Jim Haslett will not return as the permanent head coach in 2009, team general manager Billy Devaney announced Thursday. Haslett took over for former head coach Scott Linehan after the Rams stumbled to an 0-4 start, as the team scored just 43 points while giving up 147. The former Saints coach won his first two games after taking over, prompting the team to give him the permanent head coaching position; however, the league intervened, voiding the potential deal because of a "Rooney Rule" violation, which was put in place to allow minority candidates a better chance of securing a head coaching job.

Major League Baseball announced two changes to postseason rules on Thursday. The first amendment states if a postseason game or a game added to the regular season with playoff ramifications is called, the bout will become suspended regardless of the score or how many innings have been played. This change comes as a direct result of Game 5 of the 2008 World Series between Philadelphia and Tampa Bay. With the Phillies leading the eventual clinching game in the top of the sixth inning in a near monsoon, the game was not called until the Rays tied things with their at-bat. If the Rays had not tied the game before it was called, the Phillies could have theoretically been awarded the victory under the previous rule. As it was, the game was suspended and the Phillies wrapped up the series two days later. The second amendment indicates that coin tosses will no longer determine home- field advantage in tie-breakers that decide a division title or wild card participant. The host club will now be based on performance-based criteria, starting with head-to-head records.

Obituaries   [TOP]