Scroll Down for Sports, Weather and Obituaries! For State-Wide News, go to the MissouriNet! To read previous editions of Your World Today please visit our Archives Page.

The Salem Police Department released their report involving a robbery. On Tuesday, February 15^th at 1:11 in the afternoon, officers were detailed to the Gas Plus service station located at 403 West Rolla Road in reference to a robbery. The investigation of the report revealed that an unidentified male armed with a knife approached the station attendant and demanded money. The station attendant gave him a leather wallet containing approximately $282 and the suspect fled the scene on foot north on Henderson. Anyone with any information regarding the robbery is asked to contact the Salem Police Department by calling 729-4242.

The Missouri Highway and Transportation Commission awarded a project for Highway 32 in Dent County during it's February meeting. The project includes 20.486 miles of pavement improvements from Highway 63 to Highway 72, and the Commission also awarded several projects for Dent and Texas Counties during that same meeting. These include pavement improvements on all of Route JJ in Dent County; Route K from Highway 19 in Dent County to Route KK in Shannon County; all of Route E in Texas County; the entire lengths of Route BB and Route P in Texas County. These projects were awarded to Apex Paving Company of Cape Girardeau. For additional information regarding this or other transportation-related topics, call the MoDOT Customer Service Center toll-free, at 1-888-ASK-MoDOT (275-6636).

Missouri Show-Me Quality Assurance is mandatory for all 4-H/FFA livestock members planning to exhibit any animal at the 2011 fair. This includes small animal projects. Livestock members must attend one of the two Dent County Quality Assurance meetings. The mandatory livestock quality assurance meetings in Salem will be tonight and the 22^nd starting at 7:00 each evening at The Commons. There will be no make-up dates, unless bad weather cancels. If a livestock member cannot attend either of these two meetings, the 4-H/FFA members must contact the Extension office for dates of meetings available in other counties.

The City of Salem Utility Committee will hold a meeting, called by Mayor Gary Brown today at the City Hall Council Chambers beginning at 6:00 pm to discuss electric rates, commercial charges and other utility items. The meeting of the City of Salem Utility Committee is open to the public.

The 2011 Basketball Homecoming Festivities were held Tuesday night at the Salem High School Gym between the JV and varsity games. Crowned the 2011 Homecoming Queen was Sam Riley. Her court consisted of sophomore Paige Arnett, junior Crystal Prince and seniors Amy Huitt and Kala Trolinger. Congratulations to Sam and the entire court.

If you enjoy answering questions on the TV trivia shows, or playing trivia games, then this is the event for you. The Salem Area Community Betterment Association will be putting the FUN back in FUNdraiser when they host their annual “Trivia Night” on Saturday, March 26^th. The event will be held at the Salem City Hall at Washington and 2^nd Streets and begin at 6:00 PM. There will be ten categories with ten questions in each category. Prizes will be awarded to the top three teams, with $200 going to the first place team. A prize will be given for the most creative team name. The 2010 first-time champions – “SCCC Escapeez” from the prison in Licking, Missouri will be defending their title and will enjoy special food and table decorations. Compete as a team, bring your family, friends & neighbors. Teams of up to 8 people will participate for $100. Snack foods will be provided along with drinks. Teams are encouraged to bring dinner food for their table. A limited number of teams will be allowed to participate, so gather your team and call 729-8163 to reserve your table.

All Dent County Rural Schools, Oak Hill R-1, Green Forest R-2, Dent-Phelps R-3, Northwood R-4 and Salem R-80 will not be in session for students Friday, February 18^th, due to teacher professional development. School will resume again on Monday, February 21^st.

A report on the feasibility study for a potential National Heritage Area in the Missouri Ozarks is available to the public for their review and comments. The study encompasses an area that would include Carter, Dent, Douglas, Howell, Iron, Oregon, Ozark, Reynolds, Ripley, Shannon, Texas, Wayne and Wright counties. The report is available at the Salem Public Library and online at www.wparts.org or www.scogog.org. This project was spearheaded by Ozark Action, Inc., the Ozarks Preservation, Inc. and the West Plains Council on the Arts and was started in December of 2009. The project was federally funded by ARRA funds received by Ozark Action, Inc. from the US Department of Health and Human Services provided by the Missouri Department of Social Services, Family Support Division. The project premise is to find a way to market the cultural assets of the area that include the works of traditional artists and craftspeople, locally grown foods, and related resources of the Ozarks in a more integrated and effective way. National Heritage Areas are a program initiated by the National Park Service where they can provide technical, planning and limited financial assistance to the area. The NHA program’s website says, “the National Park Service is a partner and advisor, leaving the decision making authority in the hands of the local people and organizations.” The site also said that “Nothing in this management plan shall be construed to modify any provision of federal, state, or local law with regard to public access to or use of private lands.” Area residents are encouraged to read the report and to comment on it by writing to the West Plains Council on the Arts, P.O. Box 339, West Plains, MO. 65775, or emailing them at arts@townsqr.com. The original cut off date to submit your comments was March 5^th, but they have extended the comment period to March 15^th for Dent County residents.

Sports [TOP]