News

Trying to remove snow and ice from the 600 plus miles of Dent County Roads was the key topic in the road report at the Dent County Commission meeting on Monday. District 1 Commissioner Dennis Purcell and District 2 Commissioner Gary Larson reported that crews worked through the day Sunday from 7:00 in the morning until 6:00 PM or after removing snow and ice where possible, and treating slick spots after the heavy, wet snow and freezing mist that came Saturday into Sunday morning. Purcell said the crews can’t peel the ice off the roadway without doing damage to the road, so the work crews treat the slick spots with sand and salt. The problem is that the salt and sand will work its way through the ice and then it will freeze back over later so it will need to be re-treated. Larson said that clearing these roads is not easy and gives a lot of credit to the drivers. Both commissioners felt that the roads would be finished Monday with isolated slick spots that will need to continue to be treated. Presiding Commissioner Darrell Skiles said he would be attending the Ozark Rivers Solid Waste Management District Executive Board meeting today. Skiles during the meeting received a call from Lance Carlson from the Department of Natural Resources about the Missouri Heritage Properties Program. He told Skiles another $30,000 had become available toward the replacement of the archway windows on the first floor of the Dent County Courthouse if the county was interested. He told Skiles the county would have to provide a match of at least $12,857 to get the $30,000. This grant is in addition to the previous grant that was approved for $31,224 toward the replacement of the round windows on the third story of the courthouse. The commissioners discussed the grant and then voted to approve applying for the additional funds. Dent County Clerk Angie Curley reported absentee voting for the April 7th election was going on now and the last day to register to vote in the April 7th election would be March 11th. The next meeting of the Dent County Commissioners will be Thursday at 9:00 at the courthouse and the meeting is open to the public.

The 41^st annual Missouri Severe Weather Drill is scheduled for TODAY at 1:30 pm. At that time, all National Weather Service (NWS) offices serving Missouri will send out a test tornado warning. The Federal Communication Commission (FCC) has granted a waiver for the State to use the Emergency Alert System (EAS) code for a tornado warning: TOR. Thus the warning will trigger all warning systems that are programmed to activate on the reception of the TOR code. The test tornado warning will be clearly marked as a test. The National Weather Service will do everything possible to conduct the drill today. However, if widespread weather conditions exist across the state that would make it inappropriate to conduct the drill, it will be postponed until Thursday, March 5, also at 1:30 pm. The drill offers an excellent time for everybody to test their weather warning receiving and dissemination capabilities. It is better to discover and fix problems in the system now than have it fail during a real tornado event. The drill also offers an opportunity for everyone, including schools, businesses, hospitals, and people in their homes, to test their severe weather plans. Having a thorough knowledge of your severe weather procedures and practicing them can be the difference between life and death in a real tornado situation.

The Salem Board of Aldermen met Monday night at the city hall council chambers. The board approved the bid from Naegler Transport for 4,000 gallons of aviation fuel at a cost of $3.53 per gallon for the airport. There is $25,000 budgeted for this expense. The fuel is sold at the airport for an additional 50 cents per gallon. City Administrator Ray Walden thanked the Street Department and Superintendent Gary Glenn for the snow removal during the recent winter storm. Walden wanted to remind citizens to be aware of the designated snow routes and to not park their vehicles on these routes when snow is expected. The City Police Department has not been issuing citations but he may instruct them to hand out warning tickets in the near future. A list of the snow routes are available on the city website.  Walden reported on the recent Dispatch Meeting that was held between the City and County law enforcement agencies and that a summary of the meeting along with additional information gathered by moderator Joe Weber will be available soon. Walden thanked the County Commission for working to bring the Road Rally to the area again this year. This rally is a great economic development boost for the local economy. Walden presented the yearly financial report and the annual report from Healthy Dent County as stipulated in the lease agreement. Mayor Tune also commended the Street Department for working during the weekend for snow removal. The board went into closed session to discuss contracts.

Sports [TOP]

The Salem Lady Tigers will face the Thayer Lady Bobcats in a key SCA Conference makeup game tonight at Thayer. The JV will play at 5:30 followed by the varsity game. With a win, the Lady Tigers would go undefeated in the SCA and would be the undisputed SCA Champs! Salem enters the game with a 17-7 record and 6-0 in the SCA. It will be the final game of the year for the Lady Basketball Tigers.

The Missouri Basketball Tigers will host Auburn in their final regular season game at home. Game time is set for 8:00 with the pre-game show at 7:30. Missouri is 8-21 overall and 2-14 in the SEC Conference. You can hear the game on KSMO Radio.

The St. Louis Blues shored up their defense before Monday's trade deadline, acquiring veteran blueliner Zbynek Michalek from the Arizona Coyotes. As part of the trade, the Blues acquired a conditional third-round draft pick in this year's draft while sending forward prospect Maxim Letunov to the Coyotes. The Blues also acquired veteran forward Olli Jokinen from the Toronto Maple Leafs. The Blues sent the Leafs a conditional sixth-round draft pick in 2016 and forward Joakim Lindstrom to land Jokinen. In their final trade before the trading deadline was reached, the Blues acquired defenseman Robert Bortuzzo and a seventh-round draft pick in 2016 from the Pittsburgh Penguins for defenseman Ian Cole.

Obituaries   [TOP]