News

An accident happened at 12:20 Sunday afternoon on Highway 68 about 13 miles west of Salem. According to the highway patrol report, 83-year old Virginia Douglas of Salem was driving a 2004 Chevy Blazer westbound when she failed to negotiate a curve, went off the right side of the roadway and struck a tree. Douglas suffered serious injuries and was flown to Mercy Hospital in St. Louis. The Chevy Blazer was totaled in the accident and Douglas was wearing a seat restraint at the time of the accident.

The Salem R-80 Board of Education met Thursday night at the District Administrative offices. After the consent agenda, Commissioner Gary Larson spoke to the board about the upcoming sales one-quarter cent sales tax initiative for the county road and bridge department. Superintendent Steve Carvajal reported the last of the roofing projects at the high school would begin in a few weeks when the weather improves. He said the playground at William Lynch would be seal coated after some trench work is completed. The other parking lots will be seal coated this summer on a rotation. Carvajal reported the bus fleet recently passed the state inspection at 100%. He also stated a pavilion is being constructed at William Lynch Elementary and the cost of the construction is being funded by PTO. It was announced that Summer School for students in kindergarten through 6th grade would begin June 1st and would run 15 days. At William Lynch Elementary, Preschool Registration was held March 12 and 13 with 35 potential preschoolers being registered. There are 32 spots remaining. A second registration will be held on May 12th. Kindergarten registration was held on March 10 and 11 with 55 new tigers registered. A last chance registration will be held on May 13th. Parents may call the William Lynch office for appointments at 729-6611. At the Upper Elementary School, congratulations were extended to Avery Erway, Samuel Henderson, Kaydance Terrill, and Olivia Wisdom for their artwork being displayed and recognized at the State Capitol on Thursday, March 12th at the Missouri Art Education Association to celebrate Youth Art Month. At the Middle School, congratulations went out to the 6th through 8th grade Middle School Choirs who participated in the Union Middle School Music Festival on March 7th. All choirs, soloists, and small ensembles received either a “I” or “II” rating!  At the high school, a number of artists were recognized. Zach Erway, Alex Major, Erica Houston, Kimberlin Myers, Amber Lowe, Nikki Busbey, and Savannah Hanning participated in the Young Artist Showcase and Scholarship Show in St. Louis; while Kimberlin Myer, Erica Houston, Amber Lowe, Mason Whitaker, Alex Major, Zach Erway, Abby Kettehake, Makayla Cahill, Camryn Pryor, Baylee Bilyeu, Desiree Swenson, Hayden Leach were selected for the State Capital Art Show in Jefferson City. Kenny Leonard was honored for winning 1st place at the District Competitions in Technical Computer Applications at RTI/RTC. He goes on to the State Competition on March 27th. The board approved setting the re-organizational meeting for April 16th at 5:50 before the next regular meeting, approved the MSBA Police Service Agreement, and approved the Reading Recovery Purchased Service Agreement. The board approved the adjustment to the 2014-2015 official school calendar, adding April 3rd as a make-up day, and approved the revision of policy JFCI that deals with random drug testing changing the punitive levels. The first level is still 21 days, the second level is 365 days and the third level is expulsion. Principal John Smith reported to date that no students have reached the second level of the policy. The board accepted the resignation of custodian Matt Hartman before going into closed session where non-tenured staff was rehired. The meeting was then adjourned.

The Salem Police Department released reports involving a traffic violation, counterfeit money, a shoplifter and an accident. On Tuesday night, March 10^th at 9:04, a vehicle was stopped for a traffic violation. The investigation of the stop led to the arrest of a 27-year old female and a 30-year old male both of Salem, for possession of methamphetamine and possession of drug paraphernalia. Both were incarcerated pending the application for warrants. On Wednesday morning, March 11^th at 7:00, an officer was detailed to Casey's General Store located at 600 South Macarthur in reference to counterfeit money. The investigation of the report revealed a male suspect had used counterfeit bills to pay for fuel. The surveillance video and further investigation led officers of the Salem Police Department and the Missouri State Highway Patrol to a residence in Lenox where a 49-year old male of Lenox was taken into custody for counterfeiting. He was incarcerated pending the application of warrants. That same morning at 10:00, an officer was dispatched to Walmart in reference to a shoplifter. That investigation revealed an unidentified female had taken merchandise valued at $71.76 and left the store without paying for it. Anyone with information regarding the shoplifter report is asked to contact the Salem Police Department by calling 729-4242.

Sports [TOP]

The Salem Tiger Track teams open the spring sports season as they will be participating in the Rolla Open meet starting at 3:30 today.

Justin Abdelkader scored a controversial power-play goal 24 seconds into overtime, lifting the Detroit Red Wings to a 2-1 victory over the St. Louis Blues on Sunday. Abdelkader scored the goal with a broken stick which should not have been allowed. He finished with a goal and an assist, Erik Cole also scored and Jimmy Howard made 23 stops for the Red Wings, Alexander Steen scored the only goal while Allen turned aside 23 shots for the Blues, who have lost three straight. The Blues will be in Pittsburgh Tuesday night.

Randal Grichuk hit a two-run homer in the top of the ninth inning as the St. Louis Cardinals rallied for an 8-6 Grapefruit League win over the Baltimore Orioles. Matt Adams also homered for the Cardinals, who scored one run in the eighth and three in the ninth. St. Louis starter John Lackey struggled against the Orioles as he allowed five runs and seven hits in 4 1/3 innings. The Cardinals will face Boston today.

Danny Duffy was charged with two runs in 5 1/3 innings as the Kansas City Royals beat the San Francisco Giants by a 4-2 score in Cactus League action. Kelvin Herrera relieved Duffy and was followed by Kansas City's other two key relievers, Greg Holland and Wade Davis, who each threw a scoreless inning. The Royals got run-scoring hits from Alex Gordon, Alex Rios, Salvador Perez and Mike Moustakas. The Royals will face the Giants again today in Cactus League play.

Obituaries   [TOP]