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The Dent County Commissioners held their regular meeting at the Dent County Courthouse Monday morning. At the meeting, District 1 Commissioner Bobby Simpson reported that grading would be done east of Salem on Dent County Roads 418 and 423, and on various dead end roads off of Route P. Preparation for chip and seal continues on the Cedar Grove Road that Commissioner Simpson expects to be completed around mid June. District 2 Commissioner J.J. Tune reported that grading would be done on Dent County Roads 238, 437 and 526, and brush would be cut on Dent County Road 438. Commissioner Tune also said that the chip and seal project on the Golf Course Road should be completed by the end of the week. Presiding Commissioner Darrell Skiles reported that he attended the MRPC Transportation Advisory Committee Meeting Thursday afternoon in St. James, which is held to help prioritize MODOT investment needs.  For Dent County, Skiles said the one lane bridge on Route H, Standing Rock Bridge on Highway 19 South, the bridge over Spring Creek on Highway 32/72 East and the establishment of shoulders on Highway 32 West when construction to straighten the curves begins were discussed as items of priority at the meeting. At the previous meeting, the Commission signed a letter of support for an application to the Delta States Rural Development Network Grant Program that will provide money for health care training in the 14 counties of Missouri Service Region A, specifically in Ellington. The next meeting of the Commission will be Thursday morning at 9:00 and the meeting is open to the public.

The Dent County Commissioners held a public hearing concerning rural addressing Monday evening at the Salem City Hall Auditorium. About 50 people were on hand to discuss the issue. Dent County Presiding Commissioner Darrell Skiles explained that the county is considering rural addressing to assist rural fire departments, law enforcement and emergency medical services in finding homes or properties, and to take away the addressing system from the post office and give one permanent address to each home. Skiles stated that the current addressing system makes it impossible to locate a residence quickly when time is of the essence. Skiles says that rural addressing would make it easier on the postal carriers, UPS, Fedex and other delivery services as well. Commissioner J.J. Tune said that the commission has spoken with three firms and the county has budgeted $110,000 to cover the fieldwork process of rural addressing where a firm would physically go out into the field and find each residence. Tune said that county would be faced with the biggest burden financially not only with the field work phase, but also with the road and bridge department who would have to change the county road signs, and the Dent County Clerk’s office with voter registration. Tune said the county road number would go a four-digit system to remove the county roads that have letter suffixes.  He then said that the street number would reflect how far down the road your residence is to help make locating the property easier. Tune said another positive about rural addressing is that it would make utility hookups easier and in some cases is needed for driver’s license renewal. Sheriff Bob Wofford says to help find locations in the county currently, the Dent County Sheriff’s Dispatchers use a “cheater’s sheet” provided by the post offices to identify who lives at what box number and their approximate location. Commissioner Bobby Simpson said that the county would bid out the project and then once a firm is selected that it would take over a year for this process to be completed. When questioned about the E-9-1-1 services, the commission reiterated a number of times that the first step in even considering E-9-1-1 was rural addressing, but even then, it would take a vote of the people to pass a funding source for the enhanced protection services as the current funding of the 9-1-1 system is less than a third of what would be needed. About one-third of the people in attendance felt that the change was unnecessary, but testimony by fire department personnel, Sheriff Bob Wofford and the Salem Hospital’s Director of Nursing Carol Lacy showed the importance of how rural addressing would help emergency services respond to the correct location quickly without having to take the time to find the residence or location. The decision to move forward or not with rural addressing will be made by the Dent County Commissioners as they were using this public hearing as a gauge of how people felt. There is no timetable on when the decision would be made, but further discussion and the letting of bids will precede a final decision.

Sports   [TOP]

Chris Duncan hit a two-run home run and David Eckstein went 3-for-4 with a run scored as the St. Louis Cardinals got to Los Angeles starter Brett Tomko early and held on to beat the Dodgers, 8-4, in the opener of a three-game set. Jim Edmonds and Adam Kennedy each hit RBI doubles while Duncan and Kennedy each scored twice for the Cardinals, who extended their winning streak against LA to 10 games dating back to the 2005 season. Tomko (1-4) was tagged for nine hits and all eight St. Louis runs in just 2 1/3 innings. Brad Thompson (2-0), meanwhile picked up the win in just his third-career start. The right-hander gave up eight hits and three runs through 6 2/3 innings of work, striking out three without walking a batter. Jason Isringhausen got the final two outs to record his 10th save of the year. The Cardinals and Dodgers play again tonight at 7:00 and you can hear the game on KSMO.

John Buck hit a two-run homer in the ninth inning to lift the Kansas City Royals over the Oakland Athletics, 2-1, in the opener of a four-game series. Deadlocked in a scoreless game, the Royals gotthe eventual winning hit in the ninth with one out when Alex Gordon singled followed by Buck's two-run shot to right-center field on a full count off Justin Duchscherer (3-3). Both teams sent out their respective aces to start the contest, with Oakland's Dan Haren taking the mound opposite the Royals' top starter, Gil Meche. Meche allowed seven hits with two walks and five strikeouts in seven innings, while former Cardinal Haren gave up four hits with four walks and eight strikeouts in eight frames. Mark Grudzielanek ended 1-for-5 to extend his hitting streak to 14 games for the Royals, who won their second straight. Esteban German and Gordon finished 1-for-3 in the win. The Royals and A's play again tonight.

The Kansas City Royals placed first baseman Ross Gload on the 15-day disabled list Monday with a torn right quadriceps, and recalled 2003 AL Rookie of the Year infielder Angel Berroa from Triple-A Omaha. Berroa was sent to the minors in spring training, as the club acquired Tony Pena Jr. in a trade with Atlanta. Berroa hit .303 in 30 games (37-for-122) with 15 runs and 45 walks before getting called up. Gload becomes the major league-leading 10th player to currently reside on the shelf for Kansas City, as the Yankees have nine there. Also, Ryan Shealy will begin an injury rehab stint with Omaha Monday.

 Obituaries   [TOP]

A memorial service for nine-month old Isaiah Arturo Main, of Rolla, will be held tonight at 7:00 at the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints in Salem. All the arrangements are under the direction of Wilson Mortuary.

Funeral services for Herman Schalienberg Sr. of St. James will be held Thursday morning at 10:30 at the First Baptist Church in St. James. Visitation will be from 4:00 to 7:00 Wednesday at the James & Gahr Mortuary in St. James. Interment will be in the St. James Cemetery with Full Military Honors. Memorials are suggested to the First Baptist Church of St. James.

Funeral services for Kathryn Shaw of Salem, age 69, are incomplete at this time but are under the direction of the Wilson Mortuary.

Weather [TOP]