The Salem Memorial District Hospital Board of Directors will hold a special meeting in the Hospital Library at 4:00 this afternoon to discuss Physician Building construction. The meeting is open to the public.

U.S. Senator Christopher “Kit” Bond will have his special listening post forum in Salem at the Dent County Courthouse at 2:00 p.m. this afternoon. Tom Schulte, a representative of the Senator, will be available to hear concerns and answer questions.

Today is the last day you can enter the Salem Chamber of Commerce’s Fourth of July parade. Entry forms are available at the chamber office or call 729-6900.  The theme this year is “A Star Spangled Celebration”. The Chamber will award a $100 to the best commercial and non-commercial entry. The parade will be held July 4th at 5:00 p.m.

The Salem Ranger District is seeking your comments on a proposal for the Marcoot/Minninghaw Prescribed Burns Project. This project is located on approximately 5, 663 acres of National Forest System lands on two existing burn units that will be expanded in the area for this project. The Marcoot Turkey Area burn unit is currently 542 acres and will be expanded to 3, 125 acres. The Minninghaw burn unit is currently 367 acres and will be expanded to 2,538 acres. The primary purpose is to improve open woodland wildlife habitat by reducing encroaching species and improving the plant diversity, health and vigor of the native grasses. The comment period will be open until July 21^st. You can contact Thomas Haines, at the Salem Ranger District located at 1301 south Main or by calling 729-6656 during normal business hours.

The City of Salem’s Finance Committee will be hold a public meeting, called by Mayor Gary Brown on Thursday, June 28 at 1:00 PM in the City Hall Council Chambers to consider the 2007/2008 Budget. This meeting of the City of Salem Finance Committee is open to the public.

A Special Meeting of the City of Salem Board of Alderman, called by Mayor Gary Brown, will be held on Thursday, June 28^th at 1:30 PM at the City Hall Council Chambers located at 202 North Washington. The Board will consider the adoption of the 2007/2008 Budget, adopting Ordinance # 3101, an ordinance adopting an annual budget for the City of Salem, beginning July 1, 2007 and appropriating funds pursuant thereto and also a Trailer Court License approval. This Special Meeting of the City of Salem Board of Alderman is open to the public. 

The National Weather Service, the Missouri Department of Health and the State Emergency Management Agency have joined together to promote this week Missouri Summer Weather Safety Week. The two biggest weather hazards that affect the United States typically occur during the summer months: lightning and excessive heat. At any given moment, there are 1,800 thunderstorms in progress somewhere on Earth. This amounts to 16 million storms a year. In the Unites States, there are an estimated 25 million cloud-to-ground lightning flashes each year. Missouri ranks 21^st nationally among states in lightning deaths per state. One lightning stroke can generate between 100 million and 1 billion volts of electricity. There were 25 heat-related deaths in Missouri in 2005 and of the 25 deaths, 12 were age 65 and older. The elderly population is the most vulnerable to the dangers of heat. In addition to the elderly, infants, young children and people with chronic health problems or disabilities are more vulnerable to the effects of heat waves.

Brendan Ryan's homer sparked a two-run 11th inning and the St. Louis Cardinals beat the New York Mets for the first time in five games this season, 5-3. Ryan ended 3-for-4 with two RBI and two runs scored for St. Louis, which blew a two-run lead only to recover and end a two-game slide, evening this four- game set at Shea Stadium at a game apiece. Scott Spiezio and Juan Encarnacion each added two hits, an RBI and a run scored for the Cardinals, who had dropped their first four games of the year to New York. Brad Thompson (6-3) got the win in 1 1/3 innings of work. Randy Flores recorded the final two outs for his first save. Jason Isringhausen blew his second save opportunity in the 9th after getting two outs. The Cards and Mets play again tonight at 5:50 on KSMO Radio.

Prior to the game yesterday, the Cardinals purchased the contract of relief pitcher Troy Percival from Triple-A Memphis. The Cardinals signed Percival to a minor league contract back on June 8. In six games with the Red Birds, he posted a 1.35 ERA in 6 2/3 innings pitched. With 324 saves, Percival is 12th on the all-time Major League saves list and ranks fifth among active major leaguers. He holds a career 30-41 record with a 3.10 earned run average.

Alex Gordon's three-run homer put an exclamation point on a career-high four RBI night, as Kansas City trounced the Angels for the second straight night with a 12-4 victory at Angel Stadium. Joey Gathright finished 3-for-3 with a pair of runs scored. His night on the bases was more eventful, scoring twice, getting thrown out at the plate in the first and again being called out for tagging too early in the sixth. Billy Butler and John Buck also homered for Kansas City in the game. Gil Meche (5-6) continued his stellar 2007 campaign, surrendering three runs on seven hits with six strikeouts and one walk over six frames. The Royals have won three straight.

The St. Louis Blues acquired the rights to center Keith Tkachuk from the Atlanta Thrashers along with a conditional fourth round draft pick in 2008, which could become a third round choice in 2009, in exchange for a conditional first round draft choice in 2008 on Tuesday. This past February, the Blues shipped Tkachuk to Atlanta in exchange for a first round draft choice in 2007, a third round draft choice in 2007, a second round draft choice in 2008 and forward Glen Metropolit.

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