The Dent County Commissioners held their regular meeting at the Dent County Courthouse Monday morning.  For the road report, District 1 Commissioner Bobby Simpson reported that due to the continuing dry weather, grading is very limited. Simpson did say that materials would be hauled to Dent County Road 624 in the Gladden area and a crew would be hauling rock to Bunker for the repaving of a road that is half in Dent County and half in Reynolds County.  District 2 Commissioner J.J. Tune reported that crews would be cutting brush on Dent County Roads 443 and 534, installing a drive way pipe on Dent County Road 252 and hauling gravel to Dent County Road 210. Tune also said that a crew continues working on a low water bridge in the Boss area.  Presiding Commissioner Darrell Skiles reported that he would be attending a series of meetings Thursday in St. James at MRPC starting at 4:00. At the meeting a number of citizens attended to express their thoughts about the Prosecuting Attorney’s office. Many citizens thought that the job of the Prosecuting Attorney should be made into a full time position instead of part time and should have a full time staff. The Commission explained that before the position can be made into full time it must be put on a ballot and voted on by the people. Commissioner Simpson said that the office of the Prosecuting Attorney now has two full time employees and one part time employee. Commissioner Tune said that at the beginning of each year the counties budget is set and the office of the Prosecuting Attorney is allotted as much money possible to pay for an Assistant Prosecuting Attorney and clerical help, but since Dent County is a third class county, not as much money is available to pay for a complete staff that first or second class counties have. Bennie and JoAnne Maxwell also attended the meeting to present to the Commission a letter requesting the investigation of procedures used during the investigation into the murder of William Neil Maxwell and the conduct of the public employees, elected officials and ambulance staff before and after the murder. The Commission also met with Susan Cunningham a representative from Spatial Data to discuss rural addressing. The next meeting of the Commissioners will be Thursday morning at 9:00 and the meeting is open to the public.

The Salem Police report several incidents in the city over the last few days. On July 26^th at 1:16 a.m., a vehicle was stopped for a traffic violations and investigation at the stop led to the arrest of a 20 year old male of Salem for driving while intoxicated. The suspect was issued a summons to appear in court and incarcerated on a 12-hour hold. Also on the 26^th, at 3:42 a.m., and officer was conducting a follow up investigation regarding a theft, and during the search of a residence in the 400 block of East First, a 20 year old male was found to be in possession of a controlled substance.

The suspect was incarcerated pending the application of a warrant. On July 29^th, at about 11:55 p.m. an officer was sent to Pershing and Fourth in reference to a traffic accident. Investigation of the accident led to the arrest of a 22 year old male of Salem, for driving while intoxicated, leaving the scene of an accident, property damage and resisting arrest. The suspect was issued a summons to appear in court and incarcerated on a 12 hour hold. On July 31^st at 5:50 p.m., and officer was sent to the 800 block of North Henderson in reference to a theft. Investigation of the report, revealed that a person or persons unknown took a pair of green hip waders, a fishing vest and net from the carport of a residence. The value of the items is $200. The report is under investigation. Another theft was reported on the 31^st at 12:27 p.m. Investigation revealed that a person or persons unknown took an Alpine amplifier, two 12 inch Alpine subwoofers and a custom speaker box from a 1998 Ford Explorer parked in the J & L Automotive parking lot. The value of the items is $587. The incident is under investigation. If anyone has information on any of these reports, please contact the Salem Police at 729-4242.

The City of Salem wants to let the residents of Elmer Street, from Hunt to Franklin will be without water from 10:00 am to about 3:00 pm on Thursday, August 9th. The City of Salem is doing a tie-in with the lines. The city apologizes for any inconvenience this may cause.

Sports [TOP]