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The Dent County Fire Protection District held their tax levy meeting along with their regularly scheduled monthly meeting Tuesday night. Board President Grant Hamlet announced the figures for the 2009 tax levy and opened the floor for discussion. After the discussion and a review of the 2008 budget, the Board opened the floor for any public questions and since there was no one from the public present, the Board decided to hold the vote of the tax levy until the end of the meeting to allow any one from the public to voice their opinion. After approval of the consent agenda, it was noted that there were a total of 31 calls during the month of July for a total of 245 calls year-to-date. Of the calls in July, 40.4% were vehicle related; 17.1% were structure related and 11.4% were brush fires. Chief Nash reported that Engine #82 was out of service for repair and may not be practical to repair. He asked the Board to consider alternate ideas and the Board agreed. Nash also reported that he has concerns with the new ladder truck #81 due to the number of problems incurred. Nash has sent a letter to Rosenbauer outlining the problems and the Board gave permission for him to pursue the issue at this point. Hamlet then asked the Board to review policies for the next meeting to be updated as necessary, and Board member Craig Smith asked that the district check into some method of billing to recover the money spent on vehicle calls. The Board of Directors then resumed the tax levy meeting. Craig Smith made a motion to set the tax levy at $0.2210 per $100 assessed valuation, which is the same rate as last year. A roll call vote for the motion was taken and carried for all. The next scheduled meeting of the Dent County Fire Protection District Board of Directors will be on Tuesday, September 2^nd beginning at 6:00 pm at the Dent County Fire Protection District building.

The Missouri State Highway Patrol reminds drivers that schools are back in session, and young people will be on the move, either walking, biking, and driving to school.  It is critical for drivers to be alert, especially near  school zones, playgrounds, and bicycle paths. Traffic patterns will change as school buses and parents taking their children to school join other motorists on the road. Afternoons can be especially dangerous.  Most traffic crashes involving young drivers (under the age of 21) in 2007 occurred between 3 and 4 p.m., when school typically lets out. Drivers need to be aware of the increased traffic during this time--not just in areas around school, but all around town. Remember:  Many of these drivers are inexperienced. It is important to encourage those young drivers to remember driving is a full-time job. Using a cell phone, text-ing, or adjusting the radio can be the distraction that leads to a traffic crash. All motorists need to remember state law regarding school buses. Missouri law states on a two-lane road, if a school bus is stopped and displaying warning signals while loading or unloading children, drivers must stop when meeting and following the bus. However, it is only necessary to stop on a four-lane highway when following the bus. Drivers, when you see a stopped school bus, be alert. Children may not be aware of traffic and dart unexpectedly into the roadway. Last year, five people were killed and 631 were injured in school bus crashes. Missouri experienced 1,158 traffic crashes involving school buses. Last year, 12 children ages 19 and under were killed and 465 children were injured in crashes involving pedestrians. In addition, 202 bicyclists ages 15 and under were injured in traffic crashes in 2007. It is important for parents to emphasize safety to their children. They need to pay attention to vehicles and their drivers, wear a helmet and know the proper hand signals.

Sports [TOP]

Troy Glaus collected a game-high four hits and finished with an RBI and a run scored to lead the St. Louis Cardinals over the Florida Marlins, 6-4, in the third game of a four-game set at Dolphin Stadium. Jason LaRue knocked in the go-ahead runs with a double in the seventh and Skip Schumaker posted three hits for the Cardinals, who won for just the third time in seven games. Braden Looper (11-9) earned the win against his former team in seven innings of work. The righty only allowed one earned run, two total runs, on five hits and one walk, while striking out five. Chris Perez shutdown the Marlins in the 8^th and 9^th inning to get his second save of the year. The Cardinals pounded out 18 hits, but have committed seven errors in its last four games. The Cardinals and Marlins wrap up their series tonight at 5:50 on KSMO Radio.

Mark Buehrle threw seven shutout innings, and Jermaine Dye finished with a double and run batted in for Chicago, which shut out Kansas City for the second game in a row, 4-0. Luke Hochevar (6-11) got tagged with the loss despite a solid start in which he allowed three runs on five hits in seven frames. The former number one overall pick in the 2006 MLB Draft struck out four and walked one in the loss. Billy Butler had two of the five hits for Kansas City, which has lost six of seven. Hochevar has lost his past three starts. The Royals and White Sox play again this afternoon in Chicago.

Major League Baseball has suspended Kansas City Royals minor league catcher Juan Fortuna and pitcher Juan Garcia 50 games each for testing positive for a performance-enhancing substance.

Major League Baseball is close to implementing an instant replay system to determine disputed home run calls, as reported by their official website Wednesday. MLB's general managers voted 25-5 last November to ask the league about exploring the possibility of using instant replay for boundary calls, and, according to MLB president and chief operating officer Bob DuPuy, that system is near approval by Commissioner Bud Selig. According to the report, there will be no need for another vote from each of the 30 clubs, as Selig has the power to negotiate with the player's union and the umpires to finalize the process. The owners were apparently briefed of the plan during committee meetings, which will reconvene on Thursday.

 Major League Baseball Scores:

Chicago Cubs 10, Atlanta 2 (Game 1)
Chicago Cubs 8, Atlanta 0 (Game 2)
Pittsburgh 5, Cincinnati 2
NY Mets 12, Washington 0
LA Dodgers 7, Philadelphia 6
Houston 6, San Francisco 2
Colorado 6, Arizona 5
Milwaukee 7, San Diego 1
Minnesota 4, NY Yankees 2
Baltimore 6, Cleveland 1
Toronto 4, Detroit 3
Boston 8, Texas 4
Seattle 10, LA Angels 7 (12 inngs)
Tampa Bay 3, Oakland 2

Obituaries   [TOP].

Today..Partly cloudy, high of 85.
Tonight..Partly cloudy with a 30% chance for showers, low of 62.
Friday and Friday night..Cloudy with a 60% chance for thunderstorms, high of 78, low of 62.
Saturday and Saturday night..Cloudy with a 40% chance for showers, high of 79, low of 61.