News
The Dent County Commissioners held their regular meeting Thursday morning at the Dent County Courthouse. Wayne Becker from the South Central Missouri Computer Crime Task Force informed the Commission that the task force would be receiving an $11,000 federal grant for training, travel and equipment as part of the Protection Act of 2011. Becker said that the money must be spent by June 20th of 2013. The South Central Missouri Computer Crime Task Force is comprised of nine surrounding counties. In the road report, District 1 Commissioner Dennis Purcell said that grading would be done on Dent County Roads 2460, 5080, 5510 and 6240. He said that workers would be checking for washouts from the rain Wednesday night. Purcell went on to say that brush would be cut on Dent County Roads 4080 and 5400. District 2 Commissioner Gary Larson stated that workers would be checking for washouts as it was reported that the Bangert area was hit hard Wednesday night. Grading would be done on those roads affected by the hard rains. He said that brush would be cut on Dent County Roads 2070 and 2520 and that a worker would be screening brown rock at the shed. Presiding Commissioner Darrell Skiles said that all three commissioners attended the South Central County Commissioners meeting in Houston and they heard a program on IT Solutions such as on the permanent storage of applicable e-mails in case of a Sunshine Law violation. Dent County Clerk Angie Curley said that absentee voting continues through November 5th during regular business hours at her office as well as on Saturday, November 3rd from 8:00 to noon. She said that the last day to request a mail-out ballot will be October 31st, and that sample ballots are available at her office for anyone who would like to pick one up. The next meeting of the Dent County Commissioners will be Monday morning at 9:00 at the courthouse and it is open to the public.
The R-80 Board of Education regular monthly meeting was held Thursday evening at 6:00 PM in the district administrative boardroom. Superintendent Steve Carvajal discussed the September Membership Count with the board stating that there were 1,359 students, up 23 students from the previous count and those additional students were comprised of 14 resident students and nine non-resident students. Carvajal said that the Salem R-80 teachers met with the rural school teachers in an effort to develop a county wide curriculum map that would provide consistency in every grade level when students move from one district to another. He said that the propane tanks were sold for $8,250 and have been removed from the campus. He said that a new flagpole has now been installed outside the fence in centerfield at the baseball field, and that the new tile tiger is now on the floor in the gym lobby. Carvajal also informed the board that the high school track is in desperate need of repair. He stated he had been in contact with Sam Fisher who is well known in the state for running tracks and he was going to give a report to the board at the next meeting. Control Technology Solutions then discussed the needs of the Salem High School campuses through their feasibility study results. They do performance based design builds on existing structures that lowers costs, gives higher quality work, works with a “team approach, ” offers faster completion and provides guaranteed energy savings. Their design work takes 60-90 days versus six to 12 months with the traditional design, bid and build approach. They have discovered HVAC issues with the lack of proper fresh air ventilation and the equipment is coming near the end of it’s useful life. There are also issues with the building controls for air conditioning and heating making the school somewhat inefficient. After they met with staff and administrators, the CTS Group feels that the district goals are high school and middle school additions, ventilation controls in each building, air conditioning in the high school gym, replacing old windows and give the facilities a facelift. Superintendent Carvajal said that a steering committee of citizens is being formed to discuss the general public concerns with the school. The board approved a request for proposal to move forward in the building process with other firms like CTS Group. The request will be published in the Salem News. Kelly Sample from the Missouri College Advising Corps discussed her role at no cost to the Salem High School in helping Salem students attend a secondary education. She indicated that in the last two years, there has been an increase of 13.25% of Salem students who were college bound. She stated that 80 students have signed up to take the next ACT test. Assistant Superintendent John McCulloch explained to the board the depth of knowledge graphs that have been generated through the results of 196 building supervisor walk-throughs. In a snapshot of the first quarter, recall made up 23% of instruction while strategic thinking was 26%, skill and concept made up 47% of how teachers instructed and extended thinking made up only two percent. The board did accept the resignation of Brittany Kinder who is a para-professional at the Upper Elementary. The board then went into closed session.
An accident occurred at 4:45 Thursday afternoon in Dent County on private property one mile west of Lake Spring. According to the highway patrol report, a 2009 Polaris RZR4 ATV driven by 57-year old Michael Marks of Wildwood overturned while rounding a turn. Marks and two 29-year old occupants, Charles Sizemore of Fairview Heights, IL and Brent Grimm of O’Fallon, IL, were ejected. All three suffered minor injuries and were taken to the Phelps County Regional Medical Center. The Polaris sustained minor damage and was removed by the owner.
Sports [TOP]
The Salem Tiger football team will finish up their regular season schedule tonight when they host Cabool at 7:00. Salem is 5-3 on the year and 3-3 in the SCA. You can hear the game on a tape delay basis after the St. Louis game on KSMO Radio, online at ksmoradio.com, and it can be seen at fidelitylocal6.com.
Adam Wainwright stymied San Francisco over seven stellar innings, as the St. Louis Cardinals pushed the Giants to the brink of elimination with an 8-3 triumph in Game 4 of a National League Championship Series at Busch Stadium. Wainwright limited the Giants to one run on four hits with five strikeouts and no walks to earn the victory. Jon Jay, Matt Holliday, and Yadier Molina each registered two RBI for the Cards, who will host Game 5 of the NLCS tonight while leading the series 3-1. You can hear the game on KSMO Radio 1340 AM at 6:30.
The St. Louis Rams will host the Green Bay Packers on Sunday. The Rams are 3-3 on the year and kick-off is set for noon.
Obituaries [TOP]
Funeral services for Clark Harmon of Salem, age 84, will be held Wednesday morning at 11:00 at the Britton-Bennett Funeral Home in Steelville. Visitation will be held Tuesday night from 5:00-8:00. Interment will be in the Pleasant Point Cemetery in Steelville.
Funeral services for Wanda S. Garrison of Licking, age 66, will be held Wednesday at noon at the Boone Creek Baptist Church in Licking. Visitation will be from 10:00 until time of service. Interment will be in the Ashley Creek Kell Cemetery in Montauk. Memorials may be made to the Licking Bridge Builders. All arrangements are under the direction of the James and Gahr Mortuary in Salem.
Weather [TOP]
