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A basketball coach and physical education teacher at Licking High School is accused of showing pornography to a student two weeks ago and then trying to cover it up. Jeremy Compton, 37, of Licking was charged on Wednesday with two misdemeanors, furnishing pornographic materials to a minor and tampering with physical evidence. The Licking Police Department received a report from the Missouri Department of Social Services on November 17^th about a report that Compton showed a 17-year old senior "inappropriate pictures" on a cellular telephone. The report to the state child abuse hotline was made by someone at Licking High School. A probable cause statement used as the basis of the charges stated that Compton told the school he had thrown the cell phone out the window of his vehicle while going to a class in Rolla, somewhere along Highway 63. He also stated that the phone used was not his, but one he had found between classes. Compton surrendered himself on the arrest warrant at the Texas County jail on Thursday morning. If he's convicted, he could be sentenced to up to a year in the county jail on each misdemeanor charge.

The Dent County Commissioners held their regular meeting Thursday morning at the Dent County Courthouse. Deloris Gray Wood was in attendance to finalize the details with the Commission regarding the Civil War Battle of Salem Sesquicentennial Ceremony to be held Saturday at 2:00 at the Dent County Courthouse Courtroom. The event is sponsored by the Dent County Historical Society. The Ceremony will be held on the same day that the Battle of Salem took place. Everyone is invited to attend and for more information, contact Deloris Gray Wood at 729-1496. In the road reports, District One Commissioner Dennis Purcell reported that grading would be done on Dent County Roads 5100, 5103, 5105, 5450 and 5460. Material would be hauled to Dent County Roads 5150 and 5170, and cutting brush will take place on county roads 2480 and 4220. District Two Commissioner Gary Larson reported that a crossover pipe would be installed on Dent County Road 4060, material will be hauled to Dent County Road 2200, and grading will be done on county roads 2200, 2370 and 4380. Larson also reported that truck #114 and #116 are being readied for the winter. Larson reported that he attended the Ozark Rivers Solid Waste Management District annual banquet and awards program earlier in the week. Presiding Commissioner Darrell Skiles wanted to remind everyone about the MoDOT open house public briefing that will be held on Wednesday, December 7^th from 4:00 to 6:00 pm at the Salem High School Cafeteria regarding the replacement of three bridges in the Dent County. This briefing will be a time for residents to find out when the bridge work will take place and such things as how long it will be down and detours that will also take place during that bridge replacement work. Dent County Clerk Angie Curley reported that work continues on the budgets for 2012. Curley also reported that the last day to register to vote is January 11, 2012 for the Presidential Primary that will be held February 7,2012. The contract for rural addressing currently being performed by the TCRC is scheduled to end December 31^st this year. The Commission agreed and signed off on a new contract for another year that will end December 31^st of next year for $12,000. The Commission read a letter from Judge Kelly Parker of the 42^nd Circuit Court regarding expenses for the Juvenile Courts. The letter stated that the Office of State Court Attorneys has instructed the court to hire an attorney for the Juvenile Officers handling cases and appearing in court. The cost for 2012 is expected to be $30,000 and would be split between the five counties of the 42^nd court. It was noted that with a tight grip on expenses thus far for the Dent County Juvenile budget, the budget for 2012 would still be about even with this increase. The letter went on to say that the cost would then double to $60,000 in the year 2013. The Commission then signed off on the three-year lease purchase agreement with Town & Country Bank for the two Dodge Chargers for the Sheriff’s Department for a total of $55,706.02. The payments will be $19,245.02 for three years. The next meeting of the Dent County Commissioners will be Monday morning at 9:00 at the Dent County Courthouse and the meeting is open to the public.

The Missouri Department of Transportation (MoDOT) officials project a 1% overall growth rate for Fiscal Year 2012 CART funds, each penny of the state gas tax is expected to bring in $40.4 million. With the total gas tax set at 17 cents, that means $687 million will be divided among the state, counties and cities for road and bridge maintenance and repair. The counties in Missouri will split an estimated $104.2 million. CART (County Aid Road Trust (CART) Funds) are apportioned to counties on the basis of two factors: one-half of the funds are credited to the county based on the ratio that its road mileage bears to the total county road mileage in the unincorporated areas of the state, and one-half is credited to the county based on the ratio that its rural land valuation bears to the rural land valuation of the entire state. Estimated CART revenues for the state’s Fiscal year 2012 are: $640,006.82 for Crawford County; $603,766.06 for Dent County; $819,730.98 for Phelps County; $637,433.08 for Reynolds County; $575,705 in Shannon County and $903,757.86 in Texas County. CART revenues are made up of three sources and they include revenues from gas tax, motor vehicle sales and or use taxes and motor vehicle fees.

The 2011 Chamber Christmas Parade will be held at 5:30 p.m. on Saturday, December 3^rd.  This year’s theme is “An Animated Christmas.”  The Grand Marshal will be James Coffman. Coffman, a lifelong resident and businessman in Dent County, recently received the Eugene E. Northern Award during the Meramec Regional Planning Commission's annual banquet. Coffman has served on numerous boards and committees during decades as a businessman and is owner of Roberts-Judson Lumber Company in Salem. The parade route begins at the corner of Franklin and South Grand Streets and finishes at the Dent County Courthouse. For more information, call the chamber office at 729-6900.

Sports [TOP]

The Salem Tiger boy’s basketball team will host Pacific tonight starting with the JV at 6:00 with the varsity to follow. You can hear the varsity game on KSMO Radio and online at ksmoradio.com. The game is also available live on a subscription basis on the Internet on fidelitylocal6.com

The St. Louis Blues will be in Colorado tonight to play the Avalanche at 8:00. KSMO will join this game in progress following the Salem Tiger basketball game.

The 13^th ranked Missouri Tiger basketball team will host the Northwestern State Demons tonight at 7:00. Missouri is 6-0 on the young season.

The Kansas City Chiefs will be in Chicago to face the Bears Sunday at noon, and the St. Louis Rams will be playing the 49ers in San Francisco Sunday at 3:15.

Obituaries   [TOP]

Funeral services for Charles E. Victor of Salem, age 85, will be held this morning at 11:00 at the James & Gahr Mortuary in Salem. Interment will be in the North Lawn Cemetery.

Funeral services for Leonard Brazzle of Rolla, age 84, will be held today at 1:00 at the James & Gahr Mortuary in Rolla. Visitation will be from 11:00 until service time. Interment will be in the Macedonia Cemetery in Rolla.

Funeral services for Liary S. Chitwood of Salem, age 69, will be held Saturday at 11:00 at the James & Gahr Mortuary in Salem. Visitation will be tonight from 5:00 to 7:00. Interment will be in the Jadwin Cemetery.

Funeral services for Margaret Anderson of Steelville, age 84, will be held Sunday at 2:00 at the Britton-Bennett Funeral Home in Steelville. Visitation will be Saturday from 4:00 to 8:00. Interment will be in the Martin-Trask Cemetery in Cherryville.

Funeral services for Lillian Mary Hubbs of Salem, age 86, will be held Monday at 1:00 at the Wilson Mortuary in Salem. Visitation will be Sunday from 2:00 to 4:00. Interment will be in the Cedar Grove Cemetery.

Funeral services for Vernon Lee Matlock of St. James, age 79, will be held Tuesday at 11:00 at the James & Gahr Mortuary in St. James. Visitation is Monday from 5:00 to 7:00. Interment will be in the St. James Cemetery. Memorials are suggested to the VFW Post #5608 in St. James.

Gary Melvin Gibbs passed away December 3^rd in Springfield, but arrangements are incomplete at this time.

Weather [TOP]