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The Dent County Commissioners’ regular meeting was held Thursday morning at the Dent County Courthouse. In the road report, District One Commissioner Dennis Purcell said that grading was going to be done on Dent County Roads 2440, 4150, 4155 and 5450; and that brush was going to be cut on Dent County Road 5600. Purcell said that a crewmember and community service workers were on Dent County Road 5015 picking up trash and old tires that someone had thrown out along the road. Purcell said that the workers were going to go through the trash to see if they could find something that would give them the identity of the person who left the trash. He said if they were able to find something, they would give the information to the sheriff’s department. District Two Commissioner Gary Larson said that grading was going to be done on Dent County Roads 2070, 3333, 3335, 3337, 3340 and 4330. Larson stated that brush was going to be cut on Dent County Road 2070 and 2300. Both commissioners said the work crews were putting the plows and spreader boxes on the trucks for the winter season. Both commissioners also said that each district had one worker working in the new building addition at the Road and Bridge Department Maintenance Shed. Presiding Commissioner Darrell Skiles said that he and Commissioner Larson attended the Ozark Rivers Solid Waste Management District meeting and annual awards dinner Tuesday night. Skiles stated that the Salem R-80 School District was one of eight districts awarded for their efforts in helping with recycling. Becky Mitchell accepted the award on behalf of the Salem R-80 School District. Skiles also said that the annual report for the ORSWM district was presented and there were no problems. Dent County Clerk Angie Curley said that phone bids for propane were taken for the courthouse from Chilton Oil, Ferrelgas, Titan and MFA Oil, and the winning bid went to MFA Oil at $1.70 per gallon. Dent County Collector Dennis Medlock came in and presented invoices for bonding. One invoice was for a bond of $75,000 for Medlock and two deputies for the Tourism Tax collected and that the bond costs $492 and will run until March 2, 2015. Medlock said that the Tourism Tax Committee is supposed to pay for the bond and he will get in touch with the committee for payment. Medlock also had an invoice for a “split” bond valued at $200,000 from March 1 to October 31, then is valued at $750,000 from November 1 to February 28 for $2,289. This bond was for Medlock only and would be in effect from 3/7/2011 until 3/2/2015. He also had an invoice for a bond for two deputies for the Collector’s office to be bonded at $50,000 each for that same time period for $892. Those funds will come from the Dent County Collector’s budget and there are funds available for payment this year if it is the wish of the commissioners. The commissioners will see if the amount was budgeted for 2010. The next meeting of the Dent County Commissioners will be held Monday morning at 9:00 at the Dent County Courthouse and the meeting is open to the public.

Dent County Collector Dennis Medlock wants to remind taxpayers that his office in the Dent County Courthouse will be open tomorrow, December 4^th, from 9:00 in the morning until noon; and again on December 18^th from 9:00 AM to noon for payment of your personal property and real estate taxes. He also said that from December 27^th through December 31^st, the office would be open an hour later each evening until 5:30 for those who need to still pay their taxes. If you have any questions, feel free to call the office at 729-3911.

The December Salem Area Chamber of Commerce meeting will be held on Wednesday, December 8^th at noon at the Southwest Baptist University located at 501 South Grand in room 110. The St. John’s Clinic of Salem will be hosting the meeting at no cost. Travis Ford, Communications Director with the Missouri Department of Insurance will be the presenter on the topic of Health Care Reform. He will discuss how businesses will be affected and there will be a question and answer period. Space is limited, so to reserve your space stop the Chamber office at 200 South Main or call 729-6900.

The Trees and Trains Exhibit is now open at the Ozark Natural and Cultural Resource Center. The holiday exhibit includes more than 30 displays including beautifully decorated Christmas trees, as well a nice selection of trains and miniature trains. Exhibit hours are 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday-Saturday now through Christmas Eve. The exhibit consists of trees furnished and decorated by local individuals, organizations, churches and businesses. The exhibitors have a sign on the exhibit so the public knows who put the tree on display. Tree entries may have a theme or title, and some trees even have a unique story to them that is also presented at the tree location. All trees are artificial and lighting is miniature type. Santa will also be visiting the exhibit from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. on December 11th and the 18th. No admission will be charged, but donations may be made during the exhibit and they will benefit the Salvation Army Kettle Campaign. For more information about the exhibit contact the ONCRC at 729-0029 or visit the center at 202 South Main Street.

The Salem Area Chamber of Commerce and the City of Salem invite everyone to come out and get into the holiday spirit at the 2010 Christmas Parade entitled, “Rocking Around the Christmas Tree” that will be held on Saturday, December 4^th beginning at 5:30 pm. The parade route runs from the old Fairgrounds (corner of South Grand and Franklin) to the Dent County Courthouse. Performing at the Dent County Courthouse at the official lighting of the courthouse after the parade will be the Salem Upper-Elementary Honors Choir, the Salem Senior High School Band and the Salem Senior High School Chamber Choir. For more information, call the Salem Area Chamber at 729-6900.

The Salvation Army Service Unit of Dent County would like to announce that this year’s Christmas kettle campaign is going on now through Friday, December 24^th. The kettles will be located at Wal-Mart, Country Mart, and Dollar General. Counter Kettles will be placed at various locations around Dent County. This year’s goal is $21,000 and with the continuation of a local mail appeal and the hundreds of volunteer hours donated by individuals, businesses, and clubs to ring the bell at the Christmas kettle, the Salvation Army is hopeful that local citizens will support this campaign generously as they have in the past. This year, David Dittman, a Vice-President at the Bank of Salem, will serve as the Honorary Christmas Campaign Chairman and he thanks everyone for their donation on money, time or both during this Christmas season to make it a brighter 2011 for hose less fortunate. The funds raised during this campaign will be used to assist the citizens of Dent County with utility assistance, and prescriptions. The Salvation Army also supplies local school children with backpacks, and provides assistance to families who have lost everything due to a fire. The generosity of the citizens of Dent County will enable the local Salvation Army to continue to meet the needs of those who need assistance in 2011. If you would like to help by ringing the bell as the Christmas kettle or need additional information about the local Salvation Army, please call Jim and Diane Boulware at 729-6685 or Sherry Lea at 729-8163.

Sports [TOP]

The Salem Tiger Boys Basketball team will be at Pacific tonight starting at 6:00 with the JV contest. Salem enters the contest with an 0-2 record. You can hear the varsity game on KSMO Radio and online at ksmoradio.com starting with Tiger talk and Coach Nic Zenker starting about 7:15.

Marcus Denmon finished with 19 points and eight rebounds, and No. 9 Missouri survived Oregon's second-half surge to escape McArthur Court with an 83-80 victory. The Tigers (6-1), just two days after losing to Georgetown in overtime, saw a 20-point halftime lead shrink to three in the closing seconds. Kim English chipped in 12 points for Missouri, which received 11 points apiece from Ricardo Ratliffe and Michael Dixon. Mizzou has the weekend off but will host Vanderbilt on Wednesday.

Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Matt Cassel has been named the AFC's top offensive player for the month of November. Cassel completed 62.5 percent of his passes for 1,111 yards with a league-best 12 touchdowns and just one interception. His 112.2 passer rating was third in the AFC for the month and he became the first quarterback with four TD passes in consecutive road games since Tom Brady in 2007. The Chiefs will host the Denver Broncos Sunday at noon.

St. Louis Rams quarterback Sam Bradford has been named the NFL's top offensive rookie for the month of November. Bradford claimed the honor for the second consecutive month and became the first quarterback to be named Rookie of the Month twice. He completed 65.3 percent of his throws (79-of-121) for 792 yards with six touchdowns and one interception, good for a passer rating of 96.8. Last Sunday in a 36-33 victory at Denver, Bradford became the first rookie in league history to throw for at least 300 yards and three scores without an interception in a road win. The Rams will be in Arizona Sunday to face the Cardinals at 3:15.

The St. Louis Blues will go on a Canadian road-trip this weekend. The Blues will play the Edmonton Oilers Saturday night at 9:00 and the Vancouver Canucks Sunday night at 8:00. You can hear both of those games on KSMO Radio.

Obituaries   [TOP]