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The Dent County Commissioners meeting was held Thursday morning at the Dent County Courthouse. In the road report, Commissioner Simpson said that it was too frozen to grade so workers would be doing routine maintenance, inspecting and putting up signs, and adding materials to a few roads. Commissioner Tune said that brush was going to be cut on Dent County Road 4220 and rock was going to be hauled to Dent County Road 2103 where it was going to spread out. He said signs were going to be installed on Dent County Roads 3300 and 3400, and if it warms up enough, grading will be done on Dent County Roads 4300 and 4040. He did say that a number of speed limit signs need to be replaced as they have been stolen.  Presiding Commissioner Darrell Skiles attended the MRPC meeting Thursday that including the Transportation Advisory Committee. In that meeting, they discussed the extension of Highway 72 in Rolla, the west Highway 63 bypass, and adding a fifth Rolla exit on Interstate 44. Skiles also said that MoDOT said that all Dent County bridges were in compliance with weight postings. Skiles stated that Bernie English dropped off a letter wanting a written response to his request to have something done with the debris on property he occupies, and he asked for the FEMA reports on Dent County Road 6080. The commissioners copied the FEMA reports and agreed to write a letter to English for him to address this issue with the new commissioners in 2009. The Dent County Collector’s office will be open Saturday from 9:00 to noon for those who wish to pay their property taxes. The next meeting of the Dent County Commissioners will be Monday morning at 9:00 and the meeting is open to the public.

The electricity will be off at the Dent County Sheriff’s Department this Saturday, December 13^th from 6:00 am to about 9:00 am while a new generator is being installed. In case of emergencies, call the Salem Police Department at 729-4242 or the Missouri State Highway Patrol–Troop I at (573) 368-2345, as they will be dispatching calls for the Sheriff’s Department.

The Salem Memorial District Hospital Board of Directors held their regular monthly meeting Thursday evening at the Holiday Inn Express. For the month of November, the hospital had expenses over revenues of $29,048 with both inpatient and outpatient services lower than expected. Some increase in costs during the month included personal day buyouts and an additional microfilming expense that helped reduce available cash by about $400,000. Director of Nursing Carol Lacy reported that there were 751 emergency room visits with 73 transfers, 170 ambulance runs, 24 surgeries, 1,258 outpatient registrations, 238 Home Health visits, 6,503 lab tests, 1,025 radiological procedures, 296 CT scans, 18 MRI’s, 14 nuclear med scans, 351 rehabs, 152 dialysis treatments and 347 clinical visits. Hospital Administrator Dennis Pryor said that the hospital auxiliary sold 170 tickets on the Holiday Home tour held on December 7^th. He reported that $1,154,858 has already been spent on the Physician’s Office Building Three and it will be opening for business on January 5^th. He said that the total cost of the building should come to about $1.3 million dollars.  He said that an ER physician is going to visit the hospital and the community on December 22^nd, with another ER doctor scheduled to come in January. The board approved the changes to the annual bylaw review with the exception of one change that needs to be made in the medical staff bylaws before it can be changed by the board. Filing for the Board of Director’s seat for District 2 currently held by Sheila Kunkel will begin December 16^th and end on January 20^th. The board approved the renewal of the self-funded employee health insurance program through GBS for $787,636 which is up from last year’s rate of $735,063. The board approved the commercial insurance coverage through Progressive Financial (CHUBB) for $23,668. That premium is up from last year’s rate of $21,290 but also includes Physician’s Office Building 3. The board also approved the auto insurance coverage offered by Town and Country Insurance (MOPERM) for $6,651. That rate is lower than the current rate of $8,035. The board then voted to go into closed session.

Sports [TOP]

The Salem Lady Basketball Tigers will face Cabool tonight at 6:00 in the Cabool Tournament. Salem is 0-2 on the year.

The Salem Boys Basketball game that was postponed Tuesday will be played tomorrow night at 6:00 at Waynesville. Salem is 2-2 going into the game.

Dustin Brown recorded the first hat trick of his career, as the Los Angeles Kings routed the St. Louis Blues, 6-2, at Staples Center. Carlo Colaiacovo and Cam Paddock scored for the Blues, who have dropped two in a row. The Blues will be at San Jose Saturday night at 9:30 and you can hear the game on KSMO.

The Missouri Basketball Tigers will host Murray State Saturday night at 5:30. Missouri enters the game with a 6-1 record. You can hear the contest on KSMO Radio.

The Kansas City Royals have signed left-hander Horacio Ramirez to a one-year deal. Ramirez, who will be given an opportunity to land a spot in the rotation, worked primarily as a starter in his first six seasons in the big leagues, but threw exclusively out of the bullpen for the Royals last season, going 1-1 with a 2.59 earned-run average in 15 appearances.

Obituaries   [TOP]