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The Dent County Commissioners met for their regular meeting at the Dent County Courthouse Monday morning.  For the road report, Commissioners Bobby Simpson and J.J. Tune both reported that roads are too frozen for grading, but Commissioner Simpson did say that a crew would be on Dent County Road 5010 bush hogging.  The rest of the District 1 and 2 crewmembers are catching up on routine maintenance, checking road signs and doing any repairs that might be needed on equipment.  Presiding Commissioner Darrell Skiles reported that he received the counties final sales tax figures for the year and it was down $1,813 from this time last year.  In 2007, the county generated $738,032 and for 2008 the final total was $736,219.  Dent County Clerk Angie Curley said the courthouse will be open all day on Christmas Eve, but will be closed Christmas day and the Collectors office will be the only office open in the courthouse on Friday.  The next meeting of the Commissioners will be Monday morning at 9:00 and the meeting is open to the public.

At its December 19th meeting in Jefferson City, the Missouri Conservation Commission discussed changes to the structure and pricing of hunting, fishing and trapping permits as proposed by the Commission in September. Public input, according to the Commission, has again proven to be an essential component of regulation development. Following the recent public comment period on proposed permit changes, several recommendations included in the original package have been sidelined or modified. The proposed 80-acre resident landowner requirement was stopped. After taking into consideration the severe economic downturn affecting Missouri's citizens, and in response to public comments, the Commission decided to end advancement of the proposed recommendations to increase the resident landowner acreage requirement for no-cost deer and turkey permits from 5 to 80 acres, and  eliminate lessee privileges. In addition, the Commission stopped proposed resident permit price increases. The Commission also voiced support for ending advancement of the recommendation to establish a new senior "forever" permit. With this action, people over 65 years will continue to be able to hunt small game and fish for free in Missouri, with no permit required. As originally crafted, the "forever" permit seemed to confuse many citizens. The Department received considerable public comment on this particular issue. The Commission continued to support the proposed recommendations regarding gathering basic essential landowner information, but approved the delay of implementation from Fall 2009 to Spring 2010. Through the Department’s existing point-of-sale permit system, landowners receiving no-cost deer and turkey permits provide their name, address, county and acreage of their land. The change envisioned would be consistent with a past requirement that simply adds collection of the legal description of their land, i.e.: township, section and range. Following public comments, the Commission expressed continued support for the recommendation to establish consistent Hunter Education and age requirements for all mentors. This recommendation establishes consistent requirements for all Missouri citizens. In addition, the Commission continued to support the establishment of a standard minimum legal age of six years for obtaining deer and turkey permits, including for no-cost landowner permits. The Commission remains focused on the priority of growing hunter and angler numbers in Missouri. As a result, the Commission voiced support to continue forward with the recommendation to simplify youth permits and slash the cost of deer, turkey and trout permits purchased for youth by 50%.

The winners of the Salem Area Chamber of Commerce 2008 Decorating Contest are Jerry Schafer located at 21 Westwood Drive won First Place and will receive $100.00 in prize money. Rick and Donna Phillips located on P Highway won Second Place winning $50.00 in prize money and Charlene Rogers located at 1001 East Roosevelt Street won Third Place winning $25.00 in prize money. Congratulations to all the winners and thank you to all who took the time to nominate your favorite home from the Salem Area Chamber of Commerce.

Winners in the Fairgrounds Auto Plaza, Fidelity Communications and KSMO Radio Great Christmas Giveaway this year were Delores Gray Wood and Becky Steelman. Each package was worth over $2,000. Congratulations to the winners and Merry Christmas.

Sports [TOP]

The Salem Lady Basketball Tigers rallied from ten points down with 2:10 to play to pull within a point, but they could get no closer and dropped a 54-51 decision to Houston in SCA play. Jennifer Herndon had 28 points and ten rebounds for Salem who came in to the game off a 52-45 win over Newburg Friday night. The Lady Tigers game with West Plains has been rescheduled for today at West Plains at high school gym at 5:30. If played, you can hear the game on KSMO and www.ksmoradio.com. Salem is now 3-3 on the year. This game has been cancelled!

The Salem Boys Basketball Tigers will also be at West Plains and will face the Zizzers at about 7:30. KSMO will tape delay the game and replay it at about 9:00 after the Missouri and Illinois game. Salem enters the game 3-3 on the year. This game has been cancelled!

The Missouri Tigers and Fighting Illini will match up at the Scottrade Center tonight at about 6:30. You can hear the game on KSMO Radio.

The St. Louis Blues will be at Detroit tonight to face the Red Wings. The Blues have lost six of the last seven games. The game will NOT be heard on KSMO tonight.

Jay Zygmunt stepped down as president of football operations and general manager of the St. Louis Rams on Monday, ending his 27-season tenure with the franchise. Zygmunt's resignation is effective immediately, and a reduced role for team president John Shaw. along with an increase of responsibility for executive vice president of player personnel Billy Devaney is also imminent.

NHL Scores:

Toronto 6, Atlanta 2
Edmonton 4, Phoenix 2
Vancouver 4, Anaheim 3
Pittsburgh 4, Buffalo 3 (OT)

Obituaries   [TOP]