Your World Today – Thursday, July 2, 2015
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NEWS: Thursday, July 2nd, 2015
The City of Salem Board of Aldermen held a special meeting Wednesday night at the city hall Council Chambers. At the meeting, the board discussed elements of the budget that had not yet been finalized. Alderwoman Molly Zettel suggested new work shifts for the Salem Police officers of 12 hour days for three days a week versus the four-10 hour days. She said that would save overtime dollars as last year the police had overtime charges of over $50,000. Chief Steelman explained why there were 10 hours shifts for the officers and how they overlap. He also explained the reason for a large portion of the overtime dollars is that officers get paid holiday pay for working on holidays, plus overtime shift pay. Discussion then centered on the budgeted purchase of two police cars to continue the program started two years ago. That program was to have each officer with their own car that would eventually save money with lower mileage on the police vehicles after two to three years which would reduced maintenance costs. Prior to this program being started, cars would have high mileage on them quickly by being shared by each officer and little residual value. Currently there is one police car out of service and two others that are near being placed out of service. Aldermen Chad Heithold brought up the fact the maintenance costs last year were already less than the previous year so it appeared the program has already produced some results. After more discussion about cutting the police budget and the possibility of buying only one police vehicle, the board finally approved the 2015-2016 City of Salem budget as it was presented at the beginning of the meeting with no changes. This budget has expected revenues of $11,563,533 and expected expenditures of $10,912,553. About $900,000 has been set aside for capital purchases in the budget and there was also over $200,000 total going into the electric, water and sewer reserves. Estimated billing amounts were down for electric from last year, but projected higher for water and sewer with the new rates. The budget also reflected about $250,000 in the tax dollars generated by the new Parks and Recreation Sales tax that will start to be received by the city in either December or January. In the new year, there are four water line replacements scheduled and five roads that are to be improved. The city also plans to install a radio controlled system for the city wells and update the utility software to provide additional customer services options such as online payments and paying by phone. After the passage of the budget, Mayor Tune voiced that the Salem Police Department was not a “team player” and was not cooperative in trying to make cuts to their department. He said this even though the budget showed the reduction of one position from the police department that will not be replaced which is a savings of $50,000 as well as a cut of $34,000 from their overtime fund. Tune followed by saying that he was pleased with the budget as there will be no reserves used to balance the budget. He thanked the finance committee and the utility committee for all their hard work in helping with the budget. In other action, the board approved Bill #3292 that authorizes the mayor to execute an agreement between the City of Salem and the Missouri Highway and Transportation Commission for the block grant agreement for the Salem Airport Master Plan and ALP update. The city will receive $153,096 and the city will have to only pay a participation rate of $1,183. City Clerk Mary Happel reported that two trailer courts, the one at 701 East Center and the other on North Park, have not applied for license renewal and have not been brought into compliance. As of Wednesday, those trailer courts are no longer licensed and are in violation of city ordinances. The other two trailer courts that had applied for licenses have been approved after meeting their deficiencies. The meeting was then adjourned.
Captain James W. Remillard, commanding officer Troop I, Rolla announces that Troop I will be participating in several special enforcement operations over the Independence Day weekend. The objective of these operations is to promote safety and reduce traffic crashes. Throughout the entire holiday weekend, troopers within Troop I and the entire state will be participating in Operation C.A.R.E. (Combined Accident Reduction Effort). In addition to Operation C.A.R.E., Troop I will be participating in the statewide 20-Mile Trooper project during the peak travel periods today and Sunday, July 5th. During this operation, Troop I troopers will be assigned to 20-mile stretches of I-44 to maximize visibility. Enforcement efforts on secondary roads within Troop I will be conducted during this same timeframe. Troop I will also be conducting a sobriety checkpoint and a DWI saturation in Crawford County during the month of July. The areas selected for enforcement are based on a high number of alcohol-related crashes, high number of contacts with drivers who have been drinking, and officers input as to probable contact with DWI violators. Captain Remillard stated troopers at the checkpoint will be checking operators licenses and insurance cards, and looking for motorist who are driving while under the influence of alcohol or other drugs. Captain Remillard urges all motorists passing through the checkpoint to use extreme caution by slowing down, keeping their eyes on the road and vehicles ahead for any sudden stopping, and following the directions of the troopers. Captain Remillard went on to say, Sobriety saturations and DWI checkpoints are very important in making our highways a safer place to travel and the troopers assigned to Troop I are extremely dedicated to removing unsafe and impaired drivers from our roadways. Approximately 63 percent of Missouri fatal crash victims who are required to be restrained are NOT at the time of the traffic crash. The Patrol encourages motorists to protect themselves and their passengers by making sure everyone in the vehicle is properly restrained in a seat belt or child restraint.
SPORTS [TOP]
Melky Cabrera hit a go-ahead solo homer in the sixth inning, Tyler Flowers added a two-run shot in a five-run ninth, and the Chicago White Sox beat the St. Louis Cardinals 7-1 on Wednesday. Despite enduring three rain relays, both starters pitched at least six quality innings. The first pitch was delayed over two hours, and after Lackey tossed a 1-2-3 inning, the tarp was back on the field. Play stopped for 14 minutes, and when it resumed, Kolten Wong singled and scored from first on Jhonny Peralta's double into the left-field corner. The Cardinals will play San Diego tonight at 6:15 on KSMO Radio.
Chris Carter homered and drove in two runs as the Houston Astros swept a three-game series from the Kansas City Royals with a 6-5 win on Wednesday night. Kendrys Morales hit a two-run homer in the first to give the Royals an early lead, then Alex Rios notched an RBI single in the second for a 3-0 edge. The Royals will play Minnesota tonight at 7:10.
OBITUARIES [TOP]
Funeral services for Alice McDowell of Rolla, age 91, will be held today at 1:00 at the James and Gahr Mortuary in Rolla. Visitation will be from 11:00 this morning until service time. Interment will be in the Roach Cemetery in Rolla.
Funeral services for Irma Baker, age 82, will be Monday at 11:00 at the Dent County Memorial Chapel. Visitation will be Sunday from 6:00 to 8:00. Interment will be in the Pilgrims Rest Cemetery in Shannon County. Memorials are suggested to the Pilgrims Rest Cemetery.
WEATHER [TOP]
Today..Mostly cloudy with a 60% for showers and thunderstorms, high of 79.
Tonight..Mostly cloudy with a 40% chance for showers and thunderstorms, low of 64.
Friday..Mostly cloudy with a 40% chance for showers and thunder-storms, high of 81.
Friday night..Cloudy with a 40% chance for showers, low of 63.
Saturday..Partly sunny with a 40% chance for showers early, high of 83.
