Pulaski County Commissioners learned during Thursday morning's meeting that the county's emergency management director plans to open the emergency operations center tonight in anticipation of possible severe weather Friday.

Emergency Management Director Shauna McCullough said her goal is to be proactive. By opening the EOC on a standby basis, she said emergency personnel will be ready if storm damage becomes serious on Friday morning.

McCullough asked Sheriff Jimmy Bench, who was present at the commission meeting, to have his dispatchers help her office. Quick notification of emergency needs could become critical, McCullough said, since storm damage could be widespread around Missouri and state officials may need to make rapid decisions on where to send help.

"Make sure dispatch knows that if they start seeing damages, let me know so we can get additional resources," McCullough said. "They have a feeling it is going to be very competitive because it's going to be first-come, first-serve."

In other business:

• Responding to questions, Bench said his deputies spent time Wednesday dealing with an unrelated incident: a Wednesday motorcycle chase that began in Osage County, went through Maries County, reached Crocker, and ended on Cherry Road near Hancock between Crocker and Dixon.
• Auctioneer Ed Warden, who owns Warden Auction & MORE, and was contracted by the commissioners for a recent online auction of county surplus equipment, reported that after fees, the online auction generated $80,935, of which $29,489 went to the Pulaski County Sheriff's Department and the remainder went to the county's eastern and western road districts. Bench said he plans to use the money for the county's required match for grants to which his office is applying so his department won't have to obligated money from his budget previously budgeted for other purposes.