City Council Approves Tax Levies

The Unionville City Council meeting was called to order at 5:30 PM on Wednesday, August 2, by Mayor Charley Bill Pittman with all aldermen [Gary Davis, Kellie Purdy, Eric Lutz and Jason Hill] present.

No citizens were present for the Tax Levy public hearing. The only comment was made by Davis, who suggested the levies should be higher. Davis motioned to approve the tax levies. Purdy seconded the motion, which passed 4-0 via roll call vote.

Purdy motioned to approve the consent agenda. Hill seconded the motion, which passed 4-0.

The council reviewed staff reports. T. J. Payne, Water/Wastewater Dept., reported that Diamond Maps had installed new program on the department’s tablet, which allows them to PDF files to the DNR. The department has also been approved for a grant for lead line replacement.

Mayor Pittman reported on a trailer property that had been cleaned up. He noted he had received three complaints about the location of the recycling trailers.

In Old Business, Fire Chief Tim Montgomery presented information regarding charging for extraction, which would help the department maintain equipment, pointing out that in the past few months $2200 in pay and fuel had been spent on this. Purdy motioned to change the current ordinance and add the extraction fee. Lutz seconded the motion, which passed 4-0.

Montgomery also requested permission to get bids to place the ceiling in the new addition and to check out a ladder truck in Oskaloosa. The council approved.

In other Old Business, Lutz motioned not to forgive the taxes on 1700 Main. Purdy seconded the motion, which passed 4-0.

In New Business, the Street Department received only one bid for doors. Davis motioned to accept the bid. Purdy seconded the motion, which passed 4-0.

The City Council meeting originally scheduled for Thursday, August 17, has been rescheduled for Monday, August 14.

Purdy motioned to enter closed session as per RSMo 610.021 (1) Legal actions … (3) Hiring, firing, … following a five-minute break. Lutz seconded the motion, which passed 4-0.

*Drivers no longer accept payment from riders on the bus. Riders can add funds to their account before riding and each time they ride the fare will be withdrawn. When calling to add funds to your account a minimum amount of $10.00 is required. You can send a personal check, money order, or cashier’s check to the OATS Transit office if you do not want to pay by credit/debit card.

The family of Riley Perkins want to thank each one for the prayers, cards, phone calls, food and donations to the Senior Center.

God bless each one of you.

Darlene, Rachel and Ruth

MU Research Examines Strategies for Preventing Texting and Driving

To keep people from texting and driving, remind them of the deadly consequences - and the choice they have to change their behavior

COLUMBIA, Mo. — Citing the grim statistics alone should be enough to convince people to stop texting and driving.

More than eight people are killed and 1,161 are injured each day in crashes reported to involve a distracted driver, according to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

Drivers in their 20s make up 25% of distracted drivers in fatal crashes.

But a new study from the University of Missouri found “death awareness” played a significant role in promoting the adoption of texting-and-driving prevention behaviors. When individuals were primed with reminders of their mortality and the potential consequences of their actions, they were more likely to indicate that they would refrain from texting while driving and adopt safer behaviors behind the wheel.

Additionally, the findings indicated that reactance — or the resistance to being persuaded or controlled — played a paradoxical role in texting-and-driving preven- tion. When individuals were primed to experience reactance and exhibited initial resistance to prevention messages, researchers found death awareness effectively reduced those individuals’ resistance and positively influenced their behavior.

“When you message people about behaviors that could harm their health, you want to be careful not to induce reactance by using terms that imply they have no choice because that could trigger resistance,” said Zachary Massey, an assistant professor of science communication and strategic communication at the Missouri School of Journalism and co-author on the study. “And if there’s resistance, they might reject the message.”

Massey said crafting prevention messages to warn people about threats to their well-being is tricky — even if the statistics about the health threat appear dire. Convincing drivers — especially young drivers — to stop texting and driving is no different.

Massey’s experimental study examined how young adults respond to different versions of a preventative health message that combines two psychological factors that influence individual behavior — death awareness and reactance.

Reactance is especially profound in teenagers and young adults, who often resist attempts to change their behavior. It can reappear at other stages in life as well.

The experiment employed a comprehensive approach, combining survey data, experimental scenarios and statistical analysis to gain insights into the factors influencing how people respond to texting-and-driving messages. The researchers recruited 208 participants between the ages of 18 and 31 who were randomly assigned to write a short essay either about their death or about experiencing dental pain. Participants then read different versions of texting-and-driving prevention messages adapted from governmental websites. One version of the message threatened participants’ behavioral freedom to choose — “There’s really no choice when it comes to preventing texting and driving: You simply have to do it!” — and the other version supported participants freedom to choose — “You have a choice when it comes to texting and driving:

Avoid texting and driving whenever you can!” Participants who wrote about their death and then read the message supporting their behavioral choice showed the strongest indication of changing their texting behavior while driving, providing a possible avenue for practitioners that must communicate deadly consequences of health behaviors to people who may be resistant to those messages.

“This is tricky, tricky ground to work on,” Massey said. “We have to tell people about something they might not want to hear that could have deadly ramifications if they don’t listen to what we’re saying. But if we warn people and threaten their behavior to choose, it could backfire. We have to warn people about deadly threats, but we need to figure out how to frame that information so they will listen.”

“The effects of death awareness and reactance on texting-and-driving prevention” was published in Risk Analysis. Co-author on the study is Elena Bessarabova, assistant professor in the Department of Communication at the University of Oklahoma.

Statement Issued on Inmate’s Death

On July 4th, 2023,

P.E.O. Chapter A

Initiates New Members

at approximately 6:46 A.M. the Putnam County E-911 Joint Telecommunication Center advised the Putnam County Sheriff’s Office that an inmate was deceased in a jail cell. The Putnam County Sheriff’s Office located 49-year-old Larry Lee Curtis of Baxter, Iowa deceased. Curtis had been an inmate with the Putnam County Jail since January 27th, 2023.

The Putnam County Sheriff’s Office contacted the Putnam County Coroner and also requested the assistance of the Missouri State Highway Patrol’s Division of Drug and Crime Control to conduct the death investigation. At this time, the death is believed to be a suicide. Curtis’s Next of Kin has been notified.

For further information please contact Missouri State Highway Patrol, Sergeant Darrin Haslag at (573) 5266302.

Chapter A, Unionville, initiated two new members. Pictured (L to R)are Machelle Rinehart, Abigail Shaffer and President Terri Jones. Machelle and Abigail were initiated at the meeting on Tuesday, August 8th. Submitted by Jill Blanchard

Terri Jones was happy to initiate her granddaughter, Abigail Shaffer. Abigail is shown in this Chapter A three generation picture with her mom, Brittany Shaffer, and grandma Terri. P.E.O. roots ran even deeper in their family. Terri’s mom, Marty Hegarty (deceased) was a member of a P.E.O. chapter in Kansas. Submitted by Jill Blanchard

Public Notices ...

Continued from pg. 11

IN THE THIRD CIRCUIT COURT OF PUTNAM COUNTY MISSOURI

Division: PROBATE

Case No. 23AJPR00011

In the Matter of K.M.L., Minor.

NOTICE of Filing

Petition for Appointment of Guardian and Conservator of Minor

To: EDWARD LITTLEJOHN and LINDSEY M. KEPPLE

You Are Notified that a petition was filed on June 26, 2023, for the appointment of a guard- ian and conservator for the above-named minor. You must file a response or motion with the clerk of court in the above county by September 18, 2023. If you do not respond, the court may enter a judgment granting appointment of guardian and conservator.

LESLIE REAM, Circuit Clerk of Court

/s/ by: Susan Koenen,Deputy Susan Koenen, Deputy Clerk

Date of first publication: August 16,2023

Publication: 8/16, 8/23, 8/30, 9/6