3A
THE DAILY ASTORIAN • WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 25, 2017
Washington, other states eye school bus seat belts
Bill covers
public and
private buses
By ALEXIS MYERS
Associated Press
OLYMPIA, Wash. — A
bill that would require school
buses to have seat belts is
being considered by lawmak-
ers in Washington, one of
more than a dozen states where
school seat belt measures is on
the legislative agenda this year.
Senate Bill 5054 would
mandate that all public and
private school buses purchased
after the bill takes effect have a
safety belt for each rider.
California, Florida, Loui-
siana, New Jersey, New York
and Texas have existing vari-
ations of a seat belt law for
school buses, according to the
National Conference of State
Legislatures. At least 17 states,
including Washington, have
introduced legislation regard-
ing seat belts on school buses
in this year’s sessions.
Jane Terry of the National
Safety Council said the orga-
nization supports the push for
school bus safety restraints,
citing a bus crash in Chatta-
nooga, Tennessee, last year
that killed six children.
“It’s really the safest way for
occupants to ride and it comes
down to the bottom line of
seat belts save lives and we’ve
known this for years,” Terry
said in an interview. “There’s
no reason, especially when peo-
ple are looking at purchasing
new buses, why they shouldn’t
try to get ones with this type of
common sense safety equip-
ment on board.”
Terry said from the time a
child is born they are placed
in a car seat and are taught to
buckle up in a car, but for some
reason a school bus is treated
differently.
“A school bus should not
be a time where you say ‘it’s
OK you don’t need to buckle
up this time,’” she said.
Washington’s measure is
sponsored by Republican state
Sen. Brian Dansel and Demo-
cratic Sens. Jeannie Darneille
and Christine Rolfes. Similar
legislation has also been pro-
posed in the House.
The other states consider-
ing school seat belt legislation
include: Arkansas, Connecti-
cut, Hawaii, Indiana, Kansas,
Maryland, Michigan, Minne-
sota, Mississippi, Nebraska,
New Hampshire, Pennsylva-
nia, Rhode Island, South Car-
olina, Virginia and Utah.
New child advocacy center helps
counsel local victimized children
By NATALIE ST. JOHN
EO Media Group
R.J. Marx/The Daily Astorian
Ed Rippet accepts the 2016 Byron Award at the Seaside
Chamber Banquet. Last year’s recipient, Fred Loser,
stands behind.
Seaside chamber
celebrates their
achievements
Youth, athletics
are benefits of
volunteerism
By R.J. MARX
The Daily Astorian
SEASIDE — Before the
speeches began at Tuesday’s
Seaside Chamber of Com-
merce awards banquet, Exec-
utive Director Brian Owen
sent a shout-out to the Seaside
Seagulls as the varsity boys
sought to extend their unde-
feated record on the court
against rival Valley Catholic.
The link to student athlet-
ics was especially appropri-
ate as the chamber presented
its vaunted Byron Award —
named after longtime volun-
teer Byron Meek — to Ed
Rippet, an organizer of the
student athletic program Sea-
side Kids.
Fred Loser, recipient of
the 2015 award, presented the
honor.
“Seaside Kids originated
from the business people in
Seaside,” Rippet said in his
acceptance speech. “They
came up with so much money
that they had enough leftover
after they flew them to Cali-
fornia to form the nonprofit
Seaside Kids. Until this day,
we are the only program that
we know of in the state of
Oregon where kids can play
free. That’s because of your
contributions.”
The chamber honored
Seaside’s Bank of the Pacific
as business of the year and
Sadie Mercer of Maggie’s
on the Prom as board mem-
ber of the year. Chuck Miner
received the chamber ambas-
sador of the year honors and
Terry Lowenberg of Beach
Development received the
Building Block Award for
providing construction jobs
and opportunities. Cheryle
Barker received a life mem-
ber award; Reita Fackerell
was named volunteer of the
year.
Incoming chamber pres-
ident Stacey Brown, opera-
tions and dispatch supervisor
for the Seaside Police Depart-
ment, celebrated the cham-
ber’s accomplishments.
“The primary goal is to
help businesses network and
grow, and I think we rock at
that,” Brown said. “Whether
you’re an emerging small
business experiencing growth
pains, or a longtime business
with solid roots, we want you
to think of us as your proac-
tive business partners.”
Engagement is key, Brown
said.
Last year, Brian Owen
was hired as executive direc-
tor, a new phone system
installed, email and database
upgrades put in place and
the chamber office remod-
eled, Brown said. USA Foot-
volley — a burgeoning inter-
national sport — arrived in
Seaside for the first time with
chamber participation. A mul-
tiyear agreement was signed
with the Hood to Coast relay
and new directors hired to
run the chamber’s long-run-
ning Seaside Beach Volley-
ball tournament.
“What an improvement,”
she said. “It’s really been a
plus.”
Man accused in Seaside
standoff to face charges
By JACK HEFFERNAN
The Daily Astorian
A grand jury Tuesday
added seven misdemeanor
charges to its indictment of
a Seaside man involved in a
standoff with police earlier
this month.
Brian Wallin, 49, will
now face seven charges
of recklessly endanger-
ing another person after
he locked himself inside
his home on Whispering
Pines Drive for nearly 64
hours from Jan. 11 to Jan.
14. Wallin is being accused
of firing a number of shots
during the standoff and kill-
ing the family dog. Early in
the standoff, he agreed to
allow his mother to exit the
home unharmed.
Wallin is currently being
held at the Clatsop County
Jail and is also facing six
felony charges of unlawful
use of a weapon and one of
first-degree animal abuse.
RAYMOND, Wash. — It
will soon be easier for Pacific
County families to seek treat-
ment and justice when a child is
abused or assaulted.
Thanks to a generous anon-
ymous grant and a new collabo-
ration between local authorities,
Raymond-based nonprofit Cri-
sis Support Network will soon
open the county’s first child
advocacy center. The new pro-
gram and facility will enable
police, social workers, advo-
cates and others to coordinate
services for child victims in one
welcoming local setting.
Child advocacy centers have
a number of benefits, Crisis Sup-
port Network Director Kathryn
Burr said. They minimize trauma
for victims, reduce stress and
expense for victims’ families,
increase cooperation between
law enforcement, social services
and families, and help investiga-
tors build stronger cases.
“It’s kind of a one-stop-shop
ideology,” Burr explained. “All
the services are going to the vic-
tim, instead of the victim having
to do just crazy multiple inter-
views — going here for this,
there for that.”
A better way
to help victims
After about seven years of
working with victims of domes-
tic violence and sexual assault,
advocate Rachel Stanton is still
passionate about helping abused
kids. But by 2015, Stanton knew
there had to be a more compas-
sionate and efficient way to help
families cope with the strain of
abuse and assault investigations.
When abuse comes to light,
families quickly find them-
selves caught in a whirlwind of
appointments — and agencies,
Stanton and Burr said.
The victim has to undergo
both a specialized physical
examination and a forensic
interview. Investigators, Child
Protective Services, therapists,
attorneys and other experts may
ask the victim and his or her fam-
ily to take additional steps. Few
specialized services are avail-
able in Pacific County, so histor-
ically, these emotionally — and
often financially — devastated
families have had to drive to
appointments in Aberdeen, Che-
halis or Olympia, Washington,
on subsequent days, reliving
their trauma at each stop.
In cases where the perpe-
trator was also the breadwin-
‘Families have bigger
concerns. Where are you
going to live? Is there
enough gas in the car to
get to Olympia?’
Kathryn Burr
Crisis Support Network director
ner, “Families have bigger con-
cerns,” Burr said. “Where are
you going to live? Is there
enough gas in the car to get to
Olympia?”
“You are talking about day-
long drives,” Stanton said.
“Their little heads and bellies
are thinking, ‘I’m gonna have to
go and talk about this traumatic,
horrible thing that happened to
me’ for the whole entire drive.
It’s horrible.”
Building foundation
In early 2015, Burr joined
Crisis Support Network, and
Pacific County Prosecutor Mark
McClain took office. Both rec-
ognized that advocates and
law enforcement officers often
served the same people, but
more or less worked in isola-
tion, and they wanted to change
that. They knew that child advo-
cacy centers in other parts of the
state were working well. The
first step, Burr and McClain
said, was to foster more under-
standing and communication
between advocates and police.
The next step was to create a
multidisciplinary team — a coa-
lition of health care and social
service providers, police, advo-
cates and prosecutors that is
charged with finding ways to
serve citizens in a more collab-
orative way.
‘I want it to be solid’
Setting up the multidisci-
plinary team took up most of
2015. For much of that time,
Burr was nervous about the
project. She knew about the
growing body of evidence that
child advocacy centers better
meet the needs of victims, and
reduce the chances that victims
or their families will recant their
testimony or drop charges to
avoid the stress of an investiga-
tion. However, the centers must
meet exacting state and federal
standards. They require spe-
cially trained staff, use expen-
sive equipment, and handle
complex, emotionally challeng-
ing caseloads. She thought it
was too important to take lightly.
“I want it to be solid. I want it
to mean something,” Burr said.
Stanton and McClain, on
the other hand, were each con-
vinced the child advocacy cen-
ter would solve a lot of stubborn
problems.
“Rachel really went out to
the community and said. ‘I’m
not waiting! Let’s make it hap-
pen.’ Wait! Hold on! Slow
down! Basically, I was rail-
roaded,” Burr said, laughing. By
the time the project got going
in earnest last year, she was
enthusiastic.
Final touches
Proponents found an ally in
Katie Lindstrom, the county’s
Department of Public Health
and Human Services deputy
director.
“Her ability to fund-raise
is really the thing that took this
from being a four-year proj-
ect to a six-month project,”
McClain said. Though the state
provided roughly $70,000 in
“seed money,” the child advo-
cacy center didn’t become a sure
thing until Lindstrom secured a
three-year grant for more than
$350,000 from a private founda-
tion that gave its gift on condi-
tion of anonymity.
Lindstrom’s work on that
grant helped put the project in
“hyperdrive,” McClain said.
“She’s just a grant monster! A
powerhouse.”
The foundation just dis-
bursed its first gift, of about
$135,000. That money will pay
for remodeling, new equipment
and other startup costs. Recently,
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community volunteers painted
a mural on the wall of the cen-
ter’s interview room. Burr will
soon begin recruiting a new
coordinator, who will be in
charge of ensuring that the pro-
cess runs as smoothly as pos-
sible for each client. Over the
next few weeks, Burr will also
start the process of recruit-
ing and training several foren-
sic interviewers — probably
retired police, experienced fos-
ter parents and others who have
some experience with abused
kids. Technicians are working
on installing discreet monitors,
recording equipment and other
technology.
Burr and McClain estimate
that the center will serve roughly
60 children per year.
The whole system, Burr
said, is focused on “minimizing
trauma.”
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