NEWS
A14 • HERMISTONHERALD.COM
WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 23, 2019
Car seat technicians help parents keep children safe
By JADE MCDOWELL
NEWS EDITOR
New parents may feel
like they need an engineer-
ing degree to fi gure out their
child’s car seat, but there is
plenty of help available for
navigating the straps and
buckles.
Umatilla
Morrow
County Head Start, Good
Shepherd Medical Cen-
ter in Hermiston and St.
Anthony Hospital in Pend-
leton all have certifi ed car
seat technicians happy to
do a free assessment for
anyone worried they might
not be buckling a child in
correctly.
Amy Hendrix, health
and nutrition director for
UMCHS, said even a mem-
ber of Head Start’s own
staff came in with a car seat
installed “very incorrectly.”
“It doesn’t matter your
education level — car seats
are complicated,” she said.
Four different techni-
cians offer car seat and
booster seat checks Mon-
HH fi le photo
Car seat technician Ina Abercrombie, right, inspects a new car seat for Annabelle Berry, while
her mother Jennifer Berry watches, at a clinic in 2017 in Hermiston.
day through Friday from
8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. at the
Hermiston UMCHS offi ce,
110 N.E. Fourth St.
Maria Arroyo, one of the
certifi ed technicians, said
one of the biggest problems
she sees is car seats installed
in a way that allows them to
move too much in the event
of a crash.
“Oftentimes I fi nd I’ll tug
on it and it will move three
inches,” she said.
The harness over the
child might also be too loose
or the wrong height.
An infant or toddler can
in the front, experts recom-
mend that children under
13 remain in the back.
Hendrix said she can
personally testify of the
effectiveness of a proper-
ly-installed car seat, after
she got in a crash years ago
with 3-year-old daughter
strapped in.
“The car was totaled, but
my youngest daughter was
in a car seat and she didn’t
even cry, she was so pro-
tected,” Hendrix said.
Car seats expire after
six to 10 years of use, and
should be replaced if they
are in a serious crash.
“There can be hairline
cracks the eye can’t see,”
Arroyo said.
UMCHS recognizes that
not everyone can afford to
pay for a car seat, which
is why they also offer car
seats for $10 to $30 for
low-income families who
receive benefi ts such as
WIC or SNAP, or have been
referred through agencies
such as Domestic Violence
Services.
slide out the top on impact
if the straps are lower than
their armpits.
For older children with
a booster seat, the seatbelt
should be on their shoulder,
not their neck or under their
arm.
In addition to checking
car and booster seats and
teaching the parent how to
buckle their child in cor-
rectly, Arroyo said she also
teaches them how to make
adjustments as their child
grows, and when they will
require a new seat.
Oregon law requires
children over 40 pounds to
use a booster seat until age
eight or growing to 4 feet,
nine inches tall. But Arroyo
recommends keeping them
in the booster seat after age
eight even if they haven’t
hit the height requirement
yet.
Parents can be ticketed
in Washington for allow-
ing their child under age 13
to sit in the front passenger
seat. While Oregon does not
have an age limit for sitting
Hermiston school bond campaign pays for local management
By PHIL WRIGHT
STAFF WRITER
Local connections are
proving a boon for the polit-
ical committee urging voters
to pass a new school bond in
Hermiston.
The political action com-
mittee Yes for Hermiston
Schools has raised $11,040
in cash and spent almost
$6,000 this year, accord-
ing to ORESTAR, the Ore-
gon Secretary of State’s
public website for campaign
fi nance activity.
The largest chunk of the
spending — $3,731.76 —
has gone to the public rela-
tions and communications
fi rm Pac/West Communi-
cations to run the election
campaign in support of issu-
ing $82.7 million in bonds
and receiving $6.6 million
in state matching funds. Pac/
West this summer hired for-
mer East Oregonian edi-
tor Daniel Wattenburger of
Hermiston and opened an
offi ce in town.
“We’re the ones coor-
dinating the door knock-
ers and campaign signs and
online messaging and every-
thing else,” Wattenburger
said.
Staff photo by Ben Lonergan
Vehicles pass by a sign advocating the Hermiston School bond
measure alongside Highway 395 in Hermiston on Tuesday
afternoon.
The PAC has been around
since 2008, when it was Vote
Yes for Kids and Hermiston
voters passed a $69.9 mil-
lion general obligation bond
for school construction and
renovation. The campaign
committee was active again
in 2017, but the Hermiston
School District’s $104 mil-
lion bond failed that May.
According to ORESTAR,
the committee in 2017 did
not hire a professional fi rm
to manage the campaign.
Pac/West has on occasion
been involved with cam-
paigns in the area, but Wat-
tenburger said the compa-
ny’s move to staff an offi ce
in Hermiston opens the
door to handling more local
campaigns.
Pac/West also is the big-
gest contributor to Yes for
Hermiston Schools.
Wattenburger explained
once the company fulfi lled
the amount of the retainer,
the rest of the work lands in
the in-kind box. ORESTAR
shows that amount so far
comes to $9,010.
The largest cash donors
are the Hermiston Associ-
ation of Teachers and the
Oregon Education Associa-
tion, with $2,200 apiece to
the effort. Kim Puzey, gen-
eral manager of the Port of
Umaitlla, is the largest pri-
vate donor with a $1,000
check to the group.
Hermiston
attorney
George Anderson
and
accountant Dennis Barnett
gave $500 each, as did Ric
Sherman, chair of the board
for Umatilla County Fire
District 1. Hermiston Mayor
Dave Drotzmann, Hermis-
ton High School Principal
Tom Spoo and the Oregon
AFL-CIO also joined the
$500 club. And a multitude
have contributed more than
$1,200 in miscellaneous
cash contributions of $100
or less.
The Umatilla County
Elections Division mailed
44,642 ballots last week for
the Nov. 5 election. Kim
Lindell, county elections
manager, said 923 — 2% —
have trickled in so far. She
expects this election to have
a lower overall turnout in the
county.
Hermiston should have
a higher turnout because
of the school bond, Lindell
said, and other communi-
ties with something at stake
could show up in greater
numbers.
The two countywide
measures may not spark a
lot of interest.
One measure asks if vot-
ers want to change the lan-
guage in the county char-
ter from “law enforcement
department” to “sheriff’s
offi ce” as set out in Ore-
gon law. That would have
the practical effect of hav-
ing the county’s founda-
tional document refl ect the
name the county and locals
already call the law enforce-
ment agency. The measure
also aligns the charter with
the functions of the sheriff
under Oregon law with the
exception of tax collection.
The second measure
amends the election process
for county offi cials. Under
the proposal, the county
would require a primary
election only if more than
two candidates fi led for the
election, and the two with
the most votes would face
off in the November general
election. The change could
end situations where a losing
incumbent remains in offi ce
more than six months.
Whether the ballot is
exciting or not, Lindell said
the election will cost about
$45,000, or around $1 per
registered voter.
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From the archives of the Athena Public Library, City
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and Umatilla County Historical Society