The INDEPENDENT, December 7, 2011
Page 13
Garrett named as new Sheriff Grand opening set for advocacy center
On Wednesday, November
30, Sheriff Rob Gordon retired
from the Washington County
Sheriff’s Office after 33 years of
service. Sheriff Gordon strong-
ly recommended to the Board
of Commissioners that Under-
sheriff Pat Garrett be appointed
to complete the final year of his
term as Sheriff.
Last week, the Board of
Commissioners appointed Pat
Garrett as the Sheriff of Wash-
ington County, effective on No-
vember 30, at 2:30 p.m. He
was sworn in by Presiding
Judge Kirsten Thompson.
Garrett has been with the
Washington County Sheriff’s
Office since 1988, when he
was hired as a recruit deputy
sheriff in the patrol division. He
held every patrol rank up to
and including undersheriff,
which is the second in com-
mand of the Sheriff’s Office.
Garrett was also assigned as
an interim jail commander in
2004.
Garrett earned a Bachelor’s
Degree from Oregon State Uni-
versity and a Master’s Degree
from Portland State University.
He currently holds the rank of
Lieutenant Colonel in the Unit-
ed States Army Reserve. Gar-
rett has been activated twice
since 2003 and spent over a
year in Iraq during Operation
Iraqi Freedom.
Garrett lives in Hillsboro with
his wife, Coleen. They have
two children.
Newborn hearing screening urged
Washington County Depart-
ment of Health and Human
Services- Public Health Divi-
sion, in partnership with the
Oregon Early Hearing Detec-
tion and Intervention (EHDI)
Program, is offering no-cost in-
fant hearing screening for in-
fants who did not receive a
newborn hearing screen. Per-
manent hearing loss is the
most common birth defect, and
it is difficult to identify without
screening. In Oregon, only
large hospitals are required to
screen for hearing loss; infants
born in smaller hospitals or
non-hospital settings may not
be regularly screened.
“This is prevention at its
best,” said Dr. Jennifer Vines,
Deputy Health Officer for
Washington County, “because
it is simple, non-invasive, and
helps to ensure children are
identified early as needing ex-
tra support.” Before newborn
hearing screening programs,
children with hearing loss often
were identified too late and
would graduate from high
school with low reading and
language levels. Hearing is es-
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& H YDRAULIC H OSES
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276 S UNSET , B ANKS
503-324-9808
sential to child development –
for
language
acquisition,
speech, social-emotional de-
velopment and learning. With
early detection, children with
hearing loss can reach the
same milestones as their hear-
ing peers.
Screening takes less than
ten minutes to complete. It is
the first step to see if a baby
may need additional hearing
testing. If your infant did not re-
ceive a newborn hearing
screen, contact Nena Newsom,
Washington County Public
Health, at 503-846-4872, to
schedule an appointment.
Domestic Violence Re-
source Center invites the public
to an Open House to celebrate
the Grand Opening of our new
Hillsboro Family Advocacy
Center, Monday, December 12,
4:30 to 6:30 p.m., at 180 E.
Main Street, Suite 200, in Hills-
boro.
The new center is a result of
community partners and feder-
al funding received this year
from The Office on Violence
Against Women, allowing for
the expansion of free adult and
children’s bilingual counseling
programs offered primarily in
Beaverton, and now more
readily available and easily ac-
cessible for victims of domestic
violence in Hillsboro and other
western parts of Washington
County. With this expansion,
the Protective Order Advocacy
Program has been moved out
of the Washington County
Courthouse and into the new
Family Advocacy Center.
Please join the celebration,
meet the staff and partners,
and learn more about the serv-
ices offered.
For more information and di-
rections, call 503-640-5352,
ext. 308.
Still time to buy a tree and help a child
Murphy’s Furniture in Cor-
nelius is operating their annual
Christmas tree lot benefiting
The Inukai Boys And Girls Club
(in Hillsboro) through Sunday
December 11. Douglas, Grand,
Noble and Canaan Firs will be
sold, starting at $20. All of the
proceeds go to the Inukai Fam-
ily Boys and Girls Club in Hills-
boro. This club serves hun-
dreds of western Washington
County youth, ages 6 thru 18.
Local youth are able to attend
the Club with a $15 annual
membership fee. The rest of
the funding for this club comes
through fundraisers like this, as
well as business support, pri-
vate donations, grants and en-
dowments. This is a very good
cause.
The Christmas tree lot will
be open 7 days a week, 10
a.m. to 7:00 p.m., in the park-
ing lot of Murphy’s furniture in
PRECISION OUTD OOR
POWER EQUIPMENT
Banks Hardware
503-324-5221 • 150 N. Main St., Banks
Cornelius on TV Hwy. Murphy
Furniture employees and vol-
unteers from community Youth
groups, Civic Clubs, Key
Clubs, local families and indi-
viduals will be manning the lot.
Call Murphy’s Furniture at 503-
640-1124 or Email info@mur
physfurniture.net for directions
or information. Every year over
300 trees are sold, and it is
Murphy’s goal to sell even
more trees this year.
• Mon - Fri 8am to 6pm
• Saturday 8am to 5pm
• Sunday 10am to 4pm