Child Safety

HAGERSTOWN -- The public is invited Tuesday night to Fairgrounds Park in Hagerstown to participate in National Night Out, an annual event that promotes child safety and helps forge bonds between the community and police. About 350 people turned out for last year's event to enjoy free food and watch entertainment that featured motivational rapper Sterlin Barr, who delivered an anti-crime message, said Carolyn Brooks, coordinator of the Collaborative Supervision and Focused Enforcement (C-SAFE)

HAGERSTOWN - Before he retired in December as pastor of Christ's Reformed Church in Hagerstown, the Rev. Don Stevenson was active in programs that helped the homeless and promoted child safety. But one of Stevenson's most important contributions to the community, he said, was helping create a series of interfaith sermons after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. Stevenson, 69, said the sermons promoted tolerance and cultural exchange by featuring speakers from almost every faith, including Buddhism, Christianity, Hinduism, Islam and Judaism.

Beginning Monday, the State of Maryland will begin enforcing new requirements concerning child passenger safety. Any child younger than 8 years old will be required to be secured in a federally approved child safety seat, unless the child is 4 feet 9 inches or taller, or weighs more than 65 pounds, according to a prepared release from the State Highway Administration. The new law also states that a person may not transport a child younger than 16 years old unless the child is secured in a safety seat or seat belt.

Children's Village of Washington County, which offers safety programs to area children, is once again partnering with a corporation committed to child safety. Children's Village and CSX collaborated on an enhanced curriculum to address railroad safety.

In 2007, Community Rescue Service Inc. (CRS) was dispatched by 911 operations to 10,328 calls. From the center of operations at 110 Eastern Blvd. in Hagerstown, CRS ambulances responded to 7,820 emergency medical service calls, according to Terry Trovinger, chief financial officer. The CRS ambulance stationed at the Maugansville Fire Station was dispatched 1,700 times. With an increase of 26 percent in responses to emergency medical calls in 2007, CRS expanded its coverage by placing an additional ambulance in service at Western Enterprise Fire Station of Hagerstown.

Children's Village seeks safe holidays To the editor: Each holiday season we are reminded of ways to keep safe. Reminders include fire prevention and safety tips, as well as personal safety information. How fortunate that Washington County has a life-safety education program that provides this valuable information and more to area children not just a holiday time but throughout the year as well. For 17 years, Children's Village of Washington County, a non-profit organization, has provided free life-safety education to all second-grade students in the county.

HAGERSTOWN - The public is invited to attend National Night Out next month in Hagerstown to learn more about child safety and forging relationships between the community and police. The event was held last year in the Jonathan Street area and drew more than 300 people, said Carolyn Brooks, coordinator of the Collaborative Supervision And Focused Enforcement (C-SAFE) program for Washington County. C-SAFE is associated with the Governor's Office of Crime Control & Prevention.

Child safety seat checkpoint is today Maryland State Police will be conduct a child safety seat checkpoint today from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the Hagerstown barracks at 18345 Col. Henry K. Douglas Drive, according to a state police press release. The checkpoint will help educate the public on the proper use and installation of child safety seats, according to the release. Safety seats will be installed at no charge during the checkpoint. Work at intersection set to begin Monday Work crews from Henson & Son Inc. will begin excavation work at the intersection of West Wilson Boulevard and Maryland Avenue on Monday beginning at 7 a.m. to install new storm-drain lines, according to a City of Hagerstown press release.

CHARLES TOWN, W.Va. - The state has changed its child safety seat law and J.C. Tennant said a lot of people are unaware of it. The law used to center around a child's weight, said Tennant, a deputy with the Jefferson County Sheriff's Department. A child who was in a certain weight range was required to be secured in a car safety seat, Tennant said. What officials eventually realized is that while a child might have exceeded the weight which required a safety seat, that child might have been too short for a car seat belt to work properly, said Del. Bob Tabb, D-Jefferson.

Two deer jump off railroad bridge Traffic on U.S. 40 by the Hagerstown Police Department headquarters was held up Tuesday morning after two deer jumped off a railroad bridge, Sgt. Fred Wolford said. At about 7:30 a.m., five deer were running across the railroad tracks when two of them jumped off the bridge - apparantly scared by a train - and landed on U.S 40 near its intersection with Burhans Boulevard, Wolford said. "One died and another had to be put down," he said.