Chesterton Tribune

 

 

Infant rescue box at Chesterton Fire Station to be dedicated Friday

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By KEVIN NEVERS

A dedication of the new Safe Haven infant rescue box and community blessing will be held at 10:30 a.m. Friday, Nov. 16, at the Chesterton fire station, 702 Broadway.

The box is located on the east wall of the station and will go “live” on Friday, as Town Council Member Jim Ton, R-1st, announced at the council’s meeting Tuesday night.

Speaking at the event will be Ton, Fire Chief John Jarka, and Monica Kelsey of Safe Haven Baby Boxes.

Jarka noted at the council’s meeting Tuesday that the CFD has been testing the device for the last seven days and that firefighters will be trained on it Thursday night.

Meanwhile, Clerk-Treasurer Stephanie Kuziela reported the receipt of additional donations, which will go toward the device’s monthly maintenance fees:

* Delta Theta Tau, $200.

* Virginia Worley, $25.

* Bob and Maria Poparad, $500.

* Marilyn Buczkowski, $25.

* Paul and Betty Rausch, $20.

* Luella J. Dewulf, $300.

* James Ton, $300.

* Dennis and Kieran Penning, $100.

* Chesterton/Porter Rotary Club, $1,000.

To date a total of $7,620 has been donated to the maintenance of the box.

Anyone who wishes to make a donation may contact Ton at jton@chestertonin.org or Jarka at 926-7162.

The infant rescue box will work much like a depository at a bank: once it has been opened and then closed, it cannot be re-opened until the CFD has re-set it from inside. Boxes come equipped with three different alarms: the first is activated automatically when the box is opened; the second, when a baby is placed on the pad (which is either heated or cooled depending on the season); and the third time, when--if--the person leaving the baby elects to activate it.

State law permits the installation of a baby box at any fire station manned 24/7/365.

Ton initially expressed interest in the installation of an infant rescue device after afterbirth was found late last year in a chemical toilet on the Prairie Duneland Trail, the day after an infant was left in a baby box at the Coolspring Township fire station in LaPorte County. Under the Safe Haven law, persons who wish to abandon newborns may do so in such devices without legal consequence so long as the infant is unharmed and healthy.

O’Dell: Candidates need to remove yard signs

Chesterton Building Commissioner Mark O’Dell is reminding political candidates to remove all remaining yard signs in town.

Candidates have until seven days after an election to remove those signs, O’Dell told the Town Council at its meeting Tuesday night.

“There are a few stragglers out there,” O’Dell said.

Town Council reschedules second meeting in Dec.

The Chesterton Town Council has re-scheduled its second meeting in December, which would have fallen on Monday, Dec. 24, Christmas Eve.

The council will instead meet at 7 p.m. Wednesday, Dec. 26, at the town hall.

 

 

Posted 11/14/2018

 
 
 
 

 

 

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