The Arcata Fire Protection District will soon be accepting anonymously surrendered babies.
The City Council on Wednesday voted unanimously to authorize the district’s three local fire stations for safe surrender.
“It’s incredibly timely that we can step forward and offer a service to the public.” said Fire Chief Desmond Cowan. Created in 2001 and made permanent in 2006, the Safely Surrendered Baby Law is an attempt to save the lives of babies at risk of abandonment by allowing parents or people with lawful custody to safely surrender their baby within 72 hours of birth, confidentially and without prosecution.
“I believe over the last 10 years, I understood 407 babies have been surrendered in the state,” City Manager Randy Mendoza said. “Which is a good thing that they get immediate medical care.”
After an optional medical questionnaire, parents are given a bar code bracelet matching them to their baby, and they have a 14-day window to change their minds and reclaim them. Fire Cowan cited Battalion Chief Chris Jelinek of Humboldt Bay Fire as being the force behind expanding this initiative to Arcata. “He’s an incredibly good guy,” said Cowan.
On a completely different matter, the council also unanimously approved
, which bans the use of plastic bags and restricts the types of bags available. The new law will take effect Feb. 1. And starting next August, stores offering recycled paper bags will have to charge customers 10 cents per bag. (The stores get to keep that money.) Councilman Michael Winkler added that the customers will be allowed to reuse “single-use” bags and boxes without being charged the fee.
Finally, the council approved the latest version of California’s Building Standards Code, which will replace the 2010 version. Applicants have through the end of the year to submit plans before the new code takes effect.
This article appears in Probing Pot.
What a stupid, insensitive headline. How the hell do you know if the babies surrendered are “unwanted”? This is an example of journalism and editing that should be mocked for its careless, irresponsible attempt at a snarky, attention-grabbing headline. Is this how you expect to attract readers and get advertisers back? It’s disgusting.
Try to imagine what it is like to make that choice. Unwanted? Hardly. Realizing you are unable to care for a child properly is more likely the case. This issue is to be supported, or at least stated factually as self-respecting news and headline-writers do … your headline belittles the issue and reminds me of something I read on the crawl on Hannity. Giving a child a better chance at a full life where their needs can be met is a courageous, selfless thing for a parent to do. Kudos to fire departments for doing this.
That’s a good point, Jay. Don’t blame the author, though. The stupid, insensitive headline was mine, and I thank you for mocking it. I meant no disrespect to the program, which, I agree, deserves kudos.
Yours is largely a thankless job, but thank you for changing this headline in your print edition. It is appreciated.