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Subject: NPS Morning Report - Wednesday, February 16, 2000
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Date: Wed, 16 Feb 2000 08:26:29 -0500
NATIONAL PARK SERVICE
MORNING REPORT
To: All National Park Service Areas and Offices
From: Division of Ranger Activities, Washington Office
Day/Date: Wednesday, February 16, 2000
ALMANAC
On this day in 1862, Union troops under Brig. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant
forced the unconditional surrender of Confederate Fort Donelson, the
Union's first major victory in the Civil War. The site, on the
Cumberland River in Tennessee, is part of Fort Donelson National
Battlefield.
INCIDENTS
00-046 - Harpers Ferry NHP (WV/MD/VA) - Death of Employee
On February 14th, budget analyst Dorie Lent collapsed while at work at
the park's administrative headquarters. Rangers and park EMT's
provided medical attention and life support until an ambulance and
county EMS personnel arrived. Dorie was transported to Jefferson
Memorial Hospital in Charles Town, where she died from a heart attack.
Dorie had been with the Service for over 16 years. She worked at
Northwest Alaska Areas from 1983 to 1987, Christiansted NHP from 1987
to 1990, Virgin Islands NP from 1990 to 1995, and at Harpers Ferry NHP
since 1995. Funeral arrangements are pending and will be announced as
soon as they are available. [Marsha Starkey, IO, HAFE, 2/15; Larry
Johnson, CR, HAFE, 2/15]
00-047 - Zion NP (UT) - Death of Employee
Personnel assistant Michele Hoeger, 39, died on Sunday, February 13th,
after experiencing respiratory distress in her government quarters.
Michele is survived by her husband, F., who is a district ranger at
the park, and her son, Z., 18, and daughter, A., 14. Michele
began her NPS career at Glen Canyon and had worked at Zion for the
past five years. Services will be held at Christ the King Catholic
Church in Cedar City at 11 a.m. this Thursday. Visitation is scheduled
for an hour prior to the services. The family has asked that donations
be made in lieu of flowers to Christ the King Catholic Church, 60
North 200 West, Cedar City, UT 84720-2570. Michele will be
sorely missed. For further information, call 435-772-0178. [Brent
McGinn, ACR, ZION, 2/15]
00-048 - Cape Hatteras NS (NC) - Car Clouting Convictions, Sentencing
On February 7th, six men, all from Virginia Beach, were sentenced in
federal district court following their conviction on car clouting and
other charges. The case began last August 25th when ranger JoAnn
Gillette received a report that an off-duty state wildlife officer was
pursuing a vehicle whose occupants had broken into his personal
vehicle on Pea Island, within the park's jurisdiction. He reported
that his personal .380 handgun and a maglight had been stolen. The
vehicle and four suspects were found a short time later at a "head
shop" in Kill Devil Hills, where they'd employed a stolen credit card
to buy a $200, hand-blown glass bong. A second vehicle and two other
suspects were located at a hotel in South Nags Head. Consent searches
of the two vehicles led to the recovery of the maglight and several
identification and credit cards that did not belong to any of the six
men - J.O., III, 19; C.C., 19; K.A., 18;
R.B., 19; C.B., 20; and G.S., 20.
Investigation revealed that the six had spent the day breaking into
vehicles at areas frequented by surfers. They used lookouts and
two-way radios to communicate, and would check for vehicles with
windows rolled part way down, unlocked doors, or hidden keys (surfers
generally do not take their keys with them while surfing). When not
breaking into vehicles, they'd surf and hang out on the beach. During
the investigation, several of them admitted to breaking into the
wildlife officer's vehicle; Scoles said he'd thrown the gun out of
their vehicle during the chase. The gun was not found despite several
searches of the area, which was buried under about six feet of sand
shortly thereafter by Hurricane Dennis. Evidence found during the
investigation tied the six to five larcenies that had occurred in the
park and Dare County that same day. The estimated value of the stolen
property was placed at about $4,000. On November 15th, all six pled
guilty to misdemeanor possession of stolen property. They were placed
on supervised release pending sentencing and admonished to not possess
or use illegal drugs or associate with individuals who did. Barrett
was subsequently arrested while attempting to evade officers raiding a
party where drugs were being used and returned to custody; Burnell
tested positive for THC in January and claimed at sentencing that the
results were from taking the over-the-counter drug, Alleve. The six
men received similar sentences, a combination of five years'
probation, two to four months of home confinement with electronic
monitoring, stiff fines and restitution, extensive community service,
and five year bans on entering the park. Additional state charges for
fraudulent use of credit cards and drug possession are pending for
several of the men. [Jon Anglin, DR, Bodie Island District, CAHA,
2/11]
CULTURAL/NATURAL RESOURCE MANAGEMENT
No submissions.
OPERATIONAL NOTES
Study on NPS Women in LE - Lighthouse Associates, the contractor
conducting the study of women in law enforcement in the NPS, reports
that they haven't received many responses to the questionnaires sent
to chief rangers and superintendents. Only a third or so have been
returned to date. It appears that some people never received the
questionnaires, which were mailed back in January. If you haven't yet
gotten one, please either send a cc:Mail message to Mary Denery or to
EEO Front Office, or call 202-208-6738. They will fax one to you as
soon as possible. [Mary Denery, EEO, WASO]
MEMORANDA
No submissions.
PARKS AND PEOPLE
Submissions pending.
* * * * *
Distribution of the Morning Report is through a mailing list managed
by park, office and/or regional cc:Mail hub coordinators. Please
address requests pertaining to receipt of the Morning Report to your
servicing hub coordinator. The Morning Report is also available on
the web at http://www.nps.gov/morningreport
Prepared by the Division of Ranger Activities, WASO, with the
cooperation and support of Delaware Water Gap NRA.
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