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NATIONAL PARK SERVICE MORNING REPORT BLACKBERRY EDITION Wednesday, February 8, 2006 =============================================================================================================== INCIDENTS Martin Luther King, Jr. NHS Update on Funeral Services for Coretta Scott King Mourners braved 40 degree temperatures and a steady downpour to pay their respects to Mrs. Coretta Scott King as she lay in honor from 10 a.m. until after midnight on Monday, February 6th, at the Historic Ebenezer Baptist Church. The first visitor in line arrived around 4:30 a.m. Visitors thereafter began lining up around 6:30 a.m. The historic Ebenezer Baptist Church opened to the public at 10 a.m. Director Fran Mainella and Southeast Regional Director Patricia Hooks met with Martin Luther King Jr., NHS employees and incident personnel in the Historic Ebenezer Baptist Church on Monday morning, shortly before it opened to the public, to share their thoughts and pause for a moment of reflection. The group then had the opportunity to pay their respects to Mrs. King. CNN provided pool TV coverage from inside the church. CNN, the Atlanta Journal Constitution, and the Associated Press were the only credentialed media permitted to take still photos inside the church. Outside the church, media coverage was high. At noon, a musical memorial service was held in honor of Mrs. King at the Ebenezer Baptist Horizon Sanctuary. Celebrity tributes were offered by Gladys Knight and Oprah, among others. An afternoon vigil slated to occur outdoors at Dr. King's Tomb was moved indoors due to the rain. At 7 p.m., the Rev. Joseph Lowery and the Rev. Jesse Jackson were scheduled to highlight a memorial service in Mrs. King's honor at the Ebenezer Baptist Horizon Sanctuary. Once the viewing began at the church and the line starting moving, the average time spent waiting in line was approximately one hour. The line moved steadily, slowing only for the passage of a wheelchair accessible lift which enabled visitors to maneuver up and down the staircases inside the church. The line queued through a series of zigzagged bike barricades that filled the width of a city street and trailed for several blocks at times. As of 4 p.m., an estimated 13,000 mourners had paid their respects to Mrs. King. Visitation increased exponentially in the evening hours. The final estimate of mourners at the church is expected to approach 100,000. At it's longest, the line was the length of nine city blocks and average wait times were up to two to three hours. The viewing was originally scheduled from 10 a.m. through midnight. Due to the overwhelming turnout, the line was cut off at 11 p.m., meaning the viewing would continue until all mourners in line before the cut off would be able to pay their respects. At the time of the final cut off, the line was five blocks long. Day and night shift personnel worked diligently to ensure proper security measures and that facilities were in place for Monday's memorial services. Uniformed NPS personnel stationed at the church offered hospitality as they staffed entrances to the church, conducted screenings of bags, assisted visitors with special needs, facilitated dignitary access, and served as an honor guard to Mrs. King. Uniformed personnel also conducted fixed-post and roving patrols throughout the park, during which they provided visitor information, answered questions, provided directions, assisted with parking and visitor access, and provided for the security of the visiting public and park resources. To accommodate the large crowds in the park for the viewing and memorial services, tours of the birth home were offered until 8 p.m., and the Martin Luther King Jr., NHS Visitor Center remained open beyond midnight until the last mourners at the viewing were able to pay their respects to Mrs. King. [Michelle Fidler, Eastern IMT Information Officer] Fredericksburg and Spotsylvania NMP Death of Park Employee An NPS custodian was found in the basement of the Fredericksburg Battlefield Visitor Center with a single self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head on the morning of Thursday, February 2nd. At about 7:30 a.m., rangers responded to an alarm call at the site. An internal door alarm had been activated and the outside of the building was found to be secure. When a ranger entered the building to investigate, the custodian was found alive. He was flown to a Fairfax hospital, where he was pronounced dead a short time later. The FBI led the investigation and was assisted by rangers and Fredericksburg PD. [Keith Kelly, Chief Ranger] Virgin Islands NP Smuggling of Illegal Aliens In the early morning hours of January 27th, an unknown number of Haitians - possibly as many as 25 - were dropped off by a vessel in the vicinity of Francis Bay. Three of them approached a nearby park residence occupied by a resource management employee and peered in through her screen. Her dog alerted her to their presence. All three left the area. On the following day, a ranger on patrol came upon a number of people in the woods near a park-maintained and heavily-visited ruin. He approached them, but they fled on foot through dense brush. The ranger found numerous bags, passports, trash and other items in the area. It appears that they had been there for a day or so and were awaiting the right time to travel into the town of Cruz Bay. Due to serious officer safety concerns (a sawed-off shotgun was recently found among the items discarded by other illegal aliens), the ranger returned to his patrol vehicle and requested backup. When the chief ranger arrived, the ranger had a pregnant woman in her 20s in custody. She was taken to park headquarters, then transported to St. Thomas and transferred to Customs and Border Protection agents. [Stephen Clark, Chief Ranger] * * * * * Prepared by Visitor and Resource Protection, WASO, with the cooperation and support of Delaware Water Gap NRA. --- ### --- |