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NATIONAL PARK SERVICE MORNING REPORT Friday, July 13, 2007 =============================================================================================================== INCIDENTS Channel Islands NP Body Of Diver Recovered Off Sandstone Point SCUBA diver S.H., 54, of Glen Allen, California, was reported missing by his diving partners around 9:30 a.m. on Tuesday, July 10th. S.H. was on the third day of a three-day diving trip and was diving off the Adventure Sports dive boat Vision off Sandstone Point on Santa Cruz Island. He was last seen at a depth of 70 feet about 100 yards from the point where the boat was anchored. NPS and Coast Guard personnel and Los Angeles county lifeguards responded and conducted an extensive air, sea and underwater search of the area until dark, but were unable to find him. The search resumed the next morning, with the Santa Barbara County Sheriff's Department joining in. The park and county conducted a joint underwater search operation off the NPS vessel Ocean Ranger. County divers found S.H.'s body on the seabed at a depth of about 80 feet around 10:30 a.m. The sheriff's office and the medical examiner's office are the lead agencies in the investigation. [Jack Fitzgerald, Chief Ranger] Chickasaw NRA Heavy Thunderstorms Cause More Flooding Two to three inches of rain fell on the region on the night of Monday, July 9th, causing flash flooding in low-lying areas and the flooding of Travertine and Rock Creeks in the Platt District. The latter required additional closures beyond those previously reported. As of 2 p.m. on Tuesday, Lake of the Arbuckles was seven feet above normal. The Corp of Engineers had reduced the opening of the flood gates to one-and-a-half feet, releasing 528 cubic feet per second (cfs). Even with the release of water, it was anticipated that the lake level would continue to rise. At the time of the report on Tuesday, park staff were assessing damage to roads, facilities, and day use areas and cleaning up debris. More closures were under consideration, depending on the amount of additional precipitation. [Susie Staples, Public Information Officer] Agate Fossil Beds NM Artifacts Stolen From Park Exhibits Sometime during the night of July 9th, a thief or thieves broke into the park's visitor center/museum and removed artifacts associated with the James H. Cook Collection from the exhibit hall. The crime scene was processed by the Nebraska State Patrol with assistance from park rangers. The vast majority of the Cook Collection of Plains Indian artifacts is intact and was unaffected by the burglary. The visitor center was temporarily closed to facilitate the investigation but has reopened with only the affected exhibit area remaining closed to the public. The investigation continues. [Jackie Henman, Midwest Regional Law Enforcement Specialist] Buffalo NR One Teenager Rescued From River, Second Drowns On the morning of Friday, July 6th, rangers were dispatched to a 911 report of two young men disappearing beneath the river surface at Baker Ford Landing. One of them was rescued by bystanders in a canoe and brought to shore. The second 16-year-old was rescued by two trained lifeguards who happened to be on a concession-operated bus. They began CPR, which was continued by the rangers. They were in turn relieved by ambulance and AirEvac paramedics. He was flown to North Arkansas Regional Medical Center, where he was resuscitated, then to Children's Hospital in Little Rock, where he eventually succumbed. It appears that neither of the young men was a strong swimmer and that they waded into deep water and current. [Robert Still, Special Agent] OTHER NEWS The following stories (among others) can be read on either the InsideNPS web site (if you are within the National Park Service) or at the InsideNPS public ‘news digest' site (if you are outside of the NPS). The web sites appear below: Servicewide - A good friend of the National Park Service has passed away. Mrs. Lyndon B. Johnson, known as “Lady Bird” to her friends, was a strong supporter of national parks and conservation. Director/Deputy Directors - In her message to all NPS employees, Director Bomar, quoting past Director George Hartzog, had this to say about Mrs. Johnson: "She's part of the legacy and the history of the National Park System and will always be. But it goes beyond the park system. She's part of the living history of the United States and her handiwork is laid out on the face of America.” To see the above articles, go to InsideNPS ( HYPERLINK "http://inside.nps.gov/" http://inside.nps.gov/) or NPS Digest ( HYPERLINK "http://home.nps.gov/applications/digest/" http://home.nps.gov/applications/digest/). For NPS incident reporting standards, go to HYPERLINK "http://inside.nps.gov/index.cfm?handler=viewnpsnewsarticle&type=Announcements&id=3363" http://inside.nps.gov/index.cfm?handler=viewnpsnewsarticle&type=Announcements&id=3363 * * * * * Prepared by the Division of Law Enforcement, Security and Emergency Services, Washington Office, with the cooperation and support of Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area. Edited by Bill Halainen ( Bill_Halainen@nps.gov, 570-426-2430). --- ### --- |