NATIONAL PARK SERVICE
MORNING REPORT
Wednesday, July 30, 2008
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INCIDENTS
Santa Monica Mountains NRA
Quake Rattles Region But Causes No Damage To Park
Just before noon yesterday, an earthquake measuring 5.4 on the Richter scale was felt in southern California. The epicenter was in Chino Hills, near the point where Los Angeles, San Bernardino and Orange counties meet. The epicenter was about 40 miles from the far eastern edge of the park and approximately 60 miles from headquarters in Thousand Oaks. While felt throughout the park, no staff injuries have been reported, nor any damage to buildings, dams, reservoirs or other facilities. Damaged buildings are being reported within a 10 to 15 mile circumference of the epicenter, though, and numerous smaller aftershocks have also been felt. [Marty O'Toole, PAO]
Lincoln Memorial
Park Police Arrest Pickpocket
On the afternoon of Monday, June 30th, USPP officer Jason Keyser was dispatched to the Lincoln Memorial bookstore to investigate a robbery that had just occurred. Keyser met with the complainant, who reported having his wallet taken by two suspects by stealth. A review of the bookstore security camera showed two people working together to steal his wallet. One of the two, later identified as J.W., was seen on the video blocking the man's exit from the bookstore as his accomplice stole the wallet. Shortly thereafter, it was determined that one of the credit cards in the wallet had been used at a nearby store. Surveillance video from the store showed the same two people as on the bookstore surveillance video. Detective Glenn Luppino was assigned the case and disseminated an information bulletin concerning the crime. On July 16th, he was contacted by the DC Court Services head of security, who said that J.W. was meeting with his probation officer. He also advised that J.W. was wearing a monitoring device that showed that he'd been at the Lincoln Memorial and subsequently near the store the credit card was used on the date and approximate times of the crimes. Detectives Luppino and Scott Powers contacted the probation office and saw that J.W. was wearing the same outfit he was wearing during the commission of the crime. He was arrested and charged with robbery by stealth. The detectives are still searching for the second suspect in this case. [Sgt. Rob Lachance, PAO]
Dinosaur NM
Eight-Year-Old Drowns In Green River
An eight-year-old boy on an OARS commercial river trip drowned in the Green River at Upper Disaster Falls on the afternoon of Sunday, July 27th. The park became aware of the incident around 6:30 p.m., and, based on information in the initial report, prepared for a search operation using a fire helicopter. When park staff learned that CPR had been begun on the boy, they sought to arrange a Life Flight medevac helicopter flight from Grand Junction to the park, but the helicopter was grounded due to weather. They then attempted to get a fire helicopter to the scene, but it had to land across the river from the boy's location in the only available safe landing zone. It then returned to base as dusk approached. When the tour group arrived in Echo Park on Monday, they were met by park and county sheriff's office personnel, the coroner and grief counselors. [Billy Shott, IMRO]
HYPERLINK "http://www.craigdailypress.com/news/2008/jul/29/8yearold_drowns_green_river/" http://www.craigdailypress.com/news/2008/jul/29/8yearold_drowns_green_river/
Rocky Mountain NP
Visitor Seriously Injured In Rollover Accident
A 58-year-old man was seriously injured on the evening of Friday, July 25th, when his vehicle went off Trail Ridge Road near the Gore Range overlook around 8:30 p.m., then rolled numerous times for over 500 feet downslope from the road. He was able to crawl out of the car, then laid next to it all night until a visitor spotted the wreck around 7:30 a.m. the following morning and notified the park. Rangers found that he'd suffered multiple injuries, and he was flown by a Lifeguard helicopter to the Medical Center of the Rockies. The accident is under investigation. [Kyle Patterson, PAO]
OTHER NEWS
Other stories can be read on InsideNPS at one or the other of these two sites:
NPS readers - HYPERLINK "http://inside.nps.gov/index.cfm?handler=index" http://inside.nps.gov/index.cfm?handler=index
Non-NPS readers - HYPERLINK "http://home.nps.gov/applications/digest/" http://home.nps.gov/applications/digest/
Please note that both publications carry a combined NIFC/NPS fire report. That is generally posted around 8 a.m. Eastern.
Among the stories in today's edition are the following:
Olympic NP - A memorial service for park firefighter Andy Palmer, who was killed while fighting a wildland fire last week, will be held on Monday. Additional details on arrangements are provided in this update.
Carl Sandburg Home NHS - National Park Foundation Honorary Chair Mrs. Laura Bush ventured into the misty foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains to celebrate a new grant that the National Park Foundation awarded to Carl Sandburg Home National Historic Site on Monday, July 28th.
In the Media - A weekly summary of news stories about or of consequence to the NPS, including links to the articles.
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Submission standards for the Morning Report can be found at the following web site:
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 support of the Office of the Chief Information Officer and Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area. Edited by Bill Halainen ( HYPERLINK "mailto:Bill_Halainen@nps.gov" Bill_Halainen@nps.gov).
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