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NATIONAL PARK SERVICE MORNING REPORT Thursday, December 29, 2011 INCIDENTS Zion NP Man Convicted On Felony DUI Charges On the evening of Monday, August 8th, ranger Josh Wentz contacted J.H., 37, for an equipment violation near the Zion Canyon Visitor Center. Following an investigation, J.H., an Idaho native, was arrested for operating a motor vehicle while under the influence of alcohol. Based on J.H.'s previous two DUI convictions, the assistant U.S. attorney transferred the case to the state of Utah. J.H. remained in state custody at Purgatory Correctional Facility between his arrest and court date. After waiving his rights to a preliminary hearing, J.H. pled guilty to a third degree felony DUI charge (three DUIs within a ten-year period) on November 1st. He was sentenced to 90 days in jail with credit for time served, a $1500 fine, substance abuse counseling, ignition interlock device in all vehicles, and three years of supervised probation, including the restriction of no alcohol. Within three days of being released from jail, J.H. was arrested for violating the terms of his probation by consuming alcohol and being intoxicated. J.H. subsequently pled guilty to the probation violation and was sentenced to a year in jail with supervised probation terminated upon his release. All other terms of his sentence remain intact. Zion is one of three parks partnering with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) in the second year of an impaired driving high visibility enforcement project along with Delaware Water Gap and Great Smoky Mountains. Through the funding assistance of NHTSA, the project at Zion has included increased enforcement during national campaigns and local events, increased media outreach, public education and notification, and partnering with local law enforcement agencies, prosecutors and highway safety offices. [Therese Picard, Zion NHTSA Coordinator] OTHER NEWS The following stories are among those in today's edition of InsideNPS. To see the full text, including images, NPS employees should go to the InsideNPS home page ( HYPERLINK "http://inside.nps.gov/index.cfm?handler=index" http://inside.nps.gov/index.cfm?handler=index). Non-NPS employees can see most of them on the NPS Digest page ( HYPERLINK "http://home.nps.gov/applications/digest/" http://home.nps.gov/applications/digest/): Big Bend NP - In a move to help promote employee health and fitness, the Big Bend National Park employees association sponsored its first annual triathlon on December 3rd. DSC - Denver Service Center recently completed $31.5 million in road construction projects that enhanced the roads, parking areas, campgrounds, and maintenance areas at Shenandoah National Park. Northeast Region - After more than 33 years with the NPS, Barb Stewart ends her tour of duty this week. Intermountain Region - Philip Ayers will be retiring on December 31st with 34 years of government service, 27 of them with the NPS. * * * * The Morning Report is a publication of the Division of Law Enforcement, Security and Emergency Services, Washington Office, produced with the support of the Office of the Assistant Director for Information Resources and the Office of the Chief Information Officer. Edited by Bill Halainen ( HYPERLINK "mailto:Bill_Halainen@nps.gov" Bill_Halainen@nps.gov). --- ### --- |