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NATIONAL PARK SERVICE MORNING REPORT Friday, June 6, 2014 NOTICE Today's edition of the email version of the Morning Report will be the last for the next two weeks, during which time the editor will be on leave. These email editions will resume on either Monday, June 23rd, or Tuesday, June 24th. In the interim, all MR and InsideNPS stories can be read at the URL's listed below. INCIDENTS Grand Canyon NP Member Of Rafting Trip Dies On River On the evening of Wednesday, June 3rd, park dispatch received a satellite phone call reporting that a 54-year-old woman on a river trip was slipping in and out of conscious, apparently due to an allergic reaction. She eventually became unconscious, and members of the group began administering CPR. Arizona Department of Public Safety personnel responded by helicopter and provided life support, but efforts to revive the woman proved unsuccessful. The group was on the fifth day of a seven-day commercial river trip. An investigation into the incident is being conducted by the National Park Service and the Coconino County medical examiner. [Kirby-Lynn Shedlowski] Blue Ridge Parkway MVA Leads To DUI, Assault Charges Ranger Mike Larsen investigated a rollover accident on the parkway just after 5 a.m. on May 29th and found that the 23-year-old driver was acting strangely. The woman didn't answer Larsen's questions, said that she was being followed, and climbed back into her vehicle, which was on its side down a steep embankment. She also told Larsen that she had a gun in the back seat. When Larsen attempted to get her out of the vehicle, she punched and kicked him several times. The woman was taken to a local hospital. Although dispatch advised Larsen that the woman had a 24-hour court order for involuntary commitment out on her, the local hospital concluded that she did not meet the requirements. Larsen and Ranger David Hynes took her to a local jail to await a hearing before a magistrate the next day. Larsen and Ranger Dan Vrchota picked her up the next morning and brought her to the courthouse. As they were arriving, the woman's breathing became labored and she stopped responding. They took her to a hospital in Charlotte, where a psychologist ordered a 72-hour involuntary commitment. On June 2nd, the woman was transferred to a long term psychiatric facility. She still faces charges of DUI, failing to maintain control, possession of marijuana and paraphernalia, and assault on a federal officer. [David Bauer, District Ranger] OTHER NEWS The following stories are among those in today's webpage editions of InsideNPS (available to NPS employees only) and the Morning Report (available to all readers): Office of Communications - Secretary of the Interior Sally Jewell visited the Historic Jamestowne unit of Colonial National Historical Park on Thursday to see how climate change is adversely impacting the site of the first permanent settlement in the New World. Northeast Region - The Nansemond River segment of the Captain John Smith Chesapeake National Historic Trail was opened and dedicated at an event in Suffolk, Virginia, in early May. Denver Service Center - Rhonda Minard will retire on June 27th after almost 30 years of government service. Rhonda is the management analyst for Denver Service Center. To see the full text of these stories, readers should go to one or the other of the following sites: NPS employees - HYPERLINK "http://inside.nps.gov/index.cfm?handler=index" http://inside.nps.gov/index.cfm?handler=index Non-NPS employees - HYPERLINK "http://www.nps.gov/morningreport/" http://www.nps.gov/morningreport/ The Morning Report is produced by the Office of Communications with the support of the Office of the Associate Director for Information Resources. Edited by Bill Halainen ( HYPERLINK "mailto:Bill_Halainen@contractor.nps.gov" Bill_Halainen@contractor.nps.gov). --- ### --- |