NATIONAL PARK SERVICE
MORNING REPORT
Tuesday, January 27, 2009
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NOTE
There was no email edition of the Morning Report on Monday because InsideNPS and the web version of the Morning Report were down until mid-morning (Eastern time). It was delayed today due to a local cable outage.
INCIDENTS
Lake Roosevelt NRA
Landslide Causes Destructive 30-Foot Wave
On Friday, January 16th, a large landslide occurred adjacent to the Spokane River near Mill Canyon. Homeowners in the Mill Canyon area contacted the park and reported that their docks had been destroyed by a large wave. Responding rangers found that a section of hillside measuring approximately 17 acres in size had broken free across from Breezy Bay and that the subsequent landslide had fallen into the water, creating a wave that was about 30 feet high when it hit the southern shore about a thousand yards across the lake. The wave damaged or destroyed several private docks located at Breezy Bay, Moccasin Bay, Sunset Point and Arrowhead Point. Several vessels moored in the area were also swamped and left beached on land. The water reached one residence before receding and came just to the foundations of several others. The full extent of the damage caused by the landslide is not yet known. Damage to property was documented as far as a mile and a half downstream, and significant resource damage and erosion to the shoreline occurred as far as three miles downstream. The park has issued a general safety warning due to the debris in the water, which is making navigation difficult. Boaters in the area have been advised to use extreme caution when boating from Cayuse Cove to Breezy Bay on the Spokane River. Along with ice deposits in the lake, there are now large trees, dead heads, dock parts, and unknown sediment deposits that have made safe navigation difficult. Due to unknown conditions near the slide, visitors are also being advised to avoid going on land at the site, as the ground will be quite unstable for some time and sinkholes and falling debris may occur. To see a photo of the slide, go to HYPERLINK "http://home.nps.gov/applications/digest/headline.cfm?type=Incidents&id=4362" http://home.nps.gov/applications/digest/headline.cfm?type= Incidents&id=4362 [Adam Kelsey, Acting Chief Ranger]
National Capital Parks East
Armed Rapist Caught And Arrested
Park Police detectives Timothy Hodge and Gary Bourke were on duty in Anacostia Park just after 1:30 a.m. on January 22nd when they saw a car in the park with its taillights on. As they approached it, the driver took off and the detectives saw a woman standing nearby. She told them that she'd just been sexually assaulted by the driver and that he was armed with a handgun. Shortly thereafter, officer Yeliz Kadiev spotted a vehicle and operator matching the description that had been broadcast and stopped it. The woman positively identified the driver as her assailant. He was arrested and charged in DC court with rape while armed. [Sergeant Robert Lachance, Public Information Officer]
Santa Monica Mountains NRA
Homicide Suspect Commits Suicide In Park
An Oxnard man who was wanted on suspicion of killing his wife and critically injuring his daughter was found dead in his car, an apparent suicide, at the Sandstone trail parking lot on the afternoon of Saturday, January 17th. Hikers found M.R.'s body slumped over the steering wheel of his car at the hiking trail parking lot, which overlooks the ocean. They reported the incident to a park volunteer staffing a local visitor contact station. Protection rangers Glen Douglas and Karen Rogal arrived at the scene shortly thereafter and secured the area. The 40-year-old man had slashed his left wrist and the interior of his left elbow with a knife. The Ventura County deputy medical examiner said that M.R. apparently bled to death and likely died sometime on Friday evening. The Ventura County Sheriff's Department and the Oxnard Police Department are the primary investigative agencies. [Todd A. Bonds, San Vicente District Ranger]
OTHER NEWS
The following stories are among those in today's edition of InsideNPS:
Legislative and Congressional Affairs - This week's update on past and upcoming hearings and the status of legislation pertinent to the National Park Service. There was no action in either the Senate or House. One new bill was introduced.
HYPERLINK "http://home.nps.gov/applications/digest/headline.cfm?type=Announcements&id=7301" http://home.nps.gov/applications/digest/headline.cfm?type=Announcements&id=7301
Upper Delaware S&RR - Park dispatcher Laura Sletner passed away on January 23rd.
HYPERLINK "http://home.nps.gov/applications/digest/headline.cfm?type=PeopleNews&id=2227" http://home.nps.gov/applications/digest/headline.cfm?type=PeopleNews&id=2227
Natural Resource Program Center - Bruce Peacock has been selected as the chief of the Environmental Response, Damage Assessment, and Restoration (ERDAR) Branch in NRPC's Environmental Quality Division. He will officially start in that position on February 1st.
HYPERLINK "http://home.nps.gov/applications/digest/headline.cfm?type=PeopleNews&id=2228" http://home.nps.gov/applications/digest/headline.cfm?type=PeopleNews&id=2228
Midwest Region - Dean K. Alexander, currently superintendent at Hopewell Culture, will report to his new assignment in March.
HYPERLINK "http://home.nps.gov/applications/digest/headline.cfm?type=PeopleNews&id=2226" http://home.nps.gov/applications/digest/headline.cfm?type=PeopleNews&id=2226
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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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