NATIONAL PARK SERVICE
MORNING REPORT
Friday, November 19, 2010
INCIDENTS
Zion NP
Visitor Busted For Marijuana Possession
On October 10th, seasonal protection ranger Jared Carter was working in the Kolob Canyon Visitor Center when a visitor showed him an annual pass to enter the park. During the exchange, Carter noticed a strong odor of marijuana emanating from the visitor. The man purchased a new T-shirt, left the visitor center, changed his shirt, then entered his truck and drove into the park via the scenic drive. Carter contacted the man at a pullout, told him he could smell the marijuana, and advised that he had probable cause to search the vehicle. At that point, the man said: “You got me; I smoked some this morning.” Before Carter could start his search, the man told him that “what you are looking for is in the ashtray.” Carter searched the cab and found a plastic bag with what appeared to be a couple of ground-up buds, packs of smoking paper, a white envelope containing a large amount of cash, and a dominoes tin that contained a grinder, glass pipe, and a vacuum sealed plastic bag containing approximately 60 buds. Carter then contacted the Washington County Sheriff's Office drug task force. A search of the truck bed resulted in the finding of soft-sided luggage containing three large empty duffel bags, a bag containing three rolls of what appeared to be the same vacuum seal bag material as the bag that contained the marijuana buds, and numerous white envelopes containing cash. The total sum written on the envelopes exceeded $35,000. The task force proceeded with the investigation and seized the truck and cash. The man spent a week in jail before he bonded out. He was charged with a third degree misdemeanor for possession of more than an ounce of marijuana, and a Class A misdemeanor for possession of drug paraphernalia. DEA has adopted the case regarding the seizure of the truck and cash. The county drug task force was able to enhance each charge by one class because the park is considered a drug free zone. [Cindy Purcell, Chief Ranger]
Great Smoky Mountains NP
Driver Killed In Single-Vehicle Accident
Rangers were notified of a single-vehicle accident along the southbound lane of the Pigeon Forge - Gatlinburg Spur just after 9 p.m. on the evening of Wednesday, November 17th. When they arrived at the scene, they found a 2000 Jeep Grand Cherokee about ten feet off the road and resting on its roof. The driver - C.D., 50, of Woodstock, Georgia - was found about 40 feet from the Cherokee and was pronounced dead at the scene. It appears that C.D. failed to negotiate a right hand curve and that the Jeep went off the left shoulder and down a bank, coming to rest against some trees. Alcohol containers were found in the Jeep. A blood alcohol test is being conducted. [Bob Miller, Public Affairs Specialist]
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/):
Office of Communications - Ranger John Kirkpatrick of the National Mall and Memorial Parks is the recipient of this year's national Freeman Tilden Award for interpretive excellence. Kirkpatrick was honored for developing an interactive website about the Lincoln Memorial.
Chickamauga and Chattanooga NMP - Cathleen J. Cook has been named the new superintendent of Chickamauga and Chattanooga National Military Park. Cook will assume her new duties on January 2nd. Photo.
Servicewide - A compilation of upcoming training courses and conferences across the nation. Added to this week's calendar are seven new FLETC training courses and thirteen new offerings from Mather Training Center.
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Prepared by the Division of Law Enforcement, Security and Emergency Services, Washington Office, with the support of the Office of the Chief Information Officer. Edited by Bill Halainen ( HYPERLINK "mailto:Bill_Halainen@nps.gov" Bill_Halainen@nps.gov).
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