Page 15 - Flathead Beacon // 9.24.14

FLATHEADBEACON.COM NEWS SEPTEMBER 24, 2014 | 15 Glacier Park Rangers Recover Body of
Idaho Man Near Logan Pass
Initial investigation indicates 18-year- old climbed over guard rail on Sun Road and fell
By BEACON STAFF
An 18-year-old man from Idaho died from an accidental fall in Glacier National Park on Sept. 18.
Park rangers recovered the body of Brandon Luis Avalos, from St. Maries, Idaho, on Sept. 19 in the Big Drift area east of Logan Pass, according to the National Park Service.
An initial investigation indicates that Avalos climbed over the guard rails along the Going-to-the-Sun Road and fell ap- proximately 100 feet. The area he fell from is very steep with several cliff bands and large areas of rocks.
Park employees were notified by friends of the victim at about 11 a.m. that Avalos had fallen in an area along the Going- to-the-Sun Road east of Logan Pass. Park rangers rappelled to the scene and found the body of Avalos.
Avalos and three friends were visiting the park late Thurs- day night, Sept. 18. At approximately 10 p.m. Thursday, the visitors were traveling the Sun Road and stopped near the Big Drift area east of Logan Pass when Avalos exited the vehicle. Avalos did not return, and the friends thought he was hik- ing back to Logan Pass. The friends stayed in the area over- night waiting for Avalos to return. They began looking for him Friday morning, and contacted park employees when they
Municipal Matters
A recap of recent city council and county commission meetings
WHITEFISH
• The Whitefish Interim Planning Board will hold a meeting in city council chambers on Sept. 25 at 6 p.m. to appoint a board chair and vice-chair. The meeting will also feature two public hearings, in- cluding one involving a request to amend the growth policy from high density residential to neighbor- hood commercial and rezone a par- cel of land on Wisconsin Avenue.
• Schellinger Construction would like to extend its thanks for resi- dents’ patience recently as crews transitioned neighborhoods over to the new water system as part of the U.S. Highway 93 reconstruc- tion project. The water outage that was scheduled for Sept. 22 has been cancelled and at the present time, there are no plans to resched- ule this outage, according to the company. Crews will be working from 6 a.m. to 10 p.m. this week. Schellinger recommends planning for delays and occasional one-lane traffic during these hours.
Going-to-the-Sun Road near Logan Pass. BEACON FILE PHOTO
found his body.
Officials with the Glacier County Sheriff’s Office deter-
mined the cause of death to be an accidental fall. Park rangers recovered the body at approximately 4 p.m. Friday, and it was transported to a local funeral home.
Avalos’ death was the second fatality in as many weeks in Glacier Park. The body of Beau Weiher, 22, of Missoula, was recovered from the north side of Mount Siyeh on Sept. 14. Evi- dence suggests Weiher died after BASE jumping off Mount Si- yeh. On July 12, Abigail Sylvester, 33, of Washington, drowned in Upper McDonald Creek.
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tions. The City of Kalispell is seek- ing to improve service levels for EMS operations both now and in the future by enhancing staffing and equipment for the department, according to city manager Doug Russell.
FLATHEAD COUNTY
• The Flathead County Commis- sion has no agenda items listed this week, since the board plans on at- tending the 105th annual Mon- tana Association of Counties con- ference, taking place at the Hilton Garden Inn in Kalispell.
• On Sept. 24, the Flathead County Planning Board was scheduled to discuss the Whitefish-area lake and lakeshore options document given to Planning Board by county planning staff during the new busi- ness section of the the board’s Sept. 10 meeting.
• Over the next two weeks, Schellinger Construction crews will continue the installation of utilities and new systems, includ- ing storm drainage, sanitation
and water lines. Residents are en- couraged to visit http://www.mdt. mt.gov/pubinvolve/karrow or tune into 106.3 FM, 103.1 FM, and 880 AM for weekly updates. Addition- ally, a meeting will be held every Tuesday at 9 a.m. at 2005 Lion Mountain Road and the public is welcome to attend.
KALISPELL
• The city council is holding a public hearing on proposed amendments to the growth policy on Oct. 6.
• The city council held a work ses- sion Monday discussing two ballot issues in November: replacing the current funding and governance mechanism by establishing a spe- cial district for the valley’s 911 Center operations; and enhancing staffing and capital replacement activity within the EMS opera-