Out-of-bounds skier dies of hypothermia
DRIGGS, Idaho—Death by hypothermia was in the news in two ski towns this past week, one the result of alcohol and the other in a skiing case.
Edward Fitzgerald, 46, skied outside the Grand Targhee Ski Resort in Wyoming and got lost. He used a cell phone to call 911 that evening, but the connection was thin and fleeting. As such, search teams were uncertain where to look.
Instead of hunkering down and building a snow cave, he apparently fell into a creek. By the time he was found with aid of a helicopter the next morning, emergency medical technicians could detect only the faintest evidence of life, reports the Jackson Hole News&Guide. He was later pronounced dead.
A mailman in Queens, a borough of New York City, Fitzgerald had a master's degree in chemistry and liked skiing and skydiving, said the newspaper, citing the New York Post.
In Winter Park, Colo., authorities declared that Kevin Gilbert had died of hypothermia on the morning of Nov. 25. An autopsy revealed that Gilbert had a blood-alcohol level of .225 percent. He had been found on the ground, having spent the morning lying in the cold without sufficient clothing. Police, reports the Middle Park Times, had arrested Gilbert's companion and charged him with negligent homicide. They say the two had been drinking together the previous night.
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Fake or not, no shotgun shooting on Main Street
PARK CITY, Utah—Some towns, seeking to play off their frontier-days mythology, stage shoot-outs on their main streets. But no staged shooting was allowed on Main Street in Park City when a film production crew filed for a permit.
The film, tentatively titled "Vengeance," was to have included a scene in which a shotgun with blanks was shot. The film features hip-hop artist 50 Cent, aka Curtis Jackson III.
The Park Record reports that city officials worried that gunfire, even if feigned, would have frightened others on the busy street during the Sundance Film Festival, and it might draw gun-toting security officers employed during the festival.
Leadville may vote on marijuana reform
LEADVILLE, Colo.—Voters in Leadville may be asked in November to decriminalize marijuana. City officials tell the Summit Daily News that Leadville will look at the experience in Breckenridge, where 70 percent of voters last November voted to decriminalize possession of less than one ounce of marijuana. The sale of pot is still illegal, though, except at medical marijuana dispensaries.
