Mountain Democrat (Newspaper) - July 4, 2002, Placerville, California THURSDAY JULY 4 2002 Vol 151 No Pages 2 Sections 4 Supplements publication com bp of of America tn hen in the Course of human events it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another and to assume among the powers of the earth the separate and equal station to which the laws of nature and nature's God entitle them a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation We hold these truths to be self-evident that all men are created equal that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights that among these are life liberty and the pursuit of happiness That to secure these rights governments are instituted among men deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed that whenever any form of government becomes destructive of these ends it is the right of the people to alter or to abolish it and to institute a new government laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form as to them shall seem most likely to effect their safety and happi- ness Prudence indeed will dictate that governments long established should not be charged for light and transient causes and accordingly all experience hath shown mankind are more disposed to suffer while evils are able than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed But when a long train of es and usurpations pursuing invariably the same object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute despotism it is their right it is their duty to throw off such ment and to provide new guards for their future security Such has been the patient sufferance of these colonies and such is now the necessity which constrains them to alter their former systems of government The history of the present King of Great Britain is a history of repeated injuries and usurpation all having in direct the establishment of an absolute tyranny over these prove this let facts be submitted to a candid world He has refused to assent to laws the and necessary good He has forbidden his governors to pass laws of ate and pressing importance unless suspended in their till his assent should be obtained and when so suspended he has utterly neglected to attend to them He has refused to pass other laws for the of large districts of people unless those people would the right of representation in the legislature a right inestimable to them and formidable to tyrants only He has called together legislative bodies at places al uncomfortable and distant from the depository of their public records for the sole purpose of fatiguing them into compliance with his measures He has dissolved representative houses repeatedly for opposing with manly firmness his invasions on the rights of the people He has refused for a long time after such dissolutions to cause others to be elected whereby the legislative powers incapable of annihilation have returned to the people at large for their exercise the State remaining in the time exposed to all the dangers of invasion from without and convulsions within He has endeavored to prevent the population of these for that purpose obstructing the laws for tion of foreigners refusing to pass others to encourage their migration hither and raising the conditions of new of lands He has obstructed the administration of justice by ing his assent to laws for establishing judiciary powers He has made judges dependent on his will alone for the tenure of their offices and the amount and payment of their salaries He has erected a multitude of new offices and sent hither swarms of officers to harass our people and cat out their substance He has kept among us in times of peace standing armies without the consent of our legislatures He has affected to render the military independent of and superior to the civil power He has combined with others to subject us to a tion foreign to our constitution and unacknowledged by our laws giving his assent to their acts of pretended lation For quartering large bodies ot armed troops among us For protecting them by a mock trial from punishment for any murders which they should on the inhabitants of these For cutting off our trade with all parts of the world For imposing taxes on us without our consent For depriving us in many cases of the benefit of trial by jury For transporting us beyond seas to be tried for pretended offenses For abolishing the free system of English laws in a boring province establishing therein an arbitrary ment and enlarging its boundaries so as to render it at once an example and fit instrument for introducing the same absolute into these colonies For taking away our charters abolishing our most able laws and altering fundamentally the powers of our governments For suspending our own legislatures and declaring plus tax O say can you see Democrat photo by Lewis FIRE IN THE SKY Fire lookout Jeff Hasemeier lines up his locator in order to pinpoint the exact spot where smoke drifts Hasemeier enjoys his duty giving him a break from fishing and golfing By JESSICA RUSSELL Staff writer There W is definitely a king of Ji the world feeling that comes from spending the day high atop a mountain solo and in charge said retired Capt Jeff Hasemeier ot the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection and a Pilot Peak fire lookout for the past eight years Three to four days a week Hasemeier 62 makes the trek from his home in Diamond Springs up to the best place to spot a fire m the Pilot Peak which is located off Highway 49 near Cool Once there he spends 12 hours a day ing in circles on the watch for fires see LOOKOUT page County's adoptions process hung up By OLIVIA LOY Staff writer It was confirmed with Director of the El Dorado County Department of Social Services Lois Patrick in the middle of last week that the department has put a um on a critical cog in the adoptions process home study evaluations This freeze has cause the county to hopeful ents to outside private cies to adopt a child Home study evaluations aie the mandated in-depth inter- views conducted by a social worker before prospective adoptive parents are approved to have a child During these interview sions the social worker will learn information about the parents such What will their emotional response be to a child is there a tain age or sex ot child the ents would or handle more effectively and what is the This news perhaps dentally comes out at the same time as the El Dorado County Grand Jury report which includes findings of some shortcomings within DSS In the report the Jury cites managerial dysfunction a breakdown in policy dures and hostile relations in the department focusing ly on Child Protective Services But although the jury found that the adoptions supervisor was taking on additional job duties within CPS an outside audit included in the jury's report states the adoptions unit is fully functional in both Placerville and South Lake Tahoe It is uncertain how recent this particular piece of information see ADOPTIONS page Mt murder suspect arraigned By MEGAN MARSHACK Staff writer The son of a Mt woman was scheduled to be arraigned noon on charges he killed Sandra L Brooks 48 at home Michael Raymond Brooks 21 was booked into the El Dorado County Jail Tuesday night He was arrested in Hills June 28 after he was spotted on the side of the stieet near Sunset Boulevard Law enforcement had been ing for him for two days after his father returning from a business trip found his wile lying face up on the floor of their bedroom Sandra Brooks had MICHAEL RAYMOND BROOKS entry been struck in the face with a blunt object officials said District Attorney Gary Lacy said the nal complaint included a special allegation Michael Brooks used a deadly and dangerous weapon a shovel in the commission of the crime A gun was missing from the home on see BROOKS page Patriotic display NEWCASTLE who died in the line of RICHARD HERZOG on Saturday June 22 left behind a legacy of service to his country com Democrat photo by Joanne McCubrey munity and family A FEATHERED AMERICAN stands tall in the front yard of this The oldest of five chi dren home located at the corner of Combellack Road and James born to Placerville's Beverly and Drive in where Is no mistaking me spirit of Frank Herzog Richard Herzog see DECLARATION page patriotism this Fourth of July holiday lived his life to protect others see OFFICER page murder charged in former local man's death By LEE GORDON Staff writer SEATTLE Ronald Keith Matthews Jr arrested Saturday June 22 by the King County Sheriff's Office on of the murder of deputy Richard Herzog a former Placerville resident A report released by Norm Maleng King County Prosecuting Attorney states There is probable cause to believe that Ronald Keith RONALD KEITH MATTHEWS JR Slain By LEE GORDON Staff writer Matthews committed the crime of aggravated murder Matthews admitted to smoking crack that day and killing by firing Herzog's own firearm into the back of the deputy's head see MATTHEWS page recalled from harm Whether it was through the United States Army Special Forces or the King County Sheriff's Office Herzog was a man who served the public with unwavering bravery according to his family As a child growing up Richard loved the military He was going to go into the Army that was never in said Richard's brother Steve Herzog
