IN CONGRESS, July 4, 1776.

The unanimous Declaration of the thirteen united States of America,

When 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 of 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 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 Happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn, that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses 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 Government, 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 usurpations, all having in direct object the establishment of an absolute Tyranny over these States. To prove this, let Facts be submitted to a candid world.

He has refused his Assent to Laws, the most wholesome and necessary for the public good.

He has forbidden his Governors to pass Laws of immediate and pressing importance, unless suspended in their operation 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 accommodation of large districts of people, unless those people would relinquish 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 unusual, 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 mean time exposed to all the dangers of invasion from without, and convulsions within.

He has endeavoured to prevent the population of these States; for that purpose obstructing the Laws for Naturalization of Foreigners; refusing to pass others to encourage their migrations hither, and raising the conditions of new Appropriations of Lands.

He has obstructed the Administration of Justice, by refusing 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 harrass our people, and eat 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 jurisdiction foreign to our constitution, and unacknowledged by our laws; giving his Assent to their Acts of pretended Legislation:

For Quartering large bodies of armed troops among us:

For protecting them, by a mock Trial, from punishment for any Murders which they should commit on the Inhabitants of these States:

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 benefits of Trial by Jury:

For transporting us beyond Seas to be tried for pretended offences

For abolishing the free System of English Laws in a neighbouring Province, establishing therein an Arbitrary government, and enlarging its Boundaries so as to render it at once an example and fit instrument for introducing the same absolute rule into these Colonies:

For taking away our Charters, abolishing our most valuable Laws, and altering fundamentally the Forms of our Governments:

For suspending our own Legislatures, and declaring themselves invested with power to legislate for us in all cases whatsoever.

He has abdicated Government here, by declaring us out of his Protection and waging War against us.

He has plundered our seas, ravaged our Coasts, burnt our towns, and destroyed the lives of our people.

He is at this time transporting large Armies of foreign Mercenaries to compleat the works of death, desolation and tyranny, already begun with circumstances of Cruelty & perfidy scarcely paralleled in the most barbarous ages, and totally unworthy the Head of a civilized nation.

He has constrained our fellow Citizens taken Captive on the high Seas to bear Arms against their Country, to become the executioners of their friends and Brethren, or to fall themselves by their Hands.

He has excited domestic insurrections amongst us, and has endeavoured to bring on the inhabitants of our frontiers, the merciless Indian Savages, whose known rule of warfare, is an undistinguished destruction of all ages, sexes and conditions.

In every stage of these Oppressions We have Petitioned for Redress in the most humble terms: Our repeated Petitions have been answered only by repeated injury. A Prince whose character is thus marked by every act which may define a Tyrant, is unfit to be the ruler of a free people.

Nor have We been wanting in attentions to our Brittish brethren. We have warned them from time to time of attempts by their legislature to extend an unwarrantable jurisdiction over us. We have reminded them of the circumstances of our emigration and settlement here. We have appealed to their native justice and magnanimity, and we have conjured them by the ties of our common kindred to disavow these usurpations, which, would inevitably interrupt our connections and correspondence. They too have been deaf to the voice of justice and of consanguinity. We must, therefore, acquiesce in the necessity, which denounces our Separation, and hold them, as we hold the rest of mankind, Enemies in War, in Peace Friends.

We, therefore, the Representatives of the united States of America, in General Congress, Assembled, appealing to the Supreme Judge of the world for the rectitude of our intentions, do, in the Name, and by Authority of the good People of these Colonies, solemnly publish and declare, That these United Colonies are, and of Right ought to be Free and Independent States; that they are Absolved from all Allegiance to the British Crown, and that all political connection between them and the State of Great Britain, is and ought to be totally dissolved; and that as Free and Independent States, they have full Power to levy War, conclude Peace, contract Alliances, establish Commerce, and to do all other Acts and Things which Independent States may of right do. And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes and our sacred Honor.

High winds swept through the south end of Clarkesville Friday morning leaving a trail of damage, debris and downed power lines. Clarkesville Fire Chief Jerry Palmer confirms the damage was caused by a microburst and straight line winds that accompanied a severe thunderstorm. The storm caused minor damage. Palmer says no one was injured.

Sgt. Ryan Ledford with the Clarkesville Police Department says the first damage report was called in around 8:39 a.m. Witnesses say it looked like a mini tornado with rotating winds but the National Weather Service (NWS) in Greenville did not detect rotation on its radar. According to Now Habersham’s weather man Tyler Penland, NWS radar in Greenville-Spartanburg indicated wind speeds of around 40mph with the storm cell. He says that’s, “Sub-severe but certainly strong.”

The storm tore off part of the roof on the old Ingles grocery store in Clarkesville and toppled trees along Highway 197 South, Railroad Avenue, Dennis, Ellison and East Louise Streets.

At least three trees fell onto a power line on East Louise just south of Rocky Branch Road. The road was closed for several hours as Georgia Power crews worked to clear the lines and restore power to dozens of homes and businesses in the area.

As of 12:45 p.m. Friday, power was restored to all but a handful of Georgia Power and HEMC customers in Habersham County whose electricity was knocked out by the storm.

Employees at work who couldn’t work without power stepped outside for a brief break in the calm after the storm. The Clarkesville Post Office was open but only customers with exact change could buy anything. Computerized cash registers and credit card readers were all down.

Post Office supervisor Charles Clay says Friday’s mail delivery was delayed by the outage. The Post Office will be closed Saturday for Independence Day. Clay says “Hopefully (we can) resume normal delivery on Monday.”

Meanwhile, pack your umbrella and stay alert for the possibility of more severe weather. The National Weather Service warns of the possibility of more torrential rain, high winds and hail through this evening.

The July 4th forecast looks calmer but still rainy for much of Northeast Georgia.

Independence Day weekend forecast

Damage, Debris and Downed Power Lines

A body found overnight at a house just south of Homer is apparently the victim of homicide.

After an autopsy and witness interviews, Sheriff’s Sgt. Carissa McFaddin says 49-year-old Billy Charles Lewallen faces charges of Malice Murder and Concealing a Dead Body.

Banks County deputies conducting a welfare check at a house at 1151 McDonald Circle early Thursday morning found the body. Sheriff Carlton Speed called in agents with the Georgia Bureau of Investigation to help with the inquiry.

The body was found at the home just after 1 AM Thursday about 4 miles south of Homer off old highway 441 near Banks County High School. “It is alleged that the body had been in the house for several days,” McFaddin explains.

“The body is currently being held at the GBI Crime Lab for identification confirmation,” she says “The identity of the deceased is expected to be released early next week,”

As Now Habersham reported first back on June 2, CertusBank, with branches in Cornelia and Homer, made a deal in which Community and Southern Bank (CSB) would acquire many of the CertusBank assets in Georgia. The acquisition included the local banks.

We’ve now learned CSB plans to close the Certusbank branch on Highway 441 in Homer in September.

According to Lawanna Saxon of CSB, “While the decision was made not to retain the Homer branch in connection with the acquisition transaction, we are currently evaluating other opportunities that will allow us to better serve the Commerce and Homer markets.”

Saxon, CSB’s Director of Marketing, tells Now Habersham that they’ll keep operating the Homer site until September 8. “Customers can continue to access their CertusBank accounts through their online banking service or by calling CertusBank Customer Care Center at (888) 237-8871,” she says.

As for what will happen in Cornelia, CSB already has one branch downtown and many question what the deal will mean for their newly acquired Certusbank branch here. Saxon says, “We are also excited to expand our customer base in Cornelia and continue our pledge to support the Cornelia community.”

When pressed on what would happen to the CertusBank branch building on Level Grove Road, “We will remain in the Cornelia market,” was her response.

This is not the first sale for the Cornelia location. It was First Georgia Bank until the FDIC shut it down and transferred its assets to CertusBank in 2011.

The CSB deal is part of a much larger plan which will wipe CertusBank off the financial map.

• Community & Southern Bank in Atlanta will acquire the majority of CertusBank’s Georgia deposits and all of its Florida deposits, certain loans and branches.
• Morris Bank in Dublin, Georgia, will acquire certain deposits, loans and a branch from CertusBank’s Warner Robins, Georgia, location.
• Queensborough National Bank & Trust Company in Louisville, Georgia, will acquire certain deposits, loans and branches from CertusBank’s Savannah and Rincon, Georgia, locations.
• Bank of North Carolina in High Point, a commercial bank with $4.17 billion in assets, will acquire certain deposits, loans and branches from CertusBank’s South Carolina locations.

CertusBank began falling apart a year ago when American Banker Magazine reported about Certus’ CEO and other executives’ free-spending ways while the company’s financials faltered. The board of directors cleared house and appointed a new CEO but the bank’s fortunes never rebounded.

Banks County deputies discovered a dead body at a home just south of Homer early Thursday morning.

Sheriff’s Sgt. Carissa McFaddin tells Now Habersham that authorities initially went to the house on McDonald Circle around 1 AM “to conduct a welfare check.”

“The occupants of the residence allowed deputies entry into the residence where they located a deceased person.” McFaddin explains.

She says Banks County Sheriff Carlton Speed has brought in the Georgia Bureau of Investigation to “investigate the incident and the events surrounding it.”

“Individuals are currently being questioned regarding the death,” McFaddin says. “The body has been sent to the GBI Crime Lab for identification and autopsy.”

The investigation is currently centered around a house in the 1100 block of McDonald Circle about 4 miles south of Homer off old highway 441 near Banks County High School.

McFaddin says, “Additional information will be forthcoming as the investigation progresses.”