BILL NUMBER: ACR 20	INTRODUCED
	BILL TEXT


INTRODUCED BY   Assembly Member Bill Berryhill

                        FEBRUARY 5, 2009

   Relative to the Sergeant Howard King Stevenson Memorial Highway.


	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   ACR 20, as introduced, Bill Berryhill. Sergeant Howard King
Stevenson Memorial Highway.
   This measure would designate a specified portion of State Highway
Route 99 in the City of Ceres as the Sergeant Howard King Stevenson
Memorial Highway. The measure would also request that the Department
of Transportation determine the cost for appropriate signs showing
this special designation and, upon receiving donations from nonstate
sources covering that cost, erect those signs.
   Fiscal committee: yes.



   WHEREAS, Sergeant Howard King "Howie" Stevenson was born on
February 18, 1965, and on June 3, 1986, at 21 years of age, became a
peace officer with the Ceres Police Department on June 3, 1986; and
   WHEREAS, On January 9, 2005, while responding to a call for
assistance at a local liquor store, Sergeant Stevenson and fellow
officers were ambushed and met with a hail of gunfire from an assault
rifle; and
   WHEREAS, Sergeant Stevenson died almost instantly; and
   WHEREAS, Sergeant Stevenson was the first police officer in the
86-year history of the City of Ceres to be killed in the line of
duty; and
   WHEREAS, On the morning of January 18, 2005, when Sergeant
Stevenson was laid to rest, more than 2,000 mourners, mostly peace
officers from jurisdictions statewide and as far away as Boise,
Idaho, gathered at the First Baptist Church in Modesto to pay their
final respects to a fallen hero; and
   WHEREAS, Chief Art de Werk eulogized Sergeant Stevenson in glowing
terms and concluded his remarks with "and to you Howie: secure your
gun and hang up your duty belt. You've made the difficult sacrifice
as a hero, dying in the service of your fellow man. You are cleared
of your watch"; and
   WHEREAS, Sergeant Stevenson is remembered affectionately by his
fellow officers as being a role model and mentor to younger officers,
and as being "a cops' cop"; and
   WHEREAS, Sergeant Stevenson is survived by his wife Kathy,
daughters Megan and Mikeala, and son Bryce; now, therefore, be it
   Resolved by the Assembly of the State of California, the Senate
thereof concurring, That the Legislature hereby recognizes the
sacrifices made by Sergeant Howard King Stevenson in the line of
duty, and hereby designates the portion of State Highway Route 99 in
the City of Ceres, between exits 218 and 223, northbound and
southbound, as the Sergeant Howard King Stevenson Memorial Highway;
and be it further
   Resolved, That the Department of Transportation is requested to
determine the cost of appropriate signs, consistent with the signing
requirements for the state highway system, showing the special
designation and, upon receiving donations from nonstate sources
covering that cost, to erect those signs; and be it further
   Resolved, That the Speaker of the Assembly transmit copies of this
resolution to the Department of Transportation and to the author for
appropriate distribution.