Tragedy strikes on Briceburg

2010-04-29 / Front Page

Youngster plunges 60 feet to his death

Shortly after 9 a.m. Friday morning, emergency personnel were called to assist a person who had fallen over the side of a rock face on the Briceburg Grade of Highway 140, approximately one mile above the Octogon.

First responders discovered a young man from a party of four apparent tourists had plunged over the edge near a catch basin and culvert. He fell about 60 feet directly onto the jagged rocks below, apparently causing his death. No identification or other details related to the accident were immediately available.

Look for further details in the next edition of the Mariposa Gazette.

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I think knowing about an

Submitted by R.R. Simmons (not verified) on Thu, 2010-05-06 04:15.

I think knowing about an unfortunate accident victim is an important part of a safety lesson. Let our children learn from the mishaps of others no matter what they may be.

I agree that the bloody chair

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Wed, 2010-05-05 17:11.

I agree that the bloody chair was a little much on the front page. I also have wondered why Matt Hull's picture was on the front page three weeks in a row while there have been no recent pictures of the child molester, McDonald, a far more serious criminal.

hello folks at the gazette.

Submitted by Ericka Buck (not verified) on Mon, 2010-05-03 18:31.

hello folks at the gazette. first of all i think you are all wonderful :) you guys have helped many people in the small community. i was wondering though, why everytime you print a paper, the worst and most depressing news is right on the front. Our children read these papers and to see a bloody chair and read about how some man got shot is a little intense. They absorb everything and there is so much positive news in Mariposa. maybe put that in the middle or on the back. Also tourist who come here probably think the town is full of terrible people. most of the time these people are related to someone in the small town. Its embarassing for the children to go to school and hear roumers about there dad being in jail and there uncle shooting someone. it's just sad. Lets raise the peace level there and support the amazing happenings going on in mariposa.

the town is full of terrible

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Thu, 2010-05-13 19:53.

the town is full of terrible people

They are just doing their

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Thu, 2010-05-06 09:15.

They are just doing their job; as journalists anything else is unethical on their part..

As a person that grew up in

Submitted by Jake (not verified) on Tue, 2010-05-04 09:22.

As a person that grew up in Mariposa, it is the newspaper's responsibility to be an unbiased observer and reporter of the events going on within the community. The unfortunate (?) reality of Mariposa is that aside from its public face, there is a private side of the town and the surrounding communities that make up the beautiful Sierra Nevada foothills, and the paper must print everything that is worthy of being published that is, in fact, news. If a person is presenting a danger to the community, they and their behavior are news. Death, by its very nature, is news, not only in who died, which can be contained to the obituaries, but the manner of death itself can be news worthy. The story of someone plunging off Briceburg is news because it is cautionary in nature, to remind people of the risks associated with the beauty that surrounds them. The First Amendment is a wonderful, marvelous thing, which gives anybody, should they decide to do so, a voice in the public arena. If you want news published of a certain style, then take it upon yourself to throw your voice into the arena and publish your own version of the news, keeping only to those "amazing happenings going on in mariposa (sic)". Let the better paper win.