UPDATE, Friday, May 20:

At its May 19 meeting, the Eureka City Schools Board of Trustees voted unanimously to adopt the report justifying the developer fee and voted 4-1 to implement the fee. 

Eureka City Schools Superintendent Fred Van Vleck said the board also decided to review the impact fee six months down the road to evaluate the impact it’s having on the community and the district.

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This evening, the Eureka City Schools Board of Trustees will consider whether or not to implement sizable new developer impact fees within the district’s boundaries. These charges, which would be assessed to local builders in the permitting process, would generate revenue while making the district eligible to pursue $5.6 million in state grant money for new preschool classroom facilities.

According to Eureka City Schools Superintendent Fred Van Vleck, the driving force behind this proposal is the state’s recent adoption of a universal transitional kindergarten (TK) program. Currently, only a subset of 4-year-olds — those who will turn 5 between Sept. 2 and Dec. 2 — are eligible to attend TK. But thanks to a $2.7 billion initiative supported by Gov. Gavin Newsom and others, California’s TK program will be gradually expanded until it includes all of the state’s 4-year-olds by the 2025-26 school year.

That expansion, Van Vleck says, will lead to an influx of new preschoolers, requiring the district to add more classrooms that meet the state’s Title 5 requirements. And in order to qualify for the $5.6 million state grant that could pay for those new facilities, the district needs to charge these fees, at least temporarily. (We’ll get to his explanation of why that’s the case below.)

Local builders, meanwhile, are voicing strong opposition to the proposal, saying the fees — which would be assessed at a rate of $4.79 per square foot for residential construction and $0.78 per square foot for commercial or industrial construction — would stifle much-needed efforts to build new housing by adding yet another construction-related cost to an ever-expanding list.

“We’re not going to be able to continue to apply for our permits and continue to build our buildings with these increased costs,” local contractor Will Zerlang said at a Eureka City Council meeting Tuesday night. “Not to mention small families that are trying to develop these additional dwelling units … . You’re gonna put those out of business also.”

Zerlang (who, disclosure, is a friend of mine) said permit fees have already increased exponentially. He told the council that in 2009 he paid $1,400 for a permit on a 3,400-square-foot development. He’s now working on a project of that same size, located in the county’s jurisdiction just outside Eureka city limits, and the permit will cost $13,000 this time around.

“If we add this fee, it’s gonna add about $16,000 to that permit cost,” he said. The total resulting permit fee of around $29,000 would represent a roughly 20-fold increase in just over a dozen years. 

“Implementing this fee on local builders is going to slow down all of [the] movement you’re trying to do with increasing housing,” Zerlang said. 

Neighboring elementary school districts, including those in nearby Cutten and Freshwater, are also looking to implement these fees, and local developer Kurt Kramer said that would “definitely” impact his recently approved, 320-unit North McKay Ranch subdivision project, potentially jeopardizing its financial viability.

Kramer said he’s fine with the district’s efforts to expand a preschool programs. “I don’t have any issues with them running their district and doing what they need to do,” he said in a phone interview on Tuesday. “They just can’t keep putting the burden on development.” He and other developers are have hired an attorney to fight the proposed new fee by challenging the document the district is using to justify it.

On the other side of the issue, Van Vleck says that while he understands the concerns of local builders, the State of California is effectively forcing the district’s hand. He explained the situation to the Eureka City Council on Tuesday.

In order to qualify for this state grant of $5.6 million, which would be specifically earmarked to build eight new preschool classrooms, the district must meet two criteria: First, it must have a relatively high level of poverty among the student body, and Eureka City Schools does, with about 70 percent of students qualifying for free or reduced-cost lunches, according to Van Vleck.

Second, the district must be experiencing financial hardship. That’s where the proposed fee comes in. In order to claim hardship, a district must have passed a bond measure fairly recently — which voters in Eureka City Schools district did, most recently, in 2020 — and it must be charging the maximum developer impact fees allowed by the state, which is where the figures of $4.79 and $0.78 come from. (There’s also a mini-storage category of construction, for which the district would collect a fee at a rate of $0.08 per square foot.)

School districts’ ability to assess these fees was ushered into law back in 1986 via Assembly Bill 2926. The State Allocation Board can (and usually does) adjust the fee amounts for inflation every two years.

At the council meeting, and again in a phone conversation Wednesday, Van Vleck lamented the lack of local control over these matters.

“It is really unfortunate that Sacramento is dictating local politics and [that] in order for our community to be eligible for this preschool building grant we basically have to [assess the fee],” he said.

The statewide expansion to universal pre-K will likely quadruple attendance at Eureka City Schools’ TK program, a figure based on “simple math,” Van Vleck said. But in order to justify the developer fee, the district needed to produce a report showing that there’s a nexus between anticipated development within district boundaries and the cost of providing adequate school facilities. 

Eureka City Schools commissioned such a report from Sacramento-based Jack Schreder & Associates, Inc., a consultancy that specializes in producing these studies for school districts in California, the majority of which already charge developer impact fees. The report, which cost $6,675, was completed in early April. (Click here to download a copy.) It concludes that new residential construction in the district will create a facilities cost of $10.02 per square foot, easily justifying a charge of $4.79 per square foot.

Van Vleck said the district made an effort to circulate the report far and wide, even reaching out to local developers including Kramer, Rob McBeth, Dan Johnson, Kevin McKenny and others to arrange a sit-down meeting.

“We’re not trying to do this behind the veil of darkness … ,” Van Vleck said. “Our whole approach was, ‘We’re not coming here to change your mind; we just want you to understand the why.’” 

The report concludes that the developer fees are indeed justified. “New students generated from future development will create a burden on existing school facilities,” it says, adding that capital improvements “are necessary to adequately house future enrollment growth at all school levels.”

According to the report, that enrollment growth won’t be limited to preschoolers. Citing population projections from the county and city planning departments, the study says a total of 1,526 units totaling 2,441,567 square feet “may be constructed” within the district’s boundary over the next 25 years. The population growth would add an average of 42 students per year to district enrollment, Van Vleck said. 

Kramer, for one, is skeptical about that analysis. 

“You’ve got to have growth to be able to charge the builders of new housing,” he said. “Because what [the district] is basically arguing is, ‘Your new housing is bringing new students into my district.’”

He doesn’t think that’s actually the case. Noting the closure of a couple schools in the past decade or so, Kramer said, “You’ve got Eureka City Schools cleaving campuses. They’re selling campuses off and shrinking. And then they’re saying, ‘Wait a minute, now we’re growing.’ Well, no you’re not. You’re not growing.”

The district’s total enrollment actually declined slightly from the 2016-17 school year to the 2020-21 school year, according to data collected by the California Department of Education.

Kramer alleged that the report’s conclusions were predetermined. “Basically what they did is they paid somebody to back into an argument that would get them to a point where they could implement developer impact fees,” he said.

On Monday, an attorney representing the Northern California Association of Home Builders sent a letter to the attorney representing Eureka City Schools, threatening legal action if the district’s board of trustees votes to implement the developer impact fee. (Click here to download a copy of the letter.)

The letter alleges that the district report justifying the fee “contains significant legal and methodological errors” and that revenues would not actually go toward construction and reconstruction of school facilities:

In short, the Study justifies the imposition of developer fees solely to fund deferred maintenance projects and modernization needs that currently exist throughout the District’s facilities and which would exist whether or not any new development occurs in the District. These costs cannot be reasonably attributed to the impact of future new development within the District, and it would be palpably unfair to force new families moving to Eureka to shoulder the cost of renovating the District’s aging school facilities on their own, when that renovation would clearly benefit all of Eureka’s families equally.

Van Vleck said there’s a mistaken impression out there that this whole effort to establish developer impact fees is because the district ran out of money to complete a new gym for Eureka High School. 

“Not accurate,” he said, adding that the district has all the necessary money already set aside to complete not only the gym but also a renovation of Albee Stadium and a modernization of the sciences building. The district is “fine” financing projects in the short term, he said, and if the fee gets implemented then revenues would be limited to capital recovery projects.

As for the potential impact on local builders, Van Vleck readily admits that he’s not a housing expert. 

“The best thing I can say is that I’m an education expert and we’re doing this for education reasons, to get the $5.6 million grant. That is our goal,” he said. “And we realize there’s a collateral impact that’s out there. I can’t speak with authority on what that will be, other than [pointing out] that pretty much all the rest of the state charges these fees.”

In Humboldt County, both McKinleyville Union School District and Fortuna Elementary School District assess developer fees, though they’re well below the state max.

At the trustees meeting  tonight, the board will have a couple of decisions to make, Van Vleck said. First, they must decide whether to adopt the developer fee study, and, second, whether to implement the fees. Based on input from staff and the public, the board could choose to revise the report or reject it altogether, in which case there’d be no action on implementing the fee. Or they could adopt the study and postpone a decision on fee implementation to the following regular meeting, on June 23.

In his informational report to the city council on Tuesday, Van Vleck also noted that the board could potentially make the fee temporary. As part of the grant application process, the state Office of Public School Construction will likely conduct an audit of the district’s books.

“They take a snapshot of your books at that point, and then once they take that snapshot it’s over,” he told the council. “So the board can choose, after that, if they wanted to, to not collect developer fees, to reduce the developer fees [or] have exceptions for low-income housing. There’s all kinds of things they can choose after that point, but during the snapshot it has to be that amount” of $4.79 per square foot for residential and $0.78 for commercial or industrial

Kramer said districts rarely decide to reduce or rescind these fees once they’re in place, but he also doesn’t expect the board to adopt the fee tonight. In fact, he believes the attorney representing the Northern California Association of Home Builders will convince the board that the fee is not legally defensible.

“I’d be surprised if the tents don’t fold up before it gets too much further,” he said before quickly adding, “but maybe we have to go further.”

Van Vleck said the district has received the attorney’s letter and he expects representatives of the local building community to attend tonight’s meeting and offer their feedback. “That’s exactly what this process was designed to do,” he said.

The board of trustees meeting is open to the public and schedule for 6:30 p.m. at Marshall Elementary, 2100 J Street in Eureka.

Press release from the California Highway Patrol:

On 05-14-2022, at approximately 3:32 AM, the CHP Humboldt Communication Center (HCC) received a call of a vehicle versus pedestrian traffic crash on US-101 Southbound, north of Indianola Cutoff. Based on CHP’s preliminary investigation, it appears this crash occurred when 59-year-old Troy Rassbach of Arcata CA, was walking within the lanes of US-101 Southbound and was struck by a 2010 Honda Pilot driven by 44-year-old Stephanie Mellen of Eureka. Emergency medical personnel responded to the scene and rendered aid to Mr. Rassbach. However, despite the efforts of medical personnel, Mr. Rassbach succumbed to his injuries and was pronounced deceased.

Impairment is not a factor in the driving of the vehicle. Impairment of Mr. Rassbach is unknown at this time and will be determined by the Humboldt County Coroner’s Office.

The CHP is continuing to investigate this crash and asks anyone with information to contact the Humboldt Area CHP at (707) 822-5981 or (707) 268-2000 after business hours.

The California Highway Patrol extends its condolences to the family of the deceased and would like to thank the following agencies for their response and assistance with this investigation: Eureka Police Department, Humboldt Bay Fire Department, Arcata Mad River Ambulance, Humboldt County Sheriff’s Department, California Department of Transportation and Humboldt Towing.

Dean J. Glaser
Aug. 16, 1944 - April 20, 2022

Dean was born in San Francisco with his fraternal twin brother Dale on Aug. 16, 1944. He was raised in Marin County, where he attended Sir Francis Drake High, Marin County Junior College and San Francisco State College, graduating in 1965. He married his college sweetheart, Gerrie, in 1967.

Dean proudly served his country in the United State Naval Reserves, stationed at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii from 1969-1971. After his military service Dean and Gerrie settled in Fortuna, where he went to work for Safeway Stores until his retirement. He also ran a small business, Fortuna Marine, repairing Evinrude and Johnson small boat motors.

He was an avid hunter and fisherman, and spent many enjoyable times with family and friends in these pursuits.

Dean was also very involved in his community. He volunteered for SCOP, was a member of the Fortuna Volunteer Fire Dept., (Co. 5). ran for and was elected to a seat on the Fortuna City Council, where he served for many years. He was also a member of the Native Sons of the Golden West, the American Legion, AmVets, the Military Order of the Louse, and the Mad River Community Honor Guard.

He is survived by his wife of 54 years, Gerrie, his sons JV (Brooke), Adam (Deanna) and Richard (Emily), 5 grandchildren, 2 great-grandchildren and his cousin John Meisner of Palo Cedro, Ca.

He was preceded in death by his parents Joseph W. and Mary Jane, his step-mother Margaret, and his brother Dale.

There will be a Celebration of Life at the Fortuna Veterans Memorial Building on Saturday, May 28, at 11 a.m. If you knew Dean, please come and join us in this celebration.

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Gay Chastain lived 80 years, and then on May 15 at about 1 p.m., she stared into the face of Jesus and was gone. It was cellulitis sepsis that ended her time here. Obituaries usually start with the birth and follow the person’s life going forward. Anyone who knew Gay can offer testimony that she was anything but “usual,” so we’re going to start with now and then go back.

She was living her life as she always did until Thursday, May 12, when some symptoms began to manifest from the sepsis. She did not make it a secret in the last year that she was ready to meet Jesus, and her final days were as she wanted – a short time of illness with family gathered around. Just before 1 p.m. on Sunday, May 15, her daughter Lisa was with her in the hospital. Gay was staring toward the ceiling. Lisa asked, “Mom, do you see Jesus?” Gay nodded affirmatively and was gone moments later.

So what did “living her life as she always did” mean? For the last 11 years she developed a routine that included attending regularly four churches, multiple Bible studies and a couple of lunch groups. The reason she attended four churches – Eureka Nazarene, Fortuna Nazarene, Eureka Seventh Day Adventist and the Embassy in Eureka – is because she recognized all churches have strengths and weaknesses, and the strengths of these four combined to provide her with what she considered a full and robust spiritual experience.

Some of her highlights from the last 11 years included a trip to Israel with a travel group, two trips to Hawaii with her daughter Lisa’s family, logging some of her property so she could be debt free, keeping up with her granddaughter Naomi’s swimming exploits, any chance to gather with family, a trip on a train with her sister Margo, a cruise to Alaska, attending her grandson Shane’s wedding in Missouri, and a week-long visit in Eureka last fall with Shane and his new bride Priscilla.

But there was a season when her day planner was not filled with church, small group and lunch appointments. That season began when she met Tilmon Chastain in 2004. They were both twitterpated, and they were married in March of 2005. She absolutely adored Tilmon, and every day from their wedding day until his death in January of 2011 was filled with joy and wonder. They traveled all over the country as Tilmon preached the Word of God. She always spoke of Tilmon with great admiration and affection. She called him a prince. Gay loved Tilmon’s family, from his children, grandchildren to his cousins and other extended family. In fact, she left behind a list of people to notify after she died, and Tilmon’s relatives comprise almost half the list.

Gay and Tilmon took notice of a local, anointed preacher named Trent Zelanick and began to support his North Coast Ministries. After Tilmon passed, Gay continued a relationship with Trent, his wife Amy and their five children. Gay loved them like family. In fact, she ended up renting her house to them and lived right next to them after her son Nate transformed her piano shop into an apartment for her. She remained active in her support of North Coast Ministries for the rest of her life.

Before Tilmon there was Greg Ornellas, Gay’s high school sweetheart. They were married 41 years until Greg died in December of 2002. At one point Gay and Greg were blessed to have all their children and grandchildren live within a quarter-mile of their home. After their three children – Lisa Trepiak, Nathan Ornellas, and Lori Curran – were teenagers, Gay spent most of the remaining time in the marriage as a self-employed piano technician. She tuned pianos and did piano repair. She took pride in her profession and her car’s license plate – PIANO RX - reflected that. She had many adventures in piano tuning, but the most striking was the time she was held at gunpoint by law enforcement during a drug bust. Talk about being in the wrong place at the wrong time! It took her hours to convince them that she was just the piano tuner. Apparently the drug bust was the result of months of planning as the confiscated drugs had a value of hundreds of thousands of dollars.

Many of her siblings (Tim Warlick, Roger Warlick, and Steve Warlick) and her mother Faith would gather whenever they could to play music. Gay was an accomplished musician, playing the piano, violin and harp. She gave piano lessons for nine years.

Her final years with Greg were sweet times as they followed through with gifting their children property near their home. They also enjoyed going to their grandson Cody’s high school baseball and football games. They were active in the Redwood Christian Center. After Greg’s death, Gay continued to follow Cody’s pitching career as he played college baseball, even traveling with Tilmon to Florida to watch Cody play for Edgewood College. She would cheer Cody on with “H-ooo-oook.” It was heartbreaking for her when Cody died in 2014. She made a memorial plaque that she posted on her front porch with the names of Greg (1941-2002), Tilmon (1939-2011) and Cody (1985-2014) and the years they lived. She included her own name on the plaque, leaving it to family to fill in the “2022” for her final year.

Gay and Greg’s house burned down in the late 1980s, and they lived in a travel trailer for more than a decade. After spending more than a decade working construction in San Diego, her son Nate returned to Eureka in 1995. Gay marveled at Nate’s craftsmanship as he returned to re-roof the barn, tear down the shack, remodel the rentals and build Gay and Greg a house. Nate also built houses for his sisters Lori and Lisa on the family property.

Gay was graduated from Eureka High in 1960. She broke her arm in a PE class at Eureka High, and when she married Greg in 1961, Gay’s father gave Greg the hospital bill and said, “This comes with her.”

Gay was preceded in death by her husbands Tilmon Chastain and Greg Ornellas, her brothers Truman Warlick and Roger Warlick, her grandson Cody Flynn, and her niece Tuesday Peterson. She is survived by her siblings Tim Warlick, Steve Warlick and Margo Meck; children Lisa Trepiak (Tom), Nathan Ornellas and Lori Curran (Ben); her grandchildren Naomi Trepiak, Carlene Curran, Shane Curran (Priscilla), Clarissa Curran and Hope Curran; her nieces Polly Hryn, Debora Kotterman, Tina Warlick, Trudee Greene and Desdemona Meck, and her nephews Brian Warlick and Jeff Warlick.

An announcement was posted on Facebook, and the family took great joy in reading how Gay had impacted many lives. Here a few messages from that post: “Gay’s prayers, encouragement, steadfastness faith, unwavering hope and love have carried us through some of the darkest and greatest times.” … “A friend that was as close as family.” … “A woman who loved her Heavenly Father and loved others deeply! I will miss her grace and elegance, passion for music, humor, cheerful disposition, and compassion for others.” … “She was a true example of Christ. She never judged or looked down.” … “We will miss her beautiful smile and lovely voice and just her cheerful presence.” … “She is my favorite Sister in Christ.” … “Gay was always open and friendly, and her faith was an encouragement.”

There will be a Celebration of Gay’s life on Saturday, June 4, at Redwood Christian Center (6000 Humboldt Hill Rd., Eureka), at 3 p.m. We usually read at this point in the obituary something about “in lieu of flowers,” but, you know what, we like flowers. Feel free to bring flowers to the Celebration of Life.

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Joel Hans ‘Smoe’ Mabe was born on August 7, 1962 to Hazel and John Mabe in Sacramento California. He moved to Ferndale in 1965 with his mother Hazel and older brother Jim where he attended Ferndale Elementary and High Schools. Joel was active in sports competing in both football and basketball while in high school. His competitive interest continued after high school to include city league basketball and motor cross racing. Recreational activities included jet skiing on the several lakes in the Sacramento area after work. He enjoyed home improvement projects, an endeavor at which was quite adept.

Joel worked on local dairy farms for several years after high school including his uncle Fred Phillis. Joel then moved on to work for the Arcata Redwood Company at the mill site between Arcata and Eureka. Upon returning to Sacramento, Joel was employed by Thomas Brothers Construction eventually working his way to a foreman position supervising three construction crews. Returning to Ferndale once again, Joel pursued agricultural interests at various locations. Joel was always a hard worker consistently performing at 110 percent.

Joel was very gregarious and endeared himself to everyone who met him. A conversation with Joel would usually result in laughter and good memories that would brighten up a person’s day.

Sadly, Joel passed away on Saturday, May 7, 2022. Joel in preceded in death by his father John Mabe and his half-brother John Mabe Jr. He is survived by his mother Hazel Christiansen, Cheri, the mother of his children, his children Taryn and Joel Mabe, his former wife Shannon and their child Kyra Mabe, his significant partner Terry, his grandson Ruben Peredia, his brother Jim Mabe, his half siblings Alan and Debra, his niece Tessa, and numerous cousins. He will be missed by his family and the many others whose lives he undoubtedly enhanced with his humor and good will.

A celebration of life for Joel will be held on Saturday, June 4 at the Ferndale Veterans Hall, 1100 Main Street, in Ferndale, at 1 p.m.

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Press release from the Fortuna Police Department:

On Wednesday, May 18th 2022, at about 1:20 PM, Fortuna Police received a report of a bank robbery that had just occurred at Coast Central Credit Union, located in the 1800 block of Main Street, in Fortuna, California.

Officers and Detectives responded. As a result of the investigation, it was determined that an unidentified suspect entered the credit union, contacted a teller, and demanded money. The unidentified suspect obtained an undisclosed amount of U.S. currency and fled the credit union on foot. No weapon was mentioned or observed, no persons were injured, and there is no evidence of a sustained or continued threat to public safety.

During the investigation, officers canvassed the area with the assistance of the Fortuna K9 unit and with the assistance of several allied agencies. Video surveillance of the unidentified suspect was obtained and several images are attached with this press/media release. We are asking for the public’s assistance in identifying the suspect. If you witnessed the incident or have any information that can aid in the identification of the suspect, please contact the Fortuna Police Department as soon as possible.

The unidentified suspect is described as a Caucasian male believed to be in his late twenties to early thirties with brown hair tied in a bun. He is further described as being approximately six feet in height or slightly taller with a thin muscular build. He was last seen wearing a blue ball cap with “Cabela’s” written on it in yellow, prescription type eye glasses, a standard cotton type face mask, a blue long sleeve button up collared shirt, blue jeans and black shoes.

The Fortuna Police Department is working collaboratively with the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) on this investigation.

The Fortuna Police Department would like to publicly thank allied agencies for their response and assistance in attempting to locate the unidentified suspect. These agencies include the Rio Dell Police Department, CAL-Fire Law Enforcement Division, Department of Fish and Wildlife, California Highway Patrol and the F.B.I.

Any information on the incident or on the identity of the suspect in this case can be directed to Detective Ryan Richardson at (707) 725-7550.

The Fortuna Police Department remains committed to public safety and transparency. Any media questions regarding this incident can be directed to the Patrol Commander, Lieutenant Matthew Eberhardt at (707) 725-7550.

Murder suspect Gearold Sotolongo sat in jail for six years and three months waiting for his jury trial, which appears is going to take a few days.

This morning, the second day of trial, Deputy District Attorneys Roger Rees and Jessica Watson called their next-to-last witness. The prosecution plans to call one more witness — the doctor who performed victim Roger Alan Yale’s autopsy — tomorrow morning. Then Sotolongo’s attorney Zack Curtis will present his defense and lawyers will make closing arguments.

Sotolongo.

Sotolongo is charged with stabbing the 30-year-old Yale in the heart on Feb. 13, 2016, in front of the Hoopa Mini-Mart. Today a mini-mart cashier, Travis Brown, became one of many witnesses to identify Sotolongo as Yale’s attacker.

Brown, under questioning by Watson, said he was looking out the large front window of the market when he saw and heard a group of people running by outside.

“They were really rowdy and loud,” Brown recalled. “They were all circling that one guy.” He later identified the guy as Yale.

After the group dispersed only Sotolongo remained, Brown said, and he saw Sotolongo (whom he knew as Roldo Pratt) lunge toward Yale.

“Roldo pushed at him or punched him,” Brown testified. He said Sotolongo made a fast, forward motion with his right arm.

Soon afterward, Yale appeared at the mini-mart door.

“The guy poked his head in and said he was wounded and he needed a paper towel,” Brown said. Yale died shortly afterward of a stab wound to the heart. He died in the back of an ambulance that had transported him to the Willow Creek air strip to be flown to a hospital.

The attack was captured by surveillance cameras, and several law enforcement officers watched the video and recognized Sotolongo as the aggressor. Another witness, Lila Van Pelt, was at the mini-mart and witnessed the entire episode. Van Pelt identified Sotolongo as well.

Defense attorney Curtis asked Brown if he recalled telling law enforcement officers that he also saw other people he knew that day. Brown said he can’t remember.

The prosecution is expected to wrap up its case tomorrow morning with the testimony of Dr. Mark Super, the forensic pathologist who conducted the autopsy.

Sotolongo was arrested by a Sheriff’s Office SWAT team on March 9, 2016, in a residence on Tish Tang Road. He was 25 at the time of his arrest and is now 31. Along with the 2016 murder case, Sotolongo has two 2019 cases charging him with destroying jail property.

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• SOTOLONGO TRIAL: Eyewitnesses Recall Fatal Stabbing at the Hoopa Mini-Mart Six Years Ago