Press release from the Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office:
On April 3, 2022, at about 10:59 a.m., Humboldt County Sheriff’s deputies were dispatched to a residence on the 4700 block of Greenwood Heights Drive in Kneeland for a suspicious death investigation.
The reporting party told deputies that they had arrived at the residence to provide regularly scheduled caregiving assistance to the 28-year-old female resident of the home and was reportedly denied entry to the residence by a male subject. Following an argument between the two, the man reportedly assaulted the caregiver and fled in the female resident’s vehicle. The caregiver then located the female resident deceased inside the home. According to the caregiver, the man and decedent knew each other and had been spending time together in the days prior to this incident.
While responding to the residence, deputies observed the man driving the decedent’s vehicle in the Freshwater area. When deputies attempted a traffic stop on the vehicle, the man failed to yield, and a pursuit ensued.
Deputies pursued the vehicle to the area of Fickle Hill Road, where the vehicle yielded, and the man fled on foot into the Arcata Community Forest.
Numerous law enforcement agencies responded to assist with the search for the man, utilizing multiple K9s and ATVs. Law enforcement personnel searched for several hours, however, did not locate the man.
The male subject remains outstanding at this time. He is only described as a white male adult, possibly known by the name “Austin.” He is approximately 5 feet 8 inches tall, 130 pounds, with brown hair and blue eyes.
There is no perceived threat to the community at this time, however, community members in the Fickle Hill area are encouraged to use caution if approached by any unknown individuals and report suspicious circumstances to your local law enforcement immediately.
The identity of the decedent is being withheld pending next of kin notification. A forensic autopsy is in the process of being scheduled.
This is an active investigation and more information will be released when available and appropriate. Anyone with information about the male subject or his whereabouts is encouraged to call the Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office at (707) 445-7251 or the Sheriff’s Office Crime Tip line at (707) 268-2539.
The Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office would like to thank the following agencies for their assistance in this investigation: Arcata Police Department, Cal Poly Humboldt University Police Department, Fortuna Police Department, California Highway Patrol, California Department of Fish and Wildlife, and CAL FIRE.
The marijuana seized during the traffic stop. | HCSO
Press release from the Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office:
On April 1, 2022, at about 10:30 p.m., Humboldt County Sheriff’s deputies on patrol in the Glendale area, near Blue Lake, conducted a traffic stop for a vehicle code violation.
Thomas William Strader Jr. | HCSO
Deputies contacted the driver of the vehicle, 50-year-old Thomas William Strader Jr., who was found to be on Post Release Community Supervision with a search clause.
During a search of Strader and his vehicle, deputies located approximately 20.7 grams of cocaine, 30 pounds of cannabis packaged for sales (not registered through the California Cannabis Track and Trace (CCTT) system), 2.2 grams of methamphetamine, over a dozen Xanax pills and items consistent with the sale of controlled substances.
Strader Jr. was arrested and booked into the Humboldt County Correctional Facility on charges of possession of a controlled substance for sales (HS 11351), transportation/sale of a controlled substance (HS 11352(a)), possession of cannabis for sales (HS 11359(b)), possession of a controlled substance (HS 11377(a)) and violation of probation (PC 1203.2(a)(2)).
Anyone with information about this case or related criminal activity is encouraged to call the Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office at (707) 445-7251 or the Sheriff’s Office Crime Tip line at (707) 268-2539.
After the grieving family members of victims Jeremy Kuemmel and Tiffany Ellebrecht spoke about how their lives had been destroyed by their gruesome murders, Judge Gregory Elvine-Kreis turned and faced their killer.
“I hope those words resonated with you, Mr. Rodriguez,” the judge said to Ulisses Rodriguez. “Because you’re going to have a long time to think about them. Mr. Rodriguez, it is the judgment and sentence of this court that you serve life in prison without the possibility of parole.”
Rodriguez, now 26, shot Kuemmel and Ellebrecht to death on Aug. 14, 2018, because he believed Kuemmel stole some marijuana plants from the grow site Rodriguez was managing in Southern Humboldt. Kuemmel, 32, and Ellebrecht, 31, had been working and living at the site.
“He killed two people for reasons that are ridiculous,” said Daniel Kearney, Kuemmel’s uncle and the first speaker at the sentencing. He said his nephew “may have been a lot of things, but he was not a thief.”
Kearney said that while Rodriguez was running around acting like “a big shot,” his nephew was at the grow site “starving” and with no fuel.
Kuemmel took a few young plants worth $20 to $30 each to get money for necessities, Kearney said. And for that he lost his life.
Kearney, along with other speakers on Friday, called Rodriguez a monster.
“I’d love to be able to threaten him,” Kearney said. “I’d love to be able to call him every name in the book.”
Instead, Kierney said, he can just hope Rodriguez has a “long, long long time to think about this and then dies in prison.”
Suzanne Palmieri, who called herself “Jeremy’s second mom,” said “none of us should be here today. We’re here only because of the actions of a monster.”
Another speaker, Ellebrecht’s sister-in-law Tess Ellebrecht, told Rodriguez Kummel was a wonderful person who would have made a great friend.
“You would have benefited from his friendship,” she told Rodriguez. He sat stiffly, staring forward, as people spoke about their grief and pain.
“He killed himself the day he killed Tiffany and Jeremy,” said Ellebrecht, who was not only Tiffany’s sister-in-law but a close, lifelong friend of hers.
“I hope you see Jeremy and Tiffany around every corner,” she told Rodriguez.
What was actually on Rodriguez’s mind was getting his sentencing postponed. Before the sentence was imposed, Rodriguez said he hadn’t had the required time to review his Probation Department report with his attorney, Andrea Sullivan.
Although the Probation Department submitted the report on March 24, Sullivan hadn’t received it as of Friday morning. She appeared via Zoom from her Lake County office to announce this. Elvine-Kreis ordered her to drive to Humboldt County to go over the report with Rodriguez. She said she could be here by 1:30 or 2 p.m., but ended up arriving after 3 p.m., keeping many people waiting for hours. The judge told her off for that.
When the sentencing finally began, Sullivan said she was ready but Rodriguez wasn’t. He wanted to address the judge.
“Your Honor I was hoping to have more time,” Rodriguez said. “I was supposed to have it (the probation report) four or five days and go over it with her (Sullivan.) Me and her were going to sit down and talk about motions, including a motion for new trial.”
Elvine-Kreis interrupted him, saying his attorney was prepared to go forward with sentencing and he had received no motions indicating otherwise. Rodriguez tried talking over the judge.
“Stop talking,” Elvine-Kreis warned him. “I’m not talking to you.”
“I haven’t been able to talk to her, Your Honor.”
Elvine-Kreis closed the courtroom for 10 minutes so Rodriguez and Sullivan could confer. By the time the public was allowed back in, Rodriguez had filed a motion to replace Sullivan as his lawyer. The judge denied the motion.
Several speakers expressed their sympathy for Rodriguez’s family. Martin and Georgina Rodriguez drove from Chico to attend the sentencing, accompanied by Ulisses Rodriguez’s 8-year-old son Sebastian. The boy was not in court to see his father sentenced, remaining in the courthouse hallway with his grandmother.
Kuemmel and Ellebrecht were shot dead, then chained together and put in the back of Kuemmel’s SUV, which was set on fire. Their bodies were burned beyond recognition.
Deputy District Attorney Luke Bernthal, the trial prosecutor, was in court for his office. At least one of the jurors from Rodriguez’s trial attended the sentencing.
With Cal Poly Humboldt’s ambitious expansion goals and the potential for growth in other new and existing industries around Humboldt, City of Arcata officials have been diligently working to figure out how to accommodate an expected influx of people who might want a foggy college town as the setting for their story. As part of those efforts, it’s been nearly a year since the City of Arcata announced its Gateway Plan, which designates a 138 acre section of the city west of downtown as an area of focus for future high-density housing projects.
On today’s episode of Humboldt Holding Up — LoCO’s good-enough Zoom-aided podcast thingy — we attempt to get an idea on how the Gateway Plan is progressing with Delo Freitas, a senior planner with the City of Arcata.
Click the audio player above or head over to Apple Podcasts to hear Delo’s chat with LoCO’s Andrew Goff and Stephanie McGeary. And also be sure to scroll our aural rolodex of past HHU guests below.
When
dealing with probabilities,
our intuition, or gut feeling, is easily fooled. F’rinstance, you may
be familiar with the “birthday
paradox” — not
really a paradox, it just seems so. Imagine you’re
at a party with 22 other people. You announce what day and month your
birthday falls on. Then a second person does the same. And so on
until everyone has stated their birthday. Turns out, in a room of 23
people, the odds of two of you sharing the same birthday are better
than 50/50. It seems paradoxical because you’re putting 23 people up
against 365 days in a year.
Here’s
how it works. (Skip what follows if you hate math.) In a group of 23
people, there are 253 one-on-one comparisons to make (22 + 21 + …
+ 1), that is, 253 chances for matching birthdays. The chance of two
people
not
having
matching birthdays is 364/365, so with 23 people having 253 chances
of matching birthdays, the chance of no matches is (364/365)^253, or
slightly less than 50%. QED.
Another
non-intuitive probability is taken seriously by a couple of my “fear
of flying”
friends, otherwise perfectly sensible and rational people. I point
out that the average American has about a 1 in 11 million chance of
dying in a plane crash in any one year (—they’d
have to fly every day for 10,000 years before having a 50/50 chance
of being in a crash). They’re
unmoved. “Maybe,”
they say, “but
my odds are 1 in infinity, so long as I don’t
fly.”
“But
you drive, and your annual odds are about 1 in 5,000 of dying in a
car accident,”
I’ll
say.
It’s
more nuanced than that, of course. In a plane, we’re
essentially passive cargo. But when we drive, we’re
in charge, and even passengers can see where they’re going. Flying,
we have to have faith that the folks up front know what they’re
doing. (They do.) Following 9/11, some of that faith was lost: fewer
people flew and more drove, which probably accounts for the
additional
700-1,000
people who died in vehicle crashes from October through December,
2001, as compared to the same months in 2000.
Then
there’s
the awareness aspect. Plane crash = headlines; car crash = meh. The
media teaches us to be far more scared of plane crashes than car
crashes, and while our brains may be skeptical, our guts don’t work
that way. (Similarly, our media hypes mass shootings, yet over 99% of
U.S. gun deaths — 45,222 in 2020 — are unrelated to mass shootings,
according to the CDC. Most are suicides.)
How
each of us deals with odds depends, not only on understanding the
math, but also on our individual personalities. Are you, for
instance, a risk-averse Volvo driver or a risk-loving freestyle rock
climber? Here’s
an easy test: I offer you a choice: $20 or — depending on a coin
toss — either $40 (heads) or $0 (tails). Which do you take? Me, I’d
go with the second choice (and have, in the past, to my net benefit).
Now
you’re up on probability, here’s a tricky one. You’re shown two
urns, one of which contains one black and one white ball; the other
contains two black balls. You pick one urn at random and put your
hand in, pulling out one ball: it’s black. What’s the probability
that the second ball in that urn is also black? (I’ll post the
answer in the “comments” section of LoCO tomorrow,
Monday.)
When
I wrote last week that the Bosphorus may yet have a role to play in
the Ukraine-Russia war, I wasn’t far wrong.
First,
several mines were found floating in the Bosphorus, having drifted
south from the Black Sea. Fortunately, they were diffused and
disposed of without incident. And then it was announced that
Ukrainian and Russian delegates were meeting in Istanbul to discuss a
possible peace settlement. Never mind playing a role; for the moment
at least, Istanbul was at the center of the world’s stage.
On
the ferry last Tuesday morning, I found myself scanning the smooth
waters of the Bosphorus for any stray mines (not that I would know
what to do if one was spotted – was I going to cry out “Ahoy!
Mine, starboard?”)
and looked out at the guilded façade of Dolmabahçe Palace on the
distant shore, where the two-day meetings were to take place.
President Erdoğan
was even in town, and would greet the delegations at 10:30, according
to the news reports.
I
was excited, nervous. It was shaping up to be a big day, possibly
even historic – although not much was expected to come of the
talks, even as the war drags into its second month, with thousands of
refugees having arrived here in Turkey and elsewhere. The question,
heading into the meeting, was whether the two sides could agree to a
ceasefire, which reports indicated was probably unlikely.
The
meetings were to be held in the presidential working office, a part
of the palace that is closed to the public. When I arrived
mid-morning, traffic along the main avenue was busy as usual – it
was not blocked off. The sidewalk near the working office was
barricaded. Police and men in camo, carrying machine guns, were
posted in and around the entrance, while other security personnel
patted down the journalists and checked their IDs.
Reporters,
their TV cameras and other gear, were already in good numbers along
the sidewalk. They all looked busy and focused, while I drifted about
rather nervously, feeling self-consciously out of place. I passed an
Asian TV presenter giving her stand up report, and browsed the other
crews, including CNNTurk. Other reporters and their crew were
speaking in Russian.
On
a slim, stray hope, I walked up to the entrance, where police were
checking press credentials. One of them gave me a quick glance and
asked to see my press pass, which of course I didn’t have. He shook
his head and waved me away from the entrance.
A
bulky, rough-shaven man was talking to the security, holding up an
empty coffee cup. “Where is trash?” he asked, in a thick accent,
pointing at the cup. Naturally, there were no bins or Dumpsters
around, no doubt a security precaution against possible explosives.
Approaching
the man, who was still clutching the coffee cup, I asked where he was
from.
“Russia,”
he said, eyeing me with edged curiosity. I quickly introduced myself,
and explained that I was a teacher doing a project with my students.
(This was half true; at the school we have discussed doing current
events projects, which would give students more opportunities to
speak about topics outside of the books).
The
man stopped me and said he would be right back, before disappearing
back through the entrance. He probably just wanted to get rid of me,
I thought. But then a moment or two later, a tall, blonde woman in a
black power dress came up. She was Russian and spoke in polite,
abrupt English. She listened for a second before handing me over to a
trim American in a grey suit and dark tie.
The
American was Donald Courter, a correspondent and anchor for Russia
Today, or RT, the Russia state-controlled international television
network. A native of New Jersey and Rutgers University graduate,
Courter is in his late twenties and has been living and working in
Moscow for the past five years. Listening to him speak briefly with
his colleague, I complimented him on his Russian.
“His
Russian is perfect!” his colleague agreed.
Courter
listened with interest as I outlined the school project. “Actually
it’s more of a pilot project,” I said.
“Oh,
pilot projects can be the most fun!” he said, with enthusiasm.
“Cause at this point you don’t really know where it’s all
going.”
That
last part was certainly true. I asked Courter if he shared the
generally reported consensus that a cease fire was unlikely. He
nodded, reminding me that these were actually the fourth round of
talks since the war began in late February, and those meetings mostly
focused on humanitarian corridors in and around the cities where the
fighting is heaviest. Here, Courter was able to give me more insight
as to the Russian defense ministry’s perspective, which has framed
the invasion of Ukraine not as a territorial grab but rather as a
fight against neo-Nazis and other “terror” groups operating
within parts of the Ukraine. Of course, many would dispute that
claim, but I guessed Courter was just putting things in context.
Switching
back to Istanbul, I asked what role he thought Turkey could play in
resolving the conflict. Bear in mind, at this point, Erdoğan
had already met with the delegates of both sides, and reminded them
of Turkey’s neutral role, and said that he expected the talks to
“yield significant results.” Erdoğan
also had welcomed Russian president Putin and his Ukrainian
counterpart Zelensky (both of whom the Turkish president described as
“dear friends”) to come to Turkey at some point in the near
future.
Courter
again nodded in agreement.
“Well,
I think what’s going on here is a great example of how Turkey can
play the role of mediator,” he said. “Maintain good relations
with both sides. I think that’s the role Erdoğan
and Turkey are trying to play here.”
Given
that the war could drag on much longer than anyone expected –
should nothing come of the talks – I asked if we here in Istanbul
had any reason to be concerned, and I brought up the issue of the
mines having been found floating in the Bosphorus, which he knew
about.
Courter
said he doubted Turks would be much affected by a prolonged war,
given the country’s neutral status. Western countries, however,
could feel the impact of Putin’s recent announcement that so-called
“unfriendly countries” will have to pay for gas and oil in rubles
(“Because they are putting all these sanctions on Russia and yet
getting so much gas and oil from Russia”).
As
far as a ceasefire, much remains up for debate on both sides, as has
been reported elsewhere. Basically, Zelensky and the Ukrainians have
been open to staying neutral (out of NATO or the EU) in exchange for
the Russians getting out of their country. I was curious to know if
Russians would be agreeable to ending the war on this basis alone, or
did they want more than just “neutrality?”
“Well,
Russia’s two major demands are neutrality and de-Nazification and
de-militarization of Ukraine,” he said. “Because the biggest
threat to Russia and to the people of Donbass the past few years has
been, specifically, these neo-Fascist military batallions that have
been indiscriminately bombing not just the soldiers but the people of
Donbass. I’ve been there many times. I saw for myself that they are
bombing innocent people and that’s why Russia started this special
operation.”
Of
course, this last statement would be open to a lot of debate, as
Courter himself seemed aware. Critics of the Russian occupation have
argued that this whole operation is a land grab, a power maneuver,
framed by Putin and his administration as a “war on terror” or
“liberation.” (Sound familiar, anyone?).
I
thanked Courter for his time, and let him get about doing his job,
and also thanked his Russian colleague for videotaping us. She
responded with a bright, engaging smile that was probably well known
by audiences back home. “You are welcome!” she said, in her
Russian way. “Rad pazna komitsa!” (“Pleased to make your
acquaintance.”)
At
any rate, neither one of us, Courter nor I, had the answers or
resolutions. Standing there on the sidewalk outside the palace,
alongside all the other journalists, you realize that we’re all
just bystanders, no different really from the Istanbullus who were
passing nearby, casually going about their day while these momentous
events (or non-events, depending on your point of view) were
happening behind those closed doors. The meeting was not open to the
public or even the press, for that matter.
Still,
I was reminded of the old days back in California, sitting through
endless public hearings, board and council meetings, waiting for a
vote that would be tabled yet another week. Hours and hours of
waiting – for nothing. Rushing back to the newsroom to file a
report – on nothing. (Aside: later that day, news reports indicated
cautious optimism regarding progress, on both sides, regarding some
of the humanitarian corridor issues). And yet it was still exciting,
being a witness to these important events, feeling part of a greater
community. I felt that then and, standing on the sidewalk outside the
palace here, I felt it again. And all those other reporters and their
crews, from different parts of the world – hopefully they did as
well.
I
crossed the street, leaving the world and history to its business,
and headed to a familiar pub in the nearby Besiktaş
neighborhood.
It was lunchtime, and the barman was serving tea and pints of beer at
the table. Recognizing me, he smiled and brought over a pint of
Tuborg.
We
chatted for a moment about the big meeting over at the palace. A
broad smile crossed his face, that feeling of pride locals have
whenever their city is in the news. He praised president Erdoğan
and seemed sure that Turkey would find a way to resolve the conflict.
“We
love Russian people, we love Ukrainian people!” he said, smiling
again, and it reminded me of how much Turks, especially in the south
coast, depend on tourists from their neighbors to the north. After
the pandemic, coupled with hyperinflation, Turks are anxious to see
the tourists pack the beaches of Antalya and Alanya again this
summer. So perhaps we can see why this meeting is being held here, at
least from the Turks’ point of view. They do have a role to play in
bringing about an end to this destructive conflict – and why?
Because they have a lot at stake as well. As do I. Heading back home
later that day on the ferry, once again I peered out at the bright
waters of the afternoon Bosphorus, the thought of drifting stray
mines once again crossing my mind. We and all the other boats passing
north and south went about our journeys safely.
And
that evening, walking with my wife and son in our neighborhood, we
stopped and looked out at a gold sun melting into a falling
rose-colored sky beyond the calm waters of the Bosphorus at the
bottom of the hill. Maybe the Russian and Ukrainian delegates were at
this very moment looking up at that same sun setting over the
peaceful city. I thought about that, and hoped that as they slept
that night their dreams would be of be of peace as well.
###
CODA:
The following day, most news outlets were reporting that Russian
forces were pounding the hell out of Ukraine cities, stepping up
their offensive. I stopped by the palace. The scene was deserted –
no reporters, no security, just pedestrians passing by, going about
their usual day. Judging from the news, and from the silence outside
the palace, the peace talks were evidently over, for now anyway.
###
James
Tressler, a former Lost Coast resident, is a writer and teacher
living in Istanbul.
On
this week’s EcoNews Report, planning expert Dan Zack joins Gang Green
to talk about “urbanism” — a term that might sound scary
for rural Humboldt County. But despite its name, principles of urban
design can be applied across the whole of the county, from
Bridgeville to Eureka. Because at its core, urbanism is just about
making planning work for humans. Dan also breaks down “form
based codes,” a relatively new idea in urban planning that is at
the heart of the Gateway Area Plan, Arcata’s new planning effort to
allow for mixed-use infill development near the city’s core.
Like
what you hear? Dan is giving a slightly longer presentation on “The
Principles of Good Infill Development” on April 7 at 6 p.m. via
Zoom. There will also be the opportunity to ask him some questions.
Register online here.
(Kudos to the Coalition
for Responsible Transportation Priorities
for sponsoring Dan’s talk!)
