Press release from the Humboldt County Administrative Office:

If you worked in child care or operated a facility during the pandemic, you may be eligible for up to $3,000 in bonus payments through the Humboldt Child Care Stabilization Fund. Child care centers and family child care providers are eligible to receive up to $4,000 or $6,000, depending on type of facility. The payments are part of the Retention Bonus Program, which awards funds to child care business owners and employees who worked directly with children through the COVID-19 pandemic. 

Humboldt County’s local child care system was devastated during the pandemic, and to help stabilize the system and ensure families have access to child care going forward, the Board of Supervisors earlier this year unanimously approved a $4.8 million program, funded by the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA), that provides grants, loans and subsidies to local child care providers and families.

“During the pandemic we saw so many caregivers needing to stay home to care for their children because their child care needs could not be met. To determine how we could help our communities navigate the pandemic, we surveyed the business community and heard from many community members, including county employees and essential service providers, and all listed child care as a top priority,” said Virginia Bass, 4th District Supervisor and Chair of the Board, “The Board’s $4.8 million investment to create the Humboldt Child Care Stabilization Fund is so important as it not only supports local child care providers, but it also supports our community and economy. I am so proud these funds are now being distributed in our community and would like to thank our partners for helping us bring this program to fruition.”

The Child Care Accountability Team, comprised of local child care experts and community leaders have developed several programs to distribute these funds in ways that will make a lasting impact on Humboldt County’s child care industry, the essential people who work in the industry, and the local economy. Grant funds are administered by the Arcata Economic Development Corporation (AEDC), and since September, AEDC has provided nearly $500,00 in grants to local child care providers.

“Child care providers who worked through the pandemic did so in a time that was particularly difficult for them. Besides the developmental challenges of social distancing and masking with toddlers and preschoolers, most centers had to significantly cut the number of children they could serve, impacting their already small income,” said Susan Seaman, program director for AEDC. “During the pandemic, we saw a 30% closure rate of available child care, with at least 6% closing permanently. This grant is to try to support those who held on and are going to continue to serve our workforce.” 

Retention Bonuses For Employees

Any individual who worked in child care or operated a facility between July 1, 2021, and plans to remain in operation until at least June 30, 2023, is eligible for the program. Bonus amounts will be based on the hours you worked during the operation period. 

• Full-Time Employees (21-40 hours/week) - $3,000
• Half-Time Employees (12-20 hours/week) - $2,000

Payments for employees will be made in two installments, one for the period between July 1, 2021, and June 30, 2022. The second installment will be made following the end of the period between July 1, 2022, and June 30, 2023.

Retention Bonuses For Centers & Family Child Care Providers

Each licensed child care center or family facility that can show that they were open between July 1, 2021, and June 30, 2023, will be eligible for the retention bonus. Bonus amounts are based on the size and type of facility and are as follows:

• Child Care Centers - $6,000
• Large Family Facility (up to 14 children) - $5,000
• Small Family Facility (up to 8 children) - $4,000

The bonus will be paid in two installations, the first within 60 days of receiving the completed application. The second will be following the end of the eligibility period which is June 30, 2023.

There are still Bonus Retention Program funds available, and providers and caregivers are encouraged to apply. Applications are easy to fill out and are available in both English and Spanish at humboldtchildcare.org. Applicants should be aware that there are tax implications for those who receive Retention Bonus Program funds, and since everyone’s situation is different, awardees are encouraged to work with a tax consultant to understand what this means for them. 

The next local child care grant program to be implemented is a $10,000 forgivable loan program which will allow providers to upgrade child care facilities. This program will open in January 2023, and the county will make an announcement when the application process begins. For more information, please visit humboldtchildcare.org. 

Screenshot of real-time diversions to the Klamath Irrigation Project, from this Bureau of Reclamation website.

Press release from the Yurok and Karuk tribes:

Last week Tribal communities celebrated as Klamath dam removal plans were approved. This week, the celebration was cut short as the Bureau of Reclamation proposed a plan to cut Klamath River flows by 40%.

“We are hurt and frustrated,” said Yurok Vice Chairman Frankie Myers. “We are on the verge of the biggest salmon restoration project in history and now we learn of plans to de-water the river.”

Several consecutive years of drought has led to irrigation diversion curtailments, poor water quality, and fish kills. With mounting political pressure on federal agencies to fill the only water storage feature on the mainstem Klamath, Upper Klamath Lake, the Bureau of Reclamation has floated a proposal to cut river flows by 40% when flows are already below recommended minimums.

“The river is already suffering from inadequate flows. The salmon simply have no more to give,” noted Yurok biologist Barry McCovey. McCovey adds that endangered Coho salmon are currently spawning in the mainstem of the Klamath River because flows in tributaries in which they normally spawn are too low. “Cutting water now will kill salmon eggs, possibly wiping out the entire run.”

Adding insult to injury, the Klamath Drainage District in Klamath Falls, OR is currently diverting nearly 1,000-acre feet of water a day from the Klamath. This diversion is deemed illegal by federal agencies, but so far, no law enforcement agency has acted to stop it.

“We are removing dams and Congress has provided significant restoration dollars to the Klamath, but at the end of the day fish still need water,” said Karuk Chairman Russell ‘Buster’ Attebery. “We call on the Administration to act promptly to stop illegal water diversions.”

Press release from the Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office:

On Dec. 16, 2022, at about 1 a.m., Humboldt County Sheriff’s deputies were dispatched to a business on the 1600 block of Holly Drive in McKinleyville for the report of a security alarm activation.

Deputies arrived in the area and located 48-year-old John Robert Posey III hiding between parked vehicles. Deputies contacted Posey and learned that he had been siphoning gasoline from vehicles belonging to the business just prior to deputies’ arrival. During a search of Posey incident to arrest, deputies located drug paraphernalia.

Posey was booked into the Humboldt County Correctional Facility on charges of tampering with an automobile (VC 10852), trespassing (PC 602(K)), petty theft (PC 488) and possession of drug paraphernalia (HS 11364(a)).

When the price of gas rises, so do the number of gas-theft incidents. Here’s how you can help protect your vehicle:

• Always park in well-lit, well-traveled locations.
• Park in your garage or driveway whenever possible. If you have to park in the street, do so under street lighting near your house.
• Avoid parking in public places for extended periods of time.
• Position your vehicle so the fuel door is seen from a main road.
• Consider installing a locking gas cap, even if your fuel door locks.
• Always lock your vehicle and remove any valuables from sight, even if you are home.
• Consider installing motion-activated security cameras or alarms.
• Remember to call 911 if you see suspicious behavior, such as someone putting a siphon into a gas tank or acting strangely around parked cars.

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.

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Cardboard standees of R2-D2, C-3PO and Wicket the Ewok at the Eureka Visitor Center.

Have you ever wanted cocktails served to you by a Wookie? Maybe your out-of-town relatives would enjoy having an Imperial stormtrooper as their hotel concierge. Or perhaps you just want to see a kid’s face light up when they see the real Endor.

“Star Wars” fanatics could soon journey to the North Coast from far and wide to partake in just such cosplay-enhanced fantasies during a multi-day “Return of the Jedi”-themed festival.

At this week’s Board of Supervisors meeting, Humboldt-Del Norte Film Commissioner Cassandra Hesseltine laid out some of her ideas for growing the local showbiz scene, including plans to develop a three-day community event — tentatively called “Forest Moon Days” — based on our region’s featured role as Endor in the 1983 “Star Wars” sequel “Return of the Jedi.”

“We want it to be like a three day “Star Wars’ community event — sort of like ‘Twilight’ has in Oregon,” Hesseltine said, referring, presumably, to the four-day “Forever Twilight” festival held each September in Forks, Ore Wash.

That festival, themed around the mega-popular teen romance/fantasy film and book series, attracts thousands of tourists each year, Hesseltine said, and she imagines a similar crowd descending on Humboldt and Del Norte. 

The idea, she explained, would be to hold the festival during the first weekend in June to coincide with established events such as Eureka’s Friday Night Market and Arts! Alive. Guest speakers from the film production could potentially be brought in, and the Film Commission would collaborate with local businesses “so we would get everybody to buy into it,” Hesseltine said.

She suggested that employees of local hotels and restaurants might dress up in “Star Wars” garb and maybe serve themed food. (Evidently Ewoks are carnivores who consider human flesh a delicacy, so I dunno, maybe go with a fern theme instead?)

Hesseltine, who first floated this idea more than five years ago, noted that there will be copyright and intellectual property issues to navigate, “and we’d be working with Lucasfilm on that. But this could potentially be a huge tourism activity.”

The Redwood Sky Walk is ready for its closeup. 

The other big item on Hesseltine’s Christmas wishlist is a professional soundstage, a place where film and TV productions could record audio and shoot special effects.

“We’d be the only one between San Francisco and Portland,” she told the Board of Supervisors on Tuesday. Such a facility would likely entice production teams to our region and keep them here longer, she added, explaining that past Hollywood productions only stuck around long enough to get footage in our natural surroundings.

“‘A Wrinkle in Time’ perhaps would have continued to stay here if we would have had a soundstage, but instead they filmed just the exterior shots [before leaving],” she said.

The Film Commission has been pushing for a soundstage since 2014, and Hesseltine said her “optimistic timeline” would see one up and running by 2024. 

No location for the soundstage has yet been identified. Earlier in Tuesday’s meeting a group of entrepreneurs had seen their dreams of converting a former lumber mill into a cannabis-growing compound go up in smoke, by all appearances, and after Hesseltine’s presentation Fifth District Supervisor Steve Madrone (jokingly?) suggested that vacant industrial site as an option.

A few film industry professionals and Film Commission employees were on hand to advocate for the soundstage concept. Director/producer and HSU film school grad Tracy Boyd, for example, said there’s enormous potential for Humboldt County to grow as a regional film hub.

“I can personally attest that no single investment can generate that growth more effectively and sustainably than the presence of a soundstage facility,” Boyd said. Shortly thereafter he added, “As the movies have taught us, if you build it, they will come.”

The Film Commission is funded in part through local government subsidies, along with grants. in June 2019, the county approved a new agreement with the commission directing five percent of the local Transient Occupancy Tax and an additional $20,000 annually to promote Humboldt County through programs of film and video productions.

Hesseltine told the supes that over the past dozen years there have been more than 250 film shoots in Humboldt and Del Norte counties, more than 200 of those here in Humboldt. 

“That’s approximately 14 million direct dollars that have come into the community [from] outside of the county,” Hesseltine said.

She also mentioned that she’s hoping to collaborate with local governments to launch some sort of incentive program to lure film productions here via tax breaks, rebates and other financial stimuli. The sci-fi TV series “Eureka” supposedly takes place in our county seat but the production was lured to shoot in Canada by such incentives, according to Hesseltine. 

After the presentation, the board unanimously agreed to extend the county’s professional services agreement with the Film Commission through June of next year. Coincidentally, Hesseltine said there may be “a major studio feature film” production coming here next summer.

The California Public Utilities Commission today overhauled the state’s rooftop solar regulations, reducing payments to homeowners for excess power but providing nearly a billion dollars in incentives to encourage more solar projects for low-income homes.

Commissioners called the new rules — adopted unanimously after hours of highly-charged public comments that were almost entirely opposed — a much-needed course-correction to California’s 27-year-old residential solar rules.

Both the power companies and the solar industry criticized the new rules that outline details of the financial incentives to encourage people to build rooftop solar. Utilities did not get all the concessions they hoped for to lower bills for non-solar customers. And solar developers say the rules will discourage people from installing solar panels.

A victory for the solar industry came earlier this year, when the commission dropped an unpopular plan to charge homeowners an 8% per kilowatt-hour tax for new solar systems.

In remarks before the vote, commissioners acknowledged how divisive the matter has been. Commissioner John Reynolds said the decision was a “heavy one,” saying “nothing in energy policy is black and white, and nothing in this decision has been.”

The new regulations will:

• For new customers, reduce the amount utilities’ pay them for excess power by at least 75% compared to current rates. The change would not apply to residents with existing solar systems.
• Fund $900 million in new incentive payments to residents to help them purchase rooftop solar systems. Two thirds of the funds, $630 million, will be set aside for low-income households. The remainder provides funding for paired solar-storage systems.
• Encourage the installation of solar panels plus battery storage.
• Set rates that aim to shift all consumers’ use of power to the times of day that improve grid reliability.

California’s original rules, called Net Metering, were implemented in 1995. They established a framework for utilities to buy excess solar energy from homeowners and supplement power to the grid.

The overhaul comes as California needs to lean more heavily on renewable energy to meet state targets to produce zero-carbon electricity by 2045 and end use of fossil fuels.

About 1.5 million rooftop solar systems are installed on California’s houses, schools and small businesses. About 14% of California’s total electricity comes from large-scale solar projects; another 10% of the state’s power comes from rooftop residential solar.

Solar companies and environmental groups say the policy could undermine the state’s booming solar industry by raising the costs of operating panels on homes and small businesses. They say that in states where similar rate shifts have been adopted, solar system installation has plummeted.

Bernadette Del Chiaro, executive director of the California Solar & Storage Association, called the decision a backward step.

“The CPUC’s final proposal is a loser for California on many levels,” she said in a statement. “For the solar industry, it will result in business closures and the loss of green jobs. For middle class and working class neighborhoods where solar is growing fastest, it puts clean energy further out of reach.”

The years-long fight was played out across social media and opinion pages. The complex process of revising the rules elicited tens of thousands of public comments and was, at one point, arbitrated by Gov. Gavin Newsom.

“The CPUC’s final proposal is a loser for California on many levels. For the solar industry, it will result in business closures and the loss of green jobs.”
— Bernadette Del Chiaro, California Solar & Storage Association

Today’s meeting began with three hours of lively public comment. Callers to the virtual meeting gave the five commissioners an earful, with the vast majority asking the panel to vote no.

Some callers made the point that the provision to nudge consumers to install solar systems with batteries will have the unintended consequence of quashing new solar systems because the cost of storage systems is beyond the financial reach of many homeowners. Only about 15% of current rooftop systems currently have storage, the commission said.

Many of the arguments on either side focus on fairness. Utility companies say demand for rooftop solar is strong enough in California that the industry doesn’t need more help. They say the retail rate they pay to solar customers for their excess power is too high and doesn’t reflect the value of their power, which is produced during daytime hours.

Because residents and businesses with solar panels generally have smaller energy bills, they contribute less to a utility company’s fixed costs, such as transmission and distribution networks, which are passed on to ratepayers. As a result, non-solar residents, including low-income residents and renters, carry more of the cost burden.

“This final decision was a missed opportunity that will prolong the harm to low-income Californians and renters for decades to come,” said Kathy Fairbanks, spokesperson for Affordable Clean Energy for All, a coalition that includes the state’s three largest utility companies.

The solar rules increased bills for customers who do not have rooftop solar by $3.37 billion in 2021, growing to $4.5 billion so far this year, according to the CPUC’s Public Advocates Office.

Solar “customers should pay their fair share of grid, wildfire, and other related costs,” the public advocates office said in an analysis. “Customers with rooftop solar depend on the … grid to use electricity when their rooftop solar systems are not generating electricity. The compensation that (solar) customers receive is greater than the value of the energy.”

Matt Baker, director of the office, said San Diego Gas & Electric customers without rooftop solar pay about 20% of their bill to cover those fixed costs; for Pacific Gas & Electric customers it’s 12% and about 11% for Southern California Edison ratepayers.

Solar advocates dispute the commission’s cost shift equations, challenging the details and pointing out that such calculations fail to consider the benefits of rooftop solar, including the need to construct costly infrastructure such as power plants.

Advocates say the widespread adoption of rooftop systems provides a valuable service to both the grid and the battle against climate change. They call the commission’s new policy a “solar cliff.”

Rather than viewing the new policy as punishing the solar industry, Baker said the new direction highlights the success of solar adoption in California.

“They have succeeded, we won, it’s amazing,” Baker said in an interview. “We have outgrown the subsidies for a solar-only system and now it’s time to pivot to solar plus storage.”

The commission said the rules would save residents with solar-plus-battery systems about $130 on their monthly bills.

“This final decision was a missed opportunity that will prolong the harm to low-income Californians and renters for decades to come.”
— Kathy Fairbanks, Coalition of utilities and other groups

The CPUC is required under state law to update its net metering rules, which triggered a prolonged, complex and politically thorny process. The commission’s proposal earlier this year was attacked by both the solar industry and utilities as unfair and inadequate.

The changes take into account evolving consumer habits: Heavy power use has shifted to evenings, when people return home and plug in a myriad of electronic devices.

This demand shift is reflected in the price of power and the availability of solar energy. Solar power is abundant during the day and the cost of electricity is about 5 cents per kilowatt-hour. In the evening, when the sun goes down and demand soars, the price for power can increase more than 20-fold, officials say.

The commission’s decision to reduce the amount utilities pay for excess power is driven by a revised cost calculator. The lower rates paid to rooftop solar owners take into account the real value of the power, the commission said, which is produced during the day when electricity is cheaper.

The program had the right intentions when it was established in 1995, Baker said, encouraging adoption of rooftop solar and compensating those residents with a retail rate for power they provided during the day, when the grid carried its heaviest load.

“At the time that was being done it was fair and equitable,” Baker said, but in ensuing years costs to install solar have dropped dramatically.

Solar and other sources of renewable energy are gradually supplanting power derived from coal and gas, which are fossil fuels that the state aims to banish from the grid by 2045.

While drought, wildfires, heatwaves and utility blackouts have prolonged the life of some natural gas-fired power plants, the state is inching toward that goal: On May 8, 100% of California’s power grid was running on renewable energy for a few hours, a record.

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CalMatters.org is a nonprofit, nonpartisan media venture explaining California policies and politics.

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Press release from California Trout:

McKINLEYVILLE, Calif. – Nonprofit research and conservation organization California Trout, McKinleyville Community Services District (MCSD), the Wiyot Tribe, and other partners, have completed an important Baduwa’t estuary restoration and reconnection project. The project opens up more than 4 acres of important habitat for imperiled salmon and steelhead while increasing public access to an inspiring coastal viewpoint overlooking the Baduwa’t, also known as the Mad River, in Humboldt County.

“Fish habitat is really limited on the lower Baduwa’t, so this project is going to make an outsized difference for juvenile salmon and steelhead,” said Mary Burke, CalTrout’s North Coast Regional Manager. “We took an unused wastewater facility next to the river and turned it back into healthy habitat, while adding an inspiring new coastal overlook trail. The project is a terrific example of a local government agency, Tribal representatives, a nonprofit, and a suite of local firms that stewards a concept through to construction, working together to benefit the public and wildlife.”

Located in the tidal zone 3 miles from the river mouth, the project is on land owned by MCSD. The restoration project involved decommissioning two outdated, unused wastewater percolation ponds and restoring them to floodplain habitat, removing invasive plant species, revegetating with native plants, and building channels to connect the new wetlands and ponds to the river.

The new public trail begins near the foot of School Road and includes an ADA-accessible loop with two coastal overlooks, outfitted with benches and a picnic table. A kiosk and set of interpretive panels will be added in 2023. Humboldt County constructed ADA parking and three asphalt parking spaces. The site is easy to walk and bike to, as it is connected to the School Road Trail and the regional Hammond Trail – a part of the California Coastal Trail – that is used by local residents, Coastal Trail hikers, and touring cyclists. MCSD wishes to remind the public that the site is open to dogs if they are on a leash, in order to be sure all users are comfortable relaxing at the viewpoints and to protect the local wildlife and newly seeded and planted landscape.

The Wiyot Tribe, whose ancestral territory encompasses the lower Baduwa’t, are a critically important partner on this project, working with CalTrout, Redwood Coast Action Agency, and MCSD to develop interpretive signage for the new trails. The signs are being developed collaboratively to include Wiyot perspectives, including the Indigenous language and cultural importance of this landscape. Signs will also provide information about the estuary and will welcome and orient people on many ways to connect to this site.

“The Wiyot Tribe is proud to work with our partners Cal Trout and McKinleyville Community Service District on the Baduwa’t Estuary Restoration and Public Access project. We are happy to see it completed” Ted Hernandez, Wiyot Tribal Chairman stated. “This restoration project will help our salmon and steelhead population grow back to what it once was during the time of our ancestors. I am also looking forward to the public being able to use it so they can see why our ancestors called it home. Baduwa’t is such a beautiful river and is very majestic. It is one of the Wiyot’s lifelines. Baduwa’t is just one of the rivers we care about as Wiyot people. We also look forward to caring for Baduwa’t sister rivers in Wiyot’s ancestral territory in the months and years to come. It is our responsibility that the creator has given us.”

The project increases the amount of overwintering habitat in the Baduwa’t estuary for federally threatened Southern Oregon Northern California Coast coho salmon, federally threatened California Coastal Chinook salmon, and federally threatened Northern California steelhead. Improvements in habitat quality and quantity may also benefit other sensitive aquatic species, including tidewater goby, eulachon, and longfin smelt.

The Baduwa’t drains 497 square miles over a length of roughly 100 miles to the Pacific Ocean, reaching the coast six miles north of Humboldt Bay. The river offers close to 50 miles of spawning and rearing habitat; however, logging, agriculture, and flood control infrastructure have altered the estuary, severely limiting habitat that is needed to support juvenile salmon and steelhead during winter or on their way out to sea.

“It’s one thing to read about this project in the newspaper, but we really hope people will come out and walk or bike the new trail, and we’re happy to see that happening already,” added Patrick Kaspari, General Manager of the McKinleyville Community Services District. “The intent is to someday have a trail all along this stretch of the river, not only to appreciate the restoration work that’s been done here, but to facilitate people’s connection to the river and support alternative transportation options.  The Mad River/Baduwa’t estuary is a special, unique place and anything the District can do to facilitate people’s connection to it is a very worthwhile endeavor.”

The $2 million project was funded by California State Coastal Conservancy, Wildlife Conservation Board, US Fish and Wildlife Service, and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Restoration Center, and with design funding from California Department of Fish and Wildlife’s Fisheries Restoration Grant Program. It was also supported by increased capacity and funding from the Redwood Community Action Agency, California Conservation Corps, California Alternatives to Toxics and through a Supplemental Environmental Project of the California Department of Transportation; and through the in-kind work of McKinleyville Community Services District and the County of Humboldt. The project benefited from the dedication of local expertise, including Northern Hydrology and Engineering, GHD; McBain Associates, SHN; local professionals who provided trail design, rare plants, and wildlife habitat assessments; Samara Restoration; the CA CCC and the Redwood Community Action Agency; and Cal Poly Humboldt. Also thanks to John Northmore Roberts and Associates for trails design work, and Kernan Construction and Miller Farms, local contractors whose teams moved the earth and installed the new access amenities.

CalTrout and other project partners will hold an opening ceremony for the project on December 21st at 10 a.m., at the new trailhead on School Road in McKinleyville.

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About California Trout
California Trout partners with numerous government agencies, Tribes, and conservation groups to conduct research, habitat restoration and advocacy, to restore vibrance and abundance to California’s freshwater ecosystems and to keep them that way for years to come. Founded in 1971, CalTrout has been working for more than 50 years to protect salmon and steelhead strongholds, reconnect fish habitat, integrate fish and working lands, steward source water areas, and restore estuaries. Learn more at https://caltrout.org.

A Crescent City man was sentenced this morning to more than 40 years in state prison for attempting to kill an Arcata man during a failed murder-for-hire gang hit.

Judge Christopher Wilson sentenced 22-year-old Isreal Soria Jr. to a total of 43 years, including 15 years to life for attempted murder and 25 years to life for personal use of a firearm. Under California’s Youthful Offender Program, Soria can apply for parole in 20 years.

Soria.

“Mr. Soria has a rough road ahead of him, and a very long one,” the judge said, noting the large gang tattoo on the left side of Soria’s face.

A jury convicted Soria on Oct. 31 after deliberating about three hours. On June 24, 2021, Soria fired 11 rounds into Dylan Eubanks’s kitchen, striking him once in the arm. Soria fled but was quickly caught by officers. He admitted he’d been hired by the Norteno gang to kill Eubanks. The gang believed Eubanks had stolen from them.

Deputy District Attorney Trent Timm argued this morning for a 57-year sentence, which is what the Probation Department recommended.

“Mr. Soria’s conduct was so violent, so premeditated, that it warrants his removal from the community,” Timm said. But the prosecutor also pledged that if Soria turns his life around while in prison, “I’ll be there to speak up for him” when it comes time for parole.

Soria’s wife and infant son were in the courtroom audience this morning. So were a man — possibly Soria’s father — and woman who came into court with defense attorney Christina DiEdoardo. After the sentencing, the man was surrounded by officers, handcuffed and taken off to jail. He didn’t seem surprised.

During the hearing Soria read a statement expressing his remorse for what he called an act of selfishness. Now, he said, he won’t be there for the most important years of his child’s life.

“My wife and son don’t deserve this,” Soria said. “Mr. Eubanks didn’t deserve this.”

Soria said his selfish act could have cost Eubanks his life.

“That’s not who I want to be,” he said. “I’m very remorseful for what I’ve done. I understand what I’ve done and I understand the punishment.”

DiEdoardo had asked Wilson to strike the 25-years-to-life gun enhancement. He declined, saying the jury found that allegation true.

Soria testified in his own defense during the trial, saying he falsely confessed to the murder-for-hire plot because he was so high on drugs and alcohol. He also said he fired at Eubanks because he was holding an assault rifle and preparing to shoot.

Eubanks did not testify during the trial. But he told an ambulance crew he was talking on his phone when hit, and he had no idea where the bullet came from.

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