After about two months on the job, Eureka’s interim chief of police, Todd Jarvis, sat down for an interview with the Outpost to talk about goals, challenges and the future of the Eureka Police Department. 

Jarvis took on the role of interim chief of police in January following the retirement of Chief Steve Watson last November after nearly 17 years with the department, four of them as chief. Captain Brian Stephens briefly stepped in as acting chief of police before Jarvis took the job.

Before our interview Tuesday morning, Jarvis made it clear that he would not comment on the ongoing investigation into a series of vile text messages sent within a squad of six Eureka police officers roughly one year ago. “It is not appropriate to talk about right now. It is an ongoing investigation,” he said.

The conversation below has been lightly edited for length and clarity.

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Can you tell me a little bit about yourself and your experience in law enforcement?

I was born and raised in San Diego, California, and I joined the San Diego Police Department (SDPD) at age 20 to be a community service officer. I grew up in the [SDPD] as my father [worked and] retired from there. I spent about eight months investigating collisions as a community service officer and then – once I became old enough – I was hired as a recruit and then went on in my sworn law enforcement career. I eventually retired in November of 2019 as the executive assistant chief of police which is the number two position of that department and responsible for running the daily operations of the [SDPD].

Throughout my career – I was there 35 and a half years – I had the opportunity to work just about every aspect of law enforcement, from patrol, traffic investigations, to administration training. I’ve been blessed to have a very broad base career. I never expected when I started that career that I would go to the FBI Academy and spend 10 weeks with law enforcement leaders and professionals from around the world to learn from them and to teach with them. I’ve been blessed. I’ve had a great career.

I was pretty happily retired, quite frankly, when I got a call from former Eureka Police Chief Andy Mills, who was a colleague at [SPD] and a longtime friend. …I was splitting my time between San Diego and a little vacation place on the Colorado River in Arizona and I was out in Arizona when I got a text from Chief Mills that said, “Hey, would you be interested in an interim job?” I said that I’d be interested in talking to someone. I talked to Eureka City Manager Miles Slattery within a few minutes and a couple days later I was going through the process to come up here. 

As I said, I retired in November of 2019 and we all know what happened a couple of months later when the COVID pandemic hit our country. A few months after that, the murder of George Floyd in Minneapolis, Minnesota. I started getting text messages from a lot of people that I had worked with [at SDPD] and from people from other departments around the country saying, “Chief, you’re so lucky to be retired,” but I didn’t feel that way. I felt like I have all this experience and passion for this profession and I’m sitting on the couch watching my city and other cities burn. I kind of knew then that I wasn’t done with this calling, I was just waiting for the right direction. Little did I know it would be in Eureka, California. …

How are you liking Eureka so far?

I like it. I like outdoor activities and there’s plenty to do here as far as exploring the county’s natural beauty. It’s amazing.

The people have been very welcoming. I’ve met so many nice people already internally here in the department and in the community. It seems like everywhere I go people are stopping and we’re talking. Whether it’s a clerk at a department store to people I’ve met on the street, everybody’s just a different level friendly here. I’ve appreciated that very much coming from a bigger city and after having lived in San Diego for the majority of my life.

What are some of the challenges the Eureka Police Department is currently facing? What are some of the department’s strengths?

Probably the biggest challenge that I’ve been faced with from the day I arrived is staffing. We are down 11 officer positions right now. We have three in the academy, but they don’t graduate until June and then we need to train them in the field. Best case scenario, they’re not going to be in the field until October.

[The staffing challenges] weigh heavily on the people that are out doing the job. We’ve gone to a different shift structure and they’re working a lot, they’re having to work overtime, and people are getting tired. One of my main priorities is trying to get some relief for them. We’re looking for some immediate relief with lateral officers who are looking to get out of the big city but still want to do big city type policing – which we definitely have the opportunity for here – who also want to raise their families or live in a different environment. …But staffing is probably the biggest challenge we have right now and everything else just kind of segues from that.

The strength of this department comes from the dedication of the people that work here. …A lot of our staff are from here, they grew up here, they have friends here, a lot of them know everyone by name and that is a big plus. …

I came from a big police department where I was responsible for 3,000-plus employees, and I will tell you that I am working just as hard here with 70 employees as I was with 3,000. I found that everyone here is wearing four or five hats and they are very well versed in department operations because they have four or five collateral duties, whereas in a larger department you generally have one. And so what I’m finding [here] is a whole new level of commitment. The people that are working here, this core group that’s still here that hasn’t left in the last year, are here because they want to be here and because they are dedicated to this community and this department.

I understand you worked closely with the San Diego Citizens Advisory Board on Police/Community Relations. Can you tell me about that experience?

There are two boards in San Diego, and I think you might be asking more about the review board who looked at complaints and things, but there is also a Citizens Advisory Board on Community Relations and that reports back to the mayor and I was a liaison to that board. …

I had a great experience while I was there. By attending the meetings every other Tuesday, I was then able to sit down with the chief of police on Wednesday morning and talk about the issues that were discussed the previous night. Often we were able to make immediate course corrections or changes or recommendations before they even had to go through a whole process to get to the mayor. …I think it allowed us to be very responsive to the community, much faster than I think they thought, because we kind of took some of the work away by getting it done so quickly.

The other board that I sat in on alternate Tuesdays was the Community Review Board on Police Practices [which] worked closely with our internal affairs unit and reviewed all the citizen complaints that came in. They had several different teams and each team would be assigned different complaints. They would do a thorough review, they would have all the same information that the internal affairs sergeant who investigated the complaint would have, they would have access to the same evidence, all the interviews, and then they would present to their board in closed session about what they had learned and make a recommendation on whether to accept the findings. …

It gave me a great opportunity to work very closely with some very dedicated volunteers. We did not always agree and, quite frankly, some of those meetings were pretty long because we get people with agendas and it’s not necessarily an unbiased, impartial review of police reporting. That was one thing that I talked about at the Eureka City Council meeting a few weeks ago. It’s very important as we move into that process here in Eureka that the people that sit on that board are there for the right reason. We are committed as a profession to do the right thing and we need independent civilian oversight to be a legitimate profession. I truly believe that and I said that many, many times in the meetings in San Diego and I said it at council here. I welcome it, but let’s include people who genuinely want to make this a better place, not those who have an ax to grind against law enforcement because it’s not productive.

Can you expand on how you will apply that knowledge to policing here in Eureka and what has your experience been in working with Eureka’s Citizen’s Advisory Board thus far?

I’ll take every bit of that experience that I had and try to apply it here in the most positive way. I have already been able to provide quite a bit of input to the city manager and the assistant city manager as they were beginning to draft this process and I saw a few things that I said, “Oh, maybe we can do this a little differently based on lessons I’ve already learned and experience that I had.” They were very receptive to that.

Drug use is a big issue in Eureka, specifically the rise of fentanyl use. [The Outpost] ran a story recently about the tremendous uptick in fentanyl-related overdose deaths in Humboldt County in 2021. What is EPD doing to tackle this international crisis locally?

It is an international issue but it affects everyone in this country and particularly in this county. …We still have an officer assigned to the drug task force as a special agent. That’s a force multiplier for us because it brings agents from all over the county and into Eureka when need be. We have officers in this department who are very well versed in narcotics enforcement and doing the daily.

We had 44 Narcan deployments last year. I was unable to get the number [for this timeframe last year] but I know it’s going to be a higher percentage this year already. …Thank goodness that we have it and that our officers are trained and they are aware of what’s happening. I understand a lot of our officers are even carrying it off-duty because they’re seeing people [overdosing] at the mall or wherever they are out with their families and making some saves.

We are relentlessly – as our resources allow – trying to get fentanyl in particular off the streets of Eureka because we’ve seen the damage that it does. But it’s not just a police problem, it’s a societal problem. I’m not as well versed yet in all the resources available in Eureka but I know there are a lot of dedicated people working on the addiction side of it. We’re doing our part to take as much of it off the streets as we can, and we’re making a dent, but it’s a lot. …

Was there anything else related to the prevalence of drug use that you wanted to touch on?

It’s amazingly visible here. I mean, I can’t walk into the gym without smelling marijuana. It’s a different culture up here for sure. It’s really what I would expect in a society that has less strict repercussions. It’s harder on us to get help for people when there aren’t repercussions. It doesn’t surprise me when I see people lighting up a pipe when I’m driving down the street in a police car because they know that repercussions are pretty minimal right now. …We’re working within the laws that are provided by the legislature, and I think within that vein, officers are doing everything they possibly can, but it’s a different culture up here in Humboldt County.

Another local issue is homelessness. Many of the homeless folks living in Eureka are struggling with mental illness and/or addiction. Can you talk about the strategies EPD is taking and will take to work with other local organizations to alleviate and address homelessness in Eureka?

The strategies that we’re employing right now have been going on for a bit with [EPD’s Community Safety Engagement Team] (CSET). We are asking for a little extra funding out of Measure Z to get a clinical psychologist or caseworker working with us because that’s a pretty common model in California. …

I’m very happy with the progress that has been made here and I’m impressed by the things that are happening here with some of the outreach. Having an officer assigned to the mental illness aspect of this is quite a commitment when you look at our staffing, but it’s been very beneficial when you look at the number of commitments and contacts that are made by CSET. … Right now I’m really focusing on building those relationships internally.

I’m soon going to be focusing externally on meeting with community stakeholders and finding out exactly what their expectations are of us. …I do have a lot of experience in dealing with homelessness, mental illness, and the addiction side of it in San Diego. As the Executive Assistant Chief of Police, I recommended and implemented an entire division to deal with homelessness and quality of life. We took all the officers from around the city that were working on this and we put them under one roof and we centralized the response. I learned a lot doing that and there’s some of that that we can do here on a smaller scale.

As you just said, you are still getting to know this community, but can you talk more about what you would like to contribute to this community? What is your favorite aspect of policing?

What I want to do for this community is provide leadership and direction for a very strong professional police department. I want to provide a fresh set of eyes on this police department, on this community, issues that we face and bring some of the experience that I was blessed to gain throughout my career to Eureka. What I don’t want to do is try to turn Eureka into a big city. That’s not why I’m here. The experience I had in a big city can help me here but it has to be done in a small-town manner that is acceptable by the department and the citizens we serve.

I want to bring that voice of reason to the community and I want to be a strong role model for the people that work here. I feel very, very strongly the police officers are here to serve and that’s one of the reasons I am so happy to be here. …There have been a lot of strong leaders in this department that have started programs that people probably take for granted by now because it’s always been there, but they’re making a difference. Things could definitely be a lot worse. …

You ask what my favorite part of my profession is and sometimes that really changes day to day. As a younger man, I loved being out in the field and chasing bad guys. As I progressed in my career, I really enjoyed the lifelong learning and the leadership part of it. I love leading people and trying to make people’s day better, as well as treating people with empathy and being out in the community. I think one of my favorite parts of policing right now is just getting out and meeting people and talking to people. Letting them see police professionals, not as the evil that maybe they’re seeing on the evening news every night, but human beings that care and are here for a reason.

I don’t want this to sound overly dramatic…but the “Thin Blue Line” has become a symbol of hate, unfortunately, because of some people carrying that flag, but to me, that Thin Blue Line is really those of us who have chosen this profession to stand in between good people and people that will do them harm. …It’s a noble profession and I’m honored to be back in it. …It’s important to me for people to understand that [our officers are] risking their lives every day they walk out this door and I want them to feel appreciated.

Is there anything else you’d like to add or share with our community?

I want to thank the community for not only the welcoming I’ve had here but for the way that the police department here feels supported. Not a day goes by that someone doesn’t pop in and bring something to share with the officers. Whether it’s doughnuts or a box of cookies — that means a lot to us.

I want the community to know that I have expectations of all of us, not only in law enforcement, but it’s a shared responsibility. I would really like to challenge the community to step up and to help us. If you see something wrong, let us know. I can’t fix something if I don’t know what’s broken. I’ve met a lot of people who have just popped in to meet the chief, and if I can fit them in I’m happy to do that.

Do you plan to apply for the permanent position of police chief? 

There has not been an announcement. I would certainly be interested in continuing that conversation with the city manager. I’ve really fallen in love with the department and the people in this community. Let’s keep the conversation going.

Even as the coronavirus pandemic finally appears to be receding, Californians are in a funk.

They are nearly evenly split on whether the state is headed in the right direction, according to a survey released last month by the Public Policy Institute of California, and gave poor marks to Gov. Gavin Newsom on almost every policy issue, from wildfires to crime to homelessness, in another poll published a few weeks later by the UC Berkeley Institute of Governmental Studies.

So on Tuesday evening, Newsom turned his annual State of the State address into a defiant pep talk, assuring wary residents that, in a world unmoored by autocratic leaders and attacks on voting and abortion rights, the “California way” is still a beacon.

“People have always looked to California for inspiration,” he said. “Now, in the midst of so much turmoil, with the stacking of stresses and dramatic social and economic change, California is doing what we have done for generations: lighting out the territory ahead of the rest, expanding the horizon of what’s possible.”

Newsom touted better job creation and lower coronavirus death rates than other states, an ongoing expansion of pre-kindergarten to all four-year-olds and billions of dollars in additional funding for homelessness services during his administration.

But there’s only so much comfort to be found in troubled times.

In an 18-minute speech — uncharacteristically brief for Newsom — the governor could not entirely ignore the unfolding war in Ukraine, which he noted at the top of his remarks mattered far more to most people than anything he had to say, or looming challenges such as rising public anxiety over crime.

The only new policy announcement came during an acknowledgment of spiraling gas prices, which have recently surpassed an average of $5 per gallon in California.

After previously calling in January to pause the annual increase to the state gas tax scheduled for July, Newsom pledged to work with legislative leadership on a plan for a tax rebate for drivers.

“Now it’s clear we have to go farther,” he said, though he rejected calls from the oil industry and some lawmakers to ramp up oil drilling in the state.

The governor provided no further details about who would receive financial relief or how much. At a post-event press conference, Dee Dee Myers, the governor’s top economic adviser, said the plan, which is not yet complete, would likely distribute billions of dollars to California residents who had registered their cars with the state.

“We want to make sure that the money gets into the hands and pockets of the people who are paying these gas prices, and not into the hands of companies who might take advantage of a moment to increase profits,” she said.

The speech in the auditorium of the California Natural Resources Agency, where Newsom unveiled his budget proposal in January, was a far cry from last year’s slicky-produced kickoff of his recall defense at Dodger Stadium — or even the usual pomp and circumstance of an annual event that is typically held in the majestic Assembly chamber at the state Capitol.

A bipartisan phalanx of legislators and other state officials filled the auditorium, which had been lightly decorated for the occasion with live plants onstage — native California species, naturally. Attendees were required to show proof of vaccination and test negative for COVID, but with a statewide indoor mask requirement recently dropped, face coverings were sparse.

Republicans, before and after the event, put out a series of videos and statements on the “real state of the state,” slamming Newsom and fellow Democrats for policies that they said had made California unsafe and unaffordable.

Seeming to anticipate those criticisms, Newsom nodded a handful of times to the issues that voters have consistently ranked as the most pressing in the state, including homelessness and public safety. He touted his commitment to violence-prevention programs and a recent proposal to establish county mental health courts, among other solutions that he said would not repeat the failures of the past.

But his focus was largely on the grander scheme. He repeatedly presented California as an alternative to the anger and fear dividing not just the country, but the planet.

“California does democracy like nowhere else in the world. No other place offers opportunity to so many from so many different backgrounds,” Newsom said. “The California way means rejecting old binaries and finding new solutions to big problems.”

His best hope at overcoming those “binaries” in the near future may be his rebate proposal, which follows weeks of loud pleas by Republican legislators to suspend the state gas tax.

Their early reaction was muted, however. GOP leaders said they were willing to work with the governor on the policy while also dismissing it as another half-baked plan from a man with lots of ideas and not enough follow-through.

Senate Republican Leader Scott Wilk of Santa Clarita said it was “humorous” to hear Newsom speak loftily of democracy and inclusiveness during the State of the State.

“He just completely forgoed all the realities of what’s happening in this state,” Wilk said. “He is not addressing the needs of everyday Californians.”

Democrats, who hold a supermajority in both houses of the Legislature and could act without any Republican votes, were more receptive to Newsom’s proposal on relief for gas prices, applauding loudly when he announced it during his speech.

Senate President Pro Tem Toni Atkins of San Diego and Assembly Speaker Anthony Rendon of Lakewood, who have been cold on the governor’s pitch to suspend the gas tax increase, released a joint statement after the event promising to “put the state’s robust revenue growth to work by returning substantial tax relief to families and small businesses as fast as possible.”

In an election year where the sour mood could be a significant liability for Newsom and fellow Democrats across the ballot, the rebate is potentially a major political gift. For all of Newsom’s attempts to cheer up gloomy Californians on Tuesday evening, the biggest serotonin boost was likely experienced by members of his own party.

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

Good evening everybody. Good evening everybody. good evening. Thank you everybody. Thank you.

Well, Madam Lieutenant Governor, it’s nice to be able to say this on International Womens day, it’s great to be able to say, thank you Madam Lieutenant Governor for that introduction.

Speaker Rendon and Pro Tem Atkins, thank you as always for being here.

And to members of the Legislature and other state officials, thank you for joining us this evening.

And of course to my remarkable wife, Jennifer, the First Partner of the State of California. Thank you for not only being the heart of our family, and for everything you do for the people of California.

It goes without saying, given the state of our world, I don’t imagine there are many people outside these walls waiting on the words that will be said here tonight.

Interesting oratorical approach to emphasize how unimportant your speech is. — Ben Christopher

But it’s important, as the rabbi said, for us to come together, nonetheless.

Not just to mark how far we’ve come in the fight against COVID, but also to reaffirm our commitment to democratic institutions.

If you want to relive the last two years of California’s fight against COVID, check out CalMatters’ timeline. — Richard Procter

As the people of Ukraine continue to come under assault, 2 million by the way, 2 million people already displaced from their homes, we take strength from their contagious courage as well as their willingness to fight for their freedom.

So tonight is a moment, a moment to reflect not just on what’s happening overseas but it’s a moment to reflect on what it means to live in a society where elected leaders still settle our disagreements by and large with civility and compromise.

And how we derive strength from a government that reflects the people we represent. Just think about it.

Our Speaker, son of working-class parents and grandson of Mexican immigrants, worked his way through California’s public education system, earning a Ph.D. from UC Riverside. Now, committed to ensuring every child has access to early learning.

Our Pro Tem, born in poverty in Virginia, she came to California and became a champion for housing and equal rights for all. The first openly-gay woman to lead both the Assembly and the state Senate.

Our Chief Justice, public school graduate, descendant of migrant farmworkers, speaking out consistently against income inequality and tackling the cost of justice for people in poverty.

And take our constitutional officers here tonight — think about this — they include the daughter of an Arkansas sharecropper, an immigrant from the Philippines, the daughter of parents born in China and Greece, one raised by a teacher from Panama, and the proud son of undocumented Mexican immigrants.

Newsom has made the elevation of under-represented Californians to positions of power and influence a hallmark of his governorship. Sen. Alex Padilla, Secretary of State Shirley Weber, Attorney General Rob Bonta and State Supreme Court Justice Martin Jenkins are all demographic firsts and Newsom appointees. — Ben Christopher

Thank you all for your remarkable service to our state.

California does democracy like nowhere else in the world. No other place offers opportunity to so many from so many different backgrounds. But we can’t take our democracy for granted.

Authoritarian and illiberal impulses aren’t just rising overseas. They’ve been echoing here at home for some time. We might not have strongmen quite literally waging war in our country, we are plagued by agents of a national anger machine, fueling division, weaponizing grievance.

Newsom ran to an easy victory in both 2018 and during last year’s recall by presenting himself as the antidote to Donald Trump and “Trumpism.” He doesn’t say the “T” word in this speech, but it’s still a contrast he’s only too happy to invoke. — Ben Christopher

Powerful forces and loud voices –- stoking fear and seeking to divide us, weakening the institutions of our democracy.

Counting on complacency to erode voting rights, scapegoating vulnerable minorities.

Conjuring conspiracies and promoting otherness.

Actively exploiting the “anger of the anxious.”

Anger, by the way, that finds a home when people feel understandably disconnected from each other and our collective future — when that future doesn’t look as bright as the past — making them more susceptible to the siren calls of those trying to tear us apart.

Foundationally, this is a threat we must all face, together, and prove there’s a better way – a California Way – forward.

The California Way.

The California Way means rejecting old binaries and finding new solutions to big problems.

Touting climate; giving Californians gas money?

Take for example, the speaker was talking about, climate policy. California has no peers.

Assembly Speaker Anthony Rendon might disagree with that statement: “I don’t at all feel that we are leading the world anymore” on climate, he said in November. — Emily Hoeven

For years, we’ve set the rules, and others have followed. But over time, we’ve learned we can’t solve big problems like climate change situationally, with short-term thinking.

One of the state’s landmark programs may not be working that well. Experts warned lawmakers that the market-based cap-and-trade program is unlikely to achieve 2030 greenhouse gas targets. — Rachel Becker

The University of California is a research juggernaut, including in climate change. Newsom is seeking an additional $185 million in climate change research, technology development and workforce development for the UC. — Mikhail Zinshteyn

Look, no one’s naive about the moment we’re living in with high gas prices. And the geopolitical uncertainty that’s fueling them.

California continues to post the highest gas prices in the nation, a political liability for Democrats who increased the state gas tax in 2017. — Emily Hoeven

In January, we proposed a pause to the gas tax increase.

The state gas tax has been inching up every year since 2017 when the Legislature passed a $5 billion per year transportation funding bill. Republicans and low tax advocates put a repeal on the ballot the following year, but voters overwhelmingly shot it down. — Ben Christopher

The governor’s January proposal was very modest: it amounts to the prevention of a 3 cent tax increase on gas suppliers for one year. – Grace Gedye

But now, it’s clear we have to go farther.

And that’s why – working with legislative leadership – I’ll be submitting a proposal to put money back in the pockets of Californians to address rising gas prices.

Details are still sparse on this proposal — the only fresh one in tonight’s speech. What we know so far: This will be a general tax rebate, not tied to a person’s gas spending, but targeted at car owners. — Ben Christopher

But I want to make this clear. At a time when we’ve been heating and burning up, one thing we cannot do is repeat the mistakes of the past. By embracing polluters. Drilling even more oil, which only leads to even more extreme weather, more extreme drought, and more wildfire.

Record-setting drought continues to grip California, and shows little hope of abating as the snowpack dwindles. — Rachel Becker

What more evidence, what more evidence do you need than our own state?

Just think about this. In the past few years, we’ve seen whole communities nearly wiped off the map.

Greenville. Paradise. Grizzly Flats.

How many more are we willing to sacrifice?

We need to be fighting polluters, not bolstering them. And in the process of doing so, freeing us once and for all from the grasp of petro-dictators.

New oil and gas well development near schools, hospitals and homes would be banned under a draft state rule. Newsom also called for an end to new oil fracking permits by 2024. — Rachel Becker

But this conversation can’t just be about supply, can’t just be about oil supply. Daily life still demands too much fossil fuel.

That too has to change.

Underscoring the importance of accelerating California’s leadership in clean technology, this is not just a national security and an environmental justice imperative – clean energy is this generation’s greatest economic opportunity.

This speaks to an increasingly tender sore point within the California Democratic Party between environmentalists and labor. Exhibit A: This weekend’s party convention. — Ben Christopher

A perfect example by the way, a perfect example of that is our dominance in electric vehicle sales and manufacturing.

It was, by the way, California policies that created this market.

California has been a leader for decades in requiring low-emission and zero-emission cars and other vehicles, and it is now developing regulations to ban all new gas-powered cars by 2035. — Rachel Becker

Now, we have the opportunity to extend this leadership, to secure a critical component of the supply chain for batteries, by tapping one of the world’s largest lithium reserves – right here in California. In Imperial Valley. And you consider this, our nation-leading climate investments – some $38 billion – will ensure that other innovations will surely follow not by re-creating the 20th century, by extracting more oil, but by extracting new ideas, drilling for new talent by running our economy on a carbon-free engine.

The California Energy Commission doled out $16 million in grants in 2020 to a handful of companies to determine if it’s feasible to extract lithium from brine in the Salton Sea area. — Rachel Becker

That’s the California Way.

Touting the economy; leaving no one behind?

Now, when it comes to the economy, California’s unmatched.

We dominate. We dominate in research, innovation, entrepreneurialism, venture capital – and remain the world’s fifth largest economy. Our GDP growth, our GDP growth has consistently outpaced not only the rest of the nation – but most other large, western democracies. Think about this. In December alone, 25 percent of America’s jobs were created right here in California. A million new jobs just in the last 12 months. More new business starts during the worst of the pandemic than Texas and Florida combined.

When it comes to getting employment back to pre-pandemic levels, California was still lagging the nation in December, according to data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics — and has one of the highest unemployment rates in the country. — Grace Gedye

But you know what makes us so different from those states – besides the freedom of a woman’s right to choose?

With abortion rights hanging by a thread in nearly two dozen states, Newsom and top Democratic lawmakers want to make California a “sanctuary” for reproductive rights and the 1.4 million women within driving distance of the state. — Kristen Hwang

What makes us different is as our businesses grow, we don’t leave our workers behind.

When lawmakers exempted small businesses from additional COVID sick leave in February, at least 1 in 4 California workers were left behind. — Grace Gedye

Just consider what we did last year for the middle class here in our state, we sent $12 billion back – the largest state tax rebate in American history.

We didn’t stop there. We didn’t stop there.

We raised the minimum wage.

We increased paid sick leave.

We provided more paid family leave.

In 2019 Newsom expanded Paid Family Leave from six to eight weeks for California workers. But last year, he vetoed a bill that would have raised the wage replacement amount to help more low-wage workers take the benefit. A California Budget & Policy Center study found that many workers can’t take advantage of the benefit because the payments are too low to cover their expenses. — Elizabeth Aguilera

We expanded child care to help working parents.

Newsom signed legislation last year to add 200,000 new child care slots for working families by the 2025-26 school year. The state promised that by 2022-23 more than half of those subsidized slots, about 145,000, will come online. – Elizabeth Aguilera

And this year, with your support, we will do something no other state in America has done – provide Health For All, regardless of immigration status.

Close to 1 million undocumented people could benefit from the state’s plans to expand Medi-Cal. But hundreds of thousands of others who earn above the Medi-Cal income limit may still be locked out of coverage. — Ana B. Ibarra

That’s the California Way.

Single-payer health care, which would have eliminated out-of-pocket medical costs for all Californians by levying higher taxes, died without a vote earlier this year. Newsom distanced himself from this campaign promise, instead focusing on expanding Medi-Cal. — Kristen Hwang

Touting health; from pandemic to endemic?

And speaking of not leaving people behind, no state, no state took bolder steps to protect public health and human life over the last two years.

Our lockdowns, distressing as they were, saved lives. Our mask mandates, our mask mandates saved lives. Your choices saved lives. California experienced far lower COVID death rates than any other large state. Fewer than Texas, Ohio. Fewer than Florida – 35 percent fewer, to be exact.

COVID-19’s death toll has been felt unequally, with communities of color bearing the largest share. Pacific Islanders have experienced the highest mortality rates while Black Californians make up a growing share of deaths. — Kristen Hwang

But mindful, even with three quarters of Californians being fully vaccinated, we’re mindful that we cannot let our guard down.

More than 83% of Californians are fully or partially vaccinated against COVID-19, but booster shot uptake has lagged far behind. In some counties, fewer than 25% of those eligible have been boosted. — Kristen Hwang

Key Democrats in the Legislature are pushing further with a slate of vaccine-related bills that mandate the shots for all kids and workers in the state and aim to crack down on misinformation about the vaccine online and among doctors. – Elizabeth Aguilera

That’s why just last month, we put out our SMARTER Plan – the nation’s first blueprint to stay ahead of future variants, and seasonal surges.

The state’s new endemic plan sets goals like stockpiling 75 million masks, bringing in 30 million over-the-counter tests and increasing the state’s health workforce by at least another 3,000 if there’s another surge. — Ana B. Ibarra

And I just want to thank you. I want to take a moment to thank all of you. To thank members of this Legislature for all you did these past two years to help keep us safe.

This could be an attempt to appease lawmakers who have sometimes chafed under Newsom’s COVID emergency powers — and who could vote next week on a proposal to end California’s pandemic state of emergency. — Emily Hoeven

Touting remedies to homelessness; solutions have been elusive

But there’s another crisis all too familiar, referenced just a moment ago. And that’s the crisis of homelessness, which we know has worsened over the last decade, not only here in California, but across the nation.

The last time California tallied its homeless population in 2020, it found at least 161,000 people without a roof over their heads on any given night. That count was recently repeated for the first time since COVID-19, and is expected to yield higher numbers. — Manuela Tobias

Just a few years ago, California lacked any comprehensive strategy. No accountability, and no meaningful state resources to solve the problem. But that’s all changed.

Affordable housing and homelessness have suffered from decades of disinvestment, leaving lawmakers scrambling to catch up. Coordination remains an issue, though. The State Auditor’s office blasted the state for its slow distribution of federal COVID-19 homelessness dollars as recently as August. — Manuela Tobias

In just the past three years, we not only have a comprehensive plan, we’re also requiring new accountability, and providing unprecedented investments for cities and counties on the front lines.

As the homelessness crisis worsens, state officials are struggling to pinpoint where billions in state spending have made an impact. The governor and Legislature appropriated $12 billion dollars to address homelessness last summer – but results may take years to materialize. — Manuela Tobias

And while we’ve moved a record 58,000 people off the streets, 58,000, off the streets, since the beginning of the pandemic, we recognize, we all recognize, we have more work to do – particularly to address what’s happening on our sidewalks, reaching people who need help the most.

Those with schizophrenia spectrum and psychosis disorders, many self-medicating with drugs or alcohol addictions.

Interesting that the focus on mental health in this speech is limited to this discussion of homelessness. A much broader mental health crisis is brewing, especially among young people. — Jocelyn Wiener

And that’s precisely what our encampment resolution grants, and our new Care Court, seek to address.

The governor last week unveiled a proposal that would compel people with serious mental illnesses and substance use disorders into treatment. Newsom’s ambitious proposal would still require legislative approval – and hefty state spending to meet the needs identified by experts on the ground. — Manuela Tobias

Getting people off the streets, out of tents and into housing and treatment is essential, clearly essential, to making our streets safe for everyone.

Civil rights groups are already raising some concerns about the Care Court proposal, saying people in need of mental health treatment often can’t get it. — Jocelyn Wiener

But public safety certainly isn’t just about homelessness.

Crime: What was said and left unsaid

Bobby Kennedy, just six weeks before he was killed by an assassin’s bullet, reminded us that the health of a society depends on the ability of people to walk their own streets, in safety. Not to be frightened into isolation.

Newsom recently denied parole for Kennedy’s killer, Sirhan Sirhan, reversing the Board of Parole Hearings’ decision. — Byrhonda Lyons

“A nation,” he said, “which surrenders to crime -– whether by indifference or heavy-handed repression, is a society which has resigned itself to failure.”

Our approach is to be neither indifferent to the realities of the present day, nor revert to heavy-handed policies that have marked the failures of the past.

We’re funding local law enforcement and prosecutors to investigate and solve more crimes. We’re bolstering the Attorney General’s Office, prosecuting organized theft rings, and getting illegal guns off our streets.

Newsom’s budget proposal seeks $179 million to reduce crime, particularly organized retail thefts. The Legislative Analyst’s Office recently said Newsom’s crime plan lacked clear objectives. — Byrhonda Lyons

But we’re also, we’re also investing hundreds of millions of dollars in new programs to tackle the root causes of crime, doubling down on proven violence prevention programs.

Recent polling from UC Berkeley’s Institute of Governmental Studies shows that most Californians are concerned about crime. But the governor mentions the word three times in his state address — a contrast from last year, when he boasted of leading on “criminal justice reform.” – Byrhonda Lyons

That is the California Way.

That’s all on criminal justice issues? It’s worth noting that Newsom is taking a completely different approach than President Joe Biden took during last week’s State of the Union. Biden doubled down on funding the police. Newsom hasn’t mentioned police. – Byrhonda Lyons

Touting “transformational” education reform

Of course, to tackle any root cause, we need to talk about education.

And I’m not talking about that version of education “reform,” being promoted in some states where they’re banning, quite literally, you can’t make this up, where they’re banning books, where you can sue your history teacher, for teaching history and where you can’t even say the word “gay.”

This is Newsom’s third unfavorable reference to to Florida in this speech. On Tuesday, the Florida Senate passed a law restricting the ability of schools to teach students about sexual orientation and gender — what critics have dubbed the “Don’t Say Gay bill.” — Ben Christopher

I’m talking about a real transformation of our public education system, like we’re doing right here in the state California.

By creating choices — real choices — for parents and unprecedented support for their kids.

Newsom’s main contenders in the failed 2021 recall supported “school choice” measures like tuition vouchers. Months before the start of the pandemic, Newsom signed into law a controversial bill that would restrict charter schools. — Joe Hong

A whole new grade — transitional kindergarten for all, nine hours, nine hours of enrichment a day with true universal before- and after-school programs. Expanded summer school. Universal, nutritious meals, millions of new child savings account and free community college.

​​Newsom’s January budget proposal continues a previous commitment to expanding Transitional Kindergarten for all 4-year-olds over the next four years, allocating $1 billion to expand the program and to add educators to lower the student-teacher ratio. – Elizabeth Aguilera

The 2021-22 state budget included $1.8 billion for summer school and before and after-school programs. A record number of students enrolled in summer school in 2021, but school administrators have struggled to staff before and after-school programs due to teacher shortages. — Joe Hong

That’s the California Way.

Look, I think all of us here can at least here agree to this, people have always looked to California for inspiration.

And now, in the midst of so much turmoil with stacking of stresses and dramatic social and economic change, California is doing what we have done for generations, lighting out the territory ahead of the rest, expanding the horizon of what’s possible.

We know that government cannot be the entire solution, but we also know that government has always been part of the solution.

By creating a platform for people, and the private sector, to thrive.

And as Friedman said –- we have a formula, a formula for success setting rules for risk-taking, not recklessness.

Infrastructure, research and development, investing in our conveyor belt for talent – the finest system of higher education anywhere in the world, our CSUs, UCs and community colleges. And ensuring society provides a hand up when people need help, maintaining , maintaining our pro-immigrant policies and welcoming refugees from around the world.

Last year Newsom and state lawmakers approved $47.1 billion in higher-education spending, a banner year for college and financial aid funding — including a down payment on needed student housing. Newsom’s budget this year seeks to make good on some of last year’s unfunded promises, including creating more slots for Californians at the UC and CSU while also expanding the state’s financial aid offerings. — Mikhail Zinshteyn

Those are all California values.

Embracing diversity, but also seeking common ground. Pursuing greater connectedness.

Not exploiting division, with performative politics, and memes of the moment but by unifying towards common purpose.

Inviting more people with diverse perspectives, from different backgrounds – “to strive, to seek, to find, to not yield” – all into the fight for a better California.

​​An Alfred Tennyson quote, which I definitely didn’t need to Google. — Ben Christopher

Thank you all very, very much. Thank you for the privilege of your time tonight.

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

Judith Engelman was born in Los Angeles on Saturday, May 11, 1940. She was the first child of Arthur and Vendla Engelman. In 1941, the family was living in San Francisco, where two of Judith’s sisters, Marcia and Lollie, were born. As her father did not want his children to grow up influenced by the manners of city youth, the family moved north. Arthur and Vendla purchased a house on Pesula road, in the Burlington area near Weott in Humboldt County. Judith attended Agnes Johnson School in the “old school house.” She also attended South Fork High school in Miranda, where she learned to play the clarinet.

In 1956 she married Kenneth Wayne Mensing, and their first child, Kirk Vaughn Mensing, was born in 1957.

In 1958 the family moved to Stockton because Ken had acquired a Laborer’s Union job in billposting. Their second son, Dale Kenneth Mensing was born in 1958. By 1960, Judith had three additional siblings: Allan, Phillip and Iris.

Judith was always active in her sons’ school functions. She was a very active participant in PTA. She was always proud that she helped initiate and led the effort to create Gianoni park in the Waterloo area of Stockton. She was a Cub Scout Den Mother and an avid supporter of her sons’ participation in little league baseball and marching band functions. She was exemplary in every way.

In 1972, she chose to receive Jesus Christ as her savior and she became a very active participant in church functions. She was a leader in “Junior Church” and she was a “Bus Captain.”

In Stockton, she had a variety of successive jobs. She worked for Atwood Printing, Stockton Wholesale Distributors and the San Joaquin County Recorder-County Clerk’s office. She was an “Avon Lady” and a World Book Encyclopedia sales representative. She became a District Manager for Field Enterprises, which owned World Book.

In 1972, the family moved eight miles north to Lodi, and “Judy” became Stockton’s first female UPS driver. In 1977 she moved to Montrose, Colorado, where she became a school bus driver in the Rocky Mountains. She then moved to Occoquan, Virginia where she was employed in child care.

In 1979, she returned to Stockton and became interested in pre-school education. She began working as an aid-instructor at Stockton KinderCare Preschool while she studied for and received her associates degree from Delta College.

In 1983, “Judy” began parenting her grandson, Kenneth Michael Mensing and moved back to Humboldt County to help take care of her mother in Redway. For several years she was the assistant director of Greenhouse Preschool in Garberville.

After the passing of her former husband, Kenneth, in 1986, She moved to Myers Flat and married Brian Bell, who drove the Medical Courier van for Redwoods Rural Health Center. Brian Bell passed away in 1987.

Judith then became a teacher for Head Start, where she met and helped many families in the Southern Humboldt area. In 1993, the Humboldt County Child Care Council awarded her their annual “Humboldt County Friend of Children” award.

In 1996 she married a High School friend, Kenneth Whitlow, and moved to Eureka. Kenneth Whitlow passed away in 1999. After retirement, she became a resident at the Cedar Street Senior Community in Garberville.

Judith was always proud of her Humboldt County roots. As long as she was able to swim, she would swim in the Eel River — preferably in the Burlington area where she swam as a youth. She loved hiking and fishing. She loved backpacking the high Sierra Nevada Mountains, the King Range, the Marble Mountains and the Trinity Alps. While living in Garberville, Judith became an avid supporter of the local womens’ softball league. She was very proud of the plaque she received designating her as the league’s “Number One Fan.” Judith was an avid fan of the Oakland Raiders. She loved to watch football and baseball.

Judith was known to be a regular volunteer in fundraising for her beloved KMUD radio.

Judith saw the need for educational toys that could be lent to Head Start families. So, she applied for and received a State grant of $5,000.00 for that purpose. She often said that her “Dad” gave her the example that she followed — being willing to accept and face challenges with determination and a positive attitude.

She found great joy in being a mother and a grandmother. She had four grandsons — Kenny, Jake, Abe and Alex — who were always shown her deepest love. She loved life. She loved her community, and she made many dear and abiding friendships.

May her memory be a joy and inspiration to all who knew her.

A Celebration of Life Gathering and Service will be held on Saturday, April 2 at 2 p.m. at the Miranda Seventh Day Adventist Church, located at 6626 Avenue of the Giants in Miranda. Please bring photos and memories to share. There will be refreshments and fellowship following the celebration service.

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Humboldt County’s growing backlog of delinquent financial reports is costing the county money, damaging its reputation and making it difficult to plan for the future. 

That was the message that Chief Financial Officer Tabatha Miller delivered Tuesday in her mid-year budget report to the Humboldt County Board of Supervisors. 

The county is two years behind in submitting at least three of its state-mandated financial reports, which makes it challenging to give the board “timely and valid” fiscal information to guide decision-making, Miller said. A staff report also noted that the resulting lack of information boosts the county’s risks for “significant and permanent loss of federal and state funding and budget instability.”

Among California counties, Humboldt is now “dead last” in submitting its 2019-20 Financial Transactions Report to the State Controller’s Office. (The Auditor-Controller says her staff is scrambling to meet a March 16 deadline to avoid legal repercussions.)

The county has ordered a new credit report to be conducted later this month, and a bad municipal credit rating could impact the county’s ability to borrow money and obtain grants. The ensuing damage to the county’s reputation could negatively affect community partnerships and public perception.

“There’s something broken, and we need to fix it,” Miller said during her presentation.

However, it wasn’t all bad news. The county roughly doubled its general fund balance over the past year, going from $15.4 million at the start of the 2020-21 fiscal year to an ending balance of $29.8 million, though Miller cautioned that those figures are “unaudited, unreconciled and not final” because of the overdue fiscal reporting.

Nevertheless, “That is huge,” she said. “That is a real benefit to the community. … But the challenge here is that I can’t necessarily say that we can rely on these numbers.”

The bad news was delivered via a balance sheet for the county’s roads fund, which Miller said was $13.2 million in the hole as of yesterday (again, on paper at least). She added that there are some “unposted receivables,” including some relief money from the Federal Emergency Management Agency, but the county is still looking at a $6.5 million deficit in its roads fund.

More bad news: For the upcoming 2022-23 fiscal year, the county has a projected budget shortfall of $17.7 million due to a number of factors, most notably an increase to employee salaries and benefits. However, Miller noted that the $9.6 million projected expenditure increase from salaries and benefits accounts for full employment, which the county is currently nowhere near — staff shortages are a problem in nearly every department. The county will also see a reduction in Measure S cannabis tax revenues thanks to the board’s decision last month to grant struggling cultivators a big tax break.

To make up that projected deficit, Miller said staff will recommend covering some of the employee pay increases and pension liability from the general fund while limiting supplemental budget requests and budgeting in a 10 percent employee vacancy rate.

“We know that our vacancy rate — we will always have a vacancy rate, even in the best of employment times,” Miller said, adding that it’s currently at about 17 percent countywide.

Fifth District Supervisor Steve Madrone highlighted the importance of funding road maintenance, noting that he gets more calls about that issue than any other.

Third District Supervisor Mike Wilson said aging county-owned facilities should also be considered given the difficulty in financing deferred maintenance. 

As for the county’s delinquent financial reports, Miller said the reporting requirements are on the Auditor-Controller’s Office, and the county as a whole needs to find a solution, whether it’s assigning staff from other departments, taking some responsibilities away from the A-C or some other approach. She suggested putting together a committee to develop a plan for getting current with the reports. 

Miller received kudos for her concise and informative presentation.

Treasurer-Tax Collector John Bartholomew emphasized the importance of addressing the county’s unfunded pension liability, saying he’s been concerned about it for a number of years and is grateful for the county’s newly created chief financial officer position. 

First District Supervisor Rex Bohn suggested that Miller and the staff in the County Administrative Office go ahead and create a working group to address the late fiscal reporting, noting that the county’s 2020-21 single audit is already late. 

County Administrative Officer Elishia Hayes said she, too, has “very serious concerns that the ‘20-21 audit will be more delinquent than the ‘19-20 is, which is already six months past the extended due date of September [2021].”

The report to the board was received and approved unanimously.

Transient Occupancy Tax

Earlier in the meeting, the board considered whether or not to place a measure on June election ballots that, if passed, would increase the transient occupancy tax rate in the county’s unincorporated areas from 10 percent to 12 percent while also making the tax applicable to overnight RV parks and certain campgrounds.

The matter had been placed on the consent calendar, meaning it was slated to be approved without any specific discussion or public engagement, but Second District Supervisor Michelle Bushnell pulled it for discussion, saying she had received many emails and phone calls from people who felt “blindsided” by the proposal. 

Indeed, during the public comment period, several representatives of the hospitality industry, including local hoteliers, voiced frustration with the county’s process and concerns over the proposed tax hike.

Julie Benbow, executive director of the Humboldt County Visitors Bureau, said that while members of her organization support including RV parks and campgrounds in the tax base, they don’t believe it’s a good time to increase the tax by two percent.

John Porter, owner of the Benbow Historic Inn and Benbow KOA, complained that he and other hotel owners weren’t adequately informed about this matter, and he pointed out that the county is already seeing increased revenues from its transient occupancy taxes just due to inflation and increased room rates.

“The fact that the industry wasn’t wasn’t notified, and nobody called us and talked to us, you know, puts a bad taste in our mouth,” he said, adding that he and others may decide to launch a campaign to defeat the measure at the polls. “I don’t know what we’ll do,” he said before running out of his allotted three minutes to speak.

Chuck Leishman, a marketing consultant with the Humboldt Lodging Alliance, said the tax would give an unfair advantage to hotels in incorporated cities, where the tax does not apply. (Cities create their own.) He, too, complained about the lack of notice, saying his organization didn’t have time to call a meeting to discuss the issue.

Meanwhile, members of the local arts community called in to voice support for the tax increase, noting that some of the revenues could go toward supporting the arts.

“I think that raising the TOT tax makes an enormous amount of sense for our community,” said Jacqueline Dandeneau, co-founder and artistic director of the Arcata Playhouse. 

Leslie Castellano, a Eureka city council member and executive director of Ink People Center for the Arts, said “investing in the arts is also investing in tourism.” She added, “More than ever, people are looking for authentic experiences in where they choose to visit, and arts and culture are determining factors when people make their decisions on where to travel.”

Board members wondered aloud if they could take more time to consider the matter while still having time to get a measure placed on June ballots. However, after taking a short break to research the matter, Registrar of Voters Kelly Sanders informed the board that a decision must be made today because the deadline for getting measures on the ballot is this Friday.

Hayes, the county administrative officer, took the blame for the insufficient public notification, saying, “The message has been heard loud and clear today that my office could have done better in engaging for this tax measure,” though she added that there’s still time to get feedback on how the revenues should be spent.

Wilson said he’s in support of putting the measure on the ballot. He also noted that many local homes are being converted to Airbnb rentals, depleting the housing stock and exacerbating problems with homelessness and affordability. He suggested using some of the TOT revenues to plan for increased hotel services in the county. He also noted that the board was simply being asked whether to let voters decide on the matter.

The motion to place the tax increase on the ballots was approved by a vote of 4-1, with Bushnell voting against it. 

Six Rivers National Forest release:

Six Rivers National Forest Law Enforcement officers have recently issued multiple citations for illegal wood harvesting. More violations are expected as the investigation continues.

Multiple reports of illegal wood cutting have been received concerning illegal wood harvesting near Horse Linto and Waterman Ridge along USFS Route 4 in Willow Creek.

Large, live-standing madrone trees and fir trees have been cut near the road’s edge and the area around the cut trees is significantly damaged. These crimes of harvesting live-standing trees are detrimental to Forest health.

“Illegal woodcutting is a crime we take very seriously throughout the region, especially here on the six rivers where local environmental factors have already damaged our timber,” said Six Rivers Law Enforcement Captain Gonzalo Ochoa. “Illegal woodcutting opens the door for various negative environmental factors such as, erosion, destroying wildlife habitat, and most importantly deforestation.”

USDA Forest Service law enforcement have already successfully located and cited 3 individuals harvesting wood without a permit and have reason to believe there are more parties involved. 

Harvesting wood illegally on national forests will result in a minimum of a $5,000 fine and 6 months in jail. Cited parties involved in this federal crime will be prosecuted.

Wood permits including guidelines and maps of locations for cutting are available at any U.S. Forest Service District office. For more information about wood harvesting on the Six Rivers National Forest visit http://www.fs.usda.gov/goto/srnf/firewoodcuttingpermits.

If Judge Kelly Neel denies a defense motion for new trial, Demetrius Donald Dee Coleman will finally be sentenced next month for a drive-by shooting he committed in August 2019.

This morning Neel set April 19 to hear attorney Zack Curtis’s motion for new trial. If the motion is rejected, the 41-year-old Coleman will be sentenced to a possible prison term of life without parole. A jury convicted Coleman in November of first-degree murder with the special circumstance of firing from a vehicle.

The victim, 26-year-old Johnny Mack Renfro, was gunned down as he stood beside his parked vehicle on Monument Road in Rio Dell. Coleman, a marijuana broker, reportedly believed Renfro was one of several men who robbed him in Eureka.

Coleman’s defense was that a Jamaican man named “Dread” was driving Coleman’s vehicle and fired the fatal shot as Coleman hid in the back seat.

So far, District Attorney Carolyn Schaffer has not filed a written response to the motion for new trial. The judge gave Schaffer until March 18 to file one.

“If she turns it in a day late I won’t read it,” she told Coleman, who was questioning the judge himself because defense attorney Curtis did not attend the hearing. Curtis was in another courtroom.

Coleman’s girlfriend was also charged with murder, but Judge Timothy Canning dismissed her charges after a preliminary hearing.

Coleman has been in Humboldt County Correctional Facility for more than two years. He and his girlfriend were tracked down and arrested in North Dakota in February 2020.

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Also in April, the preliminary hearing may be held for Jake Henry Combs, accused of murdering a 25-year-old Whitethorn man who was shot in the head.

As a crowd of victim Trevor John Earley’s family members and friends looked on this morning, Judge Christopher Wilson set the preliminary hearing for April 15. The hearing has already been delayed twice.

Combs, who lived in Garberville, allegedly walked up behind Earley and put a gun to his temple, firing once. The shooting occurred in the early morning hours of Jan. 6 in a home on Sixth Street in Alderpoint.

Combs reportedly confessed the killing to law enforcement.

Deputy District Attorney Jessica Acosta told Judge Wilson this morning that Earley’s autopsy has been performed, but she doesn’t expect the autopsy report until May. Acosta said an officer who attended the autopsy can testify as to what he witnessed.

Wilson noted, however, that the defense could ask at that time for another continuance if the officer is not able adequately explain the autopsy results.

Acosta said she expects the hearing to take “at least four hours.”

[CORRECTION: This story originally misidentified the location of the shooting. It has been corrected.]

PREVIOUSLY:

• 29-Year-Old Arrested in Connection With Alderpoint Homicide This Morning
• Friends and Family of Alderpoint Murder Victim Pack Courtroom as Suspect is Arraigned
• TODAY in COURT: Two Local Murder Cases Moving Forward