UPDATE: The Fortuna Police Department sent out a press release this evening stating that it has investigated additional reports of violent social media threats since Thursday and found them not to be credible. Since officials thwarted two students’ alleged plans to set off numerous homemade chemical bombs during an all-school assembly Thursday, FPD has been […]
Fortuna
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Fortuna Police Investigating Apparent Murder-Suicide
UPDATE: The Fortuna Police Department has identified the deceased as 50-year-old Steve Sisson and 81-year-old Jerry Sisson. No motive has yet been identified in the case. PREVIOUSLY: The Fortuna Police Department is investigating what it believes to be a murder-suicide that claimed the lives of a father and his son. Police were called to a […]
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Volunteer Fire Captain Killed in Fortuna Shooting
The Fortuna Police Department today identified the victim of yesterday’s fatal shooting as Timothy Thomas Smith, a Fortuna resident and captain with the city’s volunteer fire department. He was 42. According to a police department release, an autopsy has been scheduled for later this week. “He has set the example for the department’s motto ‘Always […]
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UPDATE: Court Document Indicates Kitchen was ‘Extremely Intoxicated’
2nd UPDATE: Marcia “Marci” Kitchen pleaded not guilty to both charges facing her this afternoon and denied all special allegations during a brief arraignment. She’s next scheduled to appear in court Sept. 29, with a hearing set Oct. 6 to determine if there is enough evidence to hold her to stand trial in the case. […]
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CHP to Hand Off Fortuna Hit and Run Case to DA ‘Soon’
Two months after two 14-year-old girls were killed in a single-car hit and run crash in Fortuna, the California Highway Patrol is finalizing its report for the Humboldt County District Attorney’s Office to weigh filing criminal charges in the case. Officer Cy May said the preliminary report is finished and currently being reviewed by CHP […]
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‘Friendly City’ Taking Names for City Manager
The city of Fortuna is recruiting candidates to replace outgoing City Manager Regan Candelario, who is returning to his Bay Area roots to take the same position in Novato. The move comes almost exactly three years after he was hired in Fortuna, which is accepting city manager applications until Sept. 22. With his new job, […]
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Court Doc: Mom is Suspect in Fortuna Hit and Run; Showed Signs of Intoxication
An initial CHP investigation indicated the mother of one of two teenage girls who died after a July 12 hit and run crash was the driver and that she showed signs of intoxication shortly after the collision, according to a search warrant affidavit. “At that point, however, there was no evidence establishing her as the […]
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Attorneys: Fortuna Mom Standing by to Surrender in Fatal Hit and Run Case
Just hours after the California Highway Patrol sent out a press release asking for the public’s assistance in locating a Fortuna woman named a person of interest in last week’s hit and run crash that left two teenage girls dead — including her own daughter — her attorneys sent a letter to the CHP maintaining […]
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UPDATE: CHP Seeking Persons of Interest in Fortuna Hit and Run
The California Highway Patrol has released the names of two persons of interest in last week’s fatal hit-and-run. Marcia Maelinda Kitchen, mother of one of the deceased, and Joshua Wren Pearlston, her boyfriend, are both being sought for questioning. Kitchen is the registered owner of the Jeep involved in the collision. The CHP say they […]
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Teenage Girls Killed in Fortuna Hit and Run, Driver of Jeep Wrangler Wanted
The California Highway Patrol has issued an alert to be on the look out for a newer model light grey Jeep Wrangler that struck and killed two teenage girls in Fortuna last night. The girls were skateboarding northbound on the southbound lane of Eel River Drive, just south of Kenmar Road when they were struck […]
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Fortuna Set to Adopt New Panhandling Ordinance
Citing a spike in aggressive panhandling within city limits, the Fortuna City Council is preparing to adopt an ordinance prohibiting “aggressive and intrusive solicitation.” City staff presented a version of the ordinance on Monday, and a second reading and adoption of the ordinance is scheduled for May 2. Under the ordinance “… approaching or following […]
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3rd UPDATE: Hit-and-Run Leaves Pedestrian Dead on 101; Road Deaths on Record Pace
3rd UPDATE: The California Highway Patrol announced this afternoon that the suspect in a fatal hit-and-run collision that occurred Sept. 1 on U.S. Highway 101 has turned herself in. According to the CHP, 18-year-old Carley Kathryn Palsson surrendered to police Friday night. See the full press release copied below. 2nd UPDATE: The California Highway Patrol […]