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his truck wasgone.At 1:30 a.m.,

Mendoza waspounding on thefront door oftheir trailer. Hetold her: “I justshot a cop. I don’tknow if I killed

him.”The events were described in

testimony by Turlock policeDetective Frank Navarro on thethird day of the preliminary

Around noon on ChristmasDay in 2018, Paulo Virgen Men-doza began drinking with hisneighbor at a trailer park nearNewman.He was later joined by his

wife, who then left around 8p.m. “because he became verydrunk and started showing offhis gun.”By midnight, she had noticed

hearing for Mendoza, who isaccused of killing Newmanpolice Cpl. Ronil Singh.Navarro was testifying about

what was said during interviewshe conducted with Mendoza’swife, Ana Leydi Cervantes.Prosecutors say Mendoza shot

Singh to death just before 1 a.m.on Dec. 26, shortly after thecorporal pulled him over onsuspicion of driving under theinfluence near the intersectionof Merced Street and Eucalyp-tus Avenue in Newman.

The preliminary hearing inStanislaus Superior Court isheld to determine if there isenough evidence to proceed to ajury trial.Several detectives, as well as

two of Mendoza’s brothers, alsotestified Wednesday and Thurs-day.Shortly after he told Cer-

vantes he “shot a cop,” Mendo-za left. He returned at about 5a.m.She told Navarro she didn’t

know where he went during that

time.Cervantes said she again saw

Mendoza with his gun and hetried to give her four or fivebullets, but she refused.At about 6:30 a.m., Mendo-

za’s brother Conrado VirgenMendoza arrived at their homein a Honda CR-V with theirco-worker Erik Razo Quiroz.Cervantes said she told Con-

rado Virgen Mendoza that hisbrother had shot a police offi-cer. “She said Conrado justseemed sad,” Navarro testified.

CLOTHES PACKED IN AWALMART BAGThen Paulo Virgen Mendoza

left in the Honda with his broth-er and co-worker, taking a Wal-mart bag that Cervantes hadpacked for him with three

Actions of suspect in cop’sshooting detailed in courtBY ERIN TRACYetracy@modbee.com

Paulo V.Mendoza

SEE TESTIMONY, 2A

Officials said then that thenumber of vehicles initiallyallowed in Yosemite would becapped at about 3,600 a day –1,700 day use, and 1,900 over-

Yosemite National Park willreopen to the general publicThursday, and reservations arenow required for day-use vis-itors to get in, park officialsconfirmed Monday morning.The park’s expansive

backcountry reopened Friday,but only for those with existingwilderness or Half Dome per-mits. Yosemite closed in lateMarch because of the coro-navirus pandemic.Yosemite officials said more

details about the reopeningwould be shared later Monday.Park officials presented a

detailed proposed reopeningplan to community memberslast month. It included reopen-ing with required day-use reser-vations, to be made throughrecreation.gov, and about halfthe number of visitors.

night vehicle spots. Those withcamping or lodging reservationswould not need to get a day-usereservation to get into the park,along with those just driving

through the park to the EasternSierra.Some local tourism leaders

expressed concerns about thepark’s plan.Yosemite lodging and tour

reservations were previouslycanceled through Wednesday,according to Yosemite’s conces-sionaire, Yosemite Hospitality, asubsidiary of Aramark.Yosemite had been waiting

for more input from the statebefore reopening. Communityleaders in Mariposa, Madera,Mono and Tuolumne countiessent Gov. Gavin Newsom asecond letter last week,requesting that their hotels andcampgrounds be allowed toreopen in tandem with Yose-mite’s reopening.Newsom on Friday announced

that campgrounds and hotels,among other businesses, couldreopen as soon as Friday, June 12for California counties that havesecured approval to reopen fasterthan the rest of the state.A number of other national

parks, including Sequoia andKings Canyon National Parks tothe south, have already re-opened.

Carmen George: 559-441-6386,@CarmenGeorge

JAMIE RICHARDS AP

In this May 27 photo by the National Park Service, Yosemite Valley School, lower right, stands in Yosemite National Park, Calif. In the background isUpper Yosemite Falls. The park will reopen to the general public Thursday and reservations are now required for day-use visitors to get in.

Yosemite set to reopento public, but check firstBY CARMEN GEORGEcgeorge@fresnobee.com

CRAIG KOHLRUSS ckohlruss@fresnobee.com

A few park visitors stop to see the El Capitan, left, and Half Domefrom Tunnel View in Yosemite National Park after snow dusted thearea in early December 2019.

WASHINGTONCotton farmers were paid

33 times as much in federalsubsidies in 2019 as the in-come they actually lost totrade disruptions, one studyshowed.Farmers in Georgia, the

home state of AgricultureSecretary Sonny Perdue,were paid more in federal aidper acre than anywhere elsein the nation, another found.Some farms collected mil-

lions of dollars in paymentsdespite a limit of $250,000per farmer.The Trump administration’s

$28 billion effort in 2018 and2019 to compensate farmersfor losses from its trade warshas been criticized as exces-sive, devised on the fly andtilted toward states politicallyimportant to Republicans.Now the administration isstarting to send farmers tensof billions more to offset loss-es from the coronavirus pan-demic, raising questions abouthow the money will be allocat-ed and whether there is suffi-cient oversight to guardagainst partisan abuse of theprogram.Months before an election

in which some farm statesare major battlegrounds,Democrats and other criticsof the administration’s agri-culture policies are express-ing concern that the newsubsidies, provided by Con-gress with bipartisan back-ing, could be doled out toensure President DonaldTrump continues to win thebacking of one of his keyvoting blocs.Given the track record

with the trade relief program,“I think Congress should beconcerned in terms of lettingUSDA just write checks withno oversight,” said Joseph W.Glauber, a top economistwith the department for 22years who is now with the

Democratssay nooversightto billionsin virus aidto farmersBY SHARON LAFRANIERENew York Times

SEE FARMERS AID, 2A