La Bula Building to Come Down
It has been sitting over 5 months. The burned out shell of the former La Bula Restaurant on Highway 101 was engulfed in flames on March 1st of this year under suspicious circumstances and one of the most asked questions on the city website is when will the building be torn down. According to City Manager, Erin Reynolds the answer may be getting closer to determine. The period of time the owners had to deal with the property is coming to an end and Reynolds says the owners are making decisions. One of the issues from the property, according to Reynolds, is that the age of the building means the presence of toxic materials is likely present and that has to be dealt with properly.
“We have been working with the property owners diligently to make sure they properly abate the property, it was built in an era when asbestos was used, and so before you can completely demolish a building you have to abate the asbestos.”
According to Reynolds the property owners have moved forward towards the abatement process and that this week there should be activity at the site with the hopes, Reynolds says, of having the property completely cleaned up by the end of next week.
SOS Seeking Volunteers
Siuslaw outreach Services continues to grow, serving the needs of Florence residents that may be dealing with a crisis. Lori Oltman is the volunteer coordinator for SOS
“Some of the resources that SOS provides are support for sexual assault, domestic violence, help with emergency vouchers such as electricity, water, vouchers for showers, a laundry, a multitude of services. We help veterans get in touch with resources to help them.”
Oltman says they are currently in need of help at the front desk in order to serve the community. A position she says that takes a certain individual. A caring, compassionate soul that will make the individual or family that walks through the door feel welcome. The position is for a 3 to 4 hour shift.
Sheriffs Locate Reckless Motorcyclists
Lincoln County Sheriff’s office reported that they have located and arrested two individuals that were responsible for reckless driving and eluding police. There were reports of a pair of motorcycles engaging in high speed runs and weaving in and out of traffic as far south as Florence. Lincoln County Sheriff’s encountered one of the individuals in Waldport and attempted to stop the motorcyclist but the vehicle quickly moved through traffic making dangerous moves and even driving into oncoming traffic. The Deputy stopped pursuit so as not to endanger the public but shortly afterward encountered the individual again westbound on highway 34 this time with a second motorcycle. A short pursuit again was terminated when it was determined that continuing would be dangerous to the public. Lincoln county sheriffs were able to review footage from local businesses and the motorcycles were eventually discovered by a Benton County Sheriff deputy parked behind a home in Alsea. Stephen Schoonover, age 29 of Sweet Home, was taken into custody and charged with reckless driving with a bail of $15,000. Matthew Short, age 30 of Albany, was taken into custody and charged with two counts of felony elude, reckless driving, reckless endangering, driving while suspended, and additional crimes with a total bail amount of $345,000.
