More on “Shots Fired”
The Lane County Sheriff’s Office released more details about a report of a person firing a weapon inside a house on Rustic Lane north of Florence. A 9-1-1 call came in shortly after 7 AM Saturday morning that an intoxicated male was shooting a gun inside of a house and had also pointed his weapon at the caller multiple times. The caller was able to flee the residence, seeking refuge at a neighbor’s house. Deputies, Oregon State Troopers and Florence Police responded and surrounded the house. They could observe the man still inside. They contacted him by telephone and he surrendered without further incident. 64-year old David Paul Williams was arrested on several charges, including reckless endangering. He was lodged in the Lane County Jail over the weekend. Western Lane Ambulance was also on scene as a precautionary measure.
Interact Easter Egg Hunt
The Siuslaw High School Interact Club has been busy stuffing more than 4-thousand plastic eggs with candy and prizes. It’s all for the annual community Easter Egg hunt at Miller Park says event chair Cate Waggoner.
“I guess it’s more of a dash because all of the kids go at once. This year it’ll be Saturday April 8th starting at 10 AM.”
Waggoner says it’s open to all kids 5th grade and younger. They’ll be divided into four age groups, each on separate baseball fields. This year, she says, they will have a very clear starting signal.
“Last year there was a bit of confusion. There was a parent that just whistled trying to get everybody’s attention and they ended up going a little before ten and kids were crying.”
While they may not start immediately at ten o’clock, she says it’s better to follow one important piece of advice.
“Don’t be late.”
City Council Meeting
At last night’s City Council meeting the council decided after a public hearing that they would approve the request for an increase in taxi rates as provided by River City Taxi. The last time an increase was approved was in 2008 for a $0.50 increase to the minimum charge (or meter drop) to $3.00. last night’s proposal was for a $1.00 increase for the meter drop, to $4.00 and a $.50 increase to the mileage rate to $3.00, an incremental mileage charge increase of $.05 cents to $.30.and increasing the wait time from $24.00 to $30.00. The resolution was passed unanimously. In the second public hearing the City proposed an increase to the city fees. Last year the city increased most fees by 1.9% the previous fee increases were in 2020 of 2% and a 5% increase from 2019. The proposal last night was for a 5.8% increase for water, stormwater, street and wastewater fees. A system development charge of 3.88 % was also proposed. After a motion to approve the new fees Councilor Carp expressed concern about raising the rates at this time.
“I would propose waving the fees, uh the fee increases for a year. The communities just coming out of a pandemic, uh inflation is high, fuel costs are high, groceries are high.”
But after a brief discussion the proposal was passed unanimously.
Rosa’s Reopens
It’s been a long several weeks, but Rosa’s Mexican Restaurant has reopened. Rosa de la Mora said this week that her husband Jose is now in a rehabilitation facility. He suffered the first of two strokes in February and since then the family-owned business has been essentially closed. In a post to social media over the weekend the family expressed gratitude for the support they have had from the community. They were able to reopen yesterday. They will now be open daily from 12-noon until 8 PM except on Sundays.
