If you’ve been wondering about something in your community, Ask The Times is your place to get answers. The following questions were submitted by readers and answered through the efforts of our news staff.

Do you know what the status of cleaning up the eyesore on Thompson Bridge Road from the Long John Silver’s Fire?

According to Gary Kansky, code enforcement manager for Gainesville, a demolition permit was issued Tuesday morning for the Long John Silver’s restaurant on Thompson Bridge Road. It should be taken down next week, he added.

An April fire destroyed the building, which was a total loss.

Kansky also said the old Regions Bank drive-thru will be taken down next week as well.

Every time I travel Enota Drive toward Park Hill Drive, I notice two floral arrangements on the right side of the road almost directly across from St. Michael Catholic Church. I have seen them for years and wonder for what or whom are they there? No one I know has any idea. Do you?

Cpl. Kevin Holbrook with the Gainesville Police Department said the floral arrangements may be related to a wreck there in February 2005 that killed two.

According to Times archives, Omar Isrel Escalera Molina, 19, of Gainesville died when the car he was riding in left South Enota Drive, overturned and hit a tree. The accident happened at 2:27 a.m., Holbrook said.

The driver Luis Piez, 23, was flown to Grady Memorial Hospital in Atlanta, according to the 2005 article in the Times.
Holbrook said this week that the driver later died.

He said there were a total of five people in the vehicle when it lost control while traveling southbound on Enota at its intersection with Pearce Circle, where St. Michael is located.

I see a lot of kids around town riding bikes and not wearing helmets. Is there not a law requiring a helmet be worn?

According to Georgia law, a bicycle rider or passenger younger than 16 must wear a helmet. Also, that helmet should fit well, be fastened securely and meet nationally recognized standards.

A sticker on the inside of the helmet typically will indicate whether it meets those standards.

According to Safe Kids Gainesville-Hall County, which promotes bicycle safety among other things, a recent analysis of several helmet studies found that helmets reduce the risk of head injury by at least 45 percent, brain injury by 33 percent, facial injury by 27 percent and death by 29 percent.

In 2006, 773 bicyclists were killed and an additional 44,000 were injured in traffic crashes, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. Children 14 and younger accounted for 98 of those fatalities, making this one of the most frequent causes of injury-related deaths for young children.

You can find more information about bicycle safety at www.safekidsgainesvillehall.org.

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