Floyd Squires, who gained a Teflon reputation for his ability to evade decades of legal attempts by the city of Eureka, his tenants and neighbors to hold him responsible for unsafe conditions and pervasive problems at many of his properties, has died. He was 76. The cause of his death on Sept. 18 was cardiac […]
Floyd Squires
Posted inNews
Dying and Destitute
Craig and Lisa Smith are running out of time. They’re dying. He has congestive heart failure and a cancer eating at his kidney. She has a severe respiratory illness and spends her nights plugged into an oxygen concentrator. But that’s not what they’re talking about today, sitting in the bed where they spend most of […]
Posted inNews
Squireses’ Properties? Going, Going, Gone?
The city of Eureka originally selected Santa Monica-based attorney Mark Adams to help bring more than two dozen properties owned by Floyd and Betty Squires up to code. Now he’s hoping to see them auctioned off — and he intends to buy them himself. If that were to happen on the scheduled Nov. 27 sale […]
Posted inNews
Eureka City Council Set to Expand Boundaries, Redraw Wards, Fight Mold
On Tuesday, the Eureka City Council will tackle several topics that could have long-lasting impacts on the city. First, the ward redistricting ad hoc committee, which has been meeting for two months to discuss where the lines for the city’s five wards should fall, will present its findings. With two current city councilmembers (Natalie Arroyo […]
Posted inNews
Eureka Condemns ‘Heroin Hilton,’ Displacing 20
UPDATE: Eureka City Councilmember Kim Bergel has informed the Journal via Facebook that she was told the city has offered all 20 or so displaced residents of the condemned buildings the option of staying at the local Motel 6 until Monday, when relocation funds are expected to be made available. The Journal hasn’t yet been […]
Posted inNews
‘Tipped Over the Edge’
When city officials released a salacious, unsubstantiated, third-hand allegation of impropriety against the city’s most notorious landlord, Eureka City Manager Greg Sparks says the action was meant to impart a message. “We thought that it just added some gravitas in terms of what we are dealing with when it comes to Mr. Squires and his […]
Posted inNews
Neighbors Successfully Sue the Squireses
Residents along a stretch of G Street say they had one main goal in mind when they grouped together to take Eureka’s most notorious landlords to court: They wanted their neighborhood back. Conditions at two buildings owned by Floyd and Betty Squires on the street had continued to deteriorate, becoming magnets for drug activity and […]
Posted inNews
Make Money off Your Problems
Did your booboo leave you and take the dehumidifier you went 50-50 on? Want to get your deposit back from Floyd Squires? Fugly haircut got you down? Take your problems to Southern California, to court and to the bank. Okay, it’s not going to be an actual court, with an actual judge. It’s going to […]
Posted inNews
Another Fire in a Squires Property
Humboldt Bay Fire spent an hour and a half fighting a blaze near downtown Eureka early this morning, holding off its firefighting efforts at one point as propane tanks exploded inside the vacant home’s garage. The fire, which appeared to start in the garage and spread to the residence at 811 H St., was reported […]
Posted inNews
Squires Tenants File $25K Claims Against City
Seven former tenants of Floyd and Betty Squire’s Blue Heron Lodge have filed nearly identical claims for damages against the city of Eureka, arguing the city unlawfully evicted them, violated their civil rights and intentionally inflicted emotional distress upon them when the city moved to condemn the lodge earlier this month. Each of the claims […]
Posted inNews
Fire Breaks Out in Squires Building
February is shaping up to be a bad month for Floyd and Betty Squires. First, last week, the city of Eureka shuttered the couple’s Blue Heron Lodge, arguing the 15-unit building was operating in violation of the city’s problem motel ordinance. Then, early this morning, fire broke out at the couple’s apartment building in the […]
Posted inNews
Eureka Closes Blue Heron; Squireses File Claim for Damages
Eureka officials shuttered the Blue Heron Lodge this morning, boarding up the dilapidated blue building after working to help tenants find temporary housing assistance. The city contends that the property’s owners, Floyd and Betty Squires, have failed to secure a lodging permit for the 15-room on Broadway for this year, after operating without one for […]