The Saga Continues at 3019 4th St N (part 2)

Photos and blog post by Hans

I've been keeping a very close eye on 3019 4th St N ever since I witnessed a break-in attempt at a nearby property. A collection of vinyl records strewn across the rear of the lot at 3019 was an obvious sign that somebody had gotten into the house. After a few weeks of waiting the broken windows were finally boarded but it didn't take long...


...for somebody to get back inside.



Even though I was only five feet away when I took this picture it's pretty hard to see the open window through all that greenery... and it's virtually impossible to see the side windows from the street. This property is a dream come true for criminals (squatters, scrappers, drug dealers, drug users, drug producers, pimps, prostitutes, and the list goes on). With windows so well hidden you can take your time breaking into this place.

In a previous conversation with a 911 operator I was informed that evidence of a break-in (like a broken window) would result in emergency boarding by the police department. So naturally I called 911 to report the situation, but when the police arrived they merely shouted "Minneapolis Police" into the open window. I asked the officer about police boarding but he told me that they have to catch somebody either in the act or in the building. Apparently it's not enough to find open windows and un-boarded windows.



So I'm left to wait until the good folks at Minneapolis Inspections follow their procedures to get these openings boarded... at which point I have no doubt another window will be broken by somebody trying to get into this crap shack.

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Get Thee Behind Me, Tree-Killer Phone Book Devils...

Photo and blog post by John Hoff

I was under the impression that putting in a formal request NOT to receive a phone book was a futile gesture, that a truck would still drive by and somebody would heave a big portion of a dead tree onto my front steps. But, some weeks ago, I received only this very small portion of a dead tree, above, which acknowledged that...

...my formal request actually had an impact.

Wonderful, I say, but I would have preferred a notice about the size of a Post-It note.

Tree killer phone book devils? Please take a note.

No, wait, on second thought...don't take a note. Don't use any more paper. Just REMEMBER.

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Best Council Member EVER!!! To Take Up Issue Of Sex Offender Concentration At "Dessert With Don"

Stock photo and blog post by John Hoff

Council Member Don Samuels--a man blessed not only with intellect, but a graceful bigness of spirit in the face of constant mean-spirited, off-kilter critiques from certain quarters--appears to be responding to the enormous political buzz building around the issue of North Minneapolis sex offender concentration.

As this blog has drummed home dozens of times, there is a Minnesota statute (authored by State Senator Linda Higgens) which is supposed to limit the concentration of these sick puppies in vulnerable neighborhoods filled with children. However, the statute is...

...toothless and clawless, due to "watering down" which happened despite the best efforts of Higgins. (And may I add that despite the disappointing "watering down" which happened, all the same nobody could get better results than Higgens, as a lopsided majority of voters recently affirmed in a primary vote against Troy Somebody)

Clearly something needs to change in the face of this ongoing issue which severely impacts North Minneapolis. I think Minnesota should follow the lead of more than half the states in the United States and publish the addresses of these sick puppies. To put it bluntly: if Texas publishes the addresses, and nobody shoots down these rabid deviant dogs in the streets, then we can hardly expect sex offenders to be LESS safe here in the land of Minnesota Nice, even if their addresses are published.

Furthermore, if two, three, four sex offenders are going to be concentrated in a particular house, then some kind of video camera should be in place to passively record who enters and leaves the house. (Though, really, such concentration at a single address shouldn't take place AT ALL)

FURTHERMORE, the bare bones information published on the Department of Corrections website about the Level Three sex offenders is simply not adequate. Live links should be provided to court cases and media accounts which help to flesh out the story of what these molesters and child rapists actually DID. (Their mug shots certainly need to be kept more up to date, as the ever-changing appearance of Peter "Spanky Pete" Rickmyer certainly attests)

This blog has published the address of Level Three sex offenders and will continue to do so, whenever the addresses fall into my eager hands. And, oh, how I'd love if ALL THE ADDRESSES OF EVERY LEVEL THREE SEX OFFENDER WOULD FALL INTO MY HANDS ALL AT ONCE. My email is no secret. Word.

However, right now Don Samuels is grabbing this issue by the horns, and so I hope lots of NoMi revitalizers will show up at the next "Dessert With Don" and make it a lively, meaningful event.

Here is what Don Samuels' aide, Monique, said in a recent email:
------------------
CM Samuels would like to invite you to join us for the monthly community meeting Dessert with Don.

This month’s topic has been changed to Sex Offender Concentration.

Please be sure to send in your questions to ensure that they are answered in the presentation since the community discussion time is brief.

The 5th Ward would like to thank the people who called and made the suggestion for this meeting.
-----------------

I've never said this before about a meeting in North Minneapolis, but I sure hope "Spanky Pete" shows up!

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Best City Pages Article EVER!!!!!

Photo and blog post by John Hoff

Everybody and their mother should read this article, click here, which is THE BEST CITY PAGES ARTICLE EVER!!!!

Beyond that, I have no comment at the present time.

(Do not click "Read More" but do read all about Jerry Moore)

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Criminal Record Of Charles Means, 21, Who Died At 2600 Block Of Penn Ave. N.

Photo and blog post by John Hoff

The 2600 block of Penn Ave. N. is one of the roughest areas in North Minneapolis, partially because of the situation with the Penn Gas Stop "inconvenience store" which has served as a "thug sanctuary" for many years. So nobody was surprised when 21-year-old Charles Means ended up dead of multiple gunshot wounds in an alley next to a vacant lot on the "2600 block," on the evening of National Night Out.

I have some experience with that vacant lot. It was the location of the first house I ever looked at in North Minneapolis when I set out to find a home. I always thought of it as the "skanky red thong" house because of an item left on the kitchen counter. Now a vacant lot marks the spot. Even with no run-down, decrepit structure at the location, trouble still finds its way there.

The photo above documents the profusion of candles and (of course) whiskey bottles which inevitably mark these shooting memorials and, it should be noted, say much about the lifestyle of these victims of gun violence. None of the media accounts I have read reveal the criminal record of Charles Means, age 21. It is left to the blogosphere to fill in these sordid details...

Charles Means was identified in the mainstream media as 21 years old. Therefore, he appears to be the very same Charles Anthony Means who is identified in online court records as having a birthday of 8/28/88. Means was, it appears, just short of being 22 years old when he died. He had a laundry list of criminal charges, and that laundry list was as follows:

27-CR-06-072021
MEANS, CHARLES ANTHONY
08/28/1988
10/19/2006
Hennepin Criminal/Traffic/Petty Downtown
Crim/Traf Mandatory
Closed
PROHIBITED PERSON IN POSSESSION OF A FIREARM
FLEEING A PEACE OFFICER IN MOTOR VEHICLE


27-CR-07-013413
MEANS, CHARLES ANTHONY
08/28/1988
03/01/2007
Hennepin Criminal/Traffic/Petty Downtown
Crim/Traf Mandatory
Under Court Jurisdiction
BURGLARY FIRST DEGREE
BURGLARY FIRST DEGREE
BURGLARY FIRST DEGREE
PROHIBITED PERSON IN POSSESSION OF A FIREARM
PROHIBITED PERSON IN POSSESSION OF A FIREARM

27-CR-07-013569
MEANS, CHARLES ANTHONY
08/28/1988
03/01/2007
Hennepin Criminal/Traffic/Petty Downtown
Crim/Traf Mandatory
Closed
DOMESTIC ASSAULT-HARM
DOMESTIC ASSAULT-FEAR
DISORDERLY CONDUCT

This appears to be a textbook case of the Biblical admonition "he who lives by the sword shall die by the sword." Charles Means' death is unfortunate, and clearly there are those who loved him who are in mourning. There is, however, not a single surprising aspect to his death. It was, in fact, predicted more than 2,000 years ago. The only question is:

HOW ARE WE GOING TO CLEAN UP THE 2600 BLOCK OF PENN AVENUE NORTH?

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Notorious Penn Gas Stop "Inconvenience Store" Under New Ownership, But Nothing Has Changed...

Photo and blog post by John Hoff

Recently, word went around the Jordan Neighborhood about how the Penn Gas Stop at Penn Ave. N. and 26th Ave. N.--a notorious inconvenience store patronized by thugs, drug dealers, hookers, at least one Level Three sex offender, plus various other disreputable no accounts--might be under new ownership.

So I stopped by there a couple weeks ago while checking out the latest shooting memorial and it turned out to be true...

...but the new management has no intention of changing ANYTHING, and told me so right to my face, stating they will still sell "blunts," the little cigars which are oh-so-convenient for quick conversion to marijuana, plus they'll offer "long, plain white tees," the uniform of choice for neighborhood drug dealing and loitering.

Therefore, it appears the unrelenting barrage of 911 calls and 311 calls on this disgusting urban hell hole must continue.

Revitalizers...mount up!

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"Golden Chicken" No Longer Open For "Bisness," No Great Loss...

Photos and blog post by John Hoff

I heard a few times the fried chicken was pretty good at "Golden Chicken," 2402 Penn Ave. N., but the establishment is better known for being the location where Level Three Sex Offender Peter Rickmyer got himself in hot water because he spanked minors for sexual gratification under the ruse of "punishing" them for, well, not working hard at their poultry preparing duties or something like that.

The building is currently owned by an "Irving Herman," but the taxpayer is listed as notorious North Minneapolis slumlord Keith David Reitman, click here for more info.

A little more than a week ago, I got a powerful hankering for fried chicken and I thought...

...well, what the heck. I'm sure all the surfaces have been cleaned and un-grossified since those long ago, far away days when "Spanky Pete" was running the show over there. And I'd heard, REPEATEDLY, the chicken was actually pretty good and affordably priced. So I dropped by and found...

Oh, no. They're "closed for bisness."

I should be a little sad about this, because I never had an opportunity to sample their offerings but, well, it's not like I can't go ANYWHERE on West Broadway and find a selection of deeply fried "wings and things."

So, I say, no great loss and maybe this change might even be looked upon as a small bit of NoMi progress. Perhaps something cuter, trendier, artsier, more upscale will go into that space.

One can hope and dream, even with a building owned by Keith D. Reitman.

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Sammie Burch--Linked To Annshalike Hamilton--Makes The "Mugshots" Paper!

Photo and blog post by John Hoff

Regular readers of Johnny Northside Dot Com will remember Sammie Burch as the no-account jailbird who, at one time, was part of the social circle of murder victim Annshalike Hamilton. Defenders of Burch say he had a "big brother" role in Hamilton's life. But Burch is in prison for trying to strangle his pregnant girlfriend, so...well, he's not the kind of "big brother" any girl would want to have, you know?


Though Hamilton's murder remains unsolved, her family believes they know the identity of the murderer, and have not been afraid to name names. Feel free to search this blog under "Annshalike Hamilton" and you will get the most comprehensive and detailed information ANYWHERE.

However, Sammie Burch was...

...in prison at the time Hamilton disappeared, and neither the family nor authorities believe Burch had anything to do with the murder, according to my sources. All the same, when I bought a copy of the "Mug Shots" paper (so my 13-year-old son could do his daily "reading assignment" before getting his precious computer time) I thought it was cool to see Sammy Burch achieving the kind of public notoriety he deserves.

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North by Northside, the Hawkman's New Blog!

Post and photo by the Hawthorne Hawkman

JNS Readers may have noticed a recent lack of contributions from me on this blog. Part of that happened when the Hawthorne Neighborhood Council decided we would like to add more content to our own blog. This is a good thing. Around that same time, I also decided I wanted to frame dialogue around certain issues in a different way than what happens here on JNS. Rather than expect the owner of this blog to turn this into something other than what he wants, I...


...ultimately created my own site.

That blog is called North by Northside, or http://north-by-northside.blogspot.com/. It's fairly new, so readers may see some changes as I add or rearrange things. But I hope you stop on by, and keep on visiting JNS too!

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JNS BLOG EDITORIAL: Congratulations, Linda Higgins! (And It's Not Easy Being Green!)

Some stock photo I found on this borrowed computer, blog post by John Hoff

Even while temporarily out of town on business, word reached me that State Senator Linda Higgins beat Troy Parker in the DFL primary by--what? 68 or 69 percent? I was wondering what the vote totals would look like, since I saw a lot of Troy Parker signs, but as one NoMi super citizen put it so well, "Yard signs don't vote" and, furthermore, yard signs at VACANT PROPERTIES count for even less.

As a Green Party Member, I really had no point in showing up at the primary. I would have just been forced to experience...

...the excruciatingly humiliating reality that freakin' Farheen Hakeem is representing my party in the Governor's race, with one of the evil (and ov-er-ly en-nun-ci-ating) Dittman twins runing for lieutenant governor.

I wonder, do Hakeem and Dittman have whimsical little herbal tea parties with stuffed animals, imagining aloud what their hypothetical administration will do? (Put video cameras in every cab, to protect citizens against cab drivers who suddenly, mysteriously transform into the boogeyman?)

To this travesty I say...

THIS IS NOT THE WAY TO ADVANCE GREEN PARTY INTERESTS, which are fairly near the interests of the planet, if we'd concentrate more on true "green" values and quit spinning our wheels on leftover DFL "social justice" issues. We need to be running MORE on "police tape made from biodegradable corn starch" and much, much LESS on "police are just big, bad bullies." (Not in my neighborhood they aren't, and God bless the Fourth Precint or--to be really Green--GODDESS bless the Fourth Precinct)

Yes, we folks with good sense who happen to also be members of the Green Party need moderate, articulate and accomplished individuals who can actually win, folks like Minneapolis City Council Member Cam Gordon. Even when taking a position some would consider extreme (like his proposed circus elephant ban) Cam does it in such a calm, moderate, Minnesota nice kind of way. We need more folks like Cam Gordon running for office in the Green Party, not (for lack of a better phrase) "green-tinged leftovers" like Hakeem/Dittman.

These are the times I have to wonder "why bother?" when it comes to idealistic third party membership, especially with prominent members of my own party (Tom Cleland, cough cough) opportunistically switching back and forth between Green and DFL like City Council Member Diane Hofstede switches staff members. (Sorry, but she does, though it doesn't change the fact Hofstede was the best candidate in Ward 3 by virtue of, oh, I don't know--owning a home like she's actually going to stay a while?)

And, then again, it wasn't like Linda Higgins NEEDED my vote.

Sigh. It's not easy being Green. But it's a bit easier when folks like Linda Higgins can pull off such large margins of victory.

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Today is the Primary! Get Out and Vote!

Post by the Hawthorne Hawkman. First image from the Inside Minnesota Politics blog. Second photo from the Brad Johnson for Anoka County Attorney Facebook page. Third photo from the Mark Ireland for Ramsey County Judge website.

Today is Minnesota's primary elections, which have been moved up to a rather early date this year. Don't let that pass you by. Get out and vote!

Here's where you can find your polling place. Be sure to check this site as polling places don't always remain the same from one election to the next.

Now, you're probably wondering why on a north Minneapolis blog, we're promoting Ramsey County and Anoka County elections. I'm glad you asked, because...

...Brad Johnson was the prosecutor in the Larry "Maximum" Maxwell trial, and he's tirelessly committed to going after mortgage fraud. If there's another round of such financial crimes that impact NoMi, and the perpetrator also committed those acts in Anoka County (like Larry Maxwell), then this is the guy you want as the prosecuting attorney.

Mark Ireland helped the Hawthorne Neighborhood Council in its landmark lawsuit against Citimortgage, and has been instrumental in other developments surrounding housing litigation. He's intelligent, even-handed, and full of integrity. He's the kind of person you want as a judge in Ramsey County.

If you live in Ramsey or Anoka counties, please vote for Mark Ireland or Brad Johnson. If you know voters in either place, tell them to vote for these guys. For attorney and judge primary elections, those handfuls of votes could be what decides the outcome.

So get out and vote!

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