Photo By John HoffI was contacted by Guy Still of Fox News, who went through some trouble to obtain my email address.
Mr. Still is trying to dig up information about the body found at 2222 4th St. N. and states he is not getting anywhere with the authorities, and he believes there is some kind of notable story, here. I agree. It has been, what? Ten days? That's a very long time to delay releasing information, even taking into account Christmas and thawing time.
Guy Still can be contacted at Guy.Still@FOXTV.COM. His phone number is 952-944-9999.
When the media are determined to find you, best to approach the media before they approach you, so you have a greater degree of control.
ADDENDUM: Blog headline revised to include Guy's direct number, instead of the impossible-to-navigate Fox TV voice mail system. Punch in Guy's last name and you don't get Guy, oh no, you get some woman named Rumplestilkskin or something like that. GET IT TOGETHER, FOX!!!!
ADDENDUM: Blog headline revised to include Guy's direct number, instead of the impossible-to-navigate Fox TV voice mail system. Punch in Guy's last name and you don't get Guy, oh no, you get some woman named Rumplestilkskin or something like that. GET IT TOGETHER, FOX!!!!
(Do not click "Read More")
14 comments:
Yes, there may be some notable story here and yes, we do need to know what's going on. However, I urge extreme caution when talking to any local media.
I personally avoid them like the plague. If a story is written about this murder, you can bet your butt it will be yet another one about "The Troubled Northside", "Gang Activity on the Northside"" etc. etc. In any case it will paint our neighborhood in the worst possible light and only feed the notion that you risk your life simply driving through our area. If you want to feed the hysteria, then by all means call this dude.
Granted, my opinion, but an opinion based on years of dealing with these folks.
I hear you. But as long as these things keep happening, these stories will keep getting written.
Journalists didn't wake up one day and say, "Hey, wouldn't it be funny if we all started picking on North Minneapolis like they have a crime and gang problem?"
Yes, I look forward to writing an inspiring and uplifting story about how the neighborhood banded together and got 2222 4th St. N. torn down, and cleaned out the drug dealing in that alley. I want to take a picture of A BIG HOLE IN THE GROUND and say, "This is where 2222 4th St. used to be, but it isn't there anymore."
I want to write a story like that and crow about all the PROGRESS we're making, because I know we're making it, and my blog documents that.
But, clearly, we have not yet arrived at that happy day where everybody wants to move to North Minneapolis, because the stuff that used to be bad went away. Like on Lake Street. Like on Hennepin Avenue. Mostly.
So where do we go from here?
Let us re-double our efforts.
More 911. More 311. More adopting houses. More letters, written by Jeff, to slumlords. More publicizing GOOD stories, like the world's largest YWCA to be built and Hawthorne's leading role in worldwide lutefisk production.
I'm a blogger journalist. If it's interesting and substantive and crosses my path, I write about it.
Sometimes neighborhood people tell me interesting info just to keep me "in the know" and they ask me NOT to write about it. So I don't. But there wasn't a "gag order" on 2222 4th St. N. I found out that information by my own efforts.
If people want me to write nothing but feel-good North Minneapolis stories, then guess what? :)
This blogger is for hire. Have blog, will travel. Seriously. And I'm reasonably priced. But since nobody is paying me or supervising me, I kind of do my own thing on my own private blog, you know? :)
By my account, there were a total of seven murders in the Hawthorne neighborhood in 2007. Year-to-date in 2008 the total has dropped to five murders. You're on the right track. That's good news, isn't it?
I think, yes, you could look at it that way. But the year isn't over, yet, and I think a wrongful fetal death is technically a homicide. So if the rumors about 2222 4th St. N. are true...that would be 6, not 5.
And we still have to get to the end of this year where we break out the champagne and sing Auld Lang...Auld Lang...well, that song people sing at New Years.
It's only December 26. We're not out of the murderous woods, quite yet.
A little update. I mentioned KARE 11's website. If you've ever been there, you probably know registered visitors can leave comments about their stories. I left one similar to what I posted above concerning the Pipe Bomb story. If I remember correctly, my comment was this: "Very misleading headline. 2 incidents to not constitute a plague." Right after that, KARE 11 disabled all commenting on that story and will not allow anyone to few the comments posted. So I guess, they don't like criticism of their stories? Very professional.
I would tend to agree. Two pipe bombs are not a plague. I would say THREE pipe bombs are a plague. Four would still be a plague. But five would be the apocalypse.
You didn't post my other comment - the long one.
Well, total crime in Hawthorne (rapes, burglaries, etc.) for 2007 was 887 incidents. So far in 2008, the number is 624. I don't think we'll see 263 more incidents by December 31st. Work with me, Johnny...I'm looking for an excuse to pop the cork!
To Kevin: But I haven't rejected any comments...did one of your comments get lost?
I give you my word I didn't reject any long comment by you, Kevin. If you want to write out, again, what you were trying to say I'll go ahead and post it.
To Jeanie: OK, yeah, those numbers ARE pretty good. Go ahead and pop the cork.
A recent story said the "broken windows" theory appears to be working; cracking down on graffiti, etc., so a "culture of lawlessness" doesn't exist. Lord knows I've been putting a lot of effort into THAT, by 311, and some of my next few posts will reflect that.
Weird about my comment getting lost. In any case, this one should have appeared before my last one since that one doesn't really make sense without the following.
No, I'm not asking you to do feel-good stories about North Mpls. I have no problem with what you write about. In fact, I LOVE what you write about, but it's very different from what the regular, local media reports. Your writing is balanced.
Have you ever noticed when the other guys do a story about some incident in N Mpls the headline goes something like this: "Body found in North Mpls." If a body were found in South Mpls or NE Mpls or SE Mpls, the headline would read "Body found in Mpls", not "Body found in NE Mpls", or wherever. If the incident occurs in any other part of Mpls, you actually have to read the story to find out the location. If it happens over North, the headline reflects that.
Wouldn't it be great if we started seeing headlines like this: "Suburban Landlord Charged with....." or "Another Suburbanite Charged Accused of Mortgage Fraud". Won't happen though, will it?
This may seem petty on my part, but it's something I've been noticing for years. I really don't know why the other guys seem to go out of their way in making sure everyone knows once again, something bad has happened in North Mpls. You don't even have to read the story, just look at the headline. It will tell you "NORTH MPLS......"
Years ago, one local TV station was reporting on the 5 PM news about a murder in Mpls. The news-reader kept telling viewers the incident occurred in North Mpls., but when they gave the location, it was really NE Mpls. I called the station, pointed out their error and continued listening. They kept reporting NORTH MPLS, through the rest of that broadcast and once again on the 6 PM news and the 10 PM news. I kept calling, but it didn't do any good.
Maybe the media has come to some realization that it makes people feel better about their own lives if they know in one part of Mpls, everything is REALLY bad. So in a way, that's kind of a feel-good story for all the other folks. "Boy, I thought I had problems, but those folks over North live in hell all the time!"
When I took a look at the top news stories on KARE 11's website this morning (Saturday), I found this: "Pipe Bombs Plague North Mpls Neighborhood". (Once again, lets make sure everyone knows, yet again North Mpls has problems.) When I read the story, it turns out 2 pipe bombs were found on one street. Does that really make for a plague in North Mpls?
I'll point out another thing that happens with these stories about horrific crime in Minneapolis...and I mean ALL of Minneapolis: the stories are picked up by the Grand Forks Herald.
Ask yourself why the Grand Forks Herald...of all the papers in the region...has such an interest in reprinting stories about horrific crime in the Twin Cities?
It turns out North Dakota has a serious issue with its educated youth leaving the state and fleeing (in any kind of car that will run) to Minneapolis for better paying jobs and a more exciting cultural environment. So the Grand Forks Herald prints all these stories...but I notice they tend to miss the stories about "crime is down."
A hidden agenda? Definitely.
Hidden media agendas do exist, consciously or unconsciously. But challenging the agenda is pointless, mostly. Would you rather they said "Hawthorne neighborhood" in the headline? For people who never go to our part of town, "North Minneapolis" is a specific enough label. When I read about crime in Duluth, (where I hardly ever go, except to drive through) I don't think, "Wait a minute, what neighborhood? Be more specific."
In the 1970s, the phrase "Hennepin Avenue" could conjure up all kinds of horrible images: drug dealers, teenage prostitutes, seedy businesses. All you had to say was "Hennepin Avenue," and that was plenty. And there was a time when "Lake Street" was like that.
Those places changed. And the public perception changed, too. North Minneapolis is moving forward rapidly. We need to publicize that change. We need to work to keep moving that change forward. It's INEVITABLE. People are looking for affordable starter homes, and we have them.
We need to change our REALITY. The problem isn't the media being unfair. The problem is REALITY.
Here's our reality: That house was a hellhole dumping ground long before this happened. Drug dealing took place in the alley. Paint cans were stored in the porch. The whole house was decrepit and needed to be torn down. And, yes, the process was moving forward and our neighborhood complained.
In fact, I PERSONALLY made a 311 call about that property. There was no number on the front door. A front door needs a number so if it's on fire or somebody is being murdered in the front yard, the location can be reported quickly and easily to 911 and the caller won't have to say "Um...um...it's between...um..."
But, clearly, our neighborhood and the problems we have with run down, neglected properties wasn't high enough on the public agenda to rate a quicker response, from the city or the owner, MAHMOOD KHAN. (What are his OTHER properties? TELL ME. Somebody KNOWS)
Properties like THIS bring problems like THIS. People are shocked at the crime but hardly shocked that a body gets dumped at a property like THAT.
Hawthorne cried out. Hawthorne followed the process. But we didn't get far enough. The system moved too slowly or somebody in the system gave Mahmood Khan some undeserved breaks. (Email me, Khan, I'll be happy to print your side of the story)
So that's our reality. And our reality is being reported. And, yeah, they're throwing that broad label around: North Minneapolis.
We need to change our reality. I scream about it in this blog: open air drug markets scare away property buyers who are looking for bargains. And don't even get me going about the "revolving door" sentences for criminals, the fact Lyndale Ave. N. gets the prostitutes but SOUTH Minneapolis gets the prostitution sting operations. WTF?!!!!
The media aren't the problem. Reality is the problem. There is, yes, something a little unfair about that "North Minneapolis" label in the headline, but I'm far more concerned about the circumstances which allow bodies to be dumped in a garage and remain there for...it appears from what I'm hearing...about a month.
When you hear about violence in Iraq, does it annoy you that the peaceful northern areas controlled by Kurds are being painted with the same broad brush? In J-School, we teach students there are "niches" that stories fit into, niches which already exist in the mind of the reader. Unfortunately, it appears "crime in North Minneapolis" is one of those niches.
Also, consider this: it could be worse. But I'm not going to say how it could be worse. I don't want the media to get any ideas...but, suffice to say, I've come up with a worse-case scenario.
More 911 311 the post said.I and many outher(current)residents have been trained Not to dial 911. My friend used to dial 911 1 instance a lady being assulted in the street 3 doors down screaming for help and her life.days after his property owner shows up mad anouther police call on this address and you will be evicted.it was 3 doors down in the street,Not according to the citys record.At 3016 emerson av N we had 10 drive by shootings,open drug dealing for 6 months 30 to 50 outfrount raising hell ect all night , i call and call no responce at all.Ive called for police and called back 1/2 an hour later and was told you think we send out a squad just because you call,well we dont.I did have an officer respond to one vary civil softly spoken call i placed,squeeling his squadcars tires outfront of my house then pulling in back P.A.system blairing in a marked mpls squad car beating on my door after midnight terrorizing my children and family every outher word was MOTHER F***ER open your door.I called 911 and said one of your officers is going crazy breaking my door $th pct stated we have no officer there.YES call 911 and they will come over and beat your head in,if they come at all,and if you call 911 on the gangbangers across the street flashing guns and pulling thir pants down exposing themselvs to your 12 year old niece.The police will come knock on your door and let the criminals know who called on them.And find a new place to live before you call the police,your gonna need it.I have talked to a lot of people who have been trained not to call the police.MAny same or similar.
I have to say, that has not been my experience with calling 911. Well...there's a few stories I haven't told, for political purposes, where I received a much less than satisfactory response. But, mostly, 911 has been very good to me.
If people have stories they want to tell of official non-responsiveness, use the comment threads and let's go ahead and have that discussion.
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