Shooting Near 2700 Morgan Ave. N. Prompts Swift Response By Council Member Don Samuels...

Photos and blog post by John Hoff

There was a shooting today near 2700 Morgan Ave. N. It was one of the drastically decreasing yet still-too-many instances of gunfire in North Minneapolis which don't make the Star Tribune or the television news because no death resulted, no child was the victim, there was nothing bizarre or unusual about the incident. No police gunfire was exchanged in return. The victim of the shooting was just another no-name thug and the shooters were no-name thugs, too. If you didn't catch word of the shooting in the police highlights, or in the police highlights reproduced on the Minneapolis Crime Blog, you'd never hear of it.

But to the residents who were much-too-close to the shooting, who have to wash blood off the rear of their sport utility vehicle, this incident will be remembered for (most likely) the rest of their lives. The shooting happened like this, according to an eye witness. There were shots--probably three shots from a handgun--and two black males were seen running to a green Blazer-like vehicle on 27th Ave. N, between Morgan and Newton. Another black male, who was approximately age 30 and dressed in a red sweatshirt...

...was observed to half-run, half-stagger away from the green Blazer, which took off. This black male was seen to collapse near 2700 Morgan Ave. N., the infamous "salmon house" which was the scene of so much prostitution and drug dealing before getting shut down and boarded, then shut down and boarded AGAIN, and maybe this happened three or four times but the FINAL time it stuck and the accursed house remains boarded to this day. In any case, the black male collapsed, but got to his feet again and managed to get to a driveway near Logan Ave. N. He collapsed again near the sport utility vehicle of a resident, getting blood on the back windshield and tail light.

(See second image from top, above. The blood is on the windshield, and shaped like the letter "V")

There in the driveway, he cried out to bystanders (there were many by this time, mostly hookers, drug dealers, no-accounts who hang out in the area and ran to the excitiement)to call the police, and to please call his mama. This man was shot in the back, bleeding but not as profusely as one might assume, the bullet still inside of him and not making any exit wound out the front. So, well, police came and there was crime scene tape and so forth, and the bleeding man was taken away in an ambulance. Other witnesses at the scene--dealers and hookers and no-accounts who had been close to the incident, hanging around on the street--agreed it was the green Blazer-like vehicle and the two running men who had been involved in the shooting.

So now let me say a bit about the residents in this area. They have big, beautiful houses into which they have poured money. They vote. They know their city officials on a first name basis. And they have little children. So when somebody was gunned down on the street near 2700 Morgan Ave. N., and staggered to a driveway, and got blood on the resident's parked SUV, these residents FIRST called 911 and SECOND called City Council Member Don Samuels.

Council Member Don Samuels--who cares about all the people in his ward, and would never word things as harshly as this blog post--for the record, here--showed up some hours after the shooting and spoke to the residents. For the record, here, the residents appeared upset but not "shook up." They have endured this crap for too long, and refuse to retreat, especially when all indications are that the neighborhood is actually turning around by leaps and bounds. Residents do not need to cower in their basements, peering from behind thick curtains. Instead, they stand on the sidewalk in front of their houses, outraged, and speak to their city council member and DEMAND the problems go away.

Residents in the area lay the blame for this incident squarely on the "brown house" located at 2651 Logan Ave. N. Despite being boarded, and repeatedly raided by police, the house continues to be a gathering point for (suspected) drug and prostitution traffic in the area. All the street problems in this part of the neighborhood appear to pass in and out of 2651 Logan Ave. N., and when this shooting happened the first observation of residents was how the low-lifes who gathered around the victim were known to be denizens of "the brown house."

Councilman Samuels (who has been re-elected in everything but final, official word) promised to get to the heart of the problem, and some hours ago was talking about a meeting between fed-up residents and city officials over the problems in this part of Ward 5. Samuels pointed out there are more problem areas than just this one, and attention needs to be focused on the problem areas until the problems are solved.

If anybody has more information about this incident, feel free to use the comments post below.

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Hawthorne Hawkman Finds a Special Someone

Guest post by the Hawthorne Hawkman. Image from www.pegasusnews.com

Up until this past spring, I had spent the previous ten years or so of my life in a dedicated and fulfilling relationship. It seemed like whenever I called, this person was there for me, and always knew exactly what I needed. For some reason, we began to grow apart. Even though this other person moved on, I always believed there was someone else out there for me.

Well today I am thrilled to announce to the whole world that I have found...

...a new mechanic. What, did people really think I meant something else? Nope, at the time of this post, the Hawkman is still single, and has, as this blog previously reported, lips that are "quite kissable."

All kidding aside, when you find a good, honest mechanic, you latch on to that person and never, ever leave their side. If they move their business across town, follow them. Across the country? It's still worth it to relocate your job, wife, children, etc. If they decide to become a monk, join the monastery too.

(Actually this last one makes a fair amount of sense. A mechanic who has taken a vow of poverty would probably charge VERY reasonable rates.)

I had a mechanic at Palmer's Automotive, formerly located at 500 6th St N, and his name was Tony. Even before I was in NoMi, I was coming to the northside for car repairs. Palmer was an older guy who owned the place, and Tony was his lead mechanic. He eventually sold the business to Tony, and then Tony relocated earlier this year.

The odd part is that in spite of being a loyal customer for almost ten years, I never once figured out if "Palmer" was a first or last name, nor did I get Tony's last name. But the only times I have ever had any disputes with either of them about price, I actually insisted on paying MORE. When have you EVER gotten into an argument with your mechanic about him undercharging you? Tony was looking at sites around Penn and Lowry, so if anybody knows of a new Laotian mechanic named Tony in that area, please let me know.

In the meantime, I had a minor fender-bender (on election day, no less. I STILL got out and worked at the polls before declaring a winner in key races.) and went looking for a place to fix up The Hawkmobile.

I had always seen Vina Auto on 26th and Emerson, but never used their services. The Hawkmobile (someone called it the Hawkmanmobile, but that sounds too cumbersome) is ten years old and not worth signficiant repairs after a major wreck. Granted, this was a very minor collision, but I needed a place that did good work for little money, and I found it.

And the best part of all is that this place is IN HAWTHORNE! They do body work and regular automotive repairs, and the price and quality are both AMAZING. Yes, the Hawthorne Hawkman is happy.

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Gregge Johnson Rental Licenses Revoked!

Guest post and photos by the Hawthorne Hawkman

The DAY AFTER the elections, our city council was back to work, doing exactly what voters charged them with. At Public Safety and Regulatory Services Committee today, the committee voted to revoke all the remaining rental licenses held by Gregge K Johnson and Five Star General Construction. The final decision goes before the city council on Friday, November 13, but Johnson reportedly did not even show up for this hearing.

Pictured above is one of the more (in)famous Gregge Johnson properties...

1716 26th Ave N; the site of the drug house riots (labeled on this blog as such because it was not a neighborhood that was responsible for the riots). This area was reclaimed earlier in the summer with a new community garden:



However, the adjacent house owned by Johnson still sits vacant. The revocation of rental licenses is hopefully the first step in getting this property into the hands of someone who will turn it around into a bright spot in the community.

For JNS readers who want to savor every last procedural detail of shutting down a major slumlord in our neighborhood, click here for the PS&RS agenda; click here for the PS&RS request for committee action; and click here for the findings of fact.

City ordinances state that if a property owner has two rental licenses revoked in the span of one year, they lose licenses on all properties. The two revoked licenses for Gregge Johnson are 2616 21st Ave N and 1615 Girard Ave N. From city and county records, both of these appear to be in some stage of foreclosure already.

Here are the links to each property (besides the ones already linked above) with a recommended rental license revocation:

3940 4th Ave S
3325 5th Ave S
3607 Bryant Ave N
3811 Humboldt Ave N (no link available)
2222 McNair Ave
2621 Oak Park Ave N
3459 Oliver Ave N
1518 Park Ave
1819 Queen Ave N
2911 Sheridan Ave N
1639 Washburn Ave N

JNS readers are encouraged to share information about any addresses listed above (both in the comment section of this blog and also with your city council person). Already one person has said they remember the Girard property as being a major problem for neighbors, and shutting it down was a huge step in the right direction.

Jordan residents have gone to Gregge Johnson's housse to pickette because he's been such a slumme landlordde. Seriously, what the heck is up with the extra g and e on that name? Provided the city council upholds the recommendations of Public Safety and Regulatory Services, north Minneapolis will soon have seen the last of Gregge Johnson for a while. Losing two rental licenses in one year not only results in the loss of all licenses, but prevents one from getting rental licenses in the city for five years. It's a good sign how quickly his other properties have gone to foreclosure after revocation.

I've been at CM Hofstede's 3rd Ward CARE meetings and Johnson's name has come up repeatedly. And many of his properties are in Samuels' and Barbara Johnson's wards. It's no coincidence that all three north Minneapolis council members have (presumably) been reelected. Their tough stance on slumlords has brought great improvements to our communities in the midst of the foreclosure crisis. Keep up the great work NoMi council members!

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JNS EXCLUSIVE! This Blog Declares Don Samuels and Barb Johnson Winners!

Guest post by the Hawthorne Hawkman, photo by an anonymous contributor

There are obvious risks in declaring a winner preemptively. And IRV does indeed bring in new variables. But Jeff Skrenes, mortgage guru and overall number-cruncher, has calculated that these races are all over except for the hand count.

And this deserves a "top of the fold" mention: Lennie Chism received sixteen fewer first choice votes than Roger Smithrud. There's a smarmy comment in there somewhere, but I'll let JNS readers make it. For now, here are the numbers...

Both Don and Barb won roughly 47% of the vote on the first round. 50% plus one vote is what is required to win outright. So we're going to at least a second round of counting. Since I have access to the 3rd Ward tallies, I will use them to demonstrate what will happen.

Don needs about 50 more votes to win. Lennie's sixty votes are eliminated first. Oh, I just love saying that. Lennie is eliminated first. Typically in IRV, about 1/3 of a candidate's supporters vote for him or her as their ONLY choice, and that's a conservative number. So we can assume that 20 Chism supporters will not have a second vote, and their ballots will be discarded from the total.

In this case, even if no Lennie Chism supporters voted for Don as their second choice, Don's percentage goes up slightly because the total number of ballots counted decreases. When Roger Smithrud is eliminated next, he will have roughly 1/3 of his supporters removed from the vote total as well. Furthermore, anyone who voted for Smithrud and Lennie as their first and/or second choices AND did not vote for a third candidate has their vote removed from the total.

The total number of ballots cast decreases again, and since Don's votes do not decrease, then his percentage goes up as well. This process continues until Don is officially declared the winner.

But what if this were a fifth ward beyond that which is known to man. A ward with an election as vast as space and as timeless as infinity. The middle ground between light and shadow, between science and superstition, and it lies between the pit of man's fears and the summit of his knowledge. This is the election of imagination. It is an area which we call the Twilight Ward.

In this odd circumstance, we assume that Don STILL isn't declared the winner. Don received a large number of second-choice and third-choice votes. So, the ONLY way Don loses is this: virtually every person who voted for Natalie as their first choice voted for Don as their second or third choice. In that scenario, Don's second and third choice voters never get their votes allocated to him because Natalie keeps them all. (Oh yes, that's right: Natalie Johnson Lee is the only contender with even a remote chance of winning.)

Furthermore, we have to assume that almost everyone who voted for Lennie or Roger or Kenya voted for three candidates. Almost none of those ballots could have votes for Don and almost all of those ballots would have to have a vote for Natalie. This is a virtual mathematical impossibility. So while it is possible, it is extraordinarily unlikely that Natalie might overtake Don. However the chances of this happening are far too remote.

The same math presumably plays out for Barb Johnson as well. Congrats to our returning incumbents Barbara Johnson and Don Samuels!

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Get Out and Vote!

Guest post by the Hawthorne Hawkman (who has not yet voted, but WILL). Image from www.dfl138.org.

Campaigns and volunteers are winding up their work. Candidates have made their cases as to why they deserve your vote (or don't). Now it's up to you all to get out and vote!

If you don't know where to vote, click on this link for the city of Minneapolis poll finder.

Remember that ballots will be different this year due to IRV. HAWKMAN ADVISES: Because this is a new system, DO NOT BE SHY about asking an election official if your ballot is filled out correctly, and DO NOT HESITATE to get a new one if it is spoiled.

Furthermore, just because you can rank up to three choices does not mean there are three (or even two) candidates deserving of your vote. If you feel only one person meets that criteria, leaving the other spots blank will not spoil your ballot. But in that case, your one choice must be your first and only choice.

(Do not click Read More, but do get out and vote!

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2009 Election Day Irregularites?

Guest post by the Hawthorne Hawkman, youtube video from "O Brother, Where Art Thou?"

Already this morning, I was told of one questionable activity. A facebook group called "Northside Infoexchange" (this is a closed group, by the way, and I can't even search for it from my profile. Contrast that to the exchange of information that occurs here, where the vast majority of comments are approved.) reportedly posted incorrect accounts about the documentation standards for utility bills needed in order to legitimately register to vote. It is unknown whether this was done in association with any particular campaign.

JNS readers: If you see any voting irregularities, you are first asked to report them to the officials at the polling place and/or 311. Then feel free to post them in the comment section.

(Do not click "Read More")

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Support for Barb Johnson, Carol Becker, David Wheeler, and Vote No on 168

Guest post by the Hawthorne Hawkman. Image from www.ci.minneapolis.mn.us.

Since it's in the wee hours when I can do my political statements, I haven't had a chance to check with John about the statement, "This blog endorses..." But there's still more on a NoMi ballot to be filled out.

I support Barb Johnson in the 4th Ward, Carol Becker and David Wheeler for the Board of Estimates and Taxation, and a "No" vote on 168. Here's why...

In a previous post, I shared a story about CM Johnson being right about certain housing issues in NoMi. I don't think I can stress how impressed I, as a mortgage geek, get when someone else demonstrates a deeper understanding of those issues.

CM Johnson has recently taken some heat on the Minneapolis Issues List for her support of the lurking ordinance. That ordinance essentially gives police the ability to take action when someone who has no business at a certain property is acting in a suspicious manner. (There may be a more legalistic way to explain it, but look, it's 1:30 a.m. so this is what you get from me.) Certain rights groups have railed against it as it could be rife for abuse. But the ordinance is a key piece of the puzzle in making our neighborhoods safer.

While we suffer from a dearth of vacant homes, we'll sometimes see a guy (or gal, but mostly guys) with a baby stroller and no baby, hovering around a boarded house. They definitely have no business there, so citizens acting on the city's "adopt vacant houses" directive, call the police. This ordinance gives Minneapolis' finest a tool to protect that house from squatters, arsonists, scrappers, and copper thieves. Thank you Barb Johnson for understanding that and not bowing to external pressure.

As I've said before, I have nothing negative to say about Troy Parker or Marcus Harcus. But there just isn't a demonstrable reason to me why either of them are more qualified than CM Johnson, so she gets my support.

Now we get into the minor arcana of Minneapolis politics in 2009. First up, vote "No" on Charter amendment 168. That is a proposed amendment to merge the Board of Estimates and Taxation (BET) into the city of Minneapolis. It would no longer be a separate entity. (Click here for an explanation of what the BET does.)

Once again, check out the Minneapolis Issues List for some VERY LONG emails pro and con about this issue, if you're so inclined. Chances are that if you ARE so inclined, you're already there and WRITING those long posts, but I should still point folks in that direction. There are plenty of good reasons to keep the BET around, but the main one for me is that we just don't need to give the city of Minneapolis that kind of unchecked power.

The two best BET candidates that support keeping the BET separate are Carol Becker and David Wheeler. The best way we can ensure that the BET remains so is to get both of these candidates elected. Carol Becker has been endorsed by the DFL, so chances are that she'll get the most first-choice votes. That's why I recommend voting for Wheeler first and Becker second. It should help both of them lock up their fair share of 1st and 2nd place votes.

There are also at-large park board seats on the ballot, but I haven't done enough research on those candidates to make a public recommendation.

And now the JNS ballot recommendations are complete.

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Hawthorne Hawkman Halloween!

Guest post and photos by the Hawthorne Hawkman, photo of the Hawkman in costume by Ty Jaramillo

Every year the Hawthorne Neighborhood Council opens its doors to the kids who play for the Jordan-Hawthorne soccer team. (I got it right this time; I hope JACC folks are happy.) But word spreads and kids invite their friends and the group just gets bigger and bigger.

They cover their faces and various parts of our office with paint before heading out to Halloween parties and trick-or-treating. Usually we have the extraneous paint cleaned up by the time they come around the next year.

This was just the START of a fun-filled Halloween in NoMi...

Here are a few pictures of the face-painting festivities:







Once faces were painted and kids were off to their parties with CURA organizers Jay Clark and Yia Yang, it was time for me to get ready for a NoMi Halloween festival of my own. I WANTED to dress up as the Hawkman from DC comics, but I couldn't find a respectable pair of angel wings. It turns out this is not as easy one would think. So I'll have to take time to put together a decent Hawkman costume for next year or perhaps the next time I need to speak at city hall.

Unable to piece together a Hawkman costume, I settled for V from "V for Vendetta." To the uber-geeks who might be reading this, and to whom the difference is important, I was dressed as the character from the movie, not the graphic novel. Given the criticism for political speech that has come upon this blog in recent days, I felt the movie's ending was more apropos. If those two sentences were virtually meaningless to you, well, it would take far too much space here to explain the distinction.

With JNS and NoMi issues on the brain, I then added a few accessories of my own. Faithful JNS readers may spot them here (click the photo to enlarge):


It's not entirely clear from the photo, but at my hip is a dragon. Look for the gigantic stuffed squirrel to make various JNS appearances in the future.

What was most impressive to me, though, was the geek collection at this place. It makes my version of "geek-o-topia" feel about as successful as an attempt to build a working model of the international space station entirely out of Legos. I actually got to hold, in my own hands, the very first issue of my favorite comic book, Daredevil. I've never seen the shroud of Turin, but this moment filled me with a sense of reverent awe normally reserved for such spiritual experiences.



And then two different people pointed out items I should have noticed in the first place:



Later, I almost inadvertently started a geek war by calling this character the lamest comic book of all time:



Non-geeks, trust me. If you Google this name, you will be disappointed, or at least confused. Luckily, crisis was averted through this time-tested, Nobel Prize-winning strategy. And so ended another fun night in NoMi.

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Minneapolis Park Board Intrigue!

Guest post by the Hawthorne Hawkman, images from Michael Guest for Minneapolis Park Board Facebook page, and www.minneapolisparkboardwatch.com, respectively.

This email came to me a while ago and I had waited to publish it. Given its direct, although intricate, political content, my preference was that John would blog about it instead of myself. But we're getting too close to the election to allow this information to remain unpublished. "Information wants to be free," John says. I prefer "Information begets information," but the sentiment is the same.

In that spirit, here is some Minneapolis Park Board information to get out there...

The email sent to me is as follows (links added are mine):

"Recently the Star Tribune wrote about the conflict of interest between Brian Rice and the Minneapolis Park Board." (JNS disclaimer: Strib links often go dead over time, but there is no other link to this pertinent story.)

"Considering the challenged state of north Minneapolis parks and the important role they plan in the vitality of our community, we decided to take a look at the Minneapolis Park Board race.

The lawyer-lobbyist has worked for the Park Board since 1985. His firm made over $600,000 last year and this has been a consistent amount over the years.

We looked at Jon Olson's report.

Olson’s campaign finance report, dated September 1st. Olson raised $5,600. Of that, $2,400 was itemized. Of the 9 itemized contribution – those over $100 – 6 had a direct connect with Brian Rice. Two were labor PACs a third a PAC for motorcyclist.

Brian Rice’s contracts are up for renewal after the election. Do his and his allies' generous contributions to candidates around the City influence their decision on who to hire? Are we getting the best value? Considering Rice has recently lost two high profile legal battles, is the Mpls Park best represented by the Rice Michels firm?

Shouldn’t the Park Board have a Conflict of Interest policy that would not allow employees or contractors to be allowed to make a donation to Park Board candidates?"

(End email message)

I am admittedly unfamiliar with some of the questions raised here, but I do believe they are important ones to ask, especially in the days leading up to an election. JNS readers are encouraged to submit comments. I was also sent campaign finance reports for both Jon Olson and Michael Guest. Those are included in the JNS pdf site. I've looked at both of those reports and see that the itemized section of Olson's report shows contributions from PAC's. Guest's itemized contributions are from individuals. Personally, I'd rather have someone in office who, due to contributions, is beholden more to voters than to PAC's (even ones that I like, such as Police and labor).

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