619 26th Ave N Officially Boarded and Vacant

Guest post and photo by the Hawthorne Hawkman.

Two months ago, I spotted a yellow placard posted at the (formerly) notorious drug house at 619 26th Ave N. The doors had been boarded to keep trespassers from breaking in, and the city gave the owner until January 23, 2010 to remove the boards or it would be classified as a boarded/vacant property and condemned. It should come as no surprise that the owner failed to prevent this from happening. In fact, as soon as the property was vacated, neighbors had speculated that the owner would just walk away.

He hasn't quite done that yet. The Hennepin County website does not list this property has having gone to a sheriff sale yet, and the property is listed on the MLS with a list price of $59,900. And no, there is no sarcasm font there.

Do not click "Read More," but do keep an eye on this property to make sure squatters don't come around.

Lt. Lindback Discusses Possible Factors For Crime Uptick...

At tonight's "Dessert With Don" event, where Council Member Don Samuels met with the public and panelists presented information to the audience--with cake thrown in for a bonus--Lt. Lindback of the Fourth Precinct discussed some of the possible reasons behind the January 2010 "crime uptick." This uptick in homicides came after an incredible reduction in the overall numbers...

At one point in the video, Lindback talks about certain trouble makers who get out of prison at the same time and start acting out at the same time. The evidence of this may be anecdotal but, hey, this is the first intelligent explanation I've heard, and I thought it would be useful to share with readers.

On a side note, the cake served was a leftover cake that wasn't picked up from a bakery and so was kindly donated to the "Dessert With Don" event. Reportedly, the cake said "Ghetto Fabulous" in the frosting.

An Old Signature Found In The "Hawthorne Princess"

Contributed Photo

With numerous permits pulled and work proceeding forward quickly, the "Hawthorne Princess" house owned by Realtor Connie Nompelis is coming together. (No-bell-iss, it's Greek) 

Recently, a signature dated "April 18, 1940" was found beneath some old wall paper. These are the small treasures which make buying and rehabbing houses so addictive, and there's plenty of similar home ownership opportunities in NoMi.

(Do not click "Read More")

The Smallest Big-Money Pamiko Foreclosure Yet!

Guest post by the Hawthorne Hawkman. Image from a merchantcircle.com profile of Pamiko Properties.

I was back at the Hennepin County Government Center last week, looking at more Pamiko foreclosure records, when something very unusual caught my eye. A loan number didn't match up with what I'd seen before. So why did something seemingly as obscure as that matter? Well, on Pamiko's three multimillion-dollar foreclosures, there were several loan modifications. Each of them had loan numbers that matched with the previous lines of credit granted for that property. Each of them, except this one.

So with a closer look, I found a new address in...

downtown St. Paul. 24 4th St E, to be exact. This foreclosure notice was probably delivered in record time, since the Ramsey County Sheriff's office that processes such matters is a mere 470 feet away, at 25 W 4th St. I've been trying to find the actual direct link confirming the foreclosure, but haven't yet. Ramsey's and St. Paul's websites aren't as searchable and user-friendly as Minneapolis and Hennepin. But a reliable source has confirmed that this property has had a sheriff sale with a bid amount at just over $1,000,000.

If you want to see what specifically caught my eye, click here. Then go to the top of page 4, where I circled and marked with an asterisk the loan number 501281. This was different than loan number 501388, the $2.5 million-dollar line of credit tied to 2420 Bryant Ave N, or 4652 Aldrich Ave N, which had loan number 501339 as a $149,850 loan that was later modified to a $1,259,060 line of credit, or Minnwest's two loans on 1417 Logan - 501394 for $135,450 and later #501423 for $2,045,000.

Yes, this is confusing. It helps if you're already obsessed with the hidden meaning behind obscure number sequences.

Anyway, the point being, there is another million-dollar Pamiko foreclosure out there. What properties are attached to this foreclosure? Are there others that we don't yet know about? The rabbit hole gets deeper and deeper.

JNS BLOG EXCLUSIVE: Structural Report On The Fjelde House...

A helpful source kicked this document my way. Go to the JNS "PDF Support Site" to download the structural report on the Fjelde House, click here.

Warning: the reading of this report without a big shaker of salt is NOT recommended.

(Do Not Click "Read More")

JN-SPAN VIDEO: Fjelde House Demolition Hearing...

This video was shot some weeks ago, but I'm posting it for the completeness of the bloggy record under a theory of "better late than never." It concerns the demolition of the Fjelde House, a tragic event in South Minneapolis which has city-wide implications for historic preservation--or lack of it--in the Twin Cities.

This is my favorite of the series of videos, where the mealy-mouthed lawyer for James Schoffman takes the podium and--at one point--the chair tries to stop the VERY PUBLIC MEETING from being videotaped by a MEMBER OF THE MEDIA.

Moi.

Well, I just kept right on taping. But it's frightening how the chair of a city committee would not care about the right of the media and the public to get access to information about what is happening at a public meeting, and to record that meeting if so inclined. IT'S A PUBLIC MEETING. HELLOOOOOOOOOOOOO. 

Furthermore, there wasn't so much as a whimper from a single member of the committee about this budding fascism, rather it was somebody in the AUDIENCE who boldly spoke up in defense of the media's practice of periodically attending and recording PUBLIC (stomp stomp) meetings held in that chamber.

Anyway, here are the rest of the videos, recommended viewing for acute insomniacs and anybody obsessed with the tragic destruction of the Fjelde House while the Heritage Preservation Commission stood by and did nothing.

Video One, see above

Video Two

Video Three

Video Four

Video Five

Video Six

(John Hoff, blogging from a cheap hotel in Bowling Green, Kentucky)

(Do not click "Read More")

JN-SPAN Continued: Congressional Hearing on Foreclosures in the Twin Cities

Guest post and videos by the Hawthorne Hawkman.

We continue with footage from the Congressional Field Hearing on the impact of the foreclosure crisis on public and affordable housing in the Twin Cities (the official name of that event). Pictured above is Housing Preservation Project attorney Mark Ireland. Mr. Ireland did a phenomenal job representing Hawthorne in our lawsuit against Citimorgage in the EcoVillage.

I really wish the federal government would come up with a spiffier name for this hearing, or at least a slick acronym, but what can you do?

I applaud Mark Ireland's speech because at about the 3:10 mark he gets very gutsy...

In a very straightforward way, Ireland states that we haven't fully discussed the issue of race in the foreclosure crisis. "In every study that I've seen," he says, "the disproportionate impact of the economic crisis, the foreclosure crisis, on renters, on homeowners, has been on communities of color and people of color." So as we develop solutions to these crises, we must talk about race. Thanks, Mark, for putting that out there.

Easily the most moving panelist of the entire event was Marion Anderson, a north Minneapolis resident whose landlord went through foreclosure. The panelists were all told to keep their remarks to five minutes or less, although many went over by a minute or two before being cut off. Mr. Anderson went on for almost twice that length, but his story was so compelling that Rep. Maxine Waters, the chair, told him to keep on talking until he was finished. My summary below will surely not do Mr. Anderson justice, so I strongly recommend that you take ten minutes to watch the video and listen to what he has experienced.



His landlord went into foreclosure in August of 2008. About two months AFTER the August '08 sheriff sale, Mr. Anderson began to rent the unit. The landlord also declared bankruptcy, which may have lengthened the foreclosure process. He did not find out that anything was amiss until February of 2009. That's when the landlord started taking appliances out of the property, starting with the washers and dryers. Then the utility shut-off notices started to come, even though in the lease the utilities were paid for by the landlord.

OF COURSE the landlord still wanted to collect the rent, but the tenants organized and contacted the utility companies to pay them instead. On April 15, the FIRST legal day to do so, the landlord manually shut off the furnace. Then he tried to evict the tenants for non-payment of rent. The landlord disappeared from the scene entirely, but around October 15, the Minneapolis Fire Department (which oversees mult-unit housing) informed the tenants they had 72 hours to get the heat turned on or the building would be condemned and they'd be forced out. There was also no rental license anymore.

The Fire Department worked with the tenants to contact Center Point and get the furnace turned back on, and Legal Aid of Minneapolis helped out too. But then the vacant units became occupied by squatters. The squatters didn't want to contribute to the utility payments, but they did want to contribute to the condemnation of the building by using meth. There is a new owner, and it looks like things will be resolved in the good tenants' favor.

Mr. Anderson and his neighbors are the lucky ones. Countless others experience similar difficulties and wind up homeless.

In a question and answer session later, Rep. Ellison asked whether Mr. Anderson was ever told directly that the building was in foreclosure.



Of course, the answer was "no." And there's the big problem. There are all sorts of protections out there for renters whose landlord is in foreclosure, but if nobody makes them aware of the situation and the resources, those people will fall through the cracks. Any suggestions about how to deal with this are more than welcome. But enforcing such disclosures from landlords to tenants is almost impossible.

Mark Ireland was also asked about his comments regarding racial justice:



He referenced a structure laid out in Dr. Martin Luther King's last book. That structure involves identifying where we are at right now, asserting vigorously the dignity and worth of all people, then you identify the structural impediments to moving forward, and then you "fight like hell."

JN-SPAN: Congressional Field Hearing on Foreclosures and Affordable Housing

Guest post and videos by the Hawthorne Hawkman.

Falling somewhere in between the venerated C-SPAN network and The Onion's "O-SPAN," Johnny Northside brings you extensive footage of Saturday's Congressional hearing in Minneapolis. We'll call it JN-SPAN.

Let's get the dry stuff out of the way first. This was a Committee on Financial Services meeting, an official hearing of the United States House of Representatives. Its title was "The Impact of the Foreclosure Crisis on Public and Affordable Housing in the Twin Cities," and this was the second time Rep. Keith Ellison has brought such a hearing to Minneapolis.

In the video above, NoMi's state Senator Linda Higgins is speaking about a condemned four-plex near her home...

...that was bought by a consortium of developers from North Dakota (state motto: "Flat but boring"). These developers bought approximately 50 properties in north Minneapolis, and in this property's case, failed the inspection for a certificate of occupancy. The developers lied about being certified asbestos removers, and got caught. But their work on the other houses is reportedly just as shoddy. (Hawkman asks: Can we get a name? Is this a new slumlord or one that we're already aware of?)

Rep. Jim Davnie spoke next.


Davnie has been another leader on predatory lending and foreclosure issues affecting Minneapolis and all of Minnesota. He and Senator Higgins have worked together to create or help pass legislation that curbed predatory lending activities, equity stripping, and abuses by landlords. Both houses of Minnesota's legislature also passed a Subprime Borrowers' Relief Act, which would have provided mediation for borrowers with subprime mortgages - if it hadn't been vetoed by Governor Pawlenty.

Up next was Hennepin County Commissioner Gail Dorfman.


Commissioner Dorfman has done great work around foreclosures and vacancies as well, but she references a "14% decline in home values" for north Minneapolis as a result of foreclosures, and that sounds incredibly low. I'd like to see what that number is once it's broken down by neighborhood, if that data is out there. In Hawthorne, I'd bet it's more like 140%. Continuing with numbers, Dorfman states that 55% of foreclosures in Minneapolis are from landlords, and that 10% of the people in homeless shelters in Minneapolis are from these properties.

ADDENDUM: An anonymous commenter on this blog pointed out that in my rebuttal of the inaccurately low percentage of home value decline at least in my area of NoMi, I let hyperbole get in the way of actual mathematics. A 140% decline would mean that the property has a negative value, which only happens in Detroit. Even in the most extreme cases of a fraudulent $300,000 appraised value of a Dream Home, and then a resale in the $30,000 range, the percentage decline would be 90%.

I didn't get video footage of Mr. Dan Bartholomay of the Minnesota Housing Finance Agency. His content contained very detailed mortgage technicalities, so naturally I was taking notes like a madman. Here's the Reader's Digest version of his speech: The Housing Finance Agency does loans geared towards low- and moderate-income households, and their loan portfolio performed significantly better than the market. However, funding has been difficult because subprime mortgages have given the whole secondary market a bad name. Either nobody trusted these mortgage bonds in general, or they didn't trust the information claiming the stability of such an investment. So now thanks to the subprime meltdown, finding access to funds that actually help poor people AND make money on their own is increasingly difficult.

The highlight of the first panel was CPED Director of Housing Policy and Develpment, Tom Streitz. If you watch no other clip from these videos, at the very least jump to the 1:40 mark of this one.


That's when Tom Streitz discusses one of the biggest victories in NoMi's response to the foreclosure crisis: The successful prosecution of the TJ Waconia fraudsters. When Streitz said that they were in federal prison, the room erupted in applause. Let's hope that the principals from Danna D III (who face federal charges) and maybe a few others will join them.

Streitz also gives some common-sense suggestions about how regulations around NSP dollars could be lifted to make our response to the foreclosure crisis even more effective. I have to agree with those comments, and will likely do a commentary about this at a later time.

Whew! That's about all the excitement I think we can handle for a while, but there was a second panel as well. That panel had some very poignant stories, including one from a tenant whose landlord went into foreclosure. Stay tuned to JN-SPAN.

Hints Of New Happenings At The "Uncle Lennie's" Demolition Site...

Photo By John Hoff

There was a noteworthy item in the WHO agenda sent out by Al McFarlane recently, click here for a brief explanation of "Who is WHO?" The agenda item was as follows...

January 28, 2010

Community Planning and Economic Development (CPED) presentation on the Homewood Design Competition for the NE corner of Plymouth and Sheridan.

As regular readers know, this location is where the former "Uncle Bill's" store stood, dubbed "Uncle Lennie's" after it was purchased for a relatively small sum by self-styled "businessman" Lennie Chism. Now, as one resident of Jordan phrased it so well....


"Is this something Lennie Chism is involved with, or is it legitimate?"

Anybody who knows something about it is invited to use the reader comments function.

(Blog post by John Hoff, from Corinth, Mississippi)

Video And More Internet Information About Homicide Victim Orlando Nunn...

Orlando Nunn, who died in North Minneapolis while allegedly trying to collect a debt on behalf of his baby's mother, click here for news story, was no stranger to the Minneapolis police. His name turns up in the Fourth Precinct Weekly highlights in this old report (Spring 2008) about an attempted drive-by shooting at North High...

ASSAULT

1500 JAMES WEDNESDAY 1829 HOURS 08-084455

Officers responded to a SHOOT at North High and upon arrival located a 14 year old female who’d been struck in the arm however the bullet did not break the skin. Officers then directed by dispatch to 1230 Knox where they located Orlando Nunn, 19 year old male w/22 CAPRS, with non life threatening wounds to his lower legs. Witnesses reported males in a blue car shot at a group of males, one of which was Nunn. Shortly thereafter 911 caller reported a male w/a gun and officers located him and a loaded 40 caliber Glock, a Lakeville stolen, which he said the shooters dropped from the car. Arrested was Dwayne Garner an 18 year old male w/11 CAPRS who was later described by the victim as being with him when he was shot 08-084533

Thanks to the Minneapolis Crime Blog for posting the highlights so the stuff actually turns up in Google searches instead of being lost to the ages.

The video in this blog post turned up on YouTube recently. Somebody who goes by "US Pimp Club" posted it.

On another note, it is normally the policy of this blog to not use Star Tribune links, because their links don't load well and often go dead, but the Star Tribune has the most complete story as of today. For the record, Star Tribune links continue to suck.

(Blog post by John Hoff, from a cheap motel in Hattiesburg, Mississippi)

311 Geeks Will Love This Video...

This YouTube video came to my attention, recently. It's an in-depth look at the Minneapolis 311 system.

Of course, I find the video somewhat sanitized...with images of a dog catcher being summoned, a pothole being filled. Where is the footage of neighborhood activists calling in vacant buildings over and over when the buildings are open to trespass?

Oh, well. Maybe there will be a sequel.

(Do not click "Read More")

(John Hoff, blogging from Hattiesburg, Mississippi)

Fjelde House Arson Investigation--Hot Information Leaks About Liquid Accelerant

Photo by John Hoff

A reliable source reports that, several days ago, Council Member Elizabeth Glidden invited city staff to a CANDO meeting at Sabathani to discuss the decision-making regarding the Fjelde house demolition and to hear resident concerns. Although the arson investigation is not complete or released, city staff were able to state that the investigators know that a liquid accelerant was used to start the fire.

This seems to rule out the scenario of a typical squatter starting a fire to get warm and seems to point more in the direction of deliberate arson.

(Do not click "Read More")

(Blog post by John Hoff, from a hotel room in Lake Charles, Lousiana)

Stripper Irene Thomas, Key Witness In Universal Mortgage Case, Reportedly Has Left Minnesota...

Photo By John Hoff

Irene Thomas, a stripper formerly employed at Sugar Daddy's in St. Cloud, was a key witness in the Universal Mortgage fraud case, yet another one of those white-collar criminal fiascos which have hit North Minneapolis hard, causing vacancies and foreclosures. Both Marlon Pratt and Donald Walthall went to prison in this case, click here for a related story. Thomas--a professional stripper and sometimes "model"-- was a "straw buyer" whose credit was used to purchase multiple houses.

About a week ago, I was passing through St. Cloud in the company of Jordan Neighborhood super-volunteer Megan Goodmundson. Recognizing the "Sugar Daddy's" establishment from the name and location, we spontaneously stopped by to see if it might be possible to interview Irene Thomas...

It was an hour before the place was supposed to be open, but the front door was unlocked and we went inside, where we spoke to a man who identified himself as "T.J." the manager. According to T.J., Irene Thomas hasn't worked at Sugar Daddy's in "about a year." T.J. said the word was Thomas had "left the state." T.J. said if any of "the girls" had heard from Irene, he would know, since the business is "like a little family."

T.J. also stated, emphatically, that he runs a clean and legal establishment and the owners do not care for anything with even a hint of possible illegality. I left him my contact information and asked if he heard from Irene Thomas, to please pass on my interview request. An email to an email address known to belong to Irene Thomas went unanswered.

(Blog post by John Hoff, from a soul food bistro in Lake Charles, Louisiana)

Is the Sheltering Arms House the Corner Stone?

Guest post and photo by the Hawthorne Hawkman.

I've been hesitant to attach more historical significance to this house than what is known for sure. After all, I think there's plenty of grounds for preservation here but if one overstates and then has to retract historical significance, it could actually weaken the case for saving the Sheltering Arms House.

But the more I find out, the more this looks like a very significant historical find. I just received an email that indicated...

This house could indeed have been the first Sheltering Arms orphanage in Minneapolis. The email referenced an article from the August 19, 1883 Minneapolis Tribune:

"It is expected that the corner stone of the new Home for the Sheltering Arms, under the care of Sister Annette, wil be laid at the close of the service today in Holy Innocent's Church, corner of Twenty-seventh avenue north and Twelfth street, in the Fairmount Park addition."

12th Street was eventually renamed Emerson Ave N, and the county website lists the property as being located in the Fairmount Park Addition to Minneapolis.

We still don't have what I'd consider definitive proof that this house was the first Sheltering Arms orphanage, but given that there was a special church ceremony to commemorate its construction, this is looking more likely all the time.

False Alarm at 2654 Upton Ave N

Guest post and photos by the Hawthorne Hawkman.

Last night, I received a rather disconcerting email forwarded to me. It described men in masks removing pipes from 2654 Upton Ave N, and loading them into a blue Ford pickup, license plate #337 AHP. Under the principle that a threat to copper pipes in one corner of NoMi is a threat to copper pipes everywhere, I checked things out this morning. Ultimately, I found that everything was on the up-and-up.

However, when I first arrived on the scene things looked like trouble...

The same blue pickup truck was parked in front of the house again. The front door was locked, but the back door was open and I could see some tools on the living room floor. Not wanting to take any chances, I went back to my car and called 911 to report a "possible trespass in progress." I described in detail what I had seen, including the email I had received the night before.

The 911 dispatcher placed the call on a high priority, and within minutes the MPD had arrived. GBT4P. They went in and were talking with the crew inside for a bit before a woman came out, got some papers from the car, and went back in the house. While I was standing outside, two vehicles stopped and asked what was going on - a good sign that neighbors are watching out for each other.

So it turns out that everybody had the right documentation to be at this house, doing what they were doing. The masks they were wearing were meant to protect them from dust as they were removing a few items. And GMHC owns the house, so we can be quite sure that the pipes removed the day prior were not due to copper theft of any kind.

I told the lady who came out with the paperwork that I didn't want to cause trouble, but the neighbors had expressed concern about what was happening and we were just being watchful. She said, "I get that all the time," which in and of itself is rather assuring too. I advised her to get rid of the moldering phone books that are like a neon sign for people wanting to break into a vacant property. Everyone was very cordial and understanding of the situation, although the police seemed visibly disappointed that they weren't able to catch copper thieves red-handed.

However, the email thread about this issue also expressed some serious concerns about the tools we have available to us to go after squatters and copper thieves. Apparently if the owner of a property isn't calling in the trespass, it seems that less charges can be filed against someone. Given that it's unlikely Deutsche Bank is going to patrol our neighborhood, we need better enforcement tools to keep our community secure.

And one of the reasons the EcoVillage saw such a quick turnaround in regards to crime and break-ins was because residents had consistent conversations with people in various departments of the city about who could do what about certain issues, and what kind of language to use that would most accurately describe a situation to 311 and 911.

To that end, this month's "Dessert with Don" Ward 5 meeting will center around problem property procedures. That meeting is at UROC, Monday January 25, from 7-8:30. I would think this would be a perfect forum to discuss many of the issues surrounding the tools citizens and the city have when working together on issues like this. I hope to see many of you there.

JNS BLOG POST NUMBER 2,000! PEACE Foundation To Make Major Shift In Its Mission!

Photo by John Hoff; Don Samuels, one of the PEACE Foundation founders

I wanted blog post 2,000 to be something important and worthwhile, so here it is...

The PEACE Foundation--which has done so many vigils for the victims of shootings in North Minneapolis, has announced a major shift in its mission. Here is a release which Sondra Samuels sent out some days ago...

Ambitiously six years ago, Michelle Martin, Kevin Reich, and my husband, Don Samuels, created the PEACE Foundation—a grass roots movement made up of people across race, class and geography, committed to working together to end local violence. Their bold vision: to end local violence, starting on the Northside. Their approach: to mobilize a movement of caring community members who would come together with the dual task of healing racial wounds while preventing the psychic and lethal wounding of the children and adults living in the most vulnerable pockets of North Minneapolis.

Delivering Results. Demonstrating Hope

Although 2010 has had a painful beginning, with one homicide in North Minneapolis and a total of five city-wide, BECAUSE of OUR work TOGETHER: Crime is down 25% in North Minneapolis from two years ago, and homicides are down 75% in North Minneapolis from two years ago – a development which serves as the leading correlate to the overall decline in homicides city-wide.

The reason the PEACE Foundation has been delivering results is because of YOU—the neighbors, youth and organizations of North Minneapolis, allies from the broader community, volunteers, funders, as well as a host of spiritual supporters. Together we have served as "public demonstrations of hope" by:

Breaking Our Isolation and Creating Community Celebrations—In order to bring Northsiders together with each other, and the broader community, we created Northside community celebrations, such as, the PEACE Ball, GO! 5K Fun Run/Walk and FLOW: Northside ArtCrawl.

Going to the Places of Greatest Need—All of our events and outreach efforts - from PEACE Across the Northside, to Street parties, Vigils and Rapid Response efforts, happen in areas where crime and violence is the highest.

Changing the hearts of People and then Policies—Once hearts are changed policies will change. Over the years we've grown in our understanding and concern for each other through your participation in our Forums, race dialogues, vigils, and bus tours. These activities have led to successful advocacy for the Northside and relationship building with key elected officials. In 2009, our collective work led to the MN legislature passing a bill which redefines youth violence as a public health issue.

Working Together Across Divides—Through our shared work, mothers of murdered children and suburban churchgoers stood arm in arm at vigils and at the capitol, signaling a collective response to tragedy with a promise of solutions to come. And this coming together has produced significant results! It is to that end that we have built coalitions across race, class, geography, and organizations. Some of the coalitions we have helped to launch include, Ally groups, Northside Policy Action Coalition, Northside Youth StandUp!, the Hope Collaborative, FLOW and GO! Planning Committees, and now - the Northside Achievement Zone.

A Major Transition to the Future of Our Movement—The Northside Achievement Zone

When the PEACE Foundation began, we knew that violence was not the problem, but instead a symptom of a larger problem. As crime and violence have declined on the Northside, it has become clear that poor educational outcomes and life prospects for low-income youth of color in the community, is, in fact, the underlying issue that must be addressed. It is to that end that two years ago, 50 organizations that serve youth and families on the Northside, came together to form a collaborative effort that will guarantee opportunities for all children growing up in the areas of the Northside most impacted by crime, violence and poverty.

This effort, called the "Northside Achievement Zone", or "NAZ", is inspired by the success of the Harlem Children's Zone. Focusing on a defined geographic area or "zone" in the heart of North Minneapolis, its goal is to create a "Culture of Achievement," guaranteeing college-readiness for every single child living in the zone. As the effort continues to take shape, its enormous potential is receiving national attention. Simply put, NAZ has the potential to forever change the lives of North Minneapolis children-the ones who need it most-for the better.

NAZ — The New Key Initiative of the PEACE Foundation

When NAZ was started, the PEACE Foundation was designated as a co-leader of the initiative, and our Executive Director, Michelle Martin, served as Co-Chair of the effort throughout the two-year planning process. During that time, as the work of the collaborative grew, so did our entire organization's involvement. Because of our commitment to the vision of NAZ, much of our energy and resources went towards its' goals. As the work in the zone continued to evolve, it became abundantly clear that there would need to be one strong lead organization carrying out the work of the collaborative. Consequently, leadership of the collaborative agreed that the PEACE Foundation should be that organization. Today we are proud to announce that the Northside Achievement Zone is now our primary initiative.

Currently we are in a transitional phase—shoring up our internal structures, ensuring transparent operations and fiscal accountability, restructuring our Board of Directors, and aligning our entire organization with the work of NAZ.

What This Means to YOU—Our PEACE Foundation Partners

The major change for you is that our approach to ending violence is shifting to one of promoting achievement. We will prevent the seeds of violence from even taking root! We will continue partnering with faith organizations and businesses, conducting vigils, bus tours, coordinated policy advocacy, and community building events... all now with an eye toward promoting educational achievement in the Zone. However, in addition, we will also be increasing our capacity to recruit volunteers to mentor, tutor and serve children and families in the Zone.

The bottom line is that—WE NEED YOU NOW MORE THAN EVER!

Finally, taking the lead in the Northside Achievement Zone collaborative is both humbling and exciting! Never before have so many organizations and people come together to focus like a laser beam on the children in one geographic area of the greatest need. I believe we can change the course of their lives and in so doing, the life of our entire community—both the Northside and the entire region. But we cannot and will not do it in isolation. We need many more leaders, supporters and workers across race, class, and geography to work together for our children's achievement and success!

Please join us!

Sondra Samuels

President

(Blog post by John Hoff, blogging from Dallas, Texas)

JNS Will Party Like It's 1,999!

Guest post by the Hawthorne Hawkman. Above stock photo by the Hawkman. Photos below by Bryan Thao Worra.

Two milestones are upon us here at Johnny Northside. Precinct caucuses for many political parties are coming up on February 2nd, and this particular post is blog post 1,999 for johnnynorthside.com. Barring an urgent blog post, I'll have to let John do the honors of number 2000.

We'll post all in one place, several parties' plans for 2010 precinct caucuses, beginning with...

...the Minnesota DFL, with the caucus going from 7-9 p.m. on Feb. 2nd. You can find your precinct here, and this is regardless of your political party. Here is a list of DFL precinct caucus locations for Senate District 58. I believe that covers all of NoMi, although if I'm wrong I will correct that on this blog.

In Senate district 58 (which includes all of NoMi and part of downtown) there is a contested race between incumbent Linda Higgins and challenger Raymond Dehn. I know them both and while I appreciate Mr. Dehn's hard work and dedication to our community, I have to put my personal support behind Senator Higgins. She's been just phenomenal as a servant of our community and I see no reason why anyone else is more qualified for the job. (This is not a formal endorsement by JNS - yet.) A debate between the two will be held on January 26, 6 p.m. at UROC.

Joe Mullery is the Representative in 58A, everything north of Lowry, and there are no known challengers at this time. I'm also going to throw my support behind Joe as well. He knows mortgages maybe better than anyone and every year he's got a new piece of legislation that takes some arcane mortgage-related issue and changes it to make real impacts on people in our community who are affected by this crisis. He's the kind of guy we need to re-elect so he can keep on getting the job done for us.

Bobby Joe Champion represents the southern half of NoMi and once again, there are no known DFL challengers. Out of our three state officials, I've had the least contact with Rep. Champion, but what I have had has been positive. He's a marked improvement over his predecessor in terms of understanding our community and delivering positive change.

My one complaint with the DFL Precinct caucuses this year - and it's a BIG one - is the timing. There's something else incredibly important happening on the same night.


Look - even our PRESIDENT doesn't have the guts to interrupt the season premiere of the last season of Lost. But here we have the DFL - MY PARTY - callously scheduling an event during what is only the single greatest television show of all time. Furthermore, I'm wearing my Red Wings' jersey in the photos above for a reason too. I'm also going to miss a marquee hockey matchup that night as well. If only there were a political party that didn't require personal sacrifice for the greater good.

Oh, that reminds me. Here's a link to the Republican precinct caucuses for Senate District 58.

If you're a member of the Green Party (like John still is), you can go to this site for information about their precinct caucuses.

The Independence Party will be hosting an online precinct caucus. I don't see that turning out too well. I don't think the kind of dedication gets built up to create a strong grassroots movement by building your party base in this way. Then again, I could watch all the Lost and Red Wings hockey I want, so this bears looking into.

In all seriousness, I really encourage as many people as possible to participate in politics at this level - regardless of party affiliation. I've had the honor of being a state delegate four years ago, and it was disheartening to see how many people even at the local level were people who looked just like me. At the time, I was living in Frogtown in St. Paul, which is also quite diverse.

So the way this works, at least in the DFL, is that the number of delegates is calculated using turnout numbers from the last election. That typically means that there are far more delegate spots available at the caucus level than there are people who show up to do that work. There's a lot that one can accomplish just by being willing to show up and do the work. People are needed to volunteer on various committees such as the rules and the credentials committees, and to help out at the senate district convention. Getting involved at this level is a terrific way to build up a voice for your community or to prepare for your own run for office one day.

A word to the wise, though: make sure you understand the rules of these committees and their processes before wasting valuable time and effort trying to challenge endorsements that were properly made in the first place. Just sayin'.

But get out and caucus with your party on February 2nd!

Hundreds Come Out to Support Vang Family!

Guest post and photos by the Hawthorne Hawkman

Saturday was an especially emotional day for many northsiders. After the tragic accident that impacted the lives of the Vang family forever, NoMi community members came together to show our support. The Camden Lions put on a pancake breakfast at Papa's Pizza and Deli, and the community came out in droves.

Word was that almost from the moment the doors opened, the place was packed to the brim. Long lines abounded as residents waited patiently for a table. The Lions, whose motto, "We Serve," is lovely in its straightforward dedication, lived up to that motto yesterday. I watched as they hustled and bustled tirelessly to keep up with the steady flow of northsiders gathering to stand with the Vang family in solidarity.

Pictured above we have...

The owner of Papa's Pizza greeting the Vang family as they entered. Next, one of the Lions is enjoying the hearty breakfast provided; pancakes, sausage, coffee, and juice.

Notably, Channel 5 was there too. At the time that I was present, they were the only mainstream media source that was covering this event. This is notable because Channel 5/KSTP has done, in this blog's opinion, much unfairly slanted reporting in NoMi. So we thank them deeply for coming out and covering a story that shows the true character of our neighborhood. One of the ways that this blog expressed our thanks was to not rush a "JNS Exclusive" before anyone else could report. John and I agreed to let Channel 5 have the story for a day first instead of getting this up before anyone else.

Here is a link to the Channel 5 video of the event. The Loring School, where four of the five Vang children attend, has several links to this story as well.

The last two photos show the Camden Lions banner at Papa's Pizza, and the fundraising goal at the time that I left. The attendees were a veritable list of who's who in NoMi, and many of those people were busy serving - clearly they were there to help and not to be seen. I don't have exact totals, but I left about halfway through the event and the Lions were already well past the halfway point for their goal. If you still wish to donate to the Vang family or to the Camden Lions, go to their website and contact them.

We give a heartfelt thanks to all who made this event a tremendous success, and we especially thank those who put it on. This is what NoMi is all about.

Finding More Sheltering Arms History

Guest post and photos by the Hawthorne Hawkman

Yesterday I asked the question of "Who will save the Sheltering Arms House" at 2648 Emerson Ave N. However, I know that regardless of how convinced I am that this treasure in Hawthorne must be preserved, there are plenty of people (its current owners at the city included) who may wonder not WHO will save this house but IF it should be saved. So with the help of a preservationist, I went to the Hennepin History Museum for the very first time.

Much of what I found there, I have uploaded to the Sheltering Arms House JNS pdf support site. I've summarized those findings and added more information below...

First off, the photo above is from the one of the directories available at the museum. These must have been what phone books were like before there were phones in every house - and before seven different companies tossed these things on your front porch whether you wanted them or not. These aged, leather-bound directories often do not even list a specific address, but instead reference a house as the only one at a specific intersection. The books are fragile, and cannot be copied.

Another directory referenced a Sheltering Arms house at 27th and Fremont Ave N as well. I went to that corner and saw several candidates, but the most likely ones were 2701 and 2653 Fremont Ave N. I made that guess based on the similar second-floor windows when compared to the Sheltering Arms House in Hawthorne:



The Sheltering Arms history document on the pdf site states: "1882...The Sheltering Arms founded as an orphanage by Sister Annette Relf, an Episcopalian nun. Incorporated as a private, non-profit, charitable organization to provide services to children without discrimination as to race, color, or creed. Control vested in a Board of Directors of thirty Episcopalian women, fifteen from St. Paul, fifteen from Minneapolis. Endowment funds gradually built up from gifts and bequests. Orphanages in various locations until...

"1910...When present main building was completed. (Hawkman interjects: Main building in this case refers to the former building at 4330 West River Road) Over time, social and philosophical changes decreased need for orphanage; it was discontinued in...

"1942...When Sheltering Arms became a convalescent hospital for treatment of poliomyelitis, under supervision of Mrs. Josephine Poehler and in conjunction with St. Barnabas Hospital. Later, prevention of poliomyelitis became possible, so in...

"1955...The Board of Directors sought advice from Hennepin County Community Welfare Council concerning community needs it might fill. Planning committee, under chairmanship of Dr. Maynard Reynolds, recommended program for mentally retarded children, in cooperation with Minneapolis Public Schools, to provide education, study family problems, develop parent education and counseling, study needs of trainable retarded. Mr. John W. Gregg appointed Business Administrator and Dr. Harriet E. Blodgett Program Director. School program began September, 1955, with two classes for trainables, one for educables, six to ten year olds. Older children soon knocking at doors led to addition of class for eleven to fourteen year old trainables in the fall of ... 1956"

(Hawkman skips ahead to 1968, see pdf site for full story)

"1968...The fruits of which you now see in our new building, Gregg Hall, named in honor of John W. Gregg, our Business Administrator and the man to whom Sheltering Arms owes much...whose first question always is not 'How much will it cost?' but 'How will it help our children?'"

Note: The ellipses (...) are often used during quotes to refer to material that is glossed over. In this case, the quoted items appear exactly as written. Also, the building/site referenced in these notes is the facility at 4330 West River Road. This is pertinent to the Sheltering Arms House on Emerson, though, because the River Road facility has been demolished. The only structures that remain as a historical testament to the initial work of Sheltering Arms are the orphanages scattered throughout Minneapolis. This blog currently does not know how many (if any) such structures still stand, or their conditions at this time.

There's a lot in there that's historically significant and impressive. What jumps out at me first is that the organization was directed by a board of thirty. THIRTY!!! Most boards I've been involved with are considered large if they're a fraction of that size. And even then, agreeing on something and taking action is, well, difficult at best. Even more striking is that this board was made up entirely of women. In 1882.

Also, bear in mind that at that time in history "orphans" weren't just what we think of as children with no parents at all. These could have been the currently held definition of orphans, or children of single or divorced parents, children out of wedlock, those with mental or physical disabilities, or otherwise indigent children. And for these orphanages to be dedicated from their very inception to providing services "without discrimination as to race, color, or creed" is nothing short of phenomenal.

This is in 1882 when they had this publicly stated vision folks. To think that 128 years later we're STILL striving for that kind of equity! The Sheltering Arms House was BUILT with the core values in mind that our community STILL aspires to! To demolish this structure today is to destroy and devalue what we as a neighborhood hold most dear.

The other principle that Sheltering Arms recognized was that their values did not have a dollar amount attached to them. They did not ask how much it cost, only to decide that the least among them were not worth the effort or dollars. That same mindset should be applied when preserving a piece of neighborhood history at 2648 Emerson Ave N.

The history and values inherent in our buildings have much to tell us. Here's hoping that we as a community are listening.

The Arts Are Revitalizing West Broadway...

This video on YouTube was drawn to my attention by NoMi glass artist Connie Beckers, a.k.a. "The Goddess Of Glass." It's about artists and their role in revitalizing West Broadway. Here's what somebody told me about the video...

A documentary video by Samantha Robinson for the Northside Arts Collective:

This film project is an extension of a research project on the role of artists in urban redevelopment and gentrification that Samantha Robinson completed as a Lilly Fellow at Macalester College in the summer of 2009. She decided to use video, a medium with which she had limited experience, to recount North Minneapolis residents’ memories and reimaginings of West Broadway. After months of wrangling artists, business owners, and politicians, filming interviews, and editing numerous hours of footage, She submitted a final cut of “Visions” to the 2009 Filmanthropist Project Competition, a local film competition for amateur filmmakers with an emphasis on socially conscious filmmaking, in December.

Last month, “Visions” was selected as a top ten film, screened at the Oak Street Cinema, and awarded second place.

From a letter to the Northside Arts Collective Board of Directors, "I hope that this piece of artwork contributes to the achievement of the NAC’s goals, because the process of its creation has altered the course of my life."

As a result of this project, she is currently enrolled in two media arts courses at MCAD and plans to pursue an MFA in Film Production.

(Blog post by John Hoff, blogging on the road from Manhattan, Kansas)

Who Will Save the Sheltering Arms House?

Guest post by the Hawthorne Hawkman. Contributed Photo.

Although I'm not sure of the original source, I've been told of an Eastern proverb that you are responsible for the life you save. I look at that saying and think that one act of kindness isn't enough; once you've extended your hand in that way then your connection to that person is ongoing. That's quite similar to how I feel about a certain house in the Hawthorne neighborhood that is at risk of being demolished. After a bit of research, I've come to call this place "The Sheltering Arms House." The property is located at...

...2648-50 Emerson Ave N. It's been vacant for quite some time and I drive past it at least once almost every day. From the very beginning of my time in Hawthorne, this house stood out as one with architectural features that just aren't incorporated into houses being built today. I've called it in numerous times when it's been open to trespass. I've kind of "adopted" this house, and I feel that connection to its fate. This is a house that does not deserve to be demolished.

Up until today, the house has either been called by its address (which is clunky) or referred to as "The Purple House." I did some research, however, and found some early building permits (link goes to the JNS pdf support site where other documents will be added as they are found). The original owner of the house is listed as "Sheltering Arms." There is even a "matron" listed on the permit: Florence B. Hynes. How interesting is that? A matron of the house in 1908 listed right on the permit?

Although I can't be sure yet, I think there's a strong possibility that the "Sheltering Arms" owner of this house in 1908 was the predecessor to Minneapolis' Sheltering Arms Foundation. It appears that the home was built as a group home, perhaps for orphans. This house may have been the first such home owned by Sheltering Arms in Minneapolis. Given that the permit is titled "Permit to build outside of fire limits," it would seem that the house was built in what would have been the 'burbs in 1908. So this is almost certainly the first such home in NoMi.

There's no doubt that repairing this home will be a significant undertaking. But it is a four-plex that appears to have actually been built that way. In a neighborhood where so many of our mult-unit housing has been poorly spliced and diced, this house is also unique. Given that it sits on the border of the Hawthorne and Jordan neighborhoods, its place in NoMi's history is substantial. To tear it down, as is being proposed, will be to lose that piece of our communal history forever.

I will continue to research this property in attempts to find out more of its history. JNS readers, please share what you know as well. The Sheltering Arms House can be saved. The question is, who wants to save it?

Remaro, Remaro...Wherefore Art Thou, Romero? (Annshalike Hamilton Is Dead, But This Issue Won't Die On This Blog Until There Is Justice!)

Photo and blog post by John Hoff

So here I am in Hastings, Nebraska, stuck overnight while an electrical issue gets fixed on my (precious, beautiful) truck--dusty back door pictured above--but this doesn't stop me from being right in the middle of a new Johnny Northside Dot Com info storm on my own personal time.

OK, so here's the deal...somebody went to an old post on this blog, trying to publish (alleged) information about Annshalike Hamilton, whose murder remains unsolved. (Anybody with info should contact the Minneapolis Police Department, not some blogger dude named Johnny Northside)

While I deeply appreciate this info being fed into the blog comments section--a short comment which (among other things) made a negative reference to a dude named "Remaro"--the comment in question can't be published. And I can't get into the reason why the comment can't be published.

However...

I am very interested in receiving more information, such as:

1.) My anonymous commenter seems to be referencing a court case. Can he/she provide the full names of the individuals involved? Or possibly a case number? Geez, give me a LAST NAME so I can track down any criminal record!

2.) Give me something. A document? A photo? Do you have any photos of the individuals you are referencing?

3.) You know and I know you should be telling the police this stuff. So why are you telling me? Have you already told this stuff to the police? Are you afraid to go to the police for some reason? If I publish the comment, won't somebody involved in the case be able to figure out it's you?

I'm VERY interested. You have my full attention. My internet access is infrequent due to being on the road, but I do manage to get on the internet about once a day.

I'm listening.

Tell me more.

Addendum: January 30, 2010.

The information this blog received referenced a "Romero." Subsequent information references a "Remaro." Therefore, the spelling of the name has been changed throughout the blog post as of today.

Have We Said GBT4P Lately?

Guest post by the Hawthorne Hawkman. Image from the Minnesota Independent.

For readers unfamiliar with that abbreviation, it's JNS-speak for "God Bless the 4th Precinct." And today's reason for that comes from an incident kitty-corner to the Hawthorne office. Some work was being done at 3000 Colfax Ave N when assailants robbed the workers of their wallets and cell phones. These criminals weren't too smart though. They approached AND left on foot. The soft snow led to perfect conditions that made the MPD's job of tracking them almost too easy. The assailants were caught and the victims had their property returned to them by the end of the day.

Do not click "read more" but do spread the word...GBT4P!

More Unwelcome Signs

Guest post and photo by the Hawthorne Hawkman

Last night I dropped John off in Alexandria for one of his trucking gigs, and while we were on our way out of the neighborhood, we saw this for rent sign in a place where it shouldn't be. It was at an address I knew off the top of my head, even though the lot was now vacant. The sign was at none other than...

...the former site of "The Blue Tarp House." (Hawkman note: The JNS post this links to actually gets the address wrong. It's 2957 Lyndale Ave N, not 2955 as John wrote.) This property stood for a long time as a sort of negative gateway to our community as people crossed Lowry on Lyndale. It bothered the heck out of me and so many other residents to see such an eyesore just as one was entering Hawthorne, and we were happy to see it go.

I called 311 and confirmed with them on both the city's website and the county's website that this was still tax-forfeited land. The links show that now, but if ownership does change, the links may bring you to different information. Well, we could have waited for the city to come around and remove the illegally-placed sign, or we could act under the spirit of the "Adopt a vacant property" request that the city has asked residents to follow. As you can see, John opted for the latter.

So today I called the number on the sign, and a machine answered as Kaizen Property Solutions. I informed them that I was the Housing Director of Hawthorne, that a sign with their number appeared to be improperly placed on county land, and it had been removed. If they recently purchased the land and our data wasn't recent, then I'd gladly return their sign upon proof of that. Otherwise, by Friday it will be in the garbage.

Shopping Bags Made Of Recycled Newspaper--FROM INDIA!

Photo By John Hoff

Ann Yin, owner of the Local D'Lish store in North Loop, always seems to have samples of some intriguing new item. A few days ago, I was at Ann Yin's home on the Jordan Pond, and she showed me this cool shopping bag made out of newspaper.

As it turns out...

...not only are the bags cool because they're RECYCLED, but the newspapers are from the nation of India. You can try reading some of the articles and ads on the bag and, well, it's like a 20-second trip to the subcontinent. (Click here for an explanation of my concept of a "micro vacation.")  The people who make the bags are street children, led by a group of FORMER street children trying to help these homeless youngsters pull themselves up.

The handles are made of hand-woven jute rope, which reminds me of a little song made up by one of my relatives.

Don't smoke/
The jute-backed carpeting

That's the whole song, actually. You just keep repeating the verses, and maybe throw in something like "I said" or "No no no." Not sure why I mention that...

Oh, wait. Because I'm off to see my relatives and hit the road for a couple weeks truck driving. I may get in a blog post now and then from a cheap hotel room, but while I am gone Jeff Skrenes (The Hawthorne Hawkman) will do his best to pour Johnny Northside Dot Com content into the internet.

Whorehouse Mattresses Hit The Dumpster At 2700 Morgan Ave. N.

Photo and blog post by John Hoff

The infamous "salmon house" at 2700 Morgan Ave. N. has been boarded up for quite a while now, but in the last few days there was a sudden burst of activity. A dumpster appeared, and the furnishings inside the house--including a bunch of mattresses and box springs--hit the bottom of the bin.

I poked around a bit and took a few pictures. I have to admit, some of the furniture didn't look half bad. If I had a truck I'd be all, like, dude...let's take this stuff to an antique store I know in St. Paul and sell it. THEY don't know it's from a whorehouse.

Besides, I think after you hit the surfaces with Lysol, the fact the stuff is from a whorehouse just adds to the mystique.

(Do not click "Read More")

Another Poorly Converted Duplex Meets the Backhoe of Doom

Guest post and photos by the Hawthorne Hawkman.

Yet another piece of substandard housing has bit the dust today. 917-919 26th Ave N met the backhoe of doom and few if any mourned its passing. I, for one, had mixed feelings. Clearly this house was not long for this world and needed to be demolished. But the final two photos show a front porch that was closed in and covered (VERY poorly, it appears) with stucco. My guess is that was done to maximize square footage so that the place could be converted into yet another slummy duplex.

And how do I know it was slummy? I suppose because...

The final photo shows house numbers just PAINTED on the stucco, like a 3rd-grader's wobbly cursive. It almost makes you long for a sharpie.

I also have to appreciate the sign that remained up until the demolition, in hopes that someone would come along with $500 down and $200 a month to buy this pile of rubble. But no one was that foolish.

Even though this was a property that had long been viewed as an appropriate demolition, a little part of me mourned its passing. From the looks of it, at one point the house WAS nice. Did a slumlord come along and parse it into a duplex poorly? Was it, as some folks in Hawthorne have said happened shortly after WWII, a family that converted it so that two generations could live there for a while? Even if we don't know its whole story, can we learn from our mistakes that led to the demolition of this structure and so many others like it? Let's hope so.

Comments Mysteriously Disappear From Mpls Mirror Site...

Stock photo by Jeff Skrenes, crappy Pamiko property

Blog post by John Hoff

The Mpls Mirror--which provides friendly reporting for notorious nutcase Al Flowers and the self-described "best friend" of one of the T.J. Waconia fraudsters, Jim Watkins of Texas--suddenly lost its reader comments function late today, without explanation.

Several loyal readers of THIS blog had been submitting comments to an article on the Mpls Mirror--the article being a crude hatchet-job faux-reporting op-ed gonzo piece written about myself, Hawthorne Housing Director Jeff Skrenes, and Realtor Connie Nompelis, when suddenly...

The ability to submit comments to the Mpls Mirror just--poof!--vanished.

This disappearance of the comments function happened not only on THAT particular article, but apparently on ALL the articles. (Not to say the Mpls Mirror has ever managed to put out THAT much content, compared to THIS blog) Now even old Mpls Mirror comments are not visible, the comments all appear to have disappeared.

This may be just a temporary glitch in the Word Press platform used by Mpls Mirror or...or...

Well, who knows? But it makes you wonder WHY BOTHER to comment on the Mpls Mirror, let alone read it. Meanwhile, on the Minneapolis Issues list, plenty of people have been letting loose on the Mpls Mirror, with the exception of Bill McGaughey, whose ability to identify a "premiere journalist" is about as well-developed as his ability to produce mayoral votes.

But, hey, if you can't get your comments printed on the Mpls Mirror, you can always come here to Johnny Northside Dot Com!

Minnwest Bank Metro - Breaking the Bank

Guest post by the Hawthorne Hawkman. Image from www.classicglassandmirror.net.

A Star Tribune article appeared today regarding commercial real estate loans in relation to total equity--hey, wait! Wake up! This will be interesting, I promise. It relates to Pamiko.

In the midst of this article that was fascinating to me and boring to the 99% of the planet that is unable to say, "Mortgages are my caffeine" with a straight face, the name Minnwest Bank Metro came up. Minnwest is one of two creditors appearing on the multimillion-dollar Pamiko foreclosures. Aspen Financial LLC is the other.

So I started doing a little digging about Minnwest and here's what I found...
ADDENDUM: I requested a "non-Star Tribune link" a story since Strib links sometimes go dead. A JNS reader posting under the name "Another Mortgage Geek" provided that link and one other that are now in the comment section. I have posted hyperlinks in the paragraph about the Ramsey Town Center.

First up under their "About us" section of their website, they REALLY stress community involvement. The opening paragraph reads: "Since its beginning, Minnwest Bank has been dedicated to community involvement. You'll find our bankers and representatives involved in local foundations, county economic development corporations, charities, food shelves and local social organizations. You'll see them in the town parade or organizing a charity bike ride. You'll even discover them teaching kids about money and finances."

Then the final paragraph of that page ends with: "Minnwest Bank's long-term objective is to serve the Twin Cities metro area and regional centers in and around Minnesota. We plan to establish additional banks in markets we think we can bring our expertise, experience and capabilities to our market niche. . . and continue with our community involvement."

Well, come April of 2010, when the redemption periods expire on Pamiko's foreclosures, Minnwest Bank is going to be the owner of a slew of vacant and dilapidated housing. We'll see what kind of community involvement they participate in then. It better be more than the occasional shoveling of a sidewalk.

There's also a newsletter with an article about how to tap into your home's equity safely and responsibly. Surprisingly, the piece is devoid of helpful tips such as "don't take out loans totaling $6.2 million dollars on a handful of properties, some of which were already involved in fraud, and that need the kind of repairs you almost certainly will never make." That would have been helpful for some people to know.

Next is an article from September of 2008 in the Minneapolis St. Paul Business Journal called "Breaking the Bank (and Fixing it Again)." The byline underneath reads, "And breaking it again. And again. And then fix--whoops! Nope, still broken." Tom Longlet, listed at the time as the President of Minnwest Bank Metro, answers a few basic questions about the financial crisis at the time. He states: "We tend to do business with people who are turned away from or turned down by the bigger banks, and at our institution we’ve tried to take advantage of that." So probably someone was smart enough to turn down Pamiko for these ridiculous lines of credit that are now causing a wave of foreclosures in our neighborhood. Again.

More recently, a November 2009 article lists the metro area banks with third quarter losses over $1 million. Coming in fourth place is Minnwest Bank Metro, with a 3Q loss of $3.9 million. Click here for a handy chart about that. As any thoroughbred horse racer with a blog can tell you, fourth place isn't bad but it's still disappointing. Once everything with the Pamiko houses shakes out, I'm betting we'll see a higher finish out of Minnwest.

Minnwest Bank is also connected to the failed real estate development at the Ramsey Town Center. Minnwest actually sued the other folks who were involved in fraud that caused this project's collapse, but is this coincidence or a pattern of some sort? Given their alleged ties to Tom Petters, I have my doubts.

And finally we're back to the minute factoid that started this jaunt: Commercial Real Estate loans in comparison to total equity. From what I could tell when reviewing the documents on the $2.5 million, $1.9 million, and $1.3 million sheriff sale bids, these Minnwest Bank Metro loans were commercial real estate products. And regulators consider it a "red flag" when the ratio of money in commercial real estate loans exceeds a bank's equity by 300%. Minnwest's total...403%.

I believe that even if these million-dollar foreclosures were legitimately done with no fraud on either Pamiko's or Minnwest's part, that the crossover of having one home appear on numerous lines of credit indicates a tremendous lack of oversight by Minnwest. And if such acts were fraudulent, then I don't see how Pamiko could have pulled that off without the help of someone at the bank. For the sake of all the good people who work there, and for the good customers they serve, I hope I'm wrong and that the fallout from Pamiko-gate will not harm consumers and honest folk at that company.

Still, I do believe that the indications of malfeasance are sufficient enough that the State Commerce Department ought to do a thorough review of Minnwest Bank - especially its commercial real estate loans.

Stolen Laptop Controversy Won't Die After Minneapolis City DFL Convention In May, 2009...

Stock Photo by John Hoff, my son Alex with an Apple Laptop

Blog post by John Hoff

It has long been the policy of this blog to NOT sit tight on pieces of valuable information, but--whenever feasible--to get information OUT THERE even if the info is incomplete. In fact, that's how the very interesting Pamiko-Gate story was blown wide open, because this blog published what it had--an interesting piece of the story--and, very quickly, more information came flowing back.

In that spirit, I want to make clear this blog post is NOT the whole story, but I am trying hard to get--as Paul Harvey would say--"the rest of the story."

In May of 2009, the Minneapolis City DFL met at Washburn high school. According to a highly-placed source, two Apple laptops were stolen that day from a class room which was left unlocked. Images were captured on videotape...

...of an individual wearing a t-shirt from one of the Mayoral campaigns, skulking in a hallway, trying the doors of various rooms. The individual was a young black female. The t-shirt she was wearing was not from the Rybak campaign, but from one of the many "also-ran" campaigns. When somebody else passed through the hallway, the individual in the campaign t-shirt seemed to act as though she was looking for a bathroom. The individual entered an unlocked room with a backpack which did not appear full. When she left the room, the backpack appeared full. Two valuable Apple laptops turned up missing from the room shortly afterward.

Days after the convention, police attempted to identify the young black female using at least one still photo from the videotape. In fact, police went to City Hall with a photo and asked individuals at City Hall if they could identify the individual in the campaign t-shirt. The individual looks like a young woman associated with one of the Mayoral campaigns, but there is talk of a change in hairstyle, a certain degree of uncertainty as to the identification.

Now, word is the school and the police are leaning hard on the DFL to replace the valuable laptops stolen during the convention.

When and if this story develops further and more info comes my way, it will be published on Johnny Northside Dot Com as quickly as possible. Yes, this blog does have the name of the Mayoral campaign in question but I am not publishing it until I have further detailed info, THEREFORE I WIILL NOT PUBLISH COMMENTS WHICH POINT THE FINGER AT ANY PARTICULAR MAYORAL CAMPAIGN.