Despite Petty Acts Of Vandalism, Renovation At 1209 25th Ave. N. Moves Forward, Fabulously...

Photo contributed by John Fena, blog post by John Hoff

Yesterday, I reported on the petty vandalism at a property being renovated by John Fena, an unstoppable force for good in the neighborhood. My blog post, click here, didn't mention the address but it's 1209 25th Ave. N.

In following up, it seems good and right to illustrate how well things are going at that beautiful property despite the minor frustrating setback of the vandalism. That house was, incredibly, once a source of neighborhood blight. But the photo above shows what John Fena, et al, have been accomplishing at renovating, revitalizing and transforming the property. 

John Fena...you are Johnny Northside's hero. 

Can Anybody Identify The Two Juvenile Suspects Throwing Rocks In This Surveillance Camera Video From The Jordan Neighborhood?

Contributed YouTube embed, blog post by John Hoff

A regular reader thought this might be a matter too small for my blog, to which I respond: no, this is EXACTLY the kind of thing this blog focuses upon. Can anybody identify these juveniles in the videotape above before they transition from minor property crimes to a wasted life of violent felonies? 

This surveillance camera video, which was uploaded to YouTube by Northsider John Fena, at about the 59 second point begins to show a couple of juveniles who...

NoMi Duplex "Before And After Miracle" On The 2100 Block Of 6th Street North, Performed By Revitalization Heroes John Fena And Edwin Schumacher...

Photo from Facebook page, "Duplex Renovation Finale And 100th Birthday," blog post by John Hoff


John Fena and his partner, Edwin Schumacher, who are the force behind "FenaMacher Properties LLC," have pulled off a miraculous transformation of a duplex on the 2100 Block of 6th St. N. They have shared numerous photos online, such as an "Apocalyptic Beginnings" album, click here, and recently a Facebook "Before and After" album. There was an event marking the 100th birthday of the house and its renovation rebirth. Numerous residents of NoMi, including myself, were invited. I couldn't make it but I hope to find my way to the house in the not-too-distant future and see if there might still be some "miraculous leftovers."

A good idea of the amazing "after" can be obtained from this link to "Duplex Ad Photos," click here, which really highlights the transformation when compared to the "Apocalyptic Beginnings."

NoMi is full of properties like this one, waiting to be transformed, and many of these properties are available for a song, relatively speaking.

Buy in, join your neighborhood organization, contribute to online blogs and discussions, and get yourself a stake in an affordable neighborhood being miraculously transformed into an "urban utopia" by "revitalization heroes" like John and Edwin.

Video and photos by John Fena and partner Edwin,

blog post by John Hoff

The previous post describes how a little dog named "Gretchen" was horrifically killed by unleashed pit bulls, almost two years ago today, and Gretchen's owners--John Fena and his partner Edwin--are trying to locate the thuggish owners (known by name) so they can be served and sued. Click here for that blog post.

The post-death images of Gretchen are, of course, horrific. But I have some very nice and adorable pictures of Gretchen, too.

Rather than mixing the two things together--Gretchen's wonderful, carefree life all stirred in the same dark pot with her sudden, horrible death--I thought it would be preferable to have a post with just NICE images of Gretchen.

Therefore....

Here. Here is more Gretchen.





It's a shame she's gone like this but, of course, some people believe our beloved animals are in a special neighborhood near heaven, accessible by the "rainbow bridge." Click here for more info.

Or, rather than cleaving to mysticism, one might find hope and comfort in GETTING A POUND OF FLESH FROM A LAWSUIT AGAINST THESE THUGS.

Oops, did I spoil the tone of this sweet little tribute post?

My bad.

JNS BLOG EXCLUSIVE: Somebody Needs To Be Located, Served And Sued For Pit Bull Attack Horror...

Images contributed by John Fena, blog post by John Hoff

Two years ago, almost to the day, John Fena and his partner Edwin witnessed their small, adorable dog killed by pit bulls WITHIN THEIR OWN FENCED OFF BACK YARD IN NORTH MINNEAPOLIS.

Both men tried, desperately, to rescue their little dog--called Gretchen--and both men sustained injuries from the two vicious, wandering, unleashed pit bulls...who managed to kill the little dog anyway. 

The horrific attack was the subject of a story on KARE-11, click here for a link.

It is no mystery who the owners of the pit bulls were, some no-accounts who lived at 1419 Girard Ave. N., Apartment Number 2. Their names and birthdays are as follows: Willis Keith White, January 9, 1969 and Chantell Deneice Isanda, March 17, 1969.

However, Willis and Chantell no longer live at that location, as one might expect of mobile and footloose fancy free no accounts. They've moved somewhere else and, well, who knows where?

But John and Edwin would like to locate Willis and Chantell so they can be served with a lawsuit and sued. The fact both Willis and Chantell are probably "judgment proof" (too poor to be worth suing) makes no difference to John and Edwin. They want to sue the thugs anyway. And I say, hey, let's help 'em find the thugs.

Any reader who has information about the whereabouts of Willis and Chantell should--pretty please--submit the info through the blog comments. If you want to submit a comment and NOT HAVE IT PUBLISHED, say so very clearly at the beginning of the comment, so I can receive the info but not publish it.

And now, exclusive to this blog, is the horrific firsthand account of John Fena...

By email, John Fena says as follows...

There were three men with 2 pit bulls that were unleashed/loose in our alley that night. Edwin had taken both our dogs to go potty before coming to bed. He heard the collars and saw the dogs roaming/sniffing outside of our fence and yelled at the men to leash their dogs. I heard him yelling, raced downstairs (buck naked) and came outside... he told me what was going on, I yelled for Gretchen to come in.

As she turned, one of the pits jumped the fence and raced towards her. Gretchen ran towards me and I reached to grab her just as the first pit clamped down on one of her legs. It was like fumbling a football. I thought I could get a hold of her, and then the other pit grabbed a hold. We were in a tug-of-war for her, all the time I was just thinking I could save her if I could get a hold of her...even through the breaking/cracking sounds/vibrations...like taking apart a cooked chicken. I was on the ground/ice/dirt naked, screaming, wrestling these dogs all the way into our back entryway.

I finally got a hold of her because one of the men had casually walked into our entry and gently taken them by the collar. At no point during the attack did any of the men try to help, call off the dogs, or anything...they stood on the other side of the fence and watched it all play out. I finally got my grip on her, ran inside, and realized she was dead in my arms. Edwin had been knocked unconscious and was laying face-down on the sidewalk...he had been wrestling the back end of one of these massive dogs to try and get them off me and Gretchen.

The men took off w/ the dogs, didn't try to help or anything. I called 911 and dealt with that, then instinctively called KARE 11 to tell them what had just happened. FOX9 showed up at our door, also, the next day...and we got a call from Star Trib and also WCCO. Animal Care & Control received a tip and came to our home the next day. We were able to identify the dogs.

Then the owners fled the city with their dogs once they were informed that they would need to release their dogs to ACC for quarantine, a standard procedure in an animal attack. It took a week until they finally complied and came back to the city. It took SO MUCH (expletive) effort/work to get those dogs put down, which happened nearly a month after Gretchen had been killed. It took several more months until we were finally given access to the owners' info and at that point had confirmed that they lived only a couple streets away from us.

* * *

JNS blog says: OK, let's pull together our collective skills and resources to obtain the current location of these thugs, so they can be served and sued.