Deande Craig Accused Of Attempted Murder In Dispute Over "Baby Mama" In Front Of Olympic Cafe...

Photo was originally used by guest author Hawthorne Hawkman
on another story about Olympic Cafe, blog post by John Hoff

Click here for the criminal complaint. 

Following up with an earlier blog post, JNS has now located the criminal complaint against Deandre Craig and though the charges are serious enough it's only ATTEMPTED Murder and not murder. 

Prosecutors say Craig shot a man in the chest in a dispute which the victim said, with painful gasping breaths, involved "my baby mama." Lying in on the sidewalk while being tended to by medics, the victim identified the shooter as "Drey" but couldn't say much more due to the extent of his injuries. The victim may have thought this was his dying declaration but surgeons ultimately saved his life from a bullet wound roughly an inch from his heart.

The shooting happened in front of the Olympic Cafe (923 West Broadway) which sits in the middle of what may be the roughest block in North Minneapolis and, therefore, the state.

However, video surveillance footage captured by Olympic Cafe played a key role in bringing charges against...

Details Are Fuzzy After Shooting At Penn And West Broadway...

Photo, blog post by John Hoff

A local television station is reporting there was a shooting yesterday at "Penn and West Broadway. JNS blog was on the ground near there and thought the crime scene tape seemed to be surrounding an area all around the entrance to Olympic Cafe Plus, usually referred to as Olympic Cafe Two by local residents.

The tape remained up for several hours and police were at the scene as late as midnight, leading Northsiders to believe a fatality or serious injury was involved. There was also a homicide on Ilion Ave. N. last night. JNS blog doesn't have the details, yet, but an examination of the jail roster would lead me to believe the woman has not yet been charged and it is possible she's not in jail. 

Olympic Cafe Delivers!

Post by the Hawthorne Hawkman, contributed video.

Last night, I was hanging out with several friends and enjoying the good life in NoMi. We decided we needed something to eat, and from our last foray to the Olympic Cafe, we knew they delivered. There aren't too many establishments in NoMi that deliver, by the way. Pair o' Dice Pizza is about the only one I can think of offhand.

This brought forth a rather interesting discussion about neighborhood amenities, but first, an explanation is in order for why the above video is associated with this post. You see...

...some of us had gotten it in our heads to go down the Farview Hill in a Radio Flyer wagon. Why, exactly? As Calvin of Calvin and Hobbes' fame said, "I must obey the inscrutable exhortations of my soul. My mandate also includes weird bugs."

Also, I've heard a story that RT Rybak rolled down Farview Hill in a barrel, and that experience was somehow so amazing that it led to his support of the Hawthorne EcoVillage. Can anyone confirm this? Ideally with links to a story?

So after I put in the order to Olympic Cafe, I made a point to everyone gathered around that I wanted to get a picture of the delivery so I could blog about it. Unfortunately, no one had a camera with them and my Blackberry was, as you can see, otherwise occupied.

Which brings me back to the original point of this post (yes, there was one). Olympic Cafe delivers. I'm beginning to like their gyros more and more, and the fried okra is good too. I've had better chicken gizzards elsewhere, but it's nice to know they've got 'em. And their gyro cheese fries unfortunately look like something Jackson Pollock would cook while on a particularly bad acid trip.

So Olympic Cafe isn't high-end cuisine, is all I'm saying. But darn it, the place IS an AMENITY. Having places that deliver decent food late in the evening is a positive thing for NoMi. If you want them to deliver, the order has to be $20 or more, and the number to call is 612-522-2300. Enjoy!

Update On The Olympic Cafe Hours Issue...

Photo and blog post by John Hoff

JNS blog previously reported on Olympic Cafe on West Broadway and their hopes of staying open later. Despite opposition in the community--those of us who feel like Olympic primarily serves chicken drummies to drug dealers who hang out at Hawthorn (sic) Crossings strip mall all day long, the kind of "lower than low end" establishment we call a "thug store"--word came that Olympic got approval to extend their hours.

In regard to the extension of the hours, I was told other businesses in the area had late hours, and failing to approve hours for Olympic might have exposed the city to unacceptable liability. So Olympic got its approval--with teeth clenched during the "aye" vote, I imagine--and the next step for neighborhood activists is closely monitoring the business...calling in vigorously on any litter, graffiti, suspicious characters hanging around outside, that kind of thing.

As part of this "close monitoring," a couple nights ago I dropped by there with some friends...

...hoping to have a gyro. Word was their gyros were fairly good, served with a standard but perfectly adequate gyro sauce.

However, when we arrived outside the restaurant--this must have been around 1:30 in the morning--the restaurant was closed, though it was lighted inside and loud Middle Eastern music was playing. A sign on the window said the cafe closed at 1 a.m.

We were disappointed but, then again, NOT disappointed. If this place closes up at 1 a.m. despite permission to stay open later, all the better.

We're still watching like hawks.

Olympic Cafe's Small Chances of 3 AM Appeal

Post and bottom photo by the Hawthorne Hawkman. Top image from Twin Cities Metromix.

Let's face it. Some businesses should not stay open until 3 a.m. (warning, link contains strong language). When the Olympic Cafe applied for a variance to stay open this late, they were rightly denied. The owners appealed that decision, and the appeal was postponed one cycle.

The hearing is now scheduled for Thursday, April 22nd, 9:30 a.m. at City Hall. People are strongly encouraged to contact their city council representatives and tell them emphatically that the last thing the embattled Hawthorn (sic) Crossings needs is an influx of traffic at three in the morning. Even the Pope has weighed in on this issue.

All kidding aside, there are legitimate REASONS why the request was denied in the first place. For instance...

...click here for the original denial. I'll hit the high points though.

"The business has previously been issued citations for operating beyond the hours allowed under the C1 district regulations; thus the application to legally extend the hours of operation. Planning Staff has consulted with the applicable Police Precinct which does not support any extension of hours on the premises beyond what is allowed under the C1 district regulations." (emphasis mine)

"After consulting with the applicable Police Precinct, Planning Staff does believe that allowing extended hours of operation in this location could potentially be detrimental to or endanger the public health, safety, comfort and/or general welfare...the Police Department is concerned that extending the business hours would merely exacerbate the problems that exist in the area including loitering."

"The Department of Community Planning and Economic Development - Planning Division recommends that the City Planning Commission adopt the findings above and deny the conditional use permit to allow the existing restaurant to operate until 3 a.m. daily for the property located at 923 West Broadway (921 West Broadway)." (Emphasis contained in original quote)

If you go down to page 12 of this document, you'll see the response from the Olympic Cafe's representative. He gets shot down pretty impressively by the committee. His basic response is that, oh there isn't much of an issue with police calls to the business, so they don't have security. But goshdarnit, they'll hire some as soon as they expand their hours.

Oh, and as far as being cited twice already for operating beyond regular business hours, they're now saying they want to come into compliance. I've never run a business before, but it doesn't seem so hard to actually remember when your license allows you to be open and operate within those hours.

It should be noted that although the staff report says no word has come from the neighborhood councils, Hawthorne staff did invite the business owners or representatives to come to a community meeting in Hawthorne to discuss this. No one ever took up the neighborhood on that invitation, so the topic never came up at a meeting for HNC to decide one way or another.

Commissioner Gorecki made a motion to deny Olympic's request, saying, "I think there is enough evidence here, especially when I read the West Broadway email to us that really clearly points out that there has been a long term problem with this business. Its lack of attention to what’s happening not only with its business but with its surrounding impact on the community."

Commissioner Leupke-Pier seconded the motion, saying, "I live five blocks away from there so I’ve experienced this business and I used to live two blocks away from there prior to that so over a decade of living near that business which wasn’t there the whole decade, but only the last few years. I do want to say that littering has been a problem, loitering has been a problem. I know you said your client is doing what he can but apparently it’s not enough. You can say that people are outside and it’s not your problem, but if you run a business it is your problem. It’s consistently been a problem. Reading the West Broadway Business Association’s letter about how they tried to reach out and tried to engage your client to make this roblem go away or alleviate it, it seems as though your client isn’t really interested in making the effort to do the same."

The motion carried, 8-0. I predict the appeal will also be unanimously denied.

Calls for Service to Olympic Cafe

Post and photo by the Hawthorne Hawkman.

Today I was given a report of the calls for service at the Olympic Cafe at 923 W Broadway Avenue. The Olympic Cafe is requesting permission to stay open until 3 a.m. The Hawthorne Neighborhood Council and the Old Highland neighborhood group have both opposed this ludicrous move.

ADDENDUM: The Chair of the Old Highland Neighborhood Association has posted a comment regarding the statement above. That association has not taken an official stand on the issue. The more formally recognized neighborhood group, NRRC, has at this time, opposed the extended hours.

From the January 1, 2009 through February 17, 2010, there have been twenty-two calls for service, listed below...

The incidents are described with a date/time, then the problem, then the disposition.

1/5/09 9:11:58 AM, Traffic Law Enforcement, Tagged
1/5/09 6:53:03 PM, Customer Trouble, Gone on Arrival
2/3/09 1:25:02 PM, Property Damage Accident, Report
2/4/09 11:44:46 PM, Miscellaneous, Advised
3/24/09 4:06:33 PM, Customer Trouble, Assist
4/18/09 2:25:35 AM, Person with a Weapon, Gone on Arrival
5/1/09 8:43:00 PM, Narcotics (Drug) Activity, Sent
5/18/09 11:06:17 PM, On Site, Advised
5/21/09 10:29:16 PM, Miscellaneous, Advised
5/30/09 12:41:45 AM, On Site, Information
6/2/09 7:37:17 PM, Theft, Booking
6/5/09 11:35:07 PM, Miscellaneous, No Service
6/5/09 11:35:37 PM, Miscellaneous, Information
6/24/09 10:48:19 AM, Robbery of Person, Information
7/19/09 5:48:09 PM, Narcotics (Drug) Activity, Gone on Arrival
7/31/09 10:19:10 PM, Theft - Report Only, Report
8/14/09 8:32:05 PM, Suspicious Person, Assist
8/31/09 5:01:15 PM, Suspicious Person, Tagged
9/17/09 10:06:50 PM, Unwanted Person, (No information listed)
10/4/09 8:11:45 PM, Fight, Booking
12/3/09 6:21:49 PM, Assault in Progress, Tagged
12/21/09 6:55:32 PM, Suspicious Person, Tagged

My first thought upon reading this list was, "Hey, 22 calls for service in a year, maybe that's not so bad." My next thought was, "THAT'S BECAUSE THEY WEREN'T OPEN UNTIL 3 A.M.!!!"

Olympic Cafe Wants to Stay Open Until 3 AM?! I don't think so.

Post and photos by the Hawthorne Hawkman.

I just received word that Olympic Cafe, at 923 West Broadway, is holding a public hearing on March 8 regarding a request to stay open until 3 a.m. I do not have a time or location for the meeting yet. I braved the icy tundra of the Hawthorn (sic) Crossings sidewalks to get a picture of the place.

While on that miniature trek, I had one "y'allright," and another "Howyadoingottacigarette?" In broad daylight. If this place is open a full hour after bars close, I'm inclined to think that the only customers at that time will be alcohol-laden thugs looking to sell or score their last hit of the night. There, I said it.

(Do not click "read more," but do contact your city council representative and oppose the 3 a.m. closing time for Olympic Cafe.)