Still Waiting For Info About The Body At 2222 4th St. N.

Photos By John Hoff

Maybe the powers-that-be are waiting until after Christmas to announce whatever sure-to-be-macabre findings they have, but in the meantime...

...residents of North Minneapolis, particularly the Hawthorne neighborhood, are waiting to hear the autopsy results and identity of the dead female, age unknown, found in the crappy little "carriage house" garage behind 2222 4th St. N.

Maybe this story has fallen off the mental radar screen for most of the Twin Cities, but for those who live near the scene the incident is still very much a concern, particularly if there is a murder suspect who needs to be apprehended. Folks speculated the dead individual may have been a transient, which seemed like a plausible enough theory.

Unfortunately, all we have to go on at this point are old media reports and a few ghastly rumors published to the comment threads of an earlier blog post here at Johnny Northside, as the Minneapolis Crime blog recently noted.

Well, the comment thread of this blog post is open, pending only approval of me, the blogmeister. If you have info you want to share--dark confessions burdening your soul, etcetera--feel free to spill. Gee, I'd sure like to know what other ugly, run-down properties might be owned by Mr. Khan.

I'd love to be able to search the Minneapolis property records using his name as a search term, but of course the website is clunky and you can't search that way...at least, regular citizens can't. One hears rumors city officials have more search options, but aren't sharing those privileges with us, the unwashed masses.

Sigh. We wait. A frozen body turns up days ago, and still we wait to find out if the cause of death was cold-blooded murder or just...the cold.

2207 4th Street North (New Info About This Ongoing, Frustrating Situation)

Photo By John Hoff

Hawthorne Housing Director Jeff Skrenes dug up some new info about 2207 4th St. N., and it is quite frustrating to learn...

Here is Jeff's info, verbatim:

Many of us were working under the assumption the owner--Jose Hugo Contreras Vazquez--was a recent owner and had just purchased this property. Well, I checked county records and it turns out he bought the place in September, 2004 for $149,000. And it is on the CARE Committee list of problem properties already. Here is what care has to say about it, verbatim:

2207 4th St. N. (11/20/07) PPU. Building condemned with 26 open orders (7/3/07 due date) Moving forward to demo. Condemned board flag 7/6/07 & vacant building registration 7/6/07.

2/20/08 No change in status.

3/18/08 "director's order" to demolish is being considered, a new vacant building registry fee of $6,000 to be assessed in July 2008.

5/20/08 No change. 6/18/08 No change.

7/15/08 open violation grass/weeds.

8/20/08 multiple violations issued on property, due 11/08.

9/17/08 No change. 11/19/08 recent inspection, multiple housing violations. PPU will monitor. 12/17/08 No change.

Jeff continues:

So what, really, are we looking at, here? Mr. Contreras has been the owner of a property for the past 4 years and 3 months. The property has had problem property designation for the past 13 months. Usually in order for that to happen, it has to be boarded/vacant for the past 15 months. Residents living in the area may be able to give a more accurate history.

If that wasn't bad enough, once it went to a problem property status things have deteriorated continuously, starting with 26 open orders, then he can't even mow the grass, then "multiple violations" in inspections done in August and November, and culminating in the vacant house party a few weeks ago. (Click here)

I was thinking we'd invite a new owner to these meetings and set him straight. But with this history, I'm more in favor of just pushing him out and encouraging the city to go ahead with a demolition.

Google Maps: This Is Not My North Minneapolis Neighborhood

Google Maps Image Forwarded
By "Way Cool 311 Jim" of Chicago

I really can't be too critical of Google Maps, because at least my neighborhood is included in their street-level images. I understand some obscure places on the planet don't have street-level images on Google Maps at all, and rumor has it the entire state of North Dakota just wasn't included until somebody in East Grand Forks, Minnesota pointed out the error years later. However...

My Hawthorne neighborhood in North Minneapolis has been changing so fast many Google Maps images are, in effect, a walk down memory lane. Boarded buildings have been demolished, or occupied, or are under renovation. Street corners where groups of aimless young men up-to-no-good would just hang around are now...less welcoming, and less occupied. This is especially true in the Eco-Village area, which has seen major demolition activity.

Earlier today, I was having a discussion with "Way Cool 311 Jim" in Chicago, and I was discussing a matter on Bryant Avenue North. At some point Jim referred to Google Maps, but when I looked at Google maps I realized...Bryant has changed. For example, the house in the foreground is no longer boarded and vacant. That house is now full of renters, who reportedly are decent enough and trouble nobody. A lot of other stuff about the street had changed, too.

So I'm making this heartfelt statement to the internet ether, hoping it gets picked up by those in a position to do something: Google, please re-photograph and re-map my Hawthorne neighborhood.

City Pages Gives Hawthorne Neighborhood Hurtful "Lutefisk Snub"

Photo By John Hoff, available on Flickr.com

As if crackheads stealing aluminum siding and copper pipes wasn't bad enough, now THIS!!!! A recent article in the City Pages weekly newspaper, click here, went into great detail about Olsen Fish Company producing lutefisk for lovers of lye-and-cod-based fish delicacies the world over, hooray, but somehow neglected to mention...

...that Olsen Fish Company is in the Hawthorne Neighborhood of North Minneapolis.

You know, my neighborhood doesn't always get good publicity, but I don't whine about it. I expect journalists to tell the truth, and if a negative event truthfully happened in the Hawthorne neighborhood, then it is informative and accurate and probably fair to mention the name of the neighborhood. Sure.

But how is it when something GOOD happens like (in this case) "the world's largest chunk of phlegm" our neighborhood doesn't get named?

This hurts, City Pages. This really hurts.

I'll be firing off an emailed letter-to-the-editor, but in case it isn't published...well, there, I've said my piece.

Except to add this: SUPPORT THE SPUNKY HAWTHORNE NEIGHBORHOOD IN ITS BRAVE STRUGGLE TO REVITALIZE!!!! EAT MORE LUTEFISK!!!

MORE DETAILS: Hennepin County Sheriff Raids 2223 Bryant Ave. N.

Flickr.com Photo

Ho, ho, ho. It's a Johnny Northside Dot Com Christmas. My readers have been very, very good so here's a special bloggy present for you.

There have been more developments with the surprising sheriff's department raid at 2223 Bryant Ave. N, which this blog previously reported, click here.

The raid is "surprising" because the house...

...reportedly wasn't much of a problem as far as drug trafficking though apparently this house has been a problem "off and on." In fact, in addition to "2207" being a cursed number in Hawthorne, pink houses are also considered "unlucky" and tend to be problem houses, or so one long-time resident claims. Crappy-looking venetian blinds are often a clue, and this house had THAT. (Still does, as a matter of fact)

The address, now revealed to be 2223 Bryant Ave. N., is a rental with an absentee landlord who lives out-of-state. Word on the street is somebody got the contact info for the landlord and called him today, Christmas Day, to let him know what was up with his unsavory tenants. The police raid was news to him. He promised to look into the matter. We shall see. A letter from the neighborhood association will likely go out, judging by past practice.

The day after the police raid, a black male in his mid- to late-30s was seen with a hammer, trying to repair the door frame, which was apparently damaged when police entered with their search warrant.

Yeah...like the landlord was going to think that loose, nailed-back-together door frame was "normal wear and tear." Oh, gee, I guess the UPS guy bumped it and THE DOOR FRAME CAME COMPLETELY LOOSE, shrug, shrug, ingratiating smile.

On a tangential side note:

Did I ever tell you folks about the time I was an assistant landlord, and some college kids tried to conceal nail holes in a white plaster wall with TOOTHPASTE? I was all, like, "Huh, this wall smells MINTY FRESH."

EXCLUSIVE BREAKING NEWS: Hennepin County Sheriff's Department Serves Search Warrant On The 2200 Block Of Bryant Ave. N.

Flickr.com Photo, Album By The Band "Warrant"
(Sorry, I didn't have a good illustration)

At least four or five vehicles descended on a house on the 2200 block of Bryant Ave. N., on the odd side of the street. Most of the vehicles were unmarked cars. I heard there was at least one marked vehicle but didn't see it myself.

The specific house number will follow when I have it. It's dark and cold and I can't hang around for it just this minute. I'm operating under less-than-ideal blogging conditions, here, but I'm back from family and back in the game.

The warrant was served by Hennepin County police, most of which appeared to be undercover due to lack of uniforms and marked cars. Numerous brown paper bags were observed being brought out of the house and placed in the trunk of a vehicle, apparently evidence. One officer requested that I not photograph his vehicle or face, and I honored that request.

The officers would not say if the warrant was for drugs but did confirm, when asked, that they got what they "needed."

Note: This blog entry was updated with an illustration and musical links on Dec. 25.

(Do not click "Read More")

Family And Blizzard

Flickr.com Photo

To my regular readers: I've been out of town, dealing with family stuff, and held up due to the blizzard. I had to shovel the walkways of a number of old and disabled folks in a small town, to help a friend. So I've been stuck. But I'll get back to Minneapolis and put up more content in the next couple days.

In the meantime, there is an incredible unconfirmed comment about 2222 4th St. N. I prefer to believe this is just rumor-mongering. All the same...check it out. Even as nothing more than a rumor, it is ugly and interesting.

(Do not click "Read More")

JoyAnne Teachout, Wife Of Hawthorne Chair, Expecting Fourth Child

Photo By John Hoff

Peter Teachout and his wife, JoyAnne, are taking seriously the mission to bring new residents to Hawthorne. They are expecting their fourth child! Congratulations, Peter and JoyAnne.

(Do not click "Read More")

Mysterious Death At 2222 4th St. N. (JOHNNY NORTHSIDE BLOG EXCLUSIVE DETAILS About The Miserable, Run-Down Property In Question)

Photos By John Hoff

For some reason, none of the media is willing to state the specific address of the run-down, decrepit dump of a property where a woman's body was found recently, click here for the story as told by WCCO.

I'm familiar with...

...the house in question. In fact, I once called 311 on the house for having no address number visible on the front exterior, and then a big green "2222" mysteriously appeared shortly after that on the board over the front door. Well, better than nothing, I guess.

Not A Gas Leak After All

Actually, Jeff and I drove past the crime scene while it was being processed. This was some time after the news crews had left, apparently, or before they all arrived. Even though both ends of the alley were blocked off, I didn't think much of it. I figured there was yet another gas leak from crackheads stealing copper pipes, because the fire department's procedure of blocking both ends of an alley looked similar to what I've seen before with these North Minneapolis gas leaks.

A house might explode. Shrug. Well, guess I can't cut through the alley.

The next day, I read about a woman's body being found in the garage, frozen. (So frozen one media outlet said she'd have to "thaw" before the autopsy took place) Some emails flew around the neighborhood. Michael Klick had heard gunshots on Sunday night during the snowstorm, and he couldn't help but think it might be connected to the woman's body being found in the garage.

"In Extreme Disrepair"

If the city's online property records are current--and you could break bones tripping over such a big "if"--the owner of the property is somebody named Mahmood Khan, whose address is listed at 2972 Old Highway 8 Roseville, MN 55113. So if the media are reporting the "owner" of the property came out to check the place, and found the body, then one assumes it was Mahmood Khan who found the body. (Unless the house has been sold to somebody else and the city's records just aren't up-to-date, which is common)

On September 25--the very day of the Hawthorne Annual Meeting--there was a meeting at City Hall regarding this property. (One supposes the meeting may have involved other properties, too) The meeting was held by the Nuisance Condition Process Review Panel. Board members, an assistant city attorney, and folks from inspections (including good ol' Wayne Murphy) were at the meeting, and so was Mahmood Khan, representing himself.

The board found as follows: 2222 4th St. N. is a two-family home in the Hawthorne neighborhood. The (garbled) story structure was built in 1900. Each unit has four rooms, including one bathroom and one bedroom. The building is 1,623 square feet. (...) (On all three floors)

The property is in extreme disrepair. There are 27 open housing orders on the property, most as a result of the Code Compliance Inspection conducted in April, 2008. The basement is moldy, there are holes in the walls, water damage shows on the ceilings throughout the house, kitchens and bathrooms have been trashed, the copper has been stripped and the roof is substandard.

The inspections department found the estimated cost to rehab the building is $129,843 to $234,372 based on the means square foot estimate. The assessed value of the property in 2007 was $147,000. The 2008 assessed value is $70,000. The Preservation and Design Team staff didn't find the property worth preserving.

The Hawthorne Area Community Council (the former name of HNC) and property owners within 350 feet of the property were mailed a request for a community impact statement. Three were received, all of which said the house had a negative impact on the neighborhood and should be demolished.

How We Got Into This Mess

Yong Yia Vue purchased the property on December 1, 2005. The property went into foreclosure and a sheriff's sale was conducted on June 20, 2006, with Deutsche Bank National Trust as Trustee for AMC Mortgage Services submitting the highest bid. The redemption period expired on December 20, 2007, and the property was put up for sale "as is."

On July 17, 2007, the property was condemned for being a boarded building and added to the City's Vacant Building Registration. The property has remained vacant and boarded since that time.

On April 1, 2008, a Code Compliance Inspection was ordered and paid for by Kyle White, the realtor attempting to sell the property. On June 25, 2008, the current owner, Mahmood Khan, purchased the property.

A Notice Of The Director's Order to Raze and Remove was mailed on July 23, 2008 to AMC Mortgage Services, Inc., Young Yia Vue, Kyle White, Vang Phay, Argent Mortgage Co. and Shapiro, Nordmeyer and Zielke.

On August 19, 2008, Mahmood Khan filed an appeal indicating "Code Compliance, will be brought up to code by licensed contractors."

On September 22, 2008 Mr. Khan sent the Department of Inspections an estimate to rehabilitate the property at a cost of $100,000 but was unable to meet with staff to discuss a restoration agreement detailng the proposed rehabilitation including timelines for completion.

Mr. Khan stated at the hearing that he plans to convert the building to a single family home with hope to provide housing to low-income families. Mr. Habib Moghul spoke on the owner's behalf and indicated he has seen the owner do good work in rehabbing other houses in the city.

(...) The city of Minneapolis found evidence, "including but not limited to neighborhood impact statements, clearly demonstrates that the values of neighborhood properties have diminished as a result of deterioration of the subject building" and also "rehabilitation is not justified when compared to the after rehab resale value of the building."

Recommendation to Raze upheld by the board.

Observations By "Boots On The Ground"

I was giving Hawthorne Housing Director Jeff Skrenes a ride to pick up his newly-repaired vehicle, and I took a detour to 2222 4th St. N., now clear of police and gawkers...though plenty of ribbons of crime scene tape were left hanging all over.

I advocate making that stuff out of corn starch polymer. My little Green Party plug, here, for a small public policy tweak to help the environment.

The "garage" in question is small. It appears to be one of the many old "carriage houses" which dot the back yards of North Minneapolis. The garage had been newly re-boarded with an official, gray board. A couch was near the garage, with a blue crime scene latex glove on it. It seemed as though the couch may have been hauled out of the garage. The cushions of the couch were missing. If the body was on the couch, then I figure these cushions were taken along with the body for some kind of analysis...though Jeff speculated the corpse may have been frozen to the cushions.

Of course...we don't really know if the deceased person was on that couch or not. But what's up with that big missing chunk of hand rest?

The house is a monstrosity. You can't really call it a duplex, despite an odd, engraved metal sign declaring "THIS IS A DUPLEX." Jeff had never seen anything like that sign, and wondered what was the point. The house seemed to be a small gray stucco thing which had some kind of horrible addition added, then pranced around shrieking, "Look at me! I'm a duplex!"

I note the findings of the City of Minneapolis went out of its way to avoid use of the word "duplex." Some kind of legality is a-simmering, here, or was at one time.

Paint Cans In The Mail Slot

Properly acting under the City of Minneapolis' publicized mandate for responsible citizens to "adopt" vacant and neglected properties, I wanted to see if any letters were stuck in the mail slot, so I could shove that stuff further into the house to help thwart mail fraud. That was when me and Jeff found the front porch was full of paint cans...waist high, it appeared, piled up just beyond the mail slot in the front porch. Who knew how many, but probably a lot. Jeff said the place was being used as a "dumping ground."

I noticed some of the vinyl siding had been pried upon...just enough for somebody to find out it was vinyl, not aluminum. Windows were missing on the second story, allowing blowing snow to enter the house.

This house is a monstrosity. I would like to think something like this incident would change the mind of the owner about trying to rehab it, but it's pretty hard to transform the hardwired slumlord mindset: nothing a coat of paint won't fix.

The proceedings against this house should move from back burner to front burner. But I think most residents are just wondering: how did this woman die? And if it was foul play, who did it? And who was she? Those are answers we're still waiting for...while she, um, thaws.

Snowy Evidence Of Misery At 416 31st Ave. N.

Photos By John Hoff

There have been drug arrests at this house...a drive-by shooting. It has come near condemnation...very little of a happy nature seems to happen at 416 31st Ave. N. This week is no exception to the overall historical pattern...

Previously, the owner of the place--who reportedly burst into tears with building inspectors this year, after a bunch of tenants left along with copper pipes, aluminum window frames--poured a lot of work into fixing the place, and put in a new group of tenants. The new tenants had a lot of noisy little children who seemed to supervise themselves, mostly, but nobody in the neighborhood could say they caused any serious trouble, especially when compared to the worthless no account crack users who were there before.

But, suddenly, the house appears empty...except for the possibility of somebody squatting inside, a matter we're watching closely. "Owner boards" (which are not painted gray nor bearing placards, unlike "official boards") went up over the windows on the lower level, perhaps to prevent a repeat of the aluminum-frame looting incident.

Word is the mother of the renter family got sick, and left in an ambulance. Later, somebody who seemed to be a relative came to fetch at least two mattresses; possibly for the children. All this is unconfirmed, but the former tenants certainly appear to be gone in a hurry.

A bunch of possessions hit the curb: clothing transported in a big bed sheet bundle, mismatched shoes, a small television, a little freezer with the lid removed, possibly to make it easy to clear a doorway.

The Polish woman lives close to all of this sad drama, but word is her new privacy fence (constructed by volunteers from ReBuilding Together) has made her life more comfortable, by minimizing what used to be a spectacular view of the low-budget soap opera at 416 31st. Ave. N.

What will happen to 416 31st Ave. N? Will it get sold and fixed up? Will it be demolished?

We watch. We wait. We hold our breath. The mood seems to be...feeling bad for the folks who left, but not particularly sad to see them go.

ADDENDUM: Information comes from the Eco Village...word on the street is the woman had a heart attack and died. 

Driving Around With Stolen Aluminum Siding In My Van

Photo By John Hoff

Yesterday, HNC Housing Director Jeff Skrenes had car trouble and needed a ride. I was turning off Lyndale Ave. N. when I spotted...

...a mess of aluminum siding in my traffic lane. I couldn't avoid running over some of it. I turned the corner and pulled over.

"What's the matter?" Jeff asked. He had his nose in a newspaper, scrutinizing boring data about foreclosure trends while--and here is the rich irony--we drove through the dystopian heart of Foreclosure-istan, surrounded by its rich layers of phenomenon.

"Didn't you see that aluminum siding in the road?" I asked, popping my van's hatch. I fetched all that siding out of the cold, snowy street--initially dragging it to the sidewalk and then loading it into my vehicle. It obviously fell off the truck of a scrapper, and I highly doubt its origins were honest. But what am I supposed to do? It's not exactly worth dusting for fingerprints. It's not worth calling 911. Heck, it's not even worth calling 311.

So I'm in the ironic position of hauling around and disposing of stolen aluminum in order to be a good and environmentally-conscious citizen and clear the roadways of a hazard.

When I travel to my rural Minnesota ancestral homeland, I'll probably take the scrap along and give it to some scrupulously honest scrapper known to me personally.

2207 4th St. N. Cleans Up Its Act

Photo By John Hoff

There has finally been a positive development with 2207 4th St. N., the "condemned party house" situation which I wrote about here, and also here. (Click for links)

No sense dragging it out for drama: the graffiti got cleaned up. It appears to have been done at the last minute, right before the abatement order would have taken effect. However, I should note there appears to be a decent, good-faith effort made to match the paint with the color of the wood instead of slapping on any old thing. So....good.

The neighborhood is pleased to see progress and somewhat hopeful the initial situation may have been an aberration and misunderstanding about the community standards in this part of North Minneapolis.

This is what happens when we communicate and coordinate. We win. We take back our neighborhood. We turn things around.

(Do not click "Read More")

A House Condemned Against Itself Cannot Stand (Or Can It?)

The abominable "pink cracker box duplex" at 2230 6th Street North, which I have reported about before, click here; was recently condemned. Sort of. From all appearances, and based on some information from a citizen in Hawthorne, it appears...

...the downstairs unit is condemned, but not the upstairs unit, which is plainly still inhabited.

I didn't even know it was POSSIBLE to condemn one half of a house, but not the other half. I am...like....FREAKING OUT. My mind is blown.

The reason for the condemnation, according to the red placard, is "lack of maintenance."

Word is the people who live in the upstairs unit were never a problem, anyway, unlike the no account criminal thugs who lived downstairs. The surrounding area is already reportedly more quiet, with less open-air dealing. Good riddance.

One house at a time, we are turning this neighborhood around. But in this case...half a house at a time.