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Sunday, October 31, 2010
Meldahl Medley Home Tour, Part 3
1:26 PM | 
Posted by
The I.I. |
This blog thread posted by the Irving Inquisition uses some explicit language, as well as depicting some aspects of life in North Minneapolis that some readers may find objectionable. Reader discretion is advised.
The Meldahl Medley Home Tour… The 3rd Installment
We’re carrying with the 3rd installment of who knows how many of Steven F. Meldahl’s sub-standard properties. Previous installments can be seen here: Part #1 and Part #2
Let’s check out how a pair of properties Meldahl owns in the Harrison neighborhood and see how they are holding up. 1st stop, 528 Morgan Avenue North. This rather inoffensive looking home is only guilty of being ugly. Nothing seems too out of place up front, so let’s take a look around back.
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| The front of 528 Morgan Avenue North |
Typical, no driveway; I was sort of rooting for Meldahl to have a property that didn’t have some sort of repugnant short-coming. Oh well, at least we can do our part and 311 it. Not like he’ll fix it or pay the fine; remember that Meldahl is above the law?
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| The back of 528 Morgan Avenue North. |
One block away from the 528 property sits this rather inoffensive looking house located at 421 Morgan Avenue North. As is characteristic of all of Meldahl’s properties, this one is sorely lacking in curb appeal. Other than that there’s nothing too out of place here either. Let’s see what the back end looks like.
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| The front of 421 Morgan Avenue North. |
(Sigh) No driveway here either. The gravel that used to be here is pretty much gone, replaced with weeds and whatever. Don’t Meldahl’s tenants deserve a driveway to park in? Even if they are Section 8, I expect my tax dollars to yield good value. Where are my friggin’ driveways?
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| The back of 421 Morgan Avenue North. |
It takes years, and years, and years of not giving a shit for a driveway to be replaced by nature.
Wednesday, October 27, 2010
Cops N' Robbers
This blog thread posted by the Irving Inquisition uses some explicit language, as well as depicting some aspects of life in North Minneapolis that some readers may find objectionable. Reader discretion is advised.
1st Up: Normal NoMi Days
Chapter 5: Cops N’ Robbers
Jerk Du Jour: Wrong Audience Political Billboards
I suppose there are a few people on this side of town that might vote for Emmer out of fear of having their taxes raised to balance the state budget. I am not one of them, as my income isn’t anywhere near that level. The only reason why I can imagine somebody would put up right-wing advertising in the hood is that the intended audience isn’t us NoMi folks.
Hey marketing guys! Thanks for thinking of us; although those final thoughts about us definitely came after the thoughts about Broadway commuters to Robbinsdale. Thanks a lot.
Wrong Audience Political Billboards… Today’s Jerk Du Jour.
Tuesday, October 26, 2010
Normal NoMi Days
This blog thread posted by the Irving Inquisition uses some explicit language, as well as depicting some aspects of life in North Minneapolis that some readers may find objectionable. Reader discretion is advised.
Introducing… Normal NoMi Days
In the beginning, there were the Simpsons. Then came King of the Hill, South Park and Family Guy.
Finally, here’s something we can call our own. This digitally created cartoon pokes fun at the ironies of life in North Minneapolis, as well it's absurdities, the conflicts amongst bloggers, and deeply contrasting political / personal points of view.
This is the debut of Normal NoMi Days. Enjoy!
Finally, here’s something we can call our own. This digitally created cartoon pokes fun at the ironies of life in North Minneapolis, as well it's absurdities, the conflicts amongst bloggers, and deeply contrasting political / personal points of view.
This is the debut of Normal NoMi Days. Enjoy!
Chapter 1: Faceoff
Chapter 2: The Great Rant
Chapter 3: Deep Thoughts?
Chapter 4: A NoMi Conundrum
Monday, October 25, 2010
Predictions
This blog thread posted by the Irving Inquisition uses some explicit language, as well as depicting some aspects of life in North Minneapolis that some readers may find objectionable. Reader discretion is advised.
1st Up: Priorities?
Not far from Irving Inquisition HQ is 2218 Irving Avenue North. This property was show cased a while back when I talked about Skid Row. We identified Murtuza Khan as the owner of this crack shack. Beyond this property, I don’t know of any others this person may own.
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| 2218 Irving Ave N in September of 2010. |
How is Khan doing with 2218 since last year? Let’s take a look at the tax status.
Uh oh, property tax delinquency, looks like we’ve got a slumlord on our hands. Notice how the mailing address is the same as the address of the non-homesteaded property, fascinating. That’s very odd… How could that be, nobody’s living inside to get the mail because why?
Because this is a vacant house! This place was home to the infamous 22nd Avenue Gang. They were selling drugs, tossing shoes over lamps, shooting out lights, and trashed the neighborhood so bad that the previous slumlord that owned 2201 and 2207 Irving lost tenants as fast he would get them. Eventually tranquilly was achieved when the SWAT team raided the place. It’s been empty ever since.
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| Nice retaining wall, now would you mind picking up your trash please? |
Since last month, Khan put in a retaining wall and painted the beams on his porch. I guess that’s nice but seriously, what about all of this other shit? Khan’s sitting on top of $2,392.33 worth of unpaid, past due taxes, and $8,356.92 worth of assessments from the city. On top of that, the house is an uninhabitable, piece of shit, crack house. Putting in a retaining wall seems like a silly thing to do, because it’s most likely going to get ground into dust when the demolition crane rolls it over next year.
Jerk Du Jour: Thugs at 2201 Irving Avenue North
In time, all wounds heal. Not these wounds. What the hell is this? There are multitudes of garbage bins available, just begging to be filled with 2201’s trash. They’re saying, “Please feed me your garbage!” It doesn’t even matter that your dumb-ass doesn’t recycle. But oh no, can’t do that. Can’t do that because that would mean you’re following the law, not violating city ordinances, and being a decent neighbor. 311’d, again. I predict that a fine will be gracing these guys or their slumlord.
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| You've got to be kidding me! |
Ah yes, lesson not learned, apparently. The CHIMO looking thug van below, is now legally parked in 2201’s driveway. It was towed away last summer. Why? Because it was illegally parked on that property’s back yard instead of the driveway. I guess you really can’t fix stupid. They decided to park the family car on the lawn. 311’d this too, again. I wonder if they’re going to keep parking the car back there until the tow truck arrives next month?
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| Obviously, that's not the driveway! |
Thugs at 2201 Irving Avenue North… Today’s Jerk(s) Du Jour
Sunday, October 24, 2010
Meldahl Medley Home Tour, Part 2
This blog thread posted by the Irving Inquisition uses some explicit language, as well as depicting some aspects of life in North Minneapolis that some readers may find objectionable. Reader discretion is advised.
The Meldahl Medley Home Tour… The 2nd Installment
I decided to continue my observations of Steven Meldahl’s properties. Previously, we went through a flurry of nine properties. Today we’ll just focus on two.
First stop, 3019 Colfax Avenue North. As I approached the house, I thought to myself that it seems strange that this house is vacant and boarded up. It doesn’t look that bad from the outside. Of course, the history of this property is quite a bit less flattering than house’s curb appeal.
Okay, so the front is boarded up. That’s not too bad I suppose, let’s take a look around.
Wait! See how there’s three windows boarded here? That’s a $6,550 fee in the city of Minneapolis. The rest of the house looks fairly normal. The ghetto window braces aren’t very attractive; frankly, they’re ghetto. Do these things really stop thugs from breaking and entering? The back is boarded too, other than that, there needs to be a railing for the stairs. Not a big deal from the big picture though.
\
It seems to me that Meldahl can’t rent this house out anymore because the city labeled it as a nuisance property. Perhaps if he’d bothered to get decent tenants in the first place this never would have happened. If somebody else were to take the reins of this property there should be no reason for it to remain vacant.
Next stop, 2627 Dupont Avenue North. This house has been condemned since April of 2008. You can see how the property has been actively neglected by looking at the shots below.
Unlike the last place I looked at, this joint is horrible. Everything about this house has been slumified. The property is in a state of major disrepair. Add insult to injury, what windows weren’t boarded, were broken. The fencing had been damaged, garbage was lying around all over the place, and even phone books were present. That thing in the back masquerading as a garage was covered in graffiti. 311 time; Meldahl, please clean the graffiti off of your garage. It’s not hard to do; I’ve had to clean it off my own garage.
http://apps.ci.minneapolis.mn.us/PIApp/SpecialAssessmentsRpt.aspx?Year=2010&Action=Show&PIN=37411
Honestly, I don’t know if this house can even be saved. Look at this. Crooked walls, the foundation appears to be eroding. What do you do about a place like this? This region of Hawthorne looks like it’s on its way to becoming little Detroit. Tearing 2627 down would only make the issue worse. Letting it sit in this condition until it falls in on itself, dragging property values further down, is also unacceptable. Wait a minute. The guy that owns this place has a lot of money. Let’s force him to fix it up to the community’s satisfaction or give it up? Maybe being a principal contributor to urban blight should be considered a felony? What do you, the readers, think?
Honestly, I don’t know if this house can even be saved. Look at this. Crooked walls, the foundation appears to be eroding. What do you do about a place like this? This region of Hawthorne looks like it’s on its way to becoming little Detroit. Tearing 2627 down would only make the issue worse. Letting it sit in this condition until it falls in on itself, dragging property values further down, is also unacceptable. Wait a minute. The guy that owns this place has a lot of money. Let’s force him to fix it up to the community’s satisfaction or give it up? Maybe being a principal contributor to urban blight should be considered a felony? What do you, the readers, think?
Friday, October 22, 2010
All These Hawkmen
This blog thread posted by the Irving Inquisition uses some explicit language, as well as depicting some aspects of life in North Minneapolis that some readers may find objectionable. Reader discretion is advised.
All These Hawkmen
A local blogger and friend of mine, goes by the call sign of the Hawthorne Hawkman. He’s got a very nicely laid out blog called North by Northside. The H.H. got his start by blogging for Johnny Northside. Of course everybody already knows that, and I’m sure you’re wondering where I’m going with this.
Time marched on and the blogosphere of North Minneapolis grew increasingly more hostile. The H.H. was ripped off when some disillusioned, anti-revitalizers decided to create an online personality called the Jordan Hawkman. Ironically, where the Hawthorne Hawkman uses critical thinking and writes thoughtfully by validating his statements; the Jordan Hawkman does not. In fact this personality was quite the contrary.
Jordan Hawkman started a blog dedicated to slamming a small handful of revitalizers, including myself. This Satin’s erectile dysfunction of a blog is known as the Jordan Hawkman Group, or J.H.G. Months would go by of unyielding hostility. People were ousted, identities revealed, and allegations ensued. Things were pretty nasty.
Then one day out of nowhere, the Area Hawkman emerged. Known as A.H. for short, this blog was a satirical outlet dedicated to mocking J.H.G.—which is considered sport in NoMi—every time there was a post. J.H.G. postings are typically comprised of some random statement, accusing somebody of being something that they’re not, all while writing at a 4th grade level. A.H. would then creatively write a response post, articulating the J.H.G. story in a fictitious setting with fictitious characters; essentially making fun of J.H.G. The Area Hawkman’s fame grew instantly and was quite popular.
Unfortunately, all good things… Earlier this week, A.H. stated that they were going to move on and stop blogging responses to J.H.G. This blogger’s interpretation of the A.H. final posting was something to the effect of… This shit being too god damned boring to blog about anymore. Indeed, it’s nearly impossible to come up with a good satire when all you have to work with is “It will be revealed in the very next post!” or “John Hoff is a—whatever” day in and day out. I would have quit from the boredom myself.
So here we are, back down to the two Hawkmen; the good guy, the Hawthorne Hawkman, and the bad guy(s), the Jordan Hawkman. I forgot to mention earlier that J.H.G. has nothing to do with Jordan, none of them actually live in NoMi. As I sit here typing away, I pause to take a sip of scotch—Macallan 18 year—and let the rich amber liquid burn its way down into my stomach.
As my stomach burns, I can look back at all the craziness that goes on around here the last several months and think to myself—I wonder what the next new sensation blogger is going to be called? We’ve created some interesting names for ourselves, so let’s expand on that. How about the Near North Nubian Goat? (That’s a real animal by the way) The Cleveland Cat Scratcher might work. What about the Harrison Hog? I think the Jordan Jack Rabbit would be cool. How do you like the Camden Kangaroo? Not enough super heroes for you, fine; do you like Captain Victory? Maybe the Willard Tough Guy and his sidekick the Hay Maker, might work? Or you could be like me and use a street you know. You could use the Lowry Languisher, or the Dupont Douchebag, or Earnesty from Emerson; or something like that…
Whatever the next blogger sensation is to hit NoMi is, please don’t make it another Hawkman.
Tuesday, October 19, 2010
Meldahl Medley Home Tour, Part 1
This blog thread posted by the Irving Inquisition uses some explicit language, as well as depicting some aspects of life in North Minneapolis that some readers may find objectionable. Reader discretion is advised.
The Meldahl Medley Home Tour… The First of Many
Slumlords come with me. I am the Ghost of Revitalizer’s Past; come with me on the first home tour of slumlord, Steven Meldahl, and his properties. Everybody knows about the infamous 1511 22nd Avenue North, but there’s a lot more to see. Let’s get started!
Right, I started on home turf and visited 2322 Irving, 2411 Irving, 2500 Humboldt, and 2610 Irving. Then I drove a few miles up to 4220 Irving, and then looped back. On my way back I stopped at 3335 Oliver, and then visited Downtown Meldahlville which is comprised of 2931 Oliver, 2926 Oliver, and 2623 Oliver.
First stop, 2322 Irving, nothing out of the ordinary here. This place is okay. Good job Steve, you’re batting 1000 so far.
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| 2322 Irving Ave N: Everything checks out up front. |
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| 2322 Irving Ave N: The back looks okay. |
Next stop, 2411 Irving; let’s see here… we’ve got chipped paint on one of the porch columns, a crack in the foundation, some litter out front, and something that looks like ghetto engineered water drainage, I think. Still, I’ve seen worse.
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| 2411 Irving Ave N: The water drainage pipe is ghetto engineered. |
No fucking way! Look at this once beautiful house slumified. Meldahl you son of a bitch! How could you let this happen? The structure of this house is amazing, I want to buy it, and I can’t believe that Meldahl would neglect this pretty house. I like the small yard this place has, small yards are nice because they’re easy to take care of. Of course that doesn’t matter if thugs are the tenants. All kinds of trash was strewn about the premises of 2500 Humboldt. What’s up with the stroller just sitting there? This property deserves so much better than Steven Meldahl. It deserves… me! Yes, I would buy this place in an instant and rehab it. It’s across the street from a school, it’s got a big garage, and the house is charming; all it needs is Meldahl’s forfeiture. I 311’d the litter.
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| 2500 Humboldt Ave N: This sight breaks my heart. |
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| 2500 Humboldt Ave N: The side view. |
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| 2500 Humboldt Ave N: The apocalyptic image of a stroller next to trash. |
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| 2500 Humboldt Ave N: There's a beautiful house behind all those boarded windows. |
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| 2500 Humboldt Ave N: Wouldn't be complete without crap lying around. |
On to 2610 Irving; looks like the garden retaining wall has a bunch of crap sitting in it, and there’s a broken window covered with plastic. Charming. Note the strategically placed fan, because you need one of those in your window this time of the year. Meldahl needs to fix his windows here.
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| 2610 Irving Ave N: Sacks of something from Menards just sitting there... |
Up the road to 4220 Irving; there’s a motorcycle parked at the top of the steps. Umm, okay… Aside from the odd parking spot there’s nothing wrong with the front. Let’s take a look around back. Yikes, there’s crap strewn around the back yard and the tenant is parked in an illegal drive way. The trash is a 311 and so is the lack of a bona fied driveway.
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| 4220 Irving Ave N: Yes, that's a motorcycle at the top of the stairs. |
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| 4220 Irving Ave N: Very lovely, the car, not the house. |
Let’s go to 3335 Oliver. This house could use some TLC for curb appeal; otherwise it’s not too bad. Would it kill the tenant to rake the leaves?
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| 3335 Oliver Ave N: Seems okay over here. |
Welcome to Downtown Meldahlville! Ah this is more like it. Look at this properly slumified house. 2931 Oliver’s front porch has been enclosed, even has a window, yet no front door. Maybe they ghetto engineered it that way so that thugs can do their drug deals on the front porch without being seen, while at the same time not disturbing grandma while she’s watching her sitcoms. What’s up with the crappy roof job? Meldahl’s going to have to replace that. I went across the street to 2926 Oliver. Nice ghetto fencing. I especially like the 10 foot tall tree saplings growing wild. It looks to me like they’re overgrown and leaning over the sidewalk. That’s a 311. Moving on to 2923 Oliver… Surprisingly, this house is rather inoffensive. It needs yard work and some curb appeal, but otherwise this one isn’t too bad.
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| 2931 Oliver Ave N: The front end looks like a fortress, not so inviting. |
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| 2931 Oliver Ave N: Roofing above the porch is messed up, and so is the porch. |
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| 2926 Oliver Ave N: Chop your weeds down. |
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| 2923 Oliver Ave N: This one ain't bad. |
That concludes our first home tour of the Meldahl Medley. Of the nine properties we looked at here, six of them had obvious problems that the property owner needs to address. Of course we’re talking about Steven Meldahl here, so naturally that isn’t going to happen.
Sunday, October 17, 2010
Get to Know Minneapolis Slumlord, Steven Meldahl
This blog thread posted by the Irving Inquisition uses some explicit language, as well as depicting some aspects of life in North Minneapolis that some readers may find objectionable. Reader discretion is advised.
Get to Know Minneapolis Slumlord, Steven Meldahl
Before we get too far with Steven Meldahl it’s important to understand the criteria by which he is being judged.
slum·lord [slúm làwrd] (plural slum·lords)
noun Definition: owner of slum housing: somebody who owns housing in slum areas, especially a neglectful landlord who overcharges tenants
[Mid-20th century.
noun Definition: owner of slum housing: somebody who owns housing in slum areas, especially a neglectful landlord who overcharges tenants
[Mid-20th century.
- encarta.msn.com
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| Burned out wreck - 1511 22nd Avenue North, Minneapolis MN 55411 |
This is 1511 22nd Avenue North. If you’ve read this blog before then you know that it is one of the themes that has propelled this blog into action. This property has been sitting there; empty, for the past six year, maybe even longer. It’s symbolic of urban decay, and its owner has literally done absolutely nothing to make this property habitable again.
If Meldahl could ignore the responsibilities of home ownership with one house, what would it look like to a larger scale? I asked myself that question and searched the internet and found what I was looking for on the public database. Of the known 80 properties Meldahl owns, he challenged the assessed taxable value of 79 of them last year. This data made its way to the 2009 Applications Heard by the Minneapolis Board of Appeal and Equalization spreadsheet, which is by law, out in the public domain. I gained access of this information via another enterprising NoMi resident who found the spreadsheet on the web. When I saw Medahl’s name appear line after line on the spreadsheet, I knew this was worth taking a closer look. Click on the spreadsheet image below to open it, and then zoom in.
The results of my research reveal a financial atrocity. Negligence, tax evasion, and business miss-management at a scale that’s difficult to grasp. See the spreadsheet above; you can see granular details of each of Meldahl’s properties. For the fiscal year 2010, Meldahl has a property tax liability—that’s just the properties I know of that are in Hennepin country, there’s probably more somewhere out there—of $150,850.66. At this point in time he should owe $0. The due date for the second half of this year’s property taxes was due on October 15th. As things stand right now, Meldahl owes $109,207.87 principle balance of this year’s tax liability; that’s about 72% of the balance that remains outstanding. Of Meldahl’s 80 properties—that I know of—in Hennepin County, Meldahl owes back property taxes on 73 of them. That means that he owes back taxes on 9 out of every 10 properties he owns; incredible.
What about the community side of things? Actually, this is just as bad. Meldahl’s properties have a combined total of 46 confirmed assessments, totaling to about $65,000 in fines from the city of Minneapolis for 2010 alone! Yes, that’s just 2010! There’s more. A lot of the assessments are fines for unpaid assessments from 2009, and that’s a large number as well. The large fines in the thousands are typically boarded up property fees, and vacant dwelling fines. Naturally, this could be resolved if Meldahl bothered to fix his junk shacks and rented the properties out to anybody that isn’t a thug.
Meldahl is so irresponsible that he’s behind on property taxes for the house he lives in. Oh yes, here’s the half million dollar home in Edina, 7409 Hyde Park Drive. I like the cute little red sports car parked in the drive way. I’d like to take a minute to thank Google Map’s Street View for helping illustrate the lifestyle of this crook.
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| Steven F. Meldahl's $495,000 house in Edina |
The entire time I’ve lived in NoMi, 1511 22nd Avenue North has been the nasty, empty, burned out wreck that it is today. Meldahl has done absolutely nothing to bring this place back or have it demolished. Upon closer inspection of how the man conducts business the public documents paint a sobering and clear picture; he treats all of his rental property this way. Steven Meldahl is right up there with Paul Koenig; he’s a cancer to North and South Minneapolis. Like most cancer tumors, this one needs to be removed and treated with chemo therapy.
311 complaints have helped to facilitate some hefty fines on a few properties, but now that we know the extent in which the county, the city, and our communities are being abused by this man; it is now clear that we need to take legal action against Steven Meldahl.
Thursday, October 14, 2010
Level 3 Sex Offender Moved In... Edgar Earl Lenear
This blog thread posted by the Irving Inquisition uses some explicit language, as well as depicting some aspects of life in North Minneapolis that some readers may find objectionable. Reader discretion is advised.
1st Up: Old School Rapist
The L3SO invasion continues! This time the community must brace itself for an old school rapist. This guy actually broke into somebody’s house and raped them at gun point! After he raped the lady, he stole property from her house!
Watch out for this guy, he’s a hybrid… a thug and a rapist L3SO at the same time. He moved on to the 3000 block of Emerson Avenue North, which means he’s really close to So Low.
This man obviously didn’t give a shit whether he knew the victims or not, so that means he’s likely to be a threat when least expected. Keep your eyes open; and if you happen to see him enter a residence on the 3000 block of Emerson, feel free to e-mail address to irvinginquistion@gmail.com.
Jerk Du Jour: Edgar Earl Lenear
This is a big dude. I wouldn’t be surprised if he played the role of starting pitcher in the washroom at Stillwater Penitentiary.
At least Lenear isn’t a CHIMO… Not very reassuring though, it’s bad enough the children in our community are under constant threat from the pre-existing CHIMOS living here—yeah it’s like a pre-existing condition—now the adults can share in that fear as well.
In other news… sales of mace in NoMi skyrockets.
Asshole Eddy the Burglarizing Rapist… Today’s Jerk Du Jour!
Upping Recycling
This blog thread posted by the Irving Inquisition uses some explicit language, as well as depicting some aspects of life in North Minneapolis that some readers may find objectionable. Reader discretion is advised.
1st Up: Bin-Up
Admittedly, I don’t always get around to putting my recycling out on time. That means that if you miss a round of recycling pickups, you’re basically waiting a whole month before they come back again. That’s what happened here.
As it turns out, I recycle much, much more than I throw away. I’m not doing anything special, either. The question that pops into my head is this; are other people like me, finding themselves in the under-served recycling world simply by day-to-day living? Even if I hadn’t missed the last pickup, there would still be way more recycling to pickup than what could fit in that bin.
I think the time has come—at least for some of us—where we need to beef up recycling services by making weekly pickups instead of biweekly. Let’s get recycling bins that are much larger, or at least make them more readily available.
Jerk Du Jour: Free-Loading Slumlords
How does Khan get the beautification bennies, then not plant them, and not even have the common courtesy to pick up trash in the yard? Unbelievable.
Free-Loading Slumlords… Today’s Jerk Du Jour.
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