My husband and I had the exact same thing happen to us last summer. We went to a twins game on a Sunday afternoon - leaving from the 38th street station. We came back and there were no bikes. Our lock was tossed into the bushes and we asked the Cardinal, and there were people on the patio all afternoon. We now have junk bikes to ride to the station with and our other bikes remain dedicated commuting bikes. It was a huge loss when it happened to us. Sorry to hear that it is still happening - let alone in the middle of the day. Sareen
I talked to one of my neighbors last night who might have been the owner of one of those other bike locks. She said she has locked a bike at the 38th Street Station bike racks two different times -and the bike was stolen both times. Yesterday was one of them. According to her account knowing the serial number is essential - since she wasn't able to complete a report with 311 without it. Although the Metro Transit police told her there was really no reason they couldn't have completed the report. I'm sure the serial number gives you a much better shot at actually getting a bike back. Obviously she reported the theft to the Metro Transit police and also notified Hennepin County Commissioner Peter McLaughlin about the theft and her concerns about the general safety of bikes at the station. I would encourage anyone else to also take the time to let Peter know of your concern: <email obscured> I had this much of my post written and just happened to get e-mail from Jill Hentges at Metro Transit about another issue. I asked her who to contact about the bike thefts. I will paste in her response below: "You told the right person. I?ve talked with our Asst. Director of Facility Maintenance and although he is limited to maintaining the racks, he asked that one of our security cameras be pointed at the bike rack. He was told by our security folks that a 12 and 15 year old were caught yesterday. I copied this information from our website. Metropolitan Transit Police Headquarters 2425 Minnehaha Avenue South, Minneapolis, MN 55404 Administrative offices, squad car garage and a holding cell. David Indrehus, Chief, 612-349-7201 I don?t know if they were apprehended by MPS or Transit Police but I guess I?d follow-up with Community Safety Officer Karen Notsch at 612-673-2856, <email obscured> or our Transit Police folks. I hope that the bikes are recovered and that these young people learn a lesson and redirect their energies toward something more positive. Jill"
If you're willing to help me distribute flyers (see Steven's description below) for our Minneapolis Standish Ericsson Neighbors Forum, meet me at A Baker's Wife at 1pm on Sunday, July 6th. Bring tape, heavy duty stapler or pins. We'll split up and each take an area of our neighborhood. I'll make sure to bring copies of the flyer. Feel free to distribute that day, or at another time. If you'd just like to make your own copies on your home printer, see the link near the end to download the PDF to print. Post to this forum to let everyone know which parts of the neighborhood you'll post in. Thanks! A Baker's Wife 4200 28th Ave S Minneapolis, MN 55406-3123 Phone: (612) 729-6898
wow. Actually, the best lights are motion detectors. Saves energy, is on when you need it and alerts you and your neighbors that someone is approaching.
A strategy I've heard is to use both a quality U-lock _and_ a cable, since these require different tools to defeat and it's less likely that a thief would be carrying both. Also, there are chains and there are chains. This type of chain: http://www.kryptonitelock.com/Products/ProductDetail.aspx?cid=1001&scid=1002&pid=1168 is very difficult to cut, much more so than cheap chain locks. Speaking for myself, however, I wouldn't leave a bike of greater than minimal value unattended in the city for any length of time, even if locked with a good lock. Even the components are at risk, though I wouldn't worry about that until the bike reached $500-$1000 or so in value. > It's too bad the OPID program was removed by the state in 2005 - that > was how I registered my bike and I'm pretty sure what helped lead to its > recovery. Mandatory registration was regularly used by police to arbitrarily hassle bicyclists and/or confiscate their bikes, a major reason it was dropped.
Another useful thing to do is to record your bike's serial number (prior to it being stolen, of course) and then let the MPD know when your bike is stolen. I had a stolen bike returned to me after it was recovered from a pawn shop by matching its serial number. http://www.ci.minneapolis.mn.us/police/about/bicycles.asp has information about how to report stolen bikes. It's too bad the OPID program was removed by the state in 2005 - that was how I registered my bike and I'm pretty sure what helped lead to its recovery. -Shawn Isenhart
Yesterday, our son rode his bike to the 38th street station and took the light rail to the Twins day game, when he came back about 4:30 his bike lock had been cut and the bike was gone. Not only that but when I visited the scene later with him, there were two other bike locks laying on the ground that had been cut - one was a cable version and one was an actual metal link chain. His bike was a brand new blue Schwinn Frontier, theres $250 I won't see again. Obviously these thiefs are brazen enough to do this in broad daylight, in plain view of light rail riders and patrons who sit outside The Cardinal facing the bike racks. So if you are using a cable or chain-style bike lock, do yourself a favor and invest in one of those u-joint steel versions. Sure they are more cumbersome but your bike will still be there when you want it. Jeff Cronin
In this case, it was two separate incidents. The fireworks and the car break-in were two separate sets of bad people. I did have a lengthy conversation with Sue Roethele, our Third Precinct SAFE Crime prevention officer yesterday. She said that the car break-ins are just growing exponentially, along with other theiving. Her advice: if you park on the street, leave NOTHING in sight. Nothing. Especially not receipts from gas stations and purchases made at convenience stores, spare change or bags. Put stuff in the trunk if you can. We watched the perps with their flashlights, shopping in every car up and down the block while we awaited the police. I see her point clearly. Sue's opinion is that the LIGHTS ON policy is a good one, and wishes more folks would leave their porchlights on dusk-to-dawn. We have been encouraging folks in our block club to do so for several years. Sue is a very caring person, and was a great help to us when we had horrendous graffiti incident a couple years ago. Karen Newell
Great job, Karen & Dave! Nice of them to wake you like that so you could call the cops. Brilliant! I think that from now on, we should really insist that the thieves should wake us with fireworks before they break into our cars. It makes it SO much easier to catch them that way. :)
I couldn't find Northrop at the specific link listed - had to dig around a little - but found the info here: http://ww2.startribune.com/dynamic/no_child/grade.php?DistNum=0001&DistType=03&SchNum=152 -- shirley
We'll second that one! Our Monday morning crime doubleheader: On Monday morning at 2:45 a.m. we had a string of Black Cats go off in our mail slot. After levitating in bed, (Dave is deaf) I went downstairs to the sickening stench of gunpowder permeating our foyer and living room. We called 911 and an officer came out. He said we were probably "chosen" because we had our porchlight on and the mailslot was easy to see. He suggested we NOT leave on our light all night. I am pretty sure that this was from the same police department that asked everyone to leave their lights ON for neighborhood safety. Very confusing. HOWEVER: while Dave and I were discussing the fireworks in our darkened kitchen, we witnessed two thugs breaking into a neighbor's car to steal her Sirius radio system. Another 911 call, and the cops were there in a flash and apprehended the culprits after a brief chase and canine assist. Bravo. Sadly, we feel like we should have 911 on speed dial for the Fourth of July. Grrrrr. Karen Newell
HEAR, HEAR, KATE! I've lived in the neighborhood (near Roosevelt HS) since 1999 and every June-July like clockwork, the place sounds like a war zone. For a few years after moving to Standish, it was so bad that my significant other & I took vacations to Canada over the 4th just to be away from the horrible noise & smell. The RHS parking lot was an especially popular location to shoot stuff off until the school installed video cameras that monitor the lot (thank heavens) a few years ago. Now we just have to deal with neighbors across the alley lighting bricks of firecrackers at midnight on weeknights... Lest you all think I'm a 4th-o-July-scrooge, I have no problem with people celebrating with fireworks -- as long as it's nowhere near my high-density little urban neighborhood. Take them out to the sticks & go crazy, I say! But to be illegally setting them off in such close proximity to people, pets & buildings is flat-out rude & irresponsible. In addition to the danger posed by fireworks (a friend of mine was badly burned last year by a firework that shot out balls of sparks when its "cannon" fell over after the first "ball" was out), they are a pollutant that dirties the air (with smoke), ground & water (when residual wrappers & such are left behind) and our ears (with unwanted noise). I second Kate's request that you call 911 if you see or hear illegal fireworks. I did so tonight after a neighbor down the block & across the alley was disturbing my peace -- but as is typically the case, they stopped as soon as I hung up the phone. No matter -- if we keep calling, it'll send the message to the police that we won't tolerate fireworks in Standish-Ericsson. Solidarity, neighbors! Ann Novitske
I think it's in here Sean: http://ww2.startribune.com/dynamic/no_child/district.php?dst=metch
I heard on the radio that the State standardized test results were released. Has anyone heard how Northrop Environmental scored? If so could you link to the results?
This is a friendly reminder about our core rules: 1. Real names - Everyone must use their full real name. The rules have rare exceptions including people under court ordered protection. 2. Civility - No name calling. Whether it is those who wake us up at 3 a.m., other individuals or even groups in society, no short cuts with names. Also, I did receive a couple complaints (never hesitate to alert me to items you think break the rules because I won't catch everything) about the tone in the exchange on the homicide the other month. Obviously the more people think of forum as a back fence conversation or a small group of neighbors siting around the table the better. Not everyone will be neighborly in every topic, but as long as we do "pretty good" we will be 10x more welcoming and inclusive than the typical Internet forum. If you have any questions or concerns about the rules, forum management, etc. (per the rules themselves) please contact me off forum at: <email obscured> or http://e-democracy.org/contact Back to our regularly scheduled programming ... Happy 4th! Steven Clift Co-Host P.S. The full rules are here: http://www.e-democracy.org/rules A summary: 1. Sign Posts - Use your real name. 2. Limits on Posting - Two per member per day in most forum charters. 3. Keep Topics within Forum Purpose - Local issues on a local forum for example. 4. Be Civil - This is a public forum with real people. Respect among citizens with differing views is our cornerstone. 5. No Attacks or Threats - This keeps the forums safe. If content is illegal it will be forwarded to the proper legal authorities. 6. Private Stays Private - Don't forward private replies without permission. 7. Avoid False Rumors - Asking for clarification of what you've heard in the community can be appropriate if issues-based. You alone are responsible for what you post. 8. Right to Post and Reply - Sharing your knowledge and opinions with your fellow citizens is a democratic right. 9. Items Not Allowed in Forums - No chain letters. 10. Public Content and Use - You are sharing your content, but retain your copyright. 11. Warnings - You may receive informal or official warnings from the Forum Manager. 12. Suspension - With your second official warning in one year, you are suspended for two weeks. It goes up from there. 13. Appeals Process - You can appeal a warning(s) once you receive a third warning and six month removal. About 1 in 1500 forum members each year have appealed a six month removal in past years.
DreamHaven's Grand Opening will be Saturday, August 30th.
Okay, so, its the 4th of July and what better way to celebrate than to wake your neighbors and make their dogs howl. We were awakened by fireworks from 3:00 a.m. to 3:30 a.m. on Sunday morning and from 2:00 to 2:30 a.m. on Monday. They are less than fun during the day and early evening but the middle of the night is unconscionable. Just in case everyone is not aware, most fireworks are illegal in Minnesota. This is an excerpt from the City of Minneapolis web page: "Examples of items that are permitted include sparklers, cones and tubes that emit sparks, novelty items like snakes, and party poppers. Explosive and aerial fireworks are prohibited for public sale, possession and use in the State of Minnesota. Prohibited fireworks include, but are not limited to firecrackers, bottle rockets, missiles, roman candles, mortars and shells. Please review the list of examples of legal and illegal fireworks at WWW.FIRE.STATE.MN.US" So, if you see anything or hear anything, its probably illegal not to mention annoying and dangerous. On Saturday, the business end of a rocket landed 3 feet away from our neighbors' 2 year old! (He confronted the offenders and they stopped, eventually). So, I beg all of you! If the idiots are next to you, either point out that what they are doing is illegal and ask them to stop or call 911. The problem for those who don't know where they are coming from (but are still disturbed) is that when we call 911, we can only give a general directions of where we hear them and that doesn't get us very far. Repeated (even anonymous) calls with the correct address of the offenders can! We have successfully stopped some of our neighbors from ruining our nights. (Besides the fact that fireworks are illegal, it is also against the law to be that load after 10 p.m.) So, please, if the offenders live next to you, help the rest of us out and call the police!
The Minnesota Minute online video contest celebrating Minnesota's nature, environment, and outdoors that I mentioned earlier has been extended to September 1st. It would be great to get some submissions from Minnehaha Creek or Lake Hiawatha. Check out the submissions and prizes (including a Sony Palmcorder) from: http://minnesotaminute.org Steven Clift E-Democracy.Org
I hope they catch the jerks who did that. I like the Cardinal. It's just lucky they didn't succeed in burning the whole place down. Didn't a house across the street from there get torched, too?