27 Aug 2024

Expressing outrage after building tour, St. Paul mayor seeks court-appointed receiver for Lowry Apartments

by | posted in: Adventure | 0

The central elevators at the Lowry Apartments have been out of service since Saturday, forcing tenants of the 11-story building to take the stairs or try their luck with the freight elevator, which one tenant described as touch-and-go.

Ciela Arguelles, a mother of three small kids who gave birth by cesarean section to her newborn son in July, said she’s been paying property owner Madison Equities $1,250 monthly with the help of a rent assistance program that is expiring.

That’s left her with three pressing questions, said Arguelles, 21, holding up cellphone video of the dog feces on the carpet outside her fourth-floor apartment and the giant roach she found inside her residence. First, what is Madison Equities doing with her money? Second, if she has to move out in a hurry, how can she do that without elevator access? And third, where else can she move?

Alarmed by conditions he called deplorable, St. Paul Mayor Melvin Carter stood shoulder-to-shoulder with Arguelles outside City Hall on Monday evening and said he shared many of the same questions as the 134 or so lease-holders at the Lowry, and that he was dedicated to finding answers. Carter said he had taken a tour that day of the once-storied building, which sits around the corner from City Hall at Fourth and Wabasha streets, with City Attorney Lyndsey Olson and inspectors from the city Department of Safety and Inspections.

“It was one of the most disgusting things I’ve ever seen in my entire life,” Carter said. “It’s disgusting and it’s unacceptable.”

Lenders attempting to acquire the building through the foreclosure process have already filed a request in Ramsey County District Court for a court-appointed receiver to collect rents, pay bills and better manage the property in advance of a recently-delayed sheriff’s sale now scheduled for early September.

City Attorney Lyndsey Olson said the city on Tuesday would ask the courts to fast-track the request for a receivership. Olson said several units in the building have already been condemned as a result of mice and insect infestations, among other issues, and the city has informed Madison Equities it is on the verge of losing its fire certificate of occupancy, which could force tenants out by April unless conditions improve.

Also Tuesday, the mayor’s office plans to send Madison Equities a one-page letter, signed by Carter, indicating “my outrage related to the unacceptable condition of your property at 345 Wabasha Street (Lowry Apartments), which has endangered the health, safety and property of over 100 residents. … This urgent situation requires immediate action.”

Carter and Olson said Monday they would explore legal and code enforcement options, and urge Madison Equities to move tenants to another one of its properties while the Lowry is brought up to code.

Efforts to reach Madison Equities principal Rosemary Kortgard for comment have been unsuccessful over the past month.

Olson showed cellphone pictures she had taken of clumps of dog feces on hallway carpeting, trash covering the vestibule by the elevator doors and a section of concrete stairwell propped up by a 2-by-4 stud. She also recognized, she said, that moving too quickly would leave more than 100 families homeless.

“Every option is on the table for us,” Carter said. “There is a delicate balance between making sure people have an opportunity to transition in a way that is healthy … and also making sure basic fire code safety is honored, because this is an unsafe place to live, and it’s just untenable and unsustainable.”

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27 Aug 2024

Judge in Texas orders pause on Biden program that offers legal status to spouses of US citizens

by | posted in: Politics | 0

By VALERIE GONZALEZ

McALLEN, Texas (AP) — A federal judge in Texas on Monday paused a Biden administration policy that would give spouses of U.S. citizens legal status without having to first leave the country, dealing at least a temporary setback to one of the biggest presidential actions to ease a path to citizenship in years.

The administrative stay issued by U.S. District Judge J. Campbell Barker comes just days after 16 states, led by Republican attorneys general, challenged the program that could benefit an estimated 500,000 immigrants in the country, plus about 50,000 of their children.

One of the states leading the challenge is Texas, which in the lawsuit claimed the state has had to pay tens of millions of dollars annually from health care to law enforcement because of immigrants living in the state without legal status.

President Joe Biden announced the program in June. The court order, which lasts for two weeks but could be extended, comes one week after the Department of Homeland Security began accepting applications.

“The claims are substantial and warrant closer consideration than the court has been able to afford to date,” Barker wrote.

The judge laid out a timetable that could produce a decision shortly before the presidential election Nov. 5 or before a newly elected president takes office in January. Barker gave both sides until Oct. 10 to file briefs in the case.

The policy offers spouses of U.S. citizens without legal status, who meet certain criteria, a path to citizenship by applying for a green card and staying in the U.S. while undergoing the process. Traditionally, the process could include a years-long wait outside of the U.S., causing what advocates equate to “family separation.”

The Department of Homeland Security did not immediately return an email seeking comment on the order.

Republican Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton cheered the order.

“This is just the first step. We are going to keep fighting for Texas, our country, and the rule of law,” Paxton posted on the social media platform X.

Several families were notified of the receipt of their applications, according to attorneys advocating for eligible families who filed a motion to intervene earlier Monday.

“Texas should not be able to decide the fate of hundreds of thousands of U.S. citizens and their immigrant spouses without confronting their reality,” Karen Tumlin, the founder and director of Justice Action Center, said during the press conference before the order was issued.

The coalition of states accused the administration of bypassing Congress for “blatant political purposes.”

The program has been particularly contentious in an election year where immigration is one of the biggest issues, with many Republicans attacking the policy and contending it is essentially a form of amnesty for people who broke the law.

To be eligible for the program, immigrants must have lived continuously in the U.S. for at least 10 years, not pose a security threat or have a disqualifying criminal history, and have been married to a citizen by June 17 — the day before the program was announced.

They must pay a $580 fee to apply and fill out a lengthy application, including an explanation of why they deserve humanitarian parole and a long list of supporting documents proving how long they have been in the country.

If approved, applicants have three years to seek permanent residency. During that period, they can get work authorization.

Before this program, it was complicated for people who were in the U.S. illegally to get a green card after marrying an American citizen. They can be required to return to their home country — often for years — and they always face the risk they may not be allowed back in.

26 Aug 2024

St. Paul man charged with exposing himself through porch windows, trying to open sliding door

by | posted in: Society | 0

A St. Paul man is accused of sexually exposing himself outside multiple homes with children present — and trying to open at least one door.

Adonjai Dashi Benson, 21, was charged Thursday with a felony count of attempted burglary and 5th degree criminal sexual conduct for masturbation and lewd exhibition with children present. A judge Monday set Benson’s bail at $35,000.

Adonjai Dashi Benson (Courtesy of the Ramsey County Sheriff’s Office)

According to the criminal complaint filed in Ramsey County District Court, police were called Aug. 2 to the intersection of Aurora Avenue and North Mackubin Street, in the Summit-University neighborhood, on a report of a naked man showing himself through a woman’s porch window, as well as the adjacent homes’, and attempted to break and enter.

Several people were inside the homes, including multiple children as young as 3 years old.

According to the criminal complaint, after walking around exposing himself through the glass doors on the porches, backyards and windows of the two adjacent homes, Benson stood in front of a sliding glass door, asked the woman who was home for water and continued to expose himself. He then opened the screen door and attempted to open the locked glass sliding door. Police were immediately called.

Benson was identified by police through photos taken by the woman that she provided as evidence.

Benson was also charged with exposing himself in front of building residents and children Aug. 14 outside 10 W. Exchange St., a public housing hi-rise in downtown St. Paul.

According to the report, Benson was exposing himself outside the lobby entrance. A resident let Benson into the apartment, and when St. Paul police identified themselves and knocked on the apartment door, there was no response.

The report details that before leaving the building the officer was approached by a resident and asked if they were there for “penis man.” The resident said Benson visits the apartment often and regularly exposes himself to residents inside and outside of the building.

Benson exposed himself and urinated on the building that same day, with children present, according to witnesses.

Police located Benson the next day at the Exchange Street building, where he had been staying with a resident. According to the complaint, when asked why he was revealing himself, Benson did not respond.

Benson previously was arrested June, 10, 2023, for indecent exposure after following a woman around Cub Foods at 1177 Clarence St. openly masturbating. According to the criminal complaint, police identified Benson from the store’s security footage, and when they tried to arrest him, Benson pushed an officer, causing them to fall on the ground. He was found legally incompetent to proceed with the court case against him.

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26 Aug 2024

After State Fair breaks opening day attendance records, sunny Labor Day weekend forecast could bring bigger crowds

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This year’s Minnesota State Fair smashed back-to-back attendance records on its opening two days — and despite a probable rainy week ahead, a sunny Labor Day weekend forecast could make for a busy end to the 2024 Fair.

Thursday was the busiest opening day in Fair history, as attendance reached 138,875 people, according to State Fair numbers. The next day was even bigger: 171,233 people showed up to the Fairgrounds, breaking the first-Friday attendance record set last year by nearly 6,500 people.

The Fairgrounds were still packed over the weekend, but not busy enough to break records. The visitor count on Saturday — 184,564 people — was lower than last year’s first Saturday, but higher than 2022. And at 134,644 visitors, the attendance tally on Sunday was well below both of the past two years and nowhere near the day’s record of 209,969, set in 1994.

The largest single-day attendance record at the State Fair was set in 2018, when 270,426 people showed up on the Saturday of Labor Day weekend.

Weather for the rest of the Fair

How will the rest of the 2024 State Fair shape up? If we look to previous years, weather will likely play a major role.

A slight dip in overall attendance last year, for example, was probably due to a scorching 2023 Labor Day weekend. Back in 2013, the fairgrounds saw a six-day streak of 90-degree temperatures — and, along with it, one of the lowest attendance totals of Fairs in the 2010s — but a spike in attendance over the holiday weekend when temps dropped back to the 70s.

On Monday, 16 Minnesota counties including the Fairgrounds were placed under an excessive heat warning by the National Weather Service as humidity rose and the heat index was forecasted to top 100 degrees. As of midday, the warning was set to last until 8 p.m. State Fair attendance numbers for Monday will be released Tuesday afternoon.

From here, things could get wet. As of Monday, the National Weather Service forecasts overnight rainfall Monday and a 40 percent chance of storms Tuesday afternoon. Wednesday looks sunny with temperatures in the upper 70s, but rain starts again overnight and will likely continue into Thursday.

However, Labor Day weekend forecasts appear to call for perfect State Fair weather: As of this writing, sunny conditions and temperatures in the upper 70s are projected to start Friday and continue through at least Sunday.

State Fair attendance has slowly been climbing back to its upward trajectory pre-pandemic.

Fairs in 2014, 2016, 2017, 2018 and 2019 each set successive all-time records, culminating in nearly 2.13 million tickets sold during the 12 days of the 2019 Fair. The Fair was canceled in 2020, and attendance hit a 40-year low in 2021 as the coronavirus pandemic continued. Since then, total Fair attendance has been diminished but still strong, with 1.84 million tickets sold in 2022 and 1.83 million sold in 2023 — still the 5th and 6th-busiest Fairs ever, respectively.

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