Dressed in a reflective work vest and gloves, St. Paul Mayor Melvin Carter joined city workers for several hours Wednesday in clearing torn and soiled sofas, couches and other large, bulky, cast-away items from the basement of the troubled Lowry Apartments across from downtown City Hall.

The mayor helped fill four truckloads with trash by early afternoon, by which time at least half a dozen broken coin-operated washing machines — their coin compartments pried open — lined the Fourth Street sidewalk, waiting to be hauled away.

“Our team has been here since 8 in the morning,” said Carter, around 1 p.m. “This isn’t people’s stuff who live here right now. This is stuff that’s been piled up in the basement. Nobody’s been managing the building. The goal today is just the obvious fire hazard stuff … trying to get this stuff out of here. The guys who do this for a living, all day everyday, say they’re throwing away their clothes. This is disgusting.”

Court-appointed receiver

While the mayor helped clear debris, an assistant city attorney appeared in a courtroom across the street Wednesday morning, asking a Ramsey County District Court judge to fast-track a request for a court-appointed receiver to collect rents and better manage the 11-story building, which is in foreclosure.

Judge Sara Grewing agreed, assigning receivership to Frauenshuh, Inc., a commercial real estate company, and setting in motion what some hope will be better days ahead for what had once been one of downtown St. Paul’s most sought-after destination hotels.

Among Grewing’s seven findings: there is currently no contact on site for building management, city photos showed evidence of dog feces and drug paraphernalia strewn about hallways, elevators are often inoperable, the roof is not secured, broken doors and blocked off stairwells are a fire hazard, abandoned couches and other furniture is haphazardly strewn throughout the basement, and trash accumulating throughout the Lowry “is so significant that it could impede or prevent fire rescue.”

An attorney for Madison Equities — which had attempted to sell the Lowry on the traditional market — could not immediately be reached for comment on Wednesday.

“This receivership step is critical,” said City Council President Mitra Jalali, on the social media platform X on Wednesday. “It allows a more responsible party to work (with the) city on immediate health, cleaning, safety efforts underway at Lowry.”

As a precautionary measure on Wednesday afternoon, the St. Paul Fire Department sent a large crew of firefighters to 345 Wabasha St. for “building familiarization walk-throughs,” according to the department’s social media. “This is to note any hazards in the event of an emergency.”

Too little, too late?

Carter this week sent a strongly-worded letter to property owner Madison Equities, which the city has accused of effectively abandoning management of the building. The mayor on Monday made a personal call to a repair company and found $2,000 to get the elevators, which had been offline since Saturday, back in working order so residents could begin moving out, if need be.

On social media, some observers praised the mayor’s hands-on approach, while others derided it as a “photo op” and questioned why the city and county hadn’t coordinated efforts earlier to keep the property from becoming derelict. Following a building tour on Monday, Carter and City Attorney Lyndsey Olson said living conditions were among the worst they’d seen in the city. An entire floor and seven additional units have been condemned.

“Where were they two years ago when the fire escapes were dead-bolted closed and my sister, who is disabled, was stuck on the 11th floor?” said Anthony Kearns, a two-year lease holder, while riding the dingy elevator to the lobby. He said the city would be best served by emptying the building entirely.

“It’s been a nightmare,” Kearns added.

Carter noted that a recently-delayed foreclosure auction is now scheduled for early September, but the mayor said that’s too long to wait for responsible stewardship of a building home to more than 100 tenants, some of whom have children there. Dozens of those families receive rental assistance, such as federal Section 8 housing vouchers, meaning Madison Equities continues to receive at least partial rent payments, the mayor said.

New challenges: trash service canceled

FirstService Residential — the property management company that oversees the nearby Lowry Medical Arts building, which houses residential condominiums and the St. Paul Conservatory — informed property managers for the Lowry last Friday that they would no longer allow shared use of their basement trash room and trash compactor. After Saturday, the Lowry Apartments will now have to find a new trash service.

“If any staff, resident or personnel are found dumping garbage in the trash compactor or trespassing on Lowry Commercial property, law enforcement will be notified, and they will be issued citation for illegal dumping and for trespassing,” reads the Aug. 23 letter from FirstService Residential to the Lowry Apartments.

The city of St. Paul’s Department of Safety and Inspections recently informed Madison Equities that they would be cancelling the building’s Fire Certificate of Occupancy, meaning that if conditions don’t improve, the building would have to be cleared of tenants by April. Some county officials have quietly opined that the city — which has already condemned multiple insect-infested units — could condemn the entire property, giving tenants 60 days to relocate before winter.

Carter said the the city is taking pains to balance fire safety priorities against the possibility of leaving dozens of tenants homeless. Safely removing so many tenants would require careful coordination between the city, county and nonprofit providers of emergency housing. Many, but not all of the families already have caseworkers assigned.

Rose Lindsay, a spokesperson for Ramsey County, said the county just learned of the issues facing the Lowry residents on Aug. 15 and is coordinating with the city’s Office of Neighborhood Safety. The city and county hosted an informational meeting on Aug. 21 to inform tenants of their rights and responsibilities as ownership changes hands.

“Since we received notification, we have been working closely with the city of St. Paul on a response plan to provide resources,” Lindsay said.

Madison Equities’ principal, Jim Crockarell, died in January. In addition to the Lowry Apartments, his widow, Rosemary Kortgard, has put nine downtown office buildings and parking ramps spanning more than 1.6 million square feet of commercial real estate on the market en masse, as well as the Handsome Hog restaurant on Selby Avenue.

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DETROIT LAKES, Minn. — A Twin Cities state senator has pleaded not guilty to burglarizing the home of her estranged stepmother after her father’s death.

Sen. Nicole Mitchell, DFL-Woodbury. (Courtesy of the Minnesota Senate)

Sen. Nicole Mitchell, a Democrat from Woodbury, was charged in April. She told police at the time that she broke into the home in the northwestern Minnesota town of Detroit Lakes because her stepmother refused to give her items of sentimental value from her late father, including his ashes, according to the felony criminal complaint.

In a joint court filing Tuesday, defense and prosecution attorneys said Mitchell was pleading not guilty, and was asking the court to schedule both a settlement conference and jury trial.

The two sides also agreed that prosecutors won’t be able to argue that Mitchell stole a laptop computer that police seized when they arrested her. Ownership of the laptop had been in dispute. The agreement says that prosecutors can, however, use evidence from the laptop if the case goes to trial.

Mitchell’s arrest roiled the 2024 legislative session, which came to an acrimonious end, and ethics proceedings against her remain on hold pending developments in her criminal case. She denied stealing and rejected Republican calls for her resignation. Her status posed a dilemma for her fellow Democrats because they held only a one-seat majority in the Senate, so they needed her vote to pass anything that lacked bipartisan support. They excluded her from caucus meetings and took her off her committees but did not publicly ask her to step down.

Mitchell was dressed all in black and wearing a black hat when she was arrested, the complaint said, and it quoted her as saying, “I know I did something bad.”

Her attorney has said that her dispute with her stepmother arose out of a “fractured relationship” that was aggravated by age-related issues.

Mitchell’s father died in March 2023 at the age of 72, according to his obituary. He had been married to Mitchell’s stepmother for 40 years, it said.

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It happens often in the majors, a guy gets called up from Triple-A, eats some innings for the big league club and is immediately sent back to the minors because he won’t be available the next day.

It happened to Scott Blewett after his first appearance with the Twins. After finishing an 8-3 victory over Kansas City with a 1-2-3 ninth on Aug. 12, the right-hander was sent back to Class AAA St. Paul.

Twins manager Rocco Baldelli was glad it didn’t happen after Blewett’s second appearance with the big league club this season. After the Twins fell behind Atlanta, 9-1, on Monday, Blewett came in and pitched three scoreless innings, allowing two hits and fanning three to give the Twins a pulse.

“He worked through that. After getting smoked (in the first two innings), he worked through it and got the job done for us,” Baldelli said. “Being able to give him some more opportunities will be good.”

Certainly the Twins need reliable bullpen arms after releasing left-hander Steven Okert and right-hander Trevor Richards this week. They picked up Michael Tonkin off waivers on Tuesday and the veteran right-hander was available for Wednesday night’s series finale against the Braves.

The Twins entered the game having lost 7 of 9 after closer Jhoan Duran got rocked in an 8-6, 10-inning loss on Tuesday.

“You’re always looking for guys to step up, and you don’t know if they’re going to do that from the very beginning of the year, at some point in the middle, or sometimes even September,” Baldelli said Wednesday. “You could start calling on a guy for a role or a spot and all of the sudden they start looking pretty good, pretty quick. That can happen, too.”

Maybe that could be Blewett, who, by his own accounting, is a much different pitcher than the one who made three appearances with the Royals in 2021 before bouncing around the minors and pitching last fall in Taiwan. He’s been 98 mph on the radar gun and hasn’t walked a batter in his two appearances with the Twins this month.

Throwing a fastball, splitter and slider, he has allowed two hits, struck out four in four innings. It’s a small sample size, but it’s a good one — and he’s throwing that heat for strikes.

“It’s probably the hardest I’ve thrown my entire career,” he said.

At midnight Sunday, major league active rosters will expand from 26 to 28, with a limit of 14 pitchers. Baldelli said he assumes the Twins will add a pitcher from St. Paul — Louie Varland and Josh Winder appear to be the most likely candidates — but the Twins need more from some of the bullpen arms already here.

Blewett might not have figured prominently in Minnesota’s plans when the Twins signed him to a minor league deal in January, but he’s here now and trying to make hay while the sun is shining.

Asked how he’s approaching his third stint with a major league club, Blewett nodded toward a quote on the wall of the Twins’ clubhouse, a quote from late hall of famer Kirby Puckett: “Don’t take anything for granted, because tomorrow is not promised to any of us.”

“This is the highest level in the world, so just being able to go out and take each opportunity as they come like a brand new one and not get too far ahead of myself is, I think, the best way to take it,” Blewett said. “The quote up there from Kirby Puckett probably says it best, you know? Live for today.”

Buxton close, Correa not

Outfielder Byron Buxton ramped up his rehab with more baseball activities on the field before Wednesday night’s game. He’s been on the injured list with hip soreness since Aug. 13 and missed his 15th consecutive game on Wednesday.

The Twins will send Buxton out on a rehab assignment with St. Paul before he returns to the big league club. When that will start remains up in the air.

“We’re still waiting for some clarity on that, but he’s doing fine,” Baldelli said, adding, “I think we should actually have a better feel for that in the next 24, 48 hours.”

Carlos Correa, doesn’t appear as close. Out since just before the all-star break with plantar fasciitis in his right foot, the all-star shortstop continues to rehab but hasn’t been able to run at full speed, a requirement for him starting a rehab assignment.

Good news for Paddack

A magnetic resonance imaging exam on Chris Paddack’s right arm revealed that his the forearm strain that’s had him on the IL since July 17 has completely healed.

He reported feeling 100 percent and will begin throwing long toss at about 60 feet, the club said.

That’s good news, but it also suggests Paddack won’t be available for the rest of the regular season. He returned from Tommy John rehab last fall to pitch in the postseason for the Twins, throwing 3⅔ scoreless innings against Houston in the Division Series.