Minneapolis Insanity

You have to wonder about the sanity of the Minneapolis City Council. If they aren't trying to ban circus animals from their borders, or replica guns, they are cracking down on an disabled retiree who doesn't keep her home to their liking (HT Mitch)

Diana Slyter is a retired postal worker who lives on a fixed income and has multiple sclerosis. Lately, she has felt like Public Enemy No. 1. Slyter, 57, owns a home in the Hawthorne neighborhood of north Minneapolis. She has been a bulwark of decency as the block she lives on has been invaded by hoodlums and drug dealers. But in the eyes of the city, there is a bigger problem than criminals: Peeling paint.

Take a look at the picture of Ms. Slyter's home. See the window on the left...the one with a 2X4 running through the middle of it? Ms. Slyter had to put that there to keep her drug dealing neighbors from breaking into her home!

Nick Coleman did a bang up job (yes you read me right) with this column - pointing out the lunacy of a city that is more intent on enforcing building codes than they are catching the drug dealers and gang bangers.

But when you see a retired woman on a truck trying to reach the top of her house
with a paint brush in a neighborhood where drugs are being sold on the corner,
something is out of whack. Slyter isn't the person who most needs cracking down
upon.

Do yourself a favor....go read the whole column. This is exactly the kind of reporting that the Star Tribune needs to be doing.

Every neighborhood has a home like Ms. Slyter's. The next time you walk past the one in your neighborhood - stop by and say hello and see if there is anything you can do to help. You just might find a new friend and a new attitude.