Seven Steak and Sushi Gets Sold.

Seven Steak and Sushi Gets Sold. 

 

In my opinion, the minority share holders of the downtown destination spot Seven Steak and Sushi pretty much shot themselves in the head by pushing out the founding family of Seven. After eight years of pouring love, blood, sweat and a ton of cash into Seven, David Koch was forced out by minority share holders with a court ordered restraining order. Soon after a court ordered receiver was put into place to do whats deemed best for Seven.

 I was personally at multiple court hearings and attorney meetings and I must say it was heart breaking. I felt my own heart hurt watching Seven get high-jacked from the family who did whatever possible to keep the doors open. 


When all the dust of the fight settled the court appointed receiver looked at who in Minneapolis could pay off the $1.6 million dollar debt, some that had be accumulated from the past, and some from after the Koch family had been forced out, mutual parties came forth. In the end, Ken Sherman , owner of the Lumber Exchange and investor Ro Shirole came up with the cash.

As personal friends of the Koch family and of Ken Sherman it's been a heart tugging time just because I think the world of them both. I'm heartbroken for David and his family but glad that Ken Sherman ended up with it. Out of all parties who were in line to take over I believe Ken and Ro will do the best for Seven. 

I can only hope that Ken Sherman and Ro Shirole, the new owners and management of Seven , will keep in mind and celebrate how much the Koch family sacrificed on behalf of Seven.  I know that they will continue the hospitality upon which the Koch family built the business. You never know, you may even see some of the Kotch family back at Seven. I know I'm keeping my fingers crossed!

Episode five of Minneapolis 911 with L.A. Nik & Hessley Rey: ShotSpotter

Click HERE to listen to this week's podcast.

This week on the podcast we talk about a system used nationwide, including right here in Minneapolis, for locating gunfire. The system in Minneapolis is called ShotSpotter and the purpose of it is to detect the location of gun fire so that dispatchers can send out first responders to quickly deal with gun shot victims, secure witnesses and generally deter gun violence.

Here is a Minneapolis ShotSpotter map from May 3rd to May 9th, 2016.


As you can see, blue stars represent confirmed shootings of which their were twelve during this seven day time frame. If you listen to the news, it should come as no surprise that most shootings occur in North Minneapolis followed by downtown Minneapolis.

Minneapolis' ShotSpotter system was featured on AOL News. Check out THIS VIDEO to see how the system works in our community.

Fifteen to twenty sensors are placed within a square mile in hidden locations. Shockwaves caused by gun fire activate the sensors and then triangulation between the sensors is used to determine the location of the gun fire and alert the police. Check out the science of it in THIS National Geographic video.

Here's what gets me. Nearly every time I have brought up ShotSpotter in conversation in Minneapolis, the person listening looks at me with a complete look of disbelief as though I am lying about its existence. That look is almost always followed up with something like, "Well, it could just be car backfire or firecrackers that the system is picking up." It's a valid point. And despite the fact that the systems are programmed to know the difference between a firecracker and a gun shot, people not wanting to believe that we have gun fire right here in Minneapolis is a more important point to me.

This week we had 45 bullet casings found at Penn Avenue north and Olson Memorial Highway after a man was shot and killed at 3:30pm in the afternoon. According to a Star Tribune STORY detectives are looking into the possibility that the shooting was a retaliation to last week's shooting at Newton and Sixteenth Avenue north that killed one and injured seven; An alleged gang-related shooting.

I record my podcast every week in an attempt to make people aware that we have problems here in Minneapolis. My goal is to start a conversation so that we can find solutions.  Denial solves nothing. Driving off to south Minneapolis and the western suburbs after a day of work downtown doesn't mean you will remain untouched by the violence. 

Downtown is the heartbeat of the Minneapolis metro. That shooting on Penn Avenue happened at 3:30pm in the afternoon. If this city gets any worse, companies will pull out of downtown. If Minneapolis fails, Wayzata fails and so on.  It's called the Broken Window Effect. 


*Minneapolis 911 is a weekly podcast on the Tom Barnard Network. It can also be found at www.MayorOfMinneapolis.com

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