Arjo Adams told me he's still planning to put up Christmas decorations at his condemned house. He's got strings of LED lights to brighten the gloom at 676 Wells St. in St. Paul, and "I'm going to put a wreath on the boarded-up door."

His hope for a "Christmas miracle" comes despite yet another setback that moves his house closer to demolition. On Wednesday, Ramsey County District Judge John Van de North issued an order (see below) denying Adams' effort to block the demolition. The judge determined that he did not have jurisdiction on the issue, but even so, he could not justify issuing a temporary injunction because the evidence did not look good for Adams and the co-owner, his sister Beth Woolsey. Finally, he ruled that Adams and Woolsey had had plenty of time to fix the place up to the city's satisfaction, and had not done so.

I first wrote about Adams' struggle with city inspectors last month, in an effort to understand St. Paul's zeal to demolish an inhabitable structure. Now Adams' attorney, Melvin Welch, will ask the Minnesota Court of Appeals to issue a writ of mandamus to keep the wrecking ball at bay.