December 2005
December 30, 2005
Smoking Ban
December 29, 2005
Board of Election press conference
tomorrow, 11am.
At the Board.
They'll announce results of the Boyd recall and talk about the continuing investigation into fraud.
Craighead to head MRP
Bonwich pleads to powers-that-be
For the sake of the restaurants, keep 40 open.
December 28, 2005
Another Coffee Shop DT
Espresso Mod recently opened at the Paul Brown Building. The owner is Paul Charsley. They feature Chauvia coffee as well as pastries and sandwiches. They are also the only place in downtown to offer gelato.
Espresso Mod is located at 210 North 9th Street. Their hours are 6:30 a.m.
to 4 p.m. on weekdays and 7 a.m. to noon on Saturday.
December 27, 2005
Jetton's wife in car accident
1,207 Missourians died so far this year in car accidents.
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We're back
Hope everyone had a nice long weekend.
Looking forward to a great new year.
We'll be updating the blog today and all week. Feel free to email or call with any tips you have.
December 23, 2005
Friday bits
Updated the ACC photo gallery.
Daley wants a domed stadium and second football team.
Fundraising quarter closes next week. We hear Jay Nixon is having a great quarter.
Leslie Farr, Republican candidate for 1st CD, released his holiday schedule to the media. "December 24 10:00 am-Gianna and I will participate in my annual tradition of going into Downtown, finding a homeless person and treating them to lunch. For the last five years, I have asked that instead of gifts that family and friends find a complete stranger and spend that amount on them. It is the one thing I love to do, give to people that don’t have."
December 22, 2005
Thursday Bits
11th ward has started building a web site.
Ben Carter wants to preserve the greatness of Kirkwood.
Rep. Akin will be on St. Louis On the Air next Wednesday.
Tomorrow, Thursday, December 22, 2005 at 9:30 AM at the St. Louis Lambert International Airport, U.S. Senator Kit Bond will outline this year's major legislative accomplishments and outline priorities in 2006. At the JoAnne Wayne Conf Room, Near Exit 18 and Airport Police.
And finally, the bloggers (Rob Thurman and Michael Morgan) are upset over the choice of Diebold as voting machine vendor.
December 21, 2005
Photo Walks
52nd City responds to the Lampe Affair.
Hotline: Stem Cell in MO 06
from Hotline:
How The Dems Cell '06
Among the tools some Dems believe the GOP used so well in 2004 was the ballot initiative, specifically, the marriage initiatives strewn in various battleground states (including OH).
-- The GOP has been very clever at picking its issue spots (marriage, parental notification) in order to define opponents and turnout base voters in key states.
-- Dems might finally be starting to fight back on this referendum front. Keep an eye on MO where a stem cell init. may be on the Nov. '06 ballot.
-- Stem cell research seems to have a willing majority ready to support, while splitting the GOP nearly down the middle. For every moral conservative who sees stem cells as a slippery slope to cloning, there's another conservative who fears being the one standing in the way of a potential cure.
-- Many a Dem believe (and some GOPers fear) that the collective debates about stem cells, Terri Schiavo and even "intelligent design" push swing voters (including those elusive moderate GOP women) back to the Dems. MO's marquee '06 SEN race featuring the cautious conservative Jim Talent vs. Claire McCaskill might very well be the test case.
December 20, 2005
St. Stan in WSJ
St. Louis Centre - No Photo Zone
ACC Photographer Harassed at Downtown Mall
Handcuffed for Taking Pictures of the Holiday Shopping Scene
Tom Lampe's first-hand account:
Uggh.
I guess that's a good way to start out this email.
I just got back from the esteemed St. Louis Centre (or is it center?) after being handcuffed and threatened with arrest.
That's right. I had gotten several photos outside and inside of vacancy, poor architectural value, lonesome escalators, an isolated shopper here and there, when all of a sudden a security guard approached me and told me I couldn't take photos of vacant storefronts. I told her sure I could. She told me I had to get permission at the office.
I went to the office where the mall manager told me to delete the pictures. I refused, and attempted to leave the mall. The security guard chased me as I ran through the mall carrying my tripod. The few people that were there watched with interest. I'm sure they thought I was a shoplifter.
I could here her calling for backup. All of a sudden I was surrounded like a hardened criminal, and one of the guards called the police.
They dragged me to a back hallway, took possession of my camera, cell phone and tripod. They attempted to handcuff me, and at that point I was so pissed off that I fought it. I learned the hard way, it hurts worse when you struggle.
My wrists are killing me.
They led me back through the mall in handcuffs, back to the office to wait for the police. While I was in there, I asked them if I deleted the photos, would they cancel the police call, as I really didn't feel like being arrested on my vacation. She (the mall manager) agreed, and I deleted everything. She then went on about how everyone's trying to portray the mall in a negative light, and they're in the process of trying to do good things, ie. Gold's Gym on the first floor just opened last week and they already have 20 members, and there's an art gallery on the top floor, blah blah blah. They got my name, took the cuffs off, cancelled the police, and let me go on my "merry" way.
Man my wrists hurt. What an afternoon. Sorry I don't have any photos...
December 19, 2005
Zuke on the move
After five years with the County Library, Carrie Zukoski will join the United Way in St. Louis on January 3 as public relations director.
Happy Birthday
To RFT's Randall Roberts! The big 4-0?
WingHaven developer Paul McKee has some secret plans for the 63106 and 63107 zipcodes
Over at ecology of absence.
December 17, 2005
Boykins Nabs 15th ward Endorsement
Ward organization consists of about one person right now - Greg Thomas - who appears to be following the lead of his employer Sheriff Murphy in endorsing Amber for the 4th senate district.
Though not many votes will necessarily follow from the endorsement, it could help Boykins if she can parlay it into other support and build the case that she is more than a north side candidate.
December 16, 2005
Where's the money?
December 15, 2005
Because your calendar is one Christmas party short
Tonight at the Royale (Kingshighway and Arsenal), 6:30pm, the ACC staff will be having our "hey, let's go have a drink" holiday party.
Come on by, pitch a story, ask for a correction, talk about the difference between AP style and ACC style...
The Slay Smith Endorsement
From the endorsement:
Slay cited Smith’s energy, work ethic, and intellect as reasons for his support. “He’s one of the hardest workers I’ve ever seen in this business, and I’ve seen a lot come and go,” said Slay, who plans to host an upcoming fundraiser on Smith’s behalf.
Smith said, "I'm honored to receive Mr. Slay’s endorsement. He has offered me an abundance of wise counsel over the last two years, and he has taught me much about the city’s political history and about how candidates should conduct themselves. He is truly a class act. I’m grateful for his support, for Gina Hagerty’s, and for that of the 23rd Ward Organization.”
December 14, 2005
Smith to get 23rd ward endorsement
Word is leaking out in advance of tonight's STL City Central Committee Holiday Party that the dean of the Central Committee, Francis Slay Sr., has decided to endorse Jeff Smith in the race for outgoing Senator Pat Dougherty's 4th District seat. This gives Smith the endorsement of the 23rd Ward, historically one of the city's highest turnout wards. Many political observers had expected opponent Derio Gambaro to receive the nod.
December 13, 2005
StL Venture Capital
Alarm Clock cites Business Journal.
Waterhouse wins
51%.
Bauer around 27?
and Barnes at 22?
Victory Parties
I'm told that the Waterhouse folks will be at Seamus McDaniels.
Anyone have Barnes Victory party location?
Barnes' Business License
According to the PD's editorial endorsement, Barnes runs a small crafts business out of her home in Clifton Heights. That would require her to have a city business license, pay earnings tax, which she doesn't.
December 10, 2005
Bauer buys TV
I'd heard a rumor that Bauer bought time on the local Fox affiliate for Saturday - Tuesday.
No confirmation on that, but I did see an ad on ESPN abuot 7:15 tonight. It was pretty much a televised version of his Suburban Journal ad.
December 09, 2005
Friday Bits
* Today is Jeff Smith's 32nd birthday.
* Congrats to Lana Azar who gave birth to Louis Cyril Azar this morning at 12:45am. Lana and Louis are both fine. Louis came in at 9 lbs. 3 ozs and 23 inches long!
Thurman Cafe closed
Last night. Shaw's loss.
If they couldn't make it work, it's doubtful anyone else will.
Last Night's parties
The big three - McCaskill, Robin Carnahan and Jay NIxon - all had fundraisers last night. I only went to McCaskill's and Nixon.
A lot of the same old, same old until the end of the Nixon event when the crowd was breaking up. Sam Fox dropped in and he and Nixon huddled for ten or so minutes. Fox had been in the building for another event and didn't bring a check. It wasn't the three of us talking, so I can't say that I know what the topic of discussion was. But Fox is one of the Missouri businessmen helping to fund the stem cell ballot initiative.
It made me think because earlier in the evening I swung by the 28th ward party. Republican Ed Martin was there and he was talking stem cell (he also wrote a commentary piece about it in the latest ACC. Pick it up, please).
Stem cell seems to have transfixed a lot of Republicans.
Haas to announce
for School Board at 10:00am Tuesday December 13th outside Board of Elections (and again Tuesday evening 6:00pm Carr Lane school on Jefferson and MLK before the board meeting).
December 08, 2005
Budget Games
Handlin to report on Bauer
In the Friday, Dec. 9 edition of the Vital VOICE, Larry Handlin will report that some residents of the 24th Ward, consisting of Dogtown and Franz Park, are concerned over an alleged association between Tom Bauer, who is running for the ward seat from which he was recently ousted, and self-described White Supremacist Frank Weltner who was affiliated with the neo-Nazi group National Alliance.
Sharon Carpenter to run for re-election in August
Sources say.
Young Professionals for McCaskill
fundraiser tonight at the TapRoom.
5:30pm
$100 suggested donation.
Chignoli to focus on ASC
Dr. Chignoli, who was the Founder and Director of La Clinica which provides free health care for immigrants, has resigned after 10 years. He will be focusing on the parent organization, Accion Social Comunitaria (ASC), which helps immigrants and refugees attain education and social services in St. Louis. ASC has just been named a national model by the U.S. Department of Education and Dr. Chignoli was recognized at the White House for his work with the Hispanic Community.
Downs to Announce for School Board
From his email:
Dear Friends,
This Saturday, at 10 a.m., I will announce my candidacy for the St. Louis Board of Education at a press conference at the old Waring School site (Compton and Laclede). Please join me and my broken ankle there and let the press know that you think it is time to get off the Clinkscale Slide and stop the looting of the public school system for private profit.
Sincerely,
Peter Downs
Word is that Patricia Laughlin of AFT Local 420 is sitting in line at the Election Board on behalf of Peter Downs right now. The 420 website says that Downs is "heavily favored" by the union even though their endorsement meetings don't come around until next week! Laughlin is married to Mike Penderfast, one of the top dogs at the City Labor Club, and head of one of the smaller IBEW locals in town.
Suburban Journal endorses Barnes
What Begala said
Begala speaks at SLU
By Chuck Miller
One of the strategist's that developed Bill Clinton's 1992 campaign mantra "It's the economy, stupid!" said the American people aren't as concerned about the economy these days as they are the war in Iraq. Former Clintonadvisor and CNN Crossfire host Paul Begala told an audience at St. Louis University Tuesday night that Americans have too many doubts about winning the war. He said those doubts are much of the reason President George W. Bush has the worst approval rating since Richard Nixon.
"Even on the day of his impeachment, President Bill Clinton was more popular than President Bush," Begala said.
Begala also criticized his media colleagues for not asking the tough questions in the weeks leading up to the war in Iraq. "They were all just Bush press agents," he said, "and were excited about going to war."
Begala spoke for more than an hour peppering his remarks with humorous anecdotes and serious policy analysis from his 25 years in national politics. He hinted that US Senator John Kerry shouldn't run for President in 2008 based on his unremarkable campaign last year but was blatant in his support for Senator Hillary Clinton in the next Presidential Election.
"I have an incredible amount of respect for her," Begala said. "I know she is concentrating on re-election as a Senator right now, but I really want to see her run for President."
During the question and answer period, Begala was asked about the Bush Administration's response during Hurricane Katrina. "I have to disagree with Kanye West," Begala said. "I don't think Bush hates black people. I think he might be insensitive to the needs of the poor."
Begala also said he was greatly disappointed that the Federal Emergency Management Agency had been staffed with so many "political hacks" from the Bush campaign. He said the Clinton Administration had hired experts and understood the importance of emergency response. "All those people were fired and replaced with political hacks when Bush came in," he said. "You don't do that to FEMA."
Post endorses Barnes
Krakty Re-election Kick-off
This Saturday, December 9.
$25
Iron Workers Hall, 2500 South 59th Street.
Separately, there a rumor that Krakty is eying the Lieutenant Governor's race in 2008.
December 06, 2005
Stem Cells Propel Proff
The University of Missouri announced today that one of their professors has made the Scientific American 50, a list of the top leaders in science.
R. Michael Roberts, UM-Columbia Curators' Professor of animal science and biochemistry, was chosen for his work in stem cell research. Roberts' has discovered a way for scientists to more predictably grow the cells.
Lab coats aren't the only wardrobe of choice on the list, SA chose its winners from the areas of policy and business as well as research.
The list of all 50 winners is here. The full article is here.
Expect to see this touted by former Senator John Danforth's pro-stem-cell group Missouri Coalition for Lifesaving Cures. The group has a slick and expensive ad campaign so far. It's going to take a lot of effort if stem-cell research opponents want to but the kibosh on it.
Percy: Buford nice, but not in our interests
BUFORD… Not In Our Best Interest!
Commentary by Percy Green, II
From my observation, James Buford of the Urban League is a nice and personable person, but he is not what the St. Louis Board of Education needs to succeed. Neither is Darnetta Clinkscales, now School Board President. Both of them should be voted off the board in April 2006. The dismal record speaks for itself.
Buford supports the same failed programs and decisions as that of former School Board member, Vince Schoemehl. This Board now needs to move from the control of Mayor Francis Slay and his band of bandits. For the past four years, things have gone from bad, to worse. The academic achievements in our School District, according to the State of Missouri, continue to decline, with an enormous drop in points. Mayor Slay obviously appoints Buford to the School Board to maintain his control, and to rescue troubled Clinkscale’s record in the upcoming election. Slay’s original majority four School Board members continued on with exercising their incompetent decisions. Those decisions were, but not limited to, secret meetings to exclude the public, the hiring of William Roberti, a New York consultant for five (5) million dollars (that was not in the budget), and the Waring School closure and give away to St. Louis University, the closure of 14 public schools in North St. Louis, the outsourcing of 1,500 service and maintenance jobs, the superintendent search disaster, the abuse to class room teachers and principals, the hijacking of the Teachers’ Pension Fund, and over paying top administrators at the expense of class room teachers and assistance.
To a fair-minded observer, a public figure is evaluated on an accumulation of events that are publicly documented and those that are discovered in the shadows and brought to light. Buford should be treated no differently, now that he has chosen to enter the political arena on the side of the enemy, Mayor Slay.
First, Buford claims that he has to do something to immediately end violence in the public school system. That something was to have Mayor Francis Slay appoint him to the School Board. Since, he ain’t Clark Kent, he cannot be Superman, although he sounds like he may think so. In reality, he is not going to stop violence in public schools or anywhere else. Even Superman cannot put an end to people having disputes, which may lead to fisticuffs now and then or worse, sometimes. The overwhelming majority of disputes mainly centers on money, sex, greed, and defense. Since schoolchildren are usually reflections of their parents, they also tend to deals with these challenges in similar fashions. Parents with decent paying jobs frequently handle such disputes with less apparent hostility than do those less fortunate parents because they have more options. Children of high-income parents usually have more options as well.
Consequently, it can be argued with merit that a decent paying job goes a long way with parents adopting and applying good family management skills. The application of such is directly related to parents’ household income. Most St. Louis parents’ income is not enough for them to provide for their children, as they would like. Notwithstanding, a sizeable number of these parents have been, and may still, be victims of racial and/or class discrimination. The irony is that most of the able body parents that are working two, and, sometimes three jobs, do not earn the income that Buford receives from the Urban League, although it is a non-for-profit agency. Yet, parents are blamed for being less fortunate, economically, as if it was their choice.
Secondly, where was Buford’s involvement when other public efforts to end violence in public school were put forth? Anthony Shahid, a long-time Youth Group Director, routinely visits and speaks to students in middle and high schools about anger management. He said Buford has never attended any of these sessions.
Thirdly, Buford admits publicly that he is a supporter of the voucher program and charter schools, which is no different from Schoemehl’s position. Both programs removes badly needed operating funds from public schools with little or no accountability. Mayor Slay, and Civic Progress, Inc., also support these programs. Why? Because they can influence who is funded. The fact of the matter is that none of these programs has shown any success in increasing academic achievements here in St. Louis, beyond that of the regular public school system. Before Slay took over the School Board, it was only 2 points from full accreditation by the State. Buford’s team is now responsible for the lost of 30 accreditation points.
Fourthly, Buford has a questionable history of supporting Mayor Slay. Last March 2005 he joined a “front group” called “Advocates for Kids” to support Mayor Slay’s fabricated scheme to oust School Board Member, Veronica O’ Brien. She was re-elected last April, in spite of the Buford/Slay conspiracy. Their efforts failed. Now, Buford is trying to convince the community, as reported in the St. Louis American, an African-American weekly newspaper “There were no politics, no deals. I decided to run [for the school board] on my own. I knew I had to step in. This is something I must do.” Before his support to get O’Brien ousted, Buford had joined this same “front group” earlier in an effort to support Slay’s Home Rule, Proposition A, B, C, & D. It too was defeated.
Finally, it appears obvious that Buford will not make the tough decisions contrary to the desires of the Mayor’s office and Civic Progress, Inc. Another factor is that he is vulnerable because they pay his salary and fund his agency. If he should flip and truly become a legitimate advocate for public education like Veronica O’Brien, then our public education system will benefit. But, Buford is not likely to do that. Instead, he probably preoccupied with the possibilities of the white establishment carving him up like a Christmas turkey if he should flip. After all, Buford is quite familiar with how Slay continue to work his unfair racial agenda within his administration, the police and fire department.
Stay tuned!
December 05, 2005
Spotted over the weekend
By Waterhouse canvassers - Tom Bauer, on all fours, painting over "Democrat" his yard signs to comply with the court order.
25th ward Holiday party
It's that season.
Tonight is the 25th ward party at St. Anthony's on Meramec.
Thursday is the 28th ward party at Bar Italia.
December 04, 2005
Wal Mart Protest
In today's Post-Dispatch, Mary Jo Feldstein reports that Wake Up Wal-Mart is beginning a three-week media buy. The organization is buying locally-targeted television spots only in St. Louis.
Update: For those looking for some data on retailers and their labor costs, Business Week ran a comparison of CostCo and Wal-Mart from an investor's perspective. The magazine noted that despite higher labor and benefit costs, Costco has higher productivity. The piece focuses on the fact that Wall Street drives the decisions many businesses make. A focus on keeping labor costs low is rewarded by shareholders despite other measures of business success.
Update 2: According to an analysis by Mark Schmitt, a senior fellow at the New America Foundation and former policy director and speechwriter for Sen. Bill Bradley, a $45 billion expansion in entitlement programs between 1984 and 1999 has effectively subsidized the expansion of the low-cost labor market in the U.S. Reader Lori might be correct, we may already cover the difference in price for our low-price products.
December 02, 2005
This weekend
We'll be putting up photos of Rachel Storch's kick-off (Andy Blunt came by) and Amy B,ouin's dad fundraiser (I saw them touring South Grand this morning with Bob Holden). So check the photo gallery later.
New issue on Tuesday!
Officer Browning
In light of the topic Dave has brought up, I thought I would link to a post on St. Louis Coptalk by SLPD Officer Matthew Browning.
Officer Browning lost both legs in October of 2004 due to a drunk driver. Officer Browning was standing between two parked police cars when the driver rear-ended one of the vehicles.
In his post Browning talks about the challenges he faces in his new life, the support he has received and the difficult nature of forgiveness.
It's a moving post that shows great understanding and strength. I wish Officer Browning the best of luck.
Note: The link came via a comment by Joe Frank on Steve Patterson's blog, Urban Review.
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