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St. Louis May Soon Welcome Negro Leagues Baseball Museum of Its Own

Published

2 years ago

March 19, 2024

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The St. Louis Board of Aldermen is considering a bill that would provide tax abatement and a blighting study for the JeffVanderLou area — where a new Negro Leagues Baseball Museum hopes to open.

The museum, planned for 2423 North Spring Street, will be an affiliate of the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum in Kansas City that will emphasize the role of the St. Louis Stars as well as other prominent Black baseball players who contributed to the city, developer Guyton Harvey said during a committee meeting on Tuesday.

The Stars were originally known as the Giants before the team was sold to a new owner, according to the museum. Overall the team won the Negro National League pennant (in 1928, 1930 and 1931) and the Negro National League Second Half Chamionship in 1925 and 1939.

The Negro Leagues Baseball Museum is also developing the nearby Buck O’Neil Education and Research Center, which will hold a Sports Science Center, research library, technology center, exhibit space with a changing gallery, an event center and office space, according to documents provided by the St. Louis Development Corporation, which helped present the project.

Ward 11 Alderwoman Laura Keys sponsored the bill that would provide up to 15 years of tax abatement to three developments proposed in the JeffVanderLou area including the construction of 34 senior housing units and retail and a commercial building that would house the baseball museum.

This bill was heard at the board’s Housing, Urban Development, and Zoning Committee on Tuesday.

Aldermen recently passed Board Bill 174 — which went before this same committee during its legislative process — that would approve blight redevelopment in this area, teeing up the board’s use of eminent domain against Paul McKee’s developments. Bill 174 will impact 821.4 acres in the St. Louis Place, JeffVanderLou and Carr Square neighborhoods, RFT previously reported.

Keys’ Board Bill 211 would impact scattered sites in the JeffVanderLou area and it is anticipated that at least three redevelopment projects will take place in the area of these scattered sites around Rumbold Park.
Screenshot from SLDC and the Board of Aldermen These are the proposed development sites for the JeffVanderLou project.

The implementation of the plan would result in the creation of 25 jobs in the area, according to the plan provided to aldermen. The discussions surrounding this plan have spanned two years, according to the documents.

“The application for tax abatement for the project was submitted to SLDC (St. Louis Development Corporation) in September 2022,” the group stated in the documents. “The project was presented to the LCRA board in October 2022 and the Redevelopment Plan and Blighting Study were approved.”

Now the project must be approved by the full Board of Aldermen.

The first phase of the redevelopment project would be the construction of the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum, Harvey said. The second phase would create 34 to 40 affordable senior housing units and the third phase would allow for home construction and retail spaces.

In addition to the museum development at North Spring and St. Ferdinand Place, the senior housing would be on Prairie Street. Essentially, the entire project would wrap around Rumbold Park.

Harvey said he is in discussions with a community health entity as well for the commercial space but did not say which entity.

Bill 211 was passed out of committee with a “do pass” recommendation to the full board.

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Fenton Man Charged in Sword Attack on Roommate

Published

1 year ago

May 22, 2024

Natural Bridge

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A warrant is out for a Fenton man’s arrest after he allegedly attacked his roommate with a sword.

Police say that on Sunday, Angelus Scott spoke openly about “slicing his roommate’s head” before he grabbed a sword, raised it up and then swung it down at the roommate.

The roommate grabbed Scott’s hand in time to prevent injury. When police arrived at the scene, they found the weapon used in the assault.

The sword in question was a katana, which is a Japanese sword recognizable for its curved blade.

This isn’t the first time a samurai-style sword has been used to violent effect in St. Louis. In 2018, a man hearing voices slaughtered his ex-boyfriend with a samurai sword. His mother said he suffered from schizoaffective disorder.

As for Scott, 35, the St. Louis County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office was charged yesterday with two felonies, assault first degree and armed criminal action. The warrant for his arrest says he is to be held on $200,000 bond.

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Caught on Video, Sheriff Says He’s Ready to ‘Turn It All Over’ to Deputy

Published

1 year ago

May 22, 2024

Natural Bridge

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Video of St. Louis Sheriff Vernon Betts taken by a former deputy suggests that the sheriff has a successor in mind to hand the reins of the department over to, even as Betts is in an increasingly heated campaign for reelection.

“I ain’t here for all this rigmarole,” Betts says in the video while seated behind his desk at the Carnahan Courthouse. “The Lord sent me here to turn this department around and I’m doing the best I can and I think I’ve done a good job. I’ve got about eight months and I’m going to qualify for my fourth pension.”

He goes on, “Right now I can walk up out of here and live happily ever after and forget about all this…and live like a king.”

The sheriff then says his wife has been in Atlanta looking at houses and that the other deputy in the room, Donald Hawkins, is someone Betts has been training “to turn it all over to him.”

Asked about the video, Betts tells the RFT, “My future plans are to win reelection on August 6th by a wide margin and to continue my mission as the top elected law enforcement official to make St. Louis safer and stronger. Serving the people of St. Louis with integrity, honor and professional law enforcement qualifications is a sacred responsibility, and I intend to complete that mission.”

The video of Betts was taken by Barbara Chavers, who retired from the sheriff’s office in 2016 after 24 years of service. Chavers now works security at Schnucks at Grand and Gravois. Betts’ brother Howard works security there, too.

Chavers tells the RFT that she was summoned to Betts’ office last week after Betts’ brother made the sheriff aware that she was supporting Montgomery. It was no secret: Chavers had filmed a Facebook live video in which she said she was supporting Betts’ opponent Alfred Montgomery in the election this fall. “Make the judges safe,” she says in the video, standing in front of a large Montgomery sign on Gravois Avenue. “They need a sheriff who is going to make their courtrooms safe.”

In his office, even as Chavers made clear she was filming him, Betts told Chavers he was “flabbergasted” and “stunned” she was supporting Montgomery.

“I don’t know what I did that would make you go against the preacher man,” he says, referring to himself. He then refers to Montgomery as “ungodly.”

Betts goes on to say that not long ago, he was walking in his neighborhood on St. Louis Avenue near 20th Street when suddenly Montgomery pulled up in his car and, according to Betts, shouted, “You motherfucker, you this, you that. You’re taking my signs down.”

Montgomery tells the RFT that he’s never interacted with Betts outside of candidate forums and neighborhood meetings.

“I don’t think anyone with good sense would do something like that to a sitting sheriff,” Montgomery says.

Montgomery has had campaign signs missing and on at least two occasions has obtained video of people tearing them down. (Chavers notes that the sign that she filmed her original Facebook video in front of is itself now missing.)

One man who lives near Columbus Square says that he recently put out two Montgomery signs, which later went missing. “If they keep taking them, I’ll keep putting them up,” he said.

Betts says he has nothing to do with the missing signs. In the video Chavers filmed in Betts’ office, Betts says that his campaign isn’t in a spot where it needs to resort to tearing down opponents’ signs.

“If you sit here long enough, a man is getting ready to come across the street from City Hall bringing me $500, today,” Betts says. “I’m getting that kind of support. I don’t need to tear down signs.”

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St. Louis to Develop First Citywide Transportation Plan in Decades

Published

1 year ago

May 21, 2024

Natural Bridge

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The City of St. Louis is working to develop its first citywide mobility plan in decades, Mayor Tishaura Jones’ office announced Tuesday. This plan seeks to make it easier for everyone — drivers, pedestrians, bikers and public transit users — to safely commute within the city.

The plan will bring together other city projects like the Brickline Greenway, Future64, the MetroLink Green Line, and more, “while establishing new priorities for a safer, more efficient and better-maintained transportation network across the City,” according to the release.

The key elements in the plan will be public engagement, the development of a safety action plan, future infrastructure priorities and transportation network mapping, according to Jones’ office.

The overarching goals are to create a vision for citywide mobility, plan a mixture of short and long-term mobility projects and to develop improved communication tools with the public to receive transportation updates. In recent years, both people who use public transit and cyclists have been outspoken about the difficulties — and dangers — of navigating St. Louis streets, citing both cuts to public transit and traffic violence.

To garner public input and participation for the plan, Jones’ office said there will be community meetings, focus groups and a survey for residents to share their concerns. The city will also be establishing a Community Advisory Committee. Those interested in learning more should check out at tmp-stl.com/

“Everyone deserves to feel safe when getting around St. Louis, whether they’re driving, biking, walking or taking public transit,” Jones said in a news release. “Creating a comprehensive transportation and mobility plan allows us to make intentional and strategic investments so that moving around St. Louis for jobs, education, and entertainment becomes easier, safer and more enjoyable.”

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