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St. Louis Mayor Signs Order To Protect Trans Residents | St. Louis Metro News | St. Louis

Published

2 years ago

May 25, 2023

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click to enlarge Nick Schnelle Missouri proposed the second highest number of anti-trans measures compared to any other state last session.

St. Louis Mayor Tishaura Jones moved to make St. Louis a more inclusive space for trans residents today.

An executive order signed by Jones requires key city departments to implement new gender-inclusive practices in light of anti-trans legislation passing through the state legislature.

Last month, the Missouri legislature passed bills that restricted transgender minors from gender-affirming care and kept them from playing on sports teams that match their gender identity. Those were just two of 48 different anti-LGBTQ measures filed last session — and part of what made Missouri the state with the most anti-LGBTQ bills in the country last session.

“I’ve heard from trans youth and their families who feel like hateful attacks from Jefferson City will force them to leave our state,” Jones said in a statement. “This order sends the message that St. Louis will fight to protect our trans community in the face of bigotry.”

Jones’ order requires city administration buildings to have at least one all-gender bathroom and blocks city-supported sports programs from operating in a way that is not gender-affirming.

Currently, anyone who registers for a sports program via the city’s Recreation Division’s website has to disclose their gender, but the only options are male or female. Disclosing gender will no no longer be a requirement.

The executive order also requires the Department of Health to disseminate information on how city residents, including youth, can access gender-affirming care.

Jones’ order is a direct rebuttal to the Missouri General Assembly’s attempt to restrict trans youth from sports and gender-affirming care, which is described in the order as “hateful persecution of vulnerable children through government overreach.”

The mayor conferred with the city’s LGBTQIA Advisory Board to draft the order, according to Shira Berkowitz, one of the board’s nine members.

“The advisory board was able to prioritize and make sure that these are meetable needs and that every piece of the executive order has a place where it can be enforced and provided with access,” Berkowitz tells the RFT.

St. Louis follows several Democratic cities in predominantly Republican states that have taken similar actions to combat anti-trans legislation. The city’s also following in the footsteps of what St. Louis County Executive Sam Page did about two years ago when he ordered about 300 single-stall bathrooms in county government buildings to be designated as gender neutral.

Kansas City Council approved a resolution in May to declare Kansas City a “sanctuary city,” saying the city will not fine a person or organization that seeks or provides gender-affirming care or enforce violations should the state pass a law that would impose punishments.

Berkowitz, who is also the senior policy director for PROMO, Missouri’s statewide LGBTQ advocacy organization, says the organization is ecstatic to see mayors stepping up.

“We’re thrilled that there’s a wide number of cities supporting transgender Missourians and taking significant stands to condemn legislation that the governor may still sign into law,” Berkowitz says.

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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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