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RFT Reviews the Week: July 10 to July 16, 2023 | St. Louis Metro News | St. Louis

Published

2 years ago

July 17, 2023

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MONDAY, JULY 10. The St. Louis Public Schools unveils its strategic plan, which cost $625,000 and somehow still includes stock art of a random school in Maryland. The 128-page report from Virginia-based consultants Health in Color fails to discuss salient details like enrollment figures or magnet or charter schools, per the Post-Dispatch. No wonder multiple officials, including Mayor Tishaura Jones, distanced themselves from it last year. So, now that we wasted that money, what’s the plan for a district that continues to hemorrhage students?

TUESDAY, JULY 11. The south-city Target parking lot sees a mid-afternoon triple shooting. Apparently two 19-year-olds met up with a 25-year-old there to conduct a “transaction” (gotta love police lingo), and things went south. Fortunately no one died, but when even the Hampton Avenue Target isn’t safe. … Meanwhile, St. Charles County is adding 40 new license plate readers to its highways, with the aim of flushing out cars linked to crime. Civil libertarians aren’t happy, but since very few of those are left these days, it’s more a muted moan than a full-fledged outcry. Also: Eric Greitens can finally claim a legacy, as the so-called Greitens Law is used to charge the man who disseminated a sex video of the former chief of staff for St. Louis County Executive Sam Page. Go figure: The revenge porn purveyor is a jealous Chicagoan.

WEDNESDAY, JULY 12. After 127 years and a key role in launching the craft beer industry, Anchor Steam closes up shop. Workers blame beer giant Sapporo, which bought the San Francisco brewer in 2017 and apparently ran it into the ground (hey, kind of like InBev and Anheuser-Busch — could Bud Light be next?) Closer to home, just after 2 a.m., a Greyhound bus heading from Indianapolis to St. Louis crashes into parked tractor-trailers at a rest stop in Madison County. Three people die, and 14 are injured.

THURSDAY, JULY 13. A 59-year-old architect is taken into custody in Manhattan, accused of killing at least three sex workers in 2009 and 2010 and dropping them on a remote stretch of Long Island. Rex Heuermann also allegedly later made a call taunting one victim’s family members, which puts even the innocent-til-proven-guilty crowd dangerously close to “rot in hell” mode.

FRIDAY, JULY 14. Riverport — no, we don’t call it Hollywood Casino Amphitheatre — sees flash flooding during the Post Malone concert. “This was like a great value version of Woodstock,” attendee Rana Jchaj tells KMOV. That’s the spirit! Meanwhile, RFK Jr. holds a press event and says COVID-19 was genetically engineered to kill Blacks and Caucasians while sparing the Chinese and Ashkenazi Jews. What in the Protocols of the Elders of Zion is this crap?

SATURDAY, JULY 15. City SC is playing at Citypark, the Cards have a double-header at Busch Stadium and the streets are packed. There’s also a pep rally at Union Station, live music at the National Blues Museum and more music at Kiener Plaza — but sure, go ahead and believe those county assholes who claim downtown is dead. Tom Schmidt of Salt + Smoke and Katie Lee Collier of Katie’s Pizza & Pasta are laughing all the way to the bank.

SUNDAY, JULY 16. The Missouri Independent reports that the state has opted out of a federal program that supplies poor kids with free lunch through the summer. State officials claim it’s just too hard to administer, which never seems to be a reason to cut tax breaks for the wealthy. Just sayin’.

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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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