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Andoe’s Society Page: The Magic of Seeing Fire Over the Cahokia Mounds | St. Louis Metro News | St. Louis

Published

2 years ago

August 29, 2023

Natural Bridge

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click to enlarge CHRIS ANDOE Even a salvage yard fire can be beautiful from the right vantage point.

The intense late summer heat, combined with travel schedules, made it harder to get things done in August.

I originally intended to write this column about how the residents of Benton Park roll out the red carpet when cycling events come through. Several years in a row, while participating in the World Naked Bike Ride, I was wowed by the neighborhood’s incredible hospitality. In addition to cheering us on, folks handed out water, juice, beer, beads, and even sprayed down riders upon request.

Yet my primary contact for that story, Jessica Jobin, was traveling, so we couldn’t connect in time. I invited Neil Salsich of the Mighty Pines (and NBC’s The Voice fame), who lived in Benton Park before moving to Gravois Park, to meet up. He was also traveling.

As I thought about what to write about instead, I was reading an advance copy of author Scott Alexander Hess’ latest novel, A Season in Delhi. I was contemplating the St. Louis native’s rich and tactile descriptions of place when inspiration struck.

I would write about the most spontaneous, perhaps even cinematic Sunday I’ve had in some time. An evening where it felt many of us simply surrendered to and became one with the heat and this place.

After the late afternoon St. Lou Fringe Awards on August 20, I invited Jamar Torres, an Instagram acquaintance who was in town for the Beyonce concert, out for drinks. My husband and I picked him up from the Hyatt Regency at the Arch, and made our way to Bar PM on South Broadway. I learned that Torres, 35, is a Boston native who was living in New York when he was lured to Tulsa by its ambitious remote work program, which offers $10,000 towards housing costs, in addition to fostering community engagement for transplants and assisting with entrepreneurial endeavors.

I showed him around Bar PM, explaining how it recently expanded into the neighboring building, which was long owned by the world’s oldest performing drag queen, Bonnie Blake. Torres discussed all he’d seen and done around town before mentioning he’d like to see Cahokia Mounds. “Let’s go right now, before sunset!” I said.

There was a massive salvage yard fire in nearby Madison, Illinois, and from our vantage point it appeared Monk’s Mound was an erupting volcano. From the top, we and a dozen others had a panoramic view which included the skyline and the raging inferno.

Torres snapped photos of the soaring Arch from the bridge on the way back, and then we wound our way through Soulard, pulling over twice to say hello to people we knew before arriving at Bastille. Despite the soupy conditions, many preferred to sit outside, including “Maven of Mardi Gras” Luann Denten. The Soulard socialite held court at one of the tables on the front sidewalk. “I returned from my trip early to celebrate Dessi’s birthday!” the Maven said, in reference to Panera VP Dessi Zaneva.

Longtime bartender Mark Rumback turned on the misters over the intimate, tucked away patio, where a festive crowd, which included the jovial Zaneva, laughed and mingled. We all got soaked as the colored patio lights shimmered on our faces.

Torres seemed thoroughly charmed by our old and layered metro, based on his comments that night and his glowing Instagram post. After he returned home, I asked for his thoughts on his weekend here.

“St. Louis is a city with a special charm and strong character, where I truly see the interaction of the Midwest meets the South. The people are friendly, they’re proud of their city, I see a bustling LGBTQ community, and enjoyed visiting different places such as the art museum for the hip hop exhibit, the City Museum, and visiting the awe inspiring Cahokia Mounds State Historic Site with my new friends.”

Free agents like Torres are being lured away from megacities, sometimes landing in metropolitan areas a third our size. That offers an opportunity for St. Louis. We have the affordability they crave, without drastically sacrificing urban amenities and culture.

We just need people to see what we’re about.

Just as I surrendered to conditions that evening, letting this place be what it will be, I’m doing the same with this column. For me it’s about finding meaning and value in our efforts and experiences, even when they don’t play out as intended. Finding inspiration in one another and in this complicated place. A place where even a tire fire can become part of a mystical backdrop. Perhaps even an eruption of civic pride.

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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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