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Andoe’s Society Page: It’s Left vs. Far-Left in Maplewood Politics | St. Louis Metro News | St. Louis

Published

3 years ago

March 9, 2023

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click to enlarge Maplewood may look idyllic, but the politics can turn ugly.

In May of 2022, the revelation that the Supreme Court would overturn Roe v. Wade left the nation reeling and dominated headlines. Galvanized Maplewood activists rose up and vowed to never stop fighting — to shut down a neighborhood donut shop after it made a peanut allergy joke on social media.As the nation and world engages in an epic battle between right and left, within the 1.5 square miles that make up the inner-ring suburb of Maplewood, the 8,000 residents are witnessing a hyper-local and far more personal war between fringe left versus left-of-center. The latter camp defines the former as militant, humorless and hysterical, and nobody is more vocal about that assessment than playwright Donald Miller, a 59-year-old gay, married father who has voted (and often campaigned) for every Democrat since Bill Clinton, but is essentially Ted Cruz in the eyes of some of his younger progressive neighbors.I met the wildly irreverent Miller about a decade ago, when we both wrote for the LGBTQ magazine Vital Voice. Until 2017, he appeared to live a relatively drama-free life in upscale Richmond Heights, but when his family moved five minutes east, lured by a large circa 1900 Victorian on one of Maplewood’s idyllic tree-lined streets, Miller’s sometimes irritated, oftentimes comical Facebook posts described constant neighborhood dramas.“Once I had been friended by some members of the Maplewood community, including neighbors and other parents, I noticed there seemed to be this hyper rigidity that I found off-putting. It really came to the forefront during the 2021 mayoral and school board races, and the vitriol thrown around in both of those races was just staggering,” Miller says when discussing how some local activists painted the former moderate mayor — Barry Greenberg, a Jewish father of a Black son — as a racist, and referred to anyone who wanted to resume in-school learning as “kid killers.”“You would have thought it was the political race to end all political races, given the hyper melodrama,” Miller says. “Some acted as if the mayoral race was between David Duke and Mother Teresa. It was crazy.”While Maplewood prides itself on its diversity, Miller and others who agreed to speak with me on background say the vitriol and hysterics center around less than a dozen straight white 30-somethings with kids.Miller and his allies paint a picture of a community dynamic not unlike those described in the recent Atlantic piece, “How San Francisco Became a Failed City,” but on a micro-scale. In San Francisco, generous social services and a high tolerance for illegal drug use led to a massive unhoused population. Ideas advanced by entrenched activists, including open-air drug markets, have recently been met with serious pushback by more mainstream residents who say the city has become unlivable.In Maplewood, well-intentioned free-food programs led to an influx of unhoused people (including a child molester) setting up encampments under bridges and in parks. When residents complained of hypodermic needles on the playground, proposed solutions included installing a sharps box near the jungle gym.But the story is also very St. Louis in how neighborhood-specific the saga is. There’s no body of water or mountain range that separates Maplewood from the city, Richmond Heights or Clayton, just lines on a map. Yet there seems to be very little cultural spillover. And when a local woman who’d been browbeaten out of a mom’s group she founded agreed to sit down with me to discuss her observations and experiences, we arranged a clandestine meeting where nobody would know her: One mile east of Maplewood’s border in the bar of El Paisano.“I think Don’s play is going to humorously skewer the archetype of the white, comfortable, upper-middle-class urban housewife who expresses her activism by carefully curated social media posts, hyperlinks, paywall articles and online outrage. And maybe the occasional crocheted beanie,” she says after sharing the story of how she was labeled every derogatory term under the sun for not making her parenting group more political.The beleaguered woman speaks for 90 minutes. “Whew, I know that was way too much, but it was cathartic,” she says as we part ways. Set in a community garden, Miller’s latest play centers upon “a performative community activist” who attempts to manipulate others under the guise of equity and feminism.“From the Garden is political satire that focuses on a growing divide within the Democratic Party between old-school liberals and the new strain of überleft progressives,” Miller says. “While it’s written largely for comedic effect, the conflict at the core of the story is very real and serious. It examines how, in some cases, identity politics can be not just rigid and unproductive, but downright toxic.”Historically, queer people developed their trademark irreverent humor as a result of not being initiated into mainstream society. This gave them a unique license to mock things that were long considered untouchable, like organized religion, for instance. As the world changed and opened up, that kind of humor began to die out. Even today’s young queers, who demand reverence, would seemingly have more in common with Miller’s adversaries than with him. But Miller shows no signs of conforming anytime soon.Shortly after the local donut shop’s controversial peanut allergy post, they had a post promoting a coconut donut. Miller commented, “How dare you? Thousands are killed each year from falling coconuts!” Tickets for From the Garden, which runs May 5 to 7 at the Chapel (6238 Alexander Drive, 314-529-1581), are available through eventbrite.Coming soon: Riverfront Times Daily newsletter. We’ll send you a handful of interesting St. Louis stories every morning. Subscribe now to not miss a thing.Follow us: Google News | NewsBreak | Reddit | Instagram | Facebook | Twitter

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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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