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Andoe’s Society Page: Lucas Kunce Is Officially Off the Market | St. Louis Metro News | St. Louis

Published

2 years ago

February 13, 2023

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click to enlarge COURTESY PHOTO Lucas Kunce recently got married.
Lucas Kunce, the affable and fresh-faced candidate working to unseat the fist-raising insurrectionist-boosting-turned-insurrectionist-fleeing Senator Josh Hawley, introduced his new bride, Marilyn (Martinez) Kunce over brunch at Benton Park Cafe on Saturday. His senior advisor, Connor Lounsbury, arranged the meeting, and told me he would be joining us. “You’re flying in just for brunch?” I asked during our call. “Of course! This is her first media interview ever and I’m not going to throw them to the wolves on their own!” he said.Being the first to arrive, I was offered coffee but asked for a mimosa. The warm and delightful host said they had just gotten their liquor license and were not yet prepared for brunch cocktails. “But we do have a bottle of Champagne, and we have orange juice, so let me see what we can do,” she said in a hopeful tone of possibility, but returned to report that the bartender vetoed the idea because other customers may try to follow suit. Lucas and Marilyn sat beside me on a padded bench while we waited for the table to open up. The body language of the fit and attractive couple was that of a classic courtship, with his arm around her and a lot of smiles, laughter and eye contact. Connor was feverishly working on his phone, but once we were seated, I had to break the cocktail news to him. Brunch without a mimosa or bloody mary is almost unheard of in gay culture, as demonstrated by the bewildered cringe that washed across his face. “I have an idea. Let’s suggest they disguise our mimosas in coffee cups,” I said. An enthusiastic Connor made the pitch, but the cafe declined to partake in our shenanigans. Anyway, the new couple had a day of door knocking in Old North St. Louis before heading back home to cheer on the Chiefs in the Super Bowl, so my sober efficiency was certainly preferable for their schedule.Lucas was in D.C. for a meeting when he met Marilyn at a coffee shop this past September. The svelte 29-year-old couldn’t get her Apple Pay to work. She was rifling through her bag looking for cash when Lucas introduced himself and offered to pay. They met for a romantic walk along the National Mall that very evening, but as the two held hands Saturday morning, Marilyn told me it wasn’t until the second date that she learned he was a public figure.“I was talking about how cruel people can be online, and how they will say things they’d never say in person, and he said, ‘I know something about that.’ He then Googled his name, and I tried not to show much of a reaction, but the instant I got home I was like, ‘Who is this guy?’” she recalled with a laugh.Marilyn spent her early years on a farm in rural Mexico but says climate change made the land unsuitable for farming, so her family moved to town. Intellectually curious at a very young age, she was bored in preschool and asked to sit in on the first grade class. The teacher humored her, but realized she was already on a first-grade level and recommended the four-year-old skip two grades. In addition to her schooling, she worked long hours at the family’s food truck, and began earning money as a singer at age seven. (Karaoke is a favorite activity, which she’s roped Lucas into.) After graduating at 16, she attended Juárez University of the State of Durango, where she graduated at the top of her class.Marilyn came to the U.S. on an exchange program in 2017, not knowing English. Today, she works for the National Resource Defense Council as an international finance and research analyst, a job she can do remotely from their home in suburban Kansas City, but which also involves traveling abroad. You might say the life of a political couple is one of hard knocks. When going door to door in Independence, for instance, one man pointed a gun at them. “You’re coming out hard today!” Lucas laughed at the time, and after talking for a few minutes, the man said he would vote for Lucas’ candidate. (That day he was going door-to-door for state Representative Robbie Sauls, D-Independence.) Another time, Marilyn didn’t notice a deep puddle because it was covered in leaves. “I now wear boots when door knocking,” she said while extending her legs. Life with Lucas has been a crash course in all things Missouri. He has taken Marilyn to all corners of the state, up into the Arch and the St. Louis Wheel — despite her fear of heights. “We were driving along Route 179 along the Missouri River,” Lucas began, “and she was amazed at how well we could see the stars.” “I asked him to pull over several times, and he pointed out the Milky Way,” Mariyn added.Lucas hails from Jefferson City, and Marilyn finds many similarities with her own hometown, including that many have to leave in order to find work. While Lucas has been pursuing that problem politically, Marilyn has been pursuing it with environmental policy. Another similarity they point to is the community feel. While the couple was married in Independence on January 13th, they will have the big ceremony in Mexico later this month. One reason it will be so big is that everyone who has touched Marilyn’s life in some way wants to come, which Lucas says reminds him of the culture of Jefferson City.As we were wrapping up the interview, I learned there was more news to discuss. Recently, Marilyn went to the ER with stomach pains. “The doctor simply said, ‘You’re pregnant.’” she recalled. Their baby boy is due to arrive at the end of July.It was a brunch chock-full of delightful conversation and Rihanna-esque revelations. And I suspect this smart, nimble power couple will continue to surprise us.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

8 months 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

8 months 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

8 months 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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