Local News

Gravois Park Neighbors to St. Alexius Owners: Shape Up, or Else

Published

1 year ago

May 8, 2024

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A group of neighbors are threatening legal action against the out-of-state owners of the old St. Alexius hospital campus in south St. Louis if the problems plaguing the property aren’t taken care of in 60 days.

The letter from the neighbors accuses property owners Jeffrey Ahlholm and Lawrence Feigen of “willfully and maliciously” abandoning the buildings of the Jefferson campus of the shuttered hospital near Cherokee Street and Jefferson Avenue. The letter says the two men left a significant amount of valuable machinery and medical equipment on the premises, turning the eleven buildings into a haven for squatters and burglars.

The RFT reported in September that the former hospital grounds saw 80 calls to police in the first nine months of last year alone. The buildings on the property total approximately 400,000 square feet of commercial space.

“It’s the copper,” Ahlholm told the RFT last year. “Literally they will pass over taking other stuff that might even have greater value. But [copper] is what they know.”

The neighborhood group of Gravois Park and Marine Villa residents say the real culprits are Ahlholm and Feigen.

Their letter blames the owners for exacerbating problems on the grounds by allowing doors to go unsecured, as well as a bridge connecting two of the bulidings. The buildings themselves are marked by graffiti and shattered windows. Last July 4, a group of kids got into the building, went up onto the roof and set off fireworks there.

The properties are a nuisance, the letter says, increasing crime in the area and weighing down the value of adjacent properties.

An attorney representing the building owners attended a neighborhood meeting last month and spoke of the building owners’ good intentions, however, the letter says that their words ring hollow and that no corrective action has been taken at the site since.

“As a whole, the Property looks like a post-apocalyptic movie set, more akin to an episode of The Walking Dead than a recently functional hospital,” says attorney Tara Rocque with the Washington University School of Law Interdisciplinary Environmental Clinic. Rocque drafted the letter on behalf of the Gravois Park Block Link Neighborhood Association.

As rough as the buildings look from the outside, the letter paints a picture of what’s inside as even worse. “Slides of human tissue, images of disfigured infants and a preserved fetal piglet are strewn amidst heaps of abandoned medical equipment and splattered blood,” the letter states.

Finally, the letter outlines 14 different ways the property is in violation of city ordinances, including its extended vacancy endangering public welfare.

The letter is only the most recent example of neighbors banding together to take action against nuisance properties when the city can’t, or won’t. Last month, the neighborhood association in Downtown West won a major victory in shutting down the gas station known as the Murder Shell, using only civil litigation. That victory showed the power of residents when they’ve banded together and are backed by creative, and energetic, lawyers.

The Gravois Park association’s letter says that if the issues at St. Alexius aren’t abated by July 8, the neighbors will take legal action.

“You should understand that the remedies in a civil legal action are much broader than those established for a code enforcement action and include injunctive relief, monetary damages, attorneys’ fees, and court costs,” it 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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