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New Homeless Camp Sets Up Within a Block of St. Louis City Hall | St. Louis Metro News | St. Louis

Published

2 years ago

October 11, 2023

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click to enlarge RYAN KRULL Tahtia Wilson is now living outside the old Municipal Courts building less than a block from City Hall.

About a week after the city of St. Louis cleared a makeshift homeless encampment from the area around City Hall, a new cluster of tents has popped up less than a block away.

About nine tents now spot the lawn outside the old Municipal Courts building at 14th and Market Streets downtown. Some of the dozen or so people living there say that they were at the City Hall encampment when it was officially cleared on October 3.

Tahtia Wilson, who’s 24 and has been living rough for about two years, says she was one of the 20 to 30 people forced to leave the lawn at City Hall. “They said it was OK to stay over there, and then all of sudden they told us we had to go,” she says.

“We got shammed out of our home, some place we called home,” says Keanyne Head. “Now we got to start over.”

She adds, “They aren’t messing with us [here]. We’re cool.”

Mayor Tishaura Jones’ decision to clear the encampment outside City Hall was a controversial one, with activists accusing her of only doing so because Vice President Kamala Harris was coming to visit St. Louis for a Democratic National Committee meeting. Department of Human Services Director Adam Pearson told the RFT at the time that the city had 50 beds available for those forced to leave.

After ordering the camp cleared, Jones issued a statement that said in part, “The City took action to save lives and protect people. Full stop. My administration navigated this complex situation to connect dozens of unhoused residents to shelter and resources while addressing a growing public safety hazard.”

When asked if the city offered her a place to stay, Head replies, “No. We got left.”

click to enlarge RYAN KRULL MG, left, and Tahtia Wilson say the city is fine with their presence now that they’ve moved less than a block away.

But here, about a 45-second walk from the previous encampment, no one seems to be giving Head or anyone else any trouble — much less taking any action to “save lives.”

“Now that we’re right next door they don’t give a fuck,” MG says.

Pearson, however, tells the RFT that his agency has been on-site.

“While the City has concerns about individuals who are receiving tents when they should be receiving services including treatment for addiction and mental health support, the dedicated outreach team at DHS will continue its efforts to offer services that actually support their long-term wellbeing,” Pearson says. “The City of St. Louis has a robust ecosystem of shelter and housing providers with a shared mission to get individuals off the street and on a path to permanent housing.”

The building that MG and the others now live outside has been shuttered since 2003. According to a KMOV feature about it, the building was designed by the same architect who designed buildings for the 1904 World’s Fair.

When asked what the people living in the ad-hoc camp need, a man who identifies himself only as Joe says that he’d like for someone to send a couple containers of cleaner and some scrubbing brushes. He’d like to keep the steps of the old courthouse as clean as possible while people are living here.

“It’s hard,” adds Wilson. “And then there’s winter coming.”

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Fenton Man Charged in Sword Attack on Roommate

Published

12 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

12 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

12 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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