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RFT Reviews the Week: January 22 to January 26 | St. Louis

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click to enlarge ZACHARY LINHARES Fog engulfs the Bissell Street Water Tower in St. Louis’ College Hill neighborhood.

MONDAY, JANUARY 22. It’s an ice day for most of the metro — school’s off, City Hall goes remote. Fortunately, it’s all melting by the afternoon, with temps finally rising after a frigid week. The heat seems likely to dissipate in Clayton, however: Its school board terminates its contract to buy the former Caleres HQ for an ill-defined Empowerment Campus Project. 

TUESDAY, JANUARY 23. It’s much warmer today, but Jefferson City shows no signs of a cool-off. Senate President Pro-Tem Caleb Rowden (R-Columbia) removes four members of the state’s annoying new Freedom Caucus from committee chairmanships — and that means not just a cut to their office budgets but also (gasp!) the removal of their designated parking spots in the Capitol garage. Best of all, he calls them “swamp creatures,” an insult no one could argue with after spending three seconds with this crew. Of the 17 hours and 52 minutes the Senate has been in session, the Missouri Independent quotes Rowden saying that caucus members have held the floor for 16 hours and 45 minutes for “filibusters of things of no consequence whatsoever relative to a piece of policy.” Also, bad news for former Alderman Jeffrey Boyd; a judge says no to his request to get out of prison early.

WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 22. Much, much warmer (it almost feels like spring) but it’s also intensely foggy. A hostage situation at the Drury Inn downtown ends with no injuries — nice job, St. Louis Police. (Never thought we’d say that, eh?) Governor Parson gives the State of the State and stakes out the terribly controversial position of increasing penalties for people who expose minors to fentanyl and increasing funding for childcare. Compared to the Freedom Caucus, he looks almost presidential.

THURSDAY, JANUARY 23. It’s warmer still, but fog persists. AI-generated nudes of Taylor Swift flood social media channels. Even the White House says it’s alarmed. 

FRIDAY, JANUARY 24. Fog turns to rain, and a vacant building that housed many homeless people collapses in the 3900 block of South Grand. The fire department finds no fatalities — but suggests that the cause of the collapse was simply the building’s mortar washing away. Terrifying thought in this city of brick. In St. Louis County, 21-year-old Ramon White is sentenced to two life terms for killing a man during a botched carjacking in 2020 in Berkeley. In Manhattan, Donald Trump is slapped with a $83.3 million jury verdict for refusing to stop trash talking E. Jean Carroll. The disgraced former president was previously found liable for abusing Carroll in a trial last May.

SATURDAY, JANUARY 25. More gloom. A car is stolen in Jennings with two kids inside, but both are recovered without incident. Congresswoman Cori Bush (D-St. Louis) kicks off her campaign in north county with about 500 people in attendance, including alderpeople Rasheen Aldridge, Daniela Velazquez and Megan Green. In Creve Coeur, an officer handling a suspected DUI gets a scare when another driver, also suspected of driving drunk, crashes into his car. No one is seriously injured.SUNDAY, JANUARY 26. It’s a sporty Sunday as the Blues notch their fifth straight win in Los Angeles. For those who aren’t boycotting the NFL for screwing over St. Louis, football offers a mixed bag: Detroit loses the NFC championship to San Francisco, which feels like a blow to all good Midwesterners — but the Missourah Chiefs continue their march toward the Super Bowl with a victory over Baltimore to take the AFC crown. In St. Louis, the weather has been so gloomy for so long, even the local branch of the National Weather Service is getting crabby. It tweets that it’s been 166 hours “and counting” of clouds. Even so, the sun will come out tomorrow — and we can’t wait.
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Fenton Man Charged in Sword Attack on Roommate

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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

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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

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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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