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RFT Reviews the Week: March 6 to March 12, 2023 | St. Louis Metro News | St. Louis

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Jon Gitchoff The downtown St. Patrick’s Day Parade was on Saturday.
MONDAY, MARCH 6 What wonderful May weather we’re having … in March. Should we enjoy it, or be spooked? Never fear, it’s St. Louis: If you don’t like the weather now, just wait five minutes … or til Wednesday.TUESDAY, MARCH 7 Election Day in the city, and in a whole lot of wards, it makes zero difference if you vote. Instead of questioning why turnout is so low in these wards, perhaps we should ask why 11 or 12 percent of voters even bothered. Are they trying to establish their bona fides as primary election voters so the campaign literature keeps coming? Or preserving their future electability in the event they seek to challenge Kim Gardner? Surely you people have reasons. WEDNESDAY, MARCH 8 Neither rain nor sleet nor hail nor whatever that is falling from the sky this morning can stop us from poring over election returns. Some takeaways: Mayor Tishaura Jones does not have coattails worth riding in the new 8th — her chosen candidate, Shedrick Kelley, got clobbered not just by incumbent Cara Spencer (which was predictable), but also by a guy who’s been out of politics for six years, Ken “Cat’s Meow” Ortmann (which wasn’t). Incumbents Bret Narayan and Joe “Car Wash Daddy” Vaccaro have a tough battle ahead in the new 4th. And what about that potential coin flip in the new 9th? Gotta love when two incumbents see their future come down to being decided “by lot,” in the archaic words of the city ordinance. Finally, how about the new 14th Ward? Seeing both current aldermen — Brandon Bosley and James Page — lose to state Representative Rasheen Aldridge and Ebony Washington is a good reminder of the battles of St. Louis elections past. The only thing that could possibly explain Washington’s success with absentee votes also happens to be true: She has close ties to the Hubbard family. We’ll just leave it at that (search “Bruce Franks Hubbards” for the whole sordid saga). Arguably a bigger deal than these parochial squabbles: The Missouri House signs off on open enrollment, which would allow kids to transfer to public schools in districts where they don’t live. Now the measure goes to the Senate.THURSDAY, MARCH 9 The Post-Dispatch reports that Attorney General Andrew Bailey has issued a 34-point subpoena to Kim Gardner in his quest to oust her from the circuit attorney’s office. He’s digging into the cases dismissed by her office and the length of time before cases see resolution — two points on which Gardner appears deeply vulnerable. Bailey also wants to depose top staffers.FRIDAY, MARCH 10 Surprise! Gardner’s top deputy, chief trial assistant Marvin Teer, is leaving to “spend more time with his family.” Surely this has nothing to do with the trouble at the circuit attorney’s office. The Post-Dispatch reports the office has just five prosecutors left — in a city that sees nearly 200 murders a year, not to mention all those other major crimes. Will the last one to leave have the bandwidth to turn out the lights? In a related development, the endlessly out-of-touch Post-Dispatch editorial board endorses a state bill to create a special prosecutor to take away cases from the circuit attorney — a solution that, despite Gardner’s very real problems, prosecutors around the state have viewed with horror. Maybe it sounds better to someone living in Connecticut? Also: Alderwoman Tina “Sweet-T” Pihl squeaks past Mike Gras to make the runoff for the city’s new 9th Ward — no need for lots after all. Provisional ballots gave Pihl seven additional votes and Gras just three — thereby averting the necessity of a coin flip. Finally: Silicon Valley Bank collapses. Not cool, Silicon Valley Bank. Not cool.SATURDAY, MARCH 11 St. Patrick’s week begins in St. Louis with a very cold parade (yes, it’s almost an entire week — the downtown parade always happens on Saturday, and this year that’s six days before Dogtown’s March 17 extravaganza). The chilly weather is totally seasonable … and still feels totally unfair after such a balmy winter. Also! St. Louis City SC wins on the road. It’s the first MLS expansion team to get off to a 3-0 start. SUNDAY, MARCH 12 The Battlehawks draw 38,000 — which not only breaks the XFL attendance record the city set in 2020, but stands as a new record for any professional spring football league anywhere. A further reminder that Stan Kroenke was a fool to abandon us. Bonus: It’s a win for the home team. Ka-kaaaw!! 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

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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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