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Royce Hotchkiss Walked Across St. Louis to Prove a Point | St. Louis

Published

2 years ago

February 26, 2024

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click to enlarge COURTESY PHOTO Royce Hotchkiss

Royce Hotchkiss is an urbanist with a passion for St. Louis and a mission: To walk across the city and prove naysayers wrong about how “dangerous” it is.

On February 20 Hotchkiss set out from his Metro East home with a tube of chapstick, his water bottle and a route. He started at the East Riverfront Metro Station and then walked across Eads Bridge and up Washington Avenue until he got to Kingshighway, where he made his way one block north and continued onto Delmar all the way to Limit Avenue and University City.

The journey took about three hours but could be made in two if you’re not stopping to talk to folks, Hotchkiss says.

Hotchkiss’ journey blew up on Twitter where he posts as @Rustbeltenjoyer, garnering more than 8,500 likes and more than 500 retweets as of press time. He recently spoke with RFT to share what he learned from his travels. This conversation has been edited for length and clarity.

What made you decide to walk across St. Louis?

I’m in the process of moving over to St. Louis soon, but I live very close and I’m very connected to the city. Basically, my whole life is over there. Also, I think that there’s a lot of particular narratives that get spun about cities, and I wanted to show that the city is not what a lot of people portray it to be. It’s a very organic, positive place with good things going on. I was shocked that it got as much attention as it did.

I also just wanted to go do it because it was a nice day out and it’s a fun thing to do.

What do people get wrong about St. Louis?

The city is way, way safer than people seem to think or say. And I really think that there’s no better way to go out and experience it than just walking or biking I think is the best way to really experience the city.

There’s a lot of narratives around, not just St. Louis but other cities too, that cities are like war zones. You’re gonna go out and bad things might happen but that’s by and large, not the case.

What did you hear and see along the way?

I thought there were a lot of people just living their lives. There were people on their porches, walking or doing stuff, just living their lives. It was a good experience. And I definitely recommend it. It was very interesting to see there was a lot of new development. There was some of that in Midtown, but also there were quite a few buildings that had obviously been abandoned at one point that I noticed were being brought back. There was a good amount of construction that was actually going on that I noticed.

What are you taking away from this experience?

I would say that St. Louis is way safer than most people would say it is. But also that there’s a lot that needs to happen in terms of addressing safety in the pedestrian realm — so how people and cars interact basically.

What can city leaders do to improve safety for pedestrians?

There’s a lot of programs out there, which are just referred to as Safe Streets programs. And those are basically just making streets easy to cross like a raised crosswalk, and better light timing, restricting right turn on red was a big one. That was actually something I encountered on my walk. There was somebody who was scanning for traffic, but not for me, and she got within a few inches of me.

What would you like to add about your experience?

Just get out, like ride a bike or go for a walk in the city. It’s great; you’ll see. I probably could have done this in about two hours but it took me closer to three because I stopped to talk to people a few times and I took a detour to go see the library.

It’s such a wonderful experience to just get out and talk to people, like interact with the city in such an organic way. I don’t think that many of us get the opportunity to do so very often.

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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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