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St. Louis’ Pesticide Use Has a Citizens Group Demanding Change | St. Louis

Published

9 months ago

January 4, 2024

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click to enlarge Daffodils in Tower Grove Park. Records show the city uses pesticides that include Roundup.

Six years ago, Erin O’Reilly walked through Tower Grove Park when she noticed something she thought was concerning. A city worker was spraying chemicals on the park’s greenery, and O’Reilly, a nurse and lactation consultant, says she noticed the same thing occur again and again in the years that followed.

So did other city residents who now make up the St. Louis No Spray Coalition. The group has spent the last two and a half years trying to get the city to limit its use of pesticides on public land — but they say their message has fallen mostly on deaf ears.

“It’s our mission to ensure that our public green spaces are maintained in a healthy manner without the use of chemicals that can cause unhealthy effects,” O’Reilly tells the RFT.

It’s a mission the coalition has been determined to accomplish. Members have gone through 17 versions of a draft ordinance that would limit pesticide use.

They also worked to obtain public records showing just how much pesticides the city’s Department of Parks, Recreation and Forestry used from 2018 to 2021 — which took a year and a half, a lawyer, and intervention from then-Alderwoman Megan Green. The group encountered “roadblock after roadblock” from the city’s Sunshine Law officer, says coalition member Daniel “Digger” Romano.

The records they eventually received showed the city used 520 gallons of Roundup in city parks from 2018 to 2021, in addition to smaller amounts of Resolve and Resolute herbicides. All three pesticides contain substances thatare recognized as possible carcinogens by various agencies.

Roundup’s manufacturer, St. Louis-based Monsanto, has been in the midst of a series of heated court battles over its effects, with mixed results. The German company Bayer bought Monsanto in 2018, and two years later, agreed to pay $10 billion to settle claims that Roundup’s active ingredient, glyphosate, caused cancer.

In several recent cases, juries have sided with plaintiffs who were not included in the settlement, racking up billions in losses for the pharmaceutical company. In October, a jury awarded St. Louis man John Durnell $1.25 million after he developed non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma after using Roundup for several years.

Earl Neal, a City of St. Louis Forestry Department employee in the 1990s, reached a settlement with Bayer in 2022 after he accused Roundup of causing his cancer. Earl also had non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma.

“I think the city is really putting itself in legal and financial danger by continuing to use pesticides,” coalition member Barbara Chicherio says.

In an emailed statement, Nick Dunne, public information officer for Mayor Tishaura Jones’ office, did not address questions about whether the city still used Roundup. Dunne said, “We look forward to reviewing the potential impacts of this proposal, and further discussing practical steps the city of St. Louis can continue making our parks and public spaces safe and healthy.”

The coalition’s bill would require the Department of Parks, Recreation and Forestry to develop an “Environmental Land Management Plan” that prioritizes natural and organic practices for plant and pest control. It would also limit the city to pesticides found on the federal National List of Allowed Substances in the Organic Foods Production Act.

Coalition members say their proposed ordinance, called “Healthy Outdoor Parks and Public Space,” has received support from five aldermen. Last January, former Alderman Jesse Todd introduced a version of the bill, but it didn’t go further than one committee hearing.

“As with any piece of legislation, impacted city departments must weigh potential impacts to operations, staff capacity, as well as departmental budgets,” Dunne’s statement reads. “As with the similar bill that did not make it out of committee last year, no fiscal note has been provided.”

Dunne says the city’s Parks Department has had “numerous” conversations with community members about weed and pest remediation methods over the past several years. But Romano says, although members have tried repeatedly to meet with Parks, Recreation and Forestry Director Greg Hayes about pesticide use, Hayes has declined. Romano says he heard through Todd that Hayes called the proposal “unworkable.”

“One hundred forty other cities have some version of a bill like we’re talking about, so to say this is impossible to implement is rather ridiculous,” Romano says.

Indeed, some cities, including Portland, Maine; Houston, Miami and Austin have banned or restricted use of pesticides that use glyphosate.

“We understand in a political process sometimes compromises are necessary, but we’ve seen this work in other cities and they’re making it work,” Roman says. “We can make it work here.”

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Fenton Man Charged in Sword Attack on Roommate

Published

4 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

4 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

5 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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