One Missouri loophole that needs to be closed is the ability to register you Super Duty pickup truck under the dumptruck class. That means Ford F-250's and similar trucks don't need rear license plates. I notice those all the time.urban_dilettante wrote:Just thinking out loud here. So I was at a NYE get-together in Tower Grove South last night, and coming out of the party at about 2AM to head home, there's a creepy-looking SUV rolling down the street with tinted windows and NO license plates, which subsequently pulls over for some curb-side dealings with a woman on the sidewalk. (Oh, and as an aside we heard a couple of gunshots earlier in the evening coming from somewhere between Juniata and the park. Maybe they were just celebratory gun shots. Who knows.) Anyway, I don't live in St. Louis at the moment, but every time I come into town I see one or two vehicles roaming around without any license plates. Now I'm not saying that everyone who drives without license plates is necessarily up to no good, but I suspect that a fair number of them probably are. Does anyone else see this on a regular basis? I feel like there needs to be some kind of automated system to alert the police to this sort of thing, like traffic light cameras that can analyze images to detect whether or not a car has license plates and alert the police if necessary. Anyway, like I said, just thinking out loud.
I see a car with no plates at least every other time I drive on I-70 through STL. Usually beater impalas, cobalts, etc. What I'd like to see is total enforcement of window tinting laws, paired with impoundment and removal of the tint at the vehicle owner's cost. This ain't the desert, and there's no reason to tint glass here unless you're up to no good, or have a condition that sunglasses won't address. The laws are on the books. Inexplicably, window tint has been removed from the safety inspection, but is still illegal? Really? What.
https://www.mshp.dps.missouri.gov/MSHPW ... P-510b.pdf
https://www.mshp.dps.missouri.gov/MSHPW ... P-510b.pdf
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^ oh, wow. i didn't even realize tinting is illegal. that's f*cked up.
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I have very tinted windows, no front plate and im not up to no good. 
its not illegal, you can tint the back windows pitch black if you want. the front must have certain viability, 35% and if you want darker you have to get a permit and to get a permit you need a note from an eye doctor... (which i got and i have no eye conditionurban_dilettante wrote:^ oh, wow. i didn't even realize tinting is illegal. that's f*cked up.
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Why do you need or want tinted windows. Just wondering since I never understood the while tinting phenomenon unless one was doing something illegal inside.dbInSouthCity wrote:I have very tinted windows, no front plate and im not up to no good.
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because in summer months the weather here can get a bit warm and leather seats will burn your a$$
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Keeps the car cooler, provides a level of privacy for the occupants, adds a level of security, looks better, protects the interior from the sun....
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this one is very important, if i am 2 knuckles deep in a my nose i don't the guy next to me taking pics and posting it on twittermoorlander wrote:provides a level of privacy for the occupants.
In the summer, you just crack your windows 1/4 inch when you park it in the sun, and the inside temp of your vehicle is wayyyyyyyyyyyyy cooler.
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^And risk your car leather getting dusty or crap flying in. . .no thanks ill keep my windows tinted.
Has anybody else noticed what I think are new cameras at certain intersections? Not traffic cameras, but police cameras? They flash red and blue like a police siren without the noise.
Are these actually new, and are they part of any grander plan?
Are these actually new, and are they part of any grander plan?
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noticed it at Arsenal and Kingshighway last week...pretty distracting
Yep. And there's also one at the intersection nearest the newest police headquarters. If it serves a good purpose, I can handle the distraction, but I was curious.
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ah, but you have a REAR plate. i'm talking about NO plates.dbInSouthCity wrote:I have very tinted windows, no front plate and im not up to no good.
i don't really have a problem with tinted windows, but in conjunction with no license plates i start to make assumptions.
They've got like 30 of those things all over downtown Nashville.jstriebel wrote:Has anybody else noticed what I think are new cameras at certain intersections? Not traffic cameras, but police cameras? They flash red and blue like a police siren without the noise.
Are these actually new, and are they part of any grander plan?
Yes, they're amazingly annoying.
There's one at 10th and Clark by Joe Bucks. The one on Olive, at least after dark, starts distracting drivers west of Jefferson. The light pollution/distraction on those things is amazingly awful.dweebe wrote:They've got like 30 of those things all over downtown Nashville.jstriebel wrote:Has anybody else noticed what I think are new cameras at certain intersections? Not traffic cameras, but police cameras? They flash red and blue like a police siren without the noise.
Are these actually new, and are they part of any grander plan?
Yes, they're amazingly annoying.
My only thought is that if it tells criminals "we're watching," then I'm okay with the distraction.
Chicago has a lot of those flashing cameras. I'm in favor. It stops people from hanging out on corners that have turned into good places to buy drugs. The need one on 16th and Olive as well.
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Would more folks come downtown to dine and party if, say, there was some kind of no-guns perimeter setup on, say, weekends only? Close off Washington street and set-up entry points every weekend night, not unlike what they did for Taste of St. Louis. Residents who live along the street could get a pass card exempting them from bag check.
Restaurants could advertise that they are within the safe zone. Restaurants along other downtown streets could petition to be included within the perimeter if it proves successful. This would be a way to offset the bad safety PR downtown has been getting from multiple drive-by shootings. I think it would go a long way to attracting diners from the burbs.
Restaurants could advertise that they are within the safe zone. Restaurants along other downtown streets could petition to be included within the perimeter if it proves successful. This would be a way to offset the bad safety PR downtown has been getting from multiple drive-by shootings. I think it would go a long way to attracting diners from the burbs.
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^ It might have some value but it also seems like it would be pretty expensive with uncertain returns.... I'd probably just spend those $$ on extra walking beat police, etc.. And while the safety factor is an issue, I think the best recipe for rejuvenating Wash Ave. is a spate of acclaimed openings and more things like Live Music Fridays. The product itself needs attention.
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^Agree. More openings with a little pop will steer it back in the right direction.
How bad was 2014 for St. Louis? It's likely we are now the most violent large city in America.
I looked at the top 5 cities for homicide rate from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Un ... crime_rate. That would be Detroit, New Orleans, St. Louis, Baltimore, Newark, Oakland.
For 2014, the murder rate for each city is:
There's no good way to spin the numbers.
Sources:
Detroit: http://www.detroitnews.com/story/news/l ... /21153429/
Baltimore: http://chamspage.blogspot.com/2014/01/2 ... t-and.html
Newark: http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2015/0 ... _2014.html
New Orleans: http://www.theneworleansadvocate.com/ne ... -for-third
I looked at the top 5 cities for homicide rate from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Un ... crime_rate. That would be Detroit, New Orleans, St. Louis, Baltimore, Newark, Oakland.
For 2014, the murder rate for each city is:
Code: Select all
City Population Homicides Rate/100k
Detroit 688,700 300 43.6
New Orleans 378,715 150 39.6
St. Louis 318,416 159 49.9
Newark 276,478 93 33
Baltimore 622,104 210 33.7
Oakland 405,000 86 21.2
Sources:
Detroit: http://www.detroitnews.com/story/news/l ... /21153429/
Baltimore: http://chamspage.blogspot.com/2014/01/2 ... t-and.html
Newark: http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2015/0 ... _2014.html
New Orleans: http://www.theneworleansadvocate.com/ne ... -for-third
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^ Indeed. And a dropping crime rate including homicides would go very well with all the positives that we'll have this year (openings of IKEA, Whole Foods, Blues Museum, Arch Grounds. etc.) and would help drown out the negative headlines that will be coming out when the FBI releases the 2014 numbers in the fall.