Also in the same vein the USA Today Best Beer City poll is back. Last time I saw STL was in 2nd place so vote to put us over the edge
https://www.10best.com/awards/travel/be ... uri/share/
https://www.10best.com/awards/travel/be ... uri/share/
Watched this last night. Felt like a gut punch. Knowing this is probably the biggest dose of information a lot of mildly informed citizens in this country will learn about STL in the midterm future made it even more of a gut punch.
Imagine what a story like this does to a highly educated professional with sought-after talents considering a move to this city.
We all know the "most dangerous city in the country" label is skewed b/c of the small 61 sq miles that makes up the city, but, and not saying it's okay, but in this day-and-age, many people form their impressions from small tidbits of info like this without digging into deeper facts.
But, at the same time, tho I don't know all the details, I'd imagine the city police force indeed does have very legitimate, fundamental problems.
City/county reunification is the only thing I can think of that's going to solve these problems.
It can't happen quick enough as far as I'm concerned.
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^I'm all the more in favor of, at minimum, City & County Police unifying immediately.
Side note: I think Kim Gardner's a (being polite) less-than-stellar prosecuting attorney, stating this as I know multiple career City prosecutors who have left her office since she has taken charge specifically because of how she has changed the office. She means well, but her effectiveness is minimal. We can do better.
And, at least equally, I think Jeff Roorda is a jack*ss who only exacerbates the problems. I wouldn't trust him to run a Lion's Choice franchise without causing significant brand damage.
I think STL would be a much better place if both of them were gone. However, we only can vote to remove Gardner while STL's Finest have to remove Roorda by themselves, and I don't know if they'd even consider doing so right now. Both sides are going to the opposite ends of the political aisles, getting further apart, when we all should be working together.
Side note: I think Kim Gardner's a (being polite) less-than-stellar prosecuting attorney, stating this as I know multiple career City prosecutors who have left her office since she has taken charge specifically because of how she has changed the office. She means well, but her effectiveness is minimal. We can do better.
And, at least equally, I think Jeff Roorda is a jack*ss who only exacerbates the problems. I wouldn't trust him to run a Lion's Choice franchise without causing significant brand damage.
I think STL would be a much better place if both of them were gone. However, we only can vote to remove Gardner while STL's Finest have to remove Roorda by themselves, and I don't know if they'd even consider doing so right now. Both sides are going to the opposite ends of the political aisles, getting further apart, when we all should be working together.
I thought about watching her on 60 Minutes, but I was too afraid of what I'd see.
I'll save you the 20 minutes and break it down for you in chronological segments:framer wrote: ↑Mar 16, 2021I thought about watching her on 60 Minutes, but I was too afraid of what I'd see.
- STL is very dangerous, highly segregated and has race and law enforcement issues
- Kim Gardner is looking to change the law enforcement issues but gets horrible racsist death threats
- STL is very dangerous, highly segregated and has race and law enforcement issues
- Jeff Roorda believes Kim Gardner is part of the problem, not the solution
- STL is very dangerous, highly segregated and has race and law enforcement issues
- The End
They didn't even mention that the police force is severely understaffed which is a huge factor in controlling crime
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^I'd say it seemed much more fair than I expected and Gardner came off as dedicated, honest, and compassionate. It is a terribly segregated city. We can't hide our heads in the sand and pretend it's all wine and roses. Police enforcement is, by all reasonable accounts, biased and uneven. I've personally heard again and again that your experience with law enforcement is very different if you're white than if you're black. I've personally heard police officers bash Gardner. I've personally heard police officers who were friends describe some of the ways training teaches officers to treat African Americans as an enemy to be distrusted. Jeff Roorda is a very big part of the problem.
I've also heard testimony that Gardner is smart and dedicated. From an attorney friend who worked very closely indeed with Chris Koester and knows her professionally. (He also had the opportunity to go head to head with Vice President Harris when she was the California AG.) Maybe Gardner's in over her head, but given the depth of the situation and the hostility of the department, the state legislature, and nearly everyone around her I think it's a miracle she's gotten as much done as she has.
She had my vote in the last cycle. She has it going forward. As far as I can tell she's tough and effective and the very fact that so many vile people are coming out swinging at her is a testimony to the fact that she's fighting the good fight. You might just be able to judge someone by the enemies that they've made. Well . . . she's made the right enemies.
It's a good interview. If it makes us uncomfortable . . . it bloody well should. You want to see a different headline? Help her do the job she set out to do. Reforming the police department is the right move. Ending cash bail, ending incarceration of non-violent offenders . . . these are good moves.
We don't need more police officers. We need better police officers. We need fairer police officers. We need more effective and trustworthy police officers. We absolutely do not need more of them. We have plenty.
We need more opportunities. We need more jobs. We need more teachers. We need more schools. We do not need more police officers.
I've also heard testimony that Gardner is smart and dedicated. From an attorney friend who worked very closely indeed with Chris Koester and knows her professionally. (He also had the opportunity to go head to head with Vice President Harris when she was the California AG.) Maybe Gardner's in over her head, but given the depth of the situation and the hostility of the department, the state legislature, and nearly everyone around her I think it's a miracle she's gotten as much done as she has.
She had my vote in the last cycle. She has it going forward. As far as I can tell she's tough and effective and the very fact that so many vile people are coming out swinging at her is a testimony to the fact that she's fighting the good fight. You might just be able to judge someone by the enemies that they've made. Well . . . she's made the right enemies.
It's a good interview. If it makes us uncomfortable . . . it bloody well should. You want to see a different headline? Help her do the job she set out to do. Reforming the police department is the right move. Ending cash bail, ending incarceration of non-violent offenders . . . these are good moves.
We don't need more police officers. We need better police officers. We need fairer police officers. We need more effective and trustworthy police officers. We absolutely do not need more of them. We have plenty.
We need more opportunities. We need more jobs. We need more teachers. We need more schools. We do not need more police officers.
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By what metric? We have more police per square mile and per resident then pretty much every city.2020STL wrote: ↑Mar 17, 2021They didn't even mention that the police force is severely understaffed which is a huge factor in controlling crime
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January 2021 CoreLogic Single-Family Rents: Sharp Rise in Single-Family Rents from a Year Earlier
St. Louis 3.4%
http://econintersect.com/pages/releases ... 2103160710
St. Louis 3.4%
http://econintersect.com/pages/releases ... 2103160710
I was talking to my friend about this. She worked in the STL PD for 20 years. She said the number that is really needed in controlling crime is around 2000. I think it's important to remember that St. Louis is the exception when it comes to crime in cities. There were 262 Homicides in the city of St. Louis a population of around 300,000 yet in St. Louis county there were only 82 homicides with a population more than 3 times the size of the city.
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Hear hear!symphonicpoet wrote: ↑Mar 17, 2021^I'd say it seemed much more fair than I expected and Gardner came off as dedicated, honest, and compassionate. It is a terribly segregated city. We can't hide our heads in the sand and pretend it's all wine and roses. Police enforcement is, by all reasonable accounts, biased and uneven. I've personally heard again and again that your experience with law enforcement is very different if you're white than if you're black. I've personally heard police officers bash Gardner. I've personally heard police officers who were friends describe some of the ways training teaches officers to treat African Americans as an enemy to be distrusted. Jeff Roorda is a very big part of the problem.
I've also heard testimony that Gardner is smart and dedicated. From an attorney friend who worked very closely indeed with Chris Koester and knows her professionally. (He also had the opportunity to go head to head with Vice President Harris when she was the California AG.) Maybe Gardner's in over her head, but given the depth of the situation and the hostility of the department, the state legislature, and nearly everyone around her I think it's a miracle she's gotten as much done as she has.
She had my vote in the last cycle. She has it going forward. As far as I can tell she's tough and effective and the very fact that so many vile people are coming out swinging at her is a testimony to the fact that she's fighting the good fight. You might just be able to judge someone by the enemies that they've made. Well . . . she's made the right enemies.
It's a good interview. If it makes us uncomfortable . . . it bloody well should. You want to see a different headline? Help her do the job she set out to do. Reforming the police department is the right move. Ending cash bail, ending incarceration of non-violent offenders . . . these are good moves.
We don't need more police officers. We need better police officers. We need fairer police officers. We need more effective and trustworthy police officers. We absolutely do not need more of them. We have plenty.
We need more opportunities. We need more jobs. We need more teachers. We need more schools. We do not need more police officers.
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It was, at best, an incomplete interview. I get that it was supposed to make her look like a hero – fighting corruption, racism, etc. The quality of the interview was very weak, imo. The incredibly high violent crime and incredibly low prosecution / conviction rate warranted at least one question from 60 Minutes. It never came up. That’s pretty telling. They didn't even ask the most obvious follow-up questions of Robert Ogilvie when he said he quit the force because he couldn't "stand it anymore." The journalism, especially for a respected organization like 60 Minutes, was embarrasing.
It is easy to make Roorda the buffoon that he is.... and I agree he’s part of the problem.
But I also think that someone can have good intentions, even good ideas, but are terrible at execution. By all accounts the prosecutor’s office is a mess. 60 Minutes did mention the “high turnover” rate of her office but didn’t mention that it is 120%.
Gardner won reelection by a landslide. She’s clearly here to stay. But I don’t think she’s the right person for the job. If you’re the chief prosecutor in the city with the highest murder rate, you must prosecute crime…. there’s certainly no shortage of it.
You’re never going to get more jobs, more schools, more opportunities with this level of violence.
It is easy to make Roorda the buffoon that he is.... and I agree he’s part of the problem.
But I also think that someone can have good intentions, even good ideas, but are terrible at execution. By all accounts the prosecutor’s office is a mess. 60 Minutes did mention the “high turnover” rate of her office but didn’t mention that it is 120%.
Gardner won reelection by a landslide. She’s clearly here to stay. But I don’t think she’s the right person for the job. If you’re the chief prosecutor in the city with the highest murder rate, you must prosecute crime…. there’s certainly no shortage of it.
You’re never going to get more jobs, more schools, more opportunities with this level of violence.
America's Most Impressive Feats of Engineering...
https://www.popularmechanics.com/techno ... a/?slide=1
https://www.popularmechanics.com/techno ... a/?slide=1
Little STL mention in this NYT piece about the arts coming back this summer:
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/03/16/thea ... ticleShare
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/03/16/thea ... ticleShare
The Muny, a St. Louis nonprofit that is the nation’s largest outdoor musical theater producer, is hoping to be able to seat a full-capacity audience of 10,000 for a slightly delayed season, starting July 5, with a full complement of seven musicals, albeit with slightly smaller than usual casts.
“Everyone is desperate to get back to work,” said Mike Isaacson, the theater’s artistic director and executive producer. “And our renewal numbers are insane, which says to me people want to be there.”
The St. Louis Shakespeare Festival, which performs in another venue in that city’s Forest Park, has much more modest expectations: It is developing a production of “King Lear,” starring the Tony-winning André De Shields of “Hadestown,” but expects to limit audiences to 750.
Not my type of music, but fun Spotify graphics of Nashville and St. Louis.
Thanks nelly.
![]()
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Thanks nelly.
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
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HBO is now playing an awesome documentary on Tina Turner. They do show STL back in the late 50s / early 60s, including the skylines and concerts at Club Imperial, before they got big and left for Hollywood. The whole thing gives a solid overview of one of maybe the five greatest musical performers to ever come out of our City. Very much, it would be in STL's best interests to erect a statue of mid-1980s Tina Turner at Grand Center, as well as giving credit where it most certainly is due.
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^Thank you for pointing that out. Even just listening to the trailer gets you amped up. Fan-bloody-tastic. My hat is off to Ms. Turner for what she accomplished in the face of the many horrors she had to endure.
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How Lower-Income Americans Get Cheated on Property Taxes
Many homeowners are paying a total of billions of dollars extra because of inequities in assessing property values.
Many homeowners are paying a total of billions of dollars extra because of inequities in assessing property values.
Is there a 'St. Louis in the international media' thread? Here's a nice article on the history of Cahokia Mounds from the BBC: http://www.bbc.com/travel/story/2021041 ... t-megacity
-RBB
-RBB
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^The final mention of barbecue and sporting events is particularly telling, especially when it comes right after mention of the Cherokee playing Chunkey. The History Guy did an interesting history of barbecue a while back that traced it to the Caribbean and Southeastern Seaboard, I believe it was; to big parties thrown by local communities that the European immigrants kind of picked up and imitated. Would be really cool to think Cahokia style barbecue got the whole US barbecue game going. I could very much be down with a Yaupon and venison barbecue party. That involves hurling spears at a rolling rock donut. Given that a bunch of tribes still play the game, maybe get a world series of Chunkey going again in front of Monks Mound once a year. With barbecue and beverages. I am completely down with getting the party going again.
Well now we're getting somewhere!symphonicpoet wrote: ↑Apr 13, 2021Given that a bunch of tribes still play the game, maybe get a world series of Chunkey going again in front of Monks Mound once a year. With barbecue and beverages. I am completely down with getting the party going again.
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^^Bocce with spears?!?!? And everyone's buzzed on caffeinated cocktails!?!?! AND BBQ!!!
I'm in.
I'm in.
For those who enjoyed it, I’m sad to see the end of Superstore. Really easy comedy with near constant local references throughout. Still surprised it made it six seasons.
Ultimately, “Ozark Highlands” Cloud9 has now been converted to a distribution center.
The closing character montage included Jonah Simms running for “city council”.
![]()
Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
Ultimately, “Ozark Highlands” Cloud9 has now been converted to a distribution center.
The closing character montage included Jonah Simms running for “city council”.
Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
I can't believe it lasted that long either. I watched the premier episode just for local curiosity's sake, but I thought it was awful, and never watched again.
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WIth more modern shows, very few are "good" on their first episode. Pick a random episode from the middle of the run and then make a better judgment.framer wrote: ↑Apr 14, 2021I can't believe it lasted that long either. I watched the premier episode just for local curiosity's sake, but I thought it was awful, and never watched again.