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Today is the last day to raise cash in time for the April 15 campaign finance reports. Do you know where your candidate is? Probably hustling up some dough.
The day is significant because many campaigns have made last-minute pushes to raise money in an effort to make their campaigns look as strong as possible on the next quarterly report. Many campaigns have also been holding off on paying out money for the same reason.
Come tomorrow, political consultants and vendors will be lining up for those checks like it's "chow time."
State Rep. Sherman Parker (R-12) says he has sent a registered letter to Congressman Todd Akin (R-2) requesting a series of four debates prior to the August primary.
"With the primary taking place in a little over four months, the voters deserve to know how we stand on issues important to the second district and nation. I look forward to hearing from the Akin campaign soon," said Parker.
Parker recently shocked many in his party -- not once, but twice -- by filing against Akin in the primary election, and then announcing that he had already raised over $100,000.
Mayor Francis Slay was joined yesterday by a group of elected and appointed officials from St. Louis City and County, along with representatives from Amtrak and Greyhound, to mark the start of contruction on the new Multimodal Terminal Building downtown.
"After much negotiation and planning, the Multimodal Center will now become a reality," said Slay.
The home of the Amtrak train service for nearly three decades has been known as "AmShack" because of its small size and, shall we say, "less than grand" appearance to visitors arriving in St. Louis.
"All bad things come to an end and the AmShack is coming to an end," said Board Pres. Jim Shrewsbury.
When the last train pulled out of Union Station in 1978, the "AmShack" was built as a "temporary" train station. After decades of planning and re-planning, The mayor said that bidding would begin on the necessary track modifications within 90 days.
In this week's "Political Eye" column in The St. Louis American, the paper's editors responded to observations we made last week about the relationship between political advertising and newspaper endorsements.
"Political ads in the Black Press... tend to be small and not very lucrative," said the Eye. "Shredding one's credibility over them simply wouldn't be worth the meager payday, especially when there are far more steady and nourishing revenue streams." (Click here to read the full column.)
We agree with this observation. We don't think it's worth it in the long run either. But the reality is that political season is for small newspapers (black-owned or otherwise) what Christmas is for retailers.
Publishers of small newspapers are often faced with this question: "Why back a loser?"
But the American is in a different situation. As one of the most successful black newspapers in the country, the paper's publisher doesn't face that question while staring at a stack of bills on his desk.
No, Dr. Donald Suggs, the publisher of the American, and the paper's editorial board make the decision to boldly slant their coverage in support of one candidate over another in the comfort of the knowledge that their decision won't mean the difference between being around next year or not.
When we say "slant," we are are not talking about editorials. The editorial page is traditionally the free ground for opinion and wild ideas. We mean the week-after-week of non-stories that are manipulated into front page news.
If they choose to slant their coverage based on ideology, rather than profit, is that selling out?
Well, maybe not if the coverage was slanted in the favor of the poor and disenfranchised, which was the founding mission of the Black Press dating back over a century. But too often, that is not what happens at the American.
As we told editor Chris King in our "civil exchange of emails," in our view, the American used to be the vehicle for black people to communicate with one another and the rest of the world. Now it is the tool with which the rich and powerful communicate their message to black people. The message used to go up and out. Now it flows downward.
One's ideology tends to change when you are surrounded by elites. One's point of view tends to take on the characteristics of those you socialize with and depend on for "nourishment."
The new way is more profitable, if not as a goal then as a serendipitous consequence.
Whether the paper's coverage is slanted in favor of the powerful out of ideology or profit, the end result is the same: black St. Louis has one less place to turn for fair, unslanted coverage.
Clinkscale says the district isn't focusing on academics
By Antonio D. French
Filed
Thursday, March 30 at 8:28 PM
Sharon Stevens, Channel 5's education reporter, has compiled a profile of the 5 candidates running for 2 seats on the St. Louis board of education next week. Click here to view it.
In their answers to what they think are the biggest problems facing the school district, James Buford and Peter Downs both focused on the violence plaguing the schools. "I think #1 is the violence that's coming in from the community as a whole. That's the reason I joined this board," said Buford.
"Teachers can't teach and children can't learn if they're dodging chairs being thrown at them or they're dodging fights," said Downs.
Most interesting was the response of Darnetta Clinkscale. Clinkscale, who has been a "lightning rod" in this campaign, said the biggest problem facing the district today is the "lack of emphasis on academics."
"The focus must be academics. That's the business of a school district, teaching and learning," said the 3-year school board president. But despite observing a continuing failure to educate students, Clinkscale still voiced her strong support for Superintendent Creg Williams.
"I think he has matched my hope 100-percent," said Clinkscale.
St. Louis City Recorder of Deeds Sharon Carpenter and Joe Edwards, the "King of the Loop," announced their support today of Dr. Jeff Smith for State Senate.
"Jeff demonstrated his dedication to our City long before he decided to run for office," said Carpenter. "Now, as a candidate, he has shown a tireless work ethic that will serve us well when he is elected."
"Jeff will be a breath of fresh air in the Capitol," said Edwards. "And he’s exactly what this City needs." Smith said he hopes to be as innovative in Jefferson City as the businessman has been in the Loop expansion.
"Just as Joe Edwards has erased the line between St. Louis City and County in the thriving Delmar Loop, we are seeking to bridge the age-old divide between North and South in city politics," said Smith.
Obama says Senate "reform bill" passed today makes few actual reforms
By Antonio D. French
"Ironically, after learning today that Jack Abramoff will spend nearly six years in prison, the Senate passed a lobbying reform bill that does little to change the culture that allowed him to abuse the system in the first place," said U.S. Senator Barack Obama (D-IL) today in a press release issued after the Senate passed a lobbying reform bill.
"The Senate has missed a once-in-a-decade opportunity to clean up the way we do business in Washington," said Obama, who recently appeared in St. Louis at a fundraiser for State Auditor Claire McCaskill.
"This bill fails to create an independent enforcement mechanism to investigate misconduct by members of Congress. It fails to stop lobbyists from currying influence by flying lawmakers on private jets. And it does nothing to prevent members of Congress from negotiating for jobs with the very industries they’re supposed to regulate."
...everybody's problem. Sylvester Brown, who recently joined the St. Louis blogosphere, has posted a long response to a recent New York Times article about the challenges facing young black American males.
"America sends more black men to prison than college. Why? Because that's what we've always done," wrote Brown. "We have a criminal justice system geared to house, feed and contain people, so we use it -- liberally, it seems, as it pertains to young black males."
"How many more studies do we need before it sinks in that it's not such a good idea to lock up 25 percent of any male demographic -- as misguided as they may well be?" he said.
Mayor Francis Slay today vetoed the compromise bill recently passed by the Board of Aldermen seeking to create civilian review board in the City of St. Louis.
"Board Bill #69, recently approved by the Board of Aldermen, has legal flaws so fatal that it could never be implemented," said Slay on his blog. "As a result, I am vetoing BB #69 and will immediately begin work to implement a civilian review board that will stand up to a court challenge."
Slay said he would ask the state-controlled St. Louis Police Board to create, implement, and fund a civilian review board -- apparently to replace the one that they formed a couple of years ago which was never implemented
The Mayor also said he would issue an executive order to "establish a CRB appointment process consistent with BB #69."
"I am going to ask the Board of Aldermen to recommend individuals to me for appointment from seven sub-districts as recommended in BB #69. This will ensure diversity and community input," said Slay.
UPDATE: An Aldermanic override of Mayor Slay's veto is unlikely. That's according to Board Pres. Jim Shrewsbury.
PUB DEF caught up with Shrewbury this afternoon at an event marking the death of the notorious "AmShack" (check back later for the full story and photos). He said that he doesn't think there are enough votes for an override, but even if there were, Shrewsbury said the Mayor's executive order would probably "take the steam out of the effort to override."
District tries to forbid teachers from volunteering on Election Day
By Antonio D. French
Superintendent Creg Williams, who has been given the benefit of the doubt my many in his first year at the head of St. Louis Public Schools, is now drawing criticism from many teachers for some of his recent decisions.
Some teachers believe that Williams is putting politics ahead of education in these last few days before the April 4 school board election. A memo was sent to teachers at Vashon High School today informing them that they would not be allowed to take any time off during the week before Election Day.
"Please be advised, that, per Dr. Clive Coleman, no vacation or PTO days can be approved during the MAP testing window. Black-out days are March 27 – April 28, 2006. There are no exceptions to this decision," said the memo.
The MAP testing date was recently moved up at several large schools, giving students and teachers less time to prepare for the test. With the support of Williams, several principals actually made Election Day the testing day, making it a very difficult choice for teachers who were planning to take a few hours off work to volunteer at the polls for parent candidates Peter Downs and Donna Jones. Both Downs and Jones were endorsed by the teachers union.
The memo also instructed teachers to have their students on their best behavior tomorrow morning -- "hair should be neat and your face clean," the memo said -- because Robbyn Wahby, an assistant to Mayor Francis Slay, will be escorting eleven "key supporters of Superintendent Creg Williams and St. Louis Public Schools."
PUB DEF endorses parents Peter Downs and Donna Jones for school board
By Antonio D. French
While it is newsworthy that local corporations are putting large amounts of money behind the two incumbent school board candidates running in next week's election, it is by no means scandalous or wrong. But there is another angle to this story.
The names of two public school parents will also appear on Tuesday's ballot. They are clearly taking an interest in the direction of the district. They are both more involved and articulate than the prevailing stereotype of SLPS parents and they both are smart, well-intentioned people. And the response they have received from the district, the Mayor's office and apparently many in St. Louis' business community is "Go home. You are not wanted."
This was most clearly demonstrated last week with the attack piece that was sent out to the City's voters targeting Peter Downs.
That piece stated that electing Downs (and presumably the other parent running, Donna Jones) would be turning back the clock. "Peter Downs is a frequent critic of the St. Louis public schools," it said under a blurry photo of Downs.
As a SLPS parent, it is his right to be critical of the direction of the district. To say that parents who are critical of the Board's decisions are somehow "unsupportive" of the district is just wrong. It makes about as much sense as saying that people who don't support the Bush Administration's handling of the Iraq War are unpatriotic.
Funds from St. Louis' corporate community have and will continue to play an essential role in building a stronger district. Most people realize that. What some people are upset by is the vicious attack that their money is being used to fund right now on two respectable members of the parent community.
Board members Darnetta Clinkscale and James Buford, Superintendent Creg Williams, and even Mayor Francis Slay himself, always say that parental involvement is needed to turn the St. Louis Public Schools around.
You know who sends their kids to SLPS? Poor people. Public school districts don't get to pick their parents. But if they did, we think they could do a lot worse than Peter Downs and Donna Jones.
These are two parents who are involved and who both feel like this district remains closed to parents and operates out of the public eye. These are not people who talk about public education in purely academic terms. They are betting a lot more than any St. Louis corporation or even Mayor Slay with his $40,000 loan to a PAC called Educate St. Louis. They are betting the futures of their own children on this system. They want this district to succeed for reasons far more important than workforce competency or population sustainability.
Downs and Jones are not rich and their campaigns have only a fraction of the cash as the incumbents. But while they may not have the phone numbers of millionaires programmed in their cell phones, parents like these have made a commitment to this school district and this city that has lasted longer than the last 4 superintendents selected by this board majority.
On Tuesday, April 4, VOTE FOR PETER DOWNS AND DONNA JONES for St. Louis City School Board.
If you want to put this video on your website or blog, just email us.
In an effort to continually deliver more information about the local political scene, PUB DEF is proud to present St. Louis' first and only Video Voter Guide.
Kind of as a kick of the tires or a quick spin around the block, we begin with a small two-person race in a close suburb.
The race for Mayor of University City will be decided on Tuesday, April 4. The candidates are Mayor Joe Adams, a ten-year incumbent, and Shelley Welsch, a 4-year City Councilmember.
We met seperately with both candidates on Monday in the popular U-City Loop. We sat down with Adams at his campaign headquarters. We met with Welsch at the St. Louis Bread Company on Delmar.
We asked both candidates the same five questions. In this Video Voter Guide you can see their answers to four of them (like true politicians, both really didn't answer our question on what a mayor can do to address the city's largest problems, given U-City's City Manager form of government).
Group of residents organize to put an end to Mardi Gras in Soulard
By Antonio D. French
A group of long-time Soulard residents have formed an ad hoc committee to address neighborhood concerns about Mardi Gras with the hope of cancelling the 2007 event.
The group will read a statement at Mardi Gras Inc.'s annual Mardi Gras Forum to be held on Thursday, March 30, at 7:00. The forum will be held in the Boilermaker's Union Hall, 1547 South Broadway.
In an email to the media, organizers say the group came together and formed the committee "when several residents, fearful for their safety and that of their neighbors, outraged at the destruction of their private property, and discouraged by the general disrespect of the neighborhood by Mardi Gras planners and attendees, decided it was time to join together and speak out against the event."
They claim the annual event has become "overly promoted, dangerous and out-of-hand" and would like to see it permanently removed from the historic Soulard neighborhood.
On Tuesday, the Judiciary Committee of the Missouri House of Representatives conducted a public hearing in the State Capitol on a bill that seeks to reform the use of eminent domain in the state. One of those testifying against the bill was Barb Geisman, St. Louis City's Deputy Mayor for Development.
State Rep. John Burnett (D-40), from Kansas City, asked Geisman why the St. Louis City government seems to use eminent domain much more "willy-nilly" than K.C.
State Rep. Michael Vogt (D-66), from south St. Louis, asked Geisman about the Ronnoco Coffee Company and whether she feels that the Board of Aldermen uses blight and eminent domain powers responsibly.
Click here to download this week's issue of PUB DEF Weekly. As always, feel free to make as many copies as you like and pass them out on campus, at City Hall, or in the State Capitol -- which is where we are headed today.
Educate St. Louis, the committee which has spent tens of thousands of dollars over the last few weeks to support the two incumbents running for St. Louis school board, has been raising thousands of dollars over the past 30 days from local corporations.
Schnucks Markets, Enterprise Rent-A-Car, Laclede Gas, Brown Shoe Company, Emerson Electric, Energizer, and Monsanto are just a few of the names appearing on the committee's latest campaign report released today. Click here to download it.
Emerson tops the list of corporate donors with $18,750. Enterprise and Monsanto come in next with $12,500 and $10,000 respectively.
But the largest single donation came from another committee called People Working for Excellence in Public Education. On Feb. 28, that committee, whose treasurer is Tom Schlafly, contributed $29,000.
As we reported earlier, Mayor Francis Slay's campaign committee made a no-interest loan of $40,000 to the Educate St. Louis committee last week.
The committee has paid out over $118,000 to defeat the three remaining independent candidates, Peter Downs, Donna Jones and Joe Clark. It is in debt for another $79,000.
State Rep. Sherman Parker, who recently filed to run against Congressman Todd Akin, said today that he has already raised $100,000.
In an email to supporters, Parker wrote: "I want everyone – Republican/Democrat leaders and journalists to know, beyond any shadow of doubt, that I've assembled a team of grassroots supporters who are 100% committed to promoting empowering, conservative ideas for the 21st century, ideas that will make our country stronger."
Three candidates are now seeking the State House seat being vacated by State Rep. Yaphett El-Amin as she looks to move to the State Senate.
Karla May, who ran against El-Amin for 1st Ward Committeewoman in 2000, today joined 26th Ward Committeeman Joe Palm and Talibdin El-Amin (Yaphett's husband) in a race that is sure to get hot this summer.
Click here to read about who has made the trek to Jefferson City to file for office.
The City Council of University City today announced that they had ended their year-long search for a replacement for City Manager Frank Ollendorff, who is retiring in July after 26 years on the job.
The new City Manager will be Julie Szymula Feier. For the past four years, she has been City Administrator for Salida, Colorado. She had been the Assistant City Manager in University City for 15 months before moving to Colorado. She also previously served as the Assistant to the City Manager in Ferguson, MO and the Acting Village Administrator in Swansea, Illinois.
University City Mayor Joe Adams told PUB DEF the news during an exclusive interview this morning.
For those of you not familiar with a City Manager form of government, Councilwoman Shelley Welsch, who is running against Adams in next week's mayoral election, told PUB DEF how the system works in U-City.
Come back tomorrow to see the full interviews with both of these candidates.
The Downtown St. Louis Partnership and Downtown CID have launched a new website touting the growth of the number of businesses and residents in downtown St. Louis.
Downtownstl.org features an interactive map and databases to search for downtown attractions, restaurants, parking, and housing. Visitors can also submit an event to the online calendar.
Slay loans $40,000 to committee backing school board incumbents
By Antonio D. French
Filed
Sunday, March 26 at 8:34 PM
With just days left in the campaign for two seats on the St. Louis City school board, Mayor Francis Slay is betting big money on the two incumbent candidates.
The Mayor's campaign committee made a $40,000 no-interest loan on Friday to the committee responsible for several mailers appearing in local mailboxes supporting School Board President Darnetta Clinkscale and appointed board member Jim Buford
Educate St. Louis, a committee organized in January 2005, had just $100 in the bank last month. But in just one day, on Friday of last week, the committee raised nearly $60,000. All of that money came from just two sources; the loan from Slay and a single contribution from AmerenUE of $18,750.
Just as interesting is that fact that most of that money was spent just as fast as it was raised.
The same day that Slay and AmerenUE wrote their checks, the committee wrote a $51,000 check to a PR firm in Austin, Texas. According to campaign finance reports, the firm, Gold Communications, was responsible for direct mail and PR on behalf of Clinkscale and Buford.
Slay's loan brings the Educate St. Louis' total debt to $79,000. The committee also owes $39,000 to a Washington, D.C. research firm for work performed since January.
There was no mention of the St. Louis landmark by name, but tonight's episode of "The West Wing" started off with the Democratic Presidential nominee at Lambert Airport asking if there was time to stop off and have some frozen custard. We know he could only mean Ted Drewes.
Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has accepted the apology of Dave Lenihan, of St. Louis' own KTRS 550AM. Lenihan was fired this week after he used the racial slur "coon" when discussing the Secretary. He quickly said it was an unfortunate slip of the tongue.
From the AP: On his show, Lenihan said: "She's been chancellor of Stanford. She's got the patent resume of somebody that has serious skill. She loves football. She's African-American, which would kind of be a big coon. A big coon. Oh my God. I am totally, totally, totally, totally, totally sorry for that."
He said he had meant to say "coup" instead of the slur. KTRS president and general manager Tim Dorsey agreed that the remark was accidental but announced the same day that Lenihan had been fired.
"My understanding is that he apologized, said he didn't mean it," Rice told "Fox News Sunday." "I accept that because we all say things from time to time that we shouldn't say or didn't mean to say."
Click here to read Jake Wagman's story from earlier this week. STLToday.com also has the actual audio of Lenihan's remarks. Look to the right of Wagman's story.
Are Slay's school board candidates playing North/South politics?
By Antonio D. French
Filed
Saturday, March 25 at 5:25 PM
Tipsters are reporting that southside voters have received five full-color glossy campaign pieces from the two incumbent SLPS school board candidates being backed by Mayor Francis Slay. Most of the mailers feature prominent photos of the mayor and at least one attacks one of their parent opponents.
The brochures reportedly feature messages such as "(Students) deserve a winning team," "Tough Choices," and "I need your help for St. Louis Schools," featuring a photo of a smiling Mayor Slay. But the one that caught the eye of most of our tipsters, and best demonstrates how much of a threat Slay and his candidates see candidate and SLPS parent Peter Downs, is the one that says "Peter Downs can't tell us how he'll get results - just more finger pointing about what is wrong."
Supporters of Downs and Donna Jones, the other SLPS parent running in the race, allege that the Mayor is engaging in dirty politics, pitting southside voters against northside voters.
"It's time for St. Louis voters to rise, stand up, and raise a fist to say 'No' to election campaigns designed to further polarize and divide our city," said school board member Bill Purdy. Purdy supports both Downs and Jones.
Most political observers believe that Downs' supporters, who have fallen short of winning a seat on the board in two previous elections, have their best shot on April 4 at winning one for the longtime schools watchdog. Downs' campaign has won strong endorsements from the City's teachers union, as well as the St. Louis Labor Club.
Downs is also the only white candidate in the race, something that the Slay camp must feel warrants the southside media blitz in these last two weeks of the campaign.
State Rep. Sherman Parker, the lone black Republican in the state house, bucked his party today and filed to run against a fellow Republican, Congressman Todd Akin.
"After careful deliberation with my family and friends, I have decided to seek the Republican nomination for Congress from the second district," said Parker in an email to supporters. "I am running for Congress because our current member of Congress is not responsive to these public policy concerns and lacks the influence in Congress to further our goals."
Parker said he would provide new ideas and leadership that is "unwavering in the face of criticism and steadfast when confronted with adversity."
Parker's website outlines his campaign platform. It also carries an unauthorized photo apparently taken from PUB DEF's photo page without permission.
UPDATE: Parker has apologized for the faux pas and promised to have his webmaster correct it ASAP.
Joyce P. Lea, of Kansas City, filed against Sen. Jim Talent in the Republican primary yesterday. She joins Isaiah Hair, Jr. as longshot candidates against the incumbent Republican. [Update: Add one more: Roxie L. Fausnaught, of Granby, MO]
Congressman Emanuel Cleaver II, a Democrat, picked up a Republican challenger in Jacob Turk, of Lee's Summit, Missouri.
Henry Iwenofu filed against State Rep. Esther Haywood (D-71) today for the Democratic nomination.
State Reps. Rodney Hubbard, Jeanette Mott Oxford, Connie Johnson, Rachel Storch, Fred Kratky, Michael Vogt, John L. Bowman, Margaret Donnelly, Ted Hoskins, and Jake Zimmerman are among the lucky ones with no opposition.
More Updates: Congressman Lacy Clay picked up a Libertarian opponent in Robb E. Cunningham, of St. Ann.
Seven people want Congressman Todd Akin's job. Five Democrats, 1 Libertarian, and one fellow Republican in State Rep. Sherman Parker.
HAND IN THE COOKIE JAR? The Missouri House Democratic Campaign Committee was fined $104,000 this week for campaign violations. The AP reports that the Missouri Ethics Commission found that the Dems failed to report how much direct support it gave to which candidates. It also did not correctly report some contributions and expenditures, mixed money with another campaign committee, was controlled by candidates for office and didn't keep proper records.
Congressman Russ Carnahan, a former state House member, was fined $600 for signing checks for the committee that he wasn't authorized to sign.
A spokesman for the Democrats said that they simply failed to maintain proper record-keeping. But Republicans charged that this was a deliberate attempt to circumvent the rules. "Democrats will stop at nothing to try and manipulate our state's campaign finance laws," Republican Party spokesman Paul Sloca said.
DARN SCIENCE! A recent editorial in the Eugene, Oregon Register-Guard noted that Sen. Kit Bond and the Bush Administration might have gotten something other than they expected when they pushed for a recent emissions study.
According to the editorial, with the blessing of the White House and automobile manufacturers, Bond inserted language into a 2003 Environmental Protection Agency spending bill commissioning the National Academies' National Research Council's study of California's air pollution controls.
Bond's expectation, shared by the Bush administration and its allies in the automotive and energy industries, was that an NRC review would produce ammunition for efforts to thwart the move by California and other states to set vehicle pollution standards that exceed federal benchmarks.
"But that strategy backfired like an old pickup truck," said the newspaper. "Last Thursday the council gave its scientific blessing to California's air pollution controls, and also to efforts by other states to adopt similar standards."
EVERYBODY HATES HILLARY After pissing off many St. Louis Democrats for coming to town to raise money for herself, Sen. Hillary Clinton spread the piss across Missouri as she landed in Kansas City this week.
The AP reports that Clinton spent 90 minutes Monday at the home of Kansas City lawyer Herb Kohn, an adviser to Mayor Kay Barnes. Clinton walked away with about $40,000 for her Senate re-election campaign, but Democratic critics wonder at what cost to others running for office.
"The timing is bad," Democratic activist Woody Overton said. "We have a U.S. Senate race going on in Missouri. Claire McCaskill needs every dime she can raise right now."
IT'S JUST THE GAME You know our motto around here, "Don't hate the players, hate the game." So our friends at the St. Louis American and the Arch City Chronicle know that it's not personal when we point out these recent examples of how well selling-out pays.
Within the last two weeks, both the American and the ACC gave glowing endorsements of the two incumbents running in the April 4 school board election. And while it may be pure coincidence, both papers seemed to be rewarded with pages of advertisements from the campaigns and their allies.
On the back page of this week's issue of the ACC is a full-page ad from the Buford and Clinkscale campaigns. Inside, another half-page ad.
The back page of this week's issue of the American carries a full-page color ad from Sodexho, a controversial SLPS vendor. Inside is a quarter-page ad from the Clinkscale-Buford campaign and on the front page the second headline in as many weeks touting an endorsement for the duo. Hmmmm.
If only Peter Downs and Donna Jones, the two parent candidates endorsed by the teachers union and others, had access to a few hundred-thousand dollars, we might be able to afford a new iMac around here.
William C. Lhotka, of the Post-Dispatch, is reporting that Edmon Burns, the man whose beating by police officers was caught on tape by local television cameras, confessed to violating his probation by using illegal drugs.
From the article: In a hearing this morning in St. Louis County Circuit Court, Edmon Burns, 33, of north St. Louis County, admitted he violated conditions of probation by using drugs.
Judge John Ross allowed Burns to remain free on bond and ordered the defendant to appear in his court for sentencing April 13. The three-year sentence for the drug violation was the result of an agreement between Burns' attorney, Andrew Hale, and prosecutor John Quarenghi.
Jim Roos, of the Missouri Eminent Domain Abuse Coalition, sat down with PUB DEF a few weeks ago to discuss why he and the Coalition oppose the use of eminent domain in most cases. While we were at his office, Roos called the City's Building Inspection Division to discuss comments made that day by Ald. Joe Roddy.
Click here to view this video using QuickTime. As always, this video is also available as a video podcast. Go here to subscribe to our podcast and to view past videos.
These men say that the City and the LRA "stole" their property [UPDATED]
By Antonio D. French
Last week, men dressed in suits were spotted protesting outside of the downtown offices of the City's Land Reutilization Authority (LRA). The men were carrying signs and passing out fliers which claimed that the LRA "stole" their property.
"How would you like it if you had just bought your home for $100,000, the City comes to your home while you were at work, take (sic) your fence down and tell you they condemned it?" read the flier.
It continued, "Next, when you go to pay your taxes, they tell you that you don't own your home, the City and the LRA own it because they foreclosed on it with a 'Fencing' demolition fee of $800."
The property the men were apparently speaking of was 5900 West Florissant, in Ald. Greg Carter's 27th Ward.
"It takes four years to lose a building," Carter told PUB DEF. He said the property owner disregarded certified letters from the City for all of those four years.
Carter said that the property in question was taken due to unpaid taxes and liens. He said that the owner of the property, a denist named Dr. Raphael Williams, did not do anything to maintain his building for nearly 20 years. He said the building has been in disrepair since the days the 13-year alderman attended high school.
"He has been holding the community hostage," said Carter. Though he said he has no plans yet for the property, he is happy to know that the busy corner is now available for redevelopment.
PUB DEF made several attempts to contact the protestors. One of the men wrote his name and number of the back of one the fliers, but has not answered messages left at the number.
State Auditor Claire McCaskill picked up another opponent yesterday in her campaign for the Democratic nomination for U.S. Senate. Mikhail S. Tsukerman, of St. Louis, joined Bill Clinton Young, of Kansas City, as longshot candidates to spoil McCaskill's chance to take on Sen. Jim Talent, who has his own longshot challenger in Isaiah Hair, Jr., also of St. Louis.
Michael Allen, from the Ecology of Absence blog, is reporting that at Monday's school board candidate forum at Harris-Stowe State University, candidate James Buford said that the City needs to end tax increment financing (TIF).
Allen reports that Buford said that TIFs hurt public schools by denying them needed funds to accommodate a growing population. We reported in January that this is also the position of Comptroller Darlene Green, one not shared by Mayor Francis Slay.
Slay, who is backing Buford for the school board, is firmly against rolling back tax breaks for developers and new downtown loft-buyers. Slay has said that it is too soon to reduce TIFs and that doing so would hurt future development.
Click here to download this week's print(able) edition of PUB DEF Weekly.
REMEMBER: Copy, Print, Share! Copy it onto your computer, print it out on your home printer, and share it with others when you're done reading it.
As always, for those of you feeling like true activists, make dozens -- or even hundreds -- of copies and distribute them in City Hall, your office, your apartment building, your dorm, your neighborhood, or just drop a stack at your neighborhood coffee shop.
Here's a tip: We look best on a single 17x11 sheet of paper folded (and incolor, if you're feeling super fly!).
Here are the last three candidate forums for the April 4 St. Louis City School Board election:
Dutchtown South Forum at Carnahan School, Monday, March 27, at 7:00 p.m. Parent Assembly Forum at Metro High School, Tuesday, March 28, at 6:30 p.m. Missouri State Teachers Association Forum at Heritage House, 2800 Olive, Wednesday, March 29, at 6:00 p.m.
Tom Finkel, editor of The Riverfront Times, called PUB DEF yesterday to apologize for an omission made in one of the paper's recent stories.
Last week, we called Finkel to complain that their story on the decision to move the Annie Malone Parade from north St. Louis to downtown ("Parade Charade" by Chad Garrison) clearly quotes comments from one of our exclusive videos without making mention of the source.
Finkel asked Garrison about his source and upon confirmation that it was indeed our video, Finkel apologized, saying that Garrison believed it was a public video. He said a link would be provided to the original video on the RFT's website.
We appreciate Finkel's quick response to this issue and take Garrison on his word that it was a simple mistake. Maybe they'll make us "Blog of the Week" one day soon to make up for it? To tell you the truth, we'd be just as fine with some free passes to one of their back section advertisers -- for our cousins, of course.
We would like to remind all of our readers that PUB DEF operates under a Creative Commons "Some Rights Reserved" policy. That means that all of you are completely free to copy, distribute and display our stuff -- as long as you give fair attribution (Click here to read the full license).
So fellow bloggers, journalists and activists, feel free to use our stuff -- stories, photos and videos (you can even add most of our videos to your own site via YouTube). Just please give us our props.
Dennis McClin-Shireff has dropped out of the school board race. His name will remain on the ballot, but he told supporters this morning on Lizz Brown's "The Wake-Up Call" radio show that he will no longer campaign for the seat.
It's the game that's sweeping City Hall -- "NAME THAT POLITICO!"
Carter said that the property in question was taken due to unpaid taxes and liens. He said that the owner of the property, a denist named 
