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State Senate candidate Jeff Smith and his supporters organized a basketball tournament today in Fairgrounds Park. The free food, music and ice cream made for a good time for the dozens of people that came out for the event. But not everyone was glad to see the southside Democrat.
Three men from the Congress of Racial Equality (C.O.R.E.) walked along Natural Bridge Avenue carrying signs which read "Jeff Smith is trying to buy you with basketball and Bar-B-Q." One of the men told PUB DEF that he was supporting the campaign of Yaphett El-Amin, one of Smith's four opponents in the August 8 primary. The man said that El-Amin had not asked him to protest Smith's event.
Few people were distracted by the small protest and Smith even offered the men food and water.
The four candidates in this hotly contested race are Smith, State Reps. El-Amin and Amber Boykins, former State Rep. Derio Gambaro, and former Alderman Kenny Jones.
So how does a bill for $2 million get delivered to St. Louis Public Schools in December 2005, but not come to the attention of the superintendent or the chief financial officer until this Monday?
"The district is in the process of investigating this matter. At this time we are unable to release any information," answered Johnny Little, the district's public information director.
On Tuesday, Superintendent Creg Williams informed the school board that next year's budget is currently $4 million over budget -- double what was thought just a few days before. Williams said the reason was that a bill from the district's Pension Board just landed on his desk Monday, after apparently being recieved by someone in SLPS six months before.
Little declined to say whether this situation is at all related to the sudden resignation this week of the district's treasurer, Enos Moss.
Frank Popper, the director of the documentary film, "Can Mr. Smith Get to Washington Anymore?," which chronicles the unsuccessful grassroots Congressional campaign of Jeff Smith, will be on C-SPAN tonight at 6:00 p.m.
Popper, who is from Webster Groves, will appear on the show "Close Up" along with another director whose film is also being featured at the Silverdocs Film Festival in Washington, D.C. next week.
The State of Missouri will no longer pursue appealing a recent court decision that allowed a lesbian couple to adopt their foster child.
Attorney General Jay Nixon said that when Gov. Matt Blunt signed a bill which repealed the state law that banned sexual contact between two people of the same sex, the case became moot.
A story on Missourinet.com reports that the Social Services Department has objected to dropping the appeal. "A spokesman says it will quickly write a new rule dealing with foster care licensing and how gay applicants are to be treated," said the story.
"The Department had cited the same-sex sexual contact law as a primary reason for denying the lesbian couple a chance to adopt a child, saying one of the women was not of reputable character - although she has a degree in human and family development, with a specialty in children."
Supporters of Gov. Matt Blunt have started running a new ad on Missouri radio stations to help save the governor's dismal approval rating; at 35% as of last month.
The ad describes a gloomy situation for Missouri before Blunt became governor. "What a difference a year and a half makes," the ad says. An announcer says Blunt "got it right" with his spending cuts and education formula change.
On their webpage, where you can also listen to the ad and give money to help keep it on the air, Missourians for Matt Blunt, Inc. says "liberal media bias" is responsible for the public's negative view of Blunt.
There's something for every kind of political watcher this weekend -- except maybe basketball-hating conservatives.
For those pissed off that in the year 2006, Detroit is still producing vehicles that give less than 15 miles per gallon, the man who used to be the next President of the United States has a movie for you. "An Inconvenient Truth," starring former Vice President Al Gore, will open Friday at the Plaza Frontenac Cinema. Frontenac is one of the "select cities" to get this highly anticipated documentary this week. It opens everywhere else next weekend.
For those pissed off that in the year 2006, Detroit got its ass handed to hit by Shaquille O'Neal and the Miami Heat and therefore have no desire to watch the NBA Finals (which start tonight), state senate candidate Jeff "I love this game" Smith has an event for you. The professor and basketball coach will be heading to the northside Saturday to host his first annual 3-on-3 b-ball tournament in Fairgrounds Park.
On Sunday, Smith and his opponents (for the senate, not on the court), Amber Boykins, Yaphett El-Amin, Derio Gambaro, and Kenny Jones, have been invited to the Organization for Black Struggle's candidate forum at 4:00, at the Rowan Community Center, 1401 Rowan Ave.
And speaking of struggle, radio host Lizz "Living Life as a Liberal and Loving It" Brown and former Ald. Irene J. Smith will be conducting their Urban Institute class on Saturday at 9:00 a.m. at 1020 N. Taylor. They will be discussing the Team Four Plan and how they believe charter schools are a part of that "poisonous plan."
UPDATE:MoveOn.org is hosting a conference call with Al Gore on Sunday. To participate, call one of the following numbers just before 6:00 p.m. and enter the appropriate passcode:
Line 1 Toll free: 1-888-891-0496 Passcode: 8626127
Line 2 Toll free: 1-888-891-0496 Passcode: 4765019
Line 3 Toll free: 1-888-891-0496 Passcode: 5417431
Yes, things can get worse for St. Louis Public Schools. And according to Superintendent Creg Williams, they may get a lot worse by the end of next year.
Williams told the school board Tuesday night that the district will be facing a $50 million deficit in November 2007. He said the district must be aware of its financial situation in future decision-making and that he and the board should develop a plan of how they will pay their bills 18 months from now.
But some board members, including Ron Jackson and Robert Archibald, questioned whether the district should be spending so much money this year, knowing what awaits next year.
The district's chief financial officer told the board that many of Williams' proposals, parts of his "strategic plan," are still unfunded and the district is already looking at being $4 million over budget for the 2006-2007 fiscal year.
See a special video report on this at STLSchools.org, home of the St. Louis Schools Watch.
VIDEO: CFO Tells Board Next Year's Deficit Double What Originally Thought
By Antonio D. French
Filed
Wednesday, June 07, 2006 at 4:53 PM
The chief financial officer of the St. Louis Public Schools had some more bad news for the school board at last night's meeting. He said the roughly $2 million shortfall for the 2006-2007 budget is actually closer to $4 million.
Superintendent Creg Williams told the board that the district received a $4.2 million bill from the district's pension fund in December, but he and Cedric Lewis, the acting CFO, didn't find out about it until Monday.
Williams said that $2.1 million of that amount is due this year and the rest is due next year.
The additional $2 million deficit plus the components of Williams' "strategic plan" initiatives which have not yet been funded puts the district on shaky financial ground for next budget year. But the real trouble starts in 2007-08, according to Lewis.
The CFO has estimated that SLPS will faces a budget crisis of approximately $50 million by November 2007. Check back later for a video report on this issue.
After starting the week off nursing a dog bite, state senate candidate Jeff Smith received some welcomed news a couple of days later. His campaign today announced the endorsement of three of the area's largest labor unions.
The International Brotherhood of Teamsters Joint Council #13, the United Auto Workers Region #5, and the Communications Workers of America Local #6320 all declared their support for Smith, according to a press release from his campaign.
Sam Simon, Smith's campaign manager, said his candidate now has far more labor support than any candidate in the race, despite the fact that he is running against several sitting and former legislators.
Smith is running in the August 8 Democratic primary against State Reps Amber Boykins, Yaphett El-Amin, former State Rep. Derio Gambaro, and former Ald. Kenny Jones.
Senator Jim Talent voted this morning against a filibuster by Senate Democrats on a proposed Constitutional amendment to outlaw homosexuals from marrying. Talent is a co-sponsor of the amendment which conservatives say would preserve the "traditional definition of marriage."
"This issue represents a big difference between me and my opponent," said Talent in an email to supporters today. "Claire McCaskill supports gay marriage and recently she told the media she's opposed to a Constitutional Amendment to protect traditional marriage."
A spokesperson for McCaskill said the state auditor doesn't think the Senate should be spending time on the issue.
"Claire has always believed that marriage is between a man and a woman. And like John Danforth and Vice-President Cheney, she thinks federal action on this issue is unnecessary," said spokeswoman Adrianne Marsh.
We have updated our video page this morning and are updating our iTunes video podcast as I type. So podcast subscribers, look out for new videos to download to your computer today.
Download the latest issue of PUB DEF Weekly. As usual: make as many copies as you like and distribute them in your apartment building, on campus, in City Hall, wherever. We like leaving them under the windshield wipers of random Mercedes-Benzes and H2s. Try it. It's fun.
School board member Peter Downs made a motion at tonight's administrative meeting to have the superintendent look at cancelling the district's contract with controversial maintenance contractor Sodexho.
By a vote of 4-2, the board voted to add to next week's regular board meeting agenda a resolution to ask Superintendent Creg Williams to come back to the board by September with a plan on how to bring the services currently being performed by Sodexho back in-house.
Voting against the motion were board members Robert Archibald and Ron Jackson. Joining Downs voting in favor were Donna Jones, Bill Purdy and board president Veronica O'Brien.
O'Brien voted against Down's original motion to have Williams come back to the board with a plan in one month. Williams said that he needed more time to review such a large contract.
Board member Flint Fowler left the meeting early and was not present at the time of the vote.
Congressmen Lacy Clay (D-1) and Russ Carnahan (D-3) will join 16 other Democratic members of Congress from five central states for what is being billed as a first-ever, regional e-townhall meeting.
Wednesday at 2:00 p.m., Congresspeople from Missouri, Illinois, Oklahoma, Kansas and Indiana will team up to take e-mail questions on issues such as homeland security, the war in Iraq, rising gas prices, rising healthcare costs, college affordability, and immigration.
VIDEO: Documentary May Give Candidate a Boost Days Before Election
By Antonio D. French
A PUB DEF VIDEO REPORT
In a close campaign with nearly half a dozen candidates, any little thing can push one of them to victory. Less than two weeks before the August 8 primary election, one state senate candidate may get that push from a local silver screen.
Washington University professor Jeff Smith is the subject of a documentary film about his 2004 Congressional campaign in which he nearly pulled off one of the biggest political upsets in recent St. Louis history.
The film, titled "Can Mr. Smith Get to Washington Anymore?," will be seen at the Silverdocs Film Festival in Washington D.C. later this month. But on July 27, St. Louis audiences will get a chance to relive the grassroots campaign which ended with a narrow defeat by the highly-favored heir to one of the state's most powerful political dynasties, Russ Carnahan.
The film will open at the Tivoli theater just days before Smith's name will again appear on the ballot.
On August 8, Smith will face four other much more seasoned politicos. This time though, he is arguably the frontrunner, with a comfortable lead in fundraising and now a film credit on his resume. But will it lead to victory or another disappointment for Mr. Smith's fans?
U-City Urges Passage of Universal Health Care Resolution in Congress
By Antonio D. French
University City's Council passed a resolution at its meeting Monday endorsing House Resolution 676, "The Expanded and Improved Medicare for All Act."
The city is the first in Missouri to endorse the bill. Similar resolutions are under consideration by city councils in Richmond Heights, Webster Groves, Kirkwood, Hazelwood, Creve Coeur, and St. Louis City.
H.R. 676 was introduced by Congressman John Conyers (D-MI) with sixty-eight cosponsors in the House. Supporters say the act would provide a national universal, comprehensive, single-payer system of health care.
There will be a ceremony on Wednesday at 10:00 a.m. on the front steps of University City Hall, 6801 Delmar, in which supporters will call on other cities to pass similar resolutions in support of universal health care for all Americans.
VIDEO: New Alliance Says Cleveland High School Can (and Should) be Fixed
By Antonio D. French
Filed
Monday, June 05, 2006 at 1:08 PM
Members of a new group dedicated to stopping any attempt to permanently close Cleveland NJROTC High School gathered this morning at the school to present their position to the public and the press.
Debbie Irwin, of the Dutchtown South Community Corporation and the new Alliance to Save Cleveland High, said the mission of the Alliance is to assist the school district in creating a modern, safe, state-of-the-art Cleveland High School with academic excellence for its students.
Irwin said that would include helping to raise the needed funds to renovate the school. But she said the alliance would first like to get a better estimate of how much it will actually cost to make Cleveland a healthy place for students.
"We do not believe that it will cost $20 million," said Irwin referencing an estimate given by Superintendent Creg Williams. She said that figure includes $10 million to air condition the building, $9 million of which has already been funded through a bond issue.
Aldermen Dorothy Kirner (25th Ward), Craig Schmid (20th Ward) and Fred Wessels (13th Ward) attended today's event. As well as school board members Veronica O'Brien and Bill Purdy.
In an exclusive video interview with PUB DEF, Purdy gave a bit of the history of how Cleveland got in its present state of disrepair.
At a special meeting yesterday, the St. Louis Teachers' Union unanimously voted "no confidence" in Superintendent Creg Williams and his administration. The union also asked for the resignation of former school board member Vince Schoemehl from the school system's pension board.
Get the latest on St. Louis Public Schools at STLSchools.org, home of the St. Louis Schools Watch.
Very off-topic, but we came across this little treasure a few days ago. It's a video of the late, great Sammy Davis, Jr. performing here in St. Louis at the The Kiel Opera House on June 20, 1965. He gives the city a little shout-out at the end. Enjoy.
Clear Channel Communications and developer Don Breckenridge are working on bringing new life to the old Kiel Opera House, which became vacant when Kiel Auditorium was replaced by the Savvis Center
According to the City's website, the new Kiel will have a 3,500-seat auditorium, accompanied by four smaller theaters. Clear Channel Communications will provide theater, music, dance, and other entertainment, while Fox LLC will present Broadway shows.
The project's estimated cost, as of last year, was $42 million supported by a TIF. There! How's that for bringing it back on-topic?
Related Stories:
"Carving Up Kiel" by Stefene Russell from the premiere issue of Public Defender
(Thanks to Dorota1981, from Hamburg, Germany, for the video.)
Richelle Carey, of Channel 4's "News 4 This Morning," is headed to CNN.
A press release from the Atlanta-based CNN said that Carey will be joining the Headline News team. She will begin anchoring Headline Prime news breaks and overnight newscasts starting June 13.
Carey's been paying her dues in the news biz for quite a while. Before Channel 4, she anchored the morning news in Las Vegas and in Tyler, Texas. She has also served as a military reporter in Waco, Texas. She started her career as an associate producer in Houston.
Carey follows another Channel 4 anchor that made it to the big time. Russ Mitchell, who was born in St. Louis and worked at KMOV from 1987-92, continues to represent the Lou as one of two rotating anchors of the CBS Evening News' Saturday edition.
As for Carey's departure, we know at least one fan, a certain northside committeeman, whose mornings just won't be the same without that cute little smile and perky personality to give us all the rundown of the previous night's bad news.
Blogging is tough. It requires discipline, tenacity, and an ability to format and upload under pressure. Many have jumped into the arena only to limp out shortly after. There's been the mayoral candidates, the news anchors, the columnists. But a post every month or so just won't cut it in this ozone-depleted, ever-hotter St. Louis blogosphere.
Sylvester Brown, the Post-Dispatch columnist and resident "black guy," has posted a poetic account of the challenges of maintaining a blog -- in Shakespearean verse no less. Check it out here.
