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PUB
DEF is a non-partisan, independent political blog based in the
City of St. Louis, Missouri. Our goal is to cast a critical eye
on lawmakers, their policies, and those that have influence upon
them, and to educate our readers about legislation and the political
processes that affect our daily lives.
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Governor Matt Blunt will be in St. Louis today to discuss his new Campus Security Task Force, which was announced after the student massacre at Virginia Tech.
At the press conference, scheduled for 1:45 p.m. at Harris-Stowe State University, Pub Def has learned that Blunt will announce the appointment of Harris-Stowe President Henry Givens to the task force.
Yesterday Blunt announced the selection of AFT agent Michael Boxler, from Lee’s Summit, for one spot on the task force which will be lead by Director of Public Safety Mark James and Dr. Robert Stein, Commissioner of Higher Education.
Last October, Gov. Blunt drew criticism for suggesting that teachers being allowed to carry fire arms was an "interesting idea worth pursuing." UPDATE: As we reported earlier, Gov. Blunt did indeed appoint Givens to the task force. Here is the complete list of members:
The governor named the following members to serve on the task force:
Michael Boxler of Lee’s Summit – Missouri Special Agent in Charge, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF)
Kyle Brenneman of Hannibal – Dean of Student Development, Hannibal LaGrange College
Nancy Bush of Jefferson City – Center for Emergency Response and Terrorism Director, Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services
Lynn Carter of Jefferson City – Deputy Director, Missouri Department of Mental Health
David Fedder of St. Louis – Partner, Bryan Cave
Paul Fennewald of Jefferson City – Homeland Security Coordinator, Missouri Department of Public Safety
Kevin French of Springfield – Director of Safety and Security, Drury University
Dr. Henry Givens of St. Louis – President, Harris-Stowe State University
Van Godsey of Jefferson City – Director, Missouri Information Analysis Center
Clarence Green of Maryville – Director of Campus Safety, Northwest Missouri State University
Matthew Headrick of Warrensburg – Criminal Justice Student, University of Central Missouri
James Hughes of Kirksville – Chief of Kirksville Police Department
John Jordan of Jackson – Cape Girardeau County Sheriff
Colonel James Keathley of Jefferson City – Superintendent, Missouri State Highway Patrol
John Kraemer of Cape Girardeau – Associate Professor, Southeast Missouri State University
Thomas Malecek of Town & Country – Director of Corporate Security, Brown Shoe Company
Ron Olinger of St. Joseph – Vice President of Financial Planning and Administration, Missouri Western State University
Mark Potratz of Park Hills – Director of Public Safety, Mineral Area College
Gary Snavely of Springfield – Director of Safety and Transportation, Missouri State University
Don Strom of St. Louis – Chief of Police for Washington University
Rod Surber of Joplin – Director of Public Information, Missouri Southern State University
Dorla Watkins of Parkville – Vice President for Finance and Administration, Park University
Jack Watring of Columbia – Director of University Police, University of Missouri – Columbia
Sheriff Greg White of Jefferson City – Cole County Sheriff
Chuck Witt of Columbia – Assistant Fire Chief, Columbia Fire Department
There was a time not too long ago when religious leaders in America focused the energies of their flocks on social ills like poverty, education and civil rights. But in recent decades, religious conservatives have refocused those energies on the narrow fights against abortion and homosexuality.
While the country engages in wars which result in the deaths of tens of thousands of civilians, with only some notable exceptions, the religious community is largely silent. What happened to the Christian calling for social justice?
The name Kennedy is synonymous with a religious calling leading to social action through politics. The family and their two most famous sons have a legacy of public service that is rooted from their Catholic values and has branched into nearly every arena of public service thanks to a family tree as large as any in Yellowstone.
Earlier this week, I sat down with Kathleen Kennedy Townsend, the former Lieutenant Governor of Maryland and the eldest of Robert F. and Ethel Kennedy's 11 children. We discussed her new book, "Failing America's Faithful: How Today's Churches Are Mixing God with Politics and Losing Their Way".
Click here to buy "Failing America's Faithful: How Today's Churches Are Mixing God with Politics and Losing Their Way" on Amazon.com.
Blame it on Imus. The debate over the use of the so-called "N-word" is back in the national discussion. Who can say it? Should anyone say it? Why is it apparently alright for some people to say it and others not?
Jabari Asim is a native St. Louisan and deputy editor of the Washington Post Book World. He has written a very timely book called "The N Word: Who Can Say It, Who Shouldn't and Why". This week he appeared on Comedy Central's "The Colbert Report" to promote the book and discuss (with some delicate humor) the most controversial word in our language.
Yesterday I appeared on WGNU's "The Real Deal with Syl and Tim" to discuss a wide range of current events. And like at so many dinner tables across America recently, somehow a discussion of the Imus controversy led to a broader discussion about language and the N-word specifically.
Asim will be in St. Louis to discuss his book on Monday, April 30, at the St. Louis Public Library Central Branch, 1301 Olive Street, at 7:00 p. m.
The UCLA Daily Bruinreports that the California Court of Appeals unanimously ruled this week against a law designed to give Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa substantial personal control over the Los Angeles Unified School District.
The ruling by the three-judge panel of the 2nd District Court of Appeal is the second rejection of the law, which was passed by the state Legislature in September 2006.
"The citizens of Los Angeles have the constitutional right to decide whether their school board is to be appointed or elected," Justice H. Walter Croskey wrote in the opinion.
The St. Louis school board recently voted to challenge, in court if necessary, the Missouri Board of Education's decision to strip the elected school board of its power and put it in the hands of a three-person appointed board.
It what the Mayor's office fairly describes as something of an annual ritual now, the City of St. Louis challenged the US Census Bureau’s estimate of its residential population. For the fourth year in a row, the Census Bureau agreed.
The official estimate of the City’s population (as of July 1, 2006) is 353,837, a gain of 5,648 people, or 1.62%, since the 2000 Census.
Earlier this week, the New York Times published an article about St. Louis City's struggle with population loss over the past 50 years. Click here to read it (log-in required).
I'll be a guest on "The Real Deal" radio show with hosts Syl Wilson and Tim Person this afternoon during the 4:00 hour on WGNU 920 AM.
Topics of likely discussion include: the swearing-in of new Aldermanic President Lewis Reed and the new legislative session, the St. Louis Public Schools' controversy, local endorsements in the 2008 Presidential race, and more.
UPDATE: Okay, we didn't actually get to any of that stuff. But we did have an interesting conversation on the history of Pub Def, the Virginia Tech shootings, Imus, and the "N-word".
Here's video of the first part of the show, including some BREAKING NEWS about Governor Blunt's visit to St. Louis tomorrow.
According to the Belleville News-Democrat, more than two dozen members of the St. Louis political and business elite met downtown last week to talk over options for paying for a new Mississippi River bridge.
There is a new sense of urgency in reaching an agreement on the bridge before Missouri and Illinois miss their chance at $239 million in federal aid.
The day before the meeting, we asked Gov. Matt Blunt if after years of plans, new plans, negotiations, and renegotiations, will this bridge ever get built?
VIDEO: Challenges Ahead as New Board President, Aldermen Are Sworn In
By Antonio D. French
Filed
Tuesday, April 17, 2007 at 11:00 PM
The day the new and re-elected members of the Board of Aldermen where sworn in, an article in the New York Times highlights the challenges which lay ahead of the city's leaders.
"The city has retained attractions like Forest Park, excellent universities and a vibrant arts scene. But vast sections of North St. Louis show what happens when people leave town in big numbers: What is left is a shell of a city, boarded up, rotting, populated by the most impoverished. Residents, mostly black, are still fleeing these parts of town," writes the Times reporter.
This very issue was the subject of new Aldermanic President Lewis Reed's speech today.
"We will rise and fall as one city," said Reed. If a business closes in north St. Louis, it impacts the people who live in south St. Louis. If there is a vacant, abandoned building in south St. Louis, it affects taxpayers in north St. Louis.
"If we work together and tackle these issues as one St. Louis, St. Louis will be a stronger and safer city," said Reed.
Here is video of today's swearing-in ceremony. Click here to read the full article in today's New York Times.
Here's video of the swearing-in before the swearing-in.
Little did you know that the swearing-in you see on television is really just ceremonial. The real swearing-in of city officials happens minutes (and sometimes days) before in a smaller, far less crowded place. Today that place was Room 208 (The Kennedy Room) in City Hall.
Immediately following the real swearing-in, performed by City RegisterParrie May, the new officials sign the city's official record, making them honest to God elected officials of the City of St. Louis.
Check back later for video of the much more elaborate swearing-in ceremony that took place on the floor of the Board of Aldermen.
After weeks of speculation about who the new President of the Board of Aldermen would select as his Chief of Staff, Pub Def can report that Lewis Reed has tapped Thomas Shepard to lead his office.
Shepard, a certified public accountant and principal of the firm Thomas Shepard & Associates, had previously served as Reed's campaign treasurer.
Pub Def can now also report that Antonio French will serve as Reed's political director.
Reed and the new members of the Board will be sworn this morning at City Hall. Check back later today for video.
One day after the National Rifle Association, the nation's leading gun lobby, ended its annual conference here in St. Louis, the eyes of the world are on the State of Virginia, where a man armed with a gun murdered more than 30 people today.
After a week of pro-gun press releases pandering to the NRA crowd, Governor Matt Blunt today issued an executive order for all flags at state facilities will be flown at half-staff for the Virginia Tech victims and their loved ones.
"Melanie and I extend our thoughts and prayers to all those who lost a loved one in this senseless tragedy and to everyone at Virginia Tech," said Blunt. "I ask Missourians to join me in praying for those who lost a family member or friend in this terrible act."
Just last week the Governor signed into law Senate Bill 257 which ensures that no Missourian should be denied "possession, transfer, sale, transportation, storage, display, or use of firearms or ammunition during an emergency."
One day before their swearing-in, the new President and members of the Board of Aldermen were in City Hall today to rehearse for tomorrow's formalities.
New aldermen Sam Moore (4th Ward), Kacie Starr Triplett (6th Ward) and Marlene Davis (19th Ward) got a crash course in aldermanic procedures today as they prepare to make their first motions on the floor of the city's legislative body tomorrow.
The Board's new president, Lewis Reed, was also preparing for his big day tomorrow. See video below of Reed taking the podium for the first time.
After the "Missouri Health Improvement Act of 2007" passed the Missouri Senate last week, Democratic Senator Joan Bray (University City) called it "hugely bureaucratic," saying it sends too much money to insurance companies and the bureaucracy of additional levels of people "just pushing papers around."
But Governor Matt Blunt said the program, meant to replace Medicaid, is a positive step in the right direction of providing health care for more Missourians.
In an interview with PubDef.net last week, the governor said the program shifts the state's focus to preventative healthcare.
Click here to read the St. Louis Oracle's take on the Democrats that voted in favor of the bill.
There is a rumor that Riverview Gardens has been notified that the state is about to step in. Last week we asked Gov. Matt Blunt if state involvement in troubled districts was going to end with St. Louis Public Schools.
UPDATE: Today DESE released the agenda for the State Board of Education's April meeting. It specifically noted that neither the St. Louis City schools nor the Riverview Gardens School Districts will be discussed this month.
At the press conference, scheduled for 1:45 p.m. at Harris-Stowe State University, Pub Def has learned that Blunt will announce the appointment of Harris-Stowe President Henry Givens to the task force.
