Archive for February, 2010

Opponents (and supporters) of a new casino project in north St. Louis county (for purposes of this column known as “Gene McNary’s Last Gasp Legacy Casino”) may have an opportunity to watch the Missouri Gaming Commission in action on Feb. 24.  The commissioners are planning to meet at the Council Chambers of the St. Louis County Government Building, 41 South Central avenue, at 9 a.m.  Although the Gaming Commission generally does not allow public comment at its meetings, partisans on at least one side of the issue hope to be heard and are collecting comments to be submitted in advance to Leann McCarthy, the Gaming Commission’s public information coordinator.   (Assignment editors at the local daily may copy as usual.)

Food Outreach is not responding to a questionnaire from the Better Business Bureau of Missouri and Southern Illinois (BBB) regarding charity reports and standards.  “Some things weren’t accurate regarding our financials,” said Greg Lukeman, exec director of Food Outreach. “I didn’t know we had to respond. All of our information is available to the public in this office.” Jim Judge of the BBB confirmed, “We’ve sent out the questionnaire and there has been no response.  However, we’re not pointing a figure at them.”  Food Outreach provides nutritional support for men, women and children living with HIV/AIDS or cancer.

A “dream team” of activist lawyers (led by venerable Bevis Shock) may be trying to erect a roadblock in court to developer Paul McKee‘s plans to transform a swath of north St. Louis, but McKee himself seems unfazed by their arguments.  While the nay-saying lawyers argued that McKee’s Northside Transformation plan was illusory, McKee and his own lawyers were quietly acquiring additional property for the project on Friday.

Missing from St. Louis county exec Charlie Dooley‘s meeting with Prez Obama’s “car czar” Ed Montgomery in Fenton on Thursday
to announce a new joint effort to find new uses for empty auto plants (and new jobs for former auto workers) was Gov. Jay Nixon, who opted to arrive in our town a day earlier to announce a tax credit award in St.Louis City.  The state of Missouri matched funds with the feds, the county and the City of Fenton to make the auto effort possible.

Members of the sixth ward, a diverse area stretching from the Washington Avenue loft district to Tower Grove, were slated to meet Thursday evening at the Southside Wellness Center to hear briefings on efforts to revamp the city’s and state’s tax systems and to consider an endorsement of St. Louis county’s Prop A for transportation funding.  However, some ward stalwarts including its alderwoman Kacie Triplett, apparently had a hard time making the meeting.  Triplett had scheduled her own fundraiser across town at The U on the same night.

The same week that editors of Webster University’s flagship student publication, The Journal, mourned the journalistic decisions of Lee Enterprises, publisher of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch (and other papers), Lee announced that its papers and websites are reaching 7 out of 10 adults weekly in its markets – and 6 out of 10 readers 18-29 years-old. Most likely, the student editors fall into the 4 out of 10 younger readers who skip the P-D.  Lee’s other “good” news was that it didn’t lose as much money last month as it did in January a year before.

The best restaurant in town is a good one in which you are known to the owner; the second best is the one that serves consistently good food whether the owner knows you or not. That’s Leon Birnbaum at his new Chez Leon in Clayton all over. Is it a religious experience? Hell no!  We’ve all been bored in church, temple or mosque.  There’s nothing to be boring about. The classic French cuisine bourgeois prepared by chef Colby Erhart or the lounge lizards, who swoon over the interiors, created by Birnbaum and Dan Byrne. “It’s Selkirk chic!,” exclaimed hair stylist-to-the-stars Randall Jones of Larz Salon to his best pal, the stunning Elizabeth Danforth Sankey, heiress to Bill Danforth. “Yes, more urbane than urbane,” added Sanky. She informed the columnist that she and Elizabeth “Lydie” Wallace have bowed an estate jewelry buying and selling firm, Elizabeth’s Estate. A few tongues wagged about Trudy Busch‘s 84th birthday on the day before and that she was much too ill to celebrate. Here ‘n there were Linda and Tony Karakas with Janet and Smith McGehee, who celebrated the birth of triplet grandchildren.  Genya and Jim Human, along with Steve Anstey, were there praising the sales at the Janet McAfee real estate office. . .

Downtown at Tony’s, Kelly and Blues CEO Peter McLoughlin were bullish about the team and he lamented,  “I wish Dave Checketts had bought the Rams.”  Bryan Cave mouthpiece Harold Blatt with his charming Elaine graced a table with Marilyn and Bernard “Bunny” Edison, whose family empire, Edison Bros. Shoes, collapsed under the stewardship of Andy Newman and Martin Sneider, who had been teaching essentials of retailing at WashU (go figure!).  Also at Tony’s, barrister Gerard Carmody and his wife, Susan, with their daughter Ryann, settled down after a retreat at the Four Seasons with his law firm, Carmody MacDonald. . .

Over at Beffa’s there was celebration over the upcoming nupts of Rachel Crocker (Eureka, Mo.’s Byrnes Hills Stables, LLC) and Robert Brake (Brake Landscaping and Lawncare, Inc.) with his uncle, former cop Ed Beffa. . .

And, at the Palladium party house on Fourteenth Street and Park Avenue, a sumptuous feedbag and cocktails were underway, when the columnist arrived to join in the launching of the EcoLifeSTL.com website and the honors awards presented to the City of St. Louis, AmerenUE’s PurePower and Sustainable St. Louis.  They were chosen for significant contributions they make to promote and encourage Green living in the region.  Said Mayor Francis Slay, “The greatest way to recycle in St. Louis is to save historic buildings like the one we’re in tonight.  The Greenest building is one that already exists and also preserves history.”  Cindy Bambini accepted the award on behalf of PurePower,AmerenUE’s voluntary renewable energy program, and she noted, “Currently, there are 6,000 residential and 200 businesses PurePower customers receiving 100 percent of their energy from the five wind farms in our area.” Emmis Broadcasting’s John Beck was front ‘n center getting plaudits on the broadcast chain of stations involvement in promoting the program.  John Weber of Wells Fargo and his soon-to-marry Jennie Logan of KPNT, The Point radio station, chain smoked as Weber joshed about energy, “Before we left the house, I turned on all the lights, left the fridge door open, turned up the heat and turned on the microwave.”

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WITH THE POLICE COMMISSION:  St. Louis police commissioner Vince Bommarito, owner of the award-winning Tony’s restaurant downtown and shoo-in candidate for Best Uncle of the Year, now has a public relations agent to deal with the simmering (and sauteing?) controversy swirling around his Mardi Gras Get Our of Jail Free call to a St. Louis police supervisor.  Savvy Peggy Lents, who also reps the Missouri Botanical Garden, is now speaking for him.