Posts Tagged ‘Francis Slay’

U.S. Rep. Russ Carnahan will flex his political muscles with a fundraiser on Sept. 13 at Amsterdam Tavern.  Mayor Francis Slay, Ald. President Lewis Reed, Comptroller Darlene Green, and two former city mayors, all but two city aldermen (two aldermen named Fred – Heitert and Wessels – are MIA), an entire royal of labor officials, the city’s Democratic legislative delegation and enough lawyers to staff a midsized law firm anchor the host committee.

“Ed Martin will give Carnahan a run for his money. . .I like Ed,” said St. Louis Mayor Francis Slay of Martin, who will duke it out with incumbent Cong. Russ Carnahan.  Slay also confided, that his brother Raymond Slay is in New Orleans to check out the bar scene.  “He wants to open a gay sports bar on Manchester in The Grove,”  continued hizzoner at the annual St. Nicholas Greek Festival.  Slay was there sans his wife, Kim, whom he said went on a cruise with her parents and were stalled in Nova Scotia due to Hurricane Earl.  Surrounded by County Exec Charley Dooley, The Evening Whirl’s Gentry Trotter, Sherry Wibbenmeyer and Lounge Concepts co-founder Pete Ferretti. Slay chowed down on lamb and as he sipped from a bottle of Mythos Beer, he quipped, “Like George W. Bush might say, ‘when in Greece, do as the Grecians do.”

A sight to behold: fervent Republican Donna Wilkinson and devoted Democrat Tom Green in an embrace. . .Ditto for Jamie and Jason Cohen, a strategist and Beltway/St. Louis commuter, charged with helping to craft the proposal for a Stl victory in the run for the convention… Soldier of fortune/physical fitness guru/mercenary Joe Adams and his better half, mortgage doyenne Diana Daugherty, plunked down $1.1 million for the Hampton Park manse from the late do-gooders Ruth and Dr. Walter Washington, according to their son, Kevin, who tub-thumped holding the convention here. . Mike Shannon arrived with his love, Quincy,IL travel agent Lori Bergman. . .KSDK reporter/co-anchor Mike Garrity telling Kara E. Bolin, press sect’y to Mayor Francis Slay, “I covered the team getting off the bus”. . .Then, it was onward to Tony’s to glad-hand former Cardinals football linebacker Jamie Rivers and his wife, Brenda, who marked their 45th wedding anniversary and toasted their four grandchildren. BTW – The winsome twosome own the McDonald’s on Lindell Boulevard. After a sampling of exec chef Vince Bommarito, Jr.’s soft shell crabs, stuffed with crab meat – another stop. Over at Cyrano’s, bossman Charlie Downs was vending real deal Lake Superior white fish and organic blueberry crumb pie with cinnamon ice cream.

Mo. Lt. Gov. Peter Kinder got high-fives from a gaggle of the 71,000 participants in the Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure.  Kinder, a Republican, ran in the 5K section.  Overdupois Mo. Gov. Jay Nixon also competed.  (Maybe his weight gain can be attributed to his recent visit at Sweetie Pie’s.)  Slim Mayor Francis Slay kicked off the ceremonies in his Polo shirt – sans his usual natty suit.  Juan Carlos Antolinez was on hand as was his wife, Mo. Secretary of State Robin Carnahan, a breast cancer survivor, who tagged along.  Her bro, Cong. Russ Carnahan, made a cameo. Some women oggled over State Rep Chris Carter’s buffed torso as he made it through the finish line with his adorable Naomi West. Martin Casas, prez of the Young Democrats, was raced, while his soul mate, Katie Casas cooled her jets at home with their newborn Sophie Ann.

Although not as thorny as the problems of Israel along the Gaza Strip, the contretemps along the median of Jamieson Avenue in  south St. Louis have caught the attention of local TV reporters, newspaper writers, the Associated Press, and the editors of several outstate news organizations, who are unused to seeing municipal battles waged over snack foods.  At the center of the controversy is Joe Kunkel, who has been peddling pretzels on the streets of  St. Louis for 30 or so years.  Mr. Kunkel’s hobby recently caught the attention of some imitators, who thought that there might be some dough in pretzels.  The Gus-come-lately’s – whose sales techniques were somewhat more sprightly than Mr. Kunkel’s – made neighbors unhappy and sparked calls for law enforcements.  The city’s mayor, Francis Slay, has opined on the issue twice via his blog (mayorslay.com), and on Tuesday evening offered the suggestion that Mr. Kunkel’s supporters should buy pretzels from him and boycott his competitors.  Which brings us full circle to Gaza.

Yes, yes. The columnist has heard all of the arguments being offered about why Charlie Dooley elected to drive a stake through the heart of a proposed North County casino near the Confluence of the Rivers.  He is an environmentalist. He is protecting the county’s revenue from its existing casinos.  He is getting back at retiring Gaming Commissioner Gene McNary, a Dooley critic who seemed to support the project.  He is making a deal with St. Louis Mayor Francis Slay whose city is losing a gaming license.  Blah, blah.  The real reason is that St. Louis County Economic Council topper Denny Coleman advised his boss that quantitative analysis shows that a new casino in north county lacked the popular public support to make it a strong success, while its mere existence would siphon dollars from existing county restaurants, bars and entertainment venues. Hats off to Chaz!

Stan Kroenke, the Columbia, Mo., businessman who plans to purchase the 60 percent of the St. Louis Rams he does not already own, has picked up some impressive endorsements.  KSLG (Team 1380 AM) sportstalker Kevin Slaten is reminding his listeners that Kroenke was instrumental in bringing pro-football back to St.Louis in the first place,  while Sports Illustrated writer Peter King is telling his readers that he believes that Kroenke’s bid to buy the Rams will be approved by the National Football League.  Mayor Francis Slay, who has not been shy about wading into the local sports scene, weighs in on his blog (mayorslay.com) with a personal opinion: “Two potential newmajority owners have emerged.   One (Kroenke) is a familiar billionaire face with generally unknown, but demonstrably successful views.  The other (Kahn) is an unfamiliar very, very rich face with widely known, but generally untested views.  If both men agreed to  (fielding a good team and keeping it in St. Louis) I think I’d pick the tested billionaire owner.  Or his billionaire wife, billionaire offspring, or other face-saving arrangement (short of swapping teams with the owner of the Broncos) that satisfies the inconsistently applied no-cross-ownership-in-the-same-market-as-another-owner rule.”

He has not reached the same step of political twitterdom as Missouri’s Sen. Claire McCaskill (@ClaireCMc), but followers of St. Louis Mayor Francis Slay (@MayorSlay) heard his tweets on Arizona’s new immigration law repeated on national TV last week by CNN’s Anderson Cooper. Slay was singled out as a strong advocate for both immigrant rights and federal immigration reform. Meanwhile, McCaskill warned her thousands of Twitter follows that she would be “off the grid” over the weekend celebrating an anniversary (the couple’s 8th) with hubby Joe Shephard.

Matt Lieberman, the super fund-raiser whose client list includes such high-powered pols as St. Louis mayor Francis Slay, state auditor Susan Montee and county council member Steve Stanger – and who is widely credited with helping former mayor Vince Schoemehl fill the war chest that powered St. Louis County’s Prop A to victory – will wed legal assistant Erin Marie Luecke in June. . . Mo. Lt. Gov. Peter Kinder will present the Lieutenant Governor’s  Senior  Service Award to Art Osseck, 85, of St.Charles.  Ossock volunteers with Sts. Joachim and Ann Care Service driving the charity’s van five times a week to pick up donated food from grocery stores.  Sources say that Kinder plans a series of awards in the region. . .Kudos to the cast of the musical, “Legally Blonde” who booked an extra performance at Chuey Arzola’s after Friday night’s Fox gig.  The burlesque program, “Risque Cabaret”, raised big bucks for the Saint Louis Effort for AIDS and Broadway Cares Equity Fights AIDS. . . Miss Aimee B’s Tea Room & Upstairs Market Place is releasing their “Cookbook of Divine Cuisine III” this month. Owners Judy Howell and Sherry Pfaender debut some of their featured recipes at Dierbergs School of Cooking then the cookbooks will hit the shelves at the St. Charles First Capitol Tea Room.

Before heading to China, Mayor Francis Slay had a new and first-time sign nailed to his private conference room, honoring his

Thomas J. Guilfoil Board Room'

mentor, attorney Tom Guilfoil.  Guilfoil, as some recall, has advised White House presidents, local and federal pols and was in the forefront in the city’s civil rights efforts against Jim Crow.  Slay,who has known Guilfoil since his early career, said, “As long as I’m in office, we’ll honor Tom with the ‘Thomas J. Guilfoil Board Room’”. .  .Radio/television personality and author JC Corcoran has re-launched his website, jcontheline.com, and features him from Cardinal spring training in Jupiter, Fla.  He remains under contract by Emmis Broadcasting until next March. . .At the recent FANTASM event held at the Kemp Auto Museum, Chesterfield Day School raised more than $100,000, including $28,000 to purchase SmartBoards and other technology for classrooms.  Mouse Racing was a hit, with two winners – the Lebens family and the Wunderlich family.  Guests thanked Greg and Susan Dierberg for their donations of cheese and crackers in honor of the mice.  Grammy award-winning producer and CDS alum Alonzo Lee doubled his donation of studio time for aspiring singers to record their songs.

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.

Somewhere in her family, Alexis Tucci had to have inherited the genes of Cecil B. DeMille or David O. Selznick.  Only they and Tucci could produce a spectacular such as the Mayor’s Ball in City Hall t’other eve, crafted by Tucci.  Usually the corridors are as empty as an Elaine Viets book signing, but Friday night they were wall-to-wall, costumed party-goers as well as those in formal attire.  Why not? It was the eve of Mardi Gras festivities around town and the guests partied and jammed beyond belief. The aforementioned Dooley and Hizzoner Francis Slay were hugging and recalling how earlier in the day, Dooley pulled off his best joke yet. While Slay and others were at a Hardee’s launching of Heat Up St. Louis, they looked in vain for Dooley, whose presence was expected. Finally, someone caught a side-splitting Dooley at a drive-up window.

Speaking of attending functions, Guv. Jay Nixon was invited to the ball, but was a no-show much to the anger of some power brokers. “He doesn’t even care about St. Louis”, said one of them.  Another Dem chimed in about county exec hopeful Bill Corrigan and pointed out, “He’s been elected to Pulaski Bank’s board.  You know, the bank that has not yet paid back the TARP funds?”

With his wife, Gienne, at  his side,  Parks & Rec. chief Gary Best tipped that a conservancy is being formed to raise money for the Gateway Mall park. Nearby, St. Louis Sheriff Jim Murphy lamented about his nephew, Judge Joe Murphy, another victim of lung cancer. “It’s treatable – he’s now on chemotherapy,” said Murphy. Affable 25th Ward Alderman Shane Cohen enthused over having gotten a grant from the Justice Dept. for his district to cover police and prosecutorial services as well as the neighborhood watch program. Taking it all in were Deb and Cong. Russ Carnahan, who admitted he enjoys listening to Rush Limbaugh whenever possible. Getting admirable stares were the stunning duo of Teresa and broadcaster John Brown, while nearby were Michelle and St. Louis Fire Chief Dennis Jenkerson, who expressed comfort about what he described as a “coming together of all factions in the department, but several forces don’t want that.”  A few toasts were raised to Brian Wahby, chairman of the city Democratic Central committee for having pioneered the Mayor’s Ball way back then.