Posts Tagged ‘Governor Jay Nixon’
COLUMNIST BIDS A FOND FAREWELL TO 2009!
December 31st, 2009 | Author: Jerry Berger
The columnist has made hundreds of New Year’s resolutions over the years – for himself and on behalf of many of you. Some have taken: some have not. For himself, the columnist vows better attention to health; more acceptance of the limits of medicine; greater patience with the pace of healing; and a more heartfelt gratitude to doctors, nurses, billing clerks, insurance companies, and (especially) to well-wishers. He also vows greater attention to correct spelling, accurate timing, complete quoting, standard punctuation, organized note-taking, credible attribution, flattering photography, and graceful corrections. Of course, that is an annual resolution, made with little real intention of doing anything about the habits of a lifetime gossipist. On your behalf, the columnist attributes (with no foundation and with relatively little malice) the following fantasy resolutions:
- From President Barack Obama: I’ll do my Christmas vacation next year with Claire, Joe, and their family in St. Louis, as long as Claire promises not to Tweet about it and Joe pays for the Pi.
- From Governor Jay Nixon: I’ll ask Peter Kinder, who practically lives there, to tell Georganne the best places to eat, shop, and stay in St. Louis.
- From Archbishop Robert Carlson: I’ll make more good news with Catholic Charities than bad.
- From SLU president the Rev. Larry Biondi: I’ll commission a statue of a naked Rick Majerus for Bannister House if the Billikens make the NCAA Tournament.
- From Sen. Kit Bond: I’ll use my final year to find jobs for all my staff.
- From County Executive Charlie Dooley: I’ll ask the nice Greg Boyce for a couple of lumps of clean coal to put into a certain former staffer’s Christmas stocking.
- From Mayor Francis Slay: I’ll give a Key to the City to Lady GaGa.
- From KMOV GM Alan Cohen: I’ll do infomercials 24/7.
- From “Donnybrook” founder Martin Duggan: I’ll start a blog. What’s a blog?
- From Emerson CEO David Farr and celebrated attorney Linda Martinez: We had no idea we were named “man and woman of the year” by the Variety Club until we read it in Berger’s column. We hope he’ll be seated with us at the April 24th dinner.
- From Congressman Lacy Clay: I’ll check “finally single” on my Census form next year.
- From former GOP consultant Rod Jetton: I’ll use the hot air
- From the Robin Carnahan campaign to fill a bouquet of green balloons.
- From Gateway Foundation donor M. Peter Fischer: I think I’ll do another two blocks.
- From Build-A-Bear boss Maxine Clark: I’ll stuff the first marketing person who suggests a children’s video on national health care reform, immigration, or gun control.
- From former Engineered Air’s Mike Shanahan: Since that fancy country club in Naples, Fla., has blackballed me and sent me a check that bounced, I think I’ll remain at Old Warson.
- From the St. Louis Beacon’s Bob Duffy: We now have our own space in the KETC-TV offices and hope we’ll open an Illinois bureau in Pontoon Beach.
- From television reporter Alex Fees: Maybe I can get Donna Wilkinson to follow Steve Schankman on my “Conversations with. . .” in January on HEC-TV – if her stockings aren’t falling.
- From Congressman Russ Carnahan: I’ll use my frequent flier miles to send mouthy Ed Martin on a long trip to country without the Internet.
- From Blues owner Dave Checketts: I’ll play Ed Goltermann in goal for home games.
- From Gerard Craft: I’ll open a Niche on every corner.
- From WashU chancellor Mark Wrighton: I’ll get that Top 10 ranking back.
- From Chief Tim Fitch: I’ll find a new badge for Floyd Warmann.
- From KSDK GM Lynn Beall: I’ll retire or replace any face viewers might conceivably recognize.
- From Rams owner Chip Rosenbloom: I’ll fire the coach if he blows our number one draft choice by actually winning another game.
- From Bob Baer: I’ll ride the last Metro bus to Chesterfield if the County tax campaign fails in April.
- From would-be Rams owner Rush Limbaugh: I’ll buy the Arch Rival Roller Girls instead.
- From north St. Louis developer Paul McKee: I’ll mow all my yards and rake yours too.
- From entrepreneurs Mike and Steve Roberts: We’ll suggest changing the name of St. Louis City to Roberts St. Louis City.
- From Symphony music director David Robertson: I’ll buy KFUO and program it with hip-hop, uh. . .classical music.
- From Cardinals president Bill DeWitt III: I’ll change the name of Ballpark Village to Holliday Haven.
- From the Loop’s Joe Edwards: I’ll open a successful venue on the actual Moon.
- From Lee CEO Mary Junck: I’ll improve morale by signing a good contract with the Newspaper Guild.
- From AmerenUe officials: I’ll use the phrase “a warm holiday glow” in our next filing with the Public Service Commission to soften them up on a nuclear power rate increase.
- From Art Museum honcho Brent Benjamin: I’ll expand.
- From AB Inbev boss Carlos Britto: I’ll find out if Clydesdales go better with a little lime.
- From grocer Greg Dierberg: I’ll open the most popular grocery in a decade and call it. . .Culinaria Too.
- From the Caseyville and Collinsville police: Next time we hope we’ll get it right. (At Teezers Bar in Collinsville, a guy walked in with a silver handgun over the holidays and fired off a few rounds and marched out. Police began looking for a 70 year-old man known to them and after much searching, they decided that the gunman they really needed to look for had the same name but was just 52. Then, the Caseyville police gave their Collinsville counterparts an entirely different suspect’s name. The guy, who allegedly committed the explosive act, was none of the above: he had been hiding out all that time at Jessi’s Hideout in Collinsville.)
- From restaurateur Sam Kacar: I hope to open a third Trattoria Branica in Chesterfield Valley by mid-January and then focus on a fourth in the CWE or Webster Groves.
- From former airport director Dick Hrabko: I’m going to get those slots installed at the Spirit of St. Louis Airport.
- From Wind Capital exec Tom Carnahan: I’ll use the hot air
- From the Roy Blunt campaign to generate electricity.
- From uber-flack Joan Quicksilver: I’ll nominate Jerry Berger as Media Person of the Year.
- From affable CVC’s Kitty Ratcliffe: I resolve I’ll ask for another convention center. (The woman has garnered kudos for signing such major confabs as the Church of God in Christ, that brought 40,000 here and has inked its convention for St. Louis in 2011 and 2012 – away From Memphis.
- From all of this column’s many sources: We’ll not turn a blind eye to any item that might amuse St. Louis in Jerry Berger’s website.
Caveat lector and Happy New Year!
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MOREOVER
December 15th, 2009 | Author: Jerry Berger
Consultant David Barklage took time out to take a shots at Mo. Guv Jay Nixon when he exclaimed, “Nixon’s been a big 0. He’s not defined. He’s not leading.” Barklage is a consultant to state senate leadership and the state GOP. On a happier note, Tony Thompson, chief of Kwami Construction, beamed and boasted, “This has been the best year we’ve ever had. We’re now working with the Metropolitan Sewer District.” With his wife, Dottie, Kuhlman Design Goup’s John Kuhlman wish-listed his firm will land a casino project in New York. Faces in the crowd included: Michelle and Anthony Giordano, an exec with Fred Weber, Inc. Pam and Rush James; Joyce Aboussie; Ellen Sherberg; distinguished barrister Jack Pruelage with Neiman-Marcus staffer Taylor Pollack; the late Fred Weber’s daughter, Karen Weber, with Dawna Currigan and Deneen Moeller; Pat and Jim O’Meara; Kit and Ted Kienstra; Regional Business Council’s prez Michael A. DeCola; Angelo Lancia; Paul Zemitsch and Washington, Mo.’s Bonnie and E.B.Eckelkamp.
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INVITATION IN THEM MAIL?
December 15th, 2009 | Author: Jerry Berger
The media will be locked out of Gov. Jay Nixon’s “Celebrate the Season” fundraiser on Monday (Dec. 21) at the Chase Park Plaza, but the columnist plans to help the curious peek through the windows. Bubbly will be on tap and passed hors d’oeuvres in the Starlight Room at 6 pm for the Really Big Donors. That’s FOJ like Bob Millstone, Michael Staenberg, Drue Duncan, Steve Stone, Tom Green, Jerry Glick, Fred Palmer – and the top tier of state and local elected officials. Then, it’s on to a sit-down dinner in the Starlight Ballroom with the 200 or so donors and elected who fall into the category of All The Rest.. Forget your invite? Call friendly Amy Overington, the Dem Party staffer in charge of last-minute details. (Meanwhile, will it take an Sunshine Law request to find out the names of the 50 St. Louisans invited to dine with Guv and First Lady at the Governor’s Mansion in Jeff City on Friday? If you were there, call the columnist!)
WE DID IT
November 15th, 2009 | Author: Jerry Berger
Employee layoffs in Missouri’s parks system have sent Gov. Jay Nixon looking for alternative ways to keep Missouri green. One idea being considered for the Kansas City region: a dedicated parks district modeled on the highly successful Great Rivers Greenway District approved by St. Louis and St. Charles voters in 2000.
IN MY INBOX
September 18th, 2009 | Author: Jerry Berger
Is it possible, wonder some local regulators, that the Missouri General Assembly and Gov. Jay Nixon have accidentally put the Missouri Highway patrol out of business? The state’s troopers have a mission defined by law that spells out their duties. Chief among them is the enforcement of the state’s traffic laws. But, changes to state law which became effective last month, may have affected that mission by redefining pages of former misdemeanors as “civil infractions,” a far less serious legal status. The hundreds of reclassified offenses also include some odd ones. It is merely an infraction if one is caught in the “malicious attempt to influence decisions of city officials in cities greater than 400,000” – likely, good news for influence peddlers in Kansas City. The columnist strongly commends this item to the legal eagles. Who sponsored and amended HB 62 and HB 683 – and why?
FACES IN THE CROWD
September 14th, 2009 | Author: Jerry Berger
It is unclear if it was breaking news or a missing qualifier, but a promo in the Springfield News-Leader on Sunday listed deputy director Katie Steele Danner as “director” of the state’s Department of Economic Development. If the former, then erstwhile DED director Linda Martinez will have been both dismissed (in a tip to a P-D gossipist) and replaced by news accounts, without any actual word from her boss, Gov. Jay Nixon . Maureen Cherry Weiss has now located her own SeegerPeople in Kirkwood, where she creates and designs innovative and personalized photo sculptures catering to people and pets of all ages. The unique photo-sculptures are sold for cake toppers, life-size fully-mounted sculptures for parties, throws, blankets and purses . Following his career working for four mayors in two cities, hometowner Lars Etzkorn now calls the Beltway home. Etzkorn serves 19,000 cities as he lobbies Congress on behalf of 19,000 cities at the Center for Federal Relations, National League of Cities . Pals say that bankruptcy attorney David Warfield will clock in at Thompson Coburn from his berth at Husch Blackwell. Meanwhile, Warfield is still listed on the Husch website and has not yet appeared on the Thompson Coburn site .
OF OUR 20,000 MEMBERS, 4,000 ARE OUT-OF-WORK, SAID TERRY NELSON, EXECUTIVE SECRETARY-TREASURER OF CARPENTERS DISTRICT COUNCIL OF GREATER ST. LOUIS AND VICINITY.
September 6th, 2009 | Author: Jerry Berger
Gladys Kandel-Reeves at the Delmar Gardens family of 20 facilities
PITCH & CATCH: It doesn’t take a doctor (though there were plenty of them at Busch Stadium on Thursday afternoon) to diagnose the condition of patient Cardinal Nation. The Nation is suffering from acute Cardinal fever. The all-too-obvious symptoms include a preoccupation with a certain Magic Number, a preference for the color red, an aversion to a team from Chicago, and a willingness to skip more usual pastimes (including actual work) to sit in Busch Stadium drinking $8 malted beverages. While examining the patient, this columnist collected plenty of fastballs, a couple of curveballs, and a wicked brushback pitch or two.
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SWEET SUITES: “I’m going to lead a delegation to Cuba on Sept. 20 to try and open up a dialogue about travel opportunities,” said US Representative Jo Anne Emerson, who was in a suite with US Rep. Lacy Clay and some other colleagues. “President Barack Obama will drop a bombshell in a joint session on September 9 on health insurance reform,” said Clay, who brags out that he occasionally hears from the President by telephone. Nearby, fellow Congressman Steve Cohen (TN-9) had a bone to pick with Clay about barbeque. Cohen favored Memphis’s Rendezvous, while Clay (and other locals in the suite) spoke up the ribs for our town’s C&K . . . Nearby was Mike DuBois, a legislative assistant to US Senator Christopher “Kit” Bond, and the new father (with wife, Linda) of 2-month-old Ryan Patrick. DuBois mentioned that, while Bond was recently in Japan, our town’s Roy Pfautch, who spends a lot of time in Japan, arranged a sumptuous feast for Bond and ministers of the Diet. DuBois had this to say about Clay and Bond: they get along very well “despite what you hear.” Sen. Claire McCaskill? Not so much, apparently. “Claire brings nothing to the people,” remarked a bystander (not named DuBois or Clay). “She just tells staff members each morning to get her on television.”. . .David Steward, founder and chairman of World Wide Technologies, said his company is expanding with facilities in China, the Netherlands, Sao Paulo and Singapore. “In 2008, we grossed almost $2.6 billion and are buying $1.5 billion worth of network equipment,” said Steward. “We’re in a tech revolution and thinking about the next level. We’re still hiring.” . Elsewhere, Brenda and Jim Talent were entertaining. “I’m doing public policy stuff and have become a consultant to Fleishman-Hillard,” said the ex-senator.
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WITH THE WORKING STIFFS: Carpenters Union bossman Terry Nelson said, “For $12,000 a week, we are getting groceries to the unemployed in the union.” How many, Terry? ” Of our 20,000 members, 4,000 are out-of-work. But, I’m sure that we’ll pick up after the first quarter of 2010.” As Hemingway’s Jake said in “The Sun Also Rises”, “Isn’t it pretty to think so?”
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IDIOT BOX BOX: In the Fox Midwest Sports box, account exec Tim O’Connor did the honors for a select Steak ‘n Shake crew. Anchoring the group were Brad Manns, head of franchising, and Springfield, Mo., franchisee Gary Leonard, who tipped us that the 420 restaurants in the chain will soon bow a new entry on the menu: a combination called Pico De Gello, a chilled combination of peppers, onions, tomatoes, lime and lemon juice and cilantro served up on either a steak burger or a steak frank.
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David Steward with US Rep. Lacy Clay and Corbin
INVESTORS CORNER: “The Post-Dispach is too episodic,” insisted investments guru Joe Schlafly in the Merrill-Lynch suite. (A charge that a newspaper published daily would find it hard to rebut.) “I invested my own money and got Bill Danforth to contribute seed money for the St. Louis Beacon. We need responsible journalism.” (The St. Louis Beacon is a news/features website staffed primarily by former employees of the episodic P-D.) . . .Between pitches, Ralph Gaia, an IT’er with Centene Corp. raved non-stop about the company’s topper, Mike Neidorff. Why does Gaia love his boss? “I was so impressed that he conducted an ethics meeting, and that he’s arranged a golf tournament for employees at the Bogie Club a week from Friday,” said Gaia . . . Nestle/Ralston Purina makes the best-selling Fancy Feast cat food. That’s the best I could get from the company’s CEO, Patrick McGinnis. “This is my day off and we don’t need any publicity,” he barked when he noticed my notebook . . . Stuart Shelp of the RCGA probably should have listened to McGinnis. “We don’t get along with them (the Regional Business Council) and we got them started.” (Does anybody know RBC exec director Kathleen T. Osborn’s email address?) . . . Brian Rhame, head of institutional advancement, and Mike Loyet, president, of St. John Vianney High School, got my congratulations on the 50th anniversary of their school — and quickly dropped names of some illustrious alums.
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THE GOLDEN YEARS: It’s a great time to be young, in an area that hasn’t quite grown up yet, in a world on the brink of disaster. But, still poised for the future is optimistic visionary Gladys Kandel-Reeves, who has toiled for more than four decades at the Delmar Gardens family of 20 facilities, which stretch from here to Atlanta, and including Omaha, Kansas City and Las Vegas. And now, the glamorous woman is touting the company’s fifth retirement center in O’Fallon, Mo., the Garden Villas of O’Fallon, that opens in November with a bowling alley, no less. . .
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PINHEADS: St. Louis Sheriff’s Deputy Charles Kraft has been accused of threatening a couple with a gun during a dispute about a parking spot at a Shrewsbury bowling alley. His subsequent legal problems in St. Louis County have drawn the support of his friends, including managers in his department and judges. A recent fundraiser to help pay his lawyers was hosted by the St. Louis Sheriff Lt. Ray Harris, and Deputies Charles Russo and Kathy Kraft, sister of Charles. Wonder what the St. Louis County prosecutor thinks about that?
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COMINGS & GOINGS: Cop talk (no, not CopTalk) says that Governor Jay Nixon will dump the decades long tradition of being escorted through St. Louis by a special detail of the Metropolitan St. Louis Police Department. The guv is rumored to be considering using the state patrol to take over the duty. Is this an early indication of how the guv is leaning on the contentious issue of surrendering state control of the city’s police force? . . . One of my all-time favorite news anchors, Deanne Lane, sent a note to set the record straight. “I was not fired. I resigned from KSDK (Channel 5), because I no longer wanted to work at night.” Could she still be working in TV? “Among the offers I’ve had was one from KMOV (Channel 4),” Lane penned from Centene Corp, where she is listed as media contact . . .David Bonetti, sharp-tongued art critic with the Post-Dispatch has written that he “took advantage of advanced age and a benefits package and decided to retire.” He further stated, “Although some of the Cherokee Street clique would like to think that I was fired by an enlightened management that wants reviews of inept artists showing their woeful attempts at self expression in vanity galleries, that is not the case”. . . Z. Dwight Billingsley, whose most recent column for the Post-Dispatch compared President Obama’s national healthcare prescriptions to bad public education policies, has penned his last column for the newspaper. (Will Z. Dwight now follow familiar migration patterns and end up in the St. Louis Beacon?). . .Speaker of the U.S. House Nancy Pelosi will be special guest on Oct. 3 at the Chase-Park Plaza for the fifth annual gala with Rep. Russ Carnahan. For more info or to RSVP call 314-534-2004. Former Post-Dispatch editor Ellen Soeteber still has her CWE condo and regularly visits her mom, Norma Soeteber, in Shiloh, Ill., as well as other family and friends. But, she and her husband, Dick Martins, are enjoying being back in South Florida, where multiple cultures and lifestyles are the happy norm. When not in our town, she misses her family, her friends, and former colleagues at the Post-Dispatch and the Missouri Biotanical Garden. Christine Bertelson has ankled the Post-Dispatch for what she hopes will be a brighter future with Guv. Nixon’s office, beginning Tuesday. A media maven mentioned to her how nice Nixon’s state fair speech was on Aug. 13, while still in the paper’s employ. She is rumored to have replied, “I wrote it” The maven also suggested, that her dealing with Nixon while in the employ of the P-D, got other staffers’ noses out-of-joint. Bertelson served a number of posts at the paper, including editorial page editor, colyumnist and features editor…
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HELLO?: The announcement that the local telco will no longer have to deliver its White Pages directory to customers will deprive some of us a favorite pastime: playing the Name Game. One favorite: the St. Louis directory contains a Hitler (and a bunch of Hittlers), a Tojo, two Roosevelts, nine Trumans and 12 Churchills. (There are also eight Schmucks and eleven Dierbergs – but, that’s not a food fight, not a World War.)
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BURY MY HEART: David Simon, family service guy at Kriegshauser Mortuary West, is tub-thumping the firm’s pre-arranged funeral services.
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