Posts Tagged ‘Joe Kunkel’

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.