Posts Tagged ‘Roy Blunt’

On television, Roy Blunt‘s newest ad blared, “My opponent is killing jobs!”, Bill Corrigan‘s pitch claimed,  ”. . .will stop the merger” and Tony La Russa, whose hair gets darker and darker, admirably plugged the Animal Rescue Foundation.  Suffering from San Andreas of the mind, the columnist was then poised for collecting items. The timing was exquisite.  Within one strip of south Lindbergh Boulevard, pickets from IBEW Local #1 held a sign in front of Chaminade College Prep, that read, “Shame on Chaminade,” in protest of the school’s hiring the non-union Birkel Electric for work on a new addition.  Pamphlets distributed implored parents to “ask for a 25 percent tuition discount ” to demand the same requirements as a result of paying less than area standards to the company.  Farther south, the free standing structure, that once housed Coco’s, has been under restoration for about a year to make room for Mike Fiala‘s newest Talayna’s pizzeria.  At Diane Breckenridge Barrett‘s interior design boutique, senior stylist Melissa Buckley was in the throes of pampering two luxury structures in China: one in Beijing; the other in Tang Shen, both designed by our town’s Lawrence Group.  Libby Storts, Diane’s daughter-in-law,  was selecting fabrics for the houses of Judy and Dennis Jones and Don and Suzanne Danforth.  (Libby’s hub is Brick Storts, IV, who is partnered in CIS Communications, owner of five cell towers.)  George Tompras and family’s Kreis Restaurant was being prepped for another night of frivolity, where the unique, hence, irreplaceable Jeanie and Dr. Don Bassman had been spotted holding hands over dinner. Over at Schneithorst’s the charming Patty Battram, widow of May Co.’s senior vice chairman Dick Battram,  entertained her sons, Jeffrey and Rick of Bella Homes, who had just completed remodeling her penthouse at the Crescent. At another table,  80 year-old tiger and Lashly Baer barrister Brainerd Latourette said he’s still doing part time volunteer duty at St. Luke’s. And, a few blocks away, Martha and Al Small were hailing the success of their grandson Zach Hyatt‘s cinching the sale of his and biz partner Jonny Umansky‘s pilot script, “Young Turks,” to NBC.  Zach is the son of Deborah and Mark Hyatt, and is a grad of Parkway Central High and Syracuse U.

Bryan Cave lawyer Tom Schweich, who probably knows a lot more about Afghanistan than Affton or Gallatin, was supposed to be a U.S. senator.  But, he bowed to the pressure (and promises) of his fellow Republicans and left this year’s field largely open for U.S. Rep. Roy Blunt, avoiding a clash of pedigrees in the season’s marquee race.  Schweich’s willingness to postpone his ambitions to be in Washington, D.C., until he can face off with U.S. Sen. Claire McCaskill in 2012, earned him a war chest of big Republican donations for an uphill campaign to unseat incumbent Auditor Susan Montee.  Anchored by local GOP super-donor Sam Fox, Schweich has been racking up donations in Ladue-size chunks of $10,000 and $20,000 in recent days.  Though, a note to Schweich’s treasurer: Generous repeat donor Roy Pfautch does not work for “Civic Progress” as the campaign has reported several times.  Pfautch works for Civic Service,  Inc.  Even these days, there is a difference.  BTW Roy Pfautch is an ordained minister and knows how to separate church from state.  And. the guy has an art for living.

Mayor Rudy Giuliani, Willis Colbertt and Congressman Roy Blunt

Rush James, Victory 2010 regional field director, had about 75 eager volunteers buzzing hundreds of likely voters’ telephones on behalf of friends to elect Cong. Roy Blunt to the U.S. Senate.  Blunt, who still has a wide-margin over Robin Carnahan in the polls, surprised volunteers with a drop-by of his pal, New York’s former mayor Rudy Guiliani.  Giuliani revved up the troops and took some calls, while chatting with state campaign chair Ann Wagner, a former U.S. ambassador, who later tossed a private bash for Blunt at Hunter’s Farm.  Sandy Cathcart of north St. Louis county, was praised for having made 22,000 calls in a month’s time.  “She’s the world’s champion of phone bankers,” quipped Blunt.  Blunt referred to Guiliani as “America’s mayor during the horrific 911 tragedy” and then introduced Guiliani to Willis Corbett, the newly-installed sports

Rudy Giuliani, Sandy Cathcart and Congressman Roy Blunt

coalition director, who has known Blunt for 30 years. Corbett teaches fire safety and hunting via his Missouri Youth Sports Shooting group, which he founded.  Reportedly, he’s the first African-American vendor to Anheuser-Busch and a Winchester rep.  He bellied up $40,000 later that night.  Blunt took time out to remind followers, that he is not building a million-dollar house and no house at all in the Beltway area, despite misleading commercials by his opponent.

Big spending campaigns are quadrennial bonanzas for dozens of local vendors – restaurants, landlords, office supply companies, graphic artists, hotels and printers – that cater to politicians and their staffs. And no campaigns in recent memory are likely to match the combined expenditures of U.S. Senate candidates Roy Blunt and Robin Carnahan. Yet, some local union printers and mail houses may be disappointed to notice that a mass mailing from the Carnahan campaign is post-marked and printed (yes, by a union printer) in. . .Milwaukee.

The Urban League’s Jim Buford is one of 17 state and local elected officials, political activists and leading religious/community leaders heading for Israel to explore critical foreign policy and national security issues affecting both Israel and the U.S. Wrote Buford: “I’m looking forward to visiting Israel to meet with both Jewish and Palestinian leaders.  We will cover the entire  country in seven days and gather information in order to obtain a more comprehensive understanding of the present issues facing the areas.”  The tour is sponsored by the American Israel Education Foundation. Others from our town on the wing:  William Young; the Rev. E.G. Shields; the Rev. Emery Washington and the Rev. Earl Nance. . .Your eyes weren’t deceiving you if you caught a glimpse of Kim Slay, St. Louis’ First Lady, toiling at First Bank in Creve Coeur. She has become admin. asst. to regional prez Joe Ambrose.  Cornered there, she chuckled and said, “When we married, I thought we’d become millionaires”. . . It’s a short road from Mayor Slay’s office to the Oval Office in DC for US Marine Corps and Iraq War vet Tim Embree, who now works for a veterans service group. The former staffer in Slay”s office was among those eyeing President Obama sign the Caregivers & Veterans Omnibus Health Services Act into law. Embree is married to to Kristin Hinman, a former RFT scribe. . .It’s not just the news – EVERYTHING’S going online.  The latest: yoga.  Karen Jones has sold her popular seven year-old Marbles Yoga Studio in Lafayette Park and is now going world wide, offering classes via her new yoga video production company which features online streaming video/on demand yoga classes, “suitable for all levels and abilities.”  For more info, go to http//www.vesperyoga.com/. . .U.S.Rep. Roy Blunt, 7th Dist. will head to the Marilyn and Sam Fox manse on May 23 to raise funds for his run for Sen. Kit Bond’s seat. . .Mike Risk of  9th  Street  Deli, fame has acquired with his partners The Mack on Oakland Avenue. . .Viviano & Son on The Hill is now vending its own line of xtra virgin olive oil imported from Palermo.

Ann Wagner

She came a long way from Ballwin, Mo., to become U.S. Ambassador to the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg and previously co-chair of the Republican National Committee for four years.  That’s Ann Wagner, who dined Tuesday night on a bone-in veal chop at Il Bel Lago with members of her family. The Cor Jesu Academy grad – once a  state director for the re-election of President George H.W. Bush and Veep Dan Quayle – confided she might run for U.S. senator or governor of Missouri in 2012.  “It depends on what (Lt. Guv.) Peter Kinder will do,” she said.  “We need more balance in power.”  As for the health care reform bill, she said it’s too expensive for the U.S.  “In socialized Europe, I have seen what happens when a government is pervasive in business, politics and education,” Wagner continued.  “They don’t have ownership of their full freedom.”  As for same-sex marriage, Wagner opined, “I’m a proponent of rights to any human being. But for now, our number one priority is supporting Roy Blunt‘s race for the U.S. Senate.”  Does she miss Luxembourg?  “Not at all,” she concluded. Wagner raised a toast to her mom, Ruth Truesdale, on her 70th birthday. Dad Earl and Ann‘s daughter, Mary Ruth Wagner, also joined in the celebration. Ann’s hub, Ray Wagner, a veep with Enterprise Rent-A-Car, was unable to attend.

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!

For a mere $100,400 a couple, you and your spouse/partner could have rubbed shoulders with former U.S. House Speaker Newt Gingrich, who was tubthumping for his former Republican colleague U.S. Rep. Roy Blunt’s run for the U.S. Senate in 2010. The event was quietly held last week at Kimmy and Steve Brauer‘s Hunter Farms manse, included a private reception. And, then for a pithy $10,000 a couple, you could have attended a photo reception in the estate’s horse stables (phew!). Blunt’s rivals are Rep. Chuck Purgason, a Republican Blunt seems determined to ignore; and Secretary of State Robin Carnahan, a Democrat Blunt seems to determine to engage. (For her part, the savvy Carnahan seems happy to ignore both of them.) . . . St. Louis County’s 5th Floor is poised to celebrate the return of staffer Tom Curran, as County Executive Charlie Dooley‘s director of intergovernmental relations. Curran will fill the slot vacated by Darin Cline, now a consultant to Dooley’s reelection committee. Curran, who once toiled for Buzz Westfall and the county Planning Department, currently works at Piper Jaffray, an investment firm . . . Pollsters were ringing phones in St. Louis County last week, asking a very long list of questions about Metro and an local public transportation (sample question: If voters approved a sales tax increase should it be spent on expanding MetroLink or on improving bus service?) . . . St. Louis City License Collector Michael McMillan will be back at City Hall next week after a month or so fellowship abroad. Rarely has a homecoming been so anticipated by all floors of City Hall.