CITY HALL – Starting Monday night, you won’t be able to get a haircut, get your nails done, work out at a fitness center or do a wide variety of…
Author: Jim Merkel
southsidemerkel@gmail.com
Born and raised in St. Louis, Jim Merkel covered communities throughout the area from 1991 to 2013 for the old Suburban Journals of Greater St. Louis. He is the author of four books about the Gateway City published by Reedy Press. He and his wife, Lorraine, live in the Bevo Mill neighborhood of south St. Louis. For more about Jim, visit www.jimmerkelthewriter.com.
Order halts numerous court actions here
ST. LOUIS – An order issued Friday bans court officials from a number of actions – including serving subpoenas on criminal actions, serving process on civil matters, extraditing people and…
Coronavirus makes public meetings difficult to hold
CITY HALL – Guidelines to keep people safe during the COVID-19 coronavirus crisis may clash with state law to make it hard for the Board of Aldermen to get anything…
Reed seeks more federal money to fight coronavirus
CITY HALL – St. Louis Board of Aldermen President Lewis Reed wants Congress to provide more money for local governments’ efforts to deal with the coronavirus. “Emergency funding is only…
33 schools open for free breakfasts, lunches
ST. LOUIS – As schools stay closed during the COVID-19 coronavirus crisis, 33 schools will be open in the city to provide free “grab and go” breakfasts and lunches. The…
Mandated closings bring major changes for restaurants, bars
Late Tuesday afternoon, Nadine Soaib was hoping to sell about 100 pounds of corned beef she’d started serving late last week for St. Patrick’s Day at her Nadine’s bar and…
Board of Aldermen announces coronavirus plans
CITY HALL – During the coronavirus pandemic, the St. Louis Board of Aldermen is suspending all meetings and committee hearings effective immediately, Board President Lewis Reed has announced. “We are…
Second presumptive case of coronavirus discovered in city
ST. LOUIS – There is a second presumptive positive case of COVID-19 in St. Louis, Mayor Lyda Krewson said in a tweet on Wednesday morning. “With this case, there’s reason…
City Hall visitors must have temperatures taken
CITY HALL – Visitors to St. Louis City Hall are used to handing over their wallets, phones and keys before they pass through a metal detector. With the coronavirus, they…
SLU student is city's first coronavirus case
CITY HALL – The first person in the city with coronavirus is being quarantined at home. Nobody else is at risk, Mayor Lyda Krewson and City Health Director Dr. Fredrick…
Health commissioner credited with saving lives in 1918 pandemic
ST. LOUIS – The tears were many in St. Louis in 1918 and 1919. The worldwide influenza pandemic that year killed 1,703 people and infected 31,500 in the city, out…
Mesothelioma victim's plea leads aldermen to pass asbestos control law
CITY HALL – Protected by only a paper painter’s mask, Teresa Page enthusiastically went to work tearing down walls and floors at a St. Louis work site, not knowing that…