Jim Merkel

Jim Merkel

southsidemerkel@gmail.com Born and raised in the St. Louis area, 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 five books about the Gateway City published by Reedy Press. The latest is Growing Up St. Louis: Looking Back Through the Decades. He and his wife, Lorraine, live in the Bevo Mill neighborhood of south St. Louis with Miss Jenny the Cat. For more about Jim, visit www.jimmerkelthewriter.com.

Coronavirus

Jim MerkelJune 11, 2021
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Restaurants, caterers put the ‘bon appetit’ in food giveaway

ST. LOUIS – Typically, Andrew Murray is busy serving paying customers for his business, Murray’s Catering. But on Friday, he…
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Police Accountability

Jim MerkelJune 7, 2021
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Speakers at budget hearing overwhelmingly favor defunding police

CITY HALL – If the sentiment expressed at a public hearing on the proposed 2021-2022 St. Louis budget matches public…
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Politics

Jim MerkelJune 4, 2021
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Fire chief cites long promotion delays, argues for tests to resume

CITY HALL – Delays that go on for years in getting city firefighters their promotional tests have members of the…
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Crime

Jim MerkelJune 4, 2021
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Corrections budget is $6.7 million short

CITY HALL – A budget shortfall for corrections and the emptying of the city’s Medium Security Institution is a recipe…
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News

Jim MerkelJune 4, 2021
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New resale shop seeks ‘Second Chances’ for wounded strays

BENTON PARK – Shoppers used to doggedly digging for bargains know what to expect at the Second Chances resale shop.…
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Politics

Jim MerkelJune 2, 2021
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Aldermen lash out at red tape that snarls hiring, events, capital improvements

CITY HALL – Wednesday was the day for members of the Board of Aldermen’s budgeting committee to complain about how…
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News

Jim MerkelJune 2, 2021
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Juneteenth commemoration kicks off with plan for walkathon

DOWNTOWN – At the start of the month when the end of slavery was enforced in the United States, Mayor…
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Politics

Jim MerkelMay 28, 2021
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Aldermen don’t want to pay for speed bump studies

CITY HALL – Some city aldermen are griping that the cost of studies of proposed speed bumps are eating into…
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News

Jim MerkelMay 27, 2021
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City has plenty of jobs, but few to fill them

CITY HALL – Don’t be surprised if the grass starts getting long and the pools don’t open. The city Department…
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Health

Jim MerkelMay 24, 2021
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Recreation, vacant lots, addiction are all health issues, aldermen declare

CITY HALL – Three seemingly very different city concerns – supervised recreation programs, improvement of vacant lots and the fight…
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Politics

Jim MerkelMay 21, 2021
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City struggles with revenue shortfall brought by pandemic

CITY HALL – After the fiscal devastation brought by the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic, St. Louis is in a weakened position…
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Politics

Jim MerkelMay 21, 2021
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Aldermen may soon resume in-person meetings

CITY HALL – Meetings of the Board of Aldermen may soon move back from 29 home offices connected by Zoom…
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News

Jim MerkelMay 19, 2021
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Pool management mixed on easing of rules on masks

ST. LOUIS – The rules on masks may be loosening up, but at some area pools, management isn’t ready to…
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Politics

Jim MerkelMay 16, 2021
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Return to Midnight Basketball proposed for city

CITY HALL – Twenty-First Ward Alderman John Collins-Muhammad hopes to cut crime by bringing back a late-night basketball program that…
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Coronavirus

Jim MerkelMay 14, 2021
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Page, Jones announce relaxed COVID-19 guidelines

CITY HALL – The day after the federal government significantly eased mask guidelines, county and city officials announced they were…
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Health

Jim MerkelMay 13, 2021
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New program would provide services, versus jail, for mentally ill

CITY HALL – When a police officer arrests a seriously mentally ill person who’s illegally panhandling, the officer may waste…
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Police Accountability

Jim MerkelMay 12, 2021
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Corrections commissioner quitting as of May 31

CITY HALL – Under pressure from Mayor Tishaura Jones about conditions at the City Justice Center and the Workhouse, City…
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Politics

Jim MerkelMay 10, 2021
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Aldermen to start work on budget

CITY HALL – The Board of Aldermen will begin this week perusing a $1.15 billion spending package for the 2021-2022…
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Business

Jim MerkelMay 7, 2021
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Delmar Loop businesses revive as COVID-19 retreats

UNIVERSITY CITY – The shine is coming back on the Chuck Berry statue, while hungry foodies are starting to fill…
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News

Jim MerkelMay 7, 2021
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Officials push for millions in fixes for city water treatment system

RIVERVIEW – At well over a century old, the city’s drinking water treatment system is still providing the best-tasting water…
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Coronavirus

Jim MerkelMay 3, 2021
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County, city announce eased COVID-19 health rules

CLAYTON – In a significant loosening of COVID-19 health guidelines, St. Louis nd St. Louis County are lifting their capacity…
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Coronavirus

Jim MerkelMay 2, 2021
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South City Hospital holds vaccination event at housing authority

PEABODY DARST WEBBE – All jabbed up, a man who insisted on being known as Antoine Phillips sat in a…
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Business

Jim MerkelApril 30, 2021
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Aldermen clash over two visions of May Day

CITY HALL – Two different resolutions offering different views of the meaning of May Day brought sharp debate at Friday’s…
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Coronavirus

Jim MerkelApril 29, 2021
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Systemic racism tied to Black reluctance to get COVID-19 shots

ST. LOUIS – When Samuel Kennedy was 7, he ran for his life to escape a bloodthirsty white mob in…
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News

Jim MerkelApril 29, 2021
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City board plans to cut $4 million from police for unfilled jobs

CITY HALL – St. Louis officials are looking at saving $4 million by dropping funding for 98 police officer positions…
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News

Jim MerkelApril 24, 2021
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Jones, Bush condemn conditions at city’s jails

NORTH RIVERFRONT – Less than a week after becoming mayor, Tishaura Jones led a congresswoman and other officials Saturday on…
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News

Jim MerkelApril 23, 2021
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Speakers at city budget hearing demand cuts in police budget

CITY HALL – Speaker after speaker at a two-hour teleconference hearing Friday on the proposed city budget favored cutting the…
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Politics

Jim MerkelApril 21, 2021
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Jones outlines plan for spending savings from closing Workhouse

CITY HALL – The easing financial woes brought by the COVID-19 pandemic and what to do with the city’s Medium…
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Politics

Jim MerkelApril 20, 2021
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Jones’ swearing-in focuses on possibilities for change

CITY HALL – Tishaura Jones’ inauguration as the city’s first black woman mayor was more than a swearing-in. It was…
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Politics

Jim MerkelApril 19, 2021
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Season’s final meeting of aldermen leaves some ideas high and dry

CITY HALL – With the end of the 2020-2021 session of the Board of Aldermen, a dozen ideas that didn’t…
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