Jim Merkel
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Coronavirus
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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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Business
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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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