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NorthSide case throw-down was this morning at Easter District Court of Appeals

​If you're a developer, and you want the Board of Aldermen to subsidize your huge redevelopment, how specific must you be about your plans? 

That was the central question this morning during a hearing in Missouri's Eastern District Court of Appeals downtown. And things got a bit heated.

Developer Paul McKee himself showed up to the proceeding -- the first time in this particular lawsuit. For years, he's been touting his $8.1 billion plan to transform 1,100 acres of North St. Louis, and insists that he'd been specific enough when he convinced the Board of Aldermen several years ago to pledge $390 in public subsidies for his vision.

But a group of Fifth Ward residents who live in the plan's footprint beg to differ, and state circuit judge Robert H. Dierker has agreed with them: State statute, Dierker ruled in July 2010, requires a developer to describe a specific "project."
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​ With the presidential primary campaign circus coming to Missouri both next week (for the election that doesn't count) and next month (for the official caucus), we're likely to soon see a serious spike in the number of polls about us. Which means it's is a good time for some Horse Race talk. Public Policy Polling released a comprehensive one yesterday, surveying respondent on three compelling GOP primary races: presidential, senatorial, and gubernatorial.

Here are some notable findings:

The Gingrich-Santorum Paradox

Newt Gingrich, taking 30 percent of the hypothetical vote, led the presidential primary field, although Rick Santorum, at 28 percent, was within the margin of error. Mitt Romney sat a close third with 24 percent and Ron Paul was at the back of the pack with 11 percent. Interestingly, though, when respondents were asked whom they would vote for if it came down to Gingrich and Romney, the former House Speaker led the former Massachusetts governor by just one point, 43 to 42. But when the choice was between Romney and Santorum, Santorum blew past Romney by 13 points, 50 to 37.

This seems to challenge the conventional wisdom that conservative voters will coalesce around whichever "Romney-Alternative" candidate sticks around longer, Gingrich or Santorum. These numbers suggest that there is slice of Santorum voters who will not necessarily jump to Gingrich in the event Santorum drops out. Of course this make sense, given that many in Satorum's base, the religious right, may be turned off by Gingrich's marital history and/or his tendency in past years to promote big government policies.

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Dr. Travis Stork of "The Doctors."

​The online word game Words With Friends can do anything, it seems. Humble the mighty? Check. Bring two lonely souls together? Yup. Make me get a cell phone? No, not yet. But it is being credited with saving a life -- from across the world.

Beth Legler of Kansas City, Missouri, had been playing the game with Georgie Fletcher of Queensland, Australia, for a few years. During a recent match between the two, Georgie had delayed making her next move for several days. Legler inquired politely about the stalling tactic through the game's built-in chat feature, and Georgie replied that her husband, Simon, had been having some health problems that were keeping her away from the game. Legler, a nurse, inquired about Simon's symptoms, and when Georgie replied, Legler sought advice from her husband, Larry, a doctor.

Dr. Larry's advice to Simon? Get yer Aussie ass to the hospital -- you're on the verge of a heart attack.
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Can't Stan the suspense? Here's what to do.

​Today is the big day. St. Louis Convention and Visitors Commission will offer the St. Louis Rams their proposal to keep the team in town.

At this early stage of negotiations, it's unclear what kind of bells and whistles the CVC is dangling in front of Rams' owner Stan Kroenke, though -- sadly-- today's offer probably won't include our suggestion of CashtroTurf.

So, what to do while awaiting details of the actual proposal? Here are our suggestions:

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​Here's your weekly St. Louis bestseller list for the week ending January 22, as compiled by the St. Louis Independent Booksellers Alliance and based on sales at Left Bank Books, Main Street Books, Pudd'nhead Books, Subterranean Books and Sue's News.

It's election time, which, as you know, means smearing all over the place, including depictions of First Lady Michelle Obama as an Angry Black Bitch. With all due offense to the First Lady's attackers, we'd like to point out that the original Angry Black Bitch actually lives here in St. Louis and is one of our city's finest bloggers.

A new entry onto this week's bestseller list also addresses issues of race and gender, though in a more academic mode: Sister Citizen: Shame, Stereotypes, and Black Women in America by Melissa V. Harris-Perry. Harris-Perry is a professor of political science at Tulane University in New Orleans and a soon-to-be-pundit on MSNBC; she does not, however, appear to paint her face, at least not in public.

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"Leaving the South," by Jack Delano, blackhistorymuseum.org

​The Manhattan Institute, a conservative research foundation, released a large study this week claiming that the nation's all-black "ghettos" are dissolving and that American neighborhoods have never been so racially integrated since 1910.

Using census data, the authors of the report, titled "The End of the Segregated Century," found that only 20 percent of blacks now live in neighborhoods where 80 percent of the population or more is black, compared with nearly 50 percent who lived in similar neighborhoods a half-century ago.

"Ghetto neighborhoods persist, but most are in decline," write the authors, Edward Glaeser of Harvard and Jacob L. Vigdor of Duke. "For every diversifying ghetto neighborhood, many more house a dwindling population of black residents."

But the authors' own tables suggest that St. Louis, as anyone living north of Delmar Boulevard could tell you, hasn't exactly followed this trend.

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swbg-conservationfund.org

Virginia Busch during her days with Busch Gardens and SeaWorld.

​It seems there are two types of folks in the Busch family. The colorful ones whose dalliances, excesses and questionable behavior (Gussie and August IV come to mind) capture headlines. And everyone else.

Virginia Busch falls squarely in the latter category. So obscure is this member of St. Louis' first family that we here at Daily RFT had to Google her name when we heard she'd just been tapped to serve as the executive director of the Endangered Wolf Center in west St. Louis County.

Turns out that "Ginny," as the 32-year-old is also known, is the daughter of former Anheuser-Busch chairman August Busch III and Virginia Lee Wiley (who also goes by "Ginny") and the half-sister of the infamous August Busch IV. She is also exactly what the Endangered Wolf Center was looking for, says Rachel Broom, the organization's director of development.
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Jay Swoboda has good cause for his smile today.

​Today is the day of reckoning for Whats Up magazine. Earlier this month, Whats Up's founder and main main Jay Swoboda appealed to the public for moral and financial support. Without both, Swoboda planned to shut down the social justice publication after a decade as the voice of St. Louis' homeless population.

The magazine's financial goal was to raise $5,000, but generating a renewed human investment of dedicated volunteers to help write and operate Whats Up was much more vital for its long-term success. Late yesterday afternoon, Swoboda contacted us with the final numbers of the fundraiser, and the future looks very bright indeed.
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​There's a unique rhythm to police reports, one that prizes precision and conciseness more than style. Occasionally, you find one that sheds its "just the facts" cadence and blossoms into blank verse beat poetics. Such is the case with the Madison County Sheriff's Office report on the actions of Dustin M. Kraushaar, 20, of Brighton, Illinois.

Kraushaar was using the drive through window at an undisclosed bank in Godfrey, Illinois, (presumably for a deposit) when according to the police report:

"Kraushaar exposed his penis to the teller, with the intent of arousing his sexual desires."

"Intent of arousing his sexual desires" sounds so Victorian, and I love it. Hat's off to you, unknown police report writer. Somehow Kraushaar successfully evaded the police, but eventually turned himself in. He was charged with misdemeanor public indecency, posted bond and released.

There's no indication he achieved release, however.

Dan Zettwoch

​Just prior to press time for our print edition, Unreal emerged from a 36-hour caffeine bender, having determined the results of our 2011 News Challenge. We're pleased to report that we are only slightly the worse for wear, a salutary condition we attribute to our Robert Bristow daybed and carefully timed breaks for our current favorite winter cocktail, the Old Pal (2 parts rye, 1 part each dry vermouth and Campari; stir over ice, strain and garnish with lemon twist). Oh, yeah, the results.

Nine RFT readers who clearly have too much time on their hands scored 93 percent or above. All of them are men, which says something disturbing. About men, we mean, not about Unreal. After much tallying and retallying, the latter of which required a fresh cocktail shaker of Old Pals, we can confidently if a tad slurringly declare a first-place tie between Bob Ell and Chad Martens, both of whom scored a 98. Gentlemen, expect to hear from Unreal just as soon as we reckon it's time to return to a full upright position.

The rest of you can compare your responses to our handy, dandy Scantron of correct answers below.
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