St. Louis News Blog

​Imagine that you start receiving online propositions and text messages from the woman pictured to the left.

She really wants you. In fact she sexts you all kinds of nasty things she plans to do to you. Example: "...all i can think about is givn you (head) and (fuckin) ur brains out."

She tells you she wants to stop by your house, but first she's going to swing by Victoria's Secret for some lingerie and the drug store for some condoms and birth control pills (just to be on the safe side).

​Now imagine that she knocks on your door. Instead of appearing like the innocent in the portrait-shop photo above, the woman actually look like this. Now imagine a squad of police officers running toward your doorstep because you're a 14-year-old boy and your suitor is a 39-year-old mother.

Yes, if you can imagine all these scenarios then you'll have no problem imagining why Daily RFT voters elected Christie Bradley as Ass Clown of the Week.

Bradley captured a commanding 42 percent of all votes cast in the poll (viewable here.) Other contenders receiving votes included...

​Ladies and gentlemen, it's that time of the week again. Vote for the local headline maker you think made the biggest ass of themselves this week.

And the nominees...

1. Mizzou Officials: Administrators at University of Missouri helped make headlines this week when they sold old cell phones belonging to football coach Gary Pinkel and basketball coach Mike Anderson without erasing the contacts and text messages in the devices. The university later became upset when the man who purchased the phones refused to give them back and sold them on eBay for $3,000 (or 15 times what he initially paid for them.)

2. Mike Huckabee: The former Arkansas governor and one of last year's Republican presidential candidate was in St. Louis last weekend for a conference titled "How to Take Back America." In a speech there, Huckabee stirred the conservative crowd by suggesting that the U.N. be "jackhammered" from New York. "It has become the international equivalent of ACORN and it's time to say enough!"

3. Christie Bradley: Oh, my my. Bradley is the 39-year-old mother from Waterloo, Illinois, who police busted this week when she showed up at the home of a 14-year-old boy with lingerie and condoms. In text messages this month, Bradley had told the boy of her fantasies such as ... "all I can think about is givn u ---- and ---- ur brains out!!"

4. Jimmy Winkelmann: Perhaps you love Jimmy. Perhaps you loathe him. But we have to nominate him just because the kid's stock in trade is "ass" or rather "butt." Winkelmann is the 18-year-old entrepreneur from St. Louis whose "South Butt" clothing line has rankled lawyers at outdoor apparel giant North Face.

5. Phyllis Young: The St. Louis Alderwoman (Ward 7) who continues to oppose next weekend's Octoberfest in Soulard despite what seems to be near universal neighborhood support for the party.

Continue on to cast your vote and come back Monday to meet the winner.

Roy Blunt

​The results are in, and by a convincing margin Rep. Roy Blunt (R-Missouri) has earned the title Ass Clown of the Week. 

​There were just so many Ass Clowns this week.

You know the rules: Vote for the local yokel you think made the biggest ass of themselves in the news this week. And the nominees...

1. Donald Aten: The 42-year-old man from outside Belleville who police say was highly intoxicated when he broke into a garage last Saturday and stole a chainsaw. The police arrested Aten as he attempted to hitchhike down the road carrying the chainsaw.

2. Congressman Roy Blunt: The Republican from Missouri made news this week when he gave a speech to the Christian right organization Family Research Council in which he implied that Republicans were like colonial golfers and Democrats like monkeys.

3. State Rep. T.D. El-Amin: The Democrat from St. Louis resigned this week when he admitted soliciting and accepting a bribe from a gas station owner.

4. James Looney: The Imperial, Missouri, man who blew his brains out last Friday while attempting to teach his girlfriend a lesson in gun safety. Looney would show his girlfriend how the safety worked on his guns and then hold the weapons up to his head and ask her if the gun would go off. This teaching method worked well -- until it didn't.

5. Leon Pullen: The cop from the north county suburb of Uplands Park who the FBI charged this week with forcing a woman (referred to as "D.S.") to allow him to perform oral sex on her. Or as the FBI more accurately stated, Pullen "engaged in contact between his mouth and D.S.'s vulva, by using force against D.S."

6. Orlando Hadley: The St. Louis County man who allegedly infected his girlfriend (and possibly other women) with HIV by not telling her he carried the disease.

Vote after the jump!
 

Perhaps it was a foregone conclusion considering all the media attention this story received last week. 

Earning the second-most Ass Clown votes last week (23 percent) was Janeika Harris, an East St. Louis mother who made up a story about her son being abducted from his school.

​It's that time of the week again. Time to elect your favorite Ass Clown of the past seven days.

You know the rules: Vote for the local headline maker you feel made the biggest ass of themselves this week.

And the nominees...

1. Joseph Jupiter: The 20-year-old man from California who allegedly traveled to the St. Louis area this week to meet a juvenile teen. As the KMOX headline so eloquently put it: "Police: Man traveled from San Diego to have sex with 14-year-old MO girl." Which prompts the question: How far would you travel...? Oh, never mind.

2. Richie Incognito: The Rams guard continues to plague the team with stupid penalties. On last Sunday's opening day game, Incognito racked up two personal fouls that stymied Rams drives. The penalties come after a 2008 season in which Incognito taunted Rams fans and earned multiple fines and fouls for unsportsmanlike conduct.

3. Janeika Harris: The East St. Louis mother who made up a story about her son being abducted from his school possibly so she could sue the district and/or embarrass school administrators. Or maybe she just did it because she's an ignorant hayseed. As Harris told KSDK Channel 5 this week: "I really don't know why I did it. But I done it to teach those teachers."

4. Belleville Bullies: Two Belleville students -- yet to be publically identified -- made national news this week when the city police released a video showing the two teens, ages 14 and 15, savagely beating a fellow student aboard a school bus.

Continue on to cast your vote!

We here at Daily RFT apologize for this delayed version of Ass Clown of the Week this week, what with Kanye West's late arrival into the mix and regular news blogger Chad Garrison away from the computer screen for the next few days. So who was the rudest among these three Ass Clowns?

Joe "YOU LIE!" Wilson

​Last week South Carolina Congressman Joe Wilson shouted "You lie!" at President Obama during his speech to both houses of Congress about health care. There was one good outcome, at least for Rob Miller, who has raised more than $900,000 in his bid for Wilson's seat in 2010. Before Wilson's outburst last week, Miller had about $3,000. Then again, that sort of thing used to happen all the time in D.C. For those who thought we had progressed beyond breaches of decorum, uhh nope.

Skip Ohlsen

​The people (or person) have spoken and Milton "Skip" Ohlsen has won Daily RFT's Ass Clown of the Week.

Ohlsen took an unprecedented 97 percent of the vote -- which may have been compromised by the action of one or two voters who cast thousands of ballots in favor of Ohlsen.

Ohlsen's challengers -- former state senator Jeff  Smith, Hummer and guns dealer Jim Lynch and alleged crack-dealer/middle-school coach Todd Lockhard -- captured just 1 percent of the vote.

For those on vacation (or not paying attention) for the last two weeks, Ohlsen is the man whose covert political actions brought down Smith and former state Rep. Steve Brown last week. Ohlsen also may have played a role in a Clayton bombing last year.

​The Ass Clowns seem to be crawling out of the woodwork this week, especially following Jeff Smith's guilty plea and resignation. Outside the political arena, there were also a few worthy candidates.

So you know the rules: Vote for the following headline-maker whose actions or deeds this week you believe to be the most detestable and/or ludicrous. And the nominees...

1. Todd Lockhart: The poor parents who send their children to the Alton public schools. Earlier this month it was revealed that a high-school band teacher was having sex with a student (the third Alton band leader to face such charges in the past two years). Then this week, police charged Lockhart, a middle-school football and track coach, with dealing crack cocaine. Lockhart, according to police, was in possession of 70 grams of crack, a digital scale and sandwich baggies.

2. Jeff Smith: We're not sure which nugget we liked most from the the criminal case against the former state senator who resigned this week after pleading guilty to two counts of obstructing justice. Was it how Smith encouraged his co-conspirators to blame a dead friend for wrongdoing? How he told a colleague to buy throw-away phones at Wal-Mart so they could corroborate their lies? Or how a smart, rising star could ever get involved with the following Ass Clown...

3. Milton "Skip" Ohlsen: Where to begin with this guy? Ohlsen is the man whose Midas touch is stuck in reverse. Everything he gets involved with (Exhibit A and B) turns to horse manure -- including the congressional campaign of Jeff Smith. Ohlsen is the man whose postcards attacking Russ Carnahan brought down Smith and State Rep. Steve Brown. Ohlsen also kept a "shit list" of enemies on a posterboard in his apartment -- with one of those enemies believed to have been the target of a mysterious, unsolved bombing last year in Clayton.

4. Jim Lynch: Lynch is the Chesterfield auto-dealer (and freedom patriot!) who provides one-stop-shopping for our God-given rights as Americans to drive the biggest, most-polluting vehicles on Earth and lawfully own semi-automatic assault rifles.

Continue on to cast your vote!

Kenneth Gladney

​Shhh! Don't tell Kenneth Gladney's attorney -- David Brown -- the news. He and his client are likely to get so angry they might hold a protest right outside the doors of the Riverfront Times.

But, hey, it's not our fault. Like our favorite television network, all we do is report the news. You decide!

And by an overwhelming margin, you the readers of Daily RFT have decided that Kenneth Gladney, hero of the St. Louis Tea Party, is this week's Ass Clown.

​So many Ass Clowns this week. So little time.

You know how to play: Vote for the local newsmaker you think made the biggest idiot of themselves this week. And the nominees...

1. Kenneth Gladney: Gladney is the man whose attorney David Brown says was selling flags at a health care forum last month when he was beat up by union members. (View a video of Gladney's purported beating here.) After walking away from the scuffle, Gladney showed up two days later in a wheelchair at a Tea Party protest where the Post-Dispatch reported that Gladney had no health insurance and accepted donations from the crowd to pay his medical bills. (Brown says Gladney actually has health insurance through his wife and states that the P-D printed a correction to this effect -- though none could be  easily found online or through a Nexis database search.) Anyway, Gladney again made news this week when he attended a press conference outside the local NAACP office in which a group of black conservatives demanded to know why the agency hasn't launched a racism investigation into the union members (one of whom, like Gladney, happens to be African-American!) who Gladney says beat him up. The press conference ended with a thud, however, when the NAACP said it would review the matter and then chided Gladney and his cohorts for holding a press conference instead of first asking the agency to investigate the incident.*

2. Newlyweds on Acid: A Crestwood couple married last Saturday made headlines this week when they took LSD and then went for a walk in a Fenton park. Their honeymoon hike turned into a bad trip when the new bride began to have seizures from the drug. She was airlifted to a hospital while her new husband was taken to police headquarters and booked for drug possession.

3. Elizabeth Thrasher: The St. Peters woman this week became the first person in Missouri charged under a new felony cyber harrassment law. If you can follow this hillbilly family tree, Thrasher was angry with the daughter of her ex-husband's girlfriend. So, what does she do? Thrasher makes an erotic advertisement for the 17-year-old girl -- without the teen's knowledge -- and posts its on Craigslist. The teenager then gets messages and pornographic photos emailed and texted to her from men responding to the ad.

4. Darius Chappille a.k.a. "Naked Guy on Flight 947": Police yesterday charged Chappille of Oakland, California, with exposing himself to a female passenger on a Southwest flight bound for St. Louis. In addition to whipping it out, Chappille also punched the female passenger in the face and took off all his clothes. He was eventually subdued by other passengers and the plane forced to return to Oakland before once more taking off for St. Louis.

Phew, there you have it! Vote after the jump!

kmov.com

Matarazzi (left) and McClure

​The votes are in, and by the narrowest of margins Daily RFT readers have elected Bridget Matarzzi and Laura McClure as their Ass Clown(s) of the Week.

The drunken duo captured 41 percent of last week's vote for beating up a disabled usher at Busch Stadium.

Second place -- with 38 percent of the vote -- went to Brandon Whitby.

​Drugs and alcohol make people do stupid, shameful things. Question is, which of these Ass Clowns pulled the dumbest stunt this week?

1. Melanie Velasco: The Jefferson County mother made headlines back in May when authorities found a sandwich bag full of meth in some children's clothes she donated to a thrift store. Police then went to her Velasco's home where they uncovered a major meth-making operation in the house she shared with her husband and three children. Velasco was out on bail last month when police discovered she was brewing meth -- again -- in her home.

2. Bridget Matarazzi and Laura McClure: These fiesty friends -- both 25 -- were charged with assault this week for attacking a disabled usher at Busch Stadium. The usher who uses a wheelchair, approached Matarazzi about being intoxicated. Matarazzi, a social studies teacher who has since resigned from her job, allegedly tried to push the usher from his chair. That's when McClure -- a social worker for a children's home -- arrived to her friend's aid and allegedly began hitting another stadium usher.

3. Dennis Cretton: The man from just outside Belleville who police arrested last week for drunk driving. Cretton, who lost his license from an earlier DUI conviction, was intoxicated behind the wheel of his Cub Cadet lawn tractor when apprehended. He was driving home from a convenience store with lottery tickets and a 12-pack of Milwuakee's Best Ice.

4. Brandon Whitby: The 20-year-old accused of beating to death his girlfriend's two-year-old toddler, Malik Duff. Police allege that Whitby also physically abused Duff's nine-month-old brother. Police accuse Whitby of storing heroin and a gun within reach of the children. The drugs were stuffed under a matress. The hand gun was hidden inside a toy car. In fairness, perhaps we should also nominate Whitby's girlfriend as well. Are we honestly to believe she didn't know about the drugs and gun?

5. Dan McLaughlin: The member of the St. Charles County Ambulance Board who refused to resign his post after pleading guilty this week to drunk-driving -- his third such charge in ten years.

Cast your vote after the jump!

Dale Phillips

​You remember Dale Phillips, don't you?

He's the Joplin, Missouri, man accused last week of playing a drinking game with his 11-year-old nephew, Tyler Fecko.

Uncle Dale won the game after Tyler died from alcohol poisoning.

By an overwhelming margin, Daily RFT readers have nominated Phillips as their Ass Clown of the Week. He took a whopping 53 percent of the vote.

The rest of the results after the jump.

​Friday. You know what that means. Time to take a long, hard look at the people whose dubious achievements captured headlines in -- and near -- our fair city of St. Louis over the past seven days.

And the nominees are...

1. Dale Phillips -- The 27-year-old from Joplin, Missouri, accused of challenging his 11-year-old nephew to a drinking game. Uncle Dale won when the nephew died, allegedly from alcohol poisoning.

2. Fake Laclede Gas Man -- Police say this unknown villain has been posing as gas worker to gain access to the homes of elderly residents in St. Louis. Once inside the bandit forcibly demands money after completing no gas-line repair work.  

3. Harold Warren Sr. and Harold Warren Jr. -- The father-and-son morticians from central Missouri who gave up their funeral director and embalmers licenses this week amid allegations that they charged families for bogus cremations, allowed bodies to rot before disposing of them, and falsified death certificates to indicate cremation had taken place when it had not.

4. Phillies Fans -- Perhaps a cheap shot but, whoa, are they unapologetic when it comes to dirty tricks like shining laser pointers into the eyes of Cardinals batters.

There you have it -- short and sweet this week. Now perform your civic duty. Vote, dammit!
 

​The votes are in, and by an overwhelming margin Daily RFT readers picked Thomas Byrd (a.k.a. "Batman") as their Ass Clown of the Week.

Who is Byrd and why is he known as "Batman"? I'll let your read the story here. Suffice to say, the Granite City man is no crime-fightin' superhero.

Byrd captured 48 percent of the vote. Second place, with 23 percent of the vote, went to Cindy Feltner, the woman arrested for driving a redneck limousine.

Click here to see all the candidates and view their results. 

Thanks everyone for voting. Back at you Friday with a new slate of contenders.

 It's been a couple weeks since our last Ass Clown competition and this week's field of contenders is starting to look like an Afghani presidential election. There are just so many candidates.

So, here they are in no certain order. Vote for the local person you think made the biggest ass of themselves this week in the news. Back at you Monday with the results.

1. Mark Muller -- The auto dealer who's giving away an AK-47 assault rifle to all customers who purchase a truck from his western Missouri used-car lot.

2. Thomas "it's a" Byrd "No it's Batman" -- Thomas Byrd of Granite City was sentenced this week to 24 years in prison for kidnapping his estranged wife and biting out a chunk of her face. When questioned by the police, Byrd told authorities he was "Batman."

3. Charles Papenfus -- The Ohio man recently indicted on felony terrorism charges when he told a telemarketer in St. Louis that he would "burn down the building and kill the employees and their families" if the agency ever called him again. (On second thought, perhaps this man is to be commended?)

4. Cindy Feltner -- The Lebanon, Missouri, resident charged with felony child endangerment when police pulled over her "redneck limousine." Inside Feltner's overcrowded sedan police found three kids stuffed in the trunk. Police noted that the weather that day could have easily suffocated the children.

5. Michael Impey -- The St. Louis doctor on trial this week for putting a hole in a person's colon during surgery. Impey argued that his addiction to painkillers had nothing to do with the botched operation. We're not sure what excuse he used back in 2003 when he fell asleep while performing a colonoscopy.

Cast your vote after the jump! 

northeastfiredistrict.org

Washington: Ass Clown, Fire Man, both?

The people have spoken and in a convincing manner they've elected Joe Washington, president of the Northeast Ambulance and Fire Protection District as Ass Clown of the Week.

Washington won a commanding 51 percent of all votes cast (results here), beating such contemptible contenders as alleged murderers and an accused dog-fighting promoter.

What led to Washington's crushing victory? Well, it could be the lawsuits the Missouri attorney general and auditor filed against his fire district this month for allegedly violating state Sunshine Law and refusing to hand over financial date. Or it could be the way Washington and fellow board member, Robert Edwards, drummed up a charge to oust the lone dissenting district official last week. Or maybe it's the way Washington has allowed attorney Elbert Walton Jr. to milk the district for $227,000 in legal fees last year. Who really knows.

But this you cannot hold against Washington. The man sure knows how to make a slick website, with its flash photos, trance music and VH1-worthy videos like this one...

You know the rules. Vote below for the local yokel you feel is the biggest ass of the week.

And the nominees...

1. Michael "Missouri Mike" Morgan -- Morgan of Hannibal, Mo., was one of five Missouri men charged Wednesday in a multi-state crackdown on dog fighting. Morgan earns his Ass Clown of the Week nomination based not only on the indictment that alleges he oversaw the bloody death of multiple canines but also the colorful name he used for his dog-fighting operation, calling it Cannibal Kennel. (Other Missouri breeders not nominated for ACW honors, but worthy of mention, include the owners of Shake Rattle and Roll Kennel, Ozark Hillbillys Kennel and Hard Goodbye Kennel.)

2. Aaron LaRose -- The St. Charles man accused this week of stabbing and strangling to death his wife, Jill LaRose, who was trying to divorce her husband. Prior to the discovery of his wife's body last month, LaRose had left her a voice mail message reminding her that their marriage vows stated "till death do us part." Jil LaRose's family says LaRose didn't want a divorce because it was against his Christian beliefs.

3. Markel L. Davis -- The St. Louis teenager charged this week with leading police on a multi-municipality chase in a stolen vehicle. The pursuit ended when Davis drove through an intersection in north St. Louis and slammed into a car driven by Erick Russell. Russell, 24, died on the scene.

4. Joe Washington -- President of the Northeast Ambulance and Fire Protection District, Washington and his fellow board member, Robert Edwards, serve as front men for Elbert Walton Jr., the fire district's attorney who billed the agency a whopping $227,925 in legal fees last year. In the past week or so Washington and Edwards have ousted a dissenting board member from the district and banned residents from attending meetings when they question the board's actions. They've also been sued by the state's attorney general and state auditor for violating Sunshine Law and failing to hand over financial records.

Continue on to cast your vote.
 

house.mo.gov

Davis: Ass Clown

Which is the greater indignity? MSNBC's Keith Olbermann calling you the "World's Worst Person" in front of a national television audience measuring in the hundreds of thousands -- if not millions -- of viewers? Or being voted "Ass Clown of the Week" by dozens* of devoted Daily RFT readers?

If you chose the latter, you're either A) completely checked out of reality B) on the payroll of Riverfront Times. And, either way, we salute you!

Yes, in stunning fashion Daily RFT readers voted State Rep. Cynthia Davis (R - St. Charles) as the region's most embarrassing headline maker of the last week for a newsletter she sent out criticizing hungry (and presumably lazy) Missouri families. The newsletter also earned her mention on Olbermann's show.

* wherein "dozens" is a number greater than 24 with no known limit and could quite possibly (but not likely) stretch into the billions zillions.

Okay people. It's time for a star-studded edition of Ass Clown of the Week. Each candidate is a more-than worthy contestant and -- unlike last week -- we need not worry about any hanging Chad(s).

So, without further ado, which local headline-maker of the past seven days embarrassed themselves enough to become Ass Clown of the Week?

1. Andrew Schneider and Trent Gilliam -- The men charged with stealing a rolling barbecue grill from a Waterloo, Illinois, festival. Police arrested Schneider and Gilliam after following a 5-mile trail of grease left from the grill.

2. Frederica Butler -- The 29-year-old St. Louis woman who offered to sleep with her ex-boyfriend if he did her the favor of burning down her apartment building. Butler didn't like where she lived and wanted a free hotel room courtesy of the Red Cross.

3. Cynthia Davis -- The state representative from O'Fallon, Missouri, who earned the title "World's Worst Person" this week from CNBC host Keith Olbermann after she attacked a food program for the poor in a newsletter to her constituents. "What is wrong with the idea of getting a job so you can get better meals? Tip: If you work at McDonald's, they will feed you for free during your breaks."

4. John Campisi -- The former St. Louis County Councilman accused this week of trying to sabotage a south county fireworks display by creating a website that stated this year's event was canceled. Campisi was allegedly upset that the man who beat him in last fall's election, Steve Stenger, was raising money for the July 4 fireworks show that Campisi erroneously claimed he founded.

flickr.com/photos/eqqman

Look into the mirror. Do you like what you see?

Sweet, sweet justice.

By the narrowest of margins Daily RFT readers nominated themselves (or at least those among them who can't take a joke) as Ass Clown of the Week for June 12-19.

The tally wrapped up a special edition of the weekly ass clown competition in which readers were asked to vote on players (and bit players) in a story last week involving the beating death of Willard Bryant Payne in Forest Park.

A headline I wrote about Payne's murder ("Don't You Hate It When You Go To the Park to Smoke a Joint with Two Lesbians and They Beat You To Death?") garnered dozens of angry comments from readers -- some of whom demanded my firing while others wished for my death.

But in the end, it was these commenters who Daily RFT readers considered most out of line. When the poll closed this morning at 7 a.m., the commenters lead the race by a four percent margin. 

An artistic interpretation of an ass clown.

We're shaking things up a bit at Ass Clown of the Week headquarters.

Instead of providing you with a list of nominees pulled from various news stories, this week we're focusing on one. And it's a real controversial booger at that.

We're talking about the story earlier this week involving the beating death of Willard Bryant Payne.

As you'll recall, Payne was murdered Monday morning after police say he went to Forest Park to smoke marijuana with two women he'd just met. The ladies happened to be a couple, and when Payne put the moves on one of them, the other flew into a jealous rage. When Payne tried to run away, the women caught him and beat him to death.

Tragic, yes. Bizarre, definitely.

holywesternempire.org

James von Brunn's photo as it appears on his anti-Semetic website.

James von Brunn, the 88-year-old St. Louis native and Washington University grad who made headlines last week for storming the National Holocaust Museum in Washington D.C. and killing a security guard.

Runner up in last week's Ass Clown poll went to 15-year-old Makeela King who captured 36 percent of the vote for leaving her baby boy, Cortez, with a transient woman who kidnapped the child. Cortez, also known as "Lil' Pimp," was recovered and returned to his mother.

Third place (with 12 percent of the vote) was Devin Mosley -- the man alleged to have accidentally shot and killed his accomplice in the Magge O'Brien's robbery early this month.

The two teens who attacked an off-duty cop and then ran as the officer drew his gun and returned fire, captured a mere eight percent of votes.

Thanks all for voting. Back at you Friday with a new cast of characters.

A quick word before we begin this week's Ass Clown voting.

For those of you scratching your heads as to why Christopher Coleman has not yet appeared in our weekly Ass Clown showdown, the answer is simple: It wouldn't be fair to the other contestants.

That's because each week we learn something new about Coleman that would make the accused murderer a shoo-in to win every poll.

Still, Coleman may have met his match this week. That's because our Ass Clown statisticians have compiled a bumper crop of local nominees this week. Good luck choosing among the following exceptional candidates...

Congratulations to former congressman and last year's G.O.P. candidate for governor, Kenny Hulshof. By a wide margin, readers of Daily RFT last week elected Hulshof as their favorite Ass Clown of the past seven days. 

Why? It seems people are concerned with Hulshof's record as a state prosecutor back in the 1990s. In February, a judge freed Joshua Keezer of a murder conviction after finding that Hulshof withheld evidence that may have exonerated Keezer of the crime. Then last week a second Missouri inmate, Dale Helmig, filed a petition for a new trial after the television show America's Most Wanted alleged that Hulshof manipulated facts and withheld information when prosecuting Helmig for murder.


Hulshof garnered 53 percent of the Ass Clown vote last week. Second place -- with 22 percent -- went to the three St. Louis corrections officers charged with supplying heroin to city inmates.

After a two week hiatus, Daily RFT is back at you with its Ass Clown of the Week poll. You know the drill: Vote for the local newsmaker you believe made headlines for the most dubious achievement of the week. Back at you Monday with the results. 

Here are this week's candidates:

1. Tony La Russa: The Cardinals manager and his attorneys crafted a curious argument when they sued Twitter on claims that the social networking site and an anonymous blogger violated La Russa's trademark. 

2. St. Louis Corrections Officers: If you think prisoners subsist solely on a diet of bread and water, you haven't heard about James Lamont Moore, Peggy Lynn O'Neal and Marilyn Denise Brown. The three St. Louis jailers were indicted this week for supplying inmates with heroin.

3. Lamarr Taylor -- The East Side candyman was arrested this week when police and U.S. Marshall raided his "confectionary" in Washington Park and found loaded guns and illicit sweets in the form of crack cocaine and marijuana.

4. Kenny Hulshof -- The former U.S. congressman and last year's G.O.P. candidate for governor was accused for the second time this year of withholding evidence and knowingly presenting false testimony and evidence while serving as a state prosecutor. In February, convicted killer Joshua Kezer was freed from prison when a judge ruled that Hulshof had withheld evidence. Last weekend, television show America's Most Wanted ran a program alleging that Hulshof also manipulated facts and withheld information when prosecuting Dale Helmig for murder. Helmig is serving life in prison.


 

 

Maliea Martin: The 20-year-old resident of Hannibal, Missouri, made headlines last week when she used her baby to shield police from shooting her ex-boyfriend with a Taser.

Hannibal Courier-Post

Read the full story here.

The Hannibal Courier-Post reported these comments from Hannibal Police Capt. James Hark, and you agreed:

"I'm dumbfounded that someone would use a child, placing the child in harm's way," Hark said. "It's like throwing someone in front of a running vehicle. We've never experienced this type of thing."

Congratulations Maliea. View the other nominees from last week's poll.

flickr.com/photos/justin_case

Calendar says it Friday, time for another round of Ass Clown candidates. You know the deal, vote for your favorite ignominious boob of the week. Back at you Monday with the results.

1. Maliea Martin: The 20-year-old resident of Hannibal, Missouri, made headlines this week when she used her baby to shield police from shooting her ex-boyfriend with a Taser.

2. Brendon Delaney: The 25-year-old Delaney was charged this week with biting off the ear of another man during a fight in Highland, Illinois.

3. John William Yettaw: The Missouri "fool" who swam across a lake to gain entry uninvited into the home Myanmar's pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi. Now Yettaw's action has Myanmar's military junta charging that  Aung San Suu Kyi breached the terms of her house arrest.

4. Raymond Burke: Why not? The former St. Louis archbishop got the ball rolling last week when he demanded that Notre Dame cancel its invitation to President Barack Obama to deliver the commencement speech this weekend. Says Burke: "The proposed granting of an honorary doctorate at Notre Dame University to our president, who is so aggressively advancing an anti-life and anti-family agenda, is rightly the source of the greatest scandal."
 

U.S. Rep. William Lacy Clay

Lacy Clay knows a thing or two about winning elections. The congressman beat out a crowded primary field back in 2000 to take over the seat left vacant from his father and fellow congressman William Clay.

Since then, Clay Jr. has gone on to win re-election four times, never earning less than 70 percent of the vote. So, perhaps it was a bit unfair of us to throw him in the ring for last week's Ass Clown award. The odds -- you might say -- were in his favor.