St. Louis News Blog

Laclede: It's a gas -- unless you're gay.

​The Laclede Group, whose primary subsidiary is Laclede Gas, has earned the dubious distinction of finishing tied with Exxon Mobil Corp. as the worst place in the nation to work if you're gay, lesbian, bisexual or transgendered.

A total of 590 businesses were ranked by the Human Rights Campaign Foundation, a major lobbying group and political action committee for the LGBT community. The average rating in the foundation's eighth annual survey -- published today in the Huffington Post -- was an 86. Some 305 companies, representing more than 9.3 million full-time employees, earned a perfect score of 100.

Laclede and Exxon both finished with a zero ranking.

Spotted during the Super Bowl during the clever and slightly creepy John Beal commercial right after half time.

 

Yes, that appears to be an RFT on the man's lap. Our five seconds of local fame! Take that St. Louis Sinner!

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​The Humane Society yesterday released its Humane State Ranking, a comprehensive report rating all 50 states on a wide range of animal protection laws dealing with pets, animal cruelty and fighting, wildlife, animals in research, horses, and farm animals.

Missouri tied with several other states as No. 43 in the ranking, designating the Show-Me State as one of the worst places for animals in the United States.

Mr. Schmitt goes to Washington, err Jefferson City.

​Attention State Senator Eric Schmitt (R-Glendale): The Missouri Capitol may look like the U.S. Capitol. (Indeed, the building in Jefferson City is modeled after the one in Washington D.C.) But let us remind you of one little thing:

You're a state senator from Glendale, elected by a couple ten thousand people in west and south St. Louis County to represent their interests in state government. You're not a U.S. senator, elected by hundreds of thousands of Missourians to represent our interests in Washington.

So, ahem, about those two non-binding (ie. feckless) resolutions of yours concerning federal policy:

While the annual dog-walking bonanza in Soulard every February is officially called the "Beggin' Pet Parade," it's evident dogs just own it.

Photographers Crystal Rolfe and Steve Truesdell hit the streets of Soulard on Sunday afternoon to document the barking masses, dressed up in sunglasses, feather boas and a variety of other accoutrements that made for quite a colorful army of canines.

View the full "Dogs on Parade slideshow here.

Here are some of the best dogs spotted, and as promised, one terrified feline.

A bulldog who's clearly happy with the attention. See more photos here.

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Last week Scott Cohen was all smiles.

​In case you were one of the millions of people watching the Super Bowl last night and didn't hear the news, Illinois' Democratic nominee for lieutenant governor, Scott Lee Cohen has quit the race.

Cohen made the announcement at a Chicago bar last night during the Super Bowl's half-time performance -- a fitting farewell for a politician whose sleaze factor seems extraordinary even for Illinois politics.

Since winning the Democratic primary last Tuesday to run as his party's nominee for lieutenant governor, Cohen has been hounded by a 2005 arrest report that he held a knife to a prostitute's throat. (The prostitute -- whom he met at a massage parlor -- also happened to be his live-in girlfriend at the time.)

That same year, Cohen's ex-wife filed a restraining order against him claiming his admitted use of anabolic steroids caused him fly into rages.

Cell phones dangerous? Whatever!

​The Post-Dispatch yesterday fronted a cover story about FocusDriven, a group that wants every state to outlaw cell phones while driving -- à la the way Mothers Against Drunk Driving pressured states to crack down on intoxicated drivers in the 1980s.

In making its case, the article highlighted a few horrific accidents allegedly caused from drivers distracted by their cell phones. Some how, though, the article failed to mention perhaps the biggest transportation-related story of last week.

According to a report released by the Highway Loss Data Institute, cell phone bans have no impact on reducing accidents.

Chase Daniel after last night's Super Bowl. Are those stains on his shirt?

​A year after leaving University of Missouri, quarterback Chase Daniel won his first Super Bowl ring last night with the New Orleans Saints.

Never mind that Daniel never entered the game. Just being on the roster entitles Daniel to all the Super Bowl spoils.

Here's Daniel celebrating last night at Miami's Intercontinental Hotel, via his Twitter feed @ChaseDaniel.  

Oh and he's hanging out in Miami with his former teammate at Mizzou, Danario Alexander.

A Tweet from Daniel's about eight hours ago:

​Here's an interesting follow up to our stories yesterday (here, here) about the fake marijuana product, K2, that Missouri and Kansas are attempting to outlaw.

Yesterday in Lawrence, Kansas, local law enforcement and U.S. Food and Drug Administration agents raided the store Sacred Journey.

According to our sister paper Kansas City Pitch, the agents seemed to be targeting the store's supply of K2.  

​A Senate bill aimed at regulating sexually oriented businesses moved one step closer to becoming law yesterday.

Senators in Jefferson City gave initial approval to the bill, clearing it for final vote next week and passage to the House.

The legislation, sponsored by Senator Matt Bartle (R-Kansas City), restricts sexually oriented business from operating within 1,000 feet of a pre-existing school, house of worship, state-licensed day care, public library, public park, residence, or other sexually oriented business.

Image Via

Melanie Shouse

​Melanie Shouse died last Saturday after a four-and-a-half year battle with breast cancer.

Shouse, 41, spent much of her last years fighting for health care reform. When first stricken with cancer, she put off getting treatment because she couldn't afford to pay her insurance policy's $5,000 deducible. Later she found it difficult to get her insurer to pay for procedures that might have saved her life.

Yesterday the Post-Dispatch published a moving obituary recounting Shouse's life and causes -- she also owned an organic meat business, advocated for clean energy and public transportation and volunteered diligently for Barack Obama's presidential campaign.

Too late to include in the newspaper's tribute to Shouse yesterday was Obama's speech last night that used her work as an example for others.

Ruling makes it easier to accessorize someone else's ride.

​U.S. District Judge Rodney Sippel issued a consent judgment yesterday calling the enforcement of an anti-leafleting law in St. Louis an infringement on the First Amendment right of free speech.

The judgment follows a complaint filed by the ACLU of Eastern Missouri on behalf of a group opposed to developer Paul McKee's controversial NorthSide development plan.

​Okay, folks. One more time. When you're breaking the law, don't videotape yourself doing it and then upload the clips to YouTube.

Why? 'Cause it always comes back to bite you in the ass.

As a local auto dealer recently discovered, this rule applies even if -- like James Bond -- you have an exotic English accent and drive a cream-in-your-pants performance vehicle. 

​In late January, the Daily RFT wrote that TripAdvisor -- in compiling its Top 10 Dirtiest Hotels in America list for 2010 -- placed the Days Inn Eureka Six Flags as No. 2. As one unhappy camper put it: "If Hell had a hotel, it would look something like this."

The news apparently did not sit well with Six Flags, who today filed suit against Gateway Hotels Management Inc., saying the 150-room establishment had no right to attach the amusement park's name to a place one cranky customer called, "The nastiest hotel I have ever stayed in my life."

Books have been written about our love affair with booze, and all we get is a lousy No. 6 ranking?

​Next month Men's Health will come out with its listing of the "100 Drunkest Cities in America."

As of right now, the magazine's website has yet to publish the findings, but USA Today has the scoop.

Frankly, Daily RFT is a little disappointed with the results. St. Louis comes in a measly No. 6.

Have the authors of this study ever been to a Blues game, next weekend's Mardi Gras Parade or any one of our smoky dens of sin?

The answer? Not likely.

WWJD now?

​Toyota yesterday acknowledged that its popular hybrid vehicle has brake problems.

The car maker announced the design flaws -- effecting its 2010 model Prius -- in an earnings statement in which Toyota reported a $1.3 billion profit for the fourth quarter of 2009.

Now the U.S. Department of Transportation says it will investigate the matter. According to the Associated Press, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has received 124 reports from consumers about the 2010 vehicle.

The transportation department investigation, follows an examination of the Prius vehicles published in Riverfront Times last April. 

flickr.com/photos/ilovenorthstl

St. Louis waits at the pearly gates.

​From the Department of Cruel Irony:

The Post-Dispatch reported this morning that an unidentified woman was killed around 2 a.m. after crashing her car into the gates of Calvary Cemetery in North St. Louis.

The woman was speeding westward on West Florissant Avenue in a Ford Escort when she hit a light post, a fence and, finally, the cemetery gate, where she was thrown from the car. She was carrying no ID.

But at least when it comes time for burial, she won't have far to go.

Photo Via Boeing

The Boeing C-17 is slated to be retired, but around 1,000 jobs in St. Louis are tied to the project.

​ The Boeing C-17 is on the chopping block. It is supposed to be retired according to the Department of Defense budget for 2011.

But Missouri senator Claire McCaskill is among those who don't want to let the plane go without a fight. In a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing Tuesday (video below), the Missouri Democrat criticized the military for wanting to ax the plane.

Justice Price: Don't throw the book at criminals, read it to them.

​The chief justice for the Missouri Supreme Court, William Ray Price Jr., delivered his "State of the Judiciary" speech to the General Assembly yesterday.

Price used the time to berate legislators over laws they've made that incarcerate non-violent offenders.

"We may have been tough on crime, but we have not been smart on crime," Price told the lawmakers.

The chief justice particularly singled out Missouri's drug and alcohol laws, such as a current bill to crack down on drunk drivers.

​It's perfectly legal, and according to its users it gets you stoned to the bejesus, just like regular marijuana.

The product, K2, is for sale at a few tobacconists and head shops in the St. Louis area and sells for around $10 a gram.

On Tuesday, Kansas lawmakers passed legislation that would make that state the first in the nation to outlaw fake pot. And Missouri lawmakers aren't far behind with their own bill to criminalize the stuff.

We'll use any excuse to run this photo. Click for larger size.

​It's a semi-holiday for college football fans today. As the first Wednesday in February, it's National Signing Day, or the day when an athlete can officially autograph a binding letter of intent to play sports at a university.

The University of Missouri football program is expected to add 23 players to its roster, including four from the St. Louis area, one of whom is already enrolled for classes in Columbia. While high school players can (and do) commit to a university months before the season begins, today is when they make it official.

Today also marks the official start to recruiting for the 2011-2012 season.

Here are the St. Louis-area players who are expected to sign a letter of intent today:

Superman: A relatively fast law man.

​Question: What's faster than a car flying through a camera-enforced speed zone?

Answer: Superman? Nah. State Representative Michael Corcoran (D-St. Ann).

Missouri's first-ever speed cameras have yet to begin issuing tickets in Corcoran's hometown of St. Ann, yet the legislator says his constituents are already flooding his phone lines with complaints about the devices.

In response, this week Corcoran introduced House Bill 1947 that would ban the use of speed cameras anywhere in Missouri except school zones and road construction zones.

This anonymous City Hall employee is already on board.

​Cue the Loverboy and ice down the Natty Light.

St. Louis City Hall could close an hour early each week -- at 4 p.m. every Friday -- under a proposal suggested yesterday by Comptroller Darlene Green.

The city is looking to offset a projected $45 million budget deficit projected for next year.

Lawsuit is latest to highlight cracks in the St. Louis law.

​Daily RFT yesterday spoke with St. Louis attorney Russell Watters.

In December Watters filed a lawsuit on behalf of three people -- Alexa Smith and Timothy and Belle Keane -- who've received red-light camera tickets in St. Louis.

The suit challenges the constitutionality of the the city's red-light camera ordinance and seeks class-action status that would refund everyone who's paid the $100 fine associated with the cameras. 

Last July a federal judge upheld the constitutionality of red-light cameras in Arnold. So, what makes Watters think a would see the St. Louis law differently? 

Did ya here? We're No. 1!

​Missouri has once again been ranked as the nation's biggest meth-producing state based on the number of drug labs busted last year.

According to Missouri Highway Patrol figures published today in the Post-Dispatch, law enforcement seized 1,774 meth labs in 2009 -- up 20 percent from the 1,487 confiscated in 2008.

Missouri outpaced the No. 2 state -- Indiana -- which had 1,096 meth lab busts in 2009. Jefferson County, Missouri, led the state with 227 labs confiscated last year.

The news comes as Missouri legislature considers a bill that would require pseudoephedrine -- the key ingredient for meth -- to be sold only as a prescription.  

Skelton: Wants to keep the military ol' school.

​Yesterday Daily RFT poked fun at Missouri legislators tripping over themselves in Jefferson City to support (or oppose) the military's "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy toward homosexuals serving in its ranks.

These state lawmakers essentially have no bearing on the debate this week in Washington D.C. to allow openly gay men and women to serve in the armed forces. That said, there is one Missouri politician who does play a crucial role in the discussion.

The water is warm, and Missouri legislators are jumping in with abandon.

​St. Louis Public Radio reporter Marshall Griffin has an amusing story today on Missouri legislators attempting to make themselves relevant to a national debate currently underway.
 
In Washington D.C. this morning, the Senate Armed Services Committee held hearings to review the military's "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy towards homosexuals in its ranks.

And in Jefferson City, state lawmakers rolled out resolutions both in support and opposition to gays serving openly in the military. 

Should this plane have been grounded? According to a new study, more than 65,000 flights should have been over the past six years.

​Since 2003, at least 65,000 U.S. airline flights should never have been permitted to leave the ground because shoddy repair work and improper maintainance made these planes unsafe to fly.

That's one of the many shocking conclusions that followed a six-month USA Today investigation. The story was published today and is certain to make wary fliers even more wary.

One of the potentially catastrophic flights cited in the extensive page one story was American Airlines Flight 140 that departed Lambert-St. Louis International Airport at 1:03 p.m., September 28, 2007, a on a scheduled flight to Chicago. 

Mmm, yummy! The building blocks of meth.

​Missouri state representative Scott Lipke (R-Jackson) wants to limit the sale of medications such as Sudafed and Clairtin-D only to consumers with a doctor's prescription.

Lipke's bill (H.B. 1210), introduced to the General Assembly last week, aims to curb the supply of drugs containing the active ingredient psuedoephedrine -- one of the main ingredients for methamphetamines.

Cue the chintzy beach scene with Chicago Bears coach Lovie Smith running -- arms opened wide -- toward Mike Martz. The men embrace on the banks of Lake Michigan. In the background is downtown Chicago and on the southern horizon -- Soldier's Field.

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