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Pinckney Bend Distillery.

One of the more intense fights at the Missouri legislature in the final weeks of the session centers on a proposal to reform government regulation of the alcohol industry; it's controversial enough that some lobbyists and lawmakers in Jefferson City now refer to it as the "liquor wars."

Critics say the legislation on the table would make it harder for suppliers to terminate their relationships with distributors -- with some small distillers opposing, arguing it could hurt their business and that it unfairly interferes with the free market.

Recently, Flotron & McIntosh, a Missouri lobbying firm that opposes the legislation, began communicating with Pinckney Bend Distillery in New Haven, a small company that opposes the legislation -- but it doesn't have the resources to pay for lobbyists.

How, then, can the two work together? Payments of booze -- sort of.

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Percy Green.

The St. Louis mayor's race is over -- but controversial commentary on the battle between Francis Slay and Lewis Reed apparently is not.

Activist Percy Green sent around an op-ed he wrote to his e-mail list this week with his analysis of the primary race between the long-time incumbent and challenger Reed, president of the Board of Aldermen. His commentary included a look at how turnout of black voters impacted the final outcome. And also this statement about Congressman Lacy Clay: "Now Clay is forced into a position to have to do a 'Stepin Fetchit' or 'Cooning,' via Samuel L. Jackson in Django Unchained as payback to Slay." He titled his piece "Slavery By Lack of Voting."

Green tells Daily RFT in an interview, "We need to be mindful of black politicians...who are not operating in our best interest."

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Representative Rick Stream.

Missouri State Representative Rick Stream fired off a bizarre e-mail to his House GOP colleagues this week that discusses the dangers of Islam...citing an 1899 quote from former British prime minister Winston Churchill.

"Individual Muslims may show splendid qualities, but the influence of the religion paralyses the social development of those who follow it. No stronger retrograde force exists in the world," writes Stream, quoting Churchill in a widely distributed e-mail that was forwarded to Daily RFT by way of a displeased recipient. "No stronger retrograde force exists in the world. Far from being moribund, Mohammedanism is a militant and proselytizing faith."

And what exactly does this have to do with the Missouri legislature?

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Casey Guernsey.

As we've reported, Missouri lawmakers are aggressively pushing forward with their effort to make it illegal to enforce any federal firearm laws in the state with a proposal that Republican supporters say is a bold statement against gun control. Critics say it's an absurd, unconstitutional move to ban the enforcement of commonsense policies to reduce gun violence.

State Representative Casey Guernsey, a Republican lawmaker behind one of these pro-gun bills -- and there are many -- tells Daily RFT that the criticisms from the left are misguided and that his proposal to block gun control would hold up.

"Just because President Obama has declared that something is constitutional doesn't make it so," he says.

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Image via Twitter

Teter always maintained his innocence.

It's been a long fourteen months for Matt Teter, the former executive director of the Missouri Democratic Party, who last year stepped down from his post upon news he'd been arrested for domestic assault.

The alleged incident occurred in the early morning hours following the Mardi Gras parade in Soulard in February 2012. According to a police report, Teter and his partner got into an argument that turned violent inside their Soulard home. The arrest made headlines a couple weeks later and forced Teter to step down from his post with the Democratic Party.

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Courtesy Maggie Crane

Mayor receiving "lock to the city" on Friday.

This past Saturday, April 27, was St. Louis Mayor Francis Slay's 4,394th day in office, which, by his staff's calculations, officially makes him the longest serving mayor in the history of the city.

He was first inaugurated on April 17, 2001.

Slay received a formal proclamation signed by his staff plus a symbolic "lock to the city" on Friday (more photos below) and Eddie Roth, chief of operations for Slay, has offered old newspaper clippings to explain his math and take a look back at some of the previously longest-serving mayors. Check out these archival front pages below of past mayors of the city.

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Sam Levin

Lewis Reed on election night.

When a Lewis Reed press release slamming Mayor Francis Slay arrived in Daily RFT's inbox earlier this week, we had a serious sense of déjà vu -- especially because it was sent out by Glenn Burleigh, Reed's former campaign manager. Reed, president of the St. Louis Board of Aldermen, lost his mayoral bid in March, and Slay's historic fourth term is now underway.

So why is he still sending out campaign-like press releases two months after the fact?

"One thing Lewis learned from his last race is he needs to have some kind of media operation going all the time," Burleigh tells Daily RFT. "The mayor does."

And what will that new press strategy look like?

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via ksdk.com

A legitimate comeback?

"Could Todd Akin be the new comeback kid?"

KSDK (Channel 5) seems to answer its own (pretty ridiculous) question with its much hyped, underwhelming interview with the former Missouri congressman who destroyed his Senate campaign by saying, "If it's a legitimate rape, the female body has ways to try to shut that whole thing down."

The station promoted the exclusive as an interview about his "comeback," -- tweet your comments with hashtag #AkinComeback! -- but were the hints of new political ambitions legitimate? Check out the video below.

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Rep. Casey Guernsey.

Legislators in Jefferson City are one step closer to passing a bill that would make it a criminal act to enforce any federal firearm laws in Missouri. The House successfully passed HB170 on Wednesday, and the bill is now being debated in the Senate with a hearing scheduled next week.

This anti-gun control bill would certainly not be the first proposal Missouri Republicans passed and signed into law aimed directly at blocking federal policy. But given the heated gun debates nationally and in Missouri, it would be especially noteworthy if this one makes it to the governor's desk.

Missouri Democrats say they are outraged.

"I don't know when this ends," State Rep. Rory Ellinger tells Daily RFT. "When every human being is forced to carry a gun?"

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Source

State Senator Ryan McKenna thinks seersucker suits like this one just look "ridiculous."

If you need proof that things might be getting a bit too heated in the final weeks of the legislative session at the Missouri State Capitol, look no further than Senate Bill 437, Amendment No. 4.

Offered yesterday by State Senator Ryan McKenna, the handwritten amendment says: "Any person living in this state aged 8 and under may wear seersucker suits at their leisure. Any person over the age of 8 living in this state may not wear seersucker suits because adults look ridiculous in seersucker suits..."

McKenna elaborates to Daily RFT, "Children look adorable in seersuckers. My three-year-old looks cute in that.... Adults look ridiculous."

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