[ballwin]
Let’s leave God out of it. That’s what Nikki Moungo, a Ballwin mom and an atheist, told the city council during discussions about putting up a council-approved sign saying ‘In God We Trust’ on city property. She brought a $1,000 check to back up her argument that the sign should instead say ‘E Pluribus Unum,’ another saying familiar to Americans perhaps because it’s stamped on our coinage. The phrase that rankles Moungo is not from our founding fathers, but rather was added to our money in the 1950s during the notorious McCarthy era, when Congress was trying to ferret out alleged (and godless) communists in every level of the federal government. So it’s been everywhere for decades, not centuries. Moungo’s kids were in the audience when she told city officials that putting up the sign would invite trouble where none exists. To wit, the city is risking locking horns with the American Civil Liberties Union and spending money on an issue that doesn’t need to be raised. The city attorney has argued that the phrase is patriotic, not religious. But according to how some interpret the First Amendment, the sign would flout the principle of religious freedom, as Moungo has pointed out. Ballwin officials, may the force be with you.
[saint charles]
First, the good news about a recent strong-arm robbery at a MotoMart gas station in St. Charles: No one was hurt. The bad news? There’s another knucklehead on the loose. From surveillance video comes proof the suspect fits our regular one-word description: He’s wearing a camouflage cap. But this cap is not as advertised—it camouflages nothing from his forehead on down. Cops say this dude bought some cigars, then when the drawer was open, lunged over the counter to grab a fistful of dollars and ran out. Here’s hoping his luck runs out soon, as surely it will. Cross your fingers that cops get a tip from someone who recognizes the fellow in the hunter headgear as just your average—and, let’s hope, non-violent and not too bright—ne’er-do-well.
[ellisville]
Body cameras for police have arrived in Ellisville, and tout de suite. About 20 of the devices will be in operation to complement dashboard cameras already installed in the city’s patrol cars. Officials accelerated the purchase following the August police shooting of Michael Brown in Ferguson. Accused shooter Darren Wilson did not have a dashboard camera installed in his squad car, much less a body camera. Officials say the cameras should make police work more transparent, emphasizing that body cameras add more to what vehicle cameras can record, especially if suspects and officers are outside the view of a forward-facing dashboard camera. The cameras will provide evidence to counter brutality complaints, as well as show whether cops behave out of line. After the Brown shooting, body cameras were used by Ferguson officers monitoring protester activity. Meanwhile, St. Louis County will provide the more than 450 officers on its force with the devices, and proposals for body cams are pending in other jurisdictions. St. Louis aldermen are discussing whether to spend millions to equip city officers, not only in Ferguson’s wake, but also because of discrepancies between city cops’ account of a more recent fatal shooting and a private cell phone video that appears to contradict the ‘official’ story.
[webster groves]
Sarah Riss, superintendent of schools in Webster Groves, reports the district scored 95.7 percent on its annual performance report. Since 2006, district performance for the total student population on standardized MAP (Missouri Assessment Program) tests has improved in English language arts, science and mathematics. Riss says the English and science scores rank as ‘exceeding,’ the highest level possible. Math scores increased more than any content area, ranking just one level below ‘exceeding.’ Riss says math scores are on track to ascend to the highest level. High school student performance on the ACT and SAT and in college-level courses continues to show strong results, and graduation and attendance rates stand at the highest level. (The state uses these data to determine accreditation. State administrators based their new, more rigorous standards on what it would take to place Missouri among the nation’s top 10 for student achievement by 2020.)
[o’fallon]
Home Depot was the latest chain to issue a corporate mea culpa to credit card users who made a purchase at one of the home remodeling giant’s stores, joining Target, Neiman Marcus, P.F. Chang’s and Schnucks in announcing that hackers had breached company security measures and compromised the personal data of untold millions of consumers. O’Fallon-based MasterCard is at the forefront of an industry-wide effort to fight fraud via specially engineered computer chips introduced into the cards themselves. Tests by MasterCard and its peers indicate that the software, and itty-bitty pieces of hardware, sported by these new cards could help stem the reportedly $18 billion hemorrhage caused by data breaches big and small. Companies say some of the computer-chipped cards will be in the marketplace by holiday 2014, with a wide rollout anticipated by around this time next year. In the meantime, should we pay cash or write checks? Neither is likely, considering how easy it’s become to simply swipe or wave a credit or debit card at the cash register.
[kirkwood]
Could you blame the looming increased city water costs on more Kirkwood residents making the misguided* choice to buy bottled water? No. Instead, blame it on the approved purchase of whiz-bang new meters that will read and report water usage more accurately. (The city says the personnel who tromp through neighborhoods reading meters will be reassigned.) The city has approved the purchase of more than 10,000 of the digital devices, to be installed by March, to correct the underreporting errors of the older meters. Those old-timers, some from the 1960s, are creatures of the analog age that have slowed down over the years, officials say, misreading water usage by something like 15 percent. The project will cost more than $3 million and will be financed through a bond issue. Many users will see their water bills climb by around 30 percent.
*Nothing really wrong with buying bottled water, of course, but it wouldn’t be prudent financially to bathe or do laundry with it. Actually, since our great rivers provide a steady stream of quality drinking water, buying it in many, if not most areas of town, is patently silly. Observers say the St. Louis municipal water supply is some of the freshest-tasting anywhere in the country.
[saint louis]
If it’s on Craigslist, well, it’s on Craigslist. The website should come with a disclaimer: caveat emptor. Of course, many people don’t know what that means anyhow, and wind up getting snookered. For those who don’t know what ‘snookered’ means, it’s a synonym for ‘scammed.’ For those who don’t know what that means, don’t wait! Be the first on your block to send money to our address, today! It seems that—for some, at any rate—Craigslist has replaced neighborhood utility poles as the place to post ads for missing pets. A local TV news investigation got to the bottom of a web-based scam that preys on the gullible who believe that $120 will pay for a crew of ‘volunteers’ to scour a 15-mile radius for your missing dog, cat … or tortoise. Funny thing is, the guy who runs Pet Rescue apparently lives in Brazil, and the only scouring they do is on the Internet for devastated pet owners who’ve found themselves separated from a beloved animal and post their pleas for help on Craigslist. Maurizio Comelli told the station that his alleged service company’s activities are not a scam, and that lots of people need his help. Sure they do, but they’re not getting it from him. And if they pay Pet Rescue, they’re not getting their money back, either. The station didn’t. They paid one Craigslist advertiser’s $130 fee for Pet Rescue to find her pet tortoise, Leo. It didn’t, nor has the station posted an intern by the mailbox to wait for the reimbursement check. (Pictured, above.)
[town & country]
They had me at bacon. Almost. Yes, alas, I missed this one, but still wanted to let you know about it so you could start your tongues wagging and mouths watering early for next year: It was the second annual Bacon ’n’ Brewfest put on by Whole Foods at its Town & Country store recently. Did I mention bacon? There were 10 varieties of it to sample. (We’re not just talking regular bacon—there’s wonderful, delectable bacon, and then there’s those other bacons that bacon-lovers love so much. Ahhh, bacon. Nature’s most perfect food.) Hey, anyone hear ‘beer’? Twenty local concoctions also were available. Noshing and sloshing was not free. There was a $10 cover charge ($12 at the door). But it was all for a good cause, or causes, that is. Attendees were encouraged to vote for their two favorite breweries. The top two breweries were to have the day’s proceeds donated to their charities of choice, of which PETA was assuredly not a contender.
