university city
The Loop Trolley has received its first meticulously refurbished trolley car, aptly named No. 001. How romantic. (You were expecting ‘Judy Garland’?) One of two replica streetcars from Portland, it was reconditioned in Iowa by the original manufacturer. Wheelchair lifts have been installed, and the seating and interior layout have been reconfigured (capacity: 100 or so passengers). After rigorous testing, the car rolled into town on a flatbed truck, whereupon it was eased onto the rails and moved into the new Loop Trolley headquarters at 5875 Delmar Blvd., where testing will continue over the next few weeks. The second car will be here soon, and the third will follow later this spring. After testing on No. 001 is completed inside the maintenance and storage building, testing will begin on the tracks. That phase will initially involve a truck pulling the trolley along the route. After that, the bird will be kicked out of the nest and testing will continue in earnest, powered from wires overhead. Testing, testing, testing, indeed. Plus, the government will step in: the Federal Transit Administration must sign off on safety and testing procedures. Then later this month, officials say, those eagerly anticipating (or just plain skeptical of) this so-old-it’s-new mode of transport will get a first glimpse of the trolley out on the tracks. When, exactly, will we hear ‘all aboard,’ and how much will the fare be? These are issues yet to be resolved.
clayton
‘Where’s Roy?’ was, and is, the question being asked by constituents of Sen. Roy Blunt (R-Mo.), a group of whom gathered outside our junior senator’s Clayton office on Tuesday (Feb. 21) for a rally. They want a town hall meeting. A groundswell of similar efforts is being felt around the country, with constituents clamoring to hold their senators and representatives accountable, face to face. Well, at least they want to have an opportunity to ask questions in person. Organizers of the rally here presented a petition with more than 30,000 signatures of Missourians who want the senator to be, well, blunt about his intentions for Obamacare and any number of other issues important to them. Organizers say a Clayton staffer, when asked why Blunt doesn’t hold town hall meetings, replied, “He just doesn’t.” Are constituents really supposed to be satisfied with that answer? Meanwhile, organizers report that personnel in his D.C. office said they weren’t sure when he would next be in the Show-Me State. But according to a leak from Rumor Control, Blunt was to be in Springfield over the following weekend, which the senator’s scheduling office did not confirm. The leak was real …
but the news? Who knows.
maplewood
You’ve probably heard of a pub crawl, when participants go from one local pub to the next to sample the brews and spirits, ideally downing some pub grub while they’re making the rounds for a few rounds. Maplewood, which prides itself on doing things a little differently—take, for instance, the ‘Let Them Eat Art’ street festival every July to commemorate Bastille Day— has for the last seven springs held a similar event for the caffeine fiends among us. Although by the first several stops, some might be energized enough to sprint from one cafe to the next, it’s still gently referred to as a coffee crawl, and it’s the metro’s ‘first and only walkable tour of caffeine.’ This, the eighth annual iteration, will be Saturday, April 1 (no foolin’!), and will feature around eight local roasters/cafes per session. Tickets are available for either, or both: The Wake-Up Call is slated from 8 a.m. to 12:30 p.m., and the Afternoon Buzz from 12:30 to 5 p.m. Kakao Chocolate, Strange Donuts and Mystic Valley are among the shops participating for the Wake-Up Call. Put those together with shops preparing an Afternoon Buzz, for the truly napless, there are more cafes and roasters than you could shake a coffee stirrer at. Learn how to build a better brew, or find where to go for your new fave. And if coffee isn’t your cup of tea, there’s Traveling Tea, plus other businesses, offering coffee alternatives. Chocolate milk or soda pop, anyone?
st. louis
Scam update: A couple of issues ago we raised an eyebrow over an offer to buy insurance for your natural gas lines, once they enter your home. We checked with an insurance broker, who told us the concept was downright silly. You really don’t need it. Now, it seems, a company is offering similar coverage for the sewer lines, once they enter the home. Please, if you have received these or similar mailings, put down the checkbook and walk away. We’re just waiting for the next offer, which could be to insure you against potential problems with the air you breathe inside your four walls. Or, wild elephant attacks. There are plenty of opportunities out there to buy coverage we don’t need. A horse of a different color is a widespread telemarketing scam, whereby scammers get you to say “yes” to one question and then use that taped verbal OK as though you were agreeing to purchase some product or service you don’t want or need. I’ve gotten a number of calls that start out like so: “This is Jason on a recorded line. Can you hear me OK?” Of course you can, but don’t respond. Hang up! What makes matters worse is the call appears to be coming from your area code, and even though you don’t recognize the number, you might still pick up. I dialed back one time, only to get a recorded message that simply told the caller to press ‘1’ to opt out. Hmmm.
webster groves
Karlie Kloss is in hot water, again, and it has nothing to do with Donald Trump, even though there are just four degrees of separation between the supermodel and the president. She did take to Twitter, the president’s chosen mode of communication, however, to apologize for a photo spread in which she wore kimonos, posed with a sumo wrestler, essentially did the whole ‘Asian’ thing in the March issue of Vogue. This is a woman who bakes cookies and brings them to photo shoots, so the Webster Groves born-and-bred stunner’s heart is in the right place … but in 2012, she wore a full Native American headdress for a Victoria’s Secret fashion show (with leather lingerie, but not in redface). Protests following an Internet preview led VS to pull that segment from the TV special, and both VS and Kloss apologized. With this flap five years later, however, there are more than just a few Vogue ‘diversity’ issues (irony acknowledged) in print. What’s the big deal, anyhow—these are just costumes, right? No; the argument against is stated clearly by ethnic groups and media observers: This is cultural appropriation masquerading as diversity. (Take it to the extreme and you have a minstrel show, white people in blackface. Ouch.) Kloss, or her PR people, seem to get it. It remains to be seen whether Vogue will acknowledge its insensitivity.
