[chesterfield]
Most folks irked by how someone else parked their car simply leave a note with a few choice words under the wiper, and that’s that. Carrie Hertel, 18, left a note (sans colorful language), then proceeded to give the white 2011 Infiniti a makeover, Chesterfield cops say. She smeared mascara all over the windows and mirrors, which the car’s owner says also left scratches, according to police. Hertel was charged with felony property damage for her fit of pique that caused an estimated $3,000 damage to the car, according to the police. She also messed up her own makeup, and we’re not talking about the tube of mascara. Hertel’s mug shot shows a woman with black streaks, apparently a mixture of tears and dark makeup, running down her cheeks. Amazing she had any mascara left, considering how much havoc she’d wreaked on the Infiniti. (We’ll wager she won’t become the next model for Cover Girl.)
[creve coeur]
Whole Foods had better watch its granola. Competition from all over is continues to pour into the Lou. The Fresh Market, another specialty grocery hoping for a piece of the healthier-foods market, is coming to town. The Fresh Market follows Boulder, Colo.,-based Lucky’s Market, Fresh Thyme Farmers Market and Fields Foods. The Fresh Market will set up shop at City Place in Creve Coeur and is projected to open sometime after the first of the year. Lucky’s, meanwhile, opened its first area location in Ellisville last month in the space vacated by Straub’s awhile back. There has been speculation that The Fresh Market, based in Greensboro, N.C., would build in the long-vacant Schnucks at Hanley and Clayton roads. Although a traffic impact study has been done for the location, the company has been coy about when—or whether—it would come to pass. (How long has it been since Schnucks vacated the building? Twenty-five years? Long enough for the cute little Norfolk pine I bought there at Christmas in 1986 to outgrow my in-laws’ house, then greenhouse.) Fresh Thyme has staked its claim in north Kirkwood at Manchester and Lindbergh; another Lucky’s is projected for the Market at McKnight Place, a few clicks east on Manchester. Fields Foods, yet another grocer flying the ‘sustainable’ flag, is open in the Lafayette neighborhood in midtown St. Louis.
[kirkwood]
Rick Stream, a Republican state rep from Kirkwood and a fixture on the local political scene for years, will face Steve Stenger in the November general election for county executive. In the Aug. 5 primary, Stenger soundly defeated Charlie Dooley, who has occupied the post since 2003. Term limits meant Stream was constrained from seeking a fifth term in the Missouri House. Stenger, a Democrat and chairman of the county council, ran on a platform that alleged gross mismanagement by the Dooley administration. Come next January, Dooley and Stenger won’t have to occupy the same chambers any more. It boggles the mind to realize that they have had to work together so closely for so long, considering the level of rancor. Well, everything seemed to work out well for Barack Obama and Hilary Clinton after their notably nasty 2008 campaign, not that they would choose to be each others’ prom date or anything.
[richmond heights]
After a fistfight between teens at Saint Louis Galleria escalated fears that violence in Ferguson could be spilling into Richmond Heights from North County, most stores at the mall rolled down their doors around 6 p.m. The fight reportedly erupted into a brawl involving about a dozen people; two were arrested. Several stores in Brentwood Promenade, across Brentwood Boulevard from the mall, also closed as a result of heightened tension a day after the police shooting of an unarmed teen in Ferguson. The FBI has taken over the case in which Michael Brown, 18, was shot and killed by a Ferguson police officer, sparking riots that destroyed a QuikTrip and led to the arrests of at least 32 people. Richmond Heights and Brentwood authorities say they had been on alert because rumors on social media indicated, among other things, that a protest would take place at the Galleria. At any rate, cops say the violence in Ferguson was unrelated to the mall brawl, claiming there was bad blood between the two girls who allegedly started the fight.
[webster groves]
Burglars are creeps. These creepy folks not only tempt fate, but seriously risk bad karma, especially if they break into a church. The Big Guy is everywhere, you know. It didn’t take a super sleuth to determine one of the things that was missing, because some of it was still there: Cake. These knuckleheads left it everywhere after smashing a window and starting in the kitchen of Cornerstone Evangelical Free Church, 921 Edgar Road. A trail of left-cake crumbs led church staff to the sanctuary, where they determined that musical instruments for worship were missing. The crooks evidently washed down cake with soda, because some of that had been consumed, too. Of course, they broke into the safe and stole petty cash. In an ongoing investigation, cops have interviewed residents and collected evidence, but we don’t think they’d be able to lift fingerprints off the cake that was not consumed. The thieves left the remaining mess behind, in the sanctuary. Because knuckleheads don’t vacuum up after themselves.
[st. charles]
Need more cash to gamble, but fresh out of the long green? At the end of the month, when a new state law goes into effect, you’ll be able to give your credit cards a rest, too, because casinos will be allowed to extend credit themselves. We wonder who beyond a phalanx of casino industry lobbyists thought this was a good idea? SB741 has several key (read: somewhat amusing) features. For one, credit cannot be extended to an intoxicated person. Really. Applicants can apply for at least $10,000 in credit, but there’s no cap; no maximum, that is. The loans (promissory notes) must be repaid within 30 days, in cash. No collateral. I guess that means you can’t put up your car, boat or house, but you could sell all three to come up with the cash you lost on a gambling spree. Here’s a big surprise: Toppers at casinos praise the measure as a convenience for their ‘best customers.’ Why, it’ll save them the transaction fees they’d be charged each time they have to go to the ATM! That’s a valid point, I guess, since the promissory notes are interest-free. But, in a word: sheesh! The casino owners say customers have been ‘demanding’ credit. Well, OK. And alcoholics want liquor stores to stay open all night, too.
[st. louis]
Perhaps they just needed better shoes with which to run from the cops. A squad of thieves broke into and looted the Shoe Carnival store in Bamberger Plaza off Gravois Road in south St. Louis, taking whatever footwear-related merchandise they could get their hands on. Police say a ‘caravan’ of vehicles pulled up around 11:30 p.m., and more than three dozen thieves piled out to do their business. Once they were finished, they also tried to break into the strip center’s Radio Shack store, but were unsuccessful, police say. Perhaps sirens scared off the group. A security guard watched the ruckus in progress and alerted St. Louis’ finest. Meanwhile, police arrested two men who were acting ‘suspiciously’ outside a nearby stand-alone Radio Shack not too far away, on Hampton Avenue just north of the attempted break-in.
[sunset hills]
A follow-up tape further incriminates the mad mayor. Calls to 911 after an altercation involving cyclist Randy Murdick and Mark Furrer, mayor of Sunset Hills, appear to clarify the dispute between the two. One caller can be heard yelling that the driver hit the cyclist and took off. The criminal case has been handed over to county police, and Furrer, who was quite loquacious immediately following the incident, has since kept mum under the advice of his attorney. It will be fascinating to see how this story, which has received attention from far and wide, pans out. Meanwhile, cyclists can declare victory in one change they requested from Sunset Hills: The city has agreed to put nearly 100 miles of shared-lane markings on roads before year end. And, in other news, Sunset Hills invites cyclists, runners and swimmers to its annual triathlon this Sunday (Aug. 24). One wonders whether Mayor Furrer will wield the starter’s pistol?
Pictured: Webster Groves’ Cornerstone Evangelical Church
