The Gateway Outdoor Expo will finally be held at an outdoor venue

(One of my most recent West Newsmagazine pieces...with all photos by Russell Ward)

For the first time in history, Gateway Outdoor Expo will truly live up to its title. It will finally be held outdoors on March 31-April 1 in the lush setting of Tower Grove Park.

The free, family-friendly event began in 2002, and has been run under a variety of names and ownerships.  However, the common thread was that it was always held indoors.

During those latter years, Ballwin resident Brad Kovach, who resides on the doorstep of Castlewood State Park and is the editor and publisher of Terrain Magazine, was an exhibitor at the event, which was owned by local nonprofit Trailnet.

“The show was up for sale or it was going to disappear. We approached Trailnet and St. Louis Bicycle Works, which had a hand in that show, and said, ‘Hey, we’re this outdoor magazine. This is kind of right up our alley, and we’re in a position to handle events along these lines if that’s OK with you?’  We purchased it from them about seven years ago.”

Under the guidance of Kovach, the event was held at the Gateway Center in Collinsville and St. Louis Union Station.  Then, after a two-year, COVID-related absence, it was held last year at America’s Center.

“We’ve had people ask us, ‘Why is your outdoor expo indoors?’ The honest answer would be because you wouldn’t have a lot to worry about. But even with possible questionable weather, we’re mostly hearty outdoors people. So, this year, it will finally be outdoors.”

Kovach expects some 200 exhibit booths and 8,000 attendees for the 2023 event. Go! St. Louis, which administers the region’s largest running event, has often partnered with Gateway Outdoor Expo. As such, packets for the Go! St. Louis Marathon, held downtown on April 1 and 2 as part of Family Fitness Weekend, can be picked up at the Expo. 

River City Outdoors (RCO), a nonprofit whose mission is to help create a variety of outdoor recreational experiences for St. Louisans from all socioeconomic backgrounds, is also involved in presenting the Expo. Kovach is on the steering committee of RCO, which works closely with the Boys and Girls Club and St. Louis Public Schools to be the facilitator to get youngsters connected with outdoor groups for a variety of experiences.

In addition to showcasing a plethora of outdoor gear, services and resources, interactive event highlights include:

• Technical tree climbing, sponsored by Vertical Voyages.

• A 23-foot-high rock climbing wall of varying difficulties, sponsored by Upper Limits.

• Mountain bike demo area, sponsored by Wheels Up Bike Camps and Clinics.

• Balance bike demo area for the very young, sponsored by St. Louis Bicycle Works.

• A wide variety of hiking, camping, running and paddling activities.

• Resources for adventure travel, health and wellness.

• Special giveaways. 

“The idea is to let folks know what outdoor resources are available in the region.  They include outdoor retailers and shops, plus manufacturers that exist in the St. Louis or Midwest region," Kovach explained. "Purchases help the local outdoor economy. (The Expo also introduces) assets like what parks and trails there are and what outdoor services are available, such as guides or Meetup groups for folks to get outdoors with. We want to foster that community. 

“Some people just come out because they’ve been stuck inside for a few months. It’s a good time to see your friends that maybe you haven’t seen for a while. It’s also a good place to get psyched for the rest of the year with plans to get outdoors.”

Kovach said he started Terrain from his home in January 2014 as a passion project, hobby or side hustle. He had been a magazine journalist for some 20 years while also working for other companies. 

“When I started Terrain, it was my way to do something for myself. I already had the professional knowledge for magazines. From a focus side, I’ve always been very outdoorsy, going to summer camps and being into canoeing, backpacking, hiking and anything else outside. Since I found no existing periodical serving that need specifically, I thought I’d give it a try. It’s been great; nine-plus years and we’re still going,” he said. 

The Expo will be preceded by a VIP/Vendor Party on March 30 at Schlafly Tap Room Brewhub. VIP ticket information and additional details about the Expo are  available at gatewayoutdoorexpo.com.

 

 

New 'honky tonk' brings country to Historic Main Street

 (This article posted the evening of February 10 on the MidRivers Newsmagazine site.  From the very next day and even through today, it has been the most read article on the entire site!)

Since its first known use in 1889, ‘honky tonk’ has carried mostly negative connotations as tawdry country music nightclubs or dance halls. But there’s nothing of poor quality at Main Street Honky Tonk, especially regarding its musical acts.

Dustin English and Paul Wegeng bought Uncle Joe’s Bar and Grill last April. They shut it down around July 1; then, held a grand opening for Main Street Honky Tonk in Historic Saint Charles on Dec. 16.

“It was a bit later than we wanted," English said. "But it’s been nothing but good things and good vibes.

“Our goal is just to give people a different experience on Main Street. I wanted a bit older and established crowd to come down there. The idea was to get ones who used to come down but kind of shied away because of some of the events that have happened recently. We’re trying to bring a different energy to Main Street. Our target market is about age 35 and older, but we want all ages to be there and feel welcome.”

                               Russo & Co playing at Main Street Honky Tonk (Tristan Shannon photo)

The major selling point of Main Street Honky Tonk is its abundance of live country music, which is offered every night, except on Tuesdays when it's all about karaoke. English attributed a great deal of the venue's musical success to Anthony Russo, who serves as its music booking manager.

"Not only was he a big help on the music side, he actually helped with some of the finishing construction stuff for us so we could get this place opened up as quickly as possible. He deserves a lot of credit,” English said.

Russo, who has an extensive entertainment background, also performs at Main Street Honky Tonk on a regular basis. He describes himself as "a backbeat type."

“Look up old artists like John Hartford, who was an old St. Louis musician who would take a banjo and flat foot dance at the same time. I’m more of a rhythm tap dancer," Russo said. "My band, and even when I’m playing by myself, do stop time which is when the band punches the downbeat of a measure then hold quiet for a second, and I’ll tap dance. Then, they’ll punch the downbeat and I’ll dance more. I’m trying to bring a little of the old style with the new. It goes over really well.”

His resume includes touring the world as a tap dancer beginning at age 17.

His maternal grandparents bought the Performing Arts Centre on Kingshighway in St. Charles in 1974. It moved to Main Street for 27 years, then to Country Club Plaza. His dad, Jerry, who passed in 2014, played guitar, acted and served as a carpenter for local theaters and was the technical director for New Jewish Theatre in Creve Coeur.

“I've always enjoyed performing,” said Russo, who noted that Main Street Honky Tonk is answering an unmet need.

“We’ve been saturated with the classic rock cover bands for as long as I remember,” he said. “I grew up on Main Street before you could drive down on it when it was still all cobblestones and brick fountains. There was Baja Rock Club, Tuners and a lot more classic rock acts and entertainment. But as far as the demographics go ... two hours away in every direction from St. Louis City, you’re going to find your majority market is country music."

Russo said Main Street Honky Tonk features solo acoustic acts during the week with duos, trios and full bands on Fridays and Saturdays. English added that, while most of the entertainers are from around the St. Louis area, they’ve also had people from Nashville and neighboring states.

“We felt pretty confident that live country music would go over well in St. Charles,” English said. “We want to give out a Nashville feel where they can enjoy the live music. People are having a blast! "

The one downside is the venue's size but soon it will have a sister venue – Margo Margo Ritas Plus Tacos – right next door.

“As patrons walk up to the Honky Tonk, if there’s a line up and down the sidewalk, (and they want) a little extra room to spread out, (they) can pop next door and have some food,” Russo said. “We also have a huge parking lot out back, and we are among some of the best bars and restaurants in St. Charles.”

Ellisville council rejects Seven Brew’s bid to the delight of Field Avenue residents

 (This is my totally unedited West Newsmagazine piece following three previous articles I had published on this subject that each time filled the council chambers of Ellisville City Hall!)

As the Seven Brew Drive-Thru Coffee proceedings developed, the Jan. 18 packed-house, Ellisville council meeting was far more reminiscent of a highly contentious court case.

Following a 7-1 negative setback at the Jan. 11 Ellisville Planning & Zoning Commission meeting, Seven Brew needed a super majority verdict to win the case. Instead, the Field Avenue faithful prevailed with a 4-2 vote with council member Dan Duffy (District 3) absent.

Five residents spoke in the initial Public Comments session.  Each one mentioned horrible traffic increases, backups on Clarkson and its own street plus imminent safety concerns stemming from Seven Brew’s plan of having one drive-thru side of the operation and the other walk up and bike up.

Bernie Barton added he was against any egress from that lot onto Field, including Seven Brew’s delivery truck.  Dave Goessman complained of potential loud music disturbances from onsite speakers.

The site of a proposed Seven Brew Drive Thru Coffee at Clarkson Road and Field Avenue in Ellisville. (Source: Google Maps) 

Words started calmly as attorney Chris Graville addressed the council as to why Seven Brew would be a good fit for the 309 Clarkson Road address. He noted that it’s a mere 600 square foot grab and go coffee kiosk that only serves beverages with no food or dine-in area. He also said the business is set up with a circulation type that avoids traffic tie-ups and it’s primarily a site for customers to make a brief stop to and from work.

Graville constantly defended a traffic study performed by both St. Louis County and MODOT showed this business would add very little traffic to the area. He also stated it’s the type of business Ellisville has been seeking for this area.

“We believe this is not only consistent with the Comprehensive Plan; we believe it furthers it,” he said. “We want to work with the city and its residents to get them comfortable with this conceptplan. Unlike Chick-fil-A, the traffic study shows there’s no significant trip generation with our plan.”

Graville spoke of a variety of sub-topics that he claimed would be a great fit for the city of Ellisville, including ones from the neighboring Field Avenue. But over time, it developed into an emotional, tension-filled verbal spat between Graville and his crew and Field attendees.

“You all have a very difficult job because you have to take your code, use your city engineer’s report and apply the facts to the code,” Graville said.  “If you apply the facts to the code, this is a very good development. You all took an oath when you were elected to office no different from Planning & Zoning to uphold the law.  We believe to deny our approval of this is completely arbitrary and is capricious.”

He added that every single negative issue brought up by the residents has been shot down by the traffic study.

“This is not traffic Armageddon.  We’ve been threatened at these meetings.  We’ve been told you’re never going away.  We’ve been told people are going to die.  We’ve heard Planning & Zoning saying they’re going to get sued. The residents have every right to give their opinion, but the Armageddon presented by the residents on this petition is not supported by this document which is the city’s engineering report.”

There were just a handful of questions from the council; mostly from Rob Compton (District 1). One inquiry was about the number of cars that might be waiting to leave the site and get back onto Clarkson Road. Julie Nolfo of Lochmueller Group answered that information was not from the traffic study, but provided by Seven Brew.

Compton calmly took exception to Graville comparing Vero Lane and its commercial development to that of Field with Seven Brew’s proposed development. Compton noted that Vero has a traffic light whereas Field has none.

A few more Field Avenue residents spoke out against the proposed development at the start of the second Public Comments session. What followed was a highly upset property owner Jordan Srote.

“Frankly, I’m disappointed to where we’ve gotten to today. I’ve listened to about 90 minutes over the last two P&Z meetings from everybody telling us why traffic was not going to work and none of them were experts. We spent countless amounts of time and money in Julie, and her team spent energy in building up a traffic study which states the facts. Nothing done there is arbitrary.  It’s based on science and facts with a proven method that works….and you’re saying ignore that.

Srote added that walk ability is a major part of Ellisville’s Comprehensive Plan, and he was highly disappointed that residents “were using children as pawns.” While safety is a concern, he said it was no worse than his long-abandoned property being vandalized twice since he’s owned it. He also vehemently denied rumors that property values would decrease.

“There’s the Harvard study and a lot of other studies out there. They call it the Starbucks Effect.  What’s it’s about is if you have a walkable coffee shop within your distance, your house is actually going to appreciate 3% more than a house that doesn’t have those things. And yet, we’re arguing that an abandoned property with a giant ‘For Lease’ signs is not degrading property values in the area?

“I’m also disappointed that when a resident states moments before a vote that somebody is going to die here, and that you, council members and the P&Z are going to be responsible for that and be in for a proper lawsuit.  That’s a blatant intimidation tactic. I’m disappointed in that and the disregard for facts. At the end of the day, this is not my lot or their street.  This is a community with 10,000 residents in it.  They will be directly and indirectly impacted by this through property taxes, accumulation of money that goes to the schools, the fire department.”

Srote’s own comments were followed by nine more sets of negative citizen comments.

Sara Fox said Comprehensive Plan states that it wants to ensure future developments and not duplicating existing developments and strengthen diversification within the business sector. “I did an online search and found there are already three coffee shops and two smoothie places within 1.2 miles or less of this particular development.”

Ed Fasnacht added that not just Field Avenue signed the petition against this specific development but more than 200 people from the general area did, and nobody wants to live close to dumpster smells.

“What’s actually disappointing is to hear the applicant disregarding and minimizing safety concerns that were communicated by the citizens,” Mahmoud Kaaki said.  “That’s disappointing and insulting.”

For the legislation segment, Mayor Mike Roemerman said it’s always very difficult when you have so many citizens vehemently opposed to a potential economic development.

“As elected officials, these are the tough ones for us. We have to consider the neighbors and Ellisville as a whole. Through it all, I’ve personally been on your side.  We had a development on my street, and I was opposed to it for a lot of reasons. But it was approved and looking back, it’s easy for me to see that it wasn’t as bad as what my neighbors made it out to be.”

Roemerman used an example of a neighbor across the street and one house over as an example that property values can actually jump sky high when commercial developments are build close by. He also said that Clarkson Road is dangerous all the time and everybody has to be extra diligent driving up Clarkson Road to Manchester.

Compton had an amendment added that no music can be played at the site. ‘No speakers’ was added by Roemerman.  All voted in favor of that. Still, only Roemerman and Greg Sanborn (District 2) voted for the project while council members Vince McGrath (District 1), Compton, Mick Cahill (District 2) and Curt Boggs (District 3) voted no.

Jai-Jai Goldstein is a true legend in the power lifting world

 (Sooooo excited that this just appeared yesterday on the West Newsmagazine online site with my photos from the Affton meet! Shared it on Facebook, tagging recipient...with more than 200 likes and 100 comments already!)

There is no better indicator of Jai-Jai Goldstein’s power lifting stature than the announcer’s introduction at The Center in Affton on Dec. 10. The long-time Creve Coeur resident and 1975 Parkway North graduate turned to tears when he referred to her as “The Legend,” and added, “Everybody knows Jai-Jai!”

Goldstein is also known as “Mama Jai” because she has performed in the sport since 2005. At age 65, she is also the oldest lifter at both Broken Bar Bell in Weldon Springs and St. Louis Barbell in Ellisville, two of 10 such gyms in the area. She also coaches locally and volunteers at several sites, including the Ability Gym at Mid Rivers Mall.

But Goldstein’s longevity is overshadowed by her lifting achievements. She is a true power lifting phenom.

Born Jaime Lavine in Trenton, New Jersey, Goldstein, did not place in her first meet. However, she finished first in every meet she entered from 2012 through May 2022. All USAPL and USPA meets include squats, bench press and dead lifts.

Highlights of her career include being the current Missouri State Champ in her weight class/age division plus a list of nearly 20 first-place finishes in the rather small number of events in which she has competed. Goldstein has also excelled in the Missouri Senior Olympics State games. They don’t do squats or dead lifts there, only arm curls, leg press and bench.

She wasn’t sure she had a chance of placing in the recent Dec. 10 meet due to a good number of physical ailments and uncertainty about making her desired weight class. Most meets are done by age and weight categories; however, this meet was an open meet, meaning she was competing against all the other Masters, a category that starts at age 40. She was concerned because younger girls are stronger.

“I do a water cut to lower my weight because the less you weigh and the more you lift, the better the numbers are. It’s another mind game. This is the very first time I have not made the weight I wanted. So, I had to go up a weight class because I waited too long to eat properly. I usually do it six months clean cut and I only did three months. So, I was six pounds off ... but I knew it coming in.”

That said, Goldstein admitted that entering any meet, you don’t know how you’ll do because you don’t know the recent numbers of those who you will compete against. She used to pay close attention to statistics and observe others during competitions. However, if others missed lifts, there was always a question of whether she should go up in weight or do the same lift.

She added that on her third lift of each event, she usually goes for as much weight as possible. That’s because it’s more a matter of competing against herself. At this meet, she only missed her final bench attempt.

Fellow lifter Kendra Strong never ruled out Goldstein placing in December.

“She’s been terrific to compete against and to be around,” Strong said. “You never know ahead of time if you have a chance or not. One meet, I only had one successful lift out of nine. I’m pretty sure she’ll be near the top at the end.”

The words of Strong, who Goldstein refers to as “a crazy Strong lady,” proved to be prophetic.

“The meet winner I competed against was freaking strong. She said, ‘I’m close to your age aren’t I?’ I said, ‘How old are you?’ She said she was 54. I told her, ‘I’m 11 years older than you.’ That’s a whole different ballgame and she’s an incredibly strong Masters. I was shocked that I even took second in that group!”

Goldstein was spurred on not only by the announcer’s words, but also encouragement from fellow athletes and the crew from one of her gyms.

“My mind goes elsewhere like thinking, ‘I can’t do this,’ but they told me, ‘Yes, you can! Think positive!’ One day, they’re supporting me; the next day, I’m going to support them. Also, the cheering was just amazing!”

Goldstein shared that her crew is always a huge help. They spot you, write you programs, and help with nutrition. Every person at the gym has some little area of expertise that everyone else doesn’t have. Some don’t lift. They just become cheerleaders. Also, people bring you food and drinks, she said.

Goldstein got involved in power lifting after joining Club Fitness in Creve Coeur where she worked out with niece Allison Lavine-Lindberg, a 2003 Parkway North grad.

“We met a trainer there named Chris Glover,” Goldstein said. “We signed up with him and he eventually started his own power lifting gym called Crossfit Maryland Heights. A couple years into it, he said, ‘Hey! Do you want to try some power lifting?’ He entered the three of us in a local power lift meet (in Wentzville around 2005). I took last place (as the oldest female competitor) and they both took first. But it snowballed from there because of Chris. He just competed in Columbia a couple months ago where I judged. They won the team title there. You want to talk about full circle! He’s a great trainer! Because of him, I’m still competing and now I’m a national judge. I owe it to him!”

Although excelling in the sport, Goldstein does also like being a referee or judge. However, she shared, “You always have to know your stuff as a judge. I’m constantly studying the book, including the week before I’m going to a meet. Even though I know the rules, I’m studying more to freshen up.”

Competitor, referee or judge still takes a back seat to the people she has met along the way.

“Put aside all the records, trophies and medals because the highlight is meeting the incredible amount of people from all over this country with whom I’ve become very close friends. Also, it’s a sport that doesn’t care how old you are, the color of your skin, how much you weigh, what your gender is or what you do for a living,” Goldstein said.

One of those people is Sara Kotthoff, who Goldstein introduced to the sport. At first, Kothoff was doing a limited amount of lifting due to an injury. She credits Goldstein with a good amount of her success.

“When I decided to do my first meet in October (2022), she loaned me one of her singlets so I could try competition without incurring any significant cost,” Kotthoff recalled. “She also made sure she was officiating at that meet and we shared a room. The support and encouragement was very much appreciated. She is truly the grand dame and is one of the women who showed me what I can be capable of at any age.”

Goldstein’s sports career began at Parkway North Junior High with volleyball, which is still her favorite sport. She believes every sport is 50% mental.

“But my mental is getting me physical and my physical is keeping my mental alive,” she said.

Although she is having total right knee surgery in March, she is hoping to be able to compete before the end of 2023. She shared that in power lifting, even if you have arthritis, you’re still moving. Realizing that she is going to be off for three-and-a-half to four months, she said she will try to ref, if she can. If not, she can work the table.

“Again it’s mindset; how fast am I going to do my (physical therapy)? I came back from my ACL/MCL (repaired) in three-and-a-half months playing competitive ball,” she said. “But this time, it’s my total right knee, so I have no clue.”

Goldstein added that working out and competing has helped her deal with the absolute greatest love in her life – being a grandmother to Henry, who lives in town.

“I babysit for him every week and I want to be able to keep going, to lift him up and into the air and keep crawling along the floor with him. We make forts and we paint. I know that in another year, he’s going to go to pre-school and I’m going to cry even more. I try and freeze time with him as much as I can because he’s my everything! He is my favorite human!”

Aside from power lifting and being a grandparent, Goldstein’s passion is her career. She started CPR-N-MORE with a fellow clinical instructor in 2006. In 2019, Goldstein became the sole owner of the company, which offers a wide variety of training classes which include first aid, first aid in the wilderness and CPR.

“In a nutshell, I teach people how to save lives,” Goldstein shared.

With several state and national records in tow, Goldstein said that after recovering from surgeries, she would also like to get her first attempt at competing for a world record. She shared that she’d like to be lifting into her 90s.

“It’s eluding me. But someday, that’s a goal of mine. At this age, we have to keep moving,” Goldstein said. “I don’t care if I lift just 5 pounds. We have to keep moving because we know the alternative.”

Ellisville police chief looks at the challenges of recruiting, retaining top cops

 (This article just hit today's print copy of West Newsmagazine.)

“We have a unique opportunity in the police department to assign a police officer full-

time to the St. Louis County and Municipal Police Academy,” Ellisville Police Chief

Steve Lewis explained to the City Council on Dec. 7. 

Lewis was looking to gain approval from the Ellisville City Council for that action and for permission to hire a replacement for the Academy-assigned officer. He noted that the dual opportunity would actually allow the police department to be fully staffed and save money on its salaries while aiding in the training of future officers. 

“This opportunity entails his full salary and benefits be paid for by the Police Academy (funded through St. Louis County tax dollars),” Lewis explained. “We pay them and they reimburse us every month. So there’s zero dollar impact on our department.

Lewis was looking to gain approval from the Ellisville City Council for that action and for permission to hire a replacement for the Academy-assigned officer. He noted that the dual opportunity would actually allow the police department to be fully staffed and save money on its salaries while aiding in the training of future officers. 

“This opportunity entails his full salary and benefits be paid for by the Police Academy (funded through St. Louis County tax dollars),” Lewis explained. “We pay them and they reimburse us every month. So there’s zero dollar impact on our department.

“The benefits to this are: 1) It will allow for movement within our agency, and 2) we get the prestige of having an Academy instructor review recruits as they go through (and) impact recruits; and the training that’s conducted in the St. Louis region at that Academy will have an Ellisville stamp on it with an Ellisville officer involved in that training. It will also allow us to bring another officer into our staff and will add an additional $6,000 into our department annually in savings because whoever we replace him with will make considerably less money even through the promotions required to fill the position.”

Lewis has an officer in mind, a lieutenant. He added that there would be no negatives in sending the anonymous lieutenant to the Academy because he is in the twilight of his career and part of the agreement is that if he comes back to Ellisville, he will no longer retain the rank of lieutenant.

Mayor Mike Roemerman asked if having an Ellisville officer on staff would give the city the benefit of a first look at candidates coming out of the Academy.

“One of the huge benefits to us is that he is going to be in charge of every recruit class, and therefore … he can definitely see the progress, see how they’re doing in the Academy and the big sales pitch is, quite frankly, every new police officer who comes through the St. Louis County and Municipal Police Academy will have an Ellisville police influence on them. So, not only do people learn through osmosis how great we are, but I’ll actually have a guy down there who, although his first job won’t be recruiting, (will) absolutely have first look at the ability to identify potential solid Ellisville police officers.”

Lewis later added that not only is the Academy position a prestigious one, but that the assigned officer “will receive training as an instructor in multiple disciplines, which can then be brought back to Ellisville.”

The council agreed to that. The council also unanimously agreed to pass an ordinance for the contract with the county.

“I find this to be a creative way of advancing your police department and possibly finding us new recruits,” council member Dan Duffy (District 3) said. “I want to congratulate you on that. At the end of your note, you talked about in the future wanting to add a new officer, and I am definitely in favor of that. As you know from our discussion when you first came on, that it’s a very high priority to me and as a council, the sooner we advance that the better. 

“We have very little crime here in Ellisville. Criminals that have some brains know that we respond very quickly and professionally. Your CPU (Community Policing Unit) officer has a great relationship with many of the residents and children in the city of Ellisville, and you’re to be congratulated for advancing that cause, too. It’s far and away the most effective way to maintain lawful residents and businesses.”

Lewis is no stranger to effective policing, especially when it comes to West St. Louis County. 

Though he began his career as an officer with the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department, he went to work for Chesterfield Police four years later. There, he served for 24 years in a variety of capacities before being sworn in as Ellisville’s Chief of Police on May 17, 2017.

Lewis also serves on the Police Academy Board of Managers and board of the Major Case Squad. In September 2021, Lewis earned the Dan Linza Eagle Award as a top member of the FBI National Academy in the realm of its mission to serve and protect U.S. citizens. Lewis served as president of the National Academy Eastern Missouri Chapter in 2019.

So perhaps it’s not surprising that Lewis was chosen to be the keynote speaker at the Police Academy graduation at the Maritz Auditorium on Dec. 15. Training for the officers in that class had begun six months earlier on June 27, 2022. Lewis taught their class on ethics.

Of his keynote address, he said, “I spoke about the concept of the thin blue line and what it truly means to me as well as the need for ethical policing as in doing the right thing when no one is watching. Also, being responsible to the communities that we serve and never forgetting that we all got into this profession with one goal in mind: That is to help people most often at some of the worst times of their lives.”

In talking with West Newsmagazine after that event, Lewis noted that keeping those goals in mind can assist officers throughout their careers. But he also addressed some of the challenges faced by today’s police officers compared to just a decade ago and how hard it is to find new recruits.

“There is a significant lack of persons who want to be police officers in society,” Lewis said. “Much of this stems from the negativity of the vocal minority who have tried to push an anti-police mentality. 

“I believe that most people understand that defunding the police is a bad idea and not even really related to what many of the people who called for it believe. What is needed is the funding of alternative programs, mental health response and alcohol/drug addiction programs. That cannot come at the cost of losing police officers.”

That said, Lewis added that he truly believes that the vast majority of people in our society still respect the police but it’s often the vocal minority whose words and actions are followed by the media. 

However, its not just the words, or even the actions, of the vocal minority that is causing a shift in policing. 

Economics also plays a major part of the equation, Lewis said. Oftentimes, communities are unwilling to pay a good, fair salary for quality police services. He added that when he became a police officer in 1989, it took three times his salary to buy a middle class home. It now takes four to five times the salary of current officers to buy that same home. 

He noted that police departments are competing for a limited number of new recruits and cities must be willing to offer pay and benefits to entice the best of the best.

                          Chesterfield officers Trevor Keathley and Adam Krueger (Source: Chesterfield PD)

Of the 16 recent Academy graduates, only three will be serving on municipal forces in West St. Louis County. Officers Adam Krueger and Trevor Keathley are serving in Chesterfield while Officer Patrick Wixted is serving in Creve Coeur. Six of the graduates are now members of the County Police Department, four have been hired by University City and one each are on the Ferguson, Hazelwood and Pacific forces. 

                                 Creve Coeur Officer Patrick Wexted being sworn in. (Source: CCPD)
According to salary.com,  the average police officer salary in the St. Louis region is $60,600 as of Nov. 23, 2022; the range typically falls between $56,700 and $66,000. This data is confirmed by data released in May 2021 by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, which noted that the annual mean wage for police officers in Missouri was $56,610. 

While money certainly plays a role in attracting police recruits and retaining quality officers, a far-more critical issue is the overall stress on officers and their families.

Lewis noted that the proliferation of guns and violence makes the officer’s job far more dangerous than ever before, which is one reason why the Academy and organizations like the Fraternal Order of Police put so much effort into training and mental health resources.

Lewis is very familiar with the St. Louis County Wellness Program that is available to all new officers. He also is chairman of the Eastern Missouri Peer Support Council, a group that is dedicated to training people from every police department to provide peer support in an organized fashion. This is also supported by a state statute that requires mental health check-ins for officers in their departments.

“The level of suicide and mental health issues in law enforcement is exceedingly high. One study quoted a 54% increased risk for suicide. When you think about the job of a police officer, many of our contacts are during someone’s worst day, and these contacts may just be one of several in our day. Extrapolate that out for months and years and it is easy to see why it is so difficult to do this job,” Lewis said. “Add to that issue the recent move to second guess, defund and attack law enforcement officers, and you definitely have a recipe for stress.

“St. Louis County is taking a lead role in the wellness of their department members by offering social programs and peer counseling. That being said, many municipalities, including Ellisville in particular, are leading the pack in providing peer support, wellness programs and other mental health resources to assist our officers in maintaining their own mental health.”

“We’re finally turning a corner in our profession where we realize that the mental health of our officers is a priority,” Lewis told the families and friends of the graduating officers during his keynote address.

To the graduates, he said being a police officer would mean being exposed to that which average citizens are not equipped to experience. 

“You’re going to save a life,” Lewis said. “You may be called to take a life. In this career, you will experience the highest of highs and the lowest of lows.”

Through it all, he urged them to “never forget the people we are sworn to protect” and to take care of each other. 

Residents speak out against Ballwin’s mosquito fogging

 (from a couple weeks ago in West Newsmagazine)

Just prior to the Dec. 12 public hearing on Ballwin’s 2023 proposed budget, a pair of residents voiced their concerns on one small section. Pat Mahon and Lori Bresnan share their concern regarding Ballwin’s long history of mosquito fogging. That topic is mentioned on page 121 of the city’s 168-page proposed budget.

"Pest control intends to minimize mosquito nuisance throughout the city," the budget proposal states. "Goals for the program include: 1) Fog both public and private streets weekly from mid-May through mid-September, and 2) Utilize larvacide tablets in standing water locations. This is performed  under contract with St. Louis County."

It was the first point that both Mahon and Bresnan fervently protested.

“I work with ecology, native plants; basically anything that’s related to plants and plant sciences, and I had a concern from a Ballwin citizen this evening,” Mahon said. “Ballwin is still using mosquito foggers with permethrin, and I just wanted to review a few things about the broadband mosquito fogging. I used to work at Monsanto so I’ve worked with a lot of controversial chemicals. Permethrin is actually not that hazardous to human health. It can give rashes, but that’s not really the main concern of why I’m here.”

In addition to itching and rashes, a mosquito also can carry a variety of diseases that can harm animals and humans. The most tried and true way to fend off the pesky pests is to call in the experts, who have access to repellents and specialty tools not available in the open market.

Instead, Mahon spoke of Missouri’s widespread interest in restoring native ecology with native plants. He noted that permethrin is an insecticide that is non-specific in its means of killing adult larvae and regular insects alike. He said flies, butterflies, bees and mosquitoes are all at risk.

“The way that foggers work, permethrin persists about 72 hours after the application,” Mahon said. “It moves into almost everybody’s yards. It kills a variety of insects, but is not very effective on its targeted one – the mosquito. There is very good mosquito control such as targeting the larval stages, and getting the public educated on getting rid of standing water. But the application of permethrin is old school. I know a lot of mosquito spraying companies like to promote it and sell it, and it can be effective if you do it in your own yard. But just driving down the street with fogging is not very effective.”

Mahon also mentioned his invitation to Grand Cayman Island for a 6-hour visit to the Queen Elizabeth Botanical Gardens. In that brief time period, they discovered that there was a broadband spread of permethrin throughout the island.

“It led to crop devastation in things we could view,” Mahon said. “One was actually an orchid that changed into a sub-species that was previously known only to be in the state of Florida. Now, we extended its range to that island because spreading permethrin killed all the native bees. We saw a bat dead.  Permethrin can kill small mammals, and bats are known as a predator of mosquitoes. We actually had their endangered iguana species going over to that dead bat, which would have killed the iguana from that pesticide.”

Bresnan also was adamant about the need for Ballwin to remove the pest control items from the budget. She previously had spoken about the issue at a board meeting in February 2014.

“Fogging without having a specific reason and a specific threat, is not acceptable by the EPA, the CDC or the American Association for Fogging," Bresnan said. "Also, more is not better. The first thing to do is the larvicides. The county has been doing it for 10 years. It works really well. They’re monitoring. They know.  They watch. They trap. They are testing each mosquito that they trap. They know how many. They know if they have West Nile. They know if they have Zika. If there is (any) in a certain boundary, they fog that (area).

"There is no reason to be doing otherwise, and it hasn’t been the standard for almost two decades. At this point in time, all these organizations that actually regulate the pesticides, they regulate the people who are handling the pesticides, and they all say that it is not acceptable to fog on a schedule and to fog without an actual threat. It is specific.”

Bresnan also spoke of a link she had on this very topic from the National Pesticide Information Center and the Environmental Protection Agency on a joint environmental study in conjunction with Oregon State University. She added that in previous years, Ballwin actually had the exact link on their own site in regard to mosquito fogging. The link notes suggestions for citizens to be indoors during the applications and to close their windows and doors, and to turn off air conditioning when the fog is going by so it is not pulled into the home. The precautions include bringing in outdoor pet food and water bowls, covering or removing children’s outdoor toys and fish ponds and baths. Staying out of the area until the pesticides dry is also suggested due to the fogging residues that are left behind.

“I don’t understand, the state doesn’t understand, the attorney doesn’t understand, and the scientist doesn’t understand why Ballwin is still fogging,” Bresnan said. “Is there any insight you can give me on why Ballwin is still doing so much of this?  

"We have woods that are interspersed between everything, and those areas are where the mosquitoes are not killed by the fog; it becomes a part of them, then they become resistant and it’s a lot easier for them to breed. It’s happened in Florida, in Texas, and in a lot of other areas. And we are setting up the exact same position here to spread those areas out.”

During the budget public hearing, alderman Frank Fleming (Ward 3) noted that the Board of Aldermen had discussed the issue about a year ago in relation to notifying the county on whether or not the city wanted to use the county's program or to handle the mosquito problem itself.  

“The fact is that it’s in the budget right now just allows for spraying if we decide to do that,” Fleming said. “We’ll probably discuss it again this spring."

Alderman Michael Finley (Ward 1) addressed the topic in his aldermanic comments.

“My colleagues probably know where I stand on the issue. I researched it a few times in my tenure on the board, and I recall there are five factors to take into consideration when you make your analysis," Finley said.

He noted that as the chairman of the board's Public Health and Safety Committee, he can be contacted any time at MFinley@ballwin.mo.us, regarding the topic. He added that he would also entertain the possibility of holding a committee meeting to address this issue with any research and comments from citizens. 

Mexican Barrel House makes case for Houlihan’s Creve Coeur site

 (This is from a few weeks ago in West Newsmagazine. The old Houlihan's site will be utilized after being vacant for three+ years!)

Citing high rent and vastly increasing operating costs, popular restaurant chain Houlihan’s saw its final St. Louis area location close on Dec. 30, 2019. That site was located at 1085 N. Mason Road, just south of Olive, in Creve Coeur.

However, the Nov. 21 Creve Coeur Planning & Zoning meeting offered a good deal of hope for a worthy replacement for the building that was constructed in 1981. The new prospect, Mexican Barrel House, would be mostly a sit-down restaurant but with curbside pickup on its southeast corner away from the main entrance. The restaurant would serve traditional Mexican food and also Mexican barbecue via a proposed outdoor smoker. 

Former Houlihan's location in Creve Coeur...photo from The City of Creve Coeur

A conditional use permit request was presented to the P&Z Commission by architect Stewart MacGregor, of OSM, Inc. The site development plan calls for revised exterior elevations and a new outdoor patio area as part of the Bellerive Executive Park Plat 1 in this General Commercial District.

“The owner (Alfredo Flores) is trying to breathe life back into the old Houlihan’s,” MacGregor said. “They want to reface the exterior again and redo the interior."

MacGregor noted that city staff had commented on the need to dress up the site and make it more accessible.

“What we’re trying to do is use as much as the existing (9.044 square foot) building as possible without reinventing the wheel. We’re also aware of some of the things staff has made some comments on like upgrading the sidewalk width (from 5 feet to 6)," MacGregor said. "The exterior is not maintenance-free, and the proposal is to dress it up and give it as much maintenance-free material as possible.”

There were a few points of contention in the conversation that led to a decision for future discussions before a vote would be taken.

From a profit standpoint, Flores prefers occupancy of 220 indoor and 84 outdoor patio seats. However, City Planner Bethany Moore noted that there’s not enough parking to accommodate the 220 indoor seats. She said the site currently has 103 parking spaces whereas 110 are required based on seating numbers. As a result, the city staff recommends the indoor seating be lowered to 198 in order to comply. Moore added that outdoor seats are no longer counted in parking requirements.

Flores said he has been talking to neighboring properties regarding cross-parking, after which P&Z member Julie Labonte asked for details regarding any possible agreement.

“We’ve had some discussions with the property immediately to the south,” MacGregor said. “If we don’t get a cross-parking agreement that’s acceptable to the city, we have a backup to go down to 198 seats.”

Another issue is that onsite non-compliant lighting needs to be replaced since those fixtures are not downcast or shielded according to the city's current zoning code. The potential new owners would also need to replace existing trash enclosures that are beyond repair and repaint or replace an existing pole sign.

“The project includes an exterior remodel and a patio enlargement of about 700 square feet,” Moore said. “The site is in need of repairs and also includes some preexisting non-conformities such as being over the amount of site coverage for a commercial district. But the patio enlargement is exempt from site coverage calculations.”

Those items are all conditions for approval.

A new deck is also proposed and rooftop equipment would have to be screened appropriately. Landscaping needs to be added for parking spot islands and work is needed around the building, although some trees in bad condition have already been removed.

By far the greatest area of concern seemed to be the building’s proposed color scheme.

“Staff does have concerns about the very dark, almost black color that was chosen,” Moore said. “Design guidelines do mention that exterior materials are supposed to blend in with surrounding buildings. There aren’t any examples around it, or in the surrounding Creve Coeur area, regarding commercial buildings that would relate to that dark color. So, staff has recommended that the Planning & Zoning Commission review the colors of those exterior materials to see if they’re in compliance with existing and surrounding buildings.”

P&Z member Rhonda O’Brien wasn’t sure about what would be looked at in the area regarding building color comparisons.

MacGregor responded that just a block south on Mason is Bellerive Commons featuring very dark buildings by the lake with entirely black facades. 

“How far do you go when you ask ‘in the area?" MacGregor asked. “There are different materials up and down Olive that are very dark. If you look at Houlihan’s, it kind of stands out with a very light, yellow color. So, we’re trying to make it a little less sore-thumbish.”

“You’re right,” said Jason Jaggi, the city's director of community development.  “There are buildings that are a little dark if you go around the area, but yours with that color and the masonry, it’s very dark; almost black-stained with a red roof. It’s not going to blend in, but the existing building with a cream color doesn’t, either. This is our chance to make it a little better. We all want to do that. Our guidelines do speak to compatibility of colors.”

P&Z member Thomas Buelter asked MacGregor how flexible they are regarding color. The response was that they would work with staff on whatever compromise was necessary.

“It’s a very special place for me because that’s where my wife and I met over a decade ago,” MacGregor said.

Regarding another Buelter inquiry, Flores gave the restaurant's proposed hours of operation as 8 a.m.-10:30 p.m. daily, except for an 8 p.m. Sunday closing time.

“One of the things we’d like to address is some type of advertising,” Flores said. “When you drive on Olive, you can barely see the building. Also, there will be music during regular hours, but no later than 8 p.m. We try to be as accommodating to neighbors as we can.”

Flores has been affiliated with several area restaurants since 1992 including managing a Chevy’s Fresh Mex and being employed at Casa Gallardo and Olive Garden restaurants.

“We decided we wanted to open one of our own,” he said. “We currently have one on Dorsett and 270 called Casa Juarez. So, this one will be like a branch of that restaurant. We’re willing to work with all of you as much we can so we can get this project going.”