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MARCH 6-12, 2019

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THE LEDE

“I think it’s really important to know is that we think that women have certain rights, that they’re guaranteed. They’re not guaranteed. The right to vote is not guaranteed. The right to reproductive choice is not guaranteed. To be in a democracy means to be ever vigilant.”

PHOTO BY THEO WELLING

JOAN LIPKIN, ACTIVIST AND THEATER ARTIST, PHOTOGRAPHED AT THE OLD COURT HOUSE DURING THE STOP THE BANS! RALLY FOR ABORTION ACCESS ON THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 9 riverfronttimes.com

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Finding Answers

everal weeks ago, the mother of a young man locked up at the City Justice Center called us. No mother likes knowing her son is in jail, but she was terrified. Her son, who is mentally ill, had been savagely beaten by fellow detainees in what prosecutors now say was a guard-sanctioned attack. For this week’s cover story, RFT contributor Ryan Krull spoke extensively to the mother, but also sorted through public records, interviewed ex-guards and reviewed footage of the attack. He came away with not only a story of a beating but of a pattern of problems at the jail. It’s strong, important work, and seeing it come together was a reminder that often newspapers are the only option for people too easily shoved aside, including at least one frightened mother. —Doyle Murphy, editor in chief

TABLE OF CONTENTS Publisher Chris Keating Editor in Chief Doyle Murphy

E D I T O R I A L Digital Editor Jaime Lees Interim Managing Editor Daniel Hill Staff Writer Danny Wicentowski Contributors Cheryl Baehr, Eric Berger, Jeannette Cooperman, Mike Fitzgerald, Eileen G’Sell, Ryan Krull, Andy Paulissen, Justin Poole, Jack Probst, Theo Welling, Ymani Wince Columnists Thomas Chimchards, Ray Hartmann Editorial Interns Phuong Bui, Zoë Butler, Madyson Dixon A R T

& P R O D U C T I O N Art Director Evan Sult Production Manager Haimanti Germain M U L T I M E D I A A D V E R T I S I N G Associate Publisher Colin Bell Account Managers Emily Fear, Jennifer Samuel Multimedia Account Executive Chuck Healy Director of Public Relations Brittany Forrest

COVER Criminal Behavior

C I R C U L A T I O N Circulation Manager Kevin G. Powers

A brutal jailhouse beating and the search for justice in the City Justice Center

E U C L I D M E D I A G R O U P Chief Executive Officer Andrew Zelman Chief Operating Officers Chris Keating, Michael Wagner VP of Digital Services Stacy Volhein www.euclidmediagroup.com

Cover illustration by

NOAH MACMILLAN

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INSIDE The Lede Hartmann News Big Mad Feature Cafe Short Orders Reeferfront Times Culture Savage Love 6

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HARTMANN Who Wants to Be Chief? Local police-chief openings won’t create a stampede BY RAY HARTMANN

he two top police-chief positions in the St. Louis area have just become vacant, and applications are now being accepted. In other employment news, window-washer jobs abound in hurricane country. And local companies are offering opportunities to handle radioactive materials with half-lives of 24,000 years. The most prestigious jobs in local law enforcement are not the most desirable. In both city and county, the highest posts probably should be reserved for the highest applicants. Chief John Hayden announced last week that he would retire in February from the top spot in the city. That came less than six weeks after county police Chief Mary Barton let it be known that she was leaving to spend more time with her $290,000 sex-discrimination settlement from the department. Hayden was on the job less than four years, Barton just fifteen months. Neither of the two will have a statue built for them, but apparently each had a fine career spanning decades of service — until hitting the wall as chief. Mind you, running a major metropolitan police department in 2021 is no piece of cake. Especially not in a city known as the murder capital of the nation — unless Chicago or Detroit might be having a bad week. Throw in a pair of racially torn police forces known for low morale and a wide array of management issues and you’ve got quite a task. Oh, and did I leave out navigating the warring and often irrational politicians? Even in placid police departments, the job of chief requires a rare blend of skill sets. A chief must know everything about the technical and strategic aspects of police work and must possess

high-level management and motivational skill, integrity, fairness — and the ability to inspire, or at least build trust among, members of divergent communities. To accomplish the latter requires sharp communications skill, especially in dealing with the news media. It was obvious that neither Hayden nor Barton were suited for that part of the job, especially not Barton. They were better candidates for the Witness Protection Program than the office of police chief, and failed miserably as the respective public faces of their departments. (And that’s not counting Barton’s legendary whiff of a question on systemic racism in which she denied its existence during the George Floyd protests.) The part could and should have been vetted and perhaps next time will be. Meanwhile, as to that path forward, just spin the wheel, especially in St. Louis County. Ah, the county police department. In the past two years, it has lost a $20 million LGBTQ discrimination verdict — settling for a paltry $10.25 million — in the case of then-Sgt. Keith Wildhaber. Then there was the aforementioned sex-discrimination settlement with Barton, the county’s first-ever female chief. And multiple race-discrimination lawsuits are pending from Black officers, including one from Lt. Col. Troy Doyle, a Black man who seemed a consensus choice for chief until he wasn’t. Let’s see, that’s LGBTQ sex discrimination, female sex discrimination and potentially race discrimination. Maybe they should try to run the table by hiring and firing an elderly disabled Jewish police chief. Just a thought. You’ll recall it was County Executive Sam Page caught on tape promising Doyle he would be selected chief because “the police board will do what I tell it to do” — until they didn’t — whereupon they settled on Barton as a compromise choice. And then Doyle sued them. Adding no small amount of intrigue was the apparent role in Barton’s selection — albeit a hazy and unconfirmed one — of Barton’s predecessor as chief, Jon Belmar. By amazing coincidence, Belmar is the security chief hired by Centene CEO Michael Neido-

Mind you, running a major metropolitan police department in 2021 is no piece of cake. Especially not in a city known as the murder capital of the nation — unless Chicago or Detroit are having a bad week. rff, who along with his company and its executives represents by far Page’s largest campaign contributor. Presumably that means nothing, maybe. But it’s the great X factor. Meanwhile, six weeks after Barton left, sources tell me that internally officers haven’t even been informed what ranks will be considered eligible for the next chief’s selection. So, it all seems so different from the last time. Or not. The city situation is different. There, the decision rests in the hands of St. Louis Mayor Tishaura Jones, which is encouraging since she has made some fine hires, notably acting Public Safety Director Dan Isom, who was widely respected as city police chief a decade or so ago. One would hope Isom will play a key role, since the chief presumably will report to him. But with all the problems of the city department, it seems obligatory for a national search to ensue. That should be interesting: St. Louis doesn’t merely have that horrific reputation for murders. The department’s history of racism — systemic and otherwise — is off the charts. For his part, Hayden claims hiring has been a huge challenge, helped not at all by the fact that the beleaguered city starts officers

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at substantially below the pay rates of many surrounding departments, including the county’s. And there’s the minor matter of being situated in the Neanderthal state of Missouri, a nightmare for law enforcement officials desperate to control gun violence. Perhaps no better metaphor for the trauma facing the next city police chief was provided by the classless reaction to Hayden’s departure announcement from one Jeff “I am Darren Wilson” Roorda, business manager of the city police union. Here’s what Roorda had to say, according to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch: “Speaking for myself, I really, really hope that John Hayden’s final act as police chief will be to apologize to St. Louis for the epic failures that have characterized his time at the top of this department. Violent crime exploded, police officers left in record numbers, and when it was time to stand up for his officers, he always ran the other way.” Roorda added that the city “needs a bold, collaborative leader willing to work with every single stakeholder” to get the crime problem under control. Roorda’s model police chief is Bull Connor. When this guy talks about collaboration, it’s in the spirit of “very fine people on both sides” in Charlottesville. For the record, Hayden is hardly responsible for the city’s increase in violent crime, nor for its racism, nor for its political dysfunction. No police chief could be. The same can be said of Barton in the county. No one person is likely to work miracles in the role of police chief in a place like St. Louis. So the smart path is to maintain lowered expectations and a sense of realism. To the extent that unexpected success might lie on the horizon for the next two major police chiefs, keep the doors open. But nobody’s going to be kicking them down. n Ray Hartmann founded the Riverfront Times in 1977. Contact him at rhar tmann1952@gmail.com or catch him on Donnybrook at 7 p.m. on Thursdays on Nine PBS and St. Louis In the Know with Ray Hartmann from 9 to 11 p.m. Monday thru Friday on KTRS (550 AM).

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RIVERFRONT TIMES

NEWS

The St. Louis Symphony Orchestra is one of many local arts organizations requiring proof of vaccination for its shows. | PHUONG BUI

In Forest Park, a Forest of Flags and Memories of War Written by

DANNY WICENTOWSKI

tanding ten feet tall each and weighing a combined 24 tons, thousands of agpoles lie planted across Art Hill in Forest Park. If set end to end, the rows would stretch eleven miles, a re ection of the country’s long and terrible road through twenty years of war.

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It’s a journey that’s only recently concluded with the U.S. formally leaving Afghanistan, though not without adding yet more loss, and more ags. Among the forest of ags is one representing Wentzville-born Lance Cpl. of the Marine Corps Jared Schmitz, one of thirteen U.S. service members killed on August 26 during a suicide bombing attack on the Kabul airport in Afghanistan. This is the third such Flags of Valor event, which has been held every five years at Art Hill since the terrorist attacks of September , . n , on the fifteenth anniversary, the organizers needed only , ags. This year required 7,582. But in this forest of ags, among the faces of twenty-somethings staring out from small photos clipped with dog tags, there is the sound of children. In one row, a little boy, impeccably dressed in a newsboy cap and vest, blows several piercing

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notes on his recorder as his mother, Krystal, snaps photos of the four-year-old from her spot on the grass. He’s too young, of course, to know much about war or what the ags around him mean. But when he’s older, when he does understand, she wants him to be able to see himself in this place. “I just want him to look back on this and see this as something he’s a part of,” she says. “I don’t know what he’s going to be when he grows up, you know? He might want to join the Army. This is something he can look back on and know what it was to experience this, and the people who lost their lives.” he ag memorial goes beyond just military service members. At the foot of the Grand Basin, the ags represent the first responders who perished in the 2001 attacks. Nearby, a woman named Laurie watches her two grandsons, ages

one and four, take turns gleefully blasting a stream of water from the pressurized hose of a fire truck parked onsite. “I just told them that we’re lucky to have people who fight for our country,” she says, describing what she told the two boys as they walked through the ags toward the firefighters and their truck. “They don’t understand a whole lot yet, because they’re so little, but they will someday.” At the top of Art Hill, in the shadow of the statue of King Louis IX, event volunteers Katy Kruze and Debbie Gui assist visitors with finding specific ags at which to pay respects. The feeling of walking through the rows can be a kind of out-ofbody experience, Kruze says. She mentions that she had helped one man locate si ags, all young men he had known and who had died in Afghanistan. “ ou see the ags, and there’s just no words,” Kruze offers. “To

After two decades, more than 7,500 have died in military combat in the War on Terror. | PHUONG BUI stand amongst them, and to just hear dog tags in the wind, it’s ... .” Next to her, Gui nods her head. She interjects to note that family members of Jared Schmitz, whose remains were escorted by thousands of people after arriving in St. Louis on September 8, have made multiple visits to his ag. Gui’s own son, an Army combat engineer, has only recently completed his service with the military and returned home to continue his life. She can’t help but think about how many people his age didn’t get the chance. “It hits close to home, to think about that,” she says. “To think that he wasn’t, but he could have been, a ag. Near the western edge of Art Hill, the man whom she and Kruze helped locate si ags is still working through the list. James Presson had spent 30 years as a police officer in t. eters before signing on as a civilian contractor with the U.S. Department of Defense. He deployed to Afghanistan in 2010, eventually spending two years working and fighting alongside soldiers decades younger than him. “I had the privilege of being boots on the ground with them,” he says. “I was a civilian contractor, but I served two years with the Army. wore a uniform, carried a ri e. just looked like the next guy — except I was 51.” On his visit to Art Hill last week,

The memorial was arranged over ten acres with thousands of flags. | PHUONG BUI

James Presson found flags for soldiers from his unit in Afghanistan. | DANNY WICENTOWSKI Presson wears the same dustcolored rucksack he carried in Afghanistan. The bag is stenciled with “JIMMY K,” an abbreviated nickname commended to him by a member of the 101st Airborne shortly after he arrived. Though Presson was an outsider, the unit accepted him as their own. But on November 1, 2010, a suicide bomber attacked the unit after their return from a patrol. The blast instantly killed Army Pfc. Andrew Meari and wounded Sgt. Jonathan Curtis. In the ensuing firefight, resson says he and

others struggled to cover ground on an embankment to reach Curtis and additional casualties. Pulling out his phone, Presson retrieves a photo he took of Curtis’ ag and dog tags earlier that afternoon. Curtis had been 24, three years older than Meari. “ urtis, he’s the one gave first aid to,” Presson recalls. “I thought that he was still breathing and showing signs of consciousness. I really thought that he was OK, and we patched him up and he got inside. I didn’t even know till later that he had died.

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“It just broke my heart,” he adds, “because I thought we did something.” Presson grew up already knowing the devastation of losing someone in war. His father perished in Vietnam in 1966, and over the years he says he came to lean on the veterans in his life for understanding and support. Now, walking through the ags on Art Hill with a list of six names, he’s hoping to provide similar support for the families of the young men he served with. But he knows that nothing can replace a loved one. In St. Louis, the family of Jared Schmitz is hurting in ways he knows too well. “With Jared coming home this week, my anxiety level was so high, because you know how the parents feel. I’ve been there when the knock comes on the door,” he says. With the evening sun sending golden rays of light through Forest Park, Presson reaches out to a nearby ag, smoothing the fabric and folding it over in his fingers. It does him good, he says, every time he touches a ag and thinks about what it means, and the soldiers carried in its fibers. “It warms my heart that there’s people who want to know, who want to come out and see this themselves and to be able to tell their grandkids about it,” he says. “I think that’s the part we have to learn, as far as healing. You do have to talk about it. Otherwise, you stay angry.” n

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RIVERFRONT TIMES

Search to Replace Chief Hayden Begins Written by

DANNY WICENTOWSKI

our years after taking the helm of the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department, Chief John Hayden announced last week that he will retire in February — a decision that’s now thrust the city, and its new mayor, into a familiar set of circumstances. In 2017, it was a different newly elected mayor, Lyda Krewson, launching a national search to replace then-Chief Sam Dotson, who announced his resignation after meeting with Krewson during her first full day on the job. The circumstances strongly suggested the new mayor had leaned on the chief to leave or be fired. That’s not how Hayden is going out. During a press conference on September 8, Mayor Tishaura Jones praised Hayden for “his willingness to work across administrations” and said he had acted as “an ally in our efforts to reimagine and improve public safety.” Jones said she had been “a little bit” surprised when Hayden told her that he would retire on the day of his 35th anniversary with the department on February 23, 2022. The search for a replacement begins immediately, Jones said, and will include candidates both from within the department and far outside it. “We will look nationwide, as well as locally, for our next police chief,” she continued. “They will have to be forward thinking and ready to collaborate with communities across the city and across this region. They will guide officers to focus on violent crimes and partner with community members to ensure responsive community policing and engagement efforts.” Under Hayden, Jones’ administration touted the launch of a Cops and Clinicians program that diverts emergency calls related to mental health issues to behavioral health professionals instead of police. The ideal chief would continue those policies, Jones said, and also work to identify policing issues that could be “better solved with behavioral health and civilian intervention.” Jones said her administration would engage in two listening sessions in October, while a survey available on the city’s website will collect suggestions from residents before an as-yet-to-be scheduled town hall. The process is broadly similar to the effort Krewson launched before picking Hayden in 2017, choosing the veteran commander of the city’s North Patrol division. The search had similarly featured a town hall, where six candidates faced a crowd of community members with questions about how they would police St. Louis. Protesters at that town hall repeat-

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Chief John Hayden recently announced he is retiring in February. | DANNY WICENTOWSKI edly shouted down Lt. Colonel Lawrence O’Toole, the then-interim St. Louis police chief who led the department’s response to protests that summer. His officers had arrested hundreds of people during demonstrations, leading to dozens of lawsuits and even criminal charges against a group of white officers accused of brutally beating a Black undercover cop they thought was a protester. (In 2020, O’Toole filed a discrimination complaint alleging he was passed over for the permanent role as chief because he

is white.) Although Hayden had not been chief during the 2017 protests, he had worked the streets as a commander and presided over protest details at the time. Asked during the press conference what lessons he drew from the challenges he faced as chief in 2017 after O’Toole, Hayden responded by pointing out that, unlike his predecessor, his officers’ conduct during the last four years had not sparked any national outrage or a stream of lawsuits.

“It’s about accountability,” he added. “I think we’ve learned that. I think that, to the people in my administration, [they know] that was very important to me, and I think it shows.” Picking a new chief can be messy business, and it’s no small boon to St. Louis that Hayden appears to be leaving on good terms. Meanwhile, in St. Louis County, the fight over the role of police chief triggered an explosive discrimination lawsuit from a prospective candidate, Lt. Col. Troy Doyle, who alleged earlier this year that County Executive Sam Page blocked his elevation to chief because he is Black. In July, the candidate who did get the job in the county, Mary Barton, tendered her own resignation after serving just fifteen months as chief. She’s filed a discrimination complaint of her own. As for Hayden, he appeared at last week’s press conference alongside Jones and Public Safety Director (and former St. Louis police chief) Dan Isom. Hayden called his four years as chief “an honor of a lifetime.” Referring to Jones and Isom, he said, “I want them to know that I’m extremely appreciative of them allowing me to be a part of this administration. This decision was carefully and prayerfully considered by myself and my family. We all believe that it is time for me to pass the proverbial torch.” n

House of Goods Pushes Past Thefts Written by

MADYSON DIXON

ast month, House of Goods was beginning preparations for the Afghan refugees arriving in St. Louis when thieves threw a wrench into its operations. Workers arrived on the morning of August 18 ready to organize donations and deliver furniture and other home goods to those in need only to find the catalytic converters stolen from the organization’s two delivery trucks. House of Goods is a nonprofit affiliated with the Islamic Foundation of Greater St. Louis, organized to help refugees get settled in. Although many of those who receive donations are Muslim, it isn’t a requirement. House of Goods opens its doors to anyone in need. Lisa Grozdanic, the Islamic Foundation of Greater St. Louis’ task manager and outreach coordinator, manages all of the House of Goods donations and deliveries. Grozdanic says this is the third time the nonprofit’s two moving trucks have been hit. With the trucks temporarily inoperable, volunteers were only able to pick up smaller items, such as clothes and food, rather than the larger items, like furniture.

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Habeebah Thomas sorts clothes at House of Goods for incoming refugees. | MADYSON DIXON The timing could not have been worse. Four Afghan families have already been placed with more expected to be arriving soon. Refugees typically hear about the service through word of mouth or through other organizations that House of Goods is associated with. This makes being prepared even more important. “Right now, with the Afghans coming and us collecting donations, we’re so packed, and we have so many pickups that we’ve had to cancel or put on hold,” Grozdanic says. “We’re so packed, and then when they stole the catalytic converter it was like everything was happening at the same time.” With House of Goods unable to make large deliveries, donations started piling

up at the intake center within a week. But both trucks have since been repaired. Grozdanic says this was done partially through donations and partially through the Islamic Foundation of Greater St. Louis. “The amount of donations we’ve received, thank God people have been very generous. So we’re trying to keep up by putting all the items away and at the same time collecting. Right now, since we haven’t had a truck, it’s been work,” Grozdanic says. “Right now, the most help you can give is your hands.” House of Goods accepts donations from 8 a.m. to noon Monday-Thursday and on Saturdays. If interested in volunteering, call House of Goods at 314-8333300. n

Texas’ Abortion Ban Fight Comes to St. Louis Written by

JENNA JONES

eading with her activist roots, Missouri Representative Cori Bush began a chant last week on the steps of the Old Courthouse. “When reproductive freedom is under attack, what do we do?” Bush asked the crowd. “Stand up, fight back!” the crowd chorused back to her. More than 100 people gathered on the steps and around the Old Courthouse to listen to Bush, St. Louis Mayor Tishaura Jones and other local leaders speak out against the six-week abortion ban in Texas and the copycat laws that are expected to follow. The Texas ban took affect on September 1, after the U.S. Supreme Court declined to act by a midnight deadline. The Court later voted 5-4 not block the law as opponents mounted a legal challenge. Abortion rights groups have fought the Texas ban, not only for its six-week deadline effectively banning abortion before most people know they are pregnant, but also for the way its structure, which allows citizens to sue anyone who helps someone obtain an abortion. Opponents have called that aspect an “abortion bounty.” Since the law passed, St. Louis-area clinics have said they’re preparing for an influx of patients from Texas. The organizations are also preparing for the possibility that Missouri’s Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals will uphold the eight-week abortion ban Missouri passed in 2019. At last week’s rally, speakers pledged they would not let reproductive freedom be taken away without a fight. “Let me be crystal clear, this is not just a Texas problem, it’s everybody’s problem,” Reproductive Health Services of Planned Parenthood’s St. Louis Region President and CEO Yamelsie Rodríguez told the crowd. “We don’t have to guess what a post-Roe world looks like. That day has already arrived if you’re a patient with a low income, if you live in one of the 90 percent of counties without an abortion provider, and now, almost certainly, if you are a patient who lives in Texas. Now is the time to get loud.” The rally drew a diverse group. Many held pink and purple signs that advocated to protect reproductive rights. There were mothers and their children, men and women, a protestor dressed up in a red cloak as a nod to the show The Handmaid’s Tale, and college students. The protest chants were backed up by passing cars honking along in solidarity. Ashton Otte felt attending the rally was the best way to show her support for the fight against abortion bans. She said

showing up and putting public pressure on legislators is the most important thing you can do besides vote. “So much of this legislation and decision making about people’s bodies happens in offices behind closed doors,” Otte says. “So to show up in person in large numbers, it really shows that we are real people being affected by these completely deranged bills and we won’t stay silent about it.” There were about five anti-abortion protesters who largely remained silent but began shouting at speaker Cora Faith Walker, a former state representative who now works as St. Louis County Executive Sam Page’s chief police officer. One man joined the pro-lifers early on, carrying two baby dolls and shouting “Black babies matter” throughout the speeches. He left after crowd members told him to quiet down.

Rep. Cori Bush shared her own abortion story, something she said she had never told anyone until that moment. Rodríguez said Planned Parenthood has never backed down from a fight before and they weren’t going to now. Jones and Bush also promised to do everything in their power to fight against the abortion bans. Jones said St. Louis “will not idly sit by” as Texans come to the area for care and “our city continues to face attacks from Jefferson City politicians who think they know better than we do about how to raise our families and make our own healthcare decisions.” Bush told the crowd she would continue to fight on the national level, pledging her support to the cause. She even shared her own abortion story, something she said she had never told anyone until that moment. The congresswoman then called on her colleagues to help her end the filibuster, pass legislation that would guarantee a woman’s right to choose in the event Roe v. Wade was overturned and expand the Supreme Court to “restore ideological balance.” Hours later, the United States Justice Department announced a lawsuit against Texas, describing the ban as unconstitutional. The rally ended the way it began, with another chant — this one begun by Walker. “We are unstoppable, another world is possible” could be heard down the street as the crowd dispersed, still carrying their pink and purple signs. n

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THE BIG MAD UNKNOWABLE THUNDER Lincoln’s legacy, Downtown’s dubious decline and the pro-life, pro-disease caucus Compiled by

DANIEL HILL

elcome back to the Big Mad, the RFT’s weekly roundup of righteous rage! Because we know your time is short and your anger is hot: A LOST CAUSE: In a moment of moral cowardice and breathtaking cringe, Missouri state Representative Tony Lovasco used Twitter this week to limply argue that President Abraham Lincoln should have his statue removed from Washington D.C. because he was just as “reprehensible” as slave-owning Confederate general Robert E. Lee. “If we insist on tearing down statues of reprehensible people, let’s at least be fair and balanced about it,” Lovasco tweeted, helpfully including a photo of the Lincoln Memorial alongside a video showing the statue of Lee as it was removed via crane from its pedestal in Richmond, Virginia. Lee’s removal greatly troubled the O’Fallon lawmaker, but, as Lovasco bravely pointed out from the increasingly deep hole he was digging, even though Lincoln didn’t “own literal slaves,” he did something just as bad! By which Lovasco meant “conscription to fill the ranks of the Union army,” because, duh, as any student of American history knows, “conscription is also a form of slavery” — surely setting up an endless discussion topic for future Civil War historians as they debate who the Civil War’s good guys were. (Hint: It was the side not fighting to defend slavery.) The doubling down continued, with Lovasco attempting to argue that, actually, of course he doesn’t support the Confederacy, he just “[finds] it odd that we tear down one oppressor’s statue while putting the other’s likeness on our coins.” It is weird how that works out, right? It’s almost like ending “literal slavery” was maybe a good thing? We would ask Lovasco his thoughts, but we’re all out of pennies. PRO-LIFE, PRO-PANDEMIC: There are no words for the rage we feel for women and people with uteruses in the United States right now. Imagine watching your rights be stripped away state by state, while all you can do is wait for the next election with fingers crossed.

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And if you happen to get pregnant before an election cycle could possibly replace the men in power who are taking your right to choose away from you, you’ll have to travel miles and miles to a different state to receive the healthcare you need — if you can even afford it. And, in the ultimate insult, the legislators who are taking aim at abortion access are the same people spewing bullshit about how a vaccine or a mask is a “personal choice” because it’s your body. These people love to point out supposed hypocrisy in the “my body, my choice” phrase when it comes to vaccines or masks, but refuse to think logically. A worldwide pandemic that could be stopped if certain precautions were taken by the individual is nothing like abortion access. One affects the individual, one affects those around the individual. Simply put: Women can’t spread pregnancy like you can spread COVID-19. If women could transmit a pregnancy to men, abortion access would never be up for debate again. Instead, we’re stuck in a world where women are forced to give birth to a baby that may die from COVID-19 because God forbid the Missouri legislature protects people over embryos. ELITE THINKING: Did you hear that the St. Louis Post-Dispatch says Alderman Jack Coatar told them that he’s talked to “a number of large downtown employers who have indicated they are going to seriously consider not renewing leases”? That sounds serious. If these power players are indicating and seriously considering, it’s probably time to do whatever they ask. Should we pull police from other neighborhoods to beef up patrols? Shoo panhandlers away with leaf blowers? Fully barricade all the roads and make downtown accessible only by helicopter? It’s just so hard to know what to do. Naturally, corporate deities, such as coal giant Peabody Energy, aren’t obligated to come out and explain themselves to the everyday simpletons who populate this city. Better to share their displeasure through the atmosphere of political hands so that it rumbles like unknowable thunder upon the masses. We can then offer as tribute whatever city resources we can gather in hopes of appeasing mysterious CEOs who may be thinking about whether it would be a good idea for them to research moving. And, yes, the heretics will shout into the wind that St. Louis’ power is in its varied neighborhoods, but that is the perspective of the small. No one can understand this city’s big picture until they’ve looked down on it from the windows of a highrise boardroom. n

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SEPTEMBER 15-21, 2021

RIVERFRONT TIMES

CRIMINAL A brutal jailhouse beating and the search for justice in the City Justice Center b y R ya n K R U L L

dward was already in crisis this spring when he was attacked by two inmates in his cell at the ity Justice enter.

Locked up since the summer of 2020 for alleged assaults on police officers during a mental-health episode, he had spent the better part of a year in the downtown St. Louis jail, and he was deteriorating,

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SEPTEMBER 15-21, 2021

according to his mother. In the month leading up to his arch beating, he’d subsisted on ramen from the commissary, forgoing entirely the meals served to him for fear the food was poisoned. He refused to let his mother come visit him, afraid that she’d put herself in harm’s way by setting foot in the J . he acute paranoia was a symptom of his mental illness, which various doctors have diagnosed as schizophrenia and bi-polar disorder, according to his mother.

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Though Edward was in the section of the jail for inmates with mental-health needs, everything about his environment exacerbated his underlying mental illness. His phone calls home had gotten shorter and shorter. He asked his mother why he was locked up and when he could go home. He did not understand why he was incarcerated, she says. And while many of his fears were rooted in delusion, he faced real, physical danger in the J . he RFT is using “Ed-

B E H AV I O R Surveillance footage from the CJC showed the events of the beating: After a conversation with two detainees, the Corrections Officer Demeria Thomas pushes the button that opens Edward’s door, authorities say. Antonio Holt enters and a beating can be heard as well as seen. Uninvolved detainees react to the sound, but Thomas orders them to “stay where you at.” She watches the attack happen, even as detainee Kevin Moore enters the cell. She eventually goes to the door and watches for a few more seconds before telling them to “come on outta there.” Thomas appears to look at the beaten Edward on the ground as one of the assailants mocks him on the way out. Thomas then returns to her desk. | SCREENSHOTS

ward” in place of his real name, because his mother worries for his safety.) The jail, billed as the more modern and safer of two city-owned facilities, has been overrun with problems, punctuated by overdoses, allegations of retaliation by guards and fiery revolts. ayor ishaura Jones toured the jail shortly after taking office and said she was “disappointed, shocked and frustrated” by what she saw. In that environment, Edward was an easy target.

A few minutes after p.m. on arch 22, Edward’s cell door suddenly opened. A barrel-chested detainee named Antonio Holt entered and began beating Edward, striking his neck and face, pushing Edward’s head back against the wall. The beating was captured on security camera footage from two angles. A few seconds

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into the attack, Edward appears to fall over the cell’s toilet. Holt pummels him while he’s down, picks him up and slams him against the wall. About 30 seconds later, another inmate, evin oore, enters Edward’s cell and joins in the assault. Edward falls into the middle of his cell, and the two men kick him as he lays on the ground. The gruesome security camera footage made the news both in St. Louis and in Continued on pg 17

SEPTEMBER 15-21, 2021

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CRIMINAL BEHAVIOR Continued from pg 15

places as far away as Finland. Just as shocking as what happened in the cell was the behavior of Corrections fficer emeria homas outside of it. n the moments before the attack, she is seen chatting with Holt and Moore at her guard station. Authorities say she pressed a button to open Edward’s door and watched as Holt walked into the cell and began punching the smaller man. At one point, another inmate ran toward the fight, but homas yelled for him to stop and stay where he was. “ he video in my opinion shows not only a single act of incredible violence, orchestrated by a CO; it is a re ection of the culture of the jail,” says Mark Pedroli, a civil rights lawyer who has been in contact with dward’s family and expects to bring a suit against the city on his behalf in the coming weeks. “ his isn’t a one-off incident, but represents a pattern of behavior that has gone ignored by supervisors.” Holt, the first man who appears to assault Edward in the footage, wound up in the City Justice Center after being arrested five times in three months in late and early . hree of the arrests were for criminal property damage, the other two for an assortment of charges including burglary and tampering with a motor vehicle. He is now facing an additional felony assault charge for the jailhouse attack. he other alleged assailant, Moore, was being held on a series of felony charges related to a robbery at Behrmann’s avern in south city. A security camera video of that incident had gone viral thanks to footage showing an unfazed bar patron smoking a cigarette and nonchalantly rebuffing oore from his bar stool, even as oore pointed a gun at him and other customers hit the oor. he patron was later dubbed “the world’s chillest man, and oore was arrested within hours. He eventually pleaded guilty to federal robbery and firearms charges but remains in the J on an assault charge for his alleged involvement in the attack on Edward. In addition to Moore and Holt, the corrections officer, homas, has also been charged with felony assault and is accused of facilitating the attack. A full minute into the beating of dward, homas walks toward his open cell door and slowly puts an end to the attack. “He’s dead,”

The City Justice Center, with a couple of windows boarded up after a revolt, has been the site of multiple problems in recent months. | DOYLE MURPHY someone yells. n his way out, Moore calls Edward a “bitch.” n the minutes after, homas calmly returns to her guard station and acts as if nothing has happened, even as wails of agony from dward’s cell ring out through the housing unit. She never reported the attack, and Edward was only able to get medical attention after another staff member saw his bruised and bloodied face. Edward suffered a concussion and severe injuries to his neck and face. His jaw could not open and he didn’t receive medical care until three days later, when he was taken to the emergency room. here, his mother says, a doctor simply touched his cheek and pronounced that it had healed.

dward’s mother, who asked the RFT to refer to her only as Louise, says her son has long struggled to manage mentalhealth issues, which came to the fore when as a teenager he began smoking and inhaling air duster. n , dward completed a two-year program in construction trades and moved to the t. ouis area where he found a job. But what seemed like progress uickly collapsed. he weekend before he was to start his new job, he suffered a psychotic episode, his mother says. He suddenly began to worry that his mom’s life was in danger,

that the police were trying to kill him and her. He called ouise late one night while driving and spoke to her in a frantic, barely coherent manner. he later learned he had been arrested hours later after a clash with police and charged with assault, armed criminal action and unlawful use of a weapon. he declined to comment on the allegations against her son for fear it could hurt any upcoming civil lawsuit or identify him and put him in more danger. hen dward first got to the City Justice Center, he wore only a hospital gown. And Louise says he was the victim of numerous incidents inside, even before the beating. Another inmate struck him in the face. espite being on suicide watch, his mother says, a thick strip of bedsheet dangled from the light fi ture in his cell. At one point, dward was maced and placed in handcuffs. Hands behind his back, he was unable to wipe the pepper spray from his eyes. “He doesn’t understand why he’s there,” Louise says. “He truly has trouble comprehending why he’s locked up.” She says it uickly became clear that her son, already in bad shape, was “deteriorating” in the CJC. He called her often in those early weeks, though the calls gradually got shorter and shorter, with Edward’s voice growing weaker and his words sliding further from reality. ouise called a social worker employed at the CJC who checked on

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Edward and found he hadn’t eaten even one of the meals served to him in a month. At the time, issues at the jail were often overshadowed by a fight to close the city’s other jail, the Medium ecurity nstitution, known as the Workhouse. Generations of detainees had reported horrific conditions at , but problems were mounting at the J . n ovember , -year-old evin avins died shortly after being taken into custody at the CJC on a probation violation. He was going through detox and, according to a police report, detainees near Cavins said he alerted jail staff multiple times that he was having a negative reaction to the medication he’d been given as part of his detox. In the police report, CJC staff say they conducted a wellness check on avins by confirming signs of respiration via the security camera. Pedroli, the lawyer who intends to represent Edward, is currently representing avins’ family in a civil suit against the city. He tells the RFT he has obtained the security camera footage, and in it Cavins shows no signs of breathing. “ f we can’t see him breathing on video, how can they?” Pedroli says. A month after avins’ death, three detainees in the CJC overdosed on the same night. All were taken to the hospital and recovered. A former corrections officer at

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CRIMINAL BEHAVIOR Continued from pg 17

the CJC who worked at the jail for two years before leaving this June tells the RFT, “There are so many drugs coming in by some crooked staff members and a lot of drugs coming through the mail.” The former guard, who asked we not use her name, says that K2, a synthetic marijuana, was the drug most commonly smuggled in, often after it had been soaked into “regular paper.” Sometimes, she adds, it even comes in on obituaries, birthday cards — you name it. “The inmates could smoke K2 all day long to where it was nothing you could do about it, because it was paper they were smoking and we didn’t know exactly what to look for.” In addition to the felony assault charges brought by the Circuit Attorney’s ffice, the federal epartment of Justice filed charges against Thomas in July, stating in the indictment that she violated Edward’s constitutional rights and “knowingly permitted two other inmates, A.H. and K.M., to physically assault” him. A source with knowledge of the feds’ case against Thomas says there is reason to believe the J may be looking at more widespread abuses of power by corrections officers at the J , such as offering drugs to motivate or reward detainees for doing the bidding of guards, including attacking or punishing other detainees on behalf of the corrections officers. Most of the issues at the jail have played out in relative obscurity, but that changed on February 6. At about 2:30 a.m. that day, more than 100 detainees took over the fourth oor of the J , breaking windows and throwing toilet paper and other debris — including the electronic controls for the cell-door locks and an elliptical machine — through the openings toward Tucker Boulevard. The revolt began with a fight between a detainee and a guard, then escalated when men from two different units on the fourth oor left their cells en masse, said then-Public afety irector Jimmie dwards at a press conference later that morning. Asked how the men were able to escape their cells, Edwards explained that “the locks don’t necessarily lock.” The revolt lasted six hours and was only quelled with the help of city sheriff’s deputies and police deploying mace. The events of February 6 made nationwide news. To those advocating jail reform, the CJC uprising was a sign of how inhumane

daily life had become for those in the jail during the pandemic. Michael Milton, then the advocacy and policy manager for the Bail Project in Missouri, told the RFT at the time that he had heard reports of detainees being forced to share cells with others who were “visibly sick” and that when detainees raised concerns about this they were retaliated against. Others characterized what happened as a riot rather than an uprising. “These were just very angry, defiant, very violent people that we house at the justice center,” Edwards said at the February 6 press conference. Whatever the proper name for what happened, two months later, in April, it happened again, this time on the third oor. Again, inmates broke windows and threw debris on the street. Again, the revolt made national news. ick esideri, communications director for the mayor’s office says that the ublic afety ivision has requested $20 million from the city to repair CJC after decades of neglect. The intent of the money is to fi locks and other “security infrastructure” that has been long neglected. The city’s ultimate goal is to better help detainees leaving incarceration avoid coming back, he says. he mayor’s office is focused on “reducing the city’s jail population and addressing crime at the root cause” to prevent people from ending up at the CJC in the first place. hey hope to do this, according to esideri, “through youth programming, through direct financial assistance from the American Rescue Plan, and all sorts of other things.” In August, Jones announced the hiring of Jennifer Clemons-Abdullah as the new corrections commissioner to replace ale lass who resigned in May under criticism over jail conditions and the revolts. A former corrections officer who was employed at the CJC during both revolts says of the aftermath, “Some inmates were in the same clothes with mace on them for days before they allowed them to get in the shower.” n ay, a lawsuit filed by three men who’d been locked up at the jail alleged that corrections officers regularly abused detainees, including arbitrarily forcing some into rooms and filling the rooms with pepper spray, a practice one supervisor referred to as letting people “marinate.” In August, video emerged of detainees sparring with and beating one another in a recreation room

Antonio Holt. | SLMPD

Demeria Thomas. | SLMPD

Kevin Moore. | SLMPD

for more than three hours as corrections officers and other detainees looked on from an adjoining area. Edward’s lawyer, Pedroli, says of the CJC, “Much like a failed state, it is a failed jail. … The violations are across the board.”

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As bad as the past year has been, the two former guards who spoke to the RFT say that many of the problems are nothing new. Jimmie Edwards’ comment that “the jail’s locks don’t necessarily lock” came as a shock to most, but one former corrections officer, who worked there for more than a decade before leaving in 2019, says, “The locks were a problem when I got there [more than ten years ago].” Problems at the jail were even worse than reported and included additional uprisings that didn’t make the news, according to one former guard who left the CJC in June. he e -corrections officer who left in 2019 says the jail administration bears much of the blame for the dysfunction. “We’d know that a number of cells all have messed-up locks, that other cells had messed-up toilets. o you think anybody is coming in and fi ing that stuff on a daily basis The answer is very much no. So what’s the point of me filling out that paperwork, if the administration isn’t going to have maintenance come and fi it The other former guard, who left in June, says, “Administration was a complete joke. They would always find fault in the officers and write them up no matter what the situation was.” She says corrections officers tried to alert the administration to large, looming issues in the jail, but “they never listened to the officers’ inputs on certain things when it came to the inmates, and that’s why riots broke out.” Both former guards describe the job as incredibly stressful. They say that the majority of corrections officers were women, and verbal harassment from the majoritymale inmates was common. And the anxieties of the job didn’t end with their shift. “This one person that you just released may be your next-door neighbor,” says one of the former guards. “ ne of my very first inmates I put in solitary was one of my next-door neighbors. He was like, ‘Hey, aren’t you that chick who lived on [the name of her street and had the red car live next door to you.’” There were also infestations, the guards say. he corrections officer who left in 2019 says the jail had a “fierce gnat problem as well as a colony of bats on the little-used si th oor who gradually migrated down. “One night I walked in, and there was a bat down in the main lobby,” she says. “I’m like,

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you’ve got to be kidding me.” Both former corrections officers described staffing shortages as a consistent, underlying problem. The former guard who quit in June says that the issue had gotten worse in recent months. Records obtained through sunshine requests by the RFT show that from 2016 to 2020, the City of St. Louis Division of Corrections was routinely at just 60 to 80 percent of full staffing capacity, due to vacancies and officers out on family and medical leave. That was worse than in past years. In 2017 and , staffing outages were and 25 percent, respectively. But in January 2019, it rose to 26 percent, and by January 2020, slightly more than one third of the department’s staff positions were unfilled or held by employees out on leave. This was before the full force of the pandemic made its way to St. Louis. By the end of 2020, a full 40 percent of the city’s Corrections Division staff positions were vacant or held by people out on leave. “People do abuse medical leave,” says the former guard who left in 2019. “I abused it.”

“Honestly, we would wait to earn our eight hours of sick time just to call off to get some type of break from that place,” says the other former corrections officer. “ he two off days we got wasn’t enough.” esideri says staffing hasn’t changed much in 2021, but the mayor is pushing to hire for open positions. he former corrections officer who left in 2019 hadn’t planned to quit the day she did. “I walked in one night, and between the gnats, bats and rats, I was just like, ‘You know what, I’m good. I’ve had enough,’” she says.

he felony assault cases against Thomas, Moore and Holt are slowly working their way through the courts. One month after the attack, despite the pending felony charge, the court allowed Thomas to take a planned four-day vacation to Puerto Rico. Pedroli was incensed. “My client is in his cell, languishing, unable to go back and see the doctor, which is what the ER doctors ordered him to do, and, meanwhile, the person who’s responsible for the attack on him gets to go on vacation?!” Pedroli told Fox 2’s Chris Hayes when news of the court’s leniency broke.

A few months later, in July, Thomas was again allowed by the courts to travel on vacation, this time to Orlando. Louise says that her son is still suffering the lingering effects of the attack. “Every time the door clicks, he panics because he thinks someone is coming in,” she says. “After months of not being able to open his jaw, it will open now, but it pops and clicks. He wakes up shaking uncontrollably. He’s in pain.” The motivations for the attack on Edward remain unknown. he former corrections officer who left the City Justice Center after working there for more than a decade says that she knew Thomas well and was surprised by the allegations against her. The ex-guard says she looked up to Thomas as a veteran of the jail and knew her as someone who treated detainees fairly. As an example, she tells the story of Thomas being carjacked while off-duty with her baby in the back seat. According to the police report from the incident, the carjacker had been armed and told Thomas to “get the fucking baby out of the backseat.” The man who stole Thomas’ car later ended up at the CJC, the for-

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mer corrections officer says, but Thomas hadn’t mistreated him. The video of Thomas seeming to abet an attack on an inmate confounded the ex-guard. At the very least, she says, Thomas would have known there was a camera pointed right at her. “When you needed help, Demeria was the one to call on. I believe there had to be something that happened in order for her to do that,” she says. Thomas and Edward have at least one thing in common: They both have court dates later this month. With the judicial system still working through the backlog of cases that piled up in the first year of the pandemic, it’s unclear how much longer Edward will be in the CJC, or where he will be headed when he does leave. “I’d like my son to get some mental-health help,” Louise says. “And I would like a clean sweep to go through the city jail and so the stuff that’s hidden can be exposed. There’s a lot more going on in that place than we know.” Ryan Krull is a freelance journalist and assistant teaching professor in the Department of Communication and Media at the University of Missouri-St. Louis.

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CAFE

[REVIEW]

Handheld Haute Cuisine ReVoaked Sandwiches places the culinary elegance of the much-missed Oaked restaurant between two slices of bread Written by

CHERYL BAEHR ReVoaked Sandwiches 12 South Euclid Avenue, 314-349-9017. Mon.-Fri. 8 a.m.-4 p.m. (Closed Sundays and Mondays).

he first thing you notice when you walk into e oaked andwiches — that is, after the into icating aroma of woodsmoke that permeates the room — is owner tephan edbetter, head down, methodically piecing together sandwiches with the focus you’d see on a fine-dining chef using tweezers to place microgreens on a poached piece of halibut. hough everything below his chin is obscured by the stunning, carved-wood half wall that separates the open line from the small dining room, you can tell by the way edbetter maintains his posture that, though he’s busy, he refuses to rush through a process as seemingly banal as placing sliced pepperoni atop a thin piece of cheese. t’s completely atypical for a fast-casual sandwich shop, even one in the entral est nd. t’s not, however, une pected from edbetter. rior to opening e oaked in ecember of , edbetter was co-chef at the beloved, yet short-lived, aked in oulard, an ambitious, elegant restaurant that sought to set the bar for hospitality in the area. he job was the realization of a dream for edbetter, a young upand-comer who got his start in the industry at a ountry itchen in rural llinois, and he took every opportunity there to apply what

The chicken popper sandwich with shredded chicken, garlic, jalapeños, cream cheese and crispy onions is a must-try offering. | MABEL SUEN he’d learned in culinary school and previous upscale dining gigs. And he was doing it. ogether with his co-chef, arl Hazel, edbetter received serious buzz for his thoughtful dishes and obvious technical abilities. ith a stellar front-of-house team, a beverage program that rivaled any in the city and a beautiful setting, it seemed like the sky was the limit for aked. ntil it wasn’t. After just eight months, aked closed, a shock to anyone who’d ever dined there and certainly a shock to the team, who threw their hearts and souls into creating a special place and lost it all to circumstances beyond their control the owners cited physical, emotional and financial e haustion in their closing announcement . edbetter was crestfallen and unsure of his ne t move until a small storefront with a “ or ease sign in the window caught his eye while on a stroll one morning through the entral est nd. ntrigued, he reached out to Hazel and asked if he’d be interested in chatting about a possible concept that would fit the

Chef-owner Stephan Ledbetter. | MABEL SUEN space. hough ultimately a partnership between the two didn’t pan out, that conversation gave edbetter the push he needed to

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take the leap to lease the storefront, thanks to a random comment Hazel made when he was

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REVOAKED

Continued from pg 23

looking at his computer. “You know, it feels like we’ve been revoked,” Hazel said, an observation that both spoke to Ledbetter’s soul and gave him the inspiration he needed to craft his vision for what would become ReVoaked Sandwiches. For Ledbetter, the name ReVoaked captured so much about what he was going through and what he wanted to do, moving forward after Oaked’s closure. He was disappointed, for sure, but he wasn’t bitter, and he saw the chance for redemption by way of doing something on his own terms. Sandwiches made sense for both the space and the neighborhood, but he wasn’t ready to give up everything he loved about upscale dining. Instead, he was going to figure out a way to continue to do what he loved — just between two slices of bread instead of on white china plates. Ledbetter has succeeded in carrying out that vision. Though not the only sandwich shop in the Central West End by a long shot, ReVoaked differentiates itself in just how thoughtful Ledbetter is about every last detail, from smoking his own meats to making his own condiments to even what he decides to toss his chicken salad in. The latter, an outstanding version of the café sandwich staple, pairs grilled then shredded chicken breast meat with both mayonnaise and Greek yogurt, giving it both creaminess and tang. Craisins add just a touch of sweetness, while celery, red onions, scallions and walnuts balance it out on the savory side. Ledbetter then places a generous scoop of the salad between two slices of thick, rustic toasted wheat bread that is hearty enough to stand up to the chunky filling. t’s one of the best versions of the dish around. A seemingly simple pesto and cheese sandwich is also otherworldly at ReVoaked. Here, Ledbetter riffs on a caprese, replacing the usual sliced tomatoes with a housemade tomato jam; its sweetness underscores the perfume of the peppery basil pesto. In place of fresh mozzarella, Ledbetter uses luscious burrata that forms a rich, creamy spread with the pesto and tomato jam, then accents the sandwich with a balsamic reduction and pickled red onions, and places it onto crusty bread that he pops in the oven to allow all the avors to meld together. Ledbetter elevates a basic BLT

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SEPTEMBER 15-21, 2021

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sandwich by using his tomato jam and adding avocado. However, the sandwich’s unexpected treat — thin slices of smoked salmon — make it a standout. Similarly, his Italian sandwich goes beyond the usual deli classic; using Volpi salami, pepperoni and coppa, he layers the meats with spicy cheddar cheese, then blasts the sandwich for a few minutes in the oven. In doing this, the meats release just enough fat to mix with the cheese and form a glorious sauce that soaks into the crusty bread. It’s a work of genius. ReVoaked’s take on the Cuban sandwich is more inspired than literal (it can’t be a true Cuban without that crusty, pressed Cuban bread), but it does a good job capturing the spirit of the Caribbean staple thanks to its mouthwatering smoked pork belly. The meat is so good, you would be happy if Ledbetter served it to you unadorned in a bowl, but the fact that he pairs it with excellent capicola, tangy Swiss cheese and zesty bread and butter pickles makes it magical. However, ReVoaked most proves its worth with its chicken popper sandwich, a dish that reads like nothing more than a stoner concoction but turns out to be one of the best sandwiches in St. Louis. For this masterpiece, Ledbetter pairs shredded chicken with cream cheese and jalapeños, making almost a bar-foodstyle warm chicken salad that he spreads onto toasted bread. Molten rovolone cheese tops the filling, but the piece de resistance are the crispy onions he uses as a garnish. It’s unclear what voodoo he uses to get this result, but somehow, the onions make the entire sandwich taste like a fresh-offthe-presses White Castle slider. There’s something bittersweet about that chicken popper sandwich. On the one hand, it likely wouldn’t exist had Ledbetter — and the rest of St. Louis — not experienced the loss of Oaked. It truly was a special place, one whose loss cuts deep considering its very short run. However, when you bite into that outrageous sandwich, the spicy, oniony goo gushing out from the sides of the perfectly toasted bread, you understand that there can be a bit of sunshine after the storm — especially with someone as talented as Ledbetter as the rainmaker.

ReVoaked Sandwiches “People and Their Pesto” sandwich......... $10 Chicken salad sandwich .......................... $10 Chicken popper sandwich ........................ $10

SHORT ORDERS

[OPENINGS]

Chatawa and Grand Pied Open in Tower Grove South Written by

CHERYL BAEHR

or more than a year Thomas Crone has been searching for a place to bring to life his vision for a bar that takes guests on a food-and-drink-inspired trip down the Mississippi River. Now, that idea has become a reality in the form of the dual-concept bar and restaurant Chatawa and Grand Pied (3137 Morgan Ford Road), which opened on August 18 in Tower Grove South. For Crone, a veteran barman and former co-owner of Tick Tock Tavern, Chatawa represents an opportunity to celebrate the rich traditions of the towns along the Mississippi River, beginning in St. Louis and ending in New Orleans. As he explains, the idea for such an establishment has been developing in his mind for a while and is inspired greatly by the side of New Orleans that goes beyond the caricature of the city so many associate with it. “I’ve been to New Orleans about nine times in the past three or four years, and every time I am there I try to go to new places,” Crone says. “What I found is that there are a host of great bars and restaurants in neighborhoods. I wanted to play with that, but not with the cliche. When you say this is a New Orleans-in uenced bar, people think of the caricature, but I really want to avoid that and re ect the idea of a merged vibe between St. Louis and New Orleans — understated for both of them; there aren’t going to be a bunch of arches everywhere just as much as there won’t be a bunch of alligators.” Crone’s idea for Chatawa, which

Chatawa, the bar side of the operation, features spirits and beers sourced along I-55. | PHUONG BUI gets its name from a small town in Mississippi, came into focus over the past year while working at Local Harvest Grocery. There, he got to talking with Brendan Kirby, chef and owner of Seed Sprout Spoon (formerly Local Harvest Catering) and Tony Collida, who was working with Kirby after being furloughed from his job running the kitchen at Civil Life Brewing Company. Kirby was in the process of relocating Seed Sprout Spoon from its home on Morgan Ford Road to a new location in Holly Hills, so the space would soon be available. The moment Crone stepped inside, he knew he’d found his spot. With the space secured, Crone asked Collida to partner with him on a restaurant concept that would be complementary to what he was trying to do with Chatawa. The idea spoke to Collida, and quickly the idea came together for Grand Pied as a small restaurant that operates inside the Chatawa bar. Separate but operating in concert with one another, both Chatawa and Grand Pied are organized around the food and drinks found traveling up and down Interstate 55 from St. Louis to New Orleans. Crone and Collida do not mean for this to be simply an intellectual exercise; the plan is to source as many products and ingredients as

Separate but operating in concert with one another, both Chatawa and Grand Pied are organized around the food and drinks found traveling up and down Interstate 55 from St. Louis to New Orleans. possible from the large and small towns along the route. Everywhere from Festus and Cape Girardeau to Memphis and Baton Rouge is represented in the form of beers, spirits and culinary tradition. Chatawa and Grand Pied have the aesthetic of such an establishment. Adorned in quirky artwork and tchotchkes, the setting has the well-worn feel of an estab-

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lished neighborhood bar, even though it’s only been open for a few weeks. Roughly twelve tables provide seating, and there are a few seats at the small, corner bar. Guests order food from Grand Pied by using a QR code at every table, and dishes are delivered by the bar and restaurant’s staff. Collida describes Grand Pied’s offerings as regional by default; because he uses as many local ingredients as possible, his dishes take on the air of the issourito-Louisiana route, something he’s excited to explore. “I say this is American food in the sense that I am trying to keep as much as possible from the South and Midwest,” Collida explains. “We’ll have a version of green bean casserole — albeit an elevated one — and beignets, and then we want people to be surprised by everything else.” On weekday nights, Collida thinks of Grand Pied as a testkitchen complement to Chatawa, serving food that suits a cocktail bar. On Sundays, however, he gets to go all-in on brunch, which he is particularly passionate about. Chatawa and Grand Pied are currently open Wednesday through Saturday from 4 until 10 p.m. and Sundays from 9 a.m. until 3 p.m. Click through for more photos of Chatawa and Grand Pied. n

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RIVERFRONT TIMES

[ S W E E T T R E AT S ]

Macarons at Macs by Belle Draw Hungry Crowds Written by

CHERYL BAEHR

f you’ve been to the Tower Grove Farmers’ Market over the past few months, chances are you’ve heard the buzz about Macs by Belle, a new macaron outfit owned by up-andcoming baker Laura Branson. Just two months into business, the singularly focused bakery has developed a robust following thanks to its stunning macarons, regularly selling out well before the market closes. According to Branson, the response has not just been exciting to watch happen — it’s been completely unexpected. “It’s been shocking,” Branson says. “ he first market, brought 400 macarons and sold out in two hours. The next one, I brought 550 and still sold out at least an hour before closing. The feedback has been so wonderful. People have been coming up saying that they saw someone enjoying them on the sidewalk, so they’ve been coming to my booth from word of mouth, and I just started getting orders from there. The market has been such a great opportunity for me.” Not that long ago, Branson would never have imagined herself to be a macaron baker with a growing business. A longtime home baker, she traces her passion for the kitchen back to her immigrant great-grandparents who infused everything they did with love. She inherited their love for baking, but she never thought it was a career path she would follow, opting instead to go for the safe bet of a job in the health-care industry where she works in billing. Baking has always been a way for Branson to indulge in her creative inclinations, and about five years ago, she started tackling macarons. She had come across a recipe and was instantly intrigued because of how fancy they looked, but also because there was no limit to what you could create using

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Macs by Belle is serving up a kaleidoscope of macarons at Tower Grove Farmers Market. | COURTESY OF MACS BY BELLE them as a jumping-off point. She made her first batch as a gift for her son’s godparents following his baptism, and though she wasn’t thrilled with the result, she was determined to get better. “ hey are so difficult to make, because you have to use the right our and take into account whether it’s humid or raining,” Branson says. “But I don’t think I would have been attracted to them if they weren’t so difficult. f had chosen anything else, I would’ve been bored. ’m definitely one of those people that wants to throw 200 percent of my energy into something, do it, then move on, but this is the one thing that has continued to challenge me.” Branson might have continued simply making her macarons as gifts for friends and family, but they wouldn’t stop cheering her on and insisting that she explore

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whether she could make an actual business out of her talents. After connecting with the local food incubator and commissary kitchen STL Foodworks, she learned the ins and outs of setting up her business. With the help of its manager, Daniel Movitz, she felt ready to take the leap. As soon as he connected her with Tower Grove Farmers’ Market, there was no turning back. Branson has big plans for Macs by Belle. In addition to taking on more special-order business, she hopes to launch a monthly subscription box in time for the holidays, though she is taking that slow considering she still holds down her full-time medical billing job. In the meantime, she’s developing more and more avors, all built around her desire to bring to life things that remind people

of the dishes they enjoy, like apple pie, or some of her more whimsical avors such as butter beer and Fruity Pebbles. She hopes that, in just a matter of months, she will be able to dedicate herself fully to Macs by Belle, where she believes the sky will be the limit to what she can do with her business. “I’m just now at a point where I am ready to retire my other job,” Branson says. “My husband is getting ready to graduate from nursing school and will be finished in the spring. We’re waiting for that safety net because it’s scary to give up a full-time paycheck. But when he’s finished, ’m going to say goodbye to health care and do what I love. For years, I’ve been telling him that I just want to be in the kitchen and bake macarons, and now that it’s happening, I can’t believe it.” n

HELP WANTED ST. LOUIS AND SURROUNDING AREAS

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REEFERFRONT TIMES

[WEED NEWS]

High Gear Heya Wellness closes out a busy summer with launch of new vape and edible product lines Written by

DANIEL HILL

apping off a busy summer that saw the opening of five Missouri dispensary locations under its brand, including St. Louis-area shops in St. Ann and St. Peters, Heya Wellness has rolled out two new product lines. Building off of its successful cultivation operation, which has seen its products — including ower strains Runtz, Grease Monkey and Duct Tape — become wildly popular throughout the state, Heya has just this month begun stocking Smokiez edibles and Conte Concentrates cartridges, each coming via its manufacturing division. The former is a partnership with the popular edible company Smokiez, which has worked with manufacturers in states across the country, including Oklahoma, Washington, California and Oregon. Smokiez products are vegan and gluten-free, and their Heya debut comes in five avors peach, watermelon, blackberry, blue raspberry and green apple. Each bag contains 100 milligrams of THC total — ten milligrams per gummy — and are manufactured at Heya’s irksville facility. Joe Judd, dispensary director for Heya’s St. Ann location, says the Smokiez brand is one of the more popular in the entire country. “I know that they’re either No. 1 or No. 2 in North America,” he says. “ eople are loving them they go over very well. he company is all about making sure that the consumer is taken care of, and that they have the right product for that consumer on a consistent basis.” In addition to the Smokiez partnership, Heya has also introduced its own line of vape cartridges, known as Conte Concentrates, manufactured at its Excello loca-

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Heya’s new products come via its manufacturing division and are available in dispensaries now. | DANIEL HILL tion. The one-gram cartridges debut in fruit punch, blood orange, cotton candy and pina colada avors, ranging from sativa to indica to a hybrid of each. At $80 before taxes for one gram of concentrate, these carts are on the ine pensive side, with other brands often going for twice as much at Missouri dispensaries. “Best price point ’ve seen thus far in Missouri, at $80 for a onegram cart that’s completely full,” Judd notes. “If you look at it, it’s completely full with no bubbles, which is very rare that you’re going to see in a cart — especially in a one-gram at that price point — because a lot of half-grams right now are going between $60 to $80.” Now, we at the Reeferfront Times know a good deal when we see one, so we picked up a onegram cart of the blood orange avor, which, thanks to a riday sale, was marked down to just before ta . A sativa-dominant concentrate, the Conte-branded cartridge clocks in at 65.38 percent THC and 10.05 percent CBD, and the instructions on the pack-

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It’s a good concentrate for getting stuff done without being overly medicated or incapacitated. age put the dosage at one or two “puffs,” with each puff representing approximately eight milligrams of concentrate. This would mean that, theoretically, each cart should be good for 125 puffs apiece, though we haven’t been able to confirm that because such a test would basically require us to be stoned 24/7 since the date of purchase and we (unfortunately) have other things to do. Plugged into a standard cheapo vape pen battery, the blood orange cart is smooth on inhale, with very little coughing and a bright, citrusy taste consistent with its namesake on exhale. The

recommended two puffs brought an elevated but focused mood two more puffs for good measure seemed to be the sweet spot, bringing increased euphoria without muddying up the brain’s functions too much. his is definitely a sativa, and in keeping, couch-lock was not a concern. It also didn’t have much in the way of appetite stimulation, and, pleasantly, very little in the way of dry mouth. It’s a good concentrate for getting stuff done without being overly medicated or incapacitated. In all, the new products mark yet another victory for Heya ellness in a year that’s already full of them. And according to Judd the company is just getting started, with its cultivation operation currently working on a move into the sizable St. Ann space that until recently housed the Manhattan Antique Mall. “It’ll be 30,000 square feet of cultivation, Judd says with a palpable sense of pride. “I want to say middle of next year.” or more information and to purchase Heya’s new products, visit heyawellness.com. n

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CULTURE [FILM]

[ VA C C I N E S ]

Calling the Shots

Hot Set How a 1976 St. Louis fire gave Escape From New York its setting

Sixteen St. Louis arts organizations team up to require proof of vaccination for events

Written by

DANNY WICENTOWSKI

JENNA JONES

he dark streets, the shuttered buildings, the nightmare scifi future — t. ouis had it all when director John arpenter featured the city’s downtown as the main setting for his action masterpiece Escape from New York. he mi of devastation and grime wasn’t a product of the city itself, but rather the aftermath of a firestorm that had a few years prior consumed si buildings and left the area near ocust treet and orth st treet looking like it had been carpet-bombed. or local filmmaker ike ualdoni — who recently released a tightly produced documentary video e ploring the t. ouis settings in the legendary film — the choice to replicate a dystopian “ ew ork in a section of downtown t. ouis was nothing short of genius. “ was just really blown away by the resourcefulness of John arpenter, ualdoni says. “ t was just a great way to save money on the budget of the film, to go down and utilize this torn-out part of the city, and it really sold the picture. Behind arpenter’s inspired setting was a massive fire that broke out in the vacant Heyday hoe building in t. ouis on the afternoon of April , . trengthened by gusting winds, the blaze collapsed buildings and melted windows, raging for hours as more than firefighters and fifteen trucks battled the ames. he ne t day, the St. Louis PostDispatch reported the fire’s wreckage appearing “like a bomb site. ne story said “ j agged building frames jutted out from smoldering piles of rubble and that “a charred fire truck was half covered by fallen brick. Also on the scene were multiple Post-Dispatch photographers.

A composite photo of the 1976 Heyday fire with the area today, as featured in a new documentary on Escape from New York. | SCREENSHOT/YOUTUBE hey captured astonishing, hellish images of firefighters caught within the clouds of smoke and ame — while also snapping shots from above, showing a great plume of smoke rising above ocust treet. hese aerial photos proved useful to ualdoni sing a drone, he overlaid the historic photos with the scene of the area as it is today, producing one of several striking composite images for his threeminute documentary “ here hey hot scape from ew ork. “ always knew they shot in t. ouis, but didn’t know e actly where, ualdoni tells RFT, adding that he used one of the Post-Dispatch photos to line up his drone shot along live Boulevard near the site of the fire. oday, one of the buildings that survived the fire has become the chla y ap oom — its distinctive arched windows can be seen in Escape from New York as the hard-assed former special-forces soldier nake lisken trudges through the grim streets looking for the whereabouts of the kidnapped president’s plane. t’s one of several scenes in Escape from New York that feature obvious t. ouis landmarks, including the o heater, nion tation and the ld hain of ocks Bridge. “ o walk around ocust treet, around the chla y building, you really can see right where they were — where that plane was, it’s

a parking lot now, ualdoni says. “ n nion tation, the beautiful grand hall, you can just imagine all the extras in there and Kurt ussell wrestling that dude. But it’s the scenes filmed against the destruction of the Heyday fire that strike ualdoni most deeply. or contemporary viewers, Escape from New York preserves visual evidence of a historic t. ouis disaster — and for the film’s director, it was the perfect way to avoid the e pense of actually shooting a movie in ew ork. na interview uploaded to ou ube, arpenter re ected on the unusual choice of setting, noting that the area of the Heyday fire in t. ouis retained the “eastern look of ew ork ity architecture. “ e shot at night, arpenter recalled in the interview. “ e wet the streets down so it re ected the lights, and the town let us shut off all the electricity for blocks and blocks and blocks. “Basically what you’ve got is this shell, an empty city with a lot of bonfires and rubble in the street, he adds. “ his was the look, a dangerous futuristic look that we created. or more on the making of Escape from New York, including ualdoni’s work to match the scenes with the areas as they are today, check out the full video “ inema in t. ouis scape from ew ork, on ou ube. n

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eaders of sixteen St. Louis arts organizations want to welcome their patrons back safely, and to do that, they say, COVID-19 vaccines or negative tests are a must. Patrons of the sixteen establishments will have to provide proof of vaccination or a recent negative COVID-19 test to enter the venues. One of the organizations, St. Louis Symphony Orchestra, detailed its COVID-19 policy in a press release. As of this past Monday, proof of full COVID-19 vaccination with a valid photo ID is required, while unvaccinated patrons — and children under twelve — must provide proof of a negative COVID-19 test. The negative test can either be a PCR test taken within three days or a negative antigen test within a day of the performance. “While our offerings are unique, all of our area arts organizations share a commitment to strengthen our communities through the arts—and to do so in the safest way possible,” Marie-Hélène Bernard, president and CEO of the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra, said in a statement. “ The SLSO is proud to stand together with our peer organizations in service to the people of St. Louis.” The SLSO’s policy will be in effect until December 1 and then will be reevaluated to follow the latest public health recommendations. St. Louis Symphony Orchestra, the Repertory Theatre of St. Louis and the Sheldon Concert Hall and Art Galleries are three of the organizations that announced the requirements. The Sheldon’s policy is in place for ticketed events, with proof of vaccination or a negative COVID-19 test within two days required. However, the vaccination policy does not apply to the Sheldon Art Galleries — including “Golf the Galleries” — private events or educational programs. The Sheldon’s executive director, Peter Palermo, says in a press release that while the “exciting opportunity” to bring live music back weekly to the Continued on pg 35

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[ S TA G E ]

A Dream Come True Somi Kakoma tells the story of South African activist Miriam Makeba in the Rep’s Dreaming Zenzile world premiere Written by

JENNA JONES

reams have always been at the center of Somi Kakoma’s life. She was raised in Champaign, Illinois, by South African immigrants, and her family often encouraged her to dream — and never discouraged her from becoming an artist. More famously known as simply “Somi,” the Grammy-nominated singersongwriter has crafted a musical based on her dreams. Kakoma’s first-ever musical, Dreaming Zenzile, will premiere at The Repertory Theatre (130 Edgar Road, Webster Groves), showcasing just how far Kakoma’s dreams have taken her. Originally scheduled for an April 2020 premiere date, the jazz musical was put on hold due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Dreaming Zenzile is now set to open this Friday. The musical is set on the last night of Zenzile Miriam Makeba’s life. Better known as simply Miriam Makeba, Makeba was a South African singer and anti-apartheid ac-

tivist. She was also involved in the U.S. civil rights movement. On the night the musical takes place, Makeba was performing in Italy. When she finished her performance, she walked into the wings of the theater, had a heart attack and died. “I love the idea that she finished the show,” Kakoma tells the RFT. “I thought it was such a beautiful death, as tragic as that is to lose someone that major to African culture and music and jazz. It’s still such a beautiful way to go, but it’s still a decision to finish the show and then walk off.” The musical goes through a journey with Kakoma starring as Makeba and four other actors as chorus members who double as spirits and ancestors. The chorus members have the duty of telling Makeba it is her time to go while she decides if it really is her time. In Xhosa, Makeba’s native language, “zenzile” means “you have brought this on yourself.” Kakoma said this idea of “you have done it to yourself” brought on the conversations that Makeba and the spirits have in the musical. “She’s deciding when she’s going to do it to herself because she always had agency,” Kakoma says. “So, they’re talking to her about her life journey and why it’s time. It takes the audience through a journey of what her life has been and what her contributions have been.” The idea for the musical originated from dreams Kakoma had after her father died in 2009. She began having dreams of her father and Makeba having conversations, and she found comfort. In many ways, she said, the dreams of Makeba helped her move through the grief. Kakoma felt in the dreams that

Star and writer of Dreaming Zenzile Somi Kakoma in rehearsal. | COURTESY THE REPERTORY THEATRE/LILIANA BLAIN-CRUZ Makeba helped her talk to her father “and feel at peace with my choice to be an artist.” Five years later, Kakoma had not written or talked about the dreams she was having. In a conversation, her friend brought up that no one had told the South African activist’s story yet. A light bulb went on for the singer: Kakoma knew creating this musical was meant for her. “Sometimes these things show up in our hearts and it’s not that, ‘Oh, this is something I want to do,’ it’s something you might feel called to do,” Kakoma said. After that, Kakoma got to work. She applied for grants and researched Makeba’s life. Kakoma said she initially thought the piece was going to be about the conversations she had in her dreams with Makeba and her father, but realized

ARTS ORGANIZATIONS Continued from pg 33

Sheldon’s stage is now possible, the organization wants to make sure it is doing so in the safest way. “Our amazing patrons and artists have trusted and supported us throughout the pandemic,” Palermo said in a statement. “Sheldon audiences are consistently praised by our artists as the best in the country, and we know that they will happily do their part to help us safely bring concerts back to the Sheldon.” For those not willing to show proof of vaccination or a negative COVID test, refunds are available for the Sheldon. The sixteen organizations join other venues like the Pageant and Hollywood Casino Amphitheatre in requiring a COVID-19 vaccine or negative COVID test. Each venue may have slightly different requirements, so guests are encouraged to check with their specific organization on what is required to enter. Mask-wearing is also implemented in St. Louis-area venues due to mandates. The full list of participating organizations is below:

The St. Louis Symphony Orchestra is one of many local arts organizations requiring proof of vaccination for its shows. | COURTESY ST. LOUIS SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA • The Bach Society of Saint Louis

• Opera Theatre of Saint Louis

• The Black Rep

• The Repertory Theatre of St. Louis

• Dance St. Louis • Grand Center Inc.

• The Sheldon Concert Hall and Art Galleries

• Jazz St. Louis

• St. Louis Shakespeare Festival

• Kranzberg Arts Foundation

• St. Louis Speakers Series

• Metro Theater Company

• St. Louis Symphony Orchestra

• Modern American Dance Company • National Blues Museum

• STAGES St. Louis, beginning September 24

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a lot of Makeba’s story had not been told. The musical brought Kakoma home to the Midwest, through a connection with Hana Sharif, the artistic director for the Rep, after the two met in Baltimore. “When we reconnected, I was grateful that she said, ‘Maybe this is why we were connected to begin with,’’’ Kakoma says. “It’s always such a meaningful thing for a person to take a risk.” Sharif detailed in a press release that it’s “an incredible gift to open our season with Somi’s incomparable portrayal of the beauty and complexity of Miriam Makeba’s journey.” She’s excited for St. Louisans to be the first to experience the production after eighteen months of waiting. After the musical wraps up in St. Louis, it’ll head to theaters in New York City and New Jersey. “I’ve been carefully watching the development of this piece since its earliest stages and am thrilled to produce it as a world premiere musical in St. Louis,” Sharif said in a statement last year. “This is a true passion project for Somi, whose radiant talent will make this production unforgettable.” Kakoma emphasized the importance of being near home for her debut musical, saying there was something really special about being able to share the musical in the Midwest. She joked that she expected her mom to arrive at the shows with a whole caravan. The idea, Kakoma said, is that the musical asks people to dream for 90 minutes. What started out as a musical about recurring dreams morphed into the piece that it is — an homage, a remembrance and a history lesson. After years of Makeba being erased from American history due to her marriage to Black Panther Stokely Carmichael, Kakoma hopes this prompts her audience to remember or research Makeba. “For me, what’s more important is that her story be told,” Kakoma says. “Because at the end of the day, no one is Miriam Makeba.” Tickets range from $29 to $99. The musical runs until October 3. Anyone interested in attending can grab tickets at repstl.org. n

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SAVAGE LOVE HANDS ON BY DAN SAVAGE Hey, Dan: I’m a 35-year-old straight woman living in the Midwest. I was seeing a massage therapist for three years and we became very close friends. I referred my friends to him and helped him grow his business. He eventually disclosed to me that he had developed feelings for me. I went into instant shock and said that I had no idea and I thought we were only growing in our friendship. He told me that he had to tell me and wanted to leave it up to me if I felt comfortable continuing to see him. I was really numb from my shock and thought I was OK at first, only later realizing how upset and violated I felt. I never went back to him. I found out that he closed his practice during COVID. My question is, should I report him to his ethics board? Really Upset By Bewildering Erotic Disclosure No. This guy was initially your massage therapist, RUBBED, but you eventually became very close friends. I’m going to assume this was one those consensual friendships — meaning, your former massage therapist didn’t force his friendship on you — and that you welcomed his friendship. So, while you may have gotten to know him in a unique professional setting, you wound up in a kind of twotrack relationship with him: He was your massage therapist and also your friend. It’s not uncommon for friends to catch feelings for each other, and it would seem to be in that capacity — in his capacity as your friend — that your massage therapist caught feelings for you. Given that he developed feelings for you, I don’t see how he could avoid making this disclosure. Indeed, keeping these feelings to himself while continuing to see you as a client — or dropping you as a client without explanation (an explanation that you, as a friend, would have felt entitled to) — would have constituted an ethical violation. “What he did was borderline, but not unethical,” said a physical medicine practitioner that I shared your question with. “That he

brought up the fact that she could/ should consider no longer seeing him keeps it just in bounds. The most correct thing would’ve been to maintain boundaries and not become friends in the first place. A massage therapist I shared your email with told me that your former massage therapist handled this the way he was trained to handle similar situations in the professional ethics courses he was required to take to get his license: disclose and discontinue the professional relationship. Another massage therapist I spoke to did think your former massage therapist was guilty of an ethical lapse. He referred me to the professional code of conduct published by his professional association — the College of Massage Therapists of British Columbia — which bars entering into a “close personal relationship” with a client. He felt the friendship was the ethical violation; if your massage therapist had done the right thing and kept your relationship strictly professional, he wouldn’t have caught feelings for you the way he did. And if he hadn’t caught feelings for you the way he did, RUBBED, he wouldn’t have put himself in the position of having to disclose those feelings to you. Or put you in the position of having to listen to him make that discomforting disclosure. I understand not wanting to see this massage therapist again, RUBBED, and I understand feeling squicky about this. If I were in your shoes, I would probably wonder how much time, if any, passed between my friend/massage therapist becoming consciously aware of his romantic feelings for me and the moment he disclosed those feelings — and might find myself thinking back on our previous sessions and feeling a little goobed out. But while it’s uncomfortable to contemplate a massage therapist taking his own pleasure in your sessions, RUBBED, that’s always a risk. (Kind of like friends catching feelings for friends is always a risk.) We rely on massage therapists to be professionals and to quash feelings of sexual attraction during a session, regardless of how long we’ve been seeing them. And regardless of what kind of relationship we might have with them outside the treatment room. Some of the massage therapists I spoke with felt you should report him, but the majority did not

— and I’m going to stick with my advice not to report him. But you get to make your own call. Hey, Dan: I’m a healthy and active 72-year-old man who found love the second time around. In fact, I have discovered not only a depth of love I never knew existed, with my new mate I have the most active and satisfying sex life I’ve ever known. My question is this: During nearly a year of solitary processing after my marriage ended, I chanced upon writings about Tantric lovemaking practices and was fascinated by them. I began to practice withholding ejaculation, which is a Tantric practice that has tremendous benefits. One of those benefits is existing in a state of perpetual desire for my partner and this lovely hum of continual sexual energy between us. But after two years of practicing withholding semen, I now find it almost impossible to come at the time of my choosing. It is almost as if my inner Tantric Shaman has taken hold of the controls. The wonderful woman in my life consistently has multiple orgasms, but I come about once every seventh or eighth time, and only when we have a long, involved, and deeply connected sex session. While the release, when it comes, is always spectacular, I would like to have more control over my orgasms. Do you have any suggestions? Wanting A Direction Men who practice orgasm denial — whether they’re withholding their own orgasms or being denied orgasms by their dominant partners — often report existing in a pleasantly buzzy state of perpetual horniness. Doms who lock their lovers’ cocks up in chastity devices (instead of relying on them to refrain climaxing or jacking off) often report that their perpetually horny partners are more attentive. And while those are attractive perks, I’ve never been tempted to go the orgasm denial route myself. I enjoy coming too much. And multiple studies have shown a link between frequent ejaculation and a lower incidence of prostate cancer. Maybe at 72 you’re not worried about prostate cancer, but guys who don’t want to risk prostate cancer should err on the side of busting those nuts (which is not to be confused with busting those balls). As for your problem, WAD, if

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withholding orgasms is making it difficult for you to have ’em when you want ’em, well, then you might wanna stop withholding ’em. But considering how much pleasure you get out of withholding them — that buzz, those spectacular orgasms when you do come — maybe unpredictable orgasms are a price you’re willing to pay. It’s also possible that age caught up with you and your orgasms became a little less reliable at the same time you took up Tantric sex practices. (For the record: Tantra is a nearly two-millennia-old tradition/body of wisdom that originated in India and is typically practiced by Hindus and Buddhists. While sex is a part of tantra, sex isn’t the only thing tantra is about.) Hey, Dan: I am new to your wonderful column. I have two questions: 1. Do you personally respond to each email you receive? Or do you only respond to inquiries in your column? (I sent an email this morning and haven’t heard back yet.) 2. Is it possible to get email updates from you on a daily basis, since I would like to read the column every day? Response Sought Very Persistently 1. I can’t respond to every email I receive; there are too many of them and just one of me. And while I’m the kind of progressive who feels bad about anything and everything, I don’t feel too bad about this. Because after hearing from so many people who’ve said that just the act of writing to me was helpful — that putting their problem in an email helped them — and hearing from just as many people who’ve said that my advice is terrible, RSVP, I long ago concluded that the people I don’t respond to are the ones I’m helping most. 2. I have a brand-new website — courtesy of the tech-savvy, at-risk youth — where you can sign up for my new weekly email newsletter, which includes links to columns, my podcast, events and more. And while new columns only come out once a week, there are enough old columns in the archives for you to read a brand-new-to-you column every day for the rest of your life. mail@savagelove.net @FakeDanSavage on Twitter Check out my new website at Savage.Love!

SEPTEMBER 15-21, 2021

RIVERFRONT TIMES

SEPTEMBER 15-21, 2021

riverfronttimes.com

SEPTEMBER 15-21, 2021

RIVERFRONT TIMES

SEPTEMBER 15-21, 2021

riverfronttimes.com

Riverfront Times, September 14, 2021

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