S E RV I N G T H E P U B L I C S I N C E 1 878 • W I N N E R O F 1 8 P U L I TZ E R P R I Z E S
WEDNESDAY • 08.31.2016 • $1.50
ABSENTEE VOTING IRREGULARITIES
Stenger wants MetroLink studied for Ferguson
Some voters say campaign workers filled out their ballots for them
Proposal would add to existing plans
BALLOT TACTICS PUZZLE VOTERS
At least 60 times, more than one application for an absentee ballot was filed for a single voter Multiple voters say they never claimed to be incapacitated, as their paperwork shows Other voters say they thought they were signing a petition, not ordering absentee ballots > These are the six legal reasons a Missouri voter can cite to vote absentee. All but the second one, For any absentee application incapacity, marked, “Incapacity or require confinement due to illness the voter or disability...,” the Board of to sign Elections sends a ballot with a sworn an envelope marked that no public notarization is required. affidavit.
BY LEAH THORSEN St. Louis Post-Dispatch
A new MetroLink line that would run through Ferguson, connecting two other routes already up for consideration, should be studied as the region decides where light rail should next expand, County Executive Steve Stenger said Tuesday. “I am not unilaterally declaring this is the route we should invest our transportation dollars in,” he said. “I’m saying it’s worthy of study, and our region will benefit from the discussion.” St. Louis County already has pledged $3 million from the Proposition A sales tax fund to pay for studying three new routes in the county. Stenger said that money could be stretched to include studying a new line See STENGER • Page A5
> Numerous voters whose ballot applications were marked that they were incapacitated said they never made that claim.
Mizzou under fire for killing six dogs after failed eye experiments
> State law says anyone who turns in a fraudulent form is committing a felony.
> Absentee voters can also vote in person, up until 5 p.m. the day before the election. But state law says their ballots must be retained with their envelopes. St. Louis Board of Elections officials say they didn’t require envelopes.
BY ASHLEY JOST St. Louis Post-Dispatch
BY STEPHEN DEERE AND DOUG MOORE St. Louis Post-Dispatch
ST. LOUIS • A few weeks before the Aug. 2 primary, Reynal Caldwell Jr. got a knock on his door. Caldwell said two people who said they were working for state Rep. Penny Hubbard’s campaign wanted to talk. He thinks they may have asked him to sign something. But he wasn’t quite sure what. “I was just rushing to get them off my porch,” said Caldwell, 38, who lives in the Clinton-Peabody housing complex just south of downtown. Regardless, an application for an absen-
Bruce Franks
Penny Hubbard
tee ballot was submitted in his name to the St. Louis Board of Election Commissioners on July 19. Presented with a copy of that application weeks later, Caldwell was confused. The document bore his signature. But some
of the handwriting wasn’t his. He didn’t check the box next to “Democratic Party,” he said. He would have asked for a Green Party ballot. He also said he did not claim to be incapacitated and unable to vote in person on Election Day. But the application wasn’t the only document someone else filled out for him, Caldwell said. A few days after that first visit, Caldwell said, four people who identified themselves as Hubbard campaign workers again came to his home. They asked: Has the absentee ballot arrived? See VOTING • Page A4
A POST-DISPATCH INVESTIGATION
Islamic State spokesman killed in Syria BY MISSY RYAN AND GREG MILLER Washington Post
ASSOCIATED PRESS
See ISIS • Page A11
TODAY
86°/64°
Train of thought
CHANCE OF STORMS
Abu Muhammad al-Adnani, Islamic State spokesman.
Messenger: Sheriffs fleecing counties EU says Apple owes Ireland billions
TOMORROW
80°/60°
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MOSTLY SUNNY
Ortiz: Exhibit offers taste of MLB history
WEATHER A18
Bullpen holds on for Cards’ 2-1 victory POST-DISPATCH WEATHERBIRD ®
See DOGS • Page A5
SEC awards $22 million to Monsanto whistleblower BY JIM GALLAGHER St. Louis Post-Dispatch
The Islamic State group reported the death of its chief spokesman, Abu Muhammad al-Adnani, on Tuesday, potentially signaling the loss of a senior militant who has steered the group’s campaign to bring violent operations to the West. If confirmed, Adnani’s death would damage Islamic State in two areas that have made the terrorist organization particularly
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A California-based group and its supporters nationwide are taking issue with research at the University of Missouri-Columbia that resulted in the deaths of six dogs. After filing a lawsuit against Mizzou over access to documents for animals used in research on the Columbia campus, organizers at the Beagle Freedom Project started looking into the university’s published research and found a study that raised a red flag for the group. The study, published in the 2016 Journal of Veterinary Ophthalmology, was testing treatment for damaged corneas. Beagles were used in the study because dogs’ eyes are similar to
A former Monsanto Co. financial executive who blew the whistle on accounting practices at the Creve Coeur-based seed and agrochemical giant has been awarded a $22.4 million share of the government’s settlement with the company, according to his lawyer.
Laborious desserts for Labor Day LET’S EAT
The executive, who was not named, told the Securities and Exchange Commission about misleading accounting surrounding sales of Monsanto’s Roundup herbicide, attorney Stuart Meissner said Tuesday. The SEC in February slapped Monsanto with an $80 million civil penalty. Monsanto had See SEC • Page A6
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ABSENTEE VOTING IRREGULARITIES
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Problems uncovered with ballots Aldridge, 231-96.) Mitchell didn’t remember filling out two applications. As he looked over the one marked “duplicate” by the election board, he was surprised. Then he recalled that a few months before the election, Penny and Rodney Hubbard visited his apartment complex. He said they asked him to sign a piece of paper that he thought was a change of address form, not an application to vote absentee. “I didn’t know I was signing for no absentee,” Mitchell told a reporter. “Absolutely not.”
VOTING • FROM A1
“I really don’t know who to vote for,” Caldwell recalled telling them. “The woman I was talking to said she’ll put down the same votes as hers.” He signed the return envelope and handed over his blank ballot, he said. The campaign workers left with both, Caldwell said. Although Caldwell said he never voted himself, records show his ballot was received by the Election Board and counted among the results in the Aug. 2 primary. Caldwell’s encounter with the people who claimed to work on behalf of Hubbard is among numerous irregularities uncovered by an ongoing Post-Dispatch investigation into the race between Hubbard, the incumbent, and activist Bruce Franks Jr. for the 78th District Missouri House seat. After interviewing dozens of people and reviewing thousands of documents related to the Aug. 2 election, the Post-Dispatch has so far found: • Caldwell and another voter both said people who identified themselves as Hubbard campaign workers filled out their ballots for them. Voting records obtained by the Post-Dispatch show that those individuals voted in the Aug. 2 primary. Under state law, “any person who assists a voter and in any manner coerces or initiates a request or a suggestion that the voter vote for or against or refrain from voting on any question, ticket or candidate, shall be guilty of a class one election offense,” a felony punishable by up to five years in prison. • At least 60 instances where two applications for an absentee ballot were submitted to the St. Louis Election Board on behalf of a single voter. Some voters contacted by the Post-Dispatch said they had not applied twice and had no idea why someone would have filled out a second application for them. • More than a dozen voters said they never claimed to be incapacitated as their applications to vote absentee show. They said they don’t know who marked that box on their forms. Of the six legal reasons a person can vote absentee, only one — incapacity — does not require voter to sign a notarized affidavit. • Two former Election Board employees say that in previous election campaigns, Penny Hubbard’s husband, Rodney Hubbard Sr., routinely delivered stacks of absentee ballots to the Election Board offices. Missouri election law says only a second-degree relative can deliver ballots for another person. Yet the board accepted the ballots anyway, the former employees said. The Hubbards declined repeated requests for comment over the past month. Penny Hubbard’s lawyer said her client has done nothing wrong and denied any allegations of impropriety involving either Penny Hubbard or her husband. She said the campaign did not change or improperly handle voting records. “There is absolutely no evidence Penny Hubbard or anyone associated with her forged documents,” said attorney Jane Dueker. The results of the election have triggered formal reviews by the secretary of state’s office and the U.S. attorney’s office. On Tuesday, St. Louis Circuit Attorney Jennifer Joyce said her office also has launched an investigation. “The people of St Louis should have confidence that every vote counts and every vote carries equal weight under the law,” Joyce said in a statement. “I have assigned a team to pursue the facts and determine whether there is evidence of any criminal violations of Missouri law.”
TRIAL TO START WEDNESDAY On Aug. 2, Franks won nearly 53 percent of the votes cast on Election Day in the 78th District, which runs along the Mississippi riverfront in St. Louis. But it was Penny Hubbard’s dominant performance among absentee voters — she won 416-114 — that gave her the victory. The final combined tally: Hubbard, 2,203 votes; Franks, 2,113 votes. Franks, 31, is suing to overturn the election, claiming that Hubbard, 62, won because her campaign exploited the absentee ballot process. A trial in St. Louis Circuit Court is scheduled for 9 a.m. Wednesday. David Roland, the attorney representing Franks, is expected to argue that 143 absentee ballots cast in person either by touch screen or paper ballot at the Election Board are invalid because they were accepted without an envelope, which state statute specifies must be in-
DUBIOUS PRETENSES
DAVID CARSON • dcarson@post-dispatch.com
ABOVE • Deirra Paster, 27, a supporter of 78th District Missouri House candidate Bruce Franks Jr., said she felt intimidated by three people who came to her home about a week or so before the Aug. 2 primary and claimed to be from incumbent state Rep. Penny Hubbard’s campaign. She said the group at her door got angry when she told them she intended to vote for Franks. BELOW • On Aug. 28, within minutes of a Post-Dispatch reporter interviewing Paster and other residents, several people driving in a car with official license plates from Hubbard’s office were seen near Paster’s home taking pictures of her and other area residents. The driver’s identity is unknown.
PHOTOS COURTESY OF DEIRRA PASTER
voters. But on those envelopes, voters didn’t indicate why they were voting absentee. Often there was only a signature. Election Board workers said they accepted the ballots anyway as long as the voter had marked the “incapacity” box on the earlier application. They made no attempt to verify the claim with the voter. In one small sample area of a few blocks along 14th Street between Chouteau and Park avenues, records show at least 25 people under the age of 50 applied for absentee ballots based on “incapacity.” Just two out of a dozen of those applicants who were reached by a reporter Tuesday said that they were incapacitated. Several said they weren’t, and they expressed dismay that their names were on documents that claimed incapacity. “I don’t know why they would have me ‘incapacitated,’” said Charlene Williams, 32, of the 1400 block of LaSalle Lane. She said she did recall signing something that she thought was a petition. “It was a paper they were bringing around.” Erica Reed, 26, also of the 1400 block of LaSalle Lane, was bewildered why her name was on an application. She voted in person at her local polling place. “I don’t have any incapacity,” she said. DAVID CARSON • dcarson@post-dispatch.com
A man applied for an absentee ballot as incapacitated using the address for this boarded-up home in the 3400 block of Michigan Avenue. An absentee ballot was requested, but records indicate the ballot was never cast in the man’s name.
cluded. But overturning an election would be an “extraordinary remedy,” said Gregory Magarian, a professor and election law expert at Washington University. “Courts are generally very reluctant to do so,” Magarian said. Legitimate votes would be tossed out, he said. People may be discouraged from voting a second time. It is highly unlikely the same 4,316 people would vote again. In the past few weeks, lawyers for the Hubbards have fought to keep election records secret and argued that voters who speak out could face criminal charges. But experts interviewed by Post-Dispatch said that risk is
minimal. No prosecutor would want to pursue charges against people who may have been misled, they said.
A LOOPHOLE? Voters are supposed to indicate their reason for voting absentee on their ballot envelope and — unless they are incapacitated — they must have the envelope notarized. If voters say they are incapacitated in their applications, the board mails them a specific envelope, stating “NO NOTARY REQUIRED!” In the Aug. 2 primary, the St. Louis Election Board received dozens of ballots in envelopes from supposedly incapacitated
UNEXPLAINED DUPLICATES Thelma Williams, 87, who lives in Carr Square, a housing cooperative run by Rodney Hubbard Sr., had three applications to vote absentee submitted on her behalf, according to St. Louis Election Board records obtained by the Post-Dispatch. Williams is on a list of permanently disabled voters who automatically receive applications to vote absentee. She said she had no idea why two other applications were filled out in her name. “I didn’t fill out but one,” Williams said. “I mailed mine in. It was mailed to me and I filled it back out.” Oscar Mitchell, 76, lives in a senior housing complex outside the 78th District, but the complex falls within the boundaries of the St. Louis’ 5th Ward, where Rodney Hubbard Sr. was running to be the Democratic committeeman. (He, too, lost the Election Day tally but won his race on the strength of the absentee vote, where he bested Rasheen
Some voters said people who identified themselves as Hubbard campaign workers told them that they could vote absentee if they were too busy to go to the polls. But that’s not a valid reason under the law. Others said they never intended to vote absentee — but somehow, applications for absentee ballots were submitted on their behalf anyway. Patricia Wicks, who lives across the street from Franks in the Benton Park West neighborhood, said people who identified themselves as Hubbard campaign workers knocked on her door. She said they asked her to sign a sheet of paper. She thought the signature was to confirm that she was a registered voter. Then the man asked for her Social Security number. “I said, ‘I don’t give anybody my Social Security number,’” Wicks recalled saying. Wicks said she received a phone call a few days later from a woman identifying herself as a Hubbard campaign worker. Had Wicks’ ballot arrived? she asked. “I said, ‘No, why would I receive an absentee ballot?’” Wicks said. “I’m able to go to the polls.” But on Aug. 2, Wicks discovered an absentee ballot in her mailbox, she said. Wicks didn’t know if she could legally go to the polls. So she didn’t vote at all. Markeisha Franklin, 34, recounted a similar experience. She also remembered being visited by a man who identified himself as a Hubbard campaign worker who asked her to sign something. She thought she was making sure her address was correct, she said. When she arrived at her precinct to vote, a poll worker told her she had registered to vote absentee. “I’m like, ‘How?’” she said. “I always go in and vote.” Franklin said she was allowed to vote after the worker verified that her absentee ballot had not been cast.
DELIVERING ‘STACKS OF BALLOTS’ Patricia Bingham voted absentee because she planned to be out of town on Election Day, but she didn’t mail her ballot. She walked it down to the Election Board offices on Tucker Boulevard and voted in person. She did so, she said, because she has witnessed ballots being mishandled by the Election Board and possibly manipulated by politicians and their supporters. Bingham lives in a downtown apartment complex for senior citizens — 37 of whom cast absentee ballots in the Aug. 2 primary. As elections near, Bingham said, Hubbard campaign representatives attend monthly meetings at her building. They offer to help residents apply to vote absentee, and if they need help, to assist them in filling out ballots, she said. “I think that’s a conflict,” Bingham said. “If you are a candidate or a candidate’s party, am I going to pick anybody else but you?” Bingham also worked for the Election Board as a temporary employee in the absentee ballot department up until a couple of years ago. Bingham said she witnessed Rodney Hubbard Sr. and other Hubbard campaign workers deliver stacks of ballots to the Election Board offices. “There was a big fallout about that,” Bingham Hubbard Sr. said. “He brought in a ton of them in a rack, a mail rack. We were telling him we couldn’t take it. There were words passed. You don’t just tell him you can’t do certain things.” Missouri law requires that hand-delivered ballots be brought to the election board by the voter or a second-degree relative — such as a spouse, parent or grandparent. Another former Election Board employee contacted by the PostDispatch separately described similar events in details that were Continued on Page A5
08.31.2016 • Wednesday • M 2 ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH • A5 ABSENTEE VOTING IRREGULARITIES Continued from Page A4
nearly identical. That employee, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said Rodney Hubbard and other campaign workers for the family brought in “stacks of ballots,” sometimes so many that they used crates used by postal workers to deliver them. The employee said this happened during elections in which the Hubbards, who are known for their ability to turn out large numbers of absentee votes, were on the ballot. Penny Hubbard has served as state representative since 2010, and runs every two years. Rodney Hubbard ran successfully for reelection as 5th Ward committeeman in the Aug. 2 Democratic primary on the same ballot as his wife. And their daughter, Tammika Hubbard, has served as 5th Ward alderman since winning a special election in December 2011. Rodney Hubbard Jr. is a former state representative. The employee, a former supervisor, said that when large numbers of ballots were delivered, she would email other employees and bosses. “I’d say, ‘Hey, we’ve received numerous ballots from the Hubbard campaign and it seems pretty suspicious and they need to be reviewed.’” Her emails would go unanswered, she said. When employees refused to accept hand-delivered ballots, Rodney Hubbard would complain directly to top Election Board officials, Bingham said. Both former employees said ballots the department initially refused were sometimes slipped through the door, or mysteriously appear elsewhere in the office. Eventually, the employees said, the department would accept them. Dueker said there was no way Rodney Hubbard Sr. would have attempted such a thing. “They would handcuff him right there,” she said. “There is no way he would get away with that.” Mary Wheeler-Jones, Democratic director of the Election Board, denied that any campaign worker ever hand-delivered stacks of envelopes. But the St. Louis Election Board doesn’t record the names of those who drop off ballots. Last week, the Post-Dispatch reviewed roughly 550 absentee envelopes from the Aug. 2 primary. Eighty-eight were not postmarked — indicating that they likely were hand-delivered. As a result of the Post-Dispatch’s inquiry into absentee voting procedures, Joan M. Burger, Election Board chairman, said Tuesday that absentee ballots brought into the office in their sealed envelopes will now be stamped with the date they were received, the printed name of the person who turned
Voter Reynal Caldwell’s signed application for an absentee ballot arrived at the St. Louis Board of Elections on July 19. Although he received the ballot, he said he never filled it out. Instead, he said, he signed the return envelope and gave the ballot to a campaign worker. Still, a ballot was mailed to the board in the envelope at right. Records indicate Caldwell’s vote was recorded in the Aug. 2 primary elections.
it in, that person’s signature and the person’s relationship to the voter. Burger said it is the same process used by St. Louis County election officials. Regarding the former employees’ statements about numerous ballots being dropped off, Burger said: “The board denies those allegations.”
‘R-78’
The front side of an official ballot from the Aug. 2, 2016, Democratic primary election.
Talk of studies for MetroLink expansion has exposed rift between Slay and Stenger STENGER • FROM A1
through Ferguson, as well as the portion of the proposed Northside-Southside route that extends into north St. Louis County. It’s a change in course from a previous county-funded plan that excluded the north-south route, which St. Louis Mayor Francis Slay strongly supports while Stenger wants other ideas studied as well. The lack of consensus between Stenger and Slay about MetroLink expansion was highlighted in June when a letter written by Stenger to the Federal Transit Administration, in which he said he will not endorse the northsouth route until other proposed routes are studied, was widely circulated. “When one group declares regional priorities to the exclusion of key stakeholders, we become divided,” Stenger said via Twitter at the time. Stenger’s letter came in response to a $530,000 grant application to study the route that included Slay’s signature. “I was never arguing against Northside-Southside itself,” Stenger said Tuesday. “What I was arguing against was the process.” The East-West Gateway Council of Governments — the region’s governing arm — is slated to vote Wednesday on forming an agreement with the city and county to conduct the studies. “The studies will evaluate the costs, benefits, and impacts of light rail in the various corridors,” according to an Aug. 16 memo to East-West Gateway’s board of directors. “When the studies are complete, the region will have a consistent set of data by which to comparatively evaluate light rail
in the four corridors and establish jurisdictional and regional priorities.” The other routes being considered are the Daniel Boone, which would run from Clayton to Westport; the MetroNorth, from just south of Interstate 270 to the existing Red Line near the North Hanley station, which would include a Boeing stop; and the MetroSouth, from Shrewsbury to Butler Hill Road. The Northside-Southside line would run from West Florissant Avenue near Interstate 270 in north St. Louis County, down through the city — including downtown — and along thoroughfares such as Goodfellow Boulevard, Natural Bridge Road and Jefferson Avenue, and ending at Meramec Bottom Road in south St. Louis County. The cost of that 17-mile line has been estimated at $2.2 billion. Under the measure to be considered Wednesday, part of the county’s $3 million would go toward studying the chunk of the Northside-Southside line extending into the county from the area of Goodfellow Boulevard and Interstate 70 to near St. Louis Community College at Florissant Valley, and west to the northern edge of the proposed MetroNorth line. As it’s planned now, the northsouth route would use low-platform cars that look like streetcars. Because they differ from the cars used on the current MetroLink system, which are highplatform, the north-south route would not directly connect to that system. Should a line like the one Stenger advocates studying come to fruition, passengers would need to transfer between the two lines. The city is kicking in $2 million
in parking funds for its share of a conceptual design study for the north-south line. The St. Louis Parking Commission unanimously voted Aug. 11 to give the money to East-West Gateway to update a 2008 analysis of the north-south line. Part of that study will be examining an alternative that would serve the new National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency planned to be built in north St. Louis, according to East-West Gateway documents. When asked for comment about the new line, a spokeswoman for Slay repeated what he said in a speech to the St. Louis Regional Chamber this month — that there shouldn’t be arguments about which one route to build. Rather, the discussion should how to build all the routes and while making “ambitious investments” in the future. The city’s payment also will cover studying the small portion of the north-south line that extends into south St. Louis County, said Jim Wild, executive director of East-West Gateway. When the studies are complete, it’s possible that more than one route could be chosen to pursue, or part of a route. “They may have to break it down incrementally to go after federal funds,” he said. Wild said it’s hoped the studies can begin Nov. 1. The studies of the county lines are expected to take a year to complete, with the north-south line study lasting 18 months. “At the end of the day, this is hopefully going to create a conversation in the region about transit and the importance of transit, and how we can best serve the region,” he said. Leah Thorsen • 314-340-8320 @leahthorsen on Twitter lthorsen@post-dispatch.com
Last week, St. Louis Circuit Court Judge Julian Bush ruled the St. Louis Election Board violated the law when it refused to publicly release absentee ballot applications and ballot envelopes. The ruling allowed PostDispatch reporters and others — including Franks’ attorney — to begin verifying if ballots were properly cast. Because of a scheduling conflict, Bush was replaced on the case by fellow Circuit Court Judge Rex Burlison. Dueker and other figures within local Democratic Party circles have argued that attempts to contact absentee voters are forms of intimidation that could suppress voting in minority communities. They have also accused Franks’ campaign of bolstering the Republican Party’s push for tougher voter ID laws. Franks said his lawsuit over
the primary election for the 78th District was only an attempt to enforce existing laws, not create new ones. “Somebody abused the process,” he said. “And I’m supposed to be OK with them abusing the process? ... I’m supposed to chill and say, ‘You know what? It’s cool. Y’all cheated, like y’all always do. I’ll lay down’ ... Nah.” Others said the Hubbards, not the press or Franks, were intimidating people. On Sunday, 10 minutes after a Post-Dispatch reporter interviewed a woman named Deirra Paster in the Clinton-Peabody public housing complex, Paster called the reporter and said a car had come by her block, and someone inside was taking photographs. But so was Paster’s friend. Her photos show an unidentified woman driving a silver Toyota Camry and holding up a smartphone. The Camry had a unique license plate, the kind issued for state representatives, with the number of each member’s specific district. The plate read: “R-78.” Kevin McDermott and Walker Moskop of the Post-Dispatch contributed to this report. Stephen Deere • 314-340-8116 @stephencdeere on Twitter sdeere@post-dispatch.com
Detractors call MU cornea study on dogs unethical DOGS • FROM A1
human eyes. According to the research, the dogs were given anesthesia and the cornea in each dog’s left eye was damaged intentionally by one of the researchers. The dogs were then given a topical acid treatment for their eyes to try and heal the damage. The hyaluronic acid treatment is a moisturizing agent. The treatment didn’t work, and the dogs were later euthanized; their corneas were removed and used for additional research. University spokespeople would not comment on whether it was common practice to euthanize animals after a study. A university statement said the study was approved by the campus’ Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee, and followed the rules of the Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology. The university said in a statement that the dogs were not in pain during the study. The dogs “were anesthetized during the procedure and received pain medications during and following if any signs of pain were observed,” the statement said. “The dogs also received daily socialization and husbandry needs.” Kevin Chase, vice president of the Beagle Freedom Project, disagreed. “No reasonable person can deny that these dogs were in pain following the injury to their cornea,” Chase said in response to the university’s comments. “As everyone knows, the eye is an extremely sensitive part of the body. The (top layer) of the cornea is filled with thousands of tiny nerve endings.”
Chase’s group argues that a better way to go about this research would be to use medication on dogs that suffer from corneal damage independently. “Caging dogs in a laboratory, intentionally damaging their corneas, and then killing them is about as ethical as picking people off the street and hitting them over the head with a pipe in order to test new concussion treatments,” Chase said in a statement. In the study’s conclusion, the four researchers acknowledge the small sample size, saying that before the study started it was determined that 24 dogs would be required to detect a significant difference in the healing rates. But, such a study size “was deemed impractical given concerns of animal resources for this pilot study.” The Beagle Freedom Project filed a lawsuit against the University of Missouri System this summer alleging the university was violating the state’s Sunshine Law for open records. The suit says the university violated open records laws by creating a “discouraging fee structure” and charging more than $82,000 for public documents. The group asked for records for 179 dogs and cats on Mizzou’s campus. The organization uses record requests to identify candidates for post-research adoption, Chase said. He said the university filed an extension on the deadline to respond to the lawsuit. “We are confident we’ll get these records,” he said. “It’s just how long the university will drag out this process.” Ashley Jost • 314-340-8169 @ajost on Twitter ajost@post-dispatch.com
A L E E E N T E R P R I S E S N E W S PA P E R • F O U N D E D BY J O S E P H P U L I T Z E R D E C . 1 2 , 1 8 7 8
Thursday • 09.01.2016 • A16 RAY FARRIS PRESIDENT & PUBLISHER •
GILBERT BAILON EDITOR •
TOD ROBBERSON EDITORIAL PAGE EDITOR
Right this ship Time for a shakeup as city election board demonstrates its incompetence.
T
he St. Louis Board of Elections appears to be shocked — shocked — to find that absentee voter fraud may be going on. Post-Dispatch reporters Stephen Deere and Doug Moore needed about a week of shoe-leather reporting to document numerous examples of fraud and intimidation of whistleblowers. That the board was caught flat-footed is a testament to its incompetence and a clear sign that it’s time for a shakeup. The board is overseen by four commissioners appointed by the governor, two from each party. Day-to-day operations are run by two full-time election directors, one from each party, paid about $90,000 a year each, and four deputy commissioners, two from each party, receiving about $70,000 each. Nobody noticed anything amiss. It’s not like there weren’t any clues. Consider the huge number of absentee ballots cast over the years in elections where members of the Hubbard family were running. Dave Roland, attorney for Bruce Franks Jr., who lost his Aug. 2 Democratic primary race against state Rep. Penny Hubbard, had the right word for it: “unbelievable.” Citywide, absentee votes generally make up between 4 percent and 8 percent of total votes cast. In races involving a Hubbard family member, the percentages were at least four times greater. In one precinct where a Hubbard was on the ballot, more people voted absentee than voted in person. The Hubbard candidate got huge (up to 95.7 percent) majorities of absentee
votes. The Post-Dispatch investigation revealed multiple problems, including at least 60 instances where two applications for an absentee ballot were submitted to the board on behalf of a single voter. People told Deere and Moore that Hubbard campaign workers had filled out ballots for them. Former board employees recalled Rodney Hubbard Sr., head of the powerful political clan, routinely delivering stacks of absentee ballots, which would be unlawful. Franks filed a lawsuit seeking a new election; St. Louis Circuit Court Judge Rex Burlison heard testimony in the matter Wednesday. Circuit Attorney Jennifer Joyce has opened an investigation. The Missouri secretary of state and U.S. Attorney Richard Callahan are reviewing the case. Regardless of how Burlison rules, there is a general election in a little over two months and a mayoral primary in March. And right now, there are serious questions about the integrity and competence of the city’s election authority. Enough already. This is a terrible time for a mass overhaul of the election board, but an excellent time to bring in an independent election expert to put the house in order. The city’s election system is seriously in danger of losing voter confidence. Since the current board serves under appointment by Gov. Jay Nixon, the governor should exercise every authority at his command to replace commissioners with people of courage and backbone to right this sinking ship.
YOUR VIEWS • LETTERS FROM OUR READERS Nixon disregards will of citizens on public defender system Thanks to Tony Messenger for his column about the public defender system funding crisis and Gov. Jay Nixon’s response to the system’s efforts to alleviate the problem (“GOP senator champions public defenders’ cause,” Aug. 29). The funds being withheld by the governor were appropriated by the Legislature last session after full consideration of the matter. Although both sides of the debate argue over some of the statistics, the fact that Missouri has consistently been the state with the second-lowest funding of indigent defense in the United States is enough to call into question Nixon’s disregard for the will of its citizens, as evidenced by the action of the Missouri Legislature. I spent most of my career as a public defender. In my experience, the turnover in attorneys is not because of low pay, although that is a contributing factor. It is primarily because resources are stretched so thin that the attorneys feel they cannot provide the quality of representation required by professional ethics. Comparatively few of the people who are accused of a crime in this country can afford to pay a lawyer in private practice for representation when their freedom is at stake. Assuring the rights and protections guaranteed by the U.S. Constitution to every person is a crucial public responsibility. Irene Karns • Columbia, Mo.
DAVID CARSON • dcarson@post-dispatch.com
Injected and gouged EpiPen price scandal exposes larger problem of runaway drug prices.
T
he Great EpiPen Pricing Scandal of 2016 will be good for the St. Louis economy. The new generic versions of the epinephrine injection devices will be made at Meridian Medical Technology facilities in Brentwood and Maryland Heights, just like brand-name EpiPens are. It’s bizarre that Mylan NV, the same company that owns EpiPen, would commission an identical generic version of the same product and sell it for half the price. After all, Anheuser-Busch InBev wouldn’t make half-price generic Budweiser at its Pestalozzi Street plant. But the pharmaceutical business plays by different rules. It ruthlessly eliminates competition. It often collaborates with insurance companies and pharmacy benefits managers, the entities that are supposed to restrain it. It has co-opted much of the scientific research community and Congress. The EpiPen pricing scandal — a six-fold price increase since 2007 — is a useful guide for consumer activism. Nothing places a harsher public light on greed than when people can’t afford to buy an EpiPen — the only way to stop a life-threatening allergic reaction — because a corporation is trying to squeeze out higher profits. It shines a light that cuts through a lot of deliberately obfuscatory fog and reveals this fundamental problem: The United States, alone among industrial nations, doesn’t regulate the price of vital prescription drugs. At the risk of saying something nice about Heather Bresch, Mylan’s embattled CEO, she was absolutely right Aug. 25
when she told CNBC: “This isn’t an EpiPen issue. This isn’t a Mylan issue. This is a health care issue. The irony is that the system incentivizes higher prices, and it’s the conversation that no one has wanted to have.” The more expensive a drug is, the more profit there is for everyone who touches it before the customer does: the company that makes it, the insurance company, pharmacy benefits managers, drugstores. There’s more money to underwrite research and fly doctors to Bermuda for conferences. More money for TV ads to convince people they need it. More money to contribute to political campaigns. Sure, you can jack up the price of a drug that treats a rare disease by 5,000 percent — as the infamous Martin Shkreli did last year — but it’s even better when you’ve got the only treatment for common afflictions like allergic reactions. Seniors, who rely on more drugs than younger populations, have seen prices for commonly prescribed drugs double in the last decade. State and federal budgets that pay for these drugs are under stress. It’s not enough to keep passing higher costs onto insurers, who pass them on to customers, or work out “discounts.” It’s not enough to create a generic to diminish a public relations fiasco. Americans must insist that Congress bypass its big contributors and regulate drug prices set by virtual monopolies. You can’t maximize private profits and the public’s health at the same time.
PLATFORM • I know that my retirement will make no difference in its cardinal principles, that it will always fight for progress and reform, never tolerate injustice or corruption, always fight demagogues of all parties, never belong to any party, always oppose privileged classes and public plunderers, never lack sympathy with the poor, always remain devoted to the public welfare, never be satisfied with merely printing news, always be drastically independent, never be afraid to attack wrong, whether by predatory plutocracy or predatory poverty • JOSEPH PULITZER • APRIL 10, 1907
Medicare change that can halt runaway cost of drugs is worth try
Tony Messenger’s column about Missouri’s public defender crisis (“GOP senator champions public defenders’ cause,” Aug. 29) may seem far afield to many who are working on a myriad of community and election issues, but it is not. The column points out the crucial place public defenders have in their role of helping all citizens access our court system to ensure a fair trial. When these officers of the judicial court system are denied because of inadequate funds or for questionable policy decisions, it emboldens those who represent us and those who would to dispense with an important constitutional requirement and opens the floodgates to wholesale corruption at all levels of government. Beverly D. Rehfeld • Ladue
A political ad being aired on behalf of Sen. Roy Blunt features an oncologist who says that a proposed Medicare change “could reduce access to cancer treatments for patients undergoing cancer therapy.” The commercial ends by asking voters to tell Blunt to continue to fight against these Medicare changes. The proposed change referred to is intended to test ways to reimburse doctors for medications in hopes they’ll choose less expensive drugs. It would reduce the incentive for some doctors to use the most expensive drugs. Most of the impact of this proposed change would fall on doctors who treat cancer, such as the one in Blunt’s ad. The proposed plan increases the reimbursement for administering a cheaper drug while reducing the reimbursement for more expensive drugs. Doctors can still prescribe higher-priced drugs if they feel it is the most appropriate for a particular patient. They just wouldn’t be reimbursed for the more expensive drug to the extent they have in the past. Is it possible a doctor would avoid using an appropriate cancer treatment drug based solely on how he is reimbursed, as the oncologist in Blunt’s ad implies? I can’t imagine any legitimate doctor doing that. In 2014, Medicare paid out $7.8 billion on cancer drugs, or 42 percent of its total spending on drugs that year. If we are as concerned about controlling the runaway cost of pharmaceutical drugs as we say we are, perhaps it is time to give the new model being proposed by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services a try. Mel Myers • St. Louis County
Article about emails will make her watch Clinton more closely
Ameren must take responsibility for dangerous pollution
Chuck Raasch’s brilliant article “Emails reveal the Clinton complexity” (Aug. 28) did for me what numerous and often tedious articles about the emails failed to do: provide a clarity and realistic understanding of who the Clintons really are and how they’ve operated throughout their public lives. In fact, the article did not change my mind about voting for Hillary Clinton, but I also am no longer delusional about the Clintons altering their modes of living after she’s elected president. Because I read Raasch’s article, I will follow her presidency with eyes and ears wide open, and with a hypervigilance about the Clintons’ operations that I haven’t possessed in the past. Jane H. Smith • Ballwin
Thank you to the Post-Dispatch for covering the federal case between the Environmental Protection Agency and Ameren (“EPA argues Ameren work requires controls,” Aug. 23). I went to the courthouse to watch opening arguments in that case. The EPA is alleging that Ameren violated the Clean Air Act in order to avoid using available technology that would limit the pollution from its Rush Island coal plant. This technology has been available for decades and is necessary for public health, so what is the hold-up? While the EPA’s arguments appeared straightforward, I was appalled to see that Ameren’s lawyer led us through a series of distracting and irrelevant statistics, which seemed to be designed to cause confusion. At no point was there acknowledgment that this pollution is harming health and costing lives. Residents in the St. Louis area experience the effects of this pollution first hand. St. Louis has the highest childhood asthma rates in the region. Ameren needs to take responsibility for this dangerous pollution. Instead of doubling down on dirty coal, Ameren should invest in renewable energy: solar and wind. Ameren should stop the courtroom high jinks and spend its money making St. Louis a better place to live. Erin Kollar • St. Louis
Public defenders play crucial role in court system
Deirra Paster filed an affidavit saying she felt intimidated by people who claimed to be from state Rep. Penny Hubbard’s campaign after she told them she planned to vote for Bruce Franks Jr.
department heads to run their own departments, which they’ve done very well? I fear our city is allowing an “out with the old, in with the new” mentality, when those “old” city staffers have built a pretty damn fine city that I was proud to live in. Change for change’s sake is a waste of time and city resources. Do we want to be the next Pacific, Valley Park or any of the many dysfunctional small cities that are always in the news making a laughingstock of themselves? I sure don’t want that, and if you live in Maryland Heights, this is something you should be concerned about. Steve Walden • Maryland Heights
New city administrator leading Maryland Heights to ruin Regarding “Maryland Heights police suspensions are called political” (Aug. 27): This is an embarrassment to the proud 31-year history of the city of Maryland Heights and to its citizens. Everything was fine before new City Administrator Jim Krischke came in, and now we’re all over the news for the wrong reasons. Why do we need someone who wants to come in and change our great city when he’s never even lived in St. Louis, let alone Maryland Heights? Do we need a micromanaging administrator who doesn’t allow
Read more letters online at STLtoday.com/letters
TOD ROBBERSON Editorial Page Editor • trobberson@post-dispatch.com 314-340-8382 KEVIN HORRIGAN Deputy Editorial Page Editor • khorrigan@post-dispatch.com 314-340-8135
STLtoday.com/ThePlatform Find us at facebook/PDPlatform Follow us on twitter @PDEditorial E-MAIL Letters to the editor St. Louis Post-Dispatch, letters@post-dispatch.com 900 N. Tucker Blvd. St. Louis, MO 63101 Letters should be 250 words or fewer. Please include your name, address and phone number. All letters are subject to editing. Writers usually will not be published more than once every 60 days.
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BALLOT BATTLE SCOTT FRANKS V. HUBBARD IN JUDGE’S HANDS FRANKS’ ARGUMENT
HUBBARD’S RESPONSE
Attorney Dave Roland says all absentee ballots must be received in a sealed envelope. Roland says without the envelope, there is no way to challenge the vote.
Attorney Jane Dueker, along with the three Election Board officials, said there is no reason — and no way — to cast an absentee ballot in person with an envelope.
AFB TO CRACK DOWN ON IDs Visitors soon will need more than a Missouri drivers license to enter the base unescorted BY KIM BELL AND KURT ERICKSON St. Louis Post-Dispatch
need for a new election to be held. An ongoing Post-Dispatch investigation on Wednesday revealed multiple problems with absentee ballots in the Aug. 2 election. Roland centered his case on the 142 absentee ballots that were cast at the Election Board office downtown. He cited state law that says all absentee ballots must be received in a sealed envelope. The envelope provides the
Security officials at Scott Air Force Base are preparing for big changes on Sept. 15, when any Missouri visitors to the base will need identification beyond just a state drivers license. Denny Frank, 375th security forces chief, said such visitors who want to come on the military base won’t be allowed to enter unescorted without additional documentation, such as a U.S. passport. This is part of the REAL ID Act of 2005, which was enacted to ensure nationwide conformity with measures to prevent state-issued ID cards from being counterfeited or altered. The goal was to stop would-be terrorists from falsifying their identities to gain access to airliners or secure facilities. But Missouri, Minnesota, Washington and American Samoa haven’t adopted the federal security identification standards and haven’t gotten extensions, and the crackdown begins Sept. 15 at Scott Air Force Base. About 150 visitors a day come to the base from Missouri; Frank assumes few of those will have proper identification by the deadline in midSeptember. More headaches are coming next month. Twenty-eight states and territories, including
See VOTING • Page A4
See SCOTT • Page A5
DAVID CARSON • dcarson@post-dispatch.com
Bettie Williams (center), deputy Republican director of the St. Louis Election Board, reviews absentee ballot envelopes with lawyers David Roland (left), Mike Colona and Jane Dueker (right) for the second day of a hearing Thursday in St. Louis about absentee voting. Behind Williams is Pamela Lake, Democratic absentee voter supervisor and coordinator. BY DOUG MOORE AND STEPHEN DEERE St. Louis Post-Dispatch
ST. LOUIS • As attorney Jane Dueker
said Thursday afternoon, “it comes down to the envelopes.” Dueker made the remark after the end of arguments in a two-day civil trial regarding absentee balloting in the Aug. 2 Democratic primary for the 78th District Missouri House race. Dueker represented incumbent Penny Hubbard, who won the race by
Messenger: Follow the money to decipher Hubbard election dispute • A2
90 votes. Hubbard did so by capturing 78.5 percent of the absentee ballots. During Thursday’s action, Dueker repeatedly fended off claims by Dave Roland, attorney for Hubbard opponent Bruce Franks Jr., that election irregularities, including inconsistent policies by the St. Louis Election Board of Commissioners, show the
Some local places, such as the Meramec River, give Paul problems. He pronounces “Meramec” like “Mer-AM-ick.”
Weather service’s new radio voice can’t quite speak St. Louis
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‘FOLLIES’ OPENS NEW SEASON AT THE REP Some Latino leaders feel misled by Trump • A10 SpaceX blast destroys Facebook satellite • A15 St. Louis may soon get its first food truck park • B1
BY VALERIE SCHREMP HAHN St. Louis Post-Dispatch
WELDON SPRING • Everybody, the National Weather
Service in St. Louis has a new employee. His name is Paul. He just started working out of the service’s office in Weldon Spring this week. He’s going to help us. And we need to help him.
See VOICE • Page A4
Florida finds Zika virus in Miami area mosquitoes BY JOEY FLECHAS AND DANIEL CHANG Miami Herald
MIAMI • Mosquitoes trapped in Miami’s South Beach have tested positive for Zika, the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services reported Thursday — providing the first conclusive proof that insects in the U.S. are carrying the virus. Florida health officials also reported two more local infections in Miami-Dade, with one case in each of the two areas previously identified as transmission zones: a section of Mi-
Classic cars go crunch in crash
See ZIKA • Page A8
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Terry McGuire (left) helps steer his friend’s 1950 Plymouth as tow truck driver Robert Diven pulls it onto a flatbed Thursday on Highway 40 near Kingshighway. The classic Plymouth hit McGuire’s 1941 Chevy pickup. STORY • A8
ami’s Wynwood neighborhood and a 1.5-square-mile zone in Miami Beach. The Zika-positive mosquitoes were found in three of 19 traps spread throughout the area of South Beach where the virus is spreading. One of the samples came from the Miami Beach Botanical Garden, which was closed Monday for mosquito control. County officials are awaiting results on another batch of mosquitoes, though they wouldn’t say where they were trapped. Officials did not say where
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Man found guilty in deadly home invasion BY JOEL CURRIER St. Louis Post-Dispatch
ST. LOUIS • A jury has found
a St. Louis man charged with murder and other counts guilty of involuntary manslaughter. He was charged in what police described as an armed home invasion in 2014. The verdict in the murder trial of Shawn Morgan, 38, came Thursday after about 12 hours of deliberation. The jury could not agree on a verdict on one count of burglary and two counts of armed criminal action.
Police say Morgan was one of two m e n wh o burst into a home in the Marine Villa neighborhood on Aug. 10, Morgan 2014, after an earlier argument. Morgan held one person at gunpoint while the other man shot Kelvin “Big Mike” Dawson four times, killing him, according to police. Dawson, 50, and his longtime girlfriend had hosted an allday barbecue at their home in the 3600 block of Salena Street
as they often did, according to court testimony. Alcohol and petty arguments among friends were common at Dawson’s barbecues. On the day of the shooting, Morgan and a man known as “B.B.” argued, police say. Prosecutor Matt Martin said Morgan was armed with a shotgun when he and the other gunman forced their way into Dawson’s Marine Villa home looking to settle the earlier beef with “B.B.” The other man with Morgan shot Dawson. The shooter was
never caught. Morgan’s lawyer, deputy St. Louis Public Defender Rick Kroeger, described the shooting as a tragedy but said Dawson’s girlfriend gave police several conflicting accounts of the incident. Kroeger said she initially identified a different man from photos provided by police. Kroeger said the trauma of the incident and a day of drinking alcohol had clouded her memory. Sentencing is set for Nov. 4. Morgan faces up to seven years
in prison. Prosecutors are considering whether to retry Morgan on the burglary and armed criminal action charges after the jury deadlocked and St. Louis Circuit Judge Mark Neill declared a mistrial on the counts. Morgan’s criminal history includes convictions of forgery and drug trafficking. According to an online obituary for Dawson, he was a cook and adept auto mechanic. Joel Currier • 314-340-8256 @joelcurrier on Twitter jcurrier@post-dispatch.com
Lawyers scrutinized envelopes and procedures
DAVID CARSON • dcarson@post-dispatch.com
Attorneys David Roland (left), Mike Colona (center) and Jane Dueker discuss potential evidence on Thursday before a hearing in St. Louis about absentee voting in the 78th District Missouri House seat primary election. Both Dueker and Colona represent Rep. Penny Hubbard, the incumbent. Roland represents Bruce Franks Jr., who lost by 90 votes. VOTING • FROM A1
signature of the voter, a place to mark one of the six reasons the voter is voting absentee and a place to notarize the ballot, which must be done in all cases except those in which the voter claims “incapacity” as a reason for casting an absentee ballot. Roland says without the envelope, there is no way to challenge the vote. Dueker, along with the three Election Board officials Roland called to the stand, said there is no reason — and no way — to cast an absentee ballot in person with an envelope. At the Election Board office, the voter must complete an absentee ballot application. After it is filled out, which includes marking a reason the voter expects to not be able to vote at the polls on Election Day, an Election Board official verifies that the voter is registered and the signa-
ture on the application matches what is in the board database. These ballots were the ones Circuit Judge Rex Burlison asked the most questions about on both days. State law outlines specific steps for casting, challenging and counting absentee votes — processes that involve envelopes. On Day 2, Roland hammered away at inconsistencies contained on the envelopes of absentee ballots that were mailed in. In some cases — Roland said about 10 — voters marked a reason such as “absence” from the city on their absentee ballot applications and on the envelopes, without getting the envelope notarized as required. “It was human error, I guess,” said Bettie Williams, the Election Board’s deputy Republican director. In pointing out that the Elec-
tion Board rejects some ballots for errors and not others, Roland said it “adds to the question about the legitimacy of the election.” After spending an extended amount of time asking Williams about the procedure for absentee balloting, Dueker interjected, prompting Burlison to ask if she had an objection. Flustered, Dueker waved her arms and said: “I don’t have one.” After turning and walking back to her table, she added: “The stupidity.” In cross-examination, Dueker pointed out that some people who marked their ballots incorrectly were on the board’s permanent disability list, which would require no notary but should be marked “incapacity” not another reason such as “absence.” “Is it possible you were accepting these ballots so you were
not jacking around disabled people?” Dueker said. “Yes,” Williams replied. In his attack on the consistency of Election Board policies and procedures, Roland also questioned the 86 rejected absentee ballots. In several cases, the ballots were returned by the Postal Service as undeliverable. But Roland asked Pamela Lake, the board’s Democratic absentee supervisor, about the others, including those rejected for not having a signature or for not being notarized. He called her attention to absentee ballots mailed in well advance of the Aug. 2 election. “So if it is three weeks before the election, and the vote is rejected, would the voter know he would still be able to vote at the polls?” Roland asked Lake. “No,” she said. “If it is rejected, the voter is not notified.” When Roland asked her why
not, she said: “When I started, that was not the policy of the board.” Lake has been an Election Board employee since 2013. She did say, however, that the board has notified voters when their ballot applications were incorrectly filled out. His point was to show that if voters had been notified that their ballots were rejected, they could have sought another application. Burlison told the attorneys to get all their written arguments to him so he could begin reviewing and writing his opinion on Friday. On Wednesday, Election Board attorney Michael Stokes said that in order to have an election before the Nov. 8 general election, the board needs a decision no later than Tuesday morning. Doug Moore • 314-340-8125 @dougwmoore on Twitter dmoore@post-dispatch.com
Weather service wants your help to teach Paul place names VOICE • FROM A1
See, Paul’s having a little trouble pronouncing the local place names. He pronounced “Meramec” like “Mer-AM-ick.” He wanted to pronounce the Bourbeuse River “Ber-bewse” instead of “Ber-bus.” That’s OK — everybody goes through an awkward phase when starting a new job. The new meteorologists on local TV stations sometimes go through this, too. Paul is the new, computerized voice coming out of the NOAA Weather Radio system. He gives us basic weather reporting over our weather radios and their site and app, and warns us about bad weather rolling our way. He’s part of a nationwide upgrade of computer systems, and the local office here put Paul online Tuesday. The last voice the weather service used was named Tom, and a female voice, named
Donna, used to read the river levels and flooding reports here. Now, Paul will do both. Maybe it’s a cost thing. The economy, you know. Jon Carney is the NOAA Weather Radio program manager for the Weldon Spring office. He has spent the better part of the last few days revising dictionary entries for Paul. He has put inquires out on the local Facebook page, asking for people to listen to Paul to see what he can improve. “I won’t be able to get them all,” said Carney. “I’m relying on people to say, ‘That doesn’t seem right.’” Some of Paul’s quirks were pretty obvious. For example, whenever he read a “St.” in a name, he took the period as a sign it was the end of the sentence. So, with some hesitation, he drew out stilted pronunciations of “St. Louis” and “St. Pe-
ters.” Carney fixed the pause to help Paul sound a bit more confident. Paul might have French roots, because he wanted to pronounce the area’s many French names like a true Francophile. So Carney set him straight about St. Francois County. What about Gravois? There’s a Gravois Creek that sometimes floods its banks, right? “I betcha it says it pretty well,” says Carney, tapping into his keyboard. “It’s not in my dictionary. I can get it to say it here.” Carney paused, listened, and chortled. “Ah! I should change that. It said ‘Grav-wah.’” It takes a few minutes for Carney to fix the phonemes in a simple word. He might have to change the sounds a bit and put accent marks in different places. People in 46 counties across Missouri and Southwest Illinois will hear Paul and his evolving
pronunciations of local place names. Carney thinks Paul’s voice sounds similar to Tom’s, but maybe Paul sounds a bit more natural. “His pitch is a bit higher, he tends to read things a little bit slower than the other voice,” he said. He said people seem to like the voice. “The overwhelming response has been positive. There’s always going to be people who say, oh, I like the old one better.” But, Paul new on the job was part of a necessary upgrade of equipment. Now it’s called Broadcast Message Handler, which better integrates with their weather forecasting system, called Advanced Weather Interactive Processing System, called AWIPS. Tom and Donna worked on a Console Replacement System, called CRS, that had been running for the last 20 years. On the
same system before Tom and Donna was a voice nicknamed “Igor” by workers in the St. Louis office. He sounded even more computerized and “was not received well by the public,” Carney said. And before that the system was based on eight tracks. The Weather Service simply doesn’t have the parts to replace Tom and Donna’s system. “When it breaks, it’s broken,” Carney said. “This is not temporary. We really needed this to maintain the integrity of the weather radio program.” Which is why we need to help Paul — because he’s here to help us. If you have a suggestion for a pronunciation change, email the webmaster at w-lsx. webmaster@noaa.gov or visit the Weldon Spring office’s Facebook page. Valerie Schremp Hahn • 314-340-8246 @valeriehahn on Twitter vhahn@post-dispatch.com
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NEW ELECTION ORDERED Improper absentee ballots ‘cast doubt’ on outcome, judge says
PHOTOS BY DAVID CARSON • P-D
David Roland, attorney for Bruce Franks Jr., questions Pamela Lake, Democratic absentee voter supervisor and coordinator, on Thursday in St. Louis.
Judge Rex Burlison listens as lawyers make their case Wednesday at the start of a hearing about the Aug. 2 primary election for the Missouri House’s 78th district.
BY DOUG MOORE AND STEPHEN DEERE St. Louis Post-Dispatch
ST. LOUIS • A St. Louis circuit judge on FriFranks ‘It’s not over yet. We got to fight like we are fighting from behind.’
day tossed out the results of a fiercely contested Aug. 2 Democratic primary and ordered a new election based exclusively on what may seem like an insignificant detail: the St. Louis Election Board accepted 142 absentee ballots without envelopes. But Judge Rex Burlison’s 22-page decision details the reasons why those envelopes are required by law and says the board can’t ig-
FBI notes on Clinton email are published
‘The Court is firmly convinced that these irregularities affected the outcome of the election. These irregularities were more than petty procedural infirmities but abuses of the election law which cannot be ignored.’ CIRCUIT JUDGE REX BURLISON
Attorneys Jane Dueker and Mike Colona, who are representing Rep. Penny Hubbard, review paperwork Thursday before the second day of the hearing.
nore or circumvent “tedious and specific” provisions. The decision gives Bruce Franks Jr., a 31-year-old activist who lost by 90 votes, another chance to unseat incumbent state Rep. Penny Hubbard, 62. It also casts doubt on the methods election authorities across the state use to count absentee votes when they are cast in person. “It’s the happiest I have been in a long time,” Franks said on Friday afternoon. “I’m See ELECTION • Page A11
‘KODOMO NO TAME NI’ (FOR THE SAKE OF THE CHILDREN)
Hubbard Hubbard won 78.5 percent of absentee ballots, giving her a 90-vote advantage.
Home vs. away fuels senators’ squabbles
Account largely matches her public statements
Familiar debate on where they ‘live’ is rarely clear-cut
Clinton
Kander
BY MATT ZAPOTOSKY AND ROSALIND S. HELDERMAN Washington Post
BY CHUCK RAASCH St. Louis Post-Dispatch
WASHINGTON • Former Sec-
retary of State Hillary Clinton and her staffers used an informal and sometimes haphazard system for exchanging and storing sensitive information and were at times unaware of or unconcerned with State Department policy, documents from an FBI investigation into her private email server system show. The documents reveal myriad new details about the email setup and show that investigators found multiple attempts by hackers to access Clinton’s system — a series of personal devices and servers that the Democratic presidential candidate told investigators she used as a matter of convenience while she was secretary of state. The materials, which include a summary of the FBI’s entire investigation as well as Clinton’s hours-long interview with agents in July, con-
See CLINTON • Page A4
TODAY
82°/63°
CHRISTIAN GOODEN • cgooden@post-dispatch.com
Steve Mitori, (left) whose father lived in an internment camp in Rohwer, Ark., during World War II, works with volunteer Bob Case to post banners Thursday that say “Japanese Festival” at the Missouri Botanical Garden. The annual Labor Day weekend event marks its 40th year.
Forty years later, Japanese Festival is still a gift from internment camp families BY KRISTEN TAKETA St. Louis Post-Dispatch
Ed Shimamoto was born behind barbed wire in 1944. He was 1 year old when the U.S. government finally let his family leave that Japanese-American internment camp in Rohwer, Ark. But they had nothing to go back to; the strawberry and grape farm in California that was their livelihood before World War II was as good as gone. So they headed north to St. Louis, because they heard it was a friendly place to live, meaning not as prejudiced as other cities. As their way of showing gratitude to St. Louis, Shimamoto’s family and 23 others started the Missouri Botanical Garden’s Japanese festival 40 years ago. This was his parents’ gift, or “omiyage,” to St. Louis.
“It’s a matter of fulfilling my parents’ dream,” Shimamoto said Wednesday while propping up 20-foot-long bamboo poles with flying carp by the Japanese garden’s pond for this weekend’s festival. “I work to preserve that dream.” For this 40th anniversary of the long-popular festival, those 24 families are being honored with their family crests printed on the back of this year’s festival T-shirts. The festival draws more than 40,000 people each Labor Day weekend and is indicative of how St. Louis has become an understated U.S. hub of Japanese culture. St. Louis is home to the biggest Japanese garden, the largest Japanese festival and arguably the most authentic Japanese tea house outside of Japan. It sustains a sister city partnership with See FESTIVAL • Page A4
LABOR DAY WEEKEND EVENTS • A4
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der and the Missouri Democratic Party have been pushing the argument that the man Kander wants to replace, Republican U.S. Sen. Roy Blunt, “clearly doesn’t live in Missouri anymore,” in the words of Kander Communications Director Chris Hayden. Meanwhile, the Democrats insist that Sen. Claire McCaskill lives in Missouri and commutes to Washington. The differences between Missouri senators’ home habits may be subtle to some. But the charge Democrats are using is far from unique to this state or this election. Citing a tweet that the incumbent Republican Blunt was seen in Washington during the Senate recess, Hayden said: “Obviously, senators have to be in Washington for work, but the fact that Sen. Blunt is also there during recess proves that he lives there and commutes to Missouri
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Displaced Syrians settle in St. Louis
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New 78th District primary vote set for Sept. 16 of the election. These irregularities were more than petty procedural infirmities but abuses of the election law which cannot be ignored.” Burlison added: “The number of votes called into question exceed the margin of the apparent victor and is of sufficient magnitude to cast doubt on the validity of the initial election.” Burlison also said the Election Board had violated Missouri law. “We could not be happier for the people of the 78th District,” Roland said Friday. But Dueker criticized the decision saying, “The will of the people was thrown out based on a legal technicality having absolutely nothing to do with voters.” In a text message, Dueker said if the Missouri Court of Appeals does not overturn Burlison’s decision, then a much smaller number of voters will determine the outcome of the election. “That is voter suppression,” Dueker said. A statement from Secretary of State Jason Kander on Friday said his office is ready to assist with the new election and will continue to review the situation and make its findings public once they are complete. “That aside, clearly in this situation, the St. Louis City Board of Election Commissioners did not comply with state law,” Kander said. A spokesman could not say how many election authorities in the state use similar procedures. Franks said Friday afternoon that he planned to begin knocking on doors in about an hour. “It’s not over yet,” Franks said. “We got to fight like we are fighting from behind.” Franks’ lawsuit may be not be the only challenge for the Hubbards. In St. Louis’ 5th Ward, Rodney Hubbard Sr. defeated Rasheen Aldridge, another young activist. Like Franks, Aldridge won the majority of votes on Election Day, but Rodney Hubbard Sr. carried the absentee vote: 231-96. Last month, during the press conference when Franks announced his lawsuit, Aldridge said was considering one of his own.
ELECTION • FROM A1
so happy for the people … This is huge.” The new election is scheduled for Sept. 16, but Hubbard’s attorney, Jane Dueker, said the decision will be appealed. In court this week, Franks’ attorney, Dave Roland, pointed to a number of other irregularities as he argued that at least 238 votes should have been rejected by the Election Board. But Burlison addressed only the state laws that provide specific steps for accepting, counting and challenging absentee votes. As reported Sunday in the Post-Dispatch, those steps are always supposed to involve sealed envelopes. Franks received nearly 53 percent of votes cast at the polls on the day of the election, but Hubbard won 78.5 percent of the absentee ballots, giving her a 90-vote advantage in the final tabulation. The absentee tally was 416 for Hubbard, 114 for Franks. Burlison blamed the Election Board, not Hubbard or her supporters, for the need to have a new election. “No credible evidence was presented from which this Court could find that any voter fraudulently cast a vote in this case,” Burlison said. “Any error or irregularity that this Court finds herein, is solely the responsibility of the City of St. Louis Board of Election Commissioners.”
A BROADER IMPACT? Since 2006, the St. Louis Election Board has been allowing absentee voters who vote in person at the Election Board office to use touchscreens. Other jurisdictions, such as St. Louis County, do the same. But some election authorities only accept absentee votes in envelopes. It’s not clear if Burlison’s ruling will affect other elections. Franks, from the Benton Park West neighborhood, ran against incumbent Hubbard, of Carr Square, with the intent of shaking up the established Democratic Party. The Hubbard family has long been entrenched in city politics. Hubbard’s husband, Rodney, is the 5th Ward committeeman; their daughter, Tammika, is 5th Ward alderman. Roland raised concerns weeks before the Aug. 2 primary about the Hubbards’ use of absentee votes to win election, noting that there was a spike in absentee voting when a Hubbard ran for office. In a 2011 special
DAVID CARSON • dcarson@post-dispatch.com
Attorney Jane Dueker, arguing for state Rep. Penny Hubbard, addresses the court on Wednesday. Dueker said she will appeal the decision to set a new primary election.
election, more than 60 percent of Tammika Hubbard’s votes were absentee. Roland filed a public records requests seeking copies of absentee ballot applications and envelopes in July, but the Election Board argued those were closed records and refused to release them. Roland sued the board for the documents. After Franks lost the election, Roland filed another lawsuit seeking to have the election results overturned. Of the 4,316 votes cast in the race, 530 were absentee. Last week, Circuit Judge Julian Bush ruled the board had violated the law by keeping the records — which were also requested by the Post-Dispatch — secret. The board waited another day before producing the documents. The records led to an ongoing Post-Dispatch investigation that has found numerous irregularities. Many voters said they were duped into filling out absentee ballots and were told to mark that they were incapacitated when they were not. Two former Election Board workers said Penny Hubbard’s husband brought stacks of absentee ballots into board headquarters downtown, a violation of state law. Two voters have said individuals who said they were with the Hubbard campaign filled out ballots for them.
The records also revealed that 142 ballots cast at the Election Board office downtown did not have envelopes. In the trial that began Wednesday, Roland focused on the validity of the in-person votes cast without envelopes. The law says all absentee ballots must be received in a sealed envelope. The envelope provides the signature of the voter, a place to mark one of the six reasons the voter is voting absentee and a place to notarize the ballot, which must be done in all cases except when the voter claims “incapacity” as a reason for voting absentee. Dueker argued before the judge that the envelope issue was a technicality that shouldn’t be used to disenfranchise voters. Roland also noted other discrepancies in the absentee ballot processing, such as the Election Board’s acceptance of ballots in envelopes that should have been notarized. Bettie Williams, the Election Board’s deputy Republican director, attributed some of those mistakes to “human error.”
‘ABUSES … CANNOT BE IGNORED’
Doug Moore • 314-340-8125 @dougwmoore on Twitter dmoore@post-dispatch.com
Burlison’s ruling focused on the envelopes. “The Court is firmly convinced that these irregularities affected the outcome
3
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TO ADVERTISE YOUR CONGREGATION, CONTACT TANYA LEMONS AT 314-340-8549 OR TLEMONS@POST-DISPATCH.COM ST. FRANCIS de SALES
Apostolic Apostolic Pentecostal Church All are welcome! 901 Barracksview Rd., St. Louis 63125 (314) 894-8130 apcstl.org Pastor Stephen T. Willeford Sunday Schedule: Sunday School 10 am Worship 11 am & 6:30 pm Spanish Sunday School / Service 2 pm Wednesday Schedule: 7:30 p.m. Adult, Youth, & Children’s Services Home Bible Study Available
Baptist First Baptist Church of Wentzville 653 Luetkenhaus Blvd. Wentzville, MO 63385 636-327-8696 www.fbcwentzville.com Ralph Sawyer, Lead Pastor
TOWER GROVE BAPTIST CHURCH Something for everyone! 4257 Magnolia Avenue, Saint Louis, MO 63110-3501 314.865.HOPE (4673) ï www.towergrove.org SUNDAY Bible Study for all ages - 9:00 am Celebration Service - 10:15 am Children’s Church (1st–6th Grade) - 10:15 am Sunday Nite Live - 6:00 pm WEDNESDAY Children’s Program (3 years – 6th Grade) - 6:00 pm Youth (7th–12th Grade) - 5:00 pm Prayer Service - 6:00 pm
Catholic
ORATORY INSTITUTE OF CHRIST THE KING SOVEREIGN PRIEST Extraordinary Form Roman Rite Holy Mass: 8 a.m. Daily Sunday 8 a.m. Low Mass, 10 a.m. Solemn High Mass, Tuesday 6:30 p.m. Low Mass, Perpetual Help devotions 12:15 p.m. Wednesday Thursday Adoration 6:30 p.m. First Fridays 6:30 p.m. Solemn High Mass Holy Days 8 a.m., 12:10 p.m., 6:30 p.m. High Mass Confessions & Rosary before Masses and Adoration (314) 771-3100 Ohio at Gravois in South St. Louis sfds@institute-christ-king.org www.institute-christ-king.org
Christian
Sunday: 9:30 a.m. and 11:00 a.m. Bible Study/Worship Service Nursery Provided Services interpreted for the deaf at 11:00 a.m.
Episcopal TRINITY EPISCOPAL CHURCH “A Church for all” since 1836 318 S. Duchesne Dr. St. Charles, MO 63301 636-949-0160
Sunday 8:00 & 10:15 a.m. (Sept-May) Sunday 9:15 a.m. (June-Aug) Christian Education 9:00 a.m. (Sept-May) Nursery provided at all Sunday services
Bible Study Wednesday 10:00 a.m. Weekday Worship Wed 6:30 p.m. www.trinity-stcharles.org
United Methodist Lutheran St. Paul's Lutheran Church (LCMS) Invites You to Worship with Us! Saturdays: 5:00 pm Sundays: 8:00, 9:30, 10:45 am (two services) Sunday School & Bible Study: 9:25 am Join the H.I.S. Puppeteers at their season debut, "Follow the Shepherd" Sunday, September 25, 10:45 am worship service
All are welcome! Sts. Peter and Paul Catholic Church (A faith community of the Ecumenical Catholic Church+USA) Sunday Mass: 4:00 pm at St. Timothy's Church 808 N. Mason Road Creve Coeur, MO 63141 More information at: www.sspp-eccusa.org
Christview Christian Church - Check out our website! www.christviewchristian.net 64 Terrie Lane, St. Charles MO 63301 636-946-5947 Sun Morning Service 10:45 a.m. Sun Bible School 9:30 a.m. Sun Evening Service 6:30 p.m. Come join our church family to worship Christ and honor God in a small, beautiful church full of good ole fashioned hospitality. Teens, join Josh Diel our youth minister on Wed evenings at 6:00 p.m. and be challenged by “The Conquest”!
Non-Denominational ST. LOUIS FAMILY CHURCH Three Sunday services to choose from! 8:00, 9:30, & 11:15 am You can also connect at our 7:30 Friday night service. Children’s ministry is available for all services. 17458 Chesterfield Airport Road, Chesterfield, MO www.slfc.org / 636.532.3446 Facebook.com/StLouisFamilyChurch
Music at St. Paul's: Hymn Festival Featuring Guest Organist, Kevin Hildebrand, Kantor, Concordia Seminary, Fort Wayne, Indiana Sunday, September 25, 4:00 pm Community Health Fair Saturday, October 22, 10 am-2 pm Flu shots, screenings, fire, police, blood drive, children's activities, etc. Event is open to all! Visit Us Online at StPaulsDesPeres.org Facebook.com/StPaulsDesPeres Twitter.com/StPaulsDP 12345 Manchester Road Des Peres, MO 63131 314-822-0447
THE UNITED METHODIST CHURCH AT WENTZVILLE 725 Wall Street, Wentzville, MO 63385 9 am Traditional 10 am Sunday School 11 am Modern Sunday, September 4 An Encouraging Community Sunday, September 11 Overflowing Grace Facebook: The United Methodist Church at Wentzville 636-327-6377 www.livelovegrow.org
Unity FIRST UNITY CHURCH OF ST. LOUIS 4753 Butler Hill Road (In South County) 314-845-8540 Sunday Service: 10:30 a.m. Rev. Randy Schmelig, Minister Emeritus Sunday, September 4: Just Imagine Speaker: Jan Mourning, Minister www.firstunitychurchstlouis.org
Christian Science Shrine of Our Lady of the Snows 15 minutes from downtown St. Louis 618-397-6700 or 314-241-3400 442 S. De Mazenod Drive Belleville, IL 62223 1.5 miles east of I-255 exit 17A Monday-Friday Masses: 7:30 & 11:30 a.m. Saturday: 7:30 a.m. & 5 p.m. Sunday Masses: 9:30 & 11:30 a.m. 2 p.m. Spanish www.snows.org
First Church of Christ, Scientist Town & Country (SE Corner of 40/64 & Mason Rd.) Sunday 10:00 a.m. Sunday School (up to age 20) 10 a.m. Wed. 7:30 p.m. Testimony Meeting Child Care Provided 314-434-5164 tandcchurch.org
TRINITY LUTHERAN CHURCH Eighth and Soulard Streets ï 314-231-4092 “A loving Christ-centered community actively reaching out to all people.” Two miles south of the Arch & Stadium www.trinitystlouis.com Saturday Evening Service 5:00 p.m. Sunday Morning Services 8:45 and 10:15 a.m. Contemporary Worship at 1004 Locust in Downtown on Sunday at 10:30 a.m. Serving the Homeless Monday through Saturday 9:00-10:30 a.m. Steve Albers, Vacancy Pastor David B. Marth, Pastor Emeritus
UNITY CHRIST CHURCH At Skinker & Forsyth • 314-727-6478 Dial A Prayer • 314-727-6478 Ext. 2 9:45 a.m. Prayer and Meditation Service 10:30 a.m. Worship Service Wedding Ministry Sunday, September 4, 2016: Prayer, the Ultimate Lifeline Guest Speaker: Mary Biggs, LUT Guest Musicians: Deborah Sharn and Steve Schenkel www.unitychristchurchstl.org
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WEDNESDAY • 09.07.2016 • $1.50
‘THE BOARD WAS NOT DOING ITS JOB.’ • GOV. NIXON
ELECTION BOARD SHAKE-UP Irregularities • Aug. 2 violations are called board’s fault A do-over • New vote will decide 78th District House seat Nixon
Switzer
Johnson
Oddities • Case highlights peculiar aspects of election law BY STEPHEN DEERE AND DOUG MOORE St. Louis Post-Dispatch
7, 041 FLAGS OF VALOR
ST. LOUIS • After a judge ruled that the St. Louis Election Board violated the law in an Aug. 2 primary and ordered a new election, the first heads to roll belonged to those with the most power. On Monday, Gov. Jay Nixon, a Democrat, replaced Chairwoman Joan M. Burger and Board Secretary Andrew L. Schwartz, citing a prominent sentence in St. Louis Circuit Judge Rex Burlison’s 22page Friday ruling. Burlison said that election irregularities in the contest between Bruce Franks Jr. and Penny Hubbard for the 78th District Missouri House seat were “solely the responsibility of the City of St. Louis Board of Election Commissioners,” not of voters. “In other words, the board was not doing its job,” Nixon said. Erwin “Erv” Switzer, a Democrat and partner of the law firm Greensfelder Attorneys at Law, is the new chairman. Al W. Johnson, a Republican and founder of New Covenant Legal Services, which provides legal services to low-income people in St. Louis, See ELECTION • Page A8
CHRISTIAN GOODEN • cgooden@post-dispatch.com
Volunteer Andy Limbaugh, of Clayton, unfurls flags on Tuesday after he and hundreds of others raised 7,041 of them for Flags of Valor on Art Hill in Forest Park, marking of the 15th anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks. Each flag will carry a photo of a fallen veteran. America’s Heartland Remembers sponsored the flag memorial, which was last done in 2011 for the 10th anniversary of 9/11.
Water warning covers 85,000 across county, cancels classes BY BRYCE GRAY St. Louis Post-Dispatch
NRA endorses Koster over Greitens for governor
County sets 21 as minimum age to buy tobacco, vaping products
BY KURT ERICKSON St. Louis Post-Dispatch
BY STEVE GIEGERICH St. Louis Post-Dispatch
After a primary election season that featured the Republican candidate for governor shooting guns and blowing things up, the National Rifle Association endorsed on Tuesday his opponent, Attorney General Chris Koster, a Democrat. The NRA Political Victory Fund said Koster’s commitment to the Second Amendment earned him an “A” rating. “For over 17 years, he has fought to preserve the constitutional rights of law-abiding Missourians,” said Chris W. Cox, chairman, NRA-PVF. “The NRA is proud to endorse Chris Koster, and we urge Missouri’s gun owners and sportsmen to get out this November and vote to elect a governor with a proven record of fighting to preserve the Second Amendment.” The announcement came as Republican newcomer Eric Greitens, a former Navy SEAL, was campaigning in Springfield and Chesterfield with Republican vice presidential candidate Mike Pence. Greitens won a four-candidate primary in August to win the GOP nomination. His military
CLAYTON • St. Louis County joined on Tuesday 190 other U.S. communities that have chosen to ban the sale of tobacco products and electronic nicotine delivery systems to anyone under the age of 21. The County Council enacted the ordinance in a 5-1 vote. West County Republican Mark Harder dissented. “Tobacco 21” (or “T21”) will become law on Dec. 1 and be in force countywide. Second District Councilman Sam Page, the
See NRA • Page A9
Law will take effect Dec. 1 despite last-minute fight
A taste of Bosnia LET’S EAT
bill’s sponsor, called the vote a “big win for the young people of St. Louis County. It will dramatically decrease smoking habits, and we will save kids’ lives.” Page, a physician, fast-tracked the legislation, introduced just two weeks ago, over a last-gasp attempt to stop the bill by an unaligned coalition of area business owners and residents who claim e-cigarettes function as smoking cessation mechanisms. Vape shop owners, employees and longtime smokers pleaded with the council over the past two weeks to exclude vaping products from the T21 legislation. “Vaping is saving people’s lives,” resident Julie Roark told council members Tuesday,
Drinking fountains were sealed and sales of bottled water soared Tuesday after Missouri American Water urged tens of thousands of its customers in the St. Louis area to boil their water. One school district even canceled classes for Wednesday because of the advisory. The utility said the safety warning was a precaution being taken after a brief power outage disrupted water pressure in the area. “We don’t have any evidence that the water system has any contaminants at all,” said Christie Barnhart, an external affairs manager for the company. Barnhart acknowledged that the advisory is unusually widespread.
See TOBACCO • Page A8
See WATER • Page A8
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A8 • ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH
M 1 • Wednesday • 09.07.2016
Nixon shakes up board after primary flap ELECTION • FROM A1
is the new secretary. Whether Burger and Schwarz were actually “fired,” may come down to semantics. Both were serving in expired terms. In light of some of the irregularities that have been uncovered, Nixon said, “I thought the best thing to do was to put new people in.” Switzer and Johnson’s terms begin immediately and end with Nixon’s term: on Jan. 10. Burger declined to comment. Schwartz did not return a voice mail. In court last week, Franks’ attorney, Dave Roland, pointed to a number of irregularities as he argued that at least 238 votes should have been rejected by the Election Board. But Burlison’s ruling centered on the state laws that provide specific steps for accepting, counting and challenging absentee votes. As reported in the Post-Dispatch, those steps are always supposed to involve envelopes. But the St. Louis Election Board had accepted 142 absentee ballots on touch screens or paper that were not contained in sealed envelopes as the law specifies. Burlison said the board could not ignore or circumvent “tedious and specific” provisions of the law. The decision gives Franks, 31, an activist who lost by 90 votes,
DAVID CARSON • dcarson@post-dispatch.com
Bruce Franks Jr. talks with reporters after Gov. Jay Nixon announced at a press conference Tuesday in St. Louis that he had appointed two new people to lead the St. Louis City Board of Election Commissioners.
another chance to unseat Hubbard, 62. It also casts doubt on the methods that election authorities across the state use to count absentee votes when they are cast in person. Burlison wasn’t the only St. Louis circuit judge in recent weeks to rule that the Election Board had broken the law. In July, Roland began raising concerns about the potential abuse of absentee voting by Hubbard’s campaign, arguing that election results over time show a spike in absentee votes when a member of the Hubbard
family — a local political dynasty — runs for office. He filed a public records request with the board for copies of absentee ballot applications and envelopes. The board denied the request, as well as a request from the Post-Dispatch for the same documents. Judge Julian Bush ruled on Aug. 23 that the Election Board defied the state’s open records law when it refused to provide the records. The board still took a day to produce them. When it did, Roland made the discovery about the envelopes.
The records also led to a PostDispatch investigation that revealed multiple irregularities. The new election is scheduled for Sept. 16, but Switzer and Johnson could face an even tighter deadline. Hubbard has appealed Burlison’s decision to the Missouri Court of Appeals. Her attorney, Jane Dueker, is expected to request a court order that would prevent the board from preparing for the election while the appeal is pending. Under state law, the election commissioners retain their powers and responsibilities until the governor replaces them. Nixon has left other appointees in place after their terms expire, and on Monday, he said that he allowed some officials to continue serving to avoid a time-consuming hiring process as long as the appointee was doing a “good and robust job.” Asked if he had left these particular election commissioners in place because he thought they were doing a good job, Nixon said: “Well, I mean, it’s not like I get up every day thinking about the … I will say this … the two lawsuits … I mean these are … I’m not here in any way shape or form saying the two people we are replacing … One (Burger) is a retired circuit court judge with a distinguished career … It’s just time for change here.” The case has highlighted other peculiarities of Missouri’s elec-
tion law. The state gives elected local county clerks or boards of election commissioners authority over local elections. But whether a municipality has a board or a clerk depends on its population. In each county that has more than 900,000 residents, the governor appoints commissioners to election boards — a situation that applies to counties in the Kansas City area and to St. Louis and St. Louis County. In St. Louis, the Board of Election Commissioners is one of the city’s state-mandated “county” offices. Although the city funds the office, four commissioners — two Republican, two Democrat — appointed by the governor oversee it. The opponents of governorappointed election boards criticize their structure because they siphon power from the people most directly affected by the board’s decisions: area residents. But Nixon emphasized that the board was bipartisan and said he did not believe the Election Board’s structure factored into the irregularities. “I don’t think in this situation that that’s the biggest problem,” Nixon said. Stephen Deere • 314-340-8116 @stephencdeere on Twitter sdeere@post-dispatch.com Doug Moore • 314-340-8125 @dougwmoore on Twitter dmoore@post-dispatch.com
Schools and restaurants take precautions with water
ST. CHARLES COUNTY
BOIL ADVISORY AREA
WATER • FROM A1
“This one’s pretty large,” said Barnhart. “Typically the areas affected are much smaller.” The utility indicated that 85,000 customers were affected. Barnhart attributed the advisory’s magnitude to the fact that the power outage disrupted the utility’s largest water treatment plant in the area. That plant, located on Hog Hollow Road in Chesterfield, is also centrally located among regional customers, Barnhart said. Company representatives indicated that the advisory would remain in effect until Wednesday. Customers were advised to boil water for drinking and cooking three minutes to ensure safety, but tap water in areas under the advisory was said to be suitable for washing and bathing without being boiled. The boil advisory affected numerous schools throughout the county. The Parkway School District roped off water fountains and also provided bottled water to students. Paul Tandy, a spokesman for the district, said that the complications are manageable for a day or so, but could become problematic if the notice lasts for “a protracted period” of time. “We’ve dealt with this before. It’s unusual that it’s this widespread,” said Tandy. “We’re good for today. It’s more of a question of how long it might last.” The Normandy Schools Cooperative announced Tuesday night that classes would not be held Wednesday, citing the water problem. Bottled water was provided to students throughout the Ritenour School District, according to an announcement on the district website. Cafeteria staff also boiled any water used for food preparation. In Pattonville, “The boil order will not impact our ability to hold school,” said a statement on the district’s website. Only Drummond and Willow Brook elementary schools fell under the boil advisory in Pattonville. Bottled water was being provided at both schools, and cafeteria staff were taking precautions. In Ferguson-
MADISON COUNTY
370
70
270
40 64
ST. LOUIS COUNTY 44
255 Post-Dispatch
JEFFERSON COUNTY
MISSOURI COMMUNITIES AFFECTED MONROE BY WATER ADVISORY COUNTY
LAURIE SKRIVAN • lskrivan@post-dispatch.com
“We got three packages of water and one frozen pizza,” said Toby Crenshaw, of St. Ann, who places bottled water in his trunk under the watchful gaze of his daughter Tayler at Shop N’ Save on Tuesday in St. Ann.
Florissant, bottled water was being distributed at Bermuda Elementary, the only building in that district that fell under the order. The St. Louis County Department of Public Health issued an advisory to businesses in the affected areas to avoid the use of ice machines and water-dispensing devices such as soda fountains until Missouri American lifts the boil order. Heath Department Director Faisal Khan said all nozzles and equipment that are in contact with water should be cleaned and sanitized before returning to operation. Tuesday’s health department “email blast” went primarily to restaurants and convenience stores. The agency will undertake follow-up procedures after the boil advisory ends to ensure businesses have complied with the sanitation guidelines. Faisal said his department and Missouri American were in contact throughout the day. His agency, the director added, will become involved in testing only in the event of the threat of a disease outbreak. Faisal credited the water com-
pany for exercising an “abundance of caution” in issuing a boil advisory. As a precautionary measure, the director nonetheless recommended that residents of cities inside the boil advisory perimeter drink bottled water until further notice. Several area restaurants strictly restricted their beverage sales to bottled drinks. Cody Sturm, manager of the Buffalo Wild Wings in Creve Coeur, went out to Schnucks and Dierbergs to buy 22-pound bags of ice, twoliter bottles of soda and four packs of bottled water when he heard about the boil advisory. He didn’t hear about the order until 12:30 p.m., and when he did, he dumped out the batches of iced tea his employees had made that morning. Some restaurants continued serving fountain drinks. An employee at the T.G.I. Friday’s in Creve Coeur said the staff believed the restaurant’s fountain drink filtration system would take care of any possible contaminants. Some managers simply said it’s not a big concern because they don’t use much water
in their cooking. Health care providers in affected areas indicated that they remained fully operational while putting precautionary procedures in place. A statement from BJC HealthCare said the organization is prepared to follow contingency plans “until the water supply is cleared for normal use.” Bethany Pope, a spokesperson for Chesterfield-based Mercy health system, said affected medical facilities, including Mercy Hospital St. Louis, were following appropriate guidelines and “making bottled water available and flushing all systems to be prepared when the advisory is lifted.” The advisory reportedly did not disrupt business at the Chesterfield Mall. “To my knowledge it has been very minimal in affecting the mall,” said Brian Voyles, the mall’s general manager. The alert may have been a boon to some local retailers. An employee of the Chesterfield Sam’s Club, though not authorized to comment publicly on the matter, confirmed that the
Ballwin Northwoods Bellerive Norwood Court Bel-Nor Olivette Bel-Ridge Overland Beverly Hills Pasadena Park Breckenridge Hills Pasadena Hills Charlack Sycamore Hills Chesterfield St. Ann PROOFING Clarkson Valley LOOP St. John PLEASE RETURN TO GRAPHICS DESK! Country Life Acres Town and Country ARTIST: DAN Creve Coeur Velda City MAC SLUG: 160907 BOIL ORDER Crystal Lake Park Vinita Park STORY SLUG: BOIL Des Peres Westwood TODAY’S DATE: 090616 Edmundson Winchester SIZE: 1 COL X 2 IN Frontenac Woodson Terrace GRID: 5 col Glen Echo Park Portions of INITIAL AFTERunincorporated PROOFING Greendale St. Louis County Reporter/Editor: Normandy Copy desk: News editor:
store had “sold a lot of water” on Tuesday. CHOOSE COLOR OR B&W Barnhart said that an investigation into the cause of the power outage is ongoing. She said the drop in pressure caused by outages can create a situation where untreated groundwater is able to infiltrate water mains. Even after testing confirms that water is safe for consumption, Barnhart said there is a mandatory waiting period of at least 18 hours to determine whether the boil advisory can be lifted. Customers with phone numbers on file will be given notification calls when the advisory is lifted, Barnhart said. The company will also issue updates online. Elisa Crouch, Steve Giegerich, Samantha Liss and Kristen Taketa of the Post-Dispatch contributed to this report. Bryce Gray • 314-340-8307 @_BryceGray on Twitter bgray@post-dispatch.com
County sets 21 as minimum age to buy tobacco, vaping products TOBACCO • FROM A1
echoing a sentiment heard frequently over the past two weeks. E-cigarette proponents repeatedly cited a British study by the Royal College of Physicians as proof that vaping is an effective tool for cutting into nicotine addiction. Page dismissed the analysis as a “position paper” that gives “vague legitimacy to the health benefits of vaping.” The councilman, physicians and nonprofit health organizations advocating for T21 instead pointed to a U.S. Food and Drug
Administration study equating tobacco and vaping, to support their position. “We know vaping products are tobacco products, the FDA told us that,” Page told reporters. “(Vaping) is not a legitimate cessation product.” Corey Noles, the editor of Vape magazine, voiced disappointment at the council decision. “There is no one more opposed to tobacco products than this group of people,” Noles said, adding that e-cigarette backers would have “knocked on doors” on behalf of T21 had it been limited to tobacco products.
Pro-vaping forces have not discussed mounting a legal challenge to T21. Noles said the nonaligned vaping coalition would next make its case to the St. Louis Board of Aldermen. St. Louis Mayor Francis Slay indicated on Twitter two weeks ago that he would pursue legislation for the city to follow the county’s lead on T21. Harder said he disagreed with “the structure of a bill that was almost unenforceable.” The legislation, he added, also raised a fundamental question. “Eighteen-year-olds can do ev-
erything but drink,” Harder said. “But we’re going to take away their right to purchase a pack of cigarettes?” The council managed Tuesday to move on from one piece of controversial legislation. But another matter that has drawn angry constituents to Clayton was shelved until another day. Because of a zoning technicality, developer JHB Properties withdrew late last week its petition to put up a 232-unit apartment complex in south St. Louis County at the intersection of Bauer and Tesson Ferry roads.
The council referred the process back to the county planning commission on Tuesday. Residents of nearby subdivisions who oppose the project — which they say will exacerbate traffic congestion, cause crowding in the Mehlville schools and bring “transients” into neighborhoods of single-family houses — expect the issue to return to council before the end of the year. Steve Giegerich • 314-725-6758 @stevegiegerich on Twitter sgiegerich@post-dispatch.com
ST. CLAIR COUNTY
S E RV I N G T H E P U B L I C S I N C E 1 878 • W I N N E R O F 1 8 P U L I TZ E R P R I Z E S
UP TO
$388
OF COUPONS INSIDE
SUNDAY • 09.11.2016 • $3.00 • FINAL EDITION
9/11
1 5 Y E A R S L AT E R
HOW DID UNITY SLIP AWAY?
Franks
Hubbard
What’s at stake in do-over election
POLITICAL POWER Hubbard family has strong ties to Rep. Clay (above), who asked U.S. to intervene
DEVELOPMENT DREAMS Hubbards and Clay support Paul McKee (above) and lofty NorthSide Regeneration plan ASSOCIATED PRESS
Flags have been placed in the names engraved on the south pool of the National September 11 Memorial on Saturday in New York. The nearly 3,000 names of those killed in the 9/11 attacks are inscribed in bronze around the pools, set within the footprints of the twin towers.
ST. LOUIS • The shape of Missouri’s 78th District resembles a malformed snake curled up against the Mississippi River. It begins in the Old North St. Louis neighborhood, swallows downtown St. Louis and extends south to Dutchtown. Pending the outcome of a Missouri Court of Appeals decision, a do-over election on Friday will decide who will occupy the Missouri House seat: challenger Bruce Franks Jr. or incumbent Penny Hubbard. For the past several weeks, the district has been the epicenter of fierce debate about the state’s absentee voting process, featuring lawsuits, investigations and firings.
Attacks that ripped at nation’s heart also forged a common purpose BY JENNIFER PELTZ • Associated Press
NEW YORK • For a time, the attack that shattered America also brought it together. After Sept. 11, signs of newfound unity seemed to well up everywhere, from the homes where American flags appeared virtually overnight, to the Capitol steps where lawmakers pushed aside party lines to sing “God Bless America” together. That cohesion feels vanishingly distant as the 15th anniversary of the attacks arrives Sunday. Gallup’s 15-year-old poll of Americans’ national pride hit its
SALUTE TO OUR HEROES SPECIAL SECTION INSIDE A Post-Dispatch photo editor shares the shock, terror he experienced in West Wing as 9/11 unfolded. STL Sunday, B1 Al-Qaida is nearly gone, but we still haven’t mastered the fight against terrorism. Editorial, A18
See 9/11 • Page A8
What’s an NFL fan to do in St. Louis? Reality sinks in for jilted Rams faithful: Sundays are now wide open BY JIM THOMAS • St. Louis Post-Dispatch
WHICH NFL TEAM WILL YOU ROOT FOR?
Dado Ceric would get so excited the night before games it was tough to sleep. “I couldn’t wait to wake up the following morning, because I would be doing one of my favorite things in life: watch the St. Louis Rams play football,” said Ceric, 35, who works for a pharmaceutical company. “If my wife and kids were going apple-picking at Eckert’s farm, I would stay home to watch the Rams.” Craig Nowotny, an executive recruiter from Clarkson Valley, attended church wearing his Rams gear — time was of the essence after all — then headed down to the Dome early. The pregame tailgate was half the fun for Mark “Bull” Berry, an auditor from Hillsboro, Ill. “It was a time of camaraderie, sharing food and stories, and having the anticipation that maybe this would be the year the Rams would
We polled readers on STLtoday.com about their NFL allegiances now that the Rams are gone. These were the top teams among nearly 3,500 responses:
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‘A HAPPY WARRIOR’ GOP presidential candidate Donald Trump joined mourners here Saturday honoring conservative icon Phyllis Schlafly. Trump praised her for her strong support. Story, A3
24.4% 12.0% 11.4% 8.4% 4.9% 4.4%
Go! Magazine brings you a guide to the best sports bars for watching your favorite NFL team.
NFL RANKINGS • EVERY THURSDAY Each week, Jim Thomas breaks down the NFL teams from No. 32 to No. 1 on STLtoday.com.
Déjà view A&E • D1
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SPORTS BAR GUIDE • COMING FRIDAY
Gail Pennington says the new TV season has a familiar feeling
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BY STEPHEN DEERE AND DOUG MOORE St. Louis Post-Dispatch
CRISTINA M. FLETES • cfletes@post-dispatch.com
Building boom fuels growth, but construction workers hard to find • E1 At LouFest, the fields are sloppy but the tunes are tight • D4
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Franks candidacy rides a wave of young unknowns ELECTION • FROM A1
But what else might be at stake? On the surface, not much. Both candidates are Democrats. And no one doubts that a Democrat will win in November. The Republicans, however, are still virtually assured of a veto-proof majority in the Missouri House. Yet within and around the district’s northern border lies perhaps the best remaining opportunity for a largescale development in the city. It includes the site where state and local officials last year proposed building a $1 billion football stadium, and it’s next to the future $1.2 billion campus for the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency. Meanwhile, developer Paul McKee has assembled hundreds of acres of land in and near the district, where he hopes to construct a multibillion-dollar, mixed-use development. It is in that context that Franks, a tattooed battle-rapper and protester, is challenging an essential cog in the city’s Democratic machine: Penny Hubbard and members of her family, at least one of whom has publicly acknowledged the value of a symbolic victory. “It’s bigger than this election!” wrote St. Louis’ 5th Ward Alderman Tammika Hubbard in a Facebook post on Thursday. “An attack has been placed on my family because we’re Strong and have a deep rooted history of serving the community! What we have before us is an attempted power grab at the things that are in motion in the 78th Dist and specifically the 5th Ward!” Tammika Hubbard, Penny Hubbard’s daughter, is up for re-election in April. In a letter to the Justice Department on Friday, U.S. Rep. William Lacy Clay formally asked Attorney General Loretta Lynch to intervene. Clay, an ally of the Hubbards, argues that given time constraints, elderly and disabled voters will be disenfranchised by the new election because they won’t have enough time to vote absentee. But he, too, notes the possible domino effects, mentioning the development plans and that for the first time in 16 years, St. Louis voters will choose a new mayor next year.
MCKEE’S DREAMS More than a decade ago, Paul McKee, a developer best known for the 1,100-acre WingHaven development in St. Charles County, began surreptitiously purchasing hundreds of parcels in north St. Louis through dummy corporations. After McKee was linked to the purchases, he laid out a grand vision for a $5.4 billion project spread over 1,800 acres. His lawyer also worked to pass the Distressed Areas Land Assemblage Tax Credit which reimbursed him up to 50 percent of his costs for purchasing the land. But he had incurred the wrath of residents and city officials because he allowed the property to fall into disrepair. So McKee began a public relations campaign, agreeing to meet with virtually any group that requested his presence. One of those gatherings in 2009 was interrupted twice by the shouts of disruptive residents, one of whom yelled expletives. Rodney Hubbard Sr., Penny Hubbard’s husband, executive director of Carr Square Tenant Management Corp., was at the meeting. He expressed more hope about the plan than distrust. “I think it’s a courageous move,” he said. Hubbard’s son, Rodney Hubbard Jr., already had benefited from McKee’s largesse. In 2008, more than two dozen limited liability companies with ties to McKee collectively donated nearly $20,000 to Rodney Hubbard Jr.’s
unsuccessful Missouri Senate campaign. Some of those corporations were the same ones McKee used to secretly buy land in north St. Louis, records indicate. McKee would later hire Hubbard Jr. as a lobbyist. And by 2010, Carr Square, a nonprofit, low-income housing complex that borders the future NGA site, owned a 2.5 percent stake in McKee’s company, NorthSide Regeneration. The partnership allowed McKee to funnel tens of millions of dollars of tax credits through the nonprofit to reduce his tax burden. When Tammika Hubbard ran for St. Louis’ 5th Ward aldermanic seat in a special election in 2011, her family’s relationship with McKee came under scrutiny. It is difficult for any project in the city to have success without the approval of the local alderman, and most of NorthSide lay in the 5th Ward. Could Tammika Hubbard effectively negotiate with McKee? She swore that she could. In 2013, Tammika’s mother, Penny, sponsored a bill in the Missouri House that would have extended the period during which McKee could receive tax credits. Records show that McKee or his companies have donated at least $8,000 to Penny Hubbard. The developer’s relationship with the Hubbards blossomed over time. In one family, he had found a lobbyist to plead his case, an alderman to introduce favorable bills, a state representative to sponsor legislation and a nonprofit partner to reduce his tax liabilities. But it didn’t take long for McKee’s relationship with the city to become strained. In 2015, city officials were in the middle of a intense campaign to keep the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency within St. Louis. They needed some of McKee’s land for a site located north of the Pruitt-Igoe site along Jefferson Avenue. McKee had received state tax credits for purchasing the property. But some aldermen accused the developer of gouging the city during the negotiations. The city even bought $5 million of McKee’s debt for leverage. McKee could not be reached for comment Thursday or Friday. In a guest editorial published in the Post-Dispatch in 2015, Clay defended the developer. “I do not mean or intend to take sides in any negotiations between the city and NorthSide Regeneration,” Clay wrote. “But I do not want to see political bickering and posturing stand in the way of what could be the greatest opportunity for the city in decades.”
THE YOUNG UNKNOWNS Earlier this year, Bruce Franks Jr. stood two spots behind Penny Hubbard in a line at the secretary of state’s office in Jefferson City to file the paperwork to run for office. Franks was part of a wave of progressive candidates, many of them Bernie Sanders supporters, who were challenging the Democratic machine in St. Louis. In the aftermath of unrest in Ferguson, many of these candidates felt the established political figures had abandoned the ideals that attracted them to the party. “A lot of people said I couldn’t win, saying I couldn’t beat a 20-year incumbent, but we proved them wrong,” said St. Louis Alderman Cara Spencer, who unseated incumbent Craig Schmid last year. “There is a whole lot of energy that has come out of recent events.” Those recent events include the Ferguson protests, of which Franks was a prominent figure who stood out for his willingness to work with police, as detailed in a lengthy report published in the Riverfront Times in 2015. Spencer said Franks is part of a concerted effort to run
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young unknowns against established politicians at every level of government, moving the city forward by bouncing from office what they often refer to as Democrats in name only, or DINOs. “This city is so fricking divided,” Spencer said. “Bruce is a bridge builder. He’s exactly what we need.” Franks said that he is not against NGA or NorthSide development, but he did express concerns about displacing longtime north St. Louis residents to make way for NGA. He also wonders whether any of the 3,000 jobs expected to come with the relocation would be offered to those living in the north St. Louis neighborhoods that will be redeveloped by the spy agency. The Ferguson protests have also created another phenomenon that coincided with the Franks race: a rise in activist attorneys. Franks, 31, was introduced to Dave Roland, a lawyer from Mexico, Mo., known for taking cases with little financial reward. In July, Roland began raising concerns about the potential abuse of absentee voting by Hubbard’s campaign, arguing that election results over time show a spike in absentee votes when a member of the Hubbard family — a local political dynasty — runs for office. Roland filed a public records request with the Election Board for copies of absentee ballot applications and envelopes. The board denied the request, as well as a request from the Post-Dispatch for the same documents. Judge Julian Bush ruled on Aug. 23 that the Election Board defied the state’s open records law when it refused to provide the records. Once released, the records led to a Post-Dispatch investigation that revealed multiple irregularities. During his review of the documents, Roland discovered that more than 140 people who voted absentee in-person at the Election Board offices did not seal their ballots in envelopes, as state law requires. On Sept. 2, St. Louis Circuit Judge Rex Burlison ruled that the St. Louis Election Board had violated the law, stating that the board could not ignore or circumvent “tedious and specific” provisions of the law. Hubbard’s attorney has appealed the decision. A hearing is scheduled Monday. When Gov. Jay Nixon replaced two of the four Election Board commissioners last week, he remarked that the board was not doing its job. Last Monday at the Fortune Teller Bar on Cherokee Street in Spencer’s 20th Ward, Franks spoke to 60 supporters who were celebrating his court victory, raising money and putting together a neighborhood canvassing plan. “My vote in Jefferson City will not be bought, will not be swayed by political interest,” Franks said. “I will vote for the people because that’s all I’m accountable to ... These seats don’t belong to families with the same last name. These seats don’t belong to people who feel they were up next. These seats belong to the people.”
A HIGHER STANDARD Penny Hubbard, 62, has declined numerous requests for interviews. She also did not appear at candidate forums leading up to the August election. “I think my opponent doesn’t have a clue of what it takes to be a state rep,” she told St. Louis Public Radio in an interview Friday. Hubbard said she’s running to keep the district safe. “It’s about setting examples,” she said. “I think elected officials ought to be held to a higher standard.” Her bio on the Missouri House website site says that before being elected in 2010 she served on the state Board of Probation and Parole for six years. It also says she has worked with numerous shelters for the homeless and for abused women. During the past legislative session, she sponsored four bills. One establishes a pilot program to increase the visitation rights of children with incarcerated parents. Another would have established a prisoner re-entry program for offenders who have served their full sentences and are relocating to St. Louis. Another bill would have increased the salary for the position of license collector for the city of St. Louis from $63,120 to $125,000 and require the same pay for men and women holding certain positions. But she withdrew it after being criticized in the media. Hubbard’s campaign treasurer is an employee of the license collector. In 2013, Hubbard sponsored legislation to rename St. Louis’ Poplar Street Bridge in honor of former Congressman William Clay Sr. The Missouri Realtors PAC has given Hubbard $2,750 since 2013. “I view her as a straight shooter and somebody you can always get an answer out of, maybe not the answer you want, but it’s an answer,” said Samuel Licklider, the PAC’s treasurer. Adolphus Pruitt, president of the St. Louis City NAACP, said he is not supporting either candidate in the upcoming election, but he is concerned about tossing out the balloting results. The local African-American newspaper, The St. Louis American, has endorsed Franks. About two weeks ago, after reporters had begun asking questions in the 78th District, a leaflet appeared on the doors of many absentee voters. The unsigned letter purported to share a message from Clay and the St. Louis Clergy Coalition. The leaflet warned against people who had been sent to the black community to suppress voting. “These questions are just a trick to confuse you and try to take away your right to vote,” the message said. Clay’s office declined to answer repeated questions about the leaflet. But a leader of the clergy group did. “Who is pushing Mr. Franks? He’s not doing this himself. That’s the bottom line,” said Rev. Charles Brown, president of the coalition. “We’re working with Congressman Clay to tell voters not to be fooled.” The Clergy Coalition has long supported McKee and worked alongside Clay to lobby for the NGA’s relocation to that part of town. “We don’t know Mr. Franks,” Brown said. Walker Moskop of the Post-Dispatch contributed to this report. Stephen Deere • 314-340-8116 | @stephencdeere on Twitter sdeere@post-dispatch.com
SHOW ME THE MONEY Track contributions to candidates for statewide races and St. Louis-area congressional races. stltoday.com/showme
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BOEING UNVEILS NEW T-X TRAINER
Voting problems extended beyond absentees
• Plane maker teams with Saab to design next-generation jet
Confrontation involved a candidate’s daughter
• Air Force order could top $11 billion, secure future of jobs here
Unauthorized entries made into a polling site Intimidation reported at polling place BY STEPHEN DEERE AND DOUG MOORE St. Louis Post-Dispatch
ROBERT COHEN • rcohen@post-dispatch.com
Employees and reporters look over the new T-X training aircraft at Boeing here Tuesday. The double-tail design increases stability and braking ability. The instructor sits above and behind the student. The cockpit will resemble the F-22 and F-35, the Air Force’s newest fighters. BY JIM GALLAGHER St. Louis Post-Dispatch
Boeing on Tuesday rolled out the sleek prototype of its new T-X trainer, the plane that just might save thousands of jobs in St. Louis County as fighter production winds down in the next decade. Boeing unveiled a twin-tail, single-engine craft designed to mimic a fighter jet with high maneuverability and endurance for high G forces. The Air Force wants 350 new jets to train the next generation of fighter pilots, but
Americans got raise in 2015 for first time in years BY CHRISTOPHER S. RUGABER AND JESSE J. HOLLAND Associated Press
WASHINGTON • In a long-
awaited sign that middleclass Americans are finally seeing real economic gains, U.S. households got a raise last year after years of stagnant incomes. Rising pay also lifted the poorest households, cutting poverty by the sharpest amount in nearly half a century. Redesigned income questions were implemented for the 2013 annual report, leading to some gaps between figures for 2012 and those for
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Boeing is facing off against three competitors. One of them, Northrop Grumman, has been ground-testing its own prototype. Boeing has one prototype in ground testing, and another is being assembled at Boeing’s sprawling north St. Louis County plant. Design and engineering work for the trainer is being done in St. Louis, but Boeing says it hasn’t decided where it would assemble the plane if it gets the contract. The company is in an “evaluation process” to determine where the trainer would be built, said Darryl Davis, who heads Boeing’s Phan-
tom Works development operation. Boeing has teamed with Saab, the Swedish maker of the Gripen fighter, to develop the new trainer. St. Louis is the “likeliest place” to build the plane, said Richard Aboulafia, vice president at the Teal Group of aircraft industry consultants. Building it in Sweden would cause political problems in the U.S. Several thousand workers build Boeing’s F-15, F/A-18 and E/A-18 fighter and attack aircraft in St. Louis County. Boeing is See BOEING • Page A8
ALL OUT OF HOPE Women learn overlooked thumbprint was key to mother’s case terectomies, for example, and similar jewelry, body size and hair color. Melody Day believed it DUPO • Melody Day spent was her mother. But she most of the past 26 years and her sister, Kimberly searching for clues to find Day, both of Dupo, were her missing mother — and told by Pike County shercollecting records and oniff’s officials there was no line information that might way to be sure. someday help identify a DNA testing was not body, if it came to that. available in 1990. And On Tuesday, she said she there was no tissue left to was disappointed to learn Kimberly (above left) test, because the victim’s that the key to the mystery and Melody Day kept bones had been boiled to had been sitting unnoticed faith that they would preserve them and accomin a Missouri Highway Pafind Cynthia Day (left), modate an attempt at facial trol file. who went missing in reconstruction. In 2010, Day had learned the Metro East in 1990. The women feared they from a Facebook posting that the decomposing body of a woman who ap- would never know for sure. But the Facebook parently was beaten to death, had been found friend with the original posting called the MisAug. 26, 1990, in a secluded area of Pike County, souri Highway Patrol on July 26, asking invesMo. That was the same month her mother, Cyn- tigators to see if there was anything available to thia Day, 38, was last seen. There were similarities. Both women had hys- See MISSING • Page A8 BY CHRISTINE BYERS St. Louis Post-Dispatch
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Appeals court won’t block do-over election • A10
Eagle Forum board says Martin hurt organization BY KEVIN MCDERMOTT St. Louis Post-Dispatch
Ed Martin, the man Phyllis Schlafly picked to run her Eagle Forum conservative activist coalition before her death last week, is “attempting to monetize Mrs. Schlafly’s good name” while essentially sabotaging her organization, a group of Eagle Forum’s board members publicly alleged Tuesday. “For more than 40 years, Eagle Forum has been synonymous with grassroots conservative efforts to promote traditional American values on the local and national See SCHLAFLY • Page A10
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Ex-police sergeant admits stealing
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ST. LOUIS • A heated confrontation involving a candidate’s daughter. Unauthorized entries into a polling site. An improperly appointed poll challenger. These are among the new details contained in documents obtained from the St. Louis Election Board and interviews concerning the nownegated Democratic primary for the 78th District Missouri House seat. For weeks, debate surrounding the Aug. 2 Democratic Primary has focused on irregularities in absentee voting, some of which were featured in an Aug. 31 Post-Dispatch report. But the information gathered by the newspaper suggests that members of state Rep. Penny Hubbard’s family were seen on Election Day in or near two polling places. State law bans electioneering within 25 feet of the door of a polling place. In one instance, Hubbard’s husband, Rodney Hubbard Sr., a candidate for Fifth Ward committeeman, parked his Mercedes in the grass a few feet from the entrance of a polling site at the Carr Square Tenant Management Corp. and watched voters come and
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Appeals court backs Hubbard relatives seen at polling places new 78th District vote VOTING • FROM A1
BY DOUG MOORE St. Louis Post-Dispatch
ST. LOUIS • An appellate
court has ruled that the doover election on Friday between Penny Hubbard and Bruce Franks Jr. for 78th District state representative will go on. “There was substantial evidence to support the trial court’s decision, it was not against the weight of the evidence, and the court did not erroneously declare or apply the law. The judgment is affirmed,” Judge Roy L. Richter wrote on behalf of the Missouri Court of Appeals. “No matter what happens Friday, we already won,” Franks said, adding that he had called attention to a “broken system that has no choice but to fix itself now.” Jane Dueker, attorney for Hubbard, said Tuesday afternoon that no appeal would be made to the Missouri Supreme Court. “She is going to focus on getting her disenfranchised constituents to the polls and winning this election for a second time,” Dueker said of Hubbard. “Obviously, she is very disheartened by the decision. The only people with constitutional rights — the voters — lost today.” Circuit Judge Rex Burlison called Sept. 2 for a new election after a two-day trial centering on the absentee balloting process in the Aug. 2 Democratic primary between incumbent Hubbard and newcomer Franks. Specifically, the case focused on the 142 absentee votes made in person at the St. Louis Board of Election Commissioners office. As reported Aug. 28 in the Post-Dispatch, all absentee ballots must be placed into a sealed envelope under state law. However, those cast at the Election Board office were not. “These irregularities were more than petty procedural infirmities but abuses of the election law which cannot be ignored,” Burlison said. “The number of votes called into question exceed the margin of the apparent victor and is of sufficient magnitude to cast
doubt on the validity of the initial election.” Burlison’s made his decision two days after a Post-Dispatch investigation revealed multiple problems with absentee balloting. Hubbard won the Aug. 2 primary by 90 votes. Franks received nearly 53 percent of the vote on Election Day, but Hubbard won 78.5 percent of the absentee ballots, giving her the victory. Dueker argued both before Burlison and the appellate court that tossing the election violated the Voting Rights Act of 1965. In court Monday afternoon, Dueker said calling for a new election “disenfranchised people for irregularities that have no bearing whatsoever on a single vote.” “Absentee voters have been stripped of any rights to ensure their vote is counted,” Dueker said Tuesday. The appellate court, however, disagreed. “Ordering a special election to replace the results of the original, improperly conducted election does not prevent qualified voters from casting a vote,” Richter wrote. “Every qualified voter will still retain his or her right to vote in the special election. “Implementing procedures to safeguard against fraud helps ensure that qualified registers voters’ votes are not diluted by unlawful voter activity. These procedures, such as calling for a new election, effectively protect voters’ rights, not abridge them.” Dave Roland, attorney for Franks, said: “This is one of the rare cases in which the party that lost the trial actually made their position worse by appealing. The Court of Appeals emphatically rejected every argument Hubbard’s attorney put forward and reaffirmed that, because the absentee ballot process is a special privilege that is also prone to abuse, it is critical that voters and election officials strictly adhere to the statutes governing the use of those ballots.” Doug Moore • 314-340-8125 @dougwmoore on Twitter dmoore@post-dispatch.com
go, two campaign workers say. Hubbard is the executive director of the association, a low-income housing complex in north St. Louis. Penny Hubbard defeated Bruce Franks Jr. in the Aug. 2 race, but a judge tossed out the results earlier this month after ruling that the Election Board had mishandled absentee ballots. A do-over election is scheduled for Friday. A recent records request from the newspaper produced a handwritten report from a roving deputy employed by the Election Board. The report states that Penny Hubbard’s daughter, St. Louis’ Fifth Ward Alderman Tammika Hubbard, arrived at the Downtown Patrick Henry Academy on Election Day with two men who “were somewhat intimidating.” The report says that Tammika Hubbard had “supposedly reprimanded” an Election Board employee who had been in an argument with a poll challenger for the Hubbard campaign, “pointing her finger in (her) face & calling her a ‘bitch.’” Under state law, campaigns can station their own poll challengers inside polling places to register objections when they believe elections statutes have been violated. According to documents obtained by the newspaper, the argument between the Hubbard poll challenger and Election Board poll manager Shirley Conway began because the challenger initially refused to display her credentials and sign an oath that she would not reveal the vote count before the close of polls. Such a pledge is required by state law. In an interview with the PostDispatch, Conway said another issue also contributed to the confrontation. “She was looking all on the (voting) machines,” Conway said. “I was telling her she couldn’t do that.” Conway declined to elaborate and referred additional questions to the Election Board. Another report from the Election Board said the challenger “came in with an attitude because she was a family member of the Hubbards.” It’s not clear who authored that report, but another board record indicates it likely came from another roving deputy.
Incomes approach pre-recession levels INCOME • FROM A1
2013, but the data show a significant uptick. Higher minimum wages in many states and tougher competition among businesses to fill jobs pushed up pay, while low inflation made those paychecks stretch further. The figures show that the growing economy is finally benefiting a greater share of American households. The median U.S. household’s income rose 5.2 percent in 2015 to an inflation-adjusted level of $56,516, the Census Bureau said Tuesday . That is the largest one-year gain on data stretching back to 1967. It is up 7.3 percent from 2012, when incomes fell to a 17-year low. Still, median incomes remain 1.6 percent below the $57,423 reached in 2007. The median is the point where half of households fall below and half are above. The report “was superb in almost every dimension,” Larry Mishel, president of the liberal Economic Policy Institute, said in a conference call with reporters. “This one year almost singlehandedly got us out of the hole.” Incomes are now higher than in 2009 when President Barack Obama took office. The numbers appear to run counter to a key narrative in the 2016 presidential campaign, pushed by Republican nominee Donald Trump, that America is in decline and working people’s lives are getting worse. Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton has argued that the economy is improving but that working families still need more help to get ahead. The Census report shows that the increase was driven by the poorest Americans, who saw the
largest increase. Half of the states and Washington have increased their minimum wages since 2014, according to the EPI. Greater competition for low-wage jobs has also pushed up wages. The unemployment rate fell to 5.3 percent from 6.2 percent last year, and 2.4 million Americans found fulltime, year-round jobs. That has forced restaurants and retail employers to lift pay to attract workers. Wal-Mart, TJX Cos., which owns T.J. Maxx, and the Gap have all announced pay increases in the past two years. Starbucks said in July it would boost pay for all its employees by 5 percent later this year. Income for the poorest 10 percent of households jumped 7.9 percent last year, while for the wealthiest 10 percent, incomes rose just 2.9 percent. That narrowed the gap between the two groups by the largest amount on record. The only weak spots were geographic: Median incomes rose by 7.3 percent for workers who live in major cities. For workers in rural areas, they did not rise at all. The proportion of Americans in poverty also fell sharply last year, to 13.5 percent from nearly 14.8 percent. That is the biggest decline in poverty since 1968. There were 43.1 million people in poverty last year, 3.5 million fewer than in 2014. Other measures of inequality changed little, however. The gap between the wealthiest 5 percent of Americans and those right in the middle barely shrank and is wider than it was before the recession. Another factor fueling the big gain was very low inflation: Consumer prices rose just 0.1 percent, held down by plummeting oil and gas costs.
That was the smallest increase since 2009, when consumer prices fell. Low inflation provided an important boost: A typical price increase of about 2 percent would have reduced last year’s earnings gain to roughly 3 percent, rather than 5.2 percent. Gas prices have recovered a bit, and inflation is running closer to 1 percent this year, so that trend is unlikely to be sustained. Still, most economists expect paychecks will keep rising this year and finally return Americans to pre-recession levels of income. “It has been a long slog from the depths of the Great Recession, but things are finally starting to improve for many American households,” Chris Christopher, an economist at forecasting firm IHS, said. Analysts at Sentier Research estimate that median household incomes reached pre-recession levels in July of this year. In 2015, median incomes picked up in all regions of the United States, across all age groups, and for most ethnic and racial groups. Latino households recorded the biggest increase, up 6.1 percent, followed by a 4.4 percent gain for whites and 4.1 percent for blacks. Asians, who have the highest median income at $77,166, saw the smallest increase, at 3.7 percent. Americans are also benefiting from an increase in middle-income jobs. Many of the jobs created in the early years of the recovery were in low-paying sectors, such as fast food restaurants and retail. The report also found that women on average earned 80 percent of the income of men in 2015, a slight improvement from 79 percent in the previous year.
Tammika Hubbard arrived with two “bodyguard types,” according to a third board report. State law forbids anyone from entering a polling site who isn’t registered to vote there, with few exceptions: credentialed media and challengers, poll workers and judges, minor children accompanying voters, and law enforcement officers. Tammika Hubbard’s polling site is more than half a mile west at the Carr Square Community Center, according to records at the Missouri secretary of state’s office. Tammika Hubbard declined to comment for this story, saying on Twitter that she was focusing on her mother’s new election Friday.
POLL CHALLENGER The Election Board’s reports also reveal that the poll challenger from the Hubbard campaign was Penny Hubbard’s granddaughter Errianna Washington. Under state law, poll challengers have to meet the same criteria as election judges. Specifically, they cannot be second-degree relatives, such as a granddaughter. When St. Louis Election Board Democratic Director Mary Wheeler-Jones heard about the incident involving Tammika Hubbard and the two men in the polling place, she called “Mr. Hubbard” to tell him that his family was not allowed in the polling site unless they were voting, according to a board report. Asked by email on Tuesday afternoon whether “Mr. Hubbard” was Rodney Hubbard Sr., and why Wheeler-Jones contacted him rather than his daughter, board members and employees did not respond Tuesday night. Bob Hilgemann, chairman of the St. Louis Democratic Party Central Committee, said he learned only Monday about the problems with the poll challenger. He said the Election Board told him it would not allow Hubbard family members to work as poll challengers in Friday’s election. As committee chairman, Hilgemann signs an affidavit on each poll challenger’s credentials affirming that each individual is qualified and aware of the state law relating to challengers. He acknowledged that he doesn’t always ask whether a challenger is related to a candidate. Hilgemann said in the future, he would ask challengers to sign an affidavit themselves to affirm
they understand the law. For Friday’s election, he said, he personally researched each poll challenger’s background. “I made absolutely certain that nobody is a relative,” Hilgemann said. “There’s like eight or nine challenger/watchers.”
ELECTION DAY On Aug. 2, two supporters of a slate of candidates that included Franks were campaigning outside the polling place at the Carr Square Community Center. Another granddaughter of Penny Hubbard walked into the center with her children, all wearing Hubbard T-shirts, the campaign workers said. State law forbids campaign advertisements inside polling locations. Maud Essen, one of the workers, said her colleague took pictures of Hubbard’s granddaughter and her kids. Other Hubbard campaign workers were in the area. She said she overheard one of them say: “Some guy took a photograph, so he’s going to come.” Then Rodney Hubbard Sr. arrived in a black Mercedes. “Everyone was scared,” Essen said. “He walked around talking to the different groups of people. Everybody just stood around waiting for him to talk to them.” Hubbard walked in and out of the polling site several times, she said. After about a half-hour, he climbed back into the Mercedes. Essen thought Hubbard was about to leave. Instead he drove onto the lawn a few feet away from the entrance. “I believe it was within 25 feet of the front door,” Essen said. “He points the front of the car at the sidewalk so that he can sit in airconditioned comfort and watch all the people going in and out of the Carr Square Community Center.” In one picture provided to the Post-Dispatch, the black Mercedes is parked on the grass near the center’s entrance. The driver’s-side door is open. A man stands behind the glass doors just inside the center. He appears to be wearing a fedora, jeans and a black T-shirt. On the back of the shirt, Essen remembered, were white capital letters spelling out a title: “THE GENERAL.” Stephen Deere • 314-340-8116 @stephencdeere on Twitter sdeere@post-dispatch.com
Rift exposed among Eagle Forum leaders SCHLAFLY • FROM A1
stages,” Colleen Holcomb, spokeswoman for Eagle Forum’s board majority, wrote in an emailed statement to reporters. Martin dismissed the allegation as “baseless rumors” from “disgruntled” Eagle Forum board members. Holcomb’s statement accuses Martin and unnamed others of “attempting to hijack the good name of Eagle Forum and use the assets and good will of Mrs. Schlafly’s organization for their own purposes.” In the statement, Holcomb alleges that Martin’s recent moves to create competing organizations using the iconic conservative activist’s name “is an assault on the good name and mission of Eagle Forum.” “Because he has been dismissed from Eagle Forum and has refused to leave, it appears Mr. Martin is attempting to monetize Mrs. Schlafly’s good name to the detriment of Eagle Forum’s volunteer mission,” wrote Holcomb. Martin, in a series of written statements, responded that “Phyllis made clear her wishes for the continuation of her organization and we continue to honor those.” Martin said the board members’ allegations are based in part on anger that they’ve been unable to expel him from the Eagle Forum presidency in court. “You have six disgruntled directors who have now claimed something about me,” Martin wrote. “I have done my job which includes promoting all of our work.” He said the “claim I am monetizing Eagle Forum” is the result of “baseless rumors.” It’s the latest salvo in the continuing battle between Martin, a longtime fixture in Missouri conservative
politics, and the Eagle Forum board members, who have been trying to remove him as its president since April. The rift began in part over Schlafly’s public support for Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump, in which she was joined by Martin and opposed by a majority of the board, including her daughter, Anne Cori. Board members also have accused Martin of mismanagement, and they have questioned the group’s finances under his tenure. Earlier this year, board members filed suit in Madison County to have Martin removed as director. A judge declined to allow his removal while the litigation continues. Board members filed a second suit Aug. 24 in U.S. District Court in Southern Illinois against a new Virginia-based nonprofit group run by Martin, called “Phyllis Schlafly’s American Eagles.” The suit alleges the group, using the address of Eagle Forum’s headquarters in Alton, is a ploy to mislead Eagle Forum’s membership and donor base. Martin subsequently formed a federal super PAC — an issues-oriented fundraising organization — called “Phyllis Schlafly’s Eagle PAC,” which was formally created on the day Schlafly died. Martin maintains the timing was a coincidence and that it was previously in the works, with her blessing. Holcomb, the spokeswoman for the board, is a Virginia-based attorney. In an interview, she said the board’s decision to go public with its criticism of Martin even as two lawsuits play out was based on concerns that the board’s side of the dispute wasn’t being told. “We’re going to fight for the organization,” Holcomb said. “(Martin) is
using his position as president to set up a competing organization. It’s insane.” Holcomb reiterated the allegations, laid out in the most recent lawsuit, that Martin is using Schlafly’s name on his new organization in a deliberate attempt to confuse Schlafly’s longtime donor base into believing the new organization is affiliated with Eagle Forum. She also suggested that Martin’s motive is “selling books.” Martin was coauthor of Schlafly’s final book, “The Conservative Case for Trump,” published this month by Regnery Publishing. T h e E a g l e Fo r u m board’s emailed statement Tuesday included the name of John Hancock, a Chesterfield-based public affairs consultant who is also chairman of the Missouri Republican Party. Martin was Hancock’s predecessor as party chairman, and there has been political enmity between them in the past. Hancock said his involvement in the board’s statement was limited to connecting them with a public relations firm. Asked whether it was a conflict for the state’s GOP chairman to have any role in an internal conflict of Schlafly’s organization, he responded: “Public affairs is what I do for a living.” Schlafly, 92, died Sept. 5, of cancer at her home in Ladue. Speakers at her funeral Saturday at the St. Louis Cathedral Basilica included Trump, whom Schlafly had introduced at his St. Louis campaign appearance in March as “a really great American.” At her funeral, Trump lauded Schlafly as a “happy warrior” and a “hero” who backed his candidacy “when it was not at all fashionable, believe me.” Kevin McDermott • 314-340-8268 @kevinmcdermott on Twitter kmcdermott@post-dispatch.com
A L E E E N T E R P R I S E S N E W S PA P E R • F O U N D E D BY J O S E P H P U L I T Z E R D E C . 1 2 , 1 8 7 8
Tuesday • 09.20.2016 • A10 RAY FARRIS PRESIDENT & PUBLISHER •
GILBERT BAILON EDITOR •
TOD ROBBERSON EDITORIAL PAGE EDITOR
The machine sputters Franks victory dislodges a big part of Hubbard dynasty.
YOUR VIEWS • LETTERS FROM OUR READERS DAVID CARSON • dcarson@post-dispatch.com
Bruce Franks Jr. celebrates his victory in the Missouri 78th District House seat special election as he stands on a bar Friday at Yaquis on Cherokee Street.
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he earth shook late Friday in the 78th District as Democratic primary voters ousted incumbent Penny Hubbard from the Missouri House seat she has occupied since 2010. At least part of a family political dynasty has been dislodged, and more well-deserved shakeups could soon be in the offing. The 3-to-1 margin of victory in a court-ordered revote by challenger Bruce Franks Jr., a political newcomer who turns 32 this week, suggests a new political reality: At least some city voters have had it with machine-style politics. Franks’ supporters braved heavy rain to declare their opposition to the Hubbard family’s tactics. The Hubbard machine seemed to cough and sputter to a halt when absentee ballots were removed as the apparent fuel for election manipulation. The bravery and tenacity of Franks and his attorney, David Roland, are responsible for exposing voting irregularities that factored into Penny Hubbard’s Aug. 2 primary victory. St. Louis Circuit Court Judge Rex Burlison upheld their challenge on Sept. 3; 11 days later, the Eastern Missouri Court of Appeals affirmed the ruling. Hubbard’s husband, Rodney Hubbard Sr., is the 5th Ward committeeman. Their daughter, Tammika, is 5th Ward alderman. Their son, former state Rep. Rodney Hubbard Jr., is a lobbyist whose own political and contracting work has drawn scrutiny. Roland has examined voting patterns over multiple election cycles and demonstrated that absentee voting spikes
disproportionately in elections where a Hubbard is on the ballot. Absentee votes tend to skew abnormally toward the Hubbard candidate. Rodney Hubbard Sr. wields extraordinary influence as manager and principal officer of the Carr Square Tenant Management Corp., a 501(c)(3) nonprofit. One of the 78th District’s 20 voting precincts is inside the Carr Square complex. That landlord-voter pressure point must be eliminated. As the Post-Dispatch’s Doug Moore and Stephen Deere have reported, numerous irregularities appear rooted in systematic harvesting of absentee ballots among Hubbard’s tenants, some of whom were coaxed into voting absentee and others who had not consented to ballots being cast in their name. A court is now reviewing similar irregularities in the August committeeman race that Rodney Hubbard Sr. won against challenger Rasheen Aldridge. Like Franks, Aldridge won a majority of votes cast at the polls, but the absentee count swayed the result to Hubbard Sr. Critics, most notably U.S. Rep. William Lacy Clay, D-Mo., contend that Friday’s revote constituted voter suppression and disenfranchisement. Nice try, but such arguments don’t stand up to scrutiny. Voters with legitimate reasons to cast absentee ballots have not been deprived of their rights. The only people who deserve suppression and disenfranchisement are the candidates who abuse the absenteevoting process for the sake of political advantage. On Friday, voters told one such candidate to pack her bags.
Lessons from Antigone Greek tragedy hits home at Normandy High.
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body lies baking in the sun, with no one allowed to touch it. The law’s the law, and it must not be challenged. For a play written 2,500 years ago, the similarities between the Greek tragedy Antigone and modernday Ferguson are surprisingly stark. That’s part of the reason why three staged readings at Normandy High School and the Wellspring Church in Ferguson on Saturday drew crowds rich in racial, age and cultural diversity. Antigone’s theme resonated in the packed auditorium at the high school where Michael Brown graduated weeks before he was shot and killed by a Ferguson police officer in 2014. Brown’s body remained in the street for four hours after the shooting. In Sophocles’ Antigone, King Creon, the ruler of Thebes, decrees that the body of the traitor Polyneices is not to be buried or mourned. The dead man’s sister, Antigone, refuses blind submission to the king’s rule and buries the body, declaring that love, common sense and compassion must reign supreme. We will never know whether racial violence would have erupted if Brown’s body had not been left in the street while tensions escalated. Brown’s mother, Lezley McSpadden, cried for his body to be taken away. Police, firefighters and canine units were dispatched nearly three hours into the ordeal to help with crowd control. There were logical reasons to leave Brown’s body in place. It was a Saturday afternoon, with fewer investigators
available to process the scene. The county medical examiner could not take custody until police finished their work. Still, the display provoked reactions of bitterness and anger. One area resident contended Brown’s body was left as an example to show “this could be you.” The Rev. Al Sharpton said at Brown’s funeral that it was as if his life “didn’t matter.” An author wrote in a national magazine that, “Dictators leave bodies in the street. Warlords leave bodies in the street … (not) an advanced society.” Many believe those hours caused the fury to grow into riots that rocked the region and touched off a wave of protests across the nation about police treatment of African-American citizens. In Saturday’s staged readings, wellknown television actors — such as Reg E. Cathey and Gloria Reuben — were joined by a chorus that included police officers. Discussions afterward included a man who graduated with Brown and “queer” women of color. The experience underscored the distance many community members have traveled. Where expressions of outrage might previously have dominated such a discussion, this time the exchange was heartfelt, cordial and included multiple audience salutes to the police. Brown’s death sparked examinations of municipal courts, law enforcement and community police. The relationship between authority and citizens clinging to the social and economic fringe remain at the heart of it all.
PLATFORM • I know
that my retirement will make no difference in its cardinal principles, that it will always fight for progress and reform, never tolerate injustice or corruption, always fight demagogues of all parties, never belong to any party, always oppose privileged classes and public plunderers, never lack sympathy with the poor, always remain devoted to the public welfare, never be satisfied with merely printing news, always be drastically independent, never be afraid to attack wrong, whether by predatory plutocracy or predatory poverty • JOSEPH PULITZER • APRIL 10, 1907
Cannot shirk responsibility to vote We don’t need a presidential election. We need a timeout. So much blame, anger and hateful words have been thrown back and forth between “those people” and “us” that the real possibility of uniting our divided country may only be a fool’s dream now. No matter who wins the election, the division will continue, because we Americans seem to be allowing our minds to be made up by fear, selfishness, lack of facts and greed. Thanks to years of negative and pejorative shouting by both Democratic and Republican politicians and the well-paid surrogates of both parties, the majority of Americans have been led to a dismal decision: out of the two major candidates, which one is the lesser evil? We are not allowed a timeout from our responsibility to vote Nov. 8. Like it or not, our democracy (paid for in the blood of our ancestors and in treasure since 1776) demands that we act, and that we vote for the candidate with the best interests of all Americans as the basis for his or her future decisions as president. The gravity of our decision to select a candidate worthy of sitting in the Oval Office is outweighed only by the gravity of our next president’s responsibility to determine the future of our country in a complex world. Peace and prosperity, or violence and economic death — it’s up to all of us. Jim Mittino • St. Louis
Need new rail, air and river facilities to make region a hub I applaud the fact that Gregory Nadeau, the administrator of the Federal Highway Administration, is taking a proactive position on growing the St. Louis region’s importance as a transportation hub (“St. Louis is key to nation’s freight future,” Sept. 18). It is refreshing that the federal government is taking a good look at our area to infuse taxpayer money for this and the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency. I hope that the emphasis is on “multimodal” and not primarily highways, which we have in abundance. Freight by truck will come easily, but new rail, air and river facilities will be needed if we want to have the benefits of a real multimodal center. In the not too distant past, our region had the nation’s second biggest inland port after New Orleans and the second largest rail freight terminal after Chicago. Multimodal makes sense. Memphis has an enormous intermodal truck-train terminal along U.S. Highway 78. In our area with the present non-attainment of pollution standards, fewer emissions from a smaller amount of fossil-fuel burning engines transporting a greater amount of goods is a big step for producing a stable and sustainable future for generations to come. Good leadership from both sides of the Mississippi River will be needed to generate the growth and the resulting benefits from this ambitious venture. W. John Nekola • St. Louis
Trump owes apology for birther lie Donald Trump last week called a press conference in which he promised a major announcement regarding the birther movement. Instead, we were treated to a publicity stunt showcasing his new hotel in Washington, D.C., and testimonials from former members of the military (“Trump accepts that Obama was born in the USA ,” Sept. 17). Only at the end did he read a 20-second statement admitting that President Obama was, indeed, born in the United States. He even went so far as to perpetuate the lie that Hillary Clinton was responsible for the birther movement, a claim that has been debunked by many media outlets and
fact-checkers. He refused to take questions from the press. For over five years, Trump has made the birther movement his own personal crusade. Many of his supporters believe his lie that our president was born overseas and is not a legitimate president. In fact, Trump pointed with pride that he alone was able to force President Obama to make public his birth certificate and, on many occasions, doubted the authenticity of the document. Trump may think that he’s wiped the slate clean with a 20-second statement but as far as I’m concerned, he needs to do much more, beginning with issuing a public apology to not only President Obama but also to the American public for his reprehensible actions in this matter, which smack of racism. I sincerely doubt that day will come, as Trump has never apologized for any of his inflammatory statements since becoming a candidate for president. “I’m sorry” doesn’t appear to be a part of his vocabulary, although “sorry” is a word I would choose in describing the candidacy of this man. John Johnson • Edwardsville
Constitution Party candidates would stop federal overreach Julie Pace’s AP puff piece on Michelle Obama alerts us to the real agenda of the Democratic candidates (“Michelle Obama campaigns for Clinton ,” Sept. 17). Hillary Clinton quotes Mrs. Obama’s speech at the Democratic Convention: “The real choice isn’t between Democrat or Republican. It’s about who will have the power to shape our children for the next four years of their lives.” Did you realize that the Democrats intend to continue to exercise their power in loco parentis for your children? To shape their lives while you look on? Well, now you know. They intend to do it primarily through policies and programs of the Department of Education and its tentacles that reach into schools from pre-kindergarten to college. Parents of public high school juniors and seniors: Ask your children how carefully they have studied the U.S. Constitution in their civics classes. Do they understand the limited scope of the federal government? Are they aware of how far federal laws, judicial decisions and Washington bureaucracies have exceeded their constitutional limits? If not, you will discover how well the government acting as parents has already succeeded. In November, the only party worthy of a vote is the Constitution Party. What intellectual vitality and honesty its candidates, Darrell Castle and Scott Bradley, would bring to the debates. Alas, that is precisely why the kept media would never permit them to participate. David O. Berger • Olivette
Gun manufacturers make money with no repercussions Regarding “Lawmakers override Nixon on guns and voter ID” (Sept. 15): In its veto of gun safety, the Missouri Legislature demonstrated that we average Missourians are in the wrong line of work. We should work for gun manufacturers. They sell their product at high prices. And their marketing is all done at no cost by the Legislature. While gun manufacturers have to pay lobbyists, they aren’t liable for damages created by their product and they make no charitable contributions to Missouri families made destitute by gun violence. What a racket! Harry Estill • Creve Coeur Read more letters online at STLtoday.com/letters
TOD ROBBERSON Editorial Page Editor • trobberson@post-dispatch.com 314-340-8382 KEVIN HORRIGAN Deputy Editorial Page Editor • khorrigan@post-dispatch.com 314-340-8135
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