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Sunday • 02.04.2018 • $4.00 • FINAL EDITION

KIRKWOOD CITY HALL SHOOTING • 10 YEARS LATER

SIGNS OF CHANGE 10 years after tragedy, community reflects on sorrow, growth

Higher costs for county offices fall to taxpayers Deal with Steve Stenger contributors sparks plan for council hearings BY JEREMY KOHLER St. Louis Post-Dispatch

ST. ANN • Consolidating several St.

Louis County offices at the former Northwest Plaza was supposed to save county taxpayers $10 million. At least, that was the justification in June 2016, when a letter from County Executive Steve Stenger’s interim chief of operations asked the County Council to approve the unprecedented real estate deal — a two-decade commitment to rent more than 150,000 square feet at the renovated mall in St. Ann, now known as the Crossings at Northwest. The deal came without any competition and emerged from closed discussions between the St. Louis Economic Development Partnership and the owners of the complex, brothers Robert and P. David Glarner, who have made $365,000 in contributions to Stenger’s political campaign — an unparalleled sum in county politics and more than a tenth of what he’s raised altogether.

PHOTOS BY ROBERT COHEN • rcohen@post-dispatch.com

Mallory and Matthew Abate, who recently moved to Kirkwood from Arkansas with their dog Peanut, have coffee as night falls on Kirkwood City Hall last month. Ten years ago, on Feb. 7, 2008, Charles “Cookie” Thornton stormed into a City Council meeting, killing five people before being shot dead by two Kirkwood police officers. Mayor Mike Swoboda died months later from his injuries. BY CHRISTINE BYERS • St. Louis Post-Dispatch

KIRKWOOD

notice taped to the front door of City Hall warns visitors that no signs are allowed inside. It appeared not long after Charles “Cookie” Thornton showed up at a City Council meeting, wearing a sandwich sign. He hid two guns underneath it. With those weapons, Thornton, a Kirkwood resident with long-standing grievances against city officials, unleashed 72 seconds of hell, killing six people and wounding a reporter. Casualties included two council members, the public works director, two police officers, and the mayor, who died seven months later.

Thornton’s rampage, which ended when two Kirkwood officers responding to the scene shot him, had a wrenching effect on the residents of this tranquil, relatively prosperous community. For many, it exposed a racial divide in the predominantly white city of about 27,000. About 1,000 of those residents live in a 10-block, mostly black neighborhood known as Meacham Park — a place Thornton called home. The Feb. 7, 2008, shooting forced people in Kirkwood to address some difficult truths. In the decade since, there have been signs of change — if you know where to look. These signs reflect a city determined to move forward. And they highlight places where progress is still needed. Many of them are unwritten, reflected instead by the residents who have since felt called to civic duty. In the strength of the survivors who continue to serve in the same chambers where colleagues died. In the reignited sense of activism among others. In the resolve of the first responders. And in the resilience of the widowed. The Post-Dispatch interviewed a few of the people directly and indirectly affected by the tragedy about how they and their community have changed in its aftermath, and the change they hope is still to come.

See COUNTY • Page A7

Missouri GOP convention holds a smile through scandals, discord BY KEVIN McDERMOTT St. Louis Post-Dispatch

KANSAS CITY • Missouri’s top elected

Republicans gathered here this weekend for their annual show of party unity, gamely smiling through in-party fissures that have divided the state GOP recently. Amid various events at the party’s “Lincoln Days” convention, organizers and officials boisterously cheered Gov. Eric Greitens — who not long ago faced calls for his resignation from some fellow Republicans after admitting a past extramarital affair while denying allegations he threatened to blackmail the woman. Also in attendance at the sprawling Westin Kansas City Hotel was state

See GOP • Page A11

Four friends play pickup basketball last month at Meacham Memorial Park in Kirkwood. In the years since the City Hall shooting, the park was renovated, and police officers have held lunches there to bond with residents. The basketball players are Zae Walker (left), Michael Bernickus (under hoop) and Jeremiah Roth (right). The fourth man declined to be named.

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See KIRKWOOD • Page A4

> ONLINE A look back at the tragedy and the healing that followed in Kirkwood. postdispat.ch/Kirkwood10

Diaper Bank meets serious need for area families • A2

TODAY

A portrait of former Kirkwood Mayor Mike Swoboda hangs in Kirkwood City Hall during a council meeting Thursday as a plainclothes police officer watches from the rear of the room. Swoboda was the mayor of Kirkwood when Charles “Cookie” Thornton shot seven people during a meeting 10 years ago.

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Move to the Crossings gets more costly COUNTY • FROM A1 St. C

The Crossings at Northwest

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The move to the Crossings would allow the county to shut down offices with expiring leases or with structural or safety problems, saving up to $10 million over the 20-year lease, Glenn Powers, then Stenger’s interim chief of operations, told the council. But a Post-Dispatch analysis of the county’s real estate contracts, obtained by the newspaper through public record requests, reveals that the lease does not save money and has the potential to cost millions. Stenger’s staff could provide no evidence that before agreeing to the Crossings lease, the county conducted a side-by-side analysis of other options, from renovating current offices to renting other locations or building a new office. Previous public estimates valued the deal at around $50 million, but the newspaper’s analysis shows that taxpayers will pay at least $69 million, and possibly more. T h e Pos t - D i s pa tc h found: • The deal cost taxpayers from day one. The county is paying more for the Crossings than it was paying for offices it replaced. And expenses will go up nearly 4 percent per year for nine years, then 3 percent for five years. • Taxpayers are still paying for county offices long vacated. The county moved out of some buildings months or years before their leases terminated and will eat $3 million in rent for empty space in Maplewood, Hazelwood and Northwoods. • County taxpayers paid the Crossings owners more than $300,000 extra last year to cover its share of the property taxes at the mall, even though the owners’ taxes are already refunded via tax-increment financing. • The lease offers virtually no opportunity for the county to back out. Stenger has repeatedly denied that the Glarners’ gifts to his campaign influenced the deal, and said the “Post-Dispatch narrative

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LEFT • The Crossings at Northwest, formerly known as Northwest Plaza, as seen in 2016 in St. Ann. DAVID CARSON • dcarson@post-dispatch.com

concerning my campaign contributions is misleading and tiresome.” And, his campaign staff noted, the Glarners have also given to council members, albeit in much smaller amounts. But the combination of a massive real estate deal — and seemingly reciprocal campaign contributions — has cast a long shadow over his reputation as the gifts pile up. “People will wonder if the offices were located there because of the contributions or on their merits,” said David Kimball, a political science professor at the University of Missouri-St. Louis. “I think given the size of the contributions, it’s fair to wonder that.” Retired political scientist Lana Stein said the practice of donating to campaigns is part of a political climate in which “you scratch my back, and I’ll scratch yours,” and said the practice casts a shadow over nearly every elected official. “It’s a kind of corruption, but that doesn’t mean that everyone that takes part is personally corrupt,” she said. T h e G l a r n e rs sa i d through a lawyer that they have given to Stenger “because they believe he is an effective leader for the region.” They said donations were not tied to the Crossings lease. The St. Louis County Council voted 6-1 in July 2016 to approve the deal. That night, Hazel Erby, a Democrat who represents the 1st District, criticized the lack of transparency that led to the deal, but

said after touring the new office space she “fell in love with it” and didn’t feel her concern about the process “should penalize the boost that this will bring to the economy in … North County.” Councilman Sam Page, a Democrat who represents the 2nd District, remarked that the county was getting a “better space” for “a great value.” The lone dissent was from 7th District Councilman Mark Harder, a real estate broker who said he doubted the claim of $10 million in savings. He said he would have felt better if Stenger returned the Glarners’ contributions. Several county government departments moved into the office last year, including the Board of Elections, the Division of Workforce Development, and a satellite office of the county assessor. The new site is popular with county employees who work there. The site is safe, attractive and high-tech, with plenty of parking and elbow room. And it adds life to a blighted former shopping center the Glarners rejuvenated with tens of millions of public subsidies. Stenger said the consolidation “is beneficial for taxpayers and county employees” and said he was proud of the benefits the community is seeing from the economic revitalization of St. Ann. His staff pointed to flaws at other locations, from unsafe parking lots to mold. At $12.98 per square foot, with annual increases and the added burden of insurance, maintenance

and taxes, the county did not get a remarkable bargain for office space in north St. Louis County. A massive office space is available for lease nearby in Bridgeton for about $9 per square foot. And the Glarners have listed another large office space in the Crossings for $10 per square foot, with a term of just five years. The county said the Glarners did $10 million in work to customize the space for county offices, but had no receipts. Since the council approved the lease, its relationship with Stenger has soured. Now council members say they voted without all the information about how much the deal really cost — part of a pattern in a Stenger administration that reveals information selectively. The council is planning a series of hearings starting this month. “This is an onerous lease,” said Ernie Trakas, a Republican who represents the 6th District. “Why would the county enter into an onerous lease? There are a lot of questions that we have. These will be ongoing and comprehensive hearings — it’s not going to be fluff. We’re going to try to bring before the committee every relevant individual to help us understand how the process went from beginning to end.” Page said the moribund former Northwest Plaza had been a “source of great anxiety” for the county and St. Ann. “They really didn’t have a good plan to bring it back, and we were all pretty motivated to try

and find a solution, and this seemed like it was a good one,” he said. “But I made it clear to everyone on the county executive’s staff that this had to be a good deal for the county. It had to save us money, and if it didn’t save us money we shouldn’t do it. They insisted that it did and we gave them the benefit of the doubt.”

DOOLEY’S ROLE In a meeting with a reporter, Stenger’s advisers insisted the effort to move county offices into the former Northwest Plaza started before his election, providing the newspaper with articles and clips showing that former County Executive Charlie Dooley had strongly supported public subsidies for revitalizing the mall with a mix of uses, including government. Dooley said Friday he never made commitments to move county offices there. “Talk — that’s all it was,” he said. Moving whole departments such as Workforce Development and the Board of Elections was “never in the conversation.” He harshly criticized the length of the deal. “That makes no sense,” he said. “They paid for nothing.” It’s not clear to what extent the Stenger administration compared the Crossings deal to other options. T h e Pos t - D i s pa tc h asked a Stenger aide on Jan. 25 for copies of any cost analysis that was done prior to agreeing to a 20year lease, or for any documentation to support the claim that up to $10 million could be saved. A one-page spreadsheet was provided. Stenger aides provided a new analysis last week that suggested the Crossings lease would save $8.5 million over 20 years. And, they said a more secure building would save more than $2 million in security over that time. But the newspaper pointed out an omission on the staff’s analysis. While the cost of the old spaces factored in all expenses, the cost of the Crossing lease omitted a big one: taxes.

A TAX ERROR The county paid $306,000 to the Glarners for its share of the 2017 property tax bill, a proportional share of the $1.3 million the Cross-

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ings owners paid in property taxes. That’s likely to be the smallest bill the county will ever pay; it still could end up owing taxes for last year. The Post-Dispatch discovered in tax records that the county assessor’s office mistakenly appraised a large portion of the complex — that is currently finished and occupied — at only 3 percent of its taxable value. Crystal Ulett, the deputy assessor, said her staff had also caught the error and was working on it. It was not clear if the 2017 tax bill would be amended. “We are not able to say for certain what the increase of the entire property will be at this time because all of our numbers for that are still being worked,” Ulett said. But the tax bill will make a huge difference in how much taxpayers have to pay for the mall. Even if there were no change, and the county paid $306,000 each year for the next 19 years, the lease would cost $66 million. With the $3 million the county is committed to paying for vacated space, that total is $69 million. That’s the exact same amount — $69 million — that Stenger’s staff projected would have been spent on the county’s former leases, with annual increases of 4 percent, if it had not moved offices to the Crossings. But if the county’s tax bill this year went to $500,000, and increased at the same 4 percent used in the county’s model, the taxpayers’ burden would swell to $77 million by the end of 2027. Of course, the Crossings could be a better deal than moves county officials might have made later on to upgrade offices. Stenger said in a statement that as a CPA, “of course” he knew improvements to the Crossings would result in increased taxes for the county. “But those taxes benefit the County, school districts and other public entities, which in turn increases home values for a result that far outweighs incremental increases in our payments as a tenant,” he said. Jeremy Kohler • 314-340-8337 @jeremykohler on Twitter jkohler@post-dispatch.com

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TUESDAY • 02.13.2018 • $2.00

WHITE HOUSE’S $4.4 TRILLION BUDGET PROPOSAL

MILITARY TRUMPS DEFICIT

FIVE THINGS TO KNOW

BY ANDREW TAYLOR AND MARTIN CRUTSINGER Associated Press

Dead on arrival? • This budget may be more irrelevant than usual because it doesn’t take into account a recent hike in spending limits for defense and domestic programs. Red ink • The budget showed a dramatic increase in deficits over the 10-year budget window. Medicare slashed • The budget calls for about $500 billion in cuts from projected Medicare spending over the next decade. Infrastructure work • Trump wants to use $200 billion over the next decade to support $1.5 trillion in new spending to rebuild the nation’s crumbling infrastructure. Privatized space station • The budget proposes pulling NASA out of the International Space Station by 2025 with private businesses running the space station instead.

WASHINGTON • President Donald Trump unveiled a $4.4 trillion budget plan Monday that envisions steep cuts to America’s social safety net but mounting spending on the military, formally retreating from last year’s promises to balance the federal budget. The president’s spending outline for the first time acknowledges that the Republican tax overhaul passed last year would add billions to the deficit and not “pay for itself” as Trump and his Republican allies asserted. If enacted as proposed, though no presidential budget ever is, the plan would establish an era of $1 trillion-plus yearly deficits. See BUDGET • Page A4

WITH A SPRING IN THEIR STEP

Report says top opioid makers paid anti-pain advocates $9 million at play in McCaskill’s findings BY CHUCK RAASCH St. Louis Post-Dispatch

DAVID CARSON • dcarson@post-dispatch.com

St. Louis Cardinals pitcher Adam Wainwright throws off the mound Monday at the Cardinals spring training complex in Jupiter, Fla. Pitchers and catchers officially report Tuesday. The remainder of the squad is scheduled to check in on Sunday, with full workouts set to begin next Monday. FULL COVERAGE IN SPORTS

Trump hedges on extensive plan to rebuild roads, bridges BY KEN THOMAS Associated Press

WA S H I N GTO N • President Donald Trump sent Congress a sweeping plan Monday to rebuild the nation’s depleted roads and bridges — then immediately raised doubts about how committed he was to delivering on that campaign promise. “If you want it badly, you’re going to get it,” Trump told state and local officials during a meeting at the White House. “And if you don’t want it, that’s OK with me, too.” Trump suggested that his proposal — aimed at spurring $1.5 trillion in spending over a decade — was not as important to him as other recent administration efforts to cut taxes and boost military spending. See ROADS • Page A5

TODAY

‘Village’ provides socialization, volunteers for older St. Louisans

BY JEREMY KOHLER St. Louis Post-Dispatch

ST. ANN • In the days just before

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See VILLAGE • Page A4

See EMAILS • Page A5

J.B. FORBES • jforbes@post-dispatch.com

in development. Five years ago, Gordon helped start what would become known as STL Village, a nonprofit that shares the model of similar networks across the country. It is funded by annual memberships and fun-

Clemens mansion is salvaged

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draisers, and those who join determine what the priorities of the village should be. With older people “swimming in an ocean of ageism,” villages are crucial in helping

a top official in St. Louis County Executive Steve Stenger’s office told the County Council that a long-term lease for county office space at the former Northwest Plaza shopping mall would save taxpayers $10 million, a much different conversation was happening among county officials reviewing the lease. “The bottom line is that any claim that this is a cost-savings measure for the County would appear to be quite inaccurate,” Ted Medler, the county’s division manager for planning and programming, wrote on June 1, 2016, to Nichalos Gardner, who was then the county transportation director.

Gloria Gordon, 94, one of the original members of STL Village, talks to the group last month during a “Souper Sunday” gathering at Executive House in the Central West End.

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Emails counter Stenger’s claim of money saved on office lease

BY DOUG MOORE St. Louis Post-Dispatch

ST. LOUIS • A few months ago, Gloria Gordon decided it was time to give up driving. For many older adults, parking the car for the final time symbolizes letting go of independence. But Gordon, 94, doesn’t see it that way. She is part of a network of people who help each other, whether it be with a ride to the doctor or assistance setting up a computer. The group, now entering its fifth year, is called a village. Not a brick-and-mortar community but one that links those 50 and older to one another to remain independent, socially engaged and educated on issues such as health care and scams targeting the elderly. The village movement began about 15 years ago in Boston and has grown to 230 communities in 46 states. There are 130 more villages

WASHINGTON • Sen. Claire McCaskill released a report Monday alleging that from 2012 to 2017, leading manufacturers of opioids gave $9 million to pain treatment advocacy groups, an arrangement the report says “may have played a significant role in creating the necessary conditions for the U.S. opioids epidemic.” The leading opioids manufacturer named in the report, Purdue Pharma, just announced it would stop promoting opioids to doctors. The founder of the top association taking drugmakers’ money — the U.S. Pain Foundation — said that “any funding we receive has never nor will it ever influence what we will do to help

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02.13.2018 • Tuesday • M 1 ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH • A5 NEWS

Trump Jr.’s wife opens powder-filled letter BY JAKE PEARSON Associated Press

NEW YORK • Donald Trump Jr.’s wife

was taken to a New York City hospital on Monday as a precaution after she opened an envelope addressed to her husband that contained an unidentified white powder, though police later said the substance wasn’t dangerous. The episode happened after 10 a.m. when Vanessa Trump, 40, opened the letter at her mother’s midtown Manhattan apartment, investigators said. She called 911 and said she was coughing and

felt nauseated, police said. The powder turned out to be cornstarch, according to a report in the New York Times. “Thankful that Vanessa & my children are safe and unharmed after the incredibly scary situation that occurred this morning,” Donald Trump Jr. wrote on Twitter. “Truly disgusting that certain individuals choose to express their opposing views with such disturbing behavior.” The New York Fire Department said it treated three patients who were taken to a hospital for evaluation.

Trump releases infrastructure proposal ROADS • FROM A1

“If for any reason, they don’t want to support to it, hey, that’s going to be up to them,” Trump said of the Republicancontrolled Congress. “What was very important to me was the military, what was very important to me was the tax cuts, and what was very important to me was regulation.” Speaking of infrastructure, Trump added: “This is of great importance, but it’s not nearly in that category. Because the states will have to do it themselves if we don’t do it. But I would like to help the states out.” The plan is centered on using $200 billion in federal money to leverage more than $1 trillion in local and state tax dollars to fix America’s infrastructure, such as roads, highways, ports and airports. The administration released a 55-page “legislative outline” for lawmakers who will write the legislation. With the plan heavily dependent on state and local dollars, Democrats warned it would raise tolls on commuters, sell off government-owned infrastructure to Wall Street and eliminate critical environmental protections. The proposal lists Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport and Dulles International Airport as examples of assets that could be sold. Sen. Lamar Alexander, R-Tenn., warned that the proposal included studying whether the Tennessee Valley Authority, the nation’s largest public utility, should sell its transmission assets. He called it “a looney idea” with “zero chance of becoming law.” “After a full year of empty boasts, the president has finally unveiled a puny infrastructure scam that fully fails to meet the need in America’s communities,” said House Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi of California. Convening a roomful of state and local leaders, Trump listened as governors and mayors pitched individual projects in their states and described the challenges involved with gaining federal permits.

“It seems to me that the pyramids in Egypt were built faster than some of the projects that we’re contemplating,” said Esteban Bovo, chairman of the MiamiDade County Commission in Florida. Trump vowed repeatedly that the federal permitting process would be streamlined but said it would be up to state and local leaders to ensure that local permits don’t hold up worthy projects. “Washington will no longer be a roadblock to progress. Washington will now be your partner,” Trump said. During the meeting, the former real estate developer reveled in his past life as a builder, pointing to his 1980s completion of a troubled renovation of Wollman Rink in New York City’s Central Park. When a local official from Pennsylvania noted plans to add connections for an interstate highway — estimated to cost more than $500 million — Trump was blunt. “Get the price down a little bit,” he said to laughter. “To me this is a very, very sexy subject,” Trump said. “The media doesn’t find it sexy. I find it sexy because I was always a builder, I always knew how to build on time, on budget.” The proposal features two key components: an injection of funding for new investments and to speed up repairs of crumbling roads and airports, as well as a streamlined permitting process that would reduce the wait time to get projects under way. Officials said the $200 billion in federal support would come from cuts to existing programs. Half the money would go to grants for transportation, water, flood control, cleanup at some of the country’s most polluted sites and other projects. States, local governments and other project sponsors could use the grants — which administration officials cast as incentives — to cover no more than 20 percent of the costs. Transit agencies generally count on the federal government for half the cost of major construction projects, and federal dollars can make up as much as 80 percent of some highway projects.

Officials alarmed at expense, emails show EMAILS • FROM A1

Several internal emails reviewed by the Post-Dispatch show that despite the assurance of Stenger’s advisers that the deal made financial sense, officials in several county departments were alarmed about the expense and the length of the lease. And they were concerned about an unusual negotiation for a two-decade commitment to rent more than 150,000 square feet at the renovated mall in St. Ann, now known as the Crossings at Northwest. The deal will cost taxpayers at least $69 million, and could run as high as $77 million, according to the newspaper’s analysis of the county’s real estate contracts. The owners of the Crossings, Robert and P. David Glarner, are friends of Stenger who have donated $365,000 to his campaign, an amount that is unparalleled in county politics. The Glarners and Stenger have repeatedly denied any quid pro quo; Stenger has called the question tiresome. The newspaper revealed on Feb. 5 that the deal does not save money – and has the potential to cost millions. Days before the newspaper’s story, Stenger’s advisers insisted the deal saved money. But the newspaper pointed out their figures did not include millions of dollars the county will pay for property taxes at the Crossings and to rent empty space at buildings across the county that were vacated months or years before their leases ended. In a statement emailed to the newspaper on Monday, Stenger said he was “not personally enriched by a campaign contribution and would never allow one to influence my decisions on behalf of St. Louis County.” He said the officials involved in the conversations about the Crossings lease in 2016 “based their estimates on incomplete information.” And he stuck with the claim that the county was saving money. He said there were “numerous County staff members who wholeheartedly endorse and approve of this move” and that feedback on the Crossings from residents and employees “has already been overwhelmingly positive. They tell us that the facility is a nicer, safer and far more convenient setting to visit and to work in.” The County Council voted 6-1 in July 2016 to approve the Crossings lease, but now the council has scheduled hearings before its ethics committee to review the deal. The first is scheduled for 4 p.m. Tuesday. Emails reviewed by the newspaper were obtained by the ethics com-

mittee chair, Councilman Ernie Trakas, in response to requests he sent to several employees in the county’s public works, some of whom are expected to testify. “I think we obviously found documents that show that the department of public works and transportation employees as well as county counselor’s office did not see the Crossings lease as the great deal it’s been portrayed as,” Trakas said Monday. He said those officials were “customarily and routinely involved in developing lease agreements for space the county rents.” The emails seem to run counter to Stenger’s Northwest Plaza narrative, suggesting that his administration acted against the advice of career county government employees who would normally be involved in approving real estate deals. Under terms of the lease, the mall’s owners have “absolutely no risk,” Gardner wrote on March 2, 2016, to Medler, Stephanie Leon Streeter, deputy director of the county’s departments of transportation and public works, and Bob Grant, the deputy county counselor. “I can only imagine that looking closer at this, we are probably selling our soul to the DEVIL on this one.” Gardner, who left in April to accept a job with the mass transit system in Washington, could not be reached for comment. Medler and Streeter, who still work for the county, also could not be reached. Medler wrote that Anthony Badino, a top Stenger adviser who had managed the county executive’s 2014 campaign, had unilaterally negotiated the lease with the Glarners. “He negotiated it alone and then dumped it on legal,” Medler wrote. Badino could not be reached for comment. In a meeting with a reporter this month, Stenger’s staff could provide no evidence that before agreeing to the Crossings lease, the county conducted a side-by-side analysis of other options, from renovating current offices to renting other locations or building a new office. But the emails unearthed by Trakas showed the county did have an analysis in 2015 comparing the cost of building new office space to renting space either at the Crossings or at another site. “On the spreadsheet, in each case, purchasing space is more economical than leasing space,” Streeter wrote in July 2015. “Please help me understand.” Jeremy Kohler • 314-340-8337 @jeremykohler on Twitter jkohler@post-dispatch.com

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HELPS THE IMMUNE SYSTEM TO CALM INFLAMMATION According to a leading aloe research, when correctly processed for digesting, the Aloe plant

has a powerful component for regulating your immune system called Acemannan. So whether it’s damage that is physical, bacterial, chemical or autoimmune; the natural plant helps the body stay healthy.

RAPID ACID AND HEARTBURN NEUTRALIZER Aloe has proved to have an astonishing effect on users who suffer with digestion problems like bouts of acid reflux, heartburn, cramping, gas and constipation because it acts as a natural acid buffer and soothes the digestive system. But new studies prove it does a whole lot more.

SIDESTEP HEART CONCERNS So you’ve been taking proton pump inhibitors (PPI’s) for years and you feel just ﬁne. In June of 2015 a major study shows that chronic PPI use increases the risk of heart attack in general population.

UNLEASH YOUR MEMORY Think about it. If you kept dumping fat and grease down your drain; how long do you think it would take to clog it up? The answer is, not very long at all. And that’s exactly what happens to your brain every time you eat processed, fried or fatty foods. Studies show that your brain needs the healthy bacteria from your gut in order function at its best. Both low and high dosages of digestion drugs are proven to destroy that healthy bacteria and get in the way of brain function. So you’re left with a sluggish, slow-toreact brain without a lot of room to store information. The acemannan used in AloeCure actually makes your gut healthier, so healthy bacteria ﬂows freely to your brain so you think better, faster and with a larger capacity for memory.

Doctors call it “The greatest health discovery in decades!” SLEEP LIKE A BABY A night without sleep really damages your body. And continued lost sleep can lead to all sorts of health problems. But what you may not realize is the reason why you’re not sleeping. Some call it “Ghost Reflux”. A low-intensity form of acid reflux discomfort that quietly keeps you awake in the background. AloeCure helps digestion so you may find yourself sleeping through the night.

CELEBRITY HAIR, SKIN & NAILS One of the Best-Kept Secrets in Hollywood.

Certain antacids may greatly reduce your body’s ability to break down and absorb calcium. Aloe delivers calcium as it aids in balancing your stomach acidity. The result? Thicker, healthier looking hair…more youthful looking skin… And nails so strong they may never break again.

SAVE YOUR KIDNEY National and local news outlets are reporting Kidney Failure linked to PPI’s. Your Kidney extracts waste from blood, balance body fluids, form urine, and aid in other important functions of the body. Without it your body would be overrun by deadly toxins. Aloe helps your kidney function properly. Studies suggest, if you started taking aloe today; you’d see a big difference in the way you feel.

GUARANTEED RESULTS OR DOUBLE YOUR MONEY BACK Due to the incredible results people are reporting, AloeCure is being sold with an equally incredible guarantee. “We can only offer this incredible guarantee because we are 100% certain this product will work for those who use it,” Says Dr. Leal. Here’s how it works: Take the pill exactly as directed. You must see and feel remarkable improvements in your digestive health, your mental health, in your physical appearance, the amount inﬂammation you have throughout your body – even in your ability to fall asleep at night! Otherwise, simply return the empty bottles with a short note about how you took the pills and followed the simple instructions and the company will send you... Double your money back!

HOW TO GET ALOECURE This is the official nationwide release of the new AloeCure pill in the United States. And so, the company is offering our readers up to 3 FREE bottles with their order. This special give-away is available for the next 48-hours only. All you have to do is call TOLLFREE 1-800-540-8761 and provide the operator with the Free Bottle Approval Code: Q147. The company will do the rest. Important: Due to AloeCure’s recent media exposure, phone lines are often busy. If you call and do not immediately get through, please be patient and call back. Those who miss the 48 hour deadline may lose out on this free bottle offer.

THESE STATEMENTS HAVE NOT BEEN EVALUATED BY THE FOOD AND DRUG ADMINISTRATION. THIS PRODUCT IS NOT INTENDED TO DIAGNOSE, TREAT, CURE OR PREVENT ANY DISEASE. INDIVIDUAL RESULTS MAY VARY ALOECURE IS NOT A DRUG. IF YOU ARE CURRENLTY TAKING A PRESCRIPTION DRUG YOU SHOULD CONSULT YOUR DOCTOR BEFORE USE. FOR THE FULL FDA PUBLISHED WARNING ON PROTON PUMP INHIBITORS PLEASE VISIT HTTP://WWW.FDA.GOV/DOWNLOADS/FORCONSUMERS/CONSUMERUPDATES/UCM213307 *compensated for opinion

02.14.2018 • Wednesday • M 1 ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH • A3 LOCAL

Officials call Crossings lease too secretive Some say they were left out of initial process BY JEREMY KOHLER St. Louis Post-Dispatch

CLAYTON • On any typical real estate deal that involved buying or renting office space and relocating St. Louis County workers, the county officials who review leases and help design work space would be involved from the onset. But the county’s agreement in July 2016 to rent more than 150,000 square feet at the former Northwest Plaza, a two-decade commitment that will cost taxpayers between $69 million and $77 million, was anything but typical. Three St. Louis County public works officials testified in a two-hour county council hearing on Tuesday that County Executive Steve Stenger’s former campaign manager, Anthony Badino, working for Stenger as a special project manager, directed an effort that started in 2015 to relocate several county offices. Those officials were included in the process only after the site at Northwest Plaza had been selected and a lease had been drafted in early 2016 by the St. Louis County counselor’s office. The council’s ethics committee is now investigating what led up to the unprecedented lease at the renovated mall in St. Ann, now known as the Crossings at Northwest. The owners of the Crossings, Robert and P. David Glarner, are friends of Stenger who have donated $365,000 to his campaign, an amount that is unparalleled in county politics. The Glarners and Stenger have repeatedly denied that the lease was a reward for supporting Stenger’s campaign, or vice versa. Stenger did not attend the hearing, and his aides did not make him available

ROBERT COHEN • rcohen@post-dispatch.com

Joseph Hunt, division manager in public works in St. Louis County, ponders a question posed by Councilman Sam Page on Tuesday. Bruce Kothe, project manager in public works, is at right. They were meeting with the ethics committee.

for an interview. He said by email: “Among other reasons, I advocated for the Crossings because it represents a game-changer for North County and is a key component in our administration’s strategic goal of improving our community. From the day I took office, our administration has directed numerous County departments, personnel and expenditures toward stabilizing and revitalizing this community with the realization that, if one area of St. Louis County were to fail, it would in turn drag down the rest of the region.” Badino, who no longer works for the county, also did not attend and could not be reached for comment later. The Glarners’ gifts to Stenger started in the summer of 2015, as county officials were reviewing several options to relocate some county offices to leased or purchased space. By the end of the year, the Glarners had made four donations to Stenger totaling $77,500. Also around that time,

the Stenger administration was reaching a deal for the county to enter an unbreakable 20-year lease. Bruce Kothe, a public works design and construction project manager, testified the length of the lease was unusual. County leases are typically seven to 10 years, long enough for the county to finance any construction costs at a site. Although Stenger’s office told the council that the Crossings deal would save the county $10 million, a Post-Dispatch story on Feb. 5 revealed there were no savings and the deal has the potential to cost taxpayers millions. Council Chairman Sam Page asked County Counselor Peter Krane to research whether the employees who testified would be protected under any whistleblower statute; Krane said he would report back. The hearing did not get to the bottom of whether Badino or another Stenger official specifically negotiated the lease for the county; the three employees said they were not part of the process.

Ted Medler, the county’s division manager for planning and programming, refuted a common Stenger administration claim that the effort to relocate to the Crossings was underway when Stenger’s predecessor Charlie Dooley was in office. Medler said his staff had considered purchasing some space in the mall in 2014 at the request of then-Democratic elections director Rita Heard Days. “We couldn’t make it work,” he said. “We pretty much abandoned that.” But the site came up again in 2015 when an effort began anew to search for office space, he said. The Crossings was one of four sites that was being considered, including an industrial site off of Page Avenue and the former Walmart on St. Charles Rock Road in Bridgeton. Joe Hunt, a division manager in public works, testified he did not have access to the building until after the lease was signed. He said that was unusual because “I’ve only got six months building out a huge space. I’ve got to get

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in there look at it and make sure it meets our needs.”

LAW & ORDER ST. LOUIS > Child taken by carjacker is found safe • A young child who was taken in a carjacking Tuesday morning was found safe by St. Louis police after apparently being dropped off in an alley by the robber. The child was unharmed and has been reunited with family, police say. The child had been inside a vehicle that was taken in a carjacking at about 8:15 a.m. Tuesday near Chippewa Street and Louisiana Avenue. Police found the child in an alley near the 3400 block of McKean Avenue, about a half-mile north of the carjacking scene. Officers later saw the stolen car and chased it to the 3100 block of Chouteau Avenue, where a suspect was arrested. Police vehicles were struck in the chase, said department spokeswoman Schron Jackson.

Jeremy Kohler • 314-340-8337 @jeremykohler on Twitter jkohler@post-dispatch.com

ed vit n Come. eI u’r Listen. Yo

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as low as

STAR POWER SHINES IN SEC > Breakout players, colorful coaching personalities and plot twists abound at the Southeastern Conference Tournament. • TWO-PAGE PREVIEW IN SPORTS

ROBERT COHEN • rcohen@post-dispatch.com

Wednesday • 03.07.2018 • $2.00

A THAW IN KOREA

Council says it was duped on lease costs

North Korea vows to pause missile tests, hold ‘candid talks’ U.S. skeptical but welcomes opening for renewed dialogue NORTH, SOUTH LEADERS MEET North Korea “made it clear” that it would not resume nuclear tests or missile launches during talks with the South, U.S. The meeting in Pyongyang followed a visit to the Olympics in South Korea by Kim Jong Un’s sister.

TRUMP, PENCE MAINTAIN TOUGH STANCE President Donald Trump credited progress to U.S. sanctions, saying, “Hopefully it will lead to a very positive result.” Vice President Mike Pence said U.S. and allies would keep “maximum pressure” on the North.

NEW MATH

St. Louis County may pay $20 million to $30 million more than presented INTERNAL EMAILS

County employees raised concern over unusual rental negotiations BY JEREMY KOHLER St. Louis Post-Dispatch

“Hopefully it’s positive; hopefully it will lead to a very positive result,” he said. Word of North Korea’s willingness to hold talks came from South Korean officials, returning from what they described as productive meetings in the North, during which Pyongyang said it was prepared to discuss denuclearization and

CLAYTON • An adviser to St. Louis County Executive Steve Stenger who urged the County Council in 2016 to support a 20-year commitment to rent office space at the former Northwest Plaza shopping mall because it would save $10 million testified on Tuesday that he had never actually read the lease. And officials in Stenger’s administration were scrambling to prepare for millions of dollars in increased costs associated with the project almost im- Stenger mediately after the council ratified the deal in July 2016. Those were two disclosures in a tense, two-hour hearing on Tuesday, at which council members revisited claims made by Stenger administration officials two years ago that the unprecedented lease was a good deal for taxpayers. Council members now say they were misled into backing the deal.

See KOREA • Page A10

See COUNTY • Page A7

PHOTO FROM NORTH KOREAN GOVERNMENT

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un (left) meets with South Korean National Security Director Chung Eui-yong in Pyongyang, North Korea, on Monday.

A HISTORY OF FAILURE Past attempts to disarm North Korea. A10

BY ANNA FIFIELD, PHILIP RUCKER AND KAREN DEYOUNG Washington Post

TOKYO • The White House responded

with cautious optimism Tuesday to North Korea’s reported proposal to hold “candid talks” with the United States and South Korea, and to put its nuclear weapons and missile testing programs on hold

while engaged in dialogue. “I think they are sincere,” said President Donald Trump, who attributed the apparent change in attitude to the tough sanctions and other actions that the United States has applied and pushed others to impose on North Korea.

Officer’s wave at stunt biker troubles officials BY KIM BELL St. Louis Post-Dispatch

ST. LOUIS • The latest homemade video of a daring stunt motorcyclist is making the rounds on social media — and St. Louis police are featured in an unlikely role. Stunt riders long have boasted that St. Louis is a haven for them. Some say St. Louis police are so preoccupied with violent crime that they don’t crack down on the bikers’ antics. The latest video, posted several places online over the weekend, See STUNT • Page A6

TODAY

Hoop dreams

30°/40°

ASSOCIATED PRESS

President Donald Trump, shown Tuesday in the White House, said he believes North Korean officials are sincere in their call to hold talks with the U.S. and South Korea.

CARELESS, IMPRUDENT DRIVING “Every person operating a motor vehicle on the roads and highways of this state shall drive the vehicle in a careful and prudent manner ...” Missouri, revised statutes 304.012

Missouri exporters fret over tariffs, trade war ‌

Midwest ERs slammed with opioid overdoses

BY CHUCK RAASCH St. Louis Post-Dispatch

BY BLYTHE BERNHARD St. Louis Post-Dispatch

WASHINGTON • “This thing is scary,” said Missouri Farm Bureau President Blake Hurst. “This thing” is President Donald Trump’s announcement that the United States would impose steep tariffs on imported aluminum and steel. It’s a move Trump says is necessary to challenge arrangements he says lead to huge trade deficits for the U.S. His move has been applauded

Emergency room visits for opioid overdoses spiked in 2017, particularly in the Midwest, according to a new report. The rise in hospital visits is an early indicator that the nation’s deadly opioid epidemic is still growing, doctors said. The Midwest had the highest increase of ER visits for opioid overdoses in any region, up an average 70 percent from July 2016 through September 2017 according to a

TOMORROW

27°/42° MOSTLY SUNNY

WEATHER B12

GREITENS INVESTIGATION

NEWS • A4 POST-DISPATCH WEATHERBIRD ®

> Top economic adviser leaves as President Trump tries to sell tariff plan. Page A6

See TARIFFS • Page A6

House probe begins out of the public eye

PARTLY SUNNY

COHN OUT AT WHITE HOUSE

> Emergency rooms saw more than 142,000 opioid overdoses nationally in the 15 months studied. > ILLINOIS 66 percent increase > MISSOURI 21 percent increase

See OPIOIDS • Page A5

Botanist behind the treats

• LET’S EAT

Meeting on West Lake draws crowd

• A3

St. Louis loses out on housing funds

• A4

Senate moves to weaken bank rules

• A13

Bommarito INFINITI .com

EN7 P O 4/ 2

03.07.2018 • Wednesday • M 2 ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH • A7 LOCAL

Wayward guard loses inmate in East St. Louis They were supposed to be traveling to Texas from Oklahoma, but ended up at Casino Queen hotel BY NASSIM BENCHAABANE St. Louis Post-Dispatch

EAST ST. LOUIS • A private security firm employee tak-

ing two inmates to Texas from Oklahoma was more than 500 miles outside his planned route when he checked into a hotel here Sunday night, fell asleep and woke up less than an hour later to find one of the inmates and $5,200 in his own cash gone, police said. East St. Louis police were looking for the inmate, Brian Jordan, 33, as of Tuesday night. He was not considered to be armed and dangerous, but police broadcast a description of him to surrounding cities. A private security firm driver was transporting Jordan from Oklahoma City, where he had been caught in a stolen vehicle, to a city in Texas where he had violated parole for methamphetamine possession, East St. Louis Police Chief Jerry Simon said. The driver, Lamont Henderson, worked for Guard Force International, out of Austin, Texas. Simon had no information on the second man who was being transported by Jordan the guard. It was unclear exactly why Henderson, Jordan and the second inmate were in East St. Louis, which is about an eight-hour drive northeast of their alleged starting point. The three men checked into the Casino Queen hotel about 10 p.m. Sunday. Henderson told police he had fallen asleep for about 40 minutes and woke up to find Jordan gone. Surveillance cameras caught Jordan walking out to the security firm’s van in the hotel parking lot shortly after 1:30 a.m. Monday, removing a cellphone and clothing and then walking west toward the Eads Bridge, Simon said. Henderson didn’t call police until about five hours after he realized Jordan was gone, telling detectives he was out looking for Jordan himself during that time. Henderson said he was scheduled to meet a supervisor in the St. Louis area Monday — detectives were investigating that and whether he gambled at the hotel or visited family members in the area, Simon said. Reached by phone Tuesday night, Gordon Brooks, CEO of Guard Force International, hung up when a PostDispatch reporter identified himself and did not respond to further requests for comment. Police were unaware of the three until the security guard called police about 6:40 a.m. Monday, Simon said. East St. Louis police immediately alerted surrounding cities and broadcast Jordan’s description. Henderson told police Jordan vanished along with $5,200 cash the guard had in a satchel. It was unknown why the guard had the cash. The other man being transported told police he was asleep and learned of Jordan’s disappearance when Henderson woke him up, Simon said. It was unclear whether the inmates were handcuffed when they arrived at the hotel, Simon said. He said police had not yet obtained security footage of their arrival. Jordan is described as about 6 feet tall with a medium build. Anyone with information about his whereabouts is asked to call East St. Louis police at 618-482-6700. Nassim Benchaabane • 314-340-8167 @NassimBnchabane on Twitter nbenchaabane@post-dispatch.com

LAW & ORDER ST. LOUIS COUNTY > Crash victim identified • Authorities have identified a St. Louis man killed in a chain-reaction crash on Reavis Barracks Road on Sunday night. Jose Solis-Luna, 43, was pronounced dead at a hospital Sunday night after the three-car crash about 6 p.m. Sunday. He lived in the 3800 block of French Court, just south of Carondelet Park. The crash began when a westbound sedan rearended another car west of Green Park Road about 6 p.m., St. Louis County police said. The second car traveled into eastbound traffic, where it was T-boned by a third car. Solis-Luna was driving the third car and suffered fatal injuries. The driver of the second car, a 48-year-old woman, was in extremely critical condition at a hospital, according to police. A passenger in her car, a 19-year-old woman, and the driver of the first vehicle, a 19-year-old man, were both taken to a hospital. Their conditions were not available, but police said they were stable. Authorities asked anyone with information about the crash to call St. Louis County police at 636-529-8210 or CrimeStoppers at 1-866371-8477. O’FALLON, ILL. > Teen arrested over threat at school • A 15-year-old boy was taken into custody overnight for scrawling a threatening message on an elementary school, police said Tuesday morning. A handwritten message found Monday on a window at Hinchcliffe Elementary School said, “I’m going to shoot this (expletive) up,” according to police. Window screens were also cut. Police said the teen took full responsibility and said the message was a joke. He was being held Tuesday morning in the St. Clair County Juvenile Detention Center. Police say they will turn the case over to the state’s attorney’s office for charges. The elementary school is at 1050 Ogle Road in O’Fallon.

Developers donated to Stenger’s campaign COUNTY • FROM A1

The lease for nearly 150,000 square feet at the redeveloped mall in St. Ann, now known as the Crossings, will cost taxpayers at least $69 million, and could run as high as $77 million, according to the newspaper’s analysis of the county’s real estate contracts. The development’s owners, Robert and P. David Glarner, are friends of Stenger who have donated $365,000 to his campaign. A Post-Dispatch investigation published on Feb. 5 provided the first public in-depth accounting of the real costs, finding that the deal does not save money and has the potential to cost millions. Days before the newspaper’s story, Stenger’s advisers were still insisting the agreement saved money. But the newspaper pointed out their figures did not include millions of dollars the county will pay for property taxes at the Crossings and to rent empty space at buildings across the county that were vacated months or years before their leases ended. Tuesday marked the council’s second ethics hearing on the matter since the newspaper’s findings were published. Internal emails between county government employees, obtained by council members as part of their investigation, revealed that several employees were alarmed at the expense and length of the deal. They were also upset about the unusual negotiations with the Glarners, led by Stenger’s former campaign manager Anthony Badino, that did not include input from career county government employees who would normally be involved in negotiating a lease. By the time those officials were included, in the spring of 2016, Stenger’s office had already decided on the Crossings. Stephanie Leon Streeter, deputy director of the county’s departments of transportation and public works, testified on Tuesday that she had to edit the boilerplate language in an internal letter about the project to make it clear county employees had not reviewed the lease, or that the lease was typical. “The best I felt we could say was that they were acceptable,” she said.

WHAT THE COUNCIL WAS TOLD A June 2016 letter from Glenn Powers, Stenger’s interim chief of operations,

urged council members to ratify the deal, and indicated its terms were favorable to those at several sites where the county had expiring leases. But council members Ernie Trakas and Mark Harder noted on Tuesday that Powers’ letter did not disclose that the county would also be liable for costs such as building maintenance and property taxes. “Did you read the lease before signing it?” Trakas asked Powers. “I didn’t sign the lease,” Powers answered. “You didn’t?” replied Trakas, pointing to the signature. “I’m sorry, I answered in error on that,” Powers said. Trakas: “Back to my original question — did you read it before you signed it?” Powers: “No.” Powers signed the lease because Nichalos Gardner, who was then the county transportation director, had refused to do so. Emails obtained by the council revealed that Gardner had told several colleagues that by entering the lease at Northwest Plaza, the county was “selling our soul to the DEVIL.” Gardner quit in April 2017; he could not be reached for comment. Council Chairman Sam Page told Powers that council members “have the responsibility to make the decision based on the information we get. You can understand that information that we get with your signature on it would not inspire confidence moving forward. … A key point that is missing here is that this lease may cost $20 million to $30 million more than was presented to us originally.” The Stenger administration knew right away that the lease was going to cost more money. Budget director Paul Kreidler testified that all of the extra costs expected for 2017 were represented in a single line item — for $2.5 million. Council members said they had no idea that line item was for increased costs associated with the lease. Kreidler responded that nothing had been hidden from them, and that he thought someone had asked a question about it at a budget hearing. “So in your world,” Trakas asked him, “$2.5 million buried on page 103 or 104 in a several hundred page budget book is right there for everybody to see?” Jeremy Kohler • 314-340-8337 @jeremykohler on Twitter jkohler@post-dispatch.com

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THESE STATEMENTS HAVE NOT BEEN EVALUATED BY THE FDA. THIS PRODUCT IS NOT INTENDED TO DIAGNOSE, TREAT, CURE, OR PREVENT ANY DISEASE. RESULTS MAY VARY.CONSULT YOUR PHYSICIAN BEFORE TAKING THIS SUPPLEMENT. URIVARX IS NOT A DRUG.

06.20.2018 • Wednesday • M 1 ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH • A7 LOCAL

Mississippi homicide suspect is found dead after standoff

ROBERT COHEN • rcohen@post-dispatch.com

The St. Louis Police SWAT team moves in on a house in the 3800 block of Greer Avenue on Tuesday. U.S. marshals had gone there earlier to serve an arrest warrant for a homicide suspect. BY ERIN HEFFERNAN AND CHRISTINE BYERS St. Louis Post-Dispatch

ST. LOUIS • A standoff at a home in St.

Louis’ Jeff-Vander-Lou neighborhood ended Tuesday morning when a homicide suspect was found dead inside with a selfinflicted gunshot wound, authorities said. U.S. marshals had gone to the home about 7:30 a.m. to serve an out-of-state arrest warrant to Christopher Logan, 45. Deputy Supervisory Agent Jeremy Wyatt said Logan was wanted for the killing on June 12 of his ex-girlfriend in Webb, Miss. When deputies approached the home in the 3800 block of Greer Avenue, someone answered the door. Then they heard a gunshot from inside the house, Wyatt said. A St. Louis police SWAT team was called and entered the home about 9:50 a.m. Logan was found dead with an apparently self-inflicted gunshot wound. No other injuries were reported, and the other person at the home cooperated with

the police and has not been arrested, Wyatt said. Authorities in Tallahatchie County, Miss., told the Sun-Sentinel newspaper that investigators would examine the gun Logan used to take his own life Tuesday. They want to see if it was the same gun used to fatally shoot his ex-girlfriend Dontrenecia “Chyna” Byrd, 19, inside her mobile home in Webb, Miss. Webb Police Department officials told the newspaper that Logan was a St. Louis native. The Sun-Sentinel reported that Logan allegedly shot Byrd after breaking into the home where she lived with her mother and 9-year-old sister. Byrd and her sister were home alone at the time. Police there said the couple had broken up about a week prior to the killing. Police told the newspaper Byrd had a restraining order against him. Erin Heffernan • 314-340-8145 @erinheff on Twitter eheffernan@post-dispatch.com

Man wanted in killing took his own life in 2014 shootout, FBI says BY JOEL CURRIER St. Louis Post-Dispatch

ST. LOUIS COUNTY • A murder suspect

found dead after a standoff and shootout with FBI agents in Hanley Hills in 2014 died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound, according to FBI records recently released to the Post-Dispatch. Major Washington, 33, was found shot to death inside a burned home in Hanley Hills on Nov. 26, 2014, as an FBI tactical team moved in. Two federal agents were wounded in an exchange of gunfire: one Major shot in the shoulder, the Washington other in the leg. The FBI recently released hundreds of pages of records with numerous redactions, including the identities of the wounded FBI agents. The Post-Dispatch also obtained Washington’s autopsy on Monday from the office of the St. Louis County medical examiner. The standoff with police and FBI agents at Washington’s friend’s house in the 1800 block of North Hanley Road unfolded as police and members of the National Guard worked to contain rioting in Ferguson after authorities announced a grand jury would not indict a police officer for killing 18-year-old Michael Brown months earlier. Police had said that Washington fatally shot his mother, Donna Washington, 55,

at her home in University City two days earlier, and that Washington wounded a patrolman during that incident. Authorities received reports that Major Washington may have had a live grenade inside the house, but none was found, the records say. Major Washington’s body had numerous gunshot wounds, but he died of a self-inflicted gunshot to the head. He was found in the basement of the house after a fire probably sparked by a SWAT team’s flash-bang device. Major Washington had been released from prison earlier in 2014 after serving time in a 2011 case in which authorities said he pointed a handgun at officers and was shot by University City police. A witness told the FBI that Major Washington was a drug dealer, did not want to go back to prison, talked of killing police officers and “was going to go out ‘in a blaze of glory,’” the records say. Agents also recovered several guns from the home. One of the shots that struck an FBI agent was later found lodged in the agent’s bullet-resistant vest, records said. Another finding was that a ballistics comparison of Washington’s pistol with a bullet recovered from his mother’s body was inconclusive, though a firearms examiner concluded the tests matched cartridges found at the crime scene where Donna Washington’s body was found. Joel Currier • 314-621-5804 @joelcurrier on Twitter jcurrier@post-dispatch.com

Council calls for federal, state investigations into Northwest Plaza deal BY JEREMY KOHLER St. Louis Post-Dispatch

CLAY TON • The St. Louis County Council voted 5-0 on Tuesday night to ask the federal government and the Missouri attorney general to investigate the county’s multimillion-dollar real estate deal with County Executive Steve Stenger’s biggest campaign donors. Stenger did not attend the meeting, which saw the council attack or slow down a handful of his initiatives. Though the county charter requires the county executive to attend council meetings, Stenger hasn’t been seen recently. Last week, he attended a blood drive in Fenton, and this week he was helping install air conditioners in Hillsdale, according to his Twitter feed. In a text, he called the council’s action a “political rampage” orchestrated by councilman Ernie Trakas, R-6th District. Councilwoman Colleen Wasinger, R-3rd District, was absent. Pat Dolan, D-5th District, Stenger’s lone ally on the council, abstained from voting, saying that his colleagues had not given him time to review the matter. The council’s ethics committee held a series of hearings to investigate the county’s 20-year lease for office space at the former Northwest Plaza in St. Ann. Using tens of millions in public subsidies, developers Robert and P. David Glarner rebuilt the complex with new retail and office space, with the county as one of its main tenants. But now the council says it will consider voiding the lease, saying Stenger has been enriched by $365,000 in campaign donations from the Glarners. Stenger has repeatedly dismissed the council’s action as intended to hurt his bid for re-election. County residents have said “loud and clear” that they support the redevelopment of the former St. Ann shopping center, he said in a text. St. Louis County’s lease for nearly 150,000 square feet there will cost taxpayers at least $69 million and could run as high as $77 million, according to the newspaper’s analysis of the county’s real estate contracts. It does not seem to allow the county any chance to back out. Stenger’s administration initially touted the deal as saving taxpayers $10 million. A Post-Dispatch investigation revealed in February that the project had the potential to cost millions more than previously disclosed. County Council members set the ethics hearings after the

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newspaper’s report, saying Stenger’s administration had misled them. The hearings revealed that Stenger’s administration largely kept those dealings out of the hands of career county government employees who were normally in charge of site selection and negotiations. Some of those employees expressed dismay at the unusual process. And officials in Stenger’s administration had to scramble to prepare for millions of dollars in increased costs associated with the project after the council ratified the deal in July 2016. Also on Tuesday, the council put off for at least another week a vote on approving Stenger’s request to provide tax subsidies for the Save-A-Lot grocery chain to move its headquarters from Earth City to the complex, now known as the Crossings at Northwest. Council chairman Sam Page said that the council wanted to review Save-A-Lot’s lease before deciding whether to award the subsidies but that the grocery firm had not agreed to provide it. Matt Conley, St. Ann city manager and a vocal proponent of the Crossings, told the council to end the “negativity” surrounding the project. He called SaveA-Lot “a corporate tenant in St. Louis County … that is caught up in this mess. They were willing to make a $20 million investment in the new corporate headquarters to produce 60 new jobs.”

POLICE STATIONS The council is expected to authorize next week Stenger’s administration to spend $1.4 million to design two new county police stations for north and south St. Louis County. The council did not have enough members present Tuesday to finalize the deal. The council had delayed the vote because it has accused the St. Louis County Port Authority of mishandling the land acquisition. But several council members said they wanted the project to move forward. The council also voted Tuesday to advance a bill that would bar Port Authority board members from serving on expired terms, a move designed to force Stenger to reappoint board members who would then be subject to council approval. Port Authority Chair Frank McHugh declined to discuss the matter with a reporter earlier Tuesday. Jacob Barker of the Post-Dispatch contributed to this report.

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