Riverfront Times, February 9, 2021 by Riverfront Times

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FEBRUARY 10-16, 2021

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FEBRUARY 10-16, 2021

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MARCH 6-12, 2019

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FEBRUARY 10-16, 2021

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THE LEDE

“They fuck with these people. Then when these people react, they put the camera on them. But they don’t never have the camera on what they’re doing to these people to get the reaction that they got ... But this is the last straw. They’re tired. And you can’t blame them.”

PHOTO BY THEO WELLING

AMARIS SUMPTER PHOTOGRAPHED OUTSIDE CITY HALL AFTER THE ST. LOUIS JUSTICE CENTER INMATE UPRISING ON SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 6 riverfronttimes.com

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The Language of the Unheard

eople don’t tend to listen to inmates. For weeks, detainees have been complaining about conditions in St. Louis city jails, but they had gotten little attention. And then on Saturday, men incarcerated in the City Justice Center bashed out the windows and set sheets on fire as if lighting signal flares. We all paid attention then. What remains to be seen is what we hear. Was the uprising a random spasm of chaos, enacted by “very violent men,” as city officials say? Or was it the result of people who’ve been ignored and forgotten, left to languish because they couldn’t pay bail? Our cover story this week examines the jailhouse revolt and the ensuing battle for the narrative. You may not be in the habit of listening to inmates, but it’s an issue worth your attention. As we learned Saturday, you can’t ignore people forever. — Doyle Murphy, editor in chief

TABLE OF CONTENTS Publisher Chris Keating Editor in Chief Doyle Murphy

E D I T O R I A L Digital Editor Jaime Lees Interim Managing Editor Daniel Hill Staff Writer Danny Wicentowski Contributors Cheryl Baehr, Eric Berger, Jeannette Cooperman, Thomas Crone, Mike Fitzgerald, Andy Paulissen, Justin Poole, Theo Welling, Ymani Wince Columnist Ray Hartmann A R T

& P R O D U C T I O N Art Director Evan Sult Editorial Layout Haimanti Germain, Evan Sult Production Manager Haimanti Germain M U L T I M E D I A A D V E R T I S I N G Advertising Director Colin Bell Account Managers Emily Fear, Jennifer Samuel Multimedia Account Executive Chuck Healy, Jackie Mundy Digital Sales Manager Chad Beck Director of Public Relations Brittany Forrest

COVER

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

The Fire This Time

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

St. Louis faces a reckoning in the aftermath of a jailhouse revolt Cover photograph by

N A T I O N A L A D V E R T I S I N G VMG Advertising 1-888-278-9866, vmgadvertising.com

DOYLE MURPHY

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INSIDE The Lede Hartmann News Feature Short Orders Culture Savage Love 6

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HARTMANN An Idea: St. Louis Spy Force Maybe there’s an upside to the truly terrible air surveillance plan BY RAY HARTMANN

t. Louis has been mulling over the wretched idea of enlisting a fleet of spy planes to combat its tragic crime problem. Sure, it would result in utter failure in that regard and trample civil liberties in the process. But think of the upside. At the moment, the city has no air power whatsoever, other than some police helicopters that are easily spotted and offer little value for espionage or other offensive purposes. By developing mighty stealth air power — the St. Louis Spy Force — the city could restore a little of the clout it has lost in the past half-century. We’re talking about a city under siege here, from crackpot outstate legislators trying to usurp its right of self-governing to surrounding counties trying to poach its jobs. There is no political subdivision presently more disrespected on a regular basis than the city of St. Louis. Having its own local airpower could change that in a hurry. As for those outstate legislators who find sport in torturing the city for political gain, two words: meth labs. Picture the message: Our spy planes in St. Louis weren’t helping much with our crime problem, but it turns out that it’s great fun to watch yours. Want to see some pictures of your cousins? Let’s see how the prospect of spy planes flying overhead sits with those economic development adversaries wanting to get aggressive about stealing companies from the city. How might you enjoy some recon missions flying overhead in your county? We’re tracking some curious environmental activities the EPA regulators might find interesting. The use wouldn’t have to be limited, however, to aggressiveness

aimed at others in the public sector. In a world in which giant corporations increasingly value the opportunity to compromise the privacy of their workers, the St. Louis Spy Force might actually become a great selling point in attracting new industry to the city. I can see the marketing campaign now in the business media: “Workforce giving you a hard time? We’ll watch ’em for you. We’re St. Louis. The only city with a Spy Force.” Last week, the Board of Aldermen surprisingly failed to forge ahead with this creepy idea of keeping the local population under surveillance for eighteen hours per day. But it’s expected that it will be back in a matter of months. Unleasing spy planes is such a sad joke that it shouldn’t merit serious review, but it actually might happen here, albeit as a long shot. The notion of spy planes fighting crime has only been attempted in one major city, Baltimore. There, it was tried for the very same reason St. Louis is wasting its time: a sense of despair over an out-ofcontrol homicide rate. Baltimore’s spy planes did nothing over the past five years to dent the city’s horrific crime rate even when helping apprehend some suspects. An article published by Baltimore Magazine in partnership with the Pulitzer Center summed it up, “Military-grade surveillance keeps watch over Baltimore and city protests but catches few criminals.” Although the article concluded that residents were mixed in their view of the program, it cited complaints about the loud, droning noise of the planes and the uneasiness of feeling that one was being watched at all times. That was especially true during protests in the city, it reported. A Maryland ACLU official told the magazine, “the planes are a problem for everyone ... dangerous [and] fundamentally incompatible with a democratic society. That is not a power that the government should have in a democracy.” Last week, Baltimore took the extraordinary step of cancelling a program that was scheduled by contract to expire later this year. And the council cutting off the spicket did so by unanimous vote. But even though an aldermanic bill in St. Louis unexpectedly failed to advance last week, it had received preliminary approval by

a 15-14 vote on January 22. And it’s by no means dead going forward: It’s champion, Alderman Tom Oldenburg, says he might bring it back April 20 when the next aldermanic session begins. “Rather than learn from Baltimore’s mistakes, St. Louis is following right behind them,” says Alderwoman Megan Green who, to her credit, has been a leading foe of the folly. Green points out

Unconstitutional efforts to spy on people for the purpose of catching bad guys is the polar opposite of what the city needs to do to combat crime. two really huge problems: One, the entire effort has been shrouded in secrecy; and two, from an actual standpoint of reducing crime, it makes absolutely no sense. Indeed, an unconstitutional effort to spy on people for the purpose of catching the bad guys is the polar opposite of what the city needs to do to combat crime. For all the bluster and tough talk about “cracking down” on crime, the city has for years been Exhibit A as a case study of why trying to police one’s way out of the tragedy does not work. The best hope for cutting into this tragic problem in St. Louis is to rebuild some degree of confidence and partnership between members of the community and police. Spying on that community is what you’d call the opposite of that. For a brief shining moment after the George Floyd murder last May, it appeared that cities like St. Louis were poised to reimagine their strategies to policing. There seemed momentum to the notion that more resources should be addressed toward preventing crime from happening in the first place.

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There was talk of deploying more resources for mental-health professionals to combat drug addiction rather expecting police to deal with its consequences. There were calls for reforms in policing to improve relations between law enforcement and the communities they presumably serve. Admittedly, one of the smartest approaches — demilitarizing the city with stronger gun-control measures — was never on the table because of the neanderthal NRA politics engulfing state government. But it seemed at least possible that a shift in mindset toward preventing crime rather than flailing at it might happen in St. Louis. Apparently not. None of those reforms seems to have taken hold. Instead, St. Louis politicians are talking nonsense about spy planes. Aldermanic President Lewis Reed, a candidate for mayor, argues that “until a real crime plan is presented by anyone, we need to look into utilizing all tools to reduce homicides in the City of St. Louis.” Reed has it directly backward: The one real crime plan that no one has tried is to attack the causes of crime and not its effects. The spy plane nonsense is just an illogical extension of the failed “crack down on crime” mentality that sounds tough while never cracking down on crime. In the short run, Reed’s position may benefit his chief mayoral; rivals, Alderwoman Cara Spencer — who offered the first and best crime plan — and Treasurer Tishaura Jones. Both Spencer and Jones firmly opposed spy planes while Reed received large campaign donations from those backing it. But long term, I see the possibility of a compromise here. Leave the spying in the city to the vast NGA complex in North St. Louis. But if it’s really going to be free, get that Spy Force flying over the rest of Missouri, and perhaps Southern Illinois. See who wants to keep messing with the city of St. Louis then. n Ray Hartmann founded the Riverfront Times in 1977. Contact him at rhar tmann1952@gmail.com or catch him on Donnybrook at 7 p.m. on Thursdays on the Nine Network and St. Louis In the Know with Ray Hartmann from 9 to 11 p.m. Monday thru Friday on KTRS (550 AM).

FEBRUARY 10-16, 2021

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NEWS

Parson Wants Unemployment Money Back Written by

RUDI KELLER

his story was originally published by the Missouri Independent. Gov. Mike Parson last week showed no indication he was changing his mind about forgiving any part of the approximately $150 million in unemployment benefits paid erroneously by the state in 2020. In a February 4 news conference, Parson said it may take several years for those who received the money to repay it, but that it should be repaid. “If somebody’s got more money [than] they should have got, you should ask for it back and say, you know, ‘You owe that to the taxpayer,’” Parson said. “You don’t owe it to me, but to the people who paid it, ’cause there’s gonna be somebody else tomorrow wanting employment benefits too.” Parson spoke a few hours after Anna Hui, director of the Department of Labor and Industrial Relations, worked to explain to members of the House Budget Committee how the overpayments occurred. The department and Parson have been taking heat from lawmakers, with bills filed by emocrats to forgive most of the debt. A bipartisan group of legislators has argued that it isn’t fair to punish Missourians for the state’s mistakes, especially when in many cases the erroneous payments occurred months ago. State Rep. Scott Cupps, R-Shell Knob, tried to prevent the committee hearing from becoming a lengthy examination of the issue. Cupp was temporarily chairing the committee and noted that hearings had been held in other committees, including Government Oversight, where it had been discussed in depth. “There is some pending legisla-

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Missouri Gov. Mike Parson discusses the state’s unemployment system during a press conference on February 5. | COURTESY MISSOUR GOVERNOR’S OFFICE tion that will probably be moving through those committees sooner than later,” Cupps said. Missouri paid out about $5.3 billion in unemployment during 2020, Hui said, with an overpayment rate of about 3 percent. There are always overpayments in unemployment, she said, noting that in 2019 the error rate was over 5 percent with total payments of $236 million. “The overpayments, again, are part of the design of the unemployment insurance program,” Hui said. “Unemployment insurance was really meant to quickly inject, infuse, especially in a recession, money into the economy, into people’s pockets, to be able to spend.” The enormous increase in payouts was a result of the business shutdowns that accompanied the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic and federal additions to benefits to mitigate damage to the economy. In the largest week, 440,000 claims were made for benefits, Hui noted. The Division of Employment Security, which processes claims, has fourteen days to start payments and gives employers ten days after notification to object to the claim, she said. Objections, which may arrive after payments have started, can stop or reduce benefits.

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Some workers didn’t account for vacation or other severance pay after their employment stopped and others continued claiming after they returned to work but did not report their earnings. Unlike past recessions, Congress created supplemental benefits paid in addition to regular unemployment benefits as well as programs for people who lost work but are not covered by traditional unemployment. Those workers include the self-employed and what are called gig workers, like drivers for Uber and Lyft, who work on a contract basis. Missouri’s regular unemployment insurance program, funded by a tax on a portion of an employer’s wage payments, has a maximum weekly benefit of 20. The first supplemental program increased that amount by $600 if the claimant ualified for at least 1 in regular benefits. The programs for people who didn’t otherwise qualify paid out a weekly benefit e ual to what the worker would have received in covered employment, plus the supplemental benefit. The supplemental benefit expired in late July, was replaced by a $300 supplement for a few weeks in the summer and resumed again at $300 at the end of the year with passage of new fed-

eral relief legislation. There were also extended benefits, federally paid, e ual to the state regular benefit during a portion of the year. Extended benefits are triggered when unemployment is high. Most of the overpayments were in the federally funded programs, not the state’s regular benefit program. The state’s regular fund is being drained by the continued high number of claims, Hui told the committee. The fund may be out of cash by June, she said. If that happens, payments would be covered by loans from the federal government. That is part of the design of the system as well and has occurred in several past recessions. If the state must take a loan, it is repaid by a surcharge on regular unemployment taxes. Without recovery, Hui said under questioning from state Rep. Richard West, R-Wentzville, the state unemployment fund may be exhausted sooner. West was clear that he opposed forgiveness. “We are going to be pushing some of this burden back on our small businesses to repay this,” he said. In his news conference, Parson said that while “there was mistakes made,” he doesn’t have the authority to waive repayment. “I am not sure what the legislature is going to do but I think it’s obvious if you’ve got an overpayment there should see some ability, and under the requirements of the law, we’re required to do that,” he said. The federal government advised states in April 2020 that overpayments from the federally funded programs could be forgiven. “The state has authority to waive repayments of FPUC if the payment was without fault on the part of the individual and such repayment would be contrary to equity and good conscience,” the guidance states. Parson said he was not sure what the federal government intended. “I guess what they’re doing on the federal level, I don’t know,” Parson said. “All I know is where we’re at on the state and all the legislators are working through this. And frankly, I don’t know what the feds are doing.” n

Two More Missourians Charged in Capitol Siege Written by

DOYLE MURPHY

St. Charles County businessman who wore a St. Louis Blues hat during a siege at the U.S. Capitol and the uncle of a Sullivan woman previously busted by the feds are the latest two Missourians to be charged in the January 6 insurrection. Paul Westover of Lake St. Louis and William “Bill” Merry were caught on film with a crowd of rioters inside the Capitol when pro-Trump insurgents stormed the building. Westover, 52, is the president and founder of a St. Peters-based headhunting company called Search Ingenuity. He was wearing the Blues hat. Merry is the uncle of 21-year-old Emily Hernandez of Sullivan, who was recorded holding House Speaker Nancy

Mom, Kids Slain in South City Triple Homicide Written by

DOYLE MURPHY

St. Louis mother and her two kids were gunned down last week in their south St. Louis home — and police say her ex-boyfriend was the triggerman. Officers responded minutes before 7 a.m. on February 4 to a home in the 4100 block of South Grand Boulevard for a report of gunfire. Inside, they discovered what St. Louis police Chief John Hayden described as a “gruesome” scene. Kanisha Hemphill had been shot to death along with her daughters, ages eight and one. “There’s a lot of disturbing evidence inside,” Hayden told reporters gathered in a parking lot near the Dutchtown crime scene. “It’s very disturbing. I’m sure it’s traumatic, traumatizing to

Bill Merry (red hat), Paul Westover (Blues hat) and Emily Hernandez in the Capitol. | DOJ EXHIBIT Pelosi’s broken nameplate like a trophy during the riots. In a video recorded by UK-based ITV News, a grinning Westover and Merry trail alongside Hernandez as she jubilantly parades the nameplate through the halls. At one point, the trio poses in front of the camera, holding the broken nameplate. A man wearing a “Camp Auschwitz” sweatshirt stands just to Westover’s right. Hernandez was charged more than three weeks ago, and Westover’s arrest had been expected for nearly as long. St. Louis media had previously identified him in the video the officers who went inside.” Police caught Hemphill’s ex-boyfriend hours after the triple homicide as he allegedly tried to skip town on a Greyhound bus. In court documents filed by prosecutors in the St. Louis Circuit Attorney’s Office, St. Louis police Detective Katherine Rund wrote that a witness heard gunfire on the morning of the shooting and then saw 34-year-old Ronald Marr leaving Hemphill’s home. Rund says Marr then ditched his cellphone and bought a new one along with a bus ticket. He was intercepted near Effingham, just over 100 miles away from St. Louis. Marr and Hemphill previously dated. The one-year-old who was killed alongside her mom and older sister was Marr’s daughter, family told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. Hemphill’s brother told the newspaper he immediately suspected Marr, because the former couple had conflicts in the past. Marr was being held last week in Illinois and was awaiting extradition to St. Louis. Along with the three counts of first-

but hadn’t named him because he hadn’t been charged. One of the first journalists to identify Westover was Charles Jaco, who posted images last week of a law enforcement raid on the businessman’s tony home in a lakefront development. On February 4, Westover made his court appearance by Zoom with attorney Joseph Hogan while Assistant U.S. Attorney Matthew Drake appeared for the government. Westover is charged with one felony of obstructing, impeding or interfering with law enforcement and three misde-

meanors: disruptive conduct in the Capitol building, disorderly conduct and knowingly entering or remaining in any restricted building or grounds. During the proceeding, Westover answered uestions briefly in a clear, almost chipper voice. Similar to Hernandez, he was released on his own recognizances with a court date for a preliminary hearing later this month. Merry made his appearance the next day, on February 5, also by video. He is facing similar charges as Westover. He too was released without bail. In an interview last week with St. Louis Post-Dispatch columnist Bill McClellan, Hernandez had described herself as an apolitical person who hadn’t even voted in 2020. She claimed two older close family friends were driving to Washington for the rally and offered to take her along, so she went. At the request of Hernandez and her attorney, McClellan didn’t name the two “trusted friends” in the February 4 column, but the Post-Dispatch revealed in a follow-up story about the arrests that her traveling companions were Merry and Westover. A fourth Missourian, Zachary Martin of Springfield, was arrested in late January after he was identified in images from the Capitol. n

Ronald Marr faces three counts of first-degree murder. | PROVIDED degree murder, he was also charged with three counts of armed criminal action. He’s being held without bond. In Rund’s probable cause statement, she argues Marr is a danger to the witness and has already proven to be a flight risk.

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Police are still investigating and asked anyone with information to call the department’s homicide division at 314444-5371 or, to remain anonymous and possibly receive a reward, CrimeStoppers at 866-371-8477 (TIPS). n

FEBRUARY 10-16, 2021

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The Fire This Time St. Louis faces a reckoning in the aftermath of a jailhouse revolt

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FEBRUARY 10-16, 2021

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BY DOYLE MURPHY

ore than 100 inmates at the St. Louis City Justice Center took over two units of the jail early Saturday morning, shattering fourth-floor windows and setting small fires as they called out jubilantly to a crowd of supporters who gathered on the street below. The uprising began about 2:30 a.m., and detainees held control of the units for more than six hours before jail staff, bolstered by city sheriff’s deputies and police, regained custody. For weeks, tensions have been high at the downtown jail. Inmates staged two protests in late December and early January to complain about COVID-19 protocols and other conditions in the facility, where the majority of the city’s detainees are now housed. Saturday morning’s uprising was the biggest and most public of the three. St. Louis Public Safety Director Jimmie Edwards said at a 10:15 a.m. news conference that it began with a clash between an officer and one inmate. Other detainees jumped in and soon overran the unit as the injured officer escaped with bumps and bruises. Multiple inmates were able to jimmy the locks on their cells — an ongoing problem in the jail, Edwards said — to join the group. “The locks don’t necessarily lock,” Edwards said. Men in a second unit also let themselves out of their cells at about the same time. Both units are on the fourth floor but separate. The men then forced their way into adjoining hallways but never took control of the floor itself, remaining separated on the west and east sides of the building. In all, the two groups included 117 inmates, according to Edwards. On both sides of the building, the men smashed windows and launched whatever they could through the openings. On the west side, which faces Tucker Boulevard, everything from plastic stools and digital monitors to packets of ramen noodles hit the pavement. On the back side of the jail, facing 11th Street, an entire elliptical machine landed next to a file cabinet, chairs and other debris. Rolls of toilet paper extended like

streamers across the pavement. City workers later found the electronic controls for the cell door locks ripped from their moorings and flung out the windows like trash. “We’re going to do that shit all day,” one man yelled after inmates threw a panel out of the west windows. “It ain’t going to stop.” Inmates lit pieces of cloth on fire at the window ledge. One man set the bristles of a straw broom alight and held it over his head like a torch. The men mostly wore masks or otherwise wrapped their faces in cloth. At times, there were at least eighteen crowded behind the jagged window edges. That continued until well after sunrise when the windows suddenly began to empty. A lone inmate remained at the far edge, narrating the arrival of officers. “They macing us,” he shouted to the crowd below, pausing to look over his left shoulder. “They throwing tear gas.” And then, “They arresting everybody.” Soon, he too was gone. Shortly before a.m., officers and deputies wearing gas masks and helmets appeared in the newly deserted windows, leaning out of the openings with fire extinguishers to blitz embers still smoldering on a concrete ledge. The mood during the uprising, both on the fourth floor and in the crowd of supporters cheering from the street, had been celebratory. But the incident followed weeks of unanswered complaints from inmates and crackdowns by jailers, advocates say. In the hours and days after the jailhouse revolt, advocates and city officials clashed over why it happened and what it meant. Attorneys and activists who have been working against the cash bail system that leaves people who are too poor to pay stuck behind bars for months, even years, described it as a predictable response to what they say has been weeks of legitimate but unanswered concerns from detainees. “Since the middle of December, we’ve been receiving emails and reports from families and people who are incarcerated about the constant mistreatment of inmates

inside of the jail,” said Michael Milton, advocacy and policy manager for the Bail Project in Missouri. “From how they’ve handled COVID, from how they’ve handled even food and nutrition, [inmates] have had several different demands about the treatment inside of CJC.” Inmates and their families have told the Bail Project that officers have retaliated against detainees who raised concerns about other “visibly sick” inmates, even changing housing assignments to force them to share cells with the ill inmates in question, Milton said. At a recent public safety hearing, city officials revealed there had been a December surge of COVID-19 cases among inmates and more than 80 people housed in St. Louis’ two facilities had tested positive since the beginning of the pandemic. Speaking on Saturday to reporters gathered in City Hall, Edwards dismissed any COVID-19 concerns as a motive for Saturday’s uprising, saying there were currently no cases of COVID in the jail. He described the breach as a one-onone scu e between a guard and an upset inmate that ballooned into a larger problem. In his telling, it was not a long-approaching conflict, but an unpredictable eruption that was exploited by violent men. He described it as different from the previous protests in December and January. “The first reason given was COVID,’” he said. “The second reason given was CO I .’ This time, no reason was given.” Edwards emphasized that no hostages were taken or demands made on Saturday. “This was not a situation where we were required or asked to negotiate with any of the detainees,” Edwards said. “So this was not a situation where there were demands being made by anyone. These were just very angry, defiant, very violent people that we house at the Justice Center.”

dwards’ rundown of what happened Saturday morning struck inmate advocates as not only wrong, but intentionally dismissive of detainees. Blake Strode, executive director of the nonprofit law firm ArchCity

Inmates at the St. Louis City Justice Center took over two fourth-floor units. | DOYLE MURPHY riverfronttimes.com

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in savings directed toward expenses such as increased COVID-19 testing for guards and inmates and transitioning staff at MSI to filling open positions in the City Justice Center. Nearly two thirds of the money would be designated to help pay for programs, such as longterm rental assistance, designed to attack the roots of crime. That bill stalled in the Ways and Means committee two days before Saturday’s uprising at the jail.

THE FIRE THIS TIME Continued from pg 11

Defenders, said inmates had been airing grievances for more than a month — the city just hasn’t done anything to address them. ArchCity has a jail hotline (314-6438773) to take calls from inmates and their families. Like the Bail Project, ArchCity has received a surge of calls since mid-December from inmates concerned about COVID-19 spread. Other repeated complaints included accounts of freezing temperatures, harsh treatment by officers and inadequate access to medical care. “I can only tell you that we’ve heard the same demands over and over and over again,” Strode said. After the protests in December and January, the city responded by moving dozens of the men involved to the Medium Security Institution. Better known as the Workhouse, MSI has earned a notorious reputation since it opened in 1966. Accounts of “gladiatorstyle” fight clubs, high suicide rates and ruthless guards have plagued the 1,138-capacity jail at times over the years. Then there is the deterioration of the facility itself. Set among the junkyards and shipping terminals along an industrial stretch of the North Riverfront neighborhood, generations of inmates have complained about black mold, bad water, rats and extreme temperatures. In the summer of 2017, recordings of inmates screaming out of the windows for relief from roasting heat drew national attention — and prompted the city to install temporary air conditioning units. “Those people are complaining about the same things I said five years ago and someone before me said five years before that,” said Inez Bordeaux, who spent 30 days in the Workhouse because she could not afford bail during a low point in her life. Now the manager of community collaborations for ArchCity Defenders, Bordeaux says you can add the fear of catching COVID-19 to the ongoing problems. She was among a group of formerly incarcerated people who spoke during an online rally after Saturday’s uprising to help explain the frustration and desperation driving the recent revolts. “I have personally spoken to dozens of people who all say the same things: They don’t have access to COVID testing when they have

A man wears a T-shirt that an inmate tossed out of the jail’s window on Saturday. | DOYLE MURPHY symptoms. They don’t have access to PPE. They don’t have access to cleaning supplies. They can’t social distance. That the staff inside of the jail has been mistreating them. They don’t have access to nutritious food,” Bordeaux said in Sunday’s livestreamed event. “That is why the uprising happened.” Jail reform advocates have worked for years to shut down the Workhouse, citing brutal conditions. It appeared they had finally pushed the city to make that hap-

fought for hard-won promises to close the aging facility now worry city officials will use the recent incidents to keep it open. Indeed, Edwards told reporters “MSI is a more secure facility than CJC.” He then repeated himself for emphasis. It does, jail officials said later, have locks that work consistently. The St. Louis Police Officers Association on Saturday tweeted a photo of inmates standing at the broken windows of the City Justice Center and wrote, “It almost

Inmates and their families have told the Bail Project that officers have retaliated against detainees who raised concerns about other “visibly sick” inmates, even changing housing assignments to force them to share cells with the ill inmates in question. pen last year, but officials have been slow to act. The majority of people incarcerated in the city (876 on Saturday, according to the city’s corrections site) now stay in the newer City Justice Center across from City Hall. A concerted effort by activist organizations along with a certain amount of cooperation between public defenders and prosecutors led to a drastic drop in the overall jail population during the pandemic, which helped drain the Workhouse of inmates. But as 2020 ended with the Workhouse still hanging on, the number of overall inmates has started to trend back up, according to city jail data. Activists who

makes citizens wish there was a manageable, more spacious, secure, stand alone jail facility away from the city’s downtown business center where we could house riotous prisoners. Oh wait....” But advocates for closing the Workhouse argue that the smart, humane response to the recent revolts in the more modern City Justice Center is to shutter the Workhouse and use the money to address concerns. A bill in the St. Louis Board of Aldermen aimed to do just that. Board Bill 167 sought to defund the Workhouse and create the Re-envisioning Public Safety Special Trust Fund, with the nearly $3.8 million

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mages of the inmates in the busted windows, at times illuminated and obscured by flame and smoke, were impossible to ignore. Alongside dozens of inmates’ friends, relatives and other supporters who gathered on Saturday morning along Tucker to witness the scene was a bank of TV cameras intermixed with half-frozen reporters. The two protests at the turn of the year had attracted local media attention, but photos and videos of inmates in yellow uniforms were soon picked up by CNN, NBC and the Washington Post among other national and international outlets. In the same way that the video in 2017 of inmates calling from the windows of the Workhouse finally awakened the public to the plight of men and women imprisoned in unbearable heat, the longsimmering complaints of men at the City Justice Center hit the outside world on Saturday morning — one hurled plastic stool at a time. The final interpretation of their message is still unfolding this week. Edwards, the public safety director, met with reporters within an hour of guards reclaiming control of the two fourth-floor units on Saturday. He resisted any suggestion the uprising was part of a larger protest or anything other than a spasm of violence. “These are very, very violent men that are housed in these two units,” Edwards said. He described a “defiant detainee who was very, very upset” that morning who fought with a correctional officer before other inmates piled on. As the melee grew — and the guard escaped — men in a second unit across the floor also forced their way out of their cells. “Those detainees were also very aggressive, very violent,” Edwards told reporters. Strode from ArchCity Defenders and Milton from the Bail Project watched a feed of the news conference and were appalled by what

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A photo of a live feed of CJC’s fourth floor on Monday after the uprising. | DOYLE MURPHY

THE FIRE THIS TIME Continued from pg 13

they heard. In separate interviews with the RFT shortly after, Strode and Milton each pointed out that inmates in the city jails are awaiting trial and are presumed innocent. Edwards’ description of inmates as “very violent” was fearmongering designed to undercut legitimate issues raised repeatedly by inmates, they argued. Strode and Milton also worried that city officials would use the uprising to justify keeping the Workhouse open even longer, an unspoken theme in officials’ comments about supposed overcrowding in the City Justice Center. Both ArchCity and the Bail Project have worked to free inmates during the pandemic, arguing that the cash bail system preys on the poor, hitting minority communities hardest. In St. Louis, inmates averaged more than 300 days in city jails while awaiting trial. That number has only increased during the pandemic. “In that situation,” Strode said, “you have very many people that are, rightly, upset.” In the days that followed Saturday’s clash, activists fought back against the narrative that the uprising was an unexpected one-off act of violent criminals, rather than the conscientious resistance of men with no other outlet for making themselves heard. “These are human beings; these are real people,” Bordeaux of ArchCity said. “These are our friends, our neighbors, the people who bag our groceries at Schnucks, the people who work at banks, preschool teachers, so and so forth.” Far from an isolated problem, activists described issues at the jail as symptoms of a broken justice system that jails Black and Brown people from poor communities at disproportionate rates and keeps

them locked up for months or even years while wealthier people facing similar charges bail out within hours. After smashing the jail windows on Saturday, inmates hung signs out of the openings. One read “Free 57,” a reference in support of their fellow inmates who had been locked down in response to the first protests. Another read, “What about Anthony Smith” — Smith being the 24-year-old Black man shot dead in 2011 by white police officer Jason Stockley. The killing still looms large in St. Louis, sparking mass protests and a twofisted response by police in 201 after Stockley was acquitted of murder. Invoking Smith’s name would seem like a non sequitur if viewing the jail revolt as a singular event, but in reality those arguing to close the Workhouse and end cash bail see a continuous line, delineating an unjust system with separate rules for different people. “What we saw was a very clear statement that the people demand to be heard and seen and not erased, not lied on,” Milton said on Sunday during the online rally. “They want to show that St. Louis has been historically violent toward them — the moment that they divested from their schools, they divested from their neighborhoods, when they plant guns and drugs on them when they arrested them. This is decades of violence inflicted on them by the state.” And that message gained more attention after Saturday, even as workers boarded up the jail’s broken windows and carted away the debris from the front steps. “We have an incarceration crisis,” U.S. Rep. Cori Bush, D-St. Louis, said in a statement on Saturday. “To date, one in five incarcerated people nationally has tested positive for COVID-19, including many across the City of St. Louis. I am concerned that the conditions for people who are incarcerated pose

St. Louis Public Safety Director Jimmie Edwards. speaks to reporters Saturday. | DOYLE MURPHY serious risks to their health, safety, and well-being as well as that of those who work there.” St. Louis Circuit Attorney Kim Gardner announced on Monday she would be investigating what happened at the jail — what the inmates did, but also their complaints about abuse at the hands of the city to see if either rise to the level of criminal charges. “Violence of any kind, particularly against law enforcement officials, is unacceptable,” Gardner said in a news release. “We will ensure there is full accountability. But while some are calling for the immediate prosecution of the detainees involved, this situation demands further scrutiny.” She added that she is concerned about the jails’ COVID-19 protocols as well as conditions that predate the pandemic. “Even in the absence of a deadly global pandemic, it is no secret that jails are often inhumane facilities which fail to meet basic public health standards,” Gardner said. “That is why my office will also be investigating any public health or other human rights violations committed against detainees, and how those may have contributed to the unrest.”

n Monday, Mayor Lyda Krewson announced a new corrections task force would review St. Louis’ jail operations following the recent uprisings. She was joined at a news conference in the City Justice Center by Edwards and corrections Commissioner Dale Glass, who disputed accusations that conditions at the jail were anything but professionally, humanely run. Glass said inmates are given a weekly care package that includes four masks along with hygiene products to help prevent the spread of COVID-19. He also denied complaints

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that inmates are held in freezing conditions and without access to proper health care or nutritious food. All the meal plans are reviewed by a dietician, Glass said as he tried to strike down allegations, and he ultimately approves them, often with inmate input. “They’re being fed,” the commissioner said. “That’s not a problem.” Glass and the city officials spent much of the news conference fending off questions about malfunctioning locks in the jail — a detail that had unsurprisingly captured significant public, or at least media, interest but had little to do with inmates’ concerns. Glass said there had been some issues with the computerized locks in the past and they thought they had been resolved. They were working on solving the issue now, he added. But as to the complaints from inmates, Glass seemed to see little room for improvement within jail operations. He spent time going point by point, arguing that the detainees’ complaints were not the glaring issues that advocates for the inmates had made them out to be. Edwards and Krewson pointed out that one of the main complaints — the excessive length of time people languish inside while awaiting resolutions of their cases — are ultimately out of the city’s hands. It is the judges who decide who is detained and how soon their cases are heard. Edwards described the city’s role in the judicial process as that of a “landlord” who is entrusted to keep the inmates safe. In that regard, he said the city is doing a good job. Asked if there were any concerns raised by inmates that the city considered legitimate, Krewson said the new task force would review and assess all the facts. The task force will be chaired by former state Supreme Court Chief Justice Michael Wolff and a number of heavy hitters, including newly former, but still fiercely outspoken state Sen. Jamilah Nasheed. Krewson said she and other officials believe “we run a very good operation here,” but acknowledged that not all agree. That’s why she’s created the task force, she said. “I understand the public and maybe even some of the media may not believe what we tell you, so let’s have a very-well-respected, quick-moving task force to confirm that or not,” rewson said. “Otherwise, detainees say one thing, and [St. Louis Corrections Commissioner Dale Glass] and his people say another thing.” Their work begins this week. n

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SHORT ORDERS

[SIDE DISH]

She’s the Cook Now Donna Vickers keeps her mother’s cooking alive with her new restaurant Written by

CHERYL BAEHR

or as long as she can remember, Donna Vickers was her mother’s sidekick in the kitchen. Having mastered the art of Southern cooking from her husband, the elder Vickers was a culinary force and spent endless hours in the kitchen with her daughter, cooking side by side. The two developed a beautiful rhythm, which is why Vickers was lost when her mother got ill and informed her that she had to carry on the torch. “My mom got sick and was getting ready to pass away, so I was asking her all of these questions about how to make things,” Vickers recalls. “She looked at me one day and said, ‘Donna, you are the cook now.’ It broke my heart when she said it. It wasn’t until years later that I really heard it.” Now getting ready to open a brick-and-mortar location of her business Simply Cooking with Donna (800 N. Tucker Boulevard), Vickers has fully embraced her role as the torch-bearer of her mom’s legacy. Since 2012, she’s been cooking professionally full time, beginning as the head of culinary ministry at her church, then transitioning into a caterer, spice blend entrepreneur and cookbook author. However, Vickers did not always intend to make a career out of cooking. A longtime nurse, Vickers worked in the medical field for years and may have continued had she not experienced a health crisis of her own. In 2012, she was diagnosed with an autoimmune disease that forced her to choose between her budding cooking side project and her nursing career.

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Donna Vickers opened her new restaurant, Simply Cooking with Donna, during the pandemic and is having the time of her life. | ANDY PAULISSN “I was at a crossroads where I had one foot on each side, straddling a fence,” Vickers says. “All bets were off, and I knew I had to nurse myself, because doing both jobs was too much. I didn’t know which road to take, but I went with the role of chef because it was what I really loved. It just brings something out in me seeing people partake and enjoy — not that nursing doesn’t bring me joy, but cooking just felt like me.” Vickers went all-in on her cooking career, garnering a reputation for her fried chicken dinners that were the basis of her catering company. Though she didn’t set out to open a brick-and-mortar, the opportunity presented itself when she was searching for a larger commissary space last year. Unsure as to whether her business would even survive the COVID-19 pandemic due to the lack of catering orders, Vickers considered folding — at least temporarily. However, something inside of her told her to keep looking for a larger kitchen, and she stumbled upon the massive com-

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mercial kitchen at St. Patrick’s Center. The space was too large to financially sustain as a commissary alone, so she took a leap and decided to open a carry-out business to increase her revenue. She admits it’s a risk, but it’s one she is excited to take because it will allow her to fully embrace what she loves about cooking. “A lot of people say that love has to be the main ingredient for what you are doing — that you have to love what you’re doing so it shows in what you are producing,” Vickers says. “I like to provide an experience rather than just food. I want people to enjoy it and remember how they were treated and how they felt. I never want people to feel less-than, so I use food to boost how people feel and bring excitement to life. Without that, it’s just food on a plate. You eat and go home.” Vickers is looking forward to the grand opening of Simply Cooking with Donna’s this Thursday and believes that, even in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, she is providing something that will be well

received. From pork chops with rice and gravy to mac and cheese and her famous fried chicken, she wants her food to evoke the comfort and love you get from home cooking — just like she always did from her mom’s food. “I believe she’d be proud of me. I hope and I pray for that, because everything I do is built around what she taught me and what she showed me how to do,” Vickers says. “My family and friends say that I cook like her, but I still wish my mom was here to fry me a chicken. Nothing will ever compare to hers.” Vickers took a break from getting her kitchen ready for the big opening day to share her thoughts on the joy of discovering St. Louis’ culinary hidden gems, how much she relishes the customer interaction that comes from being in the hospitality industry and why having the courage to choose to live life, even in the face of adversity, is the ultimate act of bravery. What is one thing people don’t know about you that you wish they did?

Many people do not know that I have a serious medical disability. This disability could have grounded me; however, I did some serious soul searching, traveled around the world, thinking I would enjoy my life doing what I wanted to do, and decided this is what I wanted to do. I was determined to follow the plan God intended for my life and not allow life circumstances to plan my life for me. Sometimes we can choose to fold, and sometimes we are forced into folding by our fears. Whenever possible we must have the courage to let it be our choice. What daily ritual is non-negotiable for you? Prayer and speaking to my three daughters. Who is your St. Louis food crush? My St. Louis food crush is undetermined. I patronize a diverse group of restaurants, and I am always looking for small, new establishments to visit. I believe that is

where the best cuisines are hidden. Which ingredient is most representative of your personality? Rosemary. Heavily scented, soft and thorny. If you weren’t working in the restaurant business, what would you be doing? Prior to working in the restaurant business, I worked as a nurse. I now have a master’s in political science. I believe there would be a merging of the two to serve the underserved population of the community. As a hospitality professional, what do people need to know about what you are going through? I’m actually having the time of my life. This has been an awesome ride, and it can only get better. It is what I love to do, and it comes natural to me. It can be hectic and hard work with early mornings, long days and nights, and you must always be on your toes, ready to deliver and switch

gears instantly, but the rewards of doing what you love and watching your customers enjoy your products are immeasurable. What do you miss most about the way you did your job before COVID-19? The customer interaction — the hugs and conversations, the ability to see them partake of your creations and watch their expressions. Serving others. What do you miss least? The customer that holds you up in a corner talking and seems to forget that you are running a business and that you are at work. What have you been stress-eating/drinking lately? Fried chicken, French fries and Ho Hos. What do you think the biggest change to the hospitality industry will be once people can return to normal activity levels? I think people will begin to recognize the importance of sanitation. I

[RANGH LIFE]

Simmons has gone down several career paths — from art to nursing and everything in between — all the while searching for her passion. Animal welfare has been the constant thread in her life; she paired that with her interest in healthful eating, and she soon realized that she had a passion for creating vegan dishes and sharing her talents with others. Her involvement in the St. Louis vegan community led her to begin a Facebook group called Kids Vegan Lunch Box to help fellow parents brainstorm ideas for plant-based meals. All the while, she continued to perfect her own version of ranch dressing for her family at home, and eventually began experimenting with a commercial version of the product. “I would try and fail, because it’s not an easy process to figure out,” Simmons says. “It’s very scientific, and I had to do a lot of research to understand how that process works. Then, one day, it worked. I was like, ‘Holy crap! I just did it.’” Simmons believes that the secret to Floydy Pants ranch being so good has to do with the tang factor, the creaminess and that it doesn’t separate — elements that took her over 200 batches to figure out. Once she was satisfied with her recipe, she began bringing jars of it to people — even non-vegan friends — who were blown away by the product and encouraged her to sell it. She found a commercial kitchen, went through all the licensing processes and officially launched Floydy Pants in August 2020. Simmons has been heartened by the

Even non-vegan friends were blown away by the product, and encouraged her to sell it.

The Vegan Rancher Written by

CHERYL BAEHR

mie Simmons admits she has a ranch dressing problem. For as long as she can remember, she’s devoured the creamy condiment on everything from pizza crust to fries; it even served as her main food group when she was a college student. That’s why, when she went vegan eight years ago, she was so desperate. “I was a ranch addict in college,” Simmons says. “I went to Mizzou and was a vegetarian. Our dining hall didn’t have many vegetarian options, so I lived off of French fries and ranch dressing for an entire year. I had plates of them for lunch and dinner. When I went vegan, there was no such thing as vegan ranch. There were a few companies that tried to make it, but they just didn’t taste good and weren’t shelf stable. We spent so much money buying and then throwing out bottles. Finally, my husband said, ‘You need to make ranch dressing.’” For Simmons, the road to ranch entrepreneurship through her brand, Floydy Pants (www.floydypants.com), has been a long time coming. A vegetarian since the mid-1990s and a vegan since 2012,

have always been a stickler when I enter an establishment that the tables are clean. It seemed to have become a lost art. Waitresses and hosts appeared bothered when you’d ask them to wipe the tables, get the food and trash from under your table — and let us not mention the restrooms. I think customers will demand these services, as they are part of the mitigation to decrease the spread of bacterial and viral diseases that can be deadly. It is also important that menus and condiments holders are sanitized as well and that your server is not coughing, sneezing, touching their nose and mouth. This will all be part of the “New Normal.” What is one thing that gives you hope during this crisis? During this crisis, my faith in God gives me hope that things will get better; they always do. My faith in humanity provides me with hope that we will make it through this if we faint not. n

response she’s received to her ranch and has plans to add more dressings to the line, including a caesar and a spicy ranch called “Floydy Hot Pants.” She’s even picked up a few wholesale accounts in Kansas City, New York and around St. Louis. However, her ultimate dream is to have Floydy Pants serve as the economic engine behind Good Luck Farm, an animal rescue and education center she plans on opening one day. “Our hope is to eventually have a vegan food company that will be able to support this type of outreach and advocacy for animals,” Simmons says. “That would be our end game. Animals are the same as us; they want to live their lives and be with their families. I’m not a judgy vegan. I just want to live in a world where people don’t have to choose between flavor and less cruel options.” n

Floydy Pants cracks the code for a vegan ranch you’ll actually want to eat. | STEVE SIMMONS riverfronttimes.com

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CULTURE [EXPOSURE]

Midstream Apple Music highlights St. Louis artists in Midwest playlist Written by

DANIEL HILL

f music streaming services aren’t particularly good at getting artists paid — and, truly, they are not — one thing they can be useful for is getting the names of up-and-coming acts out into the world. To wit: Apple music launched a new series of curated playlists last week highlighting lesser-known artists from regions across the U.S. One such playlist, dubbed “The New Midwest,” features a number of names that will be familiar to those involved in St. Louis’ thriving hip-hop scene. Some of those names are more recognizable than others. Producer ChaseTheMoney has seen his star rise steadily in recent years, working with the likes of Chance the Rapper, J. Cole, Ski Mask the Slump God, Trippie Redd and many others. Rapper Smino, too, is well on his way to being a household name by this point, having

Return of the Big Top Grand Center tent venue is coming back in March Written by

RILEY MACK

ome one, come all to see the circular ring back in St. Louis once again. The Kranzberg Arts Foundation has announced the reopening of The Big Top, the extravagant red tent that serves as an event center. It is expected to welcome the public back in March and remain open until the end of 2021. The Big Top, established in 2018, is located off of Washington Avenue in the Grand Center Arts District and typically operates from April through October. This year, the

Smino is just one of the St. Louis artists featured on the “New Midwest” playlist. | ALEX HARPER released music with T-Pain, J.I.D., Saba and Noname, as well as his fellow Zero Fatigue member Bari, who also features on the New Midwest playlist. Other St. Louis artists on it — 30 Deep Grimeyy, Nuski2Squad, Rahli — are less well known (for now) but undeniably on the rise. And if Apple Music’s initiative plays out as intended, they’ll see their breakout moments sooner than later. “Launching these ... new regionvenue is expected to host a plethora of events — both circus-oriented and not. The list includes the local artists of Dance St. Louis, Big Muddy Dance Company, St. Lou Fringe Festival, concerts produced by Jamo Presents and more. The tent also expects performances by Circus Flora, a St. Louis circus crew whose offices are located in The Big Top year round. It’ll be the group’s 35th anniversary. The 1,200-person site will have COVID-19 safety measures in place upon reopening, as well as new restrooms and technology upgrades. The Kranzberg Arts Foundation even boasts new contactless concessions, with a pre-order and QR code system for Big Top visitors. “We are thrilled to bring one of St. Louis’ favorite venues back to life this year with an exciting array of world class entertainment that our audiences have been desperately craving,” says Chris Hansen, Executive Director of the Kran-

ally focused playlists allows us to shine a light on the vibrant local communities producing some of the most progressive sounds in hip-hop,” Ebro Darden, Apple Music’s global editorial head of hiphop and R&B, says in a statement. “It’s always been a priority to connect with artists and listeners at the community level as we champion discovery and emerging artists from across the map.” Unsurprisingly, the bulk of the New Midwest playlist comprises

artists from Detroit, undeniably a hotbed of talent in the region. But it also includes artists from locales with less buzz, including Flint, Louisville, Columbus and Kansas City. “[With] the occasional exception (Eminem, Big Sean) Midwest rappers have mostly lived — and thrived — in their own hyperlocal bubbles, creating idiosyncratic sub-styles that have branched far off the evolutionary trunk of mainstream hip-hop,” Apple Music says of the new playlist. “Calling back to the days when Michigan and Ohio were the funk capitals of the country, this playlist celebrates the voices, flows, and humor of one of the busiest — but most underrepresented — regions in rap.” Like Apple Music’s other curated playlists, this one will be regularly updated, so be sure to add it to your library and check back frequently for more rising new artists — St. Louis or otherwise. “Regional hip-hop scenes have only grown in importance over the years and we’re confident these new playlists will help spotlight tomorrow’s superstars by giving them a global platform,” Apple Music hip-hop programmer Cyle Tahsini says. “We’re excited to accelerate discovery and connect artists with new fans.” We’re excited about that, too. Now maybe consider paying them fairly? Just a thought. n

The Big Top will reopen with plans for plenty of acts. | COURTESY KRANZBERG ARTS FOUNDATION zberg Arts Foundation in a press release. “With a limited capacity and our proven COVID-19 mitigation policies in place, we will provide a safe and comfortable experience for our guests,” he writes. Attending an event at The Big Top,

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hosted by local St. Louis talent, may be the perfect way to safely get out of the pandemic slump. Whether it’s a craft show or a concert, the Kranzberg Arts Foundation promises a “one-of-a-kind experience” under their red tented roof. n

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SAVAGE LOVE TOY BOY BY DAN SAVAGE Hey, Dan: I’m positive you’ve written something about this in the past. I have searched your archives but have only managed to find people arguing in the comments about this topic when what I want is your advice. My sixteen-year-old son is stealing our sex toys. My son took my husband’s handheld toy several months ago. I found it where it shouldn’t have been and let my husband know. He talked to our son and told him these are personal items, like a toothbrush, and that he needed to stop taking them. A few weeks ago I noticed my dildo was missing. I thought I had misplaced it or that my husband hid it somewhere. As it turns out, our son took it. We talked with him again and stressed that these are personal items and not something to be shared. I want to get him his own toy so he stops taking ours. My husband is squicked out about it and I agree it’s weird to have your parents buy a toy for you but he clearly wants one. I don’t want to pick it out. I want to give him a prepaid gift card and have him pick out what he wants from the website of a reputable shop. Is there a better way to handle this? Mama In Houston Teenagers. Going into their rooms for even a second — even just to leave clean and folded laundry on their beds — is an unforgiveable invasion of their privacy, a world-historical crime on a par with the Nazi invasion of Poland, an atrocity that should land mom and dad in a cell in the Hague. But that same kid will tear their parents’ bedroom apart looking for mom and dad’s sex toys, any cash mom and dad have at home, mom and dad’s secret stash of pot, etc. Because while they’re entitled to absolute privacy, mom and dad — or dad and dad or mom and mom — aren’t entitled to any privacy at all. (And your son may never forgive you for the embarrassment you caused him when you asked him not to steal — and not to use — your dildo.) How do you handle this? You could forbid him to go into

your bedroom. You could even put a lock on your bedroom door. But you’ll forget to lock it one day or one day he’ll learn to pick the lock and before you know it he’ll be back in your bedroom picking through your sex toys. You could run out the clock. Your son is 16 years old and he’ll hopefully be out of the house in less time than it took to get him out of diapers. Twenty-four short months, hundreds of millions of COVID-19 vaccinations and a few college applications are all that stand between you and having your house all to yourselves again. At that point you and your husband won’t have to worry about your son stealing your sex toys — hell, at that point you can make a lovely centerpiece out of them for the dining-room table. But while running out the clock allows you to avoid some squickiness, you’re still gonna have to worry about him swiping your sex toys or — even worse — swiping one, using it and then putting it back without cleaning it properly. Most sixteenyear-old boys can’t clean themselves properly; the odds that your son is capable of sterilizing your dildo after using it on himself are very, very low. (The odds that your son can make you wanna jump in a time machine and go back seventeen years and sterilize yourself? Very, very high.) You could buy him some sex toys. I think this is the best option. Get your son a gift card that he can blow on some toys for himself at a reputable sex toy shop. Or you could pick out a few for him — you already have a pretty good handle on the type of sex toys he finds appealing — and leave those toys for him on his bed next to his clean and folded laundry. Having a few sex toys of his own won’t necessarily stop him from tearing your bedroom apart — there’s still your pot and cash to find — but it will make him less likely to tear your bedroom apart looking sex toys. And perhaps most importantly, buying your son some sex toys will allow you to suspend your disbelief and pretend your son isn’t looking through your sex toys long enough to help him fill out those college applications. Hey, Dan: A few weeks ago in your column, you were responding to a guy who was unsure about his re-

lationship because his boyfriend’s kinks didn’t match up with his own. You said that kinks are “hardwired” and that, for someone who has them, acting on their kinks is necessary for them to have a fulfilling sex life. Wow. That leapt off the page at me. This is something I’ve struggled with most of my life and that made things so crystal clear. From the time I was first sexually aware, I knew I was gay and that I was attracted to BDSM. I am five years out of a twenty-year relationship. My partner and I dabbled in BDSM but I never felt like he was really into it. He was just doing it for me. When I asked what I could do for him, he’d always say “nothing.” That made it even more disappointing. The relationship didn’t end over this stuff, but I regret sticking with it, and an unfulfilling sex life, for so long. The kink stuff started so early for me. Hard-wired doesn’t even begin to describe it. Pre-puberty I was fascinated when I saw guys getting tied up on TV, in comics and in movies. But now here I am, single and 63 years old. I haven’t dated anyone since my relationship ended. I don’t want to date purely vanilla people or people with kinks that aren’t compatible with mine. I’m just not sure what to do. Any advice? I’ve No Clever Acronym In the column where I described kinks as hard-wired — which they are for most people, INCA, although some folks do manage to acquire them — I didn’t advise kinky people to date only other kinky people. So long as a kinky person 1. isn’t being shamed and 2. is allowed to enjoy their kinks with others who share them, a mixed kink/vanilla relationship can work. So don’t limit yourself to dating only guys who are into BDSM. Date vanilla guys you meet through mainstream dating apps, but be open about your kinks from the start and be clear about your intent to enjoy your kinks with guys who share them. And date kinky guys you meet on kink dating apps — there are plenty of guys your age on Recon, the biggest personals site for kinky gay and bi men, and guys of all ages who are into guys your age. Good luck. Hey, Dan: Gay boy here with a new boyfriend. We’ve been together for

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almost two months and I TOLD HIM that I want an open relationship but I AM NOT comfortable with him dating other men. I MADE THAT CLEAR. A week ago he oh-so-casually drops that he’s been meeting up with a guy for EIGHT FUCKING YEARS! I told him he had to STOP this but he REFUSES to stop it. He says they aren’t “dating” so he didn’t betray me. I looked at their text messages — GOING BACK YEARS — and this guy will send him a message once every few months and my boyfriend hurries over to his house to blow him. My boyfriend thinks it shouldn’t matter that he’s “servicing” this one other person since we both fuck around. My problem is the “ONE OTHER PERSON” part of the equation! I am NOT interested in monogamy but I am STRONGLY opposed to MY BOYFRIEND having an ONGOING THING with another man! If our ages matter: I am in my mid-twenties and VGL, my boyfriend is in his mid-thirties and VGL, and this guy is in his LATE forties and TOTALLY AVERAGE LOOKING. I do not see why my boyfriend won’t GIVE UP this man for me. Really Angry Guy Into No Games I can almost see why your boyfriend wouldn’t want to give up this guy for you, RAGING. I mean, if I squint I can almost make it out … Look, your boyfriend has been servicing this guy for almost a decade. If they wanted to date, they’d be dating. If they wanted to be together, they’d be together. And if you force your boyfriend to choose between the DEMANDING INSECURE CAPS BOY he’s known for a little less than two months — that would be you — and the guy he’s been servicing for a little less than a decade, you’re going to lose. If you wanna be with your VGL boyfriend, RAGING, offer to grandfather the average guy in, i.e. agree to him continuing to service this impossibly old fart on the condition that your boyfriend doesn’t add any new “regulars” to his rotation. But on the off chance your boyfriend also reads my column: OMG, DUDE, RUN. mail@savagelove.net @FakeDanSavage on Twitter www.savagelovecast.com

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SWADE

CANNABIS DISPENSARY Swade is Missouri’s premiere luxury cannabis dispensary created to restore and enliven mind, body, and spirit. SWADE takes a holistic approach to cannabis, creating a premium experience from our elevated dispensaries to the lasting sensory impression of our products. Step inside and feel instantly at ease. SWADE dispensaries are designed to present the country’s best cannabis products. From the serene surroundings informed by nature, to our first-of-its-kind Bud

Bar showcasing loose SWADE flower hand-selected for your order, we’ve examined every detail to make your experience inside SWADE both memorable and enlightening. SWADE offers an inviting atmosphere, informative approach and a love for precision in premium cannabis. Learn More: www.beleaflifesoils.com Contact Us: (314) 209-0859 info@beleafco.com

CANNABIS DOCTORS US

GET YOUR MEDICAL MARIJUANA CERTIFICATION FROM ONE OF OUR QUALIFIED DOCTORS Cannabis Doctors US started in Maryland in 2017. We have 6 locations in Maryland. We opened our first office in Missouri in 2019, and have since opened these additional St. Louis area offices: 111 Church St. in Ferguson 3006 S. Jefferson Ave. Suite 104 in St. Louis 9378 Olive Blvd. #312 in Olivette 222 S 2nd St. Suite LL in St. Charles 8135 Manchester Rd. in Brentwood All of our doctors are board certified to give patients a medical evaluation for medical cannabis

recommendation and certification, it’s the only thing we do. We also now offer secure Telemedicine (Video), that is HIPPA compliant. If you can’t leave home due to transportation, disability or health issues, you can call us or email to make a Telemedicine appointment. Once the restrictions are met, certification will be issued immediately. Please inquire for more details. Learn More: cannabisdoctorsus.com 314-222-7760 or 888-420-1536

Riverfront Times, February 9, 2021

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