Riverfront Times, August 26, 2020 by Riverfront Times

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MARCH 6-12, 2019

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THE LEDE

“My solidarity is not just an expression through art. It’s an expression through physical labor. I am physically sweating. I am wearing my body out because I can’t go punch a cop in the face. I mean I can … but this allows me to positively release the physical aggression that I feel from being a part of this community and feeling like I’ve got my hands tied. You know what I’m saying? Because what can we do? What can we do? What can we really do? Right now? Today?” ARTIST KYLA HAWKINS, PHOTOGRAPHED AT THE VIGIL AND MARCH FOR KIWI HERRING

AT THE TRANSGENDER

PHOTO BY THEO WELLING

MEMORIAL GARDEN ON AUGUST 23

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Suburban Myth

ust to clear things up for anyone confused by the McCloskeys’ appearance at the Republican National Convention, the couple lives in the city of St. Louis. That’s where they pulled guns on protesters, not the suburbs. But the narrative spun by the married attorneys and their GOP backers stands in for an old scare tactic: The mob is coming for you in your “quiet neighborhood.” “They want to abolish the suburbs all together,” Patricia warned. If the McCloskeys in their gated city neighborhood can be the face of suburban fear, Republicans have just as readily depicted St. Louis Circuit Kim Gardner as the symbol of anarchy in that same tale. In this week’s cover story, we examine the move by big-name Republicans, including President Trump, to blame the city’s top prosecutor for violence and protests. Spoiler: The data doesn’t back it up. — Doyle Murphy, editor in chief

TABLE OF CONTENTS CAN’T

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Publisher Chris Keating Editor in Chief Doyle Murphy

E D I T O R I A L Digital Editor Jaime Lees Hero In A Hot Dog Suit Daniel Hill Contributors Trenton Almgren-Davis, Cheryl Baehr, Eric Berger, Jeannette Cooperman, Thomas Crone, Mike Fitzgerald, Judy Lucas, Noah MacMillan, Andy Paulissen, Justin Poole, Christian Schaeffer, Chris Ward, Theo Welling, Danny Wicentowski, Nyara Williams, 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 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 Jackie Mundy

COVER

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

The War on Kim Gardner From Trump down, Republicans are making the St. Louis circuit attorney their villain

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 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

Cover illustration by

EVAN SULT Photo of Kim Gardner by Danny Wicentowski; Mike Parson by Tom Hellauer; Jeff Roorda by Danny Wicentowski; riot police by Theo Welling

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

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HARTMANN Stupidity, Unmasked Score one for the mouth breathers in Washington BY RAY HARTMANN

n a glorious affirmation of the sacred right of Americans to spread infectious, deadly, pandemic disease, the mouth breathers prevailed last wee by the vote of a single ashington politician. Their triumph bloc ing the passage of a measure that would have required people to wear mas s in public. f you’re wondering why the news out of ashington didn’t ma e national headlines, it’s because this triumph for -1 too place in the city of ashing-

ton, issouri, right in our own bac yard. ayor Sandy ucy bro e a 4-4 tie of the city council on August 1 to defeat a proposed mas mandate. This idiocy was preceded, according to the Washington Missourian, by comments from 45 citizens, passionate debate, which some felt devolved into bullying.” Presumably the physicians who testified there that mas s are among the most effective tools to help fight the pandemic” weren’t the bullies. They also weren’t the winners. The local newspaper, which delicately had favored the ordinance, described the deep and complicated divide over mas mandates.” ationally, that divide isn’t so deep. A Harvard APS Harris poll in late uly found that percent of respondents said they would support a mas mandate, while another 0 percent said they supported the idea of local governments imposing fees on individuals who do not wear mas s.

realize the reference to Harvard” negates the poll as deepstate, fa e news to many in Fran lin ounty. ut ignorance is no excuse in a global pandemic, especially since the city isn’t quarantined. People come and go freely to this charming little country spot. hat happens in ashington doesn’t stay in ashington. t is thoroughly connected to the rest of the St. ouis region. t’s not close to home t is home. describe these fol s as mouth breathers” for two reasons - ne, it is through their mouths that they champion some perverse liberty to eopardize and even ill their fellow citizens by breathing, coughing or otherwise spreading droplets that might contain the -1 virus. - Two, a mouth breather is defined by the rban ictionary as 1 literally, someone who lac s enough intelligence that they never learned to breathe through their nose and 2 a really dumb person.

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See the epic etflix series Stranger Things for more information. For those who would claim am engaging in name calling and insults, rest assured, that’s precisely what ’m doing. n a nation that has lost more than 1 ,000 souls to -1 a total feared to reach 00,000 by year’s end the nuc le draggers deserve all the ridicule one can hurl for ignoring, minimizing or denying the pandemic’s carnage. Among intelligent life, the wearing of a mas in a pandemic is not all that controversial, especially since virtually all scientists this side of Anon agree that it protects others from the virus. Recent evidence suggests that mas wearers are themselves also more protected. ne ey detail that is undisputed in the sane world is that people can spread the virus asymptomatically, meaning no one can be certain they aren’t infected. So, antimas ers” menace an exponential

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HARTMANN

Continued from pg 7

chain of other people when they exercise their God-given right to send people home to God. Don’t try telling that, however, to the Missourians Against Mandatory Masking. Yep, that’s an actual Facebook page established last month, one that already has 2,911 likes and 3,284 follows. It’s an organizing principle: “For those tired of having rights stripped by others fears! My freedom doesn’t end where your fear begins! This is the PUBLIC Page of Our Private Group and can be used by ALL Missourians as a Forum to Connect and Engage.” (Punctuation presented here in the original quasi-English.) I suppose the name was chosen because “Morons for Mortality” was already taken. The Facebook page features sixteen short videos with the depth and production values of failed audition tapes for Duck Dynasty. The organizers of the page aren’t clearly identifiable, which is fine with me. They do make clear that they “don’t oppose the wearing of masks in general” and even have established a private group for which masks aren’t disqualifying. “You are welcome to wear a mask if/when YOU decide to,” the homepage proclaims. “We are Activists and we ENGAGE to stop Mask Mandates! You surely bring something valuable to our movement and we look forward to working with you.” That’s a thoughtful enough disclaimer until one scroll to the “Don’t Give Up!” section of the mission, and I quote (again unedited): “The Price of Liberty IS Eternal Vigilance!! That means WE ALL Must ALWAYS work and Work and WORK to stay FREE!! Government has an insatiable desire to take your money and your freedom They confirm it all the time and We The People MUST Stop Them!!” Apparently, the government in Missouri has not exhibited an insatiable desire to provide instruction on the subject of English in its public schools, unless these good Missourians Against Mandatory as ing have infiltrated us from some clandestine enclave of illiteracy. If they’re not raving lunatics, they’ll do until some arrive. But give credit where it’s due: This Facebook group has touched a nerve and accomplished an amazing thing by attracting the support of thousands of angry supporters almost overnight. From all appearances, these

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folks made the difference in assuring that the city of Washington, Missouri, will continue to put its citizens and public health at great risk. The anti-maskers cannot be ignored. So, let’s take at face value their claim that the essence of their cause is not to oppose the existence of masks, but rather the notion that an overbearing government cannot infringe upon the rights of individuals and businesses by public health mandate. By that illogic, public health departments need not exist. If the government cannot implement steps to protect the public from spreading a pandemic disease, why should it trample the rights of restaurants and food-processing companies with Big Brother overreach? Why shouldn’t those Americans have the right to spread illness like the anti-maskers? As for government dictating attire, why should nudists have their rights not to wear clothes “stripped by others’ fears”? Who’s the government to infringe upon my right to enjoy a beer while I drive without a seat belt on? Or the right to blow cigarette smoke in someone’s face? Absurd hypotheticals? Consider this one from real life: Missouri Governor Mike Parson just signed a bill reversing 52 years of Missouri law by giving motorcyclists their freedom to ride without a helmet at age 26. Brilliant. A group called Advocates for Highway and Auto Safety tried to rationalize trampling the personal liberty of motorcyclists. “The repeal of the all-rider helmet law will have ripple effects across the state of Missouri,” the group told the Missouri Times. “More riders will choose to leave their helmets at home, resulting in more un-helmeted motorcyclist fatalities and injuries. These preventable tragedies will in turn upend the lives of their families and increase health care costs for all Missourians.” So what? Whatever happened to liberty? Sophisticates like the folks at Missourians Against Mandatory Masking can cite history as part of their “eternal vigilance.” Why, it’s just like patriot Patrick Henry said: “Give me liberty and give you death!” n Ray Hartmann founded the Riverfront Times in 1977. Contact him at rhartmann@sbcglobal.net or catch him on St. Louis In the Know With Ray Hartmann and Jay Kanzler from 9 to 11 p.m. Monday thru Friday on KTRS (550 AM).

NEWS Sweetie Pie’s Star Charged in Murderfor-Hire Plot Written by

DOYLE MURPHY

ames Timothy Norman of Sweetie Pie’s fame is facing federal charges alleging he conspired with an exotic dancer in the murder of his twenty-year-old nephew Andre Montgomery. The 41-year-old son of the legendary restaurant owner (and former Ikette in the Ike and Tina Turner Review) Robbie Montgomery was arrested last week at his home in Jackson, Mississippi, according to a statement from the U.S. Attorney. Norman, who starred with his family in the show Welcome to Sweetie Pie’s, had feuded with his mother over money in recent years after she sued him for opening restaurants under the Sweetie Pie’s brand without her permission, according to court records. It was a messy, public spat, but federal authorities say Norman executed a far more sinister conspiracy to have his nephew killed in 2016. According to the criminal complaint, Norman had taken out $450,000 in life insurance policies on Andre Montgomery in 2014, and he was the sole beneficiary. Authorities say he worked with insurance agent Waiel “Wally” Yaghnam, a music producer who worked on Nelly’s Nellyville album, to file bogus applications for the life insurance policy, which included riders that kicked in if Montgomery, who was eighteen at the time, died within ten years. In 2016, Norman was living in Los Angeles. Phone records obtained by investigators showed that leading up to Andre Montgomery’s murder, Norman and a Memphis-based dancer named Terica Ellis headed to St. Louis and communicated over burner phones. Ellis, 36, also started contacting Montgomery, sending him

James Timothy Norman. | MADISON COUNTY, MISS., DETENTION CENTER

Waiel “Wally” Yaghnam. | ST. LOUIS CITY JUSTICE CENTER her Instagram account handle, Alexusdagreat, and texting that she would be visiting St. Louis. “I’m on my way in town,” she wrote him in an email on March 10, 2016, according to court records. Three days later, orman flew into St. Louis and booked a room at the Chase Park Plaza hotel. The next day, March 14, Ellis contacted ontgomery to figure out where he was, according to the complaint. Cellphone records showed that he texted her the address of a house: 3964 Natural Bridge Avenue in the city. Ellis then called Norman. That night, at 8:02 p.m., Montgomery was shot to death at the house on Natural Bridge. And investigators believe Ellis was there. Location data from her burner phone put her at the scene, and in

Terica Ellis. | SHELBY COUNTY, TENN., SHERIFF one of ontgomery’s final phone calls, he spoke to his girlfriend, who later told investigators she could hear a woman’s voice in the background. One minute after the twentyyear-old was shot, Ellis made another call — to Norman. “Despite being at the scene of Montgomery’s murder at 8:02pm, S’s first phone call was not to the police, but rather to [Norman] at 8:03 p.m., at which time her phone location data showed she was driving in a direction consistent with her returning home in Memphis, Tennessee,” the criminal complaint says. Phone records would then show the phone moving south along Interstate 55. Norman’s phone showed him flying bac to os Angeles, arriving early the morning after the killing. That same day,

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Authorities say Norman filed bogus applications for the life insurance policy, which included riders that kicked in if Montgomery, who was eighteen at the time, died within ten years. March 15, 2016, both the burner phones went dark, authorities say. Back in Memphis, Ellis began depositing money — $3,020 in a checking account that previously had a negative balance and another $4,340 in a savings account opened the same day. On March 17, 2016, she deposited another $1,900. On March 22, 2016, she and her mother and daughter flew to Los Angeles. There’s not much information in the court records about what they did there, but authorities say location data for her mom’s phone showed that on at least one occasion they were with Norman. At the end of April 2016, Norman wired Ellis $700. Norman waited a week to try to collect on his murdered nephew’s life insurance police, authorities say. On March 21, 2016, he called the bank, but he never provided all the documentation required and still hasn’t gotten the money, according to court records. He’s now being held without bond at a jail in Madison County, Mississippi. He and Ellis have been charged with conspiracy to use interstate commerce facilities in commission of murder-forhire, resulting in death. Yaghnam, 42, was charged with conspiracy to commit wire and mail fraud. He was taken into custody Thursday in St. Louis. The case is being investigated by St. Louis police and the FBI. n

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Trash overflows in February at a T.E.H. Realty property. | RYAN KRULL

Notorious Landlord Accused of Fraud Written by

DOYLE MURPHY

he managing partner of a notorious realty company that operated rundown apartment complexes across St. Louis is facing federal fraud charges. Michael Fein, an owner and vice president of T.E.H. Realty, used bogus information to apply for $28 million in loans for properties here and in Kansas City and Tulsa, according to a statement from the .S. Attorney’s ffice for the astern District of Missouri. The criminal complaint names two properties in north St. Louis County: Pinnacle Ridge in Glasgow Village and Hanley Crossings in Carsonville. In both cases, the feds say Fein made it look like the apartment complexes were more valuable than they were in hopes of securing loans. At Pinnacle Ridge, he helped lock down a $2.8 million loan by inflating rent rolls and occupancy rates, according to prosecutors. That allowed T.E.H. to buy the complex, closing in May 2018. At Hanley Crossings, Fein tried

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and failed to get a Federal Housing Administration-insured loan of 5,225,000 by submitting inflated occupancy numbers, prosecutors say. The indictment focuses on four properties in St. Louis, Kansas City and Oklahoma, but T.E.H. has owned and operated apartment complexes across the country, with tenants in multiple locations lodging complaints about living conditions. Riverfront Times contributor Ryan Krull detailed nightmare environments at several T.E.H. properties not named in the federal case, primarily Southwest Crossings and Blue Fountain Apartments, where tenants say they had essentially been abandoned and maintenance workers had walked off after they stopped getting paid. Krull reached out to Fein for comment at the time, but he didn’t respond. In March, the federal government suspended taxpayer-subsidized housing contracts with complexes connected to T.E.H. and its affiliates in St. ouis and ansas City. Some of the residents were then given vouchers to move. “I want to thank the victims of this defendant’s alleged predatory practices for having the willingness to stand up and speak out,” U.S. Attorney Jeff Jensen said in a news release. “Without the courage of these tenants, this case may never have come to be. As a group, they shed light on the unacceptable living conditions being forced upon them and served as the spark that uncovered this entire fraud.” n

McCloskeys Stump for Trump Written by

DANNY WICENTOWSKI

he first thing the McCloskeys wanted you to know is that they find this all hilarious. On Monday night, as they introduced themselves in a video at the Republican National Convention, the infamous St. Louis couple greeted the virtual audience with a conviviality you rarely see in people facing felony gun charges. “America is such a great country,” Patricia McCloskey told the camera. “Not only do you have the right to own a gun and use it to defend yourself, but thousands of Americans will offer you free advice on how to use it.” “At least,” she added with a smile, “that’s what we experienced.” At that point, Patricia looked at Mark, and they shared a moment the way couples do when they’re remembering the time they pointed guns at people. Patricia and her husband Mark had taken part in the same incident on June 28. Patricia casually held a pistol with the barrel pointed at the demonstrators, showing about as much regard to the people in front of her as a yellow stain on her shirt.

That day, Mark McCloskey, too, was far less cheerful and much more armed with a rifle as he shouted “Get the hell out of my neighborhood!” to the protesters — even though they were passing the couple’s massive mansion on their way to the home of Mayor Lyda Krewson. But during Monday’s opening of the Republican convention, the “St. Louis gun couple” addressed the nation with a version of the June 28 confrontation that failed to match the photos, videos, and statements from neighbors; instead, it echoed the initial account that Mark McCloskey gave in media interviews, in which he painted a picture of an “absolute horde” that had smashed down a gate to Portland Place and threatened the lives of the couple and their dog. Others living in “quiet neighborhoods” could expect the same if President Donald Trump doesn’t get reelected, they warned. “What you saw happen to us,” Patricia McCoskey continued, “could just as easily happen to any of you who are watching from quiet neighborhoods around our country. And that’s what we want to speak to you about tonight.” See, the McCloskeys, who are both personal injury attorneys who spent years renovating their mansion to a stupefying degree of ostentation, are just like you. They live in a “quiet neighborhood,” even though their own neighbors denounced them and say their story of the “horde” is full of shit. And the McClo-

skeys worry about Democrats “abolishing the suburbs” even though they live smack-dab in the middle of a city. But anything can be reality at the Republican convention — especially when that reality is a racist appeal to a group Trump refers to as “all of the people living their suburban lifestyle dream.” Trump’s message is a political strategy based on intolerance and a deeply misinformed version of an Obama-era anti-segregation housing measure that never mandated the construction of lowincome homes in suburban areas. And yet, back at the Suburban Lifestyle Stream, the McCloskeys framed their speech as a defense of suburbia, and more: They snuck in jabs at soon-tobe congresswoman Cori Bush — calling her “Marxist, liberal activist, leading the mob to our neighborhood” — and asserted that the radicals like Bush “are not satisfied with spreading the chaos and violence into our communities, they want to abolish the suburbs altogether, by ending single-family home zoning.” OK. It’s difficult to know where to begin with the McCloskeys. The protesters walking through Portland Place weren’t demanding the end to single-family home zoning. Cori Bush isn’t a Marxist. Holding firearms in ways that demonstrate your incompetence isn’t actually that charming. Protesters didn’t smash the gate to get onto Portland Place. Talking about

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your conduct in a pending criminal case is, legally speaking, inadvisable. And still, they persisted. As Mark McCloskey wrapped up the speech, he described Trump’s vision for America: “A community where your family can play in the back yard without fear, worship in a church without shame, and express your beliefs without retribution.” It’s the sort of community his own neighbors might like to live in, someday. Indeed, just hours before the McCloskeys’ speech, one of those neighbors, Rabbi Susan Talve told the Jewish news site The Forward about the time in 2013 that Mark McCloskey destroyed beehives placed by the Jewish Central Reform Congregation, which sits north of the couples’ mansion. The beehives were intended to produce honey for the Jewish holiday of Rosh Hashanah. After breaking the hives, Mark McCloskey left a note threatening to sue for damages and attorneys’ fees if the remains were not removed. The fence between the properties sits an entire six inches within the McCloskey’s property line, Talve said told the site. She added that news of the hives’ destruction made children at the synagogue cry at the loss. “They are bullies,” Talve said in the interview. “The fact that they’re speaking at the convention is a win for bullies.” For now, the McCloskeys and Trump aren’t tired of winning. Not yet. After all, they have suburbs to save. n

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By DOYLE MURPHY

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epublicans all the way up to the president unloaded on St. Louis Circuit Attorney Kim Gardner this summer as she investigated and then charged a wealthy pair of married lawyers for pulling guns on protesters. “Kim Gardner owes every single family who has had a loved one murdered an explanation on why she has acted on the McCloskey case instead of theirs,” Missouri

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Governor Mike Parson tweeted. “This is part of a troubling pattern of politically motivated prosecutorial decisions by the St. Louis Circuit Attorney …,” wrote U.S. Senator Josh Hawley in a letter calling on U.S. Attorney William Barr to investigate Gardner. “It’s a disgrace,” President Trump told a conservative news website. ormally, the filing of a low-lev-

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el felony would not merit mention in St. Louis, much less nationally. But Mark and Patricia McCloskey were already on their way to Joe the Plumber status, joining the pantheon of randos plucked from obscurity for the latest campaign narrative. The couple appeared on Monday in a video for the Republican National Convention, warning Continued on pg 15

St. Louis Circuit Attorney Kim Gardner has faced critics since before taking office, but it has hit new levels as Republicans focus their election-year campaigns on crime.. | DANNY WICENTOWSKI riverfronttimes.com

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KIM GARDNER Continued from pg 12

that anyone living in “quiet neighborhoods” was in peril from “radicals” who wished to “abolish the suburbs.” (Note: The McCloskeys don’t live in the suburbs.) “Not a single person in the outof-control mob you saw at our house was charged with a crime, but you know who was?” Mark askded in the video. “We were. They’ve actually charged us with felonies for daring to defend our home.” On June 28, the husband and wife were dining on the east patio of their fortress-like mansion when protesters started to march past on their way to Mayor Lyda Krewson’s home. In the McCloskeys’ telling, they were faced with a violent “horde” and had little choice but to arm themselves, lest they be murdered with their dog and their opulent house set ablaze. Their account conflicted with a livestream video that showed no signs that marchers intended to harm the couple or even noticed them until Mark, carrying an AR-15 rifle, began shouting, “Get the hell out of my neighborhood!” Patrica shuffled onto the lawn, panning across the crowd with a pistol as demonstrators shouted at them to put away their guns. After about ten minutes, the crowd moved on. But video and photos of the rich white couple brandishing guns at a diverse group of protesters went viral. For the left, the incensed, armed McCloskeys couldn’t have been more on the nose as mascots of white privilege and rage. But for conservatives furious about nationwide protests after George Floyd was killed by Minneapolis police, the McCloskeys became instant folk heroes. And when Gardner stepped into the morality play the next day by announcing she intended to investigate the McCloskeys, Republican politicians eager to talk about anything other than the coronavirus had their villain.

im Gardner has repeatedly taken on explosive cases since taking over in 2017 as St. Louis’ top prosecutor. She inherited the case against Jason Stockley, a white exSt. Louis cop who was ultimately acquitted that September of firstdegree murder in the point-blank shooting of a Black 24-year-old named Anthony Lamar Smith. Prosecutors’ theory was that Stockley planted a gun on Smith after killing him, but Judge Tim-

Missouri Governor Mike Parson is trying shift decisions on murder cases. | TOM HELLAUER othy Wilson rejected that argument. Wilson’s verdict, which included a written explanation that an “urban heroin dealer not in possession of a firearm would be an anomaly,” sparked the most intense protests in St. Louis since Ferguson. However, aside from pissing off the St. Louis Police Officers Association, Gardner’s role was overshadowed by the clash between activists and police. The situation would be different in February 2018, five months after the Stockley verdict, when Gardner dropped a bombshell, filing a felony invasion-of-privacy charge against then-Missouri Governor Eric Greitens for allegedly taking a photo of a mistress while she was partially nude and then threatening to release it if she revealed their affair. A second charge of computer tampering alleged the Republican governor illegally used a donor list of a nonprofit he founded for his political campaign. It was a bruising case — for Greitens, who resigned in March 2019 as part of a deal to drop the tampering charge, and Gardner, who found herself playing defense against accusations of misconduct lodged by the governor’s powerful attorneys. The Greitens prosecution took criticism of Gardner to a new level, introducing her to a broader audience of right-wing antagonists across the country. In St. Louis, she continued to clash with the police union, showing a willingness to charge cops in shootings that outstripped her predecessors. In August 2018, word leaked out to

the public that she kept an “exclusion list” of more than two dozen city police officers whom prosecutors didn’t trust to present cases or testify at trial. That kicked off a new battle with the police union and its mouthpiece, Jeff Roorda. In a radio interview in September 2019, Roorda called the prosecutor a “menace to society” and said she should be removed by “force or by choice.” As far as the union was concerned, Gardner was a leader in a war on police. As she prosecuted cops — or refused to accept cases from officers on the exclusion list — crime had surged out of control, they claimed. It isn’t just the police union that has pushed the narrative of a city overrun by criminals coddled by a soft-on-crime prosecutor. Conservatives in Missouri politics, who’ve long made a sport of scaring their constituents with nightmare tales of St. Louis violence, keyed in on Gardner as a foremost practitioner of catch-and-release law enforcement. When the McCloskey case hit, they blasted the charges as an assault on the 2nd Amendment and an example of wildly misplaced priorities at a time when St. Louis homicide totals were rising. “It’s created a real problem on the streets,” state Attorney General Eric Schmitt told former NRA spokeswoman Dana Loesch on her show in July while discussing Gardner’s record. “It has emboldened criminals. They think they can get away with literally murder.”

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here has been a lot of murder this year in St. Louis. As of Monday, 172 had been killed, compared to 128 at this time in 2019. The city is on pace for its deadliest twelve months since the bloody days of the early 1990s. To make matters worse, according to Parson and Schmitt, there is a “backlog” of murder cases going unprosecuted by Gardner. In an August 10 news release, the governor cited police statistics showing charges had been issued in just 33 of what was then 161 homicides in the city. But the implication that Gardner was sitting on a backlog of 128 murders is, at best, grossly misleading. That’s because it leaves out a key piece of the equation: arrests. As of August 14, police officers had arrested 44 people in homicide cases and charges had been issued by the circuit attorney in 34 cases, according to a department spokeswoman. The St. Louis police force’s clearance rate for homicides has hovered between 30 and 40 percent in recent years, well below the national average of 62 percent in 2018, the most recent year available. Explained another way, prosecutors can’t charge murder cases they never see. It is true that Gardner turns away more homicide cases than her predecessors, and her prosecutors lose more of the felony cases they take to trial. So far this year, Gardner has sent back ten homicide cases, according to police statistics. Her office’s trial conviction rate for felonies, which includes more than homicides, is slightly better than 50 percent. By comparison, Jennifer Joyce refused to issue charges in just one murder case presented by police during her final two years as circuit attorney, and the office’s felony conviction rate at trial was better than 70 percent. (Gardner points out that trials account for a tiny fraction of the volume of cases, and her overall felony conviction rate, which includes pleas, is 97 percent.) What that says about differing standards for issuing cases — or the working relationship between police and prosecutors — is up for debate, but it doesn’t show a backlog of cases in the circuit attorney’s office. That hasn’t stopped Parson and other Republicans from making it a talking point as they head toward an election in November. In July, the governor called a special legislative session to debate a series of measures, including the elimination of residency rules for St. Louis cops and creating an expanded avenue to try kids Continued on pg 17

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IT CAME TO HIM, OF ALL PLACES, AT A LENDER’S OFFICE.

e graduated from college a couple years ago, and thought he had everything: money, a steady job, a degree. But it was there in that lender’s office where Gavin Morale, 29, had a life-changing realization that gave him what he long thought he was missing: a purpose. Morale, 25 years old at the time, needed an auto loan to buy a new car. The lender looked at him from behind her desk disapprovingly. Morale needed at least a 610 credit score to receive a loan for a new car. His score was 608. “You should dispute,” the lender told him. What was she talking about? He barely knew what his credit score was, much less that he could dispute it. Almost five years later, Morale’s life is credit. After that day in the lender’s office, Morale immersed himself with information on how to improve credit scores and how to be financially literate—something he now uses his social media platforms to educate people about. “When you have bad credit it determines ev-

erything: where you stay, the type of car you get approved for, the interest rates on your loans,” Morale says. “I want to make sure people don’t get denied opportunities just because of a number.” After his auto loan rejection five years ago, Morale spent months researching how to increase credit scores and how to dispute them. He says he became fascinated with dispute letters. He filed a dispute with Credit Karma but nothing became of it so he wrote his own dispute letter, and it worked. He then filed dispute letters for his mom and a few friends, all of which worked. These days, Morale is helping a lot more people than just his friends and family lower their credit scores. Morale’s passion for financial literacy led him to start Resolved Credit Solutions this January. There, Morale not only repairs credit scores, but also teaches lessons on sales and business. He says he’s helped thousands of people boost their credit scores. As a result, they’ve bought cards, homes and started businesses. He even got his real estate license so he could know the ins and

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outs of home buying so his clients could get approved for home loans. Morale’s success in finance eventually led to his acceptance into the evolutionary business council, a national group of entrepreneurs that helps business leaders bring positive change to the world. Outside the realm of business, Morale’s fervor for financial literacy spread even to his creative endeavors. In 2018, he wrote a book called “The Man in Her Dreams,” part one of a fiction trilogy centered on the main character, Zoey Belford, as she navigates a successful career in business while also trying to find, as the title suggests, a man she dreamt about but never met. Once he started getting into credit, he began using the name “Morale” inspired by “morals,” instead of his legal name, “Glanton.” Whether he’s writing the next chapter in his fiction trilogy or at work at Resolved Credit Solutions, Morale is ready to spread the word about financial literacy. To contact Gavin Morale at Resolved Credit Solutions, call (314) 526-7903 or email info@resolvedcreditsolutions.com.

KIM GARDNER Continued from pg 15

as young as twelve as adults. Less than a week after Gardner rolled to an easy victory in the Democratic primary, all but guaranteeing she’ll win reelection in November, Parson moved to add another piece — new powers of the attorney general to take over St. Louis murder cases under certain circumstances. Under the proposal, the attorney general could pick up murder cases 90 days after police present them if the circuit attorney has yet to issue charges and the chief law enforcement officer requests that the attorney general intervene. “This proposal is not about taking away authority,” Parson said in a news release. “It is about fighting violent crime, achieving justice for victims and making our communities safer.” It would, however, provide for a scenario where the attorney general could prosecute cases that Gardner’s prosecutors have rejected as too weak or are still waiting on additional evidence for. She says the key to building cases is building trust with the community, so that witnesses and victims feel comfortable working with investigators. Inserting the attorney general won’t speed up the process, she says. “It takes time, and there is no time limit,” Gardner says. “This is not a TV show.”

he governor’s proposal assumes that the bottleneck in murder cases lies in the circuit attorney’s office and violent crime is up as a result. oth are questionable conclusions. Criminologist Richard Rosenfeld, a professor at the University of Missouri-St. Louis, has studied the surge in violent crime during the pandemic — not just in St. Louis, but across 27 cities. He doubts that anything Gardner is or isn’t doing is behind the increase. “I think it’s unlikely,” he says. “That might be the case if we were only seeing the rise in St. Louis, but we’re seeing the rise in many other cities across the country.” Across the twenty cities where homicide data was available, homicides increased 37 percent in late May and June, and aggravated assaults increased 35 percent across seventeen cities, according to a recent report authored by Rosenfeld and UMSL graduate student Ernesto Lopez Jr. Even accounting for the usual uptick in violence that tends to come with summer, the increase

is significant. Rosenfeld notes that it comes during a time of upheaval, not just from the pandemic but widespread protests that followed George Floyd’s death. Something else has happened during the pandemic in St. Louis: A lot of the face-to-face policing stopped. Car stops, building checks and other activities that police categorize as “self-initiated” dropped sharply. Traffic violations alone fell by more than 90 percent as police changed their strategies in hopes of slowing the spread of COVID-19. In an interview with the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, police Captain Renee riesmann said officers were temporarily instructed to not pull over vehicles or stop pedestrians unless a serious crime was being committed. The paper noted that in the police department’s 4th District, which includes downtown, police reported no traffic violations in July, compared to 265 during the same four weeks in 2019. Police have since resumed selfinitiated activity, but it’s too early to say whether that will make a difference on August’s numbers. In July, the city recorded 55 homicides, more than double the 22 killings in July 2019. In an interview, Rosenfeld says there could be other factors at play. It’s possible that populations that have typically had fraught relations with law enforcement are even less likely to call them or work with them as police protests continue across the country. Time will provide more clarity about the cause of the increased number of killings, but Rosenfeld and Lopez write that controlling COVID-19 is a good place to start: “In our view, subduing the COVID-19 pandemic is a necessary condition for halting the rise in violence. In addition, both the rise in violence and social unrest are likely to persist unless effective violence-reduction strategies are coupled with needed reforms to policing.”

fter Kim Gardner charged the McCloskeys, she said she received a flood of racist emails and even death threats. In an interview with the Washington Post, she compared it to the old Ku Klux Klan terror campaigns. “This is a modern-day night ride, and everybody knows it,” she told the newspaper. Adding Trump’s criticism to the fray — Parson said at a news conference in late July that he had to explain to the president that the governor didn’t have the authorContinued on pg 19

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KIM GARDNER Continued from pg 17

ity to remove Gardner from office further intensified the criticism she’d faced since becoming St. ouis’ first lac circuit attorney, she says. She considers it part of powerful politicians at the state and federal level trying to in ect” themselves into the duties of a local prosecutor. And you have to as yourself, hy would they do that ’” Gardner says in a phone interview. ell, now why. t’s a way to cause fear and divisive rhetoric, and to distract from their failed leadership to respond to the -1 pandemic.” Parson spo eswoman elli ones says there is nothing personal or political about his interest in St. ouis crime, and she defended his request to let Attorney General ric Schmitt start prosecuting some of the city’s homicides. This proposal is not about ta ing away authority,” ones says in an email. t is about fighting violent crime, achieving ustice for victims, and ma ing our communities safer. nder the proposal, the ircuit Attorney still has full and fair opportunity to prosecute murders.” hris uelle, a spo esman for Schmitt, also insists there is no political motive behind the attorney general’s support for Parson’s proposal. This is purely about obtaining ustice for victims, protecting our communities, and prosecuting violent crime,” uelle writes in an email. The Attorney General was born and raised and represented the St. ouis region, and cares very deeply about what happens to the ity of St. ouis. Fighting violent crime should not involve personalities or politics.” Schmitt stands out among the circuit attorney’s critics. After the c los eys’ showdown with protesters, he hit the conservative tal show circuit, calling her a rogue prosecutor” with an abysmal record” on violent crime. A former state senator, he and Gardner have clashed repeatedly. Schmitt blasted her early in the pandemic when she wor ed with public defenders to identify dozens of defendants for recommended release from city ails in hopes of heading off an outbrea among inmates and ail staff. And when four cops were shot and a retired police captain illed during rioting and looting that followed nonviolent police protests in early une, he tweeted a video of a burning car.

n a stunning development, our office has learned that every single one of the St. ouis looters and rioters arrested were released bac onto the streets by local prosecutor im Gardner,” Schmitt wrote in the tweet, which has been retweeted more than 2 ,000 times. t wasn’t true. nly a fraction of more than 0 people arrested had even been referred to the circuit attorney at the time of Schmitt’s post, and then only on charges of stealing. Police released the rest without applying to prosecutors for charges. As ed if the attorney general has corrected the tweet, Schmitt’s spo esman uelle says in an email, can’t comment on the AG’s personal Twitter account or directly on that tweet, but will say that S P presented cases for prosecution to the A , and they refused to prosecute any of them immediately. e’re glad that after the Attorney General made comment on this situation, the A did finally charge some of those offenders. The A also had a policy in place preventing the police from presenting cases for property damage resulting from looting and rioting.” n the day of the tweet, Gardner responded in a video statement. ’ve noticed that the attorney general is tweeting quite a bit about looters and rioters and not about the fact that we have a history of police violence in this city and nation,” the prosecutor said. And that has caused people to ta e to the streets yet again to demand accountability and change in our criminal ustice system. t is clear that he does not care about ustice or safety or the needs of this community. He ust wants to launch a politically motivated attac against me, even if it means misleading and lying to the public.” The dustup was a precursor to the battles Gardner would fight after the c los ey arrests Republican officials claiming she’s letting criminals off easy Gardner firing bac they deliberately miss the point. e never tal about the governor who was a senator, and an attorney general, who directly caused a lot of the violent crime in the city of St. ouis by gutting our gun laws,” she says. e never tal about how they have a history of not funding education, a history of cutting access to health care as well as social services that we all now could address the root causes that drive individuals to the criminal ustice system. ut we never report on that. t’s, im Gardner is the cause of crime.’” n

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SHORT ORDERS

[SIDE DISH]

The New Service Vicia’s Kara Flaherty embraces the challenge of hospitality during the pandemic Written by

CHERYL BAEHR

ara Flaherty vividly remembers the moment when she realized that things were about to get real with the COVID-19 pandemic. Standing at the host desk at Vicia (4260 Forest Park Avenue, 314-533-9239), where she works as beverage director and sommelier, she was looking out at the crowded dining room and felt surprised that people were still coming to eat. Within a week, the city had shut down all the restaurants for in-person service. “Service at Vicia is so precise and detail driven, that I remember standing there at the host desk and thinking, ‘Maybe we should stop folding people’s napkins when they get up from the table,’” Flaherty says. “Everything just steamrolled from there — we were shutting down snap-of-fingers style. Things moved so fast, it didn’t even seem real.” For Flaherty and her colleagues at Vicia, that level of detail-driven service has not changed, even as COVID-19 has dramatically altered the notion of hospitality. In fact, the challenges of serving guests that the new dining reality has presented crystalizes why she got into the business in the first place bac home in southwest Florida. Flaherty always had a knack for customer service, but she never considered working in the restaurant business until a manager at a nightclub she used to frequent offered her a job bartending. Since she’d only worked in retail, she was confused by the offer. “I’d never made a cocktail in my life,” Flaherty recalls. “I used to drink Bud Light and shots of vodka. She told me ‘That’s the

Kara Flaherty, Vicia’s beverage director, knows exactly where to go to relax during the coronavirus chaos — work. | ANDY PAULISSEN easy part. I can teach you to make drinks, but you have a genuine knowledge of customer service and are good with people. I can’t teach that.’” Flaherty accepted the offer and got up to speed quicker than she imagined, working at a bar that was constantly packed three people deep. Though she enjoyed the work, she decided to move to St. Louis and then to the U.S. Virgin Islands, working hospitality jobs at each location. After leaving St. Thomas, Flaherty went to Oregon, where the area’s renowned vineyards piqued her interest in wine. She carried that burgeoning passion with her back to St. Louis and Sidney Street Cafe, then eventually Elaia where the acclaimed sommelier, Andrey Ivanov, opened her eyes to a world of wine that she didn’t know existed. It would change the course of her career. “I’ve never been super crazy about classic things like Bordeaux or Burgundy,” Flaherty says. “But I found Hungarian wine and Moroccan wine and all of the craziest stuff you can find. That was intriguing to me and is what interested me in what wine has to offer. t’s what finally hoo ed me.” Flaherty eventually found her-

self working at Vicia, where she rose from server assistant to beverage director, a position she’s held since last year. In that role, she spent her shifts guiding guests through their beverage pairings and helped them select wine — interactions that were the highlight of her day and that have become fewer and farther between in the COVID-19 era. Still, she’s not letting that impact the way she interacts with guests. Granted, the interactions may be shorter, but Flaherty feels there is still opportunity for hospitality in even the littlest things, like knowing the curbside menu inside and out or putting together an online retail wine shop with a focus on providing the best value to guests. In doing so, she can still allow herself to get lost in her job — something that gives her strength to get through these challenging times. “For me, it’s those few hours a day I’m at work that I like to pretend nothing else exists,” Flaherty says. “I can take a break from all of the questions and thoughts that plague us during the day and get into service and unwind. I know that’s probably not normal, but that’s the way I’ve always been; I use work to take a break.” Flaherty took a few moments to

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share her thoughts on the changes to the restaurant industry in the wake of the COVID-19 outbreak, including how important it is to support small, independent businesses and what’s giving her hope in these times. As a hospitality professional, what do people need to know about what you are going through? As a hospitality professional, I think it’s part of my job to make sure my guests have no clue that I’m going through anything while they are trying to escape what they are going through. What do you miss most about the way things were at your job before COVID-19? Being in A/C! But seriously, I miss our menus. We had a threecourse Farmer’s Feast and a fivecourse tasting menu that would be very difficult to execute in our current setting. Getting to pair wine with those menus was the highlight of my day. Watching guests’ eyes get bigger and bigger as we delivered the first course of the tasting menu, which included filling the table with numerous small bites. I miss it all so much! What do you miss least?

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[DRINK]

KARA FLAHERTY Continued from pg 21

’Tis the Season Civil Life’s Oktoberfest lager now available as holiday creep continues unabated Written by

THOMAS CRONE

f you’ve visited a St. Louis grocery store of any size this week, you’ve likely passed by one of the surest indicators that fall isn’t too terribly far away: the appearance of Oktoberfest beers, a rite of pre-passage into the season. These beers arrive at retailers every August now, as breweries great and small put their own versions of the popular, seasonal title into a crowded marketplace. Last Wednesday, one go-to local brewery, ivil ife, ran the first of its Oktoberfest beer through the canning line, with six-packs hitting store shelves this week. Onsite sales of the twelve-ounce, 5.1 percent ABV product started Friday, with curbside pickup at the south-city brewhouse. Though Civil Life didn’t have an toberfest in their first year of operation (they opened in a September and didn’t have the needed lager yeast in-house), their version of Oktoberfest has been a pretty steady presence on their calendar since. Dylan Mosley, Civil Life’s co-founding head brewer, says that there wasn’t a “full map or a battle plan” when the brewery opened, envisioning what beers would move into seasonal roles. ut he always figured that a “straight-forward brewery” like Civil Life would eventually add an Oktoberfest. And so it goes that August is now the time that Civil Life’s Oktoberfest, a lager that incorporates the increasingly popular saphir hop, is slated for annual release. That’s true for Civil Life and pretty much everyone that produces one. “Part of that has to do with the market,” he says. “Distributors are banging on the door for one and you don’t want to get caught” without, at which point “they say there’s already enough Oktoberfest available out there. “Making lagers is generally something that I like to see. And

To be fair, “Augustfest” just doesn’t have that same ring to it. | THOMAS CRONE breweries that avoid the issues of working with lager yeast would have a hard time maintaining a broad enough rainbow of beer styles” to keep their customers happy, he adds. “And in our country, it’s a style of beer that people really have an affinity towards.” He figures that in the .S., toberfest beers have taken part in a cultural trend that’s not so different from “peeps coming out a month before aster or firewor s starting in June. It’s all the same kind of holiday creep.” In Germany, he says, the beer’s given a much more considered approach, in some respects, as official recipes are tweaked annually, with German brewers adapting to that year’s mandated twists. German beers that ship to America, he believes, reflect a more conservative approach, though, with the same style li ely to hit .S. stores on an annual basis. n the .S., meanwhile, breweries adapt and switch styles in a different way, playing with elements and eventually creating a “beer style that’s become more accessible,” as Mosley puts it. “You’re kind of seeing all styles of beer drift towards that accessibility now.” Partially, that may be a result of the broader world’s buying habits during this pandemic-mandated lull in drinking outside of the house. Like many breweries, Civil Life shut down its on-site pub hours when the coronavirus hit; unlike other local/regional faves, though, the pub aspect is still fully shut down at the southside location, with about 90 to

95 percent of the brewery’s products now canned and the small remainder going out as kegs. Gone altogether is the brewpub purchasing, which would have allowed patrons to sample a handful of half-pours in a session. Still in effect is its on-site sales of canned beverages. Finding the right balance between giving people the usual fare and working in some other house favorites has been the daily challenge. As the brewery restarted brewhouse operations, the first order of business, Mosley says, was to catch up to demand for their flagship beer, American Brown. That was augmented by two, sometimes three, other beers going into production, sold either directly from their own loading dock or through Missouri and Illinois distributors. Over the past month or two the brewery has ramped up the available offerings, though, in order to keep longtime buyers coming back. “It’s not that we don’t have draft available,” Mosley says, “but we have a radically different ratio between cans and drafts available.” At this point, the brewery’s offering seven varieties, which Mosley says is a number that hopefully compels a Civil Life fan to decide a trip is necessary. “You want people to get here and have a selection,” he says. “At first, it was more about catching up. Now we’re getting restocked.” An Oktoberfest is now checked in on that growing list. It’s coming to a market near you, at just the right time. n

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I honestly loved everything about our restaurant before, but if I had to say something, formal footwear. I get to wear sneakers now! My feet are a lot happier. What is one thing you make sure you do every day to maintain a sense of normalcy? Hmmm, I don’t do anything every day. I did start hoarding plant life, so watering them on the same day every week and keeping them alive has been a “new normal” routine. What have you been stresseating/drinking lately? I don’t really eat or drink because of stress. I do, however, binge watch really silly, happygo-lucky TV shows like Parks & Rec and Community. However, when we were furloughed for two months, I did make sure to cook elaborate meals almost every night. That served a dual purpose: It took up a lot of time and helped us preserve “date nights.” What are the three things you’ve made sure you don’t want to run out of, other than toilet paper? Patience, wine and food for my animals. They go really crazy if they see the bottom of their food dish. You have to be quarantined with three people. Who would you pick? My husband and my two best girlfriends, Jen and Katie. I know for a fact we can all sit on the couch and binge watch TV. That’s very important in a quarantine friend. Once you feel comfortable going back out and about, what’s the first thing you’ll do? Get a haircut. I think my last haircut was in January! I’d also have a dinner party. finally have a formal dining room. can’t wait to fill it with good friends, wine and food. What do you think the biggest change to the hospitality industry will be once people are allowed to return to normal activity levels? I feel like that is so far away, it’s kind of hard to say. I’m hoping that the small independent restaurants can hold on so we are not subjected to only chain restaurants and fast food. #saverestaurants. What is one thing that gives you hope during this crisis? Seeing all of the people enjoying family time outdoors. n

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Sub Division brings gourmet sandwiches to your doorstep. | COURTESY SUB DIVISION

Polite Society Owners Open Sub Division Written by

CHERYL BAEHR

rian Schmitz, Jonathan Frederick and company knew they needed to do something to help their businesses, Polite Society and the Bellwether, weather the COVID-19 storm. It turns out, the answer was right before their eyes, and between two pieces of bread. “The general idea actually came to us a long time ago when some of our employees would have fun at the end of the night ordering food from the kitchen,” Schmitz explains. “The kitchen would be breaking down, and people would ring in the craziest sandwich orders, intentionally being ridiculous at the chefs’ expenses. Then the chefs would send out these even more outrageous orders to them. It was just fun, but it gave us an appreciation for the ridiculous nature of what sandwiches could be.” Now, Schmitz and his team have taken that inside joke and turned it into a serious sandwich concept, Sub Division. The gourmet sandwich delivery service launched earlier this week out of Polite Society’s kitchen as a way to keep as many of their employees on payroll during the pandemic while finding a creative way to serve their customers, many of whom are uncomfortable dining out in public as the pandemic rages on. As Schmitz explains, Sub Division is an idea he and his colleagues had considered for a while, and IT was even a contender for what they would open inside the forthcoming City Foundry. (They ultimately settled on the breakfast-inspired concept Good Day.) However, as they brainstormed ideas for how to best operate during COVID-19, they kept coming back to the sandwich concept. At first, it was a casual mention at their weekly management meetings, but as the weeks went on, the team found themselves spending more and

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more time discussing the idea. About five weeks ago, they decided to go all in. “Like most folks in the industry, 2020 brought this closer to the forefront of our minds,” Schmitz says. “When we were struggling to figure out the right way to reopen our dining rooms, we were worrying about the fact that some of our staff was concerned about coming back while others felt that they needed to. Some of our guests wanted to be supportive, but there is a limit to how many times a week they could order curbside. We figured this was a way we can take care of our people, our guests and our neighbors.” Schmitz describes Sub Division as a “ghost kitchen,” meaning it is a separate concept operating out of the kitchen at Polite Society. The inspiration is gourmet sandwiches, all named for movie quotes, like the “I Believe You Have My Stapler,” a vegetarian sandwich made with tomatoes and fresh mozzarella, the “Go Ahead, Make My Day,” a braised pot roast behemoth, and the “Karate in the Garage,” which features hot ham, pickles and pimento cheese between two slices of griddled brioche. Schmitz also recommends the meatball sandwich, which he says is chef Dan Sammons’ specialty. “Dan makes the best meatballs I’ve ever had in my life,” Schmitz says. “When I first ate them, I was floored. We’re going to change up the menu regularly, but I don’t see this one going anywhere.” For now, Sub Division is delivering to a limited area, bounded by Washington Avenue to the north, Kingshighway Boulevard to the west and Gravois to the south and east. Though he doesn’t rule out expanding their delivery service, Schmitz wants to make sure the team works out all of the kinks before taking on any additional territory — especially because he and a few of his other team members are personally hand-delivering every order. He admits it’s a crazy ride, but he also finds it energizing in a time when the industry needs a does of good vibes. “Being out there and delivering to people — it reminds you of why you got in the business in the first place,” Schmitz says. “It makes you realize that there are still ways to take care of people. That gives me hope.” n

CULTURE

[TV]

Remote Control Danger Force director and St. Louis native Mike Caron is filming shows remotely during pandemic Written by

JUDY LUCAS

t. Louis native Mike Caron has spent years working as a director for Nickelodeon. His most recent project is the creation of his show Danger Force, a spinoff of the popular Henry Danger. A few months ago, when the quarantine became a way of life for Californians (and everyone else), Caron and his team of actors, writers and producers had an idea: What if they could continue making content for their audience while remaining isolated? They decided to try. Much of the entertainment industry is shut down as a result of the pandemic. Caron says only three episodic television shows have been able to create, film and release new content, and Danger Force is one of them. The pilot episode aired in early March, right as people started staying home. The next six episodes, which had already been shot, continued on a weekly schedule after that. But as the pandemic dragged on, Caron could either shut down or find another path forward. So with little to do and nowhere to go during the lockdown, the Danger Force team decided to eep filming, remotely. ids loved the show — so much so that Nickelodeon agreed to greenlight an experimental episode. This one was shot completely on Zoom in the actors’ homes. Chris Nowak, showrunner and head writer, wrote a script for the Zoom episode the same way he would for on-stage shooting. The next step was figuring out how to translate the script to a “Zoom set.” One of the main challenges in filming the show this way was

Mike Caron, left, with Jace Norman, who plays Henry Hart of Henry Danger. | DRE SWAIN upholding the authenticity. Danger Force is a superhero show, with lots of effects and off-screen tricks to make things look real to the audience. espite the technological difficulties, Caron and his team were able to deliver computers, costumes, cables and set pieces such as green screens to the actors’ homes. Everything was as normal as they could manage, doing table reads over Zoom, rehearsal days over oom and, finally, filming the actual episode all on Zoom. “I think we turned the whole thing over in four weeks,” Caron says. He says this was the most rewarding thing he’s ever done. “We didn’t stop. We kept trying to do better, moving forward,” he explains. “It was still Danger Force. It was still funny. The actors were still awesome. I’m very proud of that.” One of the reasons Caron and his team continued the show on Zoom was his and the actors’ ability to connect to their audi-

Caron and his team were able to deliver computers, costumes, cables and set pieces such as green screens to the actors’ homes. ence through social media. Caron uses social media to invite fans to take an inside look at what goes on backstage while they make Danger Force. Over the past few months, he’s accumulated a massive following on TikTok. He has 1.6 million followers, mostly fans who love keeping up with the show and the cast. Caron says he wants the audience to feel in-

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volved in the show, and the actors love the increased communication with the fans. “It’s my personal way of giving back to the fans. They do so much for us — watch the show, make fan accounts. This is like my ‘thank you, guys, for being such awesome supporters,’” Caron says. The quarantine episode did so well with audiences that the crew and Nickelodeon decided to keep going. They wrote, filmed and produced five mini-shorts, each about five minutes long, all on Zoom, to be sure fans could still get a taste of the show. Caron says the shorts are just another way to thank fans. “In kids TV, the audiences are so passionate. These kids love the show so much, we feel it very important that we want to give as much good content as we can,” he says. The first short is now available on Nickelodeon and the YouTube channel, having premiered August 8. Shorts will air every Saturday through early September. n

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[ F L AT FA N N E D ]

A Commerce of Many Dimensions St. Louis Cardinals seek best, flattest fans in baseball to fill out stadium Written by

DANNY WICENTOWSKI

aving become the latest poster child for coronavirus outbreaks in Major League Baseball, the St. Louis Cardinals are now asking fans to pay $70 to become literal posters specifically, to become cardboard cutouts to fill usch Stadium’s bleachers. Now, you could perceive the offer as a canny marketing ploy to generate revenue at a time when the sport is being played without human spectators because of

Welcome to Cardboard Nation, St. Louis. | FLICKR/BRIAN CRAWFORD the COVID-19 pandemic. But you would be wrong! In fact, all the proceeds go to Cardinals Care, the team’s charitable fund. In addition, spending $70 on a 2D cutout of yourself who is doomed to watch every single Cardinals game does have its upsides. Just imagine: the frozen expression on your doppelganger, who knows no hunger, no pain, but

only baseball; who is impervious to viral infection and for whom every inning is an inoculation injected via airborne American pastime; and who roots, roots, roots for the home team, and if the Cardinals don’t win it’s not a shame at all because you have become a cardboard cutout and transcended death. Nice! Of course, there are limits to

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the ardinals’ campaign of artificial fanstantiation. According to a Q&A posted on the team website, the team can’t guarantee a specific seat location for the cutouts, but notes that since we are filling seats in the first level, there is a chance you may be able to spot yourself on the TV broadcasts!” With that potential bonus — and who doesn’t want to see themselves on TV? — comes the reassuring knowledge that your baseball clone cannot experience loneliness or longing for a preCOVID world, nor can it recall an existence that is not defined by a flatland hell dimension where all existence is baseball. Two Saturdays ago, the Cardinals played their first game since July 29, when a spate of coronavirus infections forced players to quarantine in Milwaukee and eventually led to more than a dozen postponed games. To make up for lost time, the team is scheduled to play ten doubleheaders over the next two months. As far as baseball goes, the Cardinals players are down weeks’ worth of playing time. But that shouldn’t matter to the team’s cardboard crowd. After all, in two dimensions, any direction can be up. n

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AUGUST 26-SEPTEMBER 1, 2020

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SAVAGE LOVE TALL ORDER BY DAN SAVAGE Hey, Dan: I’m a cis male in my late twenties. I’ve recently become consumed by a specific fantasy I fear is unattainable, a fear that has been made worse by several failed attempts to research it. A little background: Except for a couple dates and make-out sessions with other men, my sex life has always been exclusively with women. I’ve had male crushes and often thought I might be bi or pan, despite never masturbating to thoughts of men or gay porn. (Don’t worry, Dan: I’m not going to ask if I’m gay. I promise.) In general, I’ve led a privileged sex life. I’ve never been broken up with, and it’s rare for me to experience any form of rejection. But in early 2020, my libido vanished. I stopped masturbating and only orgasmed once or twice a month when my now ex-girlfriend would insist that we have sex. But then a couple of weeks ago I began imagining being one half of a loving gay couple that replaced all MM penetrative sex with MMF sex. My sex life with my male partner would revolve around the two of us going out and finding submissive women for kinky threesomes. Since then, I’ve been masturbating to this fantasy daily and I’m excited at the possibility of finding a new lifestyle that brings me a lot of joy. However, I’ve grown concerned that nothing else seems to turn me on at all. Equally as concerning, even minor adjustments to this fantasy ruins the whole thing. And to fulfill it I’d need a man who’s at least all of the following: 1. Sensitive, giving, easy-going, and an all-around good guy. 2. Very physically attractive. 3. Into cuddling and general affection, some make-out sessions, and occasional hand jobs and blow jobs — but absolutely no penetrative sex or anal play. 4. Into picking up submissive women for MMF threesomes. 5. Into penetrative sex with said women. 6. Into using roleplay and D/s to take out our kinks on said women. 7. Into giving me the more dominant role. Now for my questions: Does any-

one like this actually exist? Is there a name for the fetish I’m describing? Does it have a community? Is it similar to any more accessible fetishes out there? Does my loss of libido and this specific fantasy say something about me that I’m too close to see? Can Anyone Tell Me Anything Now First and most importantly, CATMAN, kinks aren’t things you “take out” on other people. They’re things you share and enjoy with other people. Perhaps that “take out on” was a slip of the tongue or a little premature dirty talk; lots of people into D/s get off on talking about their kinks — BB or TT or CBT — as if they’re things a sadistic Dom gets off on doing to a helpless sub. That’s the fantasy, CATMAN, but in reality, the Dom and sub discuss their desires in advance, identify areas of overlap, and set limits. (Not just bottoms; tops have limits too.) However brutal things may look to someone who wasn’t a part of those negotiations, however degrading things might sound, kink play is consensual and mutually pleasurable — and if it’s not consensual and mutually pleasurable, CATMAN, then it’s not kink play. It’s sexual assault. Again, maybe it was a slip of the tongue and I’m being a dick; you did mention a desire to find submissive women, CATMAN, which most likely means you were planning to seek out women who wanna be “used and abused” by two hot bi guys in love. And you’re in luc There are definitely women out there who would be into this scenario — some readers probably went all WAP reading your question — but you’re unlikely to meet those women on a night out. Meaning, you shouldn’t be thinking about casually picking women up, CATMAN, but rather cultivating connections online or at kink events with submissive women who would get into subbing for you and your imaginary boyfriend. Finding a guy who meets your long list of particulars is a taller order. It frankly doesn’t sound like you’re looking for a partner, i.e. someone whose needs you want to meet, but rather a guy you can plug into your masturbatory fantasies. He’s gotta be bi but not into butt stuff, a good guy, a hot guy, a sub where you’re con-

If it’s not consensual and mutually pleasurable, it’s not kink play. It’s sexual assault. cerned and a Dom where women are concerned … and any deviation from that long list disqualifies him from consideration for your life partner-in-crime, making each and every item on that long list a deal breaker. Relationships require compromise, CATMAN, no one gets everything they want, and a long list of deal breakers makes for even longer odds. If you can’t budge on any of the items on your list … well, then you might wanna think about getting yourself a sex doll or two. You also might wanna give some thought not just to your long and rigid list of deal breakers, but to why that list is so long and rigid that you’re unlikely — as you suspect to ever find someone. Zooming out … You say your libido tanked in early 2020, CATMAN, and studies show you’re not alone. The twin pandemics — the COVID-19 pandemic and the stupidity pandemic — have tanked a lot of people’s libidos. So, if this fantasy is working for you right now, I think you should lean into it. It may be a tall order, it may be so unrealistic as to be unachievable, but indulging in this very specific fantasy has crac ed your libido open and continuing to beat off about this fantasy might blow your libido wide open. I don’t like to pathologize people’s kinks or attach meaning to what are usually arbitrary, random, and inexplicable sexual interests. But the taller the order, the less li ely it can be filled, ATMAN, and it’s possible you may not want it filled at all at least subconsciously, at least right now. Sometimes when sex is scary we obsess about fantasies that are impossible to realize or partners who’re impossible to find because it allows us to avoid partnered sex. I know at the height of the HIV/AIDS epidemic I was obsessed

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with a guy I couldn’t have because it got me off the hook. My list of deal breakers at that time was ironically pretty short: He had to be Tommy. If he wasn’t Tommy, I wasn’t interested. Tommy was amazing — totally obsessionworthy — and I did love him. But I know now that I threw myself into my obsession with Tommy to protect myself from a terrifying epidemic. Maybe you’re doing something similar, CATMAN. But if I’m wrong — if this is what you want — there are cities out there with kink communities large enough for two partnered bi guys to find a steady stream of submissive women who wanna sub for them. But your list of deal breakers is going to have to shrin if you ever hope to find a guy who’s close to what you want. And that’s all any of us ever gets, CATMAN. Something close. Hey, Dan: I’m a 39-year-old gay man living in Chicago. Recently a good friend of mine got engaged to a wonderful man from Gambia in West Africa. She’s planning a ceremony there next summer and has invited me to attend. After doing a little research I found out that being LGBT is a crime in that country and the punishment is execution. Should I go to the wedding and stay in the closet the whole time? In general, what do you think about gays traveling to countries that murder our LGBT brothers and sisters? Intensely Nervous Venturing Into This Event I wouldn’t go, INVITE, and if I were a straight girl, I wouldn’t expect my gay friends to risk their lives in order to attend my wedding. While a quick search didn’t bring up news about any gay westerners being executed in Gambia in recent history, gay tourists have been arrested, imprisoned and fined. So instead of attending your friend’s wedding next summer — which may not even happen, due to the pandemic — make a donation in her name to Initiative Sankofa D’Afrique de l’Ouest (www.ISDAO. org), an organization working to improve the lives and legal position of LGBT people in Gambia and other West African nations. mail@savagelove.net @FakeDanSavage www.savagelovecast.com

AUGUST 26-SEPTEMBER 1, 2020

RIVERFRONT TIMES

AUGUST 26-SEPTEMBER 1, 2020

riverfronttimes.com

AUGUST 26-SEPTEMBER 1, 2020

RIVERFRONT TIMES

THE GREEN DRAGON CBD

IS A ST. LOUIS, FAMILY-OWNED BUSINESS THAT RECENTLY OPENED ITS FLAGSHIP LOCATION IN CHESTERFIELD Did you know that your body already produces cannabinoids every day as part of a key system that runs throughout your body and helps to regulate almost every part of your body’s functions? CBD is one of many natural cannabinoids found in the cannabis plant, and is used to promote overall health and wellness, as well as to deal with many health challenges. Our company’s mission, and the physical store itself, was constructed with the intention of helping to educate both existing and brand new potential users on every aspect of CBD. The education center includes video, wall displays and printed material to help customers explore CBD and related topics. The inviting environment, much like a spa, is supported by knowledgeable and friendly associates. We are excited to have created an animal friendly establishment, where 5% of all pet product sales go to benefit Stray Rescue of St. Louis. When you are ready to buy CBD, you have the largest selection of top-quality, trusted brands and

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The Green Dragon CBD www.thegreendragoncbd.com 14856 Clayton Rd Chesterfield, MO 63017 (636) 220-7278 Open Mon-Sat 8am-9pm, or Sun 9am-6pm

Riverfront Times, August 26, 2020

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