Archive for October 2020

Democratic gubernatorial nominee Nicole Galloway joins St. Louis Public Radio’s Jason Rosenbaum and Jaclyn Driscoll to talk about key issues in the contest against Gov. Mike Parson.

The Galloway-Parson showdown is one of the few governor’s races in the country that are seen as competitive, which is why both candidates have benefited from their party’s national governors associations pumping in millions of dollars.

Here’s what Galloway talked about on the show:

• How she would handle the COVID-19 pandemic differently than Parson, including why she would impose a statewide mask mandate. Parson has declined to do that, instead allowing individual counties to make that decision for themselves.
• Her approach to schools reopening during the pandemic, which has become a hot topic across the nation and Missouri with coronavirus numbers still increasing.
• Why the state should have a law requiring insurance companies to cover preexisting conditions.
• How she would have managed a special session on violent crime differently.
• What she would do to reduce inequities between white and Black Missourians.

Galloway was first appointed to the state auditor’s office in 2015 after Tom Schweich’s death. She won a full term in 2018, defeating Republican Saundra McDowell by a little more than 6 percentage points. Before that, she served as Boone County treasurer.
Galloway’s victory was arguably the Democrats’ lone bright spot in 2018. But it also highlighted some of the party’s weaknesses. Even though Galloway’s opponent was attacked for her past financial troubles and spent less money than candidates for St. Louis alderman, she still won most rural and some suburban counties by sizable margins.

During the show, Galloway contended that the issues have shifted in her party’s direction over the past few months — most notably Parson’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic. She also said that if Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden does better in Missouri than Hillary Clinton did in 2016, that could affect the outcome of the governor’s contest.

St. Louis Public Radio has contacted the Parson campaign and is working on getting the governor on the podcast in the coming days.

Follow Jason Rosenbaum on Twitter: @jrosenbaum

Follow Jaclyn Driscoll on Twitter: @DriscollNPR

Follow Nicole Galloway on Twitter: @nicolergalloway

Music: “Thunderstruck” by AC/DC

Andrew Stephen, a native of Ballwin, was staying at a friend’s house after graduating from high school when he figured he’d assemble his bits and pieces of audio gear into a makeshift recording space.

About a day later, he learned that a family friend had died and bequeathed Stephen his sizable collection of recording equipment. The mixing console moved into the bedroom and Stephens’ mattress moved out, to an attic crawlspace — at least when other musicians swung by to check out his bedroom-cum-recording-studio.

Chrissy Renick, a vocalist and keyboardist from Cape Girardeau, was among them. He produced her debut EP, “A Thousand Shades,” in 2012. It’s a sometimes-sultry, sometimes-funky affair, informed by the sounds of contemporary R&B and neo soul.

“It was a very life-changing conversation and a turning point for me,” Renick said of her first meeting with Stephen. Their conversation encouraged her to move to St. Louis a few months later and pursue life as a professional musician.

They became a couple. Renick performed around town as a solo artist and with other bands, and Stephen built a business as a recording engineer and producer. But after years of pursuing separate musical ventures, in August they released their first album as a duo: Sample Kulture.

“Upstairs Headroom” explores similar territory as “A Thousand Shades,” with deeper drinks of jazz fusion, electronic elements and ear-friendly pop poured into the style. The pair describe it as “future soul.”

“Let’s dig more into the pop. Let’s give into the gods of pop music here,” Stephen said of Sample Kulture’s approach. “And still be able to get that jazz, harmonic language in there — some improvisation, some sophistication that listeners will appreciate.”

In this episode of Cut & Paste, Stephen and Renick talk about how they found their way to each other, and to the birth of Sample Kulture.

St. Louis County Councilman Ernie Trakas is the latest guest on Politically Speaking, where he spoke to St. Louis Public Radio’s Jason Rosenbaum and Rachel Lippmann about his reelection bid.

The Republican represents the 6th District on the council, which takes in much of unincorporated south St. Louis County. He’s running against state Rep. Bob Burns, who recorded an episode of Politically Speaking last week.

Here’s what Trakas had to say during the show:

• He talked about some of the upcoming budgetary issues for the county. Like many other areas of the state and nation, St. Louis County is looking at a large budgetary shortfall because of the economic impact of COVID-19.
• Trakas broke down his mentality when it comes to development in south St. Louis County. Since most of that area is unincorporated, the 6th District county councilman has a big say over residential and commercial development.
• He discussed whether County Executive Sam Page could have to deal with a more adversarial council after 2021, especially since one of Page’s allies, Rochelle Walton Gray, lost her reelection bid.

An attorney, Trakas had never run for public office before 2016. He ran in an open race for the 6th District against former state Rep. Patricia Yaeger, a Democrat who had support from elected officials and labor unions. Trakas ended up winning by a small margin, and he became the first Republican to represent the district since 2008.

Follow Jason Rosenbaum on Twitter: @jrosenbaum

Follow Rachel Lippmann on Twitter: @rlippmann

Follow Ernie Trakas on Twitter: @ErnieTrakas

Music: “I Won’t Back Down” by Johnny Cash