Archive for November 2020

State Rep.-elect Betsy Fogle is the latest guest on Politically Speaking, where the Springfield Democrat talked with St. Louis Public Radio’s Jason Rosenbaum about her 76-vote win.

Fogle is the only candidate of either party to flip a state legislative district during the 2020 election. She defeated Rep. Steve Helms, R-Springfield, to represent the 135th District, which includes a portion of Greene County.

With her win, Fogle will join House Minority Leader Crystal Quade, D-Springfield, as the only Democrats to represent Greene County in the Missouri General Assembly. While Greene County is historically a Republican stronghold, it has become more competitive in recent years when it comes to state legislative contests.

Here’s what Fogle discussed on the program:

• Her major priorities when she’s sworn into the Missouri House early next year, including how the Legislature should expand Medicaid. Missourians approved a constitutional amendment that requires the state to expand the health care program.
• The need to attract greater access to health care services, especially in rural areas. One of the big challenges for policymakers is filling in health care gaps in rural communities where hospitals have closed down.
• Voter approval this year of Amendment 3, which repealed the Clean Missouri state legislative redistricting system. Fogle said she’ll be advocating for using the total population standard when counting people. Amendment 3 provides the option of using the eligible voter standard, which could mean children wouldn’t be counted during the redistricting process.
• Whether Missouri should overhaul its absentee ballot process next year. Lawmakers passed legislation this year that temporarily added COVID-19 as an excuse to get an absentee ballot and created a mail-in ballot option that needs to be notarized.

Fogle is a Springfield native who has worked in the public health care field for most of her professional career. Her race against Helms was her first run for office.

Follow Jason Rosenbaum on Twitter: @jrosenbaum

Follow Betsy Fogle on Twitter: @Betsy4MO

Music: “Neighborhood #2 (Laika)” by Arcade Fire

Business owners in the Central West End neighborhood of St. Louis have long adorned their storefronts with festive decorations during the holiday season.

That tradition is getting a twist this year, courtesy of a collaboration between St. Louis Shakespeare Festival and Painted Black STL, the artist collective that formed this summer to paint on boarded-up windows around the city.

Fifteen artists are creating storefront displays that interpret scenes from Charles Dickens’ oft-adapted novel “A Christmas Carol.” They will be in place from Nov. 28 through Dec. 23.

The project, called “A Walking Xmas Carol,” also includes a musical element. As they stroll from one storefront to another, visitors are encouraged to listen along to a humorous, hip-hop adaptation of the story of Ebenezer Scrooge recorded by Chicago-based group Q Brothers. (St. Louis Shakespeare Festival performed Q Brothers’ very loose adaptation of Shakespeare’s “The Two Gentlemen of Verona” in January.) The storefront project was also developed in partnership with Central West End Window Walk.

One idea behind it is to create an upbeat and safe activity for people who’ve been getting most of their entertainment via computer or TV screens during the coronavirus pandemic. Audiences can’t gather in a theater for a stage adaptation of the story this December, but they can stroll down the streets of the Central West End.

Another is to showcase artists of color, particularly Black artists, who have historically been underrepresented in the vision of Christmas presented by mass media.

“The festival’s a predominately white institution, and of course we know the greatest creative combinations have been when different cultures come into collision,” said Tom Ridgely, St. Louis Shakespeare Festival’s producing artistic director. “Just the simple sight of a black Scrooge or a black Tiny Tim certainly makes you think about that story in a different way. I think it’s something that we just haven’t seen enough of in our stages or in our culture.”

The participating artists are Kaila Austin, Taylor Deed, Kyla Hawkins, Edo Rosenblith, Mee Jey, Sean Alexander, Jayvn Solomon, Charlie Tatum, Erika McClellan, Cam Williams, Tielere Cheatem, Bino, Destiney Lomax, Destini Clark and De Nichols.

In this episode of Cut & Paste, we hear from Ridgely and Solomon.

Ridgely described his organization’s creative path through the coronavirus pandemic, including Zoom performances and this reconfigured combination of holiday traditions. Solomon, who co-founded Painted Black STL, explained why he filled one storefront with objects that were otherwise headed for the trash and remarked on the creative diversity found among Black artists in St. Louis.

The focal point of “A Walking Xmas Carol” is at the intersection of Euclid Street and Maryland Plaza.

“This intersection is one of the busier parts of St. Louis city,” Solomon said. “For different perspectives and points of view to be welcomed into these spaces, and then to come in and be consumed by other folks who might not have otherwise, is a big deal. Because we have a more whole understanding of, first and foremost, what’s happening in St. Louis.”

Follow Jeremy on Twitter: @jeremydgoodwin

Photo Credit: Jia Lian Yang

The call to defund the police has gained steam as activists and advocates bring attention to police budgets that they believe could be better allocated to education, healthcare, and social services. At the heart of this call is the question of whether or not police increase public safety.

Growing numbers of people are joining a movement to abolish the current system of policing and imagine new structures for responding to mental health crises, domestic violence, and social problems created by poverty and racism. In this episode, we talk to the co-chairs of St. Louis’ Coalition Against Police Crimes and Repression about police accountability and the tension between efforts to reform and desire to abolish the current system of policing.

State Rep. Kip Kendrick is the latest guest on Politically Speaking, where he spoke with St. Louis Public Radio’s Jason Rosenbaum and Jaclyn Driscoll about his decision to leave the Missouri House.

Kendrick is a Democrat who represents parts of Boone County. He was reelected to his fourth and final term to the General Assembly’s lower chamber but announced he was resigning in early January to become chief of staff for state Sen.-elect Greg Razer.

Kendrick was the Democrats’ ranking member on the powerful House Budget Committee. He also played a big role in issues involving the University of Missouri-Columbia, which is in his district.

Here’s what Kendrick talked about during the show:

• His reasoning for joining Razer’s staff, including the fact that senators typically are more powerful than individual members of the House. He also noted that Razer is a big supporter of the University of Missouri-Columbia and has played an active role in transportation issues.
• Term limits as a big factor in his decision. Kendrick would have been barred from running for a final term in the Missouri House after 2022.
• Lawmakers’ pay as another issue that could be prompting them to leave early or potential candidates to forgo runs for the Legislature.
• The possible ways the Legislature could respond in the coming year to Missourians’ passage of a constitutional amendment to expand Medicaid.

Kendrick worked in higher education and social services before entering electoral politics in 2014. He was the only candidate to file for the 45th District House seat. The district is heavily Democratic, so winning that primary was tantamount to election.

Kendrick is a native of Monroe City, the population center of Monroe County. That county is historically one of the most Democratic in the state but has tended to vote more Republican in national and state legislative contests.

Follow Jason Rosenbaum on Twitter: @jrosenbaum

Follow Jaclyn Driscoll on Twitter: @DriscollNPR

Follow Kip Kendrick on Twitter: @kip_kendrick

Music: “A Praise Chorus” by Jimmy Eat World

State Rep.-elect Adam Schwadron is the latest guest on Politically Speaking, where he talked with St. Louis Public Radio’s Jason Rosenbaum about his election to the Missouri House and some of his priorities and expectations.

Schwadron is a St. Charles County Republican who defeated Democrat Cindy Berne by 545 votes earlier this month to represent the 106th District. That includes a portion of St. Charles that is more politically competitive than other parts of the county.

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

• Why St. Charles County is so Republican-leaning yet his race was so competitive. His predecessor, state Rep. Chrissy Sommer, narrowly won a special election in 2011 but ended up winning subsequent races by larger margins.
• Potential efforts to overhaul how the absentee ballot works in Missouri. A number of county elections officials have sought to get rid of the specific excuses to vote absentee, but have not been successful.
• Efforts to shield businesses from lawsuits related to COVID-19. After this episode was recorded, Gov. Mike Parson expanded a special session to include that issue.
• The potential of having St. Charles County in one congressional district, which is something that some of his GOP colleagues, like Sen. Bill Eigel, R-St. Charles County, support. Such a move could make it easier to elect someone from St. Charles County to Congress, which has been a goal among Republicans there for a number of years.

Schwadron is a St. Louis County native who owns a carpet cleaning business. He first entered the electoral arena in 2018 when he unsuccessfully ran for St. Charles County election director, a race that his fellow Republican Kurt Bahr eventually won.

Schwadron will be sworn in to office early next year.

Follow Jason Rosenbaum: @jrosenbaum

Follow Adam Schwadron: @AJSchwadron

Music: “It’s Getting Hectic” by The Urge