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Utility executive Andrew Jones, one of four candidates in the March 2 primary for mayor of St. Louis, is the latest guest on Politically Speaking. He joined St. Louis Public Radio’s Rachel Lippmann to talk about supporting the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department to fight violent crime, developing an overall economic development strategy for the city and making inroads as a Republican in a Democratic city.

Here’s what Jones talked about on the show:

• The city cannot move forward until it gets violent crime under control. “At this point, I’m looking at, we’re probably crossing a point of no return,” he said. “We have cities like Gary, Indiana, who are struggling mightily because they can’t sustain population. They couldn’t get rid of the negative PR associated with violence and crime, and then you begin to plummet.”
• His violent crime strategy is heavy on enforcement. The police department knows the people who are committing the vast majority of the violence, he said, but public safety leaders are preventing officers from making arrests to avoid political backlash if an encounter with police turns deadly.
• A comprehensive economic development plan is another key component of Jones’ platform, and for him, the process of putting it together is equally as important as the specifics. “Once you follow the mechanics and the techniques, that leads you where you need to go,” he said.
• Jones was the Republican candidate in 2017 but says a new nonpartisan election process gives him an advantage. “I believe that people are frustrated,” he said. “And that gives us a path to victory because more and more people are tuning in and listening.”

Jones has spent 40 years in the electric utility business and is currently the executive vice president for business development and marketing at Southwestern Electric Cooperative, which serves 11 counties in Illinois.

Follow Rachel on Twitter: @rlippmann

Follow Andrew Jones on Twitter: @AJones4MayorSTL

Music: “Instrumental #1,” by Seth Ashley

State Rep. Peggy McGaugh is the latest guest on Politically Speaking, where the Carrollton Republican spoke with St. Louis Public Radio’s Jason Rosenbaum about what’s next for absentee voting in Missouri.

McGaugh also discussed her reaction to Gov. Mike Parson’s State of the State speech, including the impending expansion of Medicaid.

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

• 2021 may be the best year to make changes to the absentee ballot process after scores of people voted early last year due to COVID-19 concerns. McGaugh has sponsored legislation in the past that would allow someone to vote in-person absentee without an excuse.
• Many local election officials have panned Missouri’s excuse system, noting that it’s basically impossible to prove that someone is not telling the truth when explaining why they’re voting absentee.
• She also talked about how her colleagues will approach Medicaid expansion, which is now required thanks to a 2020 constitutional amendment that voters approved. McGaugh serves on a budget committee that will handle the expansion.

McGaugh represents the 39th House District in northwest Missouri, which takes in Carroll, Ray and Chariton counties. She was first elected in 2018 to succeed her son Joe Don McGaugh, who resigned from the House after being appointed to a judgeship.

Before getting elected, McGaugh served six four-year terms as Carroll County’s clerk — making her one of the longest tenured local elections officials in the state. In 2009, she served as president of the Missouri Association of Counties and has also served as treasurer for the Missouri Association of County Clerks and Election Authorities.

Follow Jason Rosenbaum on Twitter: @jrosenbaum

Follow Peggy McGaugh on Twitter: @PeggyMcGaughR39

When the band Clockwork played for a hometown crowd on the stage of LouFest in 2015, the group was on the rise.

It had been together five years, touring the country and releasing three records. High school buddies Logan Slone and Logan Mohler formed the group when they were in seventh grade, quickly adding Logan Slone’s slightly older brother Jordan, whose status as a high school student made him the group’s elder statesman.

The LouFest gig seemed an auspicious marker of the group’s rise. But it was Clockwork’s final appearance.

The Slones and Mohler felt that band decisions had been taken out of their hands and that they were being marketed as just a lightweight, teen band — a boy band with instruments and a sunny Midwestern disposition. The whole thing no longer felt right. So the trio re-formed as Hounds the next year, with a somewhat scruffier look and a more rock-infused sound.

Since then there have been years of twists and turns. Logan Slone departed and later returned to the band. Bassist Jack McCoy joined the group. And now, Hounds sits on the brink of its biggest success. Hounds’ major label debut, “Cattle in the Sky,” will be released by BMG on Feb. 5.

“For me, it means it’s a payoff for all the years of hard work we’ve put in with this band,” Logan Slone said. “It’s nice to get that validation, that we’re finally making strides toward our end goal.”

The group got a taste of the national spotlight in 2019 when it won the second season of “Who Will Rock You?” — a band competition show viewable online and on Amazon Prime Video. The competition was only meant to lead to some meetings and maybe a development deal, but the label liked what it heard and sent the band into the studio. Hounds turned down opportunities to record in Los Angeles or Nashville, and instead worked with engineer Jason McEntire at Sawhorse Studios in St. Louis.

The album shows off the group’s tuneful, energetic rock ‘n’ roll. It’s also a leap forward for the band’s artistic identity, no longer hemmed in by an image that felt false.

Several songs “really point to the kind of messages we want to accomplish and the kind of — just lack of care anymore about feeling ashamed in front of other people, or feeling like I can’t say something because it’s going to upset someone,” Jordan Slone said. “Being able to be honest in your music is the only way it’s going to feel real to someone else. People can smell a fraud a thousand miles away.”

Follow Jeremy on Twitter: @jeremydgoodwin

St. Louis Treasurer Tishaura Jones, one of four candidates in the March 2 mayoral primary, is the latest guest on Politically Speaking. She joined St. Louis Public Radio’s Rachel Lippmann to discuss her plans to improve St. Louis’ reputation, address its vast racial divides and make a second run for mayor under a brand-new system of voting.

Here’s what Jones talked about on the show:

• Though Jones is not the only candidate to win a citywide race, she points out that she is the only one elected to an executive branch office. “I’m the only candidate with the executive experience of turning a vision into a reality, the management experience of leading a staff of hundreds of people, and the relationships on the state and national levels to put St. Louis back on the map,” she said.
• The city needs to have tough conversations about its racist history, and Jones believes she is the best person to open that dialog. She is a St. Louis native raising a son in her hometown. “I believe the people closest to the problem are closest to the solution,” she said.
• Jones believes that acting on the recommendations of the reports issued by For the Sake of All and the Ferguson Commission will position the city well for corporate and philanthropic investment. There is no better strategic plan than one based on research that’s already been done, she said.

Jones spent four years in the Missouri House of Representatives before running for treasurer. She also has experience in the health care and finance fields.

You can find an episode about the mayor’s race with Alderwoman Cara Spencer, D-20th Ward, here. Utility executive Andrew Jones and Board of Aldermen President Lewis Reed will be recording episodes at a later date.

Follow Rachel on Twitter: @rlippmann

Follow Tishaura Jones on Twitter: @Tishaura

Music: “Instrumental #1,” by Seth Ashley.

In the last two seasons of the show, we have covered the COVID-19 pandemic and the current uprising for Black lives, both of which continue to shape society today. The pandemic and the uprising also raised two major questions, which we’ll be addressing in our new season on environmental racism: How do we achieve a healthy life? And what kind of world do we want to leave for the next generation? These are profound questions for a region that boasts some of the most prestigious hospitals in the nation and is home to residents with some of the worst health outcomes. So in this season, we’ll trace the connection between systemic racism, housing conditions, and health outcomes. But we’ll also highlight the organizers, tenants rights advocates, and urban farmers who are working to improve conditions in their communities. The first episode of the environmental racism season drops on Friday, February 12th, anywhere you get podcasts.