Jailing the poor by Jean Buchanan

M 1 WEDNESDAY • 10.10.2018 • A2

WHAT’S ON STLTODAY.COM EASIER PUFF PASTRY

CRIME TRACKER

UPCOMING CHATS

Making your own seems hard, but it doesn’t have to be. Food writer Dan Neman takes you to Prep School and shows you how. stltoday.com/watch

See what crime is happening in St. Louis County and St. Louis — and how it compares with a year ago. stltoday.com/databases

Wednesday Ask the Road Crew, 1 p.m. Jim Thomas talks Blues, 1 p.m. Thursday MU sports with Dave Matter, 11 a.m. Friday Talk STL sports with Jeff Gordon, 1 p.m. Monday Talk Cardinals baseball, 1 p.m. Tuesday Sports columnist Ben Frederickson, 11 a.m.

Counties’ jailing of the poor ‘has got to stop,’ defender says TONY MESSENGER St. Louis Post-Dispatch

Leanne Banderman stole nail polish. It was two years ago in Dent County. Banderman pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor for shoplifting the $24.29 product at a Walmart. Judge Brandi Baird sentenced her to 30 days in the county jail. Then Baird sent Banderman a bill for $1,400. This is the reality in rural Missouri if you’re poor and find yourself crossways with the law. First you do time in jail because you can’t afford bail, even on minor offenses. In many Missouri counties, more than 60 percent of people in prison are there on nonviolent offenses. Then you get a bill for your jail time. Then things really get tough. Banderman couldn’t afford the “board bill” for her jail time. So Baird put her in jail again. This time the bill was $2,160. For the past couple of years, I’ve been writing about this problem in St. Francois County, where Judge Sandra Martinez has been overturned twice by the Missouri Supreme Court for similar offenses. But the problem is much bigger than one county. It’s happening all over the state, says Matthew Mueller. He’s the senior bond litigation counsel for the Missouri Public Defender’s Office, and his primary job these days is filing lawsuits on behalf of poor people like Banderman who end up in jail because they’re poor, and then the

judicial system buries them in poverty even deeper than they imagined. “The practical reality is that people are being arrested for being poor,” Mueller says. “And there’s nothing they can do about it. They just sit in jail and the bill keeps getting higher.” On Wednesday, Mueller will be in Kansas City to ask the Western District of the Missouri Court of Appeals to find this practice unlawful. The problem, Mueller says, isn’t just that the rural counties are charging poor people for being in jail. It’s that they’re then treating that jail debt as a “fine” and using the county’s arrest power when people can’t afford to pay the fine. Take John Wright, of Higginsville, Mueller’s client in the Wednesday appeal. Wright, who suffered a traumatic brain injury when he was 19, was charged with stealing for failing to pay for a taxi ride in 2016. He was sentenced to 90 days in jail. Upon being released, Wright was served with a $1,300 bill for his jail time. Every month thereafter, if the bill wasn’t fully paid, the judge would schedule a show-cause hearing on the debt. If Wright didn’t show up, a warrant would be issued for his arrest. The court never determined whether he had the ability to pay. Wright is indigent and was represented by the public defender. It’s a long-standing constitutional protection in U.S. courts that people can’t be jailed for failure to pay debt. But whether it’s municipal courts in St. Louis County stacking up traffic tickets, or rural counties issuing bills for jail time, the practice is still common in Missouri. “This entire practice is unlawful and

must cease,” Mueller writes. At some point, state lawmakers might want to pay attention to what’s happening in the circuit courts in their jurisdictions. That’s because in many of them, the counties are billing poor people for money they’ve already collected from the state. Under state law, if a person is held in the county jail for a state felony, Missouri taxpayers end up paying about $22 a day of that bill. State law actually allows for more than twice that amount of payment, but the Legislature never provides full funding. Among the biggest recipients of that county money are those rural counties also known for taking extrajudicial steps to keep poor people in jail while they rack up higher costs. In 2017, for instance, St. Francois County was reimbursed nearly $155,000 from the state for “board bill” costs. Franklin County took in $162,000; Caldwell collected $149,000; Camden and Laclede counties both topped $200,000. And in most of those counties, the people in jail were billed even after the state paid. None of this is constitutional, Mueller says. He now has cases before all three appeals courts in the state seeking a determination that would put an end to this practice. The American Civil Liberties Union has filed briefs supporting Mueller’s clients in all three cases. “It’s really scary what’s going on,” Mueller says. “It’s indefinite commitment. These people are totally helpless. This has got to stop.” Tony Messenger • 314-340-8518 @tonymess on Twitter tmessenger@post-dispatch.com

PEOPLE Gunn gets new gig with DC James Gunn may have been fired from Marvel’s “Guardians of the Galaxy,” but DC Comics will welcome him with open arms. Warner Bros. on Tuesday confirmed that Gunn will write the script to the studio’s next installment of “Suicide Squad,” the DC supervillain team-up franchise. In July, Disney fired Gunn after jokes involving rape and pedophilia he wrote years earlier on Twitter resurfaced. The creative force behind the popular “Guardians” films, Gunn’s firing prompted its own backlash. The cast issued a statement of support for Gunn, who grew up in St. Louis. But instead, Gunn will take over “Suicide Squad,” the franchise led by Will Smith, Margot Robbie and Jared Leto. The first film, written and directed by David Ayer, earned $747 million in 2016 but drew withering reviews. Gunn is expected to take a new approach and potentially direct. Rockers nominated • Stevie Nicks, who’s already in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a member of Fleetwood Mac, has been nominated for inclusion as a solo artist next year, along with other first-time nominees Def Leppard, Todd Rundgren, Devo, John Prine and Roxy Music. Nine other artists are returning to the ballot for another try, including Janet Jackson, Radiohead and the Cure. Generally, about five to seven nominees each year are voted into the hall. Winners are announced in December. Perry seeks break • You might not hear Katy Perry roar for a little while. The pop star says she’s taking a break from making music after releasing her fifth studio album last year and completing her latest drawn-out world tour over the summer. “I’ve been on the road for like 10 years, so I’m just going to chill,” she told Footwear News. “I’m not going to go straight into making another record. I feel like I’ve done a lot. I feel like I’ve rung the bell of being a pop star very loudly, and I’m very grateful for that.”

CELEBRITY BIRTHDAYS

Flooding closes roads, threatens to top levees BY JIM SALTER Associated Press

ST. LOUIS • Heavy rain across northern Missouri has caused river levels to spike, shutting down roads and threatening some homes and businesses in low-lying areas. The Missouri River and other waterways are already flooding in the state’s northwest, and the Mississippi River’s levels are rising fast, especially in the northeast of the state. Parts of Missouri could get thunderstorms through Wednesday, which would add water to the river basins. But storms that might dump up to 2 inches of rain in parts of Wisconsin and Iowa could further swell rivers downstream and be of greater concern in Missouri,

Mark Fuchs, a hydrologist with the National Weather Service, said Tuesday. He said the additional water would likely extend the duration of flooding, not worsen the crests. “This is not an historic flood, at least not yet,” Fuchs said. That doesn’t mean it isn’t causing trouble. Nearly 70 Missouri roads were closed due to high water, mostly in northwestern Missouri. The closures include stretches of U.S. Highway 24 and Missouri Highway 48. The Missouri River will crest Thursday in St. Joseph at nearly 9 feet above flood stage, threatening a residential area, the weather service said. The Missouri also is expected to overflow agricultural levees near Glasgow on Friday, which could flood some homes.

Stretches of the Katy Trail hiking and biking path in central Missouri are expected to flood. The worst is yet to come along the Mississippi River. Towns such as Hannibal, Louisiana and Clarksville are expected to face significant flooding by the weekend. Buyouts since the historically bad 1993 flood have mitigated potential damage, but the high water could get into scattered homes and businesses. In Hannibal, flood gates were installed to protect the Mark Twain sites and the rest of downtown, and a popular high school marching band festival was pushed back a week. The Mississippi is expected to reach flood stage Thursday in St. Louis and crest nearly 6 feet above flood stage on Monday.

Victims identified in 3 fatal shootings in city FROM STAFF REPORTS

ST. LOUIS • Authorities on Tuesday identified three people killed in separate shootings centered on one St. Louis neighborhood Monday night. The shootings happened in a fivehour span in or on the edge of the Hamilton Heights neighborhood. The first shooting Monday was about 5:15 p.m. in the 5900 block of Martin Luther King Drive, near Hodiamont Avenue. Responding officers found Antonio Neely, 30, unconscious and not breathing. He was taken to a hospital, where he was pronounced dead. Neely lived in

the 5900 block of Horton Place. Police arrested a man, 30, in connection with Neely’s death. Police did not identify the suspect or announce whether he had been charged. The shooting scene on Martin Luther King was on the border of the Hamilton Heights and Wells-Goodfellow neighborhoods. About 6:45 p.m. Monday, officers found Robert Lamont Lee, 25, shot to death in the 1400 block of Belt Avenue, about a mile southeast of the first shooting scene. He lived in the same block of Belt. Police had no suspects. Later, shortly after 10 p.m. Monday,

a man was fatally shot in the 1300 block of Blackstone Avenue, police said. The scene is about midway between the other two shooting locations. Police say Jordan Bradshaw, 24, was killed in an encounter with another man. Police haven’t said what happened in the encounter. Bradshaw and the other man, 30, knew each other, police said. Bradshaw lived in the 1700 block of South Fifth Street. Authorities asked anyone with information to contact CrimeStoppers at 1-866-371-8477. Tipsters can remain anonymous and may be eligible for a reward.

Actor Peter Coyote is 77. Actor-dancer Ben Vereen is 72. Singer Cyril Neville is 70. Actress Jessica Harper is 69. Country singer Tanya Tucker is 60. Actress Julia Sweeney is 59. Actor Bradley Whitford is 59. Actress Wendi McLendon-Covey is 49. Actor Mario Lopez is 45. Singer Mya is 39. Actor Dan Stevens is 36. R&B singer Cherie is 34. From news services

LOTTERY MULTISTATE GAMES MEGA MILLIONS Tuesday: 20-22-39-54-60 Mega ball: 18 Megaplier: 3 Estimated jackpot: $470 million POWERBALL Wednesday’s estimated jackpot: $282 million

MISSOURI LOTTERIES LOTTO Wednesday’s estimated jackpot: $4.2 million SHOW ME CASH Tuesday: 02-10-23-29-30 Wednesday’s estimated jackpot: $142,000 PICK-3 Tuesday Midday: 565 Evening: 269 PICK-4 Tuesday Midday: 8223 Evening: 7779

ILLINOIS LOTTERIES LUCKY DAY LOTTO Tuesday Midday: 27-33-34-39-43 Evening: 04-12-29-35-45 LOTTO Monday: 11-19-29-34-35-44 Extra shot: 11 Thursday’s estimated jackpot: $17 million PICK-3 Tuesday Midday: 777 FB: 9 Evening: 454 FB: 3 PICK-4 Tuesday Midday: 2812 FB: 2 Evening: 6902 FB: 1

STLTODAY.COM/LOTTERY Current and past numbers, plus jackpots from state lotteries around the country.

GOT A STORY TIP? We want to hear from you. Submit news tips online. They are confidential, and you can choose to remain anonymous >>> stltoday.com/newstips

INSIDE Business .............. A12 Editorial .............. A14 Horoscopes ......... EV2 Letters to editor .. A14 Obituaries ........... A16 People ................... A2

CONTACT US Puzzles ................ EV2 Sports calendar .... B2 Stocks ................. A13 Tony Messenger .... A2 TV listings ........... EV3 Weather ................ B9

The Post-Dispatch is a Lee Enterprises Newspaper and is published daily. USPS: 476-580. Postmaster send address changes to St. Louis Post-Dispatch, 900 N. Tucker Blvd., St. Louis, MO 63101-1099. Periodical postage paid at St. Louis. Suggested average weekly retail prices for home delivery with full digital access are: Mon-Sun $10.25, Sun-Fri $9.00, Mon-Fri $7.75, Thu-Sun $8.50, Sat-Mon $7.50, Fri-Sun $7.50, Wed&Sun $7.00, Sun&Mon $7.00, Sat&Sun $7.00, Sunday Only $4.50. The subscription price includes all applicable sales tax and a charge for the convenience of having the paper delivered. To avoid delivery charges, call 314-340-8888 to arrange pick up of your paper at one of our local distribution centers. Rates are based on the annual charges for premium days and/or plus sections delivered on 10/21/18, 11/18/18,11/22/18,12/9/18,12/16/1 8, 1/13/19, 1/27/19, 2/17/19, 3/17/19, 3/24/19, 4/14/19, 4/21/19, 5/19/19, 5/26/19, 6/16/19, 6/23/19, 7/14/19, 7/21/19, 8/18/19, 8/25/19, 9/8/19, and timing of these charges may affect the length of the subscription. A nonrefundable account set up fee will be charged to qualifying new starts.

For news tips only, phone ................................ 314-340-8222

CUSTOMER SERVICE: 314-340-8888

Submit news tips ..........................metro@post-dispatch.com

Customer service hours

Submit events for our calendar ............ events.stltoday.com

6:30 a.m.–5 p.m. Monday-Friday, 7–11 a.m. Saturday-Sunday and 7–10 a.m. on holidays. service@stltoday.com

Main number....................................................314-340-8000

STLtoday.com/subscriberservices 888-785-3201

PLACE DEATH NOTICES

STLtoday.com

800-365-0820 ext. 8600

PLACE CLASSIFIED OR OTHER ADVERTISING

STLtoday.com

314-621-6666

Features: Amy Bertrand ..................................314-340-8284 Local news: Marcia Koenig............................... 314-340-8142 Business: Lisa Brown ....................................... 314-340-8127 Online: Amanda St. Amand .............................. 314-340-8201

FAX AD INFORMATION BUY REPRINTS

Editor: Gilbert Bailon .......................................314-340-8387

314-340-8664 STLtoday.mycapture.com

Projects: Jean Buchanan .................................. 314-340-8111 Sports: Roger Hensley ...................................... 314-340-8301

M 2 FRIDAY • 10.26.2018 • A2

WHAT’S ON STLTODAY.COM GOT JOKES?

NEWS & BREWS

UPCOMING CHATS

Submit your most howl-arious riddles for a chance to be included in our online joke collection. stltoday.com/contests

Come have a (free!) beer and talk shop with our politics team at our News & Brews event Nov. 1 at the Schlafly Tap Room. stltoday.com/OurEvents

Friday

Talk STL sports with Jeff Gordon, 1 p.m.

Monday Talk Cardinals baseball, 1 p.m. Tuesday Sports columnist Ben Frederickson, 11 a.m. Wednesday

Ask the Road Crew, 1 p.m. Jim Thomas talks Blues, 1 p.m.

TONY’S TAKE

PEOPLE

St. Francois County prosecutor delays justice again as vote nears

Amid controversy, tomorrow not certain for ‘Megyn Kelly Today’

Critics say he and judge trap low-income people in legal mire TONY MESSENGER St. Louis Post-Dispatch

FARMINGTON, MO. • Rob Hopple is a free man. Well, he has an ankle bracelet. He still faces a December felony trial. He’s tethered to the judicial system that has, in his longtime mate’s words, destroyed his life. But on Wednesday, he breathed clean air. He shed a jail jumpsuit for his own clothes. He hugged his domestic partner, Kristin Brown. He was supposed to be in court, defending himself against an allegation that three years ago he exposed himself to an 11-year-old girl who was spending the night with Hopple’s daughter. He and Brown, who was home at the time, vehemently deny he did that. A state Child and Neglect Review Board agreed, dismissing the allegation. But St. Francois County Prosecuting Attorney Jerrod Mahurin sought, and obtained, a grand jury indictment. That was in November 2016. Since then, the wheels of justice have turned slowly. That’s the way things seem to be in St. Francois County, where a growing chorus of critics believe Mahurin and Circuit Judge Sandra Martinez unnecessarily keep mostly low-income defendants in jail for months. Unable to make bail, some of these defendants eventually agree to a plea bargain to get out of jail. Hopple had been in jail since May after falling behind on payments on an ankle bracelet. Court dates kept coming and going, with Mahurin seeking continuances and Martinez granting them. That’s what happened Tuesday. It was the fifth trial date pushed back since April, all at Mahurin’s request.

Rob Hopple and his domestic partner, Kristin Brown.

This time, Mahurin blamed me for the delay. In a court motion he cited my September column about Hopple as an attempt “to poison the jury panel against the victim ...” Mahurin said in the motion that he just found out about the column, even though I emailed and called him for comment about a month ago, when the column ran. He didn’t return my calls. Now he says in that court motion that he wants to talk to me before the trial goes forward. As Hopple was being set free, I was interviewing Farmington attorney Vonne Carraker, at her office about a block south of the courthouse. She practices elder law but has become a clearinghouse of sorts for people who claim to have been harmed by the judicial system. They come to her to complain about Mahurin and Martinez. She files Sunshine Law requests, asks for budgets, and shows up to St. Francois County Commission meetings to ask questions. She and many of the people she talks to post on a Facebook page with criticisms, citing specific cases and public complaints that have been made about Mahurin. The invite-only St. Francois County politics page has more than 2,900 members. Hopple’s case, she says, is endemic of what is happening in St. Francois County.

Quincy Street Bistro will close after Sunday BY IAN FROEB St. Louis Post-Dispatch

Quincy Street Bistro, the acclaimed Princeton Heights restaurant that introduced one of St. Louis’ brightest culinary stars to local acclaim and national attention, will close after service on Sunday, owners Sue and Mike Enright announced Thursday. “This was a great adventure,” Sue Enright says. However, “We’re ready to move on.” Quincy Street opened in 2011 at Quincy Street and Gravois Avenue. The following year, the Enrights hired their future son-inlaw, Rick Lewis, as chef. Lewis, who had cooked at LoRusso’s Cucina and for acclaimed chef Josh Galliano at An American Place and Monarch, transformed Quincy Street’s menu, infusing its comfort food with a contemporary ethos of scratch cooking and locally sourced ingredients. Acclaim soon followed.

The Post-Dispatch named Lewis its “Chef of the Year” for 2013, and in 2014, he was a semifinalist for the national “Rising Star Chef of the Year” James Beard Award. Lewis left Quincy Street in 2015 to open Southern with the Pappy’s Smokehouse team in midtown. He and his wife, Elisa, now operate Grace Meat + Three in Forest Park Southeast’s Grove district. Meanwhile, Quincy Street continued under chefs Chris Tirone, Chris Ladley and, lately, Matt Birkenmeier. Throughout the changes in chefs, it remained a mainstay of the STL 100, this critic’s annual list of essential St. Louis restaurants. Quincy Street will be open for lunch and dinner as usual through Saturday. Its final service will be its “Kegs and Eggs” brunch from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Sunday. Ian Froeb • 314-340-8348 @ianfroeb on Twitter ifroeb@post-dispatch.com

Many of Mahurin’s cases, she says, end up as settlements, often after defendants have served months in jail. “He’s bankrupting people and forcing them to plead guilty,” Carraker says. Hopple was offered a plea for time served but turned it down. “He’s not going to plead to something he didn’t do,” Brown says of Hopple. For now, his fate might lie in the Nov. 6 election. For the first time, Mahurin has a serious opponent. A Democrat, he faces Republican Melissa Gilliam. If Mahurin loses, Hopple hopes he’ll be able to shed the ankle bracelet and get back to work and life by January. If Mahurin wins, Hopple expects more hearings, more delays, and, of course, the bill he hasn’t yet received for his jail time. This is how the judicial system in some parts of rural Missouri works to keep people poor. Hopple has spent nearly six months in jail for a charge a state investigation found no evidence to support. He faces monthly fees for the ankle bracelet, and if he is ever convicted or agrees to plea to a lower charge, Martinez will send him a bill for his jail time that will likely be several thousand dollars. Like many others in St. Francois County, in Dent and Crawford counties, and in other counties in rural Missouri, he’ll face a trip to debtor’s prison if he falls behind on those payments. But that’s all a fight for another day. On this crisp, fall day, Hopple is enjoying the splash of sun on his face, the rolling hills and falling leaves, and the love of a woman who has been fighting to set him free. It’s a good day. Justice will come later. Tony Messenger • 314-340-8518 @tonymess on Twitter tmessenger@post-dispatch.com

LGBTQ presence on television climbing • LGBTQ representation on television reached a record high in the 2018-19 season, according to a report GLAAD released on Thursday. In its latest Where We Are Now report, the advocacy group found that LGBTQ characters constituted 8.8 percent of regulars in primetime scripted shows on broadcast and cable and in series on the streaming services Amazon, Hulu and Netflix. That marks a record high in the 23 years that GLAAD has tracked LGBTQ representation on the small screen.

CELEBRITY BIRTHDAYS Actress Jaclyn Smith is 73. “Wheel of Fortune” host Pat Sajak is 72. Actor Cary Elwes is 56. Singer Natalie Merchant is 55. Country singer Keith Urban is 51. Writeractor Seth McFarlane is 45. Actor Jon Heder is 41. Actor Beulah Koale is 27. From news services

LOTTERY MULTISTATE GAMES

Two nominated to be next poet laureate of St. Louis questions about the process, and the nomination was stalled. At the time, many people beAfter almost two years, a nominee for St. Louis poet laureate lieved LeFlore, who, like Ibur, to succeed Michael Castro has has a long history as a St. Louis been added to the Board of Al- poet, deserved the honor. Eventually a new dermen’s agenda. committee was creActually two nomiated and led by Cheryl nees, and we’ve heard Walker, a lawyer and these names before. poet. After sifting Jane Ellen Ibur and through a new round Shirley LeFlore are of suggestions and innominated to be poterviewing three semiets laureate for the city. Ibur finalists, the committee The nominations are on didn’t stray too far from the aldermen’s agenda the original recommenfor Friday. According dations. to the head of the task On Thursday afterforce that recommended noon, Walker clarified them, LeFlore would that the poets would not serve until March 31. serve concurrently but Then Ibur would serve LeFlore consecutively. She did from April 1 until March not know when LeFlore would 31, 2021. The official nomination Fri- begin because that would be an day comes from the aldermanic aldermanic decision. “We are excited for both president, Lewis Reed. For those who have followed of them,” Walker said. “Both the process, a previous task women are amazing artists.” force originally choose Ibur to She said the task force’s picks be the city’s second poet lau- were unanimous choices. Stallings, the founder of Urreate in December 2016. But MK Stallings, who had been bArts, said, “I think their proon the first task force, raised cess led to a sound decision.” BY JANE HENDERSON St. Louis Post-Dispatch

Megyn Kelly was absent from her NBC News morning show on Thursday after this week’s controversy over her comments about blackface, amid indications that her time at the network could be ending. An NBC spokeswoman said that “given the circumstances,” the network was airing repeats of “Megyn Kelly Today” on Thursday and Friday. CNN, citing sources, said Kelly and NBC News executives were negotiating the terms of her departure, and her exit would likely be announced in the days ahead. During a segment about Halloween costumes on Tuesday, Kelly defended the use of blackface while discussing a character on “Real Housewives of New York City” who darkened her face for a Diana Ross costume. Social media condemnation was swift, and Kelly apologized to fellow NBC staffers in an email later in the day. She opened Wednesday’s show by saying she was wrong and sorry for what she said. Kelly jumped from Fox News to NBC in early 2017.

POWERBALL Wednesday: 03-21-45-53-56 Powerball: 22 Power play: 2 Saturday’s estimated jackpot: $750 million MEGA MILLIONS Friday’s estimated jackpot: $40 million LUCKY FOR LIFE Thursday: 12-20-22-27-30 Lucky ball: 16

MISSOURI LOTTERIES LOTTO Wednesday: 01-09-15-20-40-44 Saturday’s estimated jackpot: $1.2 million SHOW ME CASH Thursday: 08-12-15-18-22 Friday’s estimated jackpot: $64,000 PICK-3 Thursday Midday: 535 Evening: 376 PICK-4 Thursday Midday: 5508 Evening: 4777

ILLINOIS LOTTERIES LUCKY DAY LOTTO Thursday Midday: 08-24-29-34-42 Evening: 02-09-26-35-37 LOTTO Thursday: 05-26-27-35-45-49 Extra shot: 13 Estimated jackpot: $18.75 million PICK-3 Thursday Midday: 459 FB: 9 Evening: 400 FB: 9 PICK-4 Thursday Midday: 4375 FB: 3 Evening: 3778 FB: 1

CORRECTIONS • The St. Louis County Police Depart-

ment has assigned two of its new drones to crime scene investigators. The SWAT team has a third, and the Special Response Unit has the fourth. A front-page story Thursday gave incorrect information about the distribution of the drones.

GOT A STORY TIP? We want to hear from you. Submit news tips online. They are confidential, and you can choose to remain anonymous >>> stltoday.com/newstips

INSIDE Business ................ B1 Editorial .............. A12 Horoscopes ......... EV2 Letters to editor .. A12 Movies .................. Go! Obituaries ........... A14

CONTACT US Puzzles ................ EV2 Sports calendar .... C2 Stocks ................... B3 Tony Messenger .... A2 TV listings ........... EV3 Weather .............. C10

For news tips only, phone ................................ 314-340-8222

CUSTOMER SERVICE: 314-340-8888

Submit news tips ..........................metro@post-dispatch.com

Customer service hours

Submit events for our calendar ............ events.stltoday.com

6:30 a.m.–5 p.m. Monday-Friday, 7–11 a.m. Saturday-Sunday and 7–10 a.m. on holidays. service@stltoday.com

Main number....................................................314-340-8000

STLtoday.com/subscriberservices 888-785-3201

PLACE DEATH NOTICES

STLtoday.com

800-365-0820 ext. 8600

PLACE CLASSIFIED OR OTHER ADVERTISING

STLtoday.com

314-621-6666

FAX AD INFORMATION BUY REPRINTS

Editor: Gilbert Bailon .......................................314-340-8387

314-340-8664 STLtoday.mycapture.com

Projects: Jean Buchanan .................................. 314-340-8111 Sports: Roger Hensley ...................................... 314-340-8301

M 1 MONDAY • 11.05.2018 • A2

WHAT’S ON STLTODAY.COM HOLIDAY COOKIES

BOTTOM LINE

UPCOMING CHATS

Sure, your family says your holiday cookies are the best, but how do you know? Enter your recipe into the 2018 Holiday Cookie Contest. stltoday.com/contests

When Amazon raised its starting pay to $15 an hour, activists declared victory. David Nicklaus and Jim Gallagher say it shows how tight the job market is. stltoday.com/business

Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday

Talk Cardinals baseball, 1 p.m. Sports columnist Ben Frederickson, 11 a.m. Ask the Road Crew, 1 p.m. Jim Thomas talks Blues, 1 p.m. MU sports with Dave Matter, 11 a.m. Talk STL sports with Jeff Gordon, 1 p.m.

TONY’S TAKE

PEOPLE

Judge tries to block access to debtors prison hearings

Prince Charles reminisces about his time in Ghana during visit

TONY MESSENGER St. Louis Post-Dispatch

SALEM, MO. • In Dent County, poverty

isn’t an accident. It’s an industry. Perhaps that’s why Associate Circuit Court Judge Brandi Baird didn’t want me in her courtroom on Thursday. It was payment review hearing day, which is to say Baird was asking about 50 poor people who have already completed their sentences to come in and offer an explanation as to why their court costs — from a few hundred bucks to several thousand — hadn’t been paid off. Baird is a collection agent, and her chief henchman is Lisa Blackwell, who works for the private probation company MPPS. Together, they use the judicial system in one of the poorest counties in Missouri to make sure folks who are down on their luck have little chance to climb out from their debts. I was there on Thursday to see what happened to Brooke Bergen. You might remember her. She’s the woman I wrote about last month who got arrested for shoplifting an $8 mascara tube from the local Walmart. Bergen has the sort of back story that would inspire one of the movies or television episodes based in the Ozarks that seem to be all the rage these days. She’s fought opioid addiction. Her mother died when she was 15. She never met her father. She got married early to get out of the foster care system. She lost a baby three years ago. Despite all of that trauma, she’s determined. She’s strong. She’s brave. But all of that is back story. This is a story about shoplifting. Bergen, 30, pleaded guilty and got a suspended sentence of a year in jail. As long as she fulfilled the conditions of her bond, she would spend little time behind bars. This is where Blackwell comes in. Everybody who appears before Baird and bonds out of jail or pleads guilty ends up on a form of probation with the privately operated MPPS. Blackwell isn’t elected, but she has her own chair in Baird’s

Brooke Bergen

courtroom, right next to the prosecutor. During payment review hearings — which aren’t defined in statute and don’t exist in Missouri’s urban court circuits — Blackwell stands up when the defendant’s name is called and tells Baird whether they’ve met their conditions. Those conditions often include twice weekly drug tests at a cost of $30 a week, even if the offense has nothing to do with drugs. Blackwell sometimes orders random drug tests. Miss her call? Arrive late to an appointment? You’re going to jail. That’s what happened to Bergen. She did more than a year in jail on the shoplifting charge because she didn’t answer one of Blackwell’s calls. This is not an uncommon experience in Dent County. After her time in jail, Bergen got the bill: more than $15,900. It is what many Missouri counties call a “board bill.” Get convicted of a crime and you pay about $50 a day for your confinement, regardless of the charge. Meanwhile, in some cases, the county also bills the state. Don’t have the money? Baird schedules you for a payment review hearing, and another, and another, all the while threatening you with more jail if you don’t pay. The underfunded Missouri State Public Defender’s office is trying to stop this practice, pushing cases in all three appeals courts in the state, arguing the practice is akin to the state operating illegal debtors prisons. The day before her hearing, Bergen had $60 in her pocket. She rented a room for a week in Rolla, not sure where she’d be after her day in court. “Judge Baird threatened me with jail if I didn’t make a substantial payment,”

she told me. She planned to spend the rest of the day trying to borrow some more money, to be able to make a $100 payment. “Three figures seems more substantial to me. I’m freaking out. I really am afraid she’s going to put me back in jail.” Bergen came up with the extra $40. But I almost didn’t get to see the relief on her face when she told Baird that she had made a payment. When I got to court, where dozens upon dozens of defendants line up and are allowed in one at a time as they check in, the head bailiff said he needed to speak with me. He asked for my identification. He went back to speak to the judge. Then he took me into a small room, shut the door, and told me I couldn’t attend court. The judge said for me to be there I would have to follow a Supreme Court rule that requires the media to request access, the bailiff told me. That rule only applies to requesting audio and video recording, I responded. You can’t keep a reporter — or any citizen — out of a public court hearing with no cause. I asked to speak with the judge. Though he had just returned from her chambers for a conversation, he told me she wasn’t there. It was five minutes before court was to begin. A few minutes later, the bailiff waved me in. Bergen didn’t go to jail. Nobody else did either. Not on this day. They came one by one and explained how hard they were working, at a job or community service, to try to make payments. One man handed Blackwell a wad of cash to be in compliance. She said she’d get him a receipt later. Baird complimented some of them for their efforts. But Blackwell stood and told the judge several times that some people were out of compliance. Those folks will be back in a month or two for a probation violation hearing. The cash bail will be high. The others will be back in January, taking half a day off of a minimum wage job hoping a $60 payment keeps them from being locked up. In Dent County, if you’re poor and you stand before the judge, jail is never far away. Tony Messenger • 314-340-8518 @tonymess on Twitter tmessenger@post-dispatch.com

Britain’s Prince Charles and the Duchess of Cornwall have attended a dubar — a traditional celebration of leaders — as part of their visit to Ghana. Children lined the streets waving Ghanaian and U.K. flags to welcome them. Charles said returning to Kumasi brought back fond memories of time he spent there 41 years ago. Cabello takes top awards at MTV EMAs • Cuban-American singer Camila Cabello has won awards for best artist and best song at the MTV EMAs held in Bilbao, Spain. Cabello, 21, beat out Ariana Grande, Drake, Dua Lipa and Post Malone for best artist at Sunday’s show. ‘Growing up Hip Hop’ star’s ex-boyfriend killed • Authorities say the ex-boyfriend and father of the son of “Growing Up Hip Hop” star Angela Simmons was killed in a shooting Saturday in Atlanta. The victim was identified as Sutton Tennyson, 37. No arrests had been made. Simmons is the daughter of rap legend Joseph Simmons, known as Rev. Run, and niece of record producer Russell Simmons.

CELEBRITY BIRTHDAYS Singer Art Garfunkel is 77. Singer Bryan Adams is 59. Actress Tilda Swinton is 58. Actor Sam Rockwell is 50. Singer-guitarist Ryan Adams is 44. Actor Luke Hemsworth is 38. From news services

BOX OFFICE Estimated ticket sales in millions for Friday through Sunday at U.S. and Canadian theaters, according to comScore. 1. “Bohemian Rhapsody” $50.0 2. “The Nutcracker and the Four Realms” $20.0 3. “Nobody’s Fool” $14.0 4. “A Star Is Born” $11.1 5. “Halloween” $11.0 6. “Venom” $7.9

LOTTERY MULTISTATE GAMES POWERBALL Saturday: 15-21-24-32-65 Powerball: 11 Power play: 3 Wednesday’s estimated jackpot: $71 million MEGA MILLIONS Tuesday’s estimated jackpot: $70 million

MISSOURI LOTTERIES

Missouri releases new bicentennial license plates

LAW & ORDER MACOUPIN COUNTY, ILL. > 1 killed in crossover crash • A head-on collision claimed the life of a 66-year-old Carlinville, Ill., resident in Macoupin County Saturday evening, according to troopers. Lyndall Huff died at the scene of head and chest trauma. Huff had been driving a 2012 GMC pickup north on Illinois Route 111 when it was struck by a southbound 2004 Ford pickup that crossed the center line, Illinois State Police said. Three others were taken to a hospital with injuries. The vehicles collided about 6:25 p.m. about a half-mile north of Albany Road.

FROM STAFF AND WIRE REPORTS

JEFFERSON CITY • Missouri vehicle owners will be getting new red, white and blue license plates to commemorate the state’s upcoming bicentennial. The new plates will be distributed as people renew their license plates over the next couple of years. The goal is to have them all in place before the state’s 200th anniversary in 2021. The new design has a white background with dark blue letters and numbers. Missouri’s prominent rivers are represented by red wavy lines on top and blue wavy lines on bottom. The state seal is in the middle. The new plates will replace the current “bluebird” models — featuring the state bird atop a hawthorn, the state floral emblem. Missouri’s nickname, the “Show-Me state” is also out in the new design. The new plates cost the state about $17 million. That cost will be recouped by charging people extra fees of $3.36 for regular plates and $7.54 for personalized plates. The state released possible bicentennial plate designs two years ago and asked Missourians to vote on them, but the final plate is starkly different than any of those designs, which all featured a blue background. Those designs were rejected by the Missouri Highway Patrol, which wanted white backgrounds to make plates easier for troopers to read.

ST. LOUIS > 3 injured in Hamilton Heights shooting • Three men were injured — one critically — after gunfire broke out in the Hamilton Heights neighborhood Saturday night, police said. The circumstances of the shooting, in the 5900 block of Wells Avenue, weren’t clear. The shooting was about 9:45 p.m. One man in his 40s was in critical but stable condition with injuries to his groin and hand, St. Louis police said. Two other men, both in their 60s, were stable, but their conditions weren’t available. One was shot in the foot, the other in the hand, police said. ST. LOUIS > Man critically injured in shooting • Homicide detectives are investigating after a man was shot near Halls Ferry Circle on Sunday night. Officers called to the 1100 block of Riverview Boulevard shortly after 9 p.m. found a man, 20, unconscious and not breathing. He was taken to a hospital. Homicide detectives were called in due to the severity of his wounds. Authorities asked anyone with information to contact CrimeStoppers at 866-371-8477.

LOTTO Saturday: 15-17-29-32-40-44 Wednesday’s estimated jackpot: $1.5 million SHOW ME CASH Sunday: 17-28-30-32-34 Monday’s estimated jackpot: $55,000 PICK-3 Sunday Midday: 531 Evening: 068 PICK-4 Sunday Midday: 9260 Evening: 2068

ILLINOIS LOTTERIES LUCKY DAY LOTTO Sunday Midday: 08-11-21-26-39 Evening: 11-26-28-39-43 LOTTO Saturday: 05-20-26-32-37-44 Extra shot: 05 Estimated jackpot: $19.75 million PICK-3 Sunday Midday: 264 FB: 7 Evening: 325 FB: 6 PICK-4 Sunday Midday: 7699 FB: 6 Evening: 8807 FB: 9

CORRECTION • Missouri Attorney General Josh Hawley’s campaign bus stopped in New London, in northeast Missouri, last week as he campaigned for U.S. Senate. A story on the front page of Sunday’s paper about the campaign gave an incorrect location for New London.

GOT A STORY TIP? We want to hear from you. Submit news tips online. They are confidential, and you can choose to remain anonymous >>> stltoday.com/newstips

INSIDE Chuck Raasch ........ A5 Editorial .............. A13 Horoscopes ......... EV2 Letters to editor .. A13 Obituaries ........... A14

CONTACT US Puzzles ................ EV2 Road chat .............. A3 Sports calendar .... B2 TV listings ........... EV3 Weather ................ B8

For news tips only, phone ................................ 314-340-8222

CUSTOMER SERVICE: 314-340-8888

Submit news tips ..........................metro@post-dispatch.com

Customer service hours

Submit events for our calendar ............ events.stltoday.com

6:30 a.m.–5 p.m. Monday-Friday, 7–11 a.m. Saturday-Sunday and 7–10 a.m. on holidays. service@stltoday.com

Main number....................................................314-340-8000

STLtoday.com/subscriberservices 888-785-3201

PLACE DEATH NOTICES

STLtoday.com

800-365-0820 ext. 8600

PLACE CLASSIFIED OR OTHER ADVERTISING

STLtoday.com

314-621-6666

FAX AD INFORMATION BUY REPRINTS

Editor: Gilbert Bailon .......................................314-340-8387

314-340-8664 STLtoday.mycapture.com

Projects: Jean Buchanan .................................. 314-340-8111 Sports: Roger Hensley ...................................... 314-340-8301

M 2 SUNDAY • 11.18.2018 • A2

WHAT’S ON STLTODAY.COM TIME FOR A RAISE

BIG BUDGET OR SMALL?

Jim Gallagher thinks Missouri’s minimum wage boost is a good thing, while David Nicklaus worries that young people will have trouble finding a first job. stltoday.com/watch

Whether you need a high-dollar item for someone on your gift list, or something for less than $25, the List has options for all. stltoday.com/thelist

UPCOMING CHATS Monday Talk Cardinals baseball, 1 p.m. Tuesday Sports columnist Ben Frederickson, 11 a.m. Wednesday Ask the Road Crew, 1 p.m. Jim Thomas talks Blues, 1 p.m. Thursday MU sports with Dave Matter, 11 a.m. Friday Talk STL sports with Jeff Gordon, 1 p.m.

TONY’S TAKE

PEOPLE

‘Poverty penalty’ pervades rural courts in Missouri

Goldberg? Hathaway? N.J. Hall of Fame seeks input on nominees

TONY MESSENGER St. Louis Post-Dispatch

BRECKENRIDGE, MO. • Cory Booth met his wife on a snowy day in Trenton, Mo. Then 18, he was at drug rehab, and on furlough from a misdemeanor jail sentence for theft. It was visiting day, and Booth’s mother couldn’t make the trip. In walked Shaelee Moore. She was there to see her dad. “I figured, why not talk to the pretty girl?” Booth remembers. They’ve been married 10 years now. They live in Breckenridge, a tiny Caldwell County town of about 300 people in northwest Missouri. They have four children. She works at a local hotel. He takes care of the kids. They’ve done the math. It makes more sense than him getting a low-paying job and spending a majority of their income on day care. On the day we talked, it was snowing again, and Booth was heading to court. He is scheduled to go there, and appear before Caldwell County Associate Circuit Court Judge Jason Kanoy, once a month. Why? Because 11 years ago, when he was in high school, he stole a lawn mower. It was the summer of 2007, and Booth was a self-described knucklehead. He dabbled in marijuana. He got into trouble. A friend fingered him for the lawn mower theft, and he spent two nights in the Caldwell County Jail. It was his first time in jail. His cellmate was in on a federal warrant for bank robbery. “I stayed awake all night,” Booth says. “I was scared.” He pleaded guilty and Kanoy gave him a year in jail but suspended the sentence. He was placed on probation for two years

with a private probation service that could drug test him anytime, at his cost. By November, he had violated his probation. He did seven days in jail and received a bill for his time there. In January 2008, he violated probation conditions again. Kanoy sentenced him to 10 days in jail, and told him he could serve his time on weekends. In November 2008 he was arrested again on a probation violation. He was held in jail on $5,000 cash-only bail. Kanoy told him he had to serve a year in jail. Booth doesn’t blame the judge for his problems. In fact, he likes Kanoy. Over the past 11 years they’ve talked often. He believes the judge has given him second chances, and some good advice. “I messed up on probation,” he says. “It was my fault.” Still, he doesn’t think it makes sense that he’s still hauled to court once a month with the threat of jail time if he doesn’t show up or doesn’t pay. His jail bill started small enough, $80 for his first two-night stay. “Thank you for your business,” the bill says. Then came the $400 bill, and $2,791, and $3,531. By July 2009, when his probation should have been over and his connection to the court system severed, Booth owed $7,325. He thinks the bill is down to about $5,000 now, and every month he tries to make a $50 payment. When he doesn’t have it, he has to go to Kanoy’s courtroom and explain. It has been that way now for 11 years. “It’s held me back from a lot of different things,” Booth says. At one point he planned to enlist in the Army. Kanoy told him he wouldn’t be able to do that if he didn’t first pay his board bill. So every month he makes a decision.

“It’s groceries or pay the judge,” he says. This is the reality for a lot of poor Missourians in rural parts of the state who end up on the wrong side of the law. Long after they’ve served their time and paid their fines, they end up tethered to the court system by private probation companies that have built-in financial incentives to find probation violations, and judges who are all too willing to serve as debt collectors. Pay the bill, or debtors prison awaits. It is a problem that threatens the independence of the judiciary, says Lisa Foster, a former judge and Department of Justice official who is a co-director of the Fines and Fees Justice Center. “The idea that you pay for the privilege to be in jail is absurd,” Foster says. “There should never be a charge for jail.” But what her co-director Joanna Weiss calls the “poverty penalty” is alive and well in many rural Missouri counties. Weiss, an attorney and educator, served on the American Bar Association task force that in August passed a resolution aimed at ending the sort of practices that have Booth still answering to a judge and facing the possibility of jail time on an 11-year-old charge. “It’s crazy,” Booth says. “They make probation so hard so they can violate you. The system is the problem. It’s a vicious circle. It’s horrible.” This week, his kids are sick. The first winter storm of the season will do that to a family. Booth showed up to court and explained his predicament. Now he has to come back and appear before Kanoy again before the end of the month. “I spent my judge money on medicine for the kids,” Booth says. “It’s a rob Peter to pay Paul situation, and Judge Kanoy is Paul.” Tony Messenger • 314-340-8518 @tonymess on Twitter tmessenger@post-dispatch.com

ICE RINK OPENS AT KIENER PLAZA Marvin Wright Jr. (right) high-fives his son, Marvin III, as the boy ice skates for the first time Saturday on opening day for the Winterfest Ice Rink downtown. Skate rental will be free from 8 a.m. to noon on Thanksgiving.

Actresses Whoopi Goldberg and Anne Hathaway, comedian Chris Rock, “Seinfeld” star Jason Alexander, Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito and Anthony Bourdain are among the latest nominees to the New Jersey Hall of Fame. Fifty nominees were announced Friday. Inductees will be announced in January. Other nominees include actor Danny Aiello and singer Patti Smith. Online public voting at njhalloffame.org runs through Dec. 15. Art owned by LOVE artist auctioned • The estate of artist Robert Indiana, creator of the iconic LOVE series, has auctioned off two paintings that belonged to him to raise money to defend against a lawsuit. Christie’s Auction House sold the two works, one by Ellsworth Kelly and the other by Ed Ruscha, for a combined $5 million. A lawsuit claims Indiana breached an agreement with the Morgan Art Foundation, said estate attorney James Brannan. The artist died at age 89 on May 19 at his home off the coast of Rockland, Maine.

CELEBRITY BIRTHDAYS Actress Brenda Vaccaro is 79. Actress Linda Evans is 76. Actor Owen Wilson is 50. Rapper Fabolous is 41. Actor Nathan Kress is 26. From news services

SUNDAY NEWS SHOWS MEET THE PRESS • 8 a.m., KSDK (5) Sens. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., Thom Tillis, R-N.C., and Jeanne Shaheen, D-N.H. STATE OF THE UNION • 8 a.m., CNN Sen. Jeff Flake, R-Ariz.; Reps.-elect Deb Haaland, D-N.M., Chrissy Houlahan, D-Pa., Dan Crenshaw, R-Texas FOX NEWS SUNDAY • 9 a.m., KTVI (2) President Donald Trump; Sen. Roy Blunt, R-Mo. FACE THE NATION • 9:30 a.m., KMOV (4) Sens. Joni Ernst, R-Iowa, and Rand Paul, R-Ky.; Rep. Elijah Cummings, D-Md.; Rep.-elect Joe Neguse, D-Colo.; Haaland; Houlahan; Crenshaw THIS WEEK • 10 a.m., KDNL (30) Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Calif.; Reps.-elect Donna Shalala, D-Fla., Abigail Spanberger, D-Va., and Lauren Underwood, D-Ill.; Blunt; Haaland; Houlahan Associated Press

LOTTERY MULTISTATE GAMES POWERBALL Saturday: 06-08-20-52-68 Powerball: 05 Power play: 2 Estimated jackpot: $124 million MEGA MILLIONS Friday: 33-36-63-68-69 Mega ball: 16 Megaplier: 3 Tuesday’s estimated jackpot: $139 million

MISSOURI LOTTERIES LOTTO Saturday: 02-06-14-17-18-19 Wednesday’s estimated jackpot: $1.9 million SHOW ME CASH Saturday: 01-07-13-22-29 Sunday’s estimated jackpot: $93,000 PICK-3 Midday: 751 Evening: 631 PICK-4 Midday: 3616 Evening: 0282

ILLINOIS LOTTERIES

JOHANNA HUCKEBA • jhuckeba@post-dispatch.com

LUCKY DAY LOTTO Saturday Midday: 07-08-21-25-39 Evening: 08-10-12-39-41 LOTTO Saturday: 07-09-30-31-42-46 Extra shot: 23 Estimated jackpot: $21 million PICK-3 Midday: 680 FB: 6 Eve.: 861 FB: 8 PICK-4 Midday: 1359 FB: 0 Eve.: 9569 FB: 4

GOT A STORY TIP? We want to hear from you. Submit news tips online. They are confidential, and you can choose to remain anonymous >>> stltoday.com/newstips

INSIDE Aisha Sultan .......... B1 Arts ...................... B6 Books .................... B7 Business ................. C1 Editorial .............. A20 Horoscopes ......... EV4

CONTACT US Obituaries ........... A28 Puzzles ............. EV3-4 Sports calendar .... D2 Stocks ................... C5 Travel .................. B10 Weather ............... D11

For news tips only, phone ................................ 314-340-8222

CUSTOMER SERVICE: 314-340-8888

Submit news tips ..........................metro@post-dispatch.com

Customer service hours

Submit events for our calendar ............ events.stltoday.com

6:30 a.m.–5 p.m. Monday-Friday, 7–11 a.m. Saturday-Sunday and 7–10 a.m. on holidays. service@stltoday.com

Main number....................................................314-340-8000

STLtoday.com/subscriberservices 888-785-3201

PLACE DEATH NOTICES

STLtoday.com

800-365-0820 ext. 8600

PLACE CLASSIFIED OR OTHER ADVERTISING

STLtoday.com

314-621-6666

FAX AD INFORMATION BUY REPRINTS

Editor: Gilbert Bailon .......................................314-340-8387

314-340-8664 STLtoday.mycapture.com

Projects: Jean Buchanan .................................. 314-340-8111 Sports: Roger Hensley ...................................... 314-340-8301

M 1 FRIDAY • 11.23.2018 • A2

TONY’S TAKE

WHAT’S ON STLTODAY.COM

Time to close debtor’s prison for good

WHERE’S THE CRIME?

Judicial reforms still have not spread to many courts in rural Missouri counties TONY MESSENGER St. Louis Post-Dispatch

SALEM, MO. • Amy Murr turned the

tables on me. We were sitting at J.B. Malone’s, a restaurant at the T intersection where Missouri Highway 72 heading southeast from Rolla runs into Highway 32. It’s a crossroads of sorts, which is where Murr’s life has been after several interactions with the law. Murr owns her bad decisions, but like many others in Dent County, she seems to be treated differently by a judicial system that looks down on those who are poor, or who have been caught up in the area’s rampant drug culture. Murr has been both of those things. “Why are you doing this?” she asks me. Why are you writing about poor people, drug addicts and felons? Why are you telling stories about folks in rural towns all over the state who are having their civil rights trampled upon by local sheriffs and prosecutors and judges? It’s the simple indignity of it all, I said. Then I told her a story. Many years ago, I got pulled over by police in the city where my daughter is now a cop. My tags were expired. The officer seemed to be taking a long time running my name and driver’s license through the computer. Another police car showed up. The officer took the slow walk back to my car. She asked me to get out of the vehicle. She cuffed me, put her hand on my head and lowered me into the back seat of her police cruiser. It turns out I had forgotten about a speeding ticket from about a year before. There was a warrant out for my arrest. The officer asked if I had any cash for bail. It was the day after payday, and I had about $80. So that’s where she set my bail. She took me to the police station, fingerprinted me, took my cash and let me go.

On that day, my kids were home alone, being watched by their oldest sibling. Were I poor, and black and in north St. Louis County, things could have turned out so much worse. Were I poor, and white and in rural Dent County, things could have turned out so much worse. I didn’t spend the weekend in jail. Social services didn’t show up and take my children. I paid for my mistake and moved on. When I hear the stories of Murr, of Brooke Bergen and Leann Banderman, of Cory Booth and William Everts, of people who are jailed for minor offenses and forced by the courts to suffer consequences far worse than many of us would for the same mistakes, I think to myself: “There but by the grace of God go I.” Three years ago, the governor, the Missouri Supreme Court and the Missouri Legislature realized that this sort of disparate treatment in the judicial system was a problem. As protesters and journalists and attorneys and law professors brought to light the abuses of municipal courts in St. Louis County, where poor defendants were, in effect, being jailed for an inability to afford traffic fines, the leaders in all three branches of Missouri government acted. In her annual speech to the Legislature, Mary Russell, then chief justice of the Missouri Supreme Court, set the stage for what would be a year of reform: “From a local municipal division to the state Supreme Court, Missouri’s courts should be open and accessible to all. Courts should primarily exist to help people resolve their legal disputes. If they serve, instead, as revenue generators for the municipality that selects and pays the court staff and judges — this creates at least a perception, if not a reality, of diminished judicial impartiality,” Russell said. “It is important to ensure that municipal divisions throughout the state are driven not by economics, but by notions of fairness under the rule of law. The Supreme Court is ready to work with you to ensure that people who appear in mu-

nicipal courts are treated fairly and with respect.” The court adopted new rules setting out parameters for municipal judges to operate more professionally and to take into account a defendant’s inability to pay. The Legislature passed a law reducing how much revenue cities could take in from court fines. All along, unbeknownst to many, a similar problem — maybe worse in some cases — lurked in circuit courts throughout rural Missouri. There, in places like Dent and Crawford and St. Francois and Caldwell and Lafayette and many other counties, defendants are jailed with high cash bail that poor people can’t afford. They’re given a bill for those stays in jail, and they’re often jailed over and over on alleged violations of pretrial release conditions set by private probation companies that have an incentive to send their clients back behind bars. Years after pleading guilty to relatively minor offenses, they still face penalties of jail, without legal representation, as judges bring them back each month to try to collect their debts. A system that is still threatening a man with jail 11 years after he served his time for stealing a lawn mower at 17 isn’t just. A system that seeks $15,000 from a woman for her year-long jail sentence that was imposed after she stole an $8 tube of mascara is the very definition of a modern day debtors’ prison. When Russell spoke at the opening of the 2015 legislative session, she quoted Martin Luther King Jr. in describing how a problem with one court in Missouri was a problem for the entire judicial system: “We are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny. Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly.” The garment of justice in Missouri is still terribly torn. Who will fix it? Tony Messenger • 314-340-8518 @tonymess on Twitter tmessenger@post-dispatch.com

UTILITIES CUT FOR VIETNAM VET WAYS TO GIVE

CASE 16 • Mr. C is proud to have served in Vietnam in law enforcement; he received honorable discharges from the U.S. Army and Marine Corps. Now he’s disabled, and his disability benefits aren’t enough to support his family of five. His adult daughter, son and teenage grandson live with him and his wife. Their utilities have been cut off, even after Mr. C tried to work with the companies and get hardship letters from doctors. He would like help with the bills, plus household items, and maybe an artificial Christmas tree with lights to brighten their home.

ADOPT A CASE • For highest-need cases, the program supplies donors with a list of a family’s needs. Donors are asked to meet at least one of the stated needs and provide at least one present for each individual in the family. Everything goes directly to the family, through a social worker.

CASE 17 • Adopted out of foster care, this 13-yearold girl suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder and other health problems. Her adoptive mother, Ms. D, is raising two other adopted children and two grandchildren. Ms. D is 50 and a cancer survivor who is struggling to get out of debt from her treatments. Her insurance, rent and student loans are also piling up. The family would appreciate help with food, clothing, toys and other expenses this holiday season.

DONATE • Monetary gifts to the 100 Neediest Cases general fund are used to help the more than 4,000 cases, and go directly to the families. ELIZABETH WILLFORD • De Soto High School

TO HELP Visit 100neediestcases.org

Case profiles by Valerie Schremp Hahn, Blythe Bernhard and Jeremy Kohler of the Post-Dispatch.

Or call 314-421-6060 from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. on weekdays.

SEEKING AND SERVING ALL IN NEED. Donate at www.svdpstlouis.org

SHOPPING ST. LOUIS Shoppers searching for the local flavor can find the best gifts, shops and even places to recharge in our annual gift guide, broken down by location, price and more. stltoday.com/thelist

UPCOMING CHATS Friday MU sports with Dave Matter, 11 a.m. Monday Talk Cardinals baseball, 1 p.m. Tuesday Ben Frederickson, 11 a.m. Wednesday Ask the Road Crew, 1 p.m. Jim Thomas talks Blues, 1 p.m.

PEOPLE Macy’s lip-syncing a little rough Macy’s is apologizing for “technical difficulties” after fans watching the Thanksgiving Day Parade ripped into singer Rita Ora for what they saw as awkward lip-syncing. The British singer appeared out of sync with the vocals that viewers heard during parts of her televised performance of “Let You Love Me.” The episode sparked a flurry of online commentary. Macy’s apologized later Thursday, tweeting that “several recording artists experienced technical difficulties that negatively impacted their performance.” Ora tweeted thanks to Macy’s for “the honesty.” In another moment that got attention, a performance from the Broadway musical “The Prom” included a kiss between two female cast members. The producers told Entertainment Weekly it was the parade’s “first LGBTQ kiss.”

Spidey gets first taste of pumpkin • “Spider-Man” star Tom Holland had tasted pumpkin seeds, but never actual pumpkin. However, all that changed for the British actor during a recent Thanksgiving cooking lesson with “Avengers” co-director Joe Russo and chef Jessica Largey who introduced him to kabocha squash, a delicacy known as Japanese pumpkin. The exclusive cooking lesson was held at Russo’s new restaurant called Simone in downtown Los Angeles. Russo is a co-owner of the restaurant with Largey, a James Beard winner. She whipped up the dish with pumpkin, chanterelle mushrooms, passion fruit and some kale.

CELEBRITY BIRTHDAYS

100 NEEDIEST CASES: HELPING THOUSANDS

CASE 18 • In 2016, Ms. C was excited to be pregnant with her second set of twins. Her older twins were doing well, and she looked forward to her family growing. One of the babies died in the womb from a heart condition. The boy who lived seemed healthy but developed cancer in both eyes. He could not tolerate the chemotherapy, and one of his eyes had to be removed. While Ms. C’s husband has been able to care for their three children, Ms. C had to cut back her work schedule to be available for her son’s treatments. The family could use gift cards to Walmart or Target, beds for the twins, and help with gas, food, diapers, toiletries and cleaning supplies.

Use our crime tracker to check trends and incident maps throughout St. Louis County and city. stltoday.com/crimetracker

Or mail a check or money order (no cash) payable to: 100 Neediest Cases P.O. Box 955925 St. Louis, Mo. 63195

FUNDRAISE • Encourage friends, family and others to join you in helping. Set up a fundraising page for your adopted family or the program overall, and have an even bigger impact.

HOW IT WORKS

HOW IT STARTED

Social service agencies, working through the United Way, identify thousands of needy families. Volunteers then select 100 cases to be profiled in the newspaper to raise awareness.

The tradition dates to 1922, when civic leaders formed the Christmas Bureau. The Post-Dispatch has partnered with the program for more than five decades, renaming it 100 Neediest Cases in 1954.

Screenwriter Joe Eszterhas is 74. Singer Bruce Hornsby is 64. Actor Maxwell Caulfield is 59. “Good Morning America” co-host Robin Roberts is 58. Actress Salli Richardson-Whitfield is 51. Actor Oded Fehr is 48. Rapper Kurupt is 46. TV personality Nicole “Snooki” Polizzi is 31. Singer-actress Miley Cyrus is 26. Actor Austin Majors is 23. From news services

LOTTERY MULTISTATE GAMES POWERBALL Wednesday: 07-14-23-38-55 Powerball: 18 Power play: 2 Saturday’s estimated jackpot: $155 million MEGA MILLIONS Friday’s estimated jackpot: $155 million LUCKY FOR LIFE Thursday: 08-18-38-40-48 Lucky ball: 02

MISSOURI LOTTERIES LOTTO Wednesday: 02-09-22-25-31-41 Saturday’s estimated jackpot: $2 million SHOW ME CASH Thursday: 20-27-33-34-36 Friday’s estimated jackpot: $178,000 PICK-3 Thursday Midday: 968 Evening: 399 PICK-4 Thursday Midday: 5824 Evening: 6643

ILLINOIS LOTTERIES LUCKY DAY LOTTO Thursday Midday: 01-07-09-12-34 Evening: 04-12-23-26-29 LOTTO Thursday: 02-04-06-32-43-46 Extra shot: 21 Estimated jackpot: $21.5 million PICK-3 Thursday Midday: 591 FB: 4 Evening: 490 FB: 4 PICK-4 Thursday Midday: 4123 FB: 6 Evening: 3129 FB: 9

STLTODAY.COM/LOTTERY Current and past numbers, plus jackpots from state lotteries around the country.

GOT A STORY TIP? We want to hear from you. Submit news tips online. They are confidential, and you can choose to remain anonymous >>> stltoday.com/newstips

INSIDE Business ................ B1 Tony Messenger .... A2 Editorial .............. A16 Horoscopes ......... EV2 Letters to editor .. A16 Obituaries ........... A18

CONTACT US People ................... A2 Puzzles ................ EV2 Sports calendar .... C2 TV listings ........... EV3 Weather ................ C9

For news tips only, phone ................................ 314-340-8222

CUSTOMER SERVICE: 314-340-8888

Submit news tips ..........................metro@post-dispatch.com

Customer service hours

Submit events for our calendar ............ events.stltoday.com

6:30 a.m.–5 p.m. Monday-Friday, 7–11 a.m. Saturday-Sunday and 7–10 a.m. on holidays. service@stltoday.com

Main number....................................................314-340-8000

STLtoday.com/subscriberservices 888-785-3201

PLACE DEATH NOTICES

STLtoday.com

800-365-0820 ext. 8600

PLACE CLASSIFIED OR OTHER ADVERTISING

STLtoday.com

314-621-6666

FAX AD INFORMATION BUY REPRINTS

Editor: Gilbert Bailon .......................................314-340-8387

314-340-8664 STLtoday.mycapture.com

Projects: Jean Buchanan .................................. 314-340-8111 Sports: Roger Hensley ...................................... 314-340-8301

LOCAL

11.30.2018 • FRIDAY • M 1

READING REALLY IS FUN, CHILDREN LEARN

ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH • A3

TONY’S TAKE

Stoddard County can teach a lesson about dealing with poor defendants JAILS BILL FOR ROOM AND BOARD Circuit courts in Missouri sent more than $100,000 to 11 counties each in 2017 by collecting bills for room and board from people who stayed in those county jails.

9 5 10

1. Laclede . . . . . . . $261,000 2. Camden . . . . . . $241,000 3. Franklin . . . . . . $162,000 4. St. Francois . . . $155,000 5. Caldwell . . . . . $149,000 6. Scott . . . . . . . $143,000

JOHANNA HUCKEBA • jhuckeba@post-dispatch.com.

Students in Angela Pisciotta’s class at Mallinckrodt Academy of Basic Instruction in St. Louis act out “Going on a Bear Hunt” with Ready Readers volunteer Trish Lazaroff on Thursday. Ready Readers is a nonprofit organization that promotes literacy and encourages reading from a young age.

7 3 2 1

11 4 8 6

7. Warren . . . . . . . $125,000 8. Cape Girardeau $124,000 9. Dekalb . . . . . . . . $113,000 10. Lafayette . . . . $100,000 11. Jefferson . . . . . $100,000

SOURCE: Office of State Courts Administrator

Post-Dispatch

TONY MESSENGER St. Louis Post-Dispatch

Judge seals ex-police chief’s court settlement in crash that killed wife BY JOEL CURRIER St. Louis Post-Dispatch

ST. LOUIS • Former St.

Louis Police Chief Joe Mokwa has reached a confidential settlement in a lawsuit stemming from a crash into a bridge barrier in July that sent a 1½ton concrete chunk to the street below and killed Mokwa’s wife. Circuit Judge Mark Neill on Wednesday approved a request from Mokwa’s lawyer to keep court documents related to Mokwa’s settlement with his insurance company sealed. “The court finds that given the nature of the plaintiff’s employment and contact with individuals in

the criminal justice system, merits and mandates that this informaTorrisition remain Mokwa confidential and that the documents be sealed,” according to an order signed by Neill. The sealed settlement is with the Mokwas’ insurance company, Cincinnati Insurance Co. Mokwa’s claims against the driver, Damaya Angelou Love, are still pending. Court records also spell her name Demaya Love. A representative of the insurance company declined to comment. Mok-

wa’s lawyer and Love could not be reached Thursday. Mokwa filed suit in October in St. Louis Circuit Court, alleging Love was negligent by driving without a license or auto insurance and by driving carelessly and imprudently. Mokwa’s wife, Janet Torrisi-Mokwa, 58, died instantly on July 23 when the concrete from Lindell Boulevard toppled onto her Tesla as she was driving west on Forest Park Parkway below. The suit said the concrete that fell on Torrisi-Mokwa weighed 2,900 pounds. The suit sought damages of at least $50,000. It also identifies the Mokwas’ insurance company to claim

franchise

STEAK ’n SHAKE restauraNT

benefits from their underinsured motorist coverage. Love has given interviews to St. Louis news organizations, including the Post-Dispatch, saying she wasn’t speeding or distracted when she hit the barrier. She said she was driving with a learner’s permit when she turned too sharply on the bridge, hopped a curb and crashed. St. Louis police ticketed Love for being uninsured and unlicensed. Police have said that the investigation is still open and whether speed or a distraction were part of the cause had not been determined. Love told the Post-Dispatch she was on her way to work at Culver’s on the day of the accident. “To the family of the lady, I want to say that I’m really, truly sorry for your loss,” she said. Love criticized the city’s maintenance of the bridge. Federal data show the bridge was rated in 2016 as deficient and eligible for replacement.

DIGEST

WE ARE franchising 400+ company-owned restaurants

$10K

GUARANTEED MINIMUM

50% $150K

INVESTMENT OF PROFITS

FIRST YEAR

Do you have a successful track record in business leadership with proven positive results? Steak ’n Shake® is seeking entrepreneurial Franchise Partners with passion and an unwavering desire to achieve the American Dream. We are seeking Franchise Partners who possess: • Willingness to operate the restaurant full time • Desire to run your own business • Entrepreneurial mindset • Results-oriented mentality

Take the next step. Want to learn more or apply for the opportunity? EMAIL - franchise@steaknshake.com CALL - 877-747-5329 VISIT - www.steaknshakefranchise.com Note: This information is not intended as an offer to sell, or the solicitation of an offer to buy, a franchise. It is for information purposes only. For more information consult the Franchise Disclosure Document for the Steak ’n Shake Franchise Partner Program for Existing Company-Operated Restaurants available from the company. CERTAIN JURISDICTIONS REGULATE THE OFFER AND SALE OF FRANCHISES, AND WE WILL NOT OFFER OR SELL YOU A FRANCHISE IN THESE JURISDICTIONS UNLESS AND UNTIL WE HAVE COMPLIED WITH ALL APPLICABLE REQUIREMENTS. Applicants must meet the standards and qualifications to become a franchise partner. 150k first year guarantee only in select markets and current Steak n Shake employees not eligible. All other markets are guaranteed in first year at 100k. NP1118.035

ST. LOUIS COUNTY > Water outage interrupts UMSL classes • The University of Missouri at St. Louis briefly canceled classes Thursday morning because of a water outage. The university announced the closure on Facebook about 6:30 a.m. Thursday. The university reopened by noon. Provisions were made for residence halls, school officials said. The university did not say what caused the outage. SPRINGFIELD, ILL. > Lawmakers end fall session • The Illinois General Assembly has ended its fall session as Democrats anticipate complete control of the state Capitol in January. The Senate canceled its session Thursday. The House took limited action and bid farewell to outgoing members. The 100th General Assembly will reconvene on Jan. 7-8, before the 101st is inaugurated on Jan. 9. Record Democratic majorities in both houses will watch Democratic Gov.elect J.B. Pritzker be sworn in Jan. 14. Key action this week included implementing a law to increase the cap on damage awards in lawsuits against the state to $2 million from $100,000. And there’s now a 90-day deadline in law for police agencies to take action to help immigrant victims of crime who cooperate with police get visas to stay in the United States.

Eleven Missouri counties last year took in more than $100,000 each by using the state’s circuit courts as a debt collector. PROOFING LOOP 5. In some cases, that’s enough money to pay a judge’s PLEASE RETURN TO GRAPHICS DESK! salary, or a prosecutor’s, or hire a few jailers. The ARTIST: moneydan came from inmates in the county jail, county jails MAC many ofSLUG: them181130 poor people. Every weektony in Missouri, a judge somewhere holds a STORY SLUG: crowded docket to collect room and board from people 181129 TODAY’S DATE: who were recently in jail. The judges call them pay2 col. x 4.5orinches SIZE: dockets, ment review showdeep cause dockets, because GRID: 6-column calling them what they really are — debtors prison dockets — hurts too much. INITIAL AFTER PROOFING For the elected officials who work in most of MisReporter/Editor: souri’s historic courthouses that sit on small-town squares near empty storefronts, show cause day is pay Copy desk: day. Two that border the Lake of the Ozarks Newscounties editor: took in the most money from “board bills” in 2017. Laclede collected more than $261,000; neighCHOOSE County COLOR OR B&W boring Camden County took in just $20,000 less. In southeast Missouri, Scott County took in $143,000 and Cape Girardeau County collected $124,000. North of there, St. Francois County pocketed nearly $155,000. Some of the collar counties around St. Louis played the game, too. Franklin County added $162,000 to its coffers and Warren County took in $125,000. Near Kansas City, Lafayette County collected $100,000. The biggest winner on a per capita basis was tiny Caldwell County in northwest Missouri, which used its circuit court judges to help pull in $149,877, or $16.47 for each of the 9,100 people who live in the county. There, Associate Circuit Judge Jason Kanoy has become the poster child for how to turn the judicial branch of government into a tax-collecting subsidiary of the executive branch. Once a month he schedules his debtors on the docket. If they pay, they don’t have to show up. If they don’t, he issues a warrant for their arrest. Many of them are like Nicholas T. McNab, men or women who long ago served their time. Now they’re paying for it. In May 2008, McNab stole some candy. Then 17, he and some buddies broke into a concession stand in the city of Polo. They took candy bars, taffy and beef jerky. He was arrested and put in jail with a $10,000 cashonly bond. He pleaded guilty to misdemeanor stealing and was given time served for the eight days he already spent in jail. McNab was put on probation for two years, and a 60-day jail sentence was suspended. Almost two years later, right before his probation was to have ended, he tested positive for marijuana. His probation was revoked and he went to jail. By the time he was released, McNab’s board bill was more than $2,000. So the payment hearings started. Miss one. Get arrested. Go to jail. The cycle would repeat itself year after year. Each time, his bill would rise, $45 for one visit, $270 for another, then $900, and $945. His latest hearing was Thursday. Attorney Jim Rust doesn’t get it. He represents McNab in a misdemeanor marijuana possession case in another county. “This kid is not a criminal,” Rust says of McNab. “He’s a small town guy trying to get by.” But here he is, 10 years after doing his time, still tied to Kanoy’s court because he owes the county money. Rust calls it a form of double jeopardy, with poor defendants punished over and over for the same crime. “This kind of thing happens a lot around here,” Rust says. “It’s not just Judge Kanoy. This stuff has got to stop.” In one small Missouri county, it has. Or maybe it never started in the first place. Almost 400 miles southeast of the Caldwell County Courthouse is the one in Stoddard County. It’s across the street from the funeral home owned by Greg Mathis, who doubles as the presiding commissioner. For 16 years, Mathis has led Stoddard County, and during that time, the county has never collected a board bill from people who stay in its jail. “We have never, ever charged room and board for our inmates,” Mathis says. “It’s never been brought up.” Southeast Missouri is among the poorest parts of the state. Like many areas of rural Missouri, it is struggling with opioid and meth use. Its jail, built for about 40 people, is crowded. Taxpayers approved a bond issue recently to build a new jail. But Stoddard County is one of only two rural counties in Missouri — McDonald County in the southwest part of the state is the other — to not charge board bills. None of the state’s primarily urban counties charge them, including Boone County, home of the University of Missouri. Missouri lawmakers who want to address the state’s debtors’ prison problem can hold up tiny Stoddard County as a place that does it right. “Why would I want to overcrowd our jail with people who would be there just because they couldn’t pay their jail bill?” Mathis says. “It’s just a never-ending vicious cycle that targets poor people.” Tony Messenger • 314-340-8518 @tonymess on Twitter tmessenger@post-dispatch.com

M 1 WEDNESDAY • 12.05.2018 • A2

TONY’S TAKE

WHAT’S ON STLTODAY.COM

Camden County still bedevils woman after 2008 guilty plea

12 DAYS OF GIVEAWAYS

TONY MESSENGER St. Louis Post-Dispatch

Alicyn Rapp was dropped off in the shadow of the big red barn in Camdenton, the one that houses a souvenir and T-shirt shop at the intersection of Missouri Highways 5 and 54. “I had no money, no car and no phone,” Rapp remembers. “I had no way to get back home to St. Louis. I was stranded.” A stranger bought her a hot dog at Sonic and let Rapp her use her phone. Her dad would be able to come get her in a couple of days. She found a cheap motel and the good Samaritan paid for her room. That was in July. Rapp, 36, had just been let out of Camden County Jail. She had been picked up on a warrant from a case for which she long ago served her time. Her troubles stemmed from a bad breakup. In 2006. Rapp believes she might have the oldest ongoing case in Camden County. She met a guy that summer at Lake of the Ozarks. Things moved fast. She moved in with him in the loft above his windowtinting business. They drank a lot. They fought. Then he cheated on her. That’s what the police report says. It also says she hit him and trashed his loft. Rapp says he hit her first. Police charged her with domestic violence and property damage, both misdemeanors. A warrant was issued for her arrest, but Rapp had already moved back to St. Louis, where she grew up. She’s a south city Catholic girl. There

was St. Gabriel’s for elementary and middle school, followed by Bishop DuBourg for high school. By the age of 14, she was fighting addiction, mostly alcohol and meth. In 2004, she caught her first drug possession case and went to prison. Since then, she’s done three stints in prison — all for drug possession — and has found herself in nine different county jails. Only one case remains on her record. Camden County. She was arrested in 2007, went through a couple of attorneys and by 2008 pleaded guilty. Her sentence was one year in jail, but it was suspended. She received two years of probation and a bill for the nine days she spent in jail. Altogether, her court costs came to about $1,200. By 2009, Rapp was behind in her payments and the court revoked her probation. She did a couple of days in jail and her cash bond of $400 was applied to her costs. Then again in 2010. Revocation. Jail. Another bill for jail time. And 2012. This is the pattern that creates de facto debtors prisons in rural Missouri. Poor people who can’t afford to pay their costs — even after doing their time on misdemeanor charges — end up with even larger bills by spending more time in jail on probation revocation or contempt of court for missing hearings. Camden County collects more in so-called “board bills” than any county in the state except for neighboring Laclede County. The practice has earned the lake area jail there a motto often repeated by its inmates. “It’s legendary,” says Rapp. “Come on vacation, leave on probation, come back on revocation.” Since 2006, this has been Rapp’s life. In 2013, she tried to put an end to the cycle. She was in the Chillicothe Correctional Center, doing 120 days for possession of meth, and she was trying to turn

her life around. Her record has been clean since then, though she knows her battle with addiction will last a life time. “I am writing you requesting time served in lieu of fines and/or jail time to run concurrent with my current sentence …” Rapp wrote the Camden County Circuit Court. “I am trying to change my life and I would like a clean slate to start over.” The prosecutor in Camden County was willing to grant the request. The judge said no, not unless Rapp also paid the $1,639.70 in outstanding bills. So when Rapp walked out of prison, she was picked up by Camden County deputies, who drove her back to the county jail, and then added a bill for mileage to her ever increasing jail costs. In 2015, still behind in payments, she got picked up again. “I sat in Camden County Jail for 18 days, waiting to go to court just for them to release me with a new payment schedule,” she says. “It’s ridiculous.” On Monday, she had a court date again to discuss her payments with the judge, the fifth one to handle her case since it began in 2006. She didn’t go. She is living with her husband in Woodson Terrace these days. Her car doesn’t work. Next week she starts training for a job with Jack in the Box. The idea of scraping together the money to find a way to make it to Camden County just to tell the judge she can’t afford a payment makes no sense to her. “It’s been 12 years, for God’s sake,” Rapp says. “I’ve lost jobs, my house, cars, my children. I’ve done enough time. I’ve paid them enough money. With this hanging over my head, I’m never going to get a clean start. When is it going to stop?” Tony Messenger • 314-340-8518 @tonymess on Twitter tmessenger@post-dispatch.com

100 NEEDIEST CASES: HELPING THOUSANDS

ATTACK ON GIRL SCARS FAMILY WAYS TO GIVE

FROM STAFF REPORTS

CASE 47 • Ms. S’s daughter was kidnapped when she was just 12 years old. Her throat was slashed and she was left for dead. The girl survived, and her attacker has been jailed. Now, the family is struggling to make ends meet as they cope with her recovery. Ms. S recently returned to work after taking time off to care for her daughter. She’s behind on bills, has outstanding parking tickets, the gas has been disconnected and the electricity could be next. She has a son, 16, and two other daughters, ages 10 and 3. Any donations would be welcome.

ADOPT A CASE • For highestneed cases, the program supplies donors with a list of a family’s needs. Donors are asked to meet at least one of the stated needs and provide at least one present for each individual in the family. Everything goes directly to the family, through a social worker.

CASE 48 • After losing everything in a fire in July, Ms. J and her family could use help to get back on their feet. Ms. J works to provide for her three children, one of whom is pregnant, and her mother, who also lives with them. But it’s been a financial and emotional struggle trying to rebuild. Immediate needs include clothing, household items, cleaning supplies, toiletry items and food. Ms. J, 46, also asks for help fixing her home. The wiring and appliances all need repair. Any assistance would be appreciated.

DONATE • Monetary gifts to the 100 Neediest Cases general fund are used to help the more than 4,000 cases, and go directly to the families.

CASE 49 • Ms. A has faced challenges her whole

life. Now 25, and the mother of three, she has struggled with depression since childhood. She has also had chronic fatigue, headaches and other problems. She finally has a diagnosis: Chiari malformation, a condition in which brain tissue pushes into the spinal canal. Her third child, a 3-year-old girl, weighed 1 pound at birth and spent her first five months in intensive care. The girl is diagnosed with cerebral palsy, needs a ventilator to breathe and is fed through a tube. Ms. A struggles to pay her bills and put food on the table. Donations could help this family with rent, food and clothing.

Case profiles by Christine Byers, Celeste Bott and Jeremy Kohler of the Post-Dispatch.

JULIA HUDDLESTON • De Soto High School

TO HELP Visit 100neediestcases.org Or call 314-421-6060 from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. on weekdays.

SEEKING AND SERVING ALL IN NEED. Donate at www.svdpstlouis.org

Or mail a check or money order (no cash) payable to: 100 Neediest Cases P.O. Box 955925 St. Louis, Mo. 63195

FUNDRAISE • Encourage friends, family and others to join you in helping. Set up a fundraising page for your adopted family or the program overall, and have an even bigger impact.

HOW IT WORKS

HOW IT STARTED

Social service agencies, working through the United Way, identify thousands of needy families. Volunteers then select 100 cases to be profiled in the newspaper to raise awareness.

The tradition dates to 1922, when civic leaders formed the Christmas Bureau. The Post-Dispatch has partnered with the program for more than five decades, renaming it 100 Neediest Cases in 1954.

Enter Go! Magazine’s 12 Days of Giveaways through Dec. 18. You’ll have the chance to take home a great prize from some of your favorite shops, venues and more. stltoday.com/contests

IPARTY: SPORTS ON TAP Post-Dispatch sports writers met readers and fans at another great Sports on Tap event Monday at Kirkwood Station Brewing Company. Check out the photos. stltoday.com/multimedia

UPCOMING CHATS Wednesday Ask the Road Crew, 1 p.m. Jim Thomas (Blues), 1 p.m. Thursday Dave Matter (Mizzou), 11 a.m. Friday Jeff Gordon (sports), 1 p.m.

PEOPLE ‘Negan’ shows his soft heart A North Carolina animal rescue group says that thanks to “The Walking Dead” actor Jeffrey Dean Morgan, a donkey and an emu who have bonded can stay together. The Charlotte Observer reported that Morgan is adopting them, and they will roam free on his Hudson Valley, N.Y., farm. Morgan, who plays the villainous Negan on the TV zombie thriller, was the best choice for the pair because of his farm and resources, said Jennifer Gordon, founder of Carolina Waterfowl Rescue. Kanye is chided for phone use during ‘Cher Show’ • Kanye West really, really liked opening night of “The Cher Show” on Broadway. But at least one performer couldn’t tell, because West was messing with his phone as he watched with his wife, Kim Kardashian. “Hey @kanyewest so cool that you’re here at @TheCherShow!,” cast member Jarrod Spector tweeted Monday at the rapper. “If you look up from your cellphone you’ll see we’re doing a show up here. It’s opening night. Kind of a big deal for us. Thanks so much.” A few hours later, West wrote: “The dynamics of Cher and Sonny’s relationship made Kim and I grab each other’s hand and sing ‘I got you babe,’” he wrote. Golden Globe announcers named • There are four Hollywood stars who are guaranteed to be awake bright and early for this year’s Golden Globe Awards announcement. Terry Crews, Danai Gurira, Leslie Mann and Christian Slater have been tasked with presenting the Golden Globe nominees at Thursday’s news conference, the Hollywood Foreign Press Association announced Tuesday. The announcement will be at 5:30 a.m. California time at the Beverly Hilton hotel in Beverly Hills.

CELEBRITY BIRTHDAYS Singer Little Richard is 86. Opera singer Jose Carreras is 72. Singer Jim Messina is 71. Comedian Margaret Cho is 50. Actress Amy Acker is 42. Actor Frankie Muniz is 33. From news services

LOTTERY MULTISTATE GAMES MEGA MILLIONS Tuesday: 28-31-41-42-50 Mega ball: 04 Megaplier: 3 Estimated jackpot: $208 million POWERBALL Wednesday’s estimated jackpot: $200 million

MISSOURI LOTTERIES LOTTO Wednesday’s estimated jackpot: $2.3 million SHOW ME CASH Tuesday: 06-09-16-24-34 Wednesday’s estimated jackpot: $88,000 PICK-3 Tuesday Midday: 684 Evening: 632 PICK-4 Tuesday Midday: 4365 Evening: 8675

ILLINOIS LOTTERIES LUCKY DAY LOTTO Tuesday Midday: 18-20-34-37-43 Evening: 05-17-31-40-41 LOTTO Monday: 01-02-20-22-41-51 Extra shot: 17 Thursday’s estimated jackpot: $2.25 million PICK-3 Tuesday Midday: 136 FB: 7 Evening: 121 FB: 4 PICK-4 Tuesday Midday: 5006 FB: 2 Evening: 1950 FB: 7

STLTODAY.COM/LOTTERY Current and past numbers, plus jackpots from state lotteries around the country.

GOT A STORY TIP? We want to hear from you. Submit news tips online. They are confidential, and you can choose to remain anonymous >>> stltoday.com/newstips

INSIDE Business .............. A12 Editorial .............. A14 Horoscopes ......... EV2 Letters to editor .. A14 Obituaries ........... A16 People ................... A2

CONTACT US Puzzles ................ EV2 Sports calendar .... B2 Stocks ................. A13 Tony Messenger .... A2 TV listings ........... EV3 Weather ............... B12

The Post-Dispatch is a Lee Enterprises Newspaper and is published daily. USPS: 476-580. Postmaster send address changes to St. Louis Post-Dispatch, 900 N. Tucker Blvd., St. Louis, MO 63101-1099. Periodical postage paid at St. Louis. Suggested average weekly retail prices for home delivery with full digital access are: Monday-Sunday $10.25, Sunday-Friday $9.00, Mon-Fri $7.75, Thu-Sun $8.50, Sat-Mon $7.50, Fri-Sun $7.50, Wed&Sun $7.00, Sun&Mon $7.00, Sat&Sun Only $7.00, Sunday Only $4.50. Subscription price includes all applicable sales tax and a charge for the convenience of having the paper delivered. To avoid delivery charges, call 314-340-8888 to arrange pickup of your paper at a local distribution center. Rates are based on annual charges for premium days and/or plus sections delivered on 10/21/18, 11/4/18, 11/18/18, 11/22/18, 12/9/18, 12/16/18, 12/23/18, 1/13/19, 1/27/19, 2/17/19, 2/24/19, 3/17/19, 3/24/19, 4/14/19, 4/21/19, 5/5/19 5/19/19, 5/26/19, 6/16/19, 6/23/19, 7/14/19, 7/21/19, 8/18/19, 8/25/19, 9/1/19, 9/8/19, 9/15/19, 9/22/19 and timing of these charges may affect the length of the subscription. A nonrefundable account setup fee will be charged to qualifying new starts.

For news tips only, phone ................................ 314-340-8222

CUSTOMER SERVICE: 314-340-8888

Submit news tips ..........................metro@post-dispatch.com

Customer service hours

Submit events for our calendar ............ events.stltoday.com

6:30 a.m.–5 p.m. Monday-Friday, 7–11 a.m. Saturday-Sunday and 7–10 a.m. on holidays. service@stltoday.com

Main number....................................................314-340-8000

STLtoday.com/subscriberservices 888-785-3201

PLACE DEATH NOTICES

STLtoday.com

800-365-0820 ext. 8600

PLACE CLASSIFIED OR OTHER ADVERTISING

STLtoday.com

314-621-6666

FAX AD INFORMATION BUY REPRINTS

Editor: Gilbert Bailon .......................................314-340-8387

314-340-8664 STLtoday.mycapture.com

Projects: Jean Buchanan .................................. 314-340-8111 Sports: Roger Hensley ...................................... 314-340-8301

S E RV I N G T H E P U B L I C S I N C E 1 878 • W I N N E R O F 1 8 P U L I TZ E R P R I Z E S

UP TO

$142

OF COUPO NS INSIDE

SUNDAY • 12.09.2018 • $4.00 • FINAL EDITION

GOP ANXIETY RISING

More Republicans fear revelations have heightened Trump’s political, legal danger WASHINGTON POST

WASHINGTON • A growing number of Republicans fear that a bat-

TRUMP: ‘SHRUGGED SHOULDERS’ STRATEGY White House apparently calculating that most GOP base voters will believe what the president tells them.

tery of new revelations in the far-reaching Russia investigation has dramatically heightened the legal and political danger to Donald Trump’s presidency — and threatens to consume the rest of the party as well. The president added to the tumult Saturday by announcing the abrupt exit of his chief of staff, John Kelly, whom he sees as lacking the political judgment and finesse to steer the White House through the treacherous months to come. Trump remains headstrong in his belief that he can outsmart adversaries and weather any threats, according to advisers. In the Russia probe, he continues to roar denials, dubiously proclaiming that the latest allegations of wrongdoing by his former associates

See TRUMP • Page A5

KELLY TO LEAVE BY MONTH’S END

HOUSE RELEASES COMEY TRANSCRIPT

President’s move to replace chief of staff portends a major personnel shake-up. STORY, A9

Ex-FBI director says Russia probe started with four Americans linked to Trump. STORY, A6

Use of proton cancer therapy growing here, defying trend Lack of data • Radiation beams are more precise, but superiority hasn’t been proved Reimbursement problems • Over 60% of prescriptions are denied by private insurers

‘Our general rule of thumb is if the person is indigent, we don’t try to collect it.’ St. Charles County Prosecuting Attorney Tim Lohmar

Breaking the cycle of board bills, jailing the poor TONY MESSENGER St. Louis Post-Dispatch

PHOTOS BY CHRIS LEE

Matt Blair, a radiation therapist at the S. Lee Kling Proton Therapy Center, removes an immobilizing radiation mask from Christian Vazquez, of Belleville, last month. The 10-year-old, a patient of Siteman Kids at St. Louis Children’s Hospital, had just finished a therapy session with a compact proton beam accelerator at Siteman Cancer Center in St. Louis. Christian has craniopharyngioma, a rare brain tumor. This was his 21st session in a six-week therapy program. The mask immobilizes his head so the machine can target specific areas for radiation treatment. BY BLYTHE BERNHARD St. Louis Post-Dispatch

Proton beam therapy, which has struggled to live up to its promise for treating cancer, is poised for a resurgence in St. Louis. As several other proton centers across the country shut down or file for bankruptcy, Siteman Cancer Center has doubled down on the technology. Its second machine is set to open in 2020. Mercy Hospital St. Louis has plans to open its own proton center two years later. Proton therapy is designed to zap cancerous cells with precise beams of radiation while sparing surrounding tissue. Unlike traditional X-rays, the proton beams

stop at the tumor instead of traveling through the body. While generally considered preferable for radiating tumors in sensitive areas of the head and neck, as well as cancers in children, there is a lack of data showing the more expensive therapy beats traditional radiation at treating more common cancers of the prostate, lung or breast. The new $32 million proton system at Barnes-Jewish Hospital will provide “pencil-beam” precision to target tumors, like painting with a fine-tipped brush, said Dr. Jeffrey Bradley, director of Siteman’s S. Lee Kling Proton Therapy Center. It will be See PROTON • Page A8

ALL IN Cards change strategy, bet big for immediate returns as Winter Meetings begin SPORTS • D1

Tina Enochs, a radiation therapist at the S. Lee Kling Proton Therapy Center, uses a series of X-rays to fine tune the alignment of a compact proton beam accelerator for 10-year-old cancer patient Christian Vazquez last month at Siteman Cancer Center in St. Louis.

Unclaimed remains find resting place at Odd Fellows Cemetery • B1

Craft brewer here trying hemp beer, but don’t expect a ‘high’ • C1

St. Louis, Baltimore share ways to fight vacancy • A4

MLS ownership group already doing good deeds across area • D1

A brew that’s new

TODAY

TOMORROW

37°/18°

37°/23°

CLOUDS AND SUN

PARTLY SUNNY

2 M POST-DISPATCH WEATHERBIRD ®

holiday favorite!

BY PHILIP GRECIAN • BASED ON THE MOTION PICTURE WRITTEN BY JEAN SHEPHERD, LEIGH BROWN AND BOB CLARK • DIRECTED BY SETH GORDON

See MESSENGER • Page A2

WEATHER • D11

the charming and hilarious

Brad Fraizer, Charlie Mathis and Laurel Casillo. Photo by Jerry Naunheim, Jr.

Judge Gary Oxenhandler shares an affinity with Missouri’s early lawmakers. The founders of the ShowMe state recognized that the courts shouldn’t be used to exacerbate poverty. The sentiment shows up loud and clear in the state’s constitutional prohibition against jailing a person because of debt. It even shows up in the early versions of a law that allows counties to charge defendants room and board for staying in jail. The 1909 version of the law, for instance, said that “insolvent prisoners” could be discharged from their debts — and jail — if they had no property nor other means to satisfy their court costs. That year’s version of the law also allowed prisoners to bring food and bedding from home to make them more comfortable and reduce costs. Such provisions have been erased from Missouri law, and these days, it’s not uncommon for poor people to be jailed in Missouri because they can’t afford to pay their jail bill.

NOW

T HR OU GH

DEC 23

REPST L.ORG | 314 -968 - 4925

M 2 Sunday • 12.09.2018 • A2

100 NEEDIEST CASES: HELPING THOUSANDS

WHAT’S ON STLTODAY.COM

DAD MUST LEARN TO WALK AGAIN WAYS TO GIVE

CASE 58 • M, the single father of two, has had a

tough year. His teenage son has Down syndrome and autism; now the boy has been diagnosed with leukemia and has been in and out of the hospital. All those hospitalizations made it impossible for M to work. Then, in August, he was in a car accident and is in a rehab center, learning how to walk again. M’s sister has become a caregiver, but the financial burdens have been overwhelming.

CASE 59 • R, 38, suffered a head injury when he

was a teenager and is unable to speak, walk or live independently. He lives with his 69-yearold mother, P, who provides full-time care. With limited income, they struggle to afford expenses. A walkway to their home is in disrepair, making it difficult for R’s wheelchair to navigate. Their wheelchair-accessible van needs work they can’t afford. A close family member died suddenly, putting more strain on their finances. The family would appreciate help with repairs to their home and van, and clothing.

DONATE • Monetary gifts to the 100 Neediest Cases general fund are used to help the more than 4,000 cases, and go directly to the families.

CASE 60 • Ms. G is only 45, but her kidneys and

eyes are failing. She needs kidney dialysis three times a week and is unable to work. Her eyeglasses are the wrong prescription, and because of bone damage from renal disease, her dentures no longer fit. She and her daughter, 16, lived in a motel for a year after being evicted, but have found a new home with affordable rent. They would be grateful for assistance with utilities. Donations of household items and furniture would help. A video game console with games would be a special treat for Ms. G’s daughter.

Case profiles by Sarah Bryan Miller, Lisa Brown and Jennifer Selph of the Post-Dispatch.

JOY SCHOLLMEIER • Edwardsville High School

TO HELP Visit 100neediestcases.org Or call 314-421-6060 from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. on weekdays.

SEEKING AND SERVING ALL IN NEED. Donate at www.svdpstlouis.org

Or mail a check or money order (no cash) payable to: 100 Neediest Cases P.O. Box 955925 St. Louis, Mo. 63195

FUNDRAISE • Encourage friends, family and others to join you in helping. Set up a fundraising page for your adopted family or the program overall, and have an even bigger impact.

HOW IT WORKS

HOW IT STARTED

Social service agencies, working through the United Way, identify thousands of needy families. Volunteers then select 100 cases to be profiled in the newspaper to raise awareness.

The tradition dates to 1922, when civic leaders formed the Christmas Bureau. The Post-Dispatch has partnered with the program for more than five decades, renaming it 100 Neediest Cases in 1954.

BOTTOM LINE David Nicklaus and Jim Gallagher explain why employers have been stingy with raises in this strong economy. stltoday.com/watch

SCARY SANTA Who’s afraid of Santa? Upload your photos of holiday hysterics for a chance to win tickets to Disney On Ice 100 Years of Magic. stltoday.com/contests

UPCOMING CHATS Monday Derrick Goold from baseball’s Winter Meetings, 11 a.m. Tuesday Ben Frederickson from baseball’s Winter Meetings, 11 a.m. Wednesday Ask the Road Crew, 1 p.m. Jim Thomas talks Blues, 1 p.m.

PEOPLE Cardi B is ordered to stay away from victims of strip club fracas Cardi B must not contact the victims of a melee she was involved in at a New York strip club, a judge ordered Friday. The rapper appeared in court in New York City after a summons was issued for misdemeanor reckless endangerment and assault. Her attorney has said she didn’t harm anybody. Police said Cardi B, 26, and her entourage were at the club in August when she argued with a bartender, 23. They say a fight broke out, slightly injuring the woman and another employee. Destiny’s Child singer ends engagement • Destiny’s Child singer Michelle Williams, 38, Friday that her engagement to pastor Chad Johnson, 40, was over. She wrote on Instagram that “things didn’t work out.”

CELEBRITY BIRTHDAYS Actor Kirk Douglas is 102. Actor-writer Buck Henry is 88. Actor John Malkovich is 65. Singer Donny Osmond is 61. Actress Felicity Huffman is 56. Actress Allison Smith is 49. Singer Imogen Heap is 41. From news services

Lawmakers seek to end jailing over unpaid board bills MESSENGER • FROM A1

“It’s horrible,” says Oxenhandler, who two years ago retired as a circuit court judge in Boone County, one of the few places in the state that doesn’t bill defendants for their jail stays. In almost every rural county in Missouri, people who do time in jail, both before trial and after conviction, are charged “board bills” for room and board. The charges are generally around $50 a day, and when people don’t pay, they are often hauled before judges who try to collect. In many cases, the PostDispatch has found, defendants are still dealing with their cases, even misdemeanors, years after they’ve served their time. They are scheduled to appear at payment review hearings every month, even more than a decade after they have pleaded guilty and spent time in jail. In Caldwell County, Dent County, Camden County and St. Francois County, this is the norm. • Cory Booth stole a lawn mower when he was 17 and 10 years later is still going to court month after month to pay his board bill. • Nicholas McNab broke into a concession stand to steal candy; a decade later, he’s in more debt than when he did his jail time. • Brooke Bergen stole an $8 mascara tube and now she owes $15,000 on a board bill. The results can be devastating: increased poverty, long jail sentences, lost kids, cars, houses and jobs. There are stories like this in nearly every county in rural Missouri. But there are exceptions. Boone County is one. So are all the most urban counties in the state: both the city and county of St. Louis, Clay and Platte counties in Kansas City. Also, two tiny counties, Stoddard in the southeast and McDonald in the southwest. None charge board bills. “It’s just not right,” Oxenhandler says, to force defendants, the vast majority of whom live in poverty, to pay for their time in jail, and then put them back behind bars when they can’t afford to pay. In St. Charles County, a place that straddles urban and rural sensibilities,

elected officials have found a balance that might serve as a guide as Missouri lawmakers consider addressing the state’s debtor prison problem. There, defendants who have some financial means will be sent a board bill by the sheriff for county jail sentences, but not for any time they spent in jail before trial. If they pay within 30 days, the rate is cut significantly. If they don’t pay, it goes to civil collection. But poor people are never charged in St. Charles County. The county, with the agreement of its top elected officials, doesn’t use its judicial system as a debt collector. “Our general rule of thumb is if the person is indigent — which is about 80 percent of our defendants — we don’t try to collect it,” says St. Charles County Prosecuting Attorney Tim Lohmar, a Republican. Last year the county collected a mere $45,000 in board bill charges, none of it through the court system. It expects to collect less than that this year. Laclede County, with about a tenth of the population of St. Charles County, led the state in board bill collections obtained through its circuit courts, with $261,000 in revenue last year. Lohmar, who is president of the Missouri Association of Prosecuting Attorneys, might find himself explaining how St. Charles County deals with board bills during the 2019 session of the Missouri Legislature. That’s because at least two lawmakers have already filed bills to try to address the situation throughout the state. One of them, House Bill 192, filed by Rep. Bruce DeGroot, R-Chesterfield, and cosponsored by Rep. Mark Ellebracht, D-Liberty, seeks to stop the practice of many rural judges requiring defendants who can’t afford to pay their court costs to show up in court month after month, for years in some cases, and face contempt of court charges and more jail time if they miss a hearing. Instead, DeGroot’s bill would have the rest of the state mimic practices in St. Charles County, allowing for civil collection of past-due amounts but no more show-cause hearings and warrants issued for arrest. The state public defender’s office is also challenging this practice in several court cases. “The practice of jailing people who cannot afford to pay for their costs while incarcerated is very close to debtors prison,” DeGroot says. “As a state we must end this practice. We are better than this.” Indeed, the practice is “disturbing,”

says Lauren-Brooke Eisen, a lawyer and researcher at the Brennan Center for Justice. Eisen has written extensively on the process of counties charging for jail time, and it’s not just a Missouri phenomenon. Nearly every state has some similar charge in either county or state courts, but its application differs depending on the jurisdiction. “It creates a never-ending cycle of debt,” Eisen says. “It is criminalizing poverty. That’s what we’re doing. It’s a tax on the poor.” In 2009, the Minnesota Supreme Court struck down a “pay-to-stay” program that was operating in that state, but lawmakers there made changes to allow it to continue. Ellebracht and DeGroot hope the Missouri Legislature goes in the opposite direction. Besides working together on a bill to address Missouri’s law, the two lawyers are in the process of setting up a nonprofit to help people across Missouri who are stuck with old board bills and can’t escape the court system because of it. “There is no room for debate on this,” Ellebracht says. “This is not a partisan issue.” State Rep. Justin Hill, R-Lake Saint Louis, has also filed a bill, House Bill 80, to deal with the issue. He hopes to stop the practice of drug testing defendants who are awaiting trial on cases that have nothing to do with drugs or alcohol. That practice leads to defendants often being jailed on probation or bond-condition violations and increasing the board bills they owed the county by hundreds or thousands of dollars. Hill’s bill also would create earned compliance in misdemeanor cases, which would reduce probation by a month for every month a defendant serves probation without a violation. The same process already exists in felony cases overseen by state probation officers. Hill says he’s glad his home county isn’t contributing to the state’s debtors’ prison problem, and hopes it becomes a model for others to follow. Lohmar, the St. Charles County prosecutor, agrees. He’s not sure when or why St. Charles County started doing things the way they do them. Neither are the leaders of the other counties who buck the Missouri debtors prison trend. “I’m glad we don’t try to collect board bills on poor defendants,” Lohmar says. “It’s just a bad practice.” Tony Messenger • 314-340-8518 @tonymess on Twitter tmessenger@post-dispatch.com

SUNDAY NEWS SHOWS MEET THE PRESS • 8 a.m., KSDK (5) Sens. Rand Paul, R-Ky., and Angus King, I-Maine; Gov.-elect Tony Evers, D-Wis. STATE OF THE UNION • 8 a.m., CNN Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla.; Reps. Jerry Nadler, D-N.Y., and Adam Kinzinger, R-Ill. FOX NEWS SUNDAY • 9 a.m., KTVI (2) King; White House economic adviser Larry Kudlow FACE THE NATION • 9:30 a.m., KMOV (4) Rubio; Sen. John Thune, R-S.D.; Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Calif.; U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer; Christine Lagarde, managing director of the International Monetary Fund THIS WEEK • 10 a.m., KDNL (30) Rubio; Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn. Associated Press

LOTTERY MULTISTATE GAMES ‌POWERBALL Saturday: 14-32-34-46-61 Powerball: 10 Power play: 2 Estimated jackpot: $217 million‌ ‌MEGA MILLIONS Friday: 04-10-20-33-57 ‌ Mega ball: 13 Megaplier: 3‌ Tuesday’s estimated jackpot: $245 million‌

MISSOURI LOTTERIES ‌LOTTO Saturday: 11-13-15-21-29-43‌ Wednesday’s estimated jackpot: $2.5 million‌ ‌SHOW ME CASH Saturday: 04-23-25-30-39‌ Sunday’s estimated jackpot: $50,000‌ PICK-3 Midday: 993 Evening: 380 ‌ PICK-4 Midday: 9405 Evening: 2739 ‌

ILLINOIS LOTTERIES LUCKY DAY LOTTO Saturday‌ Midday: 04-07-27-28-39‌ Evening: 07-17-25-26-35‌ ‌ LOTTO Saturday: 19-31-37-39-43-52 Extra shot: 03‌ Estimated jackpot: $2.5 million‌ PICK-3 Midday: 355 FB: 3 Eve.: 111 FB: 5‌ PICK-4 Midday: 8724 FB: 0 Eve.: 8305 FB: 9‌

GOT A STORY TIP? We want to hear from you. Submit news tips online. They are confidential, and you can choose to remain anonymous >>> stltoday.com/newstips

INSIDE Arts .......................   B6 Bill McClellan .........  B1 Books ..................... B8 Business .................. C1 Editorial ............... A20‌ Horoscopes .......... EV4‌

CONTACT US Obituaries ............ A28‌ Puzzles .............. EV3-4‌ Sports calendar ..... D2 Stocks ....................  C5 Travel ...................  B10 Weather ................ D11

The Post-Dispatch is a Lee Enterprises Newspaper and is published daily. USPS: 476-580. Postmaster send address changes to St. Louis Post-Dispatch, 900 N. Tucker Blvd., St. Louis, MO 63101-1099. Periodical postage paid at St. Louis. Suggested average weekly retail prices for home delivery with full digital access are: Monday-Sunday $10.25, Sunday-Friday $9.00, Mon-Fri $7.75, Thu-Sun $8.50, Sat-Mon $7.50, Fri-Sun $7.50, Wed&Sun $7.00, Sun&Mon $7.00, Sat&Sun Only $7.00, Sunday Only $4.50. Subscription price includes all applicable sales tax and a charge for the convenience of having the paper delivered. To avoid delivery charges, call 314-340-8888 to arrange pickup of your paper at a local distribution center. Rates are based on annual charges for premium days and/or plus sections delivered on 10/21/18, 11/4/18, 11/18/18, 11/22/18, 12/9/18, 12/16/18, 12/23/18, 1/13/19, 1/27/19, 2/17/19, 2/24/19, 3/17/19, 3/24/19, 4/14/19, 4/21/19, 5/5/19 5/19/19, 5/26/19, 6/16/19, 6/23/19, 7/14/19, 7/21/19, 8/18/19, 8/25/19, 9/1/19, 9/8/19, 9/15/19, 9/22/19 and timing of these charges may affect the length of the subscription. A nonrefundable account setup fee will be charged to qualifying new starts.

For news tips only, phone................................. 314-340-8222

CUSTOMER SERVICE: 314-340-8888

Submit news tips...........................metro@post-dispatch.com

Customer service hours

Submit events for our calendar............. events.stltoday.com

6:30 a.m.–5 p.m. Monday-Friday, 7–11 a.m. Saturday-Sunday and 7–10 a.m. on holidays. service@stltoday.com

Main number.....................................................314-340-8000

STLtoday.com/subscriberservices 888-785-3201

PLACE DEATH NOTICES

STLtoday.com

800-365-0820 ext. 8600

PLACE CLASSIFIED OR STLtoday.com OTHER ADVERTISING

314-621-6666

FAX AD INFORMATION

314-340-8664

BUY REPRINTS STLtoday.mycapture.com

Editor: Gilbert Bailon........................................314-340-8387 Features: Amy Bertrand...................................314-340-8284 Local news: Marcia Koenig................................ 314-340-8142 Business: Lisa Brown........................................ 314-340-8127 Online: Amanda St. Amand............................... 314-340-8201 Projects: Jean Buchanan................................... 314-340-8111 Sports: Roger Hensley....................................... 314-340-8301