Riverfront Times, June 30, 2020 by Riverfront Times

RIVERFRONT TIMES

JULY 1-7, 2020

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MARCH 6-12, 2019

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JULY 1-7, 2020

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THE LEDE

“This doesn’t just end with Lyda [Krewson]. This doesn’t just end with Lewis [Reed]. This ends with the a lot of leadership, a lot of the transphobic, a lot of the homophobic, a lot of the leaders of every race and ethnicity that are implanting a white supremacist regime that needs to be eradicated immediately.”

PHOTO BY THEO WELLING

— MAXI GLAMOUR PHOTOGRAPHED DURING PROTESTS IN THE CENTRAL WEST END ON JUNE 28 riverfronttimes.com

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Two St. Louis Stories

or a pair of feature stories in this week’s Riverfront Times, we dug into two incidents — one you can’t escape and one you almost certainly don’t know as well. First, there are the McCloskeys, the gun-wielding attorneys who apparently see themselves as eighteenth century French lords, holding back the disgruntled labor class in front of their St. Louis mansion. (“I really thought it was storming the Bastille …” Mark McCloskey said in an interview with KSDK.) The battle over what actually happened that evening is in full swing, but we go to the video to sort through the spin. And then there’s the killing of Jeffrey Amick. Barely reported for weeks, and then given a quick once over in the St. Louis news cycle, the alleyway shooting was a brutal end to a once-promising path. Talented RFT freelancer Ryan Krull helps us uncover the haunting story of broken dreams. — Doyle Murphy, editor in chief

TABLE OF CONTENTS CAN’T

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Publisher Chris Keating Editor in Chief Doyle Murphy

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

& P R O D U C T I O N Art Director Evan Sult Editorial Layout Haimanti Germain Production Manager Haimanti Germain M U L T I M E D I A A D V E R T I S I N G Advertising Director Colin Bell Senior Account Executive Cathleen Criswell Account Managers Emily Fear, Jennifer Samuel Multimedia Account Executive Jackie Mundy

COVER

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

Privilege & Panic Mark and Patricia McCloskey achieved international infamy after pointing their weapons directly at Black Lives Matter passersby Cover photo by

ANONYMOUS

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HARTMANN Retire, Lyda The mayor should ride into the sunset next spring BY RAY HARTMANN

t’s not every day that one bumps a legendary quote from Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. out of the lead of one’s column. Especially without legendary words of one’s own. But this week’s an exception. I’d planned on quoting Dr. King’s famous “Letter from a Birmingham Jail,” in particular the part where he worried aloud that “white moderates” were more of a threat to the civil rights movement than Klansmen and other racists. I was going to suggest that we in St. Louis were starting to look more like Dr. King’s nightmare than his famous dream, with two

white moderates — Mayor Lyda Krewson and County Executive Sam Page — vying for St. Louis’ first-ever “This Is What MLK Was Warning About” award. It looked like a tight race. And then Doxx-Gate happened. Apparently having had a little more than her fill of democracy for a Friday, Krewson decided to disturb the peace of some peaceful protesters who had offended her with budgetary suggestions that would have basically eliminated the police. These were numbers written on pieces of paper, mind you, not burning torches or shards of broken glass. Pieces of paper. Very calmly, Krewson used her Facebook Live platform to give the citizens a little virtual perpwalking for the crime of radical thought. Krewson ridiculed their numbers and then read their names and addresses for all of the internet to behold. She doxxed them. This was actually quite new. The

optics of a white Democratic mayor — in the middle of the largest racial protest movement in American history — angrily launching virtual tear gas at her own constituents were almost beyond description. It was fucking unbelievable. Now, we all make mistakes, and sometimes we might get upset and y off the handle and say something we wish we hadn’t. Mayors of major cities aren’t typically expected to do such a thing when annoyed by their constituents, but people lose their tempers. It happens. But Lyda Krewson didn’t just lose her temper. She lost the city. Many hours after her Facebook Live political-death march, Krewson calmly looked at cameras uncomfortably outside the front of her home and doubled down by refusing to apologize. She had to know by then that heads were exploding all over town, but she stood her ground. It wasn’t for another several hours that it apparently sank in to Krewson that she was sunk

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with people of color and white progressives, among others, for at least eternity. As if that weren’t enough, the scandal had turned into a national news story. So, Krewson gingerly picked up her Facebook mess and made it a whole lot messier on Twitter “I’d like to apologize for identifying individuals who presented letters to me at City Hall today,” she tweeted. “This was during one of my Facebook updates as I was answering routine questions. Never did I intend to harm anyone or cause distress. The update is removed and again, I apologize.” To be fair, the statement contained two more “apologies” than the previous non-apology. On the other hand, the “never did I intend to harm anyone or cause distress” part was actually worse than not apologizing since people and bots on the internet saw Krewson do that very thing, for that very reason, with their very own eyes (or whatever it is bots have).

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HARTMANN

Continued from pg 7

This was not an isolated hiccup. Krewson has seemed at war with her own city almost since taking o ce — from a glaring inability to manage police and crime to transparency issues to that disastrous failure regarding unhoused people. And of course, there’s also the Rex twins of Better Together and airport privatization. Still, Krewson hadn’t looked this bad since the aftermath of that dark and bloody night of police “kettling” protesters in 2017, for which o cers are still being prosecuted. Then, Krewson had stood at the side of her tragically unqualified acting police chief, Lawrence O’Toole, and quietly supported him as he said, “I’m proud to say the city of St. Louis and the police owned the night.” To that — and to questions about those nice police chants of “Whose streets Our streets!” — Krewson shu ed uneasily and said, “I wish they wouldn’t have said that.” Arguably, that still holds the distinction of “the worst apology ever.” But this one was weak, too. It provoked a ood of calls for Krewson’s resignation. I won’t be joining in. I have a different idea Krewson should announce now that she’ll not seek reelection next spring. In so doing, Krewson would accomplish several things at once. She could spend the next ten months seeking to salvage some sort of positive legacy as mayor. Free of political pressure, she could become an honest broker, which would certainly qualify as a novelty item in city politics. Krewson could close the workhouse, slay pun intended) the airport privatization monster for all time to come. She’d at the very least be remembered for integrity and some social distancing from the city’s corrupt political ruling class. Maybe she could also chip away at the police crisis, although in fairness, that task might exceed everyone’s pay grade. If she’s got spare time, maybe she could use her energy to get out city voters, across racial lines, to vote August 4 to expand Medicaid expansion in Missouri to provide decent health care for the economically disadvantaged. That’s the sort of thing MLK cared about. Krewson could be remembered as she came in, a nice and decent person with an inspiring personal story. That won’t be building any statues or naming streets for her,

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This was not an isolated hiccup. Krewson has seemed at war with her own city almost since taking office. but that doesn’t generally work out well for one’s heirs anyway. Across the great divide, County Executive Hazel Erby could have been doing the same retirement thing this November, had she not been trampled in April 2019 by the lean-and-hungry white moderate, Sam Page. There would be a lot less angst right now in the county and probably a much better police chief. But that subject will need to wait a week, at least. Ironically, I’m like Krewson I just ran out of space. So, I’ll end with the lead “First, I must confess that over the past few years I have been gravely disappointed with the white moderate. I have almost reached the regrettable conclusion that the Negro’s great stumbling block in his stride toward freedom is not the White Citizen’s Council-er or the Ku Klux Klanner, but the white moderate, who is more devoted to order’ than to justice; who prefers a negative peace which is the absence of tension to a positive peace which is the presence of justice; who constantly says I agree with you in the goal you seek, but I cannot agree with your methods of direct action;’ who paternalistically believes he can set the timetable for another man’s freedom; who lives by a mythical concept of time and who constantly advises the Negro to wait until a ‘more convenient season.’ Shallow understanding from people of goodwill is more frustrating than absolute misunderstanding from people of ill will. Lukewarm acceptance is much more bewildering than outright rejection.” —Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., “Letter from a Birmingham Jail,” April 1 , 19 n Ray Hartmann founded the Riverfront Times in 1977. Contact him at rhartmann@sbcglobal.net or catch him on St. Louis In the Know With Ray Hartmann and Jay Kanzler from 9 to 11 p.m. Monday thru Friday on KTRS (550 AM).

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NEWS

Mayor Krewson Doxes Police Critics

Castle Guards Gun-swinging attorneys Mark and Patricia McCloskey confronted protesters outside their mansion Written by

DOYLE MURPHY, DANIEL HILL & MIKE FITZGERALD

Written by

DANIEL HILL & DOYLE MURPHY

t. Louis Mayor Lyda Krewson took some time during a routine briefing last week to read aloud the full names and addresses of several of her own constituents who are calling for police reform. The briefing was aired publicly on Facebook Live, and a recording was online for about three hours before it was deleted. The Riverfront Times obtained a copy. Near the end of the briefing, a question from a woman named Rachel is read aloud to the mayor by her spokesman Jacob Long, who is off-camera. “Rachel has a question, Mayor, about your meeting today with some demonstrators outside City Hall,” Long says. “She wants to know: How was that meeting, and what did you talk about?” “Well thank you for that, Rachel,” Krewson responds. “So there was a demonstration here, in front — sort of on Tucker and Market here — and the demonstrators wanted to meet with me. So I went outside City Hall, in the circle on the Tucker side of City Hall. The conversation wasn’t really a two-way conversation, I’ll be honest with you, because there was a very loud, um, very loud response from the demonstrators. And so they gave me some papers about how they thought, uh — in fact I’ll go pick it up off my desk, hang on.” At this point, Krewson walks across her o ce, retrieves a stack of papers from her desk, and then returns to the camera. “So they presented some papers to me about how they wanted the budget to be spent,” Krewson says while putting on reading glasses. “Here’s one that wants $50 million to go to Cure

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demands of more than twenty people, including identifying information about most of them, she made these remarks: “I agree with all these things, by the way — except we’re not going to take all the money from the police,” she says. “I think we need our police department.” The backlash of what many perceived as the doxing of activists was swift, starting first on social media and building through the weekend into mass protests, involving hundreds of people. To be fair, letters delivered to government o cials are typically considered public records, available to anyone. But it often takes a public records request to obtain them, and hearing the mayor broadcast names and addresses to the masses obviously caught more than a few viewers off guard. The video was live on Facebook for about three hours before it was finally pulled. Local drag queen Maxi Glamour has since started a petition calling for Krewson’s resignation. On Friday evening, a small number of people spoke to the mayor outside her home in the Central West End. During the generally civil exchange, which was recorded and posted on Facebook, Krewson declined to apologize. “I don’t really think it was a mistake, but it was not intended to be hurtful to anyone,” she told the group. Continued on pg 12

Continued on pg 11

Mayor Lyda Krewson broadcast the names and street addresses of people advocating for defunding the police department, setting off protests and calls for her resignation. | DOYLE MURPHY

At one point in the broadcast Krewson lists a person’s full name and full street address, remarking, “He lives around the corner from me.” Violence, $75 million to go to affordable housing, $60 million to go to Health and Human Services and have zero go to the police. So that’s [REDACTED] who lives on [REDACTED] wants no police — no money going to police.” From this point in the video, Krewson continues to read the demands of demonstrators — most of them seeking to defund the police and shift that money into social services — as well as several of their full names and which streets they live on. RFT counted at least ten instances wherein Krewson read aloud an activist’s full name and the name of the street on which they reside. At one point in time she lists a person’s full name and full street address, remarking, “He lives around the corner from me.” After reading the budgetary

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s hundreds of protesters marched toward Mayor Lyda Krewson’s house on Friday evening they were met by a surprising sight — a gunswinging couple on the lawn of a Central West End mansion. The couple, personal injury attorneys Mark and Patricia McCloskey, shouted at marchers who seemed to be just passing through the gated community. “Get the hell out of my neighborhood!” Mark McCloskey yelled. Moments later, he was out front with black assault-style ri e, carrying it low at his hips. It was a bizarre scene. He wore a pastel pink polo shirt, tucked into a pair of khaki chinos. Patricia McCloskey appeared in a black-and-white striped top with black capri pants, awkwardly holding a small semiautomatic pistol. Both husband and wife were barefoot. “Private property!” Mark McCloskey shouted over and over. “Get out!” The couple’s home on Portland Place, possibly the ritziest street in the city, is a literal mansion. A 2018 feature in St. Louis Magazine, which has become an irresistible click since Sunday night, shows the McCloskeys in the midst of an almost unimaginable palace. They are photographed in one shot in the magazine on the marble landing of a curved double staircase, Mark McCloskey casually leaning against an ornate balustrade with his wife at his side. One panel of a lavish ceiling mural is in view, high overhead. The story features descriptions of home’s solarium, a library illuminated by windows copied from Michelangelo’s library in Florence and a 70-by-45foot ballroom. Built by a Busch heiress and her husband, it was designed to be a Renaissance-style palazzo in the Midwest.

Mark and Patrica McCloskey confront protesters marching past their Central West End mansion. Images of the couple quickly spread around the world. | THEO WELLING “If you go downstairs,” Patty (she goes by Patty in the story) tells the magazine, “there are rooms that are just organ pipes.” Krewson lives about a block away on Lake Avenue. On Sunday evening, two different protest groups headed to her house. They were angry that, during a public briefing aired on Facebook Live, she had broadcast the names and addresses of advocates for defunding the police department. Krewson eventually apologized, but it was too little too late for critics who’ve called for her resignation. Mark McCloskey would later tell KSDK that he and his wife were having dinner on Sunday on the east patio when what he described variously as a “mob” and an “absolute horde” smashed through a wrought iron pedestrian gate into Portland Place. That’s when, McCloskey says, he began shouting at them to go back. He paints a vivid scene in the interview with KSDK’s Anne Allred: “At that point, everybody got enraged. There were people wearing body armor. One person pulled out some loaded pistol magazines and clicked them together and

Images of the pair of armed attorneys in country-club wear spread rapidly around the world as the McCloskeys became the face of white rage over ongoing police protests. said that you were next. We were threatened with our lives, threatened with a house being burned down, my o ce building being burned down, even our dog’s life being threatened. It was, it was about as bad as it can get. I mean, those you know, I really thought it was storming the Bastille, that we would be dead and the house

Footage shows Patricia McCloskey repeatedly pointing her pistol, with her finger on the trigger, directly at protesters who were en route to the mayor’s nearby house. | THEO WELLING would be burned and there was nothing we could do about it.” Chilling stuff, except it doesn’t match videos of the scene. In one clip from a livestream of the march, protesters are seen opening the intact gate and walking

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through. As the first marchers on the street begin to draw even with the McCloskey mansion, Mark McCloskey can be heard shouting. “Private property” he yells. “Get out!”

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CASTLE GUARDS Continued from pg 11

He already has his ri e in hand. Someone off camera repeatedly responds “calm down” and others note that they are on the sidewalk. Another yells, “It’s a public street, asshole!” In the KSDK interview, McCloskey also says that he “was very, very careful I didn’t point the ri e at anybody,” which is also at odds with the video and photographic evidence. Photos later showed that the gate to the community was indeed broken by someone at some point in time. But contrary to McCloskey’s statement, it does not appear it happened before McCloskey armed himself. The following few minutes were captured in numerous photos and videos. The cameras show Patricia McCloskey walking into the yard. She’s holding her gun and swings it across the crowd multiple times, appearing to stumble brie y as she walks farther into her yard. Protesters are on the sidewalk, and several can be heard in the various videos saying “Let’s go!” and urging stragglers to move on toward Krewson’s home. Images of the pair of armed attorneys in country-club wear spread rapidly around the world as the McCloskeys became the face of white rage over ongoing police protests. One of the videos of the two, tweeted by photographer and past RFT contributor Daniel Shular, had racked up more than 15 million views by Tuesday morning. President Donald Trump tweeted an ABC News story with the footage, and news outlets around the world, including the New York Times and Washington Post, covered the controversy. The McCloskeys have hired St. Louis’ ringmaster of an attorney Al Watkins to defend them, and he issued a statement on their behalf on Monday to “set the record straight” about what happened on Sunday. It’s an interesting piece. Despite what Mark McCloskey would tell KSDK about a violent horde that was likely to murder he and his wife and burn their home, Watkins’ statement says the McCloskeys are fans of the protesters, specifically Black Lives Matters activists. “The peaceful protesters were not the subject of scorn or disdain by the McCloskeys,” the statement says in part. “To the contrary, they were expecting and supportive of the message of the protesters.” The statement claims that the

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McCloskeys were “in fear of imminent harm,” however, due to “the actions of a few individuals who chose to exploit the otherwise peaceful protest” with “actions of violence, destruction of property and acts of threatening aggression.” “The Black Lives Matters movement is here to stay, it is the right message, and it is about time,” Watkins says in the statement. “The McCloskeys want to make sure no one thinks less of BLM, its message and the means it is employing to get its message out because of the actions of a few white individuals who tarnished a peaceful protest.” Also released on Monday was the police summary of the incident

“The victims stated they were on their property when they heard a loud commotion coming from the street. When the victims went to investigate the commotion, they observed a large group of subjects forcefully break an iron gate marked with No Trespassing’ and Private Street’ signs. Once through the gate, the victims advised the group that they were on a private street and trespassing and told them to leave. The group began yelling obscenities and threats of harm to both victims. When the victims observed multiple subjects who were armed, they then armed themselves and contacted police. The investigation is ongoing.” Again, that’s not shown on the

video clips circulating from Sunday. St. Louis Circuit Attorney Kim Gardner says she is looking into whether the McCloskeys violated the law during the armed confrontation. She issued a statement late Monday morning, saying she was “alarmed at the events that occurred over the weekend, where peaceful protesters were met by guns and a violent assault.” She added that her o ce is “currently working with the public and police to investigate these events.” Gardner concluded her statement with this “Make no mistake we will not tolerate the use of force against those exercising their First Amendment rights, and will use the full power of Missouri law to hold people accountable.” n

In case their demands weren’t clear, protesters left a message for St. Louis Mayor Lyda Krewson in front of her house. | THEO WELLING

MAYOR DOXES CITIZENS Continued from pg 10

Krewson pointed out that the letters are public record, but people at her house argued that by broadcasting the names and addresses of people critical of police, she put those people at risk of being targeted at their homes. “Just kind of like how you guys are here,” Krewson responded. Told that she had broadcast information of a minor, the mayor said the minor must have signed the letter. Despite being asked multiple times to apologize, Krew-

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son did not — at least not then. It wasn’t until after 9 p.m., as stories about the incident spread nationally, that Krewson issued a short apology through social media and in a statement to reporters. Here’s what she sent the Riverfront Times “In an effort to be transparent and accessible to the public during the Covid-19 pandemic, for more than three months now I have been doing tri-weekly community updates on Facebook. Tonight, I would like to apologize for identifying individuals who presented letters to me at City Hall as I was answering a routine question during one of my

updates earlier today. While this is public information, I did not intend to cause distress or harm to anyone. The post has been removed.” But the long-delayed apology did little to quiet criticism. On Sunday, hundreds of people in two separate marches converged on the mayor’s house, where people pushed past metal barriers to take over the street, her lawn and even her porch before marching back to the Central West End’s commercial district. Before they left, they painted a message in big block letters on the street in front of her place. It read, “RESIGN L DA.” n

Overdose Numbers Highlight Gaps in Care Opioid-related deaths decrease in St. Louis County — except for Black men, report shows Written By

JUDY LUCAS

recent report by the St. Louis County health department on opioid-related deaths revealed a troubling trend. Deaths of Black men from opioid use increased nearly 50 percent in 2019 compared to 201 . It’s an alarming figure, especially given that they were the only group to see an increase. In fact, the overall number of opioid deaths in St. Louis decreased by 13 percent during the same time period, the first time that’s happened in seven years. Health and substance use disorder experts blame the disparity on deeply rooted social ills that ramp up risk factors while choking off access to treatment. “We have known for quite some time that communities of color have unequal access,” says Nichole Dawsey, executive director of the locally based National Council on Alcoholism and Drug Abuse. Dawsey says solving the problem will require more than providing Narcan, the widely used brand of overdose-reversing naloxone, to Black and Brown communities, although that’s part of it. She says the best thing to do is to be intentional. “We have done a lot of work — the NCADA and the substance use community in general — to close that gap,” she says. In order to make progress, the organization has started to listen. “We’ve really been trying to lift up the voices of people of color to have them be a part of our efforts in order to be really intentional about listening to their input on where we could be of better service,” she says. NCADA has been providing Narcan to A nia COVID-19 testing centers around the metropolitan area and reaching out to clergy and religious communities with

Better access to Narcan is only part of the solution, experts say. | THEO WELLING information and resources. Dawsey says that it’s clearly not enough, given the most recent data collected by the county. First and foremost, the issue lies in access — to Narcan, to education about how to use it and to counselors who look like the community they serve. “We know that it is a sad reality that for far too long, white people with substance use disorders are most often channeled into treatment and recovery groups. But we know that Black and Brown people, particularly Black men, are hesitant to ask for help with a substance use disorder in fear of being criminalized,” Dawsey says. “Not only do we as a field need to be more intentional about dismantling the systemic racism that surrounds substance use and drug policy, but we need to keep working in this space,” she adds. She points to a need for widespread education of what addiction is, a better understanding of the stigma that surrounds it and a need for interventions that do not result in simply putting someone behind bars. Dr. Will Ross, the associate dean for diversity at Washington University School of Medicine and chairman of Joint Boards of Health and Hospitals, is alarmed by the numbers, but not surprised. Ross says that in the past few years, the medical community has been seeing the rise of opioid deaths of white males in the United States. They use the term “diseases of despair,” because the community felt this population was more susceptible to death because of the economic pressures and lack of opportunities. “There’s a lot of sympathy and concern for that particular demographic group,” Ross says. “This is a matter of continuum. At some

“Not only do we as a field need to be more intentional about dismantling the systemic racism that surrounds substance use and drug policy, but we need to keep working in this space.” point we were going to see the same phenomenon in African American men because the same level of social factors are contributing to the despair. Actually, they are magnified.” As a Black man, Ross is concerned. “Will we have the same level of support, concern, empathy with the African American male population ” Ross says that African American men are much more vulnerable to these social and structural barriers that make getting help di cult. “With the current dynamics of this country, African American males are going to be less supported if they seek a provider,” Ross says. Like Dawsey, Ross is concerned about access to Black physicians and health care providers that are able to provide culturally

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appropriate care. “In African American men, there is a heightened level of a sense of frustration, anxiety, a great amount of pressure due to joblessness and lack of access to providers. That translates to higher deaths from opioid overdoses,” Ross says. Although the deaths in 2019 were recorded prior to the coronavirus pandemic, health o cials worry the isolation and economic concerns caused by COVID-19 in Black and Brown communities are causing even more problems. The NCADA has had a major increase of calls from people with substance use problems and their concerned family members. Dawsey says they have seen a particular in ux from what she calls “divergent clients” — people on parole or probation or who have been diverted by the criminal justice system to a treatment path due to low-level drug offenses. “We know that people use substances to cope with a pain, usually an emotional pain, sometimes it’s physical,” she says. During this time of isolation, these feelings can be more overwhelming and di cult to deal with, resulting in an increase in drug use. As part of its work to combat addiction and close the access gap, Dawsey says NCADA is also working internally on being anti-racist. “We haven’t released a public statement because, for us, the work has to continue to happen internally so we can show up to the community as our best selves, in the ways the community needs us,” she says. On a positive note, Dawsey does think that the overall decrease in overdoses in 2019 suggests distinctive progress. “As Narcan has become more widely available, and as more people understand that addiction is a chronic disease rather than a moral failing, more people are able to get the help they need,” she says. “Treatment options have expanded and have become more coordinated. Medication-assisted treatment is utilized more broadly, and peers have been trained and mobilized.” Ross thinks the next steps include hiring community health workers to go out and identify those at high risk of addiction and overdose and provide them with Narcan. “We need to start greater elements of discussion around the educational use of Narcan and, where possible, direct these at-risk individuals to mental health services in the county,” Ross says. If anything, o cials say, the numbers are another reminder of the work ahead. n

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Jeffrey Amick had big plans for 2401 Indiana â&#x20AC;&#x201D; but they died with him B Y R YA N K R U LL & DO YLE MU RP H Y 14

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n the fall of 2017, Jeffrey Amick bought a house in south St. Louis. Renovating it seemed at the time like an interesting, and potentially profitable, side project. But it soon came to define the last years of his life. Then 40 years old with a shaved head and trim goatee, Amick was nearing the end of one major venture — finishing law school in Chicago — and looking for a new one. He paid $3,500 that September for 2401 Indiana Avenue, according to city property records, and immediately started making plans for a complete overhaul. The interior was a gut job, and the exterior would need to be tuck-pointed at the least. He imagined new oors and new appliances, maybe granite for the kitchen counters. He planned to do the work himself while he studied for the bar exam. “That house, for some damn reason, was like his dream,” friend Judy Ford says. The old brick duplex sat on a corner lot in the McKinley Heights neighborhood, an often overlooked wedge of land between Gravois and Jefferson. There was a Family Dollar to the south and a scrubby tree on the side. Amick’s closest neighbor was a warehouse across the alley from his backyard. Until the 1970s, the building had been a multistory Chevrolet dealership. These days, it features shop and o ce space for a variety of ventures, a luxury loft apartment and a rooftop wedding venue called Jefferson Underground. For Amick, renovating the duplex had probably seemed like an interesting diversion in the beginning. At times, he mused that he could either live there or ip it for a nice profit as he began his law career. But Amick’s plans for his future collapsed

for a variety of reasons in the years that followed, and even as he began to recognize the house as an albatross around his neck, it also seemed like his only hope for finding his way back to his dreams. “The only thing he had left in life was that house,” Ford says. Just about a month ago, on June 5, Amick was rambling around behind his property. It was a few minutes before 8:30 a.m. and sunny. In surveillance footage from that morning, 39-year-old Joshua Lundak steers a black Chevy Tahoe out of the neighboring warehouse and into the alley between the two properties. Lundak, who owns the Soulard bar Henry’s, was one of the warehouse tenants. On this morning, he pulls a trailer full of lumber behind the Tahoe as he drives north. Footage reviewed by the Riverfront Times shows Amick step into the alley, his arm out and thumb extended, as if hitchhiking. The Tahoe stops. They’re at a distance from the camera, but police say in a probable cause

Jeffrey Amick. | CONTRIBUTED

statement that the men exchange words. Amick turns and throws something against the brick wall of the warehouse. “At this time, [Lundak] is out of his vehicle, and uses the driver side door as cover and fires multiple shots at the victim,” a detective writes in the statement. “The victim is hit and falls down.” The warehouse is to Lundak’s left, and a garage door opens. He ducks inside and returns with what police say is a shotgun, firing on the wounded Amick before walking back toward the open bay. For a moment, it appears it’s over, but then Lundak returns. “The defendant then walks back to the building, turns Continued on pg 16

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HOUSE OF BROKEN DREAMS Continued from pg 15

around and notices [Amick] is still not dead, so he walks back and shoots the victim again,” the detective writes. “The victim was unarmed.” Lundak goes back into the warehouse brie y, apparently to drop off the gun, and then he’s back in the Tahoe. He backs the trailer all the way down the alley, and then he’s gone. It would take three weeks for police to take him into custody. In the video, Amick lies still on the pavement. His house is off to the right, out of the frame.

f a complete overhaul of a 120-year-old duplex seemed daunting for a newbie, Jeffrey Amick had reason to believe he could turn wreckage into success. He had done it with his own life. In his twenties, Amick had been a small-time criminal, with myriad convictions ranging from assault, to possession of controlled substances, to multiple DWIs. His first arrest was in 1994 at age seventeen for second-degree burglary and stealing. In 199 in St. Charles, he was arrested for assaulting a police o cer. The next year, he was found guilty of assault and armed criminal action in Maplewood. In 2000, he was arrested in Cole County for bringing drugs into a correctional facility. Again and again, he was locked up, released and arrested. That began to change after a potentially disastrous incident in the early 2000s, according to those who knew him. Amick was once again incarcerated when three other inmates attacked him. He claimed he was forced to defend himself with an improvised weapon. The incident led to new assault charges — and the potential for a longer prison sentence — but Amick decided to challenge the charges in court. He pored over the legal books in the prison library and assisted the public defender in his defense. No time was added to his sentence. His success as a jailhouse lawyer inspired him to work toward becoming the real thing. After his release, he enrolled at Webster niversity and earned a bachelor’s degree in legal studies, followed by a certification as a paralegal from St. Louis Community College. “He was so intelligent that you almost had to have Google to talk to him,” his friend Judy Ford says. “Really you did to understand

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Jefferson Underground, at Jefferson Avenue and Victor Street, was once a Chevrolet dealership and now has a rooftop events space. | DOYLE MURPHY what he was saying. I can’t count the times I had to be like, Okay, can you bring it back down to my level ’” By 201 , Amick was taking classes at the niversity of Missouri-St. Louis, working for a landscaping company and regularly attending Alcoholics Anonymous meetings. It was a hectic schedule, made even more di cult because he had at least three convictions for driving while intoxicated and was barred from having a driver’s license. That led to Amick’s next big case. Representing himself, he took the state to court, arguing he should be given at least limited driving privileges. People enrolled in drug court programs were often allowed to drive to work and treatment programs, and Amick argued it was unconstitutional not to provide him the same opportunity. He managed to take it all the way to the Missouri Supreme Court, and while the justices ultimately ruled against him, just making it to the state’s highest court was more inspiration. He was accepted to the niversity of Illinois at Chicago’s John Marshall Law School shortly after.

he law school years were some of Amick’s happiest. In little more than a decade, he had gone from an inmate fighting it out with other prisoners to a legitimate scholar. He studied until he could recite case law and precedent, almost like a

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parlor trick. “Jeffrey knew the law inside and out,” recalls a person close to him. Amick was three months from his juris doctorate when he bought the house on Indiana. He considered it “a graduation present to myself,” he would later write. It started off fine. Amick had picked up a variety of carpentry, plumbing and electrical skills through various jobs over the years, and he soon set to work tearing out whatever he couldn’t fix. But he claimed it wasn’t long before he began to have problems with his neighbor, Jefferson nderground’s owner John Carter. Carter, according to the wideranging lawsuit Amick filed against him this past January, wanted the property and repeatedly tried to strong-arm him into selling it for rock-bottom prices. When Amick refused, he claims his well-connected neighbor retaliated by siccing city building inspectors on him, blackballing him with local contractors and pressuring a potential business partner to cut ties. Reached by phone, Carter declined to comment for this story. Amick continued with his project. And then, early one morning, he crashed his car. Amick had struggled for years with alcoholism, and he was coming home from a night of drinking in July 201 when, according to the Missouri State Highway Patrol, he took an exit ramp too fast in Bonne Terre and careened off

Joshua Lundak. | COURTESY ST. LOUIS POLICE the road. His 2004 Acura rolled, inging him through the windshield and nearly killing him. It took months to heal, and some acquaintances say he never fully recovered. “I hate saying this, and I never told this to him, but when I said that you needed to have Google to know what he was talking about, that was before his wreck,” Ford, his friend, says. “After the wreck, he still was very intelligent, but he was at a point where I think he’d lost a lot of his knowledge. He was struggling with that.” Amick’s lawsuit against Carter also named city departments, city employees and an electrician, but he saw the warehouse owner as his primary nemesis. At times, Continued on pg 18

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Joshua Lundak shot Jeffrey Amick in this alley, retrieved a shotgun from the warehouse to the right and shot him again. | DOYLE MURPHY

HOUSE OF BROKEN DREAMS Continued from pg 16

the civil complaint reads like the work of a mind that has fallen out of step with reality. He refers to himself as both “the plaintiff” and in the first person, at times in the same sentence. He describes Carter as having an “odd looking face” and walking in an “angry cockeyed, zigzagging fashion” after one of their encounters. Two long paragraphs detail Amick being lured outside the building in his underwear by the police in what he says was an effort to humiliate him in front of the neighbors. In a June 23 memorandum and order, a federal judge writes that Amick would need to amend his suit to fix some disqualifying errors. “Rather than provide a short and plain statement, plaintiff’s complaint is long, repetitive, and filled with irrelevant and extraneous information. More than that, substantial portions of the complaint are devoid of factual allegations,” U.S. District Judge Ronnie White writes. “Instead, plaintiff engages in speculation, guesswork, and the making of legal arguments.” But White adds that Amick’s claims were plausible enough to move forward if he cleaned up the filing. Despite the often slippery language of his civil complaint, some of the claims the would-be lawyer outlined can to some extent be verified. Amick writes that

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he “planned to do an air bnb out of both sides of the building, and eventually the basement too, and that he had worked out a contract with Elders’ Antiques on Cherokee street” to help him furnish it. Cheyenne Pfeiffer of Elders Antiques says there was no contract with Amick but that they talked frequently about the planned bed and breakfast. Amick claims that this potential business relationship was ruined by city o cials at the direction of Carter “city o cial Barb Potts had also defamed him (Amick) by going to meet the owner of Elders Antique Furniture and falsely relaying that claimant was the target of a major federal criminal investigation at 2401 Indiana.” The RFT asked Pfeiffer if this was true. “The Neighborhood Stabilization O cer said there was some shady stuff going over there and for me not to be running around over there,” Pfeiffer says. The o cer suspected Amick was doing heroin, about which Pfeiffer says she’s skeptical. Pfeiffer says that she could see how Amick viewed this as a sort of conspiracy. “It kind of was,” she adds. “He was a real sweetheart to be honest,” she says. “To me, he’s always been nothing but good real chill, real laid back. I can imagine [him] getting in an altercation, though. I’ve seen him vent. He’s told me a lot of stories. I know he had a lot of problems with the guy who owned the property next door. That was an ongoing, longterm thing.”

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he warehouse still has the guts of the old Chevy dealership, including an interior car ramp and garage space. Joshua Lundak, the man who would ultimately kill Amick, used the space to work on his collection of old cars and other projects. The 39-year-old considered himself pretty handy. In that way, he and Amick were similar. After taking over the Shanti in Soulard, Lundak completely renovated the old hippie bar and renamed it Henry’s, a family name on his mother’s side. It was common to see him on the back patio, crawling over the summer roof with an electric drill or reworking the outdoor bar. He hauled in an old Corvair and an out-of-commission sailboat and turned them into Instagram-ready seating booths for Soulard’s late-night meat market. Impressions of Lundak from friends, fellow bar owners, Henry’s patrons and former employees vary wildly. “I know Josh,” says Tiffany Hutchinson, who used to own a south-city bar. “I know he’s a good guy.” Luke Reynolds, who owns Molly’s a few blocks from Henry’s, is good friends with Lundak. Aside from being a fellow bar owner, he lived for a time in a loft apartment at the warehouse on Jefferson. “Josh is not a violent person,” he says. “If he did do this, it’s hard for me to believe.” But others say Lundak could be volatile. One regular recalls him berating and even firing employees in front of customers. A

A surveillance video shows Josh Lundak moments before he shoots Jeffrey Amick. | PROVIDED 24-year-old woman who tended bar at Henry’s says he was a nightmare as a boss. “He cycles through bartenders like nobody’s business,” says the woman, who asked the RFT to withhold her name. “He was cruel to me and to other employees. He cursed at me and accused me of stealing. My experience was not an isolated one. Every other bartender experienced similar treatment.” She added: “He mentioned on a couple of occasions that I did not bring in as much revenue as my coworker because I wouldn’t take my shirt off. He’s a bad guy, straight up. He’s a bad man.” One incident in particular stands out in the context of the shooting outside the warehouse. The woman says she was working after midnight one morning when the sound of gunshots rang out across the street. Lundak pulled a gun from his waistband and ran outside, she says. “He came back in with his shirt off, crazed-looking,” the woman says. “He hadn’t actually seen anything, but he had his shirt off, gun out, and was running around. It was very strange.”

fter killing Amick, Lundak took off. In court records, a detective writes that the bar owner told an off-duty police o cer he shot someone. He was advised to turn himself in but refused, and the detective worried he was a ight risk, given that he had boats in Miami and a

Some nights, Jeffrey Amick would sit by a fire in his backyard and listen to music. | DOYLE MURPHY number of properties. For more than two weeks, Lundak remained on the loose. The killing initially got little media attention. It happened during a weekend of more than twenty shootings in St. Louis and seemed to get lost in the shu e. Lundak was still in the wind on June 10 when the circuit attorney filed charges of first-degree murder and armed criminal action, but that too went virtually unnoticed, overshadowed by that day’s funeral of a retired police officer shot outside a pawn shop by looters in north city. In an interview on June 19, Lundak’s attorney Scott Rosenblum tells the RFT his client was just “getting his affairs in order” and would surrender “any day.” “When it’s all said and done, I feel pretty confident in the defense,” Rosenblum adds, declining to go into detail. Finally, on June 23, Lundak turned himself in at St. Louis police headquarters. He’s in jail without bond. It’s not clear what led to the confrontation between him and Amick, or if the men even knew each other. Additional attorneys for Lundak sent a neighboring business a demand for 30 days of surveillance footage leading up to the June 5 shooting, apparently searching for any previous incidents involving Amick and the warehouse. In his lawsuit, Amick claimed Carter was telling people that he was selling drugs out of 2401 Indiana to make him look bad. He had little left by then. His criminal history had made navigating the path toward becoming a lawyer all but impossible, and he had grown disillusioned with the renovation. At one time, he thought he might live there, because he liked the neighborhood and his grandmother used to live

nearby. But code violations meant he wasn’t even technically allowed to go inside the building anymore. The city boarded it up. Amick slept on friends’ couches some nights or slipped back into the house and stayed in the shell of what had once seemed like such a vibrant dream. In his lawsuit, he writes that he fell into a “tragic depression” as his plans crumbled. “For the most part, plaintiff was couch surfing, because he couldn’t live in his own home and many times when he couldn’t find somewhere to sleep, he’d find a place to park and sleep in his car,” he writes. Some nights, he would build a fire in the backyard and sit there in his lawn chair. Amick had determined that he would give up on the house and sell it — never to Carter, but to someone who could take over the renovation. The duplex would be someone else’s project. He wrote the real estate listing himself in typical fashion, advising potential buyers not to waste his time with any “low ball offers” or “silliness.” It’s a defiant, if somewhat defeated, note. He concludes with a description of what he loves about the house — the history, its “unique architectural design” and location on a corner lot. “It sits directly behind Jefferson Underground,” he writes, “which is an event venue and they have rooftop music that can be heard from the backyard on the weekends up until the evening and sets a good ambiance for just sitting up some chairs and relaxing in the backyard.” n Ryan Krull is a freelance journalist and assistant teaching professor in the department of communication and media at UMSL

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[SIDE DISH]

Back to Work Jeff Friesen of Taco Buddha is ready to serve again Written by

CHERYL BAEHR

eff Friesen is the first to admit that learning how to run a restaurant in the midst of a pandemic has involved a lot of trial and error — even when he thinks he has things figured out, they have a funny way of showing him otherwise. “Reopening a taco restaurant on Taco Tuesday during Cinco de Mayo was a mistake,” Friesen says. “Before we’d closed down, I had I figured out Square and how to work with it for online orders, but while we were closed, they were on their game and had changed some things. When we reopened, I was overly confident. We opened online ordering at 11 a.m. and had to shut it down 45 minutes later, then reopened it, and then had to shut it down again. It was bad; we had to refund a lot of people because their wait was too long. The volume was just crazy — that’s how hungry people were for tacos and margaritas.” Looking back, Friesen should have anticipated such a response to Taco Buddha’s (7405 Pershing Avenue, University City; 314502-9951) reopening. Since the restaurant first opened in 2017, it has grown to become a wildly popular neighborhood gathering place, earning a large following of regulars, some of whom patronize the place multiple times a week. There’s no question Friesen has played a role in the restaurant’s success, though he brushes off such assertions. In February 2019, he joined the Taco Buddha team as executive chef, using his background in fine-dining to help owner Kurt Eller solidify the restaurant’s reputation as a top-notch destination. Since he arrived, Friesen has been instrumental in creating Taco Buddha’s signature menu offerings, training and de-

Jeff Friesen has been looking closely at COVID-19 data to make decisions about how to get Taco Buddha through the crisis. | ANDY PAULISSEN veloping the team and transitioning the restaurant to more environmentally friendly business practices. He and Eller’s efforts were paying off; in early March the restaurant experienced its best week of business, and the two were bracing for the upcoming outdoor dining season, which they expected to be huge thanks to the restaurant’s new patio. However, as Friesen and Eller watched the news, they could see that the COVID-19 outbreak was about to be a significant event for the St. Louis area and that the way they did business was going to change. “Ever since we started finding out about this, we’ve been really on top of things and looking at a lot of data — not just nationally, but locally,” Friesen says. “Kurt has been getting data from BJC weekly on the number of patients and their best- and worst-case scenario projections. We’re making decisions based on that and other strong data coming in. Really, it’s been week to week, understanding what’s happening.” By mid-March, Friesen and Eller had made the decision to transition Taco Buddha to curbside service only. A few weeks later, as the data became even more troubling, they decided to shut down the operation altogether. Through

it all, Friesen and Eller have been communicating frankly with their guests, explaining not just their evolving policies and procedures, but the reasons that undergird them. Now that Taco Buddha is open again for outdoor dining and carryout, Friesen is humbled by the outpouring of support he and his team have gotten from the restaurant’s regulars. He’s also thankful that the restaurant’s business model was one that made it easier to weather the transitions that the industry is experiencing due to COVID-19. Though he knows things could change at any moment, he’s happy that he and the Taco Buddha team are in a position to give their guests a bit of joy in such a fraught time. “The hard thing about social distancing and self-isolating is that its contrary to most restaurants’ business models of creating a place for people to come together and have an experience,” Friesen says. “For us, it’s important to give people the chance to get out, pick up the food they are familiar with and eat it at home. That’s a form of entertainment, but we also want people to have the vibe of sitting on the patio, listening to music and having the full experience — it’s so much more than the food. If we can do that safely, we’re

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going to give that experience.” Friesen took a moment to share his thoughts on what it’s like to be in the service industry at this particular moment and the thing that give him hope during in the midst of crisis. As a hospitality professional, what do people need to know about what you are going through? Please be patient with us. We are working really hard and putting a lot of energy toward making things safe for you and for us. Our job isn’t easy to begin with, but we love serving you. What are the three things you’ve made sure you don’t want to run out of, other than toilet paper? Coffee, but I work next to a coffee shop; tequila, but I work at a margarita factory; podcasts and audiobooks. You have to be quarantined with three people. Who would you pick? My two brothers, Charlie and Matt. I think we’d really get along well, unlike when we were young. Once you feel comfortable going back out and about, what’s the first thing you’ll do? Concerts! Nice Restaurants! Giving friends hugs! What is one thing that gives you hope during this crisis? People are kinder and more generous. That gives me hope. n

JULY 1-7, 2020

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JULY 1-7, 2020

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[SHORT ORDERS]

Sex Abuse Allegations in the Grove Parlor and Takashima Records announce temporary closures as accusations swirl Written by

CHERYL BAEHR

arlor (4170 Manchester Avenue, 314-833-4999), a popular arcade bar, and Takashima Records (4095 Chouteau Avenue, 314-571-9133), a new vinyl listening lounge, are temporarily closed. The Grove nightlife venues announced the halt to their operations last week in a statement issued to KMOV4’s Alexis otos, who was the first to report the news of the closure. “Takashima Records and Parlor do not tolerate harassment or abuse. We are fully committed to swiftly determining the legal course of action regarding the recent allegations against certain partners of our businesses,” read a statement signed by partners Matt Leach, Casey Colgan and Mike Cracchiolo, who are now at odds with other partners in the businesses. Since June 18, Parlor has been the epicenter of a storm of sexual assault allegations lodged on social media against individuals involved with the businesses, opening a split between the partners. As of this writing, no one has been charged and police have given no indication whether an investigation is underway. Parlor, which opened in 2017, is a partnership between St. Louis entertainment heavyweights Sean Baltzell, Cracchiolo, Colgan, Josh Martin and Casey Watson. (According to Cracchiolo, Watson is a silent partner with no operational involvement in the business.) In its two and a half years of operation, the bar has become a fixture in the Grove’s nightlife scene. The partners, plus Leach, launched Takashima Records in February of this year, hoping to build on the success of its sister bar. Inspired by Japanese listening rooms, the vinyl-centric bar was recently in the process of

Estranged partners Sean Baltzell (left) and Casey Colgan, photographed in 2017, are now at odds over allegations at Parlor. | MELISSA BUELT temporarily reinventing itself into a ticketed, private-dining space in response to the COVID-19 outbreak. The Riverfront Times has contacted several individuals with knowledge of the matter, all of whom have declined to go on the record due to the sensitive nature of the issues. However, several of the parties involved, including accusers and those with knowledge of the accusations, have used social media to comment on the events. In a phone call last week, Cracchiolo said he and Colgan have had no operational role with the businesses since January and that he stands with the accusers. “We were not aware of this sort of behavior until the events of the last few days,” Cracchiolo says. He continues: “We absolutely support victims of abuse, and we are taking these claims very seriously and taking action currently to investigate and bring about a just and appropriate resolution. On a personal note, there is only so much we can say openly at this time, but I don’t want this to come off as lip service or a boilerplate response to these allegations. I hope that the public will hold all of the ownership to account to take action. I would encourage all of our patrons to keep eyes on the situation.”

As of this writing, no one has been charged, and police have given no indication whether an investigation is underway. Colgan echoed Cracchiolo’s sentiment on Instagram, exposing a rift between Baltzell, Martin and the other partners. “As many of my friends know already, Ive been removed from operations at each bar in February of this year, but it is important that I express that I absolutely DO NOT condone the actions of Sean Baltzell or Josh Martin, nor do I agree with the actions that have been taken on the Parlor instagram page as it is run by Sean and his wife,” Colgan wrote in part. “I feel disgusted and ashamed that I have been associated with these people.” Leach, too, weighed in on Instagram.

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“In light of recent news, I wanted to publicly go on record about the allegations made about Sean Baltzell and Josh Martin,” Leach’s post began. “First and foremost: I stand with survivors and I vehemently stand against the silencing and harassment of survivors and allies looking to amplify their voices. As an individual with ownership/partner stake in several businesses with these men, I explicitly renounce their behavior.” Baltzell referred the RFT’s questions to his attorney, who released a statement denying Baltzell had done anything wrong, offering support for victims and vowing to fight back against accusations. The attorney said her client was “falsely and unjustifiably named by several of his business partners,” and he was now taking “appropriate legal action.” “Sean has spent his professional life building strong businesses and a successful presence in the Grove and the community,” the statement says. “He cares deeply about the success of the businesses and the community, which is why Sean intends to address these few dissidents who have maligned him, and at the same time he is taking action to work out an amicable resolution that will not distract from the day to day success of their businesses.” n

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Housed in a retro service station, J. Smugs GastroPit serves up barbecue that can fuel anyone’s fire. Married teams of Joe and Kerri Smugala and John and Linda Smugala have brought charred goodness to the Hill neighborhood, nestled among the traditional Italian restaurants, sandwich shops and bakeries. Part of St. Louis’ ongoing barbecue boom, the J. Smugs’ pit menu is compact but done right. Ribs are the main attraction, made with a spicy dry rub and smoked to perfection. Pulled pork, brisket, turkey and chicken are also in the pit holding up well on their own, but squeeze bottles of six tasty sauces of varying style are nearby for extra punch. Delicious standard sides and salads are available, but plan on ordering an appetizer or two J. Smugs gives this course a twist with street corn and pulled-pork poutine. Several desserts are available, including cannoli – a tasty nod to the neighborhood. Happy hour from 4 to 7pm on weekdays showcases halfdollar BBQ tastes, discount drinks, and $6 craft beer flights to soothe any beer aficionado.

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JULY 1-7, 2020

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314.888.8688 9616 OLIVE BLVD OLIVETTE, MO 63132 The Kickin’ Crab has joined the Crustacean Nation and is here to satisfy your taste sensation. The Kickin’ Crab is a fun-filled Cajun seafood destination where patrons come and escape into flavor paradise. Offering a distinct ambiance to enjoy the finest and freshest Cajun seafood around! Kickin’ Crab is a great place to hang out with friends, family, or both! No plates... no utensils! Just your hands, a bib, and our unique and absolutely irresistible KC sauces - a combination of spicy, sweet and tangy flavors - over freshly prepared seafood that will give your taste buds satisfaction unlike anything else you’ve ever tasted. Join us and partake in the festivities and quality of seafood that The Kickin’ Crab has to offer.

CULTURE [CHEERS]

Off Broadway Now Selling Curbside Alcohol Written By

DANIEL HILL

J Huey, whose given name is Lawrence Franks Jr., was killed last Thursday night. | TIM SCHINSKY

[CRIME]

R.I.P. Huey St. Louis rapper behind ‘Pop, Lock & Drop It’ shot dead in Kinloch Written By

DOYLE MURPHY

he rapper Huey was killed last Thursday night in a shooting in his hometown of Kinloch. Huey, whose “Pop, Lock & Drop It” hit No. 6 on Billboard’s Hot 100 in 2007, arrived bleeding from at least one gunshot wound about 10:50 p.m. at a hospital, according to St. Louis County police, who have so far identified him only as a 32-year-old man while they make notifications. He was pronounced dead shortly after. Another wounded man showed up at the Ferguson police station, and investigators believe he was shot at the same time as Huey. Police soon tracked the shooting to the front yard of a single-family house in the 8100 block of Martin Luther King Boulevard in Kinloch. It’s not clear what prompted the violence. Huey, whose given name is Lawrence Franks Jr., has been a

fixture in St. Louis’ music scene, even after that national spotlight of his 2007 hit dimmed. He reportedly planned to film a new video on Saturday. In 2009, Huey survived a brush with death when three of his friends, riding in a car ahead of his, were gunned down at 18th and Market in St. Louis. He was dropped from a show with Nelly the next night because of suspicions that he was the intended target and the killers might try again. But Huey later told the Riverfront Times he didn’t believe anyone was coming after him. “It was just a rumor,” he told the RFT in 2010. “You got all the opportunity in the world to shoot at my vehicle first. ou passed me up, and you know whose car this is — ain’t nobody else got a Jaguar, so you know whose car it is. It’s just if you a popular person, and you in the club, if anything happens — even if it’s your homeboys — they going to say whose name first Huey’s.” Police have released few details about Thursday night’s shooting but say the investigation is “very active at this time.” They ask anyone with information to call them at 636-529-8210 and ask to speak to investigators. Tipsters can also anonymously report information, and potentially collect a reward, by calling CrimeStoppers at 1-866371-8477(TIPS). n

oining establishments across the St. Louis region, beloved south-city music venue Off Broadway has begun offering curbside pickup of its bar’s offerings. As music venues across the nation remain shuttered due to efforts meant to slow the spread of coronavirus, many of them, much like their restaurant and bar counterparts, have turned to curbside service in order to stay afloat in these unprecedentedly turbulent times. Off Broadway is selling a range of options from its bar, including everything from Stag and Busch tallboys to offerings from local breweries such as Schlafly and 4 Hands to bottles of straight booze, in addition to a small selection of wine. The full menu can be found on Off Broadway’s website at offbroadwaystl. com. Pickup is available Friday through Sunday from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m. — once your order is placed, Off Broadway staff will reach out to let you know when it will be ready. They’ll be running the operation through the box-office window at the courtyard entrance. Any questions about the process should be directed to promos@offbroadwaystl.com. Music venues were one of the first — and hardest hit — casualties of COVID-19 lockdown orders, and remain one of the industries with the bleakest overall outlook. Promoters, talent buyers and booking agents across the country have increasingly thrown

in the towel on 2020 altogether, and those that choose to soldier on this year are looking at potentially costprohibitive rules detrimental to doing business, including reduced capacities and the need to hire additional staff to enact more stringent cleaning procedures. In other words, less income from tickets, more expenses for safety measures. “I’m not saying it can’t be done, especially at a reduced capacity, but expenses are going to be up because you’re going to need to have more staff on,” local promoter Mike Judy told RFT last month. “And attendance of course is going to be down, largely due to reduced capacity, but also because people are not quite sure they want to go out again. Which I’m not sure that they should want to.” NPR reported in June that as many as 90 percent of independent music venues could be forced to shutter in the coming months unless they receive some sort of government funding to survive the crisis. That’s led to the establishment of an advocacy group for venue owners and promoters called the National Independent Venue Association, or NIVA, that exists solely to lobby for money from the government to help the live music industry weather the storm. Many local clubs and promoters count themselves as members of the organization, including Off Broadway and Mike Judy, as well as the Sheldon Concert Hall, Fubar, Old Rock House and more. To show your support to those efforts, you can sign a “Save Our Stages” petition encouraging the government to issue emergency funds. But cash right now is best for your local venues, and booze right now is best for your quarantine sanity — so make sure you put in your alcohol orders, too. A cheers to Off Broadway, and to all of St. Louis’ embattled music venues. n

If you hope to see acts like the Bottle Rockets play on Off Broadway’s stage again, consider buying some booze to keep the venue afloat. | KHOLOOD EID

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JULY 1-7, 2020

RIVERFRONT TIMES

[REOPENINGS]

The Blues Is Back

[ A P O C A LY P S E S O U N D T R A C K ]

Pande-Mix: An End of the World Mixtape

National Blues Museum reopens this week, will host outdoor live music series downtown Written By

DANIEL HILL

t. Louis’ National Blues Museum will reopen its doors this week (July 1) and play host to a weekly series of outdoor live music events through Labor Day, according to a recent press release. The slate of shows has been dubbed “Al Fresco @ the MX” and will feature musicians performing each Friday from 4 to 7 p.m. The shows will take place on Sixth Street between Washington and Locust, just across from the building that houses the museum. The street will be closed to tra c and converted into an outdoor dining space, according to the release, with tables spaced ten feet apart to allow for proper social distancing. Attendees are encouraged to purchase food from restaurants located downtown — Sugarfire, Hi-Pointe Burger, Pi, Gringo, Crazy Bowls and Wraps, and Snarf ’s are all nearby, the release notes — but there’s nothing to stop you from bringing your own food, regardless of the source. Tables and chairs will be cleaned after each customer, and MX Movies will project classic comedies on its outdoor screen during the events as well. Admission to the events is totally free. The upcoming lineup can be seen below: July 3 - Renaissance Band July 10 - Little Dylan July 17 - Mz. ShA the Ka”ShA Band July 24 - Marty Spikener’s OnCall Band July 31 - Jake Curtis Band August 7 - Renaissance Band August 14 - Sisters Magnolia August 21 - Mz. ShA the Ka”ShA Band August 28 - Matt “The Rattlesnake” Lesch September 4 - Marty Spikener’s On-Call Band n

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JULY 1-7, 2020

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BY CHRIS WARD Each week, former KDHX DJ Chris Ward examines a song from his quarantine-based playlist dealing with isolation, loneliness, hope and germs. Find them on the Spotify playlist “Pande-Mix: An End of the World Playlist” (https://spoti.fi/2WZGTJZ).

“What Do All the People Know?” from The Monroes — Single (1982) by the Monroes “Lately I am so confused, I really don’t know what to do.”

’m on a years-long quest to get you to discover this song. And here, at the end of the world, it’s now or never. On an alternate timeline, this “greatest lost one-hit wonder of all time” sits somewhere between A-Ha and the Cars as an instantly recognizable ’80s new wave hit. The first time you hear it, you’ll feel like you’ve already heard Rick Dees cue it up 1,000 times. It’s a Weezer cover-revival waiting to happen. In a fair and sane universe, this song would have spread like a virus, infecting listeners across the globe (I knew I could shoehorn this one into the pandemic somehow). So, what happened? Way back when, the Monroes were primed for breakout success, booked as a supporting act with Rick Springfield and Toto. The San Diego band had made their national TV debut on the Merv Griffin show in 1982. For those who don’t know, this was The Late Late Show with James Corden of its day — famous, but not that funny or memorable. However, mid-tour, the Monroes’ label went belly up, leaving the would-be ’80s hit single dangling without promotion or support. It was quickly forgotten by history, while “Jesse’s Girl” would go on to dominate wedding receptions. Another deep dive back reveals other visual clues to the band’s pos-

sible non-success. In the Sex Appealdominated ’80s, lead singer Tito Ortiz makes his TV debut in a too-big blazer and blue jeans, and bobs along nervously beside Bob Monroe exhibiting Big Dad Energy (current YouTube view count: 95K). It’s all incredibly endearing and sweet. Another YouTube search reveals a video called “OMG What Do All The People Know 2018 version,” with the two reunited leads performing an acoustic version in what appears to be a wood-paneled double-wide trailer (current view count: 626). Somewhere in between those two performances is a documentary I’d love to see. For online listening, the Monroes exist, depressingly, on Spotify as “The Monroes: Official Band from the 80s” with their lone would-be hit listed as “What Do All the People Know? (Complete Song with Extra Lyrics: from Original Monroes of the 80s).” But the streaming service gives us seven recorded tracks, which are pretty good! It’s Loverboy meets synthwave/vaporware, and it’s highly listenable and would be right at home in a Karate Kid beach hangout scene. In the past couple of years, I have heard “What Do All the People Know?” about a trillion times. I have yearned to sing it at Karaoke, where it graces no songbook. I force it onto every playlist I can. If you check the national FM Spinitron listings, I’m positive I’m the only DJ who kept its fire burning. And so, one of the greatest ’80s songs of all time remains my cool little secret. What do all the people know about music, anyway? n

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JULY 1-7, 2020

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SAVAGE LOVE KINKED GAYS BY DAN SAVAGE Hey, Dan: I have a question. I’m a gay man in a relationship and we’re both really happy since we met a year ago. We’re “open” in the sense that he wants the option to be intimate with someone else if a connection happens and in turn he said he would be supportive of me being involved in my kinks. But I haven’t done anything yet out of fear. I’m not afraid of my kinks. I’m worried that if I ask to go do something kinky it will ruin our relationship. I don’t think he was bluffing when he said it was okay for me to explore my kinks with other guys, but it worries me. I tend to repress the kink part of my sexuality and I’m worried that him knowing I want to act on it will cause issues. My boyfriend and I are so balanced but in the kink aspects of my life I’m a submissive and need to engage in power exchange with someone. I miss being able to express these things and it feels like there’s a void in my life. That might sound silly, but it’s true. I think repressing them is actually taking a toll on my mental health. Any advice? Guy’s Abandoned Yearnings Subtly Undermining Bond If your boyfriend is blu ng, GA S B, you wanna know that sooner rather than later. our still-relatively-new-ish boyfriend gave you permission to act on your kinks at the same time he asked your permission to fuck someone else. ou gave him your okay and I assume you meant it, GA S B; you meant it when you told him he could, if and when “a connection happens,” go ahead and fuck the dude. Seeing as he took your “yes” for an answer where his “connections” are concerned, GA S B, I think you should take his “yes” for an answer where your kinks are concerned. So go find some hot Dom you wanna submit to and let your boyfriend know you’re gonna get your kink on. If it turns out your boyfriend was lying to you — if he’s one of those people who wants to be free to play with others which is why he got your

okay) but doesn’t want his partner playing with others and the okay he gave you was insincere) — it’s better to find that out twelve short months into this relationship than to find it out ten years, a mortgage, one kid and two dogs into this relationship. And what you describe about the void you feel is understandable to anyone with kinks, GA S B, and even vanilla people can understand if they think about it for even a moment. That vanilla stuff you enjoy, vanilla people Imagine never being able to do any of it. See ) our kinks are an intrinsic aspect of your sexuality and repressing them — not having any way to explore or express them — does take an emotional toll. It can also breed resentment if your partner is the reason you can’t explore or express them. Which means if your boyfriend wants you to be happy and wants you to be a good boyfriend to him, then you need to have the freedom to be who you are. For some kinky people porn is enough of an outlet, GA S B, but most kinky people want actual experiences. Often a vanilla partner is willing and able to meet a kinky partner’s needs and that’s great. But sometimes a vanilla partner can’t do it or is incapable of faking it or does it poorly on purpose so they won’t be asked to do it again. And for some kinksters the awareness you’re being indulged makes it impossible to get into the right subby headspace. If either is the case, you’ll have to outsource these desires to fill that void. If your boyfriend gives you the okay and has a little breakdown after you get home — if it dredges up some unexpected feelings and you should expect that it will dredge up some unexpected feelings, so expect those unexpected feelings) — and needs some reassurance, that’s fine. Answer any questions he has and let him know you’re not going anywhere; indeed, the fact that you don’t have to choose between him and your kinks makes you far less likely to end this relationship. Sometimes people who weren’t even in the dungeon during the scene need a little aftercare too.) But if you’re careful not to neglect your boyfriend sexually or emotionally and your kinky dates are just an occasional thing and your

When we’re boys … before we’re ready to come out … we’re suddenly attracted to another boy. And that’s something we usually feel pretty panicked about. boyfriend keeps having great, big, dramatic meltdowns, GA S B, then that’s a bad sign. If he punishes you with drama every time he gives you his okay to play with someone else then he’s hoping you’ll decide to stop seeking these experiences out because the emotional price is too great. ou won’t be able to remain in this relationship if that’s what winds up happening, GA S B, so you’re going to wanna act on your kinks at least a half a dozen times before you get a dog or a mortgage. Hey, Dan: My new boyfriend just opened up to me about his kinks. Nothing crazy: just bondage and humiliation. While he usually meets and dates guys off kinky dating sites, we met “the old-fashioned way” a few months before COVID-19 slammed us here in Chicago: at a potluck dinner party thrown by a mutual straight lady friend. Your name came up during the conversation about his interests: he told me he was taking your advice and “laying his kink cards on the table” before I had made too much of an emotional commitment. What’s interesting to me, Dan, is how often this happens. My boyfriend is easily the fourth guy I’ve dated in the last few years who laid down the exact same kink cards: wants to be tied up, wants to be called names, wants to be hurt. I’m learning to tie knots and getting better at calling him names when we have sex and I actually really enjoying spanking him. But I was talking with a friend — our straight lady mutual (with

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the boyfriend’s okay!) — and she told me she’s never had a straight guy open up to her about wanting to be tied up abused. Are gay guys just kinkier? Talking Over Perversions I have a theory When we’re boys before we’re ready to come out we’re suddenly attracted to another boy. And that’s something we usually feel pretty panicked about. It would be nice if that first samesex crush was something a boy could experience without feelings of dread or terror, TOP, but that’s not how it works for most of us. We’re keenly aware that, should the object of our desire realize it — if the boy we’re attracted to realizes what we’re feeling, if we give ourselves away with a stray look — the odds of that boy reacting badly or even violently are high. Even if you think the boy might not react violently, even if you suspect the boy you’re crushing on might be gay himself, the stakes are too high to risk making any sort of move. So we stew with feelings of lust and fear. Sexual desire can make anyone feel fearful and powerless — we’re literally powerless to control these feelings while we can and must control how we act on these feelings) — but desire and fear are stirred together for us gay boys to much greater degree than they are for straight boys. We fear being found out, we fear being called names, we fear being outed, we fear being physically hurt. And the person we fear most is the person we have a crush on. A significant number of gay guys wind up imprinting on that heady and very confusing mix of desire and fear. The erotic imaginations of guys like your boyfriend seize on those fears and eroticize them. And then, in adulthood, your boyfriend want to re-experience those feelings, that heady mix of desire and fear, with a loving partner he trusts. The gay boy who feared being hurt by the person he was attracted to becomes the gay man who wants to be hurt — in a limited, controlled, consensual and safe way — by the man he’s with. mail@savagelove.net FakeDanSavage on Twitter www.savagelovecast.com

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JULY 1-7, 2020

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Riverfront Times, June 30, 2020

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