Sinquefield adds $1.2 million more to effort to replace state income tax with sales tax
Posted 12:37 pm Fri., 1.27.12
Retired financier Rex Sinquefield has continued to put his money where his message is. He has donated another $1.2 million this week to the initiative-petition effort to phase out Missouri's income tax and replace it with a higher sales tax. Sinquefield's $1.224 million contribution is in addition to $1.3 million that he gave last fall to Let Voters Decide, the entity that is leading the campaign to get a proposal on this fall's ballot.
County proposes new regulations for farmers' markets
Posted 1:57 pm Thu., 1.26.12
After years of wading through bundles of paperwork and paying steep fees, farmers' market managers see promise in a push to overhaul and streamline regulations in St. Louis County. The new regulations are supposed to make it easier for vendors who sell and offer samples of prepared foods. A public hearing on the proposed ordinance is scheduled for mid-February.
Jacqueline Grennan Wexler: visionary educator
Posted 5:40 pm Thu., 1.26.12
Wexler, a former nun, was president of Webster University when it broke ties with the Catholic Church. She paired the academic with the business world here, and took her innovations on to Hunter College and service with two national administrations.
St. Louis salutes the troops
Posted 4:06 pm Thu., 1.26.12
The weather looks as though it is going to cooperate for the first-in-the-nation welcome back parade for post-9/11 troops. The floats, bands and other units step off at noon Saturday from the Keiner Plaza area and go down Market to Union Station, where a resource village will be available.
Celebrate Kevin Kline nominees; empathize with ailing photojournalist
Posted 7:00 am Fri., 1.27.12
Ready for local theater awards? The Kevin Kline will be releasing their nominees at a party on Monday. If you're going to be at home that night, however, you might well check out "Not As I Pictured," on the Nine Network of Public Media. It chronicles the cancer journey of 48-year-old Pulitzer Prize-winning photographer John Kaplan.
Areas with most smoking-related illness have most exemptions to smoking ban
Posted 10:23 am Fri., 1.27.12
Many establishments exempted from St. Louis County's public-smoking ban are in areas with the highest incidences of smoking-related illnesses, according to an analysis by Tobacco-Free St. Louis. It also argues that the exemptions could undo the health benefits of the Clean Air Act and that they are unfair to the majority of county establishments that have banned smoking.
Gray and Stone come full circle at the Kranzberg
Posted 8:16 am Fri., 1.27.12
The New Music Circle presentation Saturday night will be the firs time in six years that bassist Darin Gray, who lives in Edwardsville, has played in St. Louis. And it's 20 years, since he first played with saxophonist Dave Stone, who is also on the bill along with drummer Chris Corsano.
The turntable stops at Webster Records
Posted 3:24 pm Thu., 1.26.12
An impressive history and a loyal customers base wasn't enough to keep the independent record store going in the age of 99-cent internet downloads and the demise of St. Louis' classical radio station. Even a resurgence in vinyl to go along with the CDs just bought a little time.
Second Set: Ground zero of hipness
Updated 10:53 am Thu., 1.26.12
Troubadour Dali recording in analogue at David Beeman's Native Sound studio, just off Cherokee: That checks off quite a few boxes on the St. Louis cool list. Oh, and in advance of the band's new album, it is recotding a flexi, a light-weight piece of vinyl that was a popular music magazine insert/novelty in the 1980s.
On Movies: 'Albert Nobbs' presents a thoroughly believable character study
Posted 10:00 am Thu., 1.26.12
The movie, which Glenn Close also co-wrote and produced, is a richly detailed recreation of Victorian Dublin, its rigid and cruel class structure, its appalling poverty and arrogant wealth, and its oppressive treatment of women. The film is strongly thematic but never preachy or didactic.
Also: A bit of Oscar talk.
Editors' Picks
Art openings
Photographer Tom Nagel visited the Gallery at the Regional Arts Center, the St. Louis Artist's Guild and the new Gateway Gallery Friday evening to check out new exhibits. Here's a glimpse of what a visitor will find. A larger version is available here.
Topics
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Separating myths and realities about Meacham Park
Kirkwood resident and Beacon contributor William Freivogel opened our series on Kirkwood's Journey, a look at Kirkwood's efforts to understand how race affects the city since the deadly city hall shooting in 2008. This piece, part one of two, looks at the Meacham Park and misconceptions.
Voices
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R.W. Hafer explains a model developed by Professor Ray Fair of Yale, which says that we're looking at a close election.
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M.W. Guzy says the video of snipers degrading the corpses of men they had just killed forced people to look at war.
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Lana Stein notes that an "it can't happen here" attitude may be one of the biggest obstacles to improvement in the St. Louis area.
Lawscoop
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Over the past week, Silicon Valley's internet powerhouses outdid Hollywood, writes William H. Freivogel, by stopping internet piracy bills pushed by the big studios.
Beacon Roundtable
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In this week's Beacon Roundtable, Dick Weiss, Jason Rosenbaum and Jo Mannies sit down to talk about Ed Martin's quest for office, the Republican presidential primary's Missouri connections and St.…
Beacon Blog
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Robert W. Duffy reviews the awards handed out by the Arts and Education Council, particularly noting the evolution of Joan Lipkin.
On chess
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Ben Finegold, Grandmaster, outlines what is going on in the Tata Steel tournament and how the American players are doing.
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Barroom Conversations
The Beacon's nationally recognized Barroom Conversations program on race, class and other issues that divide will return from our holiday hiatus Monday, Feb. 20, 2012, at 7:30 PM discussing Education and Class. RSVP on Facebook and invite your friends! We'll pick up where we left off at Six Row Brewing Co., 3690 Forest Park Avenue at Spring. We look forward to seeing you again!
The MIKADO has a little list … were you on it?
The St. Louis Beacon rang in 2012 with a concert performance of Gilbert & Sullivan's beloved operetta, "The Mikado," at the Sheldon Concert Hall, and the Higher Education Channel was on hand to record it. Here is a link to the complete perfomance, which we hope you'll enjoy.
The musical direction of "The Mikado" was by Amy Kaiser; Craig Terry was conductor-accompanist. All proceeds from ticket sales benefitted the Beacon.
The Investigative News Network is a consortium of nonprofit news organizations dedicated to watchdog and public interest reporting.
