News St. Louis

NOAA Weather Radio Station KDO-89 Returns

noreply@blogger.com (News St. Louis editors) — Mon, 20 Jun 2011 07:16:00 +0000

The National Weather Service St. Louis NOAA Weather radio station KDO-89 has returned to the airwaves to serve the metropolitan area after an absence of about 22 hours. The National Weather Service office is reporting: "THE PROBLEM WAS TRACED TO A LIGHTNING STRIKE THAT DAMAGED THE TELEPHONE CIRCUIT THAT PROVIDES THE AUDIO SIGNAL TO THE TRANSMITTER."

The radio station transmits from a tower in Shrewsbury on 162.550 megahertz. Early on Saturday KDO-89 had been knocked off the air and was off during a series of storms that powered across the metropolitan area when tornado warnings and severe thunderstor warnings were issued leaving many in the public without warnings at daybreak on a weekend when many were simply "sleeping in" and unaware of the storms. Service on Saturday was restored after about 5 hours. Sunday's outage of 22 hours began when a separate round of early morning storms arrived.

Storm spotters and storm chasers suggest that the public find alternate ways of receiving their severe weather information for times such as St. Louis experienced with the outage of KDO-89. Technology, many of these people say, has advanced to the point that "smart phones" can receive notifications from a variety of sources when severe weather events occur. When soliciting comments from one group of weather watchers for this story one of the main suggestions of how to deal with a possible weather safety issue was simply to be informed at all times when there is a chance for severe weather - that would include being fully informed prior to retiring for sleep. Although that is not the most practical answer received, it makes sense to be more self-reliant and seek every possible source to remain informed in case of a severe weather event.

National Weather Service Public Safety Problems

noreply@blogger.com (News St. Louis editors) — Sun, 19 Jun 2011 20:44:00 +0000

The National Weather Service office in St. Louis issues weather alerts frequently during the spring storm season. This weekend there have been tornado warnings, severe thunderstorm warnings, flash flood warnings, and other warnings along with a host of watches within the area served by the St. Louis office (lsx) of the local NOAA office. But one thing has been a great safety concern to those who rely upon one of the St. Louis (lsx) office' chief tools for distributing the information to the public at large - and that is KDO-89 Radio the NOAA weather station that broadcasts from a tower in Shrewsbury on 162.550 megahertz.

During the last two mornings --- during times when tornado warnings and severe thunderstorm warnings were being issued in the heart of the metropolitan St. Louis area --- KDO-89 was silent. Off the air without any broadcasts of the information. NOAA weather radio units rely upon the trigger from that station but could NOT receive that trigger without the radio station broadcasting.

As I write this story, KDO-89 has been off the air for more than 13 hours on a Sunday. A reminder that May 22, 2011 was a Sunday that the residents of Joplin will never forget.

The problem of KDO-89 being off-air and silent impacts, perhaps, upward of one millions persons living in the metropolitan area because it is the main alert "trigger" to the home-unit NOAA weather radios. The NOAA weather radios are easily bought and operated with battery power or electric power with battery backup and are designed to allow the user to connect with the NOAA alerts on several frequencies. But in St. Louis, KDO-89 has been the main signal for more than 40 years. When people purchase their NOAA weather radios in St. Louis and vicinity, most people use an automatic setting which will default to 162.550 megahertz (mHz) because it is the strongest signal in the area. Without KDO-89 on the air during the weather warnings, most people will not receive those alerts.

The subject of some strong talk in Alton and Godfrey lately, some communities do not have tornado sirens in the same manner as St. Louis County and St. Louis City and many of the communities in St. Charles County. It is those areas not served with tornado sirens that could be the most at risk if KDO-89 is not broadcasting the warnings because it is off the air.

On Saturday morning when KDO-89 was not on the air --- thus unable to trigger NOAA weather radios --- tornado warnings were sent out at 5:30 am but residents in Alton and Godfrey knew nothing about those warnings unless they were already awake or received the warnings via email or special alerts to their phones. There is no easy fix for people who rely upon the weather radios and their ability to awaken them --- literally --- to the possibility of a tornado.

Fortunately for the residents of the metropolitan area there were NO tornadoes on the ground this weekend in St. Louis and vicinity. This has not been the case for much of the year with at least three tornadoes that touched down inside the "270/255 loop" since last December.

The question remains to be seen how problematic the National Weather Service' main radio station transmission will be during the next few days and months. But one thing that seems to be for certain --- if there are no tornado sirens in some of these communities and KDO-89 is not broadcasting, there is a great potential for disaster if a tornado rips through the unwarned communities in metropolitan St. Louis.

++++++++

The National Weather Service says the problems the past two days have been because of service failures on the part of AT&T. Each time they were contacted to inquire about KDO-89 being off the air, the National Weather Service website webmaster replied saying they were hoping to have the station transmission problem rectified as soon as possible. More than 13 hours after the National Weather Service St. Louis NOAA radio station went off the air --- it remains silent.

The question remains --- with service being out for such long periods of time --- who would be held responsible if a sudden storm were to hit the area and the lack of NOAA weather radio warnings due to the inoperable state of KDO-89 resulted in even one death?

The Weather Forecast for late Sunday 6/5/2011

noreply@blogger.com (News St. Louis editors) — Mon, 06 Jun 2011 04:15:00 +0000

From the National Weather Service in St. Louis - forecast zone for St. Louis County:

Tonight...Mostly clear. Low around 70. Light wind.

Monday...Hot and humid. Mostly sunny. High in the mid 90s. Highest heat index readings of around 100 late in the afternoon. Southwest wind around 10 mph.

Monday Night...Clear. Low in the mid 70s. South wind around 10 mph in the evening becoming light after midnight.

Tuesday...Hot and humid. Sunny. High in the upper 90s. Highest heat index readings of around 100 in the afternoon. South wind around 10 mph.

Tuesday Night...Mostly clear. Low in the mid 70s. South wind around 10 mph.

Wednesday...Hot and humid. Mostly sunny. High in the mid 90s. Highest heat index readings of around 100 in the afternoon.

Wednesday Night...Mostly clear. Low in the mid 70s.

Thursday...Mostly sunny. High in the mid 90s.

Thursday Night...Partly cloudy. Low in the lower 70s.

Friday Through Saturday...Partly cloudy with a 30 percent chance of thunderstorms. High around 90. Low in the lower 70s.

+++++++++++++

Also:

...HEAT ADVISORY REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 7 PM CDT WEDNESDAY...

MADISON IL-ST. CLAIR IL-ST. CHARLES MO-ST. LOUIS MO-
ST. LOUIS CITY MO-
INCLUDING THE CITIES OF...EDWARDSVILLE...BELLEVILLE...
ST CHARLES...ST LOUIS
328 PM CDT SUN JUN 5 2011

A HEAT ADVISORY REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 7 PM CDT WEDNESDAY.

* TIMING...HIGH HEAT INDEX VALUES CAN BE EXPECTED EACH AFTERNOON
THROUGH WEDNESDAY.

* HEAT INDEX VALUES...MAXIMUM HEAT INDEX VALUES AROUND 100
DEGREES CAN BE EXPECTED FROM MONDAY THROUGH WEDNESDAY.

* IMPACTS...THE EFFECTS OF HEAT ARE CUMULATIVE. SEVERAL DAYS OF
HEAT INDEX VALUES AROUND 100 ARE JUST AS DANGEROUS AS ONE OR
TWO DAYS WITH MORE EXTREME HEAT. HEAT RELATED ILLNESSES ARE A
REAL THREAT ESPECIALLY FOR SMALL CHILDREN...THE ELDERLY...AND
OTHER PEOPLE WITH PREEXISTING HEALTH CONDITIONS.

PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...

A HEAT ADVISORY IS ISSUED WHEN HIGH TEMPERATURE AND HUMIDITY
LEVELS ARE EXPECTED TO MAKE IT FEEL LIKE IT IS 100 DEGREES OR
GREATER FOR FOUR OR MORE CONSECUTIVE DAYS. PEOPLE IN THE ADVISORY
AREA ARE ADVISED TO AVOID PROLONGED WORK IN THE SUN...OR IN
POORLY VENTILATED AREAS. ALSO...KEEP PLENTY OF LIQUIDS ON HAND
AND TRY TO STAY IN AN AIR CONDITIONED ENVIRONMENT.

PEOPLE IN THE ST. LOUIS METROPOLITAN AREA CAN GET INFORMATION
ABOUT COOLING CENTERS OR ENERGY ASSISTANCE RELATED TO THE
EXCESSIVE HEAT BY CALLING THE UNITED WAY OF GREATER ST. LOUIS AT
800-427-4626...OR IF CALLING FROM A LAND LINE PHONE DIAL 2-1-1.
YOU CAN ALSO CALL COOL DOWN ST. LOUIS AT 314-241-7668.

Earthquakes in Mexico, Japan, Timely for St. Louis

noreply@blogger.com (News St. Louis editors) — Thu, 07 Apr 2011 15:04:00 +0000

This morning two large earthquakes were felt in the world.

First a 6.5 magnitude temblor was felt near Veracruz, Mexico.

Then a 7.4 magnitude earthquake rumbled off the coast of Honshu, Japan.

From AltonDailyNews.com --- this story ran this week:

The Japan earthquake is still fresh on the minds of many, and this is the bicentennial of the New Madrid earthquakes of 1811-1812, which reached magnitudes of 7.7. The Metro East lies in an area that could sustain major damage in case of a large-scale quake within the New Madrid seismic zone. With that in mind, Lewis and Clark Community College is participating in what may be the Midwest's largest ever earthquake drill at the end of the month. It's called The Great Central U.S. ShakeOut, and will take place at 10:15am on April 28. Although the New Madrid Fault is more recognized, the Wabash Valley Fault is also a factor, according to Mark Terry, with the Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation.

[Terry says the Wabash Valley fault has been the most recently active fault in the midwest region. In April 2008 there was a tremor felt in the metropolitan St. Louis area that originated on that fault and was barely over a 4 magnitude. Terry says the temblors in Japan are many thousands of times stronger than the one we felt three years ago.]

Lewis & Clark Community College plans to sound its outdoor warning siren with a voice message on its Godfrey campus to announce the earthquake drill on April 28. This event will be one of the largest earthquake preparedness drills in this region's history, according to shakeout.org, and a chance for communities in the Midwest to prepare together, before a disaster strikes.

For information on the upcoming earthquake drill, go to:

http://www.shakeout.org/centralus/illinois/

St. Louis Named "Most Dangerous City" By Study

noreply@blogger.com (News St. Louis editors) — Mon, 22 Nov 2010 15:11:00 +0000

St. Louis is number one! Yes, it's happened again, and St. Louis' mayor and other officials are not happy about it.

A yearly study has once-again ranked St. Louis as the "most dangerous city" in the United States of America. That study, by CQ Press, has been controversial for its methodology and the subject of much scrutiny by the FBI and police agencies around the country for several years. St. Louis edged out Camden, New Jersey, as the study found St. Louis had 2,070.1 violent crimes per 100,000 residents, compared with a national average of 429.4. Citing those statistics CQ Press claims St. Louis edged Camden, which was atop last year's "most dangerous cities" list and was bestowed that distinction in 2003 and 2004 - and remains in the top five along with Detroit and Flint in Michigan, as well as Oakland, California.

The city of St. Louis maintains that it has become safer each year since 2007 and that crime is down in the past year.

The CQ Press statistics uses FBI data and population combined as basis for the statistics cited by the study, which does not take into account economic conditions and geography --- such as a city/county line as exists between the city of St. Louis and St. Louis County or a boundary area such as the Mississippi River which divides the city of St. Louis from East St. Louis, East Carondelet, Sauget, Madison, and other areas in southwest Illinois which would normally border a big city.

Criminologists have been critical of the way the statistics are used because of the minimal data versus population which many say does not take all factors into account.

The City of St. Louis last year was ranked second in the study and was atop this study in 2006.

Classic 99 Lives On The Web, KFUO Radio Changes

noreply@blogger.com (News St. Louis editors) — Tue, 09 Nov 2010 13:15:00 +0000

Did you know there is still classical music originating from St. Louis' oldest continuous broadcast facility? KFUO Radio has been on the air from studios on the Concordia Seminary campus for around 80 years of its 86 years on the airwaves. Although the summer of 2010 ushered in the end of KFUO-FM, the AM side of KFUO (AM 850) remains in place.

Classic 99 KFUO-FM may be no more, but the music library at KFUO Radio continues to be put to good use through the studios which housed the former FM broadcast operation at KFUO. With help from former members of the Classic 99 staff, since right after the station signed off and transferred ownership of the 99.1FM signal, the music has continued on the worldwide web through the website that the station had been operating, www.classic99.com - and it continues today.

Ron Klemm spent the better part of four decades in the studios of KFUO Radio, much of it on the FM side after the station was split to AM programming (religious, liturgical, Bible-based) and FM programming (classical music, liturgical music, arts programming). Now severed from his job, Klemm is a constant companion of those who enjoyed Classic 99 on the radio through his helping program the music heard on www.classic99.com each day and night. He and Dick Wobbe are voicetracking much of the musical days through announcing the titles, composers and artists of a large portion of the songs being played on www.classic99.com --- although there is the caveat that not every song has been given a voice, so you may tune in and find some songs do not have any announcing between them. Also, most of the overnight songs were not scheduled to have voicetracking when last I interviewed Klemm about the www.classic99.com programming, although since the voicetracking began several weeks ago, many of the songs played overnight may contain the voiced elements.

Classic99.com is not the only source for classical and sacred music in the building at KFUO Radio right now, either, as KFUO RADIO (on AM 850) has now begun two hours of classical/sacred music weekday afternoons from 1 pm to 3 pm during Diane Summers' show. An aside is that this show began this week (Monday afternoon) and replaces contemporary Christian music (CCM) which had been programmed during that time slot. Summers, a KFUO Radio mainstay since the 1990s, has worked on both the AM and FM stations, knows much of the library at the radio station and is utilizing the knowledge of the music Klemm has as well as others who have had direct and indirect relations with KFUO through the years. She is also a musician who performs at her LCMS congregation and at another LCMS congregation in the St. Louis area, and has performed with recently semi-retired St. Louis Symphony Orchestra trumpet Susan Slaughter in at least two LCMS churches. The title of her show, The Essence, has not changed, but the sacred and classical music is a great departure from the CCM format and is one way that KFUO Radio can use the vast library of classical music it has on hand from 86 years of broadcasting to the St. Louis area and beyond. You can listen to KFUO Radio on http://www.kfuo.org/ - live during the daylight broadcast day, and repeats on the web at night including the two hours of classical and sacred music.

Max-imum Big-ness

noreply@blogger.com (News St. Louis editors) — Thu, 07 Oct 2010 03:11:00 +0000

A group of business persons from Alton, Illinois, have something to cheer about with the recent announcement of an upcoming performance of Max Weinberg and his Big Band on stage at Argosy Alton casino.

The Spectrum Entertainment Group organized in early 2010 and has produced several shows in the Alton area over the past few months. Now, with the contract for the former drummer from Conan O'Brien's Late Night and Tonight Show heading his own tour, Max Weinberg brings a 15-piece "swinging big band" to the Argosy Alton for one show on October 21. Weinberg, the drummer for Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band for more than three decades, has long been a big band musician and fan, and promises not only a lot of standard big band musical pieces but a set of Springsteen songs performed in the big band style.

Meanwhile, Spectrum Entertainment Group continues to branch out in producing concerts in the area. They have also scheduled Seattle-based Ian McFeron for a show at downtown Alton's Tony's Restaurant this Friday, October 8, as well as several other shows. You can read more about the live music events Spectrum Entertainment Group is producing in the Riverbend (Alton, Godfrey, Wood River, etc.) over the next few weeks and beyond at their Facebook page or their MySpace page.

Ticket information about the Max Weinbergh and his Big Band concert is also found online at the website seemaxinalton.com - with a limited amount of VIP tickets available.

Paperwork Shows LCMS Obscured Sale of KFUO-FM

noreply@blogger.com (News St. Louis editors) — Mon, 22 Feb 2010 15:53:00 +0000

FACT AND OPINION:
A News St. Louis Column

In February 2009, the board of directors for the Lutheran Church - Missouri Synod (LCMS) met and authorized the sale of their FM station, KFUO-FM. In the months after that, it is clear that the LCMS put one person from their board, Kermit Brashear, an Omaha lawyer of some repute, in charge of negotiating the sale of the station. Brashear struck a deal with a group of Christian broadcasters known as Gateway Creative Broadcasting, who operate two small "rim-shot" stations in Missouri known as JoyFM, and announced the sale of KFUO-FM on the air at JoyFM before the staff at KFUO-FM were told about the transaction. Soon thereafter, several parties in the St. Louis area filed comments with the FCC, including a prominent "Petition to Deny" from a group which has been seeking to stop the sale of the only classical music station in the region.

Recently, several pieces of paper related to one of the "Petition to Deny" filings sent to the Federal Communications Commission, or FCC, ended up in the hands of News St. Louis. It is interesting reading at worst. The man who is behind that particular petition is Robert Duesenberg, whose group is called Committee to Save KFUO-FM. This group has now filed papers bringing into question the validity of the words used by the leaders of the Lutheran Church - Missouri Synod in the proposed sale of their FM radio station in St. Louis to Gateway Creative Broadcasting, aka JoyFM. In short, the papers Duesenberg's group sent to the FCC show a potential problem for the LCMS. The LCMS may find itself in court over what it has said "on the record" about the sale of the station.

In these recent "Committee to Save KFUO-FM" filings sent to the FCC and the parties involved in the pending transaction, Duesenberg filed a personal exhibit stating that he has on several occasions requested papers from the LCMS --- a church body of whom Duesenberg is a "member in good standing" --- and has been denied access to those papers. It is unclear if the FCC would address his claims, but there was more to the filing which brings into light how far the LCMS may have been willing to go to obscure a potential sale to a party OTHER than Gateway Creative/JoyFM.

A second exhibit was sent in this most recent filing from Robert Cox who is a long-time broadcaster and has spent the past fifteen years as a professional radio broker --- the equivalent of a realtor for radio stations and other broadcast operations. Cox makes clear that he and at least one other member of his firm, Cox and Cox, were in contact with the LCMS and had requested information on the availability of the station on the open market over a period of several months in 2009. Cox had buyers who wanted to know if the station was up for sale --- the LCMS repeatedly denied it was selling KFUO-FM or misrepresented the fact that the LCMS board of directors had authorized the sale of KFUO-FM.

Cox found out about the sale of KFUO-FM the way most people in St. Louis did --- reading about it after the announcement.

This is how the LCMS showed it was professional to a professional? By denying the sale to a professional radio broker virtually all the way to the moment it was announced?

One can think what they want about how a sale of this magnitude (losing a cultural icon in Classic 99, a past Marconi-award winning classical music station) becomes an issue across the metropolitan St. Louis area in newspapers and online publications. However this appears to be the LCMS involved directly in certain collusion. A professional broadcasting broker was seeking information about the station sale and either received misinformation or direct lies by the selling party (LCMS) --- showing collusion in an even more obvious way than was previously charged by a "Citizens" petition to deny the sale.

Although this paperwork is likely to be opened up by someone at the FCC, the sale of KFUO-FM is probably too far in the works to be stopped unless there has been a lawsuit filed against the parties involved. Most people involved in broadcasting in St. Louis think the sale will be finalized in March. Then there will be a short period of time when the two parties will negotiate the transfer of the signal of 99.1FM from the LCMS to JoyFM, followed by the end of "Classic 99, KFUO-FM" and the beginning of a new JoyFM on 99.1FM in St. Louis.

An interesting aside to the most recent filings --- the broker, Cox, is also Lutheran.

The 110-Year-Old Band Plays On

noreply@blogger.com (News St. Louis editors) — Tue, 02 Feb 2010 17:14:00 +0000

Local residents have been hearing this group perform for at least 110-years, according to members of the Letter Carriers Band of St. Louis. The band is looking to continue its tradition of playing throughout the communities in the region for the rest of the 21st Century and beyond.

Although many may not have heard of the Letter Carriers Band (of St. Louis), its origins around the turn of the 20th century were not fully documented, either. But the now-deceased singer of the band, Lee Gilcrease (d. 2008 - he sang into his 94th year of life and would have turned 96 this week), had been told by long-ago members of the group - with whom he performed for more than 40 years - that it had been started long before the 1904 World's Fair by musicians linked to the St. Louis letter carriers [local Branch 343]. The National Association of Letter Carriers has long been a sponsor of this and other bands nationwide, including bands in Pittsburgh, Memphis, Seattle, Minneapolis-St. Paul, and numerous other locations. In fact, at one time the NALC sponsored more than 100 bands across the United States of America.

The St. Louis band has performed at NALC conventions in Chicago, Orlando, Las Vegas, Portland (OR), and Honolulu among other cities.

Locally, the Letter Carriers Band (of St. Louis) performs almost year-round in varied venues such as retirement apartments, nursing homes, parks, community events, and at the annual St. Louis Labor Day Parade (part of the NALC Branch #343 gathering).

Its current director, Dolores Ullrich - a longtime local music teacher - has been a member of the band for more than 26 years. Her husband Don, once the director in the mid-1980s, is also a member of the band. Their son and son-in-law are current members, too, along with about twelve to fifteen other musicians and singers, including Letter Carriers Branch 343 member Steve Schwent. Steve has been a member of the band since he was "a young man" --- more than 30 years --- and has seen a lot of personnel changes over that time. He says that any band which has been around more than 100 years has seen change, but one thing remains the same: a commitment to the community.

Perfomances include a wide-range of music, from big bands (think Duke Ellington or Tommy Dorsey style), musicals (Kiss Me Kate, The Sound of Music, Kismet, others), ethnic regional music (Italian, English, Irish, German, Spanish, Mexican, melting pot USA), popular music which featured the great 20th century singers (think Ella Fitzgerald, Louis Armstrong, Frank Sinatra, Judy Garland, Bing Crosby, Tony Bennett, etc.), march music (Sousa, King, et al), waltzes, various styles of jazz (standards/combos/some solos and bluesy stuff), and patriotic music.

If it sounds like fun --- the musicians say, emphatically, that it IS fun. The band takes pride in performing, but is looking for new blood to continue the tradition. In 2010, the group is looking for musicians who READ and PLAY music of the genres mentioned. Needed are those who play TRUMPET, PERCUSSION (drum set), SAXOPHONE, TROMBONE, BASS (string or tuba), KEYBOARD/PIANO, GUITAR, and clarinet or flute (parts for big band music may be arranged for some instruments). Other instruments are used more sporadically, but may be needed at any time of the year depending upon the music styles necessary for a performance. Multi-instrumental specialists abound in the band, including Sid Boxer who has performed on saxophone and clarinet for "around 40 years". Other musicians may play baritone saxophone on one gig and tenor sax for a different gig, or the trumpet player gets up to sing, or one member may sing as well as play trombone and trumpet in the same gig. It's talent like that which has kept the music going for 110-years in St. Louis.

If you need additional information about the Letter Carriers Band of St. Louis, contact buzzmusicmedia@gmail.com --- and ask about performances or opportunities to join the band as a musician. Practices and performances are on Tuesday evenings. Practices are usually held at Shaw VPA School on The Hill at 7:00 pm on select Tuesdays. Band officials ask that --- before showing up --- you would contact a band member or Dolores Ullrich to make sure there is a practice scheduled, if you are interested in performing with the Letter Carriers Band. Some musicians from other groups perform for a short period of time during the hiatus of their other band(s), but come back year after year because they love the merry little band of music makers.

If you are interested in becoming a musician with the Letter Carriers Band of St. Louis, you'll find some of the musicians have been around here a long time --- and the band as a whole is hoping to be here a LOT longer!

FCC Petition to Deny Sale of KFUO-FM Filed

noreply@blogger.com (News St. Louis editors) — Sun, 29 Nov 2009 05:19:00 +0000

A group of citizens have filed a "Petition to Deny" the sale of KFUO-FM, Classic 99 (99.1FM), from The Lutheran Church - Missouri Synod (LCMS) to Gateway Creative Broadcasting, Inc., with the Federal Communications Commission (FCC).

The station, Classic 99, is St. Louis' only Classical music format station, having been owned and operated by the LCMS since it went on the air in 1948, the FM station which has been on the air the longest time in St. Louis. It is a Class C0, 100-kilowatt FM signal that can be heard for around 100 miles in all directions away from St. Louis.

Gateway Creative Broadcasting, Inc., is a locally-0wned group which operates two radio stations in Missouri, one licensed to Bowling Green and another in Potosi, both which play Contemporary Christian Music as "JoyFM". The group plans to take over 99.1 FM and air the CCM format, thus eliminating the only classical music on the radio in the metropolitan St. Louis area. Documents filed with the FCC show that an attempt to secure an HD-2 channel as part of the sale of the radio station exists, but is not etched in stone and can be set aside without reservation.

The Radio Arts Board of Classic 99 had hoped to be given a chance to purchase KFUO-FM from the LCMS, but the LCMS Board of Directors put one of their own, attorney Kermit A. Brashear, a member of the LCMS Board of Directors, to be the sole negotiator in the sales process. He remains uncooperative with other members of the LCMS who have petitioned him to discuss the situation. Brashear has made statements that he is the only person allowed to comment upon the sale of KFUO-FM, and in so doing, has made almost no statement regarding the sale which can be construed as helpful to the media covering the sale. In short, Brashear has run blocker for himself and only given anyone squat.

There have been rumors that someone in the LCMS may file a lawsuit to block the sale of the radio station. Meanwhile, the LCMS chairman has made at least one statement which is in conflict with Brashear's public statements. Also, there are charges that Brashear and the treasurer of the LCMS, Thomas Kuchta, who maintains that the process was open to the public and not secretive as has been stated by members of the Board of Directors, have conspired to sell the radio station quickly, and not sell the license at a time when the assets of the station would bring in much more money. The market for a 100-kilowatt radio station is down considerably from ten years ago, and even five years ago a station like Classic 99 could have been sold for nearly twice the $18-million price given in the filed public papers. Given the current economy, radio station prices are at a low, with an expected increase in prices within the next three to four years. Local radio professionals have commented that this is NOT the time to be selling a station off as an asset. They say now is the time to hold off on a sale, or to be the buyer.

Earlier, the LCMS board had voted to sell the station, then asked Brashear to represent them in a process which would give all potential buyers a chance to negotiate. Brashear held a short session with the Radio Arts Board and then excluded them in all subsequent negotiations after a brief meeting with the members of Gateway Creative Broadcasting.

Those who filed the petition to deny the sale allege Brashear is involved in an act of collusion, and thus denied entities in the community an opportunity to bid through a selection process. And some members of the LCMS agree with that assessment, having commented on blogs and through some correspondence with reporters in St. Louis.

The citizen petitioners is asking that anyone who wants to file their own comments with the FCC do so quickly. The deadline for comments to the FCC is Monday, November 30, 2009.

The email address for the FCC is fccinfo@fcc.gov

Anyone who wishes to affix their names on the submitted petition to deny is asked to contact buzzmusicmedia@gmail.com with their name and address.

The mailing address for the FCC is:

Federal Communications Commission
445 12 Street SW
Washington, DC 20554

Alton: Busy Week Where Lights May Shine

noreply@blogger.com (News St. Louis editors) — Tue, 06 Oct 2009 12:54:00 +0000

What will the weather do? Rain? Dry? Clouds? Sun? Cool? Warmth? In one area city, everyone is hopeful that the weather will be good enough this Friday to have an afternoon be labeled "good" or even "prize-winning".

Brett Stawar of the Alton Regional Convention and Visitors Bureau has had a busy year in 2009, but the busiest part may not be over just yet as he works with officials from the city of Alton, Principia (College in Elsah IL), The Hayner Library, and KMOV-TV to get the News4 crew into Alton's Lincoln-Douglas Square, as well as Alton's Public School Stadium, this Friday.

KMOV/News4 St. Louis has been "On The Road" on Friday evenings the past several weeks, featuring Kirkwood and Belleville the past two weeks on their 5 and 6 o'clock evening news broadcasts. This week their destination is Alton, which is why Brett Stawar, Matthew Asselmeier in Alton City Hall, and news producer Diane Duenez of Channel 4 have been three of the busiest people in the region. It's their job to coordinate much of the activity focused around the broadcast, including helping one another get key interview segments set and ensure the placement of people milling around Lincoln-Douglas Square in downtown Alton where the makeshift studio is scheduled to be set up on Friday. This week, they want "red tape" to mean colored duct tape and not a problem for the potential broadcasts.

Lincoln-Douglas Square may not be an immediate destination for most people who visit the city of Alton, Illinois, but it is one stop that thousands of residents pass every day when going through downtown Alton, at the corner of Broadway, Piasa Street and Landmarks Blvd. It is where the city hosted a debate between Abraham Lincoln and Stephen Douglas as the two men ran for U. S. Senate in 1858. And whereas a "live" television broadcast is not normal from this spot, but it has been a corner where camera crews have set up in the past. In 1993, during the Great Flood, the corner was likely a bit difficult for an entire set, but crews from all over the world set up near the landmark to get video of the waters invading downtown Alton. For some videojournalists the area near Lincoln-Douglas Square was almost their home away from home during the summer of 1993, while other news crews were there as part of their tour of the midwest where The Great Flood impacted Americans.

Alton residents are being asked to do something simple for the Friday afternoon activity: show up and have fun. The Riverbend region is abuzz with those who see the opportunity to give non-residents a chance to see why they pick the area to live and work, as well as reasons for tourists to visit the Alton area. KMOV has scheduled a "meet and greet" time (1 to 4 p.m.) for those interested in meeting some of the personalities and producers, including time for a few autographs. It may be the "be seen" event for those who would like to mingle with those who are influential in the Riverbend area.

In fact even without a TV newscast scheduled, on Friday there is already a chance that Alton is where the spotlight may shine on a visitor. In a 1 p.m. event this Friday, the Riverfront Amphitheater hosts Nobel Peace laureate nominee Greg Mortenson, author of Three Cups of Tea: One Man's Mission To Promote Peace...One School At A Time. And Mortenson may be awakened in the early morning by someone with the news of the Nobel Prize --- the announcement is set for 9 a.m. GMT, or about 4 a.m. CDT, and he could wake up a winner. If so, the speaking engagement at Riverfront Amphitheater would be Mortenson's first public appearance after the annoucement is made. The stage is set, and will belong to Mortenson, no matter the outcome from the Nobel Foundation in Stockholm, Sweden.

All around Alton, for all involved, it's a week of making sure things are "GO" for the live broadcast on KMOV. But it's also a time to see the possibilities and perhaps celebrate the live broadcast showcasing the city of Alton --- and maybe a Nobel Prize winner.

Now, if only the weather forecast comes out favorable for Friday.

Cards Trading, Moving, Shaking It Up

noreply@blogger.com (News St. Louis editors) — Thu, 23 Jul 2009 02:01:00 +0000

It's late in July and fans of the St. Louis Cardinals are starting to wonder what General Manager John Mozeliak has up his sleeve for the next few weeks. In the past three weeks, the Cardinals' GM has made two key moves to bring change to the lineup, including the acquisition of veteran utility player Mark DeRosa for young pitcher Chris Perez, and swapping a struggling Chris Duncan for recently-designated-for-assignment infielder Julio Lugo from the Boston Red Sox.

Duncan and Rick Ankiel have been splitting time in left field over the past couple of months since Colby Rasmus gained fulltime status as the Birdos center fielder, following a dramatic injury to Ankiel at Busch Stadium in May.

What's next on the agenda for Mozeliak? Speculation has been ongoing that the Cardinals might be in the hunt for Toronto Blue Jays ace Roy Halladay. However the price to make that trade is steeper than most ballclubs are willing to entertain. That stream of thought probably includes the Cardinals, as the rumored trade would have St. Louis sending Joel Piniero and at least one top prospect and one major leaguer in addition to taking Halladay's remaining pay for the season. Piniero has been the victim of poor run production behind him, but has been excellent on the mound, giving up the fewest walks of any major league starter over the past 10 weeks, and even single-handedly winning his last start with an RBI double which drove in the winning run.

The stage is set for Mozeliak to push another club for a trade. But the question is will he be able to grab a pitcher from another major league team? The Cardinals' Todd Wellemeyer, the worst pitcher in the past ten weeks, could be the trade bait --- but to whom and for whom?

Speculation that a recently demoted major league starter is available may have some in Redbird Nation curious when they look deeper at the reasons behind the demotion --- and even moreso if they see the statistics since Ian Snell, a Pittsburgh Pirates pitcher for the past five seasons. Snell was 2 - 8 with the Pirates this season before being sent down to AAA Indianapolis where he has been pitching better than he had for Pittsburgh --- except for the walk-to-innings-pitched ratio. Snell has a 2 -1 record in Indianpolis, giving up only two runs in 32.1 innings pitched, making his ERA 0.56 in that span --- but he has given up nine walks in the past two games. Pittsburgh General Manager Neal Huntington has been less than pleased because Snell commented about his status to the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review and said he felt that the Pirates were making him the scapegoat for their troubles. Huntington meanwhile says that Snell's comments make the pitcher an unlikely candidate to return to the Pirates.

Does this sound like two pitchers who could use a change of scenery?

Could Ian Snell be another Dave Duncan reclaimation project, or is Snell too wild for the Cardinals' pitching coach and manager Tony LaRussa to tame.

We'll have to wait and see if Mozeliak and the Cardinals can make a deal with Huntington and the Pirates --- and if such a swap would make sense.

Soulard Oktoberfest Seeks Public Response

noreply@blogger.com (News St. Louis editors) — Tue, 28 Apr 2009 16:30:00 +0000

Officials with the SOULARD OKTOBERFEST are seeking comments from area residents regarding the festival and how it is handled as well as perceived by the public.

Organizers from the SOULARD OKTOBERFEST, run by the Soulard Oktoberfest Benevolent Association, met with officials from the city of St. Louis on Monday. The city Parks, Recreation and Forestry Division as well as Ald. Phyllis Young expressed concerns over the rowdiness of the Oktoberfest crowd and asked for some concessions from the Oktoberfest regarding its festival. Oktoberfest officials told the city they would gladly address these concerns by May 31st in hopes of coming to a compromise so that the 2009 edition of the SOULARD OKTOBERFEST would be allowed to continue in its current location at 8th and Lafayette - from 7th and Lafayette to 9th and Lafayette, over to Carroll Street from 9th to 7th St - around Soulard Market and the park along Lafayette Avenue. An official with the Soulard Oktoberfest tells News St. Louis that they were encouraged by the Parks, Recreation and Forestry Division to keep in touch with that arm of city government so that the festival may be able to continue in its current configuration in 2009.

The Soulard Oktoberfest is hoping to secure enough support from the neighborhood residents and business owners, as well as the St. Louis public in general, to help shore up the notion that they have been running a good old-fashioned German heritage festival in a responsible manner.

Soulard Oktoberfest officials hope that those concerned about the well-being of the festival contact Ald. Phyllis Young at the city of St. Louis. Her email address is: pyoung@stlouiscity.com

Contact information for the Soulard Oktoberfest is available on their website: http://www.soulardoktoberfest.com
or more directly: http://www.soulardoktoberfest.com/dev/index.php?option=com_contact&Itemid=3

Those who wish to volunteer time or other resources can contact the organizers of the Soulard Oktoberfest.

Euna Lee And Laura Ling Are Held By North Korea; Roxana Saberi Imprisoned In Iran

noreply@blogger.com (News St. Louis editors) — Tue, 21 Apr 2009 10:42:00 +0000

When trying to write something, I generally find a topic which is easily related to most St. Louisans. But today, this is aimed at a target segment --- a niche audience --- and it is NOT St. Louis news, but a national and international story. Iran just sentenced a journalist --- not just any journalist but a female journalist who grew up in the United States and has been living in Iran for the past six years --- to eight years in jail. It is said to violate Iran's own human rights laws to hold her after investigators looked into her activities. Saberi was raised in Fargo, North Dakota, lived a rather normal life as a child in America, enjoyed her freedom like any other American, and decided she should seek out more in her Iranian roots and return to the land of her lineage and work in her chosen field of journalism. But as anyone with American ties and family in a strong-minded middle east country can no doubt tell us, someone who is raised in the United States is subject to immediate scrutiny and harsh judgment --- which is what has happened to Roxana Saberi. Thus far, Americans are largely ignorant of this story unless they heard it during network news over the weekend or got their hands on a newspaper with international news stories sometime in the past three days. Hearing international news on the networks is what used to be normal, but now Americans don't hear or read international stories because of many factors, not the least of which is newspapers are going away and radio stations don't bother to carry network news the way they used to carry it 25 years ago.

That's the starting point for the rest of this story, as I am keeping up the appearance of someone who is "in the know" but not following international stories closely enough to make myself appear but another ignorant American. So --- here's the focus on something international which I have been following a bit more closely through an internet contact.

Journalists Laura Ling and Euna Lee are being held captive by North Korea.

This story probably does not ring a bell with most Americans, but it should. This isn't truly a NEW NEWS STORY. These two women have been held --- illegally --- by the North Korean government for FIVE WEEKS after they were walking, to their knowledge, about a mile or so from the border with China and, as the story goes, were captured by soldiers of the North Korean government. They were quickly brought to a military sight where they were detained, questioned, and thrown into jail for being on North Korean soil. Thus far, the two women --- both working for Current TV --- have received only ONE visitor, and are not allowed any freedoms. As far as anyone can gather information to this point Laura Ling and Euna Lee have not been allowed sunlight and fresh air.
This treatment is far beyond the comprehension of most people. It violates simple human rights to hold them in this manner --- but if nobody does something about it, it goes unchecked.

It is a war-like attitude to take a human and subject them to jail for walking NEAR a border. It is North Korea who is keeping up appearances that they are doing right by their citizens by kidnapping two women who were unarmed and harmlessly doing their jobs as journalists and not even allowing foreign attorneys the opportunity to meet with them to discuss their case, or discuss the charges being leveled against them with anyone in the local or state government. Clearly, Euna Lee and Laura Ling were in the wrong place at the wrong time --- if only because on March 17, 2009, they were too close to the border for the North Koreans to ignore their presence. Or perhaps, as at least one story has suggested, they were being misled by a guide who promised them a story of human trafficking along the border of North Korea and China and the two women were more or less delivered to North Korea by someone who was paid off by the Kim Jong Il goverment. It's difficult to ascertain from the other side of earth what happened that day, but these two American women are being held on charges of illegal entry and hostile acts. And with the style of goverment in North Korean, it is easy to see that since the state news agency there has said Laura Ling and Euna Lee are going to be tried on those charges they will likely be convicted and sentenced to jail in much the same manner as Roxana Saberi in Iran.

The question remains open: will the Obama administration do anything at all to help American journalists being held in foreign countries?

Here's the blog commentary part of this story:
The world is so small with the internet, but the world of international politics is but a minuscule piece of our daily lives. Think about it: we cannot afford to idly stand by and think "well, how does their misfortune impact my life enough?"
Americans must see such injustice played out upon an international stage. But it starts with one or two more conversations at work and home to get the scope on a story which is largely being ignored. I encourage you to look for news stories on this subject, read as many of them as you can, and please do something other than keeping up the appearances that you care: please make the time to send out one email to someone who matters in the media (TV shows on the major networks can put this story on the minds of everyone, any newspapers or wire services) and if not to the media please send that email or snail mail letter to someone in the different governmental bodies where you think it will become an impact story.
If you wish to make a difference in the lives of two women who are being held captive on trumped up charges, you can do it.

I'm not keeping up appearances today. I've written this story and I'll forward information to others I know in hopes that it becomes a greater discussion, and both Euna Lee and Laura Ling become the topic of many Americans water cooler chats.

I hope this story is being talked about in the west wing of the White House, as it deserves both attention and action by the U.S. Government on behalf of its citizens --- two of which are Euna Lee and Laura Ling who are, for now, detainees in North Korean, and the jailed third U.S. citizen Roxana Siberi who may spend eight years imprisoned in Iran.

Greater St. Louis Jazz Festival 2009

noreply@blogger.com (News St. Louis editors) — Thu, 19 Mar 2009 03:40:00 +0000

April is Jazz Appreciation Month in the U.S. and it appears that the truly American art form of music will have its day - or days - in St. Louis this year.

The official announcement is in --- and it looks pretty good for jazz afficianados in the metro St. Louis region for 2009 --- the Greater St. Louis Jazz Festival has a nice home at the University of Missouri-St. Louis, and it appears to pack some punch with great headliners like a St. Louis favorite in the John Pizzarelli Quartet, trumpet extraordinaire Jon Faddis (wow, those are some chops!), legendary saxophonist Lou Marini (Saturday Night Live, and The Blues Brothers) and quintessential drummer Peter Erskine (Weather Report, and a Grammy Award winner), as well as several groups with a local and regional flavor, April 16th through 18th.

The Blanche M. Touhill Performing Arts Center on the UM-St. Louis (UMSL) campus is where much of the focus will remain during the Greater St. Louis Jazz Festival in 2009, with workshops for those up-and-coming jazz musicians held throughout the festival at the Touhill A + B halls as well as in the Lee Theatre.

Quoting from the jazz festival's press release: "Over 750 students representing 45 groups from 33 schools will flock to the festival, in addition to teachers, parents and local jazz enthusiasts." UMSL jazz studies and artistic director Jim Widner says “The interest from participating schools has exceeded our expectations,” adding, “...as in previous years, we have had to start a waiting list.”

On Thursday, April 16th, the initial gathering will include bands from throughout the region representing the high school, colleges/universities, and professional levels. The Thursday schedule includes large ensemble and combo clinics critiqued by world-renowned adjudicators, three master classes and high school band performances. All of the daytime artist clinics, master classes and band performances are FREE and open to the public. These will be located at the Lee Theater and the Blanche M. Touhill Performing Arts Center.

On Friday, April 17th, following more than a baker's dozen performing in the Lee Theatre, there will be clinics including a drum clinic at Noon by two-time Grammy ® Award winning drummer Peter Erskine. At 8 p.m. in the Touhill Performing Arts Center (TPAC), it's Lou Marini, performing a mesmerizing set on tenor sax. His ability to switch genres is because he consistently performs with "chameleon-like adaptability" in jazz, rock, blues and classical. Also on the bill that evening is drummer Peter Erskine, brining his sophisticated rhythms and versatility to the stage. Ticket prices range from $10-$15-$25, and may be purchased at the Touhill Performing Arts Center ticket office by calling (314) 516-4949, toll-free (866) 516-4949 or online at www.touhill.org.

Saturday, April 18th, in the TPAC, John Pizzarelli Quartet entertains along with Jon Faddis. Tickets for that evening's performance range in price from $10-$15-$25, and may be purchased at the Touhill Performing Arts Center ticket office by calling (314) 516-4949, toll-free (866) 516-4949 or online at www.touhill.org.

For five (5) years at the UM–St. Louis, the Greater St. Louis Jazz Festival has brought jazz masters together with middle school, high school and university students to share and celebrate jazz, rightly heralded as a truly American art form of music.

Dilution Of News In St. Louis

noreply@blogger.com (News St. Louis editors) — Fri, 13 Mar 2009 18:56:00 +0000

This is a commentary, not a news story.

But, this is also a story about news - more specifically a news wire service which many who deal with St. Louis media are familiar, but those outside news may never have come across the particular source for local news of which I write today.

I announce this because some may look at this site purely as someone searching for news stories. And, yes, that is a point to this blogsite --- to produce some news for St. Louis area residents to read. But, there are reasons to blog --- we've all read that somewhere before --- and blogs are quite often just commentary. Today, this entry is more than commentary or just a news story. It is a story that may be overlooked if not documented.

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More than a few dozen people have been associated with a news wire service in St. Louis which was once of local origination. One service with which many in the broadcasting industry are familiar is METRO NETWORKS - the wire service known as METRO SOURCE.

Recently, Westwood One announced that it was planning to consolidate its offices into "pods" and lay off hundreds of people from one of its --- if not MOST --- profitable subsidiary...Metro Networks. The author/chief editor of this blog sends condolances to the many people who have already been laid off from work at the St. Louis office of Metro Networks over the past several months and years.

For more than 16 years, the news staff at the St. Louis office --- of what has been known for 15 of those years as Metro Networks News --- was one of the best sources and providers of local news, primarily for radio. More recently because of staffing reductions forced upon them by corporate orders, a smaller staff was producing the local news. Within the past several weeks, although those who staffed the Metro office in Clayton knew this, most local news was not even gathered in St. Louis, but by a news desk in Phoenix.

This is not a new movement. Although Associated Press continues to operate a St. Louis office, it has worked with a smaller staff than a mere 25 years ago. Other news sources have done similar layoffs, including --- across the board --- radio newsrooms, television newsrooms, and newspapers. Metro Networks had done well because throughout the first two-thirds of the 1990s it was BUILDING UP a network of offices, staffed with reporters and editors who were in their local communities gathering information, pooling it, and distributing it throughout its network. In the days leading up to Westwood One's acquisition of Metro Networks from its founder David Saperstein, and shortly thereafter, Metro Source was becoming the premier news wire service, especially for radio. In fact if one were to read the various "local news feeds" from a Metro Networks METRO SOURCE computer just six years ago, the amount of news generated was astounding. Local news in Boston, Houston, St. Louis, Detroit, Chicago, San Diego, Baltimore, and dozens of other markets was out daily, some markets putting out two to four feeds per day. The "network" news office in Phoenix would do an hourly newsfeed, which was used by radio and television stations --- and occasionally other news-intensive media --- to inform its audience with the latest national news. Back then, if there was a train wreck and massive cloud of toxic gas somewhere in the country, with a "Metrosource" computer the news spread all over within minutes. Then, Westwood One was talking a good game, but was already distancing itself from the way it had inherited the Metro Networks product. In essence a part of the CBS and Viacom umbrella, Westwood One felt it knew better than Metro Networks and started looking more at the costs than at the wealth and breadth of production. News (and traffic) product suddenly became secondary to making a few extra dollars to make the shares of Westwood One stock go up. And if one was within the heirarchy of Metro Networks OUTSIDE of New York after Westwood One acquired Metro...you were soon eliminated from your position. It was not three full years after Westwood One purchased a well-run, productive and money-making company, that the main builders of the product were summarily dismissed from Metro Traffic and/or MetroSource management positions.

Naming names of the Metro Networks managers wouldn't matter except to those who knew these men and women...but they are real. They were humans who cared about the product, were determined to make it better, as accurate as possible, and showed their faces at the various offices throughout the United States. In St. Louis, it was NOT unheard of to see founder Saperstein, his son-in-law, and several upper-level managers stop in to make a personal show that they truly did appreciate the workers and the work being done by those people. Even after Westwood One acquired Metro in the late 1990s several of those managers would come to see the gateway city. And there was clearly one reason why they did so: prior to Metro Traffic's existence in St. Louis the news and traffic service they bought had a very good reputation.

The St. Louis wire service had been begun in the early 1990s as Brad Hildebrand's CompuTraffic and NewsPlus with a growing news staff inside a small office in Overland. When Metro Traffic bought the rights to the St. Louis area in the mid-1990s, several meetings involving St. Louis personnel helped spur the "local feed" idea to spread, and in a few months Metro Traffic had local news bureaus in numerous local markets --- another way to spread product and grow revenues through the commercials used in connection with the newscasts. Now you can connect the origin of this local news source LONG before Westwood One was involved. The newsroom and local wire service had already grown to include nearly two-dozen affiliates before Metro's initial purchase. Within a six-year span, it had gone from a small operation with one early morning news feed to a fully staffed newsroom including sports coverage, business and political coverage, producing three feeds daily plus bulletins.

Well, it seems that a legacy of local service actually does not matter to bottom liners who run big corporations. So, Westwood One declared its full authority over the local markets which have had fully staffed "Metro Source" local bureaus. St. Louis is not alone in losing it's local news gathering. Several dozen bureaus are being "consolidated" - downsizing hundreds of people out of jobs over the past several months. That is the new way of doing business, right?

Here comes the problem with the "new way" of doing business at Westwood One's Metro Source:

No local news staff means no immediate news.

It's not that MetroSource will stop feeding St. Louis area news. It won't go away, but the amount and quality of Metro Networks MetroSource news will suffer in the bi-state region. What once housed ten to twelve reporters and editors now houses no local news. Why? The local news bureau ceased to exist this month. As mentioned, the actual news feeds have been produced --- for several weeks --- in Phoenix. This means that those in St. Louis CAN get news from MetroSource --- but those who MAKE NEWS have to be in contact with an editor in Phoenix and practically spoonfeed the story to that newsdesk for it to make it onto the "St. Louis Feed".

As for those dozen or so reporters and editors in St. Louis who spent many years gathering, reporting, and feeding news to radio with NewsPlus and Metro Networks --- it's off to find other jobs at the height of an economic nightmare.

You KHAN Get A Free Lunch

noreply@blogger.com (News St. Louis editors) — Tue, 03 Mar 2009 19:25:00 +0000

Not often does one read "free lunch" and NOT automatically think "cheapskates" or "poor man's food" or simply say "there has to be a catch." But if you're willing to try out an offer of a "free lunch" on Thursday, 5 March 2009, it could turn out to be something you catch and enjoy.

Genghis Grill - the Mongolian Stir Fry - opens at the corner of Clayton and Clarkson in the Fountain Plaza center with a ribbon-cutting ceremony at 10 a.m. on Thursday, followed by a grand-opening event: they're giving away hundreds of bowls of Mongolian Stir Fry to those who come, in hopes that the crowd will be generous with monetary gifts to the group Saint Louis Ovarian Cancer Awareness [Foundation], or SLOCA, who will serve the customers between 11 AM and 2 PM. A three-hour free lunch, and the benefits go to all!

Oh, and --- it is a SMOKE-FREE restaurant.
[Well, except for the food-grilling, I suppose.]

Owners Jeff and Brian Durbin, like everyone else, are struggling to open a business during these tough economic times, but wanted to honor a charity that is very near and dear to their hearts on the March 5th grand opening day.

Seeing the possibilities here, I think I'll go build a bowl. The problem is trying to figure out which ingredients I want to use --- this is a "pick your food" place, and I am notorious for being slow in figuring out which ingredients I want when there are dozens from which to choose. Yikes! Either way, it sounds like a good combination: freshly prepared food, custom-picking what goes into the bowl, and a "free" lunch with a chance to help out a good cause.

WHAT: "Free Lunch" during the Grand Opening of Ghengis Grill
WHEN: Thursday, March 5th, 2009
WHERE: Ghengis Grill - 15819 Fountain Plaza Drive - at the corner of CLAYTON at CLARKSON
WHY: Showcase the restaurant and benefit SLOCA Foundation
WHO: Owners Jeff and Brian Durbin. Other who: You, me, friends, acquaintances, others who show up - get to try a "first" in St. Louis and feel good about giving to a good charitable cause during a free lunch.

Newsies

noreply@blogger.com (News St. Louis editors) — Mon, 02 Feb 2009 00:55:00 +0000

Have you found yourself looking through many sources for news and thinking to yourself that there are too many hours in the day to continuously go looking through them?

Yes, that's my problem, too. In fact, in creating this blog, I arguably made this problem worse. As I look at the News St. Louis blog, inevitably I find myself looking at the numerous sources for news along the side, going to the Pentagraph (Bloomington IL), local newspapers in the metropolitan area, and several others which are initially RIGHT HERE.

Okay, there are reasons for my having done so, including the fact that if I read my own blog I will feel compelled to actually write something for whomever may be my audience - real or perceived. Lately, I've been keeping myself too distant --- in fact I have come to realize how many stories that I have not been following. Not just missing details of stories, but the story itself in many cases. If there is one thing that I have learned, it's that keeping informed makes me feel better connected to life. So, I will make a few more attempts (I write this as the Super Bowl is on TV...funny aside is that I am not watching it and STILL managed to put a sports metaphor into a sentence without knowing I was about to do so) at finding and writing some stories which may compel someone to do some reading of this site.

Upcoming articles include an interview with someone who was part of the Inauguration of the 44th President of the United States of America, a look at some politically active situation, and music in the region.

If you pray, please pray that I can remember to do my blog some kind of proper justice.

Blagojevich's Words Strike Back

noreply@blogger.com (News St. Louis editors) — Tue, 09 Dec 2008 22:42:00 +0000

Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich was arrested this morning at his Chicago home by Federal authorities in connection with an alleged scheme to sell the U.S. Senate seat being vacated by President-elect Barack Obama. Law enforcement took Governor Blagojevich into custody just after 6 a.m. after a telephone call awakening the second successive sitting Illinois governor to be arrested on conspiracy charges. In an afternoon media conference, federal authorities stated that they took the governor away in handcuffs without waking his children, but that his wife, the daughter of Chicago alderman Richard Mell, was aware of the arrest. The governor's top aide, John Harris was also arrested in connection with the allegations that Blagojevich wanted to benefit from his ability to appoint the next Senator. The 76-page brief released showed that the two men engaged in conversations which led to charges of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and mail fraud and solicitation of bribery.
The media release from the office of the U.S. Attorney - Northern District of Illinois outlines most of the charges: http://www.usdoj.gov/usao/iln/pr/chicago/2008/pr1209_01.pdf

This afternoon, Blagojevich appeared before U.S. District Judge Nan Nolan who released the Illinois governor on 45-hundred dollars cash bond.

The Governor's office issued a statement saying the "allegations do nothing to impact the services, duties or function of the state."

Governor Blagojevich predecessor, George Ryan, is serving a six-year ;prison sentence after being convicted on federal charges of racketeering and fraud.

A-B/InBev: 1400 Layoffs Announced

noreply@blogger.com (News St. Louis editors) — Mon, 08 Dec 2008 18:36:00 +0000

What's to say that Anheuser-Busch isn't about to be surpassed by another local brewery as the largest holder of market share in St. Louis?

That thought was not even a glimmer in the eyes of most St. Louisans until earlier this year when InBev offered and then bought the world's largest brewer from its local owners. Now, the news comes today from the newly-named A-B/InBev that 14-hundred salaried jobs will be eliminated due to the merger of A-B and InBev --- approximately 75-percent of those positions will come from St. Louis.

The InBev brew-crew announcing today that they would eliminate 415 contractor positions and not fill 250 company-wide U.S. jobs which had been open and unfilled. In a statement released today, the president of Anheuser-Busch, David A. Peacock said the moves were being made to "keep the business strong and competitive" and added "this is a necessary but difficult move for the company" and further stated that the company "will assist in the transition for these employees as much as possible."

The media release also stated:
"The company will provide employees severance pay and pension benefits based on age and years of service. Employees also will be offered additional benefits during the transition, including outplacement services. The announced workforce reductions are in addition to the more than 1,000 U.S. salaried employees company-wide who accepted the company’s voluntary enhanced retirement program, which closed November 14 and provided special benefits for eligible employees retiring by the end of 2008. The retirements were part of planned cost reductions of 1 billion dollars (U.S.) called project Blue Ocean, announced by Anheuser-Busch in June 2008. At that time, the company announced plans to reduce its company-wide U.S. full-time salaried workforce of 8,600 by 10 to 15 percent before the year end. The company’s other Blue Ocean cost reductions remain on track.
The plans announced today are an integral part of the at least 1.5 billion dollars (U.S.) in annual synergies identified by InBev when it announced its combination with Anheuser-Busch in July. The company is confident in its ability to achieve against this synergies projection by 2011. Going forward, in addition to the priority to continue to grow the top line, Anheuser-Busch InBev will focus on its goals of integrating the businesses, delivering the expected synergies and deleveraging the company."

END OF STORY

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BEGIN THE BLOG-UINE
["deliveraging the company", eh? Is that delivering the enraging of those who respected the company?]

So, now come those questions about who will step-up to grab the largest market share now that the "local favorite" is no longer "locally owned and operated". For decades it was assumed that A-B would never surrender the local customers. However since this deal has now started to show its teeth on the local economy (most of the A-B jobs to be eliminated will either be gone by the end of 2008 or certainly by the end of 2009), the customers will start to find other brewskies...locally-brewed beers seem to be favored by the general public. As the only large option for more than a decade was the St. Louis Brewery and Tap Room's Schlafly Beers [which has become the city's only large and locally-owned beermaker --- thank you very much Tom Schlafly]. the Schlafly labeled products made many endroads and was found in bars and on grocers' shelves, alongside the Buds, Michelobs, Coors, Miller Lite, imports and other domestics such as Sam Adams and Kansas City's Boulevard (I'm rather partial to their wheat and the Schlafly Hefeweizen). But in more recent days, O'Fallon Brewery (St. Charles County) has found its way onto the store shelves and in bars and pubs. This, and several other locally brewed and marketed beers, are setting up something different: the brew-ha-ha over which company stands to benefit the MOST from the loss of A-B jobs. See how this works yet?

By the time I got to publishing this on here, I'd read several online comments in regard to the announcement today --- and there were comments of "buy Schlafly" and "Schlafly and O'Fallon" --- which should come as no surprise to most St. Louis beer drinkers, and even those who don't drink the beer but follow the business news.

What's next?

In the coming weeks, the local market share of A-B will likely diminish --- again. "Again" is a statement because after the city's A-B beer distributor locked out the union workers a couple of years ago, they struggled to regain some of their business. And it appears that St. Louis beer drinkers have a better memory than those atop A-B/In-Bev would think. The question is --- will they retain the largest market share, or will A-B/In-Bev find themselves down a few notches by mid-summer 2009? There is no crystal ball on this.

So, who is up for a locally-produced Schlafly Hefeweizen or Oktoberfest or Pale Ale, or an O'Fallon Gold, or a Morgan Street Honey Wheat or Irish Stout, or a Trailhead Brewery Blonde Ale? It could be literally thousands of St. Louisans who will claim to be "fed up with InBev" and won't buy their beer. If that is the case, then there are a few local breweries who may have to ramp-up their production even in these tough economic times. Certainly whoever will be marketing their local products in the most outstanding way (read: spend lots and lots of money on advertising) will likely see some benefit from the action that locals will say was perpetrated by InBev.

Election Cycle Ends: Problems Remain

noreply@blogger.com (News St. Louis editors) — Wed, 05 Nov 2008 16:25:00 +0000

It's Wednesday morning and you're a customer of the Metro Bus and MetroLink system. As you run out the door to the corner where your 5:12AM bus picks you up on the first leg of your journey, you pick up your St. Louis Post-Dispatch and start thumbing through the pages. You suddenly realize that because there are thousands of selfish St. Louisans, you may soon be unable to go to work at the job you have had for several years. Yes, in troubled economic times, the voters of St. Louis became even MORE SELFISH than ever before by defeating Proposition M which would have helped fund the system which has been riddled by problems during the recession as well as numerous fiscal gaffes BEFORE the economy started hitting the skids. The problem now is that Metro will begin massive scale cutbacks, including layoffs of personnel, fewer buses and trains running --- period--- which will, in turn, cause ridership to decline. Meanwhile prices for ridership will skyrocket. The prices will go up incrementally higher for those who can least afford to have their transportation costs go up than the cost would have been to those driving automobiles, trucks, SUV's and even scooters IF ONLY the voters had passed Proposition M in the first place.

This is not a test, people. This is reality. Do you know what this means? Well --- to explain what it will mean, let me introduce you to Rider Strongman, a St. Louisan. Mr. Strongman is in his early 40s and has had a good job in the past where he made more than $40000 in a year. But along with the industry in which he was a highly-skilled worker and was even sought-after by some who knew him "back in the day", times have changed for Rider Strongman. He hasn't worked full-time in more than three years. He hasn't held a full-time job in his chosen industry for four years, unless you count the time he spent working for a company which failed to pay him for 75% of his work earlier this year. You can hardly blame him for leaving that situation, could you? After all, he had to take a bus, a MetroLink train, and another train just to get to THAT job, located in the metro east, and did so for four months --- paying out of pocket for the monthly bus pass which allowed him easy access to his job location. Lacking access to a job location is not always the case now, but once the new cuts go into effect, this is something with which Mr. Strongman will be forced to deal. He'll be walking even more than he has in the past because the buses will run less frequently AND there will be FAR FEWER LINES running in the first place. Rain or shine, he'll want to be on time, but with the shutdown of certain lines, he may not be able to GET a job outside of the 270 Loop. That's because Metro is likely going to shut down ALL bus service outside of I-270 because of the projected budget shortfall for 2009.

Now --- just a moment, people. Don't rush off to another blog site just yet. This is only STARTING TO GET INTERESTING.

Why will 2009 be even more interesting in St. Louis because Proposition M was voted down??? It will be the difficulty with which so many businesses will be able to hire people at barely above minimum wage because those workers who have traditionally been able to work for less (and get to work at all) will not be able to afford bus fare and train fare once the rates have increased beyond their means. Thus, unemployment goes up in St. Louis. The jobless will be forced to find alternative means for income including applications for public assistance for food and shelter, not to mention all those unemployment payments coming out of "the system". These (to borrow Senator McCain's oft-used phrase) my friends, are going to become harsh realities to all in the St. Louis area.

Ladies and Gentlemen of St. Louis --- the economy may be showing signs of improving in some locations, but you've just about signed the paperwork that the St. Louis economy is going to show signs of grinding to a near halt.

As Mr. Strongman knows --- like the Metro Bus and MetroLink rider from the first paragraph who sat in his bus seat reading the disparaging news in the morning paper --- because of the selfish voters who cannot believe that the problems of this region will be compounded if they let those who use public transportation down, filling jobs and being able to get less-expensive workers to work will become more of a burden. It didn't seem to matter to the voters on Tuesday. You see, these two people see that the voters with their own transportation have spoken loud and clear: "WE can get to work. WE don't care if someone else CAN'T get there. THEY probably don't want to work anyway."

Selfish and mindless, the voters have spoken.

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If you are someone who voted against Proposition M, please state your reasons to Mr. Strongman and the tens-of-thousands of commuters who depend upon Metro service to keep their costs reasonable.

Here's your chance to sound-off against Proposition M --- but you have to be compelling for anyone to believe your argument. Send your emails to newsstlouis@gmail.com and we'll publish your comments as you sent them.

EDITORS - NEWS ST. LOUIS

Parking On Gravois at Oldenburg

noreply@blogger.com (News St. Louis editors) — Sun, 19 Oct 2008 02:07:00 +0000

Neighbors of popular restaurant Syberg's along Gravois say they do not blame the restaurant for the problems that their customers have made for drivers. But those same neighbors say they would like to see St. Louis County Police issue a few tickets and perhaps make some arrests of select, inconsiderate, restaurant customers who park along Gravois in the NO PARKING ZONE areas just north of the intersection with Oldenburg Avenue.

A quick view of the area in question shows the concerns of the residents are valid, and, although when News St. Louis visited the corner there were no illegally parked vehicles along Gravois on this particular night, we did observe one pickup truck illegally parked halfway in the first parking stall and halfway onto the SIDEWALK.

A followup visit is scheduled soon. We'll keep you posted to see if police show up, or if the inconsiderate vehicle owners win and continue parking illegally.

A Monday News-In-Review Moment

noreply@blogger.com (News St. Louis editors) — Mon, 06 Oct 2008 14:11:00 +0000

Over the weekend, St. Louisans had many choices of things to do, places to go, people to see, and weather that was warmer than normal.

On Sunday afternoon, The Fabulous Fox Theatre was the place to be for the 2:00 pm Stan Kann Memorial and tribute. The Mighty Wurlitzer Organ was the centerpiece for the hour-long remembrance ceremony of a man who embraced music as a child and was the face of theatre organ enthusiasts all over the planet. Many family members, close friends, acquaintences from the Fox and the St. Louis Theater Organ Society - which by the way has a wonderful tribute page on their website to the late entertainer - and fans were given the opportunity to view some video and film presentations showing Stan Kann in various situations from performances at the Fox to his many appearances on The Tonight Show, Merv Griffin, Mike Douglas, and other on-screen and personal appearances. Mary Strauss, Marty Bronson and numerous others paid tribute to Stan Kann's wit, laughter, and --- chiefly important --- talent.
I suggest putting his name into a search engine and watching some of the videos that prove the man was a natural showman. There are things we learn only after we have lost someone of Stan Kann's caliber --- take the moment and see why so many of us who knew him found him to be genuine, kind, and someone who could brighten up a moment with his charm. And if you were someone who didn't know him from the theatre organ, you may have been a vacuum (cleaner)collector --- as Stan was one of the only people in the entire country who could say he'd been on national TV shows with his collection. In several online videos such as those on YouTube, you can see his collection from the collectors' standpoint or in his comic adventures on those national hookups.
Stan Kann was 83 years young. And memories of his life will be with thousands of us well beyond our own years, thanks to technology.
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Did you get to the Soulard Oktoberfest this year? A great weekend of weather kept those working busier than ever, and fans of beer and fun and gehmuetlichkeit could not have been more pleased than to have the mild temperatures and dry conditions. No matter which part of the Soulard Oktoberfest you may have attended, there was Oktoberfest music with German Bands and great party bands such as Brave Combo as well.
There are concerns being raised by some that the Soulard Oktoberfest is growing too fast. That having been stated by just a few locals, it doesn't appear that there were many problems, as a quick view of other local news sites and blogs didn't show any serious crimes associated with this year's event. The weather may have played a part in the largest attendance in the short life of this traditional outdoor event.

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It's Monday: the stock prices around the globe are in a state of flux. Having watched the Asian markets and European index fall during Monday trading, Wall Street is following suit.

###Now may be the time to get a second job, if you can find one. The unemployment claims have been steadily rising along with the actual rate of unemployment. Observers are pointing out that many people who have been underemployed after losing their primary income and some who have been truly unemployed had not filed claims or they had been denied by government agencies over the past two years.

STL: Locally, those who are employed at the former AG Edwards, now Wachovia Securities, are watching to see what moves are made on behalf of the banking arm of giant Wachovia. Last week the company was approached by Citigroup and eventually by Wells Fargo as those firms jockied position to take over the less-than-stellar Wachovia Bank, and perhaps the entire group. It has been speculated that the securities division based in St. Louis at the former AG Edwards HQ could be the prime reason that Wachovia Bank has been able to stave off insolvency, although if there have been money exchanges between the branches of Wachovia it has not been widely reported. The securities division could be spun-off and be a stand-alone business, or it may be absorbed in whichever deal is accepted by the government entities overseeing large banking and securities business. A judge put a temporary stop on the later proposed deal by Wells Fargo after the Citigroup protested that their bid was not being given time to be properly negotiated.
Be assured that law firms are filing papers and boards are talking money while Wachovia workers feel held hostage by uncertainty.

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Eyes are on THE MOONLIGHT RESTAURANT in Fosterburg/Alton IL. The Castelli family members who have been managing and operating the lone location on Fosterburg Road has a bid from other family members to takeover the 71-year-old Italian family restaurant --- but there may be a rough patch today. Alton Mayor Donald Sandidge has been party to a 5:00 pm deadline today for the Castelli's to pay thousands of dollars in owed fees for services ranging from sewage to business taxes on the restaurant. Should that deadline pass without the debts paid, the city of Alton would likely revoke the business' liquor license for an unspecified amount of time. We'll keep a keen eye on this story. It has been a personal favorite of many in the metropolitan area, including the chief editor of News St. Louis, who celebrated his birthday dinner there this summer.

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Congratulations to the Mizzou fans who have reason to celebrate the first gridiron victory on the road at Lincoln, Nebraska, in 30 years. 52 - 17 --- many Cornhuskers fans must be thinking they are in the twilight zone. Meanwhile, Missouri fans who believe in jinxes are hopeful that a top-ranking does not come until the final week of the college football season. It would be nice to have a national-champion in the University of Missouri-Columbia.

It Takes Time And $$$$$$ For Make-A-Wish Foundation

noreply@blogger.com (News St. Louis editors) — Wed, 01 Oct 2008 11:53:00 +0000

The story:

The flooding associated with the remnants of Hurricane Ike is striking hard at the purse strings of individuals, families, businesses, and even non-profit charities. There have been numerous stories published in the regional and local newspapers and online blogs as well as on television and radio since that fateful day, but none appear to have been hit with any more devastating a blow as the Make-A-Wish Foundation of Missouri, whose office suffered severe damage. More importantly, they lost their furniture, tens of thousands of dollars in electronic equipment, office supplies, computers, and other items.

Thanks to a news story in the St. Louis Business Journal, we have learned that the community and those associated with the organization can say "thank you" to THF Realty for helping this outstanding charity with the issue of where to "rebuild the basics" of the organization's office while the building on Rock Hill is inspected to see what, if any, structural damage occurred on September 14th when more than five feet of water inundated the building housing the St. Louis and Missouri Chapter HQ for Make-A-Wish Foundation.

There are more details I plan to learn about this story, but here are a few basics. The Make-A-Wish Foundation helps families with those children stricken with a critical illness. Often it is a rare disease which may be incurable or inoperable. This foundation is well-liked by the media, by those who donate money and time and materials, and especially by those families who have been given a once-in-a-brief-lifetime gift such as a trip to Disney World for that one last trip before death strikes. So --- what can one do? Perhaps it is difficult with the unemployment rate at more than SEVEN percent in the region, but you could possibly donate money. You can find out more about the charity online at http://mo.wish.org for the Missouri Chapter, and if you want details on the St. Louis Chapter office (which appears to not be altogether working, perhaps because of the flood) you can see more facts online at http://stlouis.wish.org/about/facts.html and you can donate by phone by calling 314-918-9474.

Although the organization is temporarily being housed in Clayton, the mailing address remains:

Make-A-Wish Foundation
1324 N. Rock Hill Road
St. Louis, MO 63124

They will be receiving mail at the Rock Hill Road location during the cleanup and reorganization of the Missouri and St. Louis Chapter offices. However, as pointed out, THF Realty has donated temporary office space at 8251 Maryland Avenue in Clayton --- that's roughly across the street from the parking lot at Brown Shoe HQ and the next block down & across from the Clayton Straub's, for those who need landmarks. If you or your office has office supplies, fax machines, copiers, computers, furniture, make sure you contact the Make-A-Wish Foundation, because they'll need them to rebuild what water has taken away. Call them at 314-918-9474 for further information.

Also, if there is any way to come through by donating items for their upcoming "Wish Gala" on November 1st, find a way to do that. The charity lost ALL of their auction items stored in the flood-ravaged building.

It is in times like these when one should be content to have a roof overhead and be healthy enough to aid organizations like this one who grant wishes to critically ill children in what could be some darker hours. They tell me the wishes will continue to be granted for the kids even while the cleanup and rebuilding of the office is in progress.

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My view:

If all I do is my small share, it just doesn't seem enough --- so I hope you are able to contribute and make their plight less strained. The Make-A-Wish Foundation in St. Louis has strained enough of those items in the waterlogged building since that fateful September Sunday.

Editor-in-Chief
News St. Louis

Legendary St. Louisan Stan Kann Dies

noreply@blogger.com (News St. Louis editors) — Tue, 30 Sep 2008 11:16:00 +0000

Because this is both a news site and a blog, I am able to write something that is meaningful and columnist-like, not just simple news. But it starts with sad news.

One of America's treasures has died.

Stan Kann grew up in St. Louis, and like any kid of his day, took music lessons which led to him playing in the orchestra at his alma mater high school, Soldan. He found his trade in music --- he was a born performer and showman. But what most people don't know outside of St. Louis unless they are dedicated to one particular form of music is that Stan Kann, who died Monday at age 83, was among the most prolific musical artists of his genre, not just of his generation.

It is true that many who read news on the internet regularly may not know the name Stan Kann. However, there is a group of Americans who know the man as a legendary "theatre organist" and will mark the passing of this short giant of a rare art form.

Stan Kann - the man - lived a long and somewhat storied life. In and out of the spotlight whether plying his trade by playing his music or simply having a conversation, he had a larger-than-life personality despite being short in stature. It was his smile, incomparable laugh, and fun personality that apparently struck someone in TV land just right. Mr. Kann's story would be incomplete without talking about his appearances on the "Tonight Show starring Johnny Carson" throughout the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s. On the tube he was Stan Kann the guy with a collection of vacuum cleaners which usually went comically haywire once they were plugged in for a demonstration. But unfortunately, Johnny and the Tonight Show Orchestra didn't have Stan play a theatre organ while guesting on the program. That means most of America never got to know one of the premiere musicians of the THEATRE. And when we say "theatre" in association with Stan Kann we don't mean the orchestra pits on Broadway --- but New York City played a part in his days as a "theatre organist".

In his younger days: Stan Kann had studied organ in St. Louis at Washington University, and when he visited Radio City Music Hall, he saw the massive theatre organ inside and made a mental note. The impression gave him an idea and upon his return to the gateway city he talked with the owner of the Fox Theatre in St. Louis and shortly thereafter became the regular organist. Most people who attended movies at the Fox from the 1950s through the 1970s, and again from the 1980s to the 21st Century when Kann was occasionally on the Fabulous Fox schedule, realized that Stan Kann could hold an audience spellbound through the magic of the mighty Wurlitzer organ with its ranks hidden deep behind the walls of the proud performance house. But one must realize that his talent to perform music along with a silent movie made him stand out. Yet, Stan gave even more of himself than just his musical talents. He was also the man who delivered the gag jokes for the audience --- as his boss and friend Mary Strauss would have him dress up in costumes which went with the them of the movies being shown. And his love of the laughs, the love of the theatre itself, and the heart he showed to his friends and acquaintences was evident nearly every week at the Fox Theatre. That's because he frequently worked as part of the staff who helped give public tours. It is obvious to most who knew Stan Kann that he would not and could not bring himself to actually retire because his work was never completely finished. There was always a plan for the next day, the next week, and the next weekend, if not further down the road.

It would be easy to stop any news article or column without discussing the organ with all its literal bells and whistles and drums and cymbals in addition to the hundreds of pipes, but it bears mentioning that to master the organ at the Fox one has to deal with a long delay of perhaps three or four seconds between the time you press the keys or the foot pedals and the time the sound actually comes out into the audience. It's like talking on the radio with a delay unit "on" all the time and wearing headphones listening to the delayed broadcast. It's NOT EASY.

Okay, when it comes to having known Stan Kann, I am one of the luckier ones. A person who grows up with music in their life will always appreciate it. I grew up with musical parents who just happened to know Stan Kann, so I was exposed to his performances my entire life. And I have heard hundreds of theatre organ performances by dozens of organists. The craft of playing the theater organ or theatre organ (you decide how you wish to spell it, but it'll always be theatre when I write it) is unique and --- many would say --- not easy to master. Stan Kann was more than a mere master at the organ in St. Louis and many of the other theatres worldwide. He could make it sing bigger than an entire orchestra. What he pulled out of the ranks and chambers could put you in a trance, with the exceptional personal compositions he played with a silent movie.

In fact, silent movies will NEVER be the same in St. Louis without Stan Kann. A memory I will treasure will be the time in 1989 when he performed for the silent movie "Phantom of the Opera" starring the late Lon Chaney. One of my friends was a fervent fan of the Andrew Lloyd Webber version of the classic story - and I made sure to pointedly tell her to see this special event: it was the anniversary of the opening of the Fox. Stan had a musical treat planned, weaving his way through some of the Webber music in the pre-movie concert, also playing several of his favorites for the theatre organ --- mostly songs from the early 20th Century for an audience which may have been born and raised then. Although we attended separately, I saw my friend during the intermission and she was smiling. I knew I had help hook another person on the interpretation of the silent film whose score was being performed by Stan Kann. By the way, Stan Kann not only performed it --- he was the man who wrote the score.

Stan Kann was someone whom you could meet and find interesting and likeable. Some would say he was a bit quirky with his love of the unusual and antiques. But it is meant to be that one of the greatest memories St. Louisans will have --- if they were fortunate enough to catch Stan Kann in concert --- is that little guy at the keyboard of the Mighty Wurlitzer organ at the Fox Theatre, making music surge throughout the seating, filling our nights with sounds that sometimes brought the silent pictures to life. Even if you never saw him perform for a silent film, and you saw him play the organ, you somehow knew you were witnessing something extraordinairy.

And so many in St. Louis, in Hollywood, and points across the U. S. were treated to his great talent at a keyboard, chiefly in a manner that gave people laughs and smiles. Stan Kann cannot be memorialized without adding that if you saw him once, you likely smiled wide for at least a long moment.

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Sure, there will be some who label Stan Kann as a comic or silly man --- his vacuum cleaner joking was more than just a routine, it was part of who he was. But to many of us who knew the musician, Stan Kann will always be the best theatre organist who ever performed with a silent film.