If you were lucky enough to see your obligations canceled yesterday, you might have enjoyed a quiet day at home. Not so the trucks working overtime to clear streets. We have all the details on where that stands, and when we'll know more, below.
Also: Good news for local nonprofit STL BWorks, which plans to close on a new HQ this week. I've been impressed by their work for years now. Here's to many more, in a home of their own!
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A jogger makes his way through Compton Heights on Sunday. Photography by Sarah Fenske
THIS JUST IN
City battles back as snow descends on St. Louis
The weekend saw at least nine inches of snow fall on much of the St. Louis metro, and with freezing temperatures expected to stick around for the next week, itâs unlikely to melt any time soon.
City officials hunkered down yesterday at the snow command center off Hampton Avenue, throwing everything they had at the streets in hopes of heading off the sort of anger-inducing conditions that lingered for nearly two weeks last January and soured voters on then-Mayor Tishaura Jones. When Mayor Cara Spencer and chief operating officer Colonel Ben Jonsson checked in with us, they were using the Real Time Crime Center cameras to monitor the streetsâboth to see where plowing is needed but also where it isn't. For instance, they got a report that a swath of Kingshighway was snowed in, but on camera, they saw it actually looked pretty good, so no need to waste a plow on deployment.
Several novel strategies for the city this year include warm transport buses getting unhoused residents to shelter, free salt for residents (more on that below), GPS on city plows, and 16 "quality control" spotters in the field relaying info about conditions. The city also brought in about 50 private contractor plows to supplement its efforts.
"We feel really good about this," Spencer said yesterday. By last night, the city's official line was that significantly better road conditions could be expected "by Tuesday afternoon, if not sooner." Streets Commissioner Kent Flake said crews would be dropping chemicals all night and, despite the low temps, commuters should start seeing their effect once the sun is fully up. âSarah Fenske and Ryan Krull
A group of St. Louis BWorks teachers and students pause on their bikes along Flora Avenue, beside BWorksâ soon-to-be new headquarters. Courtesy photo
DEEP DIVE
STL BWorks is ready to close on a new home
A popular bicycling nonprofit is pedaling back to where it began, with plans to purchase a building of its own for the first time in its 41-year history.
STL BWorks, which offers free youth classes in bicycles and computers, announced this morning that it plans to close on the former Compton Heights Christian Church building at 2149 South Grand Boulevard. That will kickstart a process of moving from its rented home of the past 15 years in Soulard to the larger building in Shaw.
And thatâs a full circle moment for BWorks, which started in a Shaw backyard in 1985 and incorporated as a nonprofit three years later.
âItâs been a fantastic 15 years here in Soulard, and we are also outgrowing the space and also ready to own our own space,â Patrick Van Der Tuin, the organizationâs executive director, said in a statement. âOur operation requires unique and significant space for everything from mechanical shops where our teams refurbish all of the donated bikes and computers to storage to retail and offices. Itâs a kind of mini-ecosystem, in a way, and itâs also a lot. We couldnât be more thrilled to have found the right place for BWorksâ next chapter.â
Go Deeper: The congregation of Compton Heights Christian Church made the decision to move on from their longtime home after a food pantry that was leasing space there, Isaiah 58 Ministries, opted to move to a bigger location closer to the people it served. âWith Isaiah 58 planning to relocate, we felt that there are better uses of our energy, money, and talents than maintaining a building that would only be used one day a week,â the church explains on its website. âIn July 2024, we made the decision to put our building up for sale and relocate.â The congregation now rents space in Tower Grove South.
BWorks said it will be doing some renovations to the church building but hopes to move in by fall and be fully moved in by spring, with no interruption in operations or its popular retail store for used bikes. BWorks said that Isaiah 58 Ministries will be âfree to continue operating in the space at no cost through the end of the year as part of the sale.â âS.F.
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Husband of former congresswoman Cori Bush avoids fraud conviction (STLPR): A D.C. jury deadlocked Friday after three days of deliberations.
St. Louis looms large in Union Pacific, Norfolk Southern merger (SLM): The massive deal has run into trouble with regulators, in part because of concerns about how it would affect a key St. Louis operation.
State trooper stops wrong-way highway driver by crashing into him (KSDK): A trooper intentionally struck the wrong-way driver to stop them from continuing in the wrong direction on I-70. The driver took off on foot but was soon arrested.
The place to be Friday was a sidewalk in front of the Princeton Heights fire station. Photography by Ryan Krull
Around Town
â CITY LIVING
St. Louis loves a deal, as evidenced by the brisk business that a pile of free salt was doing Friday at a Princeton Heights fire station about an hour or so after the city announced it would be distributing gratis ice melt ahead of the weekend snowstorm. Matt from Southwest Garden was one of the first on scene, bucket in hand. Heâd been planning to go to Home Depot to buy salt when he saw on social media that he could get it here for free instead. âMy wife grew up in Dogtown, and when she was younger they used to have a newspaper stand, a trash can, and a salt can there every winter, no matter what,â he said. âI guess itâs good theyâre bringing it back.â The cityâs program, which was piloted Friday at five locations, was decidedly devoid of pomp. The Princeton Heights distribution site was literally just a pile of salt dumped on the fire station sidewalk. This proved to be no deterrent, however; all the cityâs sites ran out by 5 p.m. Friday. Then, after being replenished Saturday morning, they ran out again by 10:30 a.m. Susie from the Tower Grove area said it might have been nice to get a heads up to bring a shovel, but she was otherwise digging the program. The free salt played out against a backdrop of the region trying to decide whether salt would even be effective amid low temperatures rarely seen in these parts. Susie, for her part, said on Sunday afternoon that the âskeptics were right. I donât think the rock salt did anything to help with the amount of snow we got.â At least the price was right. âR.K.
đź POSTCARD FROM ST. CHARLES
After extensive and emotional public testimony, the St. Charles City Council last week approved a conditional use permit for Reach St. Charles to operate a free food and clothing distribution site at 901 First Capitol. The approval comes with strict conditions: appointment-only visits, no outdoor distribution or waiting areas, and no on-site sleeping accommodations. But not everyone is convinced the location is a good fit. At the meeting, St. Charles resident Laura Buddemeyer said she supports Reachâs mission, but urged the city to develop a more comprehensive plan for homeless services. âOld Town is not the dumping ground for the whole metro St. Louis area for poverty,â she said. âWe should not have to deal with this. New Town has a lot of available ground. They need to build something out there, or someplace that's accessible coming from North County. As a bond agent, I've been running the plates that are coming in there. Almost all of their constituents or their customers are coming from North St. Louis, North County, and not from St. Charles." Stacey Enders, a co-founder of Reach St. Charles, said at the meeting that the organization has worked to satisfy city guidelines and help people in the local community. âThese are not strangers,â Enders said. âThese are our neighbors.â âMike Miller
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Heard on the Street
Making a new home in Tower Grove Park: Ricochet. The two-year-old mini horse comes from Longmeadow Rescue Ranch to become a new friend to Moonshine, filling the horse-shaped hole left when Sheffield died last fall. âRicochet arrived just before Christmas and has been settling in beautifully, bonding with Moonshine and exploring his new surroundings near the historic stable,â the park reports.
Switching lanes: State Rep. Doug Clemens (D-St. Ann), who tells the Post-Dispatch heâll run for county assessor rather than fight a crowded primary. Current assessor Jake Zimmerman, of course, is now battling state Sen. Brian Williams in the Democratic primary for county executive.
For sale: A cave, in Crystal City, Missouri, for the low, low price of $95,000. (Hey, it's 67,000 square feet!) Per the Facebook Marketplacelisting, "This space is perfect for use as storage. 18-Wheelers as well as many other types of vehicles can fit in this space. Also good for temperature-sensitive needs due to consistent temperatures all year round." Personal cheese bunker, maybe?
Custom cleats: Jets QB teams up with St. Louis Childrenâs
Last Call đ„
Imagine how much faster Lewis and Clark could have done their thing if they had a minivan to tow them.
SOUNDBITE
âIt's a completely different way of farming, a whole new industry to build. Itâs a global industry, and I think we in St. Louis need to be the global leaders in this.â
âGiles Oldroyd, president of the Donald Danforth Plant Science Center, speaking on The 314 Podcast about the opportunities presented by sustainable agriculture.
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