TCB > June 2006

Aaron James has a fun video for "A Superman's Disclaimer" on the new version of his website. You can find it under "media." Yay for online video!

Posted by Brian Marston on Tue., Jun 27, 2006 at 9:16 PM
Link & Discuss (0 comments) | People

Stella Blues, a new restaurant and bar, is slated to open the second week of July at 3269 Morganford. The space, which was formerly occupied by Morganford Smokehouse, is at the corner of Morganford and Fyler. It has been completely remodeled by the new owners. Their menu is available on their website. As a resident of Tower Grove South, it's nice to have two thriving business districts within easy walking distance.

Posted by Brian Marston on Tue., Jun 27, 2006 at 8:44 PM
Link & Discuss (0 comments) | Business District

There's a Flickr group dedicated to former St. Louisan "Baton" Bob Jamerson.

Posted by Brian Marston on Tue., Jun 27, 2006 at 7:30 PM
Link & Discuss (2 comments) | People

Five St. Louis public schools are on the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education's list of the highest-performing schools based on the percentage of students scoring at the "Proficient" and "Advanced" levels on the MAP tests:

Peabody Elementary
Bryan Hill Elementary
Kennard CJA Elementary
McKinley CJA Middle
Metro High

The only school districts in the state that appear on the list of high-performing schools more times are Rockwood and Lee's Summit.

The following schools placed on DESE's list of the most-improved schools for 2005:

Clark Elementary
Hamilton Elementary
Cole Elementary
Peabody Elementary
Columbia Elementary
Herzog Elementary
Hodgen Elementary
Lexington Elementary
Mark Twain Elementary
Bryan Hill Elementary
Laclede Elementary
Carr Lane VPA
Blow Middle
Pruitt Military

SLPS schools appear on the most-improved list more times than schools in any other district. Hopefully, the new school board and superintendent will be able to keep the momentum going.

Posted by Brian Marston on Tue., Jun 27, 2006 at 7:02 PM
Link & Discuss (2 comments) | Other

A bit belatedly, we want to point out the emergence of "Urban Living," a sleek-looking little quarterly mag put out by the folks at St. Louis Homes & Lifestyles. We picked up a copy at the grand opening of Design Within Reach, and can report its pages are full of good things...but mostly the usual suspects, e.g. lofts and editorial about advertisers. It's nice to see a focus on St. Louis city, but I have to disagree with the editor's letter, announcing that "a city-savvy lifestyle can be lived almost anywhere in the metropolitan area." Actually, I *think* I disagree, but in fact, I'm not really sure what it even means.

Anyhoo, it's not bad and might be worth keeping on eye on for future issues.

Posted by Amanda Doyle on Mon., Jun 26, 2006 at 4:09 PM
Link & Discuss (1 comment) | The Media

For those of you wondering what the plans are for the Commerce Bank parking lot just east of Grand between Hartford and Juniata, Sara Langan has the scoop in the spring issue of the Tower Grove Heights Gazette. At the neighborhood association's March meeting, Alderman Conway said Commerce Bank has agreed to sell part of the lot to Steve Adrod, a developer who plans to build six ten-unit condo buildings. Each building will have ten underground parking spaces.

The former Roosevelt Savings and Loan at the corner of Grand and Juniata will be replaced with a two-story public parking garage with retail shops on the first level and 140-150 parking spaces. People who work on Grand will be encouraged to park in the garage to free up more street parking.

A tax increment financing district is being created to fund $3 to 6 million of the whole development, with the financing contingent upon the construction of the parking garage.

In other South Grand news reported by Sara, Susan Anderson has left her position as the executive director of the South Grand Community Improvement District to work for Metropolitan Design & Building.

Posted by Brian Marston on Fri., Jun 16, 2006 at 10:19 AM
Link & Discuss (5 comments) | Business District

According to East-West Gateway's latest "Where We Stand" report, St. Louis ranks third out of the 34 regions studied in deaths from fatal motor vehicle crashes per capita, with 14.7 deaths per 100,000 people in 2003. Over a seven-year period, an average of 333 St. Louisans died each year in car crashes.

Meanwhile, according to a recent AutoVantage survey, St. Louis drivers are among the most courteous in the country.

You go ahead. No, you go ahead. Crash! And ... scene.

Posted by Brian Marston on Sat., Jun 10, 2006 at 10:34 PM
Link & Discuss (0 comments) | STL in the News

Working my way through the ever-growing stack of magazines piled next to my bed, I came across national mentions of a couple of local boys. In the June/July issue of Brooklyn-based Wax Poetics, there's an F5 Records ad on page 97 for DJ Crucial's new disc, "Test Presses and Dub Plates." Bill Streeter's Lo-Fi Saint Louis is listed in "A Guide to the Online Video Explosion" in the May issue of Wired.

Posted by Brian Marston on Sat., Jun 10, 2006 at 9:14 PM
Link & Discuss (0 comments) | STL in the News

Alert reader Larry H. tips this, from the June 2006 issue of "Chicago" magazine: the Lou makes the list of "14 Great Getaways."

What they liked: the Central West End, the Ritz, Monarch, the Pulitzer, the Shakespeare Festival, new Busch, the Arch and the A-B tour. A respectable (if predictable) list...but mine would probably be a bit different.

It could look like this (and could change on a dime!): the Loop, the Arch, Niche (restaurant, not store, no offense to the store), the Royale, Cherokee Street, Tower Grove Park/Farmers' Market, MOCRA, Riverfront Trail.

How about yours? Pick a list of 8 St. Louis things you'd make an itinerary of.

Posted by Amanda Doyle on Thu., Jun 1, 2006 at 4:10 PM
Link & Discuss (5 comments) | STL in the News