EDIT 17 April 2016: This accident is now a fatality. http://www.bnd.com/news/local/article71885612.html
I missed this in the news on March 6 and it does not appear to be widely reported. A man was struck by a train and his foot was severed and neck broken after a train ran over him at Swansea.
I keep checking the dates on these stories. It's not on any other news stations that I could find, and it isn't on Metro's Blog. In the old days, every news story contained the details of what happened- when, where, etc. Is this some new development in an old accident case? Or did this just happen on March 6th? These are the only two stories I could find:
http://www.kmov.com/story/31399856/family-members-of-man-hit-by-metrolink-train-speak-out
http://www.kmov.com/story/31467300/witness-failure-in-alert-system-allowed-man-to-be-run-over-by-metrolink-train
KMOV video is freezing my computer, so I will try to watch later and see if the video segments have more details.
OPTINSTL
OCCUPY! PUBLIC TRANSIT Image by Eric Drooker for Occupy Wall Street, click on image for Drooker's website
Showing posts with label metro east saint louis. Show all posts
Showing posts with label metro east saint louis. Show all posts
Monday, March 14, 2016
Sunday, March 13, 2016
JOHN NATIONS NEEDS TO BE FIRED
I thought there was already a blog post with this title, and I was looking for it to add a few links.
So here is the gist of what I thought I'd already posted:
Metro and Bi State need to be separated. Metro carries the dinky little Bi-State Development Agency (the airport, arch trams and parking, etc). Metro needs to be run by people that have experience in Metro- in particular former drivers. John Nations has ridden the bus a few times as publicity stunt. A Metro executive told me that it wasn't feasible for someone like John Nations to commute from Chesterfield to Metro (via the Olive bus and the Metrolink). Why? Public transit in St. Louis is too slow.
The CEO appointment is to groom political careers. John Nations wants to be governor. Nations is famous for telling his drivers during negotiations that "As soon as I become Governor I'm changing Missouri to a Right To Work state and elimination the unions."
He gave himself a raise a while back. For $325K a year heading an agency where ALL monies are public- $350 million a year in government subsidies and grants, and rider fares- he can't ride his own transit 4 hours a day to get to and from work?
The people that work in minimum wage job in Chesterfield and live downtown do.
http://stlouis.cbslocal.com/2014/08/26/big-raise-for-metro-ceo-angers-union-bus-drivers/
Metro's drivers went 6 years without a contract. If you don't know about this please take a look:
From 2013:
http://labortribune.com/after-18-months-transit-union-talks-with-metro-going-nowhere/
2014 "oreo" incident:
http://fox2now.com/2014/09/12/racial-elements-fuel-dispute-between-metro-and-transit-union/#
"Rally for Respect" 2014
http://news.stlpublicradio.org/post/st-louis-transit-union-approves-first-contract-metro-five-years-protests-oreo-incident
Page 5 of the doc, from the Union's magazine:
http://www.atu.org/atu-pdfs/SO_IT14_USWEB.pdf
Health care and pensions secure:
http://www.atu.org/media/releases/st-louis-metro-workers-declare-victory-secure-agreement-preserving-retirement-security
Don't forget that Metro is raising fares again this July. They need $5 million, the same amount of money they spend every year in "contributions to outside entities". This is usually political campaign contributions. By appointing CEO, the governor guarantees a contribution to his campaign. Call Metro if you think this is wrong. Call them and demand an explanation. Call them and demand the CEO salary be lowered - not to the $250K he received before, but 1/2 that- $125K. Demand the CEO ride public transit at least once a week.
So here is the gist of what I thought I'd already posted:
Metro and Bi State need to be separated. Metro carries the dinky little Bi-State Development Agency (the airport, arch trams and parking, etc). Metro needs to be run by people that have experience in Metro- in particular former drivers. John Nations has ridden the bus a few times as publicity stunt. A Metro executive told me that it wasn't feasible for someone like John Nations to commute from Chesterfield to Metro (via the Olive bus and the Metrolink). Why? Public transit in St. Louis is too slow.
The CEO appointment is to groom political careers. John Nations wants to be governor. Nations is famous for telling his drivers during negotiations that "As soon as I become Governor I'm changing Missouri to a Right To Work state and elimination the unions."
He gave himself a raise a while back. For $325K a year heading an agency where ALL monies are public- $350 million a year in government subsidies and grants, and rider fares- he can't ride his own transit 4 hours a day to get to and from work?
The people that work in minimum wage job in Chesterfield and live downtown do.
http://stlouis.cbslocal.com/2014/08/26/big-raise-for-metro-ceo-angers-union-bus-drivers/
Metro's drivers went 6 years without a contract. If you don't know about this please take a look:
From 2013:
http://labortribune.com/after-18-months-transit-union-talks-with-metro-going-nowhere/
2014 "oreo" incident:
http://fox2now.com/2014/09/12/racial-elements-fuel-dispute-between-metro-and-transit-union/#
"Rally for Respect" 2014
http://news.stlpublicradio.org/post/st-louis-transit-union-approves-first-contract-metro-five-years-protests-oreo-incident
Page 5 of the doc, from the Union's magazine:
http://www.atu.org/atu-pdfs/SO_IT14_USWEB.pdf
Health care and pensions secure:
http://www.atu.org/media/releases/st-louis-metro-workers-declare-victory-secure-agreement-preserving-retirement-security
Don't forget that Metro is raising fares again this July. They need $5 million, the same amount of money they spend every year in "contributions to outside entities". This is usually political campaign contributions. By appointing CEO, the governor guarantees a contribution to his campaign. Call Metro if you think this is wrong. Call them and demand an explanation. Call them and demand the CEO salary be lowered - not to the $250K he received before, but 1/2 that- $125K. Demand the CEO ride public transit at least once a week.
Thursday, March 10, 2016
SOLUTIONS NOT COP OUTS
EDIT: Please see this post, too:
http://optinstl.blogspot.com/2016/03/questions-for-saint-louis-teens.html
Instead of more cops, the same tired, ineffective response, over and over again, how about real solutions?
There are the obvious- put money into jobs and schools, etc.
But also GO ASK THESE KIDS WHAT THEY NEED.
http://www.kmov.com/story/31428741/group-of-juveniles-assault-rob-2-men-in-central-west-end
http://www.kmov.com/story/31431838/police-teens-responsible-for-recent-crimes-in-u-city-are-from-east-st-louis
And then ask all the other kids, too.
Don't just stop with kids, ask every single person that ends up in trouble with the law.
Is there anything you would like to be doing with your time? Is there any activities that you would want to do with your free time? (Sing, Dance, Make movies, fly a kite, run a marathon?)
What would you need to be able to do that? (A ride, lessons, a video camera?)
Do you feel you have a meaningful life and a future ahead of you?
What would you need to feel that way?
Instead of more cops, ask every kid in every junior high and high school these questions. There are actual solutions to these problems.
(The job of everyone in prison should be to answer these questions, too. Just asking these questions would bring about results, even if the person did not answer out loud.)
Also, Metro can barely pay the interest on its' bond debt with payments they get from St Louis County Prop A. Steve Stenger says more cops on Metrolink will be covered with Prop A. Please ask him how that is possible? Please ask how much of that money goes to Metro already and what do they spend it on? St. Louis really can't afford anymore bonds.
http://www.kmov.com/story/31424328/county-executive-pushes-to-double-number-of-officers-on-metrolink-lines
Or cops. More cops almost never reduce crime. In fact, more cops usually means more crime.
Solve the real issues. Make real changes.
http://optinstl.blogspot.com/2016/03/questions-for-saint-louis-teens.html
Instead of more cops, the same tired, ineffective response, over and over again, how about real solutions?
There are the obvious- put money into jobs and schools, etc.
But also GO ASK THESE KIDS WHAT THEY NEED.
http://www.kmov.com/story/31428741/group-of-juveniles-assault-rob-2-men-in-central-west-end
http://www.kmov.com/story/31431838/police-teens-responsible-for-recent-crimes-in-u-city-are-from-east-st-louis
And then ask all the other kids, too.
Don't just stop with kids, ask every single person that ends up in trouble with the law.
Is there anything you would like to be doing with your time? Is there any activities that you would want to do with your free time? (Sing, Dance, Make movies, fly a kite, run a marathon?)
What would you need to be able to do that? (A ride, lessons, a video camera?)
Do you feel you have a meaningful life and a future ahead of you?
What would you need to feel that way?
Instead of more cops, ask every kid in every junior high and high school these questions. There are actual solutions to these problems.
(The job of everyone in prison should be to answer these questions, too. Just asking these questions would bring about results, even if the person did not answer out loud.)
Also, Metro can barely pay the interest on its' bond debt with payments they get from St Louis County Prop A. Steve Stenger says more cops on Metrolink will be covered with Prop A. Please ask him how that is possible? Please ask how much of that money goes to Metro already and what do they spend it on? St. Louis really can't afford anymore bonds.
http://www.kmov.com/story/31424328/county-executive-pushes-to-double-number-of-officers-on-metrolink-lines
Or cops. More cops almost never reduce crime. In fact, more cops usually means more crime.
Solve the real issues. Make real changes.
Monday, April 7, 2014
THE BI IN BI-STATE DEVELOPMENT: LET'S TALK ABOUT WHAT "METRO EAST" REALLY IS
East Saint Louis and its surrounding towns are the local Sin City. Everyone that lives here knows that.
It's the place where you can find all the "respectable" businessmen and politicians and law-enforcement on their off-hours, watching the naked ladies do their thing in the strip clubs.
It's the city close enough to the "real city" (the white, middle class city) so that none of those "pious" men, those leaders of industry and everything that is good and right in the world (sarcasm alert), have to worry about bumping into their wives, families, co-workers and employees, or fellow church goers... Except for the other pious men also going to the strip club, buying crack and heroin, and soliciting prostitutes.
Did hubby say he was going to catch up on work at the office after church? Going golfing? Nah. He's over at PT'S, spending the money he said he didn't have when his workers asked for a raise, or for benefits. But you will never know, good suburban wifey, because you never set foot on the East Side.
Even in poor, urban areas of Saint Louis, the respectable man may have to risk someone seeing his car parked at Patricia's or Hustler in Pagedale, or the Gentlemen's Club on North Broadway.
But no one goes to the East side unless they are doing something they know would get them flack. It's too poor, too desperate. Too black.
And no one in power currently is ever going to do anything about making East St. Louis less dangerous and more habitable, because that is their playground! No one needs a "crack ho' " more than a suburban businessman.
And that is not to say that every woman in East St Louis is smoking crack and doing whatever she can to get rock. But the level of poverty and desperation there is very intense. East St. Louis is modern apartheid. It is an African American reservation. The only money that comes in is from the party after hours crowd and the sex tourists.
What does this have to do with the bus and Metrolink? (Neither goes to Sauget, although PT's Sauget is a short walk from the Metrolink. But no "respectable" businessman-- at least not a local-- would be taking the train and walking the mile to PT''s. If I am wrong let me know.)
Metro is about "attracting talented young professionals" to the region. And you can't attract those men if they can't get access to a Sin City. This is not to say that Metro is responsible for the lack of business or community development on the East side, but Metro is cornerstone of the local power structure.
If the talented young professionals ever run out of surplus workers in north St. Louis that will take any wage and any condition and four hours on public transit every day to and from those crap jobs, the fat cats can just head over to Metro East and find more desperate people.
Don't take my word for it. Check it out yourself. Or ask any exotic dancer or call girl how many businessmen, politicians, and cops she knows. Oh, and priests, ministers, and regular working stiffs... pun intended.
Or just start taking photos of license plates and drivers headed to the strip clubs. I'd bet money the highest repeat offenders are St. Louis "finest"-- law enforcement, lawyers and judges, and then all those Shriners and upstanding businessmen of St. Louis proper.
OCCUPY EAST ST. LOUIS!
For the record: I think all strip clubs should be dancer owned, and I think prostitution should be legal. The current set up works for these pious upstanding men. The judge gets "services" on Saturday night and sentences the working girls in his courtroom on Monday. All the money from these clubs goes back into the hands of these men- through taxes on legitimate businesses or legal fees on illegitimate operations. All the shame is given to the women, and only their patrons deserve it.
I am for the kind of structure available in places like Amsterdam. The world's oldest profession should pay taxes, have healthcare, and be able to screen their clients like anyone else. Keeping it illegal is just a way to protect the anonymity of the men that solicit these services, unless they are caught in a rare sting operation. And according the FBI 74% of all men have engaged a prostitute at least once. It should be obvious that the problem is NOT from wanton, perverted women luring respectable men to sex-- I mean, WHAT exactly was Mr. Businessman doing driving around in East St Louis or down on St. Louis "Stroll"? The world's oldest profession is not going away anytime soon.
Dance clubs steal tips from their dancers by calling them "contractors" and making them pay out to the club, but even the IRS doesn't agree that they are contractors. The clubs decide the dancers shifts and make the same demands on them that regular employees have, but the clubs don't even offer minimum wage or any benefits. The clubs are mostly owned by men, and they keep all the profits from the bar. It's just nicer pimping. Dancer owned clubs would mean the women kept the profits for themselves and had more control over their work environment.
It's the place where you can find all the "respectable" businessmen and politicians and law-enforcement on their off-hours, watching the naked ladies do their thing in the strip clubs.
It's the city close enough to the "real city" (the white, middle class city) so that none of those "pious" men, those leaders of industry and everything that is good and right in the world (sarcasm alert), have to worry about bumping into their wives, families, co-workers and employees, or fellow church goers... Except for the other pious men also going to the strip club, buying crack and heroin, and soliciting prostitutes.
Did hubby say he was going to catch up on work at the office after church? Going golfing? Nah. He's over at PT'S, spending the money he said he didn't have when his workers asked for a raise, or for benefits. But you will never know, good suburban wifey, because you never set foot on the East Side.
Even in poor, urban areas of Saint Louis, the respectable man may have to risk someone seeing his car parked at Patricia's or Hustler in Pagedale, or the Gentlemen's Club on North Broadway.
But no one goes to the East side unless they are doing something they know would get them flack. It's too poor, too desperate. Too black.
And no one in power currently is ever going to do anything about making East St. Louis less dangerous and more habitable, because that is their playground! No one needs a "crack ho' " more than a suburban businessman.
And that is not to say that every woman in East St Louis is smoking crack and doing whatever she can to get rock. But the level of poverty and desperation there is very intense. East St. Louis is modern apartheid. It is an African American reservation. The only money that comes in is from the party after hours crowd and the sex tourists.
What does this have to do with the bus and Metrolink? (Neither goes to Sauget, although PT's Sauget is a short walk from the Metrolink. But no "respectable" businessman-- at least not a local-- would be taking the train and walking the mile to PT''s. If I am wrong let me know.)
Metro is about "attracting talented young professionals" to the region. And you can't attract those men if they can't get access to a Sin City. This is not to say that Metro is responsible for the lack of business or community development on the East side, but Metro is cornerstone of the local power structure.
If the talented young professionals ever run out of surplus workers in north St. Louis that will take any wage and any condition and four hours on public transit every day to and from those crap jobs, the fat cats can just head over to Metro East and find more desperate people.
Don't take my word for it. Check it out yourself. Or ask any exotic dancer or call girl how many businessmen, politicians, and cops she knows. Oh, and priests, ministers, and regular working stiffs... pun intended.
Or just start taking photos of license plates and drivers headed to the strip clubs. I'd bet money the highest repeat offenders are St. Louis "finest"-- law enforcement, lawyers and judges, and then all those Shriners and upstanding businessmen of St. Louis proper.
OCCUPY EAST ST. LOUIS!
For the record: I think all strip clubs should be dancer owned, and I think prostitution should be legal. The current set up works for these pious upstanding men. The judge gets "services" on Saturday night and sentences the working girls in his courtroom on Monday. All the money from these clubs goes back into the hands of these men- through taxes on legitimate businesses or legal fees on illegitimate operations. All the shame is given to the women, and only their patrons deserve it.
I am for the kind of structure available in places like Amsterdam. The world's oldest profession should pay taxes, have healthcare, and be able to screen their clients like anyone else. Keeping it illegal is just a way to protect the anonymity of the men that solicit these services, unless they are caught in a rare sting operation. And according the FBI 74% of all men have engaged a prostitute at least once. It should be obvious that the problem is NOT from wanton, perverted women luring respectable men to sex-- I mean, WHAT exactly was Mr. Businessman doing driving around in East St Louis or down on St. Louis "Stroll"? The world's oldest profession is not going away anytime soon.
Dance clubs steal tips from their dancers by calling them "contractors" and making them pay out to the club, but even the IRS doesn't agree that they are contractors. The clubs decide the dancers shifts and make the same demands on them that regular employees have, but the clubs don't even offer minimum wage or any benefits. The clubs are mostly owned by men, and they keep all the profits from the bar. It's just nicer pimping. Dancer owned clubs would mean the women kept the profits for themselves and had more control over their work environment.
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