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Josh Savage cast an absentee ballot for the upcoming election in St. Louis, which will feature a wide-open mayor’s race and competitive contests for the St. Louis Board of Aldermen.
He’s been voting absentee for years because he’s disabled, but he thinks anyone should be able to vote that way.
“I mean the better way to do it is to open up absentee ballots to everybody without regard,” Savage said. “There doesn’t need to be a reason. You want to vote absentee, you vote absentee.”
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allowances because of COVID-19. But those changes went away in 2021.
St. Louis Board of Aldermen report confusion, complaints over city s vaccination clinic
Residents reported they were not able to apply for the vaccine, despite their eligibility. Others said they were vaccinated though ineligible for vaccines Author: Sara Machi Updated: 7:29 PM CST February 2, 2021
ST. LOUIS When St. Louis s Acting Health Director, Dr. Frederick Echols, addressed the Board of Aldermen Tuesday morning, there was one person waiting for the answer to a question that was never asked. Every time any alderman or alderwoman would speak, I would think OK this is the time. This is the one that s going to ask that question, and, they never did, a clinic volunteer told 5 On Your Side. They did ask some good questions that I think were very valid, but to me they missed one of the big ones.
Originally published on February 4, 2021 8:57 pm
Lewis Reed has been president of the city’s Board of Aldermen for 14 years, and before that, represented the city’s 6th Ward for two terms. But while his track record in St. Louis government is long, he acknowledged on Thursday’s
St. Louis on the Air that he’s been hamstrung by the limitations of the legislative branch.
It’s why he’s running for mayor.
“As a president of the board, I can pass laws and things of that nature, but implementation of all those things resides in the executive branch,” he said. “And that s one of the reasons I m running to become mayor of the city of St. Louis, because I understand how to operate that branch, and what the powers are that are vested in it, and how we can actually move the city forward. And how you do that in a way where you do it in a cooperative and collaborative fashion.”
Originally published on February 12, 2021 11:05 am
Updated Feb. 11 with deadline for court action passing
An effort to have St. Louis voters weigh in on the closure of one of the city’s two jails is over for now.
A spokeswoman for Mayor Lyda Krewson confirmed Thursday that she has not yet taken action on legislation setting a nonbinding “Close the Workhouse” referendum for April. That means supporters have missed a Feb. 9 deadline to have a judge place the item on the ballot.
Supporters of the referendum say it would have provided a clear picture of public support for closing the jail, known officially as the Medium Security Institution. Opponents call it unnecessary and an effort to reverse a unanimous board vote last July to shutter the building by Dec. 31, 2020.
Virus variant from South Africa detected in US for 1st time
The mutated version of the virus, first identified in South Africa, was found in two cases in South Carolina
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A new variant of the coronavirus emerged Thursday in the United States, posing yet another public health challenge in a country already losing more than 3,000 people to COVID-19 every day.
The mutated version of the virus, first identified in South Africa, was found in two cases in South Carolina. Public health officials said it’s almost certain that there are more infections that have not been identified yet. They are also concerned that this version spreads more easily and that vaccines could be less effective against it.