Before I do anything else, I just want to state how sad I am to hear that Jay Bennett (formerly of Wilco, more recently of Pieholden Suite Studios in Champaign-Urbana) has died. Post music critic Kevin Johnson's reposted a Q&A with Bennett here; pretty much every newspaper and entertainment mag from here to Australia is reporting the news, if you want more info. The very heartbreaking and ironic part of this, as Gawker points out, is that Bennett had been pretty much bedridden for the past month because he lacked health insurance; he was checking around for a doctor that would "cut him a deal" for hip replacement surgery. Gawker even even speculates that perhaps the hip problem contributed to his death.
In other interesting local news -- my colleague Jeannette Cooperman has forwarded me a letter signed by Mary Strauss, Bob Baudendistel and Rich Baker of Fox Associates regarding the redevelopment of the Kiel Opera House:
"Much has been reported in recent days about the Fox position on the re-development of the Kiel Opera House and we would like you to know the truth.
We do not oppose the re-development of Kiel Opera House. All we are asking for is a level playing field. We oppose the City of St. Louis fully subsidizing a theater for a competitor to undermine what we have been doing for our community for 27 years. The Opera House Redevelopment Corporation wants approximately $60 million in taxpayer assistance. About half of this is Federal and State Tax Credits; we have no argument with this. The other half, however, will be in the form of city-backed bonds, to be paid back with amusement tax dollars that currently support the city’s general fund. The city is basically giving them this tax money to take away our business.
Further, there are three points to the plan the public needs to understand: 1) The developers claim they will put in an additional $10.3 million of their own money, but in fact, they will get back $8.4 million in "developer" fees; 2) There is no explanation provided as to how the city plans to replace the nearly $30 million in lost tax revenue that it now uses and needs; and 3) Barring any cost overrun, the developers will have virtually none of their own money in this deal - less than 3% of the total project. The taxpayers will be on the line for the other 97%."
They've set up a page on the Fox site, where they go through their opposing arguments blow by blow, and then include aldermanic contact info so you can get in touch with your rep before this goes to vote tomorrow morning. Never a dull moment around here, that's for sure. We'll keep an eye on the situation and post any relevant updates here. --Stefene Russell
