It’s been a bit of infrastructure month in TGS with new sidewalks and speed humps, etc.

Fill-In Friday: Home For The Holidays! Five new infill homes in TGS; now with homeowners.

This is beyond unethical for human subjects research. Not only was it an unsolicited grant, the study in Guinea-Bissau would involve deliberately withholding the hepatitis B vaccine from hundreds of newborn infants, putting them at great risk of death. Tuskegee 2.0.

We lost another baby last night to gun violence. I believe the 14 year old killed in Gravois Park was the city's 12th homicide victim this year of youth under 18. 💔💔💔💔💔💔💔💔💔💔💔💔

From earlier this week. "They say the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different outcome — I think it's not working and I think there's really got to be a debate here about overhauling incentives completely.” www.stlpr.org/education/20...

The recently closed Epiphany UCC complex may have a new life soon. Plans for a mixed-use event center with 3 multi-family units is on the Board of Adjustment agenda in the New Year. 1/2

That tax abatement map for smaller projects is problematic. It proposes tax abatement for example for a hot area of TGS that hasn't used abatement in years for market rate. I think it really highlights the lack of sophistication down at SLDC.

Just a little carnage this morning on a residential street as kiddos walk to school.

Iced up ivy on a long vacant brick baller after a fire Saturday night. Had been a problem property and sold at tax sale in October; the dumpster had been placed out up front just very recently, presumably for prep work ahead of planned rehab. Hopefully just a hiccup and not a loss. On S. Jefferson.

Morgan Ford Monday! Four townhomes under construction at the Arsenal corner. Songbird has moved into the commercial space of a handsome split-use. A split-use is up for sale. The commercial space has been vacant for 20+ years. Stella Blues, closed after a kitchen fire, hopefully will re-open soon.

Interesting listing for a 1946 Lindenwood Park smallz in back of the lot. Suggests demo and replace with a $700K home. A 2020 new home can be seen at right; it replaced an oldie that was at the back of the lot. 1/ www.zillow.com/homedetails/...

This segment is from earlier this month. And with yesterday's return of bitter cold, it's no surprise STL Fire Department was working several fires at "vacants." www.firstalert4.com/2025/12/06/s...

October streetview of Labadie Ave. Shelly House (note the historical marker in front) fared better than its neighbors from the devastating May tornado.

Today, I spoke with Kilmar Abrego Garcia and his wife, Jennifer. In April, when I met with him in El Salvador, Trump said he would never set foot in the U.S. again. This case has never been about one man alone; if the govt can violate the constitutional rights of one, all our rights are threatened.

I am devastated by the mass shooting at Brown University and my heart goes out to the victims’ loved ones as we pray for the recovery of the injured. These mass shootings must end. Inaction is complicity.

This is a horrific act of antisemitism during a time meant for light & celebration. My heart breaks for the Bondi Beach community & my thoughts are with all those who lost loved ones & the entire Jewish community as we condemn this evil. Antisemitism has no place in our world.

13 years ago, 20 first graders and six educators were shot and killed at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut.

What in the Four-Fam to Single-Fam Conversion Friday is this? The building permit for this recently acquired 1927 four-fam in Princeton Heights is for a single-fam. Not unprecedented, but such conversions are rather rare. Perhaps it’ll turn out as a dime-a-dozen two fee simple townhome conversion.

Four-Fam Friday! Framing getting underway on a parcel that had a single-fam with a side yard. Sold after a fire damaged the oldie. And framing is further along on four townhomes on the site of an old gas station. Both in TGS; no tax abatement.

10:30 am to Noon Sunday at Tower Grove Park

Gonna freeze my bippie off this weekend in support of Tower Grove Park. One Mile “Fun Run” they say, as the forecast is for only a few degrees fahrenheit for Sunday morning. Still time to sign up!

@torcho.bsky.social Blues winning tonite?

BREAKING: Kilmar Abrego Garcia has been released from immigration detention after a federal judge's order Thursday, his attorney's office says.

Good Jobs First will be presenting at the Education Summit with AFT420 this evening at Vashon High.

Also of note. LRA may be moving on from its recent bizarre policy to not sell vacant lots under 4,000 sq. ft. for development. An offer from a homebuilder for this standard-sized lot (3,200 sq. ft.) in Tiffany was rejected a couple years ago under the policy. But an offer was accepted today.

Looks like this lil 1929 two-fam on The Hill will soon make way for a single-family. $2M building permit issued.

Bleakness reigns on S. Kingshighway.

The RSF just attacked a kindergarten, killing at least 33 children in Sudan. Meanwhile, the Trump Admin. continues to sell arms to the UAE, who are aiding these atrocities. Imagine if Trump spent as much time trying to stop the killing, as he did getting the UAE to invest in his crypto coin.

The scale of the terror going on in Sudan right now has completely broken my ability to comprehend it tbh

This composition had eluded me for nearly a decade, but yesterday I was finally able to capture it. A train rolled through just as the Duquesne Incline was crossing over the tracks in #Pittsburgh, creating a picture perfect winter scene. It was worth the hours and hours I've waited over the years.

Not quite a church, but the former Masonic Lambskin Temple (1927) in FPSE next door to the single-family conversion below was removated into apartments in the late 1980s and just changed hands for $2.3M. A 2 bedroom unit is newly listed for $1,800/mo. www.zillow.com/homedetails/...

I don't often repost but in case you have an interest in church buildings, adaptive reuse and neighborhood history.

oh, wow, I knew a small Black community existed around Pattison Ave on The Hill before I-44 took its toll. But I didn't know before watching more of this presentation that there was a Vashon Elementary (Colored School No. 10) on Northrup. Now a single-family! www.instagram.com/p/C8X5ng-utv4/

Looks like some good news for this 1800s Brick Baller in Lasalle Park that was suffering from demo by neglect. Landmarks Ass'n appears to have acquired it and a permit has been issued for stabilization. nextstl.com/2022/08/demo...

ICYMI: @stateofstlouis.bsky.social takes a dive into the #MECreports of #NexusPAC Surprise! #ConflictsOfInterestSTL abound for PAC treasurer Matt McBride. His service on SLDC’s development boards spans two decades and four mayors. Currently McBride serves on eight (8) boards.

The relatively small area we know today as Forest Park Southeast or The Grove has had a lot of church buildings. Some have been demolished. Many more turned into other uses. And a few are open. A 🧵below.

STL City's population in 1880 was 350,000 and the large majority lived in an area under 10 sq. miles. It's existing boundaries were created in 1876 but most of the city was undeveloped. 1875 Pictoral St. Louis plates for an area just north of downtown and another in today's Shaw & TGE n'hoods.

Crundun Martin. 💔

Crews were called to the fire near 2nd and Cedar streets at about 3 a.m., said St. Louis fire Chief Dennis Jenkerson. He said the buildings were part of the old Crunden-Martin Warehouses.

Did you know the Wednesday before Thanksgiving is Withnell Wednesday? Some snaps: On the Soulard side, old front and alley houses on the same parcel are up for sale. (A glimpse of A-B is in background.) It’s across from St. Agatha’s School. On the Benton Park side, a new old home is going up. 1/

Listing pic of a tornado-ravaged four-family in Greater Ville going up for auction sale. The July 2025 google Streetview imagery for this block is truly a disaster zone. Have safe, secure housing? Be very thankful. www.zillow.com/homedetails/...

Good to see @mobotgarden.bsky.social continue with it’s work to document and interpret the lives of the human beings enslaved by Henry Shaw. Pics: Garden Glow light show cast onto facade of Shaw’s Tower Grove House and two of the interpretive panels inside.

Nice segment on holiday help for SLPS Students in Transition. fox2now.com/news/missour...

A new day is dropping tomorrow.... Withnell Wednesday!

Thanks to some posters at urbanstl, I was able to piece together what used to be on the Boy's & Girls Club site back in the day. In 1875 (Compton & Dry) there was a Brewery and Church of the Assumption and School. Fuerbacher's Lion House and Green Tree Brewery across Sidney are circled in green. 1/

Samesies in St. Louis.

This is an important piece from Sunday's print edition. Other neighborhoods have been hit with "catch ups" in prior re-assessment periods. When gentrification crosses paths with an antiquated city government, the increased tax bills for long-time residents can be shocking.

Remember, kids, when you need some pizza from S Kingshighway, make it Bud’s.