ChrisHayes's Blog

While working on tonight's story about the preparedness of Fire Districts after a major earthquake, I heard many friends and co-workers say how disastrous the situation will be. Many people tell me we don't talk enough about the disaster we might see.

Some fear we won't have enough emergency workers to respond immediately. Firefighters and medical workers may be working on so many different emergencies that we won't get a prompt response to a 911 call. Other problems like phone outages, or road blocks could make the problem even worse.

That's why Fire Districts are pushing people to learn how to take care of themselves, as well as each other. This will make a Firefighter's job easier when he or she does arrive. In some cases, it might save someone's life.

It sounds overwhelming to some people, but it can be important just to learn an additional skill - maybe something as simple as learning basic first aid or understanding how to turn off the gas to an individual home that might be leaking. You don't have to know everything. Being part of a team may also help you learn about other people in your area that have a different skill.

This is the idea behind CERT - Community Emergency Response Team. You can take a training that usually requires about one half hour a week over about two months. Fire Districts are looking for individual citizens, businesses and people who work in government offices. Start by calling your local Fire District. You can also check out this Web site that talks a little about CERTs.

Don't flush your old medications. We're hearing it everywhere now that drinking water tests are finding everything from antibiotics to antidepressants in our water. But the only St. Louis area drug disposal program (ARCHS) ends December 11th.

A couple high school teachers decided not to wait for the government to come up with a plan. They worked with their students to come up with a drug take back program in Pontiac, MI. It's called P2D2 (for Prescription Pill and Drug Disposal program). They reached out to their local Police Department for help. And the beauty of working with Police is that it allows people to bring in narcotic prescriptions. Many disposal programs must turn away narcotic drugs because of a DEA rule. Police Departments are permitted to take all classes of prescription medicines. After a collection, Police take the old medications to an incinerator.

Now this P2D2 team of high school teachers and students is working with governments all over the United States in helping start drug disposal programs. The Illinois EPA and Illinois American Water recently met with the team to come up with ideas in starting more programs and to find out about others that may already exist. Eventually, they want to set up an online map where you could find a drug disposal program near you. This Illinois team is calling itself 'MEDS' (Medication Education Disposal Solution) and you can e-mail the group at epa.meds.mail@illinois.gov.

Every Sunday night, hundreds of people gather to watch illegal drag racing on the streets of St. Louis.  They usually race down Hall Street, but lately police have been trying to stop it.  But those racers don’t stop.  They find other streets.  And the crowds follow.

This Sunday night, several groups were gathering on North Broadway.  Witnesses say the races hadn’t yet started when one car started tearing down the street, hit another car, and then ran into one of the groups of people watching.  One of those people was 20-year-old Chris Grills.  He’s now in a coma.  

 

I talked to his parents today.  They’re waiting for him to wake up.  Mom told me her son’s watched the races for the last year.  She says she’s been concerned about his safety, but it’s tough to get a 20-year-old to listen to Mom.  She’s also been comforted by the fact that he’s not a racer.  He just goes to watch.

 

Chris’ Dad says if people are really passionate, they should choose to race legally.  He says people have options to race in organized leagues that are controlled to protect drivers as well as spectators.  While he prays for his son to wake up, he says the accident could have hurt many more people.  He told me that his son’s friends described a much larger crowd of people just 50 feet from where Chris was standing.  In this case, the car struck two other people who are reportedly out of the hospital now.  No one will release information on the driver.

 

Drag racing in St. Louis is an old tradition.  I’ve talked to people who said they raced down Hall Street as far back as the 1960’s.  What are your stories?  Why do people risk their lives despite stories like this?

 

Here's a follow up to yesterday's blog.  After Tuesday's court proceeding on the case (July 29th), Judge Richard Callahan said he wants to hear more about the murder conviction of Josh Kezer.  Next week, he'll listen to both sides of the story to determine whether Kezer should get a new trial -- or even be released from prison after more than a decade.  So far, new DNA testing has not connected Kezer to the 1991 murder of Angela Mischelle Lawless.

I'll have the latest right here, as well as follow up stories in the Fox Files.

Today, Missouri inmate Josh Kezer hopes to convince a judge to listen to new evidence in the case that put him behind bars for murder.  Kezer says the State convicted the wrong man.  The original officer on the murder scene agrees it's possible.

It's an intriguing story that even includes a current candidate for Missouri Governor.  Kenny Hulshoff originally prosecuted the case.

Here's our original report from last week.

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Judge Richard Callahan already ordered  the Missouri Highway Patrol to test DNA, like scrapings from the victim's fingernails.  Kezer was convicted only on circumstantial evidence.

At today's hearing, Judge Callahan could give Kezer a hearing which would be like a mini retrial.  I'll keep you posted on what happens.

 

The State of Illinois may soon close a loophole exposed by the Virginia Tech mass shootings.

We now know Seung-Hui Cho struggled with mental health issues and was identified as a potential danger before his shooting rampage.

Cho was not listed in a FBI Database called NICS (The National Instant Criminal Background Check System) that attempts to track those who are mentally ill and should not buy firearms.

The FBI depends on the individual states to report those with disqualifying mental health histories to NICS.

Only 22 states currently report to the database.  Missouri reports.  Illinois does not.

Tonight in the Fox Files on Fox 2 News at Nine, we're going to look closer at why this is going on and what the State of Illinois is doing to change its NICS reporting.

The numbers have been rising over the last decade according the Leawood, Kansas Group "Kids and Cars."  But there's a big difference in the way parents and caregivers are prosecuted in these cases according to the group.

Founder Janette Fennell crunched the numbers to find Moms were jailed more often than Dads.

It's an interesting finding that she said she did not expect. We're going to look more at this tonight in the Fox Files along with the possible reason for why more kids are being left behind in vehicles.

Most people I talk to, whether they're parents or not, say things like "I would never do that!" and "how could you forget your own child?" As a father of two kids, my initial reaction is the same, however Fennel believes that's dangerous thinking because of the wide range of parents who have done this.

 

June 1st was the deadline for Missouri prisoners to pull their ads from online pen pal sites.

Corrections officials told inmates back in March about the new rule and the June deadline.

This caused some confusion among viewers who complained that prisoners should not be allowed internet access.

Inmates do not have online access, but DOC Spokesman Brian Hauswirth told me that detainees are able to post internet pages with the help of family and friends on the outside.

Hauswirth said they’ve caught several cases of fraud resulting from the pen pal sites.

He told me that’s what led DOC to ban the activity.

We’ll be looking more at this issue tonight on Fox 2 News at Nine. One of the inmates, who is ignoring the State ban, is imprisoned for a high profile sexual assault that received a lot of media attention when it happened.

 

What have you lost from metal thieves?

The rising demand for metal, especially copper, has people tearing out just about anything they can find that they can take to a scrap yard for cash.  From gutters to air conditioning parts, it's all a target for someone who wants to make a quick buck.

We saw first hand just how bad it is out there, as we caught several men trying to take an Ameren UE Power Transformer in the middle of the day.  We alerted Police Officers who arrested two men in that case.

Watch the Fox Files tonight on Fox2 News at Nine to see what other utilities are reporting -- cases of thieves risking their lives for this metal.  You'll also see what legislators are doing to try to stop this.

We've known for a while about the dangers of the Internet and how you really don't know who you're talking with online. However, parents tell me they still have a hard time getting this across to their kids.

A Collinsville Mom was horrified when she found personal information her teenagers were putting out on community Web pages. She then told her kids to take down the pages only to find them posted again later. Now she's decided the only thing she can do is constantly talk to her son and daughter about responsible surfing.

Her fears were confirmed when I told her the results of a Fox Files investigation. We found registered sex offenders with online pages and plenty of 'friends' who were communicating with them on the site. We tracked these guys down and you'll see it Monday on Fox 2 News at Nine.

The authorities and the Web site were also very interested in what we found. We saw a pretty strong response to this story in an effort to keep what we've exposed from happening in the future.

I'm really interested to hear your comments on this one. A single mother e-mailed me after spotting her ex on a web site called "National Association Against Baby's Mommas." [Warning:  This Web site contains strong language in written and audio form.]

It's still up and running last I checked at www.naabm.com. The site shows a crude logo of a pregnant woman holding cash in one hand and a cash bag in another.

At one point, several men were on the site wearing shirts with the logo. (The pictures were taken down after I started working on this story. You'll find out why when you watch my full report Monday on Fox 2 News at 9.) One of the guys?... a father owing thousands in child support. You've got to hear what this guy has to say in my report.

We found more than 100 examples in the the Metro East of convicted criminals collecting tax payer money for baby-sitting jobs.

It's part of a program that came out of the 1996 Welfare Reform Act. Parents who want to get back to work or school can ask a family member, friend or neighbor for help watching their child. The baby-sitter then gets paid about 50% from the State and 50% from the Federal Government.

In Missouri, those child care providers still must have background checks and it shows. I ran hundreds of names without finding anyone with a criminal record.

In Illinois, I found one felon after another. Government officials told me violent offenders are not supposed to provide child care. However, in this program, these providers are allowed to police themselves. I'd love to hear your response to this report that runs Monday night on Fox2 News at Nine. I think you'll be interested to see what Officials have to say.

While working on a story involving racial discrimination, one of my sources recommended I read the book Sundown Towns. In it, Author/Sociologist James Loewen identifies and describes towns that once made sure minorities were out of town by sundown.

I was amazed to find an Illinois town mentioned on the first page, with a shocking description. And as I continued reading, towns all around us kept popping up, some of them even with symbols and attitudes that haven't changed. After discussing this with colleagues at Fox 2, we decided to visit a couple of these towns to see for ourselves. None of us could recall any previous media attention to this topic.

When I contacted the author, James Loewen, he agreed, few have touched this issue and he told me that no one in the Midwest or Northern part of the U.S. has tackled it (even though Loewen says the problem is predominant here). He added that it's critical citizens discuss this issue and come up with solutions.

If you miss the report February 21st on Fox 2 News at 9, you can watch it by clicking on the News tab. We'd also like to hear your stories here, including other towns with a history of this exclusion or any that you believe continue. James Loewen will also be checking in with us sometime late Thursday afternoon after he returns from one of his seminars. Based on the stories you post here, he may be able to fill in some details that he uncovered as he traveled the country looking for Sundown Towns.

Before our first report, we're already getting a big response to our investigation about filing complaints with officers about other officers.
I'll be interested to your hear any stories you may have as well as thoughts about our three part investigation (Feb. 12, 13 & 14 on Fox 2 News at 9.0) Please refrain from using names when making accusations against other people and/or Departments.
We tested nearly 20 St. Louis area Police Departments, using a nationally recognized organization called the Police Complaint Center. For nearly 20 years, the group has tested departments for racial profiling and complaint intake.
Founder Diop Kamau, used to be a police officer himself, for the Hawthorne California Police Department near Los Angeles. He says he witnessed and experienced police abuse and racism while he was working as an officer so he started the non-profit organization to hold the police accountable.
The Police Complaint Center has tested more than 1,000 departments. But the group has never come to St. Louis. That's why we hired them to come here. You'll start seeing the results, Monday night.

St. Louis City officers say they deserve better pay and they’ve obtained a study to prove the City can afford it. If you're interested in the complete study -- click on the News tab and you'll see the PDF files along with the story.

The Police Board is considering bringing up salaries of City officers to competitive levels. Board members are looking at three other suburban police departments as a guide – St. Louis County, Chesterfield and Maryland Heights.

I called each city to get an entry level starting salary for a police officer. Take a look at the salary breakdown for yourself.

St. Louis City $35,361
St. Louis County $40,177
Chesterfield $43,651
Maryland Heights $48,281

No one is saying how much of a raise Board Members are considering for St. Louis City officers, just that the salaries should be more competitive.

Kevin Ahlbrand of the St. Louis Police Officers Association said he thought the big raises would happen last fiscal year, but instead, City officers received the same 3% raise as other city employees. That started January 2nd.

But it still doesn’t put St. Louis City officers at a competitive level in the area. The Police Officers Association hired the lobbyist PolicePay.net to study St. Louis City’s ability to pay. The study found a growing economy that can absorb pay increases as well as an “uncommon trend” – “total expenditures have grown much faster than safety expenditures since 1991.”

A city spokesperson points out that the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department already makes up one-third of the City's budget.

One concern is that raises could cost jobs. The Department is already down officers.