From Belleville.com:
BY MIKE FITZGERALD
News-Democrat
What's not to like about the electricity rate relief package that Gov. Rod Blagojevich is poised to sign?
Once it becomes law, the bill would shower $1 billion worth of rebate checks and credits on Ameren and Commonwealth Edison customers, while slashing their 2007 electric rates.But energy experts interviewed -- citing sobering lessons from California and Canada -- contend the deal could boomerang badly, shooting up power rates and leaving taxpayers on the hook for billions of dollars' worth of soured deals. How could this happen?
Because the rate relief bill sets up the Illinois Power Agency. In theory, this new arm of government could flex its immense purchasing muscle to negotiate low electricity prices, selling power with little mark-up to Ameren and ComEd, which would pass on the savings to customers.
David Kolata, the executive director of the Citizen's Utility Board in Chicago, compared the new agency to Costco or Wal-Mart in its buying power.
"I'm cautiously optimistic this will work and produce lower prices," Kolata said.
But economist Robert Michaels predicted a different outcome in Illinois, based on the track record of the California power authority.
"Basically, you're simply putting a lot more of ratepayers' money on the table and saying, 'Let's let the state government gamble with it,'" said Michaels, an economics professor at California State University-Fullerton.
Panicked by a power crunch in 2001 -- which was manipulated by rogue traders with Enron -- California's power authority signed long-term electricity deals at huge mark-ups that taxpayers there are still paying for, Michaels said.
"This is just unbelievable," he said of Illinois. "You're basically looking to make the same blunders California did. You have an incredible train wreck to behold."
State Rep. Tom Holbrook, D-Belleville, argued that a state power authority makes more sense than what it replaces -- the reverse power auction in September that Ameren and ComEd designed.
The auction sent their profits soaring, but also triggered a harsh public outcry as electricity bills doubled and even tripled for many residential customers when new rates took effect Jan. 2.
"You can debate it all day. That's the system we have here, and that's the relief that's in there," Holbrook said of the new power agency. "And it's better than what we had, and I don't hear anyone putting any better alternatives on the table."
Jeff Mayer, the president and CEO of MXenergy, of Stamford, Conn., predicted that Illinois' power authority will backfire, based on the experiences of California and the Canadian province of Ontario, which set up a power agency in 2004.
"All this is going to do is add another layer of cost, and it's going to drive consumer prices higher, not lower," said Mayer, whose firm supplies natural gas and electricity to customers in the U.S. and Canada, including Illinois.
If the rate relief bill has a "saving grace," it is that it puts government in the middle of the pricing process, defusing the populist reaction to high power costs, Mayer said.
"The prices aren't going to change," Mayer said. "But at least the utilities won't be cannon fodder anymore."
House Speaker Mike Madigan proposed the power authority three months ago. With the help of Emil Jones Jr., the Senate president, Madigan sent the rate relief bill racing through the General Assembly in record time.
The measure, which spans more than 300 pages of text, landed on lawmakers' desks on Wednesday.
A day later it sped through both statehouse chambers with no public hearing or legislative scrutiny. The final bill resulted from secret talks between a small team of lawmakers headed by state Sen. James Clayborne, D-Belle-ville, and Ameren and ComEd.
Scott A. Cisel, the president of Ameren Illinois, called the bill the product of an "open process" that benefited from the input of lawmakers and utility experts.
"And so I think an adequate amount of time has occurred enabling all the parties to carefully consider the various different scenarios that we can face," Cisel said.
Patty Schuh, a spokeswoman for state Sen. Frank Watson, R-Greenville, disagreed. Senate Democratic leaders allowed only four members to speak on the bill Thursday before voting on it, Schuh said.
"So instead of allowing a full public hearing on the issue and on the implications of this package, they rushed it through, and that's a mistake," Schuh said.
A decade ago, the General Assembly moved too fast when it passed the electricity de-regulation law that led to the problems the current rate relief bill is trying to fix, Schuh said.
"We should've learned from that," she said. "You cannot rush utility legislation, and that's what this is."
Contact reporter Mike Fitzgerald at mfitzgerald@bnd.com or 239-2533.
© 2007 Belleville News-Democrat and wire service sources. All Rights Reserved. http://www.belleville.com
Sunday, July 29, 2007
Saturday, July 28, 2007
No Price Roll Back, No Rate Relief, Plus New Giveaways to Illinois Utilities
From Belleville.com:
By RYAN KEITH
Associated Press Writer
A $1 billion relief package for consumers fed up with high electric rates sailed through the Legislature, but not without criticism that highlighted two different ways of looking at the complex, emotional issue.
Most lawmakers saw it as a "glass half-full" solution - not perfect but much better than doing nothing. It refunds some of the rate increases consumers have endured and creates a new agency to minimize future price surges.
But others view the plan, passed by the Legislature Thursday, as half-empty. It fails to roll back rates, it allows more increases and it halts legal efforts to determine whether power companies colluded to inflate prices.
The critics say their constituents deserve more.
"They see through this," said Sen. John Jones, R-Mt. Vernon. "The general public's not dumb. They understand what's going on up here more than some people think they do."It's fitting that disagreements would continue even after the relief package was sent to the governor's desk. Nothing polarized legislators this year like the problem of electric rate increases.
Prices spiked in January, when a 10-year freeze on electric rates ended. The outcry from angry consumers forced legislators into action. But agreeing on what action took months.
House Speaker Michael Madigan pushed for rolling back rates and freezing them again, while Senate President Emil Jones wanted to negotiate a rebate from the power companies and was willing to settle for much less than $1 billion.
In the end, the two leaders agreed to make Ameren and ComEd return about half of the increases over four years and to set up a new state agency to negotiate better power prices in the future.
Democrats, utilities and consumer groups take the "half-full" approach to the compromise. No, it didn't roll back rates as much as they wanted. But if nothing else, it did something to deal with consumers' complaints they were paying too much for power.
"I think most people are positive that something happened and that finally something got done after all this time," said Rep. John Bradley, D-Marion.
The relief package gives Ameren customers at least $100 back this year, and many will see much larger checks. ComEd customers, who saw smaller increases, will get about $80 back this year.
Advocates say $1 billion is a better deal than a rate freeze, which sounded enticing to consumers but might have placed the utilities in financial peril and been tied up for years in costly court battles.
And it's much more than the $50 million and $150 million the utilities originally offered in negotiations, they note.
"I think this is what we had to do and I think it was the best thing for everybody," said Sen. Dale Risinger, R-Peoria.
Even better than the rebates, they say, are the long-term moves to keep prices reasonable.
An auction process that was used to set rates last year is being thrown out. Instead, a new Illinois Power Agency will use independent experts to negotiate deals, much like buying clubs for bulk purchases of prescription drugs.
Even if the new agency isn't able to get consumers cheaper rates, at least the old auction - which some argued was rigged to bilk ratepayers - is dead, they say.
The agreement also ends several lawsuits filed by Attorney General Lisa Madigan's office contending collusion and fraud by the utilities. Advocates say giving up on those lawsuits provides certain relief instead of uncertain and costly court fights.
But for some Republicans, the deal was too much show, too little go.
The $1 billion, while certainly large, amounts to only a few bucks a month for people hit hard by increases. That's only a fraction of the billions of dollars the utilities and power generators will collect over the same period in rate increases.
"No one in my district has contacted me who was fooled by this proposal," said Sen. Bill Brady, R-Bloomington. "Everyone that has talked to me thinks that it's laughable."
Rates will slowly go up over the next several years, and could go up even more if the new state agency can't negotiate good deals. And critics argue the new power agency will essentially duplicate work done by the Illinois Commerce Commission.
Some even compared the agreement to utilities paying a bribe. Consumers get some money, but the electric companies get out of lawsuits that might have shown whether the utilities engaged in bad business practices.
"The consumers should be protected, not the utilities," said Rep. Carolyn Krause, R-Mount Prospect.
Lawmakers on both sides expect the issue will play a role in next year's elections. Supporters will blast the lawmakers who voted against $1 billion in rebates for consumers, and critics will play up consumer disappointment in getting back only part of their rate increases.
The next few months could help determine which side has the advantage.
If consumers can live with the money they get back and rates don't jump much, the "half-full" group will look good. But if rebates don't go smoothly and prices continue to climb, critics will have a better argument.
One top lawmaker predicts both sides will be able to make their case to voters.
"There's an explanation on all sides as to how and why you did what you did," said Senate Minority Leader Frank Watson, R-Greenville.
By RYAN KEITH
Associated Press Writer
A $1 billion relief package for consumers fed up with high electric rates sailed through the Legislature, but not without criticism that highlighted two different ways of looking at the complex, emotional issue.
Most lawmakers saw it as a "glass half-full" solution - not perfect but much better than doing nothing. It refunds some of the rate increases consumers have endured and creates a new agency to minimize future price surges.
But others view the plan, passed by the Legislature Thursday, as half-empty. It fails to roll back rates, it allows more increases and it halts legal efforts to determine whether power companies colluded to inflate prices.
The critics say their constituents deserve more.
"They see through this," said Sen. John Jones, R-Mt. Vernon. "The general public's not dumb. They understand what's going on up here more than some people think they do."It's fitting that disagreements would continue even after the relief package was sent to the governor's desk. Nothing polarized legislators this year like the problem of electric rate increases.
Prices spiked in January, when a 10-year freeze on electric rates ended. The outcry from angry consumers forced legislators into action. But agreeing on what action took months.
House Speaker Michael Madigan pushed for rolling back rates and freezing them again, while Senate President Emil Jones wanted to negotiate a rebate from the power companies and was willing to settle for much less than $1 billion.
In the end, the two leaders agreed to make Ameren and ComEd return about half of the increases over four years and to set up a new state agency to negotiate better power prices in the future.
Democrats, utilities and consumer groups take the "half-full" approach to the compromise. No, it didn't roll back rates as much as they wanted. But if nothing else, it did something to deal with consumers' complaints they were paying too much for power.
"I think most people are positive that something happened and that finally something got done after all this time," said Rep. John Bradley, D-Marion.
The relief package gives Ameren customers at least $100 back this year, and many will see much larger checks. ComEd customers, who saw smaller increases, will get about $80 back this year.
Advocates say $1 billion is a better deal than a rate freeze, which sounded enticing to consumers but might have placed the utilities in financial peril and been tied up for years in costly court battles.
And it's much more than the $50 million and $150 million the utilities originally offered in negotiations, they note.
"I think this is what we had to do and I think it was the best thing for everybody," said Sen. Dale Risinger, R-Peoria.
Even better than the rebates, they say, are the long-term moves to keep prices reasonable.
An auction process that was used to set rates last year is being thrown out. Instead, a new Illinois Power Agency will use independent experts to negotiate deals, much like buying clubs for bulk purchases of prescription drugs.
Even if the new agency isn't able to get consumers cheaper rates, at least the old auction - which some argued was rigged to bilk ratepayers - is dead, they say.
The agreement also ends several lawsuits filed by Attorney General Lisa Madigan's office contending collusion and fraud by the utilities. Advocates say giving up on those lawsuits provides certain relief instead of uncertain and costly court fights.
But for some Republicans, the deal was too much show, too little go.
The $1 billion, while certainly large, amounts to only a few bucks a month for people hit hard by increases. That's only a fraction of the billions of dollars the utilities and power generators will collect over the same period in rate increases.
"No one in my district has contacted me who was fooled by this proposal," said Sen. Bill Brady, R-Bloomington. "Everyone that has talked to me thinks that it's laughable."
Rates will slowly go up over the next several years, and could go up even more if the new state agency can't negotiate good deals. And critics argue the new power agency will essentially duplicate work done by the Illinois Commerce Commission.
Some even compared the agreement to utilities paying a bribe. Consumers get some money, but the electric companies get out of lawsuits that might have shown whether the utilities engaged in bad business practices.
"The consumers should be protected, not the utilities," said Rep. Carolyn Krause, R-Mount Prospect.
Lawmakers on both sides expect the issue will play a role in next year's elections. Supporters will blast the lawmakers who voted against $1 billion in rebates for consumers, and critics will play up consumer disappointment in getting back only part of their rate increases.
The next few months could help determine which side has the advantage.
If consumers can live with the money they get back and rates don't jump much, the "half-full" group will look good. But if rebates don't go smoothly and prices continue to climb, critics will have a better argument.
One top lawmaker predicts both sides will be able to make their case to voters.
"There's an explanation on all sides as to how and why you did what you did," said Senate Minority Leader Frank Watson, R-Greenville.
Saturday, July 14, 2007
Illinois Legislature Sells Out to Utilities - No Price Roll-Back Planned As Utilities Rape Illinois
OK, if you have been following the saga of Faces you know that the Illinois State Legislature allowed Ameren and ComEd to more then double their utility rates since Janaury 2007. Both utitities have been pouring money in the legislator's pockets to insure that they (the utilities)will collect over $8 billion in additional profits over the next 3 years. Small businesses like Faces have been crippled by these utitity increases. One of the primary reasons that we were forced to close was because our electric bills would have exceeded $8000 to $10,000 a month this summer. Illinois legislators have failed the people and it looks like there will be no relief in sight. According to Stltoday, both utilities will be allowed to continue to charge the increased prices with no roll back or freeze. Their concession to the people of Illinois will be some sort of credit or rebate over 3 years of less then one billion dollars. So to be clear...the utitilites have bought the legislature like cheap whores and will be allowed to continue raping the people of Illinois to the tune of over $7 billion. Without some sort of fair and equitible roll-back of these prices, it becomes that much harder for us to develope a business plan that would insure that Faces could survive or prosper. We do not see how any Illinois small business will be able to survive without doubling or tripling the prices that they charge their customers.
Sunday, June 24, 2007
Wednesday, June 20, 2007
Saturday, June 16, 2007
Former East St. Louis Official Guilty of Environmental Violations in Building Demolition Case
Regular customers may have noticed the tall,vacant building a few hundred feet from our front door, The building, known as the Spivey Building, has some historic significance as the tallest building in southern Illinois. It was set for rehab a few years ago but sadly got caught in the middle of political corruption and EPA enforcement cases. If you read our previous postings on our recent closure, we told you about the money we spent on lawyers to force the clean-up of a collapsed building next door. The owners of building next door hired a demolition crew owned by a local politician people to clean up their property as well as ours. According to Robert Patrick's article in ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH on Saturday, Jun. 16 2007
" A former local political boss faces the possibility of 15 or
more months in prison — on top a 21-month sentence for election fraud — after
admitting Friday that he committed federal environmental violations.
Charles Powell Jr., former East St. Louis councilman, St. Clair County Board
member and head of the Democratic Party in East St. Louis, pleaded guilty in
U.S. District Court in East St. Louis to a conspiracy charge and a charge of
failing to notify authorities before removing asbestos.
Powell admitted that he had been hired to renovate the Spivey Building, at 417
Missouri Avenue in East St. Louis, and that he had hired a man named Isaiah
Newton, court documents say.
Although both men knew the building contained asbestos, they improperly removed
and disposed of hundreds of feet of asbestos-covered pipes and other
asbestos-containing material in early 2002, documents say...Workers, who were paid in cash, threw building materials out the windows, scattering debris down Missouri Avenue, and were told to lie and tell anyone who asked that they were not tearing out walls and removing pipes, the indictment says.
Prosecutors agreed not to charge Powell for "activities concerning violations of the Clean Air Act for demolition procedures at the Roy Weiss Building . . . and the facility at 17th and Broadway (sometimes referred to as the 'Cahokia Common Fields')," both located in East St. Louis."
" A former local political boss faces the possibility of 15 or
more months in prison — on top a 21-month sentence for election fraud — after
admitting Friday that he committed federal environmental violations.
Charles Powell Jr., former East St. Louis councilman, St. Clair County Board
member and head of the Democratic Party in East St. Louis, pleaded guilty in
U.S. District Court in East St. Louis to a conspiracy charge and a charge of
failing to notify authorities before removing asbestos.
Powell admitted that he had been hired to renovate the Spivey Building, at 417
Missouri Avenue in East St. Louis, and that he had hired a man named Isaiah
Newton, court documents say.
Although both men knew the building contained asbestos, they improperly removed
and disposed of hundreds of feet of asbestos-covered pipes and other
asbestos-containing material in early 2002, documents say...Workers, who were paid in cash, threw building materials out the windows, scattering debris down Missouri Avenue, and were told to lie and tell anyone who asked that they were not tearing out walls and removing pipes, the indictment says.
Prosecutors agreed not to charge Powell for "activities concerning violations of the Clean Air Act for demolition procedures at the Roy Weiss Building . . . and the facility at 17th and Broadway (sometimes referred to as the 'Cahokia Common Fields')," both located in East St. Louis."
Wednesday, June 13, 2007
Illinois EPA Cleaning Up Illegal East St. Louis Dumps
From Belleville.com:
BY CARA ANTHONY
News-Democrat
EAST ST. LOUIS --State crews on Tuesday began cleaning up areas in the city that have been used as illegal dumps.
The workers are concentrating on the 5500 block of Summit Ave. Crews will be in that area until June 29.
The Illinois Environmental Protection Agency initiated the cleanup that targets trustee property, alleys and ditches. Areas used as illegal dumping sites often contain household garbage, abandoned vehicles and tires.
"The cleanups happen all across the state of Illinois," said Jill Watson, a spokeswoman for the IEPA.
A recent state cleanup in nearby Venice collected 1,306 tons of waste and nearly 67 tons of abandoned tires. Improperly managed used tires provide a breeding ground for mosquitos, which carry the West Nile virus.
"We are making the effort to turn East St. Louis around and make it a cleaner town," said Joe Zappa, a project manager for the Illinois Removes Illegal Dumps program. Washington Park also will be included in the I-RID program's cleanup efforts.
The state hires local contractors to clean up the illegal dump sites after the responsible parties cannot be located or areas that present imminent threats, such as fires or hazardous waste, are identified.
"Illegal open dumping around Illinois can potentially pose health and safety hazards to both people and the environment, but the I-RID program has begun to tackle those environmental eyesores," IEPA Director Doug Scott said.
The I-RID program became law in 2005 and gives the IEPA additional authority to combat open dumping and clean up existing dumps.
BY CARA ANTHONY
News-Democrat
EAST ST. LOUIS --State crews on Tuesday began cleaning up areas in the city that have been used as illegal dumps.
The workers are concentrating on the 5500 block of Summit Ave. Crews will be in that area until June 29.
The Illinois Environmental Protection Agency initiated the cleanup that targets trustee property, alleys and ditches. Areas used as illegal dumping sites often contain household garbage, abandoned vehicles and tires.
"The cleanups happen all across the state of Illinois," said Jill Watson, a spokeswoman for the IEPA.
A recent state cleanup in nearby Venice collected 1,306 tons of waste and nearly 67 tons of abandoned tires. Improperly managed used tires provide a breeding ground for mosquitos, which carry the West Nile virus.
"We are making the effort to turn East St. Louis around and make it a cleaner town," said Joe Zappa, a project manager for the Illinois Removes Illegal Dumps program. Washington Park also will be included in the I-RID program's cleanup efforts.
The state hires local contractors to clean up the illegal dump sites after the responsible parties cannot be located or areas that present imminent threats, such as fires or hazardous waste, are identified.
"Illegal open dumping around Illinois can potentially pose health and safety hazards to both people and the environment, but the I-RID program has begun to tackle those environmental eyesores," IEPA Director Doug Scott said.
The I-RID program became law in 2005 and gives the IEPA additional authority to combat open dumping and clean up existing dumps.
Tuesday, June 12, 2007
Where We Are Today - You Can Help Us
Thank you to everyone who has completed our Faces online survey. The survey is still open and we could still use your help. Ask your friends to complete the survey too. We need everyone's thoughts on St. Louis nightlife to help us decide on the future direction for Faces. We will share the results a little later but one thing that we find a little disconcerting...70% of our respondents said "I generally know what is going on at Faces before I walk in. I keep up with Faces events." Our own experience, while anecdotal, doesn't really support that. On any given night, I would estimate that as many as 75% of our customers do not know what event is going on when they walk into Faces. I base this estimate on interaction between customers, our door man, and myself as well as participation in events. There is rarely a night when customers don't come to the door and ask what is going on that night, ask why we are charging the cover, or ask me if there was something special going on. These are not the questions of people who know what is going on when they walk in. One of our most popular events according to your survey answers is our Lights Out/Underwear Party, yet our last few parties have been poorly attended with very little participation. When asked why people weren't participating, most answered that they didn't know it was an Underwear party and hadn't worn underwear or hadn't worn nice underwear. Basically, it appears that the people answering our survey think they know what is going on at Faces but they don't, which means we have a problem we didn't know we had. If you think you know what is going on, then you probably aren't going to read our ads, visit our website, or read our emails. You won't know when we do something new or do something that you will enjoy if you don't check up on us occasionally.
Our impression is that many of the surveys responses are coming from people who have not been to Faces in years. While we are interested in their thoughts, their impression of Faces seems frozen in time, their answers based on the way Faces was the last time they were here, rather then on how it is now. This makes it kind of hard to evaluate the responses.
It has been a little more then a month since we closed our doors and we have to say that we miss you guys. We miss the people, we miss the music, we miss entertainers, we miss the nightlife and we hope you miss us.
We wanted to let you know that we are still reviewing the online survey results, still considering our options, and still formulating our plans. We don't know when we will be back yet but we wanted to let you know that we won't be ready by Pride Weekend. We encourage you to keep us in your thoughts as you celebrate St. Louis Pride Weekend in Tower Grove Park on June 23 & 24.
Our impression is that many of the surveys responses are coming from people who have not been to Faces in years. While we are interested in their thoughts, their impression of Faces seems frozen in time, their answers based on the way Faces was the last time they were here, rather then on how it is now. This makes it kind of hard to evaluate the responses.
It has been a little more then a month since we closed our doors and we have to say that we miss you guys. We miss the people, we miss the music, we miss entertainers, we miss the nightlife and we hope you miss us.
We wanted to let you know that we are still reviewing the online survey results, still considering our options, and still formulating our plans. We don't know when we will be back yet but we wanted to let you know that we won't be ready by Pride Weekend. We encourage you to keep us in your thoughts as you celebrate St. Louis Pride Weekend in Tower Grove Park on June 23 & 24.
Wednesday, June 06, 2007
More Alice in Wonderland from Bush: Surgeon General Nominee Says Gay Sex is Hazardous - Supports Gay "Cures"
From HRC:
For Immediate Release:
Monday, June 4, 2007
HOLSINGER’S ANTI-GAY VIEWS MAKE HIM ‘UNWORTHY’ OF SURGEON GENERAL POST
‘It is essential that America’s top doctor value sound science over anti-gay ideology,’ said Human Rights Campaign President Joe Solmonese.
WASHINGTON — The Human Rights Campaign spoke out today in opposition to President Bush’s nomination of Dr. James Holsinger to the position of surgeon general. Among other things, the U.S. surgeon general is charged with educating Americans about public health.
“Dr. Holsinger has a record that is unworthy of America’s doctor,” said Human Rights Campaign President Joe Solmonese. “His writings suggest a scientific view rooted in anti-gay beliefs that are incompatible with the job of serving the medical health of all Americans. It is essential that America’s top doctor value sound science over anti-gay ideology.”
In a document titled “Pathophysiology of Male Homosexuality,” Holsinger opined, in his capacity as a physician, that biology and anatomy precluded considering gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender equality in his denomination. The opinion very clearly states that this is his scientific view, stating that theological views are separate.
Additionally, Holsinger and his wife were founders of Hope Springs Community Church which, according to the church’s pastor, ministers to people who no longer wish to be gay or lesbian. The pastor, the Rev. David Calhoun, said that the church has an “ex-gay” ministry. “We see that as an issue not of orientation but a lifestyle,” Calhoun said. “We have people who seek to walk out of that lifestyle.” This type of “ex-gay” conversion therapy has been condemned by almost every major, reputable medical organization — including the American Psychological Association, which issued a condemnation more than 10 years ago.
“Although the church’s theology isn’t being nominated, this discredited practice purports to be a psychological and medical service, and if Dr. Holsinger is involved in any way, it conflicts with his duty to accept and promote sound science in the interest of public health,” continued Solmonese.
“We are hopeful that during the hearing process Congress will fully examine Dr. Holsinger’s background and part of that examination will include issues affecting our community, including his stance on conversation therapy. Too often, we have seen President Bush send nominees to Congress that have proven their inability to separate their personal beliefs from their professional duties. As the nation’s chief medical doctor, the office of surgeon general is an extremely important position that has an impact on the lives of gay and lesbian Americans and the hearing process should involve a discussion about where Dr. Holsinger stands on medical issues relating to our community,” Solmonese concluded.
The Human Rights Campaign is America’s largest civil rights organization working to achieve gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender equality. By inspiring and engaging all Americans, HRC strives to end discrimination against GLBT citizens and realize a nation that achieves fundamental fairness and equality for all.
For Immediate Release:
Monday, June 4, 2007
HOLSINGER’S ANTI-GAY VIEWS MAKE HIM ‘UNWORTHY’ OF SURGEON GENERAL POST
‘It is essential that America’s top doctor value sound science over anti-gay ideology,’ said Human Rights Campaign President Joe Solmonese.
WASHINGTON — The Human Rights Campaign spoke out today in opposition to President Bush’s nomination of Dr. James Holsinger to the position of surgeon general. Among other things, the U.S. surgeon general is charged with educating Americans about public health.
“Dr. Holsinger has a record that is unworthy of America’s doctor,” said Human Rights Campaign President Joe Solmonese. “His writings suggest a scientific view rooted in anti-gay beliefs that are incompatible with the job of serving the medical health of all Americans. It is essential that America’s top doctor value sound science over anti-gay ideology.”
In a document titled “Pathophysiology of Male Homosexuality,” Holsinger opined, in his capacity as a physician, that biology and anatomy precluded considering gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender equality in his denomination. The opinion very clearly states that this is his scientific view, stating that theological views are separate.
Additionally, Holsinger and his wife were founders of Hope Springs Community Church which, according to the church’s pastor, ministers to people who no longer wish to be gay or lesbian. The pastor, the Rev. David Calhoun, said that the church has an “ex-gay” ministry. “We see that as an issue not of orientation but a lifestyle,” Calhoun said. “We have people who seek to walk out of that lifestyle.” This type of “ex-gay” conversion therapy has been condemned by almost every major, reputable medical organization — including the American Psychological Association, which issued a condemnation more than 10 years ago.
“Although the church’s theology isn’t being nominated, this discredited practice purports to be a psychological and medical service, and if Dr. Holsinger is involved in any way, it conflicts with his duty to accept and promote sound science in the interest of public health,” continued Solmonese.
“We are hopeful that during the hearing process Congress will fully examine Dr. Holsinger’s background and part of that examination will include issues affecting our community, including his stance on conversation therapy. Too often, we have seen President Bush send nominees to Congress that have proven their inability to separate their personal beliefs from their professional duties. As the nation’s chief medical doctor, the office of surgeon general is an extremely important position that has an impact on the lives of gay and lesbian Americans and the hearing process should involve a discussion about where Dr. Holsinger stands on medical issues relating to our community,” Solmonese concluded.
The Human Rights Campaign is America’s largest civil rights organization working to achieve gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender equality. By inspiring and engaging all Americans, HRC strives to end discrimination against GLBT citizens and realize a nation that achieves fundamental fairness and equality for all.
Monday, June 04, 2007
Gay.com Parent Company May Run Out of Money
Verne Kopytoff, Chronicle Staff Writer
After becoming the dominant media company for the gay community, PlanetOut Inc. is now just trying to survive.
The San Francisco owner of Gay.com, along with the Advocate and Out magazines, disclosed this week that it will run out of money before the end of the year without an infusion of cash.
The dire situation is a consequence of PlanetOut's declining subscriptions for personal ads, a shortfall in advertising revenue and trouble booking passengers on its gay-oriented cruises.
A dismal first-quarter earnings report on Wednesday hammered the reality home. Virtually every piece of the business needs fixing, according to management.
In the report, PlanetOut said it lost $6.9 million in its fiscal first quarter, compared with a $132,000 loss a year earlier. Revenue totaled $16.8 million, down from $17.6 million during the same period a year ago.
Spooked by the results, investors sent PlanetOut's shares tumbling 33 percent over two days to close Friday at $1.64, the lowest point since the company's initial public offering three years ago.
"This is deeply disappointing and concerning to me and the rest of the management team," Karen Magee, PlanetOut's chief executive officer, said in a conference call with analysts Wednesday.
"We've got major work to do at PlanetOut to generate the healthy revenue growth and solid earnings performance that I believe this company is capable of producing."
Magee, who joined the company in 2006, described the problems as years in the making. A turnaround, she said, will take up to 24 months, during which the company plans to fix creaky technology, reorganize and sell some assets, including its adult publishing business.
Allen & Co., a consulting firm, has been hired to explore various options.
PlanetOut is under the gun to come up with an additional $15 million to meet the terms of an existing loan, or face default.
If it's unable to get the financing, the lender could foreclose on PlanetOut's assets, a potential death knell.
The company, which had $11 million in cash and short-term investments at the end of the first quarter, said it would run out of money by year's end without additional financing.
Magee laid part of the blame for PlanetOut's poor performance on its RSVP travel agency, which offers cruises to destinations such as the Caribbean.
Passenger occupancy has been less than expected and, as a result, the company has had to offer steep discounts to attract travelers and pay penalties to cruise lines.
Separately, PlanetOut's advertising sales, both online and in print, have been disappointing. Subscriptions to online personals have also lagged amid growing competition from other gay-oriented Web sites in addition to social networking giants MySpace and Facebook.
In a note to investors, Richard Ingrassia, an analyst for Roth Capital Partners, said it's possible that PlanetOut would sell its travel business. Overall, he said, the company is still unchallenged in terms of reaching the gay demographic.
After becoming the dominant media company for the gay community, PlanetOut Inc. is now just trying to survive.
The San Francisco owner of Gay.com, along with the Advocate and Out magazines, disclosed this week that it will run out of money before the end of the year without an infusion of cash.
The dire situation is a consequence of PlanetOut's declining subscriptions for personal ads, a shortfall in advertising revenue and trouble booking passengers on its gay-oriented cruises.
A dismal first-quarter earnings report on Wednesday hammered the reality home. Virtually every piece of the business needs fixing, according to management.
In the report, PlanetOut said it lost $6.9 million in its fiscal first quarter, compared with a $132,000 loss a year earlier. Revenue totaled $16.8 million, down from $17.6 million during the same period a year ago.
Spooked by the results, investors sent PlanetOut's shares tumbling 33 percent over two days to close Friday at $1.64, the lowest point since the company's initial public offering three years ago.
"This is deeply disappointing and concerning to me and the rest of the management team," Karen Magee, PlanetOut's chief executive officer, said in a conference call with analysts Wednesday.
"We've got major work to do at PlanetOut to generate the healthy revenue growth and solid earnings performance that I believe this company is capable of producing."
Magee, who joined the company in 2006, described the problems as years in the making. A turnaround, she said, will take up to 24 months, during which the company plans to fix creaky technology, reorganize and sell some assets, including its adult publishing business.
Allen & Co., a consulting firm, has been hired to explore various options.
PlanetOut is under the gun to come up with an additional $15 million to meet the terms of an existing loan, or face default.
If it's unable to get the financing, the lender could foreclose on PlanetOut's assets, a potential death knell.
The company, which had $11 million in cash and short-term investments at the end of the first quarter, said it would run out of money by year's end without additional financing.
Magee laid part of the blame for PlanetOut's poor performance on its RSVP travel agency, which offers cruises to destinations such as the Caribbean.
Passenger occupancy has been less than expected and, as a result, the company has had to offer steep discounts to attract travelers and pay penalties to cruise lines.
Separately, PlanetOut's advertising sales, both online and in print, have been disappointing. Subscriptions to online personals have also lagged amid growing competition from other gay-oriented Web sites in addition to social networking giants MySpace and Facebook.
In a note to investors, Richard Ingrassia, an analyst for Roth Capital Partners, said it's possible that PlanetOut would sell its travel business. Overall, he said, the company is still unchallenged in terms of reaching the gay demographic.
HRC Announces 08 Dem Candidates Unanimously Support Extending Federal Benefits to Gays
For Immediate Release:
Saturday, June 2, 2007
’08 DEMOCRATIC CANDIDATES’ RESPONSES TO QUESTIONNAIRE ON GAY, LESBIAN, BISEXUAL AND TRANSGENDER ISSUES RELEASED
Human Rights Campaign Issues Report Card for Pro-Equality Voters
WASHINGTON — Today, the Human Rights Campaign released its 2008 Democratic presidential candidate questionnaire outlining where the announced candidates for president stand on issues important to the gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender community. The Human Rights Campaign, the nation’s largest gay civil rights organization, released the questionnaires along with a report card based upon the candidates’ responses in order to assist pro-equality voters in determining the public policy positions of the candidates.
For the first time ever, all of the announced Democratic candidates stated their support for extending federal benefits and equal tax treatment, currently only available to heterosexual married couples, to same-sex couples who are parties to a union legally recognized by their state. Additionally, the candidates express unanimous support for extending federal benefits for same-sex couples and their children.
This groundbreaking and unified position of all Democratic candidates would override Section 3 of the so-called “Defense of Marriage Act,” which provides that for federal purposes, "The word ‘marriage’ means only a legal union between one man and one woman as husband and wife, and the word ‘spouse’ refers only to a person of the opposite sex who is a husband or a wife.” (1 U.S.C. Section 7)
“These candidates have expressed a unified belief and echoed the majority of the American people by stating that same-sex couples deserve federal recognition,” said HRC President Joe Solmonese. “It is extremely encouraging to finally see the focus of the debate around the lives of gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender Americans center around extending the American value of equality to all people. 2008 is not 2004, and the American people have already put out the warning that divisive, wedge politics that pit neighbor against neighbor will not be tolerated.”
The questionnaire focused on the following questions of importance to the GLBT community:
Federal recognition of state-level same sex unions
The Employment Non-Discrimination Act
Federal hate crimes legislation
Support for marriage equality
Support for civil unions
Extend federal benefits to same-sex couples and their children
Extending coverage of the Family and Medical Leave Act
Extending access to survivor benefits
Equal tax treatment
Domestic partner benefits for same-sex employees
Adoption/foster parent issues
Immigration equality;
Repeal of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell”
HIV/AIDS funding
Comprehensive sex education
2008 Democratic presidential candidates responding to the questionnaire include: Sen. Hillary Clinton, Sen. Barack Obama, Sen. John Edwards, Gov. Bill Richardson, Sen. Joe Biden, Sen. Chris Dodd and Rep. Dennis Kucinich.
View the report card showing where the candidates stand on these important issues.
The Human Rights Campaign is America’s largest civil rights organization working to achieve gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender equality. By inspiring and engaging all Americans, HRC strives to end discrimination against GLBT citizens and realize a nation that achieves fundamental fairness and equality for all.
-30-
Saturday, June 2, 2007
’08 DEMOCRATIC CANDIDATES’ RESPONSES TO QUESTIONNAIRE ON GAY, LESBIAN, BISEXUAL AND TRANSGENDER ISSUES RELEASED
Human Rights Campaign Issues Report Card for Pro-Equality Voters
WASHINGTON — Today, the Human Rights Campaign released its 2008 Democratic presidential candidate questionnaire outlining where the announced candidates for president stand on issues important to the gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender community. The Human Rights Campaign, the nation’s largest gay civil rights organization, released the questionnaires along with a report card based upon the candidates’ responses in order to assist pro-equality voters in determining the public policy positions of the candidates.
For the first time ever, all of the announced Democratic candidates stated their support for extending federal benefits and equal tax treatment, currently only available to heterosexual married couples, to same-sex couples who are parties to a union legally recognized by their state. Additionally, the candidates express unanimous support for extending federal benefits for same-sex couples and their children.
This groundbreaking and unified position of all Democratic candidates would override Section 3 of the so-called “Defense of Marriage Act,” which provides that for federal purposes, "The word ‘marriage’ means only a legal union between one man and one woman as husband and wife, and the word ‘spouse’ refers only to a person of the opposite sex who is a husband or a wife.” (1 U.S.C. Section 7)
“These candidates have expressed a unified belief and echoed the majority of the American people by stating that same-sex couples deserve federal recognition,” said HRC President Joe Solmonese. “It is extremely encouraging to finally see the focus of the debate around the lives of gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender Americans center around extending the American value of equality to all people. 2008 is not 2004, and the American people have already put out the warning that divisive, wedge politics that pit neighbor against neighbor will not be tolerated.”
The questionnaire focused on the following questions of importance to the GLBT community:
Federal recognition of state-level same sex unions
The Employment Non-Discrimination Act
Federal hate crimes legislation
Support for marriage equality
Support for civil unions
Extend federal benefits to same-sex couples and their children
Extending coverage of the Family and Medical Leave Act
Extending access to survivor benefits
Equal tax treatment
Domestic partner benefits for same-sex employees
Adoption/foster parent issues
Immigration equality;
Repeal of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell”
HIV/AIDS funding
Comprehensive sex education
2008 Democratic presidential candidates responding to the questionnaire include: Sen. Hillary Clinton, Sen. Barack Obama, Sen. John Edwards, Gov. Bill Richardson, Sen. Joe Biden, Sen. Chris Dodd and Rep. Dennis Kucinich.
View the report card showing where the candidates stand on these important issues.
The Human Rights Campaign is America’s largest civil rights organization working to achieve gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender equality. By inspiring and engaging all Americans, HRC strives to end discrimination against GLBT citizens and realize a nation that achieves fundamental fairness and equality for all.
-30-
Monday, May 28, 2007
Something to think about - CD Sales Plunge 20% From Last Year
From NYT:
May 28, 2007
Plunge in CD Sales Shakes Up Big Labels
By JEFF LEEDS
“Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band,” the Beatles album often cited as the greatest pop recording in music history, received a thoroughly modern 40th-anniversary salute last week when singers on “American Idol” belted out their own versions of its songs live on the show’s season finale.
But off stage, in a sign of the recording industry’s declining fortunes, shareholders of EMI, the music conglomerate that markets “Sgt. Pepper” and a vast trove of other recordings, were weighing a plan to sell the company as its financial performance was weakening.
It’s a maddening juxtaposition for more than one top record-label executive. Music may still be a big force in pop culture — from “Idol” to the iPod — but the music business’s own comeback attempt is falling flat.
Even pop’s pioneers are rethinking their approach. As it happens, one of the performers on “Sgt. Pepper,” Paul McCartney, is releasing a new album on June 5. But Mr. McCartney is not betting on the traditional record-label methods: He elected to sidestep EMI, his longtime home, and release the album through a new arrangement with Starbucks.
It’s too soon to tell if Starbucks’ new label (a partnership with the established Concord label) will have much success in marketing CDs. But not many other players are.
Despite costly efforts to build buzz around new talent and thwart piracy, CD sales have plunged more than 20 percent this year, far outweighing any gains made by digital sales at iTunes and similar services. Aram Sinnreich, a media industry consultant at Radar Research in Los Angeles, said the CD format, introduced in the United States 24 years ago, is in its death throes. “Everyone in the industry thinks of this Christmas as the last big holiday season for CD sales,” Mr. Sinnreich said, “and then everything goes kaput.”
It’s been four years since the last big shuffle in ownership of the major record labels. But now, with the sales plunge dimming hopes for a recovery any time soon, there is a new game of corporate musical chairs afoot that could shake up the industry hierarchy.
Under the deal that awaits shareholder approval, London-based EMI agreed last week to be purchased for more than $4.7 billion by a private equity investor, Terra Firma Capital Partners, whose diverse holdings include a European waste-conversion business. Rival bids could yet surface — though the higher the ultimate price, the more pressure the owners will face to make dramatic cuts or sell the company in pieces in order to recoup their investment.
For the companies that choose to plow ahead, the question is how to weather the worsening storm. One answer: diversify into businesses that do not rely directly on CD sales or downloads. The biggest one is music publishing, which represents songwriters (who may or may not also be performers) and earns money when their songs are used in TV commercials, video games or other media. Universal Music Group, already the biggest label, became the world’s biggest music publisher on Friday after closing its purchase of BMG Music, publisher of songs by artists like Keane, for more than $2 billion.
Now both Universal and Warner Music Group are said to be kicking the tires of Sanctuary, an independent British music and artist management company whose roster includes Iron Maiden and Elton John. The owners of all four of the major record companies also recently have chewed over deals to diversify into merchandise sales, concert tickets, advertising and other fields that are not part of their traditional business.
Even as the industry tries to branch out, though, there is no promise of an answer to a potentially more profound predicament: a creative drought and a corresponding lack of artists who ignite consumers’ interest in buying music. Sales of rap, which had provided the industry with a lifeboat in recent years, fell far more than the overall market last year with a drop of almost 21 percent, according to Nielsen SoundScan. (And the marquee star 50 Cent just delayed his forthcoming album, “Curtis.”)
In other genres the picture is not much brighter. Fans do still turn out (at least initially) for artists that have managed to build loyal followings. The biggest debut of the year came just last week from the rock band Linkin Park, whose third studio album, “Minutes to Midnight,” sold an estimated 623,000 copies, according to Nielsen SoundScan data.
But very few albums have gained traction. And that is compounded by the industry’s core structural problem: Its main product is widely available free. More than half of all music acquired by fans last year came from unpaid sources including Internet file sharing and CD burning, according to the market research company NPD Group. The “social” ripping and burning of CDs among friends — which takes place offline and almost entirely out of reach of industry policing efforts — accounted for 37 percent of all music consumption, more than file-sharing, NPD said.
The industry had long pinned its hopes on making up some of the business lost to piracy with licensed digital sales. But those prospects have dimmed as the rapid CD decline has overshadowed the rise in sales at services like Apple’s iTunes. Even as music executives fret that iTunes has not generated enough sales, though, they gripe that it unfairly dominates the sale of digital music.
Partly out of frustration with Apple, some of the music companies have been slowly retreating from their longtime insistence on selling music online with digital locks that prevent unlimited copying. Their aim is to sell more music that can be played on Apple’s wildly popular iPod device, which is not compatible with the protection software used by most other digital music services. EMI led the reversal, striking a deal with Apple to offer its music catalog in the unrestricted MP3 format.
Some music executives say that dropping copy-restriction software, also known as digital-rights management, would stoke business at iTunes’ competitors and generate a surge in sales. Others predict it would have little impact, though they add that the labels squandered years on failed attempts to restrict digital music instead of converting more fans into paying consumers.
“They were so slow to react, and let things get totally out of hand,” said Russ Crupnick, a senior entertainment industry analyst at NPD, the research company. “They just missed the boat.”
Perhaps there is little to lose, then, in experimentation. Mr. McCartney, for example, may not have made it to the “American Idol” finale, but he too is employing thoroughly modern techniques to reach his audience.
Starbucks will be selling his album “Memory Almost Full” through regular music retail shops but will also be playing it repeatedly in thousands of its coffee shops in more than two dozen countries on the day of release. And the first music video from the new album had it premiere on YouTube. Mr. McCartney, in announcing his deal with Starbucks, described his rationale simply: “It’s a new world.”
May 28, 2007
Plunge in CD Sales Shakes Up Big Labels
By JEFF LEEDS
“Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band,” the Beatles album often cited as the greatest pop recording in music history, received a thoroughly modern 40th-anniversary salute last week when singers on “American Idol” belted out their own versions of its songs live on the show’s season finale.
But off stage, in a sign of the recording industry’s declining fortunes, shareholders of EMI, the music conglomerate that markets “Sgt. Pepper” and a vast trove of other recordings, were weighing a plan to sell the company as its financial performance was weakening.
It’s a maddening juxtaposition for more than one top record-label executive. Music may still be a big force in pop culture — from “Idol” to the iPod — but the music business’s own comeback attempt is falling flat.
Even pop’s pioneers are rethinking their approach. As it happens, one of the performers on “Sgt. Pepper,” Paul McCartney, is releasing a new album on June 5. But Mr. McCartney is not betting on the traditional record-label methods: He elected to sidestep EMI, his longtime home, and release the album through a new arrangement with Starbucks.
It’s too soon to tell if Starbucks’ new label (a partnership with the established Concord label) will have much success in marketing CDs. But not many other players are.
Despite costly efforts to build buzz around new talent and thwart piracy, CD sales have plunged more than 20 percent this year, far outweighing any gains made by digital sales at iTunes and similar services. Aram Sinnreich, a media industry consultant at Radar Research in Los Angeles, said the CD format, introduced in the United States 24 years ago, is in its death throes. “Everyone in the industry thinks of this Christmas as the last big holiday season for CD sales,” Mr. Sinnreich said, “and then everything goes kaput.”
It’s been four years since the last big shuffle in ownership of the major record labels. But now, with the sales plunge dimming hopes for a recovery any time soon, there is a new game of corporate musical chairs afoot that could shake up the industry hierarchy.
Under the deal that awaits shareholder approval, London-based EMI agreed last week to be purchased for more than $4.7 billion by a private equity investor, Terra Firma Capital Partners, whose diverse holdings include a European waste-conversion business. Rival bids could yet surface — though the higher the ultimate price, the more pressure the owners will face to make dramatic cuts or sell the company in pieces in order to recoup their investment.
For the companies that choose to plow ahead, the question is how to weather the worsening storm. One answer: diversify into businesses that do not rely directly on CD sales or downloads. The biggest one is music publishing, which represents songwriters (who may or may not also be performers) and earns money when their songs are used in TV commercials, video games or other media. Universal Music Group, already the biggest label, became the world’s biggest music publisher on Friday after closing its purchase of BMG Music, publisher of songs by artists like Keane, for more than $2 billion.
Now both Universal and Warner Music Group are said to be kicking the tires of Sanctuary, an independent British music and artist management company whose roster includes Iron Maiden and Elton John. The owners of all four of the major record companies also recently have chewed over deals to diversify into merchandise sales, concert tickets, advertising and other fields that are not part of their traditional business.
Even as the industry tries to branch out, though, there is no promise of an answer to a potentially more profound predicament: a creative drought and a corresponding lack of artists who ignite consumers’ interest in buying music. Sales of rap, which had provided the industry with a lifeboat in recent years, fell far more than the overall market last year with a drop of almost 21 percent, according to Nielsen SoundScan. (And the marquee star 50 Cent just delayed his forthcoming album, “Curtis.”)
In other genres the picture is not much brighter. Fans do still turn out (at least initially) for artists that have managed to build loyal followings. The biggest debut of the year came just last week from the rock band Linkin Park, whose third studio album, “Minutes to Midnight,” sold an estimated 623,000 copies, according to Nielsen SoundScan data.
But very few albums have gained traction. And that is compounded by the industry’s core structural problem: Its main product is widely available free. More than half of all music acquired by fans last year came from unpaid sources including Internet file sharing and CD burning, according to the market research company NPD Group. The “social” ripping and burning of CDs among friends — which takes place offline and almost entirely out of reach of industry policing efforts — accounted for 37 percent of all music consumption, more than file-sharing, NPD said.
The industry had long pinned its hopes on making up some of the business lost to piracy with licensed digital sales. But those prospects have dimmed as the rapid CD decline has overshadowed the rise in sales at services like Apple’s iTunes. Even as music executives fret that iTunes has not generated enough sales, though, they gripe that it unfairly dominates the sale of digital music.
Partly out of frustration with Apple, some of the music companies have been slowly retreating from their longtime insistence on selling music online with digital locks that prevent unlimited copying. Their aim is to sell more music that can be played on Apple’s wildly popular iPod device, which is not compatible with the protection software used by most other digital music services. EMI led the reversal, striking a deal with Apple to offer its music catalog in the unrestricted MP3 format.
Some music executives say that dropping copy-restriction software, also known as digital-rights management, would stoke business at iTunes’ competitors and generate a surge in sales. Others predict it would have little impact, though they add that the labels squandered years on failed attempts to restrict digital music instead of converting more fans into paying consumers.
“They were so slow to react, and let things get totally out of hand,” said Russ Crupnick, a senior entertainment industry analyst at NPD, the research company. “They just missed the boat.”
Perhaps there is little to lose, then, in experimentation. Mr. McCartney, for example, may not have made it to the “American Idol” finale, but he too is employing thoroughly modern techniques to reach his audience.
Starbucks will be selling his album “Memory Almost Full” through regular music retail shops but will also be playing it repeatedly in thousands of its coffee shops in more than two dozen countries on the day of release. And the first music video from the new album had it premiere on YouTube. Mr. McCartney, in announcing his deal with Starbucks, described his rationale simply: “It’s a new world.”
Saturday, May 26, 2007
Good News! Newly Elected Mayor & Volunters Are Cleaning Up East St. Louis
From KSDK:
By Rebecca Wu
(KSDK) - The city of East St. Louis is trying to clean up its image in more ways than one. Every Saturday through the end of summer, volunteers will clean up the streets.
Newly elected mayor Alvin Parks, Jr. isn't afraid to make cuts in order to keep weeds from growing in downtown streets.
"When they're high, you have people who want to hide in the weeds and do something not healthy for the citizens," Parks said. "When you have a lot of weeds, it could block stop signs and street corners so cars can't see around them."
An estimated 100 volunteers helped clean up downtown Saturday, including East St. Louis native Dorian McCorkle. If he weren't whacking weeds, he'd be at home beating his drums. But he volunteered after seeing the mayor asking for help on TV.
"I occupy my time to keep me from being in trouble and to show the little kids how to get out and clean up your neighborhood and not destroy your neighborhood also," said McCorkle.
Cleaning up the city is one of two priorities for the mayor. The other is to keep citizens safe by increasing police patrol and stepping up criminal investigations. Those were the things Parks heard over and over again during his campaign for office.
Mike Makhlouf, the manager at Crown Food Mart on Colinsville Street, where volunteers were picking up trash, said he'd never seen anyone cleaning up trash before.
"That's something nice, something different, actually a surprise for everybody," said Makhlouf.
Makhlouf was so happy to see people cleaning the area around his gas station and food mart, he brought them water. He believes the trash keeps away potential customers unfamiliar with the area.
"They think it's a bad area, it's not a nice area. They don't like to stop by. That's why we like to see it clean."
After cleaning up the trash, Parks wants to beautify the city with flowers, trees and fountains. That way East St. Louis not only looks good but feels good.
"There's a sense of pride that you have to reestablish by cleaning up your community," said Parks.
Volunteers estimate they picked up 11 truckloads of trash in just four hours.
They started cleaning downtown but will eventually clean up different parts of East St. Louis throughout the summer. Parks hopes residents will step up when volunteers clean their neighborhood.
The Saturday clean up events will continue each weekend through the summer, except Memorial Day and Labor Day weekends.
By Rebecca Wu
(KSDK) - The city of East St. Louis is trying to clean up its image in more ways than one. Every Saturday through the end of summer, volunteers will clean up the streets.
Newly elected mayor Alvin Parks, Jr. isn't afraid to make cuts in order to keep weeds from growing in downtown streets.
"When they're high, you have people who want to hide in the weeds and do something not healthy for the citizens," Parks said. "When you have a lot of weeds, it could block stop signs and street corners so cars can't see around them."
An estimated 100 volunteers helped clean up downtown Saturday, including East St. Louis native Dorian McCorkle. If he weren't whacking weeds, he'd be at home beating his drums. But he volunteered after seeing the mayor asking for help on TV.
"I occupy my time to keep me from being in trouble and to show the little kids how to get out and clean up your neighborhood and not destroy your neighborhood also," said McCorkle.
Cleaning up the city is one of two priorities for the mayor. The other is to keep citizens safe by increasing police patrol and stepping up criminal investigations. Those were the things Parks heard over and over again during his campaign for office.
Mike Makhlouf, the manager at Crown Food Mart on Colinsville Street, where volunteers were picking up trash, said he'd never seen anyone cleaning up trash before.
"That's something nice, something different, actually a surprise for everybody," said Makhlouf.
Makhlouf was so happy to see people cleaning the area around his gas station and food mart, he brought them water. He believes the trash keeps away potential customers unfamiliar with the area.
"They think it's a bad area, it's not a nice area. They don't like to stop by. That's why we like to see it clean."
After cleaning up the trash, Parks wants to beautify the city with flowers, trees and fountains. That way East St. Louis not only looks good but feels good.
"There's a sense of pride that you have to reestablish by cleaning up your community," said Parks.
Volunteers estimate they picked up 11 truckloads of trash in just four hours.
They started cleaning downtown but will eventually clean up different parts of East St. Louis throughout the summer. Parks hopes residents will step up when volunteers clean their neighborhood.
The Saturday clean up events will continue each weekend through the summer, except Memorial Day and Labor Day weekends.
Wednesday, May 23, 2007
Tuesday, May 22, 2007
Location, Location,Location - Some Early Thoughts on Our Survey Results
You can still tell us what you think of St. Louis' nightlife. You can tell us what direction you think Faces should take in the future. Our online survey is still open and we are still listening. Some of you wrote to us with concerns about the survey, we listened, and we tried to re-organize it to make it easier to complete. The survey is anonymous. we cannot track who completed it or link specific answerers to specific people. We aren't collecting information to use against you or hurt you. We know the survey is long. We felt that we only had one opportunity to ask your questions so we asked as much as we felt we needed to know. We hope you will take advantage of the opportunity to give us your thoughts and concerns and not use the survey to engage in personal attacks. The survey questions must be completed in order..you can't cherry pick the questions you want to answer because the survey will display an error message if you skip questions. There are questions that do not require an answer but you will find that out as you answer the questions. We thank you for taking the time to complete our survey.
There is a danger in talking about a survey while people are still completing it. Sometimes the results of the survey can unintentionally change because of what someone says.
With that in mind, we will try to confine our early comments to some of the more anecdotal comments rather then the actual numbers.
One topic that has come up in the open ended (essay) answers to some of our questions can be classified as "location, location, location". Some of our survey respondents have suggested that the answer to Faces problems is to move...to move from East St. Louis...to move to someplace "closer to the other bars", to move to St. Louis. All options are on the table at this point. No idea is being thrown out. We have considered the idea of moving. With that preface, we'd like to give you something to think about. Faces has served St. Louis in the same location for nearly 30 years. Many of those 30 years were booming times, with large crowds partying until dawn. Tens of thousands of people have patronized Faces in East St. Louis. To move from East St. Louis would mean to end our ability to be an after-hours nightclub. There are a handful of communities in Illinois that allow bars to be open and serve drinks all night. None of those communities are particularly desirable or entirely safe.
Gay bars in general are not in the best parts of town, even the ones in St. Louis. Drive (we would not advise walking) a block in any direction from the Manchester strip and you will probably not feel safe. Park under the unlit overpass by the local leather bar and tell us how fast you run to the bar's front door. Drive a few blocks north, south, or east of the CWE and see how many stop signs you run to get to safety. The fact is that people don't like to live next to nightclubs. Bars and nightclubs are noisy, they generate traffic late at night, trash (beer bottles), the customers take up parking, they frequently make noise and get into trouble as the bars close. To get a liquor license in St. Louis, a potential bar owner has to go through a costly and often difficult ritual of obtaining signatures of approval from all their neighbors. In areas that already have bars, like the Manchester Strip, existing bars can and frequently do block new bars from opening by withholding their approval. One unfriendly neighbor can prevent any bars from opening nearby. Gay bars are even more controversial. Even if a gay bar owner were able to meet all the requirements to get a license, communities can block them or get them closed down quickly by enforcing obscure laws like ones that were used for years to run gays out of the CWE by requiring bars with dancing to get a special license and making it a law that dancing could not be visible from the street. Missouri's liquor laws are very different. St. Louis' rules are very different on your behavior as well as what is acceptable entertainment. There is a reason that none of St. Louis' gay bars have strippers. Two stories may help illustrate the point. After a very popular lesbian/girl's bar opened in St. Louis, they were busted by St. Louis Liquor Control and forced to shut down because a customer who had just had her nipple pierced, exposed her breast to another customer to show the piercing. While this was in no way the bar's fault, the bar was closed for a period of time as punishment.
The former manager of a popular St. Louis gay dance bar told me the story of how his bar had hosted an event where the bar staff was dressed in swim wear. Liquor control was prepared to bust the bar and the bar staff for wearing underwear in the bar until the manager proved that they were wearing swim wear. He told me that they have gotten in trouble for customers on their dance floor even showing pubic hair or a brief bare butt. They must monitor their customers behavior with security cameras to insure that no one gets carried away and drops their pants on the dance floor and to insure that any PDA does not become too hot and heavy. He also explained that they had to monitor their ambient video..the videos sent by record companies and gay marketing companies because they were not allowed to show video with nudity or simulated sex in St. Louis bars. A popular leather/bear bar always includes a disclaimer in their event ads stating that costumes worn must be "street legal".
While some might argue that this is a good thing, making gay bars PG-13, the majority of our survey respondents do not agree. We have been able to provide the entertainment that we did because of our location.
We would not be able to stay open and serve all night in Missouri. Our location allows us to continue the party all night long.
Is our location really so far off the beaten path? Mapquest states that we are 6.1 miles from Freddie's, 5.3 miles from JJ's, 5.1 miles from The Complex, 2.84 miles from Busch Stadium, and 2.3 miles from Rue 13. We are probably closer to major highway on and off ramps then any other gay bar. We are a block from the police station, a block from an SIU branch, a few blocks from the Federal Courts building, and a few blocks from a thriving and expanding casino.
We agree that when you go to any other bar, you need to be careful. Don't talk to strangers outside. Don't loiter outside. Don't leave valuables in your car. and park near the crowd, not on some desolate street. That is all just basic common sense. Anyplace that attracts large groups of people with money is also an attraction for bad people. We want every customer to have a safe experience at Faces. We are always reviewing our customers security needs and have made adjustments to keep you safe. Some things are beyond our control. We don't own the parking lot across the street. We think it is the safest place to park because it is lit and visible from the Metrolink station as well as our front door. When everyone parks in the same area, it is easier to watch. Unfortunately, customers still park blocks away, on dark side streets or behind the abandoned Spivey Building and we frankly don't know how to discourage that. We have noticed this same problem on the Manchester Strip. When customers park further from the center of things, on those dark side streets, they are frequently preyed upon. The Manchester Strip continues to wrestle with the problem every day just like we do.
When we bought Faces 14 years ago, we accepted the fact that there were some people who would never patronize our bar. East St. Louis' reputation for lawlessness over the past century has been passed down from generation to generation. East St. Louis had a reputation of being controlled by mob bosses as far back as prohibition. We realize that for many, their minds are made up and they will never drive over, no matter what we do. So, our goal has been to cater to, to market to those who were adventureous, to those will to take a walk on the wild side, to those willing to leave their comfort zone for something different, for something more. it has been a trade-off. If customers want cutting edeg, raw, adult entertainment..if they want strippers, slightly raunchy theme parties, all night dancing, and events like lube wrestling, then they usually find their way to Faces.
Here is the lnk to the survey:
Click here to take survey
There is a danger in talking about a survey while people are still completing it. Sometimes the results of the survey can unintentionally change because of what someone says.
With that in mind, we will try to confine our early comments to some of the more anecdotal comments rather then the actual numbers.
One topic that has come up in the open ended (essay) answers to some of our questions can be classified as "location, location, location". Some of our survey respondents have suggested that the answer to Faces problems is to move...to move from East St. Louis...to move to someplace "closer to the other bars", to move to St. Louis. All options are on the table at this point. No idea is being thrown out. We have considered the idea of moving. With that preface, we'd like to give you something to think about. Faces has served St. Louis in the same location for nearly 30 years. Many of those 30 years were booming times, with large crowds partying until dawn. Tens of thousands of people have patronized Faces in East St. Louis. To move from East St. Louis would mean to end our ability to be an after-hours nightclub. There are a handful of communities in Illinois that allow bars to be open and serve drinks all night. None of those communities are particularly desirable or entirely safe.
Gay bars in general are not in the best parts of town, even the ones in St. Louis. Drive (we would not advise walking) a block in any direction from the Manchester strip and you will probably not feel safe. Park under the unlit overpass by the local leather bar and tell us how fast you run to the bar's front door. Drive a few blocks north, south, or east of the CWE and see how many stop signs you run to get to safety. The fact is that people don't like to live next to nightclubs. Bars and nightclubs are noisy, they generate traffic late at night, trash (beer bottles), the customers take up parking, they frequently make noise and get into trouble as the bars close. To get a liquor license in St. Louis, a potential bar owner has to go through a costly and often difficult ritual of obtaining signatures of approval from all their neighbors. In areas that already have bars, like the Manchester Strip, existing bars can and frequently do block new bars from opening by withholding their approval. One unfriendly neighbor can prevent any bars from opening nearby. Gay bars are even more controversial. Even if a gay bar owner were able to meet all the requirements to get a license, communities can block them or get them closed down quickly by enforcing obscure laws like ones that were used for years to run gays out of the CWE by requiring bars with dancing to get a special license and making it a law that dancing could not be visible from the street. Missouri's liquor laws are very different. St. Louis' rules are very different on your behavior as well as what is acceptable entertainment. There is a reason that none of St. Louis' gay bars have strippers. Two stories may help illustrate the point. After a very popular lesbian/girl's bar opened in St. Louis, they were busted by St. Louis Liquor Control and forced to shut down because a customer who had just had her nipple pierced, exposed her breast to another customer to show the piercing. While this was in no way the bar's fault, the bar was closed for a period of time as punishment.
The former manager of a popular St. Louis gay dance bar told me the story of how his bar had hosted an event where the bar staff was dressed in swim wear. Liquor control was prepared to bust the bar and the bar staff for wearing underwear in the bar until the manager proved that they were wearing swim wear. He told me that they have gotten in trouble for customers on their dance floor even showing pubic hair or a brief bare butt. They must monitor their customers behavior with security cameras to insure that no one gets carried away and drops their pants on the dance floor and to insure that any PDA does not become too hot and heavy. He also explained that they had to monitor their ambient video..the videos sent by record companies and gay marketing companies because they were not allowed to show video with nudity or simulated sex in St. Louis bars. A popular leather/bear bar always includes a disclaimer in their event ads stating that costumes worn must be "street legal".
While some might argue that this is a good thing, making gay bars PG-13, the majority of our survey respondents do not agree. We have been able to provide the entertainment that we did because of our location.
We would not be able to stay open and serve all night in Missouri. Our location allows us to continue the party all night long.
Is our location really so far off the beaten path? Mapquest states that we are 6.1 miles from Freddie's, 5.3 miles from JJ's, 5.1 miles from The Complex, 2.84 miles from Busch Stadium, and 2.3 miles from Rue 13. We are probably closer to major highway on and off ramps then any other gay bar. We are a block from the police station, a block from an SIU branch, a few blocks from the Federal Courts building, and a few blocks from a thriving and expanding casino.
We agree that when you go to any other bar, you need to be careful. Don't talk to strangers outside. Don't loiter outside. Don't leave valuables in your car. and park near the crowd, not on some desolate street. That is all just basic common sense. Anyplace that attracts large groups of people with money is also an attraction for bad people. We want every customer to have a safe experience at Faces. We are always reviewing our customers security needs and have made adjustments to keep you safe. Some things are beyond our control. We don't own the parking lot across the street. We think it is the safest place to park because it is lit and visible from the Metrolink station as well as our front door. When everyone parks in the same area, it is easier to watch. Unfortunately, customers still park blocks away, on dark side streets or behind the abandoned Spivey Building and we frankly don't know how to discourage that. We have noticed this same problem on the Manchester Strip. When customers park further from the center of things, on those dark side streets, they are frequently preyed upon. The Manchester Strip continues to wrestle with the problem every day just like we do.
When we bought Faces 14 years ago, we accepted the fact that there were some people who would never patronize our bar. East St. Louis' reputation for lawlessness over the past century has been passed down from generation to generation. East St. Louis had a reputation of being controlled by mob bosses as far back as prohibition. We realize that for many, their minds are made up and they will never drive over, no matter what we do. So, our goal has been to cater to, to market to those who were adventureous, to those will to take a walk on the wild side, to those willing to leave their comfort zone for something different, for something more. it has been a trade-off. If customers want cutting edeg, raw, adult entertainment..if they want strippers, slightly raunchy theme parties, all night dancing, and events like lube wrestling, then they usually find their way to Faces.
Here is the lnk to the survey:
Click here to take survey
Tuesday, May 08, 2007
The Faces in My Mind
First, we welcome all responses to our survey. We disagree with some..we love others, and many have confused us but we thank you for taking the time to complete the survey. Some of the comments on the survey border on personal attacks..some seem to have their own agendas..and some seem to remember some bar other then Faces.
When I first went to kindergarten, I thought my school was immense..it was so big I was afraid I would get lost..time passed and my junior high (now called middle school) was huge with moving walls and a modern look like Mexico circa 1965 (you know what I mean if you ever took Spanish and used an older text book that included pictures of Mexican buildings). When I finally reached high school, it's three stories, multiple gyms and locker rooms and it's several thousand students made my first grade school seem like a one room school house. The things I remember..my perceptions at the time, were all subjective...all the result of my own life experiences and my own "mind's eye".
The Faces that I remember, the one I used to patronize as a customer 4-5 nights a week, the one I bought 14 years ago, the one I owned and operated, does not seem to be the same Faces that some of our online survey respondents are remembering and commenting on.
I felt comfortable at the Faces that I drank at. There was no judgement about who you were, what you looked like, how old you were...everyone was welcome.
The Faces that I used to drink at was empty most of the time. My weeknights at Faces were usually spent with 5-10 of the same customers...we all knew each other...we knew the bartender (usually Rosee or Danny) and we knew the bar was on it's last legs. The cabaret had closed long ago, the main floor was only open on Saturday night and was even empty at midnight on New Year's Eve. There was a competing gay bar a block away that seemed to be on the verge of forcing Faces to close. Liquor laws had changed in St. Louis. Bars in St. Louis used to have to close by 1:30 AM on weeknights and close at midnight on Sunday (if they served food, other wise they had to close on Sunday). First, there was only one gay bar in St. Louis allowed to get a 3 AM license...a bar next to Union Stations that occupied the two stories of what is now a hotel. Before the laws changed, Faces was truly a melting pot, gays and straights together. As the St. Louis laws changed, more bars got 3 AM licenses, and Faces crowd started to thin out. At the same time, our community was decimated by the AIDS epidemic. We lost thousands of friends, family, lovers, and wonderful customers. As Faces struggled to find it's place, the original owner/creator of Faces, Jerry Edwards came back. He took the bar back from Harry and Jim, who had been running it for years and he tried to save it. He kept the doors open, installed a new AC unit for the dance floor, and sought out Petrina Marie. He asked her to come back to work at Faces. I had watched all this from a customer's point of view. I knew the end was near, I loved the bar..I guess I saw the potential of the bar, so I started talking to the owner. I told him I was interested in buying the bar. He ignored me for several months as he tried to bring back the magic. By fall of that year, he grew tired of the fight and wanted to move back to Florida. He made me an offer and I bought the bar.
The bar that I bought was on the verge of closing. To quote Jerry (the former owner) you could roll a bowling ball across the dance floor at anytime on a Saturday night and not hit a customer. I feel the need to repeat this..the Faces I bought was on the verge of closing. Had I not worked full time as a theatre manager, working 8-10 hours in a theatre then spending the night working at the bar, I would not have made it until my first NYE..it was that bad. I used my experience in marketing movies, combined with my own instincts as a customer. My goal was to keep the melting pot part of Faces..to make everyone feel welcome..and to try to make Faces like a gay amusement park with as many rides as possible. I wanted to give people a reason to come over and reasons to stay. I calculated that if a customer didn't like one of our "rides", that the would like something else. I knew that our customers were diverse..old, young..pretty, plain, rich, and poor..I knew from my own experience that some of our customers hated drag..hated the idea of men dressing up as women...but I also knew that drag queens were an integral part of our community...they raised the money for AIDS before it was "in" to do it..they were on the front lines of fight for gay rights..So, I met with Petrina and told her that I wanted the best drag show in town. I told her that I wanted all the best queens, that I wanted production numbers..that I wanted a real show. We delivered that show. I installed new AC units for the cabaret my first year because for years, the cabaret closed all summer due to broken AC.
I knew that we had to offer more then drag, so I started scanning gay magazines and newspapers for gay entertainment. I booked gay comedians (Advocate Magazine's Gay Comedy Jam), I booked porn stars, I booked male dance revues, I booked by puppeteers, I booked recording artists. We hosted show tune nights before Loading Zone or Freddie's. We hosted huge Oscar parties before anyone else did. We delivered a cutting edge gay club experience to St. Louis. i poured every dime the bar made back into the business. We struggled to compete with the gay bar around the corner. That bar went through three sets of experienced club owners but we were still able to survive.
The Faces of my mind was hard to turn around but we did it. We went from handfuls of customers on Saturday night to 600-700 on an average Saturday..I need to stress this again..we went from near zero to 600-700 on a Saturday under my ownership..under my management. We managed this despite having a competing gay bar a block away. We did it despite being in East St. Louis.
Even as we achieved great success on Saturday, we still struggled with an empty bar on weeknights. We tried drag shows with older queens (the late Tracy hosted Tuesday and Thursday nights), we tried country line dancing lessons on Wednesdays, we tried show tunes on Mondays, we tried NTN on line trivia games, we tried Direct TV sports, we tired older DJs in the basement, we tried a piano bar in the basement, we tried karaoke on Sundays, we opened one of St. Louis' first martini bars with lounge/martini music, we tried strippers on weeknights, we tried 25 cent rail drinks, yet we could not attract a weeknight crowd. Petrina used to host Sunday drag shows in the cabaret and would perform for a handful of people every week. Our success on Saturdays basically paid for the losses on the rest of the week. Finally, we tried making Sundays 18+..We were the first gay bar to welcome 18+ customers and it was an immediate success. We went from 25-50 people on a Sunday to several hundred but we also experienced backlash and complaints from our over 30 year old customers. It seemed odd to me..I was there nearly every night...I never saw these adult customers on Sunday before we were 18+ but they still complained about it and claimed that it was why they didn't come on Sunday...it might be part of growing older..some don't like being around younger people because it makes then feel old..but honestly, the same kind of complaints come from the 18 year olds who don't like to be around older people..it always seemed sort of silly to me..the minors paid a higher cover, helping to pay for the entertainment, and they brought a level of energy to bar that we only saw on a packed Saturday...they seemed to enjoy the shows more then our older customers, they came early and left before 3 AM so most of our adult customers barely saw the minors..there were very few problems with our minor customers other then the complaints about them being there. I remodeled the basement several times because the rings (sales) were never as high as the rest of the building..in one of it's incarnations, I tried to use 1960 pop culture and comic books as inspiration...painting the walls, floors, and ceiling in "SuperMan" colors, we covered the walls with posters, art, and autogrpahs from superheroes of the 60s...trying to convey the fun and homoeroticism of superherores. The resaction was a immediate..our older customers, who had in fact grown up on these comic book icons, were certain that I was caterng to the "twinks"..that I was ruinning the bar with decor aimed at our18 year old customers...usually when I explained it, many of them "got it"..that the art work was aimed at them and thier childhoods, not our 18 year olds (since they weren't allowed down there in the first place). Every change we made was because the basement was usually the least profitable part of the building but changes were percieved as some sort of desecration of a shrine.
More baffling to me has been the response from older customers to women. When I bought the bar, there was a urinal in the middle of the basement. The urinal was there so that women could be denied access to the basement. It seemed like one of the Faces traditions that was funnier then it was serious but it always created problems. Male customers would leave female friends alone upstairs while they went to the basement. It was rude and something between them, but it always ended in a drama of the girls trying to find their friends or trying to sneak in the basement, or crying upstairs because they were left alone. I built a new "in between" bar in the basement..the martini bar with food, and some seating so girls could stay and wait for their friends. It was successful but it still seemed out of touch with today's world. I felt that gay bars should not discriminate against our own and finally tore the wall down that separated the bars in the basement. There were complaints but the sales for both bars increased after we tore the wall down. There were probably never more then 5 females who wanted to go in the basement and they drank, spent money, played pool, and didn't cause any problems. I find it sad that there are still people who can't get past that..who really seem to hate women or maybe feel embarrassed by their own sexuality who think a gay business should cater to their prejudices. Where do we draw the line..when does the Faces that I love, the Faces that welcomes everyone start to discriminate...
So, the Faces in my mind is not the same Faces that some of our customers remember. They remember a bar that was packed every night before I bought it..they remember lower covers and drink prices and more fun before I bought the bar..they remember better music and no women before I bought the bar..they remember better drag shows before I bought the bar...and they remember Faces being less sleazy and sexual before I bought the bar...In my mind, I was there..I paid the bills, I placed the ads, I booked the entertainment, and I created the concept...I made the decisions that kept the bar open and turned it around. I would love to own the bar that these people remember. It sounds like it was a lot of fun. I am willing to take the blame for every decision I made in the last 14 years old as long as we can agree that some of those decisions are responsible for keeping Faces open, turning it around, and delivering more then any other gay bar in St. Louis has to our community.
When I first went to kindergarten, I thought my school was immense..it was so big I was afraid I would get lost..time passed and my junior high (now called middle school) was huge with moving walls and a modern look like Mexico circa 1965 (you know what I mean if you ever took Spanish and used an older text book that included pictures of Mexican buildings). When I finally reached high school, it's three stories, multiple gyms and locker rooms and it's several thousand students made my first grade school seem like a one room school house. The things I remember..my perceptions at the time, were all subjective...all the result of my own life experiences and my own "mind's eye".
The Faces that I remember, the one I used to patronize as a customer 4-5 nights a week, the one I bought 14 years ago, the one I owned and operated, does not seem to be the same Faces that some of our online survey respondents are remembering and commenting on.
I felt comfortable at the Faces that I drank at. There was no judgement about who you were, what you looked like, how old you were...everyone was welcome.
The Faces that I used to drink at was empty most of the time. My weeknights at Faces were usually spent with 5-10 of the same customers...we all knew each other...we knew the bartender (usually Rosee or Danny) and we knew the bar was on it's last legs. The cabaret had closed long ago, the main floor was only open on Saturday night and was even empty at midnight on New Year's Eve. There was a competing gay bar a block away that seemed to be on the verge of forcing Faces to close. Liquor laws had changed in St. Louis. Bars in St. Louis used to have to close by 1:30 AM on weeknights and close at midnight on Sunday (if they served food, other wise they had to close on Sunday). First, there was only one gay bar in St. Louis allowed to get a 3 AM license...a bar next to Union Stations that occupied the two stories of what is now a hotel. Before the laws changed, Faces was truly a melting pot, gays and straights together. As the St. Louis laws changed, more bars got 3 AM licenses, and Faces crowd started to thin out. At the same time, our community was decimated by the AIDS epidemic. We lost thousands of friends, family, lovers, and wonderful customers. As Faces struggled to find it's place, the original owner/creator of Faces, Jerry Edwards came back. He took the bar back from Harry and Jim, who had been running it for years and he tried to save it. He kept the doors open, installed a new AC unit for the dance floor, and sought out Petrina Marie. He asked her to come back to work at Faces. I had watched all this from a customer's point of view. I knew the end was near, I loved the bar..I guess I saw the potential of the bar, so I started talking to the owner. I told him I was interested in buying the bar. He ignored me for several months as he tried to bring back the magic. By fall of that year, he grew tired of the fight and wanted to move back to Florida. He made me an offer and I bought the bar.
The bar that I bought was on the verge of closing. To quote Jerry (the former owner) you could roll a bowling ball across the dance floor at anytime on a Saturday night and not hit a customer. I feel the need to repeat this..the Faces I bought was on the verge of closing. Had I not worked full time as a theatre manager, working 8-10 hours in a theatre then spending the night working at the bar, I would not have made it until my first NYE..it was that bad. I used my experience in marketing movies, combined with my own instincts as a customer. My goal was to keep the melting pot part of Faces..to make everyone feel welcome..and to try to make Faces like a gay amusement park with as many rides as possible. I wanted to give people a reason to come over and reasons to stay. I calculated that if a customer didn't like one of our "rides", that the would like something else. I knew that our customers were diverse..old, young..pretty, plain, rich, and poor..I knew from my own experience that some of our customers hated drag..hated the idea of men dressing up as women...but I also knew that drag queens were an integral part of our community...they raised the money for AIDS before it was "in" to do it..they were on the front lines of fight for gay rights..So, I met with Petrina and told her that I wanted the best drag show in town. I told her that I wanted all the best queens, that I wanted production numbers..that I wanted a real show. We delivered that show. I installed new AC units for the cabaret my first year because for years, the cabaret closed all summer due to broken AC.
I knew that we had to offer more then drag, so I started scanning gay magazines and newspapers for gay entertainment. I booked gay comedians (Advocate Magazine's Gay Comedy Jam), I booked porn stars, I booked male dance revues, I booked by puppeteers, I booked recording artists. We hosted show tune nights before Loading Zone or Freddie's. We hosted huge Oscar parties before anyone else did. We delivered a cutting edge gay club experience to St. Louis. i poured every dime the bar made back into the business. We struggled to compete with the gay bar around the corner. That bar went through three sets of experienced club owners but we were still able to survive.
The Faces of my mind was hard to turn around but we did it. We went from handfuls of customers on Saturday night to 600-700 on an average Saturday..I need to stress this again..we went from near zero to 600-700 on a Saturday under my ownership..under my management. We managed this despite having a competing gay bar a block away. We did it despite being in East St. Louis.
Even as we achieved great success on Saturday, we still struggled with an empty bar on weeknights. We tried drag shows with older queens (the late Tracy hosted Tuesday and Thursday nights), we tried country line dancing lessons on Wednesdays, we tried show tunes on Mondays, we tried NTN on line trivia games, we tried Direct TV sports, we tired older DJs in the basement, we tried a piano bar in the basement, we tried karaoke on Sundays, we opened one of St. Louis' first martini bars with lounge/martini music, we tried strippers on weeknights, we tried 25 cent rail drinks, yet we could not attract a weeknight crowd. Petrina used to host Sunday drag shows in the cabaret and would perform for a handful of people every week. Our success on Saturdays basically paid for the losses on the rest of the week. Finally, we tried making Sundays 18+..We were the first gay bar to welcome 18+ customers and it was an immediate success. We went from 25-50 people on a Sunday to several hundred but we also experienced backlash and complaints from our over 30 year old customers. It seemed odd to me..I was there nearly every night...I never saw these adult customers on Sunday before we were 18+ but they still complained about it and claimed that it was why they didn't come on Sunday...it might be part of growing older..some don't like being around younger people because it makes then feel old..but honestly, the same kind of complaints come from the 18 year olds who don't like to be around older people..it always seemed sort of silly to me..the minors paid a higher cover, helping to pay for the entertainment, and they brought a level of energy to bar that we only saw on a packed Saturday...they seemed to enjoy the shows more then our older customers, they came early and left before 3 AM so most of our adult customers barely saw the minors..there were very few problems with our minor customers other then the complaints about them being there. I remodeled the basement several times because the rings (sales) were never as high as the rest of the building..in one of it's incarnations, I tried to use 1960 pop culture and comic books as inspiration...painting the walls, floors, and ceiling in "SuperMan" colors, we covered the walls with posters, art, and autogrpahs from superheroes of the 60s...trying to convey the fun and homoeroticism of superherores. The resaction was a immediate..our older customers, who had in fact grown up on these comic book icons, were certain that I was caterng to the "twinks"..that I was ruinning the bar with decor aimed at our18 year old customers...usually when I explained it, many of them "got it"..that the art work was aimed at them and thier childhoods, not our 18 year olds (since they weren't allowed down there in the first place). Every change we made was because the basement was usually the least profitable part of the building but changes were percieved as some sort of desecration of a shrine.
More baffling to me has been the response from older customers to women. When I bought the bar, there was a urinal in the middle of the basement. The urinal was there so that women could be denied access to the basement. It seemed like one of the Faces traditions that was funnier then it was serious but it always created problems. Male customers would leave female friends alone upstairs while they went to the basement. It was rude and something between them, but it always ended in a drama of the girls trying to find their friends or trying to sneak in the basement, or crying upstairs because they were left alone. I built a new "in between" bar in the basement..the martini bar with food, and some seating so girls could stay and wait for their friends. It was successful but it still seemed out of touch with today's world. I felt that gay bars should not discriminate against our own and finally tore the wall down that separated the bars in the basement. There were complaints but the sales for both bars increased after we tore the wall down. There were probably never more then 5 females who wanted to go in the basement and they drank, spent money, played pool, and didn't cause any problems. I find it sad that there are still people who can't get past that..who really seem to hate women or maybe feel embarrassed by their own sexuality who think a gay business should cater to their prejudices. Where do we draw the line..when does the Faces that I love, the Faces that welcomes everyone start to discriminate...
So, the Faces in my mind is not the same Faces that some of our customers remember. They remember a bar that was packed every night before I bought it..they remember lower covers and drink prices and more fun before I bought the bar..they remember better music and no women before I bought the bar..they remember better drag shows before I bought the bar...and they remember Faces being less sleazy and sexual before I bought the bar...In my mind, I was there..I paid the bills, I placed the ads, I booked the entertainment, and I created the concept...I made the decisions that kept the bar open and turned it around. I would love to own the bar that these people remember. It sounds like it was a lot of fun. I am willing to take the blame for every decision I made in the last 14 years old as long as we can agree that some of those decisions are responsible for keeping Faces open, turning it around, and delivering more then any other gay bar in St. Louis has to our community.
Thursday, May 03, 2007
Illinois Licensed Beverage Association Presents Facts on Smoking Ban Impact
A complete smoking ban in a community would result in hospitality businesses experiencing a severe decline in sales, and problems with neighbors as patrons would be outside smoking and making noise at all times of the night. Many of our member businesses are located in mixed-use districts adjacent to residential buildings.
Anti-smoking groups continue to make claims that smoking bans either have no negative economic impact on bars and restaurants or they actually improve the business in these venues. If this were true, the hospitality industry would be leading the charge to pass complete smoking bans-or at a minimum, business owners would have voluntarily banned smoking in their establishments.
The economic studies conducted by anti-smoking advocates conveniently conclude smoking bans are not bad for our industry. This is logical as they include establishments that don't hold a liquor license. This is also logical as they funded the studies. What is illogical is that they discount the studies funded by our industry stating that they are biased because we funded these studies-using this same logic; their studies are biased and should be discounted as well.
The integrity of the studies cited by these groups is questionable. For example, anti-smoking advocacy groups boast of recent statistics from Pueblo, Colorado citing a dramatic decrease in heart attacks since the inception of their ban. These groups consistently point to the reduction in heart attacks in Pueblo, Colorado and Helena, Montana as incontrovertible proof that secondhand smoke is doubling the heart attack rate among non-smokers.
These two studies comprise a population base of roughly 200,000 people. However, when you look at the 70 million people that comprise the non-smoking states of California, New York, Florida and Oregon-the heart attack rate has either not decreased at all or decreased such a small amount as to be statistically insignificant.
Researchers can deliberately sift through enough small local jurisdictions with smoking bans to find a few aberrations in heart attack rates and then claim that elimination of exposure to secondhand smoke will dramatically reduce incidents of heart attacks. Please don't be taken in by misleading claims based on very select data samples.
All-out smoking bans have a severe negative economic impact on hospitality venues that serve beverage alcohol for consumption on-premise. Some people view the information from anti-smoking groups as credible when the pocketbooks of these groups are not impacted, yet the economic forecast of the industry that will be directly impacted is viewed skeptically. Again, if a complete smoking ban would benefit the businesses in our industry, the ILBA wouldn't care about this issue. Of particular concern are independent, small, family owned businesses. These businesses will fold first.
If hospitality industry businesses lose revenue, cities will also lose revenue. On average in Illinois, hospitality businesses generate 1 of every 8 sales tax dollars. Can cities, towns and villages really afford to lose this revenue?
We urge the City Councils to pass a compromise proposal to ban smoking in all public places, with some limited exceptions for bars, bar areas of restaurants, lounge areas of bowling centers, fraternal clubs and limited areas in retail tobacco stores. Concurrently, require businesses to use a uniform sticker public notification system on all entrances to inform customers of their smoking policy.
For establishments with a fair share of smoking customers, banning smoking would cripple their business. To deny hospitality business owners the right to make market-based decisions on issues that affect their bottom line is a slap in the face of free enterprise.
Patrons of bars and other hospitality venues make an active choice in entering such establishments. Those who do not wish to be subjected to secondhand smoke can choose to visit one of the thousands of venues that have voluntarily gone smoke-free. The free-marketplace takes care of itself in these matters-there is no need for draconian government intervention.
The businesses in our industry have worked very hard to achieve a compatible existence with our residential and business neighbors. This will spiral out of control when patrons are hanging outside at all times of the night creating noise and litter because they cannot smoke in the establishment.
In addition to crowds, noise and litter-a complete ban would cause other problems including creating an environment that invites underage drinking. Bars work very hard to keep underage persons from entering their establishments. An all-out smoking ban would create a perpetual revolving door situation at bars and taverns-making it nearly impossible to maintain control over the persons coming in and out the doors.
A complete smoking ban will induce consumers to spend their money in neighboring communities. Smokers will continue to smoke. The claim that a smoking ban will cause people to quit smoking is without basis in fact. The only logical comparison would be the effect Prohibition had on alcohol consumption.
The highest rate of alcohol consumption per capita in our nation's history was during Prohibition. Clearly, that experiment was a failure.
A compromise smoking ban proposal creates a comprehensive smoking ban in the vast majority of public places in communities, while simultaneously preserving the fabric of a community's personality, providing economic stability for one of Illinois' largest industries-and preserving the integrity of neighborhoods in mixed-use districts. Again-this is the logical and reasonable course to pursue in this matter.
Municipalities should allow this compromise proposal to work for a period of time. If stronger measures are warranted down the road, the Council can always re-visit the issue. This would be much more realistic than imposing an all-out draconian ban and then trying to pull it back after businesses have closed and employees have lost their jobs.
Anti-smoking groups continue to make claims that smoking bans either have no negative economic impact on bars and restaurants or they actually improve the business in these venues. If this were true, the hospitality industry would be leading the charge to pass complete smoking bans-or at a minimum, business owners would have voluntarily banned smoking in their establishments.
The economic studies conducted by anti-smoking advocates conveniently conclude smoking bans are not bad for our industry. This is logical as they include establishments that don't hold a liquor license. This is also logical as they funded the studies. What is illogical is that they discount the studies funded by our industry stating that they are biased because we funded these studies-using this same logic; their studies are biased and should be discounted as well.
The integrity of the studies cited by these groups is questionable. For example, anti-smoking advocacy groups boast of recent statistics from Pueblo, Colorado citing a dramatic decrease in heart attacks since the inception of their ban. These groups consistently point to the reduction in heart attacks in Pueblo, Colorado and Helena, Montana as incontrovertible proof that secondhand smoke is doubling the heart attack rate among non-smokers.
These two studies comprise a population base of roughly 200,000 people. However, when you look at the 70 million people that comprise the non-smoking states of California, New York, Florida and Oregon-the heart attack rate has either not decreased at all or decreased such a small amount as to be statistically insignificant.
Researchers can deliberately sift through enough small local jurisdictions with smoking bans to find a few aberrations in heart attack rates and then claim that elimination of exposure to secondhand smoke will dramatically reduce incidents of heart attacks. Please don't be taken in by misleading claims based on very select data samples.
All-out smoking bans have a severe negative economic impact on hospitality venues that serve beverage alcohol for consumption on-premise. Some people view the information from anti-smoking groups as credible when the pocketbooks of these groups are not impacted, yet the economic forecast of the industry that will be directly impacted is viewed skeptically. Again, if a complete smoking ban would benefit the businesses in our industry, the ILBA wouldn't care about this issue. Of particular concern are independent, small, family owned businesses. These businesses will fold first.
If hospitality industry businesses lose revenue, cities will also lose revenue. On average in Illinois, hospitality businesses generate 1 of every 8 sales tax dollars. Can cities, towns and villages really afford to lose this revenue?
We urge the City Councils to pass a compromise proposal to ban smoking in all public places, with some limited exceptions for bars, bar areas of restaurants, lounge areas of bowling centers, fraternal clubs and limited areas in retail tobacco stores. Concurrently, require businesses to use a uniform sticker public notification system on all entrances to inform customers of their smoking policy.
For establishments with a fair share of smoking customers, banning smoking would cripple their business. To deny hospitality business owners the right to make market-based decisions on issues that affect their bottom line is a slap in the face of free enterprise.
Patrons of bars and other hospitality venues make an active choice in entering such establishments. Those who do not wish to be subjected to secondhand smoke can choose to visit one of the thousands of venues that have voluntarily gone smoke-free. The free-marketplace takes care of itself in these matters-there is no need for draconian government intervention.
The businesses in our industry have worked very hard to achieve a compatible existence with our residential and business neighbors. This will spiral out of control when patrons are hanging outside at all times of the night creating noise and litter because they cannot smoke in the establishment.
In addition to crowds, noise and litter-a complete ban would cause other problems including creating an environment that invites underage drinking. Bars work very hard to keep underage persons from entering their establishments. An all-out smoking ban would create a perpetual revolving door situation at bars and taverns-making it nearly impossible to maintain control over the persons coming in and out the doors.
A complete smoking ban will induce consumers to spend their money in neighboring communities. Smokers will continue to smoke. The claim that a smoking ban will cause people to quit smoking is without basis in fact. The only logical comparison would be the effect Prohibition had on alcohol consumption.
The highest rate of alcohol consumption per capita in our nation's history was during Prohibition. Clearly, that experiment was a failure.
A compromise smoking ban proposal creates a comprehensive smoking ban in the vast majority of public places in communities, while simultaneously preserving the fabric of a community's personality, providing economic stability for one of Illinois' largest industries-and preserving the integrity of neighborhoods in mixed-use districts. Again-this is the logical and reasonable course to pursue in this matter.
Municipalities should allow this compromise proposal to work for a period of time. If stronger measures are warranted down the road, the Council can always re-visit the issue. This would be much more realistic than imposing an all-out draconian ban and then trying to pull it back after businesses have closed and employees have lost their jobs.
Quick Thinking Illinois Legislature Passes Bill that Will Cost the State Hundreds of Millions
From Belleville.com:
Casinos fear losses; others study options
BY SCOTT WUERZ
News-Democrat
Metro-east casino, bar and restaurant operators say they expect a 20 percent loss in business if Gov. Rod Blagojevich signs a smoking ban passed Tuesday by the General Assembly.
Representatives of the Casino Queen in East St. Louis and the Argosy Alton Casino referred calls to Tom Swoik, executive director of the Illinois Casino Gaming Association, which represents eight of nine state gambling establishments.
Swoik painted a bleak picture of smokeless Illinois casinos.
"It could be as much as $166 million lost," Swoik said, based on the 20 percent figure. "The Casino Queen and Casino Rock Island estimate that 60 to 70 percent of their patrons are smokers. And while there is a lot of loyalty amongst casino patrons, people who live near the border will be awfully tempted to make the short drive to a place where they can smoke."
The House on Tuesday approved the smoking ban, which will take effect in January if Blagojevich signs off on it as he is expected to do.
Backers said the law was needed because 2,900 Illinoisans die each year from secondhand smoke, and it's unfair that not only customers but also people who work in the service industry, including waiters and bartenders, have no choice now but to be exposed to the smoke. Blagojevich has indicated that he plans to sign the bill into law.
Scott Schmelzel, co-owner of Big Daddy's 618 in Belleville isn't a smoker. But he said he is disappointed about the ban because he thinks it will hurt his business.
"I know it's going to slow things down, at least initially," Schmelzel said. "Smoking is part of the bar atmosphere. That's part of the reason they come here, and I don't want my customers to be unhappy."
Schmelzel said he thinks he has an advantage over most bars in the metro-east, however. He has an outdoor patio where people can still hang out while puffing away.
Jessie Zirkelback, manager of Randy's 6-4-3 restaurant and bar in Troy, said she is planning to have a patio built to appease smokers.
"We were waiting to see if this passed," said Zirkelback, who estimated that 40 percent of her customers smoke. "Now that it has, we're definitely going to put a patio on."
Bob Graham, commander of American Legion Post 365 in Collinsville, said he plans to talk with the organization's board of directors about turning the establishment into a private club to get around the new law.
"We're definitely going to discuss that at our next meeting," Graham said. "We need to talk to legal counsel to see what we can do."
When asked how the smoking ban would affect the American Legion's business renting out its hall for wedding receptions, parties and other events, Graham was more optimistic.
"People are going to still need a place to hold those big events," Graham said. "The only difference I suspect you will see is a lot more cigarette butts on the parking lot."
Larreen Presson, a smoker from Collinsville, said she goes out to eat about once a week.
"I guess I'm going to go over to St. Louis more often," Presson said. "This is definitely going to affect where I go out for dinner."
Contact reporter Scott Wuerz at swuerz@bnd.com or 239-2626.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Casinos fear losses; others study options
BY SCOTT WUERZ
News-Democrat
Metro-east casino, bar and restaurant operators say they expect a 20 percent loss in business if Gov. Rod Blagojevich signs a smoking ban passed Tuesday by the General Assembly.
Representatives of the Casino Queen in East St. Louis and the Argosy Alton Casino referred calls to Tom Swoik, executive director of the Illinois Casino Gaming Association, which represents eight of nine state gambling establishments.
Swoik painted a bleak picture of smokeless Illinois casinos.
"It could be as much as $166 million lost," Swoik said, based on the 20 percent figure. "The Casino Queen and Casino Rock Island estimate that 60 to 70 percent of their patrons are smokers. And while there is a lot of loyalty amongst casino patrons, people who live near the border will be awfully tempted to make the short drive to a place where they can smoke."
The House on Tuesday approved the smoking ban, which will take effect in January if Blagojevich signs off on it as he is expected to do.
Backers said the law was needed because 2,900 Illinoisans die each year from secondhand smoke, and it's unfair that not only customers but also people who work in the service industry, including waiters and bartenders, have no choice now but to be exposed to the smoke. Blagojevich has indicated that he plans to sign the bill into law.
Scott Schmelzel, co-owner of Big Daddy's 618 in Belleville isn't a smoker. But he said he is disappointed about the ban because he thinks it will hurt his business.
"I know it's going to slow things down, at least initially," Schmelzel said. "Smoking is part of the bar atmosphere. That's part of the reason they come here, and I don't want my customers to be unhappy."
Schmelzel said he thinks he has an advantage over most bars in the metro-east, however. He has an outdoor patio where people can still hang out while puffing away.
Jessie Zirkelback, manager of Randy's 6-4-3 restaurant and bar in Troy, said she is planning to have a patio built to appease smokers.
"We were waiting to see if this passed," said Zirkelback, who estimated that 40 percent of her customers smoke. "Now that it has, we're definitely going to put a patio on."
Bob Graham, commander of American Legion Post 365 in Collinsville, said he plans to talk with the organization's board of directors about turning the establishment into a private club to get around the new law.
"We're definitely going to discuss that at our next meeting," Graham said. "We need to talk to legal counsel to see what we can do."
When asked how the smoking ban would affect the American Legion's business renting out its hall for wedding receptions, parties and other events, Graham was more optimistic.
"People are going to still need a place to hold those big events," Graham said. "The only difference I suspect you will see is a lot more cigarette butts on the parking lot."
Larreen Presson, a smoker from Collinsville, said she goes out to eat about once a week.
"I guess I'm going to go over to St. Louis more often," Presson said. "This is definitely going to affect where I go out for dinner."
Contact reporter Scott Wuerz at swuerz@bnd.com or 239-2626.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
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