On This Day: Fields Foods Opens (2014), Rams Ask To Leave (2016)

A couple of interesting events took place on January 4th in recent years.

Five years ago, in 2014, Fields Foods opened for its first day of business. A red ribbon was cut at an event the night before.  Since then a Tim Hortons opened & closed out front.

Field Foods is set to expand from their original location by adding locations in Dogtown & Downtown West this year.

Three years ago the Rams formerly asked the NFL to relocate to Los Angeles.

The St. Louis Rams, along with the Oakland Raiders and San Diego Chargers, have filed relocation requests with the National Football League, league officials said Monday.

The requests come less than 24 hours after the application period began and sets the stage for a key owners vote on relocation expected to happen next week in Houston. There, owners will vote on which team or teams will be allowed to move to the Los Angeles market in the 2016 season.

The applications will be reviewed this week by league staff and three league committees, which will make a recommendation to owners on the issue.

In a statement on the team’s website, the Rams said, “The St. Louis Rams informed the National Football League today that the Rams propose to relocate to the greater Los Angeles metropolitan area. The relocation would be effective for the 2016 NFL League Year.”

The St. Louis stadium task force, which has proposed a $1.1 billion stadium in an effort to keep the Rams in St. Louis, said the Rams’ relocation request was expected. (St. Louis Business Journal)

Eight days later the NFL owners approved the Rams request 30-2.

As recently announced, St. Louis will be getting an XFL football team. Games begin in just 13 months! It’s hard to predict how well the XFL will do financially, if it’ll survive the initial 3 years of funding set aside.

Even though we knew it was coming, it was still a blow when the Rams asked the NFL to leave. As we welcome the XFL next year, and collecting more rent per game, we might look back on January 4, 2016 as a blessing.

— Steve Patterson

Readers: ‘2019’ Should Be Pronounced ‘Twenty Nineteen’

Happy New Year everyone! In the coming weeks I’ll post about why I’m optimistic as we enter 2019. Before that, however, I need to address an issue that drives me crazy…and, by extension, my husband crazy: how years are pronounced.

In watching television I can’t help but wonder if they’ve accidentally typed “2,018” or “2,019” into the teleprompter. If you got a bill for $2,019 you’d say “two thousand nineteen.” The bill total would almost never be $2019 — it’s generally $2,019. But we don’t use the thousands separator for the year.

You’d never write “I’m considering buying a new 2,019 truck.” Yet every Sunday morning Jane Pauley, host of CBS Sunday Morning, would say “two thousand eighteen.” Weekdays I know I know if John Dickerson opens CBS This Morning he’ll say “twenty nineteen”, but his co-hosts will say “two thousand nineteen.” Local news is hit or miss. I don’t listen to radio anymore to know how they’re pronouncing the year.

I recognize that I make grammatical errors in nearly every blog post, who am I to criticize others? I just think local/national news anchors should be held to higher standers.

Readers who responded to the recent non-scientific Sunday Poll agree with me on the pronunciation:

Q: How should ‘2019’ be pronounced?

• Twenty nineteen: 30 [76.92%]
• Any of the three are ok: 8 [20.51%]
• Two thousand nineteen: 1 [2.56%]
• TIE: 0 [0%]
  • Two thousand and nineteen
  • Unsure/No Answer

A little over 20% are open to any of the variations. I wish it didn’t bother me, but it does.

Hopefully news directors & producers will get a clue and begin to type “twenty nineteen” in the teleprompter rather than 2019.

— Steve Patterson

A Look Back At My Posts From Twenty Eighteen

Today my annual look back at some of my posts from the past 12 months:

January:

• St. Louis’ Dr Martin Luther King Drive
• Transportation Investment Key To Redeveloping The North Riverfront Area

February:

• One Decade Since My Hemorrhagic Stroke
• Elevator Problems Again Ruin Arrival At Gateway Transportation Center

March:

• St. Louis Bike/Pedestrian/Smoke-Free Advocate Martin Pion (1936-2018)

April

• New Cafe Will Train Disabled Persons For Work In Hospitality Industry

May:

• Dead Sidewalks Won’t Come Back To Life With Overhead Walkways Gone

June:

• Before It Was Officially Named NorthSide Regeneration, We Knew It As ‘Blairmont’
• Blairmont Became NorthSide Regeneration, Received Blessing of Mayor Slay and a Majority of Aldermen

July:

• Entrance To Gateway Arch Should Have Faced Downtown From The Start
• After A Quarter Century, Still No Transit-Oriented Development At St. Louis’ Light Rail Stations

August:

• Well-Used Bus Stop Is A Muddy Hole After It Rains
• Sidewalk Obstruction Removed After Annoying Pedestrians For 7+ Years

September:

• From Municipal Auditorium to Enterprise Center
• Alley Retail Can Work…In The Right Conditions

October:

• Columbus Sculpture Should Remain in Tower Grove Park, Namesake Holiday Renamed Indigenous Peoples’ Day
• The St. Louis Region Needs To Let Go of Fragmentation

November:

• November: Evaluating Mobile Transit Directions in St. Louis
• November: Goodbye City Block 1404

December:

• Not Every IKEA Purchase Requires a Car; New ‘Planning Studios’ Will Serve Dense Urban Cities

Goodbye twenty eighteen, hello twenty nineteen!

— Steve Patterson

Sunday Poll: How Should ‘2019’ Be Pronounced?

As 2018 comes to a close I think more about the pronunciation of the current year, next year, etc. So much so it is the subject of today’s poll.

Here’s the poll:

This poll will close at 8pm.

— Steve Patterson

My Remaining Bike Brings Back Great Memories

Prior to my February 2008 stroke, I’d bought numerous bicycles while living in St. Louis.   With two exceptions, all came from A & M Bicycles — at Arsenal & Morganford Rd. I bought my first bike from A & M back in the mid/late 90s, it was still owned by a descendant of the original founder. It wasn’t long after when the owner sold the shop to his employee, Karl Becker.

Numerous bikes, new & used, were bought from Karl. A couple of times I needed a used beater bike, we’d go down to the basement and come up with exactly the bike I needed.

The two bikes I bought elsewhere since 1990 were a used 50s Huffy fat tire at an antique store in the Kansas City River Market area, and a new Swedish Kronan bought sight unseen from a bike shop in San Diego. They disassembled it and shipped to Karl @ A & M, who assembled it. That was in 2004.

Last month Karl Becker died, a huge loss to the St. Louis cycling community:

Becker, Karl Joseph born April 7th, 1963 to Joseph H. and Mary Ann, passed away suddenly November 18, 2018 while surrounded by family and friends. Karl enjoyed life fully by engaging everyone he met as a friend. His passion for cycling started early in life by following in the footsteps of his father. He was enthusiastic about cycling, both participating and promoting the sport. His love of cycling culminated in owning and operating A&M Bicycle, the oldest bike shop in the city of St. Louis. Karl is survived by his mother, Mary Ann, sisters Mary Jane, Lisa Evans (Brice), Mary Margaret Hendrix (Bill), Amy Becker (Steve), brother Paul (Cyndi), loving friend Mary Ann Hoopes, aunts, uncles, nephews, nieces, cousins and countless friends. Karl had a zest for life and passions included reading, music, art, Jeopardy, good beer, fireworks and above all his cat, PK. Karl was a kind soul who gladly helped those less fortunate. Even in death, his generous spirit is a gift of life to others. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to Mid-America Transplant Foundation. www.midamericatransplant.org

Published in St. Louis Post-Dispatch on Nov. 21, 2018 (Legacy)

This month we took the bike down from the shelves, yet something wasn’t right. The pedal would turn, but the wheel wouldn’t move.

I knew A & M was still open, but we have no bike rack for our car. Friends suggested Big Shark’s downtown location. A week later we walked it five blocks East to Big Shark. A few days later we returned to pick it up — the rear hub was freed up for less than $30.

I haven’t ridden this bike in over a decade, but I just can’t part with it.  Lots of great memories on this bike. It also reminds me of Karl.

— Steve Patterson