Tonight: My Last Night In My 40s Happy Hour @ 360 St Louis, 4pm-7pm

Tomorrow I turn 50 years old, but tonight I invite all of you to stop by 360’s happy hour as I celebrate my last night in my 40s.

If you’ve never been to 360 before, this is a good chance to see it and the views. Their current Monday-Thursdsay happy hours specials end on March 31st, as the weather warms up.

• $4 drafts
• $5 select Wines
• $7 specialty cocktails
• $5 Burgers (Monday)

The full menu is also available, everyone will be responsible for their own items — order as little or as much as you care to pay for.

Even if we’ve met before it’s likely I may not immediately recall your name or the context in how we know each other. But once I hear your name, or the context, I may quickly remember. My stroke 9+ years ago did a number on my  memory…age doesn’t help.

My 40s started off very bad but are ending better than I ever could have anticipated a decade ago. Looking forward to my 50s…

— Steve Patterson

Sunday Poll: Should St. Louis Bread Co Locations Be Renamed Panera?

For the first 4+ years of the 2000s I worked in Kirkwood. lunch was often at the original location of St. Louis Bread Co. From July 2014:

Saint Louis Bread Co., a national chain with more than 100 bakery-cafes in the St. Louis area alone, opened its first location in Kirkwood in 1987. Panera, as the company is commonly known outside the city, isn’t going anywhere, but that original restaurant is. After almost 30 years, the Kirkwood’s Bread Company is moving in to nicer digs.

The Bread Co. is currently at 10312 Manchester Road, where it has been for the last 27 years. In August it’ll move across the street to 10221 Manchester Road to accommodate a drive-through, among other things. (Riverfront Times)

What do you think? Vote in the poll below:

The poll will close at 8pm.

— Steve Patterson

Sunday Poll: Should St. Louis Consider Ranked-Choice Voting?

When you have two candidates running for office it is easy to understand the winner — the person who receives more than 50% of the vote — even if by just one vote.

I’m looking at the March 7th Democratic primary ballot with 7 choices for mayor and 6 choices for alderman in my ward — it’s highly unlikely the winner of either race will get more than 35% of the vote. In other cities, this would require a runoff vote among the top candidates until one receives a majority of the votes.

In lieu of holding runoff  elections some cities use instant runoff voting — candidates are ranked by voters to pick a winner with a majority of votes. This voting method has pros & cons:

Pros

1. No need for expensive runoff elections.
2. Politicians tend to adopt a more civil tone in campaigns.
3. Enough with the strategy games.
4. Majority wins.

Cons

1. Many cities do not have the proper equipment to count the ballots.
2. It’s confusing.
3. Elections for multiple positions become complex.
4. Voters need to know their stuff.

What do you think, should we try it? Vote in the poll below.

The poll will close at 8pm.

— Steve Patterson

Sunday Poll: Should Online Retailers Collect State Sales Taxes?

As I’ve previously noted, the retail landscape is always changing — big downtown department stores rarely exist anymore — more & more suburban malls struggle. Last month another change was announced:

The collection of state sales tax in Missouri will begin Feb. 1, Amazon spokeswoman Jill Kerr said in an email to the Post-Dispatch. The state sales tax rate in Missouri is 4.225 percent.

Items sold by Seattle-based Amazon.com and its subsidiaries already are subject to sales tax for merchandise shipped to more than 30 states. Amazon will also begin collecting sales tax on Feb. 1 in Mississippi, Rhode Island, South Dakota and Vermont, and in Wyoming in March.

Amazon does not yet have facilities in the state of Missouri, and online retailers aren’t required to collect sales tax where they don’t have a physical presence. Amazon charges sales tax in Illinois, where it has multiple distribution facilities, including in Edwardsville. (Post-Dispatch)

Posts on social media showed disagreement on this issue so I thought it would make a great poll question:

The poll will close at 8pm, results & my thoughts on Wednesday.

— Steve Patterson

Sunday Poll: Do You Purchase New or Used Vehicles?

Later this week we’ll be in Chicago for 2-day media preview at the Chicago Auto Show — it opens to the general public Saturday morning and runs through February 20th.

First staged in 1901, the Chicago Auto Show is the largest auto show in North America and has been held more times than any other auto exposition on the continent. This year marks the 109th edition of the Chicago Auto Show.

The Chicago Auto Show utilizes more than 1 million square feet in the North and South Exhibit Halls of the McCormick Place complex. McCormick Place offers a total of 2.7 million square feet of exhibit halls with an additional 700,000 square feet of meeting room availability.

The St. Louis Auto Show, held last month, is a dealer show. The Chicago Auto Show, though sponsored by dealers, is represented by manufacturers.

Thinking about all the new cars we’ll see got me wondering if readers buy new or used cars. Today’s poll question breaks it down a bit more:

The poll will remain open until 8pm tonight.

— Steve Patterson