St. Louis

At RNC, St. Louis Couple Rips Democrats: No One in Mob Charged — Just us

Patricia and Mark McCloskey, the St. Louis couple menaced at their home by a massive mob of trespassing Black Lives Matter protesters, issued a stark warning at Monday night’s Republican National Convention about what life under Democrat rule look like if Joe Biden becomes president. Here is a partial transcript: PATRICIA MCCLOSKEY: What you saw happen to us could just as easily happen to any of you who are watching from quiet neighborhoods around our country, and that’s what we want to speak to you about tonight. MARK MCCLOSKEY: Whether it’s defunding the police, ending cash bail so criminals can be released back out on the streets the same day to riot again, or encouraging anarchy on our streets, it seems as if Democrats no longer view the government’s job as protecting honest citizens from criminals, but rather protecting criminals from honest citizens. Not a single person in the out-of-control mob you saw at our house was charged with a crime. But you know who was? We were. They’ve actually charged us with a felony for daring to defend our home. On top of that, consider this: The liberal activist leading a mob to our neighborhood stood outside of our home with a bullhorn screaming, “You can’t stop the revolution!” Just weeks later, that same activist won the Democrat nomination to hold a seat in the U.S. House of Representatives. The radicals are not content just marching in the streets. They want to walk the halls of Congress. They want power. This is Joe Biden’s party. These are the people who will be in charge. Patricia then warns about the changes Biden has promised to make that will destroy peaceful and safe suburbs: PATRICIA MCCLOSKEY: They’re not satisfied with spreading the chaos and violence in our communities. They want to abolish the suburbs all-together by ending single-family home zoning. This forced rezoning would bring crime, lawlessness and low-quality apartments into thriving suburban neighborhoods. President Trump smartly ended this government overreach, but Joe Biden wants to bring it back. The couple became somewhat famous in late June when video was released on social media of them standing in front of their house holding firearms. Patricia held a handgun. Mark held a semi-automatic rifle. While the mob of about a hundred taunted and threatened them with murder and rape, the couple warned the hostile group they were trespassing — which they were. Worse still, the mob broke down a security gate to gain access to the private road in front of the McCloskey’s Renaissance palazzo-style residence, a place of pride for the two attorneys, who spent years and untold amounts of money restoring and renovating it. Outnumbered 50-to-1, the McCloskeys had every right in the world to be out there brandishing guns. At the time, the left-wing terrorists in Antifa and Black Lives Matter were ravaging countless cities. Riots, assaults, arson, looting, and mayhem was widespread. It still is. “[W]hen I saw that mob coming through the gate with their rage and their anger, I thought that we would be overrun in a second,” Mark told the Fox News Channel’s Tucker Carlson just days after the incident. “By the time I was out there with my rifle, the people were 20 or 30 feet from my front wall. I’ve got a low wall that separates my house from my front yard. And so, I was literally afraid that within seconds they would surmount the wall, and come into the house, kill us, burn the house down and everything that I had worked for and struggled for for the last 32 years.” “I saw it all going up in flames, and my life destroyed in an instant,” he added. “And I did what I thought I had to do to protect my hearth, my home and my family.” McCloskey was invited to appear on CNNLOL just so he could be smeared as a racist. But that was only the beginning of the persecution faced by the McCloskeys, a very public persecution deliberately designed to intimidate all Americans. The McCloskeys were made examples of by the left in the hopes we would all be afraid to defend our homes and families from these demonic marauders, these socialist revolutionaries who are nothing less than the Democrats’ and the media’s own personal Brownshirts. Although the mob had trespassed and vandalized, had essentially broken and entered, and many of their faces were caught and broadcast on social media, St. Louis Circuit Attorney Kim Gardner, a Democrat, did not charge a single one them with anything. Instead, with the corporate media and the organized left cheering her on, she went after the McCloskeys. Gardner received and executed a search warrant of their home, which reportedly resulted in the confiscation of the firearms necessary to protect themselves should the mob return — which it did after Democrats and CNN painted a target on their backs. And then Gardner charged the couple with “felony unlawful use of a weapon.” “It is illegal to wave weapons in a threatening manner — that is unlawful in the city of St. Louis,” Gardner said in a statement. Apparently it is not illegal in St. Louis — or in any Democrat-run city — to break down doors and threaten people on their own property. The state attorney general, a Republican, stepped in and had the obscene, unlawful, politically-motivated charges dismissed. Click here to watch the McCloskeys speech:

 

Missouri governor says pardon likely if St. Louis homeowners charged

Missouri Gov. Mike Parson says he is prepared to exercise his pardon powers if prosecutors bring criminal charges in the case of a St. Louis couple who brandished firearms at a group of protesters outside their home. Parson, a Republican, told a St. Louis radio station Friday that he thinks a pardon is “exactly what would happen” if Mark and Patricia McCloskey are hit with charges in the June 28 incident captured on video and seen by millions. He later added that based on what he knows about the case, “I don’t think they’re going to spend any time in jail.” The McCloskeys, who are both attorneys, displayed guns as Black Lives Matter protesters walked onto the private street where they live. The protesters were headed to the home of St. Louis Mayor Lyda Krewson. State prosecutor Kim Gardner launched an investigation, saying, “we will not tolerate the use of force against those exercising their First Amendment rights.” St. Louis police seized a rifle from the couple’s home pursuant to a search warrant. Parson told 97.1 FM the McCloskeys “did what they legally should do,” according to The Hill newspaper. “A mob does not have the right to charge your property,” he said, according to the paper. “They had every right to protect themselves.” Parson linked to the interview on Twitter and added the comment, “We will not allow law-abiding citizens to be targeted for exercising their constitutional rights.” Gardner has not disclosed whether she intends to file charges, but several leading Republicans — including President Trump, Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., and Parson — have criticized her for even deciding to investigate the couple. Parson cited Missouri’s “castle doctrine” law that justifies lethal force for those protecting their homes. Hawley is seeking a U.S. Department of Justice investigation of Gardner. A spokeswoman for Gardner declined comment, citing the ongoing investigation.

This is playing out exactly as we predicted.  This self-serving, anti-gun, pro-criminal, liberal Democrat St. Louis City prosecutor Kim Gardner (D) has bitten off more than she can chew.  Sure, she’s getting her 15 mins of fame, and adoration from the criminal community.  But, she’s failing at her job.  So, kudos to Gov. Mike Parson (R-MO) for basically saying he’ll pardon the McCloskeys if any charges are brought against them, and to Sen. Josh Hawley (R-MO) for asking the DOJ to investigate Ms. Gardner.  After all, she FAILED to do her job when cops arrested 35 rioters during the post-George Floyd riots in St. Louis.  She just let them all go, without bringing any charges….which is her flipping job!  Instead, she’s going after law-abiding gun owners who were rightfully exercising their 2nd Amendment rights in protecting their home from the mob.

Gregg Jarrett: Armed couple who defended St. Louis home when threatened shouldn’t be prosecuted

Malcolm X once observed: “I don’t even call it violence when it’s in self-defense; I call it intelligence.” A St. Louis couple — Mark and Patricia McCloskey — recently chose to arm themselves for self-defense after a mob entered their property and allegedly threatened their lives. They insist they were acting justifiably and … yes … intelligently. They were also acting lawfully — as long as they were in fear and reasonably believed that the force of weapons they displayed was necessary to defend themselves from an imminent threat of harm. That is the law. As a logical extension of the Second Amendment right to bear arms, Missouri embraces a well-known common-law principle called the Castle Doctrine. The state’s expansive interpretation permitted the McCloskeys to use physical force to defend themselves and their home while on their own property, without requiring them to first retreat. There is some case law in Missouri that suggests that the couple would not have been permitted to shoot solely in defense of their property. However, the McCloskeys neither fired their weapons nor claimed they were protecting merely their land. Indeed, they say that several members of the mob were armed and vowed to set their home ablaze and murder them. If true, the couple was completely entitled under the law to brandish (and potentially use) physical force in self-defense. Patricia McCloskey told Sean Hannity on his Fox News show: “[They said] they were going to kill us. They were going to come in there. They were going to burn down the house. They were going to be living in our house after I was dead.” The McCloskeys explained that they first called 911 but no police arrived. They were left to defend themselves. Mark McCloskey told KSDK-TV that “the only thing that stopped the crowd was my rifle.” How is it possible, then, that St. Louis Circuit Attorney Kimberly Gardner is investigating the McCloskeys but not the mob that allegedly knocked down a wrought-iron gate and knowingly trespassed (signs were posted) on the McCloskey’s property? This is backward. Repeated threats of physical harm uttered by the mob would constitute an assault under the law. Yet, Gardner appears to be poised to charge the homeowners with assault over their right to defend against an alleged assault. Legally, this is not just senseless, but insane. It is well-established that a person is allowed to threaten force if he or she is threatened. The perpetrators do not suddenly become helpless victims when they are averted. The idiocy of Gardner’s reasoning was explained to Fox News by Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt, who stated that Gardner “has a record of making politically motivated decisions not based on the law.” No kidding. Schmitt called Gardner’s record in prosecuting violent crime “abysmal.” As chief prosecutor, Gardner cares more about defending criminals than helping victims. To her, justice is an antiquated bromide. This should come as no surprise, since Gardner’s 2016 election was funded, in part, by considerable cash funneled through a Super PAC backed financially by far-left billionaire George Soros. Gardner’s tenure has been notable only for the slew of lawsuits against her for allegedly ignoring public records requests. (Gardner appears to believe that the public is not allowed to read public records.) Her low conviction rate in prosecutions has brought solace and smiles to criminals. In a statement, Gardner called the mob “peaceful protestors who were met by guns and a violent assault.” There are two inconvenient problems with her remarks. First, Gardner has completely ignored or dismissed the evidence of the trespass and the McCloskey’s chilling account of the mob’s threats of arson and murder. Second, by publicly declaring the couple guilty of assault, she has demolished any presumption of innocence for the accused. The Constitution protects free speech, assembly and peaceful protests. These are cherished rights. But the First Amendment does not give license to demonstrators to transform themselves into criminals who engage in acts of threatened violence or other lawless conduct. The riots, looting, assaults, and murders that have escalated out of control in many cities across America in the aftermath of the George Floyd tragedy are not an excuse under the law to victimize innocent people and destroy property. Late last week, authorities armed with a search warrant seized the rifle that Mark McCloskey was shown holding the night of June 28. His wife’s pistol was already in the possession of their attorney. The seizure, together with Gardner’s statement, leaves little doubt that the McCloskeys will soon be facing criminal charges by an elected prosecutor who seems determined to abuse her power by capitulating to the demands of the mob. Gardner can’t possibly prevail if charges are brought. But I suspect that is not her objective. Prosecution of the McCloskeys serves a political nostrum. It would conform perfectly to the prevailing orthodoxy of liberal outrage that no one is now permitted to question without being condemned and/or canceled. We are told we must all recognize and affirm that disagreement, however well-reasoned, is no longer tolerated. Ideological purity must be elevated, as dissent is suffocated, we are told. The civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. was a legendary proponent of nonviolence. But he was not an absolutist. King well understood the moral and legal necessity of self-defense in a society that is not always civilized. King made this clear when he wrote: “The principle of self-defense, even involving weapons and bloodshed, has never been condemned, even by Gandhi.” Kimberly Gardner is not condemning self-defense as much as she is canceling it for purely political reasons driven by self-interest and self-promotion. She has no business being a government prosecutor if she harbors such contempt for the law.

Agreed 100%!!  Thanks to Gregg Jarrett for that spot-on legal analysis.  Gregg is a former defense attorney and adjunct law professor. He is the author of the No. 1 New York Times best-selling book “The Russia Hoax: The Illicit Scheme to Clear Hillary Clinton and Frame Donald Trump.” His latest book is the New York Times bestseller “Witch Hunt: The Story of the Greatest Mass Delusion in American Political History“

Trump may intervene in case of St. Louis couple wielding guns at protesters, Missouri governor said

The governor of Missouri says President Trump has promised to “do everything he could within his powers” to shield a St. Louis couple who wielded guns at protesters in their gated community from prosecution, even as an attorney for the client says charges are imminent. Gov. Mike Parson said he spoke to Trump Tuesday and was reassured that the president– who previously has retweeted a photo of the couple, Mark and Patricia McCloskey holding up guns in front of their house in the June 28 incident–“understands the situation in Missouri.” “He understands the situation in St. Louis and how out of control it is for a prosecutor to let violent criminals off and not do their job and try to attack law-abiding citizens,” Parson said at a press conference. “The conversation I had with the President, said that he would do everything he could within his powers to help with this situation,” Parson added. Parson and Trump’s conversation comes days after police served a search warrant at the McCloskey’s home in the upscale Central West End neighborhood of St. Louis, in the same area where the city’s Democratic mayor, Lyda Krewson, lives. Nearly 500 protesters marching for racial equality and against police brutality were headed towards Krewson’s residence during the June 28 incident, after she read off the names and addresses of individuals petitioning to defund the police. Mark and Patricia McCloskey came out of their house, brandished their guns, and demanded the protesters leave because they were trespassing. The couple later told Fox News’ Sean Hannity that they were fearful that the protesters would “kill us” and “burn down the house.” Police seized the rifle that Mark was holding in the now-viral video of the incident, while a handgun that Patricia was holding was turned over to St. Louis Police Saturday by the couple’s attorney Albert Watkins. The handgun had been in Watkins’s possession as evidence that it was inoperable when she pointed it at protesters “in defense of themselves and their home at [the] time of the march,” Watkins told Fox News. Watkins says he anticipates state charges against the couple “as early as today,” he said on Wednesday, but views Trump’s interest in the case as a positive. “The President has been restrained to date and has been kept up to date in virtually real time,” Watkins said, “His support behind the scenes was vital to permitting local police to step back from prior directives to be ‘hands off’ protesters. “The support of the Executive Office appears to have motivated The Governor to garner a heightened degree of appreciation for implications and rights at risk in this situation,” Watkins said. Parson shared an article about the McCloskeys on Facebook Tuesday with the caption “Missourians have the right to protect their homes.” In a separate post, Parson lambasted city prosecutors, saying it’s “appalling” that they are “targeting the McCloskey’s for defending their home.”

Exactly! And well said, Governor.  This is what happens when you have anti-gun, liberal Democrat nazis like this local St. Louis Circuit Attorney Kim Gardner (D) in power.  They go after law-abiding gun owners, like the McCloskeys, who are just trying to protect their family and their home.  Instead, Ms. Gardner should be going after these protestors who, by contrast, BROKE the law and jumped the gate (almost tore it down) of this gated community and harassed homeowners, etc.  But, don’t hold your breath, folks.  This is the same city attorney who, after the riots in St. Louis following the George Floyd death, released the 35 or so rioters.  The cops arrested them for violence and vandalism, etc..and she just turned them loose.  In case you’re wondering..  Yes, she’s a black, Democrat female.  We’ll let you decide if that’s relevant in today’s racially charged environment.

Felon Charged with Murdering Retired Police Captain David Dorn in Riots

A convicted felon has been charged with murdering St. Louis, Missouri, 77-year-old retired police captain David Dorn during riots in the city last week. The St. Louis Police Department announced Sunday that 24-year-old convicted felon Stephan Cannon has been arrested and charged with first-degree murder, first-degree robbery, first-degree burglary, armed criminal action, and unlawfully possessing a firearm after he allegedly murdered Dorn. On June 2, according to police, Dorn was guarding Lee’s Pawn and Jewelry in St. Louis while riots, fires, and looting broke out. Surveillance footage, police said, shows Dorn arriving at the pawn shop, which had already been looted by Cannon and other men. That is when Cannon can allegedly be seen on the footage approaching the corner of the pawn shop with a gun, and it is at this time that Dorn was shot, killed, and left on the sidewalk bleeding. While searching Cannon’s residence, St. Louis police officers recovered a TV that had been looted from the pawn shop that night. Cannon is currently being held without bail. Dorn had served nearly 40 years with the St. Louis Police Department before retiring in 2007. Dorn also served as police chief in the small town of Moline Acres, Missouri.

This is a story we’ve been keeping an eye on the last couple of days.  And, we’re happy to report this piece of garbage is finally in jail and being held without bail, as well he should.  Hopefully the others who were accomplices and also looted, and then stood by and did nothing but videotape “Cap” bleeding out for FaceBook will be rounded up as well, and charged.  Of course, we’ll continue to keep an eye on this story.  For more, click on the text above.

St. Louis police release surveillance video of 7 ‘persons of interest’ in death of retired officer David Dorn

Surveillance footage capturing a group of men breaking into a pawn shop around the same time of the killing of a retired police captain attempting to prevent looting was released by St. Louis authorities Friday. The video shows seven “persons of interest” running into Lee’s Pawn & Jewelry on Tuesday during a night of widespread looting and rioting following a mostly peaceful protest over the death of George Floyd. The men all have their faces covered — six with masks and one with another covering. One man takes off his mask and puts his left hand to his mouth. Authorities believe he may have cut himself. At least two of the men were armed with handguns. The video runs from 2:13 a.m. to 2:17 a.m. David Dorn, 77, was found dead from a gunshot to the torso around 2:30 a.m. Prior to working security at the pawn shop, he served as a police captain with the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department and a police chief in nearby Moline Acres. He retired in 2014 after more than 40 years in law enforcement. “They called him ‘Cap.’ That was the Cap. That was the Cap, everybody knows that was him,” Dorn’s son, Brian Powell, told Fox2Now, adding that “police work ran through his veins.” Investigators said Dorn was killed responding to a burglar alarm at the shop. He often checked on the store, which is owned by a friend. “David Dorn was exercising law enforcement training that he learned here,” St Louis Police Chief John Hayden said. His death occurred during a night in the city that saw looting and property damage following protests over the May 25 death of Floyd, a black man who died while in police custody in Minneapolis, Minn. Dorn was found on a sidewalk in front of the shop. A Facebook Live video captured some of his last moments. Powell said if Dorn was still alive, he would have shown empathy toward his attacker. “My dad, he is a forgiving soul. So he would have forgiven that person and try to talk to them because he was real big on trying to talk to youth and mentoring young people as well,” he said. “He was trying to get them on the straight and narrow and everything.” President Trump weighed in on Dorn’s death earlier this week, saying he was “viciously shot and killed by despicable looters” and that “we honor our police officers, perhaps more than ever before.” Anyone with information about the fatal shooting is asked to contact St. Louis homicide detectives. A $45,000 reward is being offered by Crime Stoppers for information leading to an arrest.

Or you can reach the St. Louis PD Homicide Div directly by calling:  (314) 444-5371.  For more info, and/or to see the video of these “persons of interest,” click on the text above.  These are pieces of garbage; total scum. If you have any info that’ll lead to an arrest of these maggots, you could get up to $45K.  Normally we don’t do the crime beat thing here at The Daily Buzz.  But, I’m originally from St. Louis, and this one hits close to home.  So, we’ll make an exception here. I’m disgusted by this and we need to find these animals and arrest them.  We can’t have thugs and bullies like this on the street.  “Cap” was the father of 5 and the grandfather of 10.  He was a good man who served his community and was loved.  What happened to him cannot stand.  We’ll, of course, keep an eye on this developing story.

Gutfeld on the murder of Mr. Dorn

David Dorn spent his last moments on Earth bleeding to death on a sidewalk in front of a looted shop early Tuesday. He was a retired police captain in St. Louis and he was protecting a store. Dorn was 77. His death was shown on Facebook Live. He was a black man. A family man. A good man. Black lives matter. But not to looters, rioters and agitators. Shall we blame this on systemic racism? Who shot David Dorn? Who knows? A stranger? Maybe Seth Rogan or Patton Oswalt already bailed him out. Dorn’s son, Brian Powell said of his father’s death: “It was senseless – over TVs, over stuff that’s replaceable. They’re forgetting the real message for the protest and the positiveness that’s supposed to come out of it and we get this negative light that’s shown on a situation that really needed light to be brought to it.” Dorn’s daughter-in-law, Vanessa Powell, said: “I just hope that the person that did this that they come forth or whatever because this is just so senseless, and I’m just I’m tired of it, I’m tired.” The fact is, fealty to the mob begets only more of the mob. Redefining bloodlust as justified leads to death. And not just David Dorn’s, but a country’s too. A day ago was Blackout Tuesday, when virtue-signalers set their Instagrams to all black to support the protests going on around the country. What an analogy for the media. The media blacks the violence to hide their culpability. Which protects incompetent leaders, criminals and an army of cowardly journalists. Their job: keep the chaos on endless repeat. -Maybe David Dorn’s death can change things. Maybe we can protest loudly in his name and loudly demand action. It’s time, because there’s no Superman coming to save the day for us. There’s no one but us. On CNN, Chris Cuomo said: “Please, show me where it says protesters are supposed to be polite and peaceful. Because I can show you that outraged citizens are the ones who have America what she is and led to any major milestones. Be honest, this is not a tranquil time.” No thanks to Chris Cuomo. As cities are ravaged, he says protests don’t have to be peaceful. Chris, I invite you to meet me in my neighborhood to see what outrage created – the ravaged stores, the dead-eyed looks from people trying to salvage what’s left of their lives. If only they could work in media, and see the silver lining in their ruin. This is not a tranquil time. Thanks for the honesty, Chris.

How sad..  Thanks to Greg Gutfeld for sharing this with us.  That was adapted from his “Gregologue” on June 3rd, 2020 on The Five.  To watch it, click on the text above.  R.I.P Mr. Dorn.

Bouwmeester back in St. Louis, ‘on the road to recovery’

Blues defenseman Jay Bouwmeester is back in St. Louis after collapsing on the bench during a game in Anaheim last week and said in a statement Tuesday that he is “on the road to recovery.” Bouwmeester, 36, collapsed during the first period of the Feb. 11 game after going into cardiac arrest. He had a cardioverter defibrillator implanted into his chest at UCI Medical Center in Orange County, California, where he had been hospitalized until returning to St. Louis on Sunday. In a statement issued by the Blues, Bouwmeester thanked team trainers for both the Blues and Ducks, along with first responders and the medical staff at UCI Medical Center. “Our family has felt the support of the entire National Hockey League family and the city of St. Louis during this time,” Bouwmeester said in the statement. “We have all been greatly comforted by your genuine concern. On Sunday evening, I returned to St. Louis and I am on the road to recovery. My wife and daughters are forever grateful for everyone’s support and we will continue to have a positive outlook for our future.“ The game was postponed and will be played March 11. It will begin with a 1-1 score, as it was at the time of the postponement, but still follow a full 60-minute format.

Glad you’re doing better, Jay!  This story broke last night as the Blues shut out the NJ Devils 0-3 at home in St. Louis.  GO BLUES!!!      🙂

St. Louis Blues’ Jay Bouwmeester hospitalized but in ‘good spirits’ after bench collapse

Jay Bouwmeester remains in Southern California, but the veteran St. Louis Blues defenseman was alert and talking with teammates one day after collapsing on the bench during a game. “He was in good spirits with us, typical Jay, so I think it certainly made us all feel a lot better knowing that we had the opportunity to talk to him. Typical Jay is a very good Jay,” defenseman Alex Pietrangelo said. The 36-year old Bouwmeester suffered a cardiac episode during the first period of Tuesday night’s game against the Anaheim Ducks. General manager Doug Armstrong said during a news conference in Las Vegas on Wednesday that Bouwmeester was unresponsive after collapsing on the bench. A defibrillator was used and he regained consciousness immediately before being taken to an Anaheim hospital. “He is doing very well and is currently undergoing a battery of tests. Things are looking very positive,” Armstrong said. Pietrangelo — who was one of the first to call for help after Bouwmeester slumped over with 7:50 left in the first period — said he visited Bouwmeester in the hospital Tuesday night and the rest of team got to see him via FaceTime. The team stayed overnight in Southern California before taking a chartered flight to Las Vegas, where they will play the Golden Knights on Thursday. Bouwmeester’s father was at the game as part of the team’s annual dads trip and accompanied his son to the hospital. The team had a meeting at the hotel in Las Vegas before the media was allowed in. Several players remained for the news conference and appeared shaken and tired after a long night and morning. “It’s hard to even explain, it happened so fast, it felt like it was an eternity for us,” Pietrangelo said. “It’s not easy to see anybody go through it, let alone your close friend and teammate that you spend every day with. Certainly, we’re lucky to have each other anytime you’re going through something like this.” While Bouwmeester remains hospitalized, the Blues are trying to refocus on hockey. The defending Stanley Cup champions lead the Western Conference with 73 points but the gap between the top three teams in the Central Division was only four points going into Wednesday’s games. Armstrong and players lauded the Ducks and Blues medical staffs for their quick work. “How quickly they got on there to revive Jay to get him back is a testament to the work that is done and a testament to the NHLPA and the NHL for making sure that teams do all the proper work behind the scenes and have the people in the right spots, that are there to help the guys if anything happens,” Armstrong said. The NHL has had standards in place to deal with potential life-threatening cardiac problems for several seasons. They include having a team physician within 50 feet of the bench. An orthopedic surgeon and two other doctors are also nearby. Defibrillators must also be in close range. The home team has one on its bench and the away team must have theirs no further away than their locker room. Each medical team regularly rehearses the evacuation of a severely injured player before the season and all players are screened for serious cardiac conditions. The last player to collapse on an NHL bench before Bouwmeester was Dallas forward Rich Peverley in 2014. Peverley had an irregular heartbeat, and the quick response of emergency officials made sure he was OK. Detroit’s Jiri Fischer had a similar episode in 2005. “The Peverley and Fischer incidents and now Bouwmeester reminded us all how important it is to have team doctors close to players’ benches and defibrillators easily accessible in short notice,” said Edmonton Oilers general manger Ken Holland, who was with Detroit in 2005 when Fischer collapsed on the bench. “It has probably saved all their lives. Incredible job by league and team medical people.” Bouwmeester — who is in his 17th NHL season — was skating in his 57th game this season and the 1,241st of his NHL career. He had skated 1:20 in his last shift before collapsing and logged 5:34 of ice time as the game got going. The Blues and Ducks are talking with the league about making up the game, which was postponed. Armstrong said a full 60 minutes will be played and it will resume with the game tied at 1.

And that’s so great that they did that!  We’re all pullin for ya, Jay!  The Blues will play in Vegas tonight playing the Golden Knights.  GO BLUES!!!!     🙂

Saint Louis Zoo named best zoo in the country, again

The Saint Louis Zoo has been named the best zoo in the country for the second year in a row. Not that there was ever any doubt in our minds. Saint Louis was voted No. 1 in the USA Today best zoo category in the 10Best Readers’ Choice Awards contest. The Saint Louis Zoo was one of 20 nominated U.S. zoos, which were hand-picked by a panel of zoo and family travel experts. “We’re humbled to be chosen again as the best zoo by our dedicated fans in the St. Louis region, across Missouri and friends around the country,” Jeffrey Bonner, president and CEO of the Saint Louis Zoo, said in a statement. “Our visitors, volunteers, members, generous donors, employees, and especially the taxpayers of St. Louis City and St. Louis County are the real champions. It’s through their strong support that we can provide superior care for the animals, save wildlife in wild places, connect people with nature, and offer a great place to spend time with friends and family members.” Visitors to the 10Best Readers’ Choice Awards website were asked to vote for their favorites between April 2 and April 30. Behind the Saint Louis Zoo was Omaha’s Henry Doorly Zoo and Aquarium, and rounding out the top five are, the Cincinnati Zoo & Botanical Garden, the Cheyenne Mountain Zoo and the Fort Worth Zoo. In addition to winning in the best zoo category, the Saint Louis Zoo’s Sea Lion Sound exhibit also was named the best zoo exhibit in the USA Today 10Best Readers’ Choice Awards contest.

Nice!!  Growing up in St. Louis, I used to go to the St. Louis Zoo ALL the time.  And, sure I’m biased..  BUT..  Having been to the zoo in San Diego, and the National Zoo in D.C, both of which are outstanding, I can still see how the St. Louis Zoo won.  Congrats to Jeffrey Bonner and his team at the St. Louis Zoo.  Another great win for St. Louis!  Excellent!!    🙂