Email Author Ray Hartmann

1999 Stories by Ray Hartmann

• DECEMBER MADNESS

  published December 22, 1999

  This Kareem Rush thing really has me steamed. And I'm so nuts over what Johnnie Parker may have done that I'm flinging my college Shakespeare... More >>

• MISSOURI: WHERE MEN ARE MEN AND SHEEP ARE NERVOUS

  published December 15, 1999

  It is not my custom to judge others' sexual orientations and practices, and I've never been accused of being a prude. But I think I've found a... More >>

• IN DEFENSE OF WHITE-TRASH CLEANUP

  published December 8, 1999

  It is a good sign -- and an ironic one -- that the Ku Klux Klan has fallen upon such hard times that its signature issue around the nation has... More >>

• NO PUBLIC DOLLARS FOR A NEW STADIUM. PERIOD.

  published November 24, 1999

  The first answer to the St. Louis Cardinals' pleas for public assistance with a new stadium -- discussed in this space last week -- should be... More >>

• STADIUM MADNESS, PART 1

  published November 17, 1999

  In what may have been the tossing of the ceremonial first ball in the new-stadium game, the Cardinals' erstwhile business partners at the... More >>

• OUR OLD HOMETOWN FIGHTER PLANE

  published November 10, 1999

  The Boeing F-15 fighter plane -- responsible for thousands of jobs in St. Louis -- is back in the news again, so I thought I'd better get up... More >>

• WHEN PRO-LIFE MEANS MORE ABORTIONS

  published November 3, 1999

  In the bitter world of abortion politics, you'd think that family planning -- aimed at preventing unwanted pregnancies in the first place -- ... More >>

• NO MERCY FOR THE KIRKWOOD SCHOOLS

  published October 27, 1999

  If you like corporate welfare in the form of tax-increment-financing (TIF) schemes, you ought to love this. Unity Health, the area's... More >>

• SINFUL IN ST. LOUIS

  published October 20, 1999

  This is what the Rev. Billy Graham had to say to St. Louis during his crusade here, as reported in the Post-Dispatch: "There is sin... More >>

• IS JOHN ASHCROFT A RACIST, OR DOES HE JUST PLAY ONE ON TV?

  published October 13, 1999

  What a coincidence. Sen. John Ashcroft doesn't look so great on a racially charged issue again. How do you like that? This time, our... More >>

• DES PERES HAS GONE MAD.
  BUT DON'T TAKE MY WORD FOR IT.

  published October 6, 1999

  You certainly don't need the likes of me telling you what to think about $30 million corporate-welfare handouts to shopping-mall developers in... More >>

• MESSAGE TO CITY HALL: LET'S NOT ALL GET ALONG

  published September 22, 1999

  At last there's new hope for revitalization in the city of St. Louis. I'm not referring to downtown or the neighborhoods. This is no cerebral... More >>

• HELLO, OUT THERE

  published September 15, 1999

  I'm having a little trouble localizing this one. Please bear with me. The breaking-news political story that has gripped America for the... More >>

• Killing Doctors with Kindness

  published September 1, 1999

  If I've got this correctly, we who are pro-choice on abortion should be sending a thank-you note to our considerate friends on the "pro-life"... More >>

• TOOTING BUSH'S HORN: IS THIS THE NEXT CLINTON?

  published August 25, 1999

  "Ladies and gentlemen, the next President Bill Clinton of the United States America, George W. Bush." That introduction would represent pay... More >>

• HEAVEN HELP US: THE NATIVITY FLAP IS BACK

  published August 18, 1999

  There are only 129 days left until Christmas, so what better time than now to fall into the annual Nativity Scene Trap? This, of course, is... More >>

• MORE DEATHLY POLITICS FROM JOHN ASHCROFT

  published August 11, 1999

  Sen. John Ashcroft's eyes are rolling around funny in his head again. It's re-election time. God's personal senator from Missouri has... More >>

• IF YOU WANT LOYALTY, TWA'S NOT YOUR DOG

  published August 4, 1999

  Here's a TWA case study you might find interesting. You learn suddenly that you have to fly Los Angeles, with no time to make an advance... More >>

• FORWARD BY UNPOPULAR DEMAND

  published July 28, 1999

  Circuit Attorney Dee Joyce-Hayes is taking shrapnel from all quarters for her handling of a murder charge against a police officer in the April 26... More >>

• SCHOOLS WITHOUT RULES

  published July 21, 1999

  Charter schools, born out of frustration with public education, promise a simple formula for success: Relax the rules. Now more than 1,000... More >>

• THE WORLD ACCORDING TO JIM TALENT

  published July 7, 1999

  Life is simple. And so is our political system. Why, just ask U.S. Rep. Jim Talent: "Conservatives believe in the institutions and values... More >>

• A Boondoggle for the Ages

  published June 30, 1999

  Remember that sweet deal St. Louis made for itself by luring the Rams here, and how we shrewdly took advantage of owner Georgia Frontiere, who... More >>

• You Can't Take the "Me" Out of Metrolink

  published June 16, 1999

  It was announced this week that the Metrolink light-rail system is so popular that 35 new cars, each seating 138 passengers, will be added to... More >>

• St. Louis: No. 1 in Bad Crime Coverage

  published June 9, 1999

  We've got good news. We've got bad news. And we've got some really bad news coverage. First, the good news: In 1998, the city of St.... More >>

• The NRA Goes "Reasonable"

  published June 2, 1999

  Having written just last week on the subject of gun control, it's the last topic I'd choose to address in this week's space. But the... More >>