Jake Wagman

Exit Interview: Jake Wagman on Post-Dispatch and New Career

Jake Wagman stepped down last week from his job as a political reporter at the Post-Dispatch to start an opposition research firm. Yesterday Riverfront Times caught up with the 33-year-old Wagman, who we once named St. Louis' best reporter, to discuss his new gig as a freelance sleuth and his memori ... More >>

Ted Nugent's Outrageous Remarks at the NRA Conference: What the Videos Don't Show

While reporting our current feature on the 2012 NRA Conference, I happened to be walking past right when Ted Nugent made these remarks: As you've probably heard, the Secret Service has arranged a meeting today with The Nuge in order to do "appropriate follow-up," but Nugent ain't concerned.

What People Are Saying About Santorum's Missouri Win

​Last night Rick Santorum swept the primaries in Missouri, Minnesota, and Colorado. As expected, his most decisive victory was in Missouri, where he took all 114 county for a 55 percent runaway, more than doubling Mitt Romney's 25 percent. In many ways, it's a hollow success. It didn't count towa ... More >>

Jamilah Nasheed Is Running For State Senate

​Today state Representative Jamilah Nasheed, subject of our August feature story Just Who Does Jamilah Nasheed Think She Is?, announced that she is running for the state Senate seat currently held by Robin Wright-Jones. Nasheed, who is in the middle of her third term in the state House, immediat ... More >>

Obama "Stop the Pipeline" Protesters: Here's What They Want

The Keystone XL Pipeline is not the kind of "new energy" that President Obama's former fans at Wash. U. were looking for.​As the P-D's Jake Wagman reports this morning, a protester interrupted President Barack Obama's fundraiser in downtown St. Louis last night to interject "Stop the Pipeline!"Wri ... More >>

Robin Wright-Jones: State Senator Decries Post-Dispatch "Hit Piece"

Wright-Jones blames reporter for stirring things up on "sleepy summer afternoon."​Updated 9:35 a.m. with reaction from Jake Wagman.In a page-one story Sunday in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, political reporter Jake Wagman exposes several accounting irregularities in the campaign filings of state se ... More >>

Missouri Democratic Party Calls on Peter Kinder to Reimburse Tax Payers for Lavish Hotel Stays

Peter Kinder appearing in a 2010 interview about his lawsuit to stop "Obamacare."​If you didn't see yesterday's article on Missouri Lieutenant Governor Peter Kinder, stop what your doing and give it a read. Post-Dispatch reporter Jake Wagman provides a text-book example on how to nail a double-tal ... More >>

McCaskill Disputes NYT Report on Democratic Convention as Ed Martin Weighs In

Image viaMcCaskill: NYT got it all twisted!​Now that a New York Times piece has suggested that Senator Claire McCaskill torpedoed St. Louis' bid for the 2011 Democratic Convention, she's fighting back.  The gist of the article was that she publicly supported bringing the convention here, but ... More >>

Political Drinking: Robin Carnahan, Roy Blunt Debate Tonight

​Senatorial hopefuls Robin Carnahan and Roy Blunt will square off tonight in Kansas City and again tomorrow at Lake of the Go Carts. Only tonight's debate will be televised -- 9 p.m. on KETC Channel 9.So, what to look for in tonight's debate? Political blogger John Combest has a few ideas. This mo ... More >>

Vanity Fair Article on Sarah Palin Hatches Local Conspiracies

The article that started it all.​The political blogosphere is on fire with allegations surrounding writer Michael Gross's profile of Sarah Palin in this month's Vanity Fair.Much of that brouhaha comes from the opening two graphs of the article, a seemingly innocuous scene-setter describing Palin b ... More >>

Post-Dispatch Changes Coverage at City Hall; David Hunn Takes over for Jake Wagman

Wagman is now politically independent, so to speak.​Dagburnit! We thought we'd beat the Post-Dispatch to their own story -- but they just posted a quick item in front of us.Earlier today Daily RFT received an internal email for the paper outlying changes in the newsroom. Most noticeable among thos ... More >>

St. Louis Police Commissioner Springs Drunk Nephew From Jail, Delivers Him to Fancy Downtown Restaurant

Image Via Vincent Bommarito in his restaurant Tony's​Those five measly DWI's the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department issued on Mardi Gras? Well, make that four measly DWI's.One of the arrests was Christopher Campo, nephew to Vincent Bommarito, the proprietor of the esteemed downtown ea ... More >>

Obama Coming To Town in Support of Claire McCaskill

McCaskill hopes Obama will lure in the money.​President Barack Obama will swing through St. Louis next month. Obama will be in town March 10 for a fundraiser for Sen. Claire McCaskill, reports Jake Wagman on Political Fix. McCaskill isn't up for re-election 'til 2012, yet she's already stock ... More >>

Curt Smith of Tears for Fears is "Head Over Heels" for a Missouri Democrat

Curt Smith (left) in his younger days.​File under news of the weird: Jake Wagman of the Post-Dispatch reported yesterday that political upstart Tommy Sowers -- a Democratic candidate for the U.S. House of Representatives in Missouri's 8th Congressional District -- had a number of famous donors ... More >>

Paul D'Agrosa Steps Into the SEIU/Tea Party Legal Fracas

Wikimedia CommonsSEIU hopes D'Agrosa will trounce on the charges called for by Tea Party activists.​Elston McCowan and Perry Molens face misdemeanor charges for allegedly assaulting a political button-seller last year; the defendants have pulled out the big guns by retaining St. Louis criminal def ... More >>

SPJ Calls For County Counselor to Drop Charges Against St. Louis Post-Dispatch Reporter

twitter.comWagman faces a maximum penalty of $1,000 and a year in jail.​The Indianapolis-based Society of Professional Journalists last week called for St. Louis County Counselor Patricia Redington to drop a misdemeanor charge against a St. Louis Post-Dispatch political reporter, Jake Wagman.St. L ... More >>

"What Kind of Nigger Are You?" So Said An SEIU Rep to Kenneth Gladney During the Great Tea Party/SEIU Beating Brouhaha of 2009

biggovernment.com​The website biggovernment.com appears to have obtained a copy of an investigative police report concerning the alleged beating of button-seller Kenneth Gladney and the arrest of St. Louis Post-Dispatch reporter Jake Wagman. A little background: Gladney was with tea-partyers circu ... More >>

Congressman Lacy Clay Files for Divorce and a Democratic Loyalist Does What He Can to Help

lacyclay.orgWilliam Lacy ClayCongressman William Lacy Clay is filing for divorce.The local law journal Missouri Lawyers Weekly first reported the news last week. Gossip columnist Deb Peterson then picked the item up for her stltoday.com blog. Yesterday, Post-Dispatch reporter Jake Wagman went down t ... More >>

Poll: The Most Asinine Comment on the Post-Dispatch's Pi Article

www.stltoday.comBumped: Only a few hours left to vote!As I write this, Jake Wagman's fine Post-Dispatch article on President Barack Obama inviting the Delmar Loop pizza restaurant Pi to the White House has garnered 178 reader comments.While a few readers are thrilled to see a locally owned St. Louis ... More >>

Speaking of Smoking Bans, St. Louis Alderwoman May Propose One of Her Own

Earlier today I wrote how Town & Country officials want to ban smoking in their municipality and all of St. Louis County. stlcin.missouri.orgLyda KrewsonNow comes word through City Hall scribe Jake Wagman that Central West End Alderwoman Lyda Krewson (Ward 28) plans to introduce a bill next week ... More >>

Strassenfest On Hiatus

Have They No Shame?

Fuck Frank Gehry

The icon of postmodern architecture has a sense of humor. Who knew?

Wag the Man

Newsless in St. Louis

Survey: Post-Dispatch finishes dead last in urban coverage.

Let It Flow

Unreal uncovers the sordid side of pee lobbyists, learns Chingy's workout habits and gets some golf tips. Plus: Elephants-as-artists!

Francis the Blogger

Mayor Slay blasts into cyberspace

Slay Bells Ring

Are you listening? The RFT goes stumping with Francis.