SCREENGRAB VIA THIS WEEK IN MISSOURI POLITICS

If you previously thought the intrigue surrounding Governor Eric Greitens was straight out of House of Cards , wait ’til you catch today’s episode.

In court this afternoon, the attorney representing Greitens’ most vocal accuser was forced to reveal the person who gave him $50,000 to encourage his advocacy — and it turned out to be a politically connected newspaper publisher.

Attorney Albert Watkins, who is representing the ex-husband of the hairdresser with whom Greitens had an affair, appealed all the way to the Missouri Supreme Court earlier today to conceal the source of two $50,000 cash payments made to his firm earlier this year. With appeals exhausted, the Clayton attorney offered two answers this afternoon that only deepened the mystery. He said he’d received $50,000 in cash from a courier “identified only as Skyler,” as the Kansas City Star reported . The other $50,000? That came from Scott Faughn, who publishes the Missouri Times. Previously the mayor of Poplar Bluff, Faughn got into the newspaper business in 2012. He’s become a Jefferson City power broker. He hosts a television show called This Week in Missouri Politics , which airs at 11 a.m. on Sundays on KDNL (ABC-30), as well as on stations in Kansas City and rural Missouri. He’s also a frequent guest on KMOX, where he has been highly critical of Greitens without ever mentioning any financial role in supporting his accusers.

As the Kansas City Star first reported , one of Faughn’s major sponsors is Sterling Bank. The bank, which is located in Poplar Bluff, is a major player in the low-income housing tax credits that Greitens has vowed to reform — cutting off a large source of revenue for banks like Sterling.

Lt. Governor Mike Parson, who would become governor if Greitens is impeached, supports restoring funding for the tax credits.

In a fifteen-minute monologue live-streamed on Twitter, a defiant Faughn failed to explain the reason for the payment or the source of the money. Instead, he sought to distance himself from Greitens’ accusers, saying that he’d never met Watkins’ client or KMOV journalist Lauren Trager, who first broke the story.

And then, bizarrely, he attempted to take the St. Louis Post-Dispatch for its ethics. Faughn apparently took great umbrage that columnist Tony Messenger tweeted that his involvement with the money delivery could cause problems for Missouri Times reporters.

The revelation about the $50,000 paid to Al Watkins by @scottfaughn is a much bigger deal (and an unfortunate one) for the reporters working for him @MissouriTimes than it is a game-changer in #GreitensIndictment cases. — Tony Messenger (@tonymess) April 30, 2018

“I’m not going to take that from the Post-Dispatch ,” Faughn proclaimed, claiming the daily has taken money from supporters of Obamacare and then written favorable stories about it. “By God, could you live in a larger glass house?” he demanded.

Faughn did not respond to a direct message seeking further explanation of his role delivering the money to Watkins or where it came from.

In his live-streamed monologue, Faughn explained only that he’d hired Watkins because he’s working on a book about the 2016 governor’s race.

“This is the juiciest story of all time,” he said at one point. “The fact I’m now in it is unfortunate, but you can go to scottfaughn.com and order your book. It’s not the best thing for me, but it is good for the book, so I’ll take it.”

But what might be good for Faughn’s book could also be very bad for Missouri journalists. Greitens has already tried to suggest the press is out to get him; the fact that a prominent pundit given a platform by KDNL and KMOX has, in fact, some sort of vested interest in championing the governor’s critics can only add fuel to the fire.

Sure enough, the arguments are already surfacing on Twitter; it’s surely only a matter of time before Greitens starts paying to sponsor posts on a social media feed near you blasting the “liberal media” for paying his accusers. Never mind that Faughn, a self-described “simple West Butler County hillbilly,” is no quote-unquote Soros liberal …. and even started his paper with former House Speaker Rod Jetton, a Republican with a sex scandal of his own in his past . (Jetton is no longer involved with the paper.)

Just to put this whole #Greitens affair in perspective: Scott Faughn, owner of Missouri Times gave at least $50,000 to attorney Al Watkins to go after Greitens. That means the media is directly involved in this political hit job. pic.twitter.com/TBiSz0FtsN — Avenger of Blood (@Avenge_mypeople) April 30, 2018

Question #MoLeg If @scottfaughn was getting paid, what other journalists were getting paid??? Any at all? Fair question. Might also explain how @KMOV laughable reporting on KS Greitens affair became weaponized… meaning turning nothing into something … #MoGov #stlouis #stl pic.twitter.com/75nyjZ3N8I — Straight Don Lemon 🍋🚻 (@Str8DonLemon) April 30, 2018

And so it goes. As usual, journalism will take the black eye, and those of us who would never courier $50,000 cash for a “friend,” much less have a “friend” with $50,000 cash in the first place, will keep plodding away trying to call it as we see it.

But we digress. What could possibly happen next in this stranger-than-fiction soap opera? Tune in for the next episode. Might we learn more about this mysterious “Skyler”? And after that, might Scott Faughn have to reveal his sources?

Sarah Fenske is the editor in chief of the Riverfront Times. Email her at [email protected] or follow her on Twitter at @sarahfenske

The state government may be in an uproar, with legislators rallying for impeachment even as Governor Eric Greitens fights for his political life. But Attorney General Josh Hawley is still finding daylight hours for the gym.

The 38-year-old Republican is party insiders’ candidate of choice to take down Senator Claire McCaskill (D-Missouri). But despite being in the thick of a heated primary race and holding down what’s ostensibly a full-time job as the state’s top law-enforcement officer, Hawley has still surprised his fellow gym rats by showing up for lengthy workouts during peak office hours.

Perhaps even stranger? He’s visiting the gym in Columbia, Missouri — a 30-minute drive from his office in Jefferson City and his legal residence.

State law says that Missouri’s attorney general must live in Jefferson City. While Hawley initially tried to argue that he should be allowed to reside in his family’s home in Columbia, he later acquiesced to critics, saying that he would rent a place in Jefferson City and stay there enough to make it his legal residence, even as his family’s home remains in Columbia. He faces a lawsuit from a state resident who claims that’s not good enough.

Adding possible fuel to the fire? Our source says that he has seen Hawley at the Wilson’s Fitness Center at 2902 Forum Boulevard in Columbia a half-dozen times during office hours since January — and offered photos he’d surreptitiously snapped on three different occasions as proof.

The photos show Hawley lifting weights — and periodically checking his phone — on a Friday at 10:14 a.m., on a Tuesday at 10:16 a.m. and yesterday, another Tuesday, at 10:03 a.m.

Hawley’s campaign spokesman did not respond to an email and a phone call yesterday seeking comment.

The source who provided the photos says he is not political (he asked that his name not be used because he sometimes has to deal with state government). But he said he was intrigued by the location in light of Hawley’s claims that his residence is in Jefferson City.

He also admits he’s jealous of the attorney general’s schedule, nothing that he personally can only hit the gym on weekdays because he works primarily on the weekends. “Now I realize I should have been attorney general,” he says.

That’s not to say Hawley is living the life of Riley. With insider favorite status comes great responsibility, and some Republicans have been openly dissatisfied with Hawley’s campaign. “If Hawley doesn’t gear it up and get with it, he’ll not beat her,” former Senator Christopher “Kit” Bond (R-Missouri) told USA Today in February . “I think a lot of people who want to see Hawley elected [are] wishing he’d get to work, doing fundraising and getting out and campaigning actively.”

And once Hawley reported first-quarter fundraising totals showing his campaign was lagging badly behind McCaskill’s , the sniping only increased, with one “prominent Republican strategist” sniping to the New York Times ‘ Frank Bruni , “He’s this young guy and he’s allergic to hard work.” Mid-morning workouts won’t help with that impression any more than mid-day wine shopping .

Still, perhaps Hawley is able to get some work done even while he’s at the gym. “He’s always on the phone,” Deep Throat notes. “It pisses people off.”

Screenshot via YouTube

Screenshot via Twitter

Known for his “heat phone” and pro-Trump bent, St. Louis radio and TV host Jamie Allman is now facing calls for boycott over a tweet indicating his desire to introduce a heated fireplace implement to the ass of a Parkland shooting survivor.

The student, seventeen-year-old David Hogg, has been a vocal advocate of gun control.

Like other conservative commentators, Allman — whose platforms include a morning radio show at 97.1 FM and The Allman Report on the ABC affiliate KDNL — has been critical of Hogg’s role in urging a boycott of Fox News pundit Laura Ingraham, who last week took to Twitter to mock the teen for being rejected by several colleges. Ingraham was subsequently accused of bullying Hogg for cheap attention, and since then a dozen advertisers have removed themselves from Ingraham’s show.

But even before the Ingraham controversy broke, the role of Hogg and other Parkland shooting survivors in the national gun debate was raising complicated questions, as pundits across the conservative spectrum have argued that the teens shouldn’t be protected from criticism simply because of their age and status as victims of a traumatic mass shooting.

Granted, that’s a much nicer way to put it than Allman did last week, when he hopped on Twitter to boast that he was “getting ready to ram a hot poker up David Hogg’s ass.”

Notably, Allman tweeted the above missive on March 26, two days before the Ingraham controversy broke, but a screenshot began circulating in recent days that’s drawn new attention to the adult man casually joking about how he’d like to assault a teen shooting-survivor’s butt.

And like Ingraham, Allman is starting to take some heat. Last night, Missouri Representative Stacey Newman (D-St. Louis), a longtime supporter of increased gun control, called Allman out in a Facebook post. In it, Newman also leveled criticism at Allman for his support of failed Parkway School Board candidate and self-described “Confederate” Jeanie Ames.

“We demand advertisers stop being complicit,” Newman wrote. “Stop supporting an adult who spews such hate.”

Allman hasn’t kept his opinions about Hogg restricted to Twitter. On The Allman Report , which airs on Channel 30, a segment last week touched on the boycott of Ingraham and whether Hogg was a reasonable target for critique.

“You can’t say ‘Hey I’m just a kid,” Allman said of Hogg. “We have to be allowed to refute what you’re saying… or to respond to it, you can’t be all the time grabbing your blanket when the going gets tough.”

During the segment, Allman repeatedly noted that Hogg liked dropping “f-bombs” and that he should expect to receive push-back if he’s going to “get his hands dirty” in political issues.

Allman added, “Just be a grownup about it.” Which, in Allman’s world, apparently means being threatened publicly with sodomy before you’re even old enough to vote. How very grown up of him.

Follow Danny Wicentowski on Twitter at @D_Towski. E-mail the author at [email protected]

Youtube.com — Billy Busch of the famous St. Louis beer family was charged with assaulting a kid.

Update: 4:30 p.m. Saturday — Statements from Billy Busch’s attorney and the father of the boy he is accused of assaulting have been attached to the bottom of the story.

Billy Busch, great grandson of beer baron Adolphus Busch, is facing an assault charge for allegedly manhandling a sixth grader at his son’s school.

The 58-year-old Busch bloodied the boy’s nose, dragged him by the front of his shirt and pinned him against a wall before the boy’s father pulled him off, according to police reports obtained by the Riverfront Times through a Sunshine request.

Busch is due to appear Wednesday in Creve Coeur municipal court.

The incident began in November 2017 when the boy and Busch’s son scuffled in line during a basketball practice at Chaminade College Preparatory School in Creve Coeur.

Busch, who is listed at six feet tall and 195 pounds, raced over to intervene. The boy, whom we are not identifying, later told police Busch swore at him.

“You fucker!” Busch allegedly said. “What do you fucking think you’re fucking doing to my fucking kid?”

Busch grabbed his young adversary by his shirt and started shoving him backward, the boy told police. The boy says he slapped the beer heir on the temple and tried to backpedal away from him, but Busch kept coming and held him by his collar.

The police report says, “Mr. Busch pushed [the boy] into a wall at the base of a stairwell resulting in [the boy] hitting the back of his head against the wall. At that time, [the boy’s] nose began to bleed.”

Another adult alerted the boy’s father who, along with at least one basketball coach, intervened. The coach kicked Busch out of the gym.

At first, the boy’s family was hesitant to pursue charges in the case. Creve Coeur police were notified after the school contacted authorities. The boy’s family told investigators they had little faith in the justice system and were especially skeptical given Busch’s social status. ( Editor’s note: The boy’s father contacted the RFT after publication to say his wife has faith in the justice system — just not in Busch being held accountable. )

However, they agreed to give statements and ultimately gave police the go ahead to charge Busch. The school provided surveillance footage of the altercation to police in mid-December. In the report, police describe video showing the two boys shoving and trying to slap each other after arguing over who was in front in the line.

“Busch is seen grabbing [the boy] once more and forcing him backwards out of the gymnasium into the lobby,” the report says. “At this point, [the boy] appears to take a swing at Busch in an effort to get away. Busch is seen pushing [the boy] backwards and pinning him against a wall.”

Police contacted Busch, who gave them his version before hanging up to talk to his attorney, according to the report. He says he saw the boy punch his son and recalls saying something like, “Hey, what are ya doin? You can’t do that sort of thing; it’s bullying.” Busch told police the boy mouthed off to him and then tried to hit him.

“Busch said this made him become aggressive and he said he became a bit angry,” police say in the report.

Police tried to get Busch to come in and give a statement, but they were later told by his attorney that wasn’t going to happen. Police then mailed him a summons for simple assault.

Top defense attorney Scott Rosenblum is now representing Busch, court records show, although he’s not the attorney who initially rebuffed police. Rosenblum couldn’t immediately be reached for comment on Friday. A call to Busch’s cell phone went straight to voicemail, and he did not respond by press time.

Busch is an heir to the Anheuser Busch fortune. After the mega-brewer was sold to Belgium-based InBev, he founded his own St. Louis-based beer company, Kräftig, with dreams of turning it into a national powerhouse. He is the face of the new brewery, appearing in commercials dressed in button-down shirts as he pitches his new beer as a worthy successor to his family legacy.

His image in the commercials is that of a mild-mannered corporate bigwig, but he was once seen as one of the Busch family bad boys. Busch bit off another man’s earlobe in 1981 during a bar brawl that reportedly began when he was accused of cheating in an arm-wrestling match. He ultimately wasn’t charged because authorities said the other man started the fight, according to press reports at the time.

He was found not guilty of assault the next year when he allegedly reached through the drive-thru window at the old Naugles in Fenton to punch a worker in the throat. A judge found that prosecutors hadn’t proved the worker was injured.

Following online publication of this story, defense attorney Scott Rosenblum released the following statement about the incident:

“Mr. Busch was unfortunately confronted last November with a situation where his son was bullied — actually sucker-punched — by a much larger middle school student directly in front of him during a school basketball practice. School personnel failed to react, so he did what every parent would have done in that situation. The school’s video of the event clearly shows that Mr. Busch did not act with any maliciousness, and that his actions were directed at protecting the safety of his son and others involved.”

And here’s the response by Derek Falb, father of the eleven-year-old boy allegedly assaulted by Busch.

While we initially did not want to comment on the situation and keep a low profile, Mr. Busch’s statement, written by his lawyer, Mr. Rosenblum, requires a response. While the statement is eloquently written, we are well aware that Mr. Rosenblum is paid to defend Mr. Busch and attempt to repair his public image using tired legal maneuvers. However, the statement is inaccurate for several reasons. First, the statement attempts to paint a grown man with a history of erratic behavior (such as biting a man’s ear off) who physically assaulted an 11 year old boy as a sympathetic figure. Second, it attempts to paint the victim as a bully when it was Mr. Busch’s son who was the initial aggressor in the incident between the two boys. It just so happens in this instance, Mr. Busch’s son instigated an altercation with another middle schooler of his same age and grade level who defended himself. While Mr. Busch may not have liked seeing his son receive a dose of his own medicine, him attempting to resolve his son’s conflict with another 11 year old boy, let alone physically, is shameful. When the victim’s father pulled Mr. Busch off his son and confronted him, Mr. Busch’s behavior changed dramatically and he was clearly more comfortable addressing an 11 year old boy than another grown man. Third, it suggests the school failed to react. In fact, the school administration and basketball program acted swiftly and decisively in calming the situation, investigating what happened and removing Mr. Busch and his son from the facility. The school’s response could not have been better. In summary, Mr. Busch’s behavior was highly inappropriate. For Mr. Rosenblum to excuse Mr. Busch’s behavior as without malice and as something any father would do is ridiculous. The actions and language used by Mr. Busch during the incident and as documented on the school’s video clearly and incontrovertibly show otherwise. The fact is a grown man manhandled a child in response to an altercation his son initiated but could not finish. We have no ill will toward Mr. Busch’s son and wish him the best. We do not intend to sue Mr. Busch in civil court for his actions. However, we plan to cooperate with and monitor the indefensible prosecution of Mr. Busch by the people of Creve Coeur and St. Louis.

COURTESY OF 106.5 THE ARCH — Baby Jameson.

COURTESY OF 106.5 THE ARCH — Cassiday Proctor.

Plenty of women work right up to the day they give birth — but Cassiday Proctor took it a step further yesterday: The 106.5 the Arch morning host actually gave birth live on the air.

But not to worry — the airwaves were not filled with the sounds of blood-curdling screams. Proctor had a Caesarean.

Scott Roddy, program director for the Arch, says that the nine-months- pregnant Proctor worked Monday, and started to experience labor pains. But the baby was breech, and it became clear she was going to need a C-section.

At that point, the show she works on, Spencer’s Neighborhood, sprung into action, coordinating with the hospital to have the nurses hold up a phone during the procedure. A seven pound six ounce baby boy arrived around 7:45 a.m., right in the middle of the morning drive-time.

Laughs Roddy, “As a program director, I was very happy about that timing.”

Proctor never hesitated about involving her workplace in the birth of her first child, Roddy says. “She was all about it,” he says. “She shares everything. That’s who she is.”

And Proctor’s husband is clearly a good sport. Not only did he allow the birth of his first-born to be broadcast on the airwaves, but he’d previously allowed Spencer’s Neighborhood listeners to name the lad.

Says Roddy, “We did an old-fashioned bracket challenge on the air,” with twelve silly names and twelve names chosen by the couple competing for one slot.

Fortunately for Proctor and her husband, viewers didn’t opt for a goofy option. “We kept voting until we got to Jameson,” Roddy says.

PHOTO COURTESY OF FLICKR/ ALT SUMMIT — Martha Stewart speaking at an event in 2012.

This year, Saint Louis Art Museum’s Art in Bloom festival of fine art and flowers will have a special guest — the gardening, cooking and D.I.Y. legend Martha Stewart .

When Stewart isn’t busy being best friends with Snoop Dogg or winning Emmys, she is outdoors tending to her garden — something she has loved to do since she was a child. She even wrote a book about it, Martha’s Flowers: A Practical Guide to Growing, Gathering, and Enjoying .

The entrepreneur previously known as M. Diddy will be talking about the book and sharing her gardening advice and wisdom at the event, which is scheduled for Saturday, March 3 at 12:45 p.m. in the museum’s Farrell Auditorium. At her side will be co-author Kevin Sharkey, the executive vice president and executive director of design for the Martha Stewart brand. Together, they will sign copies of Stewart’s book after the event.

Other speakers and programs for Art in Bloom include appearances from editor-in-chief of Flower magazine Margot Shaw, publisher of Feast Cat Neville, and master mixologists including Ivy Magruder , who will be strutting their stuff on everything from spectacular outdoor living to botanical alcoholic beverages. There will also be a Japanese tea demonstration and ceremony, an Art in Bloom Family Day and live music and refreshments during the weekend of the show.

—————StartFragment————— Art in Bloom runs from Friday, March 2, to Sunday March 4. It is open to the public, with opportunities to browse galleries and see floral installations, but tickets are required for some programs, including the program with Stewart.

You can grab tickets for Stewart’s lecture for $45 ($35 you are a S.L.A.M. member) at slam.org/bloom , along with information about the other programs. Tickets go on sale February 13 (February 8 for members).