"Can the staff of the RFT please come to Novaks and have a Novak Burger and sing a song?"

Letters, October 5, 2006

Leftist and ACLU-lovin' — that's us! I have anxiously watched the Letters section of RFT since the printing of Chad Garrison's "Battle Lines" [August 24, 2006] to see the interesting responses to that powerful article. There has not been one single letter printed on that topic! I sent one letter, but I would suspect many people would have pertinent comments, especially in light of the ghastly news of shootings and crime in St. Louis since its publication. Not even sympathetic letters from the left-wing, socialist, communist faction in America, with comments like, "Hey, whaddya expect, they've been slaves. Leave them kids alone. They've got nutten better to do with their m——- f——- time!"

For you readers who expected to see your letters in the leftist, ACLU-loving RFT, don't hold your breath.
Steve Erdmann, St. Louis

Feature, September 21, 2006

Homewrecker: Doug Hartmann not only took advantage of people with big money in St. Louis, he also took advantage of small people in St. Charles, just starting out in business, and cheated them out of their labor and life savings ["Mystery Woman," Chad Garrison].

A 45-year-old man in St. Charles, whom I'll call Joe, was just starting out in the rental business and bought five run-down rental buildings with four apartments each. He used his life savings for a down payment. The man, his sons, brother, sister, mom and paid laborers spent eighteen months completely redoing all the apartments. The apartments were rented and the loan payments made, plus payments for the charged supplies for the rehab. Along comes Hartmann, wanting to buy the apartments, which Joe told him he did not want to sell. Hartmann and his man didn't give up, and they kept coming back. Hartmann said he wanted to resell the apartments to individuals as condominiums and that he could make a lot of money.

Joe finally gave in and signed a contract with Hartmann. Next, Hartmann said the bank wouldn't lend him all the money, and would Joe take a second loan for $258,000? After a time, Joe agreed to the second loan. Hartmann's monthly payments would pay Joe's charged supply bills and give him some profit. But Hartmann never made the first payment to Joe. The first bank, where Hartmann got more money for rehabs, foreclosed on the property, sold it, and Joe was left without anything except a large lumber-supplies bill to be paid.

How many other small Joes in St. Charles County has Hartmann broke? When is he going to be prosecuted and put in jail, so he stops hurting people?
Name withheld by request, St. Charles

Best of St. Louis 2006

Er, do you really want to hear us sing? Thank you, readers, for voting Novak's the best gay bar in St. Louis. I was so excited to hear that I had won. But wait a minute. Faces (who I love dearly) got voted "Best Gay Bar," too. But not by the people, by the RFT. I'm confused. I see 26 editorial staff members listed for the RFT. How many other people actually turn in votes for the Best of St. Louis? I would say thousands, am I right?

So did all of these 26 staff members come to Novak's and all the other Best of St. Louis businesses listed? Geez, you guys have been busy. There were hundreds of categories. I just don't get it. Why doesn't your staff vote just like all the other St. Louis people do? Don't you think that would be fair? I really don't care, I'm just wondering. I have the best bar in St. Louis every day of the week, in my opinion. So now my goal is to win "Best Karaoke Bar" or "Best Burger." Can the staff of the RFT please come to Novak's and have a Novak Burger and sing a song? You could kill three birds with one stone: "Best Bar," "Best Karaoke" and "Best Burger."

And last, who gets the Best of St. Louis plaque — the people's choice or the RFT's choice? Oh well, congratulations, Craig and friends of Faces. You are a great "gay" bar. Used to be my favorite before I got into the business. Now I'm too busy and old for all that. Keep up the good work.
Nancy Novak, owner
Novak's Bar & Grill, St. Louis