Breaking the 40 South 2017 top stories into categories, people being fired is number one: the most popular by far was when lifeguards at the Maplewood Family pool were fired over their use of a chat app, second was the firing of four Brentwood city employees in a day.
Then there’s business closings: Pie Five, Waldbart Florist (end of 2017), Tim Hortons; and openings: Homegoods, Side Project Brewing (a long line for beer), Maplewood Wash House, Toasty Subs.
Some locally sad news: an MRH sixth-grader and a well-known Brentwood woman died, a Maplewood family needed funeral costs for their father.
In crime, Maplewood Police identified some carjacking suspects, and a Maplewood woman was shot in St. Louis city.
And in other news: all but one candidate for the Brentwood School Board supported teaching creationism, a Maplewood church housed an immigrant, a rush-hour protest was planned. Here’s the top 20:
- Maplewood Aquatic Center lifeguards fired over social media use
- 4 Brentwood city employees fired in one day, sources say
- Rush-hour protest planned for Brentwood Boulevard & Eager
- HomeGoods moving to Brentwood
- Two suspects in multiple carjackings in Maplewood; updated with suspect descriptions
- Pie Five Pizza shutters
- Maplewood woman shot, killed while riding motorcycle in St. Louis: Post-Dispatch (updated)
- MRH 6th-grader dies unexpectedly
- School board candidates asked to rethink creationism vs. evolution
- Maplewood business closing — what’s coming is “exciting”
- Maplewood Tim Hortons shuttered
- Family in dire need seeking help
- Brentwood’s Louise Charboneau passes on
- The line in Maplewood on Saturday was for beer
- Last year for Maplewood’s Christmas house
- New Maplewood laundromat confirmed, toasty subs return
- Immigrant taking sanctuary in Maplewood church
- Development would replace Waldbart Florist, Jon Paul Designs
- Maplewood Little Caesar’s closes
- Family raises funds for funeral, being evicted, later in the year one of the sons died, Recent MRH grad dies
Though none of Maplewood historian Doug Houser’s made the Google-generated list above, 40 South wouldn’t be the same without Mr. Houser’s frequent contributions. Some of Doug’s 2017 posts:
- Maplewood History: Night of the Cobras
- Maplewood History: Yale Loop Fire
- Maplewood History: Photos of the Streetcars That Once Traveled Those Tracks at Big Bend and Flora
- Maplewood History: What Was In That Building On The Corner?
- Maplewood History: 4 Buildings, 3 City Halls and 1 Case of Mistaken Identity
- Maplewood History: The End of a Dry Spell
- Maplewood History: Billy Jones Unadorned
- Maplewood History: Where The Clean Air Is—Maplewood!
- Maplewood History: Tales of the Harper’s Pharmacy by Bill Jones
- Maplewood History: The Magnificent Cabinetry of the Harper’s Pharmacy Saved!
- Maplewood History: An Explosive Article Brought to Light by the Research of Luke Havel
- Maplewood History: More on the 1970s Redevelopment That Didn’t Happen and One That Did.
- Maplewood History: Last Days of the Wedge
Well, I’m disappointed, of course. I would have bet that my title, “Billy Jones Unadorned” would have attracted more clicks than those pretty standard titles of Miner’s. I need a change of direction, I guess.
I wish you could have included the mass firings at the SSM chain of hospitals in the SSM system to include Richmond Heights, St. Mary’s. Just like we read about Brentwood except Brentwood is not operating in the Red. Can’t wait to see if St. Mary’s President makes his numbers and if he does how big his bonus will be at the expense of those fired in November 2017. Bah Humbug!
In Openings, you forgot to add that RDG Interiors opened in 2017 in Maplewood.