Donnybrook
Donnybrook Last Call | December 19, 2024
Clip: Season 2024 Episode 48 | 9m 12sVideo has Closed Captions
The panel discusses a possible "Donald Trump Highway" and Mayor Jones call for FBI backup.
Charlie Brennan, Wendy Wiese, Joe Holleman, Sarah Fenske, and Alvin Reid discuss the potential naming of "Donald Trump Highway" and Mayor Jones call for FBI backup.
Problems playing video? | Closed Captioning Feedback
Problems playing video? | Closed Captioning Feedback
Donnybrook is a local public television program presented by Nine PBS
Support for Donnybrook is provided by the Betsy & Thomas O. Patterson Foundation and Design Aire Heating and Cooling.
Donnybrook
Donnybrook Last Call | December 19, 2024
Clip: Season 2024 Episode 48 | 9m 12sVideo has Closed Captions
Charlie Brennan, Wendy Wiese, Joe Holleman, Sarah Fenske, and Alvin Reid discuss the potential naming of "Donald Trump Highway" and Mayor Jones call for FBI backup.
Problems playing video? | Closed Captioning Feedback
How to Watch Donnybrook
Donnybrook is available to stream on pbs.org and the free PBS App, available on iPhone, Apple TV, Android TV, Android smartphones, Amazon Fire TV, Amazon Fire Tablet, Roku, Samsung Smart TV, and Vizio.

Donnybrook Podcast
Donnybrook is now available as a podcast on major podcast networks including iTunes, Spotify, Google Play, and TuneIn. Search for "Donnybrook" using your favorite podcast app!Providing Support for PBS.org
Learn Moreabout PBS online sponsorshipSupport for Donnybrook Last Call is provided in part by Design Aire heating and Cooling.
Thanks for joining us for last call last but not least what a story this was Wendy whis where members of the general assembly are filing legislation to name highways after Donald J Trump, the president-elect.
It's absolutely true that he might have had the greatest political comeback in history uh but he has have any connections to Missouri um some of the legislation has exempted counties where he didn't win like Jackson and uh St Louis City and St Louis County but uh overall what do you think of naming maybe parts of 55 after Donald J Trump.
I think we've already sort of we've already gone down that road I mean with the Mark Maguire Highway I've never heard anybody say a bad word about Jack Buck you know the Jack Buck Highway uh you know 2020 hindsight Mark McGuire highway so I mean I think that there are people who not maybe in this room but there are people who support Donald Trump and they need to have their day in the highway in the sun in the highway like everybody else until we change things and make it harder to get a highway named after somebody I got a simple policy don't name anything after anybody while they're alive it's a good rule for money it's a good rule for buildings then you have their whole life so that you don't have to go well we need to take that name down because of uh something that happened later in their life you you know and uh so yeah I I just think then that cuts it equally for everybody and you don't have these silly political arguments over what a highway gets named when you're dead lets hash this out if you're living nothing gets named after you except you well I I mean I agree with that what can you say yeah everybody wants to get in line and say like oh Donald lets support hey Donald Trump he'll give me a million dollars or he'll support me when I run for re-election.
I don'tt care I'm driving down the highways I'm on the Donald Trump highway I'm not going to crash my car on purpose right I mean the good thing is nobody pays attention to that stuff you still be on 55 I didn't know we had all these named highway I can't even keep straight 64 and 40 so I you know I feel like I';m going to be exempt actually it's Jack Buck in one direction and then Bobby Plager in the other.
I didnt even know that that's right the Poplar Street Bridge was known as the Bernard F Dickman and then they changed it to William Clay but no one calls it the clay Bridge nobody calls it the Clay bridge and is it the clay Bridge until you get halfway across the Mississippi River because the first half yeah that's what I mean but theual gets the usual is used correct yes I think St usual was alive when that open no I might be wrong I'm not sure but that one rhymed so well the Stan span so everybody calls it the Stan you know and he was yeah how long has it taken us to get to the point where we're comfortable with 6440 I mean Sarah you cannot believe I still call it 40 so many isn't it already the mark Twain Expressway that was its original name actually the bluebird Express was its original name and then became the Mark Twain Expressway was Highway 70 I believe but that was I the Eisenhower you got out as long as we're as long as we're I mean I I can't believe I'm bringing this up but as long as we're talking about highways and signage there is some if I could be Empress of the world for just you know like a couple minutes I would take care of everything else world hunger and then I would turn my attention to these roadside memorials I understand that families are grief stricken but I have almost had accidents trying to look and see oh God what what what happened you know they they have the the balloons or the you know the signs of this of the place where somebody lost their life and it's just so sad and so awful I wish there was some other way I mean anybody else no I quite frankly I think those are illegal but nobody does anything nobody does anything about it because the family is grieving because it could easily cause an accident I don't know I'm a lot more worried about people looking at their cell phones than a tribute to one of our fallen comrades Le let's give them that yeah I'll be I'll be hard-hearted for Christmas I just yeah really when all letters can be sent to 3655 108 it's spelled w um okay let's move on to another topic yeah Merry Christmas to uh okay how about this um as we know Sarah and Joe and everybody else you've been following this story Joe uh Sarah's been reporting on it breaking the news and that is that the building division which is depart part of the Department of Public Safety underneath the mayor's office uh has been really doing questionable work as we discussed last week they're billing for replacing Dormers and staircases on buildings that don't have Dormers and staircases and the buildings are also connected to the building insector or inspectors now it's two inspectors who are in deep doodo so the mayor said hey uh I'm going to ask the state auditor the very now busy Scott Fitzpatrick and uh the FBI to investigate this did she forget that she's the supervisor of these inspectors no I think she realized full well that she was the supervisor and when you have bad news it's better to get out in front of it and I think that's exactly what happened was as you a case of and we all know this from covering government each and every one you find one thing that's happening wrong in a program chances are there's two things and then there's five things so my guess is somebody or herself arrived at the crackling good public relations notion of to get out and say there's problems in this program and by God we're going to look at them so yeah sure good job I don't know that it's been entirely public relations either I have to give them some credit for this when we first brought some of these ation to them and said yeah we're planning to publish a story like you know you have a couple hours to respond rather than try to spin it or argue that oh you know maybe this isn't so bad they were like okay this is bad we are opening an investigation into this right away they've taken this very seriously and I don't know I suppose you could say it's because these were not her hires this was not a political thing these are people who've been there a long time and predate her Administration but by sort of putting it out there that they take this seriously they want the FBI to look at it there sending a signal hey cooperate with this investigation that's a good thing for city employees to feel and they're also taking it away from Cara Spencer I mean they're they're deying it for care Spencer well let me say this the lawyer and the client who own the house that were complaining to the city for a long time and they were doing nothing until you started reporting the city knew about this did it not according to your know so they knew that there was a problem with they hadn't filed a lean and this man was getting unfairly charged for this and they did not deal promptly with that but the minute we brought up the huge conflict of interest of the building inspector on that story and the fact he had ties to the company that had done that work they had no idea nobody knew this guy is that a good thing that they had no idea not a good NOK you know and Charlie thank you for bringing up that point CU I as a reporter am hesitant to give a government credit for acting on something that me and Outsider had to tell them was going wrong in their own house or any report the first big aren't you supposed to do your due diligence so I mean yes they could have handled it worse and not called in anybody but the idea that some group from the outside had to notify any government that there's a problem in their government shows that the government's not doing their job no I agree but at the same time we've all had stories where like that's what happened and then there was a response I can't look we found it out let them know and they responded I will say this that Les Thurman's letter kind of proved that we already knew it anyway people watch Donnie Brook and I told y'all last week when I heard building inspector uhhuh I said that's every Law and Order episode somebody said like no if it's one we need to like get on this immediately and I believe that's what happened well and and I'm not saying I don't agree that that's how it happens a lot I'm just saying you don't get credit for reacting to it like you did something good you just did what you were supposed that's what I'm saying like the school board it's like the school board and unless oh yeah but unless the post dispatch B Bernard brings it to their attention and then suddenly oh thanks yeah we're we're on it now everything's fine no story here no we've all dealt with government agencies that Batten the hatches when reporters come and they lie and they won't turn over records or they they won't give you a statement like there are definitely different ways to handle this and frankly the school board gave ble a little bit of a runaround on the front end so I do think this is a contrast but what did Law and Order say about school boards I've never seen law and order causse it's not on Nine PBS thank you very much for joining us happy holidays we'll see you next week

- News and Public Affairs

Top journalists deliver compelling original analysis of the hour's headlines.

- News and Public Affairs

FRONTLINE is investigative journalism that questions, explains and changes our world.












Support for PBS provided by:
Donnybrook is a local public television program presented by Nine PBS
Support for Donnybrook is provided by the Betsy & Thomas O. Patterson Foundation and Design Aire Heating and Cooling.