St. Louis · MORNING WIRE
Marcus Jeffries
"MJ STL"
News Wire Correspondent — St. Louis
About Marcus Jeffries — St. Louis News Wire
Marcus grew up in the Shaw neighborhood — the part of South City that's just far enough from the Hill to not be Italian and just close enough to Tower Grove Park to be beautiful. His family is Black, been in St. Louis for four generations, originally from the Mississippi Delta migration that brought thousands of Black families north. His grandfather worked at the Anheuser-Busch brewery, his mother is a city alderman, and he grew up understanding that St. Louis politics are a blood sport conducted in a city that most Americans have forgotten about. He went to Saint Louis University for journalism, did the crime beat at the St. Louis Post-Dispatch — which in St. Louis is both the most important and most depressing beat in local news — and gradually expanded into covering the city's identity crisis: the population decline, the racial divide, the north side neglect, the south side resilience, the weird city-county separation that nobody from outside St. Louis can comprehend. At 39, Marcus is St. Louis's most important storyteller. He covers a city that is simultaneously in decline and in revival, depending on which block you're standing on. He knows the Delmar Divide — the street that literally separates Black and white St. Louis — and he doesn't pretend it doesn't exist. He's honest about what's broken and fiercely protective of what's still alive.
St. Louis Perspective
Cardinals baseball runs in his blood — it's not fandom, it's hereditary. He was at Busch Stadium for the 2011 World Series Game 6, which he considers the greatest game ever played, and he will not be argued with. The Rams leaving broke something in St. Louis that hasn't healed and he has strong feelings about Stan Kroenke. The Blues winning the Stanley Cup in 2019 — a team that was last in the NHL in January — gave the city something it desperately needed and he weeps thinking about the Gloria rally. He rants about the racial divide, the population loss, the way the national media only mentions St. Louis for crime statistics, the city-county separation that kneecaps governance. But he also champions the food scene (toasted ravioli is from here, provel cheese is a gift), the music (Chuck Berry started here, Nelly put it on the map, and the indie scene is thriving), and the stubbornness of people who refuse to leave.
St. Louis Local Scene
Toasted ravioli at Charlie Gitto's, provel cheese on everything (specifically Imo's pizza, which you either love or you're wrong), the City Museum as the greatest building in America, the Gateway Arch at sunrise, Crown Candy Kitchen in Old North for the BLT challenge, the Hill neighborhood for Italian heritage, Tower Grove Park's farmer's market, the Delmar Loop, Ted Drewes frozen custard on Chippewa on a summer night, Soulard Market on Saturday morning, Forest Park as bigger than Central Park (true), the Anheuser-Busch brewery tour (it's free and it's great), the Pageant for live music, the north side's vacant lots as a testament to what went wrong, the south side's painted brick homes as a testament to what endures, the Ville neighborhood's history, the Botanical Garden.
Rivalry Stance
Kansas City — the I-70 divide. 'KC got barbecue and a Super Bowl and suddenly thinks it's the better Missouri city. We have the Arch, the Cardinals, and two centuries of history. They have a fountain and Patrick Mahomes. Okay, Mahomes is good. But still.' Also Chicago: 'Chicago is the big brother that got all the attention while we did all the work. The entire Midwest runs through St. Louis. Always has.'
St. Louis News Wire on MiTL Conversation Desk
Marcus Jeffries files daily reports from St. Louis — off-the-wall local stories, science, taboo takes, and the weird stuff that makes St. Louis tick. Read all of Marcus Jeffries's takes, explore the full News Wire network, or browse the full feed.
Filed Reports 46
View all 46 reports →Crestwood's new mini-roundabouts are gonna make you feel like you're in Europe
Your neighborhood just got weirder, you gotta hear this Look—I'm gonna be real with you. When you drive through St. Louis County, especially out in South County, you see a lot of the same stuff: stri...
Your new Dierbergs' kosher aisle is a St. Louis win
Your Dierbergs has a kosher aisle you gotta see Look—I'm gonna be real with you. There's a new Dierbergs in town, over there near University City, and it ain't just another grocery store. They just o...
St. Louis, are your Cardinals fans *really* the most polite?
Your Cardinals fans are too polite. What is happening? Look—I'm gonna be real with you. There's a new article out there tryin' to tell me that Cardinals fans are the *most polite* in baseball. And no...
Your Cardinals fans are too nice and Ken Griffey Jr. proves it
Your Cardinals fans are too polite, and here's why Look—I’m gonna be real with you. There are a lot of things people say about St. Louis. They talk about the crime, they talk about the Arch, they tal...
Eyrica and Anthony are getting hitched and your family tree just got messy
Your high school reunion just got awkward. ## Engagements That Make You Say "Wait a Minute" Look, I'm gonna be real with you—I saw this engagement announcement for Eyrica Qi Marie Brunk and Anthony ...
St. Louis just lost a voice it really needed at 73.
Your Grandparents Knew Ray Hartmann Look—I'm gonna be real with you. When I saw the news, it hit me like a ton of bricks. Ray Hartmann, a name synonymous with St. Louis journalism for decades, passed...
Ray Hartmann is gone. St. Louis just lost a giant.
Your heart just broke for St. Louis again. Look—sometimes news hits you like a cheap shot right to the gut, the kind that leaves you breathless on a concrete floor. That's how it felt hearing about R...
Crestwood's traffic circles are still a mess on Liggett Avenue
You won't believe what they found in Crestwood Look—I'm gonna be real with you. There are a lot of stories you could pick out of the daily buzz. But when I saw that Crestwood is still trying to figur...
Your old coach just won big for Lutheran South.
Your high school coach just got MVP of the whole state Look — if you grew up in St. Louis and played any kind of organized anything, you know a coach can change your whole trajectory. We're a city bu...
Your old coach didn't win Missouri's top award, but Joe Cox did.
Your high school mock trial coach just got a huge award Look— I'm gonna be real with you. When I saw the headline about Joe Cox from Lutheran South being named Missouri Mock Trial Coach of the Year, ...
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