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 61
View all 61 reports →Your neighbors just won 'Yard of the Month.' That's so St. Louis.
Your neighbor won 'Yard of the Month'? That's so St. Louis. Look—I'm gonna be real with you. When I saw that the Mehlville Garden Club gives out a "Yard of the Month" award, it just made me smile. We...
Your St. Louis County Executive race just got wild.
You won't believe what St. Louis County just voted on Look—you ever feel like you're stuck in a time warp? Sometimes in St. Louis, it feels like we're always fighting the same battles, just with diff...
Your U City neighbor just became its first female firefighter
Your St. Louis neighbor just broke a barrier Look — there are certain stories you hear, and you just gotta smile. You know, the kind that makes you think, "That's the Lou." We often talk about what w...
Lindbergh preschoolers collected HOW MANY can tabs for the Lou?
Your kids are collecting what now? Look—I'm gonna be real with you. There are a lot of things that make St. Louis, well, *St. Louis*. We got our baseball, our toasted ravioli, and our insistence that...
Your St. Louis cat can have a bar mitzvah and it's amazing.
Your dog *can* get a bar mitzvah in St. Louis Look—I’m gonna be real with you. When I saw this story, I had to double-check the calendar to make sure it wasn't April Fool's Day. A cat having a bar mi...
This St. Louis poet's family story will break your heart
This St. Louis family story will break your heart Look—I'm gonna be real with you. There are some stories you read that just stick with you, days later, weeks later. And the one about St. Louis poet ...
Your neighbor found the 1964 Cardinals in her living room.
This St. Louis Woman's Family History is Wild Look—you ever hear a story and just know, deep down, it could only happen here? Well, grab your Ted Drewes, because Susan Stein's tale about walking into...
Someone in St. Louis just sued a "whites-only" community.
Your Grandma's Cardinals Story Just Got Real Look— I'm gonna be real with you, when I saw this story about a St. Louis-area woman suing a "whites-only" community for rejecting her over Jewish ancestr...
Your St. Louis Shavuot guide is here and you NEED cheesecake
Your Shavuot guide is here and you NEED cheesecake Look—I know what you're thinkin'. Shavuot? What's that, Marcus? And why are we talkin' about cheesecake? But I'm gonna be real with you, this story ...
A South County kid just finished an Ironman. How?
You won't believe this kid from South County Look—I’m gonna be real with you. When I was a senior in high school, my biggest accomplishment was probably figuring out how to get my '87 Monte Carlo to ...
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