Update:  Integrity Village appeared to be empty Sunday morning. The New Life Evangelistic Center confirms that police asked them to remove tents and porta-potties Saturday night due to a lack of permits.  They complied with police. They say they were not shut down.

NORTH ST. LOUIS COUNTY (KPLR)-The Rev. Larry Rice opened a new tent village for the homeless in an unincorporated north St. Louis County neighborhood Saturday morning. Residents in the area on Lada Avenue just north of Natural Bridge say they found out about the plans for a nearby vacant lot on Thursday via a flyer.  St. Louis County said they found out on Friday. 

According to St. Louis County records, the center has owned the property since July 2012.

Workers and volunteers from Rice’s New Life Evangelistic Center unloaded gear at the lot at 7:30 a.m. Saturday. They spent time erecting tents for the new “Integrity Village”.   Rice said he understood neighbors’ outrage, but the word “homeless” had become the new “N-word”.  He accused county leaders of not doing enough to help their homeless, saying his downtown shelter was overcrowded with people from all over the metro area.

Pat Washington, with the St. Louis County Health Department, was also at the site Saturday.  She said she wanted to make sure the new village was safe.  She added that she wanted to know of any homeless St. Louis County residents, so that she could help them find services.

More coverage: Homeless Camp Moving To North County

On Friday, St. Louis County Executive Charlie Dooley released this statement:

“We have received calls of concern from residents in the area about the tent city and will make sure that it does not violate County ordinances,” said St. Louis County Executive Charlie Dooley. “Homelessness is a serious issue that St. Louis County works hard to solve and regularly meets with representatives from the New Life organization as well as other homeless agencies to help address this problem.”

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The Reverend Larry Rice was told Saturday evening his new tent for the homeless on a vacant lot in north St. Louis County was not sanitary and would not be allowed. The tent came down late Saturday.

our earlier story:

ST. LOUIS COUNTY (KMOX) - Reverend Larry Rice is moving ahead with plans for an Integrity Village homeless encampment in north St. Louis County.

After decades of running the New Life Evangelistic Center homeless shelter in the city of St. Louis, Rev. Rice says he’s branching out to the county, “It’s kind of a last resort. Before this, I wanted to see a county shelter open up. I believe the good people of St. Louis County want to see a shelter opened up. They encounter the same problems anybody does. Any time talk of a shelter comes up there’s hostility and prejudice toward the homeless.”

Volunteers put up a large green-and-white “canopy-style” tent Saturday morning on Lada Avenue, just off Natural Bridge.

St. Louis County police captain Kurt Frisz says neighbors called on his officers to make sure the encampment is legal, “We have been in contact with the health department and zoning. We’ll monitor the situation, and if there are ordinance violations, we will enforce the ordinances at such time.”

Frisz says one thing they’ll be checking is how many people spend the night under the tent, “The county ordinance says only three un-related people would be able to stay tonight. However, there are other things not in place that need to be.”

Neighbor Linda Lawrence is opposed to the encampment, “There is no proper sanitation, no water, no proper shelter for these people. I feel Mr. Rice is just pimping these people out for his own use. Are we just just supposed to stand by and let this happen? I’m sorry. I don’t want them using the side of my house for a toilet.”

The land was donated to the New Life Evangelistic Center, as was an RV parked in the street, where two of Rev. Rice’s property managers will be staying. Lee Berryman is one of them, “We don’t allow drugs out here. We don’t allow alcohol or any kind of rowdy behavior. So, it’s not for everybody. It’s a temporary situation for those who cannot find housing elsewhere.”

That’s the case for 22-year-old former St. Louis County resident Emily Greene who hopes to move to the encampment from the streets of downtown St. Louis, “It’s better than sleeping on the street. It’s better than being vulnerable, as a young woman, to anything dangerous.”

Greene says she doesn’t buy the argument that being homeless leads to criminal acts, “There are people I know in all kinds of neighborhoods stealing gas and water and all kinds of things. All we want to do is stay in a tent and not steal anything, just get back on our feet.”

The encampment’s across-the-street neighbor, Jay Moore, says if anything, the new development may help cut down on the break-ins that have happened on Lada Avenue, “It’ll make the ‘county brown’ (St. Louis County Police) come through here a little more, checking on them. I think it’s cool.”

Rev. Rice says Moore has agreed to allow the tent dwellers to come over and use his bathroom until NLEC can get a portable toilet placed on the property.

According to St. Louis County records, the center has owned the property since July 2012.

Workers and volunteers from Rice’s New Life Evangelistic Center unloaded gear at the lot at 7:30 a.m. Saturday. They spent time erecting tents for the new “Integrity Village”.   Rice said he understood neighbors’ outrage, but the word “homeless” had become the new “N-word”.  He accused county leaders of not doing enough to help their homeless, saying his downtown shelter was overcrowded with people from all over the metro area.

Pat Washington, with the St. Louis County Health Department, was also at the site Saturday.  She said she wanted to make sure the new village was safe.  She added that she wanted to know of any homeless St. Louis County residents, so that she could help them find services.

More coverage: Homeless Camp Moving To North County

On Friday, St. Louis County Executive Charlie Dooley released this statement:

“We have received calls of concern from residents in the area about the tent city and will make sure that it does not violate County ordinances,” said St. Louis County Executive Charlie Dooley. “Homelessness is a serious issue that St. Louis County works hard to solve and regularly meets with representatives from the New Life organization as well as other homeless agencies to help address this problem.”

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Leading the caravan of six vehicles, the Reverend Larry Rice of the New Life Evangelistic Center said his goal was to bring the problem of homelessness to a place where its seldom thought of — and maybe get some unemployed people working.

“Instead of homeless people sitting in some cooling center wasting their time, they’re going to be applying for jobs,” Rice said, “They’re going to be going from place to place looking for jobs. They have a legal right to do that.”

Mall security was visible around the edges, as Rice’s group moved from the food court to the job application counter, but no one from the mall interfered or even spoke with Rice.

Earlier on the sidewalk outside his downtown homeless mission, Rice had warned he was prepared to do legal battle with the Galleria, if it tried to stop the homeless from their mission.

“They’re going to be walking like people do every day who jog through the center,” Rice said, “They’re going to be eating there. They’re going to be applying for jobs. If he (the Galleria general manager) wants to engage in this Jim Crow policy and try to run people off and label them homeless, and that’s the new N-word, then we’re going to have some serious problems.”

Steven Calcagno, unemployed machine operator\, now homeless, looking for work

Among the homeless making the trip was 49-year old Steven Calcagno, an unemployed machine operator who used to work in metal fabrication.

“I had a few setbacks. I had a few medical issues in 2011 that kept me sidelined for a year, but I’m back to health and ready to go back to work,” Calcagno said.

Rice says he plans to make several trips to the Galleria with the homeless in the coming days. He plans no demonstrations there, but feels it’s good for the homeless to apply for jobs — and for the better-off to share the same space with them.

“They’ll have a chance to meet some people who maybe don’t know any homeless people,” Rice said, “people who have convinced themselves there are no homeless people. They’ll have a chance to see homeless people, which St. Louis county does a very good job of keeping them out-of-sight-out-of-mind by dumping them in the city.”

Copyright KMOX

Charlie talks with STL Cardinals Broadcaster Mike Shannon about the Janet Evanovich book club event coming up this Friday and her appearance on Mike’s show, “Live at Shannon’s”, following the ballgame. (To make reservations, log on to http://www.shannonsteak.com, or call 314-421-1540.)
[audio_link url="http://cbsstlouis.files.wordpress.com/2012/06/mike-shannon3.mp3" name="Charlie Brennan" artist="Mike Shannon"]

“The gentleman walks his dog twice a day along the barriers of the park,” said eyewitness B.B. McBride, “and the dog goes to the bathroom every single time near that tree.”

It happened around 11:15 Tuesday morning at Lucas Park at 13th and St. Charles streets, a place where loft-livers walk their dogs amidst homeless resting under shade trees. The park is a short walk from the New Life Evangelistic Center for the homeless. It’s not clear whether any of those involved in the fight were homeless.

Police say the 38-year old dog owner got into trouble when his dog relieved himself in the vicinity of a girl lying on the grass. The girl’s father and the dog owner exchanged words. Police say the dog owner, who is white, called the other man, who is black, a racial slur. Other black men in the park began to gather around.

According to police, one of the men grabbed a metal piece of rebar and struck both the dog owner and the dog. Before police could arrive, the attacker got away. Police say they have no leads on his identity. The father of the girl who was lying near the dog is charged with peace disturbance.

Eyewitness B.B. McBride says it appeared to be an unfortunate misunderstanding.

“He went to search for a bag to pick the manure up, and he was never given a chance,” McBride said, “They thought he was walking away.”

Police say the dog had a minor injury.

Copyright KMOX

The Reverend Chris Rice hosted a kind of post-game news conference, vowing that last week’s defeat on a grassy lot at Vandeventer and Interstate 44 won’t be the last battle.

“We’re taking this underground,” Rice said, “We’re not going to tell you where we’re taking it. And it could be anywhere in the greater St. Louis area, where there’s access to transportation, water and electricity. And we’re not going to tell you.”

Last week’s effort included about a dozen camping tents and one large, revival-style tent. Originally, the ministry’s leader, the Reverend Larry Rice, had warned any attempt to shut down “Integrity Village” could embroil the city in a lawsuit under freedom of religion. But Larry Rice was not at today’s news conference, and his son Chris had no information on whether a lawsuit would be filed.

The news conference also included several homeless people who claimed they were misled by the city when forced to leave Integrity Village. The homeless claim the city promised them a nice place to stay and they ended up on an “uncomfortable cot.”

When asked how a cot could be worse than a sleeping bag in an un-airconditioned tent with the hot weather and mosquito season approaching, the homeless say they want a place where they can leave their possessions all day and call home.

Copyright KMOX

ST. LOUIS, MO (KTVI) – South city residents are livid after learning Reverend Larry Rice plans to erect a tent for the homeless near the Missouri Botanical Garden.

Reverend Rice and his group are planning to open a homeless camp along Interstate 44, though city lawmakers have said, ‘no.’ 

The two acre-spot at Vandeventer and I-44 was dedicated as “Integrity Village” Monday morning, despite strong opposition from the city.

During a news conference Monday, Reverend Larry Rice, pastor of New Life Evangelistic Church announced he leased the two acre site for a year after St. Louis city leaders shut down two homeless camps near the Mississippi river. “We’re not going to let Mayor Slay or Mr. Bill Siedoff drive the homeless back to the downtown parks and have the police work around the clock driving them out of parks and pushing them from place to place,” said Rice.

City officials call the “Hopeville” situation a badly failed experiment. They say their use of federal money to put those evicted into permanent homes is a far more effective way of dealing with the homeless problem here. But the New Life Evangelistic Center says the city is grossly underestimating the problem and under-serving  the homeless community.

Ninetenth Ward Alderwoman Marlene Davis, a fierce homeless advocate accused Rice of making a political statement and using people in desperate need of help.

“It is wrong on every level of humanity. It is wrong. I’m going to do everything in my power to help the people who show up here,” she stated.

Rice told residents Integrity Village will be more like a religious ministry with prayer services and rules prohibiting drugs and alcohol, but that did little to ease their concerns. 

Rice plans to erect a tent and hold his first prayer service on the site Wednesday at noon.        

A downtown mission to the homeless — and the city’s top advocate for the homeless — are both complaining that surrounding counties have been dumping their homeless downtown, leaving taxpayers and charities to care for them.

“A van will pull up from a county, and two officers will get out with a guy in handcuffs, and they’ll take the cuffs off of him and leave him in Lucas Park across the street,” said the Reverend Chris Rice of the New Life Evangelistic Center.

The Reverend Chris Rice, New Life Evangelistic Center

Rice says they welcome the chance to help the homeless, but says downtown is becoming glutted with homeless he believes should be cared for by surrounding local governments and churches. And Rice says it’s not just police doing the dumping. It’s also local hospitals and detox centers.

“Squad cars will either take them here, or hospitals will give people a cab voucher and send them here,” he said, “But they don’t even know the neighborhood. They don’t know where it is they’re going.”

Meanwhile, the city’s top official dealing with the homeless, Director of Human Services Bill Siedhoff, says he’s been asking surrounding towns to stop dropping off their homeless downtown.

“This is something that we’ve complained about for years,” Siedhoff said, “The response has really fallen on deaf ears. We’ve gotten no help from surrounding counties. There are an awful a lot of homeless people that end up being dumped here in the city. We can’t document that, but certainly it happens.”

It’s unclear whether the practice violates any local of federal grant laws related to the homeless, but Siedhoff says if the city can document it happening it may end up in court.

Bill Siedhoff, Director of Human Services, city of St. Louis

“I would think there’s a legitimate basis for someone bringing this to someone’s attention through legal means,” Siedhoff said, “On the riverfront encampments, none of the people were from the city. They were all from outside the city limits.”

Last year, city taxpayers footed the bill for some 90 emergency calls for police and ambulance service at the riverfront homeless camps, Siedhoff said, including the case of a man who was murdered in an apparent argument over a can of beer.

This past fall, a five story warehouse fire near the homeless camps was linked to reports of the homeless seen running from the building. But no one was ever charged and the fire department ruled the cause “undetermined.”

Copyright KMOX Radio

“I’ve had people I’ve talked to that had PHDs,” said the Revered Larry Rice of the New Life Evangelistic Center, “A guy had a PHD in chemistry and he used up his life savings.  People who owned businesses, people who are college graduates, there’s a lot of talent on the streets.”

Rice estimates 60 percent of the women showing up for help are first-time homeless, and 30 percent of the men are also new to the streets.   This week he says he’s boarding 250 to 300 people a night, many migrating downtown from St. Charles county, Jefferson county and St. Louis county.

The Reverend Larry Rice, New Life Evangelistic Center

“They come from all over and what happens is somebody ends up homeless in St. Charles county or St. Louis county,” Rice said, “The police don’t know what to do with them.  They don’t want to lock them up all night.  Hospitals release them.  They don’t know what to do with them.  Church doors are locked.  So, they end up coming here.”

Rice is calling on suburban churches to provide the service that county governments are failing to provide.

“Churches throughout St. Louis county, throughout Illinois, throughout St. Charles and Jefferson county need to start opening their door like they would for a tornado or an earthquake,” Rice said.

Copyright KMOX

Highs for the next few days will be in the mid-50s.

Today’s picks

• KY3: Homeless camp agrees to disband. Rev. Larry Rice and the New Life Evangelistic Center have reached an agreement with the city of Springfield to stop using a parking lot as a tent camp for homeless people. (Other coverage: KSPR, News-Leader, OzarksFirst)
• News-Leader: Veterans group to end operation. The Greater Ozarks Veterans & Patriotic Organization, which puts on Springfield’s annual Veterans Day parade and handles ceremonies at Springfield National Cemetery, has voted to disband. The move could endanger the future of Springfield’s annual parade. 
  
• OzarksFirst: Job-training partnership aims to help workers over 50. Experience Works, a nonprofit organization that helps train and place low-income older people in the workforce, has partnered with the Walmart Foundation for a new training program.
• News-Leader: Utility considering plan to save Lake of the Ozarks homes. Ameren Missouri, the utility that manages Lake of the Ozarks, is considering a plan to settle the property dispute that has threatened 4,000 homeowners around the lake. (Other coverage: KSPR, OzarksFirst)
• KSPR: Bolivar cuts funding for 911 center. The city of Bolivar has opted to pull its funding for the Polk County 911 center, saying the center’s expenses exceed its budget.
• News-Leader: Kinder won’t run for governor. Lt. Gov. Peter Kinder announced Friday he will not run for governor in 2012 and will instead support fellow Republican David Spence of St. Louis. (Other coverage: KSPR, KY3, OzarksFirst)

Today will start off cold, with wind-chill temperatures close to freezing. Skies will remain clear, and the day will warm up nicely, with a high of 62. It will be breezy, with gusts of up to 30 mph.

Expect 60s through the weekend, with the first rain chances expected Sunday night.

Today’s picks

• News-Leader: City says it won’t allow campground for homeless. Homeless advocate Larry Rice, who has clashed with the city of Springfield over the years, has set up a camp in central Springfield, but city officials say the camp violate city zoning regulations. (Other coverage: KSMU, KSPR, KY3, OzarksFirst)   
• OzarksFirst: Prosecutor says deputy justified in Greene County shooting. Greene County Prosecutor Dan Patterson said Thursday that Deputy Matthew Keatts was justified in shooting Tammy Robinette of Mountain Grove, who pulled a gun during a traffic stop. (Other coverage: News-Leader)
• KY3: Federal regulators reverse course at Lake of the Ozarks. Federal regulators may allow many homes along the Lake of the Ozarks shoreline to remain, despite easement issues. (Other coverage: KSPR, OzarksFirst)
• News-Leader: Hickory Hills site faces new hurdles. The City Council and the Greene County Commission have to figure out how to juggle different taxing jurisdictions to help pay for improvements at the Hickory Hills development at Chestnut Expressway and U.S. Highway 65.

Rev. Rice says it doesn’t appear 25% of the construction workforce there is made of minorities, “We’re going to be videotaping during the next 30 days the activities going on here at the library, at the (Peabody) Opera House, the park, and other construction projects in the immediate downtown area. Then we’re going to take it up with community activists to see what we can do to get some action on this.”

A homeless person named Anthony attending Saturday’s news conference called by Rev. Rice said he and others are ready to go to work, “If we’re picking up rocks and other debris, it’s still a job. Hire us for that. Hire us for all the jobs we’re qualified for. And the others that we aren’t, we can get training to do.”

Kymal Dockett works with the homeless at the New Life Evangelistic Center, “Ninety-percent of these people you see living on downtown park benches are African-American, but ninety-percent you see working on these construction projects making good money are white. What is the problem?”  

Rev. Rice says if minority participation in construction jobs downtown does not reach 25% by the end of this month, an act of civil disobedience may be considered.

Copyright KMOX Radio

The city’s latest homeless census released to KMOX this week shows the city has spent an estimated $84 million in federal and local funds in six years, but the number of homeless people now on the streets is only 626 lower than the original headcount in 2005.

“I don’t have an exact figure, but on an annual basis we spend about $14 million a year,” said Bill Siedhoff the Director of the City Department of Human Services.  Siedhoff says the money has helped far more than 626 individuals get off the street, but because of high unemployment and more homeless coming to the city from surrounding counties, the ten-year plan has been set back.

St. Louis City Director of Human Services, Bill Siedhoff

The latest city’s latest homeless census, conducted earlier this year, shows 1,315 homeless people on the streets — a reduction of 32-percent from the 2005 headcount of 1,941 homeless.   The so-called “chronic” homeless population, those repeat individuals with a disability,  has been reduced to 168 from the original total of 210 — a drop of 20 percent.

Given the results, Siedhoff was asked if the program can be justified as an efficient use of taxpayer money.

Homeless Camp on the St. Louis Riverfront, spring 2011

“Oh, I don’t think there’s any question about that,” Siedhoff said, “If those dollars weren’t being expended, you’d be seeing people on the street in larger numbers than we have now.”

Siedhoff says the administrative overhead for the effort is about “five-to-ten percent” of the total dollars spent.   The $14 million dollars the city spends annually on the homeless is distributed to area agencies that provide the front-line services, including Catholic Charities.

“You would hope you’d see more of a decrease,” said Karen Wallensak, Director of Catholic Charities Housing Resource Center, “But given the economy, there are more homeless.  I have seen many more people in Lucas Park, behind the New Life Center.  And I just heard today, there’s a group of people sleeping in Carondolet Park under the train trestle.”

At the New Life Evangelistic Center, which receives no funds from the city’s homeless program,  Pastor Chris Rice, the son of the Reverend Larry Rice, applauded the city’s effort to end chronic homelessness, but expressed doubt it will succeed.

Pastor Chris Rice, New Life Evangelistic Center

“I don’t believe they will, because chronic homelessness is about people, and you know how hard it is to help people,” Rice said, “You know, will emergency rooms ever end heart disease?”

To get more people off the streets,  the New Life Center wants the city to end its 90-day residency policy, which requires the homeless seeking assistance through a city-funded program to prove they have lived in the city in the past 90 days.  

“By lifting that you’re saying now we’re free to help everybody, like they do in Kansas City, like they do in Chicago,” Rice said, “If you’re homeless, you get help.”

But the city instituted the 90 policy to prevent an even greater influx of homeless people from surrounding counties.   Both Rice and Siedhoff say they have heard reports of police cars from surrounding municipalities dropping homeless people off in the city at night. 

“About half the people we serve here now come from outside the city limits,” said Siedoff, “If people were willing to do what’s needed in surrounding counties to the level they should, then the job of ending homelessness would certainly be accomplished a lot faster.”

Siedoff says no formal letters have been sent from the city of St. Louis to surrounding municipalities challenging them to care for the homeless in their midst. 

Copyright KMOX. 

(**editor’s note: In 2010, the city released a progress report on the homeless showing a smaller total for its 2005 homeless census.  Siedhoff says that document incorrectly reported there were 1,485 homeless in the city in 2005.  The larger number quoted in our story (1,941) comes from a 2005 city document, which Siedoff provided a copy of for KMOX.**)

Homeless men recall a cold night in St. Louis

ST. LOUIS–(KMOX)–The homeless are doing what they can to get warm these cold nights – even breaking into abandoned homes to start fireplace fires.   But what are they burning?

Ripping up floor boards,  tearing down woodwork,  homeless man Micahel Griessel says when you don’t have proper logs,  you have to find some wood to burn from the house itself. 

“I was using woodwork, flooring anything I can get my hands on to burn,” Griessel said, holding out his hands to show the rough spots. 

Griessel told his story of surviving one of the coldest nights of the year in an old brick house that he said looked like “wealthy people” used to live there. 

 ”I always asked my friend if he ever wondered who used to live here, how the house used to look before it was abandoned,” Griessel said. 

Looking for someplace to take a hot shower,  Griessel showed up at the New Life Evangelistic Center,  where he complained it wasn’t too restful, sleeping by the fireplace, because he had to constantly get up and find more wood in the house.  

Another homeless man passing through the crowd of poor picking through bins for free coats complained that it’s hard to get warm outside on single digit nights. 

“I got a lot of styrofoam with blankets that I just lay up against a wall,” said Floyd Crawford. 

The Reverend Larry Rice of the New Life Evangelistic Center

New Life Evangelistic Center founder, the Reverend Larry Rice, says the coldest night he ever spent outdoors got down to 13 degrees.   It was a experiement with a cardboard box to understand what it feels like.   ”You can never get comfortable,” Rice said, “because if you put on too many layers, you sweat, and then the sweat freezes.”

Rice says his ministry has seen a 20 percent increase in demand this winter, with “the new poor” seeking shelter, food and other services.  

Copyright KMOX

Homeless men recall a cold night in St. Louis

ST. LOUIS–(KMOX)–The homeless are doing what they can to get warm these cold nights – even breaking into abandoned homes to start fireplace fires.   But what are they burning?

Ripping up floor boards,  tearing down woodwork,  homeless man Micahel Griessel says when you don’t have proper logs,  you have to find some wood to burn from the house itself. 

“I was using woodwork, flooring anything I can get my hands on to burn,” Griessel said, holding out his hands to show the rough spots. 

Griessel told his story of surviving one of the coldest nights of the year in an old brick house that he said looked like “wealthy people” used to live there. 

 ”I always asked my friend if he ever wondered who used to live here, how the house used to look before it was abandoned,” Griessel said. 

Looking for someplace to take a hot shower,  Griessel showed up at the New Life Evangelistic Center,  where he complained it wasn’t too restful, sleeping by the fireplace, because he had to constantly get up and find more wood in the house.  

Another homeless man passing through the crowd of poor picking through bins for free coats complained that it’s hard to get warm outside on single digit nights. 

“I got a lot of styrofoam with blankets that I just lay up against a wall,” said Floyd Crawford. 

The Reverend Larry Rice of the New Life Evangelistic Center

New Life Evangelistic Center founder, the Reverend Larry Rice, says the coldest night he ever spent outdoors got down to 13 degrees.   It was a experiement with a cardboard box to understand what it feels like.   ”You can never get comfortable,” Rice said, “because if you put on too many layers, you sweat, and then the sweat freezes.”

Rice says his ministry has seen a 20 percent increase in demand this winter, with “the new poor” seeking shelter, food and other services.  

Copyright KMOX

By ThinkGoat

East St. Louis, Illinois Number 1, avoid East St. Louis like the plague. You’ll immediately know you’re there because, like Lewis Black describes North Korea, it’s so evil the color has completely been sucked out. And the monkeys from the Wizard of Oz live there. Think I’m kidding? Test me if you dare. It’s not a good place. Now even though downtown St. Louis proper is cool, there are still places there that creep me the fuck out.

St. Louis is built on the banks of the Muddy Mississippi with the downtown area right along those banks. It’s really a neat place to walk around – parts of the riverfront have been completely restored into quaint little restaurants and shops. But right next door to those restored beauties are abandoned warehouses that look as though they’ve housed some form of torture chambers. And running walking past them, I could swear sometimes if my heart wasn’t pounding a deafening beat in my eardrums, screams could be heard. And guess what? It turns out I’m a psychic. Those freaky little mini-movies that have played out in 3-second segments in my mind came true in one East St. Louis warehouse.

**Actual crime scene footage

It all started with a fire on top of a metal landscaping cart outside one of those fucked-up buildings I was telling ya’ll about. Since it’s hot as hell around these parts right now, it was fairly safe to rule out homeless people burning stuff to keep warm. Already shit seems suspicious. What if I told you that fire was either spontaneous human combustion or someones attempt to rid themselves of a dead body? Would you be interested? What if I were to add that burning mound of flesh was missing a few parts, like two legs and one arm? Told you this shit was suspicious. It’s only the beginning. Believe me, I wouldn’t give away this story in the 3rd paragraph.

So St. Clair County PD had a mystery to solve. 1. Who was that burning? 2. Who flicked the Bic? 3. Where the fuck are the appendages? Questions 4+ don’t really matter right now. I’ve got to slow down when telling you this shit.

Let’s address question #1. It probably would have been insensitive and quite the cliché to name this legless victim that was found close to the banks of the longest river in North America, “Bob”. (reason 2348923843 why I’m not on some special victim’s unit as a professional) Nonetheless, it didn’t take the police long to track down where the body had been prior to being torched. And they knew they were onto something when they found evidence leading them to one of the abandoned warehouses nearby. Once inside, they found identification leading them to believe “Bob” was really Zachary Irvin, a 22-year-old who left on a bus from his hometown of St. Elmo, Illinois in search of a new life/new employment. Dental records confirmed they had properly identified the body.

As for question #2. Police have charged two homeless men, Dennis Iagulli, 41, and James Pierson, 36, for the killing.

And now addressing question #3. Appendages. Who knows? More than likely it was the flying monkeys. They fucked that scarecrow up.

Warehouse Crime Scene

Now back to the warehouse. Someone had reportedly seen Irvin a few days prior to his death around the vicinity of the warehouse.  There was evidence this particular building was used as kind of a “tent city” for a small contingent of homeless people. But what piqued authorities interest as they nosed around,  was the fact three particular rooms seemed to be something out of the movie “Law Abiding Citizen” or “Reservoir Dogs” . There was blood splattering the walls and the floors, bloody fingerprints on door jambs,  and an array of utensils that led them to believe they may have played a part in the missing body parts that once belonged to Irvin. Why? Blood. (although at the time of the press release, the red shit that resembled blood found on the tools had not been tested). But because we’re pseudo non-conformists here, we’re going with blood. It just feels right, or “fits” so-to-speak.

Warehouse sneak peek

Here’s what was recovered:  meat cleaver, hacksaw, drywall saw, metal shears, claw hammer, rope, tin snips, binding material strewn around the room, and shell casings. All had a “blood-like substance” on them. 10-1 DNA testing will conclude that “blood-like substance” originated from Irvin.

As mentioned earlier, Zachary Irvin moved from St. Elmo to St. Louis after being laid-off from his job. He’s described as a good guy – one who readily helped out at his church. One a little down on his luck in a place where he grew up and one looking to better himself by finding some form of work in the “city”. Assuming he hadn’t a pot to piss in, he found himself seeking assistance (per suggestion from his grandmother) with Rev. Larry Rice’s New Life Evangelistic Center in downtown St. Louis. It was there that he and Iagulli argued and Irvin was allegedly lured to the warehouse. How they traveled from downtown St. Louis to East St. Louis is still a mystery. They were all homeless. Authorities believe Irvin was bound to a chair in the warehouse to keep him from escaping, (it worked for the most part – they obviously failed to restrain his legs and arm) shot, and cut into pieces that would be a little easier to move around and dispose.

***Zachary Irvin, victim.

Dennis Iagulli, 41, and James Pierson, 36 — have been charged with first-degree murder and concealment of a homicidal death. It is believed they shot Irvin, cut his body into pieces, and attempted to dispose of the body by setting it on fire. Each are being held in St. Clair County Jail in lieu of $3 million bail.

It seems as though this crime is being down-played by one Lieutenant. Bill Baker just seems to think 3 homeless dudes got into a “beef” and 2 of the 3 decided to settle it this way. I’m not so sure about that. I think 2 of the 3 were sadistic motherfuckers who found an innocent small-town boy they could mutilate for their own shits and giggles. It’s impossible at this point to know if Iagulli and Pierson drew the pentagrams all over the walls in the torture chambers but it kind of fits their theme. It’s also unclear if there have been other victims. Lt. Baker doesn’t believe so but let’s face it. These two look as though pure evil seeps from their pores. Who’d know if they off’d other homeless people – this kid they found just so happened to have family with whom he maintained contact.

Authorities have since cleared out the indigents that had set up home in that warehouse and East St. Louis’ mayor, Alvin Parks put the public at ease with this statement:  ”We continue to monitor the situation to make sure everyone is registering for occupancy permits”. Uh-huh. I imagine the city office has been flooded with homeless people getting their permits. That’s bullshit. He knows it and I know it. These people are taking cover against those god-damn flying monkeys wherever they can.

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AIMEE HALL/Missourian

Hank Zeniewicz organizes the clothes throughout the free store at the New Life Evangelistic Center. The free store, which is open to the public from noon until 4 p.m., has been serving the Douglass Park area since it first opened in the 1990s.

It was nearly six years ago in Springfield that the New Life Evangelistic Center’s free store saved Hank Zeniewicz’s life.

“I had gone into the free store there on Commercial Street one evening,” Zeniewicz said. “I was suffering from depression. I just wanted a hot cup of coffee, wait until the next train passed behind the free store, and I was going to go out and commit suicide.”

But before Zeniewicz was able to end his life, a worker at the center intervened and told him about a free two-year training program through the New Life Evangelistc Center. Before leaving, the worker made Zeniewicz swear he would return the next night. He left, promising to do so. Upon his visit the following day, he decided to join the program. Now, six years later, Zeniewicz works at the New Life Evangelistic Center on Wilkes Boulevard in Columbia.

Zeniewicz’s story is only one example of many people whose lives have been changed by a New Life Evangelistic Center.

The New Life Evangelistic Center—also known as the NLEC—is a not-for-profit, Christian organization that provides for the immediate needs of the poor and homeless. NLEC’s are located in cities around the nation, including Columbia.

There are multiple facets to every NLEC. One of these is the free store, where Zeniewicz’s story began. Here, clothes, small furniture items, shoes, household objects and more are freely given based on the need of each individual who enters, depending on what is available at the time.

Outside the free store and around the corner of the building, there is a door that leads to the second floor of the Columbia NLEC, which acts as a homeless shelter for local men in need. Inside, eight beds, a TV, and kitchen appliances are strewn throughout the rooms. After filling out a short application, homeless men are free to stay up to 14 days and are welcome to return to the shelter following a 30-day absence. This rule is because of the high demand at the NLEC, Zeniewicz said, although small exceptions are occasionally made if needed.

Every homeless guest to Columbia’s NLEC also has the unique opportunity to join the two-year program that offers job training in construction work, TV camera operations, radio hosting, office work, renewable energy production and much more. Zeniewicz said it could give him the chance to obtain a job in making bio-diesel fuel or hosting a TV program in the future.

“It has given me a whole lot more knowledge and a lot more self-confidence,” Zeniewicz said. “I don’t have that deep depression I had gone through.”

Columbia’s NLEC also hands out holiday meal baskets on occasion.

“With the economy the way it’s been, we haven’t gotten the donations we used to,” said Nathan First, Regional Supervisor and Media Consultant for the NLEC, about holiday meals. But despite the setbacks in this area, First remains positive.

“We still do what we can when we get donations,” First said.

The NLEC periodically assists local residents in paying their electric bills if they are subject to a disconnection. However, First said he regrets that the Columbia center cannot help every person who has electrical needs because there is a “minimal amount of utility pledges.” 10 pledges are available each week on a first come, first serve basis.

The current focus of the NLEC now, however, is to revive the pantry that once ran out of a side room next to the free store. Local residents or businesses wishing to help the NLEC can donate items or volunteer their time at the shelter hanging up clothing, sorting through donations, vacuuming, etc. Local businesses interested in partnering with the NLEC can also do so through utility pledges.