Good morning! Here are some of today's starting headlines:
Cardinals top Phillies 5-4
Albert Pujols hit a go-ahead single in the seventh to give the St. Louis Cardinals a 5-4 win over the Philadelphia Phillies last night. John Jay added two RBIs for the Cardinals, who evened the National League division series matchup at one game apiece. St. Louis will send Jamie Garcia to the mound tomorrow in game 3.
Brunner expected to announce U.S. Senate candidacy
St. Louis businessman John Brunner is expected to announce his candidacy for the U.S. Senate Monday. Brunner would join Congressman Todd Akin an former Missouri treasurer Sarah Steelman in a Republican primary for the right to challenge Democratic U. S. Senator Clair McCaskill next year. Brunner has served as chairman of the health care products company Vi-Jon Incorporated, which makes Germ-x hand sanitizer.
Neighborhood safety meeting to be held Monday night in St. Louis
St. Louis City residents and officials will gather at a meeting Monday night to share ways they can fight crime in their local communities.
For two years dozens of citizens across the city have partnered with police and officials to take ownership of the long-term safety of their neighborhoods.
Michael Petetit is chairperson of the Lafayette Square Safety Committee. He started the neighborhood ownership initiative in 2009 because of the number of heinous crimes in the neighborhood. He says as part of their efforts to decrease crime, citizens are trained by a St. Louis Community Affairs officer to conduct citizen patrols.
"Which means that residents in their neighborhood, in pairs drive through their neighborhood and they look for suspicious activity," Petetit said. "They look for quality of life issues such as debris in the alley, overgrown grass. They turn those in. They're just eyes on the street. They report everything to the police. They're non-engaging, non-confrontational."
Petetit says by the end of 2010, Lafayette Square reported the fewest instances of crime in 5 years, going from the 27th safest neighborhood in the city to the 9th safest. He hopes to enlist other neighborhoods in the citizen effort.
Tonight's meeting begins at 6 p.m. at Bishop Willie Ellis Hall on Goodfellow Blvd. and is open to the public.
Federal court to consider emergency motion for Tuscon shooting rampage suspect
A federal appeals court will consider an emergency motion to keep the Tucson shooting rampage suspect from being sent back to a Missouri prison facility for more competency treatment.
Defense lawyers want the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals to reverse U.S. District Judge Larry Burns' ruling Wednesday that extended Jared Lee Loughner's commitment by another four months. Burns also rejected defense attorneys' requests to halt Loughner's forced medication with psychotropic drugs.
Lougher's lead attorney Judy Clarke says her client's transportation and commitment back to the Springfield facility could cause "irreparable harm" to him.
The appeals court gave prosecutors until Monday evening to respond to Clarke's motion.
Loughner has pleaded not guilty to 49 charges stemming from the Jan. 8 shooting that killed six and injured 13, including Rep. Gabrielle Giffords.