Shalonda Webb

The St. Louis County Council approved spending all but $600,000 of the American Rescue Plan Act funds.

Councilmembers are allocating federal American Rescue Plan funds to help beef up staff in St. Louis County Prosecutor Wesley Bell’s office and to tear down the abandoned north county shopping center.

The party-line vote stoked sharp differences between members of the county council and audience members who decried the COVID-19 vaccine.

Two St. Louis County Council members want to use federal coronavirus relief funds to improve the health of north county residents.

Some St. Louis County Council members say a mask mandate is not necessary. Others say County Executive Sam Page should have let the council decide whether to require people age 5 and older to wear masks in indoor public spaces.

The return of in-person St. Louis County Council meetings is another sign that the pandemic is receding in the St. Louis region.

A judge said a prior election making Councilwoman Lisa Clancy chairwoman was invalid because the decisive vote was from a councilwoman whose term had expired.

The acrimonious battle to lead the St. Louis County Council is putting a split over St. Louis County Executive Sam Page's job performance into greater focus.

Members voted to adjourn after barely 30 minutes, with both Councilwoman Lisa Clancy, D-Maplewood, and Councilman Tim Fitch, R-St. Louis County, claiming the authority to run the meeting.

County Executive Sam Page, Councilwoman Shalonda Webb and Councilman Ernie Trakas participated in the official inauguration festivities. Councilwoman Kelli Dunaway held a private ceremony.