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This column highlights community interaction, new site features and other notes from the editor.We at Maplewood-Brentwood Patch are excited about a new local series called Dispatches: The Changing American Dream. It's part of a national Patch effort to explore, highlight and discuss the stories of different Americans chasing different dreams. National debates focus on topics like job creation, unemployment and foreclosures. But we often hear stories on the local level, too, about our friends adjusting to these trying times, whether it's a small business owner who weathered the recession or our neighbor who took on a second job to help pay the bills. At Patch, we want to explore that …
You've uploaded photos, posted announcements and commented on news articles. Now Patch is empowering you to do even more: share stories and news with your neighbors through new blogging capabilities on the site. Beginning May 4, Maplewood-Brentwood Patch will make room for local bloggers on the site. We're looking for community leaders, artists, business owners, mothers, fathers and everything inbetween. If you can riff on various topics, share your personality and engage readers in discussions, then we want you on Patch. We're a lot more than a news site. Patch is an online conversation …
Do you live, work or play in Brentwood or Maplewood? Are you a strong believer in Patch's mission to support local communities and want to get involved? Maplewood-Brentwood Patch seeks driven, energetic community members to work on our Neighborhood Video Street Team.The team will be comprised of folks who want to share great stories in and about their community. The paid positions work on an ongoing, freelance basis. Team members occasionally will work independently but will also work with other members. We'll cover events like Brentwood Days or Maplewood's Coffee Crawl, but we'll also seek …
Stephen Moelm is a candidate running for a one-year unexpired term on the Brentwood Board of Education. He faces incumbent Katrina Harper and challenger Katrina Sommer. He's a Brentwood resident who owns a home with Rochelle Moelm at 2006 Urban Drive, according to public real estate records. I don't know much else about Mr. Moelm, but not because I haven't tried. He declined two requests for interviews—one from Mary Konroy and one from me—saying he instead preferred to send out pamphlets to the public before the April 5 election. Moelm has previously run for Second Ward Alderman on the …
Rebecca Campbell has been named advertising manager for Maplewood-Brentwood Patch. Rebecca is a South County native and mother of four who lives in Kirkwood. She's excited to help local business owners share their message and brand to a large Patch community. "I'm totally committed to the notion of community involvement and the value of local business," Rebecca said. Rebecca will show local business owners how to get the best use of advertising dollars with Maplewood-Brentwood Patch. A year's ad online with Patch can cost as little as $200. Rebecca is also available to show business owners …
How do you feel about the Brentwood Board of Aldermen decision to reject a smoking ban exemption for American Legion Goff-Moll Post 101? Please consider sharing your thoughts in a Letter to the Editor. We'll publish the letter to the community on our front page. Please limit your letters to 300 words or less, and include your full name, age, residence and telephone number (for verification purposes). You can e-mail your letters to me at ryan.martin@patch.com. Be sure to write "Letter to the Editor" in the subject line. You may include photos that support your letter if you'd like, although …
Okay, moms, I'm using my lifeline here. Maplewood-Brentwood Patch needs your help. I'm really wanting to expand our coverage of issues, events and stories that affect moms and families on a daily basis, but I realize we can't do it without a mom's true wisdom and understanding. So, like any smart son has learned, I'm calling for backup. Maplewood-Brentwood Patch is adding a Moms Council—an advisory board similar to a readers board you might find at a newspaper. The Moms Council will be comprised of a few local mothers (fathers are okay too!) who are passionate about Patch's mission and want …
Today's snowfall provides fun opportunities for Maplewood and Brentwood families. Whether your family uses today's snow day to build a snowman, find a sledding slope or warm up inside next to a fire, we'd love to share your photos on Maplewood-Brentwood Patch. Simply e-mail editor Ryan Martin at ryan.martin@patch.com with a caption of what you're doing and who's in the photo.
Mercy and Joe, a couple from Brentwood, were selected as finalists for Y98's Mega Wedding 2011 giveaway. They became sweethearts at Brentwood High School and now have a shot at their dream wedding, scheduled for Feb. 14. You can show your support for the Brentwood High alumni by logging on and casting your vote. While you're there, check out their video. Know Mercy and Joe personally? We'd love to ask them about their wedding plans! Please contact editor Ryan Martin at ryan.martin@patch.com.
Our New Year's resolution at Maplewood-Brentwood Patch is to serve you better. As 2011 quickly approaches, we want to make sure you know about all of the Patches in your area that can help you stay connected to what's going on in the places that matter the most to you. Whether it's news that will affect your morning commute, events going on this weekend or business listings for the shops and restaurants you visit in these towns, Patch has it covered. See what's happening in:Clayton-Richmond Heights PatchLadue-Frontenac PatchKirkwood-Webster Groves Patch Looking for news in other communities …
If you couldn't tune in yesterday to hear me and regional editors Kurt Greenbaum and Holly Edgell talk about Patch on KWMU's St. Louis on the Air, you can listen to an audio recording of the show. We were on the last half of the program. We talked with host Don Marsh about the importance of community journalism and what role Patch plays in the journalism landscape. He asked us several questions regarding our mission and purpose, and a few callers offered their thoughts and questions. I was proud to represent Maplewood-Brentwood Patch on the program. We have two great communities here, and …
With the first major snowfall finally landing in the St. Louis area, what do you plan to do today? Hit up the sledding hill at Kellogg Park? Try to rush to Schnucks to grab some bread and milk? Or do you simply want to stay at home with some hot cocoa? We'd love to see what you're doing today. Submit your photos and captions to me at ryan.martin@patch.com and I'll share how we're all enjoying this Sunday snow day.
Does your grandma create the perfect pecan pie? Do all of the neighborhood kids come to your house to eat your chocolate chip cookies? Do you blend together the perfect ingredients to create a tasty holiday cocktail? It's time to pit your unique family recipe against your neighbors' recipes—the winners will receive gift certificates to Penzey's Spices in downtown Maplewood! To help spread the holiday cheer and give back to the community, Maplewood-Brentwood Patch is launching a contest to connect families with new and old holiday traditions. We're asking you to submit your favorite family …
Maplewood-Brentwood Patch ran a contest on Monday and Tuesday and asked you, the readers, to tell us your favorite Blue Devils moment from this year's undefeated season. As a reward for your participation, we gave away two tickets to Saturday's championship game at the dome and a $30 dinner for two at the Red Lion to one lucky fan. In a random drawing, Rosalind Collins won the package. Her favorite game was the first match-up between MRH and Northwest Academy. On Maplewood-Brentwood Patch's Facebook, Rosalind writes, "The best game was the 1st MRH vs Northwest...just because it was so much…
Alright, Blue Devils fans. Maplewood-Brentwood Patch is giving away two tickets to Saturday's championship game at the Dome and a $30 dinner for two at the Red Lion. Visit our Facebook page and respond to the following question for your chance to win: The Blue Devils won 14 games this season. Which game was your favorite, and why? We'll draw one lucky winner on Tuesday evening and deliver your prize. Remember: Write your favorite moment on the Facebook page, not in the comments here. Good luck and go Blue Devils!
We hope you had a great Veterans Day. Here's what kept us busy this week: We reported on the Maplewood City Council's disagreement over a green restaurant program, told you about Ameren UE's plan to raise streetlight costs, and gave you the first look at Brentwood's projected budget for next year. In sports, we covered MRH's wins over Northwest Academy and over Caruthersville, and introduced you the unofficial "Tailgate Committee." We also reported on sophomore quarterback Kahlid Hagens' ruptured appendix, gave you a list of fall sports award winners and looked back on …
Ever wondered where the best pizza was in town? Or needed a recommendation about a place for a kid's party? Or mused about why a certain traffic light took so long to turn green? A new feature on Patch may be just what you need to help—and get help. Yesterday we launched Q&A, a forum where you can pose questions about Maplewood or Brentwood, or respond to other questions that have been posted. We hope you find it a little entertaining, a little fun and a lot informative. The feature gets better the more you participate, so please dive in. You can watch our instructional video below for more …
We focused our efforts on Election Night this week. On Election Day, we talked to Brentwood and Maplewood voters, covered the Maplewood Richmond Heights Middle School mock election, and brought you the results for Brentwood's two propositions and for all of the statewide amendments and propositions. We also wrote about Pat Dolan's win in the St. Louis County's Fifth District and Charlie Dooley's win for St. Louis County Executive. This week's feature story looked at the Maplewood Police Department's plan to install license plate cameras on a new police car. We wrote about the …
The end of October means two things: we're nearing the end of elections season, and we're starting postseason sports tournaments. Our coverage of the two topics kept us busy. We profiled St. Louis County Executive candidates Bill Corrigan and Charlie Dooley, and covered Corrigan's solo forum with the Brentwood Chamber of Commerce. We also reported on the Maplewood City Council's disagreement on whether it should apply for recycling grants or not. We reported on the national award won by Mark Twain Elementary and the statewide attention garnered by the MRH Early Childhood Center. We also …
Maplewood-Brentwood Patch brought you a nice mix of news and features this week. In addition to our elections story about Mayor Pat Kelly's push to extend mayoral and aldermen terms, we started bringing you candidate profile pieces in the different local races: Pat Dolan and Randy Jotte in the St. Louis County Council's Fifth District Stacey Newman and Dan O'Sullivan in the Missouri House's 73rd District Barbara Fraser and John Lamping in the Missouri Senate's 24th District John Diehl in the Missouri House's 87th District Our schools coverage outlined stories about MRH's plan to buy two more …
