Tourism official says part of St. Louis only for buying crack

Belleville NewsDemocrat / AP ^ | November 17, 2006

[Stoat]

Tourism official says part of St. Louis only for buying crack

Associated Press

ST. LOUIS - A tourism official trying to portray St. Louis as a safe place to visit ended up referring to part of the city as a place that would only be visited to purchase crack cocaine.

A research company, Morgan Quitno Press, called St. Louis the most dangerous city in the United States in October.

The public relations director for the St. Louis Convention and Visitors Commission, Mary Hendron, was trying to combat the perception of St. Louis as unsafe to Venues Today, a national trade publication which covers sports and entertainment facilities.

She was explaining that crime figures were skewed by high crime in neighborhoods that aren't tourist destinations.

"It's a bad part of town, but every city has a bad part of town," Hendron told Venues Today. "Frankly, the only reason anyone would go there would be to purchase crack cocaine."

Hendron said she wasn't referring to any particular neighborhood and she intended the remark to be off-the-record. The reporter for Venues Today, Dave Brooks, said he stands by his story and said Hendron never told him anything was off-the-record.

St. Louis officials argue that more than 1 million people live in suburbs outside the city and including them in studies would greatly dilute the overall crime rate. They argue that new lofts, restaurants and offices downtown show the city is safer than the study concluded.

[Stoat]

[JennysCool]

As Mary Hendron undoubtedly has realized to her dismay, it's becoming impossible to tell the truth in this country.

[bigfootbob]

When I was in a teen in the '70's growing in up in Indiana, there were places in Chicago that had the same reputation, (heroin) and were warned by our local Indiana tourism groups to avoid when visiting the "Windy City".

[Slings and Arrows]

Gotta target that all-important crackhead tourist market, you know.

[Stoat]

As Mary Hendron undoubtedly has realized to her dismay, it's becoming impossible to tell the truth in this country.

Usually, the penalty for speaking unpleasant truths is losing one's job, at the very least.

[SIDENET]

Ah, yes...the historic Crack District.

[IllumiNaughtyByNature]

Ruh Roh!

[durasell]

Ah, yes...the historic Crack District.



LOL!

[Stoat]

Gotta target that all-important crackhead tourist market, you know.

They are legendary for infusing cash into legitimate businesses....butane torch dealers, drug rehab centers, mortuaries.....

 

[IllumiNaughtyByNature]

Whitney Houston will be saddened...

[LongElegantLegs]

Well, sign me up for the Crack Package!!

[fieldmarshaldj]

Must be the neighborhood where the locals spray-painted "Honky Lips" on the Griswold Family Truckster.

[traditional1]

Obviously....yet ANOTHER Democrat stronghold.

[Stoat]

When I was in a teen in the '70's growing in up in Indiana, there were places in Chicago that had the same reputation, (heroin) and were warned by our local Indiana tourism groups to avoid when visiting the "Windy City".
 

This was before the age of the mandatory 'sensitivity training' gulags for public officials.

[Slings and Arrows]

Trickle-down economics lives!

[Terpin]

"Frankly, the only reason anyone would go there would be to purchase crack cocaine."


Or to vote Democrat!

[TheErnFormerlyKnownAsBig]

Don't forget the huge industry of glass tube, with a miniature rose within, sales, and copper brillo pads.

[Stoat]

Ah, yes...the historic Crack District.

Famous to generations of short-lived thugs and law enforcement officers.

[ARealMothersSonForever]

Ah, yes...the historic Crack District.

Not near the hospitality and charm of the streetwalker and prostitution district.

[Slings and Arrows]

Whitney Houston will be saddened stoned.

Typo fixed.