MIKE FERGUSON IN THE MORNING

0:00 SEG 1 

• Gary Weigert interview
• Former President of the St. Louis Police Officers Association
• Follow up to the discussion that came up yesterday about the pensions for police officers in St. Louis
• Challenge of retaining officers, especially when other (safer) communities are offering more money and benefits. Importance of pensions in that discussion?
• St. Louis City Hall's approach to law enforcement and the results we're seeing now
• Any thoughts on the search for a new police chief? 

11:22 SEG 2 

• PROMOTE CONSERVATIVE CHRISTMAS
• The Trump business organization is convicted of tax violations.
• NYC Jury Finds Trump Organization Guilty of Tax Fraud (townhall.com)

The penalty for the conviction is a fine of $1.6 million. BIG: The Trump Org with tens of (if not 100s of) millions in annual revenue, was found guilty for being off with around $160,000 a year.

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• FOX AUDIO: Gurnall Scott Trump Org Conviction (40 secs)
• Notes: the business organization, not Donald Trump personally, was on trial.
• Fines against the business entity could be around $1.6 million.
• Trump says it's a "witch hunt".
• MAF opinion: I don't think this affects the presidential race. Neither Trump's supporters nor opponents are changing their minds.
• Still, I'm not sure an appeal is wise from a campaign perspective - it just keeps the words "conviction" and "tax fraud" in the headlines. 

20:17 SEG 3  

• Federal judge slaps three former St. Louis City aldermen with significant sentences.
• Details of each sentence.
• Former St. Louis Aldermen Reed, Boyd and Collins-Muhammad sentenced in pay-to-play scheme (kmov.com)

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Prison time recommended for former St. Louis Board of Aldermen who pleaded guilty in bribery scheme - kmov.com

The United States Attorneys for the Eastern District of Missouri are asking the court to sentence three former St. Louis City elected officials to prison.

www.kmov.com

• Reaction: surprised? Not surprised?
• Will this have an impact on St. Louis politics?
• Interesting note: one of the federal prosecutors in the case refused to answer the question of whether the investigation is closed. Don't necessarily read into that, but it's an interesting note.

29:30 SEG 4 

• PROMOTE: St. Louis County NAACP President John Bowman at 8:05. Is the Crestwood Tax Increment Financing deal with Dierbergs a case of corporate welfare?
• 81 years ago today, over 3,500 American lives were lost at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. 
• US ARMY AUDIO: National Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day (1:40)
• Seems like ancient history to many Americans.