If the only jobs left are service jobs, then they have to pay enough for people to live on. In the aftermath of our economic reconstruction, where all the money goes to the people at the top, I find it heartening that so many people are organizing and demanding a living wage:

ST. LOUIS • Rasheen Aldridge and a couple of his coworkers did not report Wednesday for their 11 a.m. shift at the Jimmy John's in Soulard.

Instead, they stood outside carrying protest signs with a group of supporters while four community activists entered the shop and notified the manager that those workers were on strike.

Later in the day, a handful of McDonald's workers did the same at a location in Ferguson.

Rasheen Aldridge and a couple of his coworkers did not report Wednesday for their 11 a.m. shift at the Jimmy John's in Soulard.

As in those efforts in others cities, the St. Louis workers are asking for $15 an hour instead of wages that hover closer to the minimum wage, which is $7.35 an hour in Missouri.

“I realize I'm not the CEO of a fast-food company,” said Aldridge, 19, a student at St. Louis Community College at Forest Park.

But he said the $8 an hour he makes at Jimmy John's is not proper compensation for his work. It's not enough, for example, to pay for repairs to his car, which he sometimes uses to deliver sandwiches.

While Aldridge granted that $15 an hour may be a lofty goal, he said it was a good starting point for negotiations.

Instead, they stood outside carrying protest signs with a group of supporters while four community activists entered the shop and notified the manager that those workers were on strike.

Later in the day, a handful of McDonald's workers did the same at a location in Ferguson.

These employees are being joined by dozens of more fast food workers Thursday across the St. Louis region in a push for higher wages, better working conditions, and the right to form a union without retaliation. A rally in Delmar Loop is planned for Thursday afternoon.

(You might want to turn down the sound, the music is really loud.)

They say nothing like this has ever happened before, but it looks like we're going to have to get used to these unusually strong and frequent extreme weather events. It's the new normal! Via Raw Story:

Crews worked on Saturday to get St. Louis' tornado-battered airport ready to reopen after it was hit by a roaring storm that also damaged hundreds of houses, tossed cars and knocked out power.

Several injuries were reported but no fatalities.

A preliminary count showed at least 750 homes were damaged, Governor Jay Nixon told reporters after touring the area by air. Fewer than 100 homes were completely destroyed, he said.

Near a highway overpass about 10 miles from downtown St. Louis trees had been snapped like toothpicks, metal was twisted in piles, broken glass covered the ground.

Among the wrecked building's was 58-year-old chiropractor Dennis Baker's office, which lost its roof in the storm.

"The wind had whipped around inside with such force that it just tore everything apart," Baker told Reuters, mopping his brow as he took a break from clearing debris.

"We found the roof sitting in our parking lot and we just started in trying to get the important stuff out," Baker said, saying he and his wife worked from 10 p.m. to 1 a.m. using the light from a small flashlight.

[...] Governor Nixon declared a state of emergency and released state funds to help in the cleanup.

He also spoke to President Barack Obama, who pledged his full support and assistance with recovery efforts, according to a statement from the governor's office.