April 25th, 2019 Edition

John Gaskin branded ‘traitor’

Black officials denounce County NAACP prez for endorsing Better Together while getting paid

On Monday, April 22, some 30 black elected officials grouped under the Fannie Lou Hamer Democratic Coalition banner hosted a press conference at Cool Valley City Hall to denounce John Gaskin III, president of the St. Louis County NAACP, who endorsed Better Together’s city/county merger plan without disclosing that he was being paid to push the proposal.

disclosing that he was being paid by Unite STL to push for the merger by a statewide vote.

city are unanimous, if not quite united, in calling for the resignation of John Gaskin III, president of the St. Louis County NAACP, after he endorsed Better Together’s city/ county merger plan last week – without

“Mr. Gaskin should have revealed his conflict of interest to everyone prior to any vote by the board and have allowed public input,” Dellwood Mayor Reggie Jones raised the first outcry in a statement on Friday, April 19, after the St. Louis Post-Dispatch

n The workshop will focus on pressing political issues of our region brought to the forefront in the wake of the death of Michael Brown.

Superintendent Kelvin Adams on the path forward for public education under local control

By Rebecca Rivas

Following a unanimous vote on Tuesday, April 16, the Missouri State Board of Education gave governing power of the Saint Louis Public School District back to a seven-member elected board. For the past 12 years, the district has been run by the three-member Special Administrative Board (SAB), which was appointed after the state stripped the district of its accreditation. The transfer of governance happens on July 1. The American sat down with SLPS Superintendent Kelvin Adams to discuss the

change and its anticipated impact on the district. St. Louis American: How do you feel about the vote to return the elected board to governance authority? n “I stayed neutral because I report to whatever board is in place. That’s my responsibility. My contract is with the Board of Education, regardless of what that board is.”

confronted Gaskin with his undisclosed conflict of interest.

“The process was not transparent and not fair. It has stained the reputation of an organization whose historic role was the protection of the rights of the AfricanAmerican community.”

By Rebecca Rivas and Chris King

Photo by Wiley Price

Photo by Wiley Price

St. Louis County Prosecutor Wesley Bell

Photo by Wiley Price

Kevin chopped from Wendy’s show; multimillion dollar payout expected

Wendy Williams’ estranged husband will reportedly receive a multi-million dollar divorce settlement in exchange for leaving her TV show.

The 54-year-old talk show host filed for divorce from Kevin Hunter last week after 21 years of marriage, and her spouse negotiated a payment package that will see him cut all ties with her eponymously-titled program. As of this week, his name was erased as executive producer from the show.

According to The Blast, Hunter is not fighting the divorce but is hoping to collect a huge settlement in exchange for leaving his job.

in both their personal and professional lives. Hunter is believed to want their huge fortune to be distributed equally because he has been a part of his wife’s career since the beginning, and they have both played an active role in accumulating success over the years.

Prince Memoir to hit shelves this fall

In 2016, just one month before his untimely death, Prince announced he was writing a memoir. According to The Daily Mail, the unfinished book is being prepped for release.

Sources told the website that the businessman will not be allowed on set anymore, much to the delight of the crew, who are reportedly “celebrating” his departure because “nobody liked him.”

The exit deal is likely to take a lot of time as the former couple –who have 18-year-old son, Kevin Jr., together – have a lot of shared assets

“Prince’s unfinished memoir ‘The Beautiful Ones,’ which he was writing at the time of his death in 2016, is finally set to be released this fall,” The Daily Mail said. “Three years after his passing, Random House has confirmed the ‘deeply personal account’ of the musician’s life is on its’ way and will be out on October 29. The memoir will combine

Prince’s unfinished manuscript with never before seen photos and lyrics from the star.”

Teairra Mari wanted by the law thanks to 50 Cent

Earlier this year, reality star Teairra Mari was ordered to pay rapper 50 Cent $30,000 in legal fees after losing her revenge porn case against him.

50 Cent has kept the drama going by reportedly spearheading a hearing that resulted in a warrant for Mari’s arrest.

“According to court documents obtained by The Blast, a hearing was held today where Mari had been ordered to appear but instead, she was a no-show,” said celebrity legal news site The Blast. “The Los Angeles judge then issued a bench warrant in the amount of $5,000. “The warrant will have Mari arrested if she comes into contact with law enforcement.”

50 Cent is said to have been responsible for getting the hearing set by the court to examine Mari’s financesm as he is taking steps to collect on the $30,000 she owes him in attorney fees.

Former Whitney BFF Robyn Crawford will break her silence with new book

Whitney Houston’s former assistant, best friend and rumored lover Robyn Crawford will soon be the latest associate of the late pop diva to publicly share details of their relationship.

The book, entitled “A Song For You” is said to be hitting shelves via Google Books on November 5 and is available for pre-order.

An excerpt from the description reads as follows:

“Robyn Crawford and Whitney Houston were inseparable friends and collaborators. This is the poignant inside story of their life together.

Since Whitney’s death in 2012, that trusted and loyal friend, Robyn Crawford, has stayed out of the limelight and held the great joys, wild adventures, and hard truths of her life with Whitney close to her heart. In A Song for You, Robyn breaks her silence to share the moving and often complicated story of her life and relationship with Whitney. With warmth, candor, and an impressive recall of detail, Robyn gives readers insight into Whitney’s life and career.”

Crawford currently lives in New Jersey with her wife and children.

Sources: Theblast.com, Celebretainment. com, The Daily Mail, Google.com

Teairra Mari

Kevin Hunter

First photo of a black hole is a gaze into the abyss

By Eugene Robinson Washington Post

Forget everything else for a moment and behold infinity. On April 10, scientists unveiled a fuzzy image that should blow every mind on the planet: the first-ever picture of a black hole, which is a region of space so dense that nothing can escape its gravitational pull, not even light.

Black holes were predicted by Albert Einstein’s theory of general relativity, and their existence has been inferred from decades’ worth of indirect observation. But we’ve never actually seen one until now, and the experience is humbling.

Let’s take a moment to marvel at how weird and wondrous the universe turns out to be. Black holes, which are not rare – one lurks at the center of our own galaxy, the Milky Way – can be thought of as portals that lead to some other realm that lies forever beyond our reach. They are places where space and time cease to exist, where the familiar parameters that define our reality lose all meaning.

To see such an object is to gaze into the ultimate abyss. Dumbstruck awe is the only reasonable response.

The black hole in question, known as M87, lies at the heart of a galaxy far, far away – 55 million light-years distant, to be a bit more precise. That an international team of astrophysicists was able to snap its photo is a reminder that while so many of our institutions have lost their way and squandered the public trust, science is still capable of doing miraculous things.

To see M87, they needed a telescope as big as the earth itself. To simulate such a thing, they trained existing radio telescopes at eight widely separated sites around the globe on the target simultaneously, gathering mountains of data – so much that the files were too large to be sent through the internet and had to be shipped around on high-capacity hard drives. Winter observations from a telescope in Antarctica were delayed until the weather abated and the drives containing the data could be flown out.

All of that information was combined and analyzed, a process that took many months. The image that emerged was revealed at coordinated news conferences, including one at the National Press Club

Missouri law creates barriers to equity for children

By Bill Kent Jr. For The St. Louis American

Imagine the following headline: “President Trump denies equitable funding for all children.” If this story were real, the outrage and grandstanding would be unconstrained and land prominently in our daily automated news feeds. While the president has no involvement, this injustice has existed unchallenged in Missouri since 2007.

led by Shep Doeleman of the HarvardSmithsonian Center for Astrophysics. Doeleman served as director of the Event Horizon Telescope project, named after the spherical boundary that surrounds a black hole and marks the point of no return for anything unfortunate enough to venture closer.

Another key member of the team was computer scientist Katherine Bouman, 29, soon to be an assistant professor at Caltech, who developed an algorithm that made it possible to combine the massive amounts of data produced by the participating telescopes. Those of us who believe in the power of diversity predicted that science would greatly benefit by opening its doors to women. We were right. The greatest contribution, of course, came from Einstein. A century ago, he described gravity not as a force of attraction between masses (Isaac Newton’s view) but as a warping of spacetime. His equations made predictions that were counterintuitive and even preposterous – that the path of light from a distant source would be curved by passing near a massive object, for example, or that time would pass more slowly near a strong gravitational field. On all counts, however,

he turned out to be right. Your mobile phone’s GPS would send you careening into brick walls if compensation were not made for the time distortion that Einstein described.

But even Einstein was disturbed when Karl Schwarzschild, another German physicist, used the equations of general relativity to work out that if matter became too dense it would collapse into a black hole. The idea seemed absurd. But Schwarzschild’s math turned out to be right.

How is it even possible to take a picture of a black hole against the inky blackness of space? How do you capture an image of nothing? It turns out that some black holes, including the massive M87, are surrounded by infalling material that circles rapidly like water going down a drain. All of that material reaches such high speeds that it forms a hot, glowing disc – a blazing doughnut around the voracious hole. Which is exactly what M87 looks like. Just wow.

Humans are capable of epic screw-ups that endanger our very existence. But sometimes, somehow, we still get it right.

Eugene Robinson’s email address is eugenerobinson@washpost.com.

According to the Missouri Charter Public School Association, Kansas City and St. Louis charter public schools serve approximately 23,000 (38 percent) of the nearly 60,000 students attending public schools in St. Louis and Kansas City. Our current Missouri Charter School law has effectively created an underclass of students who access free public education.

funding public education” and encourages a more simplified and equitable system. In the meantime, we should correct the injustice of inequitable funding for some of Missouri’s most vulnerable students. Delivering equitable funding language from Senate Bill 271 (sponsored by state Sen. Ed Emery, R-Lamar) to Governor Parson’s desk would be a positive step.

Columnist

Bill Kent Jr.

Over 18,000 students attending charter public schools identify as children of color, and a vast majority of the 23,000 students attending charter public schools qualify for free or reduced lunch, a proxy measure for students living in poverty. Even if that were not the case, denying children access to public funds because of ideological bickering is immoral.

I agree with the Missouri School Board Association’s advocacy position, which states that “there should be a review of Missouri’s approach to

Missouri state Legislators and all public school and charter public school officials should remember that our institutions serve as stewards of public funds, not owners. Local, state, and federal tax revenues belong to the citizens of Missouri and, in the case of school funding, our children. Using public school choice as the criteria for systemic discrimination should end. We cannot claim that we serve all children and uphold the error in Missouri State Law that deprives a significant population of families and children access to the tax dollars to which they contribute. I hope that all proponents of child wellbeing, parents, legislators, clergy, business leaders, school administrators, teachers, and citizens will choose the needs of children over politics and provide equitable funding to every child attending public schools in Missouri.

Bill Kent Jr. is president/CEO of The Biome School/Youth Learning Center.

Photo by EHT Collaboration

The black hole at the center of galaxy M87

Return of local control gives city chance to unite community around public schools

In the 10 years that Superintendent Kelvin Adams has led the 67 buildings, more than 4,000 employees, and 22,000 students of the Saint Louis Public School District, he has also worked through the administration of two mayors. Both mayors pushed agendas for school choice, mostly developing and attracting charter schools. Adams said in an interview with The American this week that he supports school choice. However, the choice agenda was pushed forward without a regional strategy on public education in the city.

“When you don’t develop a strategy, you are simply robbing Peter to pay Paul,” Adams said. “That can’t last forever. The belief is that it can. We are not providing the best information to our families. We are not cooperating.”

Currently SLPS is paying $40 million every year to transport its students. The city’s next two largest bus clients are KIPP and Confluence charter schools, who each pay around $5 million. The three districts have students that live right next to each other and attend schools near each other. Yet because there is no citywide strategic plan on public education, these districts are using taxpayer money to have three different buses run the exact same routes.

“It’s not a wise decision for a community that is so needy,” Adams said. “There are so many needs in this community. I could spend any additional funds on social workers, counselors and nurses. Charters could spend those dollars on many things other than gas.”

This is just one example of multiplication in public resources because our fragmented leadership has failed these students, failed the community, and failed taxpayers by not creating a citywide (let alone regional) plan. The St. Louis mayor and aldermen are not obligated under any city law to coordinate public education in the city and have no power to mandate change; the state legislature allocates funding formulas for public schools. But this doesn’t mean city leaders aren’t obligated to work cooperatively in creating a strategy that benefits all children in the city.

Yet rather than bring the charters and SLPS together to form partnerships, outside entities and even city leadership have instead divided those who are working to educate children.

“It’s a challenge for me; it will be a challenge for this new board,” Adams said. “People will try to divide us by promoting the idea that charters are against the district and the district is against charters.” This “new” is the newly elected Board of Education poised to take governance from the

appointed body that steered the district through this fragmented, frequently hostile landscape to achieve full state accreditation.

That board may find powerful allies at the Board of Aldermen, which is in the process of forming a new committee dedicated to looking at youth services and education in the city. Adams said the aldermen could create and host that needed conversation about creating a citywide plan for public education. He said they have the power of public office to ask people to come together – and then denounce those who don’t.

We agree. We are calling on the committee’s named chairwoman, Alderwoman Cara Spencer, aldermanic President Reed and the mayor to make this a priority.

We agree with the Adams that the biggest challenge facing the new school board is trying to sustain a nurturing environment for children in a climate where so many people say they support SLPS, but then push forward a completely different agenda that doesn’t reflect any kind of collaboration with the district that still teaches most of our children. On July 1, a seven-member elected school board will resume governing SLPS. We agree with the superintendent that this return to local control should include a call to the community to come together and do what’s best for our children.

As I See It - A Forum for Community Issues

It is time to close the Workhouse

walls of the Workhouse.

By state Senator Jamilah Nasheed

For The St. Louis American

There are a lot of challenges facing the City of St. Louis, from crime, to affordable housing, economic development and more. While there are many daunting challenges facing our city, there is one that I believe we can accomplish in the near future – one that doesn’t need funding, but the exact opposite; a problem that only needs a commitment from our city’s leaders to solve. The issue? Closing the St. Louis Workhouse once and for all. I have opposed the facility’s operation for some time now, believing it presents a clear and present danger to the health and safety of the more than 1,000 men and women at the Medium Security Institution. There have been reports of unsanitary and cramped conditions within the facility. The Workhouse also has no air-conditioning, so each summer, as temperatures often reach triple digits, both staff and offenders within this 50-year old facility are forced to suffer from dangerous and inhumane conditions. This is unacceptable. People should not have to endure another Missouri summer within the

I also believe closing the Workhouse is essential for improving our city’s criminal justice system. There are a large number of individuals with nonviolent charges being held at this facility for pretrial detention. This policy undermines our goals of reducing incarceration and implementing comprehensive criminal justice reform. We should be pursuing smart sentencing strategies, not keeping people behind bars longer than they should be just because they can’t afford bond. By closing the Workhouse, I believe we would be following through on our commitment to improving our city’s criminal justice system.

Lastly, I believe there is an economic argument to be made for closing the facility. If the Workhouse were closed, the city would save around $16 million annually. In a city that struggles to find enough revenue to fund its priorities, this is real money that can be

put toward real solutions that actually help residents in our community, like better-funded schools, job training programs and other social services. These are what keep our communities strong and vibrant, not outdated and obsolete jails like the Workhouse.

Already, city leaders have been considering the possibility of closing the Workhouse. I think this is a positive step, and one I hope they follow through on. I want to commend the comptroller for her leadership on supporting the closure of the Workhouse. While certain city leaders, including the mayor, have voiced their opposition to this plan, I urge them to reconsider their positions. I believe the city and its residents would be greatly benefitted by the closure of the Workhouse. With enough support for this proposal, I believe we can make real, lasting change for our city.

Closing the St. Louis Workhouse is in the economic and moral interest of our city. We simply cannot allow this facility to remain open, and for these individuals to be confined within its walls any longer. It is time to act. It is time to close the St. Louis Workhouse.

State Senator Jamilah Nasheed (D-St. Louis) represents the 5th District in the Missouri Senate.

Only Congress can hold Trump accountable

There is a mountain of evidence that President Trump obstructed justice. There is considerable evidence that the Trump campaign embraced and encouraged Russia’s attempt to meddle in the 2016 election.

Special counsel Robert Mueller laid out the facts – and now Congress has a solemn duty to confront them.

Contrary to what Trump says, the long-awaited Mueller report is not an exoneration. The report makes that clear more than once, verbatim, including this passage in Part II: “Accordingly, while this report does not conclude that the President committed a crime, it also does not exonerate him.”

Nor does the report indict Trump for obstruction. But that is because Mueller took as his starting point the Justice Department opinion that a sitting president should not be made to face criminal charges.

“If we had confidence after a thorough investigation of the facts that the President clearly did not commit obstruction of justice, we would so state,” Mueller wrote. “[W]e are unable to reach that judgment.”

Trump and his apologists will try to paint the report as equivocal, but the evidence it cites strikes me as definitive.

One representative passage from Part II, page 157:

“Our investigation found multiple acts by the President that were capable of exerting undue influence over law enforcement investigations, including the Russianinterference and obstruction investigations. The incidents were often carried out through one-on-one meetings in which the President sought to use his official power outside of usual channels. These actions ranged from efforts to remove

the Special Counsel and to reverse the effect of the Attorney General ‘s recusal; to the attempted use of official power to limit the scope of the investigation; to direct and indirect contacts with witnesses with the potential to influence their testimony.” Mueller does not explicitly say that Congress must now judge the president’s conduct. But he draws a detailed road map for such an exercise, including not just the voluminous evidence he gathered but also the legal reasoning for viewing some of Trump’s actions – including his firing of then-FBI Director James Comey and his attempt to get thenWhite House Counsel Don McGahn to fire Mueller – as patently illegal. The Mueller report was released on April 18 by Attorney General William Barr, who, in the process, destroyed what was left of his own credibility. Pre-spinning the document before anyone had a chance to read it, Barr parroted Trump’s favorite talking point and said Mueller found no “collusion” between the Trump campaign and the Russians. The report, however, says no such thing. It notes that “collusion” is not a federal offense and seeks instead to determine whether there is evidence of conspiracy, which is a statutory crime.

Mueller did find such evidence, but not enough to bring criminal charges.

Barr flat-out lied when he said that Mueller’s decision not

Letters to the editor

State of the heart at Dunbar

Thank you for alerting readers of The American that Dunbar Elementary School in the city’s Jeff-Vander-Lou neighborhood may be in danger of closing next year.

Some two decades ago, I volunteered with Mentor St. Louis to work with children at Dunbar. I didn’t have to spend many hours there to discover what an asset the school is to its neighborhood and how important it is to the students and their parents.

Kids don’t really care how modern and up-to-date their school is. What they want and need is a safe place. They want a place where they can walk to school in the morning and home in the afternoon. They want a decent breakfast and a nice lunch. They want teachers and staff who care about them and let them know that they are valued. They want to learn and have fun.

The children at Dunbar won’t care if they have blackboards instead of smart boards. They won’t care if some rooms or a whole floor are closed off. Instead of stateof-the-art, they need state-ofthe-heart.

Dunbar’s proximity to Vashon High School should open up numerous opportunities for the two schools to partner with each other. Vashon students would

to charge Trump had nothing to do with the Justice Department opinion that effectively gives immunity to a sitting president. The report states clearly that this opinion has everything to do with Mueller’s choice to lay out the evidence without reaching a conclusion.

Barr said he and Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein decided to declare the matter of obstruction closed because Trump was understandably “frustrated and angered” at the very existence of the investigation, and thus may not have had the requisite intent to commit a crime. But Barr was confusing two different concepts, motive and intent. Trump’s motive for trying to fire Mueller, for example, may well have been anger and frustration. But his legal intent may have been to obstruct justice.

Barr so embarrassed himself that Fox News anchor Chris Wallace seemed appalled.

“The attorney general seemed almost to be acting as the counselor for the defense, the counselor for the president, rather than the attorney general, talking about his motives, his emotions,” Wallace said. “Really, as I say, making a case for the president.”

The report notes that Trump “lambasted” former Attorney General Jeff Sessions when Sessions recused himself from involvement in the Mueller probe, telling him “’you were supposed to protect me’ or words to that effect.” Barr obviously is determined not to make the same mistake. Now responsibility shifts to Congress, and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has a decision to make.

Eugene Robinson’s email address is eugenerobinson@ washpost.com.

All letters are edited for length and style.

be invaluable to Dunbar students as mentors, tutors and coaches. The amenities at Vashon should be made available to Dunbar students, so they could attend theater and musical performances and sporting events. Both schools could benefit from relationships like this, which create closeness and community. If the Jeff-Vander-Lou neighborhood is losing population, closing Dunbar Elementary School will only exacerbate the problem. It’s only logical to think that people will be attracted to communities where there are strong and vibrant institutions, including a warm and welcoming elementary school.

Barbara L. Finch,Clayton

Democracy, redacted

The manner in which this critically important report by Special Counsel Robert Mueller was released is a slap in the face to the intelligence of the American people.

I stand with Judiciary Chairman Nadler and Oversight Chairman Cummings as they use the full powers of their gavels – given to them and House Democrats by the American people – to get the truth.

In particular, I look forward to Mueller’s testimony before Congress. In stark contrast to the president and the rest of his administration, Special Counselor Mueller is a dedicated and decorated veteran and highly respected for his integrity on both sides of the aisle. I want to hear directly from the Special Counselor and not a politically motivated attorney general who actively auditioned for the job by promising to protect the president.

Furthermore, it is impossible to discuss the release of the redacted Mueller Report without discussing Attorney General Barr and his bizarre behavior. To be clear, one cannot be the defense attorney of President Trump and the attorney general of the American people.

The American people deserve to know how and why Russians attacked and undermined our elections. Likewise, they deserve to know what President Trump has done to protect himself, his family, his allies and his businesses. The release of a heavily redacted Mueller Report is not democracy nor is it transparency. What we can see from the Mueller Report makes it clear that the President is not exonerated because there is evidence against the president, his administration and his allies.

U.S. Rep. Robin Kelly Chicago

Columnist

Eugene Robinson

Guest Columnist Jamilah Nasheed

Friends of Normandy Scholarship Gala is Friday, April 26

Friends of Normandy School District Foundation awarded scholarships to class of 2018 graduating Normandy seniors Latasha Cain, Ezekiel Jones, Chayron Goliday, Tatis Shelton and Solomon Singleton. The foundation will host its Annual Scholarship Gala on Friday, April 26 at the Norwood Hills Country Club, 1 Norwood Hills Country Club Dr. The fundraiser kicks off at 6 p.m. with a cocktail hour, with dinner and the formal program beginning at 7 p.m. Tickets are: $50/person; $500/table. To purchase a ticket/table visit: www.normandysc.org/friends You may also contact Bev Thompson at 314-285-5547, or Carol McCauley at 314-853-3349, or email, friends@normandysc.org.

Mary Meachum Freedom Crossing event on May 4

On Saturday, May 4 from noon to 5 p.m., residents from around the St. Louis region and beyond are invited to watch history come to life at Missouri’s first nationally recognized Underground Railroad site, the historic Mary Meachum Freedom Crossing. That day, area residents can experience 400 years of American history as told by three renowned St. Louis-area playwrights. The “Africans to Americans: 400 Years of History” event will chronicle the stories of Africans, who first arrived to America as slaves in 1619 to present day.

Residents of all ages attending the free celebration on May 4 will be able to watch three historical plays, as shown through the lens of three different playwrights; each focused on a different timeframe between 1619 and 2019. Angela da Silva, Gregory S. Carr and Mariah L. Richardson have written these plays for local actors, musicians and storytellers to bring to life through poetry, music and reenactments.

“This year is a milestone of black history that must be

elevated and celebrated,” says Angela da Silva, Adjunct Professor at Lindenwood University, director of the National Black Tourism Network, historical reenactor director, and Mary Meachum event manager. “It’s important for all of us to not only recognize 400 years of hardship and sacrifice but also honor the incredible contributions black people have made to this country since 1619.”

The Mary Meachum Freedom Crossing site is located on the Mississippi River Greenway on the banks of the Mississippi River, just north of Merchant’s Bridge in North St. Louis City (28 East Grand St. Louis, Missouri 63147). The site commemorates the work of Mary Meachum, a free woman of color who guided many slaves to freedom by helping them to cross over to the free state of Illinois, and later helped to spearhead education efforts for men, women and children of color in St. Louis. Open to all ages, this event is free. For more information, visit www.MaryMeachum.org.

Let’s close the workhouse by Kwanzaa

By Jamala Rogers

The December 4, 1975 headline in The St. Louis American read: “ACTION Opposes Jail-Building; Wants Jobs, Research Instead.” The article went on to quote ACTION Chairman Percy Green II in vigorous opposition to a proposed bond issue that would expand the city workhouse and build a new prison. Calls for the closing of the Medium Security Institution goes back decades along with the push to address the root causes of crime. ACTION’s fight for good-paying jobs as a crime-buster was one of its relentless core demands. Green knew a thing or two about the conditions in the jail and workhouse, having been convicted and sentenced many times for his creative direct actions and bold protests. ACTION continued its aggressive criticism of the Workhouse and its horrendous conditions until the group disbanded in 1985. The torch was taken up by groups like the Organization for Black Struggle (OBS), who heard horror stories from detainees, their families, employees and attorneys. Just recently OBS was notified about a 17-year youth being held at the Workhouse, possibly the youngest person housed in the hell-hole.

OBS spent years convincing people of a hard-to-believe fact: that most of the poor souls in the workhouse – like 90 percent – had not been convicted of a crime. This may be in violation of a city ordinance and yet another reason to close the so-called house of work. Detainees are waiting for a wishful speedy trial with months turning into years.

The original Workhouse was created by a detailed ordinance in 1848 when people, wrongfully or rightfully, were actually convicted of crimes before being assigned to work off their fines if they couldn’t pay. Debtors were forced to work in places like the local rock quarries.

When Green and other ACTION members were sentenced to the Workhouse in the late ‘60s and early ‘70s, they had all been convicted of breaking laws. However, they were never assigned to work duty. At some point, the facility became all about warehousing hundreds of citizens while confronting lawsuits and appalling publicity about the inhumane conditions.

Here we are in 2019 with the opportunity to bring this ugly chapter to an end. Why is it so difficult to close the Workhouse? Who stands to gain with its continued troubled existence?

The proponents of closing the Workhouse are not some reckless group of agitators. Several groups’ well-thought-out positions on the issue have appeared in this newspaper. The “Close the Workhouse” report is indisputable in the facts that conclude it’s time to close the doors on this racist, archaic institution that preys on poor people.

Last week, Comptroller Darlene Green said the prison could be closed in six months. Six months? We can do this!

This is a positive slam dunk for the City of St. Louis. Some of the folks who could make up the committee have already been publicly identified. For starters, the ACLU, OBS, Close the Workhouse Coalition, Comptroller Green, Percy Green II, the Coalition Against Police Crimes and Repression, St. Louis American Publisher Donald M. Suggs.

If we ramp up the planning now, according to the comptroller’s calculation (and she’s a good calculator), we could have this wrapped up by Kwanzaa in December. Then we could truly celebrate a New Year and a new beginning. Counting…

Jamala Rogers

ADAMS

Continued from A1

Kelvin Adams: It was a unanimous vote, based on where the district is at this particular time. The SAB weighed in, the community weighed in and so it’s clear that the majority of the community and the SAB and the state board feel that it’s time for them to come back in. The SAB was only supposed to be here for a short time – and that short time was 12 years.

American: Did you weigh in as well?

Kelvin Adams: I stayed neutral because I report to whatever board is in place. That’s my responsibility. My contract is with the Board of Education, regardless of what that board is. But I have been working with the elected board for the last 10 years that I’ve been here, in small ways and large ways. So I have some relationship with them.

American: What differences do you think people will see with the elected board as opposed to the stated-appointed board?

Kelvin Adams: I don’t think they are going to see anything different, other than seven people compared to three. The elected board has to develop how they want to work together. I don’t see them working with me as an issue, quite frankly. I think the real challenge is how they work with themselves. The SAB had to work at that; it wasn’t easy. Boards have to work together. From three members to seven, they have to develop a rhythm and how they are going to structure themselves. They have been holding mock meetings. Based upon what I’ve seen over the last three months during those meetings, they have put themselves in the position to do that.

American: What kind of issues do they talk about in their mock meetings?

Kelvin Adams: The same exact issues that the board does. They just redact the names of personnel or legal matters. They have asked detailed questions, and that tells me that they have done their homework. Over the

last three months, they have performed like a board should perform in terms of holding myself and my administration accountable. They vote just like the SAB. The things they vote on after July 1 will be official. To be honest with you, they are voting the same way. There has not been any kind of controversies.

American: What safeguards are in place to make sure the elected board does not go backwards and undo everything?

Kelvin Adams: I wasn’t here when the elected board “went backwards,” so I can’t say what they did wrong. I can say what the safeguards are. Number one, we have a very detailed strategic plan called the Transformation Plan that we’ve been following for the last several years. We have put systems in place in terms of how we make decisions, and those decisions are based on data and the best information we can obtain (regarding academics, hiring, etc.). There are things in place that I know weren’t in place when I arrived that we believe are the guiding posts so the administration can then defend the choices we make. So the bottom line is: systems and a detailed plan.

Kelvin Adams: St. Louis has a flavor. I’ve enjoyed the challenges, but I’ve also enjoyed the level of commitment of the community to young people. There are a lot of people who care greatly to what happens to kids here.

American: What should the SAB be most proud of during their tenure?

n “Boards have to work together. From three members to seven, they have to develop a rhythm and how they are going to structure themselves.”

American: How have you and your administrative team prepared for the return of the elected board?

Kelvin Adams: We have been engaged in their training, starting in October. I attended all of their training sessions, and key staff people did as well – all except the two people who were elected three weeks ago.

American: You recently signed a three-year contract. Did the possible return of the elected board influence your decision?

Kelvin Adams: Zero. That had nothing to do with it. I’m committed to the community, irrespective of what board is in place. It ends 2022. American: You said your commitment is to the community. What do you feel is holding you here?

Kelvin Adams: I think the SAB should be proud of the fact that they lasted 12 years. They stuck in there and continued to do the work when there were many challenges. Obviously they accomplished a balanced budget. Obviously they got the district to be fully accredited. Obviously they got two things to pass – one that has not passed in 20 to 30 years. But I think the real accomplishment is they stayed in for the long haul. There are marriages that don’t last 12 years. I calculated how many meetings they attended. It was easily a year of their time. They have literally given, in terms of just days and hours, a year of their lives dedicated to this work. Probably a year and a half now. They all have businesses and families. I get paid to do it. They get zero.

American: What are some of the biggest challenges facing the district?

Kelvin Adams: The challenges that are ahead are similar to the challenges that we have experienced in the past, but I think the context is different. I believe there are many conscious people who really want to see what is best for kids in this community. If there is a failure, it’s a failure to demand partnerships in order to leverage resources in a way that best supports the entire city – not just the district, not just charters, and not just the idea of choice.

The challenge is: how do we create a partnership that works for all 40,000 kids in the City of St. Louis who are receiving a public-school education – 11,000 charter, 22,000 SLPS, and 5,000 in the VICC program? It’s a challenge for

me; it will be a challenge for this new board. People will try to divide us by promoting the idea that charters are against the district and the district is against charters.

It’s also viewed by some as a race issue. There are entities that are here who want to continue to divide and continue to separate – whether they do so intentionally or unintentionally. The question is: how do we get people to the table to support all the kids in the city?

American: How does the lack of partnerships affect your work?

Kelvin Adams: One example would be that there is no real cooperation around when a school might open or close. There is no plan where we sit down as educational entities together and say, “Okay, maybe we need to have a school here.” This whole idea of choice was created without a real strategy. So, when you don’t develop a strategy, you are simply robbing Peter to pay Paul. That can’t last forever. The belief is that it can. We are not providing the best information to our families. We are not cooperating.

Nobody thinks of those things – not in a way that’s strategic. Nobody is forcing anyone to come to the table and say, “We are spending collectively $40 million on transportation. Let’s see if we could coordinate.”

I’ve been requesting collaboration around that piece. I know some people are upset because a lawsuit was filed, and they’re saying, “You are suing us to get money.” The lawsuit was never about them. It was saying to the state, “You inappropriately appropriated funds to another party that should have always been appropriated to the district because of the desegregation agreement – which requires us to do some things that others don’t have to do.”

n “There are things in place that I know weren’t in place when I arrived that we believe are the guiding posts so the administration can then defend the choices we make.”

I’ll give you another example. Last week, we met with two charters, Confluence and KIPP. Why did we meet with them? It was about transportation. We spend about $25 million annually for transportation. They spend about $5 million. And because we are the three largest groups using buses, we met to determine if we could collaborate. Our kids live right next to each other and go to schools right next to each other, so it doesn’t make any sense that they are not using the same buses. The bus company is making a lot of money because we do not collaborate. We threw out an olive branch, and we are doing a study to see if it makes sense. If there is some issue around student conflict, it would be easier to hire a security guard to ride the bus, and we could split the cost three ways, and we still save resources.

We are helping to divide the community by not having these kids look at each other and say, “You’re just like me.”

Some people never saw it that way. I understand that. It was never a personal attack on them. Irrespective of all that, we still must try to work together. I think collaboration and partnership is the biggest challenge facing this board and this city.

American: I can only imagine how frustrating not having a citywide strategy on public education is for you.

Kelvin Adams: We are wasting the taxpayers’ dollars by not collaborating. If I was the public, I would have real questions. I don’t think choice was ever set up for people to spend tons and tons of money for stuff they didn’t have to spend it on. It’s not a wise decision for a community that is so needy. There are so many needs in this community. I could spend any additional funds on social workers, counselors and nurses. Charters could spend those dollars on many things other than gas.

American: Where do you go to have the discussion of having a citywide plan on public education? The Board of Aldermen is in the process of forming a committee for education and youth services. Is that a place where you think that conversation could happen?

Kelvin Adams: I think it could start there. The only challenge is: do they have the power to get people to the table? Can they make anyone do anything? They can ask them to come to the table. I think it makes sense to do so.

I think what they could do is denounce people who don’t come to the table. They have the power of the public office. But I think somebody needs to push this conversation. We need to get past the past to get things accomplished.

American: How does the district balance the multiple needs with the available resources?

Kelvin Adams: The district struggles to do that, because it has taken on some responsibilities that historically educational entities have not had to take on: counselors; social workers; breakfast, lunch and dinner programs; the transportation issues. Schools are asking for more support as it relates to students who have discipline issues. So many more kids are homeless than they were before. We are feeding kids. We have a homeless office that gets kids housing. Transportation costs for kids that are homeless are about $1.5 million. We are putting them in taxis. It’s a juggling act.

I was just with the man who manages nurses, and we can’t find certified nurses at the cost that we pay them. They can make $100,000 in a hospital setting. We can only pay them what the scale says, which is $35,000-$50,000. This is not a negative; we get nurses who have retired or want those specific work hours. We have three or four nurse shortages. There are more kids on medication than ever before, with all the allergens. We have a security force that’s 136 people. It’s a juggling act with 67 buildings with over 4,000 employees. American: Is there anything else you would like to add? Kelvin Adams: The reason for the conversation is around the elected board coming back in power. But what I would like to leave is, this community is much more than who’s on the board. It’s really about a commitment to support kids in this community. And while the elected board is coming back in place, I think it’s a call to the community to say, “Let’s do what’s best for kids.” The reason why the SAB had to come in place was because someone felt that this board wasn’t doing what’s best for kids. Let’s frame our next steps around what’s best for this community.

GASKIN

Continued from A1

Jones’ statement came with the announcement of a press conference that afternoon with a larger group of officials, which was then delayed as people got on (or off) the same page.

On Monday, April 22, the Fannie Lou Hamer Democratic Coalition finally hosted that press conference at Cool Valley City Hall, focusing more on the endorsement than Gaskin’s undisclosed payment.

“We are extremely disappointed but not surprised,” said County Councilwoman Hazel Erby, who is also leader of the Fannie Lou Hamer Democratic Coalition.

“The Better Together proposal violates the cardinal principle of democracy. It is morally wrong and demonstrates a careless disregard and disrespect for the African-American community of St. Louis. Better Together intentionally eliminates African-American representation. The only conclusion that you can draw is to reduce the growing AfricanAmerican political influence in St. Louis County and St. Louis city.”

Several of the leaders at the press conference said that they are members of the County NAACP and did not hear about a vote to endorse the plan. To give the endorsement, the chapter should have asked from input from all its members, they said.

“I was appalled that the St. Louis County NAACP, an organization that is supposed to fight for greater minority representation, would be hijacked as a vehicle to take power away from the minority community,” said James McGee, mayor of Vinita Park.

“That the organization pushing this bad plan would hire the head of the St. Louis County NAACP and expect him to then deliver that group up to them demands accountability.” Gaskin confirmed that he

had accepted the paid position – without disclosing it when speaking in the voice of the County NAACP – but claimed that the County NAACP board’s endorsement of the proposal was not connected to his accepting paid work to pass the proposal.

Jones said Gaskin was influential in getting the board of the County NAACP “to support the Better Together consolidation plan pushed by billionaire Rex Sinquefield.”

Jones claimed that Gaskin “has sold out the very people he is supposed to be representing and the very people who have supported him with his rise in the NAACP organization.”

Jones is an AfricanAmerican mayor representing a predominantly African

American-community that directly neighbors Ferguson.

“We have worked for decades to bring AfricanAmerican leadership and voice to this region and have succeeded,” Jones stated. “It appears Mr. Gaskin has sold a civil rights organization to the Better Together movement and has betrayed everything the NAACP represents.”

Jones stated that Gaskin “chose to ignore the membership’s voice of the St. Louis County NAACP and failed to discuss his own actions with any community leaders, for the sole purpose of ingratiating himself with his new employer and financial benefactors. His actions go against all that its members have worked for years to achieve and are a reflection

on the type of campaign being waged by Unite STL in attempting to buy the St. Louis County NAACP.”

State Rep. Wiley Price, a rookie in the legislature from the city, joined the FLH group and made remarks which seconded a statement he had released on Friday.

“This endorsement is a glaring example of an individual who has utilized the resources at their disposal to enrich themselves rather than take care of the neglected constituents within our community,” Price stated.

“It is impossible for us to take the NAACP’s endorsement of this deal as genuine when it has been discovered that the president of the organization is leaving his post to become a paid

Photo by Wiley Price

lobbyist for Better Together. It is clear that this is Mr. Gaskin’s personal endorsement, conveniently printed on NAACP letterhead.”

Price did not, however, dismiss the value of debating a city/county merger.

“We don’t want to minimize the importance of the systemic changes that were mentioned in the endorsement letter. We can agree that our criminal justice system is in need of drastic modifications, the kind that are currently happening in the state legislature on a bi-partisan basis,” Price stated.

“We simply would like to ensure that the debate around Better Together, or any city/ county merger, is had in good faith by those who are dedicated to the best path forward for their constituents

and St. Louis as a whole.”

Four more black state representatives from the county who did not attend the FLH presser – State Rep. Maria Chappelle-Nadal, state Rep. Cora Faith Walker, state Rep. Raychel Proudie and state Rep. Kevin Windham Jr. – followed with their own group statement under an ominous epigraph by Malcolm X: “To me, the thing that is worse than death is betrayal.” They did not leave it up to the imagination as to whom they were applying this bitter wisdom.

“John Gaskin is a traitor to his constituency and his actions are an abomination to the NAACP,” they stated.

“Previous St. Louis County NAACP presidents have fought very hard to maintain AfricanAmerican representation in the region. Past presidents have understood how historic and systemic racism has impacted black communities in St. Louis, and how important black representation is in combating that racism. Gaskin has obviously either forgotten or simply disregarded those lessons from our past and has deviated from the goal of preserving African-American political influence.”

They made it clear that they do not reject the idea of transforming the region’s governance – just this proposal.

“We can all objectively recognize that the current state of St. Louis city and St. Louis County is unsustainable. The original sin of the CityCounty Divorce in 1876 has scarred our region. It has divided us economically, politically and morally. It has forced our municipalities to race each other to the bottom to compete for the scraps of economic development. It allowed wealthier and whiter communities to thrive, while poorer and blacker communities suffered,” they stated.

“We can all see there is a need to change this reality, but the scheme being proposed by Better Together is not the plan that St. Louis needs.”

“Mr. Gaskin has sold a civil rights organization to the Better Together movement,” Dellwood Mayor Reggie Jones stated of John Gaskin III, “and has betrayed everything the NAACP represents.”

Community hosts meeting on police issues in memory of Cary Ball Jr.

April 24 marks six years that 25-year-old Cary Terrell Ball Jr. was shot 25 times by St. Louis city police in the neighborhood just north of downtown -- while families and children watched.

Witnesses said Cary surrendered before police shot him, and elected officials, including state Rep. Bruce Franks Jr. (D-St. Louis), have demanded that the case be reopened.

In Cary’s honor, his mother, Toni Taylor, and younger brother, Carlos Ball, held a discussion about policing in the community at the Deaconess Center for Child Well-Being on April 23. John Chasnoff, a founder of the Coalition Against Police Crimes and Repression (CAPCR), started off the discussion talking about the meaning of community policing. At one point, the New York Police Department’s stop-and-frisk tactics fell under the department’s umbrella of community policing programs, he said. That was before a federal judge ruled in 2013 that these tactics violated the constitutional rights of minorities in the city.

“What we mean by community policing is something very different,” Chasnoff said. CAPCR supports the idea of “problemsolving policing” that is more focused on getting the right resources in the community to prevent crimes.

Cary’s family have established the Cary on the Ball Foundation, and they travel around the country to support other families who have lost loved ones at the hands of police.

“Even though our loved ones were killed by police, we grieve too,” Toni said. “Stop condemning our children. Stop the judgment. You didn’t know them.”

Romona Williams, a North County resident, stood up at the event and said she wanted the police to stop condemning her grandson, Nikko Fiertag. Since he was 17, she said, police have hounded him anytime they see him walking down the street.

He is now 27. On August 11, 2014, Fiertag was beaten and arrested during the Ferguson unrest, Williams said. Since then her grandson’s posttraumatic stress disorder is “worse than a Vietnam vet,” she said, and he will no longer walk anywhere by himself.

Two days after Michael Brown was shot and killed by a then-Ferguson police officer, Fiertag was at his godmother’s house. When it started to get dark, he heard that people weren’t just breaking into stores, they were breaking into people’s homes as well. Because he ran track, he decided to sprint home to be with his grandmother and sister, he said.

When he got to the intersection where the QuikTrip used to be (and is now the Ferguson Community Empowerment Center), police officers had formed a line on the bridge at West Florissant Avenue. People were being shot with rubber bullets, and he started dodging them like everyone else.

At some point, he said, he saw a steel-toe boot coming for his face. He was allegedly tased four times. One of the officers allegedly allowed a dog to bite his leg, and he showed the scars on his calves. He allegedly was taken behind Schnucks where they could “finish me off,” he said.

“They called me a black monkey and (n-word),” Fiertag said. “One of them said that if I got any blood on his car, he’d hit me. I coughed up blood because I was tased. He hit me in the rib, which was already fractured.”

According to an Aug.12, 2014 St. Louis Post-Dispatch article, Fiertag was “holding a pair of sneakers in his hand when he was arrested.” His booking photo shows cuts all over his face. Fiertag was charged with trespassing and stealing a value of less than $500. Williams said that they pinned him with breaking into Foot Locker, but he didn’t do it. Fiertag was not in a good mental state and pled guilty because he was scared and didn’t understand, she said.

The American reached out to Fiertag’s public defender, who is now the district defender, Stephen Reynolds about the case. He was away at a training.

After Fiertag shared his story, Toni and other mothers came up and hugged him and his grandmother. After the event, Fiertag went home and slept peacefully, Williams told The American the next day.

“He wasn’t pacing the floor all night long,” Williams said. “He found some peace.”

Julius Graves services on Saturday

At the event, Toni said her thoughts were with the family of Julius Graves Graves passed on Thursday, April 18 from injuries sustained when he was tased and sedated by St. Louis police and fire department personnel on Saturday, April 13.

His services will be held Saturday, April 27 at Williams

Temple Church of God in Christ, 1500

with visitation at 10 a.m. and the homegoing ceremony at 11 a.m. His father, Larry Graves, said his son was mentally ill and likely having a psychotic episode when police were called to the scene. He said the family welcomes the public to his services and hopes his son’s death calls attention to the need for first responders to be better trained in handling the mentally ill.

According to the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department, Julius Graves was “acting irrationally and in a threatening manner” at a bus stop at Hampton and Clayton when they were called to the scene.

“Upon arrival, the officers located the suspect who exhibited signs of intoxication as well as expressing suicidal and homicidal tendencies.

Officers attempted to engage the suspect in conversation in an effort to deescalate the incident to no avail. Due to the suspect’s behavior, officers requested EMS,” a police spokesperson summarized the incident.

“Shortly after EMS arrived the suspect suddenly ran into heavy traffic across Clayton toward Hampton, and resisted officers attempts to stop him. Officers attempted to utilize their department issued tasers, however they were ineffective. EMS sedated the suspect and transported him to a hospital where he was listed in critical/ unstable condition.”

The police also said that hospital staff “located suspected narcotics on the suspect and notified officers who issued him a summons” before he died.

Larry Graves said his son,

who was diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia about 20 years ago, had been tased by law enforcement twice before during psychotic episodes. The American asked St. Louis police about any training and preparation to deal with the mentally ill on the part of the police who responded to the scene. A spokesperson said the department is restricted from providing “an individually identifiable personnel records,” but that over 700 officers in the department have completed a 40-hour Crisis Intervention Training, which discusses the handling of suspected mentally ill persons. A spokesperson for the St. Louis Fire Department also was asked for an incident report and about any training and preparation to deal with the mentally ill on the part of the EMS personnel who responded, but has not responded. These responses will be included in this report when and if received.

Union Blvd.,

Photo by Wiley Price

Nikko Fiertag and his grandmother Romona Williams were consoled by the community after sharing allegations of police misconduct during a public meeting on police-community issues in memory of Cary Terrell Ball Jr. hosted at the Deaconess Center for Child Well-Being on Tuesday, April 23.

Julius Graves

Syphilis rates up, funding to fight it down

Cases in Missouri quadrupled since 2012, with rural Missouri hit the hardest

By Lauren Weber Of Kaiser Health News

When Karolyn Schrage first heard about the “dominoes gang” in the health clinic she runs in Joplin, Missouri, she assumed it had to do with pizza. Turns out it was a group of men in their 60s and 70s who held a standing game night — which included sex with one another. They showed up at her clinic infected with syphilis. That has become Schrage’s new normal. Pregnant women, young men and teens are all part of the rapidly growing number of syphilis patients coming to the Choices Medical Services clinic in the rural southwestern corner of the state. She can barely keep the antibiotic treatment for syphilis, penicillin G benzathine, stocked on her shelves.

Public health officials say rural counties across the Midwest and West are becoming the new battleground. While syphilis is still concentrated in cities such as San Francisco, Atlanta and Las Vegas, its continued spread into places like Missouri, Iowa, Kansas and Oklahoma creates a new set of challenges. Compared with urban hubs, rural populations tend to have

less access to public health resources, less experience with syphilis, and less willingness to address it because of socially conservative views toward homosexuality and non-marital sex. In Missouri, the total number of syphilis patients has more than quadrupled since 2012 — jumping from 425 to 1,896 cases last year — according to a Kaiser Health News analysis of new state health data. Almost half of those are outside the major population centers and typical STD hot spots of Kansas City, St. Louis and its adjacent county. Syphilis cases surged at least eightfold during that period in the rest of the state.

At Choices Medical Services, Schrage has watched the caseload grow from five cases to

See SYPHILIS, A11

By Rochelle Walton Gray For The St. Louis American

We hear you.

For the families of the three men who died in the Justice Center this year, I want you to know that we are listening and want answers, just like you do – answers that the community deserves.

As chairwoman of the County Council’s Committee on Justice, Health and Welfare, I’m committed to finding out what happened. The deaths of Lamar Catchings, John M. Shy and Larry “Jay” Reavis are of grave concern and, as an elected leader of this county, finding out what happened is a top priority.

At a public hearing on April 16, we heard from family and friends of these men. For the loved ones and for many of the council members, it was frustrating that no one from the Justice Center would come before the committee to listen to the concerns. The city counselor’s office had recommended that then-Acting Director Julia Childrey and her staff remain silent on what happened while an investigation is under way. County Executive Steve Stenger has called it a criminal investigation by an outside agency and said he does not want to jeopardize the work underway. But on Monday, April 22, he replaced Childrey with another interim director, a sign that Childrey was not doing her job.

We as a council don’t see asking questions about policies and procedures at the Justice Center as impeding an investigation. Rather, we see it as a way of making sure that no other deaths occur there.

I have asked the new acting director, Lt. Col. Troy Doyle, to come to a hearing April 30 to introduce himself to the council and also to hear directly from the family members who want answers as soon as possible. Taking the time to listen would show compassion. It would show empathy. It would show that as the steward of inmates at the Justice Center, where those awaiting trial are held under the presumption of innocence until proven guilty, there is genuine concern in finding out what happened. Proper medical treatment while in the custody of the county is not a request, but a mandate.

Medicaid expansion in Missouri would insure 219K

By Sandra Jordan Of The St. Louis American

There are only 14 states in the U.S. that have not expanded Medicaid insurance coverage for its residents, and Missouri is one of them. If Medicaid were expanded to include nonelderly adults with incomes at 138 percent of the

Rochelle Walton Gray

Photo by Bruce Stidham / Kaiser Health News

SYPHILIS

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32 in the first quarter of 2019 alone compared with the same period last year. “I’ve not seen anything like it in my history of doing sexual health care,” she said.

Back in 1999, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention had a plan to eradicate the sexually transmitted disease that totaled over 35,000 cases nationwide that year. While syphilis can cause permanent neurological damage, blindness or even death, it is both treatable and curable. By focusing on the epicenters clustered primarily throughout the South, California and in major urban areas, the plan seemed within reach.

Instead, U.S. cases topped 101,500 in 2017 and are continuing to rise along with other sexually transmitted diseases. Syphilis is back in part because of increasing drug use, but health officials are losing the fight because of a combination of cuts in national and state health funding and crumbling public health infrastructure.

“It really is astounding to me that in the modern Western world we are dealing with the epidemic that was almost eradicated,” said Schrage. Grappling with the jump

Craig Highfill, who directs Missouri’s field prevention efforts for the Bureau of HIV, STD and Hepatitis, has horror stories about how syphilis can be misunderstood.

“Oh, no, honey, only hookers get syphilis,” he said one rural doctor told a patient who asked if she had the STD after spotting a lesion.

In small towns, younger patients fear that their local doctor — who may also be their Sunday school teacher or basketball coach — may call their parents. Others don’t want to risk the receptionist at their doctor’s office gossiping about their diagnosis.

Some men haven’t told family members they’re having sex with other men. And still more have no idea their partner may have cheated on them — and their doctors don’t want to ask, according to Highfill.

It’s even hard to expect providers who haven’t seen a case of syphilis in their lifetime to automatically recognize

What you need to know about syphilis

Syphilis is a bacterial infection spread through oral, vaginal and anal sex. It is treatable and curable with antibiotics. Syphilis causes sores that are usually painless but can spread the bacterium to other people. It can also be passed from

the hallmarks of what is often called the “great imitator,” Highfill said. Syphilis can manifest differently among patients, but frequently shows up for a few weeks as lesions or rashes — often dismissed by doctors who aren’t expecting to see the disease.

Since 2000, the current syphilis epidemic was most prevalent among men having sex with men. Starting in 2013, public health officials began seeing an alarming jump in the number of women contracting syphilis, which is particularly disturbing considering the deadly effects of congenital syphilis — when the disease is passed from a pregnant woman to her fetus. That can cause

an infected pregnant woman to her fetus, risking miscarriage, stillbirth or birth deformities.

The second phase of the disease can cause a skin rash, swollen lymph nodes and fever. Final stages of the disease can cause permanent neurological damage, blindness or death. Despite a Centers for

miscarriage, stillbirth or birth deformities.

Among those rising numbers of women contracting syphilis and the men who were their partners, self-reported use of methamphetamines, heroin or other intravenous drugs continues to grow, according to the CDC. Public health officials suggest that increased drug use — which can result in a pattern of risky sex or trading sex for drugs — worsens the outbreaks.

That perilous trend is playing out particularly in rural Missouri, argues Dr. Hilary Reno, an assistant professor of medicine at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis who is researching

Disease Control and Prevention plan in 1999 to eradicate the disease, infectious syphilis cases have skyrocketed in recent years, jumping 76 percent nationally from 2013 to 2017.

A combination of cuts in national and state funding, crumbling public health

syphilis transmission and drug use in the state. Tracking cases from 2015 through June 2018, she found that more than half of patients outside of the major metropolitan areas of Kansas City and St. Louis reported using drugs.

Less money, more problems

Federal funding for STD prevention has stayed relatively flat since 2003, with $157.3 million allocated for fiscal year 2018. But that amounts to a nearly 40 percent decrease in purchasing power over that time, according to the National Coalition of STD Directors.

In Missouri, CDC annual

infrastructure, greater mobility, continued stigma and increasing drug use is driving the uptick. The best way to prevent syphilis among those who are sexually active is to use latex condoms or dental dams during sex.

funding has been cut by over $354,000 from 2012 to 2018 — a 17 percent decrease even as the number of cases quadrupled, Highfill said.

Iowa, too, has seen its STD funding cut by $82,000 over the past decade, according to Iowa Department of Health’s STD program manager George Walton.

“It is very difficult to get ahead of an epidemic when case counts are steadily — sometimes rapidly — increasing and your resources are at best stagnant,” Walton said. “It just becomes overwhelming.”

Highfill bemoaned that legislatures in Texas, Oregon and New York have all

allocated state money to raise awareness or provide transportation to local clinics. Missouri has not allocated anything.

A new playing field

In the digital age, fighting syphilis is much harder for public health responders, said Rebekah Horowitz, a senior program analyst on HIV, STDs and viral hepatitis at the National Association of County and City Health Officials.

The increased use of anonymous apps gives people greater access to more sexual partners, she said. Tracking down those partners is now much harder than camping out at the local bar in town.

“We can’t get inside of Grindr and do our traditional public health efforts,” she said.

That’s not to say Highfill’s department hasn’t tried. It has engineered a series of educational ads on Instagram, Grindr and Facebook displaying messages such as “Knowledge looks good on you.”

Highfill would love to do more — if Missouri had the money.

Public health clinics nationwide have also had to limit hours, reduce screening and increase fees that can reach $400. And some run by health departments across the country have been forced to close — at least 21 in 2012 alone, according to CDC data. In Missouri, restrictions on Planned Parenthood’s Medicaid reimbursements that were passed last year in the legislature, and are again under debate, mean the nonprofit organization cannot be reimbursed for STD treatment for some patients. That is another crack in the already failing public health infrastructure, said Reno, the Washington University professor who also serves as the medical director of the St. Louis County Sexual Health Clinic.

“We have a system that’s not even treading water,” she said. “We are the ship that is listing to the side.” Kaiser Health News is a nonprofit news service covering health issues. It is an editorially independent program of the Kaiser Family Foundation, which is not affiliated with Kaiser Permanente.

Black women at much higher risk of postpartum readmission

In a new study, “Maternal outcomes by race during postpartum readmissions,” a group of researchers at Columbia University Irving Medical Center in New York led by Dr. Aleha Aziz reported that black women were at 73 percent higher risk

MEDICAID

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expansion would be childless adults – a group historically excluded from being eligible for Medicaid.

And where do these uninsured, nonelderly adults live? In Missouri, they live all over – with heaviest

GRAY

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of postpartum readmission compared to white women. In unadjusted analysis, compared to white women, black women admitted postpartum were at 27 percent higher risk of severe maternal morbidity (SMM), or unexpected outcomes of

concentrations in deep rural areas. The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (signed into law nine years ago), funds nearly all expanded coverage for Medicaideligible individuals. The federal government pays for 90 percent of the cost of Medicaid expansion to the states’ 10 percent, where under traditional Medicaid

labor and delivery that result in significant short- or long-term consequences to a woman’s health. In the adjusted model, black women were at 16 percent higher risk for SMM during readmission than white women. In addition to overall

morbidity, black women were at significantly higher risk for eclampsia, acute respiratory distress system, and renal failure than other racial groups. Black women were at 126 percent higher risk for pulmonary edema/acute heart failure than white women.

n The federal government pays for 90 percent of the cost of Medicaid expansion to the states’ 10 percent.

the federal share of the cost is currently 66 percent to the states’ 34 percent. Kaiser Family Foundation

data says 6 in 10 Missouri uninsured adults live below the federal poverty line (57 percent); over 7 in 10 have at

Researchers concluded that at-risk women including black women with cardiovascular risk factors may benefit from shortterm postpartum follow up.

The study was based on analyzing 41,546 women admitted postpartum from 2012 to 2014 out of 2.4

least one worker in the family (57 percent full time and 20 percent part-time only); almost 4 in 10 are middle aged and more than 7 in 10 are white, non-Hispanic.

million births, with a 95 percent confidence interval. The data was drawn from the Nationwide Inpatient Sample from the Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project from 2012 to 2014. The report was published in the American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology

Kaiser Family Foundation reviewed over 200 research studies that show expanding Medicaid is associated with greater access to and improved affordability of health care, reduced medical debt and decrease in uncompensated care costs. For an interactive map and additional data about uninsured adults, visit Kaiser Family Foundation at https:// tinyurl.com/would-beeligible. For more information about MO HealthNet, Missouri’s Medicaid program, visit https://mydss. mo.gov/healthcare.

Council members have received copies of the Justice Center’s policies, and we continue to review them. But until we can talk with those who work at the Justice Center, we will not know whether these polices were followed or if they should be changed to create a safer environment for both the workers and the inmates.

n Proper medical treatment while in the custody of the county is not a request, but a mandate.

To the families and friends of these men: We are deeply sorry for what happened. And our commitment to you is to keep working to find answers. We are confident that with your help, we will be able to improve the operations at the Justice Center. On the county website,

Childrey, the former acting director of the Justice Center wrote: “I am proud to be a leader of St. Louis County government and support

Childrey has been returned to her previous position as supervisor of operations with Justice Services. That’s a good first step. But the work that I and other council members are doing is far from over. We hear you. Come and let the new Justice Center interim director hear you too.

our dedicated employees in providing exceptional customer service to the citizens of this prestigious county. If you have any suggestion that would assist us to improve our services, please let us know.”

Rochelle Walton Gray, a Democrat, represents North St. Louis County, including Black Jack, Spanish Lake, Bellefontaine Neighbors, Riverview, a very small part of Florissant and the northeastern part of unincorporated St. Louis County. She chairs the County Council’s Justice, Health and Welfare Committee.

Photo by Bruce Stidham / Kaiser Health News

Karolyn Schrage, executive director of the Choices Medical Services clinic in Joplin, says she can barely keep the antibiotic treatment for syphilis, penicillin G benzathine, stocked on her shelves.

Balloon Juggle!

Now that we are into spring, fruits and vegetables will begin to come into season. What are your favorites? First make a list of 10 vegetables that you like the most, and then do the same with fruits.

PRESENT:

Healthy Kids Kids

Conduct your own research to find out which of these fruits and vegetables provide the most nutritional benefit. Some things you could watch for are lower sugar content, high fiber, vitamins, etc. Pick your top four fruits

A fun way to stay active and burn calories indoors is as simple as blowing up a few balloons. Here are a couple of balloon challenges to try.

> Have each person in your group count off to decide the

Two kinds of listening are passive and active. An example of passive listening is when you are doing your homework and you have a TV show on in the background. You probably don’t even know what they’re saying on the TV, but you certainly can hear it.

Active listening requires you to pay attention to the person that is speaking. You can improve your active listening by asking questions, taking notes and

order you will play. Blow up a balloon and take turns hitting the balloon to see how long you can keep it in the air. If it falls to the floor on your turn, you get a point. The first to reach 10 points loses.

> Set up a kind of volleyball “net” between a couple of chairs. Sit across from a friend

reacting physically (like nodding).

Effective listening will improve your grades at school and it can also make a difference in your relationships with family and friends.

As a class, discuss what it feels like when someone isn’t really listening to you. How can you show that you’re actively listening while your friend is speaking?

Learning Standards: HPE 2, HPE 4

and vegetables based on your findings and try to eat at least one of these each day.

Learning Standards: HPE 2, HPE 5, NH 1, NH 5

and take turns hitting the balloon one time to make it go to your friend’s side of the net. See how many times you can both hit it (counting as you go) before it hits the ground.

> Create your own balloon game and share your idea with your classmates.

Learning Standards: HPE 2, HPE 5, NH 1

Ingredients: 1 Bag Airpopped popcorn

3 Tbsp. Parmesan cheese

1 Tbsp. Seasoning (seasoned salt, cayenne pepper, taco seasoning, etc.)

Directions: Pop popcorn as directed on packaging, sprinkle with parmesan cheese and seasoning. Enjoy!

Michael Griffin, Supervisor, Respiratory Care

Where do you work? I am a supervisor of respiratory care at SSM SLUH University Hospital.

Where did you go to school? I graduated from Clayton High School. I then earned a bachelor of science in cardio-respiratory care from Tennessee State University. What does a respiratory therapist do? I care for patients of all ages that have breathing problems. We help those that have respiratory difficulties such as emphysema, asthma, or cystic fibrosis. We also assist in emergency situations for heart attack victims, trauma, shock or anyone who can no longer breathe on their own.

Why did you choose this career? I knew I wanted to be in a profession where I could help others. My brother had asthma as a child and my grandmother had emphysema. I hated seeing how those diseases made them feel. Plus, I never liked to see people smoke. After my freshman year in college, I participated in a summer internship at John Cochran VA Hospital and shadowed a respiratory therapist. Once I saw how much relief they were able to give someone struggling to breath, I knew I wanted to be a respiratory therapist.

What is your favorite part of the job you have? It is all of the opportunities it has given me to help people. Seeing patients go home with their loved ones is very gratifying. My hospital has a very busy Emergency department and we take care of very sick people. I love the challenge that comes along with making them healthy again.

Learning Standards: HPE6, NH3

“Questions or comments? Contact Cathy Sewell csewell@stlamerican.com or 314-289-5422

Cheesy Popcorn

Questions or comments? Contact Cathy Sewell csewell@stlamerican.com or 314-289-5422

CLASSROOM SPOTLIGHT

At Gateway Elementary School, SLPS STEM Educator of the Year, Rhonda Stovall, shows students Arondo Irving, Danisha Knox, Christian Sims-Carter, Alana Blanchard and D’Liyah Holmes a science experiment the students found using the NIE page in the newspaper.

Louis American

Teachers, if

SCIENCE CORNER

Have you ever wished you could be in two places at once? Thanks to engineering, doctors can do just that with a process called remote presence (RP), which uses video and sound transmitting capabilities so patients can have access to doctors 24/7. This type of technology allows doctors to collaborate with other doctors that are far away. It allows for instant feedback, which is important in medical emergencies, such as a stroke.

RP allows hospital staff and remote physicians to collaborate even if they are far away from each other. The physician uses video to diagnose the patient and make suggestions for a course of treatment. It was developed by engineers at InTouch Health, Inc.

There are a couple of downsides to the technology. First, the devices are very

SCIENCE INVESTIGATION

Engineers solve everyday problems in extraordinary ways. Have you ever ridden on a boat? If so, you probably noticed that your drink spilled as the boat moved along the waves. Work together to create a steady tray that keeps your drink from spilling. Then, think of other problems you can solve.

Materials Needed:

Small Cardboard Boxes

• Wooden Measuring Sticks

• String • Duct Tape • Scissors

• Cup of Water • Large Tray

Process:

q With your partners, design a tray that will keep the cup of water steady.

Engineers are problem solvers. You can be a problem solver, too, as you work through the following word problems.

q Gina saved $27. She received $10 for allowance. She spent $8 on a frisbee, and $5 on a baseball. How much money does she have left?

w Glen has a bowl of raspberries and blackberries. There are 8 more raspberries than blackberries, and there are 14 berries in all. How many blackberries does he have?

engineer.

Engineering Remote Presence !

expensive to purchase and maintain. Second, it can be difficult to keep the Wi-Fi connection at all times. The machines that are more reliable are more expensive. Even with these concerns, allowing doctors to treat patients quickly and from any distance is invaluable.

To See an RP in Action, Check Out the Following Video: https://www.businesswire. com/news/home/20130506005495/en/InTouchHealth-iRobot-Announce-Customers-Install-RPVITATM

Discuss:

What are the benefits and drawbacks of RP? What other uses can you think of for the device?

Learning Standards: I can read a nonfiction article to find main idea and supporting details. I can identify pros and cons.

You can use cardboard, measuring sticks, string, and tape. You will build your steady drink contraption on a tray to simulate a boat. First, brainstorm and sketch designs.

w Next, create and test your design. Test your contraption by tipping the tray as if your “boat” is going over a big wave. If your drink doesn’t spill, your design is a success.

e Compare your design to that of your classmates.

Learning Standards: I can use trial and error to create a device to solve a problem. I can evaluate my results.

e A group of students went on a science field trip. They took 3 vans and 7 buses. There were 11 people in each van, and 55 people on each bus. How many people were on the field trip? _____________ r Jon baked 20 apple pies and 3 peach pies. Each apple pie has 8 slices, each peach pie has 6 slices. It takes 4 peaches to make one pie. How many slices of pie did Jon bake in all? __________ How many total peaches did he use?

Learning Standards: I can add, subtract, multiply, and divide to solve a problem.

Engineer George W. Ferris designed the Ferris wheel.

SCIENCE STARS

AFRICAN AMERICAN BOEING SOFTWARE ENGINEER: Quiméka Saunders

Quiméka Saunders was born in Buffalo, New York. She graduated from Niagara Falls High School and earned a bachelor of science in computer science from Spelman College. She is currently pursuing a master of science degree in engineering management from Washington University in St. Louis.

Saunders’ mother is a chief electrician and handywoman, which inspired her to follow in her footsteps as she would watch her mother as she completed different projects around their home. She enjoyed hands-on activities, video and computer games and technology at a young age. It wasn’t until she went off to college and was exposed to computer science via programming, that she learned about robotics and participated in career discussions. That helped her determine which trade or STEM field really interested her.

At Boeing, Saunders is a software engineer. She supports a team that is responsible for creating and maintaining software that’s used to build models and simulate the behavior of an F-15 fighter jet, its systems, and its environment. Saunders compares it to real-life video games for pilots. Also in this role she supports pilots and customer (domestic and international) demonstrations.

Saunders serves as the president of the Boeing Black Employees Association (BBEA) – St. Louis, vice president of the National Society of Black Engineers (NSBE) – St. Louis Aerospace Alumni Chapter and an active member of the Society of Women Engineers. She has been honored with many awards including the 2018 F-15 Eagle Excellence Award and the 2018 St. Louis Diversity and Inclusion Group Influencing Award. She also participated in research and mentoring programs designed to encourage African-American girls to pursue studies in computational algorithm and STEM career paths.

Learning Standards: I can read a biography about a person who has made contributions in science, math, and technology.

MAP CORNER

Use the newspaper to complete the following activities to sharpen your skills for the MAP test.

Activity One —

Common Factors: Find two different numbers in the newspaper with two digits. List all common factors of those two numbers. For a challenge, try to find those common factors somewhere in the newspaper.

Activity Two —

Differences: Review the difference between similes and metaphors. Locate similes and metaphors in newspaper articles. Pay close attention to quotes. Explain what the similes and metaphors mean. Create three similes and metaphors of your own.

Learning Standards:

I can use the newspaper to locate information. I can calculate common factors.

I can identify similes and metaphors and identify their meanings.

Photo: Wiley Price / St.

The Super Soaker was invented by an

I am my brother’s keeper

By Tony Gunn Jr.

For The St. Louis American

From the streets of our local communities, where we aid in the advancement of black boys and men, to shaking hands with President Barack Obama, young men and organization leaders from all over the country convened at the Scottish Rite Temple in Oakland, California for the Obama Foundation My Brother’s Keeper Rising summit. Over the course of this three-day summit, I met an abundance of the most ambitious young men. It was a heartfelt sight to see so many brothers, and even a few sisters, who look like me and have been working in their perspective communities doing similar work as HomeGrown STL. Being surrounded by so much love and advancement, dissecting conversations really honed in on some key issues in the minds of all who attended. We identified some compelling facts and misguided narratives that plague our communities across the nation – everything from systematic injustices in legal structures to the faulty educational systems that are based off zip codes. Progressive conversations filled the space and inspired deeper conversations.

One of the conversations was about mental health and the role that societal definition of masculinity plays in the mental health of boys and young men of color. This conversation nearly brought me to tears because it directly touched my heart on so many levels.

Be a Tourist in Your Own Town

April showers bring May festivals in St. Louis

I grew up in an abusive turned single-parent household and then became a role model to my son, brother, little cousins, niece, and nephew whose fathers weren’t around. This put a lot of pressure on me. Inevitably, I built up this societal depiction of masculinity where you limit your cries, take a hit and show no feelings. You become desensitized to fighting, death, and violence. You handle everything on your own.

Listening to President Barack Obama, Steph Curry, and others break down this conversation on toxic masculinity explained so many things to me. Just to see such powerful, graceful men of their stature being able to relate to the bottled up pain that many brothers carry within us daily showed us two things.

This societal definition of masculinity and bottling up our feelings is a burden on us that needs to be recognized and cared for. And not only is it a staggering burden on us young men of color (and young men in general), but it also burdens our strong, supportive, everenduring sisters. Although it was a summit for young boys and men of color, there were a good number of young girls and women of color in attendance aiding, supporting, managing, and encouraging the event and uplift of us boys and men.

This incredible experience inspired me to continue do the work I’ve been doing and to do more and love more. I hugged more men during the time of the summit than I have hugged in my entire life. The genuine atmosphere allowed for us boys and men to love one another as brothers working towards a greater goal of safety, upward mobility, and well-being of all.

Tony Gunn Jr., a St. Louis native, is a father, entrepreneur, author, motivational speaker, comedian, recording artist and senior honor student at Missouri State University in Springfield, Missouri majoring in Computer Information Systems.

“Homegrown Black Males” is a partnership between HomeGrown STL at the Brown School of Social Work at Washington University in St. Louis and The St. Louis American, edited by Sean Joe, Benjamin E. Youngdahl Professor and associate dean at the Brown School, and Chris King, managing editor of The American, in memory of Michael Brown.

Mary Meachum Freedom Crossing Celebration is May 4

By Kiara Bryant For the St. Louis American

From Grants Farm to Six Flags and Raging Rivers, all of your favorite seasonal St. Louis attractions have opened or will soon be open in the month of May. The outdoor season has arrived and what better way to celebrate than with a festival.

On Saturday, May 4, all ages are invited to experience the 17th Annual Mary Meachum Freedom Crossing Celebration along the Mississippi Greenway (riverfront trail) at 28 E. Grand Ave.

In 1855, Mary Meachum a free-born black woman, fought against slavery using her home as a depot for the Underground Railroad. Meachum was arrested for aiding in the attempted escape of nine slaves across the Mississippi River to freedom in Illinois. The site is now named in her honor and it is Missouri’s first nationally recognized Underground Railroad site.

This event will pay homage to its theme “Africans to Americans: 400 Years of History” chronicling the lives of Africans in America from their first arrival as slaves in 1619 to present day.

From noon until 5 p.m., history will come to life along the Mississippi River as local actors and musicians perform in three plays. Each play will focus on a different point in history over the 400-year time span with music, poetry and historical re-enactments.

This event is free, and all are welcome to bring family and friends for learning about these significant moments in history in a fun way. The event will also feature: games for children, a gospel choir competition sponsored by Praise 95.1, food and drinks as well as art and entertainment.

In conjunction with the MMFC, the St. Louis Public Library’s Genealogy Room is co-hosting a free workshop to help people of color trace their ancestry. This weekend, on Saturday, April

27, bring your DNA results or family tree to the African Ancestry Workshop from 10:30 a.m.5p.m. The Association of African Ancestored Researchers and the St. Louis Public Library’s Genealogy Room will assist you in tracing your family history with a panel of experts from 12:30- 4:30 p.m. Dr. Gina Paige, national expert and founder of African Ancestry will give the keynote address at 3:30 p.m. Other guest speakers include: Connie Eller, Christopher Nordmann, LaDonna Garner and Daniel Lilienkamp.

Topics that will be discussed include: visiting the places of your family history, a case study tracing an African American family from slavery in Missouri to Virginia using various records, families forming neighborhoods which shape communities and the importance of researching detailed records from plantations.

Learn more information about the Mary Meachum Freedom Celebration and find the complete lineup for the African Ancestry workshop at Marymeachum.org.

Festivals galore

There are festivals galore in St. Louis with Cinco de Mayo: A Cherokee Street Festival (May 4), Laumeier Art Fair (May 10-12) Mother’s Day weekend in Laumeier Sculpture Park and the 11th Annual Taste of Maplewood Street Festival (May 18) just to name a few reasons to get out and explore now that spring has sprung.

At Cinco de Mayo, you’ll find three stages of music, Latin American dance performances, interactive games, a life-size chess board, children’s activities, The People’s Joy Parade and variety of vendors offering food and drinks.

Likewise, the Laumeier Art Fair is a St. Louis’ favorite Mother’s Day weekend tradition featuring 150 juried artists from across the country, hands-on activities for kids and live music as well as local food and beverage. Lastly, the Taste of Maplewood offers the neighborhood’s most renowned restaurants, boutiques and unique specialty stores with entertainment and more.

Find more to see and do at explorestlouis. com.

Photo courtesy of the National Black Tourism Network

On Saturday, May 4, all ages are invited to experience the 17th Annual Mary Meachum Freedom Crossing Celebration along the Mississippi Greenway (riverfront trail) at 28 E. Grand Ave.

Tony Gunn Jr. with former presidnet Barack Obama.

Business

WashU workers fight for $15 minimum wage

Wanda Rogers, a Fight for $15 activist, spoke on April 22 at a teach-in at Washington University, where campus workers have pitched tents to occupy the Brookings Quad while fighting for a $15 minimum wage on campus and free childcare for workers.

Graduate students occupy Quad to pressure chancellor-elect

By Rebecca Rivas

Of The St. Louis American

Almost every month, Crystal Wells, a housekeeper at Washington University in St. Louis, comes home after working a 14-hour day to an eviction warning on her door – because she can’t make the rent on time.

“For too many St. Louis working families, many of whom clean this campus, that’s reality,” Wells wrote in a November op-ed piece in Student Life, the university’s student newspaper. “I have worked at Washington University for nearly two decades. Even though I work full-time at a university with an $8 billion endowment, I’ve sometimes had to work three jobs to make ends meet.”

Sometimes Wells starts her day at 4:30 a.m.

Working

n “Even though I work full-time at a university with an $8 billion endowment, I’ve sometimes had to work three jobs to make ends meet.”

– Crystal Wells

and works until 10 at night.

“A full-time job should be enough to support my family, but it’s not,” Wells wrote. “Working so much means that I can’t spend time with my kids. I’ve missed so many of their firsts, like their first steps, first plays and first dances.”

Wells is part of the Fight for $15 movement at Washington University, which includes graduate student workers, food service staff and those like Wells who keep the university clean. They are demanding a $15 minimum hourly wage on campus, a minimum $31,200 per year for salaried workers, and free child care.

According to the university, the minimum wage on campus is $12.20 an hour and will go up to $12.65 an hour on July 1. The average wage for housekeepers is $12.75, according to a spokesman for the movement, but other workers around campus make as little as $9 to $10 an hour.

On April 15, seven students and a member of the clergy were arrested when they occupied

See WASHU, B6

people of Wash U demand $15 minimum wage and childcare

By Rev. Darryl Gray

Louis American

For The St.

On April 15, I joined Washington University in St. Louis graduate workers and housekeepers in protest for a $15 wage and childcare for more than 1,000 working people on campus. Inspired by the Civil Rights Movement, we held a sit-in at Wash U Chancellor-Elect Andrew Martin’s office to bring the issue directly to him. Though he didn’t meet with us, he did send the police, who arrested all eight of us in civil disobedience. I joined the graduate workers and housekeepers because we need to confront inequity and injustice, whether it

n Last week, after graduate workers came together, Duke University announced a plan to raise its pay to $15 in 2023.

be in the streets of Ferguson or in the halls of Missouri’s premier academic institution. We don’t put our bodies on the line because we want to – we do so because we need a real change on this campus and in this city.

This campus coalition unites all sorts of people from all walks of life – graduate workers, housekeepers, cafeteria workers, white, black, brown – together because it’s deeply unfair that they struggle to make ends meet at such a wealthy university. While Wash U enjoys an

$8.5 billion endowment, those who make it such a great place to learn are paid so little many are forced to rely on food stamps and food banks to feed their families.

It’s immoral for an institution of higher learning that bills itself as a regional leader to pay workers so little they live under the threat of eviction and feed their children ramen noodles for dinner. It’s wrong that the fourth-largest employer in the metro area refuses to recognize the shameful role it plays in perpetuating poverty that holds our most vulnerable neighborhoods back.

While Wash U waits, other universities are taking action to better their communities. Last week, after graduate workers came together, Duke University announced a plan to raise its pay to $15 in 2023. The University of Virginia

See WAGE, B6

People On The Move

Valerie Patton was selected to participant in the 91st Joint Civilian Orientation Conference hosted by the Secretary of Defense. The program is the oldest and most prestigious public outreach and full immersion program in the Department of Defense. She is senior vice president, Inclusion & Talent Attraction at the St. Louis Regional Chamber.

Andwele Jolly was named vice chairperson for the Board of Directors of the Missouri Foundation for Health. He is a business director in the Divisions of Allergy & Immunology, Rheumatology and Hematology at Washington University School of Medicine. He also serves as on the boards for CareSTL Health, the St. Louis Regional Health Commission and as co-chair of public policy and advocacy for the National Association of Health Services Executives.

Jasminn Jones of Florissant has joined Kwame Building Group, Inc. as project engineer. She is responsible for managing submittals on the firm’s $450 million SSM St. Louis University Hospital project. She also ensures contract compliance, prepares project status reports and assists project management personnel. She brings five years of experience in the construction industry, including an internship with Kwame.

John Jackson received the Shepherd’s Center 2019 Chef Wars Award for Best Entree. A panel of five judges unanimously selected Jackson’s Beef Tenderloin Pho as the winning entrée. He is executive chef at Garden Villas Retirement and Assisted Living Community. The Shepherd’s Center of Webster-Kirkwood is part of a national network helping older adults to find enrichment, maintain independence and stay socially active.

Brenda Armour received the 2019 Michael Edlin Award from Doorways. She has been the Dietary manager in Doorways’ Cooper House facility since it opened in 1996 to care for the most frail and ill clients unable to live independently. The Edlin Award recognizes Michael Edlin, a Doorways founding board member whose spirit of hospitality influenced the agency’s name and logo.

Gerald Johnson was honored as a 2019 Pillar of Parkway. He is an Oasis tutor at McKelvey Elementary School. This prestigious award is presented to individuals who have provided extraordinary service to the Parkway community and go beyond what is expected. Individuals who have made a long-term commitment and provided outstanding leadership and service to Parkway can be nominated to be honored. On the move? Congratulations! Send your good professional news and a color headshot to cking@stlamerican. com

Brenda Armour Andwele Jolly

Gerald Johnson

John Jackson

Valerie Patton

Jasminn Jones

Photo by Alex Cook

Rev. Darryl Gray

After 51 years, fair housing is under attack

By Charlene Crowell Center for Responsible Lending

Fifty-one years this month, the Fair Housing Act was enacted to ensure that housing discrimination was illegal.

Yet just days before the annual observance of Fair Housing Month began, headline news articles reminded the nation that housing discrimination still exists.

to receive $24 million in restitution.

n “Under the Trump administration, fair housing protections are under attack.”

For example, on March 19, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) fined Citibank $25 million for violations related to mortgage lending. At issue was Citibank’s “relationship pricing” program that afforded mortgage applicants either a credit on closing costs or a reduced interest rate. These cost breaks were intended to be offered to customers on the basis of their deposits and investment balances. According to OCC examination at Citibank, these ‘relationships” did not include all eligible customers – particularly people of color. The regulator’s conclusion was that the bank’s practices led to racial disparities. The settlement calls for all 24,000 consumers affected

– U.S. Rep.

Maxine Waters, chair

of the House Financial Services Committee

Days later on March 28, the federal department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) charged Facebook with violating the act by enabling its advertisers to discriminate on its social media platform. According to the lawsuit, Facebook enabled advertisers to exclude people based on their neighborhood – a high-tech version of the historical redlining of neighborhoods where people of color lived. With 210 million Facebook users in the United States and Canada alone, the social media mogul took in $8.246 billion in advertising in just the last financial quarter of 2018.

As April’s annual observance of Fair Housing Month began, the chair of the House Financial Services Committee used that leadership post to bring attention to the nagging challenges that deny fair housing for all. In her opening statement at the hearing held April 2, Chairwoman Maxine Waters set the tone and focus of the public forum.

“According to the National Fair Housing Alliance,

individuals filed 28,843 housing discrimination complaints in 2017,” said Waters. “Under the Trump administration, fair housing protections are under attack…. According to news reports Secretary Carson proposed taking the words ‘free from discrimination’ out of HUD’s mission statement.”

“He also reportedly halted fair housing investigations,” continued Waters, “and sidelined top advisors in HUD’s Office of Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity. These are unprecedented attacks on fair housing that must not go unanswered.”

Several committee members posed similar concerns and offered comments that echoed those of Waters. Additional issues raised during the hearing spoke to a lack of enforcement, data collection, gentrification, racial redlining, restrictive zoning, and disparate impact.

A panel of housing experts provided substantive testimony that responded to many of these issues, while also acknowledging how many fair housing goals have not yet been achieved.

Cashauna Hill, executive director of the Greater New Orleans Fair Housing Action

Visit The St. Louis American at www.stlamerican.com

Center, provided additional information on delays encountered with HUD’s Fair Housing investigations. Although HUD set a standard for these complaints to be investigated within 100 days, many complaints go well beyond the agency’s own guidelines. Cases older than 100 days are categorized as “aged” in HUD parlance.

“In 2017, HUD had 895 cases that became aged during that same year, and it had 941 cases that were already considered aged at the beginning of the fiscal year. During that same time period, Fair Housing Assistance Program agencies had 3,994 cases that became aged and 1,393 cases that were already considered aged at the beginning of the fiscal year,” Hill said.

“Practically, what this means for groups like the Fair Housing Action Center is a delay in making victims of discrimination whole, and a delay in correction of housing providers’ discriminatory behavior.”

Speaking on behalf of the Zillow Group, Skylar Olsen, its director of Economic Research, cited additional data that underscored racial disparities and problems that continue with access to credit.

“Homeownership is a key tool for building wealth, and more than half the overall wealth held by American households is represented by their primary residence,” said Olsen. “But access to homeownership is not shared equally. In 1900, the gap between black and white homeownership rate was 27.6 percentage points. Today it is 30.3 percentage points.”

Further, according to Olsen, the Home Mortgage Disclosure Act (HMDA) shows that “black borrowers are denied for conventional home loans 2.5 times more often than white borrowers.”

Even among renters, Skylar noted racial disparities in major metro areas like Atlanta, Detroit, Houston and Oakland, California, adding, “Local establishments and amenities including banks, health institutions and recreational facilities are less prevalent in communities of color than white communities.”

Debby Goldberg, vice president of Housing Policy and Special Projects with the National Fair Housing Alliance (NFHA) was also a panelist.

“The long history of housing discrimination and segregation in the U.S. has created neighborhoods that are unequal in their access to opportunities,” testified Goldberg. “They are not unequal because of the

people who live there. They are unequal because of a series of public and private institutionalized practices that orchestrated a system of American apartheid in our neighborhoods and communities, placing us in separate and unequal spaces.” Goldberg also stated that racial discrimination included consumers of color with varying incomes.

“While many low-income communities, no matter their racial composition, suffer from disinvestment and lack of resources, even wealthier, high-earning communities of color have fewer bank branches, grocery stores, healthy environments, and affordable credit than poorer white areas,” she said. Goldberg also posed a core question that was as basic as it was direct.

“How do we ensure that future generations of all backgrounds live in neighborhoods rich with opportunity?” said Goldberg. “Fair housing. Fair housing can ultimately dismantle the housing discrimination and segregation that caused these inequities in the first place.”

Charlene Crowell is the Center for Responsible Lending’s deputy Communications director. She can be reached at Charlene. crowell@responsiblelending. org.

Renew Missouri praises Ameren for solar power program

Renew Missouri, a notfor-profit group focused on renewable energy and energy efficiency policy around the Show-Me State, celebrates a report filed by Ameren Missouri last week (in Public Service Commission Case Number EA-2016-0207) highlighting the initial success of its Community Solar Program.

As a primer, the Public Service Commission granted Ameren the ability to offer a program whereby customers, for a fee, could subscribe to have their home or business powered by solar. If Ameren hit a certain number of subscribers (based on energy needs), Ameren would begin constructing a 1MW solar

array near St. Louis Lambert International Airport. According to the report, the program was fully subscribed after only 55 days of marketing the program. This means 355 customers signed up for 1,302 blocks (four blocks on average per customer) in order to fully utilize the airport facility. Yet, customers continue to enroll and are now being placed on a waiting list.

“This result shows Ameren Missouri as well as the rest of the state that not only do people want this, but they are willing to pay extra for it,” said James Owen, executive director of Renew Missouri.

n Ameren’s Community Solar Program was fully subscribed after only 55 days of marketing the program.

While participating customers will pay slightly more for solar energy under the program, they may be able to save money in the long run, due to the expected rise in retail electricity rates in the future. In addition, Renew Missouri expects that an expansion of the program may lower the cost of solar energy under the program.

Ameren customers can visit AmerenMissouri.com/ CommunitySolar to enroll.

KAI acquires Fratto Engineering in Arlington, Texas

KAI has acquired womanowned Fratto Engineering, Inc. based in Arlington, Texas. Founded in 1997, Fratto Engineering specializes in mechanical, electrical and plumbing engineering and has more than 40 clients that include higher education institutions, hospital systems and healthcare centers, local municipalities, architectural firms, electrical contractors, general contractors and other institutions.

Under the acquisition agreement, Fratto Engineering’s staff will complete its current contractual commitments to its clients, with all new opportunities moving forward as KAI Engineering, LLC. Fratto

n “Their insight, knowledge and personal touch serves us well as we provide additional resources and experience to our growing client base.”

– KAI Enterprises President Darren L. James

Engineering’s 12 employees will remain in the Arlington office, accompanied by a few engineers transferred from KAI’s Dallas, Texas office. Examples of Fratto Engineering’s clients include

Huguley Hospital, Angiel Electric, Davis Latham Construction, CADCO Architects, Callahan & Freeman Architects, MPI Architects, Peter Lewis Architect, Rabe Architects, REES, SBL Architecture, Tarrant County College District, VA Hospitals, JPS Hospital and Parkland Hospital. Fratto Engineering President Debbie Fratto and Fratto Engineering Principal Mark Fratto will stay on in senior level roles in the Arlington office. KAI Enterprises President Darren L. James said that “their insight, knowledge and personal touch serves us well as we provide additional resources and experience to our growing client base.”

Charlene Crowell

“I’ll play for whomever. It’s something I can’t control.”

Sports

BaskeTBall noTeBook With Earl Austin Jr. Brusca/Strobach Invitational featured area’s top performers

Athletes shine at invitational

The Phil Brusca/Connie Strobach Invitational last weekend featured many of the area’s top performers. The meet was hosted by Ladue High, but Parkway Central was the venue as Ladue’s new stadium is still under construction.

The marquee race of the meet was the boys’ 100-meter dash which featured Cardinal Ritter’s Jameson Williams against Trinity’s Kemeric Winston, the defending Class 3 state champion. Williams held off a hard-charging Winston at the end to win the race in 10.66 seconds while Winston finished in 10.67. Williams won the 200 in 21.44 seconds and the long jump with a leap of 22 feet 5 inches. It was the first time Williams competed in the long jump since he was in seventh grade.

– St Louisan Jayson Tatum, on being mentioned in trade rumors Earl Austin Jr.

Another double-winner was John Burroughs senior sprinter Madison Fuller, who won the girls’ 200 and 400. She posted winning times of 24.44 in the 200 and 57.3 in the 400. Nerinx Hall standout Courtney Williams won the 100meter dash in 11.89 seconds.

The top individual performance of the meet came from star thrower Devin Roberson of Jefferson City, who won the discus with a throw of 205 feet 3 inches, which is the No. 2 throw in the nation to date. Roberson’s throw cleared the field and landed into the street as local police officers had traffic blocked off whenever Roberson threw. He also won the shot put with a heave of 55 feet ½ inch.

Jacob Brunsman of Rockwood Summit won the 400 with an impressive time of 48.3 seconds, which is a new school record. Lazarus Williams of SLUH won the 800-meter run and anchored the Jr. Bills’ 4x800-meter relay to a first place finish.

Diamond Richardson of Pattonville won the shot put on her last throw with an effort of 42-6

Big Game Dame silences Thunder

For years Damian Lillard has been overshadowed by an overabundance of talented point guards in the Western Conference. Steph Curry, Russell Westbrook and James Harden (who plays both guard positions) have racked up MVPs, scoring titles and become some of the most wellknown athletes in the world. Meanwhile, the Portland PG has been well-respected but underappreciated. Those days are coming to an end. Lillard put the league on notice Tuesday night by delivering a dazzling 50-point performance against Westbrook and the Oklahoma City Thunder. Already up 3-1 in the series, Lillard sent the Thunder home after drilling a sidestep, 37-foot shot over Paul George’s outstretched arm at the buzzer. After the game, George was in disbelief about the bucket that ended his season.

that.” No, that’s not a bad shot. To paraphrase the late, great Muhammad Ali, that’s “a bad man!”

“That’s a bad, bad shot,” George told reporters. “I don’t care what anybody says. That’s a bad shot. But hey, he made it. That story won’t be told that it was a bad shot. We live with

The Dallas Mavericks’ Tim Hardaway Jr. had the perfect reaction to Lillard’s dagger. “ That’s just different Dame!!!” Hardaway tweeted. Many current players and former players chimed in on Twitter about the game-winner, including LeBron James, Dwyane Wade, Donovan Mitchell, Kevin Love and Hall of Famer Allen Iverson Even though Lillard and Westbrook went head-to-head, trading buckets and banter, for much of the series, it was fitting that George was the victim of Lillard’s epic shot. For much of the season, George received buzz as a potential MVP candidate (behind Harden and Giannis Antetokounmpo). After averaging 33 points and outdueling both “PG-13” and “Mr. Triple Double” in the playoffs, Lillard can no longer be slept-on as an MVP candidate. Lillard will have an opportunity to build on his budding reputation as a cold-blooded

when

Trail Blazers take on

Denver Nuggets or San Antonio Spurs in the second round. See CLUTCH, B5 Don’t expect either potential opponent to make Portland nervous. The Trail Blazers entered the playoffs as one of the

hottest teams in the league by winning 14 of its final 17 regular-season games. That streak happened despite the fact that

the team lost its starting center, Jusuf Nurkic, to a broken leg

H. Sistrunk

Ishmael H. Sistrunk

The Ladue Brusca Invitational was held Saturday, April 20, 2019 at Parkway Central High School. The winner of the Boys 100meter dash was Jameson Williams (right) from Cardinal Ritter with a time of 10.66. Second was Kemeric Winston (center) from Trinity at 10.67, Kamrin Williams (left) from Chicago Heights Bloom Township finished at 10.98.

Damian Lillard hits a 37-foot three-point shot over the outstretched arms of Paul George. Lillard’s shot gave the Portland Trail Blazers a 118115 victory and a 4-1 series win over the Oklahoma City Thunder.

Photo by Wiley Price

Forget the history, emotion and sentimentality of Tiger Woods’ win at The Masters on April 14. Let’s talk about the increase in revenues, television ratings and golf interest his victory instantly created.

Final-round coverage and an encore presentation later Sunday was seen by 37.2 million viewers, a 41 percent increase from 2018’s live-only coverage, according to CBS.

According to ratings tracker, iSpot.tv, Masters advertising revenue event on CBS (Saturday and Sunday) and ESPN (Thursday and Friday) rose an estimated 40 percent over the year before, with $34.1 million.

SportS EyE

With Alvin A. Reid

Tiger beat continues with soaring TV ratings

The PGA, America’s golf industry and thousands of public golf courses are longing for the days when Woods’ popularity sparked a boom in new golfers – especially minority ones.

The National Golf Foundation estimates that in 2017 minority golfers made up 18 percent of all golfers in the U.S., and 25 percent of new golfers. Two decades ago, as Woods’ began his dominance, just 6 percent of new golfers were minorities.

CBS got most of this windfall because the audience was larger during the final two rounds. In addition, CBS wisely chose to show a Woods’ centered encore of the final round from 2-7 p.m.

A year ago, according to Kanter Media, total Masters advertising revenue was $24.2 million.

Every year, The Masters posts a video on Twitter of the final putt from the champion.

Patrick Reed’s 2018 winning putt has been viewed 393,000 times over the past year.

As of Wednesday April 16, just two days after the Masters, Woods’ winning put had been viewed 7.66 million times.

TaylorMade CEO David Abeles said this week that his company sold more of the P7TW irons (Woods’ collaboration with TaylorMade) in the first seven hours following Tiger’s win than the first seven days following its presale launch on April 8.

“There is more diversity in the game than there was 10 years ago,”

Pete Bevacqua, president of NBC Sports Group and a former CEO of the PGA, told msn.com.

“I don’t think those numbers are good enough yet, but golf is aware of it and trying to make it better.”

Jay Monahan, PGA Tour commissioner, said growing and diversifying golf’s fan base were his top priorities when he took over in 2017.

Woods’ Masters win and continued success could help bolster minority participation in golf, in his opinion.

“These moments bring more people into our sport,” he said.

MLS’ $50 million move

I certainly understand that the prospective owners of an MLS expansion franchise in St. Louis don’t want to make any waves when it comes to landing a team.

Let me be the loudmouth to do it. It seems no one else in the media wants to.

Commissioner Don Garber’s ongoing increased demands for more cash and his interference

into stadium construction, naming rights and other revenue producers is becoming more than irritating. He sounds like a loan-sharking wise guy.

His story keeps changing too.

Last week, the MLS announced that it would ultimately expand to 30 teams. Instead of St. Louis and Sacramento battling each other for the right to be Team 28, both cities are now at the head of the pack and will most likely join the MLS field.

In an article posted Tuesday morning (April 23) on SB Nation’s KC Sporting website, it is reported that Team 28 will pay an expansion fee of $150 million and Team 29 will pay $200 million. There has been no explanation why $50 million was added to the price tag for just one expansion team.

It was originally stated that both teams would be asked to pay a $200 million fee. Is this a tactic to create a lucrative race between ownership groups? What gives, Don?

The Taylors and Kavanaugh groups have more than enough money to create a profitable endeavor on their end. Can the MLS say the same thing?

The STL owners unveiled drawings of a spiffy new stadium last week, but there is still a question of how an in-stadium sales tax will be generated. Garber is using this municipal issue to strong arm St. Louis and the prospective owners.

The city’s Board of Aldermen wisely balked at expanding the area covered by the Port Authority, the body that would authorize a 1 percent sales tax at the stadium. If the maneuver was approved, and the Port Authority covered the entire city, there would be no city statute stopping it from using its newly granted power on several issues including eminent domain.

Garber says St. Louis needs to get the stadium funding in order and he doesn’t care if it creates a situation that could haunt St. Louis for years. If this region has learned just one thing over the past 30 years it should be to not do any and everything to land a sports franchise.

I think the city and owners should quit groveling to this Garber guy. If St. Louis is Team 29, tell him what he can do with that additional $50 million – or at least demand an explanation TODAY.

I think one of the prospective owners is beginning to

agree. “While we have been in discussions with various city officials and city agencies on this (sales tax) element of our proposal, this is not something that needs to be in-place to finalize our stadium plan or secure an expansion team,” Carolyn Kindle Betz in a statement. Those words weren’t directed at St. Louis soccer fans, in my opinion. They were aimed at greedy Garber.

St. Louis wants and deserves a team. Garber’s MLS is trying to pay future bills by squeezing every penny it can out of the respective St. Louis and Sacramento ownership groups.

As I’ve stated before, I have full confidence in the ownership group. I have a gigantic vote of “no confidence” in Garber.

This latest bait-and-switch re-enforces my doubts.

Bonds, Fowler a hit

Before Monday’s game against Milwaukee at Busch Stadium, Dexter Fowler received a text from former superstar slugger Barry Bonds. Fowler, whose bat is slowly coming around, was homerless and had driven in just two runs.

He’s like, ‘Keep swinging it. Now over .300,’” Fowler told the Associated Press.

Fowler followed up by hitting his first home run of the season and collected four hits in a 13-5 victory.

“I’ve been feeling good,” Fowler said.

“I’ve been putting in good swings, good at-bats. It’s kind of contagious.” His four hits in five at-bats jumped his batting average to .313 and, hopefully, gets some of the fans that love to hate him off his back. He’s not worried about that, though – just staying hot.

“I’m just going out there trying to take good AB’s and let the game come to me,” Fowler said.

Centerfielder Harrison Bader is on the injured list with a hamstring issue and reserve outfielder Tyler O’Neill’s elbow injury has him sidelined indefinitely. Fowler’s resurgence will be critical to the Cardinals’ hopes of staying in first place in the tight NL Central early in the season.

The Reid Roundup Jayson Tatum and the Boston Celtics made short work of the Indian Pacers and are on to the second round of the NBA Playoffs. Tatum averaged 15.6 points per game and tallied 26 in the second game of the four-game sweep… Bradley Beal of the Washington Wizards is eagerly awaiting the announcement of the 2018-19 All NBA Team. If he gets All-NBA honors, he will be eligible for a supermax contract, beginning in the 2021-22 season. It is projected to be worth $194 million over four years and would start at more than $40 million annually… A Bleacher Report article says the Wizards would be willing to trade Beal and Ian Mahinmi to the Toronto Raptors in exchange for Serge Ibaka Norman Powell O.G. Anunoby, Fred VanVleet and a 2020 first-round pick… Quarterback Russell Wilson gifted $12,000 in Amazon stock to 13 Seattle Seahawks offensive linemen this week. If the stock repeats what it did over the past 10 years, it would be worth $270,000 in 2029… Wilson signed a $140 million contract last week and announced with a video of him and his wife, Ciara, snuggling in bed. It wasn’t cute or clever – just tacky… Dallas Cowboys running back Ezekiel Elliott looked fat in a photo taken during a celebration of Denver Broncos defensive lineman Von Miller in a Dallas suburb last weekend. He doesn’t look as bad in another photo, but fans like me are concerned. He also is sporting a nose ring now.

Alvin A. Reid was honored as the 2017 “Best Sports Columnist – Weeklies” in the Missouri Press Association’s Better Newspaper Contest and is a New York Times contributor. He is a panelist on the Nine Network program, Donnybrook, a weekly contributor to “The Charlie Tuna Show” on KFNS and appears monthly on “The Dave Glover Show” on 97.1 Talk.” His Twitter handle is @aareid1.

Alvin A. Reid

Final-round coverage of The Masters and an encore presentation later Sunday was seen by 37.2 million viewers, a 41 percent increase from 2018’s live-only coverage, according to CBS. Ratings fueled, undoubtedly, by the stellar play of Tiger Woods.

CLUTCH

Continued from C7 in late March. Instead of feeling sorry for itself, the team has rallied around “Big Game Dame” and pushed forward to exceed expectations.

Now “Rip City” has dispatched OKC in just five games, and its confidence is growing by the minute. Fortunately for the Blazers, big performances and even bigger shots are nothing new for Lillard. What’s somewhat new for Lillard is the level of limelight and attention he’ll command after his first-round performance.

LeBron James is watching the playoffs from home. The Warriors and Rockets will duke it out in the other Western Conference semi-finals matchup. That means Lillard will be the biggest star in the Blazers’ second-round matchup. Greater expectations come with a greater spotlight. Something tells me Lillard is ready for the challenge.

What’s next for OKC?

After the humbling defeat, the future is murky for Westbrook, George and the current Thunder team.

At the All-Star Break, the Thunder sat as the No. 3 seed in the West with a record of 37-20. Westbrook was universally praised for his unselfishness. George was applauded for excelling as the Thunder’s primary scoring option.

After the All-Star Break, the Thunder’s season progressed like a Chinua Achebe novel. The team stumbled to a 12-13 record and dropped to the No. 6 seed. The team narrowly missed slipping down to No. 8 and facing the Golden State Warriors in the first round.

Following a third-straight first-round playoff exit, it should be clear that changes will occur in Oklahoma City. According to Spotrac.com,

TRACK

Continued from C7

as she edged Webster Groves standout Nia Lyles, who also threw more than 40 feet.

Trinity’s Brooke Moore was also a field event winner as she took the triple jump with an effort of 37-6.

Girls Shine at Fred Lyon Invitational

There were some excellent individual performances by a group of talented girls at the Fred Lyon Invitational at Parkway North. Lauryn Taylor of McCluer North won the 100 with a time of 11.85 seconds while teammates Michelle Owens won the 100-meter high hurdles in 13.99. Parkway North standout Alicia Burnett won the 200 with a winning time of 24.42. Reina McMillan of Parkway North won the 400 and the

Ready for USA Gymnastics

USA Gymnastics and the United States Olympic Committee have announced the awarding of the 2020 U.S. Olympic Team Trials for Gymnastics to St. Louis. The event will take place at the Enterprise Center in June of 2020. Attending the official press conference and festivities were Michelle Douglas, Jersey Douglas, Jayden Brooks and Tyra Metcalfe from their local team, All American Gymnastics.

in the 2019-20 season, the Thunder will owe more than $97M to Westbrook, George and Steven Adams The team also picked up the fifth-year option for head coach Billy Donovan and will

Vikings also won the 4x100 and 4x200-meter relays.

Tae’la Jackson of Clayton was excellent in the throws as she won the shot put with a heave of 38-3 and the discus with a throw of 126-9.

Area Standouts at KU Relays

A group of athletes from the St. Louis area ventured to Lawrence, Kansas to compete in the Kansas University Relays over the weekend. Hazelwood West won both the 4x200 and 4x400-meter relays at KU. The Wildcats posted winning times of 1:27.29 in the 4x200 and 3:19.18 in the 4x400. East St. Louis took home the 4x100 relay while Joshua Sutton of MICDS was second in the 100 in a school record time of 10.58. On the girls’ side, Danielle Frank of Hazelwood Central won the 100 in 11.67 and Scout Regular of Incarnate Word Academy won the 100-meter high hurdles in 14.26.

pay him approximately $4M for the upcoming season. Will the team attempt to deal one of its star players during the offseason? Will it flush $4M and give Donovan his walking papers? Or will

On Tap this Weekend

There will be some excellent meets happening this weekend around the metro area.

• The Dale Collier Invitational at Kirkwood will be held on Saturday. It will feature athletes from both sides of the river in the metro area, including East St. Louis, plus teams from Blue Springs and Jefferson City.

• The Marion Freeman Clayton Invitational will be held on Friday at Saturday at Clayton High School.

• The Jim Schmuck Patriot Classic boys meet will be held at Parkway South on Thursday afternoon.

• The Victoria Reeves Invitational girls’ meet will be held at Parkway South on Saturday.

• The Eureka Invitational girls meet will be held on Thursday afternoon.

The ST. LouiS AmericAn PreP AThLeTe of The Week

Madison Fuller

John Burroughs – Girls Track and Field

The standout sprinter was one of the top individual standouts at last weekend’s Phil Brusca/Connie Strobach Invitational at Parkway Central. Fuller won the 200- and 400meter dash titles while posting impressive times in the meet. She posted a winning time of 57.3 seconds in the 400 and then came

back to clock a winning time of 24.44 in the 200. The talented Fuller is returning to full health after missing much of the past two seasons to injuries. She was a Class 3 state champion in the 100 and 200 as a freshman in 2016. Fuller will be attending Vanderbilt University next fall on a track scholarship.

the franchise decide to stay the course and hope that the same squad will produce different results? It is very likely that all three options are on the table for the front office in

Oklahoma City. One thing is clear, everybody should be nervous in OKC.

Be sure to check In the Clutch online and also follow Ishmael on Twitter @ishcreates. Subscribe to The St. Louis

American’s YouTube page to see weekly sports videos starring Ishmael and Melvin Moore at youtube.com/stlamericanvideo

Photo by Kevin Jones

WASHU

continued from page B1

Chancellor-elect Andrew Martin’s office.

Aura Aguilar, a social work graduate student at the Brown School, was among those arrested and charged with trespassing. As a research assistant, Aguilar makes $10 an hour.

“For the chancellor-elect to keep saying that they are thinking about it, we can’t afford to keep waiting,” Aguilar said. “We are still paying bills, buying groceries, and paying for transportation.”

She said the chancellorelect had the group arrested without even speaking to them. According to a statement from the university, several members of the university leadership have met with Fight for $15 leaders to listen to their concerns.

“In each of those conversations, including with Chancellor-elect Martin directly, administrators have shared that there is a process underway to develop an issue brief that includes an analysis of options,” it stated. “When that process is complete, the chancellor-elect will discuss the options with a variety of stakeholders. After that, a decision will be made and shared with the university community.”

Aguilar’s parents were both teachers when they immigrated

WAGE

continued from page B1

also recently announced its plan to raise the campus minimum wage to $15.

We need that same spirit in St. Louis. With new leadership, Wash U has the opportunity to turn over a new leaf and be a true leader for the working families of our region, particularly the working poor,

to the United States from El Salvador in their 20s. She grew up with the idea of the American Dream, she said, but currently her mother is 71 and still working as a housekeeper to help put her through graduate school.

“Getting a minimum wage increase, it’s not just impacting campus workers,” Aguilar said. “It’s also impacting our families who are counting on us.”

Aguilar is among those who have been sleeping in the campus Quad in tents for the past week, and there about 10-20 tents any given night. Fight for $15 activists said they aren’t leaving until their demands are met.

“At this incredibly wealthy institution, we continue to have a large portion of the people who do the essential work of keeping the place running –whether its cleaning, making food for everybody, teaching lab classes – are all earning below what we consider a living wage in St. Louis,” said Grace Ward, a graduate worker. Other universities, including Harvard, Emory, Duke, and the University of Virginia, have already made the commitment to raise the minimum wage to $15 an hour, and more universities are in the process of doing the same.

In the statement, Wash. U. administrators said that the university’s minimum wage for direct and contract employees is “well above” the state and federal mandates and is toward

who come in from across St. Louis County and city to make the university run. A higher wage means more money to take home and spend in their neighborhoods, boosting local businesses and the economy.

But this isn’t just about economics – it’s about racial equity. It’s about lifting struggling neighborhoods, especially in North St. Louis, where so many Wash U workers live.

Change requires action,

the top in the region.

“The university also provides a benefits package that strives to anticipate the broadest needs of our employees, especially employees with families who have to juggle the pressures of work and home,” according to the statement. “Nonetheless, we always are considering additional ways to support our employees.”

Aguilar said the Brown School faculty and dean have strongly supported her involvement in the movement. Much of what the school focuses on is wage inequalities and raising the minimum wage, she said.

“There’s so much research,”

Aguilar said. “It felt ridiculous that we were learning all of this at a really great school but one that is not respecting its workers and not providing a living wage.”

However, housekeepers are often more hesitant to speak out than the graduate workers because the university has been “tougher on them,” movement representatives said.

“For me, $15 an hour and childcare means not having to struggle to pay the bills,” Wells said. “It means being able to support my children and put food on the table. I’m lucky to have a voice on the job with my union, but others campus workers do not.”

The workers in the movement are represented by Washington University Graduate Workers Union and SEIU Local 1.

and we understand that. The working people of Wash U have shown they’re ready to do whatever it takes to win that more secure future for their families. The question is whether Chancellor-Elect Martin is listening. It’s up to us, the community, to make sure he does.

Rev. Darryl Gray is a longtime civil rights activist. He currently lives in St. Louis.

In style for business

Cedric Cobb to pitch his Best Pocket Square Holder on ‘Shark Tank’

By Kenya Vaughn Of The St. Louis American

Regardless of whom you ask, two things for sure will be said about Cedric Cobb. The first is that his enthusiasm tank is always full. The second is he is always sharp, both in intellectual capacity and in impeccable appearance. But he’s not “clean” for the sake of style. He “dresses for connections.”

“When you dress well and you feel like you look good, you feel good,” Cobb said. “When you feel good, you are more confident. When you are more confident, you can make more money. And when you are projecting the right image, people treat you differently. Everybody has a little more ‘act right’ on them.”

His quest to present the perfect image became an idea for an opportunity to make money while watching the Steve Harvey talk show back in 2015. Harvey was on television wearing one of the “casket sharp” suits that he’s known for, but his pocket holder was out of place.

n When you are more confident, you can make more money. And when you are projecting the right image, people treat you differently.

In that moment, Cobb connected with the man who he considers a role model in a totally different way. It was the same problem Cobb had faced countless times. That lopsided pocket square was a direct threat to Harvey’s swag – and Cobb knew the feeling, because he faced it countless times in his own life. Cobb also knew that every other man who fought to keep his pocket square in position understood the struggle.

Starting Sunday, Cobb will be on television too – with the hopes of getting his Best Pocket Square Holder, which is part of his Best Wardrobe Solutions brand, to the next level through the hit reality show, “Shark Tank” this Sunday (Apr. 28, 9 p.m. CST). Cobb, who is founder, president and CEO of Best Wardrobe Solutions, will host a watch party for Sunday’s show starting at 7 p.m. at City Hall.

The show allows businesses to pitch before a panel of super successful entrepreneurs who garnered fame on the strength of their business savvy. Among them are billionaire Mark Cuban. The “sharks” are pitched to, with the hopes that they will see enough value in the product to invest.

The ABC show was an instant hit for the network – and is still going strong after ten seasons.

The description of his product already sounded like a pitch worthy of a win. “100 percent of men have the same problem – pocket squares do not stay in place unless you have something to hold it there,” Cobb said. “And there was no dignified solution that existed on the market that would allow a man to hold his pocket square in place, to look good all day long and not fight with a little 10x10 piece of material

See COBB, C4

STL loves Jeezy

They’re our star(s)

Isley Brothers honored by St. Louis Walk of Fame

By Kenya Vaughn Of The

St. Louis American

Wednesday morning’s icky weather couldn’t keep a sizable crowd from coming out to show love to music legends the Isley Brothers as the latest inductees of the St. Louis Walk of Fame.

People spilled off the sidewalk as Joe Edwards prepared to honor Ernie and Ronald Isley with their very own star positioned right in front of The Pageant.

“We so are glad to see all of you here,” said Ronald Isley. “I remember being here (at the Pageant) with Chuck Berry some years ago, and I thought it was wonderful.”

Ronald Isley most likely gained an intimate knowledge of the city through his former wife

Angela Winbush – a St. Louis native and music legend in her own right. Those nuptials ended, but his connection to St. Louis remained.

The roots of the legendary band of musical brothers are in Cincinnati, but in St. Louis they have found a home.

“I’ve been living here for 21 years,” Ronald Isley said. “That lets you know I like it. I love it.” His wife Kandy Isley, who moved to St. Louis to be with Ronald more than a decade ago, was close by with a smile that grew wider as she gazed the parameter of people who came out. See STARS, C4

U. City developer and St. Louis Walk of Fame founder Joe Edwards was thrilled to introduce the Isley Brothers as the newest inductees of the St. Louis Walk of Fame on Wednesday, April 24. Their star is located directly in front of internationally renowned performance venue The Pageant.

Ice cream and heartbreak

Kayla “KVtheWriter”

will mark the premiere of her new EP, ‘Love

with a special performance Tuesday, April 30

KVtheWriter speaks on ‘Love Sucks’ EP, April 30 show at The Monocle

As told to Jeremy Goodwin Of St. Louis Public Radio

An ice cream break during a studio session changed the course of Kayla “KVtheWriter” Thompson’s latest artistic endeavor. She talked about the experience on a recent edition of St. Louis On The Air with St. Louis Public Radio’s Jeremy Goodwin as she prepares for the release of her “Love Sucks” EP next week. The release will be celebrated with a live show on Tuesday, April 30 at The Monocle. She’s been releasing pieces of “Love Sucks” through various mediums since February leading up to Tuesday’s show. “I started with the video. I released some pictures and I’ll end with the live music – and the project will be dropping the same day [as the show].

In her chat with Goodwin, she discusses the actual moment that inspired the music. “I was at the studio – I have a home studio and this guy I was dating at the time called and said he wanted to meet up,” Thompson said. “I was happy to see him.” She was so happy that she stopped in the middle of a recording session to spend time with him. He offered to go get ice cream. She felt his energy was off on the car ride over to the Snow Factory.

When they arrived, he asked if she wanted

See KV, C4

Photo by Wiley Price/St. Louis

Cedric Cobb, founder, president and CEO of Best Wardrobe Solutions, will pitch his Best Pocket Square Holder on the hit television show ‘Shark Tank’ this Sunday.

Thompson

Sucks’

at The Monocle.

Rap star Jeezy was greeted by a sold-out crowd for his performance at the Pageant Saturday presented by RockHouse Ent.

Photo by Lawrence Bryant

How to place a calendar listing

1. Email your listing to calendar@stlamerican. com OR

2. Visit the calendar section on stlamerican.com and place your listing

Calendar listings are free of charge, are edited for space and run on a space-available basis.

concerts

Fri., Apr. 26, 7 p.m., A night of Soul Searching presents Tweet. The Ready Room, 4195 Manchester Ave., 63110. For more information, visit www.eventbrite.com.

Tues., Apr. 30, 8 p.m., Delmar Hall welcomes Emily King, Delmar Hall, 6133 Delmar Blvd., 63112. For more information, visit www. thepageant.com.

Wed., May 1, 8 p.m., River City Casino & Hotel presents Robert Cray. 777 River City Casino Blvd., 63125. For more information, visit www. rivercity.com.

Tues., May 7, 8 p.m., The Ready Room presents Damien Escobar 4195 Manchester Ave., 63110. For more information, visit www. eventbrite.com

local gigs

Fri., Apr. 26, 8 p.m., Yung Bleu – The Blue Vandross Tour 2. 11836 W. Florissant Ave., 63033. For more information, visit www. eventbrite.com.

Sun., Apr. 28, 5:30 p.m., Allusion Entertainment Productions presents The Drew Project: Urban Jazz Music by Boney James, Branford Marsalis, Eric Benet, Najee, and more. The Ambassador, 9800 Halls Ferry Rd., 63136. For more information, visit www. eventbrite.com.

Sat., May 4, 8 p.m., Fubar presents Ann Marie: The Tripolar Tour. 3108 Locust St., 63103. For more information, visit www.etix. com.

Wed., May 8, 7 p.m., Kenny DeShields. Renaissance Airport Hotel, 9801 Natural Bridge Rd., 63134. For more

information, visit www. facebook.com.

Wed., May 15, 7 p.m., Old Rock House presents Tameca Jones. 1200 S. 7th St., 63104. For more information, visit www.metrotix.com.

Sun., May 19, 3 p.m., The Sheldon presents James Carter with The Peter Martin Trio. 3648 Washington Blvd., 63108. For more information, visit www. metrotix.com.

Sun., May 26, 5:30 p.m., The Ambassador presents Marvin Gaye Celebration: A Musical Tribute. Feat. Andrew Bethany & The Drew Project, Justin Hoskin and The Movie, and more. 9800 Halls Ferry Rd., 63136. For more information, visit www. eventbrite.com.

special events

Apr. 24 – 28, Chaifetz Arena presents Cirque Du Soleil Cortero. Corteo, which means cortege in Italian, is a joyous procession, a festive parade imagined by a clown. 1 S. Compton Ave., 63103. For more information, visit www. thechaifetzarena.com.

Thur., Apr. 25, 5:30p.m., 15 th Annual Evening of Hope. Performance by 442 with special guest Erin Bode. Proceeds benefit the Hope Center for Neurological Disorders. Sheldon Concert Hall, 3648 Washington Blvd., 63108. For more information, visit www.thesheldon.org.

Fri., Apr. 26, 11 a.m., The St. Louis American Foundation 19th Annual Salute to Excellence in Health Care Awards Luncheon, Frontenac Hilton. To order tickets, call 314-533-8000 or visit www. stlamerican.com

Fri., Apr. 26, 7 p.m., Stifel

Kenya Vaughn recommends

Theatre presents Michael Carbonaro. 1400 Market St., 63103. For more information, visit www.stifeltheatre.com.

Fri., Apr. 26, 8 p.m., National Pan Hellenic Council of St. Louis invites you to their Annual Scholarship Party. Lemp’s Grand Hall, 1817 Cherokee St., 63118. For more information, visit www. eventbrite.com.

Sat., Apr. 27, 11 a.m., Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc., St. Louis Metropolitan Alumnae Chapter invites you to a Mother Daughter Brunch – Wearing My Crown: A Royal Affair. Missouri Athletic Club, 405 Washington Ave., 63102. For more information, visit www.eventbrite.com.

Sat., Apr. 27, 12 p.m., An Afternoon with Eric Garner’s Mother: This Stops Today by Gwen Carr. Carr recounts how Eric’s wrongful death galvanized her to action. Legacy Bar & Grill, 5249Delomar Blvd., 63108. For more information, visit www.eventbrite.com.

Sat., Apr. 27, 2 p.m., Watch the Throne Youth Step Competition 2019. Middle and high school step competition. Parkway South High School, 801 Hanna Rd., 63021. For more information, visit www.eventbrite.com.

Sun., Apr. 28, 3 p.m., Imagery International presents 13th Annual Because I’m Worth It Gala. Sheraton Westport Chalet Hotel, 191 Westport Plaza, 63146. For more information, visit www. imagerymovement.org.

Sun., Apr. 28, 4pm, Grambling State UnivSTL Chapter is hosting its Black & Gold Scholarship Bowl at Crest Bowl 650 N Florissant, 63031. Proceeds benefit incoming/returning GSU students from St. Louis Metro area. For tickets, email stlgramblingalumni@ gmail.com.

Sat., May 4, 11 a.m. & 3

p.m., Afro World presents Hatitudes 2019. 2 fashion shows featuring the “Rosebud” of New York, giveaways, and more. 7276 Natural Bridge Rd., 63121. For more information, visit www. eventbrite.com.

Sat., May 4, 12 noon, The 17th Mary Meachum Freedom Crossing Celebration, The “Africans to Americans: 400 Years of History” event will feature historical re-enactments written by three St. Louisarea playwrights, a choir competition, and activities for children. Mary Meachum site on the Mississippi Greenway (Riverfront Trail) at 28 E. Grand, St. Louis 63147

Sat., May 4, 2 p.m., Mother’s Day Extravaganza. Enjoy massages, makeovers, a fashion show, workshops, and more. Medici MediaSpace, 2065 Walton Rd., 63114. For more information, visit www. eventbrite.com.

Sat., May 4, 1 p.m., PorchFestSTL. Porches and public spaces become stages for local bands of many genres. Skinker DeBaliviere Neighborhood, 6008 Kingsbury Ave., 63112. For more information, visit www. porchfeststl.com.

Sat., May 4, 2 p.m., Mother’s Day Extravaganza. Enjoy massages, makeovers, a fashion show, workshops, and more. Medici MediaSpace, 2065 Walton Rd., 63114. For more information, visit www. eventbrite.com.

Sun., May 5, 1:30 p.m., Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc., Omicron Theta Omega Chapter hosts 365 Black Bus Tour The tour includes round trip transportation, 3 stops at Black-owned businesses complimentary entry to the 365 Black Party, and more. The Signature Club, 9002 Overland Plz., 63114. For

The Laugh Lounge STL 2-year anniversary weekend starring J. Anthony Brown. For more information, see COMEDY.

Sat., May 25, 11:30 a.m., 11th Annual Morehouse Men of Style: Scholarship Luncheon and Fashion Show. Hilton Frontenac, 1335 S. Lindbergh Blvd., 63131. For more information, visit www. eventbrite.com.

Sun., May 26, 6 p.m., Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity, Inc., East St. Louis Alumni Chapter presents the Sundress and Linen Memorial Day Party. 10701 Lambert International Blvd., 63145. For more information, visit www.eventbrite.com.

Sun., Apr. 28, 9 p.m., Poetic Justice Open Mic feat. Brandon Alexander Williams. Kranzberg Arts Center, 501 N. Grand Blvd., 63103. For more information, visit www.metrotix.com.

more information, visit www.365BlackBusTour. Eventbrite.com.

Sun., May 5, 6 p.m., Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc., Omicron Theta Omega Chapter presents 365 Black Party. The Signature Club, 9002 Overland Plz., 63114. For more information, visit www.365BlackBusTour. Eventbrite.com.

Tues., May 7, 7:30 p.m., Nickelodeon’s Double Dare Live! Hosted by Marc Summers. Fox Theatre. 527 N. Grand Blvd., 63013. For more information, visit www. fabulousfox.com.

Wed., May 8, 11 a.m., St. Louis Career Fair. Employers are looking to hire on the spot. Doubletree Hotel Westport, 1973 Craigshire Rd., 63146. For more information, visit www.eventbrite.com.

Thur., May 9, 5 p.m., Food Truck Fest 2019. Bellefontaine County Park, 9565 Bellefontaine Rd., 63136. For more information, visit www.facebook.com.

Sun., May 12, 5:30 p.m., Denise Thimes & Friends Special Mother’s Day Concert. With special guests Jermaine Smith and Matthew Whitaker. Touhill Performing Arts Center, 1 University Blvd., 63121. For more information, visit www.touhill. org.

Tues., May 14, 6 p.m., Metropolitan St. Louis Sewer District Rate Commission Public Hearing. St. Louis County Library Grant’s View Branch, 9700 Musick Rd., 63123. For more information, visit www.stlmsd.com.

Wed., May 22, 10 a.m., JobNewsUSA.com presents the St. Louis Job Fair Doubletree Hotel Westport, 1973 Craigshire Rd., 63146. For more information, visit www.eventbrite.com.

Tues., Apr. 30, 8 p.m., KvTheWriter presents Love Sucks! Hosted by Twinny Twin, with special guests Be Be, Asa, and Blair TM. The Monocle, 4510 Manchester Rd., 63110. For more information, call (314) 3067222.

Fri., May 10, 8 p.m., Jazz n’ Tongues presents A Langston Hughes Retrospective: Was Langston Hughes the First Rapper. St. Louis University Theatre, 3733 W. Pine Mall Blvd., 63108.

Saturday, May 11, 11 a.m., North County Writing & Arts Network, Writers, artists, poets from North St. Louis County, create, connect and critique at monthly meeting. Jamestown Bluffs 4153 N. Hwy. 67 (Lindbergh), Florissant, MO. For more info: nocowan@yahoo.com or https://www.meetup.com/ North-County-Writing-Arts/ events/260437039/

Wed., May 15, 7 p.m., St. Louis Public Library’s Hip Hop Appreciation Week presents An Evening with Hanif Abdurraqib Abdurraqib will discuss his biography on A Tribe Called Quest titled Go Ahead In The Rain. 1301 Olive St., 63103. For more information, visit www.left-bank.com.

Wed., May 15, 7 p.m., Left Bank Books hosts author Derrick Gold, author of 100 Things Cardinals Fans Should Know & Do Before They Die. Left Bank Books, 399 N. Euclid Ave., 63108. For more information, visit www.leftbank.com.

comedy

Fri., Apr. 26, 6 p.m., Ladies Night At The Laugh Clinic. An evening of poetry, spoken word and comedy fun. Holiday Inn St. Louis Airport, 4505 Woodson Rd., 63134. For more information, call (314) 690-5673.

Fri., Apr. 26, 8 p.m., UMSL Mirth Week Comedy Show starring Marlon Wayans with special guest Loni Love. Touhill Performing Arts

Center, UMSL, 1 University Blvd., 63121. For more information, visit www.touhill.

org.

Fri., Apr. 26 – Sat., Apr. 27, 7 p.m. and 10 p.m., The Laugh Lounge STL 2-year anniversary weekend starring J. Anthony Brown. For more information, visit https://www.thelaughloungestl.

com/

Sat., Apr. 27, 7:30 p.m., Aziz Ansari: Road to Nowhere. Stifel Theatre, 1400 Market St., 63103. For more information, visit www. ticketmaster.com.

May 9 – 11, Helium Comedy Club presents Sinbad. 1151 Saint Louis Galleria, 63117. For more information, visit www.heliumcomedy.com.

May 17 – 19, Helium Comedy Club presents Gary Owen. 1151 Saint Louis Galleria, 63117. For more information, visit www. heliumcomedy.com.

Sat., May 25, 6 p.m., Love and Laugh Hour St. Louis. Feat. Tahir Moore, Tony Baker, and KevOnStage. City of Life Christian Church, 8333 Fullerton Ave., 63132. For more information, visit www. eventbrite.com.

theatre

Apr. 27 – 28, UMSL Department of Theatre and Cinema Arts presents From Jimmy, to America: An Ode to James Baldwin. Touhill Performing Arts Center, 1 University Blvd., 63121.

Apr. 26 – 27, Soldan International Studies High School presents The Wiz. 918 N Union Blvd., 63108. For more information, call (314) 367-9222.

Kenya Vaughn recommends

Sat., May 4, 12 p.m., Holistic Health air Seminar: Connect, Learn, & Improve. Emerson Performance Center, Harris Stowe, 3026 Laclede Ave., 63103. For more information, visit www.eventbrite.com.

Sat., May 4, 9 a.m., Cancer Support Community invites you to Steps for Hope. 1 mile or 3.7 mile walk or fun run. Tremayne Shelter, Creve Coeur Park, 13725 Marine Ave., 63146. For more information, visit www. cancersupportstl.z2systems. com.

Apr. 25 – Apr. 28, Kossuth Church of God in Christ 83rd Church Anniversary, Thursday-Friday, April 25 & 26 (7pm) guest speakers Saturday, April 27 at 6pm Musical Explosion with Mass Choir & Youth Dept.; Official Day Services on Sunday, April 28 at 11:15am & 4:00pm 3801 Eld. Robert Strong, Sr. Way, St. Louis, MO 63115.

Apr. 25- Apr. 27, St. Louis/ Cape Girardeau District Conference, St. Peter AME, 4730 Margaretta Ave. St. Louis, MO.

May 8 – 9, COCA presents Harmonious. Featuring an engaging repertoire of musical theatre and pop favorites. 524 Trinity Ave., 63130. For more information, visit www.cocastl. org.

Sun., May 12, 7:30 p.m., Tennessee Williams Tribute A tribute reading with poetry, prose, and song. Dark Room, 3610 Grandel Sq., 63108. For more information, visit www. metrotix.com.

May 10 – 12, Tyler Perry’s Madea’s Farewell Play. With Tamela Mann, David Mann, and Cassi Davis. Fox Theatre,

Sat., May 4, 9 p.m., Afriky Lolo presents A Night in Africa. A guided trip to Mother Africa. There will be a photo booth, dancing & drumming, games, a fashion show, and more. Mission St. Louis, 3108 N. Grand Blvd., 63107. For more information, visit www.eventbrite.com.

527 N. Grand Blvd., 63103. For more information, visit www.fabulousfox.com.

May 15 – June 2, The Black Rep presents Nina Simone: Four Women, Edison Theatre, 6445 Forsyth (on the campus of Washington University). Tickets are available at theblackrep.org, or by phone at 314-534-3807.

lectures and workshops

Thur., Apr. 25, 7 p.m., Women Who Ruled the World. Egyptologist Dr. Kara Cooney will discuss the lives

of remarkable female pharaohs. Pulitzer Arts Foundation, 3716 Washington Blvd., 63108. For more information, visit www. pulitzerarts.org/program.

Sat., Apr. 27, 11 a.m., Gateway IL Links Chapter presents the Youth Political Empowerment Workshop. Deaconess Foundation, 1000 N. Vandeventer Ave., 63113. For more information, visit www.eventbrite.com.

health

Thur., Apr. 25, 5:30 p.m., 15th Annual Evening of

Hope. Performance by 442 with special guest Erin Bode. Proceeds benefit the Hope Center for Neurological Disorders. Sheldon Concert Hall, 3648 Washington Blvd., 63108. For more information, visit www.thesheldon.org.

Sat., Apr. 27, 10 a.m., Children at the Center: Healthy Family Festival 2019. Health screenings, children’s activities, music, community resources, and more. Deaconess Center for Child Well-Beingl, 1000 N Vandeventer Ave., 63113. For more information, visit www. deaconess.org.

Sun., Apr. 28, 11 a.m., Truelight Baptist Church invites you to their 109th Church Anniversary: Embracing the Journey. 1535 Tudor Ave., East St. Louis, IL. 62207. For more information, call (618) 874-0812.

Fri., May 3, 7 p.m., Diamond Entertainment presents Deitrick Haddon. Special Performance by Michael Lampkin. Harris Stowe, 3026 Laclede Ave., 63103. For more information, visit www. eventbrite.com.

May 3 – 4, 7 p.m., Miracles in America Crusade Tour with David E. Taylor. Marriot St. Louis Grand, 800 Washington Ave., 63101. For more information, visit www. joshuamediaministries.org.

Diamond Entertainment presents Deitrick Haddon. Special Performance by Michael Lampkin. See SPIRITUAL for details.

in his pocket.”

With a career in sales and marketing that spans nearly 20 years, his proficiency to close deals peppers his talk about the product and the business that grew out of it nearly five years ago.

“We’ve not only been able to solve a problem with them, but give them another dimension to their look with the Best Pocket Square Holder,” Cobb said.

He’s ready for prime time.

“I can’t tell you how excited I am,” Cobb said. “Some of the things I’ve said on the show is that I don’t just represent myself as I stand here. I represent a whole city.

St. Louis has taken a lot of losses on a national level for the last few years and we really need something that is positive on a national level that our city can get behind. I’m praying that I can be that person on this show.”

Several of the products featured on “Shark Tank” have gone on to earn millions – including the Scrub Daddy sponge and the Squatty Potty. Cobb counts his faith – and the obedience and sacrifice that came because of it – as the competitive edge of getting a spot on the show.

“With there being over 50,000 a year tryout and they only select a couple hundred people, I can’t say that there is anything that I did, because the numbers say otherwise,” Cobb said. “There are plenty of other great businesses out there – some as good, or even better than mine. But when God gets into it and he takes you from the back of the line and pushes you to the front – All I can say is, ‘favor isn’t fair.’” Favor didn’t eliminate the fear.

“I was scared out of my mind. You’ve got one shot at this thing. You’ve got a minute to win it,” Cobb said. “You are doing it in one take and once

you are in the tank, you are in the tank. You have to swim or be eaten.”

The experience felt like a championship opportunity and that all roads have led to this. He put a lot of pressure on himself, because he felt like he was representing St. Louis as a whole.

“Did I come in prepared? Did I come in articulating myself? Did I have enough confidence?” Cobb said “All of those things were running through my mind. Instead of those things making me paralyzed, they actually triggered me to do better.”

Preparation was the key for him – and is essential in every aspect of life.

“That way you can go into a situation and regardless of how it works out, you walk out

feeling good because you left it all in the tank,” That’s exactly what I did. I left it all in ‘The Tank’ and I gave it everything I had.”

He called the initial pitch an “out of body experience” – like he had left his own body and was standing behind myself watching the whole thing take place.

“I felt like I was watching myself on television,” Cobb said. “It was one of the most awkward but amazing feelings I have ever had – and I cannot wait for you guys to see what all take place in the tank because of all of this.”

ABC’s Shark Tank airs at 9 p.m. on Sunday, April 28. A watch party for the show will take place at 7 p.m. at St. Louis City Hall, 1200 Market Street.

Continued from C1

Their musical catalog stretches 60 years and the accolades began pouring in from the very beginning. Ronald Isley was still in high school when his brothers formed the band responsible for one of the most diverse and highly regarded catalogs in popular music. Every award there is to get sits on the Isleys’ proverbial shelf – several Grammy awards, a Grammy Lifetime Achievement award, a Rock & Roll Hall of Fame induction – and the list could go on, and on. They have provided a

soundtrack of America – black America in particular – with their music that stretches from the cusp of the Civil Rights Movement to well beyond the new millennium.

“The only way you get an award like this is through divine grace and the support of music lovers,” Ernie Isley said after naming off all of the Isley Brothers – O’Kelly Isley, Rudy Isley and fellow bandmate Chris Jasper (an Isley in-law) –as shared recipients of the star.

Joe Edwards, developer and founder of the St. Louis Walk of Fame beamed.

“Thanks to everyone who came out today to celebrate the induction of the unbelievably cool and talented Isley Brothers,” said Edwards. He seemed to express the significance of the honor by trading his usual uniform of Bermuda shirt and shorts for a khaki

“We doing this over ice cream, you break up with me over ice cream.”

anything and placed his order. She didn’t. She sat there watching him eat ice cream. As he was eating, he started a conversation about them seeing other people.

“I went back to the studio and my producer, Blair the Machine, was like, ‘where have you been?’” Thompson said. “I was like, ‘I just got dumped.’” She moped around the studio for a few days. Then her producer decided that she should let her life inspire the art. “He said, ‘I’m gonna make you a beat, so you can get over this,’” said Thompson. It was the instrumental for “Snow Factory,” the song that lays out the details of her getting dumped over ice cream.

“We kind of created the whole project around that theme of ‘Love Sucks,’” Thompson said. The chorus for “Snow Factory,” makes the experience plain.

“I feel like I got very personal with the story,” Thompson said. “If you listen very closely to ‘Snow Factory,’ I chronicle every detail of the breakup. A lot of songs, you hear ‘oh, someone broke my heart,’ but they’re not really talking about the actual actions that the person did to actually break their heart.”

The whole project talks about different situations and scenarios. Thompson was the bad guy in some of them.

“Starting from track one, where I’m the trash person in the relationship – to the last song “Snow Factory,” which is where I get my karma back,” Thompson said.

She hasn’t eaten ice cream since the breakup. She hadn’t been back to the Snow Factory until she went there to shoot the video for the song that inspired the EP. She filmed in the same booth where the breakup took place.

“I’m pretty used to being

blazer and matching pants.

Joining the Isley Brothers on the St. Louis Walk of Fame for 2019 are late filmmaker Henry Hampton – most famously known for his “Eyes On The Prize” documentary series, and Elizabeth Keckley, an 18th century civil rights activist and longtime friend and confidante of Mary Todd Lincoln. The 2019 induction marks the first year that all of the St. Louis Walk of Fame inductees are African American. But Wednesday was all about the Isleys – who in turn made their recognition all about St. Louis.

“I love it really,” Ronald Isley said of the city. “I love the people here. I love the feeling here. I love the churches here. I love everything about it – and the food. [St. Louis] You’re so wonderful. It touches my heart to see all of you.”

vulnerable in my writing and my music,” said Thompson. The Monocle show will include a set of beats created by her production team Finesse The Sound, which includes Blair, Be.Be and Asa. Be.Be will perform her own set as will Asa, who is a singer and musician. Thompson’s portion is to serve as the culminating event. She will do music and poetry – and will be backed by a live band. As her name suggests, she is a writer and published author – and will have her books for sale at the show.

“We will have some special treats for those who are in the building,” said Thompson.

KVtheWriter Presents: Love Sucks will take place at 9:30 p.m. on Tuesday, April 30 at The Monocle, 4510 Manchester. For more information about the show, visit https://www.eventbrite.com/e/ love-sucks-tickets-58152773511

Published with permission of St. Louis Public Radio from https://news.stlpublicradio.org/

Photo by Phoebe Landrum

Jonathan Dubose, Jr.

Connick Jr. )

Cedric Cobb with former NFL star Ray Lewis.

Congratulations to Chelsie and Prince Carter, who were married on February 17 at St. Peter AME Church. Chelsie is employed with Metropolitan Sewer District and Prince is the owner of King Prince BBQ. The couple celebrated with family and friends at a reception at The Ambassador.

Reunions

Vashon High School Class of 1974 is planning for its 45th reunion. We are in the process of rounding up all classmates. To provide or update your contact information, please email ljbady@gmail.com or contact: Joe Verrie Johnson 314-640-5842, Jordan Perry 314-724-4563, or LaVerne

James-Bady 314-382-0890.

Vashon-Hadley Old School Reunion 1960-67, October 19, 2019, 2-6 pm at The Atrium in Christian Hospital. For more details text (only) Brenda Mahr at 314-580-5155 or email at: brendamahr@att.net.

Sumner Class of 1979 will hold its “Bulldogs Rock the Boat” BIG 4-0 Reunion Cruise, June 22-27, 2019. For further information, email your contact information to sumner1979@ymail.com or call 314-406-4309. Join our Facebook group at Sumner High Class of ‘79.

Sumner Class Of 1969 50th reunion “Living Life Like

Celebrations

Birthdays

It’s Golden” June 28-30, 2019. Looking for classmates of 1969 to contact us with your updated information via address:sumnerclass1969@ gmail.com or our FB page: Sumner High.

Sumner Alumni Association hosts its 11th Annual Scholarship Awards Luncheon & Fashion Show June 1, 2019, Noon until 4pm. The cost is $50 to attend and it comes with a cash bar, free parking, attendance prizes and more. For more info, contact B. Louis at 314.385.9843 or email: sumneralumniassn@ yahoo.com.

Soldan Class of 1979 is planning its 40th year reunion

for the weekend of August 2-3, 2019. Yearlong reunion activities will begin with a kickoff at Soldan High School Homecoming on Saturday, October 13, 2018 prior to the game at 1 p.m. For more information, please email at: soldanclassof1979@gmail.com or call Barbara at 314 4563391.

Soldan Class of 1974 Alumni Association is planning its 45 year reunion. Please get your contact information to dhblackjack@charter.net or call 314-749-3803.

Northwest Class of 1979 is planning on cruising for our 40th class reunion and would love for you to join us! Date

to sail is set for July 20, 2019 and you can feel free to contact: Duane Daniels at 314-568-2057 or Howard Day at 414-698-4261 for further information. Please don’t miss the boat!

Northwest Class of 1969 is planning a 50 year reunion June 7-9, 2019. Contract Evelyn (McClendon) Hines for details at (314) 361-5150.

Kinloch Class of 1969 is planning its 50th year reunion on August 21, 22 and 23. Dinner dance at Orlandos, 2050 Dorsett Village Plaza. For information call Ruben at 314-239-5202 or Ophelia at 314-280-6596. Classmates please respond by April 2019.

Do you have a celebration you’re proud of? If so we would like to share your good news with our readers. Whether it’s a birth, wedding, engagement announcement, anniversary, retirement or birthday, send your photos and a brief announcement (50 words or less) to us and we may include it in our paper and website – AT NO COST – as space is available Photos will not be returned. Send your announcements to: kdaniel@stlamerican. com or mail to: St. Louis American Celebrations c/o Kate Daniel 2315

63103 Deadline is 10 a.m. on Friday. If you’d like your class to be featured in a reunion profile, email or mail photos to us. Our email address is: reunions@stlamerican.com

An adopted St. Louis rap son. So, by now y’all know that Jeezy came to town and became the latest sold-out show for RockHouse Ent. I found it funny how folks were lowkey hating saying they don’t know how Jeezy could sell-out the Pageant when he hasn’t had a record out in a minute – implying that he’s no longer relevant. Lies. First off, when St. Louis feels like an artist has a special spot in his or her heart for the city, they are going to return the favor. Jeezy is a prime example. Listen, if Jeezy, Yo Gotti, Juvenile and 8Ball & MJG got on a bill together, I’d be compelled to say that they would sell out Enterprise Center, so to see him have the Pageant at capacity is no surprise to me. Y’all don’t understand. Jeezy has a St. Louis fan base that would make the most ride-or-die members of the Beyhive be like, “Girl, they ride too hard for him…they need to get a life.” The woman in the balcony with the pink biker shorts, neon shirt and fanny pack is a prime example. She was spinning around in that seat “like a tornado, girl.” I’m sure she worked her seat neighbors to the point where they were at least hoping she fell over – and possibly considering giving her a nudge. What? You know those seats don’t have the space provisions for somebody to be flopping around without running the risk of slapping your drink out of your hand. But back to the show. Because I was double-booked, I got there in time to catch Buddy Luv give a heartfelt tribute to Nipsey Hussle – which was especially felt by the handful of folks with full body R.I.P. Nip outfits on. Yes, royal blue airbrush and all. Jeezy took his time coming out – which I was actually grateful for considering my logistics. He did a cute set that the folks seemed pleased with. But can somebody tell Orland or Vanessa – or whoever has next to bring him to town – to let Jeezy know not to come on a St. Louis stage and not do “Superfreak” ever again in life. And by ever again in life, I mean when he comes back next year.

A good day to be a black business. I know y’all come to this part of the paper to hear about folks tearin’ the club up, but I need share how my heart leapt with joy Saturday afternoon when I stopped through the Urban Business Entrepreneurs for their Small Business Expo at The House of Soul. First off, it’s a black business expo inside a black business owned by another black business. These facts alone should have y’all moved to a shout. Then, I get up in there and see black folks supporting the black business in the black business. That will preach. I don’t want to leave anybody out, so I will just say that it was a nice mix of businesses that ranged from beauty, hair care, fashion, food and beyond. House of Soul’s Nichol Stevenson was on deck making everyone feel at home and the folks mixed, mingled and made connections all afternoon long.

Grown folks Easter fun. I was tardy for the Jeezy party because I just had to get over and see what Morgan Casey’s Adult Easter Egg Hunt was all about. Good thing it was right down the street at Forest Park. A story about the event made it to the front page of the Wall Street Journal. Folks were lined up by the field ready to get about the business of getting those golden eggs! It’s in need of a few little logistical tweaks – but has the making to be an absolutely fun time that should bring the whole city out. The folks were looking like they were playing ring-around-the-rosey with flashlights, but I can understand why they would want it contained in a small open area considering it happens after dark. I wish the weather would have let it be great, but this is St. Louis. The temperature dropped like it heard “Cash Money takin’ over the 99 and the 2000s,” but it was still plenty of fun – and the prizes were about that life. I caught a cackle at the folks with flashlights tied to their body from head to toe, but when I saw folks winning $250 and 50-inch TVs, I decided that I was going to write Charlie Wilson’s tailor and have him or her make me a custom light-up blazer so that I can see all of the eggs. I’ll definitely be there next year – but trust I will put a snowsuit in the trunk to make sure I don’t catch the flu-monia.

Day party season is in bloom. My Saturday was packed to the gills – just like the first of the spring/summer 2019 day party set presented by Koncepts, Ono and #WeJustLivin on Easter Eve at the all-new Brennan’s Work and Leisure over on Locust (near the late great EXO). The party’s official name was Belvedere Floral Bloom – and it brought out all of the beautiful folks, who apparently gave their more seductive Easter outfit option a dry run. The tastemakers and influencers were deep up in there. And not just the set’s presenters. I ran into my girl Diamond – one of the most talented makeup artists in town – and a whole bunch of folks who have the sauce to skip to the front of VIP lines. I was so busy turning up on Saturday, my signature Easter macaroni and cheese (which would give Sweetie Pie’s a run for its money) could not be great, because I was yawning my way through the motions of mixing my ingredients. But I feel like it was a small price to pay.

Jokin’ with J. Anthony Brown. For those of you who don’t know, this week marks the second year straight that The Laugh Lounge has been bringing some of the biggest names in black comedy to town. And they are celebrating with the bang of comedy legend J. Anthony Brown. You best believe I will be in the building Friday or Saturday night when he does his thing. I know y’all are used to his uncle/granddaddy/funny church deacon persona from the Tom Joyner Show. But let me tell you that Brown gets blue. For the young folks, blue is essentially Def Comedy Jam-level cuss words and graphic content. I know, you don’t see him doing it, but he does – and when I saw him last, he was hilarious. Be sure to stop through the Laugh Lounge as Jessie Taylor and ‘nem toast to two years – by doing so you’ll help ensure they can keep the comedy coming.

Amirah and Lakeyra enjoyed the vibe and art @ the opening reception for Black CulturePhotography Friday @ UrbArts

Willie and Krystal were in search of the golden eggs @ the Adult Easter Egg Hunt presented by Morgan Casey’s I Dream Ent. Saturday in Forest Park

Dominique and LC were representing for LC Lash Xtensions @ the UBE Small Business Expo Saturday afternoon @ House of Soul

Blues star Marquise Knox helped Alonzo Townsend celebrate his b-day with a special set @ BB’s Saturday night

Ky, Petti Gatez and Keisha Marie just after catching Jeezy on stage @ The Pageant Saturday night

Ambra and Kweku were helping black businesses network at the UBE Small Business Expo Saturday @ House of Soul

Gloria and Joseph joined the crew of creatives who came through to check out the Black Culture – Photography Exhibit Friday @ UrbArts

Reno and Kirk on their way out the door of the Pageant after seeing rap star Jeezy blaze the stage Saturday night

Drea was one of the featured artists and Jaquetta was on hand to support at the opening reception for Black Culture –Photography Exhibit Friday @ UrbArts

Morgan with Montrece, who took home a 50-inch smart TV after finding a golden egg at Morgan’s Adult Easter Egg Hunt Saturday in Forest Park

Rap star Jeezy had the Pageant at capacity Saturday night for his sold-out show presented by Orlando Watson’s RockHouse Ent.

Photo by Lawrence Bryant

DIGITAL CONTENT MANAGER

MUNICIPAL BUILDING INSPECTOR NEEDED

DIRECTOR, FAMILY SUPPORT INITIATIVES

The

by Friday, April 19, 2019.

Is

BUSINESS SYSTEMS ANALYST

Responsibility for the collection, preparation, documentation and communication of IS requirements, both business and technical Demonstrates clear and working knowledge and concepts of Business Analysis and Information Technology Is capable of working independently, but may be assigned to work under the guidance of a Senior Business Systems Analyst when engaged in larger, more complex projects

To apply, please visit: https://www. safetynational.com/careers-page/

MANAGER – PREMIUM AUDIT

The Manger will work both collaboratively and independently while self-directing their work processes to meet corporate objectives and goals related to the accurate and timely completion of assigned premium audits, while overseeing the day-to-day operations of premium audit activities.

The manager will make assignments while monitoring and managing individual and team workload. This role is responsible for meeting established Customer Service Standards for accurate and timely ordering of physical audits and timely processing of large casualty and primary audits.

To apply, please visit: https://www. safetynational.com/careers-page/

COLLEGE PERSISTENCE COACH

stocking and rotation of food supplies)

• Develop and maintain rapport with guests

• Be able to work flexible schedule. Mostly days JOB QUALIFICATIONS The candidate must meet the following minimum job qualifications…

• High School Degree or equivalent required; Culinary degree/schooling preferred

• Food Service Experience: 6-8 years preferred

• Understanding of cooking methods, procedures and food safety skills

• Ability to remain calm in fast paced environment

• Must be organized and self-motivated, ability to multi-task working independently with minimal direction

TO APPLY: Contact Retta Berberich, Director of Food and Beverage, by email at rberberich@muny.org or by phone (314) 595-5752.

Webster University has an opening for a Digital Content Manager. Please visit our website at https://apptrkr.com/1444850 for a complete job description and to apply. No phone calls please. We are proud to be an equal opportunity affirmative action employer. Women and minorities are encouraged to apply.

MANAGER – POLICY OPERATIONS

The Account Services Policy Operations Manager is responsible for the oversight of policy operations business processes and personnel. This management position is responsible for supervising the day to day operations and supervision of staff personnel in an Account Services Policy Operations functional unit. This role leads applicable personnel in best practices for client /customer support, data integrity, accuracy and efficiency of related processes.

To apply, please visit: https://www. safetynational.com/careers-page/

SPECIALIST-ACCOUNT SERVICES- POLICY OPERATIONS

The City of Country Club Hills is looking for a city building inspector to serve on a part-time as-needed basis. Applicants should be knowledgeable about building inspections and city codes through education and/or training. Compensation will be on an hourly basis. The inspections will require about 25 hours a week. The pay shall be approximately $13 per hour. Will need your own transportation. Inspection Reports must be written and thorough. Inspector may need to testify in court. Please send resume with all prior relevant experience to City Clerk Rowena Hollins at City Hall, 7422 Eunice, Country Club Hills, MO 63136 by May 1, 2019, to be considered. We are an equal opportunity employer.

CONSERVATION INTERN

Great Rivers Greenway is seeking a Conservation Intern. Check https:// greatriversgreenway.org/ jobs-bids/ and submit by April 30, 2019.

ARCHS, a progressive, growing non-profit agency is seeking a results-oriented, Director, Family Support Initiatives. Duties will include the business execution and on-site support/monitoring of grant contracts and grantee contractor reports/invoices for ARCHS’ funded family support programs. This position will require extensive knowledge

Loyola Academy of St. Louis, a Jesuit-sponsored middle school for boys, seeks a dynamic individual to serve as its full-time College Persistence Coach. The College Persistence Coach provides guidance and support, for alumni and their families, through the college selection, admissions and financial aid processes and throughout the college careers of alumni. Contact with alumni and administrators requires travel to both local and out-of-state college campuses. The successful candidate will possess exceptional organizational, communication and interpersonal skills. Previous work experience in an educational setting with underserved, first-generation college students is preferred. A Bachelor’s degree is required for this position. Interested and qualified applicants should submit a letter of interest and resume to Mr. Elbert Williams III, Director of Graduate Support, at ewilliams@loyolaacademy.org, by April 26, 2019. No phone inquiries, please. For additional information about the school and job description, please visit our website at www.loyolaacademy.org.

Responsible for providing client / customer support for the department’s operational functions. Performs complex non-routine policy transactions for our Primary and Excess Worker’s Compensation, Commercial Auto, General Liability, Excess Liability and Specialty Lines products in support of our corporate goals. Responsible for complying with internal procedures and practices related to the production and distribution of policy transactions, while demonstrating the ability to meet or exceed service performance and quality standards. Position reports to a departmental supervisor or manager and works independently with minimal supervision. Work is reviewed for fulfillment of departmental objectives and deadlines, as well as for overall compliance with policies and procedures. To apply, please visit: https://www. safetynational.com/careers-page/

CITY OF ST PETERS, MO CAREER OPPORTUNITIES

Are you a team player? Work for an employer who values and supports teamwork for their employees. St. Peters Rec-Plex and Golf Course offer their employees competitive pay and a chance to work in a fun atmosphere.

To view current openings and to apply please visit: www.stpetersmo.net/jobs

AA/EOE

COORDINATORACCOUNT SERVICESPOLICY REPORTING

As a member of a self-directed work team, this position shares responsibility reviewing, analyzing, and reporting policy transactions related to Primary Worker’s Compensation policies, as well as reporting coverage for Commercial Auto vehicles insured by Safety National. To apply, please visit: https://www. safetynational.com/careers-page/

Provide analytical and technical support to the Chief Reserving Actuary. To apply, please visit: https://www.safetynational. com/careers-page/ www.stlamerican.com

ATTORNEY II

Family Court of St. Louis County is seeking a full time attorney to perform legal work that involves conducting legal research, litigation and legal representation of Deputy Juvenile Officers in juvenile matters brought before the court. Work is supervised by the Director of the Legal Department. The position is a non-merit position as an employee of Saint Louis County. MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS: Graduation from an accredited law school, possession of a current license to practice law in the State of Missouri, at least two (2) years of trial experience preferably in juvenile, family or criminal law with additional years of trial experience or any equivalent experience being preferable. To apply, Candidates wishing to apply should visit the following address at St. Louis County Government’s website and complete an online application and submit a resume and cover letter by the end of the day on Friday, April 26, 2019: http://agency.governmentjobs.com/stlouis/default.cfm

EOE. Please contact the Human Resources Department at 314 615-4471 (voice) or RelayMO711 or 800 735-2966 if you need any accommodations in the application process, or if you would like this posting in an alternative form.

DATA ANALYST-GRANT WRITER

Family Court of St. Louis County is seeking a full time data analyst-grant writer to collect, analyze, and disseminate system data about civil, criminal, family, probate, and treatment court operations and programs. This position will also be responsible for identifying, defining, and developing funding sources to support existing and planned Court program activities as well as to coordinate the development, writing, and submission of grant proposals to third-party entities. The position is a non-merit position as an employee of Saint Louis County. MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS: Graduation from an accredited college or university with a Bachelor’s Degree (Master’s Preferred) in social sciences or economics, social work, criminal justice, public administration, sociology, statistical analysis, or related field. Experience with researching and writing federal grants is highly preferred. Prefer two years of experience in data analysis in a social service setting or a related field; or any equivalent combination of training and experience. Candidates wishing to apply should visit the following address at St. Louis County Government’s website and complete an online application and submit a resume and cover letter by the end of the day on Friday, April 26, 2019: http://agency.governmentjobs.com/stlouis/default.cfm EOE. Please contact the Human Resources Department at 314 615-4471 (voice)

REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS

L. Keeley Construction Co. is requesting proposals from MBE & WBE organizations for the Metropolitan St. Louis Sewer District DC-02 & DC-03 Sanitary Relief (Brentwood Blvd to Conway Rd) – Phase III & IV under Letting No. 12472-015.1. Subcontractor and supplier bids are due via email by 12pm Thursday, May 9th, 2019 to Pete Hyatt phyatt@lkeeley.com. Please call the L. Keeley office to view plans or with any questions. Office: 314-421-5933

SEALED BIDS

Sealed bids for the St. Louis County Library – Phase 3A Genealogy and Administration Building project are being received by Brinkmann Constructors on May 10 at 3:30 PM

All sealed bids to be hand delivered to SLCL HQ Auditorium 1640 S. Lindbergh Blvd. St. Louis, MO 63131 Attn Steve Hunter, St Louis County Library

Plans may be viewed or downloaded at https://secure.smartinsight.co/#/ PublicBidProject/440965

There will be a pre-bid/ outreach and site walk-through meeting on May 3 at 11:30 AM at SLCL HQ Auditorium 1640 S. Lindbergh Blvd. St. Louis, MO 63131

Contact Brinkmann Constructors for further details on the project or obtaining plans at 636-537-9700

*All bidders must be in compliance with the Fair Employment Practices Commission

*This project is a Missouri Public Works Project

*St. Louis County Library & Brinkmann Constructors are Equal Opportunity Employers

The

St. Louis Housing Authority

(SLHA)

The St. Louis Housing Authority (SLHA) is submitting to HUD the Annual Submission of the FY 2019 Agency Plan. The Plan outlines the goals and objectives to accomplish its vision over the next five years. SLHA has posted the “Draft” FY 2019 Agency Plan for public review on its website at www.slha.org .

Additionally, the Admissions and Continued Occupancy Policy (ACOP), a component of the Agency Plan, and a revised Utility Allowance Schedule and the Flat Rent Schedule are simultaneously being made available for public review and comment. The link to the webpage is: http://www.slha.org/for-residents/public-housing/policies-procedures/

Also, the Capital Fund Program Five-Year Action Plan (FY2019FY2023) is simultaneously being made available for public review and comment.

SLHA will hold the Public Hearing on Wednesday, June 12, 2019, at 3:00 p.m. to accept comments on its Agency Plan, ACOP, Utility Allowance and Flat Rent Schedules and Capital Fund Program. The Public Hearing will be held at SLHA’s Central Office, 1st Floor Conference Room, 3520 Page Blvd., St. Louis, MO 63106. All parties that wish to speak at the Public Hearing must abide by the SLHA’s Speaker Policy. A copy of the policy is available at SLHA’s Central Office.

Written comments will be accepted until June 12, 2019. For additional information or questions, contact Fran Bruce, Planning and Procurement Manager, at (314) 286-4365 between the hours of 8:00 a.m. and 4:00 p.m. Monday through Friday.

Saint Louis Zoo 2019 Alterations, Repairs and Demolition, Saint Louis Zoo North Campus RFQ

The scope of the project includes: Design services to create bid documents for environmental remediation and demolition of existing buildings, grading, storm drainage, waterproofing and repairs to existing buildings Roof repairs, re-roofing, masonry repair, building envelope commissioning, building envelope repair

Office building renovation, repairs; Code analysis, ADA study, three stop hydraulic elevator installation, office power, lighting and communication system improvements, carpet, painting, re-glazing.

Saint Louis Zoo 2019 Alterations, Repairs to Historic Hill Buildings RFQ

This project will include design services for the repair and replacement of roofing, replacement of existing skylights in all three buildings, repairs to pavement and façade features at the Bird House, and the replacement of the solarium at the Herpetarium.

MANDATORY PRE-BID MEETING & SITE INSPECTION: On 4/24/2019 at 10:00AM at The Living World building on Government Drive in Forest Park, Upper level. Sealed bids marked with project name will be accepted on or before 5/8/2019 at 11:00 AM. Documents can be found on 4/18/2019 at: https://www.stlzoo.org/about/contact/vendoropportunities/

INVITATION TO BID

McCarthy Building Companies, Inc. requests bids for Painting, Flooring, Interior Glazing, Casework Material and Division 10 Specialty scopes from qualified and certified MBE/DBE/WBE subcontractors for the following project: Saint Louis University SLUCare Administration Offices – Imagine Building and Drummond Hall

Tentative Bid Date: May 9, 2019 at 2:00 pm CST

Contact: Mary Peterein at mpeterein@mccarthy.com or 314-919-2171 for documents and for more information

Prequalification is required and can be accessed at https://www.mccarthy.com/subcontractors

McCarthy Building Companies, Inc. is proud to be an equal opportunity and affirmative action employer.

SEALED BIDS

for Repairs to CCC Grounds Network, R o a r i n g R i v e r State Park, Barry County, Cassville, MO, Project No. X1706-01, will be received by FMDC, State of MO, UNTIL 1:30 PM, 5/9/2019. For specific project information and ordering plans, go to: http://oa.mo. gov/ facilities

SEALED BIDS

for Statewide Job Order Contract, Project No. ZASIDIQ-9017, will be received by FMDC, State of MO, UNTIL 1:30 PM, Thursday, May 2, 2019. For specific project information and ordering plans, go to: http:// oa.mo. gov/facilities

CITY OF ST. LOUIS BOARD OF PUBLIC SERVICE

REQUEST

FOR QUALIFICATIONS for PROFESSIONALENGINEERING SERVICES FOR LINDBERGH TUNNEL INSPECTION AND DOCUMENTATION FOR YEAR 2019, ST. LOUIS LAMBERT INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT. Statements of Qualifications due by 5:00 P.M. CT, APRIL 29, 2019 at Board of Public Service, 1200 Market, Room 301 City Hall, St. Louis, MO 63103. RFQ may be obtained from BPS website www.stl-bps.org, under On Line Plan Room-Plan Room, or call Board of Public Service at 314-622-3535. 25% MBE and 5% WBE participation goals.

ST. LOUIS COMMUNITY COLLEGE

Bids for St. Louis Community College on B0003775 for Dental Chairs and Equipment will be received until 2:00 P.M. (local time) on Friday, April 26, 2019 at the Dept. of Purchasing, 3221 McKelvey Road; Bridgeton, MO 63044, and immediately thereafter opened and read. Bid documents can be accessed on our website at www.stlcc.edu/purchasing or by calling (314) 539-5227. EOE/AA Employer.

REQUEST FOR BIDS

Ferguson-Florissant School District/ Facilities Department Salt and Material Storage Buildings and Parking Area and Bathroom/Kitchen Plumbing Installation

Sealed bids for construction of salt and material storage buildings and parking area are being requested from the Ferguson-Florissant School District/Weis Design Group and will be received and publicly opened Thursday, May 2, 2019 at 11:00 A.M. CST at the Operations and Maintenance Department located at 7469 Mintert Industrial Drive, Ferguson, MO 63135.

Sealed bids for Bathroom/Kitchen

Plumbing Installation are being requested from the Ferguson Florissant School District and will be received and publicly opened Wednesday May 1, 2019 at 1:15 PM at same location as above.

Bid specs information must be obtained at: http://new.fergflor.K12.mo.us/ facilities-rfq. Contact Matt Furfaro at 314-506-9184 any questions.

CITY OF ST. LOUIS BOARD OF PUBLIC SERVICE

REQUEST FOR QUALIFICATIONS for PROFESSIONAL ENGINEERING AND ARCHITECTURAL SERVICES FOR PUBLIC SAFETY ANSWERING POINT FACILITY, ST. LOUIS, MISSOURI Statements of Qualifications due by 4:30 PM CT, THURSDAY, APRIL 25, 2019 at Board of Public Service, 1200 Market, Room 301 City Hall, St. Louis, MO 63103. RFQ may be obtained from BPS website www.stl-bps.org, under On Line Plan Room-Plan Room, or call Board of Public Service at 314-622-3535. 25% MBE and 5% WBE participation goals.

ST. LOUIS COMMUNITY COLLEGE

St. Louis Community College will receive separate sealed bids for Contract No.F 19 603, Communications North Feeder # 7 Repair, St. Louis Community College at Meramec, until 2:00 p.m. local time, Friday, April 19, 2019. Bids will be publicly opened and read aloud at the office of the Manager of Engineering and Design, 5464 Highland Park Drive (Plan Room). Specifications and bid forms may be obtained from the Manager’s office, at the above address or by calling (314) 644-9770.

Voluntary Pre-bid Meeting: April 12, 2019 , 10:00 AM, Meet at Meramec Physical Plant Building off of Rosehill Avenue.

An Equal Opportunity and Affirmative Action Employer

Public Notice of Single Source Procurement

Notice is hereby given that the Metropolitan St. Louis Sewer District is proposing to procure temporary help services from Jupiter Consulting Services in an effort to support the IT Technology Plan. The District is proposing single source procurement for this service because it does not have the internal expertise to fulfill this Information Technology role. Any inquiries should be sent to strenz@stlmsd.com. Metropolitan St. Louis Sewer District is an Equal Opportunity Employer.

NOTICE OF REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS FOR CAPACITY BUILDING FOR M/WBE CONTRACTORS

PLAN ROOM SERVICES ON BEHALF OF THE ST. LOUIS DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION

The St. Louis Development Corporation (“SLDC”), hereby requests proposals from firms wishing to manage and monitor SLDC’s Construction Plan Room. For a copy of the RFP please visit our website at http:/ /stlouis-mo.gov/sldc by selecting the RFP/RFQ link for a complete copy of the RFP, or contact:

VLADIMIR MONROE DIRECTOR OF MINORITY BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT & COMPLIANCE

ST. LOUIS DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION 1520 MARKET STREET, SUITE 2000 ST. LOUIS, MISSOURI 63103 (314) 657-3746 (PHONE) (314) 603-7011 (FAX)

Proposals are due no later than 4:00 P.M. Central Daylight Time on Thursday, April 25, 2018.

LETTING #8685

P.A. SYSTEM REPLACEMENT –PHASE III

At St. Louis Lambert International Airport

Sealed proposals will be received by the Board of Public Service in Room 208 City Hall, 1200 Market Street, St. Louis, Mo. Until 1:45 PM, CT, on Tuesday, May 21, 2019 then publicly opened and read. Plans and Specifications may be examined on the Board of Public Service website http:// www.stl-bps.org/planroom.aspx (BPS On Line Plan Room) and may be purchased directly through the BPS website from INDOX Services at cost plus shipping. No refunds will be made.

Bidders shall comply with all applicable City, State and Federal laws (including MBE/WBE policies). Mandatory pre-bid meeting will be held on Tuesday, April 30, 2019, at 1:30 PM in the Ozark Conference Room at the Airport Office Building, 11495 Navaid Rd., Bridgeton, MO 63044. All bidders must regard Federal Executive Order 11246, “Notice of Requirement for Affirmative Action to Ensure Equal Employment Opportunity”, the “Equal Opportunity Clause” and the “Standard Federal Equal Employment Specifications” set forth within and referenced at www.stl-bps.org (Announcements).

LETTING #8693

SLMP PROPERTY CUSTODY / TACTICAL RELOCATION

Sealed proposals will be received by the Board of Public Service in Room 208 City Hall, 1200 Market Street, St. Louis, Mo. Until 1:45 PM, CT, on May 7, 2019, then publicly opened and read. Plans and Specifications may be examined on the Board of Public Service website http:// www.stl-bps.org/planroom. (BPS On Line Plan Room) and may be purchased directly through the BPS website from INDOX Services at cost plus shipping. No refunds will be made.

A pre-bid conference for all contractors bidding on this project will be held onsite at 2150 S. 59th Street, St. Louis, MO 63110 on April 23, 2019 at 10:00 A.M.

Bidders shall comply with all applicable City, State and Federal laws (including MBE/WBE policies).

All bidders must regard Federal Executive Order 11246, “Notice of Requirement for Affirmative Action to Ensure Equal Employment Opportunity”, the “Equal Opportunity Clause” and the “Standard Federal Equal Employment Specifications” set forth within and referenced at www.stl-bps.org (Announcements).

NOTICE TO BID

Notice is hereby given that the City of Richmond Heights, MO will be accepting sealed bids for the demolition of three (3) single-family homes, including necessary asbestos abatement as detailed in ATC Report Project #196CRH1901 dated April 9, 2019. The properties are located at 1307, 1309 & 1313 Laclede

ST. LOUIS COMMUNITY COLLEGE

St. Louis Community College will receive separate sealed bids for Contract No. F 19 405, Ceiling Renovations, St. Louis Community College at Forest Park, until 2:00 p.m. local time, Tuesday, April 23, 2019. Bids will be publicly opened and read aloud at the office of the Manager of Engineering and Design, 5464 Highland Park Drive (Plan Room). Specifications and bid forms may be obtained from the Manager’s office, at the above address or by calling (314) 6449770.

Voluntary Pre-bid Meeting: Friday, April 12, 2019 at 8:00 a.m. Meet at the 4th Floor C Tower – Forest Park Campus

An Equal Opportunity and Affirmative Action Employer

CORE FUNDING CYCLE ANNOUNCEMENT

St. Louis County Children’s Service Fund is seeking proposals from qualified service providers to provide mental health and substance use treatment and prevention services to children and youth ages 0-19 residing in St. Louis County. From March 29-May 10, proposals will be accepted from new and returning applicants under all ten service areas listed on CSF’s website. Three pre-application meetings are scheduled in the 500 Tower in Northwest Plaza on April 9 and 11. To register, please email keepingkidsfirst@stlouisco.com, or visit our website, www.keepingkidsfirst.org, to learn more about CSF.

PUBLIC MEETING / OPEN HOUSE

East-West Gateway Council of Governments is seeking comment on its proposed Public Involvement Plan. The document will be posted online at www. ewgateway.org/pipupdate and available for viewing at 1 S. Memorial Dr., Suite 1600, St. Louis, MO 63102.

The public is invited to view the document at an open house style meeting that will take place from 4 to 6 p.m., Thursday, May 2, at 1 S. Memorial Dr., Suite 1600, St. Louis, MO 63102.

Requests for an accommodation should be submitted to EWG at titlevi@ewgateway.org or (314) 421-4220 at least 48 business hours prior to the open house.

All comments on the document must be received or postmarked by midnight on May 10, 2019. Send comments to: communityengagement@ewgateway. org or Attn.: Public Involvement Plan

Comments, East-West Gateway Council of Governments, 1 S. Memorial Dr., Suite 1600, St. Louis, MO 63102.

METROPOLITAN ST. LOUIS SEWER DISTRICT

Notice is hereby given that the Metropolitan St. Louis Sewer District will receive RFQ’s in the Purchasing Division, 2350 Market Street, St. Louis, Missouri 63103-2555 until 10:00 a.m. on May 30, 2019 to contract with a company for: Pavement Replacement. Specifications and bid forms may be obtained from www.stlmsd.com, click on the “MSD AT WORK” link, (bid opportunities). The bid document will be identified as 9937 RFQ. If you do not have access to the internet, call 314.768.2735 to request a copy of this bid. Metropolitan St. Louis Sewer District is an Equal Opportunity Employer.

Great Rivers Greenway is seeking qualifications for Facilitation Services for its Regional Plan Update. Check greatriversgreenway.org for more information and submit by Friday, April 12, 2019. 2020-2022

North City Area, 2brm. Apt., fireplace, A/C, W/D, Stove, Fridge, Senior Discount $675/mo + Deposit 314-243-2222

FOR RENT $450/mo., Fully Furnished, Internet, Elec. Gas, Cable & Phone, easy access to public transportation 314-397-1542

FOR RENT North City, 45XX Adelaide, 2 BR, A/C, Appls., Fenced Yard, W/D Hookup, Sec 8 accpt,$575/mo,+ Dep. Near Busline 314-868-1559

FOR RENT 60XX W. Florissant, 4 rms, hwd flrs, Wash & Dry Hk up, encl. porch, $425/mo 314-831-6624

Housing 50+ Yrs Old 2nd Floor, Near Natural Bridge & Union, $650 to move in, $385/mo. Leave Message 314-283-5874

Friendly environment, clean, quiet,

PROMOTIONAL T-SHIRTS

The Missouri Lottery is accepting bids for the purpose of establishing a contract for promotional t-shirts. The bid document with the specifications can be obtained by going to http://www.molottery. com/learnaboutus/bid_ opportunities.shtm or by contacting Melissa Blankenship at melissa.blankenship@ molottery.com or 573-751-4050.

BIDS

Church burnings called ‘domestic terrorism’

Derrick Johnson, president and CEO of the NAACP, made the following statement in response to recent outbreak of Black church burnings:

“What is happening in Tennessee and Louisiana is domestic terrorism and we must not turn a blind eye to any incident where people are targeted because of the color of their skin or their faith. The spike in church burnings in Southern states is a reflection of the emboldened racial rhetoric and tension spreading across the country. But this is nothing new. For decades, African American churches have served as the epicenter of survival and a symbol of hope for many in the African-American community. As a consequence, these houses of faith have historically been the targets of violence. The NAACP stands vigilant to ensure that authorities conduct full investigations.”

Christ the King UCC honors Shamar Jordan

Shamar Jordan

Christ the King United Church of Christ is offering a Musical Tribute on Saturday, April 27at 5 p.m. for its Minister of Music Shamar Jordan, who is celebrating 25 years in the Music Ministry. Christ the King is pastored by Rev. Dr. Traci Blackmon. The church is located at 11370 Old Halls Ferry Road, Florissant, Missouri, 63033. Jordan, now 38, has worked with music greats such as Edwin Hawkins, Evelyn Turrentine-Agee, the Pilgrim Jubilees, The Legendary Drifters, and Ricky Dillard. Jordan continues to cultivate his gift of musical comprehension, with his objective to motivate others who have the same desire for music.

The tribute will feature musical selections from singers that Jordan has worked with

“The spike in church burnings in Southern states is a reflection of the emboldened racial rhetoric and tension spreading across the country.”

Derrick Johnson, president and CEO, NAACP

over the years as well as a combined choir performance. For more information, call 314-741-6808 or email office@ctk-ucc.org.

New officers for Interfaith Partnership

Interfaith Partnership of Greater St. Louis elected David C. Oughton to a twoyear term as the president of the Board for 2019-2021. Oughton has served on the Board for 12 years. During the last 30 years he has organized many interfaith dialogue meetings and other programs. Oughton, who is Catholic, teaches courses in the world’s

religions in the Department of Theological Studies at Saint Louis University. Sofia Grewal, M.D., was elected vice president for the same term. She has been on the board for three years and has participated in the annual interfaith concert at the Sheldon. Grewal is an active member of the Sikh Study Circle of St. Louis and is a physician in private practice in the Saint Louis area. The Interfaith executive committee also includes Ann Miller, board secretary who is with the Presbyterian Church USA and chairperson of Interfaith Partnership of St. Charles County, and Jack Sisk, board treasurer a member of the Hindu Temple of St. Louis and founder and president of the Living Insights Center.

The Message Spiritually Speaking...

They say no one can ever lead a perfect life. Flaws, faults and mistakes are the unavoidable consequences of being human. God lets us know through the sacrifice of Jesus Christ that how we handle our imperfections is about as important as acknowledging that we do indeed have them. Allow me to call upon spiritual insight for a moment and declare that humility is an essential ingredient of any Christian’s makeup, or at least it should be, given our understanding of personal imperfection. A humble person would never look down upon, or somehow rationalize the thought that he or she is better than someone else. The reason, I imagine, must be their personal recognition of that old saying, “there but for the grace of God, go I.”

Throughout the bible there are countless references to living a life devoid of ego and pride. As a matter of fact, according to Paul, humility is a prerequisite for the presence of the Holy Spirit. “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control … Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit. Let us not become conceited, provoking and envying each other.” Galatians 5:22-26.

Now I don’t know about you, but conditioning yourself to live humbly is pretty difficult, particularly nowadays. We live in a world that measures the substance of a person by the accumulation of money, things, position and status, even if we think it’s unwarranted. To obtain a humble state of mind as a matter of course can seem impossible, but in order to live according to the word of God, it is mandatory. “For whoever exalted himself will be humbled and whoever humbles himself will be exalted.”

Matthew 23:12.

I believe this is serious stuff and can only be comprehended, let alone adhered to, if one can look deep inside oneself and see the personal character flaws that each of us have. I think this is the reason Christ said “He who is without sin cast the first stone.” The real meaning behind this is once you do it, then real forgiveness must follow. Who would dare be arrogant enough not to humble himself in the eyes of God by not forgiving his fellow man’s transgressions? That brings me to the role of the church in this regard. If there was ever a place where the concept of forgiveness is guaranteed, it’s the church, but the church is not a perfect place either. There is no perfect church or perfect pastor. The key to all of this is what happens after you fall, after you sin, after you backslide. Remember, falling and failing is inevitable. Getting up is not. As long as you ask the Holy Spirit for a helping hand, I’m told all can be forgiven. Flaws and all, God loves me and every now and then that’s something I need to be reminded of. The challenge is to remember you can never feel comfortable about casting that first stone. May God bless and keep you always.

Columnist James Washington