August 10th, 2017 Edition

Closing arguments made in Jason Stockley trial

On anniversary of Mike Brown killing, cop tried for murder of black man

By Sophie Hurwitz For The St. Louis American

On Thursday, August 9, closing arguments were heard from the prosecution and the defense in the trial of Jason Stockley, who killed Anthony Lamar Smith, 24, in December of 2011 while on duty as a St. Louis police officer. The trial rested on one question: Did the manner in which Stockley killed Smith qualify as murder? The prosecution team, led by former public defender Robert Steele, contended that Stockley committed deliberate, premeditated murder, and even planted a gun in Smith’s car to provide false justification for his crime.

The defense, led by Neil Bruntrager, said that Stockley acted in self-defense and that his use of force, as a police officer, was legally justifiable.

The prosecution asked the judge that Stockley be convicted of firstdegree murder. The decision rests on

Judge Timothy Wilson alone, because Stockley waived his right to a jury trial. Instead, since the courtroom remained close to entirely full throughout the trial, and especially in the last few days, the media were put in the jury box.

“The evidence that we have presented has proven beyond a reasonable doubt that Mr. Stockley is guilty of first-degree murder,” Steele said in his closing argument. “Mr. Stockley has acknowledged that he made the statement, ‘We’re going to kill this [expletive].’ And 45 seconds later, he put five bullets in him.” In testimony on August 8, Stockley did agree that he said that, as captured on video in his squad car, though he said that he didn’t remember what prompted him to do so.

In the event that Judge Wilson decides there isn’t enough evidence of deliberation on Stockley’s part for a first-degree murder charge,

‘Hellish’ conditions prompt widespread outrage

Undercover Workhouse tour reveals overworked staff and frustrated inmates

By Sophie Hurwitz For The St. Louis American

By Sandra Jordan

“Raising over

n “If you can’t pay child support, you certainly can’t pay your child support when you’re locked up.”

– Alderwoman Megan Ellyia Green

Although activists have been decrying conditions in the St. Louis Medium Security Institution – known as the Workhouse – for years, the videos that circulated online in early July showing inmates describing the “hellish” conditions prompted widespread outrage. The protesters’ demands that the Workhouse be reformed or shut down led the City of St. Louis to install temporary air conditioning in the jail. Aside from the air conditioning, though, it has been unclear whether conditions inside the Workhouse have actually improved. Alderwoman Megan Ellyia Green, who represents the 15th Ward, toured the jail with other aldermen recently, but was unsure if she was being given “the dog-and-pony show,” she said. So on Friday, August 4, Green showed up unannounced at the Workhouse at 4 p.m. and asked for a tour. She brought reporters from The St. Louis American and The Riverfront Times and two activists from Decarcerate STL – who all went in undercover posing as graduate socialwork students. Because none of the employees or inmates were aware that they were talking to

See WORKHOUSE, A7

Photo by Wiley Price

Doug Albrecht

Valerie D. Bell Richard K. Gaines

Jason Stockley

Usher accuser tested negative, singer said to be preparing defamation suit

Last week, attorney Lisa Bloom announced three accusers had come forward claiming pop star Usher had exposed them to the herpes virus.

The first accuser admitted she tested negative for the disease.

During a press conference on Monday, Quantasia Sharpton said that she was invited backstage during a concert and the singer reached out to her following their initial meeting.

any STDs. It was just after my 19th birthday. I never heard from him again. When I first heard reports that he had herpes, I couldn’t believe it. I had a child a year ago, and I knew I was negative. But I contacted Lisa Bloom to find out what my rights are as a woman. Although I am negative, I am upset by the reports because I never would have consented, if I would have known. I would not have taken a risk of getting an incurable disease.”

“I got a call from Usher on a blocked number, asking me what hotel I was staying in and the room number. About an hour later, he arrived. We spoke for a while, and then we engaged in sexual contact,” Sharpton claimed. “He never warned me about

Meanwhile, popular Atlanta blogger Sandra Rose says that a source told her that Usher does not have the virus and is quietly preparing for a defamation suit.

A credible source within Usher’s camp was said to have provided Rose with documents and photographs that prove Usher Raymond did not pay a $1.1 million settlement the for allegedly infecting a sexual partner –because he doesn’t have the virus.

Wiz Khalifa’s mother dragging Amber Rose to court

The mother of rapper Wiz Khalifa filed a defamation suit in Washington County Court exactly two weeks after her son’s ex-wife Amber Rose is alleged to have made a profanity-laced phone call to a third party, launching a tirade against her former mother-

in-law.

An attorney for Katie Wimbush-Polk mother of the rapper, claims Rose “impute(d) criminality,” which is “incompatible with her status as a grandmother and her status as a volunteer mentoring at-risk youth,” which require adults to have cleared background checks.

Rose is alleged in the suit to have made a call on June 19 to a phone linked to WimbushPolk’s account. The person who had the phone that day was a friend and former employee, Danesa Letic, who was in Louisiana, the suit claims.

Letic’s 5-year-old niece actually answered the call, and the suit alleges Rose immediately “launched into a profane attack.” The niece reportedly gave the phone to her aunt, who eventually was able to identify herself.

According to the suit, even after knowing she was speaking with a third party, the caller alleged WimbushPolk had allowed her own child to die and she was unfit to visit or care for Levonchuck’s and

SHOP LUNCHBOXES LAPTOP

Khalifa’s 4-year-old son, Sebastian. Khalifa’s sibling, Dorien Thomaz, died Feb. 20, 2017, of complications from lymphoma.

Sources say that Rose was upset because she suspected Wimbush-Polk of calling Child Protective Services on her, which WimbushPolk denies.

Rose is reportedly seeking a restraining order to keep Wimbush-Polk away.

Have Evelyn Lozada and Carl Crawford called it quits?

Sources close to Evelyn Lozada claim she and former pro baseball player Carl Crawford are no longer together.

A source told celebrity gossip site The Shade Room that Crawford and Lozada’s engagement is off and that they have been living separately for a while. The couple was engaged on December 25, 2013 and have one child together.

Sources: Sandrarose.com, TMZ.com, The New York

Post, The Shade Room

Evelyn Lozada

NSBE awards eight local scholarships

National Society of Black Engineers Gateway Chapter invests in youth

American staff

On Sunday, July 16, the National Society of Black Engineers (NSBE) Gateway Chapter held its 21st annual Scholars Reception and Awards Ceremony. The Scholars Reception and Awards Ceremony is held annually to support students’ financial needs for college, showcase future leaders and recognize key supporters.

This year, eight students were awarded scholarships up to $1,500: Kaysi Lee, Hazelwood East High School; Blake Fields, Webster Groves High School; Olivia Martin, MICDS; Maya Jones, Soldan International Studies High School; Nicholas LeNoir, MICDS; Erykah White, Pattonville High School; Michael Caradine, Parkway Central High School; and Joshua Porter, MICDS.

According to Ron Moore, chair of the chapter’s PreCollegiate Initiative program, said over the past 20 years NSBE has awarded $225,000 in over 140 scholarships.

The Scholars Reception and Awards Ceremony was held in the IL Monastero Banquet Center at Saint Louis University, where nearly 200 guests were treated to the soulful sounds of violinist Mario Miles-Turnage and finger foods served by Murray Catering. Students and guests mingled and exchanged stories about their experiences in NSBE.

“NSBE helped me figure out how things work and helped me figure out what I want to do with my life after high school,” said Jasmine Nelson, a senior at Jennings Senior High School who has been a NSBE member for a year. “I’m thinking about a career in biomedical engineering.”

Kaysi Lee, a 2017 graduate of Hazelwood East High School, is new to NSBE but plans to stay involved as she furthers her education with the organization’s support. “I wish I’d known about NSBE when I was younger, but I had an opportunity to attend the NSBE Conference this past March and loved it. I learned so much and it confirmed my decision to become an engineer,” Lee said. “NSBE has helped to

fund my tuition at Missouri University of Science and Technology, where I will pursue a degree in chemical engineering. I plan to continue

to their community.”

Before the event was over, students heard an inspiring presentation from Rosalind Fox, factory manager at John

n “NSBE helped me figure out how things work and helped me figure out what I want to do with my life after high school.”

The National Society of Black Engineers (NSBE) Gateway Chapter awarded eight students with scholarships up to $1,500 at its 21st annual Scholars Reception and Awards Ceremony on July 16.

my participation in NSBE while in college and help other young, black females see the importance of a STEM career, and that they can be successful and make positive contributions

COMMUNITY VOTING

FOR PROMISE ZONE RESIDENTS*

Help decide how $550,000 will be spent on projects for community well-being in the St. Louis Promise Zone. Projects will be funded in four areas: Mental Health, Youth Engagement, Peer Support, and Violence Prevention. Community members will review proposal summaries from each area and vote on which projects they want to see implemented.

AUG 14

AUG 15

AUG 16

AUG 17

AUG 18

AUG 19

Monday, August 14th • 4 p.m. - 7 p.m.

Julia Davis Branch - St. Louis Public Library 4415 Natural Bridge Avenue • St. Louis, MO 63115

Tuesday, August 15th • 2 p.m. - 5 p.m.

St. Vincent Community Center 7335 St. Charles Rock Road • Normandy, MO 63133

Wednesday, August 16th • 4 p.m. - 7 p.m.

William J. Harrison Education Center 3140 Cass Avenue • St. Louis, MO 63106

Thursday, August 17th • 3 p.m. - 7 p.m.

North County Transit Center 3140 Pershall Road • Ferguson, MO 63135

Friday, August 18th • 8 a.m. - 11 a.m.

Saint Louis County Department of Public Health 6121 North Hanley Road • Berkeley, MO 63134

Saturday, August 19th • 11 a.m. - 2 p.m.

Mary Ann Lee Technology Center 1313 North Newstead Avenue • St. Louis, MO 63113

To vote, you must be a St. Louis Promise Zone resident and 11 years of age or older. Residents can only vote one time

*The Promise Zone encompasses St. Louis City wards: 1 - 5, 18 - 19, 21 - 22, 26 - 27; and parts of St. Louis County, including the communities of: Bellerive Acres, Bel-Nor, Bel-Ridge, Berkeley, Beverly Hills, Cool Valley, Country Club Hills, Dellwood, Ferguson, Flordell Hills, Glen Echo Park, Greendale, Hazelwood, Hillsdale, Jennings, Kinloch, Moline Acres, Normandy, Northwoods, Pagedale, Pine Lawn, Riverview, University City, Uplands Park, Velda City, Velda Village Hills, and Wellston.

Deere Des Moines Works in Ankeny, Iowa. Fox, who grew up in Kinloch, is the first African-American female in the history of John Deere to hold that position. Fox shared her

story of hard work, tenacity and resilience.

“I was determined to succeed,” she told the students. “I wanted to do something great.” She ended her presentation by telling the students, “I want to be an inspiration to you.”

NSBE is one of the area’s leaders in engaging AfricanAmerican students in positive, creative and innovative STEM activities. Area students in grades six to 12 participate in NSBE’s Pre-Collegiate Initiative (PCI) program, designed to offers students opportunities to motivate their interest in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM).

Students meet on Saturdays in the engineering building on the campus

of St. Louis Community College at Florissant Valley and participate in hands-on activities that explore how engineering and technology relate to the world around them and encourage them to attend college and pursue a technical degree.

NSBE’s mission is “to increase the number of culturally responsible black engineers who excel academically, succeed professionally and positively impact the community.”

For more information about NSBE’s Gateway Chapter or the PCI program, contact: NSBE St. Louis Gateway, P.O. Box 4183, Hazelwood, MO 63042, 314-691-2956, chapter chair at chair@nsbe-stl.org or Ron Moore, PCI chair, at pci@ nsbe-stl.org.

– Jasmine Nelson, a senior at Jennings Senior High School

Editorial /CommEntary

Danger looming nationwide, not only in Missouri

We believe the Missouri NAACP State Conference was justified in issuing a travel advisory for people traveling (or living) in Missouri who are concerned about civil rights.

Nimrod Chapel, the president of the conference and a trial attorney, first issued the travel advisory to pressure Governor Eric Greitens to veto Senate Bill 43, which weakens workplace protections for women and minorities. If enacted, the law would require plaintiffs to prove claims of discrimination are “the motivating factor” in an action by an employer; existing law says the plaintiff has only to prove discrimination was “a contributing factor.” Chapel compiled a longer list of concerns and grievances than this “Jim Crow law,” as he called it. Tory Sanford died in a jail cell, though he was never arrested after running out of gas when he traveled into the state. University of Missouri students met with racist attacks when they stood up for their rights (while the University of Missouri System spoke in favor of SB 43). State Rep. Rick Bratton argued that homosexuals are not human beings, according to his faith. The Missouri attorney general recently reported that black drivers in Missouri are 75 percent more likely to be stopped and searched than white drivers.

a national story and exposed this retrograde piece of legislation and other troubling developments in this state. However, just as Ferguson was about more than Ferguson, bills like SB 43 and the erosion of civil rights protections in Missouri are part of a dangerous national trend that certainly impacts, say, Mississippi (where Johnson previously led the NAACP state conference) and Maryland (where the NAACP advised its members to travel this summer for their national conference).

The list, of course, could be much longer and should include at least two more items. As the ACLU of Missouri noted in applauding the travel advisory, Missouri is one of only seven states in the nation with only one abortion clinic, and new restrictive laws governing women’s constitutional right to an abortion pushed by Greitens will open the state up to more legal challenges. Missouri also is a state where your fellow citizens can pass a law mandating higher minimum wages in your city, then Republican legislators from out-state and a Republican governor can eliminate those wage hikes, literally taking money out of the wallets of tens of thousands of people. (Note that Chapel appointed to his state NAACP executive committee an attorney, Jane Dueker, who was paid to help defeat the minimum wage hike.)

As for the national NAACP endorsing the travel advisory, its new interim national president Derrick Johnson and the national board made this

We encourage the NAACP and anyone motivated by this story to prepare themselves for a version of SB 43 and additional restrictions on abortion rights coming to a state legislature near you. Republicans now control both chambers in 32 states (covering 61 percent of the U.S. population), including 17 with vetoproof majorities. Many are pushing selfish, shortsighted policies that exploit white angst about an increasingly diverse America at the expense of the creative forwardthinking needed to move the country in a more progressive direction. Democrats control the legislature in just 13 states (covering 28 percent of the country’s population), and only five of those chambers have vetoproof majorities. Republicans now control the governor’s office in 33 states, covering 60 percent of the population. Chapel rightly focused on the state where he has a leadership role, but this state is not unusual in its inhospitality to the rights of blacks, women and gays. In a nation ruled by Donald Trump, with Jeff Sessions as attorney general, it is not only in Missouri where travelers should, as Chapel urged in the travel advisory, be “aware of looming danger.” As Carol Anderson, author of White Rage, argues, Trump aims “to turn the politics of white resentment into the policies of white rage – that calculated mechanism of executive orders, laws and agency directives that undermines and punishes minority achievement and aspirations.” This travel advisory could reasonably be extended nationwide. The anger and outrage directed at Missouri by the NAACP has many valid targets in many states, and we have much hard work to do if we are going to preserve respect and protection for civil rights throughout this country.

Commentary

We need politicians, not elected officials

By Mike Jones Columnist

Last week, I argued that African-American elected officials have had effective control of St. Louis city government for the last 24 years and, in light of that fact, there’s no credible explanation for the failure of city government to address the issues that impact the AfricanAmerican community. This is because consistently conflate two related concepts as being synonymous with one another. We often use “politician” and “elected official” interchangeably, but they have quite different meanings in political reality.

A politician is someone who does politics. Webster defines “politics” as the activities, actions, and policies that are used to gain and hold power in a government or to influence a government. An elected official is someone who is an official by virtue of an election, period. There’s no verb form for “elected official,” therefore there’s no action inherent to that status. What politicians and elected officials have in common is they work in government, which is why the public regularly confuses one with the other.

The only qualifications for holding just about any public office (including president of the United States) is age, citizenship and residency. If fact, in America anyone can get elected to any office without possessing intelligence, integrity or competence.

You don’t believe me? I just described the village idiot of New York City who is now president. Politicians are to government

what an executive chef is to a restaurant. Just as the executive chef creates the menu that defines vision and dining options of the restaurant, politicians create the vision and define the policy options of government. As the executive chef oversees the operation of the kitchen to turn the menu into a meal, politicians oversee the operation of government to turn policy options into public practice.

There’s another important way the restaurant and government are similar. People select a restaurant but they don’t create the menu, they don’t tell the restaurant what to cook or how to cook it. You select a restaurant based upon the menu and the chef’s ability to execute that menu to your satisfaction. Let’s extend that concept to government. America is a democratic republic, not a direct democracy. You elect the people responsible for the government, but you delegate the actual running of the government to those you elect. Their job becomes to create policies you can support (the menu) and then turn those policies into practice (cooking the meal) to your satisfaction. You demonstrate your approval of the executive chef by continuing to return to the restaurant; you validate the stewardship of the politician by returning them to office.

Just because you know how to cook doesn’t mean you know how to run a restaurant. A lot

of people confuse their ability to cook a great meal (everyone tells them they should open a restaurant) with the skills necessary to successfully run a restaurant (restaurants have among the highest business failure rates). To be an executive chef requires years of formal training and even more years of experience honing your skills under the tutelage of experienced masters before you can be trusted with the responsibility of a restaurant.

Politics is much the same. Just because you get elected to public office does not mean you know how to run a government. There is no magic that happens when you get elected that transforms you into a politician. Becoming a politician means a lifetime commitment to developing the understanding and skills required to govern. Like all real professionals, you never stop working on your game because you know you always need to get better.

It’s obvious that over the last 24 years we’ve had plenty of African Americans who know how to cook; there’s no shortage of African-American elected officials. It’s equally clear that we’ve produced an insufficient number of AfricanAmerican executive chefs, because if government is like a restaurant, we’re still waiting on a menu and a meal.

Second in a series. Next week: Are African-American politicians enough?

Mike Jones, who has held senior policy positions in St. Louis city and county government, serves on the St. Louis American editorial board and the State Board of Education.

Commentary

Are Trump voters running out of patience?

Donald Trump won 46 percent of the popular vote in last November’s election. That’s less than Hillary Clinton’s 48 percent, but means nevertheless that nearly half the country put its trust in a man who had already shown himself to be a liar, a buffoon, a demagogue and a selfproclaimed sexual harasser.

Gallup most recently reported Trump’s approval rating at 36 percent, with 60 percent of those polled disapproving of the job he’s doing. Since the advent of polling, no president has been so unpopular at this point in his tenure. Clearly, some who voted for him have had second thoughts. But most have not. Why, at this point, should anyone expect otherwise?

It might feel like six years, but it’s only been six months and change since Inauguration Day – far too soon for even Trump to have alienated everyone who trusted him with their hopes and dreams.

Let’s assume, for the sake of argument, that Trump has a solid base of about 35 percent of voters who will stick with him no matter what. Much of his base lives in small towns, rural areas, the South and the Rust Belt – which has inspired countless lazy op-eds about how the jaded sophisticates of the East and West Coasts are too smug and insular to have a clue about the “real America.” Please. Just stop. This country is riven by many fault lines, race and educational attainment being perhaps the most important.

But no citizen’s America is any more “real” than anyone else’s. The voice of a laid-off West Virginia coal miner is no more authentic than that of a Silicon Valley entrepreneur, a Hollywood production assistant, an Upper West Side advertising executive or an opinion writer for a mainstream news outlet. If people like me live in an elite, progressive “bubble,” it must be an awfully big one; indicators such as the popular vote suggest there are more Americans inside than out.

I accept that most Trump voters – those who were not heeding his campaign’s dog-whistle appeals to white supremacy and racial grievance – had a understandable motive: Frustrated with a political system that seems incapable of getting much of anything accomplished, they decided to lob in a grenade, blow it to smithereens and start over.

I get that. I get how Trump’s outrageous statements on Twitter and in campaignstyle rallies sound fresh and encouraging to his diehard supporters, not vicious and loopy. Trump gets it, too, and that’s why I doubt anyone will ever be able to pry his smartphone from his dainty clutches. Some of his

Letters to the editor

You should test your DNA

I am writing this letter as a means of making African Americans aware of an urgent worldwide matter concerning men and women who are searching for their biological fathers.

A few weeks ago I was contacted through Ancestry stating that I was matched with a Vietnamese as a second cousin! He was born during the Vietnam War, and his father may have been my maternal great uncle. Thus my family’s DNA journey began.

I was contacted by the founder of Father Founded, Brian Hjort (fatherfounded. org). This organization helps Vietnamese men and women, fathered by military servicemen, find their biological fathers through DNA testing. Brian earnestly desires that the African-American community become aware of this humanitarian problem. I thought of no better means than your newspaper to make our community aware of this problem. Your newspaper has such a wide and respected readership in our community.

Unfortunately, these “children of the dust” are viewed as worthless to the local government and society. They have been shunned and physically and emotionally abused. It is with a sense of urgency and passion that Brian Hjort desires that more African Americans participate in DNA testing, so that more “children of the dust” can find and be reunited with their biological families.

Camille Johnson, genealogist, Florissant

Trump’s privilege to destroy

There is nothing sadder in the world than a motherless child. Donald Trump, the president of the United States, appears to be a true example of a motherless child. This

tweetstorms are primal screams from an insecure man who is in way over his head, but others are carefully crafted to show he is keeping the faith with those who elected him to break the rules.

But Trump is genuinely delusional about both his talents and his popularity. On August 3, a day after he grudgingly signed the Russia sanctions bill, he tweeted, “Our relationship with Russia is at an all-time & very dangerous low. You can thank Congress, the same people that can’t even give us HCare!” Apparently he’s never heard of the Cuban Missile Crisis, in which Washington and Moscow came close to nuclear war. But why is he going out of his way to attack a Congress led by his own party? Senators, especially, do not take kindly to such abuse, as Trump should have learned from the health care vote. It might be different if he were a popular president. But he is not.

Even Rasmussen, the generally conservative survey that usually shows him as having more support than other pollsters detect, released a poll this week showing Trump’s approval below 40 percent for the first time. He makes laughable claims about having accomplished more than any other president in his first months because he knows his support will slowly leak away if he fails at his central promise, which is to get stuff done. Thus far he has been a failure.

man never acknowledges his mother; it’s as if she never existed.

There is no question in my mind as to his behavior toward women. Most men learn to respect women from their experiences with their mothers. I don’t know what went on in President Trump’s life when he was growing up, but I cannot imagine it being a good life, despite all his money.

When he attacks women in the way that he attacked Mika Brzezinski and all the other women he has attacked and abused, then you know that there must be some deep-rooted resentment and hatred toward women and it is something that is out of his control

President Trump needs help, and our country is in deep trouble. He has no empathy and could care less about what happens to immigrants, blacks, racism, health care, jobs or

human beings. All he cares about is that when he exits the White House he will have amassed as many connections and riches as possible. The heartbreaking part about it is that the color of his skin allows him the privilege of destroying our country. No man or woman of color would have ever been allowed this privilege.

God is watching closely and there will be an accounting of all of our actions here on earth. Donald Trump does not ask to be forgiven for anything he does; he lies and cheats and is not respectful to others. How sad the day when he realizes that money will not buy anything on the day of reckoning.

Dorothy Dempsey St. Louis

Columnist

Eugene Robinson

Columnist Mike Jones

Festival of Nations is August 26-27

The International Institute of St. Louis will once again present its signature cultural event, the Festival of Nations, Saturday and Sunday, August 26 and 27, in Tower Grove Park. Now in its 17th year, the Festival of Nations is the St. Louis region’s largest multicultural celebration, historically attracting more than 100,000 visitors over the two-day event.. Festival of Nations will feature three stages of non-stop music and entertainment, 40-plus food booths, children’s activities, world sports, crafts demos and dance lessons. Festival hours are Saturday, August 26, 10 a.m. to 7 p.m., and Sunday, August 27, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Festival entrance is free. Food, beverages, and authentic handmade ethnic gift items will be available for purchase. For more information, visit www. festivalofnationsstl.org.

Total eclipse party on August 21

On Monday, August 21 at approximately 1:18 p.m., the St. Louis metropolitan area will experience its first total solar eclipse since 1442 –50 years before Columbus sailed the ocean blue. To celebrate this extremely rare occurrence, Schnucks has partnered with the Gateway Arch Park

Foundation to host an eclipse party in downtown St. Louis from noon to 2 p.m. on the day of the eclipse at Luther Ely Smith Square at the corner of 4th and Market Street. There will be a variety of food trucks on hand, and Schnucks will be offering complimentary special solar eclipse cookies (while supplies last) as well as proper eye protection. While supplies last, the glasses will be available at no charge at the courtesy center of St. Louis metropolitan area Schnucks stores as well as other select stores. For more information, see schnucks.com/totaleclipse.)

The gift of Mr. Clark

As a first and second grader at Zion Lutheran in Chicago, Illinois, the man who made the biggest impact on my life was not a teacher, principal or counselor, it was a custodian. Mr. Clark was our one and only custodian for the building. He took care of everything from shoveling the snow off the parking lot and playground to mopping up the residue left from a child who had the stomach flu. Yep, he was that guy!

Now, I do not know how much money Mr. Clark made as a custodian, but I know he was nowhere near being rich in monetary gains. He wore what looked to be the same greyish-looking overalls that had oil stains on the front pockets. It was baggy around his waist and had long sleeves that were usually worn rolled half way up Mr. Clark’s arms.

Mr. Clark was a very dark-skinned man with a beautiful smile. He had a worn a work hat that was kind of turned to the side, as if he just plopped it on his head in a hurry to get to work and greet the school kids. Early every morning, rain or shine, snow storm or windy, Mr. Clark was there to say hello to every single student as they entered the doors to Zion. He would say, “You are going to have a great day today.” Somehow, even if my morning had not started off so great, when Mr. Clark told me I would have a great day, I believed him.

Cassandra Walker

At the end of every school year, we had a party where all the kids got to eat their lunch on the playground. Every year there would be a large bin filled to overflowing with small presents individually wrapped in newspaper. Each child could chose two random gifts. No peeking or squeezing was allowed. A thank you was required, and a hug to the teacher handing out the presents was always welcome.

As a young girl I never gave any thought to who bought all those presents or who stayed up late wrapping each and every one of those 300-plus gifts for a student body of 150. I just took my gifts, said thank you and gave whichever teacher was there a hug. I also waved to Mr. Clark who was usually sweeping or cleaning nearby.

As I got into the older grades, it was rumored that Mr. Clark might retire. I was so sad to hear this news. Soon all of the teachers had us write thank you cards to Mr. Clark for being such a great custodian. On one particular afternoon our principal spoke to us in chapel. He said he wasn’t supposed to tell us this, but he had to because he felt it was so important. Mr. Clark was the one who gave us those gifts every year. He bought them and wrapped them himself, with his own money!

The entire student body was quiet. Then you could hear some students and teachers start to cry. This man who stood by cleaning after our mess without saying a word to us about buying those presents, who didn’t have a lot of wealth, was the one who shared so much with us. He was the one who brought us so much joy. The custodian. He even let he teachers pass out the gifts and received the hugs and praise, because we thought they bought the gifts.

“Today, you will have a great day!”

Rest in peace, Mr. Clark.

Basthi Washington, 3, and her sister Kenni Marie Buress-Gray, 4, played in the water jets at Kiener Plaza on a recent sweltering Tuesday.

Little sisters cooling off

Photo by Wiley Price

STOCKLEY

Continued from A1

the prosecution requested a charge of second-degree murder, or, failing that, voluntary or involuntary manslaughter.

“We’ve given the court a smorgasbord of options,” said Steele. “But all of those options come from the buffet of guilt.”

Steele repeated a statement he had used frequently during the trial: “The video don’t lie.”

Stockley’s defense team concurred. In his closing statement, Bruntrager said, “I agree. The video don’t lie.” But what they saw in the video was different from what the prosecution saw. Instead of a premeditated execution, they saw a man protecting himself in a highstress, possibly fatal situation. They said that Stockley was afraid, and that for him, killing Smith could be explained by the feelings he was experiencing during the car chase.

“It’s stress, it’s anxiety, it’s tension, it’s fear, and those are human responses,” said Bruntrager. He said Stockley was simply fulfilling his duty as a police officer when he and his partner, Officer Brian Bianchi, engaged in a car chase with Smith around the Walnut Park area, at speeds reaching

SALUTE

Continued from A1 owned Bodley Group, which owns Betallic Balloon Company and decorative box company, BoxCo. On the investment side, the Bodley Group provides seed funding for private startup companies across the U.S. Albrecht retired several years ago as chair, president and chief executive of Centric Group, a $750 million holding company. A

up to 87 miles per hour. “It is their duty to stop him,” argued Bruntrager. “It is an unpleasant job, but we ask them to perform that job.”

Stockley had to do whatever it took to put Smith in custody, the defense said, because he believed he was dangerous. If they let him get away, Bruntrager said, “what will happen next time?” He asked the judge to see things from his client’s point of view: “We have to rely on what he reasonably believed, even if that belief is wrong.”

Stockley reasonably believed, the defense claimed, that Smith had a gun. The prosecution countered that by saying that another “reasonable” person was on the scene the whole time: Bianchi.

Bianchi’s actions, as evidenced in both the dashcam video and a citizen’s cell phone video, were almost exactly the opposite of Stockley’s. In the Church’s Chicken parking lot, after approaching and examining Smith’s fleeing car, Bianchi holstered his gun and returned to his vehicle. Stockley chased down the moving vehicle on foot, firing seven shots towards its back windshield.

“[Stockley’s] belief was not reasonable,” said Steele. “Because he’s standing next to his partner, and his partner holsters his weapon.”

The two got in their police

Minnesota native, he was an All-Big 8 baseball player at the University of MissouriColumbia. As a college scholarship recipient himself, Albrecht appreciates the impact of scholarship programs.

“I was fortunate enough that I went to school on a scholarship,” he said. “I’m not sure I would have gone to a major university without one. I know what it means to get a scholarship and that feeling of excitement and opportunity, so I’m glad that this is going to present a lot of young people

Tahoe and sped after Smith. On the dashcam video, Stockley can be heard urging Bianchi along—“Get him” he said, and eventually, “Hit him! Hit him now!”

Again, at the scene of the crash, Bianchi holstered his weapon, and Stockley kept his out. Within the next 15 seconds, Stockley had shot Smith through the driver’s side window of his car.

“It all comes down to those 15 seconds,” said Bruntrager. In his closing argument,

with that same feeling and excitement.”

Valerie D. Bell appreciates the impact that Salute has on the educators it recognizes and awards, saying it helps to “enable leaders like those we are honoring at the 30th Salute to continue to do the tremendous work they do in educating and inspiring the next generation.” said. Bell is an attorney and civic volunteer specializing in notfor-profit administration and management. She is the chair of the board and former interim

he went over the 18 witnesses called by the prosecution: DNA analysts, FBI employees, firearms specialists, officers who responded to the scene, and civilians who witnessed it. None of those witnesses could conclusively prove that Stockley had planted a gun in Smith’s car, said Bruntrager – only that the .38 revolver which Stockley retrieved from Smith’s car had traces of Stockley’s own DNA on it, but not Smith’s. Bruntrager referenced the

CEO for the Saint Louis Public Schools Foundation. She is past board chair of John Burroughs School and FOCUS St. Louis, and past secretary of the Board for Parents as Teachers (international), among many other community commitments. Bell also was legal counsel to the settlement coordinator for the historic St. Louis school segregation case.

“Everything that I have really dedicated myself to falls into three categories: race and race relations, economic parity, but the most important one

Photo by Wiley Price

VonDerrit Myers Jr. case – in which the prosecution stated that it is “rare” to find DNA on a gun – as part of his argument that Smith could have had the gun without leaving DNA on it. The only evidence supporting that is the fact that Stockley found the gun in Smith’s car.

To that, Steele responded that there are “thousands” of people in prison convicted on DNA evidence. If DNA was good enough evidence to convict them, he argued, it should be good enough to

is educational opportunity,” Bell said. “It is of absolute importance for people to have educational opportunity because this is their ticket to the future.”

Richard K. Gaines, a member of the Special Appointed Board (SAB) for Saint Louis Public Schools and insurance executive, is himself a product of SLPS. Gaines has devoted more than 34 years to city public schools, 10 years with the SAB, and was a former president and member of SLPS Board of Education. Gaines also was involved with a number of SLPS desegregation settlements over the years.

He first co-chaired a Salute gala in 1990s when Mae Jemison, the first African American female astronaut was the guest speaker.

“Every year, the affair takes the position of identifying people who are basically providing substantial leadership and inspiration to this community,” Gaines said.

He sees the need for scholarships for higher education has only grown.

convict a police officer, too. Though Bruntrager claimed that DNA evidence has limits, Steele said, “It don’t have no limits for anyone else.” Judge Wilson announced that each side has until August 18 to file a written statement, listing reasons why they believe their side should prevail. Neither side is required to file that statement, but he will not make a decision until they have had the opportunity to do so.

“With the reduction in support for higher education on almost a national basis, with the tremendous increase in the cost of a college education, this scholarship program is substantial, in any manner that you look at it,” Gaines said. “I have seen kids who had every opportunity –academically, and intellectually – to pursue college education, but who have not been able to do it purely from a standpoint of money. I cannot overemphasize the importance of the scholarships, which are substantial in nature – that are given by the St. Louis American Foundation. It gives real money; it’s not a token gift. These kids get real money to help them further their education.”

The 30th annual Salute to Excellence in Education Scholarship and Awards Gala will be held Saturday, September 23 at America’s Center. Individual tickets are $85 for general admission and $150 for V.I.P. For more information, call 314-533-8000 or visit stlamerican.com.

Eugene Perkins, the father of 27-year-old Isiah Perkins, who was shot and killed by St. Louis police on July 20, 2017, kneels over a t-shirt he placed with others killed by police during a rally at 17th and Market Streets on Tuesday morning. The Coalition Against Police Crimes &Regression (CAPCR) sponsored the rally and march.

WORKHOUSE

Continued from A1

journalists, their names have been excluded from this report.

Inmates ‘make their voices heard’

The group’s tour guide was an African-American female guard, who has worked as a correctional officer at the Workhouse for 27 years and appeared to be deeply respected by the inmates and staff alike. As she walked towards inmates, many smiled and waved. One man said, “That’s my favorite lieutenant!”

The tour began at the resident visit cages, where inmates conversed with their families through thick panes of Plexiglas. Next were the “pods,” where inmates have individual cells and are isolated from the general population for various reasons.

Two of the four pods house the entire female population of the jail, and the other two are used for “disciplinary segregation” and as housing for inmates with mental health issues or special needs.

The “dorms” – general housing areas – are starkly different from the pods. The inmates sleep in large rooms, with their beds pushed closely together. The dorms are where the air conditioning has really made a difference.

“There’s the little worms going through the windows now,” said the tour guide, pointing out the holes where the white air-conditioning tubes now enter the dorm windows.

The guards said they were grateful that the protestors and inmates “made their voices heard” this month and were able to demand that air conditioning be installed.

“It’s always been hot,” one supervisor told the group. “It’s not the first time we suffered triple digits. And we complained before, but it was always a money thing.”

The heat was so bad, she remembered, that “when you walked down the hallway, sweat was just flying at you” out of the inmates’ cells. The air conditioning has “definitely helped employee morale,” the supervisor said.

However, now some inmates walk around the facility wrapped in blankets against the almost-chilly temperatures.

In the hallways in both the pods and dorms, inmates wanted to talk to the tour group. Many shouted about “black mold,” which was visible in the showers. “Save us!” said one man.

One inmate explained that there was an extreme amount of cleaning before Mayor Lyda Krewson’s recent visit to the facility, the inmates said, so she didn’t know how bad it got.

“People who weren’t inmates here came in and cleaned,” one man said.

‘We don’t have enough people’

In the women’s pod, handmade signs saying things like “peace,” and “bless this room from all evil” covered the walls. The women lined up for their dinner – small cheese sandwiches with a scoop of beans, a few tortilla chips and cornbread.

The tour guide explained that the women were eating in their pod, instead of in the dining area, because the jail is too understaffed to feed the inmates in the dining room. Instead, each group of inmates gets their meals in their individual dorm.

The lack of a full staff is evident in other areas, too. None of the men at the jail get any outdoor recreation time now because the Workhouse simply doesn’t have enough officers to supervise that, she said. The women occasionally get time outside, but the men haven’t been able to spend time outside in years, our guide said.

The staffing shortage isn’t because of money, the guide said. In fact, “We’re one of the highest-paid correctionals in the U.S,” she said. But as a veteran of almost three decades at the institution, she’s seen a lot of officers come and go. People who try to become guards often quit after their

first few eight-hour shifts, intimidated by the constant close contact they have with inmates.

“Maybe they come in expecting something different than what they get,” she said. “We might have to break up a fight any day. It’s unpredictable. That kind of gets to them.”

‘My staff is not equipped to deal with that’

Workhouse guards are also often asked to take on the roles of mental healthcare professionals. In the disciplinary segregation and “special needs” pod, the tour guide talked about how she has to cajole inmates into taking their medication. If they don’t, she’s seen some try to run up the steps in the pods and jump off the second-floor railings.

“My staff is not equipped to deal with that,” said a supervisor.

One officer estimated that between 15 percent and 25 percent of the population at the Workhouse is made up of individuals that she would call “special needs.” But a guard’s ability to help those inmates is limited. Aside from the five social workers who serve the entire population of the jail of about 700, the only real action most jail employees can take to preserve an inmate’s mental health is to place them on suicide watch.

Physical health care is just as lacking as behavioral health care. It’s supposed to take seven to 14 days for an inmate who requests medical care to be seen, the guide said. However, according to several inmates, it can often take someone with a medical complaint up to two months to have it seen to. For dental visits, that wait time can be as high as four months, inmates said.

The general-population dorms are loosely separated by level of offense, and most nonviolent offenders are housed together. The majority of inmates – or about 60 percent – are being held for charges of either possession of a controlled substance, probation violation or unlawful use of a weapon, according to data the city reported in July. There’s even a dorm that houses mostly men who owe over $5,000 in child support payments. Our guide said about 30 men are serving time in the Workhouse for that offense. Green was shocked to hear that, and called it “unacceptable.”

“How does that help?” Green said. “If you can’t pay child support, you certainly can’t pay your child support when you’re locked up.”

Inmates are able to make some money but can’t send it to anyone outside the jail. Those who have been in the Workhouse for over 30 days with good behavior are eligible to get a job (such as cleaning or distributing food) within the

jail. These jobs, however, only pay between $2 and $5 per day.

Those who are in the Workhouse because they couldn’t pay their bond in the first place – about 98 percent of the jail’s population – aren’t able to earn enough money to do so. The average bond for an inmate, an employee said, is about $5,000. In the dorm reserved for inmates with jobs, a group gathered to talk about their experience in the jail.

One man is there because he can’t pay his $30,000 bond – 10 percent of which must be paid in cash – for possession of a firearm. Another has been there for three months without trial because he can’t pay his $1,000 bail for heroin possession.

“I’ve been here for a year, and I ain’t even got a court date!” a pre-trial inmate said. “I thought they were going to send me to drug court, but I haven’t heard anything about it.”

None of the inmates are told when their trial dates are, and even the guards are prohibited from telling them when they’ll get their day in court. It’s considered a “breach of security.”

The tour guide disagreed with the policy.

“I’d rather you know your court date than you being upset because you’re in the unknown,” she said.

‘Until the facility can be closed for good’

The jail housed around 770 inmates at the time of the last census in June – despite a 1990 district court order that the maximum number of people incarcerated there should be 481. This month, protesters accused the jail of dangerous, overcrowded conditions.

But things have been worse. A few years ago, at its peak, the jail housed about 1,200 people, a supervisor said. “People were sleeping on bunks in the gym,” she remembered.

The Workhouse still feels crowded with 700 inmates, as beds are packed into the dorms with little room between them. Since some of the dorms are closed for repair, the others strain to house everyone.

To bring that number down further, there needs to be more support programs, both the officers and Green agreed. Otherwise, people will continue to “come back over and over again, over the years,” as a guard put it. Recidivism for Missouri inmates is at 41.9 percent.

The guide mentioned the anti-recidivism program called Prison to Prosperity, which helps give inmates ages 17-24 job training while they’re incarcerated and assists them in getting jobs with SLATE, the St. Louis government jobs agency, once they’re released.

Prison to Prosperity, which had its pilot run last year, was re-funded by the City of St.

Louis for this year and starts up again next week. The program helped 168 Workhouse inmates last year. Among those people, the recidivism rate was only 15 percent. Green hopes to find some funding to expand that program and help keep people out of jail.

“If we don’t have some kind of intervention on the street, they’ll keep coming back,” a guard said.

Green hopes to help provide funding for more addiction and mental health treatment programs, so that the Workhouse doesn’t function

as the city’s de facto treatment center. She plans to introduce a counter-proposal to Krewson’s half-cent sales tax increase that will be on the ballot in November to increase officer salaries. Instead, Green is floating a .5-percent payroll tax increase, which will generate about $10 million more than the November sales tax proposal. This money will go towards just the sort of programs Workhouse employees say they need.

“With investments in mental health, drug treatment, and the expansion of the Prison to

Prosperity Program, these funds will transition the Workhouse into a rehabilitation center that helps to end the cycles of mental illness, addiction and poverty that keep people coming back to the criminal justice system,” Green said. Ultimately, those programs will mean less people coming back to the Workhouse. Green believes these changes could even “decrease its population enough that its services are no longer needed, and the aging facility can be closed for good.”

St. Louis police guarded the St. Louis Medium Security Institution – known as the Workhouse – during a protest of its conditions on July 21.

Photo by Wiley Price

Dred Scott 160th Anniversary Festival on August 12

‘We remind ourselves of history so we can create a better future’

By Lynne Madison Jackson

For The St. Louis American

Over the last 10 years many race-related events in U.S. history have been commemorated, starting back in 2007 with the 150th anniversary of the Supreme Court’s Dred Scott decision. Next came re-enactments of the Lincoln-Douglas debates, which coincided with one of the largest gatherings ever in downtown St. Louis: the 2008 campaign visit of future president Barack Obama.

The irony of electing the first black president on the cusp of the 150th anniversary of what has been ranked among the worst U.S. Supreme Court decisions in history did not go unnoticed. Obama’s campaign and presidency brought hope, but we still do not have the harmony so many of us have longed for.

The sesquicentennial of the beginning of the Civil War came a few years later in 2011. This October marks 500 years since Martin Luther posted his Ninety-five Theses and started the Protestant Reformation. Though the document brought clarity to many, even today confusion among religious faiths looms large.

Now is the time to reflect on these anniversaries and ask ourselves, “How far along in the journey are we, and when will we ‘get there’?”

On August 9, 2014, with Scott’s resting place only three miles from Ferguson, the city became a household word— nationally and globally. St. Louis was again in the spotlight for a race issue that could no longer be ignored, and we were again reminded that humanity still has many lessons to learn.

On Saturday, August 12, the Dred Scott Heritage Foundation will present a look at where some of us are three years after the shooting death of Michael Brown. The Dred Scott 160th Anniversary Festival of Freedom will be a fun day of history and educational opportunities for everyone, young and old. The foundation has three pillars: commemoration, education and reconciliation In collaboration with the

Missouri History Museum, the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra, and sponsoring support from Sandberg Phoenix & von Gontard, P.C., we will present a panel of five descendants from families whose ancestors greatly impacted the narrative surrounding the Dred Scott decision. From Thomas Jefferson to Jefferson Davis, stories will be shared about how these descendants are now using education to work toward reconciliation. The panel will surprise and inspire hope in anyone who is wondering, “How can this work?”

Kate Taney Billingsley (yes, as in the former U.S. Supreme Court Chief Justice Roger B. Taney who delivered Dred Scott’s verdict) and the St. Louis Black Rep will present her powerful play A Man of His Time, which imagines what a contemporary meeting of Dred Scott’s and Justice Taney’s descendants might be like. My presentation on St. Louis fun facts about Dred Scott will include information that has never been shared before. We will celebrate the fact that Dred and Harriet, although denied in the courts, did receive their freedom from slavery after helping pave the way for the freedom of millions. The Blow family was instrumental in making that happen, and the festival brings the chance to learn more about this inspiring story. Why do we remind ourselves

of history? We have all heard the clichés and quotes—most notably the one ending “. . . doomed to repeat it.” But do we even recognize when that is happening? Many wonderful organizations exist in this community to break the cycle of fear, hate, misunderstanding, and disunity. As we continue to collaborate, it is our hope to show what happens when we take time out to stop, listen, talk, and share.

Regarding the Taney and Davis families, someone once said to me, “I don’t know if I want to meet those people.” Did you hear it? After sharing with them, a great light clicked on and a new working relationship was born. We remind ourselves of history so we can create a better future.

We invite you to come hear the contemporary stories of reconciliation and hard work to bring hope and unity to a divided land. Lincoln’s famous House Divided speech came directly from the Bible. Mark 3:25 says: “And Jesus knew their thoughts, and said to them, ‘Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation; and every city or house divided against itself shall not stand.’”

None of us is Lincoln, but we can do our part to preserve the Union and heal the kingdom in a time such as this.

Lynne

Madison Jackson is president and founder of the Dred Scott Heritage Foundation.

Dellwood bouncing back after Ferguson unrest

By Mayor Reggie Jones For The St. Louis American

As we embark on the threeyear anniversary of the death of Michael Brown Jr., we know that communities, families, protesters and the media have all been impacted by the death of this young African-American male.

Much has been said about the City of Ferguson and the civil unrest that took place in 2014. However, little has been mentioned about the real impact that the civil rest has had on other surrounding municipalities, such as Dellwood.

The City of Dellwood is 1.1 square miles, has a population of approximately 5,000 residents, median household income of $43,210, a home ownership rate of 76 percent, commercial retail trade and food and drink sales for FY 2017 was $93,800,475 (this is within a half-mile radius of West Florissant Avenue and Chambers Road), median disposable income of $38,536 and approximately 30,000 cars traveling our commercial district of West Florissant Avenue per day. And Dellwood suffered tremendously during this period of time.

As many as 10 businesses were completely burned down. These businesses include Auto Zone, Advance Auto Parts, Juanita’s Fashion R Boutique, Dellwood Market, Clean World Laundromat, On On Chop Suey, Prime Beauty, Conoco, Queens Royal Touch Salon and Spa, and Title Max. These are businesses that the residents of Dellwood are no longer able to patronize in the community they live in. However, we are a city of resiliency and many opportunities.

As the mayor of Dellwood, it was important to reassess and think strategic about growth and redevelopment, leveraging relationships

with St. Louis Economic Development Partnership, Regional Business Council, St. Louis Promise Zone, North County Incorporated, St. Louis County, U.S. Department of Commerce Economic Development Administration, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (Region 7), U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, Missouri Department of Natural Resources, City of Ferguson, City of Jennings, private commercial property owners and the great residents of Dellwood.

Over the last three years, the City of Dellwood, with the support and hard work of our partners, has done the following:

• Passed a $7 million bond to resurface borough streets and erect new signage

• Procured a grant from the St. Louis Municipal Park Grant Commission to make necessary upgrades and improvements to Dellwood Recreation Center

• Made upgrades to the baseball fields at Dellwood Park (on West Florissant Avenue)

• Partnered with St. Louis County, City of Ferguson and East-West Gateway Council of Governments on West Florissant Avenue Great Streets Project (currently in conceptual design phase)

• Partnered with the St. Louis Economic Development Partnership, St. Louis County Port Authority and Washington University Olin Business School to do beautification projects and façade improvements along the commercial corridor of West

Florissant Avenue and to offer business-development capacity to small business owners (the Port Authority recently awarded a $15,000 grant to expand this program with the Olin School)

• Partnered with the City of Ferguson and St. Louis Economic Development Partnership to form the West Florissant Business Association • Partnered with the St. Louis Economic Development Partnership, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (Region 7), private commercial property owners and Missouri Department of Natural Resources to begin Phase I and Phase II Environmental Assessments of vacant commercial properties, conceptual redevelopment plans for four commercial sites on West Florissant Avenue (former Auto Zone, Former Advance Auto Parts, Former Juanita’s Fashion R Boutique and Former Discount Tire). When you consider a history which spans nearly 70 years, the City of Dellwood has a lot to be proud of. It has seen many periods of growth and prosperity. It’s no secret the past three years have been really tough on everyone in this community, but we feel like the weight is starting to swing in a positive way. We want to create an environment that people can work, live, play and feel safe in doing so. We still have much more work to do, but there is an enormous amount of opportunities in the City of Dellwood. The St. Louis region is a terrific place to work, live and play – and that includes Dellwood. We hope business owners and developers will consider us moving forward because I truly believe the future looks bright. For more information, visit http://www.cityofdellwoodmo. com.

Dred Scott

Courtesy of Missouri History Museum

Guest Columnist

Reggie Jones

What is up with the NAACP’s travel advisory for Missouri?

The Missouri NAACP State Conference first issued its travel advisory for the state of Missouri on June 23 in an attempt to pressure Governor Eric Greitens to veto Senate Bill 43. NAACP State Conference President Nimrod Chapel worked hard to defeat SB 43, and it was no surprise to see him going hard for a veto. The American had urged Greitens to veto SB 43 three weeks previously, on June 1. “Our new outsider Republican Governor Eric Greitens can save himself and our state a tremendous amount of shame by vetoing Senate Bill 43, which weakens workplace protections for women and minorities. If enacted, the law would require plaintiffs to prove claims of discrimination are ‘the motivating factor’ in an action by an employer; existing law says the plaintiff has only to prove discrimination was ‘a contributing factor,’” The American editorialized.

“If he signs this noxious bill into law, Greitens invites on himself the stench and shame of the bill sponsor, state Sen. Gary Romine (RFarmington), who owns a rental housing company in Southwest Missouri, Show-Me Rent-toOwn, that is currently being sued for race discrimination. ‘There is nothing more corrupt than someone getting elected to go to Jeff City to sponsor a bill that would directly benefit himself,’ attorney Paul Bullman told KCUR. ‘That’s the definition of corruption.’ Greitens does not want to ally himself with the definition of corruption. He must veto SB 43.”

No one at The American believed for a moment that Greitens would heed our call, but you’ve got to do what you’ve got to.

As a strategy to pressure Greitens to veto SB 43, the Missouri NAACP State Conference’s travel advisory looked even less likely to have any impact on the governor. It was announced as remaining in effect “at least until August 28,” when the law would go into effect if Greitens signed the bill – as he did on June 30, a week after the travel advisory trying to pressure him to veto the bill was circulated. There were evident strategic problems with the travel advisory. No matter how widely circulated, it wasn’t likely to make any evident negative economic impact on the state in two summer months when most people already had finalized travel plans. Further, the litany of racist incidents with which Chapel embellished the travel advisory would mostly discourage black people (or families with black members) from visiting Missouri. Greitens comes from a metropolitan area, used to at least pose as a progressive Democrat and appeared to admire President Barack Obama, but most of the nearly 1.5 million people who voted for him surely would not be even slightly bothered if fewer black people traveled to Missouri. A travel ban on black people entering Missouri – not very constitutional, but then unconstitutional government action is a rising trend – would

after SB43 was signed?

Nimrod Chapel: While it is interesting that the Urban League was meeting in St. Louis immediately after the NAACP convention, where its delegates recognized the traveling advisory, it’s important to note that the travel advisory is not a boycott. The purpose of the advisor is to insure that individuals are aware of existing civil rights violations and how those may come in to play with individuals expecting that their civil rights would be respected and protected in the streets and in the courts.

satisfy Greitens’ base more than a travel advisory trying to keep black people out would upset them.

This is not to deny most of the claims made in Chapel’s travel advisory. He did conflate two ugly incidents in Ladue schools. One black student was burned with a hot glue gun by an Hispanic student, but neither student claimed it was racial, rather teenagers playing pranks and one of them got hurt. There was a racist language incident on a Ladue school bus on the same day, which was two days after the election of Donald Trump, but the incidents were not connected. Other than that, Chapel was correct – Missouri is a dangerous place to be black. We publish a newspaper that provides regular updates on this troubling fact.

Then on August 2 the NAACP national office endorsed the travel advisory. The NAACP has never before issued a state travel advisory – not even to Mississippi, where the NAACP’s new interim national president Derrick Johnson was former president of the Mississippi State Conference. It became a national story.

Mind you, SB 43 was

Dems must not abandon women and physicians on abortion rights

By State Rep. Stacey Newman Guest columnist

I have spent every ounce of energy and every brain cell I could muster these past two months on protecting reproductive justice during the Governor’s Extraordinary Special Session on Abortion. As the chair of the House Progressive Caucus, I worked round the clock with physicians, religious leaders, attorneys with constitutional and health care expertise and, most importantly, women from all corners of the state.

Even though I’ve had a pregnancy, I learned way more than I never knew I would need about development of zygotes and embryos, routine miscarriage procedures, standard medical practice of pregnancy complications with fetal abnormalities and infertility practices. My binders of legislative research look like medical textbooks even though I am not an OB/GYN nor is anyone else in the legislature or governor’s office. Abortion care includes long standard treatment after a miscarriage (D & C’s and D & E’s), severe fetal abnormalities in very much wanted pregnancies, complications involving a deceased fetus, rape and incest cases and other numerous reasons that are bound by HIPPA regulations.

Up to 25 percent of pregnancies result in miscarriage, one in three women have had an abortion, and seven in 10 people believe abortion must remain constitutionally protected. Women of all ages and faiths, including Republicans who have confided in me and even abortion protestors, have had an abortion for reasons that are none of our business.

Abortion care is constitutionally protected, even more so with the landmark 2016 U.S. Supreme Court decision which states abortion regulations must actually outweigh the undue burden it places on access.

As the legislature spent over $20,000 per day for 48 days to attack St. Louis city’s reproductive anti-discrimination ordinance and advance new unconstitutional restrictions on abortion providers through SB5, I understand in full the real life consequences of the bill on women and physicians living in every county of the state.

Not one credible respected medical organization or entity supported SB5, so you might think it would be a slam dunk that every Democrat would be in opposition. However, just like in regular sessions, the “pro-life” Democrats routinely side with the anti-science, anti-medical, anti-reproductive rights lobby – even though

women, particularly those of color and in rural neighborhoods, will lose access to basic healthcare and physicians standards of protocol will be jeopardized.

So you can imagine my blood pressure when I heard my state party chair along with national Democratic leaders say they are a-ok with recruiting and financial supporting additional “pro-life” candidates. Since when did it become acceptable for Democrats on a policy level to throw women’s access to basic healthcare under the bus and

long ago signed into law, and nothing the NAACP can do would provoke Greitens to call another special session before August 28 to repeal it. It’s going to be state law, but now we have a national story about repressive language of a type that Republican-dominated legislatures across the country are passing.

As the story went national, local players who had been sitting this one out were compelled to weigh in. The St. Louis County Branch of the NAACP at first said SB 43 was bad but was so was the travel advisory, then reversed course and endorsed the travel advisory – citing points of substance, but more likely trying to stop being trolled for being an Uncle Tom on the issue.

St. Louis Mayor Lyda Krewson said SB 43 was bad, but was so was the travel advisory.

The ACLU of Missouri said SB 43 was really bad, and while not openly endorsing the travel advisory, hailed Chapel for his leadership.

Now that SB 43 is going to be law, what is the purpose of the travel advisory. Where is he trying to lead us? We asked

interfere with medical practice?

Access to abortion and the whole gamut of reproductive healthcare is an issue of economic justice, racial justice and human rights. Every woman’s choice when and if to have children is not a decision which belongs to anyone else, particularly legislators.

I was just one of the millions of women who were the majority of January’s Women’s March in Washington D.C. and in tons of other cities, including in Missouri. Reproductive freedom, including access to abortion, was a huge tenet of the protest and remains at the forefront of the congressional fight targeting healthcare. Reproductive justice remains a strong issue on Election Day for millions of women, as reflected by the continual 20-point gender spread by women, most dependably women of color, voting Democrat. Plenty of faith leaders from diverse denominations endorse reproductive rights, including

him via email.

The American: With SB43 a done deal, what is the purpose, goal or end game of the travel advisory?

Nimrod Chapel: We should consider the travel advisory as a warning to people who live in Missouri and who would be traveling into Missouri so that they are aware of potential concerns about their ability to be safe and protect their own civil rights. The travel advisory is a warning.

The governor signed Senate Bill 43 on June 30 and while the NAACP with certainly concerned about Missouri reviving Jim Crow, the travel advisory was also issued in response to civil rights violations already existing in Missouri before Senate Bill 43 was enacted into law and local and state governments’ inability or unwillingness to address what the NAACP perceived to be growing civil rights violations.

The American: The travel advisory was issued with the Urban League readying to bring its national conference to Missouri. Was there a message, implicit or explicit, to the UL in issuing the advisory and then giving it a new national push

Rabbi Susan Talve of Central Reform Congregation and Rev. Dr. Traci Blackmon of Christ the King United Church of Christ. They recently published a video with other leaders, “What it Means to Be Pro-Life Missouri” exposing the “pro-life” hypocrisy of the legislature and in opposition of SB5. Rabbi Jonah Zinn of Shaare Emeth Congregation in St. Louis was one of the most ardent testifying against SB5 in June.

With our long historical struggle for full voting rights, racial and LGBT equality, to throw women up as a political tool to recruit conservative candidates is abhorrent. Would these leaders consider racist

The American: The NAACP had its convention in Baltimore this year. Is it safe for black folks to travel in Maryland? Nimrod Chapel: As I understand it, Baltimore has had an unprecedented ceasefire, for lack of a better term, where “nobody is killing anybody.” There are many good people who worked hard to try and protect people there. While I personally am delighted to see lives being saved in Baltimore, the issues that cities and states face can and do differ in a myriad of ways. The Missouri State Conference looked at civil rights violations not being addressed in our state (the Vehicle Stops report for 2016, for example) and the elimination of protections available to individuals privately through the courts. And further compounding those concerns are the convocation of individual immunity for those who discriminate and harass others.

The American: Do you think black people living in Missouri should resettle elsewhere out of regard to their safety?

Nimrod Chapel: The question of where people want to live in light of opportunities and threats is one each person and family will have to decide among themselves. To the extent that Missouri has revived Jim Crow laws through the aid of the Missouri Chamber of Commerce, the Missouri Retailers Association and the Missouri Grocers Association, that could be to Missouri’s detriment if there is a loss of citizens, businesses and opportunities that smart capable and willing people utilize in making our state better. We sincerely hope that Missouri may one day be a place where people are truly treated equally and with justice.

candidates? Those opposed to equality or any other human right? Yet, those “pro-life” conservative electeds already in office also tend to vote for bills which target minorities, loosen gun laws, rob federal TANF funds and give millions in state funds to unregulated fake pregnancy centers. In the last century, strides by women academically, in the workforce and in government is due to reproductive freedom – deciding if, when and how to raise a family, no matter what kind or color of family we are. Having autonomy over our own body is not a moral, religious or social issue but a basic human right.

Photo by Wiley Price

Missouri NAACP State Conference President Nimrod Chapel speaking at the MLK kick-off January 9, 2016 at Harris-Stowe State University.

Guest Columnist Rep. Stacey Newman

Breastfeeding moms have lower cancer risk

World Health Organization.

Breastfeeding provides the nutrients babies need, helps protect them from infections and asthma and boosts their immune system.

Christian Hospital partnered with BJC Medical Group to open facility

By Rick Stevens For The St. Louis American

BJC Medical Group Convenient Care at Hazelwood opened this week and brings a much-needed resource to our community for treating a variety of minor injuries and illnesses. Christian Hospital has partnered with BJC Medical Group to open this facility as an effective alternative for all ages to get “checked out” – especially in the evening or on the weekend – when you can’t get into your primary provider or don’t know where to go.

breast cancer.

Babies who are breastfed are less likely to gain excess weight as they grow. Among adults, AICR research shows that

and then add other

and

This advice is in line with recommendations of other health organizations, including the

Staying a healthy weight, avoiding alcohol and being physically active also lower cancer risk.

Red Cross Charles Drew Blood Drive set for August 16

Comptroller Darlene Green will host a Red Cross Charles Drew Blood Drive 11 a.m.-3 p.m. Wednesday, August 16 in Room 208 of City Hall, 1200 Market St. Walk-ins are accepted, but appointments are encouraged to ensure that everyone is seen quickly. The entire process takes less than an hour. There is an ongoing special need for African American donors for two reasons. First, about 70 percent of African Americans have blood type O or B, and these are the blood types that are most in demand. Second, regular blood transfusions can help those suffering from sickle cell disease.

All donors are welcome at the blood drive. The need for blood is constant and only volunteer donors can fulfill that need for patients in our community. Nationwide, someone needs a unit of blood every 2 to 3 seconds and most of us will need blood in our lifetime. The blood drive is named in honor

A Red Cross staffer enjoys a laugh with a citizen donating blood at Comptroller Darlene Green’s 2014 Red Cross Charles Drew Blood.

Certified family nurse practitioners Latoya Woods, FNP, and Zandra Brown, FNP, practice at Convenient Care at Hazelwood, located at 7451 A N. Lindbergh in the Elm Grove Shopping Center. The team sees patients seven days a week from 7:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. Appointments are not necessary, and they will accommodate patients quickly and efficiently.

Rick Stevens

The team treats a variety of minor injuries and illnesses, including cough, cold and flu symptoms; joint and minor muscle strains; minor scrapes, cuts or bruises; sore throat or earache; insect bites or rashes; sinus symptoms; eye irritation; infections; and fevers under 101 degrees. This is also a great location for our youth to get sports physicals, and flu shots will be offered here in the fall.

n It’s important to understand that hospital emergency departments are for those cases requiring immediate treatment to avoid the loss of life or other complications.

Often times people follow their first instinct and go straight to the emergency department (ED) when even the most minor health incident occurs. It’s important to understand that the hospital EDs are for those cases requiring immediate treatment to avoid the loss of life or other complications – for example conditions such as stroke, heart attack or poisoning. And if you do go to the ED with a minor injury or illness, most likely you’ll have a long wait time to be seen, as cases are taken in order of severity. We operate the busiest ED in the state, with some 110,000 patients seen at Christian Hospital and Northwest HealthCare combined each year. The opening of Convenient Care at Hazelwood is another step we’ve taken to provide the right care at the right time and cost.

Convenient Care at Hazelwood offers walk-in care for pediatric and adult patients of all ages, with a co-pay that is often less expensive than urgent cares and definitely less costly than the ED. For many visitors, the co-pay will be the same as a primary care visit. This facility is not meant to replace your primary care provider, but rather it’s here as a fast, convenient alternative when you and your family need it.

For all these reasons, in the event of a noncritical injury or illness, your choice is clear – visit the Convenient Care at Hazelwood. To reach the facility, call 314-921-2882.

Rick L. Stevens, FACHE, is Christian Hospital president.

New guideline for judging risks of kidney donation

By Chris King Of The St. Louis American

Researchers have produced a new online tool to analyze one’s risk for donating a kidney.

Krista Lentine, M.D., Ph.D., professor of internal medicine at Saint Louis University, and Amit Garg, M.D., Ph.D., professor of medicine at Western University in Ontario, Canada co-chaired a work group of international practitioners that published “Clinical Practice Guideline on the Evaluation and Care of Living Kidney Donors” in Transplantation and the New England Journal of Medicine and posted their resulting online risk projection tool at www.transplantmodels.com/ esrdrisk

The ESRD in the projection toll’s name is an acronym for End Stage Renal Disease. The research group is called the Kidney Disease: Improving Global Outcomes (KDIGO) international work group.

The guideline and projection tool reflect a new framework for donor candidate evaluation grounded in the simultaneous consideration of demographic (i.e., age, sex and race) and health characteristics (e.g., kidney function, blood pressure, body mass index, smoking status)

on the candidate’s risk of serious adverse outcomes after donation.

“The altruistic, life-saving act of donation warrants ongoing pursuit of the highest standards of evidence to ensure that potential risks are identified and considered in selection and informed consent, and that care is optimized to minimize risks,” said Lentine.

To date, clinical practice guidelines and regional policies recommended consideration of one risk factor at a time in the assessment of living donor candidates – for example, separate candidacy criteria are offered for blood pressure, obesity and smoking that regard each of these factors in isolation. Poor understanding of comprehensive risk has led to inconsistent donor selection practices, the researchers claim.

African Americans are the largest group of minorities in need of an organ transplant, according to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS).

African Americans have higher rates of diabetes and high blood pressure than whites, increasing the risk of organ failure. African Americans make up 13 percent of the population, but 34 percent of those waiting for a kidney and 25 percent of those waiting for a heart, according to HHS.

‘We can’t just pray it away’

Urban League panelists encourage open, candid approach to behavioral health

By Rachel Lippmann

Of St. Louis Public Radio

Mental illness is real in the African-American community and needs to be talked about. That was the message of the final panel at the National Urban League’s 2017 Annual Conference, which was held in St. Louis July 26-29. All three speakers were celebrity women of color who have struggled with mental illness.

“People are hurting. They want to talk about it, but they’re afraid to talk about it,” said Shanti Das, an music industry executive who founded the mental health initiative Silence the Shame earlier this year. “Nobody wants to be labeled. But we’ve got to get over the shame and stigma and worrying about what everyone else is saying.”

Teaching CPR at sea

health advocate at Hazelwood West High School, said some of the feelings about mental illness in her community comes from the way the media portrays African Americans who have mental illness.

“They’re the crackhead on the street. They’re the crazy person who is causing all sort of problems. And sometimes even being used as comic relief,” she said. Moore called it empowering to see people who look like her talking about struggles with mental illness.

Shanti Das, founder of Silence

the Shame Time for

Das’ father committed suicide when she was an infant. Her family never dealt with it, she said, and she was ashamed of how he died. She herself was “ready to check on out “ two years ago. That incident prompted her to start Silence the Shame.

“I tell people, ‘We can’t just pray it away either,’” Das said.

“I need God, and sometimes I need my antidepressants to keep me on track. And that’s OK.” Ishmaiah Moore, 16, was one of about a dozen people who attended the panel discussion. Moore, a mental

Although stigma can be a big barrier to seeking treatment for mental illness, other factors can be more important in St. Louis, said Darrell Hudson, an associate professor at the Brown School of Social Work at Washington University.

People are generally supportive of friends and family getting treatment, he said, but that treatment can be hard to access. For example, Hudson said, most of the places to get treatment in St. Louis are located in the central corridor.

“It’s the affordability of care, whether they’re covered, whether care is acceptable and appropriate to them, those are factors that will weigh heavily for research participants that I’ve interacted with,” he said.

Follow Rachel on Twitter: @rlippmann. Reprinted with permission from news.stlpublicradio.org.

August through September, Little

Urban Smiles is accepting appointments for back-to-school dental exams at its Children’s Dental Theatre, 1301 N. Kingshighway Blvd., St. Louis (63113). While supplies last, eligible patients will

receive backpacks filled with school supplies when they make and keep their dental appointments. Medicaid patients as well as walk-in patients are welcome. Little Urban Smiles also accepts most private insurance and has a sliding fee scale. For more information, call 314-367-1434, email littleurbansmiles@gmail.com or visit www.littleurbansmiles.org.

BJC opened Convenient Care at Hazelwood

BJC Medical Group and Christian Hospital have opened Convenient Care at Hazelwood, located at 7451 A N. Lindbergh in the Elm Grove Shopping Center. It will be staffed by board-certified BJC providers. The providers treat a variety of minor injuries and illnesses, including: cough, cold and flu symptoms; joint and minor muscle strains; minor scrapes, cuts or bruises; sore throat or earache; insect bites or rashes; sinus symptoms; eye irritation; infections; and fevers under 101 (degrees). Convenient Care offers walk-in care for patients of all ages, with a co-pay that is often less expensive than urgent cares. For many visitors, the co-pay will be the same as a primary care visit. The Hazelwood location is open daily from 7:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. Appointments are not necessary. To reach BJC Medical Group Convenient Care at Hazelwood, call 314-921-2882 or visit bjcmedicalgroup.org.

Certified family nurse practitioners

Latoya Woods, FNP, and Zandra Brown, FNP, practice at Convenient Care at Hazelwood.

Petty Officer 2nd Class Michael Stewart, a native of St. Louis, assigned to the medical department of the amphibious assault ship USS America (LHA 6), teaches CPR techniques to Petty Officer 2nd Class Beatriz Morris, a native of Virginia Beach, in the ship’s medical bay. America is currently embarked on its maiden deployment and is part of the America Amphibious Ready Group comprised of more than 1,800 Sailors and 2,600 Marines assigned to the amphibious dock landing ship USS Pearl Harbor (LSD 52), the amphibious transport dock ship USS San Diego (LPD 22) and America.

Photo by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Alexander Ventura II

Independent investigation needed in killing of Isaiah Hammett

By Jamala Rogers and John Chasnoff Guest columnists

On June 7, 2017, a St. Louis Police SWAT team raided a home on South Kingshighway. Within minutes the house was riddled with bullets and a 21-year-old young man was dead. The police immediately described a “firefight” inside the home. They described Isaiah Hammett as “lying in wait” to ambush them, tipped off by his external home surveillance camera. On the news the police

displayed an AK-47 and alleged Isaiah fired it at them. They cited possession of guns and drugs as “probable cause” to justify their aggressive SWAT raid. But what does the evidence tell us about the raid?

According to the family, Isaiah’s surveillance camera hasn’t functioned for years, so he was not forewarned. There was no evidence of a flash grenade the police claim they used. Family and friends also report the AK-47 was not functional.

Most alarming, an independent forensic analyst,

brought in by the family for a preliminary study, supports the family’s account that no evidence indicates any bullets were fired in the direction of police. All the bullet holes point only to incoming fire.

Isaiah was the caregiver for his disabled grandfather Dennis Torres, a Vietnam vet. They shared the house. In public statements, Isaiah’s

grandfather has recalled how he was awakened by gunfire. Isaiah entered his room, retreating from his own, to pull his grandfather to safety on the floor. When he asked who was attacking, Isaiah responded, “I don’t know. I love you.”

The grandfather has further stated Isaiah entered and left his room unarmed. As Isaiah

entered the dining room he was heard saying, “Please don’t shoot me.” That is where he was killed.

His grandfather observed several officers standing over Isaiah and then he heard two more shots. Bullet holes in the floor attest to the downward angle.

How many deaths will it take ’til we know….?

There are enough unanswered questions and conflicting statements by police to demand a fair and independent investigation of this shooting.

The police department’s

Force Investigative Unit, created in the wake of Ferguson, is doing their analysis. The circuit attorney, in the wake of Ferguson, does a separate investigation of all officer-involved shootings, but is at least partially dependent on the police analysis. Reports from both these agencies will go to the Civilian Oversight Board (COB) for review, but the COB is dependent on those reports for its information.

Isaiah’s family must now live in a house blasted with bullet holes, blood stains, and splattered remains as they slowly raise the money to ensure their own complete forensic investigation and to bury their child.

Police have removed one of Isaiah’s two bedroom doors from the house. The family maintains all seized guns were legally purchased and were, with the exception of the broken AK-47, the grandfather’s. However, the family doesn’t know what other evidence might have been seized. The search warrant, which arrived six hours after police entry into the home, states police are required to leave an inventory of seized items. Seven weeks later, this has yet to be produced. The Coalition of Police Crimes & Repression joins Isaiah’s family and supporters in demanding a fair investigation, including one by the Department of Justice, the release of the names of all officers involved, and prosecution of officers the investigations reveal committed wrongdoing. We also demand that these investigations explore the pattern of St. Louis’ militarized SWAT attacks, including the death of Don Clark Sr. on February 21, 2017. Jamala Rogers and John Chasnoff are co-chairs of the Coalition Against Police Crimes and Repression.

Black politicians must play power politics

By Bill Clay Guest columnist

The black race has found itself at the vortex of every major thrust for improving the quality of government. Despite numerous and seemingly unending rejection, many citizens of color continue to cling to the belief that equality of opportunity can be achieved through the exercise of political action, especially if federal law protects the right to vote of racial minorities. In spite of being shortchanged in the endeavor by devious schemes as voter photo IDs and other diversions, some wildeyed black optimists still hope for the millennium when white elected officials will abandon efforts to deny them equality at the polling place.

Others, despairing of the dream decades ago, have come to realize that the so-called “collective conscience” of this nation is a fantasy. They have been awakened rudely to the fact most white Americans will accede to black Americans those rights which we can negotiate through pressure or take by force.

That is why black politicians must play by the same rules as white politicians: take what you can, give up what you must; take it from whomever you can, whenever you can and by what means available.

Clay represented Missouri’s 1st Congressional District for 32 years.

Guest Columnist

Bill Clay

Business

10 – 16, 2017

Simone Cummings: Using social media to bolster enrollment

New Webster business dean plans to expand undergraduate programs

By Sophie Hurwitz

For The St. Louis American

Simone Cummings, the new dean of the Walker School of Business and Technology at Webster University, took control of the school that awards more Master’s in Business Administration (MBA) degrees to African Americans than any other university in the nation. But she wants to see more undergraduate business majors.

“A lot of people think of the Walker School as a graduate institution,” she said. “And we do have very large graduate programs. We are the largest provider of MBA degrees in the St. Louis region, and we are the largest provider of MBA degrees to African Americans in the United States.”

However, she noted, “We are not as well known for our undergraduate education, but we are very, very strong in that area.”

The initiatives Cummings will be rolling out this year to increase undergraduate enrollment include more direct communication from the business school to high school counselors in the metro area, as well as new social media marketing.

n “You have an opportunity to really make a difference in a city like this in a way that you don’t in some larger cities.”

– Simone Cummings

“As part of that social media plan – it sounds kind of crazy, but – we’re sending them out these little pillows, they’re really cute, and asking them to take a picture, a selfie with those pillows, and then post that on social media,” Cummings said. “We really want to build up some awareness of our undergraduate programs, as well as a lot of buzz about some of the cool things that we’re doing at Webster.”

Aside from those recruitment efforts, Cummings noted that “the other side of recruitment is retention. So once you get students in, you have to make sure that they stay.” She plans to “change the culture” of the business school to make it more engaging to new students, and work with teachers on curricula in anticipation of Webster’s upcoming accreditation site visit from the Accrediting Commission for Business Schools and Programs.

Cummings is excited to take on her new role as dean, and also recognizes her own hiring as symbolic of broader changes within the city that she loves.

“I think everything that happened in Ferguson, everything that’s happened since, has really caused people to think about issues relating to diversity in this region,” she said. “So I think that people have been hearing it, but maybe they haven’t been listening. And a lot of the things that have occurred, during Ferguson and since then, have caused a real awakening in the population here – and the population that has the capacity to hire, for example, people like me, to work in positions of leadership.”

At this time, in St. Louis, Cummings’ new role means she can “really make a difference

here,” she said. “Sometimes people say St. Louis is cliquish, but St. Louis is one of those places where it’s a small city, and you have an opportunity to build a name. You have an opportunity to get to know a wide range of people, you have an opportunity to really make

a difference in a city like this in a way that you don’t in some larger cities.” Cummings, is deeply connected to St. Louis. A Lutheran North graduate, she attended

See CUMMINGS, B6

Congress seeks to enable forced arbitration clauses on contracts

By Charlene Crowell Guest columnist

Consumers are often denied the chance to join forces in court to hold bank and lenders accountable when they seem to have broken the law. Instead, financial contracts frequently contain forced arbitration clauses buried in the fine print.

n Among the financial products with high use of arbitration clauses are payday loans. An estimated 99 percent of storefront payday loans in California and Texas include arbitration.

Otha Myles, MD, joined St. Luke’s Medical Group and is accepting new patients. A specialist in infectious disease, he manages patients with infections of the blood stream, bone and joint, central nervous system, lower respiratory tract, skin and urinary tract as well as patients with fungal infections. He has additional training in HIV/AIDS and sexually transmitted diseases.

Geri Lynn Arrindell joined Mickes O’Toole, LLC and will practice in the firm’s Commercial Litigation, Labor and Employment and Education Departments. She is a former Illinois Assistant Attorney General and has worked in private practice for several large national firms. She has a J.D. from University of Illinois – College of Law and a Masters of Social Work from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Adam Walker joined KAI Design & Build as a project designer. He has nine years of industry experience, a Bachelor’s degree in Sustainable Design from Boston Architectural College and an Associate’s degree in Architectural Technology from the Pennsylvania College of Technology. He is a member of the American Institute of Architects and the National Organization of Minority Architects.

more

“Including these clauses in contracts allows See CROWELL, B2

Jessica Harris completed the 2017 Higher Education Resource Services (HERS) Institute at Bryn Mawr College. She is associate professor of historical studies in the SIUE College of Arts and Sciences and director of the Black Studies Program. She joined 68 women leaders from across the United States to partake in an intensive, residential leadership development program. Rev. Tom Baynham joined Grace United Methodist Church hired as director of Worship Arts and Events. A native of Richmond, Virginia, he has served congregations in Indiana, New Hampshire and Virginia. He holds the Master of Sacred Theology from the Boston University School of Theology and the Master of Divinity from the Baptist Theological Seminary at Richmond.

Sherita Haigler joined the Myrtle Hilliard Davis Comprehensive Health Centers, Inc.’s Community Advisory Board. She is Give Respect, Get Respect facilitator for the Diversity Awareness Partnership, Myrtle Hilliard Davis CHC is a Federally Qualified Health Center serving more than 30,000 patients annually across four site locations in the St. Louis region.

Otha Myles

Geri Lynn Arrindell

Adam Walker

Jessica Harris

Simone Cummings is the new dean of the Walker School of Business and Technology at Webster University.

Sherita Haigler

Tom Baynham

Charlene Crowell

By Nathaniel Sillin

Could you turn your hobby into a career?

You can break personal finance into three broad categories: income, expenses and savings. Your personal cash flow statement lists your income and expenses and a common goal is to end each month with a positive balance – with money left over to put into savings.

We often tend to focus on how to make the most with what we have, but don’t forget the third category. With planning, dedication and an understanding of how your skill set could benefit clients, you could make the transition to a more entrepreneurial role and increase your income.

A friend recently shared her experience. She started working out while looking for a way to release stress. Soon, exercise became her hobby. And then her passion. Several years later, she got the necessary training and certifications to go into business for herself as a fitness instructor and personal trainer.

Others have similar experiences. A photography or coding course sparks intrigue, which leads to exploration as a hobbyist and an eventual career or part-time income source. Or later in life you may decide it’s time for something different and start by exploring your interests and then setting off on an entirely new path.

Acknowledge that you may be giving yourself a new job. First, consider whether you really want to turn something you enjoy into a financial pursuit. Some people find that the transition can

“ruin” their hobby in a way – it could feel like a chore or job rather than an enjoyable outlet. As long as it doesn’t require a substantial upfront financial investment, testing the water before diving in fully could be a good idea. With the proper clearance, you can stay at your current role and start a small side business or offer your services as a freelancer to see what the experience will be like (and how much money you can make). You might find that a profitable, or cost-covering, hobby is enough.

Identify ways to make your offering uniquely yours. No matter how hard you try, you can’t will money into existence. It will take a lot of work to make a business succeed and even with a driven entrepreneur at the helm, many businesses don’t make it past the first several years.

But whether you’re creating and selling a physical product or offering a service, you bring a unique set of skills and experiences to the table. Try to figure out how these can distinguish your offerings or add a unique twist that will

help potential customers meet their goals.

Businesses succeed for a variety of reasons. They might create something entirely new, figure out how to make something less expensive or more luxurious, put their efforts into customer support or figure out a fun and creative way to advertise their product.

Figure out who your target customers are and what they like. If you’re going to make money you’ll want to identify a target market. Generally, this will be a group of people who want and can afford your offering. Both qualifiers are equally important.

Be brutally honest with yourself. There isn’t always a profitable market, and some hobbies don’t make great businesses.

Working within a proven market – selling something that people already buy – can be a good thing because you know there’s at least some demand. From there, you can figure out the best way to find customers that like the twist or extra touch you’ve put in.

Drawing on my friend’s experience, she has discovered several ways to attract her clients. Some people already have an active lifestyle and don’t necessarily need motivation. For them, she emphasizes her knowledge of fitness and health. She can craft a meal plan that aligns with their physical goals and work with them to improve their form and help prevent injuries.

With clients who are struggling to get started, she emphasizes the value of having an accountability partner. She takes the planning and worry out of working out; they just need to show up.

Are you ready to take action? Managing spending and saving are essential elements of any financial life. With some planning you could grow another essential element – your income – while doing something about which you are passionate.

Nathaniel Sillin directs Visa’s financial education programs. To follow Practical Money Skills on Twitter: www. twitter.com/PracticalMoney.

continued from page B1 companies to sidestep the judicial system, avoid big refunds, and continue to pursue profitable practices that may violate the law and harm large numbers of consumers,” said Cordray.

“Our research showed that these little-known clauses are bad for consumers. They may not be aware that they have been deceived or discriminated against or even when their contractual rights have been violated.”

Civil rights organizations were swift to speak up in support.

“These forced arbitration clauses block consumers who have been wronged from joining class action lawsuits or otherwise appearing before an impartial court that can consider their injuries,” said Vanita Gupta, president and CEO of The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights.

“The CFPB rule is simple. It says that consumers have the right to join together to enforce protections guaranteed by the Constitution, or federal, state, or local law.”

Unfortunately, not all reactions were supportive.

On July 20, U.S. Senator Mike Crapo, chair of the U.S. Senate Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee and U.S. Rep. Jeb Hensarling, chair of the House Committee on Financial Services, announced a coordinated legislative attack to roll back CFPB’s arbitration rule. Proceeding under the Congressional Review Act, Congress can fast track a veto of new federal regulation with limited debate and a simple majority vote in each chamber.

As of press time, Crapo’s resolution was supported by over 20 Senate colleagues representing 21 states. For three of these states – Alabama, Georgia and Mississippi – both senators support the measure. On the House side, Rep. Keith Rothfus sponsored its resolution with the support of 33 colleagues.

Only July 25, the House passed its resolution on a highly partisan vote of 231190. Only one Member of Congress crossed the aisle to vote against his majority party – U.S. Rep. Walter Jones of North Carolina. As of press time, the Senate had not yet taken the measure to a vote.

Since the 115th Congress began in January, Congress has used the Congressional Review Act a total of 14 times. Each time it was used to overrule regulations by the Obama Administration. Prior to this year, only once in 2001, has Congress taken this approach.

“These clauses block consumers’ access to the courts and force consumers into an arbitration process rigged in favor of the company,” noted Melissa Stegman, a Senior Policy counsel with the Center for Responsible Lending. “This also makes it difficult for consumers to challenge widespread, systemic misconduct by companies since it is often too expensive to pursue small-dollar disputes oneby-one in arbitration.”

Whether it’s a payday loan, or a credit card or maybe even a mobile phone, no consumer who has been financially harmed should be denied the right to seek some satisfaction and financial justice.

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

n “If I had been to three straight finals, I’d want to stay.”

– Wizards guard John Wall on fellow guard Kyrie Irving’s desire to leave Cleveland

Baseball chose its segregated past after first

Surge stunned by Soul

The St. Louis Surge was one quarter away from winning their third Women’s Blue Chip Basketball League national championship and second in succession.

Earl Austin Jr.

The Georgia Soul had other ideas. Trailing by 10 points at the end of three quarters, the Soul staged a remarkable fourth quarter rally to stun the Surge 64-63 and take the WBCBL championship back to Georgia last Sunday in front of a partisan Surge crowd at Fontbonne University. For three quarters, the Surge’s defense had done a great job of controlling an explosive scoring Soul team in holding them to just 37 points. In the fourth quarter, the Soul erupted for 27 points in an impressive display of poise and offensive execution.

The Soul’s big rally was sparked by its talented backcourt duo of Lacoy Terry and Eboni Fields. Terry scored on a number of penetrating drives to the basket while Fields suddenly got hot from long distance as she made four 3-pointers in the fourth quarter. Forward Khadijiah Cave gave Georgia its only lead of the second half when she made two free throws with 17 seconds left to give the Soul a 64-63 lead.

St. Louis had one last chance to win the game and the championship and it put the ball in the hands of its top player in guard Rebecca Harris. She made a tough drive in the lane

In 2007, track coach Glen Mills had big plans for his then-20-year-old prodigy Usain St Leo Bolt. Mills believed that Bolt could become the best 200m and 400m sprinter in the world, in the mold of American great Michael Johnson Bolt loved the 200m race, but had reservations about the 400m.

It’s undoubtedly the hardest, most-grueling race to master on the track. The Jamaican’s lanky, 6-foot-5 frame was well-suited for the longer sprints though, where his long stride would give him an advantage over shorter runners. The distance would be more forgiving to the slower starts usually associated with taller runners. Bolt wasn’t trying to hear it. He wanted to go fast like Ricky Bobby Instead of focusing on the 400m, Bolt wanted his second race to be the 100m. The 100m race has always carried the most glory and prestige

on the track. The man who stands atop the 100m podium in the Olympics and the World Championships also carries the title of “Fastest Man in the World.” Names like Carl Lewis and Jessie Owens are revered for their dominance at 100 meters.

It’s true that Johnson shot to international fame based on his 200m and 400m double gold at the 1996 Olympics. However, 400m champions usually fall into obscurity outside the world of track and field. From crossroads to crossover

H. Sistrunk

Louis Surge guards Bianca Beck (1) and Leah Cotton(11) grab

Photo by Wiley Price

SportS EyE

Alvin A. Reid

With

Baseball chose its segregated past after first welcoming black players

Professional baseball was integrated while most of America was still quite segregated – this was in the late 1800s.

Unfortunately, baseball would soon follow the racist ideals that permeated the country and it can be argued that the folly of the early 1900s still plagues Major League Baseball.

According to Negro League History Museum historians, former Oberlin College star Moses “Fleetwood” Walker was signed by Toledo in the Northwestern League in 1883. A catcher and outstanding hitter, Walker (not Jackie Robinson) became the first black man to play professional baseball when Toledo joined the American Association in 1884. The American Association is one of the forerunners of today’s Major League Baseball.

John W.

“Bud” Fowler brought 10 years of baseball experience to the Stillwater, Minn. team in 1884 and played every position for his team. He played through 1900 with other minor league teams in organized baseball.

By 1886, Walker and Fowler were joined in white minor leagues by two other black stars, George Stovey and Frank Grant. Black and white players on the same team was becoming a norm, not an oddity in leagues in the north So, what happened? The Gentleman’s Agreement.

n MLB pats itself on the back for ending a racist policy it created and stood by for 55 years.

“Without making a formal announcement, a gentlemen’s agreement had been made (amongst the most prestigious minor league teams) in 1890 which would bar black players from participation. Within only a few short years no team in organized baseball would accept black players. By the turn of the century the color barrier was firmly in place,” says the NLHM website. More than a half-century would pass before Robinson could play for the Brooklyn Dodgers. He did not break a color barrier because it had been broken by many black men decades before he ever donned a Dodgers uniform.

Therefore, I find the Jackie Robinson Day celebrations on April 15 quite disingenuous. MLB pats itself on the back for ending a racist policy it created and stood by for 55 years. No local, state or federal government could do what baseball chose to do to itself.

With no option to play with whites, black players formed traveling teams that faced each other and, sometimes, white squads. These teams morphed into various Negro Leagues

in the early 1920s and some survived until the early 1960s.

First known as the St. Louis Giants, the franchise would become the St. Louis Stars in 1922 and it remained one of Negro League Baseball’s finest franchises for several years.

Three former St. Louis Stars are in the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, N.Y. Centerfielder James “Cool Papa” Bell (inducted in 1974), shortstop Willie Wells (1997) and first baseman George

Jackie Robinson did not break a color barrier because it had been broken by many black men decades before he ever donned a Dodgers uniform.

James “Cool Papa” Bell (below) was one of the greatest players for the St. Louis Stars, one of the Negro League Baseball’s finest franchises for several years.

“Mule” Suttles (2006) starred for the Stars. They are among hundreds of players that certainly were skilled enough to play in the Majors, but were denied an opportunity.

Cardinals Negro League Night

The St. Louis Cardinals honor these and other Negro League stars before tonight’s (Thursday, August 10) game against the Kansas City Royals. Fans who purchase a theme ticket will receive a St. Louis Stars baseball cap. A traveling history exhibit and Q&A presentation with executives

from the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum will be presented before the game.

The theme night giveaways are different from other promotional dates. The St. Louis Stars cap is available only with the purchase of a special theme ticket. A separate voucher comes with the ticket and the voucher can be redeemed at the game. According to the Cardinals, fans will not be able to receive the item unless they have your voucher at the event. The Stars cap can be picked up at Riverview Corner, on Level 4 behind Section 430, from 4:45 to 7 p.m.

By the way, Negro League games – especially on Sundays - would sometimes feature picnics or barbecues with players from both teams. These gatherings were the first promotional giveaway events in professional baseball.

A true test

The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported this week through various sources that CBC receiver and defensive back Kamryn Babb, one of the most sought-after prep players in the nation, suffered a knee injury that could end his senior season before it begins. Babb had narrowed his choices from more than 30 schools to nine. They include Missouri, Alabama, LSU, Michigan, Nebraska, Notre Dame, Ohio State, Mississippi and USC. Recruiting service

com has Babb as Missouri’s

recruit, No. 6 at

and No. 38 in the

com slots him at No. 3 in the state and 89th nationally. Babb could have a favorite among his nine finalists, but it would be wise for him, his family and advisors to note the schools that immediately tell him his offer is not in jeopardy. The fact he might not be ready for action until 2019 should not stop an elite football program from giving him a shot. Missouri should especially stand behind this native son, regardless of the injury or the impact it might have on his collegiate career. Alvin A. Reid is a panelist on the Nine Network program, Donnybrook and appears on ABC’s The Allman Report and several sports radio shows, including Frank Cusumano’s “The Press Box” on KFNS. His Twitter handle is @aareid1.

Alvin A. Reid

Moses “Fleetwood” Walker (right) was signed by Toledo in the Northwestern League in 1883. A catcher and outstanding hitter, Walker (not Jackie Robinson) became the first black man to play professional baseball when Toledo joined the American Association in 1884.

Locals excel at Junior Olympics

Brandon Miller wins three gold medals, sets two national records

By Earl Austin Jr.

Of the St. Louis American

The St. Louis area was well represented at last week’s Amateur Athletic Union Junior Olympics at Eastern Michigan University in Ypsilanti, MI.

Area athletes from the various summer track and field clubs from St. Louis came home from Michigan with several national championships and some national records as well.

Young middle distance phenom Brandon Miller of the Ultimate Speed Academy turned in another sparkling performance by winning three gold medals and setting two new national records. Running in the boys 15-16 age group, Miller won the 800-meter run in a winning time of 1 minute 49.87 seconds, which was a new national record for the age group and also a new national freshman record.

n Hasani Barr won an individual championship of his own when he won the 400-meter dash in a winning time of 48.91.

Burroughs, Miller also won the 1,500-meter run in a time of 4:02.59 and ran a leg on the USA’s championship 4x800-meter relay in a time of 7:59.79. Miller was joined on the relay team by Hasani Barr (Cardinal Ritter), Jameson Williams (Cardinal Ritter) and Lazarus Williams (SLUH). Miller, Williams, Barr and Williams also set a national record in the 4x400-meter relay prelims with a time of 3:12.18. They finished with a silver medal in the finals.

A sophomore at John

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Continued from B3

legend. He looked like a man amongst boys on the track, partially due to his height and partially due to his ability to leave his competition in the dust like a pack of Rugrats. Never before had a sprinter been so cavalier on the track. Bolt routinely slowed down before crossing the finish line. His finish line photos were almost always the same. The champion smiled and clowned with a look of relaxation while the remaining contestants grimaced and grunted with intensity as they fought for silver and bronze. Bolt was simply on another level.

He completed a previously unimaginable triple-triple by earning gold medals in the 100m, 200m and 4x100m relay at the London Olympics in 2012 and the Rio de Janeiro Olympics in 2016. His signature “lightning Bolt” pose became iconic.

Besides a false start disqualification at the 2011 World Championships in the 100m and a second-place finish in the 4 x 100m relay at the World Relay Championships in 2015, Bolt was all gold everything since he burst onto the scene in Beijing.

Bolt’s speed and charisma made him a household name. He managed to become one of the few athletes that fans around the globe rooted for over their own nation’s athletes. While other cocky athletes such as Muhammad

Hasani Barr won an individual championship of his own when he won the 400-meter dash in a winning time of 48.91. Former Rockwood Summit standout Rayvon Allen (Blues Track Club) won the long jump in the 17-18 division with a leap of 49 feet 5 inches. Former Hazelwood Central standout Shauniece O’Neal won national titles in the girls’ 17-18 shot put and discus.

O’Neal won the shot put with a heave of 44 feet 4 inches and the discus with a throw of 145 feet 10 inches. She will be a freshman at Southern Illinois.

Webster Groves standout Nia Lyles (Blues Track Club) won the girls’ shot put in the 15-16 division with an effort of 43-5

¾.

Young sprinting star Alicia Burnett (Fort Zumwalt South) of the Ultimate Speed Academy was a double national champion in the 100 and 200 in the girls’ 15-16 division. Burnett won the 100 in a time of 11.86 and the 200 with a

Young middle distance phenom Brandon Miller of the Ultimate Speed Academy turned in another sparkling performance by winning three gold medals and setting two new national records.

winning time of 24.16. Another double winner in the sprints was Aniyah Brown of the Blues Track Club, who won the 100 and 200 in the girls 11-year old division. Brown posted winning times of 12.55 in the 199 and 25.10 in the 200. In the girls’ 15-16 4x800-

Usain Bolt’s finish line photos were almost always the same. The champion smiled and clowned with a look of relaxation while the remaining contestants grimaced and grunted with intensity as they fought for silver and bronze.

meter relay, the Blues Track Club team of Reina McMillan, Taylor Dent, Dayla Walker and Kylie Goldfarb won the gold medal in a winning time of 10:12.65.

A trio of athletes who also bought home gold medals in the throws were Sydney Juszczyk, Malcolm Harvey and Michael Phillips. Juszczyk (Ultimate Speed Academy) won the girls’ 13-14 javelin with a throw of 140 feet 4 inches. Harvey (Ultimate Speed Academy) won the boys’ 13-14 javelin with a throw of 153 feet while Phillips (Blues Track Club) won the boys’ 11-12 shot put with an effort of 42-10 ¼.

A pair of athletes also brought home championships in the race walk in Casey Anderson (Ultimate Speed Academy) and Caleb Nesbitt (Ultimate Speed Academy). Anderson won the 1,500meter race walk in the boys’ 9-year old division in a time of 9:26.45. Nesbitt won the boys’ 11 1,500-meter race walk in 9:11.85.

might sound like an excuse. However, Bolt was all smiles and gracious in defeat. And why not? Even with the loss, Bolt is ready to entire retirement as possibly the most popular figure the sport has ever known. He also could be the richest.

According for Forbes magazine, Bolt has earned $32.2 million in 2017, with a majority coming via product endorsements.

Continued from B3 and lofted a mid-range jumper that hit the front of the rim. The ball bounced right back to Harris, whose potential gamewinning tip-in rolled off the rim as the buzzer sounded, touching off a wild celebration from the Soul players and its small contingent of fans.

Sunday afternoon’s loss spoiled what was otherwise another tremendous season by the Surge, who finished the year with an 11-1 record. They were 10-0 in the regular season and averaged 106 points a game. In each of the last four seasons, the Surge has played for the WBCBL national championship. They won championships in 2014 and 2016 while finishing as the runners-up in 2015 and 2017. It was the first time that the WBCBL national tournament was held in St. Louis with big, enthusiastic crowds and exciting games were the order of the weekend. On Ali, Terrell Owens, Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Deion Sanders caused a legion of sports fans to hate them for their antics, Bolt somehow managed to playfully charm his way into nearly universal love and support. With apologies to Americans Justin Gatling, Tyson Gay and Trayvon Bromwell, I most-certainly rooted for the Jamaican sen-

Saturday, the Surge defeated the Charlotte Invasion 85-79 in another exciting game that went down to the wire. Rookie forward Kristi Bellock led the Surge with 25 points and 10 rebounds while

sations during the Olympic Games as if I was Bob Marley reincarnated.

Walking away

Now Bolt finds himself at the end of his career. His planned retirement ended nearly as shocking as his breakout Beijing. Bolt finished in third-place in the 100m final Saturday at the IAAF World

Harris nearly had a tripledouble with 23 points, nine assists and eight rebounds. Center Tori Waldner added 12 points and 11 rebounds. Other than watching the home team lose the

Championships in London. He was beaten by Gatling and American Chris Coleman. The bronze medal was Bolt’s first non-gold medal in the 100m. Fans booed Gatling and Coleman for ruining the storybook ending. Until this year, Bolt seemed unbeatable. This season comparably has been a struggle. The blazing fast times have evaporated. Bolt’s larger than life personality has

championship in heartbreaking fashion, it was otherwise an excellent weekend of basketball at Fontbonne. The teams and quality of play was top-notch and I was really impressed with the atmosphere in the building.

been turned down a notch. To an observant eye, it seemed that the fire and passion started to die down after the 2016 Olympic Games. Bolt essentially confirmed that notion after his bronze medal finish at the World Championships.

“I did it for the fans,” he said. “They wanted me to go for one more season. I came out and did the best I could.” From anyone else, it

It was electric. Fans of all ages showed up dressed from head to toe in full Surge regalia to cheer their hearts out for two days.

Once again, the St. Louis Surge has proven to be a

Bolt still has one more chance to go out with a bang, as he’s expected to anchor Jamaica’s 4x100 relay at the World championships on Saturday. Meanwhile, everyone is looking for the next Usain Bolt. Performance-wise, South Africa’s Wayde van Niekerk has the tools. Van Niekerk’s 400m world record in Rio was legendary. He’s also the only man in history to run under 10 seconds in the 100m, under 20 seconds in the 200m and under 44 seconds in the 400m. Though van Niekerk could eventually prove to match Bolt’s ability, his reserved personality means he’ll likely never reach the heights of Bolt’s legendary persona. Something tells me it’ll be a long time before anybody measures up to the standard set by the track and field giant.

*The Jamaican’s 2008 4x100m relay team was later stripped of its gold medal after Nesta Carter tested positive for PEDs.

Follow Ishmael and In the Clutch on Twitter @ IshmaelSistrunk

quality option if you are looking for some sports entertainment during the summer months. As long as owner Khalia Collier is running the operation, this will continue to be the case.

Home values rise in St. Louis city, county

Average St. Louis County assessment is highest in nearly a decade

first took office.

By Jo Mannies

Of St. Louis Public Radio

The assessed value of residential homes in St. Louis County has shot up an average of 7 percent since 2015 – the county’s strongest showing in almost a decade. St. Louis’ numbers beat the county: a nearly 12 percent increase in the same time frame.

Experts say it’s a sign the region has recovered from the economic downturn of the late 2000s.

The county’s showing is enough to please Assessor Jake Zimmerman, who recalls how bleak it was in 2011, when he

CUMMINGS

continued from page B1

Washington University – “the only school I applied to,” she said, “because I was stupid, I guess, or confident.”

After getting her degree in Business, with minors in Sociology and African American studies, she “lived in D.C., lived in Boston, lived in Chapel Hill, lived in Durham,” she said, working in Health Administration and as a professor at various institutions.

“I’ve lived in these other places,” Cummings said, “but none of them really compare to St. Louis.” So when she was given an opportunity to return to St. Louis and work in the Health Administration program at Washington University, she “jumped at the chance,” she said, to come back to her hometown. When the Health Administration program at Wash U. was shut down in 2008, however, she began to look for other career opportunities.

“This county was still staggering under the weight of a big blow,” Zimmerman said of the recession that began in late 2008. “There was a foreclosure crisis. People were losing their homes, hard-working people couldn’t get mortgages and you saw neighborhoods being torn apart by that real estate slump.”

County property values only gradually improved after 2011. For example, the median value of a residential home in St. Louis County in 2015 was up a little more than 2 percent compared to 2013. That’s why Zimmerman

Among those opportunities was teaching, as an adjunct professor at Webster University.

n “It’s not just true in Clayton and Ladue and Chesterfield. It’s also true in North County and South County and everywhere in-between.”

– St. Louis County Assessor Jake Zimmerman

said his staff has been struck by this year’s sharp uptick.

“And that’s not just true in Clayton and Ladue and Chesterfield. It’s also true in North County and South County and everywhere in-between,” he said.

St. Louis County classifies its residential property values by school districts. More than

director, to associate dean.

half of the county’s districts – including MaplewoodRichmond Heights, University City, Lindbergh and Parkway –saw median residential property values increase by more than the county average.

In St. Louis, Deputy Assessor Shawn Ordway recalls that city property values were either stagnant or

declining for almost a decade.

The boom year was in 2007, when the city’s reassessment recorded residential home values up by 20 percent. That was right before the recession.

Nationally, home sales in May were up almost 6 percent compared to a year earlier, according to the National Association of Realtors. Officials in Jackson County, which includes Kansas City, said the assessed value of residential property has gone up 5 percent compared to two years ago.

Mark Stallman, head of the St. Charles County Association of Realtors, said higher home

prices reflect the public’s mood.

“What we’re seeing is a restored confidence in the economy, in their future job prospects and so forth, to where home buying is a viable option for them,” he said.

In St. Charles County, Stallman said, home prices are up 8 percent in the past year.

“The average home is sold within 10 days,” he said, adding a prediction that residential home values will continue to go up for now because of the demand.

Reprinted with permission from news.stlpublicradio.org.

n “Ferguson caused a real awakening in the population here – and the population that has the capacity to hire, for example, people like me, to work in positions of leadership.”

– Simone Cummings

“After I had taught my first class there, they called me and asked if I’d be interested in interviewing for a full-time position, and I said I would,” she said. “I started working there in January 2013.”

When Cummings, a product of one St. Louis university, began to work at another, she rose quickly through the ranks from professor, to Masters of Health Administration program

“I served with our interim dean at the time, Dr. Tom Johnson,” Cummings said. “Tom is a wonderful, wonderful person, and really gave me the opportunity to share that role with him.”

That practice in the role of dean gave Cummings the confidence needed to be sure she was the best possible candidate for dean of the Walker School when the position became available last year upon the resignation of Benjamin Ola Akande to accept the president post at Westminster College.

As an internal hire, Cummings said, “I knew that I could do the job better than, really, anyone else because I’d been in that role, and because I knew all the players, and it wouldn’t take me the amount of time to get up to speed that it would take someone else. Someone else would take, perhaps, a year to get up to speed. Given that I was an internal candidate, I could move forward very quickly.”

Simone Cummings, the new dean of the Walker School of Business and Technology at Webster University, wants to see more undergraduate business majors.

Step masters

A

well-lived life of giving back and paying forward

By Kenya Vaughn Of The St. Louis American

An intimate portrait of protest

‘Whose Streets?’ humanizes activists of the Ferguson movement

By Kenya Vaughn Of The St. Louis American

“I never saw it that way,” one guest said to another as they left a private screening for the Ferguson documentary “Whose Streets?” His reaction was what co-directors Damon Davis and Sabaah Folayan had to have hoped for when they came together to create the documentary that opens in major cities across the U.S. this Friday. After a successful film festival run – including a critically acclaimed presentation at the Sundance Film Festival – the national release will come just two days after the threeyear anniversary of when the death of unarmed teen Michael Brown sparked unyielding protests in Ferguson.

Through “Whose Streets?” a powerful counternarrative to the misconceptions about Ferguson is introduced to the mainstream conversation.

As the story of the Ferguson unrest was told, stereotypes and implicit bias were imposed upon the protesters – much like the experience of area residents who saw Brown’s death as a “now or never” moment to shed light on the broken relationship between law enforcement and the black community.

Three years later, many still haven’t grasped the fact that looters and protesters are not interchangeable terms – or that the incidents of rioting and property damage were simultaneous and not

See FILM, C4

Hilarity at home for the holidays

Lavell Crawford will play two shows next Saturday (August 12) to film his upcoming holiday comedy special for Showtime.

Lavell Crawford to film Showtime comedy special next Saturday at The Pageant

By Kenya Vaughn Of The St. Louis American

“I did the first one there, and I said ‘why not come back and hit St. Louis with another one,’” said comedy veteran and actor Lavell Crawford. “I hadn’t been home in a while. The stars hadn’t aligned for me to do a show there, so I said ‘I

loss surgery. He actually wanted to do the whole special about that, but he’s still in the transition period. So far he’s lost more than 160 pounds.

Lil Ray Neal (with the help of Big George Brock) kicked off the return of Blues at the Arch with a bang Friday night. The concert series that takes place every Friday in August brings some of the biggest names in the genre together to jam beneath the Eads Bridge.

Comedian

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.

back to school events

Sat., Aug. 12, 9 a.m., Grace Hill invites you to Strong Women and Families Health and Resource Fair. We will have back to school immunizations, credit counseling, school supplies, and more. 2600 Hadley St., 63106. For more information, call (314) 822-2344.

Sat. Aug. 12, 10 a.m., Craig Blac’s 17th Annual Community Cuts for Kids, The Urban B.A.T. Cave Salon/ Barber Shop, 109 Colinsville Ave., East St. Louis IL.

Sat., Aug. 12, 10 a.m., Agape Christian Center hosts Healthy Body, Soul & Spirit: Community Health Fair & Back To School Event Screenings include blood pressure, cholesterol and BMI, free back to school supplies. 2410 Gardner, 63136. For more information, visit www. agape-cc.org.

Sun., Aug. 13, 2 p.m.

Craig Blac’s 17th Annual Community Cuts for Kids, The O’Fallon Rec Plex, 4343 West Florissant.

Sun., Aug. 13, 1 p.m., The Made Moguls Back to School Youth Summit. Book bag and school supply giveaways, games, a panel, guest speakers, vendors, and more. HarrisStowe State University, 3026 Laclede Ave., 63103. For more information, visit www. mademoguls.org.

Aug, 19, 11 a.m., A Step Beyond Inc. Back to School Fair, Musick Park, 8617 Latty Ave. Hazelwood Mo. 63042. For more information, e-mail astep.beyond@yahoo. com

concerts

Thur., Aug. 10, 7 p.m., OutTheGateway feat. MBz Live & Friends. The Ready Room, 4195 Manchester Ave., 63110. For more information, visit www.ticketfly.com.

Thurs., Aug. 10, 7 p.m., Jazz St. Louis presents Herbie Hancock Live sponsored by World Wide Technology and the Steward Family Foundation. Powell Hall, 718 N. Grand Blvd., 63103. For more information, call (314) 534-1700.

Fri., Aug. 11, 5 p.m., National Blues Museum presents Howlin’ Fridays with Leigh Spanos. 615 Washington Ave., 63101. For more information, call (314) 925-0016 or visit www. nationalbluesmuseum.org.

Fri., Aug. 11, 6 p.m., Blues at the Arch with Carolyn Mason, David Dee and Mickey Rodgers. For more information, visit www. bluesatthearch.com.

Fri., Aug. 11, 8 p.m., Fubar presents Sahbii. 3108 Locust St., 63103. For more information, visit www. ticketfly.com.

Fri., Aug. 11, 8 p.m., Concert For Kids: A Night

The St. Louis American recommends

Benefitting SouthSide Early Childhood Center. 4195 Manchester Ave., 63110. For more information, visit www. ticketfly.com.

Aug. 11 – 12, 8 p.m., 2nd Annual Louis Armstrong Festival. Webster Groves Concert Hall, 103 E. Lockwood Ave., 63119. For more information, visit www. websterconcerthall.org.

Sun., Aug. 20, 4 p.m., The National Blues Museum presents Soulful Sundays with Johnny King. 615 Washington Ave., 63101. For more information, call (314) 925-0016 or visit www. nationalbluesmuseum.org.

Tues., Aug. 29, 6 p.m., Missouri History Museum presents Twilight Tuesday: Brazilian Night. 5700 Lindell Blvd., 63112. For more information, visit www. mohistory.org.

Tues., Aug. 29, 8 p.m., The Pageant presents 2 Chainz –Pretty Girls Like Trap Music Tour. 6161 Delmar Blvd., 63112. For more information, visit www.thepageant.com.

local gigs

Sat., Aug. 12, 6 p.m., An Evening of Tea and Tunes feat. Anita Jackson. Proceeds will benefit Changing Lives Today Mission Home for Women. Creative Arts Building, 3617 Grandel Sq.,

63108. For more information, visit www.eventbrite.com.

Sun., Aug. 27, 5:30 p.m., Union Communion Ministries presents Dirty Muggs Concert. Activities include yoga, arts and crafts, bouncy house, a raffle, and more. Ivory Perry Park, 800 North Belt, 63112. For more information, call (314) 3672112 or visit www.ippconcerts. com.

special events

Thur., Aug. 10, 6 p.m., Pins and Needles Designer Competition. Six designers from across the country will showcase their designs. Majorette, 7150 Manchester Ave., 63143. For more information, visit www. eventbrite.com.

Thur., Aug. 10, 7:30 p.m., TLT Productions presents Black Girl Magic. St. Louis’ unique young artists join to celebrate the beauty, power, and resilience of black women. Kranzberg Arts Center, 501 N. Grand Blvd., 63103. For more information, visit www. metrotix.com.

Fri., Aug. 11, 2 p.m., Wyman invites you to Summer Fest: Together in the Pursuit of Success festival and golf tournament. Norman K. Probstein Golf Course, Forest

UniverSoul Circus returns to St. Louis. See SPECIAL EVENTS for details.

Park, 6141 Lagoon Dr., 63112. For more information, visit www.wymancenter.org/ summerfest.

Sat., Aug. 12, 8 a.m., Diva Dash 5K & Lil’ Princess Girls Run. Participants will receive a race shirt and finishers of the 5K receive a large medal while participants in the fun run receive a Lil’ Princess medal. The Muny, 1 Theatre Dr., 63112. For more information, visit facebook. com.

Sat., Aug. 12, 10 a.m., Etiquette for Youth. Spencer Road Library, 427 Spencer Rd., 63376. For more information, call (314) 374-2804 or visit www. jacksonetiquette.com.

Sat., Aug. 12, 11 a.m., Missouri History Museum presents Dred Scott Festival of Freedom. Commemorating Scott’s sacrifice and commitment to justice with live art, music, and more. 5700 Lindell Blvd., 63112. For more information, visit www. mohistory.org.

Sat., Aug. 12, 9 p.m., A Tribute to Johari Kamili Endesha. Rowan Community Center, 1401 Rowan, 63112. For more information, call (314) 229-7018.

Sun., Aug. 13, 11 a.m., The Great Muslim Cook-Off. We will have an international bazaar and food competition. World’s Fair Pavilion, Forest

Park, 1904 Concourse Dr., 63146. For more information, visit www.cair-mo.org/ cookoff.

Tues., Aug. 15, 5:30 p.m., The Young Nonprofit Professionals and Association of Fundraising Professionals invite you to Speed Networking Among Nonprofits. Llewellyn’s, 17 W. Moody, 63119. For more information, call (314) 4162237 or visit www.csprc.org.

Wed., Aug. 16, 2 p.m., Missouri Baptist Medical Center Career Fair. Meet hiring managers, learn more about career opportunities at Missouri Baptist, and hear about the benefits of working for BJC HealthCare. 3015 N. Ballas Rd., 63131. For more information, visit www.bjc. org.

Thur., Aug. 17, 6 p.m., Gateway Hemophilia Association’s Wine Tasting Fundraiser. Proceeds benefit the Matthew Wilson Scholarship Fund. Farotto’s Italian Restaurant & Pizzaria, 9525 Manchester Rd., 63119. For more information, visit www.eventbrite.com.

Aug. 17 – 26, St. Lou Fringe Festival 2017. A performing arts festival showcasing theatre, dance, spoken word, and more. For more information, visit www. metrotix.com.

Fri., Aug. 18, 6 p.m., Young

Friends of the Arts invites you to A Midsummer Night’s Drink. Enjoy food, drinks, and music while seeing the impact of your support for the Arts and Education Council.

3547 Olive St., 63103. For more information, visit www. keeparthappening.kintera.org.

Fri., Aug. 18, 8:10 p.m., The Glo Run 5K. Run through a Neon Luau themed glowing wonderworld of a course. Forest Park, Summit Dr., 63112. For more information, visit www.theglorun.com/ stlouis.

Sat., Aug. 19, 8 a.m., Top 50 Car Show to Benefit Injured Police Officers. All proceeds will benefit Officer Sheena Smith who has returned to work part-time, and Officer Gary Glasby who is in rehabilitation. Forest Park, 1 Theatre Dr., 63112. For more information, call (314) 4442531.

Sat., Aug. 19, 2 p.m., 2017 Rise Up Festival. An arts festival to celebrate the revitalization of St. Louis. 1627 Washington Ave., 63103. For more information, visit www. riseupfestival.org.

Thur., Aug. 24, 4 p.m., Saint Louis Crisis Nursery presents Celebrity Waiters Night 2017. 80 West County Center Dr., 63131. For more information, call (314) 292-5770 or visit www. crisisnurserykids.org.

Aug. 24 – Sept. 4, UniverSoul Circus. Downtown Dome Tailgater’s Lot, 1111 N. Broadway, 63102. For more information, visit www. ticketmaster.com.

Aug. 25 – 26, MathewsDickey Boys’ & Girls’ Club presents the 2nd Annual Family Reunion Weekend. Fri: Hoopin’ & Hollerin’: Basketball, Hip-Hop & Comedy (4525 N. Kingshighway); Sat: A Serenade by Brian McKnight & Ginuwine (527 N. Grand Blvd.). For more information, visit www.mathews-dickey. com.

Sat., Aug. 26, 10 a.m., Taste of COCA. A free open house event for families to sample bite-sized classes, see live performances, and check out our latest gallery exhibition. 524 Trinity Ave., 63130. For more information, visit www. cocastl.org.

Sat., Aug. 26, 6 p.m., Summer Fusion. Come out for food stations, drinks, a raffle, and silent auctions. Proceeds benefit those living

with severe and persistent mental illness. Independence Center, 4245 Forest Park Ave., 63108. For more information, visit www.independencecenter. org/events.

Aug. 26 – 27, 10 a.m., International Institute St. Louis invites you to the Festival of Nations. Tower Grove Park, 4256 Magnolia Ave., 63110. For more information, visit www. festivalofnationsstl.org.

Sat., Sept. 2 & 9, 7:30 p.m., CommUNITY Arts Festival A lineup including dance, theater, poetry, and film has been assembled to speak out against violence. Sept. 2: Marcelle Theater, 3310 Samuel Shepard Dr.; Sept. 9, Grandel Theatre, 3610 Grandel Sq. For more information, visit www.communityartsfestival. com.

Sat., Sept. 9, 6 p.m., St. Louis University Black Law School Association’s 15th Annual Casino Night Scholarship Fundraiser. 100 N. Tucker Blvd., 63101. For more information, email blsa@slu. edu.

literary

Sat., Aug. 12, 7 p.m., Ethical Society of St. Louis hosts author Sen. Al Franken author of Al Franken, Giant of the Senate. 9001 Clayton Rd., 63117. For more information, visit www.left-bank.com.

Thur., Aug. 17, 7 p.m., Left Bank Books hosts author Candace O’Connor, author of Renaissance: A History of the Central West End. 399 N. Euclid Ave., 63108. For more information, visit www.leftbank.com.

Thur., Sept. 7, 7 p.m., Missouri History Museum, hosts author Keona Ervin, author of Gateway to Equality: Black Women and the Struggle for Economic Justice in St. Louis 5700 Lindell Blvd., 63112. For more information, visit www.mohistory.org.

art

Fri., Aug. 18, 6 p.m., Young Friends of the Arts invites you to A Midsummer Night’s Drink. 3547 Olive St., 63103. For more information, visit www.keeparthappening. kintera.org.

Fri., Sept. 1, 7 p.m., HipHop and Fashion: From the Streets to the Runway. This discussion will examine

The St. Louis American recommends

The Organization for Black Struggle presents a special screening of the Ferguson documentary ‘Whose Streets,’ which opens in theatres nationwide on August 11. For more information, see FILM.

the impact of hip-hop culture on fashion, art, and black masculinity. St. Louis Art Museum, 1 Fine Arts Dr., 63110. For more information, visit www.slam.org.

Sept. 1 – 3, The Greater St. Louis Art Association presents the Fall Art Fair at Queeny Park. 550 Weidman Rd., 63131. For more information, visit www. artfairatqueenypark.com.

Through October 7, The Pulitzer Arts Foundation presents Blue Black curated by Glenn Ligon, The Pulitzer Arts Foundation, 3716 Washington Blvd. For more information, visit www. pulitzerarts.org.

lectures and workshops

Thur., Aug. 10, 5:30 p.m., FOCUS St. Louis presents a Jobs, Skills & Innovation Forum. Building 100, Boeing Company, 63134. For more information, visit www.focusstl.org/events.

Sat., Aug. 12, 1 p.m., 7 Mindset Shifts to Ignite Your Vision. Author Alisa J. Henley will help you learn how to

theatre

Sun., Aug. 13, 6 p.m., JPEK

CreativeWorks Theatre presents I Am Real Life Open Mic. Open to poetry, song, and monologues. Feat. Joel P.E. King and Poet Lightning. Kranzberg Arts Center, 501 N. Grand Blvd., 63103. For more information, visit www. metrotix.com.

Through Aug. 13, Musical Theatre Workshop for ages 8-15 (flexible), STLCC –Forest Park Student Center. For more information, visit www.HowToDance.us or Eventbrite.com.

Through Aug. 17, Stages St. Louis presents 9 to 5 The Musical. Robert G. Reim Theatre, 111 S. Geyer Rd., 63122. For more information, visit www.stagesstlouis.org.

Aug. 18 – Sept. 3, R-S Theatrics presents In the Heights..Zack, 3224 Locust St., 63103. For more information, visit www. metrotix.com.

Aug. 24 – 26, JPEK

find, follow, and finish your vision. JC Penny Building, UMSL, 1 University Blvd., 63121. For more information, visit www.eventbrit.com.

Thur., Aug. 17, 6:30 p.m., S.H.E.R.A.H. presents Human Traffcking and Black Girls. 1408 N. Kingshighway Blvd., 63113. For more information, visit www.facebook.com.

Thur., Sept. 14, 6 p.m., The Bridge: An Intergenerational Conversation with Civil Rights Leaders. Civil rights leaders come together to reveal how activism has evolved throughout history. Missouri History Museum, 5700 Lindell Blvd., 63112. For more information, visit www. mohistory.org.

CreativeWorks Theatre presents Respeck My Shoes A group of women tell a compelling story and demand society respect every woman’s journey. Marcelle, 3310 Samuel Shepard Dr., 63103. For more information, visit www.metrotix.com.

health

Sat., Aug. 12, 9 a.m., Grace Hill invites you to Strong Women and Families Health and Resource Fair. 2600 Hadley St., 63106. For more information, call (314) 8222344.

Sat., Aug. 12, 10 a.m., Agape Christian Center hosts Healthy Body, Soul & Spirit: Community Health Fair & Back To School Event. 2410 Gardner, 63136. For more information, visit www.agapecc.org.

Thur., Aug. 17, 6 p.m., Gateway Hemophilia Association’s Wine Tasting Fundraiser. Proceeds benefit the Matthew Wilson Scholarship Fund. Farotto’s Italian Restaurant & Pizzaria, 9525 Manchester Rd., 63119. For more information, visit www.eventbrite.com.

Sat., Aug. 19, 3 p.m., Alzheimer’s Association, St. Louis Young Ambassadors invite you to the 5th Annual Crawl Before You Walk Pub Crawl. Soulard, 63104. For more information, visit www. eventbrite.com.

Sat., Sept. 9, 11 a.m., Community Health and Wellness Day. New Sunny Mount Missionary Baptist Church, 4700 W. Florissant Ave., 63115. For more information, call (314) 3673707.

Through Aug. 11, EMFJ 36th Annual Women’s Conference. Kennerly Temple Church of God in Christ, 4307 Kennerly Ave., 63113. For more information, call (314) 535-6708.

Aug. 11 – 12, 6:30 p.m., Faith Miracle Temple Church presents the Misfit Youth Conference. Fri: Worship Service; Sat: Concert feat. Social Club Misfits. 870 Pershall Rd., 63137. For more information, visit www. eventbrite.com.

Sat., Aug. 12, 5 p.m., Joy Bryant CD Release “Higher Ground”. Ark of Safety Christian Church, 2529 Charwood St., 63301. For more information, visit www. joybryantministries.com.

Sun., Aug. 13, 8 a.m., Southern Mission Baptist Church 92nd Anniversary with featured speaker Pastor Jimmie Daniels of Shiloh MB Church in Summit Argo, IL, 8171 Wesley Ave, Kinloch, MO. For more information, call (314) 521-3951.

people by way of the institution Mathews-Dickey Boys and Girls Club he co-founded with the late Hubert “Dickey” Ballentine, Mathews has become a beloved local treasure with a legacy that stretches the globe via the lives he enriched through the organization. Even the release of his biography “I Trust You With My Life” is not about him.

The board of the MathewsDickey Boys and Girls club commissioned the creation of the book so that sales from the book can raise funds for the club’s endowment.

On Tuesday (August 15), Mathews will celebrate the book’s release with a signing, discussion and meet-and-greet at the Missouri Athletic Club.

Books will be available for purchase and “I Trust You With My Life” will be provided to all donors of $100 or more to the legacy fund.

“We spent many hours interviewing about his life and his progress in putting the boys club together and how it has helped thousands of children – both boys and girls,” said “I Trust You With My Life” author Richard Weiss.

The book’s foreword was written by Baseball Hall of Famer and former St. Louis Cardinals manager Tony LaRussa.

Guests will hear how Mathews accepted the final wishes of a neighborhood coach who asked him to inherit a team of boys, which ultimately

evolved into the organization that bears his name.

From a shade tree to serving the city’s youth

Mathews and Ballentine were under a shade tree in Tandy Park in the 1950s when they decided to start a Boys club for children in North City like the ones in South St. Louis.

Each coached their own crop of boys, but had to turn many others away because they had

n Books will be available for purchase and “I Trust You With My Life” will be provided to all donors of $100 or more to the legacy fund.

no resources or facilities to accommodate a larger group. They agreed to start the club, and went their separate ways.

“I kind of forgot about it,” Mathews said. “He called me late one night on the phone and said, ‘How about us naming it Mathews-Dickey?’ At one o’clock in the morning – when you have to be up for work – I didn’t care what it was named.”

Within five years, they had expanded from five to 75 teams. Mathews sold coffee for 10 cents a cup at his day job to

fund the club.

“That was a lot of money –and that’s how we were able to survive,” Mathews said.

Community and corporate support stepped in. By 1982, the organization had undergone a multimillion-dollar expansion spearheaded by a partnership with Chuck Knight of Emerson and August Busch III of Anheuser-Busch. Mathews Dickey even received a visit from then President Ronald Reagan.

Mathews continued to carry the torch for the organization upon Ballentine’s passing in 2000 until his retirement three years ago at age 90.

At his star-studded retirement celebration in 2015, Mathews said that the club reached an estimated two million lives over the course of 55 years.

“St. Louis is a great city, and some of the greatest people in this country are here,” Mathews said. “We were able to do great things because of great people – and I can’t call any names, because I would be here all night. I just want to say that y’all are some of the greatest people in the world. Because there is no way that we could come from a shade tree to having one of the best facilities in the country.”

The book signing and release celebration for “I Trust You With My Life” will take place on Tuesday, August 15 from 4 p.m. – 6 p.m. at The Missouri Athletic Club, 405 Washington Ave.

For more information or to RSVP, visit http://mathewsdickey.com/event/biographyrelease/.

Shows at 7 p.m. and 10:30 p.m. on Saturday, August 12 at The Pageant, 6161 Delmar. For tickets or more information, call (314) 726-6161 visit http://www. thepageant.com

CRAWFORD

Continued from C1

“Health-wise, I can go up about three more steps than usual – and I can lay on my back and go to sleep without feeling like I’m gonna wake up dead,” Crawford said laughing. “I’m a lot more active, but I was active before as far as getting out here hustling with this comedy.

I think it may have leveled the playing field somewhat as far as giving me more opportunities. And when you start loving yourself a little more, you start seeing that everybody wasn’t really in your corner.”

He’s had plenty of love from others in the 28 years since he accepted a dare to do a comedy open mic and forged a career out of his knack for funny stories.

“I didn’t know what would happen, but I felt if I gave my all success would come,” Crawford said. “I said, ‘God, if I take this step, I hope you will carry me the rest of the way.’

award for his work on the hit television show “Breaking Bad.”

“Sometimes you can’t help but think to yourself that you haven’t reached Eddie Murphy status,” Crawford said. “But if you are doing your thing you are paving a legacy that is all yours. People are watching you – and no matter what you think, people are out here growing up on you. And some want to emulate you too. That’s crazy. I’ll have people come up to me

n “But if you are doing your thing you are paving a legacy that is all yours. People are watching you – and no matter what you think, people are out here growing up on you.

- Lavell Crawford

his jokes word for word –and while they may be a bit salty that all of their favorite bits aren’t featured, Crawford feels at the end of the day his show is better for it.

“People want you to do their favorite stuff, but it’s kind of like the Big Mac,” Crawford said. “When I was a kid and had my first Big Mac, it was the best thing I ever ate in my whole life – it was like I tasted the body of Christ. But now you go to McDonald’s all the time and you get tired of it. I don’t want my shows to feel like that.”

He’s grateful for all the support he has received and thrilled that his city has continued with its reputation for going hard as far as support for locals who go on to do great things.

Continued from C1

in concert with, or endorsed by, the vast majority of peaceful demonstrations that were the core of what we now refer to as simply Ferguson. Over the course of the film, “Whose Streets?” dispels the myths perpetuated through onedimensional coverage often provided by the mainstream.

Footage from social media and citizen journalists are blended into the film to add context to the experience of being on the ground in heat of the unrest. Mirroring the Ferguson movement, “Whose Streets?” begins with social media posts that give a playby-play of what compelled the masses to galvanize in Canfield Green Apartments while the body of Brown – who was killed by former Ferguson Police Officer Darren Wilson, was still lying in the middle of the street where he was shot down – and would remain for hours. While it serves as the introduction, the film doesn’t focus so much on the events leading up to the months of relentless protest. Instead, “Whose Streets?” offers touching portraits of the individuals who have chosen to dedicate them-

selves to the cause. Brittany Ferrell, Tef Poe, Alexis Templeton and David Whitt are among the subjects that are featured in “Whose Streets?” Ferrell, Templeton and Whitt allow Davis and Folayan inside their homes and routines and discuss in great detail why having an active role in the movement was so important for them, their families and futures – as well as the cost that came with them doing the work.

“Whose Streets?” also gives another vantage point from Ferguson by way of a bird’seye view from the middle of the movement in real-time.

The film gives glimpses into the property damage that came in the initial days of the protests and again after the non-indictment of Darren Wilson. But it also showed incidents where

unruly law enforcement targeted and antagonized peaceful protesters by pointing weapons at them, wearing “I Am Darren Wilson” bracelets and mocking them in public settings. Certain scenes illustrated how recklessness from the officers and the anxiety that comes with being confronted with actions often reserved for war zones by those claiming to keep the peace fueled rage.

Through “Whose Streets?” audiences will have a new appreciation for the protesters when they see the sacrifices that were made in the name of keeping Ferguson conversation in the forefront by way of activism.

“Whose Streets?” opens in theatres nationwide on Friday, August 11. The film is rated R with a running time of 100 minutes.

One thing I know is that once you get out there and you’re really serious and you seek his help as you put in the work, he will guide you on the path.”

Crawford’s comedy journey has led him around the world and in the ranks of the most beloved among the urban comedy scene. He even earned a coveted Screen Actors Guild

and say ‘I used to watch you when I was a kid,’” and I’ll be like, ‘damn, I was a grown man back then.’”

Crawford contributes his success to always trying new things and never letting his show get stale. Even though fans often beg him to his classic material, he goes out of his way to keep it fresh. They don’t get the chance to follow

“And I rep my city all day,” Crawford said. “I’m a Cardinals fan ‘til the day I die. The Rams can kiss my [expletive] though. But for real, it’s good to see all of your friends and family and to bring the funny that started right here back home. I want people leaving up out of the Pageant saying ‘man, this dude is a fool.’” Lavell Crawford will film his comedy special over the course of two shows at 7 p.m. and 10:30 p.m. on Saturday, August 12 at The Pageant, 6161 Delmar. For tickets or more information, call (314) 726-6161 visit http://www. thepageant.com

Lavell Crawford comedy special Filimg

Celebrations

Anniversaries

Happy Anniversary to James and Pauline Wolfe, who celebrated their 42nd wedding anniversary on August 8! James will also celebrate his birthday on August 11.

Robert and Gail Buchanan celebrate their 15th wedding anniversary on August 10, 2017. Thanks to our pastor, Rev. Jeff Johnson Jr., Circle of Light, family and friends for continued support. With God, we can make it the rest of our united matrimonial journey.

Varon and Patricia Johnson are thanking the Lord for 30 years of matrimony. Married on August 15, 1987 as a young couple in love, 30 years later we have four children, two granddaughters and one granddog. God has continued to bless and keep our union.

Reunions

Beaumont High Class of 1967 will meet at the Normandy County Library, 7606 Natural Bridge Rd., 63121 on Saturday, July 22, 2017 at 1 p.m.

Beaumont High Class of 1968 Reunion Committee will begin planning for our 50th Class Reunion to be held in

St. Louis, Missouri in 2018. For more information contact Vanetta Cobbs, 314-869-5665, or email vanetta.cobbs@ sbcglobal.net.

Beaumont High Class of 1978 will celebrate its 40-year reunion in 2018. For further information, please contact: Marietta Shegog Shelby, 314-799-5296, madeshe@ sbcglobal.net.

Cleveland High School is hosting a reunion for all attending 1980-1984 on August 19, 2017 at Catering To You Banquet Center (12775 New Halls Ferry Rd., Florissant, MO 63033) For information, please contact Babette Perkins-Anderson at 314-345-0939.

Kinloch High Class of 1967 Committee has finalized plans for an outstanding “50th Year Class Reunion.” If you haven’t received your registration letter or email, please call 310-346-7235. You may also email your contact information to alreemc@aol. com .

Northwest High Class of 1978 is planning its 40 year reunion for next year. PLEASE reach out to our classmates, tell them get ready for this. If you have any questions please contact Sly at ( 314) 397-0311 or email us at northwestbluedevils@78gmail. com. Check us out on Facebook Northwest High School-Class of 1978.

Urban League Honors

The Legend Award was presented to Hon. Richard G. Hatcher, the first AfricanAmerican Mayor of Gary, Indiana and the first AfricanAmerican to serve as mayor of a major U.S. city, during the National Urban League Conference by President Marc Morial

Soldan High Class of 1965 will be holding first Luncheon on August 8, 2017 at 2 pm at Bristol Seafood Grill’s Creve Coeur Room, 11801 Olive Street, 63141, 314-567-0272. No need to send any money. Each person will pay for their meals at the restaurant. Your family members and Friends are welcome to join us.

Sumner High Class of 1972 reunion will be held September 15-17, 2017 at the Airport Hilton, 10330 Natural Bridge Rd., 63134. Please contact Earlene Brown 314-2267019/314-534-0467 or Jazelle Brown 314-954-1470 or Kathi Washington Scott 314-4454715.

University City High Class of

1982 has planned a awesome weekend for our 35th reunion July 29-31, 2017. For tickets and information please call Kimberly Milton-Nelson at (314)541-9568 or Patricia Yates-Mcintosh (314)2291675.

Vashon High School will celebrate its 90th anniversary October 5-7, 2017 for alumni, students and community activities to celebrate educational commitment and tradition. For additional information, go to Vashonhigh. org or contact Elvis Hopson, elvishopson@att.net, (314) 535-0243, Pearl Lake, lakep6@aol.com, (314) 3880743 or Cozy W. Marks, Jr., jr3810@sbcglobal.net, (314) 383-5682.

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 Pine

Reunion notices are free of charge and based on space availability. We prefer that notices be emailed to us! However, notices may also be sent by mail to: Kate Daniel, 2315 Pine St., St. Louis, MO 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

James and Pauline Wolfe

Robert and Gail Buchanan

Varon and Patricia Johnson

Local ministry cleans up neighborhood for concert series

Ivory

Perry Park hosts last summer concert on August 27

American staff

As the executive director of Union Communion Ministries (UCM), tinA teresA pihL, was recently coordinating the last minute preparations for the kick-off of the 15th Annual Ivory Perry Park (IPP) Concert Series. As she was driving to Ivory Perry Park she noticed that the median on Delmar had been mowed earlier in the week. However, the grass on the north side of the street, just two car lanes away, had still not been mowed, even though it also is St. Louis city property She saw the Delmar Divide … in the grass. Seeing this physical divide, she added an additional, unexpected task to her list of things to complete in less than 24 hours before the concert – mowing and tree trimming. The properties to the east and west of Belt Avenue at Delmar Boulevard appeared to have been neglected for months. The property, formerly owned by Connect Care, is now owned by the city. Belt Avenue, which runs along the one-block city property, is the main thoroughfare that leads to the entrance of Ivory Perry Park, the location for the concert series. She saw that the grass and weeds were 3 feet tall in many sections along the property, and weed trees 7-8 feet tall protruded in front of the two faded Connect Care signs. She took it upon herself to enlist help from a friend to cut the grass and trim the trees, after she couldn’t find a landscape company available to service the area on such short notice on Saturday. “I took the lack of attention to the area personally and wanted our neighborhood to be the shining community I know it is,” she said. “There are many amazing and dedicated residents volunteering on the IPP Concert Committee. I wanted their efforts to glow and our community to put its best foot forward, even if it was not our responsibility to keep this area maintained. I did not want 3 foot tall grass and weed trees [on city property] to take away from the respect residents have for their neighborhood and the magnificent show.” Union Communion Ministries (UCM) has been committed to supporting The West End neighborhood for the past 50 years. The not-for-profit

is very small, with no full-time staff, but this city corner cleanup was another way in which UCM could make a difference in The West End.

The next day, a West End resident told her that he heard what she had done. He said he would ask someone in the neighborhood to mow the city property before each concert.

The Ivory Perry Park Concert Series was started 15 years ago to heal a neighborhood after the horrific loss of 10-year-old Rodney McAllister who had been mauled by dogs in the park. The presenting organization, UCM, is proud to continue the concert series by hiring exceptional musicians who bring together people from all walks of life from the entire St. Louis metro region to the West End neighborhood. In previous years, attendance had been as high as 300 people. Earlier this summer, Denise Thimes entertained close to 700 people at the kick-off of

Volunteers from Union Communion Ministries cleaned up the neighborhood around Ivory Perry Park for the kick-off of its 2017 concert series, which concludes on Sunday, August 27.

The fight is fixed

Whatever you’re going through, however insurmountable the odds appear to be, if the deck is stacked against you in your eyes, remember, “This fight is fixed.”

All the evil that comes at you in this world is intended to confuse you into thinking otherwise. Then in a state of confusion, you act (negatively I might add) as if somehow you’re in charge. If only you were more in control, had more money, or more will power, then maybe you could change things, change jobs, change mates, change the past, alter the future or erase your addictions.

the 2017 Ivory Perry Park Free Summer Concert Series. Over 47 different zip codes around St. Louis have been present at the concert series.

The concert are always on the 4th Sunday of the month in June, July and August from 6-8 pm. Pre-concert activities begin at 5:30pm. Activities include free yoga with Yoga Buzz, arts and crafts, bouncy house, face painting, chess, Bob & Jovan’s community collage and a raffle; barbeque from nonprofit, Agape in Motion, Mi Hungry, St. Louis Kettle Corn and Parker’s Water Ice provide local fare; and resource booths are set-up by community organizations, such as St. Louis Public Schools and Great River’s Greenway. The series concludes 6-8 p.m. Sunday, August 27 with Dirty Muggs.

For volunteer opportunities, call (314)367-2112, email ucm. info@yahoo.com or visit www. ucministries.com.

For some reason, we want to take way too much credit for our lives or, out of a state of confusion, take little to no responsibility for them. Blame becomes a way of thinking or even a lifestyle for many of us who claim Jesus. I’m here to suggest to you that just like so called professional wrestling, the outcome for whatever you’re going through, has been predetermined. The fight is fixed.

Jesus took the heavy blows, endured the emergency trip to the ER and survived the intensive care unit on Calvary. What we tend to forget is His fight was THE fight and His victory was and continues to be our victory. Because He won, we won. Let me put it to you this way, whatever you’re going through, YOUR FIGHT IS FIXED! You’ve already won.

“Because of His great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions-it is by grace you have been saved.

And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with Him in the heavenly realms of Jesus Christ in order that in the coming ages, He might show the incomparable riches of His grace, expressed in His kindness to us in Christ.” Ephesians 2:6-8. Does that not mean you win? Hence, there is real meaning in the refrain, “The fight is fixed.” Practically speaking, take another look at your situation with the fundamental truth that you’ve already won and then go forward. See, you gotta understand and act deliberately and consciously upon the truth that Christ is in your corner. From there, faith will never allow you to ever again enter the ring and your opponent not know who yo Daddy is. Mess with me at your own risk. You see I’m figuring out that all the mess I’m going through or someone is trying to put me through, is but an opportunity to run home and get my Big Brother J.C. Our challenge is not to try and win this fight alone. We cannot. My witness is to always let my opponent know exactly what I’m fighting with. I’m not playing by their rules and if only they knew like I do that I’m going to win, they would just leave me alone. I have not met the man or woman yet who can beat Satan at his own game. I tried and without Jesus, I failed miserably. Satan has a big advantage in this world, but I don’t worry about that anymore. My knowledge of the outcome lets me handle the tricks of the enemy. I know the fight is fixed.

Columnist James Washington

TEACHER’S/TEACHER’S AIDE

Creative Kids Child Development Center is hiring Preschool Teacher’s/Preschool Teacher’s Aides. We are seeking full time teachers to join our team. Experience working in licensed child care faciliy. Creating educational lesson plans. 314-367-6343

MORNING BUS DRIVERS Creative Kids Child Development Center is currently seeking Morning Bus Drivers. This position requires at least a Class E License and a good driving record. Pay is negotiable.

Please contact 314-367-6343

BETTER BENEFITS, BETTER CULTURE, BETTER THAN A BANK –BRANCH MANGER

Anheuser-Busch Employees’ Credit Union is seeking a Branch Manager for our Florissant, MO location. The Branch Manager is responsible for the administration and daily operation of a branch office, including operations, lending, sales, member service and security and safety in accordance with Credit Union policies. Actively promotes a sales and service culture, responsible for maintaining branch goals, and will seek new business ventures by participating in community events. Please apply at: http://www.abecu.org/ home/about-us/careers

“JANITORIAL”

SENIOR CREDIT RISK UNDERWRITER

The Senior Credit Risk Underwriter (SCRU) underwrites the financial/ credit risk associated with Safety National’s (SN) Large Casualty (LC) insurance products (prospective and active accounts) and SN’s Self- Insured Workers’ Compensation (WC) Surety Bond (Bond) products (prospective and active accounts) by analyzing the financial/credit risk of these accounts/ companies. This credit risk analysis is performed primarily through an extensive evaluation of an account’s financial statements. Once the financial/credit risk analysis has been completed and properly approved, new or renewal LC/Bond terms are quoted. To apply, please visit: www.safetynational.com and click on the Careers tab.

CHEF/NUTRITION CENTER

ASSISTANT

Food Outreach, FT Cluinary/Nutrition Degree/ServSafe Cert. Some evenings/weekends. Email resume to marysue@foodoutreach.org

WEB DEVELOPER

The Missouri History Museum seeks a Web Developer. Visit www.mohistory.org for position details. An Equal Opportunity Employer

HEAD VARSITY

BASKETBALL COACH

De Smet Jesuit High School seeks highly qualified candidates for the position of Head Basketball Coach for the 2017–2018 school year. Successful candidates will have a minimum of three to five years of experience in coaching, preferably at the high school level or above; be active in their faith; and serve as a model of being men and women for and with others. De Smet Jesuit is a Catholic college preparatory high school for boys, grades 9-12, located in suburban St. Louis, Missouri.

More information is available at https://www.desmet.org/athletics/ coachopenings. Send a resumé, cover letter, and three references to John Pukala, Athletic Director, at jpukala@ desmet.org. Application materials will be accepted through August 14.

RECREATION

FAITH OUTREACH COORDINATOR

The Alzheimer’s Association St. Louis Chapter has an opening for a PT 30hr/wk Faith Outreach Coordinator. The position is responsible for increasing the number of families served through the faith communities, with special attention among populations with historically low involvement, must follow the Community Development Model, identify gaps and create opportunities to expand community programs and increase referrals to the 24/7 helpline through community volunteers and partnerships, expand the faith partnership program to include faith-based organizations, coalitions and spiritual groups, host faith leader workshops with key community partners to expand awareness of Alzheimer’s. Recruit volunteers using the Personify database, train volunteers and ensure successful completion of 90-day on boarding process, increase minority and underserved 24/7 helpline users.

Education: Bachelor’s degree in Religious Studies, Social Work, Gerontology, Nursing, Public Health or Education preferred. Experience: 2 years program delivery, volunteer experience, sales and marketing. Proficiency with Microsoft Office applications, Google, and ability to learn service user software, experience working with clerical staff and volunteers, effective written and verbal communications skills. Please submit resume and cover letter, including salary requirements and a minimum of two professional references to Stl-hr@alz.org.

ASSISTANT HUMAN RESOURCES DIRECTOR

The Missouri Department of Transportation (MoDOT) is seeking applications for an Assistant Human Resources Director in its Central Office Human Resources Division. As a member of the Human Resources Division management team, this position provides planning and direction for the compensation, employment, employee development, and human resources teams, including development and implementation of statewide projects and initiatives. The assistant human resources director assists the human resources director in setting strategic direction, serving as a change agent and champion on numerous issues impacting the department; serves as the human resources director’s designee when appropriate; prepares the division business and work plans; provides advice and counseling to human resources managers and department management regarding disciplinary measures, policy interpretation and application, and other complex human resources issues; assists with oversight of division and department organizational performance measures and coordinates ongoing analysis to ensure alignment of division activities with the department’s strategic objectives; assists in the development and administration of human resources policies, policy changes, and new initiatives; represents the division and the department at internal or external meetings and conferences; prepares and monitors the division budget and approves expenditures; directs and manages contractual agreements; and assists staff attorneys with employment litigation and complaints. For more information and to view the entire job description, please visit our website www.modot.org/jobs.

Requirements include a bachelor’s degree in Human Resources/Personnel Management, Business or related field. Certification as PHR/SPHR or SHRM-CP/SHRMSCP is a plus. Nine years of experience in human resources is required. MoDOT offers an excellent benefits package.

Respond in strict confidence by submitting resume and cover letter by August 24, 2017, to:

Micki Knudsen, Human Resources Director MoDOT Human Resources Division P.O. Box 270, Jefferson City, MO 65102 Phone: (573) 751-7449 Fax: (573) 526-0058 AssistantHRDirector@modot.mo.gov

Equal Employment Opportunity/Affirmative Action Employer, M/F/D/V

PARAMEDICS

Mehlville Fire Protection District is accepting applications for the position of CRITICAL CARE PARAMEDIC

Starting $55,352; $59,352 w/CCP-C $83,001 after 4 years

Benefits include health insurance, pension, tuition reimbursement, sick leave, attendance bonus, vacation, life & disability, holiday pay, uniform allowance, wellness benefits

REQUIRED: EMT-P certification through the State of Missouri

PREFERRED: CCP-C certification Applications accepted July 17 – August 25, 2017, weekdays 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. at Headquarters, 11020 Mueller Rd. 63123.

Download application packet at www.mehlvillefire.com Equal Opportunity Employer.

SCHOOL BUS DRIVER PART-TIME

De Smet Jesuit seeks a bus driver for a morning route from North St. Louis County for the 2017-2018 school year. Applicants must have a valid driver’s license, a clean driving record, and have or be eligible for a class E driver’s license with a School Bus Endorsement. A CDL is not necessary. Wage is competitive. Interested individuals may apply through https://www. desmet.org/about/careers. Applications will be accepted through August 8, 2017.

LAW CLERK

The U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Eastern District of Missouri seeks a Law Clerk to serve as legal advisor to the Chief U.S. Bankruptcy Judge. For more information and instructions for applying, please visit our website at http://www.moeb.uscourts.gov/ legal_jobs.htm

SR. VP–OPERATIONS

SHARED SERVICES

SGS,LLC requires a Sr. VP–Operations

Shared Services to lead the development and implementation of global production planning, scheduling processes, forecasting performance metrics, providing leadership on global health and safety while enhancing the Quality culture of the organization and driving the organizational development, alignment and talent management within the production team. The position location is St. Louis, MO. Required Bachelor degree in Commerce and 10 yrs experience in senior management. Must have experience with key performance indicators and metric-driven decision making in a global, lean-focused, matrix organization; development and implementation of global Quality, Environment, Health and Safety systems; and senior level Human Resources experience in strategy, training & development and change management, with Operations leadership in an organization operating in the Americas and Europe.

Please mail a résumé to:

SGS LLC Attn: HR 626 W. Main Street, Suite 500 Louisville, KY 40202

EXECUTIVE ASSISTANT Metro Theater Company, St. Louis’ premier professional theater for youth and families, seeks passionate and detail oriented Executive Assistant. We are a collaborative team dedicated to serving young people in our community through award-winning theater productions and education programs. Visit www.metroplays.org/work-with-us for complete position description.

PARK POLICE OFFICER

The City of Florissant has an immediate opening for part-time Park Police Officer. Applicants must meet (P.O.S.T.) certification requirements. Prior Police Experience preferred. Starting salary $25.50/hour for a maximum of 29 hours weekly. Applications are available at www.florissantmo.com and Human Resources, 1055 rue St. Francois, Florissant, MO 63031. EOE/M/F/DISABLED/VETERAN

INSTALLERS IN ST. LOUIS

Pacific Studio is looking for several Installers to install in an exhibit/custom production/custom manufacturing environment. Familiarity with hand tools, production work experience, basic shop skills, and previous installation experience required. Apply at www.pacificstudio. com.

EEO Employer/Vets/Disabled

STAFF ACCOUNTANT

The Missouri History Museum seeks a Staff Accountant. Visit www.mohistory.org for

MAINTENANCE

Expert Maintenance individual needed to help residential landlord , pay $12 - $15 per hour, depending on experience, only experts need apply. Must have own tools and vehicle. Call JW 314-575-2665

LICENSED PRACTICAL

(LPN) Full Time Position available at the St. Louis City Family Court Includes Full Benefit Package - detailed info at www.stlcitycircuitcourt.com

POLICE OFFICER (TRAINEE)

This is a Police Officer (Trainee) position with the St. Louis Police Division. Incumbents perform duties to patrol a specific area to protect life and property and enforce laws and ordinances using tactful and courteous treatment of the public and conscientious and efficient performance of duties. The Police Division is a 24-hour per day, seven days a week service; therefore, work involves shift, weekend, holiday, and overtime assignments.

Applicants must be twenty-one years of age at the time of filing the Employment Application. United States citizen. High school diploma or equivalent. No prior police or law enforcement experience is required. Applicants must possess and maintain a valid Missouri driver’s license while employed by the City of St. Louis. Applicants must meet eligibility standards for licensing as a peace officer, as determined by the Missouri Department of Public Safety, Peace Office Standards & Training (POST) Program. Bi-weekly rate of pay for a Police Officer (Trainee) is $1,539.00. For Police Probationary Officer, the annual rate is $41,815.28. To apply, visit the City web site at http://stlouis-mo.gov/jobs. Additional information concerning the Police Officer (Trainee) process can be found on the St. Louis Police Division’s website at http://stmpd.org.careers.shtml Or contact: City of St. Louis Department of Personnel 1114 Market Street, Room 700 St. Louis, MO 63101 (314) 622-4308

Applications will be accepted until a sufficient number are received to fill the anticipated vacancies. Applications can be submitted on the Internet. Please submit Employment Application as soon as possible.

Position requires City residency within 120 days of completion of the initial working test period. An Equal Opportunity Employer.

NOTICE TO CONTRACTORS

Sealed bids for 2016 ITS Program – North Central County and 2016 ITS Program –Northeast County, St. Louis County Project No. AR-1503 and AR-1521, will be received at the Office of the Director of Procurement for the County of St. Louis, County Government Center Administration Building, 41 South Central Avenue, 8 th Floor, Clayton, Missouri 63105, until 2:00 p.m. on August 30, 2017.

Plans and specifications will be available on August 7, 2017 from the St. Louis County Web Site (www.stlouisco.com), or by contacting County Blue Reprographics, Inc., 1449 Strassner Drive, St. Louis, Missouri 63144, (314) 961-3800.

DIRECTOR OF PROCUREMENT AND ADMINISTRATIVE SERVICES

ST. LOUIS, COUNTY

NOTICE TO CONTRACTORS

Sealed bids for 2016 ITS Program –Sappington/Highway 21 project will be received at the Office of the Director of Procurement for the County of St. Louis, County Government Center Administration Building, 41 South Central Avenue, 8 th Floor, Clayton, Missouri 63105, until 2:00 p.m. on August 30, 2017

Plans and specifications will be available on August 7, 2017 from the St. Louis County Web Site (www.stlouisco.com), or by contacting County Blue Reprographics, Inc., 1449 Strassner Drive, St. Louis, Missouri 63144, (314) 961-3800.

DIRECTOR OF PROCUREMENT AND ADMINISTRATIVE SERVICES

ST. LOUIS, COUNTY

Notice

SEWER DISTRICT

Bids

METROPOLITAN ST. LOUIS

SEWER DISTRICT

Notice is hereby given that the Metropolitan St. Louis Sewer District will receive sealed bids in the Purchasing Division, 2350 Market Street, St. Louis, Missouri 63103-2555 until 10:00am September 11, 2017 for: Press Rebuild Parts

Specifications and bid forms may be obtained from www.stlmsd.com - click on “MSD At Work”, then “Bidding on Projects”. The bid document will be identified as 9118 RFQ. If you do not have access to the internet, call (314) 768-6314 to request a copy of this bid.

Metropolitan St. Louis Sewer District is an Equal Opportunity Employer.

NOTICE TO CONTRACTORS

METROPOLITAN ST. LOUIS

SEWER DISTRICT

Notice is hereby given that the Metropol- itan St. Louis Sewer District will receive sealed bids in the Purchasing Division, 2350 Market Street, St. Louis, Missouri 63103-2555 until 10:00am September 13, 2017 for: Roof Replacement at Grand Glaize Treatment Plant

Specifications and bid forms may be obtained from www.stlmsd.com - click on “MSD At Work”, then “Bidding on Proj- ects”. The bid document will be identified as 9120 RFQ. If you do not have access to the internet, call (314) 768-6314 to request a copy of this bid.

Metropolitan St. Louis Sewer District is an Equal Opportunity Employer.

METROPOLITAN ST. LOUIS

SEWER DISTRICT

Notice is hereby given that the Metropolitan St. Louis Sewer District will receive sealed bids in the Purchasing Division, 2350 Market Street, St. Louis, Missouri 63103-2555 until 10:00am September 8, 2017 for: By-Pass Pump Portal

Specifications and bid forms may be obtained from www.stlmsd.com - click on “MSD At Work”, then “Bidding on Projects”. The bid document will be identified as 9111 RFQ. If you do not have access to the internet, call (314) 768-6314 to request a copy of this bid.

Metropolitan St. Louis Sewer District is an Equal Opportunity Employer.

BID PROPOSAL

Great Rivers Greenway is seeking requests for proposals for Materials Testing and Inspection for Gravois Greenway:Orlando’s to River des Peres Phase 1. Check https:// greatriversgreenway.org/jobsbids/ and submit by August 23, 2017.

BID PROPOSAL

NOTICE TO CONTRACTORS

Notice is hereby given that The Metropolitan St. Louis Sewer District (District), the Owner, will receive sealed bids for Infrastructure Repairs (Rehabilitation) (2018) Contract A under Letting No. 12014-015.1, at its office, 2350 Market Street, St. Louis, Missouri 63103, until 2:00 PM, local time, on Friday, September 22, 2017. All bids are to be deposited in the bid box located on the first floor of the District’s Headquarters prior to the 2:00 p.m. deadline. Bids may, however, be withdrawn prior to the opening of the first bid. BIDS WILL BE PUBLICLY OPENED AND READ IMMEDIATELY AFTER THE BID DUE DATE/TIME AT 2350 MARKET STREET, AT A PLACE DESIGNATED.

The Work to be performed under these Contract Documents consists of: The work to be done under this contract consists of the rehabilitation of approximately 7,530 lineal feet of sewers, varying in size from 8” to 36”x54” in diameter, utilizing CIPP methods. The project is within the Metropolitan St. Louis Sewer District Boundaries, inside the city(ies) of St. Louis and various municipalities in St. Louis County in the State of Missouri. The work will be per formed in various quantities at vari ous sites.

All prospective bidders must prequalify in the Cured-In-Place Pipe (CIPP) category, and be certified prior to the Bid Opening. Prequalification forms for obtaining said certification may be obtained from the Owner at the above mentioned address. All bidders must obtain drawings and specifications in the name of the entity submitting the bid.

This project will be financed through the Missouri State Revolving Fund established by the sale of Missouri Water Pollution Control bonds and Federal Capitalization Grants to Missouri. Neither the Missouri Department of Natural Resources, its divisions, nor its employees will be party to the contract at any tier. Any Bidder whose firm or affiliate is listed on the GSA publication titled “List of Parties Excluded from Federal Procurement or Non-Procurement Programs” is prohibited from the bidding process; bids received from a listed party will be deemed non-responsive. Refer to Instructions to Bidders B-27 for more information regarding debarment and suspension.

Nondiscrimination in Employment: Bidders on this work will be required to comply with the President’s Executive Order 11246. Requirements for bidders and contractors under this order are explained in the specifications. Plans and Specifications are available from free electronic download. Please go to MSD’s website and look for a link to “ELECTRONIC PLANROOM.” Plans and Specifications are also available for viewing or purchase at Cross Rhodes Reprographics located at 1710 Macklind Avenue, St. Louis MO 63110.

bid in the name of the entity submitting the bid. The Metropolitan St. Louis Sewer District is an Equal Opportunity Employer.

NOTICE TO CONTRACTORS

Notice is hereby given that The Metropolitan St. Louis Sewer District (District) will receive sealed bids for Glendale Section D Sanitary Relief Phase V (SKME-624) I/I Reduction under Letting No. 12177-015.1, at this office, 2350 Market Street, St. Louis, Missouri 63103, until 02:00 PM on Tuesday, September 12, 2017, at a place designated.

Bids will be received only from companies that are pre-qualified by the District’s Engineering

Louis Sewer District is an Equal Opportunity Employer.

NOTICE OF REQUEST FOR QUALIFICATIONS

Notice is hereby given that the City of Richmond Heights is requesting qualification submittals for professional architectural and engineering design services for improvements to THE HEIGHTS Community Center and Memorial Library. Submittals will be received no later than 2:00 p.m. on Thursday, September 14, 2017. Interested firms may obtain a complete copy of the RFQ by visiting the City’s website at www.richmondheights.org.

METROPOLITAN ST. LOUIS

SEWER DISTRICT

Notice is hereby given that the Metropolitan St. Louis Sewer District is accepting proposals in the Purchasing Division, 2350 Market Street, St. Louis, Missouri 63103-2555 until 10:00 a.m. on September 15th, 2017 to contract with a company for: Property Appraisal Services. 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 9123 RFP. 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 requests for qualifications for Security Services in Kiener Plaza. Check https://greatriversgreenway.org/jobs-bids/ and submit by August 22, 2017. CHECK US OUT ON FACEBOOK & TWITTER

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 September 19, 2017 to contract with a company for: SODIUM HYPOCHLORITE AND SODIUM BISULFITE. 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 9039 RFQ. If you do not have access to the internet, call 314-768-6254 to request a copy of this bid.

Metropolitan St. Louis Sewer District is an Equal Opportunity Employer.

BIDS & NOTICES (CONTINUED)

For The University Of Missouri – CP170281 – East Campus Plant Growth Facilities Complex Phase 1 AND CP170282 – General Site – East Campus Site Utility & Infrastructure, Columbia, Missouri for the subcontracting opportunities in the following areas: site work, excavation, paving, drilled concrete piers, landscape, fencing, concrete, masonry, metals, rough carpentry, roofing, doors, glazing, painting, drywall, flooring, specialties, furnishings, fire suppression, greenhouse equipment, plumbing, HVAC, electrical, communications, electronic security and utilities. All interested and qualified SBE, DBE, WBE, SDVOB, AND VOB businesses should contact, in writing, (certified letter, return receipt requested) Josh Sanders to discuss the subcontracting opportunities. All negotiations must be completed prior to the bid opening date of 8/22/2017 @ 1:30 PM. Proposals will be evaluated in order on the basis of low responsive bid received. CERTIFICATION OF DBE/WBE/MBE/SDVOB/VOB STATUS MUST BE SUBMITTED WITH BID. BID DOCUMENTS MAY BE OBTAINED BY:

1) Email your company name, contact name and phone number, as well as the project you are interested in to bid@rccllc.com 2) You will then receive an email invitation for that project with a link to our Smart Bid Net system.

Advertised

MWBE Pre-bid Meeting Notice

The SITE Improvement Association is hosting a Pre-bid meeting for Qualified and Certified MWBE contractors to discuss working on MSD’s North Clark Ave 49 Sanitary Replacement Project Contract Letting No. 12444-015

A pre-bid meeting is being held on behalf of the following SITE contractor members: Fred M. Luth & Sons 4516 McRee Avenue St. Louis, MO 63110 314/771-3892

The meeting will take place at Thursday, August 24, 2017 SITE Improvement Association 2071 Exchange Drive, St. Charles, MO 63303

Project plans are available from MSD. For questions regarding this prebid meeting, Contact the SITE Improvement Association office at 314/966-2950.

PUBLISHER’S NOTICE:

Clinton-Peabody will accept pre-applications online at www.slha.org for 1, 2, 3, 4, & 5 bedroom units beginning August 7, 2017 at 8:00 A.M. closing August 10, 2017 at 12:00 A.M.

Applicants with disabilities that need assistance in completing an online application or applicants who do not have access to a computer can be accommodated at 1401 LaSalle, St. Louis, MO 63104 or SLHA Corporate Office located at 3520 page from 8:00 A.M. to 5:00 P.M. on August 7-10, 2017.

HOMES

REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS

The St. Louis County Port Authority (the “Authority”) is soliciting proposals from qualified contractors to provide universal waste removal and disposal services for certain parcels located at the former Jamestown Mall in North St. Louis County, Missouri. The parcels to be serviced are set forth in the Request for Proposals.

To be considered, proposals must be received no later than 3:00 PM on Thursday, August 17, 2017. Proposals should be sent by e-mail to dallison@stlpartnership.com, or to St. Louis County Port Authority, c/o St. Louis Economic Development Partnership, ATTN: Dustin Allison, General Counsel, 7733 Forsyth Blvd., Suite 2300, St. Louis, Missouri 63105. DBE, MBE, and WBE firms are encouraged to bid. The Request for Proposals may be obtained from the St. Louis Economic Development Partnership’s web site at www.stlpartnership.com. The Authority reserves the right to reject any or all proposals and to waive informalities therein. Any questions should be directed to Dustin Allison, General Counsel, St. Louis Economic Development Partnership at (314) 615-7663 or dallison@stlpartnership. com.

St. Louis Economic Development Partnership Equal Opportunity Employer

NOTICE TO CONTRACTORS

Sealed bids for Old Jamestown Road Sidewalk Phase II, St. Louis County Project No.AR-1417, will be received at the Office of the Director of Procurement for the County of St. Louis, County Government Center Administration Building, 41 South Central Avenue, 8th Floor, Clayton, Missouri 63105, until 2:00 p.m. on August 23, 2017.

Plans and specifications will be available on July 31, 2017 from the St. Louis County Web Site (www.stlouisco.com), or by contacting County Blue Reprographics, Inc., 1449 Strassner Drive, St. Louis, Missouri 63144, (314) 961-3800.

DIRECTOR OF PROCUREMENT AND ADMINISTRATIVE SERVICES ST. LOUIS, COUNTY

MBE/WBE/SDVBE INVITATION TO BID

K&S Associates will be accepting bids for the following projects during the month of August. Sedalia Police Station – August 3, 2017 Hawthorn Children’s Psychiatric Hospital – August 10, 2017 Plant Growth Facilities MU Columbia – August 22, 2017 Plans and Specs can be viewed at www.ksgcstlplanroom.com Submit Bids to estimating@ksgcstl.com or Fax 314-647-5302 Contact Dennis Dyes @ 314-647-3535 with questions.

SEALED BIDS

forOffice

Renovation,Blair Bldg,Sex Offender Rehabilitationand Treatment Services, Farmington,MO, ProjectNo. M1607-01 willbereceived byFMDC,Stateof MO,UNTIL1:30 PM,8/24/2017. Forspecificproject informationand orderingplans,go to:http://oa.mo. gov/ facilities

SEALED BIDS

for Camp CrowderPaving andSealcoat, Camp CrowderTraining Site,Neosho, Missouri,Project No.T1722-01 willbe receivedby FMDC, StateofMO, UNTIL 1:30PM, 8/31/2017. Forspecificproject informationand orderingplans,go to:http://oa.mo. gov/ facilities

NOTICE TO CONTRACTORS

Sealed

Swag Snap of the Week

Glorious Greek march madness. When I tell you I got every bit of my whole life thanks to the Alphas and their 35th Annual Midwest Marchdown step show Saturday evening at Harris-Stowe. I’m not gonna sit up here and lie like I’ve been to all 35 mainly because like Beyoncé I pretend that I’m only 35 years old. But I’ve been to quite a few and the 2017 installment was better than any scene from “School Daze!” I don’t know if it was because it was held at an HBCU, but the energy was phenomenal. Unlike when it was at the Touhill, The Pageant or the late Roberts Orpheum, the folks strolled all the way up and through that main auditorium. Dre Co and DJ Homicide knew just what to do to get and keep it all the way live. I’m so glad they understood that things are guaranteed to get live with, “Cash Money takin’ over the 99 and the 2000!” The only thing I’d do differently is tighten up the actual step performances from most of the Greeks. Youth groups Supreme Royalty and their “Different World” themed performance and Young Men of Vision’s “Boondocks” inspired show set it all the way off. Then Gentlemen of Vision had the intermission lit – especially Harry Potter (his line name). Hosts the Alphas had their intermission and pre-show strolls on lock; but I wasn’t blown away as usual by their actual show. Let me say to all of the Greeks that your themes were great – now just focus on getting those step combinations tight. But the energy was so great that everybody gets a pass this year. And to make matters better, they had the nerve to keep things crackin’ when they took their show to the south side for the after party at 2720 Cherokee. The whole thing reminded me of my favorite HBCU homecoming weekend of all time back in 19-none-of-your-business.

Up close and personal with ‘Power’ cast. After the step show I made my way to the AT&T store in Brentwood to see the cast of the Starz Network hit show “Power” chop it up about themselves and their characters. I was over the moon to see my girl Loni Swain (formerly of Foxy 95.5 FM’s Loni’s Love Lounge) skip back to The Lou to facilitate the Q&A. I was expecting a few more folks up in there being that the “Power” fandom in the STL is on another level. But overall, I had a cute time and got plenty of insight. I like the concept and truth be told, if it hadn’t been so intimate I probably wouldn’t have enjoyed it as much. My only note is that “Ghost” a.k.a. Omari Hardwick wasn’t among the cast. But it would have been impossible to control the crowd had he stopped through, so I guess it was for the best.

At-capacity for Liquid Asssets. If there was any doubt about St. Louis going hard for “Power” based on the AT&T event, the Liquid Assets All White Affair at Marquee proved me right. As much as it probably wasn’t, I was secretly hoping there was a bit of pun intended by Phil with Joseph Sikora a.k.a. Tommy as the celebrity host. Listen, it was the most packed I’ve seen the venue for a non-performance. But there actually was a snippet of a show when “Power” co-star Rotimi got up there and did one of his little songs. I wasn’t mad at the track either. I knew from his HG appearance that Tommy packs them out, but this was three times as many folks.

Long live chief Jidenna. Some of y’all still might not be familiar with Jidenna, but let me tell you after Sunday night, I’m saying for certain that he’s going all the way up once everybody gets on board. The cool kids know what’s up, because they were doing everything humanly possible to squeeze into that sold-out show at Ready Room. I knew that the night was gonna be epic when I used up my whole two-hour prize from Candy Crush and saw that there were still folks in line waiting to get situated. I want to give a special shout out to Ready Room staffers Brittany and L for making me feel at home. But, on with the show. He got it in so tough on that stage that I actually bought his album. He earned it. I was checking for him from start to finish – and I’m willing to bet the next time he stops through STL, it will probably have to be at The Fox.

Eye Candy Reunited. When I stepped through the doors of the OBar Saturday night for Mo Spoon’s Eye Candy Model Reunion party, it was like I went through at time machine that dropped me off in the Loft circa 2009. All the baddest chicks from back in the day were in the building looking like they hadn’t aged a bit. Keuante, Sheena J., Lauren Renee were just a couple of the cuties who came through. A few were a little thicker, one or two with the help of a doctor, but every single one of them was still slaying. Eye Candy alum turned Instagram sensation Ashlee Monroe came back to kicked with Mo and the lovely ladies and the boys couldn’t keep their eyes off of her. Despite being a bombshell, she’s as sweet as she can be. The night was a good look for Mo, who hung up Eye Candy a few years back.

Where did all the jokes go? I went to the Next Up Comedy Explosion 2 and I must give the Next Up team their props for packing out The Mandarin House Friday night like you wouldn’t believe for their comedy competition that had $1,000 up for grabs by the funniest rising comic. There was an explosion of folks, but the comedy – not so much. This is no fault of the Next Up team, because they put up enough cash to have folks enticed to bring their “A” game. I get that the aspiring comics were new in the game. However, if you enter a comedy show, please have some jokes on deck. They were telling stories with no punchlines. Also, if you hear people telling the same joke, have another one on standby. If I ever hear one more routine that includes accidently sending an explicit photo to aunties, mamas, grandmamma etc. – or young dude dishing on dating an elderly lady – I will instinctively scream. That being said, shout out to Lou Beon Chill for taking home that rack – and for getting the biggest laughs of the night from the competitors. Host Willie C had

folks giggling too though.

On Thursday T. Payne, Alexis and Armani Swayze opened “The Year of The Women” art exhibition @ RKDE

Hot 104.1 FM’s Boogie D with the cast of the Starz Network hit “Power” at the Studio Live Meet and Greet presented by AT&T at the Brentwood store

The Farrar Twins started their weekend partying with Pastor Troy Friday @ The Marquee

Tiffany, Henry, KeKe and Tony came out to help Dia celebrate her birthday Saturday @ HG

Jon Alexander hosted a screening for the third episode of “St. Louis made” featuring WhoIsChrisJay and Mvstermind on Monday @ Blank Space

Jason and Tocarra decided get out and opted for Lifestyle Saturdays @ Mood

Asha and Drew soaked in the soulful atmosphere of Love The Day Party Sunday @ Barnett’s on Washington

Lu 2 Funny won the Next Up Comedy Explosion 2 competition and Lady Re was awarded STL Comedian of the year 2016 Friday @ Mandarin House

Meech, Steve and Malcom showed up sophisticated fresh @ the Olive Bar Friday

The Marquee was elbow-to-elbow as Phil Assets presented the Liquid Assets “All White Affair” with special guest Joseph Sikora aka Tommy from the Starz Network hit “Power” Saturday night.

Photos by V. Lang

Joii, Jonetta, Cheyanne, Zetas of Tau Micron Chapter of SEMO, brought the heat to The Midwest March Down on Saturday @ Harris Stowe