February 28th, 2019 Edition

‘She’s the change agent we need in St. Louis’

Lezley McSpadden endorses Jamilah Nasheed

Jamilah Nasheed was given permission to speak when she attended a meet and greet for candidates in the race for 18th Ward alderman at the Deaconess Center on Child Well Being on Monday, February 25. Nasheed is trying to upset incumbent Lewis Reed in the Democratic primary for president of the St. Louis Board of Aldermen on Tuesday, March 5. The Democratic nominee for alderman in the even-numbered wards also will be decided on March 5.

By Lezley McSpadden For The St. Louis American

My son, Michael Brown, did not volunteer to be a catalyst for change. But, for many, my son’s death was their first glimpse into the harsh realities of race and justice in America. When we remember Michael’s life and tragic death, we are reminded of just how much change we need in the St. Louis region. But change is not easy. At every turn, there are forces aligned against progress. The entrenched interests too often control the levers of power, leaving the rest of us without a voice and without hope. What we need is a leader who is not afraid to fight for us, a leader who will stand up for the people

– not the insiders and wellconnected.

For years, state Senator Jamilah Nasheed has been a fearless leader in the fight for equal treatment, racial justice, and fundamentally changing the way things work. I’ve watched her reach across the aisle, bridge differences, and build consensus in order to get important things done. I’ve watched as she’s fought for the people and given hope to those of us who felt there was little left to hope for. Now Nasheed is running for president of the St. Louis Board of Aldermen. I know how

effective she’s been in the state Senate, and I know how effective she’ll be as aldermanic president. We need Nasheed’s leadership to bring our community together. We need her legislative skills to push forward an agenda that puts people at the center. And we need that fight that she has within her to accomplish the kind of big changes our region needs.

I wholeheartedly endorse Nasheed to be the next president of the Board of Aldermen. I know she cares about people like me and my son, people who didn’t have power or money or access. But she listened and she cared, and – most importantly – she fought for us through thick and thin. She’s the change agent we need in St. Louis.

Bosley, Collins-Muhammad say plan is ‘slap in the face of democracy’ and ‘racist’

By Chris King Of The St. Louis American

Two St. Louis aldermen called for the recall of St. Louis Mayor Krewson during a press conference in City Hall on Tuesday, February 26 because of her support of Better Together’s proposal to merge St. Louis city and county governments, though they were cryptic about their plans.

“You never show the lamb the blade when you’re coming for them,” 3rd Ward Alderman Brandon Bosley said when asked for specifics about a recall effort. 21st Ward Alderman John Collins-Muhammad joined Bosley for the announcement, along with eight citizens who

Aldermen Brandon Bosley and John CollinsMuhammad were joined by eight citizens in calling for the recall of St. Louis Mayor Krewson because of her support of Better Together’s proposal to merge St. Louis city and county governments during a press conference in City Hall on Tuesday, February 26.

In August, retired truck driver Herman Lee White, 75, learned that his apartment was among the approximately 200 public housing structures in Wellston proposed to be demolished by HUD.

See HOUSING, A7

‘We are part of the lineage’

Young Leaders praised as return on 400 years of community investment

By Kenya Vaughn Of The St. Louis American

“I want to place their accomplishments within context – so I’m going off script for a moment,” Rebeccah Bennett said at the St. Louis American Foundations’ 9th annual Salute to Young Leaders reception at The Four Seasons on Thursday, February 21. Before she called out the 20 exceptional individuals of the 2019 class of honorees, she acknowledged another group from a time when assuming a position of leadership was not an option for African Americans. The year was 1619. Enslaved men women

By Rebecca Rivas Of The St. Louis American

Photo by Wiley Price

Photo by Wiley Price

Lezley McSpadden

R. Kelly bonded out by ‘friend’ who says it wasn’t her money

Last weekend, R. Kelly struggled to make bail after being charged with 10 counts of aggravated sexual abuse.

According to The Associated Press, prosecutors indicted him on 10 counts of aggravated sexual abuse of four victims. His attorney, Steve Greenberg, pleaded not guilty on Kelly’s behalf.

Kelly turned himself in to Chicago police on Friday, following his indictment. He was unable to post the $100,000 bail until Monday – which was posted by a suburban Chicago woman, who The Chicago Tribune said identified herself as a “friend” of Kelly’s on the bond slip.

She was later identified as 47-year-old Valencia Love, owner of Lordan Child Christian Daycare Academy and Love on the Blu Restaurant.

In a phone conversation with Fox 32 of Chicago, Love offered more details about springing Kelly from jail.

“I’m not going to say it was my money or his money,” Love told Fox 32’s Tia A. Ewing

according to notes the reporter posted on Twitter. “He’s not broke. He was going to post bond by Thursday anyway. It wasn’t my money. I’m not going to say whose money it is. He’s my friend, and I knew he needed help. There are three sides to every story: his side, there’s the alleged victims’ side and the truth. I can say they (accusers) are lying. He told me he was innocent. I don’t condone any man sodomizing or abusing a woman. If he did that, he is wrong, [but] he’s telling me he’s innocent.”

Kelly is due back in court on March 22, where he faces up to 70 years in prison if convicted.

Smollett of orchestrating a hate crime,

In other R. Kelly news, TMZ.com reported that a Cook County judge found Kelly in contempt earlier this month because he owes ex-wife Drea Kelly $169,996 in back child support. According to documents obtained by the celebrity news and gossip outlet, the court says he was supposed to be paying her $20,833 per month as of January 2009, but he fell off schedule in the last year.

The court order states R. Kelly needs to pay up by March 6, or he’ll be taken into custody.

Chicago Police Super tells GMA ‘there is much more evidence’ against Jussie

In his first interview since the press conference where he accused actor Jussie

Chicago Police Superintendent Eddie Johnson appeared on “Good Morning America” to proclaim that more evidence exists against the actor that is yet to go public.

“There’s a lot more evidence that hasn’t been presented yet that does not support his innocence...physical, video and testimony,” Johnson told Robin Roberts

Johnson’s interview came on the heels of an announcement by “Empire” producers – which includes showrunner Lee Daniels – that Smollett was cut from upcoming episodes of the show.

“The events of the past few weeks have been incredibly emotional for all of us. Jussie has been an important member of our ‘Empire’ family for the past five years and we care about him deeply,” The show said in a statement released to The Blast. “While these allegations are very disturbing, we are placing our trust in the legal system as the process plays out. We are also aware of the effects of this process on the cast and crew members who work on our show and to avoid further disruption on set, we have decided to remove the role of ‘Jamal’ from the final two episodes of the season.” The statement comes

not long after 20th Century Fox Television and Fox Entertainment admitted they were “evaluating the situation” and “considering what to do next.”

Smollett appeared in court on Thursday, where he was ordered to pay a $10,000 bond and surrender his passport after being arrested on felony charges of filing a false police report and disorderly conduct.

Wendy Williams announces return date

Earlier this week, there were rumors that Wendy Williams had cut all contact with her talk show staff, the producers were no longer booking guest hosts and the show was headed into reruns two months after Williams took time off for medical reasons. On Tuesday, Williams’ syndication partner DebmarMercury announced that she would be returning to the show on March 4. The show will air reruns until her expected return next week.

WUSTL creates Center for the Study of Race, Ethnicity & Equity

Adrienne Davis to serve as founding director; will ‘facilitate collaborative research’

American staff

Washington University in St. Louis will formally begin work at a new Center for the Study of Race, Ethnicity & Equity during the fall 2019 academic semester with Adrienne Davis, vice provost and the William M. Van Cleve Professor of Law, as founding director.

“It is clear that a more cohesive and concentrated focus in the areas of race, ethnicity and equity will benefit not only our students and faculty, but also our local and national community,” Chancellorelect Andrew D. Martin said while announcing the center at the university’s Day of Discovery, Dialogue & Action on Wednesday, February 20. The center was designed to interconnect ongoing research throughout the university on the Danforth and Medical campuses and to spark further scholarship and collaboration.

for enhancing diversity at the university. She also served on a 23-member task force formed by the commission that recommended the creation of the center.

The task force drew on faculty and student focus groups; exit interviews with former faculty members; and discussions with other WUSTL initiatives, including the Center for the Humanities, the Department of African and African-American Studies in Arts & Sciences, the Institute for Public Health, the Danforth Center on Religion and Politics, the Kathryn M. Buder Center for American Indian Studies, and the Collaboration on Race, Inequality, and Social Mobility in America in the Brown School.

n “Members of our faculty are eager to translate their scholarly insights into concrete policy proposals and also to shape local, national and global conversations around issues of race and ethnicity.”

– Adrienne Davis

It also will support student research (especially in the fields of Asian-American, Latinx and comparative race and ethnicity studies), host visiting scholars, and create opportunities for community collaboration with university faculty and students.

A leading interdisciplinary scholar in law, gender and race, Davis led the university’s 27-member Commission on Diversity and Inclusion, a two-year project to implement a Steering Committee for Diversity and Inclusion’s plan

“The St. Louis region continues to be at the fulcrum of the nation’s debates over race and structural inequality, and Washington University is situated squarely in the middle of the region,” Davis said.

“Because of ambitious and aggressive hiring over the last decade, the university now has a formidable faculty tackling the issues that comprise structural inequality, including disparities in health, education and economic opportunity; ever-shifting forms of discrimination and political exclusion; segregation in the built environment; and how race is represented in popular culture and the media.”

Martin and Provost Holden

Thorp credited Davis with advancing the university’s diversity and inclusion efforts to a position where it can credibly host such a center.

“As vice provost, she has strengthened the university’s efforts to recruit and retain an increasingly diverse faculty, staff and student body and enhanced our community and region through sponsored lectures, programs and courses that aim to uplift conversations around these issues,” Martin said.

Thorp said, “Now, in assuming the reins of the center, she will help us take a next important step forward.”

Davis, who personally recruited and retained many scholars on campus who now will be interconnected through the center, said they are ready to get to work.

Davis said, “Members of our faculty are eager to translate their scholarly insights into concrete policy proposals and also to shape local, national and

global conversations around issues of race and ethnicity, some of the most acute challenges of our time.”

Read the task force’s 100-

page report on the new center at

What could be different?

From a student presentation to the task force that recommended Washington University’s new Center for the Study of Race, Ethnicity & Equity from Bianca Kaushal, Kevin Lin, and Alvin Zhang.

“All three of us were here in the Fall of 2014 and we saw, felt, and heard the voices of students, staff, and faculty in the wake of Michael Brown’s death. The Asian American community struggled with finding a way into the conversation, with building solidarity, and with showing up to let others know we cared. If there was

more knowledge about the history of Asian Americans in Washington University in St. Louis available and even research reminding us of that history, what could be different?

“If students realized that we were also a part of the Civil Rights Movement, if we knew the story about Vincent Chin, if we understood the way in which black lives, Chinese lives, and Japanese lives allowed for us to stand here today, maybe that would encourage and support us in finding a way to build solidarity and coalesce.”

Community Heroes & Sheroes

Photo: Washington University/Joe Angeles

Washington University Chancellor-elect Andrew D. Martin and Vice Provost Adrienne Davis at the opening event for the university’s Day of Discovery, Dialogue & Action on Wednesday, February 20.

One of the many reasons political campaigns and elections are so frustrating is that (with the exception of U.S. president and vice president) candidates run alone and we cast votes for individual politicians, yet politics and government are group endeavors based on relationships. As we all know, politicians make many promises on the campaign trail that begin with “I,” yet almost everything that gets accomplished in government involves collaboration and negotiation. It’s a game of we, not I. We believe this essential fact of government must be considered when voting for president of the St. Louis Board of Aldermen in the March 5 Democratic primary. We know how incumbent Lewis Reed handles the Board of Aldermen as its president. More importantly, we know how Reed votes on the city’s Board of Estimate and Apportionment (E & A), the city’s chief fiscal body that also includes the mayor and comptroller. And while none of his challengers have ever held the position he holds so there is no way of knowing how they would conduct themselves on either board, we do know that a change in this position would bring change to the current relationships at both the Board of Aldermen and E & A. And those, we insist, are changes worth voting for.

On the Board of Aldermen, we believe it speaks volumes that white conservative colleagues like Aldermen Joe Vaccaro, Beth Murphy and Joe Roddy endorsed Reed. Of course, he also was endorsed by a number of black colleagues on the board, but for a black incumbent aldermanic president to be endorsed by black colleagues says very little. It’s knowing that the likes of Vaccaro, Murphy and Roddy think their interests would be best protected by keeping Reed in charge of the board that convinces us that it’s time for change.

At E & A, the case for needed change is even more dramatic. More than 11 years ago when we endorsed Reed over incumbent Jim Shrewsbury for aldermanic president, we knew we were endorsing a relatively unknown 6th Ward alderman from Joliet, Illinois. We also knew we

Editorial /CommEntary

One black woman’s mission to fix a broken criminal justice system

By Tishaura O. Jones

For the St. Louis American

were endorsing the election of a new black majority on E & A, the city’s all-important chief fiscal body. If we knew then how little we would have to show for that black majority on that board 11 years later, perhaps we would have placed less faith in the relative unknown from Joliet. Certainly we have not forgotten that it was only a few months after Reed beat Shrewsbury that then-Mayor Francis G. Slay promoted Charles Bryson so a black man could demote thenFire Chief Sherman George – without a peep from Reed, who was endorsed by the white-dominated firefighters’ union that wanted to see George sacked. More silence and indifference in the face of threats and assaults to our community would come from Reed.

The St. Louis Chapter of the Coalition of Black Trade Unionists said it best: We need Nasheed’s fighting spirit at the city level. We need it at the Board of Aldermen – and we need it even more at E & A. Comptroller Darlene Green has been an able steward of the city’s finances and has made a number of principled stands against attempted misuses of city money. Her steadfast insistence that city voters should be required to approve privatization of St. Louis airport operations is commendable and set a principled standard for city

Letters to the editor

Correction

Last week’s Political EYE stated that Lewis Reed endorsed Russ Carnahan over U.S. Rep. Wm. Lacy Clay, but Reed’s staff insists that Reed did not endorse in the race. Also, the column omitted Reed’s endorsement by Aldermen Sam Moore, Brandon Bosley, Pam Boyd and Marlene Davis.

Political viability of an earnings tax

Looks as though we’ll be talking about Better Together for months to come. One major point of conversation certainly will be the need and political viability of an

officials. But we have not failed to notice that she never draws a status quo challenger of the type that the likes of Vaccaro, Murphy and Roddy would endorse against her. The interests that are benefitting most from the current, inequitable city government seem to be satisfied with Green – and, clearly, with Reed. But the loudest voice of the status quo comes from Mayor Lyda Krewson, who has endorsed Reed – it’s Reed she wants with her on E & A. There is one major difference between the Nasheed of 2019 and the Reed of 2007. We did not really know Reed that well when we first endorsed him; we just knew that he had some ability and that we wanted a black majority on E & A and black leadership at the Board of Aldermen. In Jamilah Nasheed, however, we have a candidate – born and bred in North St. Louis – whom we know very well and have known for decades. That also means we know her weaknesses and flaws and have a very advanced sense of how to hold her accountable. We also know that she would disrupt a regressive and inequitable status quo in St. Louis government that Reed has helped to maintain for more than a decade. And that is why we have strongly endorsed JAMILAH NASHEED FOR PRESIDENT OF THE BOARD OF ALDERMEN.

All letters are edited for length and style.

earnings tax for the proposed new city. Realistically, Charles Jaco is right that such tax would assure viability of the new city as it would provide funds for infrastructure repair and maintenance, etcetera. However, Republicans (Rex Sinquefield, et. al.) view the tax as a dreadful harbinger of –oh, horrors, Big Government. But what opponents of Better Together see is not the potpourri of advantages of one big city, what they see is the historic poor performance of both city and county government. Their conclusion: a poorly performing big city molded from and run by the same self-serving politicians that control city and county government. This perception isn’t necessarily the fault of

the individuals serving as mayor and county executive. It is however the result of the wheeling and dealing of wealthy and well-connected folks pulling the strings of government via backroom conversations and promises that will never be made public.

So until citizens are convinced that a united government will work for them, Better Together will never acquire the votes necessary to achieve city-county unity. Until politicians can demonstrate a devoted responsibility to their constituents, city and county will remain as is. And an earnings tax to achieve regional progress will be impossible.

Michael K. Broughton Green

Park

For hundreds of years, America’s criminal justice system has persecuted people of color. Across the political spectrum, people now know we need change. It’s time to reform our justice system, and St. Louis Circuit Attorney Kim Gardner is working to do just that. The beginning of her tenure as St. Louis’ first AfricanAmerican circuit attorney has not been easy. Some criticize her for moving too fast; others say it’s too slow. Her predecessor, Jennifer Joyce, received similar criticism early on. Yet it seems to be more vitriolic when directed at a black woman. Why is that?

Gardner overcame a lot to become our first black circuit attorney, and she brings a holistic perspective. Working in her family’s North St. Louis funeral home as a single mom meant a personal experience with violent crime in our city and an understanding of the desperate need for more safety. She is a licensed nurse, so she understands the intersection of crime and public health. As a state representative, she saw the political challenges of improving policies. And of course, she served as an assistant circuit attorney, seeing the possibilities – and shortcomings –of the criminal justice system.

Gardner has both increased diverse hiring in the office and sought a better balance between prosecuting violent crime while also preventing crime in the

first place. She has expanded the Crime Strategies Unit to focus on violent crime, while also finding ways to avoid putting the wrong people into the criminal justice system. We all know we need better public safety policies. It’s become common knowledge that mass incarceration, unjust arrests and convictions, and cash bail aren’t making us safer. In fact, they unfairly deprive Americans of freedom.

So Gardner has been working with the Urban League, Better Family Life, the federal government, and other social service organizations to create diversionary programs that address the root causes of violence, instead of just locking people up and hoping things change. This is thankless work.

Jennifer Joyce said that dealing with City Hall, the media, and the public is difficult, takes a lot of effort, and takes time away from managing prosecutors. Joyce acknowledged that she lost a lot of staff early on as she got settled. This is a likely outcome anytime there’s a change in elected leadership. It’s hard, and we should all be rooting for the circuit attorney to properly administer justice.

Gardner is also working to build trust between communities, the police, and

the circuit attorney’s office –not an easy task. Many people have reason not to trust some police officers, and many police officers are skeptical of people who criticize them. But we need police to be fair and honest towards those they are supposed to protect and serve. And we need witnesses to feel comfortable reporting crimes if we want to increase safety. It’s in everyone’s interest for the circuit attorney to be even-handed. And yes, this means documenting which officers and witnesses are not trustworthy, so that we can avoid unjust convictions or acquittals based on questionable testimony. It’s been an eventful first couple of years for Kim Gardner. She has brought some improvements and balance to the administration of justice. Her reforms have both been cheered and criticized on the right and the left from conservatives like former Chief Trial Assistant Robert Dierker and everyone’s favorite member of the St. Louis Police Officers Association, Jeff Roorda. And if Roorda is her fiercest critic, she’s probably doing something right. The moral arc of the universe bends towards justice, but we must do the work. So, as this Black History Month comes to an end, from one black woman to another: Thank you, Circuit Attorney Kim Gardner, for doing the work. St. Louis Treasurer Tishaura O. Jones was the first African American and first woman to serve as assistant minority floor leader of the Missouri

HomEgrown BlaCk malEs

My journey from convict to mentor

By Demetrius Evans For The St. Louis American

The older boys and I journeyed together on the bus to a gas station. They gave me instructions on how to use my size and age to take advantage of the attendant in the station. At this time, gas stations were not self-service. So, when the attendant went out to pump gas, I would sneak out of the bathroom and get into the cash register and sneak out before he got back.

The very first time was a success, and I took the boys a handful of money. They gave me about $20 and kept about $150 for themselves. They underestimated my smarts because the next day when they tried to take me again, I knew I didn’t need them to do it. I started going on my own and became notoriously known around St. Louis County for that crime itself.

I started getting locked up for school truancy, then for being a runaway and then for petty crimes. I would run away from home, going on one of these escapades to get money. I was 9 years old walking around with $300-$400 in my pocket.

From age 7 to 33 I was in and out of the juvenile and adult prison systems. I remember a traumatic and lifetime-humbling experience with police officers with our guns drawn and their K-9 dog simultaneously chewing on my ankles. I could have died that day. A police officer could have died that day. I have an appreciation of how difficult it

is for everyone in that type of situation, an appreciation that doesn’t come from reading or seeing a video. Prison allowed me time to reflect on my life and see the results of so many bad decisions I had made. I was able achieve my G.E.D. and an associate’s degree. Even though my family had lost hope in me, I developed relationships with staff and mentors at the St. Louis County Juvenile Detention Center. Once I was released from prison, these were the first people I contacted. They began sneaking me in the Juvenile Detention Center to share my experiences with the kids. Getting out of prison was almost like being an animal born in the zoo who suddenly found himself in a natural habitat trying to survive. After a year of release, I left Missouri and spent time in Georgia, Florida, and North Carolina, where I continued this passion and empathy I have for at-risk youth. I returned to St. Louis, where I have struggled at times to support myself, but I am determined to help kids choose a different path.

I currently work at Ballpark Village. My employer has supported my work to help at-risk youth, actually going with me when I volunteered

to share my story with youth in detention. Because of my employer’s support, I was able to start a nonprofit organization, Sudden Impact, ICU. This non-profit is dedicated to offering life skills support and skill development to at-risk youth through inspirational speaking and employment resources. Ballpark Village also offers employment opportunities for some of these at-risk youth. My goals are to increase the programs we offer for at-risk youth by increasing the number of volunteers who support our efforts and the financial support for Sudden Impact, ICU to build a Safe Haven Housing Project for at-risk youth. I want my legacy to be about how my life has changed since I’ve been released from prison, not about what I was doing during the first 33 years of my life. Demetrius Evans is a mentor to the youth at the St. Louis Family Court and Epworth Youth Center. He founded Sudden Impact, ICU, which offers life skills support, skill development, and employment resources to inspire at-risk youth.

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

Guest Columnist Demetrius Evans

Photo by Wiley Price

Jamilah Nasheed rallied protesters in front of U.S.

Senator Roy Blunt’s office in Clayton on October 2 in opposition to the appointment of Brett Kavanaugh to the U.S. Supreme Court.

Math buddies

Mayah Noise, 11, and Derriyah Gurley, 11, 5th graders at Mason School of Academic & Cultural Literacy in the St. Louis Public School District (SLPS), used The St. Louis American to study a math lesson on February 12. SLPS participates in The American’s Newspapers In Education program.

KIPP St. Louis receives charter renewal

KIPP St. Louis, a public charter school network that educates nearly 2,000 students in the City of St. Louis, has been awarded renewal of its charter through the 2023-2024 academic year by the Missouri State Board of Education. Washington University in St. Louis, its sponsor, was instrumental, along with a group of local business leaders in bringing KIPP to St. Louis. KIPP St. Louis opened its first school, KIPP Inspire Academy, in 2009 with 72 fifth graders. Those students are now college sophomores, attending more than 30 colleges and universities around the country.

KIPP has grown to a network of five schools -- two elementary schools, two middle schools, and a high school that opened in 2017. The high school will graduate its first senior class in 2021. KIPP St. Louis has plans to add a third elementary school, KIPP Wonder Academy, beginning with kindergarten in August 2019. All KIPP St. Louis schools are free and open to students who live in the City of St. Louis. For more information, visit https://www.kippstl.org.

Hazelwood hosts Summer Opportunities Fair

The Hazelwood School District will host a Summer Opportunities Fair 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. Thursday, March 7 at Hazelwood East High School, 11300 Dunn Rd. The fair will feature summer camp and program exhibitors with options for boys and girls in all grades K-12. Families can get a head start on their summer planning and learn about several great opportunities and experiences available to students.

School segregation, then and now

By Tiffany Anderson

For The St. Louis American

The 1954 Brown v. Board of Education case was focused on providing an equitable education for all students. As Judge Warren stated, “Segregated schools were inherently unequal.”

During the 1950s there was a clear difference in resources between segregated schools with black students receiving fewer resources and being placed in less quality facilities than white students. Sixty-five years after the Brown v. Board decision, schools are becoming re-segregated.

What is not highlighted from the 1954 decision are the many black teachers who lost jobs because the schools were closed and the experiences that left some students of color feeling segregated in their white institutions. Equality then and now was in the treatment, which is based on beliefs and the mindset of the educators teaching a diverse student body.

After legislation, significant training in equity and inclusion did not occur systemically, and lesser-quality facilities and resources were replaced with less access to high quality, challenging experiences within an integrated facility.

Why are schools in the 21st century re-segregating by race?

High dropout rates in any community feeds high crime and poverty rates and ultimately results in segregated communities. Those who can move do move.

Harlem, which was a high poverty and high crime area 65 years ago, has improved schools over the last 20 years and increased college admissions. The community is now facing gentrification because the poor cannot afford to live in Harlem. As new, expensive homes replaced poor communities, poor communities were clustered to areas they could afford, causing schools in those areas to become re-segregated.

Cities across the United States face the same issue with the majority of poor communities being in one area that families can afford.

The answer can be found by looking at the deeper issues of housing patterns, economic opportunities for families of color and institutionalized racism inherent in the criminal justice system that relegates large numbers of black men and families to poverty. The percentage of men and women of color compared to the overall population of people of color in most cities demonstrates a pattern of incarcerating people of color at higher rates, which is a system of oppression and a tool to maintain a large impoverished community. Studies in Missouri highlighted how unpaid tickets, overdue fines, truancy and discipline were some of the non-felony offenses used to incarcerate the poor.

Segregation today is no longer an outgrowth from laws that enforced separate schools by race. Segregation in schools by race today is due in part to laws that reduce economic opportunity and enforce poor communities clustered through housing patterns. In the 1950s, redlining defined where people of color lived, and today it is no longer needed because it happens naturally due to segregated, high-poverty communities being concentrated in certain parts of the city.

What can educators do? Educators can address mindsets, increase rigorous academic opportunities, graduate more students who are critical thinkers and create a pipeline of economic opportunities for every student.

Section 8 housing is clustered in areas of the city, causing families to live and send their children to schools there. The high poverty rates, school segregation and housing patterns have a positive correlation, and those factors are fueled by economic conditions affecting adversely communities of color.

Viewing school segregation from a racial perspective rather than an economic and equity perspective limits our understanding. Educational leaders can provide culturally responsive training that includes academic, social and emotional components to how we think and act. Naturally, people gravitate towards others who have similar experiences. Beverly Daniel Tatum, describes this well in her book “Why are all Black Kids Sitting Together in the Cafeteria?”

In St. Louis, my hometown, I served as the supervisor for desegregation as part of my role as an assistant superintendent. Students were less successful and parents less involved in many cases in schools in St. Louis County that were involved in the desegregation program. While many students were successful, the majority in the 1990s had lower standardized test scores and lower participation in advanced placement courses in integrated settings because they were not given the same opportunities and challenging curricula. Implicit bias was an issue that faced all educators, and the lack of training impacted outcomes.

We can make a significant impact by courageously dismantling systems that keep black and brown children from advanced placement classes, increasing the rigor in all schools for all students, and making compensation and placement of teachers in higher poverty communities a priority. Educators must seek to end the segregated practices that reduce the academic challenge and access to opportunities that all students deserve.

Tiffany Anderson is superintendent of the Topeka Public School District.

Tiffany Anderson

Photo by Wiley Price

and children were brought to the Jamestown settlement in Virginia as the first documented Africans in the United States. They arrived in chains.

“The cumulative prayers, efforts, activities, strategizing, resistance, institution-building and community development for 400 years have made it possible for us to celebrate these 20,” Bennett said.

Bennett said the investment in the Young Leaders by their supporters in the room was part of a longer lineage of people who have prayed their success into being as they endured the horrors of slavery and the systemic oppression that continued beyond it.

“They hoped that one day we would have orthodontists, vice presidents of this and that, and community developers and people who have established their own nonprofits so they can give back,” Bennett said. “I want to locate the excellence of this group as part of a longer lineage that we should also be grateful for and thankful for.”

Bennett reminded the audience not to be shy about heaping on the praises of the honorees. “If you want to clap, clap,” she said. “If you want to stand up, go right ahead. If you want to say, ‘That’s my baby,’ it is wholly appropriate for you to do so.”

Each of the evening’s sponsors – Wells Fargo, Edward Jones, The Regional Business Council, the Urban League and Webster University – delivered words of encouragement as the Young Leaders came up individually

KREWSON

Continued from A1 were not introduced.

to accept their awards.

“This extraordinary group of individuals really defines the new normal,” said Larry Smith, first vice president and manager of resource development at Wells Fargo Advisors. “The old normal is what we went through to

Bosley attacked Krewson for agreeing to the Better Together proposal without garnering public support and for agreeing to a plan where the St. Louis mayor’s position would be eliminated, leaving the St. Louis County executive to run the merged Metro City. Both aldermen attacked

get here. We talked about underrepresentation for years in different organizations. But the new normal is what’s represented by these extraordinary individuals.”

The 2019 Young Leaders are Chiquita “Coach Chi” Anderson, Crystal M.

Better Together’s strategy of seeking these changes through a statewide vote, rather than a vote in just the city and county.

Better Together officials claim that a change in the Missouri Constitution is needed to merge municipal courts, which they

Cynthia Chapple, April T. Cole, Jami Ballentine Dolby, Evan W. Fowler, Jeremiah Giles, Shakia Gullette, Jennifer A. Haynes, Andrew Hubbard, Darryl T. Jones, Dan Lester, Diana Hill Mitchell, Cletra Peters, Ash Rohra Jr., Dominique Scott, Shar Smith,

claim is a primary motive of their initiative. They cite the Ferguson Commission report’s focus on the need to merge and reform predatory municipal courts.

For these two aldermen, however, this strategy undermines the democratic rights of voters in the city and county.

“It’s complete disregard for democracy,” Bosley said.

“It’s a slap in the face of democracy,” CollinsMuhammad.

If Better Together succeeds, then voters in St. Louis would be represented by a chief executive they did not elect.

If St. Louis County Executive Steve Stenger remains in office and Better Together succeeds, he would replace the city mayor. City aldermen

The St. Louis American Foundation recognized 20 exceptional individuals at its 9th annual Salute to Young Leaders held at The Four Seasons on Thursday, February 21.

Ana Stringfellow, Felicia R. Williams and Nytilia Young.

“We’ve got individuals representing decision-making positions in higher education, in the legal field, in wealth management, in engineering, in economics, social services and healthcare,” Smith said. “It

like Bosley and CollinsMuhammad would be replaced by a 33-member Metro City Council.

Both aldermen objected to the plan also because the merged Metro City would have a significantly smaller representation of African Americans than the city.

“It’s a whitewashing of the voting electorate,” CollinsMuhammad said. “AfricanAmerican representation is something this city and region have fought hard to achieve.” Because it would undermine black political power, CollinsMuhammad said, “The plan in its very nature is racist.”

Bosley also ridiculed the notion that a city-county merger would solve the region’s many ills, some of them nationally notorious.

runs the gamut.”

Among that “new normal” was Cynthia Chapel, a research and development chemist for ELANTAS PDG and founder and managing director for Black Girls Do STEM. “I don’t want you to say that you have not met a black chemist,” Bennett said. Michael McMillan, president and CEO of the Urban League of Metropolitan St. Louis, pointed out one of the honorees, Darryl Jones II, from the Urban League’s leadership team to highlight the generational impact of uplifting and instilling values within the African-American community. McMillan credited Jones’ family for shaping him into the man he is today as director of Community Engagement and Partnerships for Urban League of Metropolitan St. Louis.

“Darryl is the embodiment of the type of person we all want this community to have – that gives back, that makes a difference,” McMillan said. “A person that took a corporate career where he was doing exceptionally well and said, ‘I appreciate this, but I want to give back and help every day. Not just in my spare time, but all the time.’” Bennett closed with a challenge to the Young Leaders.

“I say to you 20 outstanding young leaders, for all of the paths that you are blazing, if you are the only to walk along your path – if the paths do not widen as a consequence of your presence – then your leadership will have been constrained and will only be relevant to your life,” Bennett said.

“Our work is to open the path. We are a part of the lineage. The baton has been handed to you.”

“This doesn’t change the 200 murders in the city, it doesn’t change the school system” – indeed, public school districts are untouched in Better Together’s proposal – “it doesn’t change the children walking hungry on our streets, it doesn’t change our homeless population,” Bosley said. In response, Krewson did not respond to the claims of voter disenfranchisement and black political disempowerment. Through a spokesman, she restated Better Together’s premise that a city-county merger would make for “a stronger, more efficient, more attractive and more competitive region.” Of the recall effort, she said it “is more internal fussing, but I get it. Self-preservation is a strong instinct.”

Carter,

Photo by Wiley Price

HOUSING

Continued from A1

Wellston’s residents. Wellston is the poorest municipality in St. Louis County, where more than 40 percent of its 2,300 residents live below the poverty line – and 65 percent of those are children.

The decision by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) was unexpected, according to records.

In fact, the City of Wellston officials had been negotiating with the federal agency for a year to regain local control of the Wellston Housing Authority, which consists of some 200 public housing structures scattered throughout the city. The city lost control in 1996, when the federal agency took possession and governance of the housing authority due to a breach of contract.

On April 19, Daniel Sherrod made an impassioned speech at his last board meeting serving as chair of the Wellston Housing Authority Board of Commissioners, according to the meeting minutes. There, he said that Wellston had “earned its rightful place” to regain control.

“You all should be happy that I am leaving because that means that you are within six months of transitioning back to local control,” said Sherrod, who is an employee of the HUD St. Louis Field Office.

At the May meeting, the commissioners announced that the plan to transition control in September was still underway.

However, in August the commissioners announced that the housing authority was struggling and the decision was made to dissolve it, rather than transfer the operation back to the city. This decision meant demolishing all of the properties.

Since then, residents and city officials have been waiting for more information about a timeline for the demolition.

The HUD St. Louis Field

After learning that his apartment was among the approximately 200 public housing structures in Wellston proposed to be demolished by HUD, retired truck driver Herman Lee White, 75, said, “A lot of my neighbors are thinking that they don’t want to move,” White said. “We’ve been together since 2002. If you go somewhere else, people don’t know you.”

Office was supposed to submit an application to dissolve the Wellston Housing Authority in January. But it has not yet made a move, and local city officials are hoping that HUD won’t.

“Most of them are elderly and been in Wellston for a long time,” said Janice Trigg, city administrator of Wellston. “Displacing people is not what we want to happen. They were supposed to have made a decision January 1, and now we are almost to March. We are expecting nothing to happen.”

Trigg hopes that HUD is giving the city time to find investors that will help the city develop units before the old ones are destroyed so residents can stay in Wellston.

However, James Heard, director of the HUD St. Louis Field Office, said that the delay was only due to the government shutdown earlier this year.

“I cannot tell you what will be the timeframe when all of this is going to take place, but it will be taking place,” Heard said.

After the St. Louis HUD office puts in its application to dissolve the authority, then the Housing Authority of St. Louis County will apply to demolish and will work with residents to find other housing arrangements.

“This process has been going on for a while,” Heard said. “The mayor and his council have been in various meetings from time to time.

They had time to work on any type of strategy or solution or development plan.” Heard cited several reasons for the decision, including increase in crime, vandalism, ongoing maintenance costs and lack of revenue. Heard said he did not want to respond to whether or not he thought the community was justified in feeling confused and shocked about the demolition after hearing Sherrod’s statement about a return to local control.

Not knowing is ‘torture’

Wellston resident and community organizer Farrakhan Shegog believes tearing down all the units would be a waste.

“From our standpoint, instead of spending $1.7 million to demolish of them, they could modernize some of the ones that are not in bad shape,” Shegog said.

Some of the units that were built in the 1960s are not fit for families to live in and need to be torn down, he said, but the ones that were built in the late 1980s and ‘90s just need some work.

Shegog’s grandfather has lived in Wellston since 1960s.

“Wellston is a prideful small city in spite of not having everything other cities have,” he said. “We all want to see beautiful sidewalks and home repair programs.”

At the November 28 Wellston City Council meeting, HUD officials said that the

only way to stop the demolition and disposition was for the city to find investors or buyers who would commit to redeveloping the public housing and who had secured financing by December 23.

“Yet HUD knew or should have known that finding such individuals or entities in less than one month was a practical impossibility,” Legal Services of Eastern Missouri, who is representing some of the residents, wrote to HUD Secretary Ben Carson on February 5.

Legal Services attorneys said they have been working with the city since late November to bring together people with expertise in redevelopment, financing, and urban planning. And they’ve had some success but need more time, said Lisa J. D’Souza, the Legal Services attorney who wrote the letter. Legal Services asked for HUD not to demolish the public housing units until the “developers have a full and fair opportunity to make a proposal for financing and preservation.” Carson has not responded to the letter.

Shegog said community leaders decided not to wait for the federal government to offer residents services. They hosted a community event with 25 service providers – including housing, credit agencies, mental health, attorneys, utility assistance – and about 650 people attended.

D’Souza said that the federal government is legally obligated to resident relocation assistance under the U.S. Housing Act that governs the demolition of public housing.

Shegog said not knowing when the federal government will act is “torture” for the community.

“It’s forcing people to ask, ‘Should I drop everything and move now? Should I wait until HUD comes and talks to me? Even if I do wait on HUD, will they say if I’m eligible or ineligible to get vouchers?’” he said.

“It leaves people in fear.”

Photo by Wiley Price

Salute to Young Leaders Networking Awards Reception

Last week, more than 300 attended the St. Louis American Foundation’s 9th annual Salute to Young Leaders Networking Awards Reception at the Four Seasons Hotel

Twenty outstanding African-American professionals, under age 40, were honored at the special recognition event. St. Louis-based Wells Fargo Advisors served as the presenting sponsor of the event. It was an evening of celebration that was energized by an appreciative audience that was inspired by the accomplishments and service of this year’s honorees. (For more photos, please visit stlamerican.com).

Larry Smith of presenting sponsor Wells Fargo Advisors noted, “This extraordinary group of individuals really defines the new normal.”

Michael McMillan offered greetings on behalf of partner sponsor The Urban League of Metropolitan St. Louis.

Guests in the audience were encouraged to cheer for the awardees they came to support.

Emcee Rebeccah Bennett of Emerging Wisdom

President Beth Stroble delivered remarks on behalf of partner sponsor Webster University.

Kathy Osborn presented awards on behalf of partner sponsor the Regional Business Council.

The 2019 Class of Young Leaders (front left to right): Diana Hill Mitchell, Cletra Peters, Dan Lester Sr., Darryl Jones II, Andrew Hubbard, Jennifer Haynes, Ash Rohra, Dominique Scott, Shar Smith, Ana Stringfellow, Felicia Williams, Nytilia Young, Evan Fowler, Jami Ballentine Dolby, Jeremiah Giles, Shakia Gullette, Chiquita Anderson, Crystal Carter, Cynthia Chapple, April Cole

Constance McLaughlin, 2019 Young Leader Cynthia Chapple and 2015 Young Leader Kimberly Burke

Robert Crumpton congratulated the awardees on behalf of partner sponsor Edward Jones.

St. Louis.

Awardee Darryl Jones II, Director of Community Engagement and Partnerships for Urban League of Metropolitan St. Louis was cheered by his family (in the background).

Michael Holmes, June Fowler and 2019 Young Leader Evan Fowler

2019 Young Leaders Dominique Scott and Ana Stringfellow show some love for Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc.

2019 Young Leaders Chiquita “Coach Chi” Anderson and Crystal Carter.

Photos by Wiley Price

2019 Young Leaders Shakia Gullette, Jennifer Haynes and Andrew Hubbard making introductions.

Fathers testify for equal parenting time

A delegation from Fathers United to Raise Awareness visited with state Rep. Kathryn Swan (R-Cap Girardeau), sponsor of HB 229, when they went to Jefferson City recently to testify before the House Judiciary Committee on behalf of the bill. HB 229 would establish a rebuttable presumption that child custody arrangements that award equal parenting time are in the best interest of the child. Swan also crafted the shared parenting bill, HB 1550, that was signed into law in 2016. “Our seven fathers were deliberate and passionate giving their testimony,” said Chester A. Deanes Jr., president of Fathers United to Raise Awareness. “Once again, fathers make a difference.”

Be a Tourist in Your Own Town

St. Louis Convention and Visitors Commission

One last chance for winter events

Art in Bloom at the Saint Louis Art Museum (March 1-3) combines flowers and fine art for an annual celebration of spectacular floral displays, with presentations, lectures, family activities, dining, and shopping.

By Kiara Bryant For the St. Louis American

As spring approaches, there’s one last chance for winter events with the following activities warming up the St. Louis area. From Mardi Gras to March Madness, find your reason to explore St. Louis this year.

There’s something for everyone in the 2019 Official St. Louis Visitor Guide. The guide features the latest in live music, events and neighborhoods, as well as timely information on what’s happening in St. Louis this year. Whether you’re looking for family activities, year-round events, or planning an itinerary for guests, this guide will help you find your way. Visit the Explore St. Louis website to see the guide for yourself.

Celebrating 40 years of magic, music and memories, St. Louis is famous for its festive Mardi Gras party. The majestic events include the Purina Pet Parade (February 24), Taste of Soulard (February 23-24), and more leading up to the Grand Parade on Saturday, March 2.

We invite you to see what’s blooming around town this season as Art in Bloom at the Saint Louis Art Museum (March 1-3) combines flowers and fine art for an annual celebration of spectacular floral displays, with presentations, lectures, family activities, dining, and shopping. Similarly, at the Missouri Botanical Garden, guests can immerse themselves in a tropical oasis at The Orchid Show, on view through March 24.

Arch Madness is back in St. Louis, as the Enterprise Center welcomes the return of the

State Farm Missouri Valley Conference Men’s Basketball Championship (March 7-10). Ten teams will compete to determine who will be granted an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.

Don’t miss your chance to see it all, from lawn and garden to kitchen and bath exhibitors, as the 42nd Annual Builders St. Louis Home & Garden Show (March 7-10) is the place to learn about the latest in home products and services, all under one roof at America’s Center. You have until April 14 to discover the “GUITAR: The Instrument that Rocked the World” exhibit at the Saint Louis Science Center. Experience the science of sound with hands-on interactive installations for all ages. From the Nile River Valley to its current status as the modern choice for every genre of music, the guitar has rocked them all.

There’s always a ton of fantastic concerts and shows in the St. Louis area and next month is no exception, as comedian and actor from SNL, Jay Pharoah comes to the Helium Comedy Club on March 1-3 and the incomparable Mariah Carey performs at the Stifel Theatre on March 16. Carey has been recognized with multiple Grammy awards and numerous achievements in songwriting and more, you won’t want to miss this pop performance of her amazing five-octave vocal range.

This is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to great ideas and things do in St. Louis. Please visit www.explorestlouis.com for more exciting events and upcoming entertainment that may peak your interest.

Jamilah Nasheed dishes on Mayor Krewson’s endorsement of Lewis Reed and more

The St. Louis American has endorsed Jamilah Nasheed over incumbent Lewis Reed and Megan Ellyia Green in the Democratic primary for president of the St. Louis Board of Aldermen on Tuesday, March 5. The American asked Nasheed about Mayor Krewson’s endorsement of Lewis Reed, legislation that the board needs to pass, Better Together, and her analysis of racial demographics in the likely outcome of her election.

The St. Louis American: St. Louis Mayor Lyda Krewson endorsed Lewis Reed for president of the Board of Aldermen in the March 5 Democratic primary. What does that say about him as a candidate? As a vote on the Board of E&A?

Jamilah Nasheed: Mayor Krewson took 32 percent of the citywide vote in the 2017 primary. But she was basically in single digits everywhere north of Delmar. So, her base is definitely in the more southern parts of our city. And there’s nothing wrong with that – as this paper pointed out last week, that’s essentially where Lewis Reed’s endorsements have come from during this campaign. However, the fact that she felt a need to weigh in on this race, particularly in support of one of her opponents who helped divide up the 68 percent of the vote she didn’t win in 2017, should give us a bit of

pause. A vote on the Board of E&A in this city is a very powerful thing. These two seats and Comptroller Darlene Green make up the most authoritative legislative body in our city. Which I think is a big reason why many people have been left stunned by Reed’s actions there – like his reversal on the airport privatization proposal or his rush in 2017 to push through a questionable body cam contract for a company whose lobbyist used to work for him without even 30 minutes of debate, especially after he’d ardently opposed body cams in our city for years before. So, after that endorsement, I think it’s fair for voters to wonder: Is Lewis Reed really going to be an independent vote for us at the E&A or will he just be Mayor Krewson’s reliable second?

The St. Louis American: The CBTU endorsement of you said your “fighting spirit” is needed in city politics. What is a fight that you think needs waging that no one is fighting or that needs a leader in city government?

Jamilah Nasheed: My fighting spirit is needed because our current aldermanic leadership is not standing up for all of us. Lewis Reed fought hard for to help wealth county residents build a soccer stadium built for their fellow wealthy county residents. But the rest of the community

Zora Anita Ward

Jamilah Nasheed was given permission to speak when she attended a meet and greet for candidates in the race for 18th Ward alderman at the Deaconess Center on Child Well Being on Monday, February 25. Nasheed is trying to upset incumbent Lewis Reed in the Democratic primary for president of the St. Louis Board of Aldermen on Tuesday, March 5. The Democratic nominee for alderman in the even-numbered wards also will be decided on March 5. The candidates for 18th Ward are Jesse Todd, Jeffery Hill Jr., Darryl Gray, Judith Arnold and Elmer Otey. Incumbent Alderman Terry Kennedy did not seek reelection.

was completely left out because Lewis Reed refused to incorporate a Community Benefits Agreement into his soccer stadium proposal. We need a leader who will fight for Community Benefits Agreements to be attached to development deals, to ensure that our entire community benefits.

The St. Louis American: What are some examples of city legislation that are needed that Lewis Reed has not gotten passed by the Board of Aldermen?

AC Hines

Jamilah Nasheed: Under

Lewis Reed, the Board of Aldermen has failed to pass important legislation that makes a real difference in the lives of everyday St. Louisans. Reed failed to pass a bill banning lobbyists from the floor of the Board of Aldermen. Reed failed to pass a bill requiring a Community Benefits Agreement for development incentives. Reed failed to pass a bill requiring a Community Benefits Agreement for the planned soccer stadium. Reed failed to pass a Homeless Bill of Rights. Reed failed to pass a buffer zone around Planned

Parenthood. And Reed failed to pass legislation supporting his so-called Operation Ceasefire program.

Lewis Reed almost succeeded in killing the ordinance to create a city-wide minimum wage. In fact, he announced his opposition to it when it first was announced and worked to kill it at every juncture until the community applied so much pressure that he couldn’t push back its passage.

The St. Louis American: What are some of Lewis Reed’s votes on the Board of

Phillip P. Montgomery

Estimate and Apportionment where you would have voted differently?

Jamilah Nasheed: When he approved of the current process being pursued to privatize the airport. I would not have voted to approve a process that left out a public vote and that required the city taxpayers to ultimately pay exorbitant retainers to so many Reed friends and insiders. The way Reed and E&A have handled the airport process is simply unacceptable.

The St. Louis American: How do you distinguish your position on Better Together’s proposal from the positions of your opponents?

Jamilah Nasheed: I don’t think there’s enough conversation around the reduction in minority representation that will take place if this merger proposal moves forward. We have seven black elected officials in citywide positions right now, and not a single one of those positions - license collector, recorder of deeds, treasurer, sheriff, comptroller, president of the Board of Aldermen, circuit attorney – will exist if this plan comes to fruition. What’s even more dangerous is that the people of St. Louis city and county are being stripped of their voices. I stood up when Better Together announced its plan to put a merger on the statewide ballot and introduced legislation for a constitutional amendment. That amendment would require a majority of voters in the city and county to approve any merger proposal for it to pass. And, if merger advocates want to keep pushing for a statewide vote to determine our city’s future, I’ll keep fighting to make sure this becomes law. We don’t try to tell the rest of the state how to run their local government, so people from outside our region shouldn’t be the ones determining what our future holds.

The St. Louis American: Of the three viable candidates in this race, two are black (Reed and you), while one (Megan Ellyia Green) is white. Given that the electorate is fairly evenly divided between whites and blacks and whites tend to have a higher voter turnout, that usually means the white candidate would be favored to win. How does this race differ from the usual paradigm?

Jamilah Nasheed: While the city may be evenly split, racially speaking, political appeal is a bit more complex than that. And I think voters in our city deserve more credit than that. Just look at the trouncing Kim Gardner gave her opponents in 2016, or how close Tishaura Jones came to becoming our mayor in 2017, despite the presence of four other African Americans on the ballot.

Jamilah Nasheed: You can look all the way back to 2012 in my own race against Robin Wright-Jones and Jeanette Mott Oxford. I was off the ballot for two months after I was drawn out of my district and could barely raise a dollar during that period, but eventually won in court and came out on top on Election Day with 40 percent of the vote. The St. Louis American: The Post-Dispatch endorsed Reed. Do you have any comment on its endorsement?

Jamilah Nasheed: I was taken aback that the PostDispatch editorial board was willing to endorse someone who had consistently been called out by their own writers for not paying his taxes, engaging in Islamophobia, and his “struggles with the truth” all within the last month. Not to mention the shockingly brazen dark money conspiracy to elect Reed that Tony Messenger uncovered in the Post-Dispatch on February 26. I’m sure that the readers who read those articles were just as shocked as I was to see the endorsement, although maybe not completely surprised given their track record of questionable endorsements, and recent history of antagonism toward female candidates, particularly African-American ones.

Photo by Wiley Price

Health clinic opens in Hoech Middle School

‘No student will leave here with a bill’

By Sandra Jordan Of The St.

Louis American

CareSTL Health opened its fourth schoolbased health clinic, the Husky Health Center at Hoech Middle School in St. Ann, which is in the Ritenour School District.

n “If a student does have insurance, we will bill their insurance, but no student will leave here with a bill. And if they do not have insurance, as a federally qualified health center, we still see them.”

– Jasmine Burris, CareSTL Health

“Opening a school-based health center for our students makes it more convenient for them to receive the quality care they need to manage chronic conditions and improve their health, which ultimately optimizes their learning potential,” stated Ritenour Superintendent Chris Kilbride. The clinic, which started operations on January 28, offers comprehensive health services during the school day, as research finds that schoolbased clinics increase student attendance and graduation rates. It is staffed by a pediatrician, nurse practitioner, registered medical assistant and a licensed clinical behavioral health consultant from CareSTL Health.

Ritenour School District and community partner CareSTL Health recently celebrated the opening of a school-based health clinic, Husky Health Center at Hoech Middle School in St. Ann, with a ribbon cutting on February 21.

“Right now, we are offering physical and behavioral health services to all the students in the Ritenour School District,” said Jasmine Burris, director of School Based Health and Community Partnerships for CareSTL Health. Children can be referred to the clinic by the school nurse, social worker, teacher,

administrator or parent.

“If they have symptoms of the flu or strep throat or pink eye, they’ll be referred to the nurse at a school building,” Burris said.

“The nurse will look at them, and if they decide they need to be seen at the health

See CLINIC, A13

Christian Hospital to host CultureFest 2019

Christian Hospital will host CultureFest 2019 from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Wednesday, March 27 in its atrium and parking lot at 11133 Dunn Rd. Community program booths, retail vendors, and health initiatives that promote diversity, inclusion and equity

will be present. The Urban League of Metropolitan St. Louis Mobile Health Van will provide blood pressure, cholesterol and glucose screenings. Four 23andMe DNA ancestry kits will be given away as door prizes, compliments of the

Hospital

By Denise Hooks-Anderson, M.D.

Of The St. Louis American

As women, our lives may differ in educational advancements, whether we’re married or single, work outside of the home or stay at home with the kids. But I’m certain our lives mirror one another when it comes to grueling schedules, over-commitment, and lack of sleep.

Furthermore, our to-do-lists never include us at the top and, to be perfectly honest, we don’t even make the list. We dedicate ourselves to our families, jobs, and houses of worship, but rarely do we stop to consider what we need and should be doing for our health.

Ladies, this cycle of neglect must stop today. The number one killer of women is heart disease, not cancer. In order for our hearts to maximally perform, we must provide it with the proper tools to succeed. These tools include the right people on our team, the right foods, exercise, knowledge, and good, old-fashioned common sense. Our heart is a muscle, and it beats approximately 80-100 beats per minute. This muscle is important because it is pumping oxygen-rich blood to the rest of the body. Therefore, if the heart is damaged, this compromises the rest of the organs and tissues within the body.

High blood pressure can injure the heart by causing it to have to work excessively hard.

n With this particular patient, I had to insist that she seek an evaluation from the cardiologist. She initially resisted because she said she was too busy.

Over time, certain areas of the heart can become thickened or stiff, resulting in a condition called congestive heart failure (CHF). With CHF, fluid builds up in the lungs, causing shortness of breath, and fluid builds up in the lower extremities. There are several different stages and levels of severity of CHF. If left untreated, CHF can progress to the point of heart transplantation. Hypertension (high blood pressure) is also a risk factor for coronary artery disease, blockages in the vessels which supply the heart. If there is a blockage in an artery, sometimes people feel pressure or pain in their chests. This pain can radiate to the arms or jaw, and it can cause nausea or vomiting.

However, women may not have typical symptoms. I had a patient once who just had back pain and none of the other more common complaints during a heart attack. With this particular patient, I had to insist that she seek an evaluation from the cardiologist. She initially resisted because she said she was too busy.

Per the American Heart Association, normal blood pressure should be less than 120/80. Every woman should be able to rattle off four very important numbers: blood pressure, weight, body mass index (BMI), and cholesterol. These dashboard indicators are risk factors for heart disease. In order to obtain these numbers on a regular basis, you must visit your primary care provider regularly and not just your gynecologist. Women are more than their lady parts.

After visiting with your doctor, if abnormalities are identified then it is time for action. Lifestyle modifications – diet and

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ST. LOUIS AMERICAN • FEB. 28 – MAR. 6, 2019

Denise HooksAnderson, MD

Nicole Crisp, a nurse practitioner with CareSTL Health, examined Mykai Allen, a fifth-grader from Wyland Elementary School, at the Ritenour School District’s new school-based health clinic, Husky Health Center at Hoech Middle School in St. Ann, on Thursday, February 21. His mother, Mya Allen, is in the background.

Christian

Auxiliary. Food trucks from Andrew’s Bayou BBQ, Crooked Boot Soul Food, KBOP Korean, Sia’s Italian Ice, Twisted Tacos and Wok and Roll will be on site.

Photo by Deneen Busby

Photo by Deneen Busby

Nurse Crystal Joy is ‘the best of the best’

Crystal Joy of Ambulatory Surgery (center, holding plaque) is Alton Memorial Hospital’s February Employee of the Month.

“Crystal is consistently mentioned in discharge calls. Her pleasant attitude is greatly appreciated by patients and their families. Patients have called to say how wonderful she is. One patient said, ‘There are good nurses, but she is the best of the best,’” her co-workers said.

“Crystal has received cards and flowers from patients she has taken care of. Comments received from patients/families include: ‘Crystal was very sweet and comforting,’ ‘Crystal was excellent checking me in and getting me out with my husband,’ and ‘Crystal was fantastic and comforting.’ Her team members know that they can count on Crystal to lend a hand when they need it.”

Climate change is a growing global health crisis

By Eugene Robinson Washington Post

Last year was officially proclaimed the fourth-warmest on record; scientists predict that melting ice in Antarctica and Greenland could not only raise sea levels but further destabilize weather patterns; and progressive members of Congress are proposing a “Green New Deal,” the first policy framework ambitious enough to meet the challenge of global warming. Climate change is the biggest, most important story of our time. Our grandchildren and great-grandchildren will judge us by how well we meet the challenge, and so far we are failing miserably. Scientists from NASA announced that 2018 was the earth’s fourth-warmest year since record-keeping began

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center, they are more than welcome to come as long as we have consent on file for them.”

According to the district, more than 2,900 of its 6,300 students have chronic health conditions; and according to the Missouri Health Index, the three zip codes within the Ritenour School District are among the unhealthiest in Missouri, with the most cases of chronic illnesses, including asthma and diabetes.

Services at the clinic are free of charge and are open to students who currently are enrolled in Ritenour’s 10 schools and early childhood center.

“If a student does have insurance, we will bill their insurance, but no student will leave here with a bill,” Burris said. “And if they do not have insurance, as a federally qualified health center, we still see them.” If a child needs medicine, clinic providers will write prescriptions.

“When they call the parents

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exercise – are generally the first step, but in some cases the next step could be medications.

The warmest years on record were 2016, 2017, 2015, 2018 and 2014

about 140 years ago. The warmest year of all was 2016, followed in order by 2017 and 2015; the fifth-warmest was 2014. Anyone who is not deliberately being obtuse can see the pattern. Why is it so hot? Because humankind has increased the concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere by a staggering 40 percent since the Industrial Revolution. There is now more of the heattrapping gas in the air than at any time in at least the past 800,000 years. Researchers have looked in vain for any “natural” phenomenon or cycle that could explain the carbon buildup and the rapid warming. Yet global carbon emissions are at an all-time high. Anyone tempted to shrug – or even cheer, given the brutal cold that much of the nation suffered last

month – is whistling past the graveyard. Sea-level rise, in part caused by the fact that warmer water takes up more space than cooler water, has already worsened coastal flooding around the world and threatened to erase low-lying islands from the map. Now attention has shifted to the polar regions, where the warming process is proceeding most rapidly and ice is melting at an unprecedented pace.

Hardly a month goes by without some alarming new report about accelerated melting in Antarctica and the various apocalyptic scenarios that might come true. A paper published in the journal Nature suggests that a phenomenon known as

“marine ice cliff instability” might not produce as much additional sea level rise as a 2016 paper had predicted. But a second Nature paper warned that melting ice in Antarctica, Greenland and the Himalayas could seriously disrupt weather and temperature patterns worldwide. That’s the true nature of the scientific debate over climate change. It’s not about whether global warming is taking place or what’s causing it – those questions are settled. The open question is whether the effects of human-induced climate change will be really bad, catastrophically bad or threat-to-civilization bad.

Enter the resolution, introduced by U.S. Rep.

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., and U.S. Sen. Ed Markey, D-Mass., calling on Congress to create a Green New Deal.

Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi has sounded skeptical. “It will be one of several or maybe many suggestions that we receive,” she said, according to Politico. “The green dream or whatever they call it, nobody knows what it is, but they’re for it, right?”

The point of the resolution is not to propose specific, detailed policy prescriptions. What it does accomplish, though, is lay out the enormous scale of the climate change problem – and, as a commensurate response, call for “a new national, social, industrial and economic mobilization on a scale not seen since World War II and

the New Deal.” The resolution’s goal is to reduce net U.S. carbon emissions to zero through a “10-year national mobilization.” Such a crusade, as envisioned, would create jobs and economic development while at the same time safeguarding the biosphere. Yes, proposals such as “upgrading all existing buildings in the United States” and “spurring massive growth in clean manufacturing” and “overhauling transportation systems” sound like pie in the sky. But that’s the scale of the crisis. Sooner or later, we’re going to have to go big on climate change. So let’s start thinking big.

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

n “What it means for me as a parent is that if my son or daughter needs to be seen for an acute illness, they don’t have to miss school.”

– Laamar Cunningham, a Ritenour parent

to inform them that they are going to write a prescription, they will verify what pharmacy they want the medication to be sent,” Burris said. “The only drugs we have are emergency supplies. So, if someone has an asthma attack we’ll be able to give them some albuterol, or if someone has an allergic reaction we can respond and give them an Epi-pen.”

Laamar Cunningham is a Ritenour parent who works as a registered nurse for the district at Marvin Elementary School in St. John. He said the clinic is good for district students and parents.

“What it means for me as a parent is that if my son or daughter needs to be seen

for an acute illness, they don’t have to miss school,” Cunningham said. “When they come to the clinic, it’s counted as being still in school. I don’t have to take off work, and the district provides them with transportation to the center, which makes it better for me.”

Cunningham said Ritenour students also receive dental, vision and hearing screenings from health partners in the community.

Burris said that Husky Health is housed in a former immunization clinic that has been out of use for decades. She said that BJC HealthCare provided exam room tables and some other items needed for the clinic, “and we are really appreciative of them to be able to donate those materials to us.”

In addition to the newest clinic at Hoech Middle School, CareSTL Health operates a clinic at Hazelwood East High School, Fairview Elementary (in the Jennings School District), and Riverview Gardens High School.

It is important to adhere to the prescribed plan. For women, this leads us right back to the beginning of our discussion. We can name every reason why we don’t exercise, why we don’t eat healthy meals, and why we don’t get enough sleep. In addition, we often fail to

n Ladies, every task that we feel is so urgent will mean nothing if we no longer exist.

the warning signs: headaches, chest pain that we attribute to indigestion, and shortness of breath. Ladies, every task that we feel is so urgent will mean nothing if we no longer exist. Slow down. Re-prioritize. You are worth your attention. Denise Hooks-Anderson,

Foundation for Health is a resource for the region, working with communities and

in health. As a catalyst for change, the Foundation improves the health of Missourians

is associate professor at SLUCare Family Medicine and the medical accuracy editor of The St. Louis American. Email yourhealthmatters@ stlamerican.com.

Health Matters is provided in partnership with

Nicole Crisp, a nurse practitioner with CareSTL Health, examined Dani Allen, a thirdgrader from Wyland Elementary School, at the Ritenour School District’s new schoolbased health clinic, Husky Health Center at Hoech Middle School in St. Ann, on Thursday, February 21.

Photo by Deneen Busby

Eugene Robinson

NEWSPAPER IN EDUCATION

Yummy Yogurt!

Nutrition Challenge:

Yogurt is a healthy food powerhouse. It is a great source of calcium, vitamins A and D, potassium and protein. Greek yogurt is usually the highest in protein.

Yogurt is also a great way to regulate your

Winter Activities

Since it is still cold outside, how can we stay active and fit? Ask your parents where you can set up a work-out corner in your house for exercising (jumping jacks, stretching, dancing, etc.) Here’s an idea — why not stay active while watching TV? It’s easy to do! Instead of sitting and watching your favorite TV

When you find yourself in a conflict (fight/disagreement) with someone, practice these 5 steps for conflict resolution.

Conflict Resolution

PRESENT:

Healthy Kids Healthy Kids

digestive system. It contains “good” bacteria called probiotics that can help your stomach and intestines work better. If you’ve ever been constipated or had diarrhea, you know how uncomfortable it can be when your digestion isn’t working properly.

show, you can stand and walk briskly in place. Raise your knees and swing your arms as you walk. You can easily get in 20-30 minutes every night just by remembering this easy fitness trick!

Learning Standards: HPE 2, HPE 3, HPE 5, NH 1

4. Negotiate. (Discuss possible options.)

5. Compromise on a solution. (Each person can give a little.)

1. Identify the conflict. (Why aren’t we getting along?)

2. Agree to disagree. (Nobody has to be “wrong.”)

3. Listen to each other.

(Really listen to the other person’s side.)

How to “sneak” yogurt into your diet:

> Substitute your usual sour cream with plain Greek yogurt.

> Use plain yogurt as a dip for celery or carrots.

> Mix vanilla yogurt, fruit and granola into a tasty breakfast parfait.

Learning Standards:

HPE 2, HPE 5, NH 1, NH 3, NH 5

Ingredients:

5 Cherry tomatoes

Look through the newspaper for a story where two people (or groups of people) are in a conflict. Write out how each of these steps could help the situation.

Learning Standards: HPE 2, HPE 5, NH 4

2 Tbsp Softened low-fat cream cheese

2 Tbsps Chopped fresh herbs

Salt and pepper to taste

Directions: Cut the cherry tomatoes in half. Top each with a dollop of cheese and sprinkle with the herbs and salt/pepper. You can enjoy these cold, or you can place into a foil-lined pan and heat in the oven until the cheese starts to bubble.

Healthcare Careers

Cassie

Booth,

Personal Trainer, Author, Speaker

Where do you work? I am the owner of Whole Peace Journey. Where did you go to school? I graduated from Lafayette High School. I then studied at Meramec Community College and I am an AFAA certified personal trainer.

What does a personal trainer do? I find new ways every day to make exercise fun and challenging at the same time. I watch people become stronger right before my eyes!!

Why did you choose this career? I love helping people feel good about themselves. It is rewarding to see the effects of positive encouragement. I love the fact that I can empower people to live healthier lives. I love to make people sweat, and the smell doesn’t even bother me!

What is your favorite part of the job you have? My favorite part is taking a picture of someone before they started with me and then comparing it to a picture after a few months of hard work. It’s like magic! I have helped many people see changes in their lives to affect their health.

Learning Standards: HPE6, NH3

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

As one of the

Kids got cabin fever?

Spring classes at the Saint Louis Zoo

Whether you want to learn more about turtles, penguins, apes, or big cats, the Zoo has a class for you! Our programs are designed to help individuals of all ages and abilities learn through experience, involvement and discovery. Programs include live animals, guided tours, and exciting activities and experiences for the whole family. Programs available for homeschoolers and scouts too!

For program listings and registration information, visit www.stlzoo.org/education or call (314) 646-4544, option #6.

Stuffed Cherry Tomatoes

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

CLASSROOM SPOTLIGHT

Dr. Katie Harper Wright Elementary School 4th grade head teacher

Alecia Johnson shows students Na’Zayo Abdi, Janila Hill, Xziyah Isaac and Dezmond Isaac lessons inspired by the newspaper’s STEM page.

Photo by Wiley Price/ St. Louis American.

Tooth decay is an important and serious childhood illness. If it isn’t treated, it can affect eating, speaking, learning, and selfesteem. Untreated tooth decay can also lead to bacterial infections.

How can you prevent tooth decay? First, look at your diet. You need nutrients, such as calcium and magnesium to make sure your teeth are strong. Eating a healthy diet will provide nutrients to strengthen your teeth. Make sure you limit sugary snacks and juices. Brush your teeth immediately after eating these snacks. Soda and tea

SCIENCE INVESTIGATION

Background Information:

Have you noticed the word “fluoride” on your toothpaste?

In this experiment, you will observe the effect of fluoride on your teeth.

Materials Needed: • 2 Hard-Boiled Eggs

• Fluoride Gel or Solution, 4 oz. to 6 oz. • 3 Clean Plastic Containers • Several Cans of Dark Soda

• Water Process:

q Put a hard-boiled egg in a plastic container, cover it with the fluoride gel and let it soak for 24 hours.

After 24 hours, remove the egg and rinse it with water.

MATH CONNECTION

Try these fun math activities to celebrate good dental health!

Graphing: Create a graph that represents your class’ favorite toothpaste flavor: mint, bubblegum, fruit, etc.

Average: How many baby teeth have you lost? Calculate the class average of the number of teeth lost.

DID YOU KNOW?

SCIENCE STARS

AFRICAN AMERICAN CELEBRITY DENTIST: Dr. Catrise L. Austin

can also damage the enamel that covers your teeth and protects them.

Next, you need to keep your teeth clean. You should brush your teeth twice a day and floss your teeth regularly. It’s very important to brush your teeth before you go to bed so that food residue does not build up on your teeth. For More Information, Visit: http:// www.eschooltoday.com/tooth-care-forchildren/tooth-gum-dental-decay.html.

Learning Standards: I can read nonfiction text for main idea and supporting details.

w Place the egg from step 1 in a clean plastic container and label it “treated with fluoride.”

e Place the remaining hard-boiled egg in the remaining clean plastic container and label it “untreated.”

r Cover both eggs with dark soda. Change the soda solution every 12 hours for the next two days.

t Compare the two eggs—color, texture, etc.

Analyze: Which egg was stronger? Which egg had a brighter color? What can you conclude about the effectiveness of fluoride?

Learning Standards: I can follow sequential directions to complete an experiment. I can analyze results.

Catrise L. Austin was born in Michigan on May 2, 1970. When she was visiting an orthodontist to receive braces, she knew immediately that she wanted to become involved in dentistry. In 1988, she graduated from Flint High School and was voted prettiest smile. Austin received her B.A. degree in psychology, in 1991, from the University of Maryland. Five years later, she received her PhD in dental surgery from the same school. After moving to New York, she completed her advanced dental training at Brooklyn Lutheran Medical Center.

In 1998, she opened her own practice, called VIP Smiles.

Many famous celebrities are her patients: Toni Braxton, Paula Abdul, Missy Elliot, Common, and many more. Austin has appeared on the Discovery Health Channel, The Queen Latifah Show, The Ricki Lake Show, and Good Morning America. She has been profiled in magazines including Glamour, Essence, Self and Black Enterprise.

Austin was named one of the 25 Most Influential Black Women in Business in 1999. She belongs to numerous professional organizations including the American Dental Association, New York County Dental Society, American Association of Women Dentists, American Academy of Cosmetic Dentists, Academy of Sports Dentistry, National Association of Black Female Executives in Music and Entertainment, Black Sports Agents Association, and Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority.

You Can Visit Dr Austin’s Website at: https://www.thesmilist.com/catrise-austin-dentist .

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

Over or Under: Dentists recommend brushing your teeth for two to three minutes. Have a partner time you as you brush your teeth. Were you over or under the suggested time?

Tooth Fairy Travels: Choose a city mentioned in the newspaper. If the tooth fairy had to travel to your house from that city, how many miles would they need to travel?

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

This special Newspaper In Education initiative is made possible, and delivered to classrooms, through

MAP CORNER

Use the newspaper to complete the following activities.

Activity One — Tone: Have you ever had someone tell you they didn’t like your tone? They are referring to your attitude. In literature, tone is the author’s attitude toward a topic. It can be serious, playful, sarcastic, sympathetic, etc. Choose three articles from different sections of the newspaper and identify the author’s tone.

friends. Describe why you chose the pictures. Did you choose them because of the words (text) or the photograph?

Learning Standards: I can use the newspaper to locate information. I can identify author’s tone and describe first impressions.

Activity Two — First Impressions: A first impression is the opinion you form about someone when you first see or meet them. Look for photographs in the St. Louis American of people you think would make good

Business

A black take on Better Together

In Better Together’s proposal to merge St.

be the exclusive

By Mike Jones

Of The St. Louis American

and county

the

City-county merger considered from a black political perspective

The Latin phrase “Time Danasos et dona fermented” – which means “I fear the Greeks, even those bearing gifts” – has become the commonly used phrase “Beware of Greeks bearing gifts,” The phrase, from the Roman poet Virgil’s retelling of the Trojan War, refers to how the Greeks tricked the Trojans to win the war. It very aptly applies to how the black community should view the Better Together proposal for merging the City of St Louis and St. Louis County.

The business leadership of St. Louis has long believed the only thing that stands between the St. Louis region and greatness and prosperity is the fragmentation of the region’s local

governmental structure. Nothing could be further from the truth, but there is a reason St. Louis business leaders gravitate to this argument. Whether you went to America’s best or worst business school, you’re taught that every problem has three possible solutions: reduce personnel, reorganize the operation, or reorganize the operation and then reduce personnel. The Better Together proposal would reorganize the operation and reduce personnel. St. Louis’ business leadership also seems to believe that St. Louis is just one big project from getting back in the game. That explains

the breathless pursuit of professional teams and stadiums and transformational development schemes of one sort or another. Successful cities and regions do have these things, but these things didn’t make them successful. These things are the evidence of their success, not the cause of it. If the real cause of St. Louis’ malaise is, instead, lack of vision by St. Louis’ leadership, then they would have to hold themselves accountable and the public would hold them responsible. But that would require a level of honest introspection that appears to be in short supply. But suppose you’re not part of St. Louis’ business leadership. Suppose you are an African-American citizen of St. Louis city or

Putting big business ahead of student loan borrowers

By Charlene Crowell Center for Responsible Lending

In an increasingly competitive global economy, highly skilled workers have a sharp advantage in securing and keeping employment. And as technological advances result in lifelong learning in many occupations, many worker-students turn to federal student aid, the largest source of funding for higher education, to expand and/or hone their value in the marketplace.

But a newly-released audit report finds fault with how the Department of Education is managing both its loan funds and its 15 contract student loan servicers. According to an Office of Inspector General (OIG) report released on February 12, “borrowers might not have been protected from poor services, and taxpayers might not have been protected from improper payments.”

That statement covers a range of student loan concerns and include loan payments, loan consolidation, principal and interest payments and repayment options like income-driven

repayment plans and forbearance. But its content takes direct aim at the Federal Student Aid (FSA) division of the department, charged with being a thrifty steward of the billions of dollars dedicated to higher education. Could it be that the current student loan crisis is facing the same threat today that was rampant a decade ago during the mortgage crisis? Are borrowers’ payments being properly applied? Or are unchecked and unaccountable loan servicers bilking consumers into unwarranted costs and payments?

I’m betting that the 44 million borrowers who together owe more than $1.4 trillion in student loan debt seriously want to know.

“FSA’s not holding servicers accountable could lead to servicers being paid more than they should be (the contracts with servicers allow FSA to recover amounts paid for loans not serviced in compliance with requirements),”

states the report.

“FSA management rarely used available contract accountability provisions to hold servicers accountable for instances of noncompliance,” continued the report. “By not holding servicers accountable for instances of noncompliance with federal loan servicing requirements, FSA did not provide servicers with an incentive to take actions to mitigate the risk of continued servicer noncompliance that could harm students.”

According to OIG, all student loan servicer contracts are supposed to be awarded on the basis of performance measures in five weighted areas. Two factors, borrower satisfaction and the percentage of borrowers who were not more than five days delinquent, together account for up to 60 of the contractors’ overall score. Servicers are also evaluated on the percentage of borrowers whose loans were more than 90 days late but less than 271, and a percentage who were more than 270 days delinquent but less than 361, and an FSA employee satisfaction survey.

Patrick C. Whitener graduated from basic military training at Joint Base San AntonioLackland, San Antonio, Texas as U.S. Air Force Airman 1st Class. He completed an intensive, eightweek program that included training in military discipline and studies, physical fitness, and basic warfare principles and skills. He is a 2011 graduate of McCluer North High School.

Sheila D. Pearson was elected chair of the Board of Directors for the Community Action Agency of St. Louis County, Inc. (CAASTLC). She is director of Operations for REJIS (Regional Justice Information Service) Commission and a retired lieutenant with the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department. As board chair, she will support the agency’s mission to end poverty. CAASTLC provides services for those who are low-income and who strive to transition out of impoverished conditions.

Albert Harrold received a 2019 Inspiring Teachers award from The Challenger Learning Center-St. Louis. He is a science teacher at McCluer SouthBerkeley High. The Challenger Learning Center-St. Louis – a partnership of the Ferguson-Florissant School District, the Saint Louis Science Center and EducationPlusprovides simulated space missions and other science education programs.

Linda H. Collins was among three nominees for Courageous Educator of the Year by Educators for Social Justice, a grassroots, teacherled professional development organization. She is an associate professor of history at St. Louis Community CollegeFlorissant Valley. Her advocacy and effort as a professor led to more African-American history courses being taught on campus, and she is involved in statewide discussions to include African-American history in Missouri’s CORE 42 credit transfer program.

Patrick Benjamin Howard received the Redbird Rookies Saigh Scholarship from the St. Louis Cardinals. He is an eighth-grader at MICDS. The $10,000 scholarship, which be applied to his college education upon graduation from high school, is given to students who demonstrate outstanding integrity, confidence, leadership and teamwork as a Redbird Rookies team member as well as strength of character, attitude, and promise.

Angela Fleming Brown joined the Board of Directors of Gateway Center for Giving. She is acting chief executive officer for Regional Health Commission. The center strengthens philanthropy and promotes community impact by providing programming, research, and networking opportunities to grantmaking organizations throughout Missouri.

Patrick Benjamin Howard

Sheila D. Pearson

Angela Fleming Brown

Linda H. Collins

Patrick C. Whitener

Albert Harrold

Louis city

government,

execution of transitioning to the new Metro City would

responsibility of Mayor Lyda Krewson and County Executive Steve Stenger, pictured here during a press conference announcing the plans on January 28.

Photo by Wiley Price

Mike Jones

Charlene Crowell

CROWELL

continued from page B1

Although the department has 15 student loan servicer contracts, four were the biggest beneficiaries during the OIG’s audit period. As of September 30, 2017, federal student loan debt was $1.147 trillion with 93 percent of those loans assigned to PHEAA ($319 billion), Great Lakes ($236 billion), Navient ($215 billion), and Nelnet ($180 billion).

In February 2017, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) sued Navient Corporation and two of its subsidiaries for allegedly using

MERGER

continued from page B1 county. There is no problem – not one – that St. Louis’ African-American community faces that can be solved by a structural reorganization of local government. Conversely, there’s no problem – not one – confronting the AfricanAmerican community that can be solved with the existing local government structure. There is no rational

Comptroller Green restates support of public vote on airport privatization

With privatization of St. Louis Lambert International Airport operations a subject of debate in the Democratic primary for aldermanic president on March 5, Comptroller Darlene Green restated her support of a public vote on the matter.

“My position has been and

shortcuts and deception to illegally cheat 12 million borrowers out of their rights to lower loan repayments. These practices, according to CFPB, led to an additional $4 billion in borrower costs.

Much of the unnecessary costs were the result of Navient’s widespread use of forbearance that boosted corporate profits by minimizing time spent advising distressed borrowers. For example, three-years of deferment on $30,000 in student loans would cost a borrower an additional $6,742. Navient also had another dubious distinction. In 2017, more consumers filed complaints about Navient than

defense of St. Louis’ local governmental arrangements. If you gave any number of people a blank piece of paper and asked them to design a local governmental structure for St. Louis, no one could come up with what we currently have. There are any number of academic or elite business interests reasons for not supporting the status quo. But what’s the black reason for not supporting it?

First, black people didn’t design it and it wasn’t designed with our benefit in mind. To

will always be that the citizens of St. Louis are smart enough and informed enough to make important decisions about major assets and long-term economic strategies by public vote,” Green stated.

“It is arrogance for elected officials to place themselves as the ultimate authorities and

strip the public of its right to vote when the offices they hold are owed to public trust. Our obligation as elected officials is to the people who elected us, not to any outside special interest.”

In June 2018, Green voted against an advisory consulting agreement for the privatization

n “The Department of Education repeatedly put the interests of big business ahead of the interests of student loan borrowers.”

– Persis Yu, Student Loan Borrower Assistance Project

any other student loan servicer. Complainants identified dealing with the servicer or lender as the key issue, compared to only 34 percent whose problems were based on an inability to pay their loans.

“The Inspector General’s damning revelations that the Department of Education

the extent the black community was given any thought, it was how this structure hampers or retards black progress. But there is another, more important reason for the black community to not support the current political arrangement: it dilutes black political power and undermines black political influence.

African-American elected officials in St. Louis County control little patches of real estate that are politically irrelevant. This didn’t matter 50 years ago when African

of St. Louis Lambert International Airport operations, stating that a public vote must be a part of the process and citing the airport’s strong financial position, passenger growth and operational management.

St. Louis Lambert International Airport has been

Project. “Unfortunately, this revelation is consistent with the department’s prior actions, which have repeatedly put the interests of big business ahead of the interests of student loan borrowers.”

failed to track all instances of non-compliance or to hold servicers accountable for errors demonstrates its lack of commitment to protecting student loan borrowers,”

said Persis Yu, director of the National Consumer Law Center’s Student Loan Borrower Assistance

Americans first moved to St. Louis County in large numbers because of the political and economic status of the City of St. Louis. Fifty years ago the city was the economic and political center of gravity of the region and the majority of African Americans lived in the city. More importantly, this black community was a highly organized and tightly focused political force that exercised outsized political influence that kept the agenda of black people a major variable in any economic or political discussion about the St. Louis region.

But that’s not today’s reality. In 2019 the majority of the region’s African Americans live in St. Louis County, and the City of St. Louis is shell of its historic economic and political self. So what does this mean for the region’s AfricanAmerican community?

For the political power of minorities to be effective, it must be concentrated and focused. The key to black progress is not white benevolence but the ability of the black community to organize and amplify its political power to affect economic and public policy to its own benefit. With the city’s decline and the way St. Louis County is structured, black political power is fragmented and black political influence is nearly nonexistent. So unless your political aspiration for the black community is how many black mayors or police chiefs we can have in small, powerless municipalities, the current arrangement has no credible black defense.

So if the current arrangement is indefensible, why is the Better Together proposal unsupportable?

Beware of Greeks bearing gifts

Given the history of the relationship between civic leadership and the black community, I’m hard-pressed to think of a great civic endeavor proposed to advance the region that accrued to our benefit. So what is allegedly a gift of this magnitude offered for the wellbeing of the African-American community – that is, to eliminate all of the cash-strapped municipalities running predatory police departments and courts –should make you seriously consider calling the bomb squad.

In 40 years of active political life, I have always obeyed the rule: Never take a public position in support of a major policy position unless you can define a concrete benefit for black people. There is an important corollary to this rule: White people cannot define the black benefit.

Better Together’s proposal totally decimates structural African-American political power in the St. Louis region,

a public entity since 1928 when St. Louis voters approved a $2 million bond issue to buy the airport property. Today, the airport is in a strong financial position, showing three credit rating upgrades in 2018 and three years of passenger growth.

burdens,” said Whitney Barkley-Denney, a policy counsel with the Center for Responsible Lending.

Many consumer advocates would agree that the Trump administration’s mounting actions favor businesses before consumers. The recently announced rule reversal on payday loans is another example. In 2018, guidance that protected people of color from discrimination in auto loan financing is yet another.

“Policies and practices must assure student success while minimizing costly debt errors that become unnecessary

leaving the black community completely politically defenseless against adversarial economic and political interest.

Let’s start with the city. African-American politicians have effective political control of the City of St. Louis. If the city’s African-American community is disappointed or dissatisfied with the results of the last 30 years, it’s a personnel issue, not a structural issue. That structural advantage is eliminated in this proposal.

In St. Louis County, a fairly useless municipal structure becomes completely worthless. The little bit of municipal political nothing that the African-American community controls is reduced even further. The St. Louis County Council, where Hazel Erby

n There is no problem – not one – that St. Louis’ African-American community faces that can be solved by a structural reorganization of local government.

and Rochelle Walton Gray are major power brokers, is eliminated.

With this proposal, the entire political footprint of the African-American community is eliminated. Who gets to decide what takes its place? My father used to say, “Whoever counts the money first keeps the most.”

In the Better Together plan, if you’re African-American you don’t decide anything. There is zero consideration given to how the political interests of the black community would be structurally accommodated in executing the transition.

Then who gets to decide?

The execution of transitioning to the new Metro City would be the exclusive responsibility of Mayor Lyda Krewson and County Executive Steve Stenger. Think about that for a moment.

In a city that’s nearly 50 percent African-American and a county that’s at least 25 percent African-American, a proposed new Metro City would be at least 30 percent African-American. This is in a region whose modern history includes legally segregated public schools, landmark U.S. Supreme Court decisions overturning discrimination in housing and employment and that the world now associates with the police killing of Michael Brown. To provide for no formal structural opportunity for the African-American community to represent its interests in a change of these historical proportions is beyond comprehension.

And then consider the current mayor and county executive. Rarely have we seen two people more poorly

“In this past year, Department of Education has justified its aggressive steps to shield student loan servicers from liability by claiming that it rigorously oversees its servicers,” said Yu. “This report from the Inspector General demonstrates that claim is false.”

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

suited for an assignment as these two are for this. Even in the hands of highly skilled and popular master politicians with full community support, implementing this change would be a monumental task. In professional sports there are often points in a season when a team will have a players-only meeting because there are issues that need to be addressed and that can only be resolved by players. There was a time around here when the African-American community regularly had the political equivalent of playersonly meetings. It was always when white civic leadership was pushing an issue, and before black civic leadership would respond they felt the requirement to collectively discuss the matter, even if they couldn’t reach a consensus. The decision to go our separate ways on an issue was collectively arrived at. This may sound strange to the inclusion generation, but there was a time in St. Louis when the black community could make a decision for itself without consulting white civic leadership. And more importantly, there was a time when white civic leadership knew it couldn’t make a decision for the black community. There seems to be an impenetrable level of arrogance in St. Louis’ civic leadership that makes it inherently start every public enterprise with the wrong assumption. That assumption is that their position of privilege means they don’t have to consult with nonwhite or non-privileged stakeholders when they are considering an idea.

Shelia Williams, who is now a member of the Normandy Schools Collaborative board, once said something that perfectly captures what I’m trying to say: “If you do something for me without me, then you’ve done something to me.” The arrogant refusal to accept this fundamental premise in dealing with the black community is partly why St. Louis has gone from a major-league region to a dysfunctional minor-league one. In 2019 you have white civic leadership playing the game with a 1959 mindset. No governmental reorganization is going to fix that. Mike Jones is a former senior staffer in St. Louis city and county government and current member of the Missouri State Board of Education and The St. Louis American editorial board. In 2016 and 2017, he was awarded Best Serious Columnist for all of the state’s large weeklies by the Missouri Press Association, and in 2018 he was awarded Best Serious Columnist in the nation by the National Newspapers Association.

Comptroller Darlene Green

n “Is basketball the most important thing in your life?”

— LeBron James, on the commitment level of his teammates after a recent loss

Sports

PreP BaskeTBall noTeBook With Earl Austin Jr.

Newcombe overcame demons to rescue his derailed life, help others

~ See ‘Sports Eye’ page B4 ~

Class 3 moves to quarterfinals

Final Four berths are on the line

The Missouri Class 3 state playoffs will move to the quarterfinals stage this weekend with Final Four berths on the line. The St. Louis area teams in Class 3 will be playing at Normandy High School’s historic Viking Hall on Saturday with the boys game at noon with the girls’ game to follow. The winner of those games will head to the Final Four of the state tournament, which will be held on March 8-9 at the J.Q.H. Hammons Arena at Missouri State University in Springfield.

Here is a look at some of the top performers from last week’s district playoffs:

• Vashon High junior guard Phillip Russell scored a game-high 25 points in the Wolverines’ 85-62 victory over Cardinal Ritter in the Class 5, District 6 Tournament at Vashon. The 6’0” Russell erupted for 20 points in the first quarter as the Wolverines sprinted to the victory. He also hit four 3-pointers.

Earl

• Trinity Catholic made school history by defeating Soldan 77-66 to win the Class 3, District 7 championship at North Tech. It was the first district championship in basketball in the school’s history. The Titans used a balanced scoring attack to hold off the talented Tigers. Junior guard T.J. Rush led the way with 15 points, followed by junior Rashad Weekly with 14 points. Junior center Ryan Kalkbrenner had 13 points, 11 points and six blocks while senior guard Jaron Thames and senior point guard Isaiah Williams added 10 points each.

• Hancock defeated host Whitfield 59-57 to win the Class 3, District 5 championship. The Tigers rode its dynamic duo of 6’5” junior Sam Richardson and 6’2” senior Rico Sutton to the championship. The 6’2” Sutton scored a gamehigh 22 points in the championship game while the 6’5” Richardson added 17 points.

Cardinal Riiter’s Gary Clark (33), Vashon’s Kobe Clark (24) and Ritter’s

night’s February 22, 2019 game at Vashon for the Boys Class

Lions of Cardinal Ritter 85-62.

Draft age limit expected to change in 2022

Wednesday, Feb. 20 was expected to be a spectacular night for NCAA athletics. After weeks of hype, two of its most storied programs were scheduled to meet on the basketball court: Duke vs North Carolina; Durham vs Chapel Hill; “Coach K” Mike Krzyzewski vs Roy Williams; Zion Williamson vs the Tar Heels. Despite the fact that it was a regular-season matchup, ESPN relentlessly promoted the game on its airwaves like a pay per view fight. Basketball fans shelled out upwards of $4,000 for nosebleed seats in Cameron Indoor Arena. Celebrities such as Spike Lee Ken Griffey Jr. Todd Gurley and Hayden Panettiere showed up for the spectacle. Even former President Barack Obama was in the building, decked out in a bomber jacket with “44” embroidered on the sleeve that proved that he’s the real Swaggy P(OTUS).”

College athletics came to a standstill. While Duke vs UNC is always a highly-anticipated matchup, the legend of Williamson, the 6-foot-7, 285pound athletic freak, swelled the hype to another level.

Executives from the major players in college basketball were undoubtedly high-fiving in the luxury suites. The NCAA, ESPN, Nike (and Jordan Brand) all stood to make a windfall off the hype and popularity of the event. Just 30 seconds into the game, the bubble burst. Williamson attempted to make a routine basketball move and his shoe exploded as if he’d stomped on a land mine. Williamson fell to the floor and grasped at his knee. There he was. The consensus No. 1 pick in the 2019 NBA Draft lay writhing in pain with the world watching. Many

H.

Ishmael H. Sistrunk

Austin Jr.

Ishmael

Sistrunk

Duke’s Zion Williamson crashed to the floor after his shoe ripped apart during

between

Photo by Wiley Price

SportS EyE

With Alvin A. Reid

Newcombe overcame demons to rescue his derailed life, help others

The late Don Newcombe made his first visit to Danville, Illinois in 1983.

A Negro League star pitcher, Newcombe was signed by the Brooklyn Dodgers five months after Jackie Robinson was signed by the franchise. Robinson was sent to a minor league team in Montreal.

Newcombe and catcher Roy Campanella were assigned to the Danville Dodgers Class A team – but the good folks of Danville wanted no part of integrated baseball. The Three-I League president threatened to shut Danville’s franchise down, rather than allow black ballplayers on the field.

Newcombe and Campanella were then shipped to Nashua, New Hampshire, where their respective Hall of Fame careers began.

Campanella with me, a firstyear sports reporter for the Danville Commercial-News, in 1983.

Campanella was touring for Major League Baseball to discuss his story of his success and the evils of alcoholism that tormented him throughout his career.

His venue that evening was the Veterans Administration Hospital.

Tall and muscular, Newcombe was 58 at the time and he looked as though he could still pitch a few innings.

Buzzie Bavasi, Nashua’s general manager, said, “If they can play ball better than what we have, we don’t care what color they are.”

“Nashua, in my memory, is one of the finest cities that I’ve been to in my lifetime. I say that because of the people and the way Roy Campanella and I were accepted there in 1946, when we had nowhere else to play in the entire Dodgers organization as black men,” Newcombe said in a 2006 interview on the L.A. Dodgers website.

“The city of Nashua and all of its people, including the president of the league, accepted us as if we were one of their own sons and I will forever be grateful to all of those people.”

Newcombe shared the story of Danville shunning him and

But he shared his tragic story with a small audience that evening – one that contained admission of brutality to his wife.

“I would be drunk and would not even remember what I had done. Then I saw what I had done to my pretty wife Billie’s face in the morning. How I beat her,” he said.

He once described himself as “a stupefied, wife-abusing, child-frightening, falling-down drunk.”

Newcombe won a Rookie of the Year Award, Cy Young Award and MVP Award during a career soaked with booze.

“In 1956 I was the best player in baseball,” he told the L.A. Times. “Four years later, I was out of the major leagues, and it must have been the drinking.”

He had joined Alcoholics Anonymous in 1967 and in the 1970s re-joined the Dodgers franchise as director of community affairs. He still held that position during his trip to Danville.

The only pitcher to accomplish the feat of winning the Rookie of Year, Cy Young and

MVP is Justin Verlander of the Houston Astros.

Imagine the stir it would cause today if he, shortly after he retires, he admitted that during his playing days he was an alcoholic that frequently beat his wife.

Stan Musial said Newcombe had the best fastball he ever faced. He remembered playing in St. Louis. During the interview I said I hailed from the St. Louis area. You should have seen the look on his face.

“I know times have changed. But St. Louis was a tough place to play. You know what I mean?” he said.

I think I told him, “It hasn’t

changed that much.” We both laughed.

In his L.A. Times obituary is the story of Newcombe’s return to baseball in 1954 after serving two years in the Army during the Korean War.

On a trip to St. Louis, where the white players stayed at the elegant Chase (Park Plaza) Hotel, the black players were booked into a strictly black, non-air-conditioned flophouse.

“Here I’d served my country in the U.S. Army while my team had twice reached the World Series — costing me a lot of money — and I’m not allowed to stay at the same hotel as my white teammates!” Newcombe told the New York Post.

He and Robinson talked it over and went to the Chase.

They told the manager they wanted to join their teammates at the hotel.

Newcombe said that manager told them, “fellas, you can stay here, but I don’t want you swimming in the pool.”

Newcombe died last week at 92. He was the first Hall of Famer I interviewed, really the first athletic star that I examined through a lengthy article.

He left the game while his life was in shambles. He earned his good reputation back and leaves us with his head held high.

Nellie for President

Former Boston Celtic player and Golden State Warrior coach Don Nelson was honored last week by his former team and told the world what it really needs to hear in these divisive times.

Seated at a podium with former Warrior greats Jason Richardson and Stephen Jackson, Nelson was asked what he had been doing since retiring from coaching more than a decade ago.

“I’ve been smoking some pot,” he said with a smile.

The interview room erupts with laughter and applause. Jackson throws his arms up and

bursts out laughing. Actually, Nelson has copped to weed-smoking in the past year. He told the New York Times he grows a strain of marijuana called “Nellie Kush.”

“Oh, it’s great. Great stuff. It’s called Nellie Kush, Nelson said.

“It’s O.G. and Hindu Kush. Hindu Kush is really good. It comes from India and the guy that brought it over mixed the two of them, so we’ve got Nellie Kush now.” He plays poker with a group including old head Willie Nelson, Owen Wilson and Woody Harrelson. Yep, the Nellie Kush is fired up.

“I never smoked when I played or coached so it’s new to me. I’m doing that and I’m having a pretty good time. It’s more legal now than it’s ever been, so I’m enjoying that,” Nelson said last week. It just shows that the NBA gets it. No former NFL head coach or MLB

he still hurt? ... Manny Machado signed with the San Diego Padres instead of the Chicago White Sox. I think Machado don’t want none of a real city like Chicago … Do the Cardinals still have Bryce Harper’s telephone number? LeBron James said he’s “activated” to make a push for the NBA Playoffs … James, who decided to join a young, inexperienced L.A. Lakers team, chastised teammates for being young an inexperienced last week … Patrick Barry president of the Saint Louis Football Club of the United Soccer League (USL), said fans attending his team’s games will be vital to the city getting a MLS franchise. How’s that for marketing? Has anyone asked if the XFL made that mandated payment to the CVC in January?

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

Alvin A. Reid

A Negro League star pitcher, Don Newcombe was signed by the Brooklyn Dodgers five months after Jackie Robinson was signed by the franchise.

The East St. Louis Flyers will play for a Class 3A regional championship in boys’ basketball on Friday night at Breese Central High.

After clinching the Southwestern Conference championship last week, the Flyers are currently ranked No. 4 in the IHSA Class 3A state polls. With 6’6” senior standout Terrance Hargrove Jr. leading the way, the Flyers should be a lock to advance through the regionals and sectionals. East Side is expected to advance all the way to the Class 3A Super-Sectionals for a potential showdown with Springfield Southeast, last year’s state runner-up.

If the Flyers are going to

CLUTCH

Continued from C7 injury was determined to be a relatively minor knee sprain. He is expected to make a full recovery and return in a week or two. However, the injury has sparked a debate in whether he should return to college basketball at all. After all, the NCAA rakes in over a billion dollars per year in college athletics. Nike, Duke’s sponsor sneaker and apparel company, and ESPN are multi-billion dollar corporations. The Duke and UNC basketball programs rake in tens of millions of dollars each season.

Meanwhile, Williamson and his teammates get a “free education” that involved them working their butts off yearround.

Why is Williamson playing at Duke in the first place? There has been little doubt that Williamson has been physically

PREP

Continued from C7

• Lutheran North’s girls won its third consecutive district championship as they defeated McCluer South-Berkeley 52-42 to win the Class 3, District 7 championship at North Tech. Senior guard Madison Buford scored a game-high 21 points to lead the Crusaders while senior forward Kaylynn Hayden added 17 points. In the past three seasons, Lutheran North has also advanced to the Final Four and the state quarterfinals twice.

• Cardinal Ritter College Prep’s girls defeated Metro 51-34 to win the Class 3, District 6 championship at Vashon. Senior forward DeAnna Wilson scored 16 points to lead the Lions while senior forward Brit’Nee Terry added 15 points.

Congrats to a few Conference Champions

From The easT side

With Maurice Scott jr.

Flyers ready for regionals

make it to the state finals in 2019, they will need the presence of sharpshooting guard Cornelius Leflore. The 5’11” guard is one of the area’s top shooters, averaging 10.7 points a game while shooting 38 percent from 3-point range. On any given night, Leflore can change the flow and the outcome of a game with his shooting and his ability to play defense.

In this year’s showcase games, the Flyers’ senior has shown up and showed out against some of the team’s biggest opponents. He scored 18 points and was 6 for 10 from the floor against Chicago area power Orr Academy. He also had 15 points against

ready for the NBA for quite some time.

The NBA used to allow players to go straight from high school to the NBA. However, for every LeBron James Kobe Bryant or Kevin Garnett, there were several Sebastian Telfairs, Robert Smiths or Martell Websters. If you’re wondering who the latter guys are, my point is made.

NBA execs could not stop throwing money at unproven high school kids. Rather than investing money to improve their scouting, owners pushed to institute a rule that players had to be 19-years-old or one year removed from their high school graduating class before they would become eligible for the NBA Draft. The rule helped push high school standouts to the NCAA for a year of grooming that would help pad college coffers and help weed out the busts from the bona fide stars. Unfortunately, it meant

The CBC Cadets won the championship of the Metro Catholic Conference for the first time since 2005. The Cadets finished an undefeated league slate last week with victories over DeSmet and Vianney.

• Francis Howell Central’s girls won the championship of the Gateway Athletic Conference South Division for the second consecutive year. The Spartans finished the year with a 10-0 record in league play.

• University City’s boys won the championship of the Suburban Conference Blue Pool this season, in what was an excellent turnaround season for head coach Kelvin Lee, who is in his second year at the helm.

• Marquette’s boys won the championship of the Suburban Conference Yellow Pool with a 92-72 victory over Webster Groves last week, ending the Statesmen’s 17-year run as conference champions.

• The East St. Louis Flyers boys were the champions of the Southwestern Conference. It was a tremendous accomplishment for the Flyers, who outlasted excellent teams in Belleville West, Alton and Collinsville to take home the league championship.

Warren Central (Indiana), 15 points against Bloomington (Illinois) in the Highland Shootout, 15 points in a victory over Southwestern Conference rival Alton and 10 points in a big victory over St. Louis powerhouse Vashon. The success of Leflore is a result of his commitment to hard work, on and off the court.

“It was an adjustment for me last year, buying into what it took to become a better player at his level,” Leflore said. “I had to realize in order to make myself and my team better, I had to put in the work

players like Williamson, who could’ve easily commanded multi-million dollar contracts directly out of high school, were forced to go to college, and risk injury and money. Former Mizzou player Michael Porter Jr. was widely considered the No. 1 high school player in the country and projected as the No. 1 draft pick in 2018. Unfortunately, a back injury cut his season short and cost him millions of dollars as he

in the gym and in the classroom to be mentioned in the opposing team’s scouting report.”

And Leflore has done just that, as he is often shadowed by the opposition’s best defensive player during a Flyers’ game. When Leflore is on, it opens up the floor for more opportunities for Hargrove and the rest of his teammates to score at will.

And as the Flyers move forward during their state championship quest, you can rest assure that Cornelius Leflore will have a say-so in making it happen.

ultimately fell to No. 14.

Luckily for all parties involved, Williamson’s injury was not significant and he does not intend to “shut it down” as many have suggested. Such a decision would have reverberated greatly through college athletics. “I just can’t stop playing,” Williamson told Josh Graham of the Sports Hub Triad.

“I’d be letting my teammates down. I’d be letting a lot of people down. If I wanted to sit out, I wouldn’t have went

Madison Trojans take regional title

Congratulations to the Madison Trojans, who won an IHSA Class 1A regional championship at Hardin-Calhoun last Friday night. The Trojans defeated the host school 66-54 in the championship game. The Trojans were led by 6’3” senior guard Emmitt Gordon, who scored 20 points, including a highlight-reel dunk in the second half to help Madison break open a close game. Madison is now competing in the Sectional Tournament, which is being held at Okawville this week.

IHSA Boys Regionals this week

The IHSA Class 3A and 4A boys regional tournaments will be held this week in the metro east. Belleville West will open defense of its Class 4A state championship by hosting its own regional. Collinsville and Alton are the featured teams at the Class 4A Collinsville Regional while East St. Louis is the top seed at the Clas3A regional tournament at Breese Central. All regional championship games will be held on Friday night at 7 p.m.

The sT. Louis american PreP aThLeTe oF The Week

Jason

Montgomery Marquette – Boys Basketball

The standout senior guard had two big games last week to lead the Mustangs to a pair of big victories over excellent competition. The 6’4” Montgomery had 21 points and eight rebounds in a 66-55 victory over Jennings. He followed up with 20 points, seven rebounds, five assists and two blocks in a 92-72 victory over Webster Groves in a game that clinched the championship of the Suburban Conference Yellow Pool for the Mustangs. For the season, Montgomery is averag-

at Drury University next season on a basketball scholarship.

Scott’s Notes

• Cahokia High senior wrestling sensation Jacob Bullock was the IHSA Class 2A state champion at 220 pounds with a record of 34-0 this season. A state power for many years, Cahokia also had a state medalist in Arnold Edwards at 195 pounds. Edwards finished his fine season with a 26-6 record and a third-place finish at state.

• Congratulations to the Madison Trojans boys’ basketball team on winning a IHSA Class 1A regional championship last weekend at HardinCalhoun. The Trojans defeated host Hardin-Calhoun 66-54 in the championship game. They will be playing in the sectional tournament round at Okawville this week.

to college. I came to Duke to play.”

The day following Williamson’s freak accident, the NBA formally proposed that the draft age be dropped from 19 to 18, according to USA Today. If approved, the rule change would not go into effect until 2022. Though it’s a change the league has been mulling for a while, make no mistake about it, it’s no coincidence that the news leaked the day after Williamson’s injury.

If baseball and hockey players can be drafted straight out of high school, basketball players should have the same opportunity.

The NBA finally has a strong player development system through the G-League. That and the rookie salary cap are likely the mechanisms that have made NBA owners more open to lowering the age requirement. When the Knicks teams make terrible picks, they can stash guys in the G-League to develop and still get some

• Future Prep Stars: The Mason-Clark Middle School boys basketball team finished as the runners-up at the IESA Class 4A state tournament two weeks ago. Remember these names because these young men will be future prep stars. They are 6’7” DeMarion Brown, guard Kaleb Williams and guard Maxwell Jackson. All of them will be participating for the Brad Beal Elite 14-and-under team.

value out of them.

However, a guy like Zion, the most mythical athlete since Bo Jackson, shouldn’t have to pit stop at the NCAA unless he wants to. Luckily the “next Zion” can thank the current one for scaring the NBA into its senses.

Nike isn’t so lucky though. The brand has taken a hit due to its sneaker’s public and catastrophic failure. Williamson was already likely to command a $100M sneaker endorsement contract as a rookie. If Nike wants to court him, the price probably just went up.

To keep up with the latest deadline deals in the NBA, be sure to check In the Clutch online and also follow Ishmael on Twitter @ishcreates. Subscribe to The St. Louis American’s YouTube page to see weekly sports videos starring Ishmael and Melvin Moore at youtube.com/stlamericanvideo.

Maurice Scott Jr.

Michael Porter Jr.

SIUE swears in diverse police officers

Southern Illinois University Edwardsville’s Chief of Police Kevin Schmoll welcomed officers Samantha Jones, Jeff Wooldridge, Darius Smith and Shane Mason to the department on February 20, as Vice Chancellor for Administration Rich Walker looked on. Jones was a dual-sport student-athlete for the Cougars’ women’s soccer and softball teams and an NCAA Scholar All-American, earning a bachelor’s in exercise science. Smith earned a bachelor’s in applied communication studies in May 2016 with a minor in criminal justice and was a Cougar student-athlete on the men’s track and field team.

Boys & Girls Clubs to open Best Buy Teen Tech Center

Boys & Girls Clubs of Greater St. Louis, 2901 N. Grand Ave., will open a Best Buy Teen Tech Center on Thursday, February 28, the 25th

A black night at the Oscars

Spike Lee won his first-ever competitive Academy Award for “Best Adapted Screenplay,” for “BlacKkKlansman.”

Historic wins for African Americans at the 91st Academy Awards

By Kenya Vaughn Of The St. Louis American

“God is good. All the time,” Regina King said as she closed her “Best Supporting Actress” acceptance speech at the 91st Academy Awards Sunday night.

n From “Black Panther” to “BlacKkKlansman” the blackity black, black Academy Awards were so black that white people won big because of all the blackness.

“And all the time, God is good,” I said back. My response was so instinctive, that I laughed at myself for doing it. I can’t remember if I did, but I feel like I even looked over my shoulder in an effort to “turn to my neighbor,” and waited for a collective “amen” from the church. A call-and-response so synonymous with the black church, that I imagine I wasn’t the only one who did the same thing after cheering King on for the first black person to win. But this wasn’t Sunday evening service. This universal moment in blackness was happening before the world at the Academy Awards. Even if it was the only Oscar statue handed to an African-American, Sunday night’s ceremony would have been one of the blackest Academy Awards in history because of King’s parting words.

The night ended up being historically black. The church folks will say that King giving honor to God (who is the head of her life), teed black people up for the #Oscarssoblack moment. From “Black Panther” to “BlacKkKlansman” the blackity black, black Academy Awards were so black that white people won big because of all the blackness – which I’ll get to in a minute. But first, let’s get into the history that was made.

Ruth E. Carter was the lone designer charged with creating costumes for the here and now among the Oscar nominees via “Black Panther.” She was up against a 19th century western and two different periods within the British Monarchy.

But Carter’s vivid colors and a contemporary

See OSCARS, C4

Travis Scott goes ‘sicko mode’

Production value of Astroworld Tour leaves impression on St. Louis fans

By Kenya Vaughn Of The St. Louis American

Rapper Travis Scott literally took fans on the ride of their lives when his Astroworld Tour landed at Enterprise Center Monday night. A mere four years since the release of his debut album, Scott has his finger on the pulse of mainstream rap music – and the sold-out arena receipts to prove it. His remarks on the death of Mike Brown drew a small, but committed protest of about a dozen demonstrators – including

Brown Sr.

to

way into the venue. His

collective side eyes from those who stand (or kneel) with the Colin Kaepernick in opposition to the NFL. But those actions don’t seem to have an impact on his ticket sales.

Before a capacity crowd in St. Louis, Scott delivered the type of production value that his young fans will tell their grandchildren about fifty years from now, even if Scott’s performance didn’t quite live up to the ambience of the elaborate set. The two functioning mini rollercoaster rides that paid homage to the defunct amusement park that inspired the Houston native’s album and subsequent tour; pyrotechnics that stretched across the rollercoaster ramp that connect his two stages and stunning visuals will take precedence over the sometimes one-dimensional stage presence in their respective memory banks. Venue management made it clear upon entry that the

See SCOTT, C4

What a difference a dress

Fairy Glam Project accepting dresses, giveaway to take place March 9

By Kenya Vaughn Of The St. Louis American

When Nikole Shurn-Perkins hit me up over the weekend with a request to help get the word out that her Fairy Glam Project is currently accepting donations for her organization’s annual prom dress giveaway, I was reminded why I always try to make young women aware that these types of resources are available to them.

For some reason her e-mail, which announced that she was once again partnering with clothing recycler USAgain and that encouraged young women to register for the March 9 event at All Nations Christian Church, triggered me to think back to how a donated dress made all the difference during my own high school experience.

See PROM, C4

makes

and

A young woman modeling one of the Fairy Glam Project’s donated dresses at the annual expo

prom giveaway. Dresses are being accepted for the upcoming Fairy Glam Project Prom Dress Giveaway taking place March 9 at All Nations Christian Church.

Rapper Travis Scott went all out with the production value of his ‘Astroworld Tour,’ which sold-out Enterprise Center last Monday night.

Photo by Lawrence Bryant

Mike

– as fans made their

decision

play the Super Bowl with Maroon 5 drew

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.

black history activities

Thur., Feb. 28, 4:30 p.m., Black History Month: The Empowerment Event. Photo exhibit and film screening of The Pruitt-Igoe Myth, and a presentation on knowing your rights. Employment Connection, 2838 Market St., 63013. For more information or to RSVP, email development@employmentstl. org.

Thur., Feb. 28, 6:30 p.m., The Remarkable Story of Missouri Slave Archer Alexander. Members of Archer Alexander’s family will be present for the event. Maplewood City Hall, 7601 Manchester Ave., 63143. For more information, visit www. maplewoodpubliclibrary.com.

concerts

Fri., Mar. 1, 8 p.m., The Pageant presents Marsha Ambrosius. 6161 Delmar Blvd., 63112.

Sat., Mar. 2, 7 p.m., Ambassador presents Ginuwine, Jon B., and Adina Howard. 9800 Halls Ferry Rd., 63136. For more information, visit www. metrotix.com.

Sun., Mar. 3, 7 p.m., Ambassador presents Howard Hewett. 9800 Halls Ferry Rd., 63136.

Sun., Mar. 3, 8 p.m., Sheldon Concert Hall presents Aaron Neville. 3648 Washington Blvd., 63108. For more information, visit www. metrotix.com.

Sun., Mar. 3, 8 p.m., The Pageant welcomes Sammie 6161 Delmar Blvd., 63112.

Fri., Mar. 8, 7 p.m., Sheldon Concert Hall presents Anthony Lucius with DJ

Nune. 3648 Washington Blvd., 63108.

Thur., Mar. 14, 8 p.m., Rockhouse Entertainment, LLC presents 314 Day Celebration feat. Plies. The Pageant, 6161 Delmar Blvd., 63112. For more information, visit www.ticketmaster.com.

Sat., Mar. 16, 6:30 p.m., Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc., East St. Louis Alumni Chapter presents Keith Washington & Tony Terry Ambassador, 9800 Halls Ferry Rd., 63136. For more information, visit www. metrotix.com.

Fri., Mar. 22, 8 p.m., The 13 th Annual Gateway Blues Festival. Feat. Sir Charles Jones, Shirley Brown, Pokey Bear, Calvin Richardson, TK Soul, Theodis Ealey and Terry Wright. Chaifetz Arena, 1 S. Compton Ave., 63103. For more information, visit www.ticketmaster.com.

Sat., Mar. 23, 5:30 p.m. (doors), Breakaway Productions & Witherspoon Entertainment present Will Downing. Special guest Lamont Hadley. Givens Auditorium, Harris Stowe, 3026 Laclede Ave., 63103. For more information, visit www. metrotix.com.

Sat., Mar. 30, 8 p.m., Rockhouse Entertainment, LLC presents Jacquees. The Pageant, 6161 Delmar Blvd., 63112. For more information, visit www.ticketmaster.com.

local gigs

Sat., Mar. 2, 8 p.m., The Ready Room presents LA4SS. The Ready Room, 4195 Manchester Ave., 63110. For more information, visit www. thereadyroom.com.

Fri., Mar. 8, 7 p.m., National Blues Museum presents Howlin’ Friday with Red Afro Queen Silky Sol. 615

Kenya Vaughn recommends

Washington Ave., 63101. For more information, visit www. nationalbluesmuseum.org.

Sun., Mar. 10, 4 p.m., National Blues Museum presents Soulful Sunday with Gene Dobbs Bradford Blues Experience. 615 Washington Ave., 63101.

Sat., Mar. 16, 7 p.m., Hail To The Queen: A Tribute To Aretha Franklin. Performance by Fran Taylor and Band. Voce, 212 South Tucker Blvd., 63102. For more information, visit www.purplepass.com.

Wed., Mar. 20, 7 p.m., Jazz at the Bistro presents Nat King Cole Tribute. Feat. Reggie Thomas, the Jazz St. Louis Big Band, Mardra Thomas, and more. Jazz St. Louis, 3536 Washington Ave., 63103. For more information, visit www.tickets.jazzstl.org.

special events

Fri., Mar. 1, 7 p.m., Mardi Gras Foundation presents the Mayor’s Mardi Gras

Ball. St. Louis City Hall, 1200 Market St., 63103. For more information, visit www. stlmardigras.org.

Sat., Mar. 2, 11 a.m., The Curvy Bridal Show. Giveaways, prizes, a fashion show, and more. St. Peters Cultural Arts Centre, 1 Saint Peters Centre Blvd., 63376. For more information or to register, visit www.eventbrite. com.

Sat., Mar. 2, 12 p.m., 2019 Diversity Teacher Job Fair. Designed to advance individuals of color within St. Louis Independent Schools. City Academy, 4175 N. Kingshighway Blvd., 63115. For more information, visit www.independentschools.org.

Sat., Mar. 2, 12 p.m., Cherokee Creole Carnivale. A fun day of vendors, kids activities, creole food, live music, and more. Artist Art, 2643 Cherokee St., 63118. For more information, visit www. facebook.com.

Sat., Mar. 2, 6 p.m., International Food Festival. Enjoy a culinary feast of delicious foods from around

the globe while donating nonfor local foodbanks. Corner of Skinker and Wydown, 63105. For more information, visit www.eventbrite.com.

Sat., Mar. 2, 8 p.m., Jackson State University St. Louis Alumni Chapter’s Blue and White Dance. Machinist Hall, 12365 St. Charles Rock Rd., 63044. For more information, visit www.eventbrite.com.

Sun., Mar. 3, 2 p.m., Family Day at the National Blues Museum – Mardi Gras Party. Music, scavenger hunts, crafts, Musical Petting Zoo, and more. 615 Washington Ave., 63101. For more information, visit www. nationalbluesmuseum.org.

Tues., Mar. 5, 3:30 p.m., Central West End Fat Tuesday Celebration. Three local high school bands will be performing LIVE throughout the neighborhood. Euclid Ave., 63108. For more information, visit www.cwescene.com.

Thur., Mar. 7, 6 p.m., Soar into STEM Launch Party. Keith O’Brien, author of Fly Girls: How Five Daring

Women Defied All Odds and Made Aviation History joins us to kickoff this regional initiative to motivate youth to pursue STEM and aviation. 18370 Wings of Hope Blvd., 63005. For more information, www. wingsofhope.ngo.

Fri., Mar. 8, 6 p.m., Marygrove invites you to the 2018 BLOOM Gala. Proceeds benefit children, youth and families impacted by abuse, neglect and other trauma. Four Seasons Hotel St. Louis, 999 N 2nd St., 63102. For more information, visit www. marygrovechildren.org.

Sat., Mar. 9, 7 p.m., Omega Psi Phi Fraternity, Inc., Upsilon Phi Omega Chapter presents Mardi Gras: Zulu for Life. Omega Center, 3900 Goodfellow Blvd., 63120. For more information, visit www. eventbrite.com.

Sat., Mar. 9, 7:30 p.m., Ghanaian Association of St. Louis invites you to the 10th Anniversary Independence Gala. Cultural display, food, music, and more. Staenberg Family Complex, 2 Millstone Campus Dr., 63146. For

Breakaway Productions & Witherspoon Entertainment present Will Downing. See CONCERTS for details.

more information, visit www. eventbrite.com.

Sun., Mar. 10, 1 p.m., National College Fairs presents St. Louis STEM College and Career Fair. College and industry professionals will educate students and parents on STEMrelated career opportunities.

SLU, 1 N. Grand Blvd., 63103. For more information, visit www.gotomystemfair.com.

Wed., Mar. 13, 11 a.m., 2019

Annual St. Louis Diversity Job Fair. Employers looking to fill positions in Office Administration, Education, Human Resources, and more. North County Recreation Complex, 2577 Redman Rd., 63136. For more information, visit www.eventbrite.com.

Thur., Mar. 14, 6 p.m., St. Louis’ Best Bridal hosts Boutique Wedding Show. Meet with DJs, photographers, gown shops, salons, and more. St. Charles Convention Center, 1 Convention Center Plz., 63303. For more information, visit www.facebook.com.

Sat., Mar. 16, 12 p.m., Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc., St. Louis Metropolitan Alumnae Chapter invites you to their Founders’ Day Luncheon: Social Justice and Advocacy – Tell the Story Open to the public. Guest speaker, Cori Busch. Four Seasons Hotel, 999 N. 2nd St., 63102. For more information, visit www.eventbrite.com.

Mon., Mar. 18, 11 a.m., St. Louis Job Fair. Live interviews with employers looking to fill over 400 positions. DoubleTree, 1973 Craigshire Rd., 63146. For more information, visit www. eventbrit4e.com.

Sat., Mar. 23, 1 p.m., Ales for Tails Homebrew Festival Enjoy homebrew beer samples, arts & crafts, pet products, and raise money for stray animals. Urban Chestnut Grove Brewery and Bierhall, 4465 Manchester Ave., 63110. For more information visit www. eventbrite.com.

comedy

Mar. 1 – 3, Helium Comedy Club presents Jay Pharoah. 1151 St. Louis Galleria St., 63117. For more information, visit www.stlouis. heliumcomedy.com.

Mar. 8 – 10, The Laugh Lounge presents Hope Flood 111208 W Florissant Ave., 63033. For more information visit www.thelaughloungestl. com.

literary

Thur., Feb. 28, 7 p.m., Left Bank Books hosts author Sheila P. Moses, author of The Last Mile: Conversations with Dick Gregory. This book will tell the real story of the world according to Dick Gregory based on over two decades of conversations. 399 N. Euclid Ave., 63108.

Sat. Mar. 9, 5 p.m., Dani Skye and Friends Reading & Signing. An evening of poetry featuring a great selection of

Kenya Vaughn recommends

local writers. Dunaway Books, 3111 S. Grand Blvd., 63118. For more information, visit www.facebook.com.

Wed., Mar. 13, 7 p.m., St. Louis Public Library presents Read it Forward with Nic Stone. Teens can hear from the author of Dear Martin and get a free copy of the book. Central Library, 1301 Olive St., 63103. For more information, visit www.slpl. org.

Fri., Mar. 15, 7 p.m., Not So Late Night: Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah, Chaya Bhuvaneswar, Ron Austin, and Katarra. Mad Art Gallery, 2727 S. 12th St., 63118. For more information, visit www.left-bank.com.

Thur., Mar. 21, 7 p.m., Left Bank Books hosts author Myisha Cherry, author of UnMuted: Conversations on Prejudice, Oppression, and Social Justice. With St. Louis activist Tef Poe. 399 N. Euclid Ave., 63108.

Thur., Mar. 21, 7 p.m., Subterranean Books hosts author Rafia Zafar, author of Recipes for Respect: African American Meals and Meaning 6275 Delmar Blvd., 63130. For more information, visit www. store.subbooks.com.

Fri., Mar. 29, 7 p.m., Left Bank Books hosts author Damon Young, author of What Doesn’t Kill You Makes You Blacker. A celebration of the idiosyncrasies and distinctions of Blackness and a critique of white supremacy and how we define masculinity. 399 N. Euclid Ave., 63108.

Tues., Apr. 2, 7 p.m., Left Bank Books hosts author

Jennifer Eberhardt, author of Biased: Uncovering the Hidden Prejudice That Shapes What We See, Think, and Do. St. Louis Public Radio Community Room, 3651 Olive St., 63108. For more information, www.left-bank. com.

theatre

Through March 3, The Black Rep presents Milk Like Sugar, AE Hotchner Studio Theatre inside Edison Theatre at Washington University, 6445 Forsyth. Tickets are available atwww.theblackrep. org, 314-534-3807.

art

Through Feb. 28, National Blues Museum presents Our Living Past: A Platinum Portrait of Music Maker Photographer Timothy Duffy provides a look at the true pioneers and forgotten heroes of American roots music. 615 Washington Ave., 63101. For more information, visit www. nationalbluesmuseum.com.

Thur., Mar. 21, 6:30 p.m., Creative Reaction Lab invites you to Artwork for Equity: An Exhibit + Auction. Artists have been selected to produce original art promoting inclusion, equity, liberation, and justice. TechArtista, 4818 Washington Blvd., 63108. For more information, visit www. creativereationlab.com.

Mar. 29 – 31, The Greater St. Louis Art Association presents Spring Art Fair. 130 artists from over 20 states will display original works ranging from ceramics, jewelry, sculpture, and more. Queeny

6800 Wydown Blvd., 63105. For more information, visit www.eventbrite.com.

Thur., Mar. 7, 12 p.m., Great Decisions Lecture Series - Refugees and Migrants Topics include determining refugee status, how countries have reacted to migration, international laws, and more. The Ethical Society of St. Louis, 9001 Clayton Rd., 63117. For more information, call (314) 727-4771.

Sat., Mar. 11, 6:30 p.m., St. Louis Volunteer Lawyers and Accountants for the Arts invites you to Ask an Entertainment Lawyer. Join a panel of experienced attorneys for a discussion of legal and business issues. KDHX, 3524 Washington Ave., 63103. For more information, visit www. vlaa.org.

Thur., Mar. 14, 6 p.m., National Coalition of 100 Black Women, Inc., Metropolitan St. Louis Chapter presents Know Your Worth: How to Negotiate the Salary You Deserve. Harris Stowe, 3026 Laclede Ave., 63103. For more information, visit www.knowyourworth2019. eventbrite.com.

charge. For more information, visit these sites: https://mctcfreetax.org/, https://stlouistap.org/, http:// naba-stl.org/vita/location/, http://gatewayeitc.org/index. html

Fri., Mar. 8, 11:30 a.m., Women’s Foundation of Greater St. Louis and Incarnate Word Foundation present Period Poverty in the St. Louis Region. Learn more about this issue and seek tangible solutions and opportunities for action. 2711 Locust St., 63103. For more information or to register, visit www.wfstl.org.

Sat., Mar. 9, 12 p.m., Zeta Phi Beta Sorority, Inc., Xi Zeta Chapter presents Zumba with the Zetas. Bring feminine hygiene products to be donated to a local women’s shelter. STL Lifestyle Fitness, 1766 N. New Florissant Rd., 63033. For more information, visit www.facebook.com.

Park, 550 Weidman Rd., 63011. For more information, visit www.artfairatqueenypark. com.

lectures and workshops

Sat., Mar. 2, 10 a.m., Grants in Plain Sight Explore sources of grants, the components that go into a proposal, and strategies for how to manage a grant once awarded. Anheuser-Busch Hall, Fontbonne University,

Wed., Mar. 13, 5:30 p.m., Focus St. Louis presents Bridging the Gap Between St. Louis Natives & Transplants. An event for young professionals on bridging the gap between different experiences.

Mon., Mar. 18, 7 p.m., Representation & Responsibility: Equity in the Music Industry. This event is part of a community tour with Terence Blanchard, composer of Fire Shut Up in My Bones. Jazz St. Louis, 3536 Washington Ave., 63103. For more information, visit www. opera-stl.org.

Through Apr 16, numerous Volunteer Income Tax Assistance & AARP TaxAide sites will open to prepare income tax returns free of

Sun., Mar. 31, 1 p.m., Pros and Cons of Medicare for All. Four panelists will discuss this important issue in healthcare. Central Reform Congregation, 5020 Waterman Blvd., 63108. For more information, visit www. pnhpmo.org.

spiritual

Sat., Mar. 2, 7 p.m., Diamond Entertainment presents Deitrick Haddon Live in Concert. Harris Stowe State University, 3026 Laclede Ave., 63103. For more information, visit www. eventbrite.com.

Sun., Mar. 17, 9 a.m., New Salem Missionary Baptist invites you to celebrate their 91st Church Anniversary 1905 Arlington Ave., 63115. For more information, call (314) 630-1888.

The 13th Annual Gateway Blues Festival. Feat. Sir Charles Jones, Shirley Brown, Pokey Bear, Calvin Richardson, TK Soul, Theodis Ealey and Terry Wright. For more information, see CONCERTS.

In 1993, I was a junior in high school. It wasn’t my senior year, but it was going to be the last prom ever for Northwest High School graduates. The building had already been shut down and we students were sharing McKinley High School with Beaumont while that high school was under renovation.

Come 1994, we would all become Blue Jackets. But those of us who became a family at 5140 Riverview Drive wanted to help the class of ’93 go out with a bang by kicking it with them at their prom.

The fanciest thing in my closet at the time was a pink and purple Reebok wind suit with a visible iron burn on the knee. We creased everything in the early 90s – yes, wind suits too. I was committed to wearing it if I had to. Actually, I had committed to wearing it because I knew I had nothing else. I had saved up $30 dollars, which even in ’93 didn’t amount to much of anything along the lines of formal wear. I figured I would get my hair done and some new earrings from the beauty supply store inside Dynamite Foods to match my wind suit and that would be the extent of my prom attire.

But Viola Whitmore, my aunt on my dad’s side, had recently closed her bridal shop and had a surplus of dresses. She gifted me a teal off the shoulder bridesmaid gown. A 90s bridesmaid gown in every sense of one’s imagination –big puffy 90s sleeves, a bow on the back and an A-line hem that looked like a train. It was so extra. I loved it. And it fit. I got a lopsided $10 French roll from Mr. Ron’s Pine Lawn Beauty Salon that he made cute with pearl hair pins along the tilt. I found a pair of white Highlight pumps on clearance at the Payless in Northland Plaza and stopped by Walgreen’s for some suntan pantyhose. I got a pink tube of Wet and Wild lipstick from the beauty supply and you couldn’t tell me a single thing. I believe I marched into the prom to the pace of “Here Comes The Bride” to amuse myself. When I walked in, I thought

A make-up artist demonstrated on a guest of the Fairy Glam Project Prom Expo. Eligible young women will have the opportunity to select from new or gently used gowns on March 9. The event is free of charge, but registration is required.

I looked cute. My classmates were kind and encouraging. What people don’t tend to say about the inner-city schools –particularly at that time when the narrative of our school was that of unrest because they merged schools that were bitter rivals (from neighborhoods that were enemy gang turfs) – is that in all of the systemic disparities and issues, we overcompensated with genuine love and support for each other. In hindsight, I’m sure I looked a hot mess and I’m grateful to the universe that no photos exist to prove me right. There was a moment looking around when I felt like everyone else’s dresses looked better than my gifted one. I slumped my shoulders down in my seat. A classmate came by and scared me half to death when she pulled my shoulders back from behind.

“I’m the bride – and you’re my maid of honor,” she said. I turned around and she had a white crushed satin dress that bunched all over her tiny frame with white stockings and white heels she couldn’t walk in. We laughed so hard both of us doubled over before making our rounds to fellowship with everyone. I wish I could remember her name. But I will never forget how much fun I had that night. If hadn’t been for that dress,

I never would have had that amazing memory – and ShurnPerkins has been blessing young women in a similar manner for nearly a decade.

“What stared off as just an opportunity to help a few girls, has turned into one of the most anticipated events of the prom season,” Shurn-Perkins said.

Over the years, the Fairy Glam Project has become a full-on expo that gives girls tips and tools for what will for many be the biggest memory of their high school experience. This year’s Fairy Glam Project Prom Dress giveaway will take place from 10 a.m.-2 p.m. at All Nations Christian Church, 10047 Jeffrey Drive, St. Louis, MO 63137. Dresses are free, but potential shoppers must register at www. fairyglamproject.org and bring a printed ticket as proof of registration.

For those seeking to donate new or gently used gowns, dresses may be dropped off at green and white USAgain bins located throughout the area. Bag surplus dresses, label the bag PROM with a permanent marker and drop off the dresses in the local USAgain bins. For a complete list of drop-off locations, visit www.usagain. com or www.fairyglamproject. org.

Continued from C1

audience should prepare for an experience so hype that it qualifies as special circumstance. Bright yellow signs were taped to the entry way letting them know that they are not liable for just how lit the show will get.

“This is a high energy event” the disclaimer began – in all caps. “By attending this event, you voluntary assume all risks occurring before, during or after the event, including injury by any cause, and you release management, the facility, other participants, artists, their representatives and personnel, Live Nation, Ticketmaster and their respective affiliates and representatives, from any claims.” The note seemed a bit extreme –until the show started. And the fans didn’t wait for Scott to unleash the energy that patrons were warned about.

Harlem rapper Sheck Wes didn’t have to work hard to hype the crowd as he opened the show with tracks from his debut album “Mudboy” – but he did anyway. A freshman artist of lesser talent would have been swallowed up by the massive stage, but Wes seemed to relish in the opportunity of putting in work in the hopes of winning over Scott’s fans. It was clear as those in the mosh pit down front and the reserved seating alike unleashed as Wes performed “Mo Bamba” and “Kyrie” that he did what he set out to do and more.

Scott took his sweet time starting the Astroworld portion of the show – but delivered such a stimulating spectacle that fans forgave him for the delay.

No stranger to elaborate sets, there was barely room for Scott to perform during

OSCARS

Continued from C1

twist in paying homage on the prints, lines and fabric of the diaspora –contributed to a more comprehensive narrative to the continent, one that spoke beyond the commonly accepted misconceptions of poverty, famine and lack.

“Marvel may have created the first black superhero, but through costume design, we turned him into an African king,” Carter said in her speech. “It’s been my life’s honor to create costumes. Thank you to the Academy, thank you for honoring African royalty and the empowered way women can look and lead onscreen.”

St. Louis native Kevin Mayes served as Carter’s head tailor.

Through Carter, Marvel Studios received its first ever Academy Award. She became the first black woman to ever win an Academy Award for costume design.

“This has been a long time coming,” Carter said. “Spike Lee, thank you for my start. I hope this makes you proud.”

Lee was proud for herand later for himself when he won his first-ever competitive Academy Award for “Best Adapted Screenplay,” for “BlacKkKlansman” – an award he shared with Kansas City native Kevin Wilmott.

Draped in purple and gold – an ostentatious tribute to Prince and his Omega Psi Phi Fraternity – Lee was fittingly presented the award by his longtime friend and fellow Morehouse man, Samuel L. Jackson. Jackson broke through in Hollywood with his acclaimed performance in Lee’s “Jungle Fever.” Jackson lifted Lee off of the ground for a full body hug before Lee began his speech, provided personal context to the history of black people in this nation. An excerpt from his speech reads as follows: “Four hundred years. Our ancestors were stolen from Mother Africa and bought to Jamestown, Virginia, enslaved. Our ancestors worked the land from can’t see in the morning to can’t see at night. My grandmother, Zimmie Shelton Retha, who lived to be 100 years young, who was a Spelman College graduate even

n Scott doesn’t have the extensive catalog of Drake or some of his other rap contemporaries, but he managed to keep his comparable fan base engaged for the better part of 80 minutes.

his last visit to St. Louis –when the mechanical falcon for “Bird’s Eye View Tour” nearly swallowed the stage. He wouldn’t have that problem at Enterprise Center, since he’s quickly ascended to venue sizes suited to the scale of his concerts’ creative vision.

The rebirth of autotune is the best way to describe Scott’s opening musical sequence that included “Stargazing,” “Lose” and his feature on Drake’s “Company.”

Scott doesn’t have the extensive catalog of Drake or some of his other rap contemporaries, but he managed to keep his comparable fan base engaged for the better part of 80 minutes.

He connected with “day

one” fans with “Uptown” from his debut mixtape “Owl Pharaoh” and took everyone along for the journey that continued through his most recent release – his Grammy nominated 2018 album that is the tour’s namesake.

“Beibs in the Trap,” “Goosebumps,” “Antidote,” his feature on the 2 Chainz track, “4 am,” “Love Galore,” with St. Louis-born SZA and “Sicko Mode” were some of the songs performed.

He thanked the crowd for its energy. Their willingness to amp up with every song seemed to have left an impression on Scott – so much so that he thanked St. Louis again the following night when his tour landed in Kansas City.

though her mother was a slave.

My grandmother who saved 50 years of Social Security checks to put her first grandchild — she called me Spikie-poo — she put me through Morehouse College and NYU grad film.

NYU!

Before the world tonight, I give praise to our ancestors who have built this country into what it is today along with the genocide of its native people. We all connect with our ancestors. We will have love and wisdom regained, we will regain our humanity. It will be a powerful moment. The 2020 presidential election is around the corner. Let’s all mobilize. Let’s all be on the right side of history. Make the moral choice between love versus hate. Let’s do the right thing! You know I had to get that in there.”

Before Ruth Carter and Spike Lee’s moment, more history was made. Hannah Beachler became the first black woman to win an Oscar for production design. With his “Best Supporting Actor” win for portraying Dr. Don Shirley in “Greenbook,” Mahershala Ali became only the second black man in history to win two competitive Oscars. Denzel Washington is the other. Ali was the bright spot in a film that whitewashes the actual Green Book by making the film about the redemption of Tony Vallelonga as opposed to the atrocities and racial terror imposed on blacks driving through the south in the Jim Crow era who were forced to use a handbook as their guide for safe travels. The title bamboozled some people, but “Green Book” director Peter Farrelly made it clear who the film was actually about and for.

“This whole thing starts with Viggo,” Farrelly said as he and his team – including Ali and Octavia Spencer (who became the first black woman executive producer to win an Oscar) – stood on stage to accept the evening’s biggest award. Shirley’s name was also left off when Farrelly and others – including Vallellonga’s son, won a best screenplay Academy Award. Ali was the only one who took thought to recognize Shirley. Ludwig Goransson was also able to capitalize from the super black Oscars by winning “Best Original Music Score” for “Black Panther – but he gave credit where credit was due. Goransson also won a “Record of the Year” Grammy for Childish Gambino’s “This Is America.” So, thanks to “the culture” he is halfway to an EGOT.

Photo by Lawrence Bryant

Regina King won the award for best actress in a supporting role for her performance in “If Beale Street Could Talk” at the 91st Academy Awards.

Welcome to the ‘Man cAM’ Art buyer seeks information about painting and painter

By Sandra Jordan Of The St. Louis American

When Bobby Stewart leaves his job in security, he goes into a refuge he created, full of his art, along with the hopes and dreams of a people, and an indelible part of this nation’s history.

Stewart turned his living room in Kinloch into a man cave/black history museum. He calls it his “man CAM” – as in man cave and cultural arts museum. But this is his apartment where he lives.

“I come into a world that is 100 percent totally different than what I am exposed to outside,”

Stewart said. “When I come in, I know I’m somewhere in an environment – a welcome relief from everyday pressures of outside. Because in the outside world, you have to deal with circumstances and environments you necessarily don’t want to be part of, and those are things you cannot control.”

When he gets home, he is greeted with hundreds of items he has collected over the years, reminiscent of the accomplishments and the marvel of greatness that comes from within.

His collection reflects his “personal interest in the areas of geography, history, African culture, things of that nature,” Stewart said. “It all started to just grow and expand.”

When he started restructuring his display, he spotlighted historical African-American inventors.

“I felt that they never get the type of exposure and awareness that they truly deserve,” Stewart said, “because their technological prowess has helped not only this country, but all over the world.”

For example: the traffic light (invented by Garrett Morgan, 1923, the shoe lasting machine (Jan Matzeliger, 1883); the third rail. an electrical power conduit system for railways

See CAM, C6

“Lacrimos

dies illa,” artist unknown, 1960.

‘There is a story behind this piece that needs to be recognized’

By Chris King Of The St.

Louis American

Angela Wood recently purchased a painting with an African-American subject in St. Louis that is so special she feels she needs to find who painted it and return the painting to its maker.

“I honestly have never purchased a piece of artwork,” Wood wrote to The

See PAINTING, D2

‘Black hAiRitage’ in East St. Louis

SIUE administrator teaches hair history to charter school students

By Patricia Merritt

Southern Illinois University Edwardsville

Elaborate and meticulously crafted braids, cornrows, twists, “locs” and Bantu knots are just a few ways African women wore their hair in their native countries, according to Southern Illinois University Edwardsville’s MaKesha Harris Lee, assistant director for Pre-Collegiate Programs.

Harris Lee presented “Black HAIRitage” to SIUE East St. Louis Charter High School girls on Thursday, February 14 at the East St. Louis Higher Education Campus.

“In Africa, people could tell a person’s marital, economic, community and religious status based on their hairstyles,” Harris told the group of CHS students. “Hairstyles could also be used to determine if a woman had children or the geographic region in which the person lived.” Harris Lee, who wrote “#BlackHairMatters: Exploring the Relationship between Black Women Students and Their Hair in Higher Education in the United States” for her dissertation, was accompanied by members of SIUE’s MyCURLFRIENDS, an organization that provides information about and celebrates black hair.

“Black hair does not solely identify us, but is part of our identity,” said Harris Lee. “These are

Presenting sPonsors

high school students who will go on to college and adulthood. They will run into decisions about their hair, and they will deal with their relationship to their hair.”

“You do face stereotypes in the workforce and in corporate America. Whether an African American woman gets promoted, can be related to how she chooses to wear her hair,” Harris Lee said. “The hair of those black women who move up the corporate ladder gets shorter and shorter, because they are trying to mirror the images of those around them. White males and black males wear their hair shorter.”

Harris Lee also provided U.S. history of African-American women hairstyles, fads and concerns including the Tignon Laws that required black women to cover their hair, and the role of black hairstyles in the Civil Rights Movement.

“I have run into attitudes that black women’s natural hair is unprofessional in the workforce,” said Jayla Howard, president and founder of MyCURLFRIENDS. “Some people will say our natural hair is unprofessional or wild, but our hair is coarse. Black hair can make others feel uncomfortable, because it’s different.” Howard, a junior majoring in exercise science, began MyCURLFRIENDS at SIUE in October 2017 because there were no natural hair organizations on campus.

East St. Louis Charter High School students and SIUE MyCURLFRIENDS members

on making a hair

“The students enjoyed the knowledge shared by the members of MyCURLFRIENDS and Dr. MaKesha Harris Lee,” said Pamela Saffore, CHS guidance counselor. “A lot of the information

on February

shared was new to the students. They learned about the intricate history of African-American

See HAIR, D2

Bobby Stewart, who works in security, created his own black cultural arts museum in his Kinloch home. Photo by Wiley Price Bobby Stewart has his own black cultural arts museum in his Kinloch home

SIUE

worked

mask

14 at the East St. Louis Higher Education Campus. Front row: Persephone Cole, a senior majoring in civil engineering; Jayla Howard, a junior majoring in exercise science; and Jaslene Young, CHS junior. Back row: Kayla Dawson, CHS senior; Aleesia Glass, CHS junior; Kaneika Bullard, CHS senior; and SIUE’s MaKesha Harris Lee, assistant director for PreCollegiate Programs.

Styling history with Madam C.J. Walker

CAM

Continued from D1

(Granville Woods, 1901).

“These things were invented by black people,” Stewart said. “Nobody else came up with these technologies.”

Flags of African nations adorn the ceiling; maps cover the front door; and everywhere are images of AfricanAmerican scientists, athletes and authors who rose above adversity, simmering racism and bigotry.

“I felt that is was incumbent that I create an environment where, when people come over, they can see this and they can see the diagrams,” Stewart said, “and they can have more of an appreciation. Because, again, that awareness is severely lacking.”

HAIR

Continued from D1

hairstyles, and how the process our ancestors used to style their hair is similar to what we do today.”

Following her presentation,

PAINTING

Continued from D1

American. “There was someone selling it on the local marketplace at an auction. I can’t even imagine how long this treasure has been lost out there. It needs to find its way home again.”

The painting shows a bald black man in a suit with his head in his left hand. Above his head is a darker figure, grinning and gesturing. The

The apartment is his home, his castle, and his man-CAM.

“It’s something that gives me great psychological and emotional relief,” Stewart said,

Harris Lee provided materials to make hair masks, which can also be used on the skin.

“One component of the ‘Black HAIRitage’ event at the Charter High School is to expose the students to one example of healthier hair care practices,” said Harris Lee.

“The products that are bought in the stores are so dan-

combination of that figure’s necktie and white collar might conjure a razor or scythe poised above the man’s head, with a Grim Reaper connotation. The background is painted blood red.

The words “Lacrimos dies illa” are painted in a muted gold in the top right corner, which is a garbled quote from the Latin Requiem Mass that could be translated “Weeping that day.”

The painting is dated in muted gold paint “1960” and appears to be signed with what might be the initials “FAB.”

“because what’s represented is what comes from me, and I’m just a conduit through which the talent from the universe has supplied me.”

gerous. It is important to teach young women and girls about alternative, healthier, and less expensive options for taking care of their hair without the toxic ingredients. Students were encouraged to share their new knowledge with friends and family, so that they too will be exposed to healthier choices for haircare.”

“I can’t explain how it makes me feel, but I do know that there is a story behind this piece that needs to be recognized,” Wood wrote to The American “I do not know how I could ever identify the artist, but I guess I decided to start with you. Any input or advice from you would be greatly appreciated.”

Anyone with information about this painting can contact Wood at mswood7171@ gmail.com or The American at news@stlamerican.com.

BLACK HISTORY

How Their Life Changed Yours Dr. Sharon D. Deans

Sharon D. Deans was born on March 7, 1960, in Brooklyn, New York. She knew from an early age she wanted to help people. Most of all she wanted to help women, empowering them to take good care of themselves and their families through better understanding of their own health. By ninth-grade Deans knew she wanted to deliver babies into this world and never lost that passion. After first majoring in pre-med biology in college, she attended medical school, earning herself an M.D. from the historically black college Howard Univeristy. She would go on to practice obstetrics and gynecology for many years. In 2009 she won Best Doctor of New York City Health and Hospital Corp and was awarded numerous community service awards as well. She is a member of the American Board of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, The American Association Physician Leadership, and her current role is Chief Medical Officer for Home State Health.

How Her Life Changed Yours

Deans participated in several medical missions to Nigeria and Haiti to provide free healthcare to many people in need. She assisted the people of Haiti by providing care after the tragic 2010 earthquake.

When asked about the resposibilities she has today she said, “I have the privilege of being able to help people get health care services in order to learn about and understand their health, learn to take care of any health care conditions they may have and to work toward living their best possible lives with good health.”

Centene Corporation presents

Her Life

Stylists Kelly Lonise and Aliyah “Lele” Bell with The Uhuru Salon worked on students

Barack Obama Elementary School in the Normandy Schools Collaborative as part of a Black History Month segment on African-American entrepreneur Madam C.J. Walker and her historic contributions to the hair care industry.

Congratulations are in order for Priscilla Mason and

Kenneth Van Buren, who are engaged to be married!

Priscilla is a graduate of Sumner High School, class of 1984 and works for SSM Health Rehabilitation Hospital. Kenneth is a graduate of Northwest High School, class of 1976 and is employed by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. The wedding celebration is set for August 04, 2019 at the The Afrikan Village & Cultural Center. Best wishes!

Reunions

reunion announcements can be viewed online!

Beaumont Class Of 1969 will celebrate it’s 50-year reunion Sept 20-22, 2019 at Embassy Suites St. Charles. Come join us as we celebrate these golden years, “Living Life Like It’s Golden.” For more information contact Dennis Hayden 314 276-6188 or beaumontclassof1969@yahoo.

com or send your questions to P.O. Box 155, Florissant, MO 63032.

Beaumont Class of 1979 is planning its 40-year reunion. All activities are scheduled for the weekend of September 27-29. The location is The Airport Marriot at 10700 Pear Tree Drive, St. Louis 63134. For more information, contact Milton Jackson at 314-2764392 or Yolanda Lockhart at lockhartyo08@gmail.com.

Kinloch Class of 1969 is planning its 50-year reunion on August 21, 22 and 23. Dinner dance at Orlandos, 2050 Dorsett Village Plaza. For information call Ruben at 314239-5202 or Ophelia at 314-

Celebrations

Centenarian

Happy 105th Birthday to Callie M. Long on March 3! Callie is a Sumner High School graduate and lives independently at Homer G. Phillips Apartments. She enjoys word games, seek and find puzzles and watching reality television shows. She retired from Famous Barr (Macy’s) where she was a top seller in the women’s shoe department. She is the rock of our family and we would like to wish her a Happy Birthday!

280-6596. Classmates please respond by April 2019.

Northwest Class of 1979 is planning on cruising for our 40-year reunion and would love for you to join us! Date to sail is set for July 20, 2019 and you can feel free to contact: Duane Daniels at 314-568-2057 or Howard Day at 414-698-4261 for further information. Please don’t miss the boat!

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

Soldan Class of 1979 is

Double Blessings

Happy 70th Birthday to my beautiful wife, Nonia Hall, on February 28! She’s an amazing mother and grandmother with a heart of gold. Happy Retirement to her, as well after 33 years and 8 months of dedicated service with Schnucks. Time to travel and grow old together. Love, John Hall

planning its 40-year reunion for the weekend of August 2-3, 2019. Yearlong reunion activities will begin with a kickoff at Soldan High School Homecoming on Saturday, October 13, 2018 prior to the game at 1 p.m. For more information or to assist with reunion activities, please email at: soldanclassof1979@gmail. com or call Barbara at 314 456-3391.

Sumner Class Of 1969 50th reunion “Living Life Like It’s Golden” June 28-30, 2019. Looking for classmates of 1969 to contact us with your updated information via address:sumnerclass1969@ gmail.com or our FB page: Sumner High.

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

Vashon Class of 1974 is planning for its 45-year reunion. We are in the process of rounding up all classmates. To provide or update your contact information, please email ljbady@gmail.com or contact: Joe Verrie Johnson 314-640-5842, Jordan Perry 314-724-4563, or LaVerne James-Bady 314-382-0890.

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

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:

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

Grammy Award winning soul singer

Christa and Angel, creator of the Night of Soul Searching concert series, following the latest installment of the popular night of music Saturday at The Ready Room. Michele headlined the evening’s festivi

Young Leaders was lit. I tried to tell y’all. Those who came through know that everyone at the Four Seasons last Thursday for the St. Louis American Foundation’s 9th Annual Salute to Young Leaders got their whole entire life. We were inspired to honor our ancestors by my spirit animal Rebeccah Bennett. When she blows up on a global scale, please remember that I have been caping for her since 2007. There are certain people who we often refer to as “life savers” – well, Rebeccah is a “life changer.” But back to Young Leaders. As we honored the 20 under 40 that made up the 2019 class of Young Leaders, I was inspired by the list of contributions – both in their professional lives and through service – that illustrate how they are shaping the region. They are surely on the path to even bigger and better things. I also received fashion inspiration from the head-to-toe snatched folks, both honorees and guests, who were in the building. I would take Jami Ballentine Dolby’s makeup and pair it with Nikki Bolden’s outfit, featuring that glorious pet-able shrug, and Cynthia Chappele’s chunky black platform shoes. Nikki’s ensemble was life top-tobottom as it was, because she stays slaying on the fashion tip. I also loved Coach Chi’s black dress. I don’t want to go too deep into pointing out all the lewks – because this entry would never end. Let me just say that the entire sixth floor was filled with ladies who know how to dress and accessorize and classic men that would put Jidenna to shame. Too bad for anyone who missed it. You’ll have to wait until next year. Hopefully those shrimp that had the folks lined up for the entire reception portion like they were waiting for TVs at Wal-Mart on Black Friday will make their glorious return in 2020. Oh, and let me just give a shout out to Dr. Diana Mitchell for rocking those Jordan Retro 11 Concords as your maternity shoes with your black dress. I would totally jack your third trimester look if this baby factory weren’t shut down. Neck and neck for Beyonce vs. Rihanna. When I headed to Trefftpunkt for DJ Hood Bunny’s Versus Party featuring Beyonce going up against Rihanna, I thought I knew King Bey was going to come out the clear winner. In full disclosure, I ride more with the Bey Hive than I do with the Navy because Beyonce and I are secretly the same age. I say that with no shade to Ri-Ri, because she keeps some jams on deck. But after seeing the young creatives kick it like it was 1999 whenever the beat dropped for both divas, I’m not so sure. Can I say before I get good and started that I am so glad that I finally found Trefftpunkt? It’s in the basement of a church sanctuary – so it felt more like I was headed to a stop on the Underground Railroad than a dance party. But once I got down there, it was on and cracking. I wasn’t packed to the gills – which was a good thing, because the folks were using every bit of the space to break it on down. I love to see folks dancing like nobody’s watching. But I love it even more when people dance like “everybody watch me nail this choreography, girl.” These random folks had the kick-ball-changes, the twerks, high kicks and hand claps in order, honey. And here I was thinking I was doing something by knowing how to do the “Josephine Johnny” dance and shoulder shrug from “Single Ladies.” I had a ball watching these folks and was on YouTube in the middle of the night trying to get my dance combo knowledge game together.

A stellar night of soul searching with Chrisette Michele and company. I know she’s been persona non grata for a good little while for deciding to play for Trump – who ultimately ended up playing her. But Chrisette Michelle and the sickening back up band featuring St. Louis musicians made for my favorite Night of Soul Searching concert to date Saturday night at The Ready Room. I’m always nervous when somebody tries to cover Bobby Womack, but that rising southern soul star Bird Williams (straight outta Memphis) would have had Bobby co-signing from glory if he heard his rendition of “A Woman’s Gotta Have It.” That tone and that southern gruff was absolutely everything. Saxmo and Music Unlimited got it as usual. Anytime somebody does Mint Condition, it makes my night. And let me say that while all the musicians were jamming,’ the drummers decided that they were going to snatch the spotlight on this good Saturday. Freddy Spencer for Music Unlimited and Thomas Paden during Chrisette Michele’s set got it all the way in. Chrisette was so shook by Thomas that she stopped singing to give him a solo. Now she has to have heard some of the best drummers in the world over the course of her career. But Thomas left an impression, do you hear me? And, he has the nerve to be barely grown. Now that I’ve said what I said about the musicians, let me get to the woman of the hour. Chrisette looked amazing in her little neutral colored shrug and matching headwrap with some jeans. And she sounded even better. She sang all of my favorite hits – and let my boy Melvin Moore get it in during a bass solo that was life. I’ve seen Chrisette four or five times and she has never looked or sounded as good as she did Saturday. And can we talk about the Ready Room Greater St. Louis Community Choir that got crackin’ when Chrisette asked for audience participation during her cover of Richard Smallwood’s “Total Praise.” Y’all be saingin!

Will Downing is on the way. I thought I would take a moment to remind y’all that the Will Downing show that the weather would not allow to be great is on its way back to town. He’ll be back on Saturday, March 23 at HarrisStowe’s Main Auditorium thanks to Breakaway Productions & Witherspoon Entertainment. Doors open at 5:30 p.m. For those who don’t already have tickets from the last show (which are still good), or for more information, visit www.metrotix.com.

Coach Chi and Crystal were among the incredible group being celebrated @ The St. Louis American Foundation’s 9th Annual Salute To Young Leaders Thursday

Corey, Melva and Sean after Music Unlimited’s superb set @ A Night of Soul Searching Saturday @ The Ready Room

Patrice, Becca and Jamie sang along to Chrisette Michele @ A Night of Soul Searching Saturday @ The Ready Room

Nick and Nikia were in the cut as guests got down to the sounds of Bey and RiRi DJ Hood Bunny’s Versus party Friday night @ Treffpunkt

2019 Young Leader Honorees April, Jami and Evan were all smiles as they prepared to accept their awards Thursday night @ The Four Seasons

Maryah and Brittany made their way home after a magical musical experience @ A Night of Soul Searching @ The Ready Room Saturday night

Justin, Sharmari and Markees busted a move at DJ Hood Bunny’s Versus party featuring the music of Beyonce and Rihanna Friday night @ Treffpunkt

Jessica, Constance and Edu showed support to the honorees @ The St. Louis American Foundation’s 9th Annual Salute

Kianna and Tim grooved to the soulful sounds of Chrisette Michele Saturday @ A Night of Soul Searching @ The Ready Room

Rockwell Knuckles and Indiana Rome were just a couple of the St. Louis rap stars showing love to the S.L.U.M.Fest Awards Saturday @ Atomic Cowboy Bootleg

Chrisette Michele with

ties with performances by Bird Williams and Cory Saxmo with Music Unlimited.

PASTOR

Small Missionary Baptist Church in the City is seeking a Pastor. Send Resume to:

Seeking Pastors 11035 Huson Valley Dr. St. Louis, MO 63138

DEACONESS FOUNDATION SEEKS DIRECTOR, PARTNER SUPPORT AND CAPACITY BUILDING

The Director stewards a program of trust-based philanthropy to build the power to advance the foundation’s public policy agenda for child well-being. The primary responsibility of this full-time, professional position is leading grant making and funding efforts within the foundation’s program portfolio. The secondary responsibility is providing capacity building support and relationship management with funded and prospective Partners. S/he supports the CEO in development and oversight of

COORDINATOR

Responsible for various technical support tasks related to claim assistant duties

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

CIVIC ENGAGEMENT MANAGER

Great Rivers Greenway is seeking a dynamic Civic Engagement Manager to collaborate with internal staff and a wide range of external partners and consultants to engage the community with the organization’s mission, vision and projects. Check https://greatriversgreenway. org/jobs-bids/ and submit by April 2, 2019.

OUTREACH SPECIALISTS & CASE MANAGERS

Better Family Life, Inc. a non-profit organization is currently looking to hire Outreach Specialists & Case Managers to the community outreach program to will collaborate with program partners in areas of outreach, research, evaluation of targeted neighborhoods. To apply send resume to hr@betterfamilylife.org

EOE - CDA Funded

COURT CLERK

The City of Jennings is accepting applications for the position of Court Clerk. Duties include computer data entry and retrieval, collecting fines during court, and contact with the public at the counter and by phone. The position is full time, Monday through Friday, with additional work on Tuesday evenings for court. Starting salary is $27,376 GS-7-C. Prior court or related experience preferred.

Applications available at Jennings City Hall, 2120 Hord Ave. or at www.cityofjennings.org. NO RESUMES ACCEPTED WITHOUT COMPLETION OF OUR APPLICATION! Completed applications may be emailed to jobs@cityofjennings.org or faxed to 314-388-3999. Applications accepted until the position is filled.

STAFF COUNSEL

Under the direction of the senior attorney(s), responsible for assisting senior attorney(s)’ management of business transactional support, information security related issues, and other legal affairs of the Company. To apply, please visit: https:// www.safetynational.com/ careers-page/.careers-page/

St. Louis ArtWorks is seeking a Part Time Office Manager. Must be Experienced in office and financial management, demonstrated organizational and time management and have a minimum of one year of experience using QuickBooks. If interested contact priscilla.block@stlartworks.org with resume, references and cover letter.

DEFINED CONTRIBUTION EDUCATION SPECIALIST

The Missouri State Employees’ Retirement System (MOSERS) is recruiting for a Defined Contribution Education Specialist. This position is responsible for marketing the MO Deferred Compensation Plan to State employees & providing ongoing education of participants. This position conducts in-person seminars & one-on-one meetings with members regarding their account balance, contributions, investment performance, & investment options. Minimum requirements include a bachelor’s degree preferably in business, finance, marketing, or similar. Previous financial planning experience, Certified Financial Planner or Chartered Financial Consultant designation is strongly preferred. Candidates should possess strong presentation and inter-personal skills; knowledge of investment concepts, retirement, and financial planning; competency in all MS Office products; & ability to quickly learn web-based applications. This position is based in Jefferson City but works mostly off-site in the southwest portion of the state, regular day-trips and occasional overnight travel are required. Must have a valid Missouri driver’s license & a reliable personal vehicle. Qualified travel expenses, including mileage, are reimbursed. Anticipated salary $52,000-$57,000, dependent on experience. Apply by Monday, March 11 at www.mosers. org , click “Careers”. Visit www.modeferredcomp.org to learn about the Plan. EOE:M/F/V/D.

Notice to contractors, Special School District is accepting bids for Roof Replacement at Learning Center. For details, please visit the website at www.ssdmo.org/rfps.html

NOTICE TO CONTRACTORS

Sealed bids for Ashby Road Bridge No. 261, St. Louis County Project No. AR-1668, 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 11:00 a.m. on March 20, 2019.

Plans and specifications will be available on February 18, 2019 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.

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 March 19, 2019 for: PRIMARY STEEL 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 9826 RFQ. If you do not have access to the internet, call (314) 7686314 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 RFQ’s in the Purchasing Division, 2350 Market Street, St. Louis, Missouri 63103-2555 until 11:00 a.m. on March 26, 2019 to contract with a company for: CHEMICAL TREATMENT OF CLOSED LOOP WATER & BOILER SYSTEMS (LEMAY). 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 9828 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.

NOTICE TO CONTRACTORS

Notice is hereby given that The Metropolitan St. Louis Sewer District (District) will receive sealed bids for Era Ave. 5800 Block Sewer Seperation under Letting No. 10856015.1, at this office, 2350 Market Street, St. Louis, Missouri 63103, until 02:00 PM on Wednesday, March 20, 2019, at a place designated. Bids will be received only from companies that are pre-qualified by the District’s Engineering Department for: SEWER CONSTRUCTION – St. Louis City drainlayer’s license required Plans and Specifications are available for 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 1712 Macklind Avenue, St. Louis MO 63110. All bidders must obtain a set of plans and specifications in order to submit a 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 Forest Brook Ln #156 Sanitary Sewer Repair (IR) under Letting No. 13305015.1, at this office, 2350 Market Street, St. Louis, Missouri 63103, until 02:00 PM on Monday, March 18, 2019, at a place designated. Bids will be received only from companies that are pre-qualified by the District’s Engineering Department for: SEWER CONSTRUCTION – St. Louis County drainlayer’s license required Plans and Specifications are available for 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 1712 Macklind Avenue, St. Louis MO 63110. All bidders must obtain a set of plans and specifications in order to submit a bid in the name of the entity submitting the bid.

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

ST. LOUIS COMMUNITY COLLEGE

St. Louis Community College will receive separate sealed bids for CONTRACT NO. F 19 502, Renovation for STEM Academy, at St. Louis Community College at Florissant Valley, until 2:00 p.m. local time Tuesday, March 7, 2019. Bids will be publicly opened and read aloud at the office of the Manager of Engineering and Design, 5464 Highland Park, St. Louis, MO 63110-1314. Specifications and bid forms may be obtained from the Manager’s office, at the above address or by calling (314) 644-9770.

Voluntary Pre-bid Meeting: 1:30PM February 21, 2019, Florissant Valley, Renovation for STEM Academy, Engineering Building, Room E144

An Equal Opportunity and Affirmative Action Employer

PUBLIC NOTICE

Sprint, proposes to perform a rooftop collocation at 159.6-feet, replacing three antennas and removing RRU’s at the approx. vicinity of 710 N. Tucker Blvd, St. Louis, St. Louis County, MO 63101. Public comments regarding potential effects from this site on historic properties may be submitted within 30 days from the date of this publication to: Trileaf Corp, Ana Rodriguez, 1051 Winderley Pl, Ste 201, Maitland, FL 32751, 407-660-7840 a.rodriguez@trileaf.com.

BIDS

C F Vatterott Construction Co. , 10143 Paget Drive, St Louis, MO. Is seeking subcontractor bids for new homes at West End Court II at Cates Ave. and St. Henry Place at Rutger & Hickory. St. Louis Mo. Section 3, Minority, Women & Disadvantaged Businesses are encouraged to bid. Plans & Specs can be viewed at C F Vatterott office 10143 Paget Dr and Cross Rhodes Repographics office 1712 Macklind Ave. Bids are due by March 29 and are subject to Section 3 requirements. Intended qualified applicants for subcontractors are selected without regard to race, sex, color, age, religion, or national origin

THE SPECIAL SCHOOL DISTRICT OF ST. LOUIS COUNTY

The Special School District of St. Louis County will be seeking sealed bids for Request for Proposal #SSD 111-19: Food Service Management. For details, please visit our website at www.ssdmo.org/rfps.html

BID PROPOSAL

KCI Construction requests subcontract proposals from MBE, WBE, DBE, Veteran Owned and SDVE businesses for the Advanced Construction and Materials Lab, Missouri University of Science & Technology, Rolla, MO. Project #265095 Plans and specifications are available

• To view electronically at no charge from: http://adsmo.net

• To view at our Camdenton office: 5505 Old South 5, Camdenton, MO 65020

• By a request for a Dropbox Link from jmorrow@kciconstruction.com

Subcontractor bids are due by 1:00 p.m. Thursday, April 04, 2019. You may email bids to jmorrow@kciconstruction.com or send a fax to 573-346-9739. Please call if you have any questions: 314-200-6496.

NOTICE TO CONTRACTORS

Sealed bids for 2019 CRS Pavement Rehabilitation, Area A St. Louis County Project No. CR-1787, 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 11:00 a.m. on March 13, 2019. Plans and specifications will be available on February 11, 2019 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.

PUBLIC NOTICE

Sprint, proposes to perform a rooftop collocation at 65-feet, replacing three antennas and removing RRU’s at the approx. vicinity of 2639 Miami Street, St. Louis, St. Louis County, MO 63118. Public comments regarding potential effects from this site on historic properties may be submitted within 30 days from the date of this publication to: Trileaf Corp, Ana Rodriguez, 1051 Winderley Pl, Ste 201, Maitland, FL 32751, 407-660-7840 a.rodriguez@trileaf.com.

REQUEST

FOR PROPOSALS

MetroLink System-Wide Security Assessment, Phase 2 East-West Gateway is seeking proposals from consultants to complete Phase 2 of the MetroLink SystemWide Security Assessment. DBE information can be found in Section VII of the RFP. Submittals are due no later than 1:00 p.m. on March 1, 2019. Submittal details and specifications can be obtained at www. ewgateway.org or by calling 314421-4220 ext. 263.

NOTICE TO CONTRACTORS

Paric Corporation is seeking proposals for the following project: Soda Fountain located at St. Louis Union Station. The project consists of restaurant build out with MEPFP scope being design build.

Bids for this project are due on March 7th at 10:00 a.m. For any questions or would like to find out more detailed information on this opportunity, please contact Theresa Stout at 636-561-9849 or tmstout@paric.com.

All bids should be delivered to Paric via e-mail (bids@paric.com) or fax (636-561-9501).

Plans and specifications will be available to view at Paric’s Main office at 77 Westport Plaza, Suite 250, St. Louis, MO 63146

PARIC CORPORATION IS AN EQUAL OPPORTUNITY EMPLOYER

REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS TO PROVIDE PREPARATION OF ORGANIZATIONAL STRATEGIC PLAN AND COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT

SOLICITATION NO. EX 19-05

The St. Louis Housing Authority (SLHA) invites proposals for Preparation of Organizational Strategic Plan and Community Engagement from qualified firms that are capable of meeting the specifications.

Solicitation documents will be available for pick up at SLHA, 3520 Page Blvd., St. Louis, MO 63106 on Monday, March 4, 2019. Interested firms may request a copy of the RFP by calling 314-286-4365 or e-mailing fbruce@slha.org.

A Pre-Proposal conference is scheduled for Wednesday, March 13, 2019, at 10:00 a.m. in the 1st Floor Board Room at the above mentioned address. SLHA will receive sealed proposals for this service until 3:00 p.m. (local time) on March 27, 2019.

Krista S. Peyton Contracting Officer

MWBE Prebid Meeting Notice

The SITE Improvement Association is hosting a Prebid meeting for Qualified and Certified MWBE contractors to discuss working on St. Louis County’s 2019 CRS Pavement Rehabilitation, Area A Project Project No. CR-1787

This meeting is being held on behalf of the following SITE contractor member:

J.M. Marschuetz Construction Co. 15 Truitt Drive, Eureka, MO 63025 636/938-3600

The meeting will take place at 10:00 a.m.

March 7, 2019 SITE Improvement Association Office, 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.

Harris-Stowe State University (HSSU) is requesting sealed bids for Abatement Services at the Vashon Community Center located at 3145 Market Street, St. Louis, MO 63103. A mandatory Pre-bid conference and walk-through will be held on Thursday, March 14, 2019 at 11:00 a.m. in the Vashon Center on the HSSU campus, 3145 Market Street, St. Louis, MO 63103. The bids will be accepted (in sealed envelopes, clearly marked “BID FOR ABATEMENT SERVICES AT THE VASHON COMMUNITY CENTER” in the Purchasing Office (Room 105) of the Dr. Henry Givens, Jr., Administration (HGA)

A copy of the plans and environmental report can be obtained by contacting Sonja Branscomb, Kwame Building Group at email address: sbranscomb@kwamebuildinggroup.com or calling (314) 862-5344.

University reserves the right to reject any and all bids and to waive all informalities in bids.

NOTICE OF ELECTION

PRIMARY MUNICIPAL ELECTION

CITY OF ST. LOUIS, MISSOURI

TUESDAY, MARCH 5, 2019

NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that a Primary Municipal Election will be held at the designated polling place for each precinct in the City of St. Louis, State of Missouri, on Tuesday, March 5, 2019. The polls will be open between the hours of 6:00 A.M. and 7:00 P.M. for the purpose of nominating candidates for President of the Board of Aldermen and Alderman in the even-numbered Wards.

The last day the Board of Election Commissioners could accept an application to vote an absentee ballot by mail in the March 5, 2019 Primary Municipal Election was 5:00 P.M. on Wednesday, February 20, 2019. Absentee voting in person will conclude at 5:00 P.M. on Monday, March 4, 2019. The office of the Board of Election Commissioners will be open on Saturday, March 2, 2019, from 9:00 A.M. until 1:00 P.M.

THE OFFICIAL BALLOT WILL BE SUBSTANTIALLY IN THE FOLLOWING FORM:

INSTRUCTIONS TO VOTERS: In today’s election, you have your choice of using either an electronic, touch screen voting machine or an optical scan voting machine to cast your ballot.

IF YOU USE THE OPTICAL SCAN VOTING MACHINE to cast your ballot, you must completely darken the oval to the left of the name of the candidate of your choice. Do not try to punch through the ballot. Use only the marking device provided to you. If you tear, deface or make a mistake and incorrectly mark the ballot, return it to the Election Judges and obtain a new ballot.

IF YOU USE THE ELECTRONIC, TOUCH SCREEN VOTING MACHINE, follow the directions on the screen to cast your ballot. For each candidate, touch the box on the screen to the left of the name of the candidate of your choice. If you need assistance in using the machine, please ask the Election Judges to help you.

DEMOCRATIC PARTY CANDIDATES

FOR PRESIDENT OF THE BOARD OF ALDERMEN (Vote for One)

JAMILAH NASHEED

MEGAN ELLYIA GREEN

LEWIS REED

JIMMIE MATTHEWS

FOR ALDERMAN WARD 2 (Vote for One)

LISA MIDDLEBROOK

THOMAS BRADLEY

FOR ALDERMAN WARD 4 (Vote for One)

SAMUEL L. MOORE

ROBERT DILLARD

LEROY CARTER

EDWARD MCFOWLAND

FOR ALDERMAN WARD 6 (Vote for One)

CHRISTINE INGRASSIA

CEDRIC REDMON

DEBRA CARNAHAN

HENRY GRAY

FOR ALDERMAN WARD 8 (Vote for One)

ANNIE LEE RICE

EMMETT L. COLEMAN

FOR ALDERMAN WARD 10 (Vote for One)

JOSEPH (JOE) VOLLMER

PAT HICKEY

FOR ALDERMAN WARD 12 (Vote for One)

LARRY ARNOWITZ

DERRICK NEUNER

CASSANDRA (CASSIE) DECLUE

FOR ALDERMAN WARD 14 (Vote for One)

CAROL J. HOWARD

TONY PECINOVSKY

FOR ALDERMAN WARD 16 (Vote for One)

THOMAS ROBERT OLDENBURG

FOR ALDERMAN WARD 18 (Vote for One)

JESSE TODD

JEFFERY HILL, JR.

DARRYL GRAY

JUDITH ARNOLD ELMER OTEY

FOR ALDERMAN WARD 20 (Vote for One)

CARA SPENCER SATIA (SUNNY) HUTTON

FOR ALDERMAN WARD 22 (Vote for One)

TONYA FINLEY-MCCAW

JEFFREY L. BOYD

FOR ALDERMAN WARD 24 (Vote for One)

LORIE CAVIN

BRET NARAYAN TERI POWERS

DANNY SAMPLE

TOM BAUER

FOR ALDERMAN WARD 26 (Vote for One)

LEATA C. PRICE-LAND

SHAMEEM CLARK HUBBARD

JAKE BANTON

FOR ALDERMAN WARD 28 (Vote for One)

HEATHER B. NAVARRO REPUBLICAN PARTY CANDIDATES FOR ALDERMAN WARD 6 (Vote for One)

MICHAEL J. HEBRON, SR.

YOU HAVE NOW COMPLETED VOTING.

IN WITNESS WHEREOF: The undersigned, comprising the Board of Election Commissioners for the City of St. Louis, State of Missouri, have caused this notice to be signed and the official seal of the office to be affixed at the office of the Board in St. Louis, Missouri, this 31st day of January, 2019.

BOARD OF ELECTION COMMISSIONERS

JERRY M. HUNTER

Chairperson/Member

GERALDINE M. KRAEMER Member

GENE R. TODD

Member (Seal) Attest: JOSEPH A. BARBAGLIA Secretary/Member

Public Notice of Single Source Procurement

Notice is hereby given that the Metropolitan St. Louis Sewer District is proposing to procure: Force Main Condition Assessment Field Services. The District is proposing single source procurement to Pure Technologies for this service. Any inquiries should be sent to ameyer@stlmsd.com.

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

ADVERTISE YOUR BIDS, PROPOSALS & PUBLIC NOTICES

Public Notice of Single Source Procurement

Notice is hereby given that the Metropolitan St. Louis Sewer District is proposing to procure: Microsoft Unified Support Service. The District is proposing single source procurement to Microsoft for this service because Microsoft is the creator and developer of this program/service. Any inquiries should be sent to ameyer@stlmsd.com.

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

CITY OF ST. LOUIS

Public Hearing Notice and

Draft 2018 Consolidated Annual Performance and Evaluation Report (CAPER)

Available for Review and Comment

The City of St. Louis is soliciting comments on its draft Consolidated Annual Performance and Evaluation Report (CAPER). The CAPER is an overall review of the housing and community development activities undertaken in 2018 by the City of St. Louis. It is part of the Consolidated Planning process, which is a pre-requisite to receiving funding allocations from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) for the following programs: Community Development Block Grant, HOME Investment Partnerships, Emergency Solutions Grant, and Housing Opportunities for Persons with AIDS.

Public Hearing Notice/Public Comment Period

The Community Development Administration will conduct a public hearing on Wednesday, March 20, 2019 at 5:30 p.m. at the Community Development Administration, 1520 Market Street, Suite 2000 (63103). The purpose of this hearing is to solicit public comments pertaining to the 2018 CAPER prior to its submission to HUD.

Available for Review

The 2018 CAPER will be available in draft form for review by any interested citizen prior to submission to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development on March 5, 2019 at the City of St. Louis Central Library located at 1301 Olive Street. The draft report, including IDIS reports and the Financial Summary, will also be available for review at the offices of the Community Development Administration located at 1520 Market Street, Suite 2000. Copies of the 2018 CAPER report may be downloaded from the City of St. Louis website at https://www.stlouis-mo.gov/government/departments/community-development/documents/index.cfm.

Written Comments

The views of citizens, public agencies, and other interested parties are strongly encouraged. Written comments will be accepted until March 22, 2019 and should be addressed to Mr. Bill Rataj, Acting Executive Director, Community Development Administration, 1520 Market, Suite 2000, St. Louis, MO 63103, or via e-mail at ratajb@stlouis-mo.gov.

Other Information

Persons with special needs or accommodations relating to handicapped accessibility or foreign language should contact Mr. Rataj via email at ratajb@stlouis-mo.gov or by phone at (314) 6573845 or (314) 589-6000 (TDD). Interpreting services are available upon request for persons with hearing disabilities. Interested parties should contact the Office on the Disabled at (314) 622-3686/ voice or (314) 622 3693/TTY at least 48 business hours in advance of the meeting.

CDA is an equal opportunity agency (employer). Minority participation is encouraged.

address or by calling (314) 644-9770.

Voluntary Pre-Bid Meeting: February 19, 2018, 1:00 pm Meet at “F” Tower Patio LevelForest Park Campus An Equal Opportunity and Affirmative Action Employer

REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS

REAL ESTATE APPRAISAL EVALUATION SERVICES FOR TAX SALES

St. Louis Development Corporation (SLDC) seeks the service of a Real Estate Appraiser to provide professional and technical assistance in support of SLDC and City staff to assist in the management of appraising the properties that are deeded to the Land Reutilization Authority (LRA) as a result of 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022 and 2023 tax foreclosure Sheriff’s sales. Proposals due 1-28-2019. Details at https://www.stlouis-mo.gov/government/department/sldc/procurement.

cfm or by contacting Synetta Wright, Real Estate Specialist III, SLDC, at wrights@stlouis-mo.gov.

REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS

and WBE firms are encouraged to bid.

This RFQ shall not be construed as an offer. Submission of qualifications does not obligate the Partnership to consider a responding firm for any project or contract. Questions should be directed to Howl Bean II at (314) 615-7663 or hbean@stlpartnership.com. St. Louis Economic Development Partnership Equal Opportunity Employer

REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS

The Land Clearance for Redevelopment Authority of the County of St. Louis (“LCRA”) solicits proposals from qualified developers

St.

Proposals due 1-28-2019. Details at https://www.stlouis-mo.gov/government/department/sldc/procurement. cfm or by contacting Synetta Wright, Real Estate Specialist III, SLDC, at wrights@stlouis-mo.gov.