January 5th, 2017 Edition

The Stenger faces a whole new world on County Council

By Jason Rosenbaum Of St. Louis Public Radio

St. Louis County Executive Steve Stenger is facing his most potentially adversarial County Council since he took office two years ago. Unlike, say, Congress or the Missouri General Assembly, the divides on the St. Louis County Council have relatively little to do with political party. Rather, factions of the council tend to fall into two categories: council members who are considered allies of the county executive and those who aren’t.

After council members Rochelle Walton Gray (D-Black Jack) and Ernie Trakas (R-St. Louis County) were sworn into office this week, at least five council members aren’t considered

Black

Grants recruits diverse firms with an eye towards civic

By Tavia Gilchrist

– County Councilwoman Hazel Erby

Suit claims juvenile parole proceedings violate due process

MacArthur Justice Center files against Missouri Dept. of Corrections in Eric Gray case

At 16, Eric Gray did not have any stable adults in his life. Instead, he was exposed daily to trauma and violence on the streets of St. Louis – including active recruitment by the Bloods. In March 2009, he got involved with an older woman, was in the wrong place at the wrong time and ended up in a gang shootout. He lived but another man died, and Gray received a sentence of seven years for manslaughter and 25 years for armed criminal action. He is currently serving that time at the Crossroads Correction Center in Cameron, Missouri. On July 13, Gray was supposed to be considered for release by a panel of the Missouri Board of Probation and Parole. But after being interviewed by the panel for a short

Egbon, founder of Exit 7C, speaking at Arch Grants’ gala on November 4. He moved to St. Louis from Milwaukee for the Arch Grants program.

Stenger allies. This bipartisan coalition consists of Walton Gray, Trakas, Councilman Mark Harder (R-Ballwin), Councilwoman Hazel Erby (D-University City) and Councilwoman Colleen

For The St. Louis American

Photo by Wiley Price

Photo by Wiley Price

By Rebecca Rivas Of The St. Louis American

Someone tried to snatch Snoop up at Ricky Harris’ funeral

An altercation involving rapper Snoop Dogg erupted at the funeral of actor/comedian Ricky Harris on Tuesday, and a shocked Sherri Shepherd captured moments of the altercation on Instagram.

“I can’t believe they’re fighting at a funeral!” Shepherd, 49, could be heard saying in the background as she filmed from the outside of the funeral home.

According to Shepherd, someone inside the funeral home went after Snoop Dogg (who was a childhood friend of Harris’s) and Snoop’s bodyguard tackled him.

“It’s so disrespectful. So disrespectful to his memory,” Shepherd said. Shepherd later posted a second video,

along with the caption, “Everything is fine.” Harris died in December at the age of 54. Harris sang in a church choir with Snoop when they were younger — and would go on to collaborate on Snoop’s 1993 debut solo album where Harris provided a hilarious and racy commentary.

Janet Jackson and husband welcome baby boy

Janet Jackson has given birth to a baby boy. Jackson, 50, and her husband, Wissam Al , welcomed their first child, named Eissa “Janet had a stress-free healthy delivery and is resting comfortably,” a rep for the singer told CNN. In April, Jackson announced that she was postponing her tour amid speculation that she was pregnant. The singer publicly confirmed the she was expecting in an interview with People in October.

Mariah Carey ‘mortified’ NYE performance

Singer Mariah Carey has finally broken her silence regarding her botched New Year’s Eve performance.

“All I can say is Dick Clark was an incredible person and I was lucky enough to work with him when I first started in the music business,” Carey told Entertainment Weekly. “I’m of the opinion that Dick Clark would not have let an artist go through that and he would have been as mortified as I was in real time.”

Although Carey calls it a “horrible” New Year’s Eve, she is thankful to have fans that support her during tough times.

“My true fans have been so supportive and I am so appreciative of them and everybody in the media that came out to support me after the fact because it really was an incredible holiday season that turned into a horrible New Year’s Eve,” she said.

Ellen blocks Kim Burrell, singer responds to backlash

Gospel singer Kim Burrell came under fire this weekend after footage of a sermon where she spoke against homosexuality.

“That perverted homosexual spirit – and the spirit of delusion and confusion, it has deceived many men and women, and it’s caused us pain on the body of Christ,” Burrell said in the sermon.

She used graphic descriptions of sexual acts in the pulpit, saying they were an abomination. Burrell even spoke against mega pastor Eddie Long and the allegations of sexual abuse that sent shockwaves through the faith community

several years ago.

“Watching Bishop Eddie Long go down to nothing is an embarrassment to the church,” Burrell said.

“Nobody would be thinking that you had AIDS if a homosexual man didn’t come out and reveal what you did behind closed doors.”

Her remarks were met with backlash from the mainstream entertainment community. She was scheduled to appear with Pharrell Williams on “The Ellen DeGeneres Show” to perform a selection from the “Hidden Figures” Soundtrack. But DeGeneres tweeted that Burrell would not appear on the show.

Burrell took to Facebook Live to speak about the controversy. Written below is an excerpt of her remarks:

“I didn’t say LGBT. I said SIN. And whatever falls under sin. It is a design of the enemy to make it look like I have an agenda against a people. Don’t you understand that I know that people are going to be mad? But I have to do what God tells me to do. Every person dealing with the homosexual spirit, I love you, because God loves you. But God hates the sin in you and me –and anything that goes against the nature of God. I’m called to do what God called me to do and that’s it –and I do it with passion. There is a responsibility that we have in the church to represent the almighty god. I make no excuses or apologies.”

Sources: People.com, CNN.com, Facebook. com, Entertainment

By Mariah Stewart Huffington Post Fellow

Death rates in St. Louis County Justice Center double national average

About 1,000 Americans die in jail every year. Although the federal government collects data on jail deaths, it only publishes that data years later, and in aggregate, making it impossible to identify facilities that have particularly high death rates. In any given year, the vast majority of the thousands of jails in the United States do not report a single death.

“It’s a national scandal that we have so little information about people who die in state custody,” said David Fathi, director of the American Civil Liberties Union’s National Prison Project. “I don’t know of any other developed country where it’s really impossible to say how many people died in jails and prisons in a given year.”

Earlier this year, The Huffington Post sought to fill the gap by tracking jail deaths from July 13, 2015, to July 13, 2016, the year following the highprofile death of 28-year-old Sandra Bland in a Texas jail. Unlike prisons, jails typically hold people for only short periods and most of their inmates have not been convicted of a crime. Although HuffPost’s list remains incomplete, it uncovered hundreds of deaths that were never reported in the media. Using this data of more than 800 deaths, HuffPost crunched the numbers to identify outliers, focusing on jails where three or more people died over the year — more than 40 facilities — and comparing those deaths to the jail’s average daily inmate population reported in 2013 or later. In some cases, jails were contacted directly to obtain the most current inmate population.

HuffPost identified 15 jails that had death rates more than double the last available national average, which is 135 deaths a year per 100,000 inmates. St. Louis County Justice Center was in the top 10, with six deaths from July 13, 2015 to July 13, 2016. Two more deaths have happened inside the jail since then, according to the justice center.

People who died in St. Louis County Justice Center from July 13, 2015 to

July 13, 2016 include: Cedric Dunn, Cordney Dvore Buck, Markus L. Scruggs, Sherron Dale, Drexel Starks and Mark Patton.

Dale, 42, reported to the jail last October to serve a 90-day sentence on a drug charge. He was found dead in his cell less than two weeks later.

Dale died of a relatively common medical condition, a peptic ulcer, according to the St. Louis County medical examiner. Peptic ulcers are easily treated, usually with antibiotics and an acid reducer, according to medical experts consulted by HuffPost But an untreated one would have caused severe pain for several days leading up to his death, and it would have been nearly impossible for him to sleep. Records indicated that Dale last had contact with a corrections officer at 11 p.m. on Oct. 14 according to the medical examiner’s report, and wasn’t found until 6:50 a.m. on Oct. 15, 2015. Jail records provided to The Huffington Post, which were heavily

redacted, make it unclear what, if any, medical treatment Dale was provided.

St. Louis County officials did not respond to specific questions about Dale’s case but said “most” of the six deaths at their facility were the result of “long-term drug abuse.” Peptic ulcers, however, are common, treatable and not linked to drug abuse. Also, the medical examiner’s report found no trace of illegal drugs.

Dale’s mother, Jeanette, called the chief medical examiner, Mary Case, to find out more about what happened to her son. Case told her the peptic ulcer was “a treatable condition,” according to medical examiner records. Case also told Jeanette that she “did not have opinions about any treatment [Sherron] received,” according to the report. “Why they never checked on him in all that time?” Jeanette told HuffPost After serving four months in St. Louis County’s jail, 36-year-old Markus Scruggs was found dead

n HuffPost identified 15 jails that had death rates more than double the last available national average, which is 135 deaths a year per 100,000 inmates. St. Louis County Justice Center was in the top 10.

inside the jail’s infirmary after suffering from a seizure on April 7. After Scruggs was first suspected of having a seizure by his cellmate, the jail’s physician advised Scruggs be transported to the infirmary instead of the hospital. While in the infirmary, Scruggs was last seen alive by the nurse at 1 a.m. One hour and a half later, when the nurse went to check on him again, Scruggs was found on the floor, lying on his stomach. CPR was conducted and 911 was called. Scruggs was pronounced dead at 3:18 a.m., according to the medical examiner’s report. No drugs, aside from an anti-seizure medication was found in Scrugg’s blood screen.

‘One too many’

“One death in our jail is one too many,” Cordell Whitlock, director of communications for the county’s executive office, said in a statement. Morbidity and mortality reviews are conducted after each death by a multidisciplinary team from Department of Justice Services and Department of Public Health to determine if any changes to policy and/or procedures are needed, Whitlock said. In regard to suicides, he said all sheets and blankets have been removed from high risk areas and been replaced by suicide resistant sleeping bags and blankets, which are extremely difficult to tear. Air vents within cells have been replaced with louvered vents to reduce the likelihood of inmates to be

able to fasten anything to vents. Risk assessments are also being updated to identify persons during admission screening so that they may be closely observed, Whitlock said Herbert Bernsen, director of St. Louis County Justice Center, said after every death at the facility, meetings are held with jail officials and St. Louis County’s Department of Health to see how to prevent it from happening again.

“Every death is certainly tragic,” Bernsen told HuffPost. “Unfortunately, there have been some that we haven’t been able to prevent. But we do look at all them. And we do try to reduce all that we can.”

St. Louis County’s jail had almost 52,000 bookings over the last two years and more than 23,000 people were in jail at one time or another during that period. As of Dec. 6, St. Louis County jail’s inmate population was 1,199 with 251 employed correctional officers in the facility – a ratio of 4.7 inmates for every one correction officer. To put that in context, Missouri state prisons had a 6.3 ratio in 2010, while New York state had a 3.0 ratio, according to the Association of State Correctional Administrators.

St. Louis County Department of Public Health employs 60 licensed medical staffers. Additionally, there are three contracted employees from St. Louis University.

The starting pay for correctional officers at the jail is $15.27 and after a six-month probation period, it goes up to then $15.65. Starting pay for nurses is $19 (LPN) and $26.19 (RN). Currently serving time inside the justice center is 49-year-old Linell Brinson, who has been detained since 2015 for passing a bad check for over $500. During a sit-down interview with HuffPost, Brinson said he was physically assaulted by two correctional officers while handcuffed and one correction officer allegedly told him “your life means nothing.” Brinson told HuffPost, “It’s terrible how you’re treated in here.”

Huffington Post reporters Ryan J. Reilly and Dana Liebelson contributed to this report.

Photo by Michael Hart

Brandi Beaver – the sister of Cordney Buck who died while in cus-

tody at the St. Louis County Justice Center on May 2 – grieved with their mother, Cynthia Buck, during a press conference on June 14.

Time to defend diversity and inclusion

As we reported last week, St. Louis Community College Chancellor Jeff Pittman is setting a new precedent with a 50-point plan of action for diversity and inclusion and has named a director dedicated to carry it out in all four of its campuses. As Rebecca Rivas’ reporting made clear, Pittman is asking important questions about the college’s hiring practices and contracting for outside services. He is taking an honest look at the college’s approach to interaction with students, with an eye toward changing what needs to be improved or replaced.

Admittedly, the college’s new diversity action plan comes after decades of relative inaction on these issues and an overall lack of a coordinated plan of any action for the college’s four widespread and diverse campuses. Pittman was not daunted by that history when he arrived in July 2015. The new diversity action plan was drafted after the college held 23 community forums, took in 1,200 surveys and established a 30-member council to draft a strategic plan for the college. “For the first time in the college’s history,” Pittman said, “we are singing from the same hymnal.”

We see plenty of encouraging evidence that many institutions in the St. Louis region are singing from the “hymnal” of diversity and inclusion, even as we look with concern – and, often, dread – at inexperienced new Republican leadership at the state and federal levels. Our next governor, Eric Greitens, will be a former progressive Democrat who campaigned and was elected as a conservative Republican. It is extremely difficult to predict how he will lead on issues crucial to the survival and prosperity of our cities and their diverse urban populations, areas vital to the success of our states and our nation, no matter how much

The community college system, often disparaged compared to fouryear universities is an integral part of a vibrant community, providing workforce training that in many cases leads to immediate jobs.

Republicans insult them as out-of-touch liberal elites.

While even less predictable than Greitens in many respects, Donald Trump’s choices for cabinet members and advisors shows that he fully intends to reward the white nationalists who form his most rabid and vocal base. While St. Louis and its residents are wise to prepare for political battles with Trump and controlling Republican majorities in Congress and the Missouri Legislature, we must also pay attention to our local leaders who are setting the right tone and affirm their leadership. It is certain that those same leaders will be hearing from people who are fed up with all of this talk about diversity and inclusion and expect the election of Trump to end it.

Consider some of the actions called for in the community college’s bold new action plan, which include requiring

Commentary

all employees to complete an online diversity and inclusion course annually, incorporating a stronger diversity component in student orientation workshops, providing lactation rooms to accommodate student and faculty needs, and reviewing scholarships to examine ethnic makeup of recipients.

This reflects a real commitment to make the college more welcoming to minorities and women students. “You have to be very intentional about going out of your comfort zone to open and expand your mind to others,” Fuller said. Make no mistake: Not everyone wants to expand their comfort zones or take into account the experiences and intentions of people unlike themselves. These liberal, democratic (with a small “d”) values are under assault – in this state and country and indeed around the world – and we will indeed have to be “very intentional” to keep these values from being eroded and destroyed in the coming years.

We encourage Pittman and Fuller to hold the college accountable for fulfilling the action items in the diversity and inclusion plan, and we encourage everyone with a stake in the college to affirm and support their efforts. And we all have a stake in what they are trying to accomplish. The community college system, often disparaged compared to four-year universities, is an integral part of a vibrant community, providing workforce training that in many cases leads to immediate jobs, as well as a low-budget entry into higher education, especially for poor and working-class students who also don’t have many examples of academic achievement in their families to draw upon. The St. Louis Community College system is an invaluable asset to the regional economy and is important to the success of individuals and their families.

Should liberals hang their heads in shame?

Let me begin the new year with full-throated praise of some people and institutions that supposedly got their comeuppance in November: the mainstream media, so-called “coastal elites,” share-thewealth liberals, pointy-headed intellectuals and others said to be hopelessly out of touch with the “real America.” In what too quickly became the consensus view, all of the above were put in their place by Donald Trump’s narrow electoral victory. We unreal Americans were demonstrated to be clueless, the conventional wisdom has ruled, and now are obliged to slink away and repent.

Rubbish. It’s time to stop all the self-flagellation and raise our voices to insist that things like knowledge, experience, qualifications and respect for objective fact still matter –now, perhaps, more than ever. Let me start with a muchmaligned sector that is near and dear to my heart: the news media. We have been accused of causing the whole Trump phenomenon, failing to notice said phenomenon was happening, or both. We did neither. Trump’s campaign was initially covered as nothing more than a publicity-seeking stunt, for good reason: He had a long history of publicity-seeking stunts. His outrageous and inflammatory statements were reported because they were newsworthy. His raucous and unscripted rallies were a lot more interesting to watch than Jeb Bush’s or Marco Rubio’s. The fact that Trump got a lot of exposure did not compel a single voter to support him; many, in fact, were motivated in the other direction. Did we fail to recognize and

understand the grievances of white, working-class Trump voters? Not for lack of trying. We interviewed Trump supporters at the rallies, sent reporters to bereft Rust Belt cities, profiled individual voters to understand their personal travails. The one thing that definitely would have made media coverage better is more October polling in Wisconsin, Michigan and Pennsylvania. Do urban, coast-dwelling “elites” really have such haughty disdain for the heartland? That’s an odd way to look at a country in which, according to the Census Bureau, more than 70 percent of the population lives in “urbanized areas” and more than half lives in “coastal watershed” counties, generally within 50 miles of one of the oceans or the Great Lakes. Americans have been moving from rural areas and small towns into cities for decades because that’s where they find economic opportunity – and because big cities are interesting places to live, full of diversity and cultural attractions and good restaurants. Yes, this is still a nation of purple mountains’ majesty and fruited plains. But that’s not where most Americans live. Should liberals be hanging their heads in shame? No way, as the conservative majorities in the House and Senate will soon find out. Trump promised during the campaign to improve and even expand the social

Black votes matter in mayoral election

By Antonio French Guest columnist

Elections matter. This is something that I have spent countless hours trying to explain to young people, poor people, angry people, disenfranchised people, black people, white people and people who are just generally disgusted with how things are in our city, state, country and world. Elections matter.

Every fourth March for the last 16 years, our city – despite having a majority African-American population and despite suffering from high rates of poverty, crime, unemployment and vacancy – has elected a mayor who has all but ignored all of the issues that those qualities would suggest are significant to our city. During each those elections, most voters – black and white – stayed home and did not participate.

Over the last 16 years, almost 80,000 more people have left the City of St. Louis, dropping us to a population of just around 315,000 people.

Vacant buildings stand where families used to live. Gunshots can regularly be heard where

church bells once rang.

safety net, not rip it to shreds. He also pledged to spend $1 trillion on infrastructure projects and cut everyone’s taxes.

To read Trump’s win as some kind of sweeping victory for conservatism would be absurd. Progressive voices, loud ones, will be needed to hold him accountable. One thing we learned during the campaign is that Trump’s voters – unlike many congressional Republicans – do not necessarily see big government as oppressive. They rely on its help.

And another thing: Despite Trump’s general lack of knowledge about how the government works, and despite the lack of relevant experience of some of his cabinet picks, knowledge and expertise really do matter. Scientists who have spent their entire careers studying the Earth’s atmosphere and oceans know more about climate change than politicians who base policy positions on the fact that it gets cold in the winter.

Remember that Hillary Clinton won the popular vote. I point that out to refute the notion that Trump’s America is somehow more “real” than mine or yours or anyone else’s. The America that supports progressive policies, rejects racism and sexism in all their forms, and believes that what critics call “political correctness” is actually just common courtesy -- that America is real, too, and needs to make itself heard. An election was lost, but not the country – and not our rights as full participants in the American experiment. Donald Trump is our newly hired employee. Let’s not hesitate to tell him what to do.

n I don’t worry about the number of black candidates. I worry about the number of black voters.

But some neighborhoods have prospered. The current mayor made clear that his priority was investing in the central corridor. Leaders from those handful of wards have benefited from this imbalance. With the help of large public subsidies, condos went up, and new businesses and attractions opened. And never a word came from the mouths of those benefiting from a city a strategy that favored the wealthy over the poor, even as statistics clearly show the strategy failing us a city. Violent crime stats climbed. Population continued to decline on both sides of Delmar. And not a peep about the injustice or unfairness of the strategy, or even a dispassionate observation that the strategy has simply failed.

In my time as a public servant, I have often found myself standing alone. I was one of the few voices speaking out against what Paul McKee Jr. was doing to neighborhoods in North St. Louis. I was one of the few voices speaking out against

Letters to the editor

I support people in poverty

On November 29, my children and I watched friends and community leaders get arrested on South Hampton in a “Show Me 15” protest, an effort to raise the minimum wage for workers around the nation. As a pastor, I believe that God envisions a world where everyone has enough. Right now, too many of our friends and neighbors don’t make enough to flourish. They are faced with impossible decisions around budgeting, choosing between rent and food, between child care and health care, and are getting trapped in cycles of debt and poverty that harm the fabric of our community.

I know that protests can seem like an inconvenience. But silence speaks volumes. I want to say that I support people in poverty, support the right of workers to unionize, and I hope that you too speak up to say that you care about everyone in our country, that they have the opportunity to succeed, to live out God’s dream for their lives.

Samuel Voth Schrag, clergy caucus co-chair Metropolitan Congregations United

Focus on a qualified candidate

The ambassador to Israel plays a vital role in every administration. Before taking on the position, both James Cunningham and Daniel Shapiro shared a combined 35 years of foreign policy experience. In contrast, David Friedman, Presidentelect Trump’s choice for the position, was his bankruptcy lawyer and lacks any foreign policy experience. From his blind support for settlements in the West Bank and flagrant opposition to a two-state solution to his unconscionable and frighteningly causal use of holocaust imagery to vilify progressive American Jews, Friedman lacks the experience and temperament necessary to serve as our nation’s

Mayor Slay and Chief Dotson’s “hot spot” policing strategy. I was one of the few officials at the epicenter of the unrest following police shootings in St. Louis County and St. Louis in 2014 and 2015. When others are silent, I speak up. When others talk, I try to get things done. We now find ourselves approaching yet another March election. Much is being made about the number of AfricanAmerican candidates running. But, frankly, I don’t worry about the number of black candidates. I worry about the number of black voters. If we have another election in which nearly 8 out of every 10 black voters stay home and do nothing, then our city will continue to suffer. If we continue to allow the wants of the few to be satisfied before the needs of the many, then our city will continue to suffer. But if we all do our parts, if we show up like this election actually mattered (which it does), then we will finally win. Our issues will finally be heard. Our neighborhoods will finally be seen and no longer ignored. And if you elect me as your mayor, I promise to continue fighting for you and never to be silent about the issues that matter most to our city. Antonio French, 21st Ward alderman, is a Democratic candidate for mayor in the March 7 primary election.

ambassador to Israel. Now, more than ever, we need to work together with our partners abroad and at home to ensure the protection and survival of the Jewish State. I urge the president-elect to reconsider this appointment and instead focus on a qualified candidate who can work with all sides to stabilize the region.

U.S. Rep. Gwen Moore Milwaukee

Shill for dirty energy

President-elect Donald Trump nominated Oklahoma Attorney General Scott Pruitt to lead the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Pruitt is best known for a number of things – none of which are protecting the environment against the dangerous threat of climate change. In fact, Pruitt is one of several attorneys general suing the very agency he was picked to lead. Not to mention the $300,000 in campaign

donations he received from the very industry the EPA was created to regulate due to its harmful effects on our planet. In 2014, a New York Times investigation revealed that Pruitt was part of an “unprecedented, secretive alliance” with large fossil fuel companies. That’s the definition of being a shill for the dirty energy industry. Instead of looking out for his constituents, the Oklahoma Attorney General has used his position of power to fight against lifesaving public health protections like the Clean Power Plan – the best tool we have right now to fight climate change. It’s clear the Trump Administration is far from draining the swamp with this pick. Pruitt is the poster child for a political insider who will rig the system for his own benefit. Our country deserves a champion for public health, not a puppet for polluters. Brian Willey Florissant

Columnist

Antonio French

Kaurenga calls “an ancient and living cultural tradition which reflects the best of African thought and practice” – started December 26 and concluded on January 1.

EPA testing for radiation in Bridgeton

The EPA is conducting a radiation screening at a limited number of homes in Bridgeton’s Spanish Village neighborhood. The screening is part of a focused response to address concerns raised in a recently filed lawsuit that alleges potential radioactive contamination in a Spanish Village home.

As a part of the investigation the agency will screen areas within and around the selected homes for alpha, beta, and gamma radiation. EPA is planning to test a limited number of homes in the immediate vicinity of the residence identified in the lawsuit.

The EPA will also take exterior soil samples and interior surface and dust samples. The agency will send samples to a certified laboratory to test for the presence of various radionuclides, including Thorium-230.

Once the agency has had a chance to review the data and prepare a report, it will provide the data from this investigation to the individual homeowners and notify the public of any future actions.

Additional details are available online: www.epaosc.org/bridgetondust.

What will you lose if you lose consumer financial protection?

By Charlene Crowell Guest columnist

As Americans adjust to the realities wrought by the recent elections, one of the most important consequences has yet to be fully explored: the future of consumer financial protection.

Many successful candidates in the recent election repeatedly claimed that over-regulation, too much bureaucracy or both were harming the economy. In their view, the nation needed to let businesses operate unhindered and free from regulatory constraints.

Additionally, many of the same forces that years ago opposed Wall Street regulation and the creation of a consumer watchdog never gave up their quest to weaken or dismantle the only governmental agency whose sole purpose was to protect consumers.

The problem with both of these views is that as Wall Street made billions, America’s people suffered and lost: jobs, homes, credit standing and financial assets. The only thing that seemed to grow during the Great Recession was the amount of debt consumers faced and reckoned with at kitchen tables across the country.

This column has previously shared how millions of Americans’ losses were at their worst from 2004 through 2015. Others who may have held on to their homes lost so much value that they continue to owe more than their homes are now worth.

There are also still others who thought they were enrolling in higher education to better their lives and earnings sadly discovered that heavy student loan debt was the only thing they incurred at for-profit colleges – many whose doors are now closed.

For all of these reasons and more, our nation still needs the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), its consumer cop on the block. In the coming months we must remain watchful for legislation and executive actions that would reverse the financial justice accomplished over the past five years.

Case in point: CFPB’s Director Richard Cordray has a term of service set to conclude in July of 2018. However, an October 2016 ruling by a panel of three judges with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit said the president could remove CFPB’s director for cause.

The nation’s president-elect might want his own director – particularly if the court decision is upheld on appeal. Similarly, legislation that sought to end both CFPB’s governance by a single director and funding independent of Congress may be revived as an early priority for the next Congress.

It was legislative wisdom that avoided both approaches in the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform Act. Commission forms of governance work by majority and can lead to gridlock instead of timely actions. Secondly, as commission members are nominated, lawmakers may refuse to act.

If CFPB were to become a part of the annual appropriation process, the bureau could be denied the necessary funding to do its legally mandated work. More importantly, special interest lobbyists could exert their influence on lawmakers to attach limitations on the Bureau’s work, blocking CFPB from its ability to rein in abusive practices.

These kinds of D.C. insider maneuvers have repeatedly and unfortunately affected other federal agencies. Consumer financial justice should never be subject to the rise and fall of deep-pocket lobbyists motivated by profits instead of fairness.

Then there are CFPB’s pending regulations like debt collection, overdraft, payday lending and other small dollar loans. An unprecedented number of consumer and civil rights advocates have clearly and consistently weighed in on these issues. Although public comment may have concluded, final regulations have yet to be announced.

As a consumer, if you’re wondering “what you have to lose” when it comes to CFPB, consider these recent data points on bureau achievements:

• $3.6 billion in monetary compensation to consumers as a result of enforcement actions;

• $7.7 billion in additional in principal reductions, cancelled debts, and other consumer relief;

• 1 million complaints handled as of September 1, 2016; and

• 3,400 colleges voluntarily adopting the CFPB and Department of Education’s Financial Aid Shopping Sheet.

“Any efforts to change CFPB’s structure would reduce its effectiveness and harm hard working people across the country,” noted Mike Calhoun, president of the Center for Responsible Lending.

I would add that consumers who have been financially harmed are more interested in justice than in deliberation or special exemptions for favored industries.

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

Charlene Crowell

Raziyah Emerson had her eyes on a new bracelet at the Kwanzaa Festival held Saturday, December 17 at Better Family Life. Kwanzaa – which its founder Maulana

Bracelet for Kwanzaa

Photo by Wiley Price

SUIT

Continued from A1

period of time, Gray received a single-page decision from the board stating he was denied parole. The unsigned decision, dated August 4, went on to state that Gray will not be considered for parole release again for another five years.

On December 28, the MacArthur Justice Center in St. Louis filed a lawsuit alleging that the Missouri Department of Corrections’ parole system violated Gray’s constitutional rights and does so continually with youthful offenders. In the suit, Gray asks the Circuit Court of Cole County to declare unlawful the Missouri Board of Probation and Parole’s procedures and its decision to deny his release.

argues that the department’s parole proceedings violate due process requirements and the prohibition against cruel and unusual punishments.

A department spokesman told The St. Louis American that the department does not comment on pending litigation.

Gray’s case

n “Missouri fails to provide the public defender system with sufficient funds to cover parole release or violation hearings.”

–

Citing a series of recent U.S. Supreme Court rulings, the suit argues that inmates who were sentenced for crimes committed as children require special consideration by the state’s parole board.

Mae Quinn, director of the MacArthur Justice Center

“Because youth are categorically less culpable than adults who commit the same offenses, they must be given a meaningful opportunity for release that focuses on their lack of maturity at the time of the crime, extreme vulnerability to peer pressure, and stilldeveloping moral compasses at the time they enter the justice system,” said Mae Quinn, director of the MacArthur Justice Center, a public interest law firm that advocates for human rights and social justice through litigation.

By depriving juvenile offenders of youth-focused assessments, the lawsuit

Before the incident, Gray “found himself involved in an inappropriate relationship with an older predatory woman named Sonia Whitlock,” according to a lawsuit. Whitlock became pregnant with Gray’s child, but she was also involved with men from the opposing gang, the Crips. On March 20, 2009, Whitlock took Gray to her grandmother’s home in St. Louis city. Whitlock walked Gray down a nearby street where he was confronted by men Whitlock knew from her neighborhood, including Crip gang member Alvin Williams. Words were exchanged, gunfire rang out, and ultimately Williams was shot. Gray and Whitlock ran from the scene together; Williams died that day. Gray was arrested and charged with causing Williams’ death. Despite his youth, vulnerability and status as a child statutory rape victim, Gray stood trial as an adult. After hearing about the circumstances from Whitlock, the jury acquitted Gray of first-degree murder. He was convicted of the lesser charge of manslaughter for recklessly causing Williams’ death and one count of armed criminal action.

The lawsuit alleges that the parole board made several procedural flaws regarding Gray’s parole hearing in July.

Prior to the hearing, Gray was only allowed to name one person as his representative; therefore, he couldn’t name a witness and an attorney. Gray wasn’t granted due process because he was not allowed to review the documents –including any letters from the victim’s family, notes from prison staff and risk-assessment instruments – that went before the parole board. These practices are unconstitutional, the lawsuit argues.

“A one-sided, 15- or 20-minute interrogation by board members and prison staff without any real consideration of modern brain science, adolescent development, or the impact of youthful traumas on child defendants does not amount to a real chance at a second chance,” Quinn said.

Quinn said the Missouri

parole board’s practices have long gone without challenge or scrutiny. Oftentimes, people like Gray don’t have access to a public defender because the public defender’s office does not have the resources to provide someone to represent them during parole proceedings, she said.

“Unfortunately, unlike other states where attorneys are involved to ensure proceedings are fair, Missouri fails to provide the public defender system with sufficient funds to cover parole release or violation hearings,” Quinn said. “Because problematic practices well-known to Missouri policymakers have gone largely unchecked for decades, we feel the need to serve as a watchdog on these issues.”

St. Louis Blues Chairman Tom Stillman and Lewis Reed, president of the St. Louis Board of Aldermen, left the stage after presenting their ideas for improvements to the Scottrade Center in St. Louis on January 3. The Scottrade Center, built in 1994, is owned by the City of St. Louis and is the main facility for indoor sports, concerts and events in St. Louis. The St. Louis Board of Aldermen will consider a plan to spend about $4 million annually for 20 years to help fund renovations to the aging building.

This is the third lawsuit filed by the MacArthur Center in the last two months, taking aim at Missouri’s prisons. The most recent prior complaint, a class action filed in federal court in collaboration with the ACLU, seeks to force the department to provide appropriate treatment to inmates suffering from Hepatitis C. That case potentially impacts thousands of Missouri prisoners.

In August, the national Roderick and Solange MacArthur Justice Center opened an office in St. Louis. Quinn, most recently the director of the Juvenile Law and Justice Clinic and a tenured professor at Washington University School of Law, was named director of the new office.

Since its 1985 founding in Chicago by the family of J. Roderick MacArthur, the MacArthur Justice Center has worked to bring police misconduct to the public’s attention and helped wrongfully convicted men and women win multimillion dollar verdicts and settlements as compensation for the time they were imprisoned.

“This region has recently received national and international attention – and scorn – because of problematic court, incarceration, and policing practices, including the shooting death of unarmed Michael Brown by Ferguson law enforcement,” said Locke E. Bowman, executive director of the MacArthur Justice Center, which is based at Northwestern Pritzker School of Law in Chicago. “St. Louis was an obvious choice for our newest initiative.”

Photo by Bill Greenblatt/UPI

STARTUPS

Continued from A1

consultant for large hospitals.

“You have a hospital in a system renting the equipment at a premium,” he said, “but the same piece is going unused at a sister hospital.”

Owusu said the platform will give hospital administrators better information about their inventory to make relevant purchasing decisions.

Milwaukee-based Exit 7C is developing a mobile app to allow consumers to securely pay for gas using their phone or another mobile device, reducing the chances that private data can be stolen from a credit card reader.

“It’s like Apple Pay for gas,” said Blessing Egbon, founder. Businesses with a fleet of vehicles can use the app to search for the cheapest fuel and control their drivers’ fuel spending.

Ilerasoft and Exit 7C beat out hundreds of applicants in Arch Grants’ Global Startup Competition in October; 10 businesses received the grant, donated office space and pro bono services.

The $50,000 grant is paid in five disbursements over a year and is non-dilutive, which means Arch Grants doesn’t own a stake in the firms.

“We’re interested in the

STENGER

Continued from A1

Wasinger (R-Town and Country).

“We’ll have to communicate, try to talk through it and have some type of compromise,” said Walton Gray, a former state lawmaker. “I’ve been told that it’s going to be different now and we’re going to be able to get some things that maybe we couldn’t have in the past.”

While most bills that come before the council pass without opposition, there’s occasionally dissension. In the past couple of years, Stengerbacked proposals to institute regulations for rental housing and place standards on municipal police departments

character of people and the ability to add value to St. Louis, whether their business is successful or not,” said Ginger Imster, Arch Grants’ executive director.

“This is a program for St. Louis and about St. Louis, and we only want to give money to people as passionate about St. Louis as we are.”

Funding future leadership

Behind the incentives to attract young entrepreneurs is a push to find the next

evoked passionate opposition. So this new coalition could make it very difficult, if not impossible, for Stenger to pass an agenda item perceived as controversial.

“They’re not going to be able to ramrod legislation through like in the past,” Harder said. “And we’re going to be more deliberative when it comes to understanding initiatives and ordinances and things that come to our attention.”

The reality on the council is a big reversal of fortune for Erby. When Stenger took office, a big majority of Democrats and Republicans on the Council aligned with him. And that meant Erby, who backed Republican Rick Stream in the 2014 county executive’s race, was often the lone dissenting voice and vote

generation of diverse business and community leaders, said Joe Schlafly, a St. Louis philanthropist and founding board member of Arch Grants.

“The economics and success of firms can be traced to having diversity,” Schlafly said. “It’s the right thing to do, and it ends up helping out the bottom line too.”

Statistics confirm this belief.

A 2015 study by research firm McKinsey & Co. found that ethnically diverse companies were 35 percent more likely to financially perform above their

on the council. (That changed over time when Harder and Wasinger starting voting with Erby on bills that didn’t have unanimous support.)

“I have a lot of faith,” Erby said. “I knew that citizens deserved better. And I knew that would change. Just be patient, it would change.”

Erby – who is the new council vice chair – said “the citizens have lost out” because of how the council previously operated. She said there was also lingering animosity from some of her Democratic colleagues over 2014 legislation aimed at getting more minorities and women working on county projects.

“I think that the public will see a difference now on the council – and I’m really excited about that. I can’t explain how excited I am,” Erby said.

Ilerasoft co-founders Ross Sheppard, Kwaku Owusu, and Melanie Igwe at Arch Grants’ gala on November 4. They moved to St. Louis from Houston for the Arch Grants program.

industry median. Among U.S. companies, there is a linear relationship between racial and ethnic diversity and better financial performance, the study found.

In Arch Grants’ portfolio, 100 percent of startups founded by a woman, a minority or an immigrant are still active and generates proportionally 15 percent more revenue than other firms.

“When we don’t treat people equitably, we miss out on tremendous talent,” Imster said. “It’s in our best interest

“What I see right now is more council members who have their constituents at heart, who will do things that they feel is in the best interest of the people they represent.”

Beyond the practical issues of getting broader agenda items past the finish lines, there are also political overtones to the new reality on the council.

When he was a member of the County Council, Stenger was part of a bipartisan coalition that clashed with thenSt. Louis County Executive Charlie Dooley Some of these battles became extremely contentious – and may have

to nurture, curate and cultivate the best talent, regardless of income, class and race.”

The life of a start-up can be tenuous, though. Tuloko, a social networking website and directory for black-owned businesses, received an Arch Grant in 2014, but the firm couldn’t find traction or raise more capital in St. Louis.

Cofounder Sean Armstrong splits his time now between the firm’s home base in Minneapolis and the Southeast, where civic organizations like the Atlanta Black Chamber of Commerce and the NAACP have opened doors for the firm.

Fresh off a business incubator program in Chicago, Darryl Palmer, a 2016 grant recipient, is finding success in St. Louis. He’s cofounder and chief technology officer of Janus Choice, which develops an interactive platform for hospitals that matches patients with post-acute care providers.

“We didn’t have experience in b-to-b sales with hospitals, but connections with Arch Grants helped us refine our pitch and presentation,” Palmer said. Janus Choice hopes to hire personnel in outbound sales and add marketing and customer service interns in the next year.

In February, Arch Grants will send staff to BlackTech Weekend in Miami, one of the largest national events for black coders and developers.

contributed to Dooley’s loss of political support in his ultimately unsuccessful Democratic primary against Stenger.

For his part, though, Stenger said he’s not anticipating similar skirmishes with the current council – or that he’ll put forward controversial legislation.

“I think what we’re going to see for the next two years is legislation that means a great deal to St. Louis County [residents] – and particularly each district,” said Stenger, who will face re-election in 2018. “We have seven council

96: total startups funded since 2012

20: startups funded in 2016

85: total active firms

$48.44 million: revenue generated by portfolio of firms as of September 30, 2016

$5.2 million: funds deployed in Global Startup Competition

60: percentage of grant recipients that are tech firms

Source: Arch Grants

The goal: to inform young entrepreneurs about the Global Startup Competition and invite them to apply.

“You have to meet people where they are and get in front of networks that don’t necessarily hear about you,” said Dalychia Saah, Arch Grants’ competition manager.

“Inclusion does not happen by accident, you have to be intentional about it.” For more information about how to apply for startup grants, go to www.archgrants.org.

people, seven districts. And we are going to conduct the business of St. Louis County.” Council Chairman Sam Page has often aligned with Stenger since he was elected in 2014. He predicted that over the next year or two there would be “more conversations, more communication, more efforts to find consensus and the middle ground on the issues that are difficult.”

Edited for length and reprinted with permission from news.stlpublicradio.org. Follow Jason on Twitter: @ jrosenbaum.

Photo by RedCarpet-USA.com

Should the city police have a reality TV show?

The St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department has signed a one-year contract with “The First 48” confirming its participation in a new reality TV show that will begin working with the department around the second week of January, according to the police department.

The contract was signed between a principal of Kirkstall Road Enterprises of New York (on August 16 of last year) and Police Commissioner D. Samuel Dotson (on September 9). Dotson signed for the City of St. Louis “by and through” the police department. Other city officials counter-signed with him: the comptroller and city counselor (both on September 28) and the registrar (on September 29). Mayor Francis G. Slay did not sign the contract, though the city counselor reports to him.

The contract commits the producer to supplying $2 million in certificates of insurance “per occurrence” but does not specify any payment that the city will receive from the show. The producer is granted sole ownership of the filmed work, as well as “sole discretion” to make any use of the police department’s “proprietary intellectual property” in connection with the series.

St. Louis will elect a new mayor on April 4, and the new mayor will be sworn in that month. Depending on which of the signatory dates is binding, when the new mayor takes office the city will be obligated to four or five more months of

having a true crime reality TV show shot in St. Louis with the active participation of city police.

“If you are elected mayor,” we asked the most credible and electable candidates for mayor by email, “what do you do about a reality show devoted to the city police?”

Tishaura O. Jones answered first.

“A cable TV reality show is just a TV camera crew with airplane reservations out of town later in the week,” Jones wrote. “I’d tell the Public Safety director to give them no more access than the police department grants local TV stations. The example of shows like this in other cities should have been cautionary. It has an artificial construct, 48 hours of investigation, that can –and reportedly has – led to miscarriages of justice. It is to policing what ‘The Bachelor’ is to courtship.”

Antonio French answered next.

“It’s offensive. People have been demanding that Dotson and Slay address the rising violence. Instead, they announce plans to exploit the pain of our community for the entertainment of others. My comprehensive crime plan calls for more homicide detectives and more resources for the communities most affected by violence. That’s what we need, not a reality TV show,” French wrote.

“The other, much bigger, problem is that the police chief is making these kinds of decisions, not the mayor.

Under Dotson, the police department is literally out of control. Despite gaining local control from the state a few years ago, the police department still operates largely outside of the rest of city government and without much oversight or accountability. The only way we’ll have real community policing or a truly holistic approach to reducing crime and violence is to have a mayor who runs this city effectively, coordinating all our departments with a single mission: improving the quality of life in every neighborhood.”

Lyda Krewson answered next.

“How will a family feel when they see their loved one’s murder investigation and crime scene become part of a reality show for entertainment purposes? I know that after my husband was murdered I would not have wanted my children televised for entertainment purposes,” Krewson wrote.

“While a show like this does humanize the hardworking detectives and officers involved, I think it potentially exploits victims. This is not a decision the chief should be able to make on his/her own. My decision would be no TV

show.”

Lewis Reed did not respond.

Along with the mayor and comptroller, Reed has a vote on the Board of Estimate & Apportionment, which would have approved the contract with the show’s producers –had it involved any money. As the city is giving away access to its police department and its intellectual property, the contract did not come before E&A.

Tishaura vs. Roorda

Tishaura O. Jones missed our deadline last week in responding to the St. Louis Police Officers Association’s endorsement of Krewson for mayor, but her response is worth reporting. She made it personal to the police union’s business agent and spokesman, Jeff Roorda

“I did not seek the organization’s endorsement. Jeff Roorda brags that he delivers the union’s important endorsements. I have no doubt he delivered this one. It is impossible to stand for change and to sit with Jeff Roorda,” Jones wrote.

“My first thought upon

Roorda also took exception to being branded a “conservative ideologue” in this space. “To call me a conservative ideologue requires one to completely ignore the eight years I spent in the Legislature as one of the leading voices against Voter ID and Right To Work and one of the leading voices in support of Medicaid expansion, funding for innercity schools, a moratorium on the death penalty and the interstate compact for the National Popular Vote, just to name a few,” Roorda wrote. “I was also almost singlehandedly responsible for Dred Scott being inducted into the Hall of Famous Missourians, where his bust is now prominently displayed. It’s not quite as simple as dubbing me a ‘conservative ideologue.’ If it was, that description wouldn’t bother me so much.”

Hazel Erby on the rise

hearing that Krewson had accepted the endorsement was how uncomfortable Roorda’s attacks on Black Lives Matter and other groups pressing for systemic change would make her. My second thought was that it might not make her uncomfortable at all.

That’s the kind of calculus that shapes elections in St. Louis. Our community needs a better relationship with the police department. And almost everything about their jobs would be better if they had a better relationship with the community. No mayor who believes those things can – or should -- accept Jeff Roorda’s endorsement.”

A thought here: Did the POA endorsement help or hurt Krewson? Many conservative whites were and are going to vote for her anyway, but the progressive-minded whites may think twice because of what Roorda et al. represent. You can easily surmise that it’s not a lot of votes, but with several serious candidates, a few votes may matter. Just a thought.

Roorda: not wholly ‘conservative’

Roorda read the EYE last week and sent some thoughts of his own.

“Don’t you think it is a journalistic lapse not to mention that both Antonio French and Lewis Reed pursued the SLPOA endorsement? It’s seems odd to allow Antonio to take pot shots at me and the union without at least mentioning that.”

How about those new St. Louis County Council leaders? Councilman Sam Page (D-Creve Coeur) was selected as the new chair and Hazel Erby (D-University City) is the new vice chair. For the last two years, the council majority aligned with County Executive Steve Stenger has kept Erby – at that time the only black council member – in legislative Siberia. She was not even given a committee chair despite her seniority, so being selected vice chair was quite a comeback for her – and a sign that her constituents and the black folks in St. Louis County may be destined to finally have a proportionate and relevant voice in the council. Given that Erby, despite being a stalwart Democrat, endorsed Stenger’s Republican opponent Rick Stream in 2014, hers was not the star Stenger hoped to see rise at the council in his mid-term.

Stream goes to election board

Speaking of Stenger’s erstwhile opponent, the St. Louis County Board of Election Commissioners hired Rick Stream as the new Republican director of elections. He takes the seat of Gary Fuhr, who retired last May following one of the county election board’s periodic election day snafus. Christian Tolbert, who had been serving as interim director, goes back to being deputy director. That means Stream is not state budget director and will be available to run against Stenger in 2018. That is, if Stenger makes it out of his certain Democratic primary election alive.

Photo by Wiley Price

St. Louis police officers assumed formation in riot gear on South Grand on October 11, 2014.

New laws will not increase prosecutions for school fights

By Elad Gross Guest columnist

I was an assistant attorney general of Missouri. For the last nine years, I’ve run the Education Exchange Corps, a nonprofit organization that helps underserved kids access opportunity. I’ve had kids involved in the justice system. And I’ve seen the daily challenges many of our kids are facing.

I read the news articles claiming that children would soon be charged with felonies for school fights, that 5-year-olds were going to be imprisoned for throwing crayons. And then I read the old law and the new one. I read the history of the revisions. And I didn’t see any changes in the law that would affect kids fighting at school.

I traced the news reports back to notices put out by two school districts warning kids and parents about the new

laws, but I didn’t see a reporter interview an administrator. So I did. And I spoke with police, prosecutors, defenders and others working in the juvenile justice system. All of them said the same thing: The new assault laws are not changing things for kids involved in school fights.

I spoke with Kimberly McKenzie, Hazelwood’s director of communications.

The district is actively working to prevent kids from entering the school-to-prison pipeline. District administrators regularly meet with local police to keep communication open. I’m told that, in early December 2016, local police informed Hazelwood that the criminal code was changing effective January 2017, that kids would soon be more easily prosecuted for school fights.

The district reached out to other districts and partners to see if this story was true. No one could give a real answer. And winter break was fast

What we need in the next mayor

By Mikes Jones Columnist

In leading up to the March 7 Democratic primary, we should have a conversation about what the next mayor should be. St. Louis, like all cities, has a large professional bureaucracy that runs the day-to-day operations. The mayor’s job is to decide where the city’s going and determine the best way to get there, adjusting the course as required by circumstances. All cities have a destination

where they’ve never been – the future – and they’re always sailing in uncharted waters. American cities make up 3 percent of the country’s land mass but contain 65 percent of its population. Metropolitan areas account for nearly 91 percent of national currentdollar gross domestic product (GDP). Missouri has population of 6 million people, but onethird of that (2 million people) are in St. Louis, St. Louis County and Jackson County. And when you include St.

approaching.

The district drafted a notice and sent it to their police partners. The police said it was accurate. So the district sent out the notice warning parents about the change in the law in an effort to protect kids.

In reality, there has been no change in how kids in school fights are treated.

There was a mistake in communication between police and the school district. Someone was wrong. There wasn’t enough support out there to correct the mistake. And the misinformation was amplified by media outlets publishing sensational stories.

course, he doesn’t want kids to fight.

I interviewed police officers.

I spoke with Sgt. Jon Broom with the Sikeston Department of Public Safety. He supervises School Resource Officers. He said the law revisions won’t change how kids are treated. Of

Charles County, these two metropolitan areas are easily responsible for 40 percent of Missouri’s economy.

The next mayor must have intellectual curiosity with an informed overview of the historical importance of cities in human development. The mayor must understand the importance and role of the modern city in 21st century America, and where St. Louis fits in that universe. The next mayor must also be school-yard tough.

It’s true that a kid who acts violently can be referred to the juvenile system. But kids rarely stand trial in adult criminal court. In 2015, a kid in the juvenile system for a law violation was certified to stand trial as an adult 0.24 percent of the time. I called the Fraternal Order of Police. The person I spoke to didn’t understand what changes to the law could have led to such a media response. He also was very happy to help spread the word to Missouri police that kids will not be more susceptible to prosecution.

I called the St. Louis County Police. The officer I spoke with told me nothing was changing for kids, but he stressed that kids should not fight. In some areas, kids could be in violation of local ordinances for fighting,

Paraphrasing James Carville, you could argue that Missouri is St. Louis and Kansas City with Mississippi in the middle. So the next mayor

must embrace the role of political warrior. The mayor must create a coalition of political progressives and urban Republican business interests that understands the need to actively push back against antimetropolitan public policy. The mayor must also help create a common agenda that aligns the city’s interest with those of St. Louis County and Kansas City to maximize the opposition to the trolls that politically control Missouri.

The mayor will not only need an informed sense of history but also have an intuitive feel for this historical moment. A mayor will always

which could result in fines. The county officer also told me that the County Prosecutor’s Office would not charge kids with low-level assaults.

I called the St. Louis County Prosecutor’s Office. They also said nothing was changing. The office will not be prosecuting more kids.

I spoke with St. Louis City’s Juvenile Office. The juvenile officer gets involved if a kid gets in trouble. A kid under the age of 17 goes to juvenile court first. Juvenile officers work with the court system to decide what to do with kids.

The City Juvenile Office also told me that the new law was not changing anything for kids. If an incident is referred to the Juvenile Office, the kid will only be detained if the fight was very serious or if the kid has been having frequent problems. The Juvenile Office has worked with schools to prevent problems, and it also offers diversion programs, such as tutoring and counseling, for kids. All of the pieces involved here – the law, the school, the police, the juvenile office, the prosecutor - show that kids will not be subject to more prosecutions for school assaults as a result of the revisions in the law. This applies for students who are 17 or older too. The law is not changing for school fights. The new assault laws are not the problem. The real problems requiring our urgent attention are that kids lack support in our juvenile and education systems, that our communities all over this state are struggling to deal with the pernicious effects of poverty, that our promise of opportunity is not real for a large and growing portion of American society. We must build a better Missouri for the sake of all of our kids. I know that, together, we can. Elad Gross (elad@edexco. org) is president and CEO of Education Exchange Corps.

be considering options that have unforeseen consequences, so picking the best options will always be a function of keen insight that’s a function of a highly developed instinct guided by an informed intellect.

Four decades of combat in the political arena have taught me there are two qualities that are essential to success: intelligence and character.

Strong moral character teamed with an underdeveloped mind will lead to well-intentioned but often disastrous mistakes. High intelligence without a moral compass will inevitably take you down the road to perdition. You can trace most political leadership failure to an insufficient amount of one or both these qualities.

The next mayor must have the intellectual and

political dexterity to make 10th Amendment arguments in defense of a city’s right to progressive public policies in opposition to a reactionary, overreaching federal government. The mayor must align with peers like Mayor de Blasio in New York and Mayor Garcetti in Los Angles, who are already making these arguments. The next mayor must see opposition to reorganizing America society around right-wing political dogma as a moral imperative that can’t be compromised. Mike Jones, who has held senior policy positions in St. Louis city and county government, serves on the St. Louis American editorial board and the State Board of Education.

Guest Columnist Mike Jones

Guest Columnist Elad Gross

Resolve to Eat Right!

NewYear, NewYou!

Nutrition Challenge:

This time of year many people make New Year’s resolutions. A resolution is simply a promise you make to yourself of ways that you would like to improve your life in the new year. So for 2017, why not make a resolution to eat healthier?

Try adding a healthy new habit every few weeks or so. Here

Another healthy change you can make for yourself with the new year is to be more active.

Staying active not only helps keep your heart healthy, but it burns calories, improves your brain functioning and helps you feel better — the more you do!

Some reminders:

> Try to have at least 30

Fresh Start!

The new year brings a fresh start. Plan on making 2017 your best year yet! Try letting go of the problems you may have faced last year and look forward to a new year with excitement and hope. Here are a few ways to stay positive.

> Make a list of all of the good things that happened for you in 2016.

> What are some goals you’d like to achieve in 2017?

Healthy Kids Kids

are a few ideas (from past Healthy Kids features) to get you started. What are some other tips you’ve learned?

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

minutes of physical activity each day that increases your heart rate (60 minutes is even better).

> Warm up, stretch and cool down before and after exercising.

> Start off slowly and increase time, distance, and speed as

> Select one or two of those goals and make a list of specific steps you can take to accomplish your new year goals.

> Always remember — you can’t change others, you can only change yourself and how you react. So focus on yourself and how you can have a happy 2017!

Learning Standards: HPE 6, NH 3

NewYear’sResolutions1. ofDrinkatleast8glasses wateraday. 2.Eatmorefreshfruitsand foodsvegetablesandlessfried andsweetsnacks.3.Eatslowlyandstopas soonasyoufeelfull.

you feel stronger.

> Check with your doctor before starting a brand new exercise program.

> Drink lots of water when you’re working out.

Discuss some of the ways you can keep active during the cold winter months.

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

Salsa-Guac

Healthcare Careers

Shawn Stevenson , Bestselling author and clinical nutritionist

Where do you work? I ran a clinic for over ten years which I recently closed in order to focus on teaching, writing and to be able to reach more people with health education. Where did you go to school? I graduated from Lafayette High School and earned a Bachelor of Science from the University of Missouri – St. Louis.

What does a clinical nutritionist do? I help people address their health needs and health challenges through food and lifestyle changes. What I focus on is called “nutrigenomics,” helping people to turn on their genes for health and vitality and turn off genes for disease and poor health.

Why did you choose this career? I chose this career initially to address my own health challenges. When I was young, I experienced several health issues that were said to be incurable including severe bone and spinal degeneration. Through getting educated about the human body and wellness, I was able to completely turn around my own health difficulties and was inspired to help others to do the same.

What is your favorite part of your career? It is seeing the mental, emotional and physical transformation of the people I work with. That inspired me to create a top-rated Podcast, “The Model Health Show,” and write several books to help people improve multiple areas of their health, including my best-selling book, “Sleep Smarter.” I’m inspired to help people improve all areas of their lives, because everything we do impacts our health.

Learning Standards: HPE6, NH3

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

The St. Louis American’s award winning NIE program provides newspapers and resources to more than 7,000 teachers and students each week throughout the school year, at no charge.

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

CLASSROOM SPOTLIGHT

Aspire Academy 4th grade teacher, Mrs. Bryant, works with students using the St. Louis American newspaper for classroom STEM lessons. Aspire Academy is part of Confluence Charter Schools.

Spotlight, please email: nie@stlamerican.com.

SCIENCE CORNER

What is Microbiology?

Microbiology is the study of organisms that are so small, they can only be seen with a microscope. These micro pic organisms include bacteria, algae, fungi, protozoa, and viruses. These are also known as microbes. Why is it important to study microbiology? It can give scientists information about nutrients, climate change, food safety, and the cause and control of diseases.

There have been many big discoveries in microbiology, such as the invention of

SCIENCE INVESTIGATION

Soaps and Sanitizers:

Do they prevent the growth of mold?

In this experiment, you will see how effective soap and hand sanitizers are at preventing the growth of mold.

Materials Needed:

• 8 Slices of Bread with No Preservatives

• 16 Ziploc Bags • Latex Gloves • Masking Tape • Pen

• Toaster • Knife • Spray Bottle • Baking Sheet

• Camera • Teaspoon • Liquid Soap • Hand Sanitizer

1

4

5

5, 15, _____,

5,

DID YOU KNOW?

penicillin, the smallpox vaccine, etc. Microbiologists can work as health care professionals, teachers, research technicians, veterinarians, and environmental scientists. If you enjoy gardening, working with microscopes, healthy lifestyles, and environmental causes, microbiology is for you.

Learning Standards: I can read nonfiction text for main idea and supporting details. I can make text-to-text and text-to-self connections.

Procedure:

STEP ONE: Put on latex gloves and toast 4 slices of bread.

STEP TWO: Cut all 8 slices of bread in half so that you have 16 slices of bread—8 toasted, 8 not toasted.

STEP THREE: Prepare the Ziploc bags according to the chart: STEP FOUR: Begin filling the bags. Place the bread and toast in the bags that receive no treatments. Place these bags on the baking sheet.

STEP FIVE: Next, use the spray bottle to mist water on the bread and toast that receives water only. Place these bags on the baking sheet.

STEP SIX: Next, add a teaspoon of hand soap to the spray bottle and spray the bread and toast samples with “hand soap only.” Place these bags on the baking sheet.

STEP SEVEN: Rinse out the spray bottle and add the hand sanitizer. Spray the remaining bread and toast samples and place them in their bags on the baking sheet.

STEP EIGHT: Place the baking sheet next to a window in sunlight.

STEP NINE: Take pictures each day for 21 days to observe the rate that mold grows.

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

Finding Patterns

The human mouth has about 500 species of bacteria. There are approximately 100,000 bacteria on a square centimeter of human skin.

2, 6, 12, 72, ________, ________, _________

Learning Standards: I can identify and solve patterns.

In 1918, 30 million people died from the influenza virus, compared to 10 million people that died from World War 1.

African American Microbiologist Agnes Day

Agnes Day was born in 1952 in Plains, Georgia. She was the youngest of 13 children and was raised by her third grade teacher, Rose Marie Bryon. As a young child, Day was very interested in science. She enjoyed walking in the woods, catching insects, and observing animals. She graduated from Mainland Senior High School and then went to Florida, where she earned a bachelor’s degree in biology from Bethune Cookman College. In 1984, she earned a PhD in microbiology from Howard University.

After graduation, Day worked at the Bone Research Branch at the National Institute of Dental Research. Four years later, she returned to Howard University as a professor. In 1992, she became a tenured associate professor of microbiology in Howard University’s College of Medicine. Day taught students medicine, dentistry, and pharmacy. Day has served as a mentor to more than 40 students. Personally, her research focused on breast cancer and drug resistant fungi. She also worked to review research grants for the National Institute of Health, National Science Foundation, and the Department of Defense Cancer Research Institute.

Day has published journal articles, has been interviewed by PBS, and has been a part of numerous speaking panels. Day was awarded the Outstanding Research Award by the Howard University College of Medicine in 1995. She also received the College’s Kaiser-Permanente Outstanding Teaching Award. She received the William A. Hinton Award for outstanding mentoring in 2011. Day is a member of the American Association for Cancer Research and the American Society for Microbiology where she is a member of the Committee on Microbiological Issues which Impact Minorities (CMIIM). She also served as a consultant for the American Association for the Advancement of Science’s Black Churches-Black Colleges program.

Learning Standards: I can read a biography about a person who has made contributions in the fields of science, technology, engineering, and math. I can make text-to-text connections.

SCIENCE STARS MAP

Enjoy these activities that help you get to know your St. Louis American newspaper.

Activities — Acknowledgment Phrases:

Scan the front page of the looking for phrases that give acknowledgment to the source of information, such as: he said, allegedly, an informed source, according to, etc. Underline the phrases as you find them in the newspaper.

The Four Kinds of Sentences: Find two examples of each of the four kinds of sentences: declarative, interrogative, exclamatory, and imperative Learning Standards: I can use the newspaper to locate information. I can find identified sources and identify types of sentences.

Photo by Wiley Price / St. Louis American

To get the

January 22, 1926 - December 18, 2016

Preston Lee Bouie, pioneer in St. Louis fire service

Preston Lee Bouie was born on January 22, 1926 to Vennie Bouie and Emma Reed. He attended Wyman Crow Elementary School and a graduate of Vashon High School, class of June, 1944. He served two years in the United States Navy with an honorable discharge. His career with the St. Louis Fire Department motivated and assured his co-workers that they too could be promoted to higher positions.

Preston joined the Fire Department in 1952 and was assigned to Engine House 28 on Enright Avenue and later transferred to Engine 10 on Kennerly Avenue. The Fire Department became integrated in 1961, where he was the first black to be promoted to Captain in 1963. This assignment marked the first time a black officer ever worked in South St. Louis Fire Station in a command position. In 1976, he was promoted and became the first black

battalion chief in the 119-year history of the Fire Department.

In August 1978, Preston was promoted to the rank of deputy fire chief, the first time a black man had ever become a deputy chief in the St Louis Fire Department. His platoons composed of 30 engine houses 54 fire companies, 284 men and citywide duties and responsibilities. In 1983, Preston was promoted to the rank of assistant fire chief, marking the first time a black man had ever become an assistant fire chief in the history of the City of St. Louis. He retired on January 2, 1987 after 35 years of service. His legacy continued through a new, incoming class, named on his behalf, the Preston L. Bouie Class of 2002.

with Washington Metropolitan A. M. E. Zion Church. Preston served on the Trustee Board and Finance Committee. Community affiliations and recognitions include: St. Louis Cancer Society, Monsanto YMCA Golden Triangle Club, Toastmasters International, United Negro College Fund, Vashon High School Hall of Fame, St. Louis Argus Distinguished Citizen Award. He served in mayoral administrations under Poelker, Conway, Schoemehl and Bosley; Missouri Division of Fire Inspection - Columbia Missouri.

The retired assistant fire chief lived a spiritually rich life and religious membership

Preston leaves to mourn: his high school sweet heart and wife of 70 years, the former Stella M. Mosby; brother Alonzo Bouie (Pauline); daughters, Claudina Anita Bouie (deceased), Dr. Sylvia N. Bouie-Saddler

(Robert, deceased) and Rev. Sheila N. Bouie-Sledge (Clifford). A niece, Deborah Bouie; grandsons Terrence Robert Saddler (Ashlee), Donald Sheldon Sledge and Christopher Green (Cinnamon); and a granddaughter, Tara Evans Herron (Stephen); and many grandchildren, great grandchildren and greatgreat grandchildren. Special cousins: Georgia Anderson and Louise Williamson and a hosts of nieces and nephews, friends and members of the congregation. In lieu of cards and flowers, please consider a donation to Knight Alzheimer Disease Research Center. Please make checks payable to: Washington University Knight ADRC and mail to: Knight Alzheimer Disease Research Center, Washington University, 4488 Forest Park Avenue, Suite 130, St. Louis, Missouri 631082293. Attention: Dr. Virginia Buckles.

Scholarship Foundation accepting loan applications

The Scholarship Foundation is accepting applications for its interest-free, fee-free student loan program through April 15. Qualified postsecondary students of any age can be issued a renewable, interest-free loan of up to $11,000 annually. Those interested must meet the following requirements: be pursuing a first certificate or degree at an accredited, nonprofit college, university, or technical/trade school;

demonstrate financial need; have a cumulative GPA 2.0 or higher or have earned a GED; be a permanent resident of the St. Louis metropolitan area, for at least two years prior to application.

Students from the following areas are eligible to apply: St. Louis City and St. Louis County; the Missouri counties of Franklin, Jefferson, Lincoln, St. Charles, Warren, and Washington; and the Illinois

counties of Bond, Calhoun, Clinton, Jersey, Madison, Macoupin, Monroe and St. Clair.

Students can apply for funding by completing an online general application on the St. Louis Graduates’ Scholarship Central website (www.stlouisgraduates.org). Upon completion of the general application, applicants can then apply for the interestfree, fee-free loan program. St.

Louis Graduates’ Scholarship Central website has over 60 scholarships for the 2017-2018 academic year with various application deadlines accessible through the general application. For more information, or for application assistance, contact The Scholarship Foundation of St. Louis at (314) 725-7990, info@sfstl.org or visit www. sfstl.org

Preston Lee Bouie

B

Ameren recognizes Armstrong Teasdale for inclusion

SLATE gets nearly $1M in new federal funds for job training

Employ Milwaukee led regional partnership in securing Labor Department grant

By Chris King Of The St.

Louis American

The St. Louis Agency on Training and Employment (SLATE) American Job Center received nearly $1 million in grant funds –$977,793 – through the U.S. Department of Labor to help individuals pursue the education and training necessary to advance their careers or obtain employment. With the money, SLATE will enroll and train 250 participants – unemployed, underemployed, and incumbent workers – with special emphasis on low-income/disadvantaged populations. They will be provided with financial assistance to earn a degree or credential necessary to obtain middle- to high-skilled jobs. Participants must be 16 years or older and not currently in school. SLATE will engage participants in American Job Centers either through traditional adult and dislocated worker programs or as referrals from

Michael K. Holmes

behalf of LCRA Holdings Corporation, St. Louis Development Corporation (SLDC), the city’s economic development arm in charge of site preparation for delivery to the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency for its Next NGA West development, has posted a Request for Bids (RFB) for fencing around the site and

17. All demolition opportunities will be directly distributed through the STL City Permits website to all currently certified demolition contractors in the City of St. Louis. More details and links to the opportunities are available at https://goo. gl/jTqtMn.

partner education and training providers and employers. On-the-job training will be the essential element to the service strategy, based on options that are the best fit for each participant.

Targeted occupations include Financial Analyst, Personal Financial Advisor, Industrial Machinery Mechanic, Computer Controller, Pharmacy Technician, Registered Nurse, Medical Assistant, Medical/ Clinical Technologist, Medical Records Coding, Computer Support Desk, Computer Systems Analyst, Software Developer, Computer Programmer, and Cyber Security.

To date, SLATE received commitments from employers and employer associations including the St. Louis Regional Chamber, Missouri

n SLATE will enroll and train 250 participants – unemployed, underemployed, and incumbent workers – with special emphasis on low-income/disadvantaged populations.

Enterprise, Hunter Engineering, BioGenerator, BacterioScan, and the Donald Danforth Plant Science Center, as well as two training providers, St. Louis Community College and Ranken Technical College.

In this effort, SLATE was part of a group, led by Employ Milwaukee and consisting of Kansas

See SLATE, B2

Jamala Rogers is the activist-inresidence for the 2017 winter semester at the Havens Center for Social Justice. The center, housed at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, is dedicated to the “development of a society openly committed to reason, democracy, equality and freedom.” She will be the first female and the first African American to participate in the new fellows program. Rogers is a long-time writer, organizer and columnist for The St. Louis American

Marvin Woods has been voted a member of the St. Louis Regional Chamber’s Board of Directors. He is principal and co-founder of Project Controls Group, Inc. (PCG). Based in St. Louis, PCG is a minority-owned business providing professional project controls services to clients on a national level. The chamber, whose members account for nearly 30 percent of the region’s employment base, has the purpose “to inspire a greater St. Louis.”

Barbara Tucker is the Hopewell move coordinator for Betty Jean Kerr People’s Health Centers as it moves its behavioral health division, the Amanda Luckett Murphy Hopewell Center, into improved facilities at 1504 S. Grand Blvd. Children’s behavioral services are being moved to the new Children’s Health Center near the main campus on Delmar. She is director of compliance at Hopewell Center.

William “Pat” Hill will be captain of the Internal Affairs Division for the new St. Louis Sheriff Vernon Betts. He is a retired St. Louis sheriff’s deputy, who served for more than 18 years. He is a graduate of Sumner High School and holds a bachelor’s degree in Business Administration from Lincoln University.

Tamiko Armstead has been chosen as an honoree for the Young Women Christian Association’s 2016 Leader of Distinction Award. These women exemplify excellence in their chosen profession, are outstanding role models for other women, and have made significant contributions to their communities. She is president of Cardinal Ritter College Prep and an alumna and former member of the school’s board.

Charlie Rodriguez was promoted to the rank of sergeant in the St. Louis County Police Department. He joined the force in 1996 and is currently assigned to the South County Precinct. He has also served in the Bureau of Drug Enforcement. He received a bachelor’s degree in Business Administration from the University of Missouri – St. Louis and a bachelor’s degree in Pastoral Ministry from the Way of Life Seminary.

Jamala Rogers

Barbara Tucker

William ‘Pat’ Hill

Tamiko Armstead

Marvin Woods

Charlie Rodriguez

Ameren Corporation has recognized Armstrong Teasdale with its 2016 Best in Class Diversity and Inclusion award for the firm’s outstanding performance in the area of diversity and inclusion, including implementing diversity best practices within its supply chain. From left: Byron Witherspoon, director, Supplier Diversity, Ameren; Dan Godar, partner, Armstrong Teasdale; Warner Baxter, chairman, president and CEO, Ameren; Jovita Foster, partner and diversity and inclusion chair, Armstrong Teasdale; Greg Nelson, senior VP, general counsel and secretary, Ameren; Tim Tryniecki, partner, Armstrong Teasdale

Bank, foundation honor Judge Edwards

Better Business Bureau

As 2016 draws to a close and thoughts turn to the new year, Better Business Bureau (BBB) has developed 10 resolutions that can help you fight scammers, prevent identity theft and find trustworthy businesses and charities in 2017.

“Consumers can protect themselves from fraud by knowing the red flags of common scams, researching businesses before they buy and getting every contract in writing,” said Michelle L. Corey, BBB president and CEO. “BBB Business Profiles and BBB Charity Reviews offer verified information that is available 24/7 on the BBB website. The website also has tips to help consumers with many common transactions.” BBB Scam Tracker is a great tool for reporting scams or finding out whether that email, text or phone call you got claiming to be from the IRS or trying to collect a debt was legitimate or a scam. More than 43,000 scam reports have been filed nationwide since BBB Scam Tracker came online with

SLATE

10 resolutions to help you avoid scams in 2017

losses totaling more than $2 billion. BBB uses the tool to track scams and to report fraudulent activity to the National Cyber-Forensics and Training Alliance for analysis and collaboration with law enforcement.

The following resolutions can help consumers avoid becoming victims of fraud in 2017:

Check a business out with BBB before you buy. Nearly 400,000 businesses meet BBB Standards of Trust and are qualified to use an Accredited Business seal on their websites and at business locations. Visit bbb.org to find BBB Business Profiles for 5.3 million businesses across North America.

Be skeptical if you get a call from someone claiming to be from the IRS. The IRS doesn’t call people or email them to inform them of taxes or penalties due nor does it threaten to arrest or sue taxpayers. Their initial contact always is by letter.

Always read the fine print—especially with “free”

continued from page B1 City, Chicago, Minneapolis, Gary (Indiana), Detroit, and Milwaukee, that applied under the America’s Promise grant opportunity. The grant has been titled the Compete Midwest America’s Promise Alliance (CMAPA); the total amount awarded across all participating cities was $6 million.

trial offers. Thousands of consumers have complained to BBB after signing up for a “free” trial offer online that resulted in repeated charges to their credit or debit cards, sometimes amounting to hundreds of dollars every month. Read the terms and conditions of any “free” trial offer before handing over credit or debit card numbers.

Keep your computer safe Install anti-virus software on your computer and check regularly for software and operating system updates and patches. Don’t open

CMAPA will also coordinate key regional stakeholders to design new training and employment schemes, enhance participation of local businesses in hiring and retaining talent, and integrate efforts to fully leverage the cost of case management and supporting services among CMAPA’s partners.

“We have developed a program that will strengthen and help grow economies and workforce not only in St. Louis but the Midwest region at large,” said Michael K. Holmes, SLATE’s executive director. “Strategic and

attachments or click on links in emails unless you can confirm the email came from someone you trust.

Never wire money to someone you don’t know Many scams require that the victim wire money back to the scammers. Scammers know tracking money sent via MoneyGram, Western Union or Green Dot MoneyPak is extremely difficult. Once you’ve wired money, it’s nearly impossible to get it back.

Fight identity theft. Shred

planning efforts are better done in collaboration - regional partnerships work across the state lines to efficiently use resources and learn best practices from each other.”

This is the third successful regional coalition SLATE has been a part of with Employ Milwaukee; the first two were American Apprenticeship and TechHire.

paper documents that include sensitive financial data and dispose of computers, cell phones and digital data safely. BBB offers tips and checklists on what to shred and hosts annual Secure Your ID events nationwide to help you stay safe.

Ask BBB for help File a complaint with BBB if you have a dispute with a business or have been ripped off by a scammer.

Create a budget and stick to it. Setting a budget can help you stay afloat in 2017. BBB

Nationwide, $100 million was made available through the Labor Department to expand education and training programs and pilot/ scale up innovative tuitionfree partnerships between employers, economic development, workforce boards, community/technical colleges, and community-based organizations.

has advice on how to create a budget to help you get out of debt and stay out of debt at bbb.org.

Fight fake check fraud. Thanks to advances in printing technology, scammers have the ability to create professional-looking phony checks. Be extremely wary of checks that come with claims that you’ve won a lottery, are eligible for a government grant or have landed a job as a secret shopper. These are almost always scams.

Get it in writing. Don’t just take a company’s word for it. Get verbal agreements in writing to limit miscommunication and misunderstandings between what you expect and what the business delivers.

Consumers can learn how to protect themselves at www. bbb.org/protectyourself. Find BBB Business Profiles or BBB Charity Reviews by calling (314) 645-3300 or by going online to www.bbb.org.

The CMAPA grant award was one of 23 awarded and the highest allowed under this opportunity. More than 1,430 individuals will be trained through this grant over the four-year period. For more information, visit www.stlworks.com. The main phone number at SLATE is 314-589-8000.

Sports

has no excuse for not

Dragon slayers

PreP BasketBall NoteBook

With Earl Austin Jr.

Many people wondered about the St. Mary’s Dragons after they received the No. 1 seed at the powerful Coaches vs. Cancer Tournament in their first year in the tournament.

After a little tough sledding in its first round victory over Lafayette in which they trailed in the fourth quarter, the Dragons lived up to their seeding by winning the championship. St. Mary’s defeated SLUH 60-57 in a thrilling overtime championship game.

Junior forward Yahuza Rasas had 20 points, six rebounds and eight blocked shots to lead the Dragons. Sophomore guard Yuri Collins added 19 points, including five big points in overtime while junior guard Tony Burks added 15 points.

St. Mary’s improved its record to 11-0 on the season with two tournament championships to their credit. The Dragons also won the Alton (IL) Tip-Off Tournament title to begin the season. The Dragons were 21-6 last season and played for a Class 4 district championship, losing to eventual state champion Vashon. A possible postseason rematch with the Wolverines could take place in March in the sectional playoffs.

Mark Smith’s stock on the rise

In the world of high school recruiting, one of the most popular terms of the business is that of “stock riser.” That would be the player who elevates his play so much to a different level and jumps from the local to the national radar. That would describe what Edwardsville High senior Mark Smith has accomplished during the first month of the season.

A 6’4” senior point guard, Smith was coming off an excellent season in 2016 in which he led the Tigers to a 25-5 record and a Class 4 regional title. A one-time University of Missouri baseball recruit, Smith changed his mind about playing baseball and decided to become a full-time basketball player. Some low to mid-major college basketball programs immediately pounced and offered scholarships

Bucking the trend of publicly funded stadiums

It has been nearly one year since the Rams departed downtown St. Louis for the bright lights and big stars of Los Angeles. In retrospect, the move turned out to be a blessing for the city. While losing a professional sports team was disappointing for sports fans in the region, the move saved the city from the burden of publicly financing another expensive sports stadium. (It also spared us from watching another year of brutally bad football, but that’s another column.) It also continued a small, but growing trend for billionaire owners of sports teams to bypass public funding and choosing to raise private funds their new, shiny stadiums. It’s a trend that cities across the nation are desperately hoping will continue. For decades professional sports teams have run the long con on cities by extoling the virtues of publicly financed

stadiums. They have touted the jobs that will be created and taxes that will be raised. Tall tales of boosted tourism and city validation float around every time a sports franchise contemplates entering a new market or when a newer stadium in the current city is required desired. However, most studies done by unbiased economists show that there is virtually no regional economic gain of publicly funded stadiums. Still, cities continue to open the coffers for high rollers simply because that’s the way it has been done for years. It reminds me of the game all of us have played with the cable/satellite services at some point. When prices get too high, we call and threaten to leave and take our entertainment dollars elsewhere. A retention rep pleads with us to stay. They tell us how awesome we are, chop our bill in half and throw in three months

of HBO and Showtime. Every once in a while though, we run into a rep that is just not having it. We lob our empty threat. They thank us for being a customer and offer to deactivate our service immediately. Dejected, we tell them we need to go and will call back to disconnect later.

We secretly hope we’ll talk to another agent willing to offer us deep discounts and “free” stuff because switching services is a pain. More cities need to be the rogue rep. When teams threaten to leave, cities should thank them for being

See CLUTCH, B5

Earl Austin Jr.

Ishmael H. Sistrunk

Photo by Wiley Price

SportS EyE

With Alvin A. Reid

NFL has no excuse for not hiring new black head coaches

The NFL suddenly finds six head coaching positions open –and no excuses if none of them are filled by a black candidate.

The Buffalo Bills, Denver Broncos, Jacksonville Jaguars, Los Angeles Rams, San Francisco 49ers and San Diego Chargers are all in the market for new coaches. Gary Kubiak retired from the Broncos for health reasons, but the other five guys got the traditional ax. A leading black candidate to take over for Rex Ryan in Buffalo is Anthony Lynn, who served as the team’s interim coach last week. While he was hired by Ryan to serve as offensive coordinator, early reports are that the Bills want to keep him. He has told the media, “This is where I want to be.” Whether that means the Bills would hire him as head coach remains to be seen – but if his current team doesn’t want him, one of the remaining five should have serious interest.

color, of course. Harold Goodwin Arizona Cardinals offensive coordinator, saw his stock go down because of his team’s lame 2016 season. He is still regarded as ready to take over a NFL team. Goodwin coordinates the Cardinals’ running game and constructs some game plans, while head coach Bruce Arians controls the passing game. Goodwin thanks Arians, who he calls “B.A.” for preparing him for a head coaching post.

“I think B.A. has groomed me, kind of like he groomed (New York Jets head coach) Todd (Bowles). Every year he’s given me more and more responsibilities. I get to see him work every day, how he handles the team, the administrative part of it. I think it’s helped me grow a lot.”

Teryl Austin, Detroit Lions defensive coordinator, will be interviewed by several franchises to fulfill Rooney Rule obligations – as will other candidates. He has proven his talent by taking an injuryplagued Detroit defense and holding it together throughout the season. Don’t blame the late losing streak and home loss to the Green Bay Packers last Sunday on him – although that will be used as an excuse to not hire him. It will have nothing to do with his skin

Vance Joseph, Miami Dolphins defensive coordinator, is on the Broncos’, 49ers’ and Rams’ respective radars, per reports. Head coach Adam Gase said of Joseph, “He’s put those (defensive) guys in the right positions. From where we’ve started and how we’ve grown through the year, guys being in and out, losing some key players, he’s done a good job.”

Jospeh is also known for his candid, entertaining press conferences and the way he calmed the sometimes-crazed Ndamukong Suh and helped him turn in an All-Pro season. Don’t forget my man David Shaw at Stanford. His

Cardinals defeated North Carolina 25-23 in the Sun Bowl without running back Christian McCaffrey, who selfishly decided to skip the game to prepare for the NFL draft. In addition, starting quarterback Kelly Chryst was

injured during the game. State of STL soccer not good Gov.-elect Eric Greitens picked Zisser Tire and Auto in Dellwood to announce two of his cabinet public safety appointments because the business had been targeted during the unrest following the police shooting of Michael Brown Jr. in Ferguson.

He also used the location to apparently bury any thought that the state would invest in a proposed $200-million stadium to lure a MLS franchise to St. Louis.

“To be very clear, I have completely ruled out state funding for stadiums,” Greitens said.

“We are not going to use money from the people of the state of Missouri for what I believe is corporate welfare. We’ve got far too many core priorities of government that have to be invested in.”

Jim Kavanaugh, co-chair of the SC St. Louis group that is seeking $80 million from the city and $40 million from the state to build the stadium, told the Post-Dispatch that Greitens’ refusal to back the proposal is “disappointing considering he doesn’t

understand our business proposal and potential ROI (return on investment) for the state.”

I think he totally understands. He understands to keep Missouri solvent without raising taxes some difficult decisions must be made in the coming months.

n “To be very clear, I have completely ruled out state funding for stadiums.”

– Gov.-elect Eric Greitens

Social services will be targeted, urban improvements are out and other programs will see budget reductions. How on Earth can he back that agenda while forking over $40 million in tax credits to build a soccer stadium that SC St. Louis could build itself?

What I don’t’ understand is why the entire plan is falling apart without state backing.

When Dave Peacock and Kavanaugh first announced the stadium plan and a plea for $80 million on the April 4 election ballot, there was no mention of the state’s involvement. Suddenly, without the state

cash the entire deal is crashing down.

Alderman Christine Ingrassia (6th Ward) sponsored the ballot proposal, and she has gone from bullish to bearish in a matter of weeks.

“I was hoping to get to the point where this proposal made sense for St. Louis, but I’m feeling that less and less,” she told the Post

Mayor Francis G. Slay now in his final three months in Room 200, is all in on the stadium. However, he left it up to Chief of Staff Mary Ellen Ponder to put some kind of positive spin on Greitens’ comments.

“We’ve remained committed to working with SC STL to develop a financing plan that makes sense for the City of St. Louis and includes a vote of the people,” she said. “Having said that, the State of Missouri and Gov.-elect Greitens are critical. It will be tough to get this done without the state’s support.” There’s that phrase again –“makes sense.”

It’s obvious that pubic dollars going to a private enterprise to build a stadium that the city would own (no property tax revenue) and operate (who knows at what price?) has never made any sense. By the way, has anyone given Dan Cordes of Foundry St. Louis a call lately? The last we heard is that his group could come up with $80 million for the stadium project. It would “make sense” to see if his deal is for real.

Go for your guns

In November, the Philadelphia Eagles released wide receiver Josh Huff after he was arrested and charged with possessing an unloaded 9 mm handgun without a permit, a magazine that had six hollowpoint bullets and a small amount of marijuana. Based on numerous NFL players being arrested with small amounts of marijuana and NOT being released by their respective teams, the gun and bullets were obviously the problem.

Fast forward to Christmas. Eagles quarterback Carson Wentz bought shotguns for every member of his offensive line. Interesting.

Alvin A. Reid is a panelist on the Nine Network program, Donnybrook and appears on ABC’s The Allman Report and several sports radio shows, including Frank Cusumano’s “The Press Box” on KFNS. His Twitter handle is @aareid1.

Alvin A. Reid

A leading black candidate to take over for Rex Ryan in Buffalo is Anthony Lynn, who served as the team’s interim coach last week.

from The eAST Side

With Maurice Scott

ESL vs. Belleville Althoff: the Rematch

Highland Optimist Shoot-Out Classic is this weekend

It was one week ago that the East St. Louis Flyers and Althoff Crusaders played an instant classic in front of 3,500 fans and a standing room only crowd at the Prairie Farms Collinsville Tournament.

More than 1,500 fans were turned away as Althoff defeated East St. Louis 83-80 in overtime in the semifinals.

The second of a possible three meetings will take place this weekend at the prestigious Highland Optimist Shoot-Out Classic in the feature game. Tip-off is set 8:15 p.m. on Saturday night at Highland High. That semifinal game featured two of the top players in the state of Illinois in Althoff’s Jordan Goodwin and East St. Louis’ Jeremiah Tilmon. Neither one disappointed the overflow crowd as they both posted double-doubles.

Goodwin had a game high 31-points and 11 rebounds, while Tilmon 26-points and 12-rebounds. In addition,

CLUTCH

Continued from B3

state of California. Voters in the cash-strapped state routinely shoot down any ballot measures that seek public dollars for private sports ventures. That’s part of the reason why the Chargers and Raiders are scrambling to determine their futures. The Raiders appear to be headed to Las Vegas, where the owners will likely have to privately finance a stadium. The Chargers will be forced to join Kroenke in L.A. or bite the bullet and pull together private money to stay in San Diego. Back in Missouri, Gov.elect Eric Greitens stated his opposition to publicly-funded stadiums. His remarks put a wrench in SC STL’s plan to build a new downtown soccer stadium (partially funded with taxpayer dollars) with hopes of landing a MLS expansion team. After his remarks, SC STL pulled its plans for an

PREP

Continued from B3 to Smith after a summer grassroots season with the SW Illinois Jets. Since the beginning of the high school season, Smith has been simply brilliant for the 11-1 Tigers, thus his stock has exploded through the roof. Now, major college programs such as Kansas State and Illinois have come forward with offers and more are sure to be on the way. There is good reason for all of the sudden attention that Smith has been getting. In 12 games, he has posted some eye-popping numbers. Smith is averaging 21.6 points, 7.7 rebounds, 9.5 assists and 2.1 steals in leading the Tigers to a couple of tournament championships.

In the championship of the Collinsville Tournament last week, Smith had 35 points, eight rebounds and eight assists in an 83-75 victory over Althoff in a battle of metro east powers. In an earlier meeting against Althoff for the Highland Tournament championship, Smith had 37 points, 10 rebounds and nine assists in an 81-78 Edwardsville victory. With Smith leading the way and a supporting cast that includes Iowa football recruit A.J. Epenesa and sharpshooter Oliver Stephen, Edwardsville has a chance to make a serious run in the Illinois Class 4A playoffs this season.

Godwin broke the tournament scoring record last week by scoring 128 points in the four games. The previous record was held by former East St. Louis Lincoln star and current University of California head coach Cuonzo Martin. Everyone talks about Jordan Goodwin and deservedly so, but the player that makes everything go for the Crusaders is senior guard C.J. Coldon. In the victory against East St. Louis, Coldon was the difference-maker for his team and his statistical line proves it. Coldon finished with 20 points and was 10-19 from the field with eight rebounds, five assists, and three steals while logging 35 minutes that night. If that wasn’t impressive enough, the hustle plays for loose balls and his overall floor game was spectacular with only three turnovers.

For East St. Louis to be successful on Saturday night, it will need to continue to get help for Tilmon with the play of Arthur Carter, Reyoundus

The player that makes everything go for the Althoff Crusaders is senior guard C.J. Coldon. In the victory against East St. Louis, Coldon was the difference-maker. Coldon finished with 20 points and was 10-19 from the field with eight rebounds, five assists, and three steals while logging 35 minutes that night.

Estes, and the continuing progression of 6’5 sophomore Terrance Hargrove Jr. The talented Hargrove has emerged as one of the top sophomores in the state, earning AllTournament team honors at Collinsville.

Carter’s play at Collinsville

should have garnered Alltournament team honors as well as he averaged 19-points per game. But with the lack of legitimate black press attending the games in Collinsville, you figure it out.

The first meeting had 12 lead changes, and nine-ties.

n In Missouri, Gov.elect Eric Greitens stated his opposition to publicly-funded stadiums.

official vote on the measure. An MLS soccer team would have a great chance for success in St. Louis. However, the city doesn’t need (and can’t afford) to foot the bill for the stadium. If there truly is an enticing, money-making opportunity for a pro sports franchise in the region, interested investors shouldn’t be too hard to find.

MICDS Girls continue to roll

The MICDS Rams have finished second in the Class 4 state tournament the past two seasons. Despite the graduation of All-State performers Taylor Baur (Princeton) and Rachel Thompson (Colgate), the Rams have continued to be one of the area’s elite girls’ programs. The Rams won their own MICDS Holiday Tournament championship last week to run their record to 10-0. The Rams defeated Fort Zumwalt North 48-30 in the championship game. MICDS also won the Lutheran St. Charles

We seem to be in an era where the stadiums are bigger, flashier and more expensive but the return on investment is slim-tonone when cities get involved. A precautionary tale would be the NHL’s Arizona Coyotes. Back in 2009, then-owner Jerry Moyes filed for bankruptcy and the league was forced to take over the franchise. However, the city of Glendale was left on the hook for tens of millions of dollars each year in stadium costs while the NHL shopped the team for potential owners. When the team was finally sold in 2013, how much do you think the City of Glendale profited? Exactly.

Tournament in early December. Without the 20 points a game of Baur and the allaround point guard excellence of Thompson in the lineup, the Rams are more of a wellbalanced unit with several players capable of being the leading scorer on a given night. MICDS is led by 5’8” junior forward Jordyn Brooks, who is averaging 12.8 points a game. Senior forward Lauryn Hughes averages 10.6 points while 5’10” junior forward Lindsey Parks averages 9.6 points. Sophomore guard Raevyn Ferguson averages 9.3 points while junior guard Landys Hughes averages 7.4 points.

East St. Louis outscored Althoff 64-46 in the paint, so it will be huge to keep Terrance Hargrove Jr. (10 points, 11 rebounds) out of foul trouble for East St. Louis. Hargrove only played 26 minutes, and only had 10 field goal opportunities due to foul

Plans for a proposed MLS soccer stadium in downtown St. Louis may be in jeopardy after Gov.-elect Eric Greitens stated his opposition to publicly-funded professional sports stadiums.

Hopefully the trend against public financing will continue to grow. Some cities will lose their teams in the short run.

However, if owners want new stadiums and more revenue opportunities, they should build their own.

trouble in the epic match-up. Guard Reyoundus Estes propelled the Flyers leading up to the semifinals, but like Hargrove succumbed to foul trouble playing only 19 minutes yet scoring 9-points and had 4-assist. Estes is a major key for the Flyers to beat Althoff because of his leadership and toughness when he’s on the floor.

The Flyers will have to continue to get great play off the bench from Zachary Forest and Travion Vickers, both outscoring the Crusaders bench 11-0.

So, the rematch really won’t be about what Tilmon and Goodwin do. They are going to get their share of buckets. The key match-up will be senior point guards Estes and Coldon battling it out.

Other keys for an East St. Louis win will be to continue to keep sharp shooter Marvin Bateman in check, and limit Edwyn Brown’s play especially from the perimeter.

The keys for Belleville Althoff will be to neutralize Estes and the bench play of Vickers and Forest. In addition, super sophomore Terrence Hargrove Jr. must stay out of foul trouble.

Scott’s Prediction: East St. Louis 78 - Althoff 73.

The Warriors have shown that team success goes a long way in generating revenue. The Rams have shown that moving to a bigger city doesn’t guarantee fan support. Those things should go a long way in helping cities walk away from the endless stream of ransom letters from professional sports owners. Follow Ishmael and In the Clutch on Twitter @ IshmaelSistrunk

The ST. LouiS AmericAn PreP AThLeTe of The Week

Sonya Morris

Incarnate Word Academy – Girls Basketball

The 5’9” junior guard led Incarnate Word to the championship of the Visitation Holiday Tournament in convincing fashion. Morris scored 25 points on 10 of 14 shooting from the field in the Red Knights’ 68-48 victory over Kirkwood in the championship game. She had 23 points, five rebounds and eight steals in a 65-44 victory over Pacific in the semifinals. In the quarterfinals, Morris had 18 points, three rebounds and three steals in a 64-27 win over Cor Jesu.

For the season, Morris is averaging 18.7 points, 2.7 rebounds and two steals a game for the Red Knights, who are currently 11-1.

Trey Shannon

CBC – Wrestling

The standout junior received the Most Outstanding Wrestler Award after his performance at the Granite City Invitational. Shannon remained undefeated for the season by winning the 170-pound division at Granite City. After recording pins against his opponents in the quarterfinal and semifinal rounds, Shannon defeated Joey Williams of Neosho 16-1 in the title match. A national-level performer, Shannon is currently ranked No. 8 in the country in his weight class. As a sophomore, he was the Class 4 state champion at 152 pounds. He finished third in the state as a freshman.

Maurice Scott

Philips & Associates assisting MoDOT with DBEs in STL

Bellewether Ltd providing ‘Supportive Services’ in west of state

American staff

MoDOT’s External Civil Rights Division has selected two firms to provide Supportive Services to currently certified Disadvantaged Business Enterprises (DBEs). Philips & Associates, of Ballwin, will continue to serve St. Louis and the central and eastern portions of the state. Bellewether Ltd., of Lee’s Summit, will serve Kansas City, Northwest and Southwest Districts.

Supportive Services programs for DBEs include business coaching, technical assistance, advanced contractor training, and guidance for formal mentor-protégé collaboration. Seminars, networking sessions, and workshops are offered throughout the year, including the popular “Doing Business with MoDOT” program conducted in communities around the state.

MoDOT Supportive Services goals also include assisting small, minority, and women-owned businesses in capacity building and contracting readiness. To this end, the program provides business planning guidance through its Entrepreneurship

n “Since 2009, the Supportive Services program has graduated 165 DBE firms and we look forward to more firms joining their ranks.”

– George Philips, Philips & Associates

Training Program.

“Since 2009, the Supportive Services program has graduated 165 DBE firms and we look forward to more firms joining their ranks,” said George Philips, president of Philips & Associates.

The members of the Bellewether team will focus on increasing capacity to DBE companies in western Missouri and will work with peer professionals within community systems with similar goals.

“Our contribution to DBE business development activity will be to pinpoint and backfill gaps in knowledge and business operations,” said Bellewether chief executive officer, Kay Saunders. “In the end, the work we do with and through our communities builds stronger, more resilient DBE

companies,”

The next 10-week St. Louis Entrepreneurship Training Program kicks off Friday, January 13. The Bellewether team will launch the first Entrepreneurship Training Session to take place on Fridays from 9 a.m. to noon, starting February 10 and running through April 28 in Kansas City. Anyone interested in applying should contact Bellewether at (816) 554-9400 ext. 222. Contact information for MoDOT’s External Civil Rights Supportive Services Program, including its consultant firms Philips & Associates, Inc., and Bellewether Ltd. can be found at http://modot.org/ecr/ SupportiveServices.htm.

Financial Focus

By Roger Macon, AAMS

What’s

If

tion for the interest you pay. On the other hand, nondeductible consumer debt that carries a high interest rate might be considered “bad” debt –and this is the debt you might want to reduce

• Distinguish between “good” and “bad” debt. Not all types of debt are created equal. Your mortgage, for example, is probably a “good” form of debt. You’re using the loan for a valid purpose – i.e., living in your house – and you likely get a hefty tax deduc-

‘Hidden Figures’ in plain sight

By Kenya Vaughn Of The St. Louis American

Instantly after he became the first U.S. man to successfully orbit earth on behalf of the newly formed National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), astronaut John Glenn ascended to the status of national treasure. He parlayed his fame and prestige into a successful political career – serving as Ohio’s Democratic U.S. Senator for nearly 25 years. He died last month at the age of 95, and was idolized by generations for his role in the U.S. space program.

Meanwhile, the ladies whose calculations allowed him to survive his first trip into space lived as invisible, unsung heroes as NASA enjoyed the reputation as a global giant within the field. At the top of the decade, Margot Lee Shetterly – whose father was an AfricanAmerican scientist at NASA – began the process of making sure the women got the credit

A good education by any means necessary

Latest Black Rep production tackles systemic flaws within public schools

By Kenya Vaughn

Of The St. Louis American

“You have parents, right now, who don’t know what the felony law means, or what the impact of it is,” said Ron Himes, founder and producing director of The Black Rep. “I mean, you couldn’t create a more direct pipeline link to prison than that law.”

He is referring to Missouri’s newly revised criminal code that could mean students would be charged with felonies for fighting. The code is not new, but many people didn’t know it existed until Hazelwood and Ferguson-Florissant School districts notified parents of its revision. With the presentation of Nikkole Salter’s “Lines In The Dust” starting next week at Edison Theatre, The Black Rep is giving center stage attention to the complexities within America’s public education system.

n The Black Rep is giving center stage attention to the complexities within America’s public education system.

“When people say that young people are the problem – young people didn’t create the problems we have in schools,” said Himes, who is also directing the show. “The reality is the children are not the problem – the problems come because there are certain children who are given the resources, the service and the support to succeed and others who are not.”

The play illustrates the risks families are willing to take in order to ensure that their children have access to schools conducive to a positive learning environment.

The play stars Cherita Armstrong, Evann De-Bose and John Contini.

As school principal Dr. Beverly Long, Armstrong’s character changes the course of her career for the sake of providing her son with the opportunity to have a healthy and functional atmosphere where he can blossom academically.

See THEATER, C4

Film exposes black women’s contribution to NASA’s growth and dominance

they deserved as she began the groundwork for her best-seller, “Hidden Figures: The American Dream and the Untold Story of the Black Women Mathematicians Who Helped Win the Space Race.”

“Hidden Figures,” the highly anticipated film adaptation of Shetterly’s book, opens in theatres nationwide tomorrow (Friday, Jan. 6). In the film version of “Hidden Figures,”

the story is narrowed to three central characters portrayed by Taraji P. Henson, Janelle Monae and Octavia Spencer.

It is the early 1960s. The Cold War is underway and Russia has a leg up in the Space Race. Black women are recruited to work at NASA as computers, though its Langley, Virginia headquarters sit in the heart of Jim Crow country.

Despite their brilliance and impressive credentials, they are limited in what they are allowed to contribute – and receive credit for – simply because of the color of their skin.

The women are committed to excellence and to proving themselves. They share their talent and unyielding work ethic for the greater good of a country that shows them no compassion, or basic human rights for that matter.

They are black and they are women – so

See HIDDEN, C4

New Year, old school

Thousands rang in 2017 with a stroll down hip-hop memory lane by way of the Old School Hip-Hop Festival Sunday night at Chaifetz arena. The lineup reflected the genre’s New York roots, but the vast majority of the acts were products of “the dirty south” – which was a good fit considering the preferences of St. Louis rap fans. The lineup included Big Daddy Kane, Mystikal, Trick Daddy, Scarface, 8Ball &MJG, Jalil and Ecstasy (of Whodini), Juvenile and Dougie Fresh with Slick Rick.

by Lawrence Bryant

By Kenya Vaughn Of The St. Louis American

Photo

Founder Loretta Ford hopes the museum

knowledge that mainstream education often leaves out.

Janelle Monae, Taraji P. Henson and Octavia Spencer star in Hidden Figures.

Doug E. Frresh

Trick Daddy

Slick Rick

Big Daddy Kane

8 Ball & MJG

Photos by Lawrence Bryant

How to place a calendar listing

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

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

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

mlk day activities

Fri., Jan. 6, 7 p.m., A Call to Conscience, Inc. presents I’ve Been to the Mountaintop Hear Dr. Martin Luther King’s final speech delivered at the Mason Temple Church in God and Christ on April 3, 1968; the eve of his assassination. Proceeds will benefit the John E. and Regina S. Nance Memorial Scholarship Fund. Washington Tabernacle Missionary Baptist Church, 3200 Washington Ave., 63103. For more information, call (314) 533-8763 or visit www. washtabmbc.org.

Sat., Jan. 7, 6:30 p.m., Harris-Stowe State University hosts the 31st Missouri Dr. Martin Luther King Day Statewide Kickoff with keynote address provided by author, scholar and commentator Marc Lamont Hill, HarrisStowe State University Main Auditorium, 3026 Laclede.

Sat., Jan. 14, 11 a.m., St. Louis Public Library presents the Seventh Annual Rhythm & Rhyme: A Tribute to Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. dreamed of “Brotherhood” and unity in our communities. Join gifted neighborhood talent and other local performers as we read, sing and recite poetry together – once again forging Dr. King’s dream of “forever using time creatively… in hope to do great things.” Baden Branch, 8448 Church Rd., 63147. For more information, call (314) 388-2400 or visit www.slpl.org.

Sat., Jan. 14, 11:30 a.m., The American Heart Association and the American Stroke Association present the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Health Fair and Luncheon featuring national recording artist J. Moss, Union Station, 1820 Market. For more

information, visit www.heart. org/2017STLMLK or call (314) 692-5639.

Sat., Jan. 14, 8 p.m., Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc., Omicron Eta Omega Chapter presents the 109th House Party. Please bring a coat or a sweater to donate to our seasonal wrap project. Omega Center, 3900 Goodfellow Blvd., 63120. For more information, visit www. eventbrite.com.

Jan. 14 & 16, Missouri History Museum presents the MLK Family Celebration Bring your family to the Museum to learn about and celebrate the achievements of American hero Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Join Mama Lisa for her King Family Kids movement workshop. This fitness workout, featuring songs and stories of inspiration from the civil rights movement, will prepare kids for a freedom walk through time. Celebrate Dr. King with a musical performance by Dre Hilton. 5700 Lindell Blvd., 63112. For more information, visit www.mohistory.org.

Mon., Jan. 16, 10 a.m., Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Holiday Observance. Celebrating the life and values Dr. King with speeches, plays and performances. Children’s program will be in the lobby. Reception to follow the event. Touhill Performing Arts Center, UMSL, 1 University Blvd., 63121. For more information, visit www.touhill. org.

Mon., Jan 16, 10 a.m., Southern Mission Baptist Church Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Celebration with special guest Pastor Arbie Peterson & Memorial Tabernacle Christian Life Center, 8171 Wesley Ave., Kinloch, MO.

Mon., Jan. 16, 5:30 p.m., The Coalition of Black Trade Unionist, St. Louis Chapter (CBTU-STL) 39th Annual

Featured Event

Jan. 6 – 8, Scottrade Center presents the Harlem Globetrotters. 1401 Clark Ave., 63103. For more information, visit www.scottradecenter.com.

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Human Rights Awards, Rasheen Aldridge, Megan Green and Bruce Franks are this year’s honorees. St. Louis City Treasurer Tishaura Jones will provide the keynote address. Sheet Metal Workers Hall Local 36, 2319 Chouteau Ave, St. Louis, MO, 63103.

concerts

Tues., Jan. 10, 7:30 p.m., Sheldon Concert Hall presents the Mo Egeston All-Stars feat. Coco Soul & Mario Pascal. An evening of original and reimagined modern soul with influences of jazz, Latin and club dance grooves, celebrating Mo Egeston’s 25th year “Doing this thing...” 3648 Washington

Ave., 63108. For more information, call (314) 5339900 or visit www.thesheldon. org.

Thur., Jan. 12, 8 p.m., The Firebird presents Sevyn Streeter – The Girl Disrupted Tour. 2706 Olive St., 63103. For more information, call (314) 5350353 or visit www.firebirdstl. com.

Fri., Jan. 13, 8 p.m., FUBAR presents Murphy Lee & Nate Moore. 3108 Locust St., 63103. For more information, call (314) 289-9050 or visit www.fubarstl.com.

Sat., Jan. 21, R&B Legends featuring Miki Howard, Lenny Williams, Surface with special guest Tony Terry. Hosted by Lightning.

The Ambassador, 9800 Halls Ferry. For more information, call (314) 869-9090.

special events

Jan. 6 – 8, Scottrade Center presents the Harlem Globetrotters. 1401 Clark Ave., 63103. For more information, visit www. scottradecenter.com.

Sat., Jan. 7, 8:30 p.m., Comedian Willie presents “LOL” Laughs on the Landing Comedy Show Gateway Sports Emporium, 719 N. 2nd St., 63102. For more information, call (314) 749-3372 or visit www. eventbrite.com.

Jan. 7 – 8, America’s Center presents The Wedding Show. Over 200 wedding display booths, professional runway show, DIY bride stage, live music, transportation displays, free food samples, 100’s of drawings/prizes, fabulous vendor wedding discounts, and much more. Free parking at Ballpark Village and a free limo bus shuttle. 701 Convention Plaza, 63101. For more information, visit www. stlbrideandgroom.com.

Thur., Jan. 12, 6 p.m., St. Louis Public Library presents I Am My Brother’s Keeper: Building Brotherhood. Representatives from organizations including 100 Black Men, Big Brothers,

Big Sisters and the Ethics Project will discuss how their organizations contribute to building brotherhood, fostering community, encouraging creativity and pursuing dreams along with what changes need to be made, and how we can all assist in creating a better existence. Schlafly Branch, 225 N. Euclid Ave., 63108. For more information, call (314) 367-4120 or visit www. slpl.org.

Fri., Jan. 13, 6 p.m., United 4 Children’s 5th Annual Quarter Auction. Join us for a night of fun including an auction, raffle & party all wrapped into one. Items will be only 25 cents. Glaziers Hall, 5916 Wilson Ave., 63110. For more information, call (314) 531-1412 or visit www.united4children.org.

Jan. 13 – 14, The 12th Annual Loop Ice Carnival. Bundle up for a weekend jam-packed with activities. Friday, 8 p.m.: come out for the Snow Ball Party at Moonrise Hotel. Saturday we will have a day full of events including a s’mores roast, snowball races, game booths, hundreds of expertly crafted ice sculptures, and more. For more information, visit www. facebook.com/thedelmarloop.

Jan., 15, 2 p.m., St. Louis Alumnae Chapter, Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Incorporated International Awareness & Involvement presents Ujamaa Tea, Marketplace Fashion Show & Vendor Row, Infinite

Harris-Stowe State University hosts the 31st Missouri Dr. Martin Luther King Day Statewide Kickoff with keynote address by Marc Lamont Hill. See MLK COMMEMORATIONACTIVITIES for additional details.

Occasions, 3515 N. Lindbergh Blvd. 63074. Tickets on sale now. Mail ticket quantity requests, and payments by check to:

SLA-DST, PO Box 410844, St. Louis, MO 63141. Please indicate IAI Tea in Subject line, (Please remember to indicate return address to mail tickets to. For tickets and more information, call (314) 2295710.

Sat., Jan. 21, 7 p.m., 2017 Slumfest Hip Hop Awards This award show will honor the accomplishments of Area Hip Hop Artists, DJs, Producers, and BBoys/BGirls. Delmar Hall, 6133 Delmar Blvd., 63112. For more information, call (314) 4428749 or visit www.slumfest. com.

Jan. 21 – 22, COCA presents Momentum. An unprecedented choreographic collaboration between Kirven Douthit-Boyd and Anthony “Redd” Williams makes this a not to miss performance! Members of COCAdance and the COCA Hip-Hop Crew will leave you breathless after a high-energy show in honor of COCA’s 30th Anniversary Season. 524 Trinity Ave., 63130. For more information, call (314) 5614877 or visit www.cocastl.org.

Mon., Jan. 23, 5:30 p.m., 26th Annual St. Louis Arts Awards. The area’s preeminent event honoring individuals, organizations and businesses that achieve a legacy of artistic excellence and enrich St. Louis’ arts and cultural community. Proceeds from the event benefit the Arts and Education Council’s annual campaign, which provides financial support, professional development, and collaborative opportunities for nearly 70 arts and arts education organizations. Chase Park Plaza, 212 Kingshighway Blvd., 63108. For more information, call (314) 289-4003 or visit www. keeparthappening.org.

literary

Thur., Jan. 19, 7 p.m., St. Louis County Library hosts author James Hamblin, author of If Our Bodies Could Talk. In 2014, James Hamblin launched a series of videos for The Atlantic called “If Our Bodies Could Talk.” With it, the doctor-turned- journalist established himself as a seriously entertaining authority in the field of health. If Our Bodies Could Talk offers clarity, examines the limits of our certainty, and ultimately helps readers worry less about things that don’t really matter. 1640 S. Lindbergh Blvd., 63131. For more information, call (314) 994-3300 or visit www.slcl.org.

Mon., Jan. 30, Left Bank Books hosts author Aaron Coleman, author of St. Trigger. This collection of poems breaks open the conflicted masculinities in the fist-heavy spaces around Black America. Through his hard-hitting, sonic verses, all of the frustrations pushing against Blackness in 2016— the insistent danger, the unforgiving partisanship, the violence—are transformed into necessary resilience. 399 N. Euclid Ave., 63108. For more information, call (314) 3676731 or visit www.left-bank. com.

Through February 28, St. Louis County Library’s Winter Reading Club. All ages are invited to participate. Stop by any open St. Louis County Library branch to signup. Winter Reading Club offers two categories: ages 0–11 and 12–Adult. Prizes for the kids include: sleds, movie gift cards and family memberships to The Magic House. Prizes for teens and adults include: movie gift cards, Amazon gift cards and Kindle Fires. For more information please call 314 994-3300 or visit www.slcl. org/winter-reading-club.

art

Sat., Jan. 7, 12 p.m., Thomas Dunn Learning Center presents the American Revolutions Art Exhibit Reception. 3113 Gasconade St., 63118. For more

information, call (314) 3533050 or visit www.tdunn.org.

Jan. 7 – Mar. 31, National Blues Museum presents Women of the Blues: A Coast-to-Coast Collection The collection features over 60 photographs of ‘Women of the Blues’ performing, in portrait and screaming the blues. Sixteen photographers from around the world share their very poignant and powerful images of these extraordinary women. 615 Washington Ave., 63101. For more information, call (314) 925-0016 or visit www.womenoftheblues.com.

Through January 7, “Fare Well,” an exhibition of new works by Addoley Dzegede will be on display at Fort Gondo Compound for the Arts, 3151 Cherokee St, St. Louis, MO 63118.

theatre

Sat., Jan. 7, 11:30 a.m., Missouri History Museum presents Nobody’s Boy Inspired by the Missouri History Museum’s book NOBODY’S BOY, this is the real-life story of an enslaved child named George whose owner brought him to St. Louis at about the age of five. Disregarded by his white, slave-owning father and with no last name, George longs to escape the lot of being “nobody’s boy.” 5700 Lindell Blvd., 63112. For more information, visit www. mohistory.org.

January 11- January 29, The Black Rep continues its 40th Anniversary Season with Nikkole Salters’ LINES IN THE DUST, Washington University’s Edison Theatre, 6445 Forsyth. Tickets for the production are available at The Black Rep Box Office by calling 314.534.3810 or online at theblackrep.org.

lectures and workshops

Thur., Jan. 5, 6:30 p.m., Maplewood Public Library presents The St. Louis Crime Story. Public historian Adam Kloppe, will take you on a tour of the St. Louis underworld of the past. You’ll meet notorious mobsters, learn about the street battles and shady deals that marked St. Louis’ gangland history, and hear about how law enforcement attempted to clean up St. Louis’s gangster underbelly. 7550 Lohmeyer Ave., 63143. For more information, call (314) 7812174.

Wed., Jan. 11, 6:30 p.m., Uptown Open Rehearsal & Conversation with Matthew Rushing. Hear Matthew Rushing, Rehearsal Director for Alvin Ailey Dance Theater, and choreographer Uptown speak about his work with COCA and pieces set for COCA’s student companies. Rushing will be joined by Joanna Dee Das, PhD, Assistant Professor of Dance at Washington University. 524 Trinity Ave., 63130. For more information, call (314) 7256555 or visit www.cocastl.org.

Wed., Jan. 18, 7 p.m., St. Louis County Library presents Community Conversations: Exploitation & Healing Action. Human trafficking is a form of modern slavery that occurs in every state, including Missouri. Katie Rhoades, Founder & Executive Director of the Healing Action Network, discusses her personal journey of survivorship and her organization’s mission to end commercial sexual exploitation. Natural Bridge Branch, 7606 Natural Bridge Rd., 63121. For more information, call (314) 9943300 or visit www.slcl.org.

Mayoral Candidate Forum

This event will be held in an effort to educate and inform young adults in the city of St. Louis on the platforms of each mayoral candidate while providing each candidate with the opportunity to openly state their positions on areas that affect this particular demographic. Some of these areas that will be addressed during the forum are: crime and violence, employment, education and a host of others. For more information or to register, visit www. stlmayoralcandidateforum. eventbrite.com.

Fri., Jan. 20, 12 noon, Saint Louis University John Francis Bannon, S.J., 2017 Lecture presents “History, Social Justice, and the Age of Trump” featuring Dr. Kambiz GhaneaBassiri, Reed College and Dr. Leah Wright Rigueur, Harvard Kennedy School, Boileau Hall, 38 Vandeventer Avenue (between Laclede and Lindell) at Saint Louis University, for more information, e-mail lglover1@slu.edu or call 314-977-8621

Fri., Jan. 27, 7 p.m., St. Louis County Library’s Black History Celebration presents Bernice King, 2017 Frankie Freeman Inspirational Lecture Daughter of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and Coretta Scott King, Bernice King is a human rights activist and motivational speaker. Bernice will share her incredible story, covering everything from her ministry and legal work to her current mission to continue her parents’ legacy. She will also discuss her mother’s new autobiography as told to Reverend Dr. Barbara Reynolds, “My Life, My Love, My Legacy.” Library Headquarters, 1640 S. Lindbergh Blvd., 63131. For more information, call (314) 994-3300 or visit www.slcl. org.

health

Mon., Jan. 9, 2 p.m., St. Louis County Library presents Community Event: Healthcare.gov. Free civil legal assistance to lowincome individuals. Legal Services of Eastern Missouri will answer inquiries about healthcare.gov and Medicare sign-up. Divoli Branch, 4234 N. Grand Ave., 63107. For more information, call (314) 534-0313 or visit www.slpl. org.

Mon., Jan. 9, 2 p.m., St. Louis County Library presents Community Event: Healthcare.gov. Free civil legal assistance to low-income individuals. Legal Services of Eastern Missouri will answer inquiries about healthcare.gov and Medicare sign-up. Divoli Branch, 4234 N. Grand Ave., 63107. For more information, call (314) 534-0313 or visit www.slpl.org.

Fri., Jan. 20, 5:30 p.m., The Foundation Fighting Blindness presents The 8th Annual St. Louis Dining in the Dark Visionary Awards Dinner. Benefiting the Foundation’s research into preventions, treatments and cures for blinding retinal degenerative diseases like macular degeneration and retinitis pigmentosa that affect more than 10 million Americans, young and old. Ritz-Carlton, 100 Carondelet Plaza, 63105. For more information, call (847) 680-0100 or visit www.FightBlindness.org/ StLouisDininginthedark.

Sat., Jan. 21, 12:30 p.m., A Day of #BlackGirlHealing. This event will welcome Black women into a safe place where they can unplug, de-stress, participate in open dialogue, and learn practical strategies of self-care. The day includes a walk, film screening followed by discussion, and yoga. Mindful Movements, 1400 N. Market St., 63106. For more information or to RSVP, visit www.squareup.com.

Mondays, 6:30 p.m., Yoga & Chill. A beginner-friendly, all levels (75 minute) class that spends time working through fundamental yoga postures and shapes while exploring alignment, breathing, relaxation techniques, and a good time. Modern Healer Studio, 1908 Cherokee St., 63118. For more information, visit www. eventbrite.com.

film

Fri., Jan. 6, Hidden Figures starring Taraji P. Henson, Janelle Monae and Octavia Spencer opens in theatres nationwide.

Sat., Jan. 21, 1 p.m., African American History & Genealogy Series presents Rescue Men Film Screening The documentary Rescue Men tells the story of these brave men who manned the Pea Island Life-Saving Station in North Carolina in 1896. Missouri History Museum, 5700 Lindell Blvd., 63112.

Thur., Jan. 19, 7 p.m., Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc., Alpha Omega Chapter in partnership with State Representative Bruce Franks, Jr. presents a

The Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Health Fair and Luncheon featuring national gospel recording artist J. Moss. For more information, see MLK DAY ACTIVITIES.

THEATER

Continued from C1

Other situations within the play see parents put their freedom –and their reputations as law-abiding citizens and positive contributors to society on the line – for the sake of their children’s education.

“The fact that the parent sees things as so extreme that they are willing to do that shows that there is a problem in the educational system,” Armstrong said. “Me being a part of this production, I’m learning about the disparities – and it’s making me more aware of how our educational system is challenged.”

The new level of awareness Armstrong has developed while working on the play was part of the intention behind Himes and The Black Rep staging “Lines in The Dust.”

“The hope is that it can help facilitate the conversation about public education – and about

the resources that are available in suburban schools versus urban schools,” Himes said.

“Being engaged is so crucial.”

The well-known reality is that some students face insur-

n “I’m also hoping that this play sparks activism.”

- Ron Himes, Founder and producing director of The Black Rep

mountable odds from the very beginning, simply based on where they were born and/or to whom they were born. Himes said that he plans to work with host campus Washington University to provide post-show discussions for every performance – and that out of that dialogue comes the

desire to not only remain aware, but to actively pursue change in order to create a school system where all students are given a level playing field.

“I’m also hoping that this play sparks activism,” Himes said. “That people will challenge the system when it is not working for the benefit of all children.”

“Everybody doesn’t start in the same place,” Armstrong said. “But every child should have access to a good education from the very beginning.

Because if they do – regardless of whether they come from an affluent background or an impoverished one – they will be able to soar.”

The Black Rep’s presentation of “Lines In The Dust” will run from Jan. 11 – 29, at the Edison Theatre, 6445 Forsyth on the campus of Washington University. For more information call (314) 534-3810 or visit www.theblackrep.org.

HIDDEN

Continued from C1

despite their penchant for numbers, they aren’t counted as members of the team. That is until Katherine Johnson, a mathematical genius (and widowed mother of three) is promoted and goes on to provide the calculations that help restore the nation’s confidence in their space program – and cemented Glenn’s place in American history.

Taraji P. Henson leads the cast as Johnson, and makes the most of role as the defacto leading lady in the ensemble cast that also includes Octavia Spencer, Janelle Monae, Kevin Costner, Kirsten Dunst, Mahershala Ali, Aldis Hodge, Jim Parsons and Glenn Powell.

SLIM

Continued from C1

“Now I’m telling y’all that it’s gonna be bigger, because it’s for ‘314 Day.’ If you don’t believe me, don’t come – it’s as simple as that. You can watch it the next day on the internet or something, or see everybody else posting about it on Instagram and Snapchat.”

Over the course of his more than 15 years on the scene as a concert and party promoter and founder of LooseCannon Ent., S.L.I.M. has brought some of the biggest names in the industry to town – including Sean “Diddy” Combs, Floyd “Money” Mayweather and too many a-list rappers to keep track with through his concerts, special events and annual charity basketball game.

“It’s like the lottery,” S.L.I.M. said of Saturday’s promotion. “For people to be able to buy a ticket for $3.14 and it turns into the best concert of their life, that’s exciting for me to see people enjoy that – and they are gonna get the best concert they’ve

The entire cast gives solid performances throughout. With her portrayal as Johnson, Henson further proves herself as feature film star caliber

n The inspirational story and the delightful performances will make “Hidden Figures” an enjoyable experience for all those who see it.

actress. Octavia Spencer is true to form as the backbone of the ensemble. Singer-turned-actress Janelle Monae shows a surprising amount of depth and range for her performance to be only her second on-screen performance.

ever had.”

Making 314 Day go global

“I want to make ‘314 Day’ a local holiday that’s nationally recognized,” S.L.I.M. said.

“Just like you have ESSENCE Festival in New Orleans, I want ‘314 Day’ to be that for St. Louis.”

The hip-hop community celebrates ‘314 Day’ in the city primarily through social media, though there have been some parties – and Hot 104.1

FM invited all of their listeners to the top of Art Hill in Forest Park for a huge selfie a couple of years back. S.L.I.M. wants to build on that momentum with the show, and take it to the next level.

“You see the hashtags on March 14, people already using it to show that the feel good about the crib,” S.L.I.M. said.

“So now let’s commemorate it with a big concert. And not just have St. Louis involved, but the whole [entertainment] industry involved. And when the industry gets involved, the

Partly because of the writing and direction by Theodore Melfi (the film is co-written by Allison Schroeder), “Hidden Figures” feels more like a beloved Black History Month television movie special than a theatrically released feature film. But while it isn’t necessarily cinematically compelling, the inspirational story and the delightful performances will make “Hidden Figures” an enjoyable experience for all those who see it. And the remarkable fact that their story is finally out of the shadows while the central characters are alive to appreciate the gesture makes “Hidden Figures” all the more endearing. Hidden Figures opens in theatres nationwide on Friday, January 6. The film is rated PG.

whole world starts watching. The Chaifetz Arena will be filled with people representing St. Louis and a bunch of artists from all over [and from St. Louis] coming through to show love for St. Louis.” And he wants to make sure that people see the value in the experience beyond being entertained with a live show.

“This kind of stuff stimulates the economy here,” S.L.I.M. said. “We gonna have 10,000 people that are gonna have to get their hair done and their car washed. Do you know how many barbers and stylists that is that’s gonna get some work? Do you know how many car detailers are gonna get some work?” Do you know how many black businesses are gonna get work off of this? I know for a fact that I can see the difference in my community when I do stuff like this.”

The $3.14 ticket special for State of Emergency: 314 Day will take place from 10 a.m. – 2 p.m. at the Chaifetz Arena Box Office. Tickets must be purchased in person and will be available on a first come, first serve basis.

Ron Himes with the cast of The Black Rep’s presentation of “Lines In The Dust.”

Birthday

Happy 4th

Birthday to “Princess” Patricia Renee

Lomax on January 9. It’s your day—let’s party! We love you! From your father Mack, stepmom Latanya, brother Lil Mack and the twins.

Reunions

Beaumont Class of 1967 will have its 50-year reunion on June 10, 2017. The December meeting is cancelled. The next meeting is January 21, 2017 at1:30 pm at Normandy Library.

Beaumont High School, Class of 1978 will celebrate its 40-year reunion in 2018.

For further information, please contact: Marietta Shegog Shelby, 314-799-5296, madeshe@sbcglobal.net.

Sumner Class of 1959 presents its 39th annual Oldie But Goodie Dance, January 21, 2017 at the Machinist’s Hall, 12365 St. Charles Rock Rd., 7:30 pm—midnight. Donation: $15. Tickets available now. Contact: Hubert at 314-6808324 or Delores at 314-7915504.

Sumner Class of 1965 is planning a “70th” Birthday Cruise for October 2017. If you’re interested and want to receive more information, please contact Luther Maufas (314) 541-4556, Brenda Smith Randall (314)382-1528, or

Celebrations

First Babies of 2017

The first baby of 2017 in St. Louis was delivered at SSM Health St. Mary’s Hospital shortly after midnight. Jasmine delivered a baby girl, Ashton, via c-section at 12:10 am on New Year’s Day. Ashton weighs 5lbs, 4 oz. and is 19.29” long. Ashton is Jasmine’s first child. Jasmine resides in St. Louis.

Jackson Scott Daniels was the first baby born at Alton Memorial Hospital in 2017. Jackson arrived at 10:58 a.m. Jan. 1, delivered by Dr. Rachel Durham at Alton Memorial’s Women’s Health and Childbirth Center. Proud parents Elizabeth and Charlie Daniels, of Alton, IL, have three other children—Cody (14), Haley (13) and Riley (8).

Laura Young (314) 328-3512 with name, address so the info can be mailed to you.

Sumner Class of 1967 is planning its 50-year reunion. Please contact Carlotte Algee Stancil at algee1999@ yahoo.com; DonnaYoung Rycraw at donnarycraw@ aol.com or Stella Smith Hunt at stellalhunt58@sbcglobal. net, 314-381-5104 with email, address and phone number.

Vashon High School 90th Anniversary Celebration will be held at Renaissance Hotel Airport St. Louis, October 6-7, 2017. On October 5, 2017, there will be an Alumni Day at Vashon High School. Please save the dates.

Vashon Class of 1957 is having its 60-year reunion on May 20, 2017 at the Atrium at the rear of Christian N.E. Hospital on Dunn Road. Classes 1955-1959 are welcomed. For more information, please contact Lovely (Green) Deloch at 314867-1470, Marlene (Randall) Porter at 314-653-0107, Mae (Simmons) Mahone at 314653-0818 or Phyllis (Bolden) Washington at 314-531-9925.

Vashon Class of 1967 is planning its 50-year reunion and is need of contact information for all interested alumni. Please contact JoAnn Alvoid at alvoidjoe8@gmail. com; Sarah (Taylor) Robinson at srobinson647@hotmail. com; or Sonya (Walker) Smith

at 314.381.8221, with your address, email and phone number.

Vashon High School 90th Anniversary Celebration will be held at Renaissance Hotel Airport St. Louis, October 6-7, 2017. On October 5, 2017, there will be an Alumni Day at Vashon High School. Please save the dates.

St. Louis Community College needs your help identifying STLCC alumni. Alumni are encouraged to visit the website: www.stlcc.edu/foundation/, to become members or update information. For more information, contact Ashley Budde, coordinator of alumni relations, at abudde6@stlcc. edu, or 314-539-5145.

FREE OF

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

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

Kate Daniel, 2315 Pine St., St. Louis, MO 63103

Deadline is 10 a.m. on Friday. If you’d like your class to be featured in a reunion profile, email or mail photos to us.

Our email address is: reunions@ stlamerican.com

Pretty girls jam. I already knew I was in for the perfect kickoff of my New Year’s Eve festivities the moment I poked my head into the Machinists’ Hall to hang with the Gamma Omega Chapter of Alpha Kappa Alpha for their annual End of the Year Jam. When I arrived, there was a sea of pink and green on the dance floor getting every bit of their life from the “Fantasy Slide.” As per usual with their all the black Greeks deep in the building – and the AKAs were quite the welcoming hosts as they slayed on-site. Lyah Beth LeFlore, Nicole Adewale, Nicole Colbert-Botchway, Dionne Neal, Andrea Hayes and Sharilyn Franklin were just a few. I was happy to see one of my favorite Alphas of all time, Marcus Creighton and Kappa Cliff Franklin was on the scene to support his wife’s sorority. As usual DJ Reminisce got it in on the tables. It was quite the time. Cackling into 2K17. After this past year, I had to laugh to keep from crying. Anyway, the New 2017 is going to be all about me looking at the bright side, so instead of saying that they could have held the New Year’s Eve Comedy Jam The Peabody Opera House instead of the Chaifetz Arena, I’m going to point out how comfortable and roomy it felt to have a whole section to myself. The show wasn’t bad – though I was not at all ready for J. Anthony Brown after dark. Why didn’t y’all tell me he was such a rogue? He was cussing up a storm as the host. And while he didn’t mention Tom Joyner by name, but he let the folks know that he bounced – and I think he may have quit Saturday’s comedy show too, but I’m not all the way sure. Tony Roberts was up first and he was funny. I thought he was gonna get jumped after the show when he said Kingshighway looked like it belonged in the middle of Haiti. Dominique had me rolling when she was talking about how she will demand a supervisor at the drop of a hat. And y’all know by now that Tony Rock can go wrong with me, so I got life. J. Anthony Brown said “he was funnier than his brother.” I wouldn’t go that far, but he’s still good. Brown got tired of stalling for the headliner and after saying, “is he here?” he threatened to leave. “Y’all know I’ll walk off of a show in a heartbeat,” he said. Then he said he was going to tell a punchline to a joke and punch from the stage. “After this I’m gone,” he said. And we never saw him again. Corey Holcomb was hilarious, though if I dared repeat a single bit from his act I’m almost certain I would be arrested. I’m not quite sure what look Corey was going for with the white mink, camo cargo pants and feathered brim…a hipster pimp maybe?

Pleasantly surprised by NYE. I’m telling y’all I was expecting the worst for New Year’s Eve, but I was pleasantly surprised with just about every spot I hit up. I ended up ringing in the New Year at HG and it was utterly lit. And while the glorious balloon drop they planned suffered a malfunction, and I instinctively ducked on the side of the bar when the crowd started popping them to make them fall I wouldn’t have changed the fact that I brought 2K17 in with Phil Assets and company. And “Black Beatles” just might be better for vibing into the New Year than it was as the official song for the Mannequin Challenge! Sequined ensembles were clearly all the rage yet again, because EVERYBODY was rocking them top to bottom and in all different colors – and by everybody, I mean comedian Tony Rock. I’ve seen a lot of sequined garments – socks, blouses, sweatpants...you name it – but he gave me the first ever sequined motorcycle jacket. And somehow, some way, I managed to get life from it.

A champagne proposal. Mood was also all the way live for Champagne Showers set, where I was able to witness a magic happily-ever-after. A lovely young lady got the shock of her life right after the clock struck midnight as she watched her boo bend down on one new and propose. The bad news is that the ring was too small so she had to walk around the club showing it off on her pinkie. I was really hoping that DJ Climate had dropped that Bruno Mars “24K Magic” so she could “put her pinkie ring up to the moon,” but I knew better –even though it’s my jam! And while it was tight between him and Teddy “BFree” Blackett, I’m thinking I’m going to go ahead and give Champagne Showers host DreCo the best dressed male honors. I think him quietly giving me Chris Tucker in Rush Hour 2 had everything to do with it.

A hot mess mixed in with good hip-hop. The Old-School Hip Hop Festival at Chaifetz Sunday kind of felt like the urban, all boys school version of one of those high school reunion movies – You know where the nerd becomes drop dead gorgeous, the class clown is still silly as ever and the villainous football star fell off and became a tragic weathered mess. Mystikal came so snatched that I was like I don’t remember him being so doggone fine. I was thinking maybe it was the struggle plaits he used to wear, but he got rid of those by Y2K. Anyway, I don’t know what Big Daddy Kane’s clothes were going through, but he could still take me to the prom…okay! Time has been kind to Scarface too. 8Ball&MJG were the same as always, Juvenile had jokes and people were too worn out to power through to catch Doug E. Fresh tear it up. But let’s talk about Trick Daddy a.k.a. the undisputed king of “fall offness!” I know shapes change over the years, and that is fine. But I was like “this is the same dude that said that black women need to get it together before white women make us useless?” Dear white women, come get him. He’s all yours.” The rest of his body was behind the curtain when his stomach hit the stage. He had the nerve to say “I forgot my waist shaper, but don’t look at the stomach.” And had the nerve to ask us to look lower, if you get my drift. Sir, my eyes were closed by the time you opened your mouth. Not to make this all about Trick Daddy, but it was shocking. The rest of the show was long, but good.

Deerra and Beth were giving head to toe glamour as they partied with Niddy on New Year’s Eve @ Plaza Motors for Hush

Members of the Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc came out to party with the AKAs Friday for the Gamma Omega Chapter’s End of the Year Jam @ The Machinists Hall

James and Jackie Seay brought in the New Year with April and Shannon Dowell @ Blue Lounge Saturday

Jennifer, Monique, Yolanda, Mara and Diane did it big for New Year’s Eve @ Champagne Showers @ Mood Saturday night

Members of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc. were deep in the building for their End of the Year Jam Friday @ The Machinists Hall

Juvenile and Black Caesar continued their New Year grind @ The Marquee after the rapper ripped the stage as part of the Old School Hip Hop Festival earlier in the night at Chaifetz Arena Sunday

Cherita and JaMya joined revelers @ 5th Annual Three Magic Words @ Blue Lounge Saturday for New Year’s Eve

Kim and Stacey slid through Mood for Champagne Showers New Year’s Eve Celebration @ Mood Saturday night

Ebonie, Trina and Brittany counted down to 2017 Saturday @ Three Magic Words @ Blue Lounge

Power couples Teddy & Makeda Blackett and Cornell & Jamila Boone ushered in the New Year in style with the 5th Annual Three Magic Words NYE celebration @ the all new Blue Dine+Lounge in the East Loop

After a solid show at Chaifetz Arena as part of the New Year’s Eve Comedy Jam lineup, funnymen Tony Rock and Corey Holcomb joined promoter J Howes (center) and brought in their New Year at The Rustic Goat.

Photos by John Scott

St. LouiS american Career Center

SALES ASSOCIATE

Sales Associate at Saint Louis Art Museum. Full Time – $12.14/hr. Weekdays and weekends. Apply at www.slam.org/careers

AUDIENCE DEVELOPMENT

ASST-PThelp coordinate and implement eforts to increase audience diversity at Saint Louis Art Museum. Rqrd: 3 yrs work in diverse communities and oice settings. Apply @ slam.org/careers.

Drivers:

Company & O/O’s. Home DAILY! $3,000

Sign-on. Great Beneits. Paid Weekly! CDL-A. New Grads Welcome. 888-300-9935

STAFF ATTORNEY AND A SOCIAL WORKER

LSEM is seeking a Staf Attorney and a Social Worker for a new project focusing on combatting the systemic issues that create racial and ethnic disparities in school discipline and fuel the “school-to-prison pipeline”. For more information on the position and how to apply visit our website at www. lsem.org. his position closes January 22, 2017.

ACCOUNTING

The St. Louis American is seeking a Full-Time Accounting Assistant Proficient in Accounts Payable & Excel Spreadsheets.Working knowledge of Accounts Receivable. Understands General Ledger and Financial Reports. Experience in Quick Books preferred. Professional phone etiquette & customer service skills. Send resume with qualifications and work experience to: SLAM Blind Box 1001 – Accounting Assistance 2315 Pine Street, St. Louis, MO 63103 Or email to BlindBox1001@gmail.com NO PHONE CALLS PLEASE

CongestionPlanerManagement II

Hiring Fair

listed, and to apply, visit our website at www.ywcastlouis.org

FIREFIGHTER/ PARAMEDIC

he City of Clayton Fire Department is seeking applicants for the position of Fireighter/Paramedic. Candidates must be a high school graduate or have an equivalent level of education, possess a current Missouri Emergency Medical Technician-Paramedic (EMT-P) license, have current CPAT card by time of job ofer, and possess a valid driver’s license in their state of residence. Starting salary range of $54,841 - $73,225 DOQ. Certiication as a Professional Fireighter by St. Louis County is preferred. Veterans with relevant experience are encouraged to apply. Application packets are available at City Hall, 10 N. Bemiston Avenue, Clayton, MO 63105 or online at www.claytonmo. gov/jobs. Applications must be received by 4:30pm on January 20, 2017.

East-West Gateway Council of Governments has an opening for a Congestion Management Planer II. Starting salary is $49,248 annually. Please follow the link to view post at http://www.ewgateway.com/ AboutUs/JobAds/jobads.htm An Equal Opportunity / Airmative Action Employer

VICE PRESIDENTDEVELOPMENT

Great Rivers Greenway is seeking a Vice President-Development to lead private fundraising for its foundation. Check www.GreatRiversGreenway.org/jobs and submit by January 20th. EOE

CHIEF DEVELOPMENT OFFICER

Provide leadership in planning, development and oversight of a broad scope of program activities related to major gits, deferred giving, annual giving, special event fund raising and associated donor stewardship for the agency. Apply online: WWW.JFCSAPPLY.COM with cover letter and resume. Jewish Family & Children’s Service – St. Louis EOE M/F/D/V

ACCOUNT EXECUTIVE

hompson Coburn LLP has the following positions available in our St. Louis oice.

Client Accounts Specialist

Qualiied applicants will possess an associate’s degree and one year’s experience. Preferred applicants will have a general understanding of legal conlict of interest principles. Position will perform quality assurance and process intake info.

EP Paralegal

A minimum of 2 years of experience in probate planning or accounting. Qualiied applicants will possess a bachelor degree or a paralegal certiicate.

IP Paralegal

A minimum of 2 years of IP paralegal experience is required. Qualiied applicants will possess a bachelor degree or a paralegal certiicate. Preferred applicants will have patent and trademark experience..

Lit Support Director

A minimum of 2

of Microsot SQL Server administration experience. Qualiied applicants will possess a bachelor degree or comparable technical certiications and experience. Preferred applicants will have two or more years Microsot SharePoint administration experience. For more details and to complete our online application, visit www.thompsoncoburncareers.com

NLT Jan. 6, 2017 or call 314/984-6975 for a paper application. EOE

ATTENTION PARAMEDICS

Mehlville Fire Protection District is looking for highly qualiied CRITICAL CARE PARAMEDICS

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

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

REQUIRED: EMT-P certiication through the State of Missouri PREFERRED: CCP-C certiication Applications accepted Dec. 12, 2016 – Jan. 20, 2017, weekdays 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. at Headquarters, 11020 Mueller Rd. 63123. Download application packet at www.mehlvilleire.com Equal Opportunity Employer.

Truck Driver –Up to $4,000

GREENWAY OPERATIONS SUPERVISOR

Great Rivers Greenway is seeking a greenway operations supervisor to supervise and work with seasonal staf and volunteers on greenway operations, maintenance and conservation eforts primarily in the City of St. Louis in the CityArchRiver area. To apply, send resume, cover letter and three references with contact information to Ben Grossman at bgrossman@grgstl.org. Please put Operations Supervisor in the subject line. Applications received by January 20, 2017 will be given preference. For the complete job description, visit http://greatriversgreenway.org/jobs-bids/.

BUS DRIVER

Part-time bus driver to drive 16 passenger bus, transporting senior citizens to local activities. Approximately 2025 hours per week at $9.50 per hour. Must have valid CDL license with passenger endorsement.

Applications available at Jennings City Hall, 2120 Hord Ave., or at www. cityojennings.org. Applications must be retuned to City Hall by 5:00 p.m. January 25th. No resumes accepted without our application, copy of driver’s license must be included with application.

to detail are required. Please apply online at http:// www.greensfelder.com/Careers-Professional-Staf-Positions.html or email hr@greensfelder.com. EOE

GALLERY ATTENDANT

$10.53/hour. Weekdays and Weekends. Full Time. Apply at www.slam.org/careers

DIRECTOR OF FINANCE

Great Rivers Greenway is seeking an experienced Director of Finance to lead internal accounting, inance, payroll and beneits functions while serving as a member of the organization’s leadership team. Check www. GreatRiversGreenway.org/jobs and submit by January 20th. EOE

NOTICE TO

NOTICE TO CONTRACTORS

Notice is hereby given that he Metropolitan St. Louis Sewer District (District) will receive sealed

REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS

REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS

the bid. he Metropolitan St. Louis Sewer District is an Equal Opportunity Employer.

REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS

KCI CONSTRUCTION requests proposals for the Concrete Repairs Project at MSD Lemay WWTP. Proposals are due by 10:00 a.m. on February 14, 2017. Plans and speciications are available for viewing in our oices at 10315 Lake Bluf Drive, St. Louis, MO, 314-894-8888. KCI IS AN EQUAL OPPORTUNITY EMPLOYER.

INVITATION TO BID: NOTICE TO CONTRACTORS

Sealed bids for Federal Project Number CMAQ 9900(674), River des Peres Greenway Lansdowne to Francis Slay Park will be received by the Great Rivers Greenway District, 6174 Delmar Boulevard, St. Louis, MO 63112, until January 26, 2017, 2:00 pm prevailing local time at which time the bids will be publicly opened and read aloud. A pre-bid meeting will be conducted at the Great Rivers Greenway District Oice, 6174 Delmar Boulevard, St. Louis, MO 63112 on January 12, 2017 at 9:00 AM prevailing local time.

Plans, speciications, and bid packages will be available beginning January 5, 2017, from the Great Rivers Greenway website at http://greatriversgreenway.org/jobs-bids/. Questions should be directed to Construction Managers: Gordon Raney, at Kozeny-Wager, (636) 296-2012, graney@kozenywagner.com and Eric Kuehn, at Kozeny-Wagner (636) 296-2012 extension 103, or email at ekuehn@kozenywagner. com.

he scope of work includes grading, paving, utility adjustments, storm water best management practice install/maintenance, landscaping, and project art for the River Des Peres Greenway – Lansdowne to Francis Slay Park. he project length is approximately 1.8 miles.

Not less than the prevailing hourly rate of wages shall be paid to all workmen performing under this contract in this area according to the rates determined by the Department of Labor and Industrial Relations (federal wage rate) or state wage rate whichever is higher.

A bid security in the amount of ive percent (5%) of the bid amount must accompany each bid in accordance with the Instructions to Bidders.

DBE Contract Goal: bidders to certify that the bidder is familiar with the DBE Program Requirements in this contract. he contract DBE goal for the amount of work to be awarded is 14% of the total project price including all alternates with One Trainee for 1000 hours.

he Great Rivers Greenway District hereby notiies all bidders that it will airmatively ensure that in any contract entered into pursuant to this advertisement, businesses owned and controlled by socially and economically disadvantaged individuals will be aforded full opportunity to submit bids in response to this invitation and will not be discriminated against on the grounds of race, color, religion, creed, sex, age, ancestry, or national origin in consideration for an award.

he successful bidder shall comply with the requirements of RSMo § 292.675. he requirements include on-site employees to complete the ten (10) hour Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) Construction Safety Program, which includes a course in construction safety and health approved by OSHA or a similar program approved by the Department of Labor and Industrial Relations. Submit completed Contractor Questionnaire and/or Contractor Prequaliication Questionnaire with attachments not later than seven (7) days prior to the date and hour of the bid opening. See Secs 101-103 of the Standard Speciications, and Rule 7 CSR 10-15.900, “Prequaliication’s to Bid of Certain Contractors”. Questionnaire and Contact information are provided on MoDOT’s website. Second-tier subcontracting will be not permitted on this project. he proposer states that it will ensure that subcontractors do not subcontract any portion of the work. For any contract greater than $5,000, the successful bidder shall comply with RSMo § 285.530, as amended and by sworn aidavit airming that it does not knowingly employee any person who is an unauthorized alien and participation in a federal work authorization program with respect to the employees working in connection with this contract. he required documentation must be from the federal work authorization program provider. A letter from contractors reciting compliance is not suicient.

he Great Rivers Greenway District reserves the right to accept or reject any bid and to waive any irregularities in the best interest of the District. A Bid may not be modiied, withdrawn or cancelled by the bidder within sixty (60) days following the time and date designated for the receipt of bids, and each bidder so agrees in submitting his bid.

Susan Trautman EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR GREAT RIVERS GREENWAY DISTRICT

Altman-Charter Co., requests subcontractor/supplier proposals for the construction of Adams Grove Housing, in he Grove Neighborhood, St. Louis, MO. his is a new development consisting of 50 new residential units in 20 separate buildings. Proposals are due at the oice of Altman-Charter Co., 315 Consort Dr., St. Louis, MO 63011 on or before hur., January 12, 2017 at 3:00 PM (CT). Qualiied Minority, Section 3, and Women owned businesses are encouraged to submit proposals. Plans can be viewed at FW Dodge, Construct Connect, SIBA, MOKAN, Cross Rhodes Reprographics, and the Altman-Charter plan room in St. Louis. Bidders should contact Mr. Greg Mehrmann with any questions or to submit a proposal at gmehrmann@ altman-charter.com. Our telephone # is (636) 207-8670, and our fax # is (636) 207-8671.

NOTICE TO CONTRACTORS

Sealed bids for Chesterield Parkway East and Elbridge Payne Road, St. Louis County Project No. AR-1543, will be received at the Oice of the Director of Procurement for the County of St. Louis, County Government Center Administration Building, 41 South Central Avenue, 8th Floor, Clayton, Missouri 63105, until 2:00 p.m. on January 11, 2017.

Plans and speciications will be available on December 19, 2016 from the St. Louis County Web Site (www.stlouisco.com), or by contacting County Blue Reprographics, Inc., 1449 Strassner Drive, St. Louis, Missouri 63144, (314) 961-3800.

DIRECTOR OF PROCUREMENT AND ADMINISTRATIVE SERVICES

CONCRETE CONTRACTOR

Girardeau, Missouri, Project No. U160601 will be received by FMDC, State of MO, UNTIL 1:30 PM, 2/2/2017. For specific project information and ordering plans, go to: http://oa.mo.gov/ facilities

SEALED BIDS

S

Renovations, St. James Missouri Veteran’s Home, St. James, Missouri, Project No. U150302 will be received by FMDC, State of MO, UNTIL 1:30 PM, 2/16/2017. For specific project information and ordering plans, go to: http://oa.mo. gov/facilities

City of Northwoods is seeking a licensed, bonded and insured Concrete Contractor to repair City sidewalks in the 4th Ward area & selected curbs city-wide; & to bid driveway repairs/replacements w/ Northwoods residents on a contact list at City Hall. Detailed Speciications can be picked up at Northwoods City Hall, 4600 Oakridge Blvd., Northwoods Mo. 63121. 8:30 am-5:00 pm (closed 1-2pm daily for lunch). Bids are Due by Fri. Dec. 30, 2016. Questions call (314) 477-4051.

REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS

KCI CONSTRUCTION requests proposals for the North Deaerator & Building Enclosure at University of Missouri in Columbia. Proposals are due by 10:00 a.m. on January 26, 2017. Plans and speciications are available for viewing in our oices at 10315 Lake Bluf Drive, St. Louis, MO, 314-894-8888. KCI IS AN EQUAL OPPORTUNITY EMPLOYER.

REQUEST FOR BIDS

Sealed proposals for Moline Acres Munic-

ipal Court Services will be received by the Court Administrator at 2449 Chambers Road, Moline Acres, Mo. 63136 until 4:30 p.m. December 15, 2016. For bid package, contact Libby Ferguson at (314) 868-2433 ext. 702.

Notice to Minority Business, Women Business, Disadvantage Business, Service Disable Veteran Enterprises, and Veteran Owned Businesses

Carl A. Nelson & Company, Burlington, Iowa is soliciting MBE, WBE, DBE, SDVE and Veteran Owned Business bid proposals for the University of Missouri – Columbia Power Plant – Replace North DA and Building Enclosure, Project No. CP150682. A prebid meeting will be held at 10:00 am, C.T., hursday, January 5, 2017 at the Power Plant (meet at front entrance), University of Missouri, Columbia, Missouri, followed by a walk-through at the site. Questions regarding bid information should be directed to Jamie Stanley at jstanley@carlanelsonco.com or call 319754-8415. Proposals must be submitted to Carl A. Nelson & Company before 1:30 PM on January 26, 2017.

Notice to Minority Business Enterprises, Women Business Enterprises, Disadvantaged Business Enterprises, Service Disabled Veteran Business Enterprises, and/or Veteran Business Enterprises

TARLTON CORPORATION, 5500 West Park Ave., St. Louis MO 63110, is seeking qualiied Minority, Women, Disadvantaged, Service Disabled Veteran, and/or Veterans Business Enterprises to bid on the Power Plant – Replace North DA and Building Enclosure for the University of Missouri-Columbia, Columbia MO for subcontracting opportunities in all work areas as deined by the contract drawings and speciications. Tarlton would appreciate subbids for the following: Sitework; Metals; Wood, Plastics, & Composites; hermal and Moisture Protection; Openings; Finishes; HVAC; Mechanical and Electrical.

Project consists of replacement of the North Deaerator and North Deaerator Building enclosure.

A prebid meeting will be held at 10 a.m. on January 5, 2017 at the Power Plant (meet at front entrance), University of Missouri, Columbia MO, followed by a walk through at the site. All interested bidders are invited to attend this meeting.

A Diversity participation goal of 10% for MBE, 3% SDVE, 10% combined WBE, DBE and Veteran Owned Business has been established for this contract.

All interested and qualiied businesses should contact Bryan Connolly at 314-633-3300 to discuss the subcontracting opportunities. All negotiations must be completed prior to 12:00 p.m. on January 25, 2017.

KCI CONSTRUCTION requests proposals for the North Deaerator & Building Enclosure at University of Missouri in Columbia. Proposals are due by

NOTICE TO CONTRACTORS

SEALED BIDS

Sealed bids for Replace HVAC & Sliding Doors, various, Cremer T

u

i c Community Center and Fulton Reception and Diagnostic Correctional Center, Callaway County, Missouri, Project No. C1603-01 will be received by FMDC, State of MO, UNTIL 1:30 PM, 1/26/2017. For specific project information and ordering plans, go to: http://oa.mo.gov/ facilities

Missouri Mental Health, Renovation of Group Home 1, Farmington, Missouri, Project No. M1626-01 will be received by FMDC, State of MO, UNTIL 1:30 PM, 1/12/2017. For specific project information and ordering plans, go to: http://oa.mo. gov/facilities

Request for Proposals for Asbestos Abatement and Removal of Household Hazardous Waste Next NGA West St. Louis, Missouri

Environmental Abatement #02 LCRA Holdings Corporation is seeking sealed bid proposals for the abatement and proper disposal of asbestos containing materials and household hazardous waste. he Project site is located in North St. Louis bounded by Jeferson/ Parnell Ave west to 22nd St. and Cass Ave north to the alleyway south of St. Louis Ave. and consists of multiple single-family, multi-family, and commercial structures. he full invitation, relevant dates, and all other documents related to this opportunity may be downloaded at: https://www.stlouis-mo.gov/government/departments/sldc/project-connect/nga/ Click on “Employment and Procurement.”

19, 2016 at the following locations:

Smartbidnet https://secure.smartbidnet.com/External/Pub licPlanRoom.aspx?Id=271596&i=1 PlanGrid www.plangrid.com he Bid Package may be reviewed at those locations or may be ordered from Hampton Printing Services (2185 Hampton Ave., St. Louis, MO 63139) Contact Hampton Printing Services to order a set of documents. (Keith Tegeler, 314/633-9623 phone, keith.tegeler@smwilson.com e-mail, or 314/644-0390 fax.)

he Owner reserves the right to reject any and all Bids, to waive informalities therein to determine the lowest and best bid. he prevailing wage law is in efect on this project. No Bid may be withdrawn for a period of Ninety (90) days subsequent to the speciied time for receipt of Bids.

he Statutes of the State of Missouri require that not less than the prevailing rate per diem, legal holiday and overtime wages in the locality where the work is to be performed, be paid to all laborers, workmen and mechanics employed in the execution of the Contract. All other Statutes of the

of Missouri covering employment shall apply to any Contract awarded. Bidders must be in compliance with the rules and regulations of the Fair Employment Practices Commission.

he Construction Manager for this project is S. M. Wilson & Co. and the Project Manager is Vernon Pfeil, 314/791-0870 phone, vernon.pfeil@smwilson.com email. or 314/645-1700 fax.

SERVICE

Faith and hope for juvenile offenders

Family therapy and skill-build-

ing are far more effective than punishment

By Dietra Wise Baker For The

American

St. Louis

In her December 9 Post-Dispatch editorial, “Time for big fixes when even the governorelect’s wife isn’t safe,” columnist Stacy Washington showed a laudable concern for community safety. Her op-ed took as its starting point a recent incident in which Missouri Governor-elect Eric Greitens’ wife was robbed at gunpoint by three teens. Unfortunately, Washington’s proposed solutions - more policing and “law enforcement measures” - ignored much of what we know are sensible solutions to youth crime. We need to remember that we’re talking about a justice system that is an exceptionally difficult maze, with lots of entrances, not many exits – and lots of dead ends. Rather than push more kids into it, we need to redesign the maze so that it has fewer entrances, clearer paths through, more and better exits, and to make the system smaller and fairer for everyone.

Now is a good time to do this because, in spite of Washington’s scare-mongering, youth arrests for violent crime in Missouri have dropped by 26.5 percent between 2010 and 2015, according to the FBI, consistent with a steep national decline that began over 20 years ago.

There is also ample evidence to suggest that formally processing youth in the justice

“As people of faith, we believe that hope is called for, especially hope for our children and youth,” says Rev. Dietra Wise Baker is an organizer with Metropolitan Congregations United’s #‎BreakThePipelineSTL‬Campaign‬.

system – or incarcerating them – can actually increase reoffending, and make us less safe. Finally, research has shown that therapeutic interventions like family therapy and skill-building are far more effective than punitive ones focused on deterrence - Washington’s preferred approach.

As people of faith, we believe that hope is called for, especially hope for our children and youth. And we were glad to see that this is a value shared

by the governor-elect and his wife. After the robbery, Greitens said, “As a father, I know that for these young men, their lives also changed and I feel for their families. Faith teaches us that we must forgive. And that’s what Sheena and I plan to do.”

Their response is consistent with what decades of research and data tells us about how to best respond to youth in trouble with the law. Nor are the Greitens unusual in their attitude:

a recent national survey found that a majority of crime victims and crime survivors would like to see shorter sentences for people who commit crimes, and more spending on prevention and rehabilitation.

As scripture says, “If we confess our sins, God is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.” (1 John 1:9). And while this certainly applies to youth who break the law, it also applies to the State of Missouri, which has yet to redress its sins of racial discrimination, disproportionate minority contact, and a chronically underfunded public defender system. Missouri also needs our forgiveness, for it has been slow to enact reforms to its youth justice system, reforms that are proven to create scholars not statistics. Instead, it seems, our state prefers to cling to ineffective approaches, like those championed by Washington.

We ask the governor-elect to become a champion for juveniles in trouble with the law –to hold them accountable, yes, while simultaneously holding the systems that are supposed to rehabilitate and serve them accountable. So that when youth do break the law, we address the underlying causes of their behavior and make sure that they have the tools, treatment, and know-how to never commit a crime again.

Our first impulse must not be to lash out but to forgive them, hold out hope for them, and forge ahead in creating a compassionate and effective justice system for the youth of Missouri that will make all of us safer.

Rev. Dietra Wise Baker is an organizer with Metropolitan Congregations United’s #BreakThePipelineSTLCampaign.

The Message Leave nothing

to chance

In many a biblical instance, whenever someone in the bible begins to accept and acknowledge Christ, change is inevitable, fear of the unknown ensues and faith gets severely challenged. If we’re honest with ourselves, walking by faith and not by sight is kind of an unnatural thing in the natural world. This spiritual awakening, this kind of change in one’s thinking, says a lot about our understanding of supernatural existence. Joshua 1:9 lets us know that from the moment we begin to expand our awareness of God, we must take Him everywhere we go or constantly lose ourselves due to our own devices, much like the Israelites in the desert. “Be not dismayed; for the Lord thy God is with you wherever you go.”

It’s a conscious thing. One of the easiest things to fall prey to in life is the everyday temptations that come our way. No one would argue that we live in a materialistic society that is framed in what were once 30 second sound bites, that can now be delivered in 10.Wealth becomes instant and the pursuit of it endless. If there is no spiritual fallback position, one gets constantly caught up in defining oneself by how much you have, what you can buy and which of your pleasures you can exploit. Under these circumstances, life can make you feel inadequate and anxious. The truth is more is never enough.

There are times during the course of a day that you have to wonder what in the “heaven” is going on. This thing we know as life sometimes gives a terrifying ride akin to a roller coaster from hell. It’s full of twists and turns, events and people, ups and downs and stuff right out of a horror movie. It would make anybody question its purpose. We are taught as Christians that free will is supposed to have something to do with how we live our lives. We do so, as followers of Christ, by being in control of the decisions we make or those that we do not. On many occasions, we find ourselves caught up in quagmires of discontent due to situations we’ve created simply by making the wrong choices and or the wrong decisions. It’s that hindsight is 20/20 thing. As I study more, I find the subject of change and chance in scripture really fascinating.

“In paths that they have not known, I will guide them.” Isaiah 42:16 clearly indicates that when you attempt to change your life, divine help seems to be required. Now, spiritual awareness, that’s different. “My presence shall go with you and give you rest.” Exodus 33:14. The understanding of eternal existence, of the spiritual reality of man allows us to put life’s contradictions and absurdities into some kind of perspective. Focus on God actually brings clarity to the soul and subsequent order to chaos. Peace of mind abounds in the hearts of those who seek the truth. Purpose is simplified and life becomes easier to navigate. In this context, free will merely acts as confirmation of the obvious.

“Whatever is born of God overcomes the world.” 1 John 5:5. That truth leaves nothing to chance.

Columnist James Washington