July 10th, 2014 Edition

The

St. LouiS AmericAn

From prison orange to chef whites

Matika Kelly and Jami Hobbs prepare lunch for ARCHS’ Culinary Institute Graduation Ceremony held July 1 at St. Louis Community College – Forest Park. Kelly and Hobbs were participants in ARCHS’ eightweek culinary arts program for ex-offenders.

New Normandy board starts planning

DESE presents general turnaround plan to appointed board members

By Dale Singer

Of St. Louis Public Radio

Now that the dramas of the state takeover and the uncertainty of student transfers have mostly passed, the board of the new Normandy Schools Collaborative started working Monday night on their main goal: raising student achievement.

Missouri’s education commissioner Chris Nicastro sat at the board table while her assistants presented detailed plans on how to evaluate teaching and learning.

n “We’re not preparing them to work on assembly lines. We’re preparing them to work in the 21st century.”

– Normandy Superintendent Ty McNichols

The five board members heard the state’s plans for turning the district around.

In their presentation, the process was described this way:

“Starting fresh allows a state, district or other authorizing entity to break the cycle of low achievement by making deep and fundamental changes to the way the school operates.”

For the new Normandy, that means intense, 80-hour training for teachers – once they are all hired – before school begins for students on Aug. 18. For students, it means constant evaluation to make sure they are learning.

And, Superintendent Ty McNichols stressed, for the Normandy community, it means a new way of operating to make sure parents and others feel welcome and their opinions are considered valuable.

When he described how parents who were pulling their kids out of the district would come to the district office and complain that they weren’t being heard, some members of the crowded audience murmured their agreement.

All-American girl

ARCHS’ Culinary Institute graduates new class of ex-offenders

By Bridjes O’Neil Of The St. Louis American

Matika Kelly was overjoyed after peeping into the Jack E. Miller Hospitality Studies Center at St. Louis Community College – Forest Park last Tuesday.

“I got excited when I saw my daughter and my fiancé,” Kelly said of 6-year-old, Tiani Redmond, and Jonathan Edwards. Kelly said her daughter’s eyes lit up when she saw her mother donning her chef’s hat and garb. Edwards and Tiani came out to support Kelly who, along with 13 other women, graduated

n “I’ve messed up. But, don’t judge me by my past. Judge me on what I’m doing with my future.”

– Jami Hobbs

from ARCHS’ Culinary Institute’s intensive eight-week culinary arts program. It is a Nontraditional Occupation for Women Training

‘Ask,

align and act’

A conversation with Chris Krehmeyer of Beyond Housing

By Chris King Of The St. Louis American

n “You change the community by changing people’s minds, and you can only change someone’s mind if you are having a conversation with them.”

– Chris Krehmeyer

“Whatever we have been collectively doing for the past 20 or 30 years hasn’t worked,” said Chris Krehmeyer, president and CEO of Beyond Housing. “We want to have a different conversation and operate in different ways.” The St. Louis American spoke in depth with Krehmeyer about how Beyond Housing is operating in its 24:1 initiative to organize and develop the 24 communities in the Normandy School District – now, the Normandy Schools Collaborative –from within. The St. Louis American: What’s new at Beyond Housing? Chris Krehmeyer: A continued push to help create a place within the boundaries of the Normandy School District that everyone can be proud of. We believe in the notion that home matters. For us,

Myleah Franklin, 4, gets a view of the water show atop the shoulders of her father Michael Franklin on Friday afternoon at Fair St. Louis, which was held in Forest Park for the first time as the Gateway Arch grounds undergoes major renovation.

Photo by Wiley Price

Photo courtesy of ARCHS

Mya flatly denies Jay Z mistress rumors

Mya has been thrust back into the spotlight after a revealed blind item accused her of being the long-term mistress of Jay Z.

A follower posed the question to Mya on her Instagram and she gave a tactfully blunt response.

“Never did, never was, never will. Illegitimate, thirsty sources with no facts and that’s the “media” for you – especially today. I play second to no one, pay my own bills, have my own label, my own management company, rely on God only and respect myself and marriage way too much for nonsense. False rumors are crafted for ratings and numbers. And miserable, unhappy people need someone to judge to deter attention away from their own misery and feel better about their miserable lives. If they did it to Jesus, they’ll do it to anyone. God bless.”

More personal scandal for Columbus Short

Back in March troubled actor Columbus Short was arrested in West LA for allegedly sneaking a sucker punch.

According to TMZ, Columbus Short was arrested in Dallas over the weekend after getting into a fist fight with a security guard in a bar after getting sloppy drunk and trying to bail on his tab.

Witnesses told TMZ Short was trying to leave the bar without paying when the security guard stepped in to stop him. Short tried to accuse the guy of racism, but since he was Black too that didn’t work. That’s when the scuffle was said to have started. Two off duty police officers, also working security, reportedly rushed over to break it up and were drawn into the fight. Police were eventually called and Short was arrested and booked for public intoxication.

Did Bey Z dust Kimye?

An insider tells OK! that Jay and Beyoncé have ceased all contact with pal Kanye West and his new bride Kim Kardashian, who had spent the last two years pushing to

get closer to the stars. When the rappers were on tour, Beyoncé was forced to sit with Kardashian at shows and hang with her after, and she put up with it through gritted teeth,” says the source.

Now the newlyweds have even been spending more time at their New York apartment, just two blocks away from Jay and Beyoncé’s home there, in a bid to get North to Bond with Blue Ivy. However, the insider says the superstars are fed up with being associated with the Kardashian brand

“Bey and Jay feel like they’ve been dragged through the mud with all the drama surrounding their absence at the Kimye wedding,” says the source, adding that Jay has actually been moving away from his former BFF for some time. “Jay made it clear to Kanye that he doesn’t approve of the choices he’s making in his personal life and it will end in disaster for his career.”

Does Sherri Shepherd want to detach from surrogate baby?

Back in May former “The View” co-host Sherri Shepherd’s husband Lamar Sally filed for divorce and for full custody of the couple’s unborn child gestating via surrogate and due July 28. Sources claim Shepherd wants nothing to do with the baby.

According to reports after an unsuccessful round of in vitro fertilization she and Sally decided to go with a surrogate.

Sources told TMZ that the baby was conceived with Lamar’s sperm but not Shepherd’s egg and she believes Sally was planning to divorce her all along and use the baby to hit her up for child support.

The source claims Shepherd does not want custody of the baby or to even be considered a parent, but the problem is she and Lamar signed the contract with the surrogate together.

Solange speaks on elevator spat

In her first interview since the infamous fight with Jay Z inside the elevator at the Met Gala, Solange Knowles addresses the elephant in the room. In a new interview with Lucky Magazine, Knowles downplays the fight with Jay Z telling Lucky, “What’s important is that my family and I are all good. What we had to say collectively was in the statement that we put out, and we all feel at peace with that.”

In the statement Solange is referring to Beyoncé admitted her family like every other has their disagreements and that Solange and Jay Z both admitted their wrongdoing and had apologized to and love each other.

Sources: Instagram, TMZ.com, OK! Magazine, Lucky Magazine

Father’s Support Center raises $130K

Awards Marvin Davis as Father of the Year and China Jackson as Youth of the Year

By Bridjes O’Neil

Of The St. Louis American

The Fathers’ Support Center of St. Louis recently held its annual A Toast to Fathers Awards Dinner at Windows on Washington in downtown St. Louis. The annual dinner recognizes the agency’s impact within the community and individual accomplishments and raises funds, said dinner chair Timothy Slater. Over 300 people attended this year’s dinner, which netted $130,000, exceeding last year’s total of $101,000.

Slater serves as New Horizons president and a member of the Fathers’ Support Center (FSC) Board of Directors. The problem of non-

involved fathers is destructive, Slater said.

“FSC is the only organization in St. Louis, and one of only a few nationally, that has successfully provided programs and services to improve the lives of children by giving them actively involved fathers,” he said.

This year, through a partnership with FOX 2, the public voted for who they thought should win the coveted Father of the Year Award, which went to single dad Marvin Davis.

“I am overwhelmed,” Davis said during his acceptance speech. “All my tears are in the bathroom. So if anyone slipped in the men’s bathroom, those are my tears.”

Lessons from 1984

This year marks the thirtieth anniversary of my 1984 campaign for the presidency. At the kickoff of the annual Rainbow Push Convention, Rep. Maxine Waters led a panel exploring the effects of that campaign — registering over a million new voters, helping Democrats take back the Senate in 1986, lifting up new leaders from New York City’s David Dinkins to Minnesota’s future Senator Paul Wellstone. What strikes me about the 1984 campaign are not the accomplishments of the past, but the implications for the future. In 1984, we argued that the Democratic Party had to reach out to African Americans, Latinos, anti-war progressives, small farmers, the emerging gay and lesbian community — a Rainbow Coalition that could help change the country. As Barack Obama’s historic election in 2008 and re-election in 2012 showed, that Rainbow

Davis has a message for the other Father of the Year nominees. “You, too, are Father of the Year,” Davis said. “I would encourage them to keep their heads up.”

China Jackson, 17, was honored for her leadership qualities with this year’s Youth of the Year award. The FSC’s Youth Leadership & Development program was established to combat “negative activities that we saw our parents involved in,” said Halbert Sullivan, FSC president and CEO.

“China is a leader because she makes her own path,” said Kiana J. Joyce, China’s youth mentor at the FSC. “She is determined to get the result that she is looking for, and she won’t give up.”

Davis was referred to FSC by a friend back in 2011. He credits the program with teaching him how to be a better father on many levels – how to discipline, develop a friendship with his child, and talk “to” and not “at” his son. He said FSC staff member Barbara Graham was understanding, encouraging, and “never let up on me.”

FSC staff member Reginald

Coalition is the new majority.

People of color, single women, millennials –the so-called “Rising American Electorate” –fueled Obama’s victories. They turned out in large numbers in 2008 and 2012, and Democrats won. They stayed home in 2010, and Republicans took the majority in the House and gained governors and in state legislatures.

Slaughter also left an impression on Davis. “When he instructed the class, he didn’t play,” Davis said. “He was almost like a drill sergeant. As a single father, he was a good role model to me.”

Davis has full custody of his 12-year-old son, Markel. He wants to ensure that his son has a better relationship with his parent than he had with his own parents as a child.

a challenge to the constricted agenda of both parties.

The fundamental question in 2014 and 2016 is whether this coalition is inspired to register and vote, or whether it is discouraged and disaffected and doesn’t show up. The 1984 campaign was also

Ronald Reagan had cut taxes on the rich, doubled the military budget in peacetime, unleashed a fierce attack on unions, slashed spending on housing and the poor, and launched a New Cold War, featuring covert wars from Nicaragua to Angola and a new nuclear arms race.

Too many Democrats cowered before his charge. They embraced tax cuts and deregulation, went AWOL in the attack on labor, competed to show that they too were muscular abroad.

At that time, the U.S. saw apartheid South Africa as

When it came time for China to make her acceptance speech, Joyce followed her mentee up to the podium. Like a proud mom, Joyce stood nearby taking photos with her cell phone.

“I was definitely overjoyed to see her up there,” Joyce said. “I was just trying to keep it together.”

China enrolled in the program through a referral

a strategic ally and labeled Nelson Mandela a terrorist.

We said South Africa was a terrorist state and demanded that Mandela be released from prison. We won. At that time, the U.S. refused to talk with the Palestinians.

We argued that the only solution in the Middle East was mutual recognition and mutual security. That now is considered common sense.

We argued that America’s economy grew best from the bottom up, when the rewards of growth were widely shared. We pushed to empower workers, not crush unions; to protect worker rights in trade deals, not just investor rights. Today, once more our national agenda is too limited.

from the state’s Division of Youth Services. China said the FSC helped her stay out of trouble and she now has a new job. After completing her prerequisites at a community college, she plans to study nursing at the University of Missouri-Columbia. The FSC also awarded its Community Champions Award to Ron and Cheri Fromm, co-chairs of the 2013 United Way of Greater St. Louis. The FSC, a United Way-supported agency, is a model for the United Way’s commitment to “giving a hand up, versus giving a hand out,” Ron Fromm said. The FSC has impacted nearly 11,000 fathers and 26,000 children over the past 16 years, according to the organization. Much of the funding for the organization comes from grants that are earmarked for specific programs, said FSC Board Treasurer Ray Hemann. For more information on FSC, call 314-333-4170 or visit fatherssupportcenter.org.

Follow this reporter on Twitter: @BridjesONeil.

The economy works only for the few, while most Americans struggle to stay afloat. Vital public investments in everything from schools to affordable college, bridges and mass transit are starved for funds. Billionaires pay lower tax rates than their secretaries and multinationals lower rates than small businesses. The U.S. maintains over 700 bases across the world, and targets drone attacks in nearly a dozen nations. This limited debate must be challenged. If it is challenged, as our campaign in 1984 showed, new energy will be unleashed, the new majority can be mobilized. If there is no challenge, then too many will lose hope – and will stay home.

Columnist

Rev. Jesse Jaskson Sr.

China Jackson

The Fathers’ Support Center of St. Louis awarded Marvin Davis with this year’s Father of the Year Award at the 2014 “A Toast to Fathers” Awards Dinner. As a perk, Davis threw out the first pitch at a Cardinals home game. He is pictured with his 12-year-old son, Markel.

Editorial /CommEntary

We must insure our health

March 31, 2014 was the end of the first open enrollment period for Missouri’s Health Insurance Marketplace (with some exceptions). Since it opened October 1, 2013, nearly eight million Americans and approximately 153,000 Missourians have purchased health coverage. For many, the Marketplace offers financial assistance based on income, making health insurance a possibility for the first time for many people.

Yet, as a community, we must resist the urge to overlook the reality behind the numbers: African Americans in Missouri did not take advantage of the opportunities afforded by this new Marketplace.

Of the 152,335 individuals and families enrolling in our state, only 14,095 (or 9.3 percent) of the people enrolling who identified a race/ethnicity were African-American. (A quarter of the individuals purchasing insurance through the Marketplace did not identify any race/ethnicity in the postapplication survey.) According to the Department of Health and Human Services, 612,000 African Americans in Missouri were eligible for insurance through the Marketplace, with 130,000 of these individuals being currently uninsured. To be more specific, in the St. Louis area there are in excess of 74,000 individuals who would be insured today if they had gone to www. healthcare.gov or www. CoverMissouri.org when enrollment was open to start learning more about the process of getting enrolled. In 2015,

this trend must change. Purchasing health insurance through the Marketplace does not address all of the challenges of covering the uninsured. In the past two years, Missouri has failed to pass legislation that would expand Medicaid to the state’s citizens who are both in the greatest need of assistance and yet are least likely to be able to afford health insurance. But who are we really talking about? According to a

n In the St. Louis area there are in excess of 74,000 individuals who would be insured today if they had gone to www.healthcare. gov or www. CoverMissouri.org when enrollment was open.

study by the federal Office of Minority Health, nearly 2 out of every 5 African-American males younger than 35 years old are uninsured nationally. A majority (59 percent) of these same men reported having income that made them ineligible for Medicaid. One of the aims of the Affordable Care Act is to increase access to, and the affordability of, health insurance. Expanding

Commentary

Medicaid eligibility moves us closer to achieving this goal; therefore, the law needs to be implemented in a way that reaches the uninsured in a comprehensive and respectful manner.

Health insurance conjures for many images of bothersome paperwork, dreaded expense and awkward visits to intimidating health centers. But it is a matter of wellness versus illness, of extended life versus premature death. Thousands of African Americans do not have health insurance, and as a result they live sicker and die younger. On November 15, when the Marketplace once again opens for enrollment, we hope many of the 74,000 who didn’t enroll this year will do so. Last year, the Missouri Foundation for Health contributed to the efforts to make enrollment easier by funding in-person enrollment assistance across the state, and it will do so again this year. We are aligned with the foundation in its commitment to reducing the ethnic, racial and economic barriers that adversely affect African Americans. We believe in a comprehensive approach to addressing race-based health disparities in this region, but this effort must include the basic personal responsibility for individuals to insure their own health now that health insurance is more accessible.

The Missouri Foundation for Health (mffh.org) contributed to this editorial.

Hillary is not finished

In politics, as in many endeavors, it helps to be underestimated. In this sense, Hillary Clinton is doing great. Clinton’s book tour, which bears some resemblance to a presidential campaign, is being portrayed as some kind of disaster. Her attempt to portray her family as less than fabulously wealthy was bad; her effort to justify that pretense was worse. Her political instincts seem rusty, her reflexes a bit slow. To top it off, the book she’s flogging – a memoir of her years as secretary of state – is not a publishing juggernaut, merely a best-seller. At the same time, she is described as being cursed by inevitability. The logic, if that’s the right word, goes like this: If she decides to run, she is certain to win the Democratic nomination. Therefore, she probably won’t get it.

Nothing about the Hillary-isfinished narrative makes much sense to me. To the contrary, I think the past few weeks of scrutiny – and partisan attacks – may well have brightened her chances of becoming president, if that’s what she wants. Polls have consistently shown that Clinton would defeat any of the Republicans frequently mentioned as potential candidates. While Clinton’s approval rating has dipped in some surveys,

significantly more voters approve of her than disapprove. People are so fed up these days that any politician whose approval numbers are above water is doing just fine. Is she vulnerable to an insurgent challenge from the activist left? She was in 2008. But is there another Barack Obama out there with the skill and charisma to beat her? If so, who might that be?

The person most often mentioned is Sen. Elizabeth Warren, whose populist message is powerful and whose political acumen grows sharper by the day. Warren says she is “not running for president,” but carefully phrases the demurral in the present tense. If Clinton decides not to run – or if she runs and her campaign falters – my guess is that Warren would quickly become a formidable contender for the nomination. Absent these circumstances, however, I see no indication that she intends to take on the Clinton machine.

For Clinton, the good news from a bad few weeks is that if she wants the nomination, she has a goal to focus on, an obstacle to overcome – and it’s not a particularly daunting one. Her description of her family as “dead broke” upon leaving the White House was tonedeaf. Her subsequent attempt to distinguish her financial situation from that of the “truly well-off” – when Bill Clinton had made more than $100 million from speeches – was like nails on a blackboard. Her task now is to convince

As I See It - A Forum for Community Issues

We must work together in Normandy

A new chapter in the educational history of Normandy public schools has now begun. The 24 communities that still comprise the new Normandy Schools Collaborative must take note of the lessons from the past and look energetically to the future. There are some who may desire to find the entity or persons to blame for the current situation and inadvertently stay stuck in the past. We must move forward while understanding the past so that we will not relive it. We should also ascertain whether or not the rights of citizens of the community were dismissed when almost $10 million in reserve funding was sent to other districts and then not entirely spent on the children from Normandy. Our focus, however, must not waver from the future.

If our children are to be successful today, tomorrow and in the future, here are the two things I suggest occur.

Everyone, past and current, involved in getting us to this point must stand in your own truth about your role in the failure of the district - from the State Board of Education and DESE staff to local school

board members, administrators, teachers, support staff, community partners, parents, family members and students. And everyone above involved in the future success of the children of Normandy must ask one question about each and every decision made from this point forward: “Is it in the best interest of the children?”

When I ask each of us to stand in our own truth, I ask not for a public display of our rightness or our mistakes. Rather, I am asking for selfreflection that is honest and forthright for each of us to use in our own personal growth. Our self-assessments need not to be shared with the world, but instead used for our own growth.

Blaming others or patting ourselves on the back will not help our children. Using our energy to simply litigate the past will not help our children. We can, however, show our children that if our rights have been infringed upon, we must speak up and fight for ourselves and those around us.

Today, our lives are hectic, with little or no time for much of anything, let alone selfreflection. But failure to be honest with ourselves and strive to become better will simply lead to the same outcomes for our children, and that is simply not acceptable. I would like to challenge each of you

Letters to the editor

Perfecting the saints

voters that she can relate to the everyday concerns of the middle class. But she is already being given the benefit of the doubt.

An NBC/Wall Street Journal poll released Sunday showed that 55 percent of those surveyed believe that Clinton can relate to middleclass struggles as well as other potential 2016 candidates, while 37 believe she cannot. It’s not a mountain that she has to climb, in terms of public opinion, but more of a modest hill.

Bill Clinton defended his wife in a “Meet the Press” interview, saying she had “advocated and worked as a senator for things that were good for ordinary people – and, before that, all her life.”

It’s true that the Clintons are chummy with corporate America, but Republicans can hardly take this line of attack. And it’s also true that when her husband was in office, Hillary Clinton tried and failed to win health care reform that was truly universal.

If Hillary Clinton, with an assist from Bill, can’t make voters believe that she’s back in touch with their lives – and that she understands how disillusioned they are with Wall Street and a financial system that seems designed to serve the very rich – then she doesn’t deserve the nomination. This has to be part of her campaign message, which she should begin crafting. She can’t afford to let people think she doesn’t have one.

Angelita Jackson’s article about the Dwight McDaniels Theological Seminary was a great piece. It is good to know that such accomplishments in our community regarding spiritual growth continue to be reported on by the nationally renowned St. Louis American It linked the passion, shared by both Bishop Dwight H. McDaniels Jr. and Bishop Luther James Blackwell Jr., to contribute to the perfecting of the saints of God. Both men demonstrated their passion for souls, along with George Edwards (provost for the seminary) and Cynthia Warren (its executive director and dean of Academic Affairs). Its first graduates sacrificed their time and effort to earn degrees, validating this newly accredited seminary, and are better equipped to lead and evangelize the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Minister Allif H. Dove St. Louis

Protecting women’s health

House Bill 1307 isn’t about helping women. This legislation, which would have blocked care for a woman needing an abortion in Missouri for three days, is simply further intrusion by politicians into a woman’s private medical decisions. Governor Nixon deserves our thanks for continuing to focus on important issues such as jobs and the economy, unlike legislators who insist on wasting time and money pursuing their own extreme political agendas. Governor Nixon’s veto of HB 1307 will help protect the health of women in Missouri.

Jeffrey Mittman, executive director, ACLU of Missouri St. Louis

Safe and burden-free entry

Planned Parenthood of the St. Louis Region and Southwest Missouri is disappointed by the Supreme Court ruling in McCullen v. Coakley, a case challenging the 2007

to make the time to reflect on the past and the future and to understand your role in helping the children of our community be successful. Is it in the best interest of children? This seems like a straightforward question, but it’s not easily answered by all involved. We cannot have those in charge, no matter where they stand, to allow politics, expediency, selfpreservation or apathy to stand in the way of what’s best for the children of our community. We cannot allow anyone involved to put anything but our children’s future first in their decision-making. We understand the challenges ahead are daunting. And yet if we are going to succeed, we must work together - from the state and administration, to the teachers, parents, students and community partners. I mean honestly and truthfully work together. This means we are in real relationships with real conversations that will be uncomfortable at times. And yet, doing so will lead to us all to be able to say, “Yes. The decisions I made were in the best interests of our children.” After all, our children are our future.

Chris Krehmeyer is president and CEO of Beyond Housing.

Massachusetts law, An Act Relative to Public Safety. In an effort to protect patient and public safety while balancing free speech rights, this law established a 35-foot safe zone in which no protests or demonstrations were permitted during a provider’s operating hours.

According to a recent survey by the National Abortion Federation, nearly 90 percent of abortion providers recently reported patients entering their facility express concerns about personal safety and more than 80 percent of clinics have called law enforcement because of safety, access or criminal activity concerns.

We are fully committed to providing a safe and burdenfree entry into each of our health centers. We fully expect law enforcement to continue to implement local and federal laws that protect the rights of our patients, staff and visitors to safely access care.

Paula Gianino, president and CEO, Planned Parenthood of the St. Louis Region and Southwest Missouri

A right to know

The Missouri Retired Teachers Association and Public Schools Personnel (MRTA) recently sent an e-mail to its members warning them about the Show-Me Institute’s request for financial reports from the Public School Retirement System. The MRTA believes that the Show-Me Institute has some nefarious purpose in store for public pensions, but that is not the case. I asked for these financial reports because a report from the Pew Charitable Trusts and the Laura and John Arnold Foundation piqued my interest. This report examined composition of assets that state and local pensions hold. It found that over the past 30 years, many pension plans have shifted their investments away from lower-risk bonds toward riskier investments, such as stocks and other alternative investments. I am curious as to whether this trend is occurring in Missouri pensions.

I think Missouri taxpayers and pension plan beneficiaries have a right to know what assets these plans are investing

in and the risk associated with them. I wonder if

Columnist Chris Krehmeyer

the MRTA agrees.

Michael Rathbone, policy researcher Show-Me Institute St. Louis

Columnist Eugene Robinson

STLCC-Florissant

Valley hosts Job Fair

July 17

The Career and Employment Services department at St. Louis Community CollegeFlorissant Valley is partnering with Community Action Agency of St. Louis County Inc. (CAASTLC) to host a Job Fair 11 a.m.-2 p.m. Thursday, July 17 in the Student Center Multipurpose Room. The campus is located at 3400 Pershall Road in Ferguson. CAASTLC provides low-income people with emergency and crisis intervention services. It receives funds from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and the Missouri Department of Social Services, Family Support Division. Business attire is suggested as well as bringing a good supply of resumes. For more information, contact Pauline McFall at 314-513-4227 or visit, www.stlcc.edu.

New Student Enrollment Begins in the Hazelwood School District

The Hazelwood School District is enrolling new students for the 2014-2015 school year. Students can enroll Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday from 7:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. or on Wednesdays from 7:30 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. at the Learning Center, 15955 New Halls Ferry Road in Florissant. No appointment is needed. Families must reside in the district to enroll. Items needed for enrollment: original state-issue birth certificate, current immunization records, transcript for students in grades 9-12 or most recent report card for students in grades K-8, discipline record from previous school, current drivers’ license or state ID for the parent/guardian, and proof of residency. For more information, call 314953-5141 or visit us atwww. hazelwoodschools.org.

Debutantes and Emerging Leaders

Michelle Springer, Aria Dorsey, Siyanna Mahan and Dorothy Davis were the 2014 debutantes in the Mathews-Dickey Visions of Grace Junior Cotillion on June 28 in the Club’s Jackie Joyner-Kersee Gymnasium. Leading up to the cotillion, the young women took part in AKA Beta Delta Undergraduate Chapter’s Emerging Leaders Program.

Beloved Streets of America secures $25K grant

Beloved Streets of America (BSA) was one of 54 environmental nonprofits awarded grants totaling $3 million from the 2014 Wells Fargo Environmental Solutions for Communities grant program. The grant supports BSA’s farming program. BSA fosters collaboration among individuals, groups and organizations to generate resources to revitalize and conserve streets bearing the honorable name of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. BSA is embarking on a five year, nationwide campaign to restore the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. by revitalizing MLK boulevards and streets across the nation. For more information call, 314-814-1043.

Sign up to be a poll worker

Secretary of State Jason Kander encouraged Missourians to sign up to be poll workers and help run the state’s upcoming primary election on August 5. Poll workers check in voters, answer questions, solve problems and ensure every eligible voter can cast a ballot. In addition to providing these invaluable services, poll workers gain unique experiences interacting with other members of their community. They also receive compensation for their time. Poll workers must be registered Missouri voters. Candidates and relatives of candidates that appear on the ballot are ineligible. To sign up, visit www.sos.mo.gov/ pollworker or call 800)-669-8683.

Opinion

Why I’m running for county prosecutor

By Leslie T. Broadnax For The

St. Louis American

We’ve entered the last few weeks just prior to the August 5 primary election. My decision to enter the race for prosecuting attorney for St. Louis County was not easy, nor was it taken lightly. I wholeheartedly believe that I can make a difference and provide the change needed.

I’ve enjoyed speaking with voters on the campaign trail. Your stories of victory and defeat are bittersweet. However, these stories only confirm that a long-overdue changing of the guard is necessary.

As your next prosecuting attorney for St. Louis County, my goals are simple. I plan to improve victim services and streamline prosecution.

To improve victim services, I would include and inform victims throughout the entire prosecution process. I would insure victim accessibility to the office. And I would improve victim-county prosecutor relationships.

To streamline prosecution, I would enforce strict sentencing by bringing dangerous criminals to trial, with no plea bargaining for harsh crimes. I would have zero tolerance for domestic violence, child and elder abuse, and hate crimes. I would fully implement and fund alternative prosecution methods. And I would provide rehabilitation needed for nonviolent offenders (i.e. drug court, mental health court, veterans court).

n My passion for this office is born of personal experience and a deeper sense of purpose.

I’m not making empty promises attempting to curry favor at the polls. My passion for this office is born of personal experience and a deeper sense of purpose. St. Louis County deserves the best services that can be provided, and quite frankly – at this moment, in this race –I believe I am the best person for the job.

I’m not asking for your vote because I’m a woman or because I’m African-American. I’m asking for your vote on August 5 because I’m qualified, I have a plan, and because I care about you. The fact that I am a woman of color is a bonus.

For more information, contact Leslie Broadnax at 314546-9573 or www.broadnaxforpa.com.

Leslie T. Broadnax

Photo by Leon Algee

KREHMEYER

Continued from A1

that starts with housing and housing preservation, but home is so much more than that. It’s the life in and around where we live that fuels and draws the best out of the people who live there. We’re looking at housing, education, health, economic development and jobs in the boundaries of the Normandy School District in a comprehensive way that is driven by the voices of the people who live there.

Whatever we have been collectively doing for the past 20 or 30 years hasn’t worked. We want to have a different conversation and operate in different ways. We want to push people to do things differently, because what we’ve been doing didn’t work. That doesn’t mean good people didn’t try, but there just hasn’t been much success. I’m not willing to spend the next 10 or 15 years in this work only to wake up and find that the schools are not better and the neighborhoods aren’t any better.

The American: Why that boundary?

Chris Krehmeyer: We spent 10 years in Pagedale, building homes, running a family support center and building trust in the community. Our sense was we had learned things in 10 years about what our role could be and how we could have the beginnings of success.

In 2008, we started to see the convergence of the foreclosure crisis and the continuing struggles of the Normandy School District. We had credibility with the folks in Pagedale, who were telling others that Beyond Housing is someone you can trust. That allowed us to convene people around the foreclosure crisis and the school district, and from that came the birth of 24:1.

We believe the core of a strong community is a strong educational system. We also thought the conversation about public education was very thin – people only seemed to care who was steering the ship and what was happening inside the four walls. People seemed to be silent about all of the other important things: what was happening in the lives of the families, what was happening in the neighborhoods. It doesn’t make sense to keep ignoring these things. We have to have a bigger, broader conversations, and we pushed for this.

The American: How does this conversation change with the state now running the Normandy Schools Collaborative through an appointed board?

Chris Krehmeyer: Unless there is a true partnership between the state – the administrative body governing the district – and the community, we’re going to fail again. We can have a new structure, but if the partnership with the community isn’t real and meaningful, then we will have this conversation again in another year or two.

The American: With your experience with 24:1, you must know what we’re talking about when we talk about regional cooperation. What are some best – and worst – practices?

Chris Krehmeyer: You need to begin with the premise that just because an entity is small does not mean categorically that it’s inefficient or ineffective. It just means it has lots of opportunities to be inefficient or ineffective.

One early thing we did was facilitate a constructive conversation between municipal governments about where they buy rock salt. Most didn’t know there was a Chesterfield Cooperative that bought rock salt. We got the information and called the City of Chesterfield about joining the cooperative – and governments saved 40 percent

on their rock salt. That created an environment where people were comfortable talking to each other.

You have to be nonthreatening. Don’t ask people to give up control, but ask them to share information and then move onto some things we can do together.

The biggest thing we have tackled to date is trash, which is the second biggest expense for every municipality, after personnel costs. At first, people said, “Don’t mess with trash, it’s too political, it’s too hard –leave it alone.” But we started with rock salt, then where you buy gas, then where you have vehicles repaired. This allowed people to talk and feel good about sharing information.

When we got to trash, every municipality was bidding out its own trash collection, whether they had 3,000 homes or 150. Clearly, if you’re bidding out 150 homes, the economy of scale is not there. So we had every municipality give us their trash contracts, and we created a de facto spread sheet with who the

Chris Krehmeyer, president and CEO of Beyond Housing, visited with Jasmine Mitchell of Save-A-Lot on Tuesday morning at the Save-ALot location Beyond Housing spearheaded at 6840 Page Ave. in Pagedale.

Together, which is studying regional fragmentation and collaboration?

vendors are and the services you get. We found a wide range of services delivered and how much people were paying.

We talked to trash vendors and told them we wanted to create a model contract that covers the basics and allows for a la carte menu add-ons to the base price, and when a community bids out they could allow any other partner in 24:1 to piggyback on their contract Pine Lawn was the first to go. They got three bids for the exact same services and picked the same vendor they had been using – but received a 40 percent reduction in cost. That example showed people that if they are willing to work together and share information, it will allow them to serve their constituents in a more efficient and effective way.

Now our mayors meet monthly – 12 to 18 of them meet every month – and talk about big and small things. By building rapport and building relationships, there is a greater willingness now to work together to tackle things that are important to us in the aggregate.

Does that mean a merger down road is in the offing? That’s up to the municipalities to decide. It’s not for us to say. We can be supportive, but it can’t and won’t come from us.

The American: How do we go from piggybacking trash contracts to greater regional collaboration?

Chris Krehmeyer: What the trash contract story says is that when you build relationships with a level of trust, then you can begin to talk about things collectively because people see that when we work together, good stuff happens.

There’s a phrase we use that we got from this guy at the Aspen Institute. He said, “Community-building happens at the speed of trust.” Quite frankly, that is true. Getting trust is hard, maintaining trust is even harder, and regaining trust after you lose it is almost impossible.

The American: Do you have any advice for Better

Chris Krehmeyer: Talk to folks directly. Take the time to understand what people actually are doing and what they actually want, then solve the problems that evolve. Ask, align and act – in a continual cycle. It’s a never-ending process of asking the community what’s important, what’s needed; then aligning the resources, human and financial, it will take to get it done; then acting. Then keep doing that, over and over and over again. You need to have community meetings, but also host smaller focus groups and reach out to different subsets who are not always part of the conversation. Ask kids what they think, ask seniors – don’t rely on the eight people who come to every public meeting. Then people know you asked, they responded, their voice was heard. They know it was a legitimate process they were part of that ended up producing some action in their community. We just did this thing with the community along Natural Bridge. We had a community conversation about what things people would like to see. A subset of people didn’t believe we didn’t already have a master plan. They are so used to people giving them a solution which they have to respond to – which they hated, so they were ready to hate us as well.

The American: How do you square a data-driven approach with your populist way of doing things?

Chris Krehmeyer: It’s not either/or, it’s and/both. Data help you ask questions and make decisions, but you can’t lead public policy change with data. You change the community by changing people’s minds, and you can only change someone’s mind if you are having a conversation with them.

Photo by Wiley Price

ARCHS

Continued from A1

Program, with “nontraditional” defined as an occupation where women represent less than 25 percent of the workforce, according to the U.S. Department of Labor.

n Hobbs fought back tears as she spoke of Robin Davis, a woman who encouraged and uplifted Hobbs as she transitioned back into society.

ARCHS partners with the Lutheran Foundation of St. Louis, Employment Connection and St. Louis Community College to provide the program. Participants have been convicted of non-sexual offenses and are currently under state or federal supervision with probation and parole officers in St. Louis city or county. It is a concept that began in a small conference room nearly three years ago, said ARCHS CEO Wendell E. Kimbrough.

“There’s nothing more gratifying than seeing the fruition,” Kimbrough said of the program’s second graduating class. He remarked that some of the women have already landed jobs, but it is expected that all the graduates will find employment in the hospitality industry. The day before the graduation ceremony, Kelly mentioned that she had a job interview at Washington University in St. Louis for a food service position. When her probation officer recommended she enroll in the program, Kelly said it was the best thing that ever happened to her. Money was hard to come by, bills were piling up, her utilities were being disconnected, and she had gone days without eating.

NORMANDY

Continued from A1

Changing that part of the Normandy culture, McNichols said, and becoming more responsive to parents and students is a big part of the job the district has in front of it.

“We’ve got to be dynamic enough to provide for flexibility in our curriculum, to address each of our children,” he said. “Normandy is in flux. It’s in flux because demographics are changing constantly. We deal with a lot of dynamics that 97 percent of the districts in the state don’t have.”

State school officials presented a variety of techniques, approaches and benchmarks that will be used in the coming year as the stateappointed board takes over district operations from the elected board that went out of existence at the end of June.

In its place, the State Board of Education confirmed five members of an appointed board that will run the Normandy Schools Collaborative. Only one of them, Sheila Williams, served on the old, elected board.

Among the strategies enumerated by officials from the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education are explicit expectations for student performance; school leaders who are capable and empowered; recruitment and retention of skilled and committed educators who are deployed to the classrooms where they are needed most; and an engaged community.

The improvement plan for the restart of Normandy, said assistant commissioner Sharon Helwig, has to include everything from governance to instruction.

One of the keys, according to assistant commissioner Paul Katnik, is consistent and

“I had been beaten up by life, and I didn’t know what else to do,” she said. With her life now headed in a different direction, Kelly

constant feedback – not only teachers grading students, but students giving their opinions of teachers. He called the technique “an ongoing dialogue throughout the school system.”

The difficulty of the task ahead came out in questioning from members of the appointed board.

One board member, Andrea Terhune, whose background is in information technology, questioned the specifics of the plan. Will Normandy students improve by 80 percent over the next year? By 10 percent?

“What outcomes do you expect? When do you expect them?” she asked the DESE personnel. “I’m not trying to put you on the spot, but I do want to understand.”

Nicastro responded that there will be “significant quantifiable measures” involved.

“We will be able to establish specific benchmarks so we know where a student is, where a teacher is, and how much growth they have made,” Nicastro said. “It will be frequent, and it will be specific.”

Board member Reginald Dickson asked a far more basic question: “Why does a student go to school in the first place?”

Katnik responded by saying everything that the department plans is designed to help students become successful.

Then, Dickson answered his own question this way: “To me, the reason a student goes to school is to get a job. That’s why they go to school.”

So, he added, there have to be incentives for them to want to do better.

Asked after the meeting what he thought of Dickson’s view of education, McNichols said he thought the real issue was giving students the basics they need to make sure they can find worthwhile employment.

“I think our job as

said she was ecstatic that her daughter had an opportunity to see her graduate. She will miss the group of women she has grown to call “my family,” particularly her classmate Jami Hobbs.

“I know sometimes us being convicted felons, we get frowned upon from society,” Hobbs said. “But, we encourage each other and do whatever we can to pick each other up.”

Hobbs was released from

educators,” McNichols said, “is to prepare kids to have choices.”

As far Terhune’s question about what kind of progress Normandy students will make this year, McNichols said the

prison several months ago after serving three years for forgery.

“Addiction is addiction. It doesn’t necessarily have to be drugs or alcohol,” Hobbs said. “My addiction was money.”

Hobbs fought back tears as she spoke of Robin Davis, a woman who encouraged and uplifted Hobbs as she transitioned back into society.

“She needed support,” said Davis, who attended the graduation ceremony. “She

district is entering “a transition year. That doesn’t mean we don’t expect students to do well in assessments. We expect to see improvement.”

And that improvement, he added, will help fulfill

needed to know that someone had her back.” Davis, an employment and life skills specialist at the Center for Women in Transition, helped Hobbs obtain transitional housing upon her release. She also recommended that Hobbs enroll in the culinary arts program after discovering her desire to be a chef. Davis already knew of the program’s success rate. Hobbs has been incarcerated

Dickson’s goal of making sure they get good jobs. “We’re not preparing them to work on assembly lines,” McNichols said. “We’re preparing them to work in the 21st century.”

several times before, but said this is the longest she has gone without being locked up. She realized that she wanted more out of life for herself and, after an honest self-assessment, she made a commitment to change. “I have a past. I’ve messed up,” Hobbs said. “But, don’t judge me by my past. Judge me on what I’m doing with my future.”

Follow this reporter on Twitter: @Bridjes O’Neil.

The board’s next meeting is scheduled for July 16 at 6 p.m. Edited for space and reprinted with permission from news.stlpublicradio.org.

Matika Kelly (far left, back row) joined chef instructors and her fellow graduates after successfully completing ARCHS’ eight-week culinary arts program for ex-offenders July 1 at St. Louis Community College – Forest Park.

Photo courtesy of ARCHS

ACLU wins Sunshine Law case

Last week a judge in Missouri became the first to rule that a government entity that cites one reason for not producing Sunshine Law requested documents cannot come back and cite other exemptions when sued.

Judge Jon Beteem, Cole County Circuit Court, noted that to find otherwise would be “contrary to public policy” and would “discourage citizens from … challeng[ing] the exemptions claimed by a government entity that withholds documents, if, after a lawsuit is filed, the government could cite additional exemptions.”

In March 2012 the ACLU of Missouri requested materials related to a complaint from a state prisoner who said a Missouri

On point

Department of Corrections (DOC) employee intentionally damaged his Quran during a cell search. DOC refused to release the materials, citing a single exemption from a Sunshine Law. The court found by citing only one exemption as a reason for withholding the documents, DOC waived all additional exemptions. Because the claimed exemption was not valid, DOC has agreed to turn over 14 unredacted documents responsive to the ACLU’s request and pay the ACLU’s attorneys’ fees and costs.

“The average citizen does not have the resources to challenge Sunshine Law denials, and it was unfair to allow the government to pile on exemptions after a lawsuit

is filed,” said Tony Rothert, legal director of the ACLU of Missouri. “The judge’s ruling helps level the playing field for the vast majority of citizens who do not have the resources to hit a moving target.”

“The Sunshine Law was created to give the public a window into the activities of our government,” says Jeffrey A. Mittman, the ACLU of Missouri’s executive director.

“Instead of looking for ways to fog that window, Missouri’s public bodies need to grant requests for information as required by Chapter 610.”

For case documents, see http://www.aclu-mo.org/ legal-docket/aclu-v-modocsunshine-law-case/.

Amnesty Project returns

Better Family Life partners with college to clear misdemeanor warrants

By Bridjes O’Neil Of The St. Louis American

For the fourth year in a row, Better Family Life, Inc. is teaming up with St. Louis Community College to offer St. Louisans with misdemeanor warrants an opportunity to move past these issues through the 2014 St. Louis Metropolitan Area Amnesty Project. The program will be conducted over three days at three STLCC campuses from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. The program will be held Saturday, Aug. 2, in the Student Center at the Meramec campus, 11333 Big Bend Road; Wednesday, Aug. 6, in the gymnasium at the Florissant Valley campus, 3400 Pershall Road; and Saturday, Aug. 9, in the in the Mildred

E. Bastian Center for the Performing Arts at the Forest Park campus, 5600 Oakland Ave.

Citizens will be assessed a $10 processing fee to cover all warrant vouchers. STLCC representatives also will be on hand to discuss available educational opportunities.

“We’re very excited about this program. Everyone deserves a second chance,” said St. Ann Police Chief Aaron Jimenez, who also represents the North County Police Chiefs Association.

The Amnesty Project was established in 2002 as a oneday event to help citizens clear their records of outstanding traffic-related warrants. The program has expanded to include all misdemeanor warrants with more than 33 city and county municipalities.

In 2013, 65 municipalities from throughout the St. Louis metropolitan area participated. Currently, plans are underway to expand the model to Kansas City, Memphis, Detroit and Atlanta.

The Amnesty Project provides citizens the chance

to build more productive futures for themselves and their families by resolving situations that may be preventing them from getting or keeping a job, signing a residential lease, or signing a child up for day care.

The Amnesty Project is part of BFL’s annual week-long Family Week, with the theme “Back to the Basics – Faith, Family and Neighborhood.”

“We believe that the family is the single most important unit that makes up society, and we are dedicated to finding internal solutions to the ills, to the obstacles and conditions that plague our neighborhoods,” said James Clark, Better Family Life’s vice president of community outreach.

“We are dedicated to changing families through empowering individuals.”

Clark estimated that over 17,000 citizens will participate in this years’ project, generating an economic impact of close to $3 million. For more information, visit www.betterfamilylife.org or call 314-381-8200.

Citizens listened to Better Family Life Vice President James Clark explain how BFL’s amnesty project works last year at St. Louis Community College’s Forest Park campus. Photo by Wiley Price

Aviation Ordnanceman 3rd Class Chase Lilly, from St. Louis, stands watch during a transit through the Rosario Strait in northern Washington state on board the aircraft carrier USS Nimitz. Nimitz is currently underway performing routine operations and training exercises. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 3rd Class Victoria I. Ochoa)

Pride of the East Side

Staci Yandle confirmed to federal bench, local entrepreneur opens McDonald’s

Amid the news regarding military upheaval in Iraq, the recent confirmation of East St. Louis native Staci Yandle to the federal bench may have been easily buried in the national headlines and was certainly downplayed by most local media. But, in the now infamous words of Vice President Joe Biden, “This is a big #%@ deal.”

If, a few years down the road (say, under a Hillary Clinton presidential administration), we find Staci being considered for a seat on the U.S. Supreme Court then you’ll understand what I mean.

Staci, a local attorney, who happens to be openly lesbian, was nominated for a seat on the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Illinois by President Barack Obama at the recommendation of Sen. Richard Durbin (D-IL), another ESL native.

James Ingram

Durbin praised Yandle, whose stellar legal reputation for representing “the little guy” is reflected in her rating of “unanimously qualified” from

the American Bar Association. She is a dignified woman from a distinguished family. Her mother and sister were present and recognized by Yandle during her confirmation hearing, as was her late father, Robert Yandle who, coincidentally, was one of my 5th grade teachers. Mr. Yandle gave me my appreciation for jazz by playing it during our classes. Her brother, Brian Anthony, is a well-known radio personality who formerly worked in the St. Louis market.

You may have also missed the story of Jimmy Williams, another East Boogie homeboy and president of the McDonald’s

African-American Consumer Market. As an entrepreneur, Jimmy owns multiple area McDonald’s restaurants and recently acquired, remodeled and re-opened his newest McDonald’s in his hometown, at 25th and State Street.

The grand re-opening included local leaders and community members, including Olympian Jackie JoynerKersee. “This is a business decision, but in many ways, a personal decision,” Williams said. “I’m from East St. Louis, and wanted to be a part of the regeneration of East St. Louis.”

If that wasn’t enough, Williams (whose father, the late James Williams Sr., was elected as the first AfricanAmerican mayor of ESL back in 1972) has partnered with

other St. Louis and Metro East McDonald’s owners to provide $75,000 in college scholarships to 25 deserving local students. It’s in keeping with McDonald’s business model of giving back and paying it forward.

As a proud native of ESL, I am encouraged by these achievements by Staci and Jimmy and suspect that they will serve as a continuous source of pride and encouragement for East Boogie when the headlines on the evening news or in the local newspapers cast “the 618” in a not-so-flattering light.

Email: jtingram_1960@ yahoo.com; Twitter@ JamesTIngram.

Hope Whitehead and ‘a sad case for everyone’

Local attorney (and sometimes political hopeful)

Hope Whitehead was caught in the cross-fire when a diligent defense attorney benefitted from a glaring weakness of Missouri criminal law to spring a convicted murderer, Anthony Williams, on time served. It’s a heartbreaking story – and a reminder of yet more work the Missouri Legislature has left undone, to the detriment of the people who live in this state.

Let Jennifer M. Joyce – the current circuit attorney for the City of St. Louis, though not the city’s lead prosecutor when Williams’ case was tried – set the stage.

“On New Year’s Eve 1993, a tragedy occurred in the City of St. Louis. Cortez Andrews just 14 years old, was shot and killed after a dance,” Joyce wrote in a statement last week.

“His twin brother and other teens involved in a positive youth organization watched it all. Those who knew Cortez were forever scarred, devastated by the loss of his young life.

“It was for Cortez’s family that prosecutors here in the Circuit Attorney’s Office fought to pursue justice in the case, then and now,” Joyce continued, speaking up for the victim, as her office dictates.

“We owed it not only to them, but to every citizen of the City of St. Louis.”

Back in 1993, Whitehead was assigned the case as assistant prosecutor.

“I remember this case well, because I was deeply

concerned about the victim’s mother whose son was shot,” Whitehead said she told a Post-Dispatch reporter – a statement she then forwarded in full to The American, when it was only quoted briefly in the Post. “He was a twin, and she expressed that she relives the shooting every time she looks into the eyes of her surviving son. The victim was 14, and the shooter was 14. All of my witnesses were talented children in the drum and bugle corp. They all took the jury stand and were subject to cross-examination.”

Prosecutors come tough, or they don’t stay on the job. But 14-year-old boys killing 14-year-old boys and being convicted on the evidence of 14-year-old kids is hard for anyone to take – especially a prosecutor with a 14-year-old son.

“It was a hard case to try,” Whitehead said in the statement forward to The American and published last week. “Not because of the evidence, but because of the children. The victim was 14, and the shooter was 14. The witnesses were around the same age. My oldest son was 14. There was no joy in this case. There were mothers crying throughout the courtroom, including in the jury box. It was a sad case for everyone.”

These painful memories, more than 20 years old now, were dredged up last month by a surprise ruling. On June 18 Cole County Judge

“As a black female, mother of two sons, living in the city of St. Louis, I gain nothing from withholding evidence,” Hope Whitehead said. “I don’t want a jury to convict the wrong shooter and leave the real shooter walking in my community.”

Daniel R. Green, reviewing an appeal filed by Williams’ lawyer, Jennifer Bukowsky, overturned Williams’ firstdegree murder conviction, citing evidence withheld by prosecutors.

Williams, his family and Bukowsky were elated, but Whitehead was puzzled.

“After numerous appeals over a 20-year period, I do not know why this judge made the ruling he did,” Whitehead said in her statement. “I was never summoned to testify. No one asked me about any evidentiary issues during these appeals.” (Indeed, the fact that the claim of withholding evidence was never addressed in a pleading to the court would play a role in the outcome of the appeal.)

Joyce – who, again, was not Whitehead’s boss in 1993 and is not saving her own skin

take the case back to trial

– but Williams accepted a deal after his appeal became tangled in a procedural matter.

Remember Whitehead’s claim that Williams’ appeals had never claimed that she withheld evidence? The judge noticed that too, all of the sudden, after attorneys for Attorney General Chris Koster told the judge he was ruling from a claim that was not properly on record with the court.

“The Missouri attorney general’s office had argued that the claims that prosecutors had not turned over evidence were mentioned in a hearing but not in Williams’ original pleading,”

Jennifer S. Mann reported in the Post. (Whitehead has every reason to feel slighted in this instance, but Mann’s court reporting for the Post is, in fact, excellent.) Green vacated his ruling that overturned the case, Mann reported, “and asked prosecutors and defense attorneys to submit new proposed orders on the case, prompting talks between Bukowsky and prosecutors.”

Joyce was ready to deal – particularly because the Missouri Legislature has failed to give prosecutors the guidance they need when juveniles (like Williams was in 1993) are tried for murder.

– agreed with Whitehead’s judgment of her work on the case.

“Over the last two weeks, experienced prosecutors in my office objectively and thoroughly reviewed all the facts, evidence and actions of prosecutors leading up to the 1995 jury conviction,” Joyce wrote in her statement.

“We found absolutely no indication of any violations in the prosecution of this matter. Once provided with additional information, a judge reversed an earlier finding regarding evidence disclosure during the trial. The original prosecutor has been cleared of any violations. While I was not circuit attorney at the time, I am confident this office appropriately sought justice in this case at the time of the jury trial.”

Joyce also was ready to

“Mr. Williams was also 14 years old at the time of this murder,” Joyce wrote in her statement. “In the decades since his jury conviction, the U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that an automatic sentence of life without the possibility of parole for a juvenile is unconstitutional. In light of that ruling, this office agreed to the defense’s recent request for reconsideration of Mr. Williams’ sentence.”

Judge Bryan Hettenbach back in St. Louis (murder city), rather than Green, presided over the deal. Joyce didn’t pass up the opportunity to take a direct poke at the often-useless Legislature.

“The Missouri Legislature has repeatedly failed to provide guidance for lawful punishment for juveniles convicted of firstdegree murder,” Joyce wrote

in her statement. “Therefore, Mr. Williams’ conviction was converted to second-degree murder. He was resentenced and, based on an agreement by both this office and defense counsel, sentenced to time served.”

Prosecutors have a hard time swallowing the release of someone sentenced in way that is supposed to mean “locked up and thrown away the key.” So Joyce had to insist this case is unique, in light of the U.S. Supreme Court ruling on sentencing juveniles convicted of first-degree murder.

“Mr. Williams remains a convicted murderer,” Joyce said. “He has already faced a severe punishment and served many years in prison. I believe, given the particular facts and circumstances of this case, this outcome is just. Cortez’s murderer has been held accountable for the crime. Justice has been served. I hope Mr. Williams can now establish a productive and peaceful life for himself. My thoughts and prayers, too, remain with the family of Cortez Andrews.” Prosecutors always try to give the victim’s family a say. Joyce had her chief trial assistant, Beth Orwick, read a statement to the Post from Andrews’ mother, Marilyn Sherrod, which said that her son did not get a second chance and said she hoped Williams would take advantage of his. As for Hope Whitehead, she is left having to grieve over this horrible case twice, separated by more than 20 years – with her professional conduct being questioned along the way, in a whimsical ruling that the judge quickly vacated.

“I unequivocally deny withholding any evidence, ‘willfully or inadvertently,’” Whitehead wrote in the statement The American printed. “As a black female, mother of two sons, living in the city of St. Louis, I gain nothing from withholding evidence. I don’t want a jury to convict the wrong shooter and leave the real shooter walking in my community.”

Golden Memorial for Slain Lonzetta G. Smith

Brandon

February 16, 1945— June 7, 1964

Born Lonzetta G. Smith to biological mother Margaret Smith (preceded in death) and adopted parents James Wm. (died November 1986) and Bobbie Lorene Brandon (died April 1966). Dear Beloved Sister, Words cannot express the emotion of pain and grief in which your family deeply felt at the moment of your senseless, brutal and horrendous murder and the perpetual hurting sensation in our hearts 50 years later when we reflect upon your photographs and converse about you. Our souls to this day continue to bear witness to the harsh reality of you being a victim of murder at the young tender age of 19 in such a horrific manner. I was only 3 years of age when you died, but I will never ever let your precious life be forgotten. May your soul rest in eternal peace and you fly with the angels in heaven. Kiss all of the family on the other side for me. Until we meet again, we celebrate you.

Love your baby sister, Wanda D. Brandon

Kathryn Williams

June 17, 1921— July 1, 2014

Kathryn Williams of St. Louis passed away July 1, 2014 at 8:45 am. She was the widow of Herbert Williams who preceeded her in death. Mrs. Williams was a member

of Mercy Seat Baptist Church for over fifty years. She leaves to celebrate her long life, a son, Larry Goodwin (Faye); a daughter, Naomi Binion (William); an aunt, Pearl Richardson; a sister, Gertrude Wright of Eastpointe, Michigan; grandchildren, greatgrandchildren, cousins and many friends. Mrs. Williams will be cremated.

Robbie Lee Williams Ashe

Robbie Lee Williams Ashe was born July 4, 1949 to the parents of Dr. Robert L. and Mrs. Ava L. Williams in Little Rock, Arkansas. She has one daughter, Monica Ashe Marshall and three grandchildren.

Robbie is survived by her loving parents, Dr. Robert L. and Mrs. Ava L. Williams; daughter, Monica Ashe Marshall; three grandchildren, Lauren, Donovan and Camilla; seven siblings; and a host of other relatives, friends.

Services will be held Saturday, July 12, 2014 at Bible Way Baptist Church, 7800 Groby Rd, University City, MO. Memorial Fellowship at 10:00 a.m., Memorial Services 11:00 a.m.

Henrine Silva Darris

Henrine Silva Darris was born to the union of Rosetta Easter Darris and Anthony Darris Sr. in St. Louis, MO. According to Henrine’s nieces this birth was on December 4th some 39 years ago and this matter won’t be disputed here. Henrine confessed a hope in Christ at an early age and was active in church for many years until passing on June 27, 2014.

Henrine attended Beaumont High School, St. Louis Community College, and Webster University. Henrine travelled to Greece and many parts of the continental United

States. Henrine loved spending summers in New York City as much as she did living in St. Louis, and was perfect for the city. When visiting NYC, Henrine also attended church and weekly Bible study. She regularly attended Community Christian Church in Manhattan, where Rev. Jeff Butler leads the congregation.

Henrine’s nieces say that Henrine sang in the choir, spoke in ministry, played piano, was an advocate for The Lord, and always cheered for the underdog. Henrine loved people and children, and loved to travel. She always kept a smile on her face. No matter what was going on, she got through it and kept her faith. She was a nice, fun person to know, will be missed, and never forgotten.

Henrine’s nephew, Sean

Brooks (St. Louis) currently serves in the US Air Force.

Henrine’s nieces, Samantha and Hope-Elizabeth Darris (New York) both attend high schools in New York City. Samantha is a volunteer with the NYC Police Department, and a young composer (classical) with the New York Philharmonic. Hope-Elizabeth, like Henrine and Henrine’s sister Chestony, is interested in acting and the performing arts, plays piano in a school jazz ensemble, and attends a NYC Shakespeare acting camp. Following in Henrine’s footsteps, both nieces play tennis (reluctantly), play piano, and attend church regularly.

Henrine’s sister, Chestony Darris (St. Louis), is a graduate of Beaumont HS, and the University of Missouri, School of Journalism. Chestony was writer, singer, stage performer, budding movie actress who spent lots of time auditioning for roles in New York. She is now retired and lives in

St. Louis. Henrine’s brother, Anthony Darris (St. Louis), is a graduate of Beaumont High School, the St. Louis Policy Academy, and attended St. Louis Community College. Anthony has been a longtime law enforcement officer, detective, assistant chief. He is now retired. Henrine’s brother, Cranston Darris (New York), attended Beaumont High School, graduated from Central High School, and

attended Central Texas College, Washington University, and Saint Louis University. Cranston served in the Missouri Army National Guard, US Army, and US Army Reserves. Henrine’s sister-in-law, Crystal Darris (St. Louis), is a retired RN with many years of service in the St. Louis area, and currently serves as a minister of faith. Henrine is survived by a host of other family and friends.

Lonzetta G. Smith Brandon

Dooley defends record

County executive faces challenge in August 5

Democratic primary

By Jason Rosenbaum

Of St. Louis Public Radio

St. Louis County Executive Charlie Dooley has been “the issue’’ in each of his re-election campaigns during the past 10 years, with his opponent focusing on what they have seen as his flaws.

Each time, though, Dooley has won. That is why, when Dooley talks about the importance of experience, it has a dual meaning – referring to his political career and his job.

“Ten years of experience does make a difference,” says Dooley. “I’ve been to every city, every Chamber of Commerce, Kiwanis Club … A part of my job is government in front of the people. Not hiding from them. Not trying to mislead them.” Experience also adds knowledge, he added. “Being a mayor or councilman, you don’t know what it means to be county executive until you are county executive. You don’t know what you don’t know until you sit in this seat.”

Even so, as he seeks another re-election, Dooley faces a new experience – a threat from within his own Democratic ranks.

St. Louis County Councilman Steve Stenger is challenging him in the Aug. 5 primary, and some top area Democrats are split. U.S. Rep. William Lacy Clay, D-St. Louis, and St. Louis Mayor Francis Slay are among those backing Dooley, while county

Prosecuting Attorney Bob McCulloch and former U.S. Sen. Jean Carnahan are leading the pro-Stenger camp.

Stenger has been critical, contending that the county’s biggest problem is “the current administration. Once again, we’ve seen scandal after scandal, we’ve seen instances of mismanagement after mismanagement, and I think that it’s shaken county taxpayers, and it’s shaken their confidence in county government.”

Slay, however, paints a different picture.

“Charlie is a champion of cooperation,” Slay said.

“Last year, Charlie and I merged the city and county economic councils together to form the St. Louis Economic Development Partnership. It is a great step forward that makes the region globally competitive and has resulted in bringing more than 5,000 jobs to our region in 2013 alone.”

Dooley long has emphasized job creation, as well as the county’s drop in crime rate to a 42-year low, his expansion of health-care services – including a new Health Department building and free mammograms – and his leadership in improving transportation services.

But Dooley says his biggest asset is his personal style.

“I believe my strongest achievement is the connections with people,” he said in an interview. “People understand that if St. Louis County

government is accessible, that the county executive is accessible. People come up to me all the time, asking me questions about different issues.”

Dooley, by the way, fits in with a tradition in St. Louis County – long-serving heads of county government. Three of Dooley’s four predecessors all held the office longer than he has.

Apastor’s son goes to war

Dooley, 66, was the oldest of seven children. His father was a Baptist minister who had to work at another job on the side to support his family.

“His value system has a lot to do with my value system,” Dooley said. “I believe every person is of value. Given the opportunity, people can be successful.”

Dooley attended Wellston High School, which at the time had an overwhelmingly white student body. “My graduate class totaled 88,’’ Dooley said. “Five were African-American and the rest were white.” (The Wellston school district was

ever since.”

He first got involved with a local youth baseball team and then became a coach. “From a coach, I was on the park board,” he said. “From the park board, I became an alderman.”

In 1983, after five years as an alderman, he ran for mayor.

The woman who had knocked on his door that day was Emma Weaver. She became Northwoods’ city administrator – the first African American to hold that job in St. Louis County.

While pursuing his publicservice interests, Dooley also got a full-time job at Boeing, where he worked for 30 years.

He got married and had a daughter, Stephanie, who now narrates one of his first campaign ads.

absorbed by the Normandy School District in 2010.)

That experience “gave me a different perspective on relationships with different people,” Dooley said. “You may look different, but the needs are the same.”

After high school, Dooley joined the U.S. Army. Although his typing skills helped him land a clerical post, Dooley soon found himself in Vietnam, where he says he did see combat.

Once back home, Dooley was single and living in an apartment. Soon he was looking for new quarters with enough room to store his motorcycle.

Dooley’s father suggested that his son use his GI benefits and buy a house with a garage. Dooley found one in Northwoods. He’s lived in that community ever since.

As Dooley recalls, he was playing cards with friends one day at his home when a woman going door-to-door stopped by and suggested that he pay attention to the community, particularly the public schools, where most of his property-tax dollars were ending up.

Dooley said his card-playing buddies “challenged me to get involved. I’ve been involved

In 1994, Dooley ran and won a seat on the St. Louis County Council. He kept that post during a failed bid in 2000 for Congress, when he challenged then-state Sen. Wm. Lacy Clay, the son of the retiring congressman, U.S. Rep. William L. Clay Sr.

In 2003, a deadly illness changed the course of Dooley’s career. County Executive George R. “Buzz’’ Westfall, a fellow Democrat who already had been in office almost 13 years, died unexpectedly of an infection.

As the council’s senior Democrat, Dooley was selected as the interim replacement until the 2004 election. Dooley won, defeating one of his predecessors, Republican Gene McNary, who had attempted a comeback. McNary had been county executive for more than 14 years, from 1975 until late 1989.

Dooley won re-election in 2006, when Westfall’s original term expired. In 2010, Dooley defeated Republican Bill Corrigan, a local lawyer.

In each of those elections, Dooley’s Republican challengers questioned whether Dooley was up to the job.

Dooley says his record speaks for itself. In particular, he cites the decision of county residents “to invest in ourselves’’ by approving measures to invest in its expansive parks system and

to build a new family courts building. Dooley also points to the construction of Interstate-64 (Highway 40), Highway 141 and the new casino in South County. And he highlights the county’s success in attracting Express Scripts and retaining the federal National Personnel Records Center, which had been targeted to move to another state.

Controversies

But there have been controversies. Dooley touched off an uproar when his administration proposed cutting park spending in 2011. The FBI then launched an investigation into the contract over the new crime lab, because a subcontract had been awarded to a member of the county’s police board. And there was the discovery in late 2013 that the county Health Department’s director of executive administration, Edward Mueth, apparently had formed a bogus IT company that then obtained county contracts for millions of dollars to perform various high-tech services. Mueth shot himself after other department officials began asking questions.

Dooley denied a few months ago that his administration sought to close some parks and lay off some parks personnel, but most recently has acknowledged that such proposals were made. But the key point, he says now, is that “we didn’t close any.” The council approved other changes in spending and the county’s income ended up being above initial projections.

Dooley denies playing any role in the crime-lab contract and is furious over Stenger’s ad that implies a link. “To say that Charlie Dooley did something illegally or knew about something that was illegal is a complete falsehood,” Dooley said.

As for Mueth, Dooley said, “He deceived us all.” Edited for length and reprinted with permission from news.stlpublicradio.org.

County Executive Charlie Dooley makes a point at a recent meeting of the St. Louis County Council. He faces a challenge in the August 5 Democratic primary from Councilman Steve Stenger. Photo by Wiley Price

Business

From prisoner to fashion designer

Reginald Foreman found God –then founded Godly

By Erica R. Van Buren For The St. Louis American

Reginald Foreman is the creator of Godly Image, a clothing line with the purpose of showing everyone that we are all created in God’s Image. “I want Godly Image to be the Sean John/ Fubu of Faith and Fashion,” said Foreman. Both Mark Anthony, located in the St. Louis Mills, and Shine, an online boutique, are interested in selling Godly Image clothing. Foreman was met with some tribulations on his path to a better purpose. He grew up in Chicago with his mom, who struggled with drug addiction. He became heavily involved in the streets and ran with the wrong crowd. His parents decided that it would be best for Foreman to move to Miami to live with his father. At first, his father provided a stable and strict household.

n “I’m my happiest when empowering people through my story.”

Reginald Foreman

“They put gorillas in cages,” he said his father used to warn him. “I was so angry.” Foreman remembered. Then his father and stepmother divorced, and his father was laid off from work. Once again, Foreman started hanging out with the wrong crowd. He was expelled from three different schools. He enrolled in the Job Corps program, but later was kicked out. His father eventually disappeared, leaving him to fend for himself at age 18. Unable to find employment, he turned to other means of survival. Having witnessed his mother struggle with drug abuse, he did not sell drugs. He decided to become a hired robber, but his first attempt didn’t go as planned. Instead of getting the bag of money, after wrestling with an armed guard he got away with a bag of bank receipts instead. His next attempt involved breaking into a house. But the safe he stole was empty. He now believes that was God telling him to stop what he was doing. He always felt that he had a relationship with God, but he didn’t understand it or recognize it for what it was.

At the age of 19, in the process of robbing a bank, he robbed a

woman. The police were able to track the phone he carried with him in the woman’s purse, and he was arrested. Sentenced to four years in a state penitentiary and four and a half years in a federal prison, his days of robbing were over.

“We are all created in God’s

image.” He read this scripture in prison, and it resonated with him. He accepted Christ into his life. After serving four years, he was released from prison, thinking his time was served. At the age of 25, he moved to St. Louis to live with his aunt. He attended New Life

Church in God in Christ, worked at a temporary labor agency and dated a woman he believed God intended to be his wife. Things were looking up. Then in February 2004, U.S marshals showed up at his aunt’s

Parking study to pave way for overhaul

By Joseph Leahy

Of St. Louis Public Radio

The St. Louis Treasurer’s Office selected the Boston-based consulting group Desmen Associates to examine all aspects of the city’s parking division. According to Treasurer Tishaura Jones, the study is meant to be the basis for overhauling the system, which the office has overseen since 1951, but in recent years been bogged down by inefficiency, misconduct and outdated technology. Her office has budgeted $50,000

See FOREMAN, B6 for the study, but the changes she envisions down

Judge Angela Turner Quigless has been elected chief judge of the Missouri Court of Appeals, Eastern District, by unanimous vote of the judges of the court. Her oneyear term began July 1. The chief judge is the chief administrative officer of the court, presides at court en banc meetings and represents the court to the public. She was appointed to the Eastern District in April 2012 by Gov. Jay Nixon.

Corey Johnson was awarded the designation of “Certified Athletic Administrator” by the National Interscholastic Athletic Administrators Association. He is the activities director at Hazelwood East High School. The program recognizes athletic directors nationally who show a certifiable level of experience and expertise in the field of athletic administration. He underwent an extensive certification process, including an evaluation of his educational background and experience.

Jovita Oruwari, MD, joined Mercy Clinic as a surgical oncologist. She is board-certified by the American Board of Surgery. She attended New Jersey Medical School, had residency at University of Medicine and Dentistry New Jersey and a fellowship at Hasbro Hospital. Mercy Clinic is a multispecialty, physician-led group affiliated with Mercy hospitals in St. Louis, Washington, Mo., and Crystal City, Mo.

William Miller has been appointed to the Missouri Housing Development Commission for a term ending Oct. 13, 2017. Miller is the associate vice chancellor – Human Resources at St. Louis Community College. The Missouri Housing Development Commission works to provide quality, safe, affordable housing for low- and moderate-income citizens of Missouri.

Tiffany Besse was selected as Pattonville’s director of secondary education. She serves as associate principal of Pattonville High School. She previously served as an assistant principal at Eureka High School where she then joined Pattonville in 2008 as high school assistant principal. She holds a master’s degree in educational administration and is currently pursuing her doctorate at Lindenwood University.

Matthew Burke has been named ReStore Forest Park manager of Habitat for Humanity. ReStore provides financial support by selling building supplies, home remodeling materials and home décor items to the general public. The mission is to provide additional financial resources, expand opportunities, and provide good stewardship of sustainable resources within the St. Louis area. On the move? Congratulations! Send your good professional news and

Angela Turner Quigless

Corey Johnson

Jovita Oruwari

William Miller

Tiffany Besse

Matthew Burke

Reginald Foreman, founder of the Godly Image clothing line, with his wife Tiffany modeling one of his shirt designs in their North County home.

Photo by Wiley Price

Tishaura Jones

n “With 35.6 million Tweets, #BRA v #GER is the mostdiscussed single sports game ever on Twitter. #WorldCup” – @TwitterData

TRaCk & FIeld noTebook

With Earl Austin Jr.

STL excels in Oregon

Locals compete in United States Track and Field Junior National meet

By Earl Austin Jr.

The St. Louis American

Several top track and field athletes from the St. Louis area spent last weekend in Eugene, Oregon to participate in the United States Track and Field Junior National meet at historic Hayward Field. The Junior Nationals brought together the top track athletes in the USA under the age of 20. It was a mix of top high school athletes and collegiate freshmen. The top qualifiers earn a spot in the upcoming World Junior Championships, which will also be held in Eugene in late July.

The St. Louis area was represented well in

This time of year, NBA free agents are wined and dined by teams looking to procure their services. Impactful players get to determine whether to re-sign with their current clubs or whether to buy in to the promises of more money, more playing time or more wins from slick talking GMs. Just over a week into free agency numerous transactions have been made, jerseys have been swapped and zip codes have been changed but looking at the landscape, you’d never know it. Why? Everybody is waiting on LeBron James James is clearly not just the king of the court, he’s also the king of being courted. To this credit, this time around the four-time league MVP

Oregon last weekend. Former Cardinal Ritter College Prep star Charles Jones finished in fourth place in the 800-meter run. Jones posted a time of 1 minute 49.54 seconds. The three-time Class 3 state-champion in the 800 will be headed to Texas Tech in the fall.

Cahokia High junior jumping phenom Ja’Mari Ward placed in both the long jump and triple jump. Ward finished fifth in the triple jump with an effort of 50 feet. He finished seventh in the long jump with a leap of 24 feet 6 ½ inches. These are tremendous marks for

isn’t holding any self-serving, grandiose ESPN specials to announce his decision. However, the silence and complete lack of real, substantive information out of the James camp is making people go crazy with rumors, theories and conjecture. Meanwhile, many league execs are playing the waiting game, trying to keep as much salary cap space clear as possible in case King James comes calling. So far, much of the focus has been on either a return –either to Miami or Cleveland. In Miami, James could return to the beautiful, star-infused South Beach area where he cemented his legacy with back-to-back championships. The team’s canvas is nearly

NFL Network pays homage to the glory days

The love for the St. Louis Rams was rekindled a couple of weeks back when NFL Network paid homage to the 1999 team that took the league by storm with a thrilling regular season, followed by a dramatic postseason, to claim the first-ever NFL title in the city of St. Louis. As I viewed the special at home, it seemed like it was just yesterday.

Nobody knew what to expect from the Rams. They were so bad from seasons prior that you were afraid to cheer the execution of a play, because it probably would be negated for a holding call, off-sides or any infraction, since the Rams had reputations for being undisciplined under former coaches Rich Brooks and Dick Vermeil. But this team was different from any other we’ve ever witnessed in St. Louis.

an athlete who just completed his sophomore season in high school.

Former Cleveland High sprinter Mike Wells advanced to the finals of the 100-meter dash and finished in fifth place with a time of 10.49 seconds. Wells is headed to Oklahoma University.

Brentwood High junior Sophia Rivera had a very productive weekend as she finished fourth in the javelin throw and fifth in the shot put. Rivera threw the javelin 157 feet and the shot put 47 feet 2 inches.

Former Wentzville Holt standout Nataliyah Friar finished fifth in the long jump with

n With training camp very close on the horizon, it’s time for the Rams to create new memories so the fire stays permanently lit.

With Dick Vermeil in charge in his third season as coach, the Rams were 1st in offense with 32.9 pointed per game and 4th in defense with 15.1 points allowed per game. The Rams scored a season low of 21 points in a week 7 loss against now Rams and former Tennessee Titans coach Jeff Fisher. And their lowest point total in a win was 23 on the road against the San Francisco 49ers in week 10. This was one of the greatest times for many St. Louisans. Many of us who suffered during the Bill Bidwell era of ineptness with the Big Red rejoiced, thanks in part to a rebuilt offensive line and an offensive coordinator, Mike Martz, who helped to revolutionize the passing game. Throw in the speed and grace displayed by Isaac Bruce and Az Zahir Hakim, the strength and will of Torry Holt, the ability of Rickey Proehl to always find first-down marker, Kurt Warner, and the most versatile running back in the Hall of Fame named Marshall Faulk.

The other cool thing about that season was Nelly and the St. Lunatics taking off.

n James is clearly not just the king of the court, he’s also the king of being courted.

Of

Earl Austin Jr.

While Carmelo Anthony has publicly flirted with numerous teams on his free agency tour, he would certainly be intrigued to suit up alongside LeBron James as part of a new ‘Big 3’ in Miami.

Palmer L. Alexander

Former Cleveland Naval Junior ROTC standout Mike Wells (middle) finished in fifth place in the 100-meter dash at the United States Track and Field Junior Nationals in Eugene, Oregon last weekend. Wells is shown here winning the 100-meter dash at the Missouri Class 2 State Championships in Jefferson City.

Photo by Wiley Price

With Mike Claiborne

The dark side of the World Cup

Now that the United States has been eliminated from World Cup play, we can all go back to ignoring soccer for another four years.

Before you put your jersey away ask yourself this question: Why wasn’t the racially charged environment at the World Cup discussed more, let alone reported?

Mike Claiborne

There have been several well-documented episodes of racially motivated acts. They have been displayed by the European Neo-Nazi movements that brought their sick act to Brazil. The Guardian, among other outlets, published numerous documented reports about a variety of actions that have taken place at the World Cup. Yet, not a peep out of any of the other outlets in this country that claim to cover sports. I guess racism falls out of that category. Here are a few incidents that expands racism beyond just being black.

• No action for racist chants by fans at a Croatian match. The Telegraph added that Croatian fans had a banner with the coat of arms of a “fascist regime under Nazi control during World War II” at their game versus Brazil.

• No action for racist chants at a Russian match. The Telegraph added that Russian fans at the match versus South Korea had banners with a variation of the Celtic Cross associated with Neo-Nazism and white supremacy.

• No action against Mexican fans chanting “puto” during their game against Cameroon.

• No action against fans in “black face” when Germany played Ghana.

These are just a few incidents. There are more that are never reported because it has become accepted by most who reside in that part of the

CLUTCH

Continued from B3 per game, Bosh just might receive a letter stating “we’re just not that into you” from James and Pat Riley. If you’re going to have a tall guy that shoots a lot of threes, you might as well have one like Anthony that isn’t afraid to post up too. A Bosh departure would open the door for Anthony or Los Angeles Lakers power forward/center Pau Gasol, who would instantly shore up the Heat’s post deficiencies. Then again, Gasol is attracting major attention from his old coach, Phil Jackson, now president of the New York Knicks, as well the title contending Oklahoma City Thunder and Chicago Bulls. Gasol is also reportedly open to returning to L.A. if the team can lure another big star, such as James or Anthony. Going back to James, the best places for him to play also seem like the least likely. The Dallas Mavericks have cap space and a contending team that would instantly become title favorites with James on the roster. Can you imagine a starting lineup of Raymond Felton, Monta Ellis LeBron James Dirk Nowitzki and Tyson Chandler? What a great mixture of offense, defense and matchup hell. But sadly, owner Mark Cuban has a history of not taking care of his star players (Steve Nash, Chandler) and puts his foot

world. What even stands out more is that FIFA (the worldgoverning soccer body) formed an anti-racism task force to combat this issue in Europe. It has fallen on deaf ears there and certainly in Brazil, as racism is alive and well in the world. While fans, at times, are mean-spirited and vicious when it comes to the games and their dislike for the other team, this takes it to a level that is unacceptable. While we see it in the United States in a different manner, the actions that we see by fans in soccer would not be tolerated by the NFL, NBA and

in his mouth far too much for this to be a viable reality. The Houston Rockets also would field a heck of trio with James, Dwight Howard and James Harden. Still, the fact that the Rockets have already offered Bosh a max contract may seem like a slap in the face to James, who likes being the belle of the ball. Chicago would be a great fit, but does a man who clearly

n Why wasn’t the racially charged environment at the World Cup discussed more, let alone reported?

MLB. The NHL still has issues they are working through, as Boston Bruin fans have shown the way in how to be a faceless racist. The players and leagues will not stand for it on the level we see abroad. So the next time you go all in on the World Cup and talk about how cool and great it is, ask yourself why you are into a sport whose governing body looks the other way when it

cares about legacy and brand, really want to be in Michael Jordan’s shadow? I think not. What about Cleveland? As great a feel good story as it would be, I’m not sold. Yes, the Cavaliers have a stud in Kyrie Irving and a potential stud in number one pick Andrew Wiggins, but it’s still a young and unproven team. Does James really want to go

comes to rampant racism. They have four years to fix it and, somehow, I am already betting against them.

Silly season

Welcome to the “silly season” of basketball. It’s that time of the year when free agency comes into play and everyone is wondering

back home to try to build a winner from the bottom after four straight trips to the NBA Finals? I’m thinking it would take another star veteran player in Cleveland before that move would be in serious consideration.

As you can see, the scenarios are endless. There are plenty of free agent stars, but none shine as bright as James.

just where is LeBron James going? Options are a plenty as every city thinks they have a shot. What is amusing here is the speculation that is taking place by a number of people who we have never heard of on ESPN and other outlets. One thing is for sure here – the teams that are not in it for his services are the teams you continue to hear a lot about. We have not heard a word from Miami, the Lakers, or Clippers. Cleveland cannot get out of its own way, and the rest of the league is just glad to hear their name in the conversation.

There will continue to be transaction congestion until the best baller on the planet makes up his mind. Unlike during The Decision, I have zero criticism for the man taking his time to make up his mind. It has to be stressful deciding on whose multi-million dollar overtures to accept. Seriously, James has earned the right to take his sweet time on Decision 2.0.

After James makes a selection on where he will play, the next questions will be: Who else will be playing with him? How long will the contract be?

James already has money, so why tie yourself up with a long-term contract that could go south with an injury or poor play? Short-term will be better here.

Once James decides, the scramble will begin for what is left on the free agent market. For those of you trying to keep up, my advice to you is that this will be all over no later than Monday. Until then, keep wishing.

I’m tabbing a Miami return as the most likely choice, but it’s anybody’s best guess. I’m just guessing the other free agents out there are hoping he makes his decision soon, so they can get a little love too.

Follow Ishmael and In the Clutch on Twitter @ IshmaelSistrunk and on Google+

German fans in “black face” during Germany’s World Cup match against Ghana.

Wildcats win Midwest Tune Up Title

TRACK

Continued from B3

an effort of 20-5. Friar just completed her freshman season at perennial women’s track powerhouse LSU.

Former Highland High standout Lena Giger finished fourth in the hammer throw with an effort of 178 feet 6 inches. Giger is headed to Stanford in the fall. Junior

RAMS

Continued from B3

This city was so electric during that time. “Country Grammar” was picking up momentum just like the St. Louis Rams were. The Show-Me State was the center of attention. And just like Nelly, when the stage got bigger for the Rams they played even better, slugging it out against Warren Sapp and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers to make it into the Super Bowl. We all know how it ended with Mike Jones making the tackle at the goal line. In hindsight, I wonder how good the Rams would’ve been had Dick Vermeil stayed? Then again, Mike Martz didn’t do too bad, winning 60 percent of his games and taking the Rams to the playoffs four of the five years he was head coach. That included a Super bowl trip that resulted in a loss to the New England Patriots and an almost complete shift in power in the NFL. Nevertheless, the walk down memory lane was good

n Former Cardinal Ritter College Prep star Charles Jones finished in fourth place in the 800-meter run.

hurdler William Session of Belleville East finished ninth in the 110-meter high hurdles. Former Collinsville standout Martinus Mitchell finished in

for many that maybe didn’t appreciate the nice run the Rams had. And with training camp very close on the horizon, it’s time for the Rams to create new memories so the fire stays

16th place in the shot put.

Former McCluer High hurdles standout Shaelyn Grant advanced to the finals of the 400-meter hurdles, where she finished in eighth place. Grant is headed to Northern Illinois University after spending her freshman season at Texas Tech.

Current McCluer standout Lydia Harold just missed the finals of the 200-meter dash, but she turned in a time of 24.56 in the qualifying rounds.

permanently lit as it does for the other two professional sport franchises in St. Louis. For more Rams Roundup go to youtube.com/ stlamericanvideo.

The Wildcats 7th Grade boys won the championship of the Midwest Tune Up at Hazelwood Central last weekend. The Wildcats have won a total of eight tournaments during the spring and summer season. The team members are (front, left to right) Romello Ball, Corey Stringer, Tiras Jones, Melvin Wilson, Eric Miller (Back Row, left to right) Collin Goodwin, Marvin Perry, Rasean Pate, Luther Taylor, Marcus Washington, Nick Smith).

City shifts MBE Compliance Program

By Chris King Of The St. Louis American

The St. Louis Development Corporation (SLDC) assumed direct control of the city’s Minority and Women’s Business Enterprise (M/WBE) Compliance Program on July

1. Under the Mayor’s Executive Order 28, SLDC, the city’s economic development agency, is responsible for administering and enforcing the City’s M/ WBE participation policy and monitoring developers’ achievement of the city’s participation goals: 25 percent minority and five percent women on all city-funded development and public works projects.

PARKING

Continued from B1

Jones’ office has not provided specific details about the broader changes in store for parking operations or a timeline for when upgrades would be completed. A spokesperson for the Treasurer said the scope and scale of the overhaul will depend on findings from the study which concludes this October.

The study is Jones’ latest effort to redirect the 31-year course of the office set

FOREMAN

SLDC now monitoring minority participation

Compliance monitoring was performed by SLDC until 2001, when the duties were consolidated at the Lambert St. Louis International Airport Disadvantaged Business Enterprise (DBE) office. That responsibility has been moved back to SLDC.

Airport Compliance Manager Francoise LyleWiggins moved to SLDC as the M/WBE Compliance manager, supervising two additional staff members. The compliance function will be part of the SLDC Minority Business Development department. The Airport DBE Office will continue to conduct M/WBE certification.

“The move, coupled with adding two additional monitors, should result in a higher level

by her predecessor, Larry Williams. While running for office in 2012, Jones campaigned on the promise of bringing greater transparency, efficiency and accountability to the Treasurer’s Office. Since early 2013, that’s involved moving past a history of misconduct left over from her predecessor. Williams was accused of widespread nepotism in handing out jobs, hiring convicted felons and paying “ghost” employees who didn’t show up for work.

During Williams’ tenure, a number of parking division employees were also caught

Continued from B1 house. It turns out Foreman still owed the state four and a half years he thought had been exonerated. He renewed his relationship with the Lord behind bars. When he was released again, he returned at St. Louis Community College, then stopped attending class and found employment at Sun

of compliance and oversight,” said Adolphus Pruitt, president of the St. Louis branch of the NAACP and a minority inclusion advocate.

“The monitoring and compliance responsibilities being recentralized under SLDC, as originally intended by the Executive Order, also resolves the FAA audit concerns with respect to any potential co-mingling of administrative costs of the M/WBE Office with the DBE Office.”

funded capital improvement projects conducted by the Board of Public Service. The M/WBE Office administers the contracting compliance under the Mayor’s Executive Order.

The DBE Office administers a federal program mainly associated with airport-related contracting and any federally

stealing money from meters and parking lots or selling drugs on the job.

According to Jones, many changes have already been made to move away from the past. That’s included consolidating the city’s on-street and off-street parking divisions, cutting staff and adding management positions, but new technology offers the promise of even greater accountability to the public.

The treasurer’s office is part of the city’s division of finance, which is controlled by the comptroller. City Hall

Graphics. It wasn’t until 2013 Foreman decided to step on faith and move forward with his clothing line. He took a $1,000 of his income tax refund from his previous job and used it to embark on his

When the two activities were merged, SLDC entered into a memorandum of understanding with the DBE Office to administer M/WBE-related activities – thereby creating for FAA auditors the task of determining if any administrative activities and costs of the federal program were co-mingled with the local program.

has no direct authority over the Treasurer’s Office. A portion of parking operation revenue goes into the city’s general fund but the decision over how much is up to the treasurer.

Desman Associates will look at revamping all aspects of the system, including meter prices and placement, fines and fees for violations; how permit zones are drawn; towing and booting practices; and system oversight. The firm will also be looking at best practices from other cities.

“We’re looking at having

entrepreneurial journey. He purchased business cards, started a website and made appearances on STL TV, Hallelujah 1600 and Inspired Overflow radio. He said he believes his purpose is to inspire. Through

n “What’s most important is that the city have trained, experienced compliance officers who know what they are looking for.”

– Tony Thompson, Kwame Building Group

“The issue of being able to quantify that a clear separation existed in every aspect of these activities has been raised by FAA auditors on a number of occasions,” Pruitt said. “Thus, returning M/WBE compliance squarely back in the hands of SLDC and its fiscal administrative arm resolves the FAA’s concerns.”

Tony Thompson, CEO and chairman of Kwame Building Group, which does steady

an integrated system that will be able to tell us what’s going on with the resources that we manage,” said Jones.

A lot of day-to-day information now is hard to come by because of nonnetworked and paper-based record-keeping systems. For instance, it’s hard to say how much money the city is owed in unpaid parking tickets issued in 2013 or how many cars in St. Louis need to be booted.

“We’ve got a lot of paper lying around,” Jones said. “A lot of times when we ask for reports, it takes several days [or] several weeks to get the

his journey, filled with trials and tribulations, Foreman said he wishes he would have trusted in God earlier in his life.

business with the city, said where the compliance program is administered matters less than who is actually doing the work.

“What’s most important,” Thompson said, “ is that the city have trained, experienced compliance officers who know what they are looking for.”

The M/WBE Compliance staff can be reached at SLDC offices, 1520 Market St., Suite 2000, 314-657-3700.

data.” Jones has her work cut out for her, said Alderman Joe Roddy, whose district in the Central Corridor has some of the busiest parking enforcement activity in the entire city.

“There’s just a lot of things that have to be changed over there,” Roddy said, “and changing a bureaucracy that is frequently regulated by ordinances or statutes is very slow and very timeconsuming.”

Edited for length and reprinted with permission from news.stlpublicradio.org.

“I’m my happiest,” Foreman said, “when empowering people through my story.” To reach out to Reginald Foreman or to purchase Godly Image clothes, visit http:// shopgi.bigcartel.com/.

Tony Thompson

Puerto Rican soprano Zulimar López-Hernández is playing Violetta in Verdi’s “La Traviata” at Union Avenue Opera, with shows July 11, 12, 18 and 19.

Puerto Rican soprano plays Violetta in ‘La Traviata’ at Union Avenue Opera

By Chris King

Louis American

Of The St.

Puerto Rican soprano Zulimar López-Hernández will make her Union Avenue Opera debut as Violetta in Verdi’s “La Traviata,” which Tim Ocel will direct and Scott Schoonover will conduct in four performances: July 11, 12, 18 and 19 (all shows at 8 p.m.).

“She is it in opera,” LópezHernández says of Violetta, a courtesan who falls deeply in love as she is dying of tuberculosis. “The role is a challenge, both vocally and dramatically.

Violetta is a wide stretch for the soprano, whose “bread and butter” roles, she said, are Musetta in “La Boheme,” Susanna in “Le Nozze di Figaro” and Norina in “Don Pasquale.”

She said the smaller dimensions of Union Avenue Opera made her feel comfortable accepting the challenge, as did the trust she feels for Ocel and Schoonover. She said they made her feel “safe” to rehearse and perform the demanding role.

“As a musician, you are the instrument and it is a physical experience,” she said of singing opera. “Your muscles have to work through your instrument; it takes time for your body to get used to the role. But I know they will take good care of me.”

She is currently based in New York City, where she studies with Ruth Falcon. She previously studied voice at Academy of Vocal Arts in Philadelphia and at the University of Puerto Rico, where a scholarship to sing chorus diverted her from her

By Kenya Vaughn Of The St. Louis American

(New Orleans) – “I like to call the ESSENCE Fest the Super Bowl of R&B,” singer K. Michelle said after making her ESSENCE Music Festival debut on Thursday night for the Now Playing concert.

“It’s a time for you to get on stage and really give your all and just show who you are. It’s really an honor to be on that stage.”

The Mercedes Benz Superdome has been a regular host of the biggest night in football – and is the home venue for what could arguably be considered the biggest weekend in black music.

If you’re billed on the mainstage, you’ve essentially made it. Those playing the Super Lounge areas are on their way – or on their way back – to the spotlight.

Hundreds of thousands pile in and out of “the dome” to hear the new, now, next of black music and at least one or two icons are strategically placed in the mix.

This year’s lineup included Nas, Mary J. Blige, Jill Scott, Charlie Wilson, Erykah Badu, Ledisi, Lionel Richie and the one and only Prince.

Tevin Campbell, Jagged Edge, Elle Varner, Daley, Leela James, Marsha Ambrosious, Raheem DeVaughn and several others held down the various Super Lounge side stages.

The first weekend of July could actually be considered the biggest weekend of the AfricanAmerican experience, thanks to the accompanying Empowerment sessions that take place free of charge at the Ernest Morial Convention Center.

Some of the biggest names in African-American culture engage with the community through a host of platforms – health, politics, relationships, religion, style, beauty and entertainment.

In commemoration of their 20 years, they featured 20 stages – including a whole extra evening of mainstage performances entitled Now Playing.

Jesse Boykins III and legendary MC Nas – who was celebrating his own 20-year milestone since the release of his now iconic debut CD “Illmatic” – made their ESSENCE Music Festival debuts along with Michelle.

Mary J. Blige

Trey Songs

Jill Scott Tamar Braxtom

Charlie Wilson

Erykah Badu

Tevin Campbell

K Michelle Nas

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.

concerts

Sat., July 12, 8 p.m., The Ready Room presents Ying Yang Twins. 4195 Manchester Ave., 63110. Thurs., July 17, 8 p.m., Gateway Arch Riverboats Blues Cruise presents Big George. Experience the sounds of live local blues bands as you cruise down the Mississippi River and enjoy the beautiful St. Louis skyline. Reservations are required and include cruise and music. 21 and over. Cash bar and concessions are available. 50 S. Leonor K. Sullivan Blvd., 63102.For reservations, call calling (877) 982-1410. For more information, visit www. gatewayarch.com.

Thur., July 24, 6:30 p.m., K & LG Enterprise presents New Edition with special guest Dru Hill. St. Charles Family Arena, 2002 Arena Parkway, 63303. For more information, call (314) 4564826 or visit www.metrotix. com.

Sun., Aug., 3, 8 p.m., The Demo presents Natural Vibrations - Natty Vibes And Hi Roots. 4144 Manchester Ave., 63110. For more information, visit nattyvibes. weebly.com.

local gigs

Thurs., July 17, 8 p.m., Gateway Arch Riverboats Blues Cruise presents Big George. Experience the sounds of live local blues bands as you cruise down the Mississippi River and enjoy the beautiful St. Louis skyline. Reservations are required and include cruise and music. 21 and over. Cash bar and concessions are available. 50 S. Leonor K. Sullivan Blvd., 63102.For reservations, call calling (877) 982-1410. For more information, visit www. gatewayarch.com.

Sun., July 20, 6 p.m., The

Carondelet Summer Concert Series presents Lynn Rose Terry & Friends. Carondelet Park is located at Holly Hills & Loughborough. For more information please call 314-752-6339 or visit CarondeletEvents.com.

Sun., July 27, 6 p.m., Union Communion Ministries presents Free Concerts at Ivory Perry Park feat. Ptah Williams Trio. Instrumental jazz ensemble. Commerce Bank Stage, 800 N. Belt, 63112. For more information, visit www.ivoryperrypark.com.

Tues., July 29, 7 p.m., The Sheldon presents TreG and Friends. Tre’von “TreG” Grifith returns to The Sheldon in celebration of his completion of studies at Berklee College of Music and upcoming birthday. Joining him will be students from Berklee, along with a host of eclectic St. Louis talent including Tiffany Elle, Nakischa Joseph, Tebe Zalango, Lauron Linna’e and many more. Proceeds will beneit the launch of G Arts Foundation, a non-proit organization dedicated to educating and supporting youth in the ine and performing arts. 3648 Washington Blvd., 63108. For more information, visit www.metrotix.com.

special events

Fri., July 11, 6 p.m., Beyond Housing hosts First Fridays: Jazz in July. Enjoy dancing with a New Orleans brass band second line, jazz, Cajun food, kid’s activities, and more. St. Vincent’s Park, 7335 St. Charles Rock Rd., 63133. For more information, call (314) 862-0639 or email tsimpson@ beyondhousing.org.

Fri., July 11, 10 p.m., Elevated Fridays presents Jermaine Dupri. The Marquee Restaurant, 1911 Locust St., 63103.

Sat., July 12, 11 a.m., Southern Mission Baptist Church presents 10th Annual Classic Car Show. All cars, trucks, SUV’s and motorcycles are welcomed. The event is free but if you desire to enter your car in the competition, there is a $20.00 entry fee. Refreshments will be available. 8171 Wesley Ave., 63140. For more information, call (314) 521-3951.

Sat., July 12, 7 p.m., Integrity Resolutions, Inc. presents Sipping for a Cause Charity Wine Tasting. Like wine? So do we! So what better reason to sip than to help your community? This will be a night packed full of music, fun, and wine of course! All to beneit the communities we serve right here in the Greater St. Louis Metropolitan Area. Regional Arts Commission, 6128 Delmar Blvd., 63112. For more information, visit www. integrityresolutionsinc.org.

Sat., July 12, 9 p.m., Queeny Park hosts Glow in the Park St. Louis 5K Fun Run. 550 Weidman Rd., 63131. For more information, visit www. glowinthepark.com.

Sat., July 12, 6 p.m., The Old Rock House presents Summer Gras. A Celebration of the Food & Music of New Orleans. Featuring: Dumpstaphunk, Honey Island Swamp Band, Dirtfoot, Al Holliday & the Eastside Rhythm Band, and more.1200 S 7th St., 63104. For more information, visit www.metrotix.com.

Sat., July 12, 9 p.m., Queeny Park hosts Glow in the Park

St. Louis 5K Fun Run. 550 Weidman Rd., 63131. For more information, visit www. glowinthepark.com.

Sat., July 19, 7:30 a.m., Six Flags presents The Biggest Loser Run Walk at Six Flags St. Louis. A race for all itness levels, whether you are ready to set a personal record or this is your irst race, come join The Biggest Loser RunWalk. 4900 Six Flags St Louis Railroad, Eureka, Mo., 63069. For more information, visit http://www. biggestloserrunwalk.com/ SixFlags_St_Louis_race.

Sat., July 19, 8 a.m., Lift for Life Academy presents 2nd Annual UberAsphalt (Urban bike experience ride). An obstacle hunt using bikes, brains and brawn. Bicyclists in teams of 2 will create their own routes, taking them through the city of St. Louis, in a race to complete this fun scavenger hunt. At 6 checkpoints, riders will get bottle caps to be redeemed at the race’s end for a 6-pk of craft beer. For the under 21 crowd, they’ll get a 6-pk of craft soda. Each rider will receive a commemorative pint glass. 1731 S. Broadway, 63104. For more information, visit www.liftforlifeacademy. org.

Sat., July 19, 1 p.m., Contemporary Art Museum hosts Educated Girls Rock Oficial Launch “Appreciation Party.” Educated Girls Rock is a nonproit organization designed to promote the betterment of education to girls, young women and women from

The Four Seasons welcomes Bill Cosby. See COMEDY for details.

all different backgrounds and ethnicities which will encourage them each to succeed in school, college, career and beyond. The event will have music, prizes, school supplies, food, jewelry, handbags, body-wraps & essential, scarfs, cupcakes, etc. Everything that girls, young women and women love will be there. 3450 Washington Blvd., 63108.

Sun., July 20, 9 a.m., Rescuers 5K Run. All Fire Fighters, Nurses, Paramedics, Hospitals, Police Oficers, Social Services, Animal Rescuers, Military personnel and The General Public across the city and out of town are invited to take part in our 5K Rescuers Run. Tremayne Shelter, Creve Coeur Park, 13725 Marine Ave., 63043. For more information, visit www. rescuers5krun.com.

Sun, July 20 1:30 p.m. brunch, 2:30 pm performance, Community Women against Hardship’s summer Jazz brunch starring Kimmie Horne BB’s Jazz Blues and Soup, 700 S. Broadway, St. Louis, Mo 63102. For more ticket information call (314) 2897523 or visit www.cwah.org

Sun., July 20, 12 p.m., St. Louis’Best Bridal Show & 9th Annual Cake Dive. A chance to win exciting prizes, delicious hors d’oeuvres, music and drinks. See the most elegant and popular wedding gowns with guidance from the area’s best wedding specialists. The irst 100 registered bridesto-be will receive a FREE

gift. Win a vacation for 2, courtesy of Travel Haus of St. Louis, Funjet Travels and Karisma Resorts. Must be registered with St. Louis’ Best Bridal and present to win. 10 lucky brides-to-be will dive into a prize illed wedding cake to claim their prizes. Complimentary tickets at area Savvi Formalwear locations. Regular admission is $5 (cash only) at the door. Orlando’s Event and Conference Center, 2050 Dorsett Village, 63043. For more information, call (314) 475-1202.

Mon., July 21, Persimmon Woods hosts The 26th annual AAFA Golf Classic. The event is held for the St. Louis chapter of the Asthma and Allergy Foundation. 6401 Weldon Spring Pkwy, Weldon Spring, MO 63304. For more information, visit aafastl.org/ golf.

comedy

Sat., July 11, 7 p.m., Blackmon’s Plaza hosts 4th annual COX Foundation Celebrity Comic Show. Come party with Bryan Cox and his NFL celebrity friends before the golf tournament. The Ultimate Party with a Purpose Proceeds to support Pop Warner football programs and college scholarships for East St. Louis students. The comedy show will be hosted by Marvin Dixon. Come get your laugh on with Bryan Cox and Club 51. 2014 line-up for the comedy show: D Elli$, Hotsauce, Damon Williams. Music will be provided by Mr. 618. 127 Collinsville Ave., East St Louis, IL 62201. For more information, call (312) 656-4025.

Aug. 9, 6 p.m. & 8 p.m., The Four Seasons welcomes Bill Cosby. For more information, visit www.ticketmaster.com.

Fri., July 11, 6 p.m., Heart of Woman book signing & Live Poetry Event. When you are in the process of receiving the promise life can be overwhelming and discouragement can easily set in, trust me I know. Join me for an inspiring evening of poetry, song and words of wisdom on how to thrive in the meantime. If you or someone you know are going through major transitions in your life and aren’t feeling hopeful, you don’t want to miss this

show. If you know someone who has lost enthusiasm about life, invite them to this show.

National Memorial St. Louis Holy Temple, 6802 Primrose

Sat., July 12, 1 p.m., Barnes and Noble hosts author Jim Merkel, author of The Making of an Icon: The Dreamers, the Schemers, and the Hard Hats Who Built the Gateway Arch The Gateway Arch is one of America’s most distinctive and beloved national monuments. Much has been written about the Arch, but no book has captured the legend, lore, and spirit behind its conception and construction, until now. 113 West County Center, 63131.

Mon., July 14, 7 p.m., St. Louis County Library hosts authors John Sanford and Michele Cook, authors of Uncaged. Shay Remby arrives in Hollywood with $58 and a handmade knife, searching for her brother, Odin. He and a group of radical animal-rights activists hit a Singular Corp research lab and escaped with a set of highly encrypted lash drives and a post-surgical dog. What Singular doesn’t knowyet - is that Shay is every bit as ruthless as their security force. Library Headquarters, 1640 S. Lindbergh Blvd., 63131. For more information, call (314) 994-3300.

Tues., July 15, 7 p.m., St. Louis Public Library hosts author Karin Slaughter, author of Cop Town. An epic story of a city in the midst of seismic upheaval, a serial killer targeting cops, and a divided police force tasked with bringing a madman to justice. Downtown Branch, 1301 Olive St., 63103. For more information, visit www. slpl.org.

Sun., July 20, 3 p.m., Left Bank Books hosts author Earl Swift, author of Auto Biography. An unforgettable ode to American car culture, the narrative follows an outlaw-genius motorhead as he attempts to restore an iconic 1957 Chevy from rusted-out wreck to gleaming, chromed

work of American art before the FBI closes in. 399 N. Euclid Ave., 63108. For more information, call (314) 3676731.

theatre

Through July 13, The Muny presents Porgy and Bess. Winner of the 2012 Tony Award for Best Revival of a Musical, The Gershwins’ Porgy and Bess arrives at The Muny with award-winning members of the Broadway cast in this stunning and stirring new staging. Set in Charleston’s fabled Catfish Row, it tells the story of the beautiful Bess as she struggles to break free from her scandalous past, and the only one who can rescue her is the courageous Porgy. One Theatre Dr., 63112. For more information, visit www.muny. org.

July 14 – 20, The Muny presents The Addams Family. Making its US regional and Muny premiere, The Addams Family puts Charles Addams’ classic and beloved characters in a hilarious Broadway musical that has been thrilling audiences worldwide. See what Bloomberg News called “uproarious!” Come meet Gomez, Morticia, Lurch and the entire hilariously odd Addams Family. One Theatre Dr., 63112. For more information, visit www.muny. org.

July 19 – 27, Family Music Theater presents Sweeney Todd. Murder and mayhem ensue when Sweeney Todd comes back on the scene swearing revenge on those who wronged him. His razor-sharp barber skills come in handy for his neighbor, Mrs. Lovett, and her failing meat pie shop. 7620 Michigan Ave., 63111. For more information, visit www. familymusicaltheater.org.

July 22 – 28, The Muny presents Seussical. Making its Muny premiere, Seussical brings fantasy to life on the Muny stage. Based on the

classic children’s books of Dr. Seuss and narrated by the mischievous Cat in the Hat, this delightful musical follows Horton the elephant in his quest to protect the people of Who-ville. One Theatre Dr., 63112. For more information, visit www.metrotix.com.

July 24 – 30, Stray Dog Theater presents Funny Girl. In turn-of-the-century New York, a young Jew from the Lower East Side dreams of becoming a Broadway star despite her unglamorous appearance. This semi-autobiographical musical follows the life and career of Fanny Brice and her stormy relationship with Nicky Arnstein. 2348 Tennessee Ave., 63104. For more information,visit www. straydogtheatre.org.

July 31- Aug., 8, The Muny presents Grease. One of the most popular shows in Muny history, Grease returns for nine nights in its irst Muny production since 2007. One Theatre Dr., 63112. For more information, visit www. metrotix.com.

Community Women against Hardship’s summer Jazz Brunch starring Kimmie Horne. For more information, see SPECIAL EVENTS.

arts

Thurs., July 24, 6:30 p.m., Contemporary Art Museum hosts Animated Evenings. Ages 21 and up. Join artist Sarah Paulsen for this crash course in stop-motion animation. Stop in early for a drink then move on to CAM’s studios where you’ll create your very own animated short. 3750 Washington Blvd., 63108. For more information, visit http://camstl.org.

Through July 27, Urban Wanderers: A Partnership with Stray Rescue of St. Louis. Urban Wanderers is a heartwarming art exhibition featuring professional works of art. Artists will paint, photograph and sculpt a Stray Rescue dog or cat that has been abandoned, abused or neglected. All artwork will be available for purchase via an online auction. A reception to kickoff the exhibition will be held on June 6, at 5 p.m. St. Louis University Museum of Art, 3663 Lindell Blvd., 63108. For more information, call (314) 977-2666 or

visit www.strayrescue.org/ urbanwanderers2014.

Fri., Aug., 1, 5 p.m., Contemporary Art Museum presents First Friday. A complimentary drink for Young Friends members and above. Cash bar. Enjoy an evening of art, music, and culture the irst Friday of every month. DJs and musicians present music in dialogue with the exhibitions, Museum staff lead tours, and the bar and café are open. Arts organizations throughout Grand Center are free and open the entire evening.750 Washington Blvd., 63108. For a complete list of participating institutions, visit irstfridaysgrandcenter.org.

lectures

Sat., July 12, 8 a.m., St. Louis Community College at Meramec hosts How to Start and Manage Your Own Business. This seminar will cover, how to write your business plan, marketing your business, inancial planning, legal entities, and technology. 11333 Big Bend Rd., St. Louis Community College at Meramec, 63122. For more information, call (314) 5396602 or register at stlouis. score.org.

July 19 – 20, As You Go Events presents Teens in Motion Teen Expo. Hey Teens! Looking for something to do? Bring the entire family for 2 fun illed days with a focus on teens. Admission is Free. 12365 Saint Charles Rock Rd., 63044. For more information, visit asyougoevents.com/teen-expo.

Sun., July 20, 12 p.m., A Beautiful Face: Makeup 101. Enjoy an informative, fun illed, and interactive makeup class taught by professional makeup artist, Alexandra Butler, whose work is featured on Vh1’s Love and Hip Hop Atlanta, Bravo’s Real Housewives of Atlanta, and BET’s Comicview. 14th Street Artist Community, 2701 N. 14th St., 63106.

For more information, email alexandrabutlermua@yahoo. com.

Sun., July 13, 11 a.m., St. Peter’s UCC host Salam Free Adult Medicine Clinic. St. Peter’s United Church of Christ in Ferguson is partnering with the Muslim Community of St. Louis physicians to provide free basic healthcare to adults. The clinic is offered at the St. Peter’s UCC at no charge each Saturday from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. on a walkin basis. Immunizations are not provided. 1425 Stein Rd., 63135. For more information, call (314) 521-5694.

Sun., July 13, 6 p.m., Fee Fee Baptist Church presents Free Summer Concerts. An evening of gospel music with Phil Woodmore and friends. Woodmore leads the choral music program at Crestview Middle School and is the vocal director at COCA. Joining Woodmore will be the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department Choir, Khalid McGhee and Brennen Davis and more. The concert is free however an offering will be taken. Super Sundae Night will follow. 11330 St. Charles Rock Rd., 63044.

July 18-20, Shiloh Temple Church of God in Christ, Men’s Ministry presents the Total Man Conference, Friday night, Total Man Musical (7pm); Saturday 10-4pm Community Fair and American Red Cross Blood Drive 9-1pm. Health screenings, employment opportunities and colleges recruiters will be present as well as various workshops, food and fashion vendors. Sunday July 20th, 11am service, 2pm Total Man Dinner 2 p.m. and 4pm Close out service. 4100 Washington St Louis Missouri 63108. Registration is open NOW at www.TMC2014.org.

According to ESSENCE, the 20th year also marked their largest crowd to date, with more than a half-million (550,000) experiencing the music festival and empowerment experience.

“Over the next 20 years, we will continue our tradition of bringing the ESSENCE brand to life at the festival, “said ESSENCE Editor-in-Chief Vanessa K. Bush, “and providing our audience critical information, inspiration and practical solutions for the day-to-day challenges of their lives.”

Purple ESSENCE

The biggest moment of the 20th anniversary of the ESSENCE Music Festival would take place on Friday when Prince graced the stage – the same as he had done for the 10th anniversary. This year also marked the 30th anniversary celebration of the release of “Purple Rain.”

He proved to be as much a marketing as a musical genius by quietly requesting that the sold-out crowd come dressed in purple – and by inserting himself into the sets of the two mainstage performers that preceded him.

In doing so, Prince elevated the energy level early on in the show and it never wavered.

At around 11:30 p.m., the venue went dark. The jumbo screen blared with the symbol Prince once used as his name.

A recognizable voice echoed through the dome.

“Dearly beloved, we are gathered here today to get through this thing called life,” Prince said with intention. He was picking up where he and Janelle Monae left off.

He promised to do 14 hits, even though he has enough songs to have the Friday night ESSENCE Music Festival stage to entirely himself. He lived up to his word – even if some of the hits didn’t officially belong to him.

A slowed-down version of “Let’s Go Crazy,” re-arranged with reggae in mind, kicked things off.

“Raspberry Beret,” “When Doves Cry,” “Sign of the Times,” “Controversy,” “1999,” “Little Red Corvette” also made their way into the set list – some abbreviated, others modified.

He performed hits from his protégés, including The Time

(“The Bird” and “Cool”) and Sheila E. (“Glamorous Life”). He even worked in a cover of Janet Jackson’s “What Have You Done For Me Lately.” Although it was clearly orchestrated – in yet another move of marketing savvy – when he bowed for the evening, the fans refused to leave. “Purple Rain, Purple Rain…” the audience chanted, and Prince returned to happily oblige before blessing them with a few of his personal favorites – including Saturday night headliner Mary J. Blige’s “Family Affair.”

Nelly heats up the Superdome

On Saturday night Mary J. Blige pulled out all the stops for her latest ESSENCE Music Festival headlining performance. But The Roots would steal the show for those with any type of St. Louis connection (and plenty without one), thanks to a surprise guest performance by Nelly. (Common and Biz Markie performed with the hip-hop band as well.)

“I’m from the Lou and I’m proud,” he rapped as ?uestLove and crew captured the heavy-hitting bass and drum groove from the “Country Grammar” track with a live band.

And when the opening chords for “Hot in Herre”

rang through the Super Dome, tens of thousands in the crowd went wild.

“I am getting so hot, I’m gonna take my clothes off,” the audience sang – inserting themselves into the show.

It was a reminder of the reach that Nelly has enjoyed over the course of his nearly 15 years as a rap star.

Nelly made his exit from the mainstage after “Hot In Herre” and joined British soul singer Marsha Ambrosius for one of her two Super Lounge performances. The two teamed up for a rendition of “Grillz,” which was met with a fury of applause.

“It’s one of the few institutions that still celebrates and calls for live music,” singer Jill Scott said after her performance Saturday night. She also gave props to her musical collaborators and fellow Philadelphia natives The Roots for their first ESSENCE Festival mainstage performance.

Other highlights from the 20th anniversary ESSENCE Music Festival included mainstage performances from Charlie Wilson, Erykah Badu and Tank . Tevin Campbell, Daley, Alice Smith and Liv Warfield also shined in the Super Lounges.

For full reviews and recaps from each night of the 20th anniversary of The ESSENCE Music Festival, visit www. stlamerican.com.

Black & Single

The art of flirting

Relationship expert explores new angle of attraction technique

By Kenya Vaughn Of The St. Louis American

(New Orleans) – “Flirting is enjoying who you are while in the company of someone else,” relationship coach and author Abiola Abrams said as a preview for her ESSENCE Festival EmpowerU session, entitled “Flirting 101.”

That’s funny, because for me it’s always been something else altogether.

Actually, it’s usually one of two things.

In most cases, I’m unintentionally making myself irresistible to someone I have absolutely no interest in romantically.

But there is also the rare phenomenon where I’m somewhere looking like a complete fool, thanks to poorly timed overtures towards the man of my dreams that make me look more desperate than desirable.

If flirting is an art, then my contribution falls somewhere between that macaroni necklace EVERY mom is gifted courtesy of an elementary school craft class – or that piece of white construction paper with palm prints of assorted colors.

According to Abrams, it’s because we (meaning me) overthink the idea and make the act of flirting more complicated than it really is.

To that I wanted to say, “Thank you, Captain Obvious,” but then I heard her out. And it gave me a new sense of ease and a better idea of why it doesn’t work out for me.

What got my attention was her approach to the objective. According to her, we’ve been backwards in both in the process and the intended takeaway of the flirt.

“What flirting does is it gives people permission to be themselves around you” Abrams said.

She basically says the flirt should be you publicly enjoying yourself and welcoming others to bask in it.

Abrams believes people get confused about what it means to flirt. Some even shy away

Relationship expert Abiola Abrams outlined flirting tips found in her latest book “The Sacred Bombshell Book of Self-Love” during The 20th Annual ESSENCE Festival’s EmpowerU series

from the practice out of fear of appearing loose – or lonely.

With confusion comes stress and pressure. The stupid pickup lines, the ill-timed LBVS (that’s laughing, but very serious) rendezvous requests or left field “maybe we should get together sometime” comments usually follow.

Abrams said you should flirt with everybody … everybody, girl?

She even coined the phrase ABF (always be flirting) that was inspired by the popular Wall Street acronym “ABC” or “always be closing” and details the practice in her book “The Sacred Bombshell Book of Self-Love.”

“Flirting is saying, ‘I enjoy being me,’” Abrams said. “It gives people permission to be comfortable around you.”

The concept is actually quite different from the narrowly focused flirting information that’s been passed down to women.

The notion is closer to what men are taught – or, in many cases, teach themselves – about the law-of-averages approach they tend to take. And by “law of averages,” I mean “the more I flirt the

better my chances to ‘close the deal.’” Abrams doesn’t see it that way. According to her, the outcome from the other party is not the point.

“What you are getting back is the joy of being you,” Abrams said.

That’s right, ladies. If you are flirting with the sole intention of snagging Mr. Right, you’re going about it all wrong. Attracting the man of your dreams should be the residual of the flirt, not the principal investment. According to Abrams, everyone should present themselves as someone who is genuinely happy with themselves and wants to reciprocate that energy with the people they interact with. Make it your mission to show the world every day “I’m so easy to love, look how much I love myself.”

“If this ends up not being your Mr. Right, you haven’t lost anything,” Abrams said. “It’s just practice, and practice makes perfect. What you are practicing is constantly showing the world how enjoyable you are – and that you may be available.”

Jazmine Sullivan

Photo by Lawrence Bryant

POTPOURRI

Continued from C1

evening everyone had a great time at Lounge 28 at Lumiere Place. A delicious buffet and talented DJ kept the music going until early morning. The 3rd annual event was orchestrated by Synergy Productions (Amit Dhawan, MD. and his awesome project managers Amanda Constantinesco and Jennifer Milyard) in coordination with Alliance Sports CEO - Rocky Arceneaux and Faulk Foundation Executive Director - Brandi Greenleaf Chuck Jackson’s Fox Sports Midwest taped the Golf Classic weekend. It premiered on that network on Sunday, July 7th at 5PM.

Alexis Crittenden wanted to host a fabulous shower for engaged sister Kellye Crittenden and she did just that a couple of weeks ago at the Ritz Carlton Hotel in the Plaza Salon. A well planned theme of pink and soft silver resounded while guests enjoyed a scrumptious brunch buffet, the clothes pin game and several not so boring bridal

shower games orchestrated by Alexis. Longtime friends and family cheered the Bride-to-Be who will be married to James Hickey on Long Island, New York next month. Kellye is the Granddaughter of Rosalyn Ball England Henry, PhD. and the oldest daughter of Dr. and Mrs. Michael Crittenden (Pamela Ball)

Guests wrote notes to the Bride-to-Be giving her suggestions for a long and happy marriage. Guests also received lovely gifts for guessing Kellye’s age on the poster board with family pictures of her from age one to present. It was a delightful afternoon. The Bride received a variety of beautiful lingerie, colognes, gift cards and other exciting gifts.

A few of the guests who enjoyed this delightful occasion included Adrienne Watkins, Edythe Granberry, Pamela Hill Ingrid Taylor MD., Linda Hancock Ross, Stacey Hancock Cash, Esq. Amy Rosenberger Barbara Noble, Yvonne Chatwell, Earcil Canaan Billie Jean Randolph, Albernice Fagen, Alana Miles, Marilyn Hicks,

Barbara Noble and Yours

Truly. Blessings and Best Wishes to Kellye and James Judi Griffin’s (Griffin Financial Services Group) recent Pool Party and Dessert Extravaganza left guests full of an array of fabulous desserts. Each guest was responsible for bringing a decadent dessert.

Hosted at her lovely West County abode it was a good time to catch up with her old friends including Cheryl Whalen (Unigroup), retired Ladue educator Cathy Jacobs, Karen Drake (Drake Consulting and Coaching, LLC), Sharon Harvey Davis (VP Diversity and Chief Diversity Officer – Ameren), Richard Massey Karla Teeters and many others. The DJ kept guests from pool to dance floor all evening. Everyone needed that exercise after consuming the yummy desserts that ranged from Ms. Hulling’s cakes, cookies, pies, sticky rice to fruit kabobs. A few guests also kept tables of bid whist and spades going throughout the evening. Great summer opener Judi! Have a great weekend! Dana Grace: dgrandolph@ live.com.

OPERA

Continued from C1

first major, nutrition. She said Puerto Rico is an island of art song.

“Classical opera is a big thing here,” she said, speaking by phone from Puerto Rico before she traveled to St. Louis for rehearsals. “There is a lot of good energy from the youth. Young singers want to speak their culture, and they want to communicate to the world through music, through opera.”

This will be her first visit to St. Louis, but colleagues who have done shows at Union Avenue Opera and Opera Theatre of St. Louis have led her to expect good things.

“I am told the community there really supports the arts,” she said. “I have a lot of great friends and colleagues who go there and love it. I can’t wait to be there for a month.”

Union Avenue Opera will perform “La Traviata” in Italian with English supertitles, accompanied by a full union orchestra. ItalianCanadian tenor Riccardo Iannello is playing the lead role of Alfredo, Violetta’s lover.

Familiar voices returning to the Union Avenue stage for this production include Debra Hillabrand, Robert Garner, Anthony Heinemann and Debby Lennon.

Also this season at Union Avenue Opera, two St. Louis premieres: Previn’s

“A Streetcar Named Desire (August 1, 2, 8, 9) and Wagner’s “Siegfried,” reduced and adapted by Jonathan Dove (August 22, 23, 29, 30). Tickets may be

Zulimar López-Hernández will make her Union Avenue Opera debut as Violetta in Verdi’s “La Traviata,”

Pamela Ball Crittenden, mother of the Bride to Be; Kellye Crittenden, the Bride to Be, Stacey Hancock Cash, the Bride to Be’s Aunt, Alexis Crittenden, the Bride to Be’s sister. Photo by Dana G. Randolph

Engaged

While on

Jamison of O ‘Fallon, MO. A summer 2015 wedding is planned.

Reunions

All reunion announcements can be viewed online!

Beaumont High School Class of 1974 is holding its 40th Class Reunion August 1-3, including a sock hop at the school Friday evening and dinner and brunch Sat and Sun at the St. Louis Airport Renaissance Hotel. For more info contact James White at

~ Celebrations ~

Anniversary

Happy 10th Anniversary to William and Shelly

Davis on July 10!

William also celebrated his birthday on July 4.

“Wishing my husband a happy and blessed birthday!”

Love, your wife Shelly

314-494-5554 or ten55jw@ yahoo.com.

Beaumont Class of 1979 will be celebrating their 35th Class Reunion September 5-7, 2014. For additional information, please contact Scarlett McWell at 314-458-7782 or send email to msscarletto@yahoo.com or Sandra Hooker at ayaina612@ sbcglobal.net.

Central High School Class of 1979 is planning its 35 year reunion for August 29-31, 2014. Please check out our Facebook page, “Central High School Redwings class of 1979” for class updates or call 314-374-8523 or 314-5415645 for more information.

Student achiever

Avontae’ Lorenzo Cook won the Presidential Fitness Award for the third time. Avontae is a sixth grader at South Middle School (Fort Zumwalt School District) in St. Peters. Last year, he missed the qualifying run by three seconds, and this year he was more determined than ever to prove his fitness again!

Lincoln Sr. High School (East St. Louis, IL) Class of 1964 50th Class Reunion, 6 pm, Friday, September 26; 6:30 pm, Saturday, September 27, St. Louis Airport Marriott, 10700 Pear Tree Lane, St. Louis, MO 63134; 10 am, Sunday church service at Southern Mission M.B. Church, 2801 State Street, East St. Louis, IL, 62205. Contact persons: Carolyn Leggs Curry at 314.385.6305 or Ruby McSwain Akins at lottie840@yahoo.com.

Northwest High School Class of 1979 reunion dates are set for Sat. August 23 and Sunday, August 24 2014. Please contact Duane Daniels at 314568-2057 or Howard day at

Just married

Two hearts in love, Orlando McKinney Jr. and Adrienne Shepard were joined together in holy matrimony on Friday, June 6, 2014 at Zion Travelers Missionary Baptist Church. The reception was held at the Polish Heritage Center surrounded by love with family and friends.

414-698-4261 to purchase tickets and any needed further information.

Riverview Gardens Class of 1994 is planning its 20th reunion for August 22-24, 2014. Please join us via Facebook: Riverview Gardens Senior High Class of 1994. You may provide your contact information via survey monkey: https:// www.surveymonkey.com/s/ XRKC975. You may also contact the planning committee Shannon Tuggle, Leslie Norwood, Scott Wolosyk, and/or Mark Grzechowiak via email at rgclassof1994@gmail. com.

Soldan is having its 10th All-Class Alumni Picnic, Sat. August 2, 2013 at Blanchette Park in St. Charles, MO., from 10 a.m. - 6 p.m. The price is $10/adults, $5/4-12yrs, free 3 and under. T-Shirts with the grad. year on the sleeve are $13. For more information call: (314) 413-9088. For order form e-mail: gptate@ sbcglobal.net.

Soldan High School Class of 1974 will hold its 40th Reunion Weekend, August 15-17, 2014 at Hollywood Casino & Resort, St. Louis.

More info to come soon!

St. Alphonsus ‘Rock’ High School Class of 1964 is planning a 50th year reunion on August 14, 2014. For more information please contact Mary Jo ‘Kozlowski’ Knight at 636-916-4449 or Lee Ann ‘Schepker’ Ward at 314-631-6765.

Sumner A Capella Choir Reunion September 12 - 14, 2014. All former A’Capella choir members are welcome; songs from Mr. Billups years will be sung. The Reunion Concert is Sunday, September 14 at Antioch Baptist Church, 2401 Annie Malone, Saint Louis, MO 63113 at 4 p.m. The rehearsals are on Mondays at West Side Missionary Baptist Church 2677 Dunn Road at 7 p.m. Contact Elaine Smith, Chairperson at 314-456-3838 for more information.

Sumner High School Classes of 1954 is planning its 60-year reunion, August 15-17, 2014 at the Sheraton Westport Hotel, Plaza Tower. For information contact: Audrey Poindexter at (314) 383-7174; e-mail: ajpoin@ charter.net or Marlene May at (314) 567-9629; e-mail:

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, graduation, 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. St. Louis, MO 63103 FREE OF CHARGE

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

onelene@att.net.

Wellston High School Class of 1994 20th Reunion Weekend: July 25-27, 2014. 25thMeet & Greet, 26th - Dinner, 27th - Picnic. For more information, contact Bridgette Lovings at 314-435-9534 or bridgettelovings@yahoo.com or Yolinda Washington at 314898-2063 or yolinda1225@ gmail.com.

location in Marseilles, France, Terrence Bright, of Washington D.C., proposed to Tara Jamison, formerly of O’Fallon, MO, and she said YES! Both are graduates of Georgetown University. Tara is the daughter of Lonnell and Janice

Rev. Wilson on hiatus and homecoming

‘Intellectual stimulation is energizing for ministry’

By Chris King Of The St.

Louis

American

Reverend Starsky Wilson, pastor at St. John’s United Church of Christ, 4136 N. Grand Blvd. in North St. Louis, returned this spring from a planned hiatus. Wilson, 37, is also president and CEO of the Deaconess Foundation, with the mission of increasing the wellbeing of vulnerable children in the urban core areas of the St. Louis region. A native of Dallas, Texas, Wilson is married to Dr. LaToya Wilson. They have three sons: Starsky II, 9; Dallas, 6; and Mason, 4. He talked to The St. Louis American about his hiatus and how it feels to be back in the pulpit.

The American: Are you still on hiatus from the pulpit?

Rev. Wilson: I am back in the pulpit as of March 30. I was out for four months, from the beginning of December. It’s considered a best practice in the United Church of Christ. They encourage pastors every four years to take a sabbatical to reduce burnout and extend their leadership. It was a good opportunity to do that. Also, it was part of my call agreement. When I came into the church six years ago, it was agreed I’d take a sabbatical.

The American: Was it effective? Rev. Wilson: It was. Part of what I was able to do was

focus. I am doing doctorate work at Duke, traveling back and forth, so it allowed me to dig into that. Intellectual stimulation is energizing for ministry.

The American: What are you doing at Duke? Rev. Wilson: Studying for a doctorate in ministry, focusing on being a leader in the Christian tradition. Currently I am taking classes in leadership strategy, as well as church history. I’m really delving into leadership in both spaces.

The American: How does it feel to be back in the pulpit? Rev. Wilson: I feel refreshed, but also grounded. I feel a little odd working here downtown in an office tower. I like being able to be in the neighborhood on the North Side with folks who need this work. It’s right – it complements this work. It keeps me grounded on the foundation’s work. And in reality, I don’t

have much local family, so the church is my family. It’s energizing to be back with my family three or four days a week. I know the people in the neighborhood around my church better than the people in the neighborhood around my house. It’s like being back home.

Episcopal Diocese supports marriage equality

The Bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Missouri, George Wayne Smith, supports St. Louis Mayor Francis Slay and City Counselor Winston Calvert in their challenge to Missouri law prohibiting samesex marriage as not consistent with rights guaranteed by the U.S. Constitution.

The Dean of Christ Church Cathedral in St. Louis, Mike Kinman, notes that there are more than 300 critical

Reverend Starsky Wilson preaching at St. John’s United Church of Christ, 4136 N. Grand Blvd.

civil rights associated with marriage – from hospital visitation to inheritance. “The current ban has devastating effects personally, legally and economically for LGBT Missourians,” said Dean Kinman.

In 1976, the General Convention of The Episcopal Church in Resolution A069 affirmed that “homosexual persons are children of God who have a full and equal claim with all other persons upon the love, acceptance, and pastoral concern and care of the Church.”

In 2008, the 169th Convention of the Diocese of Missouri resolved (and sent on to the 76th General Convention of The Episcopal Church) “that this Church supports and upholds persons in same-gender committed relationships of enduring love, mutuality and fidelity.”

“Even as the Episcopal Church works to clarify our theological understanding of and pastoral practices around same-sex blessings,” said Bishop Smith, “I believe that it is not the place of the State of Missouri to deny the privileges and responsibilities of marriage to anyone, basing that denial solely on the gender of the couple.”

I once heard Bishop T.D. Jakes of the Potters House preach a sermon that really caught my attention.

He reminded those in the audience that most of the Bible was written from a jail cell. His overall message had something to do with his prison outreach ministry, which I understand to be significant. I was so struck, however, by the reality of God’s word and direction coming from the deep faith of those imprisoned.

That concept has never left me. What is it about being a believer – a walking, talking believer – that somehow frightens those in power so much that a jail cell is a practical answer?

as that spiritual place that present day Sadducees and Pharisees want to send people like me? If I haven’t said or done anything, then maybe I better get going, stir some things up.

History suggests that professing one’s belief in Jesus Christ as Lord can literally be a death sentence.

The Bible teaches us that eventually our belief will be put to the ultimate test.

Now that I’m saved, I guess you could say I know I’m a candidate for assassination. I don’t view myself as a threat to anyone, based upon my belief in one God, the Holy Trinity and the truth of Jesus Christ. But the world in which I live does view me in this manner.

Have I done anything or said anything that should land me in jail, if jail is defined

In their day, the apostles, Paul and others were indeed looked upon as threats to the establishment. That meant governments and principalities, as well as the church hierarchy of that day. If nothing else, I don’t think anyone would argue that on His worst day, Jesus was the quintessential revolutionary. It still amazes me how such principles of unconditional universal love for humankind got Him killed. And then it always hits me that this kind of philosophy will ultimately attack and undermine entrenched institutionalized power of all kinds. That’s when I realize that if you are a believer in Christ, you are most certainly a threat to man. All I can encourage you to do in the face of all this is to stay the course and know our defense attorney is on His way. The prosecuting attorney loses this case. So when you’re alone in your cell remember, you have already won. The battle is over. The verdict is in. We win.

The American is accepting Inspirational Messages from the community. Send your column (no more than 400 words) as a Word document and pasted text to cking@stlamerican. com and attach a photo of yourself as a jpeg ile. Please be patient; we will run columns in the order received.

James A. Washington

The Rose Man’s Daughter Leticia got a healthy heap of 90s R&B while checking out singer Tevin Campbell @ The ESSENCE Music Festival @ The Mercedes Benz Superdome

Celebrity Swagger

of the Week

Soul crooner and ESSENCE Music Festival Super Lounge regular Raheem DeVaughn spent some time with St. Louisans like Mz. Janee of Hot 104.1 FM when he stopped through the Summer Breeze Day party Saturday afternoon at The Renaissance in New Orleans

So St. Louis for ESSENCE Festival. For the second year in a row,

The St. Louis American was asked to mosey on down to New Orleans and provide coverage for the ESSENCE Festival. I had actually decided that I wasn’t going to spend the whole Partyline on ESSENCE Fest this time, but there were such strong St. Louis connections that I assumed the universe was telling me otherwise. We were on the mainstage of the music side, within the entertainment activities and programming at the convention center and saw so many people reppin’ STL on the streets all up and through the “Big Easy” that I thought it would behoove me to let y’all in on it. Watching for my peeps. Our own Style Broker Danie Rae was in the N.O. to celebrate her big 3-0, with STL favorites like my girl Hope Lynn, who left STL for Atlanta two years ago. Cornell Boone was in town for his bachelor weekend. Leave it to him to make time to throw a party sponsored by Crown Royal – and thanks to the party atmosphere, his Summer Breeze set at the Renaissance was actually more turned up in New Orleans than they are at home in STL. The American wasn’t the only St. Louis media outlet in town as The St. Louis Post-Dispatch’s pop music critic Kevin C. Johnson was in the building covering the 20th Anniversary ESSENCE Music Festival as well. And did I mention our concert photographer Lawrence Bryant came down and did some of his best work EVER? By now you’ve seen it for yourself on our social media channels and web site. Though she was there strictly to enjoy herself, Hot 104.1 FM’s Mz Janee made the trip too. And y’all know I almost fell clean out when I saw the Rose Man’s daughter Leticia in the Super Lounges getting her life from Tevin Campbell. If she hadn’t come up to me I wouldn’t have recognized her, because it was the first time I’ve ever seen her in a club concert setting without a red jacket and two hands full of roses with teddy bears attached to them. Rhashad a.k.a. Shadzilla was in town for ESSENCE Festival , as was Tiffany (the beautiful naturalista whose last name escapes me), Trina Claggett, Tracie McDuffie in addition to Ebonee Shaw of the Mixxer Exchange to name a few. Now if y’all told your bosses you were in the hospital or on a religious retreat, I apologize for blasting you out. But I really felt the need to point out the tip of the iceberg as far as how deep the STL was in the N.O. to partake as the ESSENCE Festival turned 20.

He’s from the Lou and he’s proud. I would say the absolute highlight of the STL presence – and the ENTIRE ESSENCE FESTIVAL – was something I had no idea was going down. While I got my life when Common took the stage with The Roots, I was actually on my way to explore the Super Lounges, but something told me to stay put. I’m so glad I did, because St. Louis’ own resident rap super star Nelly graced the stage –and the crowd went wild. I guess what had me in a raw emotional moment was seeing him in a venue that wasn’t in St. Louis – and one of the hugest stages in all of urban music to boot. To hear him say “I’m from The Lou and proud and have at least 35,000 folks saying “it’s getting hot in “herre” like they were from the Northside had me more warm and tingly than Prince’s performance. I don’t know how The Roots hooked up with Nelly – or why they picked him out of ALL the rappers they could have selected –I’m just glad they did.

Poor BAPS. Since I’m still flying high on fellowshipping with my people all weekend long, I’ll start with the good news. I was absolutely thrilled to see STL getting major play at the ESSENCE Festival Empowerment activities thanks to a major partnership between The Lifetime Network and ESSENCE Festival as they promoted the St. Louis reality show BAPS (acronym for Black American Princesses/Princes). Anisha, Kristen, Gina, Jayson were there with family and friends for the exclusive sneak preview. I’m sure they were beaming with joy as they watched the folks file in, probably expecting the best as they waited for reactions and questions following the show. Festival attendees were lined up almost half the length of the convention center to see the second screening of the day for the pilot episode. But once the screening started, it was all bad in more ways than one. About 15 minutes in there was a mass exodus of folks leaving the screening that almost rivaled the crowd coming in to New Orleans.

I’m sorry, but it’s true. I’ll bet folks haven’t rushed towards an exit in a screening so quickly since BAPS the movie. What? The unforgiving editors shed them in the worst light possible – especially for them to be from “a certain pedigree.” They provided drama and conflict from start to finish. When the lights came up, only the family and friends remained and a few folks stayed for the show Q&A only to voice their disgust. The cast says that the drama was to reel the audience in for the first episode and they will enjoy positive narratives as the season progresses. Now for those who love drama, shade (and I know plenty of y’all do from our feeds during Love and Hip Hop and Real Housewives nights) you would get your life with the acquired taste of their uppity STL flavor.

Universal ESSENCE Festival high notes. My non-STL related mainstage highlights of ESSENCE Festival were seeing Prince give people their money’s worth for his sold-out set, Uncle Charlie, watching Lionel Richie trick the crowd into thinking that Diana Ross was coming out to sing “Endless Love” with him, Erykah Badu, Jill Scott and her magic Liza Minnelli pants. Tevin Campbell and Daley held down The Super Lounges, with a host of celebrity sightings. They included me catching Tyler Perry in The Court of The Two Sisters Jazz Brunch and chopping it up with Marsha Ambrosius’ mother as she ate flaming hot Cheetos and window shopped for sundresses at Walgreen’s.

April Thomas had the unique pleasure of meeting Rev Al Sharpton during her visit to the ESSENCE Festival Empowerment sessions Friday afternoon @ The Ernest Morial Convention Center

BAPS co-star Gina with Shanti at the special ESSENCE Festival preview screening of the series premiere of the show Friday afternoon @ The Ernest Morial Convention Center

Slim, Erika, Dee, Rhashad and Eve kicking it at the Renaissance New Orleans for the Summer Breeze Day party presented by Cornell Boone and the Vaporz Saturday @ Renaissance Hotel

L. Frost and Sinnie made their way to the ESSENCE Festival to soak in the scene Friday afternoon @ The Ernest Morial Convention Center

Lisa Dotson, Jamilah Lemieux, Hope Lynn, Danie Rae, LaTiesa Alford, & throwback radio personality

Déjá Vu celebrated Danie’s big3-0 at a Bourbon Street hotspot

STL natives Tony, Marvin, Tony, and Jeremy enjoyed the scene on Bourbon Street in New Orleans Sunday night as they wrapped up their ESSENCE Festival experience for 2014

Monique, Tracey, Birthday girl Traci and Trina partied on Bourbon St. in New Sunday night as they celebrated Traci’s birthday @ The ESSENCE Festival

BAPS star Anisha Morrell shares a moment with her New Orleans family before the screening of the new Lifetime Network series premiere Friday afternoon during The ESSENCE FESTIVAL @ The Ernest Morial Convention Center

Cornell Boone was spending his last weeks as a single man in New Orleans as he rolled his bachelor weekend activities into ESSENCE Festival

Photos by Lawrence Bryant