Protestors pressured St. Louis police to respond to a Gas Mart at Goodfellow and Delmar where two employees had been videotaped kicking a black woman outside the store on Tuesday, July 24. Police then arrested both suspects: Jehad Motan (pictured) and Ahmed Qandeel.
By Ashley Jones
On Tuesday, July 24, two St. Louis convenience store employees, later identified as Jehad Motan and Ahmed Qandeel, were seen on video kicking a black woman, Kelli Adams, who some describe as homeless, in front of the Gas Mart at Goodfellow and Delmar. “This is a cornerstone to the
neighborhood,” said Wiley Price IV, a community activist who is running for state representative in the district. “Everybody from near and far comes to this gas station, especially since they shut down the gas station on Delmar and Skinker.”
Nearly an hour later, members of the community gathered in protest to shut the store down, make sure that Adams received medical attention, and see that the store managers were arrested. Their main goal was
to block business for the convenience store.
“We decided that they’re done for the day,” Price said. “They didn’t need to make any more money in our community. I come up here all the time. I have been coming up here for years.”
State Representative Bruce Franks Jr. (D-St. Louis), also an activist, contacted Price, and the two summoned other activists and
‘We do not welcome ICE in St. Louis’
By Rebecca Rivas
Of The St. Louis American
Twenty immigrant advocates and St. Louis clergy were arrested while occupying the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) office in downtown St. Louis on Thursday, July 19. With a banner stating “U.S. Funded Kidnapping” and “#AbolishICE,” the group held a sit-in at the office, located at Spruce Street and Tucker Boulevard, starting at about 3:45 p.m. Within 45 minutes, they had all been arrested. The protestors, who were mainly white clergy from various faiths, chanted, “Free the children” while being handcuffed by police. All of them were released and given citations for “making loud noise and being a nuisance.”
A driver tries to push his way through protestors at the intersection of Tucker and Spruce on Thursday, July 19. About 200 protestors assembled in front of the Robert Young Federal Building where the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) office is located.
Stenger and McCulloch avoid each other on campaign trail as both face primary challengers
By Chris King Of The St.
Four years ago, St. Louis County Prosecutor
Bob McCulloch and then-Councilman Steve Stenger were joined at the hip as Stenger campaigned for county executive. Now, with both McCulloch and Stenger running for reelection and facing formidable primary challengers, it’s hard to find the two men in the same room. They are both conservative Democrats with keen political instincts, and their instincts have led each to the same conclusion: McCulloch is too toxic for Stenger, and Stenger is too toxic for McCulloch. In 2014, McCulloch was Stenger’s biggest booster. He led an aggressive charge against Charlie Dooley, the first black to serve as St. Louis County executive, with unsubstantiated accusations of corruption and unfounded rumors of criminal investigations. McCulloch appeared in advertisements for Stenger’s county executive campaign, citing alleged federal investigations into county government and a $3.7 million construction contract being awarded to a Dooley appointee. In one ad, McCulloch stated, “This kind of corruption is a disgrace.” Despite having the full power of the law behind him, McCulloch never found anything on Dooley, as demonstrated by his failure to bring any charges against Dooley. Yet he continued to stir up rumors of corruption about Dooley despite the absence of evidence. McCulloch even gave $100,000 to Stenger’s
By
consultant Dana Kelly-Franks has been traveling to churches nationwide for the past four years, educating children 7 to 15 about finance – for free.
“What happened to me happened to my mother and it happened to her mother,” said Kelly-Franks, who owns The Firm,
Stevie J and Faith Evans elope, get matching tats
Last week, R&B singer Faith Evans and music producer/reality television star Stevie J shocked the entertainment industry when they eloped in Las Vegas.
TMZ.com is reporting that Evans didn’t even tell her children. The celebrity news and gossip site said both Stevie J and Evans’ families were extremely upset about their surprise nuptials – particularly Evans’ son, Christopher Wallace Jr., because Stevie also happens to be his godfather.
The newly married couple was inked with matching tattoos across the shoulders with their marriage date in Roman numerals.
Evans posted a picture of the tattoo while wearing
custom gold bamboo earrings that said “Mrs. Jordan.”
“Shout out to everybody who ain’t give 2 [expletive] about wtf I was doing prior to 7/17/18,” Evans captioned a follow up video of the pair singing along to Robin Thicke’s “When I Get You Alone.”
Jill Scott divorce reportedly getting petty
Celebrity news and gossip site TMZ says that it got hold of filed documents that Jill Scott’s divorce from Michael . In the documents, the couple is reportedly disputing over a “Purple Rain” album, an extended shoe horn and five hotel bath robes. Dobson claims Scott hasn’t returned the items, but Scott says otherwise. The documents say Scott tried to deliver the items to Dobson, but he failed to respond. She reportedly sent the items to a storage unit in Atlanta and sent him the key – but because he won’t pick up the items or make payments on the unit, she has been forced to pay the bill. The documents also say that bath robes were stolen by Dobson, but Scott was charged - and ultimately paid for them.
Judge to decide if Bill Cosby should be classified as ‘sexually violent predator’
According to USA Today, the judge in Bill Cosby’s sexual-assault case must now decide whether the comedian should be classified as a “sexually violent predator” on the recommendation of a Pennsylvania state board. The designation would require him to register as a sex offender for the rest of his life and undergo treatment.
USA Today says findings were revealed Tuesday when Montgomery County District Attorney Kevin R. Steele filed a motion asking Judge Steven O’Neill to set a hearing where he will decide whether or not to accept the board’s recommendation.
made three years ago about having sex with a woman who was “wasted” and “not coherent.”
An HBO spokesman told Richard Johnson of Page Six: “HBO is taking a serious look into the information that just surfaced.” That newly surfacing info is from an episode of “The Brilliant Idiots” podcast from three years ago, when Charlamagne told how, as a young man, he “got this girl real drunk,” gave her the aphrodisiac Spanish fly and had sex with her.
Charlemagne the God
Such a recommendation signals that Cosby demonstrated a number of the traits of a sexually violent predator, which state law defines as “a person convicted of one or more of a sexually violent offenses specified in the law and who has a mental abnormality or personality disorder that makes the person likely to engage in predatory sexually violent offenses.”
Charlamagne apologizes, tries to clarify comments
“Breakfast Club” co-host Charlamagne tha God apologized on Monday for comments he
When asked if she was passed out, Charlamagne replied, “She wasn’t coherent, but she was up, like when you are blacked out.”
Monday, on the same podcast, Charlamagne said, “The way I communicated that story in that clip was dead [expletive] wrong, and I apologize.”
He stressed that the sex was consensual, as was taking the Spanish fly. “I didn’t take advantage of anyone,” he said, admitting that the way he told the story “seems sketchy now.” Charlamagne, now 40, pleaded guilty in 2002 to contributing to the delinquency of a minor after a 15-year-old girl claimed he had raped her. Charlamagne’s lawyer says his client never had sexual relations or any physical contact with the accuser – and even provided DNA to prove it.
Sources: USA Today, Page Six, TMZ.com, Instagram
By Nancy Cambria For The St. Louis American
Last week the Bel-Nor Board of Aldermen crammed into their tiny meeting room with about 25 residents, both black and white.
The discussion centered on the tiny North County town’s decision to combat deteriorating properties with an aggressive inspection program that would result in citations and possible fines if the required repairs were not completed by early fall.
About 300 of BelNor’s 668 households were put on notice, including mine.
The Bel-Nor Board of Aldermen welcomed various opinions. They are trying hard to protect the beauty and future of the community.
The feeling was, this strategy is the best way to protect a town that’s withstood decades of decline experienced by nearby North County towns. Most at the meeting were in favor of the fines, saying people had to be responsible, just like everyone else. Others remained quiet.
There is no extension option built into the process. So, if you need more time to raise the cash to make the required repairs, there’s no way to appeal the city for an extension. Instead, they were reassured by a Bel-Nor police officer that if you had to go to court, the judge would show leniency if you were making progress.
Bel-Nor told me my house needed some paint. No argument there – it does. And I’m sure my neighbors think so, too. I’m not yet sure how much that is going to cost. The problem is that I have little saved for that project and no equity in my house to borrow money at a low-interest rate, so I’m not sure where the money is going to come from if I want to stay
out of municipal court. And I’m sure there are several people in the community who are in the same situation.
Surely, there has to be a better way for diverse communities struggling with housing values in North County than punishing its residents for financial factors out of their control.
In April, my mentor and colleague Dr. Jason Purnell of Washington University wrote about creating consciously inclusive communities – one of 11 recommendations in the report “Segregation in St. Louis: Dismantling the Divide.” He urged people to consider diversity and inclusion as assets that could stabilize and strengthen communities. Indeed, neighborhoods that were welcoming to all and created supportive systems for everyone could chip away at a century of policy promoting racial segregation.
Bel-Nor is an outlier when it comes to our region’s pervasive problem of black and white segregation. The town is about 48 percent AfricanAmerican and 46 percent white. It’s not like some “diverse” towns or neighborhoods where whites and
blacks don’t live on the same streets. African Americans and whites truly live side-by-side in Bel-Nor.
But, Bel-Nor is struggling to stay solvent, and some of its residents are struggling too. When the Great Recession hit, Bel-Nor took a hit in
n There has to be a better way for diverse communities struggling with housing values in North County than punishing its residents for financial factors out of their control.
housing values. After Mike Brown was killed, Bel-Nor took another hit. A few walked away from their houses because they were tens of thousands of dollars underwater. A man down the street lost his home to the bank and stripped out all of the crystal doorknobs and the Central AC
compressor on his way out the door.
Opportunistic landlords swooped in on depressed home values and converted houses into student rentals. And, some housing declined.
Indeed, all of these factors point to the possibility that Bel-Nor, though diverse and blessed with beautiful housing stock, could transition to another poor North County disinvested community.
I love my town, and I don’t want this to happen. I want it to remain diverse. I want it to remain pretty and maintained. And I want it to thrive. Preserving the housing is critical. But I don’t want people ostracized in the process. I want people to feel included and part of a real community.
At this meeting, I asked the group to consider doing away with punitive fines and consider more inclusive, supportive and creative solutions that don’t ostracize its vulnerable residents in the courts – or put others in jeopardy of leaving or walking away.
I urge them to keep thinking about this.
This could include working more closely with homeowners on tiered
Bel-Nor has decided to combat deteriorating properties with an aggressive inspection program that would result in citations and possible fines if the required repairs were not completed by early fall.
Photo by Nancy Cambria
improvement plans so the repairs get done over time. Better partnerships with families could help them find needed credit and resources. Even creating a swap system of yard and exterior upkeep work between families with different skills could help. On a bigger policy scale, lobbying could yield incentives that encourage stability in transitional neighborhoods so people don’t leave – maybe by offering residents in these neighborhoods college tuition breaks in state schools, or arrangements with UMSL and/or WashU to entice investment in neighborhoods that house faculty. (WashU is already offering staff and faculty incentives to buy home in certain parts of the city). Or, the Board of Aldermen could actively lobby on the recommendations in “Segregation in St. Louis: Dismantling the Divide.” They include St. Louis County establishing an Affordable Housing Trust Fund. Or the creation of a Greenlining Fund so people can borrow money to improve underappraised homes. They could consider applying for support for home stabilization through community reinvestment groups. And they could start talking about how our differences make us stronger if we stick together. Neighborhoods certainly benefit from well-maintained housing, and Bel-Nor leaders are tackling hard issues. But better policy and inclusive and caring relationships can also build strong, stable communities. There is a better way if we start demanding it. Nancy Cambria is the communications manager for the Washington University initiative Health Equity Works (formerly For the Sake of All).
We are witnessing the dawning of a new day in St. Louis politics. For decades, there were two viable political parties in the region, white Democrats and black Democrats. Increasingly, this division is evolving into something much more promising, at least for minorities who are tired of losing elections where a majority (or plurality) of votes wins: conservative Democrats and progressive Democrats. This shifting electoral landscape was shown most clearly in the recent St. Louis mayoral election, when the only white candidate narrowly beat one of several black candidates because progressive voters across racial lines coalesced around one candidate who happened to be black. At The St. Louis American, this shift is bringing more white candidates into our editorial board room. These candidates now realize that, while a voice of the region’s black community primarily, we also support progressive policies, regardless of race. Moreover, many of our progressive readers are not black. More white candidates running against white candidates to represent a majoritywhite district are soliciting our endorsement now and compelling us to consider primary races that in the past would have escaped our notice.
We are pleased to have been compelled to notice – and motivated to endorse – the candidacies of two white Democrats running against white candidates to represent majority-white districts in the August 7 Democratic primary: Sam Gladney in the 87th District and Steve Butz in the 81st District. These are very different candidates running in very different districts, however, and as a result are being endorsed for distinct reasons.
U.S. Army combat veteran, he has worked in an organization with a more daunting mission than police departments and seen it do much better at punishing officers and soldiers who break the rules and law than police departments do, so he will demand police accountability. As someone who has substantial budgeting experience as an Army officer, he will be a strong and more effective advocate for progressive values in the state budget. We strongly endorse SAm GlADney foR 87th DiStRict StAte RePReSentAtive
Sam Gladney is running to replace the termlimited white progressive Stacey Newman in a district (encompassing all of Clayton, University City south of Delmar, most of Richmond Heights, and parts of Brentwood and Ladue) that is going to elect a progressive Democrat in any case. Indeed, Gladney’s primary opponent, Ian Mackey, is also an excellent candidate. But we were struck by Gladney’s pragmatism as someone who would face a Republican supermajority leadership. If Republicans want to force women who get pregnant to give birth to children, then they should provide tax credits for early childhood care. If Republicans cherish liberty, then they should abolish private parole vendors that have a profit incentive to find that ex-offenders have violated their parole. If Republicans want to impose a photo ID requirement for people to vote, then they should at least let people vote early. If Republicans hate government, then they should demand fairness and transparency in government. As a
Steve Butz is running for an open seat in the 81st House District head-to-head against a candidate – Travis Estes – who, frankly, is more progressive, if for no other reason than Estes would protect the right to a safe and legal abortion, whereas Butz, a Catholic, would restrict the abortion option to pregnancies resulting from rape or incest or that endanger the health or life of the expectant woman. But, as Butz points out, “Roe v. Wade is the law of the land,” at least for now, and that’s nothing a state representative can change. He also would legislate for “access to all legal methods of birth control” to help prevent unwanted pregnancies. Further, we believe he is right in claiming that his district, the Catholicdominated southernmost reaches of St. Louis city, may favor his stance on abortion rights over his opponent’s. More importantly, we believe a moderate like Butz will be a better representative for his district in Jefferson City than a more staunch progressive. “We have a Republican supermajority that needs to be reined in,” he said, “and I am uniquely qualified to speak to them.” We agree, and can cite two examples. Missouri needs to expand Medicaid, but Republicans have refused to do so. Butz, who owns an insurance company, said Medicaid could in effect be expanded by moving to a sliding scale for who does and doesn’t qualify for benefits, rather than the rigid cutoff point in place now – without “expanding Medicaid” per se. Also, Missouri needs to raise the minimum wage, but Republicans keep defeating even the raises enacted by cities. His solution? Index the minimum wage to inflation, and the wage starts to rise without “raising the minimum wage.” Surprisingly to some, perhaps, in this race we think the less progressive Democrat will be the more effective legislator for most progressive values and endorse Steve Butz foR 81St DiStRict StAte RePReSentAtive.
PReviouSly enDoRSeD: J.P. JohnSon foR 79th DiStRict StAte RePReSentAtive, Wiley PRice iv foR 84th DiStRict StAte RePReSentAtive.
To many of us, the July 7 Clayton Police encounter with the 10 black Washington university students looked like business as usual, except that Washington University’s officialdom was compelled to call out the city and its police. This unusual move on behalf of wrongly detained students forced apologies and pledges, as the city manager – not the police chief, not the elected mayor – promised to “do better.”
The university says it is making great efforts to recruit a diverse student body, but the kind of national attention to our region’s business-as-usual policing of young African Americans is not helpful. Washington University rightly put pressure on Clayton over this one incident, but the overall problem is ongoing and the university’s involvement on a day-to-day basis is not. With the initial reluctance of the Clayton police chief to acknowledge the problem, giving an initial “apology” that only added insult to injury, how will we know when Clayton – or any municipal policing agency – is doing better? The problem deserves more than a deep examination of one high-profile incident. Do the remedies that Clayton promises
address the problem? Do the city and its police really know they have a problem? Instead of looking at their practices and results, will the police look to those, such as Bill McClellan of the PostDispatch, who found the Clayton Police blameless. How? By shifting blame to
n What will the data from Clayton and other areas show a year from now, after Clayton Police try to “do better.”
“black kids” and MetroLink, in McClellan’s column. If MetroLink had turnstiles and transit police gave tickets to fare jumpers, McClellan wrote, then “black kids” – criminals – would find it harder to make their way to the IHOP, the Galleria and other beleaguered businesses. If our memory of greatest hits in local racism serves, this is the same insight St. Charles voters showed in 1996 when they rejected a sales tax to bring MetroLink to their county.
This is tragic, in that the white-flight sensibility that
On the August 7 primary ballot, Missouri voters will be asked to affirm or reject Proposition A, which would enact a policy disingenuously known as “Right to Work.” The policy would effectively nullify unions’ ability to collect what is known as a “fair share” fee from non-union members who benefit from union contracts. This would impose an additional burden on unions that depend on member dues to support negotiations with employers for contracts and representation in worker grievances. The passage of Prop A would make it more difficult for unions to bargain for better wages and benefits and to protect workers against workplace harassment and unfair termination. We do not always line up behind unions, because many of them have their own histories of racial discrimination that continue, in some cases, until the present day. But Right to Work (RTW) laws have been shown to diminish the wages
of black workers (indeed, all workers), whether they are unionized or not. According to an Economic Policy Institute study of wage data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics for 2010-2017, in RTW states, black workers’ wages are on average 11.5 percent less than in non-RTW states like Missouri, while white and Hispanic workers can expect
n The Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. decried RTW as a “law to deprive us of our civil rights and job rights.”
fears the MetroLink only creates a vicious circle. The MetroLink is for many lowincome residents a passport to a better economic future, when it is economic hardship – deeply concentrated for generations in the black community in the segregated St. Louis region –that deprives so many black youth of the opportunities and experiences that might groom them into Wash. U freshmen, rather than the juvenile delinquents that the Clayton cops and the repellant Bill McClellan see whenever they look at “black kids.”
What will the data from Clayton and other areas show a year from now, after Clayton Police try to “do better,” after the anti-bias training they are supposed to receive? Will police receive sensitivity training and will it make changes in behavior?
To be specific, will the data show that police continue to presume that “black kids” are criminal suspects rather than, as in this and most other cases, paying customers? We urge Washington University to continue its inside game in forcing change in how Clayton – and St. Louis – polices its black students and all black people in the region.
Racist past of Proposition A
On August 7, voters will have a chance to shape the future of Missouri. Proposition A, if passed, would make Missouri a “right to work” state, in which unions would be required to represent nonmembers but could not charge them for this representation, thereby weakening the power of organized labor.
In considering Proposition A, it is important to keep in mind that “right to work” laws have a history steeped in racism from the 1940s segregationist South. The pioneer of these laws was Texas businessman Vance Muse, who described himself proudly as a “believer in white supremacy.” He viewed unions as an evil which would lead to integration, and made it his mission to crush them. By the time of his death on 1950, 11 states had passed “right to work” laws.
The pernicious nature of these laws was recognized by leaders of the Civil Rights Movement. As Dr. King, who was assassinated while fighting for striking sanitation workers, noted, “We must guard against being fooled by false slogans such as ‘right to work.’ It is a law to rob us of our civil rights and job rights.”
As demonstrated by the heroic strike at the Christian Care facility in Ferguson, black workers, especially black women, have been critical to the success of the labor movement, and will be most hurt by the attack on unions.
The racism which is the past and future of “right to work” demands a “no” vote on Proposition A on August 7.
Greg Campbell Creve Coeur
Like many others in my community, I was completely outraged by the racial profiling by the Clayton Police Department of 10 incoming Washington University freshmen after the local IHOP restaurant reported a “dine and dash” incident involving black suspects.
Washington University is a jewel in our community, and students of all backgrounds and race deserve to be treated humanely and with respect. As the state legislator representing the Clayton community, as well as the Danforth Campus of Washington University in St. Louis, I expect better of local law enforcement. Racial discrimination of any kind is not a value of mine nor should be of our community.
I met with a concerned group of Washington University professors, staff, area law enforcement and other local
elected officials, including the father of one of the young students involved. We collectively expressed our anger as we identified policies and next steps to hold law enforcement, Clayton local elected officials and local businesses accountable. Our goal is to assure that these types of racial profiling and racial discrimination stop.
As a mother, I am incensed that young students were treated in such a dehumanizing manner, even after they showed receipts to the Clayton officers, which should have been proof enough. An apology by the City of Clayton stated the cost of criminal activity by those who “dine and dash” leaves the “community open to collateral damage such as this incident.”
I stand with Washington University administrators, professors, staff, parents and students. These 10 young black students are NOT collateral damage, but youth who were scared, humiliated and wrongly accused of a crime. This is simply not acceptable in my community and I will not stand idly by.
State Rep. Stacey Newman Richmond Heights
Downtown condo represents economic divide
On the corner of 15th and Locust stands the Terra Cotta Lofts, a large white condominium building from which the initial petition came declaring the New Life Evangelistic Center a nuisance. For those living in the white bubble, NLEC’s homeless clients are a nuisance. To those living in the great white bubble, the homeless disturbed their attempts to segregate from the “lower class.”
This great white bubble stands as a monument to the great divide, separating the haves and the have nots. The rehab of this building was considered by many a symbol of progress in the newfangled “Loft District.” With the poor and homeless pushed out of the neighborhood, white millennials with money took over.
Downtown West now exemplifies the two cities of St. Louis: One made up of those who have money and power, the other consisting of the powerless and poor. The great divide of our city, and country, is not only illustrated along Delmar, but downtown between 13th and 15th streets.
This white bubble of isolationism must be broken.
Allowing only those who look like you onto a public street (Locust) is not only fundamentally unfair, it’s a recipe for urban unrest.
No amount of police will be able to contain the chaos
resulting from the growing white bubble of isolationism. The cries for justice will only get louder, along with the cries of the despairing homeless men, women and children. The homeless who are presently locked out of their church at 1411 Locust must be allowed re-entry. The golden rule as taught by Jesus Christ is: “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.” This golden rule will burst the great white bubble and bring out the beloved community of diversity that is so desperately needed in our city.
Rev. Larry Rice St. Louis
to 15.1 percent and 8.3 percent less, respectively, if Prop A is passed. The impact is even more stark for women, with wages 19 percent lower for white women, 14 percent lower for Hispanic women and 13 percent lower for black women in RTW states. It also is instructive to remember the racist history of RTW laws with their roots in white supremacists in the South opposing unions in the 1930s that promoted solidarity across racial lines. The Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. decried RTW as a “law to deprive us of our civil rights and job rights.” We believe that – while many unions have their own internal historic racism to overcome – in general unions are an essential part of our democracy in protecting what remains of a middle class in a nation with ever-deepening economic inequality. But passage of Prop A, over time, will weaken unions and diminish the wages for all workers, whether or not a union bargains for their wages and benefits. Only the wealthy will benefit from the passage of Prop A. Our advocacy, however, is for workers and the poor. We strongly and eagerly endorse a vote of no on PRoPoSition A. The
Cameron Adair, Ja’vion Golden, Frederick Hurt II, Kelvin McLemore, Amarria Mumphard, Jeremy Murphy, Donnell Sharp, Trevor Stephens, Kendall J. Tramble, and Valerie Whitted were awarded scholarships from Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity Inc. St. Louis Alumni Chapter. Each of the high school graduates received $1,000 and were honored at a dinner earlier this summer.
Operation Food Search is accepting applications for its afterschool meal program through the Child and Adult Care Food Program, which provides nutritious snacks to fuel the minds and bodies of children at the end of each school day. To qualify as a site for this service, locations must be a non-profit organization that provides children with enrichment programming outside of school hours. Additional stipulations include staff and volunteers attending annual training, as well as sites being located in an area where the majority of students at the local public school receive free or reduced meal benefits. To apply, visit operationfoodsearch.org/cacfp-application/.
The St. Louis Area Violence Prevention Commission has launched the “It Starts With Us” youth leadership program, which will award 20 grants of up to $2,500 to youth-led projects that are designed to create positive, safe, and fun spaces.
St. Louis youth (between the ages of 15-25) are encouraged to develop proposals for projects. As an informal group or in partnership with community organizations, youth can submit project ideas that encourage growth in youth leadership, artistic expression, community improvement, civic engagement, and life skills development.
Interested youth may submit an application and include an overview of their idea, the opportunity they see in their community, why it matters to them and what they would like to do about it by visiting the social media sites of the St. Louis Area Violence Prevention Commission. To apply, visit https:// tinyurl.com/yc3mw8qc.
By Charlene Crowell For The St. Louis American
With 44 million people together owing $1.5 trillion in student debt, consumers have a huge investment in higher education. And as the price of college continues to rise, student loan borrowing will continue its upward trajectory. At the same time, bad actors with little or no regard for honesty or even legality have been the focus of many investigations, lawsuits, and settlements at both the state and federal levels of government. When branches of government work collaboratively, particularly in sharing related information, consumers are protected and these bad actors are held accountable.
the authority to pursue alleged fraud if there was no effort at the federal level. In short, this memo attempted to preempt state laws and related prosecutions.
So why would Education Secretary Betsy DeVos recently take actions to end good government practices of cooperation? In June, the Education Department gave notice that it is revising its policy on disclosing student loan information to law enforcement agencies. In effect, this action reversed a decade-long practice in which the federal government routinely disclosed student loan information on request to state attorneys general and other federal agencies (AGs) who are investigating potential civil fraud and crime.
Starting last summer, student loan servicers like Navient have been lobbying DeVos to shield them from liability for their practices. And it’s worked. Despite objections from a bi-partisan group of AGs, the National Association of Governors, and the Conference of State Bank Supervisors, DeVos and the Department of Education have increasingly made it more difficult for state and federal law enforcement agencies to do their jobs by retracting information sharing agreements with the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) and instructing servicers not to share student loan information with state law enforcement and banking supervisors.
This March, the department published a memo declaring that state consumer protection laws “undermined” federal regulator requirements. This perspective had no legal basis. The Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform Act explicitly granted AGs
Some could contend that these developments are an effort to stop AGs from doing their jobs. The CFPB, FTC, and state AGs will not have access to the information they need to enforce the law. But with a departmental notice published in the Federal Register, the Education Department’s intent has become clear: Defrauded student loan borrowers will have to look to the Education Department for relief. And if it has no information, we can all wave goodbye to enforcement actions and financial fairness. Had the Education Department been actively working with CFPB on student loan fraud, there might be a valid explanation. But instead, the department has been undermining investigations and enforcement actions at every turn.
So let’s recap: Under Secretary DeVos, the Education Department ended its cooperative relationship with CFPB and tried to preempt states from enforcing their own statutes. Now, the decision to withhold related information on active state and federal investigations becomes yet another road block to financial fairness.
A coalition representing 20 state AGs sent Secretary DeVos a July 13 letter.
“The higher education industry requires vigilance and vigorous enforcement from state law enforcement agencies,” wrote the AGs. “We are particularly concerned by predatory practices in the for-profit schools’ industry…We respectfully submit that the Department is making a mistake.”
Consumer advocates agree with the AGs.
“If it wasn’t clear before, it certainly is now,” observed Whitney Barkley-Denney, a senior policy counsel with the Center for Responsible Lending. “The Department of Education and Secretary DeVos are more interested in shielding corporate actors like Navient and for-profit colleges from taking responsibility for their bad acts.”
Charlene Crowell is the Center for Responsible Lending’s Communications Deputy Director. She can be reached at Charlene.crowell@responsiblelending.org.
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At the same time as the sit-in, a rally and march was held in front of the Eagleton Courthouse at 111 S 10th Street. About 100 protestors then marched to Spruce and Tucker and shut down the intersection for more than an hour. Another person was arrested during the protest in the streets, bringing the total arrests to 21.
“We want to send a message that we do not welcome ICE in St. Louis,” Amanda Tello, a community organizer for Missouri Immigrant and Refugee Advocates (MIRA), said in an interview with The St. Louis American prior to the action. “Most of our actions have not been targeted at ICE, and so it was time to let them know that we see them and that we don’t want them here.”
Tello said ICE has been breaking up families in St. Louis using enforcement practices that “seek to profit from the imprisonment of our families, friends and neighbors.”
“People are being kidnapped,” Tello said. “People are disappearing. It’s all on ICE and how they are working with police and with local politicians.”
Rev. Darryl Gray, a local protest leader, spoke at the rally and emphasized the importance of black and brown communities standing together. Several of the Latino protestors have also been active in Ferguson and Jason Stockley verdict protests.
A press release announcing the march stated that the
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Kelly-Franks developed a curriculum to teach children about basic finance, such as how much of their household’s income goes to taxes, insurance and expenses. Helping her community become more finance-savvy is a passion for Kelly-Franks, which is what led her to turn her attention to the St. Louis License Collector’s Office.
In 2016, she had two clients – both owners of adult daycares – who lost their businesses because they got tangled up in the business-licensing process.
“They needed some handholding through the process, but they weren’t given that,”
action was supported by area organizations including MIRA, Cosecha MO, Artivists STL, the St. Louis InterFaith Committee on Latin America, and Latinos en Axion STL, along with faith leaders
Kelly-Franks said. Ultimately, they ended up paying too much in rent waiting for their business licenses and couldn’t get off the ground. Kelly-Franks decided to take a deeper look into the office.
“I still had confidence that the leadership was doing their job,” said Kelly-Franks, referring to License Collector Mavis T. Thompson. “Then I looked into other cities and what they are doing with the office for their residents. I thought, ‘Wow, this could be better. I could do this. Oh my God, should I do this?’”
Previously, the Ferguson unrest had moved her to become more politically active, just like husband, state Rep. Bruce Franks Jr. (D-St. Louis). Franks was a frontline
and advocates.
Vivian Garcia, a 19-yearold Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) college student and another organizer of the action, said she has not participated in many demonstrations.
“I thought things were just going to calm down, but they’ve gotten worse,” Garcia told The American. “We’re not even talking about being undocumented. This is literally
Ferguson activist who moved from the streets to the ballot to challenge incumbent Penny Hubbard and, after a lawsuit over Hubbard’s use of absentee ballots and a resulting special election, he won the seat. Now KellyFranks will challenge Thompson in the August 7 Democratic primary. In October 2013, thenGov. Jay Nixon appointed Thompson as license collector after Michael McMillan stepped down to take over leadership of the Urban
n “I looked into other cities and what they are doing with the office for their residents. I thought, ‘Wow, this could be better. I could do this.’”
– Dana Kelly-Franks
League of Metropolitan St. Louis. She went on to win the primary and general elections in 2014, making her the first African-American female to serve the city in two different citywide elected offices; previously she served as circuit clerk for the 22nd Judicial Circuit. When asked about her challenger and upcoming election, Thompson said, “Anybody has the right to run for election. I’m excited about the race. We are full steam ahead and hope to bring in a victory. We will continue to modernize the office and streamline procedures.”
As part of Kelly-Franks’ platform, she promises to “eliminate the office as it stands.”
“It’s disenfranchising, and it’s not a true service to the people,” Kelly-Franks said. “It needs a complete overhaul.”
She aims to modernize the office, which she believes will in turn make more money for the city, she said. She proposes to get more certified minority business enterprises and
humanity being caged. This is literally children ripped away from their parents. Although we are in the Midwest, we have a part as humans to help this situation.”
About 2,600 immigrant and
build up the office’s business and financial empowerment initiatives.
“The office can do better revenue-wise,” Kelly-Franks said. “We are missing out on millions a year by not having a business center that is in the 21st century. It’s basic math.”
Thompson told The American that modernizing the office is harder than it sounds.
“We came with fresh and modern ideas, but City Hall is very far behind,” Thompson said. “We are waiting for the city to catch up on our vision.”
For example, her office ordered tablets for field workers to use to streamline procedures, but they had to send them back because the city’s operating system is so outdated, she said.
Businesses can now file online, but that took four years to accomplish because of the city’s website, Thompson said. Some of her critics have said that her office should move out of City Hall, as in Kansas City. However, Thompson said that state statute requires her office to remain in City Hall.
In her campaign material, Kelly-Franks says that she’s running for office “in the streets that I’ve literally slept in.”
“At age 15, I found myself homeless with a newborn, not sure where we would sleep,”
refugee children have been separated from their parents at the U.S.-Mexico border, as part of President Trump’s “zero tolerance” immigration policy that he rolled out in April. Some of those children have been sent to St. Louis. Lawsuits have alleged neglect and abuse of these children in detention. The administration must meet a July 26 court-ordered deadline to reunify children with their parents, but progress has been extremely slow.
On July 17, Democratic U.S. senators unveiled the Reunite Every Unaccompanied Newborn Infant, Toddler and Other Children Expeditiously (REUNITE) bill, which aims to speed up the family reunification process and calls for the establishment of a permanent system to ensure the protection of detained immigrants with children.
Tello said the best way St. Louisans can get involved is to call their U.S. senators.
“They say they can’t do anything, but it’s because they don’t think they have the support from the community,” Tello said of the senators.
Call U.S. Senator Claire McCaskill (D-MO) at (202) 224-6154. Call U.S. Senator Roy Blunt (R-MO) at (202) 224-5721.
Garcia hopes that the action inspires more St. Louisans to come out and show their dissent of the way immigrants and refugees are being treated. More than half of the people who occupied the building were white.
Garcia said, “And I hope that my community realizes that we do have allies.”
she states on her website.
“Over the next two decades, I built a career in the corporate finance industry, became a published author, founded the non-profit Sheroes, Inc. and launched my own financial business where we have 900 clients.” At 16, she learned how to do business taxes in her contract law class. That led her to become certified to sell insurance and then later a financial advisor. In 2000, she started a corporate career with State Farm Insurance Companies as an administrative assistant.
“I put my head down and got to work,” she said, “and in less than two years, I was managing multiple agency portfolios, increasing revenue for each agency’s portfolio by an average of 55 percent.”
When she left the corporate world to start her own accounting business, she was a single parent and made no income for one year. Yet in her second year, she doubled her income as an accountant, she said.
“I’ve been extremely blessed,” she said. “When people say, ‘I decided to jump off and God caught me,’ that is so true on my end.”
Continued from A1
neighborhood members to the area.
“We saw a video where a young lady got kicked by the store owner,” Franks said.
“The man walked away, walked back up, and kicked her. That ain’t happening, so folks are talking about taking their community back.”
together in protest and blocking the store’s entrance for police officers to finally take action and arrest the suspects in the video.
n “We saw a video where a young lady got kicked by the store owner. The man walked away, walked back up, and kicked her. That ain’t happening.”
Six police vehicles arrived at the scene, though an ambulance did not arrive to attend to Adams until 30 minutes after the incident. It took the community coming
– State Rep. Bruce Franks Jr.
Continued from A1 campaign fund.
Since then, there have been no reports of the Stenger/ McCulloch relationship souring. And the two have worked together on some initiatives, some controversial, like dramatically increasing McCulloch’s salary and pension. But the two have not been seen together on the campaign trail. Which leaves one to wonder: Why are they avoiding each other this time around? The best answer seems to be that they are afraid of each other’s political baggage. McCulloch is anathema in the black community and among civil rights advocates. Although long a controversial figure, it was McCulloch’s handling of the Darren Wilson case that tipped the scales in the black community as well as among progressives. Aside from sometimes criticizing the
The Circuit Attorney’s Office has since issued arrest warrants for one count of Assault 4th Degree, against Jehad Motan, 32, and Ahmed Qandeel, 19. “If we wouldn’t have come here, the police wouldn’t have shown up,” said Rev. Darryl Gray, a protest organizer. “The police are here to protect and serve, but it is pretty clear who they choose to protect. In this community we are policing ourselves, and we shouldn’t have to put ourselves on the line like that.”
municipal court system, the only times McCulloch has entered the public dialogue in the past four years have been to selfishly seek more and more money. First he tried to secretly increase his pension so that he would collect a pension that was $10,000 more than his current salary, and then he backed Proposition P, a sales tax increase that boosted McCulloch’s salary and that of his top staff. Since his re-election campaign began, Stenger has tried to make inroads into the black community. He appointed the county’s first chief diversity officer, signed an executive order banning the felon box on county job applications, and has started popping up at black churches. Surely Stenger knows that the closer he is seen as being aligned with McCulloch, the harder it will be to win black votes. And there are plenty of reasons why McCulloch would want to avoid Stenger. Stenger’s tenure as county executive has
The protest successfully shut down the facility’s business by protestors blocking gas pumps with their cars and standing in front of the entrance.
“The thing about protests is there has to be attainable
been marked by division, insider deals, absenteeism and mismanagement. The insider deal with the biggest price tag – a roughly $75 million lease that Stenger gave to his largest campaign contributors – dwarfs the $3.7 million construction contract that so outraged McCulloch about Dooley.
The County Council’s Ethics Committee conducted a months-long investigation into the lease and found that normal and customary practices in County government were not followed. The Ethics Committee referred further investigations to the Missouri attorney general and the U.S. attorney. McCulloch – so keen to allege corruption of Dooley – has shown no interest in much more blatant evidence of possible corruption by Stenger. Stenger also failed in his move to redevelop Jamestown Mall. County taxpayers own Jamestown Mall, but Stenger decided to invest $75 million with his campaign contributors at the
goals,” Price said. “This sends a clear message in our neighborhood that we don’t go for this.”
After the suspects were arrested and Adams was safely taken away in an ambulance,
old Northwest Plaza. That left Jamestown Mall to languish, until Stenger promised a new effort to revitalize it. Then his administration botched the bidding process, resulting in the county only receiving one bid: a developer (who, it won’t be a surprise, is a Stenger campaign donor) with plans to turn Jamestown Mall into a trucking center. When the County Council held a hearing to look into the bidding process, nobody from Stenger’s administration showed up to answer their questions.
Stenger has tried to rebuild a bridge the leads to a campaign donor’s house. The rebuilt bridge would have led to a 10,000-square-foot mansion on a stately six acres. The mansion is appraised at $2.2 million. The bridge alone, which Stenger asked taxpayers to fund, would have cost $2.5 million. And public records indicate that the county had previously taken the position that the county did not even own the bridge. Luckily for taxpayers, the bridge
Kelli Adams belatedly received medical attention after being kicked by two employees of a Gas Mart at Goodfellow and Delmar, Jehad Motan and Ahmed Qandeel, who were caught on videotape on Tuesday, July 24.
protestors continued to gather blocking the entrance and gas pumps chanting the words “locked down.”
“You can’t kick no black woman and feel comfortable,” said Brother Anthony Shaheed,
project never made it through the County Council.
Then there was Stenger’s decision to give police officers a raise while leaving other county employees at status quo. It is hard to reconcile Proposition P’s goal of increasing salaries for public safety workers with Stenger’s decision not to increase the salaries of those who work directly with prisoners in the county’s criminal justice system – a largely black workforce. Stenger vetoed the County Council’s attempts to correct his mismanagement and is now refusing to honor an ordinance passed overriding his veto.
Stenger can’t even seem to get the simple things right. Although the County Charter requires the county executive to attend County Council meetings, Stenger completely missed a large portion of council meetings in 2018; when he does attend, he routinely leaves halfway through the meeting.
Several weeks ago, Stenger
a veteran protestor. “This place is locked down.”
Shemika Russell, who videotaped the assault, said she is a longtime customer at the Gas Mart, and so is Adams, though Adams also panhandles outside the store. That day, Adams had asked her friend to buy lottery tickets for her because the owners refused to let her in the store. The store attendants wouldn’t let her friend purchase the tickets, so Adams became “irritated,” Russell said.
That’s when the owners came after her.
“I uploaded that video because I see stuff that happens as far as violence on a regular basis,” Russell said. “I never caught something like that on camera. I posted it just to let people in the area know. Once it happened and it’s not on camera, no one’s going to believe her because of how she looks or what she does.”
met with Republican Governor Mike Parson. When he finally did show up for a County Council meeting following this meeting, Council Chair Sam Page asked Stenger to report on his meeting with the new governor. Stenger promised he would provide the council a written report, but has failed to do so. So it is that Stenger has become toxic to McCulloch. The irony of seeing McCulloch appear in Stenger ads about law enforcement investigations and corruption this time around is simply too much, even for Stenger and McCulloch. Both are saddled with political baggage and are at the mercy of African-American voters, who form a huge segment of the vote in a Democratic primary.
“McCulloch and Stenger are just different sides of the same coin,” Councilwoman Hazel Erby said. “As long as they’re in office, St. Louis County will be stuck driving in reverse.”
The St. Louis American Foundation recently held its third annual Summer Science Academy for high-achieving 4th - 6th grade students. The STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) Camp was held at Little Creek Nature Area in the Ferguson-Florissant School District. Participating students were a part of The St. Louis American’s nationally-acclaimed Newspaper in Education program and were nominated by their teachers as a “Science Star,” with a high interest in and excitement for science. The two-week, intensive summer science program was free to the participating students, through a partnership with Boeing, and featured guest speakers from organizations including the Saint Louis Zoo, Boeing, KSDK, The Illinois State Police Forensics Lab, Unwrap You with Coach Melody, Dr. Edgar Everett, Two Rivers National Wildlife Refuge and others! Participating students experienced two weeks of self-directed research, hands-on lessons, individual and group experiments/engineering activities, indoor and outdoor challenges and environmental education.
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, a selfprofessed Democratic socialist and advocate of universal healthcare and free higher education for all, defeated incumbent U.S. Rep. Joe Crowley in her New York City Democratic congressional primary last month. Her remarkable upset win made national headlines and hinted at a possible shift in the Democratic Party toward more progressive candidates.
Now, she is on the campaign trail far from New York, hoping to aid other candidates in mirroring her primary success. On Saturday, July 21, OcasioCortez came to St. Louis to stump for Florissant resident and congressional candidate Cori Bush, who is running against incumbent U.S. Rep. Wm. Lacy Clay (D-MO) in the Democratic primary on August 7. DeMarco K. Davidson and Joshua Shipp also are on the ballot.
movement for economic, social and racial justice knows no zip code, and we’re going to take that fight everywhere. We’re not just going to take that where it’s safe.”
“What I’m asking for you to do is to support my sister Cori Bush,”
Ocasio-Cortez told the hundreds who came to the Ready Room to support Bush’s congressional run. “Support her because she supports improved and expanded Medicare for all. Support her, because she believes in tuition free college. Support her because she believes in criminal justice reform and ending the war on drugs. Support her because she believes in a green New Deal to save our climate and our planet for our future.”
She and Ocasio-Cortez are two of a kind. They are both part of the Brand New Congress/Justice Democrats group. Both are also political outsiders who hope to reshape the face of their party. Bush previously ran for the U.S. Senate in 2016, garnering 13 percent of the Democratic primary vote.
Nancy Pelosi, house minority leader, has repeatedly characterized the Ocasio-Cortez win in the Bronx as an anomaly, saying, “They made a choice in one district,” and that her brand of grassroots politics would not be able to thrive outside of a place like New York’s 14th District.
“It is so important what we did,’” said Ocasio-Cortez. “We just came off of this win in New York, but people were trying to say, ‘It’s just one place.’ But we know that the movement for working people, the
Bush, a nurse, pastor and activist from St. Louis, is setting out to prove Pelosi wrong on August 7. She is fighting to defeat Clay, who has never lost an election. He follows in the footsteps of his father, William “Bill” Clay, who held his seat from 1969 until Lacy succeeded him in 2001. In an interview with St. Louis Public Radio, Clay seemed unconcerned about an electoral upset like Crowley experienced. “I campaign vigorously, and I bring my list of accomplishments, achievements, my level of service to this community,” Clay said. “And then [I] share that with the voters going into an election. And then, they make the call.”
Some have questioned Bush’s decision to run in a district that is already solidly blue. Bush, however, believes that as a nurse, a protestor both in Ferguson and during the Jason Stockley verdict unrest, and a community member, she will be able to bring something to the table that Clay does not have.
“Today, she is fighting for a seat that many people would say, ‘Her opponent, he’s okay, he’s just okay,’” Adam Kustra of Mobilize Missouri said during Saturday’s rally. “But you know what? Just okay is not okay anymore.”
The speakers at the rally came from all walks of life. LGBT activist Stephen Houldsworth and drag queen Maxi Glamour kicked off the festivities, and were followed by disability activists, members of the Hispanic Federation of St. Louis, Asian-American political activists, union organizers, and prominent Ferguson protest movement leaders.
What both Ocasio-Cortez and Bush are banking on is their grassroots appeal, and their ability to advocate for others, as neither of them has previously held political office.
But state Rep. Bruce Franks Jr. (D-St. Louis) said at the rally that a lack of experience in office doesn’t necessarily mean candidates like Bush lack experience representing and
Photo by Sophie Hurwitz
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, who upset incumbent U.S. Rep. Joe Crowley in her New York City Democratic congressional primary last month, stumped for Missouri 1st District congressional candidate Cori Bush at the Ready Room on Saturday, July 21. Bush is running against incumbent U.S. Rep. Wm. Lacy Clay (D-MO), who has never lost an election.
advocating for others.
“When you fight in the streets each and every day for the people, when you fight for criminal justice reform, when you fight for higher education and free education, when you fight for Medicare for all, when you fight for black lives, when you fight for LGBTQ lives, when you fight for our immigrant population, when you fight — that’s enough representing for me!” said Franks. Franks has already done what Bush hopes to do by expanding his activism from the protest community into elected office.
On April 23, Bush’s car was hit by a driver who ran a red light, and she
suffered severe back and neck injuries. Since then, she been able to do very little but stay in bed. Her life has been “turned upside down,” she said, because she cannot work as a nurse while injured. She had to be carried into her son’s high school graduation ceremony. Some people probably thought she should pull her name out of the election, Bush told The St. Louis American in a recent interview.
“I’m a one-income household,” Bush told the American. “I couldn’t pay my rent. I couldn’t pay my bills. I have two children to take care of. And I have health insurance that still was costing a lot of money. I was still able
to see the things that our community goes through. That’s why I have to go.”
Saturday was a long day of campaigning with Ocasio-Cortez, and Bush was visibly in pain at some points. However, she knows her pain is temporary, she said but the pain of her community is not.
“I’m standing here, in pain,” Bush said at the rally. “I’m standing here with a jacked-up neck and a jacked-up back and a jacked-up pelvis, but I’m standing here. They haven’t been able to push me back or shut me up or sit me down yet. Because you’re worth it. We won’t back down.”
St. Louis Deputy Police Chief Lawrence O’Toole - who served as interim chief during a national search to replace Sam Dotson – has filed a racial discrimination suit for his being passed over for top cop in favor of John Hayden. This finally answers an enduring mystery of city government –namely, that Charles Bryson remains director of the city’s Civil Rights Enforcement Agency.
Then-Mayor Francis G. Slay dumped Bryson there after briefly elevating him to director of Public Safety so a black man would be seen on TV demoting the city’s first black fire chief, Sherman George. George was resisting making promotions from a list based on a test that he opposed and that heavily favored white firefighters in test scores. At the time, Slay’s chief of staff Jeff Rainford was still talking to The American, which would not last long, and he told the paper that the white firefighters who took the test and did well had rights, too. Dumping Bryson in Civil Rights Enforcement after he whacked Chief George always seemed like a racist joke, but after a series of white police officials have sued the city for racial discrimination, it’s clear what Bryson is supposed to be doing: enforcing the civil rights of white people.
In other news, O’Toole also is suing the city and all of its residents over possession of the night, claiming that he owns the night.
Lifeguard Cornelius Birch shows Montreal Claibourne and Christopher Ivy
lessons at Herbert Hoover Boy’s and Girl’s Club on Monday, July 16. The club, partnered with the ZAC Foundation and first responders to teach water safety to 120 children.
By Sandra Jordan Of The St.
Louis American Boys’ and Girls’ Clubs of Greater St. Louis, in partnership with national water safety organization ZAC Foundation and first responders, taught 120 children ranging from age 5-9 how to swim. This is the second year ZAC teamed with the club to teach children skills to safety enjoy water sports.
n Risk of drowning is highest in minority populations, with the fatal drowning rate almost three times that of Caucasian children.
“ZAC Camp brings a unique energy to our club kids and truly enhances our summer curriculum,” said Flint Fowler, president of the Boys and Girls Clubs of Greater St. Louis. He said last year’s campers are still talking about the fun they had with their fellow campers, teachers, local first responders and guests.
“Witnessing the changes in their behavior and their eagerness to share the water safety lessons they learn with their families and friends reinforces how important this program is for the young people in our community,” Fowler said. “We are thrilled for another
ZAC Camp year and the opportunity to make this year’s program even better than the last.”
The ZAC Foundation of Fairfield, Connecticut was established in 2008 and is named in honor of Zachary Archer Cohn, a six-year-old who died after being trapped in a pool drain in a backyard swimming pool.
“Each year we are overjoyed to see Zachary’s legacy live on in each and every Boys & Girls Club member who attends ZAC Camp,” said Karen Cohn, co-founder of The ZAC Foundation. “It is incredibly special to be back in St. Louis at the Boys and Girls Clubs of Greater St. Louis to equip a new batch of campers and their families
See SWIMMING, A13
Missouri Foundation for Health will host a workshop on lobbying and advocacy with the Alliance for Justice on Friday, August 17 at The Broadway Columbia, 1111 East Broadway in Columbia. It will answer questions such as: What is lobbying? How is it different from advocacy?
How much time can my Missouri 501(c)3 spend on lobbying? What are ways nonprofits can participate in an election year? Registration will begin at 9 a.m., with presentations starting at 9:30 a.m. A continental breakfast and lunch will be provided for participants. The workshop is offered free of charge for Missouri nonprofits. Registration is required and limited to 35 attendees. RSVP by 5 p.m. Monday, August 13 at https://tinyurl.com/ydgdmmys.
By Denise Hooks-Anderson, M.D. Of The St. Louis American
If I could write up one standard prescription for all patients, it would be simple to read, include only one word, and would be universally understood but generally ignored. That word, you ask?
Exercise!
I don’t care what journal or magazine you read, talk show you watch, or morning news program you listen to, they all pretty much report that some form of exercise is good for you.
Exercise has become a big moneymaking enterprise. Think of all the celebrities who have their own videos or exercise clothing lines. And let’s not forget about the accessory gadgets such as headphones, wireless ear buds, and step trackers. I get a kick out of all the patients I see who own fitness monitors but don’t exercise. I guess they use them as a fashion statement.
Nevertheless, there are some substantial reasons to step away from the couch and television so that you may add movement to your day.
Reason #1: It prevents cancer. Nothing scares people more than that six-letter word. Countless research studies have shown that exercise reduces your risk of colon, breast and prostate cancer. Matter of fact, per the World Cancer Research Fund, about 20 percent of all cancers in the U.S. are related to lack of physical activity, obesity, too much alcohol, and poor nutrition. To me, this reason alone should be a “drop the mic” moment. (Unsure about this latter reference, consult a teenager.)
n I get a kick out of all the patients I see who own fitness monitors but don’t exercise.
Reason #2: You will be happier. Exercise improves your mood, simple as that. In their 2006 study on exercise and mental health, Drs. Sharma, Madaan, and Petty reported that aerobic exercises, including jogging, swimming, cycling, walking, gardening, and dancing, have been proven to reduce anxiety and depression. The rationale behind this effect is believed to be related to the increased blood flow to the brain during exercise. And to think people want to eliminate physical education from schools due to budget constraints, but they end up having to hire more security guards because of the excessive behavior problems. Makes no sense, right?
Reason #3: It improves your selfesteem. No one enjoys that feeling in the morning when trying to dress for work and nothing fits. Breasts are bulging from the button-down shirt and the clasp on those pants are about to pop off at any moment. Exercise along with sensible eating will help you achieve your healthy weight. When you feel good about your appearance, you are more confident and you feel sexier! Feeling sexier then leads to Reason #4.
Continued from A12 with the tools to live safer lives around water.”
The ZAC Camp program combines in-pool swimming lessons, safety classes with first responders, and classroom curriculum based on tenets of water safety taught in a children’s book co-authored by Zachary’s parents, Brian Cohn and Karen Cohn, “The Polar Bear Who Couldn’t, Wouldn’t Swim.” Each participant received a copy of the book. By week’s end, ZAC campers had learned critical skills to lead them on the path to safe swimming, including fundamental stroke training, emergency preparedness and response, and basic lifesaving techniques. The four days of water safety training culminated in a concluding award ceremony, attended by some city leaders.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention cites drowning as the leading cause of accidental death in children ages 1-4 and the second leading cause in children ages 5-14. Risk of drowning is highest in minority populations, with the fatal drowning rate almost three times that of Caucasian children. Many of these deaths are preventable with proper water safety measures. Through community engagement and education, ZAC Camps aim to reduce these statistics. Missouri has been the site of a number of drownings by young people this season. Just last week, one mass water disaster killed 17 passengers and injured several others in an amphibious tourist boat on Table Rock Lake during high winds and a storm.
States like MO attacking ACA would suffer most if preexisting conditions were not covered
By Harriet Rowan Kaiser Health News
If the Affordable Care Act’s protections for people with preexisting medical conditions are struck down in court, residents of the Republican-led states that are challenging the law – including Missouri –have the most to lose.
“These states have been opposed to the ACA from the beginning,” said Gerald Kominski, a senior fellow at the UCLA Center for Health Policy Research. “They’re hurting their most vulnerable citizens.” Twenty Republican state attorneys general and governors, including Missouri Attorney General Josh Hawley, challenged the constitutionality of the ACA in federal court in February. Last month, U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions and the Department of Justice made the unusual decision not to defend key portions of the law against this legal challenge The states’ lawsuit argues that because Congress eliminated the Obamacare tax penalty for not having insurance coverage, effective next year, the entire law is unconstitutional. By extension, the suit calls on federal courts to find the health law’s protections for people with preexisting conditions unconstitutional — and Sessions agrees.
Photo by Bill Greenblatt/UPI
Missouri Attorney General Josh Hawley, who is running for U.S. Senate as a Republican – seen here in St. Louis with President Trump in March – claims to support protections for pre-existing conditions, but he refuses to drop his lawsuit that would take away those protections.
charged consumers exorbitant premiums, or offered policies that excluded coverage for pricey conditions. (Although many people got insurance through their employers or public plans that covered preexisting conditions, they could have been left vulnerable if their employment status or other circumstances changed.)
The ACA ended those practices. Common conditions that led insurance companies to deny coverage included high blood pressure, cancer, obesity, diabetes and depression, among many others. Some people were denied for having acne, asthma or for being pregnant.
Those who support the lawsuit contend that there are other means of protecting people with preexisting conditions.
“If a court strikes down the constitutionality of the ACA, there are ways to repeal and replace without Arizonans with preexisting conditions losing their coverage,” said Katie Conner, a spokeswoman for Arizona Attorney General Mark Brnovich. Conner said her boss, who is party to the lawsuit,
Nine of the 11 states with the highest rates of preexisting conditions among adults under 65 have signed onto the lawsuit to strike down the ACA, according to data from insurance companies and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The 2015 data, the most recent available, were analyzed by the Kaiser Family Foundation in 2016. (Kaiser Health News, which produces California Healthline, is an editorially independent program of the foundation.)
Continued from A12
Reason
your sex life. As we get more birthdays, men begin to have problems with obtaining and maintaining an erection and women have issues with low libido and vaginal dryness.
believes preexisting conditions should “always be covered.”
In Arizona, more than 1 in 4 adult adults under 65 have a preexisting condition, according to the data.
The state with the highest rate of adults with preexisting conditions is West Virginia –36 percent of those under age 65. That means that about 1 in 3 of them could have a hard time buying insurance through the individual marketplace without the ACA protections.
The office of West Virginia Attorney General Patrick Morrisey, who joined the legal challenge against the ACA, declined to comment. But a spokesman for Morrisey’s re-election campaign told PolitiFact last month that “help
Exercise, on the other hand, improves blood flow to those vital organs “down yonder.” Imagine what improved strength, endurance and stamina could do for your sex
should be provided to those who need it most, including those with preexisting conditions.”
Similarly, Missouri Attorney General Josh Hawley – who is running for U.S. Senate as a Republican – claims to support protections for pre-existing conditions, but he refuses to drop his lawsuit that would take away those protections. Plaintiffs in the lawsuit “are paying lip service to these critical protections for people, but they are in fact engaged in a strategy that would get rid of those protections,” said Justin Giovannelli, an associate research professor at Georgetown University’s Center on Health Insurance Reforms. “Frankly, it’s hard to
life? Intriguing, isn’t it? There are countless other reasons to exercise such as improved blood sugars, improved blood pressures, and
square what they’re saying on the one hand and what they’re arguing in the courts on the other.”
According to a poll released in June, also by the Kaiser Family Foundation, threequarters of Americans say that maintaining protections for people with preexisting conditions is “very important.”
This includes majorities of Democratic, Republican and independent voters. Before the health law was adopted, insurance companies routinely denied coverage to millions of people with preexisting conditions who purchased insurance through the individual marketplace.
If they didn’t deny coverage outright, some health plans
overall improved well-being. The data is out there. Exercise is good for you. Like the Nike slogans of years past, Just do it!
The KFF analysis estimated that at least 27 percent of adults under 65 — more than 50 million Americans — had at least one preexisting condition that would have jeopardized their coverage pre-ACA. The foundation said its estimates were an undercount because some diseases that insurers cited when declining coverage are not in the survey data. Also, each insurance company set its own rules and conditions for denials, making accurate counts of those who could be affected hard to nail down. Less precise estimates by other researchers and the Department of Health and Human Services show that up to half of all adults under age 65 have at least one preexisting condition.
This story was produced by Kaiser Health News which publishes California Healthline, a service of the California Health Care Foundation.
Denise Hooks-Anderson, M.D., is associate professor at SLUCare Family Medicine. Email yourhealthmatters@ stlamerican.com.
The Howard University Alumni Club of St. Louis will hold its 11th annual scholarship fundraiser 10 a.m.-1 p.m. Saturday, August 4 at Ameren Headquarters, 1901 Choteau Ave. in St. Louis to benefit the Frankie Muse Freeman & Wayman F. Smith III Scholarship Fund. Former CBS and ABC News correspondent Vicki Mabrey, a St. Louis native and Howard alumna, will provide the keynote speech. Over the last 10 years, the Howard University Alumni Club of St. Louis has awarded approximately $71,000 in partial scholarships to new and continuing undergraduate students from St. Louis and southern Illinois who attend
University. The club boasts over 250 alumni in the area and is looking to expand
be made online at the above link or via PayPal by sending to louiealumni@yahoo. com.
The St. Louis County Board of Elections will be opening two new satellite voting centers, one in South County and one in West County, during the final week of absentee voting, Monday, July 30 through Monday, August 6. Absentee voting for the August 7 primary is underway now.
The South County location will be at the St. Louis County Government Center - South, 4544 Lemay Ferry Road, St. Louis, MO 63129. The West County location will be at St. Louis County Municipal Court - West Division, 82 Clarkson Wilson Center, Chesterfield, MO 63017. These sites will serve in conjunction with its current onsite absentee voting program
located at the Board of Election’s main office, 725 NW Plaza, St Ann, MO 63074, which is open 8 a.m.- 4:30 p.m. Monday-Friday. The main office will offer Absentee Special Hours 9 a.m.-1 p.m. July 28; 8 a.m.5 p.m. July 30; 8 a.m.-5 p.m. August 1; 9 a.m.-1 p.m. August 4 and 8 a.m.-5 p.m. August 6. Both satellite sites will be open Monday, July 30 through Monday, August 6. Their hours of operation will 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. be Monday through Friday, and 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday. Extended hours will be available on Monday, August 6 with both locations being open from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. The primary election is
Tuesday, August 7. Both St. Louis County Executive Steve Stenger and St. Louis County Prosecutor Bob McCulloch face primary challengers. Mark Mantovani is running against Stenger, and Wesley Bell is running against McCulloch. Also on the ballot is Proposition A, which would enact a policy that would effectively nullify unions’ ability to collect what is known as a “fair share” fee from nonunion members who benefit from union contracts. For more information on absentee voting in St. Louis County, visit https://tinyurl. com/ybqrabdh or call 314-6151933 or 314-615-1836.
American publisher receives inaugural Lifetime Achievement Award
By Ashley Jones
For The St. Louis American
ArchCity Defenders held the second annual Excellence in Poverty Journalism Awards to recognize and honor journalists who contributed in-depth reporting on poverty, race and class on Thursday, July 12 at Anew Rooftop.
do.”
In May, ArchCity invited the community to nominate reporters for pieces dedicated to issues that impact marginalized communities.
“Our advocacy really centers around trying to tell the story of what it means to experience and survive poverty every day and how our legal system makes it more difficult for people who
are in that situation,” said Blake Strode, executive director of ArchCity Defenders, a civil rights law firm.
“For us the idea of telling the truth, telling stories about people who are surviving poverty and how our community has driven that poverty and continues to exacerbate it every day, that really is critical to the mission of ArchCity Defenders, and without that storytelling we wouldn’t be able to do what we
Donald M. Suggs, publisher and executive editor of The St. Louis American, received the inaugural Lifetime Achievement in Poverty Journalism Award from Blake Strode, executive director of ArchCity Defenders, on Thursday, July 12 at Anew Rooftop.
Photo by Wiley Price
Journalists and contributors from nearly 30 local media outlets were nominated and reviewed, and winners were selected in three categories: Advocacy, Audio/Visual, and Digital/Print. A panel of three judges – comprised of John Amman, Nancy Cambria, and Mariah Stewart – chose winners from The St. Louis American, St. Louis Public Radio, Belleville NewsDemocrat Webster Journal and the Riverfront Times ArchCity Defenders concluded the awards ceremony by presenting Donald M.
Louis region.
“I accept this award unequivocally on behalf of our colleagues at The St. Louis American, especially our journalists who choose to toil at a community newspaper at modest wages and perform multiple, often thankless, sometimes dangerous tasks,” Suggs said.
Throughout the event, ArchCity Defenders encouraged attendees to come together and rethink the way stories are written about the endemic issues that affect families all around St. Louis.
Featuring a “What Stories Need
n “I accept this award unequivocally on behalf of our colleagues at The St. Louis American, especially our journalists who choose to toil at a community newspaper at modest wages and perform multiple, often thankless, sometimes dangerous tasks.”
- Donald M. Suggs, publisher and executive editor of The St. Louis American
Suggs, publisher and executive editor of The St. Louis American, with its inaugural Lifetime Achievement Award in Poverty Journalism Excellence for his commitment to publishing stories that raise critical awareness in the St.
to Be Told?” board, attendees contributed story ideas such as the impact of payday lending on stress, over-investment in policing and jailing, and profiles of people who are targeted by the criminal justice system.
“I am a strong believer that journalism has the power to expose injustice,” said Rebecca Gorley, ArchCity Defenders communications director.
“It has the power to raise and create awareness, and also the power to shape public opinion and guide public action. I would love for everyone to feel like they have a role in this event, and also moving forward after tonight. Additionally, my hope is that editors and outlets and journalist across the board know how important their work is.”
In St. Louis city, one in three people live in poverty; however, less than 1 percent of media coverage discusses poverty, according to ArchCity Defenders. Their stories are underreported and too often not framed within a systemic context. As a result, the misperception of poverty as a personal failing continues to misshape public opinion and misguide public policy decisions, ArchCity Defenders claim.
“Coverage of poverty specifically is rare, and the extent of which one in three people live in poverty in St. Louis this is an area that we need more coverage on,” Gorley said. “We’re really thrilled tonight to honor and recognize local reporters and contributors for their hard work and together we hope to inspire and encourage more of these critical stories to be written.” Since 2009, ArchCity Defenders has represented over 3,600 people, resolved over 10,000 legal matters, filed 30 civil rights lawsuits, and secured $8 million in judgments awarded and $4 million in debts forgiven. Suggs said, “Nelson Mandela advises us in his inaugural address as president of South Africa, ‘The time to build is upon us. So it is now. That’s the only way to head off a moral race to the bottom.’” For more information on ArchCity Defenders, visit www. archcitydefenders.org, call 855-724-2489 or email mail@ archcitydefenders.org.
Coordinator Siobhan Johnson seeks more inclusion in federal law enforcement
By Ashley Jones For The St. Louis American
FBI St. Louis Recruiting Coordinator
Siobhan Johnson is seeking diversify the FBI by encouraging women, minorities and scholars of many different educational backgrounds to apply.
“One of the things we investigate is civil rights,” Johnson said. “We want to make sure that everyone out there is being treated fairly regardless of who they are or what background they have, and there is no better way to ensure that is happening then to include people of all different backgrounds out there when we’re going out to do our investigations.” Johnson earned her BA at Washington University in St. Louis, studying East Asian Studies and Ballet before moving to Japan to
n “We want to diversify the FBI and make sure that our agents are representative of the general population.”
– FBI Recruiting Coordinator Siobhan Johnson
work for the Japanese government.
“When I went to Japan, I came back and I thought, ‘I’m really committed to securing’ and, lo and behold, when I looked at the FBI website, I was surprised to see that they wanted people who had Japanese skills,” Johnson said.
After earning a Masters of Public and
International Studies in Security and Intelligence Studies from the University of Pittsburgh’s Graduate School of Public and International Affairs, she joined the FBI as a special agent in 2007.
“I think I really wanted to be a lawyer or a judge initially,” Johnson said. “When I was six, like a lot of six-year-olds, I thought that being an FBI agent would be just the coolest job out there, but I never really thought that would happen.”
Johnson has spent her years in the bureau investigating cyber and local terrorism cases across four continents.
“My favorite part is knowing that every day what I’m doing is moving the ball a little bit forward for justice,” Johnson said. “Not every
Percy Green II recognized on anniversary of historic climb to protest minority exclusion
By Ashley Jones For The St. Louis American
Following the controversy over the official reopening of the Gateway Arch grounds with an all-white photo op, followed by a diverse “people’s ribbon-cutting” in response, the person who embodies the issue of inclusion at the Arch was honored.
Alderwoman Sharon Tyus and Alderman Terry Kennedy organized an educational symposium and ceremony to honor Percy Green II on Saturday, July 14 – the 54th anniversary of his historic, intrepid climb up a leg of the partly constructed Gateway Arch (along with Richard Daly) to protest the absence of black workers on the public project.
“I wanted to do something proactive,” Tyus said of event held at Gateway Arch National Park’s Tucker Theater. “I wanted it to be something to thank Mr. Green because of all the things that he has done has made it possible for all of us to do so many other things.”
The anniversary ceremony commenced exactly down to the minute of the anniversary.
“At this time 54 years ago I was still on the
Inclusion activist Percy Green II was honored at a ceremony organized by Alderwoman Sharon Tyus and Alderman Terry Kennedy at Gateway Arch National Park’s Tucker Theater on July 14.
n “At this time 54 years ago I was still on the Arch, and in about an hour or so I would be coming down and would be arrested.”
– Percy Green II
good job at McDonnell Douglas as a research and development technician. I was working on the Mercury program. I’m only saying that to show you what sacrifice is all about. Not in my wildest dream did I ever think I would lose my job as long as I went to work every day on time and performed.” Green losing his job resulted in the landmark United States Supreme Court case of McDonnell Douglas Corp. v. Green regarding nature of
Cedric the Entertainer was honored with the 2,640th star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in Los Angeles. Born Cedric Antonio Kyles, he was honored for his accomplishments as a comedian and actor in film and television. He is currently a cast member on the TBS comedy “The Last O.G.” and is set to star in the CBS comedy “The Neighborhood.”
Jamila Lawshe joined Midland States Bank as community development mortgage consultant. She is responsible for originating FHA/VA/USDA, conventional, jumbo, and portfolio mortgages for residential real estate purchases. Additionally, she conducts one-on-one counseling and problem-solving for financial, credit, and budget issues in order to qualify clients for affordable home ownership.
Henry Givens Jr. was honored by the Webster Groves Board of Education, which voted to rename the Webster Groves Elementary Computer school as the “Dr. Henry Givens Jr. Elementary School.” The president emeritus of HarrisStowe State University, Givens got his start in education teaching elementary school in the Webster Groves district and rose to assistant superintendent.
Muriel Smith is the new executive director at De La Salle, Inc., a nonprofit dedicated to supporting La Salle Middle School and enhancing educational experiences of its students. She most recently was director of Development at North Side Community School. During her career, Smith has worked in the non-profit industry for nearly 20 years in various fundraising and communications roles.
Isaiah Melendez joined the Normandy Schools Collaborative as assistant principal at Normandy High School. Most recently he was assistant principal at Cross Keys and Berkeley Middle schools in the Ferguson-Florissant School District. Previously, he was a 7th/8th-grade writing teacher at KIPP Inspire Academy and taught social studies at Ritenour High School.
Alyce Herndon and Grace Hill Women’s Business Center were honored by Legal Services of Eastern Missouri with its Melton M. Lewis Equal Justice Award. As director of the center, Herndon has been helping women entrepreneurs realize their dreams for almost four years. Herndon and the center work in partnership with Legal Services’ Community Economic Development Microenterprise Program to provide legal information for new women business owners.
The City of University
City will host two 3rd Ward neighborhood community meetings regarding the proposed redevelopment at Olive Boulevard and I-170.
The meetings will be held 6 p.m. Wednesday, August 8 and 6 p.m. Friday, August 17, both at Heman Park Community Center, 975 Pennsylvania Ave. Mayor Terry Crow, 3rd Ward Councilman Bwayne Smotherson and 3rd Ward Councilman Stacy Clay will host.
The purpose of the meetings is to get resident input on the
redevelopment agreement and on how the money generated by the development would be used. Also, organizers will outline how 3rd Ward residents can participate in the creation of an action plan for revitalizing their neighborhoods
The continuation of the TIF Commission Public Hearing on the redevelopment will be held 6 p.m. Thursday, August 23 at University City High School, 7401 Balson Ave. For more information, contact City Clerk LaRette Reese at 314-505-8605 or lreese@ucitymo.org.
The St. Louis Development Corporation (SLDC) is accepting applications for $1 million in grants for small businesses and community improvements through 5 p.m. August 17. Eligible activities for the grant include exterior property improvements that enhance the appearance and beautification of commercial buildings such as storefront renovation, signage, windows, doors, etc. Two training sessions for individuals and businesses interested in learning more about the process: 2 p.m.
Job opportunities will be presented at the Welding Career & Training Expo from 3-6 p.m. Wednesday, August 1, at the Missouri Job Center of St. Charles County, 212 Turner Blvd, Lake St Louis, presented by the St. Charles County Department of Workforce &
Tuesday, July 31 at William J. Harrison Center, 3140 Cass Ave.; and 10 a.m. Monday, August 6 at Thomas Dunn Learning Center, 3113 Gasconade St.
Proposals may be submitted online at https://tinyurl.com/ y9q9ulyj, emailed to Facade@ stlouis-mo.gov with subject “Facade Application,” faxed to 314-613-7011, attention: Facade Application, or hand-delivered to Facade Application, ATTN: Leonard Johnson, 1520 Market Street, Suite 2000, St. Louis, MO 63103.
Business Development and St. Charles Community College.
The expo will include stations for attendees to try a virtual welder, meet with instructors and employers, and learn about training opportunities and scholarships.
“The American Welding
Black Funders of St. Louis accepting grant applications July 30-August 31
Witherspoon,
and
of Black Funders of St. Louis – a giving circle promoting the economic mobility and transformation of the black community – will open its inaugural round of grant funding on July 30. It will use this funding cycle to provide operational support for existing STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math) programming aimed at youth and/or adults. “Black Funders of St. Louis believes STEM programming is an essential component to the betterment of black communities,” said Richardson, the group’s founder. “We want to help organizations continue to align with the current economic shifts towards careers in STEM.” The group especially wants to see applications from black-led nonprofits. Black Funders of St. Louis will begin taking grant applications on July 30, with all applications due by August 31, 2018. For more information, visit www.blackfundersstl.com.
Society estimates there will be a shortage of nearly 300,000 welders in the U.S. by 2020,” says Scott J. Drachnik, county director of Workforce & Business Development.
“Currently there are companies throughout St. Charles County and the St. Louis region eager
to hire experienced welders or ready to train new welders.”
Welding classes at St. Charles Community College start in August and are certified by the American Welding Society.
To register or for more information about the Welding
continued from page B1 day is going to be the best that you’ve ever had of any job, but I know that what I’m doing actually does make a difference in a meaningful way that I’m able to see.”
Now, as a recruiting coordinator, it is Johnson’s job to go out into the St. Louis community to meet people, see what kind of career their looking for, and find a good match for them at the FBI.
“One of the things that I regularly enjoy is going out into the community and finding other people that might not think that the FBI is for them and talking to them,” Johnson said.
“We are really heavily recruiting females and minorities right now. That’s really our number one push this year. We want to diversify the FBI and make sure that our agents are representative of the general population. A lot of women don’t see themselves as
Career & Training Expo, contact Fay Aubuchon at 636922-8546 or faubuchon@ stchas.edu.
The Missouri Job Center of St. Charles County also offers a manufacturing apprenticeship program that helps pay for training costs and wage reimbursements for people interested in starting or advancing in a welding career. For more information, visit sccmo.org/Apprenticeship or contact Vicki Swartzenberg at 636-255-6060, ext. 5250, or vswartzenberg@sccmo.org.
FBI agents, and I love that look in a girl’s eyes when I tell her, ‘I didn’t think it would happen for me, but they wanted me. I can do it, and you can do it too.’ That really is meaningful for me.”
The FBI hosted an invitation-only Diversity Agent Recruitment event at HarrisStowe State University on July 11, where women and minorities could feel welcome to attend and learn more about how they might fit into the FBI.
“We’ll talk about them and their specific situation and whether there’s a job for them, because there is something for everyone,” Johnson said. “People don’t realize we’re actually like a major corporation. We need not just agents, but we need computer specialists, we need people to do our analyses. We’ve got something for any skills.”
Johnson said she has worked a couple of Diversity Agent Recruitment events before in select cities, but not everywhere because they are more of a recent initiative.
“I want people to know that if they have ever considered being a special agent, we want to talk to them. It is not out of line for them to just give us a call,” Johnson said.
“People might think that we’re only looking for those with law-enforcement backgrounds or military backgrounds, maybe criminal justice majors, but that’s not actually the case. While we absolutely love all of those things, we are really looking for people who just have great critical thinking skills.”
According to Johnson, diversifying the FBI is crucial to public safety.
“The more comfortable you are with the people you’re speaking with in the community,” Johnson said, “the better you’re going to be able to communicate with people and the easier it’s going to be to keep people safe.”
For more information, visit Apply.FBIJobs.gov or call 314589-2500 and ask to speak to a recruiter.
n “People are scared of my hip, now. I’ve got to show people that I can play — and play at a high level again. And I will.”
— NBA guard Isaiah Thomas
By Earl Austin Jr.
Of the St. Louis American
Former Hazelwood Central track and field standout Ashley Henderson will always remember her debut as a professional on the international circuit.
Henderson won the 100-meter dash at the inaugural Athletics World Cup in London’s Olympic Stadium. Henderson posted a winning time of 11.07 seconds and defeated a talented field that included 2016 Olympic gold medalist Elaine Thompson of Jamaica.
Not only was it Henderson’s professional debut, but it was the first time that she had competed outside of the United States.
“It was a tight race, but a very good one,” Henderson told Nuffin’ Long Athletics after the race. “You can never be your best until you’re running with the best. For me, I was honored to run with Elaine. I have always looked up to her. She’s an amazing runner.”
A recent graduate of San Diego State University, Henderson had just concluded a stellar career as one of the top female track athletes in the history of the Mountain West Conference. She was a ninetime Mountain West Conference champion during her career.
In her last collegiate race, she finished sixth in the 200meter dash to earn All-American honors at the NCAA Outdoor Championships in Eugene, Oregon. Henderson finished second in the 100 at the U.S. Championships in Des Moines, Iowa last month. She posted a personal best time of 10.96 seconds in her runner-up finish.
The moment Giancarlo Stanton put pen to paper (2015) on his enormous 13-year, $325 million contract with the Miami Marlins, his financial future was set. That’s because Stanton, now with the New York Yankees, knew that 12 of the 13 years were fully guaranteed. That means if he tears both Achilles tendons on the baseball diamond and never plays again, he will have had no less than $300M direct deposited into his bank account by 2028. (The final season is a club option at $25 million.)
Similarly, when James Harden inked a six-year, $228 million extension with the Houston Rockets, he is entitled to every cent owed to him. Harden’s contract also features an player option during the final season, meaning he controls whether he wants to collect on the final year, or optout to become a free agent.
In the NFL, big number contracts are often doled out
and make SportsCenter breaking news. The difference in, the large contract numbers often reported are nothing more than fools’ gold. When the Carolina Panthers’ QB Cam Newton signed a five-year, $104 million contract in 2015, only $60 million was guaranteed. That means less than 58 percent of his salary was guaranteed. Pittsburgh Steelers’ WR Antonio Brown, generally regarded as the best receiver in the league, signed a four-year, $68 million extension in 2017. Only $19 million was guaranteed, a lowly 27.9 percent. For some reason, non-guaranteed contracts in the NFL have been always accepted. Even though football is the most physically taxing major sport in America, the money promised today will not necessarily be paid tomorrow. When players become injured or less-productive, they are often cut with little-to-no financial
With Alvin A. Reid
I’ll admit it.
I was up bright and early on Sunday morning. The Open, being played in Scotland, was on and Tiger Woods was in contention. I would not have been tuned in had it not been for Tiger. He trailed the leader by four strokes and would need an outstanding round to win his 15th Major PGA Tournament.
He got off to a solid start and I got off to church at 9 a.m. Upon my return, he was just two strokes off the lead. An hour later, Woods was in the lead.
If I wasn’t all in before, I was then. A double bogie at No. 11 made me cringe. Another bogie a hole later probably cost him his chance to win. But Tiger, and I, didn’t give up. He would birdie one more hole and finish just three strokes behind his playing partner and Open winner Francesco Molinari
He and Molinari left the course to thunderous applause and NBC cameras captured Woods finding and hugging his son, Charlie and his daughter, Sam. It wasn’t a close-up, moment altering shot. It was from a distance. You could have missed it if you weren’t paying attention.
I saw it an immediately wondered, “what did he say?”
“Hopefully, you’re proud of your pops for trying as hard as I did,” Woods said he told him.
“To me, it’s just so special to have them aware, because I’ve won a lot of golf tournaments in my career, but they don’t remember any of them. So, for them to understand what I was doing early in my career – the only thing they’ve seen is my struggles and the pain I was going through. Now they just want to go play soccer with me. So that’s, man, it’s such a great feeling.”
It’s certainly a different Tiger Woods than we met in the late 1990s and early 2000s. He’s balding and he looks so much older. He’s divorced, been embarrassed, been injured and been arrested for driving under the influence. But he looked healthy this weekend and he certainly looked happy with his two children.
Tiger Woods is headed to St. Louis and will be playing in the PGA Championship a week from Thursday. Even though the tournament is here at Bellerive, I haven’t really paid much attention over the past year.
I’ll be locked in on Thursday and stay that way while Tiger is in contention. Golf might not need me, but
golf needs Tiger Woods to keep people like me glued to our respective televisions.
Bud blows it big time
Just 14 months after his skull was crushed by a line drive, St. Louis Cardinals pitcher Daniel Poncedeleon made his scintillating Major League debut on Monday in Cincinnati. He pitched seven innings of no-hit baseball on 116 pitches before being removed by manager Mike Shildt Jordan Hicks surrendered a single in the eighth inning that ended the no hitter, but he handed a 1-0 lead to his clubhouse nemesis and team rat Bud Norris
Norris gave up a two-out home run to Eugenio Suarez that tied the score. Three base hits later, Norris had blown the save, lost the game and cost the gutty Poncedeleon and the Cardinals a victory. Before he blew up on
Monday, Norris had registered a 2.97 ERA, 50 strikeouts, six walks and 18 saves. His tormenting of rookie pitcher Hicks made national news after being ignored then dismissed by most St. Louis sports media members.
Here’s something else you didn’t read in St. Louis over the past 10 days.
In September 2015, Norris told USA TODAY that Latino players playing in this nation suffered from “culture shock.”
“This is America’s game.
… We’re opening this game to everyone that can play. However, if you’re going to come into our country and make our American dollars, you need to respect a game that has been here for over a hundred years, and I think sometimes that can be misconstrued. There are some players that have antics, that have done things over the years that we don’t necessarily agree with.
“I understand you want to
say it’s a cultural thing or an upbringing thing. But by the time you get to the big leagues, you better have a pretty good understanding of what this league is and how long it’s been around.’’
My first question for Norris is; “Who the hell is this ‘we’ you’re talking about?”
I’d also remind him that slavery, Jim Crow and legal segregation had been around for a long time before those institutions were dismissed.
As for Monday’s disaster, former manager Mike Matheny’s snitch told the Post-Dispatch, “I need to make one more pitch, get a ground ball, and get out of it. We can talk late in the year, August and September, how those ones count a little more. They all count for a reason. Some just sting a little bit more. This one stung.”
Maybe Norris will now concentrate on continuing what has been a solid season and leave the backstabbing and harassment in his locker.
The Reid Roundup
The so-called soccer hot bed that is St. Louis had some
of the lowest numbers in the nation when it came to World Cup viewership. Also, can we please stop the pity-party about the failed soccer stadium campaign?
It lost because we were the only MLS bidder whose bid was dependent on public financing… New England Patriots receiver Malcolm Mitchell caught five passes for 63 yards in the fourth quarter of his team’s overtime victory over Atlanta in the Super Bowl two seasons ago. He also is a national literacy advocate. He missed the 2017 season because of a knee injury. In the true Patriots Way, they want to trade or release him. That’s the NFL, folks. … After ignoring one of the greatest baseball players to hail from there for decades, Dallas will finally recognize the late Ernie Banks in September when a statue of him is dedicated at Booker T. Washington High School. Banks attended the school before embarking on his Negro League career and then signing with the Chicago Cubs… England’s Lewis Hamilton got that much-needed win in
Tiger Woods finished the British Open just three strokes behind his playing partner and Open winner Francesco Molinari. Woods is headed to St. Louis and will be playing in the PGA Championship a week from Thursday.
the German Grand Prix last Sunday. He again leads the Formula 1 driver’s standings… Tiffany Greene, a Florida A&M graduate, will become the first African-American woman college football playby-play announcer when she joins analyst Jay Walker calling ESPN’s black college games on Thursday nights. This is a huge honor and a great responsibility. The significance certainly isn’t lost on me,” said Greene… During the All-Star game, it was revealed that Milwaukee Brewers reliever Josh Hader had posted racist, misogynistic and homophobic comments on Twitter in 2011. He tearfully apologized and received a standing ovation from Brewers fans last weekend. While Milwaukee alderman Khalif Rainey called it “an embarrassment to the world,” I’ll give Hader a pass, because I said some vile stuff when I was a teenager… The Miami Dolphins hinted that players might be suspended if they peacefully protest during the national anthem. The NFL responded by joining with the NFLPA is putting a hold on the NFL’s ridiculous anthem policy while further negotiation takes place. The NFL knows it was headed for some type of mass demonstration and is trying to head it off… Training camps are underway and as of Tuesday morning, receiver Dez Bryant still does not have a job… I never met the guy, but I think I would have a good time at Terrell Owens’ induction speech and celebration at the University of TennesseeChattanooga.
Alvin A. Reid was honored as the 2017 “Best Sports Columnist – Weeklies” in the Missouri Press Association’s Better Newspaper Contest and is a New York Times contributor. He is a panelist on the Nine Network program, Donnybrook, a weekly contributor to “The Charlie Tuna Show” on KFNS and appears monthly on “The Dave Glover Show” on 97.1 Talk.” His Twitter handle is @aareid1.
With Earl Austin Jr.
St. Louisan Devon
Alexander continues his professional boxing comeback when he takes on Andre Berto on Saturday, August 4 in a battle of former world champions.
The two welterweights will battle at the Nassau Coliseum in Uniondale, New York in a scheduled 12-round bout in the main event of a Premier Boxing Champions card. The event will be televised on Fox Sports at 6:30 p.m. (St. Louis time). Alexander, 31, will come into the bout with a record of 27-4-1 with 14 knockouts. He was a former world champion in the junior welterweight and welterweight divisions.
This will be Alexander’s second fight after a two-year layoff from the sport. In his first fight back, he fought former world champion Victor Ortiz to a 12-round draw in a battle that Alexander clearly appeared to have the upper hand. Berto, 34, is also a former world welterweight champion who is on the comeback trail. He is currently 31-5 with 24
Continued from C5
sion with $45 million guaranteed. That means 75 percent of his deal is guaranteed money. Considering the high rates of concussions, serious injuries and CTE risk, Gurley and his agents were smart to demand his paper come F.D.I.C.
R.A.M.S. insured. His deal is basically a fouryear deal, with the fourth being a club option. That’s more in line with what professional basketball and baseball players have been receiving for a long time.
The Rams also signed WR Brandin Cooks to a five year, $81 million contract with $50 million guaranteed (61.7 percent).
The franchise is still working to sign Aaron Donald to a long-term extension. Expect
knockouts. This will be his first fight in more than a year. He once fought the great Floyd Mayweather for the world title in 2015, losing in a decision. This fight is clearly a crossroads bout for both fighters as they look to battle their way back into contention in what is a very deep and talented wel-
his team to demand a fully- or mostly-guaranteed contract as well.
Right now, the trend of guaranteed money will likely be reserved for star-caliber players. However, the more common it becomes with stars, the more likely it will become a reality for the everyday players as well.
Furthermore, the deals by Cousins and Gurley are already emboldening players to speak out and organize for more guaranteed money during the collective bargaining process.
Los Angeles Chargers OT and NFLPA Executive Committee member Russell Okung is working hard to rally the troops.
“It’s up to us, the players, to decide if we want league ownership to finally respect us as partners,” Okung tweeted. “Truth is, there is NOTHING preventing agents from negotiating a fully guaranteed salary
terweight division. Alexander is really looking forward to taking advantage of this opportunity.
“I’m very excited about this fight,” said Alexander to ESPN boxing writer Dan Rafael. “Berto and I have a history going back to the amateurs. I know him very well, but we’ve
for an NFL player (see Kirk Cousins deal).”
Okung made a long thread explaining why and how the players should fight to earn fully-guaranteed contracts. The current Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) ends after the 2020 season. According to SBNation, the NFLPA is warning players to start saving now to prepare for a lockout in 2021.
Considering how the NFL has treated its players in the wake of the kneeling saga, there should be no surprise that the NFLPA is prepared to fight tooth and nail for everything. Hopefully the players will stand together and fight for their worth.
The NFL generates a ton of money. It is due time the players who put their bodies on the line every Sunday earn their fair share.
Follow Ishmael and In the Clutch on Twitter @ishcreates.
never fought. I have to show that I’m still one of the best in a stacked division. This is all business for me because at this point in my career, I’m approaching every fight as if it’s my last. This is prime time for me.”
Best of luck to Devon “The
Great” Alexander in his come-
St. Louisan Devon Alexander, right, continues his professional boxing comeback when he takes on Andre Berto on Saturday, August 4 in a battle of former world champions.
back. We will be watching.
Mario McKinney shines at Peach Jam
Vashon High basketball
standout Mario McKinney enjoyed an excellent performance at the Nike EYBL Peach Jam, which is the top
summer grassroots tournament in the country. Playing for the Brad Beal Elite 17U team, McKinney was selected to the Peach Jam All-Breakout team after averaging 17 points, 6.2 rebounds and 1.6 assists in five games.
McKinney had a high game of 27 points in a victory over the New York Lightning. He also had 17 points and eight rebounds in a victory over Team Why Not. He is one of the top returning players in the St. Louis area with scholarship offers from several top-level Division I programs. McKinney will return for his senior year to lead a Vashon team that will be one of the most talented in the Midwest region.
Summer Track Season concludes at Nationals
The top young track and field athletes in the St. Louis metro area will be travelling around the country to compete in national competitions. The USATF Hershey Junior Olympics takes place this week at North Carolina A&T University in Greensboro. Area athletes will also be headed to Des Moines, Iowa to compete at the Amateur Athletic Union Junior Olympics, which will take place from July 27-August 3 at Drake University.
Illinois Gateway wins Adidas Three Stripes Championship
Congratulations to the Gateway boys basketball team in Illinois on winning the championship of the Adidas Three Stripes Tournament in the 16U Division last weekend at Lindenwood University. Gateway defeated Team Rose out of Chicago in the championship game. The team members include (in alphabetical order) Malik Green (Mascoutah), Sebastian Ivoiry-Greer (Belleville West), Keydrian Jones (Collinsville), Cawhan Smith (Collinsville), Ray’Sean Taylor (Collinsville), Donte Williams (Collinsville), Ethan Young (Edwardsville). Head coach Deryl Cunningham. Not pictured, Aaron Molton (Collinsville).
The St. Louis Surge collected some more championship hardware to add to its growing trophy case. The Surge won the Women’s Blue Chip Basketball League Midwest regional championship in dominating fashion, defeating the Midwest Flyers 93-59 last Saturday night at Washington University. With the victory, the Surge (9-2) advance to the WBCBL National Tournament that takes place August 4-5 in Charlotte,
North Carolina. They will be seeking their third national championship in five years. The Surge won national titles in 2014 and 2016 and were the runners-up last season.
“Getting back to the national championship means a lot,” said Surge head coach Tony Condra. “The goal is to, win the region, qualify for nationals and put ourselves in a position to win it all.” In a battle of two teams that split two earlier meetings, the Surge took control of the game against the Flyers from the beginning and cruised to an
easy victory. St. Louis raced to a 24-8 lead after the first quarter and continued to build on the lead.
As usual, the Surge showcased a balanced scoring attack that simply overwhelmed the opposition. Star guard Rebecca Harris led the way with 19 points and six assists. Forward Brittany Carter scored 17 points and grabbed a team-high nine rebounds. Forward Jaleesa Butler had 13 points and eight rebounds while guard Kristi Bellock scored 12 points.
After starting the season with a 2-1 record and an early
loss to the Midwest Elite, the Surge enter the postseason on a five-game winning streak and an undefeated record at home.
“The team has gotten a lot
better overall with chemistry and just understanding how each other plays,” Condra said. “It’s a short season and when having several new
players, the transition has to be quick. We all have to be on the same page and we are.”
continued from page B1
proof in a racial discrimination case and the order in which plaintiffs and defendants present proof.
“Before the Green vs. McDonnell case, the only way that you could prove racial discrimination is if the white person that committed the act admitted that they discriminated; otherwise, you couldn’t prove racial discrimination,” Green said.
U.S. Rep. Wm. Lacy Clay, state Rep. Bruce Franks Jr., Clay’s primary challenger Cori Bush, Green’s son Percy Green III, and activist Jamala Rogers (Green’s wife) spoke at the event.
“Achieving economic justice is not a short-term battle,” Clay said. “It’s a long, still-emerging struggle which demands our absolute commitment, courage, and willingness to get into good trouble by making people uncomfortable sometimes.”
Franks, one of the organizers of the “people’s ribbon cutting” that countered the #ArchSoWhite photo op, recognized Green as a protest ancestor.
“Thank you for being an example and not just talking, not just making notice, but showing us how to effectively fight and what civil disobedience really looked like, what protesting really looked like, what fighting and standing up really looks like,” Franks said directly to Green.
Green thanked the younger man and his generation for picking up the torch.
“Civil disobedience is a nonviolent technique on bringing attention to various issues,” Green said. “I want to thank Bruce Franks for energizing it and the other young folks for keeping it alive.”
Rogers expressed her dismay that white officials could organize a Gateway Arch ribbon cutting ceremony so close to the anniversary of Green’s climb and not include him.
“Thank you for being an example and not just talking, not just making notice, but showing us how to effectively fight and what civil disobedience really looked like,” state Rep. Bruce Franks
a
“I want some new fights,” Rogers said. “I don’t want to be fighting about the same thing. We’ve been doing that for 50 years, and young people don’t want to be fighting about
directly
this old stuff. They want some new fights.”
Tyus said there has been some change. Now the Gateway Arch employs 132 full-time, part-time, and
seasonal employees, of whom 66 percent are minority, 34 percent are Caucasian, 62 percent are female and 38 percent are male.
“You will see what
protesting can accomplish.
When Mr. Green first came down to the Arch, his thing was to get 10 percent minority participation of black people working at the Arch,” Tyus
said. “If you look at the numbers, currently we’re doing a lot better than that, and that comes from protesting, activism, and we have to recognize that.”
St. Louis native’s legacy cemented on Hollywood Walk of Fame
By Kenya Vaughn Of The St. Louis American
Before the world came to know him as Cedric The Entertainer, he was Cedric Kyles
– a State Farm employee who told jokes on the side.
He was still working at State Farm when he formed a friendship with local comedian Percy Crews – who would borrow material from Kyles for his own shows.
n “A lot of times you don’t know how to go for your life’s passions until somebody else affirms it for you.”
From as early as he could remember, Kyles had a passion to entertain. He saw himself on stage singing, dancing and performing –hence the stage name Cedric The Entertainer. But he didn’t have the confidence to go for it until Crews uttered a simple phrase that lit a fire under Kyles. “He said, ‘If anybody can do this, you can’,” Kyles said. “A lot of times you don’t know how to go for your life’s passions until somebody else affirms it for you.”
Three decades after Crews’ encouragement, he was standing amongst fellow celebrities, dignitaries, family, friends
See CEDRIC, C9
By Kenya Vaughn Of The St. Louis American
When the orchestral bang that signifies the opening for Anita Baker’s R&B classic “Sweet Love” kicked off about three songs into her sold-out Farewell Tour Saturday night at The Fox Theatre, she herself got swept up in the groove. With moves that were equal parts musical conductor and slow jam free form, Baker whisked from the center of the stage to stage left and back again. By the time she made it back to the microphone to sing the first lyrics after the extended intro, fans beat her to the punch.
She stepped back and gave them the floor. They sang every word from beginning to end –the chorus and bridge included. The gesture put Baker in her feelings. “Y’all even sang my ad libs,” Baker said as she tried to hold back her tears. “You went to the top of the octave.” She took a moment to reciprocate the tremendous
Final Anita Baker tour a flow of ‘Sweet Love’ between singer and fans
outpouring of love that fans showed her for her first return to St. Louis in nearly 25 years.
“With every show that we do, we end up doing them twice because we have to add a show when the first show sells out,” Baker told the crowd at the first of her two sold-out performances playing The Fox Theatre this weekend. “And we end up doing every song twice, because you get to have
Steward Family Foundation gifts $1.3M for establishment of institute at UMSL
By Kenya Vaughn Of The St. Louis American
In 2014, jazz ambassador and Jazz at Lincoln Center Director Wynton Marsalis made a special trip to town as Jazz St. Louis and the Steward Family Foundation celebrated the grand opening of the Harold and Dorothy Center for Jazz. The tent full of attendees beamed with pride. In the crowd were several of members of the Steward family, including center namesake Dorothy Steward.
“I’m gonna be talking about y’all everywhere I go,” said Marsalis, who developed a friendship with David Steward and the Steward family over the years because of their shared love of the type of music he specializes in as an artist, composer, bandleader and educator. “[I’ll be] saying what’s happening with jazz in St. Louis.”
Last week, The Steward Family Foundation gave Marsalis something new to talk about
with the announcement that The University of Missouri-St. Louis will establish the David and Thelma Steward Institute for Jazz Studies with a gift of $1.3 million over four years.
“UMSL is grateful for the
one – which you just did – and now we’re going to do one.” Baker then dove right into her “Sweet Love” do-over. It wouldn’t be an isolated incident as fans – and Baker herself – seemed on the verge of a religious experience thanks to her blessing the stage one last time on stage before she bids the industry goodbye. She announced her retirement from the music industry last year. After an outpouring from fans, she decided to give a parting gift in the form of a final tour. She couldn’t even remember the last time she had been to St. Louis. “That’s right, it’s ‘Been So Long,’” Baker laughed as she repeated a fan’s witty response that incorporated a song from her 35-plus year catalog. Later in the performance another fan came forward and handed Baker a napkin. “February 10, 1995,” Baker read aloud.
See BAKER, C4
St. Louis couple’s art tackles colorism
By Jeremy Goodwin Of St. Louis Public Radio
(St. Louis Public Radio) - Married couple Danielle and Kevin McCoy are used to being treated differently based on the color of their skin — not only because they are each African-American, but because her skin tone is lighter than his.
“Dani being fairer-skinned, waviertextured hair,” Kevin McCoy said, “and me darker, more coarse, as we say nappier hair — I was not the ‘safe’ black person.” He said people they encounter, both “in the black community and outside of the black community,” appear comfortable See ART, C5
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1. Email your listing to calendar@stlamerican. com OR
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Calendar listings are free of charge, are edited for space and run on a space-available basis.
Sat., July 28, 11 a.m., Back to School Backpack Giveaway. Music, laser tag, giveaways, haircuts, and more. Christian Believers Worship Center, 1447 Burd Ave., 63112. For more information, visit www. christianbelievers.church.
Sat., Aug. 11, 10 a.m., Craig Blac Community Cuts for Kids, Mary E. Brown Community Center, 606 S. 15th St. East St. Louis, IL. For more information, visit thecraigshields foundation.org or email craigblac@gmail.com
Aug. 11 – 12, Urban Expo – Back to School & Community Festival with special guest gospel legend Fred Hammond, America’s Center Convention Complex, 701 Convention Plaza, 63101. For more information, visit www.ulstl.org.
Sun., Aug. 12, 2 p.m., Craig Blac Community Cuts for Kids, 4343 W. Florissant Ave. For more information, visit thecraigshieldsfoundation. org or email craigblac@gmail. com
Sat., July 28, 9 p.m., Rockhouse Ent. presents Rakim with Biz Markie. The Pageant, 6161 Delmar Blvd., 63112. For more information, visit www.ticketmaster.com.
Sun., July 29, Chris Brown Presents: Heartbreak on a Full Moon Tour. Hollywood Casino Amphitheatre, 14141 Riverport Dr., 63043. For more information, visit www. livenation.com.
Fri., Aug. 3, 6 p.m., Gateway Arch Park Foundation and the National Blues Museum present Blues at the Arch Feat. Little Dylan. 100
Washington Ave., 63102. For more information, visit www. facebook.com.
Fri., Aug. 3, 8 p.m., Live Nation presents Pusha T: The Daytona Tour 2018. The Pageant, 6161 Delmar Blvd., 63112. For more information, visit www.ticketmaster.com.
Sat., Aug. 4, 7 p.m., Josh Royal & Friends Live in Concert. Feat. Morgan Taylor, Dakota Pagan, Yzthasinger, and Joule. The Ready Room, 4195 Manchester Ave., 63110. For more information, visit www.eventbrite.com.
Sun., Aug. 5, 6 p.m., The Ambassador presents Joe 9800 Halls Ferry Rd., 63136. For more information, visit www.metrotix.com.
Fri., Aug. 10, 7 p.m., American Idol: Live! 2018. Feat. Cade, Caleb, Catie, Gabby, Jurnee, Maddie and Michael plus Season 8 winner, Kris Allen. Fox Theatre, 527 N. Grand Blvd., 63103. For more information, visit www. metrotix.com.
Fri., Aug. 17, 8 p.m., Ideal Barbershop and Five Star Empire present R. Kelly: The Memory Lane Tour. Family Arena, 2002 Arena Pkwy., 63303. For more information, visit www.metrotix.com.
Sat., Aug. 18, 7:30 p.m., The Alton Little Theatre Performers present A Magical Night of Disney –Concert Celebration. Liberty Bank Alton Amphitheater, 1 Henry St., Alton, IL. 62002. For more information, visit www.metrtotix.com.
Fri., July 27, 7 p.m., Ferguson Citywalk Concert Series feat. Powerplay Band. Plaza 501, 501 S. Florissant Rd., 63135. For more information, visit www. fergusoncitywalk.com/events.
Jenifer Lewis in St. Louis.
will discuss her new memoir, ‘The Mother of Black Hollywood.’ See LITERARY for details.
July 27 – 28, 3rd Annual Louis Armstrong Festival with Randy Holmes’ All Star Ensemble. Ozark Theatre, 103 E. Lockwood Ave., 63119. For more information, visit www. ozarktheatre.com.
Fri., Aug. 3, 6 p.m., Gateway Arch Park Foundation and the National Blues Museum present Blues at the Arch Feat. Little Dylan. 100 Washington Ave., 63102. For more information, visit www. facebook.com.
Thur., Aug. 9, 6:30 p.m., Fairy Tales Can Come True Concert and Event. Proceeds benefit University City Children’s Center’s tuition assistance program. Bissingers Chocolate Factory, 1600 N. Broadway, 63102. For more information, visit www.uccc. org.
Fri., Aug. 10, 7 p.m., Nexcore hosts the Bring a Bag Concert. Featuring live music, food and drinks, a school supply drive, and a performance by C-Sharp. 2631 Gravois Ave., 63118. For more information, visit www. eventbrite.com.
Sat., Aug. 11, 7 p.m., Fermata Entertainment & TLT Productions presents
Marvin F. Cockrell & Focus: 24K Gold. 3610 Grandel Sq., 63108. For more information, visit www.metrotix.com.
Thur., July 26, 9 a.m., Tommy Pham Baseball ProCamp. Belleville East HS, 2555 West Blvd., 62221. For more information, visit www. procamps.com/tommypham.
Thur., July 26, 6 p.m., Alive Magazine presents Smoke & Mirrors. Featuring the top BBQ spots in St. Louis, craft beer, a night market featuring local craftsman, live local music, and more. Encore, 5700 Highlands Plaza Dr., 63110. For more information, call (314) 446-4059.
Sat., July 28, 12 p.m., Hot Fun in The Summer Vendor Showcase. A variety of vendors showcasing art, crafts, jewelry, shoes, clothes, and more. Webster Groves Rec Center, 33 E. Glendale, 63119. For more information, call (314) 302-1055.
Sat., July 28, 12 p.m., Show Me Kicks Expo 2018. Danis
Field House, SLU High School, 4970 Oakland Ave., 63110. For more information, visit www.eventbrite.com.
Sat., July 28, 1 p.m., FestAbility: A Celebration of Disabilities. A day of fully accessible family fun, food trucks, and entertainment. Missouri History Museum, 5700 Lindell Blvd., 63112. For more information, visit www. festability.org.
Sat., July 28, 7 p.m., 2D.E.F presents Doug E. Fresh All White Block Party and Fundraiser, Proceeds will benefit The 2DEF Domestic Violence Safe House & Projects. Old Rock House 1200 S. 7th Street 63104. For more information, call (314) 384-9544 or purchase tickets at www. metrotix.com
Sat., July 28, 8 p.m., Stifel Theatre presents Bring It! Live. 1400 Market St., 63103. For more information, visit www.stifeltheatre.com.
Sat., July 28, 10 p.m., Sauce: An Event for The Young Professional. The Marquee, 1911 Locust St., 63103. For more information, visit www. SauceSTL.eventbrite.com.
Sun., July 29, 11 a.m., St. Louis Bride & Groom Magazine presents a Wedding Show. America’s Center, 701 Convention Plaza, 63101. For more information, visit www. eventbrite.com.
Sun., July 29, 7 p.m., The Maximum Exposure Fashion Show 2018. A show featuring Chuck Pfoutz Presents and Walk This Way Magazine’s Version of the 1970’s, 1980’s, 1990’s, 2000’s, and 2010’s. 400 Washington Ave., 63102. For more information, visit www.eventbrite.com.
Sun., July 29, 7 p.m., National Society of Black Engineers St. Louis Gateway Professionals Annual Scholars and Awards Program. Il Monastero, SLU, 3050 Olive Blvd., 63103. For more information, visit www. eventbrite.com.
Aug. 1 – 4, The Show-Me Tap Festival. Sheraton Hotel, 7730 Bonhomme Ave., 63105. For more information, visit www.facebook.com.
Sat., Aug. 4, 10 a.m., St. Louis Howard University Alumni 11th Annual Scholarship Benefit Jazz
Brunch. Frankie Muse Freeman & Wayman F. Smith, III Scholarship Fund. Ameren Corporation, 1901 Chouteau Ave., 63103. For more information, visit www. brownpapertickets.com.
Fri., Aug. 10, 6 p.m., All-N1 Entertainment presents a Shop-Paint & Party Event Mandarin Banquet Hall, 8008 Olive Blvd., 63130. For more information, call (314) 6903660.
Aug. 15 – 25, St. Lou Fringe Festival. A performing arts festival showcasing theatre and dance, storytelling and spoken word, burlesque and acrobatics, visual art and. For more information, visit www. stlouisfringe.com.
Sat., Aug. 18, 7 p.m., Mathews-Dickey Awards & Benefit Concert. Cameo, Doug E. Fresh, and Love Jones in the Soul Funk Fest, hosted by Darius Bradford. Fabulous Fox Theatre, 527 N. Grand Blvd., 63103. For more information, visit www. metrotix.com.
Tues., Aug. 21, 4:30 p.m., YWCA St. Louis presents the 6th Annual Walk a Mile in Her Shoes. An international men’s march to speak out against rape, sexual assault and gender violence. Missouri Athletic Club, 405 Washington Ave., 63102. For more information, visit www. ywcastlouis.org.
Thur., Aug. 23, 11:30 a.m., The 15th Annual Kwame Foundation Golf Tournament. All proceeds will go towards funding college scholarships. Norman K. Probstein Golf Course, Forest Park, 6141 Lagoon Dr, St. Louis, MO 63112. For more information, visit www. kwamefoundation.org.
Thurs., Aug. 2 – Sat., Aug. 4, The Laugh Lounge STL presents Kountry Wayne, 11208 West Florissant. For more information, visit www. laughloungestl.com.
Aug. 3 – 5, Helium Comedy Club presents D.L. Hughley 1151 St. Louis Galleria, 63117.
July 28, 2 p.m., Jenifer Lewis in St. Louis. Lewis will
discuss her new memoir, The Mother of Black Hollywood Registration required.
Loretto-Hilton Center for the Performing Arts, 130 Edgar Rd., 63119. For more information, visit www. eventbrite.com.
Tues., July 31, 4:30 p.m., The National Blues Museum welcomes author Areva Martin, author of Make It Rain: How to Use the Media to Revolutionize Your Business and Brand. 615 Washington Ave., 63101. For more information, visit www. nationalbluesmuseum.org.
Thur., Aug. 2, 7 p.m., Left Bank Books hosts author Alexis Clark, author of Enemies in Love: A German POW, a Black Nurse, and an Unlikely Romance. 399 N. Euclid Ave., 63108.
Mon., Aug. 6, 7 p.m., St. Louis County Library hosts author Dr. Eboni January, author of Educational Athlete: Why Every Successful Student Needs a Coach. St. Louis County Library Headquarters, 1640 S. Lindbergh Blvd., 63131. For more information, visit www.slcl.org.
Sat., Aug. 11, 2 p.m., Kirkwood Public Library hosts author Jim Merkel, author of The Making of an Icon: The Dreamers, the Schemers, and the Hard Hats Who Built the Gateway Arch 140 E. Jefferson Ave., 63122. For more information, visit www.kirkwoodpubliclibrary. org.
Mon., Aug., 13, Ethical Society of St. Louis hosts author Jason Kander, author of Outside the Wire: Ten Lessons I’ve Learned in Everyday Courage. Left Bank Books, 399 N. Euclid Ave., 63108.
Thur., Aug. 16, 7 p.m., Left Bank Books hosts author Michael Kench, author of Between Hope and Fear: A History of Vaccines and Human Immunity. 399 N. Euclid Ave., 63108.
July 27 – 28, COCA presents West Side Story Edison Theatre, 6465 Forsyth Blvd., 63105. For more information, visit www. cocastl.org.
Sat., July 28, 7:30 p.m., Beyond Measure Dance Theater presents The Art of Fusion. .Zack, 3224 Locust St., 63103. For more information, visit www. metrotix.com.
Aug. 9 – 12, JPEK Creative Works Theatre presents Meeting at the Elder’s Circle. Kranzberg Theatre, 501 N. Grand Blvd., 63106. For more information, visit www.metrotix.com.
Through July 28, Maïmouna Guerresi’s Aisha in Wonderland. The exhibition is the representation of the spiritually strong woman leaving aside the stereotypes linked to Islam. projects+gallery, 4733 McPherson Ave., 63108. For more information, visit www. projects-gallery.com.
Through August 19, Contemporary Art Museum 2018 Great Rivers Biennial Featuring artists Addoley Dzegede, Sarah Paulsen, and Jacob Stanley, Amy Sherald, and Claudia Comte. On view through August 19. 3750 Washington Blvd., 63108. Through September 3, Color-
2D.E.F presents Doug E. Fresh All White Block Party and Fundraiser. For more information, see COMEDY.
ism by Work/Play Explores colorism in the African American community dating back to the 18th century. Kranzberg Arts Center, 501 N. Grand Blvd., 63103. For more information, visit www. kranzbergartscenter.org.
Through September 30, Let’s Play Ball! Field House Museum, 634 S. Broadway, 63102. For more information, visit www.facebook.com.
Thur., July 26, 6:30 p.m., Beyond the Sting; Unpacking Scott Joplin and the Man Behind the Music. Historian Bryan Cather shares the latest findings about
Joplin. Maplewood Public Library, 7550 Lohmeyer Ave., 63143. For more information, visit www. maplewood.lib.mo.us.
Fri., July 27, 6 p.m., Better Family Life Membership Association presents Raising a Black Scholar – Why We Can’t Wait. 5415 Page Blvd., 63112. For more information, visit www. facebook.com.
Sat., Aug. 11, 1 p.m., Panelist Discussion with Black Bloggers of St. Louis. panelists include AK + Diamond, Vera Jeanae, Psyche Southwell, Ebbie Nicole and Winnie Caldwell. Covo STL, 401 Pine St., 63102. For more information, visit www.eventbrite.com.
Sat., Aug. 4, 7 a.m., The Lupus Foundation of America, Heartland Chapter hosts the Lupus WolfRide Charity Cycling Event. Raise funds and enjoy the annual Route 66 BBQ Blast. Lions Park, 340 Bald Hill Rd., 63025. For more information, visit www.chapters.lupus.org/ wolfride2018.
Wed., Aug. 15, 11 a.m., The Office of St. Louis Comptroller Darlene Green will host its semiannual American Red Cross Blood Drive. St. Louis City Hall, 1200 Market St., 63103. For more information or to register, visit www. redcrossblood.org.
Through July 27, Church of God in Christ, Inc., Missouri Midwest Ecclesiastical Jurisdiction presents the Third Annual Holy Convocation. Kennerly Temple, 4307 Kennerly Ave., 63113. For more information, call (314) 761-5148.
Sat., July 28, 10 a.m., Phenomenal I Am Women’s Conference: It’s My Winning Season. The New Northside Conference Center, 5939 Goodfellow Blvd., 63147. For more information, visit www. eventbrite.com.
Sat., Aug. 4, 7 p.m., Families United Community Benefit Megafest 2018. Renaissance St. Louis Airport, 9801 Natural Bridge Rd., 63134. For more information, visit www.healthyrelationshipstl. com.
Aug. 8 – 11, Black Jack Baptist Church’s Vacation Bible School. 4906 Meuse Dr., 63033. For more information, call (314) 2104272.
It
“Were you there?” Baker asked the gentleman. He nodded. “Oh, thank you – oh, bless you,” Baker said, blowing him kisses as he made his
to his seat. The audience was almost exclusively African-American, but they represented various age groups, backgrounds and even regions as they caught Baker in the flesh for what she says is the final time.
“How many of you came from out of town?” Baker asked the crowd. A surprisingly loud number of screams came from the crowd. She then shared the story of a woman she referred to as Ms. Pickett, whom Baker met in the airport during her red eye flight to St. Louis. “She told me, ‘I don’t fly at night, but I did tonight just so I could come to St. Louis and see you,’” Baker said. “Then she got out of her wheelchair,
walked over to me and hugged my neck.” She asked Ms. Pickett if she could identify herself, and she did – from way up in the balcony. “Oh, we’ve got to get you down closer,” Baker said. Baker asked
ushers to make a seat for her down front. They brought her downstairs and she enjoyed the rest of the show from the third row. The authentic exchanges between Baker and the
n “All we’ve got are a bunch of old love songs,” Baker said. “Is that alright?”
audience were as memorable as the performance itself, which didn’t disappoint her fans –even if they got the short end of the stick as far as musical selections. She only performed a dozen songs and seemed
keen on 1986’s “Rapture” album. There was no reference whatsoever to the “Rhythm of Love ” album – which spawned the hits “I Apologize” and “Body and Soul.” They wouldn’t get to sing along to her classics “Angel,” “Good Love” or “The Best Thing Yet” either, but it didn’t seem to matter.
They were so caught up – in the rapture if you will – of Baker’s high energy performance and impressive vocals. When one hears “farewell” in the title of a tour, even if hoping and praying for the best, can’t help but prepare for an artist to be on their last leg. Baker made it clear with her opening selection, a cover of LaBelle’s “Lady Marmalade,” that this was not the case for her.
The song seemed an unlikely fit for Baker, that is until she started in on it. She danced around and sang the selection in its purest form, with her signature jazz influenced contralto vocals working surprisingly well with the fastpaced disco classic.
Baker was chattier than expected – which perhaps had a hand in the abbreviated set list – but the band, led by famous band leader Ray Chew, and Baker worked overtime to give fans an unforgettable final live show memory.
Baker told fans that Chew was one of the reasons she was on stage performing for them. She listed several of his accomplishments as a television musical maestro, including The Academy Awards and ABC’s “Dancing With The Stars.” She encouraged applause on his behalf as she sat beside him to sing “Just Because” – which served as an in memoriam to several entertainers the world lost in recent years.
“Rapture,” “No One In The World,” and “Same Ole Love,” were among the other selections Baker performed before her “Fairy Tales” finale. “All we’ve got are a bunch of old love songs,” Baker said. “Is that alright?”
“Keep ‘em coming,” a fan shouted out at the top of his lungs.
privilege of knowing David and Thelma Steward, and one of our shared interests has always been jazz. Our Jazz Studies program has seen tremendous growth under the leadership of Jim Widner, and with the help of the Stewards’ philanthropy, we will be able to take it to even greater heights for the benefit of our students.”
The Steward family has long supported jazz in St. Louis – and their connection to the genre stretches back to David’s childhood in Clinton, Mo. A love for the music was passed down from Harold and Dorothy Steward to their children, who would drive with their parents to Kansas City for the annual
jazz festival. An accomplished vocalist and pianist, Dorothy Steward was her children’s first piano teacher – and all eight of the Steward children played at least one instrument growing up.
“Thelma and I are excited to work with UMSL around our shared passion for jazz and education and make this initial investment to establish the institute,” said David Steward, founder and chairman of World Wide Technology and a former member of the University of Missouri Board of Curators.
“We intend to pursue future gifts to exceed $8.1 million in conjunction with UMSL, Jazz St. Louis and the business community to ensure perpetual growth and a sustainable impact to the education of St. Louis children and beyond. Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken
together and running over, will be poured into your lap. Luke 6:38”
UMSL’s ability to recruit and cultivate students interested in jazz, including those from underrepresented minority communities across the St. Louis region and beyond.
“It’s one of the passions that I’ve had, and one that God put my wife and me on this earth to do: to preserve the history, relevance, significance and importance of the unique experience that is jazz,” David Steward told The American just before he and Thelma Steward were
recognized by Jazz at Lincoln Center for their contributions to the music last year. “Jazz is one of the original music forms in America and it was pioneered by persons of color – and that’s significant.”
The Stewards’ gift will also support scholarships, artistsin-residence, travels funds to advance jazz education and performance and UMSL’s summer jazz camp, designed for high-potential instrumental students in grades 7-12 who have the opportunity to learn more about jazz style, improvisation and performance.
“Amazing opportunities are ahead for our jazz students as a great program will now be made even greater,” said Jim Widner, director of jazz studies.
“This tremendous gift from the Steward Family Foundation is going to help make UMSL an epicenter for jazz studies.”
with Danielle but view him as “aggressive.”
This led them to create the work in “Color-ism,” an exhibition that opened at the Gallery at the Kranzberg Arts Center on Friday and remains on view through Sept. 3. Put simply, colorism is the preference for lighter-colored skin, even within communities of color.
“I think it’s important for us as a light-skinned, fairskinned person and a darkskinned person to address this,” Danielle McCoy said.
The McCoys make art and graphic design under the name WORK-PLAY. After the killing of Michael Brown and the ensuing Ferguson uprising, they took a turn from “feelgood art,” Danielle said, to work that actively confronts social issues.
The roots of colorism in the United States go back at least as far as the preferential treatment white slaveholders sometimes gave to their mixedrace offspring. But it’s found
around the globe — like in East and South Asia, and Latin America — and practiced by white folks and by people of color, according to Kimberly Norwood, a professor at Washington University.
“The statistics still show that the lighter your skin, the likelier you are to go to college, to graduate from college, to get a good job, to get married, be healthier,” said Norwood, author of “Color Matters: Skin Tone Bias and the Myth of a Postracial America.”
Norwood said There have long been waves of resistance to colorism among AfricanAmericans, from the “Black is Beautiful” movement to more-recent protests against magazines using Photoshop to lighten the appearance of black models’ skin tone, said Norwood, who was a lead organizer of a conference on colorism at Washington University in 2015.
But it is pervasive. It even seeped into her home, Norwood said. Years ago, her then-5year-old daughter remarked that she wished she had “the cool skin.” When her mother asked her what she meant, she said lighter skin.
“That really shook me
because I live a life of pride in my African heritage. [I wondered] where did this come from?” she recalled, “How was this happening right under my nose?”
When they thought about creating art inspired by their personal experiences with colorism, the McCoys also looked at how it shows up in popular culture. One of the pieces in the show depicts some of the words found in the definition of the word black found on Dictionary.com:
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and fans sharing the story of how he got the courage to dive into comedy headfirst while being honored with the 2,640th star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in Los Angeles on Thursday.
As he thanked family and friends. He also thanked his city. “Long before the world came to know me as the chubby Denzel of comedy –well, everybody says it – I was in the clubs, in the bars, in the backyards of my hometown of St. Louis,” Cedric said. “St. Louis was my proving ground.”
He spoke of the days when on occasion he got paid in
the currency of Hennessy and chicken wings. He reflected on how he and business partner Eric Rhone worked their day jobs and hit the comedy clubs at night.
“We would be in literal holes in the walls over in East St. Louis,” Cedric said. Now he’s a veteran of stage, film and television – and a King of Comedy.
He said his sister, Sharita Kyles Wilson and his late mother, Rosetta Boyce Kyles were his first audience and fans – and an exchange with his mother let him know he was on the right path.
He told her a joke he wrote, and she laughed so hard that she doubled over. She laughed herself right down to the ground. “At that moment I realized that I don’t ever want to
stop doing this,” Cedric told the crowd. “Then I told her I quit my job. And she immediately stopped laughing.”
With his star, Cedric’s comedy legacy is set in stone –alongside other St. Louis comedy greats like Redd Foxx and Dick Gregory.
A graduate of Berkley High School and Southeast Missouri State University, Cedric made a name for himself on the St. Louis comedy scene. By the early 1990s, he was primed for the big time.
He became a household name when he was tapped to host the second season of BET’S Comic View –following in the footsteps of fellow future “King of Comedy” D.L. Hughley, who served as the hit urban comedy series’ inaugural host.
soiled, hostile, threatening.
Another features a quote from Kanye West’s song “Everything I Am” screen-printed onto a black background: “Be light as Albi or black as Chauncey/ Remember him from Blackstreet/He was as black as the street was.”
“Why that narrative?” Kevin McCoy asked, “why that comparison? It’s the reason we wanted to focus on it. Why does that description need to be there, and where does it come
Soon after, he co-starred with fellow comic Steve Harvey on the hit WB sitcom “The Steve Harvey Show.” In 2000, Cedric starred alongside Harvey, Hughley and the late Bernie Mac in the recordbreaking “Kings of Comedy” Tour, which also spawned a blockbuster film of the same name.
Cedric went on to film and television success in films such as “The Honeymooners,” the “Barbershop” franchise, “Johnson Family Vacation,” “Welcome Home Roscoe Jenkins” and “Be Cool” to name a few.
He and fellow St. Louisan Niecy Nash (who received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame last week) starred in the TV Land sitcom “Soul Man” for five seasons.
from?”
A centerpiece of the show is an installation based on the infamous “brown paper bag test,” a method some AfricanAmerican social clubs used in the 20th century to decide if someone was light enough to be a member. It includes a collection of brown lunch bags, with text printed onto them in various shades of brown: “Am I accepted now?”
“It’s our way to kind of critique that whole system of who has access, who has privilege and who doesn’t,” he said.
That piece caught the attention of Adrienne Davis, a law professor and vice-provost at Washington University, where Kevin McCoy is pursuing an MFA. Davis, a noted collector of African and African-American art, remembers being “rattled” as a teenager when paging through her mother and aunt’s yearbooks from Howard University dating to the late 1950s and early 1960s.
“I would look at a page and for one of the sororities it looked like they were almost white women with blonde hair,” she said. “And then I’d look at another sorority’s page
Cedric currently stars alongside Tracy Morgan in the TBS sitcom “The Last O.G” and is slated to star in the upcoming CBS comedy “The Neighborhood” this fall.
Basketball legend and business mogul Earvin “Magic” Johnson was one of the speakers to address the crowd during Cedric’s ceremony.
Johnson said that Cedric not only entertains – but uplifts the community.
“People who don’t have a voice, you give them a voice,” Johnson said. “And you always support people no matter what their status is, no matter how much money they make, you use your platform to always uplift people.”
Cedric was still early in his career when he started his scholarship fund. Since its
and it would be women that probably looked like me. I’d look at another sorority and they were women that were all darker-skinned. You could see that the women had come together socially around how they looked.”
Davis said the use of actual, brown paper bags in the McCoys’ show is “really smart” and emblematic of a movement among local African-American artists to engage with racial issues in creative ways.
“This is what I love seeing in the St. Louis artists right now. They’re really taking up these historic issues of race and they’re putting it in a contemporary context and they’re just challenging us. They’re kind of blowing everything up.”
“Color-ism,” will be on display at the Gallery at the Kranzberg Arts Center (501 N. Grand Blvd in Grand Center) through Sept. 3. For more information, visit http:// www.kranzbergartscenter.org/ gallery/exhibition-calendar Republished with permission of St. Louis Public Radio: http://news. stlpublicradio.org/post/am-iaccepted-now-st-louis-couplesart-tackles-colorism
inception in 1996, the fund has provided nearly $200,000 to St. Louis area students who have attended colleges and universities across the nation. Cedric The Entertainer Charitable Foundation has partnered with the United Negro College Fund since 2002.
Cedric also helped raise money for the Rosetta Boyce Kyles Women’s Pavilion at SSM Health St. Mary’s Hospital in honor of his late mother – who was a patient at SSM during her battle with cancer.
Cedric got emotional when he told the crowd how much he wished his mother could be there to see his star unveiled.
“She’s here though,” Cedric said. “I can feel her presence all around me.”
St. Louis Convention and Visitors Commission
By Kiara Bryant For the St. Louis American
Back to school season is upon us but, there’s still time to plan more outings together as a family and enjoy the final days of summer before the kids return to the classroom. The Urban League of Metropolitan Saint Louis has you covered with their Urban Expo: Back to School & Community Festival (August 11-12) at America’s Center. The expo is an effort to support the Urban League’s mission of empowering their 100,000plus clients with vital access to programs and resources that serve as a catalyst for positive change within the AfricanAmerican community.
There is truly something for everyone at this event including: a performance by Gospel Superstar Fred Hammond, book bags, empowerment seminars, a boxing tournament, family resources, food, games, prizes, haircuts, health screenings, literary corner, PGA workshop, school supplies, senior services, women’s empowerment summit, workshops, live entertainment and more. Free parking will be available throughout the weekend for attendees as available in the U.S. Bank garage. The event begins Saturday, August 11 from 10 a.m. - 8 p.m. and
continues Sunday, August 12 from 10 a.m.-6 p.m.
If you could use a laugh, one of the most popular comedians in stand-up, D. L. Hughley, will be coming to the Helium Comedy Club stage on August 3-5. Whether it’s a date night or girls/guys night out, arrive early for dinner or drinks at their Elements restaurant. We’re also very excited to welcome the 100th PGA Championship (August 6-12) at Bellerive Country
n Enjoy an international experience in Tower Grove Park when the Festival of Nations returns on August 25 and 26.
Club. Catch all the action live and watch as the best in golf compete for the coveted Wanamaker trophy in the 100th edition of this historic Major. It’s your final chance to visit The Muny this summer and see Meet Me in St. Louis (August 4-12) before the curtain closes on The Muny’s Centennial season. Be sure to stop by the Missouri History
Museum and see their exhibit titled Muny Memories: 100 Seasons Onstage, celebrating the nation’s largest and oldest continually operating outdoor theatre in our very own community. Enjoy an international experience in Tower Grove Park when the Festival of Nations returns on August 25 and 26. From Spanish flamenco to a Vietnamese lion dance, celebrate different cultures with over 40 ethnic food booths, dancing, music, arts and gifts from around the world. If you can’t remember the last time you visited the Garden this is for you. Flora Borealis, a nighttime multimedia exhibit using custom light, sounds and moving images, is now at the Missouri Botanical Garden. For two months, guests visiting the Garden will travel the one-mile narrated walk through some of the 79 acres of horticultural display. You’ll want to get your tickets before this experience ends on August 26.
Look forward to a Labor Day staycation with the Big Muddy Blues Festival, a Cardinal’s game, Japanese Festival at the Garden and many events. From Live music to fascinating exhibits at our world-class museums, go to explorestlouis.com for more help with your summer plans.
By Emily Underwood For The St. Louis American
On Saturday, July 28, individuals with disabilities and their allies are invited to the Missouri History Museum for “FestAbility: A Celebration of Disabilities.” From 1 to 9 p.m., this free, all-ages event will celebrate the anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), a landmark civil rights bill that was signed into law on July 26, 1990, by President George H. W. Bush. This law – which covers both physical and mental conditions – made it illegal to discriminate based on disability. It also requires employers to provide reasonable accommodations for employees with disabilities and outlines a set of accessibility requirements for public spaces.
One of the most prominent disability rights activists was St. Louis’s Max Starkloff, who was disabled as the result of an automobile accident at age 21. Starkloff became a champion of independent living. He founded Paraquad, an independent living center, in 1970 with his future wife, Colleen. He also established the St. Louis chapter of the National Paraplegia Foundation, the National Council on Independent Living, and the Starkloff Disability Institute. The Starkloffs were grassroots activists for disability rights: They urged St. Louis officials to install curb cuts on city sidewalks, they fought for better access at public institutions, and they worked tirelessly for the passage of the ADA.
“FestAbility is a natural fit for the Missouri History Museum,” said Sarah Sims, the Missouri Historical Society’s K–12 manager who also leads the institution’s accessibility committee. “Not only is the passage of the ADA part of our story here in St. Louis, but it is also a priority for us to offer everyone access to our exhibits, spaces, and programs.”
Last year the Missouri Historical Society received Paraquad’s Shine the Light Award and the inaugural Award for Diversity, Equity, Accessibility, and Inclusion from the American Alliance of Museums. Besides meeting ADA building requirements, MHS also provides American Sign Language (ASL) interpretation at many of its programs, offers both ASL and audio descriptive versions of gallery tours, and provides sensory kits for children and adults.
The Missouri Historical Society’s other venues – the Library & Research Center on Skinker Blvd. and Soldiers Memorial Military Museum downtown – demonstrate
the same dedication to accessibility. When Soldiers Memorial reopens to the public on November 3, the 1938 Art Deco building will be ADA compliant for the first time. The state-of-the-art facility will have accessibility features such as ramps, powerassist doors, and wheelchair lifts. Exhibitions at Soldiers Memorial will have closed captioning on video elements and a high level of contrast on labels for visitors who have low vision. All of the gallery space will be wheelchair accessible.
FestAbility will feature booths from nonprofit and for-profit organizations that provide services for individuals with disabilities. Destination
Desserts, a food truck that trains and employs people with head injuries and cognitivelearning conditions, will also be on site. Other highlights include an opportunity to learn more about United Access vehicles and a visit from the Bubble Bus from 3 to 4 p.m. Performances from DSA Rocks, the Totally Awesome Girlfriends Group, the DisAbility Project, Different Dynamics, and Black Bound Entertainment are other exciting parts of the day’s lineup. MHS will offer accessible
programs for kids in the Seeking St. Louis galleries from 2 to 5 p.m., and there will be ASL and descriptive tours of the exhibitions “Panoramas of the City” and “Muny Memories.” Kids can create art projects with Artists First, explore the world of robotics with KEEN, and meet service dogs from Duo Dogs. For quieter programs, the Missouri History Museum will host a yoga session at 1:30 p.m. and provide a quiet sensory break room.
Parking is available at the lower Muny parking lot in Forest Park and at Paraquad, located at 5240 Oakland Ave. Shuttles to the Missouri History Museum will run from both locations.
FestAbility is presented by the Starkloff Disability Institute with sponsorship from Emerson, Microsoft, Lighthouse for the Blind, and United Access, and support from iHeartMedia. The Missouri Historical Society’s collaborators include Paraquad, Variety, Special Olympics Missouri, Down Syndrome Association, the Muscular Dystrophy Association, St. Louis Arc, MindsEye, and the Center for Head Injury Services. We hope to see you there!
Nathaniel and Nita Watson of South St. Louis are celebrating their 60th wedding anniversary. They were married in Helena, Arkansas, on July 28, 1958. They are the parents of six children, seven grandchildren, and one great-grandchild. This is special anniversary for many reasons.
Mamie Boyd celebrated her 107th birthday with family and friends in St. Louis, including Regina, Eleanor and James of the Boyd family; Mattie and Kathy of the Hopson family; Glenda Taylor and a host of others. Happy Birthday, Mamie Boyd!
Happy 10th Birthday, Ma’lai Ellis! Ten is a perfect number, and I pray for perfection and divine order over your life. July 29th is your day! Love, Mom
Happy Birthday to my daughter, Erionna Edwards who’s turning 16 on July 27. We are so proud of you! And also Happy Birthday to Ashley Stone, one of the best moms ever, on July 31! We love you! From Dad & the kiddos
Shegog Shelby at 314-7995296 for further details.
East St. Louis Sr. High School Class of 1968 will celebrate its 50 year reunion on Friday, October 12, 2018 at the Main Street Brewing Center, 6435 West Main Street, Belleville, IL. 62223. For more information contact Linda Ward Spencer (618) 830-8221 or laws50@ aol.com.
Beaumont High Class of 1973 will celebrate its 45th reunion, Aug. 10-12, 2018! To register contact: Dr. Liz Franklin at, mychoice2succeed@yahoo. com or (636)293-9553. Also, check out the BHS Facebook page.
Beaumont Class of 1978
40th Reunion Extravaganza
Save the Date: October 5-7, 2018. Call or text Marietta
or Marvin Young 314-4225757.
Northwest Class of 1979 is planning on cruising for our 40th class reunion and would love for you to join us! Date to sail is set for July 20, 2019 and you can feel free to contact: Duane Daniels at 314-568-2057 or Howard Day at 414-6984261 for further information. Please don’t miss the boat!
Ma’lai Ellis
Mamie Boyd
314-591-7306 or Kelvin Murphy 314-616-1007.
St. Rose of Lima (Goodfellow & Etzel, closed 1977) will host an all-class reunion on Saturday, Sept. 8, Jewel Center, 407 Dunn Rd. See www.strosereunion.com for details.
Vashon High School Class of 1973 will celebrate its 45th reunion on Saturday, August 11, 2018 in St. Louis. We’re still in the All reunion announcements can be viewed online!
Hadley Teach classes of 1962-1963 will host their Annual Picnic on Saturday, Aug. 18 at Marvin’s Park, 4003 Camellia. Hot dogs, soda and water provided. Bring your basket, chairs, family and friends! For more information, contact: Virdell Robinson Stennis 314-7738177, Ora Scott Roberts 314-222-3662, Wilhelmina Gibson Baker 314-630-9647
O’Fallon Tech will be celebrating its “50th” Class Reunion on Nov. 2-3, 2018 at Hollywood Casino, 777 Casino Center Dr. Maryland Heights, MO 63043. Class of 1969 and others are invited. To RSVP for the head count, so please contact: Joann Durham Harris 314-363-4260, Donnell Jackson 314-4944807, Gloria Houston King
Sumner Class of 1979 will hold its “Bulldogs Rock the Boat” BIG 4-0 Reunion Cruise, June 22-27, 2019. For further information, email your contact information to sumner1979@ymail.com or call 314-406-4309. Join our Facebook group at Sumner High Class of ‘79.
process of rounding up all of our graduates and would love for you all to contact us. Please email us at tpjgramells@aol.com for additional information. You may also RSVP and pay by going to VashonHigh1973. myevent.com. For those not on the internet, please call Terri (Bell) Johnson 314-3132113.
McKinley High Class of 1978 40-year reunion will take place July 27-29, 2018 at the Embassy Suites-Airport Hotel in St. Louis. Classmates from all McKinley H.S. classes are invited. Registration is required. To register, contact Barbara Lindsey, Barbara_ Lindsey@icloud.com or Marvin Woods, mwoods@ projectcontrolsgroup.com or (314) 647-0707.
Do you have a celebration you’re proud of? If so we would like to share your good news with our readers. Whether it’s a birth, wedding, engagement announcement, anniversary, retirement or birthday, send your photos and a brief announcement (50 words or less) to us and we may include it in our paper and website – AT NO COST – as space is available Photos will not be returned. Send your announcements to: kdaniel@stlamerican. com or mail to:
St. Louis American Celebrations c/o Kate Daniel 2315 Pine St. 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
STL’s Anita fever. Since we’re friends, I can be honest and let y’all know that I couldn’t say I was the biggest Anita Baker ride or die – and didn’t see what all the fuss was about regarding her visit to St. Louis. Don’t get it twisted, I’ve always dug her voice. And I know every single word to the whole “Rapture” album, thanks to my mother’s preferred housecleaning playlist. I promise I smell lemon Pledge every single time I hear “Same Ole Love.” I even smelled it at The Fox on Saturday when Anita was singing. Truth be told, my mother went so hard with her Anita fandom that I think I accidently developed an aversion to Ms. Baker. Mama, but you really took it too far with the haircut, black dresses, shoulder pads and hand choreography from 1985-91. Sorry I didn’t say anything at the time, but we both know there would have been a different kind of hand choreography coming my way from you if I had. Now before y’all meet me on the parking lot with some hand choreography of your own, let me say that my feelings made a 360 after catching her live and in the flesh. Listen, Anita came through in an age-appropriate suede En Vogue “Hold On To Your Love” freakum dress and some cross-strap kitten heels and gave me my whole entire life! She had to have said to herself, “What outfit was I wearing when I last came to town in 1995? This is close enough!” She had me when she took her own sweet time and came out kick-ball-changing to “Lady Marmalade.” I knew she could skate because of the “Same Ole Love” video, but she can groove too! The band was off-thechain (sorry for the elderly slang, but it feels appropriate), even though I would have loved to see a trumpet and trombone added for the full orchestra effect. Ray Chew and his crew killed it with the singular horn section. I was sad that she didn’t sing more songs, but still thrilled with her performance. I still don’t know how she thought it was okay to come back after all these years and not sing “Body And Soul” though. The Sunday crowd got “Angel.” We didn’t. I forgave her for all of that though, because of how she tore the stage down. Folks were saying that Sunday was a better show than Saturday, but aside from the set list length, I was completely satisfied. And I wasn’t by myself. Everybody and their mama (literally) was up in there in Anita overload. I saw people from all ages from elderly to fresh millennial and nobody could contain themselves as Anita brought them joy. I’m really hoping that she didn’t mean it when she named it the Farewell Tour, but we know Anita don’t have any problem hibernating. I mean, according to my fake age I was a toddler the last time she came to town. She gave us the best that she’s got – even if she didn’t sing the song with that title either – and I really hope she’s not serious with her claims that she’s giving us the last of it!
Phenomenal Frizz Fest. After being blown away with the inaugural Frizz Fest presented by Frizzy and her team, I had to go back to see if they would have a repeat with their return to Tower Grove Park Saturday afternoon. I didn’t think it was possible, but they exceeded my expectation. It got a late start, but it was worth the wait. It was like Curlfest and AfroPunk had a baby – and folks didn’t have to head to NYC to get enjoy it. The weather was perfect and the folks’ curls, kinks, twists, locks, coils and ‘fros were poppin! I have never seen so many perfect twist outs in one place at the same time in all my life. I would start naming names, but I would most certainly would get in trouble for accidently leaving folks out. Just know that every naturalista that you know and love was on deck. And the non-naturals were welcomed with open arms and out there spreading the Frizzfest warm and fuzzy feelings.
Jay E had The Pageant jumpin’. Anybody who wants to dispute that the talent pool in St. Louis is not on par with any city in the world should have stopped through Red Bull Music’s presentation of The Mind of Jay E Friday night at The Pageant so they could have their argument shut all the way down. Not only did we get a taste of latest project from the super producer who put his sauce all up and through Nelly’s “Country Grammar,” but some of STL’s finest from the hiphop scene got a chance to flex – both with their familiar hits and the features on Jay E’s “In The City Vol. 1,” which dropped two weeks ago and has some super STL rap heavyweights. Keem, Fresco Kane, The Knuckles, J.R. were just a few of the folks who hit the stage Friday night. Rising rap star Mvstermind got things started. Bay area rap legend E-40 was a special guest, and he gave a whole doggone show up in there. I was so thrilled, because plenty of times the special guests at shows like this tend to only give a sip. I forgot how many hits he had – and how he’s been repping for Oakland’s rap scene for more than 30 years. I thought I was gonna need a hip-replacement after bustin’ a move to “Snap Yo Fingers.” The show went on a lot longer than I expected – like after midnight longer – but it was a great time.
No party like a Doug E. Fresh Party. If you are anything like me, you will follow hip-hop pioneer Doug E. Fresh to any party because his turnup is so real.
That’s why you need to make it your business to be in the building Saturday (July 28) at the Old Rock House for the 2D.E.F. Doug E. Fresh All White Block Party Fundraiser. Now I like a party just as much as anybody. But I absolutely love a party with a purpose – and that’s what you will get if you stop through and support. Proceeds from the party will benefit The 2DEF Domestic Violence Safe House & Projects. Things will get crackin’ at 7 p.m. and Boogie Coreleone will be blazing the tables. Y’all better hit up metrotix.com to get your tickets, because I’m all but certain this party will be at capacity. I wouldn’t risk being on the outside looking in if I were you – even though the Old Rock House has a
area.
Master’s Degree in Social Work, Social ServicesAdministration, Business and/or PublicAdministration or a related field. Provides overall leadership, management and direction to department.Ability to interact with key HousingAuthority personnel, the Board of Commissioners, foundations, business groups, non-profit organizations, advocacy groups and resident organizations. Must be extremely skilled in written and verbal communications, a self-starter and must develop additional funding streams for theAuthority, prepare grant proposals and supervise multiple grants and staff of social service professionals. Starting Salary $75,096Annually. Apply or send resume to: St. Louis HousingAuthority, HR Division, 3520 Page Blvd., St. Louis, MO 63106 by 5:00 p.m., August 6, 2018 via website www.slha. org or emailathomas@slha.org.ADrug Free Work Place/EOE.
Deaconess Center for Child Well-Being for fiscal years 2018–2021. For details on the proposal, please visit: www.deaconess.org
METROPOLITAN ST. LOUIS
SEWER DISTRICT
Notice is hereby given that the Metropolitan St. Louis Sewer District will receive RFQ’s in the Purchasing Division, 2350 Market Street, St. Louis, Missouri 63103-2555 until 10:00 a.m. on August 28, 2018 to contract with a company for: FACING BRICK. Specifications and bid forms may be obtained from www.stlmsd.com, click on the “MSD AT WORK” link, (bid opportunities). The bid document will be identified as 9489 RFQ. If you do not
METROPOLITAN ST. LOUIS
SEWER DISTRICT
Notice is hereby given that the Metropolitan St. Louis Sewer District will receive RFQ’s in the Purchasing Division, 2350 Market Street, St. Louis, Missouri 63103-2555 until 10:00 a.m. on August 21, 2018 to contract with a company for: PLUMBING SUPPLIES. Specifications and bid forms may be obtained from www.stlmsd.com, click on the “MSD AT WORK” link, (bid opportunities). The bid document will be identified as 9482 RFQ. If you do not have access to the internet, call 314-768-6254 to request a copy of this bid.
Metropolitan St. Louis Sewer District is an Equal Opportunity Employer.
METROPOLITAN
Greensfelder, Hemker & Gale, P.C. has an opening for a full-time Legal Administrative Assistant for the St. Louis office. This position will assist attorneys to help steer the delivery of legal services with the use of technical skills and manage work flow processes. We are looking for a professional that understands the importance of quality service, contributes in a team environment and willing to continually learn and grow with our Firm. Therefore, strong teamwork and communication skills are highly desired. Qualified applicants will have strong typing and computer skills, excellent attention to detail, proofreading and organization skills. Experience with Microsoft Word, Excel and Adobe are required. Candidates can apply online at http://www.greensfelder.com/careers. html. EOE
METROPOLITAN ST. LOUIS
SEWER DISTRICT
Notice is hereby given that the Metropolitan St. Louis Sewer District will receive RFQ’s in the Purchasing Division, 2350 Market Street, St. Louis, Missouri 63103-2555 until 10:00 a.m. on August 30, 2018 to contract with a company for: GAS-COMPRESSED.
Specifications and bid forms may be obtained from www.stlmsd.com, click on the “MSD AT WORK” link, (bid opportunities). The bid document will be identified as 9492 RFQ. If you do not have access to the internet, call 314-768-6254 to request a copy of this bid.
Metropolitan St. Louis Sewer District is an Equal Opportunity Employer.
Renewal of Maintenance and Licenses. The District is proposing single source procurement to ESRI for this service. Any inquiries should be sent to ameyer@stlmsd.com.
is hereby
that the Metropolitan St. Louis Sewer District will receive RFQ’s in the Purchasing Division, 2350 Market Street, St. Louis, Missouri 63103-2555 until 10:00 a.m. on August 29, 2018 to contract with a company for: FIRST AID SUPPLIES & SERVICES.
Specifications and bid forms may be obtained from www.stlmsd.com, click on the “MSD AT WORK” link, (bid opportunities). The bid document will be identified as 9491 RFQ. If you do not have access to the internet, call 314-768-6254 to request a copy of this bid. Metropolitan St. Louis Sewer District is an Equal Opportunity Employer.
Public
METROPOLITAN ST. LOUIS SEWER DISTRICT Notice is hereby given that the Metropolitan St. Louis Sewer District will receive RFQ’s in the Purchasing Division, 2350 Market Street, St. Louis, Missouri 63103-2555 until
Paric Corporation is seeking proposals for the following project: University of Missouri - Patient Care Tower - 3rd & 4th floor fit out and AHU Modifications.
The project consists of construction of 6 new operating room suites into the existing shell space on the east end of the 3rd floor of the Patient Care Tower, 25 new pre and post-operative rooms into existing shell space on the east end of the 4th floor of the Patient Care Tower and a new freestanding auxiliary penthouse adjacent to the existing main penthouse for the Patient Care Tower.
Bids will be due by 12:30 PM on Thursday, August 2nd and should be submitted by e-mail to bids@paric.com or fax (636-561-9501).
A Diversity Participation goal of 10% MBE and 10% Combined WBE, DBE, Veteran Owned Business and 3% SDVE has been established for this contract.
For any questions or would like to find out more detailed information on this opportunity, please contact Evan Chiles at 636-561-9544 or emchiles@paric.com.
Plans and specifications will be available to view at Paric’s Main office at 77 Westport Plaza, Suite 250, St. Louis, MO 63146.
PARIC CORPORATION IS AN EQUAL OPPORTUNITY EMPLOYER
At St. Louis Lambert International Airport Sealed proposals will be received by the Board of Public Service in Room 208 City Hall, 1200 Market Street, St. Louis, Mo. Until 1:45 PM, CT, on Tuesday, August 28, 2018 then publicly opened and read. Plans and Specifications may be examined on the Board of Public Service website http://www.stl-bps.org/planroom (BPS On Line Plan Room) and may be purchased directly through the BPS website from INDOX Services at cost plus shipping. No refunds will be made.
Bidders shall comply with all applicable City, State and Federal laws (including MBE/WBE policies). ). Mandatory pre-bid meeting will be held on Tuesday, August 7, 2018, at 10:00 AM in the Ozark Conference Room at the Airport Office Building, 11495 Navaid Rd., Bridgeton, MO 63044.
All bidders must regard Federal Executive Order 11246, “Notice of Requirement for Affirmative Action to Ensure Equal Employment Opportunity”, the “Equal Opportunity Clause” and the “Standard Federal Equal Employment Specifications” set forth within and referenced at www.stl-bps.org (Announcements).
Notice To Small (SBE), Disadvantaged (DBE), Minority (MBE), Women’s (WBE), Service Disabled Veteran Owned (SDVOB) & Veteran Owned (VOB) Businesses Advertisement River City Construction, L.L.C., 6640 American Setter Drive, Ashland, Missouri 65010, (573) 657-7380 (Phone) (573) 657-7381 (Fax) Is Seeking Qualified Small, Disadvantaged, Minority, Women’s, Service Disabled Veteran Owned & Veteran Owned Businesses For The University of Missouri Patient Care Tower –3rd & 4th Floor Fitout And AHU Modifications University Of Missouri, Columbia, Missouri:Project NumberS: CP150752, CP150753, CP150754e: for subcontracting opportunities in the following areas: demolition, masonry, metals, rough carpentry, roofing, doors, glazing, painting, drywall, flooring, specialties, furnishings, fire suppression, integrated automation, plumbing, HVAC, electrical, communications, electronic security. All interested and qualified SBE, DBE, WBE, SDVOB, AND VOB businesses should contact, in writing, (certified letter, return receipt requested) Josh Sanders or Joe Seymour to discuss the subcontracting opportunities. All negotiations must be completed prior to the bid opening date of 8/02/2018@ 1:30 PM. Proposals will be evaluated in order on the basis of low responsive bid received. CERTIFICATION OF DBE/WBE/MBE/SDVOB/VOB STATUS MUST BE SUBMITTED WITH BID. BID DOCUMENTS MAY BE OBTAINED BY:
1) Email your company name, contact name and phone number, as well as the project you are interested in to bid@rccllc.com
2) You will then receive an email invitation for that project with a link to our SmartBidNet system.
The Biome Charter Elementary School is requesting bids to prepare and deliver breakfast and lunch for it’s food services program for the 2018-2019 school year. The Biome serves breakfast and lunch to approximately 180 students Monday through Friday, and follows the USDA Federal School Lunch guidelines set by DESE. Interested companies should contact Debbie Akins with any questions: dakins@ thebiomeschool.org or 314-702-3214. Proposals will be due July 31st at 2pm. The school address is 4471 Olive St, St Louis MO 63108.
Bids will be received electronically by the Commission until 11:00 o’clock a.m. (prevailing local time) on 8/17/2018 for the project(s) listed below. Electronic bids must be submitted through “Bid Express Secure Internet Bidding” at www.bidx.com. Paper bid bonds shall be addressed to and received by:
Missouri Highways and Transportation Commission Attention: State Design Engineer/Bid Bond 105 West Capitol Avenue Jefferson City, Missouri
The proposed work includes:
Job J6P3355 Route 364 ST LOUIS County. Detention structure clean out at the Bennington Detention Basin, the total length of improvement being 0 miles.
Special Needs: If you have special needs addressed by the Americans with Disabilities Act, please notify Pamela Harlan, Secretary to the Commission, at (573) 751-2824 or through Missouri Relay System, TDD 1-800-735-2966.
The wage rates applicable to this project have been predetermined as required by law and are set forth in the Bidding documents. When federal wage rates are applicable and included, this contract is subject to the “Work Hours Act of 1962,” (P.L. 87-581, 76 State. 357) and implementing regulations.
By virtue of statutory authority, preference shall be given on other than Federal Aid Projects, to materials, products, supplies, provisions, and other articles, produced, manufactured, made or grown within the state of Missouri, where same are of a suitable character and can be obtained at reasonable market prices in the state and are of a quality suited to the purpose intended and can be secured without additional cost over foreign products or products of other states.
The Commission hereby notifies all bidders that it will affirmatively insure that in any contract entered into pursuant to this advertisement, minority business enterprises will be afforded full opportunity to submit bids in response to this invitation and will not be discriminated against on the grounds of race, color, religion, creed, sex, age, ancestry, or national origin in consideration for an award. The Commission reserves the right to reject any or all bids.
Plans and specifications may be inspected in the offices of the Commission at Jefferson City, or the District Office at Town and Country, Missouri. Plans and specifications are available for download at www.modot.org. Complete instructions to bidders may be obtained at the Jefferson City office. All questions concerning the bid document preparation shall be directed to the Central Office – Design Division at (573) 751-2876.
THE MISSOURI HIGHWAYS AND TRANSPORTATION COMMISSION
Public Notice of Single Source Procurement Notice is hereby given that the Metropolitan St. Louis Sewer District is proposing to procure: 3 (Three) New 2018 VACTOR Truck Model 2110 Plus-16 on New 2019 Freightliner Chassis Model 114SD. The District is proposing single source procurement to COE Equipment for this purchase because COE Equipment is the exclusive distributor of VACTOR models and parts in the Metro Region. Any inquiries should be sent to ameyer@stlmsd.com.
Metropolitan St. Louis Sewer District is an Equal Opportunity Employer.
STL Critical Technologies Corporation JV I, LLC d/b/a Nvsted (“Nvsted”) is soliciting proposals from qualified firms to aid in implementing an online, digital, and traditional marketing campaign to draw target users to the Nvsted website.
To be considered, proposals must be received no later than 5:00 PM CST on Thursday, August 9, 2018. Proposals should be sent by e-mail to hbean@stlpartnership.com, or to Nvsted, c/o St. Louis Economic Development Partnership, ATTN: Howl Bean II, 7733 Forsyth Blvd., Suite 2200, St. Louis, Missouri 63105. DBE, MBE, and WBE firms are encouraged to bid, and a proposal discount is available to certified MBE firms.
The Request for Proposals may be obtained from the St. Louis Economic Development Partnership’s web site at www.stlpartnership.com. Nvsted reserves the right to reject any or all proposals and to waive informalities therein. Any questions should be directed to Howl Bean II at (314) 615-7663 or hbean@stlpartnership.com.
St. Louis Economic Development Partnership Equal Opportunity Employer
NOTICE OF PUBLIC HEARING ON LOCATION AND DESIGN OF THE REMOVAL AND REPLACEMENT OF THE SOUTHWEST AND COLUMBIA BRIDGES OVER UNION PACIFIC RAILROAD
Notice is hereby given to all interested persons that an open house public hearing will be held at the St. Louis Activity Center, 5602 Arsenal Street, St. Louis, MO 63139 on Tuesday, August 14, 2018, from 4:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m., Central Daylight Time. Handicap access is available. All interested persons will be given an opportunity to be heard concerning their views on the location and design of the Replacement of the Southwest and Columbia Bridges over UPRR with reference to the economic and social effects of such location and design, its impact of the environment and its consistency with the goals and objectives of the community. The presently contemplated improvement is as follows:
The existing Southwest Ave and Columbia Ave bridges over Union Pacific Railroad, located between Marconi and Kingshighway, will be demolished and replaced with a single bridge. Columbia Ave will be re-routed to intersect with Southwest Ave east of the new bridge.
Maps, plats, environmental documentation, and other detail information prepared by the City of St. Louis and their consultant will be available for public inspection and copying at the office of the City of St. Louis, Board of Public Service, Room 301 City Hall. Written statements and exhibits as well as oral statements will be received at the hearing. Written statements and exhibits will be made a part of the public hearing transcript if received within ten days after the date of the hearing.
Tentative schedules for right of way acquisition and construction will be discussed at the hearing.
If you are disabled and require special services at the public hearing, please notify the City of St. Louis Office of the Disabled by August 3, 2018 at (314) 622-3686 so that arrangements for those services can be made.
Relocation advisory assistance will be available for all persons displaced as a result of this improvement. Information on relocation assistance programs will be provided, if applicable.
For information prior to the hearing, please contact (314) 589-6616. CITY OF ST. LOUIS
BY Kevin Trapp, P.E. Asst. Chief of Design Board of Public Service
The SITE Improvement Association is hosting a Prebid meeting for Qualified and Certified MWBE contractors to discuss working on
MSD’s Corona Park Storm Sewer Phase 2B Contract Letting No. 10210-015.1
This meeting is being held on behalf of the following SITE contractor members:
J.M. Marschuetz Construction Co.
15 Truitt Drive Eureka, MO 63025
636/938-3600
The meeting will take place at
10:30 a.m. August 9, 2018
SITE Improvement Association 0ffice, 2071 Exchange Drive St. Charles, MO 63303
Project plans are available from MSD. For questions regarding this prebid meeting, Contact the SITE Improvement Association office at 314/966-2950.
MWBE/DBE PreBid Meeting Notice
The SITE Improvement Association is hosting a Prebid meeting for Qualified and Certified MWBE contractors to discuss working on
MSD’s Hoffmeister-Pardella Storm Sewer Improvements Contract Letting No. 11647-015.1
This meeting is being held on behalf of the following SITE contractor members:
J.M. Marschuetz Construction Co. 15 Truitt Drive Eureka, MO 63025 636/938-3600
The meeting will take place at 10:00 a.m. August 2, 2018
SITE Improvement Association 0ffice, 2071 Exchange Drive St. Charles, MO 63303
Project plans are available from MSD. For questions regarding this prebid meeting, Contact the SITE Improvement Association office at 314/966-2950.
KCI Construction requests subcontract proposals from MBE and WBE businesses for the Fiery Fork Conservation Area Bridge Improvements (Camden County), Missouri Department of Conservation, Jefferson City, MO. Project Job #81-03-03
Plans and specifications are available
• To view electronically at no charge from: http://mdc.adsmo.net
• To view at our Camdenton office: 5505 Old South 5, Camdenton, MO 65020
• By a Dropbox Link from jmorrow@kciconstruction.com
All potential bidders are asked to attend the pre-bid on June 5th at 1:00 PM Subcontractor bids are due by 1:00 p.m. Tuesday, June 19, 2018. You may email bids to jmorrow@kciconstruction.com or send a fax to 573-346-9739. Please call if you have any questions: 314-200-6496.
Detailed
for DFAC Building 430 Renovation, Missouri National Guard - Camp Clark Nevada, Missouri, Project No. T171601 will be received by FMDC, State of MO, UNTIL 1:30 PM, 8/23/2018. For specific project information and ordering plans, go to: http://oa.mo. gov/ facilities
MWBE Prebid Meeting Notice
The SITE Improvement Association is hosting a Prebid meeting for Qualified and Certified MWBE contractors to discuss working on MSD’s Coldwater Southwest Subwatershed I/I Reduction (St. Charles Rock Rd. and Ashby Rd.) Contract Letting No. 12125-015.1
A pre-bid meeting is being held on behalf of the following SITE contractor members: Fred M. Luth & Sons, Inc. J.M. Marschuetz Construction Co. 4516 McRee Ave 15 Truitt Drive St. Louis, MO Eureka, MO 63025 314/771-3892 636/938-3600
The meeting will take place at 10:00 a.m.
August 9, 2018
SITE Improvement Association Office, 2071 Exchange Drive St. Charles, MO 63303
Project plans are available from MSD. For questions regarding this prebid meeting, Contact the SITE Improvement Association office at 314/966-2950.
& SITE
INSPECTION:
On August 7, 2018 at 11:00AM at The Living World building on Government Drive in Forest Park, lower level. Sealed bids marked with project name will be accepted on or before August 16, 2018 at 2:00PM and opened immediately after in The Facility Management Conference Room. Documents can be found at: https://www. stlzoo.org/about/contact/ vendoropportunities/
STL native witnessed 40th anniversary of LDS Church inclusive policy change
By Rosalynde Welch
For The St. Louis American
The “Be One” gala held June 1 in the LDS Conference Center in Salt Lake City, Utah, thrilled its sold-out audience with scintillating music and dramatic performances celebrating the history and contributions of Mormons of African descent during the church’s 188 years of existence.
June 1 marked the fortieth anniversary of the LDS Church’s policy change in 1978, which extended the full range of church blessings – including ordination to the lay priesthood for men, and initiation in the temple rites for men and women – to Mormons of African descent around the world.
And that night, for the first time, the central gathering space of the Mormon religion rang with the sounds of African and African-American music and drumming, art, dance, imagery, and language.
The “Be One” gala celebrated the largely unknown history of black Latterday Saints. Reminiscent of the Broadway smash Hamilton’s innovative cross-racial casting, black narrators re-enacted the founding narratives of Joseph Smith and the Latter-day Saint movement.
Actors of African descent dramatized the stories of black pioneers like Jane Manning James, who crossed the plains of the American Midwest to the religion’s new home in Utah, where she raised her children in Mormon communities.
As Mormonism grew globally, it attracted converts in African nations and in Brazil. The contributions of black Mormons in Nigeria, Ghana, and South America were highlighted, including those of Brazilian Helvecio Martins, the faith’s first black man to join the upper echelons of church leadership.
The dramatic presentations and gospel
numbers were punctuated by speeches from top leaders. Mormon apostle Dallin Oaks acknowledged the persistence of racism among some church members after the 1978 policy change and praised “our marvelous members of African descent, especially our African-American members, who have persisted in faith and faithfulness through a difficult transition period of fading prejudice.”
For Rhodes – a St. Louis native and Mormon since 2007, who made the flight from St. Louis to Salt Lake City to join with Gladys Knight, Alex Boyé, and other high-profile African-American Mormons for the historic celebration – the church’s symbolic embrace of its black members’ heritage was powerful. Listening to performer Alex Boyé’s pan-Africa-inspired music, she “got [an] overwhelming feeling of, ‘Here’s Africa.’ Here we are back to the roots of where we all come from. I didn’t understand the language, but my heart did, my spirit did, my soul did. That’s how heaven will be. We may not understand everything, but our hearts will and souls will.”
The journey toward racial understanding in Mormonism must continue – both in the top levels of leadership and in the pews of local meetinghouses. Because LDS congregations are organized geographically, they often reproduce the residential segregation that is rampant in St Louis neighborhoods. Rhodes is determined that this must be overcome, and
The Bonner Family performed at the “Be One” gala on June 1 in the LDS Conference Center, which marked the fortieth anniversary of the LDS Church’s policy change in that extended the full range of church blessings to Mormons of African descent.
she vows to work toward reconciliation one day at a time.
“My hope is that what we experienced at that event will continue,” Rhodes said. “Not a moment that will dim, after the fun and clapping and celebrity. The fire keeps burning. ‘Ye shall be one, as the Father and I are one.’ When I wake up, that’s my desire: to keep that burning with all people.”
Beloved Community United Methodist Church, 3115 Park Ave., in conjunction with the National Joshua Partnership Project, will host the “Ending Violence in America” conference August 8-10. The keynote speaker will be former Obama appointee for the Justice Department’s National Faith Based Neighborhood Partnership Initiative, Eugene Schneeberg. Jimmy Gurule, former assistant U.S. attorney general for the Justice Department under the Bush Administration, now professor of law at Notre Dame University, also will speak. Pastor Michael Jones from Friendly Temple here in St. Louis will direct churches toward economic development. The goal of the conference is to mobilize and train churches how to be more proactive in reducing the violence in their neighborhood and country.
To Christians, life and death are part of a belief system that should affect how we live. Faith and death are inextricably connected. Understandably, one must die to this world and be reborn to the next. We believe Christ died physically and overcame that death in order for us to access eternal life as the blessing that it is from the Father.
This whole life and death-and-life thing can be confusing, and at times overwhelming, which is where faith comes in. For those who claim faith in the reality of Jesus Christ, our facts are sometimes based on what we cannot see, touch or understand. Believers know life, eternal life, exists on many levels. Death by itself is neither the beginning nor the end of anything. Life and death are the continuation of an existence that has always been here. Our living is but a temporary form of eternal life. Our faith demands more than a leap. It demands intellectual enlightenment.
James Washington
If you believe in electricity, you know when you turn on a light switch, the room you’re in will become illuminated. You act accordingly. If you don’t believe in electricity, light switches and bulbs have a very different meaning for you. If you believe in Christ, your view of death is totally different from someone who doesn’t. That knowledge does not make the transition from this life to the next any easier. It does, however, put some things about this life into perspective. I am now at an age where my mortality should be embraced, given the faith I have about my immortality. After all, we’re supposed to walk by faith and not by sight. To do so demands that we accept a yet-tobe-experienced consciousness that is the foundation of our belief in the life and death and life of Jesus Christ.
The specter of your or my death should not keep us from meeting each day, each person, each situation and circumstance anew and refreshed in the opportunity to experience life again and again, anew each and every day. What we go through, including pain and suffering as well as joy and happiness, is essential to the eternal cycle of life.
Through faith Christians believe all things are possible because God is capable of accomplishing anything. That includes overcoming death. That includes acknowledging our own immortality with Him. Hence, death is God’s business, as is life. In many cultures, worldly death is looked upon as cause for celebration. This is, or should be, the same for Christians.
“Do not be afraid of what you are about to suffer. I tell you the devil will put some of you in prison to test you and you will suffer persecution for ten days. Be faithful even to the point of death and I will give you the crown of life. He, who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. He who overcomes shall not be hurt by the second death.” Revelations 2:10-11.
