June 13th, 2019 Edition

Warmack leaving HSSU

Hundreds march against gun violence in St. Louis for Wear Orange Day

rolled down her face and her emotions boiled over. She marched with hundreds of others as part of the second Wear Orange Day anti-gun violence campaign presented by Radio One St. Louis, Better Family Life and co-sponsored by Moms Demand Action on

Saturday, June 8. The event is a part of a national campaign, and Saturday’s march was the culminating event for a weekend of programming that included a town hall meeting and a community resource fair.

“We are committed to this community,” said Nate Dixon, station manager for Radio One St. Louis. “Today is not about money or

Close the Workhouse finds allies in federal judge, Ben & Jerry’s

Ruling called ‘critical first step’ as ice cream mogul brings social justice tour to STL

By Rebecca Rivas Of The St. Louis American

Ben Cohen, co-founder of Ben & Jerry’s Ice Cream, came to St. Louis on Wednesday, June 12 to promote the company’s national campaign — to Close the Workhouse and transform the criminal justice system. And Cohen arrived in St. Louis just as the advocates learned of a major victory in their federal court case to end cash bail. Cohen and his massive team have gotten behind the

University in countless positive ways,” Norwood said in a statement.

At Harris-Stowe, Warmack shepherded more than $24 million in external funding to the institution, including a $5 million STEM grant, the largest in the school’s history, and increased the Harris-Stowe Foundation fund balance by 681

By Sandra Jordan Of The St. Louis American

Inez Bordeaux of the Close The Workhouse coalition speaks to Ben Cohen, Co-founder of Ben & Jerry’s, after a press conference at City Hall on Wednesday. The ice cream company will be serving free scoops from it’s Justice ReMix’d truck to raise awareness of the campaign.

By Kenya Vaughn Of The St. Louis American

After Robbie Williams finished the milelong trek from St. Alphonsus Liguori “Rock” Catholic Church

Photo by Lawrence Bryant

People committed to ending gun violence marched together from St. Alphonsus Liguori “Rock” Catholic Church to the Boys and Girls Club of Greater St. Louis on North Grand on Saturday, June 8 as part of the Wear Orange Day campaign presented by Radio One St. Louis, Better Family Life and co-sponsored by Moms Demand Action.

Dwaun J. Warmack

Richard Stephen Shaw

known professionally as rapper Bushwick Bill from the rap trio Geto Boys, died Sunday night of pancreatic cancer. He was 52. There were incorrect reports that he passed away Sunday morning, but a statement from his publicist said he died that evening.

“Bushwick Bill passed away peacefully this evening at 9:35 p.m. He was surrounded by his immediate family,” the statement read.

Rapper Bushwick Bill passes at 52

in the late 1980s as a backup dancer.

Lee Daniels detaches from Jussie Smollett

“We are looking into doing a public memorial at a later date. His family appreciates all of the prayers and support and are asking for privacy at this time.”

He was born in Kingston, Jamaica and raised in Brooklyn, NY. But his career as a rapper came through Houston rap group Geto Boys –originally joining the group

In an interview with Vulture, filmmaker and television showrunner Lee Daniels said that he is “beyond embarrassed” by his public support of former “Empire” star Jussie Smollett. The “Empire” creator was one of Smollett’s biggest supporters when the story broke about him being the victim of an alleged homophobic and racist attack in Chicago in January. Daniels admitted during the interview that he regrets being so vocal with his support after his friend was accused of faking the attack for publicity in order to get a pay rise.

“I’m beyond embarrassed,” Daniels told Vulture. “I

THE STUFF THAT HAS PEOPLE TALKING

think that when it happened, I had a flash of me running from bullies. I had a flash of my whole life, of my childhood, my youth, getting beaten.”

Daniels admitted he does have some doubts that his account of the attack was true.

“Of course, there’s some doubt. I’m telling you that

because I love him so much,” Daniels told Vulture. “That’s the torture that I’m in right now, because it’s literally, ‘If it were to happen to your son and your child, how would you feel?’ You would feel, ‘please, God, please let there be that glimmer of hope that there is

some truth in this story.’ That’s why it’s been so painful. It was a flood of pain.”

And the director admitted he pulled away from Smollett – who maintains that the attack was not a hoax – in the wake of the scandal, because it was having too much of an impact on his own life.

“I had to detach myself and stop calling him, because it was taking away the time I have for my kids, the time I have for my partner,” Daniels said.

He recently refuted reports that Smollett would return for the final season of “Empire.”

with Porsha and Kenya. She knows that Kenya is only coming back for drama and she is not going to entertain it,” a source close to the show told RadarOnline.com. “NeNe knows that they all just want to use her for fights, and she wants no part of it.”

Is NeNe refusing to film with certain ‘RHOA’ co-stars?

Several outlets are claiming that “Real Housewives of Atlanta” co-star NeNe Leakes is refusing to film with Kenya Moore and Porsha Williams for season 12.

“NeNe is refusing to film

Tyler Perry teaming with BET for new streaming service

Sources told Deadline.com that BET and Tyler Perry will announce a new subscription streaming offering later this month. The BET service, to be called BET+, will target AfricanAmerican viewers and draft off of the long-term production deal between Perry and Viacom. In addition to titles from Tyler Perry Studios, the new outlet will offer TV shows and film.

Sources: Deadline. com, Vulture, The Blast, RadarOnline, People.com

Bushwick Bill

Tyler Perry

Lee Daniels

Mission: to ‘ignite important conversations’

Joshua Tyler will attend the American Film Institute with the goal of diversifying media

By Francene Bethune

For The St. Louis American

Joshua Tyler will attend the American Film Institute in Los Angeles in the fall in an effort to diversify the media through producing films and other media.

“One of my main goals as a film producer is to focus on developing and showcasing stories that reflect commonly underrepresented groups within our community,” he said. “I feel that this visibility is not only important to these communities but to the larger community as a whole.”

Tyler is part of both the black and LGBTQIA+ communities, two underrepresented communities that he said the media do not convey accurately, which is something he would like to change.

“I did not see stories that conveyed the experience of being a part of both these communities growing up in mainstream media. Stories would either focus on one or the other,” Tyler said.

“Telling stories that convey overlap within communities not only helps increase diversity and inclusion but also reflects and ignites the important conversations we are beginning to have today.”

Tyler currently is working at The St. Louis American in video production as part of his effort to tell stories about underrepresented communities and correct the inaccuracies in media. He is a previous recipient of the Donald M. Suggs Scholarship at Webster University, facilitated by the St. Louis American Foundation.

The scholarship is awarded to enhance retention of academically talented students of ethnic backgrounds that are typically underrepresented in higher education. When Tyler was awarded the $100,000 scholarship in 2014 to put towards his college education, he did not know it would open many doors to promote advocacy.

“The Donald M. Suggs Scholarship meant that I was able to pursue a college degree without having an extreme financial burden,” said Tyler. “It meant that I would be able to pursue my dream of working in the video/film production field.”

While at Webster University, Tyler quickly became interested in advocating for an inclusive environment. His involvement lead him to use his work to diversify the media.

“In order to increase diversity and inclusion in media, we must increase the accurate representation of commonly underrepresented communities within the media,” he said. “Often, stories about underrepresented communities focus on one specific community; however, there is a lot of overlap between communities.”

He also was a student leader on issues of importance to him, holding an officer position in Webster’s LGBTQ+ Alliance and serving as a member of the Webster University President’s Leadership Council.

As a part of his campus leadership, Tyler advocated for the installation of allgender restrooms on campus and the development of the annual Diversity & Inclusion Conference. He helped revise the student code of conduct as a member of the Student Conduct board, and he also worked hard to double the amount of students voting in the Student Government Association elections on campus. Due to his leadership in the LGBTQ+ Alliance, he received a student award for Outstanding Leadership of a Student Organization.

He spoke to his graduating class at Webster University’s 2018 Commencement

ceremony at the Muny in Forest Park when he graduated with a BA in Film Production.

“The twists and turns of life actually reveal opportunities,

not obstacles if we are willing to be open minded,” Tyler told his classmates.

“Have faith in yourself and in your potential. Make

a positive difference in the world, cherish your friends and family. Live life passionately, fully and well, because in doing so, you will pave your

Joshua Tyler, a former Donald M. Suggs Scholar at Webster University and current St. Louis American video intern, will attend the American Film Institute in Los Angeles this fall.

Photo by Wiley Price

own road to success.”

Francene Bethune is a St. Louis American editorial intern provided by the Emma Bowen Foundation, which recruits

promising students of color and places them in multi-year paid internships at some of the nation’s leading media, PR and technology companies.

Federal judge shreds circuit judges, city in opinion on cash bail case

In our editorial on February 7 titled “Federal judge has opportunity to issue landmark ruling,” we encouraged U.S. Judge Audrey G. Fleissig to seize the opportunity presented to her in David Dixon, et. al., v. City of St. Louis, et. al. to bust open the debtors’ prisons that the City of St. Louis and Missouri’s 22nd Judicial Circuit perpetuate in our city’s jails. “We urge the judge to rule on the side of the U.S. Constitution and not our compromised local status quo and start the dawning of a new, better day in our courts.” In an opinion on the case issued on Tuesday, June 11, she seized that opportunity.

Fleissig was ruling on the four named plaintiffs’ motions for class-action certification (granted) and for an preliminary injunction to order the city and courts to start cleaning up their acts now while the case is being adjudicated (also granted – with the extremely encouraging note that the plaintiff’s case “has a high probability of prevailing on the merits”). She also was ruling on motions to dismiss filed by both the city and the circuit judges; both were dismissed. The ruling on the preliminary injunction will have an immediate impact, if the circuit court and city follow the court’s order and start obeying the U.S. Constitution in how they set conditions for bail and manage the bail process. However, the ruling on the city and judges’ motions to dismiss reveal more about what this judge thinks about how the defendants understand and administer the law in St. Louis.

Advocacy and Protection). Fleissig uses stinging brevity to ridicule the circuit judges’ position: “An illusory remedy cannot be an adequate remedy.” She accuses the city and circuit court of believing in and perpetuating the “illusion” that law is being practiced in the city’s courts and jail in a way that aligns with the U.S. Constitution’s protections.

We are gratified to find the judge so perfectly in alignment with the position that we espoused in our February 7 editorial, where we wrote, “The judge could look at the evidence and decide that routine procedures in the St. Louis circuit court, even though technically compliant with state standards, routinely violate federal constitutional guarantees and must be overhauled.”

n Money can’t walk while poverty sits in the jail, the federal judge reminds the circuit judge and city officials.

For one, she shreds the circuit judges in their motion to dismiss because their motion is argued with reference to case law that the federal judge ruled to be meaningless to the case before the court. It is chilling to see people who impact peoples’ lives every day ruling on the law shown up for their basic failure to use case law to defend themselves.

More crucial to the central claims of the case, Fleissig rules that the defendants essentially agree to the plaintiffs’ (incredibly distressing) statement of facts, but assert that other legal remedies already exist for the poor people languishing in pre-trial detention independent of this federal suit (brought by ArchCity Defenders, Advancement Project National Office, Civil Rights Corps and Georgetown Law’s Institute for Constitutional

Indeed, she has done exactly that and earned our greatest respect for placing the rights of the accused over the maintenance of an unconstitutional, though ingrained, status quo.

We also salute the federal judge for recognizing on the record that new, higher state standards for bail conditions and process established by the Missouri Supreme Court do not guarantee any change in how justice actually is administered. “Given defendants’ systemic non-compliance with the more lenient standards of the current rule,” the judge writes, “defendants’ operational capacity to satisfy the higher standards of the new rule remains to be seen.” And, the inference is clear, one very demanding and astute federal judge – with this case on her docket – will be watching.

This opinion burns the city’s shameful, ongoing malpractice of the law into the federal record as an everlasting example of how justice should not be administered. As usual, she uses the city and judges’ evidence against them, this time in the form of testimony by a bond officer supervisor, Donald Kearbey. “Kearbey explicitly confirms that arrestees who can post bail are allowed to leave immediately, and those who cannot are detained,” the judge notes. “This is precisely what plaintiffs lament and what federal precedent prohibits.” Money can’t walk while poverty sits in the jail, the federal judge reminds the circuit judge and city officials. And right there we may indeed be witnessing the dawning of a new, better day for fairness in our city courts.

AS I SEE IT – A Forum for community Issues

State vehicle stops data does not prove racial bias

By Kevin Merritt

For The St. Louis American

Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt recently released the 2018 Annual Report on vehicle stops, and once again people are outraged by the raw data. Currently, Missouri uses Census data as the benchmark for determining what the raw data means. Census benchmarking is inexpensive and uncomplicated. However, experts agree Census estimates are inappropriate and do not serve as an effective data analysis benchmark or baseline. It is not difficult to measure whether there is disparity between racial/ethnic groups in terms of stops made by police; Census benchmarking does that well. The difficulty comes in identifying the causes for disparity. Race alone is not dispositive of why the stop was made; neither is a disparity index. Over the past several years, representatives of the Missouri Sheriffs’ Association and other

law enforcement organizations have met with and discussed Missouri’s Vehicle Stops data collection and the ineffectiveness of Census benchmarking with a number of legislators and civil rights groups. We have testified in a number of public hearings as well. Most recently in April, representatives of the Missouri Sheriffs’ Association and other law enforcement professionals from across the state met with the AG’s staff to discuss ways to improve the vehicle stop reporting system. Our continual message during meetings and hearings is that law enforcement has no tolerance for racial bias in policing and in general is not opposed to data collection. In fact, during the recent meeting with the AG’s staff,

law enforcement officials suggested and worked toward the collection of additional data relating to whether the officer knew the race of the driver at the time the violation was observed and/or prior to his or her decision to make the stop.

While legislators and special interest groups push only for collecting additional data and restrictions on officers, our plea to them is not to stop collecting data, but rather to work toward solutions for the analysis of data based on valid benchmarks. Therein lies the problem; those who espouse disparity as proof positive of racial bias refuse to engage in those conversations.

There is much more to this issue than raw data of stops. Those who support our law enforcement officers should not blindly conclude bias exists without being part of the solution.

Kevin Merritt is executive director of the Missouri Sheriffs’ Association.

Democrats in 2020 and the battle for the soul of white America

By Mike Jones Of The St. Louis American

I made myself a promise not to follow or comment on the Democratic presidential campaign until October or November, primarily because it a pointless exercise that will have nothing to do with who will win the Democratic nomination and whether or not that person can successfully defeat Donald Trump. I consider it like obsessing about what happens in spring training or preseason football, which has nothing to do with who wins the World Series or Super Bowl.

However, while preseason and spring training are terrible predictors of who will ultimately prevail, they can provide insight about a team’s thinking on what a winning strategy looks like.

Like athletes in spring training or preseason, presidential candidates are currently defining themselves, testing their messages, and developing strategies that they think will make them successful once the real campaign starts.

There are two competing theories about what a winning Democratic strategy looks like. The younger, insurgent Democrats believe that political success is tied to expanding the electorate to encompass more of the marginalized America, making it younger and more diverse. This theory says Republicans can only win elections when the electorate is smaller, older and whiter. This is why Republican campaign strategy focuses on voter suppression.

Despite many more women (including viable candidates for president and a forceful House speaker) and more people of color (including a past black president and black candidates for the highest office), the Democratic Party establishment remains a privileged white guys club, much like their Republican cohorts. The difference is the Republican privileged white guys club is in charge of America’s all-white political party, while Democratic leadership has a problem in that they don’t look like the party they lead or the voters they most need.

While their rhetoric and stance on social issues are diametrically opposite to that of Republicans, they share more with Republicans than the casual observer might realize They both represent

America’s corporate economic interests and privileged classes. The Democratic establishment also has the same militaristic stance in defense of those corporate economic and class interests as Republicans. This is why when Democrats win, we never get policies that address the need for structural change. Even Obama’s Affordable Care Act was primarily designed to protect the health care industry, not maximize healthcare for underinsured and uninsured Americans.

of the current character of arguably the majority of white America. With the genocide of the indigenous people, the hereditary slavery of Africans, the Jim Crow oppression of their descendants, and the structural, misogynistic oppression of women, there has never been a time in American history when you couldn’t find Donald Trump. Through much of our history, in fact, Trump’s like has dominated America.

Governor is playing politics with abortion

Missouri Governor Mike Parson must be a Cum Laude graduate of Donald Trump’s School of Political Buffoonery. Surely, the Show Me governor got an A+ in Trump’s course on how to lie to the public with a straight face. Parson, sporting a look of great concern, told reporters that the state’s intended closing of the last Planned Parenthood clinic in Missouri was the result of the clinic’s failure to meet license requirements. His concern, he

This legislative session has been an utter failure for Missourians. Politicians are putting the health and lives of Missouri women at risk in their race to make our state the one that overturns Roe v. Wade at the U.S. Supreme Court. These bans on safe, legal abortion will have real

The entrance of former Vice President Joe Biden into the Democratic presidential fray is an excellent opportunity to develop an understanding of the Democratic establishment’s theory of case and its limitations.

The premise of Joe Biden’s campaign is that Trump is an anomaly, an interruption of the linear progress toward a more perfect union. And despite Trump winning a majority of white voters in 2016, the majority of white Americans don’t support Trump, and what Democrats need to do in 2020 is to give that white America a better white option.

When Biden announced his candidacy for the 2020 Democratic nomination, his statement included the following, “We are in the battle for the soul of this nation.” He warned that if Trump is re-elected, “he will forever and fundamentally alter the character of this nation, who we are, and I cannot stand by and watch that happen.”

During a campaign stop, Biden touted his bipartisan credentials, claiming the public would witness “an epiphany occur among many of my Republican friends.” GOP lawmakers, Biden predicted, would be willing to work with him once Trump left office.

Biden is only partially right about the 2020 presidential contest being a battle for the soul of America. This election will not be a battle for the soul of the nation, but it will be a battle for the soul of white America.

Trump’s reelection won’t change the character of this country because Trump is a creature of this country, a manifestation

Letters to the Editor

said, was for the safety and welfare of clinic patients.

Anti-abortion politics has been divisive from its inception, but in recent years has become a quest driven by right-wing Republicans emboldened by a bevy of selfrighteous religious leaders who claim to be real Christians. In other than Republican reality, Parson’s efforts to close Planned Parenthood’s St. Louis clinic is nothing more than a blatant political effort to retain the vote of Missouri’s Bible-waving anti-abortion crowd. So, it must take great effort and practice on Parson’s part to go before a gaggle of reporters and spew boldface

Trump and Republicans embrace the racism, xenophobia, misogyny, homophobia and religious bigotry that are endemic to America as the natural and proper order. They neither envision nor want a life without white male privilege. They will never negotiate that privilege away. The unspoken but implied premise of a Biden campaign (and of those other Democratic moderates whose names no one knows) is that winning over older, more moderate white voters is the key to a Democratic victory in 2020. The problem is that the Democratic establishment and Democratic insurgents can’t both be right, and the party will soon have to make up its mind which path to follow.

Since its founding, the United States has rested upon a set of mutually contradictory principles. The existential political challenge for this country has been, and will continue to be: what are white Americans who know better willing to do about white Americans who won’t do better? What you need to do before you consider what Democrat you’re going to support is to decide what America you live in. How Democrats think about that and what it means to be white in America will ultimately decide how Democrats build their strategy for November 2020.

Mike Jones is a former senior staffer in St. Louis city and county government and current member of the Missouri State Board of Education and The St. Louis American editorial board. In 2016 and 2017, he was awarded Best Serious Columnist for all of the state’s large weeklies by the Missouri Press Association, and in 2018 he was awarded Best Serious Columnist in the nation by the National Newspapers Association.

edited for length and style.

lies concerning a manufactured licensing issue that adversely impacts the health and wellbeing of Missouri women. A federal judge subsequently issued a brief reprieve for the clinic, but the future of safe abortion and access to women’s health services remains at risk in Missouri. Make no mistake: Governor Parson’s errant effort to close Planned Parenthood is a draconian, political move to garner votes, nothing more. And it’s shameful.

Michael K. Broughton Green Park

Health and lives of women at risk costs — expensive legal costs and human costs for those who need reproductive health care. At a time when maternal mortality is increasing in our state, we must be doing everything we can to increase access to health care — not cut it. And yet lawmakers have done the opposite. Governor

Parson must show that Missourians’ health matters by rejecting this extreme abortion ban.

M’Evie Mead, director of policy and organizing Planned Parenthood Advocates in Missouri

Columnist

Kevin Merritt

Columnist

Mike Jones

Free training for teachers in archery instruction

The Missouri Department of Conservation (MDC) will hold basic archery instructor training for teachers from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. on Tuesday, June 25 at Living Word Christian Middle and High School, 1145 Tom Ginnever Ave. in O’Fallon. The session includes a 30-minute lunch break; however, lunch will not be included.

This is a free training class for teachers interested in incorporating Missouri National Archery in the Schools Program (MoNASP) instruction into their curriculum.

Teachers must attend the entire training session to receive the Basic Archery Instructor (BAI) Certification. Volunteers other than teachers may attend but will need to gain approval for their attendance from their school before registration.

BAI training is required for schools to participate in MoNASP and to qualify for related grant money. MoNASP is taught as a two-week unit during the school day and

makes the school eligible to compete in National Archery in the Schools Program (NASP) tournaments. MoNASP is part of NASP, which provides the BAI Certification, and is the national program that teaches international style target archery to students in grades 4-12.

Statistics show school archery programs improve school attendance, increase participants’ self-esteem and physical activity, helps kids relate to learning subject matter and gets them outdoors to discover nature. Participants also learn an activity they can enjoy for the rest of their lives in the form of recreational target shooting or bow hunting.

To register for the workshop, visit http://naspbai.org/. For more information, contact MDC Outdoor Skills Specialist Scott Sarantakis at Scott.Sarantakis@mdc.mo.gov, or by calling 314-301-1500 ext. 4217. Reservations are required by June 18. For more information about MoNASP, visit https://goo.gl/SRxq7T.

400 Years of a mutating enslavement

By Jamala Rogers For The St. Louis American

“Historical ignorance.” That was the poignant phrase expressed at the second installment of trilogy held recently at Washington University. Dr. Cornell W. Brooks delivered a powerful address that wove together black and American history, biblical scriptures and contemporary issues. The trilogy commemorates “Blacks in America: 400 Years Plus.” The initiative is being led by Professor Jack Kirkland, a respected faculty member at the Brown School.

Most of us of African descent don’t count our years here in North America as a people. It’s challenging enough to get through the day. We must confront our past, learn the lessons of our fore-parents and chart our future. The 400th anniversary of our captivity is an excellent check in to see where we are as a people.

Did you know that President Trump signed the historic act for African Americans back in January 2018? Oh, I guess you didn’t hear about the 400 Years of African American History Commission Act designed to acknowledge the four centuries-plus of Africans being forced into U.S. chattel slavery.

The act, originally introduced as HR 1242, seeks to educate the public about how and why Africans got to these shores. It encourages groups to organize and participate in a year-long commemoration activity. What the act and the commission fail to consider is the need for a serious investigation into how the application of U.S. law has impacted the lives and futures of those whose lineage is traced to Mother Africa. There should be a compilation and examination of serious academic and anecdotal works that sum up our progress (or lack thereof) over the last 400 years. Recommendations should be advanced that bring about political, economic and educational parity in a timeline that doesn’t sacrifice another generation that can’t reach its full potential due to systematic hurdles. In August 1619, the arrival of “20 and odd” Africans at Point Comfort, Virginia was recorded. Africans were free, world travelers w-a-a-ay before — this has also recorded. Here we are in 2019 still in the shadows. Most of our contributions, struggles and our aspirations remain in relative obscurity or selectively spotlighted when necessary. Our existence is tenuous and our collective future seems to always hang in the balance.

These 400 years of mutating slavery is worth uplifting for a critique. It includes the captivity of a people and our enslavement. It includes Jim Crow and slavery by another name (forced, unpaid labor). It includes all forms of segregation and second-class citizenship. It includes mass incarceration. Many of these manifestations are still current and often co-exist with one another.

Full citizenship of African Americans remains elusive because of the systems of oppression that are propped up and legitimized by a corporatized government. These are all the changing faces of slavery that choke the progress of a nation of people and blame them for their societal-induced failures.

This long and storied history is more than one conversation for one year. It’s unfortunate that an ill-planned, underfunded commission will trivialize the history. This goes beyond highlighting black inventors or token black billionaires to justify that there’s a level playing field. Anniversaries, whether painful or joyful, should always be times of reflection. Our unique and traumatic pathway to citizenship compels the nation to review everything from emotional healing to economic reparations. This is an opportunity that can’t be squandered.

Jamala Rogers

Photo by Wiley Price

Youth from the Westview Middle School in the Riverview Gardens School District marched proudly in the 109th Annie Malone May Day Parade in downtown St. Louis on Sunday, May 19.

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local St. Louis advocates who are trying to close the Medium Security Institute, known as the Workhouse, that has long been decried for inhumane conditions. And Ben & Jerry’s is also supporting the end of the “debtors’ prison” system that forces poor, nonviolent offenders to stay in the Workhouse because they can’t afford bail.

“The word ‘horrible’ is not forceful enough for what I understand is going on there and what’s going on across our country in terms of racial justice,” Cohen told The St. Louis American in a phone interview on June 11. “You want to use your resources and skills to where people are hurting the most. We are drawn to the situation down there.”

In September 2018, the Close the Workhouse campaign issued a 42-page report that provides statistics about the overwhelming black and poor population in the jail and also includes first-hand accounts from inmates. The campaign calls for the immediate closure of the Workhouse, a reduced incarcerated population and overall reform to public safety. The report also made direct calls to action to the mayor, circuit attorney and Board of Aldermen.

Aldermen are currently working to finalize the city’s

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percent. He cultivated more than 16 partnerships and collaborations with Fortune 500 companies, regional organizations and other higher education institutions. Partnerships with other local universities led to new programs in Engineering, Nursing, Occupational Therapy, and Pharmacy.

annual budget by June 28, and activists are calling on them to defund the Workhouse.

“It’s a human rights embarrassment,” said Blake Strode, executive director of the nonprofit law firm ArchCity Defenders. “Our city’s budget is tightly restrained, yet we continue to spend $16 million a year on an inhumane jail, which we could close tomorrow if we wanted to. There’s no good excuse.”

The Close the Workhouse campaign is made up of four local advocacy groups: Action St. Louis, ArchCity Defenders, the Bail Project and Missourians Organizing for Reform and Empowerment (M.O.R.E.).

Cohen said that most local groups are stretched for time and resources. Ben & Jerry’s has its PR and Social Mission departments — about a dozen people — working on the national tour and campaign.

“That doesn’t include the people who are running the ice cream truck,” he said. The fully-painted truck has an advertisement for the upcoming flavor “Justice Remix’d” and the words, “Let’s transform the criminal justice system so it serves everyone.” The truck gave out free scoops of Phish Food before the Phish show on June 11 and 12 at the Chaifetz Arena, as part of the Close the Workhouse tour. Another dozen people from the marketing, social media and video departments are also on putting energy into this, he

As part of the institution’s strategic plan that he spearheaded, the university expanded its academic offerings, with degrees, minors, and certificate programs increasing from 14 to more than 50 offered. These include new majors in Communications, Psychology, and History, and a minor in Africana Studies.

Under his leadership, Harris-Stowe witnessed a 34 percent increase in headcount, applications to attend the

Photo by Wiley Price

Inmates of St. Louis’ Medium Security Institution, otherwise known as the Workhouse, rallied from the inside along with citizens protesting their being detained pre-trial in a jail without air conditioning on Friday, July 21, 2017.

said.

“You think about it: corporations have these huge departments and gobs and gobs of people dedicated to selling product,” Cohen said.

“But the people who are doing the most important work — the social justice, racial equity, environmental — are so underfunded and underresourced.”

The Advancement Project is also a partner in the tour.

Ending cash bail victory

On Tuesday, June 11, a federal judge issued a preliminary injunction requiring the City of St. Louis to give a fair bail hearing to every person arrested within 48 hours of their arrest, and a hearing within one week to all those who are currently

being held in jail awaiting trial. At these hearings, the 22nd Circuit Court must consider the person’s ability to pay.

“What this means for St. Louis residents is that they no longer face sitting in jail for as many as 291 days just because they can’t make bail,” according to a statement from the groups who brought forth the case, including ArchCity Defenders, Advancement Project National Office, Civil Rights Corps and Georgetown Law’s Institute for Constitutional Advocacy and Protection.

The injunction also grants class certification status, expanding the plaintiffs beyond the four people who originally challenged the constitutionality of the city’s cash bail system.

“At this very moment, there are hundreds of people detained

n “The members of the Board of Regents greatly appreciate the transformative work of President Warmack and his team that has radically changed Harris-Stowe State University.”

– Ronald A. Norwood, chairman of the Board of Regents

school soared to more than 7,000 in 2019 compared to 667 in 2013, and the student profile diversified, as the student body now represents 37 states and 17

in the City of St. Louis merely because of their poverty,” Strode said.

“Today’s decision to grant a preliminary injunction is a critical first step in ending the current status quo of wealth-based detention.

We are encouraged that the judge recognized the enormous human cost of the unconstitutional cash bail scheme in the city’s courts, and we are hopeful that this change in St. Louis’ pretrial detention policies will spare countless people unnecessary suffering now and in the future.”

Advocates said the ruling confirms that the city has violated the rights of “countless thousands” of people, who have been detained before trial at one of the city’s two jails — the Justice Center and the Workhouse — solely because

at HSSU, which has been recognized nationally. There is something special about the spirit found at this university. It is intense, real, sincere, authentic – and I have been proud to be a part of HSSU’s rich history,” Warmack said in a statement.

countries.

“This was a difficult decision for me. Within the last five years, we have done some transformational work

“The dedicated faculty and staff who work here, and the students are second to none. I can confidently leave knowing that HSSU is in great shape with a tremendous leadership team in place to continue our

they are unable to pay money bail. In January 2019, the advocacy groups filed a federal lawsuit challenging as unconstitutional the cash bail system in St. Louis, brought on behalf of four individuals who were denied fair bail hearings.

Advocates said the experiences of the four plaintiffs — David Dixon, Aaron Thurman, Jeffrey Rozelle and Richard Robards — shed light on how St. Louis’ cash bail scheme renders poor residents powerless in court and condemns them to suffer the hellish conditions of the Workhouse, a local jail with a long history of abusive behavior by guards and inadequate medical care.

“The city has operated this racist and predatory scheme for decades and cavalierly destroyed the lives of countless thousands of people, disproportionately impacted black people, and not made St. Louis safer,” said Thomas B. Harvey, justice project director and senior staff attorney at the Advancement Project National Office. “This is the first step in ending wealth-based pretrial detention and closing the Workhouse permanently.”

A link to the preliminary injunction can be found here https://archcitydefenders. us12.list-manage.com/track/ click?u=dde301941a58c8ba 71f20b5d0&id=638cb042fd& e=9aaf131b56

momentum, growth, and success.”

At Claflin University, he succeeds Henry N. Tisdale, who is retiring after 25 years of leadership. “I am humbled by the opportunity afforded me to carry the torch and to continue the growth and development of Claflin University as a dynamic and powerful center of scholarship, research and education,” Warmack said in a statement.

Continued from A1

revenue. Today is about ‘we have a crisis in this city’ – and we have a mouthpiece with our station.”

Williams knows the ripple of trauma that gun violence imposes on families like few could imagine.

“They were all first cousins,” Williams said, pointing to the four obituaries glued to poster board that served as her sign for the march. “This one just came back from Vegas with his wife on Sunday. This one right here and my nephew Ray Ray just got back from Atlanta on that Monday to see my sister and they cousins. They came home and got killed.”

The victims of the quadruple homicide on Shreve in North City last month were her nephews. Robert Williams Jr., 42, Brendan Lee Williams, 30, and Ray Howard, 28 were pronounced dead at the scene. Kenneth Lee III, 27, died from his injuries at a hospital.

“They are all cousins – first cousins,” Robbie Williams said again. “They all got killed the same night at the same place, and it’s so hard on me.”

The tears spilled once again. Instead of wiping them away, she kept her hands fixed on the poster she made in honor of her nephews.

“I just ask God to give me strength. I can’t eat. I can’t sleep. You know you don’t

ABORTION

Continued from A1

“Today’s decision is a clear victory for our patients — and for people across Missouri — but the threat to safe, legal abortion in the state of Missouri and beyond is far from over,” stated Dr. Lena Wen, president and CEO of Planned Parenthood Federation of America.

“We’ve seen just how closely anti-health politicians came to ending abortion care for an entire state. We are in a state of emergency for women’s health in America. In Missouri, and across the country, Planned Parenthood will do whatever it takes to combat the extreme, dangerous, and unconstitutional efforts by politicians to ban access to health care, including safe, legal abortion. We will never stop fighting for our patients.”

A conference is set on the

question God, but sometimes …” her words trickled off into a cry that shook her body.

A group of women wrapped their arms around her and began to fervently pray. She could be heard over their prayers.

“God, give me strength,” Williams said. “Give me strength, Lord.” After the prayer, Williams went back to her sign.

“These two right here, their birthday was the same day but different years,” Williams said. “These two were brothers.”

Their grandmother, Williams’ sister, died the next day. Her family had five funerals in two days. “It’s just like it ain’t real,” she said. “I’m

matter for Friday, June 21 at 9 a.m.

“For patients, that means for now, they can continue to make decisions about their bodies, lives, and future in their home state,” stated obstetrician-gynecologist Colleen McNicholas, D.O., of Reproductive Health Services of Planned Parenthood of the St. Louis Region.

“While this is welcome relief for patients and providers at Planned Parenthood, this fight is far from over. Abortion access in Missouri is hanging on by a thread. And, for many, politicians like Gov. Parson have already created an impossible landscape for patients who need access to abortion. Abortion remains one of the most inappropriately regulated health care services. Until that changes, access to care in our state will depend on where you live and how much money you earn. We are too close to losing our rights and freedoms, and we will not back down today, tomorrow, or

in counseling right now.”

She told Faye Combs and Janet Avery, two prayer warriors who stayed with Williams after the circle disbanded, that it took all the strength she had in her to get out of bed to come to the march.

“Thank y’all so much for praying,” Williams said to Combs and Avery. They promised to keep her lifted in prayer.

‘One is way too many’

Robbie Williams was probably the most extreme example of how gun violence can devastate a family. But among the marchers were

dozens carrying signs that honored the lives of loved ones tragically lost. They were mothers, fathers, sisters, brothers, daughters, sons, nieces and nephews.

“There needs to be a zero-tolerance policy for gun violence,” said James Clark, vice president of community outreach at Better Family Life.

“What you tolerate, you teach.”

Some of those impacted were asked to address the crowd ahead of the march.

Phyllis Curry was one of them. Her son was killed by people he grew up with.

“Those kids came to my house and ate at my house,” Curry said. “When they got older, they began to feud and

n “Planned Parenthood will do whatever it takes to combat the extreme, dangerous, and unconstitutional efforts by politicians to ban access to health care, including safe, legal abortion.”

– Lena Wen, Planned Parenthood Federation of America

ever.”

A restraining order kept the license from expiring on its May 31 expiration date until Monday’s ruling on the injunction. While Parson sited “deficiencies” at the clinic as putting women’s health at risk (including reported botched surgical abortions) as concerns during for license renewal, Dr. McNicholas told The American it’s a “fearmongering” tactic.

“Planned Parenthood’s top priority has always been the health of our patients, and ensuring they get the best care available,” Dr. McNicholas said. “This diversionary tactic by Gov. Parson’s Department of Health and Senior Services proves what we’ve long said – the department is treating Planned Parenthood differently in the inspection process. Planned Parenthood has bent

Members of the Sankofa Unity Center carried a coffin during the Radio One St. Louis and Better Family Life Wear Orange Day STL March to symbolize the lives lost due to gun violence.

fight. And at 22, my son was murdered at Page and Union by people he grew up and played with in the neighborhood.”

She issued a call of action for marchers to take an active role in working to end gun violence.

“I’m asking all of you to stand up, St. Louis,” Curry said. “From today and here on out, we are the only people that can save our children. Don’t act like it ain’t happening. Because it is happening to all of us. If we don’t say or do something now, it’s going to continue. And guess who ain’t gonna have no future? – it’s gonna be us.”

Popular St. Louis radio personality Tony Scott, who

over backwards to cooperate with DHSS, but the agency refuses to engage in good faith.”

Planned Parenthood stated that it plans to continue focusing on caring for every person who walks in its doors and that will remain its priority – “no matter what distraction tactics the state chooses to deploy next.”

Ashcroft rejects abortion ban for popular vote a third time

On Tuesday, June 21, Missouri Secretary of State Jay Ashcroft rejected a third referendum petition to put HB 126, which enacted a ban on abortions after eight weeks with no exceptions for women who are victims of

now works remotely in Texas as a weekend personality for 95.5 FM, flew in just for the march.

“These are just some of the people we’ve lost to gun violence in St. Louis,” Scott said. “One is way too many. People who look like me and you are getting killed for no reason at all.”

He said young men who don’t know how to deal with anger, disappointment and rejection contribute to the casualties. “Hurting people is all they know,” Scott said. “We need to teach them. We need to be patient with them – and we need to encourage them and show them the right way.”

Mayor Lyda Krewson, Public Safety Director Jimmie Edwards, Police Chief John Hayden and Fire Chief Dennis Jenkerson attended. Krewson echoed some of Scott’s sentiments when she addressed the crowd.

“I get a text message every time there is a shooting in St. Louis,” Krewson said. “And so often I believe that these are people who do not know how to handle their differences in a better way. We have to give them hope, education, training and jobs.”

She’s received several texts since Saturday’s march. One of them included the heartbreaking news of the two small children hit with stray bullets during a driveby shooting in South City on Monday – a tragic shooting that claimed the life of threeyear-old Kennedi Powell.

rape or incest, before the voters Ashcroft cited as his reason an “emergency clause” that put the law into effect immediately when it was signed on May 24 by Gov. Mike Parson. “Approving a referendum petition in which a portion of the law is already in effect would set a new precedent in Missouri,” Ashcroft stated.

“Although the Missouri Constitution (Article III, Section 49) states the people may approve or reject by referendum any ‘act’ of the general assembly, never in Missouri history has a secretary of state approved a referendum petition in which a portion of the law was already in effect. Additionally, a secretary of state has never approved a referendum of only a portion of an act of the legislature.”

Photo by Lawrence Bryant

STL hip-hop history lesson, part 1

‘Background Check’ by G.Wiz premieres at Missouri History Museum on June 18

By Ellen Kunkelmann

For The St. Louis American

On Tuesday, June 18, the Missouri Historical Society continues its celebration of Freedom Month and Black Music Month with the premiere of “Background Check: The Story of St. Louis & East St. Louis Hip-Hop 1979–1995, Vol. 1.” This brand-new documentary aims to set the record straight: St. Louis hiphop existed long before the year 2000. In fact, it was there at the very beginning.

“Background Check was inspired by the fact that I have watched many hip-hop documentaries over time and realized that every city has its own story,” Ronald “G.Wiz” Butts (95.5 FM, 88.1 FM), the film’s producer and director, explains.

“The St. Louis story was never told, or for that matter, discussed.” The film is a one-hour tribute to the early years of local hip-hop, combining dozens of interviews, flashback footage, and radio show reminiscences— plus the contentious issue of which local radio station first introduced “Rapper’s Delight” to the world.

n “The most important role the metro area played in the hip-hop movement was that we helped bridge the gaps between East Coast, West Coast, and Southern.”

– Ronald “G.Wiz” Butts

“In my time and space, black music was changing about every 10 years, so by the time I was introduced to the hip-hop sound, we had funk, disco, synthesized, and soul music, which was now called R&B,” Butts says of the origins of the genre.

“The public school system was slowly eliminating music classes due to state and federal cuts. Urban kids were discovering alternative ways to create music without the use of instruments, which is how rapping and beatboxing came into play.” Hot spots for St. Louis hip-hop included the Ville Auditorium, North County Recreational Complex, Animal House, the St. Louis Armory, both Skate King locations, Saints Family Skate Center, and many high schools. Clothing stores like Gus’s Fashions, Mr. Mann’s, and Tucker’s Department Store offered new looks to accompany the new sound.

“Before I started DJing at Skate King, I used to look forward to skating off the early rap groups such as Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five, Funky Four Plus One, the Sequence, the Treacherous Three, and Spoonie Gee that were played by DJs like Dr. Funk-ARock, Dr. PhilGood, Johnny Ray ‘Super Jock’ Williams, DJ Cowboy (Ellis Nichols), and Lil Boogie,” Butts recalls.

He believes that what is most remarkable about St. Louis hip-hop is “our pure love and acceptance of rap music.” That love is evident among the St. Louisans interviewed in “Background Check.”

“I think the most important role that the metro area played in the hip-hop movement was the fact that we helped bridge the gaps between East Coast, West Coast, and Southern

rap because we supported the artists and their music regardless of where they were from,” he says.

“Whether it was Miami bass, street, political, bragging/boasting, controversial, or lyrically potent, it in turn increased record sales, which also forced mainstream radio to play their music and promoters to bring shows to the area. St. Louis blues and jazz music played a major part in our acceptance of rap, but when you add the African heritage and our Southern ancestry, you get rhythmic Afrocentric poetry that taps in your soul and says, ‘Yeah . . . I can dig it.’”

Vol. 1 is part of a planned three-part series.

“Although the first installment deals with the foundation, I will focus on the next two installments in this series to answer questions and raise conversation, all while encouraging the viewers to research their own local hip-hop history,” Butts says.

For now, “Background Check” offers nostalgia and insight, plus many familiar faces and voices. “The audience is guaranteed to find jewels of information spoken by the participants themselves, such as who played ‘Rapper’s Delight’ first, what was the ‘Roll Call’ show, which communities supported the rap culture, and many other interesting tidbits,” Butts says.

“Background Check: The Story of St. Louis & East St. Louis Hip-Hop 1979–1995, Vol. 1” will be shown on Tuesday, June 18, at 6:30 p.m. in the Lee Auditorium at the Missouri History Museum. Producer and director DJ G.Wiz, along with DJ Kut (95.5 FM), Cecil Parker, and D-Ex will host a panel discussion immediately after the film. Attendees are invited to wear their favorite 1980s gear in honor of the theme.

Tickets are $10 and can be ordered online at mohistory.org/background-check or by phone at (314) 361-9017. Ellen Kunkelmann is associate editor at the Missouri Historical Society.

Missing in action –serious black talk radio St. Louis

By Bernie Hayes For The St.

Louis American

With so much political and social stratification in a system by which people depend on resources for upward mobility and, in some instances, survival, it is alarming that St. Louis is without a daily black talk and information radio station or program. I am proud to remind you that I started black talk radio on KATZ in late 1979. My morning show would begin with “Lift Every Voice and Sing,” and I would combine and play songs of hope and inspiration such as “Young, Gifted and Black,” “I Wish I Knew How it Feel to be Free,” “Open Up My Heart to the World this Morning,” “Say It Loud – I’m Black and I’m Proud” and James Cleveland’s “Jesus Is The Best Thing That Ever Happened to Me,” among many others. I would speak to local mayors, school superintendents, police chiefs, local, county and national elected officials, as well as clergy and religious leaders of every belief. Every weekend I would have state Representative Charles Quincy Troupe, state Senators J.B. Jet Banks and John Bass to update us on the weekly actions

in Jefferson City, and have Alderwomen Sharon Tyus, Velma Jean Bailey and Irene J. Smith report on the events in the aldermanic chamber.

I’d begin the week with state Representative Paula Carter, state Senator Maida Coleman and others giving us a preview of pending legislation and prepare us for us what to expect in the future.

Regular guests on the program included Wale Amusa, Onion Horton, Betty Thompson, Ida Goodwin Woolfolk, Clifford Wilson, Greg Freeman, George Curry, Wyvetter Younge, Gordon Bush, Carl Officer and others from both sides of the Mississippi River.

n They believe that we get what we deserve –nothing other than good times and funny jokes. Right?

At night we had Bob Law with his nationally syndicated program “Night Talk” with news and information and guests from across the nation.

Later a host of black talk programs materialized, such as Richard “Onion” Horton, Liz Brown, Hank Thompson and Sharon McGee, Betty Thompson, Rev. Cleo Willis, Zaki Baruti, Ishmael Ahmed Lateef, Keith Antoine Willis, Craig Riggins, Howard “Dallas” Jamison, RaeJ Johnson, and many others.

So what happened? Why is the African-American community left in an

information desert? Why are there only Freeman Bosley Jr. and Demetrius Johnson and a couple of others on weekends to make available news and material vital to half the city’s population and to the thousands of African Americans who reside in St. Louis County and the Metro East? Who is there to debate our socio-economic class system, and the dimensions of social inequality that exists in the United States? Where are the conversations about race, gender, education, income level, and changes in the workplace? Where are the examinations of emotional pain such as eating disorders, abuse, suicide, anxiety and depression, attachment disorder and selfhatred? Who will provide the forum for discussions responding to racism, discrimination and oppression? St. Louis radio stations have failed and neglected us. They overwhelm us with music and entertainment, but what about programs of substance? Needless to say, it is our fault and they believe that we get what we deserve – nothing other than good times and funny jokes. Right? they believe that we get what we deserve – nothing other than good times and funny jokes. Right?

Please watch the Bernie Hayes TV program Saturday night at 10 p.m. and Sunday evenings at 5:30 p.m. on NLEC-TV Ch. 24.2. I can be reached by fax at (314) 8373369, on e-mail at berhay@ swbell.net or on Twitter @ berhay.

Boys & Girls Clubs honors alumni, staff, volunteers, supporters

American staff

The Boys & Girls Clubs of Greater St. Louis recently inducted new members into its Alumni Hall of Honor and presented a number of awards to staff, board members, volunteers and supporters.

The Alumni Hall of Honor inductees are Mark Collins III, Precious Johnson, Alaina Lopes, Cardin Dean Rackley, Mark Stallion and Kal-El Waters-Jones. The Hall of Honor recognizes outstanding alumni for achievements in their respective fields, commitment to leadership, serving our community’s youth, contributions to the St. Louis community and for living out the mission of the Boys & Girls Club.

The National Service to Youth Award – which recognizes board members, volunteers and staff who have rendered long and devoted service (five years or more) to the Boys & Girls

Club Movement – went to Roxanne Crawford, Gregory Davis, Jaime Downs, Charles Jackson, Tammie Sargent, Renee Seaman, Fe’Dale Waters (staff); and George Bailey, Ken Kotiza, Peter Lazaroff, Karen

n “Our staff, board volunteers, alumni and friends contribute to the welfare of the children we serve and highlight our impact.”

– Club President Flint Fowler

Luebbert, Suzie Spence, Gene Todd, Nancy Wolfe (board and life trustees). The National Award of Merit – which recognizes individuals and organizations outside Boys & Girls Clubs that have provided outstanding support to local clubs or the movement – went to Adella Jones, Stuart Krawll, Frank S. & Antoinette G. Leta Family Charitable Foundation, William “Bill” Meyer, Darrell Scott, Eric Wood. The Carl Woods Volunteer of the Year – which recognizes exceptional volunteers who demonstrate devoted service to the club’s mission – went to Leon Davis, Rita Fitzjarrell, Kathe Harwood, Brandy Herron, Thomas Mason, Tamara Powell, Ryan Sparks, Bob Stein and Renelle Theard. Richard H. Amberg Award – which recognizes a board member whose leadership and commitment has a profound impact on the club’s ability to achieve its mission - went to Keith Lueking Club President Flint Fowler said, “This event gives us the opportunity to celebrate the many ways that our staff, board volunteers, alumni and friends contribute to the welfare of the children we serve and highlight our impact.”

Bernie Hayes

DJ G.Wiz is the producer and director of Background Check.

Photo courtesy of Ronald Butts

Flint Fowler, president Boys & Girls Clubs of Greater St. Louis (far right) along with 2019 Alumni Hall of Honor inductees: Precious Johnson, Cardin Dean Rackley, Mark Collins III, the mother of Kal-El Waters-Jones and the club’s 2019 Youth of the Year Kahalia Adams.

Public (and one cop) tells police leadership of their distrust and fear of police

The St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department needs to cut out its “cancer,” city residents testified at the aldermanic Public Safety Committee meeting on Monday, June 10. And the cancer is the police officers whose bias is so overwhelming that they’ve shown they can’t be in a position to take someone’s liberty away.

The meeting was a response to the recently unveiled Plain View Project, a database of public Facebook posts and comments made by current and former police officers from several jurisdictions across the country.

Of the 44 St. Louis city officers documented in the database, 23 of them are still on the force, said Police Chief John Hayden at the meeting. Their posts included hateful, racist remarks about minorities, various religions and protestors. But possibly some of the most disturbing posts were those that included just a symbol — the skull of the Punisher. The Punisher is a fictional Marvel character who fights crime using means of murder, torture and other violent methods. The symbol is frightening because it shows support for police officers acting as the judge, jury and executioner.

At the aldermanic meeting, the police chief said that the posts range from “deeply insensitive” to some that “were not as insensitive as some of the others.” He didn’t mention where the Punisher posts fall on that range.

Three of the “most egregious” offenders were put on desk duty, while the police department conducts an “extensive investigation,” the chief said.

Alderman Joe Vaccaro chairman of the committee, set the tone for the meeting when he said that the posts don’t reflect the police department because “this is less than two percent for the police officers.”

Alderwoman Carol Howard (D-Ward 14) later said in her comments, “These are a few and they are being dealt with. And I think that’s reassuring.”

At that point, Cachet Currie, a city resident who was allegedly assaulted by then-police union spokesman Jeff Roorda at a January 2015 meeting in that same room, jumped up and said, “Pay attention to the two people who are saying it’s only two percent. It’s still a problem.”

Vaccaro threatened to throw her out, but Public Safety Director Jimmie Edwards stepped up to the microphone and told Vaccaro, “Two percent is too much. I don’t want to suggest that we are proud of that. Maybe 98 percent are trying to do the right thing – or haven’t been caught yet.”

This exchange stirred up a series of speakers who then tried to prove that it was the latter.

Sgt. Heather Taylor, president of the Ethical Society of Police, an association that advocates for racial equity in police work, said that the Ethical Society’s members are livid and don’t feel safe around the officers outed by the Plain View Project. In 2017, some of her fellow officers liked a post that stated, “I hope she bleeds out on a call.” Then-interim police chief Lawrence O’Toole told her it was the officers’ First Amendment right to say that and didn’t step in, she said. But the city initiated a process that ruled (in her favor) that it was discrimination. The officers received three days’ suspension, but she still has to work with them, she said.

“Do you think I turn my back to them?” Taylor said.

“I would never turn my back on them, because I don’t trust them. That’s the reality for African Americans and other minorities.” They also documented racism in the police department in a 112-page comprehensive evaluation released in 2016.

“It’s been used in state and civil court,” she said.

“And it hasn’t been refuted. It’s exhausting the amount of racism that’s within our police department. That two percent. That’s what they choose to state. It’s much more than that. It’s a reality for us because we see it every day.”

Ferguson activist and citizen journalist Heather DeMian spoke about a current police officer named Shane Coats who she said threatened to harm protestors and journalists in his posts in 2015. He is also documented in the Plain View Project as saying things like, “Ha!Ha! There’s a novel idea bring your own medical services to the riot!” in response to an article about police open firing on protestors when they tried to bring a woman to them for medical aid. Coats just posted on Twitter on May 19, “Never turn your back on the feral,” referring to African Americans.

“He’s still on your force,” DeMian said, despite the police department’s September 2018 social media policy. She also told the board that the FBI warned that white supremacists were infiltrating police departments.

Bill Monroe, a former police officer and community activist, said he saw the KKK embed themselves in the police department during his time on the force.

“I am one of the few black police officers that will admit to having at least three fist fights, primarily in the 8th district,” Monroe said. “These fist fights were with white police officers who sought to abuse our people, to take advantage of them and even try to kill them.”

St. Louis Mayor Lyda Krewson and Edwards announced after the Plain View Project report was published by Buzzfeed that all police officers must take the sensitivity training. But Monroe said, “It’s way, way past that.”

Some aldermen asked whether the department has the ability to fire these officers, seeing that the posts came before the social media policy announced in September 2018.

Personnel Director Richard Franks said yes because every civil service employee is still required to abide by the employee code of conduct.

Hayden said that egregious acts could be considered “conduct-unbecoming” and the employee could be disciplined, including dismissal.

After the posts came out, St. Louis Circuit Attorney Kim Gardner said that she will review the cases that the officers in question are involved in — and that she plans on throwing out these cases.

Activists taunt cops with projected images

Activists gave some St. Louis city police cars new “bumper stickers” on June 3, by projecting the images of current and former police officers’ discriminatory social media posts.

They projected the Confederate flag and a racist

post about Islam, both which came from Facebook posts from city officer Thomas Mabrey

On the wall of the St. Louis Police Headquarters on Olive Street, they projected a July 2013 Facebook post from officer Michael Calcaterra that read, “They said, ‘F--k the police,’ so I said, ‘F--k your 911 call. I’ll get to your dying

home boy when I finish my coffee.”

Projections were part of a series of actions from the activists groups, the Justice Cup and Artivists. On May 30, the activists projected messages on the Enterprise Center, including, “It is our duty to fight for our freedom.”

Two women also attempted to unfurl a banner on stage

Photo by Rebecca Rivas

during the national anthem at the Stanley Cup Street Festival and Viewing Party in downtown St. Louis. Two police officers pulled it away just as they got it opened.

The groups have a long list of demands, including issues of climate change, LGBTQ, accessibility, state sanctioned violence, immigration and others.

“They are radical,” said Elizabeth Vega, leader of the Artivists. “We are seeking to not just change the injustice but transform our culture into a world that we can truly reimagine for our children and grandchildren.”

The list of their demands are posted at https://tinyurl.com/ justice-cup-demands.

St. Louis resident Cachet Currie shared her concerns with the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department with Public Safety Director Jimmie Edwards and Police Chief John Hayden at an aldermanic Public Safety Committee meeting on Monday, June 10.

Free summer meals for kids by texting ‘FOOD’ to 877-877

Operation Food search offers summer food and fun throughout the area

The Food & Fun Club of Operation St. Louis stops by to bring a nutritious lunch and activities to children at several locations in and around St. Louis. Operation Food Search expanded its summer meal program into St. Charles County an effort to deliver 100,000 meals to children ages 18 and younger throughout the metro area.

By Sandra Jordan Of The St. Louis American

Operation Food Search is doing its part to make sure area children do not go hungry during the summer months when they are not in school, by expanding its summer lunch program.

“Our goal is to deliver 100,000 meals to children ages 18 and younger throughout the summer,” Kristen Wild, executive director of Operation Food Search, said. Operation Food Search expanded into St. Charles County this summer by adding sites. “We are also piloting having for part of the summer, actually going

into Warren and Lincoln counties. We really want to reach some of the rural areas as well.” Wild said Missouri lags significantly behind other states in summer meal participation, ranked 42nd out of 50 states.

“Only 1 in 12 Missouri children, or 9.7 percent, who would benefit from a summer meals program, actually participates,” she said. “A lot of these kids are heavily reliant on free and reduced breakfast and lunch at school, and when that is not available to them, they could otherwise skip a lot of meals throughout the summer.”

Operation Food Search works with

the Pepsico Foundation to assemble the free meals in easy-to-deliver units for the children, and meals are supplied to freestanding sites or they create food pop-ups at various locations through a roving, mobile delivery.

“Between the two, we will be delivering food to over 60 sites,” she said. “Through the stationary model, we deliver meals to programs that are established and have activities for children, such as libraries, community centers, Boys & Girls Clubs, faith-based organizations, parks – and we

See MEALS, A13

A breast cancer call to action for St. Louis

‘Where you live should not determine if you live,’ says Dr. Lannis Hall

By Dr. Lannis Hall For The St. Louis American

Breast cancer is the most common cancer diagnosed in women and the secondleading cause of cancer death. This year, approximately 250,000 women in the United States will receive the diagnosis of breast cancer, and 40,000 will die of the disease.

Dr. Lannis Hall

The good news is that breast cancer mortality rates have dropped by 40 percent in the last 25 years. The bad news is that some communities continue to suffer from unacceptably high mortality rates despite significant advances in early detection and treatment.

African-American women have a 40 percent higher breast cancer mortality rate compared to white women and, depending on where you live in the U.S., the mortality difference is even greater.

n “One of the main reasons for the increase in mortality among AfricanAmerican women is the later stage of diagnosis of breast cancer.”

– Dr. Lannis Hall

AfricanAmerican women in the state of Missouri – and specifically certain areas of the St. Louis region – have breast cancer mortality statistics that are significantly higher than the national average.

This urgent call to action discusses factors responsible for the alarming mortality, the rise in incidence rates, and what each of us must do to reverse the trend.

90 percent higher mortality rate

In the St. Louis region, breast cancer mortality rates are significantly higher for African-American women compared to white women despite having numerous health care facilities. In St. Louis County, white women

Union wants Goodfellow Federal Complex evacuated

By Francene Bethune For St. Louis American

The American Federation of Government Employees is calling for changes to be made in the Goodfellow Federal Complex in St. Louis, where cancer-causing chemicals have been a concern for decades. The also union requested that the government transfer all employees out of the complex. The complex is a multi-agency administration that holds about 2,400 employees who work for the Social Security Administration, the Department of Veterans Affairs, the Agriculture Department, and the General Services Administration.

The issue stems from an investigation by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) that was conducted in July 2016. OSHA noted while conducting the audit that it issued “seven serious citations” that include hazardous contamination.

n Clay urged a congressional investigation into GSA Public Building Services, stating that it “failed to protect the health and safety of St. Louis’s federal workers.”

OSHA found traces of lead, asbestos, and other known cancer-causing agents. It also noted that GSA Public Building Services (PBS) “did not take adequate action to protect tenants, contractors, and visitors from hazards at the Goodfellow complex due to ineffective environmental management programs, policies, and guidance.”

Source: American Federation of Government Employees

Sign posted at the Goodfellow Federal Complex in St. Louis

Photo by Wiley Price

HALL

Continued from A12

have a breast cancer mortality rate of 18 deaths per 100,000 women, and African-American women have a mortality rate of 34 deaths per 100,000. Thus, African-American women have a mortality rate that is 90 percent higher than white women in the same county.

A closer review of this data, as outlined by the St. Louis County Department of Public Health, indicates that women who live in zip codes in North County, compared to women with zip codes in West and South County, have much higher breast cancer mortality rates. Some zip codes, particularly in inner North County, have rates that are 150-200 percent higher than zip codes just 10 miles west and south on Interstate 270. This is an unconscionable disparity and worthy of our immediate attention and energy.

One of the main reasons for the increase in mortality among African-American women is the later stage of diagnosis of breast cancer. At later stages of the disease, the malignant tumor is no longer confined to the breast but has spread to regional lymph nodes or other organs like liver, lung and bone.

Early mammography saves black lives

Mammograms save lives. The benefit of early mammography screening to detect breast cancers at an earlier stage of the disease cannot be overstated. Early screening reduces mortality by approximately 30 percent in women who screen routinely. However, confusion clouds the issues of when a woman should screen and how often.

For example, The American Cancer Society now recommends that average-risk women begin mammography screening at the age of 45 rather than the age of 40. The guidelines further recommend that women 55 years or older should undergo screening every other year and that health care providers should no longer perform clinical breast exams. The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force rolled back screening even further to begin at the age of 50.

The clinical studies which support the revised guidelines were primarily conducted in Western Europe and Canada. These clinical trials, which overwhelmingly enrolled white women, were unable to assess the impact of rolling back screening guidelines for

UNION

Continued from A12

From January 2002, through December 31, 2016, the GSA Public Building Services conducted 33 studies costing $1.9 million to sample and provide an analysis of the condition of the building. It found some of the same hazards that are reported in the OSHA Report.

GSA Public Building Services’ approach of conducting duplicative studies instead of taking action to remediate the hazardous contamination or prevent access to contaminated areas

MEALS

Continued from A12

deliver the meals to those sites for them to be distributed by the staff members who are at those sites. The mobile model involves our taking four vehicles on the road, and we deliver the meals.” One route it goes to during its summer program is the

African-American women. Women of color should be concerned about these recommendations for several reasons. African-American women have an earlier age of onset of breast cancer compared to white women. Approximately 30 percent of breast cancers in AfricanAmerican women are diagnosed before the age of 50, as compared to 20 percent of white women, and more breast cancers are diagnosed in African-American women under the age of 45 than any other ethnic or racial group. Many unfortunate and heartbreaking cases of breast cancer occur in women who are in their thirties and forties, while raising young children, working, and participating fully in their communities.

Recent data from the St. Louis County Health Department highlights the earlier age at diagnosis for women in our region; African-American women are diagnosed six years earlier than white women. The median age of diagnosis is 59 years of age for African-American women and 65 years of age for white women. Thus, in the St. Louis region, one-half of African-American women are diagnosed before the age of 59. The earlier age at diagnosis and more advanced breast cancers at the time of diagnosis demonstrate the urgency for early screening.

Because of the higher mortality rate and increase in advanced stage breast cancers in African-American women, two national organizations, the American College of Radiology and the Society

endangered the health of people at the complex and wasted taxpayer money, according to OSHA.

After its own studies, GSA Public Building Services was aware of the environmental hazards, but did not inform tenants, contractors, and visitors. This violated the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970, which requires federal agencies to be free of hazards, and the policy requires the agency to access the unsafe condition within 30 days. The facility’s management knowingly exposed employees to hazardous contaminants, according to OSHA. According to an email to employees from GSA

Jennings School District. “The other three routes go ten weeks and those routes include north City, north County and south City and south County,” Wild said. They spend only about 45 minutes to an hour at each site before they move to another location.

“Children are able to receive a meal that is well-balanced, following USDA guidelines, and we have staff members and volunteers who accompany

of Breast Imaging, have designated African-American women as high risk. Each organization recommends a formal assessment by a health care provider to evaluate a family history of breast cancer and assess for genetic-based risk, starting at the age of 30. The purpose of this early risk assessment is to determine if women should have screening earlier with MRI or other imaging modalities. The American College of Radiology, Society of Breast Imagers and Siteman Cancer Center continue to recommend annual screening for all average-risk women to begin at the age of 40.

Weight gain increases cancer risk

The breast cancer mortality disparity in our region is an urgent matter but equally distressing are the rising new cases of breast cancer in the African American community. In the past, white American women had the highest incidence of breast cancer in the U.S., but lately, the rate of new cases has stabilized, while for African-American women the rate of new cases has increased. In its most recent analysis, the American Cancer Society has highlighted seven states in which incidence rates are higher in African-American women than in white women. Missouri is one of the seven states.

One of the risk factors for developing breast cancer later in life is weight gain during a woman’s adult years. Research has shown that all women –regardless of race – who gain

Public Building Services in this month titled “Update on Environmental Activities,” since February, it has conducted 172 water samples within 17 buildings and only found two water fixtures that contain lead above Action Levels, according to Environmental Protection Agency standards. The email cited multiple tests that were completed by GSA Public Building Services and also said it plans to periodically check the air and water quality and monitor the environmental issues long term, but it did not comply.

In a letter to U.S. Rep. Wm. Lacy Clay (D-MO), whose district includes the

The American College of Radiology, Society of Breast Imagers and Siteman Cancer Center continue to recommend annual screening for all averagerisk women to begin at the age of 40.

careers, childcare and a new cancer diagnosis.

Each one of us can play a role

over 20 pounds of weight after high school have a higher risk of developing breast cancer after menopause.

Issues of obesity and unhealthy weight gain are a national epidemic, but African-American women are struggling with this health issue more than any other ethnic or racial group. Over 80 percent of African-American women struggle with an unhealthy weight, which heightens the risk for breast cancer later in life. The overwhelming message is to avoid weight gain to reduce breast cancer risk.

Free breast and cervical screenings

While health care leaders and organizations mobilize to address this mortality disparity and rising incidence in our region, one program is available that women can participate in now: Show Me Healthy Women.

Show Me Healthy Women is a Missouri program which provides free breast and cervical screenings for low-income and uninsured women who meet specific age requirements. Seventeen different hospitals and federally qualified health centers participate in the state program in the St. Louis region.

The participating health care centers are: Betty Jean Kerr People’s Health Center at Florissant, Breast Health Center - Missouri Baptist, SSM DePaul, SSM St. Clare Hospital/ SSM St. Mary’s and Mercy Hospital (in St. Louis County) and all Affinia sites, all Myrtle Hilliard sites, Saint Louis University,

Goodfellow Complex, the American Federation of Government Employees stated that without the OSHA investigation in 2016 and Officer of Inspection General investigation in 2018, the government would still knowingly be exposing employees to toxic contamination at the Good Fellow Complex. The union also accused GSA Public Building Services of misrepresenting the dangers of the building after confirmation of presence of lead, cadmium, arsenic and other heavy metals.

The union said that employees also have been exposed to everyday maintenance and construction

n “Only 1 in 12 Missouri children, or 9.7 percent, who would benefit from a summer meals program, actually participates.”

– Kristen Wild, Operation Food Search

the vans and provide activities for the children, so that we are nourishing their minds as well as their bodies,” Wild said.

Each meal includes a milk, grain, protein, fruit or vegetable. Activities provided by volunteers and staff include

Barnes- Jewish Hospital and at the Highlands, Betty Jean Kerr People’s Health Center on Delmar (in St. Louis city), and Christian Hospital (full participant soon).

The Show Me Healthy Women program also enrolls women onto Medicaid if they have a diagnosis of breast cancer and require treatment.

Providing medical insurance is a lifesaving benefit of the program, particularly since research has consistently shown that delays in guidelinedirected care like receipt of surgery, chemotherapy, and radiation lead to significantly lower survival rates.

Unfortunately, many women have not heard of The Show Me Healthy Women program and do not know they can receive a free mammogram and treatment if necessary.

Comprehensive cancer treatment center in North County

Another important advancement is the construction of Siteman Cancer Center in North County which is scheduled to open this fall on the campus of Christian Northwest Campus. Siteman Cancer Center in North County will offer comprehensive treatment services, hundreds of clinical trials, supportive personnel and programs specifically designed to assist the uninsured and underinsured. Some of the highest breast cancer mortality rates are located in nearby neighborhoods where one in four households are uninsured. A cancer center close to home will support women juggling

activities, which lead to disturbing the contamination and making it airborne for employees to breathe in.

Sheila Harrison, who said she has been working at the complex for 10 years, noted that employees have to wear masks to enter specific areas, and sometimes pieces of the building come falling down.

“Whenever it rains, the roof leaks,” she said. “It leaks so bad that the ceiling tiles come falling on the desk or employees.”

The union’s letter to Clay also states Johnson’s concerns about the facility. In response, Clay urged the House Committee on Oversight and Reform to launch a

arts and crafts, STEM and sports activities as part of Operation Food Search’s Food & Fun Club.

The Operation Food Search summer meal program began June 3 and runs through August 9. Its hours are 11:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Monday through Friday.

To finding lunch locations, texting “FOOD” to 877-877 on your mobile device.

“We are just one small

Each one of us can play an essential role in encouraging our loved ones and friends to undergo screening annually starting at the age of 40 or earlier if there is a strong family history or risk of genetic-based breast cancer. The call to action to educate women about breast health and the importance of early detection and annual screening include: churches and their health ministries, regional health care advocacy organizations, high schools, and social and service organizations aligned with community health. We are fortunate to have several outstanding breast cancer advocacy groups in the St. Louis region dedicated to saving lives. These organizations offer financial support like mortgage and utility payment assistance during breast cancer treatment, free screenings and an array of other supportive services. These organizations include Gateway to Hope, The Komen Foundation, The Breakfast Club, The American Cancer Society and Valeda’s Hope.

Breast cancer survival differences between African-American and white women are primarily due to socioeconomic indicators and access to health care – also known as social determinants of health. Several large metropolitan areas and states have minimal differences in breast cancer mortality rates between African-American women and white women. These regions have a common theme of expansion of Medicaid and a strong public health system. Health equity – as defined by Healthy People 2020 – is the attainment of the highest level of health for all people. This can be our reality, but we must strategize, mobilize and legislate for a healthier St. Louis.

Lannis Hall, MD, MPH, is Director of Radiation Oncology at Siteman Cancer Center Barnes-Jewish St. Peters Hospital, Clinical Trials leader at Program to Eliminate Cancer Disparities, and assistant professor of Clinical Radiation Oncology at Washington University School of Medicine. A special thank you to Dr. Nhial Tutlam and the St. Louis County Department of Public Health for providing cancer statistics.

congressional investigation into GSA Public Building Services, stating that it “failed to protect the health and safety of St. Louis’s federal workers.” GSA Public Building Services had not responded to a St. Louis American request for an interview from by press time. Its response will be reported when and if received.

Francene Bethune is a St. Louis American editorial intern provided by the Emma Bowen Foundation, which recruits promising students of color and places them in multi-year paid internships at some of the nation’s leading media, PR and technology companies.

piece of a nationwide program,” Wild said, “so if there are families who live here and travel elsewhere for the summer, they can text that number and they enter their zip code and they will be given the three closest locations to get summer meals.” For more information, visit https://www. operationfoodsearch.org/ summer-meals-locations/.

JUNE 13 – 19, 2019

St. Louis County moves to reduce gender pay gap

Also introduces legislation to pay for police body and dashboard cameras

By Jason Rosenbaum Of St. Louis Public Radio

St. Louis County Executive Sam Page is seeking to close a pay gap within county government between men and women. And the Democratic official believes omitting one question could make a difference toward gender salary equity.

Page signed an executive order on June 4 that requires the director of administration and the director of division personnel to remove “from county employment applications inquiries regarding salary information, including wages, benefits, and other compensation for current and prior non-county employment.”

The hope of this move, Page said, is to reduce the pay gap between male and female employees within county government.

“By asking prospective employees their current or past salary, an employer can unintentionally lock an employee into an existing pay disparity,” Page said. “And that has to end.”

n “By asking prospective employees their current or past salary, an employer can unintentionally lock an employee into an existing pay disparity.”

– St. Louis County Executive Sam Page

Page is also putting together a group of department directors to look into how the county could implement things like paid family leave, child care and a minimum-wage hike for county employees.

He acknowledged that some of these ideas will cost the county money and added that there will have to be consultation with the St. Louis County Council.

“I think all good policy questions are limited in their scope by the financial impact,” Page

said. “That’s what our budget is all about. Our budget is our priorities and a statement of our values. And we’re going to try and understand what that means for St. Louis County.”

Among the people who joined Page at the signing press was Lisa Picker, executive director of the Women’s Foundation of Greater St. Louis, who said the county “is taking a leadership role in our region for workplace equity and inclusion.”

“We hope that other employers will be inspired by your initiative to take similar action to support working women and families,” Picker said.

Page wants a report from the working group by September 1.

The County Council’s presiding officer, Ernie Trakas, R-Oakville, praised Page for taking a measured approach to pay issues, and said he looked forward to reading the report.

See PAY GAP, B6

Orientation program to become a certified court interpreter

The Supreme Court of Missouri will host an orientation program for becoming a certified court interpreters August 3 and 4 at Missouri State University in Springfield.

Qualified individuals must have native-like mastery of English and a second language and be interested in interpreting in the courts. Other skills necessary to be successful are the ability to display a wide general knowledge, typical of what a minimum of two years of a college or university would provide, and proficiency in the three major types of court interpreting: sight, consecutive and simultaneous.

The first step in reaching certification

n The first step in reaching certification involves a 16-hour orientation open to any person at least 18 years of age with a nativelike mastery of English and a second language.

involves a 16-hour orientation open to any person at least 18 years of age with a native-like mastery of English and a second language.

After completing orientation, candidates may register to take the written examination, which tests the candidate’s knowledge of English proficiency, legal terms, court protocol, and ethical situations, and includes translation from English to a second language.

Candidates who pass the written examination – which requires a score of 80 percent or greater – may register to take the oral examination, which tests their skill in sight translation as well as consecutive and simultaneous interpreting. A candidate must pass each portion of this

Daphné Robinson joined Hawthorn Leadership School for Girls as head of school. A St. Louis native, she served as director of Charter Schools for Shelby County Schools in Memphis, Tennessee. She restructured the charter schools office to make the schools more accountable and to provide additional support to charter school students. She provided leadership to more than 55 charter schools in Memphis, serving more than 15,000 students.

Jason W. Ware is the new chief financial officer at CareSTL Health, where he directs the organization’s financial planning and accounting practices. He is responsible for implementing, reviewing and developing fiscal protocols, performance and productivity objectives. He joined CareSTL Health in 2015 as executive administrator and was promoted to director of Grants & Contracts and executive director of the CareSTL Foundation.

Angeline WilliamsJackson joined the School District of University City as St. Louis County Special School District area coordinator. She has worked in special education for 18 years and is currently an SSD area coordinator for Ritenour High School. She holds a Masters of Education and Educational Leadership from Parks University and is working on her Ph.D. in Social Justice Leadership at the University of Missouri–St. Louis.

William A. Gray, DMD, MD, was elected to the Board of Directors of Delta Dental of Missouri, the state’s leading dental benefits provider. He is a licensed oral surgeon, dentist and physician, practicing oral surgery at St. Louis South Oral & Maxillofacial Surgery and serving as chief of oral surgery at Mercy Hospital South. He completed an internship in general surgery and a residency in oral and maxillofacial surgery at Oregon Health and Science University Hospital.

Dasjanee Watkins received the Outstanding Grizzly House Resident Award during Missouri State University-West Plains’ annual Celebration of Leaders student awards. The award recognizes a student living in the Grizzly House residence hall who positively impacts the living-learning community and consistently strives to support other residents within the university’s residence life program.

Kevin L. Neely was selected to attend the Disney Dreamers Academy in Florida, where students participate in handson, immersive career workshops, ranging from animation to zoology. He will work on developing a game to promote healthy living starting with the basics, sponsored by Steve Harvey and Essence Magazine. He is a McCluer High School student, a board member of the Ferguson Youth Initiative, and founder of Y.E.L.L. (Youth Encouraged to Live Loud). On the move? Congratulations! Send your professional news and a color headshot to cking@stlamerican.com

Dasjanee Watkins

Jason W. Ware

Kevin L. Neely

William A. Gray

Daphne Robinson

Angeline WilliamsJackson

Lisa Picker of the Women’s Foundation of Greater St. Louis spoke at a press conference on June 4 with St. Louis County Executive Sam Page.

Photo by Jason Rosenbaum / St. Louis Public Radio

S&P raises rating on Lambert Airport revenue bonds

Comptroller Green projects $20M in savings from airport bond refunding

By Chris King

Of The St. Louis American

St. Louis Comptroller

Darlene Green has good news about the fiscal health of St. Louis Lambert International Airport and its future.

S&P Global Ratings assigned its “A” rating to the City of St. Louis’ upcoming refunding of St. Louis Lambert International Airport revenue bonds originally issued in 2009, Green reported on June 6. S&P also raised its rating on outstanding airport revenue bonds to “A” from “A-.” The outlook for

n Good news about the airport’s fiscal health comes when both Mayor Lyda Krewson and Aldermanic President Lewis Reed support a study of whether the city should privatize airport operations.

all city airport bond ratings by S&P is stable. At the same time, Green reported, Moody’s Investor Services affirmed its rating for the city’s airport bonds at “A2” with a stable outlook. Moody’s upgraded the city’s outstanding airport revenue bonds in 2018 and had been apprised of the planned 2019 financing prior to its upgrade. “This latest airport bond rating upgrade from S&P affirms the strong financial position and operations at St. Louis Lambert International Airport,” Green said in a statement. “The

marketplace is responding to our successes with increasing confidence, and I commend the airport management and staff for their excellence.”

The ratings assessment noted St. Louis Lambert International Airport has strong origin and destination demand, which is central to transportation system analysis, an extremely strong economic profile in its service area, and “a very strong management team that has sufficiently managed risks to ensure the airport’s steady financial and operational performance.”

public.”

Green stated, “Refunding the 2009 bonds will leverage favorable market conditions and the airport’s improved credit rating – putting in excess of $20 million back into the airport’s coffers that otherwise would go to pay interest expenses.”

The 2009 bonds were issued at a rate of 6.5 percent; today, favorable market conditions and the airport’s improved credit rating are expected to generate an interest rate less than 3 percent, according to Green.

Green called these ratings and assessments “a victory for Lambert Airport, the people of St. Louis and the flying

reducing costs, strengthening our financial sustainability and maintaining safe and efficient operations,” said St. Louis Director of Airports Rhonda Hamm-Niebruegge.

S&P reported that it expects the airport to maintain debt capacity and liquidity at levels considered very strong, even with plans to fund $22 million in capital improvements with the 2019 bond issuance that closes later this month.

“In the past year, this airport has secured the best bond ratings in a decade, and this newest bond rating upgrade further amplifies the success of our long-term focus on

continued from page B1

three-part exam with a score of 70 percent or greater to receive certification. Once an interpreter is certified, he or she becomes an independent contractor.

Legislation enabling the 2019 bond issuance passed the city’s Board of Estimate and Apportionment unanimously on April 30 and received unanimous final passage by the city’s Board of Aldermen on May 31. The airport’s five-year capital plan, approved by the Airport Commission in 2016, stipulated a 2019 issuance refunding the 2009 airport revenue bonds.

Contractors’ contact information is provided to the courts for use on an as-needed basis.

In the prior fiscal year, St. Louis Lambert International Airport lowered its cost per enplaned Passenger (CPE) to $8.87 (FY2018), down from a FY2013 CPE of $13.77. The airport surpassed 15.6 million passengers in 2018, its highest level since 2003. The airport has experienced 44 months of month-over-month passenger growth with 2019 total passenger growth trending at a three percent increase through April.

This good news about the airport’s fiscal health comes at a time when both Mayor Lyda Krewson and Aldermanic President Lewis Reed support a study of whether the city should privatize airport operations that was initiated by financier and political speculator Rex Sinquefield. Green opposes the study.

To register for the August orientation workshop, candidates must submit a completed application, signed authorization for a background check, and payment of the $260 program fee no later than Wednesday, July 3. For more information or to obtain the registration materials, contact Access to Justice Program Analyst Lynette Ricks by e-mail at lynette.ricks@courts. mo.gov or by calling (573) 526-8356. For more information, visit https://tinyurl.com/MO-courttranslator.

Darlene Green

n “All those talking heads that say we’re better without him, that’s ludicrous, that’s crazy, this is the best player in the world.”

— Klay Thompson on injured teammate Kevin Durant

Sports

St. Louis American Boys All-Area Track & Field Team

It was a tremendous year of boys’ track and field in the St. Louis metro area in 2019. The area produced three state championship teams in East St. Louis, Hazelwood West and Trinity, plus several sparkling individual performances. The leader of this extraordinary year of track was junior star Justin Robinson of Hazelwood West, who led the Wildcats to their first state championship while setting state records and putting his name near the top of several national performance lists.

Robinson heads this year’s St. Louis American Boys’ All-Area Track and Field Teams.

St. Louis American Boys All-Area Track and Field Team

First Team

100-meter dash: Justin Robinson (Jr.) Hazelwood West

200-meter dash: Justin Robinson (Jr.) Hazelwood West

400-meter dash: Justin Robinson (Jr.) Hazelwood West

800-meter run: Lazarus Williams (Jr.) SLUH

1,600-meter run: Andrew O’Keefe (Sr.) Granite City

3,200-meter run: Christian Baker (Sr.) Kirkwood

110-meter high hurdles: Steve Harris (Jr.) Cahokia

300-meter intermediate hurdles: Jamariantte Burgess (Jr) East St. Louis

4x100-meter relay: East St. Louis (Jashawn Anderson, Keontez Lewis, Nathaniel Robinson, Marucs Lampley)

4x200-meter relay: Hazelwood West (Brian Stiles, Aaron Holmes, Matthew Kassa, Justin Robinson)

4x400-meter relay: Cardinal Ritter (Jaden Williams, Lee Steward, Montrell Richards, Hasani Barr)

4x800-meter relay: Kirkwood (Christian Baker, Jacob Ewen, Kaleb Owens, Martin Strong) Shot Put: Charles Davis (Jr.) Hazelwood

Game 5 of the NBA Finals was a Pulitzer Prize-winning novel, an Oscar-worthy motion picture, an Emmy-earning TV show and a Tony Awardwinning performance all wrapped into one. The game featured tragedy and triumph. There were heroes and villains. Viewers witnessed outstanding plays as well as head-scratching decisions. With a championship on the line, many of the NBA’s biggest stars performed in stellar fashion. Kawhi Leonard contributed 26 points, 12 rebounds and 6 assists, including a 12-point fourth quarter eruption that nearly iced the game. The Splash Brothers responded in kind. Steph Curry scored 31 points, 8 rebounds and 7 assists. Klay Thompson accumulated 26 points, 6 rebounds and 4

assists. All three superstars made big shots in clutch situations. Under normal circumstances, we’d all be debating critical plays and decisions. There would be a hearty debate about Nick Nurse’s ill-advised double timeouts. Fans would forever debate the offensive goaltending call on DeMarcus Cousins. Pundits would question Steve Kerr’s rationale on allowing Cousins to futilely switch onto smaller, faster players. Unfortunately, these aren’t normal circumstances. After missing more than a month with a strained calf (that many observers believed was an Achilles injury), Durant returned to action on Monday night. The Warriors were down 3-1. Another loss would’ve given Golden State a stunning defeat. Looming even larger is Durant’s option to become

Earl Austin Jr.

knocked down shots

Kevin Durant suffered an Achilles injury Monday night in Game

of the NBA Finals. Many classless Raptors fans cheered and jeered Durant as he sat on the court in pain.

Photo by Bill Greenblatt/UPI

SportS EyE

With Alvin A. Reid

Lewis Hamilton, David Steward’s WWT helping speed up inclusion in auto racing

Lewis Hamilton, Formula 1’s first black driver and fivetime champion, is dominating the 2019 schedule and is a heavy favorite to win his sixth driver’s title. He won his first title with McLaren and the remainder with Mercedes, for whom he still drives.

Hamilton, an Englishman, told reporters at the Canadian Grand Prix in Montreal last week that he wants his legacy to include introducing more diversity into F1 on the track, within its driving teams and in the stands.

aren’t more mechanics or engineers, or even [people] in the media, coming through with more diversity,” he said.

Hamilton, whose victory in Canada was his fifth this season, finished second behind Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel. However, Vettel was penalized five seconds for a driving violation that almost pushed Hamilton into a wall midway through the race. Hamilton finished within two seconds of Vettel, making him the winner.

“I want to have people say I was a part of shifting that,” Hamilton said. “That means getting involved in go-karting. It is so expensive in go-karts now.” The cost of learning the trade in junior motor sports is astronomical, leaving it out of reach for most minority youths that aspire to reach the F1 level someday.

“My dad told me he spent £20,000 ($25,437 USD) in the first year I raced, but today, to do a professional season of go-karts is $200,000-300,000 (USD). I want to be a part of shifting that,” Hamilton explained.

“Also, to shift the diversity because there is the most minimal diversity and I want to be a part of changing that working with F1 and [governing body] the FIA.”

Like minority athletes around the globe, Hamilton wonders why there is no major call for more inclusion from those who operate major sports leagues, team owners and the media.

“I don’t know why there

Mercedes has won all seven F1 races this year, with Hamilton taking five and teammate Valtteri Bottas two. While his father introduced him to racing and managed the early years of his career, he and Hamilton had “a professional split” and they remained estranged until recently.

A champion in a sport built on fastest times down to the hundredths of a second, Hamilton said time has brought them back together.

“The relationship’s fantastic now. It wasn’t always great, but that happens in families,” Hamilton said.

He called his father, “the greatest man I know,” adding that he celebrated the first Christmas with his whole family in a number of years.

“As you get older, you realize how precious time is. I have friends who don’t have their dads any more or who didn’t speak to them in 20-30 years and I don’t want that to happen,” Hamilton said. In fact, he and his father “were out partying until the early hours for his birthday in London the other day.”

“Sometimes it just takes time to grow and come back in relationships.”

A new Steward of racing

David Steward, a founder and chairman of World Wide Technology, announced in April an agreement with Gateway Motor Sports on a long-term naming rights agreement.

The racing facility in Madison, Illinois is now named World Wide Technology Raceway at Gateway and WWT is also the official technology partner of the track. It will use the venue “to advance development programs for the company and its community outreach initiatives,” according to WWT.

“WWT and the Steward family are blessed and honored to align ourselves with (Gateway owner and CEO) Curtis Francois, his family and the team at World Wide Technology Raceway,” Steward said during a press conference announcing the agreement.

“Given our shared vision and values, we knew we had a perfect opportunity to better serve the entire community.

Under Francois’ tremendous leadership, we look forward to creating a meaningful and lasting impact for the region in the

years ahead.”

WWT already serves as technology and analytics partner of Richard Petty Motorsports (RPM) and is primary sponsor of the No. 43 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 team. The car is guided by a black driver, Darrell “Bubba” Wallace Jr.

Upon being selected as a Petty driver, Wallace said the NASCAR Hall of Famer gave him some sage advice.

“Richard Petty told me before climbing in, no need to be a hero,” Wallace told the Charlotte Observer.

“No need to overstep anything that you’re doing. I’m here for a reason, and I’m here because I’ve proved my point, so just go out there and do what you do.”

Petty told Bleacher Report that Wallace “can be the next star in our sport.”

“He has as much talent off the track in dealing with the media and sponsors as he does on it. He’s going to be a special one.”

Petty also said in 2017 that any of his employees who did not stand for the national anthem or protest during it would be fired immediately.

In an interview with USA TODAY, Wallace, the first full-time black driver on the NASCAR circuit since Wendell Scott in 1971, said he ignores the Confederate flags being displayed at many races.

“The only flags that I see [are] green, white, the checkered, sometimes the black flag, which is never good, and sometimes the yellow flag,” he said.

He once told fans on Twitter to “embrace” the fact that he is “the black driver.”

“[For the media], their headline is ‘black driver’, ‘AfricanAmerican driver’, and fans are

getting tired of it. So, I was letting them know – I wouldn’t say I’m tired of it, but I’ve accepted it,” he said in another Twitter post.

“I know that every article that you pull up is gonna start with that. Embrace it, [and] carry on about your day. No need to waste 20 seconds of your life where you’re responding ‘Oh, this is annoying. He doesn’t need to be labeled.’ I’m gonna be labeled, it’s gonna happen; it’s all part of it. So just enjoy it, sit back, embrace it; enjoy it.”

Wallace, a graduate of NASCAR’s minority development program, is racing in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series.

Last year before the Daytona 500, Wallace received encouragement from F1 champion Hamilton and MLB Hall of Famer Hank Aaron. He would finish second in the race, the highest finish in history for a black driver in that race.

Unfortunately, the remainder of 2018 was not kind to Wallace. He only placed in the Top 10 two more times and finished a disappointing 28th in the final point standings.

While 2019 has not brought Wallace much fortune either, he did win the second stage of the Monster Energy Open and then finished fifth in the All-Star Race that followed on May 18 at Charlotte Motor Raceway.

During his NASCAR Cup career that has spanned more than eight years, Wallace is still in search of his first victory. He has posted 38 top 10 finishes and earned three pole positions with the respective fastest qualifying times.

Wallace has also competed in the NASCAR Gander Truck Series, and has returned to that

circuit occasionally. In 48 races over five seasons, Wallace took six checkered flags and posted 28 top 10 finishes. He also won pole position three times.

The Reid Roundup I’ll start with a prayer and best wishes to “Marvelous” Melvin Moore as he prepares for a hospital procedure. His skill and artistic talent have helped The American become one of America’s most beautiful weekly newspapers and he has many layout and design awards to prove it. Ask him about “Naked Rock Fight” next time you see him … With a Tuesday deadline, I have no idea as I write these words if the St. Louis Blues won Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Finals on Wednesday night in Boston or if the wait for an NHL championship will stretch into its 53rd year. Unfortunately, my gut says The Cup is now in Boston … On Sunday morning, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch website errantly posted Blues owner Tom Stillman’s letter celebrating a Blues Stanley Cup victory and he mentions the upcoming parade down Market Street. There were also congratulatory ads from several businesses. If the Blues did indeed lose Game 7, the P-D is facing incredible scorn and will always be blamed for

ing surgery on his Achilles. My guess is that he opts to stay with the Warriors, cashes checks for a total of $32 million, makes a late-season comeback during the 2020 NBA Playoffs and then becomes a free agent … The St. Louis Cardinals are in a stretch of the season where 33 of the next 36 games are against teams at or below .500. In five weeks, we’ll know what this team is really about. Monday’s win against the Miami Marlins lifted the Redbirds back to .500. Whoopee … Pitcher Adam Wainwright is on the IL with strained quad. Who would have thought he’d miss games with an injury? ... Quarterback, troubled soul and former Heisman Trophy winner Johnny Manziel hopes to play with the XFL Houston franchise. Good or bad, he’d be worth seeing play when Houston comes to play St. Louis in The Dome … Bubba Wallace was a 1,000-1 shot to win the NASCAR race at Michigan last weekend… Alvin A. Reid was honored as the 2017 “Best Sports Columnist – Weeklies” in the Missouri Press Association’s Better Newspaper Contest and is a New York Times contributor. He is a panelist on the Nine Network program, Donnybrook, a weekly contributor to “The Charlie Tuna Show” on KFNS and appears monthly on “The Dave Glover Show” on 97.1 Talk.” His Twitter handle is @aareid1.

Alvin A. Reid

Lewis Hamilton, an Englishman, told reporters at the Canadian Grand Prix in Montreal last week that he wants his legacy to include introducing more diversity into F1 on the track, within its driving teams and in the stands.

CLUTCH

Continued from B3

The potential headlines could’ve written themselves. “KD saves the Warriors!” Unfortunately, the Warriors couldn’t save “KD.”

Instead of discussing his greatness, or the game’s greatness, we’re left to talk about the Achilles tear heard around the world.

Durant, arguably the best basketball player on the planet, rolled the dice on his health and his future in the hopes of attaining another championship ring. While the Warriors may have won the game, the victory came at a massive cost.

By returning to the court before he had fully recovered, Durant showed heart, dedication, loyalty and conviction. Those are all things that fans have foolishly questioned since he departed the Oklahoma City Thunder for the Golden State Warriors in the summer of 2016.

Forget the rumors that he wanted out or that he might “pull a Kawhi” and sit out until next season. Durant was fighting to contribute the best way he knows how – by getting buckets. If an athlete is ever going to push their body to the limits, fighting for a championship seems like the right time. Only it wasn’t. Durant’s body wasn’t ready for a comeback. Early in the second quarter, he made

TRACK

Continued from B3

West

Discus: Jacob Morris (Sr.)

Fort Zumwalt East

Long Jump: Elijah McCauley (Fr.) Belleville East

Triple Jump: Rasheed Ricketts (Sr.) Cardinal Ritter

High Jump: Donald Hatfield-Jackson (Fox)

Javelin: Malcolm Henry

a crossover move that he’s likely made hundreds of times over the season. Yet this time, when he took a step with his injured right leg, it gave way. He hobbled back in obvious pain before collapsing to the ground. It was one of those moments that didn’t need an explanation or an official report. He knew. His teammates knew. The fans knew. We all knew. That made the Raptors fans’ reaction all the more disgusting. All throughout the Finals, Raptors fans have been heralded as some of the best fans in basketball. The

(Soph.) Trinity Pole Vault: Nolan Bone (Sr.) Wentzville Liberty Second Team

100: Jermarrion Stewart (Jr.) Collinsville

200: Josh Sutton (Sr.) MICDS

400: Willie Johnson (Jr.) East St. Louis

800: Malik Stewart (Jr.) Maplewood

1,600: Christian Baker (Sr.) Kirkwood

Jimmy Kimmel Show did a spot where they asked Toronto residents to trash talk the Warriors. The responses were full of gee-golly, wholesome goodness.

“We don’t do that here,” one man replied.

“No, no, no,” responded another man. “We are polite. We are Canadians.”

Unfortunately the KDA (Kevin Durant Achilles) test determined that that was a lie.

Many Raptors fans in attendance cheered, laughed and taunted the fallen player until Leonard, Kyle Lowry, Serge

3,200: Max McDaniel (Sr.) Festus

110HH: Adam Bell (Sr.) Borgia

300IM: Jaden Williams (Jr.)

Cardinal Ritter

4x100: Ladue (Gideon Boaten, Jahan Robinson, Dale Chesson, Mason Player)

4x200: Trinity (Alphonzo Andrews, Isaiah Williams, Thomas Sonntag, Kemeric Winston)

4x400: East St. Louis (Keontez Lewis, Andrew

Raptors guard Kyle Lowry attempts to quiet down the fans who cheered after Kevin Durant suffered an Achilles injury in Game 5 of the NBA Finals. Raptors stars Lowry, Kawhi Leonard and Serge Ibaka were disgusted with the fans’ behavior.

and comments. His desire to silence the critics likely played a role to the unfortunate incident. The Warriors’ desire for a championship, and the uncertainty of his future with the franchise, certainly clouded its judgment on allowing him to suit up.

Fortunately for Durant, the injury should not affect his earnings. Unlike Cousins, who was forced to take short money after his Achilles injury, Durant should still be able to command a sizable contract. He could opt-in to his last year with the Warriors and rehab on their dime. Plenty of other teams would be willing to write off next season, even with a max contract, to sign him to a long-term deal.

Ibaka and other Raptors players scolded them for it. By the time Durant was helped off the court, he received a standing ovation from the fans. It may have been too late.

Leonard, who will be a free agent this offseason, was not amused. You have to wonder if that dark moment will be filed somewhere in the back of his head whenever he sits down to decided where to continue his career.

That moment may have also eroded much of the fuzzy feelings and goodwill towards the underdog Toronto fans. While

Johnson, Marcus Lampley, Willie Johnson)

4x800: SLUH (Patrick Hetlage, Lucas Rackers, Charles Perry, Lazarus Williams)

Shot Put: Mathew Wilson (Jr.) Mascoutah Discus: Arcullous Anthony (Sr.) Lutheran-St. Charles Long Jump: Michael Jackson (Sr.) Pattonville Triple Jump: Isaiah Williams (Sr.) Trinity High Jump: Cooper Wise

is certainly a healthy collection of jerks in every sports area, regardless of city, state, country or province, the crowd jeering was simply not a good look for an otherwise fantastic city.

This single game may have managed to encapsulate the best and worst in professional sports. It is very likely that the reason Durant returned in the first place was due to his desire to be loved, respected and revered by basketball fans.

We know that Durant hears the criticism. He sees (and often responds to) the tweets. He reads the critical articles

(Sr.) Kirkwood

Javelin: Mason Brock (Soph.) Francis Howell Pole Vault: Jadon Elliott (Sr.) Triad

Austin Achievement Awards

Athlete of the Year: Justin Robinson (Hazelwood West)

Team of the Year: East St. Louis, Trinity, Hazelwood West

Hopefully though, the ridiculous questions about his heart will cease. Those who publicly question him for going to Golden State should recognize that he literally sacrificed his right Achilles in order to give his team a chance at a championship.

Considering the fact that the Warriors escaped with a 106-105 victory Monday night, he helped give them a chance. It’ll be interesting to see what they do with it.

Be sure to check In the Clutch online and also follow Ishmael on Twitter @ ishcreates. Subscribe to The St. Louis American’s YouTube page to see bi-weekly sports videos starring Ishmael and Melvin Moore at youtube.com/ stlamericanvideo

Senior of the Year: Kemeric Winston (Trinity), Josh Sutton (MICDS)

Junior of the Year: Justin Robinson (Hazelwood West)

Sophomore of the Year: Keontez Lewis (East St. Louis)

Freshman of the Year: Elijah McCauley (Belleville East)

Science drew her to cannabis

Marne Madison of North City hopes to open a dispensary

By Rachael Dunn For Greenway Magazine

Marne Madison grew in North City connected to the soil.

“My grandfather moved his family here, leaving behind a small farm in Arkansas, to see what St. Louis had to offer for the man known with the best watermelon this side of the Mississippi. After landing a contract to sod and landscape the grounds of the Gateway Arch, my grandfather took on several roles to impact the new place he called home. Providing housing opportunities and tons of jobs at this landscaping company are just a few of the ways he impacted his neighbors, and is still remembered today,” Madison said.

“Being one of the youngest grandchildren, we didn’t have a lot of time together to learn the family business, but I think I inherited everything genetically. Although I attended college for finance/ accounting, my green thumb has always sat patiently waiting for its turn.” Madison believes she has found her destiny in medical cannabis and is preparing her application to open a dispensary.

Who are you and what do you do?

Marne Madison: I’m

PAY GAP

continued from page B1

Body camera funding

a community advocate for financial literacy, and health and wellness. I am the founder of Her Herbs, an online herbal shop geared towards the awareness of natural alternatives for women’s reproductive health concerns. Over the past few years, I have helped over 100 women throughout my community and globally subside health issues from minor migraines to fibroid or thyroid complications. Horticulture and Agriculture have been the forefront of my studies while volunteering at the Earth Dance Farm School in Ferguson. I have dedicated years to learning, understanding, and growing hundreds of household herbs. With years of hands-on

Also on June 4, the council introduced legislation to pay for body and dashboard cameras for the St. Louis County Police Department. The bill authorizes the county to spend nearly $3 million from a 2017 public safety sales tax increase to buy 350 dashboard and 500 body cameras. The contract

experience and knowledge, I have now found myself to be a leading influence as one of the most common medicinal plants, cannabis, has finally made its way into Missouri.

What made you fall in love with cannabis?

Marne Madison: Science!

As you embark on a journey to learn and understand you and your body, you in many ways become a mini-scientist. When I first came across endocannabinoid receptors, my eyes went straight to the root “canna.” I researched everything there was to know about this system and how it helps the mind, body and soul align together. I literally

with Georgia-based Utility Associates runs for three years and includes data storage costs.

“These cameras will go a long way toward fulfilling our responsibility to the public for greater transparency from our police department,” Page told the council. “In addition,

Marne Madison’s team at MajestiKs LLC won one of the three awards given at the Ignite Missouri’s recent cannabis pitch competition. She said, “Our overall role is to be the representation and advocate in the cannabis Industry for the community we have grown in.”

What motivates you?

became consumed in the education of cannabis.

Why do you want to work in Missouri’s cannabis industry?

Marne Madison: Being well-versed in herbal studies and attending horticulture school years ago has manicured me for this moment. Have you ever felt destined for something? Well, honestly, me either – until now! On top of all the hard work, my business partner and I have been doing these past months, I feel destined. I have studied and worked closely with this budding industry for years and promised to be prepared if Missouri was giving a chance. With my networking

they are designed to improve situational awareness and officer safety.”

The county police ran a pilot body camera program in 2014, just after Michael Brown was fatally shot by a Ferguson police officer. They had been waiting on Proposition P

from trade shows and industry leaders on the West Coast, I want to provide Missouri businesses several opportunities to be successful inside of the Industry.

Why is it important for women to be involved in the cannabis industry?

Marne Madison: We have always lived in a predominately male-driven society. I was reminded of this every day throughout my corporate career, being one of the only women in operational management. Women have always lacked proper representation inside of companies, when studies show we are the best decision makers and business partners to have. I think it’s extremely important for women to be involved in the industry to show equality. Its pivotal for young girls coming up to know that opportunities are limitless throughout the industry. And I personally think if you want something done right, ask a woman to do it (I may be a little biased.)

sales tax money to expand the cameras to the entire force.

Marne Madison: My community and my family – I know it’s so cliché, but seriously. Statistically and realistically speaking, there aren’t many who look like me working in the industry. It’s my time, and the time is now. There are so many community engagement and youth development programs to come from this opportunity. I want to teach the community about health, wellness, and herbs. I want the youth to start early growing their own food and obtain the tools and resources to make this world green. My family is my overall motivating force. To hear of all the good things my grandfather did throughout his community and to wish I was able to work beside him has always kept me going. A lot of days I feel like my grandfather is my extra strength to pull through and complete the day.

The council on June 4 also moved to provide funding for the St. Louis Economic Development Partnership, whose previous director. Sheila Sweeney, pleaded guilty last month in connection with the pay-to-play scheme that brought down former county executive Steve Stenger. Rachel Lippmann contributed reporting. Follow Jason on Twitter: @ jrosenbaum. Reprinted with permission from news.stlpublicradio.org.

Photo by Rachael Dunn

Ledisi hits the right notes with the St. Louis Symphony

Enjoyable performance despite song selection that left orchestra in the shadows

They shouted, they sang along and verbally encouraged Ledisi as the performance went on. The respectability politics typically associated with classical music audience was not the vibe Friday night, despite the 100-plus orchestra and conductor Kevin McBeth behind. This night at the symphony was an Evening With Ledisi.

She responded to her audience in kind. “I’m gonna be my complete self,” Ledisi said after starting the show with the culminating verse of “Four Women,” Nina Simone’s jazz classic. “I’m gonna cut up.”

She did as she promised over the hour-plus show. Her vocals were top-notch as usual as she sang a set that was comprised of mostly her own music, with a few jazz standards and a Stevie Wonder ballad blended in.

Over the past two decades, Ledisi has established herself as one of the premiere soul R&B voices. Her climb has been slow and steady – and has earned her 12 Grammy Award nominations along the way. She has a reputation among music lovers and musicians, with a dedicated and engaged fan base. She isn’t to the point where, like some of the other non-classical artists who have graced the stage recently accompanied by the St. Louis Symphony, she can fill Powell Hall on name recognition alone. But she surely earned new fans who took a risk based on the Symphony’s reputation for curating splendidly blended popular and the classical musical experiences to spend a night with her at the Symphony.

Ledisi originals “I Blame You” and “Higher Than This” introduced the audience to how her music would sound with orchestral support. The performance also included Ledisi’s jazz trio of musicians and two background singers. Both Ledisi and the orchestra effectively displayed their musical artistry, but the selections – particularly the songs from Ledisi’s own catalog – didn’t give much room for the St. Louis Symphony to be the boomingly beautiful orchestral body they are known for presenting.

Audiences were given an idea of what could have been with Ledisi’s soul-stirring performance of “I Put A Spell On You,” another Simone classic. But for the most part, because of the song choices, the Symphony seemed more as the background rather than a co-star.

Terence Blanchard’s opera from Charles Blow memoir premieres at Opera Theatre this week

By Kenya Vaughn

– Terence Blanchard

By Kenya Vaughn Of The St. Louis American

Soul singer Ledisi gave fans a memorable performance with the help of the St. Louis Symphony

Photo by Lawrence Bryant See LEDISI,

Terrence Blanchard performing during the Wells Fargo Advisors “Courageous Conversations” panel in March on the campus of Wells Fargo Advisors.

Photo by Wiley Price

By Kenya Vaughn Of The St. Louis American

How to place a calendar listing

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

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

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

concerts

Sat., June 15, 6 p.m., The Eta Boule Foundation Salute Fathers & Mentors feat. Nick Colionne with Lynne Fiddmont. Sheldon Concert Hall, 3648 Washington Blvd., 63108. For more information, visit www.metrotix.com.

Sat., June 15, 6 p.m., Fox Theatre presents The O’Jays: The Last Word Tour with special guest Stephanie Mills 527 N. Grand Blvd., 63103. For more information, visit www.metrotix.com.

Fri., June 21, 8 p.m., JHowes Events, LLC presents Throwback Legends Live in Concert: Project Pat & Crunchy Black. The Ambassador, 9800 Halls Ferry Rd., 63136. For more information, visit www. eventbrite.com.

Sat., June 22, 11 a.m., The Omicron Theta Omega Chapter of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority Inc. presents Pink Pizzazz Scholarship Brunch featuring Denise Thimes, Renaissance St. Louis Airport Hotel. For more information, e-mail rbritt@ stlamerican.com

Sat., June 22, 8 p.m., Klymaxx & Pegasus Worldwide presents V.I.C. & Cupid: Up Close & Personal Part IV. 9800 Halls Ferry Rd., 63136. For more information, visit www.metrotix.com.

June 22 – 23, Gateway Men’s Chorus’ Stonewall Remembrance Concert. Featuring solemn pieces through disco celebrations, GMC shines a light on this important time. Touhill Performing Arts Center, 1 University Blvd., 63121. For more information, visit www. touhill.org.

Sat., June 29, 7 p.m., An Evening with Melba Moore With special guest Lamont

Hadley Sr. 3648 Washington Blvd., 63108. For more information, visit www. metrotix.com.

local gigs

Thur., June 13, 6:30 p.m., Grace Hill presents Whitaker Urban Evening Concert Series feat. Marquise Knox Also enjoy face painting, crafts, and food trucks. St. Louis Place Park, 2100 Saint Louis Ave., 63106. For more information, visit www. gracehillsettlement.org/whatwe-do/community.

Fri., June 14, 7 p.m., The City of Jennings presents Little Dylan in concert, Koeneman Park, 8937 Old Lucas & Hunt Rd.

Fri., June 14, 7p.m., Fubar presents Snap Dogg. 3108 Locust St., 63103. For more information, visit www.fubar. com.

Fri., June 14, 7:30 p.m., Jazz St. Louis presents Father’s Day with the Bosman Twins Jazz at the Bistro, 3536 Washington Ave., 63103.

Sun., June 16, 6 p.m., Sound Solutions, LLC presents a Tribute to Luther Vandross Performance by the Black and White band feat. James White. The Signature Club, 9002 Overland Plaza, 63114. For more information, visit www. eventbrite.com.

Thur., June 20, 4:30 p.m., Parties on the Plaza feat. Dirty Muggs. West Port Plaza Dr., 63146. For more information, visit www. facebook.com.

Sat., June 22, 8 p.m., R U Still Down?!: An Art & Music Tribute to Tupac Shakur. The Fellowship, 3453 S. Jefferson Ave., 63118. For more information, visit www. eventbrite.com.

Thur., June 27, 8 p.m.,

Kenya Vaughn recommends

Old Rock House presents Southern Avenue. 1200 S. 7th St., 63104. For more information, visit www. metrotix.com.

June 28 – 29, 7:30 & 9:30 p.m., Denise Thimes Sings Carmen McRae. Jazz at the Bistro, 3536 Washington Ave., 63103. For more information, visit www.jazzstl.org.

Sun., June 30, 5:30 p.m., Allusion Entertainment Productions presents The Drew Project: Urban Jazz – Rumble on the Drums The Ambassador, 9800 Halls Ferry Rd., 63136. For more information, visit www. eventbrite.com.

special events

Sat., Jun 15, 8 a.m., St. John AME presents Vendor Summerfest 2019, participating vendor items include: jewelry, MARY KAY, AVON, household goods, crafts, clothing and more, St. John A.M.E. Church, 547 Washington Street, St. Charles, MO 63301. For more information, call (314) 7125463.

June 15, 8 a.m., 3rd Annual MidSummer Bites Dream. A collection of the best food makers from the region. Tower Grove Farmer’s Market, Pool Pavilion, 4256 Magnolia Ave., 63110. For more information, visit www.facebook.com.

Sat., June 15, 11 a.m., 13th Annual Juneteenth Celebration. African dancers, singers, jewelry, vendors, and more. Sabayet, 4000 Maffitt, 63113. For more information, visit www.sabayet.org.

June 15 – 22, Delmar Loop Week. Each day includes a different event such as a Juneteenth Celebration, Taco Tuesday, Pride Day, and more. University City, 63130. For more information, visit www. eventbrite.com.

Sat., June 15, 5:30 p.m., The Urban League of Metropolitan St. Louis Salute to Women in Leadership, among the 2019 honorees are Jenifer Lewis, Regina Belle and Bernadette Stanis, Marriott Grand Hotel, 800 Washington. For more information, visit www.ulstl. com or call (314) 615-3668.

June 15 – 22, Delmar Loop Week. Each day includes a different event such as a Juneteenth Celebration, Taco

For more information, visit www.thesoulfisherministries. com.

Fri., June 21, 5 p.m., Food Truck Fest 2019. Tilles Park, 9551 Litzsinger Rd., 63124. For more information, visit www.facebook.com.

Fri., June 21, 8 p.m., Missouri History Museum presents The Experience: A Celebration of Culture Celebrate the African American experience. 5700 Lindell Blvd., 63112. For more information, visit www. mohistory.org.

Sat., June 22, 11 a.m., Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc., Omicron Theta Omega Chapter presents Pink Pizzazz Scholarship Brunch feat. Denise Thimes Renaissance St. Louis Airport Hotel, 9801 Natural Bridge Rd., 63134. For more information, visit www.akaomicronthetaomega.org.

Tuesday, Pride Day, and more. University City, 63130. For more information, visit www. eventbrite.com.

Mon., June 17, 9 a.m., Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity, Inc. presents the Annual Kappa League Scholarships Fund Golf Tournament. Glen Echo Country Club, 3401 Lucas and Hunt Rd., 63121. For more information, visit www. eventbrite.com.

June 17 – 21, 1st Annual Juneteenth Celebration & Comedy Festival. Harris Stowe, 3026 Laclede Ave., 63103. For more information, visit www.eventbrite.com.

Thurs., June 20, 11 a.m., CAASTLC hiring event, on the spot interviews, and job seekers can sign up for job readiness workshops, one-onone employment/interview training and receive materials to assist with the job-seeking process. 2709 Woodson Rd. Overland Mo. For more information, call (314) 4464431.

Fri., June 21, 7 a.m., The Soulfisher Ministries presents the 5th Annual Educate Now to Achieve Later Golf Tournament. Norwood Hills Country Club, 1 Norwood Hills Country Club Dr., 63121.

Sat., June 22, 12 p.m., Girls With Goals presents Black Business Expo II. More than 40 Black owned businesses will be in attendance. Hilton Garden Inn St. Louis Airport, 4450 Evans Place, 63134. For more information, visit www. eventbrite.com.

Sat., June 22, 10 a.m., Fiesta in Florissant 5th Annual Car Show. Knights of Columbus Park, 50 St. Francois St., 63031. For more information, visit www.eventbrite.com.

Sun., June 23, 5 p.m., Sauce Magazine’s Saucy Soiree. St. Louis Union Station, 1820 Market St., 63103. For more information, visit www. eventbrite.com.

Fri., June 28, 9 a.m., St. Louis Public Schools Interview Day. Hiring for nurses, custodians, safety officers, substitutes, instructional care aides, early childhood education teaching aides and childcare attendants. For more information, visit www.slps.org/jobs.

Sat., June 29, 11 a.m., Wellston Community Coalition and Young Voices with Action, Inc. present the 4th Annual Black Wallstreet Festival. Wellston Loop, Dr. Martin Luther King Dr. & Hodiamont Ave., 63112. For more information, visit www. youngvoiceswithaction.org.

Sun., June 30, 5 p.m., Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc., St. Louis Metropolitan

Denise Thimes Sings Carmen McRae. For more information, see LOCAL GIGS.

Alumnae Chapter and Omega Psi Phi Fraternity, Inc., Nu Chi Chapter

present the Annual STL Alumni Greek Step Show. Ballpark Village, 601 Clark Ave., 63102. For more information, visit www. eventbrite.com.

literary

Sun., June 23, 7 p.m.,

Sistahspeak presents The Sanctuary. A seasonal open mic that debuted March 2018. Calling all poets, singers, comedians, musicians, and anyone who wants to share their voice. Voce, 212 S. Tucker Blvd., 63102. For more information, visit www. facebook.com.

Mon., June 24, 7 p.m., St. Louis County Library hosts Former Ambassador William J. Burns, author of The Back Channel: A Memoir of American Diplomacy and The Case For Its Renewal 1640 S. Lindbergh Blvd., 63131. For more information, visit www.slcl.org.

Sun., June 30, 6 p.m., Books N Bros celebrates Black Excellence in Literacy. Hosted by Dr. Marty K. Casey Innovation Hall, 4220 Duncan Ave., 63110. For more information, visit www. facebook.com.

Sun., June 30, 7:30 p.m., Poetic Justice Open Mic Kranzberg Arts Center, 501 N. Grand Blvd., 63103. For more information, visit www. metrotix.com.

art

Sat., June 22, 9 a.m., Loop

Arts Fest 2019. Experience art in all forms from culinary arts to literary arts to musical arts to visual arts. Delmar Loop, 63130. For more information, visit www. facebook.com.

Thur., June 27, 6:30 p.m., Contemporary Art Museum presents Artist Talk: Paul Mpagi Sepuya. Sepuya challenges the history of photography and deconstructs traditional portraiture. 3750 Washington Blvd., 63108. For more information, visit www.camstl.org.

Kenya Vaughn recommends

comedy

Sat., June 22, 6:30 p.m., 3rd Annual Ladies of Laughter Comedy Show. Special Tymes Banquet Hall, 5950 Natural Bridge Rd., 63120. For more information, visit www. facebook.com.

June 27 – 29, Helium Comedy Club presents Ms. Pat. 1151 St. Louis Galleria St., 63117. For more information, visit www. heliumcomedy.com.

Sun., July 7, 7 p.m., NMotion Ent. & TNT Ent. present the Last Laugh Comedy Tour. Feat. Dyon Brooks & Timothy Wilson. The Laugh Lounge, 11208 W. Florissant Ave., 63033. For more information, visit www. eventbrite.com.

theatre

Through June 13, A Call to Conscience, Inc. presents

Next to Normal: The Thelonius Monk Story

The play will tackle the issues of mental illness as it relates to disparities in health care, police interaction, and education. Jazz St. Louis, 3536 Washington Ave., 63103. For more information, visit www. eventbrite.com.

Sat. June 15 – June 30, Opera Theatre of Saint Louis and Jazz St. Louis present Fire Shut Up In My Bones. Loretto Hilton, 130 Edgar Rd. in Webster Groves. For more information, visit www.operastl.org or call (314) 961-0644.

Sun., June 16, 11:30 a.m., The Archway Links and Opera Theatre of Saint Louis present a special brunch celebrating the world premiere of “Fire Shut Up In My Bones.” Brunch guests will include Terence Blanchard, Kasi Lemmons and Charles Blow. Centene Center for the Arts. Price of brunch includes ticket to the production. For more information, visit experienceopera.org/brunch or

firing, and minimizing risk. 1023 N. Grand Blvd., 63106. For more information, visit www.eventbrite.com.

Wed., June 26, 6:30 p.m., The Dark Side of Human Nature: The Rwandan Massacre of April-July, 1994 – A Personal Story Marie-Christine Williams tell her powerful personal story. Missouri History Museum, 5700 Lindell Blvd., 63112. For more information, visit www. mohistory.org.

Thur., July 11, 5:30 p.m., Focus St. Louis presents Equity in City/County Reform. an initial discussion on equity issues in the areas of political representation and in criminal justice. Missouri History Museum, 5700 Lindell Blvd., 63112. For more information, visit www.focusstl.org.

Sat., July 13, 1 p.m., St. Louis Area Violence Prevention Commission presents Conversations on the Future of Community Policing in St. Louis. St. Louis Public Library, 5760 W. Florissant Ave., 63120. For more information, visit www. slpl.org.

health

call (314) 961-0644.

lectures and workshops

Tues., June 18, 5 p.m., Grace Hill Women’s Business Center presents a Legal Clinic. Meet with an attorney from Legal Services of Eastern Missouri to discuss business related questions. 2125 Bissell St., 63107. For more information, visit www. eventbrite.com.

Fri., June 21, 11:30 a.m., Lunch and Learn with Legal Services of Eastern Missouri. Discussion will be on employment issues – hiring,

Thur., June 13, 6 p.m., American Lung Association invites you to The Evening of Promise Gala. A culinary experience to try bites of all types of different food while raising money to prevent lung disease. Bissinger’s, 1600 N. Broadway, 63102. For more information, visit www. alaumw.ejoinme.org.

Sat., June 15, 8 a.m., Bethesda Hospice Care 7th Annual 5K Memorial Walk/Run. Veterans’ table, children’s activity table, and more. Queeny Park, 550 Weidman Rd., 63131. For more information, visit www. bethesdahealth.org.

Sat., June 15, 6 p.m.,

Dollhouse Studios present Zumba in the Street, 1428 Washington Ave. For more information, call (314) 241-3655 or visit www. thedollhousestudios.com

Sat., June 22, 1:30 p.m., Health Education Forum. St. Louis County Library –Prairie Commons Branch, 915 Utz Lane, 63042. For more information, visit www. eventbrite.com.

Sat., June 22, 2 p.m., Get Sexy Movement 2 Year Anniversary Sweat Fest, 62 Grandview Shopping Plaza. For more information, call (314) 898-8898.

Sun., June 23, 8 a.m., 7th Annual Head for the Cure 5K. Funds raised benefit brain cancer research and programs at Siteman Cancer Center and the Brain Tumor Trials Collaborative. The Muny, Forest Park, 63101. For more information, visit www.secure. headforthecure.org.

Tues., June 25, 6 p.m., Mercy Hospital South Nursing Career Fair. We are looking to fill a variety of nursing, student nursing and patient care associate positions. 10010 Kennerly Rd., 63128. For more information, call (314) 3464147.

Fri., June 14, 6:30 p.m., The Neighbors of Fountain Park present The 6th Annual Juneteenth Gospel Explosion This year’s theme is “So if the Son Sets You Free, You Are Free Indeed.” Centennial Christian Church, 4950 Fountain Ave., 63113. For more information, visit www.cccstl. org.

Sat., June 29, 11 a.m., Bethesda Temple Church Community Day. Guest choirs, gaming truck, resource providers, giveaways, kidz korner, and more. 5401 Bishop JA Johnson Ln., 63121. For more information, call (314) 382-5401.

‘The Last Black Man in San Francisco’ opens in theaters nationwide on Friday, June 21. See SPECIAL EVENTS for details.

FIRE

Continued from C1

“I’m from a small town in Louisiana – Gibsland, Louisiana,” Blow said, gathering his thoughts amidst the overwhelming emotion that Blanchard thought enough of his book to build an opera around it and that OTSL thought enough of Blanchard’s idea to say yes. It was almost too much for him to process. While sharing the news, he went on to tell his own story about how he never imagined the life he has made for himself.

The opera –co-commissioned by Jazz St. Louis and starring Davone Tines, Karen Slack, St. Louis’ own Julia Bullock and Chazmen Williams-Ali – opens Saturday, June 15 at the Loretto-Hilton. “Fire” will be conducted by William Long.

“Taking up Charles Blow’s memoir – this incredibly powerful story of abuse and of race and of one man’s journey to find forgiveness and self-acceptance – is the heart of what great opera can be,” said Andrew Jorgensen, general director of OTSL. “This is the whole premise of our ‘Bold Works, New Voices’ series. This is the fifth opera commissioned in that series of works.”

GLENN

Continued from C1

“I didn’t know it at the time, but as I was singing in the stadium, there were thousands and thousands more people singing along with me on Market Street,” Glenn said. “That blew my mind.”

He took a bit more vocal liberties than usual. Not too much, but just enough for a memorable finale to his tenure as the anthem singer. He held on to free for what seemed like forever in the second to the last

“Fire” sets Blow’s story of resilience and triumph as the youngest of five growing up in a small north Louisiana town with a willful mother determined to see her family succeed.

Blanchard can’t wait for the world to see what he and Lemmons have been up to in translating the book to opera.

“It’s been a wild journey,” Blanchard said. “The workshopping portion of it is

line of the song – but without forsaking clarity, tone or pitch.

The extra bit of drama came, in part, thanks to his wife, Nikki Glenn. They usually go to the Tony Awards in New York as a vacation. “She said, ‘This is the Stanley Cup,” Glenn said. “‘We will just have to bring the Tonys to us.’”

The St. Louis Blues posted his final anthem performance on their official Facebook page – and in three days it received more than a quarter-million views. The video is captioned with a simple, yet profoundly touch-

a godsend, because you can actually have people sing the lines and you can kind of hear how they work and give you a clue of how it’s going to work overall.”

His debut opera “Champion” premiered as a commission of OTSL’s “Bold Works, New Voices” series back in 2013. After it received critical acclaim and sold-out performances in St. Louis, San Francisco and at Kennedy

ing note.

“Charles Glenn, Thank you for everything.”

It was a fitting finale for what an entire city hoped would be the start of a fairytale ending for the St. Louis – a Stanley Cup win at home after decades of playoff disappointments.

In April, Glenn announced that due to his battle with multiple sclerosis after 19 years as anthem singer for The St. Louis Blues, this year would be his last.

“In December of last year, things started changing for me,” Glenn said. “Not that I

Karen Slack, who portrays the role of Charles Blow’s mother Billie in “Fire Shut Up In My Bones,” performed selections from the opera or Wells Fargo Advisors and invited guests as part of the company’s “Courageous Conversations” panel discussion.

was something that he needed to adapt into an opera, partly because setting of Louisiana was familiar to the six-time Grammy Award winning and Oscar nominated New Orleans native, but mostly because of the triumphant story of Blow facing his hurt head on in order to move beyond the traumatic experiences of his childhood.

“Charles needs to be championed because he has been extremely giving and generous with this story,” Blanchard said. “Hopefully he’s giving license for so many others to come out of the shadows. So many people are suffering in silence – and it’s striking the level of confidence he has in talking about it. It’s almost as if he realizes that it has to be a part of his healing.” Blanchard is confident that through his healing Blow is going to heal so many other people.

Center in Washington, D.C., he is ready to show and prove with “Fire.”

“You don’t want the first one to seem like a fluke,” Blanchard said.

“Fire” is the first libretto for award-winning filmmaker Kasi Lemmons.

“I kind of always wanted to do one,” Lemmons said.

“Adapting is a specific art, and his book was not apparent as far as how to adapt it. I know

was getting any sicker, but it just became harder for me to move around a big arena like that.”

He knew for sure when he was walking from Enterprise Center to his car and his leg started dragging to the point where it felt like it would give way that his time had come.

“As I was walking, I thought, ‘Okay, it’s time to give someone else a chance.’”

With his announcement, he said that he had hoped to end his run in mid-June – which meant that the Blues would have to advance to the Stanley Cup Finals.

According to Glenn, the team said they wanted to make it to the Stanley Cup Finals and promised themselves that they would work towards it in honor of Glenn’s last season.

Even though the Boston Bruins made sure that a Stanley Cup at home wasn’t meant to be, what a ride this has been for Charles Glenn.

‘Thank God for State Farm’

A connection with a St. Louis Blues insider opened the door for Glenn to be one of 35 lucky singers up for a chance

LEDISI

Continued from C1

A different set of songs –albeit probably less widely known – would have had a different outcome, such as the bluesy, hard-hitting “Hate Me” or the piano-driven “Bravo,” which was co-written by St. Louis’ own Joshua Webb – a young rising musician and pro-

one thing that is always an ‘in’ for me in the process, and that’s a wonderful character.”

She found that “in” through Charles, specifically his boyhood experiences as “Charles Baby.”

“I wrote from what I thought his struggles were and how to make that sing,” Lemmons said. “How to make that musical.”

Blanchard knew early on in reading Blow’s book that it

to be the resident anthem singer for St. Louis Blues home games. As they were lined up on the ice, the individual conducting the audition asked the people who knew the Canadian national anthem to raise their hands. About 12 of the 35 raised their hands.

Everyone else was thanked for their time and excused.

Glenn was among the remaining 12. He was hired for a gig with State Farm Insurance to perform during a conference in Quebec a few years earlier. One of the songs he had to learn was the Canadian national anthem.

“Thank God for State Farm,” Glenn said, laughing once again. “Isn’t it funny how God works. I never thought I would sing that song again. And yet out of that song came this experience.”

That’s not to say that the rest of the audition back in 2000 went off without a hitch. By the time it was his turn to sing, the battery of the cordless microphone the auditioning singers used went dead halfway through his song. He kept singing. They changed the battery. He asked if he needed to start again. They said, “that will be all, thanks.”

ducer who was tragically killed in a car accident in 2012 at the tender age of 27.

“He’s already done it with the book itself,” Blanchard said, “but now even more so with this particular piece.”

Opera Theatre of Saint Louis and Jazz St. Louis’ presentation of “Fire Shut Up In My Bones” will run from June 15-30 at The Loretto Hilton, 130 Edgar Rd. in Webster Groves. For a full performance schedule and more information on the show, visit www.opera-stl.org. or call (314) 961-0644.

He assumed, that was the end of the line for him.

It was just the beginning of a 19-year ride that he wouldn’t trade for the world.

“It was something that I did not expect, but it was such a wonderful thing,” Glenn said. Now 64, he has been a professional musician since he was 18 years old. He performed in St. Louis and spent several years performing in California and even enjoyed a stint in the popular singing group, the 5th Dimension. Since 2003, he has been performing as the leader of his own band, The Charles Glenn Group, and has every intention to continue. They perform at weddings and corporate events. He’s also a part of the Central Baptist Church music ministry as a percussionist.

“I’m going to keep on singing and performing until God tells me to stop,” said. Glenn. As he passes the torch, his advice for the St. Louis Blues’ next anthem singer is simple.

“Learn the song,” Glenn said. “And sing it like your last performance in life every time you step on that ice.”

A chorus of St. Louis singers joined Ledisi on stage to perform “The Answer to Why,” a song she said was rejected for a movie soundtrack – though she didn’t specify which film. The brief collaboration of the song featured voices of the “Answer to Why” choir, along with Ledisi’s musicians and the St. Louis Symphony. Gospel, soul and classical music made for fusion that should have spilled into more of the concert. It was one of the moments when the evening’s complete intention was realized. The duo of Simone tunes and her take on the jazz standard “Don’t Go to Strangers” that paid homage to the Chaka Khan cover were among the others.

Audiences seemed a bit underwhelmed by the finale that paid tribute to her New Orleans roots – and even more so by the fact that despite thunderous applause, there was to be no encore. Fans and Ledisi seemed to connect most during her performance of “Alright,” one of her earlier popular tunes that is rooted in inspiration and encouragement.

She gave the audience the story behind the story – and delivered her own testimony in the process.

“My mother said, ‘You’re gonna be alright,” Ledisi said. “I said, ‘That sounds like a song.”

On the verge of calling it quits on her music career, a call from her mother served as her inspiration to keep going – and compelled her to write a song about seeing her way through life’s obstacles.

“I was sleeping on the floor when I wrote this song,” Ledisi said. “Now I’m singing it at the St. Louis Symphony.” She almost became overwhelmed with emotion as she connected with the trajectory of her career from that part of her musical journey to the present.

“I was writing that on the floor, now here I am.”

Photo by Wiley Price

Celebrations

Reunions

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

James-Bady 314-382-0890.

Vashon-Hadley Old School Reunion 1960-67, October 19, 2019, 2-6 pm at The Atrium in Christian Hospital. For more details text (only) Brenda Mahr at 314-580-5155 or email at: brendamahr@att.net.

Sumner Class of 1979 will hold its 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.

Sumner Class of 1969 50-year reunion, June 28-30, 2019. Looking for classmates

of 1969 to contact us with your updated information via address:sumnerclass1969@ gmail.com or our FB page: Sumner High.

Sumner Alumni Association hosts its 11th Annual Scholarship Awards Luncheon & Fashion Show June 1, 2019, Noon until 4pm honoring our own Dr. Ronald L. Gregory, Ms. Keri R. Burns, LPC ‘92 our Master of Ceremony and KMJtheDJ. The cost is $50 to attend and it comes with a cash bar, free parking, attendance prizes and more. For more info, contact B. Louis at 314.385.9843 or email: sumneralumniassn@yahoo. com.

Soldan Class of 1979 is planning its 40-year reunion for the weekend of August 2-3, 2019. Yearlong reunion activities will begin with a kickoff at Soldan High School Homecoming on Saturday, October 13, 2018 prior to the game at 1 p.m. For more information or to assist with reunion activities, please email at: soldanclassof1979@gmail. com or call Barbara at 314 456-3391.

Soldan Class of 1974 Alumni Association is planning its 45-year reunion. Please get your contact information to dhblackjack@ charter.net or call 314-7493803.

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

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 Northwest Class of 1979 is planning on cruising for our 40-year reunion

Class of 1969 is planning its 50-year reunion on August 21, 22 and 23. Dinner dance at Orlandos, 2050 Dorsett Village Plaza. For information call Ruben at 314-239-5202 or Ophelia at 314-280-6596. Classmates please respond by April 2019.

Vanilla Hale Richards

7, 1926!

Missionary Baptist

Davis.

Happy Birthday to Elijah Bratcher on June 16, from your Mom Marin Bratcher, Uncle Al and Granny. Elijah is turning four years old and loves to read. We love you very, very much and hope you become all you can be!

Photo by Rosalind Guy

Local personal trainer and natural body builder Keith Hunter celebrated his 60th birthday at a party with family and friends on June 8. Happy Birthday, Keith!

Religion

September 25, 1931 – may 12, 2019

‘Her love for Christ knew no boundaries’

Celebrated gospel singer Agnes Marie Jackson passes at 87

By Kenya Vaughn Of The St. Louis American

An angelic soprano voice took Agnes Marie Jackson from the choir of Newstead Avenue Missionary Baptist Church to ministering around the world alongside gospel music legends. She passed away on May 12. She was 87 years old.

“Everyone she met was touched by her compassion and dedication,” her family said in a statement. “She worked in God’s vineyard until the very end.”

Life for Agnes Marie Jackson began on September 25, 1931. She was the fifth of nine children born to Reverend Chester A. Jackson Sr. and Anna Fields Jackson in St. Louis, MO. Jackson and her sisters were standout members of Newstead Church’s children and youth choirs.

n “She worked in God’s vineyard until the very end.”

– the family of Agnes Marie Jackson

She studied to become a teacher, but after completing her studies at Stowe Teachers College, music would become her primary teaching tool as she committed her life to spreading the word of Christ through song. Jackson launched her singing career on the St. Louis gospel scene – but ended up spending several decades traveling the world as a singer. She sang with the renowned Geneisa Smith and spent several years as a member of The Famous Ward Singers.

The Famous Ward Singers and their leader Clara Mae Ward were gospel music pioneers that crossed over into mainstream popular music – though they remained convicted to the message in their music despite the growth of a secular fan base. Their singing style and intricate arrangements led by Clara Ward influenced several generations of musicians both in the faith based and secular world – including The Clark Sisters and most famously Aretha Franklin. They toured with Aretha Franklin’s father Rev. Dr. C.L. Franklin. Jackson’s work with The Famous Ward Singers led to her relocation to Los Angeles, where she spent more than 30 years. She was a highly sought after studio singer and traveled nationally and internationally using her gift of song to spread God’s word. “Her love for Christ and His work knew no boundaries,”

St. Louis native Agnes Marie Jackson spent decades as a gospel singer traveling the world spreading God’s word. She passed away on May 12 at the age of 87.

Jackson’s family said. “Working unselfishly in a variety of capacities wherever she was needed, her work extended from the music studio to the church and neighborhood.” Jackson retired to her hometown of St. Louis in 2016, where she remained until her death. Her services were held on May 20th at Reliable Funeral Home and she was laid to rest at Valhalla Cemetery. She is survived by three sisters: Onelia E. Jackson Giles of St. Louis, MO, Ivy L. Jackson Davis (Cornelius) of University City, MO, Etta J. Jackson of St. Charles, MO, Stepsister S. Lavernn Wilson of Edwardsville, IL; three brothers: William Earl Jackson of St. Louis, MO, Phillip H, Jackson of Minneapolis, Minnesota, Stepbrother James F. Douglas of Chicago, Illinois as well as a host of nieces, nephews, cousins, and friends.

The Message

What’s your point?

Have you ever wondered how the lawyer who knows his or her client is guilty but is able to get the person off based on a legal technicality feels? Legally, the person is innocent, but morally they are as guilty as, dare I say, sin.

This must have been one of the most important issues debated by the traditional Jew of Christ’s times and the radicals who chose to follow Him. It seems to have been the focal point of what got Christ killed.

What Jesus was trying to get the Pharisees and the Sadducees to understand was that the will of God was more important than the play-it-by-the-book interpretation of the Law of Moses. They were apparently more interested in being right than being moral.

“Thus you nullify the Word of God for the sake of your tradition. You hypocrites! Isaiah was right when he prophesied about you: ‘These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. They worship me in vain; their teachings are but rules taught by men.’” Matthew 15:6-9.

Over and over again throughout the New Testament, Christ lets us know He is the fulfillment of the Law. He is the embodiment of God’s Word. He is the point, not the rule. The point of the law is to protect the innocent, punish the guilty and thereby preserve the social and political order of man. Technicality or not, the law was never intended to let a murderer go free. The point of God’s Word is that Jesus indeed is His Son, raised from the dead, who died for our original sin and through whom we obtain everlasting life. Out of love and compassion for our fellow man, out of service in His name, out of honoring Him, will we also fulfill our purpose here on earth? Law or no law, the Word of God was never intended to punish the pure of heart when acting on behalf of the Almighty.

So Jesus was constantly at odds with religious scholars of His day about the literal interpretation of scripture (the Law of Moses) versus daily activity in the service of the Lord. Hence, His parables were constantly illustrating to those who would listen, that, yes, you might be right, but according to the Will of God, what’s your point?

Do you know people who just have to be right all the time? Regardless of the situation or the circumstances, their need to be right and have you acknowledge their rightness supersedes all logic, common sense and purpose. Can’t you just hear Jesus imploring the traditionalists with, “Okay already! Technically, you’re right. I shouldn’t be healing the sick, giving sight to the blind, feeding the hungry or teaching the gospel on the Sabbath. But what are you arguing about? I’m merely doing my Daddy’s will. It seems you’re more interested in being right than in bringing the righteous closer to God. So what you gonna do; crucify me? PULEASE!”

“Love the Lord your God with all your heart and all your mind.” This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is just like it. “Love your neighbor as yourself.” Matthew 22:37-40. It sounds simple enough. But watch your back if you choose to live by this principle. Yes, play by the rules. But don’t ever forget the point.

James Washington

Clayton

MORNING BUS DRIVERS Creative Kids Child Development Center is currently seeking Morning Bus Drivers. This position

ARE YOU AN ANOINTED MUSICIAN? SOMEONE WHO PLAYS FOR THE GLORY OF GOD?

*****************

Small but Mighty St. Louis Church has an immediate opening for a Pianist/Minister of Music to lead its 15 member gospel choir. Contact Bruce Fleming for details at 314-398-3932.

PERSONAL CARE AIDE

MedStar Home Health Services is seeking caring individuals that would like to earn up to $11.00 per hour taking care of disabled individuals in their homes. To learn more about this opportunity contact us at (314) 782-7311 or via email at info@medstarcds.com.

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

MISSOURI

HISTORICAL SOCIETY NEW OPENINGS!

The Missouri Historical Society has position openings for the following:

• Assistant Media Archivist • K-12 Programs Coordinator

• Production Technician

• Soldiers Memorial Military Museum Education and Visitor

Experience Interpreter

Please visit www.mohistory.org under the “Current Openings” tab for position details and to apply.

An Equal Opportunity Employer

Washington University in St. Louis offers rewarding opportunities in various fields at all levels, with positions in engineering, nursing and health care, research, administration, technology, security and more.

Dietician – Psychiatry – Job ID # 44264 -

The Department of Psychiatry at Washington University School of Medicine, Center for Healthy Weight and Wellness, is seeking a Wellness Consultant for a full-time position working with the MyWay to Health team to deliver wellness programming to Washington University employees.

Assistant Dean and Director of Marketing and Communications - School of Law - Administration – Job ID # 44076

The assistant dean and director of communications will develop and lead marketing and communications efforts geared toward enhancing the Law School’s visibility and reputation. Using a mix of internal and external resources, the assistant dean and director manages, coordinates, and integrates all aspects of the marketing and communications function including internal communications, executive communications, printed and digital communications, social media, marketing collateral development, photography, multimedia, design and other creative service efforts.

HR Consultant – Organizational DevelopmentHuman Resources –Job ID # 44245

Leads the design, management, development and administration of organizational and individual programs that result in an effective and efficient workforce and organization. Primary focus is to facilitate strategic, administrative and organization change which enhances and improves operations.

Senior Grant Specialist - Bone Marrow Transplant –Job ID # 43744

Position coordinates submission and management of multi-component and complex grant activities. Coordinates contracts, budgets, proposal submissions and awards, and assists with other aspects of grants management. Provides planning and coordination of grant related meetings and conference calls. Participates in project reviews and report preparation and analysis.

For a full description of these positions and other career opportunities, please visit https://jobs.wustl.edu/ to apply. Click search jobs and enter the job ID number.

We seek people from diverse backgrounds to join us in a supportive environment that encourages boldness, inclusion and creativity. EO/AA/VET/Disability Employer

LEAD TEACHERS

Lead Teachers with current pre-school CDA credential or current infant/toddler CDA credential. Please reply to Center Manager Linda Davis at (314) 679-5440.

FIRE DEPARTMENT HIRING LIST

The City of Brentwood is creating a hiring list for the Fire Department. Application packets and information can be picked up in person at the Brentwood Fire Department or Brentwood City Hall. Information can also be obtained online at www.brentwoodmo.org/jobs. Please see the website for all details and application requirements. Posting closes July 1st, 2019.

JANITORIAL - HIRING

TRANSPORTATION DRIVERS

City Seniors, Inc, a not-for-profit organization, is now hiring. Positions available for transporta- tion drivers with a class E license and Class C CDL. Knowledge of south St Louis streets important. Must pass extensive background screenings. City Seniors is an equal opportunity employer.

For more information call 314-352-0141. Email resume to: jbess@stlouiscityseniors.com

CORRECTIONAL OFFICER

The City of Jennings is accepting applications for Correctional Officer, Code Enforcement Officer, Concession Stand Workers, Scorekeepers, Umpires, Site Monitors, and Part-Time Bus Driver. Please see the full job descriptions online at www.cityofjennings.org. Applications are available at the Jennings City Hall or online at www.cityofjennings.org.

The City of Jennings is an equal opportunity employer. All applicants will be considered for employment without attention to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, veteran or disability status.

JUSTICE ORGANIZER WANTED

To staff the Missouri HIV Justice Coalition and serve as the main conduit to community groups, advocates, and other supporters of modernizing Missouri’s outdated laws regarding HIV. A strong commitment to social justice and experience working with marginalized populations – such as people living with low incomes, people living with HIV (PLHIV), People of Color (POC), and or Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender & Queer (LGBTQ) communities. Please send resume and cover letter to jobs@empowermissouri.org

LIBRARY ASST III

The St. Louis County Library is seeking qualified applicants for a full-time Library Asst III at the Mid-County Branch in Clayton, MO. Responsible for performing a variety of circulation duties to meet the needs of Library customers and other clerical duties as assigned. Bachelor’s degree required. Hours: 40 hours per week, evenings and weekends are required. Salary $33,758, plus paid vacation. Apply online at www.slcl.org. Equal Opportunity Employer. TO ADVERTISE YOUR BIDS

COORDINATORFINANCE- ACCOUNTS PAYABLE

To assist the Finance and Accounting Department with cash receipts, accounts payable, and to assist in other accounting and administrative duties.

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

FIREFIGHTER/ PARAMEDIC

Maryland Heights Fire Protection District is accepting applications for the position of Firefighter/Paramedic. Qualifications and requirement packets may be picked up from District Headquarters at 2600 Schuetz Road Maryland Heights, MO. 63043 beginning May 20, 2019 through June 5, 2019 between 09:00am and 3:00pm Monday-Thursday. Completed packets must be turned in no later than 3:00pm on June 5, 2019.

Maryland Heights Fire District is an Equal Opportunity Employer

Plumbers & Pipefitter’s Local Union #562 will be accepting applications for our 2019 Pipefitter Apprenticeship Program. You may fill out your application and read our standards between the hours of 9:00 a.m. and 11:00 a.m. Monday through Friday starting June 3, 2019 through June 14, 2019. This process will take about one hour. Applications will be available at our Training Center, 1084 Kenran Industrial Blvd., St. Louis, MO 63137. You must be 18 years of age or older, have a high school diploma or a G.E.D to complete an application. A drug-screening test will be required for employment. Random drug and alcohol testing are required thereafter. Please No Phone Calls

VOCATIONAL REHABILITATION COUNSELOR

The State of Missouri is accepting applications for a Vocational Rehabilitation Counselor in the St. Louis area. Starting salary is $39,528-$41,496. View job description, benefits and application instructions at https://dese.applicantpro.com/ jobs/

Seeking person to manage offices of a historic church located in St. Louis City. Organized, Microsoft Word and good public relation skills needed. Reply to unionmemorialumc@sbcglobal.net

FULL-TIME REGISTERED DIETITIAN

Food Outreach is seeking a full-time Registered Dietitian to provide individual counseling for low-income, chronically ill clients and their caregivers, and group education for volunteers as well as ongoing nutritional guidance to Food Outreach regarding menu planning, food production, sanitation and safety and monitoring quality assurance. Email resume to marysue@foodoutreach.org.

& Adoptive Care Coalition has open employment opportunities. For more information go to: www.foster-adopt.org/employment

REQUEST FOR QUALIFICATIONS

#: 57819158

National Park Service Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) Preservation Grant Agreement Number: P18AP00405

Harris-Stowe State University is requesting qualifications from professional Architectural firms with Historic preservation, rehabilitation, and restoration experience.

SCOPE OF WORK: Provide architectural services for the preservation, rehabilitation, and/or restoration of the Vashon Community Center which includes but is not limited to building condition assessment, stabilization analysis, exterior and interior restoration in order to address various areas.

Evidence of appropriate professional liability Insurance, licensing and bonding shall be required. Interested firms should submit five (5) originals of their Statement of qualifications, profiles, and a list of references to Harris-Stowe State University, ATTN: B. A. Morrow, (Business Office - Room 105), 3026 Laclede Avenue, St. Louis, MO 63103, by Thursday, June 27, 2019, 10:00 a.m. (local standard time. All qualifications are to be mailed or hand-delivered. Facsimile (fax) submittals will not be accepted. This is a federally funded project. ALL FEDERAL AND STATE LAWS SHALL APPLY.

REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS

TO PROVIDE PROPERTY MANAGEMENT SERVICES AT VARIOUS DEVELOPMENTS

SOLICITATION NO. HM 19-09

869 units at James House, Euclid, West Pine, Parkview, Badenhaus/Badenfest and Kingsbury

The St. Louis Housing Authority (SLHA) invites proposals for Property Management Services for seven (7) public housing developments.

Solicitation documents will be available for pick up at SLHA, 3520 Page Blvd., St. Louis, MO 63106 on Monday, June 17, 2019. Interested firms may request a copy of the RFP by calling 314-286-4365 or e-mailing fbruce@slha.org.

A Pre-Proposal conference is scheduled for Wednesday, June 26, 2019, at 9:30 a.m. in the 1st Floor Board Room at the above mentioned address. SLHA will receive sealed proposals for this service until 3:00 p.m. (local time) on July 19, 2019.

Krista S. Peyton Contracting Officer

AN EQUAL OPPORTUNITY EMPLOYER

REQUEST FOR QUOTATIONS COMMUNITY ACTION AGENCY OF ST. LOUIS COUNTY, INC. (CAASTLC) LOW INCOME WEATHERIZAION PROGRAM (LIWAP)

CAASTLC is accepting sealed bids to provide labor and materials for Heating, Ventilating and Air Conditioning (HVAC) and mechanical services for its residential weatherization program. LIWAP (made available through CAASTLC) is federally funded and controlled by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) through the Missouri Department of Economic Development (MDED).

This weatherization grant is funded through the DOE and is subject to all of its provisions. Bid packages will be available to be picked up at CAASTLC starting Friday, 06/14/2019, at 9:00 a.m.

CAASTLC will have Pre-Bid Conferences on Friday, 06/14/2019, at 9:00 a.m. and Tuesday, 6/25/19 at 3:00 p.m. for questions, etc.

Bids must be sealed, marked “LIWAP – MDED Sealed Bid” and delivered to CAASTLC, Inc., 2709 Woodson Road, St. Louis, MO 63114, no later than 5:00 p.m., Thursday, 06/27/2019.

Bids will be opened and read publicly at 2:00 p.m., Friday, 06/28/2019 at CAASTLC’s office.

ST. LOUIS COMMUNITY COLLEGE

St. Louis Community College will receive separate sealed bids for Contract No.F 19 001, Asphalt Paving Repairs, St. Louis Community College at Florissant Valley, Meramec, Wildwood, Corporate College, until 2:00 p.m. local time, Thursday, June 20, 2019. Bids will be publicly opened and read aloud at the office of the Manager of Engineering and Design, 5464 Highland Park Drive (Plan Room). Specifications and bid forms may be obtained from the Manager’s office, at the above address or by calling (314) 644-9770

Pre-bid Meeting: None, By Appointment Only

An Equal Opportunity and Affirmative Action Employer

SEALED

BIDS forKaty Trail

Replacementof TrailBridges Near Augusta, Missouri, ProjectNo. X1813-01 willbereceived byFMDC, Stateof MO,UNTIL 1:30 PM,6/27/2019. For specificproject informationand orderingplans, go to:http://oa.mo. gov/ facilities

SEALED

BIDS for UpgradeHVAC, Multiple Buildings, FortLeonard Wood ReadinessCenter, ST.Robert, Missouri, ProjectNo. T1839-01 willbereceived byFMDC, Stateof MO,UNTIL 1:30 PM,6/27/2019. Forspecific project informationand orderingplans,go to:http://oa.mo. gov/ facilities

ST. LOUIS COMMUNITY

COLLEGE

Bids for St. Louis Community College on B0003824 for Shoretel Maintenance will be received until 2:00 P.M. (local time) on Friday, June 21, 2019 at the Dept. of Purchasing, 3221 McKelvey Road; Bridgeton, MO 63044, and immediately thereafter opened and read. Bid documents can be accessed on our website at www.stlcc.edu/purchasing or by calling (314) 539-5227. EOE/AA Employer.

BID PROPOSAL

The Annie Malone Children and Family Services Board of Directors (ANNIE MALONE) requests proposals for Construction Management Services for renovations at four buildings: the Administration Building at 2612 Annie Malone Drive, our dormitory at 2516 Annie Malone Drive and our two facilities at 5355 Page Ave. Project details and bid information can be found at www. anniemalone.com/construction. For more information contact Sara Lahman, CEO, at 314-531-0120 or email slahman@anniemalone.com

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 July 10, 2019 to contract with a company for: IBM SPECTRUM PROTECT SUITE SOFTWARE AND SUPPORT.

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 10013 RFQ. If you do not have access to the internet, call 314.768.2735 to request a copy of this bid.

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

METROPOLITAN ST. LOUIS

SEWER DISTRICT

Public Notice of Single Source Procurement

Notice is hereby given that the Metropolitan St. Louis Sewer District is proposing to procure: BECK ACTUATORS. The District is proposing single source procurement for this equipment because HAROLD BECK & SONS is the only known available source for the equipment. Any inquiries should be sent to gjamison@stlmsd.com.

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

Public Notice of Single Source Procurement

Notice is hereby given that the Metropolitan St. Louis Sewer District is proposing to procure: CONSULTING OPERATIONS MAINTENANCE TRAINING DEVELOPMENT. 360WATER INC was used for this service. Any inquiries should be sent to gjamison@stlmsd.com.

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

ST. LOUIS COUNTY LIBRARY DISTRICT INVITATION FOR BID: DIVERSITY AND INCLUSION / PREVENTION OF HARASSMENT TRAINING. DUE

DATE: JULY 9, 2019

The Board of Trustees of the St. Louis County Library District (the “Library District”) requests the submission of responses for qualifications from qualified firms or individuals to provide a quote for Diversity and Inclusion / Prevention of Harassment Training.

For more information please see https://www.slcl.org/bid -opportunities.

NOTICE TO CONTRACTORS

Notice is hereby given that The Metropolitan St. Louis Sewer District (District) will receive sealed bids for Hickory Tree Ln. Storm Sewer under Letting No. 11589-015.1, at this office, 2350 Market Street, St. Louis, Missouri 63103, until 02:00 PM on Thursday, July 18, 2019, at a place designated. Bids will be received only from companies that are pre-qualified by the District’s Engineering Department for: SEWER CONSTRUCTION – St. Louis County drainlayer’s license required Plans and Specifications are available for free electronic download. Please go to MSD’s website and look for a link to “ELECTRONIC PLANROOM.” Plans and Specifications are also available for viewing or purchase at Cross Rhodes Reprographics located at 1712 Macklind Avenue, St. Louis MO 63110. All bidders must obtain a set of plans and specifications in order to submit a bid in the name of the entity submitting the bid. The Metropolitan St. Louis Sewer District is an Equal Opportunity Employer.

METROPOLITAN

SEWER DISTRICT

ST. LOUIS

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 July 9, 2019 to contract with a company for: WIDE FORMAT SCAN AND PRINT SYSTEM. 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 10011 RFQ. If you do not have access to the internet, call 314.768.2735 to request a copy of this bid

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

REQUEST FOR PROPOSAL

opened and read. Plans and Specifications may be examined on the Board of Public Service website http://www. stl-bps.org/planroom.aspx (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). 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 is hereby given that the Metropolitan St. Louis Sewer District is accepting proposals in the Purchasing Division, 2350 Market Street, St. Louis, Missouri 63103-2555 until 10:00 a.m. on July 10th, 2019 to contract with a company for: Pre-Construction Video Survey 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 10012 RFP. If you do not have access to the internet, call 314.768.2735 to request a copy of this bid.

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

KELLER CONSTRUCTION INC.

Requests subcontractor and or material supplier quotations from Illinois Department of Transportation Certified subcontractors, suppliers and Disadvantaged Business Enterprises for the letting to be held June 14, 2019. Interested parties should contact Keller Construction at (618) 656-0033. All quotations must be submitted by 4:30 PM Thursday June 13, 2019. Keller Construction is an equal opportunity employer.

LETTING #8688

ELECTRICAL UPGRADES TO MAINTENANCE BUILDINGS A AND B 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, June 25, 2019 then publicly opened and read. Plans and Specifications may be examined on the Board of Public Service website http://www.stl-bps.org/planroom.aspx (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, June 4, 2019, at 2:30 PM 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).

MEDICINE COMPLEX (TPMC)

Located on the campus of The University of Missouri in Columbia, Missouri

The initial bid solicitations include Fire Sprinkler, Exterior Envelope, Structural Concrete Frame and Miscellaneous General Trade Packages

Interested parties should access documents on the UM System website http://operations-webapps.missouri.edu/pdc/ adsite/ad.html or contact Caleb Johnson EMAIL: caleb.johnson@whiting-turner.com for access to bid packages or further information Future solicitations will be made for remaining bid packages upon release of updated design (Late July 2019)

America’s Center is seeking RFP’s from qualified companies to provide CLEANING, CUSTODIAL & EVENT SETUP/CHANGEOVER/ RESTORE SERVICES for America’s Center. Bid packages available Monday, June 17th, 9am at the Administrative Office at 701 Convention Plaza, or by visiting:

https://explorestlouis.com/meetings-conventions/americas-center/ cleaning-custodial-services-rfp/ Interested bidders must attend a mandatory pre-bid conference & walk thru Wednesday, June, 26th,10am CST at America’s Center Facilities Office Conference Room B. Contact Charlie Gardner at 314-342-5094 with any questions. The facility reserves the right to reject any or all bids. EOE.

NOTICE OF REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS FOR FIRMS SEEKING PROJECT FINANCING THROUGH THE NEW MARKETS TAX CREDIT PROGRAM ISSUED ON BEHALF OF THE ST. LOUIS DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION

The St. Louis Development Corporation (“SLDC”), a Round 15 New Markets Tax Credit allocatee, hereby requests proposals from firms wishing to receive project financing from SLDC’s New Markets Tax Credit allocation. For a copy of the RFP please visit our website at http:/ /stlouis-mo.gov/sldc by selecting the RFP/ RFQ link for a complete copy of the RFP, or contact:

BILL SEDDON ST. LOUIS DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION 1520 MARKET STREET, SUITE 2000 ST. LOUIS, MISSOURI 63103 (314) 657-3705 (PHONE) (314) 613-7011 (FAX) seddonb@stlouis-mo.gov.com

Proposals are due no later than 4:00 P.M. Central Daylight Time on Tuesday, July 2, 2019.

Sealed bids for the Chesterfield Airport Road Resurfacing, St. Louis County Project No. AR-1740, will be received at the Office of the Director of Procurement for the County of St. Louis, County Government Center Administration Building, 41 South Central Avenue, 8th Floor, Clayton, Missouri 63105, until 11:00 a.m. on July 10, 2019

Plans and specifications will be available on June 10, 2019 from the St. Louis County Web Site (www.stlouisco.com), or by contacting County Blue Reprographics, Inc., 1449 Strassner Drive, St. Louis, Missouri 63144, (314) 961-3800.

SAINT

LOUIS ZOO 2019 HIPPO/RHINO BARN PAINTING RFP

The scope of the project includes: The St Louis Zoo is seeking a contractor for a project to remove paint on steel columns, and concrete walls in the Hippo Rhino building at the Saint Louis Zoo. Re-painting and re-sealing is to follow the removal, using specified materials listed in the bid documents on 6-6-2019 located at: https://www.stlzoo.org/about/contact/ vendoropportunities

MANDATORY PRE-BID MEETING & SITE INSPECTION: On 6/20/2019 at 9:30AM 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 7/11/2019 at 2:00PM.

REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS

Millstone Weber, LLC is soliciting proposals for Reconstruction of Taxiway K from Taxiway F to Cargo Apron, Letting No 8696 at Lambert-St. Louis International Airport. Please phone 636-6888794, fax 636-949-3129 or email bob.stubbs@millstoneweber.com or ryan.taylor@millstoneweber. com, quotes to Bob Stubbs by 5:00 pm Monday, June 3rd. Subcontract work includes, removals, concrete, bituminous pavement, PCC backfill, hauling, landscaping, striping, and electrical. Plans and Specifications are available for review on City of St Louis website http:// www.stl-bps.org/planroom.aspx or at Millstone Weber office.

Public Notice of Single Source Procurement

Notice is hereby given that the Metropolitan St. Louis Sewer District is proposing to procure: REPAIRS TO #2 INCINERATOR. The District is proposing for this Service. INDUSTRIAL FURNANCE COMPANY was used for this service. Any inquiries should be sent to gjamison@stlmsd.com.

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

BID REQUEST

KCI Construction requests subcontract proposals from MBE, WBE, DBE, Veteran Supplier Diversity and SDVE businesses for the Engineering Management 101, Missouri University of Science & Technology, Rolla, MO. Project #274264

Plans and specifications are available

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

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

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

Subcontractor bids are due by 12:00 p.m. Thursday, June 20, 2019. You may email bids to jmorrow@kciconstruction.com or send a fax to 573-346-9739. Please call if you have any questions: 314-200-6496.

SEEKING DISADVANTAGED BUSINESSES

L. Keeley Construction Co., 500 S. Ewing Ave, Suite G, St. Louis, MO 63103, 314-421-5933 is seeking disadvantaged businesses for the City of Greenfield, Illinois, Greenfield Water Treatment Plant Rehabilitation Project for subcontracting opportunities in the following areas: Selective Demolition, Concrete Rehabilitation, Cast in Place Concrete, Concrete Finishes, Precast Concrete Structures, Masonry and Tuckpointing, Structural Steel and Misc Metals, Rough Carpentry, Metal Roof and Wall Panels, Joint Sealants and Expansion Control, Doors and Frames, Overhead Doors, Glazing, Painting, Signage and Plaques, Toilet Accessories, Mechanical and Process Piping, Process Integration, HVAC, Electrical, Earthwork, Water Treatment Equipment. All disadvantaged businesses should contact, IN WRITING, (certified letter, return receipt requested), Pete Hyatt, to discuss the subcontracting opportunities. All negotiations must be completed prior to bid opening Friday, June 21st at 2pm. Proposals will be evaluated uniformly and objectively with subcontracts being awarded to the lowest, responsible bidder considered to be appropriately qualified by the prime contractor.

PUBLISHER’S NOTICE:

Advertised herein is subject to the Federal Fair Housing Act, which makes it illegal to advertise any preference, imitation, or discrimination because of race,color, religion, sex, handicap, familial\status, or national origin, or intention to make any such preference, limitation, or discrimination.“We will not knowingly accept any advertising for real estate which is in violation of the law. All persons are hereby informed that all dwellings advertised are available on an equal opportunity basis.” Call Angelita Houston at 314-289-5430 to place your rental/real estate ad today!

Swag Snap of the Week

Classic(al) Ledisi. As soon as Ledisi did that video saying she was coming to sing with the St. Louis Symphony, I have been patiently waiting with my heels kicked up anticipating the evening that she would be perched in Powell Hall giving us all our whole entire life. I knew when she strutted out on that stage like she was walking for her life in a legend’s episode of “America’s Next Top Model” that we would be in for a treat – and for the most part, I was right. I can’t say I lived for the space-age glamour gown (side note: the paisley duster she had on for the meetand-greet was utterly everything) and I’m going to go ahead and assume that she can’t get to her signature scats and high notes if she has on the proper under armor – that’s right, she gets a pass. Be jealous. Now back to the show. The nights where the Symphony invites mainstream or non-classical acts are usually more interactive than usual, but y’all really showed out. Ledisi asked the folks to act like they were at the Symphony and not the Fox. It didn’t work – and that includes Ledisi too. She said she was going to be herself and cut up – and that’s exactly what she did as she sang the stage all the way down to its original finish. The collaboration with the Symphony was cute, but I was expecting more oomph from their end – I blame Ledisi (get it) for a song selection that didn’t really give them the need for much power. Speaking of cute, did anyone else see Damon Mitchell propose to Tamika Clay on the steps of Powell Hall before the show? It was downright adorable. I was so happy that they had a chance to share with Ledisi that he chose her show to pop the question. She was thrilled and asked that the couple keep in touch as far as their wedding plans.

Brunchin’ with Biko. Saturday morning, I made my way to the Dark Room for the inaugural Brunch + Beats with BIKO and I just really hope for the next one, I have the willpower to pass up those glorious biscuits that came with the delicious plate of breakfast goodies they serve as part of the menu. Oh well, my summer body challenge has been postponed until 2020 anyway. It was such a great vibe and the perfect spot – although he might have to move it into the theater next month, based on how folks had the Dark Room side filled to the max. They will at least have to do some table settings in the lobby area too. The vibe was right, and you already know that James Biko (the artist formerly

By Delores Shante dshante@stlamerican.com

known as DJ Needles) is going to keep the music on-point with his masterful curation. The brunch brought together the old and the new. I ran into some of my favorite folks there too. Halima, Tashara, Nikole and Jelani – y’all were too cute!

They bleed blue AND gold. I needed to walk off those biscuits from Biko’s brunch – so I decided to multitask my kicking it with a little workout by hitting up the annual Beaumont Alumni Association Annual Picnic, Saturday afternoon in Fairground Park. I had never been before. Baby, those Bluejackets know how to kick it, do you hear me? They had classes represented from the ‘50s through the ‘90s and the turn-up was official with every generation. Especially those doggone class of ‘79 and ‘89. Listen, y’all’s aunties and great-aunties let me know how fast they used to be showing all kinds of leg and midsection meat with short shorts and class t-shirts that they had cut up into cute little styles. I had a ball. Thanks for the invite Lee “Jo Jo” Johnson, it was a grown folks good time!

In business with Koran Bolden. Now I know this space is mostly reserved for kicking-it chronicles, but I would be out of line if I didn’t give a shout out to Koran Bolden for coming home and turning his “Greatest Year Ever” book release event into an information session for entrepreneurs Sunday afternoon at Wash. U’s Knight Hall. Koran corralled some of the most successful young black business owners in the city to share tips, tools and real talk based on their experiences in a host of indus-

tries. If I get to naming who came through dropping jewels and encouraging the folks live their best life and step out in the sea of working for self and follow their passion, I’m sure that I will forget some folks, so I’ll leave it at anybody making boss moves was in the building. Yes, it was that much STL star power up in the sold-out session. Mocha Latte was the hostess. Bolden flew in entertainment marketing and promotions maven Miss Diddy La from and Los Angeles and had her share some words, along with Chick-Fil-A Franchisee Latasha Fox and A. Keith Turner of TurnGroup Technologies, who dropped wisdom for the folks at the event, following the panel that featured Rance John, Dr. Eboni January, Cedric Cobb, Cornell Boone, Aundrea Chanaye, Brittany White and Raphael Morris. Everybody left there fired up AND informed about making their entrepreneurial aspirations a reality.

Hilarious Hart of the City promo. Y’all know I make no secret about downright lusting to say, “I told you so.” Welp, I’m doing it again as the preview for the third season premiere of “Kevin Hart Presents: Hart of the City” series on Comedy Central. The show, executive-produced by Hart, meets up-and-coming comics where they are by going to comedy clubs in different cities and allowing the top talent in town to shine. Now y’all remember when they filmed it at The Laugh Lounge, and I said that our city was the best-in-show and that STL showed up and showed out so tough that the show host and producer Joey Wells got raw emotional? Well, guess who was one of the featured comics used for the season three premiere commercials? That’s right, one of St. Louis’ own. Vincent Bryant utterly kills on his clip. It was so good that Comedy Central Stand Up shared it on their Facebook page and it already has hundreds of thousands of views. I won’t spoil it by sharing the jokes, but I am cackling as I write this from his bits. Be sure to check him out on the Facebook Page and check out how St. Louis represents overall on the show, which premieres June 14.

Consistent Energy. Saturday night, I stepped into Blue Dine and Lounge for the latest installment of Energy and I must give Teddy and the BFree brand props for keeping a consistent quality kicking experience that lasted over years and different venues.

Twelve-time Grammy Award-nominated soul singer Ledisi was so thrilled to take a picture with newly-engaged couple Damon and Tamika. Damon popped the question just before her performance with the St. Louis Symphony Friday night at Powell Hall.

Everett and his lovely sister Enita came dressed to the nines for An Evening with Ledisi @ Powell Hall Friday night.

Allen and Jess were just a few of the familiar faces that showed up to support BFree’s latest installment of Energy Saturday night @ Blue Dine & Lounge.

Jae, Danni, Crysta, B and Nia jammed to Prince’s hits at James Biko’s annual That Purple Stuff, in honor of the music icon’s birthday Saturday @ The Ready Room.

Falyn and Demetira enjoyed some mother-daughter time checking out Ledisi perform live with the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra Friday night @ Powell Hall.

Jarita was among many friends who bid Jennifer a wonderful farewell as she prepares to head to Texas for her next chapter Saturday @ Bar Code.

Amber and Keona helped James Biko kick off his first brunch set Saturday morning @ The Dark Room.

Halima and Tashara were happy to be a part of the inaugural Brunch+Beats with Biko Saturday morning @ The Dark Room.

The planning committee for the class-wide Beaumont Alumni Association picnic celebrated a job well done Saturday afternoon @ Fairground Park.

Beaumont alums Adrienne Bryant and Pam represented for the 1980s @ Beaumont Alumni Association picnic Saturday afternoon @ Fairground Park.

Tony Scott and DJ Kut of 95.5 FM, James Clark of Better Family Life (center) @ The Wear Orange March Against Gun Violence Saturday morning

$200,000 Active

MLS#19036899

$279,900 Active

MLS#19032460

5828 Westminster St Louis, 63112-1613

Residential4Beds,3Baths,2,544 SqFt, Built in 19100.0860Acres

Great Price, Great Location!! Welcome to your new home! This charming 4 bedroom, 3 bath home in the highly sought after West End area is a must see with so many upgrades! This home boasts a stunning maple kitchen with granite countertops, stainless steel appliances, and abundant cabinetry giving the kitchen a sleek, polished look. Master suite hosts a Jacuzzi tub and separate shower, perfect for a relaxing bath after a long day. Walk in closets with plenty of space. For evening relaxation the master bedroom has a private deck to enjoy the sunset. Hardwood floors through out the beautiful home. The home is wired for theater surround sound system in addition to the gorgeous landscape and privacy fence perfect for entertaining guest. Schedule your showing today!

8573Airport St Louis, 63134-1928

Commercial & Indr.1Bldgs

This is a fantastic location for your new business, equipped with a large kitchen and soup station. Various building options with counter height bar setting, hardwood floors and beautiful french doors separating the dine in area. In addition to the 3 bathrooms, there is also an office with a security system and cameras.

$180,000

Active Under Contract

MLS#19005754

7328 Ravinia St Louis, 63121-2516

Residential4Beds,3Baths,2,334 SqFt, Built in19530.1450Acres

Priced to move Swiftly. Well below market value. Beautiful home in the Historic Pasadana Hills. 4 bedroom, 2.5 baths, offering an updated kitchen, large living area, partially finished walk -up basement and a beautiful master suite.

$65,000

Active

MLS#18093791

336 TiffinAve Ferguson, 63135-2624

Residential4Beds,4Baths,2,483 SqFt, Built in18980.3010Acres

Possible Short Sale. Lienholder has not approved the short sale. Beautiful & well built historic Victorian three-story home with wrap around deck. This home is awaiting new owner who loves the Ferguson area with all the amenities offered in this quaint neighborhood. Unique ceiling decor, bow bay window, large pocket doors which separate the living room and den from foyer. Original hard wood floors and Pella sliding door which leads to the covered rear porch. TLC needed to restore to original condition. Property is near public transportation, restaurants, schools and major highways.

(6

336 Tiffin Ave

Ravinia 5828 Westminster

Airport

Not your grandfather’s home loan

What to know about today’s process

In today’s world where moving fast is the norm, you may think that finding the time to apply for a home loan is about as likely as finding the time to remove your jam-packed storage room of all the objects that don’t bring you joy.

The good news is the process is probably a lot less time-consuming than you think. Back in the day, when interest rates were 15-plus percent (before online banking was even a thing), getting a mortgage loan required a trip to the bank for a conversation with your lender and a long slog to gather copies of paystubs, tax documents and bank statements. The process may have even involved faxing.

All that documentation was for good reason and is still needed – it shows you have the ability to repay your loan and are assuming a financial obligation you can afford. But mortgage companies have found much easier ways to move you through the home lending process. “Consumers today expect that most anything can be accomplished with a few taps on their mobile devices,” said Perry Hilzendeger, head of Wells Fargo’s Home Lending Retail division. “We’re aligning the mortgage experience

to that expectation.”

Imagine this: you’re perusing real

estate sites and find a property you like. You call the real estate agent and get an appointment to see it tomorrow, but it’s a competitive market so you want to be

ready with your loan so you can make an offer. You pull out your phone and select a mortgage lender, such as Wells Fargo. They have an online mortgage application, and because you’re already an online banking customer, you can log in and be presented with your profile and account information to help you zip through the application. Your application is submitted quickly, and you’re ready to house hunt! There were no paper documents to track down and you never left the couch.

As you pick a lender, here’s how to ensure your homebuying experience can be smooth and easy:

• Make sure your lender has a robust online application that allows you to easily apply and provide information.

• Just because you can do it all online,

doesn’t mean you want to. Shop around for a full-service provider who can offer guidance throughout the process.

• Be sure you can apply for the loan when, where and how you want. Your mortgage company should meet you where you are – face-to-face or online.

• Know that not all homebuying situations are alike, and complicated financial situations may require a little more legwork. Work with a trusted lender who will take the time to guide you through the process.

• Look for a lender who has a breadth of products and services and can offer the right options for your situation and the convenience of digital tools.

“Mortgage lending has come a long way from the days of fax machines and pushing paper,” said Hilzendeger. “Take time to find a lender who is accessible in the way you want, committed to simplifying the experience and can guide you down the right home financing path for you.”

On-trend ideas for updating your home exterior

If it’s time to upgrade your home exterior, you may need some guidance, particularly if you want to make on-trend choices that will instantly boost your curb appeal. Bear in mind that many younger, trend-setting homeowners are gravitating toward the natural, earthy look, and they are achieving this with manufactured stone. As you make your own upgrade, consider the following:

Prioritize Authenticity

Not all manufactured stone is of equal quality. Do a close inspection to ensure the products you select are molded and colored to look and feel like natural stone.

choose:

• For an understated, elegant look, match the grout color with the dominant color shadings in the manufactured stone. This is a subtle-but-sophisticated

of the shades found in the stone. It will naturally contrast with the other shades.

Select your cut

Choices abound when it comes to the cut of manufactured stone veneer. However, linear shapes that provide a sense of calm and order are very popular right now, making profiles such as the Chisel Cut offered by ProVia a smart move for staying on-trend. The natural texture complements the chiseled form, and looks great grouted or dry stacked.

Be Serene

Gray is in right now, and this is likely due to its low-key aesthetic. Likewise, any color on the gray-scale will add instant appeal, including black and white.

Choose your grout

You can add a lot of design drama with the right choice of grout color. Here’s a simple guide to help you

• For a pulled-together look, weave a matching color choice throughout the various home exterior elements – siding, garage door, front entry door, roofing, etc. – to reflect a designer aesthetic and provide instant curb appeal. Just like a well-coordinated suit, shirt and tie, this look projects confidence.

Visualize

The decisions you make regarding your home exterior are important, so do a bit of homework first before committing. Free online tools and resources can help you pick colors, cuts and other important features, by allowing you to get a better sense of how they will look on your home. Visit provia. com/grout-visualizer to access ProVia’s Grout Visualizer, a handy tool that allows you to mix and match stone and styles with grout options. The exterior of your home makes a statement. Make sure it’s making the right one. Select elements that suit your personality while also staying on-trend.

Get more bang for your buck with these home improvements

Warmer weather is when home dwellers think about home improvement projects. Whether you’re getting your home in tip-top shape for your own enjoyment, or getting it ready to put on the market, not all home improvement projects are created equal when it comes to return on investment (ROI). Here are top areas on which to focus:

Interiors

The kitchen is the heart of the home and it’s one of the best areas to renovate in terms of ROI, according to Remodeling magazine’s annual Cost vs. Value Report, which puts the price tag of the average minor kitchen remodel at $22,507, with 80.5 percent of the cost recouped upon resale.

To give the kitchen an updated appearance, replace the flooring, countertops, sink and faucet. A fresh coat of paint in a trendy shade, such as Living Coral, Pantone’s Color of the Year, can add a vibrant pop of color to

energize any kitchen. Not looking to go that bold? Consider an accent wall, or stick to a classic palate of gray and white in terms of cabinets and countertops. White on white is also a popular new style for kitchens and bathrooms. Other features home buyers are paying close attention to are laundry rooms and energy-saving elements, such as Energy Star appliances and windows,

according to the survey “What Home Buyers Want in 2019” by the National Association of Home Builders.

Curb appeal

The popularity of outdoor projects remain strong, and for a good reason. According to the Cost vs. Value Report, the biggest bang for your buck in 2019 will come from replacing a garage door. The report states the average price is $3,611, and 97.5 percent of it is recouped when the house is sold.

Other outdoor projects with high ROI include adding manufactured stone veneer to the exterior (94.9 percent), adding a wood deck (75.6 percent) and replacing siding (75.6 percent). Looking for a simpler way to make an impact? Sprucing up the landscape by planting

flowers or bushes or even just clearing the yard of debris will make a big statement.

No matter what updates you end up making, it’s always a good idea to notify your insurance agent. “Certain upgrades may change the value of a house, so homeowners need to make sure they’re properly covered,” said Bob Buckel, vice president of product management, Erie Insurance. “There are a few things to look for. Ask your agent about guaranteed replacement cost policies that can cover the cost to rebuild a home in today’s dollars following a covered loss.”

Some upgrades may also make you eligible for discounts, Buckel added, especially if they make the home more secure. “For example, Erie Insurance offers certain safety discounts such as for installing smoke alarms or an automatic sprinkler system.”

Before you start your checklist of DIY projects to focus on, take a moment to assess which ones are worth your time and money.

Housing advocates speak in congressional hearing chaired by Clay

By Hazel Trice Edney Trice Edney News Wire

The rate of Black homeownership in America – now at 41.1 percent, according to 2019 U. S. Census numbers – is even lower than it was when the U. S. Fair Housing Act was signed into law 51 years ago on April 11, 1968. This means Black homeownership is 32.1 percentage points lower than that of Whites, which stands at 73.2 percent. It also means Black homeownership is 6.3 percentage points lower than that of Latino-Americans, which stands at 47.4 percent.

These are just a few of the facts presented to a recent U. S. Congressional hearing by homeownership advocates. The hearing, held by the House Finance Committee’s Subcommittee on Housing, Community Development and Insurance, was the first modern day hearing of its kind - intended to discover the barriers to homeownership for people of color. “Federal housing regulators and agencies have aggressively pursued lending practices and policies that

make access to homeownership more challenging for Black Americans. It is against this backdrop that I give my testimony,” Jeff Hicks, president/ CEO of the National Association of Black Real Estate Brokers (NAREB), testified to lawmakers at the hearing.

“Our nation has a very complicated and checkered history with providing equal and equitable access to homeownership to Black Americans. At the end of World War II, when Black Americans sacrificed their lives for the cause of freedom, dignity and human rights, the United States federal government created an economic divide between Blacks and Whites.”

Hicks described how Black veterans and their families were “denied the multigenerational, enriching impact of home ownership and economic security that the G.I. Bill conferred on a majority of White veterans, their children, and their grandchildren.” He concluded that the “unequal implementation of the G.I. Bill, along with federal government policies and practices at the Federal Housing Administration

(FHA), including the redlining of Black neighborhoods, were leveled against Black veterans” while at the same time the government financed the construction of suburbs and provided subsidized mortgage financing for Whites-only. This scenario “set the stage for today’s wealth and homeownership gap statistics,” Hicks said.

The hearing, led by Housing Subcommittee Chair U.S. Rep. William Lacy Clay Jr. (D-Mo.), marked the anniversary of the passage of the Fair Housing Act (FHA), signed into law one week after the April 4 assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. President Lyndon B. Johnson described the road to the 1968 passage as a “long and stormy trip” after it failed three times. Together, the testimony of the 72-yearold NAREB - the oldest organization representedand the string of witnesses at the 21st Century Congressional hearing, revealed that the storm is not nearly over. “We have not simply failed to make progress; we are losing ground. And we cannot continue to go backward,” Alanna McCargo, vice president for Housing Finance Policy, Urban Institute, stressed the urgency of the moment.

financial institutions such as the examination their lending practices to ensure fair, equitable, and nondiscriminatory origination, pricing, and terms. This would also include greater accountability and modernization of the Community Reinvestment Act to eliminate loopholes that limit access to mortgage credit to existing and potential Black homeowners.

• Overall promotion of homeownership as a High Priority for Public Policymakers.

• Equal and equitable access to mainstream mortgage credit as prospective Black homeowners have been trapped in predatory mortgage schemes or by an absolute denial of access to home loans.

n “Although many private actors were complicit, research has shown that the government played a significant role.”

– U.S. Rep. Wm. Lacy Clay

Historically unequal access to credit for people of color was repeated as a key problem during the hearing. “Wide access to credit is critical for building family wealth, closing the racial wealth gap, and for the housing market overall, which in turn, contributes significantly to our overall economy,” Nikitra Bailey, executive vice president of the Center for Responsible Lending, told the Committee. “Today’s hearing is a good step toward acknowledging this history and presents the potential to create opportunities to address it.”

The Urban Institute was founded by President Johnson in 1968 to focus on “the problems of America’s cities and their people and to inform social and economic policy interventions that would help fight the War on Poverty,” she described.The witnesses gave facts and anecdotes describing why new legislation and homeownership policies are needed. Among the proposals:

• The passage of The American Dream Down Payment Savings Plan, a proposal with bipartisan support, which would allow prospective homebuyers to save money in an authorized account, where the savings could grow and be removed for the specified purpose of a tax-free down payment for purchasing a home.

• A fairer mortgage and underwriting process in which borrowers meet a minimum threshold for approval and all interest rates and costs are the same for everyone; regardless of race; including loan level equality, approval rates, pricing and terms for borrowerswithout adjustments for neighborhoods, zip codes or census tracts.

• Accountability for non-bank

The other four witnesses were Joseph Nery, president, National Association of Hispanic Real Estate Professionals; Carmen Castro, managing housing counselor, Housing Initiative Partnership; Joanne Poole, liaison for the National Association of Realtors and Joel Griffith, research fellow, Financial Regulations, The Heritage Foundation. Bi-partisan lawmakers on the subcommittee listened intently then fired questions and remarks.

When U. S. Rep. Al Green (D-Texas) asked the witnesses to raise their hands if they “believe that invidious discrimination has been a significant reason for the inability for AfricanAmericans to achieve wealth in this country...to this very day”, all seven witnesses extended their hands into the air. “I’m grateful that you’ve done this because we’ve been trying to build a record to let the world know that we still have discrimination,” Green said. “Our original sin was discrimination. To be more specific racism...institutionalized racism.” Chairman Clay saw eye to eye with the witnesses. “It is clear by the evidence in front of us that 51 years

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later, there is still much work to be done to promote and assure fair housing in America,” he said. He said Congress must bear the responsibility to end the discrimination largely because of its failure to continue to make and maintain fair housing policies.

Clay concluded, “Although many private actors were complicit, research has shown that the government played

a significant role.” U. S. Rep. Maxine Waters, chair of the House Financial Services Committee, which oversees the Housing Subcommittee, pressed the lawmakers, saying many of the oppressive policies are still used by banks and are “taken for granted.”

Waters described interest rates that are so high that homeowners - paying both interest and principal - have faced foreclosure because they can no longer afford the loan. She also described banks that won’t do loan modifications

until two payments are missed making it difficult to catch up on the payments.

“We need to scrub this market and all the rules and practices and come up with a laundry list of what we think needs to be taken out of the way,” Waters said. The Congressional hearing was held on launch day for NAREB’s 2019 Spring Policy Conference May 8. NAREB, founded to fight for civil rights in order to win economic justice for its members and the people they serve, has set a goal of at least two million new

Jeff Hicks, president/CEO of the National Association of Black Real Estate Brokers, and other housing advocates testified before a congressional hearing, led by Housing Subcommittee Chair U.S. Rep. William Lacy Clay Jr. (D-Mo.).

Black homeowners within five years. They view working with Congress as their next best hope. The rate of Black homeownership in America – 41.1 percent – is even lower than it was when the U. S. Fair Housing Act was signed into law 51 years ago on April 11, 1968.

Smart strategies to help pay-off debt

From car loans to student loans, credit card balances and other revolving debt, U.S. consumer debt is higher today than ever before. Indeed, that figure now exceeds $4 trillion for the first time, according to CNBC.com 2019 estimates. To reduce and eliminate your own debt, consider the following tips:

• Review where your money is being spent. Create a budget for monthly expenses and stick to it.

n “Those highinterest credit cards, payday loans, pawn, title pawn and rent-to-own contracts might all look like lifelines when you’re faced with a necessary expense you can’t immediately afford.”

– Richard Carrano, Purchasing Power CEO

• Get inspired by expert-touted financial strategies and pick one to follow. One popular example is the debt snowball plan, whereby you pay off bills smallest to largest, no matter the interest rates. Or, use the debt avalanche method, paying off highest interest rate debts first, or balancing transfers to credit cards with the lowest interest rate.

• Fifty-eight percent of Americans report less than $1,000 in total savings,

according to a 2018 GOBankingRates survey. Without an emergency fund, unexpected expenses can quickly become a crisis, throwing you off track. Work toward growing a savings fund, even if it’s just $500 to $1,000.

• If a retirement savings program is offered by your employer, participate. Of Americans 55 and older, 48 percent have nothing put away in a 401K-style contribution plan or individual retirement account, according to the U.S. Government Accountability Office. Many employers offer matching programs, which is essentially free money. Don’t leave it on the table!

• If your company offers an employee purchase program, consider enrolling, as this can offer you greater financial flexibility. One example is Purchasing Power (purchasingpower.com), one of the fastest-growing voluntary benefit providers, which gives workers the

option to pay for consumer goods and services over the course of six or 12 months through automatic payroll deduction. With no interest on the purchase, no fees and no credit check, this a viable way to break the cycle of predatory lending options. “Those high-interest credit cards, payday loans, pawn, title pawn and rent-to-own contracts might all look like lifelines when you’re faced with a necessary expense you can’t immediately afford, but they can be traps leading to compounding interest rates and hidden fees,” says Richard Carrano, Purchasing Power CEO.

• Leverage any other financial wellness benefits offered by your employer, like budgeting tools, financial counseling and automated savings and bill-paying services.

• Engage family members in your

efforts. Together, celebrate small wins achieved each week or month. Remember, don’t be too hard on yourself. It’s a marathon, not a sprint. U.S. Consumer debt may be at an alltime high, but it doesn’t need to be for you personally. Get inspired to gain a solid financial footing.

How your credit score impacts your hopes to buy a home

Advice from American Eagle Credit Union

By Pier Yvette Alsup Chief Community Engagement Officer

What role does my credit score play in a home loan?

Pier Yvette Alsup, Chief Community Engagement Officer

Your credit score will help determine two important aspects of a new mortgage loan: your eligibility and your interest rate. FICO credit scores range from 300 to 850, and most lenders require a score of at least 620 to qualify for a home loan. So how do credit bureaus determine your credit score? Your credit score is a combination of several factors: your total amount of debt, the length of your credit history, the amount of new

debt, your overall credit mix, and your payment history.

And, what if your credit score is less than ideal?

If your credit score is low, it does not mean you have to give up on your dream of homeownership, but you will need to take steps to raise your score. Steps you can take include making payments

on time, paying down balances on loans and credit cards, keeping older revolving credit accounts open even if you pay them off to demonstrate you have a long history, and avoid/limit applications for new credit.

How important is a preapproval?

And, what is the process?

A home loan preapproval can be the

difference between getting the home of your dreams and missing out. A preapproval in-hand means you have submitted your loan application and your lender has determined you’re creditworthy for up to a certain amount. You know it, your realtor knows it, and the seller knows it!

When completing your application, you will itemize your credit, existing debt, assets (including down payment), employment history, and income. You will also provide documentation including paystubs, W2s, account statements, and more. And, you will note how much you want to borrow. Keep in mind, how much you can afford is often different than what you feel comfortable paying.

Engagement officer

Pier Yvette Alsup is chief Community

at American Eagle Credit Union.

It’s nice to know you have great neighbors just around the corner! And no matter what St. Louis neighborhood you call home, American Eagle Credit Union is ready to welcome you.

If you’re ready to upsize, downsize, or first-time home buy, make the smart move with American Eagle Credit Union. Our professional mortgage loan officers, in-house underwriting team, and in-house servicing team provide the attention to detail and personalized service you deserve throughout the entire home financing process – from application to closing and beyond. Here you’ll find the loan that fits your needs: