May 12th, 2016 Edition

Ferguson swears in new police chief

By Mariah Stewart Of The St. Louis American

Making friends with

a llama

Youth had a chance to pet llamas at Annie Malone Children and Family Service Center’s Ice Cream Social at its Family Crisis Center, 5355 Page Blvd., on Saturday, May 7. The 2016 Annie Malone May Day Parade will be held on Sunday, May 15. The procession will gather at 20th and Market streets at 1 p.m., and proceed eastward on Market Street to downtown, where it will culminate in an outdoor festival. For more information, visit www.anniemalone.com.

Soyinka gives coded rebuke to Trumpism

Nigerian Nobel Laureate delivers Westminster College commencement address

By

FULTON, MO. – The graduating Class of 2016 at Westminster College was treated to a commencement address by Wole Soyinka, the 1986 Nobel Laureate in Literature, international freedom fighter and arguably the most important historic figure to speak on its campus since Winston Churchill gave his “Iron Curtain” speech there in 1946.

Soyinka told The American that he accepted the invitation, even with his crowded schedule as an

n Wole Soyinka said of Trump that “it’s very revealing that someone who is, basically, a clown” could seriously contend for the U.S. presidency.

81-year-old intellectual nomad, out of “tribal chauvinism” – a jesting choice of words, given that he told the young Westminster graduates that they must reject chauvinism and all attempts to divide people and oppress any category of a divided people. Without ever mentioning the name of Donald

n The closest Soyinka came to pinning this syndrome on Trump was when he derided “glib demonizations,” perhaps the most succinct summary of Trump’s rhetoric.

A mother’s love in Lezley’s words

point for tensions between law enforcement and the African-American community. Through her new book “Tell the Truth & Shame The Devil: The Life, Legacy and Love of My Son” (Simon & Schuster), written with Lyah Beth LeFlore, McSpadden gives insight on her personal suffering and the ongoing aftershock that came to be known as “Ferguson.” The book was released on Tuesday, May 10.

Top area execs donate $600K to agencies serving north STL city and county

By Rebecca Rivas Of The St. Louis American

Civic Progress donated $614,000 to programs working mainly in north St. Louis city and county to improve lives, the organization’s leaders announced at a press conference held on Monday, May 9 at the Urban League of Metropolitan St. Louis’ North County office. “These organizations typify the commitment and vision our community needs to advance

McSpadden releases book, will discuss Tuesday at Christ Church Cathedral See FERGUSON, A7

Photo by Lawrence Bryant By Kenya Vaughn

The

Chris King Of The St. Louis American

Photo by Lawrernce Bryant Lezley McSpadden

Photo by Rebecca Barr / Westminster College

Jackson secret baby rumors fueled by ex-husband

For years there have been rumors that Janet Jackson secretly gave birth to a child that was raised by an unnamed member of the Jackson family, a product of Janet’s brief marriage to James DeBarge back in the 80s.

DeBarge tells Radar Online that a young woman reached out to him claiming to be his and Janet Jackson’s long lost daughter.

“Someone had contacted me. She spoke to me by email. The first time was two years ago. I have not been able to directly see her face-to-face,” DeBarge said. “She was angry because another child was trying to come forward and say that she was our child. So she did out of anger.”

In the interview DeBarge says that the conversation with her seems to have him leaning towards believing her.

this story about this [other child] being my baby,” DeBarge said. “She got very angry. She’s like, ‘Papa I want to help you out.’ She had so much of personality and she was so accurate with everything she was saying, it was only things that I and Janet know. No one else but god, me and Janet.”

Todd and Kandi put four-month-old on the pot

“She described as much as she could tell me because she was very fearful at the time.

Kandi Burruss and husband Todd Tucker have begun potty training her four month old son. The singer/songwriter and co-star of “Real Housewives of Atlanta” posted images and videos of the baby on the pot with a note explaining her actions. It reads as follows: “Ok I know a lot of people are gonna talk trash because we have #Ace on the potty already but I did the same thing with @rileyburruss. I bought the baby toilet seat that fits on top of the toilet & for the past week we’ve been putting Ace on the toilet in the mornings. As soon as we sit him up there he pees. One time he pooped & peed. It helps to get them used to the concept early.

I don’t expect him to be fully potty trained early but it does help. I’ve done it before so I’m speaking from experience. I’m not saying it

Today I didn’t get the diaper off quick enough & he started going as soon as I sat him on the toilet! He got me!”*

Katt Williams slapped with another assault charge

Back in March, Katt Williams was sought for questioning in a bizarre incident after three men accused the troubled comedian of assaulting them during a chance meeting outside a Los Angeles hotel.

TMZ is reporting that Williams has been officially charged.

He has reportedly been charged with one count of misdemeanor battery in connection with the case and is facing up to six months in jail if convicted.

Lee Daniels out of Richard Pryor biopic

Filmmaker Lee Daniels been attached to the big screen Richard Pryor starring Mike Epps, Oprah Winfrey, Jennifer Hudson and Eddie Murphy since 2014.

Insiders told Deadline. com that The Weinstein Company gave Lee

papers after after his latest TV pilot starring Queen Latifah got picked up by Fox. According to Deadline.com sources, the highly anticipated biopic had already been pushed back several times to accommodate Lee’s hit Fox series “Empire” and another TV show was just too much. The current cast is expected to remain in place.

Columbus Short ordered to outpatient rehab

Last month, former “Scandal” co-star Columbus Short failed a court ordered drug test, testing positive for cocaine and marijuana. According to The Jasmine Brand, Columbus Short will be checking into an outpatient rehab facility in Los Angeles for the next 4 to 6

According to the urban celebrity news site, Short will report a few times a week and be subject to random drug testing. Columbus is currently facing jail time for violating the conditions of his probation on battery charges by testing positive for drugs.

Sources: TMZ.com, Hiphollywood.com, RadarOnline.com, Instagram. com, The Jasmine Brand *Spelling and grammar is as it appeared in the original post.

Suit challenges race-based restrictions on school transfers

Holdover from deseg policies decried as ‘flat-out unconstitutional’

By Dale Singer Of St. Louis Public Radio

A black third-grader’s effort to continue at his St. Louis charter school even though his family has moved to St. Louis County has gone to federal court. The Pacific Legal Foundation, based in California, announced on May 4 that it had filed the lawsuit seeking to reverse long-standing provisions of the area-wide school desegregation settlement that bars AfricanAmerican students living in the county from transferring to city public schools, including charters.

In a news conference outside the federal courthouse downtown, foundation attorney Joshua Thompson said the restriction is “not just unacceptable. It is flat-out unconstitutional. No matter how benign the goals of this program may have seemed some decades ago, race can no longer be the driving force in determining where St. Louis kids go to school.”

who began at the Gateway Science Academy when he was in kindergarten. The family moved this year from a city apartment to a home in Maryland Heights, which made him ineligible to continue at the school under rules of the Voluntary Interdistrict Choice Corp. (VICC), which administers the transfer program. It is run by superintendents of school districts taking part in the transfer program.

n “Race can no longer be the driving force in determining where St. Louis kids go to school.”

– Joshua Thompson

The suit was filed on behalf of La’Shieka White and her 9-year-old son, Edmund Lee,

In a statement on May 4, VICC said it could not comment specifically on the lawsuit because it has not had time to study it. It added:

“In general students must attend school in the district in which they reside. In VICC’s case, we are governed by the federal court decision and the related settlement agreement which was established to address long standing school segregation issues.

“As such, the agreement (which was signed by many parties including the State of MO) allows for African-American students residing in the City of St. Louis to attend certain participating districts in the county and

not seek to undo all of that program, just the restriction that prevents black students in St. Louis County from transferring into public schools in the city.

The suit seeks an injunction barring VICC from enforcing race-based restrictions in the transfer program and asks that the case be heard by a jury.

The voluntary desegregation plan was designed to boost integration by letting black students in the city transfer to predominantly white districts in St. Louis County. It also created magnet schools in the city designed to attract white students from the county, integrating city schools. Charter schools, which are public schools funded with tax money but not part of the city school system, did not exist when the plan began.

In many ways, Thompson added, the suit continues such actions that go back to the U.S. Supreme Court’s desegregation decision in 1954.

conversely to allow nonAfrican-American students in participating districts in the county to attend magnet (and charter) schools in the city with one of the primary goals being to increase the integration of the schools.

“This particular student’s ineligibility is a straightforward application of how the program works and the rules that we must abide by.”

But it is those rules that Thompson said need to be changed because they violate the equal protection guarantees of the 14th amendment to the U.S. Constitution.

Edmund’s situation is particularly egregious, Thompson said in an interview.

“If you’re talking about integrating the schools,” he

said, “Edmund’s going to a school that is over 80 percent white right now. You have a policy that prohibits him from transferring into that school simply because he’s black. It’s not increasing diversity. It’s not increasing integration. It’s strictly a race-based restriction that violates the constitution.”

The lawsuit traces the long history of the St. Louis desegregation case, back to the action brought in 1972 by Minnie Liddell on behalf of her son Craton, who was being transferred from one school to another by the city. The suit led first to intradistrict busing in the city, then to the voluntary interdistrict system that continues today. Thompson said the lawsuit on behalf of White does

“We’re arguing that the state cannot prohibit kids from attending schools simply because of the color of their skin,” Thompson said.

“We are seeking to strike down a policy that is preventing thousands of kids from transferring into schools, and by succeeding in this lawsuit, we hope to achieve the equal protection rights of all those children.”

Thompson emphasized that the suit is not against Gateway Science Academy, which must operate under the rules as they are. He said VICC is the defendant because it has reauthorized the program twice and it is responsible for enforcing the restrictions that the lawsuit seeks to overturn.

White said her family moved from a small apartment to a home in Maryland Heights to gain more space and to get away from crime. She did not initially realize the impact it would have on Edmund’s education.

“We are long past the day where students can be turned away from schools because of their race – well, that’s what I thought, at least,” she said at the news conference. She said she felt her family had been caught in a time warp, going back to the days when school segregation was still legal. Of the rules being administered by VICC, White said: “It’s not fair, it’s not moral, and it’s not what America is about.”

In an interview, White noted that an online petition in support of Edmund has gained more than 134,000 signatures, and she expects that total to jump when news of the lawsuit spreads. She said Edmund has some sense of his place in a continuing legal drama.

“He’s still just a kid,” she said. “He thinks it’s pretty cool that we’re trying to fight for his rights. He’s just humble. He understands that he’s playing a big role essentially for kids 20, 30 years from now.” Follow Dale on Twitter: @ dalesinger.

The Pacific Legal Foundation, based in Sacramento, California, describes its mission as limiting government power and restoring constitutional limits at the local, state and federal levels. Thompson said he read a news story about Edmund’s situation, contacted White and decided to take on the costs of the lawsuit, which he said could go all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court, if necessary.

Photo by Dale Singer / St. Louis Public Radio

La’Shieka White talks about the lawsuit involving her son, Edmund Lee. Attorney Joshua Thompson is at left.

CommEntary

St. Louis County cops and courts – still broken

The City of Ferguson has a new police chief, Delrish Moss, who made one of the harshest geographical and climactic switches imaginable, from Miami, Florida, where he was a police veteran ranked at sergeant, to north St. Louis County. Obviously, he has no record as a police chief yet by which to judge him, but certainly he is saying exactly the right things.

He told our reporter that he has lived in a neighborhood that erupted in urban unrest, and he has policed that same situation. That range of experience and empathy in a Ferguson police chief would have been even more valuable in August 2014 than it is now, but we will take it when we can get it. He also said that police should be directed to protect public safety, rather than to generate revenue for the city by writing tickets. Again, it is obvious that no police chief in Ferguson (or anywhere else) would be caught saying any different on a hot mic in May 2016, but at least the new chief is on record saying he will not collude in the types of revenue-raising schemes that then-Chief Tom Jackson did with the city manager and court clerk.

Also, Ferguson has put Stephanie Karr’s position as city prosecutor up for bid. Karr is an attorney at Curtis, Heinz, Garrett and O’Keefe (CHGO), which had contracts for prosecutor and city attorney in Ferguson. Karr is the last person named in the March 2015 Department of Justice report on Ferguson as behaving improperly who still draws a check from Ferguson taxpayers. It’s not that Ferguson is kicking Karr and CHGO out of town, however – the Clayton firm still has a contract with Ferguson for city attorney, and legal contracts with nearly 40 other St. Louis County municipalities. It’s just that Ferguson is – belatedly – coming to its senses about conflicts of interest and the need for distinct sectors of city government to operate with at least the semblance of independence and impartiality.

So regardless of who continues to prosecute cases in Ferguson, the CHGO style of conducting municipal governance and justice remains all but untouched by the eruption in Ferguson and what will soon be two full years of international scrutiny of the abuses in St. Louis County municipal courts. State legislation that gave teeth to enforcing sanctions on municipalities that exceed a threshold for raising revenue through traffic tickets was defeated in court by some of the municipalities targeted by it. A similar bill to limit revenue-raising through domestic citations looks like it is nearing passage in the Missouri House after the Senate passed it, but the crucial interactions between police officers as armed revenue agent and motorists crossing the jigsaw puzzle of municipal boundaries in St. Louis County is right back to where it was when

Ferguson exploded. Similarly, while Chief Moss is saying the right things in Ferguson, and a federal court is monitoring the beleaguered city’s compliance with the Department of Justice’s many mandated improvements to its police department, at the end of this expensive process we will have upgraded precisely one police department with about 50 cops. What about the 56 other municipal police departments in St. Louis County? An attempt to use the county executive’s purview over public health to enact and enforce minimal countywide police standards was defeated in court, just like the municipal court overhaul law. We have to face the fact that every legislative attempt in the direction of sweeping reform in St. Louis County police and courts has died in court. Ferguson may be on its way to shaping up so that “another Ferguson” does not happen there, but there could be another Ferguson almost anywhere else in St. Louis County, as things now stand. This is intolerable and unacceptable. We call, again, for the Missouri Supreme Court to take responsibility for the lowest (in every sense) level of justice in St. Louis County and consolidate and monitor the county’s municipal courts. We challenge the county executive and County Council to keep trying to find a legal way to enforce countywide police standards. And as difficult as it is for us to believe that this Missouri Legislature is capable of doing anything to truly better the lives of the mostly poor, mostly black people who suffer the most from predatory policing, we implore them to pass uniform police standards. The other option is do nothing – and wait for the next disaster.

As I See It - A Forum for Community Issues

Trump’s

The Republican Party is suddenly like fifth-century Rome must have been after the Visigoths stormed the city’s gates. Anarchy and confusion reign, there is the sound of anguished wailing, and political leaders are making an urgent calculation: resistance or collaboration?

The suddenness of Donald Trump’s final victory over the GOP establishment was shocking. On May 2, Pollyannas were still convincing themselves that Trump could be thwarted at a contested convention. Within 48 hours, he had won the Indiana primary in a landslide and his last two opponents, Ted Cruz and John Kasich, had surrendered. Even Trump couldn’t have expected it to happen so fast. But no one should be surprised, at this point, that the result of the Republican primary process is Donald J. Trump as the party’s presumptive nominee for president. He has been the clear front-runner for the better part of a year. Too many observers saw the race as they thought it should be, not as it actually was. They ignored the obvious fact that Trump was gaining momentum as the primaries went on. They believed it was unthinkable that he would win, so they gave too little weight to clear evidence that he was doing just that.

I’m now seeing a lot of analysis predicting how easypeasy it will be for likely Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton to wipe the floor with Trump in the fall. Anyone buying into this story line should first try to ascertain whether it’s based on reality or wishful thinking. As for me, I’ll continue not to take anything for granted.

Republican elected officials and party leaders do not have

sacking of the GOP

time for such retrospective contemplation. They have a decision to make. The party belongs to Trump now, just as Rome belonged to the barbarians, and GOP politicians have to decide whether to fall in line or take up arms against the new order.

So far, GOP luminaries are mostly choosing collaboration over resistance – although many have so far declined comment and seem to be still pondering.

The biggest blows to Trump’s legitimacy as the standard-bearer of the Party of Lincoln were struck by the two most recent Republican presidents. Spokesmen for George H.W. Bush and George W. Bush announced that 41 and 43 have no plans to endorse Trump – an extraordinary rebuke from the family that has defined the party since the era of Ronald Reagan.

House Speaker Paul Ryan, asked if he was ready to endorse Trump, said that “I’m not there right now.” Gov. Charlie Baker of Massachusetts said he will not vote for Trump - or for Clinton, a spokeswoman added.

U.S. Senator Ben Sasse of Nebraska, who has vehemently opposed Trump, was unbowed in a lengthy Facebook post that called for a third-party candidate to emerge. Most of the rest of the party, however, seems to be boarding the Trump train, even if it might be heading over a cliff.

Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus set the tone on May 3 just minutes after Cruz’s withdrawal with a tweet

NGA is a green light to redevelop North St. Louis

By Malik Ahmed Guest columnist

The preliminary decision of the National GeospatialIntelligence Agency (NGA) to relocate its Western Headquarters to North St. Louis was a major coup for the various agencies and elected political leaders who championed the site. This will result in a major infusion of investment dollars for the city and hopefully a major victory for residents of North St. Louis. There are so many obvious benefits that the new location will bring: the city’s retention of a workforce of over 3,000 skilled workers and highpaying jobs, more than 6,000 new construction jobs, and the direct investment of over $1.75 billion to construct the new facility.

The new NGA location has the potential to revitalize a significant geographic area that will result in the area’s population growth. The business, commercial and residential growth will greatly help to stimulate enthusiasm for city living and new investments.

North St. Louis is an ideal site given its location adjacent to the city’s downtown business district. It has several strategic values: a plethora of existing and affordable housing choices, proximity to several academic institutions of higher learning and its skill-based urban workforce.

Less obvious but equally important is the impact that the new facility will have on the lives of residents with this nearly $2 billion investment in North St. Louis. These residents have endured over 50 years of disinvestment and “planned blight” of their communities.

With the NGA ‘s North

City location, residents will have access to career-pathway employment opportunities near their homes, and children in nearby communities will have access to better schools, recreational centers and live in safer neighborhoods. As these children mature, many of them are certain to play a meaningful role in the future direction of our city and region. In order to realize this progressive and forwardthinking vision, AfricanAmerican political, civic and community leaders must insist and stay vigilant to ensure that African-American businesses receive a proportionate percentage of the contracts for contractors and subcontractors committed to providing quality construction jobs to local residents. We need to accelerate job training in construction, as well as administrative positions and specialized skill development training that will be complementary to the needs of the NGA and other technical businesses that evolve from it.

Equally important is the need to focus on other North Side communities that are ripe for residential and commercial redevelopment. Better Family Life is assiduously working on the Page Corridor redevelopment plan. Our geographical footprint calls for residential and commercial development along a 1.2-mile stretch of Page Boulevard from Union Boulevard to Skinker Boulevard.

This corridor sits between two other very promising

Letters to the editor

Voter photo ID bill compromise: still bad

announcing that Trump was the presumptive nominee and that the party should unite behind him.

The most commonly stated position of prominent Republicans is that they will support “the nominee of the party.” For example, this is the view of U.S. Senator John McCain of Arizona, whom Trump cruelly ridiculed for being shot down and captured during the Vietnam War.

According to Politico, McCain said at a fundraiser last month that his re-election bid “may be the race of my life” because of Trump’s vicious rhetoric about Latino immigrants.

Some other senators facing tough battles to hold on to their seats seemed to disappear into witness protection. One who emerged, but probably shouldn’t have, was U.S. Senator Kelly Ayotte of New Hampshire, who tried to stake out the impossible position that she would “support” Trump but not “endorse” him.

South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley also said she “will support the Republican nominee for president,” treating Trump’s name like that of Lord Voldemort. Then she hastened to add her name to the growing list of rising GOP stars who say they are not interested in being considered as you-know-who’s running mate.

What does “I support the nominee” buy you?

Trump’s allegation that Mexican immigrants are “rapists.” His promise to deport 11 million people living here without papers. His pledge to ban Muslims from entering the country. His misogyny. His bigotry. His willful ignorance of foreign and domestic policy. And much, much more.

The emerging Republican message: We’re all Visigoths now.

Supporters of the current version of House Bill 1631 portray it as compromise that would be less onerous on voters who lack a governmentissued photo ID than previous versions. That might be true, but House Democrats have absolutely no confidence that this version of photo ID will long remain law if enacted.

For 11 straight years, majority Republicans have sought to impose an unnecessary photo voter ID requirement for the sole purpose of disenfranchising large numbers of Democraticleaning voters. They are not about to give up that goal.

If the accompanying constitutional amendment that is necessary to give a photo voter ID requirement legal effect is ratified, it is virtually guaranteed that next year the Republican legislative majority will swiftly replace this so-called compromise with the strict legislation that they have long desired to deprive many Missourians of their fundamental right to vote.

State Rep. Gail McCann Beatty Assistant House Minority Leader, Kansas City

New SLPS discipline code should be imitated

Tuesday, April 19, was an historic evening at the SLPS board meeting. Upon the recommendation of Superintendent Kelvin Adams and Stacy Clay, the Special Administrative Board of SLPS adopted a new student discipline code, which reflects restorative discipline and trauma-informed practices. In addition, they ended the practice of out-of-school suspensions for students in preschool through second grade.

redevelopment corridors: Delmar Boulevard and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Drive. This collective geography is vital to the city’s future development and has the potential to bridge the divide between North and South St. Louis, making for a more dynamic city.

We are currently in the final phase of completing a $16-million renovation of the Better Family Life Cultural, Educational and Business Center located at 5415 Page Blvd. Within the next four months, Better Family Life will start the renovation of three residential properties in this area. We hope to secure an additional 100 properties from the city’s LRA and St. Louis Development Corporation. Once financing is in place, we will develop these properties as affordable and marketrate housing, with a goal of providing existing residents with better housing choices and attracting millennials and new commercial businesses to Page Boulevard.

St. Louis is at a pivotal crossroad in its history. The question is: Will its business, political and civic leaders exercise visionary leadership by taking the bold steps necessary to advocate racially equitable financial investments in neglected impoverished North Side communities, or once again turn back the clock on economic justice and racial equity? We are optimistic that the time is right for a progressive agenda that includes sustainable economic empowerment of African-American businesses and communities.

Malik Ahmed is CEO of Better Family Life and a board member of the St. Louis Regional Chamber.

Metropolitan Congregations

United (MCU) and Students4Change (S4C) have consistently been the voice for ending out-of-school suspensions for students at every grade level, not only the youngest. We have been advocating for restorative discipline and trauma-informed practices for several years. Even though a first step has been taken, MCU continues to advocate the ending of all out of school suspensions, for all students at every grade level.

We can’t let any more of our children, no matter their grade level, enter the school-to-prison pipeline, which often begins with that first suspension from school.

Which school district will be next to adopt these new discipline practices and codes? After all, Missouri ranks first in the nation in out-of-school suspensions, not only SLPS. Every Missouri school district needs to put in place alternative strategies that will keep children, disproportionately African-American, out of the school-to-prison pipeline. Every school needs to have professional development for teachers and support staff to give them the tools they need to help each child be successful, not suspended. What are we waiting for?

Carolyn Randazzo

Education Task Force

Metropolitan Congregations United

Columnist Eugene Robinson

Photo by Lawrence Bryant

Delrish Moss was sworn in as Ferguson police chief on May 9.

Starbucks opens in Ferguson

made the first sale at the new Starbucks in Ferguson, 10776 West Florissant Ave., to Angie Bryant on Saturday, April 30.

Free writing workshops for veterans

The Missouri Humanities Council and the St. Louis Public Library sponsor the Veterans Writing Workshops. Returning veterans (from all services and eras), current active duty personnel, and family members are invited to take part in the workshop, which

consist of 12 standalone sessions. Participants can do one session or the full series. It is free and hosted by the Saint Louis Public Library at the Central Branch. Contact Scott Morris at 314-539-0336 or smorris@slpl.org for more specific information.

August 15 deadline for Gaines Award

Entries for the 10th annual Ernest J. Gaines Award for Literary Excellence will be accepted through August 15. The Gaines Award honors outstanding fiction – novels or short-story collections –published in 2016. Sponsored by foundation donors of the Baton Rouge Area Foundation, the Gaines Award was created to honor

outstanding literary work from rising African-American authors while recognizing Louisiana native Ernest Gaines’ extraordinary contribution to the literary world. Information on criteria and entrance forms for the award, which includes a $10,000 cash prize, is available at www.ernestjgainesaward.org

Pay attention

By Rebeccah Bennett Columnist

I just gave myself the best gift. I packed my hiking boots and deep longings for an eight-day retreat on beautiful Bowen Island in Canada’s British Columbia.

In the island’s luscious rain forest, I met up with a band of daring souls who, like me, yearn to fully know and grow themselves. Together, we explored big questions like, “What wants to happen in our lives?” and “What aspects of ourselves are really starving for our attention and affection?”

We also spent an entire day examining our immunity to change – the psychological defenses that often keep us from trying out new things and being our biggest, boldest selves.

In doing this work, we asked tougher questions like, “What is the one big change that would change everything in our lives?” “What are we doing and not doing that’s keeping us from making this change?” “What fears and worries are causing us to hold onto behaviors that no longer work?” And, “What do we believe about ourselves or our world that’s driving these fears?”

Answering these questions has helped me to see myself more clearly. I now know why I avoid vulnerability and happily embrace being in control. I also understand how not feeling good enough has frequently enticed me to settle when what I really wanted was to soar.

n What aspects of ourselves are really starving for our attention and affection?

So, what did I have to pay to gain these priceless insights? Attention Paying just a little attention to myself without my routine distractions has opened the door for greater truth and selfdiscovery. The power of attention cannot be overstated. Wherever our attention goes, our energy eventually flows. When we slow down to really look at ourselves – in all of our glory and our grime – we see beneath the surface to the very core of our beings. And this attention, when rooted in love and compassion, has the power to transform the barren parts of our lives into fertile ground for new growth.

Giving attention to ourselves is the first step in working on ourselves, healing ourselves and being ourselves. It is literally at the root of every conscious life change that we make. We can’t shift without it. So the next time you find yourself in a pattern of giving all of your attention to others, remember that paying attention to yourself is what will make your life bloom.

Rebeccah Bennett is founder of Emerging Wisdom & InPower Institute.

Rebeccah Bennett

Kourtney Triplett

Photo by Lawrence Bryant

Trump, Soyinka offered a complex philosophical argument for why the graduates should reject the kind of rhetoric offered on the Republican primary trail by Trump. The billionaire real estate developer and political neophyte has described Mexican immigrants as “rapists” and called for building a wall along the U.S.Mexican border, deporting all undocumented immigrants, and barring all Muslims from entering the United States.

Soyinka cast his argument in terms of the “versus syndrome,” the dangerous habit of casting people in oppositional terms, as one kind of person “versus” another – “old habits,” he said, “that simplify the complexity of human interactions.”

The closest Soyinka came to pinning this syndrome on Trump was when he derided “glib demonizations,” perhaps the most succinct summary of Trump’s rhetoric that has all but won him the 2016 Republican nomination for

U.S. president. Soyinka also cast his remarks in the context of “the choices that Americans are presently poised to make,” a clear reference to the November 8 general election when Americans will elect their next president.

In an interview with The American, Soyinka was much more blunt and explicit. When asked about the rise of Trump, Soyinka said that “it’s very revealing that someone who is, basically, a clown” could seriously contend for the U.S. presidency.

In his commencement speech, Soyinka cast the ascendancy of the “versus syndrome” – that is, the rise of Trump – as a backlash against America’s historic election of an African-American president in 2008. Soyinka did mention President Barack Obama by name and wittily remarked that the present White House is “at least a 90 percent AfricanAmerican household” where, from time to time, “soul food is on the menu.”

Soyinka said that the election of Obama “triggered the height of these binary oppositions,” including the primary binary opposition of white people versus

CHIEF

Continued from A1

a consent decree with the City of Ferguson. A March 2015 report by the DOJ, undertaken after the August 2014 Ferguson Police killing of unarmed teenager Michael Brown Jr., uncovered a litany of civil rights violations by Ferguson police and courts. The DOJ accused the police department of racial bias and ticketing residents to generate revenue for the city. Tom Jackson, police chief at the time of Brown’s killing and the ensuing unrest, resigned after the DOJ’s report revealed him colluding with the city manager and court clerk over raising revenue through

black people, resulting in “the highest form of race denigration.” Again, Trump was never named, but anyone able to follow Soyinka’s dense eloquence understood that he was describing the emergence of the rabid Republican base that cheers on Trump.

Soyinka challenged the Westminster graduates to reject the logic of us versus them and reclaim, instead, the power of “we,” referencing

the police department. The assistant chief, Lt. Col Al Eickhoff, took over the department while the city conducted a search.

Eventually Andre Anderson was hired as the first AfricanAmerican appointed to the position. Anderson signed a six-month contract to serve as interim chief, but resigned a month earlier than expected.

Moss said the “easiest way” to distance the police department from racial bias and predatory ticketing “is to harken back to what the priorities of policing is. The priority of policing is to make for a safer community. We’re not designed to make a profit.”

Moss, 51, was one of 54 applicants for the position. He has been a police officer since he was 20-years-old. At the

Benjamin Ola. Akande, president of Westminster College, introduced Wole Soyinka, the 1986 Nobel Laureate in Literature from Nigeria, before Soyinka delivered the college’s 2016 commencement address on Saturday, May 7.

one of Obama’s campaign slogans from 2008, when these graduates were too young to vote or even to drive a motor vehicle.

“You already possess that armor of invincibility that reads: ‘Yes, we can,’” Soyinka said to conclude his commencement address.

Soyinka – who has published books in nearly every genre, including plays, novels, poems, memoirs and

Miami Police Department he served as a patrolman, in the narcotics unit, homicide and public communications. Moss left the department as a senior executive assistant, which he said combined public information responsibilities with community relations.

Moss said his police duties combined with life experiences as a black man have prepared him for his role in Ferguson.

“I’ve been training for Ferguson my entire life,” Moss said.

“I’ve lived in a neighborhood where we had civil unrest. As a person living there, I saw the unique challenges that come about. And a few years later I was police officer where we also had civil unrest, and I was a young police officer

diatribes – has a philosophical cast of mind, though he tends to be more confrontational and less suggestive than he was at Westminster. He may have skirted a more blunt attack on Trump out of respect for his host, a Yoruba man from Nigeria conducting his first commencement as the first black president of a college in a mid-Missouri town that is 81 percent white. Fulton is the county seat

responding to it.”

Around 30 of Moss’s close friends, coworkers and family attended his swearing-in ceremony.

Miami Police Sgt. Allan Davis has known Moss since he joined the Miami Police Department 28 years ago. Davis, who is black, said being an African-American police officer is challenging, especially after recent protests of law-enforcement practices across the country, but believes Moss is the best person for the job.

“It’s always challenging,” Davis said. “With our race, we’re always presented with challenges, no matter what the job is. It’s just another one.”

Jeron Forshee, 38, is a cousin of Moss’ who has lived in the St. Louis region for seven years. When Moss

of Callaway County. In 2008, voters in Callaway County chose John McCain – and Sarah Palin – over Obama and Joe Biden by a huge margin of 59 to 41 percent. In 2012, they close Mitt Romney over Obama by an almost 2:1 margin, 64 to 33 percent. Soyinka was more biting – that is, more himself – in the very brief remarks he made at a reception in his honor the evening before commencement. Westminster College is home to a Winston Churchill museum and reveres the memory of the former British prime minister (and, like Soyinka, a recipient of the Nobel Prize in Literature, in Churchill’s case in 1953) who put the college on the map with his “Iron Curtain” speech. Yet Soyinka was anything but reverential about Churchill, who fought colonial wars in Africa for the British kingdom that colonized Nigeria. To a small crowd of faculty from Westminster and the neighboring University of Missouri Columbia, Soyinka described Churchill as “an unapologetic colonialist and exploiter.” Follow this reporter on Twitter @chriskingstl.

accepted the position, Forshee said he warned his cousin about the racial divide in the region.

“In Miami, it’s not a melting pot. It’s almost like a salad bowl. It has pockets of the Cuban community, Asian community, Caucasian community and the black community. They’re all mixed,” Forshee told The American “In St. Louis, basically you have the African-American population over here, then you have the Caucasians. It probably has more to do with class. It’s the haves and havenots.”

This story is published as part of a partnership between The American and The Huffington Post.

Photo by Rebecca Barr / Westminster College

FERGUSON

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the priorities identified by the Ferguson Commission to drive economic growth and collaboration in the St. Louis region and make a tangible difference in people’s lives,” said George Paz, president of Civic Progress and chairman of Express Scripts, which is headquartered just four miles from Ferguson Ground Zero.

Civic Progress is an organization of top executives from the largest companies in the St. Louis area. The donations are part of its larger commitment to invest $2 million over the next four years in organizations that are working on recommendations from the Ferguson Commission’s “Forward Through Ferguson” report.

The Urban League received $100,000 for its Community Empowerment Center, which is currently under construction at the former QuikTrip site in Ferguson. This donation brings Civic Progress’ total investment in this project to

MOTHER

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She and LeFlore will discuss the book at a talk presented by Left Bank Books at Christ Church Cathedral, 1210 Locust St., next Tuesday, May 17 – three days before what would have been Brown’s 20th birthday.

McSpadden gives a brutally honest look from her vantage point. The book teeters between a memoir, a tribute to her son and first-person account of her experiences in the core of the frenzy following his death.

Hundreds of people took to the streets in protest for months, and a small segment of them expressed their rage through arson and looting.

“I was furious,” McSpadden writes. “These people were disrespecting the memory of Mike Mike, and none of this

$245,000.

“This building, like a phoenix rising out of the ashes, will serve as a beacon of hope to Ferguson residents in the aftermath of the crisis,” said Linda Harris, senior vice president of administration and compliance, Urban League of Metropolitan St. Louis.

The center will house the Save Our Sons employment program, which has helped more than 200 men find jobs, she said. It will also offer services from the Salvation Army, Provident, Better Family Life, the University of Missouri Extension and the Lutheran Church of Missouri-Synod.

Better Family Life (BFL) also received $100,000 for its community outreach efforts to transform at-risk individuals and reclaim high-crime neighborhoods.

“We believe the socialservice industry is in dire need of a paradigm shift,” said James Clark, vice president of community outreach, BFL.

The most important shift needed is in the role of the outreach workers who “show up on the front porches” of the homes that need services most,

was going to do any good for my cause – seeking justice for my son.”

Because of Brown’s death, Ferguson became the keyword for dysfunctional policing, systemic racism, implicit bias and the demonization of young black males.

Ferguson also reflected a new generation of activists who rose to the occasion. It started from the streets of Canfield Green Apartments while her son’s body was still on the ground.

Instead of being able to process his death, she had to deal with reporters shoving microphones in her face and law-enforcement officials ignoring her.

“The cops told me nothing, no matter how loud I screamed, cursed or punched the air,” McSpadden writes. “Time kept ticking. One hour, two hours, three, then four, then four and a half.”

The thought of a mother

George Paz, president of Civic Progress and chairman of Express Scripts, presented a $100,000 donation from Civic Progress to Better Family Life, represented by President Malik Ahmed and Vice President James Clark, on Monday, May 9 at the Urban League of Metropolitan St. Louis’ North County office.

he said. Six men from the BFL Neighborhood Alliance –whom Clark called “warriors”

trying to get to the bottom of why her son lay dead while he is lying there before her eyes is almost too much to bear.

“Covered or not covered, he was left out like old rotting garbage,” McSpadden writes.

“Leaving somebody’s child out there like the police did wasn’t procedure, or protocol, or even human.

My baby’s body, underneath a white sheet, motionless. The bullet had blown his red cap off and was resting quietly several feet away. Then time just stopped and so did my breath.”

While grieving for her baby, she had to defend his character – and her own – after attacks on his behavior and her parenting skills were offered as to justify the fatal shooting of the unarmed 18-year-old.

McSpadden shares the story of how her son came into the world and the lives he touched as a big, bright, curious child

– attended the press conference. When brought to scale, Clark said, BFL will place 50 outreach workers and 25

with a knack for bringing his family together.

At the time of his death, he was turning a new chapter for his family. He had his high school diploma and was days away from his first day at Vatterott College.

As a 16 year-old mother, McSpadden did not finish school, but she was able to experience the accomplishment vicariously through him. She takes readers from her humble beginnings in North St. Louis and gives them the straight, no-chaser of her life story.

After years of instability and turmoil, the mother of four writes that she was finally in a good place before the bottom fell out with the loss of her beloved son.

“They took Mike Mike’s body away and didn’t even allow me to give him a proper goodbye,” McSpadden writes. “Maybe I wouldn’t have

case managers in positions to serve individuals and families residing in neighborhoods under toxic social stress, he said.

“Too many children live in hellacious conditions that they call home,” Clark said.

The outreach team is responsible for 723 families seeking services from BFL, when they normally would not have come forward to seek help, he said.

“This model will bring immediate and longterm stability in our more challenged neighborhoods,” Clark said. “It will address the most pressing need for resolve in the St. Louis metropolitan area, which is the escalating culture of crime and violence.”

University of Missouri

– St. Louis received $164,000 for its School Leadership for Innovation and Design Master’s degree and certification program, which helps to transform schools by improving teaching and student learning. Over the past few years, UMSL faculty members have worked with community leaders and school

wanted to see him like he was, but I’m his mama. That should have been my choice. They said it was because this was an official police investigation. But how are the police going to investigate themselves?”

She details the second wave of grief she suffered while going through the legal process – including hoping for an indictment of the police officer who killed her son and the frustration that came with not getting one. Her disappointment with the Department of Justice after being so optimistic that they were investigating was especially palpable. She found her purpose through her Michael O.D. Brown We Love Our Sons & Daughters Foundation –particularly the Rainbow of Mothers, which is a support system for mothers who have lost children.

administrators to develop a new leadership program, said James Shuls, assistant professor of educational leadership and policy studies at UMSL.

“The goal has always been to help build a bench of school leaders who will be changeagents in their schools and the community,” Shuls said.

In tandem, Civic Progress gave $100,000 to Riverview Gardens School District and $50,000 to FergusonFlorissant School District to fund fellowships in UMSL’s master’s degree and certification program.

STL Youth Jobs received $100,000 to fund employment for 40 at-risk youth this summer.

“As youth unemployment is higher than any other working-age group, this lack of connectedness to employment has dire consequences for our region’s young people and our economy,” said Hillary Frey, executive director of STL Youth Jobs. “It is critical that the business community play a leading role in the investment of our future workforce.”

“Life now is so different and new to me,” McSpadden writes in the epilogue, which is a letter she wrote to her son in February of this year. “This is real hard, Mike Mike, because you were supposed to be here with us. But I’m going to be strong. I have to be for you. I’ve accepted that you were God’s before you were mine. He just let me borrow you for 18 years – 18 of the most incredible, tough, beautiful years of my life.” Left Bank Books conversation with Lezley McSpadden and Lyah Beth LeFlore, authors of “Tell the Truth & Shame the Devil: The Life, Legacy, and Love of My Son Michael Brown,” will take place at 7 p.m. Tuesday, May 17 at Christ Church Cathedral, 1210 Locust. For more information, visit www. left-bank.com.

Slack sues Stenger and county government

Annette Slack, the former executive director for St. Louis County’s Office of Community Empowerment and Diversity Program manager, filed a lawsuit against the county government on Friday, May 6 for “retaliatory termination” and defamation.

“She was retaliated against for questioning the administration’s commitment to minority contractors and minorities in general,” said Slack’s attorney Robert Ramsey at a press conference on May 6, held in front of the St. Louis County

Administration building. “In the process of eliminating her, they seem to go out of their way to go after her character.”

On February 28, County Executive Steve Stenger dismissed Slack, who was responsible for facilitating and overseeing the county’s disparity study. The study is meant to analyze the number of minority businesses in the region and to help establish fair goals for employing minorities on government contracts. Ramsey said that Slack was dismissed for questioning why the county was not

moving forward on the study – an action that the AfricanAmerican community has long been pushing for.

Slack told The American she had no idea her dismissal was coming. She said Stenger’s team came to her at 4 p.m. on a Monday and told her she had been using her computer to grade her students’ tests. (Slack teaches a night class one day a week.)

And they said that she helped her nieces out of a traffic ticket

using county resources. She said that was not true. She did help her nieces, but did so as an attorney, not a county employee.

A county spokesman told The American in March that he could not explain why Stenger chose to dismiss her because it was a personnel matter.

The lawsuit states that Slack was hired on April 5, 2015 and was told that she would have “the power and authority to implement programs that benefitted African Americans in the community.”

“That representation turned out to be false,” the court document states.

She discovered that her department was “allocated little or no budget.” The lawsuit states that Slack completed a proposal for the disparity study and presented it to the “defendants,” which are Stenger, three of his staff members and the county government. After Slack produced her initial draft of the request for proposals (RFP), Stenger’s team did not allow her to participate in any further actions on the study, the lawsuit states, and her request for updates were ignored.

It states that Slack overheard Shannon Weber, Stenger’s legislative affairs coordinator, in the hallway outside of her office “graphically expressing her displeasure with having to conduct” the disparity study.

On February 8, she claimed, she was asked to attend a Missouri Department of Transportation Contractor Symposium, where many minority contractors often participate. She said she told Jeff Wagener, the county’s chief of policy, that she would likely be asked about the disparity study and inquired about its status. She said Wagener did not provide her one, and she was indeed confronted by contractors at the meeting.

While at the symposium, she said, she sent stronglyworded text messages to county spokesman Cordell Whitlock and Wagener, one stating, “I

should know this information, it’s embarrassing! Proves what everyone is saying this is a name only position.”

Jared Boyd, president of the Mound City Bar Association, said he filed a Sunshine law request with the county on March 14 to obtain any documents related to policy and procedures that would support Slack’s termination.

He also requested any emails sent to members of the media, where he said Stenger’s office leaked documents regarding Slack’s alleged wrongdoings. Such documents would likely be considered “personnel matters,” he said, and closed to public view. Boyd said he has not received any response and has filed a complaint with the attorney general’s office.

The lawsuit states that on March 1, the St. Louis Post Dispatch reported information – which, it claimed, Stenger and Whitlock gave to the newspaper – that Slack “used a county computer to prepare a syllabus and exam questions for a course in ‘Human Resource Management.’” Stenger’s team also leaked to the press that they found graded student papers that were allegedly prepared by Slack while on duty, the lawsuit states.

Whitlock and Stenger “made false public statement on television implying that [Slack] was in effect stealing from the county by doing private work for profit on county time and using county computers,” the court pleadings state.

In a statement to The American, Stenger wrote, “This lawsuit is without merit and contains false allegations. All the personnel actions taken were proper.”

The court documents also state that she did not have a second job and the documents found on her computer were backups.

As far as using the county’s computer for personal use, Ramsey said the county’s leader has far more egregious abuses to answer for. The lawsuit states that Stenger and other employees “have long

Rev. Darryl Gray and other clergy expressed support for Annette Slack at a press conference in front of the St. Louis County Administration building on Friday, May 6. Slack sued St. Louis county government and its leadership for defaming her character in the handling of her dismissal.

had a custom and policy of using their official positions to improperly further their private interests.

Defendant Stenger and St. Louis County Police Chief Jon Belmar recently sent official letters to federal authorities to influence the federal court to grant leniency to a large scale drug dealer.”

Ramsey said at the press conference, “I don’t see them being terminated.”

Stenger recently created a furor when he wrote a letter to a district judge on behalf of Michael Saracino II, a nephew of John Saracino, then Stenger’s director of constituent services (he since resigned) and a key member of Stenger’s campaign team.

The younger Saracino was sentenced in December to 24 months in federal prison after pleading guilty to possession and intent to distribute more than 1,000 kilos of marijuana.

“Based on my experience with Michael and his family, I respectfully request that you grant him leniency in your sentencing for the crimes he has committed,” Stenger wrote to the court.

Stenger said he met Saracino when the young man served him at one of his family’s restaurants. “He provides excellent service to all of his customers,” Stenger wrote to the judge.

Rev. Darryl Gray, a representative of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, along with other clergy attended the press conference in support of Slack.

“The eyes of the civil rights community have not looked away from Missouri, since the Ferguson Unrest,” Gray said. “Missouri is targeted as Ground Zero for the new Civil Rights Movement. Our organizations, our community, stand with Ms. Slack in her efforts to seek accountability, justice, restitution, and the clearing of her name and reputation.”

For those who don’t know

Steven Harmon, candidate for St. Louis circuit attorney, is claiming this on the campaign trail: “For those who don’t know, the circuit attorney’s office has 59 attorneys, only three are African-American. Support staff, to my knowledge, there are no African Americans. So I would bring diversity back to recruiting and hiring to make the office more reflective to the City of St. Louis.” For those who don’t know – a category that includes Harmon, in this instance –Jennifer Joyce’s staff is far more diverse than that, though indeed still far whiter than the city as a whole. She has five, not three, black attorneys on staff, and one of them is a manager. There are 21, not zero, black support staff in the office: eight investigators, two victim advocates and 11 clerical staff. Four of those supporting staff are managers; one is detached from the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department.

Joyce supplied all the names for these individuals to The American, but asked that they not be printed, claiming it puts them at risk to be publicly identified. We respect her request without co-signing on the claim that naming black employees of a prosecutor would endanger them in any way.

Photo by Rebecca Rivas

4th Annual Young Artist Exhibition Opening Reception

Courtney M. Baxter, Romare Bearden Graduate Minority Fellow 2015-2016

Fifteen local teen artists have been chosen by Saint Louis Art Museum’s Teen Arts Council to be exhibited at the Museum’s Student Gallery from more than 100 art submissions across the St. Louis metro area. These exceptional artworks will be exhibited as part of the fourth annual Young Artist Exhibition, and we are inviting everyone to come celebrate these artists’ achievements on Saturday, May 14 at Saint Louis Art Museum!

The Young Artist Exhibition encouraged teen artists from the St. Louis metro area to submit their best artwork for the chance special chance to have their work on view at Saint Louis Art Museum’s Student Gallery. This year the Young Artist Exhibition is titled Making Peace. Student artists were encouraged to submit two-dimensional artwork that explored the theme of what peace means personally to them and what it could look like.

Teen Arts Council, composed of local art-minded teens, was responsible for judging the artworks and they did so based solely on the artwork. The resulting exhibition, on view beginning May 14 until September 2016, is a balanced and exciting mix of mediums from oil paintings to digital photography.

The following artists were accepted to participate in Young Artist Exhibition: Alyssa Ogle (MICDS), Amra Bektic (Hancock HS), Chunyang “Trey” Wang, (Thomas Jefferson School), Daisie Gebhardt (Lindenwood University), Dariann Louder (McCluer North HS), Ejla Zeric (Melville HS), Emily Lesorogol (Ladue Horton Watkins HS), Erica Miller (Central VPA HS), Grace Ray (Lutheran HS South), Hope Hebrank (Visitation Academy), Kristen Lassa (Rockwood Summit), Lukas Smith ( St. Joan of Arc Catholic School), Nina Monafo ( Nerinx Hall HS), Sophia Spaid (Lutheran HS South), and Tommy Larsen (MICDS).

The opening reception for Making Peace is an all ages

event which is free and open to the public. When you come you’ll have a chance to not only to see the art but to also meet the artists themselves, have some refreshments, and enjoy our teen performance showcase in the Museum’s Farrell Auditorium. Performers will include local acclaimed teen jazz musician Christian X.M. McGhee (Westminster Academy), dancers from Dimensions Dance Center, and a local teen band composed of Joe Phillips (Duchesne HS), Sean Coogan (Christian Brothers College Prep), and Kristen Pike, (Francis Howell North HS). There will also be a raffle to win two art supplies gift bags at 1:30 pm! To learn more about this and future Young Artist Exhibitions as well as Teen Arts Council, please visit slam.org and Saint Louis Art Museum’s Facebook page.

Young Artist Exhibition 2016: Making Peace opening reception hosted by SLAM Teen Arts Council

Student Gallery (next to Farrell Auditorium), Saint Louis Art Museum Saturday, May 14, 2016, 1-3pm Light refreshments will be served

Free and open to the public and two raffle giveaways!

Teens engaging with teen artwork at a Student Gallery opening in 2015 at Saint Louis Art Museum.

War on tobacco

Vaping, e-cigs now under FDA regulation

By Sandra Jordan Of The St. Louis American

The federal Food and Drug Administration imposed new regulations on e-cigarettes, hookahs and other tobacco products.

The FDA’s Center for Tobacco Products finalized rule announced on May 5 regulates e-cigarettes, dissolvables, pipe tobacco, hookah tobacco, cigars and extends to novel and future products.

The rule helps implement the bipartisan Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco

Control Act of 2009 and allows the FDA to improve public health and protect future generations from the dangers of tobacco use through a variety of steps, including restricting the sale of these tobacco products to minors nationwide.

“We have more to do to help protect Americans from the dangers of tobacco and nicotine, especially our youth. As cigarette smoking among those under 18 has fallen, the use of other nicotine products, including e-cigarettes, has taken a drastic leap. All of this is creating a new generation of Americans who are at risk of addiction,” said HHS Secretary Sylvia Burwell. She went on to say it is an important step in the fight for a tobacco-free generation – to help catch up with changes in the marketplace, put into place rules that protect children while giving adults information they need to make informed decisions.

n “We know very little about what chemicals the e-cigarettes contain and the health effects of chronic inhaled exposure to those chemicals.”

– SLUCare pulmonologist David Stoeckel, M.D.

“We know very little about what chemicals the e-cigarettes contain and the health effects of chronic inhaled exposure to those chemicals. It is very likely that many of the chemicals contained in these products will adversely affect user’s lungs or other organ systems,” SLUCare pulmonologist David Stoeckel, M.D. said. “Presently, I advise my patients not to use e-cigarettes. Hopefully, oversight by the FDA will help answer questions regarding the short and long term effects of e-cigarette use.”

Stuart Sweet, M.D., medical director of the pediatric lung transplant program at St. Louis Children’s Hospital, said the FDA decision to regulate e-cigarettes, and prohibit sales to minors, is a critical first step in warding off the threat they pose to our children.

“In addition to the risks nicotine poses to the developing adolescent brain, e-cigarettes can serve as a gateway for other tobacco products and substance abuse,” Sweet added. “The FDA rule will hopefully stem this tide, however, children’s health will remain at risk as long

Racial disparities in breast cancer

By Jovita Oruwari, MD FACS

Cancer affects more than 1.6 million Americans annually and is the second leading cause of death in the United States, exceeded only by heart disease. It occurs when the normal orderly process of cell growth and division fail, therefore cells grow uncontrollably forming growths or tumors. One in three Americans will get some form of cancer in their lifetime and it will account for one of every four deaths. Cancer can be caused by both modifiable factors like tobacco or radiation or by non-modifiable factors like genetic mutations or hormones. These factors may act together to initiate or promote the start of cancer. Often times some years will pass between exposure to detectable cancer.

n Although Caucasian women are more likely to develop breast cancer, African American women are more likely to die from the disease.

For women, regardless of ethnicity, breast cancer is the most common cancer type and will start in the breast tissue. Over 200,000 women in the United States will be diagnosed with breast cancer annually and over 40,000 will die from the disease. It is interesting to note that although Caucasian women are more likely to develop breast cancer, African American women are more likely to die from the disease. Even when diagnosed at the same stage, African American women still have a lower survival. And at diagnosis, the cancers tend to be at a later and more advanced stage. African American women are more likely to have more aggressive subtypes like the triple negative breast cancer which is more likely to metastasize, recur and less responsive to standard therapy. Furthermore when cancers are diagnosed at later or advanced stages the likelihood of chemotherapy and mastectomy are higher.

What is not entirely clear is why the disparity. The causes are believed to be complex and probably reflect social, economic and biological differences associated with race. Social and economic barriers to early detection and screening could be lack of medical coverage, therefore not being able to get health care and not following up after getting abnormal results. Other reasons may include distrust of the health care system and the belief that mammograms are not needed. Unequal access to improvements in cancer treatment may also contribute to observed differences in survival. Biologic differences are seen in recent research indicating that aggressive breast tumors

A10

ST. LOUIS AMERICAN • MAY 12 – 18, 2016

Jovita Oruwari, MD

Opioid crackdown

Access to tough pain medicine now harder for sickle cell patients

By Durrie Bouscaren

St. Louis Public Radio

Growing up, as the searing pain of a sickle cell crisis would spread through her veins, Tanjila Bolden-Myers would ask her mother if this time, it would kill her.

“I ask her now to this day, ‘Mom, how did you look me in my face and not break? Every time I asked you that?’” said Bolden-Myers, now 38. “And she was like, ‘No, baby, you’re not going to die this time. You’re not going to die.’”

Many people with sickle cell disease will die prematurely, but treatment is improving.

Doctors believe that the pain of a sickle cell crisis comes from the patient’s crescent-shaped red blood cells building up in the veins and cutting off oxygen to tissue and bones. If it persists, the lack of oxygen can damage vital organs. During a crisis, powerful painkillers are often the only relief.

But opioid-based medications are also highly addictive and have come under increased scrutiny as the rate of overdoses rises among the general public. In the emergency room, doctors frequently worry that the person in front of them is one of the estimated 1.9 million Americans who are addicted to pain pills, or one of the 19,000 or so who will die each year from an overdose, according to the American Society of Addiction Medicine.

At the same time, St. Louisans living with sickle cell

For sickle cell patients, opioids are often the only pain relief. But growing rates of addiction among the general public mean emergency room doctors are more cautious than ever in prescribing those

medications, causing challenges for sickle cell patients.

disease report extended wait times in emergency rooms, difficulty filling prescriptions and accusations of “drug seeking” — faking their pain to get additional narcotics.

Bolden-Myers works as a behavioral health specialist for St. Louis Public Schools and manages most of her pain with the Vicodin she keeps at home in a locked safe. Occasionally, an infection will trigger a pain so severe she has to be admitted to the hospital for a blood transfusion and other treatment.

CANCER

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are more common in African American women. These more

RULE

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as products such as these continue to appeal to our youth.”

The final rule goes into effect on August 9 and will subject all manufacturers, importers and retailers of newly-regulated tobacco products to any applicable provisions related to tobacco products in the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act and FDA regulations, including:

• Registering manufacturing

aggressive forms are also seen in women in African countries. More research is underway to better fully understand what the implications are. Currently, we do not know how to prevent breast cancer,

establishments and providing product listings to the FDA;

• Reporting ingredients, and harmful and potentially harmful constituents;

• Requiring premarket review and authorization of new tobacco products by the FDA;

• Placing health warnings on product packages and advertisements; and

• Not selling modified-risk tobacco products (including those described as “light,”

“I have had to title drop, name drop, to say I have this degree and that degree, and say that I’m a certified [trained] counselor,” Bolden-Myers recounted. “I’m in tears, or I’m crying, or I’m rocking and moaning, and you just want to assume that I’m drug seeking.”

Implicit bias in the E.R.

At the center of situations like Boden-Myers’ are issues of race and class. Sickle cell disease is hereditary and

primarily affects people of African descent. The disease is also relatively common in Central and South America, Asia and the Middle East. U.S. health care providers say many of their patients come from low-income backgrounds and qualify for Medicaid coverage. When doctors believe they have to identify pill-seekers in emergency settings, but can’t reach a patient’s physician to verify a treatment method, implicit bias can fill the void.

“The default is, ‘This is a

young black kid looking for drugs,’” said Dr. Allison King, a hematologist at St. Louis Children’s Hospital. She said most of the problems happen when her young adult patients visit unfamiliar emergency rooms. Protocols are already in place to fast-track pediatric patients.

“It’s almost like you have to carry some type of proof that you have sickle cell disease if you’re in an outlying area, in order to get pain meds quickly,” King said.

Based on the limited research that exists, less than 10 percent of people with sickle cell disease will develop a substance abuse issue, King said. That’s about the same rate of addiction as health care workers, and very close to that of the general public.

Providers estimate that about a thousand people are living with sickle cell disease in the St. Louis region. Of the seven patients St. Louis Public Radio met for this story, one shared a story of abusing opioids briefly after a traumatic experience, before receiving addiction treatment. That patient, and five others, reported being accused of pill-seeking in the emergency room, leading to delays in care or lower doses of medication.

“The average wait is four hours,” said Teara Norris, 30, who was diagnosed with sickle cell disease as a toddler and avoids going to the emergency room unless her pain is unbearable. The hours spent in hospitals takes away from her work as a manager of a beauty salon and barber shop, and from her time at home with her 9-yearold son.

“They will give you an extra-strength Tylenol,” Norris said. “They underestimate sickle cell and what it does, the effects that it has on your body long term.”

This frustration is not unique to patients in St. Louis. One study six years ago found that people with sickle cell disease waited almost twice as long as patients with kidney stones in the emergency room, even though they rated their pain higher on a one-to-10 scale.

The complete story is posted at stlamerican.com.

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

Free spay/neuter event through month of May

BARC St. Louis, Carol House Quick Fix, and the City of St. Louis Animal Care and Control (ACC) are extending this year’s “FREE Pit Fix” event through the month of May. “This is a great chance for low-income pit bull and pit mix owners to get their animals spayed/neutered, vaccinated, tagged, and microchipped for free” said Melba Moore, the acting director and commissioner of health for the City of St. Louis Department of Health. Complaints received by the ACC often include pit bulls and pit mix breeds. These breeds also stay the longest at the City’s animal shelter. Any dog impounded by ACC cannot leave the shelter without being spayed or neutered.

Most animal ordinances in the City of St. Louis cover ani-

so risk reduction strategies are encouraged. Breast cancer screening is done with mammograms and clinical breast exam and means looking for cancer signs before there are symptoms. With clinical breast

“low,” or “mild”) unless authorized by the FDA. In addition, there are several provisions aimed at restricting youth access to tobacco products, including:

• Not allowing products to be sold to persons under the age of 18 years (both in-person and online);

• Requiring age verification by photo ID;

• Not allowing the selling of tobacco products in vending machines (unless in an adult-only facility); and

exam, a doctor examines the breast for any signs of abnormalities. Both allow us to find the cancer earlier when it is most treatable and gives a woman more treatment options.

• Not allowing the distribution of free samples.

Smoking is the leading cause of preventable disease and death in the United States and responsible for 480,000 deaths per year. While there has been a significant decline in the use of traditional cigarettes among youth over the past decade, their use of other tobacco products continues to climb. A recent survey supported by the FDA and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shows current e-cigarette use among high school students has skyrocketed

mal registration, vaccination, leash requirements, feces removal, tethering, pet limits, and prohibited pets. In 2014, the majority of animal ordinance complaints came from citizens in Wards 11 and 20 on the southeast side of the City, when the ACC received 1,487 ordinance violation complaints through the City of St. Louis Citizens’ Service Bureau. The investigation of those complaints resulted in 74 court summons being issued by ACC officers. To take advantage of the “Free Pit Fix” services, residents should call the Carol House Quick Fix Pet Clinic at (314) 771PETS (7387) to see if they qualify and if so, schedule an appointment. The clinic is located at 1218 S. Jefferson, St. Louis, MO 63104.

Women at higher risk may need mammograms and breast exams at an earlier age or more often. The doctor might want to use other tests too.

It is important that a woman let her doctor know of any

from 1.5 percent in 2011 to 16 percent in 2015 (an over 900 percent increase) and hookah use has risen significantly. In 2015, 3 million middle and high school students were current e-cigarette users, and data showed high school boys smoked cigars at about the same rate as cigarettes. Additionally, a joint study by the FDA and the National Institutes of Health shows that in 2013-2014, nearly 80 percent of current youth tobacco users reported using a flavored tobacco product in the past 30 days – with the availability of appealing flavors consistently

changes in her breast, such as a lumps, skin changes or nipple discharge. Other ways for risk reduction include limiting alcohol intake, not smoking, exercise and eating a healthy diet.

cited as a reason for use.

“Too many children and teens are using e-cigarettes, cigars and other tobacco products,” said Harold P. Wimmer, National President and CEO of the American Lung Association. “At last, the Food and Drug Administration will have basic authority to make science-based decisions that will protect our nation’s youth and the public health from all tobacco products, including e-cigarettes, cigars and hookah.”

Photo by Carolina Hidalgo/St. Louis Public Radio

powerful

Tanjila BoldenMyers

NEWSPAPER IN EDUCATION

Healthy Kids Kids

Careers

Smart Summer Eating!

Staying Active (Naturally) DuringSummer!the

Smart Choices

Once you’re out of school, many of you may have a lot of extra time on your hands to be snacking. Resist the urge to eat sweet, salty, fried and high-calorie non-nutritious snacks this summer.

Create a Smart Summer Eating plan with your parents. Ask their help in finding nutritious snacks and meals for the summer.

As the weather gets warmer, there are many ways that we can enjoy ourselves outdoors and stay healthy over the summer. Some naturally active things you can do include:

> Help with yard work: planting, weeding, etc.

> Walking to the store when possible.

> Wash your parent’s car.

> Play, play, play outside as much as you can!

Delicious juicy, ripe fruits are all around and are healthy for you too! Make it your goal to come back to school in the fall healthier and happier!

Review: What are some nutrition tips you learned by following The St. Louis American’s Healthy Kids page this school year? Send your answers to nie@stlamerican.com.

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

Staying active, getting your heart rate up and opening your lungs will help you start off next school year happier and healthier!

Review: What are some exercise tips you learned by following The St. Louis American’s Healthy Kids page this school year? Send your answers to nie@ stlamerican.com.

Learning Standards:

Charlita Dunn Registered Nurse

Where do you work? I work at St. Louis Children’s Hospital. Where did you go to school? I graduated from East St. Louis Sr. High School and earned an Associate of Nursing and Associate of Fine Arts from Southwestern Illinois College in Belleville, Illinois, a Bachelor of Science in Nursing from McKendree University in Lebanon, Illinois, and a Master in Nursing from the University of Missouri, St. Louis.

What does a registered nurse do? I help take care of kids when they are sick. I also draw and color pictures with the kids, and give them new stickers of the cartoon characters they love to see. I enjoy listening to the patient tell me about their favorite cartoon characters on TV.

Over the last 35 weeks we have discussed many smart choices that you can make to help you stay safe and healthy. Break into small groups and list as many Smart Choices that your group remembers. Now individually, choose one that you think is very important. Describe in your own words what that smart choice is, and how you can remember to make the right choice in the future. Name a new, “smart choice“ that you will make this summer.

Learning Standards: HPE 1, HPE 2, HPE 5, NH 1, NH5, NH 7

Apple-wich

Directions: Carefully

the

Why did you choose this career? I love helping people. I enjoy making a difference in a child’s life and helping families take care of their loved ones to the best of my ability. When a child is ill, the families need someone to listen to their needs, hold their hands, and have someone who will be there for their child, and that is the part I love about being a nurse.

What is your favorite part of the job you have?

My favorite part of the job is seeing a child who was very sick when they arrived at the hospital — and the joy of watching them leave with a smile on their face when they are well.

Learning Standards: HPE6, NH3

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

Buder Elementary School 4th grade teacher, Brittanie Clement, shows students Jayla Law and Victor Berry how to research and design a water filtration system as a STEM lesson. Buder Elementary is in the St. Louis Public Schools District.

by Wiley Price/ St. Louis American

CLASSROOM SPOTLIGHT SCIENCE STARS

African-American Inventions in the Summer Super Soaker

SCIENCE CORNER

Most people love to spend time outdoors in the sun during the summer. In order to stay safe in the summer heat, remember these important rules from the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

> The temperature inside a parked car heats up very quickly. Never leave pets or children inside a parked car in the summer months, even if the windows are cracked open.

> Wear loose, light-colored clothing (dark colors absorb the heat and raise your body temperature).

SCIENCE EXPERIMENT

Staying Safe in the Heat

> Wear clothing that covers as much of your skin as possible to protect against the sun’s UV rays.

> Choose sunscreen with a minimum of 15 SPF, with UVA and UVB protection. Remember water and sweat can wash away the sunscreen, so reapply sunscreen every hour.

> Sunglasses are important to protect your eyes from damage.

> Schedule outdoor activities in the morning and evening when the

temperatures are not as severe.

> Stay hydrated with plenty of water. This will allow your body to sweat and naturally decrease your temperature.

> Stay cool with baths and showers. For information about staying safe during the summer, visit: http://www.pbs.org/parents/summer/ summer-safety-tips-for-kids/.

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

Build a Thermometer

In this experiment, you will build a thermometer and watch what happens to water levels as the temperature drops.

Materials Needed:

• 16-ounce Plastic bottle • Warm water

• Food coloring • Clear plastic straw • Clay

• Bowl of ice • Marker

Procedure:

q Fill the bottle to the very top with warm water and color it with a few drops of food coloring.

w Put 1/3 of the straw into the bottle. Use clay to seal the bottle closed so that the straw sticks straight up. When you do this, you’ll see some water go up the straw.

MATH CONNECTION

z If it is 86 degrees in St. Louis and 7 degrees warmer in Houston, what is the temperature in Houston? __________

x If it is 73 degrees at 7 a.m. and the temperature rises 2 degrees an hour, what temperature will it be at 1 p.m.? ______

c If the actual temperature is 87 degrees, but the heat index is 96 degrees, what is the difference between those two temperatures?

e Mark off the water level in the straw so that you know where it was when you started.

r Stick the bottle in the bowl of ice and watch what happens to the level of water in the straw.

t Stick the bottle in a warm area (such as next to a sunny window) and watch what happens to the level of water in the straw.

y Analyze: Why does temperature affect water level?

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

Temperature

v If it is 85 degrees in Chicago, 89 degrees in Memphis, 96 degrees in San Francisco, and 78 degrees in Portland, what is the average temperature? __________

Arrange the temperatures from least to greatest _______________ What is the difference between the highest and lowest temperatures? __________

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

In the United States, over 650 million longdistance summer trips are made.

When it is summer in the Southern Hemisphere, it is winter in the Northern Hemisphere.

Do you enjoy water gun fights on a hot day?

Did you know the super soaker, the high-powered water gun that has reached nearly $1 billion in sales, was invented by Lonnie Johnson?

Johnson began tinkering with inventions as a young child and is now a nuclear engineer and former NASA scientist, where he worked in the Jet Propulsion Lab and helped design the Cassini robot probe that flew to Saturn. He holds more than 80 patents. He is board chairman of the Georgia Alliance for Children and a member of the 100 Black Men of Atlanta, and mentors high school and college students. He was inducted into the State of Alabama Engineering Hall of Fame in 2011.

Golf Tee

Golf is a sport enjoyed by people of all ages, especially in warm summer weather. Dr. George Franklin Grant received U.S. patent No. 638,920 for the golf tee on Dec. 12, 1899. Grant, a dentist, enjoyed playing golf with his friends. However, he did not enjoy having to pinch mounds of sand together to create a spot to hit the golf ball, especially after 18 holes. It created a mess and was tedious work. He invented the golf tee and patented it, but he never sold it to make money. He chose to give them to his friends. In 1991, the United States Golf Association gave him recognition for his invention.

Ice Cream Scoop

What is summer without a sweet ice cream treat? Before the ice cream scoop was invented, ice cream was very difficult to serve. It would stick to the spoon or ladle and it required both hands and usually two utensils to serve. Alfred L. Cralle was working in Pittsburgh as a porter, which is an employee who carries luggage for people as they enter hotels, when he noticed the street vendors who sold ice cream struggling with this problem. Cralle invented the ice cream scoop to allow people to scoop ice cream with one hand, making the process quicker, easier, and neater. On February 2, 1897, Cralle was granted U.S. Patent #576395 for the ice cream scoop.

Learning Standards:

African Americans who have made contributions in the fields of science, technology, engineering, and math.

MAP CORNER

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

Activity One — Parts of Speech Headlines: Choose ten headlines from the newspaper. Identify the part of speech for each word in the headline. Try rewriting the headline with more adjectives. How does it impact the headline?

Activity Two — Creating an Index: Create a newspaper index for The St. Louis American. Similar to a table of contents, an index tells the reader where to find various sections of the newspaper. What sections are included in your newspaper? What types of information will you find in each section?

Learning Standards: I can use the newspaper to locate information. I can identify parts of speech. I can use an index.

Photo

The iron in France’s Eiffel Tower expands, making the tower grow more than 6 inches with summer heat.

Marc Antony named the month of July, in honor of Julius Caesar.

George Franklin Grant

Alfred L. Cralle

Lonnie Johnson

Business

Small Business Week honors black business owners

Tommy Davis Jr., Chris Robinson recognized by SBA

By Rebecca Rivas

Of The St. Louis American

Two African-American local business owners received awards during National Small Business Week, held in St. Louis from May 2 to 7.

“The recognition goes to the small business owner who doesn’t perhaps have the next sexy app, who doesn’t get the fanfare,” said Darcella Craven, chair of the Small Business Week of Eastern Missouri, Inc., which held the awards ceremony on May 5. “Some of these people are doing things in the community that no one knows about just because they love their community.”

Tommy Davis Jr., president of TD4 Electrical, received the Minority Business of the Year award for the Eastern Missouri district. Chris Robinson, founder of R3 Coaching based in Winsfield, received the Home Based Business

Emerson grants $1M to STL Community College Foundation

Will fund STEM programs for North County high schoolers

American staff

The St. Louis Community College Foundation has received $1 million from Emerson to establish the Emerson STEM (Science Technology Engineering Math) Academy at the college’s Florissant Valley campus. The primary goals of the Emerson STEM Academy are to increase the percentage of students who attain a diploma from targeted north St. Louis County high schools, increase the percentage of students who take a college classes while still in high school, increase the level of college readiness of graduating students, and increase the percentage of students who enroll in college upon graduation.

See EMERSON, B6

n “It is woven into the very nature of our existence that we must reinvest in ourselves.”

– Tommy Davis Jr., president of TD4 Electrical

of the Year award.

The Eastern Missouri district holds the nation’s the largest Small Business Week celebration and for the longest, Craven said.

It’s also the nation’s only district to have its own nonprofit – called Small Business Week of Eastern Missouri, Inc. – in place to locally assist the U.S. Small Business Administration with the week’s planning and execution.

Davis founded TD4 Electrical in March 2006, after becoming aware of the challenges impeding the construction industry. He recruited a core team and began building a crew of “exceptional electricians, as well as a skilled management team, that specialized in effective systems and processes and procurement methods,” according to Small Business Week’s statement on Davis.

Currently TD4 Electrical performs as a Tier One provider to St. Louis-area businesses, institutions and industries.

“I have been asked how has TD4 grown not just in size, but also in capacity, in just 10 short years, and my answer was: It is our culture,” he said at the awards ceremony. “We are about helping each other internally, servicing our clients with the same level of service we would expect if we were receiving the services.”

Program alumnus Eddie Johnson III told how MathewsDickey’s Maleness to Manhood program boosted his confidence in public speaking and network of connections. He is the founder, apostle and overseer of Inspired Souls Praise & Worship Center.

Local businessmen mentor Mathews-Dickey youth

Club hosts 17th annual ‘Maleness to Manhood’ seminar

American staff

Businessmen shared their time and advice as mentors for teenage boys at the Mathews-Dickey Boys’ & Girls’ Club’s 17th Annual “Maleness to Manhood Workshop Series” on April 23 at the St. Louis Airport Marriott Hotel. More than 200 men and teens were in attendance, and 16 $1,000 college scholarships were awarded. The support of title sponsor TIAA-Cref helped Mathews-Dickey increase the impact of its 17th annual program to serve more

students. Each of these young men was paired with a local businessman as a careerbuilding luncheon partner, with about 200 in attendance. The mentors shared their business card, conversed one-on-one with their student, answered questions, and offered advice and guidance for the student’s forthcoming professional and educational journey.

Former St. Louis fire chief Sherman George bestowed the 16 $1,000 college scholarships

See YOUTH, B6

Candace Gardner was elected to the Board of Trustees of St. Louis Community College. She teaches in the Special Education Department of the Jennings School District. She was sworn in on April 28 and her term as a Trustee ends in 2020. She thanked the Ecumenical Leadership Council – St. Louis Chapter for helping her win.

Michael Noble joined the 2016 faculty of Emory University School of Law’s KesslerEidson Trial Techniques Program. He is a St. Louis circuit judge. The program’s teaching methodology focuses on integrating the second-year law student’s knowledge of substantive evidence with practical trial skills through a “learn-by-doing” format.

Wilmetta ToliverDiallo was elected to the Board of Directors of the Foster & Adoptive Care Coalition. She is assistant dean in the College of Arts and Sciences and a senior lecturer in African & African American Studies at Washington University. The coalition strives to create permanency in every foster child’s life by recruiting and supporting foster and adoptive families.

Tyrell Manning was selected for the Human Rights Campaign’s Fellowship Program for Young Nonprofit Leaders Working to End HIV in America’s HardestHit Communities. He is regional integration specialist and site coordinator of Rustin’s Place for Williams & Associates, a health-education and disease-prevention center addressing the health disparities in the St. Louis region.

Shuntae Shields Ryan received two Marketing & Communications Awards from Boys & Girls Club of America, a gold level award for Public Relations Strategy and silver award in Advertising for her effective marketing campaigns and continuing to build a solid brand. She is vice president of Marketing & Communications for Boys & Girls Clubs of Greater St. Louis.

Dmitri Jackson was nominated in the category of Best Comic Strip or Webcomic at the Glyph Comics Awards, recognizing the best in comics made by, for or about black people, which is part of the East Coast Black Age of Comics Convention. He was nominated for his ongoing comic series “Blackwax Boulevard.” He is a St. Louis-based cartoonist.

com

Candace Gardner

Wilmetta ToliverDiallo

Tyrell Manning

Shuntae Shields Ryan

Michael Noble

Dmitri Jackson

Brendan Fahey, Sen. McCaskill’s office; Dennis Melton, SBA district director of Eastern MO; Chris Robinson; Edwilla Massey, Cong. Clay’s office; and Darcella K. Craven, chair of Small Business Week

Photo by Wiley Price

Getting your finances ready for adoption

By Nathaniel Sillin

The decision to start a family is a joyful event. However, parents considering adoption should consider advance planning for a range of financial issues unique to the process and the child they hope to bring into their home.

According to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, the costs of adopting (https://www. childwelfare.gov) may be a few hundred dollars or can easily exceed $40,000 based on the form of adoption you choose.

So how do you get your finances ready for adoption?

By doing your homework and making sure the price and processing work of adoption – all adoption resources, rules and requirements differ locally – won’t eclipse other essential financial goals like retirement, saving for your future child’s education and of course, the higher daily living expenses common to all new families. Start with these tips:

Evaluate your own finances first. It’s generally a good idea to work with qualified financial or tax experts to evaluate whether you can manage adoption costs from savings or grants

SBA

continued from page B1

Davis’ mission is to create jobs in the electrical field and to ensure his company is successful. TD4 also gives back to the community they serve, which is one of the reasons the company was recognized.

“Most importantly, TD4 is committed to economic and community development,” Davis said. “It is woven into

you don’t have to pay back. Starting a family is a major overall financial commitment no matter what path you take to build yours.

Know the tax benefits of adoption. The federal government offers tax breaks for adoption, but you need to study and follow the rules. According to the IRS, tax benefits for adoption include both a tax credit for qualified adoption expenses paid to adopt an eligible child and an exclusion from income for employer-provided adoption assistance. The credit is nonrefundable, meaning that it is limited to one’s tax liability for the year. Any credit in excess of tax liability may be carried for up to five years. Adoptions of special needs children may qualify for special treatment. Visit IRS. gov for more details.

Check your workplace benefits. A 2013 Aon Hewitt study said only 12 percent of U.S. employers offered a financial adoption benefit in 1990 rising to 52 percent. Check with your employer to see whether they offer adoption benefits, and factor those benefits into your overall financial plan.

the very nature of our existence that we must reinvest in ourselves.”

Davis attended Iowa State University, where he studied business management. Within the next few months, TD4 will be positioned to warehouse, supply, manage and install electrical materials and supplies, differentiating them from their competition.

“Davis combines visionary leadership and passion for excellence,” the award selectors stated.

Know your legal costs. Adoption is a legal process, and depending on the kind of adoption process you pursue, it is wise to work with an attorney to make sure your application is in order and your rights are being protected.

Robinson’s company, R3 Coaching, is dedicated to the development of individuals and businesses.

“Through his speaking and leadership training, as well as one-on-one coaching, Chris has influenced his client’s trajectory towards success,” according to Small Business Week’s statement on Robinson.

As an international speaker and executive coach, he has spoken in front of crowds as large as 4,500, “while working with companies to understand the value of personal growth, sharpen team leadership skills and develop emerging leaders in their respective organizations.”

Robinson said he been on this home-based business track for five years.

“I got started out of a passion to help people grow and develop,” he said. “The primary message I speak on is leadership and personal growth and development. I help leaders develop leaders.”

Robinson honed his leadership skills while working as a sales representative for one of the largest vehicleservices contract providers in the United States. He quickly advanced over four positions to senior sales manager within five years. As he continued to improve his leadership skills, he grew the company from 18 employees to over 700, leading him to expand his sights on

Think about insurance. Life and health insurance options need to be reviewed for cost and thoroughness of coverage before you begin the adoption process. Life insurance may come up as part of the estate-planning

process, but health insurance in particular requires special consideration in case the child you plan to adopt has medical or developmental needs.

Evaluate available adoption grants. Various

community groups, religious organizations and nonprofit organizations and foundations may be a resource of grant funding for the adoption process. Work with trusted advisors to find out if these resources are reliable and could help you afford your adoption.

Network and learn. Many communities and organizations sponsor support and planning groups for parents of adopted kids and those planning to adopt. Depending on the adoption avenue you’re considering, make it a point to get to know parents who have already gone through the process to understand all sides of what their lives as adoptive parents are like – make your learning process about more than the money.

Bottom line: Adoption is one of life’s most rewarding events. The amount of financial planning you can do to support your adoption process will help give your new family the best possible start.

Nathaniel Sillin directs Visa’s financial education programs. To follow Practical Money Skills on Twitter: www. twitter.com/PracticalMoney.

starting his own company, leading to R3 Coaching. The award selectors stated, “Chris’ training will enrich attitudes, rekindle one’s determination for success, and

n “I’d rather take a contested shot than an open shot any day. It’s kind of boring when you take open shots.”

– J.R. Smith

Track and Field noTebook

With Earl Austin Jr.

District meets underway

Sophomores Jerald and James Allen came up big

The road to Jefferson City and the Missouri State Track and Field Championships began last weekend for Class 1 and 2 schools with district meets around the state.

Area Class 2 teams competed in the District 2 meet at Monroe City. The top four finishers are headed to Troy this Saturday for sectional competition. The top four finishers from this weekend’s sectionals will qualify for next weekend’s state meet in the state’s capitol.

The boys of Cleveland Naval Jr. ROTC will be taking several qualifiers to this weekend’s sectionals at Troy.

The Commanders won four events and qualified athletes in eight other events.

Sophomores Jerald and James Allen came up big in the middle distance and distance events.

Jerald Allen finished first in the 800- and 1,600-meter runs while James Allen won the 400meter dash and finished second in the 800. The Allens also led ROTC to victories in the 4x400- and 4x800meter relays.

The Commanders also got a victory from sophomore Antonio Norman in the 300-meter intermediate hurdles. Norman also finished second in the high jump. Other ROTC sectional qualifiers included Tianneye McDaniel in the 400, Kelsie Cole in the long and triple jumps and the 4x100- and 4x200-meter relay teams.

Brentwood High enjoyed success in the sprints as Kaylon Jenkins finished first in the 100- and 200meter dashes. Senior Jacob Clay was third in the 100. The Eagles also sprinted to victories in the 4x100 and 4x200.

Sprinter Daniel Dailey of Valley Park was also a sectional qualifier after finishing second in the 100 and 200.

On the girls side, the star of the show was Brentwood High’s Sophie

See TRACK, B5

Curry first ever unanimous MVP

Stephen Curry is the first player in NBA history to be a unanimous selection for NBA MVP. Let that sink in for a second. All-time greats such as Bill Russell, Wilt Chamberlain Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Magic Johnson and even Michael Jordan, all failed to convince every voter that they were the best in any given season. Even in their greatest seasons, nearly everyone had at least a few holdout haters to keep them from standing alone on the mountaintop. Not anymore.

Ishmael H. Sistrunk

Curry shattered the single-season three-point record. He also led the league in points and steals. The icing on the cake was guiding the Warriors to the best record in NBA history at 73-9. Curry’s season was so amazing that it forced even the most cynical sports-

writers to realize that a vote for anybody else would sink their credibility like a 25-footer from the Chef himself. A few delusional naysaysers still exist at barbershops, water coolers and internet forums. They claim LeBron James Kawhi Leonard or Russell Westbrook deserved the honors. They repeat hollow claims of how Curry is only rewriting the record books because referees no longer allow hand-checking and physical contact. While the game and its rules have certainly changed over the years, it doesn’t explain why Curry is far beyond everyone else in terms of shooting. When most people think of great three-point shooters, names like Larry Bird, Reggie Miller and Ray Allen come to mind. Let’s examine how

Curry compares to these longrange legends. Considered one of the most lethal shooters in history, Bird led the league in three-pointers two seasons. He drained 82 tri-

ples in the 1985-86 season and 90 the following season. What about the guys he beat out? In ’86, Craig Hodges finished second with 73 three-pointers made. In ’87, Michael Cooper

finished just one trey behind.

See CLUTCH, B5

Earl Austin Jr.

Michael Adams (139) and Dale Ellis (107). Reggie Miller led the league in three-pointers on two occassions.

Majerle with

threes.

Mookie Blaylock (221), Glen Rice (207), Mitch Richmond (204) and Tim Hardaway (203 were

Miller.

record with

Sorry LeBron James fans, it’s unanimous. Stephen Curry has left King James and everybody else in the rearview mirror.

Photo by Wiley Price

SportS EyE

With Alvin A. Reid

Don’t compare Mizzou football players to self-serving softballers

To compare last weekend’s actions of members of the Missouri softball team with those of last fall by black football players is ridiculous.

The football players took a stand that could have left them without their respective scholarships to support fellow students protesting indifference to racist episodes on campus.

It seems the softball team is looking out for itself.

Retired football coach Gary Pinkel backed his players, a move that angered many wealthy boosters and politicians. Softball coach Ehren Earleywine was quick to throw unnamed players under the team bus.

which includes: bullying and intimidating players during forced interviews.”

“Rhoades told us that we, the players, don’t have any say in who is the coach of our team; we believe a gag order has been placed on our coaches.”

They obviously were misinformed on the gag order, because Earleywine had plenty to tell the Kansas City Star last Sunday.

Before last Saturday’s 3-1 loss to South Carolina, members of the softball team issued a statement saying the game would be played under protest. Earleywine and the program are being investigated based on complaints from “outside and inside” the team, according to a university statement.

Players defending an embattled coach is not shocking, but the softball team’s childish tirade included the allegation “the administration was completely incompetent in handling the fall football scandal and they are doing a worse job at this.”

I wonder how football team members feel about that declaration.

Athletic Director Mack Rhoades is targeted in the statement for “conducting an unjust investigation,

“There’s a couple of kids on the team that probably have things, exchanges between myself and them or different scenarios, that they would have liked to see handled differently,”

Earleywine said.

“I’m tough on kids. I make them accountable, and there’s discipline in our program. I’m a throwback. If that’s demeaning, maybe, but it’s not about them, the person. It’s about their performance as a player.”

The coach some players are backing admitted he demeans players in the name of success on the diamond.

While it is unknown what he said to these unnamed players, we do know that the coach can let emotion get the best of him.

Earleywine began the season with a one-game suspension for committing a Level III NCAA recruiting violation.

In 2015, the National Fastpitch Coaches Association Ethics Committee reprimanded him for “unprofessional comments made over the three previous years.”

While arguing a call last

season in April, he made contact with an umpire, leading to an immediate two-game suspension by the SEC. He was thrown out of another game later that month, which also landed him a two-game

suspension.

Earleywine has been quite successful as Mizzou’s softball coach, posting a 450-151 record. The Tigers closed 39-13 this season with the SEC Tournament upcoming.

His team might have his back, but his actions should be investigated. His players took a needless shot against the football team and AD – and Earleywine should accept some responsibility for those actions too.

It’s concern time for Cards

Ryan Howard returned to his native St. Louis last week and promptly hit a home run that secured a 1-0 victory for his Philadelphia Phillies over the Cardinals.

“It’s always good to be able to come home and play,” Howard said. “This is home. This is where it all began for me. I think it’s just something different when you get to play against the team you grew up watching.”

While the Cardinals won three of four games against the Phillies, the Redbirds closed the 10-game home stand 4-6. That left the Redbirds nine games behind the torrid Chicago Cubs.

It’s still too early to give up on winning the division, but June 1 is not far away. That’s when I start paying attention to standings.

The Cubs were 24-6 at the start of this week, the best 30-game record since the 1984 Detroit Tigers went 26-4. The Tigers won the World Series that season over the San Diego Padres.

Who did the Padres beat in the NLCS? The Cubs, three games to two.

Losing two of three to the Pirates meant the Cardinals blew a chance to catch the NL Central’s second-place team.

The Cardinals can’t be concerned with the Cubs’ great record. At 16-16 as on Monday, the Redbirds need to snap the .500 trend and begin stringing victories together.

Cepeda honored in KC

Former St. Louis Cardinals slugger Orlando Cepeda, who helped bring the 1967 title to Busch Stadium, will be honored during the 2016 Hall of Game awards gala on June 11 at the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum and the Gem Theater in the 18th & Vine District in Kansas City.

Other honorees include

Andre Dawson, Tim Raines and Tony Oliva Cepeda coined the phrase “Bravo, Bravo, El Birdo” in 1967, a season in which he posted 25 home runs, a National League-leading 111 RBI and won the NL MVP Award. He was a seven-time All-Star and was elected by the Veterans Committee to the Hall of Fame in 1999. He was traded to the Cardinals by the San Francisco Giants while the teams were playing in St. Louis during a 1966 series. Broadcaster Harry Caray later helped Cepeda purchase a home in Olivette, but he was not a St. Louisan for a lengthy time. The Cardinals unexpectedly traded Cepeda for Joe Torre after the 1968 season. For more information on the Hall of Game gala, visit the National League Baseball Museum website at www. nlbm.com.

Alvin A. Reid is a panelist on the Nine Network program, Donnybrook and appears on ABC’s The Allman Report and several sports radio shows. His Twitter handle is @ aareid1.

Alvin A. Reid

Embattled Mizzou softball coach Ehren Earleywine admits that he uses language that some players might consider demeaning – but it’s for their own good.

inSide SPorTS

SLPS honors scholar athletes

Scott Suggs recognized for character and conduct

For the fifth consecutive year, I had the pleasure of attending the Saint Louis Public Schools Scholar-Athlete Luncheon.

This is a can’t-miss event for me, because as you know, I’m a sucker for events that celebrate our young achievers. This particular luncheon honors the SLPS studentathletes that excel in sports while maintaining a 3.25 grade-point average. What is beautiful about this event is that is seems to grow every year. This year’s event honored more than 500 student-athletes. I am one of 70 individuals in the community who serve as table role models

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done. This season Curry knocked down 402 threes during the regular-season. His teammate, Klay Thompson finished second with 276 (more than anybody in history besides Curry). The difference between first- and second-place is an astounding 126 shots made. Go beyond Thompson and James Harden sits third at 236 three-pointers made. That’s a difference of 166 shots between first- and third-place. Obviously, eras have an impact on the amount of shots taken and made. There’s no way Arenas was twice the shooter that Bird was during his prime. However, in no other era has a sharpshooter destroyed the competition by such an astronomical margin. Thompson and Harden are all-star players playing with the same rules as Curry. Why aren’t they, nor anyone else in the league, putting up the same insane numbers if it’s just about the lack of physicality?

James, Leonard and Westbrook each had fine seasons, but none put up legendary numbers like SC30. Furthermore, Curry should have silenced any chatter Monday night by dropping 40 points off the bench, including a record 17 in the fourth quarter, in his first game back from a knee injury. Curry’s overtime outburst drained the life out of Microsoft mogul Paul Allen’s face as if his PC crashed before he saved that 40-page

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put with a heave of 45 feet 2 inches and the discus with

throw of 148 feet 3 inches. She is aiming to be a four-time state champion in both events. Nature Williams-Harkin of Medical & Bio Science qualified in four events. She was first in the 100-meter high hurdles, second in the 100, third in the 300-meter low hurdles and ran a leg on the 4x100 relay team that finished second. Sky Parker of McKinley Classical was a district champion in the 100. She also finished second in the 200. Addie Grapperhaus of Barat Academy finished first in the 200 and second in the 400.

MO Class 3,4 and 5 district meets this weekend

The state series begins this weekend with district meets at the Classes 3,4 and 5 levels around the metro area. Class 5 district meets will be held on Saturday at Northwest (Cedar Hill), Ladue, Lutheran North and Troy. The top four finishers will qualify for sectional meets at Kirkwood and Lutheran South on May 14.

Class 4 district meet with area teams will be held at

for the event. Each role model is stationed at a table with a group of youngsters so we can share of wisdom with them and they can share their new-school knowledge with us geezers. I had a great time breaking bread with a delightful group of freshmen at Table 31 from Northwest Academy of Law, McKinley Classical Leadership Academy and Metro. The kids also received some very inspiring words from two guest speakers, for St. Louis Rams star wide receiver Isaac Bruce, and Khalia Collier, owner of the very successful St. Louis Surge of the Women’s Blue Chip Basketball League. It was another successful

and wonderful event. I would like to thank the SLPS administration and, in particular, Travis Brown for allowing me to be a small part in this special event for these deserving young people.

Scott Suggs earns D-League Special Award

Congratulations to former Washington High basketball star Scott Suggs, who was the recipient of the National Basketball D-League’s Jason Collier

Award. The award goes to the player who best represents the ideals of character and conduct on and off the basketball court.

The 6’6” Suggs was also one of the league’s top performers while playing for the Raptors 905. Suggs started in 50 games, averaging 18 points, 3.4 rebounds and 1.9 assists a game. He was also one of the top 3-point shooters in the D-League, shooting 41 percent from long distance.

Suggs was a former Mr. Show-Me Basketball after a stellar prep career at

Washington High in 2008. He went on to enjoy a fine collegiate career at the University of Washington.

CBC Cadet Grade School Basketball Camp

Head coach Justin Tatum of CBC will held hosting the school’s Grade School Basketball Camp. The first session will be held from June 27-30. The second session will be from July 5-8. The camp will run from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. Each session will be $180 with $25 off for each additional family member. For more information call (314) 985-6056 or go to

document due at 8 a.m. Don’t

fret Mr. Allen, the unanimous MVP and his buddies will reset your season shortly and everything should be back to normal around October.

Khan pays the price For the past few years, Amir Khan chased around the big names in boxing in hopes of landing a lucrative payday. Cinderella finally got invited to the ball, but instead of walking away with a glass slipper, his glass jaw was shattered by Canelo Alvarez. I hate to say I told you so, but it was obvious that Khan bit off more than he could chew in agreeing to fight the WBC Middleweight Champion of the World. Now, who knows when Khan will

Hillsboro, Northwest, Ladue at Westminster. The top four finishers at those meets will qualify for sectional meets at Lutheran South and Mexico on May. 14. The Class 3 district meets will be held at Principia and Kirkwood with the top four finishers in each event headed to the sectional meet at Kirkwood on May 14.

Illinois girls sectional meets this weekend

On the Illinois side, sectional competition will

chew again? Alvarez’s sixthround knockout was explosive and scary. Khan crashed to the mat and lay seemingly lifeless on his back after a monster right hand from Alvarez. Khan was ahead on all scorecards at the time, but there was no chance he was ever going to survive 12-rounds against his bigger, stronger opponent. The benefit of Alvarez’s meaningless destruction of Khan is that his confidence is likely at an all-time high as he has 15 days to decide whether he will face IBF and WBA champion (and WBC interim champion) Gennady Golovkin in a unification bout. Golovkin is on a path to capture the lineal middleweight championship and

be held on Friday with the top qualifiers in each event headed to the IHSA State Championships in Charleston on May 20-21. Cahokia will begin defense of its Class 2A state championship on Friday when it competes in the sectional meet at Mascoutah. Metroeast area Class 3A schools will be headed to Rock Island to compete in sectional competition. Edwardsville, East St. Louis, Alton, Belleville East and Belleville West lead the field.

Syanne Johnston

Fort Zumwalt East – Girls Track

www.tatumcbcsummer basketballcamp.com to print a registration form.

Dominique Dobbs to Lindenwood

Hazelwood Central basketball standout Dominique Dobbs recently signed with Lindenwood University. The 6’6” Dobbs averaged 16.6 points, 10.3 rebounds and two blocks a game in helping lead the Hawks to a Suburban XII North title and a Class 5 district championship.

The junior standout sprinter won three events at last week’s Gateway Athletic Conference Central Championships in Washington. Johnston swept all three sprints as she won championships in the 100, 200 and 400-meter dashes. She was an All-State performer at last year’s Class 4 state championships as she finished sixth in the 100 and third in the 200. Johnston will be competing at the Class 4, District 4 meet at Westminster Christian on Saturday.

Lawan Alade’-fa

Hazelwood Central – Boys Track

The senior standout sprinter won three events as last week’s Suburban XII Conference Boys Invite at McCluer North. Alade’-fa won the 100 and 200-meter dashes while anchoring the Hawks to a victory in the 4x200-meter relay in a winning time of 42.4 seconds. His winning times in the sprints were 11.07 in the 100 and 21.7 in the 200. As a junior, Alade’-fa earned two All-State medals at the Class 5 state championships when he finished fifth in the 400-meter dash and second as a member of the Hawks’ 4x400-meter relay team.

Amir Khan didn’t respect his jaw [slang term] and paid a heavy price when he was knocked out cold by Canelo Alvarez Saturday night.

Alvarez is standing in his way. Fortunately, we won’t have to wait long to see whether

Alvarez decides to man up and throw down with GGG. Follow Ishmael and In

the Clutch on Twitter @ IshmaelSistrunk

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to graduating seniors who’ve demonstrated scholastic excellence, extracurricular participation and community service. The scholarships went to:

• Cordell Billups, Riverview Gardens High School, who plans to become neurosurgeon.

• Jordan Clay, Vashon High

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To achieve these goals, the Emerson STEM Academy will provide underserved students with exposure to and support in college while they are in high school.

North County school districts have been invited to partner in the project.

Students have the opportunity to potentially earn an associate degree or up to two years of college credits toward a bachelor’s degree during high school.

“The Emerson STEM Academy will enable more students, particularly lowincome and minority students,

School, who plans to become a mechanical engineer

• Dominick Gillette, Pattonville High School, who plans to become an entrepreneur

• Donte’ Hopkins, Parkway West High School, who plans to become a high school English teacher.

• Jared Howard, Parkway North High School, who plans to become a programmer

• Charles Jones, Brentwood High School, who plans to become an athletic director

to experience rigorous high school and college coursework that leads to improved outcomes,” said Jeff L. Pittman, STLCC chancellor. “Nationally, studies have shown that students who participate in an early collegetype program outperform their peers.”

The program will allow students to enroll in collegelevel classes, with an emphasis on STEM pathways, conducted at their high schools and on the STLCC-Florissant Valley campus. Students will enroll in at least one and as many as five college-level courses per semester, with a goal of at least 15 credit hours per student completed upon graduation. By 2020, the academy is projected to have annual enrollment of

• Kyle Liggins, Parkway North High School, who plans to become a medical doctor

• Rolando Merriweather II, Cardinal Ritter High School, who plans to become a computer engineer

• Darnell Payne, Pattonville High School, who plans to go into marketing

• Christopher Potter, Parkway North High School, who plans to become an artistic director.

• Jordan Pryor, Ladue High School, who plans study pre-

med

• Patrick Sanders, Jr., McCluer High School, who plans to become a physical therapist

• Frantz Sanon, at Parkway West High School, who plans to become a physician

• Travaughn Watson, Riverview Gardens High School, who plans to become an architectural drafter

• Nicolas Williams, McCluer North High School, who plans to become a veterinarian.

Each teen attended a total

n “The STEM Academy perfectly aligns with Emerson’s goals to enhance local education initiatives.”

– Patrick Sly, Emerson executive vice president

175 students.

“The STEM Academy perfectly aligns with Emerson’s goals to enhance local education initiatives, especially when it comes to encouraging and supporting high school students to pursue higher education,” said Patrick Sly, Emerson executive vice president.

According to the Lumnia Foundation, 59 percent of all jobs in Missouri will require

some form of postsecondary education by 2018. In the St. Louis region, only 37.8 percent of adults have a postsecondary degree. The emergence of the “knowledge” economy increases the emphasis on postsecondary education.

In the St. Louis region’s economic plan, key industry clusters like finance, information technologies, healthcare, bioscience and advanced manufacturing,

of three 45-minute seminars taught by distinguished businessmen. Presenting on their professions were Michael Weiss, executive director, Ernst & Young; Paul Lancia and Chris Quarles, partners at Glance Creative; Andrew Kimmle, structural engineer, Jacobs Engineering and John Chartrand, mechanical engineer, Jacobs Engineering; Aaron Owens, AVP, Bank of America; Dr. Arnold Bullock, distinguished professor of urology, Washington

require workers to have a range of educational backgrounds with a focus on a STEM-based knowledge. The St. Louis Regional Chamber has noted that almost 60 percent of all occupations in financial and information services require a bachelor’s or higher level degree.

Additionally, the connection between educational attainment and financial prosperity has become closer and more intense. Nationally, the metropolitan areas among the top 10 in degree completion are also the top 10 in median household income. St. Louis’ ranking as 22nd in degree completion mirrors its status as 25th among the 35 largest metros in median household income.

University School of Medicine; Dr. Bobby Trawick, director chemistry, Mallinckrodt; Anthony Grice, attorney at law, Husch Blackwell; and Shane Roach, prevention specialist, NCADA.

Mathews-Dickey is enrolling for its low-cost 10-week Scholar-Athletic Summer Training Camp. Call (314) 382-5952 or visit www. mathews-dickey.com for more information.

As evidence of the importance of a postsecondary degree to the region, the Regional Chamber noted that if it could change one measure to improve the regional economy, it would be making a substantial increase in the percentage of population with a postsecondary degree.

According to U.S. Census data, those who obtain a bachelor’s degree have a median income of $50,360 compared to a median of $29,423 for people with only a high school diploma. An associate degree leads to a median income of $38,607, more than $9,000 higher than a high school diploma.

At Mathews-Dickey Boys’ & Girls’ Club’s “Maleness to Manhood Workshop Series” on April 23, each young man was paired with a local businessman as a career-building luncheon partner, with about 200 in attendance.

The queen of soul and a king of comedy

By Kenya Vaughn

Of The St. Louis American

“We thought it was even more perfect that yesterday was Mother’s Day and we were able to make this announcement,” Cedric The Entertainer told the crowd that spilled out the door of the SSM St. Mary’s Health Center lobby on Monday, May 9. This was the first Mother’s Day that Cedric and his sister Sharita Wilson spent without their mother Rosetta Kyles. A former patient of SSM St. Mary’s, she passed away last June after a lengthy battle with cancer. Cedric was on site early Monday morning to announce Aretha Franklin as the headliner for his 3rd Annual An Evening with Cedric The Entertainer

and Friends Gala to benefit the Rosetta Boyce Kyles Women’s Pavilion at SSM St. Mary’s Hospital.

“She has performed for presidents and kings,” Cedric said of Franklin.

“Has she performed for kings? Well, if anybody performed for a king, Aretha Franklin did.”

The 3rd Annual Cedric The Entertainer and Friends Gala, featuring Aretha Franklin, will take place on Saturday, October 22 at The

On Saturday October 22, Franklin will be performing for a King of Comedy.

Aretha Franklin to headline 3rd Annual Cedric The Entertainer and Friends Gala See CEDRIC,

An Evening with Cedric The Entertainer and Friends, a benefit concert, grew out of the family’s efforts to raise funds for the Rosetta Boyce Kyles Women’s Pavilion.

Kyles was so impressed with the care she received as a SSM St. Mary’s

Under the direction of Project Runway: Under The Gunn finalist turned fashion instructor Shan Keith Oliver, the students of North Tech High School showcased trendy designs that were on par with the professionals. Established area models and student fashionistas ripped the runway in creations by North Tech juniors and seniors at the inaugural Bold Diversity Fashion Show Thursday night.

Venice Biennale rep opens along with Great Rivers Biennial artists

By Chris King Of The St. Louis American

Contemporary Art Museum St. Louis finds itself both on the cutting edge of the international art scene and deeply committed to local artists in its new set of exhibitions that opened Friday, May 6.

n “This one I found troubling. You see here how the penal system tears families apart.”

– Mark Bradford

The Contemporary opened the first St. Louis show for Los Angeles artist Mark Bradford just after he was announced as the United States’ representative at the Venice Biennale in 2017, one of the art world’s most elite international shows. In announcing Bradford’s selection, Christopher Bedford, director of the Rose Art Museum at Brandeis University, described him as “the leading American abstract painter of his generation and a vigorous advocate for the interests of underrepresented urban communities,” attributes that are very evident in his work at the Contemporary.

The centerpiece of Bradford’s local show is “Receive Calls on Your Cell Phone from Jail” (2013), a massive (169 foot by 110 foot) collage of 38 panels that he fashioned from what he calls “merchant posters.” More common in more dense cities like Los Angeles, these are large, ephemeral, paste-up advertisements. Bradford liberates these posters from their commercial environment and then works them in various ways – mostly by stripping them down, tracing over them, and building forms on them with things like string – until he arrives at a work of art. “Like a relationship,” Bradford told The

Amazing Grace Opera legend schools Gerdine

Young Artists during master class

By Kenya Vaughn Of The St. Louis

The crowd included opera lovers, her church family, former classmates and fans. Current students from Central VPA, Roosevelt and Bumbry’s alma mater Sumner High School were brought to see realized potential in action.

“I personally owe so much to my

See GRACE, C4

Timothy O’ Leary of Opera Theatre Saint Louis and Gerald Early of Washington University joined St. Louis Mayor Francis G. Slay at The Sheldon to celebrate May 6, 2016 as Grace Bumbry Day. Photo by Wiley Price

Peabody Opera House.

Photo by Lawrence Bryant

Photos by Lawrence Bryant

How to place a calendar listing

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

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

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

concerts

Sun., May 15, 7 p.m., The Pageant presents Icons of Hip Hop Block Party: Jalil & Ecstasy, Slick Rick, & Dana Dane. 6161 Delmar Blvd., 63112. For more information, call (314) 7266161 or visit www.thepageant. com.

Thur., May 19, 7:30 p.m., Lerok Mabrak presents The Drum Live Performance The Stage at KDHX, 3524 Washington Ave., 63103

Fri., May 20, 7:30 p.m., St. Louis Symphony presents the Music of Michael Jackson Celebrating the one and only Michael Jackson, the STL Symphony is joined on stage with a full rock band performing hits including “Thriller,” “Beat It,” “Man in the Mirror” and many more. 718 N. Grand Blvd., 63103. For more information, call (314) 533-2500 or visit www. stlsymphony.org.

Fri., May 20, 8 p.m., Kansas City Jazz Tribute featuring the Jazz Edge Orchestra with Bobby Watson & Angela Hagenbach. Blanche M. Touhill Performing Arts Center, UMSL, One University Blvd., 63121. For more information, call (314) 516-4949 or visit www. touhill.org.

Fri., May 20, 8 p.m. doors, Mo Investment Ent presents Keith Sweat and Avant, The Ambassador, 9800 Halls Ferry. For more information, visit www.metrotix.com

Fri., May 27, 6 p.m., OLD SCHOOL 95.5 District Rhythm Series Presented by E.I. EXTREME INSTITUTE BY NELLY welcomes Mint Condition. Midwest Live at Ballpark Village. For tickets visit https://www.ticketfly.com/ purchase/event/1144721?utm_ medium=bks

local gigs

Fri., May 13, 8 p.m., Ozark Theatre presents Songs Of The Ladies. Carol Beth True Trio with vocalist Kim Fuller will present a tribute to the music of Billie Holiday, Dinah Washington, Nancy Wilson and more. 103 E. Lockwood Ave., 63119. For more information, call (314) 962-7000 or visit www. ozarktheatre.com.

Sat., May 14, 11 a.m., The Sheldon Concert Hall presents Brian Owens: Lean on Me. Acclaimed vocalist Brian Owens is quickly making a name for himself nationally as the new torchbearer for classic soul music. He returns with a tribute to the legendary Bill Withers, performing hits including “Lean on Me,” “Just the Two of Us,” and more. 3648 Washington Blvd., 63108. For more information, call (314) 533-9900 or visit www.sheldonconcerthall.org.

Tues., May 17, 7:30 p.m., The Sheldon Concert Hall presents Unforgettable Legends: A Tribute to Mae Wheeler This annual concert honors the legendary Mae “Lady Jazz” Wheeler, celebrating the last show she gave at The Sheldon. The cast will include the legendary Jeanne Trevor, in addition to some of the cast she had on some of her regular “Diva and or Troubadour” shows, including Wendy L. Gordon. Linda Kennedy, Diane Vaughan, Mary Dyson, Deborah Sharn, Marty Adbullah and Jeff Hardin. 3648 Washington Blvd., 63108. For more information, call (314) 533-9900 or visit www. sheldonconcerthall.org.

Fri., May 20, 8 p.m., Kansas City Jazz Tribute featuring the Jazz Edge Orchestra with Bobby Watson & Angela Hagenbach. Blanche M. Touhill Performing Arts Center, UMSL, One University Blvd., 63121. For more information, call (314) 516-

Calendar

The Sheldon Concert Hall presents Brian Owens: Lean on Me. For more information, see LOCAL GIGS.

Featured Event

Through May 18, Upstream Theater presents The Glass Menagerie. As Williams’ classic has entered our collective memory, it has moved from cutting-edge to canonical. Kranzberg Arts Center, 501 N Grand Blvd., 63103. For more information, call (314) 863-4999 or visit www.upstreamtheater.org.

4949 or visit www.touhill.org.

special events

Thur., May 12, 5 p.m., FOCUS St. Louis presents 19th Annual What’s Right with the Region! Awards This regional celebration will highlight outstanding success stories from our community and honor the efforts of 20 individuals, organizations and/ or initiatives that promote improvements in the area. Sheldon Concert Hall, 3648 Washington Blvd., 63108. For more information, call (314) 622-1250 or visit www.focusstl.org.

Thur., May 12, 5 p.m., University City Chamber of Commerce presents Taste of U City. Mandarin House Banquet Hall, 8004 Olive Blvd., 63130. For more information, call (314) 337-2489 or visit www. universitycitychamber.com.

Fri., May 13, 6 p.m., Christian Business Connection and Urban League of Metropolitan St. Louis present CBC Evening of Synergy Networking Event. 3701 Grandel Sq., 63108. For more information, call (314) 270-2225 or visit www. thecbcradioshow.com.

Fri., May 13, 7 p.m., Caught Up in the Rapture of Love – All White Edition. Hosted by poet, Lightning, with performances by Abby a.k.a. The Truth and Diva-Licious. The Ambassador, 9800 Halls Ferry Rd., 63136. For more information, call (314) 4371702 or visit www.secure-ent. com.

Sat., May 14, 8 p.m., Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc. St. Louis Alumnae Chapter and Alphi Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc. Epsilon Lambda Chapter present Casino Royale Night. Come out for poker, roulette, food, music, and more. Lambert Airport Concourse B, 10701 Lambert International Blvd.,

Thur., May 19, 5 p.m., 12th Annual Back to School with Joe Buck Celebrity Event: Celebrity Feud Edition Play along with the celebrity teams as they compete in a “Survey Says” competition to be crowned “2016 Joe Buck Celebrity Champion.” Proceeds assist KidSmart in their effort to equip 90,000 local students with essential school supplies for back to school success. Hollywood Casino Amphitheatre, 14141 Riverport Dr., 63043. For more information, call (314) 291-4211 or visit www. back2schoolwithjoebuck. kidsmartstl.org.

Sat., May 21, 8 a.m., Haven House City of Refuge presents a Bazaar, BBQ and Car Wash. Join us for food, vendors, music, and of course a good time. 11115 New Halls Ferry Rd., 63033. For more information, call (314) 3811118.

63145. For more information, visit www.eventbrite.com.

Sun., May 15, 1 p.m., Annie Malone Children and Family Service Center presents their annual May Day Parade, 20th and Market and will culminate in an outdoor festival. This year’s theme is “Our Children, Our Community, and Our Priority!” For more information, visit www.anniemalone.com.

Sun., May 15, 1 p.m., Shoeicide, LLC presents A Mother’s Gift. A women’s empowerment session featuring motivational keynote speakers such as Queen Mocha Latte, Princess Storm, and Shakira Nasiruddin. There will be brunch, fashion and a trunk show that will blend different women from different backgrounds to help them achieve knowledge and abilities to further their interest in supporting other women. Kranzberg Arts Center, 501 N. Grand Blvd., 63103. For more information, visit www.shoeicide.com.

Sat., May 21, 10 a.m., Women of Success Conference. You will be inspired empowered, supported, encouraged and motivated by awesome speakers. They will be transparent in their delivery of their stories of transition. Come and network with other like-minded individuals all striving to reach another level of success in business. There will be vendors on site and lunch will be served. 50 Gay Ave., 63105. For more information, visit www.eventbrite.com.

Sat., May 21, 1 p.m., Fusion Fantasy Events presents Sistah’s Soiree Expo 2016: The Empower You Edition. A showcase of local entrepreneurs, artists and social awareness content. Local St. Louis vendors will be on-site selling their products and services; rising artists will be gracing the stage with their talents; plus we have a special presentation given by Alive and Well STL on mental health awareness. There will also tips on fashion style, make-up and a swap activity. Urb Arts, 2600 N. 14th St., 63106. For more information, call (314) 884-8753 or visit www.eventbrite.com.

Sat., May 21, 1 p.m., Made Beautiful presents International Natural Hair Meetup Day. Come meet Tendai The HairWhisperer and take part in her Texture Talk Series. Or watch Tiffany Nichole, MUA, do a live makeup demo and give you

tips and tricks on makeup application. Stylist Toleta rips the run way with a natural hair run way show for our teen and little naturalistas. Each year INHMD invests back into the community. This year our common focus is Heart Health Awareness & Blessing Bags to the Homeless. We will have handouts available on Heart Health and we are asking you to donate items to go into blessing bags for the homeless. We encourage all those in love with hair or makeup to attend. Herbert Hoover Club, 2901 N Grand Ave., 63104. For more information call (314) 372-5920 or visit www. inhmdstl2016.eventbee.com.

literary

Thur., May 12, 7 p.m., Left Bank Books hosts author Mark Wilkerson, author of Tomas Young’s War. 399 N. Euclid Ave., 63108. For more information, call (314) 3676731 or visit www.left-bank. com.

Tues., May 17, 7 p.m. Left Bank Books presents a conversation with Lezley McSpadden and Lyah LeFlore, authors of Tell the Truth & Shame the Devil: The Life, Legacy, and Love of My Son Michael Brown, Christ Church Cathedral, 1210 Locust. For more information, visit www. left-bank.com.

Thur., May 19, 7 p.m., Meet Me St. Louis hosts author Clint Hill, author of Five Presidents: My Extraordinary Journey with Eisenhower, Kennedy, Johnson, Nixon, and Ford. Missouri History Museum, 5700 Lindell Blvd., 63112. For more information, visit www.meetmestlouis.org.

theatre

May 14 – 15, Missouri Ballet Theatre presents Cinderella. Edison Theatre, Washington University, 6465 Forsyth Blvd., 63105. For more information, call (314) 935-6543 or visit www. missouriballettheatre.org.

Through May 18, Upstream Theater presents The Glass Menagerie. As Williams’ classic has entered our collective memory, it has moved from cutting-edge to canonical. Kranzberg Arts Center, 501 N Grand Blvd., 63103. For more information, call (314) 863-4999 or visit www.upstreamtheater.org.

Fri., May 20, 7:30 p.m., Gitana Productions presents Black and Blue. The play is based on a compilation of interviews with police officers and members of the African American community about the shooting of Michael Brown in Ferguson and the events that followed. Emerson Performance Center, Harris Stowe, 3026 Laclede Ave., 63103. For more information, call (314) 721-6556 or visit www.gitana-inc.org.

arts

The Griot Museum of Black History presents Lady Leaders and Legends. Artist Daniel Hodges will 20

outstanding St. Louis women including Maya Angelou, Katherine Dunham, Frankie M. Freeman, Ida Woolfolk, and others. There will be an opening reception on May 13 at 6 p.m. with special guests Michael McMillan and Rev. Earl E. Nance, Jr. 2505 St. Louis Ave., 63110. For more information, call (314) 241-7057 or visit www. thegriotmuseum.org.

May 19 – June 2, Good Journey Development Foundation presents the Art in Our World Exhibition Artists Papisco Kudzi and Fola Lawson will be present at the opening reception on May 19 at 6 p.m. There will also be special lectures, workshops and Batik making classes during the exhibition. Exodus Gallery, 5075 Delmar Blvd., 63108. For more information, call (314) 229-9079 or visit www.goodjourney.org.

Through May 31, 1900 Park Gallery presents John Blair’s Dream Interpretation. This show is an artistic exploration of the subjective meaning of unconscious experience. There will be an opening reception on May 6 at 6 p.m. 1900 Park Ave., 63104. For more information, call (314) 5201211 or visit www.1900park. com.

Through June 1, H.C. Porter’s Blues @ Home: Mississippi’s Living Legends. The exhibit features 31 paintings of Mississippi-based blues artists and has paired them with oral histories from each subject. Featuring images of world-famous performers, including the late David “Honeyboy” Edwards, the late B.B. King, and Bobby Rush. In addition to shooting each portrait, Porter was able to record the artists speaking about their lives and their talents. Segments of the interviews can be heard through a handheld audio wand. National Blues Museum, 615 Washington Ave., 63101. For more information, call

(314) 925-0016 or visit www. nationalbluesmuseum.org.

health

Sat., May 14, 7 a.m., American Heart Association presents Metro St. Louis Heart Walk. The walk promotes physical activity and heart-healthy living in a fun, family environment. Busch Stadium, 700 Clark Ave., 63102. For more information, call 855-229-4424 or visit www.metrostlouisheartwalk. org.

May 14, 8 a.m., Color Girls Inc. presents Walk for Life: A Kidney for Candace, Christian Embassy Church Complex, 13775 Old Jamestown Rd, Florissant, MO 63033. To register visit: http://colorgirl0.wix.com/ akidneyforcandace or e-mail colorgirlsinc@icloud.com for more information.

Sat., May 14, 9 a.m., St. Louis Health Equipment Lending Program is hosting a Medical Equipment Donation Drive. We accept taxdeductible donations of manual and power wheelchairs, electric hospital beds, shower chairs, canes/crutches/walkers, grab bars, elevated toilet seats, portable commodes, lift chairs, seating cushions, back supports, folding ramps - every type of item except oxygen and medications. St. Louis HELP loans the donated home medical items to anyone in need, at no cost or fee. For more information and a complete listing of donation sites, call (314) 567-4700 or visit www.stlhelp.org.

Tues., May 17, 1 p.m., Alive and Well STL Training: How Trauma Impacts Social, Emotional, and Health Outcomes. The presentation will explore the prevalence and impact of trauma on children’s brain development, what we must do to help children and families recover from trauma, and how we can shift our

perspective to serve children and families through the lens of trauma. Richmond Heights Community Center, 8001 Dale Ave., 63117. For more information, visit www.stlrhc. org.

Fri., May 20, 8 a.m., American Lung Association presents the Lung Force Expo. This event is designed for people with lung disease, caregivers and healthcare providers to learn more about the latest resources, research and developments related to lung cancer, COPD, asthma and other lung diseases. For more information, visit www. lungforce.org/expo.

Sat., May 21, 10 a.m., The American Red Cross and the Sarah Allen Women’s Missionary Society of Christ Our Redeemer AME Church annual Dr. Charles Drew

Blood Drive. 13820 Old Jamestown Rd. Black Jack, MO. Call 314-368-8952 to make an appointment.

spiritual

Sat., May 14, 8 a.m., Christ Pilgrim Rest MB Church 2016 Women’s Conference

Join us as we explore the precious nature of the love God holds out to us, and rediscover why we accepted His wonderful phenomenal gift. 1341 N. Kingshighway Blvd., 63113. For more information, please call (314) 367-2974 or (314) 389-9009.

Sun., May 15, 10 a.m., The Cathedral at St. Paul AME Church 3rd Annual Citywide Baccalaureate “A Day of Reflection” Worship Service, guest speaker Dr. Kelvin

Adams, Superintendent, St. Louis Public Schools, St. Paul AME Church, 1260 Hamilton Ave., St. Louis, Mo. 63112. For more information, call (314) 385-8900.

Thur., May 19, 6:30 p.m., Breath of Life Christian Fellowship Church invites you to our Blue and White Appreciation and Awards Program. Join with us as we say “Thank You” to those men and women that serve our community in the law enforcement industry. 716 N. Compton Ave., 63103. For more information, call (314) 583-2469.

May 20, Healing & Mending Ministry presents their 7th Annual Fresh Anointing Women’s Retreat. Guest Speakers: Pastor Jackie Allen, Minister Jeanne Vogt & Dr. Laurette Pickett. Deposit is due of $50.00 ASAP. Contact: Pastor McCoy-Email: healingm2@gmail.com http:// www.healmending.org

Sat., May 21, 9 a.m., Divine Destiny Full Gospel Ministries presents Breakthrough Prophetic Prayer Breakfast. Come ready for a worship experience, prayer, praise, prophetic utterance and to hear what God is saying to those that will listen in this season. Crowne Plaza St. Louis Airport, 11228 Lone Eagle Dr., 63044. Sun., May 22, 3 p.m., St. Peter’s United Church of Christ presents Community Gospel Choir of St. Louis Spring Concert. This is a free event for the community. 1425 Stein Rd., 63135. For more information, call (314) 329-4242 or visit www. CommunityGospelChoir.org. Sun., May 22, 3 p.m., St. Paul African Methodist Episcopal Church Women’s Day. This year’s theme is Man’s Complement: Women Striving for Spiritual Maturity. 1260 Hamilton Ave., 63112. For more information, call (314) 385-8900.

OLD SCHOOL 95.5 District Rhythm Series Presented by E.I. EXTREME INSTITUTE BY NELLY welcomes Mint Condition. For more information, see CONCERTS.

American in an interview, “you always know when one is done.” When finished, each piece resembles an abstract landscape. The collage of 38 such pieces – arranged in no one set order, Bradford said – it becomes a crazy quilt of abstract landscapes with a cumulative, haunting visual power. Jeffrey Uslip, chief curator for The Contemporary, described it as “an allegorical, cartographic understanding of a city.”

“Receive Calls on Your Cell Phone from Jail” takes its arresting title from the text on the merchant poster that underlies the collage. On close inspection, each piece contains countless tracings of this deeply sad advertising message. Here we find his advocacy for “the interests of under-represented urban communities” that attracted the 2017 Venice Biennale curators.

“This one I found troubling,” Bradford said at a media preview on May 6. “You see here how the penal system tears families apart. You’ll receive a service, but of course they’ll charge you three or four times the rate. You get a service, but you get exploited.” The Contemporary also has on display a piece of singlechannel video art he made a decade before this collage, “Practice” (2003). It depicts

GRACE

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teachers at my all black elementary and junior high school because they taught me about the great voices in classical music so I can cherish and admire what Miss Bumbry has accomplished,” said Gerald Early, Merle King Professor of Modern Letters and editor of The Common Reader at Washington University during his introduction of Bumbry. Students from Bumbry’s

alma mater Sumner High School did their customary bulldog bark when it was announced that she was a proud graduate of the school. A Grammy Award winner, 2009 Kennedy Center Honors recipient (she was in the same class of honorees as Robert DeNiro and Bruce Springsteen) and one of the most celebrated voices in the history of classical music, she walked the same halls and sat in the same classrooms as these students. It was at the historically black high school that Bumbry received her classical training under the direction of Kenneth

him dribbling and shooting a basketball wearing a Los Angeles Lakers jersey and an improvised version of an antebellum hoop skirt that looks more like a parachute.

Billups – a legend in his own right as vocal coach and choir director.

It was shot on a gusty day, and between the wind and what it does to the parachute around his waist, Bradford has a hard time with hooping it. Adding to the strangeness of

and pride as a black person,” Early said.

Other than a sincere thank

n “When you go to these auditions, they are going to be paying attention to the tiniest things. You have to be mindful of everything you do.”

– Grace Bumbry

“The things that Miss [Marian] Anderson and Miss Bumbry did gave me courage

the imagery, Bradford is NBAsized – “I’m the same height as Kobe,” he told The American (that’s 6’7 ½”). It’s a threeminute absurdist meditation on struggling against obstacles in the quintessential urban landscape of the open-air basketball court.

Local artist Lyndon Barrois Jr. used that same dramatic urban space as the basis for his installation “Of Color,” which also opened at the Contemporary on May 6.

Barrois actually had a room of the museum paved with asphalt and a basketball hoop installed. Arrayed in the space, like players on a team, are sculptures he made out of printer toner boxes and images clipped from advertising. They are not basketball images, but rather hats, hairdos, sunglasses and shoes, though not archetypal basketball shoes. There is also a basketball laying on the asphalt as part of the exhibit, hand-lettered “ELJAY BITU.”

“Drawing parallels between athletic gestures and sculptural forms,” the Contemporary’s program notes reads, “Barrois Jr. connects ideas of sport and spectacle while raising issues of objectification.”

Barrois was one of three local artists selected for the 2016 Great Rivers Biennial by three national jurors. The other artists and their pieces are

Anush V. Avetisyan, baritone Benjamin Taylor and mezzosoprano Gina Perregrino each performed pre-selected arias and were critiqued to the most miniscule details by Bumbry.

Watching her work with the five selections gave a new appreciation of Bumbry’s gift within her craft.

Four voice types, three languages and five different singing approaches – and she knew exactly the instruction to apply to enhance each performance.

you, Bumbry said in lieu of remarks she would prefer to get right into the session with the talented group of singers.

“These are stars on the rise and they have volunteered to take a lesson from Ms. Bumbry, one of the greatest stars of all time, in public, in front of all of you,” said Timothy O’ Leary, general director of Opera Theatre Saint Louis.

More than 500 singers from around the world compete for one of the 32 coveted Gerdine Young Artist slots.

Five brave souls from Opera Theatre St. Louis’ 2016 class stood before the audience – and Bumbry.

Soprano Jessica Faselt, tenor Joshua Blue, soprano

CEDRIC

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patient that she wanted to pay her experience forward through the pavilion.

“In her illness, she was so concerned about others and loved the idea of helping others,” Cedric said. “She was so into that I believe it helped her live a couple more years –just because she was inspired by the work that was happening and the people who were coming to be involved in it.”

They are continuing the work that she started in making sure that her name will be associated with providing women with quality healthcare thanks to the partnership between the actor/comedian and St. Mary’s.

“We feel like SSM is a part of our family, because of the exceptional care our mother received here,” Wilson said.

“This partnership has just been a blessing. And I hope that you

Tate Foley, “Post No Bills,” an installation of large-scale sculptures and videos that meditate on protest art and language, and Nanette Boileau, “Dakota Territory,” a threechannel video exploration of cattle in the American West and the industry that defines (and, ultimately, ends) their lives. Also opening at the Contemporary on May 6 was “I Sing the Body Electric” by French artist Lili ReynaudDewar, two videos that feature her dancing in empty galleries following the close of the 2015 Venice Biennial, where her work was featured. It is fitting that this piece made in the aftermath of a previous Venice Biennial opened along with Bradford’s St. Louis exhibition, which was in the works long before he was selected for the career-transforming Venice Biennial.

Contemporary Art Museum St. Louis has never been more in command of the international contemporary art scene and, at the same time, never more committed to launching local artists with major shows in its enormous and attractive exhibition spaces. This show, on display in August 14, deserves large and engaged local, national and international audiences. For more information, visit http://camstl.org/.

opened her mouth to sing. Bumbry critiqued everything: their sound, the display of emotion, body language, diction.

“What are you doing with your hands?” she asked one singer. “You are giving us traffic cop.”

“Higher. Higher. Higher,” Bumbry told one singer. “Think of that F before you get there. It’s too low.”

She effortlessly started at the F and encouraged the singer to join her.

“You think it’s here, but it’s there,” Bumbry said pointing to the mouth and head.

“You have to say, ‘Am I positioning it high enough? Am I thinking it high enough?’” Bumbry said. “The theory is, as you go higher you have to give more space and more energy.”

She offered hints of the glory of her voice as she coached the singers over the course of the afternoon. The snippets were enough to leave the audience awe-struck every time she

“That’s too easy,” Bumbry said. “You’re going to end it like that? It’s the end of Aria so you’re going to have to give it a little more oomph than that.” She didn’t bite her tongue –and was not shy about making the singers stop and start again as they attempted to incorporate her notes. But it was all out of love. Each of them were given a generous hug and encouraged as they took their seats. The experience was eyeopening for those unaware of the discipline and meticulousness required within the opera world – and those who are yet to see it on a scale as grand as Bumbry.

“When you go to these auditions, they are going to be paying attention to the tiniest things,” Bumbry said. “You have to be mindful of everything you do. They are looking for that spark.”

all are as excited about Aretha as we are.”

Soul singer Jill Scott was the featured entertainment for the inaugural gala, and Patti LaBelle headlined last year’s show. Kyles passed away a few months before last year’s gala, and Cedric and Wilson feel that their mother would be thrilled with their latest headliner choice.

“This is one of the most iconic performers that we still have, and you know she’s gonna bring it,” Cedric said of Franklin. “I’ll be sending in my requests.”

Cedric announced that he will once again perform for the show and also give a rising comic an opportunity to perform.

At the press conference, the Kyles’ family donated the baby grand piano that belonged to their late mother to their SSM family for the lobby area and had it inscribed with Kyles’ favorite Bible verse.

“And that it will give them a sense of hope as they come into the doors and experience the exceptional healthcare that SSM St. Mary’s provides through the healing hands of God.” Cedric feels proud that the city has supported his family’s efforts through the concerts and praised his efforts to lend his celebrity to a worthy cause –and his mother’s memory.

“This is not a sad moment,” Cedric said. “We love our mom and we honor her by doing this – in the spirit of good health and good energy. It runs deep with me that her legacy and the spirit of her personality will continue with this pavilion.”

The 3rd Annual Cedric The Entertainer and Friends Gala will take place on Saturday, October 22 at The Peabody Opera House. Tickets will be on sale Friday, May 13 at 12 p.m. at Ticketmaster.com. For more information visit cedricandfriends.org or call 314-678-6637.

“I pray and we hope that this piano will bless those who come through these doors and they will see that scripture and enjoy the music,” Wilson said.

Photo by Chris King

Lyndon Barrois Jr. discussed his 2016 Great Rivers Biennial piece “Of Color” with one of the three national jurors who selected him, Valerie Cassel Oliver, senior curator at the Contemporary Arts Museum Houston, during a Contemporary Art Museum St. Louis media preview on May 6.

Miscellaneous

Cy’Myia Jordan is a state finalist in the National American Miss Missouri Pageant, which will be held in Columbia, Mo June 24-2. Five-year-old Cy’Myia enjoys dancing, baking, reading, bike riding and swimming.

Lisa M Reid was one of the 2016 recipients of the Golden Apple Award, presented by True Fellowship Church, for her leadership, dedication and educational excellence!

Celebrations

Birthdays Anniversary

Reunions

Beaumont High Class of 1968 48-year reunion will be June 10--12, 2016. Friday: Bowling Kick-Off, Saturday: Black n’ White Speak Easy Party and Sunday: Family n’ Friends Picnic. Meetings will be at Florissant Valley Library Branch, 195 New Florissant Rd., Florissant, MO 63031 on

Saturday March 26, April 23 and May 28 from 1-4 p.m. For more information call (314) 869-8312.

Beaumont High Class of 1971 is planning its 45th year reunion for July 22-24, 2016. Please send your contact information (address and phone number) to Gladys Smith at beaumont1971alumni@aol. com.

Beaumont High Class of 1984 can stay updated via our Facebook page “Beaumont Class of 1984”. We meet the last Friday of every month. Contact Rochelle Williams at rochellewilliams001@yahoo. com.

Cole School Alumni & Neighborhood Friends age 50 and older reunion weekend will be held May 12-15, 2016. For more info call Andrea at 314-369-3052 or check our Facebook page at coleschoolstlouis.

Harrison School All-Class Reunion, Saturday September 10, 2016, 6:30-10:30 pm at Ambruster Great Hall, 6633 Clayton Rd, St. Louis, MO 63117. Tickets are $60 per person. For more info Contact: Judy Darris 314-443-6741, Yolanda beck 314-346-8103 or Làshell Tolliver 314-420-3566.

Soldan High Class of 1965 presents: “On the Road Again”

Happy Birthday to Mrs. Ruther G. Casey, who celebrated her 100th birthday on May 10! Happy Birthday to our mother, Yvonne Parkins, who will celebrate her special day on May 14! May God continue to bless her with all His goodness.

to Washington, DC. Cost: $479 per-person, double occupancy, 6-Days and 5-Nights, Thurs. June2- Tues. June 7, 2016. First payment due now $75 each person. For more information and reservations contact: Corinne Stuckes (636)-294-4373, Brenda Yancey (314)-830-1334 or Isaiah Hair, Jr. (314)-387-7592 email: cstukes@charter.net.

Soldan High Class of 1966 has planned its 50-year reunion for September 9-10, 2016 at Christian Hospital Atrium, 1111 Dunn Road St. Louis, Mo 63136. For more information, please contact: Meredith Wayne Farrow, 314.521-8540, Robert Collins, 908.313-5002 or Marilyn Edwards Simpson, 341.837-7746. Facebook, soldan class of 1966 or email: stlsoldan1966@yahoo.com.

Soldan Class of 1971 is planning its 45th year reunion for: June 17-19, 2016 at the Ameristar Casino Resort & Spa, One Ameristar Boulevard, St. Charles, Mo 63301.

Soldan Class of 1976 reunion will be held June 10-12, 2016. For more information, email soldanclassof1976@yahoo. com or Facebook: Soldan High School Class of 1976.

Sumner High Class of 1964 70th Birthday Gala will be held Sat. Aug 13. 2016 at the Norwood Hills Country Club at 6:30 pm. Please contact Joyce Camp for additional information 314-423-8821 or Yvette Allen 314-997-2214 or Fannie Clark Rogers 314-3554337 your Gala Committee.

Sumner High School Class of 1966 is planning their 50th Class Reunion. Please contact Ella Scott at 314-436-1696, Els2188@sbcglobal.net with your name, address and email or join the Sumner Class of 1966 Facebook Group page.

Sumner High Class of 1971 is planning its 45th year reunion for August 12-14, 2016 at the Holiday Inn Earth City. Contact: Rita Shields at 314-868-7989 or email ritashields@att.net, Al Wilhite 314-302-3448 or email 27alhouse@sbcglobal. net for more information.

Sumner Class of 1976 will celebrate its 40th Reunion July 15 - 17, 2016 at the Holiday Inn Earth City and Shalom Church City of Peace. Contact B. Louis at 314.385.9843 or email: sumnerclassof76@ yahoo.com for info and/or with your complete mailing address and telephone number(s) or join our Facebook page Sumner Class of 76.

University City High School Class of 1976 is planning its Fabulous 40th year class reunion for June 24-25, 2016. We need your contact information. Please email your information to: weareuc76@ gmail.com or call the UCHS Class of 76 voicemail at 314301-9597.

Vashon January and June Classes of 1966 will celebrate our 50 year reunion October 7-9, 2016 at the Hollywood Casino, 777 Casino Center Drive, Maryland Heights, MO 63043. Contact Marilyn Stuckey, Chairperson, 314-438-8338, email: masystucup@att.net or Janice Holland, Co-Chairperson, 314-727-1695, email: jholland1695@att.net for more information.

Vashon Class of 1986 will be celebrating its fabulous 30th Class Reunion in beautiful Las Vegas Nevada, July 21-23, 2016. For more information contact, Claudette at 314 3681502 or cctreze@att.net.

University City Class of 1981 35th reunion will be

Do you have a celebration you’re proud of? If so we would like to share your good news with our readers. Whether it’s a birth, graduation, wedding, engagement announcement, anniversary, retirement or birthday, send your photos and a brief announcement (50 words or less) to us and we may include it in our paper and website – AT NO COST – as space is available Photos will not be returned. Send your announcements to: kdaniel@stlamerican. com or mail to: St. Louis American Celebrations c/o Kate Daniel 2315 Pine St. St. Louis, MO 63103 FREE OF CHARGE

Reunion notices are free of charge and based on space availability. We prefer that notices be emailed to us!

However, notices may also be sent by mail to:

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

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

Our email address is: reunions@ stlamerican.com

August 5-7, 2016. Please send your contact information to Denise Weatherford -Bell at msdenise38@yahoo.com.

Mizzou Black Theatre/World Theatre Workshop Reunion classes are celebrating 34 years of the founding of the theatre program and our founding director. As we plan this event for 2016, we are asking former cast members to forward your names and contact information to Glenn Ellis at btwreunion@ outlook.com. The goal is to meet up in April. More info will follow.

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

On May 7, Kel and Donna Ward celebrated five years of marriage. “I extend a happy and blessed anniversary to my true blessing from God.”

Luvs U Baby... Husband Forever

Purple soul. 50 Cent apologized and gave $100,000 to charity in the name of the autistic young man he accidently punished on social media. But St. Louis would have to pay for it with his absence from Effen Vodka promo appearances.

Café Soul lost a nice chunk of their Prince Tribute crowd because of it Thursday night at Lux. But the show went on – and it was a good one. Can anybody tell me who the dude was that looked like a hairy, scary version of Jamal from “Empire” singing “How Come You Don’t Call Me Anymore?” I really dug him. It was a nice little night and I got a chance to catch up with two of my faves – and my other two faves Angie and Nichol.

A super Cinco De Mayo. For the first time ever I made my way to Cherokee Street for the Cinco De Mayo Street Festival. Let me tell y’all, I felt like that dude who tweeted his love-at-first-sight experience watching the Blues the other week. All I kept saying to myself was, “This is lit! Why didn’t y’all tell me?” I had a blast – and it wasn’t just because I got a psychic reading and the woman told me I would live into my late 90s and meet my husband in September (just in time for Salute!). Seeing the blended crowd kick it together in perfect harmony was everything. And the fact that so many of my favorite artists were on deck was the icing on the cake. Tef Poe, Indiana Rome, Dharma Jean, Black Spade, CJ Conrod and The Midwest Avengers and so many other folks that I know I’m leaving out. And to that little niñito who stabbed me in the liver with his plastic sword out of nowhere as I was talking to Teresa Jenee, I’m working on a composite sketch of you. I don’t know who he was, but if that sword didn’t have a rounded tip, I’m not sure I would have pulled through – because he used every inch and pound of his body for that shanking he put on me – with intent to kill. But anyway, back to the festival. The performances were crackin’, especially the earlier ones. My witness Teresa Jenee slayed the stage wearing what looked like one of my big granny’s yarn couch throws. I will definitely be back. Not to be political, but I think my favorite thing from the parade was seeing a crowd of folks ready to mollywop a Donald Trump piñata.

The wonder of Webbie. If you would’ve told me before Friday night that Webbie would pull five times the crowd as Mystikal I would have laughed in your face – and been dead wrong. The folks were deep up in the Marquee to get their quarterly dose of Louisiana’s finest Cajun-battered trap star. Webbie is the least of them, in my opinion, but he clearly strikes a chord in the young savages, the reformed ratchets and everyone in between. It was pretty deep up in there. As per usual, Webbie didn’t go on stage until last call for alcohol, but I will give him credit for being there for a meet-and-greet at about 1 a.m. And it seemed like he wanted to take the stage earlier, but folks stay aching for 15 seconds of fame.

I’ll never understand the fascination of people nobody knows from Adam being perched up there doing nothing. Here’s a little secret: we are not impressed. All we say is, “What are they doing up there besides thirstin’ to be seen?” But I know y’all want to hear about the show. It was only a few minutes and it started out with Creole rapper that was giving me a savage Steph Curry warming the crowd up. He was so amped – and the performance space was so crowded with ordinary people that the folks didn’t realize that Webbie had been on stage for almost 10 minutes. He started rapping along with the songs and all of that. It was the standard snippet show.

A Mother’s Day mess. Before I really get into this I have to get a couple of things regarding the Donnell Jones show Sunday at the Ritz Carlton off of my chest. I’ll start with some good news. The place was sold completely out! Okay, on with the reads. Somebody tell Donnell Jones to just stay home if he’s sick. People don’t get points for being a trooper and powering through in my book. Take my word for it, fans would much rather be salty about reworking their Mother’s Day plans than paying for a sick and shut-in performance. Where I want you to be is in the bed getting well! Trust me, I saw the folks faces as they left – zika virus vocals was the worst-case scenario. Some dude in the crowd had me cracking up when he said, “Bring Rhoda G back on the stage so she can use her sax to help you hit those notes?” Also, why would you beg the folks to come up to the front of the stage only to obstruct the VIP view? Donnell, next time if you are that thirsty for energy, just climb down off the stage and go to them. I don’t hold the promoters responsible for his shenanigans, but the show could have been presented in a manner that didn’t drag all night. If there is a 7:30 p.m. start, don’t do a 10 p.m. intermission. Rhoda G and Arvin Mitchell were great, but after people waited for hours they were over it by the time Donnell hit the stage. And he put the nail in the coffin with those vocals. The brunt of what went wrong with this show was on Donnell, but if the folks hadn’t been strung along all night there wouldn’t have been nearly the level of disappointment.

Calling all grads. Y’all know what time it is … that’s right, graduation time. So now that your prayers have been answered and those punishments paid off, give your beloved grad a lasting memory to treasure this moment. Our Graduates Special Section is happening on June 16 and for the smallest of fees you can have this milestone go down as public record with our readers. We encourage everybody from pre-k- to PhD to be a part of the best one yet! You need to submit your photos ASAP because they are due June 6). Visit www.stlamerican.com to submit your grad, or for more information. Since I’m already talking about grads, I might as well shout out some of my peeps who were among those celebrating milestones. Congrats to Jamie Price, Linda

and Lisa West on their new degrees!

Robinson

Chris, Mike, and Rayon stepped into STL Live to check out the band Wednesday night @ HG

AKAs Taylor and Jasmin came to show love to their frat @ The Alpha Graduation party Friday @ The Rustic Goat

Saint Louis Hop Shop owners Ryan Griffin and Justin kept customers coming back during Cherokee’s Cinco De Mayo festival Saturday

Diamond, Ozsha and T_animated hung out @ The Hop Shop on Cherokee as part of their Cinco De Mayo festivities

J Starr and the Collective had Hit the Hookah Thursday on lock @ The OBar

NeNe got a chance to chop it up with Webbie, one of her favorite rappers, before he hit the crowd with some of his classics Friday night @ The Marquee

Aaron and Lapiffany were in the mix for the Cinco De Mayo celebration on Cherokee Street Saturday night

Beauties Brittany and Kendra celebrated their birthdays Friday @ The Rustic Goat

Shea and Shawni checked out the sounds of STL Live Wednesday night @ HG

Promoters PB and Triky are up to something @ the Marquee Friday night

Photos by Lawrence Bryant & John Scott

The Missouri State Employees’Retirement System (MOSERS) is looking an IT professional to provide end-user support on company-supported computer applications and platforms. And assist the Network Administrator and perform professional and technical work relating to the analysis, design, implementation, and maintenance of a mid-size computer network. Minimum qualifications for the position include a bachelor’s degree or associate’s degree from an

EXHIBITS REGISTRAR

The Missouri Historical Society seeks an Exhibits Registrar. Visit www.mohistory.org for position details. An

Full, Part-Time positions, background check.Steady work history for 3-5 years preferred. MUSTapply in person at 314 N. Jefferson at Olive. Monday - Friday 9Ato 5P. Two forms of I.D.

Development Admin Support SPECIALIST

The Alzheimer’s Association St. Louis Chapter has an opening for a PT24 hr/week Development Admin Support Specialist. The position is responsible for database management related to planning and executing fundraising activities and events. Candidate will provide efficient record keeping and clerical support for the Walk Managers and Development Dept. HS graduate with minimum of 2 yrs Business school or equivalent experience required. Salary range is $14 - $16 per hr. To apply, please forward resume & cover letter and at

Olive Blvd, Floor 2, Olivette, MO 63132 (or) e-mail to legal@vintech.com

M/WBE COMPLIANCE

St. Louis Development Corporation (SLDC) has opening for a M/WBE Compliance Specialist. SLDC is looking for candidates with progressive experience in contract compliance monitoring, procurement, or construction project management. To apply online and see a full job description go to: http://www.stlouis-mo.gov/sldc/ and click on “Careers at SLDC.” SLDC is an equal opportunity employer and values diversity.

SENIOR ADMINISTRATIVE ASSISTANT

The Supreme Court of Missouri is accepting applications for a Senior Administrative Assistant in the Clerk’s office. This person must be organized, detail oriented and self-motivated. Exceptional written and verbal communication skills are a requirement. Qualified candidates will be proficient in using Microsoft Office products. Experience with Lotus Notes is a plus. Successful candidate will be expected to manage a fast paced office and be comfortable working with all levels within the organization.

Minimum qualifications: High school diploma or equivalent and three years of increasingly responsible administrative support experience performing a wide range of office practices. Business degree or law background is desirable.

Annual starting salary up to $48,951 depending on qualifications.

If interested please send resume to seniorassistant@courts.mo.gov

Applications received by May 27, 2016 will receive preference, but applications may be considered until position is filled.

Supreme Court of Missouri is as equal opportunity employer.

practice of law or equivalent experience as a licensed attorney. Must possess a current license to practice law in the State of Missouri or ability to obtain same within one year of appointment.

Application: Qualified candidates shall submit resumes and at least three professional references via e-mail to generalcounsel@courts.mo.gov

Those selected for interviews will be required to submit three writing samples prior to the interview. Interested parties may refer to the judiciary web site http://www.courts.mo.gov and clicking on job opportunities for additional details.

Applications accepted until position is filled. Preference given to applications received on or before June 10, 2016.

The Supreme Court of Missouri is an Equal Opportunity Employer.

TEMPORARY FIELD REPRESENTATIVE

Looking forField Representatives in St. Louis City. Hours vary, but will be approximately 20--40 hours perweek.

Duties: Verify household address, update listed addresses and explain purpose of the Census test.

Requirements: US Citizenship, valid driver’s license, auto, must have an email account and must pass basic skills test. Salary: GG-3 $12.34/hr. GG-4 $13.86/hr. and mileage reimbursement.

Fortesting info forthe temporary Field Representative jobs call 1-866-593-6154 oremail Chicago.recruiting@census.gov

Visit our website at: www.census.gov/regions/chicago/www/jobs/ for application instructions. The U.S. Census Bureau is an Equal Opportunity Employer. This agency provides reasonable accommodations forpeople with disabilities.

LETTING No.8607

WILLMORE PARK IMPROVEMENTS

Sealed proposals will be received by the Board of Public Service

Room 208 City Hall, 1200 Market Street, St. Louis, Mo. Until 1:45 PM, CT, on _June 14,2016 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.

Apre-bid conference for all contractors bidding on this project will be held on May 31,

REQUESTFOR PROPOSALS

Real Estate Title Services

St. Louis Development Corporation (SLDC) seeks the services of a Real Estate Title Company to provide professional and technical assistance in support of SLDC and City in need of title services during the research, acquisition and sale phases of property acquisition and disposition. Proposals due 5-31-2016. Details at https://www.stlouis-mo.gov/government/ departments/sldc/procurement.cfm or by contacting Nathon Chacon, Real Estate Specialist, SLDC, at chaconn@stlouis-mo.gov

REQUESTFOR PROPOSALS

of SLDC and City staff to assist in the management of appraising the properties that are deeded

at chaconn@stlouis-mo.gov

Notice is hereby given that the Metropolitan St. Louis Sewer District will receive

bids in the Purchasing Division, 2350 Market Street, St. Louis, Missouri 63103-2555 until 10:00am June 14, 2016 for Purchase of: Critical Spare Parts Specifications and bid forms may be obtained from www.stlmsd.com - click on “MSD At Work”, then “Bidding on Projects”. The bid document will be identified as 6461 RFQ. If you do not have access to the internet, call (314) 768-6314 to request a copy of this bid. The Metropolitan St. Louis SewerDistrict is an Equal Opportunity Employer.

REQUESTFOR PROPOSALS

Real Estate Appraisal Evaluation Services

St. Louis Development Corporation (SLDC) seeks the services of a Real Estate Appraiser to provide professional and technical assistance in support of SLDC and City staff to assist in the management of establishing pricing limitations in the acquisition and sale of property. In some instances, the appraiser may be required to testify in eminent domain proceedings in support of their professional opinions relating to real estate values. Proposals due 5-31-2016 Details at https://www.stlouis-mo.gov/ government/departments/sldc/procurement.cfm or by contacting Nathon Chacon, Real Estate Specialist, SLDC, at chaconn@stlouis-mo.gov

REQUESTFOR BIDS

Wachter, inc. is soliciting subcontractor bids for the Building & Site Improvements at Southview School – Special School District of St. Louis County, due 06/07/16 at 10:00 am. Plans and Specs are available at County Blue (314-961-3800) or at our office, 108 Industrial Dr., Arnold, MO 63010 or electronically via: https://www.dropbox.com/sh/3nye33xq02utz2 5/AAAHdks2Ryb4cFgLam3VYg7Ga?dl=0

This project requires that a good faith effort be made to utilize Minority, Women, and ServiceDisabled Veteran Business Enterprises. All labor to be performed under this contract shall be subject to the Wage Rate Statute of the State of Missouri, and requirements of the Federal Davis-Bacon Act of 1982 as amended. Fax bid to (636) 464-1960 or call (636) 464-3555 EOE/AA

REQUESTFOR PROPOSALS

Real Estate Brokerage Services

St. Louis Development Corporation (SLDC) seeks the services of a Real Estate Brokerage to provide professional and technical assistance in support of SLDC and City staff to assist in a) Providing advice on market value of target and comparable properties b) Advertise available parcels and buildings through appropriate media outlets c) Analyze and evaluate all offers presented on subject properties and provide a written recommendation to SLDC. d) Present counteroffers on behalf of SLDC. e) Maintaining files on all real estate transactions f) Consult on related matters, such as land subdivisions, lot consolidations, surveys, etc. as may be necessary in connection with specific transactions g) Provide information and necessary documents in preparation for closing, in conjunction with the SLDC staff and legal counsel . Proposals due 5-31-2016. Details at https://www.stlouis-mo.gov/government/ departments/sldc/procurement.cfm or by contacting Nathon Chacon, Real Estate Specialist, SLDC, at chaconn@stlouis-mo.gov

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).

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, May 24, 2016, at 10:00 AM in the Training Room at the Airport Office Building, 11495 Navaid Rd., Bridgeton, MO 63044. All bidders must regard Federal Executive Order11246, “Notice of Requirement forAffirmative Action to Ensure Equal Employment Opportunity”, the “Equal Opportunity Clause” and the “Standard Federal Equal Employment Specifications” set forth within and referenced at www.stl-bps.org (Announcements).

NOTICE TO CONTRACTORS

Paric Corporation is seeking proposals for the construction of the DoubleTree 24 Room Addition at Union Station. This project consists of the addition of 24 hotel rooms. Design-build services for Fire Protection, Mechanical, Plumbing and Electrical have been awarded and design is underway. Bids for this project are due on June 1, 2016 at 4pm. and should be delivered to Paric via e-mail (bids@paric.com) or fax (636-561-9501).

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

This project must adhere to the City of St. Louis Mayor's Executive Order #47 requiring the following: 25% MBE participation 5% WBE participation Workforce participation per Ordinance 69427 requiring the following: 25% Minority 15% Apprentice 5% Women 20% City Residence

If you should have any questions or would like to find out more detailed information on this project, please contact Paric Corporation at 636-561-9500.

PARIC CORPORATION IS AN EQUALOPPORTUNITYEMPLOYER

BIDS

The Work to be performed under these Contract Documents consists of: The work to be done underthis contract consists of the rehabilitation of approximately 59,590 lineal feet of sewers, varying in size from 8-inch to 54-inches in diameterusing cured-in-place pipe (CIPP) methods, 344 manholes, and 1,315 service connections. The project is within the Metropolitan St. Louis SewerDistrict Boundaries, inside the city(ies) of varies in the State of Missouri. The work will be performed in various quantities at various sites.

All prospective bidders must prequalify in the Cured-In-Place Pipe category, and be certified prior to the Bid Opening. Prequalification forms for obtaining said certification may be obtained from the Owner at the above mentioned address. All bidders must obtain drawings and specifications in the name of the entity submitting the bid.

This project will be financed through the Missouri State Revolving Fund, established by the sale of Missouri Water Pollution Control bonds and Federal Capitalization Grants to Missouri. Neither the Missouri Department of Natural Resources, its divisions, nor its employees will be party to the contract at any tier. Any Bidderwhose firm oraffiliate is listed on the GSA publication titled “List of Parties Excluded from Federal Procurement orNon-Procurement Programs” is prohibited from the bidding process; bids received from a listed party will be deemed non-responsive. Referto Instructions to Bidders B-27 formore information regarding debarment and suspension. Nondiscrimination in Employment: Bidders on this work will be required to comply with the President’s Executive Order11246. Requirements forbidders and contractors underthis orderare explained in the specifications.

Plans and Specifications are available from free electronic download. Please go to MSD’s

PUBLIC NOTICE

The Message

Beyond Sunday campaign funds education Suffering into strength

Roman Catholic Foundation distributed

$2.37M to 45

local parishes

American staff

Dozens of St. Louis Archdiocesan parishes have more than 2 million reasons to be grateful this spring, thanks to the Roman Catholic Foundation of Eastern Missouri and its Beyond Sunday campaign.

As part of the campaign’s first wave, the Roman Catholic Foundation recently distributed $2.37 million to 45 local parishes across the St. Louis Archdiocese. Led by the Roman Catholic Foundation, Beyond Sunday, with a goal of $100 million, is the largest St. Louis Archdiocesan fundraising campaign ever undertaken.

“We’re thrilled to be able to return more than $2.3 million to the first block of local parishes participating in our Beyond Sunday campaign,” said Mark J. Guyol, President and CEO of the Roman Catholic Foundation of Eastern Missouri. “It is gratifying to see tremendous support provided by so many Catholics for the campaign and that momentum is building.”

Beyond Sunday seeks to strengthen parish communities and transform Catholic school education throughout the Archdiocese of St. Louis. Each parish receives 40 percent of the funds raised through their parish campaign to address their own local needs. The remaining 60 percent goes toward the

Beyond Sunday Education Fund, which will provide scholarships to children of middle-income families and investments in Catholic schools by way of innovation grants and STREAM (Science, Technology, Religion, Arts, and Math) curricula grants . With a successful campaign, parish distributions will total more than $40 million over the 5-year pledge redemption period. The foundation will make distributions twice a year to the parishes, which will use their shares for the areas of greatest need – for example, to improve parish infrastructure, support faith formation programs and parish ministries, or create a parish or school endowment program – as outlined in their written case statements.

St. Rose Philippine Duchesne Catholic Church in Florissant received $19,000 as its first Beyond Sunday parish distribution. St. Rose Philippine Duchesne is planning to use its share to increase parish savings, strengthen its parish endowment fund, and invest in school

technology upgrades, accessible bathroom renovation, facility upgrades, and youth ministry and spiritual development programs.

“We’re looking to Beyond Sunday distributions as a key way to enhance our parish, primarily by strengthening our financial stability and addressing some key upgrade and maintenance needs,” said Reverend Thomas W. Wyrsch, pastor of St. Rose Philippine Duchesne. “We’re excited about the possibilities that the campaign has afforded us and look forward to realizing our goals.”

As part of the recent foundation distributions, St. Francis of Assisi Catholic Church in South St. Louis County received $54,000. This and future parish distributions, totaling $350,000, will go toward establishing an endowment fund for St. Francis of Assisi and toward multiple projects, including technology upgrades for its elementary school, church ceiling repairs, switching out old church lighting to LED lighting,

and repairs and upgrades to the parish center.

“Our campaign is a landmark initiative to ensure a lasting legacy for the people of St. Francis of Assisi and Catholic education for the St. Louis Archdiocese,” said Rev. Anthony Yates, pastor. “Our parishioners have always answered the call to support the parish and, with the assistance of the Roman Catholic Foundation, I’m confident that we will have a successful Beyond Sunday campaign.”

St. Joseph Catholic Church in Cottleville received $171,000 as its first distribution of Beyond Sunday campaign funds. St. Joseph, with expected parish distributions of $1.2 million over the next 5 years, plans to use its funds for a new parish hall, including purchasing property, and building and furnishing the facility.

“We have a wonderful parish already, but the addition of a new parish hall will allow us to serve our parishioners even better,” said Monsignor James Callahan, pastor at St. Joseph. “We greatly appreciate the assistance of the Roman Catholic Foundation. In fact, because Beyond Sunday will raise ample funds, we will not need to do a separate capital campaign at St. Joseph for the hall.”

According to Guyol, while Beyond Sunday is about strengthening local parishes and transforming Archdiocesan Catholic schools, it’s really about much more. “The campaign is about our faith, our salvation, and, ultimately, the future of our local Catholic church,” he said. “Our parishes and Catholic schools must be vibrant to prepare and nurture the next generation of Catholics.”

For a full list of recent Beyond Sunday parish distributions, visit http://rcfstl.org/beyond-sunday/.

I subscribe to a personal theory that our suffering is an integral part of God’s plan to ready us for the struggle of spreading the good news of Jesus Christ. Suffering in some ways is a prerequisite for strengthening one’s spiritual muscle. I look at Christ’s time in the desert as a toughening or cleansing that readied Him for the task ahead.

For me it is difficult to respect the opinion of someone who has led the so-called “charmed life” or someone who was born with the proverbial silver spoon in a cavity-free mouth. It’s hard, if not impossible, to listen to someone talk with certainty about things they’ve never seen or places they’ve never been.

My belief is that God teaches in a manner few of us will ever truly understand. I honestly believe that when He chooses you, when it’s your time, He has a unique way of communicating who’s really in charge. And it ain’t us.

Columnist James Washington

Take notes on this. “No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but (rather) painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it.” Hebrews 12:11.

As far as I’m concerned, we’re all in training, believe it or not, to fight in God’s war. Whether being forged in a fiery furnace or stuck in a tailspin of perceived despair and hopelessness, each one of us is being battle tested in anticipation that one day we will be called to arms. This struggle, these experiences, bring about wisdom.

Otherwise, God keeps you in a perpetual classroom where life constantly gives you a new place to go to the bathroom. You haven’t learned anything, so life keeps kicking your … well, you get the picture.

When you finally realize the One trying to tell you something is God, then a wondrous thing begins to happen. You listen more intently and learn more eagerly. Like the child who discovers walking leads to the joy of running, or the baby who discovers his own hand, the possibilities seem endless.

The mind says, “Tell me more.” The spirit says, “Thank you, Jesus.” At that very moment, it is my belief that God lets us know we’re able to withstand, overcome, rise above and win the battle of carrying the message of salvation. Christ is savior. At that moment, we also move from being in the classroom to being on the battlefield where Satan keeps score.

You remember those days back in school when you actually studied and were prepared for the test? Confidence oozed from you. When God has been the lesson planner, the study partner, the instructor, it doesn’t matter how much Satan wants it to be a Netflix night.

Helen Bailey and Dee White and, parishioners, with Fr. Tim Cook, pastor of Saints Teresa and Bridget, and Abby Cole, Beyond Sunday campaign field director