May 25th, 2017 Edition

McSpadden to graduate from Jennings High

By Chris King Of The St. Louis

Watching the parade

Students, ACLU persuade district to revoke punishments for walkout

Teachers reach temporary agreement with Hazelwood

By Sophie Hurwitz For The St. Louis American

Hazelwood School district officials, teachers and students finally reached a settlement, with a little legal muscle from the ACLU of Missouri, after four days of contention over teachers’ contracts and the district’s move to punish students who walked out of class in support of the teachers. The students, who staged a walkout on Monday, May 15 in support of their teachers’ demands for better contracts with the district, were suspended en masse – 105 students were suspended, 12 of them seniors who (according to district policy for suspended students) would not be permitted to participate in any school activity, including their graduation.

n “We were like, ‘How about we stand up for our teachers and support them?’” she said. “So we were like, ‘Let’s just do a walkout.’”

– Zoë Wells

That, however, provided more fuel for the following two days of protest – as well as a steady supply of students who were free to protest because they were no longer obligated to be

Health care comes to Pagedale

By Sandra Jordan Of The St. Louis American

n “We were driven by the community. They told us early they did not have enough access to primary care.”

– Chris Krehmeyer, Beyond Housing

new health clinic came about as a joint effort by Affinia and Beyond Housing by listening to the needs of residents.

“First and foremost, like everything else we do, we were driven by the community,” Chris Krehmeyer, president and CEO Beyond Housing told The American. “They told us early they did not have enough access to primary care – ‘we don’t have any place close by we can go to.’”

The 2,800 square-foot Pagedale health clinic, located at 6763 Page Ave., will have two medical providers and support staff who

Dems confirm Navarro as 28th Ward nominee

By

After their first nominee failed to meet a residency requirement, the 28th Ward Democrats have chosen a new candidate to run for newly-elected Mayor Lyda Krewson’s seat at the Board of Aldermen – it’s Heather Brouillet Navarro, executive director for the Missouri Coalition the Environment.

The special election for 28th Ward alderman will be held on Tuesday, July 11. The 28th Ward Democratic Committee

See NAVARRO, A6

Photo by Wiley Price

Peyton Witherspoon, Gabby Littleton and Aniya Witherspoon checked out the Annie Malone May Day Parade in downtown St. Louis on Sunday, May 21, the largest fundraiser for Annie Malone Children and Family Services.

Photo by Wiley Price

and Daughters Foundation, named after her son, who was killed by a Ferguson police officer on August 9, 2014, sparking unrest in Ferguson, which neighbors Jennings. The foundation works to “build capacity at the intersection of four core outcome components: Justice, Health, Education

Lezley McSpadden, the mother of the late Michael Brown Jr., will receive her high school diploma from Jennings High School on Friday, May 26.

Rebecca Rivas Of The St. Louis American

Heather Brouillet Navarro

Nicki Minaj confirms Nas dating rumors to Ellen

During a sit down on “The DeGeneres Show,” the host eased rap star Nicki Minaj into opening up about her love life –particularly her rumored romantic link to rap legend Nas

“He’s dope. He’s the king. He’s such a king,” Minaj said. “He is the king of Queens and I’d like to think I’m the queen of Queens...well, he’s a rap legend, so let’s just say I have a lot of respect for him and, you know, he’s kind of cute, too.”

Minaj also said that she and Nas have had “sleepovers,” but

so far their relationship has not been consummated.

“I’m celibate. I wanted to go a year without dating any man. I hate men.”

Minaj split with former boyfriend Meek Mill back in January.

Steve Harvey second wife strikes with $60M lawsuit

According to TMZ.com, Steve was slapped with a multimillion lawsuit by his ex-wife Mary

Mary has reportedly filed a $60 million lawsuit against Steve for taking her son, her businesses – and her will to live.

The lawsuit accuses Steve of child endangerment, torture, conspiracy against rights, kidnapping, murder, breach of contract and intentional infliction of emotional distress.

Harvey’s attorney told urban entertainment news site The Jasmine Brand that all of the allegations made by Mary are untrue and unfounded.

“Mr. Harvey vehemently denies any allegations set forth in the lawsuit,” lawyer said.

Mo’Nique spills Tyler Perry, Oprah and Lee Daniels tea during podcast

On Monday, actress and comedian Mo’Nique promoted a special podcast where she promised to give listeners more intel regarding the issues between herself and entertainment moguls Oprah Winfrey, Lee Daniels and Tyler Perry.

She never quite got around to what caused her to reheat the beef, but she provided some juicy details during the conversation.

During her podcast Mo’Nique and husband Sydney Hicks claimed Winfrey invited the brother who molested Mo’Nique on “The Oprah Winfrey Show” and failed to inform Mo’Nique that her estranged mother would also be on the show. Mo’Nique claims the move caused so much friction that it essentially tore her family apart.

Then they revealed how they learned that Perry talked about Mo’Nique behind her back.

The couple claim Perry was caught in the act when he trashed Mo’Nique to Hicks’ college roommate – who happens to be playwright and filmmaker David E. Talbert. He directed Mo’Nique in her most recent film “Almost Christmas.”

Hicks also claimed that Perry and Daniels have both called him talking about the other. Daniels reportedly said Perry tried to steal the movie “Precious” from under him. He also said that Perry said he couldn’t stand Daniels, but had to give him props on his talent.

Is Mike Epps forcing his ex to settle for less?

Last year, comedian Mike Epps filed for divorce from his wife of ten years. Now Mechelle Epps says Mike is trying to strong-arm her into a lower paying divorce settlement.

According to Bossip.com, Mechelle is seeking $118k a month in alimony and child support but Mike is only willing to shell out $26k.

Mechelle claims Mike has stopped paying the bills and cut off her credit cards in an effort to get her to settle.

Earlier this year, Mechelle claimed at 36, she was too old to find a job and needed the hefty alimony and child support in order to maintain the style of living she has become accustomed to enjoying.

Sources: Bossip, TMZ.com, The Jasmine Brand, Complex

Nikki Minaj

‘It’s

the company that’s right now’

Resident’s home damaged by water main break, offered only token compensation

By Sophie Hurwitz For The St. Louis American

Late this past February, Allie Pfeiffer of University City had the jolting experience of finding her basement, along with those of seven of her neighbors, flooded with water and sewage.

On Trenton Street in University City, seven different households had their basements flooded due to a water main break which then flowed up through the sewer system.

Pfeiffer, one Trenton Street resident, lost her hot water heater and her furnace, among other things.

“I don’t think anyone else lost that much, but they did lose stuff,” she said.

The company that owns the water main, American Water, originally sent the residents instructions to make a list of everything that was destroyed, Pfeiffer said. Later, however, American Water decided to reimburse each resident $1,500, regardless of the level of the damage.

Pfeiffer and her fellow Trenton Street residents believed that submitting the lists of damaged belongings meant that American Water would pay them for what they lost accordingly. However,

in this case, American Water denied insurance liability, said Brian Russell, external affairs for manager American Water.

“We’re liable only really in two circumstances: if we caused the break itself or if we knew that a break was likely and we didn’t do anything to fix it,” Russell said. “And neither of those was the case, because on this particular main there was no history of prior breaks, so there was really no way to know that it was going to break, so Travelers [Insurance] denied liability.” Representatives for Travelers Insurance, the company which insures American Water, would not comment on the situation, since the claim had not yet been settled.

“We sent a cleanup crew in to the affected houses, they dried it out, they treated so it doesn’t turn moldy, basically just getting it back in a livable condition,” Russell said. “And afterwards, sometime later, we offered $1500 to each of the homeowners to replace damaged belongings, just as kind of a goodwill gesture. We recognize that that area is just … some of those folks couldn’t afford to pay for all that stuff on their own, not all at once like that. We wanted to try to

help them out as best we could, so we offered them the $1500.”

For Pfeiffer, that payment was not enough.

“It wasn’t enough for me –just for my essentials, not even for the keepsake things that I lost,” she said. “For just the hot water heater and the furnace, we’re talking about four or five thousand dollars.”

work and maybe it disturbed something but ... there’d be no way to ever prove anything like that. So essentially, it’s just an unknown cause.”

down the street from the affected homes by the time the water main broke.

Allie Pfeifer was one of seven University City residents who had their basements flooded due to a water main break which then flowed up through the sewer system. Pfeiffer lost her hot water heater and furnace, among other things, but was offered only $1,500 by American Water.

district and American Water. It appears there is little for affected residents to do other than to accept the $1500 or pursue legal action.

Some residents believed that Metropolitan Sewer District should have offered them some compensation along with what they received from American Water, because MSD was doing construction down the street at the time, which could have destabilized the water main. When asked if the construction had anything to do with the water main break, Russell replied, “There’s no way to tell if they were doing

Pfeiffer, however, said, “They did a lot of jackhammer, and there were times that the house shook. The things on the walls shook. So it’s very easy to figure out that this is probably what happened.”

Because she believes the

n “It’s the company that’s right now, and they’re not treating their customers very fair.”

– Allie Pfeifer

construction might have caused the water main to break, Pfeiffer said that “Metropolitan Sewer could’ve taken care very easily of the money, but they won’t. They’re very hardnosed.”

MSD, however, does not believe they are legally required to compensate anyone, since the construction work they were doing was already

“We had a project that was going on, but it was way down the street already. The work we were doing in the area was complete already,” said Lance LeComb, of MSD.

The construction project in question was a “sewer separation,” in which an older sewer line that contains both storm water and wastewater from homes is replaced with two different lines to minimize the chance of overflow.

As for the residents, most accepted the “goodwill gesture” of $1,500. In fact, a representative from Travelers’ Insurance, the company that provided insurance for American Water, was unaware that there was someone who had refused to accept that token payment.

Pfeiffer, however, was adamant that she would not accept the money, because it simply did not cover her needs. She is still without a water heater or furnace, despite her best efforts to contact the sewer

“If they have homeowners’ or renters’ insurance, maybe talk to them, and see if that group would represent them as they talk to Travelers,” suggested Russell. “Unfortunately, St. Louis County has some very old water mains, and sometimes they just break. There’s really no rhyme or reason to it.” Pfeiffer remains frustrated.

“I know it’s hard dealing with these utility companies,” she said. “It used to be where the customer was right, and that’s no longer in the equation… It’s the company that’s right now, and they’re not treating their customers very fair. I guess that’s all I had to say. Like I said, I like to warn other people of what’s to come.”

Sophie Hurwitz is a St. Louis American editorial intern from John Burroughs School.

Photo by Wiley Price

Editorial /CommEntary

Greitens thinks transparency is ‘voter intimidation’

Governor Eric Greitens is behaving like a potentially dangerous hypocrite. Greitens ran as an “outsider conservative” belittling “career politicians” – as he continues to do, even now that politics is his career – but his political practice is offering anything but a welcome change from business as usual. Greitens refuses to release his tax returns, did not disclose what private interests paid for his inaugural festivities or how much they paid, has been fined by the Missouri Ethics Commission for not disclosing that his gubernatorial campaign – lavishly funded mostly by still unknown donors to his super-PAC – received a donor list from a non-profit he founded. Then he unleashed the following bit of dangerous nonsense on KMOX: “The people who believe in voter intimidation believe that the minute you make a political donation that you immediately need to turn all your information over to the government. You need to turn over your home address and your contact information, so that the government can turn around and publish that.”

As the Missouri Democratic Party pointed out, the “people” to which this cowboy-booted, self-proclaimed populist was referring are the nearly 70 percent of the electorate that voted to strengthen Missouri’s campaign finance laws, which include the disclosure requirements to the Missouri Ethics Commission criticized by the governor. In fact, the “people who believe in voter intimidation” are the leaders of Greitens’ party, the Republican Party, who are very deliberately using voter photo ID laws (which a federal judge in Texas ruled to be intentionally discriminatory) to make it more difficult for

many people to vote – in particular, minorities, students, older Americans and people with disabilities. Requiring that political donations be reported is, in fact, a bedrock principle of democracy and transparency in government. We still don’t know who is funding this governor, and it is clear that he does not want “the people” to find out.

Metro Task Force needs civilian oversight

We agree with the St. Louis City NAACP that the newly announced Metro Task Force to bolster security on MetroLink trains – which is needed for public safety – should abide by the terms and conditions of the City of St. Louis’ Civilian Oversight Board, though the force includes officers from other police departments. The St. Louis Civilian Oversight Board has the authority to investigate allegations of police misconduct; research and assess police

policies, operations and procedures; make findings and recommendations; and review evidence and witness statements from investigations by police internal affairs. The City NAACP said it is in “full support of regional cooperation as a solution to regional problems, but not at the expense of citizen’s rights and freedoms.” We heartily agree.

No discrimination for reproductive decisions

A group of St. Louis Catholics have filed a lawsuit against the City of St. Louis over a local ordinance that prohibits discrimination based on “reproductive health decisions,” claiming the law could force employers or landlords to go against their religious beliefs. In fact, the Reproductive Health and Pregnancy Nondiscrimination Ordinance, sponsored by Alderwoman Megan Ellyia Green, added pregnancy and reproductive health decisions to the list of protected classes from discrimination in employment and housing in the City of St. Louis. Signing it into law was among the most progressives moves made by then-Mayor Francis G. Slay, a conservative Catholic, and Mayor Lyda Krewson affirmed the local ordinance after the Catholics filed suit against it. “No woman should fear losing her job because of the personal medical decisions she makes. Yet that is exactly what this lawsuit envisions for St. Louis families,” said Alison Dreith, executive director of NARAL Pro-Choice Missouri. We agree with her position. It is a good ordinance, and we believe it will and should be upheld in court.

As I See It - A Forum for Community Issues

Clean Missouri Initiative would clean up state government

By Rev. Cassandra Gould and Nimrod T Chapel Jr. Guest columnists

Missouri’s state government and state legislature are not working like they should. State legislators and leaders are influenced by a small number of self-serving donors. Special interest lobbyists hold more power over the lawmaking process than citizens. Our whole system is designed to eliminate the opportunity for voters to hold their leaders accountable when they fail to do the right thing.

Year after year, politicians promise that this year will finally be the year that they clean up their own act, turn off the disgusting spigot of lobbyist gifts, and get to work on the things that will actually make life better for the families struggling just to get by. But every year, those promises prove to be empty. What happens every year in Jefferson City, out of sight from most Missourians, is just obscene, often immoral and frankly just dirty. Records show that since 2004, there has been an average of $868,000 per year in lobbyist gift giving in Missouri. The big corporations and special interests paying for all those free meals, drinks, sports tickets and trips aren’t in the charity business — they’re filling the bellies of legislators because they know it helps them get what they want.

Scandals and accusations of pay-to-play politics have become the hallmark of Missouri state government — while individuals and families suffer under oppressive laws

imposed by those who choose donors’ interests over people. Justice requires three branches of government that are easily accessed by citizens. The revolving door of legislators becoming lobbyists, combined with special interest and self-dealing legislation, diminishes democracy.

This vicious cycle continues because the people in power all have a stake in protecting the broken system that put them there. When the rules are set up to benefit the entrenched interests already in power, we shouldn’t be surprised when that system rewards rich and wellconnected candidates who cave to special interests. We are proud to be part of a growing coalition of Missourians who have had enough of the status quo in Jefferson City — citizens who are tired of waiting on politicians to reform themselves, are ready to take bold action to take back our government from special interest lobbyists, and to increase integrity, transparency, and accountability in our

Trump’s persecution complex is dangerous

President Trump believes he is being persecuted, and that is a frighteningly dangerous mindset for a man with such vast power.

Amid a week of dizzying developments on multiple fronts, Trump gave a graduation speech on May 17 at the U.S. Coast Guard Academy portraying himself as a victim, unfairly besieged by those who would destroy him.

“No politician in history, and I say this with great surety, has been treated worse or more unfairly,” Trump said. That is an absurd claim that cannot be taken seriously, of course, but it does give a sense of how the president feels about the scrutiny he faces.

Hours later, the Justice Department announced that former FBI Director Robert Mueller had been named as special counsel to investigate Russian meddling in the election and any possible collusion by persons connected with the Trump campaign. To my great surprise, the White House issued a statement that can only be described as calm, measured and appropriate.

“As I have stated many times, a thorough investigation will confirm what we already know -- there was no collusion between my campaign and any foreign entity,” it said. “I look forward to this matter concluding quickly. In the meantime, I will never stop fighting for the people and the issues that matter most to the future of our country.”

The tone of the White House reaction was widely

praised on the cable news shows that Trump is said to watch obsessively. But the effect, if any, of such positive reinforcement was evanescent.

It lasted only until Trump took to Twitter on May 18.

“This is the single greatest witch hunt of a politician in American history!” he tweeted.

A couple of hours later, he had more to get off his chest: “With all of the illegal acts that took place in the Clinton campaign & Obama Administration, there was never a special counsel appointed!”

Now, with all of this weighing on him and gnawing at him, he leaves on his first foreign trip.

The itinerary includes stops in the Middle East, the world’s most explosive region. Having called during the campaign for an outright ban on Muslims entering the United States, Trump will give a speech that advisers have billed as an address to the Muslim world. He will visit Jerusalem, where geography equals theology and every false step has consequences. What could possibly go wrong?

The news has, indeed, felt like a barrage. On May 15, The Washington Post reported that Trump, during an Oval Office meeting with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and Russian

Letters to the editor

Distraction from actual threats

In no uncertain terms we condemn the launch of this so-called Presidential Commission on Election Integrity. President Trump is trying to create a distraction from actual threats to our democracy, such as ongoing voter suppression and Russia’s interference in the 2016 election.

government.

We support the Clean Missouri Initiative because it has the possibility of bending the arc of justice back toward the people of Missouri. It will lower campaign contribution limits for state legislative candidates, eliminate almost all lobbyist gifts in the General Assembly, require politicians to wait two years before becoming lobbyists, require that legislative records be open to the public, and ensure that that neither political party is given an unfair advantage when new maps are drawn after the next census.

Working together in the next few months, we can gather enough signatures to put this measure before voters next November. Working together, we can shut out the special interests to get our leaders focused on what truly matters for our families and our neighbors.

Every time we talk about this opportunity, we are amazed by the hunger and excitement for these reforms. We hope you’ll learn more about the details of the Clean Missouri initiative at www. CleanMissouri.org and join the fight to put Missourians first once again.

Rev. Cassandra Gould is pastor at Quinn Chapel African Methodist Episcopal Church; executive director of Missouri Faith Voices; Religious Affairs director of the NAACP State Conference; and Faith co-chair of Jobs With Justice State Board Nimrod T. Chapel Jr. is president of the Missouri NAACP State Conference.

When Attorney General Jeff Sessions led a similar effort as a former prosecutor in Alabama, it had a chilling effect on the black vote. Now, President Trump is seeking the counsel of Kansas Secretary of State Kobach, who has a proven record of advocating for discriminatory and burdensome policies that prevent members of minority communities from exercising their right to vote.”

Kristen Clarke, president and executive director Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law Washington, D.C.

Assault on the right to vote

Donald Trump shouldn’t be allowed anywhere near the word “integrity.” The “Presidential Commission on Election Integrity” is nothing but a Trump-sponsored propaganda factory for justifying the GOP’s broader voter suppression efforts and nursing the president’s wounded ego after he lost the popular vote.

Study after study has proven that in-person voter fraud is effectively non-existent – more people get struck by lightning each year. But Republicans like Kris Kobach, whom Trump hand-picked to run this charade, have spent years lying about voter fraud in order to keep African-American and Latino voters from the polls. They have rammed through legislation to make it harder, not easier, for Americans to exercise their constitutional right to vote in states like

Ambassador Sergey Kislyak, revealed highly classified information. On May 16, The New York Times reported that James Comey, whom Trump fired as FBI director, kept contemporaneous written accounts of his conversations with the president – and that, in one of those encounters, Trump asked Comey to drop the investigation of Michael Flynn, who advised Trump during the campaign and whose Russia ties are being probed. In two days, that was enough news for a month. But then came the Mueller appointment. I share in the confidence expressed by Democrats and Republicans alike that Mueller will do a fair and thorough job – and that FBI investigators, reportedly angry at the way Trump treated Comey, will look under every single rock. If there was collusion by the Trump campaign, I believe it will be found. But even if clear and convincing evidence of such wrongdoing exists, it will take time to unearth. Meanwhile, Donald Trump remains president. He has access to the nation’s most closely held secrets but cannot be trusted to safeguard them. He runs the White House like a family business, valuing loyalty over experience or expertise. He has no real grasp of policy, foreign or domestic. He feels himself under attack. Four months into his term, he brags to White House visitors about how he won the election. And there’s not another one until 2020.

letters are edited for length and style.

Texas, North Carolina and Wisconsin.

This executive order is another obvious solution in search of a problem, and it’s a disgraceful attack on communities of color, working families, students, firstgeneration Americans, and the elderly. Democrats believe that voting is a fundamental right in America, and that our democracy is stronger when more people participate in our elections, not fewer. That’s why we’re creating a voter protection and empowerment unit at the DNC to stand up and resist this assault on the right to vote.

Tom Perez, chair DNC, Washington, D.C,

Relentlessly attacking workers

Shame on the politicians

in the Missouri Senate who cynically cut off debate and spent the last minutes of the year’s legislative session pushing through a law to reward CEOs by cutting the paychecks of thousands of our state’s lowest paid workers, right before they hit the lights to leave for own their summer vacations and posh lobbyist-paid junkets. HB 1194 undermines cities’ local control, and cuts the paychecks of working families in St. Louis and Kansas City, where voters support raising wages. Missouri’s Dark Money governor and corporate puppets in the Missouri Legislature spent the session relentlessly attacking workers by once again taking food off of the tables of working families.

Mike Louis, president Missouri AFL-CIO Jefferson City

Guest Columnist Rev. Cassandra Gould Guest Columnist Nimrod T Chapel Jr.

Columnist Eugene Robinson

Governor Eric Greitens

Photo courtesy of St. Louis Public Radio

Best in Stock Auto

More than 200 cars were entered

June 19 deadline for Metro poetry contest

Metro Arts in Transit is accepting entries for the 2017 MetroLines poetry contest. Local poets are invited to submit their work for the chance to have their poems displayed on MetroBus vehicles and MetroLink trains for up to one year. Poets must live within a 50-mile radius of the City of St. Louis. The deadline to enter is 11:59 p.m. on Tuesday, June 19. Fifteen poems will be selected to be reproduced on posters including visual imagery designed by Metro Arts in Transit and then put on display on the Metro transit system. Winning poets will receive a copy of the poster featuring their poem and $100. Each poet may submit up to three poems. Previously published work must be provided with permission to reproduce. Poems cannot be longer than 15 lines, and all work submitted for consideration must be suitable for public display. All entries must be submitted online through the Opportunities page of the Metro Arts in Transit website at artsintransit.org.

Lawyer helping Soles4Souls wear o ut poverty

The Law Office of Celestine Dotson is hosting a spring shoe donation drive for Soles4Souls. New or gently worn pairs of shoes can be dropped off at the office, 300 N. Tucker Blvd., Suite 301, St. Louis. Soles4Souls is a nonprofit global social enterprise committed to fighting poverty through the collection and distribution of shoes and clothing, which aims to eradicate extreme poverty by 2050. For more information about getting involved with Soles4Souls or to become an official drop-off location, visit https://soles4souls.org/getinvolved/.

The vacation when chickens were on sale

By Cassandra Walker Columnist

When I was a little girl growing up in Chicago, my parents would take us on a family vacation every other year. We would drive 18 hours in two days to visit my grandmother, who lived in Virginia. My father had a specific regimen, and no one dare to break his routine. He would have us leave at 5 a.m., no matter how much we complained. He had a schedule to keep, and that was that.

However, we did have a few glitches in his well-oiled machine, also called a family vacation. One time we had already driven an hour and he thought he had left the coffee pot on. We turned around and headed back, only to find the coffee pot safely turned off, washed and put away.

Then there was the time that my mother, who always went grocery shopping the night before, fried us some delicious chicken to take with us in the car. I overheard her tell my dad that she got three whole chickens on sale and just couldn’t resist cooking one of them for the trip. This particular day, the weather was exceptionally hot, a balmy 102 degrees. As we approached hour four of the drive, a terrible rotten smell over took the interior of our 1977 Chrysler New Yorker. We immediately pulled over and had a mechanic check under the car, thinking we had hit an animal and its guts were rotting in the heat. The mechanics found nothing, so off we went down the road with what seemed like a billow of rotten green film following behind us and inside the car. At one point It got so bad that flies started to appear in the back seat. No matter how many times we let down the window to have them fly out, within an hour there were six or seven more flies. It literally smelled like we were harboring a dead body somewhere in those light blue leather seats. We could not escape the smell. It started to permeate our clothing and hair. When we stopped at a gas station and I went inside to use the restroom, a little girl told her mother, “That girl smells like a skunk.” By the time we reached my grandmother’s house, my brother and I ran from the back seat, gasping for fresh air. Although my mother thought we were exaggerating, she too quickly exited the vehicle at record pace.

My grandmother was stunned when our family smell greeted her nostrils, but she held a straight face as my father told her we could not find the source of the stench.

My parents and grandmother had finished unpacking the suitcases from the car trunk, when my grandmother said she saw something tucked in the rear of the trunk. My dad reached in and pulled out a slimy, maggot-covered, raw, rotten whole chicken.

One of the chickens fell out of the grocery bag and decided to take up residence in our trunk and make the trip to Virginia, acquiring some maggots, which turned to flies on the way there. It took several days of washing and rewashing our clothes, the trunk and backseat of the car to get that horrible smell to leave. As for my mother, every trip after that one, she bought the chicken, already cooked, from a local fast food place.

Cassandra Walker

Christopher Holland of Florissant, pictured here with his two sons, won the Best Stock Auto class with his 1969 Chevrolet in the car show during the fourth annual St. Louis Nostalgia Rendezvous on May 13 at Gateway Motorsports Park.

in the show.

Photo courtesy of Gateway Motorsports Park

NAVARRO

presented Navarro as the nominee and received the party’s confirmation at the St. Louis City Democratic Central Committee’s meeting on May 18 – but not without some heated debate.

Art Perry, 28th Ward Democratic committeeman, said Navarro has been part of the Central West End area for almost 15 years and has been a strong asset and organizer in several community groups.

“Heather is a mother, a lawyer and the neighbor anyone would like to have,” Perry told the city’s committeemen at the meeting. Navarro answered questions from some committeemen about her political stances – including where she stood on ward redistricting and disparities.

Then Lucinda Frazier, who was standing in for 5th Ward Committeewoman Penny Hubbard, motioned to close the floor for nominations – and it was seconded.

Newly elected Committeeman Leroy Carter of

PAGEDALE

Continued from A1

Continued from A1 medical care and laboratory services for adults and children. The clinic will offer

the 4th Ward objected, saying he had had his hand up because he wanted to nominate another candidate (who The St. Louis American later found out was Steven C. Roberts.)

Chairman Bob Hilgemann moved forward with Frazier’s motion – despite some heavy rumbling from the crowd – and held a voice vote, where he said the “ayes” took it. That made the room’s protest grow even louder.

So, Hilgemann called for each person to individually cast a vote on whether to close the nominations – which ended in 26 “yes” votes and 23 “no” votes. It was basically divided between some newly-elected committeemen and young progressives against the more established committeemen. Shortly after, they voted to confirm Navarro as the Central Committee’s nominee. However, that didn’t stop the debate. People told the chairman that they felt shut down and unheard. Hilgemann responded that, historically, other committeemen had never tried to nominate aldermanic candidates in wards that weren’t their own. Perry then got up and called “point of order.”

afternoon and evening hours as well as walk-in appointments.

The health center accepts Medicaid, Medicare, Gateway to Better Health and most commercial insurance plans.

“What I hope this turns into is that folks view this as their

“This body cannot nominate into the 28th Ward,” Perry said. “It is not in the history and the rules. It’s like coming into my house and telling me what’s going to be on the menu.”

The 28th Dems have interviewed 13 “sterling” candidates, he said, and Navarro is the best one. The Central Committee can’t tell them who they should be working with, he said.

Rasheen Aldridge, the 5th Ward committeeman, later told The American that the discontent had nothing to do with Navarro as a candidate. There had been tension that had been “bottled up” since the 28th Ward’s previous selection process, when committeemen asked for information about the candidates in advance and never received it from the party leadership. Many of the newly elected committee people don’t want to just be a “rubber stamp” that shows up to a meeting unprepared and says “aye,” Aldridge said.

On May 6, the 28th Ward Dems selected Elise Miller Hoffman, president of the St. Louis Young Democrats, as their nominee. The Central Committee confirmed her soon after. But then on May

doctor’s office,” Krehmeyer said. “There is something powerful about when you have a doctor, just like middle-class folks, just like wealthy folks.”

Prior to the new clinic opening, the nearest clinics were a 30-minute bus ride

9, Hoffman announced that she misinterpreted the city’s residency requirement to run for alderman and was “stepping down” as the Democratic candidate.

“What we are seeing now is a shift in perspective,” said Marty Murray Jr., the 7th Ward committeeman. “What has hindered the Board of Aldermen is this aldermanic courtesy to the point that it impedes progress. In the end, people just want to be able to vet that candidate.”

A family advocate

Before the confirmation chaos ensued, Navarro had told the committeeman that she has always strived to be of service to her community and city. Navarro started the Central West End Families and Friends community group, which tries to attract young families to the neighborhoods and support them so they stick around when their children enter school. The group raised funds to redevelop Samuel Kennedy Park, which is a small triangle of land near Euclid Avenue and Delmar Boulevard that now has fun water and climbing features for kids.

away in Pine Lawn or Berkeley. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services had designated Pagedale as a Health Professional Shortage Area, an area of greatest need.

Krehmeyer said they sought ways to make it happen in partnership with a FederallyQualified Health Center (FQHC).

“Originally, it was going to be a St. Louis County Health Department site,” Krehmeyer said, “then that didn’t work out and I talked to a number of other FQHCs, who were kind of looking at the site and location and the complexities of the payer model and how they get reimbursed for their services.”

It was Affinia Healthcare that decided it could make the new clinic a reality. In particular, Krehmeyer

“It’s right on the Delmar Divide,” Navarro said. “It’s got to be one of the greatest accomplishments of my life to develop that park. Because of the nature of Central West End and all the education choices, you got a lot of kids who wouldn’t normally meet each other.”

Perry said that Navarro’s involvement in this group pulled her into broader participation in the ward overall. She is constantly encouraging decision makers to think about “changing direction to benefit more people,” Perry said.

Navarro moved to St. Louis in 1997 to attend Washington University, where she earned a bachelor’s degree in environmental studies and a law degree. Before joining the Missouri Coalition the Environment (MCE), she spent more than three years practicing as a civil rights lawyer at a private firm in St. Louis. There, she helped parents of children with special needs obtain much-needed services. She also represented those who had experienced discrimination based on their race or disability. She now fights for

said Affinia wanted to be a part of the broader strategy that was in place for the 24:1 initiative, named for the 24 municipalities within the Normandy Schools Collaborative when the initiative was formed (two of the municipalities have since merged).

“They understood the grocery store, bank, senior building, movie theatre – we have the St. Louis County Children’s Services Fund right about them,” Krehmeyer said.

“A lot of positive things are happening that Affinia would love to plug into and not just have it be a standalone health center, but actually have it connected to lots of other things.”

At the grand opening, Alan O. Freeman, president and CEO of Affinia Healthcare, said Affinia looks forward to

environmental protection and justice. If elected, Navarro said she would “scale back” at MCE but still be involved at the executive level. One of the concerns that she hears most from residents and business owners is public safety, and it’s an issue she plans on addressing on the board if she’s elected. Equitable development is another issue at the top of her priority list.

“We do want to be attracting development, but there is a huge question about how to make sure it’s equitable if we are using city funds,” Navarro said.

She’s interested in learning more about community benefit agreements, or contract provisions that would require developers to give back to the communities surrounding their real estate projects if the developers are seeking tax incentives. Moving the city forward using a racial equity lens and addressing the city’s disparities are also priorities. Navarro will mostly likely face two very active and well-resourced Independent candidates in the July 11 election – Steven C. Roberts and Celeste Vossmeyer.

serving the residents of 24:1.

“This new facility – Affinia Healthcare’s first outside of the City of St. Louis – expresses the organization’s mission of providing high-quality health care and exceptional service, while promoting healthy lifestyles,” Freeman said.

Affinia Healthcare invested $351,000 in the project construction with funds provided through grant funding, according to an Affinia spokesperson.

“This is attractive and powerful and this sends the right kind of message to folks in this community about their importance, the importance of getting to their health care home and having it be close by and in their neighborhood,” Krehmeyer said. For an appointment, call 314-814-8700.

WALKOUT

Continued from A1

in class.

On Thursday, May 18, a few dozen students, parents and community activists gathered outside Hazelwood West High School and the Hazelwood administration building to protest the suspensions, while another group of non-suspended students staged a sit-in in the school’s lobby to request a meeting with the superintendent.

The students held signs that said things like “The Board should be suspended for walking out on us!” “Education cuts never heal” and “This is B.S.” (bullying students).

When the students planned their original walkout, they did not believe that the punishment would be this harsh. “We looked at the rules and stuff, making sure that we wouldn’t break any rules,” said Zoë Wells, a junior at Hazelwood West.

On Sunday, May 14 and Monday, May 15, the district sent robo-call messages that encouraged parent to talk with their children about the importance of not cutting class or walking out and warned about the possible consequences students would face if they walked out.

A district statement, released May 16, also said that “students were disciplined according to the StudentParent Handbook and Behavior Guide.”

The students, however,

GRADUATE

Continued from A1 and Family,” according to its mission statement.

“But,” McCoy said, “I also wanted to help with her education.”

He knew what this would mean to her in particular as a mother.

disagreed. Jonel Harris, a sophomore at Hazelwood West who was suspended on May 17, said, “In the handbook, it says we aren’t supposed to be suspended for disruptive behavior.”

Elad Gross, a lawyer with Education Exchange Corps who has been working with the Hazelwood students since a forum held on May 16, agreed.

“The kids had looked up the rules, they knew what the consequences are, and it was not an out-of-school suspension for five days,” Gross said. “And they were willing to take the in-school suspension or whatever it was going to be. They didn’t realize they weren’t going to be able to walk at their graduations.”

Kyleah Brady, another suspended student, agreed that what they were doing didn’t merit suspension. “When they told everyone that we were being safety hazards, we moved to the back,” she said.

“We were being cooperative.”

The district’s statement said the protests were “not peaceful” and marked with chants that included “vulgarities and profanities.”

Though all of the students’ suspensions resulted from the original walkout on May 15, their initial punishments varied.

“Seniors and juniors were suspended for dangerous behavior. Me and a few other people were suspended for disruptive behavior,” said Ishmaiah Moore, a Hazelwood West sophomore. “And there were some

students that were suspended for truancy, but they’ve recently gone back in and changed it to disruptive behavior.”

Some students were even mistakenly suspended who weren’t involved in the walkout, including one student who was in the hospital at the time, according to Wells.

Later on May 18, students moved away from the administration building to protest outside Hazelwood West High School, where they were joined by teachers who had gotten out of work. A whole bus full of Hazelwood kids drove by the protest. Most of the children on the bus screamed out the windows in support, which mingled with the cacophony of approving car horns and shouting protestors.

State Rep. Gretchen Bangert, D-Florissant, joined the ACLU of Missouri, Metropolitan Congregations United (MCU) and Education Exchange Corps in supporting the student’s right to protest.

“I stand in full support of the many students who exercised their First Amendment right to free speech,” she said in a statement, “and believe they have the right to participate in the ceremony that reflects the hard work and dedication they have put into their educational advancement.”

Around 5:30 p.m. on May 18 – after a full day of protests and a meeting with MCU, students and ACLU lawyers, who had offered to take on the case – the district

released a statement that all students’ punishments would be revoked, and the seniors would be permitted to walk at graduation. According to the district, “new information” rather than public and legal pressures led to the principal rescinding the suspensions.

‘It was us who started it’

The district also stated that it had “new information” that some district staff “encouraged and may have manipulated students into the walkout, which resulted in disruption and created safety concerns,” and were investigating.

Teachers and students disagreed.

Wells said the walkout was the students’ idea. “The teachers said they were negotiating contracts, and then we were like, ‘Can you tell us more?” And then we were like, ‘How about we stand up for our teachers and support them?’” she said. “So we were like, ‘Let’s just do a walkout.’

Students Matthew Kenrick and Jonel Harris gave the

same account. “It was us who started it,” Harris said. Grover Smith, a drama teacher from Hazelwood West who showed up to support the students on May 18, said, “We didn’t do any planning. We didn’t encourage them or discourage them.”

Gross, who spent many hours with the students, said, “From my conversations with these kids and seeing them in action, these young leaders were not pressured or manipulated by anyone to go protest. They chose to stand up for their teachers because they loved them.”

“I think they [the school district] couldn’t make the statement that they were wrong, and accept ownership of it, so they placed the blame on someone else,” said Diane Livingston, president of the Hazelwood teachers’ union.

As for the teachers’ labor dispute with the district – the subject of the walkout in the first place – Livingston said they approved the tentative agreement that they previously voted down and

will negotiate next year again, settling with the district adding more time to the work year and more restrictions on personal days.

“We’re protecting the students,” Livingston said. “Hopefully, going forward, the administration will understand they need to let people communicate with them.”

The ACLU of Missouri, which was preparing to sue the district if it did not revoke the punishments, congratulated the district for “reaching the right resolution,” but not without a parting rebuke.

“In the future,” said Jeffrey Mittman, executive director of ACLU of Missouri, “we hope that the school district encourages students to be engaged citizens in our democracy and fosters trust that educational institutions fully support free speech and well-thought-out civil disobedience.”

Sophie Hurwitz is a St. Louis American editorial intern from John Burroughs School.

McCoy told The American, “I told her this would be a perfect tribute to him, going back to finish your high school education. And she decided to go for it and worked hard to get there.”

McCoy closely monitored her progress as a student, up to the final math exam this month, clearing her final hurdle to graduation.

McSpadden will walk the stage and accept her diploma as a published author who has been reviewed all over the world. Her memoir “Tell the

Truth & Shame the Devil: The Life, Legacy, and Love of My Son Michael Brown,” written with Lyah Beth LeFlore, was published last year. In all, 160 students will graduate at what is the district’s 100th commencement.

McSpadden’s daughter, Deja Brown, is also a graduating senior. The ceremony will be held 7 p.m. Friday, May 26 at the Chaifetz Arena, 1 So. Compton Ave. in St. Louis. It is free and open to the public.

St. Louis, don’t get played on ‘fake CBAs’ like Detroit did

Former Michigan State Rep. Rashida Tlaib has never seen residents as engaged as when they are pushing city leaders to pass policies around community benefit agreements, or CBAs – “not even for a candidate,” she said. These agreements are basically contract provisions that would require developers to give back to the communities surrounding their real estate projects if the developers are seeking tax incentives.

Advocates of CBAs often say that the most important ingredient of a successful agreement is that community members have a heavy hand in drafting and enforcing them.

November, making Detroit the first city in the nation to establish such a sweeping CBA policy for city-wide development. Tlaib, who is now the director of community partnerships and development at the Sugar Law Center of Economic and Social Justice, has since worked with other cities on establishing CBA ordinances.

Attaching CBAs to development deals was a call that arose during this last mayoral campaign and was particularly attractive to progressive voters.

Recently, Tlaib worked with Detroit residents to get a proposition on the ballot that would establish a city ordinance for CBAs. The Rise Together Detroit coalition’s proposition ultimately failed – and we’ll get to why in a minute. However, a different CBA ordinance did pass in

On Thursday, June 1, Tlaib will visit St. Louis to speak about their efforts in Detroit, as well as review two different board bills that St. Louis has in the pipeline for CBA ordinances. On May 5, Board of Aldermen President Lewis Reed introduced Board Bill 11 to establish a CBA policy for development contracts that receive Tax Increment Financing (TIFs) and “sales tax rebates.” But Alderwoman Megan Ellyia Green, who represents the 15th Ward, has been working on a CBA bill since last year. Green has had a draft of her legislation since January, and she planned on introducing her bill in the fall – after getting more input from stakeholders and the community.

Tlaib said she will look at both bills and offer insight on

New sheriff at the parade

June 1 at the free public event, “What are Community Benefit Agreements?” It will be held from 6-8 p.m. at the LaSalle School, 1106 N. Jefferson Ave., and is sponsored by the St. Louis Equal Housing and Community Reinvestment Alliance, Forward Through Ferguson and Team TIF.

Several local community activists who have been working on establishing CBA policies in St. Louis will also speak.

Often when a large-scale development project establishes itself in a neighborhood, Tlaib said, “it’s treated like an island, even though there is not water around it.” City leaders throw all kinds of incentives at these developers – bonding options, tremendous amounts of public dollars – in hopes that the development will decrease poverty and increase home values and public safety, she said.

“Many times we see that doesn’t happen,” she said. “They make their money and leave. We’ve seen that over and over in Detroit. We don’t want to see that happen in St.

St. Louis Sheriff Vernon Betts greeted people along the Annie Malone May Day Parade route on Sunday May 21. For the first time in the 107 years that St. Louis has hosted one of the nation’s largest African-American parades, the St. Louis Sheriff’s Department participated this year.

Photo by Wiley Price

Louis.”

St. Louis’ current situation reminds her an awful lot of Detroit’s story, she said. In 2014, a coalition of neighborhood block groups, faith groups, environmentalists, transit advocates and others met with two Detroit council members to put together a CBA ordinance.

“They did what they were supposed to do,” Tlaib said. “If you want to make change through an ordinance, you go to the decision makers.”

The two council members worked with the Sugar Law Center and developed a good bill. Council President Brenda Jones introduced the legislation in 2014, but then hearings for the bill were repeatedly cancelled. After the sixth cancellation, Tlaib said coalition members realized that they were being ignored and opponents were trying to “tire them out.” Jones’ ordinance has never come up for a vote before the full council.

Instead of standing down, the coalition raised enough money and signatures to get a proposition on the November 2016 ballot. It was called Proposal A. That’s when the Councilman Scott Benson led a campaign – backed by developers, the mayor, chamber of commerce and several unions – to put a competing CBA ordinance on the ballot, called Proposal B.

“You couldn’t tell which one was different,” she said, because the descriptions were almost exactly the same.

On November 8, Detroit voters approved Proposal B with 53 percent of the vote, while rejecting Proposal A by a similar margin. The grassroots

coalition couldn’t compete with their opposition’s mass advertisements, Tlaib said. In TV ads, Detroit residents didn’t see “Vote Yes” on Prop B, it was always “Vote No” on Prop A, she said. She believes that their opponents didn’t necessarily want Prop B to pass; they just didn’t want Prop A to win.

“The fake CBA has been a thorn within city administration,” Tlaib said. “Now they have this weird so-called community benefit agreements. There are tremendous amounts of complaints that this is not what [voters] expected.”

Mystery lady with graph

St. Louis city is expecting a $17 million shortfall for the upcoming fiscal year. On May 17, members of the aldermanic Ways and Means Committee held a poorly advertised “community input meeting” to listen to residents’ comments about the proposed budget cuts.

About 10 people gave comments, and the last person to approach the microphone was a woman carrying a homemade poster with a giant graph on it. She said her name was Michelle, and she launched into an incredibly detailed explanation of how city voters have been completely snowed on how the local use sales tax revenue is being allocated.

The use tax – or business tax – goes up whenever the sales tax rises. Back in 2001, city residents voted to create this use tax and to allocate its revenue to public health and

affordable housing, she told the audience.

“In 2002, the mayor announced that so much excess funding was coming in from the use tax that they wanted the voters to allow them to also spend the funding on public safety, demolition of derelict buildings and preservation of neighborhoods,” Michelle said. Voters were confused and ill-informed when they approved the 2002 proposition to spread the funding around to the other departments, she said. Then in 2003, all the funding for public health that came from the city’s general funds – approximately $7.6 million –was eliminated and the Health Department’s entire budget was moved to the use tax funds, she said. (St. Louis City Budget Director Paul Payne later told the American that she is right about this.)

So public health never got more money like voters had intended – the budget was just moved around and even decreased, she said.

“With the proposed 2018 budget, the city plans to decrease public health funding another 15 percent, which results in a total 27-percent decrease since the use tax passed and a 51-percent decrease since the public health funds were cut in 1999 which triggered the need to create a use tax in the first place,” Michelle said. Since the use tax was approved, staffing for the St. Louis Health Department has decreased by 55 percent, she said. With the looming federal budget cuts, she pleaded with the aldermen to come clean with the voters and restore public health funding in the city.

When asked to review the woman’s numbers, Payne said he calculates a 5.1 percent decrease in the amount that the Health Department receives from the use tax funds from the current fiscal year to the upcoming year – a change of $12,701,225 to $12,049,232.

In her numbers, Michelle said she separated out certain budget amounts that are miscategorized as public health, such as animal control and “health safety net.” But even with that, Payne said he didn’t see how she got to a 15 percent reduction for the upcoming budget. He wasn’t sure about the funding decreases to public health from the past, he said.

At the meeting, Michelle refused to give the American her last name. But we identified her as Rhonda Bartow, an epidemiologist for the city’s health department.

Rashida Tlaib

Own Town

African Arts Festival, King Tut and Spinsanity highlight spring tourism in St. Louis

By Kiara Bryant

For the St. Louis American

For many, Memorial Day marks the beginning of summer. It also marks the start of festivals and all that the season has to offer while we remember those who have served our country.

For 26 years, the St. Louis African Arts Festival has been, “building communities through culture and education.”

This year the festival is back once again with vendors, arts & crafts, performances, local art and food at the World’s Fair Pavilion in Forest Park on Memorial Day Weekend May 27-29. The festival welcomes thousands to celebrate African and African American culture. The event is free and open to the public.

Also on Saturday, May 27, the new The Discovery of King Tut exhibit debuts at the Saint Louis Science Center Discover where the treasure is buried and the tomb of King Tutankhamun. Experience the magic of archeology outside of Egypt with this fascinating presentation. The exciting historic excavation is now available for the public to witness with these remarkable reconstructions.

The Missouri History Museum also takes a look at history with their latest exhibit, “#1 in Civil Rights: The African American Freedom Struggle in St. Louis. The exhibit explores the civil rights movement locally from now until April of 2018.

St. Louis’s own resident circus is back once again June 1-25! You won’t want to miss the show when Circus Flora presents the time traveling and gravity defying 2017 big top production “Time Flies.”

There is a new ride to look out for this summer at Six Flags St. Louis. If you dare to ride Spinsanity, it will spin and rock you all around. First the disc spins in one direction and then swings from side to side,

The Saint Louis Art Museum will highlight its African art collection on Sunday, May 28 with a performance that fuses spoken word with West African dance and drumming. Beginning at 2 pm in The Farrell Auditorium, the performance will feature LIVETY: Indigenous Dance accompanied by Kumasi Nankama Aswad Kembeng, Dimbayaa Arts, and storyteller Redina Medley.

LIVETY: Indigenous Dance was inspired by “levity,” a concept of righteous living. Its essence is the realization that energy exists within—and flows through—all people and all living things. LIVETY’s expression of this energy comes through the form of dance. Founded by Gerald “Baba Tunde Sylla” Williams in 1992, Kumasi Nankama Aswad Kembang is a leader for the study, production, and promotion of visual and performing arts. Its mission includes the continued development and preservation of African arts and culture.

support initiative for cultural artists.

Redina Medley is an actress, model, motivational speaker, life coach, writer, and a former educator of the East Saint Louis District #189. Currently, she is in rehearsal for three of her original one-woman scripts.

the

revolving 14 times per minute. The ride will be located near the Tsunami Soaker in the park. You must be at least 48 inches tall to ride Spinsanity. It is the first ride of its kind at the park. So get your season passes now and join in on the fun at Six Flags St. Louis. The Muny celebrates 99 seasons this year. This season contains many popular favorites in the line-up: Jesus Christ Superstar from June 12-18; Disney’s The Little Mermaid on June 20-29; A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum July 5-11; All Shook Up July on 13-19; The Unsinkable Molly Brown on July 21-27; A Chorus

Line on July 29-Aug. 4; and Disney’s Newsies the Musical on Aug. 7-13. Please go online for details about the season and tickets for the shows.

The dates are set for our annual Independence Day celebration, Fair Saint Louis Mark your calendars for July 2-4 and get ready for the entertainment with the sounds of Akon, 3 Doors Down and Jake Owen and fireworks in Forest Park once again. This summer is heating up fast and Explore St. Louis has all of the stops for your enjoyment. Don’t miss a beat, with the content and events calendar at www. explorestlouis.com

Dimbayaa Arts, founded by January Johnson-Ansa, is a community arts initiative with a mission of educating, processing, and producing traditional African and African Diaspora arts participation and investment. Dimbayaa is the realization of a lifelong ambition to create a platform and

The Museum’s Family Sunday program also will offer young visitors an opportunity to learn about African art with a make and take activity and guided tours of the collection. Visitors can drop by Family Sundays at 1 pm for an art project inspired by the Butterfly Mask, a large wooden mask

by

be offered at 1:30 and 2:30 pm. The Saint Louis Art Museum began collecting African art in 1936, when very few American art museums were doing so. Since those early years, the African art collection has grown to include over 1,200 works. With masks, figural sculpture, miniatures and adornments in metal, ceramic figures and vessels, and textiles, the Museum’s collection demonstrates the diversity of artistic expression from across the African continent.

created

the Bwa people of Burkina Faso. Guided tours of

African art collection will

Photo: courtesy of the St. Louis African Arts Festival

The St. Louis African Arts Festival returns to the World’s Fair Pavilion in Forest Park on Memorial Day Weekend May 27-29. The event is free and open to the public.

EPA reports no nuclear waste in Spanish Village

American staff

On May 18, the EPA reported that its residential sampling in the Spanish Village neighborhood of Bridgeton, conducted the week of December 26, 2016, found no Manhattan Project waste and the agency concluded no further action under CERCLA (the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act, or Superfund) is warranted where the sampling was conducted.

EPA decided to conduct the sampling late last year after hearing community health concerns about a private lawsuit.

EPA screened areas within and around two homes for alpha, beta, and gamma radiation. It used the results of the screening activities to determine where to collect

exterior soil samples and interior surface wipe and dust samples. The agency then sent the samples to a certified laboratory to determine the concentrations of various radionuclides, including radionuclides associated with Manhattan Project waste, according to the EPA.

The results of the soil sampling were all within normal background ranges for each of the analyzed radionuclides, the EPA reported. The interior wipe sample results were all below EPA’s residential screening levels. The dust sampling results showed no relation to materials found at West Lake Landfill, the EPA reported.

The final report of the Bridgeton Dust Pre-CERCLA screening is available at https://response.epa.gov/ bridgetondust.

Court seeks input on juvenile justice system

The Supreme Court of Missouri’s Commission on Racial and Ethnic Fairness expects to hold public feedback sessions this summer to gain the public’s input into Missouri’s juvenile justice system.

The public is invited to attend these sessions, which will focus on listening to ideas, experiences or recommendations from community members about the juvenile justice system and ways Missouri courts can best meet the needs of our youth. The commission also will

share its progress in addressing currently identified issues and the ongoing process for future changes.

All community members interested in providing feedback about Missouri’s juvenile justice system are welcome to attend the first session, scheduled for 10 a.m. Saturday, June 24 at Greater St. Mark Family Church, 9950 Glen Owen Dr. in Ferguson. For more information, please contact Julie Lawson, the commission’s executive director, at (314) 657-4033 or juliel@focus-stl.org.

‘We are living in constitutionally challenging times’

Paulette Brown addresses National Consortium on Racial and Ethnic Fairness in the Courts

By Sophie Hurwitz For The St. Louis American

Paulette Brown, immediate past president of the American Bar Association and former president of the National Bar Association, rooted the proceedings of the National Consortium on Racial and Ethnic Fairness in the Courts, which met in St. Louis from May 15-17, in the present political reality of the country.

“What we’re talking about is not theoretical,” she said during a lunch keynote speech on Tuesday, May 16. “We are at a critical time in history.”

She meant the Trump administration and its looming constitutional challenges, as well as Trump’s Attorney General Jeff Session’s calling for federal prosecutors to return to hardline sentencing for drug offenders.

Like many others at the conference, she told the legal professionals in the room to be mindful of their own role in the pursuit of justice. She referenced the historical precedents that created our court system today: both the legal history of the country at large, and the ways it connects with St. Louis, specifically.

She noted that the municipality of Ferguson, now a flashpoint on issues of systemic racism, was incorporated around the same time as the Plessy v. Ferguson court case (Ferguson in that case was Judge John H. Ferguson of the Criminal Court for New Orleans). The City of Ferguson was created around a railroad, and Plessy v. Ferguson – the case which upheld “separate but equal” –dealt with racial segregation on trains.

In Brown’s view, the goal of the National Consortium on Racial and Ethnic Fairness in the Courts is to uphold the 14th Amendment – which guaranteed equal protection under the law to all American citizens – as it was written.

The 14th Amendment is approaching its 150th anniversary in 2018, and Brown reminded the room that its promise has not yet been fully realized.

Again, she brought up the legal importance of the St. Louis area – the Dred Scott case, which was overturned by the 14th Amendment, was tried in the Old Courthouse downtown.

“We are living in

constitutionally challenging times,” she said, “But this is not the first time we have worked through the negative impact of the 14th Amendment.”

Brown knows that these issues still have repercussions today, and she made it clear that she is aware that the courts, in her view, are not doing enough.

“We cannot always be as innovative as we would like,” she said, “And we cannot seem to keep pace with the increasing needs of the underserved.” She said change must be made “so there is at least a perception that our justice system is fair” and shift the idea, held by over onehalf of young people, that the justice system is fundamentally biased.

She exhorted the room of judges, lawyers and legal staffers to make sure that the people going into their courtrooms are aware of their

own rights, if nothing else. Even if laws regarding the rights of those on trial remain the same, Brown has some hope in the ability of ordinary citizens to change things.

“I know that we can free people from debtors’ prisons,” she said, referring to the recent Mother’s Day Bail Out by St. Louis activists and the movement to abolish the cash bail system.

“I know that in America, someday, a parking ticket will not land you in jail,” she said, and suggested using the courts to create a “pipeline to college, instead of a pipeline to prison.” Brown’s speech could be summed up by a quotation she referenced from Judge Learned Hand: “If we are to keep our democracy, there must be one commandment: Thou shalt not ration justice.” Sophie Hurwitz is a St. Louis American editorial intern from John Burroughs School.

Paulette Brown, immediate past president of the American Bar Association and former president of the National Bar Association, addressed the National Consortium on Racial and Ethnic Fairness in the Courts in St. Louis on Tuesday, May 16.

Trump’s voting fraud commission is a sham

By Marc H. Morial National Urban League

Throughout his campaign, President Trump trumpeted the baseless claim that our nation’s elections are riddled with voter fraud. He has repeatedly blamed his gaping three million plus-popular vote deficit on a phantom horde of illegal voters. He complained, without evidence and unfairly maligned wide swaths of communities.

Finally, two days after unceremoniously firing FBI Director James Comey – a move that has swallowed the 116day old Trump administration into the jaws of fresh political scandal complete with growing calls for impeachment – Trump doubled down on unsubstantiated claims of voter fraud and signed an executive order creating the Presidential Commission on Election Integrity.

The bipartisan-in-nameonly commission led by Vice President Pence and Kris Kobach, a well-known advocate on voting restrictions and immigration, will study our nation’s election protocols. Hot on the heels of the Supreme Court’s 2013 decision to strike down the preclearance provision of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 – no longer requiring the Department of Justice to review and approve any changes in election laws for states with long histories of racial and voting discrimination – North Carolina was the first state to sign sweeping, drastic voter ID measures into law. The provisions included measures to eliminate sameday voter registration, cut down on early voting and presenting select governmentissued photo identification at the polls.

It was described by its critics as the strictest in the nation and characterized by the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals –that ultimately struck down the appalling array of voting restrictions – as targeting African Americans “with an almost surgical precision,” and imposing “cures for problems that did not exist.”

The U.S. Supreme Court allowed the circuit court’s ruling to stand, denying Republican efforts to revive the law. And while those who advocate for the removal of superficial, politically and racially motivated barriers to the polls have won a critical battle, the war is far from over. Chief Justice John Roberts cautioned in a twopage statement that the court’s decision to reject the case was based on procedure and should not be interpreted as a decision on the merits of North Carolina’s voter ID law, or as an endorsement of the lower court’s ruling.

Study after study after study has found the same thing: voter fraud, particularly the type that claims to be solved by strict voter ID laws, is rare. Kobach, who is Kansas’ secretary of state, is also the only secretary of state in the nation with

prosecutorial power. In his unrelenting quest to unmask massive voter fraud in Kansas, he has prosecuted less than 10 cases of voter fraud since taking office in 2011. In a court filing opposing Green Party candidate Jill Stein’s request for a vote recount, Trump’s own attorneys asked the court to deny Stein’s request based on the fact that “all available evidence suggests that the 2016 general election was not tainted by fraud or mistake.”

If any fraud is being perpetrated, it is being perpetrated on the American people and our democracy. The flimsy “evidence” and falsehoods that undergird this so-called voter fraud commission are egregious, but even more egregious is the transparent, political-motivated effort to put the thumb on the scale of political gain by keeping communities of color and traditionally Democratic leaning voters away from the polls.

When we toy with a pillar of our democracy as if it were a political football, we cast doubt on the integrity of our electoral process – and our elected leaders. Trump’s so-called voter fraud commission is a sham, a serious attack on voting rights, a cover to squander taxpayer dollars and a solution in search of a problem countless studies and experts have repeatedly concluded does not exist.

Marc H. Morial is president and CEO of the National Urban League.

ESL grads get ‘Running Start’ on college

Leave high school with associate’s degrees from SWIC, start university as juniors

American staff

Two years ago, East St. Louis School District 189 and Southwest Illinois College (SWIC) formed a partnership that would allow select junior high school students to earn an associate’s degree and senior high school students to fully enroll for college courses at the same time they completed their high school diploma.

This month, four students –Charmalya Smith, Kayla Lee, Nicquayleeonntea Moore and Andrial Weir – became the first graduates of the program, fittingly called Running Start. Another student, Leondra Harris, completed one full year toward earning her associate’s degree while graduating as part of the East St. Louis Senior High School Class of 2017.

“The goal of District 189 is to prepare students to go to college and for their careers after they finish high school,” said Teresa Williams, director of College and Career Readiness. “This program allows them to get a head start on their college career. All four of the students who graduated from the program with their associate’s degrees will be transferring to fouryear universities to begin their junior years in the fall.”

To qualify for the Running Start program, students must be currently enrolled as a high school sophomore, preparing to enter junior year; possess and maintain a 3.0 grade point average or higher; be in good standing with their

Kayla Lee, Nicquayleeonntea Moore, Charmalya Smith and Andriel Weir graduated from East St. Louis Senior High School on May 17 with associate’s degrees from Southwest Illinois College through a new partnership called Running Start. They will enter four-year universities in the fall as juniors.

high school institution; be on track to graduate on time; be recommended by their high school principal or counselor; have completed one year of high school algebra and geometry; take the SWIC placement assessment and test into college-level English and math courses; and have completed all documents necessary for participation.

Students must show the maturity to arrive at SWIC on their own to attend their classes and they must follow all the rules at the college to remain eligible for Running Start. They are required to have excellent study habits because they’ll be taking higher education classes with college freshmen and sophomores that include subject matter more advanced and rigorous than what would be expected of a student in a normal high school class.

The program is expected to grow rapidly now that it has been established. The total of four graduates in the first

District 189 Running Start class is expected to increase to six in the second year of the program.

The number of participants will go up dramatically in the fall. According to Williams, 16 juniors are expected to pursue plans to receive their dual diplomas in 2019. Those students will also be involved in a college preparation program, Gaining Early Awareness and Readiness for Undergraduate Programs – or GEAR UP – which is a federally-funded program designed to maximize the number of students who are prepared to succeed in postsecondary education.

According to Williams, GEAR UP offers tutoring before and after school as well as Saturday boot camps to help the students prepare for the Accuplacer placement exam students must successfully complete to take part in Running Start. GEAR UP also offers monthly college tours for participants to help them to

start thinking about what they want their college experience to be like. The new Running Start students will be participating in the GEAR UP Summer Family Retreat. Every year, District 189 will take students and their parents on a college tour. This summer the family retreat will go to Daytona Beach and Miami, Florida and Savannah and Atlanta, Georgia. giving students and their parents the opportunity to tour colleges in those cities.

In the fall, the tutors and instructors who worked with the students to help prepare them for the Accuplacer assessment will continue to work with students to help prepare them for the PSAT and SAT college entrance exams as part of District 189’s efforts to thoroughly prepare students for college and their careers. To apply for Running Start, District 189 students should contact Teresa Williams at teresa.williams@estl189.com or at 618-646-3052.

Guest Columnist

Marc H. Morial

Photo by Audrey Jackson-Luster

Trump appoints David Clarke despite ‘fatal and persistent malpractice’ as sheriff

By U.S. Rep. Gwen Moore

Guest columnist

Milwaukee County

Sheriff David Clarke went on conservative talk radio on May 17 — in advance of any announcement from the Trump administration — to announce that he will be accepting a position as assistant secretary in the Department of Homeland Security’s Office of Partnership and Engagement. I can think of few men more uniquely unqualified to liaise with local law enforcement at this juncture, when the agency is ramping up immigration raids, filling detention centers (including with children) and carrying out deportations as fast as possible (including, in at least one case, without verifying the person’s legal status).

Recent revelations about the

Guest Columnist

conditions in the Milwaukee County Jail — a facility managed by Clarke — have shaken my community to its core. Four people, including a newborn baby and a mentally ill man, were found dead in Clarke’s jail during a sixmonth period last year.

U.S. Rep. Gwen Moore

Clarke has barely acknowledged the incidents in public — which is uncharacteristic of the Tea Party firebrand known for his no-holds-barred persona, aggressive rhetoric and boisterous social media presence. Silence is practically

uncharted territory for him. But Clarke’s whereabouts during the deaths of prisoners in his jail provides possible clues to his reticence: He was off promoting his new book, campaigning against Hillary Clinton, and collecting more than $145,000 in speaking fees, travel reimbursements and gifts from conservative out-of-state groups.

For instance, after Clarke’s staff cut off water to the cell of Terrill Thomas for seven consecutive days as punishment for bad behavior, Clarke was in New York City accepting nearly $10,000 for a speech at a seminar on April 18, 2016 during which he called universities “nothing more than laboratories of liberal indoctrination.”

Jail employees reportedly ignored Thomas as he cried out for water. His screams could

be heard across the cellblock. Days later, as Clarke was appearing on Hannity to vilify Hillary Clinton, Thomas, who was bipolar, had lost 35 pounds and could barely move. Hours later, his heart stopped beating. His death was ruled a homicide due to “profound dehydration.”

A grand jury recommended criminal charges against seven

at any length about these troubling incidents for which he has chosen to shoulder responsibility. It’s hard for some to fathom how a city’s top law enforcement official could be so shameless and cavalier with his conduct, but my constituents are all too acquainted with Clarke’s antics. This is a man who lives to inflame and loves to provoke. His rap sheet speaks for itself.

of Clarke’s staff in Thomas’ homicide, but according to Milwaukee County records, no one has been fired, demoted or placed on administrative leave. The Milwaukee County Sheriff’s Office hasn’t admitted any wrongdoing and there is no evidence that jail policies are being reviewed in response to this tragedy. Only last week, we learned two additional inmates had their water cut off even after Thomas’ death. Shortly before Kristina Fiebrink was found dead on the floor of her cell, Clarke was on a private jet to Illinois to speak at a banquet hosted by an ESPN radio personality The day after she died, he was back on Fox News chastising Beyoncé for working with the mothers of Michael Brown, Trayvon Martin, and Eric Garner.

And in the hours before Michael Madden lost his life in Clarke’s jail, the sheriff was again on the road — this time in Massachusetts, receiving nearly $2,000 in reimbursements to speak before a conservative police association. No one from Clarke’s office took the time to reach out to Madden’s mother to discuss the autopsy results. She told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel she had to read about it on a right-wing website that supports Clarke. Shadé Swayzer was eight and a half months pregnant when she was booked into Clarke’s jail in July 2016. During her incarceration in the Maximum Security Unit, Swayzer went into labor. According to court documents, when she alerted a correctional officer that her water had broke, the officer laughed at her and ignored her plea for medical attention.

Four hours later, shackled and alone in her cell, Swayzer gave birth to a baby girl. Two hours after that, Clarke’s staff realized there was a newborn infant in the cell with her. Shortly thereafter, the baby was dead.

As for Clarke, he was being reimbursed nearly $1,500 to address a group in Georgia just after Swayzer’s newborn daughter took her first and final breaths in the facility that Milwaukee residents elected him to oversee. And yet, Clarke has not seen fit to address those residents

During his tenure thus far, Clarke advocated vigilantism in lieu of dialing 9-1-1, called for citizens to revolt against the government with “pitchforks and torches,” and abused the power of his office by reportedly having deputies interrogate a man at an airport who merely shook his head at him on a flight. He regularly mocks local leaders, ridiculed our mayor for being severely beaten while protecting a grandmother and her family, and used the official Milwaukee County Sheriff’s Office Facebook page to promote his book, bully constituents and settle political vendettas.

Still, his cringeworthy behavior earned Clarke the admiration of extreme Tea Party activists, awards from groups like the Conservative Political Action Conference, and a $40,000 trip to Russia financed by the National Rifle Association along with around $30,000 in ad buys

Most of all, it put him on the radar of an ambitious and wealthy conspiracywielding businessman with a vast following of supporters: President Donald Trump, who has apparently brought Clarke on board his team in the assistant secretary position at the Department of Homeland Security.

Rewarding Clarke’s fatal and persistent malpractice with a job in his administration speaks volumes about Trump’s character and sheds even more light on the flagrant insincerity of the self-proclaimed “lawand-order candidate.” It also helps me understand why the Justice Department under Attorney General Jeff Sessions was profoundly disinterested in responding to my repeated appeals for a federal investigation into Clarke’s jail. Nonetheless, I will continue to push Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker and the Justice Department to hold Clarke responsible. But in the meantime, the agency focused on federal preparations to combat terrorism should start preparing to inherit a law enforcement official who prioritized his “personal brand” and partisan fame over his constituents’ safety; who cared more about his office looking bad than doing good. At least now, Milwaukee can finally find a sheriff who will actually show up for work. But we can never stop our shared efforts to find justice for the families of Terrill Thomas, Michael Madden, Kristina Fiebrink and Shadé Swayzer’s baby girl.

U.S. Rep. Gwen Moore (D-Milwaukee) represents Milwaukee’s 4th Congressional District.

Community Brief May 30 deadline for free Diversity

Milwaukee County Sheriff David Clarke and President Donald Trump

Better jobs for the family

Better Family Life offers workforce training in varied fields

By Pat Matreci

For The St. Louis American

For nearly 20 years, Better Family Life Inc. has offered workforce training opportunities that have provided thousands of individuals with skills needed for jobs ranging from entry-level to management-level in high-performance work environments.

“We work with predominantly low-income and low-skilled individuals that lack self-esteem and confidence,” said Darryl Grimes, BFL’s vice president for Workforce Development.

“We have month-long training for every participant in the program. They receive very personalized training, not just in writing resumes or doing mock interviews, but also exposing them to information such as self-care, relationship management, conflict management, etc. Different subject matter experts and family counselors come in and share their experience and expertise to help them cope with various socioeconomic-related stress and trauma.”

Grimes said that approximately 5,000 individuals and families are assisted through BFL programs offered in St. Louis City and

County. Participants are ready for jobs in a variety of industries, such as medical assistance, construction laborer, retail, services, customer service, hospitality, etc. The average salary is $22,000.

Currently, most of BFL’s workforce training has been through the Missouri Work Assistance program (MWA). It offers services such as assessment, case management, individual employment plan development, training and employment placement.

Community weighs in on city budget proposal

Djuan C. Coleman is the new vice dean of finance and administration at Goldfarb School of Nursing at BarnesJewish College. He will serve as the primary source of expertise for the school’s resource planning processes. Most recently he was a finance manager for BJC HealthCare’s Financial Planning and Analysis Department.

Angela FlemingBrown was promoted to chief of staff for the St. Louis Regional Health Commission. In this position, she coordinates all staff activities for the RHC including the Gateway to Better Health Demonstration, which provides health care coverage to nearly 25,000 St. Louis area residents annually.

Karl A. Grice was inducted into the 2017 Jury of Fellows for the American Institute of Architects, the institute’s highest individual honor awarded to architects who have made outstanding contributions to the profession and the communities they serve. He is principal architect at Grice Group Architects.

Shuntae Shields Ryan received a Gold Level Marketing & Communications Award from Boys & Girls Club of America in the Public Relations Strategy category. The award came with a $1,000 prize for the organization. She is vice president of Marketing & Communications for Boys & Girls Clubs of Greater St. Louis.

By Rebecca Rivas

Of The St. Louis American

City resident Lisa Cagle stood before an aldermanic committee on Wednesday, May 17 “begging” them to think differently about the way the city allocates funds for public safety –which makes up 57 percent of the city’s general fund budget.

“Public safety is not just about policing,” Cagle said. “We need to be spending much more money on preventing the causes of crime in the first place.”

St. Louis city’s per capita rate for policing is 41:3, Cagle said, “which makes St. Louis somewhere between the sixth and eighth mostpoliced city in the U.S. This is a much higher per capita police rate than Kansas City, which is 27.4 per capita.”

St. Louis city is expecting a $17 million shortfall for the upcoming fiscal year, and members of the aldermanic Ways and Means Committee heard residents’ comments at a community input meeting held in a South City church on May 17 at 6:30 p.m.

Several residents said they were concerned about the use of tax incentives throughout the

St. Louis faces $17M funding shortfall as pension costs rise and revenue dips See BUDGET, B6

Darryl Chatman was appointed to the University of Missouri’s Board of Curators. He is an attorney, former deputy director of Missouri’s Department of Agriculture, and former Mizzou linebacker. He has a JD from the University of Missouri-Columbia and an MPA in Public Administration from North Carolina State University.

Niketta Dailey has self-published two romance novels on Amazon.com, titled “Rachel Walters” and “Emotions of Us.” Her books are available on

Djuan C. Coleman

Darryl Chatman

Angela FlemingBrown

Niketta Dailey

Karl A. Grice

Shuntae Shields Ryan

Leigh Crockett gives instruction in Better Family Life’s Workforce Development class for GED certification. Behind her is instructor Jeff Annis.

Photo by Rebecca Rivas

Photo by Wiley Price

Outfitting your first apartment on a budget

By Nathaniel Sillin

Moving into a place of your own for the first time is a huge step. I remember my first postcollege apartment move. It was nothing special, but it was mine. It came with a few new challenges and responsibilities and all sorts of opportunities. For the first time, I was able to decide how to decorate an entire living area and turn a blank slate into a home.

Here’s some advice for finding what you’ll need on a budget and a few inexpensive ideas to make otherwise unimaginative rooms come to life.

Look for hand-me-down and used furniture. Furniture – tables, chairs, bookshelves etc. – often takes up the most space and can be the biggest drain on your budget. You could start by mapping out your home using online floor plan software and determining what might fit where.

When it comes to finding furniture, friends, family members and friends of family members may have something they want to get rid of and simply haven’t had the time or energy to do so. Also consider marketplace websites’ free sections and the nonprofit Freecycle Network™, which hosts message boards where you can find local people giving away their unwanted belongings.

To find used furniture that’s for sale, head to consignment stores, garage and buy-selltrade social media groups. There are even startups creating online marketplaces specifically for furniture, although they’re generally limited to large cities.

Get your kitchen in order. Many kitchen essentials, such as silverware, can also be

buy-used opportunity.

Don’t shop second-hand for everything. There are a few things you don’t want to buy used: towels and bedding. Add mattresses to that list as well if you’ll be looking for a new one. When

JOBS

continued from page B1

Recently, BFL has begun providing more targeted career path through independent programs like the small business development and the customer service/call center programs.

The Entrepreneurial Training and Support program was established in fall 2013. Initially, the program targeted the MWA participants.

“There was a lot of interest among these participants to learn about starting and running a business,” Grimes noted. “Based on the feedback and focus groups, we started the 12-week Small Business Development program in partnership with the Center for the Acceleration of AfricanAmerican Business.”

This program starts with a week-long workshop that covers critical aspects of business ownership, and is followed by a six-week mentorship program, during which participants work oneon-one with a business coach and attend business-related workshops. They also develop business plans and determine financial needs.

“Currently, we are operating

Purchasing a new mattress can take a big chunk of your budget. Consider one of the new online mattress retailers

our fifth session,” Grimes said “We started out with five participants, and now we have more than 60 people wanting to be in the class every session.”

Local partners such as BioStl, CIC/CET and Square One have shown interest in collaborating.

“They understand that we are creating an ecosystem for the most under-represented

n “There was a lot of interest among these participants to learn about starting and running a business.”

– Darryl Grimes, BFL’s vice president for Workforce Development

entrepreneurs in the city,” Grimes said.

He noted that the demand for the program has further grown due to the Carrollton Bank BFL Micro Loan Fund, to which participants have access once they complete the training and their business plan.

BFL also partners with other agencies such as the Balsa Foundation that provide capital for start-up businesses.

The BFL Business Development Center was

that sell high-quality goods for less. Buying a mattress without testing it first may seem weird, but many offer free returns within the first few months.

Add a few personal touches. You’ve got the necessities covered, but how do you turn a generic apartment into a place that feels like home? Think walls, windows and floors.

Rather than painting, consider a cheaper (and easier) route by opting for removable wall decals or wallpaper. There are all sorts of shapes, designs, prints and even adhesive chalkboards for under $20. You could also decorate with paper, canvas or metal prints of your favorite photographs. Windows can get a cover-up treatment as well, but rather than spending a lot of money on brand new blinds you can get curtains that add color or a pattern to your room. An area rug can help tie a room together, but they can also be prohibitively expensive. This is another item that you might not want to buy used unless you know the seller. Luckily, home good stores and some big box retailers usually have at least a few inexpensive options.

Congratulations on the move. Outfitting a new apartment doesn’t happen overnight. Especially if this is the first time you get to pick what to buy, it can take time to find your style and items to match. However, even with a limited budget, there’s a lot you can do to make a space your own.

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

officially launched in October 2016, and has been a revolving door ever since, according to Grimes.

BFL’s most recent initiative, the Daruby Call Center Representative Certification course, currently is in its second round of training. The course is funded through the Centene Foundation and Accenture. Capacity for this six-week program is 15 participants. The 10 participants in the most recent session are now all in the interview phase for full-time positions. The course is offered at three locations, 5415 Page Blvd. (314-367-3440), 715 Northwest Plaza Drive in St. Ann (314-615-0619), and 3555 Ritz Center in south St. Louis County (314-679-3361). Grimes said that plans also are in the works to add training in the construction field to provide more diverse opportunities for participants. Most programs currently are free of charge; however, as programs become independent, Grimes said there will be fees for service using a sliding scale based on income. For more information about these and other Better Family Life programs and services, call 314-367-3440 or visit www.betterfamilylife.org.

Southwest to add STL-Cancun service

St. Louis Lambert International Airport will become Southwest Airlines’ next international gateway with new service to Cancun, Mexico. Southwest will

begin Saturday round trip service between St. Louis and Cancun for November 11. Its November schedule will include an additional daily flight between St. Louis and

both Fort Lauderdale and Milwaukee, bringing frequency up to two daily flights to those cities.

n “If you don’t like it, don’t watch.”

— Kevin Durant, on Golden State’s postseason playoff dominance

Cleveland ROTC wins state

The Cleveland Naval Jr. ROTC Commanders continued their excellence in boys’ track and field by winning the Class 2 state championship last weekend in Jefferson City.

The Commanders won their second state title by scoring 62.2 points; which was 12 more than their nearest competitor. In the past six years, Cleveland has won two state titles, two second-place finishes and one third-place trophy.

Cleveland was led by its dynamic junior duo of James Allen and Antonio Norman. Allen finished first in the 800-meter run in 1 minute 56.79 seconds while Norman won the 300-meter intermediate hurdles in 38.11 seconds. Allen was also second in the 400 while Norman was third in the high jump. Both ran legs on the Commanders’ first-place 4x400-meter relay team and sixth-place 4x800 relay.

Junior Kelsey Cole turned in an excellent performance in the field events by winning the triple jump and finishing third in the long jump. Cole bounded 46 feet 6 ½ inches to win the triple jump. Anthony Craig and Ketron Franklin joined Norman and Allen on the first-place 4x400-meter relay team. The Commanders also finished seventh in the 4x200.

Brentwood’s Kaylon Jenkins also enjoyed a productive state meet as he finished first in the 400-meter dash and second in the 200 while running a leg on the Eagles’ first-place 4x100-meter relay team. His winning time in the 400 was 49.05 seconds. Joining Jenkins on the victorious 4x100 relay was Deandre Boykin, Joseph Clay and Justice Harris. Sophomore Rasheed Rickets of McKinley Classical finished second in the long jump and third in the triple jump. Maplewood finished fifth in the 4x800-meter relay. On the girls’ side, junior Jayda Buchanan of Maplewood finished fifth in the 400 and seventh in the 800.

Cahokia Girls Take Second in Illinois

The Cahokia Comanches took home a second-place trophy from last weekend’s Illinois Class 2A girls’ state championships in Charleston. The Comanches scored 57 points to finish behind Dunlap’s 78 points. Cahokia was seeking a fourth consecutive state championship.

Last season the NFL saw its ratings fall by nine percent for the regular season and five percent for the playoffs. Some blamed the presidential election. Others blamed racists far-right conservatives angry that Colin Kaepernick was allowed to ‘disrespect the flag’ by protesting the national anthem. The league’s oversaturation of games certainly did not help either. To make matters worse, the league angered fans in St. Louis, San Diego and Oakland through a rigged game of musical franchises. Terrified that when the music stopped playing, there would be more seats than fans to fill them, the league decided to make end zone celebrations great again.

spontaneous displays of emotion that come after a spectacular touchdown,” Goodell said in a statement. “And players have told us they want more freedom to be able to express themselves and celebrate their athletic achievements.”

Commissioner Roger Goodell announced the NFL has relaxed its silly restrictions against end zone celebrations.

“We know that you love the

Team celebrations like the old St. Louis Rams’ iconic Bob-nWeave are no longer outlawed. Using a football as a prop will no longer cost players the price of a compact car. Celebrating on the ground will no longer be met with a fine and a frown. Fines are still a possibility though. The league will still hit up players’ pockets for sexually explicit celebrations, such as Antonio Brown’s twerking, or anything that mimics weapons or violence. Since 2006, the league cracked down on touchdown dances. In 2016, the

Ishmael H. Sistrunk

Photo by Wiley Price

SportS EyE

With Alvin A. Reid

Harris-Stowe a big HBCU small school hit; Kaepernick a Cowboy?

Harris-Stowe State University finished fifth in the Black College Nines website’s final ranking of HBCU small school baseball teams released on Tuesday. The Hornets closed the season at 30-19, marking the second time the program reached 30 wins in 75 years. HSSU also won 30 games in 2005 (34-27).

Winston-Salem finished No. 1 and was followed by Talladega College, Edward Waters College, Miles College, HSSU, Benedict College, Jarvis Christian, Paine College, Voorhees College and Stillman College.

Harris-Stowed entered the American Midwest Conference Tournament as the fourth seed, but the Hornets’ pitching faltered. They were dispatched from the double-elimination tournament in Henderson, Tenn., after a 16-1 loss to William Woods and 11-4 setback to Missouri Baptist.

Coach C.J. Bilbrey’s team was an HBCU powerhouse when it came to offense. It led the AMC with a .337 team batting average, and tied for the conference lead in slugging percentage at .476. The Hornets were also successful in the classroom with Jake Angelo, Greg Carter, David Flores, Ty Haston, Christian Mitchell, Tony Montano, Victor Perez, Leobardo Saldivar, Jr., Tyler Schatz, Kendal Sheler, Sam Simon, Stephen Wells and Dylan Yankle carrying a 3.0 GPA or above to earn recognition on the 2017 AMC All-Academic Team.

Perez was also named the HarrisStowe representative on the AMC Champions of Character Team.

Kaepernick blackballed?

What do Ryan Fitzpatrick, Matt Cassel, Chase Daniel, Matt Schaub, Ryan Mallett, Mike Glennon and Brian Hoyer have in common?

All have been signed as back-up quarterbacks by respective NFL teams during the offseason.

Colin Kaepernick remains unemployed, even though he had a respectable career in San Francisco, led his team to the Super Bowl and was a missed defensive holding call away from winning it.

I figured some teams would blackball him – but not the entire NFL. I wrote here months ago that if I were a GM I’d have my concerns.

Bur surely, some GM would want to sign him, but the owner would say no. Some owners would approve of the move, but their GM or another executive would talk them out of the signing. Summer is quickly approaching and Kaepernick’s career is on hold because he refused to stand for the national anthem before games last season. Really? In America?

Coach of the Seattle Seahawks hinted last week that Kaepernick and Robert Griffin III were being considered to backup Russell Wilson. My guess is that Kaepernick gets the job – he might have it by today.

n The Hornets closed the season at 30-19, marking the second time the program reached 30 wins in 75 years. HSSU also won 30 games in 2005 (34-27).

BethuneCookman claimed the Large School national championship with a 33-23 record and the MEAC champion won an automatic bid to the NCAA Division I post-season regional. Regional pairings will be announced this week.

Rounding out the Top 10 are Jackson State University, Alabama State University, North Carolina A&T, Texas Southern University, Norfolk State University, Florida A&M, Delaware State University, North Carolina Central and Grambling State University.

Washington is a blue state that recently legalized recreational use of marijuana. While many Seahawks fans would balk at Kaepernick’s arrival, the majority have moved on. But there is a dark horse in the Kaepernick sweepstakes. The Dallas Cowboys. Dak Prescott’s backup at quarterback is the diminutive Kellen Moore, who missed the 2016 season with a broken ankle. The Cowboys could have this unproven candidate of Kaepernick in case of an emergency. Texas is amongst the reddest of red states. The backlash against Kaepernick would be considerable.

But Fort Worth StarTelegram columnist Gil Lebreton, a Vietnam veteran and true son of Texas, has called out the Cowboys and other NFL teams for being

hypocritical in this matter.

“As we approach Memorial Day weekend, count me as one Army veteran who bears no animosity towards Colin Kaepernick. He has more than walked his talk and helped to open a valuable dialogue,” he wrote.

“I still wince at demonstrations that involve the flag or the anthem. I spent two years of my life specifically defending those things.

“But people of my generation, the Vietnam generation, burned flags and stormed campus buildings and really did move to Canada. Kaepernick was simply using the platform that he had.”

Cowboys owner Jerry Jones has signed NFL bad guys Greg Hardy, Josh Brent, Tank Johnson and Pacman Jones and fans have cheered them on, Lebreton explained.

“Are NFL owners that spineless, that they don’t want to associate themselves with a player whose conscience and politics might alienate some ticket buyers?” he asks. My answer is that most

are – but Jones is not. Neither is Seahawks owner Paul Allen Dexter Does Dairy

The St. Louis Cardinals topped the Chicago Cubs 5-3 on May 13 and a Dexter Fowler Children’s Growth Chart was the day’s promotional item.

Sponsored by the Midwest Dairy Association and Missouri Farmers Care, the annual promotion features a Cardinal with

Colin Kaepernick remains unemployed, even though he had a respectable career in San Francisco, led his team to the Super Bowl and was a missed defensive holding call away from winning it.

a milk moustache as Fowler sports on the chart. Fowler has found some recent success at the plate and had six home runs, 18 RBI and 23 runs scored entering Tuesday’s game at Los Angeles. His current .220 batting average, though, would be the lowest by far in his nine full MLB seasons.

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

Jakara Davidson-Brooks

Webster University – Women’s Track and Field

The freshman sprinter from Sanford, Florida enjoyed a big performance at the recent SLIAC Outdoor Championships in Greenville, Illinois. Davidson-Brooks won the long jump with an effort of 16 feet 10 inches. She also finished second in the 100- and 200-meter dashes. In her fourth event, Davidson-Brooks anchored the Gorloks’ 4x100-meter relay to a second-place finish. Davidson-Brooks’ productive day helped lead Webster Groves to a second-place finish in the overall team standings.

Hiob Gebisso

Saint Louis University – Men’s Track and Field

The senior distance runner from Augsburg, Germany finished second in the 1,500-meter run at the recent Atlantic 10 Conference Outdoor Championships in Amherst, Mass.

Gebisso turned in a time of 3 minutes 48.87 seconds, which was a new personal best. He is also the Billikens’ school-record holder in the 1,500. His performance helped the Billikens to a fourth-place finish in the team standings.

Gebisso is also a standout performer in the 3,000-meter run in indoor competition. He finished third in the event at the Atlantic 10 Indoor Championships.

Alvin A. Reid

Cahokia boys set for seventh straight title run

By Earl Austin Jr.

Of the St. Louis American

The boys’ track and field dynasty at Cahokia High is ready for a run at a seventh consecutive state championship in the state of Illinois.

The Comanches will send a slew of athletes to this weekend’s IHSA Class 2A state championships at Eastern Illinois University in Charleston. The action will begin on Thursday and conclude with the finals on Saturday.

Cahokia qualified athletes in six individual events and all four relays from last week’s sectional meet in Mascoutah, which it won with 124 points. Cahokia’s individual sectional champions were Marquis

Murray in the long jump and 200-meter dash, Andra Ward in the triple jump, Keondre Wells in the 110-meter high hurdles, Chris Stanley in the 800-meter run and Brandon Roberson in 400. The Comanches also won sectional titles in the 4x100, 4x200-, and 4x400-meter relays and finished second in the 4x800. Shunn Grace also finished second in the triple jump and Darreon West was second in the 200.

Edwardsville and East St. Louis will contend in Class 3A

Metro east teams

Edwardsville and East St. Louis will be looking to contend for team trophies at this

weekend’s Class 3A state championships. Edwardsville will be taking athletes in nine individual events and one relay to Charleston. Senior A. J. Epenesa won sectional titles in the shot put and discus with winning throws of 56 feet 3 inches in the shot put and 181 feet 9 inches in the discus. Travis Anderson won the 110-meter high hurdles in a sizzling time of 13.64 seconds. Other sectional qualifiers include DeVonte’ Tincher in the 200, Blake Neville in the pole vault, Justin White in the high jump, Bruce Wachowski in the discus, Matt Griebe in the 110-meter high hurdles, Anderson in the 300-meter intermediate hurdles and the 4x200 relay. East St. Louis has athletes

in five individual events and all four relays headed to Charleston this weekend. Deonte Anderson was a sectional champion in the 400 while Delano Anderson won the 300-meter high hurdles. The Flyers had some impressive winning times of 1:28.53 in the 4x200; 3:17.34 in the 4x400 and 7:58.73 in the 4x800.

Missouri Class 3, 4 and 5 state meet in Jefferson City

The Class 3, 4 and 5 track programs in the state of Missouri will convene in Jefferson City for the state championships this weekend. Preliminaries will be held on Thursday and Friday with the

championship races set for Saturday. Here is a list of returning area individual state champions:

Class 5 boys: Jayson Ashford (SLUH), 200meter dash; Austin Hindman (Lafayette), 3,200-meter run; Class 4 Boys: Rayvon Allen (Summit) triple jump; Austin Perkins (Fort Zumwalt East) 800; Class 3 Boys: Corey Carter (Principia) 200.

Class 5 Girls: Deja Ingram (Hazelwood Central) 100 and 200; Class 4: Zionn Pearson (MICDS) long jump; Cara Johnson (MICDS) 100; Syanne Johnson (Fort Zumwalt East) 200.

CLUTCH

Continued from B3

wrong on this issue. Football is a sport. It’s a game. It’s entertainment. There’s absolutely nothing wrong with a football player, who works extremely hard at his craft, to show emotion when he makes a remarkable play. Celebration is a natural human reaction to achievement.

While football is a team game, its popularity is contingent upon star players. From Ickey Woods’ Ickey Shuffle, to Deion Sanders’ Prime Time dance to Terrell Owens’ star celebration to Cam Newton’s Dab, creativity has been long-embraced by NFL fans. Will some celebrations be annoying and unnecessarily over-the-top? Sure. Those celebrations will be appropriately mocked or ignored on social

TRACK

Continued from B3

Senior Mariya Hudson had a big day as she won the 400meter dash in 54.48 seconds. Hudson also finished second in the 100, 200 and long jump. She put down impressive marks of 11.7 in the 100, 24.68 in the 200 and 18 feet 7 inches in the long jump.

Sophomore LaQwasia Stepney earned three AllState medals as she finished fifth in the 100-meter high hurdles, fourth in the 300-meter low hurdles and eighth in the long jump. The Comanches also finished seventh in the 4x100 and fourth in the 4x200.

O’Fallon Relays Rock in Illinois 3A

The O’Fallon Panthers finished fourth at the IHSA Class 3A girls state championships in Charleston. The Panthers rolled in the sprint relays as they won the 4x100 and 4x200 state titles. The team of Kersten Douglas, Tamya Houston, Chloe Lambert and Mya Wilson-Blake won the 4x100 in 47.55 seconds. The crew

media. However, fining a player $9,000-$10,000 for being happy has always been completely unnecessary.

OBJ signs huge Nike deal

One player who will immediately benefit from the celebration rule change is Odell Beckham Jr. one of the league’s most popular and flamboyant stars. Beckham re-signed with Nike for five years for an estimated $29 million, according to Nick DePaula of NiceKicks. com. The deal is worth double the amount Nike has had with any other NFL player. With Nike, Beckham is expected to become a “brand icon,” meaning he’ll be featured in more than just football-related commercials and events. You can bet your bottom dollar that Nike will be ecstatic to see OBJ getting his

of Douglas, Houston, WilsonBlake and Dartrenetta Holman won the 4x200 in a sizzling time of 1:38.58. Houston also finished third in the 100. East St. Louis finished in seventh place in the team standings. Evangelina Harris finished eighth in the shot put. The Flyerettes also finished third in the 4x400 and fourth in the 4x200.

groove on in the end zone.

Another exciting fight

The sport of boxing continues to ride a wave of momentum with exciting fights with a stellar welterweight championship bout this weekend. IBF World Welterweight champion Kell Brook (36-1-0, 25 KO) will defend his title against Errol Spence Jr. (21-0-0, 18 KO).

Brook is coming off the first loss of his career. The English fighter ventured up to mid-

dleweight to face-off against “GGG” Gennady Golovkin last September. Brook gave a good showing, considering he was fighting 13 pounds above his natural fighting weight, but was stopped by the hard-hitting Golovkin in the fifth round.

In the fight, Brook suffered a broken orbital bone. His title defense against Spence will be his first bout since the defeat and the surgery to repair his eye. I believe Brook is a slightly better fighter than Spence. He’s tough and slightly more

James Allen

fluid than the Texas native. However, the champion has too many questions going into this fight to be confident in a victory. He’s coming off surgery, his first defeat and an extended layoff. He’s also coming back down to 147-pounds from 160-pounds.

It’s hard to forget Roy Jones Jr.’s less-than-stellar performance against Antonio Tarver during their first fight in 2003. Jones Jr. had to drop 18 pounds after he defeated John Ruiz for the heavyweight title.

Other individuals to Watch: Alicia Burnett (Fort Zumwalt South) Class 4 girls 100, 200, 400; Hasani Barr (Cardinal Ritter) Class 3 boys 200, 400; Brandon Miller (John Burroughs) Class 3 boys 800; Joshua Sutton (MICDS) Class 4 100 and 200; Lance Lang (McCluer North) Class 5 boys 100 and 200; Charlie McIntyre (Parkway Central) Class 4 boys 800, 1,600 and 3,200; Laila Elliott (John Burroughs), Class 3 girls long jump, triple jump, high jump, 100-meter high hurdles; Shauniece O’Neal (Hazelwood Central), Class 5 girls shot put and discus; Octavia Cato and Raheema Westfall (McCluer South-Berkeley) Class 3 girls 100 and 200.

IBF World Welterweight champion Kell Brook will seek to defend his title against Errol Spence Jr. on Saturday night. The exciting welterweight matchup continues boxing’s streak of exciting matchups in 2017.

Spence is an excellent body puncher, meaning if there are any issues with Brook’s fitness, Spence will find and exploit them. I still think it’s a close fight, but my official pick is that the fresher Spence wins via majority decision in Brook’s backyard. The fight will be televised on Showtime Championship Boxing on Saturday, May 17 at 4:15 PM CST.

Follow Ishmael and In the Clutch on Twitter @ IshmaelSistrunk

Antonio Norman

Cleveland Naval Jr. ROTC Boys’ Track and Field

Bill ‘would destroy key financial regulations and consumer protections’

By Charlene Crowell Center for Responsible Lending

A House bill designed to reverse regulation of financial services and end consumer protections is attracting the attention of a growing number of Congressional Black Caucus (CBC) Members. In recent days, three CBC Members who are also Ranking Committee members have written their respective committee chairs to express opposition to H.R. 10, the so-called Financial CHOICE Act of 2017.

In just three days, May 2-4, U.S. Representatives John Conyers of Detroit, Elijah Cummings of Baltimore and Robert C. “Bobby” Scott of Newport News, each wrote their respective committee chairs in Judiciary, Oversight and Government Reform and Education. Their single message: afford full committee deliberations on the bill. Earlier dubbed the

BUDGET

continued from page B1 city, and the negative impact they were having on revenues for the public schools.

Resident Gerry Connelly criticized the aldermen for not publicizing the community input meeting better. Other than posting it on the city calendar last week and a lastminute plug on NextDoor days before, Connelly said that few people knew about the meeting.

Connelly said, “If you want to engage the community, you need to do better.”

Their comments followed Budget Director Paul Payne’s brief presentation about budget

“Wrong Choice Act” by Congresswoman Maxine Waters, ranking member of the House Financial Services Committee, on May 4, the illadvised legislation received a straight party-line vote in that committee.

“H.R. 10 is a sprawling piece of legislation that would destroy key financial regulations and consumer protections put in place by the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act,” wrote Michigan Congressman John Conyers, ranking member of the House Judiciary Committee.

“H.R. 10 would gut the progress we have made and place our entire economy at risk of another crisis,” wrote U.S. Rep. Elijah Cummings, ranking member of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform in his May 3 letter. “It would increase risks that taxpayers may have to bail out banks

cuts and increases to come in fiscal year 2018.

A decrease in revenue is the main reason for the shortfall, Payne said. The payroll tax, sales tax and other revenues have stayed flat or decreased. While at the same time, the city faces increases in pension costs and salaries – including $5.8 million at the police department, $2.3 million for city employees and $1.5 million for the fire department.

The Rams moving to California will also have about a $3.5 million negative impact on the general fund – which is budgeted at $509.5 million for fiscal year 2018. That’s down from the previous year’s $511.1 million general fund budget, which covers the bulk

and financial firms yet again.

As well as leave consumers vulnerable to the kinds of abusive and predatory practices that hurt so many American families before and during the Great Recession.”

Similarly and two days earlier on May 2, Scott wrote U.S. Rep. Virginia Fox, chairwoman of Education and the Workforce. “Committee Members have expressed great concern over the attempts to weaken the oversight and enforcement power of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and the important role it plays regarding the integrity of student loan finance services.”

Since its April 26 introduction, H.R. 10 has become a legislative tug-ofwar that has civil rights and consumer advocates speaking on behalf of average citizens

on one side, and the worst actors in the financial industry on the other side. In many ways, these two sides are in a rematch of the same battle that was fought in 2010 to enact Wall Street reform. The key difference today is that since its enactment, the cornerstone agency of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act returned nearly $12 billion to the pockets of 29 million consumers who were illegally harmed by financial companies. CFPB has also pursued ‘rules of the road’ with a consistent commitment to fairness, transparency, and access to credit whether the issue was student loans, debt collectors, auto finance, or other lending and credit concerns.

Unfortunately, those who comprised the opposing and losing side in 2010, never

n The city faces increases in pension costs and salaries – including $5.8 million at the police department, $2.3 million for city employees and $1.5 million for the fire department.

of the city’s personnel and department costs.

The total operating plan for fiscal year 2018 – including the capital, grant, enterprise, debt service and general funds – is $1,052.7 million.

In April, city residents voted to increase the sales tax, which will take effect Oct. 1 and will be bringing in an estimated $11.3 million in revenue. The local sales tax – or the business tax that naturally goes up with

relented for a return to a Wild West style free market that operates with scant or meaningless consumer finance regulation in a wide array of financial services. Among HR 10’s 591 pages are proposals that include:

• Banning CFPB from enforcing the law or issuing any regulation for payday, car-title, or similar small dollar loans that charge triple digit interest rates that push borrowers into destructive debt traps;

• Repealing the bureau’s authority to stop unfair, deceptive, and abusive acts and practices (UDAAP), the same authority that enabled CFPB to bring a case against Wells Fargo for creating fraudulent consumer accounts; and

• Forbidding CFPB from regulating forced arbitration clauses and returning access to class action litigation to

53 positions – including 15 Street Department employees, 14 at the Health Department, five park rangers, and several from the Sheriff’s Office, Neighborhood Stabilization, the Building Division and City Counselor’s Office.

the sales tax – will bring in an additional $2.3 million. However, Payne said those funds won’t be used to balance the budget and have not been allocated.

The budget legislation was introduced at the full Board of Aldermen meeting on May 5, and the Ways and Means Committee has been reviewing it since.

Many departments will see cuts in staff – a total of

All departments will see their travel accounts reduced by half, along with cell phone reimbursements.

The Affordable Housing Commission will receive $4.65 million, instead of the $5 million it should normally receive. But Payne said that the commission will have $5 million on hand next year because they have an available balance from this year.

consumers seeking financial remedies.

Research by the Center for Responsible Lending (CRL) has repeatedly found that consumers of color, often Black and Latino, remain targets for financial abuse. Today, more than 44 million consumers together owe $1.3 trillion on student loans. A new kind of predatory lending, one that charges highcost installment loans with fees rivaling those of payday and car-title loans, are placing consumers at financial risk with fees that eventually lead to repayments that are double, if not triple, the amount of money actually borrowed.

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

The Building Demolition Fund will see another year of underfunding at $1 million, instead of $3 million. In 1993, residents approved a half-cent sales tax for citywide capital improvements. In recent years, some of this money has been relocated to help with budget gap. Last fiscal year, the money that normally goes towards ward improvements received 85 percent of its normal allocation, and this year the proposal is 75 percent. That’s a $2.25 million decrease in funds available to fix up the wards. Visit the budget division’s website to view documents about the proposed budget, https://www.stlouis-mo.gov/ government/departments/ budget/documents.

Charlene Crowell

Living It

Jamirra’s first May Day

‘The City that Survives’ to be held May 26-28 at

ESL Higher Education Center

American staff

The East St. Louis 1917 Centennial Commission and Cultural Initiative will host its first educational conference, “The City that Survives: Commemorating the Past, Preparing for the Future,” May 26-28 at the East St. Louis Higher Education Center, 601 James R. Thompson Blvd. in East St Louis. Scholars, historians, writers, documentarians and artisans will take a comprehensive look at the sociopolitical factors that influenced the 1917 Race Riots in East St. Louis in an effort to educate the public and initiate dialogue on this historical event.

An estimated 300 black residents of East St. Louis were killed during three months of racial violence, and thousands more fled the city never to return. Although the racial violence occurred 100 years ago, implications remain for the current political terrain of St. Louis metropolitan area and the United States.

n Local high school student projects on the 1917 riots will also be featured.

The conference opens the afternoon of Friday, May 26 with a keynote by Charles Lumpkins, Pennsylvania State University lecturer and author of “American Pogrom: The East St. Louis Race Riot and Black Politics” and editor of “An East St. Louis Anthology: The Origins of a River City.” Lumpkins’ work argues that the riots were a pogrom – authority-sanctioned violence for the massacre of an ethnic group – prompted by African Americans asserting their political might through the power of the ballot.

Local high school student projects on the 1917 riots will also be featured during the afternoon.

Saturday, May 27 begins with a panel, “1917: The Storm, the Blood, and the Meaning for Today,” includes SIUE professor Andrew Theising and Washington University professor Michael R. Allen discussing the sociopolitical factors that influenced the riots and relationship to contemporary political contexts. On the second panel, “The Legacy and Gathering of Memories,” St. Louis Alderman Terry Kennedy and his brother Dhati Kennedy will share their family story of survival and loss, and East St. Louis artist and historian Anne Walker will discuss the history and struggle of her efforts to commemorate the 1917 violence and honor those killed.

By Kenya Vaughn Of The St. Louis American

“We are now at the stage where we as African American men are serious about making a difference in the lives of young people,” said Johnny Furr, president of the Eta Boule, the St. Louis chapter of Sigma Pi Phi.

When one thinks of black Greek Letter organizations, the fraternities and sororities of the Divine Nine (i.e. Alpha Phi Alpha, Alpha Kappa Alpha, Delta Sigma Theta) typically comes to mind. But the fraternity Sigma Pi Phi, also known as Boule, preceded them all.

“It is the first successful African American Greek Letter Organization,” Furr said. “Sigma

By Kenya Vaughn Of The St.

Pi Phi was established as an organization that provided highly educated African American men with the ability to have fellowship and create a strong bond of brotherhood.” Founded just forty years after slavery ended, Boule became a network of black excellence from its inception in 1904. A college education has been a prerequisite for the prospective members. The St. Louis’ chapter, Eta Boule, was the seventh to charter back in 1912. The organization has since grown to 130 member Boules and 5,000 individual members across the U.S., Bahamas and the U.K. The list of the current 65 Eta Boule members

Photos by Wiley Price

Two-year-old Jamirra Young dressed to par for the 107th Annual Annie Malone May Day Parade.

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

Thur., May 25, 7 p.m., Old Rock House presents The Soul Rebels. 1200 S. 7th St., 63104. For more information, visit www.oldrockhouse.com.

Fri., May 26, 6 p.m., 95.5 FM The Lou presents District Rhythms starring Morris Day and The Time, Ballpark Village. For more information, visit www.stlballparkvillage. com.

Fri., May 26, 7 p.m., The Ready Room presents Rakim 4195 Manchester Ave., 63110.

Fri., May 26, 7 p.m., Café Soul presents Eric Roberson Live, The Mandarin House, 8008 Olive Blvd, St. Louis, MO 63130. For more information, or to purchase tickets, visit https://www. eventbrite.com/e/cafe-soulpresents-eric-roberson-livetickets-34451768166

Fri., May 26, 8 p.m., The Pageant presents the Strictly Strange 17 Tour feat. Tech N9ne, Brotha Lynch Hung, Krizz Kaliko, Ces Cru, and more. 6161 Delmar Blvd., 63112.

Sat., May 27, 7 p.m., The Suite Soul Spot and The Grandel Theatre present Anthony David. 3610 Grandel Square, 63108. For more information, visit www. rollingmojo.com.

Thur., June 1, 7 p.m., Hot 104.1 Super Jam presents Future: Nobody

Safe Tour. Hollywood Casino Amphitheatre, 14141 Riverport Dr., 63043. For more information, visit wwww.ticketmaster.com.

Wed., June 7, 7 p.m., Jermaine Dupri presents the SoSoSummer 17 Tour. Peabody Opera House, 1400 Market St., 63103. For more information, visit www. peabodyoperahouse.com.

Sun., June 11, 5 p.m., The Ambassador presents Southern Soul Bluesfest Featuring performances by Jeff Floyd, Ms. Jody, LJ Echols, and Pokey Bear. 9800 Halls Ferry Rd., 63136. For more information, visit www. metrotix.com.

Thur., June 15, 6:30 p.m., The Fox Theatre presents John Legend. 527 N. Grand Blvd., 63103. For more information, visit www. metrotix.com.

Fri., June 16, 6 p.m., Eta Boule Foundation, Inc. presents a Salute to Fathers/Mentors feat. Gerald Albright. Special guest appearance by Tim Cunningham, comedian James Stephens III, and Denise Thimes. Sheldon Concert Hall, 3648 Washington Blvd., 63108. For more information, visit www.metrotix.com.

local gigs

Sun., June 4, 3 & 6 p.m., JPEK Creative Works Theatre presents A Legends

Featured Event

Revue – First Up: Sam Cooke. Kranzberg Arts Center, 501 n. Grand Blvd., 63103. For more information, visit www.metrotix.com.

Sun., June 4, 4:30 p.m., Harmony for Peace Foundation presents Peace Concert in St. Louis: Hope and Love for Tomorrow Featuring additional performances by the St. Louis Concert Choir, STL Rising Generation Youth Chorus, and others. Powell Hall, 718 N Grand Blvd., 63103. For more information, visit www. harmonyforpeace.org.

Tues., June 6, 6 p.m., Missouri History Museum presents Twilight Tuesdays: A Musical Revolution Tribute to Prince. Featuring Karl Holmes and the All-Star Band. 5700 Lindell Blvd., 63112. For more information, visit www. mohistory.org.

special events

Thur., May 25, 7:30 p.m., The Art of African Fashion - A Celebration of Clothing, Cloth and Culture. A Fusion of fashion, art, history and culture celebrating local black artist, designers, retailers, restaurants and more. The Bentil’s Jah’z Art Gallery, 5561 Enright Ave., 63109. For more information, call (314) 603-4690 or visit www.Urban. Africa.com.

May 25 – 30, The St. Louis Senior Olympics. Athletes aged 50 and older, is actively seeking applications for athletes to participate in more than 90 individual and team events. Jewish Community Center of St. Louis, Millstone Campus Dr., 63146. For more information, visit www.

runway. Hilton St. Louis Frontenac Hotel, 1335 S. Lindbergh Blvd., 63131. For more information, call (314) 265-8556 or visit www. stlmorehouseparents.eventbrite. com.

Sat., May 27, 7:30 p.m., Black Dance USA: Concert Performance – Kulu Mele Drum & Dance Ensemble. Featuring traditional West African and Afro-Cuban dance and music, as well as hip hop. Sun Theatre, 3625 Grandel Sq., 63108. For more information, visit www. eventbrite.com.

Sun., May 28, 5:30 p.m., Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity, Inc., East St. Louis Alumni Chapter presents Sundress and Linen Memorial Day Party. Ballpark Village, 601 Clark Ave., 63102. For more information, visit www. eventbrite.com.

Sun., May 28, 7 p.m. doors, The Network Inc. presents their All White Party with live music by Flirt and The No ID Band, The Old Rock House, 1200 S. 7th Street. For tickets or more information, call (314) 371-5797 or (314) 568-8227.

stlouisseniorolympics.org.

May 26 – 29, 2017 U.S. Army St. Louis Ribfest. JanuaryWabash Memorial Park, 501 N Florissant Rd., 63135. For more information, visit www. thestlouisribfest.com.

May 26 – 28, Dance St. Louis & The Touhill present Spring to Dance Festival 2017

See 30 professional dance companies from across the country perform ballet, hiphop, classical, and more. One University Blvd., 63121. For more information, visit www. touhill.org.

May 26 – 27, Peabody Opera House presents Paw Patrol Live!: Super Adventure Race. 1400 Market St., 63103. For more information, visit peabodyoperahouse.com.

Sat., May 27, 8 a.m., Ferguson Farmers’ Market. Come out for locally grown, fresh produce. 20 S. Florissant Rd., 63135. For more information, visit www. facebook.com.

Sat., May 27, 12 p.m., Morehouse Men of Style: Scholarship Luncheon & Fashion Show. Join us for as Morehouse men walk the

Wed., May 31, 9 a.m., HireLive presents St. Louis Sales Career Fair. DoubleTree Westport Hotel, 1973 Craigshire Rd., 63146. For more information, visit www.hirelive.com.

Sat., June 3, 9 a.m., Isaac Bruce Foundation Free Football Clinic. Gateway STEM High School, 5101 McRee Ave., 63110. For more information, visit www. eventbrite.com.

Mon., June 5, 10:30 a.m., Kingdom House Golf Tournament & Dinner Auction. Forest Hills Country Club, 36 Forest Club Dr., 63005. For more information, visit www.kingdomhouse.org. Fri., June 9, 5 p.m., Urban League of Metropolitan St. Louis invites you to Salute to Women in Leadership. Marriott St. Louis Grand Hotel, 800 Washington Ave., 63101. For more information, call (314) 615-3668 or visit www.ulstl.com.

June 9 – 11, Fair U City 2017. Come out for carnival rides, music, activities, and more. Olive Blvd. and Midland Blvd., 63130. For more information, call (314) 5058696 or visit www.fairucity. com.

Thur., June 22, St. Louis

The Pageant presents the Strictly Strange 17 Tour feat. Tech N9ne, Brotha Lynch Hung, Krizz Kaliko, Ces Cru, and more. See CONCERTS for info.

Hot 104.1 Super Jam presents Future: Nobody Safe Tour For more information, see CONCERTS.

County NAACP 81st Freedom Fund Leadership Dinner: Rise Together. St. Louis Ritz Carlton Hotel, 100 Carondelet Plaza, 63105. For more information, visit www.naacpstlcounty.org/ freedom2017.

Sat., June 24, 10 a.m., CREF presents A Listening Session. To address abuse, neglect and juvenile offenses for juvenile justice change. Greater St. Mark Church, 9950 Glen Owen Dr., 63136.

Sat., June 24, 11 a.m., Alpha Kappa Alpha, Sorority, Inc., Omicron Theta Omega Chapter presents Pink Pizzazz Jazz Brunch: Pearls in Paris. Featuring Donald Gill & Smooth Jazz. Norwood Hills Country Club, 1 Norwood Hills Country Club Dr., 63121. For more information, call (217) 369-5936.

literary

Thur., June 1, 7 p.m.,

Calvary Missionary Baptist Church hosts author Johari Jabir, author of Conjuring Freedom: Music and Masculinity in the Civil War’s “Gospel Army.” 2822 Dr. Martin Luther King Dr., 63106. For more information, call (314) 533-9880.

Mon., June 12, 7 p.m., St. Louis County Library hosts author Ken Ilgunas, author of Trespassing Across America: One Man’s Epic, Never-DoneBefore (and Sort of Illegal) Hike Across the Heartland 1640 S. Lindbergh Blvd., 63131. For more information, visit www.slcl.org.

Mon., June 12, 7 p.m., Left Bank Books hosts author Michael Wallis, author of The Best Land Under Heaven: The Donner Party in the Age of Manifest Destiny. 399 N. Euclid Ave., 63108. For more information, visit www.leftbank.com.

Tues., June 13, 7 p.m., St. Louis County Library hosts author Dr. Michelle Stevens,

author of Scared Selfless: My Journey from Abuse and Madness to Surviving and Thriving. 1640 S. Lindbergh Blvd., 63131.

Mon., June 19, 7 p.m., St. Louis County Library hosts author Victoria Bruce with Jim Kennedy to discuss Sellout: How Washington Gave Away America’s Technological Soul, and One Man’s Fight to Bring It Home. 1640 S. Lindbergh Blvd., 63131.

May 27 – May 29, The 26th Annual St. Louis African Arts Festival, World’s Fair Pavilion at Forest Park, for more information, call (314) 325-2291 or visit wwwstlafricanartsfest.com. Call (314) 329-8788 or email volunteer2STLAAF@gmail. com.

June 2 – 4, Webster Arts Fair. Featuring works from local and international artists, musical performances, art demonstrations and creative family activities. Grounds of Eden Theological Seminary, 475 Lockwood Ave., 63119. For more information, visit www.webster-arts.org.

lectures and workshops

Thur., May 25, 6:30 p.m., Missouri History Museum presents Breaking Down Barriers and Empowering Women of Color Reservations required. 5700 Lindell Blvd., 63110. For more information or RSVP, call (314) 361-9017.

Thur., May 25, 6:30 p.m., Missouri History Museum presents Breaking Down Barriers and Empowering Women of Color. The panel will discuss how women of color are shifting the country’s dynamics in six critical areas. Reservations required. 5700 Lindell Blvd., 63110. For more

The Black Rep closes its 40th anniversary season with ‘Crossin’ Over.’ See THEATRE for details.

information or RSVP, call (314) 361-9017.

Wed., June 14, 7 p.m., Missouri History Museum invites you to Civil Rights and Restorative Justice in the Age of Polarization. 5700 Lindell Blvd., 63110.

Wed., June 28, 6 p.m., Left Bank Books and St. Louis Public Library present Reflections on Race & Justice. Schlafly Branch, 225 N. Euclid Ave., 63108. For more information, visit www. slpl.org.

theatre

May 24- May 26 – 27, Peabody Opera House presents Paw Patrol Live!:

63122. For more information, visit www.stagesstlouis.org.

June 8 – 11, Gitana Productions presents Between Worlds: An American Journey. This contemporary dance theater performance challenges us to look within and at our shared history to rediscover the power that fuels “We the people!” Grandel, 3610 Grandel Square, 63108. For more information, visit www.metrotix.com.

Through June 18, The Black Rep closes its 40th Anniversary Season with a revival of the hit musical Crossin’ Over. Conceived and directed by Black Rep Founder and Producing Director Ron Himes. The Emerson Performance Center on the campus of Harris Stowe State University, Tickets are available at www.theblackrep. com, 314-534-3807, or pick them up at our box office located at 6662 Olive Blvd, St. Louis, MO 63130.

health

Super Adventure Race 1400 Market St., 63103. For more information, visit peabodyoperahouse.com.

May 26 – June 3, Opera Theatre St. Louis presents Madame Butterly. LorettoHilton Center, 130 Edgar Rd., 63119. For more information, visit www.opera-stl.org.

May 27 – 31, Opera Theatre St. Louis presents The Grapes of Wrath. Loretto-Hilton Center, 130 Edgar Rd., 63119.

June 2 – July 2, Stages St. Louis presents Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat. Follow the ragsto-riches story of Joseph, his eleven brothers, and the miraculous coat of many colors. 111 S. Geyer Rd.,

Thur., May 25, 6 p.m., Avoiding Summer Meltdowns with Dr. Tamar Jacobson. Join us for a discussion on children’s behavior and discover strategies that work in the home or classroom. University City High School Auditorium, 7401 Balson Ave., 63130. For more information, call (314) 469-9805.

Fri., June 2, 7:30 a.m., The Lung Force Expo. A one-day program designed for patients, caregivers, and healthcare professionals to learn more about the latest information and resources surrounding lung diseases. Clayton Plaza Hotel, 6650 Carondelet Ave., 63105. For more information, call (314) 645-5505.

Through July 9, Small Business Majority’s Missouri Healthy Business Healthy Community Workplace Wellness Challenge, FREE community-

based competition where small businesses in southwest Missouri l compete against St. Louis area businesses to win special prizes, which will be awarded at the end of the competition and provided by local sponsors. Visit http:// smallbusinessportal.org/ benefits/wellness or call 314718-0377 to register.

Fri., May 26, 6 p.m., St. Paul AME Church Men’s and Women’s Day Committee presents The Showcase an open mic featuring poetry, spoken word, praise dance, theatre and music. The Priscilla Baltimore Fellowship Hall, St. Paul AME Church, 1260 Hamilton, 63112. For information call (314) 3858900 or (314) 283-6717.

Mon., May 29, Union Missionary Baptist Church will be celebrating its 25th Annual Memorial Day Service. Union Missionary Baptist Church, 2957 Dayton 63106, at the corner of Dayton and Garrison.

Fri., June 2- Sat., June 3, Southern Mission Baptist Church is traveling to Williamstown, KY for the Ark Encounter. This is an overnight trip. Please call (314) 521-3951 for pricing and additional details.

Sun., Jun. 11, 10 am. & 3 pm., Second Baptist Church of Kinloch will present the Fourth Pastoral Anniversary for Pastor and First Lady, Rev. Alfred and Mrs. Agnes Washington, Second Baptist Church of Kinloch, 5508 Rev. Dr. Earl Miller Street in Kinloch, MO.

Tues., June 13, 6 p.m., Washington Park Cemetery Gospel Celebration Performances by St. Louis Legend Singers, Zella JacksonPrice, Tish Haynes Keys and more. Sheldon Concert Hall, 3648 Washington Blvd., 63108. For more information, visit www.metrotix.com.

reads like a who’s who of St. Louis African American influencers.

Dr. Henry Givens, president emeritus of Harris-Stowe State University; James Buford, retired president and CEO of The Urban League of Metropolitan St. Louis; Michael Holmes, chairman of the board for Rx Outreach; Keith Williamson, vice president and general counsel for Centene Corporation; and entertainment executive Eric Rhone, to name a few.

More than a century after Eta Boule came to be, they are now actively working to expand their sphere of influence through service.

“Over the years it has evolved to become a progressive organization that not only serves as an organization for brotherhood and fellowship, but also one that harnesses the talents, influences and resources of its members to help the community – particularly young black men,” Furr said.

“We believe that we have been blessed to have mentors – both male and female – who have inspired us and motivated us. And because we have been blessed, it is now our opportunity to give back and support others to succeed.”

They’ve served as mentors, hosted lecture series and provided scholarships over the years. Recently, Eta Boule has actively pursued giving back on a grander scale.

Two years ago they created the Eta Boule Foundation, which is chaired by Kelvin Westbrook, to allow individuals and corporations outside of the organization to lend a hand with their effort of community building.

On Father’s Day weekend, the Eta Boule will present a special concert and program to fund their foundation’s mission to support and foster the achievement of excellence for

the marchers. She waved and screamed “hi” to everyone. The only time she stepped away from her post was to hide from the horses who got a little too close for comfort after one of her relatives summoned the rider of the horse over so he could pet the animal.

Her cousin, who appeared to be about age seven, motioned everyone to greet him with the “dab” gesture Carolina Panthers quarterback Cam Newton popularized two Super Bowls ago.

young people in the St. Louis region.

Eta Boule Foundation, Inc.’s Salute to Fathers/Mentors will be headlined by Grammy Award-nominated musician Gerald Albright and will feature local jazz staples Denise Thimes and Tim Cunningham as well as comedian James Stephens, III.

“Prepare yourself for a night of jazz, laughs and dancing,” Furr said.

But the evening is more than just about fun and fundraising. There will be a program to highlight heroes in the community woven into the evening that takes place June 16 at The Sheldon Concert Hall.

“We are also going to take the opportunity to honor several people who have made tremendous contributions to the St. Louis community,” Furr said. “These individuals have made a difference as fathers, as mentors and as those who have been a support to others.”

Givens, Dr. Homer Nash, Buford and Becky J. Hatter of Big Brothers and Big Sisters of Eastern Missouri will be recognized for their contributions.

Through the program – and with the work through their foundation as a whole – they plan to counter the false narrative and labels often thrust onto black men.

“There is a silent majority black men who are fathers, mentors, coaches, uncles, counselors and next door neighbors who are doing good work in helping develop young people,” Furr said. “But unfortunately, too often all you are hearing is the negative associated with African American men.”

The concert is the first major fundraising event for the Eta Boule Foundation since it was started and Eta Boule is looking forward to using the funds raised to help their organization impact lives for another hundred years.

“I think you can develop young people to be leaders in this community and I think the men of Eta Boule working in concert with the community can make a difference,” Furr said. “Not only do we want to inspire them, but we want to empower them, support them and encourage them.”

Eta Boule Foundation, Inc’s. Salute to Fathers/ Mentors feat. Gerald Albright. Special guest appearance by Tim Cunningham, comedian James Stephens III, and Denise Thimes will take place at 6 p.m. on Friday, June 16 at The Sheldon Concert Hall, 3648 Washington Blvd., 63108. For more information, visit www. metrotix.com.

It was something so special about seeing Lawson pay the memory of the first May Day Parade forward to her young relatives. As always, Sunday’s parade was a multi-generational family affair.

One passerby reminisced about what the parade was like in the good old days when the route came down Natural Bridge. Another cheered on her alma mater when she saw her school colors come down.

“Sumner, class of 1976 … class of ’76,” she shouted. She was so loud that it attracted one of the members of the Sumner Alumni Association. It was a classmate of hers. “Girl, it’s so good to see you,” the marcher said while stepping away from the float. She never stopped shaking her pom-pom and continued to yell “Sumner” while greeting her former school friend.

As per usual, this year’s parade had something for the old school and the new.

Hip-hop station Hot 104.1 FM and their crew of personalities made their way down the parade in the beginning bumping the hottest tracks on the radio. About thirty groups later, local blues legend George Brock sang live from a sound system with his body peeking out of a huge van.

The fraternities and sororities stepped the streets down.

“The parade just got so pretty,” parade co-host and 100.3

The Beat midday personality Tammie Holland said as the ladies of Alpha Kappa Alpha commenced to “skee-wee” as a signal of their arrival. Nearly all of the Black Greeks were represented.

Marching bands from middle school to senior citizens gave their all to make sure parade-goers would have a memorable experience. East St. Louis’ marching band was a crowd favorite, as was Carr Lane CVPA and Da Warehouse Warriors.

In total, nearly 140 organizations made their way down the ten-block parade route. Like those in attendance, they

May Day’s big winners

reflected the city, county and metro east and came in all shapes and forms – from atop floats, on the hood of cars to roller skates.

In-between introductions over the course of the threehour parade, Holland and fellow co-host Jade Harrell, who replaced the late Ida Woolfolk as announcer/mistress of ceremonies reminded the crowd that they should be proud of themselves and the talent that has been showcased through the May Day Parade for the past 100-plus years.

“This is an institution –the second largest African American parade in the nation

– and a staple in our community,” Holland said. Bedazzled girls danced their hearts out to routines they had practiced since the prior parade. Drummers beat with precision, and never getting out of sync with the beat or the band choreography. They gave their all for the panel of judges who paid attention to every detail as they sat near 15th and Market. But judging from her reaction from Jamirra, everyone marching was a winner. Just about every time any group came her way, she continued to yell out, “Ooh, Tee-Tee look.”

The day concludes with the premiere staged reading of playwright Gregory Carr’s “Tinderbox,” an original work that explores the 1917 riots.

On Sunday, May 28, victims of the riot will be memorialized at an Arts and Cultural Festival featuring music, dance, poetry and art. East St. Louis Poet Laureate Eugene B. Redmond and the Eugene B. Redmond Writers Club will perform an ensemble piece on the 1917 Riots using the poetic form the

Members of the Sigma Phi Phi of Eta Boule Executive Committee:L-R Dr. Jerome Williams, Dr. Joe Dorsey, Dr. Richard White, Johnny Furr, Jr. , Eric Rhone, Dr. Cornel Thomas , Melvin Sanders, Dr. Nat Murdoch and Judge Jimmie Edwards.

Photo by Wiley Price

Celebrations

On May 11, the Hazelwood PTA Council, Hazelwood School District, Board of Education and HSD administrators took part in honoring 62 deserving Hazelwood seniors with scholarships. Each student received a $500 scholarship.

Student Honors

Jamarr Hoskin, a 3rd grade member of The Circle of Excellence Math and Science Academy, earned a National Honorable Mention in the Noetic Learning Math Contest, a national mathematics competition for elementary and middle school students. Hoskin was among some of the highest scorers for this nationwide contest. He is pictured with team coach, Dr. Dannielle Joy Davis.

Reunions

Beaumont Class of 1967, if you have not received a letter or e-mail, call 314-533-6087 or Beaumontclassof67@ sbcglobal.net with your contact information. Several activities are planned for the week of June 6-11, 2017. Meet & greet on 6-9-17, banquet on 6-10-17, church services 6-11-17 at Greater Mt. Carmel

and a brunch after services. Our scheduled meetings are 4-15-17 and 5-20-17 at the Normandy Library at 1:30 p.m.

Beaumont High School Class of 1972 is celebrating 45th class reunion August 11 -13 2017. Activities have been planned for a fun illed weekend you don’t want to miss. Please direct all inquiries and registration request to Sharon Webb Steele at (314) 757-2799 or Linda Howard at (314) 397-5570. You may also use Facebook , BHS72 Reunion Committee.

Beaumont High School, Class of 1978 will celebrate its 40-year reunion in 2018. For further information, please contact: Marietta Shegog

Shelby, 314-799-5296, madeshe@sbcglobal.net.

Cleveland High School is hosting a reunion for all attending 1980-1984 on August 19, 2017 at Catering To You Banquet Center (12775 New Halls Ferry Rd., Florissant, MO 63033) For information, please contact Babette Perkins-Anderson at 314-345-0939.

East St. Louis Lincoln Sr. High Class of 1967 celebrates its 50th Class Reunion, June 23-25, 2017 at The Renaissance Hotel, 9601 Natural Bridge Road, St. Louis, MO. Activities include Friday night meet & greet, picnic cruise on the Becky Thatcher and banquet. Please

Birthdays

Happy Birthday to Annette M. First on May 29. Annette is the author of the book, First Generous Gemini.

Happy 30th Birthday, Dainielle J. Fox PharmD on May 22! We are so very proud of you and all that you have accomplished. You’ve worked so hard and deserve everything that life has to offer! Love always, Grandma, Mom, Sam Ashley, Kisha and the entire family.

contact Deborah Davis Holmes at deehom50@aol.com or call 314-280-3711 for more information.

Hadley Tech Classes of 1962-1963 are having their 55th year reunion on October 13-15, 2017 at the St. Louis Airport Marriott. For more information, please contact Hellon (Merritt) Jefferson at 314-307-3681, Ora (Scott) Roberts at 314-222-3662, Wilhelmina (Gibson) Baker at 314-630-9647, Pearl (Tillman) Holden 314-685-0466 or Virdell (Robinson) Stennis at 314-773-8177.

Mr. Eldridge Bryant, Sr. is hosting a reunion for his students at Lafayette and Monroe Elementary Schools

in SLPS from 1999-2000. For more information, please contact him at: 314-489-0532 or eldridgbrya@sbcglobal.net.

McKinley Goldbugs Class of 1987 is planning their 30-year reunion, July 7-8. 2017. For details please contact Freddie Clemons at freddieclemons568@yahoo. com or go to McKinley Goldbugs Facebook site for more information.

Soldan High School Class of 1977 celebrating its 40-year reunion on Friday June 2-4, 2017 at the Crown Plaza Hotel located at 11228 Lone Eagle Dr. in Bridgeton, MO. For further information, please contact Debbie Marshall at 314-831-8831.

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

MO 63103 FREE OF

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

Swag Snap of the Week

Turning up with T.I. and company. Honestly, when I saw the “T.I. Presents The Grand Hustle Tour” I was assuming that Tip would give us a sip of a cameo appearance at Pop’s. I was expecting that the vast majority of the show would be frontloaded with the little up-and-coming rappers on his label, and he was using his star power (and sip of a performance) to try and convince us to check for them. I can’t say that I was dead wrong about the format – with the wonderful exception being T.I.s’ set – which made it ALL worth it. T.I. put on a full-fledged show with all of my favorites, including a three-song set with my guilty pleasure crush Young Dro. It was everything! And everybody from Pontoon Beach to Penrose Avenue was in the building. I knew he had a diverse fan base, but I didn’t expect to see them all pop-lock-and-droppin’ together in perfect harmony – in Sauget of all places. It’s such a shame that after-party at Mystic was a bust. The good news is that T.I. actually showed up. The bad news is that the crowd was so light up in there that T.I. didn’t even pretend to be happy about it. To make matters worse, the dance area was completely empty except for two dancers who looked like they were preparing for an “In Living Color” skit entitled “When Twerkers Attack.” Tip sat up on a second level V.I.P. and only took the mic to thank the crowd on his way out the door. On a positive note, I like the new open floor plan Mystic opted for when it remodeled and changed names. I hadn’t been since it was The Broadway.

Travis Scott: mechanical bird whisperer. My nightlife grind kicked off early this week thanks to a Wednesday by Kylie Jenner’s new boo Travis Scott at The Pageant. I was not ready for how live these college students get at the rappers’ shows. Travis’ zoo-inspired set with a big mechanical bird that looked straight out of a low-budget early 1980s sci-fi fantasy film was actually kind of cute in a way. Travis himself was on 20 out of ten for the sold-out crowd. And when this little person jumped on stage and asked Travis to throw him into the crowd for a surf session, The Pageant security had to be going crazy. Luckily, Travis declined the offer, and the small-framed gentleman had to settle for a piggy back ride during one of Travis’ songs. The show itself was not bad for the new school crew, though he could’ve left the vocal tracks. I was looking forward to my second taste of opening Khalid’s live show game since he stopped through for the Hot 104.1 Who’s Next series a few months back. I was underwhelmed this go ‘round. The late 90’s baby has the totally 80’s visual down pat, too bad he does NOT incorporate the high energy of the era in his show. All he had in him was the kick turn dance we used to call the Louis Vuitton. He sounded good enough and his band was great, but his performance overall was quite the snooze.

Deon’s got jokes. The folks were squeezed into the Funny Bone like sardines to catch a cackle from “black-ish” star Deon Cole’s two-day engagement. I’m so glad I made my way over there, because I’m still laughing at a few of his jokes. The vintage chick (Partyline edit) bit was pure comedy gold. The thought of any young man dating a woman who still wears a slip – and offers to make the side chick a pot of neck bones – makes me holler every time I think about it. The joke was on anybody who was trying to get a selfie with the star because he was charging $10. He had a line though, so I guess he was laughing all the way to the bank.

Magnificent May Day. Could the weather have been any better for the 107th Annual Annie Malone May Day Parade? Absolutely not! 100.3 The Beat’s Tammie Holland and Jade Harrell did their thing as announcers. Miss Ida (Woolfolk) would’ve been proud! There weren’t as many bands as years past, but the ones that were there gave me life, though I must admit for the first time in all of my years, I was a bit underwhelmed by Normandy. I know I’m well past the 8th grade, but can somebody pull some strings to make me an honorary member of the Carr Lane CVPA Middle School Marching Band so I can slay with them next year? The same goes for the Diva Sweat dancers! I can’t remember (good for her) which troupe she was in, but I must tip my messy bun to the magnificent majorette dancer who kept her composure all the way down Market after she high kicked so hard her drawstring ponytail came loose When I first saw her I was like “she must be the captain, because it looks like her uniform has big Maleficent wings.” Turns out she was moving so fast – and going right along with the program – that poor pony was swinging on elastic back and forth like a pendulum. Listen, I am not shading this little diva-in-training. I’m telling y’all she is a star. She never missed a beat and she never broke routine. Had it been me, I would have made the most dramatic escape to Union Station never to be seen or heard from again.in.life. Monday morning with Juelz Santana. The Bottle Wars party at The Marquee seemed like it was shaping up to almost be a win. There was a decent-sized crowd. Celebrity Juelz Santana didn’t see them though, because he showed up on the tail end of a mass exodus from people who had clocks to punch less than six hours later. Now I’m sure to some of y’all I sound like a disgruntled OG old-head when I gripe about celebrities showing up after last call. But 2 a.m. is unacceptable for a non-holiday weekend Sunday! There are only a handful of people dead or alive that I would go to the gig on four hours of sleep just to say that I’ve seen them in the flesh. I can’t imagine Juelz being one of them for me, or anybody else. I saw him come, but I would be lying if I said I waited to see what he was going to do for the final few minutes of the party. I used the same path security made for his

to make my grand exit – and to be honest I never bothered to check for vixen Lira Galore.

entrance

Barber Martez Session, celebrity barber J Ruff, Haven Hobs and Bean of Groove Theory enjoying the Show Me Grooming Expo after party @ Patois

Lovely ladies Lula, Jasmine and Michelle brought their weekend to a close with Bottle Wars Sunday @ The Marquee

Rae, Marie and Alisha were representing for the curvy girls @ the CrazySexyCurves Live Look Book Sunday @ Anew Rooftop in Grand Center

DJ Cuddy hyped the crowd during Hot 104.1 FM’s time in the spotlight for the 2017 May Day Parade Sunday

Denice, KJ, Shanika, Michelle and b-day girl Amanda kicked it VYP style @ Upper Upper Echelon @ OBar

Juelz Santana with promoter Rhome as the rapper/actor stopped through Bottle Wars @ The Marquee

Paige and Annie Malone CEO Leslie Gill @ the 107th Annual May Day Parade Sunday Downtown

Cuties Kim and DJ Jewel @ the CrazySexyCurves Live Look Book Sunday @ Anew Rooftop in Grand Center

Bruce, Frank and Robert representing their respective fraternities @ Element Saturdays @ The Marquee

Cece and Jayla enjoying the scenery @ Upper Upper Echelon Day Party @Shisha

Photographer Lonnie was able to chop it up with rap star T.I. when he came through club Mystic to unwind following his sold-out “T.I. Presents Grand Hustle” stop at Pop’s in Sauget.

Photos by Frank The TanQ Photography

EARLY CHILDHOOD SCREENING COORDINATOR

Parents as Teachers National Center has an opening for an Early Childhood Screening Coordinator to provide developmental screenings to children (ages birth-5 years) residing within Normandy Schools. Screener will provide written reports, recommendations for monitoring, referral to community resources, and in-home intervention activities for children. For a full job description, requirements & to apply go to our website: http://parentsasteachers.org/

LEARNING AND DEVELOPMENT MANAGER

Learning & Development Manager manages all activities in support of training, education, and employee development, under the supervision of the Vice President-Human Resources. Designs, implements, and evaluates the organization’s learning and development courses and programs which support key business functions. To apply, please visit: www.safetynational.com and click on the Careers tab.

POLICE OFFICER (TRAINEE)

his is a Police Oicer (Trainee) position with the St. Louis Police Division. Incumbents perform duties to patrol a speciic area to protect life and property and enforce laws and ordinances using tactful and courteous treatment of the public and conscientious and eicient performance of duties. he Police Division is a 24-hour per day, seven days a week service; therefore, work involves shit, weekend, holiday, and overtime assignments.

Applicants must be twenty-one years of age at the time of iling the Employment Application. United States citizen. High school diploma or equivalent. No prior police or law enforcement experience is required. Applicants must possess and maintain a valid Missouri driver’s license while employed by the City of St. Louis. Applicants must meet eligibility standards for licensing as a peace oicer, as determined by the Missouri Department of Public Safety, Peace Oice Standards & Training (POST) Program. Bi-weekly rate of pay for a Police Oicer (Trainee) is $1,539.00. For Police Probationary Oicer, the annual rate is $41,815.28. To apply, visit the City web site at http://stlouis-mo.gov/jobs. Additional information concerning the Police Oicer (Trainee) process can be found on the St. Louis Police Division’s website at http://stmpd.org.careers.shtml Or contact: City of St. Louis Department of Personnel 1114 Market Street, Room 700 St. Louis, MO 63101 (314) 622-4308

Applications will be accepted until a suicient number are received to ill the anticipated vacancies. Applications can be submitted on the Internet. Please submit Employment Application as soon as possible.

Position requires City residency within 120 days of completion of the initial working test period. An Equal Opportunity Employer.

COMMISSIONER OF FORESTRY (Term Appointment)

his is the top level management/administrative position in the Forestry Division responsible for planning, directing, coordinating and supervising maintenance and removal of trees on right-of-way; public space; properties in violation of City ordinance; weed eradication; debris removal; compost programs and emergency requests. For an additional description of this position, please refer to the classiication speciication for Commissioner of Forestry at: https://www.stlouis-mo.gov/government/departments/ personnel/documents/classiication-speciications.cfm

his position will be illed on a term basis while the former incumbent is on an in-service leave. At the completion of the in-service leave, the former incumbent has the right to return to this position.

To receive consideration for this position, candidates must have a Bachelor’s degree in Urban Forestry, Public or Business Administration, or a related ield; plus ive years of recent full-time paid progressively responsible experience managing/directing forestry and/or parks programs. At least two years of this experience must include supervising/ managing staf involved in forestry/parks operations and maintenance. OR, an equivalent combination of education, training and experience.

Normal entry salary is $82,914 with an excellent beneit package

To apply, visit the City web site at http://stlouis-mo.gov/jobs or contact, as soon as possible: City of St. Louis Department of Personnel 1114 Market Street, Room 700 St. Louis, MO 63101 (314) 622-4308

Position requires City residency within 120 days of completion of initial working test period. An Equal Opportunity Employer.

Do you enjoy working in a fast paced environment and love working with people? If so we are looking for you! Wade Florist, St. Louis, Missouri is seeking an experienced Floral Designer. Needed 12-15 hours per week. For more information, please contact Ms. Barbara B. Harris and or Mrs. Toni Sanderson @ 314-385-4800

JOB OPPORTUNITY

City Seniors, Inc. has a position open for a dynamic, creative and energetic person to head up our activities program. We are looking for a person with excellent interpersonal communication skills, a self starter with a positive personality, who has compassion and patience. he ability to plan and coordinate activities, multitask, work within time constraints and interact well with senior citizens is a must. his position is responsible for fostering a fun loving, energetic, exciting, entertaining environment; and for the development and growth of the activities program through marketing. Some light kitchen work and cleaning required. Individual must be able to work a full shit, arrive to work in a timely manner, work overtime if needed and be able to work alone and in a team environment.

8:30-3:30 M-F. Interested applicants should email a resume, cover letter and three recent employment references to Jennifer at Jbessdirector@ yahoo.com. 314 352–0141.

beneits, please visit http://hr.wustl.edu.

Washington University is an Equal Opportunity Employer. All qualiied applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, age, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, national origin, genetic information, disability, or protected veteran status.

JOB POSTING from Gateway Greening, Inc.

Position: Garden Program Assistant

Overview: Gateway Greening is a community development organization that uses urban agriculture and food access to educate and empower people to strengthen their communities. With 230+ community and school gardens and a 2+ acre urban farm, we are using the power of growing food in St. Louis through local food,