October 8th, 2020 edition

St. LouiS AmericAn

McCloskeys indicted

Notorious attorneys will plead not guilty to exhibiting weapons, tampering with evidence

By Chris King Of The St. Louis American

Mark McCloskey and Patricia McCloskey will be arraigned on Wednesday, October 14 after being indicted by a St. Louis grand jury for exhibiting a weapon and tampering with evidence, their attorney, Joel Schwartz, told The St. Louis American Schwartz told The American that they will plead not guilty. In a case that will hinge, in part, on what is public and what is private, the nationally publicized McCloskeys’ fate turned on the public yet entirely secret proceedings of a grand jury. Even defense attorneys are not allowed before a grand jury. Apparently, the grand jury was not persuaded

By Sylvester Brown Jr.

Photo by Bill Greenblatt/UPI

By Chris King

Of The St. Louis American

Photo by Wiley Price

Photo by Wiley Price

Celebrity couples welcome new babies

Several celebrity couples recently announced new additions to their families.

Kevin Hart and wife recently welcomed their second child together, a girl, Kaori Mai Hart Hart family includes 2-year-old and 15-year-old daughter 12-year-old son Hendrix, his ex-wife, Torrei Nicki Minaj and husband “Zoo” Petty celebrate the birth of her first child, born last week in L.A. No word on yet the gender or name. Childish Gambino and artist Donald Glover revealed his third son with longtime love Michelle White was born recently

The “Atlanta” star revealed the new baby news during a British GQ interview with “I May Destroy You” actress Michaela

Coel. He said the new baby is named Donald after his father, who passed away recently.

Gabrielle Union and NBC settle

Former “America’s Got Talent” judge

Gabrielle Union and NBC reached an “amicable resolution” to her harassment complaint against the show’s producers. A joint statement attributed to Union and NBC as reported by The Root: “We’ve reached an amicable resolution. NBC Entertainment appreciates the important concerns raised by Gabrielle Union and remains committed to ensuring an inclusive and supportive working environment where people of all backgrounds can be treated with respect.”

In June, Union had filed EEOC complaint, citing, harassment, discrimination and retaliation following her boot from the show in 2019 after one season.

Ananda Lewis is fighting breast cancer

Prayers and positive energy go to former BET “Teen Summit” host and MTV veejay Ananda Lewis, who revealed for the past two years,

she has been battling stage 3 breast cancer. She made the announcement on Instagram at the October start of Breast Cancer Awareness month. As reported in VIBE, Lewis posted, “If I had done the mammograms from the time they were recommended when I turned 40, they would’ve caught the tumor in my breast years before I caught it through my own self-exam and thermography. And they would have caught it at a place where it was more manageable.” Lewis is now 47. “Instead, what I’m dealing with is stage 3 breast cancer that is in my lymphs. I need you to get your mammograms.”

Dr. Dre divorce drama continues

One win for Dr. Dre in his pending divorce case filed by wife Nicole Young. As TMZ reported, the judge rejected her request for $1.5 million for various expenses, including security, because she claims to be getting death threats. The judge also gave an ixnay on her request to accelerate her claim that Dre should pay $5 million to cover her lawyer’s fees and other costs. TMZ reported that Dre’s lawyer, Laura Wasser told the judge Dre is still willing to pay all of his wife’s expenses pending the divorce, including security. TMZ said the judge ordered that Young could select a private security company for her personal protection, but it cannot cost more than Dre was paying.

Thomas Jefferson Byrd killed in Atlanta

Tony nominated actor Thomas Jefferson Byrd was gunned down in Atlanta on Saturday, Oct. 3. He was 70 years old. Homicide police are investigating. Byrd appeared in several Spike Lee films. including “Clockers,” “Get on the Bus,” “Bamboozled,” “He Got Game,” “Red Hook Summer,” “ChiRaq” and others. Byrd was also a successful theater actor, nominated for Broadway’s 2003 Tony Award as Best Actor for a revival of August Wilson’s “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom.

Johnny Nash dies at age 80

The “I Can See Clearly Now” 1972 Billboard Hot 100 chart topper, singersongwriter Johnny Nash died at age 80 at his home in his native city of Houston. He had been in declining health recently. As Fox26 reported, Nash was also known for reggae music and was one the first non-Jamaican singers to record reggae in Kingston, Jamaica. Nash is survived by his wife Carli and son, Johnny

Sources: BuzzFeed, Fox26, GQ, Instagram,

Thomas Jefferson Byrd

Survivors of domestic violence deserve to be counted

Census poses special challenges for vulnerable groups

By Shireen Roy, Drishti Sinha and JP Cerini For The St. Louis American

The U.S. Census Bureau announced in early August that it would halt counting on September 30, a month earlier than originally planned, potentially leaving many Americans uncounted. However, on September 24, a federal judge announced that national counting should continue through October 31, and the Trump administration will be appealing this decision.

The census, a decennial operation that counts the number of people in every household in the country, has faced a number of obstacles in the current sociopolitical environment, with uncertainty of the deadline being the most recent. One group in particular faces even greater barriers to participating in the 2020 census: survivors of domestic violence.

Partner Violence Survivor Advocacy team at LouHealth, a public health advocacy group at Washington University in St. Louis, we are deeply concerned about the barriers that survivors face in responding to the 2020 U.S. Census. In a year when a global pandemic has exacerbated domestic violence both nationally and in St. Louis, it is imperative that survivors in our community are counted to ensure that the life-saving services they need are funded.

As members of the Intimate

Despite the Census Bureau’s strict confidentiality laws, sharing a residence or being in contact with an abusive partner presents difficulties in filling out the census without the abuser seeing personal information. Additionally, abusers could bar survivors from completing the census to exert power and control. Particularly, undocumented survivors face several unique forms of oppression and barriers to completing the census. Abusers of these individuals often use their

immigration status as a way to maintain control of the survivor through threats of ousting that instill fear. Many survivors may worry that Immigrations and Customs Enforcement will access the information they provide to the Census Bureau. This threat may succeed in frightening undocumented survivors from participating in the census altogether. Survivors in domestic violence shelters also face unique barriers. In a shelter setting, survivors may be unsure that the information they provide will be confidential. Survivors

in shelters already have a myriad of worries: their safety, their children’s safety, financial security, and finding permanent housing. Responding to the census, especially when they are not confident in the privacy of their data, may fall to the wayside.

Domestic violence shelters had the option to opt in to a specialized census process last year, wherein they would be contacted by a census worker with specialized training. The shelters that did not opt-in to this process received a single form as if they were a single-

family household. Shelters were then responsible for ensuring that survivors’ information remains confidential. If shelters did not respond, a worker was required to go to the shelter, and shelters could then disclose that they needed a worker with specialized training. This process creates distrust between census workers, shelter staff, and survivors, despite confidentiality laws. Domestic violence shelters’ addresses are purposefully undisclosed and kept extremely confidential to protect the safety of their residents. A census worker show-

ing up unannounced to the shelter creates fear and uncertainty about the continuation of this confidentiality. Shelter workers may not trust census workers to maintain the confidentiality of the undisclosed shelter location. Additionally, survivors may distrust the shelter’s ability to complete the census in a private manner. The census determines how much federal funding communities receive for services such as healthcare, education, housing, and infrastructure. It determines the number of congressional representatives each state can elect to the House and the boundaries of both legislative and school districts. The census, in other words, is crucial to the well-being of the communities being counted. If these communities are not accurately reflected, the crucial services they need will not be funded. When survivors of domestic violence are disempowered from responding to the census, this hurts survivors and our community as a whole. As student advocates, we have a responsibility to highlight the barriers that survivors of domestic violence face in being counted and to push for their right to be counted by the census. There must be systemic protection, and dissemination of knowledge regarding these protections, to empower survivors to be counted.

Shireen Roy and Drishti Sinha are medical students at Washington University in St. Louis School of Medicine. J.P. is an undergraduate student at Washington University in St. Louis. All three authors are members of LouHealth, a student-run public health advocacy group at Washington University in St. Louis.

Guest Columnist Shireen Roy

Guest Columnist

Drishti Sinha

Guest Columnist JP Cerini

Particularly, undocumented survivors face several unique forms of oppression and barriers to completing the census.

Editorial / CommEntary

The St. Louis American endorses Jill Schupp for Congress

Comparing primary vote totals is not always a reliable indicator of the outcome in a general election, because Democrats will tell you that Republicans tend to get better voter turnout in primaries. Yinka Faleti, the Democratic candidate for Missouri secretary of state, made this claim to downplay the fact that Republican incumbent John “Jay” Ashcroft tallied nearly 150,000 more votes than Faleti in the August 4 primary, when both ran unopposed. This means, however, that a Democratic candidate in Missouri who does better in her primary than her Republican opponent – particularly when the Republican is the incumbent – clearly has a very strong chance of winning the general election. That is the case with Jill Schupp.

Schupp is running for Missouri’s 2nd Congressional District seat as a Democrat against Republican incumbent Ann Wagner. On primary night, Schupp tallied 103,164 votes to Wagner’s 63,686, a whopping margin of nearly 40,000 votes; both ran unopposed. (A U.S. Navy veteran named Martin Schulte, running unopposed in the Libertarian primary, garnered 737 votes.) Those numbers make Schupp one of Democrats’ brightest prospects for flipping a congressional seat in Missouri or indeed in the United States in 2020. It would not be the first time she felled a formidable Republican with much better name recognition. She won the open 24th District state Senate in 2014 running against none other than Ashcroft, who would go on to win statewide as secretary of state two years later.

tionately impact Black Americans, quality health care that people can afford is more critical than ever. While her Republican opponent has voted repeatedly against the Affordable Care Act and would jeopardize coverage for those with preexisting conditions, Schupp’s defense of these health care protections is especially critical considering COVID-19 may one day be considered a pre-existing condition.

Throughout her time in public office (which also includes the state House of Representatives, Creve Coeur City Council and Ladue School Board), Schupp has demonstrated a willingness to listen to her constituents and be accountable. Wagner, on the other hand, has ignored the people in her district for years; the grassroots Indivisible movement formed in response to Trump’s presidency tried for more than a year to get Wagner to host a town hall meeting without success. Wagner, in fact, has not held a public in-person town hall since being elected in 2012. Schupp has pledged to host in-person town halls if elected to Congress. Schupp has challenged Wagner to a debate; the Republican has not accepted the challenge.

As I See It - A Forum for Community Issues

Here’s how to fight back against voter intimidation

By Gilda Daniels For The St. Louis American

For Black Americans, the polling station has long been a militarized space, guarded by the violence and intimidation of white supremacists. After the Civil War when freemen began amassing political power in state legislatures across the country and the Confederacy, whites used murder, rape, lynching and other forms of violence to discourage freeman from voting.

Today, conservatives are organizing another network of vote intimidators for the November election, a network that could disenfranchise millions of voters of color. As voter registration deadlines approach across the country, states must address the potential for intimidation at polling sites to ensure that all voters can safely vote in a free, fair and non-discriminatory election.

law. But it wasn’t always so.

Whites – both vigilantes and those with legal authority –used voter intimidation to block access to the voting booth.

“People in this district are ready for change,” Schupp told us, to explain the huge advantage she showed over Wagner in their respective primary elections. “I think this primary night is a perfect example of how fired up people in this community are about electing a member of Congress who will actually show up, listen, and work for them. Especially as the COVID-19 crisis continues and people are concerned about health care coverage and the cost of prescription drugs, people are eager for a representative who is responsive to their needs.”

Schupp has made access to health care a centerpiece of her campaign, and Wagner’s voting record handed her that issue. As COVID-19 continues to spread across Missouri and dispropor-

While in the state Legislature, Schupp has earned a reputation for working across the aisle to solve problems, from ending surprise billing in emergency rooms, to ensuring every hospital has a rape kit. Unlike her opponent, Schupp has pledged to pursue police reform and to address the root causes of poverty and violence, and she recognizes that our nation must address systemic inequality and racism. Wagner, on the other hand, has stayed hidden behind this disastrous president and his divisive messages. “The president’s speech tonight detailed the incredible accomplishments America has achieved in the last year,” Wagner gushed after Trump’s State of the Union address on February 4. “President Trump has said he would get to work for America, and tonight he told us all how he has kept that promise.”

The voters of the Second Congressional District are ready for change. They are ready to leave behind this destructive president, and they need a congresswoman who is going to be responsive to their needs. The St. Louis American strongly endorses JILL SCHUPP FOR CONGRESS

As I See It - A Forum for Community Issues

Census

is

the key to resources and representation for Black communities

By Katherine Fenerson and Sarah Martin

The St. Louis American

For

Black communities in St. Louis are in danger of being undercounted in the 2020 Census. Only 53% of people in St. Louis have completed the census so far, and the neighborhoods that are at the highest risk for undercounts are majority-black and concentrated on the northside. Political representation and access to resources for vital public services depend on census data. When our representation is weakened by an undercount, our power is diminished. We must work together to ensure everyone is counted before it’s too late. Every 10 years, everyone who lives in the United States is asked to complete the census. This data becomes the basis of how billions of dollars are allocated annually to states and localities over the next decade. The data from the census also informs how legislative maps are drawn for Congress, and our state and local legislative bodies. Historically Black communities are undercounted in the Census and this prevents us from receiving the resources, funding, and representation we need.

How does an undercount affect us? In 2010, Missouri lost a U.S Congressional District, because St. Louis was undercounted by 16,000 people. The undercount also cost us millions of dollars that our communities needed. Ten years later, we are on track to have another undercount that will hurt Black communities. If St. Louis is not fully counted, the next decade will continue to limit Black politi-

cal representation and power. Despite passing progressive legislation statewide, like Medicaid Expansion in August and increasing the minimum wage in 2018, Missouri remains in the control of a Republican trifecta - meaning the Governor and both houses of the state legislature are majority Republicans. On the national level, the census controls how electoral college votes are allocated for future Presidential elections. And locally, wards in the City of St. Louis will be redrawn from 28 to 14 if we are undercounted. The only way to maintain proportional power for Black residents is to get an accurate census count. It’s not just the maps – it’s the money, too. In 2010, Black and Hispanic residents were undercounted by more than 1.5 million nationwide. For every person not counted, our community loses out on $1,300 a year. That’s $13,000 per person over the next decade. The systemic and disproportionate undercounting of communities of color deprives us of badly needed federal resources for Medicaid, TANF, SNAP, K-12 education, housing, and transportation. For example,

funding for programs like HUD, which offer Community Development Block grants, depend directly on census information. Census data is also used to determine the resources allocated to school districts. For school districts that depend on state and federal funding, such as SLPS, Riverview Gardens, and Jennings, undercounting can further marginalize our children.

What can you do to ensure we all count?

Stopping an undercount is a top priority for Action St. Louis in 2020. The impacts of an undercount will be felt in our communities for decades to come. If we are serious about ensuring our communities get the resources we need, then we must all complete the census and help others do the same. That is how we build a St. Louis where our children and families get access to the resources they need to survive and thrive.

The days leading up to the October 31th deadline are crucial. This year the census is available online and it only takes a few minutes to complete. Complete your census today by visiting my2020census.org or call toll free at 844330-2020. You can also return the census form by mail.

Let’s work together to ensure we all count.

Katherine Fenerson is the Civic Engagement Organizer with Action St. Louis and leads the #WeCount314 initiative, which seeks to ensure a full count for the 2020 Census. Sarah Martin is a 2020 BOSS fellow with Action St. Louis. To volunteer w/ Acton St. Louis, please visit actionstl.org/volunteer.

This election cycle, we must also ring the alarm around the coordinated effort to intimidate Black and Brown voters at the polls. Conservatives have invested $20 million to mobilize 50,000 volunteers in an effort to guard the vote during early voting and on Election Day in communities of color. President Trump has even called for stationing armed guards at the polls stoking widely debunked myths of in-person voter fraud. It is critical that Black and Brown voters who led national protests against state violence in 2020 are able to cast a ballot at polling locations free from hostility this fall.

Voter intimidation – the act of intimidating or threatening someone else with the goal of interfering with their right to vote – is illegal under federal

When Union troops began to withdraw from the South at the sunset of Reconstruction, the Ku Klux Klan, the Knights of the White Camellia and others used racial terrorism to discourage Freemen and their white allies from voting. During the Civil Rights Movement, segregationists like Bull Conner likewise assaulted Black demonstrators with dogs and fire hoses to quell calls for integration and voting rights. In these historical examples, voter intimidation not only disenfranchised Black Americans, but also cost the very lives of those who sought to exercise the right to vote. But can we do to ensure Black and Brown voters can access the polls safely?

One, we must educate Black and Brown voters so they can identify and appropriately respond to voter intimidation on the rare occasion that they witness or experience it. If someone aggressively questions you, harasses you or challenges your eligibility to vote outside of the polls, document and report the incident to an election official on-site.

Request any person engaging in this behavior be removed from the polling place. Call the national Election Protection hotline (1-866-OUR-VOTE).

This hotline staffed by voting rights lawyers can help you address voter intimidation in real time.

Letters to the editor

Vote to heal our country

To my brothers and sisters who are undecided in this upcoming presidential election, I ask you to consider your vote from a moral and unifying perspective.

In these divided and troubled times, it is important that we come together and heal our country. The current administration is dividing us with decisions and actions that threaten our core national values of honesty, fairness, inclusion, and full justice for every citizen of this country. Truth is being compromised. Hard-fought progress around issues of health care, women’s rights and civil rights, voting integrity, and immigration reform are at stake in this election.

Please vote your conscience and best instincts on November 3.

Sheila Bader, St. Louis

Please vote for them

I was talking to a Black friend who said he was not going to vote. It made me very sad because Dr. King, Malcolm X, John Lewis and many, many others who marched to get the voting possible. If you are considering not voting, please think of Michael Brown, George Floyd, Trayvon Martin and so many others who will never get the chance to vote. Please vote for them. Don’t let your voice go to waste

Mary Horridge St. Louis

We deserve better

I’m sick. And tired. Sick and tired of our elected representatives in the Republican Party adamantly refusing to get behind affordable health-

Second, advocates should work with election officials ahead of early voting to create police-free polling locations or limit the role of police at the polls. Election officials should also restrict firearms at polling sites. Police at the polls may intimidate voters who are justice-involved, while the recent killings in Kenosha, Wisconsin highlight the dangers presented when deadly weapons are brought to contested spaces.

To be sure, it is important that police are able to be quickly dispatched to polling locations in the event of an emergency, but using state and local officials should work to recruit enough poll workers to manage social distancing in long lines, control crowd flow and provide assistance to voters with disabilities or language access needs. These roles are inappropriate for law enforcement.

Finally, we must restore the Voting Rights Act (VRA). Prior to the Supreme Court’s weakening of Section 5 of the VRA in the Shelby v. Holder case, federal employees would monitor the administration of elections in states across the country with a history of racial discrimination. In 2020, it is clear that the U.S. Department of Justice to is not coming to save Black voters from voter intimidation. It is up to the organizers, advocates, and grassroots leaders to continue the fight to vote.

Gilda Daniels is litigation director of Advancement Project National Office, the former deputy chief in the Department of Justice, Civil Rights Division –Voting Section, and author of “Uncounted. The Crisis of Voter Suppression in America.”

and style.

care for every American, even though their own base is just as likely as anyone to lose everything they possess, including their lives, should one of them become catastrophically ill. Closer to home, Ann Wagner has actively opposed affordable healthcare for her constituents, choosing rather to keep it prohibitively expensive and inaccessible while accepting more than $470,000 from corporate PACs in the healthcare and pharmaceutical industries.

To add insult to injury (and more injury, of course) Ann Wagner has been the loyal little toady of Trump, dismissing, denying, and lying about COVID-19’s true threat. On March 7, after numerous briefings on the dire threat posed to her constituents by the virus, she publicly insisted, “As I said, this is, it’s clear that the risk to our U.S. public is low.” Anyone practicing due diligence at the time knew the reality, of course; however, those folks who solely looked to Trump and Wagner for their cues were at much greater risk, believing it was all much ado about nothing. Incredulously, Wagner has neither a plan for the healthcare of her own constituents, nor a cogent plan for dealing with this pandemic. All Wagner’s got is BS. Just like her orange boss. We deserve better from our elected representatives Mike Unruh

Guest Columnist

Katherine Fenerson Guest Columnist Sarah Martin

Guest Columnist

Gilda Daniels

Jill Schupp

Handing out food – and midterm reports

Southern Illinois University Edwardsville East St. Louis Charter High School handed out food and other items to more than 100 families during its recent Drive-Up, Pick-Up Day, according to Gina Jeffries, school director. “We were also able to keep students updated on their academic performance by providing their midterm progress report cards,” Jeffries said. “Our students are resilient and showing grit through these unprecedented times and their academic midterms are proof.”

Absentee voting at St. Louis Public Library

The Board of Election Commissioners for the City of St. Louis (the “BEC”) will offer off-site absentee voting at four St. Louis Public Library locations starting on Monday, October 12 and continuing until Monday, November 2, the day before the General Election on November 3, from 11 a.m. until 5 p.m. Monday, Tuesday, Friday and Saturday, as well as from 1 p.m. until 7 p.m. Wednesday and Thursday.

The absentee voting sites are:

• Buder Library – 4401 Hampton Ave.

• Central Library – 1301 Olive St.

• Julia Davis Library – 4415 Natural Bridge Ave.

• Schlafly Library – 225 N. Euclid Ave. Voters who want to vote an absentee ballot at these locations will

only be able to vote on a touch screen machine. Voters who want to cast a paper ballot will have to do so at the BEC’s office at 300 N. Tucker Blvd.

Absentee voting at the BEC’s office will be open from 8 a.m. until 5 p.m. Monday through Friday, as well as on Saturday, October 24, and Saturday, October 31, from 9 a.m. until 1 p.m. The last day that a voter can request an absentee ballot by mail is Wednesday, October 21. The last day that a voter can vote an absentee ballot in person is Monday, November 2.

A sample ballot for the November 3, 2020 General Election, as well as a variety of other useful information, is available at www. stlelections.com. Due to the length of the ballot, voters are encouraged to print a copy of the sample ballot, mark it, and bring it with them when they go to cast their ballot.

The St. Louis Public Library also offers a variety of voter services at all locations. For more information, visit slpl.org.

Choosing hope to inspire vision

By Michelle Tucker For The St. Louis American

On a typical October day, my evening might include late meetings at the office, dinner at a local restaurant with my husband, then catching up on the latest news. But, like many of you, the past six months have only offered occasional use of words like “typical” or “normal.” Our routines have been uprooted and disrupted by the complex challenges we are all experiencing right now.

With so few things remaining familiar, I find myself searching for sources of inspiration and something to look forward to. As I take stock of what’s now a significantly reduced list of constants, the concept of hope rises quickly to the top.

Though certainly not a standalone strategy, hope is indeed one of the daily choices we are continually faced with as we traverse through life’s most challenging times. Hope remains a potent ingredient that many times can serve as a North Star for us. Hope can even help inspire a monumental task, like visioning for how we create a better tomorrow for our children and neighbors.

Michelle Tucker n Nelson Mandela once said, “It always seems impossible until it’s done.”

Conversely, fear and a lack of optimism can serve to limit our actions, producing constrained or predictable results or even shut down evolved thinking and innovation. Fear can fuel negativity and influence our conversations and threaten our collective sense of security. In the absence of intentionally choosing hope, we stifle our ability to vision bold and game-changing growth strategies that position our region to recover and compete culturally and economically. In times like these, where not just our future, but even the thought of tomorrow seems impossible, I encourage you to choose hope and not fall victim to fear.

Hope, in times like these, can help energize us to make the necessary decisions and take actions to solve our present dilemmas, including confronting racial and spatial inequities in St. Louis. Nelson Mandela once said, “It always seems impossible until it’s done,” yet we all must take the first step toward what’s possible. That is the beauty of hope; it is a beacon that can be leveraged to overshadow uncertainty as it guides our way to a better tomorrow now, and for future generations.

Michelle D. Tucker is president and CEO of United Way of Greater St. Louis.

crisis. The coronavirus is infecting and killing Black and Brown people disproportionately. Every political, medical, and institutional resource is needed to slow the spread of COVID-19. Considering these challenges, is this the time for the church, especially the Black church, to abstain from politics?

Reverend Gabrielle Kennedy, pastor of Buren Chapel AME Church in Herculaneum, director of the nonprofit Faith & For the Sake of All (FFSOA), doesn’t think so. Kennedy points to the “Great Commission” outlined in Matthew 28:16-20, where Christians are compelled to go out into the world as missionaries.

“That’s very much a part of the mission: going out and talking and preaching and meeting folk where they are,” Kennedy said. “Jesus brought politics into the church. So, there is no topic that we can’t bring into the church because we are affected by all of it.” Kennedy, who was born and raised in North St. Louis, spent more than 25 years with her husband Wayne and their two children (ages 17 and 26) in the Kansas City area. In secular life, Kennedy mostly worked as a Medicaid insurance appraiser. She specialized in outreach services for individuals and businesses. That experience, she said, is similar to what she does now as director of FFSOA.

“My job was always about making sure people got their

McCloskeys

Continued from A1 by the McCloskeys’ argument that they were defending private property and themselves when they left the privacy of their home on Portland Place in St. Louis’ Central West End on June 28 to flourish weapons at the protestors walking past their home on the sidewalk and street. Portland Place is private and was marked as such on the gate that the protestors passed through.

St. Louis Circuit Attorney Kimberly Gardner filed charges of exhibiting a weapon, a Class E felony, not accepting the defense that the signed privacy of the street entitled the McCloskeys to flourish weapons at people walking past their home or that the

benefits,” she said. “It was about meeting them where they were. It required that I build relationships with people who were serving the same folk we were serving. It also required a certain amount of finesse because we had to market people through other organizations and other services.”

FFSOA was founded after Washington University professor Jason Parnell and a group of researchers released the “For the Sake of All” report in 2014. The project highlighted disparities in the health and well-being of African Americans in St. Louis. FFSOA is a collaboration of diverse individuals determined to use the church and its platforms to aggressively address health, education, and economic inequalities. Those overarching areas overrule any notion that churches should avoid politics, Kennedy said.

“We don’t feel like we have a choice,” she said. “These elections are going to affect every one of those areas. It’s a once-in-a-cycle opportunity for us to affect the change that needs to happen in our communities. Our job is to advocate, to be the bullhorn for the voice of the people. That’s why we have to do this.”

Kennedy shared her personal journey to discovering her activist voice. She relocated to the St. Louis area, South County to be exact, around the time Mike Brown was gunned down by a Ferguson policeman. She recalled being ashamed of her initial response.

“My first personal response was: ‘well, what did he do to make those people shoot him?’

But after sitting on that and reflecting and seeing what the

McCloskeys were in danger.

Two Harvard Law professors, Ronald S. Sullivan Jr. and Intisar A. Rabb, published a White Paper defending Gardner’s filing charges on July 17, a week after search warrants served on the McCloskeys to take their guns into custody caused a national outcry from 2nd Amendment advocates. Sullivan and Rabb argued that the McCloskeys needed to demonstrate reasonable fear of injury to flourish weapons at passers-by even on a private street. They argued that, “based on the publicly available information, it appears unreasonable for the McCloskeys to have believed that they were in imminent fear of bodily injury or injury to their property.”

The McCloskeys also claimed that the handgun wielded by

young people were doing, I realized this is not right,” she said.

“I had to ask for forgiveness and lament. I saw the error of my own ways; I drank the Kool-Aid. And from that moment on, my commitment was: ‘whatever I can do to dismantle racism, to make our community a decent place, a healthier place for everybody, that’s what I was going to do.’”

In the beginning, FFSOA was comprised of predominantly white congregations. The organization wanted allies within the Black community, Kennedy said, but didn’t know exactly how to build those relationships. She was initially hired as a congregational coordinator to help engage the

Patricia McCloskey – she was photographed and filmed pointing it at passers-by with her finger on the trigger –was inoperable on June 28.

The tampering with evidence charges reportedly brought by the grand jury suggests the jurors may have been persuaded that the McCloskeys tampered with the handgun after June 28.

There is a strange chain of custody regarding the handgun. The American saw Albert Watkins, another attorney retained by the McCloskeys (who are themselves attorneys), hand that gun to St. Louis police detectives on July 11. Watkins said his clients gave the gun to him to preserve the evidence in the event that criminal charges were filed.

Watkins said the McCloskeys did not

black community. It wasn’t easy. Black people, Kennedy noted, are sick of studies that go nowhere. They want action. “You can’t go to Black folk and say, ‘Hey, guess what? There’s racism in St. Louis,’” she said. “They don’t want to hear that. They know that. We decided to respond with action, and we had to do that with Black congregations specifically.”

In Missouri, African Americans account for 37% of reported COVID-19 deaths despite making up just 11% of the state’s population. Because the virus disproportionately impacts communities of color, FFSOA partnered with CareSTL Health to host free community COVID testing and

also give him the rifle that Mark McCloskey brandished on June 28 because his actions appeared less incriminating. Watkins said that Mark McCloskey had his safety engaged and did not finger the trigger. The rifle was reportedly taken into evidence on July 10.

Watkins called a press conference and made a show of handing over the handgun, literally cueing news camera operators to point their cameras east when he saw the detectives walking west on Forsyth Boulevard toward Watkins’ law offices, where he announced the press conference just before his appointment with police. Indeed, the McCloskeys have been the center of a media circus. Watkins took them on a tour of national news shows. Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt, who

voter registration drives at local churches. Combining testing and voter registration, Kennedy said, makes perfect sense.

“Voter registration hits all three of our tenets: education, economics and health,” she said. “Those decisions are going to absolutely hit everyone. It’s our job to empower people so they can speak for themselves and do for themselves.”

FFSOA walks that fine line between informing voters without endorsing candidates. In the end, Kennedy said, it’s about helping people gain influence over their lives, conditions and environments.

“I’m hoping that what comes out of this is a willingness and ability to take control.

has no legal standing in the case, filed an amicus brief.

Gov. Mike Parson showed interest and said he would pardon the McCloskeys should they be convicted. President Donald Trump spoke up for them. The McCloskeys spoke at the Republican National Convention (RNC). There, they served the Trump campaign’s alarmist narrative by warning voters that protestors were coming for the suburbs.

The McCloskeys live in the City of St. Louis, not a suburb.

But now, according to their defense attorney, the McCloskeys want no more of the publicity they have sought or the politics they have played. “This is about evidence and law,” Schwartz told The American. “Let’s stop the noise.”

Gardner also asked for a stop to the noise when

Peace Fest

If people can’t define what they need and what’s acceptable, then we’re probably not having the right conversations,” she said.

“I want to see the spreading of this virus slowed down, but I also want people to not just vote, but to understand the importance of their vote and the importance of their attention to the election and voting process. It’s not just who we vote for but what happens after we vote.”

For more information on COVID testing and voter registration drives visit https:// faithandforthesakeofall.org.

Sylvester Brown Jr. is The St. Louis American’s inaugural Deaconess Fellow.

the McCloskeys were putting on a show at the RNC – and putting her life at risk. Gardner, St. Louis’ first Black elected prosecutor, has received vile racist taunts and death threats from McCloskey supporters.

“My job is to fairly and impartially investigate each case of potential wrongdoing and follow the facts wherever they may lead,” Gardner stated.

“I am disappointed that what is typically a routine matter for a prosecutor has been exploited for political purposes, which in turn has opened the floodgates for gleeful racist and misogynistic messages and death threats. The people of St. Louis expect me to pursue equal justice under the law without fear or favor, and that is what I intend to do.”

Founder of Better Family Life Malik

Ahmed (center) and activest

Anthony Shaheed (left) greet Interim CEO Darryl G. Grimes during the opening of the Better Family Life Peace Fest Sunday, Oct. 4, on the agency’s front lawn.

Photo by Wiley Price

Salute

Continued from A1

resources than the schools that serve primarily Caucasian students in suburban areas,” said LaShanda R. Boone, head of school at LaSalle Charter School. “Studies show that there are four factors that can drastically impact student performance: small schools/ class sizes, high quality curricula and instruction, highly qualified teachers and high-quality academic support. An Education Equity Bill would further ensure equitable resources for all schools regardless of area and or student demographic. It would ensure that all institutions would receive the same state and federal allocations to provide equity in resources for all students.”

Shantana Goodwin-Payne

“We must teach children to be accepting of all cultures and nationalities. There tend to be deficiencies in teaching the history of other cultures and the suffering at the hands of other races,” said Shantana Goodwin-Payne, master teacher at the Magnolia Head Start/ Early Head Start Center for the

Workhouse

Continued from A1

In the October 1 committee meeting, some City officials threatened to roll back that progress. As directed by the July ordinance, Commissioner of Corrections Dale Glass released the second of two reports earlier this month. The commissioner, who reports to Mayor Lyda Krewson, was

Urban League of Metropolitan St. Louis.

“Children learn and experience other races and racism in grade school and college. By this time, it is too late to have empathy for others and their suffering. There is an urgent need to mandate the teaching of cultural relevant history with standards and objectives beginning during the foundational years (pre-k). It is my belief believe we then could have a chance to eliminate racial inequality and injustices.”

Karen I. Hall, Ed.D

“On February 16, 2017, I collaborated with the Maplewood Richmond Heights Board of Education to craft and approve the Resolution on Educational Equity and Social Justice. I consider it a landmark document, unique in its boldness, wide-ranging in scope and enduring in content,” said Karen I. Hall, Ed.D, superintendent of the Maplewood Richmond Heights School District.

“It pledges that our district

tasked with developing a plan to close the Workhouse by December 31. Instead of doing that, he provided the committee with two reports attempting to make the case for keeping the hellish jail open. This attempt disregards local organizing and the decisions of our elected city officials, who voted—unanimously, following the lead of their constituents—to close the jail.

But this is not about Dale Glass. It is about the people of the City of St. Louis, and it

will continue to vigorously support all of our students, staff, families, and community members, regardless of their race, color, religion, national origin, ancestry, disability, age, sexual orientation and/or perceived sexual orientation, gender identity, socioeconomic status, or any other individual characteristic and continue to enrich the lives of children and provide the foundation for their many future successes in life.”

Romona Miller

“One day in class a teacher made a statement about the presence of women and minorities in the area of science, and the overarching theme was that we weren’t successful. I was so taken aback that I wasn’t sure I could complete the class,” said Romona Miller, principal of Pioneer Pathways at Kirkwood High School.

“I did push through, but that forever changed how I perceived the impact of negative expectations. Had I bought into his scenario, I would have failed his class and failed in my pursuit for education in the area of science. I did graduate with a BS in Biology, and as I work with my students, I always share the mindset that they are in control of their destinies, not anyone else.”

is about the elected legislative body and mayor of the City of St. Louis keeping their word. Nothing has changed since Ordinance 71217 was passed that would excuse them going back on that word. The Workhouse remains a site of abuse, neglect, and inhumane treatment. It remains an unnecessary and irresponsible use of millions of public dollars. And it remains a monument to white supremacy in St. Louis. Now is precisely the right time to reverse the racist policies of

Sheryl Denise Rogers

“One of the primary obstacles facing educators is not enough resources. In many schools, students still do not have adequate technology. Students have to share Chrome books in class. They do not have technology in their homes. I have students using their cell phones to do assignments,” said Sheryl Denise Rogers, a science teacher in Normandy Schools Collaborative.

“Another obstacle is lack of parental support. I have tried to incentivize parental involvement with gift cards, extra credit, dinner, with little or no response. When parents do not place a high value on education, neither will their children. I can only continue as I do, encouraging my students to present the best they have to offer.”

Rhonda C. Stovall, Ed.S

“As educators, I feel that we have a moral obligation to learn about the trauma and racial inequities and disparities of other ethnic groups and cultures,” said Rhonda C. Stovall, Ed.S, Science Enrichment Lab teacher for grades 3-5 at Gateway MST Elementary in Saint Louis Public Schools.

“There has to be a delib-

past and present, re-envision public safety, and place millions of dollars directly in the hands of impacted communities through a participatory budgeting process.

But Commissioner Glass did say one thing that is worth noting. Toward the end of the hearing, he was asked whether replacing those held solely on federal charges in the City Justice Center (CJC) with those remaining in the Workhouse would reduce the CJC population from its current level, and

erate awareness of the social injustices that are prevalent in our world. This awareness, whether one believes it exists or not, will allow for collaboration as it pertains to working together not only as a district, but as a community to reduce the racial inequities and disparities that exist.”

John E. Thomas

“For teachers to have a greater impact on reducing racial inequity and disparities, we first need to increase teachers of color. The few staff that we have are simply not enough,” said John E. Thomas, assistant principal at Webster Groves High School.

“Beyond that we have to connect with our kids, they need to know that we care about them as individuals. There are far too many times when students feel us going through the motions. Our potential to help them and to potentially change the trajectory of their lives is immense. If we do not approach each day with that as our primary objective, then we let them down.”

he answered yes. That’s right: by choosing not to hold just a fraction of those currently charged with federal crimes in the city’s jail, we would reduce the population in the CJC and close the Workhouse at the same time.

We will not be fooled by scare tactics. The solution to the problem of future overcrowding is simple: jail fewer people. Transforming our bail practices and drastically reducing lengths of pretrial detention would be a great start.

Craig A. Waddell, Ph.D

A. Waddell

“If educators really want to reduce racial disparities, they need to increase student adeptness. Too often, when students perform poorly, we lower the bar rather than raise expectations,” said Craig A. Waddell, Ph.D, eighth grade algebra/ math teacher at Hazelwood North Middle School. “When our graduation rates drop, we relax the grading scale rather than improve learning. When discipline deteriorates, we reduce detentions rather than enhance civility. And when performance declines, we increase seat time rather than elevate engagement. We delude ourselves when we create diploma mills in lieu of high-caliber educational institutions. A high tide raises all ships.”

The 33rd Annual Salute to Excellence in Education Scholarship & Awards Virtual Gala Weekend will be celebrated online as free virtual events on Friday and Saturday, October 16 and 17 on stlamerican.com, the St. Louis American’s Facebook page and YouTube channel. For additional details on how to participate, please visit givebutter. com/SaluteEdu

We must act now so that justice is neither delayed nor denied. Demand that the mayor stand by the ordinance she signed into law. Demand that your aldermen stand by their votes to close the Workhouse this year. Demand that the will of the people be respected and implemented. We have three months. The path is clear. It’s time to close the Workhouse.

Craig

John E. Thomas Sheryl

Romona Miller

Rhonda C. Stovall

Karen I. Hall

Shantana GoodwinPayne

LaShanda R. Boone

Pipes trades diversity initiative graduates cohort

All 14 graduates guaranteed full year of employment with CHAMPIONS contractor

American staff

Fourteen trainees recently graduated from CHAMPIONS, a new pipe trades diversity initiative sponsored by the Mechanical Contractors Association of Eastern Missouri (MCA-EMO), Plumbers and Pipefitters Local Union 562, and the Plumbing Industry Council (PIC).

n “We are excited that each person has two mentors – a seasoned journeyman as well as Fred Searcy, director of minority recruitment for Local 562.”

CHAMPIONS, an acronym for Creating Hometown Advantages through Minority Participation in Our Neighborhood, is designed to expand membership diversity in the City of St. Louis while also strengthening the workforce of Local 562, which has 4,200 members in 67 counties in eastern Missouri.

– Steve Faust, icon Mechanical

By completing the requirements, all graduates were guaranteed a full year of employment with a CHAMPIONS contractor. For the coming year, the participants will continue their training as pre-apprentices in the field,

while still fulfilling program requirements related to mentorship and performance evaluation.

Program participants celebrated the completion an initial six weeks of intensive classroom training and technical introduction to the trades at Local 562’s new training facility in Earth City. As part of the program, students committed to a multi-faceted course curriculum and engaged in weekly mentorship and evaluation sessions.

“The CHAMPIONS pilot program was carefully designed and implemented in the best interest of the participants and our hiring contractors’ long-term success,” said Kristy Stephens, MCA-MO executive director. “The ongoing collaboration with our labor partners, and everyone involved, is unprecedented.”

See PIPE TRADES, A10

‘Empowering young Black Americans’

U. City High junior Michael Bostic starts non-profit I Am Not a Statistic, wins entrepreneurship challenge

By Lillian Emenogu

For The St. Louis American

When Michael Bostic was a

he had trouble

in

that

and

It wasn’t until the

and

in

Later, when Michael entered the 9th grade his father’s health fell into serious decline and his grades suffered a bit that year. It was at this moment that he knew eventually one day he would start a business. Michael then joined the Network for Teaching Entrepreneurship (NFTE) in the 10th grade, and in the fall of last year his plans finally came to fruition and he was able to start I Am Not a Statistic (IAS), a nonprofit that aims to increase literacy and racial efficacy among youth in St. Louis, targeting kids as young as grades 3-5. Michael got involved with NFTE through a See BOSTIC, A10

Michael Bostic, founder of I Am Not a Statistic, received his award from the Network for Teaching Entrepreneurship with his brother Maleek Bostic and his mother Tita Bostic.

Action for Racial Equity commitments planned over next three years

American staff

Citi and the Citi Foundation said they are committing more than $1 billion to help close the racial wealth gap and increase economic mobility in the United

industry, according to a Citi release. Citi pledged the following commitments over the next three years:

• $550 million to support homeownership for people of color and affordable housing by minority developers

• $350 million in procurement opportunities for Black-owned business suppliers

• $50 million in additional impact investing capital for

By June McAllister Fowler and Rose Windmiller For The St. Louis American

June McAllister Fowler

Rose Windmiller

Row 1: Desiree Baldwin, Carly Carmosino (MCA-EMO), Megan Seabaugh-Evergreen, Carmell Bradley, Marcus Coty. Row 2: Byron Cook, Jeremy Ruff, Mark Gainey, Joshua Temple, Andre Hickman, Malik Johnson. Row 3: Willie Pride, Brandon Townson, Fred Searcy (LU562). Not Shown: Nicholis Eason and Raymond Straughter.

Kristen Clarke

contact at the St. Louis Science Center, Lauren Patrick, who is also a director at NFTE. The Science Center has a close partnership with the organization. Since then the business has grown tremendously, enough to win the regional Youth Entrepreneurship Challenge hosted virtually by NFTE earlier this year.

From his own experience, Michael could see that students who are struggling in school might not be comfortable going to their teachers or authority figures for help. There are dilemmas children and teens are facing, not only academically, but in areas outside of the classroom as well. Michael understands that sometimes reaching out to an older peer with whom they can relate or who can provide support and guidance on where to find the resources they need can be beneficial, and that is

n “Michael’s nonprofit model is really about empowering young Black Americans to read, hear, and learn from Black voices, and it’s a transformative way for our communities to take ownership of their future.”

a part of the goal his nonprofit aims to achieve. Michael also realized that in the 6th grade, after his parents placed him in a reading program and he began to excel, he also got the sense that he lost a bit of his connection to Black culture. As a result, he strives to create a space where Black children can celebrate their Blackness while also combating the negative stereotypes being set against them.

“For businesses that really want to stand out in the regional Youth Entrepreneurship Competition, innovation and foresight to want to build a better future is key,” said NFTE Regional Director Chyna Bowen.

– Chyna Bowen, NFTE

“Michael’s venture is the perfect example of why NFTE does what it does. Michael’s nonprofit model is really about empowering young Black Americans to read, hear, and learn from Black voices, and it’s a transformative way for our communities to take ownership of their future.” Bowen said that NFTE works with school districts and

Transit

Continued from A9

have a job, and the ability to get to that job, life will continue to be difficult.

A safe, integrated and affordable public transportation system is critical to providing that access for people who depend on it as not only their best means of transportation, but sometimes their only means of transportation. And, without this type of access there are some unintended consequences to not only the econ-

omy, but to the quality of life in impacted communities. Transit access and expansion is an ongoing infrastructure project. It deserves the community’s attention, support, vigilance and ongoing dedication to making it more equitable for everyone. We need to continue to examine the system and its services. Is it on time? Is it meeting community needs? Is it safe? Is it going to job centers that people need to get to? How can Metro Transit partner with Citizens for Modern Transit and other organizations to make improvements? How

educators to bring the entrepreneurial mindset to their students without dictating what problems need to be solved. Instead, NFTE is committed to partnering with them to provide knowledge alongside innovative, solution-oriented mechanisms to help them and their students solve whatever specific challenges they’re facing.

“Michael’s vision to use it to celebrate, develop, and

Michael Bostic, a junior at University City High School, won the regional Youth Entrepreneurship Challenge hosted virtually by the Network for Teaching Entrepreneurship earlier this year for his non-profit I Am Not a Statistic.

to students or Zooming in with them to have a good time.

“Let’s make sure no one is slipping through the cracks,” Michael said. “We’re the next generation and the generation now, so let’s make sure we’re all on the path to grow.”

Beyond high school, Michael plans to double major in Public Health on the premed track and Secondary Education. Although unsure of where he wants to go for college, he is adamant about exploring HBCUs and hopes to one day become an emergency medicine physician, inspired to help others overcome the hardships his father faced when he entered high school.

ships the organization has in the works, but Michael is still hopeful, especially about one in particular with University City Senior High School that will allow I Am Not a Statistic to work with its 3rd-5th grade students.

In the short term, Michael has put his plans to compete in the national competition hosted by NFTE in NYC on hold to put all of his focus on the business. He does hope to return next year and get the full experience of competing for the prize in New York. In the meantime, the company is rebranding its logo.

strengthen black voices is a powerful testimony to that mission,” Bowen said. Michael said that since starting I Am Not a Statistic, the nonprofit hasn’t really been afraid of anything, but with the impact of COVID-19 this moment has felt different. In spite of this, he sees the importance of paying it forward now more than ever, even if this means dropping off supplies

n As we address disparity issues and determine how to move forward as a community, and as a region, public transit must continue to be part of the conversation.

do we get the community to understand that the region needs a viable public transit system – whether they choose to use it or not? Everyone needs to be an advocate for transit. As part of that process, we need to respectfully listen to the naysayers and not discount their arguments. We need to meet people where they are and learn, grow and evolve based on the concerns they voice. We need to find a way for the community to embrace transit like it once did when ridership was increasing month-to-month and year-to-year. We need to get more people on the train

Citi

Continued from A9

grants to support community change agents addressing racial equity.

Certain Action for Racial Equity commitments, including portions of Citi’s investments in minority developers and in Minority Depository Institutions, will require approval from the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency. In addition to Citi’s business commitments, the Citi Foundation is making a new $5 million grant to Living Cities

Pipe Trades

Continued from A9

Contractors who signedon to the CHAMPIONS Initiative to hire the pre-apprentices include Corrigan Company; Haberberger, Inc.; icon Mechanical; Integrated Facility Services; Murphy Company and Charles E. Jarrell Contracting Company. Steve Faust, business development and diversity coordinator for icon Mechanical,

In addition to this, Michael sees his literacy program in the long term opening a private school that caters to predominantly Black youth in grades 4-12. The school’s focus will be STEAM—Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Mathematics—as well as literacy. The mission will be to raise literacy scores, expose more Black students to the option of attending HBCUs, and help them craft “beautiful resumes” while introducing them to a wide array of career paths.

Until then, Michael and his team are focusing on business growth and adapting to the challenges brought on by COVID. Unfortunately, the virus has stalled a few partner-

For students looking to get involved with NFTE, Michael suggested visiting its website or asking your guidance counselor. Bowen said that aside from donations, NFTE can always use volunteers with a story to tell that can encourage students, especially more experienced entrepreneurs that can give them the inside scoop.

To get involved with Michael’s initiative, IAS is looking for school mentors, books and monetary donations. For more information, email Michael (bosticmic@ucityschools.org) or Vice President Gabrielle Stalling (gstalling@ csmb-stl.org). You can also follow them on their Instagram page (@i.as_._).

Lillian Emenogu is an editorial intern with The St. Louis American.

and buses and, as a region, support future options related to additional light rail lines, bus routes or other innovative forms of public transit, including a collaboration of rideshare programs. It is also important that we secure a dedicated and sustainable funding allocation from the State of Missouri. In fact, Missouri would do well to take a lesson from its nextdoor neighbors in Illinois with respect to funding transportation. We must have local and regional elected officials who support public transit not only with funding but with really good public policy. As we address disparity issues and determine how to move forward as a community, and as a region, public transit must continue to be part of the conversation. We must create those connections with transit, while decreasing distances geographically, economically and socially. Now is not the time to abandon our trains and buses. June McAllister Fowler is past chair of Citizens for Modern Transit. Rose Windmiller is chair of Bi-State Development’s Board of Commissioners.

to provide U.S. mayors with access to technical expertise, training, and seed capital for pilot initiatives that address racial wealth and income gaps. The Citi Foundation also is expanding employability and entrepreneurship efforts serving Black youth as part of a new three-year $100 million investment in its successful Pathways to Progress initiative.

“Citi is going beyond talking about discrimination by implementing concrete strategies to address longstanding inequities in communities of color,” said Kristen Clarke, president & Executive Director of the Lawyers’ Committee

worked with Local 562, MCAEMO and PIC to help develop the new program.

“As we looked ahead at our industry’s work in the City of St. Louis over the next few years, we realized that we needed a continuing and larger diverse workforce,” said Faust.

“We examined other apprenticeship training programs out there and tried to adopt best practices that would ensure that enough craftspersons would be trained and available. In addition to the soft-skills and hard-skills training, we are

for Civil Rights Under Law. “Citi is charting a course that we hope will be replicated throughout the sector.” According to the recently published Citi GPS report “Closing the Racial Inequality Gaps,” if the U.S. had closed key racial gaps for Black Americans in wages, housing, education and investment 20 years ago, $16 trillion could have been added to the U.S. economy. If these gaps are closed today, $5 trillion could be added to U.S. GDP over the next five years. For more information on Action for Racial Equity, visit citigroup.com/racialequity

excited that each person has two mentors – a seasoned journeyman as well as Fred Searcy, director of minority recruitment for Local 562.” The participants went through a rigorous competitive interview and application process.

“The initial cohort demonstrated an outstanding commitment to program terms and to Local 562 and formally agreed to be fully engaged in all facets of the program,” said Carly Carmosino, program manager for MCAEMO, who helped to design and deliver the CHAMPIONS professional development classes as enrichment to the technical training.

“We collaborated with several area not-for-profits, Mission STL and Prosperity Connection, as well as the St. Louis Community College Workforce Solutions Group and Dale Carnegie to provide essential tools and advice to our mentors and program participants. We focused on developing the whole person, so that throughout the program, participants strengthened both their technical and soft-skills aptitude.”

For more information on MCA-EMO, visit www.mcaemo.com. For more information on Local 562, visit www.local562.org. For more information on the Plumbing Industry Council, visit www. picstl.org

St. Louis police bargaining agreement critiqued

American staff

St. Louis police have been working for three months under a collective bargaining agreement between the City of St. Louis and the St. Louis Police Officers Association that expired on June 30 as renegotiation continues.

The Coalition Against Police Crimes and Repression (CAPCR) has published a seven-page analysis of the existing collective bargaining agreement (CBA) that finds flaws in the agreement and analyzes the contract within the larger matrix of disciplinary systems governing the police and other city employees.

The coalition also makes recommendations that it believes would further racial fairness and accountability within the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department (SLMPD). Major recommendations include:

“An end to seniority considerations, which have historically resulted in racial bias in promotions and transfers. This change would put SLMPD in line with the St. Louis City Charter’s civil service requirements.

“Equal access to information and benefits for the Ethical Society of Police (ESOP), so that the members of that organization, almost exclusively African American, are not disadvantaged in relation to mem-

More benefits and savings for Medicare Advantage customers

Recent changes in Medicare have resulted in additional benefits and savings for Medicare beneficiaries. Many of those benefits and savings are tied specifically to the Medicare Advantage program. Medicare Advantage, or Medicare Part C, allows Medicare beneficiaries to receive Medicare-covered benefits through private health plans instead of through Original Medicare. Advantage plans often include benefits beyond Original Medicare, such as prescription drug coverage. More than 22 million Americans now receive their Medicare benefits through a Medicare Advantage plan.

Changes to Medicare have led to extra benefits being added to certain Medicare Advantage plans in the St. Louis area that could reduce out-ofpocket costs. Some of the most valuable benefits include allowances for overthe-counter items, comprehensive dental coverage, personal home helpers, in-home safety devices, alternative medicine, meal planning or delivery and transportation assistance.

Another significant change allows Medicare Advantage plans to offer additional benefits or savings to people

with certain chronic conditions, like diabetes. Members can get diabetic testing supplies at no cost and $0 copays for some insulins.

To take advantage of these new benefits, set aside time today to do research. If you aren’t currently on a Medicare Advantage plan, now is the time to consider switching. If you are currently enrolled in a Medicare Advantage plan, research what’s available to see if there are better options in your area.

Essence Healthcare, a local Medicare Advantage plan, has created a free guide to help St. Louisans better understand how these changes impact them. Get your free copy by calling 1-855-936-0341* or by visiting www.EssenceMA.com.

*8 a.m. to 8 p.m., seven days a week. You may reach a messaging service on weekends from April 1 through September 30 and holidays. Please leave a message, and your call will be returned the next business day. Essence Healthcare is an HMO plan with a Medicare contract. Enrollment in Essence Healthcare depends on contract renewal. Essence Healthcare complies with applicable Federal civil rights laws and does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, national origin, age, disability or sex. Y0027_21-221_C

by

bers of the St. Louis Police Officers Association (SLPOA). Along with more specific changes, CAPCR recommends that ESOP become a joint bargaining unit, so that it has fully equal powers.

“The expansion of investigative authority, when related to violations of police policy, to include the director of Personnel. The director of Personnel would do joint investigations with the Internal Affairs Division of the SLMPD. This change would result in more balanced investigations since police would no longer simply be policing themselves.

“A more open process that

allows for public input concerning CBA negotiations. The recommendations of CAPCR and all other community voices deserve to be heard. This input could take the form of written commentary and public hearings by the Board of Aldermen, and report-backs regarding the negotiations and outcomes.”

These recommendations come amidst a growing national concern that police CBAs make it too difficult to hold police accountable. At the same time, the national push for racial justice has cast light on systemic racism in policing, both inside and outside departments. Just last month, the Ethical Society of Police issued a report cover-

ing many of the same issues raised in today’s release. “It’s high time,” says John Chasnoff, a CAPCR co-chair, “that we start to dismantle the systems of policing that keep us from achieving racial equity and police accountability. These recommendations would move us closer to those goals.” A spokesman for St. Louis Mayor Lyda Krewson, who has authority over SLMPD, has not returned a request for comment. Jay Schroeder, president of SLPOA, said he would be happy to comment after the bargaining has been completed. The complete CAPCR recommendations, visit https:// tinyurl.com/CAPCR-CBA.

Photo

Wiley Price

St. Louis Police Chief John Hayden

Heather Taylor has retired from the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department, where her terminal rank was sergeant, and is moving to Florida with her husband, Brian Taylor, where he has a job opportunity. She will take the LSAT in January with hopes to study law. But she is not quite retired from the Ethical Society of Police (ESOP), which she will serve as president until the group, which advocates for racial equity in law enforcement, holds elections. The St. Louis American spoke to her about law enforcement and opportunities for police reform.

The St. Louis American: We hear a lot of what Circuit Attorney Kimberly Gardner goes through. As a Black woman who stands up to the problems in law enforcement, are you comfortable talking about the sort of personal attacks that you’ve had to withstand?

Heather Taylor: If someone is voicing their displeasure with something that I’ve said, I understand that. We can all disagree. But when someone lies or someone accuses ESOP of doing something that we didn’t do, those are the problems there. You can have your views. Not every member of Ethical agrees with me 100% of the time. We have officers that are members that I quite frankly I can’t stand the sight of, but they have a right to be a member of Ethical.

The personal part of it, if you threaten me, you better be prepared for my wrath. There’s nothing that I’m going to accept if you’re threatening my life. I’m going to prosecute you. I’m going to fight with everything I have to defend my life from someone who’s threatening me. That goes towards why we have cameras everywhere, cameras in my car. Sometimes people believe because you’re a Democrat or because you’re a woman that you aren’t proficient at defending yourself.

Some of these right-wing nut jobs have this level of anger because you call something in law enforcement what it is. They have a level of anger with you. Some of them are really just nuts, and some of them are officers as well. I’m okay with criticism, I can take that. I’m not okay with lies or threats of violence towards me or harassment.

The St. Louis American: Let’s imagine that Public Safety Director Jimmie Edwards calls you and says, “Heather, I see you’re leaving St. Louis and the police department. I need your guidance. I’m listening. What do we need to do to make this police department better for Black officers and police leaders and better for the community?” What do you say?

Heather Taylor: Judge Edwards needs to listen, that’s the first thing. He needs to lis-

ten and stop punishing personal disagreements and do his job as the person that oversees public safety matters. Stop with the politics, with Jeff Roorda and some others. Stop with all of the politics and start thinking about people and understand police policy.

A lot of times Judge Edwards talks out of turn, and he doesn’t know. I’ve been at meetings where he’s literally said where there were no white homicide victims. It was just very ridiculous. Now if he said that the overwhelming majority of homicide victims are African-American, he’s absolutely right. But he didn’t say that. Instead he told a church full of people, African Americans, that there were no white homicide victims. Judge Edwards needs to know police policy before he starts talking. The arrogance with him is so overwhelming. A lot of times that he doesn’t listen.

I remember when he first got the job, we were just ecstatic that he was going to be here, that there was a potential of someone to be fair, to listen. How wrong we were. We supported him in the beginning. We even met with him and tried to explain some things that were going on that we felt were corruption, and he didn’t listen. The meeting was full of... it was just his aura. He wasn’t listening. We’re not here to agree with him and to bow down to him. But he a lot of times just doesn’t listen. Several things that he can do as the director of Public Safety. Anybody that wears a uniform, their name should be sewn into their jackets, should be sewn into their shirts. These things are important because people should be able to identify officers that they’re talking to, readily, immediately identify who they are. That collective bargaining agreement should be dismantled. He should do that, even though he’s friends with Jeff Roorda.

There should be clear, established policies in place for body-worn cameras for all officers, even undercover officers not in units like special ops. They’re undercover but they’re really not undercover. Everybody knows their cars in our communities. I know that because I worked undercover. After a while, your cars are all burned out, everybody knows who you are. If you’re talking about deep undercover assignments, yeah, of course they shouldn’t wear a body-worn camera because they could be exposed and it puts their lives are in jeopardy. However, units that are essentially jump-out boys, as we call them in the street, they should all have body-worn cameras. Officer’s discipline should be public. If he really wants to do something, him and the director of Personnel, make

it public. There should be a Diversity Council. There isn’t. We have nothing like that. And human resources is laughable when it comes to having diversity. There should be rotating district officers and detectives in specialized units so their officers all over gain experience as investigators within our police department. Yearly cultural competency training. There’s just a number of things that they can do.

The St. Louis American: So, the St. Louis police department currently has no diversity body at all?

Heather Taylor: No diversity and inclusion unit, nothing like that. No. There is no working employee resource group, things like that. There should be a Diversity Council. You know we, Milton Green, Luther Hall, there are other lawsuits

that have been settled with the city as well that involved African Americans that are pertinent. But we’ve done nothing. After all these major incidents, we’ve done nothing to ensure that we limit or prevent these things from happening again.

The St. Louis American: So you have more credibility with the protest community than any police officer that I know. I think they would listen to you if you gave them some advice. What if they said, “Sit down with us before you go to Florida and tell us what are we’re doing wrong. What could we do to be more effective to change police practices and behavior?”

Heather Taylor: I just talked to Darryl Gray yesterday, and we talked about just a whole bunch of policy and procedure things. I think the num-

ber one thing is that, of course, keep protesting. Keep ensuring that they’re nonviolent, number one. Having protests are necessary, absolutely. Ensure that they are always nonviolent, that you weed out those among you who are there to harm others, which in turn can harm you. Focus on policy and procedures. Focus, focus, focus. I appreciate the people like John Chasnoff, Phillip Weeks, and Darryl Gray who are involved in the policy and procedure

part of it. Because you’re not going to change police culture with just protesting alone. You have to change policy and procedures and the law. Getting involved like they have with the collective bargaining agreement. Getting involved with requesting Sunshine Law reports on officers; Phillip Weeks does that. Getting involved in creating a database like Phillip Weeks has created. These grassroots accountability efforts, they’re so critical to keep doing that, and do more of that. That’s really going to be most important when it comes to changing internal thought processes. I think police departments know that there are going to be protests now. But when you get them, and you really effect change, it’s when they see that you’re involved in the collective bargaining agreement. They’re not expecting that. We’re not expecting activists to come together in the protest community and talk about police policies and procedures, to actually have these manuals, these orders and these temporary directives at their disposal, to challenge the police department in its own actions. Absolutely, to do more of that, as well. As much as we protest, let’s do these meetings. And not just to meet, but meetings about breaking down the collective bargaining agreements. Talking to officers like Ethical who are willing to talk to you. To go over these policies and procedures that need to be abolished that do more harm to the community, and legislation and things like that, that do more harm to the community.

Photo by Wiley Price

Heather Taylor, president of the Ethical Society of Police, spoke at her Final Roll Call as she retired from the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department on September 25.

“Taking Care of You”

COVID tests and flu shots

Register for free drive-through flu shots at the St. Louis County Health Dept.

By Sandra Jordan

Louis American

Of The St.

Free, drive-through flu vaccines are now available for St. Louis County residents by registering online at https://tinyurl.com/ StlCountyFluShots for an appointment at two St. Louis County Department of Public Health locations. The north location is John C. Murphy Health Center, located at 6121 N. Hanley Rd, Berkeley, Mo. 63134. The south county loca-

tion is South County Health Center, located at 4580 S. Lindbergh Blvd., Sunset Hills, Mo. 63127.

Receiving the flu shot while staying inside a vehicle is a socially distanced way to avoid illness during the ongoing pandemic.

“We are taking all those precautions and you can get in and out of a flu shot in a few minutes,” said St. Louis County Executive Dr. Sam Page. “And a few minutes of con-

tact with a health care provider when you both have a mask on is an extraordinarily low risk event with a high reward of preventing flu for an individual, but also keeping flu from spreading into our community.”

Every year, usually between October and May influenza spreads around the United States. Anyone can get the flu, but it is more dangerous for infants and young children,

By Rance Thomas For The St. Louis American

n Everyone is vulnerable and are subject to becoming infected if we do not follow the advice given by top health officials in the country.

It is very unfortunate that President Donald Trump and First Lady Melania Trump have contracted the coronavirus. It caused panic among White House aides, politicians, and others who have had close contact with President Trump and his aide Hope Hicks recently who also contracted the virus. They are wondering if they have also contracted it from the president or his aide. Of course, we all tend to hope that President Trump and lady Trump have a successful recovery. A number of close aides, senators, etc., were also infected. This situation tends to verify what health officials have been telling us for months. That is, everyone is subject to infection by this virus. It does not distinguish between race, color, ethnic status, social status, financial status, or any other characteristic. It tells us that everyone is vulnerable and are subject to becoming infected if we do not follow the advice given by top health officials in the country. Their recommendations for approximately six months have been to wear masks, maintain social distance (six feet), and wash our hands frequently. This advice is as important today as is has been in the past. In fact, the rate of increase in virus cases has increased in about 27 states in the last month or so. Missouri is one of those states. Over seven million Americans have become infected and over 209,000 have died from this disease, and the figures are continuing to rise at a higher rate than some had expected.

Dr. Robert Redfield, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, stated a few days ago that if everyone wore masks, we could prevent 90% of the virus infections in the United States. His suggestion has also been verified by other senior

COVID restrictions eased in St. Louis County

Businesses up to 50% capacity, high school in-person learning and contact sports allowed

By Sandra Jordan Of The St. Louis American

High-contact high school sports got the go-ahead in St. Louis County for schools and school districts who submit an approved plan. That was one of three major announcements made Monday, October 5 by St. Louis County Executive Dr. Sam Page, who told reporters hat data showing improvements in the County COVID positivity rates are prompting the change.

“Any school district that wants to return high-contact high school sports must submit a safety plan to the Department of Public Health,” Page said. “These plans must include the same screening, quarantine and isolation guidelines of other youth sports activities. They must also specify how spectators will be managed. And they must have a pledge that schools will cooperate with contact tracing efforts.” Failure to comply will get their plan

n “Your sacrifices have made this moment possible. Thank you to everyone in St. Louis County for wearing masks, for social distancing, and for adjusting your lives.” – St. Louis County Executive Dr. Sam Page See FLU SHOTS, A15

revoked. Submit plans to the health dept. at business-COVID@stlouisco.com Page is also recommending that schools and school districts offer the option to return to in-person learning at school for See RESTRICTIONS, A15

“Any school district that wants to return high-contact high school sports must submit a safety plan to the Department of Public Health,” Dr. Sam Page said.

Yvonne Hellems getting a flu shot from Peoples Clinic’s Rosalind Fulton on Tuesday, October 6.

Photo by Wiley Price

Rance Thomas

Photo by Wiley Price

“Taking

Care of You”

Restrictions

Continued from A14

high school students.

“We recognize the challenges that virtual learning poses and we encourage school districts to explore a return to an in-person option as they see fit for their students, for their teachers, for their staff and for their parents,” Page said. It is a recommendation, not a mandate. “We have also committed $3 million from the federal CARES Act funding to support

the purchase of PPE for our schools.”

For businesses, bars and restaurants that have been operating at reduced capacity during the pandemic, Page is opening up to half-capacity, beginning 5 p.m., Wednesday, Oct. 7.

“In recognition of the hard work of our business community, we are lifting the maximum occupancy of 25% to 50% in all of our businesses, based on the fire code,” Page said. “We are also going to allow a controlled use of drink and self-service food stations in

COVID-19, flu and youth

CDC reports on mortality among children and young adults

restaurants and convenience stores, with limits and precautions.” Find out more at stlcorona. com.

“Your sacrifices have made this moment possible. Thank you to everyone in St. Louis County for wearing masks, for social distancing, and for adjusting your lives to keep our community safe,” Page said. “We must all continue to exercise caution and remain committed to the precautions that have gotten us to where we are today.”

By William F. Tate IV and Kally Xu For The St. Louis American

Now more than ever, the role of a parent or caregiver entails supporting children and young persons in battling both the flu and SARS-CoV-2 infection. As flu season approaches and the pandemic continues, we offer insight into a parent’s worst nightmare: mortality rates of flu and COVID-19. Understanding the potential scale of the challenge in fighting deadly respiratory infections remains paramount in managing our day to day lives in a pandemic. It is important to consider the potential impact of experiencing the flu and SARS-CoV-2 simultaneously.

On rare occasions, children die from the flu. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), between 2004-2018, pediatric flu-related deaths of children each year have ranged from 37 to 188 deaths.

One exception during this period is noteworthy. In the period from April 2009 to September 2010, we experienced 358 pediatric flu-related deaths as the H1N1 pandemic raged. The CDC reported that nearly 80% of these pediatric deaths occurred among children without full vaccination.

The CDC noted that not all pediatric flu-related deaths are reported, however. To address this limitation, they developed statistical models to estimate actual number of deaths. For example, during the 2017-2018 time interval, 188 flu-related deaths were reported to the

CDC. However, their model estimated that nearly 600 flu-related deaths occurred during this period. We have more information about the flu virus than SARSCoV-2, as it has been more prevalent over the years. A recent CDC report discusses the impact of COVID-19 on people 21 years and younger, who make up about 26% of the population in the United States. The report tracks SARSCoV-2 cases from 50 states, New York City, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, Guam, and the U.S. Virgin Islands. During the period between February 12 and July 31, there have been 391,814 cases of COVID-19 in those 21 years and younger, with the first case reported in March, as well as the first death.

Of the 121 deaths discussed in the study, 25%, or 30, reported no underlying health problems, 75%, or 91 people, had at least one underlying condition, while 45%, or 54 people, had at least two. The most common underlying conditions included asthma, obesity, neurologic and developmental conditions, and cardiovascular issues.

n The majority of the 121 COVID-related deaths documented among people 21 years old or less were Hispanic persons (45%), followed by 29% non-Hispanic Black persons.

During this time period, 121 COVID-related deaths were documented among people 21 years old or less, the majority, at 45%, were Hispanic persons, followed by 29% non-Hispanic Black persons and 4% American Indian or American Alaskan persons. Seventy percent of the 121 deaths occurred in people aged 10 to 20 years old, while people aged 1 to 9 years old accounted for 20% of the total. Additionally, males represented 63% of the death count.

The findings suggest that Hispanic and non-Hispanic Black groups are disproportionately impacted by the virus among younger populations. While providing a useful snapshot, the study is limited, as casebased surveillance data underestimates cases of COVID-19 as compared with aggregate case reports from states. In particular, data on cases by race/ethnicity are not comparable, and case fatality rates by race/ethnicity cannot be calculated. This limitation demonstrates the need for additional research related to the impact of COVID-19 on racial and ethnic groups. As the flu season beckons, it is imperative for schools, colleges, community partners, and health care providers to collaborate in order to reduce the negative impact of the social determinants of health, such as limited access to health care services due to a lack of insurance, child care, transportation,

Crime

Continued from A14

health officials as well. This has been confirmed by the low infection rate in those

countries where most individuals wear masks wherever they go. I hope those who do not take the virus seriously, believe that they are immune to it, or feel that they have a right to do what they want

to do will realize that it is in the best interest of their families, their communities, and themselves to follow the recommendations of health officials.

Some tend to believe that wearing masks main-

SARS-CoV-2–associated cases, by week of case report to CDC, and deaths, by week of death, among persons aged less than 21 years in the United States, February 12–July 31, 2020.

or paid sick leave. In addition, young persons experiencing crowded living conditions, food and housing insecurity, poverty, education inequities, and racial discrimination have increased risk of COVID-19 disparities. Avoiding and surviving respiratory disease among our youth and young adults requires individual and collective investment.

Flu Shots

Continued from A14

people age 65 years and older, pregnant women, and people with certain health conditions or a weakened immune system. They are at greatest risk of flu complications.

Common symptoms of influenza are similar to some symptoms of COVID-19 – fever, coughing, congestion, difficulty breathing. Flu shots do not prevent COVID-19. Getting a flu shot decreases your chances of getting the flu or becoming hospitalized with flu complications.

“It’s actually important to protect yourself from the flu and to make sure you don’t get the flu and give it to someone else, because having two respiratory pandemics at the same time is not 1+1 – it’s much broader than

taining social distance, and hand washing do not protect them or that they do no need protection. Unfortunately, some will have to learn the hard way by contracting the virus. In the meantime, they are jeopardizing the health

Read this CDC report at https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/ volumes/69/wr/mm6937e4. htm?s_cid=mm6937e4_w.

William F. Tate IV is the executive vice president for academic affairs and provost at the University of South Carolina; Educational Foundation Distinguished Professor in the Departments of Sociology and Family & Preventive Medicine. Find him on Twitter @WFTate4. Kally Xu is a John B. Ervin Scholar and Gephardt Institute Civic Scholar at Washington University in St. Louis, where she is a candidate in the 3-2 Masters of Public Health in the George Warren Brown School of Social Work and the A.B. program in International and Area Studies and Asian American Studies.

that. It has a much broader multiplier effect in the way it overwhelms our community,” Page said. “But getting the flu shot will in no way make you more susceptible to COVID.”

Influenza kills thousands of people each year in the U.S. annually. During the 20182019 flu season, the latest numbers available from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, influenza was associated with more than 35.5 million illnesses, more than 16.5 million medical visits, 490,600 hospitalizations, and 34,200 deaths. Based on CDC recommendations, persons age 6 months and older should get the flu shot, unless they have a medical reason not to do so.

The County is accepting pediatric patients for flu shots.

“We’ll give as many people a flu shot as can get an appointment and get to one of our facilities,” Page said.

Another thing to remember, you must be generally well

and safety of themselves and others. Rance Thomas was a faculty member in Sociology/ Criminal Justice and served as lead faculty/coordinator of Sociology at Lewis and Clark Community College for

and without a fever or flu-like symptoms to get a flu shot.

A St. Louis County Department of Public Health spokesperson said there is “no contraindication to getting a flu shot with a mild cold, but it is generally not recommended if someone is fevering.” Additionally, residents in St. Louis County can register to get their flu shot and take a COVID-19 test at the two flu shot locations. However, the appointments need to be made separately, but timed close to one another.

“Independent appointments need to be made close to each-other and then upon arrival, inform staff you are doing both,” the spokesperson said. “These appointments are at John C. Murphy and South County locations only.” If you have more questions or need assistance, call 314615-0574. Register for a free flu shot at https://tinyurl.com/ StlCountyFluShots.

30 years. He became the first person in the college’s history to be granted the Professor

Award when he retired in 2002.

Emeritus

Yvonne Hellems getting a flu shot from Peoples Clinic’s Rosalind Fulton Tue. Oct. 6, 2002.

High-contact sports like football got the go-ahead to proceed in St. Louis County.

NEWSPAPER IN EDUCATION

PRESENT:

Healthy Kids

Healthcare Careers

Nutrition Challenge:

We recently celebrated the first day of fall — and with that comes fall fruits and vegetables! Some things in season now are pumpkin, apples, squash and pears.

Fall brings cooler temperatures. It’ll no longer be too hot to enjoy the outdoors!

So put on your shoes and jacket and go out and enjoy the weather. Choose activities that raise your heart rate and increase your breathing for at least 20 minutes.

One fun fall activity is to have a leafcatch race. Stand behind a specific line

Studies show that one of the easiest ways to stay healthy and extend your life expectancy is to not smoke. Smoking affects your lungs, your heart and many other parts of your body. And smoking is very addictive. So it’s way easier not to start, than to stop later!

Learning Standards: HPE 1, HPE 2, HPE 5, NH 1, NH 3

“In season” generally means that the food is extra flavorful and yummy this time of year, but also easier to find and less expensive!

As a family, plan a Fall Foods Feast. What foods would you include, and what are nutritious, healthy ways that you could prepare them? What are ways that these foods might be served that aren’t so healthy?

Learning Standards: HPE 2, HPE 5, NH 1, NH 3, NH 5

(using sticks or a sidewalk to mark your starting point). When you see a leaf fall from a tree see who can catch it before it hits the ground. The first one to catch 10 leaves wins!

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

Healthier

Cheese Stix

Ingredients:

6 Mozzarella String cheese sticks

½ Cp. Panko breadcrumbs

1 Large Egg (mixed with a fork)

Dipping Sauce — Low-fat ranch, marinara, etc. (optional)

Directions: Preheat oven to 425º and spray a cookie sheet with cooking spray. Toast the Panko breadcrumbs in a warm pan til browned, then cool and place in a small plate. Cut the cheese sticks into small 2-3 inch pieces. Dip in the egg mixture, roll in the breadcrumbs and place on the prepared cookie sheet. Bake until warm and cheese starts to soften (3-4 minutes).

Kimberly A. Hurst, RN, BSN

Where do you work? I am an RN Community Care Coordinator at St. Louis VA Medical Center – John Cochran Division.

Where did you go to school? I graduated from Lutheran High School North and I then earned an Associate of Science in Nursing from Jewish College of Nursing, St. Louis, and a Bachelor of Science in Nursing from Central Methodist University, St. Louis.

What does a community care coordinator do?

Each day at work I coordinate care for our veterans to receive services outside of the VA, either because we can’t provide the service or we can’t see them within a 30-day period. I talk to many veterans, doctors, and nurses daily.

Why did you choose this career? I chose this career because I like helping people, especially our veterans. I give honor to our veterans that have served our country to keep us safe. This is my way of saying, “thank you,” for your service.

What is your favorite part of the job you have? My favorite part is the accomplishment I feel when the veterans receive the services they need. It is very satisfying to hear them say thank you for our services, even though I don’t feel like it’s that big of a deal. I owe it to them.

Learning Standards: HPE6, NH3

“Questions or comments? Contact Cathy Sewell csewell@stlamerican.com or 618-910-9551

The St. Louis American’s award winning NIE program provides newspapers and resources to more than 8,000 teachers and students each week throughout the school year, at no charge.

Questions or comments? Contact Cathy Sewell csewell@stlamerican.com or 618-910-9551

FAMILY SPOTLIGHT SCIENCE STARS

Dad Myron and son Zachary

Fletcher

uuse The American’s e-edition to complete science lessons at home. They work together on an experiment found in last week’s STEM page, testing the connection between smell and taste.

Photo by LaSonta Fletcher

SCIENCE CORNER

What is a stroke? When the brain is flooded with blood and can’t get oxygen, it is a stroke. Strokes can cause sickness, brain damage, muscle weakness, and even death. During a stroke, a person will often experience numbness on one side of the body, a bad headache, dizziness, loss of balance, and difficult speaking. It is important to get help immediately. Sometimes, strokes can be treated with medicine or surgery.

Strokes

There are two main types of strokes: ischemic and hemorrhagic. Ischemic is caused from a blocked blood vessel. This blockage may be from a clot or a clogged artery. Hemorrhagic is caused when a weak or thin blood vessel bursts and blood spills out. High blood pressure weakens

SCIENCE INVESTIGATION

Your senses are much more effective when they are used together. In this experiment, you will see how your senses help each other.

Materials Needed:

• Cardboard Box • Scissors • Sock

• 5-10 Small Items to Place in the Box • Volunteers

Procedure:

q Cut a hole in the box that is big enough to fit your hand through for this experiment.

w Place your items in the box.

MATH CONNECTION

Flex those brain muscles as you answer these word problems!

z A fifth grade class sold 250 tickets to a play. They sold 160 adult tickets at $7.50 each, and 90 children’s tickets at $5.00 each. They donated ½ of the money to charity. How much money did they donate? ______

DID YOU KNOW?

blood vessels and is usually the cause of hemorrhagic strokes. Doctors can diagnose strokes by using MRI imaging and CT scans. In order to prevent strokes, it is important not to smoke. This weakens your blood vessels and your immune system. Eat healthy. Limit fat intake and eat a lot of whole grains to keep your blood vessels clear from plaque. Be active. Regular, physical activity keeps your blood vessels healthy and strong. Check your blood pressure and keep an eye on risk factors such as high cholesterol, diabetes and high blood pressure.

Learning Standards: I can read nonfiction text for main idea and supporting details.

e Ask a volunteer to place a sock on their hand. They will place their hand in the hole and see how many items they can identify in the box.

r Next, the volunteer will repeat step 3 without the sock. Are they more successful identifying objects without their sense of touch affected?

t Finally, take the lid off the box and allow the volunteer to see all of the items.

Analyze: How do the sense of sight and touch work together?

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

x Jim, Carla and Tommy are members of the same family. Carla is 5 years older than Jim. Tommy is 6 years older than Carla. The sum of their three ages is 31 years. How old is each one them? ______

c How many minutes are in one week? ______ How many minutes are in one month? ______

v A painter charges $250 for materials and $35 per hour for labor. The total cost of painting an office is $372.50. How many hours did it take the painter to paint the office? ______

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

African-American Writer and Health Consultant Andrea King Collier

Andrea King Collier is a writer, health editor, columnist, and national health consultant from Lansing, Michigan. She focuses on health issues in the AfricanAmerican community. She earned degrees in journalism and political science from Indiana University and is a member of the American Medical Writers Association and Medical Journalism for the National Cancer Institute. She started writing for national magazines, but expanded to include social media, websites, blogs, and photography. She has worked with Kellogg Fellows Leadership Alliance, the International Association of Culinary Professionals, Health Power, Inc., and the National Association of Black Journalists.

Collier has written two books. “Still With Me: A Daughter’s Journey of Love and Loss,” was written about the last year of her mother’s life. Collier was raised by a strict single mother who remarried when she was twelve years old. Upon learning her mother had cancer, Collier invited her mother to live with her and her family. The last year of her mother’s life was spent finding peace with their relationship, as well as finding peace with cancer. The ladies rekindled their love of collecting vintage Barbies. In this book, Collier writes about her personal relationship with her mother and about health issues and how they affect the entire family.

“The Black Woman’s Guide to Black Men’s Health” was coauthored with Dr. Willarda Edwards, whom Collier met at an NAACP conference. Collier believes that African-American men are more likely to eat right, be active, and seek medical attention if they have an informed woman in their life. This book is divided into chapters that focus on the following health issues: lung, prostate and colon cancer, obesity, heart disease, diabetes, stroke, Alzheimer’s disease, mental health, substance abuse, HIV/AIDS and violence against young black men. Each chapter contains facts, treatment and prevention information, personal stories from celebrities and non-celebrities, and questions and answers with the doctor. The book also focuses on how to select an insurance plan and find a health care provider, as well as how these topics affect the African-American community.

Many of Collier’s articles focus on health, wellness, and prevention. She believes strongly in supporting agriculture and making fresh foods available in urban communities. Colllier believes in strong family and community support. She says, “My parents raised me to believe I could accomplish anything. I’ve never shied away from trying new technology, applying for fellowships or attending professional conferences that allow me to build upon my success.”

To read a collection of Andrea King Collier’s articles, visit: http://civileats.com/author/acollier/. Learning Standards: person who has made a contribution to the fields of science, technology, engineering, or math.

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

Activities —

Help Wanted: Read the ads and find a job that lists a the hourly wage, daily wage, weekly wage, monthly wage, annual wage and wages over a three year period.

Editorials: Find examples of editorials online that were written to inform the reader, interpret the news for the reader, entertain the reader, and persuade the reader. As you read the editorial, underline the facts and circle the opinions.

Learning Standards:

I can use the newspaper to locate information. I can identify author’s purpose. I can add, subtract, multiply, and divide to solve a problem.

It

Artica makes its ‘Eternal Return’ October 10 and 11

‘Annual celebration of creativity, innovation, and exploration’ on North Riverfront

By Chris King Of The St. Louis American

Artica is an outdoor event that is far-out by just about any standards, with no confines other than the limits of your imagination, so it is better suited to survive in COVID-19 time than just about any festival one could think of. Artica returns – under the triumphant title of “Artica 2020: Eternal Return” – from noon to 10 p.m. Saturday and Sunday, October 10 and 11. The location is on the grounds of the old Cotton Belt Building at the corner of Lewis and Dickson streets on the North Riverfront north of Laclede’s Landing. But there are no actual barriers: Artica disappears off into the city, into the night, into the unknown.

n n Artica 2020: Eternal Return is a creative celebration and exploration of the apparent paradox of existence, that every step forward, somehow takes us closer to what we imagined we’d left behind.

“This is a free open-air event for all ages featuring two days of music, sculpture, interactive art installations, roaming performers and the Burn,” organizers promise. “The Burn” is a public burning of Our Lady of Artica, a wooden effigy, that closes the festival on Sunday night. If that sounds too far out, then just wander off when the burning is about to begin.

“Each year, Artica establishes an ‘art city’ uninhibited by commerce,” organizers promise, and that checks out – Artica is the unbranded anti-festival, an “annual celebration of creativity, innovation, and exploration,” organizers rightly claim.

It is not, however, underground or outlaw. The festival has been approved by the city Health Department. Masks and social distancing will be required while on the festival grounds. Guests are encouraged to wash their hands often

at the provided handwashing stations and to use hand sanitizer with at least 70% alcohol in between hand washings.

“If you are not feeling well,” organizers request, “please stay at home,” which is never a bad idea anyway.

Of this year’s theme in particular, organizers say: “Artica 2020: Eternal Return is a creative celebration and exploration of the apparent paradox of existence, that every step forward, somehow takes us closer to what we imagined we’d left behind.”

The title is borrowed from the German philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche (1844–1900), a thinker suitably edgy and unsettling for the disrupted here and now. Nietzsche returned to the idea of the Eternal Return (appropriately enough) several times throughout his work; one classic statement of it comes in a demonic thought experiment.

“What, if some day or night a demon were

By Chris King Of The St. Louis American

“We think this is an innovative way to encourage more college students to commit to the important right of voting and to recognize their creativity.” – Joan Lipkin, Dance the Vote

Podcast series features Arkansas lynching tragedy with St. Louis connection

By Kenya Vaughn Of The St. Louis American

Isadore Banks was as much of a mogul as a Black man could be in the Jim Crow South. He was rumored to have owned 1,000 acres of land in Marion, Arkansas in addition to having distinction as a World War I veteran, business owner and community leader. With a level of respect that was said to have even trickled into the white community, Banks existed as an anomaly within the separate and unequal experiences of Black people in Marion. Then, in 1954 – at the height of his influence – Banks was chained to a tree and set on fire. According to several sources, his body remained tied to the tree for days.

In the documentary podcast series “Unfinished: Deep South,” filmmaker Taylor Hom and journalist Neil Shea dive in to get to the bottom of the who, what and why.

“People were afraid – they were scared to death,” his son, Jim Banks told Hom and Shea. “I could actually feel the fear of others around me. It was a very frightening situation to watch how people reacted to that.” His life was stolen, and so was the inheritance that was his children’s birthright.

n “They took our life when they took away my daddy,” Dorothy said. “We were poor little kids who didn’t have food.

“All records of his land was destroyed. It was like he had nothing,” Jim Banks said. “He had no land. He had no property. It was as if everything disappeared. There was no land, there was no money. Nothing. It was as if it had never existed.”

The series is presented by Market Road Films, the production company of two-time Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Lynn Nottage and Emmy and PGA Awardwinning film director Tony Gerber. The story also includes ties to St. Louis.

As Hom and Shea dive into their winding narrative that adds context and details surrounding the mystery behind this particular horrendous crime, they reveal intersecting acts of racial terror and systemic abuse while exploring often ignored elements of the generational impact of a lynching. They even breakdown the history of lynching in an episode entitled “A Very American Crime.” The podcast series debuted June 10. The entire season featuring Banks’ story is currently available on Stitcher.com.

Taylor Hom explains that through her research

The 1954 lynching of Marion, Arkansas business owner Isadore Banks has been shrouded in mystery. Through the ‘Unfinished: Deep South’ podcast, filmmaker Taylor Hom and journalist Neil Shea attempt to get answers. Their search also brings them to St. Louis. In this family photo, Banks is pictured with daughter Muriel.

Photo by Robert Crowe

Artica ends Sunday night with the Burn – though socially distant in 2020

to register and vote.”

Ivana Solomon, 21, a Webster University student, submitted a video

“I’m from St. Louis, Missouri but my family’s heritage is from Guyana, Suriname, and Barbados. We are also indigenous to the Americas,” she said.

“What inspired me to make this video was how much I’ve gained just from talking to people in his age group. I found that they dealt with some pretty unique situations during their time.... everything was different: the revolutions, the movements. The steps they took in order to change their reality changed so many things and the way they are done in society. That is something I am inspired by every time I speak to someone in that generation.”

Again, although Webster University is a co-sponsor

of the competition, students enrolled at any college or university in the United States are eligible.

“We are encouraging students to carry out the legacy of John Lewis in their own creative and unique way,” said Vincent C. Flewellen, Webster University’s chief diversity officer. “There are so many ways we can ‘make good trouble.’”

How do you play?

If you are a college student in the United States, post multi-media, images, videos, music, dance, painting, sculpture, poetry, or other artistic expressions inspired by John Lewis’ legacy and no longer than 60 seconds in length to social media by Monday, October 19. Media can be created in and/or posted to Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, or TikTok but must be shared on Instagram to be eligible for the contest prizes. Submissions must tag @WebsterU, @ DanceTheVoteSTL, @ WebsterVotes and #MakeGoodTroubleContest

in caption. All tags must be included to be qualified for the contest.

Each of the four finalists will receive $250, and a grand prize winner will receive $500. Prize money is provided by Dance the Vote St. Louis.

“Nearly 40% of students who were eligible to vote cast ballots in the 2018 elections, and that was a significant upswing from 19% in the 2014, so we still have work to do,” said Joan Lipkin, artistic director of Dance the Vote, a nonpartisan arts initiative that pairs dance, poetry, spoken word, song, graphics, video and texting with voter awareness and registration.

“We think this is an innovative way to promote the legacy of John Lewis, to encourage more college students to commit to the important right of voting and to recognize their creativity.”

The competition can only be entered in social media as described above, but for more information visit https://tinyurl. com/vote-good-trouble.

A monument for Dred Scott

Great-greatgranddaughter wants to make his grave ‘a place worthy of pilgrimage’

By Evie Hemphill Of St. Louis Public Radio

Lynne Jackson sometimes struggles to find her great-great-grandfather’s grave. Located in North St. Louis’ sprawling and historic Calvary Cemetery, the headstone is just two and a half feet high. A cemetery map helps, and on it, his grave is indicated in the key, with the number 19 beside his name: Dred Scott.

Dred Scott’s remains were initially buried in an unmarked grave near St. Louis University. In 1867 they were moved to a different unmarked grave in Calvary Cemetery, where the current headstone was finally added in 1958.

It’s a modest memorial, and it’s also “the most asked-for grave out there,” said Jackson, who has launched a fundraiser in hopes of creating a ninefoot-tall educational memorial at the spot.

“It’s wonderful to have a memorial at all, but I think we can do better,” Jackson said. She envisions “a place worthy of pilgrimage for students and lovers of American history,” as her Dred Scott Heritage Foundation GoFundMe campaign puts it.

Scott, an enslaved African American who unsuccessfully sued for his and his family’s freedom in the Dred Scott v. Sandford U.S. Supreme Court case of 1857, has had a dramatic effect on that history.

Though he died from tuberculosis only a year and a half after the court’s 7-2 decision

against him, the injustice of the argument that Scott was not a citizen of the U.S. and therefore had no right to bring a lawsuit led to public outcry — and hastened the Civil War.

Jackson, who first remembers being aware of her great-great-grandfather’s legacy as a young child, is the founder and president of the Dred Scott Heritage Foundation. She remembers a time not so long ago when there was no marker whatsoever at Scott’s grave.

“I was actually there [in Calvary Cemetery] as a very, very young girl when it was pointed out to my mom and dad that ‘this is where your ancestor was buried by a Jesuit priest,’” she said.

Scott’s remains were originally buried in a different unmarked grave near St. Louis University before one of the children of his original owners moved the remains to Calvary

in 1867. Three plots were purchased at Calvary, Jackson said, because at that time “a Black person couldn’t be buried next to a white person, and [a] slave could be buried there only if their owners wanted them to.”

Now, that extra space around Scott’s grave may prove helpful as plans and funds for a more fitting memorial begin to come together.

“We are planning to have a beautiful monument there, and I’m very excited about how it’s going to look,” Jackson said. Along with a nine-foot black granite piece, her hopes for the site include column ornamentation, lots of space for etching and detailing history, and a patio with benches “where people can literally come and sit for a moment and meditate and understand who this man was.” To donate, visit https:// tinyurl.com/donate-Dred.

Dred Scott is buried in North St. Louis’ historic Calvary Cemetery. The grave was unmarked until 1958.

Celebrating International Day of the Girl

Missouri Historical Society highlights local LGBTQIA+ history

By Shakia Gullette and Sharon Smith Missouri Historical Society

In 2012 the United Nations commemorated October 11 as International Day of the Girl, an annual day to highlight and address girls’ needs and challenges as well as promote their empowerment and human rights. This year the Missouri Historical Society is pleased to collaborate with Tracie Berry-McGhee, founder of Sistakeeper, for our second annual International Day of the Girl celebration on Friday, October 9, at 12:30 p.m. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, this year’s event will take place virtually on Zoom.

Berry-McGhee founded SistaKeeper Empowerment Center, a culturally relevant mentoring program, in 2002 and later created the I Define ME Movement. Both organizations are based in St. Louis.

Berry-McGhee notes, “International Day of the Girl is important because it celebrates positivity. Girls historically have been told that they should be seen and not heard. Girls need to know that they can change the world and are keepers of our community.”

“We are expecting nearly 500 girls through the Zoom platform. We will continue to empower our girls to have a positive identity; stand up for themselves; and define their freedom through self-awareness and positive academic and community engagement. This year’s target audience is middle and high school students,” BerryMcGhee states.

This year MHS and Berry-McGhee are pleased to welcome WNBA Chicago Sky player Diamond DeShields as the keynote speaker. Additionally, guests can participate in an interactive panel and Q&A with women entrepreneurs, enjoy music and dance, and hear from teen girl speakers who have taken the I Define ME pledge. Visit the Missouri History Museum on Sunday, October 11, to walk through the current exhibition Beyond the Ballot: St. Louis and Suffrage and visit the I Define Me wellness mobile van, which will be parked near the Museum’s North lawn (Lindell Boulevard entrance). The I Define Me van brings attention to mental wellness, literacy, and community resources for girls and women. From 1 to 3 p.m., we will be gifting over 200 wellness swag bags with personal protective equipment (PPE) kits for families, masks, journals, skincare products, and more, available on a first-come, first-served basis. Sunday’s event is sponsored by the I Define ME Movement, the YWCA, and PrepareSTL. Schools and individuals can register for Friday’s program on eventbrite.com at I Define ME International Day of the Girl Virtual Summit. Advance ticketing is required for Missouri History Museum entrance. Visit mohistory.org/museum to plan your visit and reserve your free tickets. No registration is needed for the I Define Me van.

LGBTQIA+ history

As an organization dedicated to preserving the history of our region, the Missouri Historical Society has been collecting materials related to St. Louis’s LGBTQIA+ communities for years.

The Missouri Historical Society will collaborate with Tracie Berry-McGhee, founder of Sistakeeper, for its second annual International Day of the Girl celebration on Friday, October 9.

Yet many people—particularly those who most needed to know, the LGBTQIA+ communities themselves—had no idea.

Artifacts and archival materials had been collected somewhat sporadically over the decades as they were offered. But there was no intentional effort to collect specifically in the LGBTQIA+ communities until more recently.

In 2013 MHS staff members met with Steven Brawley of the St. Louis LGBT History Project to discuss possible artifacts for the 2014 Missouri History Museum exhibit 250 in 250. Brawley told the staff that he was looking for a home for the huge collection of artifacts and archives in his basement. Since then, MHS has worked with Brawley to collect materials relating to local LGBTQIA+ communities.

Today over 70 advisers work on MHS’s Gateway to Pride Initiative, focusing on collecting, programming, fundraising, and communications surrounding local LGBTQIA+ history. MHS has also hired a curatorial assistant to work with the curator of civic and personal identity on collecting, programming, and planning a Museum exhibit that will open in the mid-2020s.

On Thursday, October 15, at 6:30 p.m., join MHS on Zoom for Five (More) Turning Points in St. Louis LGBTQIA+ History. One of the stories featured is that of Black blues singer George Hannah.

MHS’s YouTube channel playlist also includes a recent virtual program on Black Pride featuring Jeffrey McCune Jr., associate professor at Washington University in St. Louis. To view this and other past programming, visit MHS’s YouTube channel.

In an effort to be as inclusive and diverse as possible, MHS is looking for objects and archives that tell the stories of LGBTQIA+ people of color. For submissions, please contact gatewaytopride@mohistory.org.

To join these programs virtually via Zoom, visit the MHS events calendar at mohistory.org.

Select the event, then look for the “Join Through Zoom” button at the bottom of the program description.

Continued from B1

and telling of the Banks’ story, that she and Shea realized that lynching goes beyond the tragedy of the death of victim.

“We see this over and over again in the south. You can call it ‘the lynching effect,’” Hom said. “Because a lynching isn’t just about murder. It’s about trying to erase someone. And it goes beyond money or land. In Isadore’s case, the erasure was so complete that for years some of his relatives didn’t even know he existed.”

It’s an erasure that takes place that racial terrorists methodically and deliberately carry out to ensure that the legacy of trauma continues for generations after the act itself among the victim’s families. And in the same breath, there are residual fringe benefits for those who engage in such unspeakable acts that reach far beyond protecting the white power dynamic.

A

living legacy in St. Louis

The podcast shares the experience of St. Louis native Marcelina Williams and her

mother Dorothy Williams - a demonstration of the irreparable fracture caused by a lynching - along with a continuum of trauma that remains more than 65 years after Banks’ life was stolen.

Marcelina learned about her grandfather when her mother was attending St. Louis Community College – Forest Park.

“She had her Black History book out. I loved Black history,” Marcelina told Hom and Shea. “I got her book and I was looking through it. There were some gruesome images [of lynchings] in the book.”

The picture of what had happened to Isadore Banks was so tragically compelling, Marcelina went to show it to her mother.

“That’s my daddy,” Dorothy screamed. “That’s my daddy!”

Despite the openness they shared as mother and daughter, Marcelina was an adult before Dorothy would discuss the circumstances surrounding her father’s murder.

“I kept it to myself, because I didn’t know who was up here that might harm me and my family,” she said.

Dorothy was five years old when her father paid someone to secretly transport her and her mother from Marion to St. Louis. Perhaps he knew they were in danger. She was never given the opportunity to ask.

He was lynched shortly after she and her mother arrived. Due to his murder, Dorothy experienced a descent from affluence to abject poverty.

“They took our life when they took away my daddy,” Dorothy said. “We were poor little kids who didn’t have food. You know how they talked about welfare kids back then. They laughed at ‘em, threw rocks at ‘em, made fun of ‘em. That’s how they did us.” As an adult, after seeing her grandfather’s name among a scroll of victims of unsolved murders during the Civil Rights era in 2007, Marcelina vowed to ensure that her grandfather’s legacy is restored. She has been relentless in her pursuit.

“I will not rest until America gives us our justice, closure and compensation for his death,” Marcelina said during a ceremony honoring Banks for his service to the U.S. Army more than 60 years after his untimely death. “My grandfather was my hero. He died and saved my mother, so that I could live. And I’ll be doggone if I let him down now.”

The full series of “Unfinished: Deep South,” was created and reported by filmmaker Taylor Hom and journalist Neil Shea. It can be heard at https://www.stitcher. com/podcast/unfinished-podcast.

Continued from B1

to steal after you into your loneliest loneliness and say to you: ‘This life as you now live it and have lived it, you will have to live once more and innumerable times more; and there will be nothing new in it, but every pain and every joy and every thought and sigh and everything unutterably small or

great in your life will have to return to you, all in the same succession and sequence—even this spider and this moonlight between the trees, and even this moment and I myself. The eternal hourglass of existence is turned upside down again and again, and you with it, speck of dust!’” Nietzsche wrote.

In the nightmarish year of 2020, it’s daring indeed to conjure the notion of the Eternal Return. Who now wants to contemplate the possibility that “this life as you now live it and

have lived it, you will have to live once more and innumerable times more”?

Actually, embrace Artica (at a social distance) and you just might find yourself enlivened by “every joy and every thought,” and maybe you will want them to return after the Lady burns and you’ve wandered off into the long, dark night of 2020. Visit articastl.com for more information or email articafest@gmail.com.

Office of Jerome Williams, M.D. 3409 Union Blvd. St. Louis, MO 63115 (314) 261-4834

Medicare Annual Enrollment is from October 15th – December 7th!

Dr. Larry Buck II and Dr. Aunita Hill-Jones accept most insurance plans including Essence Healthcare, United Healthcare AARP Medicare Advantage, and Aetna Medicare Gold Advantage and Advantra plans.

Art

E. Gaye Woods named to SSM Health Ministries Board of Directors

Plus, Bethesda Temple Church faithful celebrated 65th Wedding Anniversary

American staff

SSM Health has named E. Gaye Woods, MBA, to SSM Health Ministries and its Board of Directors. SSM Health Ministries is the sponsoring body responsible for preserving SSM Health’s Roman Catholic identity and serving as liaison to the Vatican.

As the system director of Community Benefit for SCL Health, Woods is responsible for advancing initiatives that positively impact the overall health of the communities the Catholic health system serves across Colorado, Montana and Kansas, with a special focus on the underserved. She designs and implements programs that connect clinical delivery with community-based services to address the needs of vulnerable populations, including the underlying social determinants of health.

“Ms. Woods’ dedication to the mission of Catholic health care and her work to positively impact diverse and vulnerable populations make her an ideal fit for SSMHM and our board,” said Larry LeGrand, SSMHM president. “She will be a strong addition to our governance

team as we work to transform health care for our communities.”

Woods serves as chair of the Advisory Board on Community Benefit for the Catholic Health Association and also is a member of CHA’s Advocacy & Public Policy Committee. She also is a board member for the Community First Foundation in Denver, Colorado, and served as a board member for the St. Joseph Hospital Foundation in Denver, as well as the Women’s Foundation of Colorado.

“Throughout her career, Woods has demonstrated an unrelenting commitment to eliminating health disparities for underserved populations and partnering with community organizations that have a similar focus,” said Laura S. Kaiser, FACHE, president and CEO of SSM Health. “Her expertise and insight will be great assets to our ministry as we continue working to ensure high-quality care is both affordable and accessible for everyone we serve.”

Woods received her Master’s degree in Business Administration from the Kellogg Graduate

n “Ms. Woods’ dedication to the mission of Catholic health care and her work to positively impact diverse and vulnerable populations make her an ideal fit for SSMHM and our board.”

– Larry LeGrand, SSMHM president

School of Management at Northwestern University and a Bachelor of Arts degree

E.

Gaye Woods, system director of Community Benefit for SCL Health, was named to SSM Health Ministries and its Board of Directors.

Faithful ceebrated 65th Wedding Anniversary

Walter and Barbara Cole recently celebrated their 65th Wedding Anniversary. They are faithful, longtime members of Bethesda Temple Church of the Apostolic Faith, one of the largest African-American churches in the St. Louis area.

Elder Walter Cole serves as one of the assistant pastors and Evangelist Barbara Cole has served in a countless number of leadership roles both locally and internationally.

Walter and Barbara are both very active in their church and in the community, and they love spending time with their family, especially celebrating holidays and special occasions.

vow renewal ceremony on July 5; social distance guidelines were followed. Walter and Barbara give God all the credit for bringing them together, keeping them together and bringing them to this milestone.

Walter Cole was born on March 16, 1935 in Birmingham, Alabama to Robert and Catherine Cole. His family moved to the St. Louis area in 1947. Barbara Jean Downey was born on December 15, 1936 in Madison, Illinois to parents Mack Downey and Alice Thomas. Barbara’s family relocated to Chicago, Illinois in 1945. A few years later, the family moved back to the St. Louis area.

in Telecommunications and Marketing from Texas Tech University.

COVID-19 could not stop their family from expressing love for both Mother’s Day and Father’s Day. Their children used drive-by parades as a way to see them and shower them with love and gifts. Their children continued to let the creative juices flow and planned a beautiful celebration in honor of their parents 65 years of marital bliss with a

Walter and Barbara met in the hallway while attending Sumner High School. These high school sweethearts later married on July 5, 1955. God blessed this union with five loving children: one daughter, Carlotta and four sons, Byron, Walter, Andre and Terence. In addition to their five children, the couple is blessed to have a son-in-love, James, four daughters-in-love (Katie, Cidd, Rochelle and Carla), 15 grandchildren and 8 greatgrandchildren. After 32 years of working as an oiler, Walter retired from McDonnell Douglas (now Boeing) in 1998, and Barbara retired from St. Louis Comprehensive Healthcare as a chief radiologist and manager of the EKG and X-Ray Department in 1982.

Sports

SportS EyE

With Alvin A. Reid

Bob Gibson, MLB’s greatest Black pitcher, completes his final game at 84

Had the game not been segregated, the late Satchel Paige would probably be known as the greatest Black pitcher in Major League Baseball history. Denied his chance by racism, Paige didn’t pitch in the Majors until he was past his prime. Yet, he was still getting dudes out when he was in his late 40s – and early 50s. St. Louis, the baseball world and a nation of sports fans lost the best, most-dominant Black pitcher in MLB’s history last week when Bob Gibson succumbed to pancreatic cancer (October 2, 2020) in Omaha at the age of 84.

Gibson’s most impressive statistic, which will never be matched, are his 255 complete games in 482 starts. In 1968, which is called the Year of the Pitcher, Gibson was by far the best, He threw 13 shutouts and had a mind-bogging ERA of just 1.12. He won the National League MVP Award and the Cy Young Award that year, the first of two Cy Youngs he landed during his career. Behind Gibson, the Cardinals won World Series titles in 1964 and 1967.

two in there.’’ Gibson did hit 102 batters during his 17-year career.

With a Major League career that began in the late 1950s, Gibson certainly dealt with racism in baseball and throughout America. This included his first manager, Solly Hemus, who openly used racial epithets toward Black and Latino players.

He was fired in 1961, just as the Cardinals were becoming one of baseball’s most diverse teams.

In the 2015 book “Pitch by Pitch, Gibson wrote “Our (Cardinals) team, as a whole, had no tolerance for ethnic or racial disrespect.”

“We’d talk about it openly and in no uncertain terms. In our clubhouse, nobody got a free pass.”

Gibson later said that his historic 1968 season was fueled by his rage at racism and the assassinations of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and Bobby Kennedy.

Jack Flaherty, the Cardinals youthful ace, pitched gallantly in his team’s 4-0 season-ending loss to the San Diego Padres on Oct. 2, learned of Gibson’s death just as the game was ending.

In the opening game of the 1968 World Series against the Detroit Tigers, Gibson struck out a record 17 hitters. He died on the 52nd anniversary of that feat. Unfortunately, the Cardinals dropped that series in seven games.

Gibson finished his career with a Cardinal record 251 wins, 3,117 strikeouts and a 2.91 ERA. He was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1981.

He also holds Redbird records for complete games (255), innings pitched (3884.1), shutouts (56), strikeouts (3,117) and batters faced (16,068).

Houston manager Dusty Baker, who starred in the NL during Gibson’s final years, spoke of Gibson’s fierce competitiveness.

“He was tough on me. He was one of the only guys, besides my father, that I was intimidated by,’’ Baker said. In 2008 at the All-Star Game in Yankee Stadium, Gibson said his reputation for head-hunting had been embellished.

‘’I didn’t do half the things they said I did,’’ he said.

‘’They said I was always knocking guys down and hitting guys. But I won a game or

“That one hurts,” said Flaherty, who had developed a close relationship with Gibson as a mentor and advisor.

“He’s a legend, first and foremost, somebody who I was lucky enough to learn from. You don’t get the opportunity to learn from somebody of that caliber and somebody who was that good very often.”

I saw Gibson pitch more than a dozen times at Busch Stadium, including some famous duels against Juan Marichal and the San Francisco Giants. Two minority pitchers that didn’t back down from anyone.

Those battles are why I like close, low-scoring baseball games. It’s real baseball.

Bob Gibson was a real man and a real pitcher. Both are in short supply these days.

It’s about time

I toured the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum in Kansas City three weeks ago for the first time in years and it remains a fascinating journey.

An examination of the battle to integrate Major League Baseball, which began decades before Jackie Robinson played,

is a highlight of the many exhibits.

Key to the effort were the heroics of Black soldiers in World War II. They could serve and die for a nation that didn’t allow them to excel in the Majors.

It’s detailed that the color barrier in baseball would have ended sooner if not for one, racist man – Commissioner Kenesaw Mountain Landis.

It is no coincidence that black players took the field in 1947 – three year after Landis’ death.

And it is nothing short of a disgrace that the Most Valuable Player Awards, which are voted on by the Baseball Writers Association of America, carried his name for 75 years.

That is until last Sunday.

“We will no longer will be associated with the Landis name, and the MVP plaques will be nameless in 2020,” BBWAA president Paul

Sullivan wrote.

“Hopefully when some sense of normalcy returns in 2021, we can have a healthy debate over whether to add a new name or just leave it as the BBWAA MVP award.”

Former St. Louis Cardinal star third baseman Terry Pendleton, who won the 1991 National League MVP Award with the Atlanta Braves, joined Hall of Fame members Barry Larkin and Mike Schmidt in calling for Landis’ name to be removed in June.

After learning of the BWAA’s decision, Pendleton texted “It’s the right thing to do!!”

The decision cannot be fully celebrated though. The vote to remove Landis’ name was not unanimous. Only 89 percent of voters approved the action. This means more than 1-in10 voters were happy to keep the racist Landis’ name on the award.

InSIdE SportS

With Earl Austin Jr.

St. Louis, the baseball world and a nation of sports fans lost the best, most-dominant Black pitcher in MLB’s history last week when Bob Gibson succumbed to pancreatic cancer (October 2, 2020) in Omaha at the age of 84.

The Reid Roundup

On August 14, 1971 Bob Gibson threw his first and only no hitter in a 11-0 road win over the Pittsburgh Pirates. There is no film of the final innings of the game. It was not televised in Pittsburgh or St. Louis that Saturday night, and the lone film crew at the game left to prepare for the 11 p.m. news.

Alvin Reid, 10, and his family went bowling that night and the final innings on KMOX were on the alley speakers.

Gibson was not the first Black pitcher to win a Cy Young Award. Brooklyn Dodgers pitcher Don Newcombe won in 1956.

“Well, this should piss the haters off,” said Bubba Wallace as he took the lead with eight laps left in last Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series race in Talladega, Fla. – site of the noose incident earlier this

year. Wallace had two minor crashes before the race ended and finished 24th.

The Houston Texans fired head coach Bill O’Brien on Monday. While All-Pro quarterback Deshaun Watson is struggling this season, it is a job that Kansas City Chiefs offensive coordinator Eric Bieniemy will be interested in when the season ends. Romeo Crennel, 73, was named Texans interim coach. When he takes the sideline on Sunday, he will become the oldest head coach in NFL history.

Miami Dolphins head coach Brian Flores said he will not be “pressured” into starting rookie Tua Tagovailoa and that his collegiate hip injury remains a factor in the decision. Miami is 1-3 and starter Ryan Fitzpatrick has been inconsistent.

Jimmy Butler saved the Miami Heat season – or just prolonged it – last Sunday night with 40 points, 13 assists, 11 rebounds, two steals and two blocks in his team’s 115104 win. It is one of the Top 3 games in NBA Finals history. The baseball world would like to see the New York Yankees face the Los Angeles Dodgers in the World Series later this month. But wouldn’t it be fun if the hated Houston Astros take on the flamboyant and fun San Diego Padres in the Fall Classic?

This matchup would also give Astros manager Dusty Baker another chance to win the World Series as a manager. That bat flip by Fernando Tatis Jr., that helped seal the Padres’ comeback win over the St. Louis Cardinals in Game Two of their NL Wildcard game was awesome. I’m sure the Cardinals will retaliate next season. The 47th Annual Bayou Classic football game between Grambling State University and Southern University will be played on Saturday, April 17, 2021, at Independence Stadium in Shreveport. The move from the Superdome in New Orleans is just for the game this spring. Quash the rumor that Emmitt Smith, NFL Hall of Famer and former teammate of Deion Sanders with the Dallas Cowboys, will be joining Sanders’ staff at Jackson State University. “No. No I won’t. I sent Deion a quick note, asking him if he needed a running back coach, but I was really joking.”

Devin Williams named MLB Relief Pitcher of the Year

Napheesa Collier named to All-WNBA Second Team

Congratulations go out to a pair of St. Louis area professional athletes who received postseason honors after having stellar seasons in 2020. Former Hazelwood West baseball standout Devin Williams of the Milwaukee Brewers was named the Baseball Digest/eBay Major League Baseball Relief Pitcher of the Year. Former Incarnate

Word Academy girls basketball All-American Napheesa Collier was named to the All-WNBA Second Team. Williams, a 25-year old right hander, enjoyed a tremendous year coming out of the Brewers bullpen in 2020. He appeared in 22 games and posted a record of 4-1 with a record of 0.33. In 27 innings, he recorded 53 strikeouts while walking only nine batters. Collier, 24, followed up her Rookie of the Year season in 2019 with an even better campaign in 2020. In leading the Minnesota Lynx to the WNBA Playoffs, Collier averaged 16.1 points, 9.0 rebounds and 3.3 assists while shooting 52 per-

cent from the field, 40 percent from 3-point range 82 percent from the free throw line.

Jordan Nesbitt to Memphis

Standout basketball player Jordan Nesbitt of St. Louis Christian Academy has given a commitment to the University of Memphis. The 6’6” Nesbitt is one of the top players in the state of Missouri and ranked among the Top 100 players in the country in the Class of 2021. Nesbitt chose Memphis

over Saint Louis University and Illinois, who were his other two finalists. As a junior, Nesbitt averaged more than 20 points a game. He led the Cougars to the championship of the Legends of Winter Christmas Tournament against a talented field at SLUH.

Earl Austin Jr.

Top Prep Football Performances

Junior quarterback

Ayden Robinson-Wayne of CBC passed for 300 yards and four touchdowns and scored on a 65-yard TD run in the

Cadets’ 42-14 victory over Eureka.

Senior running back Christopher Kreh of Marquette rushed for 255 yards on 31 carries and six touchdowns in the Mustangs’ 41-7 victory over Marquette.

Senior receiver Zach Hahn of CBC had seven receptions for 108 yards and three touchdowns in the Cadets’ 42-14 victory over Eureka.

Running back Dane Mohnmann of Francis Howell rushed for 250 yards on 23 carries and three touchdowns in the Vikings’ 56-28 victory over Holt.

Sophomore Jaxin Patterson of Hillsboro rushed for 179

yards and three touchdowns and intercepted two passes and returned one 50 yards for a touchdown in the Hawks’ 64-42 victory over Windsor.

On Tap this Weekend

Cardinal Ritter at Francis Howell, Friday, 7 p.m. Lutheran North at Trinity, Friday, 7 p.m. Ladue at Lafayette, Friday, 7 p.m. Westminster at Duchense, Friday, 7 p.m. CBC at DeSmet, Saturday, noon Priory at John Burroughs, Saturday, 1 p.m.

Alvin A. Reid

St. LouiS american Career Center

PRESIDENT & CEO

The International Institute of St. Louis is seeking its next President & CEO. For further information and to apply, click here: https://bit.ly/34W8t0b

HANDYMAN

NEEDED for Apt Complex

$12 - 15 hour depending on exper. Call Tim 314-319-8597

POLICE OFFICER

The City of Eureka (population approximately 13,000) is accepting applications for a full-time Police Officer. There is no application deadline, and interviews will be conducted periodically until the position is filled. Application and job description available at Eureka Police Dept., 120 City Hall Dr., Eureka, MO and on the City’s website at www.eureka. mo.us. Starting salary is $50,500.00, plus excellent benefits. For additional information, call 636-938-6600 (Relay Missouri: 1-800-735-2466). The City of Eureka is an EOE/ADA employer.

JANITORIAL - HIRING

Full & Part-Time positions, 3 Shifts Background check. Steady work history preferred. Apply at 314 N. Jefferson at Olive. M - F, 9A to 5P. Must have two forms of I.D.

FULL-TIME MECHANIC

The City of Clayton is hiring for a full-time Mechanic. Apply by 10/16/20: https://claytonmo. applicantpro.com/jobs/ EOE

PUBLIC WORKS MAINTENANCE WORKER

The City of Maplewood is seeking a qualified person for the position of maintenance worker. Position is responsible for maintaining streets, parks, sewers, swimming pool and city buildings. Must be available for occasional evening and weekend work. The city offers a comparative salary and benefits package. Starting salary is negotiable based on qualifications and experience. For application, contact the Public Works Department at (314) 646-3640 or visit www.cityofmaplewood.com Applications accepted until October 26, 2020. Equal Opportunity Employer.

SOFTWARE DEVELOPER

Vintech Solutions Inc has openings for the position Software Developer with Master’s degree in Computer/ Digital Science,Engineering any,Technology or related to design, develop, implement, maintain and test business functions and web applications using a variety of languages, tools, methodologies and technologies. Develop, create and modify general computer applications software or specialized utility programs. Analyze user needs and develop software solutions. Design software or customize software for client use with the aim of optimizing operational efficiency. Work location is Olivette,MO with required travel to client locations throughout the USA.Please mail resumes to 9715 Olive Blvd, Floor 2,Olivette, MO 63132 (OR) e-mail: legal@vintech.com

CIRCULATION LEAD

Ferguson Public Library has a job opening for a Circulation Lead. See http://fergusonlibrary. net/employment for information and application instructions.

PROVOST

McKendree University seeks candidates for the position of Provost. The Provost will report to and work closely with the President to provide academic direction for the University. As the chief academic officer of the institution, the Provost has administrative responsibilities for all academic affairs. The successful candidate will have served as a tenured faculty member and as an academic administrator at a regionally accredited four-year institution of higher education. The candidate will have demonstrated leadership experience creating a team environment and fostering cooperation and respect among diverse constituents. An earned doctoral degree is required. McKendree University is a private, comprehensive, regional university in Lebanon, Illinois, with a strong tradition in the liberal arts and a focus on excellent teaching. With a total enrollment of over 2,500 students, McKendree offers undergraduate and graduate programs on campus, online, and at off-site locations in Southern Illinois and Kentucky. The beautiful campus is located in the historic city of Lebanon, Illinois, 25 minutes from downtown St. Louis. Annual compensation will be competitive and commensurate with experience. The University provides a comprehensive benefits package.

Application Process:

The Search Committee will begin reviewing applications immediately and continue until the position is filled. Applicants must submit: a curriculum vitae, cover letter describing relevant experience and interest in the position, and contact information for three professional references to Shirley Baugh, Director of Human Resources at hr@mckendree.edu. EEO/AA/ADA Employer

Full job advertisement is listed at https://www.mckendree.edu/about/ resources/index.php

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

Public Safety Officer - Protective Services – 49105:

Position assists with enforcement of university policy/procedures, patrolling facilities and responding to situations as directed by a Communications Officer or Supervisor. The ideal candidate will have the following required qualifications: High School diploma or equivalent High School certification. GED candidates must also have completed some college course work to illustrate a continuing desire for advancement.

TrialCare Project Manager - Center for Clinical Studies – 48962:

POSITION SUMMARY -The responsibility of the Project Manager is to direct and coordinate all aspects of multi-center clinical research trials, which include tactical management, administration and leadership of project teams in order to ensure the project proceeds on time and within budget parameters. To accomplish this, the Project Manager will collaborate closely with the clinical trial principal investigator, external site investigators and staff, and other Washington University team members including those at Trial Care, the Center for Clinical Studies, and the Institute for Clinical and Translational Sciences. REQUIRED QUALIFICATIONS: Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN) degree plus a minimum of five years direct experience in research related activities. REQUIRED LICENSURE/CERTIFICATION and REGISTRATION: Current Missouri Nursing License.

Special Program Administrator - Institute for Informatics SP– 48961:

POSITION SUMMARY - This position will work in close coordination with the new Office of Health Information and Data Sciences (OHIDS) with a range of academic units and strategic partners, including the Institute for Informatics, the Division of Biostatistics, Bernard Becker Medical Library, Office of the Chief Research Information Officer, the Division of Biology and Biomedical Sciences, and the Office of Medical Education. The above represents an alignment of critical units across the School of Medicine that are integral in a top-tier academic medical institution. This position will report to the Assistant Director, Education and Strategic Initiatives. The Special Programs Administrator will be responsible for directing, developing, implementing and evaluating recruitment strategies for OHIDS education and degree programs and will oversee special programs such as the Clinical Informatics Fellowship and the Biomedical Informatics and Data Science Summer Internship Program (BIDS@I2). This position will manage recruitment processes; cultivate relationships with students during admission processes; manage special programs, and develop processes for alumni tracking. REQUIRED QUALIFICATIONS: Bachelor’s degree and five years of experience.

Senior Compliance Specialist - Office of the Vice Chancellor for Research – 48831: POSITION SUMMARY: A Senior Research Compliance Specialist provides programmatic support for the University’s research ethics and compliance programs. This person implements and monitors research compliance review activities in accordance with the University’s policies, and federal and sponsoring agencies regulations, with minimal supervision; interprets applicable policies and regulations to resolve complex research and regulatory issues; provides expert advice and training to faculty, non-faculty, and committee members; interacts directly with external funding agencies and other academic institutions regarding the University’s adherence to policies and regulations; serves as lead person in the absence of a manager or director. REQUIRED QUALIFICATIONS: Bachelor’s degree in a related field plus five years of related work experience, preferably in a research intensive university or hospital setting, or equivalent combination of experience and education. Demonstrated understanding of a research environment, and ability to interpret regulations, policy and legal documents. General familiarity with the scientific process.

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

We seek people from diverse backgrounds to join us in a supportive environment that encourages boldness, inclusion and creativity.

EO/AA/VET/Disability Employer

CLEAN-TECH COMPANY IS INTERVIEWING FOR VARIOUS LOCATIONS!

Interviews on the spot! Every Thursday 1 PM – 4 PM! 211 South Jefferson Avenue, St. Louis, MO JOBS AVAILABLE! WE ARE HIRING! Apply online www.cleantechcompany.com/ careers

AUCTION NOTICE

The following people are in debt to Gateway Storage Mall of Belleville, Columbia, & Dupo. The contents of their storage unit(s) will be sold at auction to compensate all or part of that debt. Auction will be held online with Jersey County Auctions on October 12, 2020 at 12:00 PM. A cash deposit will be REQUIRED for all winning bids. Col. A014 – Sarah Woodard, Col. 182 –Rhonda Little, Dupo 66 – Tanya Bagwell, Dupo 95 – Sonja Edwards, Dupo 401 –Morris “Junior” Macke, Dupo 403 – Roy/ Amanda Venus, Dupo 418 – Jessica Nixon, Dupo 202 – Jim White, Bel. F12 – Delores Bledsoe, Bel. E09 – Octavia Mack, Bel. H11 – Erica Pittman, Bel. B07 – Jerry Price, Bel. A04 – Heather Gonzalez, Bel. F11 – Pamela Roberts, Bel. A11 – Andreia Stallings, Bel. G17- Kathi Statler, Bel. G34 – Kathi Statler, Bel. G19 – Vyktoria Gonzalez, Bel. G30 – Rick Jerashen, Bel. 618 – Aaron Muhamed, Bel. 317 – Joi Harris, Bel. 217 – Chris Ciszczon, Bel. 532 – Beverly Driver, Bel. 318 –Kelleye McCormick. For all rules, regulations and bidding process, contact Jersey County Auctions. All other questions, please call 618-421-4022 or mail 300 Rueck Road, Columbia, IL 62236.

REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS

# 57820279,

MARKETING AND BRANDING SERVICES

Harris-Stowe State University (HSSU) is requesting proposals for Marketing and Branding Services. A copy of the RFP is available by emailing: barskys@ hssu.edu

Proposals will be received until 10:00 A.M. (CST) on Monday October 26, 2020 and should be emailed to the attention of Shelley Barsky at barskys@hssu.edu with the subject line on e-mail stating “Proposal for Marketing and Branding Services”

CITY OF ST. LOUIS ST. LOUIS LAMBERT INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT

Solicitation For Bids (SFB) for Elevator, Escalator, and Power Walk Services

Bids Wanted

Bid documents may be obtained at St. Louis Lambert International Airport, Airport Properties Division, Monday through Friday between 8:30 a.m. and 5:00 p.m., or by calling (314) 890-1802. This SFB may also be obtained by visiting our website at www.flystl.com/business/ contract-opportunites

Robert Salarano Airport Properties Division Manager

METROPOLITAN ST. LOUIS SEWER DISTRICT

Notice is hereby given that the Metropolitan St. Louis Sewer District Requests for Quotes, Bids and Proposals are posted online for public download. Please navigate to www.msdprojectclear.org > Doing Business With Us > View Non-Capital Bids (commodities and services) or >Visit Planroom (capital construction bids)

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

REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS

The City of St. Louis Department of Public Safety is seeking proposals from qualified third party Emergency Medical Service Billing Providers to conduct all billing activities associated with emergency medical services provided by the St. Louis Fire Department. To obtain a copy of the RFP, please visit https://www.stlouis-mo.gov/ government/procurement.cfm

The RFP will be listed under “Local Government Services.” Proposals must be received by 4:00 p.m. CDT on Thursday, November 5 , 2020.

NOTICE TO CONTRACTORS

Sealed bids for the Spanish Pond Road ADA Improvements, St. Louis County Project No. CR-1676, will be received electronically thru the County’s Vendor Self Service portal at https://self-service.stlouisco.com/ MSS/Vendors, until 11:00 a.m. on October 28, 2020

Plans and specifications will be available on September 28, 2020 from the St. Louis County Web Site (www. stlouiscountymo.gov) or by contacting Cross Rhodes Print & Technologies, 2731 South Jefferson Avenue, St. Louis, MO 63118 (314) 678-0087.

CITY OF ST. LOUIS ST. LOUIS LAMBERT INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT

Solicitation For Bids (SFB) for Uninterrupted Power Supply (UPS) and Associated Battery System Maintenance Services

Bids Wanted

Bid documents may be obtained at St. Louis Lambert International Airport, Airport Properties Division, Monday through Friday between 8:30 a.m. and 5:00 p.m., or by calling (314) 890-1802. This SFB may also be obtained by visiting our website at www.flystl.com/business/ contract-opportunites

Robert Salarano Airport Properties Division Manager

PUBLIC NOTICE

Donald Maggi Inc. is accepting bids from Disadvantaged Business Enterprises for subcontracting opportunities on the City of Potosi, MO. Potosi Sidewalk Improvements TAP 9901 (518)

Bid Date and Time: October 21, 2020 at 1:30 pm

Plans/Specification is available via dropbox or zipfile via email.

Contact Donald Maggi Inc. at 573-364-7733 or email maggiconst@gmail.com

Donald Maggi Inc.

CITY OF ST. LOUIS ST. LOUIS LAMBERT INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT

Request For Proposals (RFP) for GOVERNMENT RELATIONS SERVICES

Proposals Wanted

Proposal documents may be obtained at St. Louis Lambert International Airport, Airport Properties Division, Monday through Friday between 8:30 a.m. and 5:00 p.m., or by calling (314) 890-1802. This RFP may also be obtained by visiting our website at www.flystl.com/business/ contract-opportunites.

Robert Salarano

Airport Properties Division Manager

PUBLIC NOTICE

Carondelet Leadership Academy Charter, a Missouri non-profit corporation, has filed Articles of Dissolution with the Missouri Secretary of State. Any person holding a claim against the corporation must submit their claim in writing within two years after the date of publication of this notice; otherwise, the claim will be barred. All claims must be sent to: Joe Jacobson, Esq., Jacobson Press P.C., 222 S. Central Ave., Suite 550, Clayton, MO 63105. The claim must include the following information: (1) the amount claimed; (2) the legal basis for the claim; and (3) contact information for the claimant, including email and mailing addresses. The claim must also include a copy of any documents on which the claimant relies in support of their claim

PUBLIC NOTICE

The City of Wellston, Mo., will hold a public meeting on Wednesday, October 7, 2020 at 6:00 pm at Wellston City Hall, located at 1414 Evergreen Ave., on the following proposition, to-wit: To purchase by Exodus Reentry Villages, Inc. Central Elementary School, located at 6328 Ella Ave., for the purpose of establishing an RRC (Residential Relief Center) in cooperation with the United States Probation Office for the Eastern District of Missouri that would house federal releases/ reentrants in a supervised educational/training facility whose counselors and staff will support reentrants in entering the metropolitan area job market. Citizens will have an opportunity to be heard. Anyone with special needs should contact the City Administrator at least five days prior to said public hearing by calling 314-553-8001.

PUBLIC NOTICE

Carondelet Leadership Academy [Charter-Holder], a Missouri non-profit corporation, has filed Articles of Dissolution with the Missouri Secretary of State. Any person holding a claim against the corporation must submit their claim in writing within two years after the date of publication of this notice; otherwise, the claim will be barred. All claims must be sent to:

Joe Jacobson, Esq., Jacobson Press P.C., 222 S. Central Ave., Suite 550, Clayton, MO 63105. The claim must include the following information: (1) the amount claimed; (2) the legal basis for the claim; and (3) contact information for the claimant, including email and mailing addresses. The claim must also include a copy of any documents on which the claimant relies in support of their claim.

REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS

Vanstar has been selected as the GC for the historic renovation of 1800 Washington Ave. The project consists of a 5 story renovation creating 72 apartments. We are requesting proposals for design/ build HVAC, Plumbing, Electric, and Fire sprinklers by 10/20/2020 at 10 a.m. Other scopes will be bidding at a later time when construction documents are complete. This project will have business and workforce participation requirements per Ordinances 70767 and 71094. All prospective bidders, must register with Erin Hugeback ehugeback@vanstarconstruction.com to receive prequalification form and drawings.

NOTICE TO CONTRACTORS

Sealed bids for the Longview Drive Bridge No. 511-C and Partridge Farm Estates Concrete Replacement, St. Louis County Project Nos. CR-1511/ CR-1832, will be received electronically thru the County’s Vendor Self Service portal at https://self-service.stlouisco.com/ MSS/Vendors, until 11:00 a.m. on October 28, 2020

Plans and specifications will be available on September 28, 2020 from the St. Louis County Web Site (www. stlouiscountymo.gov) or by contacting Cross Rhodes Print & Technologies, 2731 South Jefferson Avenue, St. Louis, MO 63118 (314) 678-0087.

CITY OF ST. LOUIS ST. LOUIS LAMBERT INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT

Solicitation For Bids (SFB) for CHAIR UPHOLSTERY SERVICES

Bids Wanted

Bid documents may be obtained at St. Louis Lambert International Airport, Airport Properties Division, Monday through Friday between 8:30 a.m. and 5:00 p.m., or by calling (314) 890-1802. This SFB may also be obtained by visiting our website at www.flystl.com/business/ contract-opportunites

Robert Salarano Airport Properties Division Manager

REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS

The Metropolitan Zoological Park and Museum District Board has authorized its management to secure proposals for banking services. The deadline for response is October 28, 2020 at 4:30 p.m. For more information or to secure a detailed proposal package, please contact: J. Patrick Dougherty, Executive Director Metropolitan Zoological Park and Museum District 314 862 4222 pdougherty@zmdstl.org

CITY OF ST. LOUIS ST. LOUIS LAMBERT INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT

Solicitation For Bids

REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS

The St. Louis Economic Development Partnership (the “Partnership”) solicits proposals from qualified firms to provide website development services for the Partnership’s website. A copy of the complete RFP is available at https://stlpartnership.com/rfprfq/. DBE, MBE, and WBE consultants are encouraged to bid, and a five percent bid preference may be available to certified MBE firms. To be considered, proposals must be received no later than 3PM CST on Thursday, October 8, 2020. St. Louis Economic Development Partnership Equal Opportunity Employer

REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS FOR A PHYSICAL NEEDS ASSESSMENT AND ENERGY AUDIT

SOLICITATION NO. RD 20-04 SLHA Public Housing Units – 2,790

The St. Louis Housing Authority (SLHA) invites proposals for a Physical Needs Assessment and Energy Audit of the SLHA’s public housing units. Solicitation documents will be available Monday, September 28, 2020 at https://www.slha.org/for-partners/vendors/ or at www.questcdn.com under Login using QuestCDN #7338392. Contact QuestCDN.com at 952-233-1632 or info@questcdn.com for assistance in membership registration, downloading this digital project information and online submittal of your proposal.

A Pre-Proposal conference will be held Wednesday, October 14, 2020 at 10:00 a.m. via ZOOM https:// us02web.zoom.us/j/84439424637, 1-312-626-6799, Meeting ID: 844 3942 4637, Passcode: 462367. SLHA will receive sealed proposals for this service until 3:00 p.m. (CST), on November 5, 2020.

Krista S. Peyton Contracting Officer AN EQUAL OPPORTUNITY EMPLOYER

‘My dad was everything a father should be’

His daughter remembers Wayman F. Smith III

By Kymberly Smith Jackson For The St. Louis American

When telling me that my father was a “born diplomat,” my grandmother, Edythe Meaux Smith, shared the story of his birthday party when he was only 7 or 8 years old. In those days the birthday host would, apparently, stand by their front door to greet their guests and then receive and open their gifts.

Unsurprisingly, in the 1940s, there weren’t endless gift options – especially in the Black community – so several people gifted my dad the exact same pair of blue-striped pajamas.

My grandmother said that, instead of expressing any disappointment, each time my father received and opened yet another pair of those blue-striped pajamas, he’d address his guest with appreciation and tell them, “Thank you, this is exactly what I wanted.”

My grandmother said that my dad knew what to say – and what not to say – that she never had to worry - that he knew how to make people feel connected, feel valued. Whenever she told that story, I had the sense that she learned lessons from my father, as much as we all have.

When I think of my father, Wayman Flynn Smith, I too think of a diplomatic and selfdetermined man, yet neither of these concepts – diplomacy nor self-determination – fully captures how my father lived his life.

Few of you have ever seen my father mad, and even fewer still have ever heard him complain about anything. My father had an innate and majestic sense of grace and possibility.

A kind of grace that – in this world – is often mistaken for blindness. Yet, to the contrary, my father had extremely clear vision. He saw and understood – with mathematical precision – how this world works, and he saw the people in this world for what and who we are, at our best and at our worst, and no matter how common the experience or the behavior, my father chose, over and over again, to focus on the best in each of us and to embody positive change.

My earliest memories of my dad take me back to our home on Windermere Place. He went through this sweet Dick Van Dyke/Nat King Cole phase - where he’d put on a smoking jacket, retire to the living room, smoke one of the pipes he’d inherited from his father, and read the evening paper. Each evening I’d crawl up on to his lap, and he’d open the “funny papers,” he’d patiently read each comic strip to me – Blondie & Dagwood, The Peanuts, Beetle Bailey – and we’d laugh and laugh. Being only 4 years old or so, I had no idea of what any of these comic strips meant, but he’d laugh, so, I’d laugh, and it was perfect. When I was a little older, he invited me to his sacred Saturday ritual. On Saturdays when he wasn’t hanging out with Julius Hunter, Gus Stuart, his brother Christopher, or Mike and Steve Roberts, his Saturdays were spent visiting my grandmother and his aunt, Thelma Meaux (who’d inherited his grandparents’ home

on Northland Place); taking his cars to the hand car wash on Delmar and Kingshighway; dropping-off and picking up his shoes from the House of Good Care; lunching at O.T. Hodges Chili; and then visiting various car lots, pawn shops and jewelry stores. He never met a stranger, and everyone was happy to see him wherever he went. As we drove around the city, and when I wasn’t talking his head off, he’d tell me jokes and educate me about jazz music.

One of the best educations my father gave me was his including me, in attending award dinners, political and non-profit events with him - even at a very young age. Not only did I learn etiquette, social skills, table manners, and patience, I received a one-of-akind “keynote address education.” Learning about politics, social responsibility, civic responsibility, and cultural history from community legends like Maynard Jackson, Andrew Young, Damon Keith, Bill Clay Sr., Wm. Lacy Clay, Henry Givens Jr., John Lewis, Elijah Cummings, Maxine Waters, Earl Wilson, Ida Woolfolk, Frankie Freeman, Margaret Bush Wilson, Janet Reno, Percy Green and countless others. This helped me fill the gaps in my own formal education and connect my personal experiences with our community, and with this world, more holistically and realistically. I learned from people who represent resilience and who overcame the worst of odds, whose passion and sense of responsibility were infectious. People who helped make concrete my sense of accountability and earned trust. I always felt welcome in my father’s world. He’d let me play

with his shaving cream to make snow-covered mountains. He’d let me play office at his desk and rearrange all of his papers

he’d send the latest copies of Jet Magazine and the St. Louis Evening Whirl

Top Left: My dad & me during his visit with us in Annapolis, MD (2018)

Top right: E. V. M. Jackson with her grandfather at the Martin Luther King Jr., Memorial in Washington, D.C. (2013)

Left: My father being laid to rest with our Meaux family. St. Peter’s Cememetary, St. Louis, MO (2020).

a rescue dog – into a restaurant in East St. Louis, to have an impromptu lunch with Mayor Carl E. Officer.

fidant. He was my advocate. My friends were his friends, my foes were his foes, my loss was his loss, my wins were his wins. When I was scared, he was scared. When I was happy, he was happy. And when my heart was broken into hundreds of little pieces, he’d say, “See, I told you so.” (Smile) I miss my father terribly. I miss the sound of his voice and his wickedly intelligent sense of humor. I miss his infectious energy. I miss hearing Chuck call him “Big Smith.” I miss him calling me KymmyKymmy-Coco-Pop. I miss watching him shine his shoes

Chuck was in the midst of moving to St. Louis when our daughter was born, so my dad became very protective of us. The first time I woke up to properly meet my daughter, I looked over, and my father had already arranged to have a sleeping cot put in my hospital

n My father believed in doing the work, and he believed in solidarity. And no matter how lonely or perilous it was, my father believed in taking the high road.

When he was a judge, he’d let me sit in his chair in the courthouse. And, when he was on the Board of Alderman, I’d sit in his chair there. Other times, he just let me tag along. Later, when I started to live with my dad full-time, he became my Mr. Mom in addition to his role as my dad.

When I first went to live with him, the refrigerator held two things: a can of mixed nuts and diet coke. But he figured it out and he quickly made the necessary adjustments to ensure my sense of security and comfort, ensure my opportunity for success, and to invest in the value and importance of fun. If I needed to go to his office to do my homework, I did it; if he had to work late and we needed to do my homework at Talayna’s while catching dinner, we did that; and if I did not have any homework, and it was during the baseball season, we’d dinner at Busch Stadium on bratwurst and Cracker Jacks.

When I was away at Georgetown, hardly two weeks went by when he didn’t come to town, to check on me. He always made sure that I had flowers on my birthday and Valentine’s Day.

His care packages were the best. He’d send me money, food, but, even better than that,

room, just in case I needed him.

My father introduced me to his love for theatre. First at the Muny Opera in Forest Park and later on Broadway. Much to the distress of his nerves, he made sure that “his daughter” knew how to drive a stick-shift car. And, when I was sick, he’d buy every cold remedy on the market to help me feel better.

When I took my first business trip to Nigeria, my father entirely rearranged his own business trip to South Africa, just so that we could meet in London for one night and have dinner at his favorite restaurant.

My father never missed one of my birthdays, and he flew in to celebrate with me when I closed on my first home.

I have so many meaningful memories of my father: drinking chocolate malts at Velvet Freeze, eating BLTs at Crown Candy, buying records at Peaches record store on Hampton Avenue, and celebrating the 4th of July at the VP Fair and airshow. He and I once sneaked my dog Mo – who was

My dad would take me on the best birthday trips. He introduced me to James Bond movies at the Esquire Theatre (#4 was the best), and we’d take endless late-night trips to Walgreens and Steak n’ Shake.

I remember him driving my friends and me to and from Rosati Kain and Nerinx Hall dances; backstage passes at the Budweiser Superfest; inviting me on to the set at the Lou Rawls Parade of Stars; Venice Beach; Olvera Street; the United States Supreme Court; deep and funny conversations with him in his kitchen – big or small - he made all experiences memorable, educational and fun.

There was never a time when I was with my father that I did not have what I needed, when he wasn’t teaching me something, or when he wasn’t effortlessly generous.

Yet my dad never let me off the hook nor find comfort in mediocrity, and eventually – e v e n t u a l l y – I became so thankful for that, because as he suspected, it forced me to learn how to meet and even exceed his expectations of me, expectations that pulled me out of my comfort zone and into the best version of myself.

My dad was everything a father should be: a protector, a role model, a provider, a con-

My dad was proud of this city. And he was proud of each and every one of you. As a dear friend of mine so aptly described, my father “wanted more for people than from people.” Often humble about his own triumphs, he constantly celebrated the accomplishments and successes of others, even the wins of those who weren’t always kind to him. He lived his values, and his values transcended any one experience or any one person. My father believed in people. He believed in this world. He believed that we can disagree without being disagreeable. That we have to fight, relentlessly, for things in which we believe – he believed that power is taken, not given. My father believed in and loved the Law, and he knew how to use it to force positive change. He was willing to make sacrifices knowing he’d likely not reap the reward – because he knew that change takes time, and positive change, even longer. My father believed in believed in democracy. In civic responsibility and service. My father believed in the strength of the Black community. He passionately believed in the importance of education and the unparalleled power of voting. My father believed in doing the work, and he believed in solidarity. And no matter how lonely or perilous it was, my father believed in taking the high road.

As heartbreaking as it is to let him go, I truly believe he’s found profound peace. When I look at my daughter, I can trace her strength and her smile directly back to my father. And then I smile, knowing that she is imminently capable of carrying my father’s legacy into the future.

I hope that you will always remember my father, that you will hold on to the positive experiences you had with him, the lessons you learned from him, and that each of you will pay it forward, that you will embody his best qualities for others.

The most wonderful way you could honor my father’s life is to be the best and most productive you that you can be and to help others do the same – to lift each other up and to want the best for each other without reservation or envy.

My father being taken to his final resting place (2020)

My uncle Christopher Meaux Sr., my grandmother Edythe Meaux Smith and my dad (1950).

Helping Make Homeownership Happen!

Sellers need proof for COVID treatment claims

By Colleen Tressler Consumer Education Specialist, FTC

As part of its ongoing efforts to protect consumers from sellers of scam COVID19 treatments, the FTC has sent 20 more warning letters to compa nies that claim their products can prevent, treat or cure the COVID-19. Claims for zappers, virusbusting cards, sage, oregano, and bay leaves are among the representations called into question in the latest round of warning letters.

Like the hundreds of other warning letters the FTC has sent to other companies, these letters require the sellers to notify the FTC within 48 hours of the specific actions they have taken to address the agency’s concerns. The FTC will follow up with companies that fail to make adequate corrections. The good news: in nearly all cases so far, those who get the letters have stopped

making the false claims or selling the scam product or treatment.

When it comes to the fight against the Coronavirus, knowing the facts will help. Here are tips to follow and share with

Always talk with your doctor or another healthcare professional before you try any product claiming to treat, cure, or prevent COVID-19.

Head to CDC.gov for clear and concise information on COVID-19. In addition, visit the FDA’s Resources page to find out about treatments in develop-

Learn more about scams related to COVID-19 by visiting ftc.gov/coronavirus and subscribing to Consumer Alerts from the FTC.

If you find a product that claims to prevent, treat, or cure COVID-19, report it to the FTC at ftc.gov/complaint.

Colleen Tressler is a Consumer Education Specialist for the FTC.

Warning: unemployment benefit scams during COVID-19

The St. Louis Consumer Fraud Task Force (CFTF) warns area consumers to be wary of unemployment benefit scams during the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. Officials in several states report scammers are filing fraudulent unemployment benefit claims in the names of unsuspecting consumers.

The Illinois Department of Employment Security reported more than 120,000 cases of unemployment fraud since March 2020. Scammers use personal identifying information to apply for unemployment benefits. Consumers report receiving unemployment insurance debit cards in the mail even though they didn’t apply for benefits.

The Task Force, formed in October 2002, is a coalition of local, state and federal government agencies and nonprofit business and consumer groups in Missouri and Illinois that work together to protect consumer and donor rights and guard against fraud.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, the Task Force has met on a monthly basis to share information in an attempt to keep consumers safe.

The group has tackled predatory payday

loan offers, tax scams, timeshare fraud, credit repair and foreclosure scams, bogus sweepstakes, internet sweetheart scams, phony grant scams, home remodeling, elder fraud, payment scams and a variety of other issues.

To obtain information, or to report a scam, contact members of the Task Force: Better Business Bureau Serving Eastern and Southwest Missouri and Southern Illinois – (888) 996-3887; bbb.org

Federal Trade Commission – (877) FTCHELP (382-4357); ftc.gov

Federal Bureau of Investigations – (314) 589-2500

Illinois Attorney General – (800) 2430618; illinoisattorneygeneral.gov

Illinois Secretary of State – Securities Department - 800-628-7937

Missouri Attorney General – (800) 3928222; ago.mo.gov

St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department – (314) 231-1212; slmpd.org

U.S. Attorney, Eastern District of Missouri – (314) 539-2200; usdoj.gov/usao/moe

U.S. Postal Inspection Service – (877) 876-2455; postalinspectors.uspis.gov

U.S. Secret Service – (314) 539-2238

Cash prizes for creative arts competition

Did you know that people with bad credit may pay over $200,000 more for things over a lifetime? The good news about credit is that there are steps you can take right now to improve your score!

St. Louis Regional Financial Empowerment Coalition and its partners are celebrating Credit Awareness Month in October by organizing FREE on-line classes and events for residents in the St. Louis metro area. These events are specially designed to educate you about sound budgeting and finance principles that will guide you through your journey to build your credit!

Please visit the Money Smart St. Louis calendar on our website for more information. The calendar will continue to be updated throughout Credit Awareness Month and throughout the year as more financial education learning opportunities become available – so be sure to bookmark the site.

Don’t miss out on this opportunity to learn more about how your credit impacts you! Plan to attend a free class! There is something for everyone. All events are free, educational, and involve no sales pitch. You can also follow us

on Facebook and Twitter to get more credit tips and tools.

In support of Credit Awareness Month, the St. Louis Regional Financial Empowerment Coalition, a collaborative of local financial institutions, non-profits and community organizations, is sponsoring the Creative Arts Contest. Click

here to download the Community Arts Contest flyer. Students in grades 6-8 are encouraged to answer this year’s Credit Awareness Month question with a 1-minute original song and accompanying video. MP4 files are preferred.

2020 Credit Awareness Question: This is an unprecedented time for students and

families throughout America. In our lifetime, there has been no other global health pandemic that has created the disruption concerning the way we live for such a lengthy period.

Please, address how the pandemic affected families financially and what families need to do differently concerning their finances and credit to better prepare for the possible second wave. In addition to addressing the issues of family finances and credit, you may select one of the following topics as you respond to the question: schools, socializing, healthcare, or social justice reform.

Download the 2020 Creative Arts Contest Application. at http://www. moneysmartstlouis.org/wp-content/ uploads/2020/09/CAC-ApplicationFINAL-WITH-QUESTION-9-24.docx.

Winners will receive the following awards: First place $750; Second place $500; Third place $250. Additional prizes will be awarded to the other two finalists.

For questions regarding the Creative Arts Contest, please email contest@moneysmartstlouis.org.

Money Wise

How to make every day savings day

By Pier Yvette Alsup

Together Credit Union

National Savings Day is just around the corner. It is “celebrated” each year on October 12th to recognize the value of saving and highlight simple steps to making saving easier!

When you think about it, most of us are savers … we save family recipes and heirlooms, flowers from special occasions, school photos, concert ticket stubs and sporting event programs, and birthday cards. We even save locks of hair from our children’s first haircut! Saving is innate to each of us, so how can we transfer this habit to money? Following are a few tips to make saving easier:

Save with a Plan

Having a budget helps encourage saving. Start your budget plan with the 50-30-20 rule. This rule allows for spending 50% of your income on your needs (the things you can’t do without, such as groceries, housing, utilities, insurance and transportation). Additionally, spending 30% of your income on your wants (the things that are flexible, such as cable and streaming services, lawn care, vacation travel and entertainment). And, finally spending 20% of your income on savings

LET’S TALK ABOUT

COMMUNITY IMPACT.

Beyond Housing is a St. Louis-based nonprofit organization that sought to build a high-quality affordable housing development in Pine Lawn. Enterprise’s Tax Credit Services team kept costs in line with the development goals, and helped make the Pine Lawn Manor single-family housing development a reality.

Read Mary Harris’s story in our Community Impact Report to learn how Enterprise Bank & Trust makes a real impact in the community at enterprisebank.com/impact

and debt repayment.

Save Automatically

Just putting $25 away weekly will give you $1300 in savings within a year! And, that’s a great start to creating an emergency fund. This pandemic has taught us a lot, including the benefit of saving for

the unexpected.

Save Consistently

You can save daily simply by keeping your change … it is simple and easy with a “change jar.” You’ll be surprised how quickly the jar fills up and ADDS UP!

Save As a Family

When you have a family, sometimes it may seem there is never enough money to go around. Saving as a family – when everyone in your household understands what and why you are saving – not only teaches your children the importance of saving, it is less likely your efforts will be pushed aside. Best of all, when you reach your savings goals, everyone celebrates!

For more information on savings and personal finance, visit the Together Credit Union website at www.togethercu. org. The Credit Union and the Together Foundation also offer a variety of financial education and empowerment programs including hosting workshops on saving and money management. For more information on the Foundation, please contact Pier Yvette Alsup at palsup@togethercu.org.

Pier Yvette Alsup is Chief Community Engagement Officer at Together Credit Union.

Pier Yvette Alsup

St. Johns Bank offers Christmas Club and Much More

For people who want an easy and automatic way to save, a St. Johns Bank Christmas Club account is a good option. Savings deposits are made automatically from an existing St. Johns Bank checking account. Once the account is set up, you do not have to think about it again until you get your annual direct deposit on Oct. 31. There is a $10 minimum contribution per deposit period, and additional in-person deposits can be made at any time.

That annual deposit comes at an especially good time of year. Of course you can use the money for holiday shopping but it can also be used for real estate taxes, personal property taxes or sprucing up your home for those holiday gatherings.

If you are thinking of home ownership, you could also roll the proceeds into a Homebuyer’s CD. With this CD, you make regular contributions and then qualify for a $300 credit toward closing costs when you finance your home with St. Johns Bank.

St. Johns Bank also offers checking accounts that can provide added benefits like cell phone insurance, roadside assistance, discounts with local businesses, discounts on vision, pharmacy and hearing services, ID theft aid and travel accidental death coverage. Cell phone insurance, roadside assistance and personal identity theft benefits are subject to terms and conditions. The insurance products are not a deposit, not FDICinsured by any federal government agency and not guaranteed by the bank.

These are just a few of the many ways St. Johns Bank can help you live a smarter financial life.

Founded in 1926, St. Johns Bank is a locally owned, community bank with five locations in St. Louis and St. Charles counties, serving the entire metropolitan St. Louis area. For information on the bank or our services, please call (314) 428-1000 or visit www.stjohnsbank.com.

START PLANNING FOR 2021

Those free COVID-19 money offers on WhatsApp and Facebook are scams

By Diana Shiller Of The FTC

Have you seen a message on WhatsApp or Facebook offering you free help during the pandemic? People have reported seeing messages that seem to be from Pepsi, Walmart, Whole Foods, Target, and other big-name brands. These messages all offer money to people who need it — through grants, coupons for food support, or other giveaways.

But they’re all fake, and not from those companies at all.

You might get this kind of message, in English or Spanish, from a friend or contact. The message tells you to click a link to get your money. If you click, you might find a survey to take. Or they might ask you to enter your name,

address, phone number, or other information. And they might ask you to forward the message to several friends to be eligible to collect.

But what these message are really doing is running a phishing scam to collect your information (and your friends’ info), and possibly putting malware on your phone, tablet, or computer if you click the link. There’s no money to get, and no help to be had. Just scammers. It could have been a real (and hopeful) friend who forwarded that message to you – but it could have been a scammer who hacked your friend’s account.

So: what do you do if you get one of these messages?

Don’t click on any links. That could download malware, expose you to

even more scams, or add your phone number to lists sold to still other scammers.

Delete the messages –and certainly don’t share them.

Call the friend who shared the message. Did they forward it to you? If not, tell them their account might have been hacked. If so, share this blog post with them.

If you already clicked or shared, run a security scan on your device to look for malware. And then share this blog post with the friends you forwarded the message to – and ask them to do the same.

And then tell the FTC: ftc.gov/complaint.

Diana Shiller is an Investigator in the Division of Marketing Practices for the FTC.

Spire shares tips to help customers save energy and money

By Raegan Johnson For The St. Louis American

With the fall season underway, Spire is providing energy saving tips to help families stay warm while lowering their energy bills. Overall, choosing natural gas appliances and making adjustments to a home or business, can help customers save hundreds of dollars, improve energy efficiency and support the environment.

According to the American Gas Association, the direct use of natural gas achieves 92% efficiency and cuts carbon emissions nearly in half. Spire recommends simple ways customers can manage their natural gas usage and save money:

• Open curtains on south-facing windows during the day to let the sunlight heat the home

• Close windows at night to reduce the incoming cold from any drafty windows

• Set the thermostat back 10 to 15 degrees for eight hours a day to help save, on average, $10 for every $100 spent

More energy saving tips are available at spireenergy. com/tips-using-energy-wisely-aka-30-hottips.

To support customers, Spire also offers rebates and energy-assistance, including a residential rebate program, fixed-charge assistance program, DollarHelp and weatherization.

“Our energy efficiency program is a win in many

ways,” said Shaylyn Dean, manager of energy efficiency at Spire. “It’s a win for our customers who save energy and money, it’s a win for our planet since natural gas is clean burning, and it’s a win for us because it helps us accomplish our business and environmental goals.”

The weatherization program helps fixed or limitedincome customers increase the energy efficiency of their homes, which can help them reduce fuel usage annually

Shaylyn Dean is the Manager of Energy Efficiency at Spire.

by an average of 35 percent. Spire offers this program at no cost.

“When my family went down to one income, I decided to apply for weatherization,” said Spire customer Stephen Grindle. “Since participating in the program, we have saved money each year. Knowing that my home is up to current efficiency standards and positively impacts the environment, truly gives me peace of mind.”

day.

St. LouiS AmericAn

McCloskeys indicted

Notorious attorneys will plead not guilty to exhibiting weapons, tampering with evidence

By Chris King Of The St. Louis American

Mark McCloskey and Patricia McCloskey will be arraigned on Wednesday, October 14 after being indicted by a St. Louis grand jury for exhibiting a weapon and tampering with evidence, their attorney, Joel Schwartz, told The St. Louis American Schwartz told The American that they will plead not guilty. In a case that will hinge, in part, on what is public and what is private, the nationally publicized McCloskeys’ fate turned on the public yet entirely secret proceedings of a grand jury. Even defense attorneys are not allowed before a grand jury. Apparently, the grand jury was not persuaded

By Sylvester Brown Jr.

Photo by Bill Greenblatt/UPI

By Chris King

Of The St. Louis American

Photo by Wiley Price

Photo by Wiley Price

Celebrity couples welcome new babies

Several celebrity couples recently announced new additions to their families.

Kevin Hart and wife recently welcomed their second child together, a girl, Kaori Mai Hart Hart family includes 2-year-old and 15-year-old daughter 12-year-old son Hendrix, his ex-wife, Torrei Nicki Minaj and husband “Zoo” Petty celebrate the birth of her first child, born last week in L.A. No word on yet the gender or name. Childish Gambino and artist Donald Glover revealed his third son with longtime love Michelle White was born recently

The “Atlanta” star revealed the new baby news during a British GQ interview with “I May Destroy You” actress Michaela

Coel. He said the new baby is named Donald after his father, who passed away recently.

Gabrielle Union and NBC settle

Former “America’s Got Talent” judge

Gabrielle Union and NBC reached an “amicable resolution” to her harassment complaint against the show’s producers. A joint statement attributed to Union and NBC as reported by The Root: “We’ve reached an amicable resolution. NBC Entertainment appreciates the important concerns raised by Gabrielle Union and remains committed to ensuring an inclusive and supportive working environment where people of all backgrounds can be treated with respect.”

In June, Union had filed EEOC complaint, citing, harassment, discrimination and retaliation following her boot from the show in 2019 after one season.

Ananda Lewis is fighting breast cancer

Prayers and positive energy go to former BET “Teen Summit” host and MTV veejay Ananda Lewis, who revealed for the past two years,

she has been battling stage 3 breast cancer. She made the announcement on Instagram at the October start of Breast Cancer Awareness month. As reported in VIBE, Lewis posted, “If I had done the mammograms from the time they were recommended when I turned 40, they would’ve caught the tumor in my breast years before I caught it through my own self-exam and thermography. And they would have caught it at a place where it was more manageable.” Lewis is now 47. “Instead, what I’m dealing with is stage 3 breast cancer that is in my lymphs. I need you to get your mammograms.”

Dr. Dre divorce drama continues

One win for Dr. Dre in his pending divorce case filed by wife Nicole Young. As TMZ reported, the judge rejected her request for $1.5 million for various expenses, including security, because she claims to be getting death threats. The judge also gave an ixnay on her request to accelerate her claim that Dre should pay $5 million to cover her lawyer’s fees and other costs. TMZ reported that Dre’s lawyer, Laura Wasser told the judge Dre is still willing to pay all of his wife’s expenses pending the divorce, including security. TMZ said the judge ordered that Young could select a private security company for her personal protection, but it cannot cost more than Dre was paying.

Thomas Jefferson Byrd killed in Atlanta

Tony nominated actor Thomas Jefferson Byrd was gunned down in Atlanta on Saturday, Oct. 3. He was 70 years old. Homicide police are investigating. Byrd appeared in several Spike Lee films. including “Clockers,” “Get on the Bus,” “Bamboozled,” “He Got Game,” “Red Hook Summer,” “ChiRaq” and others. Byrd was also a successful theater actor, nominated for Broadway’s 2003 Tony Award as Best Actor for a revival of August Wilson’s “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom.

Johnny Nash dies at age 80

The “I Can See Clearly Now” 1972 Billboard Hot 100 chart topper, singersongwriter Johnny Nash died at age 80 at his home in his native city of Houston. He had been in declining health recently. As Fox26 reported, Nash was also known for reggae music and was one the first non-Jamaican singers to record reggae in Kingston, Jamaica. Nash is survived by his wife Carli and son, Johnny

Sources: BuzzFeed, Fox26, GQ, Instagram,

Thomas Jefferson Byrd

Survivors of domestic violence deserve to be counted

Census poses special challenges for vulnerable groups

By Shireen Roy, Drishti Sinha and JP Cerini For The St. Louis American

The U.S. Census Bureau announced in early August that it would halt counting on September 30, a month earlier than originally planned, potentially leaving many Americans uncounted. However, on September 24, a federal judge announced that national counting should continue through October 31, and the Trump administration will be appealing this decision.

The census, a decennial operation that counts the number of people in every household in the country, has faced a number of obstacles in the current sociopolitical environment, with uncertainty of the deadline being the most recent. One group in particular faces even greater barriers to participating in the 2020 census: survivors of domestic violence.

Partner Violence Survivor Advocacy team at LouHealth, a public health advocacy group at Washington University in St. Louis, we are deeply concerned about the barriers that survivors face in responding to the 2020 U.S. Census. In a year when a global pandemic has exacerbated domestic violence both nationally and in St. Louis, it is imperative that survivors in our community are counted to ensure that the life-saving services they need are funded.

As members of the Intimate

Despite the Census Bureau’s strict confidentiality laws, sharing a residence or being in contact with an abusive partner presents difficulties in filling out the census without the abuser seeing personal information. Additionally, abusers could bar survivors from completing the census to exert power and control. Particularly, undocumented survivors face several unique forms of oppression and barriers to completing the census. Abusers of these individuals often use their

immigration status as a way to maintain control of the survivor through threats of ousting that instill fear. Many survivors may worry that Immigrations and Customs Enforcement will access the information they provide to the Census Bureau. This threat may succeed in frightening undocumented survivors from participating in the census altogether. Survivors in domestic violence shelters also face unique barriers. In a shelter setting, survivors may be unsure that the information they provide will be confidential. Survivors

in shelters already have a myriad of worries: their safety, their children’s safety, financial security, and finding permanent housing. Responding to the census, especially when they are not confident in the privacy of their data, may fall to the wayside.

Domestic violence shelters had the option to opt in to a specialized census process last year, wherein they would be contacted by a census worker with specialized training. The shelters that did not opt-in to this process received a single form as if they were a single-

family household. Shelters were then responsible for ensuring that survivors’ information remains confidential. If shelters did not respond, a worker was required to go to the shelter, and shelters could then disclose that they needed a worker with specialized training. This process creates distrust between census workers, shelter staff, and survivors, despite confidentiality laws. Domestic violence shelters’ addresses are purposefully undisclosed and kept extremely confidential to protect the safety of their residents. A census worker show-

ing up unannounced to the shelter creates fear and uncertainty about the continuation of this confidentiality. Shelter workers may not trust census workers to maintain the confidentiality of the undisclosed shelter location. Additionally, survivors may distrust the shelter’s ability to complete the census in a private manner. The census determines how much federal funding communities receive for services such as healthcare, education, housing, and infrastructure. It determines the number of congressional representatives each state can elect to the House and the boundaries of both legislative and school districts. The census, in other words, is crucial to the well-being of the communities being counted. If these communities are not accurately reflected, the crucial services they need will not be funded. When survivors of domestic violence are disempowered from responding to the census, this hurts survivors and our community as a whole. As student advocates, we have a responsibility to highlight the barriers that survivors of domestic violence face in being counted and to push for their right to be counted by the census. There must be systemic protection, and dissemination of knowledge regarding these protections, to empower survivors to be counted.

Shireen Roy and Drishti Sinha are medical students at Washington University in St. Louis School of Medicine. J.P. is an undergraduate student at Washington University in St. Louis. All three authors are members of LouHealth, a student-run public health advocacy group at Washington University in St. Louis.

Guest Columnist Shireen Roy

Guest Columnist

Drishti Sinha

Guest Columnist JP Cerini

Particularly, undocumented survivors face several unique forms of oppression and barriers to completing the census.

Editorial / CommEntary

The St. Louis American endorses Jill Schupp for Congress

Comparing primary vote totals is not always a reliable indicator of the outcome in a general election, because Democrats will tell you that Republicans tend to get better voter turnout in primaries. Yinka Faleti, the Democratic candidate for Missouri secretary of state, made this claim to downplay the fact that Republican incumbent John “Jay” Ashcroft tallied nearly 150,000 more votes than Faleti in the August 4 primary, when both ran unopposed. This means, however, that a Democratic candidate in Missouri who does better in her primary than her Republican opponent – particularly when the Republican is the incumbent – clearly has a very strong chance of winning the general election. That is the case with Jill Schupp.

Schupp is running for Missouri’s 2nd Congressional District seat as a Democrat against Republican incumbent Ann Wagner. On primary night, Schupp tallied 103,164 votes to Wagner’s 63,686, a whopping margin of nearly 40,000 votes; both ran unopposed. (A U.S. Navy veteran named Martin Schulte, running unopposed in the Libertarian primary, garnered 737 votes.) Those numbers make Schupp one of Democrats’ brightest prospects for flipping a congressional seat in Missouri or indeed in the United States in 2020. It would not be the first time she felled a formidable Republican with much better name recognition. She won the open 24th District state Senate in 2014 running against none other than Ashcroft, who would go on to win statewide as secretary of state two years later.

tionately impact Black Americans, quality health care that people can afford is more critical than ever. While her Republican opponent has voted repeatedly against the Affordable Care Act and would jeopardize coverage for those with preexisting conditions, Schupp’s defense of these health care protections is especially critical considering COVID-19 may one day be considered a pre-existing condition.

Throughout her time in public office (which also includes the state House of Representatives, Creve Coeur City Council and Ladue School Board), Schupp has demonstrated a willingness to listen to her constituents and be accountable. Wagner, on the other hand, has ignored the people in her district for years; the grassroots Indivisible movement formed in response to Trump’s presidency tried for more than a year to get Wagner to host a town hall meeting without success. Wagner, in fact, has not held a public in-person town hall since being elected in 2012. Schupp has pledged to host in-person town halls if elected to Congress. Schupp has challenged Wagner to a debate; the Republican has not accepted the challenge.

As I See It - A Forum for Community Issues

Here’s how to fight back against voter intimidation

By Gilda Daniels For The St. Louis American

For Black Americans, the polling station has long been a militarized space, guarded by the violence and intimidation of white supremacists. After the Civil War when freemen began amassing political power in state legislatures across the country and the Confederacy, whites used murder, rape, lynching and other forms of violence to discourage freeman from voting.

Today, conservatives are organizing another network of vote intimidators for the November election, a network that could disenfranchise millions of voters of color. As voter registration deadlines approach across the country, states must address the potential for intimidation at polling sites to ensure that all voters can safely vote in a free, fair and non-discriminatory election.

law. But it wasn’t always so.

Whites – both vigilantes and those with legal authority –used voter intimidation to block access to the voting booth.

“People in this district are ready for change,” Schupp told us, to explain the huge advantage she showed over Wagner in their respective primary elections. “I think this primary night is a perfect example of how fired up people in this community are about electing a member of Congress who will actually show up, listen, and work for them. Especially as the COVID-19 crisis continues and people are concerned about health care coverage and the cost of prescription drugs, people are eager for a representative who is responsive to their needs.”

Schupp has made access to health care a centerpiece of her campaign, and Wagner’s voting record handed her that issue. As COVID-19 continues to spread across Missouri and dispropor-

While in the state Legislature, Schupp has earned a reputation for working across the aisle to solve problems, from ending surprise billing in emergency rooms, to ensuring every hospital has a rape kit. Unlike her opponent, Schupp has pledged to pursue police reform and to address the root causes of poverty and violence, and she recognizes that our nation must address systemic inequality and racism. Wagner, on the other hand, has stayed hidden behind this disastrous president and his divisive messages. “The president’s speech tonight detailed the incredible accomplishments America has achieved in the last year,” Wagner gushed after Trump’s State of the Union address on February 4. “President Trump has said he would get to work for America, and tonight he told us all how he has kept that promise.”

The voters of the Second Congressional District are ready for change. They are ready to leave behind this destructive president, and they need a congresswoman who is going to be responsive to their needs. The St. Louis American strongly endorses JILL SCHUPP FOR CONGRESS

As I See It - A Forum for Community Issues

Census

is

the key to resources and representation for Black communities

By Katherine Fenerson and Sarah Martin

The St. Louis American

For

Black communities in St. Louis are in danger of being undercounted in the 2020 Census. Only 53% of people in St. Louis have completed the census so far, and the neighborhoods that are at the highest risk for undercounts are majority-black and concentrated on the northside. Political representation and access to resources for vital public services depend on census data. When our representation is weakened by an undercount, our power is diminished. We must work together to ensure everyone is counted before it’s too late. Every 10 years, everyone who lives in the United States is asked to complete the census. This data becomes the basis of how billions of dollars are allocated annually to states and localities over the next decade. The data from the census also informs how legislative maps are drawn for Congress, and our state and local legislative bodies. Historically Black communities are undercounted in the Census and this prevents us from receiving the resources, funding, and representation we need.

How does an undercount affect us? In 2010, Missouri lost a U.S Congressional District, because St. Louis was undercounted by 16,000 people. The undercount also cost us millions of dollars that our communities needed. Ten years later, we are on track to have another undercount that will hurt Black communities. If St. Louis is not fully counted, the next decade will continue to limit Black politi-

cal representation and power. Despite passing progressive legislation statewide, like Medicaid Expansion in August and increasing the minimum wage in 2018, Missouri remains in the control of a Republican trifecta - meaning the Governor and both houses of the state legislature are majority Republicans. On the national level, the census controls how electoral college votes are allocated for future Presidential elections. And locally, wards in the City of St. Louis will be redrawn from 28 to 14 if we are undercounted. The only way to maintain proportional power for Black residents is to get an accurate census count. It’s not just the maps – it’s the money, too. In 2010, Black and Hispanic residents were undercounted by more than 1.5 million nationwide. For every person not counted, our community loses out on $1,300 a year. That’s $13,000 per person over the next decade. The systemic and disproportionate undercounting of communities of color deprives us of badly needed federal resources for Medicaid, TANF, SNAP, K-12 education, housing, and transportation. For example,

funding for programs like HUD, which offer Community Development Block grants, depend directly on census information. Census data is also used to determine the resources allocated to school districts. For school districts that depend on state and federal funding, such as SLPS, Riverview Gardens, and Jennings, undercounting can further marginalize our children.

What can you do to ensure we all count?

Stopping an undercount is a top priority for Action St. Louis in 2020. The impacts of an undercount will be felt in our communities for decades to come. If we are serious about ensuring our communities get the resources we need, then we must all complete the census and help others do the same. That is how we build a St. Louis where our children and families get access to the resources they need to survive and thrive.

The days leading up to the October 31th deadline are crucial. This year the census is available online and it only takes a few minutes to complete. Complete your census today by visiting my2020census.org or call toll free at 844330-2020. You can also return the census form by mail.

Let’s work together to ensure we all count.

Katherine Fenerson is the Civic Engagement Organizer with Action St. Louis and leads the #WeCount314 initiative, which seeks to ensure a full count for the 2020 Census. Sarah Martin is a 2020 BOSS fellow with Action St. Louis. To volunteer w/ Acton St. Louis, please visit actionstl.org/volunteer.

This election cycle, we must also ring the alarm around the coordinated effort to intimidate Black and Brown voters at the polls. Conservatives have invested $20 million to mobilize 50,000 volunteers in an effort to guard the vote during early voting and on Election Day in communities of color. President Trump has even called for stationing armed guards at the polls stoking widely debunked myths of in-person voter fraud. It is critical that Black and Brown voters who led national protests against state violence in 2020 are able to cast a ballot at polling locations free from hostility this fall.

Voter intimidation – the act of intimidating or threatening someone else with the goal of interfering with their right to vote – is illegal under federal

When Union troops began to withdraw from the South at the sunset of Reconstruction, the Ku Klux Klan, the Knights of the White Camellia and others used racial terrorism to discourage Freemen and their white allies from voting. During the Civil Rights Movement, segregationists like Bull Conner likewise assaulted Black demonstrators with dogs and fire hoses to quell calls for integration and voting rights. In these historical examples, voter intimidation not only disenfranchised Black Americans, but also cost the very lives of those who sought to exercise the right to vote. But can we do to ensure Black and Brown voters can access the polls safely?

One, we must educate Black and Brown voters so they can identify and appropriately respond to voter intimidation on the rare occasion that they witness or experience it. If someone aggressively questions you, harasses you or challenges your eligibility to vote outside of the polls, document and report the incident to an election official on-site.

Request any person engaging in this behavior be removed from the polling place. Call the national Election Protection hotline (1-866-OUR-VOTE).

This hotline staffed by voting rights lawyers can help you address voter intimidation in real time.

Letters to the editor

Vote to heal our country

To my brothers and sisters who are undecided in this upcoming presidential election, I ask you to consider your vote from a moral and unifying perspective.

In these divided and troubled times, it is important that we come together and heal our country. The current administration is dividing us with decisions and actions that threaten our core national values of honesty, fairness, inclusion, and full justice for every citizen of this country. Truth is being compromised. Hard-fought progress around issues of health care, women’s rights and civil rights, voting integrity, and immigration reform are at stake in this election.

Please vote your conscience and best instincts on November 3.

Sheila Bader, St. Louis

Please vote for them

I was talking to a Black friend who said he was not going to vote. It made me very sad because Dr. King, Malcolm X, John Lewis and many, many others who marched to get the voting possible. If you are considering not voting, please think of Michael Brown, George Floyd, Trayvon Martin and so many others who will never get the chance to vote. Please vote for them. Don’t let your voice go to waste

Mary Horridge St. Louis

We deserve better

I’m sick. And tired. Sick and tired of our elected representatives in the Republican Party adamantly refusing to get behind affordable health-

Second, advocates should work with election officials ahead of early voting to create police-free polling locations or limit the role of police at the polls. Election officials should also restrict firearms at polling sites. Police at the polls may intimidate voters who are justice-involved, while the recent killings in Kenosha, Wisconsin highlight the dangers presented when deadly weapons are brought to contested spaces.

To be sure, it is important that police are able to be quickly dispatched to polling locations in the event of an emergency, but using state and local officials should work to recruit enough poll workers to manage social distancing in long lines, control crowd flow and provide assistance to voters with disabilities or language access needs. These roles are inappropriate for law enforcement.

Finally, we must restore the Voting Rights Act (VRA). Prior to the Supreme Court’s weakening of Section 5 of the VRA in the Shelby v. Holder case, federal employees would monitor the administration of elections in states across the country with a history of racial discrimination. In 2020, it is clear that the U.S. Department of Justice to is not coming to save Black voters from voter intimidation. It is up to the organizers, advocates, and grassroots leaders to continue the fight to vote.

Gilda Daniels is litigation director of Advancement Project National Office, the former deputy chief in the Department of Justice, Civil Rights Division –Voting Section, and author of “Uncounted. The Crisis of Voter Suppression in America.”

and style.

care for every American, even though their own base is just as likely as anyone to lose everything they possess, including their lives, should one of them become catastrophically ill. Closer to home, Ann Wagner has actively opposed affordable healthcare for her constituents, choosing rather to keep it prohibitively expensive and inaccessible while accepting more than $470,000 from corporate PACs in the healthcare and pharmaceutical industries.

To add insult to injury (and more injury, of course) Ann Wagner has been the loyal little toady of Trump, dismissing, denying, and lying about COVID-19’s true threat. On March 7, after numerous briefings on the dire threat posed to her constituents by the virus, she publicly insisted, “As I said, this is, it’s clear that the risk to our U.S. public is low.” Anyone practicing due diligence at the time knew the reality, of course; however, those folks who solely looked to Trump and Wagner for their cues were at much greater risk, believing it was all much ado about nothing. Incredulously, Wagner has neither a plan for the healthcare of her own constituents, nor a cogent plan for dealing with this pandemic. All Wagner’s got is BS. Just like her orange boss. We deserve better from our elected representatives Mike Unruh

Guest Columnist

Katherine Fenerson Guest Columnist Sarah Martin

Guest Columnist

Gilda Daniels

Jill Schupp

Handing out food – and midterm reports

Southern Illinois University Edwardsville East St. Louis Charter High School handed out food and other items to more than 100 families during its recent Drive-Up, Pick-Up Day, according to Gina Jeffries, school director. “We were also able to keep students updated on their academic performance by providing their midterm progress report cards,” Jeffries said. “Our students are resilient and showing grit through these unprecedented times and their academic midterms are proof.”

Absentee voting at St. Louis Public Library

The Board of Election Commissioners for the City of St. Louis (the “BEC”) will offer off-site absentee voting at four St. Louis Public Library locations starting on Monday, October 12 and continuing until Monday, November 2, the day before the General Election on November 3, from 11 a.m. until 5 p.m. Monday, Tuesday, Friday and Saturday, as well as from 1 p.m. until 7 p.m. Wednesday and Thursday.

The absentee voting sites are:

• Buder Library – 4401 Hampton Ave.

• Central Library – 1301 Olive St.

• Julia Davis Library – 4415 Natural Bridge Ave.

• Schlafly Library – 225 N. Euclid Ave. Voters who want to vote an absentee ballot at these locations will

only be able to vote on a touch screen machine. Voters who want to cast a paper ballot will have to do so at the BEC’s office at 300 N. Tucker Blvd.

Absentee voting at the BEC’s office will be open from 8 a.m. until 5 p.m. Monday through Friday, as well as on Saturday, October 24, and Saturday, October 31, from 9 a.m. until 1 p.m. The last day that a voter can request an absentee ballot by mail is Wednesday, October 21. The last day that a voter can vote an absentee ballot in person is Monday, November 2.

A sample ballot for the November 3, 2020 General Election, as well as a variety of other useful information, is available at www. stlelections.com. Due to the length of the ballot, voters are encouraged to print a copy of the sample ballot, mark it, and bring it with them when they go to cast their ballot.

The St. Louis Public Library also offers a variety of voter services at all locations. For more information, visit slpl.org.

Choosing hope to inspire vision

By Michelle Tucker For The St. Louis American

On a typical October day, my evening might include late meetings at the office, dinner at a local restaurant with my husband, then catching up on the latest news. But, like many of you, the past six months have only offered occasional use of words like “typical” or “normal.” Our routines have been uprooted and disrupted by the complex challenges we are all experiencing right now.

With so few things remaining familiar, I find myself searching for sources of inspiration and something to look forward to. As I take stock of what’s now a significantly reduced list of constants, the concept of hope rises quickly to the top.

Though certainly not a standalone strategy, hope is indeed one of the daily choices we are continually faced with as we traverse through life’s most challenging times. Hope remains a potent ingredient that many times can serve as a North Star for us. Hope can even help inspire a monumental task, like visioning for how we create a better tomorrow for our children and neighbors.

Michelle Tucker n Nelson Mandela once said, “It always seems impossible until it’s done.”

Conversely, fear and a lack of optimism can serve to limit our actions, producing constrained or predictable results or even shut down evolved thinking and innovation. Fear can fuel negativity and influence our conversations and threaten our collective sense of security. In the absence of intentionally choosing hope, we stifle our ability to vision bold and game-changing growth strategies that position our region to recover and compete culturally and economically. In times like these, where not just our future, but even the thought of tomorrow seems impossible, I encourage you to choose hope and not fall victim to fear.

Hope, in times like these, can help energize us to make the necessary decisions and take actions to solve our present dilemmas, including confronting racial and spatial inequities in St. Louis. Nelson Mandela once said, “It always seems impossible until it’s done,” yet we all must take the first step toward what’s possible. That is the beauty of hope; it is a beacon that can be leveraged to overshadow uncertainty as it guides our way to a better tomorrow now, and for future generations.

Michelle D. Tucker is president and CEO of United Way of Greater St. Louis.

crisis. The coronavirus is infecting and killing Black and Brown people disproportionately. Every political, medical, and institutional resource is needed to slow the spread of COVID-19. Considering these challenges, is this the time for the church, especially the Black church, to abstain from politics?

Reverend Gabrielle Kennedy, pastor of Buren Chapel AME Church in Herculaneum, director of the nonprofit Faith & For the Sake of All (FFSOA), doesn’t think so. Kennedy points to the “Great Commission” outlined in Matthew 28:16-20, where Christians are compelled to go out into the world as missionaries.

“That’s very much a part of the mission: going out and talking and preaching and meeting folk where they are,” Kennedy said. “Jesus brought politics into the church. So, there is no topic that we can’t bring into the church because we are affected by all of it.” Kennedy, who was born and raised in North St. Louis, spent more than 25 years with her husband Wayne and their two children (ages 17 and 26) in the Kansas City area. In secular life, Kennedy mostly worked as a Medicaid insurance appraiser. She specialized in outreach services for individuals and businesses. That experience, she said, is similar to what she does now as director of FFSOA.

“My job was always about making sure people got their

McCloskeys

Continued from A1 by the McCloskeys’ argument that they were defending private property and themselves when they left the privacy of their home on Portland Place in St. Louis’ Central West End on June 28 to flourish weapons at the protestors walking past their home on the sidewalk and street. Portland Place is private and was marked as such on the gate that the protestors passed through.

St. Louis Circuit Attorney Kimberly Gardner filed charges of exhibiting a weapon, a Class E felony, not accepting the defense that the signed privacy of the street entitled the McCloskeys to flourish weapons at people walking past their home or that the

benefits,” she said. “It was about meeting them where they were. It required that I build relationships with people who were serving the same folk we were serving. It also required a certain amount of finesse because we had to market people through other organizations and other services.”

FFSOA was founded after Washington University professor Jason Parnell and a group of researchers released the “For the Sake of All” report in 2014. The project highlighted disparities in the health and well-being of African Americans in St. Louis. FFSOA is a collaboration of diverse individuals determined to use the church and its platforms to aggressively address health, education, and economic inequalities. Those overarching areas overrule any notion that churches should avoid politics, Kennedy said.

“We don’t feel like we have a choice,” she said. “These elections are going to affect every one of those areas. It’s a once-in-a-cycle opportunity for us to affect the change that needs to happen in our communities. Our job is to advocate, to be the bullhorn for the voice of the people. That’s why we have to do this.”

Kennedy shared her personal journey to discovering her activist voice. She relocated to the St. Louis area, South County to be exact, around the time Mike Brown was gunned down by a Ferguson policeman. She recalled being ashamed of her initial response.

“My first personal response was: ‘well, what did he do to make those people shoot him?’

But after sitting on that and reflecting and seeing what the

McCloskeys were in danger.

Two Harvard Law professors, Ronald S. Sullivan Jr. and Intisar A. Rabb, published a White Paper defending Gardner’s filing charges on July 17, a week after search warrants served on the McCloskeys to take their guns into custody caused a national outcry from 2nd Amendment advocates. Sullivan and Rabb argued that the McCloskeys needed to demonstrate reasonable fear of injury to flourish weapons at passers-by even on a private street. They argued that, “based on the publicly available information, it appears unreasonable for the McCloskeys to have believed that they were in imminent fear of bodily injury or injury to their property.”

The McCloskeys also claimed that the handgun wielded by

young people were doing, I realized this is not right,” she said.

“I had to ask for forgiveness and lament. I saw the error of my own ways; I drank the Kool-Aid. And from that moment on, my commitment was: ‘whatever I can do to dismantle racism, to make our community a decent place, a healthier place for everybody, that’s what I was going to do.’”

In the beginning, FFSOA was comprised of predominantly white congregations. The organization wanted allies within the Black community, Kennedy said, but didn’t know exactly how to build those relationships. She was initially hired as a congregational coordinator to help engage the

Patricia McCloskey – she was photographed and filmed pointing it at passers-by with her finger on the trigger –was inoperable on June 28.

The tampering with evidence charges reportedly brought by the grand jury suggests the jurors may have been persuaded that the McCloskeys tampered with the handgun after June 28.

There is a strange chain of custody regarding the handgun. The American saw Albert Watkins, another attorney retained by the McCloskeys (who are themselves attorneys), hand that gun to St. Louis police detectives on July 11. Watkins said his clients gave the gun to him to preserve the evidence in the event that criminal charges were filed.

Watkins said the McCloskeys did not

black community. It wasn’t easy. Black people, Kennedy noted, are sick of studies that go nowhere. They want action. “You can’t go to Black folk and say, ‘Hey, guess what? There’s racism in St. Louis,’” she said. “They don’t want to hear that. They know that. We decided to respond with action, and we had to do that with Black congregations specifically.”

In Missouri, African Americans account for 37% of reported COVID-19 deaths despite making up just 11% of the state’s population. Because the virus disproportionately impacts communities of color, FFSOA partnered with CareSTL Health to host free community COVID testing and

also give him the rifle that Mark McCloskey brandished on June 28 because his actions appeared less incriminating. Watkins said that Mark McCloskey had his safety engaged and did not finger the trigger. The rifle was reportedly taken into evidence on July 10.

Watkins called a press conference and made a show of handing over the handgun, literally cueing news camera operators to point their cameras east when he saw the detectives walking west on Forsyth Boulevard toward Watkins’ law offices, where he announced the press conference just before his appointment with police. Indeed, the McCloskeys have been the center of a media circus. Watkins took them on a tour of national news shows. Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt, who

voter registration drives at local churches. Combining testing and voter registration, Kennedy said, makes perfect sense.

“Voter registration hits all three of our tenets: education, economics and health,” she said. “Those decisions are going to absolutely hit everyone. It’s our job to empower people so they can speak for themselves and do for themselves.”

FFSOA walks that fine line between informing voters without endorsing candidates. In the end, Kennedy said, it’s about helping people gain influence over their lives, conditions and environments.

“I’m hoping that what comes out of this is a willingness and ability to take control.

has no legal standing in the case, filed an amicus brief.

Gov. Mike Parson showed interest and said he would pardon the McCloskeys should they be convicted. President Donald Trump spoke up for them. The McCloskeys spoke at the Republican National Convention (RNC). There, they served the Trump campaign’s alarmist narrative by warning voters that protestors were coming for the suburbs.

The McCloskeys live in the City of St. Louis, not a suburb.

But now, according to their defense attorney, the McCloskeys want no more of the publicity they have sought or the politics they have played. “This is about evidence and law,” Schwartz told The American. “Let’s stop the noise.”

Gardner also asked for a stop to the noise when

Peace Fest

If people can’t define what they need and what’s acceptable, then we’re probably not having the right conversations,” she said.

“I want to see the spreading of this virus slowed down, but I also want people to not just vote, but to understand the importance of their vote and the importance of their attention to the election and voting process. It’s not just who we vote for but what happens after we vote.”

For more information on COVID testing and voter registration drives visit https:// faithandforthesakeofall.org.

Sylvester Brown Jr. is The St. Louis American’s inaugural Deaconess Fellow.

the McCloskeys were putting on a show at the RNC – and putting her life at risk. Gardner, St. Louis’ first Black elected prosecutor, has received vile racist taunts and death threats from McCloskey supporters.

“My job is to fairly and impartially investigate each case of potential wrongdoing and follow the facts wherever they may lead,” Gardner stated.

“I am disappointed that what is typically a routine matter for a prosecutor has been exploited for political purposes, which in turn has opened the floodgates for gleeful racist and misogynistic messages and death threats. The people of St. Louis expect me to pursue equal justice under the law without fear or favor, and that is what I intend to do.”

Founder of Better Family Life Malik

Ahmed (center) and activest

Anthony Shaheed (left) greet Interim CEO Darryl G. Grimes during the opening of the Better Family Life Peace Fest Sunday, Oct. 4, on the agency’s front lawn.

Photo by Wiley Price

Salute

Continued from A1

resources than the schools that serve primarily Caucasian students in suburban areas,” said LaShanda R. Boone, head of school at LaSalle Charter School. “Studies show that there are four factors that can drastically impact student performance: small schools/ class sizes, high quality curricula and instruction, highly qualified teachers and high-quality academic support. An Education Equity Bill would further ensure equitable resources for all schools regardless of area and or student demographic. It would ensure that all institutions would receive the same state and federal allocations to provide equity in resources for all students.”

Shantana Goodwin-Payne

“We must teach children to be accepting of all cultures and nationalities. There tend to be deficiencies in teaching the history of other cultures and the suffering at the hands of other races,” said Shantana Goodwin-Payne, master teacher at the Magnolia Head Start/ Early Head Start Center for the

Workhouse

Continued from A1

In the October 1 committee meeting, some City officials threatened to roll back that progress. As directed by the July ordinance, Commissioner of Corrections Dale Glass released the second of two reports earlier this month. The commissioner, who reports to Mayor Lyda Krewson, was

Urban League of Metropolitan St. Louis.

“Children learn and experience other races and racism in grade school and college. By this time, it is too late to have empathy for others and their suffering. There is an urgent need to mandate the teaching of cultural relevant history with standards and objectives beginning during the foundational years (pre-k). It is my belief believe we then could have a chance to eliminate racial inequality and injustices.”

Karen I. Hall, Ed.D

“On February 16, 2017, I collaborated with the Maplewood Richmond Heights Board of Education to craft and approve the Resolution on Educational Equity and Social Justice. I consider it a landmark document, unique in its boldness, wide-ranging in scope and enduring in content,” said Karen I. Hall, Ed.D, superintendent of the Maplewood Richmond Heights School District.

“It pledges that our district

tasked with developing a plan to close the Workhouse by December 31. Instead of doing that, he provided the committee with two reports attempting to make the case for keeping the hellish jail open. This attempt disregards local organizing and the decisions of our elected city officials, who voted—unanimously, following the lead of their constituents—to close the jail.

But this is not about Dale Glass. It is about the people of the City of St. Louis, and it

will continue to vigorously support all of our students, staff, families, and community members, regardless of their race, color, religion, national origin, ancestry, disability, age, sexual orientation and/or perceived sexual orientation, gender identity, socioeconomic status, or any other individual characteristic and continue to enrich the lives of children and provide the foundation for their many future successes in life.”

Romona Miller

“One day in class a teacher made a statement about the presence of women and minorities in the area of science, and the overarching theme was that we weren’t successful. I was so taken aback that I wasn’t sure I could complete the class,” said Romona Miller, principal of Pioneer Pathways at Kirkwood High School.

“I did push through, but that forever changed how I perceived the impact of negative expectations. Had I bought into his scenario, I would have failed his class and failed in my pursuit for education in the area of science. I did graduate with a BS in Biology, and as I work with my students, I always share the mindset that they are in control of their destinies, not anyone else.”

is about the elected legislative body and mayor of the City of St. Louis keeping their word. Nothing has changed since Ordinance 71217 was passed that would excuse them going back on that word. The Workhouse remains a site of abuse, neglect, and inhumane treatment. It remains an unnecessary and irresponsible use of millions of public dollars. And it remains a monument to white supremacy in St. Louis. Now is precisely the right time to reverse the racist policies of

Sheryl Denise Rogers

“One of the primary obstacles facing educators is not enough resources. In many schools, students still do not have adequate technology. Students have to share Chrome books in class. They do not have technology in their homes. I have students using their cell phones to do assignments,” said Sheryl Denise Rogers, a science teacher in Normandy Schools Collaborative.

“Another obstacle is lack of parental support. I have tried to incentivize parental involvement with gift cards, extra credit, dinner, with little or no response. When parents do not place a high value on education, neither will their children. I can only continue as I do, encouraging my students to present the best they have to offer.”

Rhonda C. Stovall, Ed.S

“As educators, I feel that we have a moral obligation to learn about the trauma and racial inequities and disparities of other ethnic groups and cultures,” said Rhonda C. Stovall, Ed.S, Science Enrichment Lab teacher for grades 3-5 at Gateway MST Elementary in Saint Louis Public Schools.

“There has to be a delib-

past and present, re-envision public safety, and place millions of dollars directly in the hands of impacted communities through a participatory budgeting process.

But Commissioner Glass did say one thing that is worth noting. Toward the end of the hearing, he was asked whether replacing those held solely on federal charges in the City Justice Center (CJC) with those remaining in the Workhouse would reduce the CJC population from its current level, and

erate awareness of the social injustices that are prevalent in our world. This awareness, whether one believes it exists or not, will allow for collaboration as it pertains to working together not only as a district, but as a community to reduce the racial inequities and disparities that exist.”

John E. Thomas

“For teachers to have a greater impact on reducing racial inequity and disparities, we first need to increase teachers of color. The few staff that we have are simply not enough,” said John E. Thomas, assistant principal at Webster Groves High School.

“Beyond that we have to connect with our kids, they need to know that we care about them as individuals. There are far too many times when students feel us going through the motions. Our potential to help them and to potentially change the trajectory of their lives is immense. If we do not approach each day with that as our primary objective, then we let them down.”

he answered yes. That’s right: by choosing not to hold just a fraction of those currently charged with federal crimes in the city’s jail, we would reduce the population in the CJC and close the Workhouse at the same time.

We will not be fooled by scare tactics. The solution to the problem of future overcrowding is simple: jail fewer people. Transforming our bail practices and drastically reducing lengths of pretrial detention would be a great start.

Craig A. Waddell, Ph.D

A. Waddell

“If educators really want to reduce racial disparities, they need to increase student adeptness. Too often, when students perform poorly, we lower the bar rather than raise expectations,” said Craig A. Waddell, Ph.D, eighth grade algebra/ math teacher at Hazelwood North Middle School. “When our graduation rates drop, we relax the grading scale rather than improve learning. When discipline deteriorates, we reduce detentions rather than enhance civility. And when performance declines, we increase seat time rather than elevate engagement. We delude ourselves when we create diploma mills in lieu of high-caliber educational institutions. A high tide raises all ships.”

The 33rd Annual Salute to Excellence in Education Scholarship & Awards Virtual Gala Weekend will be celebrated online as free virtual events on Friday and Saturday, October 16 and 17 on stlamerican.com, the St. Louis American’s Facebook page and YouTube channel. For additional details on how to participate, please visit givebutter. com/SaluteEdu

We must act now so that justice is neither delayed nor denied. Demand that the mayor stand by the ordinance she signed into law. Demand that your aldermen stand by their votes to close the Workhouse this year. Demand that the will of the people be respected and implemented. We have three months. The path is clear. It’s time to close the Workhouse.

Craig

John E. Thomas Sheryl

Romona Miller

Rhonda C. Stovall

Karen I. Hall

Shantana GoodwinPayne

LaShanda R. Boone

Pipes trades diversity initiative graduates cohort

All 14 graduates guaranteed full year of employment with CHAMPIONS contractor

American staff

Fourteen trainees recently graduated from CHAMPIONS, a new pipe trades diversity initiative sponsored by the Mechanical Contractors Association of Eastern Missouri (MCA-EMO), Plumbers and Pipefitters Local Union 562, and the Plumbing Industry Council (PIC).

n “We are excited that each person has two mentors – a seasoned journeyman as well as Fred Searcy, director of minority recruitment for Local 562.”

CHAMPIONS, an acronym for Creating Hometown Advantages through Minority Participation in Our Neighborhood, is designed to expand membership diversity in the City of St. Louis while also strengthening the workforce of Local 562, which has 4,200 members in 67 counties in eastern Missouri.

– Steve Faust, icon Mechanical

By completing the requirements, all graduates were guaranteed a full year of employment with a CHAMPIONS contractor. For the coming year, the participants will continue their training as pre-apprentices in the field,

while still fulfilling program requirements related to mentorship and performance evaluation.

Program participants celebrated the completion an initial six weeks of intensive classroom training and technical introduction to the trades at Local 562’s new training facility in Earth City. As part of the program, students committed to a multi-faceted course curriculum and engaged in weekly mentorship and evaluation sessions.

“The CHAMPIONS pilot program was carefully designed and implemented in the best interest of the participants and our hiring contractors’ long-term success,” said Kristy Stephens, MCA-MO executive director. “The ongoing collaboration with our labor partners, and everyone involved, is unprecedented.”

See PIPE TRADES, A10

‘Empowering young Black Americans’

U. City High junior Michael Bostic starts non-profit I Am Not a Statistic, wins entrepreneurship challenge

By Lillian Emenogu

For The St. Louis American

When Michael Bostic was a

he had trouble

in

that

and

It wasn’t until the

and

in

Later, when Michael entered the 9th grade his father’s health fell into serious decline and his grades suffered a bit that year. It was at this moment that he knew eventually one day he would start a business. Michael then joined the Network for Teaching Entrepreneurship (NFTE) in the 10th grade, and in the fall of last year his plans finally came to fruition and he was able to start I Am Not a Statistic (IAS), a nonprofit that aims to increase literacy and racial efficacy among youth in St. Louis, targeting kids as young as grades 3-5. Michael got involved with NFTE through a See BOSTIC, A10

Michael Bostic, founder of I Am Not a Statistic, received his award from the Network for Teaching Entrepreneurship with his brother Maleek Bostic and his mother Tita Bostic.

Action for Racial Equity commitments planned over next three years

American staff

Citi and the Citi Foundation said they are committing more than $1 billion to help close the racial wealth gap and increase economic mobility in the United

industry, according to a Citi release. Citi pledged the following commitments over the next three years:

• $550 million to support homeownership for people of color and affordable housing by minority developers

• $350 million in procurement opportunities for Black-owned business suppliers

• $50 million in additional impact investing capital for

By June McAllister Fowler and Rose Windmiller For The St. Louis American

June McAllister Fowler

Rose Windmiller

Row 1: Desiree Baldwin, Carly Carmosino (MCA-EMO), Megan Seabaugh-Evergreen, Carmell Bradley, Marcus Coty. Row 2: Byron Cook, Jeremy Ruff, Mark Gainey, Joshua Temple, Andre Hickman, Malik Johnson. Row 3: Willie Pride, Brandon Townson, Fred Searcy (LU562). Not Shown: Nicholis Eason and Raymond Straughter.

Kristen Clarke

contact at the St. Louis Science Center, Lauren Patrick, who is also a director at NFTE. The Science Center has a close partnership with the organization. Since then the business has grown tremendously, enough to win the regional Youth Entrepreneurship Challenge hosted virtually by NFTE earlier this year.

From his own experience, Michael could see that students who are struggling in school might not be comfortable going to their teachers or authority figures for help. There are dilemmas children and teens are facing, not only academically, but in areas outside of the classroom as well. Michael understands that sometimes reaching out to an older peer with whom they can relate or who can provide support and guidance on where to find the resources they need can be beneficial, and that is

n “Michael’s nonprofit model is really about empowering young Black Americans to read, hear, and learn from Black voices, and it’s a transformative way for our communities to take ownership of their future.”

a part of the goal his nonprofit aims to achieve. Michael also realized that in the 6th grade, after his parents placed him in a reading program and he began to excel, he also got the sense that he lost a bit of his connection to Black culture. As a result, he strives to create a space where Black children can celebrate their Blackness while also combating the negative stereotypes being set against them.

“For businesses that really want to stand out in the regional Youth Entrepreneurship Competition, innovation and foresight to want to build a better future is key,” said NFTE Regional Director Chyna Bowen.

– Chyna Bowen, NFTE

“Michael’s venture is the perfect example of why NFTE does what it does. Michael’s nonprofit model is really about empowering young Black Americans to read, hear, and learn from Black voices, and it’s a transformative way for our communities to take ownership of their future.” Bowen said that NFTE works with school districts and

Transit

Continued from A9

have a job, and the ability to get to that job, life will continue to be difficult.

A safe, integrated and affordable public transportation system is critical to providing that access for people who depend on it as not only their best means of transportation, but sometimes their only means of transportation. And, without this type of access there are some unintended consequences to not only the econ-

omy, but to the quality of life in impacted communities. Transit access and expansion is an ongoing infrastructure project. It deserves the community’s attention, support, vigilance and ongoing dedication to making it more equitable for everyone. We need to continue to examine the system and its services. Is it on time? Is it meeting community needs? Is it safe? Is it going to job centers that people need to get to? How can Metro Transit partner with Citizens for Modern Transit and other organizations to make improvements? How

educators to bring the entrepreneurial mindset to their students without dictating what problems need to be solved. Instead, NFTE is committed to partnering with them to provide knowledge alongside innovative, solution-oriented mechanisms to help them and their students solve whatever specific challenges they’re facing.

“Michael’s vision to use it to celebrate, develop, and

Michael Bostic, a junior at University City High School, won the regional Youth Entrepreneurship Challenge hosted virtually by the Network for Teaching Entrepreneurship earlier this year for his non-profit I Am Not a Statistic.

to students or Zooming in with them to have a good time.

“Let’s make sure no one is slipping through the cracks,” Michael said. “We’re the next generation and the generation now, so let’s make sure we’re all on the path to grow.”

Beyond high school, Michael plans to double major in Public Health on the premed track and Secondary Education. Although unsure of where he wants to go for college, he is adamant about exploring HBCUs and hopes to one day become an emergency medicine physician, inspired to help others overcome the hardships his father faced when he entered high school.

ships the organization has in the works, but Michael is still hopeful, especially about one in particular with University City Senior High School that will allow I Am Not a Statistic to work with its 3rd-5th grade students.

In the short term, Michael has put his plans to compete in the national competition hosted by NFTE in NYC on hold to put all of his focus on the business. He does hope to return next year and get the full experience of competing for the prize in New York. In the meantime, the company is rebranding its logo.

strengthen black voices is a powerful testimony to that mission,” Bowen said. Michael said that since starting I Am Not a Statistic, the nonprofit hasn’t really been afraid of anything, but with the impact of COVID-19 this moment has felt different. In spite of this, he sees the importance of paying it forward now more than ever, even if this means dropping off supplies

n As we address disparity issues and determine how to move forward as a community, and as a region, public transit must continue to be part of the conversation.

do we get the community to understand that the region needs a viable public transit system – whether they choose to use it or not? Everyone needs to be an advocate for transit. As part of that process, we need to respectfully listen to the naysayers and not discount their arguments. We need to meet people where they are and learn, grow and evolve based on the concerns they voice. We need to find a way for the community to embrace transit like it once did when ridership was increasing month-to-month and year-to-year. We need to get more people on the train

Citi

Continued from A9

grants to support community change agents addressing racial equity.

Certain Action for Racial Equity commitments, including portions of Citi’s investments in minority developers and in Minority Depository Institutions, will require approval from the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency. In addition to Citi’s business commitments, the Citi Foundation is making a new $5 million grant to Living Cities

Pipe Trades

Continued from A9

Contractors who signedon to the CHAMPIONS Initiative to hire the pre-apprentices include Corrigan Company; Haberberger, Inc.; icon Mechanical; Integrated Facility Services; Murphy Company and Charles E. Jarrell Contracting Company. Steve Faust, business development and diversity coordinator for icon Mechanical,

In addition to this, Michael sees his literacy program in the long term opening a private school that caters to predominantly Black youth in grades 4-12. The school’s focus will be STEAM—Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Mathematics—as well as literacy. The mission will be to raise literacy scores, expose more Black students to the option of attending HBCUs, and help them craft “beautiful resumes” while introducing them to a wide array of career paths.

Until then, Michael and his team are focusing on business growth and adapting to the challenges brought on by COVID. Unfortunately, the virus has stalled a few partner-

For students looking to get involved with NFTE, Michael suggested visiting its website or asking your guidance counselor. Bowen said that aside from donations, NFTE can always use volunteers with a story to tell that can encourage students, especially more experienced entrepreneurs that can give them the inside scoop.

To get involved with Michael’s initiative, IAS is looking for school mentors, books and monetary donations. For more information, email Michael (bosticmic@ucityschools.org) or Vice President Gabrielle Stalling (gstalling@ csmb-stl.org). You can also follow them on their Instagram page (@i.as_._).

Lillian Emenogu is an editorial intern with The St. Louis American.

and buses and, as a region, support future options related to additional light rail lines, bus routes or other innovative forms of public transit, including a collaboration of rideshare programs. It is also important that we secure a dedicated and sustainable funding allocation from the State of Missouri. In fact, Missouri would do well to take a lesson from its nextdoor neighbors in Illinois with respect to funding transportation. We must have local and regional elected officials who support public transit not only with funding but with really good public policy. As we address disparity issues and determine how to move forward as a community, and as a region, public transit must continue to be part of the conversation. We must create those connections with transit, while decreasing distances geographically, economically and socially. Now is not the time to abandon our trains and buses. June McAllister Fowler is past chair of Citizens for Modern Transit. Rose Windmiller is chair of Bi-State Development’s Board of Commissioners.

to provide U.S. mayors with access to technical expertise, training, and seed capital for pilot initiatives that address racial wealth and income gaps. The Citi Foundation also is expanding employability and entrepreneurship efforts serving Black youth as part of a new three-year $100 million investment in its successful Pathways to Progress initiative.

“Citi is going beyond talking about discrimination by implementing concrete strategies to address longstanding inequities in communities of color,” said Kristen Clarke, president & Executive Director of the Lawyers’ Committee

worked with Local 562, MCAEMO and PIC to help develop the new program.

“As we looked ahead at our industry’s work in the City of St. Louis over the next few years, we realized that we needed a continuing and larger diverse workforce,” said Faust.

“We examined other apprenticeship training programs out there and tried to adopt best practices that would ensure that enough craftspersons would be trained and available. In addition to the soft-skills and hard-skills training, we are

for Civil Rights Under Law. “Citi is charting a course that we hope will be replicated throughout the sector.” According to the recently published Citi GPS report “Closing the Racial Inequality Gaps,” if the U.S. had closed key racial gaps for Black Americans in wages, housing, education and investment 20 years ago, $16 trillion could have been added to the U.S. economy. If these gaps are closed today, $5 trillion could be added to U.S. GDP over the next five years. For more information on Action for Racial Equity, visit citigroup.com/racialequity

excited that each person has two mentors – a seasoned journeyman as well as Fred Searcy, director of minority recruitment for Local 562.” The participants went through a rigorous competitive interview and application process.

“The initial cohort demonstrated an outstanding commitment to program terms and to Local 562 and formally agreed to be fully engaged in all facets of the program,” said Carly Carmosino, program manager for MCAEMO, who helped to design and deliver the CHAMPIONS professional development classes as enrichment to the technical training.

“We collaborated with several area not-for-profits, Mission STL and Prosperity Connection, as well as the St. Louis Community College Workforce Solutions Group and Dale Carnegie to provide essential tools and advice to our mentors and program participants. We focused on developing the whole person, so that throughout the program, participants strengthened both their technical and soft-skills aptitude.”

For more information on MCA-EMO, visit www.mcaemo.com. For more information on Local 562, visit www.local562.org. For more information on the Plumbing Industry Council, visit www. picstl.org

St. Louis police bargaining agreement critiqued

American staff

St. Louis police have been working for three months under a collective bargaining agreement between the City of St. Louis and the St. Louis Police Officers Association that expired on June 30 as renegotiation continues.

The Coalition Against Police Crimes and Repression (CAPCR) has published a seven-page analysis of the existing collective bargaining agreement (CBA) that finds flaws in the agreement and analyzes the contract within the larger matrix of disciplinary systems governing the police and other city employees.

The coalition also makes recommendations that it believes would further racial fairness and accountability within the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department (SLMPD). Major recommendations include:

“An end to seniority considerations, which have historically resulted in racial bias in promotions and transfers. This change would put SLMPD in line with the St. Louis City Charter’s civil service requirements.

“Equal access to information and benefits for the Ethical Society of Police (ESOP), so that the members of that organization, almost exclusively African American, are not disadvantaged in relation to mem-

More benefits and savings for Medicare Advantage customers

Recent changes in Medicare have resulted in additional benefits and savings for Medicare beneficiaries. Many of those benefits and savings are tied specifically to the Medicare Advantage program. Medicare Advantage, or Medicare Part C, allows Medicare beneficiaries to receive Medicare-covered benefits through private health plans instead of through Original Medicare. Advantage plans often include benefits beyond Original Medicare, such as prescription drug coverage. More than 22 million Americans now receive their Medicare benefits through a Medicare Advantage plan.

Changes to Medicare have led to extra benefits being added to certain Medicare Advantage plans in the St. Louis area that could reduce out-ofpocket costs. Some of the most valuable benefits include allowances for overthe-counter items, comprehensive dental coverage, personal home helpers, in-home safety devices, alternative medicine, meal planning or delivery and transportation assistance.

Another significant change allows Medicare Advantage plans to offer additional benefits or savings to people

with certain chronic conditions, like diabetes. Members can get diabetic testing supplies at no cost and $0 copays for some insulins.

To take advantage of these new benefits, set aside time today to do research. If you aren’t currently on a Medicare Advantage plan, now is the time to consider switching. If you are currently enrolled in a Medicare Advantage plan, research what’s available to see if there are better options in your area.

Essence Healthcare, a local Medicare Advantage plan, has created a free guide to help St. Louisans better understand how these changes impact them. Get your free copy by calling 1-855-936-0341* or by visiting www.EssenceMA.com.

*8 a.m. to 8 p.m., seven days a week. You may reach a messaging service on weekends from April 1 through September 30 and holidays. Please leave a message, and your call will be returned the next business day. Essence Healthcare is an HMO plan with a Medicare contract. Enrollment in Essence Healthcare depends on contract renewal. Essence Healthcare complies with applicable Federal civil rights laws and does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, national origin, age, disability or sex. Y0027_21-221_C

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bers of the St. Louis Police Officers Association (SLPOA). Along with more specific changes, CAPCR recommends that ESOP become a joint bargaining unit, so that it has fully equal powers.

“The expansion of investigative authority, when related to violations of police policy, to include the director of Personnel. The director of Personnel would do joint investigations with the Internal Affairs Division of the SLMPD. This change would result in more balanced investigations since police would no longer simply be policing themselves.

“A more open process that

allows for public input concerning CBA negotiations. The recommendations of CAPCR and all other community voices deserve to be heard. This input could take the form of written commentary and public hearings by the Board of Aldermen, and report-backs regarding the negotiations and outcomes.”

These recommendations come amidst a growing national concern that police CBAs make it too difficult to hold police accountable. At the same time, the national push for racial justice has cast light on systemic racism in policing, both inside and outside departments. Just last month, the Ethical Society of Police issued a report cover-

ing many of the same issues raised in today’s release. “It’s high time,” says John Chasnoff, a CAPCR co-chair, “that we start to dismantle the systems of policing that keep us from achieving racial equity and police accountability. These recommendations would move us closer to those goals.” A spokesman for St. Louis Mayor Lyda Krewson, who has authority over SLMPD, has not returned a request for comment. Jay Schroeder, president of SLPOA, said he would be happy to comment after the bargaining has been completed. The complete CAPCR recommendations, visit https:// tinyurl.com/CAPCR-CBA.

Photo

Wiley Price

St. Louis Police Chief John Hayden

Heather Taylor has retired from the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department, where her terminal rank was sergeant, and is moving to Florida with her husband, Brian Taylor, where he has a job opportunity. She will take the LSAT in January with hopes to study law. But she is not quite retired from the Ethical Society of Police (ESOP), which she will serve as president until the group, which advocates for racial equity in law enforcement, holds elections. The St. Louis American spoke to her about law enforcement and opportunities for police reform.

The St. Louis American: We hear a lot of what Circuit Attorney Kimberly Gardner goes through. As a Black woman who stands up to the problems in law enforcement, are you comfortable talking about the sort of personal attacks that you’ve had to withstand?

Heather Taylor: If someone is voicing their displeasure with something that I’ve said, I understand that. We can all disagree. But when someone lies or someone accuses ESOP of doing something that we didn’t do, those are the problems there. You can have your views. Not every member of Ethical agrees with me 100% of the time. We have officers that are members that I quite frankly I can’t stand the sight of, but they have a right to be a member of Ethical.

The personal part of it, if you threaten me, you better be prepared for my wrath. There’s nothing that I’m going to accept if you’re threatening my life. I’m going to prosecute you. I’m going to fight with everything I have to defend my life from someone who’s threatening me. That goes towards why we have cameras everywhere, cameras in my car. Sometimes people believe because you’re a Democrat or because you’re a woman that you aren’t proficient at defending yourself.

Some of these right-wing nut jobs have this level of anger because you call something in law enforcement what it is. They have a level of anger with you. Some of them are really just nuts, and some of them are officers as well. I’m okay with criticism, I can take that. I’m not okay with lies or threats of violence towards me or harassment.

The St. Louis American: Let’s imagine that Public Safety Director Jimmie Edwards calls you and says, “Heather, I see you’re leaving St. Louis and the police department. I need your guidance. I’m listening. What do we need to do to make this police department better for Black officers and police leaders and better for the community?” What do you say?

Heather Taylor: Judge Edwards needs to listen, that’s the first thing. He needs to lis-

ten and stop punishing personal disagreements and do his job as the person that oversees public safety matters. Stop with the politics, with Jeff Roorda and some others. Stop with all of the politics and start thinking about people and understand police policy.

A lot of times Judge Edwards talks out of turn, and he doesn’t know. I’ve been at meetings where he’s literally said where there were no white homicide victims. It was just very ridiculous. Now if he said that the overwhelming majority of homicide victims are African-American, he’s absolutely right. But he didn’t say that. Instead he told a church full of people, African Americans, that there were no white homicide victims. Judge Edwards needs to know police policy before he starts talking. The arrogance with him is so overwhelming. A lot of times that he doesn’t listen.

I remember when he first got the job, we were just ecstatic that he was going to be here, that there was a potential of someone to be fair, to listen. How wrong we were. We supported him in the beginning. We even met with him and tried to explain some things that were going on that we felt were corruption, and he didn’t listen. The meeting was full of... it was just his aura. He wasn’t listening. We’re not here to agree with him and to bow down to him. But he a lot of times just doesn’t listen. Several things that he can do as the director of Public Safety. Anybody that wears a uniform, their name should be sewn into their jackets, should be sewn into their shirts. These things are important because people should be able to identify officers that they’re talking to, readily, immediately identify who they are. That collective bargaining agreement should be dismantled. He should do that, even though he’s friends with Jeff Roorda.

There should be clear, established policies in place for body-worn cameras for all officers, even undercover officers not in units like special ops. They’re undercover but they’re really not undercover. Everybody knows their cars in our communities. I know that because I worked undercover. After a while, your cars are all burned out, everybody knows who you are. If you’re talking about deep undercover assignments, yeah, of course they shouldn’t wear a body-worn camera because they could be exposed and it puts their lives are in jeopardy. However, units that are essentially jump-out boys, as we call them in the street, they should all have body-worn cameras. Officer’s discipline should be public. If he really wants to do something, him and the director of Personnel, make

it public. There should be a Diversity Council. There isn’t. We have nothing like that. And human resources is laughable when it comes to having diversity. There should be rotating district officers and detectives in specialized units so their officers all over gain experience as investigators within our police department. Yearly cultural competency training. There’s just a number of things that they can do.

The St. Louis American: So, the St. Louis police department currently has no diversity body at all?

Heather Taylor: No diversity and inclusion unit, nothing like that. No. There is no working employee resource group, things like that. There should be a Diversity Council. You know we, Milton Green, Luther Hall, there are other lawsuits

that have been settled with the city as well that involved African Americans that are pertinent. But we’ve done nothing. After all these major incidents, we’ve done nothing to ensure that we limit or prevent these things from happening again.

The St. Louis American: So you have more credibility with the protest community than any police officer that I know. I think they would listen to you if you gave them some advice. What if they said, “Sit down with us before you go to Florida and tell us what are we’re doing wrong. What could we do to be more effective to change police practices and behavior?”

Heather Taylor: I just talked to Darryl Gray yesterday, and we talked about just a whole bunch of policy and procedure things. I think the num-

ber one thing is that, of course, keep protesting. Keep ensuring that they’re nonviolent, number one. Having protests are necessary, absolutely. Ensure that they are always nonviolent, that you weed out those among you who are there to harm others, which in turn can harm you. Focus on policy and procedures. Focus, focus, focus. I appreciate the people like John Chasnoff, Phillip Weeks, and Darryl Gray who are involved in the policy and procedure

part of it. Because you’re not going to change police culture with just protesting alone. You have to change policy and procedures and the law. Getting involved like they have with the collective bargaining agreement. Getting involved with requesting Sunshine Law reports on officers; Phillip Weeks does that. Getting involved in creating a database like Phillip Weeks has created. These grassroots accountability efforts, they’re so critical to keep doing that, and do more of that. That’s really going to be most important when it comes to changing internal thought processes. I think police departments know that there are going to be protests now. But when you get them, and you really effect change, it’s when they see that you’re involved in the collective bargaining agreement. They’re not expecting that. We’re not expecting activists to come together in the protest community and talk about police policies and procedures, to actually have these manuals, these orders and these temporary directives at their disposal, to challenge the police department in its own actions. Absolutely, to do more of that, as well. As much as we protest, let’s do these meetings. And not just to meet, but meetings about breaking down the collective bargaining agreements. Talking to officers like Ethical who are willing to talk to you. To go over these policies and procedures that need to be abolished that do more harm to the community, and legislation and things like that, that do more harm to the community.

Photo by Wiley Price

Heather Taylor, president of the Ethical Society of Police, spoke at her Final Roll Call as she retired from the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department on September 25.

“Taking Care of You”

COVID tests and flu shots

Register for free drive-through flu shots at the St. Louis County Health Dept.

By Sandra Jordan

Louis American

Of The St.

Free, drive-through flu vaccines are now available for St. Louis County residents by registering online at https://tinyurl.com/ StlCountyFluShots for an appointment at two St. Louis County Department of Public Health locations. The north location is John C. Murphy Health Center, located at 6121 N. Hanley Rd, Berkeley, Mo. 63134. The south county loca-

tion is South County Health Center, located at 4580 S. Lindbergh Blvd., Sunset Hills, Mo. 63127.

Receiving the flu shot while staying inside a vehicle is a socially distanced way to avoid illness during the ongoing pandemic.

“We are taking all those precautions and you can get in and out of a flu shot in a few minutes,” said St. Louis County Executive Dr. Sam Page. “And a few minutes of con-

tact with a health care provider when you both have a mask on is an extraordinarily low risk event with a high reward of preventing flu for an individual, but also keeping flu from spreading into our community.”

Every year, usually between October and May influenza spreads around the United States. Anyone can get the flu, but it is more dangerous for infants and young children,

By Rance Thomas For The St. Louis American

n Everyone is vulnerable and are subject to becoming infected if we do not follow the advice given by top health officials in the country.

It is very unfortunate that President Donald Trump and First Lady Melania Trump have contracted the coronavirus. It caused panic among White House aides, politicians, and others who have had close contact with President Trump and his aide Hope Hicks recently who also contracted the virus. They are wondering if they have also contracted it from the president or his aide. Of course, we all tend to hope that President Trump and lady Trump have a successful recovery. A number of close aides, senators, etc., were also infected. This situation tends to verify what health officials have been telling us for months. That is, everyone is subject to infection by this virus. It does not distinguish between race, color, ethnic status, social status, financial status, or any other characteristic. It tells us that everyone is vulnerable and are subject to becoming infected if we do not follow the advice given by top health officials in the country. Their recommendations for approximately six months have been to wear masks, maintain social distance (six feet), and wash our hands frequently. This advice is as important today as is has been in the past. In fact, the rate of increase in virus cases has increased in about 27 states in the last month or so. Missouri is one of those states. Over seven million Americans have become infected and over 209,000 have died from this disease, and the figures are continuing to rise at a higher rate than some had expected.

Dr. Robert Redfield, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, stated a few days ago that if everyone wore masks, we could prevent 90% of the virus infections in the United States. His suggestion has also been verified by other senior

COVID restrictions eased in St. Louis County

Businesses up to 50% capacity, high school in-person learning and contact sports allowed

By Sandra Jordan Of The St. Louis American

High-contact high school sports got the go-ahead in St. Louis County for schools and school districts who submit an approved plan. That was one of three major announcements made Monday, October 5 by St. Louis County Executive Dr. Sam Page, who told reporters hat data showing improvements in the County COVID positivity rates are prompting the change.

“Any school district that wants to return high-contact high school sports must submit a safety plan to the Department of Public Health,” Page said. “These plans must include the same screening, quarantine and isolation guidelines of other youth sports activities. They must also specify how spectators will be managed. And they must have a pledge that schools will cooperate with contact tracing efforts.” Failure to comply will get their plan

n “Your sacrifices have made this moment possible. Thank you to everyone in St. Louis County for wearing masks, for social distancing, and for adjusting your lives.” – St. Louis County Executive Dr. Sam Page See FLU SHOTS, A15

revoked. Submit plans to the health dept. at business-COVID@stlouisco.com Page is also recommending that schools and school districts offer the option to return to in-person learning at school for See RESTRICTIONS, A15

“Any school district that wants to return high-contact high school sports must submit a safety plan to the Department of Public Health,” Dr. Sam Page said.

Yvonne Hellems getting a flu shot from Peoples Clinic’s Rosalind Fulton on Tuesday, October 6.

Photo by Wiley Price

Rance Thomas

Photo by Wiley Price

“Taking

Care of You”

Restrictions

Continued from A14

high school students.

“We recognize the challenges that virtual learning poses and we encourage school districts to explore a return to an in-person option as they see fit for their students, for their teachers, for their staff and for their parents,” Page said. It is a recommendation, not a mandate. “We have also committed $3 million from the federal CARES Act funding to support

the purchase of PPE for our schools.”

For businesses, bars and restaurants that have been operating at reduced capacity during the pandemic, Page is opening up to half-capacity, beginning 5 p.m., Wednesday, Oct. 7.

“In recognition of the hard work of our business community, we are lifting the maximum occupancy of 25% to 50% in all of our businesses, based on the fire code,” Page said. “We are also going to allow a controlled use of drink and self-service food stations in

COVID-19, flu and youth

CDC reports on mortality among children and young adults

restaurants and convenience stores, with limits and precautions.” Find out more at stlcorona. com.

“Your sacrifices have made this moment possible. Thank you to everyone in St. Louis County for wearing masks, for social distancing, and for adjusting your lives to keep our community safe,” Page said. “We must all continue to exercise caution and remain committed to the precautions that have gotten us to where we are today.”

By William F. Tate IV and Kally Xu For The St. Louis American

Now more than ever, the role of a parent or caregiver entails supporting children and young persons in battling both the flu and SARS-CoV-2 infection. As flu season approaches and the pandemic continues, we offer insight into a parent’s worst nightmare: mortality rates of flu and COVID-19. Understanding the potential scale of the challenge in fighting deadly respiratory infections remains paramount in managing our day to day lives in a pandemic. It is important to consider the potential impact of experiencing the flu and SARS-CoV-2 simultaneously.

On rare occasions, children die from the flu. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), between 2004-2018, pediatric flu-related deaths of children each year have ranged from 37 to 188 deaths.

One exception during this period is noteworthy. In the period from April 2009 to September 2010, we experienced 358 pediatric flu-related deaths as the H1N1 pandemic raged. The CDC reported that nearly 80% of these pediatric deaths occurred among children without full vaccination.

The CDC noted that not all pediatric flu-related deaths are reported, however. To address this limitation, they developed statistical models to estimate actual number of deaths. For example, during the 2017-2018 time interval, 188 flu-related deaths were reported to the

CDC. However, their model estimated that nearly 600 flu-related deaths occurred during this period. We have more information about the flu virus than SARSCoV-2, as it has been more prevalent over the years. A recent CDC report discusses the impact of COVID-19 on people 21 years and younger, who make up about 26% of the population in the United States. The report tracks SARSCoV-2 cases from 50 states, New York City, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, Guam, and the U.S. Virgin Islands. During the period between February 12 and July 31, there have been 391,814 cases of COVID-19 in those 21 years and younger, with the first case reported in March, as well as the first death.

Of the 121 deaths discussed in the study, 25%, or 30, reported no underlying health problems, 75%, or 91 people, had at least one underlying condition, while 45%, or 54 people, had at least two. The most common underlying conditions included asthma, obesity, neurologic and developmental conditions, and cardiovascular issues.

n The majority of the 121 COVID-related deaths documented among people 21 years old or less were Hispanic persons (45%), followed by 29% non-Hispanic Black persons.

During this time period, 121 COVID-related deaths were documented among people 21 years old or less, the majority, at 45%, were Hispanic persons, followed by 29% non-Hispanic Black persons and 4% American Indian or American Alaskan persons. Seventy percent of the 121 deaths occurred in people aged 10 to 20 years old, while people aged 1 to 9 years old accounted for 20% of the total. Additionally, males represented 63% of the death count.

The findings suggest that Hispanic and non-Hispanic Black groups are disproportionately impacted by the virus among younger populations. While providing a useful snapshot, the study is limited, as casebased surveillance data underestimates cases of COVID-19 as compared with aggregate case reports from states. In particular, data on cases by race/ethnicity are not comparable, and case fatality rates by race/ethnicity cannot be calculated. This limitation demonstrates the need for additional research related to the impact of COVID-19 on racial and ethnic groups. As the flu season beckons, it is imperative for schools, colleges, community partners, and health care providers to collaborate in order to reduce the negative impact of the social determinants of health, such as limited access to health care services due to a lack of insurance, child care, transportation,

Crime

Continued from A14

health officials as well. This has been confirmed by the low infection rate in those

countries where most individuals wear masks wherever they go. I hope those who do not take the virus seriously, believe that they are immune to it, or feel that they have a right to do what they want

to do will realize that it is in the best interest of their families, their communities, and themselves to follow the recommendations of health officials.

Some tend to believe that wearing masks main-

SARS-CoV-2–associated cases, by week of case report to CDC, and deaths, by week of death, among persons aged less than 21 years in the United States, February 12–July 31, 2020.

or paid sick leave. In addition, young persons experiencing crowded living conditions, food and housing insecurity, poverty, education inequities, and racial discrimination have increased risk of COVID-19 disparities. Avoiding and surviving respiratory disease among our youth and young adults requires individual and collective investment.

Flu Shots

Continued from A14

people age 65 years and older, pregnant women, and people with certain health conditions or a weakened immune system. They are at greatest risk of flu complications.

Common symptoms of influenza are similar to some symptoms of COVID-19 – fever, coughing, congestion, difficulty breathing. Flu shots do not prevent COVID-19. Getting a flu shot decreases your chances of getting the flu or becoming hospitalized with flu complications.

“It’s actually important to protect yourself from the flu and to make sure you don’t get the flu and give it to someone else, because having two respiratory pandemics at the same time is not 1+1 – it’s much broader than

taining social distance, and hand washing do not protect them or that they do no need protection. Unfortunately, some will have to learn the hard way by contracting the virus. In the meantime, they are jeopardizing the health

Read this CDC report at https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/ volumes/69/wr/mm6937e4. htm?s_cid=mm6937e4_w.

William F. Tate IV is the executive vice president for academic affairs and provost at the University of South Carolina; Educational Foundation Distinguished Professor in the Departments of Sociology and Family & Preventive Medicine. Find him on Twitter @WFTate4. Kally Xu is a John B. Ervin Scholar and Gephardt Institute Civic Scholar at Washington University in St. Louis, where she is a candidate in the 3-2 Masters of Public Health in the George Warren Brown School of Social Work and the A.B. program in International and Area Studies and Asian American Studies.

that. It has a much broader multiplier effect in the way it overwhelms our community,” Page said. “But getting the flu shot will in no way make you more susceptible to COVID.”

Influenza kills thousands of people each year in the U.S. annually. During the 20182019 flu season, the latest numbers available from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, influenza was associated with more than 35.5 million illnesses, more than 16.5 million medical visits, 490,600 hospitalizations, and 34,200 deaths. Based on CDC recommendations, persons age 6 months and older should get the flu shot, unless they have a medical reason not to do so.

The County is accepting pediatric patients for flu shots.

“We’ll give as many people a flu shot as can get an appointment and get to one of our facilities,” Page said.

Another thing to remember, you must be generally well

and safety of themselves and others. Rance Thomas was a faculty member in Sociology/ Criminal Justice and served as lead faculty/coordinator of Sociology at Lewis and Clark Community College for

and without a fever or flu-like symptoms to get a flu shot.

A St. Louis County Department of Public Health spokesperson said there is “no contraindication to getting a flu shot with a mild cold, but it is generally not recommended if someone is fevering.” Additionally, residents in St. Louis County can register to get their flu shot and take a COVID-19 test at the two flu shot locations. However, the appointments need to be made separately, but timed close to one another.

“Independent appointments need to be made close to each-other and then upon arrival, inform staff you are doing both,” the spokesperson said. “These appointments are at John C. Murphy and South County locations only.” If you have more questions or need assistance, call 314615-0574. Register for a free flu shot at https://tinyurl.com/ StlCountyFluShots.

30 years. He became the first person in the college’s history to be granted the Professor

Award when he retired in 2002.

Emeritus

Yvonne Hellems getting a flu shot from Peoples Clinic’s Rosalind Fulton Tue. Oct. 6, 2002.

High-contact sports like football got the go-ahead to proceed in St. Louis County.

NEWSPAPER IN EDUCATION

PRESENT:

Healthy Kids

Healthcare Careers

Nutrition Challenge:

We recently celebrated the first day of fall — and with that comes fall fruits and vegetables! Some things in season now are pumpkin, apples, squash and pears.

Fall brings cooler temperatures. It’ll no longer be too hot to enjoy the outdoors!

So put on your shoes and jacket and go out and enjoy the weather. Choose activities that raise your heart rate and increase your breathing for at least 20 minutes.

One fun fall activity is to have a leafcatch race. Stand behind a specific line

Studies show that one of the easiest ways to stay healthy and extend your life expectancy is to not smoke. Smoking affects your lungs, your heart and many other parts of your body. And smoking is very addictive. So it’s way easier not to start, than to stop later!

Learning Standards: HPE 1, HPE 2, HPE 5, NH 1, NH 3

“In season” generally means that the food is extra flavorful and yummy this time of year, but also easier to find and less expensive!

As a family, plan a Fall Foods Feast. What foods would you include, and what are nutritious, healthy ways that you could prepare them? What are ways that these foods might be served that aren’t so healthy?

Learning Standards: HPE 2, HPE 5, NH 1, NH 3, NH 5

(using sticks or a sidewalk to mark your starting point). When you see a leaf fall from a tree see who can catch it before it hits the ground. The first one to catch 10 leaves wins!

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

Healthier

Cheese Stix

Ingredients:

6 Mozzarella String cheese sticks

½ Cp. Panko breadcrumbs

1 Large Egg (mixed with a fork)

Dipping Sauce — Low-fat ranch, marinara, etc. (optional)

Directions: Preheat oven to 425º and spray a cookie sheet with cooking spray. Toast the Panko breadcrumbs in a warm pan til browned, then cool and place in a small plate. Cut the cheese sticks into small 2-3 inch pieces. Dip in the egg mixture, roll in the breadcrumbs and place on the prepared cookie sheet. Bake until warm and cheese starts to soften (3-4 minutes).

Kimberly A. Hurst, RN, BSN

Where do you work? I am an RN Community Care Coordinator at St. Louis VA Medical Center – John Cochran Division.

Where did you go to school? I graduated from Lutheran High School North and I then earned an Associate of Science in Nursing from Jewish College of Nursing, St. Louis, and a Bachelor of Science in Nursing from Central Methodist University, St. Louis.

What does a community care coordinator do?

Each day at work I coordinate care for our veterans to receive services outside of the VA, either because we can’t provide the service or we can’t see them within a 30-day period. I talk to many veterans, doctors, and nurses daily.

Why did you choose this career? I chose this career because I like helping people, especially our veterans. I give honor to our veterans that have served our country to keep us safe. This is my way of saying, “thank you,” for your service.

What is your favorite part of the job you have? My favorite part is the accomplishment I feel when the veterans receive the services they need. It is very satisfying to hear them say thank you for our services, even though I don’t feel like it’s that big of a deal. I owe it to them.

Learning Standards: HPE6, NH3

“Questions or comments? Contact Cathy Sewell csewell@stlamerican.com or 618-910-9551

The St. Louis American’s award winning NIE program provides newspapers and resources to more than 8,000 teachers and students each week throughout the school year, at no charge.

Questions or comments? Contact Cathy Sewell csewell@stlamerican.com or 618-910-9551

FAMILY SPOTLIGHT SCIENCE STARS

Dad Myron and son Zachary

Fletcher

uuse The American’s e-edition to complete science lessons at home. They work together on an experiment found in last week’s STEM page, testing the connection between smell and taste.

Photo by LaSonta Fletcher

SCIENCE CORNER

What is a stroke? When the brain is flooded with blood and can’t get oxygen, it is a stroke. Strokes can cause sickness, brain damage, muscle weakness, and even death. During a stroke, a person will often experience numbness on one side of the body, a bad headache, dizziness, loss of balance, and difficult speaking. It is important to get help immediately. Sometimes, strokes can be treated with medicine or surgery.

Strokes

There are two main types of strokes: ischemic and hemorrhagic. Ischemic is caused from a blocked blood vessel. This blockage may be from a clot or a clogged artery. Hemorrhagic is caused when a weak or thin blood vessel bursts and blood spills out. High blood pressure weakens

SCIENCE INVESTIGATION

Your senses are much more effective when they are used together. In this experiment, you will see how your senses help each other.

Materials Needed:

• Cardboard Box • Scissors • Sock

• 5-10 Small Items to Place in the Box • Volunteers

Procedure:

q Cut a hole in the box that is big enough to fit your hand through for this experiment.

w Place your items in the box.

MATH CONNECTION

Flex those brain muscles as you answer these word problems!

z A fifth grade class sold 250 tickets to a play. They sold 160 adult tickets at $7.50 each, and 90 children’s tickets at $5.00 each. They donated ½ of the money to charity. How much money did they donate? ______

DID YOU KNOW?

blood vessels and is usually the cause of hemorrhagic strokes. Doctors can diagnose strokes by using MRI imaging and CT scans. In order to prevent strokes, it is important not to smoke. This weakens your blood vessels and your immune system. Eat healthy. Limit fat intake and eat a lot of whole grains to keep your blood vessels clear from plaque. Be active. Regular, physical activity keeps your blood vessels healthy and strong. Check your blood pressure and keep an eye on risk factors such as high cholesterol, diabetes and high blood pressure.

Learning Standards: I can read nonfiction text for main idea and supporting details.

e Ask a volunteer to place a sock on their hand. They will place their hand in the hole and see how many items they can identify in the box.

r Next, the volunteer will repeat step 3 without the sock. Are they more successful identifying objects without their sense of touch affected?

t Finally, take the lid off the box and allow the volunteer to see all of the items.

Analyze: How do the sense of sight and touch work together?

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

x Jim, Carla and Tommy are members of the same family. Carla is 5 years older than Jim. Tommy is 6 years older than Carla. The sum of their three ages is 31 years. How old is each one them? ______

c How many minutes are in one week? ______ How many minutes are in one month? ______

v A painter charges $250 for materials and $35 per hour for labor. The total cost of painting an office is $372.50. How many hours did it take the painter to paint the office? ______

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

African-American Writer and Health Consultant Andrea King Collier

Andrea King Collier is a writer, health editor, columnist, and national health consultant from Lansing, Michigan. She focuses on health issues in the AfricanAmerican community. She earned degrees in journalism and political science from Indiana University and is a member of the American Medical Writers Association and Medical Journalism for the National Cancer Institute. She started writing for national magazines, but expanded to include social media, websites, blogs, and photography. She has worked with Kellogg Fellows Leadership Alliance, the International Association of Culinary Professionals, Health Power, Inc., and the National Association of Black Journalists.

Collier has written two books. “Still With Me: A Daughter’s Journey of Love and Loss,” was written about the last year of her mother’s life. Collier was raised by a strict single mother who remarried when she was twelve years old. Upon learning her mother had cancer, Collier invited her mother to live with her and her family. The last year of her mother’s life was spent finding peace with their relationship, as well as finding peace with cancer. The ladies rekindled their love of collecting vintage Barbies. In this book, Collier writes about her personal relationship with her mother and about health issues and how they affect the entire family.

“The Black Woman’s Guide to Black Men’s Health” was coauthored with Dr. Willarda Edwards, whom Collier met at an NAACP conference. Collier believes that African-American men are more likely to eat right, be active, and seek medical attention if they have an informed woman in their life. This book is divided into chapters that focus on the following health issues: lung, prostate and colon cancer, obesity, heart disease, diabetes, stroke, Alzheimer’s disease, mental health, substance abuse, HIV/AIDS and violence against young black men. Each chapter contains facts, treatment and prevention information, personal stories from celebrities and non-celebrities, and questions and answers with the doctor. The book also focuses on how to select an insurance plan and find a health care provider, as well as how these topics affect the African-American community.

Many of Collier’s articles focus on health, wellness, and prevention. She believes strongly in supporting agriculture and making fresh foods available in urban communities. Colllier believes in strong family and community support. She says, “My parents raised me to believe I could accomplish anything. I’ve never shied away from trying new technology, applying for fellowships or attending professional conferences that allow me to build upon my success.”

To read a collection of Andrea King Collier’s articles, visit: http://civileats.com/author/acollier/. Learning Standards: person who has made a contribution to the fields of science, technology, engineering, or math.

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

Activities —

Help Wanted: Read the ads and find a job that lists a the hourly wage, daily wage, weekly wage, monthly wage, annual wage and wages over a three year period.

Editorials: Find examples of editorials online that were written to inform the reader, interpret the news for the reader, entertain the reader, and persuade the reader. As you read the editorial, underline the facts and circle the opinions.

Learning Standards:

I can use the newspaper to locate information. I can identify author’s purpose. I can add, subtract, multiply, and divide to solve a problem.

It

Artica makes its ‘Eternal Return’ October 10 and 11

‘Annual celebration of creativity, innovation, and exploration’ on North Riverfront

By Chris King Of The St. Louis American

Artica is an outdoor event that is far-out by just about any standards, with no confines other than the limits of your imagination, so it is better suited to survive in COVID-19 time than just about any festival one could think of. Artica returns – under the triumphant title of “Artica 2020: Eternal Return” – from noon to 10 p.m. Saturday and Sunday, October 10 and 11. The location is on the grounds of the old Cotton Belt Building at the corner of Lewis and Dickson streets on the North Riverfront north of Laclede’s Landing. But there are no actual barriers: Artica disappears off into the city, into the night, into the unknown.

n n Artica 2020: Eternal Return is a creative celebration and exploration of the apparent paradox of existence, that every step forward, somehow takes us closer to what we imagined we’d left behind.

“This is a free open-air event for all ages featuring two days of music, sculpture, interactive art installations, roaming performers and the Burn,” organizers promise. “The Burn” is a public burning of Our Lady of Artica, a wooden effigy, that closes the festival on Sunday night. If that sounds too far out, then just wander off when the burning is about to begin.

“Each year, Artica establishes an ‘art city’ uninhibited by commerce,” organizers promise, and that checks out – Artica is the unbranded anti-festival, an “annual celebration of creativity, innovation, and exploration,” organizers rightly claim.

It is not, however, underground or outlaw. The festival has been approved by the city Health Department. Masks and social distancing will be required while on the festival grounds. Guests are encouraged to wash their hands often

at the provided handwashing stations and to use hand sanitizer with at least 70% alcohol in between hand washings.

“If you are not feeling well,” organizers request, “please stay at home,” which is never a bad idea anyway.

Of this year’s theme in particular, organizers say: “Artica 2020: Eternal Return is a creative celebration and exploration of the apparent paradox of existence, that every step forward, somehow takes us closer to what we imagined we’d left behind.”

The title is borrowed from the German philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche (1844–1900), a thinker suitably edgy and unsettling for the disrupted here and now. Nietzsche returned to the idea of the Eternal Return (appropriately enough) several times throughout his work; one classic statement of it comes in a demonic thought experiment.

“What, if some day or night a demon were

By Chris King Of The St. Louis American

“We think this is an innovative way to encourage more college students to commit to the important right of voting and to recognize their creativity.” – Joan Lipkin, Dance the Vote

Podcast series features Arkansas lynching tragedy with St. Louis connection

By Kenya Vaughn Of The St. Louis American

Isadore Banks was as much of a mogul as a Black man could be in the Jim Crow South. He was rumored to have owned 1,000 acres of land in Marion, Arkansas in addition to having distinction as a World War I veteran, business owner and community leader. With a level of respect that was said to have even trickled into the white community, Banks existed as an anomaly within the separate and unequal experiences of Black people in Marion. Then, in 1954 – at the height of his influence – Banks was chained to a tree and set on fire. According to several sources, his body remained tied to the tree for days.

In the documentary podcast series “Unfinished: Deep South,” filmmaker Taylor Hom and journalist Neil Shea dive in to get to the bottom of the who, what and why.

“People were afraid – they were scared to death,” his son, Jim Banks told Hom and Shea. “I could actually feel the fear of others around me. It was a very frightening situation to watch how people reacted to that.” His life was stolen, and so was the inheritance that was his children’s birthright.

n “They took our life when they took away my daddy,” Dorothy said. “We were poor little kids who didn’t have food.

“All records of his land was destroyed. It was like he had nothing,” Jim Banks said. “He had no land. He had no property. It was as if everything disappeared. There was no land, there was no money. Nothing. It was as if it had never existed.”

The series is presented by Market Road Films, the production company of two-time Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Lynn Nottage and Emmy and PGA Awardwinning film director Tony Gerber. The story also includes ties to St. Louis.

As Hom and Shea dive into their winding narrative that adds context and details surrounding the mystery behind this particular horrendous crime, they reveal intersecting acts of racial terror and systemic abuse while exploring often ignored elements of the generational impact of a lynching. They even breakdown the history of lynching in an episode entitled “A Very American Crime.” The podcast series debuted June 10. The entire season featuring Banks’ story is currently available on Stitcher.com.

Taylor Hom explains that through her research

The 1954 lynching of Marion, Arkansas business owner Isadore Banks has been shrouded in mystery. Through the ‘Unfinished: Deep South’ podcast, filmmaker Taylor Hom and journalist Neil Shea attempt to get answers. Their search also brings them to St. Louis. In this family photo, Banks is pictured with daughter Muriel.

Photo by Robert Crowe

Artica ends Sunday night with the Burn – though socially distant in 2020

to register and vote.”

Ivana Solomon, 21, a Webster University student, submitted a video

“I’m from St. Louis, Missouri but my family’s heritage is from Guyana, Suriname, and Barbados. We are also indigenous to the Americas,” she said.

“What inspired me to make this video was how much I’ve gained just from talking to people in his age group. I found that they dealt with some pretty unique situations during their time.... everything was different: the revolutions, the movements. The steps they took in order to change their reality changed so many things and the way they are done in society. That is something I am inspired by every time I speak to someone in that generation.”

Again, although Webster University is a co-sponsor

of the competition, students enrolled at any college or university in the United States are eligible.

“We are encouraging students to carry out the legacy of John Lewis in their own creative and unique way,” said Vincent C. Flewellen, Webster University’s chief diversity officer. “There are so many ways we can ‘make good trouble.’”

How do you play?

If you are a college student in the United States, post multi-media, images, videos, music, dance, painting, sculpture, poetry, or other artistic expressions inspired by John Lewis’ legacy and no longer than 60 seconds in length to social media by Monday, October 19. Media can be created in and/or posted to Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, or TikTok but must be shared on Instagram to be eligible for the contest prizes. Submissions must tag @WebsterU, @ DanceTheVoteSTL, @ WebsterVotes and #MakeGoodTroubleContest

in caption. All tags must be included to be qualified for the contest.

Each of the four finalists will receive $250, and a grand prize winner will receive $500. Prize money is provided by Dance the Vote St. Louis.

“Nearly 40% of students who were eligible to vote cast ballots in the 2018 elections, and that was a significant upswing from 19% in the 2014, so we still have work to do,” said Joan Lipkin, artistic director of Dance the Vote, a nonpartisan arts initiative that pairs dance, poetry, spoken word, song, graphics, video and texting with voter awareness and registration.

“We think this is an innovative way to promote the legacy of John Lewis, to encourage more college students to commit to the important right of voting and to recognize their creativity.”

The competition can only be entered in social media as described above, but for more information visit https://tinyurl. com/vote-good-trouble.

A monument for Dred Scott

Great-greatgranddaughter wants to make his grave ‘a place worthy of pilgrimage’

By Evie Hemphill Of St. Louis Public Radio

Lynne Jackson sometimes struggles to find her great-great-grandfather’s grave. Located in North St. Louis’ sprawling and historic Calvary Cemetery, the headstone is just two and a half feet high. A cemetery map helps, and on it, his grave is indicated in the key, with the number 19 beside his name: Dred Scott.

Dred Scott’s remains were initially buried in an unmarked grave near St. Louis University. In 1867 they were moved to a different unmarked grave in Calvary Cemetery, where the current headstone was finally added in 1958.

It’s a modest memorial, and it’s also “the most asked-for grave out there,” said Jackson, who has launched a fundraiser in hopes of creating a ninefoot-tall educational memorial at the spot.

“It’s wonderful to have a memorial at all, but I think we can do better,” Jackson said. She envisions “a place worthy of pilgrimage for students and lovers of American history,” as her Dred Scott Heritage Foundation GoFundMe campaign puts it.

Scott, an enslaved African American who unsuccessfully sued for his and his family’s freedom in the Dred Scott v. Sandford U.S. Supreme Court case of 1857, has had a dramatic effect on that history.

Though he died from tuberculosis only a year and a half after the court’s 7-2 decision

against him, the injustice of the argument that Scott was not a citizen of the U.S. and therefore had no right to bring a lawsuit led to public outcry — and hastened the Civil War.

Jackson, who first remembers being aware of her great-great-grandfather’s legacy as a young child, is the founder and president of the Dred Scott Heritage Foundation. She remembers a time not so long ago when there was no marker whatsoever at Scott’s grave.

“I was actually there [in Calvary Cemetery] as a very, very young girl when it was pointed out to my mom and dad that ‘this is where your ancestor was buried by a Jesuit priest,’” she said.

Scott’s remains were originally buried in a different unmarked grave near St. Louis University before one of the children of his original owners moved the remains to Calvary

in 1867. Three plots were purchased at Calvary, Jackson said, because at that time “a Black person couldn’t be buried next to a white person, and [a] slave could be buried there only if their owners wanted them to.”

Now, that extra space around Scott’s grave may prove helpful as plans and funds for a more fitting memorial begin to come together.

“We are planning to have a beautiful monument there, and I’m very excited about how it’s going to look,” Jackson said. Along with a nine-foot black granite piece, her hopes for the site include column ornamentation, lots of space for etching and detailing history, and a patio with benches “where people can literally come and sit for a moment and meditate and understand who this man was.” To donate, visit https:// tinyurl.com/donate-Dred.

Dred Scott is buried in North St. Louis’ historic Calvary Cemetery. The grave was unmarked until 1958.

Celebrating International Day of the Girl

Missouri Historical Society highlights local LGBTQIA+ history

By Shakia Gullette and Sharon Smith Missouri Historical Society

In 2012 the United Nations commemorated October 11 as International Day of the Girl, an annual day to highlight and address girls’ needs and challenges as well as promote their empowerment and human rights. This year the Missouri Historical Society is pleased to collaborate with Tracie Berry-McGhee, founder of Sistakeeper, for our second annual International Day of the Girl celebration on Friday, October 9, at 12:30 p.m. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, this year’s event will take place virtually on Zoom.

Berry-McGhee founded SistaKeeper Empowerment Center, a culturally relevant mentoring program, in 2002 and later created the I Define ME Movement. Both organizations are based in St. Louis.

Berry-McGhee notes, “International Day of the Girl is important because it celebrates positivity. Girls historically have been told that they should be seen and not heard. Girls need to know that they can change the world and are keepers of our community.”

“We are expecting nearly 500 girls through the Zoom platform. We will continue to empower our girls to have a positive identity; stand up for themselves; and define their freedom through self-awareness and positive academic and community engagement. This year’s target audience is middle and high school students,” BerryMcGhee states.

This year MHS and Berry-McGhee are pleased to welcome WNBA Chicago Sky player Diamond DeShields as the keynote speaker. Additionally, guests can participate in an interactive panel and Q&A with women entrepreneurs, enjoy music and dance, and hear from teen girl speakers who have taken the I Define ME pledge. Visit the Missouri History Museum on Sunday, October 11, to walk through the current exhibition Beyond the Ballot: St. Louis and Suffrage and visit the I Define Me wellness mobile van, which will be parked near the Museum’s North lawn (Lindell Boulevard entrance). The I Define Me van brings attention to mental wellness, literacy, and community resources for girls and women. From 1 to 3 p.m., we will be gifting over 200 wellness swag bags with personal protective equipment (PPE) kits for families, masks, journals, skincare products, and more, available on a first-come, first-served basis. Sunday’s event is sponsored by the I Define ME Movement, the YWCA, and PrepareSTL. Schools and individuals can register for Friday’s program on eventbrite.com at I Define ME International Day of the Girl Virtual Summit. Advance ticketing is required for Missouri History Museum entrance. Visit mohistory.org/museum to plan your visit and reserve your free tickets. No registration is needed for the I Define Me van.

LGBTQIA+ history

As an organization dedicated to preserving the history of our region, the Missouri Historical Society has been collecting materials related to St. Louis’s LGBTQIA+ communities for years.

The Missouri Historical Society will collaborate with Tracie Berry-McGhee, founder of Sistakeeper, for its second annual International Day of the Girl celebration on Friday, October 9.

Yet many people—particularly those who most needed to know, the LGBTQIA+ communities themselves—had no idea.

Artifacts and archival materials had been collected somewhat sporadically over the decades as they were offered. But there was no intentional effort to collect specifically in the LGBTQIA+ communities until more recently.

In 2013 MHS staff members met with Steven Brawley of the St. Louis LGBT History Project to discuss possible artifacts for the 2014 Missouri History Museum exhibit 250 in 250. Brawley told the staff that he was looking for a home for the huge collection of artifacts and archives in his basement. Since then, MHS has worked with Brawley to collect materials relating to local LGBTQIA+ communities.

Today over 70 advisers work on MHS’s Gateway to Pride Initiative, focusing on collecting, programming, fundraising, and communications surrounding local LGBTQIA+ history. MHS has also hired a curatorial assistant to work with the curator of civic and personal identity on collecting, programming, and planning a Museum exhibit that will open in the mid-2020s.

On Thursday, October 15, at 6:30 p.m., join MHS on Zoom for Five (More) Turning Points in St. Louis LGBTQIA+ History. One of the stories featured is that of Black blues singer George Hannah.

MHS’s YouTube channel playlist also includes a recent virtual program on Black Pride featuring Jeffrey McCune Jr., associate professor at Washington University in St. Louis. To view this and other past programming, visit MHS’s YouTube channel.

In an effort to be as inclusive and diverse as possible, MHS is looking for objects and archives that tell the stories of LGBTQIA+ people of color. For submissions, please contact gatewaytopride@mohistory.org.

To join these programs virtually via Zoom, visit the MHS events calendar at mohistory.org.

Select the event, then look for the “Join Through Zoom” button at the bottom of the program description.

Continued from B1

and telling of the Banks’ story, that she and Shea realized that lynching goes beyond the tragedy of the death of victim.

“We see this over and over again in the south. You can call it ‘the lynching effect,’” Hom said. “Because a lynching isn’t just about murder. It’s about trying to erase someone. And it goes beyond money or land. In Isadore’s case, the erasure was so complete that for years some of his relatives didn’t even know he existed.”

It’s an erasure that takes place that racial terrorists methodically and deliberately carry out to ensure that the legacy of trauma continues for generations after the act itself among the victim’s families. And in the same breath, there are residual fringe benefits for those who engage in such unspeakable acts that reach far beyond protecting the white power dynamic.

A

living legacy in St. Louis

The podcast shares the experience of St. Louis native Marcelina Williams and her

mother Dorothy Williams - a demonstration of the irreparable fracture caused by a lynching - along with a continuum of trauma that remains more than 65 years after Banks’ life was stolen.

Marcelina learned about her grandfather when her mother was attending St. Louis Community College – Forest Park.

“She had her Black History book out. I loved Black history,” Marcelina told Hom and Shea. “I got her book and I was looking through it. There were some gruesome images [of lynchings] in the book.”

The picture of what had happened to Isadore Banks was so tragically compelling, Marcelina went to show it to her mother.

“That’s my daddy,” Dorothy screamed. “That’s my daddy!”

Despite the openness they shared as mother and daughter, Marcelina was an adult before Dorothy would discuss the circumstances surrounding her father’s murder.

“I kept it to myself, because I didn’t know who was up here that might harm me and my family,” she said.

Dorothy was five years old when her father paid someone to secretly transport her and her mother from Marion to St. Louis. Perhaps he knew they were in danger. She was never given the opportunity to ask.

He was lynched shortly after she and her mother arrived. Due to his murder, Dorothy experienced a descent from affluence to abject poverty.

“They took our life when they took away my daddy,” Dorothy said. “We were poor little kids who didn’t have food. You know how they talked about welfare kids back then. They laughed at ‘em, threw rocks at ‘em, made fun of ‘em. That’s how they did us.” As an adult, after seeing her grandfather’s name among a scroll of victims of unsolved murders during the Civil Rights era in 2007, Marcelina vowed to ensure that her grandfather’s legacy is restored. She has been relentless in her pursuit.

“I will not rest until America gives us our justice, closure and compensation for his death,” Marcelina said during a ceremony honoring Banks for his service to the U.S. Army more than 60 years after his untimely death. “My grandfather was my hero. He died and saved my mother, so that I could live. And I’ll be doggone if I let him down now.”

The full series of “Unfinished: Deep South,” was created and reported by filmmaker Taylor Hom and journalist Neil Shea. It can be heard at https://www.stitcher. com/podcast/unfinished-podcast.

Continued from B1

to steal after you into your loneliest loneliness and say to you: ‘This life as you now live it and have lived it, you will have to live once more and innumerable times more; and there will be nothing new in it, but every pain and every joy and every thought and sigh and everything unutterably small or

great in your life will have to return to you, all in the same succession and sequence—even this spider and this moonlight between the trees, and even this moment and I myself. The eternal hourglass of existence is turned upside down again and again, and you with it, speck of dust!’” Nietzsche wrote.

In the nightmarish year of 2020, it’s daring indeed to conjure the notion of the Eternal Return. Who now wants to contemplate the possibility that “this life as you now live it and

have lived it, you will have to live once more and innumerable times more”?

Actually, embrace Artica (at a social distance) and you just might find yourself enlivened by “every joy and every thought,” and maybe you will want them to return after the Lady burns and you’ve wandered off into the long, dark night of 2020. Visit articastl.com for more information or email articafest@gmail.com.

Office of Jerome Williams, M.D. 3409 Union Blvd. St. Louis, MO 63115 (314) 261-4834

Medicare Annual Enrollment is from October 15th – December 7th!

Dr. Larry Buck II and Dr. Aunita Hill-Jones accept most insurance plans including Essence Healthcare, United Healthcare AARP Medicare Advantage, and Aetna Medicare Gold Advantage and Advantra plans.

Art

E. Gaye Woods named to SSM Health Ministries Board of Directors

Plus, Bethesda Temple Church faithful celebrated 65th Wedding Anniversary

American staff

SSM Health has named E. Gaye Woods, MBA, to SSM Health Ministries and its Board of Directors. SSM Health Ministries is the sponsoring body responsible for preserving SSM Health’s Roman Catholic identity and serving as liaison to the Vatican.

As the system director of Community Benefit for SCL Health, Woods is responsible for advancing initiatives that positively impact the overall health of the communities the Catholic health system serves across Colorado, Montana and Kansas, with a special focus on the underserved. She designs and implements programs that connect clinical delivery with community-based services to address the needs of vulnerable populations, including the underlying social determinants of health.

“Ms. Woods’ dedication to the mission of Catholic health care and her work to positively impact diverse and vulnerable populations make her an ideal fit for SSMHM and our board,” said Larry LeGrand, SSMHM president. “She will be a strong addition to our governance

team as we work to transform health care for our communities.”

Woods serves as chair of the Advisory Board on Community Benefit for the Catholic Health Association and also is a member of CHA’s Advocacy & Public Policy Committee. She also is a board member for the Community First Foundation in Denver, Colorado, and served as a board member for the St. Joseph Hospital Foundation in Denver, as well as the Women’s Foundation of Colorado.

“Throughout her career, Woods has demonstrated an unrelenting commitment to eliminating health disparities for underserved populations and partnering with community organizations that have a similar focus,” said Laura S. Kaiser, FACHE, president and CEO of SSM Health. “Her expertise and insight will be great assets to our ministry as we continue working to ensure high-quality care is both affordable and accessible for everyone we serve.”

Woods received her Master’s degree in Business Administration from the Kellogg Graduate

n “Ms. Woods’ dedication to the mission of Catholic health care and her work to positively impact diverse and vulnerable populations make her an ideal fit for SSMHM and our board.”

– Larry LeGrand, SSMHM president

School of Management at Northwestern University and a Bachelor of Arts degree

E.

Gaye Woods, system director of Community Benefit for SCL Health, was named to SSM Health Ministries and its Board of Directors.

Faithful ceebrated 65th Wedding Anniversary

Walter and Barbara Cole recently celebrated their 65th Wedding Anniversary. They are faithful, longtime members of Bethesda Temple Church of the Apostolic Faith, one of the largest African-American churches in the St. Louis area.

Elder Walter Cole serves as one of the assistant pastors and Evangelist Barbara Cole has served in a countless number of leadership roles both locally and internationally.

Walter and Barbara are both very active in their church and in the community, and they love spending time with their family, especially celebrating holidays and special occasions.

vow renewal ceremony on July 5; social distance guidelines were followed. Walter and Barbara give God all the credit for bringing them together, keeping them together and bringing them to this milestone.

Walter Cole was born on March 16, 1935 in Birmingham, Alabama to Robert and Catherine Cole. His family moved to the St. Louis area in 1947. Barbara Jean Downey was born on December 15, 1936 in Madison, Illinois to parents Mack Downey and Alice Thomas. Barbara’s family relocated to Chicago, Illinois in 1945. A few years later, the family moved back to the St. Louis area.

in Telecommunications and Marketing from Texas Tech University.

COVID-19 could not stop their family from expressing love for both Mother’s Day and Father’s Day. Their children used drive-by parades as a way to see them and shower them with love and gifts. Their children continued to let the creative juices flow and planned a beautiful celebration in honor of their parents 65 years of marital bliss with a

Walter and Barbara met in the hallway while attending Sumner High School. These high school sweethearts later married on July 5, 1955. God blessed this union with five loving children: one daughter, Carlotta and four sons, Byron, Walter, Andre and Terence. In addition to their five children, the couple is blessed to have a son-in-love, James, four daughters-in-love (Katie, Cidd, Rochelle and Carla), 15 grandchildren and 8 greatgrandchildren. After 32 years of working as an oiler, Walter retired from McDonnell Douglas (now Boeing) in 1998, and Barbara retired from St. Louis Comprehensive Healthcare as a chief radiologist and manager of the EKG and X-Ray Department in 1982.

Sports

SportS EyE

With Alvin A. Reid

Bob Gibson, MLB’s greatest Black pitcher, completes his final game at 84

Had the game not been segregated, the late Satchel Paige would probably be known as the greatest Black pitcher in Major League Baseball history. Denied his chance by racism, Paige didn’t pitch in the Majors until he was past his prime. Yet, he was still getting dudes out when he was in his late 40s – and early 50s. St. Louis, the baseball world and a nation of sports fans lost the best, most-dominant Black pitcher in MLB’s history last week when Bob Gibson succumbed to pancreatic cancer (October 2, 2020) in Omaha at the age of 84.

Gibson’s most impressive statistic, which will never be matched, are his 255 complete games in 482 starts. In 1968, which is called the Year of the Pitcher, Gibson was by far the best, He threw 13 shutouts and had a mind-bogging ERA of just 1.12. He won the National League MVP Award and the Cy Young Award that year, the first of two Cy Youngs he landed during his career. Behind Gibson, the Cardinals won World Series titles in 1964 and 1967.

two in there.’’ Gibson did hit 102 batters during his 17-year career.

With a Major League career that began in the late 1950s, Gibson certainly dealt with racism in baseball and throughout America. This included his first manager, Solly Hemus, who openly used racial epithets toward Black and Latino players.

He was fired in 1961, just as the Cardinals were becoming one of baseball’s most diverse teams.

In the 2015 book “Pitch by Pitch, Gibson wrote “Our (Cardinals) team, as a whole, had no tolerance for ethnic or racial disrespect.”

“We’d talk about it openly and in no uncertain terms. In our clubhouse, nobody got a free pass.”

Gibson later said that his historic 1968 season was fueled by his rage at racism and the assassinations of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and Bobby Kennedy.

Jack Flaherty, the Cardinals youthful ace, pitched gallantly in his team’s 4-0 season-ending loss to the San Diego Padres on Oct. 2, learned of Gibson’s death just as the game was ending.

In the opening game of the 1968 World Series against the Detroit Tigers, Gibson struck out a record 17 hitters. He died on the 52nd anniversary of that feat. Unfortunately, the Cardinals dropped that series in seven games.

Gibson finished his career with a Cardinal record 251 wins, 3,117 strikeouts and a 2.91 ERA. He was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1981.

He also holds Redbird records for complete games (255), innings pitched (3884.1), shutouts (56), strikeouts (3,117) and batters faced (16,068).

Houston manager Dusty Baker, who starred in the NL during Gibson’s final years, spoke of Gibson’s fierce competitiveness.

“He was tough on me. He was one of the only guys, besides my father, that I was intimidated by,’’ Baker said. In 2008 at the All-Star Game in Yankee Stadium, Gibson said his reputation for head-hunting had been embellished.

‘’I didn’t do half the things they said I did,’’ he said.

‘’They said I was always knocking guys down and hitting guys. But I won a game or

“That one hurts,” said Flaherty, who had developed a close relationship with Gibson as a mentor and advisor.

“He’s a legend, first and foremost, somebody who I was lucky enough to learn from. You don’t get the opportunity to learn from somebody of that caliber and somebody who was that good very often.”

I saw Gibson pitch more than a dozen times at Busch Stadium, including some famous duels against Juan Marichal and the San Francisco Giants. Two minority pitchers that didn’t back down from anyone.

Those battles are why I like close, low-scoring baseball games. It’s real baseball.

Bob Gibson was a real man and a real pitcher. Both are in short supply these days.

It’s about time

I toured the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum in Kansas City three weeks ago for the first time in years and it remains a fascinating journey.

An examination of the battle to integrate Major League Baseball, which began decades before Jackie Robinson played,

is a highlight of the many exhibits.

Key to the effort were the heroics of Black soldiers in World War II. They could serve and die for a nation that didn’t allow them to excel in the Majors.

It’s detailed that the color barrier in baseball would have ended sooner if not for one, racist man – Commissioner Kenesaw Mountain Landis.

It is no coincidence that black players took the field in 1947 – three year after Landis’ death.

And it is nothing short of a disgrace that the Most Valuable Player Awards, which are voted on by the Baseball Writers Association of America, carried his name for 75 years.

That is until last Sunday.

“We will no longer will be associated with the Landis name, and the MVP plaques will be nameless in 2020,” BBWAA president Paul

Sullivan wrote.

“Hopefully when some sense of normalcy returns in 2021, we can have a healthy debate over whether to add a new name or just leave it as the BBWAA MVP award.”

Former St. Louis Cardinal star third baseman Terry Pendleton, who won the 1991 National League MVP Award with the Atlanta Braves, joined Hall of Fame members Barry Larkin and Mike Schmidt in calling for Landis’ name to be removed in June.

After learning of the BWAA’s decision, Pendleton texted “It’s the right thing to do!!”

The decision cannot be fully celebrated though. The vote to remove Landis’ name was not unanimous. Only 89 percent of voters approved the action. This means more than 1-in10 voters were happy to keep the racist Landis’ name on the award.

InSIdE SportS

With Earl Austin Jr.

St. Louis, the baseball world and a nation of sports fans lost the best, most-dominant Black pitcher in MLB’s history last week when Bob Gibson succumbed to pancreatic cancer (October 2, 2020) in Omaha at the age of 84.

The Reid Roundup

On August 14, 1971 Bob Gibson threw his first and only no hitter in a 11-0 road win over the Pittsburgh Pirates. There is no film of the final innings of the game. It was not televised in Pittsburgh or St. Louis that Saturday night, and the lone film crew at the game left to prepare for the 11 p.m. news.

Alvin Reid, 10, and his family went bowling that night and the final innings on KMOX were on the alley speakers.

Gibson was not the first Black pitcher to win a Cy Young Award. Brooklyn Dodgers pitcher Don Newcombe won in 1956.

“Well, this should piss the haters off,” said Bubba Wallace as he took the lead with eight laps left in last Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series race in Talladega, Fla. – site of the noose incident earlier this

year. Wallace had two minor crashes before the race ended and finished 24th.

The Houston Texans fired head coach Bill O’Brien on Monday. While All-Pro quarterback Deshaun Watson is struggling this season, it is a job that Kansas City Chiefs offensive coordinator Eric Bieniemy will be interested in when the season ends. Romeo Crennel, 73, was named Texans interim coach. When he takes the sideline on Sunday, he will become the oldest head coach in NFL history.

Miami Dolphins head coach Brian Flores said he will not be “pressured” into starting rookie Tua Tagovailoa and that his collegiate hip injury remains a factor in the decision. Miami is 1-3 and starter Ryan Fitzpatrick has been inconsistent.

Jimmy Butler saved the Miami Heat season – or just prolonged it – last Sunday night with 40 points, 13 assists, 11 rebounds, two steals and two blocks in his team’s 115104 win. It is one of the Top 3 games in NBA Finals history. The baseball world would like to see the New York Yankees face the Los Angeles Dodgers in the World Series later this month. But wouldn’t it be fun if the hated Houston Astros take on the flamboyant and fun San Diego Padres in the Fall Classic?

This matchup would also give Astros manager Dusty Baker another chance to win the World Series as a manager. That bat flip by Fernando Tatis Jr., that helped seal the Padres’ comeback win over the St. Louis Cardinals in Game Two of their NL Wildcard game was awesome. I’m sure the Cardinals will retaliate next season. The 47th Annual Bayou Classic football game between Grambling State University and Southern University will be played on Saturday, April 17, 2021, at Independence Stadium in Shreveport. The move from the Superdome in New Orleans is just for the game this spring. Quash the rumor that Emmitt Smith, NFL Hall of Famer and former teammate of Deion Sanders with the Dallas Cowboys, will be joining Sanders’ staff at Jackson State University. “No. No I won’t. I sent Deion a quick note, asking him if he needed a running back coach, but I was really joking.”

Devin Williams named MLB Relief Pitcher of the Year

Napheesa Collier named to All-WNBA Second Team

Congratulations go out to a pair of St. Louis area professional athletes who received postseason honors after having stellar seasons in 2020. Former Hazelwood West baseball standout Devin Williams of the Milwaukee Brewers was named the Baseball Digest/eBay Major League Baseball Relief Pitcher of the Year. Former Incarnate

Word Academy girls basketball All-American Napheesa Collier was named to the All-WNBA Second Team. Williams, a 25-year old right hander, enjoyed a tremendous year coming out of the Brewers bullpen in 2020. He appeared in 22 games and posted a record of 4-1 with a record of 0.33. In 27 innings, he recorded 53 strikeouts while walking only nine batters. Collier, 24, followed up her Rookie of the Year season in 2019 with an even better campaign in 2020. In leading the Minnesota Lynx to the WNBA Playoffs, Collier averaged 16.1 points, 9.0 rebounds and 3.3 assists while shooting 52 per-

cent from the field, 40 percent from 3-point range 82 percent from the free throw line.

Jordan Nesbitt to Memphis

Standout basketball player Jordan Nesbitt of St. Louis Christian Academy has given a commitment to the University of Memphis. The 6’6” Nesbitt is one of the top players in the state of Missouri and ranked among the Top 100 players in the country in the Class of 2021. Nesbitt chose Memphis

over Saint Louis University and Illinois, who were his other two finalists. As a junior, Nesbitt averaged more than 20 points a game. He led the Cougars to the championship of the Legends of Winter Christmas Tournament against a talented field at SLUH.

Earl Austin Jr.

Top Prep Football Performances

Junior quarterback

Ayden Robinson-Wayne of CBC passed for 300 yards and four touchdowns and scored on a 65-yard TD run in the

Cadets’ 42-14 victory over Eureka.

Senior running back Christopher Kreh of Marquette rushed for 255 yards on 31 carries and six touchdowns in the Mustangs’ 41-7 victory over Marquette.

Senior receiver Zach Hahn of CBC had seven receptions for 108 yards and three touchdowns in the Cadets’ 42-14 victory over Eureka.

Running back Dane Mohnmann of Francis Howell rushed for 250 yards on 23 carries and three touchdowns in the Vikings’ 56-28 victory over Holt.

Sophomore Jaxin Patterson of Hillsboro rushed for 179

yards and three touchdowns and intercepted two passes and returned one 50 yards for a touchdown in the Hawks’ 64-42 victory over Windsor.

On Tap this Weekend

Cardinal Ritter at Francis Howell, Friday, 7 p.m. Lutheran North at Trinity, Friday, 7 p.m. Ladue at Lafayette, Friday, 7 p.m. Westminster at Duchense, Friday, 7 p.m. CBC at DeSmet, Saturday, noon Priory at John Burroughs, Saturday, 1 p.m.

Alvin A. Reid

St. LouiS american Career Center

PRESIDENT & CEO

The International Institute of St. Louis is seeking its next President & CEO. For further information and to apply, click here: https://bit.ly/34W8t0b

HANDYMAN

NEEDED for Apt Complex

$12 - 15 hour depending on exper. Call Tim 314-319-8597

POLICE OFFICER

The City of Eureka (population approximately 13,000) is accepting applications for a full-time Police Officer. There is no application deadline, and interviews will be conducted periodically until the position is filled. Application and job description available at Eureka Police Dept., 120 City Hall Dr., Eureka, MO and on the City’s website at www.eureka. mo.us. Starting salary is $50,500.00, plus excellent benefits. For additional information, call 636-938-6600 (Relay Missouri: 1-800-735-2466). The City of Eureka is an EOE/ADA employer.

JANITORIAL - HIRING

Full & Part-Time positions, 3 Shifts Background check. Steady work history preferred. Apply at 314 N. Jefferson at Olive. M - F, 9A to 5P. Must have two forms of I.D.

FULL-TIME MECHANIC

The City of Clayton is hiring for a full-time Mechanic. Apply by 10/16/20: https://claytonmo. applicantpro.com/jobs/ EOE

PUBLIC WORKS MAINTENANCE WORKER

The City of Maplewood is seeking a qualified person for the position of maintenance worker. Position is responsible for maintaining streets, parks, sewers, swimming pool and city buildings. Must be available for occasional evening and weekend work. The city offers a comparative salary and benefits package. Starting salary is negotiable based on qualifications and experience. For application, contact the Public Works Department at (314) 646-3640 or visit www.cityofmaplewood.com Applications accepted until October 26, 2020. Equal Opportunity Employer.

SOFTWARE DEVELOPER

Vintech Solutions Inc has openings for the position Software Developer with Master’s degree in Computer/ Digital Science,Engineering any,Technology or related to design, develop, implement, maintain and test business functions and web applications using a variety of languages, tools, methodologies and technologies. Develop, create and modify general computer applications software or specialized utility programs. Analyze user needs and develop software solutions. Design software or customize software for client use with the aim of optimizing operational efficiency. Work location is Olivette,MO with required travel to client locations throughout the USA.Please mail resumes to 9715 Olive Blvd, Floor 2,Olivette, MO 63132 (OR) e-mail: legal@vintech.com

CIRCULATION LEAD

Ferguson Public Library has a job opening for a Circulation Lead. See http://fergusonlibrary. net/employment for information and application instructions.

PROVOST

McKendree University seeks candidates for the position of Provost. The Provost will report to and work closely with the President to provide academic direction for the University. As the chief academic officer of the institution, the Provost has administrative responsibilities for all academic affairs. The successful candidate will have served as a tenured faculty member and as an academic administrator at a regionally accredited four-year institution of higher education. The candidate will have demonstrated leadership experience creating a team environment and fostering cooperation and respect among diverse constituents. An earned doctoral degree is required. McKendree University is a private, comprehensive, regional university in Lebanon, Illinois, with a strong tradition in the liberal arts and a focus on excellent teaching. With a total enrollment of over 2,500 students, McKendree offers undergraduate and graduate programs on campus, online, and at off-site locations in Southern Illinois and Kentucky. The beautiful campus is located in the historic city of Lebanon, Illinois, 25 minutes from downtown St. Louis. Annual compensation will be competitive and commensurate with experience. The University provides a comprehensive benefits package.

Application Process:

The Search Committee will begin reviewing applications immediately and continue until the position is filled. Applicants must submit: a curriculum vitae, cover letter describing relevant experience and interest in the position, and contact information for three professional references to Shirley Baugh, Director of Human Resources at hr@mckendree.edu. EEO/AA/ADA Employer

Full job advertisement is listed at https://www.mckendree.edu/about/ resources/index.php

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

Public Safety Officer - Protective Services – 49105:

Position assists with enforcement of university policy/procedures, patrolling facilities and responding to situations as directed by a Communications Officer or Supervisor. The ideal candidate will have the following required qualifications: High School diploma or equivalent High School certification. GED candidates must also have completed some college course work to illustrate a continuing desire for advancement.

TrialCare Project Manager - Center for Clinical Studies – 48962:

POSITION SUMMARY -The responsibility of the Project Manager is to direct and coordinate all aspects of multi-center clinical research trials, which include tactical management, administration and leadership of project teams in order to ensure the project proceeds on time and within budget parameters. To accomplish this, the Project Manager will collaborate closely with the clinical trial principal investigator, external site investigators and staff, and other Washington University team members including those at Trial Care, the Center for Clinical Studies, and the Institute for Clinical and Translational Sciences. REQUIRED QUALIFICATIONS: Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN) degree plus a minimum of five years direct experience in research related activities. REQUIRED LICENSURE/CERTIFICATION and REGISTRATION: Current Missouri Nursing License.

Special Program Administrator - Institute for Informatics SP– 48961:

POSITION SUMMARY - This position will work in close coordination with the new Office of Health Information and Data Sciences (OHIDS) with a range of academic units and strategic partners, including the Institute for Informatics, the Division of Biostatistics, Bernard Becker Medical Library, Office of the Chief Research Information Officer, the Division of Biology and Biomedical Sciences, and the Office of Medical Education. The above represents an alignment of critical units across the School of Medicine that are integral in a top-tier academic medical institution. This position will report to the Assistant Director, Education and Strategic Initiatives. The Special Programs Administrator will be responsible for directing, developing, implementing and evaluating recruitment strategies for OHIDS education and degree programs and will oversee special programs such as the Clinical Informatics Fellowship and the Biomedical Informatics and Data Science Summer Internship Program (BIDS@I2). This position will manage recruitment processes; cultivate relationships with students during admission processes; manage special programs, and develop processes for alumni tracking. REQUIRED QUALIFICATIONS: Bachelor’s degree and five years of experience.

Senior Compliance Specialist - Office of the Vice Chancellor for Research – 48831: POSITION SUMMARY: A Senior Research Compliance Specialist provides programmatic support for the University’s research ethics and compliance programs. This person implements and monitors research compliance review activities in accordance with the University’s policies, and federal and sponsoring agencies regulations, with minimal supervision; interprets applicable policies and regulations to resolve complex research and regulatory issues; provides expert advice and training to faculty, non-faculty, and committee members; interacts directly with external funding agencies and other academic institutions regarding the University’s adherence to policies and regulations; serves as lead person in the absence of a manager or director. REQUIRED QUALIFICATIONS: Bachelor’s degree in a related field plus five years of related work experience, preferably in a research intensive university or hospital setting, or equivalent combination of experience and education. Demonstrated understanding of a research environment, and ability to interpret regulations, policy and legal documents. General familiarity with the scientific process.

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

We seek people from diverse backgrounds to join us in a supportive environment that encourages boldness, inclusion and creativity.

EO/AA/VET/Disability Employer

CLEAN-TECH COMPANY IS INTERVIEWING FOR VARIOUS LOCATIONS!

Interviews on the spot! Every Thursday 1 PM – 4 PM! 211 South Jefferson Avenue, St. Louis, MO JOBS AVAILABLE! WE ARE HIRING! Apply online www.cleantechcompany.com/ careers

AUCTION NOTICE

The following people are in debt to Gateway Storage Mall of Belleville, Columbia, & Dupo. The contents of their storage unit(s) will be sold at auction to compensate all or part of that debt. Auction will be held online with Jersey County Auctions on October 12, 2020 at 12:00 PM. A cash deposit will be REQUIRED for all winning bids. Col. A014 – Sarah Woodard, Col. 182 –Rhonda Little, Dupo 66 – Tanya Bagwell, Dupo 95 – Sonja Edwards, Dupo 401 –Morris “Junior” Macke, Dupo 403 – Roy/ Amanda Venus, Dupo 418 – Jessica Nixon, Dupo 202 – Jim White, Bel. F12 – Delores Bledsoe, Bel. E09 – Octavia Mack, Bel. H11 – Erica Pittman, Bel. B07 – Jerry Price, Bel. A04 – Heather Gonzalez, Bel. F11 – Pamela Roberts, Bel. A11 – Andreia Stallings, Bel. G17- Kathi Statler, Bel. G34 – Kathi Statler, Bel. G19 – Vyktoria Gonzalez, Bel. G30 – Rick Jerashen, Bel. 618 – Aaron Muhamed, Bel. 317 – Joi Harris, Bel. 217 – Chris Ciszczon, Bel. 532 – Beverly Driver, Bel. 318 –Kelleye McCormick. For all rules, regulations and bidding process, contact Jersey County Auctions. All other questions, please call 618-421-4022 or mail 300 Rueck Road, Columbia, IL 62236.

REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS

# 57820279,

MARKETING AND BRANDING SERVICES

Harris-Stowe State University (HSSU) is requesting proposals for Marketing and Branding Services. A copy of the RFP is available by emailing: barskys@ hssu.edu

Proposals will be received until 10:00 A.M. (CST) on Monday October 26, 2020 and should be emailed to the attention of Shelley Barsky at barskys@hssu.edu with the subject line on e-mail stating “Proposal for Marketing and Branding Services”

CITY OF ST. LOUIS ST. LOUIS LAMBERT INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT

Solicitation For Bids (SFB) for Elevator, Escalator, and Power Walk Services

Bids Wanted

Bid documents may be obtained at St. Louis Lambert International Airport, Airport Properties Division, Monday through Friday between 8:30 a.m. and 5:00 p.m., or by calling (314) 890-1802. This SFB may also be obtained by visiting our website at www.flystl.com/business/ contract-opportunites

Robert Salarano Airport Properties Division Manager

METROPOLITAN ST. LOUIS SEWER DISTRICT

Notice is hereby given that the Metropolitan St. Louis Sewer District Requests for Quotes, Bids and Proposals are posted online for public download. Please navigate to www.msdprojectclear.org > Doing Business With Us > View Non-Capital Bids (commodities and services) or >Visit Planroom (capital construction bids)

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

REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS

The City of St. Louis Department of Public Safety is seeking proposals from qualified third party Emergency Medical Service Billing Providers to conduct all billing activities associated with emergency medical services provided by the St. Louis Fire Department. To obtain a copy of the RFP, please visit https://www.stlouis-mo.gov/ government/procurement.cfm

The RFP will be listed under “Local Government Services.” Proposals must be received by 4:00 p.m. CDT on Thursday, November 5 , 2020.

NOTICE TO CONTRACTORS

Sealed bids for the Spanish Pond Road ADA Improvements, St. Louis County Project No. CR-1676, will be received electronically thru the County’s Vendor Self Service portal at https://self-service.stlouisco.com/ MSS/Vendors, until 11:00 a.m. on October 28, 2020

Plans and specifications will be available on September 28, 2020 from the St. Louis County Web Site (www. stlouiscountymo.gov) or by contacting Cross Rhodes Print & Technologies, 2731 South Jefferson Avenue, St. Louis, MO 63118 (314) 678-0087.

CITY OF ST. LOUIS ST. LOUIS LAMBERT INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT

Solicitation For Bids (SFB) for Uninterrupted Power Supply (UPS) and Associated Battery System Maintenance Services

Bids Wanted

Bid documents may be obtained at St. Louis Lambert International Airport, Airport Properties Division, Monday through Friday between 8:30 a.m. and 5:00 p.m., or by calling (314) 890-1802. This SFB may also be obtained by visiting our website at www.flystl.com/business/ contract-opportunites

Robert Salarano Airport Properties Division Manager

PUBLIC NOTICE

Donald Maggi Inc. is accepting bids from Disadvantaged Business Enterprises for subcontracting opportunities on the City of Potosi, MO. Potosi Sidewalk Improvements TAP 9901 (518)

Bid Date and Time: October 21, 2020 at 1:30 pm

Plans/Specification is available via dropbox or zipfile via email.

Contact Donald Maggi Inc. at 573-364-7733 or email maggiconst@gmail.com

Donald Maggi Inc.

CITY OF ST. LOUIS ST. LOUIS LAMBERT INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT

Request For Proposals (RFP) for GOVERNMENT RELATIONS SERVICES

Proposals Wanted

Proposal documents may be obtained at St. Louis Lambert International Airport, Airport Properties Division, Monday through Friday between 8:30 a.m. and 5:00 p.m., or by calling (314) 890-1802. This RFP may also be obtained by visiting our website at www.flystl.com/business/ contract-opportunites.

Robert Salarano

Airport Properties Division Manager

PUBLIC NOTICE

Carondelet Leadership Academy Charter, a Missouri non-profit corporation, has filed Articles of Dissolution with the Missouri Secretary of State. Any person holding a claim against the corporation must submit their claim in writing within two years after the date of publication of this notice; otherwise, the claim will be barred. All claims must be sent to: Joe Jacobson, Esq., Jacobson Press P.C., 222 S. Central Ave., Suite 550, Clayton, MO 63105. The claim must include the following information: (1) the amount claimed; (2) the legal basis for the claim; and (3) contact information for the claimant, including email and mailing addresses. The claim must also include a copy of any documents on which the claimant relies in support of their claim

PUBLIC NOTICE

The City of Wellston, Mo., will hold a public meeting on Wednesday, October 7, 2020 at 6:00 pm at Wellston City Hall, located at 1414 Evergreen Ave., on the following proposition, to-wit: To purchase by Exodus Reentry Villages, Inc. Central Elementary School, located at 6328 Ella Ave., for the purpose of establishing an RRC (Residential Relief Center) in cooperation with the United States Probation Office for the Eastern District of Missouri that would house federal releases/ reentrants in a supervised educational/training facility whose counselors and staff will support reentrants in entering the metropolitan area job market. Citizens will have an opportunity to be heard. Anyone with special needs should contact the City Administrator at least five days prior to said public hearing by calling 314-553-8001.

PUBLIC NOTICE

Carondelet Leadership Academy [Charter-Holder], a Missouri non-profit corporation, has filed Articles of Dissolution with the Missouri Secretary of State. Any person holding a claim against the corporation must submit their claim in writing within two years after the date of publication of this notice; otherwise, the claim will be barred. All claims must be sent to:

Joe Jacobson, Esq., Jacobson Press P.C., 222 S. Central Ave., Suite 550, Clayton, MO 63105. The claim must include the following information: (1) the amount claimed; (2) the legal basis for the claim; and (3) contact information for the claimant, including email and mailing addresses. The claim must also include a copy of any documents on which the claimant relies in support of their claim.

REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS

Vanstar has been selected as the GC for the historic renovation of 1800 Washington Ave. The project consists of a 5 story renovation creating 72 apartments. We are requesting proposals for design/ build HVAC, Plumbing, Electric, and Fire sprinklers by 10/20/2020 at 10 a.m. Other scopes will be bidding at a later time when construction documents are complete. This project will have business and workforce participation requirements per Ordinances 70767 and 71094. All prospective bidders, must register with Erin Hugeback ehugeback@vanstarconstruction.com to receive prequalification form and drawings.

NOTICE TO CONTRACTORS

Sealed bids for the Longview Drive Bridge No. 511-C and Partridge Farm Estates Concrete Replacement, St. Louis County Project Nos. CR-1511/ CR-1832, will be received electronically thru the County’s Vendor Self Service portal at https://self-service.stlouisco.com/ MSS/Vendors, until 11:00 a.m. on October 28, 2020

Plans and specifications will be available on September 28, 2020 from the St. Louis County Web Site (www. stlouiscountymo.gov) or by contacting Cross Rhodes Print & Technologies, 2731 South Jefferson Avenue, St. Louis, MO 63118 (314) 678-0087.

CITY OF ST. LOUIS ST. LOUIS LAMBERT INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT

Solicitation For Bids (SFB) for CHAIR UPHOLSTERY SERVICES

Bids Wanted

Bid documents may be obtained at St. Louis Lambert International Airport, Airport Properties Division, Monday through Friday between 8:30 a.m. and 5:00 p.m., or by calling (314) 890-1802. This SFB may also be obtained by visiting our website at www.flystl.com/business/ contract-opportunites

Robert Salarano Airport Properties Division Manager

REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS

The Metropolitan Zoological Park and Museum District Board has authorized its management to secure proposals for banking services. The deadline for response is October 28, 2020 at 4:30 p.m. For more information or to secure a detailed proposal package, please contact: J. Patrick Dougherty, Executive Director Metropolitan Zoological Park and Museum District 314 862 4222 pdougherty@zmdstl.org

CITY OF ST. LOUIS ST. LOUIS LAMBERT INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT

Solicitation For Bids

REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS

The St. Louis Economic Development Partnership (the “Partnership”) solicits proposals from qualified firms to provide website development services for the Partnership’s website. A copy of the complete RFP is available at https://stlpartnership.com/rfprfq/. DBE, MBE, and WBE consultants are encouraged to bid, and a five percent bid preference may be available to certified MBE firms. To be considered, proposals must be received no later than 3PM CST on Thursday, October 8, 2020. St. Louis Economic Development Partnership Equal Opportunity Employer

REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS FOR A PHYSICAL NEEDS ASSESSMENT AND ENERGY AUDIT

SOLICITATION NO. RD 20-04 SLHA Public Housing Units – 2,790

The St. Louis Housing Authority (SLHA) invites proposals for a Physical Needs Assessment and Energy Audit of the SLHA’s public housing units. Solicitation documents will be available Monday, September 28, 2020 at https://www.slha.org/for-partners/vendors/ or at www.questcdn.com under Login using QuestCDN #7338392. Contact QuestCDN.com at 952-233-1632 or info@questcdn.com for assistance in membership registration, downloading this digital project information and online submittal of your proposal.

A Pre-Proposal conference will be held Wednesday, October 14, 2020 at 10:00 a.m. via ZOOM https:// us02web.zoom.us/j/84439424637, 1-312-626-6799, Meeting ID: 844 3942 4637, Passcode: 462367. SLHA will receive sealed proposals for this service until 3:00 p.m. (CST), on November 5, 2020.

Krista S. Peyton Contracting Officer AN EQUAL OPPORTUNITY EMPLOYER

‘My dad was everything a father should be’

His daughter remembers Wayman F. Smith III

By Kymberly Smith Jackson For The St. Louis American

When telling me that my father was a “born diplomat,” my grandmother, Edythe Meaux Smith, shared the story of his birthday party when he was only 7 or 8 years old. In those days the birthday host would, apparently, stand by their front door to greet their guests and then receive and open their gifts.

Unsurprisingly, in the 1940s, there weren’t endless gift options – especially in the Black community – so several people gifted my dad the exact same pair of blue-striped pajamas.

My grandmother said that, instead of expressing any disappointment, each time my father received and opened yet another pair of those blue-striped pajamas, he’d address his guest with appreciation and tell them, “Thank you, this is exactly what I wanted.”

My grandmother said that my dad knew what to say – and what not to say – that she never had to worry - that he knew how to make people feel connected, feel valued. Whenever she told that story, I had the sense that she learned lessons from my father, as much as we all have.

When I think of my father, Wayman Flynn Smith, I too think of a diplomatic and selfdetermined man, yet neither of these concepts – diplomacy nor self-determination – fully captures how my father lived his life.

Few of you have ever seen my father mad, and even fewer still have ever heard him complain about anything. My father had an innate and majestic sense of grace and possibility.

A kind of grace that – in this world – is often mistaken for blindness. Yet, to the contrary, my father had extremely clear vision. He saw and understood – with mathematical precision – how this world works, and he saw the people in this world for what and who we are, at our best and at our worst, and no matter how common the experience or the behavior, my father chose, over and over again, to focus on the best in each of us and to embody positive change.

My earliest memories of my dad take me back to our home on Windermere Place. He went through this sweet Dick Van Dyke/Nat King Cole phase - where he’d put on a smoking jacket, retire to the living room, smoke one of the pipes he’d inherited from his father, and read the evening paper. Each evening I’d crawl up on to his lap, and he’d open the “funny papers,” he’d patiently read each comic strip to me – Blondie & Dagwood, The Peanuts, Beetle Bailey – and we’d laugh and laugh. Being only 4 years old or so, I had no idea of what any of these comic strips meant, but he’d laugh, so, I’d laugh, and it was perfect. When I was a little older, he invited me to his sacred Saturday ritual. On Saturdays when he wasn’t hanging out with Julius Hunter, Gus Stuart, his brother Christopher, or Mike and Steve Roberts, his Saturdays were spent visiting my grandmother and his aunt, Thelma Meaux (who’d inherited his grandparents’ home

on Northland Place); taking his cars to the hand car wash on Delmar and Kingshighway; dropping-off and picking up his shoes from the House of Good Care; lunching at O.T. Hodges Chili; and then visiting various car lots, pawn shops and jewelry stores. He never met a stranger, and everyone was happy to see him wherever he went. As we drove around the city, and when I wasn’t talking his head off, he’d tell me jokes and educate me about jazz music.

One of the best educations my father gave me was his including me, in attending award dinners, political and non-profit events with him - even at a very young age. Not only did I learn etiquette, social skills, table manners, and patience, I received a one-of-akind “keynote address education.” Learning about politics, social responsibility, civic responsibility, and cultural history from community legends like Maynard Jackson, Andrew Young, Damon Keith, Bill Clay Sr., Wm. Lacy Clay, Henry Givens Jr., John Lewis, Elijah Cummings, Maxine Waters, Earl Wilson, Ida Woolfolk, Frankie Freeman, Margaret Bush Wilson, Janet Reno, Percy Green and countless others. This helped me fill the gaps in my own formal education and connect my personal experiences with our community, and with this world, more holistically and realistically. I learned from people who represent resilience and who overcame the worst of odds, whose passion and sense of responsibility were infectious. People who helped make concrete my sense of accountability and earned trust. I always felt welcome in my father’s world. He’d let me play

with his shaving cream to make snow-covered mountains. He’d let me play office at his desk and rearrange all of his papers

he’d send the latest copies of Jet Magazine and the St. Louis Evening Whirl

Top Left: My dad & me during his visit with us in Annapolis, MD (2018)

Top right: E. V. M. Jackson with her grandfather at the Martin Luther King Jr., Memorial in Washington, D.C. (2013)

Left: My father being laid to rest with our Meaux family. St. Peter’s Cememetary, St. Louis, MO (2020).

a rescue dog – into a restaurant in East St. Louis, to have an impromptu lunch with Mayor Carl E. Officer.

fidant. He was my advocate. My friends were his friends, my foes were his foes, my loss was his loss, my wins were his wins. When I was scared, he was scared. When I was happy, he was happy. And when my heart was broken into hundreds of little pieces, he’d say, “See, I told you so.” (Smile) I miss my father terribly. I miss the sound of his voice and his wickedly intelligent sense of humor. I miss his infectious energy. I miss hearing Chuck call him “Big Smith.” I miss him calling me KymmyKymmy-Coco-Pop. I miss watching him shine his shoes

Chuck was in the midst of moving to St. Louis when our daughter was born, so my dad became very protective of us. The first time I woke up to properly meet my daughter, I looked over, and my father had already arranged to have a sleeping cot put in my hospital

n My father believed in doing the work, and he believed in solidarity. And no matter how lonely or perilous it was, my father believed in taking the high road.

When he was a judge, he’d let me sit in his chair in the courthouse. And, when he was on the Board of Alderman, I’d sit in his chair there. Other times, he just let me tag along. Later, when I started to live with my dad full-time, he became my Mr. Mom in addition to his role as my dad.

When I first went to live with him, the refrigerator held two things: a can of mixed nuts and diet coke. But he figured it out and he quickly made the necessary adjustments to ensure my sense of security and comfort, ensure my opportunity for success, and to invest in the value and importance of fun. If I needed to go to his office to do my homework, I did it; if he had to work late and we needed to do my homework at Talayna’s while catching dinner, we did that; and if I did not have any homework, and it was during the baseball season, we’d dinner at Busch Stadium on bratwurst and Cracker Jacks.

When I was away at Georgetown, hardly two weeks went by when he didn’t come to town, to check on me. He always made sure that I had flowers on my birthday and Valentine’s Day.

His care packages were the best. He’d send me money, food, but, even better than that,

room, just in case I needed him.

My father introduced me to his love for theatre. First at the Muny Opera in Forest Park and later on Broadway. Much to the distress of his nerves, he made sure that “his daughter” knew how to drive a stick-shift car. And, when I was sick, he’d buy every cold remedy on the market to help me feel better.

When I took my first business trip to Nigeria, my father entirely rearranged his own business trip to South Africa, just so that we could meet in London for one night and have dinner at his favorite restaurant.

My father never missed one of my birthdays, and he flew in to celebrate with me when I closed on my first home.

I have so many meaningful memories of my father: drinking chocolate malts at Velvet Freeze, eating BLTs at Crown Candy, buying records at Peaches record store on Hampton Avenue, and celebrating the 4th of July at the VP Fair and airshow. He and I once sneaked my dog Mo – who was

My dad would take me on the best birthday trips. He introduced me to James Bond movies at the Esquire Theatre (#4 was the best), and we’d take endless late-night trips to Walgreens and Steak n’ Shake.

I remember him driving my friends and me to and from Rosati Kain and Nerinx Hall dances; backstage passes at the Budweiser Superfest; inviting me on to the set at the Lou Rawls Parade of Stars; Venice Beach; Olvera Street; the United States Supreme Court; deep and funny conversations with him in his kitchen – big or small - he made all experiences memorable, educational and fun.

There was never a time when I was with my father that I did not have what I needed, when he wasn’t teaching me something, or when he wasn’t effortlessly generous.

Yet my dad never let me off the hook nor find comfort in mediocrity, and eventually – e v e n t u a l l y – I became so thankful for that, because as he suspected, it forced me to learn how to meet and even exceed his expectations of me, expectations that pulled me out of my comfort zone and into the best version of myself.

My dad was everything a father should be: a protector, a role model, a provider, a con-

My dad was proud of this city. And he was proud of each and every one of you. As a dear friend of mine so aptly described, my father “wanted more for people than from people.” Often humble about his own triumphs, he constantly celebrated the accomplishments and successes of others, even the wins of those who weren’t always kind to him. He lived his values, and his values transcended any one experience or any one person. My father believed in people. He believed in this world. He believed that we can disagree without being disagreeable. That we have to fight, relentlessly, for things in which we believe – he believed that power is taken, not given. My father believed in and loved the Law, and he knew how to use it to force positive change. He was willing to make sacrifices knowing he’d likely not reap the reward – because he knew that change takes time, and positive change, even longer. My father believed in believed in democracy. In civic responsibility and service. My father believed in the strength of the Black community. He passionately believed in the importance of education and the unparalleled power of voting. My father believed in doing the work, and he believed in solidarity. And no matter how lonely or perilous it was, my father believed in taking the high road.

As heartbreaking as it is to let him go, I truly believe he’s found profound peace. When I look at my daughter, I can trace her strength and her smile directly back to my father. And then I smile, knowing that she is imminently capable of carrying my father’s legacy into the future.

I hope that you will always remember my father, that you will hold on to the positive experiences you had with him, the lessons you learned from him, and that each of you will pay it forward, that you will embody his best qualities for others.

The most wonderful way you could honor my father’s life is to be the best and most productive you that you can be and to help others do the same – to lift each other up and to want the best for each other without reservation or envy.

My father being taken to his final resting place (2020)

My uncle Christopher Meaux Sr., my grandmother Edythe Meaux Smith and my dad (1950).

Helping Make Homeownership Happen!

Sellers need proof for COVID treatment claims

By Colleen Tressler Consumer Education Specialist, FTC

As part of its ongoing efforts to protect consumers from sellers of scam COVID19 treatments, the FTC has sent 20 more warning letters to compa nies that claim their products can prevent, treat or cure the COVID-19. Claims for zappers, virusbusting cards, sage, oregano, and bay leaves are among the representations called into question in the latest round of warning letters.

Like the hundreds of other warning letters the FTC has sent to other companies, these letters require the sellers to notify the FTC within 48 hours of the specific actions they have taken to address the agency’s concerns. The FTC will follow up with companies that fail to make adequate corrections. The good news: in nearly all cases so far, those who get the letters have stopped

making the false claims or selling the scam product or treatment.

When it comes to the fight against the Coronavirus, knowing the facts will help. Here are tips to follow and share with

Always talk with your doctor or another healthcare professional before you try any product claiming to treat, cure, or prevent COVID-19.

Head to CDC.gov for clear and concise information on COVID-19. In addition, visit the FDA’s Resources page to find out about treatments in develop-

Learn more about scams related to COVID-19 by visiting ftc.gov/coronavirus and subscribing to Consumer Alerts from the FTC.

If you find a product that claims to prevent, treat, or cure COVID-19, report it to the FTC at ftc.gov/complaint.

Colleen Tressler is a Consumer Education Specialist for the FTC.

Warning: unemployment benefit scams during COVID-19

The St. Louis Consumer Fraud Task Force (CFTF) warns area consumers to be wary of unemployment benefit scams during the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. Officials in several states report scammers are filing fraudulent unemployment benefit claims in the names of unsuspecting consumers.

The Illinois Department of Employment Security reported more than 120,000 cases of unemployment fraud since March 2020. Scammers use personal identifying information to apply for unemployment benefits. Consumers report receiving unemployment insurance debit cards in the mail even though they didn’t apply for benefits.

The Task Force, formed in October 2002, is a coalition of local, state and federal government agencies and nonprofit business and consumer groups in Missouri and Illinois that work together to protect consumer and donor rights and guard against fraud.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, the Task Force has met on a monthly basis to share information in an attempt to keep consumers safe.

The group has tackled predatory payday

loan offers, tax scams, timeshare fraud, credit repair and foreclosure scams, bogus sweepstakes, internet sweetheart scams, phony grant scams, home remodeling, elder fraud, payment scams and a variety of other issues.

To obtain information, or to report a scam, contact members of the Task Force: Better Business Bureau Serving Eastern and Southwest Missouri and Southern Illinois – (888) 996-3887; bbb.org

Federal Trade Commission – (877) FTCHELP (382-4357); ftc.gov

Federal Bureau of Investigations – (314) 589-2500

Illinois Attorney General – (800) 2430618; illinoisattorneygeneral.gov

Illinois Secretary of State – Securities Department - 800-628-7937

Missouri Attorney General – (800) 3928222; ago.mo.gov

St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department – (314) 231-1212; slmpd.org

U.S. Attorney, Eastern District of Missouri – (314) 539-2200; usdoj.gov/usao/moe

U.S. Postal Inspection Service – (877) 876-2455; postalinspectors.uspis.gov

U.S. Secret Service – (314) 539-2238

Cash prizes for creative arts competition

Did you know that people with bad credit may pay over $200,000 more for things over a lifetime? The good news about credit is that there are steps you can take right now to improve your score!

St. Louis Regional Financial Empowerment Coalition and its partners are celebrating Credit Awareness Month in October by organizing FREE on-line classes and events for residents in the St. Louis metro area. These events are specially designed to educate you about sound budgeting and finance principles that will guide you through your journey to build your credit!

Please visit the Money Smart St. Louis calendar on our website for more information. The calendar will continue to be updated throughout Credit Awareness Month and throughout the year as more financial education learning opportunities become available – so be sure to bookmark the site.

Don’t miss out on this opportunity to learn more about how your credit impacts you! Plan to attend a free class! There is something for everyone. All events are free, educational, and involve no sales pitch. You can also follow us

on Facebook and Twitter to get more credit tips and tools.

In support of Credit Awareness Month, the St. Louis Regional Financial Empowerment Coalition, a collaborative of local financial institutions, non-profits and community organizations, is sponsoring the Creative Arts Contest. Click

here to download the Community Arts Contest flyer. Students in grades 6-8 are encouraged to answer this year’s Credit Awareness Month question with a 1-minute original song and accompanying video. MP4 files are preferred.

2020 Credit Awareness Question: This is an unprecedented time for students and

families throughout America. In our lifetime, there has been no other global health pandemic that has created the disruption concerning the way we live for such a lengthy period.

Please, address how the pandemic affected families financially and what families need to do differently concerning their finances and credit to better prepare for the possible second wave. In addition to addressing the issues of family finances and credit, you may select one of the following topics as you respond to the question: schools, socializing, healthcare, or social justice reform.

Download the 2020 Creative Arts Contest Application. at http://www. moneysmartstlouis.org/wp-content/ uploads/2020/09/CAC-ApplicationFINAL-WITH-QUESTION-9-24.docx.

Winners will receive the following awards: First place $750; Second place $500; Third place $250. Additional prizes will be awarded to the other two finalists.

For questions regarding the Creative Arts Contest, please email contest@moneysmartstlouis.org.

Money Wise

How to make every day savings day

By Pier Yvette Alsup

Together Credit Union

National Savings Day is just around the corner. It is “celebrated” each year on October 12th to recognize the value of saving and highlight simple steps to making saving easier!

When you think about it, most of us are savers … we save family recipes and heirlooms, flowers from special occasions, school photos, concert ticket stubs and sporting event programs, and birthday cards. We even save locks of hair from our children’s first haircut! Saving is innate to each of us, so how can we transfer this habit to money? Following are a few tips to make saving easier:

Save with a Plan

Having a budget helps encourage saving. Start your budget plan with the 50-30-20 rule. This rule allows for spending 50% of your income on your needs (the things you can’t do without, such as groceries, housing, utilities, insurance and transportation). Additionally, spending 30% of your income on your wants (the things that are flexible, such as cable and streaming services, lawn care, vacation travel and entertainment). And, finally spending 20% of your income on savings

LET’S TALK ABOUT

COMMUNITY IMPACT.

Beyond Housing is a St. Louis-based nonprofit organization that sought to build a high-quality affordable housing development in Pine Lawn. Enterprise’s Tax Credit Services team kept costs in line with the development goals, and helped make the Pine Lawn Manor single-family housing development a reality.

Read Mary Harris’s story in our Community Impact Report to learn how Enterprise Bank & Trust makes a real impact in the community at enterprisebank.com/impact

and debt repayment.

Save Automatically

Just putting $25 away weekly will give you $1300 in savings within a year! And, that’s a great start to creating an emergency fund. This pandemic has taught us a lot, including the benefit of saving for

the unexpected.

Save Consistently

You can save daily simply by keeping your change … it is simple and easy with a “change jar.” You’ll be surprised how quickly the jar fills up and ADDS UP!

Save As a Family

When you have a family, sometimes it may seem there is never enough money to go around. Saving as a family – when everyone in your household understands what and why you are saving – not only teaches your children the importance of saving, it is less likely your efforts will be pushed aside. Best of all, when you reach your savings goals, everyone celebrates!

For more information on savings and personal finance, visit the Together Credit Union website at www.togethercu. org. The Credit Union and the Together Foundation also offer a variety of financial education and empowerment programs including hosting workshops on saving and money management. For more information on the Foundation, please contact Pier Yvette Alsup at palsup@togethercu.org.

Pier Yvette Alsup is Chief Community Engagement Officer at Together Credit Union.

Pier Yvette Alsup

St. Johns Bank offers Christmas Club and Much More

For people who want an easy and automatic way to save, a St. Johns Bank Christmas Club account is a good option. Savings deposits are made automatically from an existing St. Johns Bank checking account. Once the account is set up, you do not have to think about it again until you get your annual direct deposit on Oct. 31. There is a $10 minimum contribution per deposit period, and additional in-person deposits can be made at any time.

That annual deposit comes at an especially good time of year. Of course you can use the money for holiday shopping but it can also be used for real estate taxes, personal property taxes or sprucing up your home for those holiday gatherings.

If you are thinking of home ownership, you could also roll the proceeds into a Homebuyer’s CD. With this CD, you make regular contributions and then qualify for a $300 credit toward closing costs when you finance your home with St. Johns Bank.

St. Johns Bank also offers checking accounts that can provide added benefits like cell phone insurance, roadside assistance, discounts with local businesses, discounts on vision, pharmacy and hearing services, ID theft aid and travel accidental death coverage. Cell phone insurance, roadside assistance and personal identity theft benefits are subject to terms and conditions. The insurance products are not a deposit, not FDICinsured by any federal government agency and not guaranteed by the bank.

These are just a few of the many ways St. Johns Bank can help you live a smarter financial life.

Founded in 1926, St. Johns Bank is a locally owned, community bank with five locations in St. Louis and St. Charles counties, serving the entire metropolitan St. Louis area. For information on the bank or our services, please call (314) 428-1000 or visit www.stjohnsbank.com.

START PLANNING FOR 2021

Those free COVID-19 money offers on WhatsApp and Facebook are scams

By Diana Shiller Of The FTC

Have you seen a message on WhatsApp or Facebook offering you free help during the pandemic? People have reported seeing messages that seem to be from Pepsi, Walmart, Whole Foods, Target, and other big-name brands. These messages all offer money to people who need it — through grants, coupons for food support, or other giveaways.

But they’re all fake, and not from those companies at all.

You might get this kind of message, in English or Spanish, from a friend or contact. The message tells you to click a link to get your money. If you click, you might find a survey to take. Or they might ask you to enter your name,

address, phone number, or other information. And they might ask you to forward the message to several friends to be eligible to collect.

But what these message are really doing is running a phishing scam to collect your information (and your friends’ info), and possibly putting malware on your phone, tablet, or computer if you click the link. There’s no money to get, and no help to be had. Just scammers. It could have been a real (and hopeful) friend who forwarded that message to you – but it could have been a scammer who hacked your friend’s account.

So: what do you do if you get one of these messages?

Don’t click on any links. That could download malware, expose you to

even more scams, or add your phone number to lists sold to still other scammers.

Delete the messages –and certainly don’t share them.

Call the friend who shared the message. Did they forward it to you? If not, tell them their account might have been hacked. If so, share this blog post with them.

If you already clicked or shared, run a security scan on your device to look for malware. And then share this blog post with the friends you forwarded the message to – and ask them to do the same.

And then tell the FTC: ftc.gov/complaint.

Diana Shiller is an Investigator in the Division of Marketing Practices for the FTC.

Spire shares tips to help customers save energy and money

By Raegan Johnson For The St. Louis American

With the fall season underway, Spire is providing energy saving tips to help families stay warm while lowering their energy bills. Overall, choosing natural gas appliances and making adjustments to a home or business, can help customers save hundreds of dollars, improve energy efficiency and support the environment.

According to the American Gas Association, the direct use of natural gas achieves 92% efficiency and cuts carbon emissions nearly in half. Spire recommends simple ways customers can manage their natural gas usage and save money:

• Open curtains on south-facing windows during the day to let the sunlight heat the home

• Close windows at night to reduce the incoming cold from any drafty windows

• Set the thermostat back 10 to 15 degrees for eight hours a day to help save, on average, $10 for every $100 spent

More energy saving tips are available at spireenergy. com/tips-using-energy-wisely-aka-30-hottips.

To support customers, Spire also offers rebates and energy-assistance, including a residential rebate program, fixed-charge assistance program, DollarHelp and weatherization.

“Our energy efficiency program is a win in many

ways,” said Shaylyn Dean, manager of energy efficiency at Spire. “It’s a win for our customers who save energy and money, it’s a win for our planet since natural gas is clean burning, and it’s a win for us because it helps us accomplish our business and environmental goals.”

The weatherization program helps fixed or limitedincome customers increase the energy efficiency of their homes, which can help them reduce fuel usage annually

Shaylyn Dean is the Manager of Energy Efficiency at Spire.

by an average of 35 percent. Spire offers this program at no cost.

“When my family went down to one income, I decided to apply for weatherization,” said Spire customer Stephen Grindle. “Since participating in the program, we have saved money each year. Knowing that my home is up to current efficiency standards and positively impacts the environment, truly gives me peace of mind.”

day.