September 12th, 2019 Edition

‘I miss her because she kept our class going’

By Ryan Delaney

Public Radio

St.

and killed enjoying his summer vacation from his front porch in the Lewis Place neighborhood, which borders the Central West End. His death has upended the school year for his former classmates at Pamoja Preparatory Academy at Cole. Eddie is one of a dozen children who have died in violence so far this year, part of a dizzying streak of young children being killed

n “The chaos of kids dying happens and you can’t control it, you can’t impact it, and so you feel really helpless.”

– Superintendent Kelvin R. Adams

by bullets not meant for them, while doing things a kid is supposed to be doing in the summer: playing in the yard, eating pizza and

going to football games.

Learning is “slowly but surely” getting back on track at Pamoja, said Eddie’s math and science teacher, Rashida Chatman.

“The first week was extremely rough for us. We had to do a lot of just healing things — talking and singing and crying and hugging together,” Chatman said. “We’re just now getting to a space where it’s easier for us to reference him without breaking down as a whole family inside our classroom.” Chatman’s students have pinned notes

By Circuit Attorney Kimberly M. Gardner For The St. Louis American

Officials hosting the St. Louis Crime Summit for the St. Louis region on Tuesday, September 10 did not include any elected prosecutors. Despite the overwhelming message sent by St. Louis city and county voters through the election of Wesley Bell and me as top prosecutors, neither of us was invited to offer our input and resources.

Despite the fact the organizers said, “Everyone joined together to find solutions,” they didn’t include the two leaders elected by the people to address violent crime.

n I will not waiver from the commitments I made to you, and I will address violent crime as the public health crisis that it is.

Violent crime has plagued this region for decades. There are no magic bullets or onesized-fits-all solutions. Yet, Wesley Bell and I are implementing solutions that address long-term violent crime, and we were not included in this most important conversation. We are doing things differently, and the caretakers of the status quo are unmistakably frustrated with that. There is a clear and concerted effort to isolate the two reform-minded elected prosecutors in our region. Why is that? Is it because we think differently about the way we should address long-term crime reduction? Is it because we hear the cries of people who want us to both cooperate with police while holding them accountable for actions that erode trust from the public?

By Jamala Rogers

Sumner High School held a Peace March as a plea to stop killing children and students in our community on Wednesday, September 11.

By Sandra Jordan Of The

The St. Louis American Foundation will honor eight outstanding educators from area schools as awardees at the 2019 Salute to Excellence in Education on Saturday, September 21 at the

32nd

Center Ballroom. Petra Baker is the principal at Gateway Michael in Saint Louis Public Schools, which serves students with medical challenges, from preschool to eighth grade. Described as a professional and an advocate with compassion for students and their families, Baker always wanted to be a teacher, and said God gifted her with an ear that hears the hearts of children. “Children matter, regardless of their circumstances,”

Photo by Wiley Price

Kimberly M. Gardner

Shardea Thompson, 11, wept as her younger sister’s name was read aloud during a vigil for Jurnee Thompson, who was shot and killed a few days earlier.

Photo by Ryan Delaney / St. Louis Public Radio

Jamala Rogers

Former A$AP Rocky attorney shot in Sweden

A Swedish lawyer who briefly represented rapper A$AP Rocky in an assault case was shot Friday morning in Stockholm. Mia Edwall Insulander, the secretary general of the Swedish Bar Association, confirmed to CBS News that the victim is Henrik Olsson Lilja.

A Stockholm police spokeswoman wouldn’t confirm the victim’s identity to CBS News, but said one person was shot and wounded in a Stockholm apartment complex and a suspect has been arrested.

Insulander said Lilja is alive and in the hospital, but didn’t have further word on his condition

According to reports, the assailant was waiting for Henrik Olssen Lilja outside his apartment then jumped into an SUV and sped off after shooting him in the head and chest.

A senior female lawyer who had previously been banned from speaking to him has reportedly been arrested for orchestrating the shooting and has been charged with attempted murder. Herik Lilja had been replaced by Slobodan Jovicic early in A$AP’s case.

Kevin Hart expected to need ‘round the clock’ care during recovery

It is being said that actor/comedian Kevin Hart will need “round-the-clock” medical support upon his release from the hospital. Hart, 40, was admitted to the hospital earlier this month after he was involved in a car accident which left him with three fractures in his spine, and after undergoing surgery, he is set to be released from hospital this week.

Hart is believed to be leaving hospital on Wednesday, and according to The Blast, he will have a back brace fitted for support, and will need constant medical care as he continues to recover at home.

The ‘Night School’ star is said to already be walking again thanks to his successful surgery, and so won’t require a wheelchair to aid his mobility.

It has also been reported that Hart will need to return to the hospital as an out-patient three times a week to make sure he is recovering properly, and it is expected to be at least four months before the star is able to take on any new work.

The surgical repair of his spine involved fusing the fractures, two of which are in the thoracic section of the

spine and the other in the lumbar. Thankfully, the procedure was a success and he is expected to make a full recovery. Such fractures can often lead to difficulties walking or even partial paralysis of the limbs.

Nicki Minaj announces retirement from rap, apologizes for blindsiding fans

To the shock of her fans, rap star Nicki Minaj took to Twitter and announced she was stepping away from her music career to focus on her personal life on Thursday.

“I’ve decided to retire & have my family,” Minaj said via Twitter. “I know you guys are happy now. To my fans, keep reppin me, do it til da death of me, check in the box – cuz ain’t nobody checkin’ me. Love you for life.” * Minaj, who is engaged to marry Kenneth “Zoo” Petty, returned to social media to apologize for springing the news on fans without explanation.

“I’m still right here. Still madly in love with you guys & you know that,” Minaj said on Saturday. “In hindsight, this should have been a Queen Radio discussion & it will be. I promise u

guys will be happy. No guests, just us talking about everything. The tweet was abrupt & insensitive, I apologize babe.” *

Tamar’s ex Vince Herbert is yet to begin his big payback to Sony

Two years ago, Tamar Braxton’s ex-husband, Vincent Herbert, was ordered to pay back a $2.3 million advance after he was hired to find talent for Sony. According to The Blast, Herbert hasn’t started paying back the advance.

In newly-filed court documents, Sony Music says, ‘No portion of the Judgment has been satisfied and the Judgment continues to accrue interest,” The Blast said. “Defendant Herbert instead has evaded enforcement through a series of shell transactions using an ever expanding list of closely held corporate entities as a means to fund and thrive upon a lavish lifestyle at the expense of his creditors, including Sony Music.”

The statement obtained by The Blast says, “Herbert undertook extraordinary steps to undermine Sony Music’s efforts to serve documents in order to domesticate the Judgment in California.”

Sources: Twitter.com, The Blast, CBS News *Spelling and grammar as it appeared in the original post.

Kevin Hart

‘You are here to create and be the future’ Harris-Stowe welcomes Class of 2023 in 2019 Convocation and Rite of Passage

By JoAnn Weaver

For The St. Louis American

The sound of African drums echoed around Harris-Stowe State University. The Class of 2023 marched in two lines, with bright, smiling faces, across the HSSU campus as they officially began their academic journey. Athletics, administrators and faculty, clad in their regalia, welcomed the procession of students as they entered the auditorium in the HGA building for the Rite of Passage Convocation Ceremony.

The Convocation program consisted of several speakers encouraging students to soak up everything the HSSU campus has to offer during their college journey.

LaTonia Collins Smith, interim provost and vice president of Academic Affairs, welcomed parents, guests and the honorees, the Class of 2023, officially to Harris-Stowe State University.

“The transition you all have made from high school to college is remarkable,” Collins Smith said. “Convocation is a formal accounting of the accomplishments and achievements of the university community.”

HSSU Board of Regents

Chairman Ronald Norwood spoke to the freshmen class about how they have a clean slate to pursue their career aspirations over the course of their college years.

“The Webster dictionary definition of ‘convocation’ is the assembly of people called together to a meeting and we are here for a special purpose,” said Norwood, an attorney. “You are here to create and be the future. When I look out and see the Class of 2023, I see the future. What matters is what you do right here and right now.”

One of the themes from the speeches presented by HSSU faculty, staff and guest speakers revolved around the idea of overcoming the obstacles students will face while in college.

“There are going to be difficult times, but you are in the position to have control over what happens right now, which will be a major contributing factor to where you go in your life,” Norwood said. “College is not easy; it is hard work. There is no substitute for hard work. You have to work smart too. Take advantage of the resources you have at your disposal.”

Anheuser-Busch School of Business Adjunct Professor Stacy Moore encouraged students to explore their interests and not give up on their dreams on their academic journey.

“My advice to you is to not let the sky be the limit; let it be the beginning,” Moore said. “Your education is the main priority. Keep your dreams alive and embrace the passion in your heart. Thank you for

choosing HSSU and I cannot wait to see you walk across that stage.”

Dwayne Smith, interim president, provided facts about what makes the Class of 2023 so special, including how this class as a collective came to HSSU from 195 high schools located in 16 states and 7 countries.

The top high schools where first-year students graduated from are Hazelwood Central, East St. Louis Senior High School, Jennings Senior High School and Simeon Career

Academy, located in Chicago.

Forty-seven percent of the Class of 2023 came to HSSU with a GPA of 3.0 or higher.

“The Convocation ceremony was good, said Neya Ford, a freshman studying psychology. “It gave us information on how to graduate and be successful at HSSU. We were also given history behind the university, which I found impactful.”

Ford said she looks forward to making excellent grades and good friends this academic year.

Shawn Baker, vice president

and dean of Student Success, formally installed the student government president and vice president in their roles.

“It is an honor to stand before you guys where I sat two years ago at my freshman Convocation,” SGA President TraVonne Walker said. “At HSSU, our motto is to inspire change. I encourage the Class of 2023 to become the change you want to see on campus through action. Today you should tell yourselves: I will be academically responsible and walk in my purpose.”

University

Johnson said she enjoyed her first Convocation experience. “I thought it was beautiful. I loved how the speakers and ceremony showed first-year students they are capable of accomplishing amazing things at HSSU,” Johnson said. Johnson’s advice to students is to focus on good time management, plan proactively and take time for self-care since college can be a stressful time in a person’s life.

Fifteenth Miss Harris-Stowe State

Malikah

Photo by Joe Richardson

Dwayne Smith, interim president of Harris-Stowe State University, led the Class of 2023 at the recent Rite of Passage Convocation Ceremony.

Editorial /CommEntary

Speech Gov. Parson should give about gun violence in St. Louis

We have been disappointed, thus far, in Gov. Mike Parson’s public and private remarks when addressing the epidemic of gun violence in St. Louis. So we have drafted some remarks we believe that he should make publicly.

I have been meeting with many (but not all) elected and community leaders in the St. Louis region regarding the epidemic of gun violence in St. Louis. While senseless gun violence and tragic deaths from guns in St. Louis are not new, the inexpressibly disturbing and alarming deaths of so very many very young people in recent months has finally caught my attention and prompted me to act.

First, it is said, do no harm. And, so, I have had to ask myself, when confronting this tragic crisis, what have I done to contribute to the problem? Other than failing to show leadership until now, I can acknowledge two things that I have done that have contributed to this wanton killing, and I can commit to working to undo them.

Under my administration, more than 100,000 people have been kicked off of Medicaid, which provides health care to the most vulnerable people in our community. Gun violence is typically the last resort of desperate people. While I am aware of no report specifically saying that someone was cut from Medicaid and, as a result, went and shot someone in desperation, I must admit that my administration has greatly contributed to heightened feelings of desperation in Missouri. I vow to restore this essential safety net to everyone in Missouri who needs it.

I will go further than restore these cuts. I will attempt to expand Medicaid in Missouri by executive order – something even Missouri’s most recent Democratic governor, Jay Nixon, did not try to do. If short-sighted people in my own Republican Party (who wield so much power in this state) stymy me, then I will endorse the ballot initiative next year to expand Medicaid in Missouri. Missouri remains one of only 14 states that have ignored their most needy (while also failing to collect on federal funds dedicated to Medicaid expansion enacted by states). That stops with me.

Not only as governor but also in my previous role as state legislator, I pushed for tax cuts that primarily benefitted the most wealthy people in our state, while leaving less public money to nurture the most needy and to help support them as they strive toward more productive roles in our economy. In a climate where the rich get richer while the poor receive less support, we can expect more desperation and, with worsening desperation, more violent crime. That is what we are seeing in St. Louis, our state’s critical economic engine and largest population center. I will work with the Republican leadership in our Legislature to see that the wealthiest are more fairly taxed to alleviate the suffering and lack of opportunities of the most desperate.

I understand that you expected me to speak about gun control. While I will oppose the short-sighted people in my party who do not appreciate the critical role that social safety net programs, supported by taxes, play in alleviating poverty, desperation and crime, I believe that this state and nation were founded by the gun. I myself have wielded a gun, both for my home county as sheriff and for my country as a soldier. Furthermore, I do not believe that I would survive in office as a Missouri Republican if I championed needed gun reforms statewide. However, I am convinced that cities have unique predicaments relative to guns and gun violence. Having met with some – but certainly not all – of the region’s locally elected officials, I have decided that the state should protect them as they work for legislative solutions to their unique predicament relative to gun violence. My administration will support, not oppose, their local efforts. Moreover, as a former law enforcement official, I was dismayed that the local leadership did not include either elected prosecutor, St. Louis Circuit Attorney Kimberly Gardner or St. Louis County Prosecutor Wesley Bell, in our so-called Crime Summit. My office only will support local efforts that include the crucial contributions needed from these two credible, reform-minded elected officials.

#MeToo doesn’t count against abusive cops?

By Richard B. Muhammad

For The St. Louis American

One group, a group with the most power to compel compliance, seems almost exempt for discussion of sexual abuse of women and almost exempt from full prosecution: police officers. Armed with badges and guns, these officers have the ability to take freedom at any moment and to take lives. What could deserve more attention than the instances in which cops sexually assault women? Shouldn’t the National Organization for Women, #MeToo activists, advocates and high-powerful lawyers be shouting about such cases?

It’s not happening, and cops continue to abuse women and continue to walk away with “penalties” that are baffling and horrifying for their lack accountability.

Take the case of Anna Chambers, who was 18-years-old when two New York cops raped her in a police van. She recently learned that the two former New York Police Department officers who had raped her while on duty would serve no jail time.

“Eddie Martins and Richard Hall, the cops who resigned after the incident involving the then-18-year-old Chambers, were sentenced to five years of probation after they pleaded guilty to 11 charges, including bribery and misconduct,” the Intercept reported.

reported. “The secretive hearing was the latest insult poured upon Chambers’ injurious criminal justice ordeal.”

A few years back controversy exploded on the West Coast after a teenager’s involvement with San Francisco Bay area officers came to light. The young woman, who was selling sex, said she had been involved with officers in five different departments over 20 officers. And, she said, some of these encounters took place when she was underage. A few officers were disciplined and at least four lost their jobs. But prosecutions fell off as the young woman refused to testify in other cases.

The Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals recently rejected an appeal of a 263-year prison sentence handed down to Daniel Holtzclaw, a former Oklahoma City police officer convicted of assaulting black women while on duty. He was found guilty in 2015 on 18 charges involving seven women and one girl.

“Both men admitted to having sex with the teenage girl while she was held in their custody in 2017, an act that, thanks to Chambers’ case, now constitutes rape under the law (and always constituted rape under any moral reading of the word).”

In 2017, “state law did not assert the most obvious of facts: that a person in police custody cannot consent to sex,” the Intercept reported. “The egregious legal loophole has since been closed, but it was too late to benefit Chambers – or to stop Martins and Hall from getting away with rape.”

So not only do cops get to kill at will in this country, they also get to rape, rob and pillage too?

The whole court process smelled corrupt, as neither the young woman nor her lawyer knew about the hearing for the cops and a plea deal in late August as they prepared to be in court in early September. The lawyer “only learned about the officers’ plea deals when he was called by a New York Post court reporter, who in turn had been tipped off by a court clerk,” the Intercept

Alandon Pitts For The St. Louis American

I was born on January 31, 1983 in St. Louis to a single mom. My father was away, giving his mother, Arnita Pitts, sole responsibility of making sure my siblings and I knew the importance of discipline and education. With a missing father, my uncle was determined to introduce me to a family legacy of football at the Matthew’s Dickey Boys and Girls Club. This club had a major positive impact on my life. I went on to be inducted into the hall of fame with my football team. We received National Championship rings and also became main characters in a nationally published book entitled “We Can Do More.”

Although football was a major part of my childhood, Arnita Pitts knew she had to push her son for a stable future after high school. She gave me three options: college, Army or get out of her house. In 2001, I decided to go to Missouri Western State College. During my junior year of college, after a tragic event occurred, I made the decision to leave college and become a full-time father. At 22, I decided to apply for a substitute teaching position at a neighborhood charter school, beginning my career as an educator. I began working at Paideia Academy in 2004 as a full-time teacher. After six years of teaching at Paideia, I served as assistant principal at Most Holy Trinity Catholic and Academy from 2011-2012.

children

use in television and radio commercials that increased enrollment at the public charter school in St. Louis. I am also responsible for working with students to create the Innovative Concept Academy’s theme song “Do Right Swag,” bringing light to urban educational issues. My current success in a high school songwriting competition, which reaches the entire metropolitan area, has gained sponsor support from United Way of greater Saint Louis, UMB Bank, REcast, and ABC Channel 30. Finding passion in helping underprivileged children is what has guided my career. Connecting discipline and social enterprise has helped me capture the interest and enthusiasm of my students. I am happy to tie my gifts with teaching to help students succeed and intend to touch more students with my organization called Mentors in Motion.

He is also not the only pervert on patrol. “In a yearlong investigation of sexual misconduct by U.S. law enforcement, The Associated Press uncovered about 1,000 officers who lost their badges in a six-year period for rape, sodomy and other sexual assault; sex crimes that included possession of child pornography; or sexual misconduct such as propositioning citizens or having consensual but prohibited on-duty intercourse,” the Associated Press reported.

“The number is unquestionably an undercount because it represents only those officers whose licenses to work in law enforcement were revoked, and not all states take such action. California and New York – with several of the nation’s largest law enforcement agencies – offered no records because they have no statewide system to decertify officers for misconduct. And even among states that provided records, some reported no officers removed for sexual misdeeds even though cases were identified via news stories or court records.”

Despite immense power and abuses of power, there is little effort to make an examples of officers who cross the line into criminality. So the abuses continue, the terror continues and the injustice continues under the color and cover of law.

Richard B. Muhammad is editor in chief of The Final Call newspaper and an award-winning writer.

As a result of making the decision to return to school to complete my education, I received a Bachelor of Science in Communication from Lindenwood University and Master of Science in Non-Profit Leadership from Webster University. Currently I am studying at Capella University to earn my ED.S in Educational Administration.

Some of my most proud accomplishments include conducting a project at Paideia Academy where I was responsible for taking students to a music studio to produce a video. The video, “It’s in My Book Bag,” was later adapted for

Educate

the community on judges

After reading an article on Lamar Johnson in your paper, I remembered going to the polls and not knowing any of the judges up for re-election. A thought came to mind that your paper could do articles on those judges to educate the community and help them to better judge the candidates and pick the best one. We do not want judges that don’t support our community staying in office.

Roz Weathers St. Louis

Johann Reickhart and Donald Trump

Does the name Johann Reickhart ring a bell? No, he’s not affiliated with Donald Trump or the Trump 2020 campaign. Reickhart was a sordid player in Adolf Hitler’s Nazi regime. He was Hitler’s chief executioner, known as “Head Hunter,” and personally responsible for the guillotine deaths of 3,165 people.

Reickhart joined the Nazis in 1933, a time when Adolf Hitler was spewing his hateful rhetoric to the German masses, who were struggling economically because of the Treaty of Versailles. Germans were susceptible to Hitler’s message: that Germany was being victimized; that Germanic people were superior to all; and that he would lead Germany to world domination. “Make Germany great again” was a powerful message, well received by many. All despots and dictators have to suppress or eliminate their opposition. Hitler did so by scapegoating his opposition as unpatriotic, etc. News reporters, political opponents, gypsies, Jewish merchants, the mentally ill and others were falsely arrested, imprisoned and quietly guillotined by the bloody hands of Johann Reickhart.

Hitler came to power because sane Germans didn’t speak-out against his hateful message and thuggery.

Keeping quiet kept one safe, so they thought. As long as the

Mentors In Motion is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization dedicated to providing quality mentoring and educational programs to disadvantaged youth throughout the St. Louis metropolitan area. Its goal is to infuse social enterprise in areas of Science, Technology, Reading, Entrepreneurship, Arts, and Math using the key phase (STREAM). It has assisted over 10,000 youth throughout the St. Louis metropolitan area. Its youth participants are equipped with life skills that assure their avoidance of the criminal justice system and tools that ensure a brighter future full of positive decisions. Alandon Pitts is the assistant program director at Innovative Concept Academy and fonder of Mentors in Motion.

“Homegrown Black Males” is a partnership between HomeGrown STL at the Brown School of Social Work at Washington University in St. Louis and The St. Louis American, edited by Sean Joe, Benjamin E. Youngdahl Professor and associate dean at the Brown School, and Chris King, managing editor of The American, in memory of Michael Brown.

marginal people were being targeted, it seemed okay.

Donald Trump does not yet have his Johann Reickhart but he does have a hardcore following of people who seem to be impervious to the truth before them, much like the people conned into selfdestruction by Adolf Hitler. When will they come for you?

Michael K. Broughton Green Park

Animals and Nazis

September 1 marked 80 years since Hitler invaded Poland and started World War II. Three years later, he launched the Holocaust that murdered six million European Jews.

A key question facing historians is how could an enlightened society that produced our civilization’s greatest philosophers, poets, painters, and composers also produce its most notorious mass murderers, along with millions of ordinary upstanding

citizens who just went along. Was the Holocaust a peculiarly German phenomenon, or are other enlightened societies capable? How about our own American society?

Jewish Nobel laureate Isaac Bashevis Singer gave a clear answer when he wrote: “To the animals, all people are Nazis.” Singer’s message is that we are all capable of oppressing the more vulnerable sentient beings in our midst, frequently without even thinking about it. Our own enlightened society has translated the arbitrary Nazi dictum “the Christian lives, the Jew dies” into an equally arbitrary “the dog lives, the pig dies.” Only the victims’ names have been changed. The blissful, self-serving ignorance of the death camps and slaughterhouses in our midst remains.

Our very first step on the long road to end all oppression should be to drop animals from our menus

Shem Pinter St. Louis

Governor Mike Parson

Guest Columnist Alandon Pitts

Guest Columnist Richard B. Muhammad

her

connected with St. Louis

New MetroBus Service Plan coming Sept. 30

Metro Transit will implement its new MetroBus Service Plan – which will impact every bus route in the City of St. Louis and in St. Louis County – on Monday, September 30. Under the new plan, MetroBus routes are organized into four categories: Frequent (10 high-frequency routes offering service every 15 minutes or faster), Local (35 MetroBus routes offering service every 30 minutes), Community (6 routes providing important connections in low-ridership areas) and Express (6 routes providing direct connections with limited stops to key destinations). In comparison, the MetroBus system

currently only has one bus route that offers that 15-minute frequency. There now will be 10 such routes, which carry nearly half of current MetroBus customers in Missouri. Also, nearly all MetroBus routes will have Sunday service, including many routes that currently do not operate on Sundays. Service levels will also be consistent on Saturdays and Sundays.

For specific details about the new plan, including new route maps, schedules and route information, visit metrostlouis.org/reimagined. Or call 314-231-2345 or text 314-207-9786 Monday through Friday from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m.

Trump leaves students on hook for colleges’ illegal actions

By Charlene Crowell

For The St. Louis American

Most consumers would likely agree that consumers should get what they pay for. If a product or service fails to deliver its promises, refunds are in order. That thinking guided the Obama Administration’s decision to address false promises made to student loan borrowers.

A rule known as the “Borrower Defense to Repayment” came on the heels of successive for-profit college closures that left thousands of students stranded educationally and financially. The federal rule provided a way for snookered students and borrowers to apply for and secure loan forgiveness. Both borrowers and taxpayers were assured that the Department of Education was looking out for them.

But with a new administration and Education secretary, rules that made sense and brought taxpayers financial fairness have been repealed and replaced with other rules that favor for-profit colleges, loan servicers, and other business interests. The federal Department of Education is changing a key rule that provided a pathway to federal loan forgiveness. A new rule puts in place a process that will be cumbersome, lengthy, and nearly impossible for consumers to successfully secure relief.

jeopardize the future of thousands of students and our economy,” said Ashley Harrington, a Center for Responsible Lending (CRL) Senior Policy counsel and a primary negotiator during the Education Department’s negotiated rule-making process.

With DeVos’ new rule, both the automatic discharge of federal loans that took effect after a school closed and another provision that allowed group claim relief are now eliminated. Anyone seeking redress on student loans must also bear the full burden of documenting their alleged “harm” before a claim can be reviewed.

The new rule also removes states from opportunities to defend their own constituents. State laws, many enacted before the 2016 rule took effect, provided another route to legal redress. But with the new DeVos rule, no state-level claims can be pursued.

“That’s problematic for us,” said Harrington. “The federal standard should be the floor, not the ceiling, for relief.”

Over the next decade, the Education Department projects an $11 billion cost-savings from denying loan forgiveness. But for student loan borrowers, denying $11 billion in loan forgiveness adds an unwieldy and costly burden for an education.

Commenting on the rule that will now apply to all federal student loans made on or after July 1, 2020, Secretary Betsy DeVos said, the new rule “corrects the wrongs of the 2016 rule through common sense and carefully crafted reforms that hold colleges and universities accountable and treat students and taxpayers fairly.”

Actually, the 2016 rule was promulgated due to the thousands of wrongs resulting from less-than-truthful recruitment practices, false advertising, and targeting of vulnerable populations: low-income, first-generation college students who were often people of color, and veterans seeking new skills in a return to civilian life. For-profit colleges largely remain financially solvent by their heavy dependence upon taxpayer-funded student loans.

“After the collapse of Corinthian College and ITT Tech, two of the largest for-profit education companies in the country, the Obama Administration created the Borrower Defense Rule to protect students and taxpayers from deceptive practices that could

“By leaving students on the hook for colleges’ illegal actions, today’s rule sends a clear message that there will be little or no consequences for returning to the misrepresentations and deceptions that characterized the for-profit college boom,” said James Kvaal, president of The Institute for College Access & Success.

A similar reaction came from Abby Shafroth, an attorney with the National Consumer Law Center who participated in the department’s rulemaking meetings.

“There are over 170,000 pending applications with many borrowers held in limbo for years,” Shafroth said. “The new rules reflect an ongoing shift to protect the multi-billion-dollar for-profit education industry at the expense of students and taxpayers and come amid concerns about conflicts of interest raised about the rule of former for-profit executives hired by the department.”

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

Sister hug

Lezley McSpadden-Head

Treasurer Tishaura O. Jones at

Rainbow of Mothers Gala on Saturday, August 10 at Barnett’s on Washington.

Charlene Crowell

Photo by JA Salaam

addressed to Eddie on a bulletin board above a collection of his things. A blue binder stands upright. “My science notebook by Eddie Hill IV” is written in pencil in loopy cursive.

Six St. Louis Public Schools students have died this year — four over summer vacation and another two in the early weeks of the school year — along with at least two more who have been shot. The violence and lack of arrests for the crimes (only one person has been charged) have frustrated police, angered residents and vexed school leaders.

“You work really hard to try to get prepared to open school such that it is as least chaotic as possible for kids and families and teachers and everybody else,” St. Louis Public Schools Superintendent Kelvin R. Adams said. “And then the chaos of kids dying happens and you can’t control it, you can’t impact it, and so you feel really helpless.”

The Monday after a particularly violent August weekend required the district to send crisis response teams to 10 school buildings to comfort classmates, siblings and cousins of those shot.

“It’s tough to lose a classmate,” said Stephanie Moore, a social worker at Ashland Elementary and a crisis team leader for schools on the city’s North Side.

Moore was at Clay Elementary on the first day of school, where 7-year-old Xavier Usanga was supposed to start second grade. He was shot outside his Hyde Park

home on August 12, the night before the start of classes. Gun crimes and violence are frequent in the neighborhood surrounding several public schools. For many kids in St. Louis, losing family members, neighbors and classmates is almost routine, according to social workers.

“You see them hurting, but it has become so normal they don’t even know how to process it anymore. It’s like, ‘OK, that happened,’ and just keep moving forward,”

Moore said. “It’s almost like sweeping it underneath the rug, and at some point we have got to address all of these lumps underneath the rug.”

Hospital records show a child in the St. Louis area is shot at least once every four days.

“There’s no answers. How do we fix it?” asked Oluyemisi Folarin, principal of Herzog Elementary School, which lost a student in the second week of school. “We’re at the elementary level. How do we

fix it for our children so that’s not a result for them?”

At a vigil on August 28 in front of Herzog School, kids sat quietly on steps up to the school in the North Pointe neighborhood. Many of their teachers stood nearby. Names were slowly read aloud over a speaker system. They were not the attendance for those who were present but for the kids who will never show up for school again.

The children, teachers and neighbors had gathered to

Mother’s March to End Gun Violence to be held Saturday, Sept. 14

American staff

A broad coalition of women clergy, community and elected leaders are gathering the community to grieve, lock arms and call for action at a Mother’s March to End Gun Violence from to noon to 2 p.m. on Saturday, September 14 starting in Fairgrounds Park corner of Kossuth and Grand.

mourn the death of 8-year-old

Jurnee Thompson, who had been killed the previous Friday after attending a high school football event at Soldan High School. Jurnee was just days into third grade at Herzog.

Two days later, candles that spelled out Jurnee’s name in the parking lot during the vigil sat extinguished in a corner of the lot. Kids climbed in the playground nearby.

Inside the school, third grade teacher Mary Wright hasn’t been able to touch the things in Jurnee’s desk yet. Wright and her students have grieved together and escaped to the safe confines of a small cloth tent Wright has pitched next to her desk when sorrow becomes too much.

Jurnee’s classmates made

cards for her with messages such as, “She will be my best friend forever.”

“I look for her every morning,” Wright said. “I miss her because she kept our class going.” The loss of Jurnee has brought her class together, Wright said, as they try to love on each other a little more. Laughter and learning are slowly returning to her classroom.

“It’ll get back to normal, and they’ll bounce back because they’re kids and they’re resilient,” she said, “but it’s something that’ll always be on their heart.”

Follow Ryan on Twitter: @ rpatrickdelaney

Reprinted with permission from news.stlpublicradio.org.

“The pain of our communities is spilling over and the blood is filling our streets,” said Rev. Traci Blackmon, associate general minister, United Church of Christ, one of the organizers.

our commitment, presence and support until our children’s laughter replaces our lament, freedom to play replaces fear, and our streets are once again safe to dwell in.”

“The cries of our children – and of mothers who have been organizing and crying out on behalf of our children in our communities for years – compel us to show up in massive numbers and renew

A group of more than 20 organizers also includes St. Louis Treasurer Tishaura O. Jones, St. Louis County Councilwoman Rochelle Walton-Gray, Rabbi Susan Talve, Theda Person of

Looking for an Angel, Cathy Daniel of PotBangerz, Karla E. Frye of St. Peter AME Church, Cassandra Gould of Missouri Faith Voices, and Amy Hunter of Children’s Hospital. The march launches after a short program and proceeds around the park, concluding with a final charge, For more information, visit www. MothersMarchSaintLouis.com.

Green calls on Krewson and Reed to support more funds for Cure Violence

American staff

St. Louis Comptroller Darlene Green called upon Mayor Lyda Krewson and Board of Aldermen President Lewis Reed to support a supplemental appropriation for Cure Violence of up to $2 million.

“Gun violence is a problem citywide, so let us attack it as such,” said Comptroller Green.

“Quadrupling the budgeted appropriation will allow Cure Violence to get to work in multiple neighborhoods.”

“However, it appears that a contract may be ready for signatures the week of September 23, or another two weeks.”

Darlene Green

On August 20, Krewson released a letter urging Green to support an emergency contract for Cure Violence.

As of September 11, the Comptroller’s Office has still not received a contract to sign.

“It seems the mayor was buying time,” said Green.

“The people of St. Louis deserve an administration that is proactive and engaged. Now is the time for solutions—no excuses, and no delays,” said Green.

“Supporting a supplemental appropriation is the least that the mayor can do after raising people’s hopes that a contract was ready, and the program could start imminently.” Green called on city leaders to collaborate on an agenda addressing the real and immediate needs of the people of St. Louis: “It is going to take a sustained focus and commitment, working together and partnering with the community to make meaningful change.”

Students at Pamoja Preparatory Academy at Cole have collected notes and possessions of Eddie Hill IV, 10, a former classmate who was killed in a drive-by shooting in July.

Photo by Ryan Delaney / St. Louis Public Radio

Salute

Continued from A1

dents as other principals. I teach my students that it’s okay to be different and to embrace their differences.” Baker has been involved in special education for nearly 30 years.

Tina Clark-Scott is assistant superintendent of Curriculum for Normandy Schools Collaborative. The staff member who nominated Clark-Scott emphasized “her willingness to take on difficult projects, like feeding under privileged families and kids through her church. She gives so much of herself to children and adults.” Remarkably, she even took custody of three troubled students who attended her school when they were directed to Child Protective Services. “She projects a

Continued from A1

St. Louis. The cost of the assessment was paid by the Organization for Black Struggle as an investment in a solution rooted in the belief that our community is worth it. For nearly 40 years, we always have considered ourselves part of the solution.

Cure Violence is part of strategy that calls for divesting the millions our city and our nation spend on police and cages and reinvesting money in the basic human needs of people, such as livablewage jobs, quality education, affordable housing and accessible health care.

Mayor Lyda Krewson claims to support Cure Violence, saying she is genuinely concerned about the number of black bodies taken down by violence. She made public a letter to Comptroller Darlene Green dated August 20 stressing the urgency in moving the contractual process to implement the internationally recognized program. At the time of Krewson’s letter, there was no contract for Green to sign, despite Krewson’s deceptive inference of such. There is still no signed contract, and we have lost more black lives. Key community leaders have publicly supported Cure Violence. Funds for at least one site is already in the city’s budget. Additional funding streams are a real possibility. So why isn’t Cure Violence a reality?

This kind of politics ought to outrage all of us who are truly seeking a humane end to the sickening violence that engulfs our lives. We are all potential victims of violence. Because of this fact, we must

Summit

Continued from A1

What might be even more disturbing than the exclusion of the two top elected prosecutors is the relentless outrage over a tweet. Yes, a tweet. No outrage from the police union leadership over children being killed. No outrage over the fact that only two suspects have been identified in all of these killings. Outrage over a tweet is what the police union decided they would leverage to further divide our city.

I want to send a clear yet strong message to the people of this great city: I stand with you and by you. I hear your calls for a more accountable criminal justice system. I will continue to fight for you and for your safety. I will continue to hold people accountable regardless of their occupation and position in life. I will not waiver from the commitments I made to you, and I will address violent crime as the public health crisis that it is.

Kimberly M. Gardner is circuit attorney for the City of St. Louis.

warm, cheerful attitude to our students, teachers and parents outside of school,” this staff member said. “I have seen her resolve conflicts and handle other difficult situations with remarkable patience and admirable tact.”

Monica D. Diggs, Ed.D, is a 6th grade English Language Arts teacher at Hazelwood North Middle School, where she provides interventions to help improve reading skills. “If the students can’t read, then they struggle with the grade-level curriculum,” she said. Diggs previously worked in Saint Louis Public Schools, Special School District and Riverview Gardens School District. Her late pastor, Charles M. Roach, had the greatest impact on Diggs becoming an educator. He told her that the best way to teach children is to build relationships with them. “Once students know that you care,” she said, “you can teach them anything.”

Victoria A. Harris is direc-

all be vested in the reversal of violence. Violence won’t end with words alone. It will take a comprehensive plan that refuses to accept political posturing and old ways of thinking about crime and punishment.

In St. Louis this summer, the tears of black mothers created rivers as we mourned

tor of Career Engagement and Experiential Learning at HarrisStowe State University, where she is as a liaison who connects scholars, faculty and employers to professional development opportunities, such as career and graduate fairs, individual appointments, class presentations, mock interviews, professional attire and presentation. Harris said it is imperative to be personable and have compassion for students, because people remember how you made them feel. “When I think about the professors that came before me,” she said, “I want to be able to inspire and help students navigate their college careers.”

Kimberly Patrice Long is the assistant principal at Nottingham Community Access and Job Training (CAJT) High School, a school-towork program for students with developmental delays.

the deaths of our children by the violent world constructed for them. My life’s work towards transformational change in this society is primarily inspired by children and their boundless potential. That potential is suffocated by poverty and racism. These are two formidable, systemic blocks that we must be fully

“Despite the many challenges they encounter, they come to school ready to learn and ready to be the best person they can be,” she said. Last year, the school made gains in attendance, student management, academics through the use of technology, onsite work experience, and over 90 percent of its graduating class is registered with Vocational Rehabilitation for post-secondary placement. In the spring, Long was also named the SLPS 2019 Secondary Principal of the Year.

Duane McGowan is chair of the Career Technical Education Academy and the construction trades teacher at East St. Louis Senior High School. His focus is providing students with industry-approved credentials available in technical education. He leads a team of 11, who provide training to students in audio video production, auto mechanics, business, construction, cosmetology, culinary arts, electrical, health care and welding. In his

committed to eradicating.

Also in the path of change are elected officials like Krewson whose mouths conflict with their actions. It is a political disease that is sucking the vitality out of this city. It’s seems that that there is a not-so hidden plan in place to undermine black political leadership, to financially

career, McGowan said he was trained, mentored and taught by some incredibly smart and enthusiastic teachers/leaders.

“I took up their mantle and continued helping others,” he said, “reach their goals for education and training initiatives.”

Lawerence Shields is the coordinator of Webster Academy alternative programs at Webster Groves High School, where he is responsible for six programs, three of which are new. In his goal to be the best alternative education teacher he can be, Shields said, “I realize there is a need for this position, and many people need to understand what alternative education is. I would like to champion that.” Previously, Shields was an Alternative School supervisor in Hazelwood. “I learned how to develop alternative education programs and implement them,” Shields said. “I also learned how to be a leader in an educational environment.”

Tanesia L. Simmons is

de-stabilize the city, and to ultimately make the case that the city is not worth saving.

The plan to merge St. Louis city and St. Louis County is more like a hostile takeover –aided and abetted by political leaders with their own agendas. That’s a topic for another day.

co-founder and school leader of KIPP St. Louis High School, where she is responsible for Instructional Leadership as well and supporting school culture and school operations, including “making sure that our teachers receive the support they need to effectively educate our scholars and that our scholars feel safe and supported.” Previously, Simmons was on the founding team of a Chicago charter school and served in many capacities,. “I know have felt the impact that leadership decisions have on those who don’t often get to weigh in,” she said. “Having this array of experience has helped guide me to always keep students first.” The 2019 Salute to Excellence in Education Gala will be held at 6 p.m. Saturday, September 21, 2019 at the America’s Center Ballroom, following a reception at 5 p.m. Tickets are on sale now. Individual tickets are $100 each/$1,000 table and VIP/ Corporate tickets are $1,500 table. For more information call 314-533-8000.

A community reportback on the Cure Violence assessment will be sponsored by the Coalition Against Police Crimes and Repression on Thursday, September 12 at 6 p.m. It is hosted by the Deaconess Center for Child Well-Being, 1000 N. Vandeventer Ave. It is free and open to the public.

CareSTL Health Project Opioid Awareness Walk

Saturday, August 31, 2019 Forest Park

CareSTL Health held its first Project O Awareness Walk in Forest Park/Upper Muny Parking Lot on Saturday, August 31, 2019 at 9am. The walk was created to bring awareness to the opioid epidemic in CareSTL Health service areas so when funding is available those communities will not be overlooked. About 200 participants showed up to walk 1 or 3 miles to raise awareness on the day that also marks International Overdose Awareness Day. St. Louis Metropolitan Police Chief John Hayden delivered the welcome along with local data about opioid abuse and the connection to crime. CareSTL Health received a proclamation from Congressman William “Lacy” Clay (D-MO, 1st District) and a representative from Senator Roy Blunt’s (R-MO) office gave remarks on his behalf. CareSTL provides a medically assisted treatment program to help individuals addicted to heroin. For more information call 314-367-5820.

Project O Awareness Walk & 95.5 for the Lou DJ Sir Thurl

Gwendolyn Hagens and CareSTL Health Crissie Hagens

CareSTL Health LPN & Warm Up Leader Brandy Dampier

CareSTL Health Dental Team Shelon Murff, Kerri Shine, Dr. Carol Henley, Mary Crumbley

Giana Smith and CareSTL Director of Medical Records Yvonne Smith

H.E.A.L.: Stop Heroin, Inc. vendors Ellis and Patti Fitzwalter

95.5 for the Lou Assistant Program Director & PM Drive Time DJ Kut

Front Row: Gwen Doss, Danette Baker Back Row: Cassandra Davis, Barbara Traylor, Shavette Wayne-Jones, Charles Henry, Christina Chambers and Camille Neal

Left to right: Candace DaSilva, City of St. Louis Department of Health; Craig Schmid, City of St. Louis Department of Health; Franda Thomas, Health Services Manager, Department of Health; Dr. Fredrick Echols, Director of Health, City of St. Louis Department of Health; Dr. Andwele Jolly, Board Treasurer, CareSTL Health; and Angela Clabon, Chief Executive Officer, CareSTL Health

100 Black Men volunteer Marwin Thompson, CareSTL Health Chief Financial Officer Jason Ware and Population Health Director LaChelle Livingston

CareSTL Marketing Director Deneen Busby poses with the winner of the weekend car rental, Kendra Lane

The National Association of Black Accountants (NABA) won first place for the largest group of walkers. (All of the members are not present in this photo)

Group 192 was a contender for the group competition

Vendors with the NCADA Kelly Wieser (left) and Jaidan Pattermann (right)

iHeart Program Director Maurice DeVoe poses with staff and walkers

CareSTL Nursing team Shawnda Glass, Paula Hood and Lauiesha Plummer

Angela Clabon, CareSTL Health CEO, Board Vice-Chairperson Jethro Fortenberry and his daughter Nikeisha J. White

Photos by Renee Stephens

Boys and Girls Club of St. Louis Social Worker Jaleesa McCutcheon and Youth Development Professional Arrin Carter shared information with participants. CareSTL

Clabon,

Pathways to Success

More families have a plan to pay for college

By The St. Louis American Staff

College may be getting more expensive, but new research suggests that more families are preparing to meet those costs one way or another.

Eighty percent of families say they are confident in how they paid for college last year, and nearly half have a plan to pay for all years of college, according to “HowAmerica Pays for College 2019,” a recent study from Sallie Mae and Ipsos, an independent global market research company.

All this preparation could be attributed to the fact that the overwhelming majority of families recognize the value of higher education, with 90 percent of families agreeing college is an investment.

“The individual and socioeconomic benefits of a college education are clear, so it’s particularly gratifying to see that families continue to view college as a worthwhile investment,” said Raymond J. Quinlan, chairman and CEO, Sallie Mae.

and psychologically, opening doors to opportunities that would be otherwise unavailable and even making a difference in the way students view the college experience as a whole.

The study also found that while borrowing covered 24 percent of overall college costs, 57 percent of the families who borrowed to pay for college say they had always planned to do so as part of their paying-for-college strategy. What’s more, many families are getting a head start on paying their loans back, with 41 percent making payments on student loans while the student is in school.

“While more families are planning for college costs, we’d like to see that number continue to grow because we know those with a plan are better prepared to meet the costs, and typically have a better understanding of the financial aid process,” said Quinlan.

On average, families report spending $26,226 on college in academic year 201819, with a sizeable portion of costs – 43 percent – covered out-of-pocket through income and savings.

Scholarships, grants, and gifts – used by 82 percent of families – covered 33 percent of costs, and that “free money” can be especially important, both logistically

Families are being proactive in other ways, too. Seventy-seven percent of families completed the FreeApplication for Federal StudentAid (FAFSA) for the 2018-19 academic year. Completing the FAFSAis the first step in receiving a financial aid award letter from schools. Of those who filed for the 2019-20 academic year, 25 percent did so in October, the first month the application is available. On the other hand, the majority of families waited until January or later to file, potentially missing out on free money for college. For the complete report and a related infographic, visit SallieMae.com/ HowAmericaPays. For new tools and educational resources that promote college planning, visit salliemae.com/collegeplanning

Sponsored By:

Art Museum welcomes scholar to speak on Black abstract art

The Saint Louis Art Museum invites you to attend the opening lecture for the exhibition The Shape of Abstraction: Selections from the Ollie Collection on Saturday, September 21 at 11 am. Valerie Cassel Oliver, the Sydney and Frances Lewis Family Curator of Modern and Contemporary Art at the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, will share the history and contributions of Black artists working in abstraction from the 1950s to the present. Acclaimed scholar and curator, Cassel Oliver will discuss how artists have engaged in abstract painting as an act of resistance, as a marker of identity, as narrative, and an innovative form.

Cassel Oliver’s expertise concentrates on African American and Africandiasporic artists. She brings a perspective of inclusivity to her work, focusing on artists from diverse social and cultural backgrounds and ensuring their stories are part of the narratives brought to life in museums.

When it comes to Black artists working in abstraction, Cassel Oliver curated two acclaimed exhibitions that debuted at the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, Black in the Abstract, Parts 1: Epistrophy and Part 2: Hard Edges/Soft Curves. Many of the artists and themes from these shows are included in The Shape of Abstraction at the Art Museum.

Cassel Oliver is recognized for her groundbreaking scholarship. She has curated and co-curated several important exhibitions, including Cosmologies from the Tree of Life: Art From the African American South and Howardena Pindell: What Remains to be Seen at the VFMA and Double Consciousness: Black Conceptual Art Since 1970, Cinema Remixed & Reloaded: Black Women Artists and the Moving

Lecture: Black in the Abstract: Meditations on Black Artists Working with Abstraction from the 1950s to the Present Saturday, September 21 11:00 am Saint Louis Art Museum, The Farrell Auditorium, $5

Fundraiser for Detective Luther Hall’s medical expenses on Sept. 15

American staff

A fundraiser will be held to raise money for St. Louis Detective Luther Hall’s medical expenses 12 p.m. to 4 p.m. on Sunday, September 15 at Flamingo Bowl, 1117 Washington Ave. The donation for this event is $20 in advance and $25 at the door. Food, bowling and pool are included. Hall hasn’t returned to work since he was severely injured while working undercover at a Stockley verdict protest in 2017. Four of his fellow officers were indicted as a result of allegedly causing his injuries.

“He was injured in the line of duty, and he needs

our support,” said J. “Tink” Upchurch, a retired sergeant for the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department, who is organizing the fundraiser for Hall along with Rebound 911, an organization that provides education, peer support and mental wellness resources for first responders. Upchurch, who is a close friend of Hall’s, was forced to retire in 2009 after she was hit by a drunk driver while on duty in 2006. “That day changed the trajectory of my life and my career,” Upchurch said, adding that Hall helped her through that tough time. “I love Luther. He is my best friend, and I’m going to be there for him like he was there for me.”

Hall joined the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department in 1995, he said, “to decrease violence in the city by investigating and arresting individuals who participated in illegal drug activity and the crimes associated with that.” Hall worked in many facets of the police department including Narcotics, Intelligence and Homicide.

Upchurch said the fundraiser is about more than money for his hospital bills. “He needs this mentally and spiritually,” she said. “Yes, financially, too. “ To donate, go to eventbrite. com or call 314-226-1702.

Valerie Cassel Oliver

Photo by Travis Fullerton

‘We are in the formative years of

building a new St. Louis’

County Prosecutor

Wesley Bell looks back a year after beating McCulloch – and ahead

August 9 was such a towering milestone in the St. Louis region – five years after the Ferguson Police killing of Michael Brown – that not much public attention was paid to another anniversary two days before. August 7 marked one year since Wesley Bell crushed incumbent St. Louis County Prosecutor Bob McCulloch in the Democratic primary, with his general election victory a given. It marked one year since everyone knew that Wesley Bell, and not McCulloch (one of the chief villains of the Ferguson unrest), would be the next chief prosecutor in the county. The St. Louis American asked Bell, who also is the first African American to hold the position, to look back – and ahead.

The St. Louis American: So it’s just over a year since you beat an incumbent running as a change candidate. What have you been able to change so far?

St. Louis County Prosecutor Wesley Bell: Many were told, in 1912, that the Titanic was unsinkable. Newspapers drove public opinion, and the world agreed: this ship would never sink. Leading up to 2018, we were told McCulloch was unbeatable. And not just by political insiders, but by those who were desperate for change – and even several of my close friends.

One in particular – who will remain nameless – laughed at the prospect of running against a 30-year incumbent, telling me that “I was crazy to challenge him.” I thought differently. Myself and a small but motivated group of supporters got to work – relentlessly sharing our message and making our case directly to voters. Over and over again, people who had never heard of me stepped up to support us when they understood our case for change. We saw how this support was building all over St. Louis County. We saw the enthusiasm in places that many candidates and campaigns historically ignore. That small group, which was already motivated, now began to believe. And on August 7, we saw that group

had grown over 100,000 strong. I think the biggest change is that there has actually been change. Let’s put this in perspective: This is ST. LOUIS we’re talking about, after all. I think it’s hard to fathom how many people become invested in a political structure over the course of three decades. Typically, change occurs gradually, but in this case, a storm came out of nowhere and a sea change happened seemingly overnight. The Titanic sank. As a result, many who had made a good living and had been entrenched in that culture were now facing a vastly different, grassrootspowered landscape. Power does not concede itself easily. We see the remnants of that power grasping to hold on: from many in the legal community, ancillary benefactors, the usual race-baiting political consultants, and unfortunately even some mainstream media. I think the biggest change my election has produced is reminding people that they have a voice and that their vote matters. I remember an older gentleman approaching me at a church and saying: “Young man, you proved that my vote actually mattered.” The August 2018 election was about so much more than criminal justice reform. It was a demonstration of democracy doing exactly what it’s supposed to do: people uniting in the belief that change is possible and that they have the power to make that change. When we’re talking about actual policy change inside the prosecutor’s office, just about every campaign promise we made can be illustrated by what we’re doing with our Diversion Program and our partners in the community. We are working toward ending the criminalization of mental illness, addiction and poverty. When police bring cases to our office, we are screening those files and looking for people who need treatment, instead of jail. Specifically, we’re looking at low-level, nonviolent offenses where the facts show that some combination of mental illness, addiction or

poverty is likely the root cause of an individual being arrested. Our diversion team is focused on the intersection of the safety of the community and the health of the individual. Is prosecuting that person going to increase public safety? If so, then that’s what we do; and this helps free up more resources in the office to prosecute the serious and violent crimes and protect victims.

Too often, though, we find that prosecuting people who struggle with addiction and poverty doesn’t make our communities safer. Prosecuting and jailing illness hardly ever results in curing illness; in fact, it’s likely to make that illness worse. This is 2019 – the public health research, the criminology research, all the data points to the overwhelming necessity of communities coming together to change the way law enforcement and public health are utilized in keeping our residents safe and healthy.

The policies and culture of this office have changed for sure, and that’s an ongoing process, but it’s the magnitude of what an entirely new coalition of voters accomplished that made the prosecution shifts possible. The people have seen what their power can accomplish. We are in the formative years of building a new St. Louis.

The St. Louis American: What and who have been resistant to positive change and what strategies do you have to overcome that resistance?

St. Louis County Prosecutor Wesley Bell: Well, unfortunately – and despite the groundswell the voters demonstrated across St. Louis County last year – the usual

suspects continue to throw up resistance. We didn’t get here overnight. Those who have held power over the criminal justice system in St. Louis County had decades to entrench themselves, decades to perfect how they worked behind the scenes to keep the status quo in place. Now, it’s not going to take decades to dismantle that power structure – the Titanic sank pretty quickly – but it is going to take some time for that power structure to realize it cannot exercise the same control that it did for almost 30 years. We knew this going in, and we were prepared for it. I won’t say that there haven’t been surprises along the way, but the usual suspects are operating from an old playbook. The voters, very clearly, are operating from a

new playbook. Even the harshest resistance we’ve seen in the last eight months isn’t surprising, it’s unfortunate, but it’s understandable. The scope of what must change is vast. The structure believed itself to be impregnable. What we’re seeing now are the last gasps from individuals who got awfully cozy with the way things were. The resistance we see is coming from fear, fear of change and fear of the unknown. And I think you could say it’s a fear of the expansion and inclusiveness that we are building. I’m not in office because of entrenched power; I’m in office because of the people’s power. Now, to speak specifically to your question, the previous administration still has loyal minions. Minions who may pretend to be advocates, minions who may be very skilled at screaming loudly on social media, minions who are convinced that if they just scream loudly enough they can get things to return to the way they were; but, unfortunately for them, that is just not the case anymore. The old playbook says “attack, attack,” and their attacks are built on twisting truths into lies and feeding salacious stories to willing accomplices in the media. There are unfortunately, a few reporters and editors out there who are still operating from the old playbook. They happily lap up the packaged lies and present them as news to the people of St. Louis County. These media people are benefitting themselves by short bursts of interest in their “news” stories – it may be uncharitable of me, but we could also call it “clickbait.”

There are of course people in the public who seize on the salacious and predictably feed the negativity. We see that echoed through social media, and the junior-high-like gossip mill that feeds off causing pain, but it’s all part of the old playbook.

I will say this: myself, my team, the majority of my administration, we know that there is a new playbook and that it’s the path forward to the St. Louis region becoming one community, where everyone is treated fairly. That’s all people want. It doesn’t matter what part of the county you’re from. I’ve talked to so many people from all across this region, no matter what their backgrounds, everyone agrees we just want to be treated fairly and to know that that fairness extends to everyone.

We continue to put in place policies that create a level playing field and extend fairness to everyone who comes in contact with the criminal justice system in St. Louis County. We continue to fulfill the promises made during the campaign. We continue to remind ourselves that the minority of loyalists to the previous administration are operating from a place of fear, and we operate from a place of unity.

And it is in that unity that we find a greater power than fear. We can and we must do the work that the people demanded at the ballot box, we can and we must do the work of criminal justice reform, we can and must continue to expand the coalition of St. Louisans coming together to build a safer and healthier community for every one of us.

Photo by Bill Greenblatt / UPI

St. Louis County Prosecutor Wesley Bell at his swearing-in on January 1.

‘Hoopn’ for Hearts’

Community health project brings hypertension testing to the court

Photo By Wiley Price

Care STL Health nurses Shawnda Willingham-Glass and Lauiesha Plummer take the blood pressure of men at the O’Fallon Recreation Center on Sunday, August 25, 2019.

By Sandra Jordan

Of The St. Louis American

Imagine meeting someone for the first time and then finding out that person suddenly died the same day. That’s what St. Louisan Byron Hayes experienced on February 1 of this year.

“The guy we just met, sat and talked to for a minute – he was dead by the morning,” Hayes said. “Come to find out, the young man had a heart attack while he was driving home. This young man wasn’t even 30 years old. To his family’s knowledge, he had no prior heart ailments. As a result, we are centered on the early detection of hypertension – the ‘silent

killer.’” Hayes, who has a background as a basketball player and coach, developed the health initiative Hoopn’ for Hearts for men ages 30 and older (due to this age group’s high risk for hypertension). Hayes had been reading about men having their blood pressure taken in barbershops. This prompted him to bring blood pressure checks courtside as well.

The Hoopn’ for Hearts men’s summer and fall basketball league brings medical personnel to the basketball court to check the blood pressure of players and coaches before league games played at the O’Fallon

Park YMCA, where they play on Sundays from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. If a man has a high blood pressure reading or a previous diagnosis of hypertension, Hayes said it activates a separate fourmonth self-monitoring program using a take-home blood pressure monitor from the YMCA’s Evidence Based Blood Pressure Self-Monitoring Program with the American Heart Association.

That program, piloted in St. Louis and seven other cities in the U.S. (Atlanta, Georgia; Jacksonville, Florida; Lexington,

By Angela Claybon For The St. Louis American

Gun violence is one of the top healthcare crises occurring in our nation today. The reminders of this crisis are becoming too frequent and costing the country the lives of innocent mothers, fathers, daughters, sons, husbands, wives, grandparents and even our children.

The recent driveby shooting in Odessa and Midland, Texas, a shooting in a historic district of Dayton, Ohio, a massacre at Walmart in El Paso, Texas, and the gun violence we see daily in St. Louis – including the murder of 15 children during the summer of 2019 – prompts me, as the chief executive officer of CareSTL Health to highlight the dire need to strengthen our healthcare systems, to advocate for Medicaid expansion for Missouri, and to continue to fight for muchneeded funds for the opioid epidemic.

n Funding for Community Health Centers will expire September 30, and millions of Americans will lose access to much-needed health care services if funding is lost.

The clinical staff at CareSTL Health serves patients who are directly affected by violence. There are rare cases where the violence occurs at our front door and we are forced to provide care until police and paramedics arrive. Several years ago, our nurses ran out into the streets of Dr. Martin Luther King Drive to care for a young mother who was shot as she attempted to drive away from a conflict. The woman’s car crashed in front of our health center. Our staff assisted the victim’s two-year-old child who was also in the vehicle at the time of the shooting. The team worked through a scene of mass chaos and devastation without flinching.

Angela Claybon

Health officials warn of dangers of vaping

193 potential cases of severe lung illness now associated with e-cigarettes

American staff

The Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services (DHSS) has issued an advisory after the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported that there have now been 193 potential cases of severe lung illness associated with vaping in 22 states from June 28-August 20.

“In an abundance of caution, we want to share this information with not only providers but also the general public, even though at this time, it is unclear what the etiology of the disease is in these affected patients,” DHSS noted.

DHSS recommends:

Any person, particularly young people, experiencing unexplained chest pain or difficulty breathing after vaping in the days or weeks prior to their symptom onset should seek medical attention.

Health care providers caring for patients with respiratory or pulmonary illness, especially of unclear etiology, should ask about the use of e-cigarette products for vaping and inquire about the types of drugs (legal or illicit) used and methods of drug use (e.g., smoking, vaping).

Clinicians should report cases of significant respiratory illness of unclear etiology in patients with a history of vaping to the local public health agency (LPHA), or to DHSS. Evaluation for common infectious etiologies when also suspected should be pursued, and less common infections, and rheumatologic or neoplastic processes, considered as clinically indicated.

If an e-cigarette product is suspected as a possible etiology of a patient’s illness, it is important to inquire, and when possible document, what type of product as well as if the patient is using commercially

Hearts

Continued from A12 Kentucky; Louisville, Kentucky; Memphis, Tennessee; Nashville, Tennessee; and Tulsa, Oklahoma) is designed to help participants with hypertension lower their blood pressure through a program that combines blood pressure self-monitoring, nutrition education seminars and personalized support.

Hayes said the participant is assigned a YMCA trained Healthy Heart Ambassador with the focus on identifying and controlling the triggers for HBP by ensuring proper measuring techniques with individualized support and monthly nutrition education. Hayes is also the founder of Moving Upward, a nonprofit organization that helps veterans and individuals transition into permanent housing.

“We are a homeless housing provider, primarily, but we also do wellness initiatives in the community to support our housing goals,” Hayes said. “We plan on doing our league summer and fall, so basically, we are going to see how the monitoring goes this session, and that will determine how often we need to do it.”

Find out more at about Hoopn for Hearts and other initiatives on social media and at movingupward-stl.org.

available devices and/or liquids (i.e. bottles, cartridges, or pods); sharing e-cigarette products (devices, liquids, refill pods, and/or cartridges) with other people; re-using old cartridges or pods (with homemade or commercially bought products); or heating the drug to concentrate it and

then using a specific type of device to inhale the product (i.e., “dabbing”).

The Illinois Department of Public Health (DPH) reported on August 23 the death of a patient who contracted a serious lung illness after vaping, and it is being considered the first death in

the United States linked to e-cigarette usage.

“The severity of illness people are experiencing is alarming and we must get the word out that using e-cigarettes and vaping can be dangerous,” said DPH Director Dr. Ngozi Ezike. “We requested a team from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to help us investigate these cases.”

According to the CDC, in many cases, including Illinois, patients have acknowledged to health care personnel recent use of tetrahydrocannabinol (THC)-containing products. However, no specific product has been identified in all cases, nor has any product been conclusively linked to illnesses. Even though cases appear similar, it is not clear if these cases have a common cause or if they are different diseases with similar symptoms.

More on risks of vaping Truth Initiative – https:// truthinitiative.org/ Office of the Surgeon General – https://e-cigarettes. surgeongeneral.gov/ CDC – https://tinyurl.com/ y348s725 Illinois Department of Public Health – https://tinyurl. com/y3xx5bhy

By

Moving UpwardSTL’s Hoopn’ for Hearts initiative has players and coaches check their blood pressure to make sure it is at a healthy range before they play. Those with elevated blood pressure referred to outside blood pressure monitoring programs.

County Library giving away emergency diapers

St. Louis County Library is partnering with the St. Louis Area Diaper Bank to provide families in need with emergency diapers at the Florissant Valley Branch, 195 New Florissant Rd. in Florissant and the Lewis & Clark Branch, 9909 LewisClark Blvd. in St. Louis. Families can pick up a onetime supply of 50 diapers and receive a referral to a local agency for help with ongoing support.

Claybon

Continued from A12

“When babies and toddlers don’t have a sufficient supply of clean diapers, it directly affects their health and wellbeing,” said St. Louis County Executive Sam Page. Diaper recipients will also receive information on how to incorporate early literacy activities into diaper changing time, known as the Diaper Time is Talk Time initiative Studies show that talking, reading and singing with children from an early age

The physical and emotional toll of the killing of helpless children in our city and for those living in crime-ridden neighborhoods is incalculable. According to an analysis provided by Giffords Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence, “The Economic Cost of Gun Violence in Missouri,” the directly measurable cost of gun violence in Missouri exceeds $1.9 billion, with a direct cost to taxpayers of approximately $384 million. A healthy and educated public is a critical element to safe and productive communities. We must be the advocates for our people and our communities. Healthcare initiatives are being debated as we speak. The funding for Community Health Centers will expire September 30, and millions of Americans will lose access to much-needed

helps with brain development and lays the groundwork for success in school.

“We want to support families by not only providing the diapers they need, but also information to make the most of diaper changing time,” said Kristen Sorth, director of the St. Louis County Library.

The library also will host a diaper drive at all 20 branches during Diaper Awareness Week, September 23-29, 2019.

primary and preventive health care services if funding is lost. To help Community Health Centers, please tell Congress to Reauthorize CHC Funding now (https://www.hcadvocacy.org/ takeaction/ltfemail). Medicaid expansion is still needed in Missouri and you can support by visiting www. healthcareformissouri.org. The Affordable Care Act should be strengthened and supported because it has allowed working-class people access to care they could not otherwise

afford. The City of St. Louis is in pain and is seeing the results of trauma from gun violence. A study by The American Psychological Association found approximately half (50 percent) of all individuals will be exposed to at least one traumatic event in their lifetime. The impact of gun violence is far reaching. In addition to the victims, the nurses, physicians, police and emergency responders are also psychologically affected. This

n “When babies and toddlers don’t have a sufficient supply of clean diapers, it directly affects their health and well-being.”

– St. Louis County Executive Sam Page

is just one reason why we have to push for healthcare policies and initiatives that work proactively. We thank Senator Blunt, U.S. Rep. Wm. Lacy Clay and St. Louis Mayor Lyda Krewson – as well as organizations such as Missouri Primary Care, Integrated Health Network and the Regional Health Commission – who have been on the forefront of fighting and supporting the healthcare needs of their communities.

We believe at CareSTL Health that healthcare is a right, not a privilege. We’re in a state of emergency, and as leaders, CEOs, and advocates we must be the voice for our communities. It is time to come together to save our children, families and communities. It is time to show the residents of our community that we care. Angela Claybon is the chief executive officer of CareSTL Health.

Health Matters is provided in partnership with Missouri Foundation for Health

As a catalyst for change,

Photo

Wiley Price

Documentary about civil rights attorney Michael Middleton premieres Sept. 13

“Only the Educated Are Free: The Journey of Michael Middleton,” produced by the University of Missouri, will premiere 7 p.m. Friday, September 13 at the Missouri Theatre, 203 S. 9th St. in Columbia.

The documentary tells the story of Michael Middleton, civil rights activist and attorney, the first black law professor at the University of Missouri School of Law, and a trailblazing administrator at Mizzou.

“There was a major, systemic, structural racism within the South that I could not put up with,” Middleton said about his civil rights activism. “I wanted to be part of the movement to get rid of that.” He returned from retirement in November 2015 to serve

as interim president of the University of Missouri System when Mizzou was roiled by the aftermath of a black-led student protest movement.

“We’ve got to understand the ugly, ugly history that permeates everything we do in our institutions in this country,” Middleton said, “and once we get the truth on the table I think we are poised to reconcile those differences and move forward.”

He came out of retirement a second time in 2017 to serve briefly as interim president at Lincoln University in Jefferson City. That same year, the St. Louis American Foundation honored him as Lifetime Achiever in Education. The screening is free and open to the public. The trailer may be viewed at https://vimeo. com/354750848.

Your senators were elected to defend your safety, not the gun industry

By Marc H. Morial Of The National Urban League

“The biggest movement and shift that we’ve seen in this culture is simply because of the victims. When victims and survivors are coming to the legislative bodies and they’re telling their stories and they’re appealing, we’ve seen movement,” said U.S. Rep. Lucy McBath (D-Georgia), mother of 17-year-old Jordan Davis, shot to death in an argument about loud music.

“We’ve seen movement. And so it’s a matter of changing one mind and one heart at a time. You change the culture, and the policy change comes right on the heels of that.”

The facts on gun safety are clear.

Since 1994, background checks have blocked over 3.5 million gun sales to felons, domestic abusers, and other people who aren’t allowed to have guns under existing law. About 90 percent of Americans support background checks for all firearms sales.

But U.S. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell refuses to allow the Senate to vote on bills, passed by the U.S. House of Representatives, that would expand background checks to private sales and extend to at least 10 days the amount of time firearms dealers must wait for a response from the background check system before the sale can proceed.

A ban on military-style assault weapons effect from September 1994 through 2004 was associated with a 25 percent drop in gun massacres and a 40 percent drop in fatalities. About two-thirds of American support a ban on military-style assault weapons.

But a bill to restrict the sale of militarystyle assault weapons remains mired in the Senate Judiciary Committee.

One of the people who should have failed a background check to buy a handgun was Dylann Roof of Columbia, South Carolina. Because the check was not completed within three days, Roof was able to buy a gun. A few months later, Roof shot and killed nine people at Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston.

on

One of the people who was prevented from buying a gun because he failed a background check in 2014 was Seth Ator of Odessa, Texas. Ator had been committed to a psychiatric institution in 2006 because he was deemed a danger to himself and/or others. Because of a loophole in the law – a loophole that would be closed by the House-passed Bipartisan Background Checks Act – Ator was able to purchase an AR-15-style rifle through a private sale. Ator used that rifle to shoot nearly 30 people in Odessa and Midland, Texas, on August 31, killing seven and wounding 22.

There were six other mass shootings in the United States on August 31, leaving five more dead and another 20 injured. There have been 287 mass shootings in of 2019 – more than a shooting per day. There have been 10,018 deaths and 20,061 injuries from gun violence this year, and that’s not even including suicides by firearms, which claim about 23,000 lives each year.

Stopping gun violence is now the third-most important issue for voters, after health care and immigration, according to a recent poll.

The ongoing epidemic of gun violence prompted Walmart to stop selling handgun

from

ammunition and “short-barrel rifle ammunition,” such as the .223 caliber and 5.56 caliber, that can also be used on assaultstyle weapons. Walmart and Walmart and Kroger also have requested that customers not openly carry firearms in their stores.

These decisions mark a significant turning point in the effort to protect Americans from gun violence. Senate leaders have, instead, chosen to continue along the path of cowardice.

As the House passage of the background bill and the Walmart and Kroger decisions demonstrate, the firearm industry is losing its stranglehold on our political and legislative institutions. But not fast enough. As long as Senate Leader Mitch McConnell refuses to consider the commonsense gun safety laws passed by the House, it’s clear his loyalties lie with the gun lobby and not with the American people.

We must do everything we can to urge the Senate to do its job. Call (202) 2243121 to speak to your senators and let them know they were elected to defend your safety and your family, not the profits of the gun industry Marc H. Morial is president and CEO of the National Urban League.

Michael Middleton

Columnist Marc Morial

A ban

military-style assault weapons effect

September 1994 through 2004 was associated with a 25 percent drop in gun massacres and a 40 percent drop in fatalities.

NEWSPAPER IN EDUCATION

Planting the Seeds for Success!

Try New Foods— Adventure! Get Moving! Walk!

Nutrition Challenge:

When is the last time you tried a new food? Break into small groups and come up with a list of five fruits or vegetables that you have never tasted. Compare your list with those of the other groups. Now as a class, pick three of these that you would like to try.

Healthy Kids Healthy Kids

Research to see which have some of the best nutritional content.

Write a letter to a few local grocery stores to see if one of them would be willing to donate the new, “adventure” foods for your class to try. (Or perhaps your class

Exercise Challenge:

Walk! Walking is one of the best forms of exercise and most of us can do it. While always keeping safety in mind, seek out opportunities to walk each day. Your goal should be to walk for at least 30 minutes, 5 days per week.

As the weather starts to turn colder, flu season can hit area schools. To avoid passing/or getting someone else’s germs, remember to:

> Sneeze into a tissue and immediately throw it away.

> If caught without a tissue, sneeze into your elbow (while turning away from your friends). Do not sneeze into your hands!

> Wash your hands frequently throughout the day and avoid touching your face: eyes, nose, and mouth.

1, NH 1, NH

could create another way to purchase these new foods.) If a store does donate to your class, be sure to take a picture of your class tasting the new food and send it to the store’s manager along with a thank-you letter. Adding variety to your diet helps you eat healthier. Give it a try!

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

Banana Pops

Ingredients: Small Ripe Banana peeled 2 Tbsp Natural Peanut Butter

Toppings: Coconut, Chopped Peanuts, Raisins, etc.

Directions: Insert a Popsicle stick into the banana. Spread peanut butter over the top 4-6 inches of the banana and dip into your favorite healthy topping.

Mia Henderson, House Staff Physician

Where do you work? I am a pediatrics resident at St. Louis Children’s Hospital. Where did you go to school? I graduated from Buena High School, Sierra Vista, Arizona. I then earned a Bachelor of Science in Molecular Cell/ Biology and a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology from the University of Arizona, a Master of Arts in Secondary Education from Loyola Marymount University, and a Doctor of Medicine and a PhD in Molecular Cell/Biology from Washington University.

What does a pediatrics resident do? I take care of children and teenagers with mild illnesses like colds and allergies and patients with chronic illnesses like diabetes and ADHD. I also take care of patients with severe injuries. I get to work almost everywhere in our hospital.

Why did you choose this career? I love working with patients and their entire families. I have always been good at science and really care about helping others. Medicine is a great combination of both!

What is your favorite part of the job you have? Every day, I get to help children be as healthy as possible. I get to work with their families to make the best choices for their health. It is definitely a privilege!

Learning Standards: HPE6, NH3

“Questions or comments? Contact Cathy Sewell csewell@stlamerican.com or 314-289-5422

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 314-289-5422

school fifth grade

Problem Solving

What do all great scientists have in common? They are skilled critical thinkers and problem solvers. Just like you can train your body and your muscles to work more effectively, you can also train your mind to think more critically.

Give your brain a work-out with mazes, brain teaser riddles, Sudoku puzzles, math equations, etc. Read mystery books and learn to look for clues and make predictions. Look for patterns. Patterns are everywhere—colors, numbers, letters, etc. When you identify patterns, your brain can make connections quickly and easily. Think of different uses for

SCIENCE INVESTIGATION

Background Information:

In this experiment, you will see if you can walk on air. What is your hypothesis? Do you think it is possible to walk on air? Support your answer with specific reasons and details.

Materials Needed:

• Garbage Bag Filled with Air • Balloons Filled with Air • Balloons Filled with Water • Tape • 4 24” by 24” Cardboard Squares

Procedure:

q Make two strong platforms by gluing two pieces of cardboard together so that the grooves (lines) in the cardboard are going in the opposite directions.

w Try standing on one of your platforms supported by a garbage bag filled with air. (Take caution and make sure to have a partner help you balance or stand near a wall.) Does it hold your weight?

e Now try balloons filled with air. Predict which will hold your weight better.

r Start out standing on one of your platforms supported by a

common everyday items, such as a paperclip. How many different uses can you discover?

Ask yourself questions, such as how many different ways can you stack a set of blocks? Which way would give you the tallest structure? Which way would give you the strongest structure? Keep an open mind and be flexible as you consider your options. Practice this process often. Brainstorm a list. Set a timer and see how many ideas you can generate. Then, select your best three choices and develop a hypothesis that you can test.

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

bunch of balloons. The balloons stay in place best if you sandwich them between two platforms. Try taping the balloons to the bottom platform and then putting the second platform on top.

t Have a friend pop one balloon at a time. What happens when the balloons pop? How few balloons still support your weight?

Extension: Try the same thing with balloons filled with water. Be sure you do this testing somewhere that can get really wet. Analyze: Which holds your weight better, balloons filled with water or balloons filled with air? Which substance can hold your weight with the fewest balloons? Why do you think one works better than the other?

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

Give your problem solving ability a challenge with these equations.

b – 7.2 = 1.8

=

v Write the sentence as an equation. b decreased by 150 is 221

b Write the sentence as an equation. z multiplied by 280 is 179

n Write the sentence as an equation. 72 is equal to z divided by 369

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

A ballpoint pen can write approximately 45,000 words.

African-American Inventor & Entrepreneur Ruth J. Miro

Ruth J. Miro was born on February 4, 1960, in New York City and grew up in the Bronx. She attended New York’s Monroe Business College to study business and e-commerce. Miro received patent #6,113,298 on September 5, 2000, for her improved paper ring design. A press release to promote her new product stated, “These new and improved paper rings are ideal for business professionals, especially authors, students, and schools. There is an increased excitement over the range of functions it serves. They can be used for sorting, filing [loose leaf] papers, index cards, recipe cards, photo pages, memos and much more… RJ Miro paper rings come in an array of colors such as Red, Black, Green, White, Blue and Gold.” She also received patent #6,764,100 for a stationery organizer and is the founder of RJMiro, which designs and sells supplies for the school, office, and home.

Miro is a member of the International Association of Black Millionaires and the National Association for Female Executives. She has received recognition and many awards, including Empire Who’s Who, Manchester Who’s Who, and Cambridge Who’s Who. The Wall of Tolerance gave her an award for her public stance against hate and intolerance. (The Wall of Tolerance is located in the Civil Rights Memorial Center in Montgomery, Alabama.)

In addition to her business accomplishments, Miro supports literacy by donating money to various educational charities and authors. She features authors on her business website to promote their work. She states, “I would like to see more African American stores buying and selling African American products.”

Learning Standards: I can read a biography about a person who has made contributions in the fields of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. I can make textto-world connections.

MAP CORNER

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

Activity One — Creative Predictions for Jobs: Review the Help Wanted section in the Classified ads. What characteristics do the employers seek—experience, dependability, etc.? Which characteristics seem to be the most important to employers? What job do you think you are best suited for? Why? Write a paragraph explaining what skills and characteristics you have that will make you a good employee.

Activity Two —

Who Am I? Riddles: Fold a piece of paper in half. On the outside flap, write a riddle about a character of a newspaper story. Paste the newspaper article on the inside, highlighting the character’s name and characteristics used to create the riddle. Share the riddle with your classmates.

Learning Standards: I can use the newspaper to locate information. I can draw conclusions. I can use character traits and think critically.

Did you know the first person to use a stapler was King Louis XV of France?

Glasgow Elementary

teacher Michale Ward shows students KyRee Fowler, SaMya Walker, LaRiyha Pratt and Deandrew Capelton how to use the newspaper’s STEM page to find new lessons in science. Photo by Wiley Price / St. Louis American

When we look out for one another, we all see

“Now I get to have a bed and somewhere comfortable to stay. It means everything to me.”

Harmoni and her mom and brother received the help they needed during a difficult time. Today, the family is happy, healthy, and stable, with a promising future ahead. Harmoni and her family are just one of thousands of stories of the safety net—of Missourians doing everything they can to live up to their full potential.

Stories of Missourians who are struggling are all too common. Too many of our neighbors have basic needs that just aren’t being met. But there is a solution. Safety net programs ensure all Missourians can lead healthy lives. They provide food, health care, shelter, and economic support. But these programs can only help if they’re focused on what people really need and are properly funded. That’s why 8 in 10 Missourians support funding safety net programs. You can help lawmakers understand the importance of safety net programs by telling them what these many services mean to families like yours. Share your story today at TheNetBenefit.org.

Be part of the solution. Be part of the story. Be part of #TheNetBenefit.

Harmoni St. Louis

Petty Officer 3rd Class Sean Adams, a 2011 graduate of Lindbergh Senior High School, is a logistics specialist with the Scorpions of Helicopter Maritime Squadron 49 at Naval Air Station North Island, San Diego.

Business

Lindbergh High grad takes to the air

Sean Adams serves with high-tech U.S. Navy helicopter squadron

By William Lovelady

Of

The

U.S. Navy

SAN DIEGO – Petty Officer 3rd Class Sean Adams, a native of St. Louis, wanted to change the trajectory of his life. Now, six years later, he serves with the Scorpions of Helicopter Maritime Squadron (HSM) 49, working with one of the U.S. Navy’s most advanced helicopters at Naval Air Station North Island, San Diego. Adams, a 2011 graduate of Lindbergh Senior High School, is a logistics specialist with a versatile squadron that’s capable of completing a number of important missions for the Navy with the MH-60R “Seahawk” helicopter. Adams credits success in the Navy to many of the lessons learned in St. Louis.

“You have to pay it forward,” said Adams. “Everything is earned, and nothing is given.”

n “It shows you a totally different dynamic of things. You see people fresh out of high school working on multi-million dollar aircraft.”

– Petty Officer 3rd Class Sean Adams

HSM 49’s primary mission is to conduct sea control operations in open-ocean and coastal environments as an expeditionary unit. This includes hunting for submarines, searching for surface targets over the horizon and conducting search and rescue operations.

According to Navy officials, the MH-60R is

the Navy’s new primary maritime dominance helicopter. Greatly enhanced over its predecessors, the MH-60R helicopter features a glass cockpit and significant mission system improvements, which give it unmatched capability as an airborne multi-mission naval platform.

As the U.S. Navy’s next-generation submarine hunter and anti-surface warfare helicopter, the MH-60R “Romeo” is the cornerstone of the Navy’s Helicopter Concept of Operations. Anti-submarine warfare and surface warfare are the MH-60R’s primary missions. Secondary missions include search and rescue, medical evacuation, vertical replenishment, naval surface fire support, communications relay, command, control, communications, command

See ADAMS, B2

Harris-Stowe nets recruiting contract with Corps of Engineers

n Students not interested in joining the military have tended to avoid a career fair booth when they see “Army” and “Engineer,” the corps said in a press release. vcv

U.S. Army Corps of Engineers - Kansas City District and Harris-Stowe State University have agreed a $49,000 contract to develop a Contracting Professionals Recruiting Program that will include marketing materials for the Kansas City District, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Contracting Division. The Contracting Division is actively recruiting at colleges and universities seeking students that have at least 24 hours of business credits to fill positions as contract specialists as the district mission grows. Historically, students not interested in joining the military have tended to avoid a career fair booth when they see “Army” and “Engineer,” thinking they must be an engineer and would have to join the Army, the corps said in a press release. The team at Harris-Stowe will develop recruiting materials that highlight the business advisor role of the contract specialist in accomplishing the mission

See HARRIS-STOWE, B2

Richard Gaines was honored as a Pioneer in Education by the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education for his service on the Special Administrative Board (SAB) for the St. Louis Public School District. Under the SAB’s guidance, the district improved student and district performance, stabilized leadership and regained full accreditation. He chaired the Comprehensive Long-Range Planning Committee. He is a proud graduate of Vashon High School and owns an insurance firm.

Tameka Herrion was named the new director of College Planning at Southeast Missouri State University. Formerly she was scholarship manager for the St. Louis Community Foundation. A Southeast alumna, Herrion will provide group and individual assistance to students and families with admissions, financial aid and scholarship processes; and plan events and offer presentations promoting college readiness for students, families and schools in the St. Louis metropolitan area.

Aric Hamilton participated in a rite of passage at the Kappa Beautilllion, National College Signing Day, and Awards Ceremony. The event was the culmination of his affiliation with the Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity, Inc., St. Louis Alumni Chapter’s Guide Right/Kappa League (KL) Program. KL is a mentoring program for young males in grades 6 – 12. A graduate of Pattonville High School, he is attending Saint Louis University.

Jamilah Nasheed received the Rory Ellinger Legislative Award from Legal Services of Eastern Missouri in recognition of her work to pass Senate Bill 203 to hold nuisance property owners accountable during the 2019 legislative session. She is term-limited as state senator for Missouri’s 5th Senate District. The award is named after the late Missouri state representative.

Benjeil Z. Edghill, MD, was appointed chair of the National Medical Association (NMA) Ophthalmology Section, a leading force in eliminating disparities in minority healthcare and promoting optimal health through its focus on the collective interest of ophthalmologists and patients of color. The Brooklyn, N.Y. native has been practicing in Staten Island for the past 12 years as the only glaucoma fellowship-trained ophthalmologist on the island.

Linda Stewart was crowned Second Runner-Up of the Ms. Missouri Senior America Pageant. She has 20 years of experience as a communication professional, responsible for research, development and promotion of company initiatives. She started her career as a corporate trainer for Lord and Taylor stores in New York City and retired from Lutheran Hour Ministries in St. Louis. She has been adjunct English faculty at St. Louis Community College since 1994. On the move? Congratulations! Send your professional news and a

Benjeil Z. Edghill

Tameka Herrion

Jamilah Nasheed

Richard Gaines

Aric Hamilton

Denale A. Powell, senior graphic designer, Harris-Stowe State University; Joyce M. Eisel, department chair of Healthcare Management; Fatemeh “Fara” Zakery, dean and professor of Business Administration; Gwendolyn L. Miller, chief of the Contracting Division, Kansas City District; Sgt. 1st Class Tamika L. Williams, 745th Contracting Team, contracting officer; and Charles E. Sykes, assistant dean and professor of Business Administration.

Linda Stewart

Photo by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Jackson Brown

By Eugene Robinson Washington Post

President Trump is conducting his trade war with China as if it were a zero-sum game, but it’s not. It’s a negative-sum game. Both sides lose.

Trump’s illadvised gambit of tariffs and bombast is hurting both economies. The question is who can more stoically withstand the pain – an autocrat with a mandate to rule indefinitely over a tightly controlled one-party state, or a democratically elected president with dismal approval numbers who must face voters in 14 months.

Trump’s trade war with China may spell his electoral defeat

maker. Asked on August 26 about his erratic and disruptive method, Trump told reporters with a shrug, “Sorry, it’s the way I negotiate.”

I’m sorry, too. The whole world should be.

n The tariffs are taxes paid by U.S. companies that import Chinese goods, and the cost is ultimately passed along to the U.S. consumer.

The president seems to have drunk his own Kool-Aid about being some sort of genius deal-

Adams continued from page B1 and control warfare and noncombat operations.

Revised figures released on August 29 show that the economy grew by 2 percent in the second quarter of this year – not bad, but down from the 3.1 percent growth we saw in the first quarter. Trump claims on Twitter and at his rallies that the economy is not slowing. His own administration’s statistics prove that’s not true. In fact, the economy is growing at about the same rate as during the last quarter of the Obama administration – the difference being that

now economists are worried that we’re sliding toward a recession. For the financial markets, this has been essentially a lost 12 months. The pattern is that investors get comfortable, stock indexes make some gains, and then there’s another heated clash in the trade war and the markets give the gains back. As many experts predicted, the sugar high from Trump’s upper-class and corporate tax cuts has faded without meaningfully benefiting most Americans. Middle-class families that did get a modest tax cut are seeing much of the windfall snatched away by price hikes for merchandise covered by Trump’s tariffs.

lied recently. In fact, China is not paying a cent. As Trump well knows, the tariffs are taxes paid by U.S. companies that import Chinese goods, and the cost is ultimately passed along to the U.S. consumer. What unsettles the markets more than the tariffs themselves is uncertainty about where this unnecessary trade war is headed.

Eugene Robinson

“I think our tariffs are very good for us. We’re taking in tens of billions of dollars. China is paying for it,” Trump

Trump’s recent declaration that American companies were “hereby ordered” to stop doing business in China was ridiculous on its face, but it had to make even his most loyal supporters nervous. And his tweet asking whether Chinese leader Xi Jinping or Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell was “our bigger enemy” can only be described as nuts. With all his tariffs and all his tirades, Trump has managed

to do just one thing: give Xi the upper hand. It is true that the trade war is hurting the Chinese economy, which this year will probably see its slowest growth in decades. But Xi can afford to play the long game. And he knows that he holds Trump’s political future in his hands.

The U.S. election polls that Trump calls “fake news” are being read not just in Washington but also in Beijing. Xi can see that Trump’s reelection bid is in trouble. He can’t possibly miss the fact that Trump is claiming economic revival as the main reason he deserves a second term. And Xi must grasp how the trade war is contradicting Trump’s campaign narrative. If I were Xi, I’d be thinking of my choices. I could look at Trump’s unhinged performance at the G-7 meeting and decide that, on balance, it is good for China for the world’s big

industrialized democracies to be without effective U.S. leadership. By that reasoning, I might come back to the table and make a trade agreement – one that would surely be favorable to China, given Trump’s desperation – and boost Trump’s chances of reelection.

Or I could sit back, take only modest countermeasures against the U.S. tariffs, play the role of reasonable adult against Trump’s petulant child, ride out whatever pain the trade war brings in the knowledge that Trump is hurting more, and thus increase the likelihood of his defeat. My guess is that this is the option Xi has settled on. The Chinese leadership doesn’t like unpredictability any more than the financial markets do. If Trump is “the chosen one” to confront China, it was an awful choice. Eugene Robinson’s email address is eugenerobinson@ washpost.com.

“I remember the first time I saw the helicopter, it was breathtaking. It’s a surreal experience,” said Adams. “It shows you a totally different dynamic of things. You see people fresh out of high school working on multi-million dollar aircraft.”

American staff

Serving in the Navy means Adams is part of a community that is taking on new importance in America’s focus on rebuilding military readiness, strengthening alliances and reforming business practices in support of the National Defense Strategy. America is a maritime

nation, and the nation’s prosperity is tied to the ability to operate freely on the world’s oceans. More than 70 percent of the Earth’s surface is covered by water; 80 percent of the world’s population lives close to a coast; and 90 percent of all global trade by volume travels by sea.

“Our priorities center on people, capabilities and processes, and will be achieved

Schnucks reaches

United Food and Commercial Workers Local 655, which represents more than 5,500 Schnucks employees throughout the St. Louis region, has agreed to a

by our focus on speed, value, results and partnerships,” said Secretary of the Navy Richard V. Spencer. “Readiness, lethality and modernization are the requirements driving these priorities.”

Though there are many ways for sailors to earn distinction in their command, community, and career, Adams is most proud of earning his Enlisted Aviation Warfare

Specialist wings. “It took a lot of dedication and discipline to complete the program, and I think it’s really cool to know all about our aircraft,” said Adams.

As a member of one of the U.S. Navy’s most relied-upon assets, Adams and other sailors know they are part of a legacy that will last beyond their lifetimes contributing to the Navy the nation needs.

labor agreement with UFCW

new 3-year union contract with the hometown grocery chain.

“This is the best contract our union family has seen in 20

years,” said UFCW Local 655 President David Cook. “Our partners are getting real wage increases, they are maintaining their healthcare benefits, which are critical to our partners, and their pension is strong.”

Union partners gathered in the Family Arena in St. Charles where 83 percent of them voted to approve the new contract. The previous contract expired in May.

“We’re proud that we were able to work with the bargaining committee and union leadership to find solutions that support teammates, while also giving Schnucks the flexibility to

compete,” said Schnucks Chairman and CEO Todd Schnuck. Cook thanked Schnucks for engaging in straightforward bargaining.

“We may disagree at times, but we never see each other as enemies,” Cook said. “The true enemies are the non-union employers that don’t pay their employees decent wages or provide decent benefits. We want Schnucks and the other employers we work with to be successful, and we want the men and women in those stores to reap some of the rewards of that success.”

Cook said the Schnucks

“Serving in the Navy means sacrifice,” said Adams. “It may sound cliché, but it’s truly an honor to serve. Every day when I put on the uniform, especially the dress blues, I think about those that have worn it before us.”

William Lovelady is a senior chief mass communication specialist in the Navy Office of Community Outreach.

contract now sets the economic table for union negotiations with other local grocery chains, like Dierbergs and Straubs. “In the coming days and weeks, you’ll be hearing a lot more from Local 655 about which local retailers aren’t providing good jobs for their employees or supporting their communities,” Cook said. “I believe when we notify the public of the bad employers in our area, shoppers will reconsider where they spend their dollars and patronize good union employers like Schnucks, Dierbergs, or Straubs.”

United Way of Greater St. Louis announced a 2019 annual campaign goal of $76.25 million. Last year, more than 100,000 individuals and 2,000 businesses donated to United Way to collectively raise a record $76 million for people in a 16-county region throughout Missouri and Illinois.

The 2019 campaign co-chairs are Tim Wentworth,

president of Express Scripts and Cigna Health Services, and Greg Smith, chairman of Husch Blackwell. The annual fall fundraising campaign is underway and runs through early November.

United Way of Greater St. Louis said it invests more than $1 million each week in the St. Louis region to create a solid foundation for a good quality of life through education, financial stability, health, basic needs and strong communities.

“Thanks to the generosity of local businesses, partners and individuals, we provide support and resources throughout the St. Louis region to those who need it most,” said Michelle Tucker, president and CEO of United Way of Greater St. Louis. To pledge online, visit HelpingPeople.org/give.

December 4 deadline to apply for nonpartisan state demographer

Anyone interested in applying for nonpartisan state demographer for the State of Missouri has until December 4 to apply.

Submitted applications will be posted online at auditor.

Harris-Stowe

continued from page B1 of the corps and the varied opportunities available in this field. Material will also highlight the Kansas City area.

mo.gov/demographerapp. Applications will be reviewed by the State Auditor’s Office Quality Control staff. Qualified applications will then be delivered to the Senate majority and minority leaders. As

The corps stated that the contract will “help establish a lasting partnership with a university while producing excellent candidates for employment with the district.”

Fatemeh “Fara” Zakery, dean and professor of Business Administration, and Charles

required by Article III, Section 3 of the Missouri Constitution, Senate leadership has the duty of selecting the nonpartisan state demographer. View the application at auditor.mo.gov/auditorapp.

E. Sykes, assistant dean and professor of Business Administration, played key roles in bringing the contract together between the corps and the university. For more information, visit www.nwk.usace.army.mil.

n “This team is going to be special. I’m excited to be back with these guys.”

— St. Louisan Ezekiel Elliott of the Dallas Cowboys

Sports

I’ll value my friendship with Chris Duncan; Mahomes shows he’s talented and tough

~ See ‘Sports Eye’ page B4 ~

Stars shine at Gateway Scholars Classic

The Gateway Scholars Classic was an all-day football extravaganza that produced a huge crowd at Clyde C. Jordan Stadium in East St. Louis. As usual, the Classic produced some tremendous individual performances. Here are some of the highlight performers from last Saturday’s games:

Top Offensive Players

• Senior L.J. Fortune of Chaminade racked up 308 all-purpose yards and scored five touchdowns to lead the Red Devils to a 41-22 victory over Cahokia. Fortune caught eight passes for 252 yards and four touchdowns.

• Senior running back DeMonta Witherspoon of East St. Louis rushed for 202 yards and scored three touchdowns in the Flyers’ 32-0 victory over Trinity Catholic.

• Senior quarterback Brady Cook of Chaminade passed for 348 yards and four touchdowns in the Red Devils’ victory over Cahokia.

• Junior running back Bill Jackson of Cardinal Ritter rushed for 148 yards and scored on a 74-yard touchdown run in the Lions’ 27-13 victory over Lutheran North.

• Sophomore Quinton Jones of Cahokia scored two touchdowns on a 65-yard pass reception and an 85-yard kickoff return in the Comanches’ loss to Chaminade.

With the announcement that St. Louis will soon be home to an expansion team in the MLS, a raging debate has emerged among St. Louis sports fans. Is St. Louis a baseball town or a soccer town? Let’s not forget the St. Louis Blues drew an estimated 500k fans to celebrate the team’s first Stanley Cup victory. Maybe STL is really a hockey town. Though teams and athletes from St. Louis have had championship success in every major professional sport, there is a great argument to be made that STL is really a fight town. The sport of boxing has a rich history of producing world champions such as, Archie Moore Henry Armstrong Sonny Liston, the Spinks family (Leon, Michael and Cory), Devon Alexander and more. On the MMA side, Tyron Woodley ruled the UFC welterweight division for nearly three years as champion. Now, Shamrock FC is working hard to promote and develop the next generation of championship fighters from Missouri. Shamrock FC’s mission is to “fans fast-paced action and high-quality fights, all the while maintaining a professional atmosphere.”

The promotional outfit routinely puts on MMA events at four Missouri casinos: Lumiere Place, River City, Ameristar St. Charles and Ameristar Kansas City. Saturday night, I received an invitation to attend Shamrock FC 322 at River

Earl Austin Jr.

Sistrunk

McCluer running back Cameron Cole (10)

Aug. 30, 2019. The Comets of McCluer went on to defeat the Warriors of Jenninings

Photo by Wiley Price

Photo by Vincent Lang

SportS EyE

With Alvin A. Reid

I’ll value my friendship with Chris Duncan; Mahomes shows he’s talented and tough

101

ESPN’s former program director Jason Barrett was crazy enough to let me join the team as a weekend host of 101 SportsLine during its first month of operation in 2009.

When daily hosts would take summer vacations, as the station geared up for St. Louis Rams football in the fall, I was sometimes asked to fill in as a host.

Former St. Louis Cardinals

outfielder Chris Duncan began doing guest appearances in 2011 and he would later work regularly with night host Brian Stull. It was during that summer that we were teamed together for two weeks.

The first morning we were to do a threehour show was really the first time I met Chris. He was nervous. It was the first time he would do a full threehour show, he said. The world would learn how humble, honest and truly humorous Duncan was through his radio talent. To this day I am honored to have played a small role in his career.

baseball career and working with Tony La Russa, we truly did enjoy working together. Chris’ mom, Jeanine, was battling brain cancer during that time. One morning he told me that she said hello and that she really enjoyed hearing us together. Wow. That was moving. She would pass away in the coming year.

My favorite moment with Chris on the air involved Tiger Woods and his suddenly sinking career. I went on a five-minute tirade about the only thing holding back Woods was embarrassment.

I told a jittery Duncan how I was still pretty new to radio and gave him a simple piece of advice.

“Just be yourself, dude. You know what you’re talking about and you’re funny,” I said. By no means am I taking any credit for his success. He was unique.

We had a great time working together and he would soon join the cast of “The Fast Lane” on weekday afternoons.

Whether it was me yelling “it’s high noon!!” into the microphone at 12 p.m., or him telling hilarious tales of his

“He was king and his private life became public. He’s getting divorced and he’s totally embarrassed. It’s tough. None of us have been that embarrassed in our lives and probably never will be,” I bellowed to the listeners. With a smile on his face, Chris said, “Alvin, I dropped a fly ball in the (2006) World Series. There were only about a billion people watching.” I laughed so hard I couldn’t stop. Thank goodness we were near a commercial break. That was Chris Duncan. He was a Major Leaguer. His father, Dave, also played in the Majors and is one of the best pitching coaches the game will ever see. His brother Shelley was also a Big-League player. None of this changed Chris in the least. He acknowledged his blessings, but more importantly, he found joy and fun in every aspect of his life. The last time I saw Chris was two years ago at a mutual friend’s wedding at the Four Seasons downtown.

He remembered our antics on the air, and reminded me of “high noon!” He was thinner, but still full of life.

Chris left us on Sept. 6, the day of my 59th birthday. The cancer he had been fighting was the same that claimed his mother. His gallant battle had continued for many years. He left 101 ESPN last January to continue the fight. He had been doing his co-hosting from his home in California and was no longer in St. Louis.

I was celebrating at a place in Grand Center when I got the news. I excused myself from my own party, went downstairs and cried for a few minutes.

Chris was 38 when he passed away. But he did more in those 38 years than most people do in a lifetime. More importantly, he enjoyed every minute of his life – even with a terminal ailment tagging at his sleeve.

He won a World Series title in 2006 with the Cardinals, but he was and always will be a true champion for those lucky enough to have known him regardless, of that ring.

St. Patrick is back

During his three-touchdown, 378 yard passing performance in a 40-26 Kansas City Chiefs victory in steamy Jacksonville last Sunday, Patrick Mahomes

III nabbed the record for most yards passing in the first 16 games in a career.

His 5,759 yards surpassed the previous record held by former St. Louis Rams quarterback Kurt Warner during the dream season of 1999.

The reigning NFL MVP also displayed more than a magic arm and sharp eye – he played in pain for the first time in his career and he still played well.

He limped off the field with a sprained ankle during the second quarter and it seemed like the world was coming to an end for most Chiefs fans –and me.

Mahomes was helped to the privacy medical table on the sideline and was blocked from view. A Chiefs fan wrote on Twitter “Please God, take my leg instead.”

A melee had broken out in the endzone, which led to the Jaguars’ Myles Jack being ejected from the game, and it gave Mahomes time to be examined.

“I just kind of rolled my ankle,” Mahomes said after the game. He had to convince his medical staff that he was good to go and got them to “just tape it up.”

The hobbled Mahomes was not as spry after the injury, but he got the job done and avoided further injury in a game that was downright dirty when it came to the Jags.

“Obviously, I wasn’t as mobile as I usually am, but the team helped me out,” said Mahomes

“I was able to get the ball out of my hands, and guys were making plays.”

A suddenly rejuvenated Sammy Watkins made several of those plays. He had three touchdowns and a career high

198 yards.

When asked about his wounded QB still pressing on, Watkins said, “that’s the fight in him.”

All kidding aside, the Chiefs must do a better job of protecting him during the season – beginning on Sunday afternoon against a group of very fired up Oakland Raiders on the road.

Ocean of controversy

In her first article for The Atlantic, former ESPN personality Jemele Hill suggests that black athletes should choose, or leave, “white schools” and attend HBCUs.

Naturally, it has stirred controversy.

“If promising black student athletes chose to attend HBCUs in greater numbers, they would, at a minimum, bring some welcome attention and money to beleaguered black colleges, which invested in black people when there was no athletic profit to reap,” she writes in the October edition, under the headline “Why Black Athletes Should Leave White Colleges.”

“More revolutionarily, perhaps they could disrupt the reign of an “amateur” sports system that uses the labor of black folks to make white folks rich.”

My question to her is: Why just athletes?

I guess future black doctors, lawyers, engineers, journalists, etc., don’t mean as much because they wouldn’t bring in money. That’s the same thinking as those she is questioning in her article.

Hill, by the way, is a Michigan State University graduate.

The Reid Roundup Missouri quarterback Kelly Bryant continued his impressive 2019 campaign by passing for 150 yards and three touchdowns in the Tigers’ 38-7 romp over West Virginia. He did not play in the fourth quarter... St. Louisan and Boston Celtic forward Jayson Tatum returned to practice on Monday, a week after spraining his ankle during the World Cup Tournament in China. There was a chance he would play for the 5-0 USA on Wednesday against France… French soccer superstar Olivier Giroud, who plays for English power Chelsea, told RMC Sports that he would one day play with an MLS team. “In a year? Two years? I don’t know when. But of course, I will be opened to a new challenge,” the 33-year-old Giroud said. Seems like a natural fit for St. Louis and its French history Atlanta Falcons receiver Julio Jones’ contract extension has $66 million guaranteed – which would rank 22nd in guaranteed money in the NBA…O’Dell Beckham Jr. was wearing a $350,000 wrist watch during the Cleveland Browns’ 30-point loss to the visiting Tennessee Titans… Antonio Brown reportedly hired a consultant to help plan his strategy to get the Oakland Raiders to release him. It turned out to be a 25-year-old filmmaker who had no idea he was helping Brown with his Great Escape… The New England Patriots were right there to sign him. What a coincidence. Commissioner Roger Goodell won’t investigate the obvious collusion… The Raiders should sign blackballed quarterback Colin Kaepernick just to anger Goodell and the rest of the NFL.

Alvin A. Reid

Chris Duncan during his playing days with the St. Louis Cardinals.

Clutch

Continued from B3

Most exciting scrap

The second fight of the night between Adrienne Brusca and Aspen Gross was the most-competitive and the most-exciting. The ladies kicked off Round 1 by engaging in a toe-to-toe battle that captivated the crowd. Think Rock ‘Em Sock ‘Em Robots, but with braids and ponytails.

Both women showed tremendous will, heart and chins as they traded punches all throughout the cage. Brusca possessed an advantage in technique, power and accuracy when it came to fisticuffs. Yet Gross was in her face helping to press the action for nearly the entire round.

The second round was more tactical, with Gross showing off a solid ground game. I am generally not a fan of watching fighters roll around on the canvas for extended periods but Brusca and Gross were both extremely active on the mat, regardless of position. In the third and final round, Brusca worked to stay on the outside and let her hands and footwork dictate the action. Gross tried to work her way inside with punches and grapple once she got there. Brusca earned a unanimous victory and advanced to (3-0) in her amateur career. Meanwhile, Gross dropped to 0-1 in her debut fight.

In the end, the crowd applauded both women for fighting their hearts out. Both women put on a heck of a performance and really showed what local and regional fight cards are all about.

Most interesting fight

It is hard to imagine a 6-foot-11 MMA welterweight (170-pound limit) but that is exactly what Shamrock FC showcased in Columbia, Mo. native Wally Herndon in the first fight on the main (televised) card. Most people would presume a 6-foot-11 athlete would be somewhere dunking a basketball. However, Herndon would rather slam his fists into an opponent’s head and make his mark as a mixed martial artist.

Herndon faced off against 6-foot-2 Jeff Glover, from Coulterville, Ill. Facing a whopping nine-inch height disadvantage, Glover had zero desire to fight on the outside. He wasted no time charging Herndon to get inside his massive wingspan.

Glover quickly, and repeatedly, took Herndon down to the mat. An amazing thing happened nearly every time Glover performed a slam or takedown that resulted in Herndon lying flat on his back. The lanky fighter used his long legs to his advantage. Repeatedly, Herndon used his feet to climb up the cage and escape from Glover’s side mount position. Though Glover performed several take downs during the fight, it was actually Herndon who was the more active fighter on the ground. His constant reversals and

consistent punches from the ground made it a very difficult fight to judge. Ultimately the judges rewarded Glover for his slams and takedowns with a split decision victory. The win elevated Glover to an amateur record of 3-2 and dropped Herndon to 1-5. Though his record is underwhelming, Herndon could have an interesting future in the sport. At 6-foot-11, Herndon will always have a tremendous reach advantage. In the fight, he showed a solid aptitude for ground escapes. If he can get better at preventing takedowns, he can become a tough nut

to crack for welterweights, super welterweights or middleweights.

Quick work in the main event

The main event was a heavyweight bout that pitted St. Louis native DeWayne Diggs versus Lucas Lopes, a native of Brazil, fighting out of Granite City, Ill. The fight was billed as the final fight of Lopes’ career. Lopes entered the ring with a professional record of 29-19. Compare that with Diggs’ 2-2 record and it seemed that Diggs might be in for some tough

sledding with a more-experienced opponent. However, Diggs came out like the Tasmanian Devil and flooded Lopes’ face in a sea of punches. They say that Father Time is undefeated. Well, he and Diggs tag-teamed Lopes as the 39-year-old fighter caught a quick and vicious beat down. The fight was mercifully stopped just 1:09 into Round 1. The full Shamrock FC card featured 12 fights and seven of the bouts only took 1 round. I’d call that exciting and efficient work. Watching the card reminded me of watching Cory Spinks and Devon Alexander fight in casino ballrooms or at

Continued from B3

Top Defensive Players

• Senior Kendrick Scarborough of East St. Louis registered three quarterback sacks and was dominant all evening in the Flyers’ 32-0 victory over Trinity.

• Sophomore Kevin Coleman of St. Mary’s had two interceptions in the Dragons’ loss to Chicago Phillips. Both interceptions were in the end zone to stop Phillips’ drive. On offense, Coleman also had 9 receptions for 137 yards and two touchdowns.

• Senior Jabin Johnson of Chaminade had two interceptions in the Red Devils victory over Cahokia.

• Senior defensive lineman Joe Moore of Cardinal Ritter had an excellent night in the Lions’ victory over Lutheran North.

Trinity’s Smith is headed to Charlotte

Senior defensive end Darion Prep

Smith of Trinity Catholic has given a verbal commitment to UNC-Charlotte this week. The 6’4”, 220-pound Smith chose Charlotte over Illinois State and South Dakota. Smith has a tremendous motor with the capability of making plays anywhere on the field. As a junior, he had 58 tackles and six sacks in helping Trinity win the Class 3 state championship.

A few other top performances from last weekend

Sophomore Arlen Harris Jr. of Lutheran-St. Charles rushed for 256 yards on 14 carries and scored four touchdowns in a 61-12 victory over Father Tolton.

Junior Nate Smith of MICDS rushed for 189 yards on 14 carries and scored four touchdowns in a 34-21 victory over Park Hills Central. Senior Demontay Love of Gateway STEM caught five passes for 183 yards and three touchdowns in a 40-38 victory over Jennings.

On Tap This Weekend

CBC (2-0) at Chaminade (2-0), Thursday, 7 p.m.

East St. Louis (2-0) at Neuqua Valley (2-0), Friday, 7 p.m.

Lutheran-St. Charles (2-0) at Christian-O’Fallon (2-0), Friday, 7 p.m.

SLUH (1-1) and DeSmet (2-0), Friday, 7 p.m.

Hazelwood Central (1-1) at Eureka (1-1), Friday, 7 p.m.

Marquette (2-0) at Kirkwood (1-1), Friday, 7 p.m.

The senior running back was one of the top individual performers at last weekend’s Gateway Scholars Classic at East St Louis. The 5’11,” 180pound Fortune compiled 305 all-purpose yards and scored five touchdowns to lead the Red Devils to a 41-22 victory over Cahokia. Fortune caught eight passes for 242 yards and

scored four touchdowns on plays of 17, 59, 52 and 78 yards. His fifth score came on an 18-yard run. Through two games, Fortune has 134 yards rushing and 313 yards receiving with six touchdowns in leading Chaminade to a 2-0 record. The Red Devils will host defending Class 6 state champion CBC tonight at 7 p.m.

In his amateur MMA debut, Marcus Montsinger had his hand raised in victory. Montsinger defeated Dan Herina via rear naked choke in Round 1 at Shamrock FC 322.

the Ambassador as they made their way up the ladder from prospects to champions. Maybe the next MMA superstar is cultivating their craft with

Shamrock FC. Follow Ishmael and In the Clutch online at stlamerican. com and on Twitter @ishcreates.

St. Louis University High School Billikin Fetra Randrianasolo (13) moves between Gilbault defenders Nate Janson (21) and Mitchell Kohnz (16) during play Tuesday Sept. 10, 2019. The Jr. Bills would defeat Gilbault 4-0.

Photo by Wiley Price

Photo by Vincent Lang

Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul has joined a coalition of six attorneys general in a lawsuit opposing the federal government’s rule that undermines workers in Illinois’ Home Services Program and hundreds of workers nationwide. The new federal rule creates barriers for states to deduct employee benefits and union dues from workers’ paychecks.

“This rule directly interferes with the rights of Illinois

Raoul opposes rule that would disrupt collective bargaining

home health workers, who are permitted to have union dues deducted from their wages by Illinois law,” Raoul said. “It is a gross violation of workers’ rights that creates an unnecessary barrier to paying union dues, which hinders workers’ ability to collectively bargain. Allowing workers to unionize creates a stable workforce, benefiting vulnerable Illinois residents who rely on the Home Services Program for quality, in-home

care.”

In Illinois, workers in the Home Services Program – personal assistants – provide services to disabled patients, which allow them to remain at home and prevent unnecessary institutionalization.

Personal assistants have the right to collectively bargain for better wages, benefits, and training. These workers are paid with state

Medicaid funds. The federal rule both interferes with the ability to deduct payments from homecare workers’ paychecks for worker benefits obtained through collective bargaining, like health care coverage or voluntary union dues, and it directly violates Illinois’ law that provides for and permits these deductions.

Union carpenter, activists commemorate Jefferson Bank protest

This rule would disrupt well-established collective bargaining relationships authorized by state labor laws, Raoul said.

On May 6, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services issued a final rule to reinterpret payment requirements. The rule was primarily based on a supposed need to “eliminate a state’s ability to divert Medicaid payments away from providers,” which

would have the effect of no longer allowing union dues to be deducted from personal assistant paychecks. The federal government provided no evidence to suggest that Medicaid payments were being inappropriately diverted. Joining Raoul in the lawsuit are the attorneys general of California, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Oregon, and Washington.

Kwame Raoul

Rasheen Aldridge, Democratic nominee for 78th State House District, joined Natashia Pickens, president of CWA Local 6355, for the 56th annual Jefferson Bank Commemorative Protest. This year’s annual event was the first missed by veteran civil rights activist Norman Seay, one of the original 19 protesters arrested in 1963. Seay has experienced health issues but was recognized for his contributions to the fight against racism and discrimination in the workplace and beyond.

Photo courtesy Organization for Black Struggle

Dawn Fleming spoke at the 56th annual Jefferson Bank Commemorative Protest. Fleming, a union carpenter and graduate of the Building Union Diversity (BUD) program, talked about the program’s impact on her family’s life. This year’s annual event was the first missed by veteran civil rights activist Norman Seay, one of the original 19 protesters arrested in 1963. Seay has experienced health issues, but was recognized for his contributions to the fight against racism and discrimination in the workplace and beyond.

Photo courtesy Organization for Black Struggle

Living It

‘Miles Davis shined his light across the world’

Music icon and East St. Louis native honored with new cultural center, film

By Kenya Vaughn Of The St. Louis American

“Being in her makes me think of my grandmother,” Cheryl Davis said as she looked around and walked the newly rehabbed first floor of the House of Miles on Thursday in East St. Louis, Illinois.

Thanks to tireless work from a team led by House of Miles President Lauren A. Parks, what was once the childhood home of Cheryl’s father, Miles Davis – is now a museum and music education center.

“I’m happy they’ve done this because it honors my father – and my family,” Cheryl Davis said.

On Thursday, she and other family members, elected officials and several East St. Louis

Across the bridge with Nelly

STL rap star draws record crowd at Alton amphitheater

By Kenya Vaughn Of The St. Louis American

When Nelly took the stage Friday night at Liberty Bank Amphitheater, his performance served as a reminder that our region produced one of the biggest rap stars in history – and why he’ll continue to be considered as such. He brought his show just across the Clark Bridge to Alton, Illinois. The mighty Mississippi river served as the backdrop. But the 19th century architecture landscape that gives downtown Alton its historic charm on the opposite side of the bridge was obscured by the sea of people that came to see the biggest name to grace an Alton stage in recent years.

Nearly 4,000 came to see Nelly that night, a record for ticketed events at the venue. And he gave the large crowd a classic performance of blended musical styles that reflected the diverse audience. The evening kicked off with DJ Charlie Chan Soprano, also a St. Louis native, whose skills on the wheels of steel earned him the honor of filling the shoes of the late Jam Master Jay as the official DJ for the legendary rap group RUN DMC. He proved himself worthy of the coveted distinction with a spin session that blended classic hip-hop with current day.

Nelly chose the hype dance track “EI” to kick off a performance that featured his most popular songs from his nearly twenty-year career – and a

dignitaries were on hand for a dually purposed celebration. They gathered in the backyard of the House of Miles to celebrate the completion of the first phase of the House of Miles renovations – and were gearing up for the St. Louis premiere

East St. Louis Mayor Robert Eastern III presents filmmaker Stanley Nelson with the key to the city Thursday night as the community gathers to celebrate the local release of “Miles Davis: Birth of the Cool,” outside of House of Miles in East St. Louis, Illinois Thursday night.

few well-received new tracks. Accompanied by a live band and St. Lunatics

Ali and City Spud, Nelly gave Altonians and those who drove over from the Missouri side – which is less than a twenty minute ride from

North County, a show they wouldn’t soon forget. If it weren’t for the catalog of hits that most of

J.B. Smoove to bring his comedy ‘circus’ to The Pageant on Saturday

By Kenya Vaughn Of The St. Louis American

Comedian and actor J.B. Smoove likens his standup style to a circus performance.

“You know the sword-swallower guy is going to be there and the flame-throwing dude is gonna be there and the guy walking on the tight rope,” Smoove said. “But you don’t know if he’s gonna fall or not. It’s like a circus in that you know my style, but you don’t know what the hell I’m going to do – because I don’t know what I’m going to do.”

n “A lot of people think comedians talk a lot– and we do talk a lot,” Smoove said. “But we also have to have the ability to listen very intently to what the audience is laughing at.”

Smoove is bringing his “Lollygagging Tour” to the Pageant on Saturday night (September 14).

He’s a comedy chameleon with the dexterity to shift back and forth between physical and conversational comedy. “I like to do physicality – but a wide range of things that make the audience laugh, and makes me laugh,” Smoove said. “I like to entertain the audience, but I like to entertain myself also.”

Smoove counts his listening skills among his greatest assets in bringing the funny. “A lot of people think comedians talk a lot– and we do talk a lot,” Smoove said. “But we also have to have the ability to listen very intently to what the audience is laughing at.”

Hearing the laughter makes his brain turn.

“I start milking it to give them what they really want to laugh at tonight,” Smoove said. “The next show might be different. I listen to what they are laughing at and try to give them more of it – that goes for on the stage, on the set of a TV show or movie, a commercial or whatever that may be.”

Fans won’t know ahead of time which J.B. they are going to get. But when he steps on stage, his wardrobe gives away where he will draw his funny from.

“If I’m suited and booted, I’m going up

C4

of “Miles Davis: Birth of the Cool,” filmmaker Stanley Nelson’s documentary on his life and

Comedian J.B. Smoove’s Lollygagging Tour lands in St. Louis on Saturday, September 14 at The Pageant.

Rap superstar and St. Louis native Nelly brought nearly 4,000 fans out for his outdoor concert at the Liberty Bank Amphitheater in Alton, Illinois, the venue’s largest ticketed crowd to date.

Photo by Lawrence Bryant See Davis, C4

How to place a calendar listing

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

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

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

concerts

Fri., Sept. 13, 6:30 p.m., An Evening at the Opera with Morris Robinson. A benefit concert for the Biome School and the importance of music and art education. The Ethical Society, 9001 Clayton Rd., 63117. For more information, visit www.thebiomeschool.org.

Fri., Sept. 13, 7 p.m., The Ready Room presents Pink Sweat$: Pink Beginnings Tour Part 2. 4195 Manchester Ave., 63110. For more information, visit www. eventbrite.com.

Fri., Sept. 27, 8 p.m., Fox Theatre presents Boyz II Men. 527 N. Grand Blvd., 63103. For more information, visit www.fabulousfox.com.

Sun., Sept. 29, 6 p.m., The Pageant presents Chrisette Michele: The Self Love Tour 6161 Delmar Blvd., 63112. For more information, visit www. ticketmaster.com.

local gigs

Thur., Sept. 12, 7 p.m., St. Louis Symphony Orchestra Free Forest Park Concert. Pack a picnic, enjoy a concert and fireworks display. Art Hill, Forest Park, Fine Arts Dr., 63110. For more information, visit www.slso.org.

Sun., Sept. 15, 4 p.m., National Blues Museum presents Soulful Sunday with Sweetie and the Toothaches 615 Washington Ave., 63101. For more information, visit www.nationalbluesmuseum. org.

special events

Sept. 11 – 15, Alton Expo. Enjoy fair foods, games, rides, live entertainment and

more. Alton Amphitheater, 1 Riverfront Dr., Alton, IL. 62002. For more information, For more information, visit www.facebook.com.

Sat., Sept. 14, 10 a.m., Taste of Black St. Louis. A day with food, music, shopping, and learning. Tower Grove Park Southwest Kingshighway Experience, 63110. For more information, visit www. eventbrite.com.

Sat., Sept. 14, 12 p.m., Mothers March 2019: To End Gun Violence. Fairground Park, Grand & Kossuth Ave., 63107. For more information, visit www. facebook.com.

Sat., Sept. 14, 7 p.m., Remy Martin Presents A Taste of Luxury featuring Kelly Price, Hotel Saint Louis, 705 Olive St. For more information, visit www. remymartintasteofluxuryst. com.

Sun., Sept. 15, 2 p.m., Girl Talk: Paint and Sip. Have some girl talk all current issues while raising funds for Mastermind Of Freedom Foundation scholarships. Exodus Art Gallery, 5075 Delmar Blvd., 63108. For more information, visit www. eventbrite.com.

Wed., Sept. 18, 10 a.m., JobNewsUSA.com presents the St. Louis Job Fair Doubletree Hotel Westport, 1973 Craigshire Rd., 63146. For more information, visit www.eventbrite.com.

Thurs., Sept. 19, 11 a.m. Community Action Agency of St. Louis County and CityDesignGroup will host a hiring fair, CAASTLC main office, 2709 Woodson Road, Overland, MO 63114. For more information, call (314) 446-4431.

Thur., Sept. 19, 5 p.m., YWCA of Metro St. Louis presents the 7th Annual Walk A Mile In Her Shoes. An

The Guide

Kenya Vaughn recommends

international men’s march to speak out against rape, sexual assault and gender violence. Missouri Athletic Club, 405 Washington Ave., 63102. For more information, www. ywcastl.org.

Fri., Sept. 20, 9 p.m., Blaze the Stage STL Live. An evening of poetry, comedy, art, music, and more. Special Tymes Event Hall, 5950 Natural Bridge Rd., 63120. For more information, call (314) 656-7558.

Sept. 20 – 21, 47th Annual Great Forest Park Balloon Glow and Race. Central Field, Forest Park, 63112. For more information, visit www. greatforestparkballoonrace. com.

Sept. 20 – 22, Greater St. Louis Hispanic Festival. Soulard Park, 7th St. and Lafayette Ave., 63104. For more information, visit www. hispanicfestivalstl.com.

Sat., Sept. 21, 9 a.m., Truelight GEMS Annual Giveaway. Free items to be given away include women’s, men’s and children’s clothing and shoes and household items. Truelight Baptist Church, 1535 Tudor Ave., East St. Louis, IL. 62207. For more information, call (618) 874-

Sat., Sept. 21, 11 a.m., South Grand Fall Fest. Featuring more than 70 retail vendors and community organizations, craft activities, and more. Ritz Park, 3147 S. Grand Blvd., 63118. For more information, visit www.southgrand.org/ events.

Sat., Sept. 21, 3 p.m., Zeta Phi Beta Sorority, Inc., Xi Zeta Chapter Countdown to Centennial. Troy’s Jazz Club, 4519 Olive Blvd., 63130. For more information, visit www. eventbrite.com.

Sat., Sept. 21, 4 p.m., 2019 Old Webster Jazz & Blues Festival. 124 W. Lockwood Ave., 63119. For more information, visit www. oldwebsterjazzfest.com.

Sat., Sept. 21, 6 p.m., St. Louis American Foundation 32nd Annual Salute to Excellence in Education Scholarship and Awards Gala, America’s Center. For more information or to purchase tickets, visit www. stlamerican.com and click on Salute to Excellence, or call 314-533-8000.

Sat., Sept. 21, 6 p.m., Affinia Healthcare Foundation invites you to the Boldly

Opening reception and gallery talk for Howard Barry’s upcoming exhibit “Inertia.” For more information, see ART.

Inspired 2019 Starburst Gala & Auction. Stifel Theatre, 1400 Market St., 63103. For more information, visit www. affiniahealthcare.org.

Thur., Sept. 26, 5:30 p.m., Marian Middle School invites you to their 12th Annual Girls Night Out. A fundraiser and networking event featuring Olympic Legend and Gold Medalist Jackie Joyner-Kersee. Charles F. Knight Center, Washington University, 1 Brookings Dr., 63130. For more information, visit www. marianmiddleschool.org.

Sat., Sept. 28, 9 a.m., Independent Schools of St. Louis and Mocha Moms, Inc. invites you to an Elementary Schools Fair for Families of Color. Central Christian School, 700 South Hanley Rd., 63105. For more information, visit www. independentschools.org/events.

Sat., Sept. 28, 11 a.m., The Village Resource Fair and Education Summit. O’Fallon Park Rec Complex, 4343 W. Florissant Ave., 63115. For more information, call (314) 465-8360.

Sat., Sept. 28, 4 p.m., Artscope’s Family Picnic and Fun Fair. Tower Grove Park, 4257 Northeast Dr., 63110. For

more information, visit www. artscopestl.org.

Sat., Sept. 28, 6 p.m., Secondary and High School Info Night. MICDS, 101 North Warson Rd., 63124. For more information, visit www. independentschools.org/events.

Sun., Sept. 29, 11:30 a.m., American Foundation for Suicide Prevention presents the Out of The Darkness Community Walk. Tremayne Shelter, Creve Coeur Park, 13725 Marine Ave., 63043. For more information, visit www.afsp.donordrive.com.

Fri., Oct. 4, 8 p.m., Hollywood’s Greatest Game Show hosted by Bob Eubanks. River City Casino, 777 River City Casino Blvd., 63125. For more information, visit www.rivercity.com.

Sat., Oct. 5, 2 p.m., Grove Fest STL 2019. Food village, merchant village, street performers, and concerts. Manchester Ave. between Tower Grove and Sarah, 63110. For more information, visit www.thegrovestl.com.

Saturdays, 8 a.m., The Ferguson Farmers Market Plaza at 501, 501 S. Florissant Rd., 63135. For more information, visit www. facebook.com.

literary

Sat., Sept. 21, 10:30 a.m., BookFest St. Louis. Attendees will enjoy author presentations, panel discussions, activities, and more. McPherson & Euclid, 63108. For more information, visit www. bookfeststl.com.

Thur., Sept. 26, 9 a.m., Workers’ Rights Board hosts author Richard Rothstein, author of The Color of Law: A Forgotten History of How Our Government Segregated America. Rothstein will discuss housing segregation and inequality 5 years after Ferguson. Greater St. Mark Family Church, 9950 Glen Owen Dr., 63136. For more information, visit www. facebook.com. art

Sat., Sept. 14, 4 p.m., Opening reception and gallery talk for Howard Barry’s upcoming exhibit “Inertia,” Gallery 210, UMSL North Campus. For

more information, visit http:// gallery210.umsl.edu/

Fri., Sept. 20, 5:30 p.m., Opening Reception for Adornment. This exhibition explores the artist, the creative process, and the art, with a focus on the human form. Exhibition Runs through Dec. 15. COCA, 524 Trinity Ave., 63130. For more information, visit www.cocastl.com.

Sat., Sept. 21, 11 a.m., Black in the Abstract: Meditations on Black Artists Working With Abstraction From the 1950s to the Present. Lecture by Valerie Cassel Oliver. St. Louis Art Museum, 1 Fine Arts Dr., 63110. For more information, visit www. metrotix.com.

comedy

Thur., Sept. 12, 7 p.m., Focus on the Funny presents the 1Life2Live Comedy Run Feat. Marquise Moore, Jason Nelson, James “JB” Buchanan, and Nicholas Cuvar. Dink’s Bar, 521 S. Vandeventer Ave., 63110. For more information, visit www.eventbrite.com.

Sept. 19 – 21, 8th Annual Compass Improv Festival. See local and national performers including local improv troupe, U People. The Improv Shop, 3960 Chouteau Ave., 63110. For more information, visit www. compassimprov.org.

Sept. 19 – 22, Helium Comedy Club presents Deray Davis. 1151 St. Louis Galleria St., 63117.

theatre

Sept. 13- Sept. 21, Slaying Dragons Theater Troupe presents A Long Day’s Journey Into Night by Eugene O’Neill, The Chapel, 6328 Alexander Drive, Clayton, MO 63105. For more information, visit https://www.facebook.com/ SlayingDragons1/

Kenya Vaughn recommends will share their experiences. Harris Stowe, 3026 Laclede Ave., 63103. For more information, visit www. facebook.com.

Through Sept. 22, The Black Rep presents Don’t Bother Me, I Can’t Cope. A social commentary on economic and racial injustice is weaved into an song and dance numbers that fuse gospel with jazz, soul and calypso. Edison Theatre, Washington University, 6465 Forsyth Blvd., 63105. For more information, visit www. theblackrep.org.

lectures and workshops

Thur., Sept. 12, 11 a.m., Making Your Money Work for You: The Keys to Understanding Your Financial Statements. St. Louis Economic Development Partnership, 6439 Plymouth Ave., 63133. For more

information, visit www. missouri.ecenterdirect.com.

Sat., Sept. 14, 8:30 a.m., SistaKeeper Empowerment Center presents the Be A Keeper! Teen Girl Summit 2.0. For girls 7-12th grade to hear from speakers, participate in interactive session, and more. Washington University, 1 Brookings Dr., 63130. For more information, visit www. eventbrite.com.

Sun., Sept. 15, 2 p.m., Mother 2 Mother: Five Years Later. Weeks following the killing of Michael Brown, 5 Black mothers took the stage to discuss their experiences. 5 years later they will discuss how things have changed. Missouri History Museum, 5700 Lindell Blvd., 63112. For more information, visit www. mohistory.org.

Remy Martin Presents A Taste of Luxury featuring Kelly Price. See SPECIAL EVENTS for details.

Center, UMSL, 1 University Blvd., 63121. For more information, call (314) 3810401 ext. 100, or (314) 5165748.

Sun., Sept. 22, 1 p.m., Beyond the Climate Crisis: From the Failure of Eden to Eden Once Again. Central Reform Congregation, 5020 Waterman Blvd., 63108. For more information, visit www. CentralReform.org/Waskow.

Wed., Sept. 25, 6:30 p.m., The Scholarship Foundation presents a FAFSA Workshop Completion assistance available by appointment. 6825 Clayton Ave., 63139. For more information, visit www. sfstl.org.

Sun., Sept. 29, 4 p.m., COCA presents Speak Now: Amari Marshall. Marshall is a commercial hip-hop dancer and choreographer for Janet Jackson and many others. A.E. Hotchner Studio Theatre, Washington University, 6465 Forsyth Blvd., 63105. For more information, visit www. cocastl.org.

health

Thur., Sept. 19, 6:30 p.m., The Legacy of the Annie Malone Children’s Home. Missouri History Museum, 5700 Lindell Blvd., 63112. For more information, visit www. mohistory.org.

Fri., Sept. 20, 8:30 a.m., AGAPE Reentry Program presents the Successful Second Chances Employer Panel. Millennium Student Center, UMSL, 1 University Blvd., 63121. For more information, call (314) 3810401 ext. 100, or (314) 5165748.

Fri., Sept. 20, 8:30 a.m., AGAPE Reentry Program presents the Successful Second Chances Employer Panel. Learn about the effects of incarceration on employment, and here from those who have defied the odds. Millennium Student

Sun., Sept. 15, 9 a.m., Families United Let’s Move St. Louis 5K Walk/Run. Our goal is to reduce Type 2 Diabetes, decrease high blood pressure, and obesity prevention. Creve Coeur Park, 13725 Marine Ave., 63146. For more information, visit www.healthyrelationshipstl. com.

Thur., Sept. 19, 9:30 a.m., Alzheimer’s Foundation of America’s National Educating America Tour. Student Center, Saint Louis University, 20 N. Grand Blvd., 63103. For more information, visit www.alzfdn.org/event.

Sat., Sept. 21, 11:30 a.m., Black Women, Depression, and Suicide: It’s Time to Heal. A panel comprised of professionally licensed Black Female therapists and everyday Black Women who

Thur., Sept. 26, 6 p.m., The Right Time for Medicare for All. CWA Hall, 2258 Grissom Dr., 63146. For more information, call (314) 2653412 or visit www.facebook. com.

Sun., Oct. 6, 8 a.m., The National Children’s Cancer Society Golf Classic. The Courses at Forest Park, 6141 Lagoon Dr., 63112. For more information, visit www. thenccs.org/golf.

Sept. 10 – 13, 6:45 p.m., The Lite of Jericho Missionary Baptist Church invites you their Fall Revival: Remembrance, Repentance, Renewal. Guest revivalist, Pastor Clifford Mayes. 5429 Saint Louis Ave., 63120. For more information, call (314) 383-6087.

Sat., Sept. 14, 5 p.m., Surrender2HimLife presents Love & Peace Festival. A family event to encourage Christian talent in the area. January Wabash Park, 501 N. Florissant Rd., 63135. For more information, visit www. facebook.com.

Sun., Sept. 15, 10 a.m., Cote Brilliante Presbyterian Church 63rd Church Anniversary Celebration. Feat. Alderwoman Errol S. Bush, and the Gospel Choir of St. Louis. 4673 Labadie Ave., 63115. For more information, visit www.cbpcstl.org.

Sun., Sept. 15, 5:30 p.m., Arts & Faith St. Louis Ninth Annual Interfaith Concert: “Songs of Hope.” Featuring musicians from Christian, Jewish, Muslim and Buddhist vocal ensembles. The Sheldon Concert Hall, 3648 Washington Blvd., 63108. For more information, visit www. artsfaithstl.org.

Nearly 4,000 came to see Nelly, a record for ticketed events at the venue. And he gave the large crowd a classic performance of blended musical styles that reflected the diverse audience.

born when Nelly exploded on the scene and gave hip-hop its first melodic rap heartthrob.

Continued from C1

the audience knew by heart, one of the few on the planet unfamiliar with Nelly would have assumed that he was a young and hungry talent making the most of the moment in the spotlight and not the veteran who has been putting on for St. Louis hip-hop since the turn of the millennium.

“How many day ones do I have out there?” Nelly asked. The crowd went so crazy that it was safe to assume almost everyone fell into that category, even though some of those shouting out weren’t even

But when the beat dropped for “Country Grammar,” they made good on their claim by hopping right in on the hook and rapping along with Nelly word for word.

The rap along continued with City Spud’s verse on “Ride Wit Me.”

He kept it mostly greatest hits, with songs like “Grillz” “Over and Over,” “Hot in Herre” but not completely.

Lesser known tracks, “Sexual Healing,” “100K” and “Move That Body” were sprinkled into the 90-minute set.

Nelly also paid homage to other St. Louis acts that put on for St. Louis rap on a national

scale – including Chingy, Huey, Jibbs and others. He gave St. Louis rapper J’Kwon the stage for a brief performance that included his massive hit “Tipsy.” The St. Louis feature segment concluded with St. Lunatic Ali’s performance of his solo hit “Breathe In, Breathe Out.”

After paying tribute to St. Louis hip-hop, Nelly took a moment to debut some new tracks. “All Work No Play” and “Rubber Band” caught on quickly with the crowd.

“Dilemma,” the song featuring Kelly Rowland that brought him his first of three Grammy Awards, and “Just A Dream” closed out the performance.

Continued from C1

musical legacy.

The crowd couldn’t contain itself as former Mayor Alvin Parks, master of ceremonies, referred to “East St. Louis’ own Miles Dewey Davis” as “the greatest jazz musician of all time” upon announcing that the documentary would begin its local run at the Tivoli on Friday, September 6. According to The Tivoli, the film will continue through at least September 19, and may be extended based on popular demand.

“This is an East St. Louis affair,” Parks said.

The city’s current Mayor, Robert Eastern III, was among those who delivered remarks.

“The hardest thing about anything is getting started,” Eastern said. “And the second thing is having that commitment to see things through.”

Eastern commended those who made the House of Miles happen. He then presented Nelson with the key to the city in a special enclosed dome.

“It resembles a lantern, because Miles Davis shined his light across the world.”

Smoove

Continued from C1

there to do a real relaxed set –mostly talking,” Smoove said. “If I come out there in those damn army pants and that tight t-shirt – that medium that I can feel on my body – that is so tight I can feel my heart beating – I’m flopping all over the place.”

He didn’t say which type of outfit he’s packing for his St. Louis show, but he did let the audience know to be ready to laugh either way.

“You don’t know what the hell I’m going to do – because I don’t know what I’m going to do,” Smoove said. “I like to improvise. I like a certain level of mystery. I like that feeling –where people don’t know what to expect. Just know, when I come to St. Louis, you are going to get a little bit of everything.”

Smoove has a shared connection to the city through more than one of our kings of comedy.

Cedric The Entertainer gave him a spot on his short-lived sketch comedy and variety show “Cedric The Entertainer Presents,” which ran for 23 episodes on Fox.

“That was the second sketch comedy show I ever did,” Smoove said. “Cedric is my guy. That show didn’t’ get it’s just due. Man, what a great show that was.”

His devotion to comedy came by way of the comedy albums – known as party records – made famous (or infamous) by St. Louis native Redd Foxx, Richard Pryor and others.

“Our parents and their friends would get together on a Friday or Saturday night in the living room playing cards make us go in the bedroom and watch TV,” Smoove said. “They would have those albums play-

The film opened in New York two weeks ago and last week in Los Angeles.

“It’s been a whirlwind with the film,” Nelson said. “We’ve been selling-out everywhere.”

Herbie Hancock, Quincy Jones and Carlos Santana are among those who discuss Miles Davis and his incomparable influence on music.

Nelson acknowledged the East St. Louisans who were featured in the film – including ESL poet laureate Eugene B. Redmond, who performed a poem he delivered at the East St. Louis homegoing for Miles Davis nearly 30 years ago at Thursday’s ceremony.

“It is my honor to make a film about Miles Davis,” Nelson said. “I am a real Miles Davis fan and his music has been so instrumental to me.”

Miles Davis’ nephew Vince Wilburn Jr., who was a drummer in his uncle’s band, has been touring alongside Nelson to promote the film.

“We’ve been all around the world showing this movie,” Wilburn said. “We were met with packed houses in South Africa – Soweto, Cape Town and Johannesburg.”

He praised Lauren Parks for creating a collaborative spirit during the phase one development process for House of

Miles.

“Lauren and the family talked about six or seven times a day to make this happen,” said Wilburn, who bears a striking resemblance to his uncle.

“This is a beautiful event and we are so happy to be here,” Wilburn said on behalf of the Davis family.

Lauren Parks was already revealing plans for the next phase of the project in her remarks about the completion of phase one.

“I know Cheryl and Vince know about the basement,” Lauren Parks said. “He practiced with his own high school band in that basement. And we are going to renovate that so we can share that with our young people.”

Miles Davis’ son Erin Davis was also on hand for the celebration.

“Uncle Miles continues to touch the world,” Wilburn said. “That’s amazing to me, because these are our roots.”

For more information on The House of Miles, visit http:// houseofmilesestl.org/

For more information on the film “Miles Davis: Birth of the Cool,” visit https://www.milesdavismovie.com/

ing. I would say, ‘Man, they are laughing their [expletive] off in there.’”

When his mother would be at work, Smoove would play them over and over again. He was always the life of the party and developed timing and wit from the records, with the help of his cadre of funny friends.

“They would never get on stage, but they were just funny characters,” Smoove said.

“They were feeding me these moments we can always talk about. My high school and college buddies can get together this very day and laugh about things that happened 30 or 40 years ago.”

He’s worked with some of the biggest names in comedy since his breakthrough on the legendary HBO series “Def Comedy Jam.” He spent three years as a featured player on “Saturday Night Live” and has been a recurring character on HBO’s “Curb Your Enthusiasm” since 2007” in addition to his work in on

film and television, which has paired him with the likes of Chris Rock and Jerry Seinfeld.

“I’ve been really blessed to have been doing this for just over 30 years,” Smoove said.

“And thirty years of being busy in every element – TV, film, standup – I’ll take it.”

He’s thrilled that through his career he’s provided an outlet for others to let off steam, which inspired the title of his latest tour.

“It’s a word that allows you to relax and release your brain and not worry about work,” Smoove said.

“This is a way to separate yourself from the craziness of life – to come lollygag with me a little bit.”

J.B. Smoove’s Lollygagging Tour will play the Pageant on Saturday, September 14. Doors open at 7 p.m. and the show begins at 8 p.m. For more information, or to purchase tickets, visit www.thepageant. com or call (314) 726-6161.

Nelly

Photo by Lawrence Bryant

J.B. Smoove

Engagement

Alvin and Shirley George of Florissant, MO are happy to announce the engagement of their daughter Ashley George. Ashley is a graduate of DePaul University, CEO of Historia Allure and works as a Project Manager. Christopher Pierre is a graduate of Houston Community College and works as a Lead Plant Operator. They are set to wed on March 21, 2020 in Houston, TX.

Reunions

Vashon High Class of 1974 is planning for its 45th reunion. We are in the process of rounding up all classmates. To provide or update your contact information, please email ljbady@gmail.com or contact: Joe Verrie Johnson 314-6405842, Jordan Perry 314-724-

Celebrations

Birthdays

On September 7, 1929 an angel was born. Ninety years later, our precious mother, Georgaline M. Thomas, allowed us to shower her with love at her birthday celebration on Saturday, September 7, 2019. Praises to God for her endurance!

Camerons Booker Whiting celebrates his 8th birthday on September 12. My grandson is very smart, active and loved! He loves going to school, reading, writing, drawing and playing ball. We have so much fun together. May God continue to bless him!

4563, or LaVerne James-Bady 314-382-0890.

Vashon High Class of 1969 Alumni committee is planning it’s 50-year Reunion: October 18 and 19, 2019, at the Renaissance Hotel, 9801 Natural Bridge Road, Berkeley, MO. Meet and Greet will take place Friday night from 6-10 p.m. Reunion Banquet is Saturday night from 6-11 p.m. Contact Genies Jordan 314-448-6658, Yvonne Clemons 314-620-0551 for additional information or email Liz35206@yahoo.com to register.

Vashon-Hadley Old School Reunion 1960-67, October 19,

2019, 2-6 pm at The Atrium in Christian Hospital. For more details text (only) Brenda Mahr at 314-580-5155 or email at: brendamahr@att.net.

Sumner High Class of 1957 Annual Dinner Buffet, September 21, 2019 at 5pm, Lombardo’s Restaurant, 10488 Natural Bridge Rd. (next to Drury Inn) For more information call Martha Ballentine at 314-456-2051.

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

Pastoral Anniversary

We the Mt. Zion MB Christian Church members would like to congratulate our Pastor, Rev. Dr. Sammie E. Jones and Lady Sandra E. Jones on their 40th Pastoral Anniversary, September 19-22, 2019. May God continue to bless and keep you.

Soldan High Class of 1970 “Reunion Committee” is sponsoring a “Bazaar” Saturday, September 14, 2019 from 7 am-12 noon at The Heritage House Apts. 2800 Olive Street, St. Louis, Mo 63103 (between Harris Stowe College and Wells Fargo). Plenty of parking in back of building. “Stop on by, surely you will find something you like.” For more information please call (314) 707-9221.

Beaumont High Class of 1979 is planning its 40-year reunion. All activities are scheduled for the weekend of September 27-29. The location is The Airport

Do you have a celebration you’re proud of? If so we would like to share your good news with our readers. Whether it’s a birth, wedding, engagement announcement, anniversary, retirement or birthday, send your photos and a brief announcement (50 words or less) to us and we may include it in our paper and website – AT NO COST –

Marriot at 10700 Pear Tree Drive, St. Louis 63134. For more information, contact Milton Jackson at 314-2764392 or Yolanda Lockhart at lockhartyo08@gmail.com.

Beaumont High Class Of 1969 will celebrate its 50-year reunion Sept 20-22, 2019 at Embassy Suites St. Charles. Come join us as we celebrate these golden years, “Living Life Like It’s Golden.” For more information contact Dennis Hayden 314 276-6188 or beaumontclassof1969@ yahoo.com or send your questions to P.O. Box 155, Florissant, MO 63032.

Salute 32 is fast approaching. If you are reading this on Thursday, you have a grand total of nine days to get your glamour game all the way together for the St. Louis American Foundation’s 32nd Annual Salute to Excellence in Education Scholarship and Awards Gala at America’s Center. If you haven’t been, you should – especially if you want to be in the same space with some of the most influential citizens in the region. And I’m talking about from every arena – from the arts to politics, and, of course, the field of education. There is absolutely nothing like it. Don’t believe me, ask around. Once you get your co-sign, go ahead and cop your ticket, and prepare yourself for next level elegance. It goes down Saturday, September 21 at America’s Center. For more information, visit www.stlamerican.com or call (314) 533-8000.

A glorious Gala en Blanc. Since I’m already on the subject of elegance and glamour, I might as well jump into one of the best combination of the two that I’ve ever seen –outside of Salute of course. Listen, I know if I start naming off the parties involved with pulling together the Gala En Blanc benefit for Urban Sprouts Child Development Center held last Saturday at Kiener Plaza, I will forget folks. Then the left-off folks will be bothered instead of taking to heart what a masterfully done event they pulled together. I have been going out for a living since Moses was a baby and I was shook with delight to see 500-plus folks from all walks of life glowing in their white ensembles. For those who don’t understand how it works, let me break it down: Gala En Blanc was inspired by Diner in Blanc. What happens is, folks get together in a secret location in a public place and party. It’s BYOB and BYOF, but when socialites and influencers are involved – they can make a whole order of special fried rice from Delmar Chop Suey look like a formal dining entrée. Guests were responsible for decorating their own tables – and the event organizers had items for sale onsite for those who didn’t bring anything. Listen, it was utter and absolute life. Folks came to slay in their all white. There were so many fashion winners on this evening. Best hat honors go hands-down to Cora Faith Walker The only bad thing is that she probably had to have a guide, because that lovely flower that was three times as big as her head had to be impossible to see around and over. As far as total overall looks, I’m inclined to say Brendolyn Marie (the artist formerly known as Harlem B.). There was something about the Whitley Gilbert realness she was serving up that was quite striking. Just about everybody looked phenomenal. City Treasurer Tishaura Jones was giving one her best head-to-toes to date. Since it may have gotten lost in the shadow of Cora’s headpiece, I thought I would give you some shine for it, girl. Naretha Hopson was giving life more abundantly with that textured white and bedazzled headband combo. And who was that gentlemen with the shorts and open flowing sheer summer jacket? I could go on and on – I’m telling y’all, the whole event was a win from start to finish. But I will stop here. But not before making sure that I shout out Elicia Lanier for her Urban Sprouts vision – because as wonderful as the event was, it was all about her work pouring into our future leaders through early learning.

Nelly plays A-town. Before I say anything about the actual performance, let me shut everyone down who implied that Nelly playing Alton was evidence that his star is fading. Anybody who hit up the Liberty Bank Amphitheater and saw all of those folks knows nothing can be further from the truth. Perhaps he booked the show to make up for the tour that didn’t make its way to STL proper. Either way, the show was a win. Although I’ve always considered hm cute, I can’t say that I’ve ever necessarily lusted after him before Friday night. I don’t know if it was because he put his grill back in and was looking extra spry as he served up the biggest hits of the turn-of-the-millennium, or what. But I was feeling him at this show. And so were some of the folks who were doing the absolute most even before Mr. Country Grammar took the stage. Listen, I really do want you to feel free enough to struggle twerk to the Ying Yang Twins in public. But not at the expense of my personal space and safety. If you have to fall into me before falling over every single time you drop it like it’s hot, then stick to the step-touch-kickball-change when you are within 50 feet of me please. Okay, back to Nelly and ‘nem’s triumphant show. I knew it was going to be hot by how DJ Charlie Chan Soprano was slaying the tables. And I was absolutely right. Nelly, City Spud, Ali and the band came through with the hits. And he even paid homage to the other St. Louis folks who made a splash on the national and international hip-hop scene – and turned the stage over to J-Kwon and Ali for a hot second while doing it. I was thrilled with this whole show and I have a feeling that the roughly 4,000 folks who packed it out felt the exact same way.

An almost-missed AKA house party. The only negative note I have for Nelly is that his show ran long to the point where I could only catch the tail end of the HBCU House Party presented by the lovely ladies of the Omicron Theta Omega Chapter of Alpha Kappa Alpha Friday at The Machinist Hall. I’m thrilled to report that the AKA’s finally have a stroll to “Back That Thang Up.” But unlike the Deltas, they don’t ever actually back it up. But who would expect them too? It’s still super cute though. The whole party was as well. That handful of Alphas were the little train that could. They stomped and did the train to every song the DJ played – which I wasn’t mad about, because he was jamming.

A Saturday of The Ville reborn. I was over the moon Saturday when I heard that Northside Trap Run Consciousfest were partnering up to bring the best and brightest black folks to the Ville for their back to back events that took place from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. It was everything I had hoped and more. That was what community looks like – a run in the morning and a day of performances by rising stars that celebrated being woke. Folks came out in droves to support black excellence all day long and I loved it. I really hope that they pair up again next year.

Amanda, Joyce and Melita representing for the AKAs @ the Omicron Theta Omega Chapter’s HBCU House Party Friday night @ The Machinist Hall

William, Donavan and Kenneth stepped out with fresh brims Saturday @ Gala En Blanc

Krystal, Kim and Val volunteered with assisting guests @ the Gala En Blanc fundraiser Saturday @ Kiener Plaza

ConsciousFest team members Brandon Alexander, Doss and Prospect were all deck to support the vision of festival founder Naturally Gabz Saturday afternoon

Marquita, Dewayne, Alisha, Anthony and Tisa celebrated with Dewayne Diggs after his win @SFC 322 Friday@ River City Casino

Keith, Shadrach and Carlos cut a rug for a good cause Saturday night @ the Gala En Blanc fundraiser Saturday @ Kiener Plaza

NABA members @TheAccountingqueen, @yo_taxldy and @jer_miah4 were on site to talk money management @

Models Krystle and Truely walked with Pierre as she hosted the 2019 Hats Off To Alopecia fashion show Sunday @ The Polish Heritage Center

Tishaura Jones and Cora Faith Walker were among the best dressed at Gala En Blanc Saturday @ Kiener Plaza

Sunday Erica and Prisnice came to support the life’s work of Quniton Jackson during the BPLR legacy foundation launch @ InfiniteOccasions

Briana scratched an item from her bucket list Friday night when she met rap star Nelly following his performance at Liberty Bank Amphitheater in Alton, IL. The capacity crowd of nearly 4,000 was a ticketed performance attendance record for the venue.

Photos by V. Lang

CASE WORKER PANTRY

FT position responsible for the day-to-day operations of the Food Pantry. BA/BS plus 2 years of related experience required. $13-16/ hr. Cover letter/resume to: GASA, 1127 N. Vandeventer Ave., St. Louis, MO 63113, Fax (314) 231-8126, hr@gasastl.org. EOE.

MISSOURI

HISTORICAL SOCIETY NEW OPENINGS!

The Missouri Historical Society has position openings for the following:

• Senior Curator

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

An Equal Opportunity Employer

CONSULTING SENIOR GOVERNANCE AND POLICY ADVISOR

Great Rivers Greenway is seeking a qualified individual contract employee for Consulting Senior Governance and Policy Advisor for Chouteau Greenway. Check https:// greatriversgreenway.org/jobs-bids/ and submit by September 24, 2019.

FIREFIGHTER

City of Alton, IL

See website for requirements and application www.cityofaltonil.com/careers Testing for this position will be held on October 12, 2019

LOAN PROCESSOR/ HOMEOWNERSHIP ADVISOR

The Housing Partnership, Inc., a nonprofit organization, has an immediate opening for a full-time employee. Responsible for client file management for participants in the Homebuyer Services program. Establish and maintain records of client files and ensure conformity to HUD guidelines and funder requirements. Looking for individual with experience in real estate, mortgage lending or housing counseling. Aptitude with numbers and excel spreadsheets important. For more information go to www.thehousingpartnershipstl.org

Please submit a resume and cover letter to The Housing Partnership, Inc., P.O. Box 16356 St. Louis, Missouri 63125 or via email to kate@thehousingpartnershipstl.org. An Equal Opportunity Employer.

COMMUNICATIONS SPECIALIST

ARCHS, a highly respected not-forprofit funding agency, is seeking a full-time Communications Specialist with dynamic digital-age expertise. Use creative and technical skills to convey ARCHS’ story through strategic use of social media, writing, graphic design, photos, and videos. Requirements: Minimum of a bachelor’s degree; 1-2 years of digital media experience; highly organized; deadline focused; multi-tasker; outgoing; inquisitive; have reliable transportation/ able to travel locally. ARCHS’ benefit package includes a 401(k) match. Be prepared to provide portfolio of work upon request. EMAIL initial letter of application and resume by August 30, 2019 to careers@stlarchs.org or FAX to ARCHS’ HR, 314-289-5670. No Phone Calls Please.

FOUNDATION ADMINISTRATOR

The City of Clayton is now accepting applications for the full-time position of Foundation Administrator for the

tion. To apply, go to www.claytonmo.gov/jobs.

PARAMEDICS

Mehlville Fire Protection District is accepting applications for the position of 12 HOUR CRITICAL CARE PARAMEDIC

Annualized wage of $59,488; $63,488 w/CCP-C

Benefits include health insurance, pension, tuition reimbursement, sick leave, attendance bonus, vacation, life & disability, holiday pay, uniform allowance, wellness benefits

REQUIRED: EMT-P certification through the State of Missouri

PREFERRED: CCP-C or FP-C certification Applications accepted at www.mehlvillefire. com from August 15 – September 18, 2019. Applicant must include copies of required and relevant certifications and follow the instructions on the website under Hiring Opportunities. Equal Opportunity Employer.

OPPORTUNITIES

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

MESSENGER/ CUSTODIAN

Responsible for delivery of mail, supplies, packages and similar materials; performance of various unskilled laboring assignments included moving furniture and supplies, maintaining cleanliness throughout the building, snow and ice removal on sidewalks and parking lots and other maintenance tasks. HS Diploma and some prior delivery, chauffer and/or public contact experience. Must possess an excellent driving record and be capable of performing the physical duties of this position. Apply via website https://slha.aaimtrack.com or by mail to St. Louis Housing Authority, Attention: Althelia Thomas, 3520 Page Blvd., St. Louis MO 63106 on or before 5pm September 13, 2019. A Drug Free Work Place/EOE.

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.

and communicates with WUSM departments regarding planning and project advancement. The ideal candidate will have: Bachelor’s degree in Architecture, Planning, Urban Planning or Engineering (electrical, mechanical or civil) or equivalent. 8 years of experience in physical planning.

The Director of Supplier Diversity – Job ID# 45083

This position leads the university’s efforts to include minority- and women-owned businesses, and minority and women workers, in the university’s commerce. This includes procurement of goods and services, construction related projects and professional services that the university consumes. Includes identifying the minority and women-owned businesses capable of fulfilling the university’s commercial needs; identifying ways to help the companies increase their capacity; creating methods to promote minority hiring and women on university projects; measuring, reporting on, and promoting the efforts and results of the University’s Supplier Diversity Initiative (SDI). This role will be a key advisor to the Vice Chancellor for Operations and Technology Transfer in the administration of the SDI.

Director of Billing Services/AR Management – Radiology - Job ID# 45016:

This position manages Radiology´s clinical department revenue cycle function to bill and collect effectively, efficiently, ethically, and compliantly ensuring optimal financial performance for the department. Manages staff to maximize their contribution, morale, and staff development/training. Develops, maintains, improves and reports on effective billing/collection practices; monitors and implements corrective action plans to reduce controllable losses; responsible for research vs. standard of care processes and compliance and charge entry, appeals, compliant coding, insurance credentialing and reporting processes and associated teams of staff. Provides recommendations regarding third party reimbursement and insurer issues, pricing changes… Equivalent of BS in business or finance related field with 5 or more years supervisory and operational analysis experience.

Business Director – Radiology – Job ID# 45055:

This position, in the Department of Radiology, on the Medical School campus, is responsible for maintaining accounting and financial operations processes and functions, establishing financial objectives in accordance with the department’s operational and strategic plans. Responsible for the accounting functions of the department in an ethical and compliant manner, processing accounts payable, providing financial statements and financial reporting, establishing and communicating policy, and financial analysis of potential projects. Works with the Executive Director to plan and develop the capital equipment, operations and personnel budgets. Performs financial review and analysis, reimbursement analysis and budget development. Bachelor’s degree in finance, accounting or related field required. 5-7 years experience in management of personnel/finance.

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

CERTIFIED MBE/WBE/SDVE SUBCONTRACTORS

is soliciting bids from Minority Business Enterprises (MBE), Women Business Enterprises (WBE), and Service Disabled Veteran Enterprises (SDVE) for THE UNIVERSITY OF MISSOURI PROJECT NUMBER CP190721

NextGen Precision Health Institute

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

The following bid solicitations will include, structural / misc. steel waterproofing & plaza paver systems, roofing, exterior cold formed framing, fire sprinkler, fireproofing, expansion joints, doors, interior drywall & ceilings, lab casework & equipment, environmental / freezer rooms, RF shielding, Cleanroom Fitout, sitework & utilities

Interested parties should access documents on the UM System website http://operations-webapps.missouri.edu/pdc/adsite/ad.html or contact Tyler Albracht

EMAIL: tyler.albracht@whiting-turner.com for access to bid packages or further information

The Whiting-Turner Contracting Company 2519 Madison Avenue, Suite 200 Kansas City, MO 64108 Phone: 816-216-2316

NOTICE OF PUBLIC HEARING

time citizens may be heard on the property tax rates proposed to be fixed for the current year for the Community Mental Health Fund and the Community Children’s Services Fund, by the City of St. Louis Mental Health Board. The tax rate shall be fixed to produce revenues which the budgets for each fund for the fiscal year beginning July 1, 2019 show to be required from the property tax. For the Community Mental Health Fund a rate of $0.09 on each $100 assessed property value was authorized by the vote of the people on November 3, 1992. For the Community Children’s Services Fund a rate of $0.19 on each $100 assessed property value was authorized by the vote of the people on November 2, 2004. The maximum tax rate permitted by Article X, Section 22 of the Missouri Constitution and Section 137.073 R.S.Mo for the Community Mental Health Fund is $0.0870,

to allow recoupment of certain tax revenue due to valuation, reductions in 2017 assessed values, are proposed to be adopted. The recoupment amount is not known at this time.

LETTING #8703

GROUND TRANSPORTATION CENTER

AT ST. LOUIS LAMBERT INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT

Sealed proposals will be received by the Board of Public Service in Room 208 City Hall, 1200 Market Street, St. Louis, Mo. Until 1:45 PM, CT, on October 15, 2019 then publicly opened and read. Plans and Specifications may be examined on the Board of Public Service website http://www.stl-bps.org (BPS On Line Plan Room) and may be purchased directly through the BPS website from INDOX Services at cost plus shipping. No refunds will be made.

Bidders shall comply with all applicable City, State and Federal laws (including MBE/WBE policies). Mandatory pre-bid meeting will be held on Tuesday, September 24, 2019, at 1:30 PM in the Ozark Conference Room at the Airport Office Building, 11495 Navaid Rd., Bridgeton, MO 63044.

All bidders must regard Federal Executive Order 11246, “Notice of Requirement for Affirmative Action to Ensure Equal Employment Opportunity”, the “Equal Opportunity Clause” and the “Standard Federal Equal Employment Specifications” set forth within and referenced at www.stl-bps.org (Announcements).

REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS

The St. Louis Economic Development Partnership (the “Partnership”) solicits proposals from qualified firms to provide liaison services with federal-level governmental officials, agencies, and elected representatives.

To be considered, proposals must be received no later than 3:00 PM CST on Thursday, October 3, 2019. Proposals should be sent by e-mail to hbean@stlpartnership.com, or to St. Louis Economic Development Partnership, ATTN: Howl Bean II, 7733 Forsyth Blvd., Suite 2200, St. Louis, Missouri 63105. DBE, MBE, and WBE firms are encouraged to bid, and a five percent bid preference may be available to certified MBE firms.

The Request for Proposals may be obtained from the St. Louis Economic Development Partnership’s web site at www.stlpartnership.com. The Partnership reserves the right to reject any or all proposals and to waive informalities therein. Any questions should be directed to Howl Bean II at (314) 615-7663 or hbean@stlpartnership.com.

St. Louis Economic Development Partnership Equal Opportunity Employer

DEPARTMENT

REQUEST FOR QUALIFICATIONS

The City of St. Louis Department of Public Safety is seeking qualifications from interested firms to provide body worn cameras to the Division of Police.

To obtain a copy of the RFQ, please visit https://www.stlouis-mo.gov/government/ procurement/index.cfm. The RFQ will be listed under “Active RFPs, RFQs and RFIs.” Proposals must be received by 12:00 Noon, CDT on Monday, September 23, 2019.

METROPOLITAN ST. LOUIS SEWER DISTRICT

Notice is hereby given that the Metropolitan St. Louis Sewer District will receive sealed bids in the Purchasing Division, 2350 Market Street, St. Louis, Missouri 63103-2555 until 10:00am October 17, 2019 for: PAVEMENT RESURFACING.

Specifications and bid forms may be obtained from www.stlmsd.com - click on “MSD At Work”, then “Bidding on Projects”. The bid document will be 10151 RFQ. If you do not have access to the internet, call (314) 768-6314 to request a copy of this bid. Metropolitan St. Louis Sewer District is an Equal Opportunity Employer.

METROPOLITAN ST. LOUIS SEWER DISTRICT

Notice is hereby given that the Metropolitan St. Louis Sewer District will receive RFQ’s in the Purchasing Division, 2350 Market Street, St. Louis, Missouri 63103-2555 until 10:00 a.m. on October 11, 2019 to contract with a company for: GAS MONITORS AND SERVICE. Specifications and bid forms may be obtained from www.stlmsd.com, click on the “MSD AT WORK” link, (bid opportunities). The bid document will be identified as 10141 RFQ. If you do not have access to the internet, call

REQUEST FOR BIDS

The Dome at America’s Center Facility is seeking sealed bids for Eddy Current Testing of Heat exchanger #3; and to establish cost for testing of Heat Exchanger #1 and #2. All work will require 100% of all man power, tools, man lifts, scaffolding, any materials needed, waste management etc., and required to complete the contract and to restore heat exchangers to working condition, which includes restoration of all insulation removed, damaged or found missing on each exchanger that is tested. Contractor should be within a 100 mile radius of Americas Center. RFQ can be obtained at walk through and by contacting Bill Smith; bsmith@explorestlouis.com, at 314-342-5021 for copy via e-mail. Walk through scheduled for Tuesday Sept. 17 at 9:00 am. Bids due Sept. 30th. The Americas Center reserves the right to reject any or all proposals. EOE

Public Notice of Single Source Procurement

Notice is hereby given that the Metropolitan St. Louis Sewer District is proposing to procure: Pratt Valves for Lower Meramec Treatment Plant. Any inquiries should be sent to ameyer@stlmsd.com.

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

Public Notice of Single Source Procurement Notice is hereby given that the Metropolitan St. Louis Sewer District is proposing to procure temporary help services from Sirius Computer Solutions in an effort to support the IT Technology Plan. The District is proposing single source procurement for this service because it does not have the internal expertise to fulfill this Information Technology role. Any inquiries should be sent to strenz@stlmsd.com.

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

Public Notice of Single Source Procurement

Notice is hereby given that the Metropolitan St. Louis Sewer District is confirming procurement: Bypass Pump Assembly Rental. The District is confirming single source procurement to Mobile Mini for this equipment.Any inquiries should be sent to ameyer@stlmsd.com. Metropolitan St. Louis Sewer District is an Equal Opportunity Employer.

METROPOLITAN ST. LOUIS SEWER DISTRICT Notice is hereby given that the Metropolitan St. Louis Sewer District will receive RFQ’s in the Purchasing Division, 2350 Market Street, St. Louis, Missouri 63103-2555 until 11:00 a.m. on October 8, 2019 to contract with a company for: PRINTED ENVELOPES & LETTERHEAD. Specifications and bid forms may be obtained from www.stlmsd.com, click on the “MSD AT WORK” link, (bid opportunities). The bid document will be identified as 10148 RFQ. If you do not have access to the internet, call 314768-6254 to request a copy of this bid.

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

METROPOLITAN ST. LOUIS SEWER DISTRICT Notice is hereby given that the Metropolitan St. Louis Sewer District will receive Sealed Bids in the Purchasing Division, 2350 Market Street, St. Louis, Missouri 63103-2555 until 11:00 a.m. on October 15, 2019 to contract with a company for: WELDING SUPPLIES. Specifications and bid forms may be obtained from www.stlmsd.com, click on the “MSD AT

, GovenorJoseph P.TeasdaleState OfficeBuilding, Raytown, Missouri,Project No.O1906-01 willbereceived byFMDC,State ofMO,UNTIL 1:30PM,Tuesday, 9/24/2019,via MissouriBUYS. Biddersmustbe registeredtobid. Forspecificproject informationand orderingplans,goto: https:// missouribuys. mo.gov.

REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS

The St. Louis Economic Development Partnership (the “Partnership”) solicits proposals from qualified firms to provide liaison services with state-level governmental officials, agencies, and elected representatives.

To be considered, proposals must be received no later than 3:00 PM CST on Thursday, October 3, 2019. Proposals should be sent by email to hbean@stlpartnership.com, or to St. Louis Economic Development Partnership, ATTN: Howl Bean II, 7733 Forsyth Blvd., Suite 2200, St. Louis, Missouri 63105. DBE, MBE, and WBE firms are encouraged to bid, and a five percent bid preference may be available to certified MBE firms.

The Request for Proposals may be obtained from the St. Louis Economic Development Partnership’s web site at www.stlpartnership.com. The Partnership reserves the right to reject any or all proposals and to waive informalities therein. Any questions should be directed to Howl Bean II at (314) 615-7663 or hbean@stlpartnership.com.

St. Louis Economic Development Partnership Equal Opportunity Employer

PROJECT: Saint Louis Zoo 2019 Property and Casualty Insurance Consulting/ Brokerage Services RFP

The Saint Louis Zoo is seeking a state licensed, full service, experienced, customer-service oriented firm able to assist with strategic consultation regarding the design and effectiveness of property and casualty insurance and risk management programs. The bid documents are available as of 9/13/19 located at https://stlzoo.org/about/contact/ vendoropportunities.

MBE/WBE/SDVE/ DBE/VBE

K&S Associates, Inc. is soliciting for the following projects during the month of October AP Green Building –MUHC Lab Consolidation and MU Primary Care Clinic North Plans and Specs can be viewed at www.ksgcstl.com Submit Bids to estimating@ksgcstl.com or Fax 314-647-5302

Contact Dennis Dyes @ 314-647-3535 with questions

mo.gov

BID NOTICE

Great Rivers Greenway is seeking sealed bids for sixteen (16) benches and twelve (12) trash receptacles. Check https://greatriversgreenway. org/jobs-bids/ and submit by October 11, 2019.

SEALED BIDS

Roof,Cremer

Center,Fulton, Missouri,Project No.C1915-01 willbereceived byFMDC,State ofMO,UNTIL 1:30PM, 9/10/2019via MissouriBUYS. Biddersmustbe registeredtobid. Forspecificprojectinformation andordering plans,goto: https:// missouribuys. mo.gov

REQUEST FOR PROPOSAL FOR DESKTOP PUBLISHING SERVICES:

Capital Access, Inc is soliciting proposals from qualified candidates for professional desktop publishing services. Detailed information on the RFQ can be found at www.capitalaccessinc.com or by contacting Mary Ann Schriedel at mschriedel@capitalaccessinc.com or 215-551-2000 Minority and/or Women Owned Business Enterprises are

Auctions starting on Sept. 25, 2019 at 9:00 am. A cash deposit will be REQUIRED for all winning bids. Units Col. 30-Brian Killingsworth, Col. 60-Ron Meyer, Col. 105-Chad Lane, Dupo 15-Adam Flotron, Dupo 16-Jazz Jackson, Dupo 19-George Carlton, Dupo 31-Billy Kuni, Dupo 43-Darashawn Byrum, Dupo 85-Karen Pratt, Dupo 99-Steven Garrison, Dupo 105-Amanda Venus, Dupo 113-Stephen Stein, Dupo 148-Jason Boyer, Dupo 150-Joe Barnhardt, Dupo 201-Ashley Thomas, Dupo 401-Junior Macke, Dupo 403-Roy Venus, Dupo 414-Glen Suschanke, Dupo 125/126-Tammy Watson, Bel. 13 & 308-Jenna Monroe, Bel. 22 & 108Misti Warner, Bel. 103-Devyn Tammons, Bel. 109-Molly Crader, Bel. 111-Stacy Bobby, Bel. 201-Breonna Childs, Bel. 306-Tony Cotton, Bel. 317-Joi Harris, Bel. 319-Tameka Lilton, Bel. 403-Jeanny Hite, Bel. 416-Angela Davis, Bel. 503-Robert Harter, Bel. 506-Tyneshia Parchman, Bel. 509-Anthony Jones, Bel. 524-Michael Crossen, Bel. 532-Beverly Driver, Bel. 549-Jasmine Finley, Bel. 612-Mark Hilton, Bel. 625-Yeishea Vaughn, Bel. 636-Jules Johanson, Bel. 639-Ongellique Jones, Bel. 640-Carneshia Johnson, Bel. A04-Heather Gonzalez, Bel. A22-Madison Brown, Bel. B07-Shawn Kitterman, B08 & E01-Jonas Unaeve, Bel. C01-Jeremy David, Bel. C04Vernice Smith, Bel. D04-Lakesha Emerson, Bel. E02-Geanetta Akins, Bel. E03-Neoshae McCurry, Bel. E05-Mary Owens, Bel. E10Lamont Hudson, Bel. E12-Stuart Patterson, Bel. F04-Jordan Johson. For all rules, regulations and bidding process, contact Jersey County Auctions. All other questions, please call 618-744-1588 or mail 300 Rueck Road, Columbia, IL 62236.

Advertised herein is subject to the Federal Fair Housing Act, which makes it illegal to advertise any preference, imitation, or discrimination because of race,color,

handicap, familial\status, or national origin, or intention to make any such preference, limitation, or dis- crimination.“We will not knowingly accept any advertising for real estate which is in violation of the law. All persons are hereby informed that all

‘Practical tools to grow your faith and business’ Conferences focuses

on spiritual and professional growth

for entrepreneur women

American staff

The inaugural #SheCan Summit will bridge the gap between spiritual and professional growth for entrepreneur women by gathering 300 women and girls on October 18-19 at Manchester United Methodist Church, 129 Woods Mill Rd #4339 in Manchester, for action-packed events, workshops and networking.

The event, hosted by the Midwest nonprofit the Social Synergy Project, is an extension of the organization’s mission to deliver entrepreneur support through business resources and live events.

underestimated and underserved.

Jackson said #SheCan is a catalyst to drive faithpreneurs towards resources to help them grow themselves and their businesses.

Jackson believes the spiritual connection of this event further adds to the benefits attendees receive.

“We are giving women practical tools to grow their faith and their business,” says Jackson.

n “We believe in faith. We believe in women. We believe #SheCan.”

“Most conferences address either spiritual growth or professional development, but the two are not mutually exclusive,” says Kristy Jackson, serial entrepreneur and cofounder of the Social Synergy Project along with her husband James. A. Jackson II.

– Michele Y. Wright, United Community Services

She said #SheCan is based on the knowledge that the future of the globalized economy is female. Empowering women in the economy and closing gender gaps in the world of work are key to achieving the 2030 United Nations Agenda for Sustainable Development goals and eradicating poverty.

The #SheCan Summit is a global event providing women leaders and entrepreneurs with faith strategies, resources and inspiration that bring the spiritual and professional together.

The St. Louis entrepreneurship ecosystem is booming with over 20 coworking spaces and 9,000 nonprofit business operating within the region. Still, many female entrepreneurs of color and faith-based businesses are

“To keep this event affordable for entrepreneurs with little to no professional development budgets, we have engaged sponsors to offset some registration costs,” says Jackson.

Through online attendance and the in-person St. Louis event, the #SheCan Summit has a global reach and a local impact.

“The #SheCan Summit is built upon leadership development and business growth in the context of four pillars: faith, empowerment, activation and accountability,” said #SheCan ambassador Michele Y.

Wright, founder of United Community Services. “We believe in faith. We believe in women. We believe #SheCan.”

Saturday’s conference will feature Reshaunda Thornton, author and TEDX Speaker, as the lunch & learn keynote speaker as well as multiple breakout options within the four pillars.

The #SheCan Summit will employ a unique, intergenerational approach. Girls ages 11-18 will have the

opportunity to attend Girls Lead and Make Moves, or GLAMM, youth sessions created in partnership with #SheCan. In addition to the live event, #SheCan will offer an online platform, making the summit available to women and girls anywhere in the world.

In connection with the Summit, #SheCan is awarding six local women.

The featured honorees are Maida Coleman, Missouri Public Service Commission; Cathy “Mama Cat”

Daniels, founder of PotBangerz; Kathy Lambert, co-founder/CEO Connections to Success; Lisa Nichols, CEO Technology Partners; Sharon Randle Gardner, partner and director, Eddie Randle & Sons Funeral Home; Jannelly Villegas, educator and activist.

“Each of these women have taken their faith into the public sphere to serve others,” said Jackson. More information is available at www.shecansummit.com.

Kristy Jackson, cofounder of the Social Synergy Project, will present the #SheCan Summit, addressing spiritual growth and professional development, on October 18-19 at Manchester United Methodist Church.