September 14th, 2017 Edition

Farewell to the lioness: Lizz Brown

By Sylvester Brown Jr.

For The St. Louis American

the more measured Hank Thompson, and other hosts like Leonardo Drisdel, who was sentenced to life in prison for murder in 2012. Callers, like the “Couch Potato” and the “Great Kabuddha” were as infamous, colorful and provocative as the hosts. It was amongst this backdrop that the lioness came to dominate the St. Louis plains. “Living my life as a liberal and lovin’ it” was the mantra of Lizz Brown, attorney, political analyst, activist and host of WGNU’s early morning program “The Wake Up Call.” With razor-sharp wit, reinforced by a lethal, legal mind, the lioness strategically stalked and destroyed her prey. Be they politicians, elitists, racists, pacifists or conformists, at one time or another, they all found their figurative jugulars exposed to Brown’s intellectual

HuffPost listens to St. Louis

American partners in launch of national listening tour

Stop making nice with the status quo

By Brittany Ferrell

n Clergy, if you aren’t preaching resistance in this city, then you are not preaching.

Brittany Ferrell and

organized a rush hour shutdown of I-70 in both directions on the first anniversary of Mike Brown’s death, August 11, 2015.

n “We thought: Why don’t we just go out and listen? Let’s go out and give the mic to other people.’”

– Lydia Polgreen, editor-in-chief at HuffPost

Salute is Saturday, September 23

By Jessica Karins and Benito Kelty

30th

Photo by Wiley Price

By Chris King Of The St. Louis American

Annie Smith, the mother of Anthony Lamar Smith, led a candlelight vigil on Monday, September 4

her son, Anthony Lamar Smith. Former St. Louis Police Officer Jason Stockley was tried

is pending from Judge Timothy Wilson. Stockley opted for a bench trial without a jury.

Justice for Anthony Lamar Smith

Photo by Wiley Price

Millennial Activists United

Photo by Lucas Alvarado Farrar

Usher claims accusers are making false confessions

In new documents obtained by The New York Daily News, Usher denies “each and every allegation” made by the two women and one man who filed a joint lawsuit last month claiming sexual battery, fraud, negligence and infliction of emotional distress.

The R&B singer says even if sexual contact did take place, there was never any intent to harm.

“Any alleged conduct by defendant, which is expressly denied, was unintentional,” his filing in Los Angeles County Superior Court states.

Divorce costs Mike Epps major coins

According to TMZ.com, comedian and actor Mike Epps has been ordered to pay $25k a month in alimony for six years, unless his wife remarries, and $15k a month in child support, plus school tuition, for their two children as part of his divorce settlement to Mechelle

Epps

Mechelle Epps gets to keep a 2014 Bentley, a 2013 Mercedes, a 2015 Toyota Prius and a 2013 Land Rover.

She was also awarded half Mike’s royalties from hit movies including “The Hangover,” “Hancock” and “Girls Trip.”

The couple have been ordered to sell their home in Encino and split the proceeds while 10 properties in Indiana remain with Mike.

later in the relationship, verbal abuse and being [made to feel like] a prisoner in her own home. No pregnant woman needs to go through being called a [b-word expletive] every day. There were things like that. That’s what she went through.” Randy alleges the “abuse is still going on” throughout the former couple’s divorce proceedings. He claims the “Rhythm Nation” hitmaker faces “constant harassment” from Al Mana.

Tyrese comes for The Rock, then retreats

Janet’s brother Randy claims she was verbally abused by Wissam Al Mana

Randy Jackson has claimed his sister, Janet Jackson, was “verbally abused” by her estranged husband, Wissam Al Mana

The 51-year-old singer married the businessman - with whom she has eight-monthold son, Eissa Al Mana, in 2012. They split earlier this year, and her older brother Randy has now claimed the split came as a result of Wissam making Janet “feel like a prisoner in her own home.”

Speaking to People magazine, Randy said: “There’s a lot of pain. Janet’s been through a lot with her divorce. I’ve been through a lot, we all have. It was quite an abusive situation. It came on

Actor and singer Tyrese attempted to drag Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson when Johnson posted a picture of himself signing a contract on a project he declared “top secret.”

Tyrese responded to the Instagram post by warning Johnson not to move forward on a solo film for his character from the “Fast and Furious” franchise.

“If you move forward with the Hobbs movie, you will have purposely ignored the heart-to-heart moment we had in my sprinter,” Tyrese said. “I don’t want to hear from you until you remember what we talked

about. I’m in your timeline because you’re not responding to my text messages.” When Johnson didn’t respond, Tyrese said the following: “When you see the bull[expletive] with The Rock playing out in front of you and you can’t say anything because they don’t want you to win battles and lose the war. Reckless? Who me? Nah…I’m just the last one of the real ones in this town who speaks his mind openly.” He then walked back on his comments with a long post saying that his frustration was because The Rock wasn’t returning his calls about the solo Hobbs movie.

“I have never and will never have a problem with this major movie star,” Tyrese wrote. “He’s my brother. “I never, ever go public with private family issues. Once you hit me back I will delete every post. We do this on behalf of the families, the cast, the crew members who have been down and loyal to us for 15 years. Everyone matters. When we shoot, we all eat.” Sources: The New York Daily News, Instagram, People.com, TMZ.com.

Tyrese

Randy Jackson

First Suggs Scholar at UMSL

Felesha Clarke, Jamaican transplant to St. Louis, will study engineering

By Steve Walentik University of Missouri–St. Louis

There’s a chance Felesha Clarke was the first applicant for the Dr. Donald Suggs Scholarship at the University of Missouri-St. Louis.

Her mother, Leisa Clarke, read a story last fall in The St. Louis American about the scholarship’s creation and showed it to her daughter, encouraging her to apply.

Felesha Clarke complied, checking UMSL’s scholarship website several times before the application was even posted. She wasted no time submitting it once it finally appeared.

Clarke had to wait a few months, but a letter arrived last spring notifying her she’d been chosen as the first recipient of the institutionally funded fulltuition award.

“I was really happy and just really thankful,” said Clarke, who participated in UMSL’s Bridge Program throughout high school and graduated in May as the valedictorian at Lift for Life Academy. “I’ve always wanted to come to UMSL, but that

made it much easier.”

“I met Felesha at the Infinite Scholars college fair last fall,” said Alan Byrd, UMSL’s vice provost of enrollment management. “She has been active in our Bridge Program for years, so we were pretty familiar with her and knew what type of asset she would be to our campus. Her resume and her application really stood out from the crowd, so we were very excited when this scholarship opportunity became available because she was an ideal candidate.”

The scholarship is named for Suggs, a publisher and executive editor of The St. Louis American. He was a founding member of UMSL’s Chancellor’s Council in 1979, was awarded an honorary degree in humane letters in 1993 and helped raise funds for the Barnett Memorial Plaza established in 2012.

The scholarship was created to attract talented St. Louis students who hail from diverse and underrepresented backgrounds. It provides $12,000 towards tuition and fees for 30 credit hours per academic year with an

n “The Suggs scholarship provides an opportunity for us to keep some of our best and brightest talent right here in St. Louis to attend UMSL.”

– Alan Byrd

lucrative scholarships from various universities out of state, and they end up finding employment and different opportunities in those states after they graduate,” Byrd said.

“The Suggs scholarship provides an opportunity for us to keep some of our best and brightest talent right here in St. Louis to attend UMSL, and it gives local companies a chance to groom these students to be future employees and leaders of the region.”

engineering through the Joint Engineering Program run in a partnership between UMSL and Washington University in St. Louis. She’s still undecided on which type of engineering she will make her focus. She believes her experience in the Bridge Program has her on solid footing to begin college.

additional funding of $1,000 each semester for books and supplies.

“We saw what a lot of institutions are experiencing

locally: Many of the top students in our region are being drawn away from St. Louis by scholarship offers at other universities. They receive

Clarke, who was born in Jamaica and moved to St. Louis before beginning high school, plans to study

“The Bridge Program was like a gateway for me to have an experience about what college was really going to be like,” Clarke said. “It was important for me to have that experience and be more prepared.”

Photo by August Jennewein

Felesha Clarke, the first recipient of the Dr. Donald Suggs Scholarship at UMSL, is beginning her freshman year and plans to study engineering in the Joint Engineering Program, a partnership between UMSL and Washington University in St. Louis.

HuffPost partners with ‘invisible’ newspaper to launch national tour

The Ferguson unrest taught many of us in St. Louis about the mixed blessings of sustained attention from the national media. The national media bring attention to your local problems – which was very welcome, in this instance –but they also have a penchant for covering the drama and violence that can leave local people feeling exploited when all of the cameras have been packed up and sent on to the next disaster elsewhere.

That is why we were struck by the daring shown by the experiment the HuffPost is attempting in its Listen to America bus tour of 25 smaller American cities that usually only see national media when their city is on fire or underwater. When HuffPost Editor-In-Chief Lydia Polgreen said, “We need to be having a real dialogue with what’s happening in our country right now, because we’ve got some problems,” she spoke directly to our editorial mission. The St. Louis American prides itself on being a reflection of the lives and concerns of our community and yields more of its pages to the opinions of community leaders and everyday people than any other local publication. We expect that is why the HuffPost singled us out among all of our local media peers as its local media partner for its St. Louis visit and national launch of the tour. We were fascinated to observe significant omissions in local coverage of this unique national event in St. Louis. Local editors and producers routinely fawn over any positive national attention that our flyover city with a plurality-black population receives, and here was a major international news organization –the HuffPost site currently is ranked No. 253 worldwide for most web traffic – starting an innovative national tour in St. Louis. The Wall Street Journal sent their media reporter, Lucas Alpert, to cover the HuffPost tour launch. Yet we are only aware of local coverage on Fox 2 and KMOV. Neither of these local stations reported on the fact that the HuffPost partnered with a local (and non-competing) news outlet, The St. Louis American, in this national launch event, though B-roll on both stories clearly depicted our publisher and executive editor, who is known by sight in both newsrooms. On the Fox 2 report, Polgreen mentioned the partnership with us in

a live studio interview. In our business, that’s called a “local hook,” and journalists jump on them to make national stories more relevant. This local hook was passed over in silence by news decision-makers and the co-anchors.

Ralph Ellison gave us the metaphor of the Invisible Man for blacks in America. The St. Louis American remains the “invisible” newspaper among our peers in local media, which makes all of us here feel more appreciative to have been approached, not once but twice, by this powerful news organization for our partnership (previously, we hosted the HuffPost’s Ferguson Fellow in our newsroom). We are confident that the partnership will continue. “We were so proud to have you as a partner,” we were told by Hillary Frey, director of strategy at HuffPost, the morning after the event, “and we definitely look forward to covering stories together in the future, and relying on your knowledge and expertise in your community.” To our national partner, we say: Likewise, and we can’t wait for the next collaboration.

It’s worth noting that editors and reporters for St. Louis Public Radio attended the panel discussion that we organized with HuffPost as part of the St. Louis agenda of events, and we value our continuing contentsharing partnership with them. To St. Louis Public Radio, alone among other local media, we are a visible news resource.

It was a pleasure to invite community leaders who command our respect to share with us our moment in the national spotlight.

Rev. Starsky Wilson, former co-chair of the Ferguson Commission and president of the Deaconess Foundation, spoke at the morning launch event and served on the evening panel.

“Listen to America beginning here is reflective of our experience,” Wilson said at the morning launch at Kiener Plaza, with the Gateway Arch stretching over his shoulders. “Any important work begins with listening to those folks who are most impacted by the issues, the challenges and the tragedies in our respective communities.” We have been listening to this community we love so dearly, and trying to share its stories, for many years, and we will keep doing so, and we are proud and grateful to the HuffPost for joining us in this work.

As I See It - A Forum for Community Issues

Trump sticks with climate-change denial through the storms

When, if not now, is the time to talk about global warming and what to do about it?

No rational U.S administration would look at the devastation from Hurricanes Harvey and Irma and seek to deny climate change. At present, however, there is no rational U.S. administration.

We have instead a president and an Environmental Protection Agency chief who refuse to acknowledge the obvious. Thoughts and prayers are welcome at times like these, but they are insincere if not supplemented by analysis and action.

According to EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt, for scientists to “use time and effort to address” the cause of these massive, anomalous storms would be “very, very insensitive to the people in Florida.” Why did Harvey dump unprecedented, almost biblical amounts of rainfall on Houston and its environs? Why did Irma spend longer as a Category 5 storm than any other hurricane on record? Why, for the first time anyone knows of, did we have two Category 4 storms make U.S. landfall in the same season? Why did we have two major hurricanes (Irma and Jose) and a third, somewhat lesser storm (Katia) churning at the same time?

As deniers frequently point out, no individual weather event can be definitively blamed on climate change. But the World Meteorological Organization released a statement concluding “the rainfall rates associated with Harvey were likely made more intense by anthropogenic climate change.” And regarding Irma, the WMO cited models show-

ing “hurricanes in a warmer climate are likely to become more intense.”

There are established linkages between a storm’s severity and factors such as sea levels, ocean temperatures and the position of prevailing currents such as the jet stream. Global warming has altered all of those parameters.

This is precisely the moment when scientists at the EPA, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the National Weather Service, NASA and other agencies ought to be laser-focused on climate change. They should study the characteristics and impacts of this season’s hurricanes to better understand what changes global warming has wrought thus far. And I’m confident they will do so – unless their work is hampered by political hacks. Climate change never should have become a partisan issue in the first place. There is no red or blue spin on the fact that humans have burned enough fossil fuels since the Industrial Revolution to increase the concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere by 40 percent; or that carbon dioxide traps heat; or that global land and ocean temperatures have shot up; or that Arctic ice is melting; or that sea levels are rising. These things are directly measurable and true.

Global warming cuts no

Who is to blame for black political failure? We are! Commentary

By Mike Jones Columnist

Where does effective black political leadership come from?

Now anybody reading this is too old for Santa Claus or the Tooth Fairy; only small children believe things they want just miraculously appear. But if you look at their behavior, there are way too many adults with the emotional and intellectual development of small children, who think wishing makes it so.

When you attend a professional team sporting event, there are two groups of people observing the contest. And although they are doing the exact same thing (watching the game), they have completely different relationship to events unfolding on the field.

Let’s talk about the largest and most obvious group, the fans. Fans buy the tickets, dress up in team paraphernalia, and cheer or boo the team’s performance on game day. They will engage in endless conversations in person, online and on sports talk radio.

There are people whose emotional identity is tied to the team. Some are avid students of the game. They read and study the team’s statistical outputs. They are so informed that they believe they know as much as the actual coaches and players.

All that notwithstanding, the fans are irrelevant to what we all watch. In fact, you can play any of these contests without a single fan. It’s the second group of observers that are the

essential prerequisite to the game: the owners.

The quality of the performance we see on the field may be a function of the players and coaches, but the quality of the players and coaches is the responsibility of the team ownership. Coaches don’t hire themselves, and players don’t sign themselves. The quality of the team you see on the field is a function of the ownership’s commitment and skill at putting together the best possible team.

The team represents the owner in a contest for a limited resource, a championship.

There’s a reason they hand the championship trophy to the owner before everybody else.

So what does that have to do with us and politics?

Politics is a contest for power in order to control limited resources and social outcomes. Like all competitions, there are winners and losers. You maximize your chances of winning by being represented by the most talented team you can field. Who’s responsible for the team representing the black community in the political arena? Short answer – we are!

The failure of black politics in our region must be placed squarely at the feet of the owners of black politics – us!

Letters to the editor

employment authorization.

Crime against humanity

The president’s decision to cut DACA is a crime against humanity and a deliberate act of cruelty against the 800,000 young people whose lives depend on this program. While the moral consequences alone are reason enough to maintain DACA, the dismantling of the program will also have severe economic consequences, as more than 1,400 people a day could lose their ability to work.

slack for political affiliation – as Republican Govs. Greg Abbott of Texas and Rick Scott of Florida now should humbly acknowledge.

But because the GOP cynically positioned itself as antiscience, times of trial can never be the right time to talk about climate change. Nor can times when there are no storms. We’re supposed to wait for the next Harvey, Irma or Katrina – then zip our lips out of “respect” for the victims.

President Trump may sincerely disbelieve the scientific consensus or he may be just pretending – it’s hard to tell. He continues to peddle his fantasy of “beautiful, clean coal” and his empty promise to bring back the industry. Maybe he really doesn’t grasp that coal was crushed not by government regulation but by the advent of cheap, plentiful natural gas due to fracking.

And maybe Trump doesn’t get the fact that the rest of the world recognizes both the environmental and the economic benefits of clean energy technologies. It is likely that at some point there will be world-changing breakthroughs in solar power, battery capacity and nuclear fusion. I hope these advances are made in the United States; I fear they will be made in China, Japan or Germany.

The Trump administration should at least be insisting that coastal communities in Texas and Florida be rebuilt taking climate change into account. Sea level rise is an unquestioned fact; the cruelest insult to those now suffering would be to pretend it is not.

It is clear that Trump’s decisions are derived from a hate-fueled agenda focused on both a disdain for Hispanic immigrants and an obsession with erasing the legacy of the country’s first and only black president. His obsession with discrediting President Obama — from years of leading the “birther” rhetoric to attacks on Obamacare and now DACA — reveal motivations rooted in racism and bigotry.

This administration’s incessant targeting of marginalized groups — including immigrants, LGBTQ people, women and people of color — is emblematic of the normalization of white supremacists in positions of power in the Trump era. We will continue to stand with immigrants, LGBTQ people, women and all who are targeted by Trump. We call on elected officials in Congress and across the country to join us in resisting Trump’s hateful vendetta against our immigrant sisters and brothers.

Marcela Howell, founder and executive director

In Our Own Voice: National Black Women’s Reproductive Justice Agenda

Congress has a responsibility

Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) has provided hard-working young people and their families with a measure of stability.

This policy protects individuals who came to this country as children from deportation and allows them to apply for

We have become fans in the most important contest that’s ever played. Like fans, we show up to cheer and to be politically entertained. We hope for an outcome that pleases us, but take no responsibility for an underperforming team that’s never competitive. When we don’t like the results, we ask the proverbial, ”Why don’t they do something?”

Everything begins and ends with the ownership acting on behalf of its interest. Losing coaches never tell the owners they should get a better coach if they want to win. Bad players never cut themselves because they aren’t producing the results the owners want.

Political fans are like those small children that believe wishing and hoping is all that’s required. Political owners are those that understand if I want a championship team, I have to build a championship team. As a community, we are responsible for the team that’s in the political arena representing us. They didn’t elect or reelect themselves. We hired them and we retain them, and no team is better than its ownership. So the existential question for us is: When and how to we begin to act like owners that want a championship?

Mike Jones, who has held senior policy positions in St. Louis city and county government, serves on the St. Louis American editorial board and the State Board of Education.

All letters are edited for length and style.

After DACA was initiated in 2012, recipients’ hourly wages increased by 42 percent. Six percent started their own business (compared to a national average of 3.1 percent), 21 percent purchased their first car, 12 percent purchased their first home, and 90 percent received their driver’s license or a state identification card.

Schuyler, Nebraska, population 6,196, had long struggled to attract new residents. Today, the town is more than 70 percent Latino.

For this small town and others like it in the U.S., immigrants are keeping shops open and breathing fresh life into main streets.

Now, their future is uncertain.

Nearly 750,000 young people fear losing everything they have worked for. Almost 70 percent came to this country at the age of 10 or younger.

Today, the average DACA recipient is 22 years old, employed, and in pursuit of higher education. To rob these individuals of an opportunity to learn, earn, and live would impair their capacity to contribute. It would be counterproductive and harmful to the country as a whole. It can be debilitating to the communities that helped raise them.

After the Trump Administration’s damning decision, Congress has a responsibility to stand opposed to any federal action that would rescind DACA or result in additional restrictions that would act as barriers to the continued contributions of these young immigrants to the U.S. Johnathan Hladik, Policy Program director Center for Rural Affairs

Columnist Eugene Robinson

Protein honored for reggae promotion

James Williams, better known as Protein, was recently recognized for his avid promotion of reggae music in the St. Louis area. Jamala Rogers presented the award to Williams at the Tribute to Johari Kamili, lead singer and songwriter for the Infrared Rockers reggae band, who died of natural causes a decade ago. Protein, who has served as the Rockers’ emcee and hype-man for over 25 years, has been the mainstay MC at many other area events such as the Ivory Perry Concerts and the Festival of Nations.

For those interested in women’s equity

The American Association of University Women Ferguson-Florissant Branch (North County) will host a reception 2-4 p.m. Sunday, September 17. All individuals interested in women’s equity are invited.

National Board member Sue Barley will make short remarks on current initiatives and activities of the national organization. An overview of AAUW’s

mission, programs, and activities will be featured, including AAUW’s 135-plus years of advocacy for women and girls. The latest research dealing with higher education debt incurred by women obtaining college degrees will be discussed. For additional information or obtain directions, call 314-831-5359 or email sbreeze@mindspring. com or pkelemen@hotmail.com.

New hurricane, familiar problems

By Jamala Rogers

Why are we still here? I know how we got here but why haven’t we made some humane progress? These were just a few of my questions as I watched and read about Hurricane Harvey and all of his fury.

The “here” I’m talking about is the response to disasters. Notice that I am intentionally not using the term “natural disaster.” They’re mostly human-induced disasters. That’s because it’s been humans who have negatively contributed to global warming, especially in the U.S. It’s humans who have resisted implementing the policies and remedies that could slow down the negative impacts on global climate. I’m talking about the corporatocracy and its cronies in government.

We are now 12 years out from Hurricane Katrina, the hurricane that put hurricanes in the public eye in a way that forced us to look closely at them. There is still unfinished business in New Orleans and other Gulf Coast communities –including unidentified bodies, unbuilt or partially built homes and businesses, shattered souls – 12 years later!

common are the rescue and recovery responses were and are rooted in race and class. The residents of the predominantly black districts – the “Bloody 5th” Ward in Houston and the Lower Ninth in New Orleans – all sang the same refrain. The urgency of rescues, services and supplies was not the same as for white, middle-class people. The same inequalities that persisted years before the flooding were exposed again in the aftermath of the disasters.

The first chance that I got to go to New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina, I received a valuable lesson. Stop blaming the problem on the hurricane, people said. The flooding that enveloped the city and other parts of the Gulf Coast was about the levees breaking. The residents’ view was that disaster was not primarily about Mother Nature’s wrath but more about man’s negligence and greed.

Most of us who don’t live in flood plains or hurricane regions really didn’t start paying attention to this phenomenon until Katrina. Since that infamous breaking of the levees, there have been 13 hurricanes. Yes, that unlucky number should have provided us with many valuable lessons, but our policy makers and elected officials seem to be tone deaf. Lessons about the scientific impact of global warming and climate change. Lessons about efficient evacuations. Lessons about building in high-risk areas.

What Katrina and Harvey have in

Houston is a good example of the impact of the ravages of capitalism on our environment. The city has enjoyed a prosperity boom over the last few decades but at what expense. The city witnessed the unfettered growth of chemical companies and oil refineries in the largest U.S. city without zoning laws. Some of these companies pose new threats to the community should there be explosions or leaks based upon the trillions of gallons of rain that fell and the subsequent flooding. There are three things going on here: the refusal to seriously claim responsibility for global warming, the refusal to rethink/redesign communities most vulnerable to these disasters, and the refusal to develop a pro-active evacuation plan.

After Hurricane Katrina, a local ad hoc group led by folks like Cecilia Nadal called for the city and county to produce its plans should there be a need for mass evacuation. Sadly, neither had much of a plan. This is a good time to revisit that effort. There are many people at universities and at environmental nonprofits who are studying the complexities of these issues and have some realistic recommendations that we should be discussing.

We can’t expect the man in the White House to take the lead on this issue. He doesn’t even believe in climate change and, worse, we can see that Trump is incapable of addressing solutions. Those of us who are informed, critical thinkers must ramp up the agitation around climate change if we expect to see any measurable changes. We will begin to see this as a public safety issue as the impact of global warming becomes more and more devastating.

Jamala Rogers

in 2014, and helped restructure need-based financial aid. “I love helping empower people through education,” Byrd said.

As an eighth-grade language arts teacher at Hazelwood Central Middle School and a professor at Harris-Stowe State University, Anya Gray Franklin has a busy schedule, but her commitment to her students never wavers. Franklin, who started out as a special education teacher, now enjoys helping her eighth graders learn the life skills they will need for high school and beyond. Some of her proudest moments in her teaching career have been seeing her former middle school students come back to take computer skills classes with her at Harris-Stowe.

Crystal Gale’s career in education is built on giving every student a chance to succeed. That’s what she did as the principal of Roosevelt High School, working to give the school’s struggling students the tools they needed to succeed. At Roosevelt, she was St. Louis Public Schools’ 2016-17 Principal of the Year. In her new role as SLPS’ director of Performance Management, she is bringing that energy and commitment to the whole district, working towards improv-

DISRUPT

Continued from A1

Continued from A1 reports from the present day that ex-St. Louis cop Jason Stockley testified that he’s no murderer.

“That sounds familiar,” I thought to myself. Except that Darren Wilson, whose coldblooded actions set off the movement that changed my life and our city, was never charged.

On December 20, 2011, then-St. Louis Police Officer Jason Stockley shot five times into Anthony Lamar Smith’s silver Buick at the end of a high-speed chase. Stockley left him to die while he planted a revolver in the car, according to the prosecution.

The verdict in this case looms over the city much as the question of whether Darren Wilson would be indicted loomed in November 2014. Then, armored vehicles were stationed near the courthouse in Clayton. Barricades recently went up around court buildings downtown.

Local activists said they have committed to months of protest if Stockley is acquitted, and rightfully so. The movement that came out of Ferguson persists, though the

ing SLPS academics and helping all schools meet state, national and district goals.

As the executive director of the St. Louis Internship Program (SLIP), Shanice Johnson matches high school students with internship programs that can teach them valuable skills for their future careers. But Johnson’s organization has a deeper goal than that – the interns she works with are students in financial need, and SLIP finds them paid summer internships as well

cameras have gone, because –needless to say – our conditions remain the same.

As I consider what this moment might mean for activists and the resistance movement in St. Louis, I am reminded of our power, our determination to seek justice in an unjust, oppressive nation.

In 2014, I was a founding member of Millennial Activists United (MAU), a feminist, queer-led activist collective that undertook creative, powerful, and contentious civil disobedience and direct action. Alongside my partner, Alexis Templeton, I organized many actions in St. Louis in the year following the killing of Mike Brown, using civil disruption to call attention to St. Louis’ systemic assault on and disregard for black lives.

Our many mobilizations included protesting at highend restaurants in the Central West End and in South County, predominantly whitepopulated areas, disrupting the comfortable, day-to-day routine of folks far removed from the realities of being black, overpoliced, damn near preyedupon, in St. Louis. In collaboration with other activists, MAU organized outside of black churches on Easter Sunday (#BlackChurch), the day that sees the largest

as providing them with career training and college planning. Johnson, who has been with the organization since 1997, has helped students from public, private and charter schools graduate, acquire new skills and pursue their dreams.

Angela Keys teaches seventh and eighth grade language arts at Jennings Junior High school. She wasn’t always on the path to education. Keys originally worked for television and radio stations. It wasn’t until she came back

turnout of black churchgoers and marks the resurrection of radical, table-flipping, Palestinian Jesus Christ, calling for voice and action from those who had remained silent on state violence.

We organized outside of Jewish synagogues on Yom HaShoah (#BlackShul), a tender time of remembrance of all who perished in the Holocaust, calling for solidarity across our struggles.

To commemorate the first anniversary of Mike Brown’s death, on August 11, 2015 – with the support of lawyers, medical professionals, documentarians, and everyday people who made a decision to stand on the right side of justice – MAU organized a rush hour shutdown of I-70 in both directions.

During the shutdown, one driver, a middle-aged woman who appeared to be white, became increasingly angry for the delay. She yelled profanities and gave the middle finger to protestors and documentarians, as you can see in a scene from Whose Streets? The driver also had conversations with police officers who approached her vehicle.

As I stood on the median, watching and directing the action, I heard fellow comrades pleading, “Lady, lady, please stop” and looked over to see the driver moving her vehicle forward into bodies. You could hear it strike these folks who had trusted my direction.

Why? Because this person believed getting to her destination was worth risking the lives of the many who took to the highway to bring awareness to the disregard and violence that is the norm for St.

to Florissant that she realized teaching is a career that fulfills her. She now teaches passionately. For Keys, the role of the teacher is not just as an educator, but also as a guardian and counselor. Keys treats her students like they were her own kids.

Kevin M. Martin began his teaching career at Teach for America, teaching math to struggling students in the St. Louis Public Schools and aiming to help raise test scores. Today, he is still passionate

Louis’ black community.

As this woman continued to advance her car, I hopped down from the median and struck the driver door of her SUV with my size six foot. She gave me a look of disdain before slamming on the gas and plowing through the line, dragging a yellow painted box that read “Ferguson is Everywhere.” To this day, I thank the ancestors that it was a box and not a body.

Shortly afterward, I ordered the highway to be cleared going eastbound. We watched as police from various jurisdictions, along with state troopers, lined the highway, waiting for the moment to act. When they did, they ordered us to return to our vehicles and leave the premises.

As we did, we were trapped on the parking lot and brutally arrested, zip-tied, and made to sit on the hot pavement for what felt like hours, before sitting on a bus without airconditioning for hours more. One man attempting to leave the highway was slammed to the ground, resulting in a concussion that went untreated on that August day.

Everyone was arrested, including Alexis and me, as I had warned participants they would be. I cried angrily and loudly at the circumstances. For us, it felt like a lose/lose. We don’t protest, we lose. We do protest, we’re criminalized, and we lose.

I was released very early the next day, just 14 hours before I was arrested again on S. Central Avenue in Clayton, waiting for other highway protesters to be released from jail. This time, I was charged with a Class D felony for property damage, along with

about addressing all students’ needs. He advocates for greater mental health awareness and positive behavior intervention in his position of assistant principal of Curriculum and Instruction at Hazelwood Northwest Middle School. Martin is also a member of the Board of Trustees at St. Louis Community College.

Raghib Muhammad, a business and marketing instructor at McCluer South-Berkeley High School, teaches his students a skill that isn’t often a

two misdemeanors, for kicking the angry driver’s car.

Somehow, St. Louis County – the state – had chosen this belligerent white woman as their victim. You heard that right. Not only did the driver of the SUV face no consequences for plowing through a line of protesters, I was being labeled a felon for attempting to stop her – for attempting to protect friends, colleagues, comrades, human beings.

Just last month, a vehicle drove through protestors in the Grove during a vigil for Kiwi Herring, a black trans woman who was killed by police, injuring three. And before that, the whole country watched in horror as a driver killed a protester and injured many others in Charlottesville.

And yet, media and public officials continue to disparage protesters. More terrifying, our lawmakers continue their efforts to increase the penalties for those who expose their bodies to tanks and tear gas, to rubber bullets and moving cars, in order to express the needs of black and brown communities, and bring awareness to the state violence and injustice we constantly bear the brunt of.

This is why we must disrupt.

Though I am not a convicted felon, I have been largely silenced by the state since the highway shutdown. I’m serving probation of anywhere from two to five years, and any arrest could be a violation, again landing my fate, and my family’s, in the hands of the court.

But while I can’t be in the streets, should Stockley be acquitted, I will still be part of the protest.

All of the actions MAU organized were successfully

topic in high school – entrepreneurship. In his class, students build a plan for a small business, helping them develop innovation and organization skills. Some of Muhammad’s students have gone on to develop the products they invented in his class, but the problem-solving and critical thinking skills he teaches are useful no matter where they end up.

Latisha Smith is the director of curriculum and professional development for St. Louis Public Schools. As education changes, Smith guides occupations in education and keeps them up-to-date. She ensures educators are well-prepared and schools are not left behind. Her inspiration comes from the SLPS teachers who taught her as an elementary school student. Smith’s personal experiences and family also drive her. Family challenges have shaped the course of her life.

The 2017 Salute to Excellence in Education Gala will be held at 6 p.m. Saturday, September 23, 2017 at the America’s Center Ballroom, following a reception at 5 p.m. Tickets are on sale now. Individual tickets are $85 each/$850 table, and VIP/ Corporate tickets are $1,500 table. For more information or to purchase tickets, visit www. stlamerican.com and click on Salute to Excellence, or call 314-533-8000.

executed in part because we had a solid and broad community who believed as strongly as we did that justice is ours, and that the work required to obtain it would be arduous but necessary. This community rallied around us, donated to our legal fund, wrote letters, picked up our vehicles, provided childcare. They are nurses, educators, attorneys, clergy, professors, students, artists, food service workers. The support of these people is vital to those who risk our bodies and freedom to fight for black people. In the event that Stockley is acquitted, we must disrupt. Even in the face of state repression, we must disrupt. While many will take to the streets, many others can resist though other actions. Support your local activists. Clergy, if you aren’t preaching resistance in this city, then you are not preaching. Disrupt your comfortable dinner conversations. Organize yourselves at your city council meetings. Stop making nice with the status quo and disrupt it. Use whatever tools and access you have to support the protest. And to my comrades on the ground putting your minds, bodies, and freedom on the line, should it come to that, give them hell.

Brittany Ferrell is a St. Louis activist, co-founder of Millennial Activists United, and a registered high-risk labor and delivery nurse. Ferrell is a 2015 St. Louis American Foundation Salute to Young Leaders award recipient and Deaconess Foundation nursing scholar.

Anya Gray FranklinCrystal GaleShanice JohnsonAngela Keys

Kevin M. MartinRaghib MuhammadLatisha Smith

Alan Byrd

assembled and moderated by The American, about seeking solutions to St. Louis’ systemic problems three years after Ferguson.

“We collected 38 interviews in three hours, which exceeded expectations,” said Hillary Frey, director of strategy at HuffPost and mastermind of Listen to America. “We estimated the crowd for the panel at 125. We were thrilled with the turnout and everything else at both.”

Lydia Polgreen, editor in chief at HuffPost, also attended all of the St. Louis events and gave opening remarks at the morning launch. She said the tour was motivated by editors’ feelings of isolation from much of the country from their coastal bases in New York, Washington, D.C. and Los Angeles.

“So we thought: Why don’t we just go out and listen?” Polgreen said. “Let’s go out and give the mic to other people.”

She then handed the mic to Donald M. Suggs, publisher and executive editor of The St. Louis American and president of the St. Louis

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American Foundation, who provided a detailed look at a broad expanse of St. Louis history. The other speakers at the launch, selected by The American and HuffPost, were former Ferguson Commission co-chair Rev. Starsky Wilson, St. Louis Treasurer Tishaura O. Jones, and 15th Ward Alderwoman Megan Ellyria Green.

St. Louis Mayor Lyda Krewson was invited to speak, but after showing initial interest, she stopped responding to emails from organizers.

The first tour stop for Listen to America to gather interviews in the U. City Loop was busy, with a wait time of more than an hour, at times, as people volunteered to be interviewed on video. The lively and diverse group of interview subjects included legends from the Ferguson protest movement, including Tony Rice, Heather De Mian and Jon Ziegler (whose video footage of Heather Heyer being murdered at a protest in Charlottesville, Virginia will be the prosecution’s best evidence against James Alex Fields Jr.).

“They are looking to get to the bottom of things,” Rod Wilbon, a student at the University of Missouri St. Louis, said after his interview. “For someone as

Continued from A1 fangs. The male lions of the time, couldn’t compete with Brown’s innate ability to inspire and move the pride into concerted, collective action. At her urging, hundreds stepped into the middle of Highway 70, in 1999, to protest minority exclusion in highway projects led by attorney Eric E. Vickers. Later, high school students, led by Brown, engaged in the only successful shutdown/ occupation of the mayor’s office. Like a succulent gazelle, that mayor, Francis G. Slay, often found himself and/or his administration hunted, threatened and under constant attack from Brown throughout his long tenure. Brown was often ostracized from the pack. Some considered her too vicious, too uncompromising, too opinionated. In the words of the late, great Frank Sinatra, Lizz sometimes bit off more than she could chew. But that was part and parcel of her selfproclaimed desire to do it “My Way.”

Criticism aside, Brown’s unconditional love for her pride was undeniable. It was this unabashed devotion that moved her to venture into the wilderness of controversy all

big as HuffPost to come to St. Louis just to ask local people questions, I’ve never witnessed anything like that before.”

The HuffPost team worked out of the parking lot at Salt + Smoke, as well as inside the tour bus. Loop developer Joe Edwards, who owns the property, arranged with Salt + Smoke owner Tom Schmidt to make the space available when HuffPost had permitting difficulties with the University City government.

For one afternoon, a major international news organization – the HuffPost site currently is ranked No. 253 worldwide for most web traffic – was in

alone if necessary. Long before the deaths of Trayvon Martin and Mike Brown, Lizz was the local provocateur against police crimes and oppression. She publicly chastised police for the 1997 brutal beating of a mentally challenged teen, Gregory Bell, in his own home. She passionately adopted and publicized the case of Julius Thurman, a 19-year-old black man and burglary suspect, who, in 1999, died from a skull fracture while in police custody. Lizz Brown was willing to put it all on the line, boldly declaring that “Black Lives Matter” long before it became a national catch phrase. Brown was also a

Lydia Polgreen, editor-in-chief at HuffPost, introduced local panelists at the launch of its national listening tour in partnership with local media partners, Listen to America, in downtown St. Louis on Tuesday, September 12. The St. Louis American was its local media partner for the St. Louis visit and the national launch.

Photo by Wiley Price

residence at a local barbecue joint next to a Chuck Berry statue.

The evening panel at The Royale was focused on actions and solutions. Rev. Wilson and Alderwoman Green were invited to participate again, joined by organizer/activist Kayla Reed, ArchCity Defenders attorney Blake Strode, and Sgt. Kevin Ahlbrand of the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department, a former Ferguson Commission member and immediate past president of the Missouri Fraternal Order of Police.

As a state police union

gifted writer and television commentator. She was a frequent contributor to my defunct magazine, “Take Five,” and a columnist for The St. Louis American. The lioness’ fame was compromised, but not extinguished, after WGNU was sold in 2007. She was a guest on NBC, ABC and Fox news programs and became the unofficial go-to legal commentator for MSNBC, CNN, Al Jazeera and the Huffington Post after the 2014 death of Mike Brown. With a deceivingly killer smile, a mane of short, coiled dreads and magnetic stage presence, the lioness’ disruptive voice sought to enact real, progressive change in the

leader, Ahlbrand was asked by Green what the local police union, the St. Louis Police Officers Association, could be doing to improve relations with the community. Ahlbrand said there needed to be “better lines of communication.”

Reed said one way to improve communication with the police union would be to remove the controversial Jeff Roorda as the union’s business agent and spokesman. Roorda became a flashpoint in the discussion, with one audience member referring to Roorda on mic as a “racist pig.”

Ahlbrand said he was just one dues-paying union member

national spotlight.

Many of us, myself included, took the lioness for granted. How could someone who appeared so indestructible be vulnerable to a common disease? Personally, I was so caught up in my own struggles, I failed to note the lioness’ failing condition. I was literally floored by the news of her passing (on September 6, 2017) following a lengthy illness. I am embarrassed that a tiny (in retrospect) misunderstanding kept us from connecting in those final days.

Like Martin, Malcolm, Medgar and other icons who died at early ages, we are only left with memories of Lizz Brown’s mighty roar and the

among many, and the decision of whom to hire to work for the union was a decision reserved for members. In response, Reed called for a citizen campaign to pressure the union to fire Roorda. In fact, each panelist at one time or another put the responsibility to force change in the region onto the public, onto the audience.

“It was so incredible to be on the ground interacting with people and feeling in a really unfiltered way what is going on in St. Louis,” Hillary Frey of HuffPost said the morning after launch day.

“Working with The St. Louis American was a dream. We trusted each other, and we would not have had the same day without you. We were so proud to have you as a partner, and we definitely look forward to covering stories together in the future, and relying on your knowledge and expertise in your community.”

The American and the Huffpost also team-wrote a story as part of the collaboration, “In St. Louis, the politics of police reform are tougher than ever,” which was published on both of their sites. To watch a video of the panel discussion, visit the HuffPost’s Listen to America Facebook page

impact she made on the plains. She was our huntress, our protector, our savior. Lizz was that “loving liberal” who urged those who seemingly had no power, no voice, to wake up, speak up and act out! She may be gone but I pray that her life and legacy lives on. It is with a heavy heart, that I bid farewell to our very own lioness, Elizabeth Brown.

Sylvester Brown Jr. is a writer, community activist and executive director of the Sweet Potato Project, a program that seeks to empower low-income youth and adults through land-ownership and urban agriculture.

Are parents able to stop the killing?

Incarceration is a crisis among African-American men and boys, so why are so many killing each other? The African-American male is often called a moving target by some police departments, and some say the black male is an endangered species. So I ask, why are black men killing other black men?

You may have heard the song “Waiting for My Child to Come Home” and the lyric “No matter what the crime, he is still a child of mine, and I am waiting for my child to come home.” So I am saying to some parents: If your child is in a gang, or carjacking, or commit-

ting an armed robbery, or selling drugs, you must know that his chances of coming home are diminished, and his probability of being killed or harmed is intensified. Since young people who join gangs come from every neighborhood, race, religion, culture, and economic level, parents need to know how to most effectively protect children from this danger. Parents and guardians should recognize the signs.

becoming one, don’t make the mistake of denying your suspicions. Your feelings are probably right; you know this child better than anyone else. Talk with your child and express your love. But don’t feel you have to deal with the problem alone.

Bernie Hayes

If you suspect your child is a gang member or in danger of

Why is the number of homicides committed by youths rising in the United States? Is it because most black youths do not know their history? But just as black history is more than a month, so too are the numerous events and figures that are often overlooked during it.

Malcolm X said, “You can’t hate the roots of the tree without ending up hating the tree. You can’t hate your origin without ending up hating yourself. You can’t hate the land, your motherland, the place that you come from, and we can’t hate Africa without ending up hating ourselves.”

The bond between the parent and child is one of the strongest connections in nature, but if a parent is aware of gang activity, or crimes committed by their family members, they must tell. If you’re a victim of a crime

and you or someone you trust cooperates with the authorities, you are not a snitch. If you try to get rid of criminality and misconduct in your community, you are not a snitch. We have a right to be safe from drive-by shootings, murder, intimidation and disrespect; we have an obligation to uphold the laws that ensure public safety. When a citizen witnesses crime and decides to be conscientious, this doesn’t represent snitching; it’s doing the right thing.

Parents should start telling on their children before they lose them. Not to punish them, but to protect them. A mother’s and father’s love could be the reason some of these killers and carjackers are running loose. I understand that parents love their children but are they doing them more harm and putting them in danger by not reporting the guns, the bandanas and the gang affiliations? Just think about it. Please watch the Bernie Hayes TV program Saturday at 10 p.m. and Sunday at 5:30 p.m. on KNLC-TV Ch. 24. I can be reached by fax at (314) 8373369 or e-mail at: berhay@ swbell.net. Or on Twitter @ berhay.

Amos, Andy and Alvin Parks

Newly elected East St. Louis Township Supervisor Alvin Parks has finally morphed into a caricature of himself.

As ESL’s mayor he achieved the rarified distinction of being mocked by SNL on national TV. Normally, one would have to be president of the USA or, at the very least, a known celebrity to achieve that distinction. But Alvin has always been an overachiever.

However, he achieved an alltime low, during a recent public meeting, when he angrily ranted that “this is ‘Amos and Andy’ nigger business” in reaction to the township board’s rejection of his hiring choices, while approving their own. He even stormed away before, eventually, returning to the meeting.

Intheaudiorecording of the meeting, there were audible gasps of disgust, with trustee Edith Moore even telling Parks, “You ought to be ashamed of yourself.” Parks went on, later, to apologize for his “choice of language” but not for his “passion.”

Speaking of which, Alvin’s sister has problems of her own. Lauren Parks is head of the nonprofit corporation House of Miles, which is exempt from federal taxes. Not surprisingly, her brother Alvin and mother Lillian are board members. She also owns a private real estate corporation, PP66, Inc., through which she has acquired the childhood home of jazz legend Miles Davis at 1701 Kansas Ave. in ESL.

James Ingram

At the root of Parks’ rant was his pouting over the board’s refusal to hire school board member and Democratic boss Lonzo Greenwood as a $25,000 consultant and his sister Lauren Parks as a $40,000 per year

“township operations manager,” a created function which currently falls under Alvin’s job description.

Playing the role of “Kingfish” (from the ‘50s “Amos and Andy” show) Alvin even attempted to push his deal through by offering to hook up board members’ family with patronage jobs as well.

But as old Kingfish would say, “Holy mackerel!” Parks’ deal was rejected by the very board members he propositioned.

Amazing how the very deals that Parks has been cutting his whole political life suddenly becomes minstrel in nature, when Alvin can’t get his political cronies or sister hired.

Here’s the problem: Lauren has been renovating the Davis home with public donations solicited for her nonprofit corporation, while privately owning the property. Federal regulations dealing with “inurement” prohibit private entities from profitingfromcharities. More specifically, private charities must operate in such manner that none of its income or assets unreasonably benefits any board members, trustees, officers or employees. She has also not been forthcoming or transparent in terms of how much has actually been collected or how the renovated home will eventually be used, not a good formula for creating trust or generating future donations from public or corporate entities.

But it speaks to an elitist sense of entitlement and arrogance, on the part of the Parks family, in which tantrums result when Alvin fails to get his way or questionable business dealings, on the part of sister Lauren, are covertly contrived with little concern for transparency or details for East Boogie’s “lesser class.”

It is precisely this attitude and mentality, among many community leaders and politicians, that hinders any hope of investment in the long term development and future of the larger ESL community. And that is a travesty. Email: jtingram_1960@ yahoo.com; Twitter@ JamesTIngram.

Columnist

County Council pushes Stenger for accountability on Prop P funds

Last April, St. Louis County voters approved a sales tax increase to “improve police and public safety in St. Louis County and each of the municipalities within St. Louis County.” That ballot initiative, Proposition P, is projected to generate $80 million per year.

Spending $80 million is any politician’s dream, and paying back supporters is County Executive Steve Stenger’s specialty. So it didn’t surprise the EYE to hear the rumor that Stenger will be proposing a 30 percent across-the-board salary increase for one of his primary group of supporters, County police officers. Focusing the Proposition P funds on police salaries is a wasteful and irresponsible step, that completely ignores the root causes of crime. More clarity is needed to ensure that the County and municipalities in the County use Proposition P funds to reduce crime by focusing on its root causes.

We applaud the Harder’s attempt to bring more transparency to the Stenger Administration, but he and the Council seem to grossly misunderstand the term “public safety.” A government cannot work to promote public safety without addressing the reason the public may not be safe: poverty, unemployment, poor educational opportunities, a failed corrections system. After all, when the voters of St. Louis County voted to spend money on “public safety,” they endorsed much more than lining the pockets of police officers and buying more bullets.

Alice Prince sworn in

State Senator Jamilah Nasheed celebrated with Alice Prince at her recent swearing-in as director of the St. Louis Agency on Training and Employment, to which she was appointed by Mayor Lyda Krewson.

strategist Elbert A. Walton Jr. went after The St. Louis American for its editorial stating that state Senator Maria Chappelle-Nadal should resign because she is ineffective in the wake of posting on social media that she hoped President Donald Trump would be assassinated – a post she deleted and apologized for.

Elbert writes: I find it incredible that The St. Louis American would suggest that Maria Chappelle-Nadal should resign her position as a member of the Missouri Senate based on her exercising her First and Fourteenth Amendment Rights to state in writing that she “hoped” President Trump would be assassinated. The news media is confirming Trump’s charges that they are fake with their attack on Maria.

Maria simply put in writing her thoughts – and the thoughts of thousands, if not millions, of people around the world – who have come to despise Trump, and not only his policies, but also his actions and words.

More importantly, that “hope” was just that, a mere “hope” and nothing more.

on the campaign trail. People called for his withdrawal from the race, but he did not and went on to win election despite that “hope.”

Elected officials under criminal indictment seldom resign from office prior to being convicted of the crime for which they were charged. Why then would an elected official, who is innocent of any crime, resign from her officeor even be called upon to resign - based on a single word uttered in the heat of the moment? She was simply responding to Trump’s statements that racist terrorists engaged in violence in Charlottesville had done no wrong and were some good people. And you think she had no reason to react in the manner she did?

Legal precedent, as set forth in Julian Bond vs. Ford and Brandenburg vs. Ohio clearly show that she has done nothing that would allow her to be expelled from office and that her words are protected by the First and Fourteenth Amendments to the U.S. Constitution.

This week, the County Council agenda includes an ordinance proposed by County Councilman Mark Harder to require public disclosure of how Proposition P funds are spent. The Council recently passed a resolution Harder proposed that would endorse the use of Proposition P money only for “compensation, equipment, training, and other law enforcement and emergency management functions.”

A good model for the County is how the City of St. Louis spends the Public Safety Protection Sales Tax Fund money through the Board of Aldermen’s Public Safety Committee. Every year, the Public Safety Committee under Chairman Terry Kennedy oversees a process that distributes $1 million to various public safety initiatives. Rather than focusing that money on paying police officers more to do the same job, Alderman Kennedy has used his tenure as chairman to focus spending on reducing crime among at-risk youth. Money goes to organizations providing mentoring, summer jobs programs, prison education, and after-school programs. The City’s program could benefit from more public

dialogue and prioritizing funding. Fortunately, Alderman Kennedy’s leadership has kept the focus on the root causes of crime – a kind of leadership and focus the County badly needs.

White status quo for Lewis

President of the Board of Aldermen Lewis Reed kicked off fundraising for his re-election campaign recently. Introduced by Alderman Jack Coatar and flanked by other status quo white politicians like Mayor Lyda Krewson, Alderman Tom Oldenburg and Collector of Revenue Gregory F.X. Daly, it appears the white

incumbent establishment has found their candidate for President of the Board of Aldermen.

The deal Reed has apparently made to stay in power is a cynical and crafty move, as he faces a potentially split vote among blacks and progressives, with both Alderwoman Megan Ellyria Green and state Senator Jamilah Nasheed likely running, Reed helped to give us Mayor Krewson by acting as a spoiler in the mayoral race, and now seems to be trying to use the same tactic to be reelected.

Elbert slams American over Maria Attorney and political

Furthermore, after reflection on what she had posted on Facebook, she immediately recanted by taking that “hope” down. In addition, after thoughtful consideration as to the propriety of that posting, she acknowledged the inappropriateness of that public posting and issued an apology for what she had posted. In a predominantly Christian nation, that should have brought forgiveness and ended the matter.

Yet the news media, other publicly elected officials and particularly Democrats who have to be elected next year statewide are calling for her resignation. She rightfully announced that she has no intention of resigning.

She committed no crime; she simply made a single error in judgment. She did no more than Trump himself did when he intimated that he hoped Hillary Clinton would be assassinated when they were

Bottom line is racism. A black woman posted that she “hoped” for the assassination of a white racist president of the United States, who had come out in support of the violence perpetrated against black people by the KKK, Nazis and other white supremacist groups. Instead of understanding that she made that statement in the heat of the moment, the fake news media attack her and editorialize that she should resign from office. She is up to the fight! She is not going to resign, and the law is on her side. The fake news media should stick to jumping on Trump – he is wrong, not Maria. With all of her positive efforts to advance the cause of black people and her constituents, The American should look at her overall record and not just one incident in judging Maria’s performance in office. That you have joined the white racists in their attack upon Maria is a shame.

Dwight E. McLeod is dean of the Missouri School of Dentistry and Oral Health in St. Louis, part of A.T. Still University, which successfully implemented a new model of pre-doctoral dental education, teaching within the confines of a federally qualified health center.

‘The model of the future’

New dental school earns full accreditation partnering with community health center

By Sandra Jordan

Louis American

Of The St.

Although skeptics had doubts on whether this new model of dental education would work, receiving full accreditation without recommendations for improvements from the Commission on Dental Accreditation (CODA) proves otherwise for A.T. Still University (in Kirksville) and its Missouri School of Dentistry and Oral Health in St. Louis. It successfully implemented a new model of pre-doctoral dental education, teaching within the confines of a federally qualified health center. The medical partnership is with Affinia Healthcare.

n “We are the first school to be accredited with a federally qualified health center partnership model.”

– Dr. Dwight E. McLeod

The collaboration takes place at the St. Louis Dental Education and Oral Health Center located at 1500 Park Ave. (63104). Dental students provide dental services for patients under the supervision of professional licensed dentists.

Dr. Dwight E. McLeod is the dean at

A.T. Still University’s Missouri School of Dentistry and Oral Health in St. Louis. He said the accreditation is a result of a collaborative effort, with Affinia, its parent university and dedicated faculty, staff and students.

Additionally, McLeod said the achievement is the first of its kind in the nation.

“It’s kind of unique and unprecedented for a brand new school to achieve full accreditation with zero recommendations,” McLeod said.

“We are the first school to be accredited with a federally qualified health center partnership model.”

In order to earn CODA accreditation, dental experts evaluated the school for standards

Gestational Diabetes: tips for a healthy mom and baby

By Dr. Kecia Gaither Guest columnist

Of all the medical tests expectant mothers undergo in the months before childbirth, perhaps one of the most important evaluates for gestational diabetes. This pregnancy-related condition – in which hormonal changes cause blood sugar levels to rise dangerously – is increasingly common, but moms-to-be can still take key steps to protect their health and that of their babies.

According to a 2016 report from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), as many as 9 percent of pregnant women are diagnosed with gestational diabetes. The condition used to be relatively uncommon, but the rate has risen dramatically in recent years. To evaluate for gestational diabetes, women between the 24th and 28th week of pregnancy undergo a routine screening. This test is performed earlier in pregnancy if certain risk factors are present inclusive of:

• African American, American Indian, Asian American Hispanic or

Pacific Islander ethnicity

• Prior history of gestational diabetes

• Presence of obesity

• Prior delivery of a large infant ( 10 pounds or greater)

• History of stillbirth

• Strong family history of diabetes. The test involves drinking a bottle of a glucose solution (called Glucola), and having blood drawn an hour later to analyze glucose levels. If a woman’s blood sugar is higher than 135 mg/dL, she’s referred for what’s called an oral glucose tolerance test – a more stringent screening involving an overnight fast, consuming another glucose solution and having blood drawn 4 times over 3 hours. An abnormal result confirms the diagnosis of gestational diabetes.

Moms-to-be shouldn’t panic if their blood sugars show they’ve got gestational diabetes. There’s nothing they could do to prevent it—but it’s important that the disease is

See GAITHER, A11

Community Health Day is Saturday, September 23 at Harris-Stowe

By Sandra Jordan Of The St. Louis American

On Saturday, September 23, The Prostate Cancer Coalition and 100 Black Men of Metropolitan St. Louis will hold their 2017 annual Community Health Day and Prostate Cancer Run/Walk on the campus of HarrisStowe State University. This is the 15th year for the event, which runs from 7:30 a.m. until noon.

n “We want this Community Health Day to reach our entire community for lasting impact.”

– Lannis Hall, MD

This year’s health fair promotes health for men, women and children and will feature more than 35 health vendors. The event includes free prostate screenings for men, screenings for blood pressure, HIV, cholesterol, blood glucose, dental screenings and mammography. Vendors and programs will demonstrate the importance of healthy diet, regular exercise, and hearing, vision, lead and anemia testing. Exercise classes will take place hourly as well as training in stress-reduction activities.

“We want this Community Health Day to have the largest attendance ever and reach our entire community for lasting impact,” said Lannis Hall, M.D., co-founder of the Prostate Cancer Coalition and director of Radiation Oncology at Siteman Cancer Center, Barnes-Jewish St. Peters Hospital. There will be free food, entertainment and games for the children. Prostate cancer survivor and baseball legend Ken Griffey Sr. is scheduled to attend.

Registration for the event is required. You can register from your phone by texting 2017CHD to 41411 or go online to www.100BlackMenStl.com. Advanced registration is required to schedule a mammogram on the mammography van. Do so by calling 1-800-600-3606 or 314-7477222.

Photo by Wiley Price

Dr. Kecia Gaither

SSM Health breaks ground on new SLU Hospital, ambulatory care center

$550M facility is scheduled to receive its first patient in September 2020

By Sandra Jordan Of The St. Louis American

In three years, the massive hole dug near Grand and Choteau will be the new home of SSM Health Saint Louis University Hospital and ambulatory care center. When completed, the new $550 million new facility will total more than 800,000 square feet. The new SLU Hospital will have a 600,000 sq. ft., 10-floor hospital with 316 private patient rooms, an expanded Level 1 trauma

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of acceptable operation and performance. The standards for dental education include institutional effectiveness, the education program, faculty and staff, educational and support services, patient care services and research programs. A site visit for accreditation took place in August.

He said having the partnership with Affinia has been great for its students. They get to treat more people who need help and greater access to dental care.

“It gives our students a very well-balanced education in learning how to interact with diverse patient populations and various cultural and ethnic backgrounds, different languages,” McLeod said. “We do have interpreters that come

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recognized and treated early to afford a good perinatal outcome. Why is it important to test blood sugar levels during pregnancy? Because when levels rise – and remain –chronically high, gestational diabetes poses particular risks to both mom and baby.

Associated risks to the mother include:

• Miscarriage

• Pregnancy complications such as preeclampsia- a condition involving seriously

for

center and emergency department, larger intensive care units, a 200,000 sq. ft., four-floor ambulatory care center, as well as expanded patient parking, green space and areas for future campus expansion.

“Breaking ground on the new SLU Hospital is not only an important step for the city of St. Louis, it’s also important for the patients who come here from all over the region,” said Kate Becker, president of SSM Health Saint Louis University Hospital.

with us, and I think we would not be able to get this if we did not partner with a community health center.”

The students in the dental program have varied backgrounds as well.

“We select students from disadvantaged backgrounds with the hopes that they will go back to their own community and become leaders that will make a difference, leaders that will change the oral health and perhaps the total health of their patients in those communities,” McLeod said.

He said another important factor is inter-professional education – having access to the patient’s total medical record in order to provide better care.

“Our partnership with Affinia gives us access to medical health records, and most schools are trending that way,” he said. “Part of our program is the strong emphasis

high blood pressure that can harm both mother and child

• Premature delivery –particularly if gestational diabetes is diagnosed prior to 24 weeks gestation

• Delivering an overweight baby (over 10 pounds), which raises the risk of requiring a cesarean birth.

Associated risks to the baby

include:

• Fetal death- due to the excessively high sugar levels in the mothers blood

• Birth-related injuries due to larger size

• Low blood sugar and electrolyte abnormalities in the neonate after birth

• Premature birth

The new hospital will continue to focus on acute care patients, cardiovascular care, oncology, stroke, transplant and trauma.

The project is part of a commitment made by former SSM Health President/CEO William P. Thompson on the first day the organization assumed ownership of the hospital, September 1, 2015. He announced an ambitious five-year plan to construct a new hospital and ambulatory care center that incorporates national best practices in

patient-centered design while delivering an improved patient experience.

It is expected the project will total more than 2.2 million workforce construction hours and a peak workforce team of more than 600.

“Saint Louis University, SLUCare Physician Group and SSM Health St. Louis built upon their expanded partnership by collaborating closely in planning the new facilities,” said Robert M. Heaney, M.D., SLUCare

To schedule an appointment

Contact: St. Louis Dental Education and Oral Health Center, 1500 Park Avenue, St. Louis, MO 63104. Call 314-833-2700.

To apply to the dental school

Contact Admissions at 866-626-2878 ext. 2237 or email admissions@atsu.edu.

on community service and access to care in the rural and urban underserved areas. And it’s proven to be very effective.”

The inaugural class of 2017 consisted of 42 students, all of whom successfully completed the dental program and graduated. Among the alumni, McLeod said one-third work in

private practice settings, onethird work in the public health community and one-third are receiving advanced dental practice training.

Accreditation is allowing this dental program to move forward as a model for best practices in dental education.

“It gives us the latitude to be creative in what we do, to

n “Insulin doesn’t cross the placenta, so it won’t affect the baby. It just helps keep mom’s blood sugars stable, protecting both of them.”

– Kecia Gaither,

MD

• Temporary respiratory problems in the newborn

• Jaundice or yellowing of the skin, which resolves with treatment.

Unfortunately, not all risks to mom and baby from gestational diabetes disappear after childbirth. Half or more of women diagnosed with the condition during pregnancy

will eventually go on to develop type 2 diabetes.

There’s even research showing that children of women with gestational diabetes are at higher risks of developing type 2 diabetes themselves.

If you or a loved one has been diagnosed with gestational diabetes, there’s a lot that can

Physician Group CEO. “As a result, our new hospital will provide patients with the best possible healing environment, our students and trainees with an enhanced educational experience and our scientists with expanded medical research opportunities.”

Hospital leadership and elected officials participated in the official groundbreaking on August 30, adjacent to the current hospital on 15 acres between Rutger and Lasalle streets. Participants in the event included Chris

become a leader in the region, in the state and in the nation,” McLeod said. “And our unique model is a model of the future, one that most dental schools desire to have.”

Developing affiliations with schools locally and regionally and getting more diverse students interested in a career in dental health, and the STEM classes to help make it achievable is what lies ahead for the school.

message out to those students as soon as possible so they can focus on what it will take for them to become competitive to get into this very lucrative field of dentistry.”

– Dr. Dwight E. McLeod

“Hopefully very soon, as we become a little bit more well-situated in the St. Louis area we’ll start going into high schools, elementary schools,” McLeod said. “We want to get the

To apply to the Missouri School of Dentistry & Oral Health, contact Admissions at 866-626-2878 ext. 2237 or email admissions@atsu.edu. n “It’s kind of unique and unprecedented for a brand new school to achieve full accreditation with zero recommendations.”

be done to protect both mom’s and baby’s health despite the condition. Some cases can be managed without prescribing insulin – implementation of regular exercise and dietary changes can effect good glucose control. Eating fewer sweets and smaller, more frequent meals can greatly impact blood sugar levels for the better.

Checking blood sugars regularly is an important tactic to ensure levels stay stable; additionally, it’s important that you bring your sugar log to each prenatal visit so your health provider can monitor your progress. If insulin is recommended by your doctor,

The school’s next accreditation visit will be in 2024.

To schedule an appointment or inquire about services provided, please contact: St. Louis Dental Education and Oral Health Center, 1500 Park Avenue, St. Louis, MO 63104. Call 314833-2700.

make sure you take it as prescribed.

Insulin doesn’t cross the placenta, so it won’t affect the baby. It just helps keep mom’s blood sugars stable, protecting both of them. By taking a few crucial steps, mother and child can both emerge from gestational diabetes in good health.

Kecia Gaither, MD, MPH, FACOG, a perinatal consultant and women’s health expert, is a double board-certified physician in OB/GYN and Maternal-Fetal Medicine in New York City (www.keciagaither.com).

Howard, president of Hospital Operations, SSM Health; Fred Pestello, president, Saint Louis University; Auxiliary Bishop Rivituso; Kate Becker, president SSM Health Saint Louis University Hospital; St. Louis Mayor Lyda Krewson; U.S. Congressman Wm. Lacy Clay; state Sen. Jamilah Nasheed; state Rep. Michael Butler; Board of Aldermen President Lewis Reed; Alderman Joe Roddy; and Alderwoman Marlene Davis.

Photo by Bill Greenblatt/UPI

SSM Health Saint Louis University Hospital leadership and elected officials participated in the official groundbreaking of the new SLU Hospital on August 30, adjacent to the current hospital on 15 acres between Rutger and Lasalle streets.

NEWSPAPER IN EDUCATION

Planting the Seeds for Success! PRESENT:

Nutrition Challenge:

One way to make sure you’re getting the nutrition your body needs is to have a goal of (at least) 5 servings of fresh fruits and vegetables — every single day! Each serving is only about ½ cup, so it’s easier than you think! Here are a few tips.

Calorie?

Calories are a way to measure the amount of “energy” gained from eating something. So if you eat a medium apple (about 100 calories), that’ll provide the energy for you to do a simple physical task such as walk around the block. Calories aren’t the bad guys; extra weight happens

Healthy Kids Kids

> Start off your day with a piece of fruit!

> Try new fruits and vegetables each week.

> Why not add fruits or vegetables to your fall baking? You can boil and puree many different kinds to add to cakes, breads, etc.

> What are some other ways to add fruits/ vegetables to your diet?

Learning Standards:

when we consume (eat) more of them than we need. That’s why it’s important to stay physical and burn those calories throughout the day. Here are some ideas, and the calories an average 125-pound person will burn in 30 minutes (depending on speed).

One of the best ways to protect yourself from getting sick is to wash your hands. Think about surfaces that are touched by many people: door handles, computer keys, telephones, stair railings and sports equipment. If the person using it before you is sick and then you touch it, you could catch their illness from the germs they leave behind. So practice washing your hands multiple times a day, especially before eating, to stay healthier!

Learning Standards: HPE 2, HPE 3, NH 1, NH 7

Flav-O-Pop

Vickie Wade, WHNP-BC, MSN

> Walking = 120-150

> Running = 180-300

> Biking = 240-300

> Mowing = 135

> Watching TV = 23

Visit http://www.calorieking. com/foods for an excellent guide to the calories in the foods you eat.

Learning Standards: HPE 2, HPE 5, NH 1, NH3

Ingredients: Low-Fat or Air-Popped Popcorn Flavorings: Taco Seasoning, Parmesan Cheese, Hot Pepper Flakes, Garlic Powder, Italian Seasoning, etc.

Directions: Prepare popcorn. Sprinkle your favorite flavoring on top and shake, shake, shake! Experiment with different combinations to create a delicious snack!

I

through the lifestyle that they live. The highlight of my day is visiting the clinic and seeing the smiles of the people that appreciate the services that we provide.

Learning Standards: HPE6, NH3

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

CLASSROOM SPOTLIGHT

Percy A. Pierre

close your eyes and imagine a typical day. You are surrounded by electronic conveniences such as MP3 players, TVs, gaming systems, microwave ovens, etc. With the flick of a light switch, you are able to see. The temperature of the air is controlled with heat in the winter or air conditioning in the summer. Have you ever wondered how all of these creations work? Who created them? Who studies them to make the improvements?

SCIENCE CORNER What Is Static Electricity?

Have you ever walked across the carpet, touched the door knob and received a zap? That is static electricity! When you take off your hat in winter and your hair stands on end? Static electricity. What is static electricity and how is it formed?

Everything is made up of atoms.

Atoms contain protons (which have a positive charge), electrons (which have a negative charge), and neutrons (which are “neutral” and do not have a positive or negative charge).

There is usually a balance of protons (positive) and electrons (negative). However, when you rub two items together, such as walking across the floor, or combing your hair, you create friction. Friction will move protons from one item to another. When an item has more protons than usual, it has a positive charge. When it has more electrons than usual, it has a negative charge.

Opposites attract. Therefore, a positively charged item will attract a negatively charged item. Have you ever rubbed a

Are you ready to create some static electricity of your own? For this experiment, you will need only three items: a comb, a light bulb, and a dark room.

Directions: After you have gathered your materials, you are ready to begin.

STEP 1. Comb your hair for a minimum of 20 strokes. This is friction.

STEP 2. Place the comb to the metal base of the light bulb.

balloon against your hair and watched as your hair raised and moved towards the balloon? This is an example of a positively charged item attracting a negative charged item. This process is called static electricity.

Try It: Grab a comb and some cereal. After combing your hair, the friction creates a positive charge on your comb. Place the comb near the pieces of cereal. The cereal will be attracted to the comb and will move toward it.

Read About It: Are you interested in learning more about static electricity? Check out these books: “Where does electricity come from?” by C. Vance Cast “Electricity and Magnets: Hands on Science,” by Sarah Angliss “The Magic School Bus” and the “Electric Field Trip,” by Joanna Cole

Learning Standards:

I can read nonfiction passages to understand a concept. I can apply the main idea in an experiment.

Changing A Bulb

Analyze: How does this happen? The friction of combing your hair moves electrons to the comb. Now your body is positively charged and the comb is negatively charged. The metal in the light bulb is a conductor and sends the electricity through the bulb. Plastics, cloth, and glass typically act as insulators. Metal is a great conductor, which means that it allows electrons to move through it more effectively.

Percy A. Pierre was born on Jan. 3, 1939, in Louisiana. After graduating from high school in New Orleans, Pierre went on to receive a bachelor’s degree and a master’s degree in electrical engineering from Notre Dame. In 1967, Pierre was the first African American to receive a doctorate’s degree in electrical engineering from John Hopkins University.

Electrical engineers study electricity, electronics, and electromagnetism. With this knowledge, they are able to help develop products powered by electricity. Pierre specialized in signal processing, which uses math to convert (change) real world signals, such as voice, audio, and temperature. This process is used in many modern processes, such as MP3 recordings.

Pierre has used his knowledge in many different settings. He served as an Assistant Secretary of the Army for research and development, a dean at Michigan State University, and a White House Fellow for the Executive Office of the President. Pierre has also worked with 12 nonprofit organizations that focus on research or educational development. He has served on 10 national scientific and technical advisory boards.

Recruiting new students to study electrical engineering, especially minority students is important to Pierre, so he founded the National Action Council for Minorities and Engineering (NACME) which has provided over $100 million dollars to more than 18,000 minority engineering students. Pierre was chosen to receive the 2008 Lifetime Mentor Award for the Advancement of Science.

Discuss:

How did Percy Pierre’s knowledge affect society? Which of his accomplishments did you find most impressive? Why?

Extension:

How much do you rely on electricity? Keep a log that records all of the electronics you use in a typical day.

Learning Standards:

I can read and comprehend nonfiction text. I can make connections to a biography.

STEP 3. Observe as the static electricity will travel through the light bulb’s filament creating short bursts of light.

and “negative” numbers.

Learning Standards: I can follow instructions to complete an experiment. I can use information to make inferences and deductions while observing the results.

In the News: Use the newspaper to find six numbers. Use these numbers to create three math problems of your own. Trade math questions with a classmate and solve.

Learning Standards: I can add, subtract, multiply and divide to answer a math question.

In the 18th century, Benjamin Franklin was experimenting with static electricity. His studies led to an invention of the lightning rod, which grounds electric energy that touches the earth during storms. Doctors use electrocardiograms (ECG) to measure the electricity going through your heart. Your heartbeat will create spikes as the blood pulses through your heart. Animals use static electricity, too! Electric eels use shocks of up to 500 volts to defend themselves.

Meeting the needs of

others: Percy A. Pierre devoted his time to helping others receive an education.

Locate pictures of groups or organizations that help to meet people’s needs. Cut and paste the pictures on a piece of paper. Write a sentence explaining how each group or organization meets the needs of people.

Solving problems with technology: There are many social, economic, or environmental problems that can be solved with science and technology. Use the newspaper to find an example of a problem that can be overcome with science or technology. What is the solution?

Where in the world was that discovered? We use technology developed by people all over the world on a daily basis. Locate and cut out pictures of technological inventions in the newspaper. Research to find out where each was invented or discovered. Paste the pictures on a world map, identifying the location of each discovery.

Enhancing Literacy Skills: When reading the newspaper, you will see many new words that are unfamiliar to you. Use context clues to guess the meaning of unknown words. Use a dictionary to confirm the definition of the word. Create a vocabulary log of the new words you learn.

Partners:

In Nicole Binion’s 3rd grade class students

Makayla Cook, Trenton Green, Maurice Perine, Da’Mya Hudson and Raven Hamilton learn to identify health foods from using examples in the newspaper’s NIE page.

Photo by Wiley Price/ St. Louis American

Ms. Binion’s 3rd Grade Class

St. Louis putting together proposal to bring Amazon here

During the official opening of the Amazon Edwardsville Fulfillment Centers, U.S. Senator Dick Durbin (D-Illinois) and U.S. Rep. John Shimkus (R-Collinsville) toured the facility with General Manager John Speedy and staff on Thursday, August 24. For jobs at Amazon, visit https://amazon.force.com.

Company plans to spend more than $5B to build

By Bill Raack and Maria Altman

St. Louis Mayor Lyda Krewson said the region is planning to make a “competitive bid” to bring Amazon’s second headquarters here. The company said on Thursday, September 7 that it will spend more than $5 billion to build another headquarters in North America to house as many as 50,000 employees. It plans to stay in its sprawling Seattle headquarters and the new space will be “a full equal” of its current home, said founder and CEO Jeff Bezos.

Amazon’s announcement highlights how fast the company is expanding and is certain to create a scramble among cities and states vying to make the short list. They have a little more than a month to apply through a special website, and the company said it will make a final decision

another headquarters

n The company said on Thursday, September 7 that it will spend more than $5 billion to build another headquarters in North America to house as many as 50,000 employees.

next year. In a statement, Krewson said: “We’re on it.”

St. Louis County Executive Steve Stenger said the county will also be involved in putting the proposal together.

Missouri’s acting director of the state Department of Economic Development, Rob Dixon, told the media Thursday at Gov. Eric

Greitens’ economic development conference in St. Louis that it’s an exciting opportunity for the state.

“This company can go anywhere it wants around the world. We should make the case as to why Missouri and what assets we offer, and I know we’ll continue that conversation,” Dixon said.

“It’s a large project, there’s a lot of jobs, it’s a global brand that we all know and hear about quite a bit. I can’t get into any specifics about what we will or won’t be doing on that.”

Amazon didn’t hint about where it might land, but its requirements could rule out some places: It wants to be near a metropolitan area with more than a million people; be able to attract top technical talent; be within 45 minutes of

Jennings student wins St. Louis BizCamp

Carlise Minor’s business would help victims of bullying

American staff

Carlise Minor, 15, a student at Jennings High School, won the recent St. Louis BizCamp for her business plan for Better Kids Better Adult, which gives victims of bullying an alternative option to suicide with a crafted customized program. The St. Louis BizCamp was held at Normandy High School, with the Boys & Girls Clubs of Greater St. Louis the community partner. From June through August, the Network for Teaching Entrepreneurship (NFTE) hosted BizCamps in 10 cities across the United States for students, ages 13 to 18, from under-resourced communities. Students created a business idea and then worked to complete a business plan. At the end of camp, young entrepreneurs presented

their business plans to a panel of judges in a competition to win seed capital.

Young people learned how entrepreneurs recognize opportunities, implement plans, build teams and overcome obstacles. BizCamp activities included the NFTE curriculum covering topics such as return on investment, supply and demand, opportunity recognition and marketing.

“No matter what path students choose, the entrepreneurial mindset will help them create opportunities for themselves, persist through

n NFTE BizCamps were held in the Bay Area, Chicago, DC-Baltimore Metro, Los Angeles, New England, New York, Newark, North Texas, South Florida and St. Louis.

challenges and be successful in the 21st Century innovation economy,” said Shawn Osborne, NFTE’s President and CEO.

Lead support for all camps was provided by the Citi Foundation and in many programs Citi employees also participated as volunteers. For more information, visit nfte.com.

Byron Rogers was promoted to program manager at St. Louis ArtWorks. Since 2004, he has offered youth apprentices at St. Louis ArtWorks instruction in drawing, painting, and other visual arts. “I’m looking forward to incorporating more programming that will continue to develop strong apprentices for the future,” he said.

Teri Alexander was honored by LUME Institute and University City Children’s Center as a teacher of the year. She has taught at the center for 10 years. Her passion project is Music Therapy in the Classroom, which will give young children opportunities for self-expression through music, especially during emotionally challenging times.

Ja-Mes “Jay” Watson III was hired as project manager-Civil Engineering at St. Louis Development Corporation. He will focus on streets and lighting, transit, Next NGA West, and other major infrastructure projects in the City of St. Louis. He worked in similar positions at Gateway Land Services, TSI Geotechnical Engineering Inc., and Tarlton Corp.

Keeley D. Hayes has been appointed vice president of Nursing/ chief nursing officer at Aurora Health, Aurora Sinai Hospital, in Milwaukee. She currently holds the position of administrative director of Nursing Operations for SSM Health in St. Joseph and St. Charles. She will move to her new position in October.

Brian Temple Jr. joined HOK as design professional - architect. He will be an integral part of the Design and Planning team, responsible for coordinating and/ or undertaking the design development, production, and delivery of projects as well as provide projectspecific application of expert design technology techniques.

Marie-Hélène Bernard agreed to a three-year extension of her contract as president and CEO of the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra. Thus far, she has developed and implemented a five-year strategic plan, achieved a balanced cash operating budget for the first time this century, and increased overall ticket revenue and sales for two years in a row.

On the move? Congratulations! Send your good professional news

Byron Rogers

Of St. Louis Public Radio

Ja-Mes “Jay” Watson III

Keeley D. Hayes

MarieHelene Bernard

Brian Temple Jr.

Teri Alexander

Photo by Wiley Price

Carlise Minor

Education Department cuts ties to Consumer Financial Protection Bureau

Senators seek answers about new departmental appointee

By Charlene Crowell Columnist

A recent letter from the U.S. Department of Education (DOE) to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), along with a controversial appointment, have together triggered reactions that do not bode well for the 44 million consumers who together share $1.4 trillion in borrowed student debt. Debt levels in 2017 are more than double what it was in 2008.

On August 31, two DOE officials, Kathleen Smith, its Acting Assistant Secretary of Postsecondary Education and Dr. A. Wayne Johnson, DOE’S Chief Operating Officer, gave Richard Cordray, CFPB Director a 30-day notice that it was ending two agreements that formalized how the two agencies worked collaboratively on federal student loans. In policy wonk language, a “Memorandum of Understanding” or MOU, sets forth cooperative and collaborative working relationships.

million dollar settlements for fraud and other legal violations.

With the MOUs in place, bad actors including both for-profit colleges and loan servicers have been found to violate federal laws particularly in deceiving consumers. For example, Corinthian Colleges, ITT Tech, DeVry University and Navient, the nation’s largest student loan servicer have all faced enforcement actions with student loan borrowers receiving restitution and/or debt forgiveness for those actions resolved to date.

Even for CFPB, the Education letter was a surprise.

“We have not previously heard any concerns as we have worked together to make sure that all student loan borrowers are treated fairly, with respect and dignity,” said David Mayorga, a CFPB spokesman, in a statement.

Two MOUs provided the formal framework for Education and CFPB and dated back to October 2011 and January 2014. The first MOU detailed how DOE would share information with CFPB. The second detailed how the two agencies would cooperate on supervisory oversight, the process that has led to multiple

“The Consumer Bureau has statutory responsibilities to protect student loan borrowers — like all consumers — from practices that violate the laws we enforce and would like to continue to work with the Education Department toward our shared goals.”

Reactions from consumer advocates posed questions as to why DOE would cut its ties to CFPB.

“Secretary DeVos’ decision to sever this important partnership is part of a pattern of decisions that ignores the

interests of struggling students and moves the Department of Education further away from improving federal higher education loan programs and servicing,” said Whitney Barkley-Denney, a policy counsel with the Center for Responsible Lending who specializes in student loans. “It also deliberately undermines the CFPB from fulfilling its mission of protecting consumers.”

“Education is now trying to stop the CFPB from handling loan-related complaints, but Education’s failures are what led Congress to give the CFPB authority to help students,” said Persus Yu, director of the National Consumer Law Center’s Student Loan Borrower Project, in a related article by The Consumerist “DeVos is prioritizing the interests of predatory for-profit schools, debt collectors, and troubled student loan services over the interests of student loan borrowers.”

Yu may be on to something. Despite broad consumer support for CFPB and its $11.9 billion in consumer victories, Education officials described CFPB in its letter as “an overreaching and unaccountable agency”. The letter’s last paragraph provides perhaps the real concern that DOE has.

“The Department takes exception to the CFPB unilaterally expanding its oversight role to include the Department’s contracted federal loan servicers.”

Loan servicing is big business in higher education. Each year, federal tax dollars support more than $130 billion via loans and grants. Every year, new indebtedness is added to today’s $1.4 trillion outstanding student loan amounts. Even in today’s economy we’re talking about a lot of money that needs to be

collected.

Only a few weeks ago Secretary Betsy DeVos was forced to abandon an illadvised plan to award a single corporation responsibility for servicing all federal student loans. Opposition to the singleservicer proposal took issue with the federal government singling out a one vendor for an exclusive, multi-billion

n “Secretary DeVos’ decision to sever this important partnership is part of a pattern of decisions that ignores the interests of struggling students.”

– Whitney BarkleyDenney, Center for Responsible Lending

dollar contract.

Now a recent high-level staff appointment has raised serious concerns from several U.S. Senators. Just before the Labor Day holiday, DOE announced the appointment of Dr. Julian Schmoke, Jr. as its new Chief Enforcement Officer in the agency’s Student Aid unit. In this role, Dr. Schmoke is charged to enforce laws and regulations affecting federal student aid.

He arrives at DOE as a

former academic dean at DeVry University during the time when the institution paid $100 million to settle a federal lawsuit that charged false advertising and deception.

Five U.S. Senators in a September 5 letter question Dr. Schmoke’s ability to effectively function in his new role. Currently, DOE has 1,872 pending claims involving DeVry students. Senators Sherrod Brown of Ohio, Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut, Dick Durbin of Illinois, Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts and Sheldon Whitehouse of Rhode Island were the signatories.

In part the letter states, “Based on what is publicly available about your background, we have serious concerns about your seeming lack of experience in consumer protection, litigation, and the management of investigations and attorneys. These qualifications and skills are essential to executing the critical responsibilities of this role.”

Additionally, the Senators pose a list of questions that seek details on his prior experience, whether he will recuse himself on matters involving DeVry, and whether he holds any financial interests in for-profit higher education. The letter sets September 26 as the requested deadline for written replies.

In less than a year, DOE has managed to stir a cauldron of questions from lawmakers, educators and consumers that will continue to brew until they’re answered fully. Thankfully, while DOE sorts through its actions, state engagement in consumer concerns remains a viable alternative.

“As the federal government continues to prioritize private interests,” added BarkleyDenney, “state actors are and should continue to be an important line of defense for defrauded students. States can address deception by licensing student servicers within their states, which can help in prohibiting misrepresentations, payment misapplications, and false credit reports.”

“Based on her track record and the Trump Administration’s lack of compassion toward students,” continued Barkley-Denney, “we are doubtful that this Department, under Secretary DeVos’ leadership, will produce results that defend borrowers and taxpayers from predatory institutions and services.” Charlene Crowell is the deputy communications director with the Center for Responsible Lending. She can be reached at Charlene. crowell@responsiblelending. org.

President Donald Trump with U.S. Education Secretary Betsy DeVos

Charlene Crowell

n “I should just retire now. I’m never going to be able to top this.”

– Sloane Stephens, after winning the women’s singles title at the US Open

PreP Football Notebook

Who will remain undefeated?

The St. Mary’s Dragons have emerged as one of the area’s top basketball programs in the past three years.

Something seems to be brewing on the South Side in football as well as the Dragons are off to an impressive 4-0 start under the leadership of second-year head coach Corey Bethany.

The Dragons have been scoring a lot of points and playing an entertaining style of football with a lot of big play ability. Senior running back Lavel Harris leads the way with 598 yards rushing and nine touchdowns.

The 5’9” 160-pound Harris also excels at defensive back with four interceptions. Senior quarterback Gus Dattoli is at the controls of the offense with 850 yards passing and 11 touchdowns. His top target is 6’2” senior Antonio Burks, who has 10 receptions for 269 yards and five touchdowns. Junior Jalen Bethany has nine receptions for 124 yards and four touchdowns while 6’6” senior receiver Yahuza Rasas has five receptions for 94 yards and a touchdown. Burks, Rasas and Harris are also mainstays on the Dragons’ talented basketball team.

On defense, Bethany leads the way with 37 tackles, 17 solos and one interception. Senior defensive lineman Darius Houston has three quarterback sacks and senior Albert Huff has 30 tackles and 16 solos.

On Friday night, St. Mary’s will face its biggest test of the season when it will host undefeated St. Francis Borgia in an Archdiocesan Athletic Association contest.

*Ladue turns it around What a difference a week made for the Ladue Rams, who are currently 2-2 on the season. In Week 3, the Rams dropped a 28-21 decision to Webster Groves after holding a 21-0 lead in the second quarter.

Last Friday night, it was Ladue’s turn to make a big comeback as they rallied from deficits of 17-0 and 23-7

See PREP, B5

IN the ClutCh With

Canelo and GGG ready to bring the pain

Fight of the Year favorite matches up two of boxing’s hard-hitting warriors

Three weeks ago, Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Conor McGregor met in the ring for one of the most lucrative prizefights in history. More than 13,000 fans paid astronomical prices to be in attendance. Upwards of 4 million people in the U.S. shelled out $100 bucks to watch from the comfort of their couches.

Security analysts estimate another 3 million people streamed the fight illegally to their computers, Fire Sticks and Kodi boxes. The fight was big business. However, if you look past the cash, the fight was essentially meaningless. McGregor fought better than most people expected, but let’s keep it real, the only way he could’ve beaten Mayweather is if he’d entered the ring with a Louisville Slugger. This weekend, dedicated fight fans are gearing up for another big fight. Though it doesn’t quite carry the hype

of Mayweather vs McGregor, the long-awaited fight between Canelo Alvarez and Gennady Golovkin is a big-time boxing event in its own right and the leading candidate for Fight of the Year.

Both Golovkin (37-0-0, 33 KO) and Alvarez (49-1-1, 34 KO) have crowd-pleasing fighting styles. Their bouts usually feature them bruising and battering their opponents across the ring. The fighters both have impressive (and underrated) technical boxing skills. They are also consensus Top 10 pound for pound fighters. That makes this matchup the most meaningful boxing match since the two bouts between Andre Ward and Sergey Kovalev This is a bout that fight fans demanded for several years before it came to fruition. The usual suspects of boxing delays all played a part: promotional issues, money disputes,

concerns and good old-fashioned ducking (here’s looking at you Canelo and Oscar De La Hoya) all played a part. See

After spending several years establishing himself as the catch weight king, Alvarez has finally decided to make the

With Earl Austin Jr.

Earl Austin Jr.

CLUTCH, B5

move to full-time middle-

weight. Plenty of prestige and hardware is on the line for the bout. Golovkin holds the IBF, WBA and WBC world titles.

However, Alvarez has been considered The Ring’s middleweight championship since he

Ishmael H. Sistrunk

Ishmael H. Sistrunk

The only loss in Canelo Alvarez’s career came against “Mr. 50-0,” Floyd Mayweather Jr. Now Alvarez seeks to keep his winning streak alive versus Gennady Golovkin.

The Cahokia High School Comanches came over to the Missouri side to play the Gateway STEM Jaguars Saturday afternoon. The Comanches would defeat the Jaguars 22-0.

Photo By Wiley Price

SportS EyE

Alvin A. Reid

With

Bruce should be an Owens backer; Sloane hits a Grand Slam

There’s no question that retired NFL receivers Isaac Bruce and Terrell Owens went about their business in different ways.

Owens was a noted diva who irritated coachers, teammates and fans. Bruce was a quiet taskmaster who let his big plays do most of his talking. NFL Hall of Fame voters are misguided in letting Owens’ histrionics cloud their judgement and, so far, rejecting his bids for enshrinement.

Ironic as it might seem, Bruce should be Owens’ lobbyist when it comes to the Hall of Fame because, until Owens gets in, Bruce most likely won’t either.

During Super Bowl weekend last February in Houston, 46 media members and two Hall of Famers, James Lofton and Dan Fouts, trimmed the list of finalists to 10 and then five Saturday. Owens reportedly did not make the final 10.

Among those who were selected and then enshrined in August was former St. Louis Rams quarterback Kurt Warner

Owens was a five-time AllPro member and six-time Pro Bowler. He had nine 1,000yard seasons during his 11-year career and eight seasons with double-digit touchdown receptions. He led the NFL in touchdown catches three times with 16 in 2001, 13 in 2002 and 13 in 2006.

“When you just look at what he accomplished, everybody looks and says, ‘C’mon.’ The numbers are there, the impact is there,” Warner said after Owens did not receive enough votes.

Owens is second in NFL receiving yards with 15,934 and third in all-time TD receptions with 153.

Bruce’s outstanding career has him fifth in receptions with 1,024, fourth in receiving yards with 15,208 and 12th in receiving touchdowns with 91.

He was a four-time Pro Bowler and led the NFL in receiving yards with 1,338 in 1996. Bruce was 1-1 in Super Bowl appearances, while Owens was 0-1.

Yes, Bruce is deserving of a Hall of Fame nod – but Owens should go in before him and his antics should not be a reason for stubborn HOF voters to block his enshrinement.

Owens and Bruce also have another factor to deal with when it comes to the Hall of Fame.

Randy Moss, certainly no

choir boy himself, is eligible for selection in 2018 and most of his career numbers surpass both Owens and Bruce. It will be interesting to see if voters view Moss in the same light as Owens and let incidents that have nothing to do with the game of football skew their respective judgement.

Bruce Gala Sept. 21

Along with being a firstclass football player and gentle-

man, Bruce continues to serve the St. Louis region through his Isaac Bruce Foundation.

His “Gridiron Gala” fundraiser will be held on Thursday, Sept. 21 at the Four Seasons Hotel St. Louis.

The event will feature music, beverages and food from some several St. Louis restaurants, including Annie Gunn’s, Yolklore, 801 Fish, Cielo, Ruth’s Chris, Bristol, J Gilbert’s, Millie’s Barbeque and Helfer’s Pastries.

Isaac and other former Rams and NFL players will be in attendance and the evening will feature a question and answer session. All guests will receive an autographed item. Gridiron Gala tickets are $100. Tables of 10 are $1,200. Contact Tiffani Burris at tiffani@isaacbruce.org or 314369-4074 for additional information.

Sloane Opens up

Last January, Sloane Stephens underwent surgery to address a nagging stress fracture in her left foot. By the time Wimbledon rolled around in July, she was barely ranked among the top 1,000 women tennis players in the world at No. 957. But for two weeks in early September, Stephens showed that she is not only back – but most likely here to stay.

Stephens steamrolled fellow American Madison Keys 6-3, 6-0 to win the U.S. Open and capture her first Grand Slam title last Saturday. Her nearly perfect match required just 61 minutes. Four U.S. women comprised the tournament’s semifinalists and an AfricanAmerican finalist was guaranteed because Stephens faced Venus Williams in that round.

The youthful Stephens topped the gallant Williams 6-1, 0-6, 7-5 to set up the finals match against her close friend Keys.

“I mean, there is no words to describe how I got here, the process it took or anything like that, because if you told someone this story, they’d be, like, ‘That’s insane,’” said Stephens from the court after the match.

“Just like, ‘Wow, how insane? I actually won the U.S. Open. Wow. What a moment.” She gave hints that she

would be a factor at the Open by reaching the semifinals at tournaments in Toronto and Cincinnati in August. She had reached No. 83 in the world, but when new rankings are posted, Stephens will be No. 17.

“I’m going to totally put this in my bio, U.S. Open champion. I think when anyone has a Grand Slam champion in front of their name, it changes things a little bit,” she said. And with a laugh she said, “I should just retire now, I’m never going to be able to top this.”

Alvin A. Reid is a panelist on the Nine Network program, Donnybrook, is a weekly contributor to “The Charlie Tuna Show” on KFNS and can also be heard on Frank Cusumano’s “The Press Box.” His Twitter handle is #aareid1.

Alvin A. Reid

Sloane Stephens steamrolled fellow American Madison Keys 6-3, 6-0 to win the U.S. Open and capture her first Grand Slam title last Saturday.

InsIde sports

With Earl Austin Jr.

One of area’s top rivalries set for Friday night

Edwardsville takes on defending state champion East St. Louis

Whitfield High basketball standout Torrence Watson has given a verbal commitment to the University of Missouri.

One of the top scoring threats in the state of Missouri, the 6’5” Watson is currently the No. 4 ranked senior in my Prep Hoops Missouri Class of 2018 rankings. Watson had previously given a commitment to Ohio State University last month, but he decided to re-open his recruitment. His desire to play closer to home led him to pledge to Mizzou and be a part of head coach Cuonzo Martin’s growing recruiting success in the St. Louis metro area.

CLUTCH

Continued from B3

defeated former WBC middleweight champion Miguel Cotto in 2005. The fighter who emerges victorious will be considered the undisputed legitimate middleweight champion of the world (sorry, Billy Joe Saunders). Furthermore, the victor will assume the No. 2 spot on the pound for pound list, behind Ward.

Paths to victory Alvarez is a very active fighter who often works behind a stiff jab and brutal body shots. Though he isn’t known for one punch knockout power, Alvarez often wears down his opponents with sustained pressure. After his loss to Mayweather in 2013, Alvarez stepped up his defense and has become one of the more complete fighters in the game. Golovkin is more of a boxing bully. There’s not much cuteness in his game. He has defensive flaws, including a general lack of head movement. It usually doesn’t matter though due to the Kazakhstan native’s has two tremendous skills.

First, his power is extraordinary. We’re talking Iron Fist minus the bad acting and goofy grin. Golovkin possesses legitimate one-punch knockout power. His 89 percent knockout rate doesn’t begin to tell the entire story. Golovkin hurts people.

When former IBF welterweight champion Kell Brook

PREP

Continued from B3

to defeat Parkway Central 36-23 and knock the Colts from the ranks of the undefeated. The Rams scored 29 unanswered points while holding Parkway Central scoreless in the second half.

Senior quarterback Jordan Jackson saw his first action after missing the first three weeks of the season with an injury. Jackson passed for 182 yards and a touchdown. He

As a junior, Watson averaged 27.9 points a game to lead the St. Louis metro area in scoring. He scored a school record 808 points last season in leading the Warriors to a runner-up finish in the Class 3 state tournament. Watson spent the summer playing with the Ramey-Jets United in the Adidas Uprising Gauntlet Series.

Young Pitcher shines on national stage Freshman baseball standout Christian Little of CBC recently participated in the Perfect Game Select Baseball

Festival in Ft. Myers, Fla. The game, which featured 40 of the top players in the country in the 14U age division, was televised nationally on Fox Sports Cable.

A right-handed pitcher, the 6’2” 155pound Little was the starter for the West All-Stars. In his one inning of work, Little worked a perfect 1-2-3 frame with two strikeouts and a harmless pop up on the infield. Little has already gained a reputation as one of the best young pitchers in the

country. He is throwing his fastball at 86 miles per hour at 14 years old. Little has already received scholarship offers from many of the top collegiate baseball programs in the country, including Vanderbilt, Miami (Fla.), and Louisville.

K.K. is headed to Tulsa Webster Groves girls’ basketball standout KK Rodriguez has given a verbal commitment to attend the University of Tulsa. The 5’7” Rodriguez is

decided to jump up two weight classes to chase the bag, Golovkin sent him home with his first loss and a broken eye socket that could’ve ended his career. Golovkin’s other remarkable skill is his ability to cut off the ring. When opponent’s retreat, and they almost always do, he is often able to take away their escape routes and hunt them down with amazing efficiency. Like Alvarez, Golovkin is an accomplished body puncher, which helps to slow his opponents down and

directed the Rams to the Class 4 state semifinals a year ago. Junior running back Andrew Hunt ran for 138 yards and two touchdowns.

Individual Standouts

• Quarterback Vito Orlando of Lutheran South set two school records with 322 yards passing and six touchdowns in the Lancers’ 54-13 win over Priory.

• Canaan Brooks of Lutheran North rushed for 196 yards and four touchdowns in a 56-7 victory over MICDS.

has rushed for 598 yards on 38 carries and eight touchdowns. He also has seven receptions for 108 yards and one touchdown. On defense, Harris has four interceptions as a defensive back. St. Mary’s will host St.

makes it easier to find his prey.

At 35-years-old, many boxing insiders wonder whether Golovkin is starting to lose a step. He was touched more than usual in his last two bouts versus Brook and Danny Jacobs. Jacobs landed nearly 40 percent of his power punches against Golovkin. Brook landed 37 percent of his power shots before he was stopped in the fifth round.

The 27-year-old Alvarez is certainly the most-talented fighter that “GGG” has ever faced and is in his fighting

• Jared Price of Cardinal Ritter rushed for 187 yards and four touchdowns in a 66’20 victory over Lutheran St. Charles.

• Jairus Maclin of Kirkwood caught five passes for 146 yards and two touchdowns in the Pioneers’ 41-35 loss to Pattonville.

Top Games of the Week

• Kirkwood (3-1) at Parkway North (3-1), Friday, 7 p.m.

• Borgia (4-0) at St. Mary’s (4-0), Friday, 7 p.m.

prime. If he lands against Golovkin at a similar clip, he could wear his older opponent. While Golovkin is seven years older, when it comes to big-fight experience, he doesn’t measure up. Alvarez’s resume features highly-respected names such as Mayweather, Cotto, Shane Mosley, Austin Trout, Erislandy Lara Amir Khan and others. Golden Boy’s current golden boy is a pay per view pro. For Golovkin, this bout represents his first major PPV event.

• Vianney (4-0) at Chaminade (2-2), Friday, 7p.m.

• Pattonville (2-2) at Webster Groves (3-1), Friday, 7 p.m.

• Fort Zumwalt West (2-2) at Timberland (3-1), Friday, 7 p.m.

• Lafayette (2-2) at Eureka (3-1), Friday, 7 p.m.

• Miller Career Academy (2-2) at Soldan (3-1), Saturday, 1 p.m.

• Lutheran South (2-2) at Westminster (2-2), Saturday, 1 p.m.

• Lutheran North (4-0) at John Burroughs (2-2), Saturday, 1 p.m.

one of the top guards in the St. Louis area.

As a junior, Rodriguez averaged 16.6 points, 5.0 rebounds, 3.6 assists, 2.8 steals and 1.6 blocks in helping Webster Groves to a 17-12 record. As a sophomore, Rodriguez averaged 15 points in leading the Stateswomen to a berth in the Class 5 state semifinals.

Rodriguez becomes the second girls’ player from the St. Louis area to commit to Tulsa’s program in the past three years. Former Lutheran North standout Shug Dickson is currently a sophomore at Tulsa. Dickson averaged

Who’s going to win?

In a battle between two evenly-matched opponents, I normally choose the more technically-skilled, faster fighter. In this case, that would be Canelo Alvarez. However, Gennady Golovkin has the type of power that makes his opponents rethink their career choice right there in the ring. His highlight reel knockouts are made for the animated GIF age in which we live. Though he’s not the swiftest fighter, he is technically sound on the offensive

nearly nine points a game as a freshman at Tulsa.

Fall League Basketball

High school basketball season will not begin for a couple of months, but fans can get their hoops fix in early with a couple of fall leagues going on in the area. The Rameybasketball Fall League is being held each weekend at Cardinal Ritter College Prep on Saturdays and Sundays. The Brad Beal Elite Fall Basketball League is being held on Saturdays at Chaminade College Prep.

end. Defensively, his chin has proven strong enough to conceal his flaws. This should be a blood and guts battle for the ages. Expect Golovkin’s power to be the difference. In a battle of body shots, Golovkin’s will do more damage and Alvarez will start to wear down around the ninth round. I’m taking Gennady Golovkin to win via 10th round TKO.

Follow Ishmael and In the Clutch on Twitter @ IshmaelSistrunk

the st. LouIs AmerIcAn coLLege AthLetes of the Week

senior defensive end from Chicago earned Great Lakes Valley Defensive Player of the Week honors after a big performance against Kentucky State. The 6’1” 245-pound Cook returned an interception 47 yards for a touchdown in the Bearcats’

50-0 victory last Saturday in Lebanon, Ill. Through two games, Cook has 13 solo tackles with eight solos and eight quarterback sacks. He is second on the team in tackles for the 1-1 Bearcats, who will travel to Hillsdale College (Mich.) on Saturday.

Arela Williams McKendree University – Volleyball

The senior hitter from San Diego was named the Great Lakes Valley Offensive Player of the Week. The 5’8” Williams led the Bearcats to a 4-0 record and the championship of the Quincy

Tobias Cook McKendree University – Football Invitational last week. In the four games, Williams had 69 kills, nine blocks and five service aces. Williams in currently leading the GLVC in total kills as she leads McKendree to a 5-3 record.

Earl Austin Jr.

Gennady Golovkin aka “GGG” has serious power behind every punch. When Kell Brook moved up from welterweight to face Golovkin in 2016, Golovkin sent him home with a broken eye socket and the first loss of his career.

Organizing conference against the assault on workers’ rights

The Persisting and Organizing to Win (POW) Conference will be held October 5-6 at the Clayton Sheraton Hotel.

It’s billed by organizers as a joint educational and organizing event on working conditions in Missouri and the assault on workers’ rights. Organizations and individuals co-sponsoring the conference include the Clark-Fox Policy Institute at Washington University, Dowd Bennett LLC, Empower Missouri, MATA, Maxine Clark and Bob Fox, Missouri Faith Voices, Missouri Jobs with Justice, NAACP Missouri State Conference, National Council of Jewish Women St. Louis, Places for People, SEIU

Local 1, Vision for Children at Risk, and Schuchat, Cook and Werner.

“Missouri working families are under attack every day from both state and federal level politicians,” said Nancy Cross, vice president of SEIU Local 1 and opening plenary speaker for the conference. “Now is the time for us to work together on our shared vision for a better Missouri. In the past, we have tried to win on our own issues that impact our organizations directly, and we have not always been successful with this strategy.”

Other scheduled speakers include Rev. Traci Blackmon, executive minister of Justice & Witness Ministries for The

to be a million people — but declined to say how open it was to going outside of the United States.

an international airport; have direct access to mass transit; and wants to be able to expand that headquarters to as much as 8 million square feet in the next decade.

That’s about the same size as its current home in Seattle. Co-headquarters, though, often come about as a result of mergers.

Amazon said its search is open to any metropolitan area in North America that meets the parameters — the city itself doesn’t necessarily have

“We want to find a city that is excited to work with us and where our customers, employees, and the community can all benefit,” the company said on its search website, about why it was choosing its second headquarters through a public process.

Bezos has crowdsourced major decisions before — in June, just before Amazon announced its plan to buy organic grocer Whole Foods, the billionaire took to Twitter seeking ideas for a philanthropic strategy to give

United Church of Christ and senior pastor of Christ The King United Church of Christ; Tiffany Dena Loftin, senior program specialist at the National Education Association; and Rabbi Susan Talve, founding rabbi at Central Reform Congregation and a veteran social justice activist. The coalition also released an FAQ on Senate Bill 43, which became law on August 28, significantly weakening the ability to sue for workplace discrimination in Missouri. View it at http://empowermissouri. org/wp-content/ uploads/2015/02/SB43FAQ-FINAL.pdf.

For the agenda for the conference and registration materials, visit http://empowermissouri. org/2017annualconference/.

away some of his fortune. And tech companies have been known to set places in competition with each other: In vying to land Google’s ultrafast broadband network, many cities used stunts and gimmickry to get the company’s attention. Topeka even informally renamed itself “Google, Kansas.”

Desiree goes to business school

Desiree Brooks, a Hazelwood West High School senior, recently attended the Olin Fleischer Scholars Program at the Olin Business School at Washington University. Brooks was one of 100 students around the world to be selected for this program.

The Olin Fleischer Scholars Program provides a free week-long educational experience for high school students entering their sophomore, junior, or senior year. While on campus, Brooks got to work directly with Olin Business School faculty, students, alumni, and area business leaders to gain hands-on experience and essential leadership skills in a collaborative

environment. She also learned about various business education degree programs and how they can prepare her for success in any organization. To apply for the program, Brooks had to submit her high school transcript, present two letters of recommendation, and complete the Olin Fleischer program application. After graduation, she plans to attend Southeast Missouri State and major in accounting and finance.

For more information on the program, visit http://apps.olin.wustl.edu/conf/ofsp/Home/ Default.aspx or email OLIN-FSP@email.wustl. edu.

Enterprise University offers free business courses

Enterprise Bank & Trust, the banking subsidiary of Enterprise Financial Services Corp, has opened enrollment for the fall semester of Enterprise University. Enterprise University provides practical, in-depth courses at no cost to business leaders in the St. Louis community. The curriculum features 28 courses that focus on

York, Ohio and Oregon. And it recently paid close to $14 billion for Whole Foods and its more than 465 stores. The company plans to hire 100,000 people by the middle of next year, adding to its current worldwide staff of more than 380,000.

n Amazon plans to hire 100,000 people by the middle of next year, adding to its current worldwide staff of more than 380,000.

In just the last month, Amazon announced plans to build three warehouses that pack and ship packages in New

Amazon’s current campus in Seattle takes up 8.1 million square feet, has 33 buildings and 24 restaurants and is home to more than 40,000 employees. At the second headquarters, Amazon

topics including human resources, finance, marketing, management and leadership. The courses are presented in three-hour segments and are offered in three different locations throughout the St. Louis area. For more information on course dates, descriptions and enrollments, visit www.enterprisebank. com/eu

said it will hire up to 50,000 new full-time employees over the next 15 years who would have an average pay of more than $100,000 a year.

Amazon’s website about the search lauds the benefits it can bring to a community. And Amazon’s arrival could transform an area: Until 10 years ago, the neighborhood near Seattle’s campus just north of downtown was dotted with auto parts stores and low-rent apartments. Now the area is a booming pocket of highrise office complexes, sleek apartment buildings and tony restaurants. Amazon’s rise has not been without local critics,

who say the influx of mostly well-heeled tech workers has caused housing prices to skyrocket, clogged the streets with traffic and changed the city for the worse. The Seattle Times reported Thursday that the median price for a house in August in Seattle was $730,000, up almost 17 percent in a year.

Follow Bill on Twitter: @ billraack. Follow Maria on Twitter: @radioaltman The Associated Press contributed to this report, which is reprinted with permission from news. stlpublicradio.org.

Rev. Traci Blackmon

Desiree Brooks

Living It

Scoring Shakespeare

tion of ‘Blow, Winds,’ which plays September 15-17 outside of the St. Louis Public Library Central Branch.

Lamar Harris creates music for SITS reimagination of King Lear

By Kenya Vaughn Of The St. Louis American

All it takes is seeing Lamar Harris play a set at Jazz at The Bistro, then turn around and hit a club or party with his DJ Nune to understand his versatility when it comes to music. He teaches, he performs as a brass instrumentalist and he curates on the turntables with his own unique blend that merges his DJ skills with a bit of live music.

Even still, Harris admits that taking on the challenge of being the composer and comusical director for Shakespeare Festival St. Louis’ 6th Annual Shakespeare in the Streets production was more than a notion.

No party like a Salute party

By Kenya Vaughn Of The St. Louis American

In eight days (September 23), The St. Louis American Foundation will once again bring black glamour to America’s Center for the 30th Annual Salute to Excellence in Education Scholarship and Awards Gala. As per usual, hundreds of thousands of dollars will be given away to help students pursue post-secondary education. The shining stars within the field of education will get the praise they deserve for their tireless efforts of shaping the minds of young people to build the next generation of leaders. What those who have never attended might not know is that everyone will party like its 1999 once all the awards are distributed and attendance prizes won. By now, readers are keenly aware of the

awardees and honors that take place during the formal program. But since Salute has hit a milestone, I thought it would be fitting to give people who haven’t attended a little

‘A Special Trust’

BookFest St. Louis to honor Fred and Patricia McKissack

By Kenya Vaughn Of The St. Louis American

“Writing for children is … I feel it’s as though it’s a special trust that has been given to us and that we must protect and guard it diligently.” — Patricia McKissack

“When they started telling me everything – they were like, ‘we have a 60-piece choir, we have a band we have a step team. I was like ‘okay…,’” Harris said. “Then everything is from scratch – start to finish. It’s one thing to do an album; it’s another thing to do music to a play.” The process would be tough enough if it were any given playwright, but add the presSee SHAKESPEARE, C4 A Special Trust: Remembering Fred and Patricia McKissack will take place at 7 p.m. on Saturday, September 23 at Left Bank Books as part of the BookFest St. Louis programming.

Even without reading the quote written above, it is clear from the care and relentless pace at which Fred and Patricia McKissack went about the business of shaping young minds through literature that they knew the incredible responsibility that came with their work. For nearly 35 years the McKissacks consis-

tently created images that were recognizable and relatable for African-American children. Their books provided readers with their own chapter in the landscape of youth literature that represented black people’s history, contributions and everyday experiences. Armed with her gift for observation and imag-

ination coupled with his research capacity, the husband and wife team’s partnership spread into their life’s work through their books.

The work garnered some of the field’s most coveted honors. “The Dark-Thirty: Southern

Long Beach rap legend Snoop Dogg played his greatest hits in front of LouFest’s largest crowd Saturday night at The Muny’s upper lot. The annual outdoor music festival reached its capacity as Snoop dove into music from his new album ‘Neva Left’ before giving the crowd the classic hits that put him at the top of hip-hop nearly 25 years ago.

Photo by Lawrence Bryant

How to place a calendar listing

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

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

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

concerts

Sun., Sept. 24, 7 p.m.,

From the Soul – Unplugged Acoustic Show feat. Drew “X-Man” Exum & the X-Men Band. Dark Room, 3610 Grandel Sq., 63108. For more information, visit www. metrotix.com.

Sun., Sept. 24, 6:30 p.m., The Sheldon Concert Hall presents Black Violin. 3648 Washington Blvd., 63108. For more information, visit www. metrotix.com.

Sun., Sept. 17, 5 & 7:30 p.m., Definition of a Band; The Music of Mint Condition feat. Justin Hoskin and The Movie. BB’s Jazz, Blues and Soups, 700 S. Broadway 63102. For more information, visit www.bbsjazzbluessoups. com.

Thur., Sept. 21, 7 p.m., St. louis Public Library presents Not So Quiet! Live on Olive: Kim Massie. 1301 Olive St., 63103. For more information, visit www.slpl.org.

Thur., Sept. 21, 8 p.m., Let’s Start the Music feat. Brian Owens. A performance of Michael Jackson’s “Off the Wall “album. Proceeds benefit Let’s Start, a program for families impacted by incarceration. Sheldon, 3648 Washington Blvd., 63108. For more information, visit www. metrotix.com.

Fri., Sept. 22, 8 p.m., Blueberry Hill presents Kahsan. 6504 Delmar Blvd., 63130. For more information, visit www.blueberryhill.com.

Sun., Sept. 24, 6:30 p.m., The Sheldon Concert Hall presents Black Violin. 3648 Washington Blvd., 63108. For more information, visit www. metrotix.com.

Sun., Sept. 24, 5 p.m., The Signature Club presents the Branson Motown Revue. 9002 Overland Plaza, 63114.

For more information, visit www.thesignatureclub.com.

Wed., Sept. 27, 8 p.m., The Monocle presents David Ryan Harris. 4150 Manchester Ave., 63110. For more information, visit www. ticketfly.com.

special events

Sat., Sept. 16, 11 a.m., South Grand Fall Fest. Enjoy a craft zone, game area, vendors, live entertainment, discounts from local businesses, and more. 3115 S. Grand Blvd., 63118. For more information, visit www.facebook.com.

Sun., Sept. 17, 4 p.m., DK Annex and iDream Ent. present The Makers Mart: A Cultural Provocation. Celebrate local artists and entrepreneurs with shopping, live performances, workshops and more. 2727 S Jefferson Ave., 63118. For more information, call (314) 2004456.

Tues., Sept. 19, 6 p.m., Operation Food Search presents Bake for Good Event. A culinary instructor will cook a special dish for the audience to enjoy while learning about OFS programs. 1644 Lotsie Blvd., 63132. For more information, visit www. cooklearnshare.org.

Wed., Sept. 20, 10 a.m., Jobapalooza Job Fair. Meet with over 20 St. Louis employers. Maryland Heights Community Center, 2300 McKelvey Rd., 63043. For more information, www. stltoday.com/ourevents.

Thur., Sept. 21, 5:30 p.m., Community Action Agency of St. Louis County invites you to the Doors of Opportunity Fundraiser. Join us for a fun evening to raise funds to help move people

The St. Louis American recommends

from poverty. 2050 Dorsett Village Plaza, 63034. For more information, visit www. eventbrite.com.

Thur., Sept. 21, 6 p.m., City of St. Louis Government invites you to a Town Hall Meeting. Mayor Lyda Krewson and other department heads will answer your questions. St. Louis Public Library, Carpenter Branch, 3309 S. Grand Blvd., 63118. For more information, visit www.stlouis-mo.gov.

Fri., Sept. 22, 7 a.m., McDonald’s presents the Scramble for Charity Golf Tournament. Proceeds benefit the Ronald McDonald House Charities of St. Louis. The Legends Country Club, 625 Legends Parkway, 63025. For more information, visit www. rmhcstl.com/scramble/.

Fri., Sept. 22, 8 a.m., Mosaic Ceiling presents Women of Color & Culture Power Summit. Join us for networking, speakers, panels, breakout sessions, and more. Four Seasons Hotel, 999 N. 2nd St., 63102. For more information, visit www. eventbrite.com.

Sept. 22 – 24, Greater St. Louis Hispanic Festival. We will have authentic food from Latin & South America, over 70 booths, a kid’s corner, and a low rider car cruise. For more information, visit www. hispanicfestivalstl.com.

Sat., Sept. 23, 8 a.m., Strut

Your Mutt 2017. Join us for a 1 – 2 miles walk to raise money for animal welfare organizations. Tower Grove Park, 4256 Magnolia Ave., 63110. For more information, visit www.support.bestfriends. org.

Sat., Sept. 23, 9 a.m., Women in Aviation St. Louis presents Girls in Aviation Day 2017. Learn about being a professional pilot, control a pretend air traffic control tower, and more. Lambert Field, 63044. For more information, visit www. eventbrite.com.

Sat., Sept. 23, 10 a.m., Chefs Cook Real Cook-Off Challenge. Five of the area’s best chefs will compete. Try food from each chef, vote for your favorite and support your local farmer’s market. Midtown Farmers Market, 6655 Delmar Blvd., 63130. For more information, visit www.facebook.com.

Sat., Sept. 23, 1 p.m., Zeta Phi Beta Sorority, Inc., Phi Nu Zeta Chapter presents Be Lifted Up! Come out for a free bra fitting. St. Louis County Library, Florissant Valley Branch, 195 S. New Florissant Rd., 63031. For more information, visit www. facebook.com.

Sat., Sept. 23, 6 p.m., The St. Louis American Foundation presents the 30th Annual Salute to Excellence in Education Scholarship & Awards Dinner. America’s

The Sheldon Concert Hall presents Black Violin. See CONCERTS for details.

Center, 701 Convention Plaza, 63101. For more information, call (314) 533-8000.

Sat., Sept. 23, 9 p.m., Rollin’ for Backstoppers Skate Jam. Skate King, 6100 Natural Bridge Rd., 631231. For more information, visit www. eventbrite.com.

Wed., Sept. 27, The Nine Network and Express Scripts present Connect in the Commons. Mix and mingle with St. Louis’ next generation of leaders while learning about nonprofits and how to get involved. 3653 Olive St., 63108. For more information, visit www.eventbrite.com.

Fri., Sept. 29, 5 p.m., Jazzmine Marie Nolan Foundation Charity Event. Join us for food, music, and a speaker, while also learning about our programs aimed at ending youth homelessness. 11836 West Florissant Ave., 63033. For more information, visit www.eventbrite.com.

Fri., Sept. 29, 8 p.m., The Sumner Alumni Association presents its Maroon & White Homecoming Dance, Machinist Hall, 12365 St. Charles Rock Road 63044. For tickets, call 314.556.3944 or 314.452.1275. For more info email: sumneralumniassn@ yahoo.com.

Sat., Sept. 30, 11 a.m., Brains, Beauty & Brunch. Industry professionals will their journey, and discuss entrepreneurship and what it takes to thrive in business. .Zach Urban Ballroom, 3224 Locust St., 63103. For more information, visit www. eventbrite.com.

Sat., Sept. 30, 8 p.m., The Factory Fashion Show and Night Market. Preview clothing lines from some of St. Louis’ best local designers. 2720 Cherokee St., 63118. For more information, visit www. eventbrite.com.

Sun., Oct. 1, 3 p.m., Pretty Girls Rock presents the Walking Pretty Fashion Show. The Ambassador, 9800 Halls Ferry Rd., 63136. For more information, visit www. eventbrite.com.

Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc., Gamma Omega Chapter presents Girl’s Month Throughout the month of September, we will have events to celebrate the strength of young girls, while also addressing some of the biggest challenges they face. For more information, visit www. akagostl.com.

comedy

Sept. 15 – 16, Helium Comedy Club presents Sherri Shepard. 1151 St. Louis Galleria, 63117.

Sept. 15 – 16, The Laugh Lounge presents Tony Roberts. 11208 W. Florissant Ave., 63033. For more information, visit www. thelaughloungestl.com.

Sat., Sept. 16, 7 p.m., Nick Cannon Presents Wild’n Out Live STL. The Ambassador,

9800 Halls Ferry Rd., 63120. For more information, visit www.facebook.com.

Thur., Sept. 14, 7 p.m., Left Bank Books hosts author Sally Freeman, author of The Jersey Brothers: A Missing Naval Officer in the Pacific and His Family’s Quest to Bring Him Home. A story of brotherly love, three men finding their loyalty to each other tested under the tortures of war.

Mon., Sept. 18, 7 p.m., Left Bank Books hosts author David Collins, author of Accidental Activists: Mark Phariss, Vic Holmes and Their Fight for Marriage Equality in Texas. 399 N. Euclid Ave. For more information, call (314) 367-6731.

Sat., Sept. 16, 9 a.m., Write Sistahs Literary Group Writing Workshop & Retreat. Pallottine Renewal Center, 15270 Old Halls Ferry, 63034. For more information, call (314) 210-4774.

Mon., Sept. 18, 7 p.m., Left Bank Books hosts author David Collins, author of Accidental Activists: Mark Phariss, Vic Holmes, and Their Fight for Marriage Equality in Texas

Fri., Sept. 22, 7 p.m., Pulitzer Arts Foundation presents the 100 Boots Poetry Series: Wendy Xu & Rickey Laurentiis. Xu is the author of Phrasis, and Laurentiis is the author of Boy with Thorn 3716 Washington Blvd., 63018. For more information, visit www.left-bank.com.

Sat., Sept. 23, 10:30 a.m., Central West End Scene and Left Bank Books present BookFest St. Louis. Featuring locally and internationally renowned writers, speaker panels, activities, and more. 4715 McPherson Ave., 63108. For more information, visit www.bookfeststl.com.

Sat., Sept. 23, 12 noon – 3 p.m., Author Lewis Diuguid will sign and discuss his latest book Our Fathers: Making Black Men, George B. Vashon African American Museum, 2223 St. Louis Ave. Sat., Sept. 30, 4 p.m., Don’t Call it a Comeback: Beating the Odds Book Release Party with author Sherrod Tunstall. Come out for music, a book discussion, a raffle, and more. Legacy Books and Café, 5249 Delmar Blvd., 63108. For more information, visit www. eventbrite.com.

art

Thur., Sept. 21, 6 p.m., Contemporary Art Museum presents Perspective: Artist on Artist – Vivian Watt. Watt performs in response to our fall exhibitions through dance. 3750 Washington Blvd., 63108. For more information, visit www.tinyurl.com/ vivianwatt.

Through October 7, The

Pulitzer Arts Foundation presents Blue Black curated by Glenn Ligon, The Pulitzer Arts Foundation, 3716 Washington Blvd. For more information, visit www. pulitzerarts.org.

lectures and workshops

Thur., Sept. 14, 6 p.m., The Bridge:

An Intergenerational Conversation with Civil Rights Leaders. Civil rights leaders come together to reveal how activism has evolved throughout history. Missouri History Museum, 5700 Lindell Blvd., 63112. For more information, visit www.mohistory.org.

Thur., Sept. 14, 7 p.m., Pulitzer Arts Foundation presents A Lecture by Dr. Mindy Fullilove. Dr. Fullilove is a Professor of Urban Policy and Health at The New School, and will discuss “root shock”. 3716 Washington Blvd., 63108. For more information, visit www.pulitzerarts.org.

Sat., Sept. 16, 1 p.m., Financial Dream Team presents Credit is Power Workshop will discuss how to restore and increase your credit, paying down debt, and more. For more information, visit www.eventbrite.com.

Wednesdays, Sept. 20 – Oct. 5, 6:30 p.m., The Missouri Bar presents the 2017 Mini Law School for the Public. Learn about the courts, jury trials, landlord-tenant law, lawsuits and more. S. Central Ave., 63105. For more information, call visit www. missourilawyershelp.org/ mini-law-school.

Thur., Sept. 21, 6:30 p.m., Overcriminalization

– How’d We Get Here and Where Do We Go? A presentation and panel discussion on the politics of

mass incarceration. Harmon Hall, Lindenwood, 209 S. Kingshighway, 63301. For more information, visit www. lindenwood.edu.

Wed., Sept. 27, 6:30 p.m., The Scholarship Foundation invites you to a FAFSA Workshop. Learn about The Free Application for Federal Student Aid, and completion assistance is available by appointment. 6825 Clayton Ave., 63139. For more information, visit www.sfstl.org.

theatre

Fri., Sept. 15, 8 p.m., The Link Auditorium presents Through the Eyes of York: The Lewis and Clark Expedition. The story of a slave, treated as a free man, then returned to slavery. Starring Bobby Norfolk. 4504 Westminster Pl., 63108. For more information, visit www.racstl.org/event.

Sept. 16 – 17, Metro Theater Company presents Games Dad Didn’t Play Lucas moves to a new town with his mom after his dad is incarcerated, and attempts to write his own future. Grandel, 3610 Grandel Sq., 63108. For more information, visit www.metrotix.com.

Sun., Sept. 17, 3 & 7:30 p.m., Priest Tyaire presents Momma’s Boy. An all-star cast unites to tell the story of a young man who takes pride in being macho but really is a momma’s boy. Fox Theatre, 527 N. Grand Blvd., 63103. For more information, visit www.metrotix.com.

Through Sept. 24, The St. Louis Black Repertory Company will open their 41st season with Colman Domingo’s new comedy DOT. The Edison Theatre on the campus of Washington University. For more information, visit www. theblackrep.org or call (314) 534-3807.

The St. Louis American recommends

health

Thur., Sept. 14, 6 p.m., Sickle Cell Association presents Diversity in Clinical Trials and Research Forum. Understand clinical trials and the importance of diverse participation. Regional Arts Commission, 6128 Delmar Blvd., 63112. For more information, visit www. eventbrite.com.

Sat., Sept. 16, 8 a.m., St. Louis Alzheimer’s Association presents the Walk to End Alzheimer’s. Scottrade Center, 1401 Clark Ave., 63103. For more information, call (314) 2899990.

Wed., Sept. 20, St. Louis Alzheimer’s Association presents The Basics: Memory Loss, Dementia, and Alzheimer’s. Learn about diagnosis, progression, treatment, resources and support. Monsanto Family YMCA, 5555 Page Blvd., 63112. For more information, visit www.facebook.com.

Fri., Sept. 22, 6 p.m., Sickle Cell Town Hall Meeting. Christian Hospital, 11133 Dunn Rd., 63136. For more information, visit www. eventbrite.com.

Sat., Sept. 23, 9 a.m., Taking Control Of Your Diabetes Conference & Health Fair. America’s Center, 701

Convention Plaza, 63101. For more information, visit www. tcoyd.org.

Sat., Sept. 23, 11 a.m., Zeta Phi Beta Sorority, Inc., Xi Zeta Chapter presents a Sickle Cell Awareness Month Blood Drive. University City School Administration Building, 8136 Groby Rd., 63130. For more information, visit www.facebook.com.

Sun., Sept. 24, 7 a.m., Pancreatic Cancer Action Network presents Purple Stride 2017. Join us for a 5K run or family-friendly walk as make strides against pancreatic cancer. 5595 Grand Dr., 63112. For more information, visit www.purplestride.org.

Fri., Sept. 29, 6 p.m., Better Family Life presents Dr. Sebi Naturopathic Symposium. Learn about alternative medicine, holistic practices and more. 5415 Page Blvd., 63112. For more information, visit www.eventbrite.com.

Sat., Sept. 30, 6 p.m., Sickle Cell Association invites you to the Sickle Cell Gala –Committed to the Cause Join us for a reception and silent auction to raise funds to help those who suffer from this disease. DK Annex, 2727 S. Jefferson Ave., 63118. For more information, visit www. eventbrite.com.

Sun., Sept. 17, 8 a.m., Southern Mission Baptist Church Christian Women Annual Day with special guest Minister Nicole Edwards of Shalom Church City of Peace Southern Mission Baptist Church (SMBC), 8171 Wesley Ave, Kinloch MO.

Fri., Sept. 22, 7 p.m., Kingdom Promotions hosts Tamela and David Mann’s World Tour – Concert & Comedy Show. Friendly Temple Missionary Baptist Church, 5553 Dr. Martin Luther King Dr., 63112. For more information, visit www. kingdomtickets.com.

Thur., Sept. 14, 6 p.m., Washington University School of Law invites you to a Get Out Screening and Panel Discussion. 1 Brookings Dr., 63130. For more information, visit www. facebook.com.

Fri., Oct. 13, Marshall directed by Reginald Hudlin and starring Chadwick Boseman and Sterling K. Brown opens in theaters nationwide.

The Laugh Lounge presents Tony Roberts. For more information, see COMEDY.

SHAKESPEARE

Continued from C1

sure of scoring a piece of drama based on Shakespeare.

“You have to incorporate music that accompanies the dialogue that she is created along with the Shakespearian dialogue that is already there,” Harris said. “And because St. Louis has such a rich musical history, you have to figure out what direction you are going.”

The Shakespeare in the Streets production of “Blow, Winds” by Nancy Bell is based on “King Lear” and will play this weekend outside the St. Louis Public Library’s Central Library Branch.

For “Blow, Winds” King Lear is King Louis. Harris accompanied Bell on interviews with area residents that gave adaptation its voice and St. Louis flavor so that he could get an idea of what to do musically.

“I’ve learned to have more of an appreciation for what Shakespeare did – but also the

creative process that goes along with this,” Harris said. “Nancy having to write and adapt it –and taking a play that’s two and a half-hours long and condensing it to one hour while making provisions for a choir, a step team and a band – making the music and all of this has been an adventure.”

get to see inside of the theater.”

Harris was happy to admit he had help along the way. The list of contributors included CJ Conrod, Larry Morris of the hip-hop group ILLPHONICS, Paige Alyssa, Naya Beverly, Alphonso Heard and his “Blow, Winds” co-musical director Chris Watkins.

I’ve had that through the process.”

Sometimes it meant hearing a person’s voice in the read through and having to go back to the drawing board. Other times it was getting the sound or musical style to match the tenor of a scene.

BOOKS

Continued from C1

Continued from C1

high school prom. Driving over and getting my 1998 Hyundai Elantra valet parked was a new experience to say the least. It was a few years before Drake’s “Fancy” record dropped, but that’s exactly how I felt. I can’t remember if the red carpet was there back then, but I’ve decided that it was – and I’m sticking with it. Stepping into the space, the America’s Center had an extreme makeover that made it feel like prom to the tenth power. Back then, a celebrity keynote speaker was a part of the programming. For that year it was Dr. James P. Comer, professor of child psychiatry at Yale University. Honestly, I don’t remember what he said, but what I will never forget is

n The Shakespeare in the Streets production of “Blow, Winds” by Nancy Bell is based on “King Lear” and will play this weekend outside the St. Louis Public Library’s Central Library Branch.

He watched Bell take the words of everyday St. Louisans and weave them in to match the beautiful language of Shakespeare and create a story that is accessible and digestible.

“It merges the two worlds and it’s fascinating,” Harris said. “You see how everybody takes the dialogue, dissects it and takes the whole visual image and musical palate. There’s an inside look at all of the moving parts that I never

the fabulous time I had.

Everyone was dressed to the nines, but nothing about the night was stuffy or pretentious – and the guests included people I had only read about and seen pictures of in the paper and on television.

That night in 2005, I learned that the dance floor of the Salute old school afterparty is the great equalizer. I won’t put anybody on blast, but I saw people who look like they shower in business suits cutting a rug and getting down. Whoever is in the room is fair game to connect with and have the kind of good time that you talk about for weeks or months on down the line.

As I was limping out –because my heel time expired long before I left the party – I thought “this was actually better than my prom.”

It was so much fun that it felt like it had to be an anom-

“Having those people to work with has been a blessing and watching their creative process through all of this has been cool too,” Harris said.

It’s been a cool adventure, but by no means easy.

“It’s almost like a video game where you are going through different levels,” Harris said. “The ultimate goal is to get to the last stage. But there are times where you have to go back to the beginning – and

aly.

“Is it always like that,” I asked Mary Easter (who was Mary Winbush at the time) when I came to the office the following Monday after complimenting her on her choice of gown.

“Yes,” she replied. “We don’t play when it comes to Salute – and I always look nice.”

It was one of the first laughs we had. It’s even funnier now because it’s true.

Over the years, the party has never stopped. We’ve had nationally renowned talent and local favorites as part of the afterparty experience and jazz cabaret that takes place.

A couple of my favorite memories were when Doug E. Fresh moved the crowd as only he could and MC Lyte rocked the party with a set of her biggest hits as DJ Kut backed her up on the tables.

“It’s been that type of bobbing and weaving and adapting,” Harris said. “But this has given me the encouragement to try even bolder things. Now I’m like, ‘if we did this with a choir, why can’t we use a whole symphony?’”

To be able to have sheet music that actually has your name on it – and have people singing words that you wrote, it’s like, ‘Oh wow.’” Shakespeare Festival St. Louis’ presentation of “Blow, Winds” by Nancy Bell is based on “King Lear” and will play at 8 p.m. nightly from September 15 – September 17 outside of the St. Louis Public Library’s Central Library Branch. For more information, visit https://www.sfstl.com/inthe-streets/.

Oh, and Denise Thimes’ rendition of the Bobby Caldwell R&B classic “What You Won’t Do For Love” slays every single time she includes it in her cabaret set. I hope she works it in this year.

DJ Kut and Denise Thimes will be back again for year 30. Those who show up to celebrate with us can expect give a toast to educators and students – and to get down all over again when the formal program is over.

The St. Louis American Foundation’s 30th Annual Salute to Excellence in Education Scholarship and Awards Gala will take place on Saturday, September 23 at America’s Center. For more information, visit www. stlamerican.com or call (314) 533-8000.

Tales of the Supernatural” won the Newberry Honor and the King Author Award in 1993. Other awards included the C.S. Lewis Medal, the Caldecott Award, the Jane Addams Peace Award, the Coretta Scott King Award and the Regina Medal.

When Mr. McKissack passed away in 2013, Mrs. McKissack carried the torch on his behalf. Sadly, their journey of more than 100 books came to an end with Mrs. McKissack’s passing in April. But the robust and relevant material that they gifted the world ensures them a timeless legacy.

On Saturday, September 23 Fred and Patricia McKissack will be honored for their contributions as a featured attraction for BookFest St. Louis.

“In addition to honoring their legacy, we will highlight examples from the next generation of authors and illustrators that continue the McKissacks’ mission of producing beautiful, educational and emotionally intelligent work for children,” BookFest St. Louis said in a news release.

When my nephew was in fifth grade, he was toting a hardback copy of Color Me Dark: The Diary of Nellie Lee Love, The Great Migration North (Dear America) when he came to my house to spend the weekend.

I asked him about the book, assuming it was required reading for an assignment.

“It was on display for Black History Month at the library at my school and it just stood out,” he said. “I picked it up to read the back cover and I saw that she was the same age as me.”

He then proceeded to tell me everything he learned from the book about The Great Migration and about Nellie Lee Love.

I told him that both of his great grandmothers were also among the millions of black people who came North for a better life. I asked him if I

could see the book. To my shock and delight, I saw that the book was written by none other than Patricia McKissack. I told him that the woman who wrote it lives in St. Louis – and was herself a part of The Great Migration, though she and her husband came as adults.

“She wrote this book here. Is she famous? Do you know her?” He asked. “She probably did. She’s famous in literary circles,” I responded. “No, I do not know her personally. But I know her work. And now you do too.” Through their books, The McKissacks built bridges. The words were a starting point for conversations that could be had between children and adults because readers were armed with a new perspective and appreciation for their importance as individuals – and a connection to history – based on the stories that came with the turn of each page.

“A Special Trust: Remembering Fred and Patricia McKissack” will be one of the culminating events for BookFest St. Louis, a daylong festival in the Central West End that celebrates the literary arts. The event will bring dozens of local, regional and national authors together for author presentations, panel discussions, book signings and an array of family-friendly activities and programming throughout the day.

Rising literary star like Edward Kelsey Moore, acclaimed local poets Treasure Shields Redmond, Cheeraz Gormon, M.K. Stallings, Michael Castro and Allison Rollins and national poets, Tongo Eisen-Martin and Roger Reeves are just a few of the participants.

“A Special Trust: Remembering Fred and Patricia McKissack will take place at 7 p.m. on Saturday, September 23 at Left Bank Books as part of the BookFest St. Louis programming. For a full schedule of events related to BookFest St. Louis, visit bookfeststl.com or call (314) 367-6731.

Celebrations

Nuptials

Congratulations and best wishes to newlyweds Dwayne and Patricia Bosman who were married on September 9, 2017.

Reunions

Beaumont High Class of 1968 Reunion Committee will begin planning for our 50th Class Reunion to be held in St. Louis, Missouri in 2018. For more information contact Vanetta Cobbs, 314-869-5665, or email vanetta.cobbs@ sbcglobal.net.

Retirement

Happy Retirement to Veronica Rice! On behalf of your family, we wish you an amazing, prosperous future that continues to get better with time. Your devotion to the field of mental health taught us much and represented the true essence of civility. Thank you and God bless!

Beaumont High School Class of 1977 will celebrate its 40year reunion Sept. 15–17, 2017. For further information, please contact: Karen Handley (314) 330-0129, Audrey Dixon (314) 413-9202, Lois Moore (314) 315-0474, Kelvin Ellison (314) 599-6733.

Beaumont High Class of 1978 will celebrate its 40-year reunion in 2018. For further information, please contact: Marietta Shegog Shelby, 314-799-5296, madeshe@ sbcglobal.net.

Hadley Tech Classes of 1962-1963 are having their 55th year reunion on October 13-15, 2017 at the St. Louis Airport Marriott. For more

information, please contact Hellon (Merritt) Jefferson at 314-307-3681, Ora (Scott) Roberts at 314-222-3662, Wilhelmina (Gibson) Baker at 314-630-9647, Pearl (Tillman) Holden 314-6850466 or Virdell (Robinson) Stennis at 314-773-8177.

Northwest High Class of 1978 is planning its 40 year reunion for next year. PLEASE reach out to our classmates, tell them get ready for this. If you have any questions please contact Sly at ( 314) 397-0311 or email us at northwestbluedevils@78 gmail.com. Check us out on Facebook Northwest High School-Class of 1978.

Birthdays

Happy 70th Birthday to Supt. Henry Collins on September 14!

Celebrate with Playmama on her birthday! Happy 101st Birthday to Mary “Playmama” Hardin on September 21! Greetings can be sent c/o Sandra Harrell to 4563 Ruskin Ave., St. Louis, MO 63115.

O’Fallon Technical High School Class of 1967, will be celebrating its 50th reunion on September 15-17, 2017. If you have not received a letter or e-mail, please call 314630-8452 with your contact information, and a committee member will contact you.

Soldan High School Class of 1967 will be holding its 50th class reunion September 29-30, 2017. For additional information, please contact Nona Binion Simpkins at 314-361-3799or Melvia Forniss at 314-725-8103.

Sumner High Class of 1972 reunion will be held September 15-17, 2017 at the Airport Hilton, 10330 Natural

Bridge Rd., 63134. Please contact Earlene Brown 314226-7019/314-534-0467 or Jazelle Brown 314-954-1470 or Kathi Washington Scott 314-445-4715.

Vashon High School will celebrate its 90th anniversary October 5-7, 2017 for alumni, students and community activities to celebrate educational commitment and tradition. For additional information, go to Vashonhigh.org or contact Elvis Hopson, elvishopson@ att.net, (314) 535-0243, Pearl Lake, lakep6@aol.com, (314) 388-0743 or Cozy W. Marks, Jr., jr3810@sbcglobal.net, (314) 383-5682.

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

Reunion notices are free of charge and based on space availability. We prefer that notices be emailed to us! However, notices may also be sent by mail to: Kate Daniel, 2315 Pine St., St. Louis, MO 63103 Deadline is 10 a.m. on Friday. If you’d like your class to be featured in a reunion profile, email or mail photos to us. Our email address is: reunions@ stlamerican.com

Photo by Dr. Pamela Jackson

Swag Snap of the Week

One more Saturday ‘til Salute. Can I give y’all a praise report? Well, I am anyway. As of today, I can get into my Salute gown without any assistance, or saran wrap or ponytail holders to bridge the gap between my clasps. Won’t He do it! With that being said, prepare to be shook from my slow-motion stroll down the red carpet when the St. Louis American Foundation’s 30th Annual Salute to Excellence in Education Scholarship and Awards Gala on Saturday, September 23rd at America’s Center. I cannot wait to see the opulence that will traipsing through the convention center as we honor educators and student scholar – and tear the club up at the after party featuring DJ Kut and jazz cabaret with Denise Thimes. At this point, all that I can say is that it is the premiere gala in town. We serve televised awards show realness as far as the level of glamour – and epic after party. Y’all better visit www.stlamerican.com or call (314) 533-8000 and get the seats that are bound to sell out.

Only a few at LouFest U. The regular LouFest enjoyed record crowds on Saturday and Sunday nights – which I’ll get more into in a minute. The newly added free Friday night LouFest U festivities for college students – not so much. It’s a shame too, because two of my favorite hip-hop acts gave all they had to that little piece of crowd. Arshad Goods was up first. I have a new appreciation for him as an artist after how he got it in, in front an audience that had less people than he had in his band. He had features and everything. And if you know me, all you need to is put Black Spade on stage with you and I’m sold. Rapper Smino – who had the Delmar Hall sold out to the point that I’m willing to bet a few folks would’ve done something strange to get up in there – had a considerably larger audience. But that wasn’t saying a whole lot. And while I don’t understand where he was going with his fashion choices of a blue construction worker jumpsuit and U.S. Polo Sport man purse, he did his thing on stage. Smino is already on the national radar, but Arshad is not too far behind. It was a good look, even if the majority of folks didn’t bother stopping through. In all fairness, it was a new event. I believe it has the potential to build some momentum in the coming years if they keep it up and promote it.

A marvelous Mr. Scarface at Mystic. When I spoke to one of my aces about stopping by Mystic to check out Rap-A-Lot veteran and former Geto Boys front man Scarface, he said, “He’s back again? I bet he has a baby here or something.” Come to find out he has a 25-year-old daughter here. How about that? But I’m sure you want to hear about the show, so I’ll get to it. I knew it was going to be crowded to the point of nonstop personal space invasion, because I had to park in the Social Security office lot. It was worth it though, because Mr. Scarface got it in and gave them every penny’s worth. Honestly, I’ve never had a bad time whenever an O.G. rapper gives little show at Mystic. It’s more crowded than my taste when they come through, but I’m never mad about anything other than not being able to find a seat.

Lining up for Loufest. LouFest U might have taken an “L” as far as their Friday night festivities, but the weekend of official program was a Powerball win as far as attendance and the performances. Listen, it would take me three full Partylines to sum up how much fire made it to that stage. Poor Mvstermind had to deal with technical troubles for his LouFest mainstage debut, but he made up for it when him and his crew performed on that mobile stage. I wasn’t absolutely crazy about the Chuck Berry tribute, but Captain Kirk from The Roots gave me life. Snoop Dogg was more interested in playing other people’s music than his, but the crowd was checking for it after he finally got into some classics – so, I guess. I know he’s promoting that new album, but he should have eased into new stuff after a few favorites. That crowd on Saturday was so deep for Snoop that they couldn’t let anybody else in. You had to see it to believe it. Sunday was life more abundantly as far as the music, so much that I wound up staying all day. 18AndCounting had a wonderful way of performing to his own drum – and the people that watched danced to their own beat, so it balanced out. Robert Randolph and the Family Band don’t get the props that they deserve from the masses. No Name was cool too. Just like he always does, LeCrae hit it out the park. Most of the crowd was rocking so tough with him that they probably had no idea that he raps about Jesus. And that Lizzo is my spirit animal! Listen, she’s about a size 20 and twerked the staged own in a thong catsuit to the point that no one could look away – proving that the act of slaying knows no size or shape. And while I’m on the subject of plus size slayage, I had to yank myself away from Killer Mike and Run The Jewels set. The note that I do have about LouFest is that while they presented a diverse stage lineup, the audience was anything but. The reason why I’m saying so is because the audience was so enamored with the few of us that were there. They were touching hair, asking rap questions and doing whatever they felt like would make all 8 of us feel welcome and engaged by them – even at the expense of watching the performances. Toned down Tony!Toni! Tone! RockHouse, Still Blessed and Majic 103.7 brought R&B vets Tony!Toni!Tone to the Pageant on Sunday with special guests Ol Skool. Because I was so caught up in the rapture of Killer Mike, I missed Ol’ Skool all together. But according to Majic’s BJ the DJ they got it in and sounded as good as when “Am I Dreamin’” was on the radio. I can’t really say the same for this latest visit from the Tony!Toni!Tone! I’ll repeat as many times as it takes that Raphael Saadiq has been out of the group longer than he was in it at this point. So complaining about how you wish he was still with them is just silly. They were cool, it just didn’t have the energy as they normally put out. I did love Dwayne’s “The Last Samurai” inspired jacket.

Charles and Taylor Hit LouFest on Friday to see the STLs own Smino

Perry, Donetta, Gerald and Dontel arrived early to check out Scarface perform live Friday night @ Mystic

St. Louis rising rap stars Arshad Goods and Smino chopped it up Friday @ LouFestU

Carmen and Tonya hung out with the gentlemen of Ol’ Skool Sunday when they opened for Tony!Toni!Tone! @ The Pageant

Britt and Aeisha were ready to shut down the dance floor @ Blank Space for Rump Shaker Saturday

Rap legend Scarface came thru Mystic Friday and blessed the crowd with the classics courtesy of Durand Mcnutt

Visual artist Triggy and vocalist Bianca Fitzpatrick opened with “Smile” during Year Of The Women @RKDE Thursday

Naquittia and Slim hit the Pageant Sunday to groove to sounds of Tony Toni Tone

Jarett and Laquita left the house to hit the town on Saturday and stopped by Mood

Steven Clerkley and Dr. Lance McCarthy had an opportunity to meet Grammy Award nominated R&B band Tony!Toni!Tone! Sunday night at the Pageant.

Photos by V. Lang

Jackie, Salenna and Shay-Rehae feeling fabulous and having fun Saturday @ OBar

Director, Membership and Programs, Citizens for Modern Transit Citizens for Modern Transit (CMT) is seeking a talented individual to serve as the Director, Membership and Programs, of the organization. The successful candidate should have an understanding of public transit; transit oriented development (TOD); local, state and federal governmental entities, and public policies affecting transit. CMT, a 1000-member 501(c)3 organization with a 26-member volunteer board, leads the St. Louis region’s education and advocacy efforts for a robust and expanding transit system, especially light rail, with the goal of building livable, sustainable communities.

REQUIRED SKILLS: • Bachelor’s Degree required; Masters Degree preferred • 3-5 years experience in membership development, communications/mar keting. EOE. More information at www.cmt-stl. org

COORDINATOR PSA POLICY OPERATIONS

Responsible for providing client / customer support for the department’s operational functions to include the production of Primary and Excess Workers’ Compensation, Commercial Auto, General Liability, Excess Liability and Specialty Lines transactions (New Business, Renewals, Endorsements, Cancellations, Reinstatements and Non-renewals). This position includes the accuracy in which transactions are issued, correct billing and proper distribution of final product to our customers.

To apply, please visit: www.safetynational.com and click on the Careers tab.

ASSISTANT CLAIMS

LARGE CASUALTY MAIL

Responsible for various tasks related to: categorizing, imaging and processing incoming mail.

To apply, please visit: www.safetynational.com and click on the Careers tab..

a leadership role in the development, implementation & management of the Affirmative Action Program for MU, align the plan with the MU’s inclusive excellence framework, & assist with other reporting related to EEO. For the full announcement & to apply, visit http://hrs.missouri.edu/find-a-job/staff/ index.php, enter job ID 23254.

REAL ESTATE SPECIALIST

Be part of the solution in St. Louis City as St. Louis Development Corporation’s is Real Estate Specialist. To apply online and see a full job description go to: http:// www.stlouis-mo.gov/sldc/ and click on “Careers at SLDC.”

SLDC offers a full range of benefits including deferred comp, 401(a), and medical insurance. SLDC is an equal opportunity employer. Successful candidate must be a St. Louis city resident or establish residency within 180 days of completing a probationary period.

SLDC values a diverse workforce, and is an equal opportunity employer.

DIRECTOR OF SOLUTIONS ARCHITECTURE

This position will provide leadership in the growth and management of Safety National’s team of Solution Architects. This role is responsible for providing and maintaining a well-defined approach to solution architecture, management of the solution architecture team, and oversight of the solutions proposed and developed by this team.

This role will also serve individually as solution architect on projects as necessary.

To apply, please visit: www.safetynational.com and click on the Careers tab.

PARK POLICE OFFICER

The City of Florissant has an immediate opening for part-time Park Police Officer. Applicants must meet (P.O.S.T.) certification requirements. Prior Police Experience preferred. Starting salary $25.50/hour for a maximum of 29 hours weekly. Applications are available at www.florissantmo.com and Human Resources, 1055 rue St. Francois, Florissant, MO 63031. EOE/M/F/DISABLED/

SAINT LOUIS ZOO BIRD HOUSE MAIN ENTRANCE MASONRY RFP 2017

Three Bird House exterior stair landings/ platform pads and one set of brick stairs are in need of replacement. The pads and stairs are a combination of various materials including concrete, brick and stone. MANDATORY PRE-BID MEETING & SITE INSPECTION: On 9/22/2017 At 9:00AM in The Living World building on Government Drive in Forest Park, lower level. Bid Documents will be available on 9/14/2017 at: https://www.stlzoo.org/about/contact/ vendoropportunities/

SAINT LOUIS ZOO ORGANIZATIONAL LABOR ANALYSIS/EFFICIENCY ANALYSIS & BENCHMARKING STUDY

The Saint Louis Zoo (“Zoo”) is soliciting proposals from qualified companies to conduct an organizational labor analysis (otherwise sometimes referred to as a manpower study or efficiency analysis or productivity study) & benchmarking study. Proposals must be received by October 12, 2017 at 2:00PM, Documents can be found at https://www.stlzoo.org/about/ contact/vendoropportunities/

Tarlton is soliciting bids for Fencing, Hauling, Cast In Place Concrete, Concrete-Supply, Reinforcing Steel, Metal Fabrications, Structural Steel, Rough Carpentry, Insulated Metal Roof and Wall Panels, Joint Sealants, Traffic Coatings, Overhead Coiling Doors, Painting, Fire Extinguishers & Accessories, Louvers & Vents, Signage, Plumbing, Mechanical, Testing & Balancing, Electrical, Earthwork, Seeding & Sodding, Paving, Site Utilities, Pumps, and Water & Wastewater Equipment.

The owner has established an MBE (African American and Hispanic American) goal of 30% utilization for building construction contracts in the amount of $50,000 or more. The Owner’s MBE goal is at least 30% of the total contract price.

MSD will have a non-mandatory pre-bid conference at 9 a.m. on September 21, 2017 in the District office at 2350 Market Street, St. Louis MO 63103 in Conference Room 109. A site tour of the Coldwater Creek WWTF at 13798 Old Ferry Road, Florissant MO 63033 will immediately follow the pre-bid conference. Tarlton’s non-mandatory prebid meeting will be September 22, 2017 at 10 a.m. at Tarlton’s offices, 5500 West Park Ave., St. Louis 63110. Please contact Zach Heck at 314-633-3300 or ZJHeck@ tarltoncorp.com if you plan to attend. Subbids are due at 12 p.m. on October 9, 2017 via email to bids@tarltoncorp.com. Questions should also

LETTING # 8649

LETTING # 8648

2017 TERMINAL 1 BAGGAGE CLAIM

DRIVE TO TICKETING DRIVE STAIRCASE

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 3, 2017 then publicly opened and read. Plans and Specifications may be examined on the Board of Public Service website http://www.stl-bps.org/planroom.aspx (BPS On Line Plan Room) and may be purchased directly through the BPS website from INDOX Services at cost plus shipping. No refunds will be made.

Bidders shall comply with all applicable City, State and Federal laws (including MBE/WBE policies). ). Mandatory pre-bid meeting will be held on Tuesday, September 12, 2017, at 10:00 AM 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).

NOTICE OF PUBLIC HEARING

A public hearing will be held at 5:45 p.m., September 21, 2017, at the office of the City of St. Louis Mental Health Board of Trustees, Suite 200, 333 S. 18th Street (Annex at Union Station), St. Louis, Missouri, at which 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, 2017 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 $0.0883 and is proposed to be adopted, and for the Community Children’s Services Fund is $0.1865 and is proposed to be adopted.

ASSESSED VALUE (by categories)

Current Tax Year 2017 Real Estate

$3,306,096,609 Personal Property

$977,080,689

$4,059,339,405

For the Community Mental Health Fund the current year assessed values are projected to accrue property tax revenue of $3,921,086. For the Community Children’s Services Fund the current year assessed values are projected to accrue property tax revenue of $7,617,793. City of St. Louis Mental Health Board of Trustees – September 13, 2017

GERMANIA STREET IMPROVEMENTS, GRAVOIS AVENUE TO I-55

FEDERAL PROJECT NO. STP-5424(606) TIP NO. 6501-16

Sealed proposals will be received by the Board of Public Service in Room 208, City Hall, 1200 Market Street, St. Louis, Missouri 63103 until 1:45 PM, CT, on OCTOBER 10, 2017, then publicly opened and read. Drawings and Specifications may be examined on the Board of Public Service website http://www.stl-bps.org/ planroom.aspx (BPS On Line Plan Room) and may be purchased directly through the BPS website from INDOX Services at cost plus shipping. No refunds will be made. The prime contractor must have a fully responsive contractor questionnaire on file with the Missouri Highway and Transportation Commission at least 7 days prior to bid opening date in order for MODOT to concur with the award of this project. Bidders shall comply with all applicable City, State and Federal laws (including DBE policies).

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

MWBE Pre-bid Meeting Notice

The SITE Improvement Association is hosting a Pre-bid meeting for Qualified and Certified MWBE contractors to discuss working on Natural Bridge Road – Darby to Chevrolet Combined Sewer Relief Contract Letting No. 12536-015.1

This meeting is being held on behalf of the following SITE contractor members:

Fred M. Luth & Sons 4516 McRee Ave. St. Louis, MO 63110 314/771-3892

The meeting will take place at 10:00 a.m.

September 21, 2017

SITE Improvement Association 2071 Exchange Drive, St. Charles, MO 63303

Project plans are available from MSD. For questions regarding this prebid meeting, Contact the SITE Improvement Association office at 314/966-2950.

BID

SEALED BIDS

for

RenovationsMontauk Lodge, Montauk State P a r k , S a l e m , Missouri, Project No. X1609-01 will be received by FMDC, State of MO, UNTIL 1:30 PM, 8/3/2017. For specific project information and ordering plans, go to: http://oa.mo. gov/facilities

NOTICE OF PUBLIC HEARING WITH RESPECT TO LOW INCOME HOUSING TAX CREDIT QUALIFIED ALLOCATION PLAN AND MISSOURI HOUSING TRUST FUND ALLOCATION PLAN & NOFA AND NATIONAL HOUSING TRUST FUND ALLOCATION PLAN

The Missouri Housing Development Commission (MHDC) will hold a public hearing on modifications to the Qualified Allocation Plan for administration of Low Income Housing Tax Credits, the Allocation Plan and NOFA for administration of the Missouri Housing Trust Fund and the Allocation Plan for the administration of the National Housing Trust Fund. The hearing will be held as follows: Wednesday, September 20, 2017 -- 6:00 p.m. Missouri Housing Development Commission (St. Louis Office) 505 7th St., 20th Floor, Suite 2000 St. Louis, MO 63101

All persons within the state of Missouri having an interest in the subject matter of the hearing will be given an opportunity to be heard on the date and place specified. MHDC recommends that all of those appearing in person provide written transcripts of their comments. Those unable to appear may send their written comments to the Missouri Housing Development Commission, 920 Main Street, Suite 1400, Kansas City, MO 64105. Written comments will be accepted through September 22, 2017. For a copy of the proposed plans and/or assessment, please see our web site at www.mhdc.com or request it from our office by calling Gus Metz at (816) 759-6878 (Qualified Allocation Plan), Alissa Ice at (816) 759-7234 (National Housing Trust Fund Allocation Plan) or Andrea Jenkins at (816) 759-7236 (Missouri Trust Fund Allocation Plan and NOFA).

If you wish to attend this meeting and require special aid or services under the Americans with Disabilities Act, please notify Lynn Sigler at (816) 759-6822 at least three (3) working days prior to the meeting. Kip Stetzler Executive Director Missouri Housing Development Commission

BID NOTICE

Maxim Construction, a local St. Louis general contractor, is seeking MBE union contractors to be involved in our projects. We are looking for mechanical, electrical, laborer, carpenter, millwright, iron worker, painting and plumbing contractors. We will be having a Pre-Bid Meeting on 9/18/17, please contact Adam or Steve (314772-5665) for details.

SEALED BIDS

for Replace Perimeter Fence Detection Systems, Algoa and Tipton Correctional Centers, Jefferson City and Tipton, Missouri, Project No. C1606-01 will be received by FMDC, State of MO, UNTIL 1:30 PM, 10/12/2017. For specific project information and ordering plans, go to: http://oa.mo. gov/ facilities

SEALED BIDS

for DDC

Great Rivers Greenway is soliciting bids for repairing the Old Chain of Rocks pedestrian bridge- Federal Project DP-5602(606). Bids can be submitted electronically until 3 pm prevailing local time October 5, 2017. See https://greatriversgreenway.org/jobsbids for full bid package.

HVAC Controls, G u h l e m a n a n d Hearnes Forensic Complexes, F u l t o n S t a t e Hospital, Fulton, MO, Project No. M1417-02 will be received by FMDC, State of MO, UNTIL 1:30 PM, 9/7/2017. For specific project information and ordering plans, go to: http://oa.mo. gov/

The Missouri Lottery is accepting bids for the purpose of establishing a contract for promotional t-shirts . The bid document with the specifications can be obtained by going to http:// www.molottery.com/learnaboutus/ bid_opportunities.shtm or by contacting Melissa Blankenship at melissa.blankenship@molottery.com or 573-751-4050.

Notice to MBE Businesses

Plocher Construction Company, Inc. 2808 Thole-Plocher Road

Highland, IL 62249

PH: (618) 654-9408

Fax: (618) 654-6454

bids@plocherco.com

is seeking MBE (African American and Hispanic American) businesses for the MSD Coldwater Creek WWTF Final Clarifiers Replacement for Union Subcontracting & Supply opportunities in the following areas:

Demolition, Concrete Sawcutting, Cast in Place Concrete, Rebar, Metals, Joint Sealants, Painting, HVAC, Mechanical, Utilities, Electrical, Site Clearing, Minor Earthwork, Erosion Control, Asphalt Paving, Concrete Paving and Sidewalks.

All interested and qualified business should contact Andrew Wirz (amwirz@plocherco.com) or Chuck Wagner (crwagner@plocherco. com) in writing or via email to discuss the subcontracting and supply opportunities. All quotes are requested to be received one day prior to the bid opening date of October 10th, 2017

All proposals will be reviewed for the lowest, responsive, and responsible quote.

MSD will host a non-mandatory Pre-Bid conference, including site visit. It will be held at 10:00 AM on Thursday, September 21, 2017 in the District office at 2350 Market Street, St. Louis Missouri 63103 in Conference Room 109. A site tour of the Coldwater Creek WWTF at 13798 Old Ferry Road, Florissant, Missouri 63033 will immediately follow the Pre-Bid conference. Plocher Construction will hold its own Pre-bid meeting on September 22, 2017 at 10:00am at Plocher’s office: 2808 Thole-Plocher Rd, Highland, IL.

Plans and Specifications are available for free electronic download. Please go to MSD’s website and look for a link to “ELECTRONIC PLANROOM.”

October  4,  2017  at  4:00  P.M St.  Louis  County  Admin  Building 41  S.  Central –  5th  Floor Clayton,  MO    63105 October  5,  2017  at  2:00

63125

Louis  County’s  “FY  2018”  Consolidated  Plan  Update.    The  Consolidated  Plan  is  a planning  document  required  to  be  submitted  by  St.  Louis  County  to  the  United  States  Department  of  Housing and  Urban  Development  (HUD)  in  order  to  receive  funding  which  will  be  made  available  through  the following  three  programs:  Community  Development  Block  Grant  (CDBG),  HOME  Investment  Partnership (HOME)  and  Emergency  Solutions  Grant  (ESG).    These  grants  are  administered  by  the  St.  Louis  County Department  of  Planning,  Office  of  Community  Development  and  the  St.  Louis  County  Department  of  Human Services.    Funds  from  these  grant  programs  are  made  available  to  participating  jurisdictions,  non-­‐profit  and for  profit  entities  and  provide  funding  for  programs  and  activities  in  St.  Louis  County.    Citizens  attending  the above  referenced  public  hearing  will  have  the  opportunity  to  discuss  the  needs  of  St.  Louis  County  residents as  they  relate  to  the  requirements  of  these  programs  which  must  benefit  primarily  low  and  moderate  income residents,  eliminate  slums  and  blight,  address  urgent  community  needs,  provide  affordable  housing,  and provide  assistance  to  homeless  residents. It  is  also  a  goal  of  these  grant  programs  to  fund  activities  which  assist  in  providing  decent  housing,  create suitable  living  environments  and  expand  economic  opportunities.    Comments  provided  by  citizens  at  this public  hearing  will  be  synthesized  and  utilized  to  develop  a  draft  Consolidated  Plan  which  will

be  submitted  to  HUD  on  or  about  November  15,  2018,  will  be  a  comprehensive  and effective  citizen-­‐based  strategy  complete  with  short-­‐term  action  plans  and  proposed  activities.    St.  Louis County  expects  to  receive  approximately  Eight  Million  Dollars  ($8,000,000.00)  for  the  aforementioned programs.    Funding  should  be  available  on  or  after  January  1st,  2018. Organizations  that  are  interested  in  requesting  CDBG  funds  from  St.  Louis  County  may  pick  up  applications  for funding  beginning  on  Monday,  August  28,  2017,  at  the  address  specified  below  or

Missouri 63105,  Telephone  (314)  615-­‐4414,  FAX  (314)  615-­‐8674,  TTY  (314)  615-­‐5467,  Relay  Missouri  1-­‐800-­‐735-­‐2966. If  you  wish

to Gateway Storage Mall of Belleville, Columbia, & Dupo. The contents of their storage unit(s) will be sold at auction to compensate all or part of that debt. Auction will be held on site with Jersey County Auctions on September 19, 2017 at 9:00 am. A cash deposit will be REQUIRED for all winning bids. Units: Col. 161 – Lisa Schmitz, Col. 149 – Lisa Schmitz, Col. 77 – Amanda Bartsch, Col. 195 – Dane Huebner, Bel. C08 – Michelle Holmes, Bel. A14 – Allen Klingelhoefer, Bel. E02 – Rita Slider, Bel. C11 – Ashley Wittenbrink, Bel. 101 - Cecelie Holmes, Bel. 540 – Jennifer Briggs, Bel. 636 - Daryl Jones, Bel. 622 - Jennifer McGough, Bel. 307 - Stephine Patterson, Bel. 530 - Kasha BuchanonGlenn, Bel. 3 – Ikeisha Manuel, Bel. 534 –Vivian Mosley, Bel. 6 – Ernest Sawyer. For all rules, regulations and bidding process, contact Jersey County Auctions. All other questions, please call 618-421-4022 or mail PO Box 81, Dupo, IL 62239.

NOTICE TO CONTRACTORS

Sealed bids for Big Bend Boulevard and Manchester Road, St. Louis County Project No. AR-1519, will be received at the Office of the Director of Procurement for the County of St. Louis, County Government Center Administration Building, 41 South Central Avenue, 8th Floor, Clayton, Missouri 63105, until 2:00 p.m. on September 27, 2017.

Plans and specifications will be available on September 11, 2017 from the St. Louis County Web Site (www.stlouisco.com), or by contacting County Blue Reprographics, Inc., 1449 Strassner Drive, St. Louis, Missouri 63144, (314) 961-3800.

DIRECTOR OF PROCUREMENT AND ADMINISTRATIVE SERVICES ST. LOUIS, COUNTY

BID PROPOSAL

MO Network Utility Transport, LLC is proposing to construct a 58-foot overall height utility pole at 2821-2825 Endicott Avenue, St. Louis, Missouri 63114 (approximate coordinates are 38 42 21.7656, -90 20 21.9624). The proposed structure would not be lighted. MO Network Utility Transport invites any interested party to request further environmental review of the proposed action under the FCC’s National Environmental Policy Act rules, 47 CFR §1.1307, by notifying the FCC of the specific reasons that the action may have a significant impact on the quality of the human environment. This request must only raise environmental concerns and can be filed online using the FCC pleadings system at www. fcc.gov or mailed to FCC Requests for Environmental Review, Attn: Ramon Williams, 445 12th Street SW, Washington, DC 20554 within 30 days of the date that notice of this proposed action is published on the FCC’s website. Refer to File No. A1087320 when submitting the request and to view the specific information about the proposed action. (S1718/9MOB001430)

NOTICE TO CONTRACTORS

Sealed bids for the Dorsett Road (West) ARS Infrastructure, St. Louis County Project No. AR-1588, will be received at the Office of the Director of Procurement for the County of St. Louis, County Government Center Administration Building, 41 South Central Avenue, 8th Floor, Clayton, Missouri 63105, until 2:00 p.m. on October 4, 2017

Plans and specifications will be available on September 14 and September 21, 2017 from the St. Louis County Web Site (www.stlouisco.com), or by contacting County Blue Reprographics, Inc., 1449 Strassner Drive, St. Louis, Missouri 63144, (314) 961-3800.

DIRECTOR OF PROCUREMENT AND ADMINISTRATIVE SERVICES ST. LOUIS, COUNTY

REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS

The St. Louis Economic Development Partnership (the “Partnership”) is soliciting proposals from qualified graphic design firms to conceptualize, design, and deliver supporting collateral materials for the Partnership and its affiliated entities for various projects throughout the year, with an option for a one-year renewal. To be considered, proposals must be received no later than 3:00 PM on Thursday, September 28, 2017. Proposals should be sent by email to hbean@stlpartnership.com. DBE, MBE, and WBE firms are encouraged to bid.

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, Staff Attorney, St. Louis Economic Development Partnership at (314) 615-7663 or hbean@ stlpartnership.com.

St. Louis Economic Development Partnership Equal Opportunity Employer

PUBLISHER’S NOTICE:

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

origin, or intention to make any such preference,limitation, or discrimination.“We will not knowingly

REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS #: 57817257

Harris-Stowe State University (HSSU) is requesting proposals in order to procure a catalog curriculum management service. A copy of the RFP is available by emailing: morrowb@hssu.edu, faxing a request to: (314) 340-3322 or calling (314) 340-5763. Proposals must be submitted to room 105 in the Dr. Henry Givens, Jr., Administration (HGA) building no later than 11:00 a.m. on Thursday, October 5, 2017 and will be opened and the names of the offerors revealed at 11:15 a.m. in room 208 Conf Rm in the HGA building.

LCMS National Housing Support Corporation (NHSC) is seeking a consultant to create a Comprehensive Development Plan

NHSC is soliciting proposals from consultants that are interested in creating a comprehensive development plan that will guide future revitalization activities in the College Hill neighborhood in north Saint Louis, MO. For a copy of the full RFP, please go the following website www. nationalhousingsupport.org to download. Proposals must be received no later than Monday, September 25, 2017 at 5:00 p.m. CST.

DEACONESS SEEKING COMPANY FOR INTERIOR SIGNAGE

Deaconess Foundation is requesting proposals from firms to provide interior signage for the new Deaconess Center for Child Well-Being. The Center is currently under construction at 1000 N. Vandeventer with substantial completion scheduled for December 15, 2017. For more information visit www.deaconess.org. Proposals are due by 5:00 p.m. Central Time on September 22, 2017.

The fight is fixed

The fight is fixed. Jesus took the heavy blows, endured the emergency trip to the ER and survived the intensive care unit on Calvary. What we tend to forget is His fight was THE fight and His victory was and continues to be our victory.

Because He won, we won. Whatever you’re going through, YOUR FIGHT IS FIXED! You’ve already won.

“Because of His great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions-it is by grace you have been saved. And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with Him in the heavenly realms of Jesus Christ in order that in the coming ages, He might show the incomparable riches of His grace, expressed in His kindness to us in Christ.”

Ephesians 2:6-8. Does that not mean you win? Hence, there is real meaning in the refrain, “The fight is fixed.”

Practically speaking, take another look at your situation with the fundamental truth that you’ve already won and then go forward. You must understand and act deliberately and consciously upon the truth that Christ is in your corner. From there, faith will never allow you to ever again enter the ring and your opponent not know who yo Daddy is. Mess with me at your own risk. All the mess I’m going through or someone is trying to put me through, is but an opportunity to run home and get my Big Brother J.C. Our challenge is not to try and win this fight alone. We cannot. We will surely fail. My witness is to always let my opponent know exactly what I’m fighting with. It ain’t gone be fair. I’m not playing by their rules and if only they knew like I do that I’m going to win, they would just leave me alone. I have not met the man or woman yet who can beat Satan at his own game. I tried and without Jesus, I failed miserably. That should not surprise any of you and especially those trying to go it alone right now. Satan has a big advantage in this world, but I don’t worry about that anymore. My knowledge of the outcome lets me handle the tricks of the enemy. I know the fight is fixed. I win. And guess what? You do, too. See. We got it like that.

Archbishop Carlson responds to Trump’s DACA announcement

Plus, Central Baptist choir director joins Shakespeare in the Streets

American staff

Most Reverend Robert J. Carlson, archbishop of St. Louis, released a statement in response to the Trump administration’s plans to phase out Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA). The statement follows.

Welcoming the stranger, the immigrant, and the refugee have been long-standing hallmarks of our American way of life and religious convictions. The responsibility to welcome and care for the migrant and refugee are not only public and social virtues, but also find common ground and resolve in faith.

“Come you that are blessed by my Father…for I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me” (Matthew 25: 34-35).

This Gospel mandate to actively reach out and welcome the stranger has guided our Catholic social values and practices for centuries. Throughout our Catholic tradition, we have learned to be attentive to the needs of the poor, the marginalized, and the vulnerable. In faith, we have come to recognize and know the face of Christ in the migrant and refugee.

In this spirit of compassion and solidarity, today, I join my brother Catholic bishops, religious and civic leaders, the larger Catholic community, and people of good will in supporting the estimated 800,000 young people who have benefitted from the DACA program. The Archdiocese of St. Louis will continue to be a place of welcome, service,

and mutual hospitality, especially to the suffering and most vulnerable among us.

Let us hear the words of Pope Francis anew: “No one can remain insensitive to the inequalities that persist in the world! Everybody, according to his or her particular opportunities and responsibilities, should be able to make a personal contribution to putting an end to so many social injustices. The culture of selfishness and individualism that often prevails in our society is not, I repeat, not what builds up and leads to a more habitable world: rather, it is the culture of solidarity that does so; the culture of solidarity means seeing others not as rivals or statistics, but brothers and sisters. And we are all brothers and sisters!”

Central Baptist choir director joins Shakespeare in the Streets

Local step company, The Gentlemen of Vision, and a 60-person choir whose members represent area churches and high schools, will take to the stage with professional actors, including Joneal Joplin, and St. Louis residents when rehearsals begin this week for the sixth annual Shakespeare in the Streets’ production titled, Blow,

“The Archdiocese of St. Louis will continue to be a place of welcome, service, and mutual hospitality, especially to the suffering and most vulnerable among us,” Most Reverend Robert J. Carlson, archbishop of St. Louis, said in response to the Trump administration’s plans to phase out Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA).

Winds, a play artfully adapted from William

The

by

will be performed at 8 p.m. Fri. through Sun., Sept. 15-17, in front of the St. Louis Public Library’s Central Library (1301 Olive St.). Olive Street between 13th and 14th will be closed to traffic from 6 to 10 p.m. each night. Patrons are encouraged to bring lawn chairs to watch the show. Pre-show activities will include food trucks, live music and a family craft area.

Creative team members Nancy Bell (playwright), Tom Martin (director), and Lamar Harris (composer/music director) have been meeting with residents and community leaders from each of the previous five Shakespeare in the Streets neighborhoods, among others. The resulting production will feature the combined talents of professional actors performing alongside residents and students.

Harris is creating the entire score for the one-hour show with many of the songs being sung by the Central Baptist Church choir (under the direction of Minister Chris Watkins, minister of music at the Central Baptist Church).

The script is a reflection of Shakespeare’s play, real conversations with the residents, and Bell’s own impressions. The Festival’s streets initiative has gained international recognition for engaging communities through storytelling and creating vibrant new plays; Blow, Winds will be the first citywide Shakespeare in the Streets event. For event details and parking information, visit www.sfstl.com.

Columnist James Washington

Shakespeare’s King Lear.

show, presented

Shakespeare Festival St. Louis,