September 5th, 2013 edition

By Bridjes O’Neil

events

protests. Civil rights activists Norman R. Seay, his brother Kenneth Webb and Percy Green II were key organizers of the protests. In August 1963, they and hundreds of others in the African-American community challenged the bank’s racially discriminatory

S.A.F.E. kids

for guests during the foundation’s recent grand opening.

Jefferson Bank protest veteran Norman Seay passed the torch to Montague Simmons at the Missouri History Museum on Friday as activist Jamala Rogers looked on.

Study connects mortality to poverty

First brief published by WUSTL/SLU team looking at health of blacks in STL

ByRobert Joiner Of The Beacon

More than 1,000 lucky newborns in Oklahoma are part of an experiment, coordinated by Washington University, to determine whether a college savings account at birth can change the life of a kid growing up in moderate-to-low income families.

“There are no pills or medical treatment for poverty and lack of education, but there are policies and programs that can improve both.”

– Jason Q.Purnell

It’s too soon to know the answer, but the program is being billed as a promising intervention in the first of several briefs being developed by a team of Washington University and Saint Louis University professors, all African Americans. They are releasing briefs on various topics over several months in an effort to convince

area leaders that the region can save lives and money by investing more in those at the bottom of the economic ladder.

The first brief, released last week, focuses on education and economic opportunities for African Americans in St. Louis and St. Louis County. The brief’s author, Jason Q. Purnell of Washington University, notes that society usually thinks about death in the context of an illness, such as cancer or a heart attack. He says a formula based on research into social factors and mortality allowed the team to

City told to release ‘gladiator’ records

suit proceeds after jail guards plead guilty to forced fighting

By Rebecca S.Rivas Of The St.Louis American

“We are looking for reform in the justice system and workhouse.”

– Ryan Smith

15 in the 22nd Circuit Court. The guards, Elvis Howard, 34, and Dexter Brinson, 46, received no jail time. Brinson received four years of probation, and Howard received three and a half years of probation. On Tuesday, a federal judge ordered the workhouse to release all information relating to a federal class-action lawsuit filed by former and current inmates in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri. The judge gave a Sept. 27 deadline for disclosing the information.

Photo by Maurice Meredith

Photo by Wiley Price

Iyanla tackles T.O.

Embattled former NFL star Terrell Owens is the latest high-profile troubled soul to seek the services of Iyanla Vanzant. Owens told fans via twitter that he would appear on an upcoming episode of the hit OWN Network show “Iyanla: Fix My Life.”

“Minutes away from meeting Iyanla Vanzant on the short journey to Fix My Life,” Owens tweeted. “Lord knows I need somebody’s help. LOL. Lord bless this day.”

He updated his twitter followers with a recap once the session had ended, saying “Been an emotional, yet insightful day. After 39 years I’m learning who Terrell Owens really is. All this time I thought I knew.”

Lamar Odom’s $50K

habit?

A man claiming to be basketball star Lamar Odom’s drug dealer told RadarOnline.com that Odom has smoked more than $50,000 worth of cocaine in the past three years – including one wild binge before an NBA game just six months ago

In a video interview with RadarOnline, a man known simply as “Mr. Fix It,” says the troubled two-time NBA championship winner’s preferred method of substance abuse is to freebase cocaine.

In the video interview, “Mr. Fix It” alleged he’s been in the presence of the ex-Los Angeles Clippers star “high” on as many ten occasions since 2010

“He likes to party,” the selfconfessed dealer-to-the-stars told Radar. “He’s a pretty nice guy to be honest with you, but he’s becoming … his problem seems to be becoming a bigger problem.”

TV earlier this week.

In related news, the allegedly drugtroubled 33-year-old NBA player — who has been dealing with addiction issues and a troubled marriage with his reality TV star wife Khloe Kardashian— was arrested in the early morning hours on Friday for allegedly driving under the influence, and then refusing chemical tests once in custody.

A handshake at the root of Ocean vs. Breezy beef

Back in January it was rumored that Chris Brown and Frank Ocean got into a fist fight because Frank Ocean refused to shake Chris Brown’s extended hand.

Brown’s friend Sean Kingston claims the rumors are true during an interview with Vlad

“A lot of those situations come to Chris. The Frank Ocean thing… I was there in the studio. That was not his fault,” Kingston said. “I was in the lounge room and I came out and seen a little bit of the fight. That was not his fault. He was reaching out trying to give Frank Ocean a dap. Frank Ocean ain’t wanna give him back a dap and Frank Ocean was talking [expletive] because like oh because he had some Crip guys with him and he was like ‘Red or whatever’ and that’s what happened.”

Katie Holmes dusts Jamie Foxx during benefit gala

Tom Cruise’s ex-wife Katie Holmes was happy to dance with Jamie Foxx onstage at last weekend’s Apollo in the Hamptons benefit in East Hampton, New York -- where to sexy tunes like “Blurred Lines” and “Get Lucky.”

But apparently she wants to keep things strictly on the dance floor.

According to a witness at last week’s bash, Foxx tried to get lucky himself after the dance fest. “They danced, and after a hug he tried to seal the deal,” the observer told Us Weekly. “She was flattered, but not interested.”

Court docs says 2 Chainz tour bus was fully loaded

A tour bus used by rapper 2 Chainz was full of guns and drugs when cops pulled it over in Oklahoma last month, according to new documents released this week.

The rapper, real name Tauheed Epps, was forced to cancel his album listening party for “B.O.A.T.S. II: Me Time” in New York last month following the incident. Officers in Oklahoma City stopped the rapper’s tour bus after spotting a broken taillight. Eleven people, including 2 Chainz, were arrested after they refused to get off for nine hours.

Officers found two semi-automatic pistols and a 12-gauge pump-action shotgun along with some prescription painkillers and marijuana while searching the bus, according to the documents filed in Oklahoma County District Court on Tuesday. The documents say twenty shells for the 12-gauge shotgun were seized and prescription medications hydrocodone and Flexeril were also discovered. The 35 year old and his entourage have been charged with obstructing a police officer and are currently free on $2,000 bail.

Sources: Radar Online, US Weekly, Vlad TV, Twitter.com, Eurweb.com, TMZ.com

‘Their march is now our march’

Next

generations recommit to King’s dream at

By Kenya Vaughn Of The St. Louis

50th anniversary

American WASHINGTON, D.C.

– When tens of thousands gathered on the National Mall on the morning of Saturday, August 24 to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the 1963 March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom, much had changed.

When Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. delivered his “I Have A Dream” speech, he proclaimed the need for equality and justice among people of color – of all colors. They stood – and marched –for the basic human rights of African Americans.

Fifty years later, a new generation followed their footsteps. The event –presented by the Rev. Al Sharpton’s National Action Network, Martin Luther King III and the NAACP –featured a roster of more than 25 speakers, including King, Sharpton, Attorney General Eric Holder, Newark Mayor Cory Booker, Myrlie Evers Williams and Rep. John Lewis, D-Ga.

As they convened, a black man was sitting in the White House as the 44th president of the United States.

“They will romanticize Dr. King’s speech, but the genius

of his speech was not just the poetry of his words,” Sharpton said from the vantage point where MLK shared his dream with the nation.

“He said, in the face of those who wanted him dead, ‘that no matter what you do, I can dream above what you do. I see a nation that will make change if we pay the price.’ Others saw voting booths that we couldn’t use, but King saw the possibility of an Obama 50 years ago. The world is made of dreamers who changed reality because of their dreams.”

But while they praised the works of those on the front line of the Civil Rights Movement a half-century ago, many of the same issues addressed then remain relevant struggles for blacks in America now.

People in the crowd held up signs demanding jobs and a reversal of the U.S. Supreme Court’s revision of the Voting Rights Act. They displayed posters with Trayvon Martin’s face on them that called for an end to “Stand Your Ground” laws in states like Florida.

“Fifty years ago, Dr. King said that America gave blacks a check that bounced in the bank of justice and was returned for insufficient funds. Well, we’ve re-deposited the check. But guess what? It bounced again,”

n “If we told them who they are and what they could do, they would pull up their pants and go to work.”

–

Rev. Al Sharpton

“Let me say this to our younger generation – many of whom were on the program –we owe a debt to those who thought enough of you to put their lives on the line,”

Sharpton said.

Sharpton said.

“But when we looked at the reason why this time, it was marked ‘stop payment.’ They have the money to bail out banks. They have the money to bail out major corporations. They have the money to give tax benefits to the rich. They have the money for the one percent. But when it comes to Head Start, when it comes to municipal workers and when it comes to our teachers – ‘stop payment.’ We’re gonna make you make the checks good – or we’re going to close down the banks.”

Notes for the next generation

“Fifty years ago, John Lewis was the youngest speaker at the

1963 March on Washington,” said 9-year-old Asean Johnson.

“Well, I am the youngest one here today.”

Johnson caught the nation’s attention when he fought against massive school closings in his native Chicago.

On this day in Washington, he informed the audience that a quality education was part of King’s dream too.

“Every school deserves equal funding and resources,” he said.

“I encourage all of you to keep Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s dream alive. Help us fight for freedom, racial equality, jobs and public education, because I have a dream that we shall overcome.”

As young people stood proud at the podium, elders offered a cautionary reminder that the gains of the Civil Rights Movement run the risk of being undone in their communities.

“We owe a debt to those who believed in us when we did not believe in ourselves. We need to conduct ourselves in a way that respects that. Don’t you ever think that men like Medgar Evers died to give you the right to be a hoodlum – to give you the right to be a thug. That is not what they gave their life about.”

But instead of just pointing the finger, Sharpton charged the elders to answer the call.

“We need to give dreams again – and not worry about sagging pants, but sagging mentality,” Sharpton said. “If we told them who they are and what they could do, they would pull up their pants and go to work. As we march today, we march with a determination to let you know that we don’t have amnesia. We did not forget the price that was paid.”

Holder, the first AfricanAmerican U.S. attorney general, credited the work of civil rights activists of the

Tens of thousands gathered on the National Mall on August 24 to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the 1963 March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom.

Photo by Wiley Price

50 years

“Those who marched on Washington in 1963 had taken a long and difficult road, Holder said. “As we gather today, 50 years later, their march is now our march, and it must go on.”

Booker spoke on behalf of the benefactors of the dream.

“Our generation can never repay what they did for us when they fought for our freedom and equality – those who marched here 50 years ago,” said Booker. “But it is our moral obligation to pay it forward. There is still work to do.”

Sharpton proclaimed the work would begin in the same breath of their commemoration.

“Like Dr. King, we dream and visualize a new America of equality, of justice, of fairness,” Sharpton said. “We march because we are going to work to bring a new America. One nation, under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice – not for some, not for who you choose, not for who you like –but for all.”

past

with President Obama’s election and his own ascension to head the Justice Department.

Editorial /CommEntary

Nixon’s activism is commendable

One of the greatest benefits Missouri has enjoyed from having a Democrat governor these past two terms has been his power to limit the damage the Republican-dominated Legislature is doing. If a Republican governor were signing Missouri laws in 2013 – we’re looking at you, Peter Kinder, despite your avowed affection for our city – then Missouri would be poised, by force of law, to erode its tax base by at least $800 million and attempt to secede selfdestructively from the union on the essential questions of gun control and expanded health care. Gov. Jay Nixon has wielded the veto pen mightily and campaigned tirelessly in defense of the future of this state and its communities, and we commend him.

Most recently, Nixon has barnstormed the state to educate the public about House Bill 253, a project funded and steered by billionaire financier Rex Sinquefield, which would implement corporate tax cuts and replace the revenue, in part, by implementing a new state sales tax on prescription drugs and college textbooks. The bill’s boosters have appealed to the populist notion of tax cuts for everyone, but the deepest cuts by far benefit corporations and those at the upper reaches of the tax brackets. The corporate tax rate would slashed almost in half – from 6.25 down to 3.25 percent – and business taxes on partnerships and LLCs would be slashed by a full 50 percent. Individuals at the top income tax bracket would see their state income tax reduced from 6 percent to 5.5 percent. “The truth,” Nixon has been going around the state telling people, “is the main constituency for House Bill 253 is one wealthy individual and a few special interests.”

We don’t need to speculate about the impact this loss of revenue would have on our state. One need only look west to Kansas, where similar tax policy changes have been enacted. “When Kansas embarked on its risky

tax scheme,” Nixon has been pointing out, “it became one of the only states in 2013 that had to cut funding for education, and raise taxes by $777 million.” (Further, Kansas’ bond rating was downgraded, as the state is now seen as less fiscally stable.) Or we can look south to Texas, which has higher property and sales taxes – and even higher corporate taxes – than Missouri. “Texas schools perform far behind ours,” Nixon has been telling the public, “and the state’s services – or lack thereof – for their most vulnerable citizens are inadequate.” Nixon states the matter rightly: “House Bill 253 is a risky experiment that threatens to knock Missouri off our proven, fiscally responsible course and set our economy back for years to come.” At press time Nixon had delivered this message on nearly 30 stumps during his statewide summer tour to educate the public about House Bill 253, hitting the larger cities (St. Louis, Kansas City, Springfield, Columbia) but also towns like Eldon and Bolivar. He is encouraging people to pressure their elected officials to let the governor’s veto stand when the Legislature convenes next

Commentary

week for veto session. Nixon is backed by more than 85 school boards across the state, who estimate that projected cuts to public school budgets, as a result of HB 253, would be the equivalent of eliminating between 5,400 and 9,400 teachers across the state.

The bill’s supporters publicly dispute this claim, though Sinquefield’s other main policy agenda, in addition to cutting corporate taxes, is privatizing the public school system. Sinquefield has always understood that draining public schools of public funding furthers his private school agenda. If HB 253 did contribute to the downfall of public education in Missouri, it’s difficult to imagine Sinquefield and his supporters doing anything but rejoicing. We commend the governor’s bold leadership in defying them and attempting to defeat this dangerous legislation and defend our public schools. The governor’s leadership in defining this issue for the voters is critical beyond the challenge to his veto, as he also has preemptively educated voters before any future Sinquefield-funded statewide ballot initiative.

Weight on Obama’s shoulders

President Obama’s words from the steps of the Lincoln Memorial were bound to be criticized as underwhelming, no matter what he said. The context, though, was nothing short of mindblowing. It was a classic no-win situation: at the 50th anniversary commemoration of the March on Washington, Obama stood where the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. delivered one of the greatest speeches in the nation’s history. No one could possibly measure up. It was wise not to try. Instead of trying to match King’s poetic cadences and imagery, Obama paid homage to the “I Have a Dream” speech by echoing some of King’s rhetorical devices and using some of the same biblical references. The bulk of the speech, though, was vintage Obama. But the context: As Obama spoke, everyone in the crowd knew that he must have been preoccupied with events halfway around the world. Faced with compelling evidence that the government of Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad had shelled a Damascus suburb with chemical weapons, killing hundreds, Obama had spent the past week laying the groundwork for a punitive military strike. He had much to ponder. Would an attack have sufficient international support? Is it possible to design a bombing campaign that would pun-

ish Assad’s thuggish regime without tipping the civil war in favor of Islamist rebel forces? Does military action draw the United States into a conflict that Obama’s every instinct tells him we should avoid? Once we start firing missiles, how do we stop?

I couldn’t watch Obama’s speech without thinking of the aircraft carriers that were moving because he ordered them to, the diplomats he had mobilized around the globe to line up international support, the intelligence analysts he was grilling in an attempt to avoid the kind of mistake his predecessor made in Iraq.

And that is why this event, though designed to be similar in form, was nothing like the march in 1963. The featured speaker, in both cases, was an African American known for his powerful eloquence. But King was an activist, preacher and prophet who appealed to the nation’s moral conscience. Obama is the most powerful man in the world.

We have had nearly five years to get used to the fact that a black man is president of the United States. Some Americans, I suspect, will never accept this reality; most already have, and judge Obama the way King wanted us all to be judged – by the content of his character.

At issue now is how Obama reconciles his skepticism about the use of military force with his conviction about the use of chemical weapons. Obama has never claimed to be a pacifist. To the contrary, he vastly increased the number of U.S. troops in Afghanistan before

Hazelwood Schools responds to Post

By Grayling Tobias and Cheryl D. Latham Guest Columnists

We are writing on behalf of our 18,000 students, members of our Board of Education and 50,000 households regarding the St. Louis Post-Dispatch article “North County Suburbia in Crisis.” As superintendent and board president of the largest district in North County, we are well aware of the challenges we face, as well as the many attributes that make our school district a wonderful place to work, live and raise a family.

Hazelwood School District recently received its Annual Performance Report under the more rigorous ifth cycle of the Missouri School Improvement Program (MSIP 5). Under MSIP 5, school districts can earn up to 140 points based on academic achievement; subgroup achievement (includes minority students, students with limited proiciency in English, students with disabilities, students eligible for free and reduced-price lunches, and students receiving special education); college and career or high school readiness; attendance rate; graduation rate. The Final 2013 Annual Performance Report from the state indicates that HSD earned 119.5 points out of a possible 140. This represents

85.4 percent of the total number of points and a 5.4 percent increase from last year. Not only is HSD fully accredited, but our district is less than seven points from earning accredited with distinction honors.

HSD graduates have been very successful. Our students are attending distinguished universities, such as Princeton University and Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Kyle Jordan-DeDeaux has been named a Gates Millennium Scholar. Kevin McPartland has been awarded the University of Alabama Presidential Scholarship. The United Negro College Fund recently awarded scholarships to several members of the Class of 2013. It would be dificult to ind a community that has been more supportive than ours. Since 2004, voters have authorized HSD to sell $255 million in bonds to support new schools and facility upgrades.

Thanks to voter support, we implemented full-day kindergarten district-wide, built four new middle schools and renovated our two existing middle schools, made multiple safety upgrades, and provided new space for our early childhood and gifted programs. We also built a new, state-of-the-art library at Hazelwood Central High School and we are in the process of building new libraries at Hazelwood West and Hazelwood East high schools.

The facility upgrades were made possible through the Hazelwood First public engagement process that involved staff members, parents and community members in the decision-

Letters to the editor

Steady, sustained growth

We are encouraged by the growth we see reflected in this year’s Missouri Assessment Program test scores. Our path of steady, sustained growth over the past three years, despite financial challenges, indicates a high level of commitment and institutional excellence that will help us achieve our goals for the future. We have no doubt that we will meet and exceed the required points for continued full accreditation in 2015.

eventually beginning a withdrawal, and he has expanded the use of drone aircraft to assassinate members of terrorist groups.

But he inherited the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and the grinding conflict that George W. Bush called the “war on terror.” He was drawn into using military force in Libya by European powers. Syria is Obama’s decision to make and to execute. Is a president who won election largely because of his opposition to an elective war about to start an elective war of his own?

You could argue that there’s no valid comparison. In Iraq, there were intelligence reports about alleged programs to develop weapons of mass destruction. In Syria, there are hundreds dead and thousands injured. In Iraq, the U.S. response was a massive ground invasion designed to topple an entrenched regime. In Syria, Obama has made clear that he is contemplating a punitive strike, not an intervention to produce regime change.

I don’t believe the use of chemical weapons can go unpunished. But I have no idea what might happen next. Obama, as he stood in Lincoln’s shadow, had no way of knowing, either.

It is an African American who bears this weight on his shoulders. That is the amazing context created by the many unheralded activists and agitators who have struggled for 50 years – and still struggle today – to make King’s glorious dream come true.

We are holding students and adults responsible for learning at higher levels than ever before, and we are making gains. We are headed in the right direction. Our plan to move forward is based on our belief that relationships, put in place systemically to reinforce both content learning and confidence in our children, are the key to future success.

Art McCoy, superintendent Ferguson-Florissant School District

Significant improvements

Jennings is showing what’s possible with focused instructional leadership at all levels and in all classrooms. We have an exceptional team of staff members and families working together for quality school improvement. It’s our goal to ensure every student graduates prepared for college, which empowers them with more choices for the future. We are proud of the significant improvements in one year in our elementary schools and in our college readiness standards at our senior high. We are looking forward to the continued progress across the district at all schools.

Tiffany Anderson, superintendent Jennings School District

Undermining Missouri

We wish that the Missouri Chamber of Commerce and other groups would use their positions to promote Missouri as the good place to do business

making process. This past school year, the Hazelwood West High School and Hazelwood Central High School robotics teams competed at the FIRST Robotics Competition World Championship competition. The RoboHawks from Hazelwood Central High inished with a ranking of 13 out of the 100 teams in their division.

In addition, 11 HSD schools were among 312 Missouri public and charter schools that were recognized by state education oficials for successful adoption and implementation of Schoolwide Positive Behavior Support, a comprehensive approach for improving student behavior and academic performance. This summer, more than 600 teachers, administrators and other educators attended our three-day Assessment Literacy Summer Institute. In addition, more than 750 parents and students participated in an informational session on Assessment Literacy.

Assessment Literacy seeks to inform students about themselves and their own learning. This process helps students discover exactly where they are in relation to the learning targets set by their teachers. With the support of teachers, assessment literacy helps students know what steps to take next in reaching the learning targets. With state-of-the-art schools and a fully-accredited school district, HSD and the communities of North County are not in crisis. We are moving forward. Grayling Tobias is superintendent and Cheryl D. Latham is board president of the Hazel-

that it is. Instead, they’re hosting Governor Rick Perry, who is actively trying to poach businesses from our state.

Representatives of the Missouri Chamber and other groups are actively promoting an out-of-state effort to encourage businesses to leave Missouri. They’re spending millions of dollars to push extreme and ineffective tax cuts that would not benefit average Missourians and won’t create jobs, but would have long-term devastating impacts on families, communities, and our economy – all to pay for big tax cuts for profitable corporations and the very wealthiest.

Missouri already has one of the lowest effective corporate tax rates and ranks highly on national surveys of good places to do business. Although the tax savings from HB 253 won’t be enough to create jobs, the tax cut will undermine Missouri’s ability to invest in education, transportation, and public safety needs that make our state attractive to business.

Coalition for Missouri’s Future

A coalition of business, labor, education, healthcare, and civic organizations

Teachers on the front lines

Missouri teachers are on the front lines of preparing our students to compete in the world-wide economy. In order to absorb the magnitude of cuts HB 253 would require, our schools would have to make some very tough choices –including cutting staff. Now is not the time to turn our backs on our teachers and their students.

Bruce Moe, Missouri State Teachers Association

Short-sighted and wrong

By drastically reducing the funding available for K-12 education, HB 253 would cause an increase in class size and limit resources available for the students. Our members will continue to communicate with their representatives in the

General Assembly that putting opportunities for students at risk in order to give tax breaks to wealthy Missourians and corporate special interests is short-sighted and wrong.

DeeAnn Aull Missouri National Education Association

Guest Columnist Grayling Tobias

Gov. Jay Nixon

Photo by Bill Greenblatt/UPI

STL honors DC march

Beloved Streets of America held a symbolic walk to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the 1963 March on Washington on Saturday,starting at the Rock Road MetroLink station and proceeding down Dr.Martin Luther King Drive to the corner of MLK and Hamilton.

Sept. 15 deadline

fortalent contest

The Olivette on the Go festival has added a talent contest, “Olivette’s Got Talent,” to its fall festival Sept. 27-29. Singers, dancers, musicians, comedians and talent of all kinds are welcome to enter.

Interested participants can submit a short video or audio file under two minutes long. From these submissions, DJ Reggie will select the talent for the Round 1 performance on Saturday, Sept. 28. Finalists will advance to perform live in the final round on Sunday, Sept. 29. Surprise celebrity judges will select first, second and third place winners. Trophies for the top acts will be awarded on-site.

The deadline for submissions has been extended to Sept. 15 at midnight. “Olivette’s Got Talent” is open to anyone living in the United States. Participants under 18 will require permission from a legal guardian. Video and audio entries can be sent to jwade@olivettemo.com. For complete submission details visit www.olivetteonthego.com/olivettes-got-talent.

Sickle Cell Stroll on Saturday

The Sickle Cell Association is hosting its 2nd Annual Sickle Cell Stroll, awareness walk, on Saturday, September 7 at Hope Plaza on the campus of Washington University just east of St. Louis Childrens Hospital. The Stroll is a one mile walk to bring awareness of sickle cell disease in the community. Those who make a donation of $20 or more will receive a Stroll t-shirt and the event is free and open to the public. Sickle cell trait testing and education will be offered as well as other information such as blood donation. Visit www.sicklecellstroll.com for more information.

SLU opens Fall Saturday Sports Clinic

Saint Louis University Hospital opened its annual Fall Saturday Sports Clinic on Saturday, August 31. It will run each from 8 a.m. to noon Saturday morning until November 23 at the Anheuser Busch Institute, 1755 S. Grand Blvd.

Operated by Saint Louis University’s board-certified orthopaedic surgeons who specialize in sports medicine, the Saturday Sports Clinic treats student athletes (high school and college-level) suffering from sports injuries.

It is staffed by two board-certified orthopaedic surgeons – Scott Kaar, MD, and Adnan Cutuk, MD – with support from athletic trainer, Bridget Quirk, AT. The clinic also offers same-day imaging results.

The clinic will be open every Saturday this fall, providing care on a walk-in basis from 8 a.m. to noon on September 7, 14, 21, 28; October 5, 12, 19, 26; and November 2, 9, 16, 23. For more information, call (314) 256-3850.

How we teach children to fail

By A.Bolanle Ambonisye For The St.Louis American

As one who has taught in schools since 1992, I’ve had meaningful interaction with thousands of parents, and I am convinced that, over generations, the quality of parenting has deteriorated to the point where many parents are now actually undermining our children’s ability to do well in school and in life.

Of course, we never intend to harm our babies. Why go through the trouble of having children just to make their lives harder than they have to be? No parent in his/her right mind tries to do that.

But the result is the same; children come to school not just unprepared, but badly-prepared. They come with wrong information, unrealistic expectations and terrible habits that make their presence in school a waste of time.

What follows is the first of five ways we parents mistakenly teach our children to fail.

Example: “I don’t read well, so I can understand why s/he isn’t doing well.”

Explanation: We too often let our children slide by on learning important skills because we don’t understand it, nor can we check it to make sure it’s correct. Also, we want to be fair: “I can’t expect my child to do something I can’t do; that’s hypocritical.”

The problem is we are misusing heredity as a mask for low expectations rooted in low self-esteem, with a heaping helping of laziness thrown in. Yeah, I said it! There are a few reasons why you personally may not be good at a thing (and many of them can be fixed, even now), but that has almost nothing to do with your child’s abilities.

Suggestion: Adopt our ancestors’and elders’way of handling this situation.

Those of us who are descended from enslaved Africans in this country have ancestors in each of our lineages who couldn’t read. However, they set the expectation to read for their children, made sure their children knew what was expected, and provided the environment for their children to meet the expectation.

For our ancestors, their own inability to read wasn’t an excuse; it was motivation: “I can’t read, but I’m gonna make sure you can.”

Check out the movie Gifted Hands: The Ben Carson Story. It has great lessons that are sure to spark our creativity about what we can do to set, and help our children meet, high expectations.

Many times, us communicating our high expectations in words and backing it up with supportive action are all the motivation our children need.

A. Bolanle Ambonisye, www.freematerials4parents.com, facilitates “Tapping Our Parental Power” parent empowerment workshops. She can be reached at bambonisye@yahoo.com.

A.Bolanle Ambonisye

Photo by Carl Bruce

EDUCATORS

Continued from A1

Museum. She facilitates the creation of educational programming, writes grants for the park and interacts with visitors on a daily basis by giving tours.

“For every exhibition, we try to do educational programs to help folks understand what the artist is trying to say,” Coleman said. “I produce information to help that dialogue.”

Coleman has been in the museum field for 35 years and has a unique experience of providing art education for many in the St. Louis metropolitan area.

Effecting change in students

Tiffany Fane is the seventh grade science teacher at Hazelwood East Middle School, where she began teaching in 2004. No matter where she is teaching, Fane is always looking to touch the lives of students beyond the science classroom.

“At Hazelwood, I had a student who was into gangs and drugs and wanted to give it up, but he couldn’t because he provided money to his home. He shared this with me,” Fane said.

“I showed him other routes. He came back and told me he was in college. Those are the moments when you actually can effect a change in students.”

STUDY

Continued from A1

determine how many deaths can be linked ultimately to poverty and low levels of edu-

Make teachers better to make students smarter

Nathalie Means Henderson just began her fifth year as the principal of Jefferson Elementary School. She was born and raised in Concord, North Carolina, but has been in St. Louis for the past 10 years and has learned to thrive in this community. She came to St. Louis with Teach for America and was placed at Sumner High School. During that time she was selected to participate in the St. Louis Public Schools’New Leaders Program. She worked as an assistant principal at two schools before becoming the principal at Jefferson Elementary. She is also an adjunct professor at Lindenwood University.

Modeling effective instruction

Vanessa Howard is an instructional coach for teachers

cation. Purnell, an assistant professor at the George Warren Brown School of Social Work, says this research makes it possible to estimate that “280 deaths (in 2011) were due to poverty and 237 were due to

at Johnson-Wabash Elementary School in the FergusonFlorissant School District. She helps teachers with professional development so they can better serve the children at the school.

Howard was hired for the position by the school’s principal, in part, because of her experience and reputation as a stellar teacher. Howard was a third grade teacher at the school. Howard and her team of third grade teachers had the best Missouri Assessment Program (MAP) test scores in the district for that grade level, and they outscored the state average for reading and math.

Building student character as a team

This autumn, Wanda LeFlore began her fifth year as the principal at Kennard Classical Junior Academy in the St. Louis Public School District, which has earned a reputation of educating high-

having less than a high school education.” The brief offers a descriptionof how researchers arrived at the estimates.

The report mentions several steps that could be taken now to improve the lives of children. One is to invest in quali-

achieving, gifted students.

Having worked in various gifted education programs, LeFlore is on the Advisory Panel for the National Association for Gifted Children, which helps educators and the community better understand the needs of gifted children.

“There are differences, and you want to make sure you provide opportunities,” LeFlore said. “Some students come with special social needs as well as special learning abilities, and we have to help those students reach their potential.”

Accelerating students in math

Wilma Slaughter has been a seventh grade math teacher at Hixson Middle School in the Webster Groves School District for the past 26 years. She has a master’s degree in math education and has been in the education field for 30

ty early childhood development, which can lead to better school outcomes. Another step, the brief says, involves helping low-to-moderate income families create economic opportunities. These include college savings accounts like the ones in Oklahoma.

“There are no pills or medical treatment for poverty and lack of education,” Purnell says. “But there are policies and programs that can improve both.”

Astudy of theOklahoma programis being coordinated by Michael Sherraden, director of Washington University’s Center for Social Development, and a leader in asset building and community development research.

“Our vision is that every baby in America is born with a college savings account,” Sherraden says.

The project assigned $1,000 college savings accounts to

years. “I still love it because every year is fresh. Every year is new,” Slaughter said.

In the future, Slaughter wants to write a book about her experiences teaching children to embrace learning and the importance of math education.

“I want to write a book about pretty much what we’re doing wrong in America when it comes to math education,” Slaughter said.

Education beyond the classroom

Jody Squires is committed to investing in the development of young students, but is not the traditional classroom teacher. Instead, her job focuses on student learning beyond the halls of a school building. For the past 18 years Squires has worked as an urban youth specialist and city program director with the University of Missouri Extension Program.

1,300 newborns in that state. The idea is embraced by state officials and is funded by the Ford Foundation. Oklahoma was chosen, in part, Sherraden says, because the Center for

The report mentions several steps that could be taken now to improve the lives of children.One is to invest in quality early childhood development.

Social Development looked for a state with a diverse population, including Latinos, Native Americans and blacks “so we’d be able to tell how this is working with populations of color.”

The results have made him hopeful after following the experiment for more than five

Squires directs the 4-H (Head, Heart, Health and Hands) Youth Development Program, which provides broad opportunities for youth to learn and participate in life skills education, leadership development and community service. This provides the students she works with a holistic educational experience.

Meeting students where they are

In her brief time as an educator, the impact Deitre Terrell is having on her students is measurable.

“At the end the last year, 11 of my 12 students made a year and a half gain on their Northwest Evaluation Association [reading test],” Terrell said. Terrell, who has just started her third year as a full-time teacher, is a reading interventionist instructor for the Ultimate Purpose Program (UPP) at Confluence Charter Schools.

The program focuses on students who have been targeted as at-risk for dropping out and have fallen behind their grade-level standards for reading and math.

The 2013 Salute to Excellence in Education will be held 7 p.m. Friday, September 13 at the America’s Center Ballroom, following a reception at 6 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.

years. “We know from this that low-income people will save more themselves when they have an account like this,” he says. In addition, he says, families with college savings accounts tend to have higher expectations for their children’s education Granted, a one-time contribution of $1,000 to a college savings account won’t be enough to pay for college, but Sherraden says the research finds children with the accounts tend to be more likely to attend college.

He says ideas like the savings account are part of many issues that need to be addressed to help lift youngsters out of poverty.

“There are huge differences in equality about schooling,” Sherraden says. “I think it’s all connected to segregation in real estate. As long as we segregate people the way we do, I think it’s going to be hard to solve a lot of problems.”

He says these issues, and others involving wage inequality and discrimination in lending practices, “make it difficult for African Americans to get a start in life.”

One challenge, he and Purnell say, is to discuss all these issues in ways that resonate with people across racial and economic lines. The savings account is listed as an example.

“When you talk about children having savings accounts for college, there’s pretty broad support for that idea,” Sherraden says. “It’s an easier discussion to have in a bipartisan way.”

Sherraden says the issues go beyond the question of social justice.

“I’m speaking in practical terms,” he says. “If people don’t have enough money to support their households, they cannot have a stable household. If we don’t provide jobs at a wage that will help people enjoy a stable life, there are high costs for that. We have increasing wage inequality now and low economic growth. I think we should take a lesson from that.”

The team’s work will culminate with a report and a conference next year to mark the 60thanniversary of the Supreme Court’sBrown vs. Boardof Educationruling. The overall project, titled “For the Sake of All,” is funded by a grant from theMissouri Foundation for Health.

Tiffany Fane Nathalie Means Henderson

Vanessa Howard

Wanda LeFlore Wilma Slaughter

Jody Squires

Deitre Terrell

Clara Collins Coleman

PROTESTS

Continued from A1

employment polices with peaceful protests and sit-ins. At that time, bank officials only employed African Americans in menial positions, like janitors. Jefferson Bank is a small, local bank that has been around for more than 100 years. The bank’s first location was at the northwest corner of Jefferson and Franklin (now known as Martin Luther King Drive).

“They have grown to expect us each year,” said Webb, a member of the NAACPand the Congress of Racial Equality (CORE). “It’s become customary.”

Even in the late afternoon, temperatures peaked at about 100 degrees.

“It was nice to see that it was an event that was supported across cultures.”

Melanie Green

–

Activists targeted a bank that did business in the black community to call attention to widespread discrimination practiced by St. Louis businesses.

Roughly 30 demonstrators gathered outside the bank last Friday to re-enact the picketing protests of yesteryear in remembrance of the occasion, as they have done for many years. According to Webb, Jefferson Bank personnel no longer are surprised to see hordes of people picketing the establishment.

RECORDS

Continued from A1

The lawsuit alleges that guards forced inmates into the “gladiator-style” combat as a form of punishment and entertainment, as well as other acts of cruel and unusual punishment. The federal court’s order for records “goes a long way towards us being in a position to litigate this case,” said Freeman Bosley Jr., one of the four attorneys who filed the lawsuit.

For years, the ACLU and other groups have reported misconduct of inmates in the

“Even though we were hot, we were enthusiastic to be out there,” said Melanie Green of Chicago, Ill, who is related to both Seay and Webb. The demonstrators, of varying ages and races, included a nun, union members, parents with children, and members of the Organization for Black Struggle, Webb said.

“It was nice to see that it was an event that was supported across cultures,” Ms. Green said. She said it was her first time participating in the demonstrations. She joined others as they chanted freedom songs like “We Shall Overcome” while they marched, bearing signs that read, “For decades the Jefferson Bank demonstration (1963) has been remembered!”

St. Louis justice system, said Daniel R. Brown, another attorney in the lawsuit.

“Now that the guards have pled guilty, it’s no longer an allegation – it’s a fact,” Brown said. “We believe these aren’t the only two guards who did this.”

August 30,Jefferson

Passers-by honked their car horns or yelled cheers of support.

Webb insists that those past protests are still relevant because very few know anything about the history of local struggles.

The federal class-action lawsuit – filed in August 2012 against the guards, the City of St. Louis and the city’s Department of Corrections – now involves 45 to 50 current and former inmates, though it started with only seven. The plaintiffs are seeking punitive damages of $150 million. The lawsuit also calls for a court injunction for reform in how inmates file complaints against the guards. Currently, the inmates file their grievances with the guards themselves, said attorney Ryan Smith. “The complainers are complaining to the violators,” Smith said. If the lawsuit is successful, the judge will issue an order, said Paul Sims, another attorney in the lawsuit. And if the city does not follow that order, the city can be held in contempt.

“These are persons who work in banks and are college graduates,” Webb said. “But, they have no idea about the problems.”

In the early 1960s, demonstrators in St. Louis protested under hostile conditions. When

“Once we are successful, we will be able to make a change in the way business is being done at the workhouse.”

– Paul Sims

“We believe once we are successful, we will be able to make a change in the way business is being done at the workhouse,” Sims said.

In May 2012, the two guards, Howard and Brinson, were caught on prison security cameras escorting plaintiff Thaddeus Dumas to the cell of plaintiff Derrick Rodgers to watch them fight. The guards were arrested, and Rodgers and Dumas sought legal counsel with Brown and Smith. According to the court

they refused to cease their demonstrations, seven prominent leaders in the AfricanAmerican community, including Seay and Congressman Bill Clay, were arrested. Seay recalled being sentenced to 90 days in jail at the St. Louis

filing, Dumas claims he was threatened and ordered to assault inmates at the workhouse on more than one occasion. The case became a classaction lawsuit when Smith and Brown spoke to Sims, who also had clients in a similar situation. His clients allege that they endured serious injuries, including a broken jaw, and never received medical attention.

Workhouse on Hall Street.

According to Webb, each weekend during the summer of 1963 demonstrators picketed a variety of businesses around the area. Prior to the Civil Rights Act of 1964, blacks could not sit at the counter at White Castle nor seek employment there. He pointed out two White Castle locations along Kingshighway at Natural Bridge Road and Dr. Martin Luther King Drive.

“We picketed the White Castles every Friday and Saturday,” Webb said. “Boy, those onions would begin smelling pretty good after a couple hours of picketing.”

Webb said that news coverage of the 1963 protests by the St. Louis Post-Dispatch and the Globe Democrat “was at a minimum” and “derogatory.”

Employment is still the main civil rights issue 50 years later, according to Seay. He said there are still very few blacks in high-ranking business leadership positions in St. Louis. He still questions the number of blacks who have been employed and promoted at Jefferson Bank since 1963. “Blacks have made some inroads,” Seay said, “but we haven’t made it sufficiently enough to move ahead. So we have to constantly fight.”

Howard and Brinson both pled guilty to assault in the third degree and obstruction of government operations, which are both misdemeanors.

“We are looking for reform in the justice system and workhouse,” Smith said.

“We mean the court to dictate to the city how these institutions should be run because obviously they don’t have it within themselves to run the facilities in a proper manner.”

Howard and Brinson both received suspended sentences in their criminal cases for the May 2012 incident. A“suspended imposition of sentence” is not a conviction in the state of Missouri. Therefore, the guards will not have to disclose the offenses on certain job applications, Sims said, even though Howard pled guilty to burglary in the first degree – a felony charge.

On

Bank protest veterans Percy Green II,Norman Seay and Herman G.Thompson (now an attorney in North Carolina) participated in a reenactment of the historic 1963 protest to commemorate its 50th anniversary.

Photo by Maurice Meredith

Post floats city/ county merger trial balloons

Anyone with good sources in city or county government has been playing dumb for some time about a series of very serious conversations between the offices of Mayor Francis G. Slay and County Executive Charlie A. Dooley For years, an inner circle has explored how the city – which also is classified as a county within state government –might reenter the county as its 91st municipality (and, ultimately, how this expanded county might be merged into one major city).

“The cat is out of the bag,” the Post noted Sunday in a long editorial, breaking the silence that many who approved of these merger talks had been keeping. The Post also placed billionaire financier and political activist Rex Sinquefield at the deal table, along with Slay and Dooley’s staffs and the region’s major business interests.

Slay and the Post are very cozy. They even trade talent, as Eddie Roth recently left the Post editorial board to join Slay as a senior staffer. So the EYE is certain this 1,500-word outing of a secretive process, calling for it to be made a public process, came as no surprise to Slay. (As often, it’s difficult to guess what Dooley was told and when he was told it.)

The secret meetings also have been bearing public fruit that was destined eventually to bring the matter out into the open. In recent months, the city and county merged their economic development

entities and then their police departments’ bomb and arson units. The EYE must congratulate these conspirators for their choice of trial balloons. If the city and county can’t come together in bringing the new money in and putting the bombs and fires out, then really there is no hope for a more perfect union between city and county.

Coyly, the Post editorial lets drop some sample language – a more bold trial balloon – for a ballot initiative that would fold the city into the county “in the same manner as any other city in the county.” This would not be a meaningful merger of city and county government, though the city would immediately dwarf every other city in the county, and clearly over time there would be a relative weakening of county government. Also, no doubt there would be consequences for Clayton and Chesterfield, to name two county municipalities that currently have some economic and political clout. More immediately, the so-called “county” offices in the city (Sheriff, Treasurer, License Collector, etc.) would be eliminated.

Also, the city would be one major step closer to getting the FBI to reconfigure crime statistic reporting for St. Louis so that the high-crime areas concentrated in the city aren’t tabulated only within the city but across the county. This wouldn’t mean any fewer victims, most of them black city dwellers, though it would drastically altar the national

image of St. Louis. St. Louis would go from being “one of the most dangerous cities in America,” as we are annually reported to be, and become a metropolitan area of middling danger, so long as you know where to go and where to avoid and make the right choices, as most of us who live here experience St. Louis to be.

The Post does not get irate about this matter, though it does acknowledge that this ballot initiative would be a body blow to the city’s earnings tax that would very likely enable Sinquefield to finally kill his most despised tax (and he doesn’t like any tax). Loss of the earnings tax, as we have editorialized on more than one occasion, would reduce city revenues by one-third. We can expect these drastic losses in revenue would be offset by increasing sales taxes when the city already suffers from a huge sales tax burden.

A doomsday conspiracy theorist could surmise that the architects of this proposed limited ballot initiative that brings the city into the county, without actually merging the city and county, would make it easier to eliminate the city earnings tax. This, in turn, would eventually destabilize the city – by then, the largest city in the county by far – to such an extent that the only option to save the region would be to merge the city and county into a unified regional government. This might sound crazy, but political brinkmanship is very much in vogue in America, particularly among activist Republicans like Sinquefield, and the tax legislation Sinquefield is currently pushing (House Bill 253) plays a very similar brand of brinksmanship with state government revenues and services.

The EYE concludes the city stands at great risk if it is merely incorporated into the county and then loses its earnings tax, without any reasonable guarantee of a future merger of government functions within the county. If the city’s current system of having “county” offices that operate independently

of the city is an absurd waste of resources and duplication of services, then what is to be said of a county that has 43 fire districts and more than 60 police departments? Compared outright to St. Louis County, St. Louis city is a model of economy and streamlined public services. It may be ridiculous that the city has a comptroller, treasurer, collector of revenue and license collector, but for many of its square miles the county is nothing – governmentally speaking – more than a speed trap that feeds money into one strip mall city hall or another. Instead of this insane fragmentation, St. Louis could be one great city, jumping up 50 spots (by the Post’s reckoning) from 58th-biggest city in the country to eighth biggest, just ahead of Dallas. But as many past merger failures attest, such a sweeping change would endanger and scare a large number of people who have been successfully

elected to office, and they would be motivated to scare voters against the proposal. And it has never been difficult to turn St. Louis against itself, whether it’s city dwellers fearing a Republican takeover or county dwellers who moved away from the city’s crime (or diversity) and like it that way.

That’s why, as the Post points out, a statewide vote is under consideration. That is the other big bright trial balloon floated in this article. Slay and Dooley get to see how their constituents respond to the proposal that their form of governance would be decided by voters all over the state, not just those in the city and county. The EYE expects this will not be a popular notion, and if the conspirators go in that direction Sinquefield will be left to wave the flag publicly more or less on his own, or with only muted support from Slay or Dooley. The EYE can’t resist

pointing out the usual blind spot in the Post’s otherwise thoughtful editorial. “Getting this done will be excruciatingly difficult,” the Post opines.

“Mr. Sinquefield is a polarizing figure. There will be people offended by the thought of working with Mr. Dooley and his top campaign aide, John Temporiti, while the FBI is investigating county government corruption.” You will never read this in the Post, by Slay also is a polarizing figure, and there will be people aggravated and offended by working with Slay’s John Temporiti, Jeff Rainford. The Post also seems to have lapsed into amnesia about the many federal investigations of the city in the Slay and Rainford years: city cops towing cars and flipping titles, city jailors smuggling drugs into jails, city park rangers siphoning off funds. Need the EYE continue?

United Way announces largest-ever campaign goal

By Andrew Fowler

For The St. Louis American

United Way of Greater St. Louis announced its 2013 campaign goal at a fundraising luncheon on Tuesday. Ron and Cheri Fromm, this year’s fundraising co-chairs, announced the largest campaign goal ever for the United Way of Greater St. Louis, $72,250,000. Ron Fromm is the chairman of Brown Shoe Company. Last year the fundraising goal was $72 million –$250,000 less than this year’s goal – and United Way raised

nearly $20,000 more than its goal.

The Fromms were instrumental in deciding to increase this year’s campaign goal.

“Ron and Cheri meet with a lot of partners from around the region. They look at the need,” said Orvin Kimbrough, the new president and CEO of the United Way of Greater St. Louis. “This year is a growth year because the need is tremendous.”

The United Way of Greater St. Louis contributes to more than 170 organizations that provide service to local

residents. On top of providing service to St. Louis city and county, they partner with organizations in five other Missouri counties and nine Illinois counties.

The charitable organization has not seen a growth in the number of partners they work alongside, but they hope to meet more of the needs of people in the region compared to previous years.

“We’re steady in the number of relationships,” Kimbrough said. “Our partners are digging deeper.”

The Grand Ballroom at the Ballpark Hilton Hotel in

downtown St. Louis was filled with an estimated 600 people attending the fundraising luncheon in business attire.

But it was the younger guests, dressed in jerseys of their favorite Rams football players, that stood out. This is the fourth annual United Way fundraising luncheon hosted by the St. Louis Rams.

“The NFL has a great relationship with the United Way across the country,” said Carrie Zukowski, United Way spokesperson.

Guests at the luncheon were also treated to a Rams season preview by Head Coach Jeff

Fisher. Two other collaborations between the United Way of Greater St. Louis and the Rams will be held over the weekend.

On Saturday, September 7 the Rams will host a 5K run to benefit the United Way. And at the Rams season opener on Sunday, September 8, fans will be able to donate to the United Way at every concession stand.

The campaign fundraising begins September 3 and continues through early November.

For more information, visit www.stl.unitedway.org.

Arvella (Clay) Arnold

Arvella (Clay) Arnold was born on January 2, 1914 in Jackson County of Shoffnre, Arkansas; the second child and daughter of Mattie (Slaughter) and George Clay. On January 24, 1932, she was united in marriage to George Arnold. To this union twelve children were born. After moving to St. Louis, Missouri, Arvella became a member of the St. Henry’s Parish in 1954 until she moved to the West End in 1961 and joined St. Barbara’s Parish (St. Augustine’s) where she was an active member until her illness.

For many years Arvella worked as a LPN at the former Homer G Phillips hospital. At the age of 75 she received her associates degree from Forest Park Community College and continued to work as a private duty nurse throughout her senior years. On Friday, August 23, 2013, she passed peacefully. She is preceded in death by her parents, husband, two sisters (Sumella, Hornett), two brothers (Willie, LD Clay) and four sons (Augentry, George L, Milton, Eugene). She leaves to mourn her two sons: Authur

Arnold, Dr. Marvin Arnold; six daughters; Lucy Love, Dr. Eloise Singleton, Mildred Grey, Almeda Arnold, Vivine Hall, Shelvy Sesay; and a host of grandchildren.

Arvella Arnold

Local control needs checks and balances

By Jamala Rogers and Zaki Baruti

For The St. Louis American

How right you are, St. Louis American, in highlighting the excitement involved in the current move to local control of our police. How often does a city get to recreate its police department, giving it a chance to become more transparent, more responsive to residents’ input, and more fair and professional? For St. Louis, it’s been 152 years. Police Chief Sam Dotson is on the right track in carrying forward the work of the former chief in redesigning districts. Integration of the sheriff’s department and park police makes sense. But we can’t let our creativity stop there. What about the even bigger questions involved in integrating the department into

city government? Why should the police be buried, as it will be under the current plan, as a division inside the Public Safety Department? We’ve seen with former Fire Chief Sherman George what can happen when first responders are controlled by beaurocrats without public safety experience. If police were administered within their own department, they would be better able to interact with Streets, Parks and the other departments with whom cooperation is vital to public safety. And here’s another question we need to ponder: with the police reporting to a political figure like the mayor, shouldn’t there be some checks and balances on the mayor’s power? We don’t want a politicized police force subservient to only one person. We could provide the proper balance by having the Board of Aldermen approve the mayor’s appointment of any new police chief. In this way, we would have more of a citywide consensus on what our police chief should be doing.

And how about a fiveyear contract for the chief – a contract that doesn’t coincide with the mayor’s term of office – to protect the police from a political firing like we saw with Chief George?

n In a highly irregular power grab, the mayor bypassed the Board of Aldermen and established local control by executive order.

The American also hits the nail on the head in stressing citizen input and the need for a Civilian Review Board. We had a consensus plan that passed the Board of Aldermen in 2006, only to be vetoed by Mayor Slay. It had teeth (access to records, independence, an approach to member selection that reflected input from both citizenry and city leaders) and was not onerous on police officers. We need to pass a similar plan this fall as part of the local control follow-up bills that will be moving through the Board of Aldermen. For all the reasons above, it is highly disappointing that Mayor Slay has taken a huge misstep by subverting citizen input just this weekend. In a highly irregular power grab, the mayor bypassed the Board of Aldermen and established local

control by executive order. Where in the City Charter is such authority granted? In fact, the charter makes it abundantly clear that the aldermen are the ones granted this power.

In stealing the board’s authority, the mayor is silencing the voice of the people. Where are the hearings that would flow from a bill attempting to establish the new police department? How can various parts of the city now weigh in on their vision of local control? Where is the opportunity for the conversation that The American has so rightly called for? With this preemptive action by the mayor, we can only make brief comments to a mayor-appointed transition committee with no mandate to listen or respond. We must not let this opportunity slip by. It’s not too late to take the power back. The people of the city should demand a voice in their government. Urge your aldermen to stand up too for their rights as our legislative body, for our rights to have a say in our government, in every person’s right to participate in real local control.

Jamala Rogers and Zaki Baruti are co-chairs of the Coalition Against Police Crimes and Repression.

Police warn about telephone scam

The St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department is alerting citizens about a telephone scam that cost one victim thousands of dollars.

The 51-year old male victim was contacted by a male caller who identified himself as a law enforcement officer. The caller told the victim there was a warrant for his arrest due to back taxes owed. The caller stated unless a payment was made immediately, the victim would be arrested by the Sheriff’s Department. The caller provided a telephone number and indicated it was the telephone number of an attorney handling the tax case. The victim called the telephone number and was

instructed by another male to purchase Money Pack cards in the amount of $8,000 to use as payment. Once the Money Pack cards were purchased, the victim was instructed to call the male and provide the numbers from the Money Pack cards. Upon payment the victim was told the warrant was no longer active. The victim immediately contacted police as he became skeptical about what had occurred. Investigation revealed the telephone call to be a scam. The suspects are still at large. At this time, the department has no knowledge of any

similar incidents in the St. Louis area. If you think you have been a victim of this scam, please call 911 to report it.

The department urges citizens to verify the caller’s identity and purpose for calling before releasing any personal

information over the telephone. Law enforcement officers will never ask for payment over the telephone. If you receive a phone call from a caller identifying themselves as a law enforcement officer and they ask for an immediate payment over the telephone, call 911.

Jamala Rogers

Zaki Baruti

IN EDUCATION

Exercise

What Fits?

Nutrition Challenge:

It seems that all of us are usually in a hurry. But when it’s time to eat, sit down, relax and focus on eating. With each bite, set down your fork and chew your food completely before swallowing. This allows your stomach to “catch up”

Exercise Challenge:

Is biking your thing? Or do you like to play basketball? The best “exercise” you can do is through an activity you enjoy. Make a list of 10 activities that you like to do, that are active enough to be considered exercise. Some possibilities include kickball, baseball, football, dancing, biking, running, skating, jump rope, walking or playing Frisbee. Make

PrESENT:

Healthy Kids Kids

with your eating, and you’ll know when you’re full. Eating slowly allows you to know when you’ve had enough and you can stop eating before you become uncomfortable from overeating… and you’ll eat less!

Try this

Practice chewing each bite 30 times before swallowing.

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

it a goal to do one of these activities each day of the week (at least five days a week). Exercise can be fun!

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

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

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

Fitness Challenge: Go to http://www. stlamerican.com/newspaper_ in_education/ and download our WeeklFitness Challenge Journal page. Keep track of your positive daily health choices and earn rewards!

Careers

Tracie Ousley, House Staff Assistant and Behavioral Health Disposition Specialist

Where do you work? I work in the Heart Center at St. Louis Children’s Hospital.

Where did you go to school? I graduated from Vashon High School and attended Al-Med Academy (Practical Nursing), St. Louis College of Health Careers (CCT) and Forest Park Community College.

What are some of the things that you do on the job? I prepare patients to go home after surgery, making the parent’s load a little bit lighter by helping in any way that I can… that’s my purpose. I schedule followup appointments, coordinate home care, set up transfer via ambulance services and attend daily reports with physicians to discuss the care of our patients.

Why did you choose this career?

I have a chance to make sick children better or help those who are sick feel better as they are fighting ongoing illnesses. Each day I get to go to work happy knowing that this day could change someone’s life for the better. What is your favorite part of the job you have? My job gives me pride. I am proud that I play a part in helping our patients feel better. You want to tell the world what you did each day and who you helped. It gives you a sense of family with your co-workers as well as the patients that I meet. Each day I come to work I feel like I’m coming to work with my second family.

Learning Standards: HPE 6, NH 3

CLASSOOM SPOTLIGHT

Ms. BeDell’s 4th Grade Class Bermuda Elementary School

Fourth grade students Da’Mya Baker, Nahja Greene, Korey Lawerence, Daren Jordan, Cortnee Floyd, and Anthony

BeDell at Bermuda Elementary School.

SCIENCE CORNER

What Is Density?

Have you ever wondered why some small items weigh more than larger items? It’s all about the density. Density is the mass of an object relative to its volume. Objects with a lot of matter in a certain volume have a higher density, while objects with a small amount of matter in the same volume have a low density. Consider this example. If you have an empty milk gallon and fill the container with pennies, it will be quite heavy and will have a greater density. If you fill the same milk gallon with cotton balls, which are light, it will have a lower density. If you have a bowl of water, you can try adding items, such as a quarter, a pencil, and an egg, to see if they sink or

SCIENCE EXPERIMENT

In this experiment, you will observe density in motion. The colors placed in a jar will separate by density of the liquid. Different liquids have different densities (mass per volume) and therefore, different weights. The heaviest liquids will sink, the lighter liquids will rise to the top.

Materials Needed:

• Food Coloring • Rubbing Alcohol • Water • Dish Soap (colored) • Canola or Vegetable Oil • Clean Jars or Glasses for Mixing • 1 Pint Canning Jar • Funnel Procedure:

q Make a prediction: which liquid has the greatest density: dish liquid, rubbing alcohol, water, or oil? Place them in order from heaviest to lightest. In this experiment, you will test your prediction.

float. If an item has a density greater than the water, it will sink. If the density is less than the water, it will float. If you add a teaspoon of salt to the water and stir it to dissolve it, you have increased the density of the water. If you have an item that did not float, keep adding salt to the bowl of water to see if you can make it float.

For More Information: Watch this video online—www.brainpop.com/science/ matterandchemistry/measuringmatter.

Learning Standards: I can read nonfiction text to gain background information about density.

Liquid Density in Motion!

e Mix 1/4 cup of water with food coloring of your choice. Using the funnel, slowly pour the water into the jar on top of the dish soap. r Next pour 1/4 cup of vegetable oil into the jar on top of the water and soap. Pour this slowly and carefully so that you don’t disturb the other layers any more than necessary. The vegetable oil is difficult to mix color into, so leave it in its natural state.

t Finish up by mixing red food coloring into 1/4 cup of rubbing alcohol and then carefully pouring this solution into the jar. This will leave you with four layers in the jar. They will be mixed up a bit from the pouring action, so set the jar aside in a well lit area where you can watch the layers begin to separate.

SCIENCE STARS

Joseph A. Johnson III was born in Tennessee in 1940. He received his bachelor’s degree in physics from Fisk University in 1960. Johnson later attended Yale University, where he earned his master’s degree in 1961 and his doctorate degree in 1965. While there, Johnson was a Danforth Fellow and a National Science Foundation (NSF) Fellow. A “fellow” is a postgraduate student that is employed by the university to complete research and to teach. While at Yale, Johnson became interested in fluid dynamics.

Johnson conducted research at Sikorsky Aircraft Company and Bell Laboratories and has worked for NASA. He taught at Yale University, Southern University, Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University (FAMU), and Rutgers University. He was named the Herbert Kayser Professor of Science and Engineering at the City College of New York.

His research has focused on plasma turbulence and new methods for examining turbulence in physics. He co-founded the Advisory Council of the Edward Bouchet-Adus Salam International (EBASI) Center for Theoretical Physics Institute. This organization helps to continue the advancement of physics in Africa.

Fluid฀dynamics฀is฀a฀subdiscipline฀of฀luid฀ mechanics฀that฀deals฀with฀luid฀low,฀the฀ science฀of฀luids฀in฀motion.฀This฀includes฀ liquids฀and฀gases,฀such฀as฀air.฀The฀above฀ graphic฀of฀an฀airplane฀wing฀shows฀the฀ movement฀of฀air,฀(luid฀low),฀caused฀by฀ the฀shape฀of฀the฀wing.

In 1990, Johnson became a Fellow of the American Physical Society (APS) and was named a member of the Third World Academy of Sciences. He has received an honorary doctorate from Fisk University and the 1995 Edward Bouchet Award from the American Physical Society. John is a member of Sigma Xi honorary scientific society and the Naval Research Advisory Committee. Between 1988 and 1990, he served as president of the National Society of Black Physicists (NSBP).

Discussion Questions: Dr. Johnson is the winner of the Bouchet Award. Who is Edward Bouchet? Why is he important to the physics community? Dr. Johnson has done research on plasma turbulence. What kind of turbulence are you familiar with? What does it mean if something is turbulent?

Learning Standards: I can read a biography to learn about an African American who has made strides in the field of math, science, and/or technology.

w Place 1/4 cup of dish soap in the one pint canning jar. Helpful tip: Pour liquids slowly and through a funnel.

MATH CONNECTION

Density is mass divided by volume. Therefore, mass is density multiplied by volume. Use these formulas to complete the questions.

Problem 1: You have a rock with a volume of 15cm3 and a mass of 60g. What is its density?

Problem 2: You have a different rock with a volume of 20cm3 and a mass of 60g. What is its density?

Discussion Questions: Was your prediction correct? Which liquid had the greatest density? Which liquid had the lightest density?

Learning Standards: I can make a prediction and test the accuracy. I can follow sequential directions to complete a task.

Calculating density

Problem 3: In the above two examples which rock is heavier? Which is lighter?

Problem 4: In the above two examples which rock is more dense? Which is less dense?

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

The Shape of the Final Scores:

Locate the Sports section of your newspaper.

Record all of the final scores shown for a particular sport. Arrange the final scores in order from least to greatest. Calculate the mean, median, mode, and range of the numbers. Discuss your results.

Relevant Information:

Find an interesting news story to evaluate. Read the story and identify the main ideas. Number the main ideas in order of importance. Explain why you chose that order.

Learning Standards:

I can add, subtract, multiply, and divide to solve a problem. I can determine the main idea. I can use specific details to defend my opinion.

Higgins use The St. Louis American in their science class with teacher Ms. Kassondra

Photo by Bermuda Elementary School

AFRICAN AMERICAN PHYSICIST: Joe Johnson

BUSINESS

Seth Turner Jr.,owner of Kennedy’s Pet Shop (2601 14th St.),attributes his ambition to become an entrepreneur to his

A store that pampers your pet

Kennedy’s Pet Store opens in Old

North’s New Crown Square Business District

IN YOUR BUSINESS

By Carmen Hense For The St.Louis American

It seemed like a dream just a few years ago for new business owner Seth Turner Jr. At 15, Turner decided to go into business for himself by walking pets and pet sitting. Now at 25, the young entrepreneur is the new owner of Kennedy’s Pet Shop, 2601 14th St., located in the Crown Square

Alliance reports on bank diversity

Inclusion and minority loan statistics for St. Louis-areabanks

By Rebecca S.Rivas

Of The St.Louis American

Among the top 20 banks in St. Louis, there is a lack minorities in senior management positions and on banks’board of directors, according to a new report released on Aug. 28 by the St. Louis Equal Housing and Community Reinvestment Alliance (SLEHCRA). The report examines how the top 20 banks in St. Louis are reinvesting in low- and moderate-income communities and communities of color. Fifteen of the 20 banks provided data to SLEHCRAon the racial and ethnic composition of their employees, senior management and board of directors. Nine banks had zero performance in either diversity among senior management or diversity on members of

See ALLIANCE, B2

The store also touts its homemade gourmet dog treats. Its motto is, “Providing pet lovers with outstanding products and services.”

Business District. He celebrated the store’s grand opening on June 29. Kennedy’s Pet Shop is a full-service shop

PEOPLEON THE MOVE

Art J. McCoy II

Art J. McCoy II of Florissant has been appointed by Gov. Jay Nixon to the Harris-Stowe State University Board of Regents. The seven-member Board of Regents develops governance policy and provides oversight of the university administration and operation. McCoy is the superintendent of schools and chief executive officer at the Ferguson-Florissant School District, as well as president and founder at SAGES Consulting & Professional Development.

John Suggs has been selected as executive director of America –SCORES St. Louis, a non-profit youth development program that has engaged over 2,000 urban youth in soccer, poetry and servicelearning since 2005. Most recently he served as chief operating officer for the Boys and Girls Club of Dane County. He also has held positions with Big Brothers Big Sisters, the YMCAof Greater St. Louis and the School District of Philadelphia.

Rona

Rona Robinson-Hill has earned her PhD from the University of Missouri- St. Louis, Robinson-Hill is an employee of St. Louis Public Schools and has been a science teacher at McKinley Classical Leadership Academy for over 15 years. She was a 2009 St. Louis American Foundation Excellence in Education awardee. She dedicates her dissertation to her children, Marttise and Meaghan, her mom, Barbara and all of her students.

Judie Johnson is the leader of a FOCUS St. Louis team that is among 10 teams from across the country selected to attend the Sustainable Communities Leadership Academy on Urban Agriculture and Sustainable Food Systems in Memphis, Sept. 18-20. Johnson is HUD grant consultant for East-West Gateway Council of Governments. FOCUS St. Louis connects diverse leaders from public, private, and civic sectors.

with pet products and services, including dog walking, grooming, a dog daycare, cat visits and home consultations. The store also touts its homemade gourmet dog treats. Its motto is, “Providing pet lovers with outstanding products and services.”

Turner, the oldest of three, attributes his ambition to become an entrepreneur to his mother, Yolanda Campbell. Asingle mother, she raised her three children with an emphasis on self-reliance, discipline, education

See PET, B6

P.O.W. to host Professional Forum

Includes silent auction of face time with business leaders

American staff

The Professional Organization of Women (P.O.W.) will host its 14th Annual Professional Forum and Silent Service Auction 6:30 p.m. Thursday, September 12 at at the Missouri History Museum, with networking and registration beginning at 5:30 p.m. Admission is free and open to the public.

P.O.W. will present a dynamic panel discussion, “Grow Deeper: How to Cultivate Your Roots of Success,” addressing how African-American professionals can plant and nurture seeds of success.

The panel includes Maida Coleman, Hubert Hoosman Jr., Amber Simpson and Kacie Starr Triplett, inspirational speaker.

The panel includes Maida Coleman, executive director of the Missouri Workforce Investment Board; Hubert Hoosman Jr., president/CEO of Vantage Credit Union; Amber Simpson, vice president and manager of national multicultural markets, Community Affairs Division at US Bank; and Kacie Starr Triplett, inspirational speaker.

Panelists will discuss what tools and resources can be use to managed those times when one feels uprooted. The panel will share personal experiences, which have not only nurtured their success but also cultivated their roots to build a stronger foundation. Additionally, P.O.W. will offer the community an opportunity to bid on face time with established executives of various industries in the St. Louis area via its Silent Service Auction. The Professional Forum’s moderator will be Sarah Thompson, STL– TVCity Corner host and owner of Sarah Thompson Productions. Selena J., CEO of Selena J Enterprises, LLC & Holistic Health, Fitness, & Life Success Group, will be our the opening speaker.

P.O.W. is a non-profit organization whose members share a vision and commitment to enrich the professional, social

See P.O.W., B6

BUSINESS BRIEFS

Stakeholdermeeting forMBEs on CityArchRiver2015 projects

Great Rivers Greenway District will host a stakeholder meeting for disadvantaged and minority-owned business enterprises 10 a.m. Friday, September 6 at the St. Louis Municipal Court building, 1520 Market St. in the first floor conference room. Attendees will gain information on upcoming projects and bidding opportunities related to CityArchRiver 2015 construction and the upcoming Central Riverfront project bid process.

Kwame starts $35M in projects forHouston school district

The Houston Independent School District (HISD) Board of Education has selected Kwame Building Group for program management on $35 million of new construction and renovation work at four high schools. Kwame, in strategic partnership with RPH Consulting Group and Arcturis, is one of five firms selected to manage projects funded by the district’s 2012 HISD Bond program.

Kwame’s initial projects include the construction of two new $5 million Early College High Schools (North and South); nearly $4 million in improvements and renovations at Washington High School; and $21 million in projects at Worthing High School.

UM receives $1.2M federal grant fortrade adjustment assistance center

The University of Missouri–Columbia received a $1.2 million grant from the U.S. Economic Development Administration for its Mid-America Trade Adjustment Assistance Center as part of $15 million in grants to 11 trade adjustment assistance centers. The grants will help manufacturers affected by imports adjust to increasing global competition and create jobs.

John Suggs

Judie Johnson

RobinsonHill

mother,Yolanda Campbell.

Photo by Wiley Price

Traffic tickets can ruin more than yourday

By Jason Alderman

We all know that sinking feeling when you get pulled over for a traffic violation. If you’re lucky, you might just get a “fix-it” ticket for a broken tail light. But what if it was a more serious offense, like speeding or reckless driving? Depending on your driving record, you could get slapped with a sizeable penalty or even a jail sentence – and your insurance rates will almost certainly go up.

Let’s say you absentmindedly ran through a stop sign or made an illegal left-hand turn. You’ll probably know right away how much the ticket will cost, but it could take months before your insurance company receives notice of the

ALLIANCE

Continued from B1

board of directors. That means that 60 percent of the banks reporting do not have minorities in senior management positions or on their board of directors.

U.S. Bank has the highest performance among area banks in diversity of all employees and board members.

infraction and adjusts your premium. If the suspense is killing you, Insurance.com has a handy tool called the “Uh-Oh! Calculator” that estimates the average rate increases for the 14 most common traffic violations. And, if you enter your age, ZIPcode, residence type, marital status, length of time with your insurance carrier and current premium, the calculator will generate a more customized estimate based on your personal data.

Some of the average premium increases are pretty shocking:

ï Reckless driving: 22 percent

ï DUI first offense: 19 percent

ï Driving without a license

minorities in senior management positions and no minorities on their board of directors.

The report also looks at home mortgage lending trends to minority borrowers and finds severe under-representation in mortgage originations and denial rate disparities.

Nine banks had zero performance in either diversity among senior management or diversity on members of board of directors.

UMB Bank has the highest employee and senior management diversity among midsized banks, with 15 percent. While Bank of America fared well in diversity among total employees, the bank reported zero percentage of minorities in senior management positions in the St. Louis area. In addition, Collinsville Bank and Reliance Bank, both small banks, reported no

Minority households represent about 28 percent of the population in the St. Louis area. However, in 2011, all banks originated only 8 percent of home mortgage loans to minority borrowers. Of the top 20 banks, 13 banks are lending below the aggregate and under-performing in lending to minority borrowers. The highest-performing bank, Heartland Bank, originated 12 percent of loans to minority borrowers. Enterprise Bank & Trust was the lowest with 0.6 percent of loans going to minorities.

or permit: 18 percent

ï Careless driving: 16 percent

ï Speeding 30 mph over the limit: 15 percent

ï Failure to stop: 15 percent

ï Improper turn: 14 percent

ï Improper passing: 14 percent

ï Following too close/tailgating: 13 percent

ï Speeding 15 to 29 mph over limit: 12 percent

ï Speeding 1 to 14 mph over limit: 11 percent

ï Failure to yield: 9 percent

If you plug in your personal data, the calculator will tell you how many points will be added to your driving record per infraction, as well as information on the state’s rules for when driving privileges can be

suspended or revoked.

Another company, DMV.org, features a “Ticket Fines and Penalties” tool that provides an even more detailed state-by-state analysis of what various infractions can cost, procedures for paying – or challenging –your ticket, how points are calculated, how long it takes to clear infractions from your record, links to local traffic schools and much more.

So, assuming you’re not going to challenge the ticket in court, the damage has been done and your insurance rates will likely climb – what can you do to lower your premium? Here are a few tips:

ï Investigate whether attending traffic school will erase the ticket from your

record.

ï When your policy is up for renewal, get rate quotes from at least three carriers. Talk to an insurance agent or use an online comparison site – just be aware that not every carrier participates in these sites and make sure you’re comparing apples to apples, since companies often package coverage differently.

ï Another reason to comparison shop: Insurance companies calculate risk differently, so particular traffic infractions might trigger varying increases, depending on the carrier.

ï Increasing your deductibles from $250 to $1,000 might lower your premium by 15 to 30 percent.

ï Ask about discounts for

things like low annual mileage, being over a certain age, good grades, vehicle safety features or buying your homeowners or

evidenced by the horrify-

in a drive-by,our young people are

Martin Luther Mathews.“We’re

First Bank has the highest percentage of small business loans originated in low- and moderate-income census tracts at 34.1 percent.

“As the economy recovers from the financial meltdown, low- and moderate-income communities and communities of color need reinvestment more than ever,” stated Elisabeth Risch, director of research and education at SLEHCRA.

Under the Community Reinvestment Act (CRA), financial institutions have the affirmative obligation to meet the needs of all parts of the community.

“The 20 largest depository banks in St. Louis hold over $45 billion in deposits,” Risch said. “With those billions of dollars, banks have an obligation to provide our communities with services, products and investments.”

African-American borrowers are more than twice as likely to be denied a home loan as white borrowers, according to the report. In 2011, approximately 31 percent of AfricanAmerican borrowers were

denied, compared to 13 percent of white borrowers.

The disparity is highest among higher-income borrowers. Among middle- and upperincome borrowers, blacks are 2.4 times more likely to be denied than whites.

The report, entitled The State of Bank Reinvestment in St. Louis: An analysis of how banks are meeting the needs of the community, was released as part of the 50th commemoration of the Jefferson Bank demonstrations in St. Louis.

Beginning on August 30, 1963, black and white community members and leaders demonstrated in front of Jefferson Bank and Trust to protest the bank’s lack of black employees as well as overall discriminatory employment practices in St. Louis business. The demonstrations were the largest act of civil disobedience in St. Louis and a key civil rights event in St. Louis history.

“Fifty years later, this report finds that banks are doing better at hiring minority employees, but there are serious disparities for minorities in bank leadership positions and access to credit,” Risch said. Risch recommends that community members and organizations hold their banks accountable.

“Consider moving your money from banks with poor performance into banks with strong performance of meeting the needs of the community,” she said. Individuals can evaluate their bank’s performance based on the data provided in this report or SLEHCRA’s evaluations posted online.

The full report is available for download at www.slehcra.org, or by contacting Elisabeth Risch at erisch@ehoc-stl.org or 314534-5800 ext. 7012.

Photo by Maurice Meredith

Ameren Corporation Chairman,President and CEO Tom Voss co-chaired the Mathews-Dickey Boys’& Girls’ Club’s 2013 “Say Amen”gala benefit Aug.17 at the Hilton St.Louis at the Ballpark.“As

ing report of 17 St.Louis shootings in one night and a nine-year-old caught

falling victim to violence far too often,”said club President,CEO & Co-Founder

working to turn this tide via our ‘It’s Better to Educate than to Incarcerate’initiative.”

Ameren CEO co-chairs MathewsDickey gala

“She’s No.1 for a reason.”

– Up and coming star Sloane Stephens,after losing to Serena Williams at the U.S.Open

PREP FOOTBALL NOTEBOOK

City of Champions Classic

Saturday at Jordan Stadium in ESL

The East Side will be the hub of high school football activity this weekend as the City of Champions Classic will be held on Saturday at Jordan Stadium at East St. Louis High. Former Flyers greats Dana Howard and Juylon Brown have put together a strong tripleheader for this year’s event. It will feature three teams from the powerful Southwestern Conference in the metro east against three quality teams. Game 1 will feature Edwardsville against Public High League contender Soldan at noon. The second game will feature Illinois Class 7Acon-

tender O’Fallon against Illinois Class 8A Loyola Academy from Chicago at 2:45 p.m. In the finale, host East St. Louis will take on five time Illinois Class 5Astate-champion Lombard Montini at 5:45 p.m. The East Side-Montini finale will be a heck of way to close the event. East St. Louis (1-0) opened the season with a 19-14 over perennial Missouri state power Kansas City Rockhurst last Friday. They will take on a Montini team that has been dominated the Illinois Class 5A ranks for several years. Montini defeated Class 8AMaine South to open the season. Edwardsville (1-0) advanced to the Class 7A quarterfinals a year ago. The Tigers defeated Hazelwood West to open the season while Soldan defeated Roosevelt last week 28-6.

IN THE CLUTCH

With Ishmael H.Sistrunk

Test forthe Tigers

Return of James Franklin and Henry Josey bodes well for Mizzou

The Mizzou Tigers football team might as well have changed its name to the Mizzou Mackerel last season, its inaugural run in the big, bad SEC. The Tigers flopped and floundered its way through a subpar 5-7 season, which seemed much more horrific than the final record indicated due to a measly 2-6 conference record. While every terrible team has more excuses than a barber with a bad haircut, the Tigers had a few that held weight. For starters, quarterback James Franklin missed all or parts of eight different games in 2012 due to a host of injuries. Unsurprisingly, he wasn’t very effective when trying to play through those

injuries. His then-backup, Corbin Berkstresser, wasn’t quite ready for primetime and struggled as well. Starting tailback Henry Josey also missed the entire 2011 and 2012 campaigns due to a catastrophic knee injury that ruptured his ACL, MCLand patella tendon. With Franklin and Josey seemingly back to full strength, the team’s outlook is much brighter this season. The Tigers looked impressive in its 58-14 victory over

The Tigers have a reasonable shot a starting the season 5-0 or (more likely) 4-1 before they head to Georgia on Oct.12.

the Murray State Racers in the season opener. The Racers are essentially a JVteam, so the drubbing is nothing to get excited about, but a healthy Franklin looked poised, accurate and confident en route to accumulating 318 yards through the air and 44 yards on the ground in less than three

See CLUTCH, B4

Soldan is led by senior receiver Cortlen Brooks. O’Fallon also advanced to the quarterfinals of the state playoffs in Class 8A. The Panthers defeated Cahokia 40-12 to open the season last week.

City clash

Another big game in the Metro East on Friday night will be the annual city clash between Belleville Althoff and host Belleville West at 7 p.m. It will mark the final time that these two teams will play each other in a rivalry which goes back 80 years and several genera-

See INSIDE, B5

Prediction: 9-7

Rams on their way to being playoff-bound

Well, here we are again. Another preseason that’s just been recently concluded, and the St. Louis Rams coach Jeff Fisher will embark on a quest to take that next step to bring this franchise back to national prominence and, above anything else, the playoffs. The level of anticipation of year two of Jeff Fisher’s tenure as head coach is as high as ever for fans and media. Why wouldn’t it be?

Jeff Fisher’s staff is still the same, with the exception of linebackers coach Frank Bush and new defense coordinator Tim Walton.

Look at the level of play inside the NFC West division. Once looked upon as one of the weakest divisions in the NFL, it is without a doubt one of the toughest in football. Fisher had the Rams playing hard and playing without fear. The Rams only lost once inside the division, and it was the final game of the season against the Seattle Seahawks. And keeping with the NFC West theme, the Arizona Cardinals will be in town this weekend to start the season off with a 3:25 p.m. kickoff. Last year, the Rams swept the series from the Cardinals. This year, the Cardinals will at least look different. The Cardinals will have a new head coach in Bruce Arians and new coordinators on offense and defense. Kevin Kolb is no longer the quarterback as he was replaced by Carson Palmer, who was acquired via trade from the Oakland Raiders. The Cardinals added running back Rashad Mendenhall who will be replacing Beanie Wells. They also lost first-round pick Jonathan Cooper to a leg injury. That’s huge because the offensive line was a major area of concern for the Cardinals.

But Jeff Fisher’s staff is still the same, with the exception of linebackers coach Frank Bush and new defense coordinator Tim Walton.

Speaking of Tim Walton, do we dare imagine that he will unleash havoc against the Arizona Cardinals offense with its newly acquired signal caller? That was pivotal in the season sweep by the Rams. The defense pummeled Kevin Kolb in the first matchup with nine sacks. In the second matchup the Rams’high pressure defense forced four

Starting tailback Henry Josey also missed the entire 2011 and 2012 campaigns due to a catastrophic knee injury that ruptured his ACL,MCL and patella tendon.

Ishmael H. Sistrunk

Earl Austin Jr.

See RAMS, B5

Palmer L. Alexander

The Sumner High football team working on drills during a recent practice preparing for the start of the 2013 season.

Photo by Wiley Price

CLAIB’S CALL

With Mike Claiborne

Formerplayers let NFLoff hook

Now that the NFLhas reached a settlement with retired players in the pending lawsuit that involved the league’s handling head concussions, we have learned some things. We learned that everyone has a price, as the NFLbought the silence of the former players.

Yes, the NFLspent $756 million to keep this group of former players quiet. The league does not have to admit any wrongdoing, let alone divulge information that perhaps would uncover a few dirty secrets.

I am not a big fan of how the NFLtreats its players, especially the ones who have helped make this league a multi-billion-dollar empire. I am even less of a fan of the leadership, or lack thereof, that the players association has shown over the years. The league is going to pay $756 million to over 4,500 retired players for issues related to Alzheimer’s, dementia, post-concussion syndrome and the debilitating ailments these former players suffer.

The average payout will be in the neighborhood of $170,000 per player. If you have had any major surgery lately, you will soon see $170,000 does not go as far as you think it would. The former players could still come up short. Also, they must prove to a board that these ailments actually exist and are worthy of compensation. Those who can only complain that they have a headache or

CLUTCH

cannot remember things like they used to face a challenge in getting compensated. You have to wonder if there will be justice served for those who have been wronged. That brings us to leadership. How could they settle on this? The initial request was for $2 billion, and the former players walked away with much less than half of that. There were rumors that after the judge suggested mediation or she would give a ruling that neither party would like, the players caved. I understand that this was a tricky case to argue as there was so much at stake for both sides, but the former players had more to lose here by not going for it. Instead, they have over 4,500 players who will now get in line and try to get as much as they can, which in the end may not be enough. Shame on the leadership who thought this was a good deal.

This is a league that has no shortage of money. It is valued to be worth over $12 billion and projected to grow to over $22 billion in about five years if they do not expand. If they do expand, the sky may be the limit. The league walks away not having to open the books on how much they are raking in and not having to admit any guilt. They admit nothing, and yet they say they are going to move forward and try and create a safer league. It took nearly $800 million for someone to wake up and realize that foot-

NFL Hall of Famer Harry Carson,a linebacker for the Giants from 1976 until 1988,was diagnosed with post-concussion syndrome in 1990 — two years after he retired.

The initial request was for $2 billion, and the former players walked away with much less than half of that. could never happen to them. The players association just saw a new member replace an outgoing member. The member dues came in no matter whose name was on on the roster. Yet that former player on the street gets a dose of reality as to how insignificant they are in the eyes of the NFLand its players association. What about the former players who were not part of the lawsuit? Where do they stand? More importantly, what about the next generation of players who are playing now? What legal recourse will they have? Has the NFLnow insulated itself against future litigation by its former players? And will someone go after the NCAA for similar issues? The lawyers will stay busy and get wealthy on this one. The game of football continues to change, on and off the field. The product we see on the field is nowhere near what it was 10 years ago. It is an inferior product, and we have to come to grips with that. If that means fewer players will suffer from horrible repercussions when their career is over, then let’s embrace it. I only hope the NFLand its players can trust each other enough to change the game for the better.

they never had to worry about it. Before now, when a

win at home.

Continued from B3 quarters of play. Josey’s return was just as impressive and certainly more emotional. The junior tailback rumbled for 113 yards on just 13 carries in his long-awaited return, including a 68-yard touchdown run in the third quarter. While one could certainly dismiss Josey’s ginormous 8.7 yards per carry aver-

age to an overmatched defense, don’t forget that he averaged 8.1 yards per carry for an entire season back in 2011. Up next for the Tigers is the Toledo Rockets, former home of current Tigers coach Gary Pinkel. While the MAC doesn’t get much respect as a conference, last season the Rockets finished 9-4, including a trip to the esteemed Idaho Potato Bowl. So while Toledo doesn’t necessarily represent a big name in college football,

they will represent a test for the Tigers.

The Rockets are returning nine starters from an offense that eclipsed 3,200 yards passing and 2,500 yards rushing a season ago. Mizzou’s defense lost five starters from last season, including standout defensive tackle and first-round NFLdraft selection Sheldon Richardson.

On paper, Franklin, Josey and sophomore sensation Dorial Green-Beckham should have a field day against Toledo’s weak defense. Still, this game has potential to turn into a bit of a shootout, though the Tigers should be favored to

How the Tigers fare against Toledo could tell us plenty about what to expect the rest of the season from Pinkel’s club. None of the three teams after Toledo are very frightening. Indiana, Arkansas State and Vanderbilt are all winnable games, and the Tigers have a reasonable shot a starting the season 5-0 or (more likely) 4-1 before they head to Georgia on Oct. 12.

The confidence built up from a fast start would certainly give the Tigers an excellent chance of becoming bowl-eligible again after last season’s subpar finish broke a streak of

player was cut or was forced to retire the league just moved on to the next guy who thought it

seven straight bowl appearances by the black and gold. While the Tigers have virtually no chance of competing for a conference championship in the uber-stacked SEC, a rebound year of seven or eight wins is not out of the question. Ultimately, how far the Tigers go will be determined by how sturdy Franklin and Josey remain throughout the season.

If both can find a way to stay healthy for a full season, expect the team to land a fruit or vegetable bowl of its own. Follow Ishmael and In the Clutch on Twitter @IshmaelSistrunk and on Google+.

interceptions against Ryan Lindley. On offense, what will we see? I doubt that we see any more vanilla offense. Nevertheless, Rams quarterback Sam Bradford has more speed around him than ever. He has more skill around him than ever. The downside is lack of experience. Sometimes, the lack of experience hurts your team. Last year, the Rams almost went over 1,000 yards in penalties. In the last preseason game and I know it didn’t count, but there were 17 penalties for 123 yards. In the last game when it did count, it was14 for 98 yards in a sevenpoint loss to the Seattle Seahawks. Penalties and ball security can be the difference of this team being 10-6 or 6-10. The St. Louis Rams are much more improved, and this will be the year they make the next step to being playoff-bound. I’m predicting 9-7 this year. They have the fourth toughest schedule in the NFLand two division games in the

will be

ball is not what it is cracked up to be when it comes to safety. This league does not care

and they never have. Until now

Mike Claiborne

Junior tailback

Natereace Strong enjoyed a breakout performance in the Flyers’19-14 victory over Kansas City Rockhurst in an opening week showdown of traditional state powers.Strong rushed for 221 yards on 35 carries and one touchdown.

By Ishmael H.Sistrunk

Usain Bolt, the world’s fastest man, has announced plans to retire following the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

Prep Athletes of the Week

Natereace Strong East St.Louis – Football

The 6’1” 200-pound junior tailback enjoyed a breakout performance in the Flyers’1914 victory over Kansas City Rockhurst in an opening week showdown of traditional state powers.

Strong rushed for 221 yards on 35 carries and one touchdown to lead the Flyers’offensive output. He got the Flyers off and running with a 75-yard touchdown run on the game’s first play from scrimmage.

Strong appears primed for a big junior year after being injured much of his sophomore year, where he rushed for 438

Bolt’s final finish line will be in Rio

The Jamaican sprinting sensation already has six Olympic gold medals and recently became the most highly decorated sprinter in the 30-year history of the track and field world championships after collecting three gold medals in Moscow.

“I think it will be a good time to retire on top,” Bolt told the reporters in Brussels Bolt has been on top of the world of track and field since he burst onto the international scene with three gold medals in the 2008 Olympics in Beijing. He currently owns world records in the 100m, 200m and 4x100m relay races.

His dominance in the sport has forced other top sprinters, such as Asafa Powell and

Usain Bolt,the world’s fastest man,has announced plans to retire following the 2016

Tyson Gay, to get caught up in doping scandals trying to keep up with the fastest man in history. While Bolt has finally announced a date for his retirement, competitors shouldn’t expect him to ease up on the way to the finish. Part of the reason for the announcement was to give himself motivation

to continue training hard, despite the lack of global world championships in 2014. Though he pondered dialing down his training regimen next year, his trainer convinced him to keep pushing the limits. Now Bolt is committed to cementing his legacy as the greatest sprinter in history. That’s bad news for his com-

Continued from B3

tions.

The cost for the event is $15 for all three games.

Week 1 Standouts

Vianney’s Markel Smith had 291 yards of total offense and four touchdowns in the Golden Griffins’42-28 victory over Francis Howell North.

Alim Muhammad of MICDS had six receptions for 162 yards and three touchdowns in the Rams’39-12 victory over Maplewood.

Kevin Batt of Hazelwood Central rushed for 202 yards and one touchdown on an 89yard gallop in the Hawks’3328 victory over Webster Groves.

Jimmy Jones of Hazelwood East scored four touchdowns on offense and had an interception on defense in the Spartans’41-0 victory over McCluer.

Doug Cook of Fort Zumwalt West rushed for 134 yards and two touchdowns as the Jaguars surprised CBC 2421.

Deantrell Prince of Christian-O’Fallon 267 yards of total offense, three touchdowns, three tackles and one sack in a 50-0 victory over Van-Far.

Other top games this week

Friday, September 6

(Kickoff at 7 p.m.)

Hazelwood East (1-0) at Kirkwood (1-0) Fort Zumwalt West (1-0) at Rock Bridge (1-0) Francis Howell (1-0) at Webster Groves (0-1)

Hazelwood Central (1-0) at DeSmet (0-1)

Eureka (1-0) at CBC (0-1) Belleville East (1-0) at Jefferson City (1-0) Clayton (1-0) at Parkway Central (1-0)

John Burroughs (1-0) at Lutheran South (1-0) Parkway South (0-1) at Ritenour (1-0) McCluer North (0-1) at Lindbergh (1-0)

Saturday, September 7 (Kickoff at 1 p.m.)

Lutheran North (0-1) at Priory (1-0) Westminster (1-0) at MICDS (1-0

yards and six touchdowns. As a freshman, he rushed for 780 yards and seven touchdowns.

East St. Louis will host Lombard Montini on Saturday night in the feature game of the City of Champions Classic. Kickoff is at 5:45 p.m.

Devin Alexander

Ritenour – Football

The senior quarterback totaled 300 yards of all-purpose yardage in the Huskies’ 47-8 victory over Cardinal Ritter.

The 6’1” 205-pound Alexander rushed for 135 yards and scored three touch-

petitors, but good news for fans.

“If I want to be among the greats of (Muhammad) Ali and Pele and all these guys,” Bolt said, “I have to continue dominating until I retire.”

Of The St.Louis American

Olympics in Rio de Janeiro,Brazil.

Financial Focus

By Andre Nelson, AAMS

ï Adjust your retirement lifestyle It’s pretty simple: If you don’t save as much as you had planned for retirement, you probably can’t do all the things you wanted to do as a retiree. For example, you may not be able to travel as much, or pursue your hobbies to the extent you’d like. Clearly, you’d like to avoid these “retirement contingency plans.” To do so, though, you’ll need to take steps well before

Turner, a graduate of Gateway Institute of Technology in the St. Louis Public School District, grew up in the Baden area of North St. Louis. He worked at the St. Louis Science Center while in high school.

The Crown Square Business District, located in the Old North St. Louis neighborhood, was once surrounded with vacant lots and deteriorating

P.O.W.

buildings. Now it’s a newly revitalized neighborhood. The redevelopment includes new businesses, art galleries, homes, an open market on the weekends, shops, and of course, Kennedy’s Pet Shop (KPS). Turner said it’s a very petfriendly area. People ride bikes or walk through the neighborhood to enjoy the views of the St. Louis Arch and downtown skyline. Turner said it’s a great place to care for and nurture the community’s furry extended family members. “There may be a list of reasons that may stop you from

caring and looking after your pet’s wants and needs,” Turner said. “However, before you get to that point, KPS will come to the rescue.”

KPS prides itself on catering to people who often work long hours and are in need of help in caring for their pet. The store provides training and also welcomes disabled pets in need of extra T.L.C.

For more information and to make an appointment for your pet, visit KPS online at kennedyspetshop.com or call 1-800-771-2183.

development activities as part of its mission.

Continued from B1 and community aspirations of African-American women in entry and mid-level manage-

ment positions. P.O.W. works with women of all ages, empowering each of them to learn, lead and succeed in whatever they do. The organization pursues a breadth of community initiatives, networking and professional and entrepreneurship.

your retirement plans for another couple of years isn’t much consolation.

Please RSVPto Stefanie Davis by September 5 at empower@powinc.org. For more information visit www.powincstl.org.

Seth Turner Jr.,owner of Kennedy’s Pet Shop (2601 14th St.),grooms Max,a Shih Tzu, with the help of Theo Blue.

Photo by Wiley Price

Simple rules for going fashion-forward with formalwear

By Danie Rae, The Style Broker

For The St. Louis American

The St. Louis American Foundation’s 26th Annual Salute to Excellence in Education Scholarship and Awards Gala is just over a week away (Friday, Sept. 13). To kick off “Salute” season, we always want to show off the latest in evening wear, to give gala-goers a go-to guide of how to dress for the evening.

This year we wanted to put the spotlight on some of the people who donate their time and talents to the St. Louis American Foundation and its many philanthropic efforts like the Salute to Excellence series.

Volunteers Henry Allen, James Bell, Claire Hay, Linda Robinson, Bonita Washington and Patrice Willis stepped in front of the camera to showcase the latest formal styles of the season.

The “American Ambassadors,” as they are affectionately called, are an essential element of the production of Salute events – including the gala.

But their time is not solely dedicated to the St. Louis American Foundation. Bonita, Claire, Henry, Linda, James and Patrice lend a helping hand to several initiatives and programs around the metropolitan area. Like many of us, they have sacrificed their time for others, so when it comes to getting glammed up, they might need some assistance.

Thanks to Dillard’s (Galleria location), Vincent’s Jewelers and Studio Posh, we transformed our volunteers into glamorous girls and dapper dudes.

The St. Louis American Foundation’s 26th Annual Salute to Excellence in Education Scholarship and Awards Gala will take place on Friday, September 13 at America’s Center.

Check out this week’s

American staff Portfolio Gallery will open Colors an exhibit of work by Lenard Hinds, with an opening reception 7-9 p.m. Saturday, September 7. The artist will be present at the opening reception. The exhibit includes more than 20 original pastels, acrylic and watercolor paintings which Portfolio

curator Robert Powell calls “creative and thought-provoking.”

Hinds is a native of St. Louis, born here March 6, 1951. “His 62 years have allowed him to experience and be inluenced by the colors of the years,” Powell said. Hinds irst started noticing what

National Anthem organizer

By Peter Baugh

For The St. Louis American Ron Wilkinson saw the Busch Stadium field and thought the grass was artificial turf. Shortly though, he realized it was nothing short of the finest grass he had ever seen. 222 Wilkinson was at the game with 63 other performers – ranging from professionals to seven-yearold children – to sing the National Anthem.

Me. Wilkinson is also a longtime performer at the St. Louis American Foundation’s Salute to Excellence in Education Scholarship and Awards Gala with the Jazz Edge Band.

Initially, Wilkinson talked to a friend in the Cardinals public relations department about

See ANTHEM, C4

be up at Portfolio Gallery, 3514

4.

Volunteers Henry Allen, James Bell, Claire Hay, Linda Robinson, Bonita Washington and Patrice Willis stepped in front of the camera to showcase the latest formal styles of the season.

Photos by Lawrence Bryant

How to place a calendar listing

1.Email your listing to calendar@stlamerican.com OR 2.Visit the calendar section on stlamerican.com and place your listing

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

concerts

Fri., Sept. 6, 8 p.m., Arianna String Quartet: Out of Africa. The season kicks off with an evening featuring works the quartet specifically chose to perform on its recent South African tour. Blanche M. Touhill Performing Arts Center, 8001 Natural Bridge Rd., 63121.

Fri., Sept. 13, 8 p.m., The Sheldon Concert Hall presents Smokey Robinson. 3648 Washington Blvd., 63108. For more information, call (314) 533-9900.

Fri., Sep. 13, 8 p.m. Fox Concerts presents Fantasia with special guest Musiq Soulchild, Fox Theatre. For more information, call (314) 534-1111 or visit www.MetroTix.com, by calling 314-534-1111.

Sat., Sept. 14, The Pageant presents Will Downing The SilverTour. 6161 Delmar Blvd., 63112. For more information, call (314) 726-6161 or visit www.thepageant.com.

Thur., Sept. 19, Fox Concerts presents What Dreams May Come Tour starring J. Cole and featuring Wale, The Fox Theatre. For more information, call (314) 534-1111 or visit www.metrotix.com

Sat., Sept. 21, 7 p.m., CMC Productions presents Mel Waiters and Shirley Brown

The Ambassador, 9800 Halls Ferry Rd., 63136. For more information, call (314) 8699090 or visit www.metrotix.com.

local gigs

Saturdays, 3 p.m., The Kendrick Smith Quartet, Premier Lounge, 5969 Dr. Martin Luther King Drive. For more information, call (314)385-5281 or e-mail crusadersforjazz@hotmail.com.

special events

Thur., Sept. 5, 3 p.m., Columbia College hosts 2nd Annual Job Fair. This is an opportunity to discover employment opportunities and network. Be prepared when meeting with employers by providing a current resume, information to complete job applications and be in appropriate dress. 4411 Woodson Rd., 63134. For more information, call (314) 429-5500.

Sept. 6 – 8, FairU City 2013. Ten carnival rides. Music throughout. Saturday will be the University City Jazz Festival and Doggy Pool Party. Food. Beer from Urban Chestnut. Community vendors - local artists & organizations. Classic car show on Sunday. Fair U City is designed to bring people together from

CALENDAR

The St.Louis American Foundation’s 26th Annual Salute to Excellence in Education,America’s Center Ballroom.Budweiser Black Crown After Party will feature DJ Kut and MC Lyte.See SPECIAL EVENTS for details.

throughout the St. Louis area to build a greater sense of community. Heman Park, 7000 Olive Blvd., 63130. For more information, call (314) 5058696.

Sat., Sept. 7, 8 a.m., UniGroup hosts 11th Annual United Way 5K + 10K. There will be $1,000 in prize money awarded to the 10k’s top male and female finishers ($250 for first, $150 for second and $100 for third). Medals will be awarded to the top three men and women overall in the 5k. Register by Aug. 16 to receive a free T-shirt on race day. 5k participants receive a cotton Tshirt and 10k participants receive a cooling performance race shirt. Children’s activities will also be available. UniGroup, One Premier Dr., 63026. For more information, call (636) 3005-5000.

Sat., Sept. 7, 2 p.m., Be Back to School Cool with Macy’s and Radio Disney! Meet and get autographs from celebrity guests! Plus find out how to enter for the chance to win a trip for 4 to L.A. to visit the Radio Disney Studios and experience a “take over” with a Radio Disney star. St. Louis Galleria, 1155 St. Louis Galleria, 63117. For more information, visit www.macys.com/events.

Sat., Sept. 7, 6 p.m., 2nd Annual Hope forYoung Adults with CancerTrivia Night. Events include 7 rounds of trivia questions, silent auction, live entertainment, and more. Maryland Heights Community Center, 2344 McKelvey Rd., 63043. Sat., Sept. 7, 6:30 p.m.,

Chocolate, Wine and All That Jazz, Tri County Division of United Way campaign kickoff featuring the Bosman Twins, Yacht Club of St. Louis, 105 Lake Village Drive, St. Charles, MO 63301. Purchase tickets online or call 636-939-3300.

Sun., Sept. 8, 5 p.m., All-N-1 Entertainment presents I am Exquisite Red Carpet Fashion Show. Join us for a evening of fashion as our Designers & Hair Stylist Display “Designs of the Fall Season.’’Food, music & raffle drawings during the evening as well as vendor retail. Machinists Hall, 12365 St. Charles Rock Rd., 63044. For more information, call (314) 473-9250 or (314) 306-2629.

Fri., Sept. 13, 6 p.m., The St. Louis American Foundation

26th Annual Salute to Excellence in Education, America’s Center Ballroom. Budweiser Black Crown After Party will feature DJ Kut and MC Lyte. For more information, call (314) 533-8000 or visit www.stlamerican.com.

Sat., Sept. 14, 7 p.m., Annie’s Hope – The Bereavement CenterforKids hosts Second Annual Chocolate Affair. Chocolate and Wine Tasting Event. This tasting event will feature: a diverse selection of chocolate delights from local bakeries and chocolatiers, complimentary chocolate and wine pairings, live entertainment, a gallery of art work from local up and coming artists, an upscale silent auction, and reusable bag and wine glass for all guests. Regional Arts Commission, 6128 Delmar Blvd., 63112. For more information, call (314) 863-5811.

Sat., Sept. 14, 12 p.m., Free Authorand Book Fair. Attendees will enjoyraffles, author meet & greet, author panel (writing/publishing/marketing), andthe opportunity to have authors sign book purchases of various genres. North County Recreation Complex, 2577 Redman Rd., 63136. For more information, call (314) 397-8757 or visit www.educationfourall.com.

Wed., Sept. 18, 7 p.m., St. Louis County Library hosts author Michael Chabon, author of Telegraph Avenue. Library Headquarters, 1640 S. Lindbergh Blvd., 63131. For more information, call (314) 994-3300.

Thurs., Sept. 19, 7 p.m., As part of Alzheimer’s Awareness month, authorDr. Roberts will be reading from his new book, “Mama Is Still Here!” Dr. Roberts will be discussing the book and signing

copies. University City Library, 6701 Delmar Blvd., University City, MO 63130.

Fri., Sept. 20, 7 p.m., St. Louis County Library hosts

author Mark Lee Gardner

author of Shot All to Hell. It was the most famous bank robbery of all time, one of the largest manhunts in US history, and the bloody end of Jesse James’celebrated crime spree. St. Louis County Library Headquarters, 1640 S. Lindbergh Blvd., 63131. For more information, call (314) 994-3300.

Sun., Sept. 22, 4 p.m., Left Bank Books Downtown hosts author Gregory Petersen, author of Open Mike. Adark love story between a comedian, Michael Clover, and a stripper, Dana Wisby. Gregory Petersen will read from and sign copies of the book. 321 N. Tenth St., 63101. For more information, call (314) 4363049.

comedy

Fri., Sept. 13, 8 p.m., The Peabody Opera House presents Kevin James. 1400 Market St., 63103. For more information, call (314) 4997600

theatre

Sept. 5 – 15, The Black Rep presents the St. Louis premier of Daniel Beaty’s one-man show, Emergency starring Ron Connor. Washington University, A.E. Hotchner Theatre, 6445 Forsyth Blvd., 63105. For more information, call (314) 534-3810.

Sept. 6 & 7, 7 p.m., TLT Productions presents Tangled (theatrical production). Harris Stowe State University, Emerson Performance Arts Center, 3026 Laclede Ave., 63103. For more information, call (314) 479-6737.

Sat., Sept. 7, 1 p.m., Harriet Tubman Visit Ulysses S.

Grant’s Home. Come experience the words and thoughts of Harriet Tubman brought to life by Kathryn Harris.In a fictional visit to St. Louis, Tubman will share the experiences of freeing her parents and other enslaved people. Everyone will have the opportunity to ask Harriet Tubman about her life. In addition, Kathryn Harris will also step out of character at the end of the program to take questions about what it is like to portray one of this country’s famous heroines. Reservations are required. Ulysses S. Grant National Historic Site, 7400 Grant Rd., 63123. For more information, call (314) 8421867 ext. 230 or visit www.nps.gov/ulsg.

arts

Sat., Sept. 7, 7 p.m. Opening reception forLenard Hines’ Colors (running through October 4). The exhibit is free and open to the public. Portfolio Gallery, 3514 Delmar Blvd. St. Louis, MO 63103. For more information, call 314-533-3323 or visit www.portfoliogallerystl.org

Sept. 21 – Jan. 6, Rashid Johnson: Message to Our Folks. Aman in a suit and tie gazes at the camera, taking its measure, sly wit reserved for the title. In “Self Portrait with My Hair Parted Like Frederick Douglass,” Rashid Johnson pays homage to the renowned 19th-century abolitionist while also crafting for his own myth of artistic self-creation.

Mildred Lane Kemper Art Museum, Washington University, One Brookings Dr., 63130. For more information, call (314) 935-4523.

Through Sept. 30, The Griot Museum of Black History presents Crowning Glory. This exhibitexplores four main themes with more than 50 hats and head-coverings and other artifacts from The Griot’s collections and private citizens. The exhibit is curated by Lois D. Conley, Founding Executive Director and James

A.Vincent, historian.The Griot Museum of Black History, 2505 St. Louis Ave., St. Louis, MO 63106. For more information, call (314) 241-7057 or visit http://www.thegriotmuseum. com

lectures

Thur., Sept. 5, 6 p.m., The Gamma Omega Chapterof Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc. will host Saving Our Sisters (SOS): ACommunity Forum on Domestic Violence. The SOS Forum will feature a resource fair and panel discussion. Missouri History Museum, 5700 Lindell Blvd., 63108.

Fri., Sept. 6, 7:30 p.m., The City Across the Bridge. Workshop composed of prominent Americans from East St. Louis. The primary goal of the workshop is to inform and empower the youth of East St. Louis to know there’s another life waiting for them after high school through hard-work, perseverance, and continued education. Panelists include: Abraham Bolden - Former

The Pageant presents Will Downing: The Silver Tour.See CONCERTS for more information.

White House Secret Service Agent; Dr. Wesley G. McNeese - M. D. - Exe Asst Dean for Diversity – SIU School of Medicine; The Honorable James F. Clayborne, Jr. - Senate Majority Leader (D-57) and others. Renaissance Grand Hotel, 800 Washington Ave., 63101.

Sat., Sept. 7, 9:30 a.m., Create a New You: Changing YourMind to Change Your Life Workshop with Sharonda Ellis. YES, you can lose the weight! Each goal requires its own set of tools. You’ve tried several diets and gyms but you didn’t get the results you wanted. You’re not a failure. You just didn’t believe you had what it took to be successful. Since you didn’t think you had the tools, you didn’t even look for them. You tried to follow a plan without using all your tools. Lewis & Clark Library, 9909 Lewis and Clark Blvd., 63136. For more information, call (314) 7323232

health

Sat., Sept. 7, 7:30 a.m., St.

Louis Be the Match Walk + Run. You have the power to cure blood cancer. Every four minutes someone is diagnosed with a blood cancer like leukemia. It can happen to anyone at any time. But so can a cure – a marrow transplant. Creve Coeur Lake Memorial Park – Tremayne Shelter, 63146. For more information, visit www.bethematchwalkrun.org.

Sat., Sept. 7, 8:30 a.m., American Diabetes Association Friends and Family: Diabetes 101 Workshop. Acourse in basic diabetes management for anyone who cares for children with diabetes. Special breakout sessions, providing an overview of diabetes with regard to pumps, syringes/pens/insulin, carbohydrate counting, and more. Mercy Hospital St. Louis, 615 S. New Ballas Rd., 63141. Fore more information, call (314) 822-5490.

Sep. 7, 9 a.m., Cancer Treatment Centers of America Free CancerLay Ministry Training “Our Journey of Hope” outreach ministry, Emmanuel Temple Church of God Health Ministry, 4935 N. Union Blvd. St. Louis, MO 63115. For registration, contact, 314-6064131.

Tues., Sept. 10, 3 p.m., SSM Weight-Loss Institute hosts Eating Behavior Modification Support Group Therapeutic support in small group setting, for those struggling with issues during their weight-loss journey. Topics include emotional eating, identifying triggers, changing unwanted behavior, and relapse prevention. SSM Weight Loss Institute DePaul, 12266 DePaul Dr., 63044. For more information, call 314SSM-DOCS (776-3627) or visit www.ssmhealth.com/classservicesearch/

Sundays, 10 a.m., Alcoholics Anonymous Group 109 meets in the 11th floor conference room at Christian

Hospital. This is an open meeting for alcoholics, drug addicts and their family and friends. Christian Hospital, 11133 Dunn Road at the I270/Hwy. 367 interchange. Christian Hospital Mental Health Evaluations Psychiatric and chemical dependency evaluations are confidential and offered free by the Christian Hospital Center for Mental Health. Christian Hospital has a geriatric psychiatric unit dedicated to serving the mental health needs of geriatric patients. Call 314-839-3171 or 1-800-447-4301.

spiritual

Sat., Sept. 7, 7 p.m., Daughters of Zion release party forRevelation Revealed. Live performances by Corey Barrett, Toya Wilson, & Rio “KuntryBoyy.” It’s going to be a good time in the Lord! Tickets are only $ 20.00, which includes their new CD.Friendly Temple M.B. Church, 5515 Dr. Martin Luther King, 63112.For more information, visit www.ftmbc.org

Sun., Sept. 8, 3:00 p.m., New Sunny Mount M. B. Church Male Chorus 7th Annual Concert: Men Giving Consecrated Praise. 4700 W. Florissant Ave., 63115. For more information, call (314) 389-4544 or visit www.newsunnymountmbc.org.

Thur., Sept. 12, 7:30 p.m., Dress Circle Entertainment in association withJPEK CreativeWorks presents Kingdom Building Arts Benefit Concert starring Tamela Mann. To join her are featured acts: JPEK Real Life cast, Levi King & Me Too Music, God’s Chosen, Amos Isaac and Rapture, introducing Brian McKee and some surprise guests.Friendly Temple Missionary Baptist Church, 5515 Dr. Martin Luther King, 63112. For more information, visit www.jpek-thearts.com

out of each voice that was there.”

auditioning to sing as a solo artist at a baseball game.

Over time, though, the plan developed and Wilkinson was asked to help sell tickets to a game where he and a large group would sing.

So, after selling over 750 tickets and gathering his group of singers, Wilkinson was all set to sing on Monday, August 5 against the Los Angeles Dodgers. His happiest memory from the experience, however, was not at the game.

“The favorite part was rehearsal Saturday,” he said.

“Just seeing all the folks come together at one place and seeing how happy they were after we had organized their voices.” Wilkinson makes sure to credit the director, Jermaine Smith, for bringing the “best

The joy from the rehearsal continued to the game that Monday, when the singers had to arrive hours before game time to prepare.

During the singers’ time around the dugout, Wilkinson’s group had a brief encounter with All Star Edward Mujica, the Cardinal closer. Though Wilkinson thought Mujica might have been surprised to see everyone, he said Mujica was very nice and they wished him well.

As game time grew closer, Wilkinson and his group walked behind home plate at Busch Stadium and prepared to sing. When they began, Wilkinson had the attention of all 42,464 fans in the stadium.

One of the most touching moments for Wilkinson happened shortly after they finished singing, when they heard the crowd’s reaction.

“As we left the field a

lot of folks came down to the edge of the seating area and thanked us and kept clapping,” he said.

As the game was played, Wilkinson walked through the stadium and expressed his appreciation to the people who made the night possible.

“We sold all those tickets,” he said. “I was running around thanking people and saying ‘hi.’”

Wilkinson has already started to see new opportunities emerge from his performance. A few days after the game, Wilkinson’s group was asked to sing the National Anthem at the St. Louis Hispanic Fest this September.

Overall, though, the biggest impact on Wilkinson was seeing the joy of his fellow singers.

He said, “It is going to be a conversation piece of a lifetime for some of us, if not all of us, to say we sang at the Cardinals game.”

Waking up to ‘Emergency’

Poetry and history collide in Black Rep’s fall show

By Kenya Vaughn Of The St. Louis American

“I can see myself in all of the characters because we are going through so many of the same things,” said actor Ron Conner.

He will breathe life into more than 40 life experiences at once when he stars in the Black Rep’s production Daniel Beaty’s Emergency starting this week at Washington University’s A.E. Hotchner Studio Theatre.

“I want them to get all of the subtle nuances,” Conner said. “Ron Himes is directing, and he’s really making sure that we give each character depth and not just snapshots and caricatures.”

Emergency begins when a slave ship rises out of the Hudson River near the Statue of Liberty in present day America while “America’s Next Top Poet” – a fictional competition where the nation’s best spoken word artists compete – simultaneously converge in Harlem.

Slaves, contemporary New Yorkers and poets have their perspectives shared throughout the production.

“It’s empowering, it’s uplifting. It covers all points of view about black history,” Conner said. “It’s well-rounded and beautifully written. Even the non-poems – the monologues – are poetic.”

He connects with the affirming and inspirational aspects of Emergency

“It’s about not letting whatever is happening stand in front of your liberty – your choice to be free,” Conner said. “It’s about saying, ‘Well, it is what it is, but it’s not going to stop me from doing what I want to do.’”

SALUTE

Continued from C1

Listed below are a few simple tips in preparing for a formal event.

Easy breezy. Many people make dressing up way harder than what it has to be. Dressing for formal affairs is much like dressing for every day, just with a little more bling. The key is to be comfortable. Instead of always opting for the form-fitting dress,

Ron Conner stars in the The Black Rep’s production of the oneman show “Emergency” September 5-15 at Washington University’s A.E. Hotchner Studio Theatre (6445 Forsyth).

But the play also serves as a cautionary tale of what can happen when society doesn’t tune in to the present and neglects its history.

“This play shows how you can be alive, but not really aware,” Conner said. “We see how we have become disconnected – from each other and our past. This play forces you to re-engage and re-connect. It’s asking you to wake up. Emergency is a wakeup call.”

A solo stage debut

“Doing a one-man show is like waking up one day and deciding that you are going to run a marathon,” Conner said. “You truly find out what you are getting into – and putting yourself through – as you go through the process of preparing for it.”

Although he’s been on countless stages over his nearly 15-year career as a professional actor, Conner had never performed a one-person show before Emergency

try something that is more giving but still flattering, like a ‘20s-inspired shift dress, dresses with an A-line silhouette, or even a dressy pant\top number. All of these options will be keep you comfortable all night.

Black is never whack. Black is always a safe color to wear. With this year’s Salute theme colors being black and gold, we shot our Ambassadors rocking the chicest black pieces. Black looks flattering on any body type. It hides any lump or bump that other colors

“It looks as hard as it is,” Conner said. “It’s not one of those things where if you do it well, it looks easy. If they do it well, it looks even harder. And the better it is, the harder it looks.”

Even as he heads for the home stretch of training before the production begins, he’s still adjusting to the unfamiliar dynamic of performing alone.

“There’s nobody to pass the ball to – there’s just you,” Conner said.

“One of the things that I had to learn was how to pace myself. I have a tendency to move so fast, and I had to learn to slow down and breathe life into these characters. You also have to pick the spots in the play where you are going to catch your breath and refocus.” He said seeing himself so clearly within the play made the process easier.

“There’s this poem called ‘Knock Knock’ about a man who grew up with his father until he was three and then his father went to jail,” Conner said. “He was never able to come home and teach him all of the things that men teach their sons, so he had to father himself.”

Conner’s personal experience drives that particular piece home.

“That’s my story. And now I have a son and I see the importance of having a father –of being a father – even more,” he said.

“I grew up with a lot of positive male role models – but not a father in the home. And so that poem just takes me there every time. Everybody will relate to the characters in this show. That’s what brings us to the theatre, to the movies to music – that ability to relate.”

The Black Rep’s presentation of “Emergency” will take place from September 5 –September 15 at Washington University’s A.E. Hotchner Studio Theatre (6445 Forsyth). For more information, call (314) 534-3807 or visit www. theblackrep.org.

or prints may accentuate – and this goes for men too. A black suit should be a staple in every guy’s closet. It can coordinate with any shirt and tie combo, and black suits look good in any cut and style.

Be a beauty beast. Your hair and makeup are just as important as your outfit for the evening. But you don’t have to go and reinvent yourself. Ronisha Britton of Studio Posh says, “You can do soft flowing hair, either down or in a simple up do, but just keep it simple and straight to the point.” Same goes for makeup. You don’t have to do a whole facial 180. Makeup can be just an accent to your natural features. If you don’t feel confident with applying your own paint, visit any department store makeup counter. Tell them the color and style of your ensemble, and they should be able to match you up.

Accessorizing is the key Now, I’m a glitzy girl. I like my accessories to be more noticeable than my outfit. There is something about a statement piece that you know no one else will have on that makes your complete look extra special. But try not to overdo it on the pieces. One or two accessories are enough. For more inspiration, like the Style Broker page at www. facebook.com/brokerofstyle or follow Danie Rae on Instagram and Twitter @danierae_ stylebroker. The St. Louis American Foundation’s 26th Annual Salute to Excellence in Education Scholarship and Awards Gala will take place on Friday, September 13 at America’s Center. For tickets or more information, call (314) 533-8000 or visit www.

By Melanie Adams

Why black history matters

Director of the Schomburg Center speaks at History Museum Sept. 16

As the Missouri History Museum works to provide interesting and engaging programs, we often look to our community partners.

This week we have two such programs co-sponsored by local universities. The first program is Four Little Girls: Birmingham 1963 presented by Project1Voice of University of Missouri St. Louis Department of Dance, Theater, and Media Studies on Sunday, September 15 at 5 p.m. The second program is Why Black History Matters: 50 Years after the March on Washington by Khalil Gibran Muhammad, Ph.D., director of the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, on Monday, September at 16 at 6:30 p.m.

With the presentation of the play Four Little Girls: Birmingham 1963, the History Museum continues to commemorate the important anniversaries of 2013. From the March on Washington to the Jefferson Bank Demonstrations, it is important not only to recognize these struggles to see how far we have come, but also to discuss how far we still need to go. The violence inflicted on the four young girls over 50 years ago serves as a reminder that adults were not the only victims of the Civil Rights Movement. It was common to see images on the nightly news of dogs and hoses being turned on adult protesters. It was something quite different to have children killed while worshipping in church. Many believe this was the final outrage that pushed President Johnson to sign the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Fifty years after these horrific murders by the Birmingham Klu Klux Klan, African Americans continue to fight, and some to die, for the rights promised to them in 1964. The injustices might not be as blatant as the KKK setting bombs in buildings. They are more subtle:

Khalil Gibran Muhammad, director of the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, will present Why Black History Matters: 50 Years after the March on Washington at the Missouri History Museum on Monday, September 16.

educational inequity, housing discrimination, limited access to jobs. This is why the story of African-American struggles is still significant after five decades and is the subject of the program the following evening.

The History Museum, with the African and African American Studies and American Culture Studies of Washington University, is happy to host Khalil Gibran Muhammad in a lecture on Why Black History Matters This topic has been an ongoing theme in my column over the past few months because of what has been happening both locally and across the country. In order to put events such as the school transfer issues or the shooting of Trayvon Martin into perspective, you have to know the history of African Americans and the treatment they have received over time. Without this knowledge it is easy to say that these events are isolated incidents or even worse, new to the urban landscape. A simple Google search would tell you neither of these statements is true.

I am very excited to hear Dr. Muhammad’s views on why black history is important more than 50 years after the Civil Rights Movement. I have had the opportunity to visit the

Schomburg a few times and have always been impressed with both the exhibits and resources. I think his lecture will provide great opportunities for continued community dialogue for educators and community members about why we need to keep advocating for history, and specifically African-American history, in both formal and informal educational environments.

As you plan your September activities I hope you will add both of these programs to your schedule. They are opportunities not to be missed.

Four Little Girls: Birmingham 1963 presented by Project1Voice* Sunday, September 15th at 5pm FREE Lee Auditorium

On Sept. 15, 2013, theatrical organizations around the U.S. will simultaneously present Four Little Girls by Christina Ham, written to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the 16th Street Baptist Church bombing in Birmingham, Alabama, which killed four African American girls.

Project1Voice is a New York–based organization that presents programs fostering community awareness.

*In collaboration with the University of Missouri–St. Louis Department of Theatre, Dance, and Media Studies and the Normandy School District

Why Black History Matters: 50 Years after the March on Washington Monday, September 16th FREE 5:00pm: Self Guided tour of Slavery At Jefferson’s Monticello: Paradox of Liberty 6:30pm: Lecture

Join us at the Missouri History Museum as we welcome Dr. Khalil Muhammad to St. Louis to offer his thoughts on why Black history remains relevant 50 years after the March on Washington. The lecture is open to students, scholars, and community members who are interested in understanding Black history and its place in American history

The YES Program

There are many education programs that have the intention of teaching students to learn but no program emphasizes it more than the Youth Exploring Science (YES) Program at the Saint Louis Science Center. Please don’t get me wrong, these programs most definitely teach students what they need to know; but when I say teaching students to learn, I mean teaching students to want to educate themselves. The YES Program encourages teens to be curious and inquire about the things they are taught. Instead of just finding the answer to a problem and accepting it for what it is, the teens are challenged to dig deeper to understand the answer and be able to explain the process of getting there. I feel like this is one of, if not the most important, parts of the learning process. It is also a part that most schools are not able to teach. As a former YES teen turned supervisor, I have experienced this first hand from both the student and mentor side. Going through the program has given me the desire to learn more outside of the classroom.

or work. There are way too many to list, but for me, the diversity of the people that we are constantly in contact with opened my mind. Besides the diversity in teens, we are also in contact with people from around the world, whether we are web chatting with someone in Florida or having a Taiwanese lunch with actual Taiwanese professionals. This social contact opened my mind to different cultures, customs, and ways of thinking. It made the world bigger for me, which made me want to see and do more.

Kevin Griffin

The YES program accomplishes this goal of learning by providing experiences that teens would not normally receive at school

PORTFOLIO

Continued from C1

he calls the “colors of time” when he studied the masterful art of Henry O. Tanner, Robert S. Duncanson, Edward R. Bannister and Jacob Lawrence. Hinds notes that his era

Our annual Networking Event, which is held every summer, is another experience that is great for our young adults. For the Networking Event, we bring in people from many different professions to come and mingle with our teens. They discuss what they do for a living and what it took to get where they are. The teens come out knowing how to communicate on a professional level and some come out with new connections to their field of interest at a young age. I appreciate the value that the YES Program places on learning. We will continue to stay committed to instilling that value into our young adults.

of the 1960s featured its browns, grey and dark blues.

The 1970s, with the bright lime greens, yellows and bright reds, and the glitter of the 1990s all inspired him “to continue the adventure of art,” he said. He also discovered the art of Dean Mitchell and Annie Lee, which has brought the journey full circle.

“Art is so wonderful,”

Hinds said. “Duplicating the Creator can be so gratifying, even if we will never reach that goal. It is so much fun trying.” Colors will be up at Portfolio Gallery, located at 3514 Delmar Blvd., through October 4. The exhibit is free and open to the public. For more information, call 314-533-3323 or visit www. portfoliogallerystl.org.

Anniversaries

Congratulations to Betty L. and Jack Thompson, who celebrated 53 years of marriage on August 30! The Thompsons are the proud parents of four wonderful children: Tony, Sonja, Kwame and the late Tyrone Thompson, as well as seven grandchildren.

~ CELEBRATIONS ~

Birthdays

Happy Birthday to Lora Ann Johnson on September 6! We love you! From: Your family

All reunion announcements can be viewed online!

Beaumont High School class of 1969 is preparing for its 45th reunion in 2014. Please join us Saturday, September 21 from Noon-3 pm at the Vagabond Mansion, 4315 Westminister Pl. for a planning

I’m shouting Happy 28th Birthday to my best friend, Shari Hubbard, on September 9. Enjoy your day, and may God bless you to see many more. I love you! Your sis, Courtney

meeting. Contact info: LaDonne Felton at beaumontclassof1969@yahoo.com.

DunbarGrade School Class of 1959/Kinloch High School Class of 1963 will celebrate its 50th reunion September 13-15, 2013 at the Hilton Garden Inn at the Airport. There will be a Meet and Greet Friday, Soul Train Ride and Banquet Saturday, and Memorial Service Sunday. If you did not receive this information in the mail please call 314-521-2383 for cost and details.

FairU-City is Sept. 6-8 in Heman Park, University City. Food Tickets: $1.25/ticket,

Congratulations to Arline and Obie Hodges of St. Charles, who celebrated their 56th wedding anniversary on August 31. They are truly blessed!

Pastor retires

Ride Tickets: $3.00/ticket. For more information including hours and events: info@fairucity.com or 314505-8696. Want to be a Fair U City vendor? Contact: info@fairucity.com.

Old Neighborhood Reunion, Inc. will host it’s 12th Annual Street Festival on Saturday, September 21 from Noon-6 pm, 2700 Block of Howard St. (between Leffingwell and Howard St.). Music, food, games, raffle, attendace prizes.

SumnerClass Of 1974 has started planning its 40th class reunion. Meetings are held each third Saturday of the

OF

Rev. Dr. Melvin Smotherson, Pastor of Cornerstone Institutional Baptist Church is retiring after 55 years in the Ministry. Cornerstone Institutional Baptist Church Family and Friends will be celebrating with Pastor Smotherson at an “Evening of Elegance” banquet on Saturday, September 14, 2013 at the Renaissance Hotel.

month at 2-4 p.m. At New Beginnings Missionary Baptist Church, 4055 Edmundson Rd., 63134. Please contact Marsha D. Roberts-Moore at sumnerclassof1974@yahoo.com, 314367-3159 or Joyce BushCruesoe at cruesoe2195@att.net, 314484-1552.

SumnerClass of 1979 is looking for classmates to participate in activities leading up to its 35th Class Reunion, June 20-22, 2014 in Lake Ozarks, MO. Please forward contact information to sumner1979@ymail.com or call Sara at 314-482-1558. Various activities are planned

and we want as many classmates as possible to participate.

Vashon Class of 1965 will have a picnic on Sunday, September 22, 2013 at Tanglewood Park, 1199 Chambers Road, St. Louis, MO. Time: Noon-8:00 pm. Information: Contact Cleo at (314) 383-1934.

Vashon Class of 1965 will have a Picnic Sunday, September 22, 2013 at Tanglewood Park, 1199 Chambers Road, St. Louis, MO; time: Noon- 6 pm. Information Contact Cleo: (314) 383-1934.

Do you have a celebration you’re proud of? If so we would like to share your good news with our readers. Whether it’s a birth, graduation, wedding, engagement announcement, anniversary, retirement or birthday, send your photos and a brief announcement (50 words or less) to us and we may include it in our paper and website – AT NO COST – as space is available Photos will not be returned. Send your announcements to: kdaniel@stlamerican. com or mail to: St. Louis American Celebrations c/o Kate Daniel 4242 Lindell Ave St. Louis, MO 63108

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, 4242 Lindell Blvd., St. Louis, MO 63108. 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

Obama meets with faith leaders

Discusses voting rights and importance of health care reform

American staff

On August 26, President

Barack Obama met with African-American faith leaders to discuss the 50th Anniversary of the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom and how civil rights and equality are closely tied to voting rights and closing the gap on education, unemployment, and access to health care.

The faith leaders from major African-American church denominations were in Washington to mark the 50th anniversary of the March on Washington.

The clergy included Carroll Baltimore, president, Progressive National Baptist Convention; Bishop George Battle, senior bishop, African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church; Bishop John Bryant, senior bishop, African Methodist Episcopal Church; Bishop Thomas Hoyt, senior bishop, Christian Methodist Episcopal Church; Bishop Michael Kelsey, executive treasurer, Full Gospel Baptist Church Fellowship; Rev. Alvin Love, National Baptist Convention, USA, Inc.; Rev. Otis Moss, Jr., Progressive National Baptist Convention; Rev. Al Sharpton, founder/ president, National Action Network; Rev. Stephen Thurston, president, National Baptist Convention of America; C.T. Vivian, president, Southern Christian Leadership Conference; Barbara Williams Skinner,

executive director, Skinner Leadership Institute.

The president noted that while the country has made enormous strides in the decades since the March, more work remains to be done to ensure that our country is more fair, more free, and more just than it was 50 years ago.

The president noted that his administration is continuing to fight to ensure that the right to vote is protected, and he also discussed the upcoming start of open enrollment in the Health Insurance Marketplace, and that the difficult but critical work of enrolling millions of Americans in health exchanges around the country continues. Thanks to the Affordable Care Act, an estimated 7.3 million African Americans with private insurance now have access to expanded preventive services with no cost, and nearly 7 million African Americans without health insurance will newly have access to quality, affordable health insurance options in 2014.

The faith leaders told the president about their plans to work with their congregations and partners to inform people about the Marketplace.

The president thanked the leaders for their prayers, and said that he looks forward to continuing to work with them. The president and the faith leaders concluded their meeting with a prayer.

Administration officials in the meeting included Attorney General Eric Holder; Valerie Jarrett, senior advisor to the president; Melissa Rogers, executive director, White House Office of Faithbased and Neighborhood Partnerships; Rev. Suzan Johnson Cook, ambassadorat-large for International Religious Freedom, U.S. Department of State.

Family Fun Festival

St. Johns Evangelical United Church of Christ will hosting a “Family Fun Festival” 3-7:30 p.m. Saturday, September 14 with

President Barack Obama met recently with AfricanAmerican faith leaders who were in Washington, D.C. to mark the 50th anniversary of the March on Washington.

live music beginning at 5:30 p.m. All are welcome and the event is free and open to the public.

St. Johns United Church of Christ is located at 11333 St. Johns Church Road, at the intersection of Interstate 55 and South Lindbergh Blvd. in Mehlville. Visit us at www. stjucc.org or call 314-8920848.

Pastoral/Church Anniversary

Covenant for Life Christian Center will celebrate a 10 year Pastoral/Church Anniversary with Pastors Anthony L. and Ramona Trice 5 p.m. Sunday, September 8 at Polish Heritage Center, 1413 N. 20th Street (by invitation only).

Special guests are Gregg “Happy Guitar” Haynes, Joshua Rogers (Sunday Best 2012 Winner) and Marcus D. Wiley, “Bishop Secular” from the Yolonda Adams Morning Show.

Have you ever gone to a specific church to hear a particular pastor only to find out that said pastor will not be in pulpit? It’s happened to me, and I’ve come to appreciate it’s not the messenger. It’s the message.

And so it was recently when an unknown minister (to me) spoke of humility. It was one of the first principles I remembered from the guy who saved my life, the minister I was going to hear.

Humility, as the guest pastor clarified, was particularly evident in Philippians 2. The entire chapter is devoted to Paul’s message to the church at Philippi regarding “Imitating Christ’s Humility.”

of how He looked upon His duty and pretty much what got Him killed.

As I listened, humility went from a concept of docile behavior to a fact of faith and strength of conduct. It was made clear that Christ deliberately chose to consider Himself at best equal to, if not less than, His fellow man.

Remember, this is God choosing to make Himself human, in order to serve His divine purpose. This text tells us to “Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves. Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others.” Now my recollection of Christ says that’s a pretty good description

Isn’t it ironic to think that the most dangerous, therefore the most powerful and important, thing you can do in life is to care more about someone else than you care about yourself? This humility thing has teeth. I mean, really, if anyone had a right to be arrogant, try being the walking, talking Word and deliberately transform yourself into a mere mortal. If you can grasp that thought, please do not let it blow your mind because you know you couldn’t do it. I mean, become the Son of God and die on the cross at the hands of men.

Fortunately, as the guest minister sermonized, Paul was not asking us to do the impossible. He lets us know the goal is service unto our fellow man. He reminds us that the mission is to put a cap on what we think of ourselves and our independence in favor of the recognition of our collective interdependence upon each other and the Almighty. Christ died to save us all, and in Philippi Paul tells us that our conduct must be based on the recognition of the following truth: Out of this thing called humility, Christ saved the world. Think it through. If you look down your nose at anyone, if you think you’re better than

The American is accepting Inspirational Messages from the community. Send your column (no more than 400 words) as a Word document and pasted text to cking@stlamerican.com and attach a photo of yourself as a jpeg ile. Please be patient; we will run columns in the order received.

James A. Washington

Hazelwood teachers study sea turtle ecology ST. L

Thirteen teachers from Hazelwood School District were selected to attend the Barrier Islands and Sea Turtles Ecology trip offered through Georgia Youth Science and Technology Centers over the summer. The teachers flew into Savannah, Georgia before taking a boat to Ossabaw Island where they spent three nights in a plantation-style hunting lodge.

The participating teachers were: Christina Hughes, West High, biology – Science Curriculum Coordinator; Pamela Hughes-Watson, East High, biology; Chris Link, Central High, biology; Scott Kratzer, Garrett, fifth grade; Sara Berghoff, Jamestown, fifth grade; Leigh Bagley, Northwest Middle, sixth grade; Stephanie Knight, Coldwater, third grade; Elizabeth Goodman, Northwest Middle, sixth grade; Kelsey Gillstrom, Lawson, fifth grade; Stephanie Heckstetter, Walker, fourth grade; Karis Jackson, Central Middle, eighth grade; Rodney Bouchard, Barrington, fifth grade; Lisa McPherson, Coldwater, fifth grade

The group members spent their days at the beach where they saw a lot of wildlife and marine life. They worked in groups on various activities including: creating a model of a barrier island and its mainland, constructing a bird’s nest and writing instructions on how to build it, and playing a predator/prey game from Picture Perfect Science.

During their free time, most of the group chose to take walks and explore the ecological and historical aspects of the island.In the evening the group went on turtle walks on the beach. Hughes said they were very fortunate to see a total of five sea turtles.

“Most of the turtles were crawling back to the ocean, but the groups did see two turtles crawl up to the dunes, dig their nests and lay eggs,” said Hughes, the new science curriculum coordinator.

The trip facilitator Steve Rick and his colleague Dean, both coordinators at the Georgia Youth Science and Technology Centers, provided

Plus, scholarship fair Saturday at SLU

opportunities for teachers to work in grade-level groups and plan how the experiences would be integrated into classroom instruction. An example of an integration plan included using a video of rapid sand erosion by a stream flowing into the ocean to discuss the water-related erosion in earth science class. Another example of an integration plan included discussing and modeling of nesting habits and nature versus nurture behaviors in animals. Rich also provided teachers with a list of trade books and videos as well as ELAstrategies that they can use in the classroom.

Two elementary teachers, Stephanie Heckstetter and Sara Bergoff, submitted a proposal

to present at the elementary portion of the Interface Conference in Tan-tar-a, Lake of the Ozarks in February. Hughes said that throughout the year participating teachers will be sharing their knowledge and lessons ideas with the PLCs and grade level teachers.

Gillstrom said it was a very positive experience for all who participated.

“It was a wonderful group of people,” said Gillstrom. “Everyone was enthusiastic about learning and extremely positive the entire trip. I think we all really enjoyed our time on the island and greatly appreciated the opportunity to be a part of such a fantastic experience.”

She also said the trip pro-

vided many benefits.

“There are endless benefits to participating in the program,” she said. “They included building relationships with other teachers in the District and creating a network of support and collaboration among them, increasing my background knowledge of barrier islands and sea turtle ecology, igniting an enthusiasm for science learning and being a part of our environment, and utilizing the science practices we teach on a daily basis such as making observations, asking questions and conducting investigations. I am looking forward to taking what I have learned and incorporating it into my classroom.”

Kratzer said the trip gave

him the opportunity to personally experience the science curriculum that he teaches.

“Students learn about various habitats and the adaptations of the organisms that live in them throughout our curriculum,” said Kratzer. “By participating in this trip, I was able to experience the habitat of a Barrier Island that is relatively undisturbed by humans and observe the animals living there, which is impossible to experience where we live. I now have a greater depth of knowledge about the importance of these ecosystems and the impact of humans on them.”

Hughes said the teachers expressed appreciation to the District for providing them with this opportunity. She said several teachers expressed interest in returning next August to watch the baby sea turtles hatch and make their way to the safety of the ocean.

Scholarship fair

Saturday,Sept.7 at SLU

As the cost of college education skyrockets, an organization that opens the door for qualified high school students to enter college is hosting a scholarship fair.

The Infinite Scholar Program is presenting the scholarship fair, Saturday, September 7 from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. in the Center for Global Leadership on the campus of Saint Louis University. The

fair is open to any high school senior and junior, as well as selected sophomores.

The mission of Infinite Scholars – which started 10 years ago in the St. Louis area and now stages fairs nationally – is to provide financially disadvantaged students the means and guidance to further their education by pursuing degrees at institutions of higher learning. The program helps students get little to no cost scholarships, said Ron Ellis, National Operations Manager for Infinite Scholars. Ellis said when qualified students are gathered in a room “in many cases they leave with a scholarship in hand.”

The scholarship fairs will feature representatives from colleges and universities from across the country. These fairs differ from “college fairs” when reps just college information.

“The way Infinite Scholars does it is that we try to appeal to the kids who do qualify for a scholarship, those who have the higher GPA’s, higher test scores,” Ellis said. “We have colleges who come in that are looking to give scholarships.”

Asampling of the higher education institutions that come to Infinite Scholars fairs include schools such as: the Air Force Academy, Ohio Northern University, Purdue University, Webster University, Ashford University, University of Saint Mary, University of Missouri (including UMSLand UMKC), University of Northern Iowa, Saint Louis University, Missouri State University, Mineral Area College, Missouri S&T, Alabama A&M University, Philander Smith College, Tuskegee University, University of North Florida and Florida A&M University. Ellis said that about $1 billion in scholarships have been awarded since the organization’s inception. He said it is not unusual for a student to receive a $40,000, full-ride scholarship. Infinite Scholars began in 2003 by retired, St. Louis high school teacher Thomas Ousley. He partnered with a group of people who believed in higher education for youth that would be affordable. The first year there were five fairs two states; today for are 25 fairs in 20 cities across the United States.

“Most of the people who work for Infinite Scholars are volunteers,” Ellis said. “It is a program everybody believes in.”

Aregistration form can be filled out online at www.infinitescholar.org. Infinite Scholars St. Louis office is at 9648 Olive Street, Creve Coeur, MO 63132. The email: infinitescholarsbc@yahoo.co m. You can call 314-6253819. Find Infinite Scholars also at www.facebook.com/InfiniteSc holar.

A group of teachers from Hazelwood School District were selected to attend the Barrier Islands and Sea Turtles Ecology trip offered through Georgia Youth Science and Technology Centers over the summer.

Celebrity Swagger Snap of the Week

Reality TV star and recording artist Tamar Braxton came to St. Louis last week as she made her rounds with a promotional tour for her newly released ‘Love and War’ album. “Tamartians” Brande Thomas and Tammy Evans were among the lucky fans that were granted some face time with the rising R&B star during Majic 100.3 FM’s meet and greet at their studios on Wednesday.

Ready.set.SALUTE! I can’t believe it either…in eight days all of the who’s who in The Lou will be getting their suit and tie on with us at the America’s Center for the St. Louis American Foundation’s 26th Annual Salute to Excellence in Education Scholarship and Awards Gala. This year we are going to have an epic time – including the Budweiser Black Crown After Party starring DJ Kut and MC Lyte, with a plethora of adult beverages available. And, yes, we know that there is a ton of stuff going on next Friday night – and you can be anywhere you choose – but I would suggest from experience that there is nothing like Salute…and it’s a do-not-miss event every single year. And if you’re racking your brain about formal fashion ideas, please check out Page C1 for some fresh, classic and glamorous looks elegantly worn by our volunteers. Thanks so much to the Dillard’s Galleria location for supplying us with the wardrobe! I was ready to hang out with the mall walkers until y’all opened up the front door to peep your store’s full formal wear selection to make sure I step up in the place with style and grace (©Biggie Smalls). Be sure to stop by the store and see what they have to offer if you still have some Salute shopping to do. I know I’m not the only one. But get your tickets before you do anything else, because it will sell out. Call (314) 533-8000 or visit www. stlamerican.com for more information.

Got Fantasia? If not, let not your heart be troubled because we are giving away two VIP tickets to the show (Sept. 13 at the Fox), so be sure to stay tuned to our Facebook page and stlamerican.com for details. Say what you want about Fannie May, but you know as well as I do that she puts on a show! And don’t you want to get a bird’s eye view of her new and improved shape? Of course you do! Be sure to log in to win!

Super club Sunday. While I made my usual rounds on Friday and Saturday – shout out to Mo Spoon for having the folks crowded into EXO like the early days – the way y’all decided to party like it was 1999 had me taking cat naps in the backseat of my ride in between spots. Things popped off in the afternoon and didn’t end to almost the crack of dawn. I know some of y’all must have slept clean through your family barbeques on Monday because of the way you tore the club up all doggone day. Things kicked off at Soho for the finale of the Official Day Party (not to be confused with the Ultimate Day party, which takes place next Sunday at the Rustic Goat…I know… it’s confusing). The Day party set the bar high. Anytime their line was comparable to the crowd aching to get their Sunday soul food fix on at Sweetie Pie’s …yes, it was that serious. By the time Sunday turned to Monday I had been to Harry’s, EXO for City Spud’s b-day bash, Music Therapy at The Sound Bar, 360 for the Vanilla Sky Party, The Coliseum for Teese and 2720 to kick it with Needles and ‘nem – and the majority of them were worth the trip.

Hot spot of the Week. Quite honestly, there was so much going on that I didn’t know who would be crowned the big winner on the club scene for the weekend. And while I must give a shout out to the Day Party and The Loft (that Sunday night crowd was _______insert new slang for bananas), the top set goes to Net Work Inc.’s All White and Denim Party. Now Beano and ‘nem typically bring out the borderline elderly all the way grown and sexy, but Sunday night they had everybody from the Eye Candy Models to the cat daddy crew on deck. I saw white freakum dresses and white linen short sets with matching Stacy Adams in the same spot kicking it together. There are three things that us young folks didn’t pick up from our elders: 1) how to whip up a fire pot of beans; 2) how to dress for our body type, and 3) how to have a good time – I mean really party – and look good doing it. I was especially thrilled that more people showed up to Harry’s to see the Dirty Muggs and kick it with the Inc. than the number of folks who came to see 2 Chainz. I’m not hatin’, I just love the fact that Sunday night showed that promoters don’t need to shell out tens of thousands to bring in a big name because we show up for our own too. I must tip my high bun to Mary Winbush for making sure that The All White and Denim party stayed on my radar.

Jokes and hate. Now I know that there are several hundreds of furious folks whose feet are still on fire from waiting for two hours for the first set of Jokes and Jazz to begin at Ameristar on Sunday. The audience who stood by faithfully to see comedian Earthquake and songstress Vivian Green were told that sound woes were the root of the problem. And while patrons weren’t necessarily pleased, they accepted the fact that technical issues are a part of life and forgave the organizers. That was until Earthquake finally took the stage. He came out hating at hello. He clowned comedian Brother Dre for being dentally challenged and lit right into the promoters – saying that the show didn’t start on time because he wasn’t paid on time. Help. “No money, no funny,” he proclaimed. Now here’s my issue: I don’t think that the folks should have had to wait so long, but pointing out that he hadn’t been paid was tasteless if you ask me. Why couldn’t Earthquake just let us keep believing that the sound was the problem? I would have paid to be a fly on the wall during the intermission to see how things went between he and the organizers! Because things got such a late start I couldn’t stick around for Vivian Green. I would love to hear some feedback from folks about how things turned out for both shows. Let me know.

Lucky Soul Seven. Café Soul is going all the way in for its 7th Anniversary Celebration! In addition to the best and brightest among the STL Stars, Tweet and Rahsaan Patterson are going to grace the stage Saturday night (Sept. 7) at the Pageant. I can’t wait! Y’all really don’t want to miss this evening of soul and celebration!

Jamila and Tobi of Shift58 invited guests to join in on a Celebration of Life as a start to their Labor Day weekend festivities Friday night @ The Rustic Goat

Ricky Whittington and Tony Spielberg of Red Label Accessories teamed up for a dual launch party to officially kick off RLA and The Ricky Whittington Foundation @ Clayton on the Park

Eddie, Aliah and Max, who was in town visiting from Japan, were among the movers and shakers @ The Labor Day edition of Teese Sunday night @ The Coliseum

St. Lunatic City Spud joined friends Bea and Tara as he celebrated his b-day Sunday night @ EXO

Labor Day laughter filled Blueberry Hill thanks to Arvin Mitchell’s Funny 1st Sundays, where he was joined by fellow comedians like Griff and Nell Taylor

Mo Spoon and the Eye Candy Models packed out the venue as they brought The August Edition to EXO Friday night

Malon, J.Harris and Tyrece were among the beautiful people who partied the afternoon away Sunday @ The Day Party @ SOHO

Tasha and hubby Leon caught the sunset as part of his big 4-0 festivities Sunday @ 360

Earl and Beano it big during Network Inc.’s All White and Denim Party Sunday night @ Harry’s

JE with his younger brothers for his b-day edition of the monthly Music Therapy set Sunday @ The Sound Bar

Photos by Lawrence Bryant

St. Louis ConnectCare cuts specialty care, patient transportation

By Robert Joiner For the Beacon

The reduction of health programs at St. Louis ConnectCare will go beyond important specialty medical services and will extend to the crucial transportation network that has made it possible for some patients to get treatment at the site at 5535 Delmar Blvd.

Health planners said they will be scrambling to figure out which medical systems can provide specialty care to the more than 10,000 patients being displaced by ConnectCare’s decision. The planners promise to find transportation to alternative facilities.

Primary care services will continue without interruption. That’s one message ConnectCare wants to send to patients, said Melody Eskridge, president and CEO.

that allows them to access health care at various sites, with the federal government reimbursing the institutions for provided services.

One problem, she said, was the complexity of getting patients signed up for Gateway. Plenty of patients were interested, but she said the enrollment process took time, might have required more than one visit, and/or required more identification than some were able or willing to provide. In addition, she said some prospective enrollees failed to complete the process out of fear that signing up might affect other benefits they were receiving.

Melody Eskridge, president/ CEO, St. Louis ConnectCare

“Over the years, any time there has been a change in services or if money is an issue or funding is being cut, people hear different things out of that,” Eskridge said. “They tended to stop accessing services because they thought we were closed. We are still open; we are not closing. We are here to serve the needs that we are able to serve.”

ConnectCare is a relatively small but crucial part of the region’s network for treating the needy. The two largest providers of Medicaid specialty services for this population are Washington University School of Medicine and SLUCare, treating 53,864 and 28,035 patients, respectively, in 2011. BarnesJewish Hospital treated another 17,349 and the JFK Clinic at Mercy treated 2,485 that same year.

The public might be surprised how crucial transportation is to the region’s health care network for the poor, even when general public transportation is available. Eskridge said the facility operates 11 wheelchair lift vans and two minivans. That service ends Oct. 1, she said, but could be extended a week or two if needed while an effort is made to find a vendor.

She said the facility had spent down $12 million in reserves because it had assumed that Medicaid would be expanded in Missouri. As Missouri moved toward expansion, more patients would access the new care model, called Gateway to Better Health. That system provides the needy with a card

by Carl Bruce

Eskridge said the biggest issue contributing to ConnectCare’s decision to reduce services was the refusal of state lawmakers to expand Medicaid. Doing so would mean extending health services to more of the needy at the bottom and bringing in more revenue from Medicaid services provided by ConnectCare and other providers.

She said, “Lots of medical folk are saying expansion is a good idea, but that gets drowned out in the noise,” such as the argument that health care is costing too much and politicians expressing “philosophical” opposition to Missouri’s program.

The absence of additional Medicaid funding has led ConnectCare to eliminate jobs. Another 88 of ConnectCare’s 160 workers will be laid off on Oct. 26. The workers will get severance pay and job placement assistance, Eskridge said.

Transportation to health services

“I do not know of a study on barriers to health care that does not include transportation as a major barrier,” Eskridge said.

Additionally Eskridge said patients have many reasons they are unable to use Call-A-Ride or other public transportation. She cited a “few reasons off the top of my head” that might account for the challenge:

• They do not qualify for Call-A Ride or can’t afford it

• They can’t purchase a Metro pass because they don’t have sufficient cash at one time

• They might have bus fare today to get to work and home, but not the fare to get to work, get to a medical appointment and get home

• The medical appointment is on

a work day and using public transportation would require missing too many hours off work or missing work entirely

• They live in a neighborhood where they are afraid to walk to the bus stop

• Their physical limitations prevent them from walking to the bus stop

“We know that we have a problem that we need to solve,” she said. “Medicaid expansion is a must. If you are an adult in Missouri, your income has to be below 19 percent of poverty to qualify for Medicaid.”

Under expansion, any person earning up to 138 percent of poverty would qualify in Missouri and across the nation. In addition, the insurance exchange system is supposed to help others earning between 100 percent, or $23,050 for family of four, and 400 percent of poverty or $88,000 for a family of four.

revisiting Medicaid expansion

State GOP lawmakers, who control both the House and Senate, have promised to revisit the Medicaid issue in the next legislative session, but they have not promised to expand the program.

Opponents point to voter support of Prop E, which forbade the governor or state workers from doing anything to speed up Medicaid expansion in Missouri without approval of state lawmakers or voters.

Some respond that it’s possible many voters didn’t know much about the federal law when they cast ballots on Prop E. Opponents of the proposition point to the latest tracking poll by the Kaiser Foundation, showing that a large share of voters remains confused about the law’s status. It shows that 44 percent either think the law has been repealed (8 percent), overturned by the Supreme Court (5 percent), or unsure whether it remains the law or not (31 percent).

Robert Fruend, CEO at the Regional Health Commission, called ConnectCare a crucial piece of the puzzle for assuring that poor people have access to medical services. He also said it’s troubling that workers are being laid off.

“I don’t want to diminish this day,” Fruend said. “It’s a sad day when we lose

an access point because we didn’t extend Medicaid.”

He regards the refusal to expand Medicaid as a major blow to health care access for the region’s needy. Fruend said creating the Affordable Care Act without expanding Medicaid is like “having a new car without an engine. It looks good, but it won’t go anywhere.”

Fruend said the commission is taking the lead, at ConnectCare’s request, to find other providers to fill the gap. Fruend said his group is asking existing providers as well as other hospital systems, such as SSM, to help.

Meanwhile, he points out that ConnectCare isn’t the first in the region to announce job cuts in relation to changes in government health care policies. The first, he notes, was BJC HealthCare. These reductions are just the beginning of similar cuts in health systems across Missouri due to some provisions of the Affordable Care Act and particularly the decision not to expand Medicaid, Fruend said.

ConnectCare opened in 1997 following the shutdown of St. Louis Regional Medical Center. It initially was funded from disproportionate share payments that normally went to hospitals. Fruend and others sought a federal waiver to allow that money to go to ConnectCare and other clinics. Last year, the funding model changed when St. Louis got a grant through Gateway to Better Health. It was charged with enrolling poor people who were ineligible for Medicaid.

Under the plan, those enrolled were supposed to be moved into an expanded Medicaid system. However, that plan is in limbo because state lawmakers didn’t expand Medicaid. The region is now seeking a waiver to extend the Gateway program. That idea has support from U.S. Sens. Claire McCaskill, a Democrat, and Roy Blunt, a Republican; and from the area’s two U.S. House members, William Lacy Clay, a Democrat, and Ann Wagner, a Republican.

Federal officials have yet to say whether they will grant the waiver. Reprinted and slightly edited with permission from stlbeacon.org

Photo

Cured No sickle cells or pain to zap child’s sparkle

By Sandra Jordan

Of The St. Louis American

The fact that Gabby Carter of Cape Girardeau, Missouri can go to school and play just about like any other child her age is nothing short of extraordinary.

She received a cord blood stem cell transplant last summer at St. Louis Children’s Hospital. It was her best chance at a cure for the debilitating complications of sickle cell anemia.

With this hereditary blood disorder, normally round red blood cells, that contain the iron-rich hemoglobin protein that carries oxygen throughout the body, are sickle-shaped. Those irregularly shaped cells become stiff and sticky and tend to block blood flow in the vessels, organs and limbs, resulting in oxygen restriction and painful crisis episodes, strokes, organ damage and ultimately, an early end of the lives of its sufferers.

Shalini Shenoy, M.D., director of pediatric stem cell transplantation program at St. Louis Children’s Hospital and professor of pediatrics at Washington University in St. Louis, said all indications pointed to Gabby not having a good outcome if she had not received the life-saving procedure.

Sickle Cell Trait

and Gabby’s testing has come back consistently as having engrafted, which means that the donor cells have settled in and are now making normal donor blood, as opposed to her own.”

Gabby experienced some setbacks in her recovery, including graft-versushost disease, where the newly implanted cells began to attack her body following her cord blood stem cell bone marrow transplant. During Gabby’s illness and her recovery, her “village” was in action. Clippard Elementary School held prayer vigils, classmates raised gasoline money for her family to get back and forth to St. Louis and her teacher tutored her after school.

Gabby’s mom, Debbie Carter, watched her daughter become reinvented, from an isolated child with frequent bouts of fatigue and debilitating pain to an active 7-year-old.

Inheriting one normal gene from one parent and one sickle gene from the other parent can pass the sickle cell trait to their children.

“She was on chronic transfusion therapy for multiple complications, the most severe of them was involvement of her central nervous system; she was at risk for future strokes and debilitating disease and early mortality,” Dr. Shenoy said. “And the other organs that she’s had trouble with, as many patients do – the lungs and pain crises. These are not just a risk for death, but a risk for a very poor quality of life as these kids grow older.”

After Gabby’s transplant, periodic blood tests after the transplant showed less and less of Gabby’s own sickled cells as the newly transplanted stem cells made normal cells.

“We access the number of donor cells in her system so we do that from a blood test or we can do that from a sample of the bone marrow,” Shenoy explained. “We periodically do both along the way

The stem cell transplant also changed Gabby’s blood type. She now shares the same blood type as her mother.

Although they remain mindful about potential germ exposure, the Carters are readjusting their lives from being in crisis mode at a moment’s notice to just being normal. Carter said the transplant was worth it to see Gabby cured of sickle cell disease and getting her personality back to being “all things sparkly.”

“It’s taken a bit [of time]for her to get that confidence back, but that school –because everybody knows her, everybody gives her that attention, she is slowly coming back to herself,” Carter said.

While Gabby was the beacon of hope in St. Louis during transplant and recovery, students at Gabby’s school began wearing uniforms. Some minor bedazzling (with permission from the principal) brought back the flair for the colorful young fashionista.

“You know, Gabby sparkles every day,” Carter said. “I asked would it be okay. I said I wouldn’t go overboard, but I needed to add ‘her’ back in. It’s been a long time without her being able to be herself.”

“That makes her happy and they are

okay with that.”

Sickle cell diseases affect millions of people around the world and it is found most commonly among African, Indian, Mediterranean, Middle-eastern, Caribbean, and Latin populations.

If a child inherits one sickle gene from one parent and a normal gene from the other, the child has the sickle cell

trait. If both parents have the sickle cell trait, there is a one in four chance their child will also have sickle cell anemia. In Missouri, all newborn infants receive sickle cell screening.

Dr. Shenoy said parents of children, in particular should contact their child’s

See CURED, Page 7

A cord blood stem cell transplant at St. Louis Children’s Hospital cured Gabby Carter of sickle cell anemia. Wiley Price photo

HealtH Briefs

New sickle cell anemia therapy advances in clinical trials

Researchers from the La Jolla Institute for Allergy and Immunology, the DanaFarber/Children’s Hospital Cancer Center in Boston and the BloodCenter of Wisconsin in Milwaukee and others are launching Phase II of a clinical trial to investigate a potential new therapy for reducing the disorder’s severest symptoms. Sickle cell anemia is a serious, painful and chronic illness that impedes blood flow and can lead to early death. More than 100,000 Americans and several million people worldwide suffer from this genetic disorder.

The phase II trial, funded by a $10.8 million grant from the National Institutes of Health, is testing an already existing drug called Lexiscan (regadenosonAstellas Pharma US, Inc.), which is used for diagnosing heart disease. Researchers are exploring whether the drug’s antiinflammatory effects will significantly reduce the pain and blood flow disturbances of sickle cell anemia.

A Phase I safety study was completed earlier this year.

Recruitment is under way for the trial’s second phase to be conducted at treatment centers in St. Louis and seven other U.S. cities: Boston, Baltimore, Detroit, Chicago, Cincinnati, Milwaukee, and Chapel Hill, N.C.

“Our phase I results were promising. Participants experienced no adverse reactions and our tests indicated that the drug significantly reduces inflammation,” said La Jolla Institute scientist Joel Linden, Ph.D., whose studies laid the

groundwork for the trial. “It is too early to tell whether this will translate into reduced pain and tissue damage. But we remain cautiously optimistic.”

Investigators expressed excitement by the prospect of reducing some of the worst symptoms of sickle cell disease, particularly periodic disease exacerbations that lead to severe pain or breathing problems, known as vaso-occlusive crises and acute chest syndrome, respectively.

Persons with sickle cell disease typically do not live beyond their late 40s or early 50s, with pulmonary problems being the most common cause of death. “Pulmonary complications of sickle cell disease can be fatal because blood flow problems restrict the amount of oxygen going to the lungs,” said David G. Nathan, M.D., president emeritus of the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute. “We are hopeful that the drug will reduce pulmonary injury and extend the lives of sickle cell patients.”

“It is a devastating disease and therapies for the two most common complications, pain and acute chest syndrome, are very limited,” said Joshua Field, M.D., of the BloodCenter of Wisconsin. “Lexiscan has the potential to help people with sickle cell anemia by decreasing the severity of these lifethreatening problems.”

The sickle cell trial grew out of research by Dr. Linden, who is a leading expert on adenosine receptors, which are known to act as a natural brake on

inflammation. While Dr. Linden had previously explored adenosine’s role in protecting tissues from damage due to low blood flow in single tissues such as in heart disease, he was struck one day with the idea that it might also protect people with sickle cell disease, who suffer tissue damage from poor blood flow to most tissues.

Dr. Linden began testing his theory in mouse models about four years ago and found that adenosine-like compounds significantly reduced the damaging effects of the disease. He was aware of an existing FDA approved adenosine-

like drug, Lexiscan that had already been approved for another use. “This was good news since it meant that Lexiscan was known to be safe in humans and could probably gain rapid approval if proven effective in clinical trials as a treatment for sickle cell disease,” he said. Phase II will be a placebo-controlled trial that will expand to include patients experiencing pain crises and acute chest syndrome, and children over 14. It is being funded primarily by the NIH National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute.

Dietary changes may reduce death risk in men with prostate cancer

Replacing carbohydrates and animal fat with vegetable fat may be associated with a lower risk of death in men with nonmetastatic prostate cancer, according to a report published online by JAMA Internal Medicine.

“Nearly 2.5 million men currently live with prostate cancer in the United States, yet little is known about the association between diet after diagnosis and prostate cancer progression and overall mortality,” according to the study background.

Erin L. Richman, Sc.D., of the University of California, San Francisco, and colleagues at UCSF examined fat intake after a diagnosis of prostate cancer in relation to lethal prostate cancer and all-cause mortality. The study included 4,577 men diagnosed with nonmetastatic prostate cancer between 1986 and 2010 who were enrolled in the Health Professionals Follow-up Study. Replacing 10 percent of calories from carbohydrates with vegetable fat

was associated with a 29 percent lower risk of lethal prostate cancer and a 26 percent lower risk of death from all-cause mortality, according to the study results.

“In this prospective analysis, vegetable fat intake after diagnosis was associated with a lower risk of lethal prostate cancer and all-cause mortality,” the authors comment. The authors note oils and nuts were among the top sources of vegetable fats in the study population.

“Overall, our findings support

counseling men with prostate cancer to follow a heart-healthy diet in which carbohydrate calories are replaced with unsaturated oils and nuts to reduce the risk of all-cause mortality.

The potential benefit of vegetable fat consumption for prostate cancer-specific outcomes merits further research,” the authors conclude.

Chocolate may help keep the brain healthy

Drinking two cups of hot chocolate a day may help older people keep their brains healthy and their thinking skills sharp, according to a study published in an August online issue of Neurology.

The study involved 60 people with an average age of 73 who did not have dementia. The participants drank two cups of hot cocoa per day for 30 days and did not consume any other chocolate during the study. They were given tests of memory and thinking skills. They also had ultrasounds tests to measure the amount of blood flow to the brain during the tests.

“We’re learning more about blood flow in the brain and its effect on thinking skills,” said study author Farzaneh A. Sorond, MD, PhD, of Harvard Medical School in Boston and

a member of the American Academy of Neurology. “As different areas of the brain need more energy to complete their tasks, they also need greater blood flow. This relationship, called neurovascular coupling, may play an important role in diseases such as Alzheimer’s.”

Of the 60 participants, 18 had impaired blood flow at the start of the study. Those people had an 8.3-percent improvement in the blood flow to the working areas of the brain by the end of the study, while there was no improvement for those who started out with regular blood flow.

The people with impaired blood flow also improved their times on a test of working memory, with scores dropping from 167 seconds at the beginning of the study to 116 seconds

at the end. There was no change in times for people with regular blood flow.

Half of the study participants received hot cocoa that was rich in the antioxidant flavanol, while the other half received flavanol-poor hot cocoa. There were no differences between the two groups in the results.

“More work is needed to prove a link between cocoa, blood flow problems and cognitive decline,” said Paul B. Rosenberg, MD, of Johns Hopkins School of Medicine in Baltimore, who wrote an editorial accompanying the study. “But this is an important first step that could guide future studies.”

The study was supported by the National Institute on Aging and the National Heart,

Have a plan to protect yourself from the most common cancer

Dr. Eric Nolley, resident physician, Department of Medicine, Washington University School of Medicine, discusses this month’s cancer prevention topic in the 8 Ways to Stay Healthy and Prevent Cancer series.

Although it’s less often in the news compared to other cancers, skin cancer is actually the most common form of cancer in the United States. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), in 2009 there were over 60,000 new diagnoses of melanoma, the most serious type of skin cancer, and nearly 10,000 people died of melanoma alone. Clearly, skin cancer is not to be taken lightly, so who is at risk? The

simple answer is everyone! But there is more to the story.

Those with fair skin are at greatest risk, but among African Americans and those with darker skin, skin cancer and melanoma are often diagnosed when the cancer is more advanced. As a result, African Americans who get melanoma have a lower survival rate, because there are fewer treatment options for advanced melanoma.

What steps can you take to prevent skin cancer? First, always have a sun protection plan. Exposure to ultraviolet radiation from the sun and skin damage (sunburns, for example) is the greatest risk factor for developing skin cancer. Start by following the great protection

tips in this month’s 8 Ways to Prevent Cancer educational ad in this newspaper. Second, start sun protection plans for you or your children early in life, since early skin damage elevates future risk of skin cancer. Third, examine your skin at least once a month to look for new moles or spots, which includes new spots underneath finger or toe nails and in areas that aren’t exposed to the sun. Bring up any concerning changes with a health care provider.

For more tips on how to prevent cancer by avoiding the sun, visit: Eight Ways to Stay Healthy and Prevent Cancer: http://www.8ways. wustl.edu

CDC Skin Cancer Guide: http://www. cdc.gov/cancer/skin/

The Program for the Elimination of Cancer Disparities (PECaD) at the Siteman Cancer Center is working to eliminate local and regional disparities in cancer education, prevention and treatment through community outreach, research and training. To learn more about cancer or to get involved with PECaD, call 314-7474611, email PECaD@wudosis.wustl. edu or write to us at SCC-PECaD, Campus Box 8100, 660 S. Euclid Ave, St. Louis, MO, 63110. Look for future articles in HealthMatters.

Eating right, exercise may reduce risk of aggressive prostate cancer tumors

Researchers at UCLA’s Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center (JCCC) have published the first study on adherence to eight World Cancer Research Fund (WCRF) lifestyle recommendations and aggressive prostate cancer that shows a significantly decreased risk of highly aggressive prostate cancer associated with closer adherence to the recommendations.

The recommendations provided desirable ranges of body mass index, physical activity, foods of low caloric density (under 125 kilocalories per 100 grams of food), fruits and non-starchy vegetables, salt, legumes and unrefined grains, and red meat consumption.

Researchers examined associations between adherence to WCRF recommendations and risk of highly aggressive prostate cancer among subjects enrolled in the North CarolinaLouisiana Prostate Cancer Project. Study subjects were 2,212 African American or Caucasian American men 40 to 70 years old with newly diagnosed prostate cancer. WCRF recommendations are intended to decrease overall risk of cancer, and are recommended for cancer survivors. The study was published online in the journal Nutrition and Cancer.

Adherence to fewer than four of the eight WCRF recommendations predicted a 38% increased risk of aggressive tumors compared with adherence to four or more recommendations. That finding was statistically significant and

$10,000 scholarships offered for Mizzou’s accelerated BSN program

The University of Missouri in Columbia’s Sinclair School of Nursing will award $10,000 scholarships to ten students admitted to the 20142015 accelerated Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN) program. The school is looking for traditionally underrepresented persons in the field of nursing. Qualified scholarship applicants include racial/ethnic minorities, men and students from economically disadvantaged backgrounds. The program is for students who have previously earned a bachelor’s degree or higher from an accredited college or university in nonnursing fields.

The 15-month accelerated BSN program begins in May and ends in July the following year. Scholarship recipients also receive leadership and mentorship opportunities through its funder, Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) New Careers in Nursing Scholarship Program, including a pre-entry immersion program.

Deadline for the Accelerated BSN

application is October 11, 2013 and the deadline for the NCIN scholarship application is December 13, 2013.

The NCIN program enables schools of nursing to expand student capacity in accelerated programs and build a more diverse workforce ready to serve the needs of the changing patient population.

For more information, visit http:// nursing.missouri.edu/academics/ accelerated-bsn/index.php.

similar among black and white men, despite a baseline higher risk of highly aggressive tumors among black men. In particular, eating less than 500 grams of red meat per week or less than 125 total kilocalories per 100 grams of food per day were statistically significantly protective against highly aggressive tumors for all subjects in the study.

Each point in a patient’s total adherence score corresponded to a 13% reduction in risk of aggressive cancer. A total adherence score of less than 4 predicted an increased risk of aggressive tumors in African American and Caucasian patients.

“Most men are at risk of prostate cancer, but it is the level of aggressiveness of disease that is most clinically relevant,” said Lenore Arab, PhD, JCCC lead researcher, and professor in the departments of medicine and biological chemistry. “These findings suggest that even men with prostate cancer can take control of their disease and moderate its aggressiveness through diet and lifestyle choices.”

Measurement of prostate cancer aggressiveness was based on Gleason grading system scores, blood levels of prostate-specific antigen, and TNM malignant tumor classification.

Adherence to WCRF recommendations was based on point scores and odds ratios estimated.

This research was supported by Department of Defense through the Prostate Cancer Project.

Profiling PeoPle in HealtH

Name: Kelly D Edwards, MSN, FNP

Position/Where:

Family Nurse Practitioner, at West End OB/GYN (BJC Medical Group)

Career Highlights:

National Certification and Recognition as a Critical Care Nurse in 1996; staff nurse Barnes-Jewish Hospital ICU; and case manager/staff trainer at BJH; nurse practitioner at West End OB/GYN since 2001; adjunct professor for Chamberlain College of Nursing since 2007.

Awards:

St. Louis American Foundation 2010 Salute to Excellence in Health Care award recipient

Student Choice for Excellence in Nursing Education (Chamberlain College of Nursing 2009)

Education:

Diploma in Nursing, Jewish College of Nursing, 1990

Bachelor of Science in Nursing, University of Missouri- St. Louis, 1998

Master of Science in Nursing, University of Missouri-St. Louis, 2001

Personal:

Married for 22 years and have three daughters

A member of Church on the Rock, St. Peters, Missouri Works with various community outreach organizations Participation in area community health outreach programs

St. Louis Connection:

Born and raised in St. Louis City 1987 graduate of Mehlville High School

Journey to Success:

I made it a point to demonstrate academic excellence. I was trying to prove that not all city kids were “academically inferior.” At age 13 on the north side of St. Louis, I had to make a decision: assimilate into urban low-class mentality or elevate my thoughts to the possibility of greatness. I started to think that despite where I lived or being from a single parent home, I could go as far as I wanted. Between 8th grade and the 9th, I decided to break away from the stereotypes of other young inner-city girls. I eventually stopped wearing blue jeans. I transformed to wearing dresses and business attire. I was “dressing for success.” This was not easy and I was often called, “stuck up.” Girls tried to fight me just because I performed well in school, and I started to pull away from people I had grown up with since kindergarten.

I begged my mother to allow me to participate in the Voluntary Desegregation Program or go to one of the Magnet Schools. I was accepted into Mehlville High School. I received an awesome education.

I told myself, “I will graduate top of my class. I will not get pregnant prior to marriage. I will not do drugs. I will go to college and succeed top of my class. I will not be defined by my skin color nor where I grew up.” I believed that I could do whatever I put my mind to. I believe that is where my road to success began. I began with a thought: “I could.” I could do anything with hard work, persistence, focus, and God.

The biggest obstacle personally and/ or professionally was anyone or anything that suggested, “I couldn’t.”

In fact, I was warned at my entrance interview of how difficult the [nursing] program was for most black students. This was the beginning of my determination to prove that women of color are worthy and capable of not only passing, but excelling at the highest level in nursing.

The nursing profession has been very good to me; however, the most aggravating obstacles are the racial disparities that exist, not only professionally, but socially and economically. While these disparities are an uncomfortable reality, it only has permanent power if the individual believes it does. I can honestly say that the color of skin does not have to limit you; the true limitation exists by confinement of will.

I have met so many people on my journey who I consider “life changers.” I still am on the road of success and looking to meet many more influential teachers. I was blessed 11 years ago to be introduced to Dr. Jacqueline S. Turner while in graduate school. Dr. Turner believed I could be great as her nurse practitioner. She was looking to train someone. I was receptive to being trained according to her preferences for practice. Since earning my Family Nurse Practitioner Degree in 2001, we continue to work together at West End OB/GYN, part of BJC Medical Group.

It is my passion to inspire, encourage and elevate the spirits of every woman I encounter. Finally, my life testimony is rooted in faith, passion, persistence, optimism, and believing that you could be whatever you desire; this thought is the beginning of infinite greatness.

CurED

continued from page 3

Gabby Carter of Cape Girardeau, Missouri received a cord blood stem cell transplant last summer at St. Louis Children’s Hospital. It was her best chance at a cure for the debilitating complications of sickle cell anemia. Photo by Wiley Price

hematology teams to keep up advances in current research that could benefit their child because there is no one place to look for the data.

She describes three main areas of ongoing research underway to treat sickle cell anemia. It includes, 1) drug therapy to lessen the severity of pain or prevent it from happening; 2) cell transplantation to cure sickle cell disease, and 3) gene therapy, which involves taking out a patient’s cell and removing the sickled gene and inserting a normal gene to see if it will permanently make normal hemoglobin.

“I think these are all exciting areas of research and I think they are promising and I think what they will serve to do is will improve the course of the disease as we know it now.”

For Gabby and her mother, Debbie Carter, are hoping to participate in this year’s annual Sickle Cell Stroll, which takes place at 9:30 a.m. on Saturday, Sept. 7 at Hope Plaza on the campus of Washington University School of Medicine, just east of St. Louis Children’s Hospital.

For more information on the event, visit www. sicklecellstroll.com.

Cardiac electrophysiologist joins SSM Heart Institute

Ayo M. Bamimore, MD, a cardiac electrophysiologist, joins SSM Heart Institute on Sept. 3. He specializes in the diagnosis and treatment of abnormal heart rhythms. He performs both catheter-based interventional and device-based surgical procedures to treat cardiac arrhythmia, including ablation of atrial fibrillation and other complex cardiac arrhythmias, cardiac resynchronization therapy and implantation of pacemakers and defibrillators.

Dr. Bamimore attended medical school at Obafemi Awolowo University Ile-Ife in Osun State, Nigeria. He completed a residency in internal medicine as well as cardiac and electrophysiology fellowship training at The State University of New York Downstate Medical

Center in Brooklyn. He continued his training with a fellowship in clinical cardiac electrophysiology at the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill.

Dr. Bamimore is board certified in cardiovascular diseases, nuclear cardiology, adult echocardiography and internal medicine. He is a member of the American College of Cardiology and the Heart Rhythm Society.

He joins SSM staff at St. Joseph Health Center in St. Charles, DePaul Health Center in Bridgeton and St. Joseph Hospital West in Lake Saint Louis and has three office locations.

Bamimore is able to follow many of his patients with implantable devices remotely. Information from the devices are downloaded from the

patient’s home to Dr. Bamimore’s office for evaluation. In many cases, this may result in adjustments to treatment prior to the next scheduled office visit, possibly reducing unnecessary hospital admissions.

Bamimore also offers his patients MyChart – a secure online access to their personal health record 24/7.

Ayo M. Bamimore, MD, a cardiac electrophysiologist, joins SSM staff at St. Joseph Health Center in St. Charles. He specializes in the diagnosis and treatment of abnormal heart rhythms.

Sat. Sept. 7, 9:30 a.m., 2nd Annual Sickle Cell Stroll 2013 at Hope Plaza, Washington University School of Medicine (east of St. Louis Children’s Hospital) for the Sickle Cell Association. Free registration; donations are welcome. For more information, visit www. sicklecellstroll.com.

Sat. Sept. 7, 7:30 a.m., St. Louis Be The Match Walk run, Creve Coeur Park – Tremayne Shelter (Sailboat Cove), 13725 Marine Ave., 63146. Tot Trot, 5K and 1K. For more information, visit www.bethematchfoundation. org.

Sat. Sept. 7, 8 a.m. – 2 p.m., Free Dentistry Day for St. Charles community at St. Charles Dental, 1520 S. 5th St. Suite 103. First come-first serve; cleanings and extractions; onsite blood drive. For more information, call 636-493-6494 or visit www.freedentistryday.org.

Sat. Sept. 7, Noon – 4 p.m., 15 min. Hands-only CPr Training by American Heart Association, Chesterfield Mall Lower Level (near food court). . For more information, visit www.heart.org/handsonlycpr.

Mon. Sept. 9, 9 a.m. – 3 p.m., 15 min. Hands-only CPr Training by American Heart Association Mobile unit at St. Louis County Memorial Park, 41 S. Central, Clayton, Mo. For more information, visit www.heart.org/ handsonlycpr.

Tues. Sept. 10, 4 p.m. - 7 p.m., Free prostate cancer screenings by SSM Cancer Care at Dave Sinclair Buick GMC, 5655 S. Lindbergh, St. Louis, 63123. To register/

Health Calendar

more information, call 866-SSM-DOCS (1-866-7763627).

Tues., Sept. 10, 7:00 p.m. – 8:30 p.m., The Affordable Care Act – Simplified, St. Louis Public Library Central Auditorium. Missouri Foundation for Health experts explain what to expect when the Affordable Care Act takes effect in 2014. For more information, call 314-2412288 or visit slpl.org.

Wed. Sept. 11, 10 a.m. – 2 p.m. 15 min. Hands-only CPr Training by American Heart Association, Saint Louis University-Busch Student Center-20. N. Grand. For more information, visit www.heart.org/handsonlycpr.

Thurs. Sept. 12, 6:30 p.m. – 8:00 p.m., A Night Out with the Girls, women’s health questions answered by SSM breast surgeon and OB/GYN; dinner, wine, chair massages; mammograms offered prior to event. Free to attend by registering at 314-SSM-DOCS (776-3627) or visit www.ssmhealth.com/classservicesearch/.

Thurs. Sept. 12, 4:30 p.m. – 7:30 p.m., Men’s Healthy Happy Hour & Health Screenings, Detrick Bldg. Atrium, Christian Hospital, 11133 Dunn Road., St. Louis, 63136. Register at 314-747-WELL (9355) or tollfree 877-747-9355.

Sat. Sept. 14, 7:30 a.m., CHIPS 13th Annual Community Health Festival 5K run/Walk, 2431 N. Grand Blvd. Walk begins at 8:30; health screenings at 10; entertainment, kid’s activities. Adults -$20 ($25 after Sept. 1); children under 18, $10. For more information, call 652-9231 or visit www.chipsstl.org.

Sat. Sept. 4, Noon – 4 p.m., 2nd Annual Jazz on the Greenway to encourage residents to walk, jog or bike and enjoy activities along St. Vincent Greenway, starting at Ruth Porter Mall at Delmar and DeBaliviere and ending at Skinker and Etzel. For a complete list of activities, visit www.stvincentgreenwayinc.com.

Sat. Sept. 14, 2:00 p.m. – 3:30 p.m., The Affordable Care Act – Simplified, St. Louis Public Library Central Auditorium, 1301 Olive St., 63103. Missouri Foundation for Health experts explain what to expect when the Affordable Care Act takes effect in 2014. For more information, call 314-241-2288 or visit slpl.org.

Tues. Sept. 17, 10 a.m. – 3 p.m., American red Cross Blood Drive, Christian Hospital Detrick Building Atrium, 11133 Dunn Rd. (63136). Register by email at slm9123@bjc.org or use the sponsor code “christianhospital” when you register online at www. redcrossblood.org.

Helpful Resources

Behavioral

Christian Hospital offers free and confidential psychiatric and chemical dependency evaluations at the Christian Hospital Center for Mental Health. For more information, call 314-839-3171.

Christian Hospital Key Program offers support and education to patients with chronic mental illness to prevent increased severity of symptoms and to reduce the need for inpatient re-hospitalization. Call confidentially to 314-839-3171 or 1-800-447-4301.

Crime Victim Advocacy Center provides no cost support for persons affected by criminal acts. Email peggy@ supportvictims.org, visit or call the 24-hour hotline 314-OK-BE-MAD (6523673) or visit www.supportvictims.org.

Bike helmet safety

The St. Louis County Health Department provides free bicycle helmets to St. Louis County residents between ages 1 and 17 by appointment only. Proof of residency is required. For the location nearest you, visit www.tinyurl.freebikehelmets.

Breast Cancer

Gateway to Hope offers no-charge medical and reconstructive treatment for uninsured breast cancer patients in Missouri. Contact 314-569-1113.

Dental

Free Dental Hygiene Clinic - No charge dental exams, x-rays, cleanings and other dental services for children and adults provided by dental students at Missouri College. Patients needing more extensive dental work (fillings, crowns, etc.) will be referred to local dentists. For information, call 314-768-7899.

Diabetes

SSM St. Mary’s Health Center provides free, Diabetes Support Group sessions the second Tuesday of every month from 6 – 7 p.m. to address health management issues. It’s located at Meeting Room 1 on the second floor, 6420 Clayton Rd. in St. Louis. To register, call toll free 866-SSM-DOCS (866-776-3627).

Health Partnerships

The Center for Community Health and Partnerships: Building Bridges for Healthy Communities works to develop and support beneficial communityacademic partnerships to address the

health needs of the St. Louis. For more information, email publichealth@ wustl.edu; phone 314-747-9212 or visit publichealth.wustl.edu.

Information

Missouri 2-1-1 offers referral and information on a wide range of social service and helpful resources. Call 2-1-1.

Medical

Boys & Girls Clubs

Dental & Vision Clinic at Herbert Hoover Club, 2901 N. Grand, St. Louis. Open year-round for members at no additional fee by appointment only. Teeth cleaning, braces, x-rays, root canals, some extractions; vision mobile unit, comprehensive exam and glasses, if required. Make an appointment by calling 314-355-8122.

St. Louis ConnectCare offers walk-in services Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 7 p.m., Saturdays and Sundays, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. and most holidays. For more information, call 314-879-6300.

Salam Free Saturday Clinic, 10 a.m. – 2 p.m. at the Isom Community Center at Lane Tabernacle CME Church, 916 N. Newstead, St. Louis, Mo. for those who are uninsured. For more information, call 314-533-0534.

Nutrition

Food Outreach provides food, meals and nutritional education/ counseling to eligible persons living with HIV/ AIDS or cancer in St. Louis. For more information, call 314-652-3663 or visit www.foodoutreach.org.

St. Louis Milk Depot - SSM Cardinal Glennon Children’s Hospital is a breast milk depot for the Indiana Mother’s Milk Bank. Milk Depot staff will store and ship your milk to IMMB. For more information, call (314) 242-5912.

Prostate Cancer

The Cancer Center of The Empowerment Network at 6000 W. Florissant in St. Louis provides information on prostate and other types of cancer, and services and support. For more information, call 314-385-0998.

Prescription Cost Help

St. Louis ConnectCare Retail Pharmacy –Offers a $4 generic prescription program. Hours are 8 a.m. – 5 p.m. Mon. – Fri., no weekends or holidays. Located at 5535 Delmar Blvd. in St. Louis, Call 314-8796208.

Schnucks Pharmacies – now offers certain prescription prenatal vitamins

for free and offers no-cost generic prescription antibiotics at select locations.

Wal-Mart Pharmacies – offer select prescriptions for $4 or less for a 30-day supply or $10 for a 90-day supply. View the complete list at www.walmart.com/ pharmacy.

Respiratory Health

Free lung function screening - Christian Hospital Breathing Center at Northwest HealthCare, 1225 Graham Rd. For more information, call 314-953-6040.

Sexual Health

St. Louis County Health Department offers free, confidential testing, counseling and treatment at the North Central Community Health Center, 4000 Jennings Station Road, St. Louis, MO 63121. For more information, call 314679-7800.

St. Louis Metropolitan HIV/AIDS Program offers confidential or anonymous Testing at St. Louis ConnectCare, Suite 203 at 5535 Delmar, St. Louis, Mo. 63112. For more information, call (314) 879-6468.

Let’s talk about stool

Over the years, I have observed how certain conditions such as stool problems provide greater degrees of angst as compared to others within my patient population. I’m sure many of you remember those sometimes uncomfortable conversations with family members regarding their bowel habits or lack thereof. These well-meaning family members like to share high levels of detail regarding their private bathroom experiences. People are intrigued with the color, consistency and smell of their feces. On rare occasions, my patients have even insisted they bring in a sample in some type of homemade container so that I may inspect their stools. I have even had patients report that they observed something “moving” in their stools. However, discussing bowel habits with your provider should be a routine component of your preventative healthcare. Providers start asking about stool patterns beginning at the initial newborn visit. That first stool, known as the meconium plug, is important information because it assures the provider that the anus is open and unobstructed. The black tarry stool of infancy then progresses to a yellowish seedy material, which

is consistent with a breastfed baby. Eventually this stool transitions to one that is more solid and therefore provides reassurance that the gastrointestinal (GI) tract is working properly.

Denise HooksAnderson M.D.

Probably the most common stool abnormality noted in adults is constipation. These stools are hard, inconsistent and require straining. Some patients report only having stools every 8-10 days and have problems with bloating. For the majority of individuals, constipation is caused by a lack of dietary fiber. The recommended allowance of daily fiber is 25 grams. Foods high in fiber include beans, such as pinto and great northern and green leafy vegetables such as kale and collard greens. If after eating five to nine servings of fruits and vegetables daily and patients continue to experience constipation, I often recommend eating a bowl of Fiber One Cereal daily without milk.

On the other hand, if constipation remains unresolved, a more thorough evaluation is indicated. This may include getting some form of an imaging study of the abdomen such as an abdominal X ray or CT scan. These modalities can

Your Health Matters

A bi-monthly special supplement of the St. Louis American

SEPTEMBER 5 - 11, 2013

Your Health Matters provides up-to-date information, from an African-American perspective, about one of the most important subjects in evryone’s life – their personal health.

Donald M. Suggs, President and Publisher

Kevin Jones, Senior Vice President, COO

Dina M. Suggs, Senior Vice President

Chris King, Editorial Director

Denise Hooks-Anderson, M.D. Medical Accuracy Editor

Sandra Jordan, Health Reporter

Debbie Chase, Director of Health Strategy & Outreach

Onye Ijei, Barb Sills, Pamela Simmons, Sales

Michael Terhaar, Art/Production Manager

Angelita Jackson, Cover Design

Wiley Price, Photojournalist

reveal if a patient has an obstruction, an inability of the stool to pass through a certain portion of the colon. If not corrected, obstructions could be lifethreatening. However, these conditions are usually associated with pain, nausea and vomiting. Colonoscopies are also used to evaluate unresolved constipation. Stool softeners are sometimes used but laxatives are not to be used on a chronic basis and cause more harm than good over time by impairing the colon’s natural, symmetrical contraction and relaxation.

Just as hard stools are abnormal, so are those that are watery. Watery stools are usually caused by some type of viral infection of the gastrointestinal tract. Most people acquire such infections by the fecal-oral route: eating food that is contaminated or touching an object, such as a bathroom doorknob then eating with germ-laden hands. These GI infections are generally caused by the Norvirus species and can affect any age group. The infections are typically self-limited and will resolve within 24-72 hours. Dehydration can occur if diarrhea is severe.

Only rarely are diarrheal illnesses caused by bacteria but if diarrhea is severe or mixed with blood, then a more serious illness must be considered, like E. coli. Transmission is the same as with the viral conditions but symptoms may involve moderate to severe abdominal pain. Some of these patients will require intravenous hydration and supportive care in a hospital setting.

The last major category of concern as it relates to bowel health is the presence of blood in stools in the absence of an infection. The color of the blood can reveal whether the bleeding is coming from the upper or lower GI tract. If the blood is bright red, the lower colon is probably involved. Dark, maroon colored, or black stools usually indicate an upper bleed from the stomach or esophagus. Each of these conditions needs to be addressed by your primary care provider as soon as possible. Proper colon health cannot be discussed without reiterating the importance of routine screening colonoscopies starting at age 50. These procedures are not painful and allow the doctor to directly inspect the inside of the colon with a flexible camera and remove any polyps present. Removing those polyps then decreases the likelihood of cancer. Research has also shown that people who eat diets rich in red meat and deficient in vegetables have an increased risk of developing colon cancer. Therefore, the best advice that I could give for maintaining optimum colon health is to eat five to nine servings of fruits and vegetables daily and decrease the amount of beef in your diet.

Yours in Service, Denise Hooks-Anderson, M.D. Assistant Professor SLUCare Family Medicine yourhealthmatters@stlamerican.com

Cured No sickle cells or pain to zap child’s sparkle

By Sandra Jordan

Of The St. Louis American

The fact that Gabby Carter of Cape Girardeau, Missouri can go to school and play just about like any other child her age is nothing short of extraordinary.

She received a cord blood stem cell transplant last summer at St. Louis Children’s Hospital. It was her best chance at a cure for the debilitating complications of sickle cell anemia.

With this hereditary blood disorder, normally round red blood cells, that contain the iron-rich hemoglobin protein that carries oxygen throughout the body, are sickle-shaped. Those irregularly shaped cells become stiff and sticky and tend to block blood flow in the vessels, organs and limbs, resulting in oxygen restriction and painful crisis episodes, strokes, organ damage and ultimately, an early end of the lives of its sufferers.

Shalini Shenoy, M.D., director of pediatric stem cell transplantation program at St. Louis Children’s Hospital and professor of pediatrics at Washington University in St. Louis, said all indications pointed to Gabby not having a good outcome if she had not received the life-saving procedure.

Sickle Cell Trait

and Gabby’s testing has come back consistently as having engrafted, which means that the donor cells have settled in and are now making normal donor blood, as opposed to her own.”

Gabby experienced some setbacks in her recovery, including graft-versushost disease, where the newly implanted cells began to attack her body following her cord blood stem cell bone marrow transplant. During Gabby’s illness and her recovery, her “village” was in action. Clippard Elementary School held prayer vigils, classmates raised gasoline money for her family to get back and forth to St. Louis and her teacher tutored her after school.

Gabby’s mom, Debbie Carter, watched her daughter become reinvented, from an isolated child with frequent bouts of fatigue and debilitating pain to an active 7-year-old.

Inheriting one normal gene from one parent and one sickle gene from the other parent can pass the sickle cell trait to their children.

“She was on chronic transfusion therapy for multiple complications, the most severe of them was involvement of her central nervous system; she was at risk for future strokes and debilitating disease and early mortality,” Dr. Shenoy said. “And the other organs that she’s had trouble with, as many patients do – the lungs and pain crises. These are not just a risk for death, but a risk for a very poor quality of life as these kids grow older.”

After Gabby’s transplant, periodic blood tests after the transplant showed less and less of Gabby’s own sickled cells as the newly transplanted stem cells made normal cells.

“We access the number of donor cells in her system so we do that from a blood test or we can do that from a sample of the bone marrow,” Shenoy explained. “We periodically do both along the way

The stem cell transplant also changed Gabby’s blood type. She now shares the same blood type as her mother.

Although they remain mindful about potential germ exposure, the Carters are readjusting their lives from being in crisis mode at a moment’s notice to just being normal. Carter said the transplant was worth it to see Gabby cured of sickle cell disease and getting her personality back to being “all things sparkly.”

“It’s taken a bit [of time]for her to get that confidence back, but that school –because everybody knows her, everybody gives her that attention, she is slowly coming back to herself,” Carter said.

While Gabby was the beacon of hope in St. Louis during transplant and recovery, students at Gabby’s school began wearing uniforms. Some minor bedazzling (with permission from the principal) brought back the flair for the colorful young fashionista.

“You know, Gabby sparkles every day,” Carter said. “I asked would it be okay. I said I wouldn’t go overboard, but I needed to add ‘her’ back in. It’s been a long time without her being able to be herself.”

“That makes her happy and they are

okay with that.”

Sickle cell diseases affect millions of people around the world and it is found most commonly among African, Indian, Mediterranean, Middle-eastern, Caribbean, and Latin populations.

If a child inherits one sickle gene from one parent and a normal gene from the other, the child has the sickle cell

trait. If both parents have the sickle cell trait, there is a one in four chance their child will also have sickle cell anemia. In Missouri, all newborn infants receive sickle cell screening.

Dr. Shenoy said parents of children, in particular should contact their child’s

See CURED, Page 7

A cord blood stem cell transplant at St. Louis Children’s Hospital cured Gabby Carter of sickle cell anemia. Wiley Price photo

HealtH Briefs

New sickle cell anemia therapy advances in clinical trials

Researchers from the La Jolla Institute for Allergy and Immunology, the DanaFarber/Children’s Hospital Cancer Center in Boston and the BloodCenter of Wisconsin in Milwaukee and others are launching Phase II of a clinical trial to investigate a potential new therapy for reducing the disorder’s severest symptoms. Sickle cell anemia is a serious, painful and chronic illness that impedes blood flow and can lead to early death. More than 100,000 Americans and several million people worldwide suffer from this genetic disorder.

The phase II trial, funded by a $10.8 million grant from the National Institutes of Health, is testing an already existing drug called Lexiscan (regadenosonAstellas Pharma US, Inc.), which is used for diagnosing heart disease. Researchers are exploring whether the drug’s antiinflammatory effects will significantly reduce the pain and blood flow disturbances of sickle cell anemia.

A Phase I safety study was completed earlier this year.

Recruitment is under way for the trial’s second phase to be conducted at treatment centers in St. Louis and seven other U.S. cities: Boston, Baltimore, Detroit, Chicago, Cincinnati, Milwaukee, and Chapel Hill, N.C.

“Our phase I results were promising. Participants experienced no adverse reactions and our tests indicated that the drug significantly reduces inflammation,” said La Jolla Institute scientist Joel Linden, Ph.D., whose studies laid the

groundwork for the trial. “It is too early to tell whether this will translate into reduced pain and tissue damage. But we remain cautiously optimistic.”

Investigators expressed excitement by the prospect of reducing some of the worst symptoms of sickle cell disease, particularly periodic disease exacerbations that lead to severe pain or breathing problems, known as vaso-occlusive crises and acute chest syndrome, respectively.

Persons with sickle cell disease typically do not live beyond their late 40s or early 50s, with pulmonary problems being the most common cause of death. “Pulmonary complications of sickle cell disease can be fatal because blood flow problems restrict the amount of oxygen going to the lungs,” said David G. Nathan, M.D., president emeritus of the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute. “We are hopeful that the drug will reduce pulmonary injury and extend the lives of sickle cell patients.”

“It is a devastating disease and therapies for the two most common complications, pain and acute chest syndrome, are very limited,” said Joshua Field, M.D., of the BloodCenter of Wisconsin. “Lexiscan has the potential to help people with sickle cell anemia by decreasing the severity of these lifethreatening problems.”

The sickle cell trial grew out of research by Dr. Linden, who is a leading expert on adenosine receptors, which are known to act as a natural brake on

inflammation. While Dr. Linden had previously explored adenosine’s role in protecting tissues from damage due to low blood flow in single tissues such as in heart disease, he was struck one day with the idea that it might also protect people with sickle cell disease, who suffer tissue damage from poor blood flow to most tissues.

Dr. Linden began testing his theory in mouse models about four years ago and found that adenosine-like compounds significantly reduced the damaging effects of the disease. He was aware of an existing FDA approved adenosine-

like drug, Lexiscan that had already been approved for another use. “This was good news since it meant that Lexiscan was known to be safe in humans and could probably gain rapid approval if proven effective in clinical trials as a treatment for sickle cell disease,” he said. Phase II will be a placebo-controlled trial that will expand to include patients experiencing pain crises and acute chest syndrome, and children over 14. It is being funded primarily by the NIH National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute.

Dietary changes may reduce death risk in men with prostate cancer

Replacing carbohydrates and animal fat with vegetable fat may be associated with a lower risk of death in men with nonmetastatic prostate cancer, according to a report published online by JAMA Internal Medicine.

“Nearly 2.5 million men currently live with prostate cancer in the United States, yet little is known about the association between diet after diagnosis and prostate cancer progression and overall mortality,” according to the study background.

Erin L. Richman, Sc.D., of the University of California, San Francisco, and colleagues at UCSF examined fat intake after a diagnosis of prostate cancer in relation to lethal prostate cancer and all-cause mortality. The study included 4,577 men diagnosed with nonmetastatic prostate cancer between 1986 and 2010 who were enrolled in the Health Professionals Follow-up Study. Replacing 10 percent of calories from carbohydrates with vegetable fat

was associated with a 29 percent lower risk of lethal prostate cancer and a 26 percent lower risk of death from all-cause mortality, according to the study results.

“In this prospective analysis, vegetable fat intake after diagnosis was associated with a lower risk of lethal prostate cancer and all-cause mortality,” the authors comment. The authors note oils and nuts were among the top sources of vegetable fats in the study population.

“Overall, our findings support

counseling men with prostate cancer to follow a heart-healthy diet in which carbohydrate calories are replaced with unsaturated oils and nuts to reduce the risk of all-cause mortality.

The potential benefit of vegetable fat consumption for prostate cancer-specific outcomes merits further research,” the authors conclude.

Chocolate may help keep the brain healthy

Drinking two cups of hot chocolate a day may help older people keep their brains healthy and their thinking skills sharp, according to a study published in an August online issue of Neurology.

The study involved 60 people with an average age of 73 who did not have dementia. The participants drank two cups of hot cocoa per day for 30 days and did not consume any other chocolate during the study. They were given tests of memory and thinking skills. They also had ultrasounds tests to measure the amount of blood flow to the brain during the tests.

“We’re learning more about blood flow in the brain and its effect on thinking skills,” said study author Farzaneh A. Sorond, MD, PhD, of Harvard Medical School in Boston and

a member of the American Academy of Neurology. “As different areas of the brain need more energy to complete their tasks, they also need greater blood flow. This relationship, called neurovascular coupling, may play an important role in diseases such as Alzheimer’s.”

Of the 60 participants, 18 had impaired blood flow at the start of the study. Those people had an 8.3-percent improvement in the blood flow to the working areas of the brain by the end of the study, while there was no improvement for those who started out with regular blood flow.

The people with impaired blood flow also improved their times on a test of working memory, with scores dropping from 167 seconds at the beginning of the study to 116 seconds

at the end. There was no change in times for people with regular blood flow.

Half of the study participants received hot cocoa that was rich in the antioxidant flavanol, while the other half received flavanol-poor hot cocoa. There were no differences between the two groups in the results.

“More work is needed to prove a link between cocoa, blood flow problems and cognitive decline,” said Paul B. Rosenberg, MD, of Johns Hopkins School of Medicine in Baltimore, who wrote an editorial accompanying the study. “But this is an important first step that could guide future studies.”

The study was supported by the National Institute on Aging and the National Heart,

Have a plan to protect yourself from the most common cancer

Dr. Eric Nolley, resident physician, Department of Medicine, Washington University School of Medicine, discusses this month’s cancer prevention topic in the 8 Ways to Stay Healthy and Prevent Cancer series.

Although it’s less often in the news compared to other cancers, skin cancer is actually the most common form of cancer in the United States. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), in 2009 there were over 60,000 new diagnoses of melanoma, the most serious type of skin cancer, and nearly 10,000 people died of melanoma alone. Clearly, skin cancer is not to be taken lightly, so who is at risk? The

simple answer is everyone! But there is more to the story.

Those with fair skin are at greatest risk, but among African Americans and those with darker skin, skin cancer and melanoma are often diagnosed when the cancer is more advanced. As a result, African Americans who get melanoma have a lower survival rate, because there are fewer treatment options for advanced melanoma.

What steps can you take to prevent skin cancer? First, always have a sun protection plan. Exposure to ultraviolet radiation from the sun and skin damage (sunburns, for example) is the greatest risk factor for developing skin cancer. Start by following the great protection

tips in this month’s 8 Ways to Prevent Cancer educational ad in this newspaper. Second, start sun protection plans for you or your children early in life, since early skin damage elevates future risk of skin cancer. Third, examine your skin at least once a month to look for new moles or spots, which includes new spots underneath finger or toe nails and in areas that aren’t exposed to the sun. Bring up any concerning changes with a health care provider.

For more tips on how to prevent cancer by avoiding the sun, visit: Eight Ways to Stay Healthy and Prevent Cancer: http://www.8ways. wustl.edu

CDC Skin Cancer Guide: http://www. cdc.gov/cancer/skin/

The Program for the Elimination of Cancer Disparities (PECaD) at the Siteman Cancer Center is working to eliminate local and regional disparities in cancer education, prevention and treatment through community outreach, research and training. To learn more about cancer or to get involved with PECaD, call 314-7474611, email PECaD@wudosis.wustl. edu or write to us at SCC-PECaD, Campus Box 8100, 660 S. Euclid Ave, St. Louis, MO, 63110. Look for future articles in HealthMatters.

Eating right, exercise may reduce risk of aggressive prostate cancer tumors

Researchers at UCLA’s Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center (JCCC) have published the first study on adherence to eight World Cancer Research Fund (WCRF) lifestyle recommendations and aggressive prostate cancer that shows a significantly decreased risk of highly aggressive prostate cancer associated with closer adherence to the recommendations.

The recommendations provided desirable ranges of body mass index, physical activity, foods of low caloric density (under 125 kilocalories per 100 grams of food), fruits and non-starchy vegetables, salt, legumes and unrefined grains, and red meat consumption.

Researchers examined associations between adherence to WCRF recommendations and risk of highly aggressive prostate cancer among subjects enrolled in the North CarolinaLouisiana Prostate Cancer Project. Study subjects were 2,212 African American or Caucasian American men 40 to 70 years old with newly diagnosed prostate cancer. WCRF recommendations are intended to decrease overall risk of cancer, and are recommended for cancer survivors. The study was published online in the journal Nutrition and Cancer.

Adherence to fewer than four of the eight WCRF recommendations predicted a 38% increased risk of aggressive tumors compared with adherence to four or more recommendations. That finding was statistically significant and

$10,000 scholarships offered for Mizzou’s accelerated BSN program

The University of Missouri in Columbia’s Sinclair School of Nursing will award $10,000 scholarships to ten students admitted to the 20142015 accelerated Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN) program. The school is looking for traditionally underrepresented persons in the field of nursing. Qualified scholarship applicants include racial/ethnic minorities, men and students from economically disadvantaged backgrounds. The program is for students who have previously earned a bachelor’s degree or higher from an accredited college or university in nonnursing fields.

The 15-month accelerated BSN program begins in May and ends in July the following year. Scholarship recipients also receive leadership and mentorship opportunities through its funder, Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) New Careers in Nursing Scholarship Program, including a pre-entry immersion program.

Deadline for the Accelerated BSN

application is October 11, 2013 and the deadline for the NCIN scholarship application is December 13, 2013.

The NCIN program enables schools of nursing to expand student capacity in accelerated programs and build a more diverse workforce ready to serve the needs of the changing patient population.

For more information, visit http:// nursing.missouri.edu/academics/ accelerated-bsn/index.php.

similar among black and white men, despite a baseline higher risk of highly aggressive tumors among black men. In particular, eating less than 500 grams of red meat per week or less than 125 total kilocalories per 100 grams of food per day were statistically significantly protective against highly aggressive tumors for all subjects in the study.

Each point in a patient’s total adherence score corresponded to a 13% reduction in risk of aggressive cancer. A total adherence score of less than 4 predicted an increased risk of aggressive tumors in African American and Caucasian patients.

“Most men are at risk of prostate cancer, but it is the level of aggressiveness of disease that is most clinically relevant,” said Lenore Arab, PhD, JCCC lead researcher, and professor in the departments of medicine and biological chemistry. “These findings suggest that even men with prostate cancer can take control of their disease and moderate its aggressiveness through diet and lifestyle choices.”

Measurement of prostate cancer aggressiveness was based on Gleason grading system scores, blood levels of prostate-specific antigen, and TNM malignant tumor classification.

Adherence to WCRF recommendations was based on point scores and odds ratios estimated.

This research was supported by Department of Defense through the Prostate Cancer Project.

Profiling PeoPle in HealtH

Name: Kelly D Edwards, MSN, FNP

Position/Where:

Family Nurse Practitioner, at West End OB/GYN (BJC Medical Group)

Career Highlights:

National Certification and Recognition as a Critical Care Nurse in 1996; staff nurse Barnes-Jewish Hospital ICU; and case manager/staff trainer at BJH; nurse practitioner at West End OB/GYN since 2001; adjunct professor for Chamberlain College of Nursing since 2007.

Awards:

St. Louis American Foundation 2010 Salute to Excellence in Health Care award recipient

Student Choice for Excellence in Nursing Education (Chamberlain College of Nursing 2009)

Education:

Diploma in Nursing, Jewish College of Nursing, 1990

Bachelor of Science in Nursing, University of Missouri- St. Louis, 1998

Master of Science in Nursing, University of Missouri-St. Louis, 2001

Personal:

Married for 22 years and have three daughters

A member of Church on the Rock, St. Peters, Missouri Works with various community outreach organizations Participation in area community health outreach programs

St. Louis Connection:

Born and raised in St. Louis City 1987 graduate of Mehlville High School

Journey to Success:

I made it a point to demonstrate academic excellence. I was trying to prove that not all city kids were “academically inferior.” At age 13 on the north side of St. Louis, I had to make a decision: assimilate into urban low-class mentality or elevate my thoughts to the possibility of greatness. I started to think that despite where I lived or being from a single parent home, I could go as far as I wanted. Between 8th grade and the 9th, I decided to break away from the stereotypes of other young inner-city girls. I eventually stopped wearing blue jeans. I transformed to wearing dresses and business attire. I was “dressing for success.” This was not easy and I was often called, “stuck up.” Girls tried to fight me just because I performed well in school, and I started to pull away from people I had grown up with since kindergarten.

I begged my mother to allow me to participate in the Voluntary Desegregation Program or go to one of the Magnet Schools. I was accepted into Mehlville High School. I received an awesome education.

I told myself, “I will graduate top of my class. I will not get pregnant prior to marriage. I will not do drugs. I will go to college and succeed top of my class. I will not be defined by my skin color nor where I grew up.” I believed that I could do whatever I put my mind to. I believe that is where my road to success began. I began with a thought: “I could.” I could do anything with hard work, persistence, focus, and God.

The biggest obstacle personally and/ or professionally was anyone or anything that suggested, “I couldn’t.”

In fact, I was warned at my entrance interview of how difficult the [nursing] program was for most black students. This was the beginning of my determination to prove that women of color are worthy and capable of not only passing, but excelling at the highest level in nursing.

The nursing profession has been very good to me; however, the most aggravating obstacles are the racial disparities that exist, not only professionally, but socially and economically. While these disparities are an uncomfortable reality, it only has permanent power if the individual believes it does. I can honestly say that the color of skin does not have to limit you; the true limitation exists by confinement of will.

I have met so many people on my journey who I consider “life changers.” I still am on the road of success and looking to meet many more influential teachers. I was blessed 11 years ago to be introduced to Dr. Jacqueline S. Turner while in graduate school. Dr. Turner believed I could be great as her nurse practitioner. She was looking to train someone. I was receptive to being trained according to her preferences for practice. Since earning my Family Nurse Practitioner Degree in 2001, we continue to work together at West End OB/GYN, part of BJC Medical Group.

It is my passion to inspire, encourage and elevate the spirits of every woman I encounter. Finally, my life testimony is rooted in faith, passion, persistence, optimism, and believing that you could be whatever you desire; this thought is the beginning of infinite greatness.

CurED

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Gabby Carter of Cape Girardeau, Missouri received a cord blood stem cell transplant last summer at St. Louis Children’s Hospital. It was her best chance at a cure for the debilitating complications of sickle cell anemia. Photo by Wiley Price

hematology teams to keep up advances in current research that could benefit their child because there is no one place to look for the data.

She describes three main areas of ongoing research underway to treat sickle cell anemia. It includes, 1) drug therapy to lessen the severity of pain or prevent it from happening; 2) cell transplantation to cure sickle cell disease, and 3) gene therapy, which involves taking out a patient’s cell and removing the sickled gene and inserting a normal gene to see if it will permanently make normal hemoglobin.

“I think these are all exciting areas of research and I think they are promising and I think what they will serve to do is will improve the course of the disease as we know it now.”

For Gabby and her mother, Debbie Carter, are hoping to participate in this year’s annual Sickle Cell Stroll, which takes place at 9:30 a.m. on Saturday, Sept. 7 at Hope Plaza on the campus of Washington University School of Medicine, just east of St. Louis Children’s Hospital.

For more information on the event, visit www. sicklecellstroll.com.

Cardiac electrophysiologist joins SSM Heart Institute

Ayo M. Bamimore, MD, a cardiac electrophysiologist, joins SSM Heart Institute on Sept. 3. He specializes in the diagnosis and treatment of abnormal heart rhythms. He performs both catheter-based interventional and device-based surgical procedures to treat cardiac arrhythmia, including ablation of atrial fibrillation and other complex cardiac arrhythmias, cardiac resynchronization therapy and implantation of pacemakers and defibrillators.

Dr. Bamimore attended medical school at Obafemi Awolowo University Ile-Ife in Osun State, Nigeria. He completed a residency in internal medicine as well as cardiac and electrophysiology fellowship training at The State University of New York Downstate Medical

Center in Brooklyn. He continued his training with a fellowship in clinical cardiac electrophysiology at the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill.

Dr. Bamimore is board certified in cardiovascular diseases, nuclear cardiology, adult echocardiography and internal medicine. He is a member of the American College of Cardiology and the Heart Rhythm Society.

He joins SSM staff at St. Joseph Health Center in St. Charles, DePaul Health Center in Bridgeton and St. Joseph Hospital West in Lake Saint Louis and has three office locations.

Bamimore is able to follow many of his patients with implantable devices remotely. Information from the devices are downloaded from the

patient’s home to Dr. Bamimore’s office for evaluation. In many cases, this may result in adjustments to treatment prior to the next scheduled office visit, possibly reducing unnecessary hospital admissions.

Bamimore also offers his patients MyChart – a secure online access to their personal health record 24/7.

Ayo M. Bamimore, MD, a cardiac electrophysiologist, joins SSM staff at St. Joseph Health Center in St. Charles. He specializes in the diagnosis and treatment of abnormal heart rhythms.

Sat. Sept. 7, 9:30 a.m., 2nd Annual Sickle Cell Stroll 2013 at Hope Plaza, Washington University School of Medicine (east of St. Louis Children’s Hospital) for the Sickle Cell Association. Free registration; donations are welcome. For more information, visit www. sicklecellstroll.com.

Sat. Sept. 7, 7:30 a.m., St. Louis Be The Match Walk run, Creve Coeur Park – Tremayne Shelter (Sailboat Cove), 13725 Marine Ave., 63146. Tot Trot, 5K and 1K. For more information, visit www.bethematchfoundation. org.

Sat. Sept. 7, 8 a.m. – 2 p.m., Free Dentistry Day for St. Charles community at St. Charles Dental, 1520 S. 5th St. Suite 103. First come-first serve; cleanings and extractions; onsite blood drive. For more information, call 636-493-6494 or visit www.freedentistryday.org.

Sat. Sept. 7, Noon – 4 p.m., 15 min. Hands-only CPr Training by American Heart Association, Chesterfield Mall Lower Level (near food court). . For more information, visit www.heart.org/handsonlycpr.

Mon. Sept. 9, 9 a.m. – 3 p.m., 15 min. Hands-only CPr Training by American Heart Association Mobile unit at St. Louis County Memorial Park, 41 S. Central, Clayton, Mo. For more information, visit www.heart.org/ handsonlycpr.

Tues. Sept. 10, 4 p.m. - 7 p.m., Free prostate cancer screenings by SSM Cancer Care at Dave Sinclair Buick GMC, 5655 S. Lindbergh, St. Louis, 63123. To register/

Health Calendar

more information, call 866-SSM-DOCS (1-866-7763627).

Tues., Sept. 10, 7:00 p.m. – 8:30 p.m., The Affordable Care Act – Simplified, St. Louis Public Library Central Auditorium. Missouri Foundation for Health experts explain what to expect when the Affordable Care Act takes effect in 2014. For more information, call 314-2412288 or visit slpl.org.

Wed. Sept. 11, 10 a.m. – 2 p.m. 15 min. Hands-only CPr Training by American Heart Association, Saint Louis University-Busch Student Center-20. N. Grand. For more information, visit www.heart.org/handsonlycpr.

Thurs. Sept. 12, 6:30 p.m. – 8:00 p.m., A Night Out with the Girls, women’s health questions answered by SSM breast surgeon and OB/GYN; dinner, wine, chair massages; mammograms offered prior to event. Free to attend by registering at 314-SSM-DOCS (776-3627) or visit www.ssmhealth.com/classservicesearch/.

Thurs. Sept. 12, 4:30 p.m. – 7:30 p.m., Men’s Healthy Happy Hour & Health Screenings, Detrick Bldg. Atrium, Christian Hospital, 11133 Dunn Road., St. Louis, 63136. Register at 314-747-WELL (9355) or tollfree 877-747-9355.

Sat. Sept. 14, 7:30 a.m., CHIPS 13th Annual Community Health Festival 5K run/Walk, 2431 N. Grand Blvd. Walk begins at 8:30; health screenings at 10; entertainment, kid’s activities. Adults -$20 ($25 after Sept. 1); children under 18, $10. For more information, call 652-9231 or visit www.chipsstl.org.

Sat. Sept. 4, Noon – 4 p.m., 2nd Annual Jazz on the Greenway to encourage residents to walk, jog or bike and enjoy activities along St. Vincent Greenway, starting at Ruth Porter Mall at Delmar and DeBaliviere and ending at Skinker and Etzel. For a complete list of activities, visit www.stvincentgreenwayinc.com.

Sat. Sept. 14, 2:00 p.m. – 3:30 p.m., The Affordable Care Act – Simplified, St. Louis Public Library Central Auditorium, 1301 Olive St., 63103. Missouri Foundation for Health experts explain what to expect when the Affordable Care Act takes effect in 2014. For more information, call 314-241-2288 or visit slpl.org.

Tues. Sept. 17, 10 a.m. – 3 p.m., American red Cross Blood Drive, Christian Hospital Detrick Building Atrium, 11133 Dunn Rd. (63136). Register by email at slm9123@bjc.org or use the sponsor code “christianhospital” when you register online at www. redcrossblood.org.

Helpful Resources

Behavioral

Christian Hospital offers free and confidential psychiatric and chemical dependency evaluations at the Christian Hospital Center for Mental Health. For more information, call 314-839-3171.

Christian Hospital Key Program offers support and education to patients with chronic mental illness to prevent increased severity of symptoms and to reduce the need for inpatient re-hospitalization. Call confidentially to 314-839-3171 or 1-800-447-4301.

Crime Victim Advocacy Center provides no cost support for persons affected by criminal acts. Email peggy@ supportvictims.org, visit or call the 24-hour hotline 314-OK-BE-MAD (6523673) or visit www.supportvictims.org.

Bike helmet safety

The St. Louis County Health Department provides free bicycle helmets to St. Louis County residents between ages 1 and 17 by appointment only. Proof of residency is required. For the location nearest you, visit www.tinyurl.freebikehelmets.

Breast Cancer

Gateway to Hope offers no-charge medical and reconstructive treatment for uninsured breast cancer patients in Missouri. Contact 314-569-1113.

Dental

Free Dental Hygiene Clinic - No charge dental exams, x-rays, cleanings and other dental services for children and adults provided by dental students at Missouri College. Patients needing more extensive dental work (fillings, crowns, etc.) will be referred to local dentists. For information, call 314-768-7899.

Diabetes

SSM St. Mary’s Health Center provides free, Diabetes Support Group sessions the second Tuesday of every month from 6 – 7 p.m. to address health management issues. It’s located at Meeting Room 1 on the second floor, 6420 Clayton Rd. in St. Louis. To register, call toll free 866-SSM-DOCS (866-776-3627).

Health Partnerships

The Center for Community Health and Partnerships: Building Bridges for Healthy Communities works to develop and support beneficial communityacademic partnerships to address the

health needs of the St. Louis. For more information, email publichealth@ wustl.edu; phone 314-747-9212 or visit publichealth.wustl.edu.

Information

Missouri 2-1-1 offers referral and information on a wide range of social service and helpful resources. Call 2-1-1.

Medical

Boys & Girls Clubs

Dental & Vision Clinic at Herbert Hoover Club, 2901 N. Grand, St. Louis. Open year-round for members at no additional fee by appointment only. Teeth cleaning, braces, x-rays, root canals, some extractions; vision mobile unit, comprehensive exam and glasses, if required. Make an appointment by calling 314-355-8122.

St. Louis ConnectCare offers walk-in services Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 7 p.m., Saturdays and Sundays, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. and most holidays. For more information, call 314-879-6300.

Salam Free Saturday Clinic, 10 a.m. – 2 p.m. at the Isom Community Center at Lane Tabernacle CME Church, 916 N. Newstead, St. Louis, Mo. for those who are uninsured. For more information, call 314-533-0534.

Nutrition

Food Outreach provides food, meals and nutritional education/ counseling to eligible persons living with HIV/ AIDS or cancer in St. Louis. For more information, call 314-652-3663 or visit www.foodoutreach.org.

St. Louis Milk Depot - SSM Cardinal Glennon Children’s Hospital is a breast milk depot for the Indiana Mother’s Milk Bank. Milk Depot staff will store and ship your milk to IMMB. For more information, call (314) 242-5912.

Prostate Cancer

The Cancer Center of The Empowerment Network at 6000 W. Florissant in St. Louis provides information on prostate and other types of cancer, and services and support. For more information, call 314-385-0998.

Prescription Cost Help

St. Louis ConnectCare Retail Pharmacy –Offers a $4 generic prescription program. Hours are 8 a.m. – 5 p.m. Mon. – Fri., no weekends or holidays. Located at 5535 Delmar Blvd. in St. Louis, Call 314-8796208.

Schnucks Pharmacies – now offers certain prescription prenatal vitamins

for free and offers no-cost generic prescription antibiotics at select locations.

Wal-Mart Pharmacies – offer select prescriptions for $4 or less for a 30-day supply or $10 for a 90-day supply. View the complete list at www.walmart.com/ pharmacy.

Respiratory Health

Free lung function screening - Christian Hospital Breathing Center at Northwest HealthCare, 1225 Graham Rd. For more information, call 314-953-6040.

Sexual Health

St. Louis County Health Department offers free, confidential testing, counseling and treatment at the North Central Community Health Center, 4000 Jennings Station Road, St. Louis, MO 63121. For more information, call 314679-7800.

St. Louis Metropolitan HIV/AIDS Program offers confidential or anonymous Testing at St. Louis ConnectCare, Suite 203 at 5535 Delmar, St. Louis, Mo. 63112. For more information, call (314) 879-6468.

St. Louis ConnectCare cuts specialty care, patient transportation

By Robert Joiner For the Beacon

The reduction of health programs at St. Louis ConnectCare will go beyond important specialty medical services and will extend to the crucial transportation network that has made it possible for some patients to get treatment at the site at 5535 Delmar Blvd.

Health planners said they will be scrambling to figure out which medical systems can provide specialty care to the more than 10,000 patients being displaced by ConnectCare’s decision. The planners promise to find transportation to alternative facilities.

Primary care services will continue without interruption. That’s one message ConnectCare wants to send to patients, said Melody Eskridge, president and CEO.

that allows them to access health care at various sites, with the federal government reimbursing the institutions for provided services.

One problem, she said, was the complexity of getting patients signed up for Gateway. Plenty of patients were interested, but she said the enrollment process took time, might have required more than one visit, and/or required more identification than some were able or willing to provide. In addition, she said some prospective enrollees failed to complete the process out of fear that signing up might affect other benefits they were receiving.

Melody Eskridge, president/ CEO, St. Louis ConnectCare

“Over the years, any time there has been a change in services or if money is an issue or funding is being cut, people hear different things out of that,” Eskridge said. “They tended to stop accessing services because they thought we were closed. We are still open; we are not closing. We are here to serve the needs that we are able to serve.”

ConnectCare is a relatively small but crucial part of the region’s network for treating the needy. The two largest providers of Medicaid specialty services for this population are Washington University School of Medicine and SLUCare, treating 53,864 and 28,035 patients, respectively, in 2011. BarnesJewish Hospital treated another 17,349 and the JFK Clinic at Mercy treated 2,485 that same year.

The public might be surprised how crucial transportation is to the region’s health care network for the poor, even when general public transportation is available. Eskridge said the facility operates 11 wheelchair lift vans and two minivans. That service ends Oct. 1, she said, but could be extended a week or two if needed while an effort is made to find a vendor.

She said the facility had spent down $12 million in reserves because it had assumed that Medicaid would be expanded in Missouri. As Missouri moved toward expansion, more patients would access the new care model, called Gateway to Better Health. That system provides the needy with a card

by Carl Bruce

Eskridge said the biggest issue contributing to ConnectCare’s decision to reduce services was the refusal of state lawmakers to expand Medicaid. Doing so would mean extending health services to more of the needy at the bottom and bringing in more revenue from Medicaid services provided by ConnectCare and other providers.

She said, “Lots of medical folk are saying expansion is a good idea, but that gets drowned out in the noise,” such as the argument that health care is costing too much and politicians expressing “philosophical” opposition to Missouri’s program.

The absence of additional Medicaid funding has led ConnectCare to eliminate jobs. Another 88 of ConnectCare’s 160 workers will be laid off on Oct. 26. The workers will get severance pay and job placement assistance, Eskridge said.

Transportation to health services

“I do not know of a study on barriers to health care that does not include transportation as a major barrier,” Eskridge said.

Additionally Eskridge said patients have many reasons they are unable to use Call-A-Ride or other public transportation. She cited a “few reasons off the top of my head” that might account for the challenge:

• They do not qualify for Call-A Ride or can’t afford it

• They can’t purchase a Metro pass because they don’t have sufficient cash at one time

• They might have bus fare today to get to work and home, but not the fare to get to work, get to a medical appointment and get home

• The medical appointment is on

a work day and using public transportation would require missing too many hours off work or missing work entirely

• They live in a neighborhood where they are afraid to walk to the bus stop

• Their physical limitations prevent them from walking to the bus stop

“We know that we have a problem that we need to solve,” she said. “Medicaid expansion is a must. If you are an adult in Missouri, your income has to be below 19 percent of poverty to qualify for Medicaid.”

Under expansion, any person earning up to 138 percent of poverty would qualify in Missouri and across the nation. In addition, the insurance exchange system is supposed to help others earning between 100 percent, or $23,050 for family of four, and 400 percent of poverty or $88,000 for a family of four.

revisiting Medicaid expansion

State GOP lawmakers, who control both the House and Senate, have promised to revisit the Medicaid issue in the next legislative session, but they have not promised to expand the program.

Opponents point to voter support of Prop E, which forbade the governor or state workers from doing anything to speed up Medicaid expansion in Missouri without approval of state lawmakers or voters.

Some respond that it’s possible many voters didn’t know much about the federal law when they cast ballots on Prop E. Opponents of the proposition point to the latest tracking poll by the Kaiser Foundation, showing that a large share of voters remains confused about the law’s status. It shows that 44 percent either think the law has been repealed (8 percent), overturned by the Supreme Court (5 percent), or unsure whether it remains the law or not (31 percent).

Robert Fruend, CEO at the Regional Health Commission, called ConnectCare a crucial piece of the puzzle for assuring that poor people have access to medical services. He also said it’s troubling that workers are being laid off.

“I don’t want to diminish this day,” Fruend said. “It’s a sad day when we lose

an access point because we didn’t extend Medicaid.”

He regards the refusal to expand Medicaid as a major blow to health care access for the region’s needy. Fruend said creating the Affordable Care Act without expanding Medicaid is like “having a new car without an engine. It looks good, but it won’t go anywhere.”

Fruend said the commission is taking the lead, at ConnectCare’s request, to find other providers to fill the gap. Fruend said his group is asking existing providers as well as other hospital systems, such as SSM, to help.

Meanwhile, he points out that ConnectCare isn’t the first in the region to announce job cuts in relation to changes in government health care policies. The first, he notes, was BJC HealthCare. These reductions are just the beginning of similar cuts in health systems across Missouri due to some provisions of the Affordable Care Act and particularly the decision not to expand Medicaid, Fruend said.

ConnectCare opened in 1997 following the shutdown of St. Louis Regional Medical Center. It initially was funded from disproportionate share payments that normally went to hospitals. Fruend and others sought a federal waiver to allow that money to go to ConnectCare and other clinics. Last year, the funding model changed when St. Louis got a grant through Gateway to Better Health. It was charged with enrolling poor people who were ineligible for Medicaid.

Under the plan, those enrolled were supposed to be moved into an expanded Medicaid system. However, that plan is in limbo because state lawmakers didn’t expand Medicaid. The region is now seeking a waiver to extend the Gateway program. That idea has support from U.S. Sens. Claire McCaskill, a Democrat, and Roy Blunt, a Republican; and from the area’s two U.S. House members, William Lacy Clay, a Democrat, and Ann Wagner, a Republican.

Federal officials have yet to say whether they will grant the waiver. Reprinted and slightly edited with permission from stlbeacon.org

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