August 6 2015

Slay names civilian oversight appointees

St. LouiS AmericAn It’s a diverse list: Ciera Simril, Jane Abbott-Morris, DeBorah Ahmed, Lawrence Johnson, Bradley T. Arteaga, Heather Highland and Stephen Rovak. - See Political Eye, A12

The

CAC Audited AUGUST 6 - 12, 2015

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Lezley’s rainbow

Vol. 86 No. 18 COMPLIMENTARY

Lezley McSpadden, the mother of Michael Brown Jr. Photo by Wiley Price

Michael Brown’s mother uses tragedy as springboard for hope and help

By Kenya Vaughn Of The St. Louis American This Sunday will mark one year since the death of unarmed teen Michael Brown Jr. became the catalyst for protest and unrest in Ferguson that would continue for months and attract global attention. As the spotlight returns to the region for the anniversary, Brown’s mother, Lezley McSpadden, is looking forward, not

back.

On Friday, August 7, she and her Michael O.D. Brown We Love Our Sons and Daughters Foundation will formally introduce her Rainbow of Mothers organization with the inaugural Rainbow of Mothers Gala.

Rainbow of Mothers will provide a support system to mothers who are struggling their way through the loss of a child.

“I thought about the old saying that

after every storm there is a rainbow,” McSpadden said. “I also thought about how it was time all the different races and backgrounds of mothers who have gone through loss came together – time for us to stand together, fight when we need to, but also heal.”

Her decision was a therapeutic one as the anniversary approaches.

“I am experiencing a range of See LEZLEY, A7

‘United we fight’ Ferguson activists prepare for anniversary weekend – and beyond

By Mariah Stewart Ferguson Fellow

Photo by Lawrence Bryant

The Reverend Melissa Bennett waved sage around Tatum Hendrix as he played the drums in the Healing Drum circle on Tuesday, August 4 in front of the Ferguson Police Department.

Opinion

By Ashley Yates For The St. Louis American

See YATES, A7

– Tony Rice

events and actions, other long-term activists confess they are exhausted from the continuous fight for justice, renewed almost daily by new reported incidents of police violence against African Americans.

Tony Rice, founder of activist group Ground-Level Support, is leading an operation to recall the mayor of Ferguson. Rice said August 9 – the date Brown was killed – will be like “hitting reset on the calendar year.”

See UNITED, A6

Belmar prepares for protests

The time to protect black life is now I adjusted my backpack and shuffled slowly through the airport. I was exhausted. Five days earlier, I had stood freezing and eager for justice on South Florissant Avenue.

Behind me on the top of a car was Mike Brown’s mother.

As we listened to the grand jury announcement and learned that Darren Wilson would walk away a free man, the Brown family held each other closely and sobbed. I shouted with everything I had into a megaphone to get the seemingly countless media cameras to back up, wishing this family a single moment of grief.

It has been one year since the world was introduced to the small city of Ferguson, Missouri and learned of the unarmed black teenager, Michael Brown Jr., whose life was taken by a white police officer. Hearts ached, eyes wept and the city turned to chaos as people poured into the streets to demand justice.

Months of daily demonstrations followed. Many protestors were arrested for simply exercising their freedoms of speech and assembly.

The Department of Justice later concluded that the intimidating and unconstitutional police tactics used in response to Ferguson protests incited more unrest. That local unrest bloomed into an incipient national civil rights movement.

In honor of Michael Brown Jr.’s memory, an eventful weekend – hashtagged as “United We Fight” – to commemorate the anniversary of his death is planned. Although many are excited for the weekend’s

n “Maybe this weekend people will highlight what progress has been made.”

County chief calls Ferguson ‘a new civil rights movement,’ claims SB5 as movement victory

By Chris King Of The St. Louis American

Guest Columnist

Ashley Yates

St. Louis County Police Chief Jon Belmar said the Ferguson Police Department will command the police response to protests planned for the coming one-year anniversary of the police killing of Michael Brown Jr. Ferguson Interim Chief Andre Anderson will make decisions in Ferguson, though Belmar’s cops will be at his command, along with

Missouri Highway Patrol troopers assigned to Ferguson and working with the County.

Belmar likened the arrangement to the December 23 police response to protests in Berkeley after the police killing of Antonio Martin, when County police responded in force but commanders on the scene took direction from Berkeley Chief Frank McCall.

See BELMAR, A6

Photo by Lawrence Bryant

St. Louis County Police Chief Jon Belmar

ST. LOUIS AMERICAN • AUGUST 6 - 12, 2015

A2

THE STUFF THAT HAS PEOPLE TALKING

Family drama persisted as Bobbi Kristina was laid to rest According to The New York Post, the longstanding feud between the Brown and Houston families resulted in Bobbi Kristina Brown’s cousin being barred from the 22-yearold’s burial in Westfield, New Jersey.

Aja Scott told the paper’s Page Six that orders from Pat Houston prevented her from entering Fairview Cemetery to pay her respects to Bobbi Kristina. When she called Pat on Monday (Aug. 3), Scott said she received the following response: “Who invited you?”

“I said I am her cousin on her father’s side and since I’m not on the list, she won’t let me in,” said Scott. “Why is Pat being so secretive?

She should let her friends and her family say farewell.”

Scott’s mother Leolah Brown generated headlines after interrupting Pat Houston when she began to speak at Bobbi Kristina’s memorial over the weekend.

Leolah Brown screamed, “Pat, you know you are wrong for this” during the service before she was escorted out of the church.

Tyler Perry reportedly aided the Houston family in escorting Leolah Brown out and restoring order to the service.

Once she got outside, Leolah continued voicing her thoughts, telling the media, “Whitney will haunt Pat Houston from the grave. She will haunt her. Pat, it’s not over. It has just begun. It has just begun.”

Azealia Banks and K. Michelle ‘tweef’ after tour goes bust

you wonder why you don’t have a man.

Not with that big ol dumpy nasty fake butt looking like you [expletive] in a pamper [expletive].”

Snoop Dogg’s cash snatched by Italian cops

Bankruptcy puts 50 Cent’s financial business in the streets Azealia Banks

Rapper 50 Cent owns seven cars valued at more than $500,000 and pays $72,000 a month for the upkeep of his Connecticut mansion, according to bankruptcy court filings.

His most valuable asset is his Farmington property, listed in papers filed Monday in a Connecticut court at nearly $8.3 million. His cars include a 2010 Rolls Royce and a 1966 Chevrolet coupe.

He has a monthly income of $185,000, mainly from royalties and interest on his investments. His expenses of $108,000 a month include $5,000 for gardening.

His businesses, however, suffered losses of more than $10 million last year and in 2013, the Associated Press reported.

The rapper, born Curtis James Jackson III, filed for bankruptcy last month after a New York City jury ordered him to pay $7 million to a woman who said he posted online a sex tape she

Less than a week after it was announced that the two would not appear together on tour, K. Michelle and Azealia Banks proved through social media that it was probably best that they didn’t share a stage.

A fan expressed to Banks on twitter that K. Michelle graciously implied that though the tour didn’t come to pass, she would be interested in featuring the New York rapper on her next album.

“Yea no. I don’t deal well with having my time wasted. I will not be appearing,” Banks responded.

“Poor Lizard needed them coins,” K. Michelle snapped back.

Then Banks then spewed venom, saying “You sought me out. I never had any interest in working with you or meeting you honey child.

Keep crying on cue and getting them [expletive] shots out the hotel room! LOL! And

made with a boyfriend.

The court filing says he also owes money to his stylist, his barber and his fitness coach.

Italian police stopped rapper Snoop Dogg last Friday as he prepared to board a private plane bound for Britain with over $422,000 in U.S. cash inside his Louis Vuitton luggage, a police source told CNN. The maximum amount of cash that passengers traveling through Italy can carry without declaring it is $11,010.25 to prevent money laundering.

Half of the cash was given back to Snoop Dogg, while the other half is being held by Italian authorities until the amount of the fine he will have to pay is determined. He told police that the cash was to pay his band for concerts in Italy and elsewhere.

“We clarified everything from a legal point of view. The money came from concerts he had performed around Europe. There was no crime; it was just an administrative infraction,” Snoop’s lawyer, Andrea Parisi told Reuters.

Sources: Twitter, CNN, BBC, The Associated Press, The New York Post, Reuters Snoop Dogg

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ST. LOUIS AMERICAN • AUGUST 6 - 12, 2015

A-B invests in HBCU students

30 Legends of the Crown scholars visit St. Louis, Ferguson

Michael McMillan, president and CEO of the Urban League of Metropolitan St. Louis, spoke to Legends of the Crown scholars on July 25 during their visit to the Urban League’s Jennings Center.

By Rebecca Rivas Of The St. Louis American Thirty college students from across the country came to St. Louis from July 23-25 for the fourth annual Anheuser-Busch Legends of the Crown leadership symposium, where they accepted $150,000 in scholarships while participating in workshops on career planning and leadership development.

Legends of the Crown, a program Anheuser-Busch created in partnership with the United Negro College Fund (UNCF), is an investment in the development of the next generation of leaders at Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs). Each student received a $5,000 scholarship.

Julio Suárez, senior director of community affairs for AnheuserBusch, referred to it as a “scholarshipplus” program.

“We are providing the needed financial assistance,” he said, “and also coupling that with a great experience by coming here and exposing them to some great individuals.”

On July 24, students heard from Vernice “FlyGirl” Armour, who became America’s first AfricanAmerican female combat pilot in 2002. Her keynote address was called “Zero to Breakthrough: How a Breakthrough Mentality Creates Breakthrough Results.” Armour went from beat cop to combat pilot in three years. Within a year she found herself flying over the deserts of Iraq supporting the men and women on the ground.

“Wait a minute, you’re black and a woman? Did you have any obstacles?” she said about the questions she’s been asked. “In my journey, I acknowledge the obstacles but don’t give them more power.”

Photo by Wiley Price

Following FlyGirl, students attended professional development workshops and mock interviews with Anheuser-Busch executives to help them prepare to enter the job market. Community leaders were also present to facilitate high-energy panel discussions on leadership development.

On July 25, the day started with a presentation called “What Will Your Leadership Legend Be?” led by Paulette Jackson, UNCF vice president of development, and Rebeccah Bennett, founder and principal of emerging wisdom LLC. “For the past four years, the

n “In my journey, I acknowledge the obstacles but don’t give them more power.”

– Vernice “FlyGirl” Armour

Legends of the Crown scholarship program and leadership symposium has brought young African-American students together to celebrate their motivation to succeed,” said Jackson.

“Our partnership with Anheuser-Busch has positively impacted students’ lives year after year by helping make the educational dreams of AfricanAmerican students a reality.”

Later on July 25, the students drove through Ferguson on the way to

volunteer at the Urban League of Metropolitan St. Louis’ Jennings Center. There, they assembled book bags and school supplies for students in Ferguson/Florissant for their upcoming school year, as well as kits that will support the Urban League’s Save Our Sons employment program.

Suarez got the feeling that the students felt proud to address of the area’s challenges “in their own small way,” he said.

This year marks the 40th anniversary of Anheuser-Busch’s connection to the “Great Kings and Queens of Africa” art collection that inspired the scholarship program and symposium. Created by 23 unique artists, each piece depicts an African leader and celebrates the richness of African history and the timeless lessons of leadership each king and queen exemplified on which the Legends of the Crown educational program was built.

“This is a great program to not only expose to them to who we are as a company but also to the great things this region has to offer,” Suarez said.

“It was a great group of scholars.”

Anheuser-Busch and the UNCF awarded the $5,000 Legends of the Crown scholarships to 30 eligible student leaders entering their junior or senior year of study at four-year, accredited HBCUs in the 2015-2016 academic year. Recipients were required to have a 3.2 GPA or higher, strong leadership skills, and must be pursuing a pursuing a major in business, biology, chemistry, computer science or engineering.

For more information about the scholarship program, visit uncf.org.

A3

Commentary

How we rebuild communities it became a powerful symbol and staging ground for protests.

QuikTrip had the lot cleared, erected a fence, demolished the In the face of tragedies that store’s remains and contacted the shock the collective conscience Urban League with an offer to of our nation, it has become donate the property. commonplace for national media This is how we rebuild to ask, “What will happen after the communities. This is how we work cameras shut off, the notepads are as partners – private, corporate and tucked away and the reporters have government – to save our cities. gone home?”

This is what a commitment to Those questions lingered in the smoldering air of Ferguson after the changing lives for the better and empowering our fellow citizens death of Michael Brown Jr. ignited to become productive members of protests, riots and left behind a trail their communities looks like. of urban destruction.

From once scorched land, a The Urban League of beacon of hope and lasting Metropolitan St. Louis, change will rise. At a site under the leadership of once marred by anger and President and CEO Michael violence born of tragedy, P. McMillan, has provided its the Urban League and response to those persistent community members broke questions. From the ashes of ground together, determined a convenience store burned to bestow meaning and in the unrest will rise the new purpose to pain.

Urban League Community Building a new Empowerment Center.

The center will house the Marc H. empowerment center in Ferguson represents tangible Urban League’s recently Morial movement on the issues of launched “Save Our Sons” social injustice and inequality program. The workforcethat create the cycle of training program will provide poverty and violence that entraps so life- and community-changing assistance to African-American men many of our citizens in our nation’s most vulnerable communities. The living in Ferguson and surrounding new empowerment center means we North County communities. put boots on the ground and listened The four-week training program to the needs of the community. serves to broaden access to Debate and conversation has education, job training, economic self-reliance and employment. Since its rightful place in our nation, but rhetoric without resources and the initiative’s launch in January, a resoluteness to enact reforms over 100 black men from Ferguson leaves us in the same place it and its surrounding neighborhoods found us. Debate and conversation have already found gainful may sometimes represent motion, employment. but building the Community The “Save Our Sons” initiative Empowerment Center represents now can continue to provide its movement – movement in a positive much-needed services in a new direction with a higher purpose. home. The QuikTrip at the corner of West Florissant Avenue and Marc H. Morial is president and Northwinds Estates Drive was CEO of the National Urban League. set on fire the day after Brown’s death, and in the days that followed,

By Marc H. Morial National Urban League

Editorial / Commentary A4

ST. LOUIS AMERICAN • AUGUST 6 - 12, 2015

Ferguson: one year after

What has changed in the year since Michael Brown Jr. was killed by a Ferguson police officer? All of us who were in the thick of things in Ferguson last year have been asked this question by now. In the coming days, with the August 9 anniversary of his death looming, countless people will voice their answer in media and on social media. For us, the most significant change is obvious.

Since the death of Michael Brown Jr. – and, in large part, as a result of his death – a new, diverse, incipient civil rights movement, led by young African Americans, has emerged in this country. This movement is dedicated to fighting the violently disparate impact of law enforcement on black people. Or, to put it more plainly, in the words of the young protestors, “Stop killing us.” The movement has raised this issue with protests in many cities, starting with Ferguson, and forced the passage of many changes in municipal, state and federal law and policy across the country. While the ultimate impact of these specific changes is yet to be seen, there is no disputing the new, greater sense of urgency being given to these life-ordeath issues that have affected black people for centuries and previously remained of concern almost only to us. Now, to some extent, it’s everyone’s problem.

The movement started in Ferguson with a diverse, but largely young and black, activist base. While a few of the movement’s many emerging local leaders were previously known, at least to readers of this paper, most were not.

In fact, the Ferguson movement was startling precisely because it engaged two generations of millennial youth whose commitment to social justice previously had seemed minimal.

Darren Wilson’s killing of Michael Brown Jr. and the provocative police response to protests radicalized many young black millennials in the St. Louis region, young people many of us had dismissed as unserious and lost to the streets or clubs. The explosive awakening of these young people inspired a national movement, with a strong tone of positive racial consciousness and pride in being black. We are hearing renewed talk of black beauty, even magic, and the reclaiming of black spaces – from generations that some had foolishly branded “post-black.”

We did not see it coming, and we don’t think anyone can predict with certainty where it is going. One year later, the Ferguson movement can claim one major local victory in beginning the reform of St. Louis County’s unconstitutional municipal courts. This started with the awareness, first stressed by Arch City Defenders but later documented in detail by the Department of Justice, that Ferguson used its police force to raise revenue through its court by aggressive – indeed, competitive – ticketing.

Photo by Lawrence Bryant

A youth wearing police crime scene tape as a headband looked at a police line from the burnt-out QuikTrip on West Florissant Avenue in Ferguson on August 11.

With the passage and signing of Senate Bill 5, in the future it should be much more difficult for a county municipality – like Ferguson, though there are many worse offenders – to turn its police officers into armed, predatory tax collectors.

But the problems throughout the criminal justice system raised by the Ferguson movement are deeper and more intractable than predatory municipal policy. Not every unarmed African American killed by police lived in a town that practices predatory policing to raise revenue.

We are seeing a violently disparate impact of law enforcement on African Africans in small towns, suburbs and large cities; on foot, on bike and in vehicles; on the streets, in parks and in stores; in every region of the country. Clearly, there are ingrained, systemic concerns with law enforcements implicit bias and racism. St. Louis County Police Chief Jon Belmar now may fight alongside protestors for municipal court reform, but we expect it will be much more difficult to get police leadership to seriously address issues of race and racism in police work and to successfully get our police officers the training in implicit bias they so desperately need.

Almost every problem we faced a year ago, we still face today. But now we are compelled to face our problems together, as part of a national movement that did not exist a year ago and could not have been imagined at that time. As the Ferguson protestor and rapper Haiku said, “Ferguson taught us we could do anything as long as we did it together.” That lesson alone is amazingly empowering and gives us hope for a more safe and equitable future for our people.

Because black lives matter.

Legislature must rewrite entire Juvenile Code On Friday, July 31, the United States Department of Justice issued breathtaking and heartbreaking findings in its longawaited investigation of the St. Louis County Juvenile Court.

Its detailed 60-page report sheds official light on many of the legal issues my law clinic students and I have encountered and been vigorously challenging in our local juvenile courts over the last six years. It also provides an important road map for immediate and future reforms to improve the life chances of children – not just in St. Louis County, but across the state.

While my students and I have worked with a good number of caring and committed judges, prosecutors and probation staff in the St. Louis region, we have also repeatedly been shocked by standard court practices – in the county and elsewhere – that work to undermine basic constitutional rights to due process, representation and zealous advocacy.

More than this, the very structure of the system runs counter to basic constitutional separation of powers norms — where everyone but the child and her lawyer (when one is present) is part of the same team. In such a culture, it is next to impossible to meaningfully advocate for children — largely poor youth of color — who are already at risk in this community.

Further skewing the odds, misplaced funding priorities in Missouri have rendered our public defender system largely incapable of zealously defending the large number of cases coming through our juvenile courts each year. Instead, as the National Juvenile Defender Center’s 2013 Assessment of

Mike Brown means fight for our kids

By Rev. Starsky D. Wilson For The St. Louis American

As I See It - A Forum for Community Issues

By Mae Quinn For The St. Louis American

Commentary

the Missouri juvenile justice system noted, representation is rationed by our over-worked public defender system. And kids — some of the most vulnerable persons in our courts — feel this unfairness the most.

I am hopeful this investigation – like other recent findings and reports that have been issued by DOJ, the Ferguson Commission’s working groups and others – will serve as an engine for change in the region. As with other issues, it is important for us to consider long-term goals.

But it is also clear we need emergency intervention to bring some semblance of sanity to a system that, as I write this, is violating the rights Guest Columnist of countless children of color Mae in this commuQuinn nity.

The legislature must rewrite our entire Juvenile Code to bring it into compliance with modern norms. This redraft, to be meaningful, should occur along with wholesale revision of our Municipal Code to ensure both are consistent – and constitutional – when it comes to treatment of youth. An executive branch watchdog agency with true enforcement power should be created to serve as a monitor on all courts that serve kids who frequently can’t – or won’t – speak up for themselves. And we need to properly fund and support our state public defender system.

But in the meantime, the Missouri Supreme Court can take immediate action by way of its rule-making authority to require, at the very least, that all court-involved kids under the age of 18 have access to

counsel. It should also appoint a Task Force of experts – including juvenile defenders and impacted youth – to review the entire system as it did with regard our Municipal Court system to help develop comprehensive plans.

While it may not have always been the case, on this eve of the anniversary of the Michael Brown Jr.’s death it appears many eyes have been opened by the powerful proclamations and protests of local youth. Formerly steadfast hearts and minds have begun to shift.

And the privileged and previously unconcerned are starting to see how Missouri’s poor and minority youth have become casualties in political games of grown-ups.

With the release of this most recent DOJ Investigation, some have wanted to focus on some past unfortunate dramas – like which lawyers and clinics have been banned from which courts and by who. But at this important moment, I mostly believe that is mostly unimportant.

What is essential is focusing on a non-discriminatory and constitutional way forward for court-involved kids.

I look forward to the possibility of St. Louis County – particularly as it gets ready to open the doors on its new multi-million dollar youth justice center – serving as a model of best practices for youth justice. And as before, the Juvenile Law and Justice Clinic at Washington University School of Law stands at the ready to provide needed quality representation and to work collaboratively with other stakeholders to rethink our state’s juvenile justice system.

Mae C. Quinn is professor of Law and director of the Juvenile Law and Justice Clinic at Washington University.

“Please honor my child’s memory by encouraging young people and building them up so that everything we’re trying to do with the protests and marches is not in vain.” – Lesley McSpadden On Tuesday, July 21, I stepped onto the hallowed grounds of Alex Haley Farm for the first time. I was there for the Children’s Defense Fund’s Samuel Dewitt Proctor Institute for Child Advocacy.

The trip was part of an ongoing journey to interrogate any means at my disposal to be faithful to the challenges and cries of St. Louis’ children and youth, particularly the grief and pain heard around the world since Michael Brown Jr. was taken from us last year.

What I didn’t expect was to shed tears myself. I didn’t expect it. But, they flowed early Wednesday.

After morning devotions, a team of youth leaders from Trinity United Church of Christ in Chicago described their church’s response to the extrajudicial killing of Michael Brown Jr. In addition to public demonstrations and community forums, they produced a video to educate the youth of the church and community entitled, “Get Home Safely: 10 Rules of Survival If Stopped by the Police.”

The eerily echoing message of the two-minute film that “your goal is to get home safe” was a bit too much for me as I envisioned sharing the life lesson with my young sons.

During the video, I remembered the first year at my church when I charged a Sunday school teacher to integrate Kevin Powell’s “Black Male Handbook” and its lesson on what to do when you get stopped by

police into his class. I recalled the first time I heard rapper and activist, Jasiri X’s song, #10FriskCommandments, in the chapel at Chicago Theological Seminary this Spring. The tears flowed and reminded me of my deep lamentations the week after Mike’s death last August.

“Mike Brown means we’ve got to look back.”

I didn’t go to Haley to revisit this pain. But, I needed to remember.

A year later, we have appropriately responded to calls to resistance and begun the work of reconciliation.

But, to be faithful to either of these, we must remember the pain of a mother’s loss, a father’s Guest Columnist tragic call to new purpose, Rev. Starsky youth who D. Wilson have discerned vocation through the haze of tear gas and the tough conversations we must have with our children because the St. Louis region is not designed for their good. Only after we remember, can we resist and reconcile.

“Mike Brown means we’ve got to fight back!”

We must actively respond with organized resistance to a system of municipal courts that restrict access to children when their parents have court dates, but welcome them as defendants without counsel when they have their own.

We must resist St. Louis County Family Court which, the Department of Justice has found, structurally discriminates against black children and youth.

We should be careful not to turn a blind eye to St. Louis’ Bankruptcy Court, which (while our attention is

focused on others) presently holds the economic futures of a disproportionate number of black single mothers, their children and the professionals who represent them.

“Mike Brown means we’ve got to give back.”

It is easy, a year later, to call for reconciliation. But, we must challenge individualized, overspiritualized and domesticated views of reconciliation. True reconciliation occurs between equals. So, this will require commitments to racial equity in public policy, realignment of community investments and accountability for police.

On October 21, when Governor Nixon announced his intent to form the Ferguson Commission, he rightly stated, “Our children must be able to walk to school and play in the park in safety.” In doing so, he named three areas of necessary public policy reform to assure the well-being of our children: elementary and secondary education; parks and recreation; and public safety (including policing). As the commission prepares to release its prioritized findings next month, statewide and regional elected officials should be assessed for their commitments to reconciliation through the lens of their reform and investment in these spaces.

This is not a list of options.

It is a call to progressive action. There is no authenticity in resistance if we do not remember. There is no credibility in reconciliation if we disrespect resistance.

Mike’s memory and our children’s future call us to much more.

Rev. Starsky Wilson is president/CEO of Deaconess Foundation, pastor of Saint John’s Church (The Beloved Community) and co-chair of the Ferguson Commission. Follow @revstarsky.

As I See It - A Forum for Community Issues

We need inclusive, righteous authority

By Tommie L. Pierson Sr. For The St. Louis American

We are rapidly approaching the anniversary of Michael Brown Jr.’s tragic death and the subsequent events that have forever changed the conversation around race, policing and governance within this region. That event redefined (at least for the short term) the way things are done here and, in some cases, nationally.

We are witnessing and participating in a historic shift in the status quo; the standard way of governance, business, the way we interact and so much more are experiencing significant alterations in the way things are done. The events of August and the months that followed were both wakeup calls and catalysts for change.

Prior to the Ferguson events, the region and our leadership took the attitude that as long as “those problems were in someone else’s backyard (regardless how close they were) it was their problem, not ours.

Then all of a sudden the cancerous plagues that afflicted others became a regional sickness and suddenly it was revealed that we could no longer sit back and accept cosmetic, quick, sound-bite solutions intended to quell the critics, but in fact bring no real value or remedies.

Our collective failures to act led to what amounted to a calamity seen on national TV every night. The television coverage often looked like scenes from a third-world country, but in fact they were our streets.

The failure to act and the willingness to pass problems on to others or future generations is a luxury we no long can afford. For the future is here and now. We need to focus on improving the quality of life for all, creating a functional

education system that produces successes, improving economic opportunities and treating these issues as regional challenges, instead of continuing to embrace our current balkanized, chaotic system.

Unfortunately, we still have a great deal further to go and a momentous task still lies ahead of us. We have to resist the inclination to be complacent and accept small victories and wait for the public’s attention to be distracted by other events.

Our region has undergone the quiet deterioration of our various infrastructures, in terms of our human capital, our physical infrastructure, and our government systems. Every fabric of our society must be fully engaged in being part of the solution.

Ignorance is no longer an acceptable excuse, nor is complacency or apathy.

Our region’s and state’s Guest Columnist leadership Tommie L. must honor the Pierson Sr. responsibilities with which we’ve been commissioned; we must lead, but we also have to engage and invite others to the table, friend and enemies alike, as equals.

As a community, we can do this and we can save communities and save lives. So let’s not let the anniversary of Michael Brown Jr.’s untimely death pass by without each of us doing our part to engage and lead and continue to demand that educational and economic opportunities are improved and accessible to all Missourians equally.

Tommie L. Pierson Sr. is pastor of Greater St. Mark Family Church in Ferguson, a state representative and a Democratic candidate for lieutenant governor.

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ST. LOUIS AMERICAN • AUGUST 6 – 12, 2015

Full protection of the law

Seeking veterans to tell their stories Unity Hospice of Greater St. Louis is inviting veterans in the metropolitan St. Louis community to share their stories of wartime to be submitted to the Library of Congress through a nationallyrecognized program called the Veterans History Project.

Interested veterans are invited to Unity Hospice’s office building, 6406 Wise Ave., to share their personal narrative in the form of unedited video recorded interviews.

The Library of Congress will only accept interviews from veterans who have served during wartime in the following wars: World War I, World War II, Korean War or Vietnam War. However, Unity Hospice welcomes all veterans, regardless of wartime service, to submit their interviews for the Unity Hospice website and other media outlets.

Interviews will be conducted during the week of August 16- 27. Read more about the Veterans History Project at http://www.loc.gov/ vets/. To schedule a time to share your story, contact Brenda McGarvey at 618-954-6114 or volunteers@ unityhospice.com.

Reflecting on leadership

Photo by Wiley Price

Jeremiah Ward, 10, a student at Jefferson Elementary School, took a moment to think about what he could do to make the community a better place during a youth leadership summit that “28 to Life” organized in the Cherokee neighborhood.

schoolhouse to the jailhouse.

By Loretta Lynch As President Obama noted, we are U.S. attorney general pursuing mandatory minimum sentences

on the federal level 20 percent less In recent years, this nation has often than we did the year before Smart begun to question the ways in which on Crime, while solving just as many we perform a wide range of law cases and achieving just as many plea enforcement functions, from charging bargains. In fact, last year, America’s and sentencing to rehabilitation and reentry. We have begun to examine how crime rate and incarceration rate declined simultaneously – the first time much of our reliance on incarceration is that has occurred in four decades. appropriate or effectual. And we have At the president’s direction, I will begun to search for ways to make our be reexamining our use of criminal justice system more solitary confinement as a form efficient, more effective and of incarceration. I intend to more fair. work with bipartisan supporters These are issues that the of criminal justice reform in National Black Prosecutors Congress to advance muchAssociation has championed needed legislation. And I plan since its inception. You to help strengthen the way have long been the voice of we carry out justice on the thoughtful consideration, the local level, beginning with voice of inclusion, the voice the relationships between law that speaks for all who are enforcement officers and the impacted by our criminal justice Loretta communities they serve. system. And at no time has that Lynch We know that all voice been more important, communities, and especially more timely or more necessary minority communities, deserve than it is today. better. They deserve the full protection I am proud to say that the of the law. After all, when officers and Department of Justice is committed residents share reliable and resilient to these efforts. Two years ago, my bonds, residents are more likely to predecessor, Attorney General Eric help with investigations; victims and Holder, launched the Smart on Crime witnesses of crime are more likely to initiative. Through that program, come forward; and all of us in law the Justice Department modified its enforcement are better able to assist our charging policies for certain lowneighbors and constituents when they level drug offenses to ensure that are in danger. individuals convicted of crimes would If, as W.E.B. Du Bois said so face sentences commensurate with their eloquently of the black experience conduct. in America, “one ever feels his twoWe refocused attention on a range of ness … Two souls, two thoughts, two cutting-edge, evidence-based diversion unreconciled strivings, two warring programs, like drug rehabilitation and ideals in one dark body” – then it community service initiatives, to reduce is fair to say that those of us in law recidivism. We invested in improved enforcement feel it most of all. But I reentry processes to help formerly have always believed that our presence incarcerated individuals return to their within law enforcement is vital precisely communities as productive citizens – in because we understand the tensions part by directing every United States inherent in a diverse community. We attorney to designate a Prevention recognize the struggle to make harmony and Reentry coordinator in his or her from discord. And we are determined district. to reconcile the two-ness of our own And we sought to end the school-tosociety. prison pipeline by pushing back against onerous zero-tolerance school discipline Edited from remarks made at policies that too often send young the National Black Prosecutors people – particularly young people of Association’s 2015 Awards Luncheon. color – on a well-worn path from the

ST. LOUIS AMERICAN • AUGUST 6 - 12, 2015

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BELMAR Continued from A1 Belmar said he was waiting as long as possible, for human and financial reasons, to place his officers on 12-hour shifts, but he would do so before the August 9 anniversary. He plans to run a command center from County emergency operations, moving a command post to Ferguson only if the situation escalates.

The 12-hour shifts, he said, are required to ensure adequate staffing if there are extensive protests and to avoid the nightmare of Ferguson calling Code 1000. This was one of many police command decisions from August in Ferguson harshly criticized by the Department of Justice.

Code 1000 is a call for all available officers to report, which resulted in chaotic, unsupervised self-deployments.

Belmar, who has been meeting with protestors and community leaders, said he has been told personally to expect civil disobedience as part of the protest movement’s strategy for calling attention to its issues.

“And if there is going to be civil disobedience, we need police to be there and they need to be prepared to fulfill their mission,” Belmar told The American in a long sit-down on August 3. “We are obligated to prepare and maligned if we don’t.”

Belmar said the County has been preparing with de-escalation training. He said County officers are now trained in de-escalation, and the County Police Department is certified by the Missouri Police Officers Standards and Training Commission to offer de-escalation training, which it has been doing in the Ferguson Police Department.

“De-escalation should be part of a police officer’s daily job,” Belmar said. “I don’t know how you’ll live long in this job without it. You can’t bull-rush everything.”

The DOJ blasted police response in Ferguson last

Photo by Lawrence Bryant

St. Louis County Police Chief Jon Belmar told The American he did not want to employ Tactical troops and militaristic vehicles, as used here during an August 18 protest on West Florissant Avenue, during the anniversary commemoration of Ferguson protests, “but there are circumstances where, for the safety of everybody, it’s contingent that we have the right tools to do the job.”

August as escalating, rather than de-escalating, community grief and the protest response.

The DOJ criticized Ferguson Police for its early introduction of canines, and Belmar for his early and prominent use of hulking, militaristic vehicles, with armed snipers often perched on top of them. He plans to have the big trucks and Tactical officers at the ready, but not on location in Ferguson.

“Our goal is not to bring these trucks into any of these arenas,” Belmar said. “It’s easy to discuss in theory, but there are circumstances where, for the safety of everybody, it’s contingent that we have the right tools to do the job.”

He understands what he calls the “optics” of these hulking, heavily armed trucks, but insisted they are more properly described as defensive, rather than militaristic. “They are not there to attack, but to give police officers that level of protection that prevents a situation where someone has to pull a trigger,” Belmar said.

Belmar cited two examples where their use could be needed. “Let’s say we have to extract someone who has been

injured and the crowd won’t cooperate, or if a police officer has been injured,” Belmar said. “I don’t want to see those trucks, but then again I can’t give you the assurance they won’t be there.”

Belmar said he is aware of no alarming intelligence about any violent plans for the protests or any specific danger to police officers and had passed on no warnings to Gov. Jay Nixon.

All arrests to County jail Belmar said police leaders also want to improve upon chaotic arrest conditions, if protests result in arrests this weekend. He said any and all arrests will be funneled to St. Louis County, rather than whatever municipal jail has an open cell.

“That way, we know who has been arrested and families know where people are,” Belmar said.

Though a judge sets bond amounts and conditions, Belmar said in “99 percent of misdemeanors” in the County, the accused is released from jail

without being required to post bond.

Belmar’s preparation for the protests began and continues with community engagement, and it was clear that Belmar had been doing his legwork.

Out of respect for their credibility, The American won’t name the community leaders Belmar said he had found helpful and cooperative, but clearly some new connections have given him new hope.

“You win the little victories that you can,” he said. “I want to put more attention in what winning looks like than what losing looks like.”

Belmar is claiming Senate Bill 5, signed into law by Gov. Nixon, as a victory. Belmar testified before the Missouri Legislature on behalf of the bill, which puts a lower cap on the revenue that St. Louis County municipalities can generate from court fines and fees, puts new teeth in enforcing that cap, and requires a checklist of goodgovernment improvements for municipalities like Ferguson.

Belmar speaks with disgust of the use of police to generate revenue. Ferguson’s police chief, city manager and judge all resigned after the Department of Justice reported emails where the chief openly discussed using officers to raise revenue with city and court officials.

“I’ve never had to worry about how much money the County Police bring into the County,” Belmar said.

Ferguson protestors may find it odd to hear Chief Belmar claiming municipal court reform as a victory of their movement, but he did just that. In fact, since August, Belmar has gradually shifted from talking about “protestors” to a “protest community” to a “new civil rights movement,” a phrase The American first heard come from the County chief on August 3.

“If this is a new civil rights movement, then let’s see what becomes of it,” Belmar said.

“Let’s take a look at what this could mean many years from now.”

UNITED Continued from A1 “It’s been exhausting, but I’m happy to get this year over with,” Rice said. “Maybe this weekend people will highlight what progress has been made.”

Rice made it clear that his activism work will not end after the commemoration weekend, however exhausted he and other activists might be.

“Civilly educating people and getting information out has been the most exhausting,” Rice said.

Writer and social justice event planner Angel Carter will lead a three-hour selfcare workshop for Ferguson activists during the long weekend. Carter said most people only think of the physical toll of activism and neglect the emotional burden.

“When people think of doing activism work, they think of the physical – we do it in any weather, rain or snow,” Carter said. “In addition, there is a not-so-visible part in the work.

This is why I do self-care.”

Carter said the closer we come to the anniversary of Brown’s death, the more emotional she becomes.

“I have been in tears more as the day approaches,” Carter said. “But I have been having flashbacks about how it was before August 9. There are some things I have grown

through because of what happened on August 9.”

Elizabeth Vega, leader of the Artivists group, said the commemoration is a marker of how much activists have to do, but also how much they’ve learned.

“There are many of us who can’t return to our lives before August 9,” Vega said. “We are still questioning what this new normal looks like.”

She said for her it means lowering her living expenses and living in community so she can stay committed to the fight.

“We are in this,” she said.

“We are starting to talk about five-year plans instead of month-to-month. Many of us are ready for the weekend to be over so we can get back to the business of doing the work.”

She said “change” has become rhetoric over the past year. “What we are striving for now is transformation,” she said, “individually and collectively.”

If you are dealing with stress related to Ferguson, you can receive free counseling through the Ferguson Relief Program and Children’s Service Fund.

To make an appointment, call 314-533-8200. Mention the Ferguson Relief Program (age 20 and over) or Children’s Service Fund (youth under age 20).

This story is published as part of a partnership between The St. Louis American and The Huffington Post.

ST. LOUIS AMERICAN • AUGUST 6 - 12, 2015

LEZLEY

the limelight by their child’s death.

“With Sabrina Fulton, Trayvon’s mother, she tried to give me insight on how to deal with certain things,” McSpadden said. “It was helpful, but losing Mike Mike was still so different.”

In addition to the outrage that fueled non-stop protests in Ferguson, McSpadden had to watch her son be demonized.

“Michael Brown is not on trial. His killer should be,” McSpadden said.

In the meantime, she is forging ahead in the name of her son.

“Everything I’m doing is for my son’s legacy, so I think about the things that interested him, like technology and music, and it’s those things that helped me shape my foundation,” McSpadden said. “Mike Mike loved technology, so we’re gonna launch programs that focus on science, technology, the arts and math.”

The foundation also will work to reform law

enforcement policies. “You have children now afraid of the police,” McSpadden said.

“When they see them, they run.

Not because they’re guilty – but because they’re afraid for their own safety.”

McSpadden said there is much more to her than the grief and anger the world has seen to date.

“When I conceived Rainbow Of Mothers, it was because I thought about how I am as a person,” McSpadden said. “I share what I have,

and give even when I don’t have, because there’s always someone less fortunate than you are, or just as broken - if not more. It’s about sharing resources or experiences that I’ve had during this difficult time, because there is another mother, like me, in need.”

As she lives through the constant reminders of her son’s death, McSpadden said, her husband Louis Head and her three surviving children (Deja, Andre and Jazzy) are endless sources of positive energy.

“They give me breath and bring me overwhelming joy and excitement as I watch them grow and develop, despite this very difficult year,” McSpadden said. “My son wants to take karate; my youngest daughter, dancing.

And my oldest daughter is looking at colleges - something that I didn’t have the opportunity to do.”

That is bittersweet, considering that her son was killed just days away from realizing his own goal of attending college.

Through her family, faith and newly formed foundation she is excited about what the future holds.

fighting for justice for his son.

He placed his hand on my shoulder and pulled me in for a hug. I tried not to collapse into sobs and summoned enough composure to say, “We love you” as he whispered a tired, “Thank you” in my ear.

Two days later, I walked through the door of the Oval Office with seven other black youth organizers. Exactly 59 years before, Rosa Parks took part in a brave action that would spark the Montgomery Bus Boycott. That legacy fresh in our minds, we stressed to President Obama the time for action was now.

He listened, seemingly heeding our urgency as we presented him with our demands of his administration.

Then he told us gradualism was the key to progress. I

found it hard to swallow his message of patience after 100 days of protesting, a hospital visit for tear gas exposure and an overnight jail stay for exercising my First Amendment rights. As he spoke, several of us began to shake our heads involuntarily. We’d waited too long already.

In the time since I sat in the Oval Office I have visited countless nonprofits, the United Nations in Switzerland, Amnesty International and the ACLU in New York, advocating that the time to protect black life is now. I have recounted the inhumanity of racism and how it is manifested through individuals like Darren Wilson and structures such as the Ferguson Police Department. I have made national and international

connections, stressing that we are all as vulnerable as Mike Brown as long as racism prevails unchecked and black people are offered passing time as the solution.

In addition to the one-year mark of Mike Brown’s murder, this month also marks the 5th year Haitians were told to wait for aid after a devastating earthquake tore through their country. August also includes the 50th anniversary of the 1965 Watts rebellion and the 10th commemoration of Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans.

It’s a month filled with devastating history during which black folks suffering and dying have been told to “wait.”

We cannot wait any longer. We have been left to suffer in plain view, the victims of the societal

cancer of structural racism, our humanity ignored consistently.

One year after the death of Mike Brown caused the world to stand up and proclaim “Black Lives Matter,” we are still in a state of emergency.

Over 1,000 lost lives later and our government has yet to take real action to respond to this crisis of law enforcement killing citizens. We have survived a year of raising awareness through various methods: sacrificing our bodies through direct action, flooding social media with untold truths and organizing to build collective power and change in our communities.

I have carried the name of Mike Brown with me, realizing as the Movement for Black Lives has spread internationally that the loss of a

Lezley McSpadden is helped from a vehicle at a Ferguson Police Department protest by Brother Anthony Shahid and Bishop Derrick Robinson during the height of unrest last year.

Continued from A1 emotions,” McSpadden said.

“What makes me nervous is when I think back to those people who haven’t been sympathetic to what happened to my son – the county prosecutor, some Ferguson officials and the cop who killed him.”

McSpadden said, from the depths of her own pain, she hopes to be a rainbow in the cloud for other suffering mothers.

“This is a personal thing,” she said. “You can’t tell a person how to deal with their pain or how to grieve. What I will say is that you’re gonna have up and downs, so it’s okay not to try to be superwoman when you might wanna crawl up in a ball and cry.”

As she mourned the loss of her son, McSpadden had the added stress of being forced to grieve before the world.

The phenomenon of Ferguson set her apart even from other mothers who were thrust into

YATES Continued from A1 Shaking my head clear of that chaotic night and raising my eyes to find my gate number, I saw an extremely familiar face walking towards me. I hesitated, not wanting to stop him. Again, I thought to myself, “This family deserves a moment to grieve.”

But, I was headed to meet the president of the United States. I was on my way to Washington, D.C. because the son of the man walking towards me was murdered. I stopped him.

Quickly introducing myself, I told Mike Brown Sr. that I was one of the many people

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Photo by Lawrence Bryant

WSTL-455_GradInfoSession_Print_StLouisAmerican_Fnl.pdf

1

“There are so many times that I could’ve just given up, but all these things motivate me not to,” McSpadden said.

“It’s about turning my pain into my power – and tragedy into triumph.”

Though she is trying to move forward triumphantly, that does not mean she has forgiven those responsible for her family’s tragedy.

“It’s hard to forgive when someone hasn’t even acknowledged, owned or accepted accountability for their actions,” McSpadden said. “I’m not ready to turn the other cheek right now because we still have unfinished business. This conversation is not going away. Ask me about forgiveness when we see accountability.”

The Inaugural Rainbow of Mothers Gala will take place on Friday, August 7 at Barnett’s, 3207 Washington Ave. A special invite-only dinner will take place for Rainbow Mothers at 5 pm. The post-dinner festivities will be open to the public and begin at 8 p.m. For more information, visit www.michaelodbrown.org.

young man-child was for many the sounding of an emergency alarm that we must continue to ring. It is our duty. Black lives have been discarded for far too long.

This is why one year later we continue raising up the stories of those lost, making new freedom bells of names like Samuel Dubose, Kindra Chapman and Sandra Bland and refusing to wait for those whose patience for injustice would have our names be next.

We are still wondering when the rest of America will join us.

The time has always been right now.

Ashley Yates (Twitter: @ BrownBlaze) is a writer, cultural influencer and #BlackLivesMatter organizer from Florissant.

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ST. LOUIS AMERICAN • AUGUST 6 - 12, 2015

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Ferguson Commemoration Weekend set for August 7-10

Organizers call for four-and-a-half minutes of silence for Michael Brown Jr. American staff

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The Ferguson Action Council has announced a series of events for Ferguson Commemoration Weekend, August 7-10, which includes the August 9 anniversary of the Ferguson police killing of Michael Brown Jr. The goals, organizers said, are “to commemorate lives lost to police violence over the past year, to pay homage to our great civil rights leaders and ancestors and to honor the modern-day activists, young and old, who set off the Ferguson Uprising, crystallizing a nationwide movement for black lives.”

The group described itself as a broad coalition of St. Louis organizations that came together following the killing of Michael Brown Jr., including Don’t Shoot Coalition, Hands Up United, Fellowship of Reconciliation, Ferguson Action, Missourians Organizing for Reform and Empowerment (MORE), Organization for Black Struggle (OBS), Operation Help or Hush, Socialist Alternative and Tribe X. “We ask that groups honor Michael Brown Jr. by participating in a four-and-ahalf minute National Moment of Silence on Sunday, August 9 at 11:55 a.m. CST,” organizers said in a release. “We also ask groups to join us in a day of mass civil disobedience by planning Moral Monday actions

Photo by Lawrence Bryant

Protestors and community members gathered at the burnt-down QuikTrip on West Florissant Avenue on August 11, two days after the Ferguson police killing of Michael Brown Jr. Concert @ The Pageant

for August 10.”

The scheduled events: Friday, August 7 10 a.m.: Youth Art Build @ O’Fallon Park (Boathouse) 3 p.m.: Memorial Build @ Kajieme Memorial

Saturday, August 8 11 a.m.: Youth Chalk Out 2 p.m.: March from VonDerrit Memorial to Block Party 7 p.m.: Ferguson Rocks Concert @ Ready Room

n “We ask that groups honor Michael Brown

Jr. by participating in a four-and-a-half minute National Moment of Silence on Sunday, August 9 at 11:55 a.m.”

6 p.m.: Policing for Black + LGBTQ Liberation @ UMSL 8 p.m.: “Who’s Streets” documentary @ Nine Network 7 p.m.: Revolutionary Rap

Sunday, August 9 11 a.m.: Silent March @ Canfield to Greater St. Mark’s Church

11:55 a.m.: National Moment of Silence 1 p.m.: The People’s Brunch @ W. Florissant 2 p.m.: Revolutionary Rap Concert @ Fubar 7:30 p.m.: Cornel West @ Greater St. Mark’s Church Monday, August 10 Day of Civil Disobedience and National Call to Action Organizers are using the hashtag “#UnitedWeFight.”

They said, “We’re using the hashtag #UnitedWeFight because we lift up and demand justice not just for Michael Brown, Jr., but for Sandra Bland, for Cary Ball, for Yvette Smith, for Kajieme Powell, for Dontre Hamilton, for Taneisha Anderson, for Vonderrit Myers and for far too many more.”

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ST. LOUIS AMERICAN • AUGUST 6 - 12, 2015

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Two journalists arrested in Ferguson won’t be charged

By Melanie Adams

The Jim Crow experience Since April, the Missouri History Museum has hosted the exhibition State of Deception: The Power of Nazi Propaganda. This traveling exhibition from the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum looks at how the National Socialist German Workers used propaganda to craft and spread their message of intolerance throughout Germany.

Unfortunately, this is not the only example of propaganda being used to portray a group of people as inferior and unworthy of basic human rights.

The Missouri History Museum is proud to bring Dr. David Pilgrim, director of the Jim Crow Museum of Racist Memorabilia at Ferris State University, to talk about Jim Crow and how many objects during this time period are objects of propaganda. I spoke with Dr. Pilgrim about the museum.

Tell me a little about the Jim Crow Museum.

The museum is my life’s work. It is my attempt to create a space where people can have intelligent discussions about race, race relations and racism. The museum is a space best described as safe but uncomfortable.

Safe means that no one is attacked for expressing their attitudes, tastes or values.

Uncomfortable means that we encourage dissenting views.

Given the recent issues surrounding the Confederate flag, can you talk a little about the importance of symbols and how they are used against people of color, using examples from your museum’s collection?

Of course symbols matter.

The museum houses more than 12,000 artifacts; each of those pieces contain meaning.

We use a version of visualthinking strategy to facilitate discussion.

Recently I met with 12 to 15 graduate students at a nearby college. We sat in a circle. I passed around several artifacts.

Each person held a piece and then answered the question, “What is it I see when I see this object?” Then they passed the object. We did that for several objects.

I did not share my opinions.

I listened. The discussion was one of the most meaningful ones that I have experienced in more than 30 years. I can’t wait to take one of the Confederate flags from our collection and use it to facilitate discussions.

This is how we use the museum and its artifacts – to better understand what the objects mean to others – and to facilitate discussions that are sometimes passionate but always civil. In this nation, we

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Dr. David Pilgrim, director of the Jim Crow Museum of Racist Memorabilia at Ferris State University.

struggle to engage in difficult dialogues.

Regarding my views about the Confederate flag, I consider it a relic of a racial past, but so are most of the objects in our museum. I do not support it being on taxsupported properties, but individuals should be free to display it in other places. And I should be free to criticize.

The Missouri History Museum currently has a traveling exhibition that examines the propaganda

n “The museum is a space best described as safe but uncomfortable.”

– David Pilgrim, director of the Jim Crow Museum of Racist Memorabilia

used by the Nazi party in World War II. Would you describe the artifacts in your museum as propaganda, and if so, why or why not?

All the objects in the Jim Crow Museum can rightly be viewed as propaganda. I will discuss this in greater detail during one of my talks.

How do you see museums such as yours adding to the national conversation on issues of race?

I can’t speak for other museums, but we aspire to be a space where national conversations about race occur, and occur often. Henry Louis Gates Jr., the Harvard professor, filmed in the museum, as did Henry Rollins

with the History Channel. But, the most satisfying experience for me occurred several years ago when a team of scholars from Australia visited. They wanted to use the museum as a template for building a similar facility in Australia that would use Aboriginalia in the same way we use racist artifacts.

When people visit your museum, what is the one thing you want them to take away from the experience?

I want them to think about race in more nuanced, intelligent ways.

Lectures from the Jim Crow Museum Wednesday, August 12 Lee Auditorium • Free Jim Crow Objects as Propaganda: 10:30 a.m.

Join Dr. Pilgrim for a virtual tour of the Jim Crow museum as he discusses the museum, its work and mission, the role that propaganda has played in the history of race relations in the U.S., and how those objects can be used to confront racist ideas today.

Are We Living in a PostRacial Society? 7 p.m.

What does it mean to be in a post-racial society? Can that even exist? Dr. Pilgrim explores this concept, the difference between post-racial and post-racism, and how racist messaging continues to pervade American society.

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Journalists Bilgin Şaşmaz and Trey Yingst, who were both arrested for recording police during two separate protests in Ferguson, will not be charged and St. Louis County will aid their efforts to have information about their arrests removed from their records. The American Civil Liberties Union of Missouri filed lawsuits on their behalf and announced August 3 that both cases have settled.

On the evening of August 19, Şaşmaz had been photographing Ray Albers, a former St. Ann police office, who was pointing his weapon at protesters and yelling that he was going to kill them.

A St. Louis County Police officer threw Şaşmaz violently to the pavement, handcuffed and arrested him, even though Şaşmaz repeatedly identified himself as a member of the media. Şaşmaz, of Middle Eastern descent, was working alongside many Caucasian reporters and photographers, who were not arrested but documented the interaction.

The ACLU of Missouri filed

Bilgin Şaşmaz a civil rights lawsuit last November.

Yingst was arrested on November 22 while standing on a sidewalk and recording police efforts to clear the street.

His arrest occurred one day

n “Bilgin and Trey are relieved to no longer have the possibility of criminal charges hanging over their heads.”

– Tony Rothert

after the ACLU of Missouri had, in another case, secured consent judgments against the Missouri State Highway Patrol, the County of St. Louis and the City of Ferguson requiring that the police respect the First Amendment rights of journalists.

Trey Yingst “Bilgin and Trey are relieved to put these incidents behind them and to no longer have the possibility of criminal charges hanging over their heads. We are gratified that St. Louis County acknowledges that they should never have been arrested,” explains Tony Rothert, legal director of the ACLU of Missouri.

“We hope these settlements indicate that St. Louis County realizes mistakes were made in the arrest of people, including journalists, who were committing no crimes in Ferguson,” says Jeffrey Mittman, executive director of the ACLU of Missouri.

“The First Amendment protects our right to protest and allows the press to document unfolding events so we can draw our own conclusions about the appropriateness of police conduct.”

Copies of the Yingst settlement and the Şaşmaz settlement can be found on the ACLU of Missouri website.

ST. LOUIS AMERICAN • AUGUST 6 - 12, 2015

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Schools with more black students call cops, not docs Expulsions, suspensions, calls to police higher where more minorities American staff Poor schools that have more black and minority students tend to punish students rather than seek medical or psychological interventions for them, according to a Penn State sociologist.

“There’s been a real push toward school safety and there’s been a real push for schools to show they are being accountable,” said David Ramey, assistant professor of sociology and criminology.

“But, any zero-tolerance policy or mandatory top-down solutions might be undermining what would be otherwise good efforts at discipline, and not

Schools and school districts with a greater percentage of black student population had significantly higher rates of expulsions and suspensions. establishing an environment based around all the options available.”

According to the study, schools and school districts with a greater percentage of black student population had significantly higher rates of expulsions and suspensions, as well as higher rates of referrals to law enforcement and arrests.

Schools and districts with

greater black populations also have lower enrollment in government programs designed to stop discrimination against students who have a disability, such as Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 and the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA).

The way schools are governed may influence whether students are punished or referred to medical help.

“Schools in highdisadvantaged districts tend to be centralized, so all the schools in that district tend to develop the same practices,” Ramey said. “Schools that are in less-disadvantaged districts tend to have more autonomy.”

A disadvantaged district is defined as one with low highschool graduation rates, high unemployment, more single mother-headed households, low median income and a high percentage of adults employed in low-paid sales and retail jobs.

School districts with higher populations of Hispanic students were less likely to seek criminal action against

students, but were also less likely to consider medical treatments for behavioral problems, added Ramey, who released his findings in a recent issue of Sociology of Education.

Parental reaction to the increased media attention on school shootings and violence at inner city schools in the late 20th century is one reason that school officials adopted zero-tolerance policies, such as immediate suspensions and expulsions.

“In the late ‘90s crime declined massively, but media coverage of crime did increase in scope,” said Ramey. “We started seeing reports of school shootings and terrorism and that created a push to create the perception of safe schools, which included police in the schools and metal detectors at the doorway.”

The study builds on prior research that looked at how educators assessed the behavior of individual students based on race.

“The bulk of my earlier research looked at how, for the same minor levels of misbehaviors – for example, classroom disruptions, talking back – white kids tend to get viewed as having ADHD, or having some sort of behavioral problem, while black kids are viewed as being unruly and unwilling to learn,” said Ramey.

Ramey collected data from 60,000 schools in more than 6,000 school districts for the study. He gathered data for the study from the U.S. Department of Education Civil Rights Data Collection and National Center for Education Statistics.

The government also provides enrollment statistics for IDEA and Section 504 programs.

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ST. LOUIS AMERICAN • AUGUST 6 - 12, 2015

Community Brief

Harris-Stowe hosts Ferguson forum Aug. 9 Harris-Stowe State University will host a symposium, “Ferguson, the World, One Year Later,” 4 p.m. Sunday, August 9 in its Emerson Performance Theatre, 3026 Laclede Ave. The free, public event will explore the ongoing movement for social justice in view of the various issues confronting our communities.

Panelists include state Senator Jamilah Nasheed; St. Louis Treasurer Tishaura O. Jones; state Rep. Michael Butler; Mike Jones, former senior policy advisor for St. Louis County; Shira Truitt of The Truitt Law Firm; Nyrota Uhuru of Hands Up.com; Rev. Ronald Bobo Sr.; Rev. Anthony Witherspoon; and Miranda Jones, vice president at Better Family Life.

“On the anniversary of the death of Ferguson teenager Michael Brown, Jr., the St. Louis community observes this solemn occasion with a thoughtful assessment of the events of the past year including the immediate unrest, actions of the Ferguson Commission, the nationwide displays of activism and the calls for peace in recent weeks,” organizers noted.

Prayer for Ferguson

By Orvin Kimbrough For The St. Louis American Prayer is important to me.

It is what I do for guidance.

When the events of Ferguson unfolded last August, I like many of you, prayed and reflected even more.

With being fairly new to my role (just over a year), I struggled with how United Way, the region’s largest nongovernmental funder of health and human services, should respond. I also struggled with my personal response as a leader who happens to be an African American man. I didn’t wonder if we would take action, but when and how would be best.

In a crisis it is easy to make rushed decisions and hurried judgments. I have found that in these moments pausing for intentional prayer and reflection is critical to gaining clarity, so I did. Amidst the tears and sadness for our community, I emerged even

more resolute to hold our believe United Way’s role, in region accountable to provide partnership with many others, people with options. is to ensure that our region’s Ferguson took a huge toll long term plan increases real on me because of who I am options for people in need. as a person and what I have United Way’s position seen in my life. My mother, continues to be that there an uneducated woman, died in are three phases to the her twenties. Her life work in Ferguson and was cut short because of beyond: immediate the poverty, prostitution crisis stabilization, and drug-induced intermediate response to choices she made. She address critical needs, placed me and my three and long term action siblings at constant risk and accountability to because she perceived change lives. This longthat she had limited, if term work requires that Guest Columnist any, other options. the systems to help In the aftermath of people live better lives Orvin Ferguson, I thought and move toward selfKimbrough about my mother reliance become more and the young people integrated. Government and families in our programs have to region who face a similar work more intentionally with reality. When you live in a other government programs, neighborhood with 20, 30 and nonprofits have to partner 40 percent poverty, where in more strategic ways with violent crime is familiar and each other, and United Way exploitation routine, you and other funders have to become numb and don’t invest strategically and align believe it can be different. I resources to foster change at

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scale.

During those early days last August, I found peace in the notion that my response as a black man and leader of a mainstream organization could be one in the same if the values were consistent. I found peace in remembering that to achieve anything significant, to catalyze the change that moves our region forward— together, black and white, police and community, would require multiple strategies, many voices, and committed hearts. To make our region even more competitive and a compelling destination we’ve got to have honest discussion and purposeful action.

Ferguson for me has become a symbol of not what is wrong with our region but what is possible. This is my prayer.

Orvin Kimbrough is the president and CEO of United Way of Greater St. Louis. Follow his blog at ReimaginingOurFuture.org.

ST. LOUIS AMERICAN • AUGUST 6 - 12, 2015

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Clay Scholarship Fund celebrates 30 years on August 7 The William L. Clay Scholarship & Research Fund will host its 30th Anniversary Celebration 6:30 p.m. Friday, August 7 at the Polish Heritage Center, 1413 North 20th St. in St. Louis.

In its 30 years, according to founder William L. “Bill” Clay, the fund has helped more than 300 students to attend college and 100 percent of scholarship recipients to date have graduated from a total of 53 colleges and universities.

All recipients are residents of the 1st Congressional District, where Clay served as congressman from 1968-2000, and all are qualified for Pell Grants, “which means all are financially in need of help,” Clay said.

“The last time we had a study done of our economic impact about six years ago, it was determined that our students and the fund had contributed about $5.6 million to the St. Louis economy,” Clay said. “About 80 percent of our students come back to St. Louis after graduation, working in all kinds of professions – medical, legal, religious, government, business, the media and others across the board.”

He started the fund 30 years ago with only two scholarship recipients – one is now a physician, Clay said, and the other is an administrator in the U.S. Census Bureau. The largest percentage of Clay scholars came out of the Normandy School District, now the unaccredited, staterun Normandy School Collaborative, “and they have

all done well,” Clay said.

The fund itself is “a Clay family affair,” the former congressman said. His granddaughter, Angela Clay Thomas, is president, and his daughter, Michelle Clay, is treasurer. The founder also remains active in day-to-day activities. Of course, his son, U.S. Rep. Wm. Lacy Clay, now represents Missouri’s 1st Congressional District.

Tickets are $50. For more information, please contact aclaythomas@wlcsrf.org.

Stealth campaign fails A $180 million bond to fund capital expenditures and upgrades to buildings in St. Louis has failed. Proposition 1 received 61 percent of the vote on August 4 in unofficial results, but the city charter requires a two-thirds majority for bond issues. Turnout was below 10 percent. Those pursuing the stealth campaign for Prop 1 seemed to be angling for about that poor of a turnout, though not enough of their narrowly targeted voters came out and voted yes. Next time maybe proponents of a bond issue for public safety investments will have a strong enough case to make it more openly.

Slay names civilian oversight appointees Mayor Francis G. Slay named his appointments to the seven districts of the city’s new

William L. Clay Civilian Oversight Board late on the afternoon of August 5 (at our deadline): Ciera Simril, Jane Abbott-Morris, DeBorah Ahmed, Lawrence Johnson, Bradley T. Arteaga, Heather Highland and Stephen Rovak.

It’s a diverse group by just about any measure, though majority African-American.

It remains to be seen what good this relatively toothless oversight board can do, but count it a definite victory of the Ferguson movement that St. Louis will now have civilian oversight of its police department by a reasonably diverse, independent group of citizens.

Robin Smith announces campaign SOS from the anchor desk: Just two days after her official retirement from KMOV 4, St. Louis TV news icon Robin Smith surprised more than a few viewers by announcing her intention to run for Missouri Secretary of State next year.

The news would not have been as surprising, perhaps, if the announcement had come from either of her siblings, attorneys Christopher Smith, a former judge, or Wayman F. Smith III, a retired Anheuser-Busch VP, former St. Louis alderman and civil rights lawyer.

The Secretary of State serves as the state’s chief elections and business information

officer, which Smith said aligns with her life’s work and training. “What Missouri needs now, more than ever, is a public servant who checks their politics at the door,” Smith said in a press release. “I look forward to giving Missourians straightforward, professional service as their Secretary of State.”

Smith plans to run as a Democrat. While the filing period does not open until February 23 for the August 2 primary, Smith is in the first steps of putting together a campaign committee in advance of a statewide campaign. The announcement listed Michael Kramper as the treasurer for the With Robin Smith in 2016 Committee.

Many in the political community are still scratching their head about the timing of the Sunday announcement from a news veteran. They also are busy speculating and opining about which statewide Democratic candidate put her up to this in an attempt to help boost their own numbers at the polls. One thing is clear, from reader engagement on our website and FaceBook page: Black folks did take notice.

NAACP accuses MSD of discrimination The NAACP is accusing the St. Louis Metropolitan Sewer District (MSD) of committing the “most egregious case of a systematic discriminatory barrier in recruitment and hiring of African Americans by a public agency in the St. Louis area,” according to a July 30 statement.

Many may remember The St. Louis American’s coverage of the heated MSD board meetings in 2011 and 2012. The topic of inclusion at MSD became particularly impassioned because of the $4.7 billion of improvements the district has to make to the sewer system over the 23 years. That amount of construction contracts could be a great opportunity for African Americans, who have historically been left out of these jobs.

NAACP and MOKAN led the fight – starting in 2011 – to make sure MSD revised its antiquated diversity program before the district started awarding these contracts. MSD commissioned a disparity study, which uncovered disparities in how the district had been awarding contracts to minorityowned businesses. They have since set new inclusion goals, as well as established a Community Benefits Agreement – which is basically an action plan for how MSD can ensure that the minority community will be included in these big contracts..

The American considered the agreement a victory, and everything seemed to be running smoothly. But then earlier this year, St. Louis City NAACP President Adolphus Pruitt wrote a letter to MSD Executive Director Brian Hoelscher asking why no African Americans have gotten a MSD job through the St. Louis Agency of Training and Employment (SLATE), which is the city agency that is managing the district’s First Source Hiring Program that ensures MSD is hiring local residents and applicants of color. SLATE – utilizing both federal and MSD funding – has recruited more than 100 African Americans for the First Source Hiring Program to-date, according to NAACP’s statement, and none have received employment on an MSD project.

That was just one of the areas where Pruitt, in a March 31, 2015 letter, wrote that MSD had “defaulted” on the Community Benefits Agreement. (The NAACP’s letters are posted on our website.)

Through these letters, Pruitt learned that Hoelscher – who took over Jeff Theerman’s position right after the disparity study and new inclusion goals were established – had changed things up a bit. Hoelscher has been allowing MSD crews that are “non-diverse,” or all white males, to be basically grandfathered in and skirt around the new goals, Pruitt said. As of 2013, MSD’s goal

for hiring minority-owned businesses (MBE) is 30 percent on building construction contracts over $50,000 and to 17 percent on non-building construction contracts over $50,000.

For boots-on-the-ground workforce, there is a 30 percent goal for minorities and seven percent goal for women in construction contracts. For professional services, the workforce goal recommended is 18 percent minorities and 32 percent women.

On June 16, Hoelscher wrote Pruitt, “Everyone seemed to be on the same page, even the unions who were initially opposed to the NAACP’s inclusion efforts. While it is true that the district has not required its contractors to replace full-time, non-diverse work crews, it has consistently required any necessary replacement of expansion of work crews to be diverse.”

The NAACP addressed Hoelscher’s mention of “safety concerns” its July 30 statement: “Any notion associating an un-safe working environment with the hiring of minorities is racist and reminiscent of the hiring practices of employers pre-Civil Rights Act of 1964.”

Pruitt recently went to the Executive Committee of the NAACP to get permission to up the game. The committee has unanimously authorized direct action against the Metropolitan Sewer District.

That includes calling for Hoelscher’s resignation, reviewing the Board of Trustees’ oversight by its appointing authorities, calling for the state Legislature’s Urban Affairs Committee to hold hearings, and filing complaints with several state and federal agencies.

In response to the NAACP’s accusations, MSD told The American, “If Mr. Pruitt feels he needs to take his allegations to others for closer examination – including any federal state, or local agencies – then we invite him to do so. Why? Because we know his statements will not hold up to fact based scrutiny by independent parties.”

Business

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AUGUST 6 – 12, 2015

People On The Move Susan Jones has been appointed as the new supplier of diversity manager for Emed Medical Company. She is in charge of nationwide relationships across the minority business spectrum and creating Susan new opportunities for Jones Emed Medical. She is also the newly elected president of the St. Louis Board of Education.

Jim Weddle, Edward Jones managing partner, with Cynthia A. Prost, president of the Arts and Education Council, and Vanessa Halim, principal at Edward Jones.

Edward Jones raises $891K for Arts and Education Nearly 70 regional arts and arts education organizations benefit

American staff Edward Jones and its general partners, headquarters associates and home-based associates invested more than $891,000 in nearly 70 arts and arts education organizations through 2015 annual workplace giving campaign to the Arts and Education Council, setting a new record.

Of that total, more than $586,000 was contributed by employees, with the company providing a corporate contribution of $305,000.

“Giving back to the community where we live and work is important to our firm,” said Jim Weddle, Edward Jones managing partner. “For more than 20 years, Edward Jones has supported the Arts and Education Council through our Workplace Giving Campaign because we believe the arts are essential to the quality of life in our community and we want to ensure that St. Louis has a vibrant arts community for all to enjoy.”

n “We want to ensure that St. Louis has a vibrant arts community for all to enjoy.”

– Jim Weddle, Edward Jones managing partner

Since 1978, Edward Jones and its associates contributed more than $8 million to improve and expand the St. Louis region’s cultural and artistic opportunities for people of all ages. In October of 2014, the national arts advocacy organization, Americans for the Arts, honored Edward Jones with a “BCA 10” award, recognizing the firm as one of ten “Best Businesses Partnering with the Arts in America.” Edward Jones was nominated for the award by the Arts and Education Council.

“Edward Jones associates and partners recognize that arts and arts education enhance a region’s economic environment and greatly enrich our metropolitan region,” said Cynthia A. Prost, president of the Arts and Education Council.

“Studies show that visits to and attendance at cultural institutions, performances and exhibits is three times greater than attendance at Blues, Rams and Cardinal sports events – combined. In this town, that’s a staggering statistic that endorses the value that our community – and tourists – put on the arts.”

Since its founding in 1963, the Arts and Education Council has raised and distributed more than $100 million in private funding to arts and arts education organizations. It is the St. Louis region’s only privately funded United Arts Fund offering financial, capacity building See ARTS, B6

Mentoring young black men in STEM

Verizon Foundation partners with Morgan State University

By Michael H. Cottman Urban News Service

BALTIMORE – Ayooluwakiitan Oluwafemi, 13, proudly displayed a rubber smart-phone case that he designed on a 3D printing machine.

“It’s a prototype,” the Baltimore middleschool student said softly during a July 14 event at Morgan State University. n Eugene College officials DeLoatch, here announced founding dean an unprecedented of MSU’s School partnership with Verizon Wireless. The of Engineering, Minority Male Makers said black Program (MMMP) will introduce young black men compose men to opportunities only 3 percent in the STEM field. of America’s That’s short for science, technology, engineers. engineering, and math.

Oluwafemi wants to be an entrepreneur.

He refuses to accept any of his mother’s money to go to the movies – or any social events. He aspires to earn his own cash and become a selfmade millionaire by developing and selling cutting-edge 3D apps.

And he’s not alone.

Baltimore Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake with mentors and participants in the Minority Male Makers Program at Morgan State University.

This initiative is a first-of-its-kind, two-year program that offers 700 black male students hands-on experience in advanced technology, critical thinking and problem solving. These skills should help these young Americans compete in a digital, fast-paced, global

marketplace.

From May 2015 through December 2017, according to Verizon executives, MMMP will provide boys of color at 15 middle See STEM, B2

Shamed Dogan was named to the board of the Republican State Leadership Committee’s Future Majority Project.

He is a state representative from Ballwin. The new board includes elected Shamed and party leaders Dogan from around the country. The Future Majority Project seeks to recruit, train, and elect Republican candidates from diverse communities.

Asha Perez has been promoted to interior specialist at KAI Design & Build. She is being groomed as the future leader of KAI’s Interior’s Department. She will work with clients to enhance the Asha appearance, function, Perez safety and aesthetics of their internal spaces through conceptual design and renovation. She serves as a liaison for Architecture for Humanity, St. Louis and volunteers mentoring local teens.

Joseph Omokheyeke of Spanish Lake earned a Master of Business Administration in Management and Strategy from WGU Missouri.

WGU Missouri is a nonprofit, online Joseph university designed Omokheyeke to expand access to higher education for Missouri residents, established by the State of Missouri through a partnership with Western Governors University.

Cynthia McCrea has received a 2015 Balsa Foundation Grant Award from the Balsa Group.

She is CEO of Salon Rx, LLC, a “postsurgical boutique” that aims to bring “compassion, fashion Cynthia and convenience” McCrea to the post-surgical community. She is a graduate of Fontbonne University and a veteran of the United States Air Force Reserves.

Rudy Angulo has joined Legal Services of Eastern Missouri as an office manager and legal assistant in the Family Court Program. The Family Court Program provides families in crisis with free Rudy legal representation Angulo and social services.

He has a BA in psychology from the University of Missouri - St. Louis and earned his certification as a paralegal professional from St. Louis Community College.

On the move? Congratulations! Send your good professional news and a color headshot to cking@stlamerican.com

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ST. LOUIS AMERICAN • AUGUST 6 – 12, 2015

Personal Finance

10 Ways to become financially independent

By Nathaniel Sillin After the 2008 economic crisis, many people assumed they would never be able to reach true financial independence – the ability to live comfortably off one’s savings and investments with no debt whatsoever.

However, individuals willing to use their time horizon to plan and adjust their spending, savings and investment behaviors might just find financial independence is possible. Here are 10 ideas to get started.

1. Visualize first, then plan. Start by considering what your vision of financial independence actually looks like – and then get a reality check. Qualified financial experts can examine your current financial circumstances, listen to what financial independence means to you and help you craft a plan. The path to financial independence may be considerably different at age 20 than it is at age 50; the more time you have to save and invest generally produces a better outcome. But at any age, start with a realistic picture of your options.

2. Budget.

Budgeting (http://www. practicalmoneyskills.com/ budgeting/) – the process of tracking income, subtracting expenses and deciding how to divert the difference to your goals each month – is the essential first task of personal finance. If you haven’t learned to budget, you need to do so.

3. Spend less than you earn. It might be obvious, but it’s one of the most difficult financial behaviors to execute.

Adhering to a lower standard of living and expenses will help you put more money into savings and investments sooner.

4. Build smarter safety nets. Emergency funds and insurance are rarely discussed in combination. The traditional definition of an emergency fund is a separate account for

STEM

Continued from B1 schools access to a range of STEM disciplines including app design, app development, basic decoding, 3-D-Modeling, 3-D-Design, 3-D-Printing, and Robotics.

The program will be offered to high-achieving African-American and Hispanic seventh- and eighthgraders on the campuses of four historically black state universities – Jackson, Kentucky, Morgan and North Carolina A&T. “I want to applaud this initiative,” said Morgan State University president Dr. David A. Wilson. “We have a great opportunity at Morgan – and the other HBCUs – to make a difference in the lives of young people.”

MSU administrators and black engineers say the initiative is necessary because male students of color are severely underrepresented in STEM fields.

Eugene DeLoatch, founding dean of MSU’s Clarence M. Mitchell, Jr. School of Engineering, said black men compose only 3 percent of America’s engineers. That number, he said, hasn’t changed much over the years.

“That’s a crime,” said DeLoatch, a past president of the American Society of Engineering Education.

He was the first African American to lead ASEE in its 109-year history.

“This is what we do: we develop talent,” DeLoatch said. “This is exciting stuff.

Of course, it makes sense that a company like Verizon, a technology company, is investing its resources in

cash that can be used instead of credit to repair a broken appliance or other expense that may run a few hundred dollars. However, many people keep insurance deductibles high to keep premiums low.

Would you have enough cash on hand to cover an insurance deductible if you had a sudden claim? If not, build your deductible amounts into your emergency fund.

5. Eliminate debt. Though consumer debt levels have generally fallen since the 2008 financial crisis, the Federal Reserve Bank of New York reported in February that home, student loan, auto and credit card debt began creeping up again in 2014.

Getting rid of revolving, nonhousing debt (http://www. practicalmoneyskills.com/ costofcredit) is one of the most effective ways to free up money for savings and investment.

6. Consider your career.

Financial independence doesn’t require you to quit a career you love, but you really can’t get to financial independence without steady income to fuel savings and investments that will build over time. Speak with qualified advisors about your income, benefits and retirement picture first, and see if you might be able to expand your sources of work-related income, such as consulting part time. Also keep in mind that over the age of 50, the Internal Revenue Service allows you to make catch-up contributions (http:// www.irs.gov/Retirement-Plans/ Plan-Participant,-Employee/ Retirement-Topics-IRAContribution-Limits) to both 401(k) and IRA accounts.

savings or investments.

8. Invest frugally. Become a student (http://www. dol.gov/ebsa/publications/ undrstndgrtrmnt.html) of investment fees and commissions because they can cut significantly into your principal. Make a full evaluation of fees you are paying on every investment account you have and if you’re working with a licensed professional who sells you financial products, know what fees they’re charging for their investment and advisory services.

9. Buy assets that generate income. Stocks, real estate, collectibles or cash investments all have up and down markets. But do your homework and focus on investments bought at attractive prices that are likely to appreciate over time.

Also, don’t forget to study the tax ramifications of any investment transaction you make.

10. Always know where you are financially. Financial planning isn’t about making one set of financial decisions and assuming you’re set. Lives and situations change and your financial planning must be flexible enough to withstand both positive and negative changes without derailing your hopes for financial independence. If your forte is not investment, financial planning or tax matters, by all means bring in qualified experts to help. But financially independent people generally have their money issues at their fingertips not only for their own use, but for estate purposes as well.

7. Downsize. You’ll generally reach wealth financial goals faster if you can cut your overall living expenses. For some, that means selling your home and moving to a smaller one or to an area with lower living costs and taxes. You can also sell or donate property you don’t need and use those proceeds to extinguish debt or add to

Bottom line: Financial independence involves diligence and a bit of sacrifice, but even the smallest moves can yield big outcomes.

determining how we can give a brighter future to the youth of America, particularly those who are often marginalized and whose potential is often overlooked.”

He said black boys – and black men – can help lead the world in developing groundbreaking technology if given the instruction, consideration, and academic opportunities.

Educators identify several alarming statistics that have hindered progress in the job market for some black men.

Disproportionate incarceration rates stand at

skills.

“They need role models.

Programs like this are very important,” Ryan said.

“It lets students know what is possible; they can become engineers and mathematicians. Programs like this are essential.”

The MMMP parallels one of President Barack Obama’s signature efforts.

“My Brother’s Keeper” is a sweeping, national, public-private partnership to empower America’s young black men and other boys of color through mentorships and job-training programs.

My Brother’s Keeper was established in 2014 with a $200 million commitment from several large foundations.

A new White House report says that the opportunity gaps facing youth of color restrain the U.S. economy, lower aggregate earnings, shrink the labor market, and slow economic growth. According to the White House, a 25-year-old black man has only a one-in-two chance of being employed today, due to early death, incarceration, low labor-force participation, and high unemployment.

Rose Kirk is president of the Verizon Foundation, which allocated $400,000 for the joint venture between Verizon and Morgan State University. She believes the Minority Male Makers Program will provide longterm employment and professional opportunities for black men.

“What we found is that nobody is paying attention to little black boys and to little Hispanic boys,” Kirk said, “and they deserve the same opportunities that so many other kids have.”

n “It lets students know what is possible; they can become engineers and mathematicians.”

– Dontae Ryan, DLR Technology 4.3 percent of black males compared to 0.7 percent of white males (U.S. Bureau of Justice Statistics).

Unemployment rates equal 15.4 percent for black males compared to 6.8 percent of white men (BLS Labor Force Report). Also, high school graduation rates are 52 percent for black males compared to 78 percent for white males (2012 Schott Foundation for Public Education Report).

Furthermore, according to the Council of Great City Schools Report, only 5 percent of college students are African American males.

Dontae Ryan – president, chief technical officer, and owner of DLR Technology – said the MMMP’s goal is to empower black students by offering them lifelong technology and entrepreneurial

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

I think that decision needs to be made after the season...

INSIDE

Bradley Beal over Africa

- Kobe Bryant on his retirement

- See Inside Sports page B4 -

Upset city B3 • ST. LOUIS AMERICAN • AUGUST 6 - 12, 2015

200 Proof wins Mo Betta playoffs as top four seeds defeated in quarterfinals

By Earl Austin Jr. Of The St. Louis American

The Mo Betta Pro-Am Summer League playoffs produced a most unlikely championship team.

A team called 200 Proof finished the regular season with a pedestrian 3-5 record and entered the playoffs as one of lower-seeded teams.

However, when the smoked had cleared, 200 Proof came together and won four consecutive games and walked away with the championship trophy. 200 Proof concluded its incredible four-game run with an 85-75 victory over YLie in the championship game in front of a jam-packed crowd at the Wohl Center.

“We were 3-5 during the regular season, but a couple of my guys said that we were going to win Columnist four straight and take Earl the championship,” Austin Jr. said 200 Proof player-coach Bryant Lyles. “We came together at the right time. Everyone of team was so unselfish. That was the key to this championship.”

The Mo Betta playoffs were full of upsets throughout the weekend as the top four seeds were defeated in the quarterfinals on Friday night. 200 Proof rallied from a 10-point deficit in the semifinals to defeat Takeover 61-58 to advance to the finals.

In the championship game, it was 200 Proof that took control of the game early and never backed off the throttle. They built a 44-32 lead at halftime and led by as many as 22 points before staving off several runs from YLie to take the victory, While a smaller YLie team relied on its guard play and perimeter shooting, 200 Proof went old school and dominated the game with its

Photo by Wiley Price

Alex Jackson, a 6’7” former standout at UMSL, scored a game-high 25 points off the bench. inside player. Forwards Alex Jackson and Vince Ferguson controlled the paint as they combined to score 41 points.

Jackson, a 6’7” former standout at UMSL, scored a game-high 25 points off the bench. Jackson scored on a series of swooping drives and

offensive rebounds. He is now playing professionally in Spain.

See UPSET, B4

In the Clutch With Ishmael Sistrunk

Mayweather goes out with a whimper Floyd Mayweather Jr. sure knows how to surpass expectations. The current pound-for-pound king and highestearning fighter in the game has decided to follow up one of the biggest and most-disappointing fights in history, with one of the most disappointing fights in history.

Mayweather (48-0, 26 KO) has officially finalized his opponent for what is expected to be the final bout of his illustrious career. What opponent has been tabbed to be Mayweather’s final challenge? Is it a rematch with Manny Pacquiao or Miguel Cotto? What about a fight against Columnist knockout artist extraordinaire Gennady Golovkin?

Ishmael Maybe the heavy-handed Sistrunk welterweight Keith Thurman will get the call. The unfortunate answer is none of the above. Mayweather will be fighting Andre Berto on Sept. 12 (30-3, 23 KO) to cap off his 19-year career. Sigh.

Berto (30-3, 23 KO) is a guy who was once groomed to be amongst this generation’s elite fighters but never really panned out. He’s not a terrible fighter, but as his 3-3 record over his last six bouts indicates, he’s not that good either.

Berto is just a guy. If we n Mayweather were talking made well over football, he would be con$200 million sidered a highversus Pacmotor player.

He gives A+ quiao and will effort and still likely net always tries really hard. more than $20 Those are not to $30m for a exactly rave reviews. glorified sparI was prering session pared to give Mayweather against Berto. a break after defeating Pacquiao so easily in May. No fight exists that would match the anticipation of his fight with Pacquiao, which broke nearly every fight record in regards to viewers and earnings.

Despite criticism about his opponent selection in recent years, he deserves credit for fighting, and beating, Pacquiao, Cotto and Saul “Canelo” Alvarez.

However, Mayweather vs Berto is boxing’s version of Drake vs Meek Mill.

Mayweather and Berto are simply not in the same class. They’re not even in the See CLUTCH, B5

Sports Eye With Alvin A.Reid

Judge Frawley sacks city voters’ say on stadium financing

St. Louis Circuit Court Judge Thomas Frawley (inset) basically said, “So what?” when he ruled Monday, August 3 that no voter approval is needed to use city dollars to help finance a new downtown stadium.

City voters overwhelmingly passed a statute in 2002 that they should have a say in any future city financing of new stadiums in St. Louis.

St. Louis Circuit Court Judge Thomas Frawley basically said, “So what?” when he ruled Monday, August 3 that no voter approval is needed to use city dollars to help finance a new downtown stadium.

Frawley ruled the city ordinance invalid and also ruled that the new stadium fills the requirement that it be “adjacent” to the Convention Center – even though it is several blocks away on the near north side riverfront. “‘Adjacent’ has commonly been interpreted by Missouri courts to mean ‘near or close at hand’ and as ‘not necessarily meaning contiguous, i.e. not necessarily meaning touching each other or immediately next to each other,” wrote Frawley.

St. Louis University Law Professor John Ammann blasted the ruling and said Monday was “a terrible day for democracy.” He has filed a separate suit calling for a city vote and said the

clients he represents will most likely appeal.

The rulings are victories for the two-member “task force” of Dave Peacock and Bob Blitz and new stadium supporters.

The stadium price tag is now just less than $1 billion and the plan to finance it consists of about $250 million from team ownership, a $200 million National Football League loan to the owners, $187 million in tax incentives, $201 million in state and city bond proceeds and $160 Columnist million in seat license Alvin A. sales.

In other words, Reid Rams owner Stan Kroenke would have to kick in $250 million and be responsible for the $200 million loan from owners. If the NFL does not allow him to relocate, he could simply continue playing in the Edward Jones

Dome and not help with financial support of a new stadium.

NFL owners are scheduled to meet on Tuesday, August 11 to discuss possible relocation of a franchise to the Los Angeles area.

New York Giants owner John Mara said Monday on WFAN in New York he believes there will be two teams in L.A. in 2016. While he is just one of 32 owners, he is one of six on the NFL’s L.A. relocation committee.

The other members are Clark Hunt (Kansas City), Robert Kraft (New England), Bob McNair (Houston), Jerry Richardson (Carolina) and Art Rooney (Pittsburgh).

These are big-money, no-foolingaround owners. I have a difficult time thinking they would stand in the way of Kroenke moving his franchise to a Super Bowl-caliber stadium that he is building with his own money.

Kroenke would need 24 of 32 votes to relocate and he’ll probably know where he stands after Tuesday’s See SPORTS EYE, B4

ST. LOUIS AMERICAN • AUGUST 6 - 12, 2015

B4

Missouri Elite Girls win championship Congratulations to the Missouri Elite Girls 2024 Basketball team on winning the national title in the third grade division at the Amateur Athletic Union National Championships in Orlando, Florida last week. The Missouri Elite finished their successful season with a 95-7 record.

Top row: Coach Jones, Coach Bush, Janyla Bush, Chantrell Clayton, Alonna Poole, Shamya Grissom, Saniyah Hornbeck, Coach Frazier, Coach Walker. Bottom Row: Ella Guerrero, Xamiya Walton and Daisha Jones.

SPORTS EYE Continued from B1 meeting. The L.A. Times reported earlier this summer that no decisions will be made at the meeting.

However, the meeting will consist of just the NFL owners, with only those 32 people being in the room.

Jerry Jones, owner of the NFL’s highest-valued franchise the Dallas Cowboys, has made it clear he doesn’t think the league can stop Kroenke if he wants to relocate. He should be counted as a “yes” vote for relocation. He carries considerable clout with other owners and would be a vital

UPSET Continued from B1 Ferguson, a 6’5” wide-body, bullied his way inside for 17 points, with 15 coming in the second half.

“Vince and Alex played big tonight,” Lyles said. “Both of them gave us big games inside.”

Forward David Franklin led YLie with 19 points.

Guard Deshaun Cooper scored 17 points while

ally to Kroenke in securing 32 votes.

With Kroenke well on his way to building a $1.86 billion outdoor stadium in Inglewood, he obviously has his sight set on the West Coast. His stadium is being constructed to house two NFL teams, complete with separate home team locker rooms and owners’ suites.

The San Diego Chargers and Oakland Raiders concocted a plan for construction of a new stadium in Carson, California, but have not announced any formal plan to finance the $1.6 billion project.

All the projects, including St. Louis’, will be on the agenda next Tuesday. While Judge Frawley’s ruling carries weight, rest assured that the Rams, Raiders or Chargers will

Chantiel Stanciel added 15 points. Former University of Missouri standout and current Los Angeles Laker Jordan Clarkson also played in the championship game for YLie. Clarkson scored seven points.

In last Saturday’s semifinals, 200 Proof edged Takeover 61-58 as Ferguson scored 12 points while Stovall and Stockard added 11 points each.

YLIe defeated Holla 86-74 in the other semifinal game as Cooper scored 19 points, Smith scored 18 and Stanciel added 17 points.

point out to the NFL that it is being appealed and that St. Louis’ new stadium still faces other legal challenges.

Dickerson runs relocation reverse Pro Football Hall of Fame running back Eric Dickerson, who gained most of his yards with the L.A. Rams, said in January 2014 that “L.A. doesn’t deserve a team.”

“They ain’t gonna support it,” he told TMZ. Fast forward to August 2015 and Dickerson has reversed his field.

He told ESPN last week he hopes the St. Louis Rams will relocate to Los Angeles after leaving Southern California for St. Louis in 1995.

“Honestly, I’m hoping the Rams come back,” Dickerson said. “I do go to St. Louis, they’re still the Rams and the team I played for, but a lot of guys feel the same way.

They’d like to have them back here in town. We need a team now, and I think the perfect fit would be the Los Angeles Rams. I believe the Rams belong here.”

Dickerson also took a jaded shot at the late Georgia Frontiere, owner of the Rams during Dickerson’s tenure there and the franchise relocation to St. Louis.

“If the Rams come, they have a great owner in Stan Kroenke,” Dickerson said, “and it’s a different organization than when I played.”

Mo Betta Pro Am Championship Game 200 Proof (85) Alex Jackson 25, Vince Ferguson 17, Theo Boykin 10, Courtney Stockard 8, Mark Stovall 8, Monroe Douglass, Jr. 7, Bryant Lyles 6, Torres Roundtree 2, Eric Mayes 2 YLie (75) David Franklin 19, Deshaun Cooper 17, Chantel Stanciel 15, Wayne Brown 9, Jordan Clarkson 7, Aareon Smith 5, Drake Reed 2

Inside Sports With Earl Austin

Bradley Beal over Africa

Bradley Beal scored a team-high 18 points to lead the World Team past the African team 101-97 in the first game ever sanctioned by the NBA in Africa.

Chaminade alum scores team-high 18 points in first NBA game on continent Former Chaminade College Prep All-American and current Washington Wizards star Bradley Beal spent the past week in Africa participating in the NBA Africa All-Star Game, which was put on by the National Basketball Association. Beal was a member of Team World, which played against Team Africa in the special exhibition game.

Beal scored a team-high 18 points to lead the World Team past the African team 101-97 in a game that was played in Johannesburg, South Africa – the first game ever sanctioned by the NBA in Africa.

“It’s been great. It’s been a humbling experience,” Beal said. “Just seeing the different lifestyles and seeing how appreciative these people are and seeing how they have nothing, but are still happy.

It kind of motivates you and humbles you to continue to get involved and continue to appreciate all you have and motivate you to be better.”

Beal was instrumental in Team World rallying from a 20-point deficit to take the victory. He made seven of his 14 shots from the field and hit four 3-pointers.

I had a chance to watch the game last weekend on NBATV. As much as I enjoyed the local kid shining in the international spotlight, my favorite moment of the game was watching NBA legend Hakeem Olajuwon step on to the court one more time and give us one more “Dream Shake” and a bucket. At 52 years old, The Dream’s still got it.

One game short Congratulations to the St. Louis Surge on their runnerup finish at last weekend’s Women’s Blue Chip Basketball League National Tournament in Greenville, S.C. The Surge’s bid for a repeat national title came up one game short as they were defeated by the top-seeded Charlotte Invasion 98-86 in the championship game on Sunday. Entering the tournament as the No. 3 seed, the Surge defeated No. 6 San Antonio in the quarterfinals, then they rallied to take a thrilling 82-79 overtime victory over the Auburn Flyers in the semifinals. The Surge finished their season with a 14-2 record. In the past four years, the Surge has advanced to the National Championship game three times, winning the title last season. They have won the Midwest Regional championship the past three years.

No. 1 in 15U Congratulations to the JetsRamey United 15U boys’ basketball team on finishing the season as the No. 1 ranked AAU team in the country in their age group, according to the basketball website Indihoops.com. Jets-Ramey United enjoyed a torrid month of July, winning all three of their tournaments, including the Las Vegas Fab 48 against a stellar national field.

Good luck Good luck to all of the area athletes who are participating in this week’s Amateur Athletic Junior Olympics in Norfolk, VA. Top athletes from all of the area’s track and field clubs are being represented as the Junior Olympics. As usual, I will have a list of all of the area track athletes who earned medals in Virginia in next week’s edition.

ST. LOUIS AMERICAN • AUGUST 6 - 12, 2015

B5

CLUTCH Continued from B1 same school district.

Last month, Floyd Mayweather Sr. told reporters that his son had talked about taking a few easy fights to wind down his career. Senior’s advice? “If he feels that way, he should get on out of the game.”

Poppa Mayweather was right. “Money” should’ve just hung up his boxing boots if he does not want to face true challenges anymore. I guess he wants an easy payday to wrap up his six-fight Showtime deal and sail off into the sunset. Initially there were talks of the fight being televised on Showtime’s parent network, CBS. Other than the garbage can, that’s where this fight belongs, on free TV. However, it was announced that the bout will be televised on Showtime PPV. I’m not sure who in their right mind would drop funds for this matchup. Then again, for the 4+ million people who doled out $100 to watch Mayweather and Pacquiao waltz around the ring for 12-rounds, this bout promises to be twice the action at half the price.

Fan interest will likely be slim-to-none for this bout, but it’s unlikely that Mayweather really cares. He made well over $200 million versus Pacquiao and will still likely net more than $20 to $30m for a glorified sparring session against Berto.

Mayweather isn’t the first boxing great to face a less-thanstellar opponent before walking off into the sunset (assuming he actually retires, which is never a safe bet when it comes to boxing). Most fighters who take

Above: Ronda Rousey is simply running through every opponent the UFC has to offer.

Left: Floyd Mayweather’s record is unblemished and he’s still the top fighter in the world. The upcoming fight with andre Berto just doesn’t make sense.

the easy way out do so after being shopworn and suffering a few bad losses. They rebound with a tomato can so they can walk off with their heads held high. Mayweather’s record is unblemished and he’s still the top fighter in the world. The fight just doesn’t make sense.

Should he somehow lose to Berto, who is a massive underdog, his already hollow T.B.E. claims will evaporate into thin air. Should Mayweather emerge victorious, as expected, his famed shoulder roll will be

met with a proverbial shoulder shrug by all.

Rousey running out of opponents Outside of Golovkin, the only opponent left for Mayweather that would truly captivate the public’s imagination would be Ronda Rousey.

Despite media jabs between the two, that fight would never

Willie and Ozzie

Photo by Bill Greenblatt/UPI

Former St. Louis Cardinals shortstop and member of the National Baseball Hall of Fame Ozzie Smith and former St. Louis Cardinals center fielder Willie McGee shared a laugh during “A Night With Ozzie and Willie,” at Busch Stadium in St. Louis on August 3. The Cardinals Speaker Series features former Cardinals favorites in an intimate dinner situation.

happen, but Rousey finds herself in a situation similar to Mayweather’s. She’s been so dominant that she’s running out of opponents.

Rousey’s domination is a different type than Mayweather’s. She is simply running through every opponent the UFC has to offer. Her latest victory came by way of a vicious knockout over Bethe Correia just 34 seconds, which was twice as long as her previous two opponents lasted in the ring with the UFC’s latest

sensation. At this point, Rousey is simply head and shoulders above the competition. Her next bout will be her third against Miesha Tate. The only real question is whether Tate can make it out of the first-round once again.

The only real fight for Rousey is against current Invicta FC champion Cris “Cyborg” Justino. For now, that matchup is just a dream. In addition to fighting for different promotions, Rousey and Justino fight in different weight class-

es. Rousey rules at 135-pounds.

Cyborg controls the 145-pound division. An easy answer to be to split the difference and compete at a 140-pound catchweight. Up to now, however, Rousey has been reluctant to do so because Cyborg served a yearlong ban for steroid use in 2011. Despite the obstacles, I have a feeling though, this fight will eventually happen like Mayweather vs Pacquiao. It has to happen. I just hope the fighters don’t wait until the dream matchup is past its shelf date.

Follow Ishmael and In the Clutch on Twitter @ IshmaelSistrunk

B6

ST. LOUIS AMERICAN • AUGUST 6 – 12, 2015

Business Opinion

Africa open for business after Obama’s visit

By Roger Caldwell For The St. Louis American

President Obama attended the sixth Global Entrepreneurship Summit in Nairobi Kenya, July 24-26.

The summit is an opportunity to bring global investors and venture capitalists from America and other countries together to learn and discuss Roger what economic Caldwell business activities are available in Africa.

Three of the world’s 10 fastest-growing economies are in Africa, and those cities and countries are Nairobi, Kenya; Cape Town, South Africa; and Lagos, Nigeria. Africa is waking up from a long sleep, and this new generation understands the importance of technology. Today, Nairobi is the site of African headquarters for such major companies as Google, Microsoft, and IBM. President Obama is the first sitting American president to visit Kenya, and he is committed to making the United States a partner in Africa’s growth.

“This promise includes initiatives like Power Africa, which is working with African governments and private sector leaders to add more than 30,000 megawatts of cleaner electricity to power 60

ARTS

continued from page B1 and educational support for arts organizations of all sizes.

Additionally, the Arts

million homes and businesses,” said Maria Contreras-Sweet, lead ambassador for Global Entrepreneurs.

“The administration’s Young African Leaders Initiatives is helping to develop business skills while cultivating a network for young emerging African leaders.”

As for President Obama’s first official trip to Kenya, he was greeted by adoring crowds throughout the country, and the nation considers him a local son. At the hotel he met and had dinner with three dozen family members because this is his father’s homeland.

“There are cousins and uncles and aunties that show up you didn’t know existed, but you’re always happy to meet,” said the president.

This is the president’s fourth visit to the continent.

He also visited Ethiopia. In Kenya, President Obama discussed issues of corruption, counterterrorism and gay rights, with warm reflections of being in Africa. He also urged Kenya’s leaders to keep up efforts to combat corruption, calling it the biggest potential threat to Kenya’s economic growth.

President Obama gave an emotional speech inside a packed Nairobi gymnasium filled with nearly 5,000 cheering Kenyans.

“When it comes to the people of Kenya, especially the youth, I believe there is no

limit to what you can achieve,” said President Obama. “You can build your future right here, right now.”

The sixth Global Entrepreneurship Summit is extremely important to Africa’s future and sustainability. Many of the orders of businesses on the continent are on hold because the American lawmakers must approve financing for the Export-Import Bank.

This infusion of funds is in jeopardy, and must be approved by the Republicans who think investing in Africa is a bad deal.

If the United States refuses to invest in Africa, other countries such as China and Russia will expand their investments in the continent.

If the United States refuses to become a major player in the African emerging economy, we will lose billions of dollars in investments. The future of the world economy will be connected to Africa, and America must be engaged on the ground floor.

Doing business in Africa is difficult because the continent struggles with corruption, disease and poverty. But Africa is open for business, the opportunities are endless, and there are Africans becoming millionaire and billionaires every month. African Americans must look to Africa for business opportunities because now is the time to get on the ground floor.

and Education Council provides office, rehearsal and performance space at below-market rates for 15 nonprofit arts organizations in the Centene Center for Arts and Education, a unique arts incubator located in the Grand

Center Arts District.

In addition to its recently completed home office campaign, Edward Jones will launch an Arts and Education Council campaign with regional financial advisors and branch associates in the fall.

Financial Focus

By Andre Nelson, AAMS

Take action to leave the legacy you desire August is What Will Be Your Legacy Month. If you knew this, you have an unusual knowledge of obscure celebrations.

But even if you weren’t aware of this “month,” you can see that the idea behind it — the importance of leaving a legacy — is an important one.

What should you do to help ensure you’ll leave the type of legacy you desire?

To begin with, identify those people whom you’d like to directly benefit from your legacy. What can you leave behind to your children, grandchildren, other family members or even close friends? Then, think about those charitable organizations you support — can you leave something behind to them?

Once you have decided what your legacy should look like, you can take steps to implement your ideas. Here are a few suggestions: • Draw up your will.

A will is probably the most essential legacy-related document. Essentially, you need a will to ensure that your assets and personal belongings will be distributed according to your wishes. If you die intestate (without a will), your belongings will be distributed to your “heirs” as defined by state laws — and these distributions may not be at all what you had in mind.

• Consider a living trust.

Depending on your situation, you • Commun-icate may need to go further than a will your wishes. You need to when creating the estate plans that communicate to your loved help define your legacy. For example, ones the actions you have you might want to create a living taken regarding your will, trust, which can allow your assets to living trust and other estatego directly to your heirs, avoiding the planning documents. By public, time-consuming explaining your and potentially expensive wishes in advance, process of probate. A you may be able n You living trust offers other to help your need a will benefits, too, so you may family members want to consult with a avoid disputes to ensure legal professional to learn and unpleasant that your more about this estatesurprises — and assets and planning tool. that lack of personal “drama” can also belongings • Plan for your be a key part of charitable gifts. To your legacy. will be leave the legacy you distributed have envisioned, you What Will according might want to do more Be Your Legacy to your than provide your Month will come wishes. loved ones with needed and go. But by financial resources — definition, your you may also want to legacy will last provide lasting support beyond your to those charitable or educational lifetime — so make it a good organizations whose work you one. admire. Toward this end, you might want to consult with your tax and This article was written legal advisors about charitable

by Edward Jones for use by gifting strategies that can provide tax your local Edward Jones benefits, both now and in the future.

Financial Advisor.

Edward Jones, its • Give your family the power to employees and financial act on your behalf. Like everyone advisors cannot provide else, you want to be in charge of your tax or legal advice. You own destiny. Unfortunately, however, should consult your attorney you may someday become mentally or qualified tax advisor or physically incapacitated for a regarding your situation. while. If this were to happen, you’ll

want your family to be able to act on For further information contact Andre Nelson your behalf with regard to financial at (636) 735-2204 or and health care decisions. To grant 1-800-EDJONES your loved ones this power, you may want to create a power of attorney and a health care directive.

Check out this week’s

PARTYLINE See Page C10

C1 • ST. LOUIS AMERICAN • AUGUST 6 - 12, 2015

Too much for TV

Personal style reigns over fads in teen back-toschool fashion Photos by Lawrence Bryant

Wendy Williams at the Peabody Opera House.

Wendy gets more gasps than giggles with raunchy ‘sit down’ set

By Kenya Vaughn Of The St. Louis American

By Danie Rae, Style Broker For The St. Louis American Long gone are the days where parents picked out their children’s clothes for back-to-school. Today, kids, especially those 13-18, definitely have autonomy when it comes to picking their swag for the new school year.

Of course, there are certain musthaves – like a fly backpack or the new Jordans. But when parents try to hone in on a particular look for their star pupil to start school, they will be in for a rude awakening. Back-to-school style is truly an open playing field where the student is the captain of the team.

This year’s back-to-school style See FASHION, C4

Fans of Wendy Williams got the shock of their lives Friday night at The Peabody Opera House.

“The Sit Down Tour…Too Real For Standup” title hints that they would be getting an uncut version of the daytime host they’ve come to know and love over the years. But Wendy Williams was too much for TV – cable television and Pay Per View included.

Perhaps “Wendy n “The show After Dark,” “Real Sex with Wendy offered much Williams” or maybe “Wendy more shock Williams’ Private Parts” would value than have been more comedic weight appropriate to clue the audience in to as she let it all what would be in store. hang out.

The only disclaimer she offered to prepare the fans was that she was not a comedian and she would not be telling jokes.

She kept her promise.

Long personal narratives that would under any other circumstances never leave a person’s private diary were jumbled together and presented to the crowd. The show offered much more shock value than comedic weight as she let it all hang out with an hour of stories that would make even the most offcolor comedian blush.

After a moderately funny set by Roy Wood Jr., a comedian more famous for his prank calls than stand up, and a DJ set that had people dancing in the aisles, Williams emerged.

See WENDY, C4

• Only Online • EMPIRE Summer Experience Bus to stop in St. Louis

Photos by Lawrence Bryant

• FRESH •

Madison Henderson

Niya Moore

Ferguson for art’s sake

10th Street Gallery revisits creative response to unrest

By Kenya Vaughn Of The St. Louis American

The bus will be at Ballpark Village on Tuesday, August 11 & Wednesday, August 12. Fans will have the opportunity to record their version of EMPIRE’s biggest hits. Participants will be entered in the “FOX’s Next Empire Artist” contest, in which one lucky winner will be featured as a new EMPIRE artist during Season Two.

www.stlamerican.com

Haley Rose

As the region readies itself to commemorate the one-year anniversary since the death of Michael Brown Jr. sparked unrest that captured the world’s attention, 10th Street Gallery is once again opening its doors for those who chose to respond through the creative expression of visual arts.

On Saturday, August 8 they will open See ART, C4

“An Officer and an Artist” by Solomon Thurman

Calendar

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ST. LOUIS AMERICAN • AUGUST 6 – 12, 2015 chocolate delicacies from local bakeries & chocolatiers, complimentary wine pairings, appetizers and gourmet coffee bar. Enjoy live music and upscale silent auction. Guests receive a reusable tote and wine glass. Tickets are $45 before the event/$50 at the door, and can be purchased through Brown Paper Ticket: annieshopechocolateaffair. brownpaperticket.com All proceeds benefit Annie’s Hope - The Bereavement Center for Kids.

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 Thurs., Aug 13, 7 p.m., One Hell of A Night Tour starring Chris Brown and featuring Kid Ink, Omarion, Fetty Wap, Teyana Taylor, Scottrade Center. For more information, visit www. ticketmaster.com.

Aug. 14, 7 p.m. & 9:30 p.m., Kenny DeShields Live, Ferring Jazz Bistro, 3536 Washington Blvd.

special events Thurs., Aug. 6, 4 p.m., 25th Annual Celebrity Waiters Night supporting the Crisis Nursery. More than 100 national and local celebrities will engage supporters for donations to benefit Crisis Nursery’s child abuse prevention programs. The night’s specials include dinner at three West County Center restaurants – BRAVO! Cucina Italiana, J. Gilbert’s WoodFired Steaks & Seafood and McCormick & Schmick’s Seafood & Steaks. For details, call (314) 292-5770 or visit www.crisisnurserykids. org. For the Saint Louis Crisis Nursery 24-hour helpline, call (314) 768-3201. In St. Charles County, call (636) 947-0600.

Through August 7, 8:15 p.m., The Muny continues its 97th Season with the Disney Classic Beauty and The Beast. For more information, call (314) 534-1111 or visit www.themuny.org.

Aug. 7 – Aug. 10, The Ferguson Action Council Ferguson Commemoration Weekend, which includes the August 9 anniversary of the Ferguson police killing of Michael Brown Jr. Various locations. For full schedule of events, visit http://www. stlamerican.com/news/ community_news/article_

cc1e31d0-3687-11e5-9e66f335443178d2.html Through Aug. 8, The Black Caucus of the American Library Association Inc. 9th Annual Conference of African American Librarians, featuring Tukufu Zuberi, Max Brooks, Robbie Montgomery, Troy D. Johnson and Joel Christian Gill, Hyatt Regency at the St. Louis Arch.

Sat., Aug. 8, BJ the DJ 30TH Radio Anniversary Party, Voce, 212 South Tucker Blvd.

St. Louis MO 63101. For more information, call Corey at 314.305.3970 • Miguel at 314.732.9955 Online at RegalTix.com Sat. Aug 8 and Sun., Aug 9, The Craig Shields Foundation presents the 15th Annual Community Cuts for Kids. Saturday, August 8 10 a.m. – 2 p.m., Lessie Bates Family Development Center, 1045 State Street, East St. Louis, IL. Sunday, Aug. 9, 2 p.m. – 6 p.m., O’Fallon Park Rec Plex YMCA, 4343 West Florissant. For more information, visit www. thecraigshieldsfoundation.org.

Sat., August 15, 2015, 12 p.m. - 7 p.m., Crown Square Plaza, 14th & Saint Louis Avenue, SAINT LAAA FAB Inc. present the 2nd Annual Saint Louis African American Artifacts Festival and Bazaar(SAINT-LAAAFAB). A one day family oriented event celebrating the rich heritage of people of African descent. The festival will cultivate awareness and appreciation of the significant contributions made by people of African descent. The mission will be accomplished by showcasing and sharing African American artifacts, art, music, food, dance and literature with diverse people throughout the Saint Louis region.

Aug. 16 – 27, Unity Hospice of Greater St. Louis is

Award nominated poet, children’s writer and educator and DuEwa Frazier returns home to discuss her new teen novel, Deanne in the Middle. See LITERARY for details.

Featured Event Aug. 29th, 10am-7pm & Aug. 30th, 10am-6pm. The International Institute’s Festival of Nations, The festival is located in the beautiful, historic Tower Grove Park in South St. Louis near Grand and Arsenal. Features over 40 ethnic food booths, non-stop dance and music performances, arts and crafts, and an international bazaar with unique gifts from around the world.

(In SPECIAL EVENTS)

inviting veterans in the St. Louis and Metro East community to share their stories of wartime to be submitted to the Library of Congress through a nationallyrecognized program called the Veterans History Project.

The Library of Congress will preserve these stories for future generations so they can better understand American history and the realities of war.

Interested veterans are invited to contact Unity Hospice to schedule an appointment to share their personal stories in the form of unedited video recorded interviews.

Interviews will be conducted during the week of Aug. 1627, 2015. Read more about the Veterans History Project on their website at http:// www.loc.gov/vets/. For more information about the Veterans History Project in your community or to schedule a time to share your story, please contact Unity Hospice Director of Program Development Brenda McGarvey at (618) 954-6114 or volunteers@ unityhospice.com.

Fri., Aug. 21, 4 p.m., The 3rd Annual Rise Up Festival, Fine arts and crafts show produced by the St. Louis Art Fair with professionally juried artist presentations / booths, as well as: live local musicians, circus acts from Circus Kaput and a kid-friendly section, microbrewery contributions, a St. Louis-based businesses showcase prominently hailing from the Washington Ave. garment district, and exceptional local eatery offerings from surrounding cafes and restaurateurs. 1627 Washington Ave. For more information, visit http://www. risestl.org/rise-up-festival/ Fri., Aug. 21, 8 p.m., What Now Tour starring Kevin Hart, Scottrade Center. For more information, visit www. livenation.com or www. ticketmaster.com.

Aug. 22, The Open Space Council’s 48th Annual Operation Clean Stream event will take place in various locations throughout

the St. Louis region. This is our premier event in which annually, along with the help of our volunteers, we’ve removed thousands of scrap tires, yards of debris, and other litter out of Missouri streams in order to improve the overall quality of Missouri’s waterways. Join us this year as we anticipate another successful year of impacting Missouri’s open spaces! Do you want to help clean up the Meramec Watershed? You’re in the right place! Sign up for Operation Clean Stream today. https:// operationcleanstream2015. eventbrite.com Aug. 27, Kwame Foundation presents Tee Off for Education Golf Tournament and Gala Auction Fundraiser, Norman K. Probstein Golf Course. For more information, visit http:// kwamefoundation.org.

Aug. 27, 7 p.m., ALIVE Wedding: Best Day Ever, a carefully curated wedding event for nontraditional, fashion-forward brides and grooms-to-be. This is no normal wedding show. Best Day Ever encourages couples of all kinds to celebrate our community. Come prepared to party and take in the best vendors, food and fashion our city has to offer. More information and tickets are available at BestDayEverSTL. eventbrite.com!

Aug. 28, 7 p.m., 4th Annual - The Chocolate Affair, Indulge in a diverse selection of decadent

Aug. 29th, 10am-7pm & Aug. 30th, 10am-6pm. The International Institute’s Festival of Nations, The festival is located in the beautiful, historic Tower Grove Park in South St. Louis near Grand and Arsenal.

Features over 40 ethnic food booths, non-stop dance and music performances, arts and crafts, and an international bazaar with unique gifts from around the world. There will be parking available in the park as well as on streets in the surrounding neighborhoods.

A shuttle service will run on designated routes and provide complimentary rides to festival-goers. More information about the festival can be found here: http://www. festivalofnationsstl.org/​

literary Aug. 12, 7 p.m., Award nominated poet, children’s writer and educator, DuEwa Frazier. The author will be talking about her new teen novel, Deanne in the Middle.

In addition to this novel, she is the author of several volumes of poetry including Goddess Under the Bridge: Poems (2013), Ten Marbles and a Bag to Put Them In: Poems for Children (2010), Stardust Tracks on a Road (2005) and Shedding Light From My Journeys. DuEwa is the editor and publisher of the NAACP Image Award nominated book, Check the Rhyme: An Anthology Of Female Poets & Emcees (2006). University City Public Library. For more information, visit http://www.ucpl.lib.mo.us/ node/76 Sat., Aug. 15, 7 p.m., St. Louis County Library hosts Senator Claire McCaskill, author of Plenty Ladylike: A Memoir. Senator McCaskill shares her inspiring story of embracing her ambition, surviving sexist slings, losing a husband and making a family,

ST. LOUIS AMERICAN • AUGUST 6 – 12, 2015 outsmarting her enemies—and finding joy along the way.

In this candid, lively, and forthright memoir Senator McCaskill describes her uphill battle to become who she is today. From the day she was elected homecoming queen in high school to her long shot reelection as Senator, Claire has loved politics and winning. Her memoir is unconventional, unsparing in its honesty and full of sharp humor and practical wisdom.

Individual Ticket - $35 (admits one and includes one copy of the book) or Package Ticket - $45 (admits two and includes one copy of the book). Tickets go on sale July 1. Library Headquarters, 1640 S. Lindbergh Blvd., 63131. For more information, call (314) 994-3300 or visit www.slcl. org.

C3 Senufo and Beyond in the Permanent Collection, a talk featuring Nichole Bridges, The St. Louis Art Museum’s associate curator of the Arts of Africa, Oceania and the Americas.

For more information, see ART.

Through Aug. 8, The Griot Museum of Black History presents A Cast of Blues.

This touring exhibit tells the stories of hopes, sorrows, and triumphs of Mississippi blues legends who lived and breathed the blues through 15 resin-cast masks, created by visually-impaired artist Sharon McConnell-Dickson, and 15 panoramic color photographs

by Ken Murphy of blues artists and the colorful juke joints where they performed. 2505 St. Louis Ave., 63106. For more information or to purchase tickets, call (314) 241-7507 or visit www.thegriotmuseum. com.

Sat., Aug. 15, 9:30 a.m., Woman’s Place will offer a free workshop on SELF-COMPASSION, at 8300 Morganford Road in Affton. All women are welcome. Learn to ways to love and be gentle with yourself in this creative, interactive workshop, finding more energy and stability in the process! Pre-registration is required. Call 314-645-4848 to reserve your place. Visit www. womansplacestl.org for more information.

Wed., Aug. 19, 4 p.m. & 5 p.m. The American Board, also known as The American Board for the Certification of Teacher Excellence (ABCTE) will hold information sessions for those interested in a career in education, St. Louis County Library – Headquarters Branch – Upstairs Meeting Area, 1640 S Lindbergh Blvd St. Louis, MO 63131. For more information, visit www.abcte. org.

arts Sat., Aug. 8, 6 p.m., 10th Street Gallery presents Opening reception for Ferguson Remembered: an exhibition of work produced by 10 local talented artists as a result of the killing of Michael Brown and the subsequent events surrounding his death. 10th Street Gallery, 419 N. 10th Street St. Louis, MO 63101. Call 314436-1806 or 314-974-6058.

Limited seating; RSVP Solomon@10thstreetgallery. com

www.csprc.org or (314) 4162237.

August 20 at 11 a.m. and August 21 at 6 pm. Nichole Bridges, The St. Louis Art Museum’s associate curator of the Arts of Africa, Oceania and the Americas, will talk about related works on view in a gallery talk entitled Senufo and Beyond in the Permanent Collection.

Saint Louis Art Museum, One Fine Arts Drive in Forest Park. For more information about the exhibit or related programming, call 314.721.0072 or visit slam.org.

Through Aug. 23, The Botanical Gardens hosts Lantern festival: Magic Reimagined. The Garden plays host to an international exhibition of 22-lighted works of art from Zigong, China.

The Garden has commissioned sets crafted from silk and steel to offer visitors from around the world the opportunity to see an event rarely staged outside of Asia. Each set will include interpretation

detailing the design’s tradition, symbolism and meaning.

4344 Shaw Blvd., 63110. For more information visit www. missouribotanicalgarden.org.

Sept. 4-6, Labor Day Weekend Art Fair at Queeny Park The Greater St. Louis Art Association (GSLAA) presents the Labor Day Weekend Art Fair at Queeny Park. The show features more than 130 juried artists from around the St. Louis region and 20 or more states, representing the following media: ceramics, drawing, painting, photography, jewelry, printmaking, digital art, glass, mixed media, fiber, sculpture, wood and more. Greensfelder Recreation Center, located on 550 Weidman Road, Ballwin, MO. For more information, visit http://www. artfairatqueenypark.com Sept. 5, 4 p.m., Join Pulitzer Arts Foundation for a musical performance by

California-based sound and social practice artist Chris Kallmyer, LA-based violinist Andrew Tholl, and leaders of the St. Louis creative community. The performance is a culmination of a two-week residency at the Pulitzer in which Kallmyer worked with local artists to craft earthenware instruments made from Mississippi River clay and develop an original group performance piece for chimes, a violin, and a guitar. For more information, visit http://pulitzerarts.org/ program/commonfield-clayperformance

lectures/ workshops Mon., Aug. 10, 9 a.m. West County Democrats Speaker Series “Living Life in Missouri’s Medicaid Gap” featuring Rene LaFerla.

Rene has a BSW Social Work degree from Fontbonne University and is working towards a Masters in Social Work at SLU. She is a legal assistant and a mental health clinician who found herself caught in the Missouri Medicaid Gap, United Food & Commercial Workers, Local 655. 300 Weidman Road, Ballwin, MO, 63011.

Aug. 11, 11:30 a.m., Getting to Know Your Audience and Building a Fiercely Loyal Community” Christina Schellhardt, Director of Community Outreach and Events for SSM Health Care Foundations, will get you thinking about these “audience” members: how you welcome them into your organization, how you get them engaged and even better, she’ll suggest ways to build them into a fiercely loyal group that has collective pride and passion for your mission.

To register or for information:

Aug. 25, 6:45 p.m., Make a Bigger Difference: Environmental Action for Your Life, Your Community and Your House of Worship, Hear keynote speaker, Don Corrigan, Professor of Environmental Journalis and Global Communication at Webster University and author of “Environmental Missouri” speak on why climate change affects us all. Then attend a break out session: sessions include “Greening Your House of Worship” and “Greening Your Life and Community.” Free and open to all, but RSVPs required at http://bit.ly/082515

Aug. 27, Meet in the lobby of the Gateway Arch for a free, ranger-led astronomy lesson.

Pending clear skies, there will be a telescope viewing led by the St. Louis Astronomical Society. Call 314-655-1750, ext. 472 to check weather conditions the afternoon of the program. For more information, visit http://gatewayarch.com.

ST. LOUIS AMERICAN • AUGUST 6 - 12, 2015

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BOOK

FASHION

including 10th Street Gallery.

“We are taking advantage of an opportunity to document history,” 10th Continued from C1 Street Gallery co-owner Pat Smith Thurman said. “If you “Ferguson Remembered,” an look back to what was going exhibition of work produced on in the ‘60s and the early by 10 local artists around the ‘70s or any era in the United central theme of Brown’s States, it’s always been death and the subsequent documented through some unrest. sort of media.”

Among those artists is Thurman will join several gallery co-owner Solomon other artists who will offer Thurman Sr. insight on their work and One of the central pieces their artistic reaction to the of the exhibit is his “Officer unrest. and an Artist. ” Among them n “I had to The watercolor is Howard portrait features Barry, who used find some his son Solomon pages of The St. kind of way Thurman Jr., a St. Louis American Louis Metropolitan that detailed the of dealing Police officer, and unrest as his artist Kevin Coles – with what was canvas. who stands next to “I had to going on, but find some Thurman wearing a “Hands Up Don’t not just being kind of way of Shoot” T-shirt. dealing with “That another angry what was going juxtaposition really on, but not just voice.” showed visually being another how sensitive angry voice,” and how thin the Barry told The – Howard Barry American. lines are between what side of the “I would find line you are on as myself trying far as loyalties,” to go on with gallery owner my everyday life, but I’m Freida L. Wheaton told St. going down West Florissant Louis Public Radio as she and the roads are blocked described the painting for and I’m seeing everybody’s listeners. reaction. I would come home “There are law and try to work and be so enforcement officers who do frustrated that it was coming bad things – and certainly out in other things that I was there are plenty of them. But doing.” we have law enforcement Information from St. Louis in our families. So we have Public Radio was used in to be careful by painting this report. a broad brush and treating “Ferguson Remembered” all people as a negative will open with a reception simply because they wear a on Saturday, August 8 at uniform.”

10th Street Gallery, 419 N. Wheaton also served as 10th Street from 6-9 p.m. organizer and curator for For more information, call “Hands Up, Don’t Shoot: (314) 436-1806 or visit Artists Respond,” a traveling www.10thstreetgallery. exhibit that showcased work com. To RSVP for from artists from around the Saturday’s exhibit, e-mail country at several locations Solomon@10thstreetgallery. in the St. Louis region – com.

Continued from C1 coverage profiles three area students who have unique style perspectives when it comes to looking fresh for that first day back.

Haley Rose, Niya Moore, and Madison Henderson are not your typical teens. They keep their grades above average, volunteer in the community, play sports and have turned their individual hobbies into lifestyle brands.

They are definitely not caught up in labels and name brands, but they each take pride in expressing themselves by looking fly – especially during the first day of school.

“Mainly, my hair has to be on point, and everything else will fall into place.”

- Haley Rose 14, entering 9th grade DR: What’s your must-have item for the first day of school?

Oh, you’re starting high school, so your gear has to be on 1,000!

Haley: Hmm I think I’m going to play it cool for the first couple of days. I don’t want to be cliché by trying too hard and looking like everyone else. So mainly, my hair has to be on point, and everything else will fall into place.

DR: So how will you be rocking your hair on the first day?

Haley: I’m going for the natural “beach wave” look that’s in right now.

DR: How would you describe your personal style?

Haley: My style is really chill, sporty but sassy. I primarily wear high-waist jeans, a fresh pair of tennis shoes and whatever cute tops I come across, whether they be my mom’s or cute T-shirts I take from my uncles. LOL.

“I have two older sisters, so of course I get to go through their stuff and revamp it to fit my taste.”

- Niya Moore 13, entering 8th grade DR: Do you have your “first day of school” look already picked out?

Niya Moore: Absolutely not! As long as I have on my favorite jeans, earplugs and phone charger, I can worry about the rest later.

style as being carefree. I have two older sisters, so of course I get to go through their stuff and revamp it to fit my taste.

DR: So since you’re so chill when it comes to your style, do you have any back-to-school must-haves?

Niya: I definitely have to have the Jordan 7 Marvin the Martian sneakers.

“I like the usual places like Forever 21 and Claire’s, but I also like vintage and thrift pieces.”

- Madison Henderson 14, entering 10th grade DR: Being that you have to a wear a uniform to school, how do you express your individual style?

DR: So, what makes your style stand out from everyone else?

Madison: I love to wear unique jewelry that I find from different places.

Niya: I’d like to think of my

DR: Where do you usually

shop?

Madison: It just depends. I like the usual places like Forever 21 and Claire’s, but I also like vintage and thrift pieces.

DR: That’s cool! I was heavily into vintage at your age. So, do you get to express your style outside of school?

Madison: Oh, yeah! Most definitely. I like to wear colorful clothes that are chic, but chill. I’m not the type of girl to wear short skirts and crop tops. I like to be able to be comfortable and move around without looking awkward.

As we can see, all the kids want for back-to-school is to have their favorite pair of jeans, a cool pair of sneakers, phone charger and poppin’ hair.

Maybe us adults should take a cue.

For more info about backto-school style, follow Danie Rae on IG and Twitter @ Style_brokers.

WENDY

n She got points for being liberated enough to say out loud what few people would have the nerve to whisper to their closest confidants.

Continued from C1 In True Religion jeans shorts that were cut at the hip bone, a T-shirt and a pair of bedazzled Louboutin six-inch pumps from her killer shoe collection, she was thrilled to present her svelte shape to the crowd as she boasted about looking the best she ever has at age 51.

She began talking about the good old days of music and how new artists have lost their finesse and ability to covertly speak on suggestive material.

Ironically, she jumped right into leaving absolutely nothing to the imagination in her musings.

Nothing was off limits.

And even with the wildest expectations for someone who has been a part of the entertainment industry for nearly 30 years as a radio and television personality, jaws were hanging for most of the night.

Her days as a drug user, a feminine hygiene fiasco, the most explicitly detailed trysts, the future sexual habits of her new puppy named Shaquille O’Neal Hunter and even being courted by a pimp were among the material she promised to deny if the audience told anyone she said it.

“Are you judging me right

Photo by Lawrence Bryant

now?” Williams repeatedly asked the crowd. She asked again after confessing that she patronizes “ghetto” female strip clubs and loves to do so.

Of course, they were.

Even the “Def Comedy Jam” generation would have deemed Williams’ conversation topics too racy for the stage.

She got points for being liberated enough to say out loud what few people would have the nerve to whisper to their closest confidants, but not

much else.

St. Louis was one of a dozen or so stops on her select city tour. She professed her love for St. Louis, boasting that she had been to the city seven times, as well as her obsession with Pappy’s Barbeque.

Admitting the idea to take this show on the road was the brainchild of her husband, Williams ditched the traditional format of hiring joke writers – and clearly a director as well – because it wasn’t in her budget.

But the truth is that a comedy writer and a professional to streamline the show would have made the show more enjoyable – at least for those who live for a good dirty joke or seven.

By doing so, Williams would have to settle for uncomfortable chuckles and smiles to hide the cringe instead of the genuine belly laughter one hopes to hear at comedy shows.

It takes a pair to find the pair.

STAND OUT FROM HEAD TO TOE IN ANY CROWDED HALLWAY WITH THE ONE-OF-A-KIND BACK TO SCHOOL FASHIONS FROM SCHOLARSHOP.

VISIT SCHOLARSHOPSTL.ORG OR SEE STORES FOR DETAILS. CLAYTON 314-725-3456 | WEBSTER GROVES 314-961-2525

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7/20/15 11:08 AM

C5

ST. LOUIS AMERICAN • AUGUST 6 – 12, 2015

Celebrations Scholar Awarded

Portrait Unveiling

FREE OF CHARGE

Tracy Edwards, a recent graduate of Hazelwood Central High School, was offered a full scholarship to Hampton University in Virginia. Edwards plans to study either biomedical or optical physics.

Edwards was offered the scholarship while attending the National Association of Black Physicists conference, for which she also won a scholarship to attend.

Tucker Business College Alumni presented their final scholarship award to Harris-Stowe State University at the Awards Day Ceremony. Tucker Business College was founded in St. Louis by Mrs. Blanche L.O. Tucker in 1921 and was the first business college for African-American women to study secretarial science in the United States. Mrs. Tucker’s portrait will be displayed in the Anheuser-Busch Business College at HSSU.

Reunions All reunion announcements can be viewed online!

Beaumont High School Class of 1965 will celebrate their 50th Class Reunion on September 26, 2015 at the Royale Orleans, 2801 Telegraph. Dinner dance with open bar is $65/person. For additional information contact Geraldine Carter-Reid at 314868-8284 or bluejackets65@ gmail.com.

Beaumont Class of 1970 will celebrate its 45th Class Reunion Saturday, October 24, 2015, at Catering to You, 12775 New Halls Ferry Rd, 63033. Dinner/dance $50 for classmates, $40 for guests.

Payments may be mailed to: Beaumont Class of 1970, P.O.Box 25913, St. Louis,MO. 63136. For more info please contact: Oneita (Meeks) Murphy: (314) 322-4205, Chuck Campbell: (314) 5204581, Toni (Brady) Hopson: beaumontclassof1970@gmail.

com,or see our Facebook page.

Beaumont High School class of 1975 is in the planning process for its 40th year reunion! Reunion dates: August 14-16, 2015, contact: Gale (314) 838-8493 or Cynthia (314) 869-4049.

Central High Redwings “All Class” Reunion Weekend will be held August 7-9, 2015.

For more information please contact Ada Livers 314-2292961 or Laura Joiner 314-3237833.

Lincoln High School (East St. Louis, IL) January and June 1955 classes are planning the 60th year reunion, September 4-6, 2015. For additional information, you may contact John W. Morgan at 618558-6880 or Maxine Parks Kimbrough at 314-741-3967.

Normandy High School Class of 1975 40th year reunion weekend September 18–20 at Ameristar Casino.

For full details contact Lisa Garrett at 314-707-4673, Jay Buck at 636-346-9165, Virginia Ferguson Crosby at v_crosby2004@yahoo.com, Paul Jordan at 314-565-3452 and Gina Whitfield Pope at 314-348-6795 or Normandy

High School Class of 1975 Facebook page.

Northwest High School Class of 1973 has planned a 60th Birthday Bash for September 5, 2015 at the Renaissance St. Louis Airport Hotel. If you have not received an email with the details, please email northwesths1973@gmail. com or contact Cornelia Clark Stephens 314-580-1114.

St. Mark High School Classes of 72, 73, 74 and 75 are planning a joint reunion picnic on Saturday September 12, 2015 at Tilles Park. If you are or know someone from one of these classes, please have them contact: Anne Epplin Jesse at thejesses@prodigy.net or Eldra Taylor at eldra.taylor@yahoo. com, (314) 570-1513.

Soldan High Class of 1964 will be celebrating its 51st reunion on August 28-30, 2015 at the Airport Marriott Hotel.

For more information, please contact; John Bennett at 314503-3541 or George Gholston at 314- 831-1801.

Soldan High School Class of 75 40th Reunion Celebration, September 11-13, 2015.

Contact: Terese Cole–Marshall at (314) 640 9611, Roslyn “Cookie” Williams at (314)

Birthday I would like to wish Jamal Dixon a Happy 7th Birthday on August 7, and many more to come. Love you always!

From: Dad & Family

616 4892 or AnnieSue Preston at (314) 606 5618, email: Soldanclass75@gmail.com.

Sumner High Class of 1970 is planning its 45th Reunion.

Please provide contact information to: cshsco70@yahoo. com or J. Fox at 314-606-3506 for more information.

Sumner High School Class of 1975 is proud to announce the 40th Year Reunion Celebration. Please join us at the Airport Renaissance Hotel August 21-23, 2015.

The cost is $60 per person. We will have a meet and greet on Friday, dinner dance Saturday, and picnic on Sunday at Koeneman Park in Jennings.

Contact C. Jackson at 314-4776785 or D. Moore at 314-303-

0074 for more information.

University City High School Class of ‘75 will be celebrating its 40th reunion the weekend of September 18. For more information register at: www.uchs75.myevent.com or email UCclassof75@outlook. com.

Vashon Class of 1965 will celebrate its 50 Year Class Reunion September 18-20, 2015 at the St. Louis Marriott Airport. Planning meetings to be held at the Walnut Park Library July 25, 2015 at 3:30-5:30 P.M. and August 29. For information Vashon65Alumni@Yahoo. com; Cleo: 383-1934 or Bernice: 534-8282.

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 2315 Pine St. St. Louis, MO 63103

Reunion notices are free of charge and based on space availability.

We prefer that notices be emailed to us!

However, notices may also be sent by mail to: Kate Daniel, 2315 Pine St., St. Louis, MO 63103 Deadline is 10 a.m. on Friday. If you’d like your class to be featured in a reunion profile, email or mail photos to us.

Our email address is:

reunions@ stlamerican.com

Religion

ST. LOUIS AMERICAN • AUGUST 6 - 12, 2015

Non-profit, churches hold outreach fair in Ferguson Convoy of Hope, community partners host ‘poverty-free day’

Hair stylists from Elaine Steven Beauty College prayed in a circle before starting the free haircuts offered at the Convoy of Hope outreach Fair in Ferguson on Saturday, July 25.

By Camille Phillips Of St. Louis Public Radio Cars lined the street leading to Forestwood Park in Ferguson on Saturday, July 25 for a resource fair organized by a faith-based non-profit that specializes in disaster relief and outreach to the poor.

Convoy of Hope’s “Day of Hope” provided a free meal and a kid’s carnival to anyone who stopped by the park, along with health screenings, haircuts, and other goods and services.

Attendees weren’t required to show proof of need or residence.

“We have a ‘guest of honor’ principle,” Convoy of Hope’s Molly Erickson said. “We want to treat every guest with dignity and respect, because we all fall on hard times and we understand that it’s hard. It’s hard to admit that you need help and it’s hard to ask for help.

So we want people to be able to come in and just have this poverty-free day.”

Convoy of Hope partnered with more than 40 local churches to organize the event and gather the necessary funding and volunteers. To pay for tents, food, portable toilets

Photo by Camille Phillips / St. Louis Public Radio

and the like (including 35,000 pounds of groceries), the group raised about $1 million. That included contributions from Convoy of Hope.

“We’re here to serve our guests, make sure our guests are well-treated, make sure they have a stress-free day, and be able to provide goods and services that make their life better,” said Bishop Larry O. Jones of Greater Grace Church in Ferguson.

Jones said the churches chose Ferguson as the location because “we were concerned after all of the negative news after the shooting of Michael Brown. We wanted something to be positive in Ferguson. We want people to see that people in Ferguson can pull together and work as a community versus what was shown on T.V.” Pastor Jack Hembree is on the steering committee that

gathered the local volunteers and funding. He said after last year’s unrest it was important to him to hold the event in Ferguson.

“For me it’s personal. I live here,” said Hembree, who has pastored Bethel Fellowship Assembly of God in Florissant for 23 years.

“I have 12 families in my church who live here, and this town is a fantastic town (with) diverse, wonderful, good people. In every community there are always the underlying struggles and racial things.

But one of the things about Ferguson that’s good is that it’s been diverse. And what is being seen outside is not really this town.”

At the National Breast Cancer Foundation tent, volunteers taught participants how to check for signs of cancer with self-exams.

Ferguson resident Daphne

Brown said she made a point of stopping by that tent first.

“Some people don’t take the time or don’t have transportation to go get breast exams, you know. And this is just good information to know.

If you can’t get tested you can at least try and test yourself,” Brown said.

“I’m 56 so I need to be testing myself. My doctor’s been getting on me (to do selfexams).”

Fellow Ferguson resident Christy Schibbelhut said she’s glad her 15-year-old daughter Mackenzie Oster had the opportunity to learn how to conduct the exam.

“I’ve heard of it in the past but having a child that needs to know more information, it was great,” Schibbelhut said.

As people left the park, they were each given the opportunity to pray with a volunteer on their way to pick up a free bag of groceries.

Reprinted with permission from news.stlpublicradio.org.

Follow Camille Phillips on Twitter: @cmpcamille.

C6

The Message

Wake up!

I have to say I’ve been feeling pretty lucky lately and, not necessarily from a financial, physical or even an emotional point of view.

When I look at my life from a worldly perspective now, it can sometimes still appear stacked against me. Life happens and well, you know the rest. These days my spiritual resolve kicks in, if I’m fortunate, and I keep coming back to this one thing.

It’s not about luck anymore. I’m blessed because there are not enough hours in the day to say thank you to the Almighty for that simple transformation of thought. I’m blessed because I don’t think I missed my wake-up call from God. I confess. It was a long time coming, but instead of pushing the snooze button, I got my behind out of bed and started paying attention to God’s agenda rather than my own.

It’s a question anybody should ask of oneself. Have I missed God’s wake-up call?

All I can say is: Did you call the front desk and ask/pray for one? My Bible is full of not yet saints and prophets who, when called, tried their very best to sleep through Columnist it, ignore it or pretend the call was for someone else. Most just denied it.

James What about you? Remember in the Bible, Washington God simply played past the “you talking to me?” He gave marching orders, and that was it. Hello, Moses.

At times He even lets you think you know more than He does. Say what, Jonah?

Even when you doubt what God is saying, He still, with appropriate consequences, rings your phone again. How ‘bout that, Zechariah?

Imagine missing your wake-up call from God and never getting another one.

I would have loved to have seen the look on my mother’s face to hear me say, “I’m saved.” The ensuing conversations would have been the stuff dreams are made of.

There are people who have been a part of your life who are or would roll over in their graves to hear that about you.

Can you say, “Holy Ghost party?”

I believe I woke up on the last ring of my last wake-up call. I find myself ridiculously giddy with the reality that God said, “Ring him up one last time.” It gives my every waking moment and inevitable death new meaning.

You know when you miss your wake-up call, it has a tendency to ruin your whole day. I kinda think if you miss God’s wake-up call, it has a tendency to ruin your whole life and the next one and the one after that.

You know the feeling of just getting in under the wire – either catching a plane, making an important meeting or beating the bill collector minutes before everything gets turned off. You made it in the nick of time. Whew, thank God, I made it.

THE

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ST. LOUIS AMERICAN C7

AUGUST 6 - 12, 2015

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by August 14th at: www.brentwoodmo.org EOE/AA

Full, Part-Time positions, background check.Steady work history for 3-5 years, forklift or equipment operating experience preferred. MUST apply in person at 314 N. Jefferson at Olive. Monday - Friday 9A to 5P. Two forms of I.D.

Eden Theological Seminary seeking Bookstore Manager. Full or part time. Marketing, inventory control retail experience preferred.

Send resume to dstauffer@eden.edu.

ARMED AND UNARMED SECURITY GUARDS

BIDS AND NOTICES

BOOKSTORE MANAGER

At Least One Year Experience Required Bring Security License & Proper ID Full & Part-Time Apply in Person No Phone Calls 600 W. Florissant Ave., St. Louis, MO 63136

P/T HANDYMAN

METROPOLITAN ST. LOUIS SEWER DISTRICT Notice is hereby given that the Metropolitan St. Louis Sewer District will receive sealed bids in the Purchasing Division, 2350 Market Street, St. Louis, Missouri 63103-2555 until 11:00 a.m., September 11, 2015 to contract with a company for: Service, Roof Replacements at Coldwater Treatment Plant, Per Specifications.

LICENSED HAIR STYLIST AND BARBER WANTED. Great location and atmosphere.

Call Glenn for an interview

314-669-9174

Specifications and bid forms may be obtained from www.stlmsd.com (MSD at Work, Bidding on Projects). The bid document will be identified as 6075 RFQ. If you do not have access to the internet, call (314) 768-6313 to request a copy of the bid.

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

www.stlamerican.com

COLLECTION SPECIALIST Thompson Coburn LLP is seeking a full-time Collection Specialist with at least 2 years of experience and a high school diploma or equivalent. Must be familiar with standard concepts, practices, and procedures within collections.

The person selected for this position must be able to work in a fast-paced environment.

General Work on Houses 4-6 hours per day 3 days/wk, $10/hr Please call Mr. Hayden

314-323-3429

PERSONAL BANKER Seeking outgoing candidate responsible for Cross-selling bank products/services.

Assists clients with account needs.

Assoc. Degree preferred and 2+ yrs. Exp. Benefits, competitive wage, vacation, holiday & sick pay. Apply at www.royalbanksofmo.com

Email your ads to vmedina@stlamerican.com

BIDS AND NOTICES

For more details and to complete our online application, visit

www.thompsoncoburncareers.com

www.stlamerican.com

Equal Opportunity Employer M/F/D/V

NOTICE TO SMALL (SBE), DISADVANTAGED (DBE), MINORITY (MBE), AND WOMEN’S (WBE) BUSINESSES ADVERTISEMENT RIVER CITY CONSTRUCTION, L.L.C. AMERICAN SETTER DRIVE, ASHLAND, MISSOURI, 65010, (573) 657-7830 (PHONE) (573-657-7381 (FAX) IS SEEKING QUALIFIED SMALL, DISADVANTAGED, MINORITY, AND WOMEN’S BUSINESSES FOR THE CITY OF FULTON WASTEWATER TREATMENT PLANT IMPROVEMENTSFULTON, MISSOURI FOR THE SUBCONTRACTING OPPORTUNITIES IN THE FOLLOWING AREAS: EXCAVATION, SITE WORK, LANDSCAPE, CONCRETE, MASONRY, METALS, STEEL, EQUIPMENT, ROOFING, GLAZING, CARPENTRY, DOORS AND HARDWARE, SPECIALTIES, FINISHES, SPECIAL CONSTRUCTION, CONVEYING SYSTEMS, MECHANICAL, ELECTRICAL. ALL INTERESTED AND QUALIFIED SMALL, DISADVANTAGED, MINORITY AND WOMEN’S BUSINESSES SHOULD CONTACT, IN WRITING, (CERTIFIED LETTER, RETURN RECEIPT REQUESTED) JOE MISCHLER OR CODY GERDES, TO DISCUSS THE SUBCONTRACTING OPPORTUNITIES. ALL NEGOTIATIONS MUST BE COMPLETED PRIOR TO THE BID OPENING BID DATE OF 9/02/2015 @ 2:00 PM. PROPOSALS WILL BE EVALUATED IN ORDER ON THE BASIS OF LOW RESPONSIVE BID RECEIVED. CERTIFICATION OF DBE/WBE/MBE STATUS AND FEDERAL ID NUMBER MUST BE SUBMITTED WITH BID.

SEALED BIDS for NEW 25 METER RANGE, IKE SKELTON TRAINING SITE, JEFFERSON CITY, MISSOURI, Project No. T1423-11 will be received

by FMDC, State of MO, UNTIL 1:30 PM, 8/27/2015.

For specific project information and ordering plans, go to http://www.oa. mo.gov/ fmdc/dc/list.htm

SEALED QUALIFIED BIDS

BIDS & PUBLIC NOTICES REQUEST FOR BID(S) ST. LOUIS PUBLIC LIBRARY RFB 15-00049 LIBRARY FURNITURE The St Louis Public Library is requesting Bid submissions from qualified firms to provide goods shown above. Sealed Bids will be received by the Purchasing Department, St. Louis Public Library, 1415 Olive Street, St. Louis, Missouri, 63103, until 4:00 p.m. CST, August 17, 2015, and read aloud at a public bid opening at that time. In order to obtain a copy of the Request for Bid, please contact Don Gillum during regular business hours by phone, 314.539.0312, email, dgillum@slpl.org , or at the above address.

REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS Sealed proposals will be received by the St. Louis Economic Development Partnership (the “Partnership”), 7733 Forsyth Blvd; Suite 2300, Clayton, Missouri. 63105, until 3:00 P.M. (prevailing central time) on Wednesday, August 19, 2015 and will thereafter be opened and reviewed.

PROPOSALS

Responses for St. Louis Community College on RFP B0003426 for Investment Management Services will be received until 11:00 A.M. (local time) on September 4, 2015 at the Dept. of Purchasing, 300 S. Broadway, St. Louis, MO 63102, and immediately thereafter opened and read. RFP documents can be accessed on our website atwww.stlcc.edu/purchasing or by calling (314) 539-5227.

EOE/AA Employer.

REQUEST FOR BIDS SAINT LOUIS ZOO NORTH PARKING LOT ASPHALT REPAIRS, SEALING, & STRIPING Project bid requests needed for north parking lot asphalt repairs to include milling, overlay, and striping at the Saint Louis Zoo. For more information see the Saint Louis Zoo website http://www.stlzoo.org/about/contact/ vendoropportunities

NOTICE TO MINORITY, WOMEN, DISADVANTAGE & SERVICE DISABLED VETERAN ENTERPRISES: WE ARE LOOKING FOR MBE, WBE, DBE & SDVE Subcontractors and Suppliers to bid on upcoming projects. Please contact GBH Builders for upcoming projects.

GBH Builders is an EEOE. Phone: (573) 893-3633 / Fax: (573) 893-5847

The Partnership is initiating this Request for Proposals as part of a partnership with the State of Missouri Department of Economic Development and the St. Louis County Office of Community Development to solicit responses from qualified firms interested in providing The Betty Jean Kerr People’s Health Center & consulting services related to the submission of Amanda Luckett Murphy Hopewell a “Phase 2” application under the U.S. Center Children’s and Adolescent Health Department of Housing and Urban Development Facility. The Betty Jean Kerr People’s Health Notice of Funding Availability for the National Center requests bids from General Contractors Disaster Resilience Competition. for the construction of a new building located at 5647 Delmar Blvd., St. Louis, MO 63112 All applicable federal regulations shall be in full valued at $3M-$4M. Proposed Bidder shall force and effect. MBE and WBE firms are comply with Section 3, Davis/Bacon and encouraged to submit proposals.

MBE/WBE req. Bidding documents will be available on 8/24/15 from Cross Rhodes Request for Proposals will be available after Reprographics, 1712 Macklind Ave., St. Louis, 10:00 a.m. on August 6, 2015. Please visit MO 63110. Contact (314) 678-0087, www.stlpartnership.com. (reprox-rhodes.com) for amount ofdeposit.

Additional sets for review will be made The Partnership reserves the right to reject any available at (www.construction.com) and at or all proposals and to waive informalities KAI’s office(2060 Craigshire Rd., St. Louis, Therein. Questions should be directed to MO 63146). A mandatory pre-bid meeting will Kevin S. Cahill at: be held at 5701 Delmar Blvd., St. Louis, MO kcahill@stlpartnership.com or 314-615-5065.

63112 at 11:00 a.m. on Friday, 08/14/15.

Bids are due Tuesday, 09/22/15 at St. Louis Economic Development Partnership 3:00p.m. at 5701 Delmar Blvd., An Equal Opportunity Employer St. Louis, MO 63112.

INVITATION TO BID

METROPOLITAN ST. LOUIS SEWER DISTRICT Notice is hereby given that the Metropolitan St. Louis Sewer District will receive RFQ’s in the Purchasing Division, 2350 Market Street, St. Louis, Missouri 63103-2555 until 10:00 a.m. on September 1, 2015 to contract with a company for: AIR PURIFICATION MEDIA FILTERS. Specifications and bid forms may be obtained from www.stlmsd.com, click on the “MSD AT WORK” link, (bid opportunities). The bid document will be identified as 6068 RFQ. If you do not have access to the internet, call 314-768-6254 to request a copy of this bid.

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

The Muny is seeking sealed qualified bids for Improvements to Café One located at #1 Theater Drive, Saint Louis, Missouri 63112 (Forest Park).

Scope includes Existing building shell to remain of Café One. Demolition and remodel of interior space with new slab. Miscellaneous site work.

Owner will consider bids prepared in compliance with the Instructions to Bidders issued by Owner, and delivered as follows: Bid Date: August 25, 2015, at 2:00 p.m. Location: #1 Theater Drive, Saint Louis, Missouri 63112 (Forest Park), Attn: Sean Smith. Bids will be thereafter privately opened. A pre-bid conference for all bidders will be held on site, on August 11th at 10:00 a.m., local time. Prospective bidders are requested to attend. No additional meetings will be provided. Printed Procurement and Contracting Documents: Are by Contractor and can be obtained after 3pm on August 5, by contacting County Blue Reprographics. Only complete sets of documents will be issued. Online Procurement and Contracting Documents: Obtain access after 3pm on August 5 by contacting Architect. Chiodini Associates, Rebecca Kleba 314-725-5588.

Online access will be provided to prime bidders only. Bid security shall be submitted with each bid in the amount of 5 percent of the bid amount.

No bids may be withdrawn for a period of 60 days after opening of bids.

Owner reserves the right to reject any and all bids and to waive informalities and irregularities. Bidders must be properly licensed under the laws governing their respective trades and be able to obtain insurance and bonds required for the Work. A Performance Bond, a separate Labor and Material Payment Bond, and Insurance in a form acceptable to Owner will be required of the successful Bidder. Bidders shall begin the Work on receipt of the Notice to Proceed and shall complete the Work within the Contract Time. Contractor must obtain a Certificate of Occupancy along with a Substantial Completion Document by March 1st, 2016 or is subject to $1000.00 daily penalty each day thereafter. Final Landscaping is not expected to be completed by March 1st 2016. The Muny reserves the right to reject any and all bids, waive any informality, and to choose the bid most advantageous to the Muny.

Email your ads to vmedina@

Email your ads to vmedina@ stlamerican.com

SEALED BIDS for

New Fulton State Hospital, Building Automation System/Fire Alarm System (BAS/FAS), Project No. M1411-10 will be received by FMDC, State of MO, UNTIL 1:30 PM, 9/3/15.

For specific project information and ordering plans, go to http://www.oa. mo.gov/fmdc/dc/ list.htm.

REQUEST FOR BIDS 60-66 Gallon and 90-96 Gallon Residential Trash and Recycle Carts

The City of University City is accepting sealed bids for a combination of Three Thousand (3,800) Residential Roll-out Trash and Recycling Carts. We are seeking pricing on containers ranging in size from 60 to 66 gallons and 90 to 96 gallons. The City anticipates ordering a combination of containers which may include twenty-eight hundred (2,800) 90-96 gallon Tarlton Corporation, on behalf of Cortex, will be accepting sealed bids from containers (trash and recycling type) and one-thousand (1000) 60-66 gallon qualified contractors and specifically qualified MBE/WBE Subcontractors containers (trash type). & Suppliers that are currently certified with the City of St. Louis’ DBE Program Office located at Lambert St. Louis Intl. Airport for the following Sealed bids shall be submitted with an original proposal and two (2) Project: copies to be received by 10:00 a.m. local time, Thursday, August 27, stlamerican.com

REQUEST FOR BIDS

4260 Forest Park Ave Development – Interior, Roofing, and Sitework Packages located at 4260 Forest Park Ave, St. Louis, MO 63110.

A prebid meeting and walk through to be held on Tuesday, August 11, 2015 at 10:00 a.m. Meet at the Cortex Building #1 lobby located at 4320 Forest Park Avenue, St. Louis MO 63110.

• Bid Due Date and Time: August 18, 2015 at 10 a.m.

• Email Bids to: o 4260FPA@tarltoncorp.com • For questions, contact: Jill Hutchison at 314-633-3327 (email: JLHutchison@tarltoncorp.com) Bid Documents explaining the requirements for bidding and performing the work will be made available at the following locations after 8/30/15: • Tarlton’s Procore site: https://app.procore.com/120535/project/home User name: 4260FPA@tarltoncorp.com Password: 4260FPAbidder • The Minority Contractor’s Assistance Plan Room (MCI) located at 1712 Macklind, St. Louis, MO 63110 • Tarlton’s office trailer located at 401 South Sarah, St. Louis, MO 63110 adjacent to the Metro tracks All bidders are required to check Tarlton’s Procore site noted above for details and any Addenda issued during the bid period.

TARLTON IS AN EQUAL OPPORTUNITY EMPLOYER

www.stlamerican.com

2015. Submit responses (bids) to the Finance Department, Attn: Danella Lang, 6801 Delmar Blvd., University City, MO 63130. The envelope used for the submittal of bids shall be plainly marked with the following information: 1.

Company name, address and telephone number, 2. Date and time offer was delivered or mailed, and 3. Marked: Response to Request for Bids for Residential Roll-out Trash and Recycle Carts.

No bid proposal will be accepted via fax or email. Bid proposals are invited from all qualified respondents. Proposals will not be accepted or considered after the deadline for receipt of proposals. The bid acceptance period must be a minimum of one-hundred eighty (180) calendar days. Bids providing less than one-hundred eighty (180) days for acceptance may be considered non-responsive and may be rejected. The City of University City reserves the right to accept or reject any bid and to waive any irregularities in the best interest of the City.

City Contact Information - Please direct all questions about the specifications to: Dennis Luckett, Sanitation Superintendent Telephone #: 314-505-8575 City of University City 1015 Pennsylvania University City, MO 63130 General Information Bid packages are available beginning August 10, 2015, by request at 314-505-8538 and online at www.ucitymo.org by clicking “Bids” under the Quick Links section. The City reserves the right to reject any and all proposals, to waive irregularities and/or informalities in any proposal and to make an award in any manner, consistent with the law, deemed in the best interest of the City.

THE

ST. LOUIS AMERICAN C8

Bids & Notices ST. LOUIS AMERICAN

LETTING #8583 CITY PARKS ASPHALT PAVEMENT REHABILITATION Sealed proposals will be received by the Board of Public Service in Room 208 City Hall, 1200 Market Street, St. Louis, Mo. Until 1:45 PM, CT, on August 25, 2015, then publicly opened and read. Plans and Specifications may be examined on the Board of Public Service website http://www.stl-bps.org/planroom.aspx (BPS On Line Plan Room) and may be purchased directly through the BPS website from INDOX Services at cost plus shipping. No refunds will be made.

A pre-bid conference for all contractors bidding on this project will be held on August 4, 2015 at 10:00 A.M. in Room 208 City Hall.

Bidders shall comply with all applicable City, State and Federal laws (including MBE/WBE policies).

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

LETTING #8587 CONSTRUCT STAGE LINDENWOOD PARK Sealed proposals will be received by the Board of Public Service in Room 208 City Hall, 1200 Market Street, St. Louis, Mo. Until 1:45 PM, CT, on September 1, 2015, then publicly opened and read. Plans and Specifications may be examined on the Board of Public Service website http://www.stl-bps.org/planroom.aspx (BPS On Line Plan Room) and may be purchased directly through the BPS website from INDOX Services at cost plus shipping. No refunds will be made.

A pre-bid conference for all contractors bidding on this project will be held on August 17, 2015 at 10:00 A.M. in Room 208 City Hall.

Bidders shall comply with all applicable City, State and Federal laws (including MBE/WBE policies).

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

LETTING #8586 O’FALLON PARK ASPHALT PAVEMENT REHABILITATION Sealed proposals will be received by the Board of Public Service in Room 208 City Hall, 1200 Market Street, St. Louis, Mo. Until 1:45 PM, CT, on _August 25, 2015, then publicly opened and read.

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

A pre-bid conference for all contractors bidding on this project will be held on August 4, 2015 at 10:00 A.M. in Room 208 City Hall.

Bidders shall comply with all applicable City, State and Federal laws (including MBE/WBE policies).

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

MWBE PREBID MEETING NOTICE The SITE Improvement Association is hosting a Prebid meeting for Qualified and Certified MWBE contractors to discuss working on

University City I/I Reduction-West Contract Letting No. 11672-015.1 This meeting is being held on behalf of the following SITE contractor members:

Fred M. Luth & Sons 4516 McRee Avenue St. Louis, MO 63110 314/771-3892 The meeting will take place at

10:00 a.m.

August 13, 2015 SITE Improvement Association 2071 Exchange Drive, St. Charles, MO 63303 For questions regarding this prebid meeting, Contact the SITE Improvement Association office at 314/966-2950.

REQUEST FOR BIDS Sealed bids for the 2015 Accessible Ramp Improvements will be received by the Department of Public Services, City Hall, 690 Chesterfield Parkway W, Chesterfield, Missouri, 63017-0760, until 10:00 a.m. (prevailing central time) on Wednesday, August 26, 2015 and will thereafter be publicly opened and read aloud.

The project consists of sidewalk removal and replacement, pavement replacement, seeding, property restoration and other incidental work.

This activity is funded in whole or in part with Community Development Block Grant funds pursuant to Title I of the Housing and Community Development Act of 1974, as amended. All applicable federal regulations shall be in full force and effect.

Electronic bid packages will be available on the City’s web site after 12:00 noon, Wednesday, August 12, 2015. The electronic bid packages will also be made available on compact disk (CD) for pick up at Chesterfield City Hall. The bid package may be reviewed at that same location.

Communications between the bidders and the City shall be conducted and documented in writing through the use of email communication to mdooley@chesterfield.mo.us. No oral interpretation will be recognized.

•

The SITE Improvement Association is hosting a Prebid meeting for Qualified and Certified MWBE contractors to discuss working on

Rock Hill Sanitary Relief Contract Letting No. 11069-015.1 This meeting is being held on behalf of the following SITE contractor members:

Fred M. Luth & Sons 4516 McRee Avenue St. Louis, MO 63110 314/771-3892 The meeting will take place at

10:30 a.m.

August 13, 2015 SITE Improvement Association 2071 Exchange Drive, St. Charles, MO 63303 For questions regarding this prebid meeting, Contact the SITE Improvement Association office at 314/966-2950.

MWBE PREBID MEETING NOTICE The SITE Improvement Association is hosting a Prebid meeting for Qualified and Certified MWBE contractors to discuss working on

Webster Groves Trunk E Sanitary Rehabilitation and I/I Reduction (Phase IV) Contract Letting No. 11678-015.2 This meeting is being held on behalf of the following SITE contractor members:

Bi-State Utilities Co. 12894 Pennridge Drive Bridgeton, MO 63044 314/209-0202

The meeting will take place at

10:30 a.m.

August 12, 2015 SITE Improvement Association 2071 Exchange Drive, St. Charles, MO 63303 For questions regarding this prebid meeting, Contact the SITE Improvement Association office at 314/966-2950.

www.stlamerican.com CLICK CLASSIFIEDS ADVERTISEMENT FOR BID Sealed Bids for the construction of the CITY HALL PARK WALKING TRAIL PROJECT, PAGEDALE, MISSOURI, will be received by the City Clerk at the office of City Clerk until 1:00 P.M.(Local Time) on September 2, 2015, at which time the received bids will be publicly opened and read aloud. Bids received after that time will be returned unopened.

Copies of the Bid Documents, Contract Drawings, and Specifications may be examined at the following locations: Palladian Consulting Engr.s 8706 Gravois Road St. Louis, MO 63123 Phone (314) 638-9998 McGraw-Hill Dodge www.construction.com

ST. LOUIS AMERICAN

AUGUST 6 - 12, 2015

MWBE PREBID MEETING NOTICE

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

THE

City of Pagedale 1420 Ferguson, Ave. Pagedale, MO 63133

i square foot Plan Room www.isqft.com

eplan room www.eplanbidding.com This Contract, CITY HALL PARK WALKING TRAIL PROJECT, PAGEDALE, MISSOURI, provides for the construction, supplying, installation and placement into successful operation of the following work: Demolish existing asphaltic walking trail and build a new 5' - wide asphaltic walking trail and strip crosswalk per the plans.

Copies of the Bid Documents, Contract Drawings and Specifications may be obtained for Bidding purposes from the Engineer, (Palladian Consulting Engineers, LLC) upon deposit of ($35.00) Thirty-Five Dollars for each set of documents. Deposits are nonrefundable.

Bidders must be contractors qualified to do business and licensed in accordance with all applicable laws of this State and local governments where the project is located.

The work is to be commenced within (30) Thirty calendar days after the Date-of-Agreement. Completion of the Work is required within (45) Forty-Five consecutive calendar days following the Date stated in the Notice-to-Proceed at the Site.

A Certified Check or a Bid Bond satisfactory to the Owner in the amount of not less than five percent (5%) of the total Bid Price must accompany each Bid. A Contract will be awarded to the low responsive, responsible Bidder unless all Bids are rejected.

The successful Bidder will be required to furnish a Performance Bond and a Labor and Material Payment Bond guaranteeing faithful performance and the payment of all bills and obligations arising from the performance of the Contract.

Bids will be received on a LUMP SUM basis.

The City reserves the right to reject any or all bids and to waive informalities therein.

The Owner reserves the right to waive any informalities or to reject any or all Bids and to waive irregularities therein, and all Bidders must agree For information regarding the project contact Matt Dooley, Project Manager that such rejection shall be without liability on the part of the Owner for any at 636-537-4766 or at mdooley@chesterfield.mo.us damage or claim brought by any Bidder because of such rejections, and the filing of any bid in response to this invitation shall constitute an agreement City of Chesterfield of the Bidder to these conditions. _______________________________ Matt Dooley Project Manager Date ________________________ By:/s Fran Stevens, City Clerk

www.stlamerican.com

METROPOLITAN ST. LOUIS SEWER DISTRICT

METROPOLITAN ST. LOUIS SEWER DISTRICT

Notice is hereby given that the Metropolitan St. Louis Sewer District is accepting proposals in the Purchasing Division, 2350 Market Street, St. Louis, Missouri 63103-2555 until 10:00 a.m. on September 4th, 2015 to contract with a company for: House Lateral CCTV Inspection Services.

Notice is hereby given that the Metropolitan St. Louis Sewer District will receive sealed bids in the Purchasing Division, 2350 Market Street, St. Louis, Missouri 63103-2555 until 10:00am September 9, 2015 for Purchase of: Three (3) Assmann Tanks for Hypochlorite Storage.

Specifications and bid forms may be obtained from www.stlmsd.com, click on the “MSD AT WORK” link, (bid opportunities). The bid document will be identified as 6071 RFQ. If you do not have access to the internet, call 314.768.2735 to request a copy of this bid.

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

Specifications and bid forms may be obtained from www.stlmsd.com - click on “MSD At Work”, then “Bidding on Projects”. The bid document will be identified as 6073 RFQ. If you do not have access to the internet, call (314) 768-6314 to request a copy of this bid. .

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

CITY OF ST. LOUIS LAMBERT - ST. LOUIS INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT®

CITY OF ST. LOUIS BOARD OF PUBLIC SERVICE

Solicitation for Bids (SFB) for Flag Cleaning Services

REQUEST FOR QUALIFICATIONS for DESIGN SERVICES FOR CHILLER 2 REPLACEMENT AT WEST CLIMATE CONTROL, LAMBERT-ST. LOUIS INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT. Statements of Qualifications due by 5:00 P.M., CT, Tuesday, August 25, 2015 at Board of Public Service, 1200 Market, Room 301 City Hall, St. Louis, MO 63103. RFQ may be obtained from website www.stl-bps.org, under the On Line Plan Room – Plan Room, or call the City of St. Louis, Board of Public Service at 314-622-3535. 25% MBE and 5% WBE participation goals.

Bids Wanted Bid documents may be obtained at Lambert St. Louis International Airport - Airport Properties Division, Monday through Friday between 8:30 a.m. and 5:00 p.m., or by calling (314) 426-8184. This SFB may also be obtained by visiting our website at www.flystl.com (Click on “Business Opportunities”).

Robert Salarano Airport Properties Division Manager

METROPOLITAN ST. LOUIS SEWER DISTRICT

REQUEST FOR BIDS

Sealed bids will be received by the Saint Louis Notice is hereby given that the Metropolitan Zoo, at the Saint Louis Zoo Distribution Center St. Louis Sewer District is accepting proposals on Wells Drive (Gate # 5), or by mail Attn: in the Purchasing Division, 2350 Market Street, Patrick Williamson C.P.M., Director, St. Louis, Missouri 63103-2555 until 9:00 a.m.

Purchasing, Saint Louis Zoo, One Government on September 8th, 2015 to contract with a Drive, St. Louis, MO, 63110, until 2:00 P.M. on company for: House Board Up Services.

08/27/2015, for the Saint Louis Zoo, Simulator Modification Project. A mandatory Specifications and bid forms may be obtained pre-bid meeting is scheduled for 08/13/2015 from www.stlmsd.com, click on the “MSD AT at 9:00 a.m. The meeting will be held in the WORK” link, (bid opportunities). The bid Alberici Trailer and then we will visit the site document will be identified as 6074 RFQ. If and interested bidders can view existing you do not have access to the internet, call conditions. Bid documents will be available as 314.768.2735 to request a copy of this bid. of 08/07/15 for review with MOKAN, AGC Metropolitan St. Louis Sewer District is an St. Louis, St. Louis Minority Business Council, Equal Opportunity Employer.

Dodge or by contacting Document Imaging Systems at (314) 531-0167. Questions regarding CITY OF ST. LOUIS the bid should be directed to Patrick Williamson LAMBERT - ST. LOUIS C.P.M., email Director, Purchasing INTERNATIONAL (email preferred) williamson@stlzoo.org, AIRPORT® p: 314-646-4631. The Saint Louis Zoo enjoys the support of the community through the Solicitation for Bids (SFB) for Metropolitan Zoological Park & Museum Phone Maintenance Services District. For this reason, the Zoo makes every effort to return that support by contracting with Bids Wanted qualified businesses within the District Bid documents may be obtained at Lambert (St. Louis and St. Louis County) whenever posSt. Louis International Airport - Airport sible. Not less than the current prevailing wage Properties Division, Monday through Friday must be paid to all workers on this project. between 8:30 a.m. and 5:00 p.m., or by calling (314) 426-8184. This SFB may also be obtained by visiting our website at St. Louis Development Corporation www.flystl.com (Click on “Business The Land Clearance for Redevelopment Opportunities”).

Authority of the City of St. Louis, is currently Robert Salarano seeking bids for Phase III of the Washington Airport Properties Division Manager Avenue Streetscape Improvements, between 7th Street and Memorial Drive. Proposals shall also include a bid for Lighted Bollards and Sidewalk Improvements, at the Southwest corner of Notice is hereby given that The Metropolitan Washington and Broadway. This project will St. Louis Sewer District (District) will receive include, but is not limited to, removal of sealed bids for Skinker at Lindell Blvd Sanitary Manhole Improvements (IR) under existing improvements, concrete curbs and Letting No. 12531-015.1, at this office, 2350 gutters, incidental paving, driveway apron, Market Street, St. Louis, Missouri 63103, until waterproofing of vaults/basements under the 02:00 PM on Tuesday, September 01, 2015, at sidewalks, replacement of deteriorated or non a place designated.

ADA compliant sidewalks and curb ramps, Bids will be received only from companies that rehabilitation of storm drainage structures, sign are pre-qualified by the District’s Engineering relocations, street lighting (roadway and Department for: pedestrian), landscaping and traffic control.

CONCRETE CHANNELS, WALLS, AND STRUCTURES A pre bid conference will be held at 3:00 PM Plans and Specifications are available for free Monday, August 17, 2015, in the St. Louis electronic download. Please go to MSD’s Development Corporation Board Room, website and look for a link to “ELECTRONIC 1520 Market Street, (2nd floor).

PLANROOM.” Plans and Specifications are also available for viewing or purchase at Cross Bids will be received until 3:00 PM on August Rhodes Reprographics located at 1710 31, 2015 at St. Louis Development Corporation Macklind Avenue, St. Louis MO 63110. All Attention: Aminah T. Wright, 1520 Market bidders must obtain a set of plans and specifications in order to submit a bid in the Street Suite 2000, St. Louis, Missouri 63103. name of the entity submitting the bid.

All bids shall be publicly opened at this time.

The Metropolitan St. Louis Sewer District is an The complete Bid Package is available at Equal Opportunity Employer. https://www.stlouis-mo.gov/government/ procurement.cfm.

INVITATION FOR BIDS

NOTICE TO CONTRACTORS

REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS

Sealed proposals will be received by the St. Louis Economic Development Partnership (the “Partnership”), 7733 Forsyth Blvd; Suite 2300, Clayton, Missouri. 63105, until 3:00 P.M. (prevailing central time) on Wednesday, August 19, 2015 and will thereafter be opened and reviewed.

The Partnership is initiating this Request for Proposals as part of a partnership with the State of Missouri Department of Economic Development and the St. Louis County Office of Community Development to solicit responses from qualified firms interested in providing benefit-cost analysis services related to the submission of a “Phase 2” application under the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development Notice of Funding Availability for the National Disaster Resilience Competition.

LETTING# 8579 Install Twenty (20) Inch Liner in Sublette Main from Arsenal St. to Potomac St., State Revolving Fund Project This project is financed through the Missouri State Revolving Fund, established by the sale of Missouri Water Pollution Control bonds and federal Capitalization Grants to Missouri.

Sealed proposals will be received by the Board of Public Service in Room 208 City Hall, 1200 Market Street, St. Louis, Mo. until 1:45 PM, CT, on September 15, 2015, then publicly opened and read. Plans and Specifications may be examined on the Board of Public Service website http://www.stl-bps.org/planroom.aspx (BPS On Line Plan Room) and may be All applicable federal regulations shall be in full purchased directly through the BPS website force and effect. MBE and WBE firms are from INDOX Services at cost plus shipping. encouraged to submit proposals.

No refunds will be made.

Request for Proposals will be available after 10:00 a.m. on August 6, 2015. Please visit www.stlpartnership.com.

The Partnership reserves the right to reject any or all proposals and to waive informalities therein. Questions should be directed to Kevin S. Cahill at: kcahill@stlpartnership.com or 314-615-5065.

St. Louis Economic Development Partnership An Equal Opportunity Employer

Bidders shall comply with all applicable City, State and Federal laws (including MBE/WBE policies).

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

ST. LOUIS AMERICAN

Real Estate & Rentals ST. LOUIS AMERICAN

Richmond Heights!

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ROOMS FOR RENT 1 BR apt. stove & fridge,

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APTS. & HOUSES Bates!

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Sec. 8 welcome with open arms.

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314-629-5051

620 Chain of Rocks Dr. 63137 Lg 1 & 2 BR $495-$595 + Dep,C/A, C/H, Wall to wall Carpet, Blinds, Stove, Refrigerator, Off Street Parking & Cable included

314-868-1811 or 314-369-8467 Morganford!

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Spacious 2 bedroom with Bonus Room, major kitchen appliances, basement storage, hardwood floors, pets! $530

FOR RENT clean affordable 2 BR apts $380/mo 54XX Ashland call

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Fully Equipped Kitchens - Walk-in Showers

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Beautiful! A must see for those 62 yrs or older!!

866-347-8650 SAN REMO APARTMENTS Move-In Special!

1BR $475 2BR $575

(636)225-7511

848 N. Kingshighway St. Louis, MO 63108

Winter discounts avail.

314-421-2980 (Downtown)

very clean and quiet Minutes from major grocery store plaza, Senior citizens Discount $450/mo + Dep

CREDIT FRIENDLY 2125-27 Obear 3 rms, (1 BDRM) $425/mo For details call

ROOM FOR RENT Halls Ferry Circle $450/mo, Security Cameras & Each door has it's own lockWeapon & Drug Free Property Social Security or

Income Required

314-243-2222

314-255-4733

314-504-2173

FURNISHED ROOM FOR RENT

Starting at $100/wk

LARGE ROOMS FOR RENT

FURNISHED ROOMS FOR RENT

North Side Near park & bus line, air, washer/dryer $95/wk+ $95 Dep

SOUTH CITY /NORTH CO Near bus line & Metrolink

DRUG-FREE ENVIRONMENT

All Utilities & Cable Inc. Clean & Quiet

618-501-3361

314-740-1878

FOR RENT

FURNISHED ROOMS FOR RENT

1 BR Apt Fully furnished electric provided Nice Neighborhood Delmar & Union Area $600/mo

314-532-9891 Florissant!

Huge 4 bed, 2 bath house, full basement, fenced yard with deck, appliances, no app fee, flexible deposit! $700

rs-stl.com AGSQ8 314-309-2043

North City cable, security bars, shared bathroom and kitchen, washer & dryer $85 150/wk.

Call 314-952-1614

Centrally located newly remodeled shared house $135/wk + Dep, w/d, cable, internet, all utils. included.

314-741-1951 leave a message.

South City!

Redone 3 bedroom, central air, garage, w/opener, hardwood floors, thermal windows, all appliances! only $700

rs-stl.com AGSQ6 314-309-2043

314-454-9305

Section 8 ONLY

BE OUR FRIEND ON

314-496-5808 SUMMER SPECIAL

All utils. included, Fully Furnished, major bus lines Men/Women All Ages Starting at $90/wk

314-629-1220

APT FOR RENT Newly remodeled 5231 Lotus 2nd fl Spacious 2BR apt, new hardwood fls through out, some utils incl. $625/mo+Dep. Negotiable Sec 8 welcome

1 BR, furnished apt.

4981 Rosalie @ N. Kingshighway $450 + Dep, Stove & Fridge Ready Now!

618-271-2190 314-243-3188

South City!

Huge 4 bedroom, central air, full basement, hardwood floors, all kitchen appliances, off street parking! $725

314-724-2054

rs-stl.com AGSQ7 314-309-2043

Park Place Apts

ROOMS FOR RENT

Mon-Fri 8:30am-5:00pm Saturdays 10:00am -2:00pm

TTY 800-735-2966

Visit is on the web at

Professionally Managed by NHPMN Management, LLC

Equal Housing Opportunity

314-925-9406

rs-stl.com AGSQ4 314-309-2043

2226 Miami St. 1st Fl, 1 BR,

stove & fridge off-street parking, $450/mo

314-401-7238 ROOM FOR RENT 314-687-0111 ROOMS FOR RENT Good heating and cooling. Fully furnished & Cable

314-484-3147 314-717-9966

rs-stl.com AGSQU 314-309-2043

FOR RENT Total Rehab 1-3 bedroom homes & apts. C/A, w/d hookups & private yards.

314-371-4339

Email your ads to vmedina@ stlamerican.com

HOUSES & APTS

Section 8 Welcomed

2-4 bdrms North City 2-3 bdrms South City Sect 8 OK

314-534-3863

314-772-4563

APT. FOR RENT 33XX Texas 1br $400/mo + Dep 314-991-5520 HOUSE FOR RENT 2BR in the Northwood For information call

314-727-0548 FURNISHED ROOMS FOR RENT

University City!

Amazing 3 bedroom, 1.5 bath, central air, all kitchen appliances, w/d hookups, walk-in closets! only $695

rs-stl.com AGSQ5 314-309-2043

APARTMENTS FOR RENT 2BR, 1BA, completely re-decorated, new carpet.

314-389-1804 314-346-1302 FULLY FURNISHED ROOMS

South City, nice & clean, c/a, utilities included, near bus line

for rent Very Nice Rooms Nice Area All utilities Near bus line $120-$150/wk

314-921-3708

314-478-0277

rs-stl.com AGSQ9 314-309-2043

1, 2 and 3 bedrooms in the hear of Chesterfield Call Suson Koenig

non-refundable application fee.

314-532-9891

Newly updated 2 bedrooms, finished basement, custom hardwood floors, all appliances, pets allowed! $750

ROOMS FOR RENT

$100/WK

FOR RENT Nice Furnished Studio Apt. Full bath & kitch, appls, all utils incl.

Single Occupancy Only Delmar & Union Area $550/mo

Richmond Heights!

Woods Mill Park

for further details.

8869 Maya Lane, St. Louis MO 63136

Professionally Managed by NHPMN Management, LLC

Kingshighway!

Perfect 3 bedroom, full basement, all appliances, hardwood floors, low deposit, available now! only $575

FOR RENT 4061 St. Louis Ave. 3br 1 BA $525 $10

(314) 869-5033

Equal Housing Opportunity

314-681-3008

Meramec!

Clean 2 bedroom, fenced yard, basement storage, all appliances, pets ok, w/d hookups, part utilities paid! $475

314-761-7991

1Br @ $405/mo 2Br @ $505/mo Extensive Renovations, Stove, Refrigerator, AC, gas & elec., App Fee $25; 1sm pet allowed, nearby schools, shops, businesses & parks; laundry facility, park-like setting; credit friendly, rent credit special Call

TTY 800-735-2966

3313 Salena

Shared House, Fully loaded $400/mo SSI Accepted Call Ms. Shonda

Rolling Hills Apts.

2BR Available TODAY for qualified applicant 62+ and/or disabled Sec. 8 housing avail, income restrictions apply. ADA. Pet friendly, gated, near Metro Link 5708 Kingsbury Place St. Louis, MO 63112

**SPECIAL**

APT. FOR RENT APT. FOR RENT

314-575-2665

314-925-9405

Winter Garden Apts.

C9

34XX Michigan Ave. 4 bedroom house $950.00, appliances, large 63118 fenced yard, newly 2 BR Apt $575/mo Sec 8 & Shelter Care remodeled, large rooms, C.A. & no application fee.

Accepted Sect. 8 accepted

(Nothing Like Your Own)

4399 Forest Park Blvd St. Louis, MO 63108

www.stlamerican.com

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APT FOR RENT

APARTMENTS ATTENTION! FOR RENT PRIVATE BATH & KITCHEN 5203 Northland Ave 3 BR FURNISHED KITCHENETTES FOR RENT $149/wk & up!

Stove & Fridge

314-283-3839

ST. LOUIS AMERICAN

AUGUST 6 - 12, 2015

A Senior Community Now Accepting Apps!

62+ Sec 8 housing avail, income restr. apply 1-bdrm apts, A/C, on-site laundry Free gas/water/trash

MARK TWAIN HOTEL Centrally Located & Connected to Metro and Buses, Short Term Weekly RentalsNo credit check $110.50 and up per week (utilities and Housekeeping svcs included) Other terms and conditions may apply.

NORTH CITY

1ST MONTH FREE

•

THE

Apartments & Townhomes

Need a Job?

Check out page C7.

www.stlamerican.com

THE

for leasing 314-878-9900

2 MONTHS 1/2 OFF RENT Blue Fountain APARTMENTS has 1 and 2 BR apartment homes for rent and is Section 8 approved.

Please call for an appointment today

314-942-3400.

We are location on 819 Gustav Ave off of North Broadway in St. Louis City

PUBLISHER’S NOTICE: Advertised herein is subject to the Federal Fair Housing Act, which makes it illegal to advertise any preference, imitation, or discrimination because of race,color, religion, sex, handicap, familial\status, or national origin, or intention to make any such preference, limitation, or discrimination “We will not knowingly accept any advertising for real estate which is in violation of the law. All persons are hereby informed that all dwellings advertised are available on an equal opportunity basis.”

Call Vida at 314-289-5406 to place your rental/real estate ad today!

SERVICE DIRECTORY 314-289-5406 MEDICARE & MEDICAID ACCEPTED

Montford Point Marine Association

Hearing Aids

Dental

Ladies Auxilary - St. Louis Chapter

Summer Clean-up Man & His Truck Light Hauling & Yard Work, Moving & Gutter Cleaning REASONABLE

314-583-6971 Come join us for a meet and greet.

GIANT RVGIVE 5 ESTATE SALE

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60 years of goodies, many new items Household, furniture, tools, toys, electronics, stair chair lift, jewelry, pool table, ‘90 convertible MustangMany items.

EVERYTHING MUST GO!

ST. LOUIS AMERICAN • AUGUST 6 - 12, 2015

C10

Celebrity Swag Snap of the Week Pam and Tika were among the lucky few to get up close with Omari Harwick, star of the Starz Network show “Power,” who had club HG at capacity Friday night.

Loreana Karen, Linda and Dion mae a bucket list wish come true when they met daytime talk diva Wendy Williams following her “Sit Down Tour” performance Friday night @ The Peabody Opera House

St. Louis American’s own Wiley Price and Black Ladies Rock honoree Staci Static of Old School 95.5 FM Friday night @ Café Soul @ The Marquee

T-Baby and songstress Keke Wyatt posed for a picture backstage following her show Saturday night @ The Ambassador

Marcia and Kathy came to show love to the lovely women being celebrated at Café Soul’s Black Ladies Rock Friday night @ The Marquee

Chrissy, Erica and Fluffy were among the fans in the building to get an eyeful of ‘Power’ star Omari Hardwick Friday night @ HG

Tyler and Annette got an earful of great music when they made their way to The Marquee for Café Soul’s Black Ladies Rock Edition Friday night

www.stlamerican.com

Wendy Williams gone wild. You know somebody has gone too far too fast when you say “girl,” to yourself out loud as soon as they start carrying on. Even with my mind considering what she is secretly capable of, I had no idea Wendy Williams was gonna take it all the way there for her “sit down” show at the Peabody on Friday! I’m willing to bet there are at least a couple of fans of a certain age who are still struggling to make a full recovery from the shock of her “comedy.” The poor woman three seats down from me still had her hand at her neck grasping her pearls as we were walking out the door. I hope she didn’t suffer any permanent damage. I’m gonna let y’all know now that I will not even be dropping hints about the subject matter she traumatized us with out of fear that I will be swiftly fined by the FCC, fired and arrested. But let me put it to you like this, Wendy made “Eddie Murphy: Raw” feel like a Yo Gabba Gabba concert! Yes, as in the toddler concert experience. And Wendy didn’t even bother sprinkling in any jokes between the raunch. I tip my Marley twists to her for having the nerve to put it ALL out there, because I wouldn’t even be able to discuss some of that “material” with my co-conspirator. The show started out in good fun.

I got a few little kekes from Roy Wood Jr. – especially that “closed for renovation” joke about his body being too fluffy. Lawd knows this shape of mine is shut down until it passes inspection. And Byron the social butterfly was compelling the folks to join in with his personal dance party during the DJ portion. He really managed to get the crowd mesmerized by his glow stick shirt, hot red blazer and grin the size of Texas. After Wendy spent ten minutes showing off that newly whittled down shape, she had a seat and essentially told us every dirty little (or not so little) secret in her life. I started to take my mother, but we would’ve been in family therapy.

Soul for the ladies (who rock). I’m so glad I headed straight to Café Soul’s Black Ladies Rock at The Marquee right after I left the Peabody Opera House because watching so many lovely ladies get recognized for their effort instantly alleviated some of the trauma I experienced at the hands of Wendy. It was a long, long, long night but it was worth it. Let me take a moment to shout out every one of the women being honored and to tell y’all to keep up the good work. I must say that the honorees brought out the most diverse crowd I’ve seen in these streets. There were folks from different age groups and inner circles that I would’ve sworn I’d never see together if anyone had asked me. I took my seat not too long before Syleena Johnson hit the stage and her voice was pristine as usual even if she had to get the soundman together to make sure we could hear it properly. It must have been a NSFP (not safe for Partyline) spirit in the air that the wind blew from the Peabody to the Marquee because Syleena got a bit TV-MA when she decided to twerk and let the women know where she thinks our superpower lies. I did catch life from her snippet of Erykah Badu’s “Bag Lady.” I had to dance out the door in order to make my next stop, but could still hear Syleena singing her face off as I made my way down Locust.

Ghost power. Friday night sealed the deal that the St. Louis club community is clearly team “Power” after what I’ve seen in these streets.

Niddy and ‘nem brought Omari Hardwick, who stars as “Ghost in 50 Cent’s TV show on Starz, and all of his fineness up in the place at HG. Listen, the girls lost every bit of their minds, do you hear me?! There is nothing more hee-larious than seeing twenty and thirty something year olds cut up like they are at a B2K concert. One grown adult woman was yelling from the back “Ghost, Ghost, look at me!” Help. Omari was so charming and wonderful about it all, even when the girls got to grabbing at his clothes and other regions. I really thought that the fire marshal was gonna roll through and shut it down because of that hefty crowd. It’s all the way official now that the how is a hit. Maybe I’ll actually start watching it. Probably not. 50 Cent coming to down is bound to bring the folks regardless, but I knew for sure when y’all packed the HG out for Peter that you were repping team “Power” to the absolute fullest. My hope is that through his exposure on the show Omari will finally be able to rise through the ranks to his well-earned position as the new it blactor on the scene. We shall see.

Scattered shapes for Keke Wyatt. Me and about 25 other folks came through the Ambassador to watch KeKe Wyatt sing the stage down Saturday night. Luckily she sounded so good that I even enjoyed the echo that was ringing all through there due to emptiness. She was a much better sport about it than I assumed she would be considering I’ve been in lines to pay my utility bill that had more folks than were seated at that little show.

It was a shame because I quietly got a taste of life – though I would have enjoyed it more had it carried on at a more reasonable hour. . Usually I’m so bored with the local openers that I resort to playing Temple Run 2, but I actually felt compelled to pay attention. I can’t remember any of their names, but the ruff neck Ruben Studdard was serving like a full on pro.

Because it started so late and I had other obligations, I couldn’t stay to the end of KeKe’s late night/early morning set. But I can’t say that I was mad at it. I will say that I wish she would get some order about her show and go in the lab and stay there until she has a catalog of her own that can sustain for the duration of a headliner set. There I said it.

Café Soul host Tendai couldn’t help but snap a pic with Olympic legend and Black Ladies Rock honoree Jackie JoynerKersee Friday night @ The Marquee Larry Blue was proud to pose with Black Ladies Rock honoree Debbie Fleming Friday night @ Café Soul

Café Soul’s Angie and Nichol with national recording artist Syleena Johnson, who headlined their special Black Ladies Rock Edition Friday @ The Marquee

Greek fam Makeda and TV star Omari Hardwick repped for the Skee-Phi Friday night @ HG Photos by Lawrence Bryant & John Scott

Page 2

YOUR HEALTH MATTERS

Dangers seen and unseen

You’re driving through the Serengeti and a herd of elephants come charging toward you- danger seen. The apartment next door to yours is on fire and you can see the smoke entering your front door- danger seen. A car zooms past you on the interstate and slams into a tractor-trailer spinning out of control- danger seen. Microvascular changes diabetes is causing damage to your eyes, kidneys, and heart – danger unseen.

The body’s reflex mechanisms perform actually pretty well when presented with threatening situations. For instance, your heart rate rises, you start to sweat, and cortisol levels go up in anticipation of the fight or flight response. I’m sure you recall that sensation if you remember that first encounter with the school bully or being chased by a vicious appearing dog in your neighborhood.

However, if I could reconfigure human anatomy, I would design our brains to also react to the less than obvious signs of danger like obesity, hypertension and diabetes. Those same physiological changes that occur in the aforementioned examples would also occur when we ignore early warning signs of certain diseases.

In the US, more than 72 million people are obese. Obese patients spend a

little over $1,400 more on Unfortunately, because of the medical costs than individobesity epidemic among chiluals with normal weight. dren, the students also see a Currently, no state has an lot of young patients with high obesity rate less than 15 perblood pressure as well. One cent, which is the national out of every three American goal. adults has high blood pressure, How did this happen? One roughly 70 million people. component of the problem Only half of those individuis related to the increase in als have their blood pressure dietary intake of sugars and under control. Days missed processed foods in addition to from work, medications to the lack of physical activity. treat high blood pressure, and And let me be clear, it is not the medical services needed Denise Hooks fat-shaming to bring attention Anderson, M.D. all contribute to the $46 bilto the health hazards of obelion this nation spends yearly sity. No, everyone is not supon hypertension. posed to be skinny, but having a weight Blood pressure should be checked proportional to your height is appropriate regularly and for the majority of adults, and it is recommended for optimal wellnormal is 120/80 or less. Extra weight, ness. smoking, lack of physical activity, alcoTherefore, in my imaginary world, hol, and high-salt foods can cause blood every time the scale started tipping pressure to rise. A person who has on toward a body mass index (BMI) of 30, more than one occasion a blood pressure an internal alarm would fire with a mesof 140/90 or more is considered hypersage similar to the emergency broadcasttensive. But again, in my imaginary ing alert: “Warning: you are in danger! world, when blood pressure reaches Seek assistance immediately!”

130/90, the alarm sounds: “Warning, you Medical students who rotate through are approaching danger. Seek assistance immediately!” my office are often overwhelmed Per the CDC, every five minutes, by the sheer magnitude of the numtwo people die from diabetes-related ber of patients with hypertension. complications and 16 adults are newly diagnosed. Diabetes can cause symptoms like increased thirst, increased urination, fatigue, and frequent vaginal infections. However, it is not uncommon for patients to present to the doctor

August 6 – 12, 2015

for a totally different reason and incidentally be diagnosed with diabetes. It has occurred in my practice on many occasions and blood sugars during those times were in the 400s-500s.

The damage that ensues with diabetes may not be appreciated initially.

You could be asymptomatic until that first heart attack or stroke. At that point though, the destruction is done. Future care is aimed at preventing the next medical catastrophe. Intervention obviously needs to happen prior to such events. I am suggesting the lighthouse approach with the flashing lights and bullhorn: “Warning: you are in danger! Seek assistance immediately!”

I realize my fictitious remedy will probably not come to fruition, but there are some simple things that can be done before negative outcomes occur.

1. Get regular check-ups and blood work 2. Maintain a healthy weight 3. Exercise regularly 4. Listen to your doctor and follow his/her recommendations 5. Instead of spending hours watching mindless TV or reading Facebook posts, go online and read about diabetes or hypertension.

Yours in Service, Denise Hooks-Anderson, M.D. Assistant Professor SLUCare Family Medicine yourhealthmatters@stlamerican.com

Your Health Matters

A bi-monthly special supplement of the St. Louis American

August 6, 2015 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 Hollomon, Barb Sills, Pamela Simmons, Sales Michael Terhaar, Art/Production Manager Angelita Jackson, Cover Design Wiley Price, Photojournalist

St. Louis American The

YOUR HEALTH MATTERS

August 6 – 12, 2015

Page 3

Photo by Wiley Price

Cooling down seniors: Betty Moore 65, lowers her head in relief as St. Louis City Firefighters Elijah Carr, Frank Carter and Ronald Kirk of Engine House 20 install a new air conditioner in her home. Cool Down St. Louis distributed the air conditioner donated byAmeren and Vatterott.

Cool safety tips for dangerous summer heat

By Sandra Jordan Of The St. Louis American If you or someone you know is struggling to stay cool during the oppressive heat of St. Louis summers, please do not suffer in silence or suffer alone. There is relief and help.

There are cooling centers located throughout the metropolitan area for anyone who needs them – libraries, churches, community centers and you can find a location in the nearest zip code by

n Relief by the way of electric utility assistance is available for low-income households, senior and disabled citizens by emailing the organization at info@heatupstlouis.org.

calling 211, the United Way of Greater St. Louis.

Cool Down St. Louis distributes new or gently used air conditioning units that

are donated by businesses, organizations and individuals.

Relief by the way of electric utility assistance is available for low-income

households, senior and disabled citizens by emailing the organization at info@ heatupstlouis.org. Put “Request for Utilities” in the subject line. In the body of the email, state your name, age, street address, zip code, city and a daytime telephone number and the amount needed for the bill. Cool Down St. Louis states the information will be treated confidentially and will be used only for energy assistance efforts.

See HEAT, page 5

uly

YOUR HEALTH MATTERS

Page 4

U.S. adults still not eating enough fruits and vegetables In every state in the U.S., fewer than 1 in 5 adults are consuming enough fruits and vegetables. The latest U.S. data released July 9 in the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report shows that fewer than 1 in 5 adults in every state are consuming enough fruits and vegetables.

Researchers collected data from 373,580 adults from the 2013 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System – and ongoing phone survey of adults in the United States.

Estimates ranged from a low of only 8 percent meeting fruit recommendations in Tennessee to 18 percent in California and from 6 percent meeting vegetable recommendations in Mississippi to a high of 13 percent in California.

In the CDC’s State Indicator Report on Fruits and Vegetables, 2013 says in Missouri, 43.9 percent of adults reported consuming fruits and vegetables less than one time per day, with a median range of one fruit per day and 1.5 times per day of vegetables.

Adults should eat one and a half to two cups of fruit and two to three cups of vegetables each day. Meeting these recommendations may protect against many serious illnesses, including heart disease, stroke, and certain cancers.

Fruits and vegetables are major contributors of important under-consumed nutrients; eating them instead of higher calorie foods can help manage body weight.

Substantial new efforts are needed to build consumer demand for fruits and

vegetables through competitive pricing, placement, and promotion in child care, schools, and communities.

To see how your state stacks up, visit http://1.usa.gov/1GhQ3iW.

SIUE receives $1.5 Million federal grant for East St. Louis Clinic The Southern Illinois University Edwardsville School of Nursing received a $1.5 million, three-year grant from the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), an agency of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. This interdisciplinary grant provides funding for the School of Nursing, along with the SIUE Schools of Pharmacy and Dental Medicine, and the SIUE Department of Social Work to greatly expand the scope of services provided at the WeCare Clinic on the School’s East St. Louis campus.

“The population we serve has a wide array of healthcare needs and often is unable to access assistance,” said Dr. Kim White, director of the WeCare Clinic and clinical assistant professor in the School of Nursing. “This grant is allowing us the perfect opportunity to meet those needs.”

The grant, entitled “Nurse Education,

Practice, Quality and Retention: Interprofessional Collaborative Practice,” expands services of the WeCare Clinic through the development of the nurse patient advocate (NPA) model. This innovative care approach ensures high quality, comprehensive and patient-centered care is provided under one roof. The WeCare Clinic is scheduled to begin offering expanded care to patients Sept. 1.

“By taking an interdisciplinary approach through the NPA model, patients will have access to primary and dental health care, pharmacy consultation and a medical social worker all in one visit,” White said.

Nurses will serve as care leaders to facilitate efficient and integrated services.

With the four disciplines working sideby-side in a collaborative environment, communication among professionals and patients will be improved, ultimately leading to improved health outcomes and

reduced costs. The practice also stands to enhance the education of SIUE students involved in care.

“Incorporating students in the care is an important aspect of this initiative,” said Dr. Lakesha Butler, assistant clinical professor in the School of Pharmacy. “Exposing students to an interprofessional environment where they can receive practice-based training among other healthcare disciplines is a unique opportunity for them.”

HRSA is an agency of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. It is the primary Federal agency for improving access to health care by strengthening the health care workforce, building healthy communities and achieving health equity.

HRSA awards grants to organizations to improve and expand health care services for underserved people.

August 6 – 12, 2015

Medical interactions are food for thought during family gatherings

When enjoying summertime meals with family, MediNurse reminds us to please consider seniors’ dietary needs.

St. Louis-based MediNurse said of the most overlooked considerations when meal planning for persons who take medication is making certain that food and beverages won’t cause harmful interactions with prescribed medications. To ensure an enjoyable cookout or party, be aware of possible food interactions and consider these menu alternatives: Avoid grapefruit juice. While grapefruit juice is refreshing, it can block the actions of intestinal enzymes. Intestinal enzymes break down certain drugs such as cholesterol-lowering medications. Replacing grapefruit juice with another citrus juice is not a viable option as they can also provoke negative interactions.

For a colorful, flavorful fruit, choose strawberries as they also provide the same vitamin C and fiber as grapefruit.

Avoid leafy vegetables. Dark green leafy vegetables are great for summer salads. However, they also contain high levels of vitamin K, which boosts the blood’s ability to clot. Leafy greens should be avoided by adults who are at risk of stroke or by seniors who have been prescribed blood thinners such as Coumadin.

Try lettuce-free salads for your next cookout. Apple slaw is a delicious and safe alternative for leafy greens.

Avoid caffeine. Seniors with asthma should steer clear of caffeine.

Caffeine can boost the effects of asthma medication and can increase anxiety.

Herbal teas can be served over ice for a refreshing summertime drink.

Or, provide caffeine-free cola beverages.

Avoid alcohol. Seniors who suffer from depression should not consume alcohol. Alcohol also dehydrates the system and can create dangerous interactions with opiate pain medications and sleeping medications.

If other guests are enjoying cocktails, offer sparkling cider or alcohol-free beer and wine.

Also, ask ahead of time if a guest has special dietary requests such as low salt or low-sugar.

YOUR HEALTH MATTERS

August 6 – 12, 2015

Page 5

Profile in Health

Educator enjoys empowering adolescents

Name: Brittanie McMullen

Position/Where: Community Health Educator at BJC HealthCare Career Highlights: I love the variety that comes with my career. As a health educator, I spend most days of the school year traveling to different schools in the St. Louis Metro to teach substance abuse and bullying prevention programs as well as programs on tobacco cessation and emotional intelligence. This allows me to connect and build meaningful relationships with many students and staff members. Additionally I spend a lot of time participating in community development organizations that allow me to take my work outside of schools and reach the communities the students live in.

Education: Bachelor of Science in

Psychology from Illinois State University

their lives. While working on my bachelor’s degree I had my first Personal: real taste of what that I am originally from experience is like while Champaign, Illinois. My working at a substance parents and family are abuse rehabilitation centhere. I have three sisters, ter with adolescents who one brother and a large, were working towards extended family. sobriety. I found this work to be extremely St. Louis Connection: difficult, yet equally I’ve lived in St. Louis rewarding. After gradufor four years and moved ating with my bachelor’s here for my current posidegree my original plan tion. It took me a while to was to go to graduate get used to it, but I like it school and work towards now – it’s home. becoming a child psyBrittanie McMullen chologist. I had done Journey to success: quite a bit of research Growing up, I always on the career and really knew that I wanted to work with children felt like it would be a great path for me and adolescents in a way that empowers to follow, however, one class in to my

HEAT

degree I quickly realized that it was not something I’d enjoy. I then began working for a non-profit organization that focused on mentoring disadvantaged youth and there I developed a love for non-profit work geared towards youth.

A year later, I learned that the grant I had been hired under was ending due to decreased federal funding which led me back to trying to figure things out, career wise.

Right around this time, some friends of mine were moving to St. Louis and I thought it would be a great time for me to try to get a fresh start by moving a new city, so my job hunt in St. Louis quickly led me to BJC HealthCare and I haven’t looked back since. In addition to my career, I’m also obtaining an M.B.A. with hopes of leading my own non-profit organization in the future.

Provide a shady spot for pets. A pen near trees will work or you can fasten a sunroom screen to the sides and top of the pen to provide shade too.

Continued from page 3 And the Cool Down takes donations as well. For more information, call 314-2417668, or visit www.CoolDownStLouis. org.

Health departments urge caution and provide tips for staying safe in hot weather. As a reminder, whenever the temperature rises above 95 degrees, the St. Louis County Department of Public Health recommends: • Wear loose-fitting, lightweight, light-colored clothing.

• Spend as little time as possible in the sun and keep activity levels to a minimum.

• Drink plenty of cool, non-alcoholic beverages, especially those without sugar or caffeine.

• Take regular breaks in the shade or in an air-conditioned room.

• Eat light, easily-digested foods, avoiding hot, heavy, or greasy meals.

• Be sure not to leave food unrefrigerated for long – food spoils rapidly in the heat.

• Take care of those who might not be aware of the danger or able to react accordingly –especially young children

and the elderly. Check on your neighbors and relatives if they may be vulnerable or do not have air conditioning.

• Use air-conditioning whenever in a vehicle or roll down the windows if there is no air conditioning. Never leave a child or a pet in a parked car without air conditioning!

• Know the signs of heat exhaustion. If someone becomes dizzy, nauseated, or sweats heavily, find a cooler location for him or her immediately.

• Know the signs of heat stroke. Heat stroke is much more serious than heat

exhaustion. The symptoms are similar to heat exhaustion, but also include hot, flushed skin, and normally sweating stops. If heat stroke is a possibility, call 911 immediately. Heat stroke is life threatening!

Please keep your furry family members safe as well whenever temperatures rise. Here are some tips for protecting pets during hot weather: • Regularly check a pet’s water to make sure it’s clean and fresh. Ample drinking water is vital to animals during hot and humid conditions. Make sure to adjust the drinking quantity for the size and

number of pets in the area. You can also spray your pet with water to cool them off.

• Provide a shady spot for pets. A pen near trees will work or you can fasten a sunroom screen to the sides and top of the pen to provide shade too.

• Never leave your pet unattended in a hot vehicle. Internal vehicle temperatures can reach 150 degrees.

For more information about heat safety, please visit the St. Louis County Health department’s Heat Safety Tips page at http://bit.ly/1H7F4xr.

uly

Page 6

YOUR HEALTH MATTERS

August 6 – 12, 2015

Calendar Sat. Aug. 8, 9 a.m. - 2 p.m., No cost vision screenings, eye exams and eyeglasses for qualified children ages 6-13 at Loughborough Crown Vision Center, 1012 Loughborough Commons. For more information, call 800-475-6320 or visit www.

KidsVisionForLifeStLouis.com.

Hotel St. Louis. For more information, visit healthliteracymissouri.org.

Sat. Aug. 15, 7 a.m. – 11 a.m., SIDS Resources Strides for SIDS, Creve Coeur Park, Tremayne Shelter at Sailboat Cove. 8 am Memorial Dove Release, 8:30-Race/Walk; 9:30 Awards; family and kid activities until 11. For more information, call 314-241-7437 or visit www.sidsresources.org.

Sundays, 10 a.m. – Alcoholics Anonymous Group 109 meets in the 11th floor conference room at Christian Hospital, 11133 Dunn Road at I-270/Hwy. 367. This is an open meeting for alcoholics, drug addicts and their family and friends.

Sat., Aug. 29, 9 a.m. – 1 p.m., No cost vision screenings, eye exams and eyeglasses for qualified children ages 6-13 at Maplewood Crown Vision Center, 1817 Maplewood Commons Drive. For more information, call 800-475-6320 or visit www.

KidsVisionForLifeStLouis.com.

Sat. Aug. 29, Midnight, St. Louis Moonlight Ramble, 8-mile or 18-mile bike course. Event day registration opens at 9 pm. For more information, visit moonlightramble.com/ registration.

Fri. Sept. 18, Frankly Speaking about Coping with the Cost of Care, by Cancer Support Community of Greater St. Louis at Food Outreach.

For more information, call 314-2382000 or visit cancersupportstl.org.

Thurs. – Fri., Oct. 15- 16, Health Literacy Missouri Tribute Awards & Summit, Doubletree by Hilton

Fridays & Saturdays, 11 am – Noon, Get Pumped! Free Slide/ Zumba classes, O’Fallon Park Recreation Complex YMCA, 4343 W. Florissant Ave. 63115.

Mondays, 7 p.m. – “Tobacco Free for Life” support group – free weekly meetings at St. Peters Mo. City Hall. Supported by SSM Cancer Care; RSVP initial participation to 636-947-5304.

Tuesdays, 6:30 – 8:00 p.m. – Alcohol and Drug Informational meeting, Christian Hospital, Professional Office Building 2, Suite 401. For information, call 314-8393171.

Wednesdays, 6:30 p.m. – 7:30 p.m.

– STEPS Schizophrenia Support Group This nationally recognized program provides education and support for those with schizophrenia. Group is facilitated by an experienced STEPS nurse. For more information, call 314-839-3171.

Free psychiatric and chemical dependency evaluations are confidential at the Christian Hospital Center for Mental Health. Call 314839-3171.

August 6 – 12, 2015

YOUR HEALTH MATTERS

Page 7

Health Resources Asthma Free asthma and allergy clinic by Saint Louis University students at the HRC, every other Wednesday afternoon 1:00 p.m. to 2:30 p.m. by appointment with SLU physician Dr. Raymond Slavin.

The clinic offers allergy skin tests, pulmonary function tests and asthma and allergy education. It is located in the Victor Roberts Building, 1408 N. Kingshighway, between Martin Luther King Drive and Page Blvd. For more information, call 314-720-1522.

increased severity of symptoms and to reduce the need for inpatient re-hospitalization. Call confidentially to 314-8393171 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 (652-3673) or visit www.supportvictims.org.

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.

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.

Christian Hospital Key Program offers support and education to patients with chronic mental illness to prevent

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 CHIPS Diabetes Support Group is open to anyone and meets on Wednesday evenings from 6 p.m. – 8 p.m. For more information, call 314652-9231.

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 (866776-3627).

Fresh Food Coop Community Helpings Coop sells fresh fruits, vegetables and other foods at wholesale prices in locations throughout the St. Louis area and Metro-East. For more information, visit www.communityhelpingscoop.com.

Health Partnerships The Center for Community Health and Partnerships: Building Bridges for Healthy Communities works to develop and support beneficial community-academic 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.

Exercise and cancer prevention: Kem Smith’s story Kem Smith had an immediate connection to fitness. Her mother opened the door for this passion by taking Kem to her first exercise class at age 15. Right then and there, Kem fell in love with group fitness. While Kem continued to exercise regularly, her mother struggled. Years later, Kem’s mother was diagnosed with lymphoma. She shared one final wish for her life before passing – “I want my life to mean something.”

Kem took that wish to heart.

Following the passion that her

mother inspired, Kem left her job as a teacher and went into fitness full time.

She opened K.I.S.S. Fitness Café and Spa in 2012. Today, Kem not only helps people stay healthy and prevent cancer through group exercise classes, but she has also opened the doors to her fitness center for the Program for the Elimination of Cancer Disparities (PECaD) to hold community events focusing on the health of cancer survivors.

Regular exercise – just 30 minutes each day – will lower your risk of developing cancer. Whether you’re running on a treadmill or walking around the block,

it all counts. Encourage your whole family to get up and moving together.

Exercise is especially important for cancer survivors. For some cancers, regular physical activity may lower the risk of recurrence and help cut the risk of other chronic diseases.

To learn more about lowering your cancer risk or PECaD’s community events, visit: PECaD: http://www.siteman.wustl. edu/pecad.aspx 8 Ways to Stay Health and Prevent Cancer: http://www.8ways.wustl.edu

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 314-747-4611, 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 Health Matters.

YOUR HEALTH MATTERS

Page 8

Healthy Recipe

Serves 6

August 6 – 12, 2015

Blueberry and Poppy Seed Chicken Salad with Almonds

Ingredients • 18 oz. cooked chicken breast • 1½ tsp. poppy seeds • 1 ½ c. fresh blueberries • 1 ½ oz. red onions, julienne sliced

• 6 oz. carrots, julienne sliced • ¾ c. sliced toasted almonds • 9 oz. balsamic vinaigrette • 2 tbsp. olive oil • 2 tbsp. fresh lemon juice • ¾ tsp. ground black pepper • 12 oz. spring salad mix

Directions

utes. Chill and set aside.

1. Preheat oven to 350°F.

5. Mix together lettuce, blueberries, red onions and carrots.

2. Combine the lemon juice, black pepper, olive oil and poppy seeds in a bowl.

3. Cube the chicken and add to the bowl.

Toss to coat.

4. Place chicken on a roasting pan and bake until cooked through, about 15 min-

6. For each salad, place 4 cups of tossed vegetables into a bowl.

7. Place chicken pieces and nuts on top and serve with 1.5 oz. of dressing.

Recipe and photo by Pedestal Foods