Digital divide damaging region
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Urban League to open Entrepreneurship Center Focus on Black-owned small businesses
By Alvin A. Reid The St. Louis American Marc Morial, National Urban League president and CEO, praised its St. Louis agency as the “best and largest affiliate” among the 92 nationwide on Tuesday afternoon. He also announced the launch of an entrepreneurship center in a former Commerce Bank building at Newstead and Natural Bridge. “You just continue to build the Urban League of Metropolitan St. Louis,” he said of local president and CEO Mike McMillan.
See URBAN LEAGUE, A7
Photo by Wiley Price / St. Louis American
National Urban League President Marc Morial officially announced a new National Urban League-designated entrepreneurship center in north city Tue. Apr. 19, 2022. The center will be in the former Commerce Bank building at Natural Bridge Rd. and Newstead Ave.
An egg-cellent afternoon An Easter Egg hunt for children was held Saturday, April 16, 2022, at Nance Elementary School in St. Louis by the non-profit organization 4 Walls and Beyond, which assists kids with incarcerated parents. 4 Walls and Beyond also offers life skill sessions that focus on the well-being of the children it serves. To volunteer, visit www.4wallsandbeyond.org.
Vol. 94 No. 4 COMPLIMENTARY
Jones backs $150M in ARPA funds for North city
Proposal follows veto of similar spending push By Karen Robinson-Jacobs The St. Louis American In her first State of the City address, St. Louis Mayor Tishaura Jones Tuesday proposed spending $150 million in federal assistance funds in North St. Louis to “begin bridging the racial wealth gap that splits our city in two. “It’s time to put St. Louis on the road to economic justice,” she added nearly one year after her historic election as the first Black woman mayor of the Gateway City. The announcement comes about eight months after Jones vetoed a proposal, backed by the Board of Aldermen, to use $33 million in American Rescue Plan funds specifically to try to address St. Louis Mayor years of disinvestment in Tishaura Jones North city. Under Jones’ proposal, the $150 million also would come from American Rescue Plan funds and would be used in part to address the vacancy scourge in North St. Louis. In a statement, Board of Aldermen President Lewis Reed, noted the apparent shift in direction. “After more than 240 days, I’m glad to hear that the mayor has finally joined myself and other city leaders in her willingness to target ARPA funds in North St. Louis,” he said. “From the beginning, this has been a clear priority of the Board of Aldermen,” he said. “There have now been two board bills that have been sent
See JONES, A6
North STL County rec center, Convention Center funding approved By Chad Davis St. Louis Public Radio
While he withdrew the proposed amendment, Seitz vowed to return with another proposal. “The MLBC proudly stood against legislation that dismantles the First Amendment rights of our state’s students and teachers by limiting their ability to discuss uncomfortable but necessary topics,” said Bland, a Democrat
After months of delays, the St. Louis County Council on Tuesday approved funding for a new north county recreation center and its share of renovations to the downtown St. Louis convention center. The council voted 6-1 to use $105 million in bonds to help expand the downtown convention center. The bill includes an additional $40 million in bonds to go toward the creation of a north St. Louis County recreation center. “I look forward to working with the administration in terms of how they’re putting this together and offer my assistance if they need it,” said council Chair Rita Days, who sponsored the bill. “It is now in the hands of the administration to fulfill this project.”
See MLBC, A7
See REC CENTER, A6
Photo by Wiley Price / St. Louis American
MLBC blasts effort to censor Black History
Bill targets ‘Black authors, thinkers’ St. Louis American staff
As the war on Black history rages throughout America, the Missouri Legislative Black Caucus helped stave off a legislator’s
HEALTH
Missouri House advances funds for doula training
Jamaa Birthing Village is one of the few places in the state that offers doula training and could now see an increase in enrollment.
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effort to “dismantle the First Amendment,” state Rep. Ashley Bland Manlove, MLBC chair, said in a statement. State Rep. Brian Seitz, R-Branson proposed an amendment to House Bill 1858 that would restrict Missouri schools from teaching that “an individual should feel discomfort, guilt, anguish, or any other form of psychological distress on account of the individual’s race or sex.”
SPORTS
LIVING IT
St. Louis American Boys ‘Fab Five’
Hamilton returns to St. Louis
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Rob Martin is The St. Louis American Player of the Year after leading the Cadets to the Class 6 state championship.
Hamilton is so engaging that the bits of revisionist history and moral grace afforded to the least deserving of the founding fathers are quickly forgiven.