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2016 Gold Cup Newspaper Missouri Press Association
St. LouiS AmericAn The
CAC Audited APR. 27 – MAY 3, 2017
Vol. 89 No. 6 COMPLIMENTARY
stlamerican.com
Parson Jr. makes history Florissant swears in first-ever black City Council member By Chris King Of The St. Louis American When Robert Parson Jr. decided to run for Florissant City Council, Michael Brown Jr. was an unknown teenager and Ferguson and its neighboring municipalities were not on the radar of national civil rights
n “When I saw the incumbent ran unopposed, at that time I really made up my mind to run.” – Robert Parson Jr.
organizations like the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational
Fund. Parson lived in Ward 8 in
Ferguson in April 2013, when longtime incumbent council member Mark Schmidt was reelected with less than 500 votes without any opposition. “When I saw the incumbent ran unopposed, at that time I really made up my mind to run,” Parson told The American. An attorney in private practice who is now 46, Parson had never run for public office before. He previously had been elected board president for a condominium owners See PARSON, A7
Photo by Wiley Price
Robert Parson Jr. was sworn in as Ward 8 councilman on the Florissant City Council by Judge Dan Boyle on Monday, April 24, becoming the irst African American ever to serve on the council.
People’s opens new child and youth health facility Building is designed for ‘urban behavioral health’ By Sandra Jordan Of The St. Louis American
Photo by Wiley Price
Clinical therapist Halisi Mohammad worked with Arnold Robinson, 8, a student at Grannemann Elementary School at People’s Center for Children’s Health on Wednesday, April 26. The boy visited the newly opened center at 5647 Delmar Blvd. with his mother Arteria Robinson and stepdad Oscar Brookin.
“Today may be the best day in my career, for real,” said Dwayne Butler, president and CEO of Betty Jean Kerr People’s Health Centers. That was on Tuesday, April 25, the first day People’s delivered client and patient services at its new, $6 million, 18,000 sq. ft. health facility for children and youth ages three to 17. The People’s Center for Children’s Health is located at 5647 Delmar Blvd., a couple of doors away from People’s main health center. “If we profess that behavioral health is important, then we have to invest,” Butler said. It is a bright, inviting structure that took a year to build. With medical and
n “We try to get through the fog of poverty to learn how to help our children.” – Dwayne Butler
behavioral health workers housed together to treat children and adolescents, the center integrates behavioral and physical health. Moreover, it reduces the stigma for parents who are hesitant to bring their children into a mental health facility. Services in the new facility include evaluation, group therapy, psychoscocial See PEOPLE’S, A6
Learning to fly in Jennings ‘The Science Behind Aviation’ exposes students to career options – and design ideas By Chris King Of The St. Louis American When Aaliyah McCrary stepped to the microphone, she was being watched by a room full of her peers at Jennings High School, a panel of professional aviators and engineers, student groups from a few other states linked by videoconferencing, and anyone tuned to HEC-TV.
HEC-TV, short for Higher Education Channel, was broadcasting a live segment called “The Science Behind Aviation” at the Gore Community Education Center in the Jennings School District on Thursday, April 20. But McCrary was more interested in practical employment options than the intricacies of science. She directed her question to
Jennings Superintendent Art McCoy helped students Marttan Brazie, Alexis McCrary and Darron Deal make a paper airplane during a live HECTV taping of “The Science Behind Aviation” at the Gore Community Education Center on Thursday, April 20.
U.S. Air Force Major Mallory Nordquist, who is based at Scott Air Force Base and flies C-5 transport planes. Nordquist was the only female on an allwhite panel of guests recruited by the show’s producers. McCrary, like every student in attendance, is black. She asked Nordquist what employment options female aviators have in See JENNINGS, A6 Photo by Wiley Price