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Daughters establish Rochelle D. Tilghman scholarship Scholarship Fund Inception Banquet is April 23
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2016 Gold Cup Newspaper Missouri Press Association
See page A11
St. LouiS AmericAn The
CAC Audited APRIL 6 – 12, 2017
Vol. 89 No. 3 COMPLIMENTARY
stlamerican.com
“So fans really need to be putting the pressure on them to come forth with the extra $60 million and say, ‘We do want this.’” – Alderman Megan Ellyia Green
Monica Sykes’ life to be celebrated on April 14 Family will ‘continue to seek justice’ in disappearance and death of daughter By Chris King Of The St. Louis American
Photo by Wiley Price
Citizens cast their votes at Nance Elementary School in St. Louis on Tuesday, April 4. Thirty percent of registered voters (59,134 people) voted in the city – more than twice as much voter participation as in the April 2013 municipal general election.
Yes to public services, no to soccer stadium City voters approve sales tax increase, but not to subsidize pro sports facility By Chris King and Rebecca Rivas Of The St. Louis American In a municipal general election that sparked intense conflict, St. Louis voters split over the two most controversial initiatives on the April 4 ballot, which came as a pair,
Krewson elected first woman mayor of St. Louis
Propositions 1 and 2. City voters decided they would approve an increase in local sales tax to fund public services, including support for a north-south MetroLink line, but not to publicly subsidize the construction and maintenance of a professional soccer stadium. Proposition 1 – a half-cent sales-tax
increase that is expected to generate $20 million a year – won by a huge margin, 35,059 votes (60.4 percent) to 22,998 votes (39.6 percent). The bulk of the new funds – $12 million – are supposed to go towards building an eight-mile MetroLink extension from North City to South City. The remaining $8 million is targeted to public See VOTERS, A6
SPOT program is 2017 Health Advocacy Organization of the Year By Rebecca Rivas Of The St. Louis American
By Chris King Of The St. Louis American
See KREWSON, A6
See SYKES, A7
Trauma-informed care in Jennings schools
Knowles re-elected mayor of Ferguson, which adds police body cams to charter
Lyda Krewson was elected St. Louis mayor on Tuesday, April 4, becoming the first woman elected to the city’s highest office. Running against a field of four relative unknowns and the controversial Rev. Larry Rice, Krewson won with a just a little more than two-thirds of the votes cast in a relatively high-turnout municipal general
On Friday, April 14, Monica Sykes should have been relaxing after the celebration of her 26th birthday the day before and furthering her plans to take over management of Granny’s Home Daycare, the business operated by her grandmother, Alesia Elam. Instead, her family and loves ones will be celebrating her life, which was cut short on or about October 27 of last year, when she went missing after leaving the home of her sister Dana Sykes in Berkeley. Her remains were found almost exactly five months later in the neighboring town of Kinloch on Tuesday, March 28. The Celebration of Life for Monica Sykes will be held 1-3 p.m. Friday, April 14 at Carr Central Neighborhood The late Center, 1629 Biddle St. Monica Sykes in St. Louis. The family is inviting the public because so many people got involved in the search for their missing loved one. “We know everybody else is mourning too,” said Regina Sykes, Monica’s mother. Regina said there would be no formal ceremony, just “a matter of fellowshipping,” with notecards provided for mourners to write memories of Monica for the family to read and treasure. Her immediate survivors are her mother; her father, Leonard Sykes; her sister; and four brothers, Nathan, Cullen, Justin and Brandon Sykes. In the meantime, and thereafter, Regina said, the family will “continue to fight for justice.” Charges have been brought against a young man Monica was dating at the time, Ray Ellis, who picked her up from her sister’s home on the day she was last seen alive. But Regina said she believes, even if Berkeley Police has found her daughter’s
Sometimes kids just need someone to listen, said Cormekia Tanter, a senior at Jennings High School. “There are a lot of kids who have been through a lot of things in their lives – me being one of them,” Tanter said. “The SPOT is a great place to come because you know that they got your back no matter what you’re going through, no matter what the situation may be.” The SPOT (Supporting Positive Opportunities with Teens) is a fully-functioning health center embedded within Jennings High School. Providing free medical services – including reproductive health care – is just one part of what they do. There is also a full-time
Salute to Health Care
Photo by Wiley Price
Jennings School District’s Supporting Positive Opportunities with Teens (SPOT) program will receive the St. Louis American Foundation’s 2017 Health Advocacy Organization of the Year at the Salute to Excellence in Health Care Awards Luncheon on Friday, April 28.
See SALUTE, A7