East Boogie Livin’ for the weekend for more than 80 years
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St. Louis American See page B1
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Third jail protest in six weeks leaves community with divided opinions By Dana Rieck Of The St. Louis American Like a scene from a movie, inmates on Saturday morning took over two units on the fourth floor of the City Justice Center. As they stood at a row of broken exterior windows, throwing flaming objects onto the sidewalk below, they did exactly what many said they were trying to do — draw attention to their cause. The online comment sections of every local news outlet covering the uprising illustrated one major theme — the people of greater St. Louis are hotly-divided when it comes to the city’s incarceration rates and its treatment of inmates during the coronavin “So this was rus pandemic. “I think what we a bunch of folk saw today was a that were buildup of deep defiant, this was frustration and a bunch of people process around the human rights of who decided that folks being detained in our local jails,” they were Kayla Reed, execgoing to engage utive director of in criminal Action St. Louis, said on Saturday mayhem and afternoon. that’s exactly Public Safety what they did.” Director Jimmie Edwards, in a brief— Jimmie ing Saturday mornEdwards, ing as the uprising Public Safety director was brought under control, laid out the counter argument to Reed’s perspective. “So this was a bunch of folk that were defiant, this was a bunch of people who decided that they were going to engage in criminal mayhem and that’s exactly what they did,” he said. “And they should be held accountable for what they did.” Edwards went on to say that the most violent people were held at the Justice Center, even though almost all inmates there are being held while awaiting trial. When asked Monday about his language used to describe the inmates, he said all inmates should be respected, but then doubled-down on his stance. “But if you’re charged with homicide, or you’re charged with assault on a police officer, See Protest, A6
COMPLIMENTARY
SLPS board passes new school moratorium Missouri legislature debates charter funding By Sophie Hurwitz Of The St. Louis American Last month, the St. Louis Public Schools Board of Education voted to close six schools due to declining enrollment numbers. When Superintendent of Schools Kelvin Adams called for the schools to be closed, he asserted that this plan should come with establishing a city-wide plan for what the education system will look like going forward. No such plan exists, meaning that according to SLPS Board Chair Dorothy Rohde-Collins, “a lot of services … are duplicated.” “All the decisions about school openings are being made in isolation, and that’s coming at a detriment to kids, because there isn’t a cohesive plan for where those schools are going to be located, or how to make sure that children in every neighborhood have access to schools,” Rohde-Collins said. The St. Louis metropolitan area’s system of dozens of municipalities, each with their own municipal services, leads to certain services being replicated. This dynamic of redundant services is replicated in SLPS, where the 103 district schools and charter schools in St. Louis are not working under any unified plan means that, according to See SLPS, A7
Photo by William Greenblatt for the American
Inmates at the St. Louis Justice Center start fires after breaking windows on the fourth floor, yelling to those watching from the street, in St. Louis on Saturday, Feb. 6, 2021.
2021 St. Louis mayoral candidates respond
What do you see as the biggest challenges to public transit needs and what would you do to address them?
Andrew Jones Jr.
71% of public transit riders who want to see more security on our system. Andrew T. Jones I feel we are meeting the minimum for the city’s transportation needs and we need to con-
By Sophie Hurwitz Of The St. Louis American
tinue to work to better meet the requirements of those needing transportation to work, shop, doctor visits and other needs. There are areas of concern that severely limit See Mayor, A7
See Bolton, A6
Cara Spencer
Cara Spencer
Washington U appoints Bolton executive vice chancellor for administration Shantay Bolton, vice president and deputy chief operating officer at Tulane University, has been appointed executive vice chancellor for administration and chief administrative officer at Washington University in St. Louis, effective July 1, according to Washington University Chancellor Andrew D. Martin. Bolton, who was born and raised in St. Louis, was valedictorian at Vashon High Shantay School. She then went Bolden on to attend Alabama A&M University, where she earned her bachelor’s degree in psychology and her master’s degree in counseling psychology. But Bolton did not stop there: she went on to earn her doctorate in organization-
Ahead of the St. Louis Primary Election on March 2, The St. Louis American is asking a series of questions of the candidates for mayor of the city of St. Louis. Following are their responses.
Our biggest challenge to public transit was really underscored by the recent tragic killing of security guard James Cook at the Delmar MetroLink station. We need a safer transit system with coordinated, collaborative security. The recent WPS study commissioned by East West Gateway outlined 99 recommendations, most of them related to safety and security. As mayor, I will be committed to putting these recommendations into place. That includes consistent fare and rule enforcement, security cameras, and most importantly — a strategic security program with a defined entity responsible for security throughout the public transit system. We need to be done with the finger pointing, define where the buck stops and answer to the
Vol. 92 No. 43
Tishaura O. Jones
Lewis Reed