SSM healthcare clinic now accessible in the Delmar Divine
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St. Louis American See page A12
The
CAC Audited FEBRUARY 9 – 15, 2023
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2023 Salute to Business
Creativity sparked by inconvenience Emory Reignz is Donald M. Suggs Excellence in Entrepreneurship Award recipient retrieve my bags,” Reignz said. “I immediately thought ‘this is ridiculous. Somebody should be able to deliver this for me.’ Grab My Bag was born. She decided that if she could create a business model for her “aha moment,” she would launch it at the top of the year. In just over two weeks, she researched, developed,
By Kenya Vaughn The St. Louis American On December 17, 2020, Emory Reignz landed at Atlanta’s Hartsfield-Jackson Airport following an international trip. After making her way to the rental car hub, she learned it is not open 24 hours. She raced against the clock to get placed in an SUV that she hoped would accommodate her many bags. It didn’t happen. “Over the course of two days, it took me three trips back and forth to the airport to
Emory Reignz
and created a business plan to stay on pace with her ultra-ambitious launch goals. On January 2, 2021, the business Reignz visualized out of necessity and inconvenience was officially live on grabmybag.com. She describes the venture as a “traveler-first luggage delivery service” that has been dubbed the “Lyft or Uber for luggage” and employs independently operating “grabbers” to transport checked items from airport baggage claim to the traveler’s requested destination.
See REIGNZ, A6
Vol. 94 No. 46 COMPLIMENTARY
Black legislators outraged by GOP racial antics
Rep. Kevin Windham cut off By Alvin A. Reid St. Louis American The Missouri House passed a bill allowing Gov. Mike Parson to strip some prosecutorial power from Circuit Attorney Kim Gardner after debate was cut short. Black legislators are outraged and say that trying to work with the state’s GOP is not working, and to expect peaceful yet stern retaliation. State Rep. Kevin Windham from St. Louis County was reading a newspaper article detailing Mississippi’s legislative move that would create a new court in part of Jackson, Miss. Its judges who would be appointed rather than elected. This part of the city Rep. Kevin is overwhelmingly Black, and its Windham voters would be disenfranchised. Windom shared quotes in the article by Democratic Mississippi Rep. Ed Blackmon, “Only in Mississippi would we have a bill like this, where we say solving the problem requires removing the vote from Black people.” House Speaker Dean Plocher decided he had heard enough. He ruled Windham out of order, halting his speech. The microphone was cut off. House Majority Leader Jon Patterson then made a motion to shut off debate on the bill. Other Black Democrats were not allowed to speak, and they were
Lamar Johnson is walked out of the Carnahan Courthouse Tuesday, Feb. 14, 2023, after St. Louis Circuit Judge David Mason vacated Johnson’s murder conviction during a hearing in St. Louis. Johnson has been serving a life sentence after being convicted of murdering Markus Boyd in 1995.
See GOP, A7
Freedom on Feb. 14
Photo by Wiley Price / St. Louis American
Judge Mason frees Lamar Johnson in landmark decision By Alvin A. Reid The St. Louis American Eighteen words set a man free on Tuesday after he unjustly spent 28 years in prison for a murder he did not commit. “The conviction of Lamar Johnson in State v. Lamar Johnson is hereby set aside and held for naught.” Judge David C. Mason, who heard a week of testimony in December from police, witnesses, former prosecun James “BA” Howard tors, and Johnson, issued a testified that Johnson did 48-page ruling that was a not commit the murder, scathing indictment of the saying he and convicted process and people that sent murderer Phillip Campbell Johnson to prison. Greg Elking, who recantkilled Markus Boyd. ed his testimony and admitted being rewarded for his cooperation, was a major factor in Mason’s decision. James “BA” Howard testified that Johnson did not commit the murder, saying he and convicted murderer Phillip Campbell killed Markus Boyd. Mason wrote, “This combined testimony amounts to clear and convincing evidence that Lamar Johnson is innocent and did not commit the murder of Markus Boyd either individually or acting
See JOHNSON, A6 LIVING IT
Gamers Island a techie paradise in Ferguson
BUSINESS
Entrepeneur’s cookie shop not half-baked
Located in downtown Ferguson, owners Tashauna Parker and Kalonda Cloyd say their new business venture is a family-friendly futuristic haven.
Bebe’s Bake Shoppe owner Amber Tomlin transformed the 1,080 square foot space, which housed a Great Clips, into a sweet tooth’s paradise.
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Mae Johnson, the mother of Lamar Johnson, waits to meet her son after a judge vacated his murder conviction on Tuesday, Feb. 13, 2023, outside the St. Louis City Justice Center. Johnson spent after nearly 30 years in prison for a wrongful murder conviction.
Race against history
Missouri joins states targeting CRT - for no reason By Sylvester Brown The St. Louis American Throughout the country legislation has been passed or is being proposed to prohibit the teaching of so-called critical race theory (CRT). Missouri is no exception. Republican state Sen. Andrew Koenig recently introduced legislation that was passed by the Senate that “prohibits teachers from placing blame on a collective group or race for the ‘actions committed in the past by others,’” among other directives. The odd aspect of Koenig’s and other GOP anti-CRT proponents is that they’ve whipped up a nationwide fervor over a non-issue. Koenig’s bill specifically states: “No school shall offer a course on Chris critical race theory in kindergarten Tinson through 12th grade.” CRT has never been taught in elementary or high schools. It’s traditionally a course taught in law schools and colleges that examines the role of systemic racism in American society. Chris Tinson, Associate Professor of History and Chair of the Department of African American Studies at St. Louis University, has kept an eye on the growing controversy surrounding efforts to cur-
See CRT, A7 SPORTS
NBA wheels and deals as teams gear up for playoffs The National Basketball Association’s series of blockbuster trades provided enough fireworks to excite numerous fan bases around the league.
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