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The St. Louis American endorses Tishaura Jones for St. Louis mayor See ad on page A4
2016 Gold Cup Newspaper Missouri Press Association
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St. LouiS AmericAn The
CAC Audited FEB. 23 – MAR. 1, 2017
Vol. 88 No. 46 COMPLIMENTARY
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More major progressive endorsements for Tishaura MoveOn.org, Democracy for America, SEIU endorse Jones for mayor By Chris King Of The St. Louis American Tishaura O. Jones received two new national progressive endorsements for St. Louis mayor on Monday, February 20 – from MoveOn.org Political Action and Democracy for America – followed by a state endorsement from the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) Missouri State Council and more than 50 personal endorsements from prominent local progressives. MoveOn endorsed Jones based on the votes of its St. Louis-based members, of which 66 percent voted to endorse her in the March 7 mayoral primary. MoveOn has more than 19,000 members in St. Louis. The organization also donated an initial $10,000 to her campaign and committed to
n “Tishaura Jones is exactly the kind of courageous progressive we need leading a great American city like St. Louis.”
Tishaura O. Jones filing for St. Louis mayor on November 25.
– Jim Dean, chair of Democracy for America
doing a fundraising mailing to its 7 million-plus national membership, according to the Jones campaign. “Jones is an exciting candidate who represents the future of the Democratic
See TISHAURA, A6 Photo by Wiley Price
‘We already have a problem’ Stadium funding would cut into underfunded Affordable Housing Trust Fund Krewson, Reed voted to put public funding for stadium on April 4 ballot By Rebecca Rivas Of The St. Louis American
Photo by Wiley Price
Power of Passage Marcus Porter, Terrell Shampert, Titus Piphus and Marcus White showed spirit during the Rites of Passage ceremony celebrated by Bertha Knox Gilkey Pamoja Preparatory Academy @ Cole School on Thursday, February 16. The ceremony was facilitated by Mwalimu Mary Ann Dunlap, director of the Imani rites of Passage. School Principal Sean Nichols said, “With an African theme, our school has had the opportunity to blend a lot of traditional concepts from Africa and experiences in public school settings that promote alternative learning styles for learning new things.” The academy, located at 3935 Enright Ave., is in the St. Louis Public School District.
Muslim Americans raise funds for vandalized Jewish cemetery Volunteers helped to right one of nearly 200 headstones that were damaged over the weekend at Chesed Shel Emeth Society Cemetery in University City.
Nearly 200 headstones damaged and toppled in University City By Alexandra Larkin Of CNN A fundraiser for a vandalized Jewish cemetery is sending a strong message of unity and tolerance. The effort organized by Muslim-American activists Linda Sarsour and Tarek El-Messidi was launched this week to fund the repairs of nearly 200 headstones that were damaged and toppled in the Chesed Shel Emeth Society cemetery in University City. The fundraiser exceeded its goal of $20,000
Like many parts of North St. Louis, a majority of the buildings around St. Ferdinand Avenue and North Sarah Street are empty or a little more than rubble. But that’s about to change. In January, the nonprofit Northside Community Housing Inc. secured $250,000 in funding from the city’s Affordable Housing Commission to build 43 mixed-income townhomes and n “Even before apartments at that this proposition location – a $9.5 million of the soccer project. Jessica Eiland, stadium, we president of Northside, aren’t fully said the development will have a “huge funding the psychological and Affordable financial impact” on the Housing Trust neighborhood. Fund. We already “When you start have a problem.” fixing things up, it really means something for the community members,” – Molly Metzger, Eiland said. “And it Washington shows that the city is University willing to make it a priority to invest in this community.” While the project is largely made possible by state tax credits, the money from the Affordable Housing Commission was able to fill the gap in the project funding. “Those little amounts can make or break a project,” Eiland said. However, Missouri Senate Bill 285, sponsored by state Senator Andrew Koenig (R-Manchester), proposes to cut state tax credits that make projects like Eiland’s possible. Now the Affordable Housing Commission’s funding has “become more important than ever,” said Karl Guenther, a community development specialist at University of Missouri St. Louis. “The Affordable Housing Trust Fund is a tool the city has to improve neighborhoods, households and the families that reside in them,” Guenther
See STADIUM, A7
See CEMETERY, A6 Photo by Wiley Price