Nicholas Grice opens Jade Event Center in St. Ann
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CAC Audited JANUARY 19 – 25, 2023
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2023 Salute to Business
Lifetime Achiever: Arnold Donald
He is a captain in the global world By Chris King For The St. Louis American
Arnold Donald possesses two rare, equally enviable and diametrically opposed gifts. He can foresee, prepare for, and ultimately manifest an unlikely and successful future, and he can successfully navigate utterly unforeseeable crises with grace and aplomb. Someone with his pedigree could point to more
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During Arnold Donald’s tenure as Carnival Corporation CEO, its stock price nearly doubled, reaching an alltime high of $72.70 per share in January 2018.
Photo courtesy of Carnival Corp.
Vol. 94 No. 43 COMPLIMENTARY
St. Louis celebrates MLK Day with calls for action 54th annual march kicks off MLK Day
By Alvin A. Reid The St. Louis American Fourteen years had passed between the first Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Holiday Committee of St. Louis commemoration march and King’s birthday becoming a national holiday. The 54th annual march began in the rain on Monday, Jan. 16 at the Old Courthouse, as the 40th anniversary of the King holiday was being celebrated. There were events throughout the city and St. Louis County during the weekend, including the annual commemoration service on Saturday in Fountain Park, home of the only statue dedicated to MLK in the state of Missouri. Standing outside the Old Courthouse, where Dred and Harriett Scott’s legal right to freedom was smothered by the U.S. Supreme Court, St. Louis
See MLK DAY, A7
Photo courtesy of SLPS
Photo by Dawn Suggs / St. Louis American
Speaking at the Old Courthouse before the 54th Dr. Martin Luther King Committee March on Monday, Jan. 16 2023, Congresswoman Cori Bush reminded St. Louisans that King’s dream of a fair and equal America for all people has not been reached. From left are Mike McMillan, Urban League of Metropolitan St. president and CEO, Bush, Merdean Gales, a march founder and committee member, and Mayor Tishaura Jones.
Congresswoman Cori Bush: Second term, second chance
By Sylvester Brown Jr. The St. Louis American
Three days after Congresswoman Cori Bush took office to represent the voters of Missouri’s First Congressional District, the Capitol insurrection occurred. As she begins her second term, Bush said she’s just as committed to holding former president Donald Trump and all those who participated in the violent rebellion accountable. Although Republicans reclaimed the majority, Bush is surprisingly upbeat about the role Democrats will play in the 118th Congress. The next two years, she said, will be an opportunity to challenge nonsensical legislation and chaotic and destructive GOP policymakers. Most importantly, Bush added,
n “We’re going to uncover the untruths and really galvanize and mobilize folks to see what’s really happening with that leadership.” – Rep. Cori Bush
Democrats will further remind Republicans why there was no “Red Wave” in the House and Senate and why voter’s lives, priorities, and futures are better off under Democratic leadership. “That election showed that we have to double down on the politics that actually improves the lives of Black and brown com-
SPORTS
Girls hoops All-Star Showcase at Lutheran North
munities,” Bush said. “We must look at how we are advancing the priorities of Black communities, women, young people, the elderly, and others. When we speak to that, people will show up at the polls.” Bush said she had heard about an upcoming red tsunami since she entered office in 2020. After the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v Wade, opening the door for state bans on abortions, she had serious doubts about the GOP’s massive takeover. “I was thinking, ‘You don’t think we’re going to galvanize around this issue to protect our rights?”’ Bush recalled. “As it turned out, there was no red wave; there was a red trickle, like a leaky faucet.”
HEALTH
Medicaid eligibility enrollment is no longer guaranteed
The lineup is set for the eighth annual Sweet Hoops All-Star Basketball Showcase on Saturday Jan. 21 at Lutheran North, a top girls event in Missouri.
Missouri’s social services department will resume conducting Medicaid eligibility renewals — allowing the state to remove people from its rolls after a pause during the COVID-19 emergency.
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Students, parents, and staff were greeted with an embrace and understanding when Central Visual and Performing Arts High returned to classes on Tuesday.
CVPA students return to class with hugs, smiles St. Louis American staff Soon after losing her daughter Alexandria Bell in The Oct. 24, 2022 Central Visual and Performing Arts High School shootings, Keisha Acres has been there for Bell’s friends, classmates and school staff. On Tuesday, when classes resumed for the first time in three months, she was at the school as the sun slowly began to rise. “I’m overwhelmed, but I’m here for the kids,” she said. I’m in the mom role right now, so it’s not about me, it’s about them. That’s pretty much where it is. It’s about the children and me standing in the gap for the parents that can’t be here, so I would want somebody to do it for my daughter.”
See BUSH, A7
See CVPA, A6 LIVING IT
NAACP Image Awards feature many St. Louisans
A handful of nominees with a St. Louis connection include Sterling K. Brown, Cedric The Entertainer, Jenifer Lewis and Kasi Lemmons.
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