CAC Audited JANUARY 2 – 8, 2014
Vol. 84 No. 39 COMPLIMENTARY
stlamerican.com∞
Coping with cancer together Husband and wife survivors find strength from one another By Robert Joiner The day Sha Fields was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2007, her fiancé came along to offer moral support, and he has been by her side since then. She says she used to wonder how to repay his years of unconditional support. The chance came last year, when her husband, Cliff, was diagnosed with prostate cancer. The Siteman Center for Advanced Medicine at Washington University had no data on how unusual it is for both a husband
Cliff Fields, Sherrill Jackson of the Breakfast Club and Sha Fields at a recent Breakfast Club event for cancer survivors.
Transfer parents told to re-apply Ferg-Flor mailings coincide with ouster of Art McCoy By Rebecca Rivas Of The St. Louis American
See CANCER, A7
Photo by Robert Joiner
On the same day that the Ferguson-Florissant school board announced its intention to move towards terminating Superintendent Art McCoy Jr., district administrators also sent out an email to school principals announcing that the district will require all students who transferred from Normandy and Riverview Gardens schools to reapply to the district. Reapplication is not standard procedure for the statewide Student Transfer Program, according to the Missouri Department of Elementary and Art McCoy Secondary Education (DESE). “Our assumption would be that the student intends to return unless they notify the district otherwise,” said DESE’s spokesperson Sarah Potter. “Therefore, there would be no need to reapply.” According to the Dec. 19 email sent to principals, the district is in the process of mailing parents of Normandy and Riverview students an “Intent to Return” application, which they must return or mail to the Admissions Office directly by
See McCOY, A6
Real Tedx Talk Photo by Wiley Price
Dancing the spirit Dancers with the East St. Louis Performance Ensemble performed for a standing-room-only crowd at the St. Louis Art Museum on Sunday afternoon. The event was the annual St. Louis Art Museum Kwanzaa Celebration that is held in collaboration with the St. Louis Metropolitan Alumnae Chapter of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc.
Rod Jones wants to spread the idea that we are connected to the poor By Rebecca Rivas Of The St. Louis American
For parents in crisis
go on your own, but when you have children it makes it that much more difficult,” she said.
“So often in society we tend to give ourselves over to these kinds of biases that make us believe some people deserve it and some people don’t deserve it,” said Rod Jones, president and CEO of Grace Hill Settlement House. Jones grew up in a housing project in New York City. His life could have gone many different Rod Jones directions, he said. But thanks to the programs at his local HeadStart and neighborhood centers, he chose education. Every day at Grace Hill, Jones said, he works to “raise the floor of citizenship in America” and to give everyone a shot at achieving their dreams.
See CRISIS, A7
See JONES, A6
Crisis Nursery provides counseling, care and safe haven By Bridjes O’Neil Of The St. Louis American Stacy Crawford, a single mother of three, had reached her breaking point emotionally when she hastily dialed the St. Louis Crisis Nursery’s 24-hour crisis helpline. “I was scared and overwhelmed,” Crawford said. It was March 2009. She and her son’s father were having co-parenting issues, and she was unable to work due to health
n “We’re dealing with loving, compassionate parents who just happen to live in extreme poverty and don’t have the resources they need.”
– DiAnne L. Mueller, Crisis Nursery
problems. And she was searching for a stable place where she and her family could call home. “It’s bad enough to not have anywhere to
BUSINESS
HEALTH
SPORTS
Regional Chamber, Minority Business Council coalesce
Employee loses 100 pounds from exercising
Holiday basketball tournament action
‘To advance the aligned and shared goal of greater economic inclusion’
With a little prompting from his physician, Viron Washington stuck to his 2012 New Year’s resolution and lost weight.
Incarnate Word wins the Visitation Tournament, Edwardsville wins Carbondale, Chaminade wins own tourney.
Page B1
Insert
Page B3