Your Health Matters The bonuses of exercise, plus, how sleep duration affects hunger differently by gender, and more
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CAC Audited JANUARY 3 – 9, 2013
Vol. 84 No. 40 COMPLIMENTARY
stlamerican.com
Family of opportunity Westbrooks believe in helping each other – and their community By Rebecca S. Rivas Of The St. Louis American
Photo by Wiley Price
Kelvin Westbrook, Valerie Bell and their children Erinn, Lauren and Brent Westbrook.
Every Christmas Eve, the Westbrook children have a slumber party in one of their rooms. Two of them sleep on the floor, and the lucky one gets to sleep in their own bed. “We’ve done that forever,” said Erinn Westbrook. “Even though we are almost all in our 20s now, I don’t think we’ll ever grow out of that. It’s become a very special part of our holidays, and I always look forward to it.” Erinn, 24, is an actress on the TV sitcom Mr. Box Office and lives in Hollywood. Her sister Lauren, 27, is
“We quickly identified that our passions galvanized around education and health care.” – Kelvin Westbrook
a senior marketing executive for Bigelow Tea in Connecticut, and she also runs her own consulting firm called Westbrook Strategies. And her brother Brent, 19,
See FAMILY, A7
Buford named 2012 Citizen of the Year Local Urban League president honored for civic leadership By Chris King Of The St. Louis American James H. Buford, longtime President and CEO of the Urban League of Metropolitan St. Louis, has been named 2012 St. Louis Citizen of the Year. The award for civic leadership is sponsored by the St. Louis Post-Dispatch and the St. Louis Citizen of the Year Committee, a group of past James H. honorees who select the new Buford recipients. “I am truly honored,” Buford told The See BUFORD, A7 Photo by Wiley Price
Tishaura makes history Tishaura O. Jones was sworn in as treasurer for the City of St. Louis by the Honorable Angela T. Quigless of the Missouri Court of Appeals in the Eastern District. The ceremony took place just after midnight during a New Year’s Eve Inauguration event in the City Hall Rotunda. Jones is the first woman to serve as City Treasurer.
George Allen remains free
JULY 3, 1940 – DECEMBER 26, 2012
Appellate ruling upholds release of man wrongly convicted in 1982
Fontella Bass passes at 72
By Chris King Of The St. Louis American
Hit the charts in 1965 with the love song “Rescue Me” By Gloria S. Ross For The Beacon Say “Fontella Bass” within earshot of anyone of a certain age, and the listener will most likely respond, “Rescue me.” The sultry, angst-filled love song with a dance beat stormed the charts in 1965, was nominated for a Grammy Award the following year and remained forever
Less than two months after a lower court threw out George Allen Jr.’s 1982 conviction of murder and rape charges, an appellate court has upheld that ruling. Allen, 56, will remain a free man. Last Wednesday the Missouri Court of Appeals Western District ruled that Cole County Circuit Judge Daniel Green did not abuse his dis-
anchored as one of the most recognized soul songs ever recorded. “She did many things after ‘Rescue Me,’” said her daughter, Neuka Mitchell, “but she never got tired of singing it.” Bass, a homegrown artist who became a household name in the U.S. and Europe, died last Wednesday, Photo by Wiley Price
See BASS, A6
Fontella Bass
See ALLEN, A6