Diversity A Business Imperative A 60-page special section with news and features about inclusion in the St. Louis region.
St. LouiS AmericAn The
CAC Audited JULY 24 – 30, 2014
Vol. 85 No. 16 COMPLIMENTARY
stlamerican.com
Dooley refutes smears County executive faces challenge on Aug. 5 ballot By Chris King Of The St. Louis American
Photo by Wiley Price
County Executive Charlie Dooley responds to criticism at a recent St. Louis County Council meeting.
State loosens Normandy transfer rules
County Executive Charlie Dooley faces a challenge in the August 5 Democratic primary from Councilman Steve Stenger, an attorney from Affton. For years now, Dooley has been the target of relentless criticism by the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, which frequently has relied on Stenger (when the paper names a source at all) for allegations about Dooley and his administration. Stenger often is joined in Post stories bashing Dooley by County Prosecutor Robert P. McCulloch, who also stands for reelection
on August 5. Though it’s a common protocol for incumbents from the same party defending their seats on the same ballot to support one another, or at least not openly oppose one another, McCulloch – who faces a primary challenge from Leslie T. Broadnax – endorsed Stenger early and aggressively. McCulloch even posed with Stenger in a campaign ad, where he openly accused Dooley of political corruption, saying, “This kind of corruption is a disgrace.” Ironically – as Dooley points out below – McCulloch’s own office has
n “There is no corruption in county government. I have no idea where it came from, but it comes up every four years.” – County Executive Charlie Dooley
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mAmA the detective
Some districts say will take transfers but not pay lower tuition By Dale Singer Of St. Louis Public Radio JEFFERSON CITY – The Missouri state board of education reversed itself Tuesday and broadened the terms under which students living in Normandy may transfer to nearby accredited districts in the upcoming school year. A vote in June said that students who did not attend Normandy schools in the 2012-13 n The school year – the year estimated before transfers began number of – would no longer be eligible to transfer in students the upcoming year. The expected move was a response to to leave what some people said Normandy was an unfair action has by some families who dropped to moved into Normandy after the transfer law was 328 from upheld by the Missouri 945 last Supreme Court in June year. 2013. At the time, the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education said that restriction would affect about 130 students. But Tuesday, the board reconsidered the earlier vote and removed the restriction. Because some of the affected students transferred to districts that are no longer accepting Normandy students, the move will help about 60 students, DESE said. Peter Herschend of Branson, president of the board, said the new vote was designed to remedy what he said was a decision made out of concern for the finances of the new Normandy Schools Collaborative, the state-monitored entity that replaced the Normandy school district on July 1. “We thought that the district couldn’t
Photo by Wiley Price
St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department detective Takisha Boyd poses with her daughter Kirsten Boyd, 2, and nephew Demonte Hurt, 8, next to the department’s helicopter during the opening of the new police headquarters at Olive and 18th streets on Saturday. Boyd is a 13-year veteran of the force.
Celebrating with Judge White Legal community celebrates McCaskill’s ‘masterful’ work on confirmation Judge Ronnie White, newly confirmed to the federal bench, speaks with Mike Wolff, dean of the Saint Louis University School of Law and a former colleague of White’s on the Missouri Supreme Court, at a celebration of his confirmation at McGurk’s on Thursday.
By Chris King Of The St. Louis American The U.S. Senate’s confirmation of Judge Ronnie White’s appointment to the federal bench by President Barack Obama make good on 17 years of waiting for White since his first appointment by President Bill Clinton was stymied by John Ashcroft, then a U.S. senator. But for U.S. Senator Claire McCaskill – who successfully whipped votes for White’s confirmation on July 16 – this completed more than five years of her work on behalf of this appointment. “I called Ronnie after Obama was elected in 2008 and asked, if I can work it out, would he
See WHITE, A6
See NORMANDY, A6 Photo by Wiley Price