‘I can’t believe he is gone’ @stlouisamerican
Rev. Carlton Lee, pastor of Michael Brown Sr., passes from heart attack at 34
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@stlouisamerican
2016 Gold Cup Newspaper Missouri Press Association
St. LouiS AmericAn The
CAC Audited JUNE 15 – 21, 2017
COMPLIMENTARY
stlamerican.com
Sewage storage tank plan stinks for U. City Project Clear puts tanks in Hafner Place area By Sandra Jordan Of The St. Louis American
Residents and elected officials from University City express their opposition to Metropolitan Sewer District’s plans to build two 30- to 40-foot raw sewage storage tanks in a residential area near Hafner Place and Olive Blvd.
Metropolitan Sewer District will hold a meeting for University City residents on June 20 regarding their plan to build two 30-to 40-foot tanks to hold raw sewage in a residential area in Ward 3. A few weeks ago, University City homeowners were surprised and upset to learn of MSD’s plan to place the sewage tanks in a residential area not far from a school to address a bottleneck of three large underground sewer pipes that converge in that location. Flooding and raw sewage backups are ongoing issue in the area, located around Hafner Court and Hafner Place, north of Olive Boulevard
See SEWAGE, A7
Vol. 89 No. 13
Photo by Sandra Jordan
Honoring one of our own U.S. Rep. Maxine Waters to keynote Freedom Fund Dinner By American staff The St. Louis County NAACP on Monday announced its keynote speaker for its annual Freedom Fund Leadership Dinner, U.S. Rep. Maxine Waters (D-CA). The 2017 Freedom Fund dinner takes place on Thursday, June 22, where Waters will receive the Margaret Bush Wilson Lifetime Achievement Award along with former Missouri Governor Bob Holden. The event will take place at the Ritz-Carlton Hotel, 100 Carondelet Plaza, Clayton, Mo., with a 5 p.m. reception followed by the dinner and program at 6:45 p.m. U.S. Rep. Maxine Waters is considered Maxine by many to be one of the most Waters powerful women in American politics today. The thirteen-term Congresswoman and St. Louis native has a reputation of being a fearless and outspoken advocate for women, children, people of color and the poor. She is the senior African-American woman serving in Congress and serves as ranking member of the powerful House Committee on Financial Services. An integral member of Congressional Democratic Leadership, Waters serves as a member of the Steering & Policy Committee. She is also a member of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, and member and past chair of the Congressional
See WATERS, A7
Baptists to ‘envision the future’ at conference Photo by Lawrence Bryant
Happy Father’s Day Two-year-old Jayde is exhausted from all the activities at the African Art Festival in Forest Park recently. She rests her head on her father Jeff Miliken.
Ruzicka resigns amid investigation Parole Board member played ‘parole bingo’ with inmates’ futures By Sophie Hurwitz For the St. Louis American Missouri Parole Board member Don Ruzicka resigned Monday, June 12, after a report from a local civil-rights law firm revealed his penchant for playing “word
games” with inmates while determining whether they would stay in prison or granted release. Ruzicka, along with an unnamed parole analyst, had been spending time during parole hearings trying to get inmates to guess a given “word of the day,” instead of
asking questions relevant to the case. The “words of the day” included terms such as “armadillo,” “platypus,” and “hootenanny,” and even song titles like “Hound Dog” by Elvis, and “Folsom Prison Blues” by
See RUZICKA, A6
112th Annual Session will take place from June 19-23 By Rebecca Rivas Of The St. Louis American Christians must learn how to stay strong in their faith in the face of challenges such as violence and racism, said Rev. James H. Cokley, president of the National Baptist Congress of Christian Education. “We are trying to see what we can do to make the church the best she can be by preparing disciplines for what is yet to come,” Cokley said. “We teach the fruit of the spirit, which is the belief that we must love one another regardless of race, creed or color.” These are among some of the lessons that will be touched upon at the National Baptist Convention USA, Inc.’s upcoming Congress of Christian Education 112th Annual Session, which will take place in St. Louis from June 19 to 23. This year’s theme is “Envisioning the Future Exceptionally
See BAPTISTS, A6