Cardinal Ritter wins Class 3 state title
@stlouisamerican
@stlouisamerican
See page B4
St. LouiS AmericAn The
92 years serving, empowering and advocating equity in St. Louis
CAC Audited MARCH 19 – 25, 2020
Vol. 91 No. 52 COMPLIMENTARY
stlamerican.com
Schools feed students during shutdown
COVID-19 ‘community spread’ in St. Louis region ‘If it could happen to us, it could happen to anybody’ By Rebecca Rivas Of The St. Louis American
Photo by Wiley Price
Brothers Jaden Parnell, a student at Confluence Academy South City, and Jashaun Parnell, a student at Clyde C. Miller Academy, enjoyed lunch at Peabody Elementary School on the city’s near South Side on Wednesday, March 18. In partnership with the City of St. Louis and area charter schools, St. Louis Public Schools and food services vendor Southwest Foodservice Excellence are providing free grab-and-go meals at 33 school sites throughout the city while the district is closed.
Districts: ‘Our strength as a community is our greatest asset’ By Rebecca Rivas Of The St. Louis American School leaders from both St. Louis Public Schools and various charter schools in St. Louis city are working in collaboration to provide free grab-and-go meals at 33 school sites throughout the city during school closures in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. On Sunday, March 15, all public school districts in St. Louis County and City, along with the Archdiocese of St. Louis Schools, announced in a joint statement that they would be closing from March 18 until April 3 in order to help stop the spread of the novel coronavirus. In a joint statement issued on March 15, districts stated that the decision to close the region’s public schools was “extremely
n The meals are “grab-and-go,” meaning students cannot stay at the school to eat them because of social distancing guidance from state and local health agencies.
difficult,” made in consultation with all area superintendents. “We know that closing our schools will have a significant impact on our families, but we also believe that strong, urgent action must be taken to prevent the spread of this disease and to protect lives,” according to the statement. “Individual school districts will be in contact with their communities to provide additional
information regarding ongoing learning plans, as well as social services for those in need. All districts and schools are focused on this planning and will be in touch in the coming days through whatever communication channels are available to them.” Given the high number of students in the region eligible for free and reduced who lunch who get much of their nutrition at school, feeding public school children poses a problem. “We have with us several people who have been working very hard to figure out how we can make sure our kids get the meals they need while children are out,” Mayor Lyda Krewson said at a press conference. The 33 school sites will serve meals free of charge for all St. Louis children 18 and younger See SCHOOLS, A7
Region starts to shut down St. Louis responds to threat of community spread of COVID-19 St. Louis City Marshall Tony Brown checked the temperature of a person coming into City Hall on Tuesday, March 17, when marshals began checking all employees and visitors to City Hall. In an effort to control the spread of the novel coronavirus, anyone with a temperature of 100.4 degrees or higher will not be allowed into the building.
By Rebecca Rivas Of The St. Louis American Regional leaders on both the Missouri and Illinois side have made sweeping moves to prevent the spread of COVID-19 — and many of them just since the weekend. On Wednesday, March 18, Mayor Lyda Krewson mandated that people only gather in groups of 10 people or less, following the announcement of the city’s second positive case of the novel coronavirus. She made the decision based on advice from experts from BJC HealthCare, SSM Health and Mercy Hospital, as well as the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the city’s health director. “We think it’s important to take that move,” See REGION, A7 Photo by WIley Price
An African-American Belleville resident who is 56 tested positive for COVID-19 on Tuesday, March 17. He started feeling flu-like symptoms on Sunday night, and his family took him to the hospital on Monday with a 101 fever. On the afternoon of Wednesday, March 18, doctors put him on a ventilator. He and his wife live n “We are in Belleville, Illinois, ordinary with their two daughters people who and five grandchildren. haven’t been With the news of the global pandemic, they out of the have been intentionally country. If it staying at home. could happen “I have no clue to us, it could where he got it from,” the mother said. happen to “My husband was so anybody.” susceptible because he’s a sick person. We – a Belleville even tried to protect whose him by staying home. husband tested We are ordinary people positive for who haven’t been out of COVID-19 the country. If it could happen to us, it could happen to anybody.” The St. Louis American is not using their names to protect their privacy. Their only outings this past week were to the doctor’s office and the grocery store. On March 7, the couple attended a Mardi Gras Party hosted by a fraternity chapter at St. Louis Lambert International Airport. Around 300 people attended the event. Around the same time, they attended a family birthday party in St. Louis County. The entire family is now quarantined at home. Both the mother and her daughter have had fevers and feel flu-like symptoms, See COVID-19, A7
COVID-19 and captivity Courts, prosecutors balance pandemic control with criminal justice By Rebecca Rivas Of The St. Louis American St. Louis prosecutors are trying to keep new inmates from going into jails in St. Louis County and the City of St. Louis to prevent a potential COVID19 outbreak, and they are trying to reduce the current jail populations. “We are implementing protocols to limit the flow of people and activity in the Justice Center and courts in an effort to limit exposure to not only the public, but also jail and court staff St. Louis as well as inmates in the Circuit Justice Center,” said St. Kimberly Louis County Prosecutor Gardner Wesley Bell in a March 17 statement. “Despite this pandemic, this will not diminish our capacity to issue charges and do our part to keep St. Louis County safe.” See COURTS, A6