Devon shows ‘Great’ness Alexander overpowers Maidana in first bout at 147
Pages B3
Vol. 83 No. 48
CAC Audited MARCH 1 – 7, 2012
COMPLIMENTARY
stlamerican.com
Carnahan files in Clay’s district Civil War looms in Missouri Democratic Party By Chris King Of The St. Louis American
Photo by Wiley Price
On Friday, Board of Alderman President Lewis Reed was joined by IAFF Local 73 president Chris Molitor (left) and Alderman Greg Carter, chair of the board's Public Safety Committee (right), with members of F.I.R.E. and Firefighters Local 73 at City Hall in announcing an alternative to Mayor Slay's recent proposed changes to the firefighters' pension system.
Reed says Slay’s new pension plan breaks law Aldermanic president bypasses mayor with bill in Legislature By Rebecca S. Rivas Of The St. Louis American After having long conversations with both black and white St. Louis firefighters, Board of Aldermen President Lewis Reed announced a plan purportedly to decrease escalating costs of the firefighters’ pension system by $7.63 million at a press conference Friday. The cost of funding the Firemen’s Retirement
System currently totals more than 56 percent of the total firefighter’s payroll – compared to 10.3 percent in 2001, according to two bills introduced by Alderman Craig Schmid earlier this month, Board Bills 270 and 271. Schmid pushed the bills forward on behalf of Mayor Francis G. Slay to dismantle the “unsustainable system with many unaffordable secondary bene-
The cost of funding the Firemen’s Retirement System currently totals more than 56 percent of the total firefighter’s payroll – compared to 10.3 percent in 2001.
See REED, A6
LAMPE GARNERS
St. Louis American Foundation, Emerson give spirited thanks to best and brightest
Black Caucus leaders advance Lieutenant Governor candidate State Rep. Chris Carter accompanied Sara Lampe to her first interview at The St. Louis American because she was there for him when he needed grounding, and he wanted to see her campaign for Lieutenant Governor get off on the right foot in St. Louis. “When I came into the
See CLAY, A7
Young Leaders ‘got it going on’
SOME BLACK SUPPORT By Chris King Of The St. Louis American
Sir Francis Bacon said, “Civil War is like the heat of fever; a foreign war is like the heat of exercise.” It’s going to be a feverish summer in the Missouri Democratic Party. Civil War is on in Missouri’s 1st Congressional District Democratic Primary, where the sons of the party’s two ranking dynasties – black and white, north and south – both filed for the same office on Tuesday. The black man from the northern sector of the newly Russ redrawn 1st Congressional Carnahan District: incumbent U.S. Rep. Wm. Lacy Clay. The white man from the southern sector of the district, which until the recent redistricting fell within Missouri’s 3rd Congressional District: U.S. Rep. Russ Carnahan. The primary election will be held on a day in the dead of summer: August 7. Clay’s statement: Wm. Lacy “I am proud to be the Clay Democratic incumbent seeking re-election in the 1st Congressional District. As a strong, committed progressive with a backbone, my campaign is guided by the core values and key issues that I have always fought for: saving good jobs and creating new employment opportunities, making quality healthcare accessible for all, keeping a college education affordable and helping working families restore their economic security. I’m also striving to keep America safe and to defend the voting rights of every citizen.” Not surprisingly as an incumbent, Clay
Legislature, no one took the time to show me around, but she did,” Carter said, grasping Lampe by the shoulder. “She came to me. She is on the ground with us.” State Rep. Steve Webb, who chairs the Legislature’s Black Caucus, also accompanied Lampe to the meeting. “The most pressing issue to me is See LAMPE, A7
American staff
Sara Lampe, who is running for Lieutenant Governor, with state Rep. Sylvester Taylor and state Rep. Jamilah Nasheed
“What’s the 411?” emcee Rebeccah Bennett said to the capacity crowd at the Chase Park Plaza on Thursday evening. “They’ve got it going on,” the crowd shouted back in unison. It was a fresh, fitting – and fly – way to recognize the sophomore class of Young Leaders being honored by the St. Louis See LEADERS, A6