Linking Up with good health
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@stlouisamerican
St. Louis American See page A3
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CAC Audited MARCH 20 – 26, 2025
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Five years later By Sylvester Brown, Jr. St. Louis American
See COVID, A6
COMPLIMENTARY
McKee’s health facility finally succumbs
How COVID still challenges us
For most of America, on March 11, 2020, COVID became real. On that day, The World Health Organization declared the novel coronavirus an official “pandemic.” Two days later, then President Donald Trump declared a national emergency, but it had already infected thousands and n Images are case levels were rising seared into the dramatically. American psyche Images are seared of a masked pop- into the American psyche of a masked popuulation at home, lation at home, work or work or school. school; shuttered restaurants, bars and other social venues; frustrated shoppers scrambling for essential items like bread and toilet paper; long lines outside emergency rooms, food pantries and food banks; virtual funeral, church and graduation services and many more heartbreaking photos and memories. On March 16, 2020, the first confirmed, posi-
Vol. 96 No. 50
He still faces a lawsuit
By Alvin A. Reid St. Louis American
Photo courtesy of Dr. Mati Davis
Dr. Matifadza Hlatshwayo Davis was sworn in as director of the city’s health department in October 2021 as the pandemic still raged.
A three-bed health facility that controversially carried the name, Homer G. Phillips Hospital, has officially been pronounced dead by the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services (DHSS). The facility board, which includes developer Paul McKee who stubbornly refused to drop the Homer G. Phillips from the doomed hospital’s wall, surrendered its license, DHSS reported on Lois Collier Tuesday. Jackson Homer G. Phillips Nurses Alumni, Inc., received information that the north St. Louis facility has been permanently closed, and its 80 employees terminated. “It saddens our heart that our legacy has been damaged yet, we are empathetic towards the employees that have lost their jobs,” Lois Collier Jackson, Nurses Alumni president said in a statement to The American. “The northside area definitely needs a medical facility, the name just needs to be
See McKEE, A6
Photo courtesy of Walker Elementary School
Congressman Wesley Bell reads to Walker Elementary School students in the Hazelwood School District on March 3, 2025. Bell vows to fight Trump administration cuts to the Department of Education, which could have a dramatic impact on Black and low-income students from kindergarten to college.
Education cuts could blast SLPS budget
‘Hellbent on destroying public schools’ By Alvin A. Reid St. Louis American
Area public schools are bracing for the impact of President Donald Trump’s dramatic cuts in the
Department of Education, an action that Congressman Wesley Bell says he will fight. “By dismantling the (Department of Education) kids across the country will lose access to critical funding that helps them meet basic needs,” Bell states on Twitter. “There is nothing more important to me than the wellbeing of our children. I won’t stop pushing back on this.” According to Bell, through the DOE, St. Louis Schools received $53.7 million in funding for low-income students,
BUSINESS
Pandemic still plagues St. Louis housing market
St. Louis residents, community leaders, and professionals convened for the Da Link Up, a free community event designed to spark conversations and inspire solutions for pressing social issues.
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$17.3 million in Child Nutrition Act Funding, and $8.5 million in Children with Disabilities Funding. The cuts are underway and education experts and analysts are assessing the impact of dropping more than 1,300 jobs from a department responsible for things like providing funding for poorer schools and defending the rights of vulnerable students. With Missouri’s Republican politicians marching mostly in lockstep
See SLPS, A7
United Way helps drive a Porsha
St. Louis American
Porsha B., a St. Louis resident and QuikTrip employee was driven to support the United Way of Metropolitan St. Louis. As a result, she’s now driving a 2024 Ford Maverick through the United Way’s annual Watch.Enter.Win! contest. She donated $5 a week for two years to UWGSL to help others, and for her, this moment was a welcome and unexpected culmination of her generous support. “Who would have thought that giving this $5 a week for the past two years would turn into this?” Porsha said. “All I can say is ‘Thank you.’ I never thought I was going to wake up, go to work, and come to a new truck!” The vehicle is part of an annual donation to UWGSL by O’Fallon, Illinois based Auffenburg Dealer Group. In addition to donating a car, employees contributed more than $40,000 to the UWGSL 2024 community campaign.
See UNITED WAY, A7
SPORTS
STL teams seek to keep state title streaks alive
Three schools are returning to Mizzou Arena to defend state titles, including the Vashon Wolverines who are seeking a fifth consecutive Class 4 state championship.
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