Oscar is the new black Major milestones for people of color at 86th Academy Awards
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St. LouiS AmericAn The
CAC Audited MARCH 6 – 12, 2014
Vol. 84 No. 48 COMPLIMENTARY
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Unbanked Task Force regroups and agencies, which was formed in the wake of the FDIC’s 2011 Unbanked Household Survey. She said the task force has documented 1,600 newly banked people in St. Louis, with a 96 percent retention rate. The FDIC’s 2011 survey reported that 111,000 households (9.7 percent) in the St. Louis metropolitan area were unbanked, an increase of 2.1 percent from 2009; and 222,000 households (20.1 percent) were under-banked, an increase of 2.7 percent from 2009. Taskforce Steering
Financial literacy coalition reports initial success and announces new plans By Chris King Of The St. Louis American
Photo by Wiley Price
St. Louis Treasurer Tishaura O. Jones gave the keynote speech at an event her office hosted for the St. Louis Regional Unbanked Task Force.
Normandy pushes for tuition caps
“When we educate and empower people to make better financial choices, we also strengthen our community,” St. Louis Treasurer Tishaura O. Jones said Friday morning at an event her office hosted for the St. Louis Regional Unbanked Task Force at the William J. Harrison Education
n “People are spending millions of dollars on fringe financial services and getting no return on their money.” – Ted Rice of Montgomery Bank
Center, 3140 Cass Ave. The task force reported initial progress forged by its
coalition of 20 banks with the treasurer’s office and a host of community-based institutions
See UNBANKED, A6
Singing for roSA PArkS The Better Learning Communities Children’s Choral performed recently at the 10th annual Rosa Parks State Observance Day, hosted by the St. Louis County Branch of the NACCP at the Old Courthouse in downtown St. Louis.
Super says deseg rates should be applied to transfers By Dale Singer Of St. Louis Public Radio Normandy’s school superintendent says the district’s finances can be helped if lawmakers would cap tuition paid for transfer students at the same amount that districts receive for accepting deseg students going from St. Louis to St. n “Since that Louis County. rate already That amount, about $7,200 a year, is less exists in all of than Normandy has those districts, been paying for most of except for St. its 1,000 students who Charles County, transferred to nearby and they accept accredited districts at the start of the current that amount, school year. Tuition why not just rates range to as high make that the as $20,000, and the same rate for payments have put Normandy’s finances at the transfer?” a precarious point. The district says – Superintendent it needs $5 million in Ty McNichols emergency funding to avoid going broke at the beginning of April. When the state school board voted last week to put the district’s finances under the control of the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education, Commissioner Chris Nicastro said the move guaranteed Normandy students would finish out the school year in their own classrooms. On Tuesday the Missouri House of Representatives advanced a bill that would approve spending $5 million to keep the district open for the remainder of the school year. The House endorsed a supplemental budget proposal (HB 2014), which includes half of the $44 million that Governor Jay Nixon proposed for See NORMANDY, A7
Photo by Wiley Price
Fragmentation and segregation
Gateway STEM goes green
SLU Law hosts forum on city/county merger
Solar panels at SLPS high school are paired with energy education
By Rebecca Rivas Of The St. Louis American
By Bridjes O’Neil Of The St. Louis American
Overnight, Louisville, Kentucky went from being the nation’s 67th-largest city to the 16th largest in 2003. Citizens wanted to put Louisville on the map, so the majority voted in favor of merging its city and county governments, said Joe Reagan, president and CEO of the St. Louis Regional Chamber. “Louisville wanted to be a major metropolitan area,” Reagan said, “and it was tired of having its rear end kicked by folks like
“It’s a very efficient way to have energy at our school,” said Terrence Lovett, 17, a senior at Gateway STEM High School in the St. Louis Public Schools. “Instead of using things that pollute our Earth, the solar panels provide a very clean and natural energy.” On Gateway’s rooftop, 100 solar panels (known collectively as a solar array) lay in neat rows facing south to better
See MERGER, A6
See GATEWAY, A7