Cherokee Street celebrates a new aldermanic voice for inclusion
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2016 Gold Cup Newspaper Missouri Press Association
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St. LouiS AmericAn The
CAC Audited MARCH 9 – 15, 2017
Vol. 88 No. 48 COMPLIMENTARY
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Former Krewson edges police Tishaura by 888 votes captain sues city Suit alleges white officers conspired to frame black captain at crime scene By Rebecca Rivas Of The St. Louis American
percent — 17,110 to 16,222 votes. They each nearly doubled the respective vote totals of the other major candidates. Lewis Reed garnered 9,775 votes (18.3 percent) and Antonio French got 8,460 votes (15.8 percent). A trio of perennial candidates split about 3 percent of the vote between them. “The status quo won,” state Senator Jamilah told her fellow supporters of Jones at the election watch party that Jones co-hosted with Megan Ellyia Green, who won her 15th Ward
Former St. Louis Police Captain Ryan Cousins, whose firing in May caused protest from the African-American community, filed a lawsuit on March 2 against the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department and City of St. Louis, claiming “unlawful discriminatory practices.” The suit alleges that a group of mostly white officers committed several unlawful acts when handling a burglary investigation in January 2016, and those officers corroborated their stories to make Cousins the “scapegoat” for their deeds. Cousins, a 20-year veteran who served in the police department’s Sixth District, is currently appealing his firing before the city’s Civil Ryan Cousins Service Commission. His hearing, which is closed to the public, began in January and is expected to end this month. To date, Cousins has only been told his charges were “conduct unbecoming” and making false statements to investigators in relation to the January burglary investigation, said Cousins’ lawyer Lynette Petruska. Yet even five days into the commission’s hearing, Cousins had yet to hear about any specific wrongdoings he committed, she said. “I still don’t know what I’m defending,” Petruska said. “When you have to play ‘guess what you are accused of,’ it’s hard to defend yourself. That’s what a city does when they are trying to cover up what they’ve done.” The City Counselor’s Office did not respond to The St. Louis American’s request for comment. According to the suit, Cousins had been with the police department for almost 20 years when he
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Photo by Wiley Price
Tishaura Jones was consoled by Jared Boyd, her chief of staff in the St. Louis treasurer’s office, after losing to Lyda Krewson by 888 votes in the Democratic primary for St. Louis mayor on Tuesday, March 7. Jones retains her citywide elected position of treasurer.
Jones: ‘We turned this electorate on its head’ By Chris King Of The St. Louis American St. Louis fell 888 votes short of dramatic change in the Democratic primary on Tuesday, March 7. That was the margin that separated Tishaura O. Jones – who was endorsed almost unanimously by local, state and national progressive organizations – from Lyda Krewson, who was endorsed by Mayor Francis G. Slay, the four-term incumbent she will almost certainly replace as mayor after
n “I want us to stay united and stay connected, because we are the force that’s going to hold this next administration accountable.” – Tishaura O. Jones
the April 4 general election. With all precincts reporting, Krewson had 32.04 percent of the vote to Jones’ 30.38
Roosevelt High School freshmen Keshaun McCulley and Stacey Blair talked to Antony Perkins, who works as a youth development teacher in Saint Louis Public Schools, on February 22. Perkins is undergoing surgery in New York to remove keloids from his body.
Coping with keloids SLPS teacher crowd-funding surgery to remove unsightly, growing scar tissue By Sandra Jordan Of The St. Louis American Antony Perkins developed his first keloid at age nine. Keloids are raised, lumpy, overgrown scar tissue that appears after a cut, burn or other trauma to the skin has healed. They are thought to be the result of excess collagen in the skin during the healing process.
Over time, keloids can grow well beyond the original area of injury. Unlike normal scar tissue that gets smaller over time, keloids tend to get progressively bigger. Although the genetics is not clearly understood, African Americans and other people of color are more prone to develop keloids.
See KELOIDS, A6 Photo by Wiley Price