Public safety director condemned for ‘demonizing’ dead children
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St. LouiS AmericAn The
CAC Audited OCTOBER 10 – 16, 2019
91 years serving, empowering and advocating equity in St. Louis
Vol. 91 No. 29 COMPLIMENTARY
stlamerican.com
Father charged with murder WashU to offer free of Christian Ferguson education Would apply to lower-income students from MO and Southern IL By Chris King Of The St. Louis American
Photo by Wiley Price
Theda Person worked on a memorial to her son Christian Ferguson in Pine Lawn on Wednesday, October 9 on what would have been his 26th birthday.
Wesley Bell files charges in cold case of missing child from 2003 By Chris King Of The St. Louis American Theda Person has prayed for a miracle for many years concerning her missing son Christian Ferguson. Just before what would have been his 26th birthday, a miracle arrived from St. Louis County Prosecutor Wesley
Bell, but it was not the miracle she had prayed for. On Friday, October 4, Bell announced that Dawan Ferguson, the boy’s father, had been charged with first degree murder in the death of the boy who has been missing since June 2003, when he was 10. According to the criminal complaint, the father allegedly killed the boy “by failing to provide necessary nutrition and medication.” At the time of his disappearance,
Christian suffered from a blood disease called citrullinemia and received nourishment through a gastrointestinal tube. The probable cause statement provided by Ron Goldstein, chief investigator for Bell’s office, is scant. It simply states that the father left home with the boy, who was critically ill and needed medication to survive, on June 11,
See FERGUSON, A6
17 HSSU alumni to receive Under 40 awards Honored for career achievement and community service By JoAnn Weaver For The St. Louis American Harris-Stowe State University will celebrate HSSU alumni at the Outstanding Alumni Leader Under 40 Awards on Friday, October 25 from 7 to 9 pm at the Missouri Athletic Club. This event is for alumni members who have completed outstanding achievements in their various fields and communities in addition to giving back to HSSU. “The purpose of the Under 40 event is to raise scholarships for students and
See HSSU, A6
Beginning in fall 2020, lower-income fulltime students from Missouri and Southern Illinois accepted for admission at Washington University in St. Louis will receive a free undergraduate education. The offer also will be extended to undergraduate students already enrolled at the university who would qualify. Chancellor Andrew D. Martin announced this as “the WashU Pledge” during his inauguration on the Danforth Photo courtesy Washington University Campus on Washington University Thursday, Oct. 3. Chancellor Andrew “We are D. Martin giving his Washington inauguration address on University ‘in St. Thursday, October 3 Louis,’” Martin said during his inaugural address. “That means we have a unique responsibility to provide opportunity for students in our extended region — to the four corners of Missouri and our neighbors in the southern portion of Illinois. By doing so, we’re attracting our very best and brightest and keeping them right here,
See WASHU, A7
Bonds for America’s Center finally set to proceed By Rebecca Rivas Of The St. Louis American
The inaugural HarrisStowe State University Outstanding Alumni Leader Under 40 Awards from 2018
Back in the 1990s, the America’s Center Convention Complex in downtown St. Louis was regularly booking conventions that drew 17,000 people. And Darryl Jones, an African-American business owner who co-manages the food service for the complex, was hiring about 2,000 people for these events. For a four-day convention of this size, some of his associates would walk away with $4,500 to $5,000. It also meant that hotel rooms would be booked-up, and would also hire additional workers. “That’s the type of economic impact you want to happen,” Jones said. “That money is going to turn over in the community.”
See BONDS, A7