Dr. Consuelo Wilkins returns to STL to give Homer G. Phillips lecture
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St. LouiS AmericAn The
91 years serving, empowering and advocating equity in St. Louis
CAC Audited OCTOBER 17 – 23, 2019
Vol. 91 No. 30 COMPLIMENTARY
stlamerican.com
Big Brothers Big Sisters needs male mentors ‘90 Men in 90 Days’ campaign continues through year’s end By Francene Bethune For The St. Louis American More than 400 boys registered with Big Brothers Big Sisters of Eastern Missouri are currently waiting to be matched with a Big Brother, and the agency aims to bring that number down by at least 90 before the end of the year. It launched a “90 Men in 90 Days” campaign on October 1 that runs through December 31. “Each year, 80 percent of the young people waiting are boys,” said Rebecca (Becky) J. Hatter, president and CEO of the regional Big Brothers Big Sisters. “These youth, ages 6-14, are eager to have a Big Brother or Big Couple in their lives —
Big Brother Randy Wilford, left, with Little Brother Kiari. More than 400 boys registered with Big Brothers Big Sisters of Eastern Missouri are currently waiting to be matched with a Big Brother.
County wipes clean $3.4M in inmate debt County Council eliminated six jail fees in late August By Chris King Of The St. Louis American Some of the region’s most vulnerable people and their families have had $3.4 million more to spend between them over the past two months because the St. Louis County Council listened to Lt. Col. Troy Doyle, interim director of the St. Louis County Department of Justice Services. In July, Doyle advised that the county eliminate six jail fees, and the council passed an ordinance eliminating those fees in late August. The county eliminated a $70 booking fee, $20 bond fee charged to someone who posts bond, a $2 fee charged each time an inmate is seen by a nurse, a $5 fee charged each time an inmate is seen by a dentist, a $5 fee for dispensing medication, and Lt. Col. a $20 medical assessment Troy Doyle fee charged each time an individual is incarcerated. The fees were put in place by the St. Louis County Council in 2009. “Many of the individuals in custody already face significant financial hardships,” said Doyle, a veteran leader in the St. Louis County Police Department. “It is counter-productive for us to make things more difficult for those reentering the community after their release by saddling them
See MENTORS, A6
See INMATES, A7
Photo by Wiley Price
Big Swing brings big fun Siblings Myliyah and Ty Minner, both from Jacksonville, Illinois, take their aunt, Ashley Minner, for a ride on the Big Swing in Kiener Plaza on Monday, October 14.
Measuring equity How are we doing? In terms of racial equity, that is. That question was often asked a couple of months ago around the 5-year anniversary of the onset of the Ferguson unrest. Now the Regional Equity Indicators Dashboard, STLEquity.org, strives to provide
data sets to answer that question and track future progress over time. The dashboard, or graphical user interface, was created as a response to one of the Ferguson Commission’s Signature Calls to Action that called for a way to quantify the state of racial equity in the region. It’s an expansion of the City of St. Louis’s Equity Indicators Baseline Report released in late
Group could rearrange governance of St. Louis and St. Louis County By Jason Rosenbaum Of The St. Louis Public Radio
New project tracks regional racial disparities for STL and three counties By Chris King Of The St. Louis American
Page’s Freeholders nominees face tough questions
2018. It consists of 72 indicators organized into three main themes drawn from the Ferguson Commission report – Youth at the Center, Opportunity to Thrive, and Justice for All. They measure quality-of-life factors such as child wellbeing, education quality,
See EQUITY, A6
The St. Louis County Council on Tuesday, October 15 grilled most of County Executive Sam Page’s nominees to the Board of Freeholders, a 19-person body that could rearrange the governance of St. Louis and St. Louis County. One particular point of contention was that only one of Page’s selections lives in unincorporated St. Louis County. Other council members wanted to know the potential board members’ views on whether St. Louis should become a municipality within St. Louis County.
See FREEHOLDERS, A7