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BFL addresses ‘State of emergency’ New programs to calm conflicts and help drug users By Rebecca Rivas Of The St. Louis American
“You will see people whose lives have been totally bottomed out and society discarded them, and the numbers are growing,” James Clark, Better Family Life’s vice president of community outreach, told a group of social-service providers on Oct. 6. “And we are not doing anything about it.”
Lovie Haynes, 86, keeps a vibrant community garden filled with vegetables and flowers in the middle of boarded-up North St. Louis homes. Yet, she doesn’t visit the garden alone anymore because the abandoned buildings are known by locals as drug houses. She fears for her safety. “I’m tired of this,” she said. “If there is anything I can do, I will do it.” That’s what she told a group of about 100 social-service providers who gathered at Better Family Life Cultural, Educational, and Business Center, 5415 Page Blvd., on October 6 to address
See BFL, A6
Vol. 88 No. 28
Photo by Wiley Price
Absentee voting underway What you need to know to vote absentee in St. Louis By Chris King Of The St. Louis American Absentee voting is underway for the Tuesday, November 8 general election. Voters will elect the U.S. president, one U.S. senator in Missouri, and the Missouri governor, attorney general and secretary of state, among other officials. Voters also will pass or reject a voter photo ID constitutional amendment, among other constitutional amendments. The deadline to vote absentee in-person is 5 p.m. Monday, November 7. The deadline for the election board to receive an absentee ballot request by mail or fax is 5 p.m. Wednesday, November 2. Any eligible voter prevented from going to the polls on election day for a number of approved reasons may vote by absentee ballot. Those reasons include absence from your voting district on election day, incapacity or confinement due to sickness or disability (including caring for
See ABSENTEE, A6
Photo by Wiley Price
George Allen Jr. with his mother, Lonzetta Taylor, on the day he was released from prison in November 2012 after serving 30 years in prison for a rape and murder he did not commit.
Photo by Lawrence Bryant
Birthday girl in the pumpkin patch Zahniyla Kennedy took advantage of the warm weather on Monday, October 17 to pick pumpkins on her third birthday in North County.
Exoneree George Allen Jr. passes away Mother is raising funds for funeral
Cops, firefighters ask for help ESOP, FIRE say public safety agencies need pressure to change By Mariah Stewart Of The St. Louis American “We have small bits of violence problems, but I don’t trust calling the police,” an older, white-haired white man said to a panel of police officers on Tuesday, October
18 at Oak Hill Presbyterian Church in South St. Louis. “I don’t trust that, in our neighborhood, they won’t blow it up into a monstrous problem. What do I do?” He spoke during a community forum on solutions to inclusion within the St. Louis police and fire departments. The event
– which was attended by a couple dozen civilians, firefighters and police officers – was hosted by The Ethical Society of Police (ESOP) and Firefighters Institute for Racial Equality (FIRE).
See ESOP, A7
By Rebecca Rivas Of The St. Louis American George Allen Jr., who had spent 30 years in jail for a crime he didn’t commit, passed away on October 16. “George was a gentle spirit,” his mother Lonzetta Taylor said in a statement on a fundraising site for his funeral costs. “Although more than three decades of his life were so unfairly taken away from him, no one could take his dignity or the joy that he brought to all of our lives. I am so proud of George because he stood strong even
See ALLEN, A7