Jimmy Williams: ‘It’s all about people’ McDonald’s franchisee is St. Louis American’s 2013 Entrepreneur of the Year
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CAC Audited OCTOBER 3 – 9, 2013
Vol. 84 No. 27 COMPLIMENTARY
stlamerican.com
Boys & Girls Clubs partners with schools Leadership Conference in St. Louis will discuss community partnerships By Rebecca S. Rivas Of The St. Louis American When Amanda Richardson, then 16, first walked into what was then called the Herbert Hoover Boys & Girls Club three years ago, she didn’t think she would find a single person she could talk to. To her surprise, she found a loving family among the club’s staff and students. Born to a drug-addicted mother, Richardson and her brother were sent to live with their grandmother, who was abusive, she said. “Daily abuses with a cane were the only signs of affection she offered,” Richardson said. “Imagine feeling a hot iron on your back and being told not to move. I lived in terror every day from my grandmother, the person who was supposed to love and protect me.” Her nightmare finally ended, she said, when her brother received a severe beating that sent him to the hospital with a severe head wound.
See CLUBS, A6
Photo by Wiley Price
Boys & Girls Clubs of Greater St. Louis members Makaila Cooper and Darriell Savage get after-school tutoring from program assistant Grace Conner at the club’s Herbert Hoover location on North Grand.
Central State University’s Marching Marauders made their way down Washington Avenue during the Gateway Classic Parade on Saturday morning. On the field at the Edward Jones Dome that afternoon, Tennessee State University did all the marauding, beating Central State 73-6 before an estimated crowd of 10,000 spectators.
Missouri health officials received the news they were hoping for as the Gateway to Health Pilot Program in St. Louis has been extended for another year by the Centers for Medicare and The extension Medicaid Services. preserves $30 The Gateway promillion in annual gram was originally set to end at the end funding for of 2013. community health Gateway provides care in the St. Louis primary, specialty and urban core through urgent care coverage December 31, to uninsured adults ages 19-64 in St. 2014. Louis city and county through a network of community providers. The project sponsor is the Missouri Department of Social Services, in partnership with the St. Louis Regional Health Commission (RHC). RHC announced the approval over the weekend. “The RHC and its partners are grateful for the
See HEALTH, A6
SEPT. 4, 1942 – SEPT. 19, 2013
Final bow to Pelagie Green Wren Photo by Wiley Price
McKee goes back to aldermen “After the meeting, me and the rest of the residents talked. We felt like he just said things we wanted to hear.” – Elizabeth Brooks
$391 million TIF agreement this month. After receiving approval from the TIF
Students, family and friends bid farewell to local dance legend By Kenya Vaughn Of The St. Louis American
Commission to “start the clock” on the last two development areas (C and D) on Sept. 11, the McKees have been meeting with various groups who voiced concerns at the TIF hearings. On Tuesday alone, they had three meetings scheduled, including a congregation, a group of residents and a ward meeting. Even so, the McKees still struggle to earn the residents’ trust. Elizabeth Brooks, who has lived on the 2700 block of Howard for 10 years, was one of the residents that met with the McKees on
St. Louis’ dance community – which has been in a collective state of bereavement since Pelagie Green Wren’s passing September 19, 2013 at the age of 71 – celebrated her life Tuesday morning at Wade Funeral Home Twin Chapel. “Out of everybody who passed through my life, Pelagie and her teachings affected me Pelagie the most significantly on so Green Wren many levels,” said Candice Michelle Franklin, a cousin, who spoke on behalf of the family. “She was a queen to little black girls and boys with two feet and a dream who stepped into her thriving academy.”
See McKEE, A7
See PELAGIE, A7
North City skeptical as McKee takes amended TIF agreement to board Last Friday, developer Paul McKee Jr. and his wife, Midge McKee, met with a dozen North City residents who live near the Northside Regeneration office at 11th and Howard streets. Although the neighbors came with many concerns, both McKees felt like they left reassured of the $8 billion redevelopment plan for 1,500 acres of North City, which could be set in motion if the Board of Aldermen approves the project’s amended
CMS gives project another year as ACA Health Insurance Exchanges open By Sandra Jordan Of The St. Louis American
Marauders on parade
By Rebecca S. Rivas Of The St. Louis American
‘Temporary bridge for uninsured’ extended