INSIDE: MOVEMENT ON FREEHOLDER BOARD NOMINEES • SOCCER STADIUM PLAN ADVANCES • JOBS & EVENTS ST. LOUIS’ TIE TO ‘HAIR LOVE’ PAGE 7 METROSTL.COM • VOL. 11 • No. 7 NEWS & VIEWS FROM NORTH ST. LOUIS 02.20.2020 - 02.26.2020 • FREE 3 percent raises for civil service workers get initial approval by JIM MERKEL of The SouthSider CITY HALL — Flush with cash, the city soon may double the amount of raises it gives to its civil service workers. In past years, St. Louis gave merit raises of 1.5 percent. But with reve- nues increasing, the city is preparing to give $1,000 bonuses to civil ser- vice workers this fiscal year and 3 percent raises in the 2020-2021 and 2021-2022 fiscal years. The Board of Aldermen gave ini- tial approval on Friday to a bill that would give those raises. The bill’s sponsor, 14th Ward Pumped about Alderwoman Carol Howard, told the Board of Aldermen that the 1.5 helping others » SEE RAISES • PAGE 6 The BillionHeiress Girls Club popped up as they randomly do to give free gas to area residents. This time they did their good community deed at the BP Municipal Court on Natural Bridge and Kingshighway boulevards. offers amnesty RIGHT: Members (from left): Danielle, program Feb. 24-27 Dallas, Tiffani, Nicole and Niasha. Quianna, another founding member, was ST. LOUIS — The city is hosting an not present. amnesty program for residents with outstanding bench warrants. Older PHOTOS BY BILL BEENE / NorthSider minor offenses may be reviewed and potentially dismissed. “We recognize that having an out- 2020 Youth Poet Laureate hopes to heal, change lives standing warrant on your record can create all sorts of barriers to access- by BILL BEENE ing transportation and employment, of The NorthSider which are essential to every person,” Mayor Lyda Krewson said in a state- ST. LOUIS — The finger-snapping ment on her office website. “The last and conferring is in, and 16-year-old thing we should be doing is mak- Sarah Abbas, a junior at Marquette ing it harder for individuals to get High School, is the 2020 St. Louis ahead. That’s why I’m grateful to the Youth Poet Laureate, UrbArts recent- Municipal Court and its staff for of- ly announced. fering this amnesty program.” Sarah, a Pakistani American who The amnesty program will run holds a 4.2 GPA, is the city’s fourth Monday-Thursday, Feb. 24-27, at young poet to be honored with the the Municipal Court building, 1520 laureateship. Market Street. People should use the “Becoming laureate was something 16th Street entrance and bring photo » SEE POET • PAGE 13 Sarah Abbas, 2020 St. Louis Youth Poet Laureate Photo courtesy of UrbArts » SEE AMNESTY • PAGE 12 St. Louis, MO Louis, St. BEST DRINKS Permit No. 5584 No. Permit IN ST. LOUIS PAID U.S. Postage U.S. 4199 Manchester Ave. PRSRT STD PRSRT in The Grove · (314) 202-8300 · www.stltiki.bar 2 THE NORTHSIDER FEB. 20-26, 2020 Expecting a New Baby? Congratulations! Let us partner with you to find resources for you and your child. Call 314-747-RSTL (7785) www.RaisingSTL.org FEB. 20-26, 2020 THE NORTHSIDER 3 QUESTION OF THE WEEK by ROBERT C. HOLT III / for MetroSTL.com In honor of President’s Day, would you make a good U.S. president? Why or why not? “I was raised by a Christian mother and learned “I don’t think so. If I had the qualifications, “Yes, I would make a good president. I would values from her. I entered the Army at a young I would be a good president.” handle myself with great respect for the people.” age. In the Army I learned respect for people – Melvetta Johnson, Union Boulevard – Christopher Noldon, Mark Twain and for myself. I think I would make a good and Natural Bridge Avenue president, because I respect everybody.” – Michael Rice, north St. Louis “Yes! I would be a good president because I think “Yes, sir! I’d regulate jobs for “Hell, yes! I would provide for poverty relief. not just about myself but about other people. I homeless people and enforce stricter I’d make sure all would have an excellent would listen and learn, then make decisions.” gun laws to stop the violence.” education regardless of where they live.” – Katehln White, Natural Bridge – Demetrius Roddie, north St. Louis – Josh Smith, Walnut Park Avenue and Union Boulevard THE NORTHSIDER COMMUNITY NEWSPAPER The NorthSider is a free publication serving the neighborhoods of north St. Louis. Our mission is to present the news, stories and opinions of the people of north St. Louis and to highlight the many great things happening in our community. ANTONIO FRENCH THE NORTHSIDER FREELANCE WRITERS AND PHOTOGRAPHERS Publisher & Editor 4028 W. Florissant Avenue Those interested in working for The NorthSider St. Louis, Missouri 63107 or The SouthSider newspapers or for MetroSTL. BILL BEENE (314) 762-NEWS • STLNorthSider.com com, please email us at [email protected] Staff Reporter LETTERS TO THE EDITOR JUNE HEATH ADVERTISING SALES Submit your letters to [email protected] Copy Editor We are proud to offer affordable rates for small businesses The NorthSider reserves the right to edit across the city to be able to connect with their neighbors all letters for length and content. CARA DE MICHELE and customers. To advertise in The NorthSider, The Senior Designer SouthSider, or on our website, MetroSTL.com: TIPS AND PRESS RELEASES VINCENT TOLES Got news? Send us your news tips or press releases: Call (314) 370-2BUY Designer [email protected] or [email protected] [email protected] 4 THE NORTHSIDER FEB. 20-26, 2020 Tour of Civil Rights sites teaches importance of history by COURTNEY McDERMOTT & SHA-LAI WILLIAMS for MetroSTL.com ebruary is well known as Black History Month. But the month of F March is important in Civil Rights history. One particularly poignant event hap- pened on March 9, 1965, when the Rev Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. led a march across the Edmund Pettis Bridge, in Selma, Ala., where eventually tens of thousands of people joined in. OPINION To have the opportunity to experience A firefighter in Birmingham, Ala., in 1963 blasts black youths in Kelly Ingram Park such rich history, also in the month of with water cannons carrying 100 lbs of pressure. Photos courtesy of UMSL CELEBRATE March, was not lost on a group of 18 BLACK UMSL students from the Pierre Laclede HISTORY Honors College and the School of Social Work on a three-day alternative spring MetroSTL.com break trip offered last year. The students, has invited guest from a myriad of disciplines and back- contributors to offer grounds, decided to use their break to their perspectives on black history and learn more about the Civil Rights move- the black experience. ment of the 1950s and ’60s. See more online at In total, we visited 10 sites on the his- metroSTL.com toric National Civil Rights Trail. The group started at the National Civil We want to hear Rights Museum at the Lorraine Motel in your opinion, too. Email us at letters@ Memphis, Tenn., the motel made famous stlnorthsider.com when King was assassinated on its bal- cony in 1968. The museum provided the students with a broad overview of the en- tire Civil Rights movement, with a tour This lectern at the Dexter Avenue King that allowed us to be within feet of the Memorial Baptist Church in Montgomery, area on the balcony where he lost his life. Ala., was used by the Rev. Dr. Martin The door of this re-created jail cell is from Several students noted that this experi- Luther King Jr. as he gave his “How long, the cell where the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther ence was incredible, surreal, and some- not long” speech. King Jr. was being held when he wrote his thing that would stay with them forever. famous “Letter from a Birmingham Jail.” We started in Kelly Ingram Park on the On our last day, we started in Selma, following day. This park was used as a walking across the Edmund Pettus he lead the Montgomery Bus boycott in staging ground for many of the march- Bridge, where a young John Lewis (now 1955. Students were able to sit in his of- es in Birmingham, including the famous a Democratic U.S. Representative from fice and touch the same lectern he used Children’s Crusades, and pays homage to Georgia) had his skull broken as he on the Montgomery Capitol steps giving the children and adults who stood up for marched in support of voting rights on his “How Long, Not Long” speech after their rights. Bloody Sunday. marching from Selma. Just across the street is the 16th Street We had no idea that journeying to Selma Our final two stops in Montgomery Baptist Church where, in September would allow us to come face-to-face with were the Freedom Riders Museum and 1963, four young girls lost their lives af- individuals who had actually participated the Civil Rights Memorial Center. ter a bomb, placed by a member of the in the Civil Rights Movement. We are asked all the time if the 21 hours KKK, exploded before a church service. For example, at the Selma Interpretive spent on the bus and the nearly 1,500 It was there that we met Armond Bragg, Center, we had the incredible opportu- logged miles was worth it, and the answer whose family have been a part of the nity to meet Joanne Bland, one of the is a resounding YES.