March 20, 2019

Town near Atchison 'self-evacuating' as floods cut power and close roads to the north

A small Missouri town near Atchison, Kan., is emptying out as people flee floodwaters that have already cut power and closed roads farther north.

Buchanan County emergency management director Bill Brinton said Wednesday that most of the 130 or so people who live in Lewis and Clark Village had already left and others had made plans to go.

“About 60 percent of the people have evacuated and the rest are in the process,” Brinton said. “They’ve got trucks loaded waiting to evacuate if needed.”

https://www.kansascity.com/news/state/missouri/article228173359.html

March 20, 2019

St. Louis Group Uses Retired Ambulance To Fight Addiction On The Street

A St. Louis nonprofit is sending outreach workers to city streets to dispense life-saving treatment from a newly refurbished ambulance.

The Missouri Network For Opiate Reform and Recovery will use the vehicle to dispense the overdose-reversal drug naloxone to active drug users and those in recovery. It also provides testing for sexually transmitted diseases such as hepatitis C and HIV and information about treatment programs.

The mobile unit extends the nonprofit’s reach beyond its headquarters at 4022 S. Broadway.

Many people with addiction “are homeless; many still don’t know we’re here,” said Chad Sabora, the group's executive director. “The mobile-outreach vehicle will reach people who can’t get to south city for whatever reasons, help to engage them in harm-reduction service and get them into treatment and recovery.”

https://news.stlpublicradio.org/post/st-louis-group-uses-retired-ambulance-fight-addiction-street

March 19, 2019

A Louisville Family Learns About Their Ties To A St. Louis Slave Who Saved Lives

For the past 30 years, Keith Winstead has been tracing the many generations of his family history.

“When I first started genealogy, I thought I’d be lucky to go and find a third great-grandparent. I got pictures now of ten generations,” Winstead said.

On a cold and windy day he was at Bellefontaine Cemetery with about 15 other family members who hail from different parts of the U.S., such as Louisville, Atlanta, New York and Cincinnati.

This is the Alexander family, and they're not just any random family; they have significant ties to an American legend: They’re closely related to Muhammad Ali. On a winter day, they gathered with directions in hand to walk the same path as a local legend, a St. Louis resident and civil war hero. His name was Archer Alexander, and he was a slave.

https://news.stlpublicradio.org/post/louisville-family-learns-about-their-ties-st-louis-slave-who-saved-lives

March 19, 2019

Frank Lloyd Wright house in Town and Country could open to the public as a museum

The Pappas daughters would like others to share in their parents’ dream. ¶ Ted and Bette Pappas wanted to build a home by iconic architect Frank Lloyd Wright; they did that more than 50 years ago in Town and Country. It’s one of just two Wright homes in the area. ¶ And now a new nonprofit foundation wants to raise enough money to buy and restore the house and open it to the public as a museum.

“While you’re here, if you can take away a sense of peace, the aesthetic of the place, a sense of what a house can do,” said their daughter, Candace Simmons of Foristell, as she gave a tour of the house last week. “You never know where that knowledge is going to go.”

The Frank Lloyd Wright Pappas House Foundation, led by Town and Country Alderman Richard “Skip” Mange and supported by residents and historical activists, recently formed with the goal of raising about $2 million to buy and refurbish the house. So far, there’s about $400 in the bank.

The house went on the market in spring 2018, after owner Bette Pappas died at age 91. She and her husband, Ted, who died in 2004, had the home designed by Wright and built much of it themselves. It sits on a little more than 3 acres at Mason Road and Interstate 64 (Highway 40).

https://www.stltoday.com/lifestyles/home-and-garden/frank-lloyd-wright-house-in-town-and-country-could-open/article_1b1711be-f4df-5964-904d-60c140dfdf5c.html#tracking-source=home-top-story-1

March 19, 2019

Missouri county GOP pulls invitation to Blunt to protest emergency declaration vote, report says

A county Republican Party in Missouri has disinvited Sen. Roy Blunt, R-Mo., from its annual dinner to protest his vote in favor of a resolution disapproving of President Donald Trump's national emergency declaration.

The Kansas City Star reported Monday that the Christian County Republican Central Committee rescinded its invitation to Blunt to attend next month's Lincoln/Trump Day Dinner in Ozark, Missouri.

The county party's website lists Missouri State House Speaker Elijah Haahr, R, as a special guest for the event.

Blunt was one of 12 Republicans in the Senate to defy Trump and vote in favor of a resolution overturning his declaration of a national emergency at the border. In an email to Blunt's office quoted by the Kansas City Star, Christian County Republican Central Committee member Wanda Martens wrote that she was "so disappointed in [Blunt] now that I can hardly speak."

https://www.stltoday.com/news/local/govt-and-politics/missouri-county-gop-pulls-invitation-to-blunt-to-protest-emergency/article_85629054-e9d8-551c-9140-b325155ee42c.html#tracking-source=home-trending

March 19, 2019

Labor supports Pritzker's progressive tax plan

Springfield, IL – Governor J.B. Pritzker recently filled in some of the blanks in his plan to change Illinois to a progressive income tax instead of the unfair system now in place. Labor leaders unanimously supported the plan.

“The Fair Tax proposal is responsible, sustainable and practical,” said Michael Carrigan, president of the Illinois AFL-CIO. “The Illinois AFL-CIO commends Governor Pritzker for taking bold action with this proposal. We have long supported a progressive tax system to alleviate the burden on the middle-class and move our state forward.”

Presently, all Illinois tax filers now pay a flat rate of 4.95 percent.

https://labortribune.com/labor-supports-pritzkers-progressive-tax-plan/

March 19, 2019

Laborers 110 strikes against unfair labor practices at U.S. Silica

Festus, MO – Members of Laborers Local 110 went on strike March 2 at U.S. Silica’s Mississippi Sand processing plant in Festus over the company’s unfair labor practices, including efforts to do away with overtime and holiday pay.

Local 110 Business Manager Don Willey said 10 members employed at the plant took the action over the company’s demand in contract talks to do away with all overtime beyond the federal requirement of overtime pay after 40 hours.

The plant also employees 12 members of Operating Engineers Local 513, who also walked out, honoring the picket line.

“They want to do away with overtime after eight hours and on the weekends,” Willey said. “They don’t want to pay Sundays or holidays. That would cost these workers tens of thousands of dollars on an annual basis.”

https://labortribune.com/laborers-110-striking-against-unfair-labor-practices-at-u-s-silica/

March 19, 2019

Pelosi Joins Clay In Ferguson To Stump For Voting-Rights Legislation

The country’s top elected Democrat came to Ferguson Monday to push the party’s efforts to expand voting rights across the country.

U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Rep. Lacy Clay, D-St. Louis, are among hundreds of co-sponsors of two bills: one that sets new requirements for when states must get federal approval to change their voting or election laws, and another that reduces the amount of money in campaigns, including eliminating so-called "dark money" from unidentified donors.

Pelosi praised Clay for putting his name on the legislation quickly. She called it an important part of the party’s “For the People” agenda, which focuses on cleaner government, increasing wages and controlling the cost of health care. Cleaner government, she said, is crucial to the other two parts of the agenda.

“The confidence that people have when we say that we are going to have for the people an electoral agenda that removes obstacles or participation, that increases the voices of the grassroots, it gives people confidence that we can get it done, because the voices of the people will be heard,” she said.

https://news.stlpublicradio.org/post/pelosi-joins-clay-ferguson-stump-voting-rights-legislation

March 18, 2019

Reduce The Use Of Cash Bail? There's An App For That

The lead public defender in St. Charles County says a new mobile phone app he helped design could reduce the need for cash bail.

Michael Sato and a team of five developers came up with the idea for Freecog as part of the Global Legal Hackathon, which looks to use technology to solve criminal justice issues. Their proposal won the St. Louis event — the team will know by March 25 if they have advanced to the finals.

Sato said too many defendants who are no risk to their communities are sitting behind bars because they or their families cannot afford to post cash bail.

Freecog is intended to give defendants charged with low-level crimes a way to use smartphones to fulfill pretrial requirements like daily check-ins with the court, or to prove they have completed courses like anger management.

https://news.stlpublicradio.org/post/reduce-use-cash-bail-theres-app

March 18, 2019

Barrier-Breaking Grandmaster Youngest Woman To Be Inducted In Chess Hall Of Fame

A Webster University chess coach will today become the youngest woman to be inducted into the U.S. Chess Hall of Fame.

Susan Polgár was the first woman to win the coveted grandmaster title through traditional tournament play in 1991. The Hungarian-born champion has broken gender barriers in the male-dominated chess world during a career that spans five decades.

“There will be naysayers, and there will be men that don’t want to see women succeed, especially in a male-dominated field,” she said. “But don’t let that hold you back — just work harder and prove them wrong.”

Many consider Polgár one of the most famous players in the world. She became the first woman to qualify for the men’s world chess championship, in 1986. She’s won five Olympic chess championships.

https://news.stlpublicradio.org/post/barrier-breaking-grandmaster-youngest-woman-be-inducted-chess-hall-fame