St. Louis Observer: April 22, 2022
North City to receive $150 million for infrastructure; #MOLeg pushes ban on eviction moratoriums; Normandy to pay $1.3 million in debtors prison lawsuit
Editor’s Note
Thank you all for your patience with the Observer as we grow & evolve!
Our weekly newsletter strives to provide its readership with abolition-related articles that do not require a paid subscription to access and read. However, recent administrative changes within local publications have resulted in tighter paywalls and restrictions that limit free access to many of the articles that we otherwise would include.
To that end, our ability to highlight articles from these publications to our readership has been limited and we seek alternate news outlets in order to maintain free access to important local news media.
In the meantime, moving forward, we will include the headlines and bylines of paywalled news articles at the end of each newsletter with the following note: “To read these below articles in full, please visit SLPL.org and access these articles through the Digital Content tab. St. Louis City & County residents can read these publications for free using their library cards.”
In the News
Police, prosecutorial, and judicial accountability
SLMPD attorneys have asked a St. Louis City judge to dismiss a Sunshine Lawsuit filed by Minnesota Public Radio. The suit centers around SLMPD’s refusal to release information related to the department’s ability to resolve homicides. [St. Louis Public Radio/Rachel Lippmann, Shahla Farzan]
The City of Normandy has agreed to pay out $1.3 million to as many as 25,000 persons who are eligible under a “debtors prison” class-action lawsuit filed by ArchCity Defenders. The three classes of persons eligible for payments under the lawsuit include anyone who between September 10, 2013, and May 12, 2021, was jailed in, paid fines to, or had an arrest warrant issued by Normandy.[Riverfront Times/Ryan Krull]
State Representative Kimberly-Ann Collins (D - St. Louis) is moving forward with legislation to address a wide variety of issues that she observed through more than 80 surprise visits at Missouri Department of Corrections facilities across the state. As a sponsor of the Corrections Oversight bill, Collins believes that the 8-member board would provide a safe & fair system to investigate inmate grievances, which presently are processed internally by the DOC. [Riverfront Times/Ryan Krull]
Economic development & housing
St. Louis City Mayor Tishaura O. Jones gave her first State of the City address this week, pledging an additional $150 million to North City in a “once-in-a-lifetime opportunity” to reverse decades of intentional neglect. Jones announced her intent to create a new office, the Office of Violence Prevention, and to continue her pledge to find alternatives to policing that serve the greater community. [St. Louis Public Radio/Rachel Lippmann; Missouri Independent/Rebecca Rivas; St. Louis American/Karen Robinson-Jacob]
A $37 million federal pandemic assistance package has moved through the Board of Aldermen and is slated to benefit businesses along 10 North City streets. Significant allocations were also apportioned for street maintenance, curb & median repairs, and traffic calming measures. [St. Louis Post-Dispatch/Mark Schlinkmann; Riverfront Times/Monica Obradovic; St. Louis Public Radio/Rachel Lippmann]
Missouri’s only Black-owned licensed hemp farm has announced plans to rebuild and expand Lake Placid, a mid-20th century Black-owned nature retreat. The development will include rebuilding some of the dilapidated cabins throughout the 244-acre property and constructing the first Black-owned industrial hemp processing sites in the state. [St. Louis American/Corinne Ruff of KCUR]
The Urban League of Metropolitan St. Louis is opening an Entrepreneurship Center at Newstead and Natural Bridge and will provide management counseling, mentoring, and training services for Black business owners. The purpose of the program is to assist minority-owned businesses to grow, obtain financing & contracts, and create & preserving jobs. [St. Louis American/Alvin A. Reid]
Housing advocates in St. Louis are working to end blanket housing policies that allow landlords to discriminate against persons with felony convictions. Current HUD memorandum guidelines bar “bald assertions on generalizations or stereotypes” and permit strictly-constructed policies to keep housing “safe,” but consequences for property managers in violation of HUD housing policies are infrequently implemented. [Riverfront Times/Rosalind Early]
Further reading
St. Louis-area students have frequently been left out of the discussion surrounding teaching race in public schools, but have overwhelmingly demonstrated their desire to read the books that routinely are being banned - often at the behest of radicalized parents who perceive the teaching of differing viewpoints as “threatening.” However, students across the region have shown that they want to read books with “different perspectives to accurately reflect what has occurred over centuries.” [St. Louis Public Radio/Andrea Y. Henderson]
The Missouri Legislative Black Caucus is fighting back against the extremist right-wing push that “would restrict Missouri schools from teaching that ‘an individual should feel discomfort, guilt, anguish, or any other form of psychological distress on account of the individual’s race or sex.’” The transparent effort to ban public schools from teaching the accurate history of race in the U.S. has been decried by the MLBC as an effort to “dismantle the First Amendment,” according to Rep. Ashley Bland Manlove (D-Kansas City). [St. Louis American/Staff]
Through a partnership with LaunchCode, the Missouri Eastern Correctional Center in Pacific has developed an intensive course for men incarcerated at that facility to learn web development & coding, with the goal of connecting program graduates with employment after their release. LaunchCode has said that it plans to expand the program to Algoa Correctional Center in Jefferson City. [St. Louis Public Radio/Shahla Farzan]
An estimated 250,000 to 300,000 households in the St. Louis region lack access to high-quality internet and approximately 25% of St. Louis-area households do not have a computer. The discrepancy in the digital divide has especially caused difficulties for families in low-income school districts, including St. Louis Public Schools, Normandy, Jennings, and Riverview Gardens. [St. Louis American/Alvin A. Reid]
Missouri legislators are pushing a measure that would prohibit any county or municipality from imposing or enforcing an eviction moratorium, unless otherwise authorized under state law. The pro-landlord measure comes after thousands of renters have demanded a Tenants Bill of Rights, which addresses the negative impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic and rising cost of living. [St. Louis Public Radio/Rebecca Rivas of the Missouri Independent]
Individuals with outstanding warrants in St. Louis County are now able to meet with attorneys at both the Lewis & Clark and Florissant Valley branches of the County Public Library to clear up those warrants. The Tap In Center is part of a partnership between the MacArthur Foundation, the Bail Project, and St. Louis County prosecutors & public defenders. [St. Louis Public Radio/Rachel Lippmann]
Beyond the Paywall
To read these below articles in full, please visit SLPL.org and access these articles through the Digital Content tab. St. Louis City & County residents can read these publications for free using their library cards.
“Former Ferguson cop gets probation for filing false report after beating handcuffed man,” by Katie Kull, St. Louis Post-Dispatch
“State readies budget to pay long-sought settlement to Missouri prison workers,” by Kurt Erickson, St. Louis Post-Dispatch
“Analysis finds police workload unequal across St. Louis, backs more 911 civilian response,” by Erin Heffernan, St. Louis Post-Dispatch
“Ex-Jefferson County municipal prosecutor pleads not guilty to having sexual contact with defendant,” by Joel Currier, St. Louis Post-Dispatch
“Federal halfway house plan resurrected at north St. Louis site,” by Kurt Erickson, St. Louis Post-Dispatch
“Missouri lawmakers move toward legalizing needle exchanges, easing access to addiction meds,” by Grace Zokovitch, St, Louis Post-Dispatch
Legislative & Legal Update
St. Louis City Board of Aldermen
The St. Louis City Board of Aldermen has ended its 2021 - 2022 legislative session and has begun its 2022 - 2023 session. Read St. Louis PoliticClips founder Joshua Lawrence’s recap of last session here!
Learn more about how a bill becomes a City ordinance.
State of Missouri
HJR 79, introduced by nine white Republican men, would detrimentally modify the citizen initiative petition process for statewide ballot initiatives, raising the minimum required number of signatures from 5% to 10%, and would require 2/3 vote to pass an initiative instead of the current simple majority. A public hearing was held on April 13.
HB 1897, introduced by Rep. Kimberly-Ann Collins (D-St. Louis), would establish a Corrections Nursery Program, to keep incarcerated mothers and their infants together. A public hearing in the Senate was held on April 20.
HB 1919, also introduced by Rep. Collins, authorizes a tax credit for urban farms located in food deserts and establishes an agricultural outreach program for underserved and underrepresented communities. The bill’s executive session was completed on March 22 and was passed out of committee. The bill was referred to the House Administrative Oversight Committee on March 22.
HB 1922, also introduced by Rep. Collins, establishes the Department of Corrections Oversight Committee. A public hearing was completed on April 12.
HB 2627, introduced by Reps. Mark Sharp (D-Kansas City), Raychel Proudie (D-Ferguson), and Shamed Dogan (R-Ballwin), would designate February as Black History Month and November as “Native American Heritage Month” in Missouri. The bill has passed by the Senate on April 20.
Learn more about how a bill becomes a state law here.
Quote of the Week
Even though those things may be hard to deal with, it’s the truth. It happened, and there’s nothing we can do about it to change what happened, but accept it and do whatever we can to make sure that it doesn’t happen again.
Michael Simmons, University City High School junior, speaking to St. Louis Public Radio about learning Black history in Missouri public schools