wash u
Acting on an anonymous tip Feb. 19, Wash. U. authorities confiscated an AR-15 semi-automatic rifle and handgun belonging to a member of the Phi Delta Theta fraternity chapter. The student was suspended; the chapter, already on probation for hazing allegations, was closed down. Reportedly, someone noticed the unnamed student on social media in a photo, holding the AR-15 with the fraternity flag in the background. Was a tragedy averted? Thankfully, we’ll never really know. But when I read the news, the face of Emma González, 18, popped into my head. From the overwhelming media attention, you likely know her as a vocal young woman who survived the Feb. 14 shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High in Parkland, Florida, where a troubled teenager with an AR-15 murdered 14 other students and three teachers. Imagining González’ face astonished me because, unfortunately, after too many other horrendous school shootings, I’ve remembered only the names and faces of the gunmen. For years. It troubles me that I still remember the name of a 1999 Columbine shooter … the Sandy Hook shooter’s name … the shooter’s name on Valentine’s Day. This time, it’s different. Survivors are being heard. This is good for all of us. González et al. represent a sea change in the national consciousness. Today, I see many other faces and remember other names from the student body and their friends and teachers. In Washington and Florida, furious and heartbroken parents, students and teachers confronted their elected officials about working toward common-sense reform of gun laws. They called out those who have received significant NRA contributions. In tears, high school senior Sam Zeif told President Trump about losing his best friend, Joaquin Oliver. Zeif reminds me of my son, Henry. Anthony Borges, 15, took five AR-15 bullets through the door he held shut to protect about 20 classmates inside … grievously wounded, he faces a grim recovery. At the White House, the president also heard Sandy Hook mom Nicole Hockley, whose son Dylan, 6, was killed in 2012 in Newtown, Connecticut. González, Zeif, Hockley and countless others are making their voices heard and lifting up those whose voices were silenced. Let’s not forget other heroes, like teacher Aaron Feis, 37, an alum and coach shot to death at Parkland as he tried to protect his students. Whose names will be etched forever in your minds? Remember the survivors, the lives cut short. Follow their stories. Donate to their causes. Learn more about ‘March For Our Lives’, the 24th of this month in D.C.
creve coeur
The aged white oak is a gigantic, gnarled specimen of arboreal glory—so big, it should have its own ZIP code. As a senior citizen itself, it should feel right at home in an area dotted with retirement communities. It commands a hillside next to Rosewood Care Center, 11278 Schuetz Road, and is the only remaining denizen of a once-wooded area being developed into Dolan Memory Care Homes, an 11-acre, $15 million project. Within a few hundred yards is Autumn View Gardens, an assisted-living community; less than a mile away is Covenant Place on the Millstone Campus of the Jewish Community Center. The big tree is estimated to be between 150 and 200 years old, and at this writing, a Google satellite view of 11278 Schuetz, pre-Dolan, shows the tree standing just outside the one-time woods, where there appears to have been at least one more very big tree. Let’s say this tree with a busted-off top is at the upper end of the age range, which means it was an acorn in 1818. In that case, we’ll name it Beth in honor of Elizabeth Kortright Monroe, who was First Lady to our fifth president, James Monroe. It’s very possible that some of Beth’s descendants still live nearby, knowing a little about how squirrels operate. Plenty probably remain throughout neighborhoods in the area, much of which is unincorporated county. So let’s assume many of Beth’s offspring are doing just fine, thank you … wherever they are. We have to applaud Dolan for preserving the yuuge old tree, when all too often developers take a scorched-earth approach … from big-box stores and mini-malls to condo complexes and McMansion residential neighborhoods, they cut everything down and plant scrawny, pitiful replacements. Sad.
forest park
Free beer! Now that we have your attention, the nonprofit conservancy Forest Park Forever and the City of St. Louis will host a free event next Wednesday (March 14) from 5 to 7 p.m. at the Dennis & Judith Jones Visitor and Education Center in Forest Park. During the gathering, emceed by Fox 2’s Jasmine Huda, park officials will fill in attendees on the latest happenings at the park and answer questions. Now, about that free beer: You’ll be able to sample complimentary Forest Park Pilsner from Urban Chestnut … oh, and frozen custard from Shake Shack. There will be information and activity stations led by Forest Park Forever, the city’s Department of Parks, Recreation and Forestry, park destinations and partners such as Great Rivers Greenway and Shakespeare Festival St. Louis. New this year will be a special section for families to learn about summer camp opportunities. Door prizes will be given out throughout the program, courtesy of several park destinations.
eureka
The new county library branch planned in Eureka has received a $100,000 donation from McBride & Son Homes, earmarked for the St. Louis County Library Foundation. The library has purchased a 3.5-acre parcel from Six Flags at 500 Workman Road for its new Eureka Hills Branch. A master-planned McBride development, Arbors of Rockwood, will be within walking distance of the new library, as well as a new elementary school. Meanwhile, the library will continue operating in its current locale during construction. It’s a throwback, of sorts—in a leased space of 6,500 square feet at 156 Eureka Towne Center, it occupies a one-time Blockbuster store. What’s a bored kid in Eureka to do nowadays?
Read, for one thing … but only after the homework is done. Of course, he or she could hit the library for either/or. Plus: Hey, kids! There are movies on DVD, too. For free! You had to rent or buy them at Blockbuster. But what about video games? Well, to find out, why don’t you look up the library online or call them? You know, on the telephone? Starting now, you’re just going to have to do some things for yourself. And clean up your room. (This mess is a place, you say? Don’t get smart with us!) Um, weren’t we talking about the new library? Ahem. Architects will be selected through a competitive bid process beginning next year. Construction is set to begin in 2020, with completion in summer 2021.
the riverfront
What’s in a name? Well, does the word salad ‘Jefferson National Expansion Memorial’ just not roll, mellifluously, off of your tongue? ‘Gateway Arch National Park’ does, though, don’t you think? Whatever its name, the metro’s shiny centerpiece is held in high esteem by folks on either side of the Mississippi, whether Missourians or ‘Illinaliens.’ It’s still four words, but we think these select four really raise the bar for us, both nationally and internationally. Legislation to change the name was introduced in the U.S. Senate last summer. It was passed by the Senate on Dec. 21, 2017, and by the U.S. House of Representatives on Feb. 7, 2018, and President Trump signed the bill into law on Feb. 22. (What’s more, as shown, the logo has been updated.) Nobody can miss the stainless-steel-clad catenary curve, 630 feet tall, from miles around. It etches memories in your brain, no matter where you’re going to or coming from, or when. My first view of the monument is a highlight of my 1974 interstate trip from Georgia to Colorado. (But for the hitchhiker I picked up in Kansas, it was a solo trek. Otherwise, I’d have fallen asleep at the wheel somewhere across the pancake that is two-thirds of that state … of which a teenager could one day be governor!) I felt like stopping on the bridge, which I now know is the never-not-under-construction Poplar Street Bridge, for a snapshot with my Kodak Instamatic. The park was named Jefferson National Expansion Memorial long before the Arch (completed in October 1965) was a silvery gleam in Eero Saarinen’s eye. I hope they’ll sell ‘Gateway Arch National Park’ bumper stickers, caps and souvenir felt pennants in the gift shop of the spiffy, new-and-improved museum at the base of the Arch. It’s slated to reopen July 3, with the whole kit and caboodle being readied for Fair St. Louis. Now, if you think the metro is Jefferson-deprived, just drive a little farther west to Jefferson Avenue. Still not satisfied? There’s a great statue of our third president, seated, in the Missouri History Museum. Carved from a single block of Italian marble, it’s almost 20 feet tall.
