Alonzo Weston
It's not another Depression ... yet
Sunday, Oct. 12, 2008
Wednesday, Oct. 8, 2008
Wednesday, Oct. 8, 2008
Scouting indeed can save lives
Monday, Oct. 6, 2008
Proud heritage, dwindling numbers
Sunday, Oct. 5, 2008
Friday, Oct. 3, 2008
Wednesday, Oct. 1, 2008
Tuesday, Sept. 30, 2008
Saturday, Sept. 27, 2008
New Family Guidance facility will open Monday
Friday, Sept. 26, 2008
Wednesday, Sept. 24, 2008
Wednesday, Sept. 24, 2008
Program teaches residents how to manage money
Tuesday, Sept. 23, 2008
Offering hope to kids
Monday, Sept. 22, 2008
Sunday, Sept. 21, 2008
Friday, Sept. 19, 2008
Thursday, Sept. 18, 2008
Wednesday, Sept. 17, 2008
Umpire still calls it like he sees it
Thursday, Sept. 11, 2008
Wednesday, Sept. 10, 2008
Wednesday, Sept. 10, 2008
In-home care provides independence
Monday, Sept. 8, 2008
Saturday, Sept. 6, 2008
Brain Injury Association seeks to raise awareness
Friday, Sept. 5, 2008
Thursday, Sept. 4, 2008
Thursday, Sept. 4, 2008
Wednesday, Sept. 3, 2008
Wednesday, Sept. 3, 2008
Wednesday, Sept. 3, 2008
Krug Park Bash brings rockin’ crowd
Monday, Sept. 1, 2008
Sunday, Aug. 24, 2008
The dangers of energy drinks?
Saturday, Aug. 23, 2008
Wednesday, Aug. 20, 2008
Tuesday, Aug. 19, 2008
Monday, Aug. 18, 2008
Does music affect behavior of listeners?
Friday, Aug. 15, 2008
Reaching out to Midtown
Thursday, Aug. 14, 2008
Wednesday, Aug. 13, 2008
Sunday, Aug. 10, 2008
Friday, Aug. 8, 2008
Friday, Aug. 8, 2008
T-Cap open again, has new management
Thursday, Aug. 7, 2008
Thursday, Aug. 7, 2008
Wednesday, Aug. 6, 2008
Tuesday, Aug. 5, 2008
New hope for Midtown park
Tuesday, Aug. 5, 2008
Debate starts on Internet addiction
Sunday, Aug. 3, 2008
Food pantry serving the needy finds itself in need
Wednesday, July 30, 2008
Wednesday, July 30, 2008
Institute gets students ‘fired up’ by research
Saturday, July 26, 2008
It's not another Depression ... yet
Sunday, Oct. 12, 2008
Dolores Reeder doesn’t think times are as bad now as they were in the 1930s. Not yet anyway. And if things do get worse, it won’t be in the same way, she said. “Back then we didn’t even have a telephone, and they carry telephones with them now,” Ms. Reeder said. The 79-year-old St. Joseph woman was born a few months after the Depression started in 1929. She doesn’t remember much about it. But she does remember during that time when her father couldn’t even afford the $10 it took to get her younger brother’s body from the hospital after he had died.
Follow the signsWednesday, Oct. 8, 2008
Haven’t cleaned out the old Bopp File in a while. To the uninitiated, the Bopp File is a computer file where I store all my unfinished columns, strange ideas and weird thoughts. Here’s what I’m tossing out:
Proposition would create home care councilWednesday, Oct. 8, 2008
Bob Pund has trouble getting out of bed. The Columbia, Mo., man is paralyzed from the shoulders down. A home health care provider makes getting out of bed and everything else in his life a little easier. That’s if he can keep one.
Scouting indeed can save lives
Monday, Oct. 6, 2008
It was the day after Thanksgiving last year. The Miller house was full of people and everyone was still full of Thanksgiving dinner.
Jeannie Miller and her two sons, Aaron and John, had just settled down to watch movies for the evening. Grandma, an aunt and her kids were getting ready for bed.
Then somebody smelled smoke.
Proud heritage, dwindling numbers
Sunday, Oct. 5, 2008
Ben Rich pulled an old and faded yellow piece of paper from behind the counter and ran a wrinkled finger down the list of names of the St. Joseph B’nai B’rith-Joseph Chapter No. 276.
Prominent and familiar St. Joseph Jewish names. More than 100.
Friday, Oct. 3, 2008
“Greetings from Paradise!” read the beginning of a recent letter addressed to Bill and Elaine Guenther and handwritten on yellow lined tablet paper. It came from their friend Gordon Wiser, mayor of St. Joseph for one term from 1978 to 1982.
A doll's life is just too realWednesday, Oct. 1, 2008
Went shopping with my wife Saturday for our granddaughter Asia’s birthday presents. I didn’t go along for the shopping for birthday clothes part. I learned long ago that when women go shopping for clothes, it can be an all-day excursion.
Santana: Multi-Dimensional WarriorTuesday, Sept. 30, 2008
When many people think of the music of Carlos Santana and his band Santana, they usually think of Latin-tinged pop hits like 1969’s “Evil Ways,” and 1970s “Black Magic Woman.”
NAACP branch looks to restartSaturday, Sept. 27, 2008
Danell Hawkins believes that if there were still an NAACP branch in town, he’d still have his trucking business. The St. Joseph man believes racism forced him out.
New Family Guidance facility will open Monday
Friday, Sept. 26, 2008
Movers and workers put the finishing pieces in place Thursday morning on the new Family Guidance Center for Behavioral Healthcare building. The shiny, beige 35,000-square-foot structure at 724 N. 22nd St. opens for business at its new facility Monday morning.
Love Train: The Sound of PhiladelphiaWednesday, Sept. 24, 2008
I don’t understand this recent fascination with the Philly Soul sound. Sure it’s good music. Who doesn’t get a good old school party vibe listening to the O’Jay’s “Backstabbers” or The Spinners “I’ll Be Around?”
Obama forces a stark debateWednesday, Sept. 24, 2008
A friend told me a man made racist jokes about Barack Obama at a voting site during the last local election. It was before Obama had picked a running mate. The man said Obama should pick Rambo as his vice president.
Program teaches residents how to manage money
Tuesday, Sept. 23, 2008
Valerie Porlier-Smith is good with people, art and poetry. It’s the left-brain stuff she struggles with — like budgeting, prioritizing and money management. “Once money is in my hands, it kind of acts like water through my hands,” she said.
Offering hope to kids
Monday, Sept. 22, 2008
Cooper Blakely used to speak of butterflies, daddy and ABCs. The 3-year-old, blond-haired ball of smiling preschool energy hasn’t spoken any of his favorite words since autism took them away.
Woman hopes trained dogs can assist farmers with disabilitiesSunday, Sept. 21, 2008
One day Kristy will open doors, carry pails, close gates and do other farm chores for some disabled northwest farmer. Today the black Labrador shepherd mix opens the door on a new AgrAbility program called the Pets Helping Agriculture in Rural Missouri (PHARM) Dog Project.
Homeless count shows fluctuating numbersFriday, Sept. 19, 2008
Robert E. Bishop has had bad luck with women so far.
Breaking up with a live-in girlfriend put him out on the street seven years ago. Hurricane Rita put him out of Beaumont, Texas, in 2005. Today, he’s 56 years old and homeless, living at the Juda House and hoping to get both back to Beaumont and his girlfriend back.
Thursday, Sept. 18, 2008
If a space alien wanted to know what jazz sounded like you’d play him “Kind of Blue.” This 1959 modal jazz masterpiece is widely esteemed as the definitive jazz album. It should be the first piece of music to start any serious jazz collection.
Bag-Head weighs in on election mattersWednesday, Sept. 17, 2008
The huge 300-pound figure clanking toward me in the News-Press parking wearing a “Barack the Vote in ’08” T-shirt was none other than Bag-Head Jheri, the Messanie Street Philosopher. I’m sure he had something to say about the upcoming presidential elections. I wasn’t wrong.
Umpire still calls it like he sees it
Thursday, Sept. 11, 2008
It happened during one of the state softball tournament games he umpired, Pete Palma remembered. A base runner came barreling down from second base and crash landed into the third baseman. That was against the rules. And everyone knows that Pete Palma knows the rules like he wrote the book. They know he doesn’t back down from a call either.
A day that changed everythingWednesday, Sept. 10, 2008
The newspaper was much larger and the world much smaller before Sept. 11, 2001. When I held up a copy of the Sept. 11, 2001, News-Press to one of our recent editions, the old dwarfed the new by about 6 inches. That roughly translates into about 24 column inches per page. That’s four 6-inch news briefs or a little more than the length of this 18-inch column.
Before Sept. 11 we lived not far beyond our backyard. We kept most of our worries within the city limits.
Wednesday, Sept. 10, 2008
More than 30 representatives from St. Joseph social service and human resource agencies gathered at Camp Geiger Tuesday morning to discuss strategies for collectively combating poverty.
In-home care provides independence
Monday, Sept. 8, 2008
A year ago, Rexel Spencer lived in a lonely apartment with only one can of food in his cabinet and the cherished memories of the two women in his life who cared for him.
His wife of seven months died of a heart attack six years before. His next-door neighbor who looked out for him after his wife’s passing died herself a year ago of pancreatic cancer.
All Mr. Spencer had left were both women’s pictures on the wall and the Pomeranian named Gabriel that his good neighbor and friend left behind.
Saturday, Sept. 6, 2008
St. Joseph Habitat for Humanity will host a Local Celebrity Build Day from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. today at 21st and Charles streets.
Brain Injury Association seeks to raise awareness
Friday, Sept. 5, 2008
Theresa Cathers had a storybook life. She was living in New Jersey and raising three kids with her husband. She had a good career as a nurse. But that all changed the day a military truck crashed into the Volkswagon Beetle in which she was a passenger.
The L.A. Chillharmonic featuring Richard SmithThursday, Sept. 4, 2008
Tom Scott and the L.A. Express created an enjoyable but easily forgettable brand of jazz fun pop fusion in the 1970s. Now guitarist Richard Smith and the L.A Chillharmonic create an equally inoffensive brand of smooth jazz for the millinnium.
Free haircuts for kids offeredThursday, Sept. 4, 2008
Sheila Morahnwanna-Gilbert knows the power of a haircut. After all, she’s a licensed barber.
The Jacksons’Wednesday, Sept. 3, 2008
Pop star Michael Jackson just turned 50 years old. I know that sounds hard to believe especially since Peter Pan is never supposed to get old. But it’s true. Jackson is now closer to a cane and walker than the moonwalker he was 30 years ago.
Living on a prayerWednesday, Sept. 3, 2008
The last time I saw Kathy Felton, she was living out of a motel room on little hope. Actually, Ms. Felton was homeless. She’d just lost her home of more than 20 years to foreclosure. Her son’s credit card was the only cushion between her and the street.
Gustav victims staying 'upbeat'Wednesday, Sept. 3, 2008
As hurricanes go, Gustav doesn’t seem to be as mean as Katrina, according to some sources. No anger. No looting. Minimal damage.
In Marshall, Texas, about 30 miles from Shreveport, La., Red Cross volunteer Shoba Brown said things are still hectic but everyone, for the most part, is in good humor.
“All I see is smiles all around me, it’s all upbeat,” the St. Joseph woman said. “The evacuees want to go home, of course, but in general everyone seems cooperative, everything is very manageable.”
Krug Park Bash brings rockin’ crowd
Monday, Sept. 1, 2008
A hard rock guitar tuning up broke the Sunday evening silence at Krug Park. A mix of people took seats in the bowl and along the wall. Some chatted, some danced, some threw a football around. Everyone was waiting for the Krug Park Bash to begin.
Tensions, tragedies fueled Black America in 1968, burned citySunday, Aug. 24, 2008
Black America caught fire in 1968. Ignited by the assassinations of Martin Luther King Jr. and Robert F. Kennedy and fueled by a lingering racism, the fire spread through black communities across the country. While the nation burned in 1968, the St. Joseph black community simmered. The racial tensions and tragedies in the rest of the country didn’t boil over here until 1969. And then it took the death of Richard Marvin Ginn, a black youth shot dead by a white St. Joseph police officer, to set it off.
The dangers of energy drinks?
Saturday, Aug. 23, 2008
A new study suggests that energy drinks are correlated with substance abuse, unsafe sexual activity and other self-destructive activity. The study, conducted by the University at Buffalo’s Research Institute on Addictions and recently published in the Journal of Adolescent Health, claims that frequent energy drink consumers were three times more likely to smoke cigarettes, abuse drugs and engage in physical violence. Frequent consumption is considered drinking six or more energy drinks a month, according to the study.
Family might have Hawkins connectionWednesday, Aug. 20, 2008
Kathryn May isn’t sure if she’s related to famed jazz saxophonist and St. Joseph native son Coleman Hawkins. She just remembers that as a young girl, whenever her father came to St. Joseph from Plattsburg, Mo., he’d always take some of his home-grown vegetables to somebody named “Coleman” who lived on 17th Street.
New Kids On The Block: Greatest HitsTuesday, Aug. 19, 2008
I never listened to New Kids on the Block. But I suppose if you were a pre-teen girl in the late 1980s they would have been the greatest thing since Barbie dolls.
More Missourians seek help amid housing crisisMonday, Aug. 18, 2008
When Kathy Felton bought a duplex 20 years ago, she dreamed it would be a home for life for her and her son. But 20 years later, the bank foreclosed on that dream. And last week, a horse trailer, three sheriff’s cars and a flatbed truck came to carry away her belongings. The St. Joseph woman got evicted. “The guy said, ‘We’re taking your stuff. Are you going to cooperate?’” Ms. Felton said. “Am I going to cooperate while you’re taking my stuff?”
Does music affect behavior of listeners?
Friday, Aug. 15, 2008
A recent study suggests that doctors can determine whether teenagers are at risk of certain mental illnesses by the type of music they prefer.
Reaching out to Midtown
Thursday, Aug. 14, 2008
It’s nothing fancy. It doesn’t have to be to serve a need. Just a large plastic tote full of bagged cold lunches sitting under an umbrella on a donated wooden table. An inflatable kid’s swimming pool full of ice to keep the juice drinks cold. A kind word.
The writing’s on the wallWednesday, Aug. 13, 2008
The guy thought there was no one else was in the room. But I caught him writing hateful X-rated stuff on a factory bathroom wall about a plant supervisor. At first I wouldn’t have thought too much about it. Lots of people write on bathroom walls. I might have myself a time or two.
Is Midtown better off than before?Sunday, Aug. 10, 2008
Sue Ewing sits on her South 16th Street porch most evenings just to enjoy the “quietness.” Eight years ago, that was a luxury she said she couldn’t afford. The Midtown woman credits Weed and Seed efforts with giving her back the quiet evenings and her neighborhood. “I used to say we want our neighborhood back,” Ms. Ewing said. “Well, it’s back.”
Aaron Parks - "Invisible Cinema"Friday, Aug. 8, 2008
Good instrumental jazz is like watching a movie. The story line, plot and climax all takes place between your ears. With rhythmic and harmonic colorings and textures, it creates subconscious visual images. Piano licks become raindrops. A guitar solo evokes a lonely highway. The melody itself becomes a musical journey with the artist as tour guide.
What ever happened to ... the man who shut down St. Joe’s water?Friday, Aug. 8, 2008
The water rose quickly. About eight inches every 15 minutes, remembered Roger Schultz. He and four other men, Stephen Curran, Harold Cole, Greg Bryan and Bernie Myers held the fate of the St. Joseph Water Co. in their hands. It was Saturday night, July 24, 1993.
T-Cap open again, has new management
Thursday, Aug. 7, 2008
Debbie King has seen how drugs, poverty and sexually transmitted diseases can affect a community. She’s seen how broken homes can lead to teen pregnancies and other family problems.
Spreading the word about MoHealthNet for KidsThursday, Aug. 7, 2008
The St. Joseph Youth Alliance and the Department of Social Services have teamed up to spread the word about health coverage for children.
Pioneer left mark on TVWednesday, Aug. 6, 2008
No one knew Edie Huggins when she came back home to St. Joseph. Her Bartlett High School Class of 1953 classmates just knew her as Eddie Lou Thompson. And that’s just who she was when he came back home for the Bartlett High School reunions.
Cassandra Wilson - LoverlyTuesday, Aug. 5, 2008
Cassandra Wilson is what I want a female jazz vocalist to sound like. Her deep, husky voice just seems right for a jazz chanteuse doing a late night set in a smoky nightclub.
New hope for Midtown park
Tuesday, Aug. 5, 2008
Ramadhan Washington flipped through his kitchen calendar last Thursday morning to see how many activities were going on at John Lucas Park in the next few weeks. He sounded almost like an auctioneer.
Debate starts on Internet addiction
Sunday, Aug. 3, 2008
If an Oregon psychiatrist has his way, excessive Internet surfing, text messaging and e-mailing would be considered a mental illness. And it would be one officially recognized and included in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSMV), the psychoanalyst’s bible. But some local mental health providers disagree. They say they haven’t seen any actual cases of Internet addiction. And what can be considered Internet addiction is already covered in the DSM manual under compulsive disorders.
Food pantry serving the needy finds itself in need
Wednesday, July 30, 2008
Need walks through the door five nights a week at the Valley Community Center Food Kitchen. The South Side pantry has a need 80 deep most nights with old men and women, hungry children, single mothers and struggling families needing to be fed.
A strong woman’s influence carries onWednesday, July 30, 2008
My mother and I don’t get to go to breakfast together as often as we’d like. But every time we do, I’m reminded of how much I am my mother’s son. Or, maybe it is that I’m reminded of how much I hope to be like my mother.
Institute gets students ‘fired up’ by research
Saturday, July 26, 2008
How does studying “pigs in forensic taphonomy” sound for summer fun? What about discovering “the effects of triclosan on the normal intestinal microbiota and on susceptibility to experimental colitis in mice?”
