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International Institute Launches New Afghan Community Center | St. Louis Metro News | St. Louis

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click to enlarge Benjamin Simon Moji Sidiqi, Afghan Community Development Program Manager at the International Institute of St. Louis, speaks at the grand opening of the Afghan Community Center and Afghan Chamber of Commerce.

After hundreds of Afghan refugees settled in St. Louis over the past year, the International Institute of St. Louis held a grand opening for its most recent initiative on Friday: a community center.

The center, located in an office space at 3611 South Grand Boulevard in Tower Grove South, will offer a wide range of services for Afghan immigrants resettling in St. Louis. It will house the Afghan Chamber of Commerce, which will provide services such as English classes, driver’s education for women, financial literacy, credit building and mental-health programs. The center will also supply additional activities for kids, including a youth talent show, sports and arts, says Moji Sidiqi, Afghan Community Development Program Manager for the International Institute. 

“[Kids] have been exposed to war for decades on end. Folks are more concerned with survival,” she says. “Now that they’re in the United States in a safe space, I’m going to push for the center to advocate for their creativity — for arts, for bands, for music, for writing.” 

click to enlarge Benjamin Simon Two attendees talk about the food during the grand opening of the Afghan Community Center and Afghan Chamber of Commerce.

After over six months of work, the grand opening took place on Friday morning. More than 50 institute employees, Afghan families, business owners, representatives from immigrant organizations and community members crowded into the building on Grand. Throughout the hourlong event, attendees enjoyed Afghan food, toured the office space and listened to multiple speakers, including Sidiqi, attorney Jerry Schlichter and International Institute President and CEO Arrey Obenson.

Over the past year, St. Louis has seen an influx of Afghan refugees –– the largest number of total arrivals in the International Institute’s history, according to St. Louis Public Radio. Nearly 700 Afghans have settled into permanent housing in St. Louis since the fall of 2021 when the U.S. withdrew troops and the Taliban took over Afghanistan. 

And the influx of new arrivals to the city is not over. More than 220 refugees are expected to arrive from Albania in the coming months. Earlier this week, two International Institute staff members, including Sidiqi, traveled to Albania to speak with refugees about coming to St. Louis.

click to enlarge Benjamin Simon The Afghan Community Center will house its headquarters at 3611 South Grand Boulevard in Tower Grove South.

After Afghanistan fell to the Taliban, the institute launched the Afghan Support Program in January 2022 to accommodate the growing number of Afghan immigrants, providing $500,000 for housing assistance, creating an Afghan newspaper and supplying 200 families with iPads and smartphones. Many have settled in south St. Louis, making Grand an ideal location for the community center.

“It’s in a centralized location, close to the institute, in a neighborhood where the majority of our new arrivals stay,” Sidiqi says. “It couldn’t be more ideal.”

As more Afghan immigrants land in St. Louis, Sidiqi doesn’t want them just to live here. She wants St. Louis to feel like home. 

“There’s a big initiative behind the Afghan Support Program and that is to incentivize Afghans to move to St. Louis,” Sidiqi says, “so that we can basically emulate [the] Bosnian migration that took place in the ’90s and make St. Louis the next little Kabul.”

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Fenton Man Charged in Sword Attack on Roommate

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A warrant is out for a Fenton man’s arrest after he allegedly attacked his roommate with a sword. 

Police say that on Sunday, Angelus Scott spoke openly about “slicing his roommate’s head” before he grabbed a sword, raised it up and then swung it down at the roommate. 

The roommate grabbed Scott’s hand in time to prevent injury. When police arrived at the scene, they found the weapon used in the assault. 

The sword in question was a katana, which is a Japanese sword recognizable for its curved blade. 

This isn’t the first time a samurai-style sword has been used to violent effect in St. Louis. In 2018, a man hearing voices slaughtered his ex-boyfriend with a samurai sword. His mother said he suffered from schizoaffective disorder.

As for Scott, 35, the St. Louis County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office was charged yesterday with two felonies, assault first degree and armed criminal action. The warrant for his arrest says he is to be held on $200,000 bond.

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Caught on Video, Sheriff Says He’s Ready to ‘Turn It All Over’ to Deputy

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Video of St. Louis Sheriff Vernon Betts taken by a former deputy suggests that the sheriff has a successor in mind to hand the reins of the department over to, even as Betts is in an increasingly heated campaign for reelection. 

“I ain’t here for all this rigmarole,” Betts says in the video while seated behind his desk at the Carnahan Courthouse. “The Lord sent me here to turn this department around and I’m doing the best I can and I think I’ve done a good job. I’ve got about eight months and I’m going to qualify for my fourth pension.”

He goes on, “Right now I can walk up out of here and live happily ever after and forget about all this…and live like a king.”

The sheriff then says his wife has been in Atlanta looking at houses and that the other deputy in the room, Donald Hawkins, is someone Betts has been training “to turn it all over to him.”

Asked about the video, Betts tells the RFT, “My future plans are to win reelection on August 6th by a wide margin and to continue my mission as the top elected law enforcement official to make St. Louis safer and stronger. Serving the people of St. Louis with integrity, honor and professional law enforcement qualifications is a sacred responsibility, and I intend to complete that mission.”

The video of Betts was taken by Barbara Chavers, who retired from the sheriff’s office in 2016 after 24 years of service. Chavers now works security at Schnucks at Grand and Gravois. Betts’ brother Howard works security there, too.

Chavers tells the RFT that she was summoned to Betts’ office last week after Betts’ brother made the sheriff aware that she was supporting Montgomery. It was no secret: Chavers had filmed a Facebook live video in which she said she was supporting Betts’ opponent Alfred Montgomery in the election this fall. “Make the judges safe,” she says in the video, standing in front of a large Montgomery sign on Gravois Avenue. “They need a sheriff who is going to make their courtrooms safe.”

In his office, even as Chavers made clear she was filming him, Betts told Chavers he was “flabbergasted” and “stunned” she was supporting Montgomery. 

“I don’t know what I did that would make you go against the preacher man,” he says, referring to himself. He then refers to Montgomery as “ungodly.” 

Betts goes on to say that not long ago, he was walking in his neighborhood on St. Louis Avenue near 20th Street when suddenly Montgomery pulled up in his car and, according to Betts, shouted, “You motherfucker, you this, you that. You’re taking my signs down.”

Montgomery tells the RFT that he’s never interacted with Betts outside of candidate forums and neighborhood meetings. 

“I don’t think anyone with good sense would do something like that to a sitting sheriff,” Montgomery says.

Montgomery has had campaign signs missing and on at least two occasions has obtained video of people tearing them down. (Chavers notes that the sign that she filmed her original Facebook video in front of is itself now missing.)

One man who lives near Columbus Square says that he recently put out two Montgomery signs, which later went missing. “If they keep taking them, I’ll keep putting them up,” he said. 

Betts says he has nothing to do with the missing signs. In the video Chavers filmed in Betts’ office, Betts says that his campaign isn’t in a spot where it needs to resort to tearing down opponents’ signs.

“If you sit here long enough, a man is getting ready to come across the street from City Hall bringing me $500, today,” Betts says. “I’m getting that kind of support. I don’t need to tear down signs.”

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St. Louis to Develop First Citywide Transportation Plan in Decades

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The City of St. Louis is working to develop its first citywide mobility plan in decades, Mayor Tishaura Jones’ office announced Tuesday. This plan seeks to make it easier for everyone — drivers, pedestrians, bikers and public transit users — to safely commute within the city.

The plan will bring together other city projects like the Brickline Greenway, Future64, the MetroLink Green Line, and more, “while establishing new priorities for a safer, more efficient and better-maintained transportation network across the City,” according to the release. 

The key elements in the plan will be public engagement, the development of a safety action plan, future infrastructure priorities and transportation network mapping, according to Jones’ office.

The overarching goals are to create a vision for citywide mobility, plan a mixture of short and long-term mobility projects and to develop improved communication tools with the public to receive transportation updates. In recent years, both people who use public transit and cyclists have been outspoken about the difficulties — and dangers — of navigating St. Louis streets, citing both cuts to public transit and traffic violence.

To garner public input and participation for the plan, Jones’ office said there will be community meetings, focus groups and a survey for residents to share their concerns. The city will also be establishing a Community Advisory Committee. Those interested in learning more should check out at tmp-stl.com/

“Everyone deserves to feel safe when getting around St. Louis, whether they’re driving, biking, walking or taking public transit,” Jones said in a news release. “Creating a comprehensive transportation and mobility plan allows us to make intentional and strategic investments so that moving around St. Louis for jobs, education, and entertainment becomes easier, safer and more enjoyable.”

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