Local News
Rosati-Kain Will Stay Open After Securing Lease with Archdiocese
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BENJAMIN SIMON Students from Rosati-Kain lead a cheer during Friday morning’s press conference.
After months of fighting to stay alive, Rosati-Kain announced at a press conference this morning that the school will remain open for the immediate future after agreeing to a three-year lease with the Archdiocese of St. Louis.
On September 27, the archdiocese said it would withdraw funding from two high schools, Rosati-Kain and St. Mary’s, at the end of the 2022-23 school year as part of its “All Things New” consolidation initiative.
A bit more than three months later, the all-girls school in the Central West End has announced it will become an independent Catholic school with religious sponsorship from the St. Joseph Educational Ministries. It will adopt the name Rosati-Kain Academy.
At 10 a.m. on Friday, about 250 students, teachers, alumni and media members packed into the Rosati-Kain’s basketball gym. The 30-minute program featured speeches, a prayer, a performance of the Rosati-Kain theme song and loud cheers that bounced off the decades of championship banners on the walls.
click to enlarge BENJAMIN SIMON Interim President of Rosati-Kain Academy Cynthia Goudy speaks during Friday’s press conference.
“The rapid response from our community inspiring collaboration tasks in true R-K fashion, captured the energy and drive of alumni and parents with a goal that we could not, and we would not, let this happen,” Interim President of Rosati-Kain Academy Cynthia Goudy said at the press conference. “The reason: There is no place on Earth, that’s quite special as far as Rosati-Kain.”
In early December, St. Mary’s announced that it had signed a three-year lease with the archdiocese and renamed itself St. Mary’s South Side Catholic High School. St. Mary’s, the focus of a recent Riverfront Times feature, devised a plan to fundraise up to $10 million over five years, with over $3 million already raised.
Rosati-Kain has done the same, officially announcing the news of its three-year deal with the archdiocese.
“We are pleased that members of St. Joseph Educational Ministries (SJEM), with the blessing of the St. Louis Province Leadership of the Sisters of St. Joseph of Carondelet, have approved a request by the newly formed Rosati-Kain Academy to become the school’s canonical sponsor,” Todd Sweda, superintendent for secondary education and senior director, said.
The school intends to raise over $10 million over five years, Goudy says. She added that the school has already raised 65 percent of the funds for next year. Goudy says she feels good about the school’s prospects.
“Look around,” she said, gesturing to the packed gym. “Like our alums, our students, the spirit that we all have — that’s what makes me 100% very confident.”
Located at 4389 Lindell Boulevard next to the Cathedral Basilica, Rosati-Kain is one of the oldest schools in the area, founded in 1911. It became the first St. Louis school to integrate in 1947 and has remained one of the most diverse schools in the area, with a minority enrollment above 50 percent. But in recent years, the number of students dropped from 248 in 2021-22 to 188 this year.
click to enlarge BENJAMIN SIMON Talor Williams is a junior as Rosati-Kain.
For junior Talor Williams, who chose Rosati-Kain despite living in north county, the diversity is what makes the school special for her.
“I would say [Rosati-Kain] is important to me because it shows how diverse we are,” she said. “A lot of the other half of Catholic schools in the area, private schools, have a fraction of diversity that we have here.”
After months of uncertainty, a sigh of relief filled the gym.
“I finally feel good,” Goudy said. “It’s been some hard discussions … are we going to make it? But we have the spirit around us and it bleeds purple and gold.”
But the work’s still not done as the school continues to fight to stay open. The next steps? “Planning, planning, planning, planning, planning, planning, accreditation, planning, planning,” Goudy says.
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Local News
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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