RIVER FRONT TIMES: BEST LOCAL POLITICIAN
September 25, 2008

The youngest member of the St. Louis Board of Aldermen, Kacie Starr Triplett serves some of the city's most activist neighborhoods with a savvy that she must have learned from her late grandfather, former state senator John Bass. A little over a year into her job representing the Sixth Ward, the 27-year-old Triplett says she's still optimistic that downtown loft-dwellers and the homeless people who hang out in Lucas Park can learn to peacefully coexist. Triplett was raised in and still lives in Tower Grove East, a hot spot for rehabbers that's also seeing its share of crime. This fall she'll try to usher through a bill that would make the city keep better track of vacant buildings and crack down on owners who let them become havens for vagrants. Wisely, she didn't hesitate to post the first draft of the bill to the St. Louis Rehabbers Club (www.rehabbersclub.org) listserv, the top forum for opinionated urbanists and a key component of her constituency. Triplett remains enthusiastic about public service, and she takes the headaches of democratic process in stride. Maybe her energy will rub off on the rest of the Board of Aldermen by the time this rising star sets her sights on a bigger office.

GALA TO HONOR OUR TOWN'S AGELESS MARVELS
By Deb Peterson, ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH, 09/27/2008
SENIORS SOIREE: Twenty "ageless, remarkable St. Louisans" will be honored Nov. 9 in the Chase Park Plaza's Khorassan Ballroom at the sixth annual St. Andrew's Ageless-Remarkable St. Louisans gala. The honorees include….the executive director of the Southside Wellness Center, Ollie Stewart…

ST. LOUIS UNVEILS BARACK OBAMA BOULEVARD
By Joe Crawford
ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH
02/22/2009

St. Louis on Saturday joined cities around the world that have marked the election of the first black U.S. president.

About 50 people clapped and cheered on the corner of Delmar Boulevard and Kingshighway on Saturday morning as a host of local politicians unveiled the first street sign for Barack Obama Boulevard.

The name change along Delmar Boulevard is only ceremonial — the street will remain Delmar Boulevard on maps and other official documents. But the new moniker will be marked by a sign with Obama's name in green on a white background. They will be at six intersections between Tucker Boulevard and the western edge of the city. The five other signs are scheduled to be installed soon.

The city's aldermen authorized the name change last month.

St. Louis is not the first to honor Obama, just 33 days into his presidency, with a street or school bearing his name.

Opa-Locka, Fla., already has President Barack Obama Avenue. Hempstead, N.Y., has Barack Obama Elementary School. Cleveland's City Council recently approved a Barack Hussein Obama Middle School. And Naquera, Spain, is considering naming one of its central avenues Calle Barack Obama.

Kacie Starr Triplett, D-6th Ward, the alderman who introduced St. Louis' name change legislation in December, said she hoped the street would serve as "the city's conscience," a reminder of past and present racial issues in St. Louis and the need to continually make progress. Many people consider Delmar the racial dividing line in the city.

Triplett said she hoped the street, as a constant reminder of Obama's election, will inspire young people in the city to be hopeful. "This is something tangible that they can connect to," she said.

A few of the local leaders who addressed the crowd on Saturday morning mentioned the proposal's detractors, who said it was premature to name a street after a president who is yet to be fully judged by history.

But supporters said the renaming had more to do with the historic election of a black man as president than with Obama himself.

Alderman Marlene Davis, D-19th Ward, one of the co-sponsors of the legislation, said Obama's historic election was enough to justify the honor. "I don't care if he didn't spend a day in the White House," Davis said.

Randy Jones, 52, of St. Louis, expressed similar feelings about the street name. Regardless of what Obama does as president, Jones said, the election was an event St. Louis should remember. "I think this gives a lot of hope to a lot of people, black and white."

jcrawford@post-dispatch.com | 314-340-8349