PubDef had a front-row seat to history last night.

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Believing in Obama - Part 1

EXCLUSIVE VIDEO

Braving the winter weather last night, a group of young local attorneys and Alderman Kacie Starr Triplett, the local spokesperson for the Barack Obama for President campaign, came out to raise some money for the Illinois senator and talk about the importance of the upcoming Iowa primary.

Also officially coming out for Obama last night was State Senator Jeff Smith, who said it was in the interest of “domestic tranquility” that he had not come out earlier. Smith’s girlfriend, Elisabeth Smith, is a John Edwards supporter. She’s moved to Illinois to work on a Congressional campaign, leaving Jeff free to join the surging Obama campaign.

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State Representative Jake Zimmerman (D-Olivette) was also in attendance.

PUB DEF EXCLUSIVE

Hillary Clinton might have picked up more than she bargained for when she accepted the support of beleaguered mayor Francis Slay. A coalition seeking to remove him from office is moving forward with plans to protest Clinton’s St. Louis appearance this weekend because he is scheduled to introduce her.

Yesterday, Sean Thompson, with the Clinton campaign, told State Rep. Jamilah Nasheed, who is active with the recall effort, that there was no need for the protest because Slay was no longer going to introduce Clinton because of a “scheduling conflict.”

“Upon hearing that news and confirming it myself with his office,” said Thompson on a voicemail message, “I called Mr. [Eric] Vickers and talked to him and told him that the mayor would not be in attendance at the Pageant.”

“It is my sincere hope that it changes the dynamic of the demonstration that you all had planned,” said Thompson.

But when the Clinton campaign was unwilling to confirm in writing that Slay would not be introducing the presidential candidate, organizers moved on with their plans.

Tomorrow the Citizens to Recall Francis G. Slay, the Citizens to Support Fire Chief George, and other organizations and community leaders will hold a press conference to announce their protest plans.

“Mayor Slay, Senator Clinton’s top supporter in the City, is scheduled to give the opening remarks at the Clinton Rally. Because of this, Senator Clinton is being placed on notice that protest demonstrations will take place at the rally — both inside and outside the Pageant,” said the group in a press release today.

Tomorrow’s press conference is scheduled for 10:00 AM in front of The Pageant, 6161 Delmar Blvd.

UPDATE: According to the Post-Dispatch, Clinton’s Sunday event at The Pageant has been moved back an hour, to 6:00 PM.

Earlier Story:

Did Hillary Dump Francis?

PUB DEF EXCLUSIVE VIDEO

The mayor’s education liaison’s PR event with a group of St. Louis Public Schools students Friday got a little too real when a parent asked why recently air conditioned schools were closed and sold off by the past school board supported by Mayor Francis Slay.

Robyn Wahby told parent Yolanda Nelson that the mayor’s office had nothing to do with that decision, that it was entirely the decision of the school district, a separate government entity.

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Despite Wahby’s assertion to a parent, the mayor’s office — through Wahby — was indeed very much involved in decisions made by the school boards of 2003 through 2006, including big ones like:

• the decision to hire a $425 per hour New York-based corporate “turn-around” firm to run the district for a year;
• the decision to close 16 schools (mostly in north St. Louis); and
• the decision to outsource the district’s food service and maintenance.

PUB DEF EXCLUSIVE VIDEO

Of the more than 32,000 students that attend St. Louis Public Schools, only slightly more than 4,000 of them are white. Despite whites making up only 14% of the district population, two out of every five seats in some of the city’s best schools — top-performing magnet schools — are reserved for white children. And because so few of their parents are choosing to send their kids to SLPS, many of those seats go unfilled, despite the fact that waiting lists of black students wanting to attend these good schools grow longer every year.

Yesterday, at a public meeting of parties in the Liddell v. The Board of Education case (the historic desegregation case which led to 15 years of court-ordered busing between city and suburban districts), teachers union president Mary Armstrong asked the parties if they would consider releasing those empty seats to black students whose families are desperate for better educational opportunities.

Armstrong said many of those families choose charter schools because they are turned away from SLPS magnets, costing the district millions of dollars every year.

In this exclusive video Armstrong mentions Mayor Francis Slay’s plan to aggressively expand the number of charter schools in the city, which will put further economic strain on the district. And attorney William L. Taylor, the lead lawyer in the desegregation case, asks Armstrong her position on pay-for-performance plans for teachers.

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Applications for acceptance to the following magnet schools must be received by Friday, November 16:

• Central Visual and Performing Arts
• Cleveland NJROTC
• Gateway Institute of Technology
• Kennard Classical Junior Academy
• McKinley Classical Junior Academy
• McKinley Classical Leadership Academy
• Metro Academic and Classical High School
• Soldan International Studies

Applications to all other St. Louis magnet schools must be received by Monday, December 31.

PUB DEF EXCLUSIVE

At a panel discussion yesterday on race and politics, Shamed Dogan, a Republican candidate for state representative in west St. Louis County, slammed Congressman Lacy Clay for his stance against a white member of Congress attempting to join the Congressional Black Caucus.

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PUB DEF EXCLUSIVE

At a panel discussion on race and politics yesterday, Democratic State Rep. Maria Chappelle-Nadal and Republican State Rep. candidate Shamed Dogan sparred over Dogan’s assertion that intermarriage is one of the best ways to reach a “color-blind” society.

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