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TONIGHT: How is the United Nations Involved with the toxic landfill in nearby Bridgeton, MO?
 In March of 2013 Dawn Chapman and Karen Nickel founded JustMomsSTL, a non-profit organization that educates the community about the hazards and health risks surrounding the West Lake Landfill, a site used to dump radioactive waste from the Manhattan Project in Bridgeton, MO. The toxic area is adjacent to the Bridgeton Landfill where a subsurface smoldering fire burns. In fact that fire is dangerously close; only about 1,000 feet separate the two areas.
Join Civitas and UNA-STL via Zoom tonight, Tuesday, April 20 from 6:30 pm-7:30 pm for an update from Dawn and Karen about the issue. Ongoing goals include advocating to relocate people in homes near the landfills, continuing outreach to inform and educate others, addressing the odor issues, getting assistance from the EPA, and more. There will also be a connection made to the UN's Sustainable Development Goals and how we can all advocate for supporting these goals by reaching out to elected officials.
Click here to sign up for the event.
For more information, here’s a YouTube link to the Atomic Homefront Documentary that explains the history of the waste dumping and its lingering effects:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=duEMr4VbqbM
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TONIGHT, Tuesday, April 20; 6:30 - 7:30 PM
Hear from the STL Moms Who Awakened the United Nations Commission on Human Rights About the Westlake Landfill in nearby Bridgeton
Click here to register
Saturday, April 24, 11:00 AM - 12:00 Noon
Christine Nobbe, aka “Space Girl,” talks about Mars, Artemis program, and more!
Click here to register
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An Informative Morning of CareerAdvice and Politics with
Jesse Lawder this past Saturday
 Jesse Lawder had stories to tell and advice to give when he spoke to students last Saturday. First Jesse shared his challenging childhood and stressed the message that succeeding in life is possible despite rough beginnings. He described a career path that took him in a variety of different directions, sometimes only because he was the one who “showed up.” Being open to new opportunities and just being available can lead to success, Jesse stressed. The pivotal event that solidified his drive to help and serve people and continue working for the government was the April 5, 2010 coal mine explosion in West Virginia that resulted in the death of 29 coal miners because of safety violations. “I had a crash course in crisis,” with that tragedy, he said, and it tossed him into the Department of Labor political arena during the Obama Administration. During the  Trump years, Jesse returned to St. Louis to work for Planned Parenthood, a job with a lot of impact on an issue important to him: health care, including wellness and mental health. He’s back with the Department of Labor in D.C. (the 3 rd largest department behind Justice and Homeland Security) , continuing to focus on pragmatic approaches to incremental progress facing problems in America related to job safety, unemployment benefits, wages, and more. It was a great morning full of advice and insight. |
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Middle School Model UN Update!
This week middle schoolers from Grand Center Arts Academy and Rancho Solano will meet up to solve a wide variety of global issues. Delegates have been hard at work thinking about solutions to things like pollution, poverty, and climate change.
The resolutions for all General Assembly Sessions are posted on the Middle School Hub.
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Scheduling wrapping up for Pulitzer journalists to ZOOM into high school classrooms to discuss "Profits Before People? COVID-19 and the Meatpacking Industry"
Chadde and Bagenstose work respectively for The Midwest Center for Investigative Reporting and USA TODAY. They are excited about the prospect of ZOOMing into St. Louis area classrooms to meet with teachers and students. We are currently wrapping up scheduling for classroom visits.
Their first visits will be:
- Monday, April 26; Ladue High School
- Monday, April 26; McCluer North High School
Photo above: Tyson Fresh Meats plant in Waterloo, IA, on Sept. 17, 2020. Image by Kelly Wenzel / The Midwest Center for Investigative Reporting. United States, 2020.
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Christine Nobbe Returns to talk about SPACE!
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Exploring Moon, Mars and Beyond
Christine Nobbe, aka “Space Girl,” but also an educator and director of gifted Education for DESE, will be joining us again at Civitas on Saturday, April 24 from 11:00 am-12:00 pm to provide a space progress update. She will share the latest on the Mars Perseverance rover, the Artemis project, the Moon Village, #dearMoon, the search for life, and the importance of space settlement. Whew! That’s a lot of information, but Christine will touch on basics and provide plenty of time for questions and discussion during the hour timeslot that will “Zoom” by. Since we’ll be virtual she won’t be able to pass around her incredible collection of space objects, but she’ll provide plenty of visuals.
Here is a terrific piece from last Sunday's 60 Minutes on the new race to the Moon and beyond, with major leadership from women.
Click here to register.
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San Francisco's Tyler Rogers pitches against Colorado during a Major League Baseball game in San Francisco, April 11. Daniel Shirey/Getty Images
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This past week at the United Nations
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