Mrs. Marjorie Ellen Bosley, mother of former Mayor Freeman R. Bosley. Jr., has passed away. Funeral services will take place on Monday, January 5th, at the Samaritan United Methodist Church, 4234 Washington Avenue. Continue Reading

The Post-Dispatch reports former State Rep. Sherman Parker was declared brain-dead Thursday night after suffering a brain aneurysm.

Post your memories and condolences in the comments section.

UPDATE: In lieu of flowers or plants, the family has asked that you make donations
to his daughter Alexandra Parker’s college fund.

Please send savings bonds or checks to:
PO Box 410334
St Louis, MO 63141

Sherman’s viewing will be
Friday, September 26th 2008 from 8:30 – 9:30am at:

Austin A. Layne Mortuary, Inc.
7302 West Florissant Ave.
St. Louis, MO 63136

Funeral and burial will follow.

After the burial, a repast will be at
Nubia Cafe
5860 Delmar
St Louis, MO 63112

The following statement is from Congressman Wm. Lacy Clay on the sudden death of Congresswoman Stephanie Tubbs Jones (D-Ohio):

“I am shocked and deeply saddened by the tragic death of my friend, Congresswoman Stephanie Tubbs Jones.

She will be remembered as a great legislator and a true fighter for the interests of her constituents.

The people of Cleveland have lost a champion, and I have lost a dear friend.

Mrs. Clay and I send our thoughts and prayers to her family and we pray that God will grant them strength and comfort to bear this heavy burden.”

When I heard the news yesterday, it was like hearing a family member had died. I had never even met the man, but the death of Tim Russert deeply shook me and leaves me concerned about the future of our nation.

Integrity and journalism have been on a mutually exclusive path since the birth of Fox News and the further shrinking the 24-hour news cycle and the American attention span. Today, though it seems we have wall-to-wall coverage of the Presidential candidates, try to find any meaningful discourse among the hours of talk. Try to find a reporter who actually knows what he or she is talking about and is able to slow down the spin machines long enough for us to see who we’re really voting for, what we’re really talking about.

But there has at least been one hour a week, one news show with limited commercial interruptions that we could count on. “Meet the Press”.

Meet the press, indeed. “Remember the Press”, is a name just as fitting. Remember what the press used to be. A symbol of wisdom and institutional knowledge. The Fourth Estate, able and needed to stand toe-to-toe with the most powerful people in Washington, as equals, and demand answers on our behalf. Few other institutions could command that respect from both Presidents and viewers like Tim Russert’s “Meet the Press”.

For all my adult life, if it was Sunday, it was “Meet the Press” and Tim Russert. Today is Saturday. What will I do tomorrow?

Bobby Fischer, one of the greatest chess players in history, has died. He was 64.