New home for children born to drug addicted mothers: Today August 23, 1997 loud cheers echoed the air with balloons as the new Faith House for children of drug addicted mothers was dedicated by Mayor Harmon of St. Louis in the company of a very enthusiastic crowd. The Faith House ( is non-for-profit) which cost 1.4 million dollars will house 54 children and will start admitting children as early as Monday of August 25, 1997. Nobody was as happy as Mildred Jamison the founder of Faith House project in St. Louis. The house is looking for volunteers and donations. For those interested call (314)-367-5400.

Missouri inmates treated like animals in Texas: The state of Missouri was shocked to see a video tape of Sept.18, 1996 showing the ways inmates sent to Brazoria County Detention Center in Angleton, Texas were treated. In the video tape, the inmates were forced to craw on their stomachs like animals, and physically attacked by prison guards while they were down on the floor. Inmates were zapped with a stun gun and others poked with a baton. One of the inmates was seen bleeding from where he was beaten by the attack dogs. In some situations inmates were forced to craw nude.

Since the incident was made public, there has been outrage in St. Louis by groups of concerned citizens that although these are criminals, but they should not be treated like animals because they still have rights under the democratic constitution of the United States. Rev. Larry Rice of St. Louis popularly known for his fight for the poor and the under privileged joined the voices of condemnation of the ways the prisoners were treated and demanded the St. Louis prison officials to bring the prisoners back to St. Louis immediately.

In response, St. Louis has demanded for all the prisoners back from Texas and canceled the prison contract with Texas. The FBI is investigating the case for possible human right violations.

Three Hillsboro, (MO) teenagers charged with murder: On Monday Aug. 18, 1997 three teenagers from Hillsboro were charged with the murder of David Richard Ericson a night watchman at Bayer's Garden Shop in Imperial (MO) in a burglary. When the body of the watchman was discovered, a knife supposed to be the murder weapon was still hanging from his throat. One of the teenagers is a sixteen year old, a former employee, while the rest two are each fifteen years of age, they are all in juvenile custody. Murder charges have been file against them including trying them as adults. They may be facing life in prison or death penalty if tried as adults.

A woman sentenced to 20 years for rape: Sandra K. Bass of Kirksville (MO) was sentenced to 20 years in jail after she pleaded guilty in 1995 for forcing her 11-year-old daughter to have sex with her live-in boyfriend. Sandra appealed her case challenging the legal technicality whether a woman can be charged with rape under the law. The state law defines a rape as the forceful sexual act of a man against a woman's will. It did not state whether a woman who helps a man commits a rape is herself guilty of rape. The issue was put to test in early 70s when on a college campus, two huge females grabbed a man after dropping his girlfriend back at her dormitory, blindfolded, kidnapped and raped him overnight keeping him naked throughout the ordeal. In the early hours of morning, the campus police found the student by the road side without his pants and half-way conscious due to dehydration from his ordeal. The male victim was out of luck because the law then did not define a woman as being capable of a crime of rape. The women told the male victim during the ordeal that they needed sexual release very badly.

However the case of Bass was different because it involved taking advantage of a minor child of 11 years at the time the state was working hard to prosecute and punish child-sexual predators . The Missouri Court of Appeals ruled that a woman in this case can be charged with rape and Sandra Bass was slapped with 20 years for rape and 15 years for child abuse.

Dr. Edmond Cabbabe removes gang tattoos for free from former gang members: A kind doctor in St. Louis who is the only plastic surgeon in this area, is donating his free time to remove gang tattoos. According to this good hearted surgeon who performs his humanitarian work at DePaul Health Center, he was looking for kids who went through rehabilitation from gang life and needed a second chance. He believes the kids after rehab may have problems readjusting to society and getting good jobs if they are still branded with the gang tattoos. His work is part of the St. Louis Metropolitan Medical Society's approach to stop violence before it starts.

Although Dr. Cabbabe does this for humanitarian purpose, the laser treatment cost $165 per treatment and usually three to four visits are needed. He is afraid that with increase number of gang members wanting to remove their tattoos, the Medical Alliance Inc. who sponsors the program may no longer able to afford it. They are therefore looking for donations, if you are interested, call the medical society at (314)-371-5225.

OUTCRY Magazine Lara Publications, St. Louis, Missouri. Outcry-lara@msn.com

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