Black Weblog Awards Livecast Tweetup at Whiz Tech Cafe

The 2011 Black Weblog Awards are tonight and LIVE for the first time ever in Los Angelos, California. It seems to have become the capstone of the weekend of events of the Blogging While Brown Conference, now in its 4th year. Tonight's award ceremony is hosted by actress Kim Coles. Recognizing the best and brightest African-American bloggers, the Black Weblog Awards will announce winners of the coveted awards in over 30 categories including Best Science/Tech Blog and Best Green Living/Outdoor/Nature Blog - the two categories I, Danielle N Lee, was proud to be a finalist for.

I'm not in LA, but I will be tuning in this evening - on the web and tweeting, too.
The ceremony is 6:00 - 10:0 pm (PST) .
You can join me if you like. I'll be down at Whiz Tech Cafe at 8:00 pm (CST). It's the greatest, newest internet cafe in the midwest (a woman and minority owned local business).

So come on down, pull up a chair and order a tasty coffee drink, too.
Location Whiz Tech Technology Cafe
1629 Locust
Downtown Saint Louis, MO

In the meantime, here are some important links and folks to follow for the event.
Black Weblog Awards website and Twitter @BlkWeblogAwards
Blogging While Brown Conference website, Twitter @BWBConference and hashtag to follow - #BWB
Me - on Twitter @DNLee5
Kim Coles - on Twitter @KimColes
The Whiz Technology Cafe Twitter @WhizTechCafe
Live cast here:

Video clips at Ustream

Two Fête Society Members making waves

Go directly to the May 2009 Calendar of Events.

Two of Fête Society's Members have been making waves in their respective professional arenas.


Darcella Craven, Executive Director, Veterans Business Resource Center (VBRC) of St. Louis was recently honored by the St.Louis Small Business Association as their 2009 Veteran Small Business Champion. She will recieve her award at the Annual SBA Award Dinner as apart of the Small Business Week St. Louis May 11-16, 2009.

Read more about her accomplishments in the St. Louis Small Business Monthy Magazine.







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You may recognize Danielle Lee as your hostess who keeps you abreast of local events and activities, but she is also a biologist. On May 18, 2009, Danielle will travel to Washington, D.C. to attend the Annual American Institutie of Biological Sciences and receive their 2009 Diversity Scholars Award. She recieved this award for her science outreach efforts to under-served audiences and youth. She was recently profiled in the St. Louis American People on the Move.

Earth Day Freebies

I'm very excited about Earth Day! And so is St. Louis. The host of activities for the Annual Earth Day Celebration at Forest Park and throughout the city are bustling at the seams.

I'll post an exhaustive list of great things to do with your fam, friends or alone. In the meantime, check out this link to all of the great give-aways from merchants: Holidays Examiner: Earth Day Freebies

Go directly to the April 2009 Calendar of Events.

The Ill. Side and Its Criminal Side Effects Could come to an Early Close

Go directly to the March 2009 Calendar of Events.

To stem the violence and crime that occurs in the wee hours of the evening, local and state law enforcers came to East St. Louis, Illinois to propose a daring measure --- close East St. Louis evening establishments at the same time as establishments on the other side of the river.

Many St. Louis party-goers who are not yet ready to "shut it down" head over to one or many of the entertainment venues just over the bridge. You can party well past the St. Louis, Missouri club closing time of 1-3 am. In fact, some East Side clubs close at six in the morning.

Late night club closing is one of the draws of the small economically-struggling town. In fact, late night entertainment may be the most successful business in the town. Closing establishments earlier could have some many consequences. That's exactly what law enforcers hope...there will be less crime. One of the most note-worthy violent crimes that happened in East St. Louis in the late evening was the slaying of Lee "The Rose Man" Nixon. Earlier closing times would decrease the number of disturbance calls the understaffed East St. Louis Police Department would have to handle.

Read more about the proposal here.

Election Day in St. Louis

Election Day

6:30 am

Assigned Polling Location: Benton Park, St. Louis City

The lines were long, went out of the building, through the parking lot and out on the side walk around the front of the building. But they did move along fast. The whole thing only took about 45 minutes. There were plenty of poll workers so things went smoothly. Inside, where people voted, there were over a dozen voting stations for paper ballots and 5 or 6 machines.




6:45 am, a little more sunlight.

I was thinking...Why do we vote on Tuesday? And lo, Yahoo provides the answer. Why we vote on Tuesday... and other election fun facts.

And if you're still unsure of who or what to vote for, check out People, Policy, Planet's latest entry: VOTE for Science!

And look who was on hand to make sure everything was kosher...They were checking on people and making sure everyone brought what they needed before standing in line for naught.

And he granted me a quick video interview talking about the lines.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U1mSKc8y5Cg

(I'm having some embed problems, so please click on the above link. Thanks. Also, I've submitted the video to "Video Your Vote"promoted by Tavis Smiley and created by PBS and YouTube.

UPDATE

11:40 am

The lines were gone, only campaign workers were outside. My guy from above told me the line disappeared at 7:30 am and was gone every since. So mid-day is the time to go vote.

5:40 pm

I drove by and there were no lines. No picture but the scene was just like the afternoon shot, except dark. Hopefully the votes from this polling place should have no delays for tonight's count.

Connect With... is going to the Dogs - Another Good Deed (& Organization Spotlight)

Connect With... the organization that brought you a host of socializing and networking opportunities now gives you an opportunity to connect and serve - benefiting Stray Rescue.

Saturday, November 1, 2008
10:00am - 2:00pm
Stray Rescue new building
2320 Pine Street - Downtown
Saint Louis, MO

View Map

More info: email johnwendling@fuelforthecity.org

or RSVP on Facebook.

Connect With... a Purpose is a volunteer opportunity. We will be assisting Stray Rescue with renovations of its new downtown animal center located at 2320 Pine Street. This is a hands-on experience to move the building closer to accepting new strays.

Why you should help:

1. It's a quick and dirty way to help a great organization. It's a short period of time. You get to move around, meet great people, and that warm fuzzy feeling inside.

2. Stray Rescue is the best non-profit, no-kill, grass-roots, community-organizer animal advocate group ever. They recently won a grant to get the building but they still need lots of volunteers and money to meet their mission of helping poor animals and making St. Louis a safe and healthy place for every person and animal.

3. Stray Rescue rehabilitates stray dogs and cats until they find a forever home. It is a no-kill shelter. They take the hard cases including very sick and injured animals and those abandoned by home foreclosures, taken by animal authorities, and affected by natural disasters.

4. Even if you're not a big animal lover, do it for the greater good. Getting stray and feral animals off of the streets is just good public health and public safety. Your assistance to Stray Rescue helps to minimize your contact with these animals.

5. Immediately after the volunteer opportunity, Blu CitySpaces will host a BBQ at their location at 210 N. 17th Street downtown. How many chances do you get to hang-out and eat well for free these days? C'mon.

6. How can you say no to that cute face?

Good Deeds, all in one Place

I receive emails about online petitions or action items about health issues, political action issues and education. Sometimes I just don’t know whether I have the time or if I should forward them on to everyone. Forwarding emails can be such a time sink and fools us into thinking we’re communicating with people when we aren’t.
But I still care about these issues, so I’m doing something.
I’m posting links to these important calls to action in one place; and asking everyone to visit and fill one out each day as your time permits.

Thank you.
1. There's a bill called the Breast Cancer Patient Protection Act which will require insurance companies to cover a minimum 48-hour hospital stay for patients undergoing a mastectomy. It's about eliminating the 'drive-through' Mastectomy where women are forced to go home just a few hours after surgery, against the wishes of their doctor, still groggy from anesthesia and sometimes with drainage tubes still attached. Please sign the Breast Cancer Petition.

2. Tell the Department of Health and Human Services to stop efforts to block women's access to basic reproductive health services. Submit your comments now about Protecting Access to Health Care for Women. The public comment period on these insidious regulations is open until
September 20.

3. Help those affected by Hurricane Gustav. Please sign the Contribute to the Gulf Coast Emergency Fund.

Tishaura Jones becomes the new 63rd District State Representative

Join me and the rest of the Fête Society as we congratulate Ms. Tishaura Jones in her victorious bid to become a member of the Missouri State House of Reprensentatives. She will served the 63rd District of Missouri (St. Louis). Thanks to everyone for their support!

Forward your congratulations to:
Tishaura O. Jones
1218 S. Jefferson Suite 117
St. Louis, MO 63104
tishaura@tishauraojones.com

In Memorium Lee "The Rose Man" Nixon

The Rose Man has passed away. Seems he was caught in the middle of gunfire at 3 am this morning at the Soft Touch on the East side. (Yes, you read that right). The Rose Man seemed to be everywhere, all the time. He was a nightclub regular - at all the loca clubs - he sold long-stemmed roses for a modest price. His business was located at the corner of Kingshighway and MLK. Read the developing story from STLToday.com Nightclub fixture the Rose Man silenced by weekend violence.

Rest in Peace.