The good, the bad and the ugly: A kind donation, a tragic death and a repulsive allegation
The good: We need more people like Mike Green, the owner of a Belleville heating and cooling business who donated 12,000 pork steaks to a food bank in East St. Louis. His generous donation helped feed the poor and the elderly in a community that can use the assistance.
What a great way to provide a direct, immediate hand to the needy. The donation cost Green about $7,600, he said.
"People there need it. And I am not missing any meals," Green said. "It’s something I can do."
With Thanksgiving approaching, maybe we all can think of something we can do to make a difference.
The bad: Quantez Jones, 16, and his friend, 18-year-old Deveon Hunt, were walking in the alley behind the 7600 block of West Main in Belleville when they decided they needed to fire shots at a house, police say.
Their plan went awry when Jones accidentally shot and killed Hunt, who was standing in front of Jones.
Police, at a press conference Friday, said they were holding back some details until trial, such as why the teens were shooting at the house. We understand that, but we’d sure like to know what possibly could have prompted a 16-year-old and an 18-year-old to open fire at a house.
We now have an 18-year-old who is dead and a 16-year-old charged with first-degree murder. What is going on? How do we fix it?
The ugly: Dwan L. Prude, who was hired in April as the girls basketball coach at East St. Louis Senior High School, has been charged with soliciting sex from a minor.
The charges accuse him of offering "any money, property, token, object, or article or item of value" to a 17-year-old girl so she would perform a sex act with him. The solicitation took place between December 2016 and February 2017, the charges allege.
A spokeswoman for the school district said Prude was relieved of his coaching responsibilities several months ago and placed on administrative leave. She said the district was cooperating with the investigation, but beyond that, they could not comment on personnel issues. She could not say whether the allegation involved a student.
The allegation itself is bad enough, but if it involved someone who was under Prude's tutelage, that's even worse. Taking advantage of someone when you're supposed to serve as the person's guardian or mentor makes any crime more despicable - worthy of harsh punishment.
This story was originally published November 7, 2017 at 1:48 PM with the headline "The good, the bad and the ugly: A kind donation, a tragic death and a repulsive allegation."