BY: BEATRICE JOHNSON
Staff Writer
As The Montage celebrates its 60th anniversary this school year, it’s notable that archived digital copies that can be viewed by readers on The Montage’s “Issuu” page only date back to 2010. The rest are not lost to time, however. Print copies, both loose and binded, still exist. They date all the way back to the very first issue in 1964 and can be accessed in the Library.
As we approach the next volume of issues, The Montage would like to take you back in time to some of those issues throughout the coming school year. This month, we’re taking a look at the Jan. 25, 2007 issue, which covered STLCC’s reaction to a local incident that grabbed national headlines. Also, on the political front, Staff Writer Jim Holt reported on more national history made.
In January 2007, a “miracle” took place which rustled the city of Kirkwood as well as much of the country.
On October 6, 2002, Shawn Hornbeck was taken in a truck while riding his bike near his home in Richwoods, Missouri. Hornbeck would be held captive by his kidnapper for over four years where he was forced to pose as the kidnapper’s son.
On January 8, 2007, Ben Ownby was kidnapped in a similar manner, by being put in the kidnapper’s truck, but this time, a witness had a description of the white Nissan truck.
This tip led the FBI to an Imo’s on Kirkwood Road where Michael Devlin, the manager of the establishment quickly confessed to the kidnappings. Devlin led the FBI to his apartment, off nearby Holmes Avenue, where the children were found safe and sound.
In the immediate aftermath of this “Missouri Miracle” as some were calling it, parents began to show greater concern for the security of their children and the places where their children go.
The first front-page piece of this issue highlights this sentiment, as it shares the new security measures of the now-closed Meramec Child Care Center.
These new measures included criminal background checks on all employees, a sign-in policy for visitors, and head counts of students throughout the day. These procedures have since become commonplace in daycares, schools, and childcare centers throughout the United States.
The second page continued coverage on the Hornbeck/Ownby story. Copy Editor Elizabeth Warren’s “Psychology of captivity” discusses the concept of stockholm syndrome, and Warren spoke with STLCC-Florissant Valley professor Margaret “Peg” Tyler regarding the matter. Tyler, a licensed counselor, still teaches at Florissant Valley to this day.
Another historic moment in US history captured in this issue was a piece about the election of the first woman Speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi. This is especially notable as this wouldn’t be her first term as Speaker of the House, being elected a second time from 2019-2023.
Highlighted in this article are some of the changes planned for her time in the position, some of which we still see the effects of today, including an increase in the national minimum wage from $6.50 per hour to $7.25 an hour, the current federal minimum wage.
After stepping down as Speaker in 2023, Pelosi continues to serve as a Representative and is referred to as “Speaker Emerita” even after her replacement, Kevin McCarthy, was ousted.
