St. Louis Post-Dispatch from St. Louis, Missouri • A01

Vol. 139, No. 96 POST-DISPATCH WEATHERBIRD 1 WEATHER A19 PARTLY CLOUDY TODAY SUNNY TOMORROW Sidelined Senator proposes new name for zoo A3 Faith healer sues over deal A4 Trump shifts National Security team A17 SERVING THE PUBLIC SINCE 1878 WINNER OF 18 PULITZER PRIZES THURSDAY 04.06.2017 $1.50 34.9-38% 38.1-44 44.1-50 50.1-56 56.1-62 62.1-70.6 38.1-44 44.1-50 50.1-56 56.1-62 62.1-100 17.3-20% 20.1-25 25.1-30 30.1-35 35.1-40 40.1-50.6 11 12 16 14 13 25 20 9 15 10 8 23 24 28 26 22 4 18 19 6 7 5 3 21 1 27 2 17 11 12 16 14 13 25 20 9 15 10 8 23 24 28 26 22 4 18 19 6 7 5 3 21 1 27 2 17 11 12 16 14 13 25 20 9 15 10 8 23 24 28 26 22 4 18 19 6 7 5 3 21 1 27 2 17 SOURCE: City of St. Louis Board of Election Commissioners; Post-Dispatch analysis by Walker Moskop Post-Dispatch Proposition 1 support Percentage, by ward MetroLink expansion Proposition 2 support Percentage, by ward Major League Soccer stadium General voter turnout Percentage, by ward Soccer campaign struggled to appeal to older, more conservative voters as well as black voters. It had success with younger voters, voters with young families and a cohort of Democratic supporters.

BY MIKE FAULK St. Louis Post-Dispatch ST. LOUIS It was well after 11 p.m. Tuesday and the Regency Ballroom at Union Station had cleared after hosting hundreds of soccer fans to watch city election results. About a dozen somber fans remained to talk about how the losing campaign to build a Major League Soccer stadium could have ended differently.

St. Louis FC owner and MLS investor Jim Kava- naugh sat outside the room scrolling through his phone and nursing a beer. were going all out for this campaign Kavanaugh said of the $1 million political campaign to secure $60 million in public stadium nancing. actually did what we thought we needed to cally, consultants told the ownership group they would need more than 20,000 votes to succeed. They got BY JACOB BARKER St.

Louis Post-Dispatch It has been a point of pride for locals to correct outsiders who knew one of the top restaurant chains in the industry only by its signature brand, Panera Bread Co. Here, in its home base, it is St. Louis Bread Co. or just to regulars. Now, the restaurant-industry darling, which grew out of a Kirkwood store that opened in 1987, is slated to become part of a Luxembourg- based investment rm that focuses on consumer brands.

JAB Holding the owner of Caribou Coffee and Krispy Kreme Doughnuts, said Wednesday that it would buy Sunset Hills-based Panera Bread Co. in a deal valued at about $7.5 billion, including debt, as it expands its coffee and breakfast empire. Unlike other St. Louis-based companies that have been bought up, there were no nan- cial struggles indicating a sale was coming, no succession questions, no negotiation drama. BY TRACY WILKINSON Tribune Washington Bureau (TNS) WASHINGTON As the United States debated internally and with other countries on how to handle an apparent chemical attack in Syria, President Donald Trump said Wednesday that one of the worst such atrocities of the bloody civil war many, many red but he offered no concrete response.

The administration has given mixed signals over how engaged it wants to be in the Syrian ict, preferring to focus on the fight against Islamic State terrorism. But horrific images of slain children BY CHRISTINE BYERS St. Louis Post-Dispatch The families of Christopher Watkins and Tonya Gonzalez-Suarez say they were inseparable, and the belief that they still are is about the only thing bringing relatives comfort after losing the pair in a freak accident this week. The couple met while growing up in the Kirkwood area, but went separate ways in life when Gonzalez-Suarez dropped out of Webster Groves High School to care for her mother. Watkins graduated from there in 1990.

They reconnected about five years ago while participating in a program at St. Louis Restoration BY KRISTEN TAKETA St. Louis Post-Dispatch School districts in the Metro East area and across Southern Illinois are accusing the school funding formula of being unconstitutional. Seventeen school districts led a lawsuit Wednesday alleging that the Illinois school funding formula does not su ciently support school districts. Article 10 of the state constitution says Illinois must an cient system of high-quality These 17 school districts, which are in low- wealth districts and spend below the state per-pupil average, say the state does not give them enough money to deliver a Their grievance is broader than the budget crisis, which has starved school CEO Ron Shaich will remain and so will Sunset Hills HQ 17 districts say state has failed to adequately fund public education ROBERT COHEN First-grade teacher Michele Burkhart expresses surprise at the number of hands raised to answer questions at Maplewood Elementary in Cahokia on Wednesday.

Burkhart has 29 students in her classroom. Krewson ponders how to spend revenue from Prop 1 A6 County police begin making plans on how to use new funding A6 FAMILY PHOTO Christopher Watkins and Tonya Gonzalez-Suarez on their wedding day, Feb. 27. LARGE TURNOUT DOOMED STADIUM See STADIUM Page A6 Trump condemns attack in Syria but ers no response Panera Bread to be bought by JAB for $7.5 billion See PANERA Page A8 See SYRIA Page A8 SCHOOL DISTRICTS SUE ILLINOIS See SCHOOLS Page A9 Piscotty cleared of concussion concerns SPORTS Married couple, new to jobs, among 3 killed in boiler blast See EXPLOSION Page A9 stlouisblues.com314-622-BLUE TICKETSONSALEFRIDAYAT10AM GetPresaleAccess.