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Paul Berry III (2020)

3 years 8 months ago
Republican St. Louis County Executive nominee Paul Berry III is the latest guest on Politically Speaking, where he talked with St. Louis Public Radio’s Jason Rosenbaum about his campaign. Berry is running against incumbent Sam Page. Also on the Nov. 3 ballot are Green Party nominee Betsey Mitchell and Libertarian Theo Brown, Sr.

Friday, August 28, 2020 - Missouri Hops And Strange Brews

3 years 8 months ago
Craft brewers thrive on being local. That has prompted the University of Missouri to study the feasibility of growing certain varieties of hops in the state. And in southern Illinois, the owners of a microbrewery are using unusual ingredients to flavor their beer.

How Prop D Would Change St. Louis Municipal Elections

3 years 8 months ago
In the city of St. Louis, primary elections frequently have bigger consequences than general ones. But one item St. Louis voters will see on their Nov. 3 ballots could change that pattern in a big way: Proposition D. Touted by proponents as a minor change for voters that would mean big improvement for St. Louis, the measure would establish a nonpartisan election system for the offices of mayor, comptroller, the president of the Board of Aldermen and alderman.

Wash U-Based ‘Focus-19’ Initiative Puts 211 Call Data To Good Use

3 years 8 months ago
For evidence of the coronavirus pandemic’s wide-ranging toll on society, monthly jobs reports and quarterly GDP numbers are go-to sources of information — and highly credible ones. But for a more granular, real-time sense of the extent of community needs, a group of researchers at Washington University has been looking elsewhere: at 211 calls.

Wires over Wildlife: Power Lines as Biodiversity Connectors

3 years 8 months ago

Think of the acres, the running miles under power lines that connect us all to the electricity we want and need. Now see, under these lines, vibrant habitat: running corridors of native plants growing food and reproductive cover for beneficial insects, birds, and more. This kind of land-use transformation is real.

            

Wires Over Wildlife, a cost-share and expert-advisory program, works with utilities and owners of power line rights-of-ways from our Missouri Department of Conservation. Jason Jensen, Private Lands Conservation Unit Chief, leads a team of MDC experts in negotiating WOW agreements and supporting WOW partners in making these management changes work. 

MDC has negotiated the first WOW agreement with a rural electric cooperative, Grundy Electric Coop. Jensen talks with Earthworms host Jean Ponzi about how this kind of agreement works, why this first coop agreement is significant, and how ecological management can save money, decrease chemical use and mowing, and restore the biodiversity bloom to power line rights-of-way across our state.

Jensen is also on the statewide Feral Hog task force. Hear how MDC is working to tackle this major invasive species issue. 

THANKS to Earthworms engineers: Andy Heaslet, Jon Valley and Andy Coco. Virtual podcasting takes a team!

Related Earthworms Conversations:
Biodiversity for Corporate Lands? (May 2020)

Richard Louv: Our Wild Calling (Oct 2019)

Grand Jury Secrecy And Prosecutor’s Discretion Probed By Legal Roundtable

3 years 8 months ago
Six years after Michael Brown was killed by a Ferguson police officer, his death continues to generate debate. St. Louis on the Air’s Legal Roundtable discussed St. Louis County Prosecuting Attorney Wesley Bell’s decision to reopen and then close the case, as well as the lawsuit filed by a grand juror seeking to expose what happened in the criminal probe into Brown’s death.

Tuesday, August 25, 2010 - Advancements in COVID Testing

3 years 8 months ago
Researchers at the University of Illinois are figuring out how to expand a new saliva-based COVID-19 test to other colleges and universities throughout the state. The Food and Drug Administration has given emergency authorization to the technology developed on the Urbana campus.

How A Belleville Family Solved An 86-Year-Old Mystery

3 years 8 months ago
Growing up, Vic Svec of Belleville, Illinois, knew his father’s origin story as a ripped-from-the-headlines mystery — one that would probably never be solved. But 86 years later, thanks to DNA and online sleuthing, he and his family cracked the case. He explains how.

Monday, August 24, 2020 - Remote Learning

3 years 8 months ago
The school year is starting remotely for many students after pushback from parents and teachers. Online learning during the pandemic could be a different experience now, compared to the spring.

An Avian Dilemma — How Birds Are Hijacking Others’ Nests To Raise Their Young

3 years 8 months ago
A new study published in the Nature Connections journal looks at the particular phenomenon of brood parasites. These are birds that try to trick other birds into raising their eggs. They parasitize other nests by “squatting and dropping” their eggs there instead of using their own. Washington University assistant professor in biology Carlos Botero explains why birds do this in the first place and how it impacts Missouri’s ecology.

Black Business Month A Much-Needed Boost Along Delmar Loop

3 years 8 months ago
August is Black Business Month, and for Delmar Loop-based bakeshop owner Stephanie White, the 31 days of attention to small businesses like hers are a particularly welcome event this year. White, who opened Sugar Momma’s at 6016 Delmar Blvd. in 2016, hasn’t seen as much foot traffic as she’d hoped for the past few years. And once COVID-19 entered the mix, the challenges escalated. But Sugar Momma's is still hanging on.