STL on the Air 📻

The Missouri Senate earlier today passed legislation eliminating the residency requirement for St. Louis police officers. Yesterday, senators during their special session also advanced legislation through a committee that they say is tough on crime. Statehouse reporter Jaclyn Driscoll talks about the latest developments.

Jessica Murray built a St. Louis COVID Memorial website to memorialize the local lives lost to the virus. Murray researches obituaries, listens to family accounts and seeks out additional information online to craft each story — all with her pet cockatoos by her side.

Jack Coatar was worried about an exodus of residents and businesses from downtown St. Louis even before the area began seeing civil unrest and a surge in crime this summer. Now the 7th Ward alderman is hearing people express more and more concerns. In an area that used to bustle with concertgoers, diners and Cardinals fans on many nights, the pandemic-driven vacuum of activity has been filled with something else entirely.

“Thank you, frontline and essential workers. You are our heroes.” From yard signs to grocery store intercoms to stump speeches, such sentiments have become a fixture of American culture in 2020. But Dena Tranen, a mental health professional based in Clayton, knows that gratitude alone is insufficient.

Thom Wall is among the world’s most notable jugglers — and now he’s able to offer his tips and tricks to enthusiasts of all levels. The St. Louis native is coming out with a new book: “Juggling: What It Is and How to Do It."

Longtime Lumiere Place have dodged layoffs. Instead, they'll remain on a recall list that allows them to keep their seniority if the hotel/casino reopens their job stations before April. Kim Bartholomew of Unite Here Local 74 explains the good news.

For army trombonist Spc. Joseph Murrell, the military might just be destiny. According to his family research, almost every man in his paternal blood line — except for his father — served the military in some way. The legacy started when Murrell’s long-ago ancestor, Pvt. William Murrell, joined the Union Army in 1863. A runaway slave, Pvt. Murrell had fled to Ohio and served in the 109th United States Colored Troop.

Missouri state Sen. Jill Schupp (D-Creve Coeur) wants to unseat Rep. Ann Wagner (R-Ballwin) in Missouri's second congressional district. We talk with Schupp about why she thinks she's the better candidate in a race that the nonpartisan Cook Political Report now considers a tossup.

Artist Judith Shaw's show at the St. Louis Artists’ Guild was directly inspired by the $770 million construction project just outside her condo. Shaw used tire tracks made by heavy machinery as the basis for a series of prints -- and formed some unlikely friendships in the process.

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.

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.

In her new children’s book "Ruth’s River Dreams," historian Elizabeth A. Pickard re-imagines the life of river historian and educator Ruth Ferris, who lived from 1891–1993. Ferris made it her life’s work to study Missouri’s waterways — particularly the Mississippi River.

When part of the Lemp Brewery collapsed this past weekend, it didn’t just destroy hundreds of bicycles. It also turned 160 years of history to dust. We checked in with the nonprofit whose inventory was crushed, as well as a local historian.

In July, the Greater St. Louis Labor Council voted to oppose the airport privatization plan being put before city voters, even though the carpenters' union is a major backer. President Pat White explains why.

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.

For 20 years, Donna Lochman has driven the streets and alleyways of St. Louis, looking for stray dogs — and sometimes a cat — to rescue from harm's way. On Monday’s St. Louis on the Air, we ride along with Lochman to learn more about her work as a rescuer for Stray Rescue of St. Louis.

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.

Mvstermind — the performing name of St. Louis native Muhammad Austin — talks about how he lyrically skates past personal anxieties and overcoming universal troubles in "GEMS." He discusses the trajectory of his artistry and what it’s like pulling together projects when a pandemic halts production.

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.

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.