St. Louis saw its sixth warmest February on record this year and dangerous weather patterns happening more frequently. The region is no stranger to strange weather, but doesnāt it feel particularly stranger than usual? Meteorologist Matt Beitscher with the National Weather Service - St. Louis breaks down the data and shares how we can all become weather-aware.
In May 2022 the City of St. Louis halted its plan to clear a homeless encampment near Lacledge's Landing. But, last week, eviction notices appeared once again at the encampment. On Friday, March 10, city workers and bulldozers cleared the site. St. Louis Public Radioās Britny Cordera reports from the scene of the encampment, and discusses what comes next for its former residents.
Highly politicized issues have dominated local school board races the last few years. Education advocates encourage parents and community members to engage with school boards in an effort to keep the focus on whatās best for students, rather than on the priorities of a select few.
St. Louis based cartoonist Steenz Stewart took over drawing Mark Tatulliās āHeart of the Cityā in 2020. Now, the comic has replaced āDilbertā in the Washington Post after its creator Scott Adams made racist remarks on his YouTube channel.
Many urban farms are started to address food insecurity or provide organic options to communities with few options for obtaining fresh produce. For St. Louisan Leah Lee, urban gardening and farming is an act of service. She founded Growing Food Growing People with a goal to teach people, Black women specifically, how to tend to crops to feed themselves and their family.
Teri Clemens won seven national championships as Washington Universityās volleyball coach. She is now making a name for herself, as both a player and coach, on the pickleball court. Clemens discusses her heartbreaking decision to leave volleyball coaching in 1998, her years spent recovering from multiple serious health conditions, and how pickleball has become not just her competitive obsession, but a platform for her return to coaching.
Suzanne Galvin spends most of her time working as an attorney at Thompson Corbin LLP in St. Louis where sheās a partner along with her husband, John Galvin. The Galvins make a habit of traveling to sites of destruction caused by natural or manmade disasters to provide crisis counseling to victims of trauma. Most recently Suzanne and her husband traveled to Poland and Ukraine to serve as crisis counselors and trainers at the Ukrainian Baptist Theological Seminary.
Judy Heumann was a quadriplegic who, throughout her life, was instrumental in the progress of disability rights issues. She died at age 75 this past weekend. We honor her legacy by re-visiting her conversation with Sarah Fenske in 2020. They discuss the documentary film āCrip Camp: A Disability Revolutionā in which Judy was featured. Colleen Starkloff, co-founder of the Starkloff Disability Institute, also joined the conversation.
Lately, it seems, sex, drugs and rock 'n' roll has been suffering an identity crisis. St Louis musicians Daemon Murray and John Covelli discuss their success in the music industry after their personal triumphs over substance abuse.
It was a dream-come-true weekend for St. Louis soccer fans. St. Louis City SC opened CityPark with a 3-1 victory over Charlotte FC on Saturday. This segment features an audio postcard that delivers the sounds and excitement of the weekend, and a conversation with STLPRās Jeremy D. Goodwin and Wayne Pratt.
Celebrating Black businesses does not have to be reserved just for Black History Month. Ohun Ashe is behind the online directory For The Culture STL and her video series ā28 Days of Black-owned St. Louisā shows the diversity of location and industry of local Black-owned businesses.
Under threat of possible prosecution, Missouri school districts have pulled hundreds of books from their shelves since last summer. Now the American Civil Liberties Union of Missouri is challenging a new state law that bans what some deem āexplicit sexual materialā in school libraries and classrooms. Clayton school librarian Tom Bober discusses the legal danger facing librarians and teachers and why his district removed books like āThe Handmaidās Tale.ā Gillian Wilcox, deputy director for Litigation at the ACLU of Missouri, talks about the groupās lawsuit and why they argue this law is unconstitutional.
Traffic violence has grabbed headlines the last few weeks. The violence has claimed four young lives, taken a teenās legs, and injured four people. Scott Ogilvie, the City of St. Louisā Complete Streets program manager, discusses a new law that allocates millions of COVID relief dollars toward street and pedestrian safety improvements. And NextSTL Editor Richard Bose talks about what has led to such a high rate of pedestrian deaths and what needs to be done to make the regionās streets safer.
Local nonprofit We Stories focused on anti-bias education aimed toward young white children and families for the past seven years. They are closing their doors and shutting down their website, which includes all of their educational resources, in June 2023. We Stories executive director Maggie Klonsky and board member Pam Washington agree that while anti-racist work is still necessary, now is the time for We Stories to come to an end.
Isaiah Maxi has been hiking all over Missouriās state parks ā and he's not doing it alone. He documents his journeys on his Facebook group, āThe Journey to 100 Hiking Friends,ā charting his connections across the state. Maxi discusses his experience hiking across the state while forging connections along the way ā and shares his picks for favorite hiking parks in the St. Louis region.
In the 1997 alternative history novel "The Misconceiver,ā the year is 2026, and the United States has almost wholly prohibited abortion rights. Yet the bookās St. Louis-born author, Lucy Ferriss, never got to see the novel make its mark. Now, 25 years, Ferriss is watching āThe Misconceiverā get new life in the wake of the U.S. Supreme Court overturning of abortion rights. Ferriss discusses the bookās chillingly accurate predictions and what might come next.
The Legal Roundtable discusses the latest controversy surrounding St. Louis Circuit Attorney Kim Gardner, who is facing calls to resign after a car crash left a 17-year-old seriously injured. The driver who caused the crash, Daniel Riley, was out on bond for a felony charge of stealing a gun, but had violated the terms release more than 50 times. Attorneys Javad Khazaeli, Brenda Talent, Connie McFarland-Butler discuss the case and Missouri Attorney General Andrew Baileyās aim to remove Gardner from office.
Missouri is one of just two states without a law banning distracted driving for all motorists. Although dozens of states have expanded their bans, Missouriās law only applies to drivers under 21. Reporter Eric Berger, shares his insights into the different ways these laws have been implemented across the country. Heās joined by former Missouri Republican state representative Jeff Porter, who unsuccessfully sponsored legislation three times to limit hand-held cellphone use.
Amid the torrent of news this week, the biggest story was the ongoing controversy embroiling St. Louis Circuit Attorney Kim Gardner that stems from a St. Louis man causing a crash that seriously injured a 17-year-old girl who was visiting from out of town. Missouriās Attorney General is attempting to use a legal procedure to remove her from office and St. Louis Mayor Tishaura Jones says Gardner has lost the trust of the people. Gardner says sheās not fully to blame and that calls for her to step down are political stunts that undermine the will of the people. STLPR reporter Rachel Lippmann discusses this story.
The newly formed Chinese American Collecting Initiative highlights the long lost stories of Chinese American immigrants living in St. Louis from the mid 19th century onward. St. Louis architect and community leader Peter Tao, who serves as chair of the initiative, and Janet Leong, of the well-known Leong family that owned Asia Cafe, talk about why these stories are relevant.