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Weird weather patterns and record-setting temps makes St. Louis a meteorologistā€™s dream

1 year 8 months ago
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 doesnā€™t 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.

Clearing of St. Louis homeless encampment forces residents to move on

1 year 8 months ago
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 Radioā€™s Britny Cordera reports from the scene of the encampment, and discusses what comes next for its former residents.

Leah Lee has a mission: To reconnect Black women to farming

1 year 8 months ago
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.

Illness forced Teri Clemens out of coaching. Pickleball brought her back

1 year 8 months ago
Teri Clemens won seven national championships as Washington Universityā€™s 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.

How a Chesterfield nonprofit is training crisis counselors in Ukraine

1 year 8 months ago
Suzanne Galvin spends most of her time working as an attorney at Thompson Corbin LLP in St. Louis where sheā€™s 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.

To honor Judy Heumannā€™s legacy, weā€™re going back to ā€˜Crip Campā€™

1 year 8 months ago
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 ā€œCrip Camp: A Disability Revolutionā€ in which Judy was featured. Colleen Starkloff, co-founder of the Starkloff Disability Institute, also joined the conversation.

A new Missouri law led schools to ban books. Librarians are fighting back

1 year 8 months ago
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 ā€œexplicit 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 ā€œThe Handmaidā€™s Tale.ā€ Gillian Wilcox, deputy director for Litigation at the ACLU of Missouri, talks about the groupā€™s lawsuit and why they argue this law is unconstitutional.

What will it take to curb traffic violence in St. Louis?

1 year 8 months ago
Traffic violence has grabbed headlines the last few weeks. The violence has claimed four young lives, taken a teenā€™s 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 regionā€™s streets safer.

We Stories was created in response to Mike Brownā€™s death. Now it's closing

1 year 8 months ago
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.

How Isaiah Maxi found nature, and new friends, in Missouri parks

1 year 8 months ago
Isaiah Maxi has been hiking all over Missouriā€™s state parks ā€” and he's not doing it alone. He documents his journeys on his Facebook group, ā€œThe 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.

The St. Louis author who predicted the end of abortion in 1997

1 year 8 months ago
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 bookā€™s St. Louis-born author, Lucy Ferriss, never got to see the novel make its mark. Now, 25 years, Ferriss is watching ā€œThe Misconceiverā€ get new life in the wake of the U.S. Supreme Court overturning of abortion rights. Ferriss discusses the bookā€™s chillingly accurate predictions and what might come next.

Legal Roundtable: Analyzing the legal pressure on Kim Gardner, St. Louisā€™ embattled top prosecutor

1 year 8 months ago
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 Baileyā€™s aim to remove Gardner from office.

Missouri spent years rejecting distracted driving laws. That could change in 2023

1 year 8 months ago
Missouri is one of just two states without a law banning distracted driving for all motorists. Although dozens of states have expanded their bans, Missouriā€™s 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. Heā€™s joined by former Missouri Republican state representative Jeff Porter, who unsuccessfully sponsored legislation three times to limit hand-held cellphone use.

Kim Gardner was asked to resign. She says sheā€™s not going anywhere

1 year 8 months ago
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. Missouriā€™s 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 sheā€™s 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.

Retelling the story of St. Louis' Chinatown through the experiences of those who lived there

1 year 9 months ago
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.