The Gateway

Summer break can be the hungriest time of the year for children who rely on free and reduced lunch at school. For years the US Department of Agriculture has offered funding for on-site meals. This year the USDA also rolled out a new program called SUN Bucks… to provide eligible families $120 per child for groceries over the summer months. But as Harvest Public Media’s Anna Pope reports, 13 states opted out of the program -- leaving almost 10 million children without the food benefit.

Missouri’s child welfare system has struggled to perform essential functions over the years. But after hiring more staff and making other changes in recent years, state officials say fewer foster kids are languishing in the system. St. Louis Public Radio’s Lacretia Wimbley spoke with one woman who spent more than 10 years as a foster kid in Missouri, and reports on what officials are doing to better outcomes for children in the system.

Earlier this year, federal health officials fined the former directors of the Northview Village nursing home in St. Louis 56 thousand dollars for the overnight closure of the facility. The shutdown upended the lives of 174 residents and their families. St. Louis Public Radio’s Sarah Fentem reports that despite public outcry, that may be the directors’ only penalty.

A group of Illinois teachers spent a week learning how to teach their students about water and their local watersheds. It culminated with a kayak ride down the Rock River.

St. Louis is one of many cities across the nation acknowledging its role in racism and establishing task forces to help make the case for reparations for Black Americans. A national group is supporting these efforts with research and legal assistance.

The Biden Administration wants the nation’s house hunters to give manufactured homes a try, because they’re more affordable. Meanwhile, officials are close to updating construction codes to make the homes more climate-resilient.

A celebrity chef known has a new restaurant in an iconic downtown St. Louis dining room--and says he's excited to be part of the city's momentum. Chef Gordon Ramsay’s newest “Ramsay’s Kitchen” location is now open inside the Four Seasons Hotel overlooking the Mississippi River. The restauranteur and media personality stopped into St. Louis for the grand opening this weekend, sharing why he’s eager to work with St. Louis talent, where else he ate while he was in town, and what he really thinks of the Gateway Arch.

Women have historically trailed behind men in the STEM field. A local non profit is working to boost young girls' interest in STEM one shop class at a time.

A nonprofit is building some of the first private housing in East St. Louis in decades. The religious organization plans to have 20 homes finished by the end of this summer. St. Louis Public Radio's Will Bauer spoke with one of the leaders of Landsdowne Up about their goals and the challenges facing East St. Louis.

A Florissant restaurant has gained national attention for its gender-based age policy. Experts say the rules could violate state law, but owners tell St. Louis Public Radio’s Madison Holcomb their new Afro-Caribbean restaurant aims to bring something different to the community.

During the school year, Sarah Adam is an assistant professor of occupational therapy at St. Louis University. But this summer, she’s turning her studies toward Paris, and the 2024 Paralympics. St. Louis Public Radio’s Abby Llorico spoke with the first woman to make the wheelchair rugby team about what it means for her and her sport.

It’s called the “dead zone:" a massive area in the Gulf of Mexico that’s so low in oxygen that fish and other wildlife can’t live there. Roughly 70-percent of harmful nutrients that cause the dead zone come from Midwest farms, namely fertilizer. Without laws to regulate fertilizer use, farmers are left to make changes on their own. But many don’t. St. Louis Public Radio’s Eric Schmid reports on why.

Four months after the shooting at the Kansas City Chiefs Super Bowl parade, the cost of surviving is hitting hard for the 24 people with bullet wounds. Expenses like medical bills, missed work, and many out-of-pocket costs are all coming due for the survivors and their families. They’re waiting for a promised payout, but they’re racking up debt in the meantime. Bram Sable-Smith from our partner at KFF Health News reports, it can be expensive to survive a mass shooting.

Connecticut-based band Goose launched its summer tour at The Factory in Chesterfield earlier this month. The show sounded and looked great for fans in the room, and those watching a live webcast from home. Few of them knew the sights and sounds arrived, in part, through the work of a Chesterfield company that’s become a force in the concert industry. St. Louis Public Radio’s Jeremy Goodwin reports on the work that happens before a band can hit the stage.

America needs more renewable energy, and of course it needs food--and those two demands are on a collision course over farmland. Solar power is the fastest growing source of renewable power, but solar farms can take land out of crop production. As Harvest Public Media’s Frank Morris reports, a growing field of study is searching for ways to get calories and kilowatts off the same land.

While the work to get Missouri residents compensated for radiation exposure has gotten lots of attention, an effort to help victims in Venice, Madison and Granite City has largely gone unnoticed. St. Louis Public Radio’s Will Bauer reports on what's being done and who's being impacted.

Galileo’s observations about the solar system made him the father of modern astronomy. They also clashed with the teachings of the Roman Catholic Church. And in 17th century Italy, spreading scientific facts could earn a death sentence. Opera Theatre of St. Louis is presenting a work about Galileo by the American composer Phillip Glass that opens Saturday. In a report by STLPR's Jeremy Goodwin, Performers Paul Groves and Vanessa Becerra reflect on some key moments in the opera and its continuing relevance.

Precision agriculture has promised to revolutionize farming since the mid-1990s. The idea is to give growers more granular data about their operations and new technology to put that information to use. Some of this has come to pass: farmers have more sophisticated equipment and hard data on how their operations perform. But St. Louis Public Radio’s Eric Schmid reports, some of the loftiest promises of precision ag are still out of reach. This reporting is in conjunction with Harvest Public Media, a collaboration of public media newsrooms in the Midwest and Great Plains - including St. Louis Public Radio.

The right haircut can be hard for anyone to find. Some St. Louis hairdressers understand a good haircut is especially important for transgender clients. As St. Louis Public Radio’s Lauren Brennecke reports, these stylists and barbers are moving toward gender-free terminology and using in-depth consultations.

One of the centerpieces for free public gathering in downtown St. Louis is back open after eight months of renovations. Citygarden, the three-acre sculpture park stretching along the Gateway Mall, is again offering a greener and more peaceful environment than the busy streets and city sidewalks it sits among. As St. Louis Public Radio’s Jeremy Goodwin reports, an opening day party at Citygarden offered a view of the amenity as a colorful hub for city residents and visitors.