SIUE East St. Louis Charter High School Director Gina Jeffries joined host Sarah Fenske on Friday’s “St. Louis on the Air” to discuss how the school is handling all-remote work during the COVID-19 outbreak. Also during the show were listeners' questions and concerns about teaching at home.
On Friday’s “St. Louis on the Air” we talked to Michelle P. King, director of inclusion at Netflix, and author of “The Fix: Overcome the Invisible Barriers Holding Women Back at Work.” The challenges many women face are only exacerbated by the coronavirus pandemic. Also in the discussion was St. Louis Public Radio editor Maria Altman’s essay.
Missouri Governor Mike Parson says schools in the state will not reopen this academic year. He says online learning should continue as the state responds to the coronavirus. Also, small farmers are coming up with new ways to reach out to customers as farmers market openings are delayed due to the outbreak.
An FX on Hulu limited series focused on Phyllis Schlafly, "Mrs. America," debuts April 15. Schlafly's daughter, Anne Schlafly Cori, says the family was not consulted. She discusses with host Sarah Fenske the Phyllis Schlafly she knew, and her concerns that filmmakers portrayed her mother as a monster.
Host Sarah Fenske talks to "Mrs. America" showrunner Davi Waller on Thursday's "St. Louis on the Air" about the FX on Hulu drama miniseries, which tells the true story of the movement to ratify the Equal Rights Amendment, and the unexpected backlash led by a conservative woman named Phyllis Schlafly, played by Cate Blanchett. The conversation also touches on the decades of political history Schlafly and her political adversaries helped shape — and how Waller went about bringing this story to the screen.
On Thursday's "St. Louis on the Air" host Sarah Fenske talked to The Collective Thread co-founder Terri Stipanovich and the nonprofit's goal to produce thousands of cloth masks, or personal protective equipment, for healthcare workers. During the show, Stipanovich discussed how the nonprofit is keeping its staff of primarily immigrant women working during the virus shutdown as it's their only source of income since spouses have been laid off.
St. Louis Health Director Dr. Fred Echols says COVID-19 is prevalent in the African American community. In an op-ed for the St. Louis American, he writes that the 12 patients in the city who have died of the disease were black. Also, Missouri is converting a Florissant hotel into a makeshift facility that could house patients if the region experiences a surge in cases.
Seventy-year-old Patty Prewitt has been busy making masks lately — like many citizen seamstresses working to help combat COVID-19. Prewitt, though, is sewing them for staff at the women’s prison in Vandalia, Missouri, where she’s serving a life sentence for her husband Bill’s 1984 murder. In the three and a half decades since that stormy and violent night in Holden, Missouri, Prewitt has consistently maintained that she is innocent, and that her husband’s death came at the hands of an intruder who also raped her. Prewitt’s case is getting some fresh attention thanks to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch’s Aisha Sultan. She recently released the film “33 and Counting” via the newspaper’s website. The 38-minute documentary digs into the wildly contrasting accounts of the crime as well as what Prewitt and her children and grandchildren have endured — and been fighting for — since her 1985 conviction. In this segment of the talk show, Sultan joins host Sarah Fenske to discuss Prewitt’s story and its particular urgency during a pandemic.
The union that represents thousands of grocery and other retail workers in the St. Louis area — United Food and Commercial Workers Local 655 — is asking Missouri Gov. Mike Parson to mandate that customers cover their faces while shopping in retail facilities deemed essential businesses. The union also asks that Parson designate all essential retail workers as temporary first responders, which would give them state-provided protective gear and other benefits. In this episode, host Sarah Fenske talks with the president of the UFCW 655, David Cook, as well as Chris Dean, a local grocery store employee who started the 'Who Are We' movement as a resource and organizing point for essential workers during the COVID-19 outbreak.
Many congregations in the St. Louis area are taking steps to mark some of the most important religious events of the year in the age of social distancing. Also, state health officials are reporting coronavirus among transit workers and prison inmates.
St. Charles County Executive Steve Ehlmann has dealt with a lot of challenges since he became the fast-growing county’s top political leader in 2007. But it’s likely the GOP official has never dealt with something as impactful as the coronavirus outbreak. Ehlmann and St. Charles County Public Health Director Demitrous Cee-ance-ee-Chapman talk with St. Louis Public Radio’s Julie O’Donoghue about how their county is dealing with the pandemic.
SLU School of Law's Rob Gatter talked to Sarah Fenske on Tuesday's "St. Louis on the Air" about quarantine procedures and related topics that connect his research on pandemic preparedness. Also in the conversation were questions from callers regarding quarantine procedures.
On Tuesday's "St. Louis on the Air" host Sarah Fenske talked to Carolyn Mueller, author of "Forest Park: A Walk Through History" and zookeper at the Saint Louis Zoo. During the show, Mueller discussed places to visit off the beaten path in Forest Park as well as lesser-known sculptures featured in St. Loius' flagship park.
St. Louis Mayor Lyda Krewson says the city is anticipating a COVID-19 budget impact in the tens of millions of dollars. Her comments come as the newest numbers show areas of north St. Louis have some of the highest coronavirus rates in the city.
Earth Day launched 50 years ago. 2020 is cause for a global celebration, if not for some bits of lipid-coated protein commanding human awareness, planet-wide.
In St. Louis, our Earth Day-365 leaders are rallying to help us celebrate, learn, and organize VIRTUALLY, at the safe and healthy Social Distance. Over NINE days of eco-logical events, folks here in the Earthworms region will celebrate, while staying apart and healthy. Green learning, music and much more for all, April 18-26!
Host Sarah Fenske talked to St. Louis-baed author Sarah Kendzior Monday about her book “Hiding in Plain Sight: The Invention of Donald Trump and the Erosion of America”, which talks about Trump’s rise to power since the 1980s.
On Monday’s “St. Louis on the Air” host Sarah Fenske talked to Sara Baker, policy director for the ACLU, who discussed COVID-19 in jails and prisons and her agency’s attempt at getting the state prison system to take action regarding the safety of inmates during the coronavirus outbreak.
Missouri residents are being told to stay home to help limit the spread of the new coronavirus. Governor Mike Parson has issued the order. He says local governments can continue to implement tighter regulations. The statewide measure comes as leaders of a new task force in the St. Louis region estimate the peak for COVID-19 cases will likely come in the next two or three weeks.
Following the COVID-19 outbreak, St. Louis dancer and musician Christian Frommelt had to look for new ways to teach new dancers while keeping safe distance. With video meetings becoming popular on social media after the coronavirus pandemic, Frommelt took to hosting virtual swing dancing lessons on the St. Louis Swing Dance Facebook page. On Friday’s “St. Louis on the Air” host Sarah Fenske talked to Frommelt about the abrupt change to live-streaming dance courses and what the future holds for the St. Louis dance scene. Also during the show, Fenske talked to Frommelt about the history of dance culture in the early 1900s.