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The local sporting goods store Johnny Mac's announced it was being acquired by a Texas company and will close its retail locations. The company's president Bob McArthur joins host Don Marsh to discuss his memories from the store and the difficulties for local businesses competing with online retailers. 

Our weekly Behind the Headlines segment is an update to a story we brought you Monday about civil asset forfeiture. The U.S. Supreme Court ruled unanimously on the matter earlier this week.

We listen to excerpts of a May 2, 2007 conversation with Ben Abell, a tongue-in-cheek pledge drive skit from decades ago and listener reflections.

Host Don Marsh talks to three guests about the benefits of dance therapy – also known as movement therapy –for cancer patients.

Last month, NBC premiered Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson’s show “Titan Games,” a reality television program where men and women compete in emotional and daunting physical challenges. Tonight, the semi-finalists will compete and inch one step closer to the final prize –among them is native St. Louisan Derik Scott. The 30-year-old attorney joins host Don Marsh to talk about his participation in the athletic competition. 

The Marvel hit “Black Panther” brought the fictional country of Wakanda to the big screen and showcased exuberant sub-Saharan African culture – and St. Louis native Kevin Mayes was a part of that process. Mayes is a clothing designer who served as the head tailor for the film’s costumes, helping bring the visions of designer Ruth E. Carter to life. 

Host Don Marsh talks with incumbent President Lewis Reed, who has held the seat since 2007, along with two key challengers, Alderwoman Megan Green, who currently represents the city’s 15th Ward, and state Senator Jamilah Nasheed, whose 5th District includes the eastern half of St. Louis.

St. Louis County Executive Steve Stenger joins Politically Speaking to talk about Better Together’s proposal to merge St. Louis and St. Louis County.

If statewide voters approve the plan next year, Stenger will become the unified government’s first “metro mayor.”  That office was designed to be powerful: A mayor in the new government can make key appointments, use a line item veto, and help appoint whoever is in charge of drawing districts for a 33-person council.

Stenger and St. Louis Mayor Lyda Krewson are backing the Better Together plan, which was formally unveiled late last month.  It comes as Stenger has lost some of his power as county executive after voters approved a charter amendment giving the St. Louis County Council more authority over financial matters.

Among other things, Stenger believes the reorganized government will allow for greater efficiency — and better services for roughly 1.3 million people. He’s also enthusiastic about having one police department and one municipal court serve the region, as opposed to dozens of smaller ones.

In 2015, Pope Francis message about Climate Change called on people of faith world-wide - not only Roman Catholics - to take action to protect Earth's resources.

A St. Louis consortium of Catholic parents, students and leaders is calling this community to convene, learn, strategize and respond. This edition of Earthworms talks about why, and how, this response is growing.

Sacred Earth: Our Call to Action Conference, Saturday March 9 9 am - 2:30 pm, hosted by Nerinx Hall High School. 

Guests Jamie Hasemeier of Holy Redeemer Parish, Mark Etling from St. Nicholas Parish, and Maggie Hannick of St. Joseph's Academy are conveners, with other partners, of this conference.

 Music: For Michael, performed live at KDHX by Brian Curran

THANKS to Andy Heaslet, Earthworms so-green engineer, on loan from Sierra Club

Related Earthworms Conversations: 

Drawdown: Solutions to REVERSE Global Warming (March 2018)
Brian Ettling: Climate Change Advocacy Marches On (Oct 2018)

On Care of Our Common Home: Exploring Pope Francis' Message (Jan 2016)

Zero Waste Fish Fry: Holy Redeemer Parish is Hooked on Green (Feb 2018)

A recent study of American teenagers showed a big jump in nicotine vaping among young people in 2018. Even as many steer clear of other substance-related activities such as binge drinking and drug use, the number of teens who are vaping has more than doubled since 2017. "The data shows that one in five middle schoolers are using these products and one in three high school [students] are using these products, so those are incredibly concerning numbers,” Dr. Patricia Cavazos-Rehg said during Tuesday’s St. Louis on the Air Cavazos-Rehg, who is an associate professor in the Washington University School of Medicine’s Department of Psychiatry, told host Don Marsh there’s a need for more education about vaping – and its risks – among both teens and their caregivers.

Host Don Marsh discusses the current state of the St. Louis Fire Department, touching on various recent initiatives as well as challenges ahead. Joining him for the conversation are Chief Dennis Jenkerson and Capt. Garon Mosby.

Host Don Marsh delves into the way in which police departments use civil asset forfeiture as well as its legal implications. St. Louis Public Radio city politics reporter Rachel Lippmann and legal expert William Freivogel join the discussion. 

Host Don Marsh talks with Caitlyn Collins, author of "Making Motherhood Work: How Women Manage Careers and Caregiving." The newly released book looks at working mothers' daily lives and the revolution in public policy and culture needed to improve them.

Alderwoman Megan Green, D-15th Ward, has done a lot of campaigning over the last 29 months.

Between October 2014 and April 2017, Green ran in three elections to secure a full term representing the ward, which covers parts of the Tower Grove South and Tower Grove East neighborhoods. Pretty soon after that last election, she set her sights on higher office. In the race for president, her main opponents are incumbent Lewis Reed and State Sen. Jamilah Nasheed, D-St. Louis. (You can find Reed’s episode of Politically Speaking here, and Nasheed’s episode here.)

“I’m running for president of the Board of Aldermen basically because I feel like the status quo in our city is not working, and our city in order to move forward desperately needs some different leadership at the top of the board,” Green said.

St. Louis Public reporters Ryan Delaney and Lindsay Toler talk about the effects of cyberbullying and its impact a one local family as well as the challenges in trying to get cyberbullying removed. Tina Meier, whose 13-year-old daughter Megan took her own life in 2006 after she was bullied online, joins the conversation. Tina established the Megan Meier Foundation in 2007 to wage a campaign against cyberbullying.

The St. Louis Public Radio newsroom has been fielding a wide range of questions from listeners the past few weeks concerning Better Together’s recently unveiled proposal for a reunification of St. Louis and St. Louis County. Host Don Marsh and several STLPR journalists aim to provide answers to a number of those Curious Louis queries that haven’t already been answered.

For more than 30 years, Steven Woolf has been at the heart of the Repertory Theater of St. Louis. Since taking the helm as artistic director in 1986, Woolf oversaw three decades of productions and directed 47 shows. He joins host Don Marsh to reflect on his career, and to discuss his last production at The Rep – “Oslo.”

Constance Gully, CEO of Parents as Teachers, joins host Don Marsh to talk about the national (with local roots) organization’s efforts to promote optimal early development in children by educating and engaging parents and guardians.

Host Don Marsh talks with Quincy Troupe about his friendship with Miles Davis, stories about the jazz great and a review of some of his music.