"Lean Healthcare"
5:35 am
Fri May 27, 2011

"Lean Healthcare:" Using mechanical systems for medical efficiency

Throughout the country a number of hospitals have been looking to Toyota auto plants to learn how to make healthcare safer and more efficient. Among the dozens of institutions adapting the Toyota Production system to healthcare is Barnes-Jewish Hospital here in St. Louis.

Reporter David Weinberg brings us the story of how Far East auto plants are changing the face of hospitals in the west.

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Flooding
6:35 pm
Thu May 26, 2011

Heavy rainfall increases potential for isolated flooding in Mo.

Credit (via Flickr/clip works)
A wall of sandbags, typically used to protect areas from flooding.

This week’s heavy rainfall has increased the potential for isolated floods in portions of the state, although no major flooding is expected. 

Right now, a flood warning is in effect for the Meramec River in St. Louis County, which could lead to some local street flooding. 

John Campbell, operations chief for the State Emergency Management Agency explains why, and where, the flooding could occur.

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Stories identified with the David Weinberg byline are produced by David Weinberg, a St. Louis Public Radio freelance contributor.

Roy Blunt/Joplin tornado
5:10 pm
Thu May 26, 2011

Blunt wants federal government to pay for more of Joplin's damage

Credit (UPI/Bill Greenblatt)
U.S. Senator Roy Blunt

U.S. Senator Roy Blunt (R-Missouri) wants the federal government to pay 100 percent of the cleanup costs from the Joplin tornado.

The federal government typically covers 75 percent of the costs of responding to disasters, with state and local governments picking up the rest. But Blunt says he has asked Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano to pick up more than that in Joplin’s case.

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Stroke Care
4:55 pm
Thu May 26, 2011

Analysis suggests racial and ethnic disparities in stroke care

A new analysis suggests racial and ethnic minorities are not getting equal treatment when it comes to strokes.

At the request of the American Heart Association, a group of stroke experts led by Saint Louis University neurologist Dr. Salvador Cruz-Flores examined the scientific literature for racial and ethnic disparities in stroke care.

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The Road Back to Work
3:31 pm
Thu May 26, 2011

The Road Back to Work: Part Seven, Finding Love While Searching For Work

NPR's Tamara Keith continues her year-long occasional series on unemployment, entitled "The Road Back to Work" tracking six St. Louis residents.

Here's the latest from the series:

Tamara Keith is NPR's Congressional Reporter on the Washington Desk.

Since joining NPR in 2009, Keith has reported on topics spanning the business world from covering the debt downgrade and debt ceiling crisis to the latest in policy debates, legal issues and technology trends. In early 2010, she was on the ground in Haiti covering the aftermath of the country's disastrous earthquake and later she covered the oil spill in the Gulf.

Keith's contribution to NPR has included conceiving and reporting for the 2011 NPR series The Road Back To Work, a year-long series featuring the audio diaries of six people in St. Louis who began the year unemployed and searching for work.

Keith has deep roots in public radio and got her start in news by writing and voicing essays for NPR's Weekend Edition Sunday as a teenager. While in college, she launched her career at NPR Member Station KQED's California Report, covering topics including agriculture and the environment. In 2004, Keith began working at NPR Member Station WOSU in Columbus, Ohio, where she reported on politics and the 2004 presidential campaign.

Keith went back to California to open the state capital bureau for NPR Member Station KPCC/Southern California Public Radio. In 2006, Keith returned to KQED, serving as the Sacramento-region reporter for two years.

In 2001, Keith began working on B-Side Radio, an hour-long public radio show and podcast that she co-founded, produced, hosted, edited, and distributed for nine years.

Over the course of her career Keith has been the recipient of numerous accolades, including an award for best news writing from the APTRA California/Nevada and a first place trophy from the Society of Environmental Journalists for "Outstanding Story Radio." Keith was a 2010-2011 National Press Foundation Paul Miller Washington Reporting Fellow.

Keith earned a bachelor's degree in Philosophy from University of California, Berkeley, and a master's degree at the UCB Graduate School of Journalism.

Illinois Redistricting
2:27 pm
Thu May 26, 2011

Ill. Republicans propose redistricting map

Credit (Screen capture via Illinois House Republicans website)
The Illinois Republican's version of changes in the state's legislative districts. Shown is the St. Louis surrounding area. You can explore the full map via a link in the story below.

Updated at 3:52 - Replaced story from the Associated Press with story from Illinois Public Radio.

Reporting from Illinois Public Radio's Luke Runyon was used in this report.

Republicans at the Illinois statehouse Thursday countered new legislative boundaries drawn by the ruling Democrats. The GOP touts its map as far superior, but at this point it may be moot.

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Joplin Tornado
1:26 pm
Thu May 26, 2011

‘Angels of Mercy’: Scenes of heroism, lessons learned emerge from hospital destroyed by tornado

Credit (UPI/Tom Uhlenbrock)
The helicopter at Saint Johns Hospital lies destroyed outside of the Emergency Department in Joplin, Mo. on May 23.

A feature from KSMU's Jennifer Moore

Scenes of heroism during and after Joplin’s Sunday tornado are beginning to trickle out –and no scene is more gripping than what happened inside the nine-story St. John’s Regional Medical Center when the EF5 tornado began to wreak havoc on the roof, windows, and electricity of the hospital. 

As KSMU’s Jennifer Moore reports, a mostly female staff managed to evacuate the entire hospital within 90 minutes of the tornado.

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Speed Cameras on I-70
12:25 pm
Thu May 26, 2011

Group of cities wants speed camera on I-70 near St. Louis

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A group of cities in north St. Louis County want to install speed cameras on Interstate 70.

The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports that St. Ann and other cities agreed this week to apply to the Missouri Department of Transportation for permission to use the cameras.

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