Adam Allington

Adversaries in the contentious pro football labor battle convened in a Federal Appeals Court in St. Louis on Friday.

The National Football League is appealing an April injunction from a Minnesota Judge that temporarily lifted the lockout.

The NFL Players Association is in the process of suing the league, claiming that the lockout in violation of federal anti-trust laws.

Paul Clement is an attorney for the NFL team owners; he told a three-judge panel that the issue before them is one for labor laws to decide.

As of today, same-sex couples living in University City can receive a domestic partnership license from the city clerk's office.

The ordinance falls on the same day that Illinois' new civil union law goes into effect.

The University City domestic partnership registry is a largely symbolic measure since it doesn't grant residents the same legal standing that marriage does, at least as far as the state is concerned.

St. Louis City police officers have entered into a first-ever collective bargaining agreement with the city.

Jeff Roorda is a former state representative and current business manager for the police union.  He says the agreement removes the main barrier the department had against local control.

“We’ve resisted city control for years and that was because we needed to have a place to resolve our differences and in the past that’s been the state legislature," Roorda said. “Now, we have a union contract and arbitration where we can resolve those differences.”

Missouri exports are up 18 percent in the first quarter of 2011. That’s according to data released Thursday by the World Trade Center Saint Louis.

The total dollar value of Missouri exports in Q1 was $3.4 billion, compared to $2.9 billion in 2010.

Tim Nowak is the Director of the World Trade Center.  He says Asian markets continue to show the biggest growth potential for Missouri.

“Some of the highest growth that we’re seeing, double-digit growth is in Singapore, Indonesia, Korea, China,” says Nowak.

A national river quality organization has listed Missouri's Current River as a victim of over-use, and one of the most endangered rivers in America.

The report by American Rivers shows that in 1984 the Current River in the Ozark Riverways Scenic Park had only 13 access points.

Today, there are more than 130, leading to erosion, pollution and overuse.