U.S. Sens. Josh Hawley and Roy Blunt want the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to stop focusing on protecting wildlife in the Missouri River and instead focus on flood control and navigation, a move that environmentalists are calling misguided.

In 2004, the Corps of Engineers changed its management strategy for the Missouri River to protect two endangered species of birds and one fish, the pallid sturgeon. However, landowners near the river have alleged that prioritizing wildlife over flood protection has caused them extensive property damage from major floods.

So far this year, the St. Louis Blues have generated nearly $4 million in city revenue. And now that the hockey team is headed to the Stanley Cup Final, the city expects an extra financial bump.

That’s according to estimates from St. Louis Budget Director Paul Payne. He said the city will predominantly benefit from direct revenue brought in from sales taxes on tickets. Indirect money from spending on things like concessions, parking, restaurants and hotels will also contribute to the city’s budget.

“I’d estimated back at the beginning of the playoffs you’d see the three games would probably be somewhere in the area of $300,000, which would go up with each succeeding series,” he said.

Mexico City, Mexico, is the special spot where famed aviators Anne and Charles Lindbergh met and where their relationship formed. And in 1929, then-president Emilio Portes Gill gifted the celebrity couple the 9-by-12-foot “Flores Mexicanas” masterpiece by renowned Mexican artist Alfredo Ramos Martinez as a wedding gift.

Extravagant, right? St. Louisans will also get a chance to admire the painting as part of the Missouri Historical Society’s upcoming “Flores Mexicanas: A Lindbergh Love Story” exhibit, on view June 1 through Sept. 2.

English rock band The Who first released “Tommy,” the wildly successful rock opera, on May 23, 1969 – exactly 50 years ago this Thursday, when Springfield, Missouri-based bluegrass band The HillBenders will open for The Who at Hollywood Casino Amphitheatre.

It might seem an unlikely concert pairing, except that The HillBenders’ 2015 album is a full-length Tommy tribute, bluegrass-opry style.

St. Louis on the Air producer Evie Hemphill caught up with Jim Rea, the group’s guitarist and musical director, as he and the rest of the HillBenders anticipated sharing a stage with The Who.

NASA scientists are lighting flames on the International Space Station to help a Washington University engineer learn how soot forms from fire.

The NASA Glenn Research Center in Cleveland, Ohio is conducting the flame experiments remotely. The space agency is sending data to researchers who are exploring ways to eliminate soot so that fuel can be burned more cleanly.

On a special edition of Politically Speaking, St. Louis Public Radio links up with KCUR’s Statehouse Blend to review the ins and outs of the 2019 session of the Missouri General Assembly.

St. Louis Public Radio’s Jason Rosenbaum and Rachel Lippmann joined KCUR’s Samuel King and Brian Ellison to talk about the final week of the legislative session. That’s when the Legislature sent abortion restrictions to Gov. Mike Parson.

A three-day-long dance extravaganza gets underway later this week as Spring to Dance takes over the Touhill Performing Arts Center at the University of Missouri-St. Louis. Considered to be Dance St. Louis’ signature festival of the year, this 12th annual event will feature everything from tap, ballet and clogging to hip-hop and aerial performances Thursday through Saturday.

On Tuesday’s St. Louis on the Air, guest host Sharon Stevens led a conversation about what makes Spring to Dance such a vibrant showcase of dance talent in St. Louis, across the country and beyond.

Missouri is home to 22 of the 100 puppy mills on the Humane Society of the United States’ most recent list of known problem dealers, topping the list for the seventh year in a row. Released last week, the “Horrible Hundred” report highlights animal-welfare issues including high puppy death rates, underweight dogs, neglected health needs and other problems.

On Tuesday’s St. Louis on the Air, guest host Sharon Stevens discussed the topic with Sarah Javier, president and executive director of the Animal Protective Association of Missouri, and John Goodwin, senior director of the Humane Society of the United States’ Stop Puppy Mills Campaign.

Missouri retained its lonely title as the only state without a statewide prescription drug monitoring program — for the seventh year in a row — after the legislative session ended Friday.

Patient advocates, politicians, experts and members of the medical community had hoped this would finally be the year Missouri would create a statewide electronic database designed to help spot the abuse of prescription drugs. After all, Republican Gov. Mike Parson had pushed for it and, more important, its longtime opponent was no longer in office to block it.