During a roundtable discussion about reopening schools across the nation on Tuesday, President Donald Trump asked Missouri Gov. Mike Parson about St. Louis.

"For our state, people appreciate it, Mr. President and First Lady, for where we are headed to this country, we went through hard times before and we will continue to get through hard times and we will be better for it and we will be stronger," Parson said.

Schools in St. Louis County now have guidelines they can use as they make plans to return to in-person learning this fall.

Health and education leaders in St. Louis County worked together to develop guidance for districts building a framework for how classrooms and schools will look while the COVID-19 pandemic remains a concern.

A new report by a nonprofit group of retired admirals and generals shows that lack of access to quality and affordable child care in Missouri is limiting military service and could ultimately affect national security. 

Mission: Readiness is a bipartisan organization whose goal is keeping kids in school, fit and out of trouble. Its report shows that 71% of Missourians age 17 to 24 are ineligible to serve in the military due to educational shortcomings, criminal history, drug use or obesity, according to Department of Defense data.

“The best way to address these disqualifiers is to start early,” said retired Brig. Gen. Daryl McCall. “There is scientific consensus that brain development from birth to age 5 sets the foundation for a child’s future success.” 

Urban farmer Gibron Jones had big plans for an industrial kitchen in north St. Louis. He is the founder of the Holistic Organic Sustainable Cooperative. Jones uses his urban farming background to expand the mission of the North Sarah Food Hub.

Previously known as North City Food Hub, the organization sponsors five initiatives to streamline the process of starting a business that provides healthy and affordable food, including an entrepreneurial program, a shared-use commissary kitchen, a co-op grocery store and a culinary school.

Zuleyma Tang-Martinez has witnessed major political movements in the country since the civil rights movement during the ’60s in Oakland, California. She is now 75 years old, and the professor emerita of biology at the University of Missouri-St. Louis still makes it a point to participate in demonstrations, including the ongoing movement against police brutality. 

But this time, she faces complications. The coronavirus weighed heavily on her mind when it came to deciding whether or not she could march with protesters. Her age and medical conditions make it too risky to join the crowds. She had a hunch that others were in a similar situation — and she was right.

The secret to Brian Owens’ success is no secret at all. “I always tell people I get these heavenly hookups,” he explained. “God’s favor in my life. It’s begun in spite of me to position things to happen.”

The Ferguson-based soul singer, a devout Christian, can cite numerous blessings of late where he sees God’s hand in the works. There’s the former church building donated to his nonprofit Life Arts; he’s working on its renovation now. There’s also $200,000 in funding for that nonprofit from a New York-based benefactor.

Owens said Tuesday on St. Louis on the Air that he met the benefactor by chance online (or, to be more precise, by “heavenly hookup”). He’d posted a video on Facebook of his 6-year-old son, who has autism, playing the piano. As he recalled it, “some random person” chimed in suggesting a potential resource.  

It’s no exaggeration to say that St. Louis Circuit Attorney Kim Gardner is the most controversial elected official in the city. Mayor Lyda Krewson may have protests at her house every night, but Gardner provokes passionate feelings from both supporters and critics. She’s either a reformer taking on the corrupt status quo or an incompetent idealogue playing the race card. It’s easy to find both opinions on the streets of St. Louis — and hard to find much of anything in the middle.

A new long-form profile in St. Louis Magazine takes on Gardner’s three and a half years in office. Over more than 8,000 words, staff writer Nicholas Phillips examines Gardner and some of the biggest controversies that have dogged her time in office — and, in many cases, finds a far more nuanced picture than has previously been painted. 

Updated at 10:30 a.m. July 7 with a video released by Florissant Police

Florissant police arrested 17 demonstrators Sunday night outside their headquarters and used batons and pepper spray to clear people from the department's parking lot.

Demonstrators have gathered for weeks in Florissant to protest police brutality and demand that police stop killing Black people. Dozens of protesters Sunday stood shoulder to shoulder, carrying signs and chanting “Black Lives Matter.” Some parked vehicles on North Lindbergh Boulevard to block traffic in front of the police station.