St. Louis Public Radio

Missouri Commission Wants Legislators To Scrap Nuclear Plant-Funding Law

The Missouri Air Conservation Commission is asking state legislators to repeal a decades-old law that controls how companies fund new nuclear power plants. The Construction Work in Progress law, passed by Missouri voters in 1976, prohibits utility companies from charging customers to cover the cost of building nuclear plants until the facilities are up and running. The commission unanimously passed a resolution Thursday, calling the law an “intractable roadblock” for nuclear power in Missouri. But opponents say the governor-appointed commission is overstepping its bounds.

(L-R) Jennifer Owens, Ning Lun and Luzmila Buechler joined Thursday's "St. Louis on the Air" to talk about Forai's efforts to help connect St. Louisans with refugees. — Lara Hamdan | St. Louis Public Radio

How Forai Handicrafts Help Refugee Women In St. Louis Make Friends, Money

Mike and Vicki Blunt, of New Douglas, load their vehicle with groceries in single-use plastic bags at Schnucks in Edwardsville in March. The couple usually bring their own reusable bags, but on this day, they bought too many groceries and needed more. — Teri Maddow | Belleville News-Democrat

Edwardsville Approves Shopping Bag Fee. Will Other Metro East Cities Follow Its Lead?

Clearing Up Misconceptions About Intersex Conditions

By Lara Hamdan • 9 hours ago

Dr. Christopher Lewis (at left) and Jordan Braxton explain the intersex condition and its nuances on Thursday's "St. Louis on the Air." — Evie Hemphill | St. Louis Public Radio

Being born intersex isn’t limited to ambiguous genitalia. There’s a plethora of intersex conditions, about 150. Some of them require surgical intervention, some don’t. And while the condition is common, there are still a lot of misconceptions about it. Ignorance can lead parents to allow surgical interventions that strip away the autonomy of an individual and expose them to irreversible physical damage.

Politically Speaking: St. Louis Alderwoman Sarah Martin On Dealing With Crime

By Julie O'Donoghue, Jason Rosenbaum & Rachel Lippmann • 10 hours ago

St. Louis Alderwoman Sarah Martin is the latest guest on Politically Speaking. Martin represents the 11th ward, which includes parts of the Boulevard Heights, Holly Hills, Patch, Mount Pleasant and Carondelet neighborhoods.

Wednesday: Restaurateur Katie Collier Shares Her Journey To Sobriety

By Emily Woodbury • 12 hours ago

This interview will be on “St. Louis on the Air” over the noon hour on Wednesday. This story will be updated after the show. Here are some ways to listen live.

Chef and restaurant owner Katie Collier is getting ready to celebrate nine years of sobriety. After struggling with alcoholism and going through multiple treatment centers, she opened up Katie’s Pizza & Pasta Osteria. The business is now in its sixth year of operation.

Some Metro East Cities Could Lose Home Rule Taxing And Regulatory Powers In 2020

By Eric Schmid • 17 hours ago

The intersection of Collinsville and St. Louis Avenues in East St. Louis is where a mob of white rioters first gathered before they rampaged through the city, seeking out and killing black residents. — File Photo | Carolina Hidalgo | St. Louis Public Radio

BELLEVILLE — Illinois’ slow but steady population decline could jeopardize the home rule status some Metro East cities enjoy.

Home rule grants cities broad taxing and regulatory powers, making it easier to quickly tackle local issues and fund projects and services. Status is automatically granted to any Illinois city with more than 25,000 residents. Towns can also achieve home rule through a referendum, as Fairview Heights did.

On Chess: Not Particularly Beautiful

By Jennifer Shahade • 17 hours ago

Jennifer Shahade and Daniel Meirom created the "Not Particularly Beautiful" chessboard to expose the many insults women chess players have endured over time. — Crystal Fuller | World Chess Hall of Fame

"Not Particularly Beautiful" is a chessboard I created with Daniel Meirom, in homage to women players who endure backlashes as they find new power, inspired by the chess queen.

The queen was once the weakest force on the board, only able to move one square diagonally. Games were long and tedious, as it was much harder to checkmate without the chief executioner.

Midwestern Farm Runoff Creates Headache For Louisiana Shrimpers

By Travis Lux | New Orleans Public Radio • 21 hours ago

Shrimper Thomas Olander inspects one of the nets on his boat. Olander says the dead zone in the Gulf of Mexico makes shrimping tougher. 10/16/19 — Travis Lux | New Orleans Public Radio

It’s only midmorning, but shrimper Thomas Olander is already calling it quits for the day in a small bayou in St. Mary Parish, on the central Louisiana coast.

There aren’t enough shrimp out there — especially the highly sought-after jumbo shrimp that fetch the highest prices at the market.

“It's just not worth it,” Olander said, of his morning burning fuel, supplies and time.

Missouri Farmers Try To Reduce Runoff, But Cleaning Gulf Dead Zone May Take Decades

By Eli Chen • 21 hours ago

The Missouri River in St. Charles County in September 2019. — Eli Chen | St. Louis Public Radio

When corn and soybean farmer Kenny Reichard stopped plowing some of his fields in northern Missouri in 1982, other farmers told him that it was a terrible decision that would lower his yields.

“I’ve been told many times that no-till doesn’t work,” said Reichard, 62, who farms north of Brunswick in Chariton County.

More than three decades later, state programs and agriculture initiatives are trying to encourage farmers to adopt no-till and other practices that reduce fertilizer runoff that contributes to the dead zone in the Gulf of Mexico. While many farmers think such methods are expensive, they’re critical to cleaning up the Mississippi River basin.

Missouri Redesigns School Report Cards — And It’s A Lot To Digest

By Ryan Delaney & Elle Moxley | KCUR • Oct 17, 2019

Missouri schools are getting a different kind of report card from the state. It's now color coded instead of offering a numerical grade.

The Annual Performance Report is the state’s way of showing how school districts are doing. After years of providing a percentile score that conveyed how school districts ranked, this year’s APR instead uses color-coded bar graphs that measure not only how students did on state tests, but how much they improved.

Inside The Dyslexic Mind: Parents And Educators On Need For More Understanding, Support

By Evie Hemphill • Oct 16, 2019

From left, Michelle Yepez, Paula Witkowski and Sarah Bartley joined Wednesday's talk show. — Evie Hemphill | St. Louis Public Radio

It’s estimated that as many as 1 in 5 people around the world have dyslexia, a learning disorder that affects how one’s brain processes information about sounds and words. In the St. Louis region, some parents are pushing for more school resources and attention to dyslexia, and a Webster University seminar on the subject last week drew a sold-out crowd.

On Wednesday’s St. Louis on the Air, host Sarah Fenske talked with Webster’s Paula Witkowski, an associate professor of literacy and speech-language pathologist in the School of Education, as well as local parents Sarah Bartley and Michelle Yepez, who each have a child with dyslexia. They discussed the importance of early intervention and how people with dyslexia can thrive. The conversation also included contributions from listeners who called in to the show to share their experiences.

Microlender Gets Boost To Invest More In Small Minority-Owned Businesses In St. Louis

By Marissanne Lewis-Thompson • Oct 16, 2019

Justine Petersen, a leading microlender in the region, hopes a $200,000 investment from JPMorgan Chase will help minority-owned small businesses north of Delmar.

The investment will continue to assist the local nonprofit in its efforts to help those small business owners with credit-building resources, as well as provide access to safe and affordable loans.

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