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Morning headlines: Monday, November 14, 2011

Cancer study shows limiting alcohol reduces chances of developing breast cancer

A new study today finds that young women with a family history of breast disease can reduce their risk of developing breast cancer by avoiding alcohol. The research, published in the journal "Cancer", looked at more than nine-thousand young women starting in 1996 and tracked them through 2007.

Dr. Graham Colditz of the Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis is the senior author of the study. He says young women between 15 and 22 years old that had an average of one drink a day more than doubled their risk of benign breast disease.

"This points to at least one strategy that we can pursue to lower their subsequent risk of breast cancer through limiting alcohol intake in their late adolescent and early adult years," Colditz said.

Colditz says the study also found that women with a mother or aunt with breast cancer are more than twice as likely to be diagnosed with benign breast disease as those with no family history.

Cardinals to announce Mike Matheny is new manager

The Cardinals say they will announce the hiring of Mike Matheny  as manager during a news conference today. Matheny, a former St. Louis catcher will replace the retired Tony La Russa. La Russa stepped down after leading the team to the World Series title.

The 41-year-old Matheny was a minor league instructor with the Cardinals and has no managing experience. He played for St. Louis from 2000-04 and won three Gold Gloves. He won another with San Francisco.

City police collecting DNA from officers

Suspects in St. Louis aren't the only ones being asked to provide DNA samples. Increasingly, the city police department is collecting genetic information from officers in an effort to eliminate unknown genetic profiles collected from crime scenes and improve chances of successful prosecutions.

But many officers don't like it. The St. Louis Post-Dispatchreports that the St. Louis Police Officers' Association plans to file a grievance on behalf of its 1,200 members. They say some have been asked to submit DNA samples without being told why.

Police Chief Dan Isom estimates that 400 to 500 officers – about one-third of the department - have submitted samples.

St. Charles County Council to decide today if smoking ban to be placed on ballot

Whether St. Charles County joins the growing list of St. Louis-area places that ban smoking may be up to the voters to decide. The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reportsthat Republican county councilman Joe Cronin wants a vote of the people on the smoking ban, and on a second issue related to smoking: whether casinos should be excluded from any smoking bans.

The seven-member council today will decide if the measures should be placed on the ballot. St. Louis city and county recently implemented smoking bans, as have some smaller municipalities, including O'Fallon in St. Charles County.