Health, Science, Environment

The St. Charles Planning and Zoning Commission voted Wednesday night to reject a housing development near the Katy Trail, a decision likely to be reversed by the St. Charles County Council.

It was the second time in less than two years the commission has voted down the Missouri Bluffs development, a project which would include more than 200 homes overlooking the Katy Trail and Missouri River in St. Charles. 

This interview will be on “St. Louis on the Air” over the noon hour Thursday. This story will be updated after the show. You can listen live.

Years ago, when many multiple sclerosis researchers believed that a type of immune cell known as a T cell was the cause of the disease, Dr. Anne Cross turned her focus instead to B cells. Her findings have led to key breakthroughs in MS research – and also to receiving the John Dystel Prize for Multiple Sclerosis Research from the National Multiple Sclerosis Society and the American Academy of Neurology.

Cross, who is the Manny and Rosalyn Rosenthal and Dr. John L. Trotter MS Center Chair in Neuroimmunology at Washington University School of Medicine, will join Thursday’s St. Louis on the Air for a conversation with guest host Jim Kirchherr of the Nine Network.

Jorge Riopedre, president and CEO of the Casa de Salud clinic, said Monday he’s leaving the St. Louis nonprofit in November. 

Riopedre started as executive director of the clinic, which offers low-cost health care to uninsured foreign-born people, shortly after it opened in 2010. Since then, Casa de Salud has more than quadrupled its number of employees to 28, doubled in physical size and served patients from more than 90 countries.

Visitors to Forest Park will have a new, $4.5 million attraction to explore next year that aims to create a natural playground for families. Forest Park Forever hosted a groundbreaking ceremony at the site with St. Louis officials on Monday.

The project will transform 17 acres between the World’s Fair Pavilion and the Jewel Box into activity areas inspired by natural landscapes found in the region, including meadows, wetlands, springs, mounds and bottomlands. Kids will be able to wander boardwalks, play in water and climb rocks and trees at the Nature Playscape. 

Last week, St. Louis Fire Department Chief Dennis Jenkerson said that paramedics see the impact of so much violence that they're quitting faster than he can hire replacements.

“Two to three paramedics a month are leaving the job,” said Captain Garon Mosby of the St. Louis Fire Department on Monday’s St. Louis on the Air. “If you can leave the St. Louis City Fire Department and go to another department where there’s less trauma, or get into a completely different field, that’s what we’re seeing our people do.”

A growing number of people in the St. Louis region are seeking mental health treatment in hospital emergency rooms, according to a recent report from the St. Louis and St. Louis County health departments.

The report’s authors found the rate of people seeking mental health care in emergency rooms increased more than 40% in both the city and the county between 2010 and 2016, indicating people can’t get access to long-term care for chronic issues, health officials say.

Some patients seek treatment in the emergency room because they do not have health insurance. Others go to the ER because they cannot find psychiatrists, social workers or counselors. For many, the only available option is the emergency room — not an ideal setting for mental health treatment, doctors say.

The people in charge of deciding what’s on the menu at school cafeterias around the country will converge on St. Louis to consider how to make school lunches better. 

The discussion will happen at the School Nutrition Association's national conference, July 14-16. The goal of the conference is for school nutrition professionals to learn about the latest changes and innovations in the food industry and how those trends can translate into nutritious and tasty meals.

Meandering over more than 400 miles of southeast Missouri is a network of hiking trails that’s been in existence since the 1970s: the Ozark Trail. Its history, along with its natural beauty, fill the pages of Don Massey’s photographic book titled “The Ozark Trail: Images of Missouri’s Longest Hiking Trail.”

Massey is a member of the Ozark Trail Association, and he joined Friday’s St. Louis on the Air alongside the association’s president, Kathie Brennan, for a conversation with St. Louis Public Radio’s Jason Rosenbaum.

Updated at 12:45 p.m. Friday to add that the pathogen has been found in Missouri, as well.

A pathogen that’s deadly to some native trees has been found in 10 Illinois counties, including St. Clair and Monroe.

Agricultural officials found Phytophthora ramorum, which causes sudden oak death, on some ornamental plants from big-box garden centers around the state. The pathogen causes dark brown spots on the leaves and branch tips of rhododendron, azalia and lilac, but it is deadly for oaks and certain other tree species. 

President Donald Trump has issued a disaster declaration to help residents in 20 Missouri counties who have experienced major damage from tornadoes and floods this year. 

The declaration allows homeowners to apply for grants to cover repair costs and replacement of household items not covered by insurance. Business owners and farmers also can apply for loans for property damage caused by extreme weather events. 

Missouri is among several states that have been hit hard by natural disasters this year, said John Mills, a regional spokesperson for the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

After a very rainy spring and early summer that have included more than 80 days of flooding along rivers in the St. Louis region, many area residents are still feeling the effects.

On Tuesday’s St. Louis on the Air, St. Louis Public Radio’s Jonathan Ahl talked with guests from both Illinois and Missouri about the impacts they’ve been dealing with in their respective communities.

Joining the discussion were Adam Jones, a fourth-generation farmer on about 900 acres in Missouri, and Herb Simmons, the longtime mayor of East Carondelet, Illinois.

After years of preparation, Casa de Salud, the low-cost clinic for uninsured immigrants and refugees, is providing mental health services to 100 people a month. 

Early last year, the clinic opened a mental health facility in a renovated mechanic’s garage. To help staff the facility, it provides free clinic space to budding counselors who take on Casa de Salud patients as part of their caseload.

That brings mental health care to patients who need help but often can't obtain it because there aren't enough available therapists or because they don't speak English, have insurance or transportation.

If Missouri’s elk population grows enough, state conservation officials will allow hunters to apply for permits to hunt elk next year.

The Missouri Department of Conservation expects the state’s elk herd to grow from 175 to 200 by early 2020. The department released plans last Friday for a elk hunting season to take place in Carter, Shannon and Reynolds counties the following fall and winter. 

Planned Parenthood of the St. Louis Region and Southwest Missouri has hired one of its most visible doctors as its first full-time chief medical officer.

Colleen McNicholas, who’s worked as an OB-GYN at the organization’s St. Louis clinic, started her job on July 1. As chief medical officer, she’ll oversee and coordinate medical care at Planned Parenthood clinics across the region.

When students and faculty at Truman State University come back for the fall semester, they might notice more stars in the sky. 

After four years of research on how artificial light brightens the night sky, scientists are planning to change lighting on campus to direct light away from the sky. That could limit light pollution, which prevents people from seeing stars and galaxies, and also can disrupt sleep patterns.

Missouri residents forced from their homes by near-record flood levels will soon have access to a variety of disaster-recovery resources.

The American Red Cross of Missouri and Arkansas will offer a series of informational events designed to connect flood victims with relief organizations. The one-day resource centers will be held in some of the river towns hit hardest by this year’s flooding, including Boonville, St. Charles and Winfield.

Updated at 3:30 p.m. July 1 with "St. Louis on the Air" audio — Access to abortion in Missouri will continue as a state commission prepares to consider a licensing dispute over a Planned Parenthood abortion clinic in St. Louis.

On Friday, a state administrative hearing commissioner extended the organization’s license until the Administrative Hearing Commission decides how to resolve Planned Parenthood’s complaint against the state Department of Health and Senior Services. The commission set a hearing for Aug. 1.

Planned Parenthood will lose its license to perform abortions on Friday afternoon unless a state commission grants the clinic’s request to keep the clinic open. 

The St. Louis clinic, the last in the state to provide abortions, earlier this week formally requested that the Administrative Hearing Commission keep its license valid until an Aug. 1 hearing. 

Dr. Ken Haller regularly finds himself assuring parents that childhood vaccines are safe. He tries to do so with empathy, because along with having confidence in vaccinations, he also believes parents genuinely want what’s best for their kids.

On Thursday’s St. Louis on the Air, the Saint Louis University associate professor of pediatrics joined St. Louis Public Radio’s Rachel Lippmann for a discussion about how he navigates vaccine worries.

In addition to talking with families, Haller makes a point of participating in vaccine trials to help advance research at SLU’s Vaccine Center, which is currently enrolling children and teens in a flu study.

SHILOH, Ill. — After a health insurance change forced Bernard Macon to cut ties with his doctor, he struggled to find another African American physician online. Then, he realized two health advocates were hiding in plain sight.

At a nearby drugstore here in the suburbs outside of St. Louis, a pair of pharmacists became the unexpected allies of Macon and his wife, Brandy. Much like the Macons, the pharmacists were energetic young parents who were married — and unapologetically black.

Earlier this month, four St. Louis-area children died as a result of guns over the course of just five days.

On Tuesday’s St. Louis on the Air, St. Louis Public Radio’s Rachel Lippmann discussed the ongoing violence and related trauma that many children in the region face – as well as resources and ideas for a way forward.

Joining the discussion were three guests: Erica Jones, who has lost both a 7-year-old godson and an adult daughter to guns in recent years; Dr. Brad W. Warner, the Jessie L. Ternberg MD PhD Distinguished Professor of Pediatric Surgery at Washington University School of Medicine and surgeon-in-chief at St. Louis Children's Hospital; and Dr. Nicole Wilson, pediatric surgery fellow at St. Louis Children's Hospital.

Earlier this month, the Missouri Coalition for the Environment launched a campaign aimed at getting the word out about farmers who are engaging in responsible agriculture practices by ethically raising animals and growing their food.

On Monday’s St. Louis on the Air, St. Louis Public Radio’s Rachel Lippmann will delve into what the new Known & Grown project entails, as well as its broader implications for growers and consumers, with the MCE’s food and farm director Melissa Vatterott and local food coordinator Rae Miller.

Nicki Morgan, a co-founder of Hart|Beet Farms, also joined the conversation by phone while at the farm in Lincoln County Missouri. The farm joined Known and Grown in 2018.