St. Louis on the Air

In the 20 years that NPR justice correspondent Carrie Johnson has covered the U.S. Department of Justice, she’s learned to expect changes with each administration. “But there have been seismic shifts in this DOJ under President Trump,” she says.

Missouri’s fledgling medical marijuana program has approved nearly 70,000 patient and caregiver applications — so many, there is not yet enough legal cannabis in the state to serve them all. But people working in the industry say patience is necessary. The seeds of the solution to both problems are already in the ground.

St. Louis-based roots-rock band Brothers Lazaroff's 9th annual Hanukkah concert is going virtual, with guests including Tweedy, Ray Benson and Kinky Friedman himself. The brothers behind the band explain the event's unlikely origin story and how they're making it happen this year.

Just before the onslaught of the COVID-19 crisis, Taulby Roach told us that Metro Transit had identified security concerns as a key problem within the regional public transportation system — and was deploying a comprehensive strategy to improve community trust. Now, nine months later, the Bi-State Development CEO and local law enforcement leaders say real progress has been made. St. Louis Sheriff Vernon Betts and Roach talk with host Sarah Fenske and with callers.

Michael Shreves was a trailblazer for St. Louis’ LGBTQ community. Performing in drag as Michelle McCausland, he won a sexy legs contest aimed solely at women. He also led the charge to overturn St. Louis’ archaic laws banning drag performances — by fighting his own misdemeanor arrest. We’ll remember this remarkable man. He died last month of COVID-19.

We meet University of Missouri-Columbia engineering student Maged Shoman, who dug deep into St. Louis-area bus data. He explains what he learned about bus routes in the pandemic.

St. Louis Shakespeare Festival’s new production proves that all the world really is a stage — with actors and dancers bringing a hip-hop version of "A Christmas Carol" to Central West End storefronts. Host Sarah Fenske discusses this unique collaboration and explores some excerpts from the witty musical soundtrack for this reimagined holiday tale.

Eighteen-year-old Shelei Pan discusses how she started an effort to teach other teenagers sewing skills to make free masks for area children. Project Masked has donated more than 2,000 masks to local nonprofits so far, and more than 150 volunteers have lent a helping hand.

Thirty years ago, the late Iben Browning, a self-proclaimed climatologist, predicted that the St. Louis area was in for a major earthquake along the New Madrid Seismic Zone. He forecast that it would happen right around Dec. 3, 1990, sparking a media frenzy in the small town of New Madrid, Missouri, and causing many to stock up on emergency supplies.

It might seem that restaurant owners Joe Jovanovich and Mohammed Qadadeh have enough on their plates just keeping their eateries open. They run the Pat Connolly Tavern and American Falafel, respectively, and are busy finding innovative ways to operate and pay their employees during the challenging year that is 2020. Yet they’ve also stepped up to address food insecurity among their neighbors in the midst of all that — as have many of their peers in St. Louis’ vibrant, and hard hit, restaurant industry.

Commander of the St. Louis Metropolitan Pandemic Task Force, Dr. Alex Garza, provides clarity on some of the public health assertions made by Missouri Sen. Andrew Koenig on Tuesday when he introduced a proposal to limit the actions of local municipalities as it relates to the pandemic.

Over the weekend, the St. Louis region lost a beloved champion of its cultural institutions. Sarah Bryan Miller, 68, was the longtime classical music critic for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. She died early Saturday morning after a long struggle with cancer, one that lasted about a decade. In this tribute segment, we talk with several of her friends and also share music performed by and for her.

Almost 20 years ago, the St. Louis Zoo and Missouri Department of Conversation set out to shore up critically endangered hellbender populations in Missouri. They explain how they worked to bring these aquatic salamanders back from the bring.

In January, the St. Louis Regional Chamber, AllianceSTL, Civic Progress, Downtown STL, Inc. and Arch to Park will officially become Greater St. Louis Inc. The new organization's new CEO, Jason Hall, explains how organizers pulled off a rare merger in this fractured town — and the changes he hopes will accompany it.

Missouri state Sen. Andrew Koenig of West St. Louis County discusses legislation he's introducing to curtail local governments' ability to enact COVID-19 restrictions. This comes amid some GOP outcry over St. Louis County Executive Sam Page's indoor dining curbs.

A 2020 Great Rivers Biennial Arts Award recipient, Kahlil Robert Irving joins host Sarah Fenske to delve further into his exhibit theme at the Contemporary Art Museum in St. Louis and his career growth as an artist.

Neighborhood parks and other green spaces and trails continue to be among the liveliest places in the region as the COVID-19 crisis continues. Great Rivers Greenway's Emma Klues and Tower Grove Park's Bill Reininger offer their insights on the increased interest in the outdoors, even as we head into winter, and we hear from listeners as well.

Ann Lemons Pollack's new book, “Iconic Restaurants of St. Louis,” tells the story of 41 places that stood the test of time, from long-shuttered standbys to places still going strong after more than a century. The author discusses what she learned, and her own personal journey to becoming an adventurous eater.

St. Louis native Eric von Schrader has penned his first novel. It imagines a St. Louis full of gleaming buildings, international tourists and glowing bricks — yet the city remains grounded in real life with characters living and working in real St. Louis places. This conversation initially aired in September.

Vintage Vinyl, the record shop on Delmar, is a St. Louis institution. Owner Tom "Papa" Ray was recently featured in this Nine Network documentary about the shop and in this encore episode he shares his love of music and of St. Louis.

The supply chain is an aspect of life many people take entirely for granted — except when local stores run out of, say, toilet paper, hand sanitizer and food staples. George Zsidisin, who directs the Supply Chain Risk and Resilience Institute at the University of Missouri-St. Louis, joins "St. Louis on the Air" for a closer look at this complex system.

"Enough: Say Their Names..." is a 226-page, full-color compilation of images and words by several photographers, eight authors and a designer, all of whom donated their talents and time to the cause. Project ringleader Ronald Montgomery discusses the effort, and several contributors read poems that appear in the new volume.

It didn’t take a pandemic to prove that the U.S. health care system is broken, but this year’s COVID-19 outbreak certainly provided more evidence of what we all knew. To fix it, we need to “change the entire game,” says Rita Numerof, president and co-founder of the health care consulting firm, Numerof & Associates.

Only a small fraction of St. Louis County residents have antibodies to the coronavirus, according to a recent survey launched by the Institute of Public Health at Washington University. This means that the vast majority of people in the region are still susceptible to COVID-19, says Dr. Elvin Geng, an infectious disease professor at the Washington University School of Medicine.

Singer-songwriter Beth Bombara was gearing up to tour the U.K. Enter the coronavirus and those plans had to be canceled. Eight months later, Bombara was prepping for a show at the Pageant. Rising coronavirus case counts killed that too. The talented St. Louis musician explains how she’s still staying connected with fans even after months of canceled gigs and shuttered venues.

St. Louis on the Air’s monthly Legal Roundtable dug into the case of a Greene County woman who says she was fired for being ugly, the lawsuit Tofurky Co. filed against Missouri, and lawsuits seeking to reopen indoor dining in St. Louis County.

In 2017, plant scientist, Nadia Shakoor developed the PheNode device, a solar-powered environmental sensor and phenotyping station for crops. Sensors and cameras on the tool take real-time measurements of everything from humidity to soil pH. And this past summer, she won a $1.4 million federal grant to enhance the platform by adding an autonomous drone. It’s called FieldDock. And it just might be a game-changer.

A Christian school's "LaLa Land" parody shows students juggling Zoom calls, Plexiglass barriers and social distancing restrictions — and, yes, getting an education — while wearing masks. The video's producer and star explained how they made it happen.

The St. Louis-based band dropped a new single Nov. 13 — the same day the group announced its forthcoming sophomore record, titled “Cattle In The Sky.” Frontman Jordan Slone and bassist/vocalist Jack McCoy join "St. Louis on the Air" to talk about their musical evolution and share some tunes.

St. Louis Mayor Lyda Krewson has announced she will not seek reelection and plans to retire in April. Krewson has been mayor for four years. In a press conference Wednesday afternoon, Krewson said that after 23 years as an elected official, she had decided to step away.

As a part-time clerk for St. Louis County Library, Maura Lydon felt like she was beginning to fulfill her calling over the past couple years. She had decided on a career in libraries and was eager to experience her next steps. Then, in August, the library system laid her off, along with 121 other part-time employees. The library administration cited reduced services and efforts to be “good stewards” of taxpayer funds as the basis for the staff cuts. But that reasoning doesn’t hold up in the opinions of some current and former employees.

In recent weeks, both Pfizer and Moderna Inc. announced that their COVID-19 vaccines are 95% effective. But does it mean everyone will have a vaccine by New Year’s Eve? Not quite, says Michael Kinch, associate vice chancellor at Washington University in St. Louis.

“Storm of Progress: German Art after 1800” is on display at the St. Louis Art Museum. Curators put together the exhibit in short order after the pandemic derailed the museum's already planned upon exhibit schedule.

With coronavirus cases increasing at an alarming rate across the U.S., public health officials advise families to cancel any plans for a big Thanksgiving dinner this year. But what do you do when your family is not on the same page?

Mid-November is arguably a bit early to start putting up holiday decorations. But it’s not at all too soon to make thoughtful plans to safely connect with relatives, particularly those who are more isolated this year, and spread some joy. “Start having those conversations now,” Marjorie Moore, executive director of the nonprofit organization VOYCE, tells St. Louis on the Air. She and Vanessa Woods of Vitality Ballet talk through some ideas with host Sarah Fenske.

LynnMarie Alexander, the director/archivist of the Hill Neighborhood Center, has a new coffee table book about St. Louis' beloved Italian-American neighborhood. She explains the neighborhood's history and shares some highlights.

Amy Hilgemann remembers the job she had in the early 1980s as among the most fulfilling work she ever did. At the time, she directed Crisis Intervention Services, a collaboration with the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department. Officers were empowered to hand off certain situations to a dedicated group of six social workers, including Hilgemann, whom they could call on seven days a week. The program got some rave reviews. But when the initial funding stream ran out, it ended.

Coronavirus diagnoses are soaring across the Midwest, and the St. Louis metro area has seen an average of 2,206 new COVID-19 cases per day over the last week. That's up 43% over the week prior. So far, to date, 2,036 people in the region have died. But leaders can’t get on the same page in their mitigation methods. And that could be dangerous, as St. Louis Public Radio reporter Sarah Fentem explains.

Filmed in Grand Center in October, “Songs for St. Louis: A Concert in the Commons” features three young operatic stars singing some of the most beloved songs of Broadway and opera. Patricia Racette of Opera Theatre of St. Louis explains the concert's origins.

A class-action lawsuit changing how Missouri handles parole hearings has meant new hope for 98 Missouri men sentenced to life without parole for crimes they committed as juveniles. Host Sarah Fenske talked to several men who have been released after decades behind bars.

As legal challenges by the Trump campaign mount in the wake of President-elect Joe Biden’s victory, Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt is deploying his office in an attempt to stop some votes from counting in Pennsylvania. Host Sarah Fenske talks with Washington University's Ronald Levin about whether precedent is on Schmitt's side, and what might happen next.

St. Louis entrepreneur Akeem Shannon, 28, invented Flipstik — a device that allows users to stick their smartphone on any flat surface or use it as a kickstand. He pitched it on ABC's "Shark Tank" and secured a deal with investor Lori Greiner.

Beau Willimon joins St. Louis on the Air to talk about how his documentary "Lights of Baltimore" sheds lights on the development of policing in Baltimore, early redlining practices and the disinvestment in Black communities around the U.S. He also talks about the free screenwriting class he's offering as part of the St. Louis International Film Festival.

In the month leading up to Election Day, most public opinion polls showed former Vice President Joe Biden leading by a sizable margin, yet his margin was much closer than many pollsters predicted. As Vittert writes in a recent editorial, “How were all the pollsters so wrong, again, even after the soul searching and methodological recalibrating that followed 2016?”

In the 20th century, St. Louis was a hub for candy manufacturing. As 94-year-old candy magnate Menlo Smith puts it, “St. Louis was the best place in the country to manufacture confectionery if you were going to be distributing it nationwide.” Smith is the man behind favorites such as Pixy Stix, SweeTarts and Nerds.

At Blessed Teresa of Calcutta Parish food pantry in Ferguson, volunteers have seen a 25% client increase in recent months, with Blessed Teresa serving about 1,300 people in October alone. That’s in keeping with what food banks and other partners are observing throughout the area, according to Operation Food Search’s director of strategic services, Lucinda Perry. She’s seen about a 40% increase in food insecurity amid COVID-19 upheaval. The St. Louis community is stepping up to help, including local farms such as EarthDance.

The Refugee Integration Project spent 12 months documenting critical shifts and moments for refugees who resettled in St. Louis. The stories emerging from that research will be presented this week in a new puppet show called “We Came As Refugees: An American Story.” A collaboration with the University of Missouri-St. Louis, the St. Louis Storytelling Project and the University of Missouri Extension, it's all in an effort to help increase awareness about refugees and challenges they face in the United States.

New restaurants and bars continue to open in the St. Louis region — often with extensive safety protocols. And they’re offering new items for local food lovers and ways for patrons to get their favorite dishes. Sauce Magazine features eight new restaurants in its November Hit List, and executive editor Meera Nagarajan joined "St. Louis on the Air" to talk about them.

Members of the St. Louis Metropolitan Pandemic Task Force said that as hospitals in the St. Louis region near their capacity to treat coronavirus patients, doctors, nurses and other hospital staff are overworked and afraid.

Author Nini Harris' new book “Oldest St. Louis” explores the history of everything from the oldest house in the region (which dates to 1790s Florissant) to the region’s oldest prayer vigil (ongoing since 1928). She explains how she got to the bottom of things and why her findings give her hope.