St. Louis on the Air

Sarah Fenske talks with state Sen. Karla May (D-St. Louis) and state Rep. Justin Hill (R-Lake St. Louis) about the recent push for an online sales tax in Missouri and how the issue may be addressed in the upcoming legislative session, which begins Jan. 8.

Annie's Hope founder and executive director Becky Byrne joins host Sarah Fenske to discuss the organization’s work to help entire families in their mourning process. Joining the conversation are Riley Mitchell and his father, Brandon. Riley, 10, lost his mother suddenly as a young child and has participated in Annie’s Hope camps and other events.

Host Sarah Fenske will be joined by a panel of legal experts to discuss a variety of recent local and national stories pertaining to the law.

In this St. Louis on the Air episode, Sarah Fenske talks with St. Louis Public Radio correspondent Rachel Lippmann about recent complications in the Board of Freeholders process. We also meet Board of Freeholder member and local business owner Jason Wilson.

Golf carts have long been transcending the fairways, clubs and expensive sporting equipment they evoke. In St. Louis, they’re somewhat synonymous with Soulard, where many residents use the vehicles for everyday purposes around the neighborhood — and the carts have become a common sight in some other St. Louis areas as well.

Growing up in Mexico, Lizett Mata spent a lot of time in early November each year at her father’s grave. He died when she was just seven years old, and Mata and her family would annually bring some of his favorite things to the cemetery to celebrate his and other departed loved ones’ lives. They’d spend the whole day there.

Host Sarah Fenske talks with St. Louis Magazine writer Jeannette Cooperman, who is leaving for a job as a staff writer at the Common Reader, a journal of essays housed at Washington University.

In this conversation, St. Louis Public Radio correspondent Jason Rosenbaum talks with Sarah Fenske about how St. Louis County Executive Sam Page and several county council members are calling for an immediate change in police administration following a nearly $20 million verdict against the county in a discrimination lawsuit by a gay officer.

Parents of children with intellectual or developmental disabilities have additional things to consider when preparing for Halloween, particularly for children whose disabilities aren’t visible. To help ensure a successful holiday for children with disabilities, Jeanne Marshall and Melanie Mills of Easterseals Midwest join guest host Jeremy D. Goodwin to discuss what caretakers and neighbors can do to accommodate.

Only eleven months into its operating life, the Loop Trolley may not be long for this world. The Loop Trolley Company announced Oct. 12 that it needs an influx of $200,000 to continue running the trolley cars through the end of 2019 — and another $500,000 for next year. In this episode, St. Louis Public Radio’s Jeremy D. Goodwin goes behind the headlines with STLPR political correspondent Jason Rosenbaum for analysis of the latest developments surrounding the trolley. Years in the making, the Loop Trolley took $51 million to build, with the majority of the funding coming from a Federal Transit Administration grant.

Halloween-related celebrations are legion in St. Louis, with wide-ranging revelry options available each year for enthusiasts of every sort. At the Campbell House Museum — located downtown and at the less ghoulish end of the Halloween spectrum — the holiday observance typically involves a lot of history as well as a coffin, leeches and more. This month marks 140 years since the death of the fur trader Robert Campbell, one of early St. Louis’ most prominent citizens and the museum property’s former owner, and on Friday evening members of the Mourning Society of St. Louis will be on hand to oversee this year’s iteration of the Twilight Tours. Three members of the small but active society join St. Louis Public Radio’s Jeremy D. Goodwin on this episode for a preview of the nearly sold-out event — and they talk about their historical reenactment work more broadly as well.

Host Sarah Fenske talks about Missouri's Council on American Islamic Relations' past and future with its new executive director Mojda Sidiqi and her predecessor Faizan Syed.

Host Sarah Fenske talks with Haitian-American writer Edwidge Danticat, recipient of the 2019 St. Louis Literary Award given by the St. Louis University Library Associates.

Last week was a busy one for David Kvidahl, who covers high school sports for STLhighschoolsports.com and STLtoday.com. On Tuesday he was calling Cardinal Ritter College Prep to let school officials know he planned to publish a story about a football player at the Catholic school taking to the field while ineligible. The next day he was reporting that St. Louis Public Schools had terminated Roosevelt High School athletic director and head football coach Trey Porter. Then, on Friday, Cardinal Ritter announced that its entire football staff had been “permanently released” by the school. In this episode, Kvidahl joins host Sarah Fenske to go behind the headlines on the latest developments in both the Roosevelt and Cardinal Ritter stories. The conversation also includes comments from two Roosevelt football players who have come to Porter's defense and from St. Louis Alderwoman Christina Ingrassia (D-6th Ward).

Through a “learn and earn” method, the organization BWorks, helps hundreds of kids each year, having expanded to include instruction in creative writing and computers as well. The organization was recently awarded a Quality of Life award from St. Louis Mayor Lyda Krewson’s office.

Drives around the St. Louis area have so far been a little less colorful this fall. That’s mainly due to unusual daytime and nighttime temperatures that are preventing chlorophyll from breaking down. The breakdown in chlorophyll causes leaves to lose their green color.

Continuity’s executive director and co-founder, Dan Parris, joins host Sarah Fenske to talk about the organization’s efforts. They are also joined by YouTuber Letisha Wexstten and continuity graduate Erica Renee Walker

Host Sarah Fenske discusses how research has led some locals of African descent to a better understanding of their complicated American stories

Host Sarah Fenske discusses how research has led some locals of African descent to a better understanding of their complicated American stories

St. Louis on the Air's Sarah Fenske Talks With STLPR's Kae Petrin And Local Attorney Mary Anne Sedey Host Sarah Fenske talks with St. Louis Public Radio reporter Kae Petrin and with local attorney and employment law expert Mary Anne Sedey about new efforts to give workplace protections to LGBTQ workers in Missouri. The state civil rights law is silent. But that’s not stopping some gay, lesbian and transgender activists.

Host Sarah Fenske talks with dean of the University of Missouri St. Louis Andrew Kersten and Associate Professor of History Priscilla Dowden-White about how James Baldwin’s 1974 novel is resonating across campus and the broader St. Louis community, decades after it was written. The conversation will also include the perspectives of several UMSL students and faculty members.

Growing up in Singapore, Washington University undergraduate Luka Cai was closeted, finding little support there for members of the LGBTQ community. But even in their new home of St. Louis, where Cai openly identifies as a pansexual transmasculine queer person, they’ve observed a need for more peer-to-peer support. “When I came to St. Louis I felt very much more affirmed and accepted by the St. Louis queer community, and I saw the same needs around me,” Cai said, “of people feeling isolated, rejected, discriminated against — and that comes out in terms of housing insecurity and employment security as well.” This led Cai to the idea for SQSH, the St. Louis Queer+ Support Helpline that they and a co-founder launched earlier this month. The all-volunteer effort aims to be “for the St. Louis LGBTQIA+ community, by the community,” inviting calls to 314-380-7774, with highly trained volunteers ready to provide support.

Month after month, Sauce Magazine joins our program for a monthly Sound Bites segment to showcase the latest food trends and highlight local chefs, farmers, restaurateurs and more. Host Sarah Fenske delves into the history of the food publication itself, which launched in St. Louis in 1999 when the Internet was still in its infancy. Twenty years later, Sauce Magazine is still going strong.

Jane Smiley recently came back to St. Louis for her 50th high school reunion. But unlike many of us, the Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist wasn’t content simply to explore what had changed around town. Smiley also wrote an essay about the city for the New York Times. In this interview with Sarah Fenske, Smiley discusses her essay, detailing her abiding love for St. Louis, particularly its foliage and its wonderful old houses.

Being born intersex isn’t limited to ambiguous genitalia. There’s a plethora of intersex conditions, about 150. Host Sarah Fenske talks with Dr. Christopher Lewis about the condition and Jordan Braxton, who is intersex herself.

Forai, an organization based in Maplewood, has helped refugees attain the skills they need to start businesses. Host Sarah Fenske talks to its founder and some of the women who got a leg up through its unique mission.

Missouri has more than 10,000 untested rape kits sitting on shelves in police departments and hospitals, but the state is finally set to have a full inventory of those kits by the end of October. In this segment, host Sarah Fenske talks with St. Louis Public Radio reporter Jaclyn Driscoll about her reporting on the federal Bureau of Justice Assistance grant set aside for this project.

Host Sarah Fenske discusses the importance of early intervention and how people with dyslexia can thrive in school and in life with Webster’s Paula Witkowski, a professor of literacy and speech-language pathologist in the School of Education, as well as several local parents of dyslexic children.

Host Sarah Fenske talks to Senegalese artist Modou Dieng, who curated a new contemporary art exhibition at the Barrett Barrera Projects center. “Saint Louis to St. Louis: The City on the River meets River City" notes the parallels between the two cities named for St. Louis the King — one in the Midwest and one in the West African country of Senegal.

Host Sarah Fenske sits down with NPR’s Silicon Valley correspondent Aarti Shahani who discusses her memoir about her family’s journey from pre-partition India to Casablanca to New York. It’s called “Here We Are: American Dreams, American Nightmares.”

Host Sarah Fenske talks with longtime Girl Scout and St. Louis-area resident Lauren Vanlandingham about being named a 2019 National Gold Award Girl Scout. Also joining the conversation is Aurrice Duke-Rollings, chief marketing and communications officer for the Girl Scouts of Eastern Missouri.

Host Sarah Fenske talks with Suzanne Michelle White of the Choctaw Tribe of Oklahoma, a descendant of Cherokee, Delaware, and Lumbee nation/tribes, about Indigenous People's Day and how people may observe it.

Host Sarah Fenske delves into how municipal boundaries and school district boundaries were drawn to exclude and how local policies and services were weaponized to maintain civic separation. Joining the conversation are: history professor Colin Gordon, author of "Citizen Brown: Race, Democracy, and Inequality in the St. Louis Suburbs," as well as Erica Williams, a North County resident and founder of the nonprofit A Red Circle, and David Dwight, of Forward Through Ferguson.

St. Louis resident Sarah Schlafly founded Mighty Cricket, a startup that produces food products including powdered, roasted crickets. She joins host Sarah Fenske to discuss a challenge she made calling on local businesses to offer her product in one of their October menu items.

In order to get St. Louisans more comfortable with the idea of eating insects, Schlafly launched the Mighty Cricket Challenge, calling on local businesses to offer her cricket powder in one of their October menu items. Host Sarah Fenske talks with Schlafly about her work and this month’s campaign.

The St. Louis Cardinals have advanced to the National League Championship Series for the first time since 2014. Host Sarah Fenske talks with Missy Kelley, the CEO of Downtown St. Louis, Inc., about the economic boost the Cardinals’ success is providing to the St. Louis metro.

St. Louis Recorder of Deeds Michael Butler joins host Sarah Fenske to talk about his idea for a $10/hour open bar came about and its potential pitfalls.

Mayor Lyda Krewson is among the three city officials who have the ultimate say in whether any airport privatization deal goes through. She joins host Sarah Fenske to share her thoughts on the process, among other topics.

This weekend’s concerts at Powell Hall are a homecoming for Leonard Slatkin in more ways than one. In addition to returning last year to live in the St. Louis area, the music conductor laureate of the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra is taking the podium, in part, to revisit his SLSO sendoff in 1996. Slatkin will be conducting the world premiere of variations on a theme of Paganini that were composed for Slatkin's recent 75th birthday. The compositions update five original themes inspired by the Italian-born composer that were first performed when Slatkin’s 17-year tenure with the SLSO was ending.

Those who staff and depend on the St. Louis region’s public transit system have seen some significant changes in recent days, particularly with the implementation of Metro Reimagined, Metro Transit’s overhaul of its Missouri-side bus lines. Host Sarah Fenske talks with transit riders and other stakeholders about the current state and future of public transit in the region. Joining the conversation are Metro Transit executive director Jessica Mefford-Miller, Citizens for Modern Transit board member D'Andre Braddix and St. Louis resident and frequent transit rider Mitch Eagles. The discussion also includes pre-recorded comments and live calls from commuters.

Women comprise nearly half of the United States’ civilian labor force, according to the Department of Labor’s latest statistics. Yet their annual median earnings — about $42,000 — still fall about $10,000 short of the median paycheck men see each year. And along with the compensation gap, other workforce gender-equity disparities remain common for many industries and employers. The Women’s Foundation of Greater St. Louis aims to measure progress on that front with its Women in the Workplace Employment Scorecard. The voluntary rating system, which is now underway for this year, includes a voluntary employer survey exploring policies, practices and work culture. In this episode, host Sarah Fenske talks with Women’s Foundation Executive Director Lisa Weingarth about the organization’s findings on what makes a company work for women. The conversation also includes Affinia Healthcare's Kendra Holmes and NCADA's Stacie Zellin as well as the perspectives of fellow working women Catherine Brown and Emily Cantwell on what makes a job environment a great one — and what doesn’t.

Host Sarah Fenske gets the details on a controversial aerial surveillance program being proposed for St. Louis city.

Host Sarah Fenske delves into the purpose of emotional support animals, how they differ from standard service animals or pets, and what the law says about them.

University City, Missouri, is considered to be among the more diverse communities in a region still grappling with the stubborn legacy of segregation. But five decades ago, things were different in U. City, including at the local schools. When Judy Gladney began attending University City High School in the '60s, she was one of its very first African American students, and found herself bridging two disparate worlds. So did Eric Vickers, Gladney’s future husband. Years later, the two would send their children through the same school district, which is now largely non-white. As Gladney looks toward her 50th high school reunion this month, she joins host Sarah Fenske alongside her daughter Erica Vickers Cage and local journalist and storyteller Ellen Futterman.

While the sun’s rays were at full effect this August, the Missouri Botanical Garden launched its Grow Solar St. Louis program for St. Louis-area home and business owners. Property owners throughout the city and county can participate in this pilot program to help pool their buying power for discounts on solar panels. Host Sarah Fenske delves into why the initiative was started and how interested St. Louisans can use green energy to power their homes.

Only 10% of domestic violence shelters accept pets. That means many people fleeing abuse find themselves giving up animals with whom they’ve formed meaningful bonds. Lydia’s House is a St. Louis shelter that houses battered women and their pets for up to two years. The pet-friendly amenities at Lydia’s House are the result of Purina’s Purple Leash Project and the work of Rescue Rebuild. In this interview, Sarah Fenske talks about this ongoing effort with Purina president Nina Leigh Kruger and Karen Kirk, the executive director of Lydia’s House.

The late, great jazz composer and bandleader Duke Ellington once said, “Whether it be Shakespeare or jazz, the only thing that counts is the emotional effect on the listener.” In the summer of 1956, Ellington found himself seriously digging the bard. Inspired by his encounters with the Stratford Shakespeare Festival while on tour in Stratford, Ontario, he composed a twelve-part suite titled “Such Sweet Thunder.” This week, the critically acclaimed suite becomes the soundtrack for a new joint production from Shakespeare Festival St. Louis, Nine Network of Public Media, Jazz St. Louis, and The Big Muddy Dance Company. In this segment, Sarah Fenske talks about the production with Tom Ridgely, executive producer of Shakespeare Festival St. Louis, and Gene Dobbs Bradford, president and CEO of Jazz St. Louis.

Host Sarah Fenske talks with our partners at Sauce Magazine about the latest additions to the St. Louis region’s food-and-beverage community.

Growing up in Great Britain, Susan Walker heard bits and pieces about her great-aunt Mary Ranken Jordan, who had immigrated to the U.S. from Northern Ireland in the late 19th century. But several years ago she became determined to learn more about this distinguished yet mysterious relative. She knew of her lasting impact in St. Louis, and now Walker’s research into Ranken Jordan’s life and legacy has her traveling overseas herself to the Gateway City. In this segment, Sarah Fenske talks with Walker about the children’s hospital Jordan founded in 1941, what she’s learning through her research — and about what she’s still hoping to discover about her great-aunt from others.

Lt. Darla Gray remembers being the last person to enter the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department’s cadet program before it was dissolved in 1981. Now Gray is helping to lead its return. The program started back up in 2018 and presently boasts 64 aspiring officers. “I was actually looking at retirement, and they told me they were starting the program back up and asked if I would like to help develop it,” explains Gray. “And I postponed my retirement to do it, because I believe in this program that much.” In this episode, host Sarah Fenske talks with several of the young people currently participating in the cadet program as well as with Public Safety Director Jimmie Edwards.