St. Louis on the Air

Young students with Vote16MO are working to lower the voting age to 16 years in Missouri for local elections. They want a say in school board decisions that impact their lives.

The need for child care is putting pressure on families, the economy, and care centers themselves. According to recent research by the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, families are forced to make tough decisions between paying hundreds of dollars a month for a child care center — which often means a substantial portion of a family’s monthly income — or leaving the workforce all together to be with their children full-time. Senior economist at the St. Louis Fed Chuck Gascon and Shona Lamond, executive director of Downtown Children’s Center discuss the worrying trend with data, anecdotes, and ideas on fixing it.

U.S. Rep. Cori Bush isn’t waiting for the courts to determine whether the commonly used and safe abortion drug mifepristone should remain legal in the U.S. She and the Rev. Love Holt, an abortion doula and community engagement manager with Pro-Choice Missouri, say that protecting medication abortion access is a public health and racial justice issue.

Two recent storm-related deaths call attention to delayed 911 response times in St. Louis and St. Louis County. Researcher Karishma Furtado shares what data reveals about the region’s overwhelmed emergency response network.

On June 18th, a shooting at an unsanctioned party at an empty office building in downtown St. Louis left 11 teens injured and one 17-year-old dead, sparking outrage and calls for action to address youth violence. Two St. Louis teens, Justin Boyle and Jeremiah Miller, say they need more than extended hours at recreation centers to feel safe, and they share their lived experiences as young Black men as they offer ideas on ways local leaders can better engage young people about preventing violence.

Two recent, major legal rulings in federal court involving the First Amendment have Missouri connections. Greg Magarian, a law professor and First Amendment scholar at Washington University, breaks down the implications of cases involving whether a business owner can discriminate against gay customers, and whether the government is allowed to ask social media companies to remove content spreading misinformation.

St. Charles County’s population has jumped about 35% since 2000, to 410,000 people, and overseeing that growth has been St. Charles County Executive Steve Ehlmann. He recently announced he would not seek a sixth term. In this excerpt from STLPR’s Politically Speaking podcast, Ehlmann discusses his career and his concerns about how the county’s growth is tied to the perception among some that St. Louis is a dangerous place.

Why are certain areas in St. Louis more susceptible to poor air quality? A researcher and an environmental advocate discuss the history of environmental injustice in St. Louis when it comes to the air we breathe and highlight solutions that can be achieved both on an individual and systemic level. We also hear from a meteorologist about how St. Louis’ air quality has changed over time.

Landscape architect Ted Spaid, founding partner of SWT Design, has designed over 1,000 parks in the St. Louis region. Two of his most talked-about projects are the new basketball courts coming to Tower Grove Park and Forest Park. Spaid shares how he creates green spaces that are welcoming and satisfies the needs of people that compliments the flow of nature.

UK-born, St. Louis resident Jon-Paul Wheatley turned his fascination with crafting soccer balls into more than a half million followers on TikTok. Wheatley discusses how he turned a pandemic hobby into trips to Qatar, the World Cup, and crafting soccer balls for the likes of superstar Lionel Messi and FIFA.