St. Louis on the Air

Soccer fans at St. Louis’s City SC CityPark have been treated to a remarkable concentration of local food excellence. The stadium features more than 20 local restaurants, and Sauce Magazine’s Meera Nagarajan says the result is no accident: Fans are enjoying a diverse selection of food that goes way beyond soggy nachos and peanuts — including farm-made ice cream from Bold Spoon Creamery.

While the practice of declawing cats is currently outlawed in the City of St. Louis and St. Louis County, the Missouri legislature is considering a proposal to nullify these ordinances to make the practice available statewide. Dr. Amanda Gruber of the St. Louis Cat Clinic discusses how declawing affects the health and wellbeing of cats — and why she has never performed the procedure.

Nearly half of all children in Missouri ages 5 and under live in child care deserts. And in places with child care centers, providers struggle to adequately staff their facilities. Families and providers report that the current system is not working — and that it often forces them into tough, life-altering decisions.

VineBrook Homes owns thousands of single-family rental properties, located in mostly Black and brown neighborhoods, throughout the Midwest. Over 2,400 of those houses are in the St. Louis region. Reporter Kavahn Mansouri discusses a Midwest Newsroom investigation of VineBrook that includes complaints of unresolved maintenance issues, unfounded evictions, aggressive rent collection tactics, poor customer service and more.

A new study that analyzed 156 cases of children in St. Louis injured by guns found that more than 70% of cases involved victims “shot outdoors by an unknown shooter, the motivation of which was unknown.” The study’s lead author Dr. Mary Beth Bernardin discusses why scientists need to better understand why and how children are shot. Dr. Lindsay Clukies, an emergency medicine physician at St. Louis Children’s Hospital, connects the study to what she sees while treating patients.

In the final week of the Missouri legislative session, lawmakers could pass a bill that would return control of the St. Louis Police Department to the state. The state controlled the police department for 152 years until, in 2013, the city regained control. Kansas City Mayor Quinton Lucas knows state control well. His city is the only in Missouri that’s under state control, and he shares what a state takeover would mean for St. Louis.

It was just last Thursday that St. Louis Circuit Attorney Kim Gardner announced she will resign June 1. But that’s not good enough for Attorney General Andrew Bailey, who is seeking her immediate removal. STLPR politics correspondent Jason Rosenbaum discusses Bailey’s actions as well as the person who Gov. Mike Parson might choose to replace Gardner.

A star high school football player in St. Louis, Damion Baker’s life was cut short in an unsolved shooting in August 2022. Before his death, Damion had made plans to launch a nonprofit that would teach young people job skills. That dream is now a reality in the form of the D-Bake Foundation. The foundation’s founder, An'namarie Baker, discusses her son’s life, his mission, and how pre-apprenticeship classes can help people get on the path to a career.

Friction between the House and Senate has delayed some major policy priorities until the final days of the Missouri legislative session, including two anti-trans rights bills and a bill that would make it harder to amend the state constitution through the initiative petition process. STLPR reporter Sarah Kellogg shares how the last week of the session may shake out.

A federal investigation found that Missouri hospitals violated federal law by denying a woman an emergency abortion when her water broke at 17 weeks. Mylissa Farmer shares what happened when doctors refused to provide an abortion, even though she was told her life was in danger and that the fetus was no longer viable — when Missouri law superseded her need for emergency healthcare. Also, National Women’s Law Center attorney Michelle Banker discusses what comes next for Missouri hospitals in the wake of the investigation.