St. Louis on the Air

In June 2022, minutes after the overturning of Roe v. Wade, Missouri led the nation as the first state in the U.S. to enact an abortion ban. A new lawsuit, filed by faith leaders in Missouri, is challenging that ban, arguing that it not only violates the separation of church and state, but also the beliefs of other religions. Discussing the lawsuit, and their religious objections to Missouri's abortion ban, are Moharat Rori Picker Neiss, executive director of the Jewish Community Relations Council of St. Louis; Democratic state Representative Barbara Phifer, and Bishop Deon Johnson of the Episcopal Diocese of Missouri.

Dennis Bentley, St. Louis Public Radio systems specialist, has a notable hobby: He finds graves. As a volunteer for FindAGrave, he has submitted over 3,000 pictures of gravestones: the small bejeweled ones, the wealthy towering ones and the just plain ‘ol regular ones. Bentley discusses finding meaning in his many journeys through cemeteries in Jefferson County, and why it’s the broken, mossy and unmarked ones that get him contemplating life — and what it means to contribute.

Recovery friendly workplaces hire and support employees in recovery from drug addiction as they would an employee with any other health condition. Ann McCauley, the director of Recovery Friendly Workplace Missouri, and John Gaal of the Missouri Works Initiative, say these workplaces uplift workers and employers alike.

The first federal student aid program in the United States, the National Defense Education Act, was signed by President Dwight D. Eisenhower in 1958 — six years before the Civil Rights Act federally ended “Jim Crow'' laws across the nation. The Higher Education Act of 1965, signed by President Lyndon B. Johnson, followed the Civil Rights Act, and while codified into law, American citizens and lawmakers still struggled with equality. Nick Hillman, professor in the School of Education at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, shares his theories on the slow progress to update federal student aid and provide relief to student loan debt.

Katie Rodas-Santizo, a local eighth grader at Marian Middle School, will defend her school’s championship title in this year’s Clavicus Project Jamboree — a yearly robotics competition that challenges the STEM skills of middle school students in St. Louis. Robotics Coach Mark Viox and Marian Middle School Interim Principal Sierhah Price share how they encourage a love of STEM in young girls like Rodas-Santizo.

Christopher Dunn has spent more than 30 years in prison for a 1990 murder he did not commit in St. Louis. The two witnesses whose testimony led to his conviction have recanted, leading to a dramatic moment in 2020, when a Missouri judge ruled: “This court does not believe that any jury would now convict Christopher Dunn under these facts.” Yet Dunn remains in prison on a life sentence, doomed to die behind bars. Christopher Dunn, his wife Kira, and attorney Kent Gipson discuss the case and why Missouri law is uniquely blind to Dunn’s case for innocence.

A college education is often touted as the means to a successful and comfortable life. For students who take out loans, the burden of debt puts brakes on wealth building for them and their families. Faith Sandler, executive director of Scholarship Foundation of St. Louis has helped students and their families navigate student aid for 34 years. As conversations about debt continue and debt forgiveness plans remain on hold in the court system, Sandler talks about the rising cost of higher education and what it tells us about economic and racial inequalities.

A controversial Missouri bill to ban "unauthorized" sleeping and camping on state-owned land is now now. Advocates for the homeless say it turns peoples’ survival into a crime. But, what does “unauthorized” sleeping mean, and how are homeless people supposed to avoid state-owned land? We talk with St. Louis attorney Stephanie Lummus, who is representing seven homeless clients in a new federal lawsuit seeking to strike down the law, and Phil Telfeyan, the executive director of nonprofit Equal Justice Under Law, who is co-counsel on the lawsuit.

Alumni and staff cheered outside as students returned to class at Central Visual and Performing Arts High School on Tuesday for the first time since a deadly shooting in October closed the school. STLPR education reporter Kate Grumke talks about the return of students.

A new report claims that most utility companies in the U.S. contaminate groundwater and evade federal regulations, including four energy plants in the St. Louis area. Patricia Schuba, president of the board of Labadie Environmental Organization, talks about why she’s concerned, what St. Louisans can do to protect their home’s water supply and what people can do to change things and hold companies accountable.