The Gateway

The Missouri Senate debated a few bills throughout the night that would place new restrictions on transgender youth in Missouri. Democrats filibustered the legislation into the morning, but after a short recess the senate gave first round approval to the bills.

This year’s Missouri legislative session has been moving bills faster than in previous years. Lawmakers quickly passed the supplemental budget which included pay raises for state workers and have moved forward on extending maternal Medicaid care, foreign ownership of farmland, parental bill of rights, state control of the St. Louis police department and creating a special prosecutor in St. Louis....

The first U.S. solo exhibition by Faye HeavyShield invokes the confluence of the Mississippi and Missouri rivers, and the Mississippian mound building culture. She is a member of the Blackfoot Confederacy from the Kanai Nation in Alberta.

Proposals affecting transgender Missourians have moved to the top of the Republican agenda in Jefferson City.

Three works debut this week in an initiative to bring new voices to American opera. The effort focuses on artists excluded from predominantly white opera institutions in the past.

Legislation is being proposed at the federal and state level to restrict foreign ownership of farmland, especially by China. The scrutiny comes after a Midwestern project was scuttled by military concerns and the flight of a Chinese spy balloon across the U.S.

The Illinois State Police says homicides in East St. Louis are roughly 30% over the last four years. The mayor wants that trend to continue.

The St. Louis Battlehawks return to the Dome this weekend. They were off to a great start in 2020 when the pandemic shut down the XFL. Fans are hoping to pick up where the enthusiasm left off before the outbreak.

Rural residents can be miles away from doctors and grocery stores. That forces many without cars to move closer to essential services.

Gentleman Jim Gates was the first St. Louis DJ to play rap music on the radio. He included "Rapper’s Delight" on East St. Louis station WESL. Gates says the record was a watershed moment for the genre across the region.

The Jefferson College student started writing her debut album when a music teacher suggested it could be a way to work through her grief over the death of her twin sister.

The Jefferson College student started writing her debut album when a music teacher suggested it could be a way to work through her grief over the death of her twin sister.

After studying satellite images, researchers have found the use of cover crops on Midwestern farmland has quadrupled over the past decade. But the crops that can help prevent erosion and give farmers an additional revenue source are still on less than 10% of farms.

After years of preparation, St. Louis's Major League Soccer team is set for its home debut. Soccer enthusiasts are hoping this is the start of a long-lasting era of professional sports in the city.

The district has been under fire after cutting some diversity programs. Black students want the initiatives restored so they can better navigate mostly white schools.

Native Americans in the region want more people to know about their heritage. Some have launched efforts to rediscover the area's indigenous identity.

The circuit attorney in St. Louis is facing the biggest crisis of her six years as the elected city prosecutor. That's after a man who repeatedly violated house arrest seriously injured a teenager in a car crash. Gardner is also facing an effort to oust her from office.

The first chief from outside the St. Louis department is outlining his goals. They include addressing violent crime to make the city "a better place than where we've been in the past."

Calling it a critical moment for the state and the people of St. Louis, Andrew Bailey is moving to oust the city’s circuit attorney.

Andrew Bailey says he will try to force St. Louis Circuit Attorney Kim Gardner out of office if she does not step down.

Those who receive Medicaid benefits during pregnancy would be able to keep them for one after birth. The program can only begin after nearly 5,000 other people are kicked off Medicaid.

In a little over a year, local prosecutors have twice used a new Missouri law to free innocent men who served decades in prison. Both received no compensation from the state for the years they lost. Lawmakers are now discussing a change to the law.

Some former Illinois lawmakers lost their jobs amid corruption allegations, but they are keeping state pensions. That includes indicted former House Speaker Michael Madigan and his close contacts who are awaiting trial.

The Center for American Progress says nearly 60% of families living in rural areas throughout the country do not have access to childcare. That leaves parents scrambling with friends and family, or driving miles to the nearest daycare.

Some political observers feel Missouri is so Republican that primaries for key offices are inevitable. Others are concerned that nasty party contests could make general elections more difficult.