The Gateway

Phelps Health Hospital in Rolla, Missouri S&T, and Fort Leonard Wood are teaming up to research traumatic brain injury. The intent is to find ways to more quickly diagnose serious problems so treatment can start right away. They are testing a cell phone-sized device that can read brainwaves and diagnosing injury through a urinalysis.

Alderman Sam Moore touched a racial fault line recently when he argued against Asian representation from north St. Louis on the Board of Freeholders. Members of the Asian community have called his comments insensitive. Moore contends St. Louis has a long way to go to deliver equality to African Americans who have long suffered discrimination. He says he meant no disrespect.

Barbecue and cookout traditions run deep in many communities, but more people are considering how meat production contributes to harmful emissions. Many environmental activists and advocates who say you don't have to go vegan to help cut those emissions.

The Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra is coming to St. Louis tomorrow for a Christmas-themed program at Powell Hall. Musician Wynton Marsalis is enthused about the Swing Symphony, which his orchestra recorded with St. Louis Symphony Orchestra and released this year.

The Dutchtown neighborhood, in southeast St. Louis, has seen anti-violence initiatives come and go over the years. Now, it is one of three neighborhoods selected for a nationally-known program called Cure Violence. The effort is being met with cautious optimism.

New gaming machines are all over Missouri in places like bars, gas stations, and lodges. Now opponents, backed by the casino industry, are fighting to get them removed. Some advocates want to keep them for tax revenue.

Sukanya Mani earned a degree in chemistry in her native India before resettling in St. Louis 21 years ago. She puts her fascination with the sciences to work in her art, cutting and shaping paper into sculptures that reflect scientific concepts. Her new pieces are being shown at the Kranzberg Arts Center through the end of the year.

With Missouri set to begin medicinal cannabis sales in the spring and recreational marijuana coming to Illinois on Jan. 1, what do we know about research into the drug? A scientist at the forefront of the issue talks about the myths and misconceptions of cannabis.

Missouri lawmakers were motivated in the spring of 1989 to figure out how climate change would affect the state. A commission was formed to study the issue and come up with solutions. The result was more than 100 policy suggestions, covering everything from the use of solar and wind energy to transportation and teaching about climate change.

A recent presentation to the Crestwood Board of Alderman is leaving questions about the redevelopment plan for the old Crestwood Mall site. Developer Kent Evans discusses the project and when he hopes work on the property can begin.

It's been roughly 18 months since Mike Parson became Missouri Governor. The Republican is assessing accomplishments over that time and responding to critics. Parson spoke with St. Louis Public Radio's Jason Rosenbaum about what he expects during the upcoming legislative session and whether big goals can be accomplished during an election year.

Missouri has combined its higher education and workforce development departments. But some liberal arts students and professors question whether public universities should steer students toward high-demand professions.

Many community college workforce development programs are supposed to prepare residents to fill vacancies in the local job market. There are questions about whether they are helping close the skills gap noted by employers. St. Louis Community College is expanding some programs in the hopes of filling that gap.

When St. Louis resident Elsie McGrath became an ordained female priest in 2007, her defiance angered local Catholic officials. Though she was later excommunicated by a St. Louis archbishop, McGrath has continued to lead a small Roman Catholic congregation. She's now feeling hopeful that the church may eventually allow women to join the ministry.

Kyle Wernke teaches music at Missouri S&T which has no music majors. But Wernke is having one of his compositions recorded by a European Orchestra and premiered this weekend by the Tampa Bay Symphony.

A documentary about Prison Performing Arts will be shown this weekend at the Missouri History Museum. Director Lisa Rhoden Boyd talks about her experience documenting a group of prisoners at the women's prison in Vandalia, Missouri as they developed the St. Louis-based organization's first commissioned play.

There is no legal place in Missouri to buy medical marijuana, even though more than 17-hundred patients are already in the state's medical cannabis program. That number indicates greater access in Missouri compared to Illinois, where an initiative has been in place for almost five years.

Increasing tuition is putting pressure on students throughout the country. Many state universities in Missouri are relying on it for more than half of their budgets. We examine how the rising cost of higher education is affecting students at Missouri's flagship university.

The internationally renowned political dissident and artist Ai Weiwei is presenting a major exhibition at the Kemper Art Museum. The artworks examine questions related to the horrors of war and various forms of violence. Many of the pieces are being presented in the United States for the first time.

St. Louis County police officials are dealing with the impact of a nearly $20 million verdict against the department for discrimination against a gay officer. There are questions about the culture of one of the state's largest police departments and how Missouri handles discrimination against the LGBTQ community.

Every few months, artist Allana Ross gives public tours of the Weldon Spring, Times Beach and West Lake Landfill sites. By allowing people to visit those locations and learn about their history, Ross hopes many will see that people have repeatedly dealt with toxic waste by dumping it and contaminating the soil for future generations.

Charter schools opened in St. Louis two decades ago. But it was not a warm reception all around. Now a once adversarial relationship between traditional public school backers and charters is showing signs of warmth.

African swine fever has been infecting its way through the pig herds of Asia. The disease, which took officials in China by surprise, could kill up to a quarter of the world’s pig population. Harvest Public Media’s Amy Mayer reports that while the disease isn’t here, the U.S. pork industry is preparing for a possible crisis.

Most of the houses in downtown Belleville are more than 80 years old, according to the US Census. And many of them were built decades earlier -- in the 1800s. These older homes are attracting a new crop of residents to the neighborhood, for personal and practical reasons.

State funding per student at Missouri's colleges and universities has dropped by almost half since 2000. That is leaving people throughout the state trying to figure out how to pay for their higher education.