The Gateway

The Rep's new artistic director, Hana Sharif, is the first black woman to hold that job at a member of the League of Resident Theatres. That is the nation’s largest professional regional theater organization. She is part of a wave of women taking artistic control of theaters in the past few years.

Veteran Erica Camp began adopting chickens that have been discarded from factory farms as a way of addressing her PTSD. She started an organization, Second Hen'd, focused on helping others adopt post-productive chickens. This summer, she started bringing her hens to a school for autistic children, to educate the kids about chickens.

Missouri resident Fidencio Fifield-Perez will premiere a new visual fiber design exhibit based on his time as a member of the DACA program. In his work, the artist from Oaxaca, Mexico, focuses on his experience as an immigrant.

More than 120,000 people, most of them children, have been dropped from Missouri's Medicaid rolls since the beginning of 2018. They've been dropped by the state or did not re-enroll. State officials say fewer people are using the program because they don't need it. But many families say they have unfairly and unwittingly lost coverage.

Tiny plant-eating insects known as treehoppers serenade each other during mating using vibrational songs. They can change depending on the temperature of the environment, which means climate change might disrupt treehopper mating in the future. SLU researchers have found that although the songs changed, female treehoppers still responded to them.

Children’s mental health is a big concern as the risk of suicide and opioid addiction rates rise among teens. But in rural areas, where mental health providers are scarce, spotting problems falls to teachers. Now a new national research center is looking to help rural schools.

Every September, former residents of Times Beach gather at Route 66 State Park near Eureka to remember their old town. It was once home to several thousand people but was so contaminated by dioxin in the 1970s that the EPA bought it out, tore it down and burned the earth in an incinerator. Former residents say Times Beach is a cautionary environmental lesson that should not be forgotten.

Democrats in Missouri have endured three bruising election cycles in a row, resulting in Republican dominance in the state's politics. The party's stalwarts are looking to state Auditor Nicole Galloway to engineer a comeback.

The first African slaves arrived in Virginia 400 years ago this month. The St. Louis chapter of Remember the 400 is headed there to commemorate the historic event. Part of the group's mission is to bridge the racial divide.

After months of anticipation, St. Louis is officially a Major League Soccer city. But there's still a lot of details to work out before the team takes the pitch in 2022.

Main Street in St. Charles is seeing less crime after incidents in recent years led to a new liquor ordinance. But the drop in crime corresponds with a big drop in business. Bar owners want the city to change the law - again.

Illinois' expansion of gambling across the state means slots and table games can now be played at racetracks. How will this expansion of gaming impact Fairmount Track and the horse racing industry in the Metro East?

A popular bakery in the Metro East marks its 100th year in business this weekend. Kruta's Bakery in Collinsville has become a staple in the region serving traditional Eastern European baked goods.

Filmmaker Jane Gillooly documents her experience as a child growing up in Ferguson and how she realized it was segregated. Her film, 'Where the Pavement Ends', closes the Arch City Defenders Racial Justice Film Series.

Three musicians who combine their classical training in Indian musical styles with Western influences are working on a new project that will blend musical cultures. All three studied with Ustad Imrat Khan, the internationally renowned sitar player who also taught at Washington University and died in November.

Feral hogs are damaging farmland and the Mark Twain National Forest. But attempts to allow hunting in the national forest to control the population are meeting resistance from the Missouri Department of Natural Resources.

There have been more than 400 drug overdoses and at least five drug-related deaths in Missouri state prisons since May 2017, according to internal data from the Department of Corrections. In many cases, inmates have overdosed on controlled substances, including heroin and fentanyl. There are a number of ways drugs can be smuggled into prisons, but institutional corruption appears to play a role. C...

Today marks five years since the death of Michael Brown in Ferguson. St. Louis Public Radio asked dozens of people to reflect on the past five years and to tell us their hopes for the future. The conversations are part of our special project, livingferguson.org.

In this special edition of The Gateway, St. Louis Public Radio brings you an extended interview that profiles Michael Brown Sr. It's part of a larger project that explores what's changed and what hasn't since Michael Brown Jr. was killed five years ago. Find it at livingferguson.org

Five years after a white Ferguson police officer shot and killed Michael Brown, Jr., a black man, artists in the St. Louis region continue to explore the movement that emerged after his death. Some incorporated political concerns into their work for the first time. Others intensified their focus on social justice.

Former National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency leader Robert Cardillo stepped down in February after playing a major role in selecting St. Louis as the site for a new headquarters. On June 1, he started at St. Louis University as a distinguished geospatial fellow, where he will serve as a liaison for the N-G-A, industry leaders and the university.

In the aftermath of Ferguson, the municipal court system came under scrutiny for a variety of unfair practices. Some reforms have been implemented over the last five years, but we examine whether real change has occurred.

Jonathan Tremaine Thomas moved to Ferguson from Indianapolis five years ago to be part of the healing process after the death of Michael Brown. The pastor is planning to reopen the Corner Coffee House to help downtown Ferguson thrive again, which will benefit the entire community.

Two vacant St. Louis County Council seats will be filled in a special election August 6. We review the election, which will decide what party controls the council going forward. Both seats are expected to stay Democratic although one of the races could be competitive.

What has changed in the region politically five years after Ferguson? The past 12 months have showcased big policy gains in St. Louis County government, and some modest advances in Jefferson City.