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The Mississippi River has crested in several area communities, including Alton, Illinois. But the water will remain high for a while. That means Alton will not return to normal for some time.

Sen. Jill Schupp returns to Politically Speaking to talk about the aftermath of the 2019 legislation session, which saw passage of a ban on abortion after eight weeks of pregnancy and other aspects of Gov. Mike Parson’s workforce development agenda. The Creve Coeur Democrat is serving her second term in the Missouri Senate. The 24th Senatorial District includes St. Louis County cities like Creve Coeur, Town and Country, Maryland Heights, Olivette and Ladue. During the 2019 session, Schupp alternated between handling pieces of legislation that got to Parson’s desk — and trying to either stop or force compromise on GOP priority legislation. For instance: Schupp ended up passing what’s known as Nathan’s Law, which restricts capacity at in-home daycares. Schupp also was a key participant in debate over the abortion legislation, which also bars the procedure except for medical emergencies if Roe v. Wade is overturned. Senate Democrats chose not to filibuster the final legislation after hours of negotiations.

On Jan. 1, St. Louis resident Andy Magee embarked on an unusual adventure with a goal to visit all 418 National Park Service units around the U.S. within the course of a single year. He’s now five months into that journey – and back in St. Louis this week for a pit stop. He gives an update on his travels, which began during the federal government shutdown.

More and more people are experiencing the debilitating effects of Alzheimer’s and other dementias. The Alzheimer’s Association notes that one in three seniors die with dementia, and by 2050 nearly 14 million Americans are expected to be living with it. Those growing numbers are spurring innovative efforts to treat dementia, including Cognitive Stimulation Therapy, a non-drug treatment that is the focus of a conference taking place Monday and Tuesday at St. Louis University. John Morley and Martin Orrell are among CST’s proponents, and both doctors join St. Louis Public Radio’s Jonathan Ahl to talk about what they and their peers have described as a common-sense approach to treating dementia.

The St. Louis Blues need another road win to claim their first Stanley Cup after losing to Boston at Enterprise Center. Also, advocates for education in prison plan to launch a campaign to increase transparency around how books get into Illinois prisons.

Communities along the Mississippi River are getting used to record flood levels lately. As the water creeps higher, residents and business owners are filling sandbags and holding their breath. Science reporter Eli Chen discussed what kind of impact the flooding has left on the region.

As Planned Parenthood awaits St. Louis Circuit Court Judge Michael Stelzer’s decision on whether the center is able to renew its abortion clinic license, St. Louis Public Radio’s Jeremy D. Goodwin went behind the headlines with health reporter Sarah Fentem to discuss developments in the case this week.

In the wee hours of a Saturday morning in the summer of 1969, nine New York City police officers entered Greenwich Village’s small Stonewall Inn. Police raids of gay bars were a frequent occurrence at the time, but this particular instance was different. This time, people around the Stonewall fought back, and the ensuing several days of confrontation between police and activists greatly accelerated the growth of the gay rights movement. St. Louis Public Radio’s Jeremy D. Goodwin talks with Steven Louis Brawley, Paul Thiel and Miranda Rectenwald, reflecting on the Stonewall uprising of 50 years ago and what was happening among the local LGBTQ community at that time.

The Mississippi and Missouri rivers have been above flood stage for more than 80 days. That has many comparing the high water to the Great Flood of '93. But geologists note some differences with this year's flood.

Circus Flora is a longstanding tradition for many St. Louisans and is back in action this month for its 33rd season. This year’s show is bringing audiences to an unlikely place for an adventure – a grocery store. Schnucks, to be exact. St. Louis Public Radio’s Jeremy D. Goodwin delves into how “The Caper in Aisle 6” takes a usually mundane trip to the store and turns it into an exciting visual performance for circusgoers.

While traveling in Europe for events related to the 75th anniversary of the Allied forces' pivotal invasion of northern France during World War II, John McManus talks with St. Louis Public Radio’s Jeremy D. Goodwin, delving into what occurred on June 6, 1944, why it still resonates and what people today can learn from studying and reflecting on the tragedy of war.

A group in residence this summer at the Pulitzer Arts Foundation is challenging traditional assumptions about monuments so they are relevant to everyday people. Researchers with Monument Lab will ask St. Louisans about concepts they would like to see reflected in monuments.

There is a movement growing among health advocates to better understand how more nutritious food can help combat chronic illnesses and pharmaceutical drug dependency. Susan Benigas of the American College of Lifestyle Medicine and the Plantrician Project and local nutritionist Ghaida Awwad of Nature’s Clinic, based in O’Fallon, Missouri, are among those advocates.

Before she became a celebrity, a war hero and civil rights activist, Josephine Baker was a girl growing up in early 20th-century St. Louis. Historical fiction writer Sherry Jones has a new book out inspired by Baker’s remarkable life and is headed to her late heroine’s hometown this week to discuss it at Left Bank Books. Jones talks about the book, “Josephine Baker’s Last Dance,” and the woman behind it, with St. Louis Public Radio’s Jeremy D. Goodwin.

St. Louis leaders want the city to become a magnet for geospatial technology. The effort comes as the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency moves forward with a new west headquarters in north city.

Just 7 years back, in 2012, Green-hearted architects Frank and Gay Lorberbaum and woodworker Paul Krautman launched an enterprise for city kids. Into an on-loan school gym space, they hustled wood supplies and sets of tools to empower children to design and build: furniture for their rooms and problem-solving skills for their own bright futures, every single Saturday morning.

          

Today Building Futures continues Saturday workshop sessions, takes tools and skill-building out to schools, collaborates with neighboring writing and cultural groups, runs very cool summer camps, and more STEAM-based project learning - in their own well-equipped city studio building!

                 

Earthworms talked in 2013 with BF students, one of whom is about to enter Ranken Technical College. Today we welcome back Mister Frank (Lorberbaum), and meet program manager Mister Lawrence (Prograis) and Mister Jay (Reeves), BF's board VP who will take the helm in August of Boat Building Camp. Before this interview, these guys worked with 300 school kids, a normally constructive BF day.      

Building Futures Summer Camps are registering now. Triple Play camp for students entering grades 4-6 fills each day of camp week (July 8-12 and 22-26) with with Design & Build, Printmaking and Caribbean Festival Arts, as BF partners with neighboring arts groups. Boat Building Camp (July 29-August 2), open to children entering grades 4-8. Scholarships are abundantly available.

Congratulations to visionary leaders whose work building futures for urban children is creating structures with wood, in many lives. Could yours be touched too? Volunteer help is WELCOME!

Music: Big Piney Blues, performed live at KDHX by Brian Curran
THANKS to Andy Heaslet, Earthworms deep-Green engineer

Related Earthworms Conversations: The Big Book of Nature Activities (June 2016)

Tussles over abortion rights are nothing new in the Show-Me State, and St. Louis Public Radio's Jo Mannies has observed many political and legal battles over the years since Roe v. Wade. She looks back with STLPR's Jeremy D. Goodwin.

St. Louis Alderwoman Shameem Clark Hubbard is the latest guest on Politically Speaking, where she talked with St. Louis Public Radio’s Jason Rosenbaum about her transition onto the Board of Aldermen. Hubbard represents the 26th Ward, which takes in a portion of western St. Louis. That ward includes neighborhoods like Skinker DeBaliviere, the West End, Hamilton Heights and Kingsway West. Hubbard is a second generation member of the Board of Aldermen. Her grandfather, Joseph Clark, represented the 4th Ward. He also served as the head of the St. Louis NAACP and was the city’s first African American public safety director. Back in 2012, Hubbard successfully ran for 26th Ward committeewoman — but decided against running for re-election four years later. When Alderman Frank Williamson chose not to run for another term, Hubbard jumped into a Democratic primary against Leata Price-Land and Jake Banton.

For the 23rd year in a row, Twangfest is gathering musicians from around the country in St. Louis this week for a four-day-long celebration of Americana music. Described by its all-volunteer organizers as “the big top of a musical three-ring circus,” the nonprofit festival is this time around bringing in everyone from the Columbia, Missouri-based Burney Sisters and The Delines of Portland, Oregon, to the rock band Superchunk.

Tan France is best known for his role as fashion expert on the hit Netflix series “Queer Eye,” where he and the rest of “the Fab 5” transform people’s lives – and bridge social divides – with inspiring lifestyle makeovers. Now France has a brand-new memoir out titled “Naturally Tan.” St. Louis Public Radio’s Kae Petrin discusses it with France ahead of his sold-out event this weekend at St. Louis County Library headquarters.