State Rep. Kevin Windham is the latest guest on the Politically Speaking podcast, where the Hillsdale Democrat talked about his first few months as a member of the Missouri House.
Windham represents the 85th District, which takes in roughly 20 municipalities in central and north St. Louis County. When he won his seat in 2018, he became the youngest African-American man ever to get elected to the General Assembly’s lower chamber.
Windham is a graduate of Southeast MissourI State University. After college, he worked as a legislative aide to U.S. Sen. Claire McCaskill. It’s a similar to path to former state Rep. Stephen Webber, who, like Windham, worked for the Democratic senator before getting elected to the House at the age of 25.
Ninety years ago, daring air races across the U.S. routinely attracted crowds that would dwarf attendance at spectacles such as the Super Bowl today. “I’m talking about a half million people – paying customers – during the Great Depression coming out to watch races over the course of a weekend,” Keith O’Brien said during Friday’s St. Louis on the Air. “An additional half million would watch for free from the hoods of their automobiles parked on nearby highways … in this little window of time, air racing was one of the most popular sports in America.” The pilots vying for the prize were usually men, and the few women pilots were often ridiculed – until they combined forces to break down barriers and make aviation history.
Earlier this week, the local union representing educators who serve in St. Louis Public Schools began arbitration relating to its claims about pay discrepancy within the district. Host Don Marsh led a conversation in light of that news, touching on challenges surrounding teacher compensation as well as other matters.
Retired astronaut and U.S. Air Force officer Catherine “Cady” Coleman is among very few people who have lived in space. But during a visit to St. Louis last month, she came across as equally excited about life on earth – especially because of her interactions with some accomplished high school students. Thursday’s "St. Louis on the Air" included a conversation with Coleman as well as comments from two Gold Award Girl Scouts, 17-year-old Molly Frei and 16-year-old Lilly Orskog, whom Coleman came to town to help celebrate alongside the Girl Scouts of Eastern Missouri.
A 2018 study by the National Low Income Housing Coalition showed that a St. Louisan who earns minimum wage would have to work 81 hours per week in order to afford a modest apartment. That reality is part of what Esther Shin describes as a "national affordable-housing challenge" stretching from San Francisco to New York City.
St. Louis Board of Aldermen President Lewis Reed’s narrow victory on Tuesday required some unusual political coalitions and allies to come together.
Reed bested state Sen. Jamilah Nasheed and Alderwoman Megan Green in easily the toughest re-election bid since he captured the presidency of the Board of Aldermen in 2007. It came after years of political toil for the Democratic official, featuring two unsuccessful bids for mayor and high-profile fights with aldermanic colleagues.
St. Louis Public Radio's Jason Rosenbaum and Rachel Lippmann break down the results.
A lot of enviro-info dis-credits our human species for the impacts of our "footprints" on Earth's systems, and on beings other than ourselves.
Scientist and public health advocate Greg Norris was inspired, while working with Life Cycle Analyses, to look up from Footprints and focus on the human part that can collaborate, create and restore. "Handprinting" has become a vehicle to encourage and measure our capacity to be a benefit on Earth.
Beneficial actions - and the ripples of influence they create - can now be measured through a key piece of Norris' work-in-progress, the app Handprinter.org.
This tool and idea aim to ensure that Earth is better off because of human beings, than without us.
Roughly 850,000 people are facing food insecurity in the state of Missouri alone – and that includes about 220,000 kids. Representatives from Food Outreach, Operation Food Search and the St. Louis Area Foodbank discuss the issue and their distinctive efforts to address it.
Mardi Gras one of St. Louis’ biggest events, but it’s even bigger in cities across the county and world.
The holiday dates back to the middle ages and has evolved over time. Host Don Marsh explores Mardi Gras festivities here in St. Louis and Brazil, where the holiday is referred to as Carnival.
Sen. Denny Hoskins is the latest guest on the Politically Speaking podcast, where the Warrensburg Republican talked about some of the legislation he’s sponsoring during the 2019 session.
Hoskins was elected to the 21st Senatorial District in 2016. That seat includes Caldwell, Carroll, Howard, Johnson, Lafayette, Livingston, Ray and Saline counties.
Before running for the Senate, Hoskins served for eight years in the Missouri House. The certified public accountant was elected as House Speaker Pro Tem, which is the second highest ranking position in the General Assembly’s lower chamber.
Many average Americans aren’t seeing the kinds of refunds they expected in the wake of President Trump’s Tax Cuts and Jobs Act – instead, it’s wealthier people that are tending to see larger refunds. That’s according to Lance Weiss, a certified public accountant and partner with SFW Partners, LLC in St. Louis.
Host Don Marsh talks about some of the latest additions to the St. Louis region’s food-and-beverage community with Sauce Magazine managing editor Catherine Klene and staff writer Matt Sorrell.
State Rep. Nick Schroer joins Politically Speaking to talk about his legislation that would substantially restriction abortion in Missouri.
The St. Charles County Republican's bill ended up passing the Missouri House earlier this week. It's expected to face a Democratic filibuster when it hits the Senate floor.
Among other things, Schroer’s bill would ban abortion if a doctor can detect a heartbeat is detected, which can happen as early as six weeks. It would also ban almost all abortions if Roe versus Wade is overturned.
The legislation does have exceptions for medical emergencies, but if a woman becomes pregnant because of rape or incest. Doctors could face criminal penalties if they run afoul of the legislation's provisions.
At a United Methodist Church conference in St. Louis, delegates from around the world narrowly voted to uphold a ban on same-sex weddings and on ordaining LGBTQ clergy. We talk with STLPR reporter Shahla Farzan about the conference and with two Methodists about the decision.
Host Don Marsh talks with two St. Louisans directly impacted by adoption – and by the Missouri Adoptee Rights Act, which thousands of people have taken advantage of since the legislation passed in 2016. Patti Naumann is a lineal descendant of a deceased Missouri adoptee, and Jason Reckamp is an adoptee who recently connected with his birth parents after many years of searching.
Taulby Roach, who started as CEO and president of Bi-State Development about two months ago, discusses the state of public transit in the St. Louis region.
St. Louis on the Air’s latest Sound Bites segment with Sauce Magazine explores how local chocolatiers create confections ranging from truffles and sauces to classic chocolate bars – and what makes them different from mass-produced chocolates from companies such as Mars and Hershey’s.
You too can BEE one! Or Taconite Fly or Opossum or Golden Ragwort one, gardening on an eco-logical team with critters and plants you've overlooked, or maybe even maligned.
Nancy Lawson invites us to understand more of the habits and roles of species around us, to bust the dualistic myth of Pest vs Beneficial. Herbook The Humane Gardener:Nurturing a Backyard Habitat for Wildlife is a long love note to relationships we can all enjoy. Such as with Tachinid Flies.
Coming to St. Louis Friday March 8:Nurturing Backyard Habitat, a talk-and-mingle with Nancy Lawson and local native plant professionals, 5-8 p.m. at Powder Valley Nature Center. Click here to learn more and register. Thanks to STL Audubon, Greenscape Gardens, Missouri Department of Conservation and Grow Native! for bringing Nancy Lawson to us.
THANKS to Andy Heaslet, Earthworms engineer and listening buddy. Music: Divertimento k131, by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, performed by Kevin MacLeod
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