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EAST ST. LOUIS – In response to a fire that consumed an apartment building in Washington Park, State Senator Christopher Belt (D-Swansea) and Representatives LaToya Greenwood (D-East St. Louis) and Jay Hoffman (D-Swansea) have teamed up to collect clothes for the victims who have been displaced from their homes. “While I am grateful the residents of the building made it out safely, I’m devastated as I think about the struggles the families will face as they’re displaced from their homes,” Belt said. “Representatives Greenwood and Hoffman and I have come together to pledge our support for the people who were affected by this unforeseen tragedy.” A fire struck at an apartment building Wednesday morning in Washington Park. The Assistant Chief for the Washington Park Fire Department Ronnie Harris reported that when firefighters got there, flames were already pouring from the building. Fortunately, all the residents were able to make it

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More than 50 years after the case was closed, a get-rich-quick plot to hold the son of a Kansas City-area multimillionaire for ransom is still widely regarded as Missouri's own crime of the century. Nationwide grief over a child lost compounded by an ongoing mystery surrounding the location of missing ransom.

Mark Twain/I-70 Industrial is a north St. Louis neighborhood bound by I-70 to the north, Natural Bridge to the south, the city limits to the west and Kingshighway to the east. The 2000 census data counted 1,361 residents (down 14% from 1990’s count) of whom 74% were black, 24% white and 1% Asian. There were […]

The post Groth Guide to Mark Twain/I-70 Industrial appeared first on NextSTL.

THE CONVERSATION - A shape-shifting flock of thousands of starlings, called a murmuration, is amazing to see. As many as 750,000 birds join together in flight. The birds spread out and come together. The flock splits apart and fuses together again. Murmurations constantly change direction, flying up a few hundred meters, then zooming down to almost crash to the ground. They look like swirling blobs , making teardrops, figure eights, columns and other shapes. A murmuration can move fast – starlings fly up to 50 miles per hour (80 kilometers per hour). The European or common starling , like many birds, forms groups called flocks when foraging for food or migrating. But a murmuration is different. This special kind of flock is named for the sound of a low murmur it makes from thousands of wingbeats and soft flight calls. ‘Flight of the Starlings’ by Jan van IJken was shot in the Netherlands; the audio lets you hear how a murmuration gets its name. Murmurations

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ST. LOUIS - After a two-year hiatus due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the St. Louis Earth Day Festival returns to the Muny Grounds in Forest Park. Organized by the local nonprofit earthday365, the festival will take place from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. on both April 23 and April 24. The free event aims to educate and empower the regional community for greater action toward a more sustainable future. “There’s so much anticipation for the festival this year,” said Dr. Jess Watson, Executive Director of earthday365. “For those of us in the sustainability movement, this is our time to reach out to new audiences and to connect with one another, which is doubly important given the urgent challenges we face.” The festival will include plenty of entertainment and activities for the entire family. The Main Stage will feature an excellent array of musicians, such as Fire Dog and Sharon Bear and the Cubs. The Community Stage will offer yoga with The Collective STL, bird shows

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URBANA - The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is renewing its focus on healthy lungs with a fresh set of advertisements featuring former smokers. While quitting smoking goes a long way, sometimes surgery is unavoidable. But what used to be a big undertaking with a long recovery is now much simpler thanks to a minimally invasive surgery for serious issues within the chest offered at OSF HealthCare. Dr. Ronald Cossman , a cardiothoracic surgeon with OSF HealthCare Cardiovascular Institute, has been performing robotic thoracic surgery at OSF HealthCare Heart of Mary Medical Center in Urbana since 2017. Dr. Cossman only has to make several tiny cuts in the chest to use the da Vinci robot to operate on things like tumors. Traditionally, doctors have to make a large incision in the front or side of the chest, causing more painful recovery for the patient. “This has been a great thing for the patients because it's a much easier thing for them to recover from, and we're

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PRINCETON - Getting the proper amount of sleep each night is important. When healthcare providers look at an individual’s overall health, they typically ask about their eating habits and the amount of activity they get each week – but they also often ask what your sleep schedule looks like. Sleep is so important for our health that the National Sleep Foundation launched Sleep Awareness Week in 1998 – and it kicks off each year with the start of daylight saving time, when most people lose an hour of sleep. While many people tend to try and power through after a night of limited sleep, and may even pride themselves on this, it is not healthy in the long run. So, why is sleep so crucial for our health? “A lot of important things happen when we sleep. Our body cells and tissues can regenerate and restore at that point. Sleep is very important for our cognitive health – our mind and mental functions. If you have gone on very few hours of sleep, you know the

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BELLEVILLE - I often hear stories from people about how their pet was the only one there for them during difficult times - maybe the only thing that got them through their trials and tribulations. But no matter how good the intentions, sometimes life brings challenges that make caring for pets difficult or impossible. So I?was so thrilled to hear about the first animal assistance program in Southern Illinois that provides temporary care for pets of those experiencing domestic violence. The Belleville Area Humane Society (BAHS) has created an alternative to surrendering a beloved pet during such a time, and the RedRover organization has awarded grant funding to support the first animal assistance program in Southern Illinois providing temporary care for the pets of those experiencing domestic violence, so that every family member can find safety. One in three women experience domestic abuse within their lifetime, but very few domestic violence shelters allow pets (only 10% nationally).

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Like everything else in the nineteenth century, the Civil War was a male-dominated affair. But one woman proved invaluable to the Union armies and was revered by even the likes of William T. Sherman. “Mother” Mary Ann Bickerdyke became one of the war’s larger-than-life figures, but in 1861, she was a 43-year-old widow from Galesburg, Ill. whose occupation was listed as “botanic physician.” That spring, she was moved during a local church sermon by Rev. Edward Beecher, the brother of Uncle Tom’s Cabin author Harriet Beecher Stowe, on the misery of military hospital conditions at Cairo, Ill. A relief collection was raised, and Bickerdyke was sent to distribute the contribution. Arriving in the calico dress and Shaker bonnet that became her signature, she was appalled at what she saw at Cairo, and quickly went to work. Among her first actions was to locate two hogshead barrels, saw them in two, and create a makeshift bathtub in which she washed dozens

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CENTRAL ILLINOIS NATIVE WON OSCAR IN 1950 For movie fans, the Academy Award carries a mystique like no other, and represents the pinnacle of cinema in any given year. Sixty-nine years ago, a central Illinois native took home an Oscar, a highlight in a lengthy movie career spent behind the scenes. Marjorie Best, an acclaimed Hollywood costume designer who was born in Jacksonville on April 10, 1903, won an Oscar for her work on The Adventures of Don Juan, a 1948 film starring Errol Flynn and Raymond Burr. Film critic Leonard Maltin referred to The Adventures of Don Juan in 2004 as a “handsome tongue-in-cheek swashbuckler” with Flynn playing the lead. It was one of four Oscar nominations for Best Costume Design for Best, who was also mentioned for Giant, the winner of Best Picture in 1956. Best’s work was also recognized in 1960 for Sunrise at Campobello, which portrayed Franklin D. Roosevelt and starred Greer Garson, and in 1965 for The Greatest Story Ever Told, featuring

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 ST. LOUIS - With warmer weather on the horizon, the City of St. Louis is launching a Parks, Recreation and Forestry job fair series. Jobs with the city start at $15/hour with competitive benefits. Open positions include lifeguards, full-time and seasonal utility workers, recreation assistants, and tree trimmers. The department announced that it will hold a series of job fairs across the [...]

Over at Vox, Siobhan McDonough has a lengthy piece about a guaranteed income experiment being done in Georgia. The headline calls it "revolutionary," but I can't say I'm floored by the idea that giving poor people an extra $10,000 per year will vastly improve their lives. Of course it will. The drawback is that it ...continue reading "Americans both love and hate affirmative action"

Developers plan for The Flats at Forest Park to have 120 units, an amenity deck, a fitness center and high-end finishes.

Flaherty diagnosed with shoulder irritation in area where he's had a 'small' tear and pitched well despite it for years. Also: Reyes to miss at least two months.

Eric Moore turns a New Jersey boardwalk staple into a St. Louis treat.

An island city’s billion-dollar route to climate resilience will need residential buy-in to succeed. Local places of worship could be pivotal.

Whether she’s performing as a solo act or leading a world-class band through a set of hybrid R&B and soul, Mary Elizabeth Jo Dixen Pelenaise Kapi’olani Lawson has made the U.S. Great Plains both a home and venue where she lives through her art. From 2009 to 2014 Lawson cultivated her voice and approach to songwriting through the EveryPeople Workshop, an interdisciplinary performance group based in Chicago.