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Jul 05th
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obamaame100wms.jpg Obama preaches to Methodists, talks of self reliance

In St. Louis Saturday, Sen. Barack Obama, the presumptive Democratic presidential candidate, addressed the general conference of the African Methodist Episcopal Church. He said that “the challenges we face today – war and poverty, joblessness and homelessness, violent streets and crumbling schools –” are “moral problems, rooted in both societal indifference and individual callousness.”

Photo by Bob Williams, IPVA

 
Health
Health concerns in the wake of flood Cynthia Haines, MD, Special to the Beacon
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As flood waters go down, medical problems can go up. Pay special attention to your body if you are helping in a flood area.

Dr. Cindy Haines is a family physician in St. Louis, managing editor of HealthDay-Physician's Briefing and president of Haines Medical Communications Inc. Her weekly column on health care issues appears in the Beacon each Friday.

Music
Celebrating independence and music Marc Thayer, special to the Beacon
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Marc Thayer, the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra's vice president for education and community partnerships, left St. Louis on July 1, and after stops in Chicago and Vienna, arrived in Erbil, in the Kurdish Autonomous Region of northern Iraq. Thayer and other American musicians and dancers will spend the next three or four weeks working with young Iraqi musicians. Following is Thayer's first in a series of reports on his work. This account presents details of his journey from St. Louis to Kurdistan and conversations on theme called freedom conducted along the way.

 
Elections
Term limits force GOP veterans into musical chairs over Mo. senate seat Robert Joiner, Beacon staff
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Three Republicans are vying for the 7th state Senate seat, which includes much of west St. Louis County. They are two former state reps, Jane Cunningham and Neal St. Onge, as well as Gina Loudon, wife of outgoing state Sen. John Loudon. Loudon is leaving the Senate because of term limits while Cunningham and St. Onge are vying for the Senate because they're term limited in the House.

Development
Arch discussion deadline approaches By Mary Delach Leonard, Beacon staff
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As the Mississippi River forced Fair St. Louis from the Arch grounds, St. Louisans should check out two Websites about the development discussions that have grown out of a push to reinvigorate the Arch grounds by local groups, including the Danforth Foundation.

Photo by Rachel Heidenry | The Beacon

 
Region
Stem cell research opponents lose first court test but will try again William H. Freivogel, Special to the Beacon
Opponents of embryonic stem cell research lost the first round in their effort to block Missouri's funding of life science research. Missouri Round Table for Life, Inc., had asked a court to immediately block $21 million in funding, but a judge refused and set Aug. 1 to hear arguments in the case.
Science
On Science: Type II diabetes epidemic George Johnson, Special to the Beacon
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The report that 8 percent of Americans now have diabetes mirrors an explosion of the disease worldwide. Biologist George Johnson looks at the parallel rise in obesity and the research that is being done and outlines the promising findings of studies with mice.

 
Region
Fair St. Louis is just one place to go for fireworks Bill Smith, Beacon staff
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Fireworks will be going off from barges near the Arch, but the area offers many other places to see the pyrotechnics.

2007 fireworks | Tom Nagel, The Beacon 

Neighborhoods
Lawn chair brigade gives a whole new meaning to parade rest Amanda King, Beacon intern
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Another 4th of July, another production by the Lawn Chair Drill Team of Helfenstein Avenue. These neighbors come together each year for fun, and the Webster Groves Community Days parade wouldn't be the same without them.

Photo by Amanda King

 

Editors' Picks

 

Salute the flag

Reporter Bill Smith took his camera around the city on the eve of Independence Day and captured many of the ways St. Louisans are displaying the flag, from pinwheels to bunting to flying outside businesses. Bookending his pictures are two by Rachel Heidenry showing the Fire Department Honor Guard at the Shriners parade and the large flag flying over Market Street at Tucker.

See a larger version of this slideshow

Voices in the news

  • levee100breakcriss.jpgWashington University hydrologist Robert Criss notes that the flood of 2008 should not have been a surprise. Experts have long warned that floods are becoming more frequent and more severe, and that this succession of aggravated misfortune is caused by Man. What should be done now? Photo by Robert Criss

Columnists

  • kerry100.jpgColumnist M.W. Guzy looks at an overview of the 2004 election and wonders how John Kerry lost. Exit polls, which are usually much more precise than pre-election polling, showed Kerry with a decent margin of victory in several states. But that margin evaporated when the vote totals were released.

Blogs

  • Law Scoop

    The Supreme Court's decision on the last day of the term to strike down the campaign finance law's "Millionaire's Amendment" didn't get much attention because of the gun decision.  But the 5-4 ruling is an example of the kind of case where Justice Sandra Day O'Connor's replacement makes a difference.  It also poses an interesting question: Is this pro-First Amendment decision liberal or conservative?

The Lens


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The Beacon and KETC/Channel 9 are covering mortgage forclosures – how they're affecting St. Louis area residents and where you can find help. 

Visit our special section to read coverage of this issue, watch Channel 9's stories and access resources to find help.

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The Beacon, through Helium.com, invites writers to respond to questions we pose on timely topics. Winning articles appear in the Beacon. 

To see the latest winner, read "Does it matter if your brew is American-made?".

Our next topic: How should flood plain development be handled? For details, visit Helium.

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Join the folks who have already found the Beacon on Facebook, the social networking site. See the most popular stories of the day, photos, videos and upcoming events. Visit the St. Louis Beacon page on Facebook and become a fan.

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What's this icon? It's the standard icon for RSS.

RSS gives you another option for reading the Beacon, in a way that may be more convenient for you. As explained below, you can use our RSS feed to get alerts about new Beacon content. The Beacon's main RSS feed is here.

For more about RSS, read this quick introduction or watch this video: RSS in simple English.

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Thanks to all who attended the reception honoring Harper Barnes Wednesday, July 2, at Left Bank Books.

Barnes' new book, "Never Been A Time," tells of the 1917 race riot in East St. Louis. About 10 whites and dozens of blacks were killed, thousands of black residents fled and the episode helped spark the civil rights movement.

Read Barnes's commentary on racial memory and read an excerpt from 'Never Been a Time '.