Just days before Missouri's primary election, Gov. Jay Nixon has ordered changes at the St. Louis Election Board, effective immediately. Democrat Eileen McCann is the new chairperson of the board, with Republican Jack Lary serving as secretary. McCann, who has been on the board since 2006, replaces Republican Carol A. Wilson, who has been chairman for three years. Wilson is to remain on the board, a Nixon spokesman said.
The Gateway to Better Health Demonstration Project began when Regional
Hospital closed and low-income patients increased the demand on
community health centers. Their funding was in danger until the
announcement that a $25 million annual appropriation would continue
through 2014.
Most seats have largely become locks for one party or the other, so there's little chance this year that Missouri Democrats will make much of a dent in their minority status, or that the GOP will add much to its already considerable majority. In many cases, the victor in the region's contested party primaries for the state Senate will have no serious opposition in November.
Actors on roller skates seemed like a great idea until one of the leads fell and broke her arm -- right before opening night. What's a choreographer to do? The trials and errors that go on behind scenes to get sets, lighting, sound, everything right for the audience are filled, as the choreographer in this case notes, with "blood, sweat and tears."
When Chris Nicastro was named Missouri's commissioner of elementary and
secondary education last year, the news was that she was the first
woman and the first urban educator to hold that position. No one knew that the better shorthand would be this: the commissioner
who had to deal with the state's worst budget crisis in recent memory and several failing school districts.
Now that Gilbert and Sullivan’s "Pirates of Penzance" has finished its run at
Union Avenue Opera, traditional opera replaces operetta. The vocally challenging and fun-filled "La Fille du
Regiment" by Donizetti opens July 30. In August, the atmosphere turns much
darker with Tchaikovsky’s tragedy “Pikovaya Dama.”
Some St. Louis nonprofits that provide foreclosure counseling say that they have been counseling clients who attended NACA's "Save the Dream Tour'' last year and appear to have fallen through the cracks. Chris Krehmeyer (left) of Beyond Housing estimates that his agency has helped more than 100 such homeowners in the past year. Part 2 of two parts, click here for part 1 .
The new show presents the work of this year's artists-in-residence at
Craft Alliance in Grand Center: Erin Vigneau Dimick in fibers, Tom Dykas
in clay and Michael Parrett in metals. It's a quiet exhibit, with works
in different media that hang well together, forging subtle thematic and
formal connections.
Republican National Committee chairman cancels appearance due to food poisoning: Michael Steele was to speak before National Association of Black Journalists in San Diego. | CNN
Obama administration weighs plan to let illegal immigrants stay in U.S. without action by Congress: Draft memo by director of U.S. Citizen and Immigration Services lists how government could give permanent resident status to tens of thousands, delay deportation of others. | The Arizona Republic
Senate oks measure that strengthens airline pilot training, aims at cutting fatigue: Bill, prompted by 2009 crash of commuter flight near Buffalo, N.Y., heads to president for likely signing.| Buffalo News
Panel recommends reprimand for Rep. Rangel: House urges mild action against N.Y. Democrat and former head of Ways and Means Committee; he is charged with seeking donations from people with business before committee. | Washington Post
Chicago projects $654.7 million deficit in proposed 2011 budget: City plugged a $520 million gap in this year's budget by ordering employees to take unpaid furloughs and dipping into dwindling reserves. | Wall Street Journal
Judge denies jury's request for transcript of prosecution's closing argument in Blagojevich trial: Dilberations continue in case against former Illinois governor. | Chicago Sun-Times
Amtrak service between St. Louis and Chicago hits a snag: Closed track forces riders onto buses for part of the journey, Texas Eagle reportedly non-stop from here to Chicago. | Bloomington Pantagraph
St. Louis area jobless rate dips slightly to 9.6 percent in June: The figure, down from 9.5 percent in May, does not include displaced workers who do not show up on government databases because they have stopped looking for a new job. | STLtoday
Regulations for high risk pools include cost limits and payment prohibitions for abortions: The state pools will serve as stop gap coverage until 2014 when insurers will be barred from refusing coverage for preexisting conditions. l Kaiser Health News
Medical school reserves class slots for humanities students: Humanity students bring a different mindset to medical practice than traiditional pre-med students, and perform just as well in training. l New York Times
Washington State is working to regulate doctors' orders for pain killers: Overdosing on prescription drugs is the second leading cause of accidental death in the U.S. l New York Times
Joints in rabbits re-grown with own stem cells: The re-grown joint included cartilage. The research, conducted by scientists at three universities including the University of Missouri, offers hope to people with severe arthritis. l ABC News
Eric Jerome Dickey will discuss and sign his latest book "Tempted by Trouble" at 7 p.m., Aug. 21 at St. Louis County Library Headquarters, 1640 S. Lindbergh Blvd. Free. Books will be available to buy.
Amy Ignatow, author of the middle-school “The Popularity Papers: Research for the Social Improvement and General Betterment of Lydia Goldblatt and Julie Graham-Chang,” will appear at 7 p.m. Aug. 25 at St. Louis County Library Headquarters, 1640 S. Lindbergh Blvd.
The Holocaust Museum and Learning Center of St. Louis screens the hit London musical about the Warsaw Ghetto, "Imagine This," at 4:30 p.m., Aug. 22, at the Staenberg Family Complex, #2 Millstone Campus Dr. $18-$36. Not for children under 12. Register at www.HMLC.org by Aug. 15.
Pauly Shore will appear at 8 p.m. Aug. 6 and 8 and 10 p.m. Aug. 7 at Comedy Etc. II , 6900 North Illinois St. $27-29 ( http://bit.ly/fairviewtix ). Information: 618-628-4242.
On taxes, economics and other issues, American politics is just plain dumb: Can a nation remain a superpower if its internal politics are incorrigibly stupid? | E.J. Dionne/Washington Post
This nation needs a slow-news movement: We have collectively blundered into a P.T. Barnum media age when being first trumps being accurate. | Walter Shapiro/Politics Daily
Democracy doesn't work on its own: It's hard to imagine anyone graduating from high school today, much less college, without being computer literate; but civic literacy is another matter. | Susan Estrich/Rasmussen Reports
Leaked documents on Afghanistan don't say anything new: We already knew that Afghanistan's army and police would be reformed and able to stand up to the Taliban some time around when pigs fly or Washington balances the budget. | Richard Cohen/Washington Post
On July 29, St. Louis reopened a two-block stretch in Old North St. Louis that also opens possibilities for more development.(Photos by Rachel Heidenry | Beacon intern)
To see a larger version and read the story, click here .
To read Carl Bearden's article supporting Proposition C, click here .
To read David Newburger's article opposing Proposition C, click here .
From Andrew Breibart's misleading editing of a speech to a crackdown on behavior around some St. Louis clubs, race remains in the news. M.W. Guzy says he's abandoned his hopes that an African-American president would ameliorate problems.
Missouri Supreme Court decision should prompt legislative action, says Earl Simms, to increase charter schools, to make it easier for people to get private tuition assistance and permit open enrollment.
In this week's Beacon Roundtable, Dick Weiss, Dale Singer, Jo Mannies, Mary Delach Leonard and Robert Joiner sit down to talk about upcoming elections in Missouri including candidates and propositions,…
Read more...A trip to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame came with the added bonus of discovering that Cleveland -- even without LeBron James -- is a vibrant, entertaining city.…
Read more...Beacon General Manager Nicole Hollway has been chosen to participate in USC's Knight-McCormick Leadership Institute, joining other news organization executives in shaping the future of journalism.
@
Register to receive our daily email of new content. If you're already registered, email us at This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it with the subject line "subscribe".
The St. Louis Beacon sponsors every-other-weekly conversations on race, related to the publication's year-long special coverage of issues and situations related to race in the St. Louis region. The lightly-moderated discussions begin with a specific topic, but like all good conversations, veer off in different and rewarding directions. The Barroom Conversations are on summer break, and will resume in September. We look forward to seeing regulars and newcomers when the break is over. Everyone is welcome.
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.
Twitter is a "microblogging" service where users can provide short updates about what they are doing. stlbeacon is our official Twitter feed – check it out to find our featured stories and the news that matters.
In St. Louis, race affects virtually every important aspect of community life. Yet it’s difficult to talk productively about race. Race, Frankly invites you to look at race with fresh eyes.
The Missouri History Museum, the Beacon and KETC/Channel 9 have partnered to create a yearlong series of events, in-depth articles and video pieces.
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.