Robert Koenig began his journalism career as a city desk reporter for the St. Louis Globe-Democrat. Later, Koenig worked as a legislative assistant for former U.S. Rep. Robert A. Young.
Subsequently Koenig spent two years as an officer of the U.S. Information Agency (now part of the U.S. Department of State) in Washington, D.C., and in Bonn and West Berlin, Germany. He joined the St. Louis Post-Dispatch in 1982, spending five years in St. Louis and seven years in the newspaper's Washington Bureau, where he covered developments in Congress and federal agencies of interest to Missouri and Illinois. His awards include the National Press Club's top awards for Washington Correspondence and Regional News Reporting in Washington.
In 1994, Koenig left the Post-Dispatch, writing for such publications as the Journal of Commerce (New York), Science (Washington) and National Georgraphic from various international places. He also completed a book, "The Fourth Horseman" (PublicAffairs Press, 2007) about the development of biological warfare and sabotage in the early 20th century.
After moving back to Washington late in 2008 and working as a freelance writer and editor, Koenig joined the Beacon as its first Washington Correspondent in October 2010. He is married to another native St. Louisan, Mary Ellen Noonan Koenig. They have four children.
Email: rkoenig@stlbeacon.org
At a hearing chaired by U.S. Sen. Claire McCaskill, car rental firms and consumer groups endorsed a compromise Senate bill to require companies to "ground" cars subject to safety recalls until they are fixed. Representatives of automaker and dealer groups voiced objections.
With congressional probes of the Internal Revenue Service and Benghazi likely to remain in the spotlight, both allies and critics of President Barack Obama are predicting that fallout from those and other revelations could endanger key parts of his second-term agenda.
With both the Army and Air Force rocked by sexual violence charges against personnel tasked with preventing sexual assaults, U.S. Sen. Claire McCaskill introduced a bill Wednesday to mandate strict new criteria for officers in such jobs.
A major water resources bill approved Wednesday by the U.S. Senate calls for more public-private partnerships in river and harbor infrastructure, speeding up environmental reviews and studying ways to maintain Mississippi River navigation during severe droughts and floods.
U.S. Sen. Roy Blunt, responding to the revelations about Internal Revenue Service targeting of conservative groups seeking tax-exempt status, said Wednesday that his office was looking for Missouri examples – but so far had not found any.
When U.S. Sen. Roy Blunt announced that he planned to block President Barack Obama’s nominee for the nation’s top environmental job, Gina McCarthy, he couched his opposition in terms of a controversial flood-control project in Missouri’s Bootheel. But Blunt’s Senate “hold” dovetails with a wider Senate Republican strategy to scuttle her nomination.
U.S. Sen. Claire McCaskill says her Senate panel will investigate allegations that U.S. government agencies are trying to suppress or soften reports of waste and corruption in how billions of taxpayer dollars are spent on "reconstruction" projects in Afghanistan.
With the Pentagon reporting a sharp increase in sexual assaults and the Air Force officer in charge of preventing such crimes charged with sexual battery, U.S. Sen. Claire McCaskill is stepping up her efforts to try to toughen prosecution and deter such assaults. Sen. Roy Blunt praises her efforts.
A Senate Commerce panel chaired by U.S. Sen. Claire McCaskill held a hearing Tuesday to examine errors in credit reporting that affect the lives of millions of Americans who apply for car loans or mortgages and, in many cases, seek to rent an apartment or apply for a job.
The Senate’s approval of a “marketplace fairness” bill to make it easier for states to collect taxes on internet sales now shifts the focus to the U.S. House and – ultimately – to states such as Missouri that don’t enforce their existing internet sales taxes.
gun control · Federal budget · federal debt · gun violence · Second Amendment · Flooding · Mississippi River flood control · sequestration · sexual violence · Sexual assault
Claire McCaskill · Roy Blunt · Dick Durbin · Mark Kirk · Barack Obama · Roy Blunt · Ann Wagner · Marco Rubio · William Lacy Clay · Todd Akin
Mississippi River · Birds Point-New Madrid Floodway · Afghanistan · St. John's bayou · Iraq · Bootheel Levee · Grafton · Newtown, Conn. · Chechnya · Syria
Army Corps of Engineers · Environmental Protection Agency · Internal Revenue Service · Monsanto · U.S. Supreme Court · National Journal · National Rifle Association · St. Louis Beacon · Tea Party
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Meeting in St. Louis next week, the Leadership Conference of Women Religious will have its first opportunity as an assembled group to consider what to do after the Vatican issued a mandate for change this spring. It calls on the conference to reorganize and more strictly observe church teachings.
When a family of four goes to the St. Louis Zoo, they can be forgiven for not knowing it will cost them $60, $72 if they park. If they can't pay, the alternative is to tell the kids they can't do what kids do at the zoo.
Missouri House Speaker Steve Tilley gave reporters less than a half-hour’s notice today when he announced that conservative commentator Rush Limbaugh’s sculptured bust will be formally installed in the Capitol at 1 p.m.
Developers on the south side come in all shapes and sizes, with ambitions that vary from single buildings to entire city blocks. In the first of a two-part story, Jason Deem talks about building community.
Author M.M. Costantin, who has lived near the Loop for more than 40 years, compiled a photo book that shows Delmar when it was bustling, when it was dangerous and when it came back to life.
They arrived four years ago as fifth-graders, behind in their work and not used to rigorous classes, but they've advanced rapidly and have a strong academic grounding for high school.
The Beacon's Mary Delach Leonard and Rob Koenig extensively covered flooding in 2011 in Missouri. Now this coverage is compiled in an iBook. Read the stories.
Isley, a world-class guitarist as well as a gifted songwriter, communicates and connect swith an audience on an intimate level at "An Evening of Music and Discussion." He is hosting on in O'Fallon, Mo., Thursday.
Like many artists, dancer Antonio Douthit hears a different drummer. But the drumbeat that changed his life at 16 wasn’t in his head. It wafted from a window on Washington Avenue. Douthit comes home for a May 25 performance in "Spring to Dance."
Justin Leszcz started getting into the world of farming by foraging and tending a very small urban farm. He now sells miscellaneous product to various restaurants in town and can be seen at farmers' markets selling his popcorn and corn meal.
Donna Korando is the Beacon's arts and features editor. You can contact her at dkorando@stlbeacon.org.
Developers on the south side come in all shapes and sizes, with ambitions that vary from single buildings to entire city blocks. In the first of a two-part story, Jason Deem talks about building community.
Speaking to reporters at Monsanto, Howard Buffett warned that future generations would foot the bill for irresponsible soil use. He urged leaders to address thorny issues such as malnutrition and environmental destruction.
Twenty winners will split a million dollars and a wide array of professional services after this year's Arch Grants competition. Victors will also see one-on-one business mentoring in their prize package. The diverse group includes everything from biotech concerns to fashion enterprises.
Innovation and entrepreneurial activity are on the rise in St. Louis, especially in bioscience, technology and alternative energy. The Beacon's InnovationSTL section focuses on the people who are part of this wave, what they're doing and how this is shaping our future. To many St. Louisans, this wave is not yet visible. InnovationSTL aims to change that. We welcome you to share your knowledge, learn more about this vibrant trend and discuss its impact.
The Academy of Science-St. Louis hosts tours of EarthDance, an organic farm, and the Monsanto Agronomics and Breeding Facility May 21-22. The workshop is meant to prompt discussion and answer questions about these two competing philosophies of food production.
Speaking to reporters at Monsanto, Howard Buffett warned that future generations would foot the bill for irresponsible soil use. He urged leaders to address thorny issues such as malnutrition and environmental destruction.
Vernon Bowman's challenge to Monsanto Co.'s patent on its Roundup Ready soybean seeds was billed as a David vs. Goliath contest. Goliath won and won big. The Supreme Court ruled unanimously that an Indiana soybean farmer had violated Monsanto's patent on its genetically engineered soybean seeds.
Sally Altman is the Beacon's Health and Science editor. You can contact her at saltman@stlbeacon.org.
Last week, Grandmaster Hikaru Nakamura sacrificed his crown as the King of America. He faced an individual decision to play against the best in the nation or the best on the planet. Find out what happened at that world-level tournament.
Our world sees rapid change in many ways -- how we view women, races, sexual minorities and other populations, for instance. While a daily delivery of new and different can be exhausting, it can force us to reflect and consider how to move forward, often incrementally, toward what is good and what bring value to our lives.
Paying professors less, increasing online courses and raising class size might make the bill cheaper, but the value of the degree will be less, as well. It's not that there are no solutions, but the easy ones create their own problems.
Donna Korando is the Beacon's Voices editor. You can contact her and submit opinion pieces for possible publication at dkorando@stlbeacon.org.