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.

Some in Missouri and Illinois were singled out for excellence; others were branded with a consumer alert, that would-be teachers should be wary. The national group that did the survey said it will be repeated annually, said the evaluating group's president Kate Walsh.

Fifty years ago this week, President John F. Kennedy confronted Cold War tensions in Wall-divided Berlin and bolstered the confidence of its beleaguered residents by telling them, "Ich bin ein Berliner." On Wednesday, President Barack Obama will face eastward from the Brandenburg Gate for the latest address of an American president in the city that has been a flashpoint of East-West relations.

U.S. Sen. Claire McCaskill on Tuesday became the first member of Congress to endorse a “Ready for Hillary” super PAC that wants former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to run for the Democratic nomination for president in 2016. Clinton has not said whether she will run. McCaskill has made it clear for months that she wants Clinton to run.

Duff's, a mainstay of the Central West End since Karen Duffy opened it in 1972, is closing its doors this month. Over the years, Duff's developed a reputation for reasonably priced, imaginative menus and a good selection of wines. But what made Duff's invaluable were the poetry readings on Monday evenings.

When all memories of disagreements about kissing or not kissing have faded into the special obscure place where flimsy opera plots go to rest, there will remain the beautiful singing of Smetana’s seamlessly controlled and genuinely magnificent music.

As The Muny turns 95, a new fan system makes the seats cooler than ever. Boosting the cool factor, overall, is the job of executive producer Mike Isaacson and president and CEO Denny Reagan, who talked with the Beacon about The Muny's future.

As St. Louis gears up to be a part of events for National Small Business Week in which local entrepreneurs Jack Dorsey and David Steward will play prominent roles, the area's SBA director feels that the Gateway City's climate for entrepreneurs and small businesses is improving.

Mark Lynas, a noted British author and environmentalist, spoke Thursday at the Donald Danforth Plant Science center about his conversion from an anti-genetically modified crop activist to a proponent of GM plants.

St. Louis Mayor Francis Slay said the initiative is about keeping start-up businesses “here when they become successful and grow jobs here as well, rather than just being some sort of training ground for Silicon Valley companies.”

Tossing a high school graduation cap into the air typically signals the launch of a bigger life. But a new study shows that's often not the case for young people with autism.

Recent research out of Mizzou suggests that excessive use of Facebook can have negative effects on romantic relationships, including cheating, breaking up and divorce. The negative impact tends to be on newer relations, under three years duration. Doctoral student Russell Clayton advocates more moderate Facebook use to prevent its threats.

The U.S. Supreme Court has ruled against a company that had patents on genes linked to higher risks for breast and ovarian cancers. The ruling is disliked by a biotechnology industry group, but is praised by university researchers.

Asking for contributions for a child’s college education is legal in Missouri. But not right. Because a parent should help his or her children in almost any way they can,  such obligations must be kept far away from a politician’s public responsibilities — it is not hard to figure out which one would lose if they conflicted.

The twins are 89 years old. Health issues signal the end to each living in her own two-bedroom, two-bath condominium. Here's the story of one family's solution: The sisters now live in one unit and home-health services come in. How did they get to this resolution?

It turns out that the Obama administration has been conducting its own variation of electronic surveillance that the Bush administrated. The problem is not the need to combat terrorism, but the blanket invasion of privacy and the revelation of who the people are who have access to our secrets.