Missouri News

When Dr. Kanika Turner talks to her Black patients about how they can protect themselves from the coronavirus, many do not ask about the vaccine. She often has to mention it.

Rep. Wiley Price Jr., a St. Louis Democrat accused of having sex with an intern and then threatening an employee to cover it up, has been expelled from the House Democratic caucus.

Price was censured by the House earlier this month. In a statement released Sunday night, House Minority Leader Crystal Quade said the vote to expel him from the Democratic caucus was consistent with the censure vote, “which in addition to other penalties called for the denial of privileges of office.”

The final U.S. Department of Agriculture rules on hemp farming appear positive for farmers of the alternative crop, but the industry is still looking at a few years before it finds some stability.

Hemp faced fierce opposition for decades because of its relation to marijuana, even though the plant carries a fraction of the amount of tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), the psychoactive component of cannabis that gives a high.

A more contagious form of the coronavirus may already be circulating in the region, St. Louis doctors say.

A coronavirus variant first identified in the United Kingdom last year has been found in 20 states, including Illinois.

Because it’s only a matter of time until it comes to Missouri, people in the region must continue to be vigilant, said Dr. Fred Echols, St. Louis Department of Health acting director.

Peanut on Main is a mainstay in the Kansas City bar scene, and thanks to its popular buffalo wings, one might expect the joint to be packed during playoff football — especially with the Chiefs playing the Buffalo Bills in Sunday’s AFC Championship Game.

Alas.

This time last year, the south Plaza watering holed was packed “wall to wall” with fans, said Andrew Hosler.

On this night, Hosler and Chaney Butner sat at the bar with one social-distancing table on the left, and another on the right.

After the Kansas City Chiefs made history by becoming the first team to host the AFC Championship in the same stadium for three years in a row, they’re set to make more history with a trip to Super Bowl LV after a 38-24 victory over the Buffalo Bills.

The Chiefs are bidding to become the first back-to-back Super Bowl champions since New England in ’03 and ’04 when Tom Brady was under center for the Patriots.

More than 318,000 people have pre-registered for the coronavirus vaccine through the St. Louis County Department of Public Health. But they include few people from predominantly Black north St. Louis county neighborhoods, according to the county’s data on pre-registrations.

Less than 5% of the population in ZIP codes that include Wellston, Berkley, Jennings and other areas have signed up. By comparison, more than 30% of the population has pre-registered in some west St. Louis County zip codes, including Ladue, Chesterfield and Creve Coeur.

Nick Vedros didn’t know what to expect when his uncle, Michael Mardikes, handed him a box of photo negatives. What he found inside took his breath away. More than 60 years ago, his uncle had captured hundreds of images of Thomas Hart Benton, the famed painter, in the process of creating a mural.

Vedros, a commercial photographer in Kansas City, quickly arranged a visit with Mardikes, who is 93, and lives in an apartment with his wife Myrtia near the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art.

A controversial aerial surveillance program has cleared another hurdle at the St. Louis Board of Aldermen.

A contract with Ohio-based Persistent Surveillance Systems received first-round approval Friday by a 15-14 vote amid concerns about civil liberties and whether the actions of the aldermen were legal. It still needs one more vote to get to Mayor Lyda Krewson’s desk.

It’s obvious that Halbert Sullivan, 69, founder and CEO of Fathers & Families Support Center, is proud of his nonprofit’s growth.

Just beyond the foyer, Sullivan points to the suite of classrooms where fathers learn to address relationship violence, improve their parenting skills, communicate better with their children’s mothers and much more.

The agency moved last year into its $4.5 million, refurbished headquarters at 1601 Olive St, in downtown St. Louis.

Updated at 4 p.m., Jan. 22

A state Senator who’s been a harsh critic of business restrictions intended to limit the spread of COVID-19 has tested positive for the contagion and may have infected others during two lengthy committee meetings.

Editor’s note: This story was originally published by the Belleville News-Democrat, a news partner of St. Louis Public Radio.

Updated at 10 a.m. with comments from the Missouri Department of Labor:

Ballwin resident Larissa White panicked when she started getting letters from the Missouri Department of Labor in early June.

The state wanted her to pay back more than $8,000 in unemployment benefits.

White, an actor, said she hesitantly applied for the benefits after her theater gigs and on-camera work dried up in March due to the coronavirus pandemic.

If there’s been one constant over the past 10 years or so in St. Louis County government, it’s that there’s often a visible divide between the county executive and the county council.

Updated Jan. 22 with new state health department regulations

The Illinois Department of Public Health announced Friday it is rolling back some coronavirus-related restrictions in the region that includes the Metro East.

The area is the last of Illinois’ 11 public health regions to see holiday-related limitations from last November relaxed.

TOPEKA, Kansas — Fights between Republican lawmakers and the Democratic governor — over new taxes and her power to shut down businesses in a pandemic — threaten calls on both sides for political unity.

Meanwhile, conservatives in the Legislature push ahead quickly to amend the Kansas Constitution to declare it contains no right to abortion.

The federal government’s irregular coronavirus vaccine shipments make it difficult for health systems in the St. Louis region to distribute doses, doctors say.

Federal officials each week tell states how many vaccine doses they will receive. After that, state officials direct the shipments to hospitals, health departments and other vaccination sites.

On his first day in office, President Joe Biden has already begun to undo the Trump administration’s most strident anti-immigrant executive orders and policies.

In the first of many executive actions, Biden signed an executive order to end the Trump administration’s so-called Muslim ban. The travel ban put restrictions on people from Muslim-majority and African countries entering the U.S.

Missouri Gov. Mike Parson activated the National Guard on Wednesday to help get more people the coronavirus vaccine as doses become available to the state.

There will be nine National Guard teams deployed throughout the state, one for each of Missouri’s Highway Patrol regions, and each team can vaccinate up to 2,500 people per day.

"The purpose of these vaccination teams is to support our existing vaccinators and provide an additional vaccination source for eligible Missourians that may otherwise have a hard time receiving a vaccine," Parson said.