Colleen Schrappen

4 days ago | stltoday.com | Colleen Schrappen

ST. LOUIS — New moms can donate their placentas under a Mercy Health initiative called Beginnings and Blessings. The program, which rolled out a year ago and has since expanded to six Mercy hospitals across the state, is the first step in the processing, manufacturing and distribution of donated birth tissue. Placentas are temporary organs that form in utero to nourish a developing baby. After delivery, they are typically discarded as medical waste.

6 days ago | stltoday.com | Colleen Schrappen

ST. LOUIS — He rolled in on a cloud of unicorn fart dust to the first real-world meetup of his meme coin followers. Ron Branstetter pulled into Ballpark Village on Friday afternoon in a custom-decorated Honda Fit as pink as cotton candy. Atop its roof, a gold horn. On its front grill, a dollar sign. And in the back, two “tailpipes” that spew cookie-scented foam at the push of a button — like the fart dust of a unicorn. “This car is crazy,” said Branstetter, 55, who lives in Chesterfield.

1 week ago | stltoday.com | Colleen Schrappen

WILDWOOD — As a teen, Josh Luter didn’t spend much time on social media. He and his brother were always busy outside, camping, swimming and exploring the woods behind their Wildwood home. “He wasn’t a stay-still person,” said his mom, Brenda Luter. But that Josh, his parents say, is gone. The new Josh, 23, has been living with a traumatic brain injury for more than four years, the result of a motorcycle wreck when he was a freshman in college.

3 weeks ago | stltoday.com | Colleen Schrappen

JENNINGS — A man was fatally shot in Jennings on Saturday afternoon, possibly the result of a road-rage incident, police said. Officers arrived to the 8700 block of Jennings Station Road, near McLaran Avenue, about 2:20 p.m., according to a press release from the St. Louis County Police Department. The man was taken to a hospital, where he died. Police did not provide additional information about the victim. No suspects are in custody, the release said.

3 weeks ago | stltoday.com | Colleen Schrappen

COLUMBIA, Ill. — An Uber driver was shot in the face early Saturday in the parking lot of the Columbia Police Department after his two passengers ordered him at gunpoint to drive to his home, police Chief Jason Donjon said in a statement.