St.Louis Public Radio NPR

Aug 16, 2023 | news.stlpublicradio.org | Lilley Halloran

Early Wednesday morning, smiling parents stopped to take pictures and wave to their children as they eagerly filed inside Albert Cassens Elementary. The school in Edwardsville is one of many Illinois schools starting this week. On this first day, Stephen Grissol wanted to walk his fifth grade daughter to the door for her last year before middle school. “They grow up too fast. I just want her to stop growing,” he said.

Aug 15, 2023 | news.stlpublicradio.org | Jonathan Ahl

One of the biggest employers in the Rolla area has finished an expansion of its manufacturing facilities. Brewer Science makes chemicals that are used in the manufacturing of computer chips. The Rolla based company built a production facility north of the city at the Rolla Airport in 2014. It is now 50% bigger after the expansion that was finished this summer.

Aug 15, 2023 | news.stlpublicradio.org | Alex Heuer

When the Vincentians came to the United States in 1818, they put down roots in St. Louis. Bishop Joseph Rosati, a Vincentian himself and namesake of Rosati-Kain High School, was the first bishop of the Diocese of St. Louis in the first half of the 19th century. More than 200 years after their arrival in the Americas and nearly 400 years after the Vincentians were founded by St. Vincent de Paul, the community — known officially as the Congregation of the Mission — is refocusing on St. Louis.

Aug 14, 2023 | news.stlpublicradio.org | Rebecca Smith

“It’s always a bad tick year.” Deb Hudman with the Missouri Department of Conservation is standing in a large field behind the office where she works. It’s about 8 a.m., but the sun is already beating down on her as she drags a tick flag — basically a large sheet of flannel — along the flat, grass-covered ground behind her. “Ticks' number one enemy is desiccation,” Hudman said. “And so, if they're out in an area like this –“ She gestured to the ground around her.

Aug 11, 2023 | news.stlpublicradio.org | Lilley Halloran

Family Care Health Centers in Carondelet is celebrating an award it received this week from the U.S. Department of Agriculture for supporting Women, Infants and Children, or WIC, mothers who breastfeed. The health clinic is one of four Missouri WIC offices recognized for hiring people within the program's target population to serve as peer counselors for breastfeeding mothers. WIC serves many low-income and African American mothers who are statistically less likely to breastfeed.