St. Louis Public Radio

09/29/2025

A power struggle over St. Louis jail operations heads to court.

Sheriff Alfred Montgomery is suing the city after a new law required financial oversight of his office. The move follows Mayor Cara Spencer’s opposition to his bid to take over jail cleanups and medical transports. She says he’s neglecting the duties his office already has — including transporting detainees to medical appointments.

“Our incarceration facility is so critically important,” she said. “Making sure that that is run well, run responsibly, and run by somebody who has experience doing that work is just so critical to the well-being of the folks in our custody and to the safety and well-being of our citizens as a whole.”

Montgomery has repeatedly floated the idea of his office assuming control of the City Justice Center, most recently in a written statement after a court hearing last Wednesday in attempts to determine if the Board of Aldermen can define his office’s responsibilities.

“This shift would empower us to directly oversee and improve medical services, ensuring that all detainees receive timely medical attention, a responsibility the Board of Aldermen has already sought to bestow upon this office,” Montgomery said. “Direct management of the CJC would place accountability for the dignity of our justice system where there is now none.”

Full story: https://www.stlpr.org/government-politics-issues/2025-09-29/st-louis-cara-spencer-sheriff-alfred-montgomery-jail-control

09/29/2025

Foundry developer plans $195 million redevelopment of the downtown Mansion House apartments in St. Louis.

“Projects like Mansion House extend the momentum we’ve built at City Foundry by aligning historic preservation with modern urban living," New + Found CEO Steve Smith said.

New + Found says the redevelopment will be completed in 2027.

Group behind the Foundry in Midtown says its $195 million redevelopment in downtown St. Louis will be completed in 2027.

09/29/2025

Kehoe signs Trump-backed congressional map into law as legal challenges continue ⬇️

09/26/2025

MetroLink expansion in St. Louis is officially off the table.

The board of the Bi-State Development Agency, which oversees the region’s mass transit, voted Friday to begin studying a north-south bus rapid transit system instead.

Bi-State CEO Taulby Roach says he wishes he could have built the north-south MetroLink line, but the project no longer made economic sense for the city.

09/26/2025

Since its launch in 2020, the St. Louis County Library’s Tap In Center has worked to provide a safe space for people who need assistance resolving warrants that were issued due to a failure to appear in court.

“This can really happen to anybody,” said center co-founder and assistant manager of justice services at the St. Louis County Library, Miranda Gibson. “People might not be able to get child care. They can’t get off work. We have a lot of people who miss their court date because they didn’t know that they had it. Over half of our clients cite insufficient notice as the reason why they missed that court date. Sometimes we’ll see that the notice was returned undelivered, and that was the only way that the court could get a hold of them.”

The center has helped more than 3,300 people in recalling more than 5,000 warrants since it was launched in 2020. More than 80% of the center’s clients would otherwise not have access to an attorney, according to Gibson.

Jemia Steele, a public defender and co-founder of the Tap In Center, said the program has been embraced by judges, parole officers and clerks, who often refer people to the center.

“They want [these cases] to get resolved,” she said. “They are big proponents of it because it gets [cases] back on the docket … and off of their plate.”

Full story: https://www.stlpr.org/show/st-louis-on-the-air/2025-09-26/how-st-louis-county-library-helps-thousands-of-residents-resolve-their-warrants

09/26/2025

On St. Louis on the Air: Geocaching may be the hobby for you if you like to brace the wilderness and traverse different terrains in search of treasure.
Anyone can sign up to participate through the international geocaching website. By doing so, people gain access to the coordinates of more than 3 million physical “caches” hidden around the world.

Geocachers use coordinates and GPS to find each cache. The physical containers range in size, and inside is a log book where participants sign their name and the date as proof that they successfully found the cache.

Geocaches can be placed just about anywhere. New caches are registered and vetted on the main geocaching website and app owned by Groundspeak Inc. There, they receive a rating based on difficulty.

“The difficulty and terrain ratings go from 1 to 5,” Nan Dabler, the St. Louis Area Geocaching Association's treasurer, explained. “One should be wheelchair accessible. Five usually means that you need special equipment. As far as the difficulty of the hide, 1 [means] it's pretty obvious. A 5 could be a gadget cache that requires some real thinking skills in order to figure out how to get to that log sheet inside.”

Full story: https://www.stlpr.org/show/st-louis-on-the-air/2025-09-26/geocaching-invites-st-louis-adventurers-to-find-hidden-treasure-and-clean-as-they-go

09/26/2025

The new National Geospatial Agency campus marks a $1.75 billion investment into north St. Louis that officials hope will cause a ripple effect, bucking a downward economic trend in the area.

“Thousands of people will be coming here daily and the impact will ripple outward through new jobs, housing, small businesses and opportunities for our neighborhoods,” said U.S. Rep. Wesley Bell, D-St. Louis County. “This facility cements St Louis as a cornerstone of our nation's defense industry.”

The NGA specializes in geospatial intelligence, studying data to chart what is happening across the world to aid the U.S. in warfare and security. The agency’s current location in Soulard employs roughly 3,100 workers.

The agency has had a hand in historical U.S. missions like charting astronauts’ paths on the way to taking the first steps on the moon or helping St. Louisan Charles Lindbergh's first solo transatlantic flight.

Full story: https://www.stlpr.org/economy-business/2025-09-26/new-national-geospatial-agency-campus-opening-north-st-louis

09/26/2025

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09/26/2025

Boeing and machinists union to resume contract negotiations Monday ⬇️

09/26/2025

Whether you want to discover a new local artist or hang out with like-minded music fans, head to a St. Louis music festival.

09/26/2025

The program led by photojournalism industry leaders along with faculty and staff at the University of Missouri has documented small-town Missouri for more than seven decades.

09/26/2025

Since its launch in 2020, the St. Louis County Library's Tap In Center has worked to provide a safe space for people who need assistance resolving warrants that were issued due to a failure to appear in court.

“This can really happen to anybody,” said Miranda Gibson, the library’s justice services specialist. The center has helped more than 3,300 people in recalling more than 5,000 warrants since it was launched in 2020. More than 80% of the center’s clients would otherwise not have access to an attorney, according to Gibson.

St. Louis County Library hosts weekly, in-person services at their Florissant Valley Branch and the main branch of the St. Louis Public Library in downtown St. Louis.

Full story: https://www.stlpr.org/show/st-louis-on-the-air/2025-09-26/how-st-louis-county-library-helps-thousands-of-residents-resolve-their-warrants