The Gateway

For the first time in 32 years, Lou Magdits is not on the Rolla City Council. He did not seek re-election after 12 years as Mayor, three terms that followed 20 years representing the city’s fourth ward. Madgits sat down with St. Louis Public Radio’s Jonathan Ahl to talk about his time in office.

Research shows just 14% of Black students in St. Louis are proficient readers. Literacy organizations like Black Men Read are trying to increase those rates by providing free books and tutorials to students in the area. St. Louis Public Radio’s Andrea Henderson takes us into a classroom where Black children get to see people who look like them, encouraging them to read.

Resolutions in several stories we've been following, including over picking a sheriff and a city council member, legislation on income taxes, and a controversial data center project. Plus, why some say the lack of a formal mascot at the University of Illinois is actually harming the campus community.

New restrictions on student loan could hurt students and communities that need professionals like doctors and lawyers the most.

After years of decline in the number of young people picking up smoking, more Gen Z-ers are now turning to cigarettes and other tobacco products. Rebecca Smith takes a look at why.

St. Charles County has developed a reputation as a Republican stronghold over the last two decades. But recent municipal election results point to the fast-growing county becoming more competitive. St. Louis Public Radio’s Jason Rosenbaum reports on what the future may hold for St. Charles County politics.

A St. Louis police officer mistakenly called an immigration advocacy hotline to report an arrest, an error advocates say validates immigrants’ concerns about local police acting as independent ICE agents. Plus, a conversation with the attorney for the family of a teenager shot and killed by police in 2024: video released this week shows the initial narrative around the shooting was wrong, and the unarmed boy was shot in the back of the head.

It’s been more than six weeks since Iranian-American Dorsa Derakshani has had any direct contact with her family in Iran. The Mizzou medical student shares what it's been like to watch the war in her home country from Missouri.

East St. Louis historian and civil rights activist Reginald Petty received an Order of Lincoln award Saturday. That’s the state’s highest honor for contributions to the betterment of humanity. St. Louis Public Radio Metro East reporter Will Bauer sat down with Petty to discuss his life’s work — from voting rights in the 1960s to returning to the Metro East and working with the East St. Louis Historical Society.

STLPR's Jonathan Ahl takes us to a new building in Rolla that's bigger than two football fields is the Protoplex, and it has an equally large goal — to be the center of an effort to bring manufacturing back to rural Missouri.

New York native Jack Lane co-founded theater company Stages St. Louis in 1987. In recent years he’s turned to a second career, producing shows on Broadway and London’s West End. STLPR’s Jeremy Goodwin talks with Lane about branching out from Missouri to Broadway and beyond.

The St. Louis Civilian Oversight Board can no longer review police complaints, but longtime board member Ciera Simril said it’s not over yet and encourages the state board to engage with city residents.

The results are in following Tuesday's municipal elections in Missouri: we have some highlights. Plus, the Illinois Ag Director makes the case for a change in fuel to help prices at the pump and the state's corn farmers.

Despite efforts from the community, a Columbia, Missouri, man detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement has been deported to the Netherlands. Addison Zanger went to the city of Utrecht to see how Owen Ramsingh is adjusting to his new home.

A group of Bonne Terre artists have spent the last year learning how to draw and paint for a gallery exhibition and a mural -- projects that can live outside the prison walls.

Late last month, St. Louis finally started demolishing tornado-damaged homes. That was 10 months after the deadly storm. St. Louis Public Radio’s Kate Grumke reports on why it’s taken so long to just get started.

Missouri’s 2026 election cycle got a jolt last week when longtime Republican Congressman Sam Graves announced his retirement. St. Louis Public Radio’s Jason Rosenbaum reports that the Northwest Missouri Republican’s departure could tell us a lot about Democratic strength during the midterm elections – depending on which congressional map is used for the contest.

Missouri legislators are debating several bills that could change the way people use the internet. It’s a tricky balance for the Republican-controlled legislature, as the bills introduce more protections for minors but could also allow for more government regulation of internet spaces.

Missouri's black bears are just now waking up from their long hibernation. The animal once thought extinct in Missouri is back and thriving, in part due to decades of effort by state workers.

After a year in the position, interim St. Louis Development Corporation CEO Otis Williams says developers have a more predictable process when it comes to building in St. Louis. He speaks with STLPR's Kavahn Mansouri about his hopes moving forward.