Farrah Anderson

Former Sangamon County Sheriff’s deputy Sean Grayson, who is now charged with murder in the fatal shooting of Sonya Massey, was previously discharged from the U.S. Army for serious misconduct — and still hired at six police departments in Central Illinois.

Abortion-rights advocates say grassroots groups are essential to helping people who need abortions access them. Sex workers in Missouri are now mobilizing to help each other access out-of-state abortions.

The Biden administration’s Uniting for Ukraine program allows people from the war-torn country to temporarily stay in the U.S., and hundreds are coming to St. Louis. But Ukrainians don’t qualify for the benefits that other refugees receive, leaving local agencies and American sponsors scrambling to help them.

In 2020, Trish Gunby captured a state House district that had been represented by Republicans. Now, she has the chance to do the same in Missouri’s 2nd Congressional District race this fall.

Residents of Ellendale, a west St. Louis neighborhood, asked local, state and federal officials to find a permanent solution to the neighborhood’s persistent flooding problems. After this week’s rainfall, many residents lost their homes and valuables.

Business leaders, immigration activists and Missouri politicians are urging the federal government to issue visas to 380 more refugees who fled Afghanistan in 2021 and are now stranded in Albania, a small country on the Balkan Peninsula. The first members of the group arrived in St. Louis on Monday, but hundreds more are waiting on the U.S. government to issue them visas.

Demolition is almost finished on the building known as Culver House, making way for the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra’s expansion of Powell Hall. Symphony representative Eric Dundon said the renovations will expand Powell Hall’s rehearsal space and create more accessible entrances.

In recent weeks, the BA5 variant has accounted for almost half of all COVID cases in Missouri. But state data doesn’t show how many people have contracted the BA.5 variant or include indicators like age, race or gender.

The St. Louis Symphony Orchestra plans to demolish the 19th-century house next to Powell Hall to prepare for a $100 million renovation project. Opponents of the demolition tried for months to persuade orchestra officials to save the structure.

St. Louis health officials have reported the city’s first probable case of monkeypox. The case has not been confirmed by the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. But the CDC has recently confirmed three cases of monkeypox in Missouri.

Metro Transit and union leaders will meet with a federal mediator on Aug. 18 to try to reach an agreement on a new contract. Reginald Howard, the union’s president, said that workers want more pay to cope with inflation, the coronavirus pandemic and a wave of violence in the St. Louis region.

The St. Louis and St. Louis County health departments are urging people who are pregnant to get tested for syphilis so they do not pass it to their children. Missouri last year reported the highest number of congenital syphilis cases in the state since 1994.