Sarah Fentem
Sarah Fentem reports on sickness and health as part of St. Louis Public Radio’s news team. She previously spent five years reporting for different NPR stations in Indiana, immersing herself deep, deep into an insurance policy beat from which she may never fully recover. A longitme NPR listener, she grew up hearing WQUB in Quincy, Illinois, which is now owned by STLPR. She lives in the Kingshighway Hills neighborhood, and in her spare time likes to watch old sitcoms, meticulously clean and organize her home and go on outdoor adventures with her fiancé Elliot. She has a cat, Lil Rock, and a dog, Ginger.
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Temporary motions have put a hold on the state’s near-total abortion ban, but a trial will need to take place to overturn the ban permanently. -
St. Louis broke a record for the most rainfall in a 24-hour period in November on Monday. -
During the height of the coronavirus pandemic, the federal government issued emergency protections that barred states from removing people from the government-funded health insurance program for low-income people and families. That changes this month. -
Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey terminated a rule that would have placed restrictions on which transgender patients could obtain hormones and other gender-affirming treatment. Bailey said the rule is no longer necessary because the Republican-controlled legislature has passed its own restrictions. -
The National Women’s Law Center and Americans United for Separation of Church and State filed suit Thursday in St. Louis Circuit Court on behalf of 13 faith leaders in Missouri. The lawsuit claims Missouri’s so-called trigger ban and other laws restricting abortion access violate residents’ religious freedom. -
Adults in Missouri can now legally use marijuana. Dispensary operators say some with medical marijuana cards may choose to keep them to take advantage of lower taxes and other benefits that customers who use marijuana recreationally don't have. -
Family members of the gunman who killed two and wounded several others during a shooting rampage at Central Visual and Performing Arts High School recently asked police to take a gun from the home, interim St. Louis Metropolitan Police Chief Michael Sack said Wednesday. They also had been monitoring his mental health and helped him get treatment and medication. -
In July, Missouri officials debuted 988, an emergency mental health hotline that connects callers to dozens of organizations around the country based on the caller’s area code. The hotline’s overhaul means crisis response organizations need more workers and money to pay them. Advocates are concerned that the state has not committed to funding the hotline for the long term. -
Washington University scientists are conducting a clinical trial of a new version of the original Moderna COVID-19 vaccine. Researchers say it will likely be better suited to newer BA.4 and BA.5 variants of the virus that have become dominant this summer. -
During the first month of a national mental health crisis line, calls to Missouri mental health centers have gone up 30%, state officials said. The three-digit 988 line routes all calls to suicide prevention hotline crisis centers.
