The Gateway

The first African slaves arrived in Virginia 400 years ago this month. The St. Louis chapter of Remember the 400 is headed there to commemorate the historic event. Part of the group's mission is to bridge the racial divide.

After months of anticipation, St. Louis is officially a Major League Soccer city. But there's still a lot of details to work out before the team takes the pitch in 2022.

Main Street in St. Charles is seeing less crime after incidents in recent years led to a new liquor ordinance. But the drop in crime corresponds with a big drop in business. Bar owners want the city to change the law - again.

Illinois' expansion of gambling across the state means slots and table games can now be played at racetracks. How will this expansion of gaming impact Fairmount Track and the horse racing industry in the Metro East?

A popular bakery in the Metro East marks its 100th year in business this weekend. Kruta's Bakery in Collinsville has become a staple in the region serving traditional Eastern European baked goods.

Filmmaker Jane Gillooly documents her experience as a child growing up in Ferguson and how she realized it was segregated. Her film, 'Where the Pavement Ends', closes the Arch City Defenders Racial Justice Film Series.

Three musicians who combine their classical training in Indian musical styles with Western influences are working on a new project that will blend musical cultures. All three studied with Ustad Imrat Khan, the internationally renowned sitar player who also taught at Washington University and died in November.

Feral hogs are damaging farmland and the Mark Twain National Forest. But attempts to allow hunting in the national forest to control the population are meeting resistance from the Missouri Department of Natural Resources.

There have been more than 400 drug overdoses and at least five drug-related deaths in Missouri state prisons since May 2017, according to internal data from the Department of Corrections. In many cases, inmates have overdosed on controlled substances, including heroin and fentanyl. There are a number of ways drugs can be smuggled into prisons, but institutional corruption appears to play a role. Current and past DOC employees say staff members are bringing contraband into the prisons and selling it to inmates -- often without consequences.

Today marks five years since the death of Michael Brown in Ferguson. St. Louis Public Radio asked dozens of people to reflect on the past five years and to tell us their hopes for the future. The conversations are part of our special project, livingferguson.org.