Three prominent Missouri Republican donors have come through big time for embattled Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker, with each donating $250,000 to help him fight off a recall effort later this spring. The three are: David C. Humphreys and his sister Sarah Atkins, both of Tamko Building Products in Joplin, and Stanley M. Herzog of St. Joseph-based Herzog Contracting.
After years of wading through bundles of paperwork and paying steep fees, farmers' market managers see promise in a push to overhaul and streamline regulations in St. Louis County. The new regulations are supposed to make it easier for vendors who sell and offer samples of prepared foods. A public hearing on the proposed ordinance is scheduled for mid-February.
Wexler, a former nun, was president of Webster University when it broke ties with the Catholic Church. She paired the academic with the business world here, and took her innovations on to Hunter College and service with two national administrations.
The weather looks as though it is going to cooperate for the first-in-the-nation welcome back parade for post-9/11 troops. The floats, bands and other units step off at noon Saturday from the Kiener Plaza area and go down Market to Union Station, where a resource village will be available.
Ready for local theater awards? The Kevin Kline will be releasing their nominees at a party on Monday. If you're going to be at home that night, however, you might well check out "Not As I Pictured," on the Nine Network of Public Media. It chronicles the cancer journey of 48-year-old Pulitzer Prize-winning photographer John Kaplan.
Many establishments exempted from St. Louis County's public-smoking ban are in areas with the highest incidences of smoking-related illnesses, according to an analysis by Tobacco-Free St. Louis. It also argues that the exemptions could undo the health benefits of the Clean Air Act and that they are unfair to the majority of county establishments that have banned smoking.
The New Music Circle presentation Saturday night will be the firs time in six years that bassist Darin Gray, who lives in Edwardsville, has played in St. Louis. And it's 20 years, since he first played with saxophonist Dave Stone, who is also on the bill along with drummer Chris Corsano.
An impressive history and a loyal customers base wasn't enough to keep the independent record store going in the age of 99-cent internet downloads and the demise of St. Louis' classical radio station. Even a resurgence in vinyl to go along with the CDs just bought a little time.
Troubadour Dali recording in analogue at David Beeman's Native Sound studio, just off Cherokee: That checks off quite a few boxes on the St. Louis cool list. Oh, and in advance of the band's new album, it is recotding a flexi, a light-weight piece of vinyl that was a popular music magazine insert/novelty in the 1980s.
The movie, which Glenn Close also co-wrote and produced, is a richly detailed recreation of Victorian Dublin, its rigid and cruel class structure, its appalling poverty and arrogant wealth, and its oppressive treatment of women. The film is strongly thematic but never preachy or didactic.
Also: A bit of Oscar talk.
Photographer Tom Nagel visited the Gallery at the Regional Arts Center, the St. Louis Artist's Guild and the new Gateway Gallery Friday evening to check out new exhibits. Here's a glimpse of what a visitor will find. A larger version is available here.
Survival jobs: A temporary strategy is becoming the new normal
"Survival jobs" are a thread to hold onto as the underemployed wait for the economy to recover. This story is part of a larger look at class in the region, our series Class: The Great Divide
R.W. Hafer explains a model developed by Professor Ray Fair of Yale, which says that we're looking at a close election.
M.W. Guzy says the video of snipers degrading the corpses of men they had just killed forced people to look at war.
Lana Stein notes that an "it can't happen here" attitude may be one of the biggest obstacles to improvement in the St. Louis area.
Over the past week, Silicon Valley's internet powerhouses outdid Hollywood, writes William H. Freivogel, by stopping internet piracy bills pushed by the big studios.
In this week's Beacon Roundtable, Dick Weiss, Jason Rosenbaum and Jo Mannies sit down to talk about Ed Martin's quest for office, the Republican presidential primary's Missouri connections and St.…
Robert W. Duffy reviews the awards handed out by the Arts and Education Council, particularly noting the evolution of Joan Lipkin.
Ben Finegold, Grandmaster, outlines what is going on in the Tata Steel tournament and how the American players are doing.
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The Beacon's nationally recognized Barroom Conversations program on race, class and other issues that divide will return from our holiday hiatus Monday, Feb. 20, 2012, at 7:30 PM discussing Education and Class. RSVP on Facebook and invite your friends! We'll pick up where we left off at Six Row Brewing Co., 3690 Forest Park Avenue at Spring. We look forward to seeing you again!

The St. Louis Beacon rang in 2012 with a concert performance of Gilbert & Sullivan's beloved operetta, "The Mikado," at the Sheldon Concert Hall, and the Higher Education Channel was on hand to record it. Here is a link to the complete perfomance, which we hope you'll enjoy.
The musical direction of "The Mikado" was by Amy Kaiser; Craig Terry was conductor-accompanist. All proceeds from ticket sales benefitted the Beacon.