For homeowners drowning in mortgage and consumer credit debt, here is a grim warning from law-enforcement agencies: There are sharks in the water.

On Monday, Missouri Attorney General Jay Nixon announced an effort to crack down on mortgage scams and financial predators. That follows a national scam alert by the U.S. Treasury Department. Locally, FBI agents are investigating mortgage fraud, and the U.S. Attorney's office prosecuted nine cases this spring.

Posted July 28. Updated July 31: For whom are you voting? The Missouri primaries are today -- Tues., Aug. 5.  In case you've been too busy to keep track of all the candidates, here's a guide to election resources. The Beacon has compiled a group of websites that may help you make an informed decision in the voting booth. We keep updating, so check for new information.

After Sen. Barack Obama folded a prayer he had composed and tucked it between the stones of the Western Wall in Jerusalem (as those are at left),  a student searched, found it and launched the prayer into the media. Local experts comment on the ethics of revealing the senator's prayer.

Lt. Gov. Peter Kinder has worked with African-American leaders on such issues as improved funding for Harris-Stowe State University and has marched in the Call to Oneness. In return, he's benefited from fundraisers. But will he get votes?

Minorities are underrepresented in medical fields, so the Multicultural Initiative for New Doctors, a free program run by St. Louis University, has stepped in to help fill the gap. On Tuesday, 5th and 6th graders who dream of becoming doctors gathered in the anatomy lab at SLU's medical school to dissect sheep's brains. The students investigated lobes, tubes, and ventricles as part of MIND's BrainLink group.

Maplewood firefighter and paramedic Ryan Hummert (right, in a photo from the Maplewood Fire Department) was ambushed and fatally shot at what initially appeared to be a routine fire. Attacks on firefighters and paramedics are thankfully rare, but increasingly fire departments across the country are developing ways to keep firefighters safe from violence.