Mary Delach Leonard is a veteran journalist who joined the Beacon staff in April 2008 after a 17-year career at the Post-Dispatch, where she was a reporter and an editor in the features section. Her work for the Post-Dispatch was cited for awards by such organizations as the Missouri Associated Press Managing Editors, the Missouri Press Association and the Illinois Press Association.
Leonard began her newspaper career at the Belleville (Ill.) News-Democrat after earning a degree in mass communications from Southern Illinois University-Edwardsville, where she now serves as an adjunct faculty member.
Email: mdelachleonard@stlbeacon.org
The celebration in Sikeston will reunite residents of the community which was destroyed in May 2011 when the Army Corps of Engineers opened the Birds Point-New Madrid Floodway to alleviate flooding on the Mississippi. Residents are still hoping for a FEMA buyout so they can relocate their village.
On this week's Beacon Roundtable, Dale Singer sits down with Robert Joiner, Mary Delach Leonard and Jason Rosenbaum to talk about changes in block grants, changes in charter schools, efforts to reduce violence, the status of downtown development and what's happening in Pinhook, Mo.
On this week's Beacon Roundtable, Dale Singer speaks with Mary Delach Leonard and Robert Joiner about different public displays dedicated to fallen soldiers for Memorial Day, Missouri looking at new ways to grade teachers and a graphic look at medical problems around the region prodived by the Pictures of Health series.
Historian Christopher Morris discusses his extensive environmental history of the Lower Mississippi River Valley Wednesday. His book is a little like the meandering river: It spreads over a wide expanse -- five centuries -- and fills in all sorts of nooks and crannies along the way.
The head of the St. Louis nonprofit is among 200 Americans who told their stories in “Not Working,” a documentary by filmmaker D.W. Gibson that chronicles the impact of the Great Recession.
While the slow recovery of the labor market affects everyone, analysts say it’s been particularly hard on new high school and college grads. Young workers experience have disproportionate pain during economic downturns — and the nation's overall unemployment rate doesn’t tell that story.
The event will be held in August and is expected to draw thousands of participants. The conference is aimed at helping veterans establish or expand small businesses.
For this Memorial Day I suggested to the Beacon editors that we write about these memorials that are miles away from the nation’s large military cemeteries and monuments but are closer to our hearts -- in the very communities where we live and work and play. The wars are winding down; the sacrifice is not forgotten.
On this week's Beacon Roundtable, Dale Singer sits down with Robert Duffy, Robert Joiner and Mary Delach Leonard to talk about changes at the top at SLU, charges varying across the region's hospitals, military sexual assault in the news and an exhibition of Donald Judd coming to the Pulitzer.
Navy veteran Terri Odom, who volunteers at the St. Louis VA, says her experience 25 years ago drives her mission to support survivors of military sexual assault -- and to help them find justice.
Beacon Roundtable · Foreclosure · 2012 SLU governance dispute · sequestration · 2011 Flooding · Unemployment · military women · Mississippi River flood control · Veterans · Federal budget
Stan Musial · Debra Tarver · Lawrence Biondi · Glenn Koenen · Terri Odom · Aretha Robinson · Donna Zerega · Roni Chambers · Andy Tempest · Tom Keefe
Pinhook, Mo · Harrisburg, Ill. · Birds Point-New Madrid Floodway · Mississippi County · Mississippi River · Saint Louis University Campus · Department Of Veterans Affairs Medical Center · Mississippi River · Downtown St. Louis · St. Louis Missouri Veterans Home
Realtytrac · St. Louis Cardinals · Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis · Public Insight Network · National Weather Service · St. Louis Association Of Realtors · AFGE · Go! Network · Emerald Automotive · Shakespeare Festival
Leap Day tornado · St. Louis Mayor's Race · Opening day 2013
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Meeting in St. Louis next week, the Leadership Conference of Women Religious will have its first opportunity as an assembled group to consider what to do after the Vatican issued a mandate for change this spring. It calls on the conference to reorganize and more strictly observe church teachings.
When a family of four goes to the St. Louis Zoo, they can be forgiven for not knowing it will cost them $60, $72 if they park. If they can't pay, the alternative is to tell the kids they can't do what kids do at the zoo.
Missouri House Speaker Steve Tilley gave reporters less than a half-hour’s notice today when he announced that conservative commentator Rush Limbaugh’s sculptured bust will be formally installed in the Capitol at 1 p.m.
The world seems eager to learn more about Pope Francis, so learning that he admires St. Philippine Duchesne and her spiritual daughters — Argentinean nuns who have been under Francis' spiritual direction as they live among the poor — adds to understanding.
The celebration in Sikeston will reunite residents of the community which was destroyed in May 2011 when the Army Corps of Engineers opened the Birds Point-New Madrid Floodway to alleviate flooding on the Mississippi. Residents are still hoping for a FEMA buyout so they can relocate their village.
The Newman Money Museum at Washington University has a quirky pseudo-robot Ben Franklin in the basement that is essentially a TV screen projected into a plastic shell head.
The Beacon's Mary Delach Leonard and Rob Koenig extensively covered flooding in 2011 in Missouri. Now this coverage is compiled in an iBook. Read the stories.
"Lost Egypt," at the St. Louis Science Center, combines real images shot in Egypt with art and artifacts as well as interactive and family-friendly features and explanations of the science used to uncover the ancient world. The exhibit will run through Sept. 2.
Opera is for snobs. Country music is for rednecks. Everybody loves Chuck Berry now that he's been around for a few decades, but what about Nelly? Why can't we simply respond to what's before us without dragging preconceptions and prejudices into play?
Organizers aren't trying to replace the rib fest, but music lovers will be able to find tangy sustenance as they listen to such greats as Mavis Staples (pictured), Big George Brock, Trombone Shorty, Kim Massie and Marquise Knox take the stage.
Donna Korando is the Beacon's arts and features editor. You can contact her at dkorando@stlbeacon.org.
Developers on the south side come in all shapes and sizes, with ambitions that vary from single buildings to entire city blocks. In the first of a two-part story, Jason Deem talks about building community.
Speaking to reporters at Monsanto, Howard Buffett warned that future generations would foot the bill for irresponsible soil use. He urged leaders to address thorny issues such as malnutrition and environmental destruction.
Twenty winners will split a million dollars and a wide array of professional services after this year's Arch Grants competition. Victors will also see one-on-one business mentoring in their prize package. The diverse group includes everything from biotech concerns to fashion enterprises.
Innovation and entrepreneurial activity are on the rise in St. Louis, especially in bioscience, technology and alternative energy. The Beacon's InnovationSTL section focuses on the people who are part of this wave, what they're doing and how this is shaping our future. To many St. Louisans, this wave is not yet visible. InnovationSTL aims to change that. We welcome you to share your knowledge, learn more about this vibrant trend and discuss its impact.
The Academy of Science-St. Louis hosts tours of EarthDance, an organic farm, and the Monsanto Agronomics and Breeding Facility May 21-22. The workshop is meant to prompt discussion and answer questions about these two competing philosophies of food production.
Speaking to reporters at Monsanto, Howard Buffett warned that future generations would foot the bill for irresponsible soil use. He urged leaders to address thorny issues such as malnutrition and environmental destruction.
Vernon Bowman's challenge to Monsanto Co.'s patent on its Roundup Ready soybean seeds was billed as a David vs. Goliath contest. Goliath won and won big. The Supreme Court ruled unanimously that an Indiana soybean farmer had violated Monsanto's patent on its genetically engineered soybean seeds.
Sally Altman is the Beacon's Health and Science editor. You can contact her at saltman@stlbeacon.org.
Opera is for snobs. Country music is for rednecks. Everybody loves Chuck Berry now that he's been around for a few decades, but what about Nelly? Why can't we simply respond to what's before us without dragging preconceptions and prejudices into play?
You have to know your audience: McDonald's regulars don't need free-range chicken or a certain breed of beef; a second-chance high school needs personally motivated students as opposed to people ordered to attend and low-income Democrats by and large don't want a cigarette tax.
Last week, Grandmaster Hikaru Nakamura sacrificed his crown as the King of America. He faced an individual decision to play against the best in the nation or the best on the planet. Find out what happened at that world-level tournament.
Donna Korando is the Beacon's Voices editor. You can contact her and submit opinion pieces for possible publication at dkorando@stlbeacon.org.