Regional planners and the business community can cite plenty of facts and figures when they promote the St. Louis area. They note a National Association of Home Builders report that puts the area as the second most affordable housing market among the 20 largest U.S. metropolitan areas. They tout the Council for Community and Economic Research report pegging us with the third lowest cost of living.

They are pushing hard for development around Busch Stadium — the Ballpark Village project — and they applaud the bi-state agreement to build a new Mississippi River bridge. They point to statistics showing that development has attracted…

The city of Pine Lawn is taking the lead in Missouri against a scourge: They call it “sagging.” And they’re referring to saggy trousers. Exposed boxer shorts. Slack-in-the-back. They’re mad as heck and they’re not going to take it anymore in Pine Lawn.

There, it’s apparently become something of a redevelopment issue, according to our story for Wednesday’s Post-Dispatch. Consultants said the city should consider ways to repair the city’s image. Sagging came up. (Here’s an earlier version of the story from AP.)
But it’s not just a Pine Lawn issue. Across the country, cities have apparently tried to outlaw…

A colleague just said to me, “I’m so disappointed about Marion Jones.”

After years of angry denials, Marion Jones is ready to admit she doped.

The three-time Olympic gold medalist is scheduled to appear in U.S. District Court in White Plains, N.Y., on Friday to plead guilty to charges in connection with steroid use, a federal law enforcement source told The Associated Press.

This development will continue today with her appearance in federal court.
What do you think about the developments in that case? Do you remember Jones’ performance in the 2000 Games?

A story today by city hall reporter Jake Wagman asks the question: “Is St. Louis building blocks or back breakers?”

With the blockbuster deals that are set to bring major developments to downtown St. Louis, we learned that taxpayers will pay heavily for the opportunity to bring more office and nightlife to the city’s core region.

A $400 million plan to revive the St. Louis Centre mall site, and Centene Corp.’s plans for a $250 million headquarters downtown will most likely benefit from hundreds of millions of taxpayer dollars.

Our elected officials here and in Jefferson City see these projects…

My parents would say I was a “victim” of new math. Whatever method they used to teach math when I was in elementary school fouled me up for a long time. Long division? Fuhgetaboutit. Took years for me to figure it out.

Now comes this story: The National Mathematics Advisory Panel meets at Washington University Medical Center after President Bush established the panel last year to improve performance in math by American students. At a public forum on Thursday, the panel is expected to hear criticism of new math curriculums called “Investigations” and “Everyday Math,” which are taught at numerous…