Medicine

Smoking Ban Debated Today at Board of Aldermen

Updated 12:12 p.m. Debate today was canceled last minute as the bill was placed on the board's informal calendar. Bill is now schedule for discussion at next Friday's meeting.The citywide smoking ban floated by Ward 28 Alderwoman Lyda Krewson goes to the floor of the St. Louis Board of Aldermen toda ... More >>

Smoking Ban Opponents Organize; Remind Public to Vote No on Prop. N

Photo: Chad GarrisonCitizen's Against Prop. N: Rev. Harold Hendrick, Fred Teutenberg, Scott Simon, Jon Rand, Bill Hannegan​A somewhat unlikely group of bar owners, bowling advocates, tobacco salesman and -- yes -- a Christian radio host, gathered today in University City to announce their oppositi ... More >>

Heart, Lung and Cancer Associations Call on Dooley to Veto Smoking-Ban Bill

Smoking debate drags on.​As mentioned yesterday on this blog, folks on both side of the smoking ban debate aren't happy with a bill that would ask St. Louis County voters to prohibit tobacco use in most businesses. For smoking advocates and many business owners, the bill is an unfair encroachment ... More >>

County Smoking Ban Headed for Nov. 3 Vote -- Despite Objections from Both Sides of Debate

​It's not a perfect bill, but it's the best one County Councilwoman Barbara Fraser thought she could get her fellow council members to endorse.

St. Louis County Council Gives Preliminary Approval to a Weakened Smoking Ban

The St. Louis County Council voted 4-3 last night to move forward on a bill that would ask residents to vote on a smoking ban on the Nov. 3 ballot.The bill exempts casinos from the ban as well as taverns that generate more than 75 percent of their revenue from alcohol sales. Those exemptions would b ... More >>

Here's Betting Kirkwood Voters Will Approve a Smoking Ban in November

flickr.com/photos/lolololoriAdorable downtown KirkwoodAfter a citizen's group forced the Kirkwood City Council to consider an initiative to ban smoking in city bars and restaurant, the measure will now go before voters. Earlier this month Kirkwood residents opposed to public smoking collected enough ... More >>

Clayton Passes Smoking Ban

Yesterday we mentioned that the Clayton Board of Aldermen was set to vote last night on an ordinance prohibiting smoking in the city's restaurants and bars. And today we're back to report that the measure passed. By next July all bars and restaurants in the city (and 80 percent of hotel rooms) must ... More >>

Death of British Conductor Raises Further Questions About Assisted Suicide

flickr.com/photos/alexfilesThe news came from England yesterday that orchestra conductor Sir Edward Downes, 85, and his wife Joan, 74, committed suicide together last week in Switzerland with the aid of a right-to-die organization called Dignitas.Lady Downes was terminally ill and in the last stages ... More >>

Fairmount Park earns some green while Wash. U. breeds fruit flies in need of naps

Podiatrist Charged With Bilking Medicaid; Billed Amputees with No Feet

flickr.com/photos/noprawnsDr. Pham, I presume?At first glance a press release today from the U.S. Attorney's office looks like dozens of dull media alerts the prosecutor routinely sends out alleging Medicaid fraud. Then I noticed this outrageous line in the release regarding podiatrist David Quang P ... More >>

Town & Country Waffling on Smoking Ban

Photo by Jennifer Silverberg; Sheriff illustration by Kenn MinterAlderman John Hoffmann wants to put out the butts in Town & CountryLast week's "Butt Heads" feature story did not include stats or insights from munis with less than 15,000 people. Town & Country, with 11,000 inhabitants, thus ... More >>

Press Releases of the Day: Beware the Possible Swine Flu Pandemic

via WikipediaThis press release just in from the Red Cross, St. Louis Area Chapter, regarding the Swine Flu outbreak:"Think of this swine flu outbreak like severe weather. If you thought a storm was coming - you would take steps to prepare yourself," said Nicole Holtgrefe, director of preparedness a ... More >>

Regional Smoking Ban Gathering Steam

flickr.com/photos/carolinespicsRegional legislators are taking note a proposed bill in St. Louis City calling for a ban on smoking in bars and restaurants. The bill, proposed by Central West End alderwoman Lyda Krewson, would not go into effect unless St. Louis County passed a similar ban. Yesterday ... More >>

A Naked Road Race? Sign Unreal Up!

Wikimedia CommonsNothin' like a "brief" run in the parkNormally, Unreal would buckle up and run at the merest mention of the word "colorectal," but Unreal's pants practically plunked straight to the parquet this morning after we opened a catchy little e-mail entitled "Undy 5000." Has anyone heard of ... More >>

St. Louis Smoking Activist May Soon Find Himself in Statewide Fight

In case you haven't seen it yet, my RFT colleague Keegan Hamilton has a great story in this week's paper about Bill Hannegan, a smokers' rights activist and founder of the blog Keep St. Louis Free. (As in, keep St. Louis free for smokers.) I won't ruin Keegan's story, but Hannegan has qui ... More >>

Readers get fired up about smoking bans and Hanifan

Resolution No. '09

A list of New Year's resolutions for the bands, venues and fans of the local music scene.

In Wake of Normandy High's HIV Scare, Free Testing Available

University of Missouri biology professor Frederick vom Saal has been sounding the alarm about bisphenol A for a decade. Has he got your attention?

An official state beer? Unreal's all over that one! Plus: We ring them bells and play CDs to our dog.

Puscifer

"V" Is for Vagina

Puscifer

"V" Is for Vagina

Life Support

A stealth bill has legalized midwifery in Missouri — for now.

Dr. Feelgood

You're not a doctor, but Trauma Center lets you play one on TV.

The Tango Effect

Two local researchers believe they may have found a new treatment for Parkinson's disease.

Beat Happenings

Music news you can use

Unreal News Challenge 2005!

Time again to take the year-end quiz

Semicolon

Unreal culls the juicy bits from a $450 blogging workshop, learns that it's OK (even good) to talk about colorectal cancer and finds a very timely local blog. Plus: Anheuser-Busch is no longer accepting quarters!

Hurtin' for Certain

Unreal discovers the true cause of a pain in the ass, gets a bargain on a pope-touched bandana and asks the eternal question, "Whither pajamas?"

Get Baked

Unreal performs a public service for the revelers of Party Cove, meets a guy who's really into whips and finds happiness with a Hazelwood man's Back Washer. Plus, we surf over to the blog of a local cereal connoisseur.

Masterpiece

The last Temptations of art

Great Bowels Afire

Unreal shills for Boeing (in song!), gets the straight poop on irritable bowel syndrome and sniffs out a local blogger. Plus: Is this billboard for a childhood center -- or a hot new album?

Where Do Wolf Babies Come From?

Sometimes Mother Nature can use a little human intervention

Is There a Hidden Meaning to Jay-Z's "Dirt Off Your Shoulder," or Is He Just Singing about Dandruff?

Week of May 19, 2004

Under the Beaver's Skin

Gee whiz, Wally: the Beav talks to Unreal about psoriasis! Plus, we see how the Lou stacks up to Beantown, try to understand the appeal of the Pet Building and administer a Harold Ramis quiz

Get Poked, Get Paid

Clinical drug trials offer good money, comfy dorms -- and sometimes even a free buzz. But beware: They're gonna suck your blood like Dracula.

Blues' Dues

At this benefit concert, you'll get the blues and a local Web site will get the green

Gopher Guts

Elephant funerals and turtle necropsies: It's all in a day's work for the Saint Louis Zoo's Dr. Mary Duncan

Is Avoiding Sexually Transmitted Disease a Major Concern?

Week of October 1, 2003

Living Dalle

A local singer/songwriter survives cancer and tours the UK with the Handsome Family

Time Bomb

Asbestos still takes its toll, but the lawsuits and victims are changing

Left Behind

Bellefontaine Neighbors residents have lived -- and died -- with asbestos for years. The problem's an open secret, but little has been done.

Ode to Joy

Elegies for Angels, Punks and Raging Queens is not so much a eulogy of AIDS victims as it is a celebration of life

WHEN ALL'S SAID AND DONNE

The Repertory Theatre of St. Louis weaves poetry and modern medicine in Wit

Seeing Red

After years of taking it on the chin, Bob Goeggel struck back at his competitor. Thanks to his accusations of fraud, the state's largest ambulance company is on the operating table and the feds are doing the cutting.

Internal Bleeding

St. John's Mercy Medical Center alienated their RNs when they turned to less experienced caregivers to save money. Now they're paying for it.

Guess Who's Coming to Math Class?

The parents of Elliot Bennett, like the parents of many autistic children, want their child in a regular classroom. Inclusion's the trend -- and a federal mandate. But most schools aren't ready to make room.

Psychiatric Disorder

In the chaos of the ER, patients with mental or behavioral problems receive scant attention

Letters to the Editor

Fertile Ground

Planned Parenthood seeks to require Missouri's health-insurance industry to get consistent and provide coverage for birth control