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Network of climate stations provide critical data, enable real-time decisions during severe weather

The Illinois Climate Network collects data that helps experts and communities make real time decisions during severe weather events.

People are sitting and raising their hands.

As people protest data centers across the Heartland, lawmakers rush to regulate development

Development of large-scale data centers is booming across the Midwest and South. As some communities push back, local and state governments are trying to catch up on how to regulate the new development.

A person wearing a blue plaid shirt pours soybeans into their hand from a cardboard box.

These seed banks preserve crucial corn and soy varieties. A federal plan may put them at risk

The U.S. Department of Agriculture is proposing moving the Maize Genetics Cooperation Stock Center and the National Soybean Germplasm Collection from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign campus, where they’ve both been housed for decades.

Staunton restaurant owner headed for deportation

Business owner and father Ismael Ayuzo Sandoval is preparing for his deportation to Mexico — a country he left decades ago and where his attorney said he is afraid to return because of cartel violence, citing, in part, his cousin’s murder at the hands of drug traffickers.

Preserving wetlands: ‘Those that are remaining are critical to maintain’

Wetlands are important not just to all the animal and plant species that live there, but they’re also valuable to humans because they purify drinking water by taking nutrients and pollutants out of the system through all of the plant life and natural cycling that occurs.

Skyglow is erasing the stars, but smarter outdoor lighting can help bring the night back

Americans are losing their starry views to light pollution. But some communities are make lighting decisions to help preserve night skies – while benefiting wildlife and human health.

A man stands on a ladder looking from above into a grain bin

In an effort to reduce deadly grain bin accidents, OSHA expands safety emphasis program

There are dozens of grain handling accidents that occur each year in the U.S. That’s why OSHA has placed several states under regional emphasis programs over the years to promote worker safety at grain handling facilities.

Some farmers left in limbo after Missouri’s state budget limits funding for a USDA grant

Missouri’s 2025 state budget includes less than a third of the federal funding the state received for Resilient Food Systems Infrastructure Program grants. More than a dozen producers with selected projects are without funding for now. The day Emily Wright expected to hear whether her vegetable and flower farm in mid-Missouri would receive grant funding

Federal drought relief policies leave some farmers out to dry

Programs that provide drought relief to farmers use the U.S. Drought Monitor to determine eligibility, but some experts say it doesn’t always capture local conditions. On a recent fall day, as Wilburn Harris did the rounds on his cattle farm in the Missouri town of Drexel, he was met with brown grass, cracked

Limits on transgender care for Missouri youths begin shortly

Missouri minors will soon be required to go through 18 months of therapy before receiving any gender-affirming health care.

Why pediatricians are worried about the end of the federal COVID emergency declaration

https://cpa.ds.npr.org/s4780019/audio/2022/09/kidsmedicaid-feature-web.mp3 Kathreen Friend is a pediatric registered nurse based in Doniphan, Missouri — a small town of about 1,800, just 15 minutes north of the Arkansas border. As the lone pediatric specialist in her county, it’s not unusual for her days to fill up with appointments. “I see a large volume of kids every single

How Medicaid enrollment can disrupt the cycle of incarceration

COLUMBIA – Mo. — One of the first stops for people leaving prison in central Missouri is the Reentry Opportunity Center in Columbia. The center sees about 80 people a month who are in the process of putting their lives together after being incarcerated. According to the center’s program director, D’Markus Thomas-Brown, leaving prison often