Don Marsh

According to a survey of Associated Press newspaper editors and broadcast news directors in Missouri, the top news story in the state was Republican Representative Todd Akin’s controversial and unscientific remarks about “legitimate rape.”

The holiday season abounds with well-known Christmas stories and cherished family traditions.

In this St. Louis Public Radio holiday special, we asked our listeners and some members of our staff to share with us their favorite holiday memories, stories and gifts.

We included those stories and well-known stories such as a staff-reading of “A Visit from St. Nicholas,” “Yes Virginia, There is a Santa Claus,” and part of “A Christmas Carol.”

We also featured music by the Ambassadors of Harmony of St. Charles and Bach Society of Saint Louis.

The Midwest sometimes gets short shrift from people on both ends of the country.  They often call it “flyover country.”  In other words, they ask, “Why would anyone want to stop in the Midwest?”

Native Midwesterners or transplants might take exception to the term, “flyover country.”

One man who certainly takes exception to the term is Mike Draper.

Earlier this month, Missouri and St. Louis-area leaders wrapped up a trade mission to China.  The trip was designed, in part, to revive the so-called China Hub project.

Members of the Midwest-China Hub Commission and the American Society of Transportation and Logistics signed an agreement in Shanghai to pursue expanding trade between the U.S. and China, and in particular adding new airfreight routes between the Asian nation and St. Louis.