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Julie Bierach

Credit Maria Frank
Reporter/ Newscaster

Julie Bierach is the morning newscaster/news producer at St. Louis Public Radio. She was born and raised in St. Louis and graduated from Southeast Missouri State University. She started her career in Cape Girardeau, Mo. as a student announcer.

Bierach returned to St. Louis Public Radio in November 2010 after working in public relations at the Missouri Botanical Garden. She was previously the station’s science and technology reporter.

Bierach worked in Tucson, Arizona at Arizona Public Media where she was the host of the station’s weekly news magazine, Arizona Spotlight. While in Tucson, she reported on a variety of topics facing the desert southwest, including illegal immigration. Her reports have been featured on NPR’s All Things Considered and Day to Day.

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Morning round-up
8:20 am
Mon January 17, 2011

Morning headlines: Mo. House to debate priority measures, uncertainty in the midst of Quinn's decision on capital punishment, Pujols says he wants to end career in STL

Missouri House leaders hope to start debate this week on two of their priority measures. (Flickr/jimbowen0306)
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Morning round-up
8:19 am
Fri January 14, 2011

Morning headlines: UM tuition hike, accidental shooting leaves STL toddler critical, Coleman requests trial delay

University of Missouri Curators are meeting today to discuss a likely tuition increase. (Flickr/Adam Proctor)
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  • University of Missouri Curators have scheduled a virtual meeting this morning to discuss a likely tuition increase at the four-campus system. The video teleconference comes in advance of a late January meeting in Columbia where the curators are expected to approve the system's first tuition increase in three years. School officials have said they hope to keep the increase below 10 percent. Tuition for the coming academic year is typically set in the spring. But university leaders want an early start because Missouri law requires a waiver from the state to raise tuition beyond the Consumer Price Index inflation rate. Students who live in Missouri and take a standard 15 credit course load pay $3,684 in tuition each semester. A 9 percent increase would translate into a $332 boost per semester.
  • St. Louis police are investigating the accidental shooting of a three-year-old boy. Police say the toddler was critically wounded when he accidentally shot himself in the head. St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports the boy underwent surgery Thursday afternoon at St. Louis Children's Hospital. Police believe the boy was with his mother and an infant sibling at their north St. Louis home when he somehow got his hands on a loaded gun. They say he accidentally shot himself and was found lying on a bed. The mother ran to get the father at the neighbor's house and they raced the toddler to the hospital, flagging down paramedics on the way. The toddler remains in critical condition.
  • The Belleville News Democrat is reporting that lawyers for Christopher Coleman are asking for a delay in the February 15 trial to allow Illinois Governor Pat Quinn to make a decision on a bill that would abolish the death penalty in the state. Coleman is accused of killing his wife and sons in their Columbia, Ill. home in May 2009. He faces a possible death sentence if convicted.

Morning round-up
9:13 am
Thu January 13, 2011

Morning headlines: Foreclosures in St. Louis hit record high, Mo. House preparing to work on new congressional map, smaller harvest for Mo. farmers

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  • Foreclosure activity in the St. Louis area hit an all-time high in 2010. The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports that according to figures released by the data firm RealtyTrac, one in every 57 houses in the 17-county St. Louis region received at least one foreclosure filing during the year. The filings are up nearly 12 percent from last year and slightly above the previous records in 2008. The Post-Dispatch reports that these figures come despite billions of federal dollars poured into mortgage modification programs in the past two years, and despite the relatively stable housing market in St. Louis.
  • Missouri House members are preparing to start work on a new congressional map that will have only eight districts, down from the current nine. U.S. House districts are redrawn every 10 years to reflect changes in population based on the census. The U.S. Census Bureau announced last month that Missouri will lose one seat in the U.S House. The eight districts are the fewest for Missouri since the census of 1850. The state Legislature is responsible for drawing the new congressional districts and will approve them just like any other legislation. A special House committee on redistricting scheduled an organizational meeting Thursday morning, with no plans to take public testimony.
  • Missouri farmers took in a smaller harvest last year of some of the state's leading crops, Missouri Agricultural Statistics reports that corn production totaled 369 million bushels in 2010, down 17 percent from the previous year. Soybean production totaled 210 million bushels, down 9 percent from the 2009 crop. Hay production fell 7 percent compared with the previous year. And grain sorghum production reached its lowest level since 1955. But harvests did rise last year for cotton and rice farmers. Rice production, in fact, broke the previous state record set in 2005.

Morning round-up
9:09 am
Wed January 12, 2011

Morning headlines: Ill. lawmakers approve tax increase, Mo. House to consider drug testing for welfare recipients, surveillance cameras close to being installed in 21st Ward

Credit (via Flickr/mhowry)
The Illinois General Assembly has passed a 67 percent income tax increase
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  • Democratic Illinois lawmakers have approved a 67% income-tax increase in a desperate bid to end the state's crippling budget crisis. Legislative leaders rushed early Wednesday morning to pass the politically risky plan before  new General Assembly was sworn in at noon. The increase now goes to Democratic Gov. Pat Quinn. He supports the plan to temporarily raise the personal tax rate to 5% from the current 3% rate. Corporate taxes also would climb.
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Morning round-up
9:13 am
Tue January 11, 2011

Morning headlines: Snow hinders morning commute, Ryan to ask Obama for clemency, St. Louis police officer dragged by suspect

Missouri Department of Transportation snow plows had a job to do this morning with snow covering many area roads. (Rachel Lippmann, St. Louis Public Radio)
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  • The winter storm system that blanketed the region with snow overnight caused problems on area roads this morning. A few inches of snow were on the ground in St. Louis and suburbs, but that was enough to cause a large number of traffic accidents, mostly fender –benders. Most schools in the regions are closed. The Missouri Department of Transportation is warning motorists to exercise caution on overpasses and ramps. Drifting snow will continue to cause low visibility.

  • Attorney for George Ryan says they'll ask President Barack Obama to grant clemency to the imprisoned former Illinois governor after an appeals court refused to release Ryan on bail to spend more time with his terminally ill wife. Ryan's attorney, former Gov. James Thompson, told The Associated Press Monday that the request would be submitted to the White House within days. It will ask Obama to commute Ryan's sentence to his three years already served.

  • A St. Louis police officer is recovering after being dragged by a suspect's car during a traffic stop. Authorities say the officer pulled over the suspect because he believed he saw drugs in the car. They say the suspect rolled up his window, trapping the officer's arm in his car and dragging him a short distance. The officer's injuries were not serious. The suspect was arrested after crashing following a police chase.

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