House Springs • Residents along Byrnesville Road have nicknamed their corner of Jefferson County "Little Ladue." Homes sit on large lots and sell for upwards of $500,000. The Big River flows by, and

But stagnant economy has been hard on newcomers looking for a new life.

FAIRVIEW HEIGHTS • The chance at immortality came to Julie Wier when she was grappling with death.

Katie Shanahan, 30, owner of Paste, an arts and crafts supplies store at 1009 Russell Boulevard in Soulard.

ST. LOUIS • Hotels nearly sold out. Sidewalks filled with fans. Parking lots bustling with tailgaters wearing black and gold — or orange and blue — with pride.

Missouri highways have taken a turn for the better, a new study concluded. And that could prove costly.

ST. LOUIS • The new president of the Missouri Botanical Garden brought a lovely gift from home when he arrived in St. Louis this week.

COLUMBIA, Mo. • Philip Coleman pulled a framed print out of a stack of artwork, revealing a portrait of Pablo Picasso created by Salvador Dali. A number in the corner revealed that the print was the

Ahmed Mashshay, 40, a soft-spoken and unfailingly polite refugee from Iraq, measures his progress in St. Louis, his home for a year and a half now, in small steps. Otherwise, there would be none to me

The Cardinals are officially projecting Kyle Lohse as their fifth starter for the remainder of the season, pitching coach Dave Duncan confirmed Saturday, adding that the decision is contingent on Lohs

Less than 10 days removed from one of the best months of his career, his first extended hot streak of this season and one frightful slip off a tarp, Cardinals first baseman Albert Pujols declined to c

A 2010 season that began with such high hopes has come down to this: desperate for satisfaction and eager for entertainment, Cardinals fans have settled for booing Brandon Phillips.

Adam Wainwright hit 200 innings Saturday afternoon, but he and the Cardinals insist the 200 innings aren't hitting back.

Time still remains for August's listless Cardinals team to emerge as September's phoenix, making an irritated fan base forget the 4-13 skid that ushered the club into this weekend's grudge match again

With the job half done, Illinois was equipped with a 10-point lead, the ball and the memory of a nine-minute drive when its offense battered the Missouri defense to open Saturday's game.

With a discombobulated Mizzou team lagging behind Illinois 13-3 at halftime, Missouri coach Gary Pinkel took the Tigers into the locker room and 'soul-searched a bit."

One of the beauties of the dawn of a new football season is discovering a singular moment that lets you know when someone special has arrived. Yet the more you watch Aldon Smith, the more you realize

Florida offense struggles in win

In the end, Earl's worst damage in New England was to seasonal businesses hoping to end their summer on a high note.

ST. LOUIS • Hotels nearly sold out. Sidewalks filled with fans. Parking lots bustling with tailgaters wearing black and gold — or orange and blue — with pride.

With unemployment stuck above 9.5 percent for the second Labor Day in a row, the levels we used to think of as normal seem a long way off.

Sales

Tractors are pulling in profits for stock investors.

Optimism about U.S. stocks increased by the most since July as economic reports emboldened investors following three straight weekly losses in the Standard & Poor's 500 Index, according to a surve

Fund investors who want to put their money to work as cheaply as possible have a couple basic options. They can go with an index mutual fund or a comparable exchange-traded fund.

Two readers ask about protecting their nest eggs from the tax man — you can do it sometimes, but not always — and another offers sage advice for avoiding surprises and protecting your savings:

1928: Year pharmacist Jim Howe develops Tums while treating his wife's indigestion. Commercial production begins two years later.

Like the Go-Go's said: "V-A-C-A-T-I-O-N"

ST. LOUIS • The new president of the Missouri Botanical Garden brought a lovely gift from home when he arrived in St. Louis this week.

Dear Dr. Fox — We have an 11-year-old, spayed female indoor cat. For 10 years, she used the litter box without fail, but in the past year, she has started to defecate all over the house.

Dear Abby • My fiancé and I are preparing for our wedding next spring. This is the first marriage for both of us. We are well-established in our careers and have a nice house with everything we nee

Dear Dr. Donohue — A friend in his late 40s thought he had the flu and called his doctor for medicine. Later he had trouble breathing and went to the emergency room, where they said he was having a

My family will travel halfway around the world to see a koala bear sitting in a eucalyptus tree, but for some reason it took us four years living in Boise, Idaho, to see the city's spooky 19th-century

Kunde Family Estate • 9825 Sonoma Highway, Kenwood, Calif.; kunde.com or 1-707-833-5501. Online registration available, fees range from $25 for hikes with tastings to $45 for dog hikes with lunch.

They say great wine is made in the vineyard. Now some vintners are inviting guests to check that out through walking tours aimed at giving the real dirt on winemaking.

Scott Cairns is a professor of English and director of creative writing at the University of Missouri-Columbia. Born in 1954 in Tacoma, Wash., Cairns is a poet and a Christian who has traveled an unus

Like the Go-Go's said: "V-A-C-A-T-I-O-N"

ST. LOUIS • The new president of the Missouri Botanical Garden brought a lovely gift from home when he arrived in St. Louis this week.

Dear Dr. Fox — We have an 11-year-old, spayed female indoor cat. For 10 years, she used the litter box without fail, but in the past year, she has started to defecate all over the house.

Dear Abby • My fiancé and I are preparing for our wedding next spring. This is the first marriage for both of us. We are well-established in our careers and have a nice house with everything we nee

Dear Dr. Donohue — A friend in his late 40s thought he had the flu and called his doctor for medicine. Later he had trouble breathing and went to the emergency room, where they said he was having a

My family will travel halfway around the world to see a koala bear sitting in a eucalyptus tree, but for some reason it took us four years living in Boise, Idaho, to see the city's spooky 19th-century

Kunde Family Estate • 9825 Sonoma Highway, Kenwood, Calif.; kunde.com or 1-707-833-5501. Online registration available, fees range from $25 for hikes with tastings to $45 for dog hikes with lunch.

They say great wine is made in the vineyard. Now some vintners are inviting guests to check that out through walking tours aimed at giving the real dirt on winemaking.

Scott Cairns is a professor of English and director of creative writing at the University of Missouri-Columbia. Born in 1954 in Tacoma, Wash., Cairns is a poet and a Christian who has traveled an unus

Hip-hop star Kanye West is still feeling the pain over his ambush of Taylor Swift last year _ and he's expressing his pain all over Twitter.

Q. 1 • Both vulnerable, as South you hold:

Food, eating and architecture are explored in new books.

Address • 830 Springs-Fireplace Road, East Hampton, N.Y.

You can feel his presence in the East Hampton country house.

By Sara Gruen

What • Readings from "Compass of Affection" and "Recovered Body" at the St. Louis Poetry Center

By Philip Dray