Missouri

Access to required anesthetic agents for a lethal injection is quickly disappearing, leaving the future of the death penalty in the United States in question. “Because the European Union opposes the death penalty, it prohibits the export of goods for executions [and] requires a time-consuming preauthorization review for every shipment of a potential ‘dual use’ pharmaceutical,” says Rebecca Dresser, JD, biomedical ethics expert and professor of law and of medicine at Washington University in St. Louis. “Capital cases are expensive, and state budgets are tight. High costs and concern about erroneous convictions have led a few states to abolish the death penalty in recent years. Barriers to obtaining lethal injection drugs could lead more states to do away with the death penalty altogether.”

A survey of tanning salon operators in Missouri shows that 65 percent would allow children as young as 10 to 12 years old to use tanning beds. That’s despite evidence that any tanning bed use increases the risk of all skin cancers, including melanoma, the deadliest form of skin cancer, later in life.

As a new legislative session begins this week in the state of Missouri, a new study out of the Missouri Budget Project, co-authored by the Brown’s School Timothy McBride, PhD, is released. It examines the effects of potential boost in aid throughout the state but finds rural Missourians would benefit the most in 2014 if lawmakers approve more than $1 billion in new federal funding for Medicaid.

Missouri lawmakers should give serious consideration to a proposed bill requiring medical examinations for high school athletes who suffer a head injury, according to recent testimony by WUSTL sports medicine expert Mark E. Halstead, M.D.

The profitability of corn ethanol processing, the costs and benefits of ethanol as a fuel source, the impact of the ethanol boom on rural America and the future of the biofuel industry will be among topics explored at a free public forum on the economics of ethanol to be held on campus from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Nov. 14.

“Challenges to Public Education Financing Facing Missouri and the Nation” is the topic of a one-day public forum to be held Nov. 4. Co-sponsored by the Weidenbaum Center and the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, the event features discussions by nationally recognized academic experts, state legislators and school superintendents. Free and open to the public; reservations required.

William Merritt Chase (American 1849-1916), *Courtyard of a Dutch Orphan Asylum* c. 1884, Oil on canvas on boardAll roads may lead to Paris, but for 19th century American painters, many at least traveled through St. Louis. In January, the Gallery of Art at Washington University in St. Louis will present Painting America in the 19th Century: Selections from the Permanent Collection. The exhibition includes works by 13 major American painters — many of whom lived or worked in Missouri.