(light energetic music) - [Narrator] It's fire in the heart of the city, but it's good fire.

And why this guy is so interested.

- Yeah, whenever we're burning, we're almost always followed (light energetic music) by some sort of hawk.

(fire crackling) - [Narrator] It's a kind of therapy where horses can do for kids what people cannot.

- Those horses, (light energetic music) they show up for people in ways that I've never seen.

- I feel like there's an excitement in the air in the city right now.

- (mmhmms) I agree.

- [Narrator] Highlights of Carol Daniels' wide ranging conversation (light energetic music) with St. Louis Mayor Tishaura Jones.

And the story of another mayor a long time ago, who thought he'd throw a nice banquet for newsboys.

It did not go as planned, (light energetic music) to say the least.

It's all next on "Living St.

Louis."

(no audio) (warm upbeat music) (warm upbeat music) (warm upbeat music) (warm upbeat music) - I'm Jim Kirchherr, and we don't usually cover fires, leave that to the other guys, (warm chill music) but we occasionally make an exception, like, say the fire of 1849, or Brooke Butler's story about a much more recent and more beneficial fire.

(warm chill music) (curious orchestral music) (flames crackling) - Now, I wouldn't call myself a pyromaniac by any means, but I do think that there's something really intriguing about watching a good fire.

(curious orchestral music) This fire in particular was in Forest Park, which I realize may seem (curious orchestral music) alarming to see without context, but I promise, it was all under control.

Literally, this is called controlled, or prescribed burning.

(curious orchestral music) - Controlled burns (flames crackling) is basically emanating a historical practice that was used either by Native Americans, or was just something (curious orchestral music) that naturally occurred in our environment.

In Missouri, (flames crackling) most of our habitats have evolved with fire.

And if you take fire out of that, that means that the habitats that we really know (flames crackling) as our healthy, vibrant, diverse habitats in Missouri are just not really able to exist.

- Amy Witt, (flames crackling) park ecologist at Forest Park Forever, has led these burns in the park for the past 12 years.

(engine humming) She explains the benefits of burning, as opposed to mowing, or other chemical methods of land management are that the fire takes out the invasive species, while optimizing the soil, or seed bed, for new native plant growth.

(flames crackling) Seems simple enough to just light a bunch of vegetation on fire, but there are, of course, very specific conditions needed for these burns.

(flames crackling) - Prescribed fire is called prescribed because essentially, you have a prescription.

And the fact that you only burn if the wind is coming from certain directions, if the humidity is within a certain range, if the mixing height, meaning that how high the air has to go before it starts to mix, and move away, if that's a certain level, you have the Haydenous Index, the ventilation- - So, you get the idea.

(light energetic music) It's very rare to meet all of the criteria in order to have a safe and successful burn, especially considering Forest Park is in the middle of a city, (light energetic music) and has to consider the major landmarks and institutions surrounding it.

(engine humming) And while many of the qualifications are up to Mother Nature, (light energetic music) there are also many manmade safety measures.

Leaf blowing and spring water helps deter the fire from catching trees.

(light energetic music) - Sometimes we even high mow a site, so, if a site doesn't (flames crackling) have that much fuel, or if it has really high fuel, sometimes we'll go in, and high mow it so that we won't scorch anything (light energetic music) more than what we want.

And some of that is for safety, and some of that is also just, we planted some, some beautiful oaks in here.

Ooh.

Yeah, that was a nice one.

- Oh.

- (laughs) We planted some oaks in here- - Look at that other bunny.

- And we want them to survive.

(Broke and Amy laugh) Whenever we're burning, we're almost always followed by some sort of hawk.

(flames crackling) Maybe there's gonna be a critter that gets spooked, and is popping out, but also, there's gonna be dead insects that are gonna be, or dead rodents (flames crackling) that are gonna be in the areas that were burned.

And so, you'll even see things such as like hundreds of robins just foraging for those crispy insects after a burn.

- [Brooke] So, there you have it, an example of how fire benefits the circle of life.

And as Amy said, you can see how fires have shaped our natural landscape.

For example, most of our forest regions are predominantly made up of oak and hickory trees, as they are the most fire tolerant species.

Forest Park even started implementing the burn process into their own woodlands and forests.

- And that's the one that really, I think, people are surprised by.

A lot of people think of fire as like, the most imminent destruction part of prescribed fires, but actually like, (flames crackling) liability comes from smoke.

(light tense music) - In fact, smoke and fire liability were major obstacles for landowners in Missouri up until a couple of years ago.

A recent revision to the law (light tense music) was made to limit the liability of damages when responsibly practicing prescribed burns.

This change was made (light tense music) because of the increased awareness of the benefits this process has to offer.

(traffic humming) - The main thing is that (light tense music) like, fire can be used in a meaningful way intentionally.

And I know a lot of people think of wildfires whenever they think of fire, (light tense music) like, that is also a scenario that is very impactful and is happening across the United States.

However, in a lot of states, (flames crackling) particularly in the Midwest, (light tense music) if we don't use fires, then we are intentionally harming our environment, and intentionally harming the different (flames crackling) ecosystems that we have.

(light tense music) - We're all still getting into this year that's designated as 2024.

(gentle upbeat music) And we here at "Living St. Louis" took a little time to look at a few things from the year behind us, and some things in the year ahead of us.

(gentle upbeat music) - [Crowd] Six!

- On the upside, (eagle squawking) St. Louis cheered the release of eagle- - Whoa!

- Cool!

- [Jim] Known as two-three, (crowd claps and cheers) one-two-six, raised by Foster dad Murphy at the World Bird Sanctuary, (warm chill music) who started showing his parental skills taking care of a rock.

It's a story that went viral.

(crowd cheers and claps) It was one of the ups.

Stuff like this, one of the many downs.

(warm chill music) Yes, the Cardinals played the Cubs in London, but unfortunately ,that was one of the high points of a less than stellar season.

Cards fans were soon saying, (warm chill music) wait till next year, that is, this year.

(crowd cheering and chanting) The new "Soccer" team took its place high on the local sports (warm chill music) podium for its tremendous performance, even if they fell short in the Playoffs.

(crowd cheers and chants) We reported on plans (warm chill music) to turn the old industrial area south of the arch, centered on the old Crunden-Martin buildings, into a construction innovation complex, with training, manufacturing, (warm chill music) retail, and residential.

But for now, all we've got to go on is the architectural renderings.

- One, two, three.

(posts clinking) (warm chill music) (crowd cheers and applauds) - [Jim] But there was a ribbon cutting on North Grand in St. Louis for a project that, well, it may not transform the city, but it will likely transform lives.

(warm chill music) The Veterans Community Project built tiny homes for veterans who are dealing with housing issues, and homelessness.

- We haven't merely gathered to cut a ribbon.

We have come to open doors (warm chill music) to a brighter future of our local St. Louis area veterans.

This project stands as a testament to our collective commitment to the wellbeing of those who have given so much to our country.

(tearing rasping) - And looking ahead (industrious electronic music) to this coming year, well, southeast Missouri, and southern Illinois are hoping for clear skies on April eighth.

These are the areas (industrious electronic music) in the path of a total eclipse.

And towns large and small have been getting ready for crowds now for the past year.

- No justice, no peace!

(industrious electronic music) - [Jim] This summer, expect a lot of attention on the events that happened in Ferguson in 2014, set off by the August killing of teenager Mike Brown (industrious electronic music) by a Ferguson police officer.

This will be the 10th anniversary, and expect many to be taking a hard look on where we were, and where we are today.

(industrious electronic music) And this is an election year, you probably knew that.

The Illinois primary is in March, Missouri's in August.

General election, November fifth, (industrious electronic music) we'll soon be inundated with campaign ads, except, of course, on public TV.

- The most important things (static crackling) are the hardest to talk about.

(industrious electronic music) - [Jim] And for us here at Nine PBS, well, we will be having a big birthday in 2024.

- Yes, well, I spend most of my time looking for, and finding all kinds of interesting places, and people, and things.

(industrious electronic music) - 70 years ago this September, the station first went on the air, the start, well, kind of a big deal.

(industrious electronic music) (warm upbeat music) We thought the start of the new year was a good time to check in with the mayor of the city of St. Louis, Tishaura Jones.

She was a guest on the Nine PBS podcast, "Listen St. Louis with Carol Daniel."

We thought (warm upbeat music) we'd share a few clips from a very wide ranging conversation.

(Tishaura and Carol speaking indistinct) - [Jim] The podcast was recorded just before Christmas, and they talked about the mayor's job, and family, about the north side, south side, downtown, crime, policy, politics, even potholes.

And of course, Mayor Jones' outlook for the new year.

- [Tishaura] How much time do we have?

(laughs) - We have as much time as you have.

(laughs) - I would like love to see us continue on this trajectory.

I feel like there's an excitement in the air in the city right now.

- (mmhmms) I agree.

- A lotta things are trending in the right directions.

We just finished our crime summit, our regional crime summit, bringing our regional leaders to the table to talk about how we lock arms, and row this boat in the right, in all forward, in the right direction.

(Carol mmhmms) Looking at just two or three things that we can all do to help stem the tide of crime in our communities, to take care of the people, and make sure that they are, they continue to be safe, and free.

I wanna continue our work in the jail, and continue the work that our commissioner has been doing to improve conditions there.

(Carol mmhmms) I wanna continue the work that we're doing in economic development, and continue our Economic Justice Action Plan strategy to invest in neighborhoods that haven't been invested in in decades.

- Right.

Regarding population laws, once the census said, oh, by the way, not only are white families leaving, but black families are leaving St. Louis City, (Tishaura mmhmming) and leaving St. Louis County and moving to St. Charles County.

Although I always say this, the region is shrinking.

So, people, St. Charles county's growing, but the region has lost, I believe, from the census, 10,000 residents.

So, we as a region, (Tishaura mmhmms) are not growing, although St. Charles County is.

How do you turn that tide?

(Tishaura clicks tongue) - Well, that's also a part of our Economic Justice strategy.

We need to provide opportunities for people to come to St. Louis.

So, we are rebuilding our housing market.

We also are building a workforce strategy, so, we purchased a building on Martin Luther King, and which is the old Kellogg Electrical facility.

It's 150,000 square feet, and we're gonna turn it into a world class workforce development agency, or center, partnering with our unions, and other private partners to bring opportunity within our communities to meet people where they are, so they don't have to travel all the way to Earth City, for example- - Right.

- Just to learn to be a plumber or pipe-fitter.

Not that that's a bad thing that, we love that facility out there, (Carol mmhmms) but we want to meet people where they are.

So, if, but they can get on a bus, and go on Martin Luther King real quick.

- Right.

- To be able to, to train, and get new skills, so they can join the middle class, and build their families.

- How did you, and do you respond to the notion that your, all your focus is on North City, to the detriment of South City, if you will?

- Well, South City already has everything that it needs.

They have retail, they have grocery stores, they have banks.

But do you find that same sort of infrastructure in North City?

They have jobs.

So, we need to make sure that all our city grows, because our city cannot succeed or grow if over half of it is left to fail.

And the people who were leaving that we talked about in the census, were leaving, and we lost about 10, 20,000 African Americans in the city since the last census.

So, they're going other places for opportunities for themselves, for their children, for safe neighborhoods.

And so, we wanna make sure that we fix those things so people will come back to St. Louis City, and north St. Louis.

- Talk about downtown.

There is a vibrancy (Tishaura clears throat) in downtown St. Louis.

(Tishaura mmhmming) The, whatever impact, whatever purpose has been put into reducing crime really is working.

- Yes.

- I wanna say 20-some, 20% drop.

- 20%, yes.

- Yes.

- Yes, absolutely.

Well, it starts with, we hired our first police chief from outside of the city in our entire history, in Chief Robert J. Tracy.

(Carol mmhmms) We also opened the Office of Violence Prevention to look at alternative methods of response.

So, we have the Cops and Clinicians program that has, to date, helped over thousands of people get connected directly to services that they need, and avoid ERs and jail.

(Carol mmhmms) We have, are also making a robust investment in our young people.

The shooting on Juneteenth last year, in my opinion, was a cry for help from our young people, that they want safe spaces to have fun.

And so, we have responded in kind by opening our rec centers late on the weekends, and continuing to engage with our young people to give them opportunities to have fun in safe spaces, but also connect them with resources that they need for their families, and themselves as well.

- What keeps you up at night?

- What- - Does anything?

- Well, I do sleep pretty well, (Carol laughs) but I would say what, every morning I wake up, and I look at the crime report, and I pray, Lord, please, no homicides, please, no homicides.

- Mm.

- Not that, you know, any homicide, or any shooting in itself is a tragedy, but losing more lives to homicide is the one thing that really tugs at my heartstrings, even though a lotta times, I don't know the victims, but- - Right.

- At least once a month, at least in my first couple years, about once a month, I either knew the victim, or knew of the victim, because I'm born and raised here- - Right.

- These, this is my community.

- So, that, waking up, looking at the crime report.

- [Tishaura] Yes.

- So, it's better.

- It is better, this morning when I woke up, there were no incidents to report from yesterday.

- None, zero.

- Zero!

- Well, why isn't that a headline?

(Tishaura laughs) Nothing happened in the city, y'all.

- Nothing happened, right.

- Everybody partied, and went home, and worked, and, and got there safely.

- Right, well, nothing was reported.

- Well, that don't count, (Tishaura laughing) that is clear.

I wanna ask you about the challenges of being a first.

- [Tishaura] Yes.

- First black woman to serve as mayor in the city of St. Louis.

And I've been the victim of sexism and racism, and it is real.

- Yes.

- I know that people wanna think it's not- - Right.

- But it is, people, it is.

- Right.

- So, what are the challenges of being the first?

And do you face racism and/or sexism?

You've talked about that already, but- - Yes, yes, all the time.

I also live by a quote that says, "Being a black mayor is a balancing act between white fear and black expectations."

- [Carol] Mm.

- [Jim] You can watch the entire interview, and other "Listen.

St. Louis with Carol Daniel" podcasts on the Nine PBS YouTube channel, or wherever you get your podcasts.

(Tishaura speaking indistinct) (thumping band music) (typewriter tapping) (upbeat piano music) - This week in history, 120 years ago, city officials planned to welcome 1904 with a New Year's good dead.

And it did not, for them, go unpunished.

(upbeat piano music) They had booked the old coliseum to host a free banquet and sweater giveaway for the city's newsboys.

(traffic humming) (bell rings) Like other big cities, St. Louis had a lot of newsboys hawking papers on the street corners.

Some might have been helping out at home, and going to school, (bell rings) but many others were street kids, and street smart.

(fire crackling) The chance for a free meal drew thousands to the banquet that was set up on the floor of the old coliseum.

(upbeat piano music) Mayor Rolla Wells was there, as was David R. Francis, who was working to open the World's Fair in just a few months.

The year before, Francis hosted Teddy Roosevelt, and Grover Cleveland, (upbeat piano music) but dinner with these guests, that would be a very different experience.

The hosts, I think, were expecting something like this, and they were ready with welcoming, and encouraging remarks.

(crowd chattering) (upbeat piano music) But reports said the newsies went straight for the food, many starting out with a piece of pie.

And when they had their fill, paper plates started flying through the air.

(crowd chattering) And then there was a mad scramble to the free sweaters, and then to the exits.

(playful piano music) Now, street kids and child labor, these were serious problems in the city.

These photos began to expose the issues a few years later.

But in 1904, (playful piano music) the newspapers just had fun with all of this.

They had cartoons depicting the banquet guests, and articles, supposedly first-person accounts, (playful piano music) written by newsies named Swipesy McGinty and Pinky Pete.

Supposedly quoted as saying, "We seen long rows of tables, and every blamed foot of them covered with eating goods, and dis is heaven."

(playful piano music) (crowd chattering) Police and city officials just never got things under control.

And one scheduled speaker said, it was useless to even try to make a speech.

(crowd chattering) One alleged quote from a newsie reads, (playful piano music) "What hell do we want of hot air?

We wants de feed and de sweaters, dat's what we want.

Den we all commences to make our getaway."

Well, the newsboys got fed, (playful piano music) they got a sweater, and they got back out to the streets, leaving behind quite a cleanup, and plenty of unused speeches about becoming good citizens.

(playful piano music) That was 1904, this week in St. Louis history.

(warm upbeat music) Back in the days of the newsboys' banquet, there wasn't a lot of talk about, let alone programs addressing the mental wellbeing of children.

Today, there's a much greater awareness.

(warm upbeat music) And as Anne-Marie Berger found out, some very creative ways to help kids.

In this case, with the adults, well, at least the human adults, stepping side.

(warm upbeat music) (warm chill music) - Historically, challenges affecting our mental wellbeing were something people kept quiet about.

Seeking care often came with a stigma.

(warm chill music) But in recent years, the importance of self-care, and addressing mental health concerns has emerged with a new acceptance.

(warm chill music) More people are open to therapy, and discussing mental health with family and friends.

There's also a greater (warm chill music) focus on the mental wellbeing of children.

The US Surgeon General referred to the challenges young people face as uniquely hard to navigate.

(warm chill music) (people speaking indistinct) - [Reporter] Many families are exploring experiential therapies, an approach that includes activities such as role-playing, art, music.

♪ Hey, hey, hey, hello, it's time for some music ♪ - [Reporter] And the use of horses to improve a child's overall wellbeing.

(upbeat string music) Horses, they're highly intelligent, empathetic, and social animals.

(upbeat string music) They communicate their needs and emotions through vocalization.

(horse neighs and sputters) But they're also two-way communicators.

They can read humans (upbeat string music) through our postures, physical movements, and facial expressions, making them an excellent support for our mental wellbeing.

(person laughs) - Aw, he's so cute!

(upbeat string music) - [Reporter] Mental health is an important part of a child's overall health, affecting how they think, feel, and act.

And horses, with their empathetic traits, are being put to work (upbeat string music) alongside mental health professionals to support the emotional needs of children.

- Spending time with a horse like Yoshi here through equine therapy (upbeat string music) can benefit those who struggle with emotional regulation, and impulse control.

(gate creaking) - Nice problem solving.

When you walk into an arena with a horse, you're not sitting in a chair- (people speaking indistinct) - Staring at the therapist in a room.

We kinda stand back and those horses, they show up for people in ways that I've never seen.

(Renee clicks tongue) You're just asking her to move out, and to move around the- - [Reporter] Renee Affholder is an equine specialist at Arise Equine Therapy in Forestdale, Missouri.

Equine therapy requires three experts to facilitate a therapy session.

The equine specialist, a mental health professional, and of course, a horse.

- Thank you, Abby.

- Horses, they're prey animals.

Their herd is really important to them, and their biggest concern is safety.

And there's a lotta science behind this, but we work a lot with kids, so we'll say, you know, horses tend to stay in that lower region of their brain, in that fight or flight, (clapping hands) because that's what's kept them alive for all these years.

When someone's gone through trauma, any type of trauma, that can happen to them as well, as a person, you can get stuck in that lower part of your brain.

So, a horse relates to us really well, and they start working with that person, and they start developing a connection with that person, which turns into a relationship.

(person mmhmms) And we focus on healthy relationships.

Same principles that we would use to build a healthy relationship with a person are the same principles we're gonna use with that horse.

(person mmhmms) - [Renee] Here, who is this right here?

- This is Candy.

- [Reporter] Abby is 11 years old.

She's more than happy to get up early on a Saturday to spend time with Candy.

And she's not afraid to talk about why.

- We usually have a connection when we usually come out.

- [Reporter] What is so great about horses?

- They know how you feel (birds chirping) and they, they know how to make a person feel better.

- [Reporter] Talking about our feelings, emotions, trauma is easy for some, and very difficult for others.

Often, experiential therapies, like working with horses, can allow young people to share their thoughts in more comfortable ways.

- So, as long as we keep that conversation about the horses, it's amazing what can come out during a session, when in return, they're really talking about themselves.

Look at this, what do you think that is?

- A bite mark?

- A bite mark, yeah.

I wonder what happened.

- Remember when he was near the horses were picking on him?

- I do.

- [Patient] So, that's, it's probably still there.

- You think so?

- Yeah.

- Is that kinda like when you went to a new school, and you were having some trouble with friends?

- [Patient] Yeah.

- Yeah.

- [Reporter] Tia Kraemer is a therapist at Arise.

She says, for some, the isolation of COVID exacerbated underlying anxieties.

- Did anybody bite you?

I've seen an increase with kids just because they were isolated during COVID, (birds chirping) and building that relationship with the horse, and feeling that connection, and it being a comfortable feeling.

So, our hope is that they build those connections, and relationships, and they look forward to coming back, and seeing their horse, or the horse that they've connected with, and that those feelings maybe carry on throughout their week with other relationships.

- [Reporter] What do you think he's telling you?

- Huh, Willa, I think I'm getting a bit hungry.

- I think you're right, Willa, I think you're really in tune to his feelings.

(warm chill music) - [Reporter] Often, parents don't know when therapy might be needed for their child.

Identifying what's a phase versus injury and pain that is unseen, and growing, may not be obvious.

- Remember, you're his leader.

(warm chill music) - [Reporter] Kraemer advises that if normal behavior for your child has changed, and basic needs aren't being met, get it checked out.

(people speaking indistinct) - I look at mental health like any other.

(warm chill music) If they had a toothache, you know, how bad is this?

Are you able to eat?

Are you able to do things that you should do during your day?

Do we need to go to the dentist?

And coming to therapy (warm chill music) shouldn't be any different than that.

(warm upbeat music) - And that's "Living St.

Louis."

Keep those cards and letters coming, or texts and emails.

We're at NinePBS.org/LSL.

Thanks for joining us, I'm Jim Kirchherr, (warm upbeat music) and we'll see you next time.

(warm upbeat music) (warm upbeat music) (warm upbeat music) (warm upbeat music) - [Narrator] "Living St. Louis" is funded in part by the Betsy & Thomas Patterson Foundation, (warm upbeat music) and the members of Nine PBS.