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Tornadoes. Obscure city boards. And wineries.Ìý

I've covered a breadth of issues since I joined the Post-Dispatch in April.Ìý

Here are a few of my memorable stories from 2021: 

1. The spotlight shined on the St. Louis Preservation Board this year. The organization, which can approve or deny requests for modifications or demolitions of historic property, gained attention when it considered whether to approve a developer's request to raze the Optimists building. It gave me the opportunity to look more into this little known board and how it makes decisions. Read the story.Ìý

2. Nothing kept me busier this year than Webster Groves. Debate over a $320 million project heated up in the last months of the year as the St. Louis County suburb weighed whether the development would deliver more tax dollars and business or threaten quality of life. Ultimately, opposition won and the project died, surprising everyone. Read the first story in the series.Ìý

3. I don't cover natural disasters often, but the Dec. 10 tornado that tore into an Amazon facility in Edwardsville raised questions on how the tragedy happened. My interview with Grace Yan, a structural engineer, revealed the warehouse's construction isn't "tornado resistant" and that these types of buildings can be found across the region. Read the story.Ìý

4. The city of Maryland Heights hit a hurdle with the Centene Community Ice Center. The city issued more than $50 million in bonds to build the project, banking on the center's revenues to help pay down debt. But the coronavirus pandemic shrunk profits, sometimes to as a low as 19 cents a month, putting the project and the city on thin ice. Read the story.Ìý

5. It's not often that you can say you filed a story from a winery. Investor David Hoffmann has acquired dozens of local wineries and properties, hoping to transform the sleepy town of Augusta into a national destination.

Not everyone is saying "cheers." Read the story.Ìý