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15-thousand people are converging on the campus of Washington University as they begin their 152nd year of celebrating graduates. And the school warns motorists you might want to take another route if you're commute takes you near Forest Park.

Traffic around the university will be very heavy Friday morning due to the university’s annual Commencement ceremony, which begins at 8:30 a.m. Traffic backups should be anticipated on streets near the university, especially Forsyth, Big Bend, Forest Park Parkway and Skinker. 

The university will award 2,873 degrees to 2,752 undergraduate, graduate and professional students. The university also will bestow honorary degrees on six individuals.  

 Cory Booker, the mayor of Newark, N.J., will deliver the 2013 Commencement address. During the ceremony, Booker, who is credited with helping revitalize New Jersey’s largest city with his hands-on and innovative approach, also will receive an honorary doctor of laws degree.

Washington University’s five other honorary degree recipients and their degrees are:

Marilyn Fox, St. Louis civic leader, philanthropist and community volunteer, doctor of humanities;

Martin L. Mathews, president, CEO and co-founder of Mathews-Dickey Boys’ & Girls’ Club, doctor of humanities;

Juhani Pallasmaa, a Finnish architect, educator and critic and a leading international figure in contemporary architecture, design and artistic culture, doctor of art and architecture;

Peter Rosen (MD ’60), one of the international leaders in the field of emergency medicine and one of the pioneers and founding fathers of the specialty, doctor of science;

and Howard Wood (BSBA ’61), co-founder of two of the nation’s most successful telecommunications companies: Charter Communications Inc. and Cequel III LLC, doctor of laws.

Police say they've caught the man who exposed himself to a teenage girl near a St. Peters library earlier this week.

49-year-old Kevin Flatley was arrested yesterday (Thursday) and charged with 2nd Degree Sexual Misconduct. Police say they tracked him down through a tattoo of an Italian flag similar to one described by the witness.

 Flatley's bond has been set at $20,000.

CAHOKIA, Ill. (AP) - Police say a suspect running from authorities jumped from a highway ramp leading to a Mississippi River bridge into St. Louis. The man survived and is hospitalized.

The Belleville News-Democrat reports that investigators in Cahokia, Ill., just southeast of St. Louis, were conducting a sweep Wednesday for fugitives and illegal drugs and guns when the man sped away from police trying to stop his car.

The suspect then crashed on an on-ramp of the Poplar Street Bridge and tried to flee on foot before leaping over a guardrail.

Police say he survived the fall and attempted to hide after he landed but was arrested.

His name and medical status were not immediately available Thursday.