What happens when the nonprofit radio station you run begins hemorrhaging donors and listeners and, through a series of your own actions, loses the faith of the community it purports to serve? If that station is KDHX, it would appear that you get a raise. According to the station's tax return signed by Executive Director Kelly Wells and dated March 14, Wells was paid more than $100,000 in reportable compensation last year, even as the station's revenue sharply declined.
Prosecutors have elevated the charges against a 25-year-old man accused of assaulting a teenage McDonald's employee outside the restaurant. Johnny Ricks, from north St. Louis County, now faces a first-degree felony assault charge, the closest charge to attempted murder permitted under Missouri law. An updated complaint filed yesterday by prosecutors in St. Louis County contains the amended allegations.
Green Party Presidential Candidate Dr. Jill Stein is slated to speak at the University City Public Library on Saturday. She will speak alongside other academic and activist organizations on topics ranging from mass incarceration to factory farms in St. Louis. Stein has previously been slammed by members of the Democratic Party, who accused her of taking votes away from Hillary Clinton in 2016.
This story was first published in the Daily Egyptian of Southern Illinois University and is reprinted with permission. Southern Illinois University tenure professor Scott McClurg died April 13 after a long struggle with brain cancer.
For Nick Rinella, CEO of Missouri-based Hippos Cannabis, Saturday's 4/20 Day was the best of the times and the worst of times. The best: Customers lined up at Hippos' three dispensaries in Missouri, which includes locations in Chesterfield, Springfield and Columbia. "A lot of customers showed up," Rinella says.
After an extensive six-month search that identified three well-qualified finalists, Kate Bergstrom was selected to join the Repertory Theatre of St. Louis as the eighth Augustin Family Artistic Director in the company’s 58-year run. Officially starting in the role on May 13, Bergstrom is already busy moving to the city and becoming familiar with the staff and region. St. Louis theatergoers may already be familiar with Bergstrom, who directed well-received productions of The 39 Steps in 2021 and 2023’s crowd-pleasing holiday production It’s A Wonderful Life: A Live Radio Play.
Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey launched an investigation into four companies Wednesday as part of an effort to crack down on intoxicating hemp products. The problem, according to Bailey, is the products in question — such as Delta-8 edibles and vape pens — are not clearly labeled to indicate that they’ll get you high. “When purchasing products, Missourians have a right to know if they will be subject to serious and potentially dangerous side effects,” Bailey stated in his press release, “like psychotic episodes, severe confusion, hallucinations and other life-threatening problems.”
A new market, deli and cafe called the Cobblestone will open soon at 701 North First Street on Laclede’s Landing. The business is owned and managed by Camille Jackson and Christopher McMenomy, who say they are on track for late April. All the cafe equipment is in place on the first floor, and some final tweaks are happening down below, where the market and deli will be.
Annie’s Hope offers a free summer camp for children in the St. Louis area, but it’s probably not what you think. While this camp does offer the fun activities associated with the concept — including crafts, canoeing and kickball — its purpose is greater, and every camper has one thing in common: Someone they love is dead. Camp Courage is an annual getaway for grieving kids and teens ages 6-18.
The opening arguments in the murder trial for accused cop killer Thomas Kinworthy began today, with both prosecution and defense agreeing that Kinworthy killed St. Louis police officer Tamarris Bohannon. "I'm going to tell you something the defense doesn't normally say in an opening statement," said Kinworthy's public defender, Anne Legomsky. "We admit it.
St. Louis Ward 7 Alderwoman Alisha Sonnier took her advocacy for the unhoused community to the steps of the U.S. Supreme Court on Monday as the court weighed arguments in Johnson v. Grants Pass. The court must decide whether cities can ban unhoused individuals from sleeping outside even when shelter space is scarce. “The case is considered the most significant to come before the high court in decades on the issue as record numbers of people are without a permanent place to live in the United States,” the Associated Press reported.
Across Melville Avenue from Blueberry Hill, and directly opposite Fitz’s Root Beer, Umami Seasons Hotpot has joined the Loop throng at 6602 Delmar Boulevard in University City. Umami Seasons serves Taiwanese hot pot, which is an interactive style of Asian dining (primarily Taiwanese and Chinese) where food is cooked at the table in different types of broth. Owner Poyi Liu explains that while the Chinese hot pot experience tends to be larger and noisier, the Taiwanese emphasis is on warmth and intimacy.
A second video has emerged of the dust-up that occurred Friday night at a Perry County GOP event between Missouri Secretary of State Jay Ashcroft and state Senator Denny Hoskins (R-Warrensburg). This video shows Hoskins and Ashcroft outside the event, after an initial confrontation inside in which Hoskins called Ashcroft a "chickenshit" a half-dozen times. Hoskins had previously told the RFT that Ashcroft “barked off” to his wife, but during the initial heat exchange, Ashcroft retorted that whatever he uttered to Hoskins' wife, he said because Hoskins' wife "was just looking at him and I just responded."
Calling all picklers: Maryland Heights is jumping on the pickleball craze with the opening of its new membership, tech-driven pickleball “wellness facility,” Hi Pickle Club (2551 Metro Boulevard, Maryland Heights). At Hi Pickle Club, which is projected to open this fall, picklers can enjoy the eight regulation-sized pickleball courts, players lounges and locker rooms, as well as a cross-training facility operated by HiDow, which offers electrotherapy, recovery, wellness and sports medicine. In the last year, St. Louis has seen pickleball facilities pop up all over the area including Chicken ‘N’ Pickle (1500 South Main Street, St. Charles) and Padel + Pickleball (1220 North Price Road, Olivette).
One hundred percent of the sheriffs in the City of St. Louis agree: the Riverfront Times is an exciting read. That was — more or less — the sentiment Sheriff Vernon Betts expressed at a neighborhood meeting in Bevo Mill Thursday night, where he was one of several elected officials and candidates speaking at a union hall on Delor Street. After his remarks, someone in the audience asked him about recent media coverage of a photo that showed a detainee in Betts' charge lying in his own excrement.
A state senator filmed in two separate videos getting in the face of Missouri Secretary of State Jay Ashcroft on Friday night says that he was provoked after Ashcroft “barked off” in the face of his fellow Republican’s wife. Denny Hoskins (R-Warrensburg) tells the RFT that at Friday night’s Perry County Lincoln Day event, Ashcroft “came up to my wife Michelle who was seated at a table, pointed his finger in her face and barked off to her.” “I was there and confronted Ashcroft in the back of the room and called him a few choice words,” says Hoskins, who is also running for Ashcroft’s current job of Secretary of State (Ashcroft is running for governor).
Former First Lady Michelle Obama was in the St. Louis area in recent days. And not only did she stop by one of our local Target stores, she also left a gift behind at it. Obama uploaded a video to X that shows her looking totally like herself and yet totally incognito, shopping at a suburban St. Louis Target in a sweatshirt and ballcap.
In the past few weeks Washington University has joined a growing number of college campuses nationwide disciplining student protestors advocating for Palestine. Now activists plan to rally against the administration’s response and continue to call for divestment from Boeing. Tomorrow activists will participate in an art build from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. and a divestment rally from 1:45 to 3:00 p.m. outside Brookings Hall on Wash U’s Quad.
A 25-year-old man is in custody after a fight outside a McDonald's in north St. Louis County in which a 15-year-old employee had her head slammed into the ground. Police are still seeking information about others involved in the fight. Video of the incident posted on social media allegedly shows Johnny Ricks pulling Aryiah Lynch by her hair in the parking lot and assaulting her multiple times near the drive-thru of the restaurant.
Chris LaBarge caused a minor commotion on the Hill Monday when he pulled up in front of the Digregorio’s Market in his new Tesla Cybertruck. Say what you will about Elon Musk's car company, but there was no shortage of passersby coming up to LaBarge to admire the stainless steel, futuristic-looking electric pickup and ask him questions about it. The Cybertruck weighs about 7,000 pounds and can go from zero to 60 mph in three seconds.
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