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RFT 📰

City’s Lawsuit Against Slumlord Dara Daugherty Is Good to Go, Judge Rules

1 month ago
A judge ruled yesterday that the City of St. Louis may continue with their lawsuit against slumlord Dara Daugherty and her associates. The city has accused them of for years renting out dozens of properties throughout south city as illegal rooming houses — despite the properties being condemned for habitation.
Ryan Krull

Proper Cannabis' Black Maple #22 Live Rosin Checks All the Boxes

1 month ago
Ever since I started smoking weed, hash has felt like an ancient, forbidden door. The first time I ever tried it, I felt like I was starting up the final challenge on Legends of the Hidden Temple and I upset Olmec. More recently, I've taken a modern academic approach filled with podcasts.
Graham Toker

Movie Music and Jacey’s Jazz Joint Artfully Blend Cabaret and Theater

1 month ago
The Midnight Company has been packing the house with their recent series of cabaret theater productions and their latest offerings, Movie Music and Jacey’s Jazz Joint, are no exception. With interesting scripts by Joe Hanrahan and a varied selection of mostly familiar classic songs, the shows are a tribute to two popular genres that create an enjoyable night out. Both shows feature the multi-talented Eileen Engel, with composer and music director Colin Healy on the piano.
Tina Farmer

Missouri Supreme Court Rejects Death Row Inmate Brian Dorsey's Appeal

1 month ago
A Missouri man on death row failed to show that drug-induced psychosis left him innocent of first-degree murder charges — or that his attorneys' counsel was ineffective, the Missouri Supreme Court ruled today. The court's decision paves the way for Brian Dorsey to be executed in April as scheduled. Dorsey is today a model inmate (as the Post-Dispatch's Tony Messenger has written, he's received support for his efforts to be saved from execution from no less than 60 employees of the Potosi Correctional Center, where he is incarcerated and works as a barber).
Sarah Fenske

Toddler Shoots Himself with St. Louis Sheriff’s Deputy’s Gun

1 month ago
A 2-year-old boy injured himself last weekend with a gun that a St. Louis City Sheriff's deputy left unattended. The 2-year-old was reportedly wounded in the side but his injuries are not fatal.  Ferguson Police Spokeswoman Pat Washington confirmed to the RFT that a 2-year-old accidentally shot himself with an adult's firearm on Saturday night at a home in Ferguson.
Ryan Krull

15-Year-Old Charged in Fatal Stabbing of Teen Near Jennings Junior High

1 month 1 week ago
A 15-year-old is now being held in custody on a second-degree murder charge stemming from the fatal stabbing of a Jennings 14-year-old walking home from school last week. The suspect, whose name has not being made public, was taken into custody last night in Jefferson City and is currently being held at a St. Louis County Family Court facility in Clayton.  The 15-year-old is accused of killing Justin Brooks last week Tuesday around 3 p.m., a short distance away from Rose Mary Johnson Jennings Junior High School.
Ryan Krull

Esca Brings Coastal Mediterranean Cuisine to the Delmar Maker District

1 month 1 week ago
Esca, the new “coastal Mediterranean bar and grill” from Ben Poremba’s Bengelina Hospitality Group, will open on Thursday, March 21, at 5095 Delmar Boulevard in the Delmar Maker District. The restaurant’s menu features meat, seafood and vegetables grilled over charcoal, fresh salads and cold appetizers, classic cocktails, a large amaro selection and a range of indulgent desserts. Poremba said Esca “doesn’t have a defined cuisine,” but rather is inspired by a variety of Mediterranean cuisines, taking in the Western Mediterranean, the French Riviera and “a little bit of Sicily.” The first floor space at the corner of Delmar Boulevard and Academy Avenue was formerly a barber shop, transformed by two years of top-to-bottom renovations into a dining room that instantly ranks among the most appealing in the city.
Iain Shaw

Bill Christman's Gallery/Consignment Shop Aims to Make the Loop Weird Again

1 month 1 week ago
When pondering the beaten down state of St. Louis' art and music scenes, Bill Christman has a theory on who is to blame: It was those damn Germans. The city had been founded by the French, the prolific St. Louis artist recounts, before the Germans came along in the 1840s, prior to the Civil War. The newcomers had money, education and skills, and soon they more or less took the town over.
Daniel Hill

St. Louis County Police Sergeant Was Paid Overtime for Branson Vacation

1 month 1 week ago
A St. Louis County Police sergeant faces a stealing charge after allegedly spending time in Branson over Thanksgiving instead of working shifts at the county courthouse and jail.  The charge was filed today against David Ryan, 51, who works in a supervisory role and scheduled himself to work shifts he didn't actually show up for. According to a statement issued today by the county police, Ryan was paid $1,716.26 in wages he shouldn't have earned.
Ryan Krull

St. Louis May Soon Welcome Negro Leagues Baseball Museum of Its Own

1 month 1 week ago
The St. Louis Board of Aldermen is considering a bill that would provide tax abatement and a blighting study for the JeffVanderLou area — where a new Negro Leagues Baseball Museum hopes to open. The museum, planned for 2423 North Spring Street, will be an affiliate of the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum in Kansas City that will emphasize the role of the St. Louis Stars as well as other prominent Black baseball players who contributed to the city, developer Guyton Harvey said during a committee meeting on Tuesday. The Stars were originally known as the Giants before the team was sold to a new owner, according to the museum.
Kallie Cox

Trial Begins for Jack Buck’s Daughter's Discrimination Suit Against Harris-Stowe

1 month 1 week ago
A former professor at Harris-Stowe State University alleges that she was discriminated against by university leadership, retaliated against when she complained, and even had things thrown at her during meetings in the latter part of her 24 years at the institution. Beverly Buck Brennan, who is the daughter of Jack Buck and sister of Joe Buck, began working at Harris-Stowe in 1993 as an instructor of theater classes and eventually became the director of the university's speech and theater program. It was a job she has expressed passion for in depositions.
Ryan Krull

Jay Ashcroft Is Taking Cues From a Think Tank with ‘Deep Ties’ to Billionaires

1 month 1 week ago
Emails obtained by CNN reporters and watchdog group Documented suggest that Missouri Secretary of State Jay Ashcroft is the puppet of a “right-wing think tank with deep ties to conservative billionaires.” Ashcroft, who is also a candidate for governor, seems determined to gin up controversy, with bizarre comments regarding IVF, a bold stance against veterans receiving discounts and a passion for rooting out non-existent ”voter fraud.” But the emails show he’s often parroting viewpoints from a group with national reach.
Kallie Cox

Bloomberg Taps St. Louis as 1 of 25 American ‘Sustainable Cities’

1 month 1 week ago
The City of St. Louis has been selected as one of Bloomberg Philanthropies' 25 sustainable American cities and will receive resources to combat climate change locally. The three-year program will utilize federal funding in the area to “proactively build low-carbon, resilient, and economically thriving communities,” according to a news release from Bloomberg.  St. Louis was chosen to take part in the program based on the city’s leadership and ambition, according to the St. Louis Development Corporation.
Kallie Cox

Red-Light Cameras Stall as Aldermen Push to Curb Police Surveillance

1 month 1 week ago
Mayor Tishaura Jones wants red light cameras in St. Louis — but their fate at the Board of Aldermen seems inextricably linked to a bill meant to provide oversight of police surveillance.  Aldermanic President Megan Green is adamant that it’s important not to implement an automated traffic enforcement system that would enable another vast network of cameras in the city, without first passing a bill that would allow for accountability and transparency for citizens’ civil rights.  As a result, bills that may seem unrelated to one another have led to tensions between the former allies.
Kallie Cox

Immaculate Is a Batshit Psycho-Thriller Just Like They Used to Make

1 month 1 week ago
The Sydney Sweeney train keeps chugging along, as the physically blessed actress/influencer takes command of the box office one movie genre at a time. Anyone But You, the silly Much Ado About Nothing redo she did with that pretty boy from Top Gun: Maverick, shocked the hell out of everyone by making more than $200 million worldwide. What wasn’t shocking was how much Madame Web, the sisterly superhero movie she co-starred in with Dakota Johnson, was reviled by critics and audiences.
Craig D. Lindsey