RFT 📰

Thanks to Tucker Carlson, we finally know Josh Hawley's defense to accusations that he ran like a coward after inciting a mob on January 6: Other people ran faster. Using 40,000 hours of new footage released thanks to House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, Carlson last night attempted to attack the House Select Committee and vindicate Hawley. Think of it as the FoxNews remix — edited to suggest Hawley was falsely accused of inciting a riot and rank cowardice, and Ashli Babbitt was murdered.

St. Louis attorney Al Watkins, whose name is often in the news, is being sued by a former client who wishes his name wasn't in the news at all. Former client Paul Henreid filed suit last week saying that when he hired Watkins to expunge a criminal conviction from his record, Watkins and his partner Michael Schwade ignored Henreid’s wishes to keep the story out of the press. Henreid’s criminal conviction dates back to 1999, when his name was Paul Henroid and he was a law student at Washington University.

The union that represents workers at the St. Louis Post-Dispatch is urging members to say no to cost-cutting furloughs ordered by parent company Lee Enterprises —  risking further layoffs in a show of defiance. Last year, Iowa-based Lee avoided a hostile takeover from the hedge fund Alden Global Capital, which is known for slashing the publications it acquires to the bone. But in the months since Alden dropped its bid, Lee has forced its own series of painful cuts.

The Florissant Police Department has released a photo of a car they are searching for in relation to a cyclist's death late last month. On February 24, a driver struck and killed a cyclist crossing New Florissant Road near St. Francois Street not far from Florissant City Hall. Florissant Police Department Officer Steve Michael says that police believe that the vehicle shown above struck the cyclist, causing him to fall.

St. Louis CITY Soccer Club has made it clear after two matches in Major League Soccer that it is ready to compete, perhaps like no other team in league history. CITY started its inaugural MLS season 2-0, becoming just the fourth expansion team in league history to do so.

It seems like we’ve all had mushrooms on the mind lately. With The Last of Us becoming a hit show to morel hunting season being upon us, it seems like mushrooms are all around us these days. If you’re keen to learn more about mushrooms and how to find them, check out the Mushroom Festival and Hunt at Pere Marquette Lodge & Conference Center (13653 Lodge Boulevard, PMLodge.net) in Grafton, Illinois on April 23.

The surviving family of Sandy Little, who was murdered more than 30 years ago at the age of 21, confronted the man who took her life and the lives of at least four other women in St. Charles court this morning. Last year, 73-year-old Gary Muehlberg confessed to murdering five women between 1990 and 1991.

MONDAY, FEBRUARY 27 An execution-style killing on the edge of downtown St. Louis has the anti-Gardner crowd eagerly sharing snuff films on social media. That includes KMOX’s Kevin Killeen, hitherto known chiefly for his hatred of February, and St. Louis’ own Gateway Pundit. Disturbing.

In the 1980’s, Federico Fellini’s semi-autobiographical 1963 film 8 ½ was adapted into the musical Nine. Later, Director Rob Marshall made a film version of the musical that referenced the movie, or vice versa.

The line was down the block and several people deep on Saturday afternoon at Viola STL Dispensary (2001 Olive Street) across from CITYPARK stadium. This crowd, however, was not there for the inaugural soccer game. This crowd was there for former basketball player Allen Iverson.

Recreational weed sales began February 3 and Missourians knew what to do. We bought a bunch of weed and got high as hell — record shatteringly high. Missourians spent $103 million on cannabis last month, eclipsing the state's previous monthly sales record of $40.5 million.

It was 6:20 p.m., and the St. Louis CITY SC fans were ready to march. Just one block from CITYPARK stadium, hundreds of fans packed into an alley next to Schlafly Tap Room on Saturday.

Cars with expired temp tags are as common of a sight on St. Louis streets as Joy FM bumper stickers. But, according to Fox2News, a new state law is looking to do something about that (the expired tags, not the Joy FM stickers).

I’m sure you’ve gone to a movie based on a novel and heard the expression, “You really need to read the book.” Well, there’s a twist to that old adage with the “Don’t Say Gay” bill that was introduced last Wednesday in the Missouri House. It’s not enough to have read the bill or even a news account of the bill.

Today in St. Louis City court, a jury awarded Deputy Public Safety Director Heather Taylor a $300,000 judgement, more than five years after she brought a lawsuit against the city claiming she was retaliated against for speaking to the media. Taylor filed the suit in August 2017 when she was the President of the Ethical Society of Police, a union of Black police officers. Taylor's suit says that in 2016 she spoke to St. Louis Post-Dispatch columnist Tony Messenger in her capacity as ESOP president for an article Messenger wrote about how the department had turned off its Shot Spotter gunfire-detection technology because, as Taylor said, “the bill hadn’t been paid.”

Whether in book, movie or its most recent play version by Aaron Sorkin, Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird remains a powerful, insightful American story. The current touring production at the Fabulous Fox Theatre (527 North Grand Boulevard, 314-534-1678, fabulousfox.com), featuring Richard Thomas as Atticus Finch, is an impeccable dramatic production.

Walgreens won’t dispense abortion pills by mail to 20 conservative states — including Missouri.  The country’s second-largest pharmacy announced Thursday that it won’t sell mifepristone, the first in a two-drug regimen for medication abortions, after nearly two dozen attorneys general warned Walgreens it could face legal action if it continued to sell abortion pills by mail. 

St. Louis Battlehawks fans are looking forward to March 25, when the team will finally play its first game against the Las Vegas Vipers (formerly the Tampa Bay Vipers). Any XFL fan knows that the rivalry between the two teams is intense, despite the fact this will be their first time meeting on the field (assuming this XFL season is not marked by financial or viral catastrophe, as has been the case in years past).

In the day-to-day preoccupations of life and politics, it can be easy to lose sight of an obvious fact: In just a couple of election cycles, the political leadership of St. Louis has been transformed. Gone, at least temporarily, are the days of the proudly "moderate” corporate-centric neoliberals who have dominated local political circles for generations.

One thing became clear last month: St. Louis really needed a place to eat something delicious and local in the early, early morning hours. How else to explain the overwhelming response to Up Late? The new 8 p.m. to 4 a.m. food spot from Nathan Wright and Strange Donuts that's operating out of World's Fair Donuts has reportedly been slammed since it opened mid month.