Following up on the runaway success of THC-infused Red Hot Riplets must be a daunting task. The popular product's June launch was met with a tidal wave of enthusiasm among the weed- and chip-purchasing public — one that saw bags flying off the shelves, with many dispensaries struggling to keep them in stock for more than a day or two at a time.
Though Ross Gay is perhaps most celebrated for his poetry, the award-winning author's latest book is a collection of essays. Titled Inciting Joy: Essays, the book examines the joy that comes from caring for others, especially in times of difficulty. A reviewer at Kirkus called it "a pleasingly digressive and intimate memoir in essays" and notes the book's focus on varied topics that include basketball, therapy, masculinity and more.
Gus Koebbe III and his dad, Gus Jr., like to joke around that the reason they have stayed in the pretzel business so long is a matter of endurance and bad decisions. "My dad always jokes that we weren't smart enough to get out," Koebbe says with a laugh. "He says that everybody else got smart and got out, but we stayed.
A new virtual docket will allow St. Louis County residents with active warrants for traffic and nonviolent offenses to request new court dates without risking arrest. Tomorrow, St. Louis County will host its inaugural Fresh Start Friday, where residents with low-level warrants can log into a virtual docket with a judge to speak about their active warrant. This serves as a substitute for requesting new court dates in person at St. Louis County Municipal Court, where residents with active warrants, risk arrest by showing up in person to request a new court date.
When you hear the words "chicken-crust pizza," what comes to mind? Is it a comparison with the much maligned but probably delicious KFC Double Down, which featured toppings between two "slices" of fried chicken ? Is it Taco Bell's Naked Chicken Chalupa, starring a poultry shell? Or is your noggin completely blank because the idea of a pizza where the crust is made of chicken is too downright wild to picture? But what if that chicken-crust pizza wasn't strange at all?
Dave Werner, Maplewood's unofficial poet laureate, died on October 21, 2022, of heart complications. He was 68 years old, and he's grumbling over my shoulder as I write this.
Monday is the final day that St. Louis and St. Charles-area residents who experienced flood-related losses can receive assistance from the Federal Emergency Management Agency. After storms rocked the St. Louis area in late July, FEMA dedicated nearly $54 million to affected homeowners and renters. This could include renters who had to relocate, people who had to stay in a hotel and homeowners who had basements filled with water.
As I got ready to depart my home with my shopping cart it was merely drizzling so I thought I was safe with just my blue SLU cap but the rain picked up until I found myself trudging under a torrential downpour when suddenly an unfamiliar SUV pulled erratically up and a woman inside insisted I take a ride and though I hesitated for a second common sense dictated I get in and it was a lovely ride with no questions and the driver blessed me as I got out and I did my soaking wet shopping and came out to enjoy my two donuts and a man was there looking for odd jobs whispering about my donuts so I gave him a half and my lighter was wet so he kindly went in to buy me one but it finally worked and when he came out I nonetheless gave him bread and a soda and then my artist friend showed up and walked me to the bus and we talked amiably about Halloween and then it started raining hard again and a woman came over and enveloped me in her huge umbrella and then the nice warm dry bus showed up and I made it home. Every week, the RFT runs an anonymous short story that could only take place here.
First there was Tower Rock north of Cape Girardeau, then the Diamond Lady Casino boat near Memphis, now the prolonged drought affecting the midwest has opened up previously water-logged portions of a popular southwest Missouri cave. The Smallin Cave has been a tourist destination since the 1960s. It regularly hosts tours and spelunking expeditions.
Rachel Jenness was a young teacher when Kevin Johnson entered her kindergarten class at Westchester Elementary in Kirkwood. The young boy quickly burrowed his way into Jenness’ heart. She recalls that he was a great reader, good at math and had the cutest little smile.
Jodie Ferguson was only six years old when she lost her grandmother, Clara Bloodworth, but their brief relationship was enough to have a lasting impact on her. A farmer's wife from Louisiana, Bloodworth moved to rural Pennsylvania after she got married and spent her days cooking for the farm hands and day laborers who would help her family work their land. Even after she got older and joined her daughter's family in Texas, Bloodworth could not help herself from taking over the kitchen, and when she did, little Ferguson was either on her hip or set up on the counter watching her grandma prepare okra and make what she referred to as doughnuts but were beignets.
Joshua Lawrence, 29, is the founder of the popular Twitter account @STLPoliticClips, which reposts clips from St. Louis city Board of Aldermen meetings. RFT spoke with Lawrence to learn more about him, his Twitter account and the BOA. This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
The month of October may have been peak Spooky Season, but there was nothing scary about the hustle and bustle happening in the St. Louis restaurant scene. The month's biggest news came courtesy of Ben Poremba, who was the latest big-name industry player to take over one of iconic restaurateur Zoë Robinson's Wydown properties. His latest project, the Spanish-inflected Bar Moro, replaces Robinson's beloved Billie-Jean, helping to further solidify this stretch of Clayton as one of the region's most thrilling dining destinations.
Die-hard Cardinals fans who love to spend exorbitant amounts of money on largely useless things, your time has come — Albert Pujols' 700th home run ball is currently up for auction and already going for a small fortune. St. Louis' favorite Dominican dinger dispenser blasted that ball into the stratosphere in LA back on September 23, whereupon it was caught by a fan who turned down multiple offers for it on his way out of the building. Ultimately his decision to keep the piece of MLB history was a wise (if temporary) one, as it's now up for auction on the website for the New Jersey-based sports memorabilia company Goldin Collectibles — and going for a staggering $160,000.
Two men pleaded guilty in federal court in St. Louis to conspiracy to distribute and possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine after trying to buy 100 pounds of the drug from a seller working in league with law enforcement. A statement from the U.S. Attorney's Office says that Demond Benard McDaniels Jr., 26, of St. Charles, and Dawuane Lamont Rhodes Jr., 25, of St. Louis are each facing up to 20 years in prison. The guilty pleas stem from a traffic stop that occurred in Kansas on October 8, 2020.
During a closed-door meeting late last month, the Hazelwood School District Board of Education voted on the future of Jana Elementary School, the site in Florissant that had suddenly closed a few weeks earlier after tests revealed dangerous levels of radioactive waste that were created during the building of the first atomic bombs. However, the Hazelwood school board did not vote on the plan in open session, a fact that fueled the anger of Jana parents who voiced their objections during a school board meeting Tuesday night. Sending Jana’s nearly 400 students to five other schools — a key part of the newly unveiled rezoning plan — would ruin the students’ sense of community, disrupt their educations, cause unreasonable crowding at the students’ new schools and create hardship for parents, according to parents who spoke.
This past weekend the snake trade show Midwest Venom Fest — which, as the name suggests, features venomous snakes — ended earlier than scheduled when an Egyptian cobra went missing. The event went smoothly on Saturday, but on Sunday morning a vendor noticed that a cobra of his wasn't in the container it should be. "The Egyptian cobra is one of the largest cobras on the African continent and one of the most venomous in the world, with toxins capable of fatal bites," according to the website for the Virginia Aquarium and Marine Science Center.
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