RFT 📰

Yesterday afternoon, the International Space Station passed over St. Louis as it orbited the earth. There seemed to not be a cloud in the sky, providing what the @ISSAboveYou Twitter account called an "exceptionally clear view" of the metro area from 260 miles above. Fortunately, the space station had a camera rolling.

There is more to this week's Savage Love. To read the entire column, go to savage.love. Hey Dan: I'm a 71-year-old gay man married to a much younger man. That's all fine, not relevant so much as just info. Fifteen years ago, I briefly took Prozac.

O'Fallon Police Department Sergeant Jodi Weber, the detective who solved the so-called "Package Killer" serial murder cold case, is reaching out to the public with new information and a request for the public's assistance. Weber's years of investigative work came to fruition last month when prosecuting attorneys in three jurisdictions announced homicide charges against Gary Muehlberg, 73, for four murders he allegedly committed in 1990 and 1991. Muehlberg left the victim's bodies in various containers — between two mattresses, in a plastic garbage can, in a metal barrel — leading him to be dubbed the Package Killer.

Plays about love and death generally require reflection, and Steven Dietz’s weighty Fiction, now at St. Louis Actors’ Studio, is no exception to the rule. Solid performances and clear-sighted direction by Wayne Salomon ensure a production that’s compelling to watch, though the story, much like the nearly all black non-descript set, left me somewhat cold. After first meeting by chance at a café in Paris, Linda and Michael Waterman have been married for 20 years.

Police uncovered human remains in St. Louis this past weekend. The information came from an anonymous tip that pointed toward buried remains on the 3900 block of North 19th Street between Branch and Palm Street in the Hyde Park area. The search began on Sunday when residents noticed part of the ground on the vacant lot had been moved.

Stephan Shaw, the fifth-best heavyweight boxer in the country, stands in the ring with someone who just started boxing. It's a weekday evening, and Shaw is in a converted garage in Florissant, Missouri, that has been transformed into a boxing facility called St. Louis Boxing Academy.

This story was originally published by Kaiser Health News. A health insurance giant that has paid out more than $485 million in legal settlements with states over pharmacy billing allegations has also been a major donor to Georgia’s Republican Governor Brian Kemp and Attorney General Chris Carr, according to campaign finance records. St. Louis-based Centene Corporation said Monday in a statement that it’s working to settle Medicaid billing issues with Georgia and eight other states, beyond the 13 states it has already agreed to pay.

The Ethical Society of Police has endorsed Republican Mark Mantovani in his attempt to unseat St. Louis County Executive Sam Page. In a statement released today, the ESOP said that the county is in "drastic" need of change and that transparency and accountability can't be "treated as optional" by elected leaders. The ESOP is a professional association comprised mostly of Black law enforcement officers.

Theater is roaring back to life in St. Louis, and among the companies staging daring new shows is Moonstone Theater Company, which will be doing two regional premieres in its three-show season this year. The new shows are Adam Rapp’s The Sound Inside (January 26 to February 12) and Bess Wohl’s Grand Horizons (March 16 to April 2). The Sound Inside had its Broadway debut in October 2019 and closed in early 2020 after 100 performances.

The buzz around St. Louis CITY SC keeps getting louder as it approaches its inaugural 2023 season. The most recent cause for celebration? Yesterday's unveiling of the four restaurants that will be the founding partners in its CITY Flavor program, an innovative stadium culinary experience that celebrates the region's vibrant food scene and sets the bar for what is possible in sports concessions throughout Major League Soccer.

Wands at the ready, St. Louis. Another one of those pop-up experiences is coming to St. Louis (you know, the ones like the rude-staff-reigning Karen’s Diner, The Neverland Bar, and so on) and this time, it’s positively magical. [content-3] The Wizard’s Brunch brings all things fantasy and magic to Orlando’s Event and Conference Centers South (4300 Hoffmeister Avenue, 314)-638-6660).

Friends of a St. Louis bicyclist severely injured in the Central West End last month are reaching out to the community for help. Hazel Jenkins was riding home from work at a dialysis center when a driver hit her as she was making a left turn. Jenkins had to spend nearly a week in the hospital with a crushed ankle and broken pelvis.

The student loan relief application has officially opened. A little under two months have passed since President Joe Biden announced his plan to forgive up to $10,000 of federal, public student loans for individuals making under $125,000 in 2020 or 2021. Married couples must make under $250,000.

Three men previously charged at the state level for stealing catalytic converters from a bakery are now facing charges of conspiracy to commit offenses against the United States for stealing converters from United States Postal Service vehicles. In July, prosecutors in St. Louis County announced charges against Da'Monie Moore, 22, Allen Tikvesa, 20, James Beckring, 19, and Dylan Brockett, 18, for their alleged involvement in catalytic converter thefts from 17 vehicles in September 2021. According to a Maryland Heights Police Department, the 17 thefts were first noticed by employees of Bimbo Bakeries in Maryland Heights, from whose parking lot the converters were stolen.

Mayor Tishaura Jones said Saturday that she plans to sign an executive order to establish a commission on reparations for St. Louis city. The announcement came at the event Let’s Talk Reparations: Community Teach-In and Block Party, hosted by Action St. Louis, Arch City Defenders, the ACLU of Missouri and other organizations. Jones did not have a date when people could expect the order to be signed, saying there were steps that included the city counselor that still needed to be taken.

It was only a matter of time. The last couple weeks were glorious — bright, sunny days; tepid temperatures with a just hint of cool — but as all of St. Louis knows, good weather here is about as short lived as a Cardinals winning streak.

Rodnesha Chatman admits she's not much of a cook. She wasn't even that well-versed in baking before she founded her local confections brand, Luxury Sweets. However, when she thinks back on what informs the artistry she applies to her cakesicles, cupcakes and candy apples, it's pretty clear to her how she developed her talent.

Newly available data suggests that overdoses in Missouri prisons are on the rise — despite a tough new policy for inmate mail designed to keep drugs out. On July 1, the Missouri Department of Corrections barred inmate from receiving physical personal mail, a move designed to curb the flow of drugs into their facilities. For the past three and a half months, inmate mail has been routed through a digital mail center in Florida, where all personal mail, photos and drawings are scanned.

The life of a baseball beat reporter may seem glamorous. You get paid to watch baseball, right? Far from it.

If they had asked me to draft Amendment 3 to legalize marijuana in Missouri, it would have read as follows: "All persons 21 years of age or over shall have the right to possess, cultivate, obtain, purchase or sell marijuana, subject to taxation by the state. All statutes interfering with those rights by the state, or its political subdivisions, are hereby repealed.