RFT 📰

A wickedly popular Halloween-themed pop-up bar is back again this year, promising paranormal vibes, haunted Tiki cocktails and luau-inspired food. Corpse Reviver (210 North Euclid Avenue), the seasonal concept from the minds behind Lazy Tiger, Yellowbelly and Retreat Gastropub will run from Thursday, October 13, through Saturday, October 29, giving guests the opportunity to celebrate spooky season at one of the city's essential cocktail bars. According to co-owner and acclaimed bartender Tim Wiggins, this year's Corpse Reviver, held at Lazy Tiger, will be a bit different from those in years past.

Missouri Governor Mike Parson, along with 21 other governors, signed a letter on Monday asking President Joe Biden not to go through with his student loan forgiveness plan. Biden announced a plan to cancel up to $20,000 in federal student loan debt in late August. All of the governors that signed the letter are Republican and include Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, Texas Governor Greg Abbott and Georgia Governor Brian Kemp.

Picture it: St. Louis, 2022. An iconic pizza brand needs a nonna. Lucia's Pizza president Scott Ashby and his team are on the hunt for their very own Sophia Petrillo to rep their iconic Mama Lucia's frozen pizza brand.

Last night a 16-year-old St. Louis boy was shot and killed by two police officers at a gas station on the 2800 block of North Florissant Avenue in the Old North St. Louis neighborhood. Drug Enforcement and Intervention detectives were in the area when they saw several armed individuals in the gas station's parking lot, a police report says. According to KSDK, the detectives pulled into the gas station in an unmarked vehicle.

A lawsuit contesting the upcoming marijuana ballot measure was dismissed by a judge on Friday. The lawsuit against Secretary of State Jay Ashcroft threatened to take down a ballot measure, known as Amendment 3, that would essentially legalize marijuana across Missouri.

For the past week, chess enthusiasts around the world have been looking in St. Louis' direction with raised eyebrows after accusations of cheating rocked a tournament at the Saint Louis Chess Club. Elon Musk has even weighed in on the situation, supporting an idea that anal beads were used to facilitate cheating. The match in question happened on September 4, during the Sinquefield Cup, one of the longest running chess tournaments in the United States.

Reporting for this story was supported by the Lipman Center's Initiative in Reporting on Race and Criminal Justice. Last week a former St. Louis City Justice Center detainee was sentenced to four years in prison for his role in a brutal jailhouse beating that happened in the detention facility in March 2021.

On select Wednesdays this fall, the Missouri Botanical Garden (4344 Shaw Boulevard, 314-577-5100, missouribotanicalgarden.org) will offer Fall Flower Hours and stay open until 7:30 p.m. The sunset strolls will offer visitors a chance to see different fall blooms including autumn crocus, golden rods, blazing star, beautyberry, aster and black-eyed Susans. Plus, many varieties of roses rebloom.

Missouri is like a family in which everyone has agreed that a vacation is sorely needed. All the schedules have been coordinated.

A 21-year-old St. Louis woman who was visiting New York City was raped on a subway platform by a man who offered to show her around, police say. According to PIX11 Evening News, the attack happened in the early hours of September 3. The woman, whose name has not been released, was approached by a man at the 42nd Street – Port Authority Bus Terminal station on the A/C/E lines in Midtown Manhattan.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency has approved more than $54 million in federal funding for St. Louis residents after the flash flooding and severe storms in late July. This includes $28.7 million in individual assistance grants for renters and homeowners for damages not covered by insurance. Time is running out though for those affected by the flooding.

St. Louis Taco Week returns Monday, October 10, through Sunday, October 16, but a new app with all the insider info and a special giveaway is available for download now on Android and iOS. During St. Louis Taco Week, participating restaurants will offer $5 taco specials.

This review was originally published in RFT sister paper Creative Loafing Tampa Bay. Like some bastard abomination that escaped from captivity, Zach Cregger’s first solo venture, Barbarian, is the craziest, goriest, most what-the-fuck-iest theatrical release thus far in 2022. I still don’t know exactly what I watched, but I know that I would watch it again.

Nadine Soko Rinehart loves watching the animals in her Webster Groves neighborhood. She even puts out kibble for some of them. “I feed a feral cat, and I feed possums,” she says.

Two FBI agents took the stand this morning in the fourth day in the trial of Tim Norman, the former reality TV star accused of orchestrating the murder of his nephew Andre Montgomery to collect a life insurance policy he’d taken out on the 21-year-old. Norman and Montgomery were co-stars on Welcome to Sweetie Pie’s, a reality show set in St. Louis that ran for nine seasons on the Oprah Winfrey network. On March 14, 2016, Montgomery was gunned down outside a home recording studio on Natural Bridge Road.

Commuters on Highway 44 were delayed this morning when a tractor-trailer flipped over the median on Highway 44 eastbound at the Lafayette Avenue exit around 9 a.m. The accident closed the exit.

Editor's Note: An earlier version of this story incorrectly referred to LeGrand's original name as Bender's Market and the owners as William Bender and William Bender Jr. The correct name is Binder's Market. The original owners were William Binder and William Binder Jr. We regret the error and thank them for giving our city the best bratwurst around. Jim LeGrand can't help but laugh when he talks about how St. Louisans referred to St. Louis Hills when Binder's Market, the store that would become LeGrand's Market & Catering (4414 Donovan Avenue, 314-353-6128),  opened in 1937.

Frank Anthony wore Sketchers in middle school. He didn’t care about the brand. He didn't care about the yellow paint scuffs covering the shoes.

This story originally appeared in the Missouri Independent. A Cedar County judge Wednesday ordered Agape Boarding School to be shut down after years of allegations of sexual and physical abuse of students — though the order remains on pause until after a hearing Monday morning.

Earlier this month, the Centers for Disease Control approved booster shots specifically targeting the Omicron COVID-19 variant.  Those boosters are now available widely in the St. Louis area. Private providers such as Walgreens and CVS have the new booster in stock. Also known as the bivalent shot, as it targets both the original strain and the variants.