Two nurses who tended to Christian Ferguson in the year before he died painted a bleak picture of the nine-year-old's life with his father in Pine Lawn. Christian's father, Dawan Ferguson, stands accused of killing Christian in June of 2003 and then telling police an elaborate cover story of Christian being in the backseat of an SUV when it was stolen. Christian suffered from a severe form of Citrullinmeia, a rare genetic disorder that left him unable to digest protein.
An Amtrak passenger train derailed in rural Mendon, Missouri, this afternoon after reportedly striking a dump truck that was blocking the train tracks. The accident happened at about 12:42 p.m. today, and the force of the impact caused eight train cars and two locomotives to derail and tip over.
At this time there are reports of dozens of injuries and multiple fatalities, with one fatality confirmed so far.
This past Saturday, former President Donald Trump hosted his first post-Roe rally in the tiny rural town of Mendon, Illinois, where thousands of his sweat-drenched, heatstroke-addled fans endured blistering temperatures and the relentless oppression of an indifferent sun for the opportunity to celebrate their God's victory over evil, to which He responded by unleashing a thunderstorm on them. Alongside several fellow far-right goblins — including freshmen U.S. House Representatives Lauren Boebert (R-Colorado) and Mary Miller (R-Illinois), as well as pillow magnate/unhinged lunatic Mike Lindell — Trump used the June 25 event at the Adams County Fairgrounds as an opportunity to heap praise upon himself for installing three of the Supreme Court justices responsible for the overturned precedent, insisting that the ruling was but a culmination of his kept promises. Privately, though, Trump has reportedly been fretting over the political ramifications of the landmark decision, apparently unaware that the forces that had aligned to put him in power no longer have a need for him and have moved on to other shiny new toys.
St. Louis Mayor Tishaura Jones on Monday voiced her support for a new St. Louis Board of Aldermen bill that would use American Rescue Plan money to fund reproductive health services, including access to abortion. Board Bill 61 would allocate $1.5 million in American Rescue Plan funds to a Reproductive Equity Fund for organizations to ease access to reproductive health care.
Polynesian Breeze Shave Ice (5620 Old Collinsville Road, Fairview Heights, Illinois; 618-691-1485) shuttered temporarily in 2020 as the COVID-19 pandemic hit, trying to survive the uncertainty the virus brought to many businesses, and remained closed in 2021. But, on a sunny June day this summer, lines formed outside husband-and-wife duo Michele Goldsmith and William Fanene's new shave ice shop location as they opened their windows for the first time in two years. Fanene says the first couple of weeks open at their new Fairview Heights location was similar to when the shop would host special events; the first weekend made more money over those two days than a week at the original Collinsville store.
The family of Christian Ferguson, the nine-year-old who disappeared in 2003, feel they are finally getting a chance at justice through a trial that’s nearly two decades in the making. Beginning today, a jury will have to decide if Dawan Ferguson is guilty of child abuse and killing his nine-year-old son Christian in 2003. This morning, the prosecution and defense made their opening statements.
Hazelwood Mayor Matt Robinson issued a statement on Friday saying that the city of 25,000 people in St. Louis County is facing severe financial hardship and bankruptcy "may be inevitable." The city's financial situation has been in limbo for years. According to Robinson's statement, this worst-case scenario was stalled by federal stimulus money that came to Hazelwood in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Former state legislator Maria Chappelle-Nadal wants to raise awareness about nuclear contamination and other environmental hazards in St. Louis, and how we're all more at risk than we think. In 1946, before it had all the neighborhoods many are familiar with today, north St. Louis County was not so populated. That may be the reason why mounds of nuclear waste — sometimes stories high — were stored and left for several years between Banshee Road and McDonnell Boulevard and adjacent to Cold Water Creek. As a state senator, I represented this area around Lambert International Airport known as the SLAPS (St. Louis Airport Site).
A new bill introduced to the St. Louis Board of Aldermen would allocate over three million dollars toward reproductive health care access and COVID-19 treatment. Board Bill 61 would allocate $1.5 million in American Rescue Plan funds to organizations that help increase access to reproductive health care. An additional $1.3 million would go toward COVID-19 testing, treatment and vaccination.
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Elected leaders turned out this morning in north St. Louis County to celebrate the expansion of a senior living facility in an area where seniors often struggle to find a suitable place to live. The pandemic precluded holding any sort of event two years ago when the first phase of the Scott Manor Senior Apartments opened in an unincorporated area of the county between Dellwood and Castle Point. This morning served as a delayed opening celebration as well as a groundbreaking ceremony on the second phase of the independent living development for seniors.
Dellwood Recreation Center was the place to be for roller skaters on June 9. The weather, though unpredictable, wasn’t blazing hot like it is now. The smooth, concrete surface of the outdoor skate rink hummed as 80 or more skaters jammed to DJ Reala and DJ Dasho’s mixes of trap, R&B, gospel and funk.
The Black Wall Street Festival returns tomorrow for its sixth iteration. From 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Saturday, June 25, #BlackWallStreet314 will bring a sprawling collection of local vendors, musicians and other festivities to stretch along Dr. Martin Luther King Dr. from Skinker Boulevard to Hamilton Avenue. Highlights of the day will include the Young-Black-Gifted Talent Show, a car show and a scholarship giveaway.
Attorney General Eric Schmitt has signed an opinion to effectively end abortion in the state of Missouri after the U.S. Supreme Court issued a ruling today overturning Roe v. Wade, the landmark case that guaranteed a federal right to an abortion for nearly five decades. Overturn of Roe activated a law in Missouri that outlaws abortion except in cases of medical emergency. The law makes no exceptions for incest or rape.
Painting, sculpture and installation so often are what we think of when picturing the visual art that lines museum walls. But prints, and other works on paper such as photographs and drawings, are quiet gems that often go underappreciated.
The Lopez family had no idea they would open a grocery store and restaurant when they moved to St. Louis from California in 1993. In fact, they weren't even sure their move would be permanent.
Over the past week, three St. Louis-area Starbucks stores have celebrated union victories. At one store, though, the unionization effort failed. On June 13, employees at a Bridgeton Starbucks voted against unionizing in a 9 to 14 tally.
In a building of a former library, bins of records, shelves of CDs and boxes of products tower almost as high as the ceiling. Only the sound of customers peeling through plastic-covered records can be heard over classic rock playing over a loudspeaker. This is the Record Exchange (5320 Hampton Avenue, 314-832-2249), where owner Jean Haffner, 76, has built a literal library of records and music paraphernalia in the former Buder Branch of St. Louis Public Library in St. Louis Hills.
St. Louis creative and self-described jack-of-all-trades Kristen Elizabeth went out in late December 2021 expecting to see a poetry show, but by the end of the night she found herself reading to a live audience for the first time since before the start of the pandemic. The 25-year-old actress and model is no stranger to the stage, or a camera lens, but she’ll be the first to admit that she’s still a newcomer to the vibrant poetry community in St. Louis. Under the moniker K Money the Poet, Elizabeth has produced a number of written pieces and videos that address taboo subjects such as body shaming, self-harm and abortion, to name a few.
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