RFT 📰

Tuesday night will be big for werewolves, tides and good old-fashioned lunatics, as a supermoon will light up the sky once the sun finally decides it's had enough attention for the day. June's full moon is commonly dubbed the "strawberry moon," so named by the Algonquin Native American tribe in reference to the start of the northeastern United States' strawberry harvest season. This year's strawberry moon is extra special, as it will be at the closest distance to Earth that it reaches in its orbit, qualifying it as a supermoon.

A potential loosening of St. Charles liquor laws have some business owners up in arms. A bill up for final vote next Tuesday would eliminate St. Charles’ requirement for bars' and restaurants’ alcohol sales to make up no more than half of their total revenue. Many business owners are threatening to leave in response, but advocates of the measure say it will benefit the area.

The first St. Louis Starbucks stores have unionized. Over the past 24 hours, three Starbucks locations have taken a vote to unionize. Two of those locations, one in Ladue and one at Kingshighway and Chippewa, agreed to unionize in 12-3 and 9-4 votes, respectively, according to Mari Orrego, an organizer with the labor union Chicago and Midwest Joint Board of Workers United.

Amara Arts’ new piece, “Speak,” examines how “Afro-Brazilian movement enables us to claim space and speak with our bodies.” The company will be showcasing that work, and others, with an upcoming performance at the Riverfront Times Art A’Fair on June 23. “I just came out of grad school, so I’m in this very experimental mode,” founder Charis Railey says. “We’ve got a fun interactive segment planned as well that plays with the idea of conversation between audience, dancer and the art experience that’s being created by us all.”

St. Louis Mayor Tishaura Jones announced today that she signed an executive order banning the use of no-knock warrants by the St. Louis Metropolitan Police. No-knock warrants allow police to enter a residence without first giving warning or announcing themselves as law enforcement. Such warrants were created for cases when knock-and-announce warrants might lead to the destruction of materials related to illegal activity or put the safety of the police or other individuals in jeopardy.

The Riverfront Times recently won a $25,000 grant from the Lipman Center's Initiative in Reporting on Race and Criminal Justice. The Lipman Center for Journalism and Civil and Human Rights is part of the Columbia Journalism School and runs several programs to help journalists and newsrooms investigate law enforcement, incarceration, human rights abuses and more. The Initiative in Reporting on Race and Criminal Justice provides local newsrooms and reporters financial assistance to tackle a six-month investigative project that "illuminates the inequalities and what has gone wrong in the American criminal justice system."

As a kid growing up in Southern California, chef Aaron Martinez fondly remembers the road trips he and his family would regularly take across the border and down Mexico's Baja coast. Filled with visits to lobster shacks, taco stands and a variety of low-key eateries that celebrated the area's bounty, the experiences helped ignite his passion for food and provided the perfect inspiration for Taqueria Morita (4260 Forest Park Avenue, 314-553-9239), a new concept he is bringing to life with restaurateurs Michael and Tara Gallina. Located on the front lawn of the Gallina's upscale Cortex restaurant Vicia, Taqueria Morita is an outdoor, fast-casual concept that sits underneath a newly built pavilion called Vicia Gardenside.

Like other runners living in St. Louis, Tina Muir has some opinions about the city. “Forest Park speaks for itself; that’s definitely my favorite place to go,” she says. “But I do love to get out on the trails.

On Saturday, a Fenton man heading out to run errands encountered a bear in his subdivision. Thirty-three year old Justin Mathenia was pulling out of his street onto Saline Drive, near Gravois Bluffs, when he spotted the black bear running through several of his neighbors' front yards. He said at first he thought it was a deer, then did a double take.

St. Charles Police take crime very seriously, and as proof, they’re cracking down on one of the biggest problems plaguing society. No, not gun violence. It's expired temporary tags.

The Greatest Generation gets another homage in Dear Jack, Dear Louise, a play at New Jewish Theatre. The two-hander is about U.S. Army Captain Jack Ludwig, a military doctor stationed in Oregon, and Louise, an actress living in New York. The two have never met, but their fathers know each other and suggest they start a correspondence that lasts from the summer of 1943 until the end of World War II.

As a wise man once sang to Carlos Santana: “Man, it’s a hot one.” We knew this heat wave was coming, but somehow that doesn’t make it feel any more tolerable. It’s overcast outside right now — the sun isn’t even bright and blazing — but we still might hit the triple digits before the sun sets tonight.

Forty-four years ago this November, a San Francisco city supervisor murdered two colleagues. Dan White was a former cop and former firefighter who’d grown angry at the political machinations of his opponents — and the way his city was changing.

In the world of internet dating, you can easily trespass and meet anyone online, and this idea has led to an increase in international dating sites. People are more interested in making friends, finding partners, discovering love, and seeking soulmates abroad. Thus, international dating sites are in demand.

Mammoth Piano exists in the gray space between a few styles of music. Its website says “alternative blues, rock, funk, punk and pop.” Yet lead singer and bassist Nanyamka Ewing has an affinity for one genre in particular. “I’m a rocker through and through,” she says.

Eric Greitens must feel like he’s in political heaven right now: The January 6 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol has taken center stage again. For most Americans – Republicans included – January 6 will be remembered as one of the darkest days in the nation’s history. But for Missouri’s disgraced ex-governor, it was not about darkness at all.

On Wednesday, the federal government indicted seven more defendants for allegedly running a St. Louis area fentanyl distribution ring. This brings the total number indicted to 14. The original indictment was served in April and included local rappers Davante "Jizzle Buckz" Lindsey, 25, and Andre "Luh Half" Pearson, 25, of St. Louis and St. Louis County respectively.

A West End man charged with killing his McDonald’s coworker on Tuesday, June 7, appeared in court for the first time this afternoon, pleading not guilty to charges of first-degree murder and armed-criminal action. According to a probable cause statement, 19-year-old Terrance King was working his job at the McDonald’s on Hampton Avenue near Highway 44 on Tuesday evening when he got into an argument with his coworker, 23-year-old Kevyn Henderson. The restaurant’s manager then escorted King outside.

The Dubb Nubb band members can tell you many things, but one is for sure: There is no music scene like St. Louis’. A local folk band, Dubb Nubb has been playing for over a decade in the area, with brief pauses to pursue other dreams. Started by twin sisters Delia (who has written for the RFT) and Hannah Rainey as teenagers, the band now includes the sisters plus Todd Anderson on bass and John Hamms on drums.

Juneteenth celebrations are starting up this weekend and will continue on through the month. Here is everything you need to know about the holiday and how to celebrate. Background Juneteenth started when Gordon Granger, a Union general, told the enslaved African-Americans of Galveston, Texas, that they were free.