The Missouri Speaker of the House Dean Plocher was in damage control this morning when he appeared on an Internet-streaming show for his first interview since fellow Republicans began calling for his resignation — a clamor stemming from revelations in the Missouri Independent that Plocher sought reimbursement from the legislature for expenses his campaign had already paid for. Plocher, who represents west St. Louis County, was interviewed this morning by Missouri Times publisher Scott Faughn.
Mike Hamra, an entrepreneur from Springfield, Missouri, is entering the race to be Missouri’s next governor. Hamra will now face off with Crystal Quade, the minority leader from the Missouri House of Representatives, in a bid to become the Democratic nominee for governor.
The leader of a nonprofit in St. Charles has been charged with stealing nearly $11 million in pandemic aid — and living a life of luxury on funds meant to feed low-income children. Connie Bobo, executive director of New Heights Community Resource Center, submitted claims to the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services saying the organization had served 3 million meals to low-income, school-age children during the COVID-19 pandemic. But the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of Missouri says the meals were never purchased or supplied.
A bond hearing that was scheduled for tomorrow for the police officer who opened fire at a trunk-or-treat event earlier this month has been called off. Matthew McCulloch will remain in St. Louis County Jail on $500,000 cash-only bond.
For Martin Fletcher, the war between Israel and Hamas could hardly have gotten more personal. Within the last week, two of his extended family members, Judith and Natalie Raanan, were released by Hamas. It was a relief for the family, which saw three other members killed by the terrorist organization in the October 7 attacks even as others are still being held hostage.
Big Lou Holdings, the RFT's St. Louis-based owner, announced today that it has purchased Sauce Magazine — and it plans to bring the venerable food-focused monthly back into print starting in December. Chris Keating, founder and CEO of Big Lou Holdings, said that beyond bringing back the print issue, he envisions few major changes to the 24-year-old magazine. “We wanted to buy Sauce because — like everyone in St. Louis who loves food — we love Sauce,” Keating said in a prepared statement.
There are places you expect to interview the owner of a soon-to-open, sure-to-be-hot restaurant, but the bathroom isn’t one of them. Yet that’s where I find myself talking to Chris Kelling, whose Burger Champ (2704 Sutton Boulevard, Maplewood) opens on Friday, November 3. But there’s a good reason that we find ourselves chatting in one of the fast-casual burger spot’s johns, and it’s covering the walls: framed copies of Sports Illustrated, each affixed with a unique mailing label created by Kelling.
A prominent public interest lawyer in St. Louis says he knows just what it would take to oust leadership at KDHX — and he doesn't think it would be that hard. It would take, says Bevis Schock, essentially one board member willing to buck the board president or fire the executive director. Schock, a libertarian known for his civil rights litigation and occasional tilts at the windmills of St. Louis City Hall, made the remarks yesterday on the Legal Roundtable on St. Louis on the Air.
Brandy Clark has probably grown weary of the Brandi Carlile comparisons, and I’m damn sure not going to bring them up here. Tempting, though — same first name, initials, musical genre, home state of Washington, penchant for heart-wrenching lyrics, acoustic guitar skills, sonorous contralto vocals, sexual orientation, brunette hair, dimples, et al. Then again, I can’t be much blamed if I bring up the Brandy/Brandi doppelgangerness since Brandy Clark turned it into a drinking game at Delmar Hall on Tuesday night.
Casey Jovick cut his teeth as a butcher. You understand the significance of this background upon taking your first bite of a classic double cheeseburger at his Princeton Heights restaurant, Jovick Brothers Burgers (4993 Loughborough Avenue, 314-390-2899), and marveling at the masterpiece of a smashburger he's created.
St. Louis Mayor Tishaura Jones tested positive for COVID-19 last night, a representative for her office announced this morning. Spokesman Nick Dunne wrote in an email that after Jones returned from a conference in Baltimore on Tuesday, she took a COVID-19 test as a precaution because she had been traveling. The test came back positive.
Washington University students plan to walk out of class this morning at 10:15 a.m. as part of a nationwide walkout in solidarity with Palestine. Last Friday, the Coalition of WUSTL Students for Palestine sent a list of demands to top school officials in a letter that warned of a walkout if the university "refused" to act on their three demands. And while the university has offered a conversation with a vice chancellor to discuss those demands, the students say they will still walk, saying they're skeptical that administrators are ready to "seriously engage" with what they're asking.
A 25-year-old Missouri teacher faces six felony charges for allegedly pursuing a 16-year-old student — and both sending him pornographic images and soliciting ones from him. Rikki Lynn Laughlin of St. James, Missouri, allegedly solicited dick picks from her victim via Snapchat and sent him nudes, as well as a video of herself using a dildo, according to a probable cause statement by the Maries County Sheriff's Office. Maries County is near Rolla, about a two-hour drive west of St. Louis.
The year was 2015, and I'd been trying to set up an interview with Janet Kolar, Alton's hearse-racing "Mistress of the Macabre" and proprietor of the Historic Museum of Torture Devices. I had first been drawn to Alton while exploring the river, struck by its historic architecture and dramatic topography, but the more time I spent there, the more I was also drawn to its interesting inhabitants — so much so that I married a local.
At MoKaBe's Coffeehouse near Tower Grove Park, it feels just like every other morning. Customers sip their lattes and work on their laptops. Employees banter in the kitchen.
How much does it cost to cleanup a giant pile of rotting seafood? For the taxpayers of University City, it's looking like it will be at least $127,831.78 after the owners of the now-shuttered Seafood City store failed to pay for up emergency remediation. Last night, the University City Council approved the expenditure at the recommendation of city staffers.
Reality TV star and St. Louis native Brittish Williams was sentenced today in federal court to four years in prison after pleading guilty earlier this year to 15 counts of various types of fraud. The Clayton High graduate has appeared on VH1's Basketball Wives and Marriage Boot Camp: Reality Stars. She also co-hosted the morning show on St. Louis radio station Hot 104.1, a job she lost in the wake of her guilty plea in May.
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