a Better Bubble™

RFT 📰

British-Born Janet Evra Is Making Glorious Jazz in St. Louis

3 weeks 4 days ago
Janet Evra was born on the Fourth of July, a bit of poetic irony for a British gal singing and playing American jazz music. Then again, jazz is an international language, and Evra is a transcontinental artist — a world-hopping UK-born St. Louis transplant in love with bossa nova and French jazz.
Steve Leftridge

Central Reform Co-Signs Letter Chastising Cori Bush

3 weeks 4 days ago
The only synagogue located in the city of St. Louis has joined a list of dozens of area Jewish leaders and organizations calling for Congresswoman Cori Bush to apologize for what they call her "incendiary" rhetoric about Israel in the weeks since attacks on the country killed more than 1,400. Synagogues and local Jewish leaders sent out the public letter yesterday taking Bush to task specifically for using the phrase "ethnic cleansing" to describe Israel's military action in Gaza.
Ryan Krull

Cherokee Dive Bar San Loo to Close This Month

3 weeks 4 days ago
After a 9-year run, Cherokee dive bar Johnnie Walker's San Loo will be closing later this month. Earlier today, the bar announced its forthcoming closure on Saturday, November 25, on Facebook. "It's been a long and mostly fun almost 9 years," the post read.
Jessica Rogen

The B-Side to Close on Cherokee Street

3 weeks 4 days ago
South city burger spot the B-Side (2709 Cherokee Street) says it will close after service Sunday. The restaurant made the announcement on Instagram last night. "Thanks for the 7 years of new friends, old friends, good times and memories," its post read.
Sarah Fenske

St. Louis Man Sues HBO Over NXIVM Series The Vow

3 weeks 4 days ago
A St. Louis man who was featured in the documentary series The Vow is now suing HBO as well as the series’ producers and directors. Marc Elliot filed the lawsuit Tuesday in St. Louis City Circuit Court seeking more than $75,000 in damages, claiming that the filmmakers used a recording of a phone call he made without his consent.
Ryan Krull

St. Louis Pivots to Fund Maternal Health After AG Blocked Abortion Support

3 weeks 5 days ago
The city of St. Louis is considering where to reroute money appropriated for abortion support after Missouri’s attorney general challenged its allocation in court — and services related to maternal health and medical debt forgiveness are high on the list. Casey Millburg, the mayor’s policy director, detailed the proposed uses in a committee hearing yesterday, which would include $500,000 toward maternal health support and $800,000 to medical debt forgiveness. 
Monica Obradovic

Les Miz, Fiddler on the Roof to Lead Muny's 2024 Season

3 weeks 5 days ago
With a touch of mystery from a well-executed social media campaign and an air of celebration filling the press room, the Muny theater announced its upcoming 2024 season today. Running from June 17 through August 25, the seven-show 106th season will feature new productions of Muny favorites and a couple Muny premieres that audiences have been clamoring for in a carefully curated seasonal arc.
Tina Farmer

Deli Divine Brings St. Louis Jewish Deli Fare Good Enough for Bubbie

3 weeks 5 days ago
Before the rows of black-and-white portraits held court over Deli Divine (5501 Delmar Boulevard, 314-987-3354) from their framed positions on the walls, they lived in forgotten bankers boxes belonging to a late family friend of Ben Poremba named Joe Zimbrolt. Rescued by Poremba from an estate sale where they were likely bound for someone's basement (or the garbage), the portraits were part of Zimbrolt's life's work — not his professional work but the effort he dedicated to living a well-examined life dedicated to art, literature, science and the humanities.
Cheryl Baehr

St. Louisan's Kickstarter Launches Rampz, a Yard Game Console

3 weeks 5 days ago
Andrew Pizzullo never thought he’d create a yard game. And yet, today, Pizzullo is  launching a Kickstarter campaign for his new product, Rampz, which combines fan favorites cornhole, beer pong and Skee-Ball into an exciting addition to your lawn game repertoire. 
Peter Cohen

Deputy Shot Missouri Family’s Dog and Threw It in a Ditch

3 weeks 5 days ago
A Missouri family is suing the Stoddard County sheriff and two of his deputies, claiming they killed a family dog in a "wholly unjustified," "senseless" and illegal manner. "It's absolutely unconscionable," says attorney Russ Oliver, who represents the Penningtons, a family living outside Dexter, Missouri, that until this August included 9-year-old dog Parker.
Ryan Krull

How Bad St. Louis Cops Get Hired — Even After Screwing Up

3 weeks 5 days ago
In the summer of 2022, 33-year-old Marcellis Blackwell graduated from the police academy at Lincoln University to more public fanfare than the average police cadet. Blackwell was a part of the fourth class at the Missouri state university's police academy, the first of its kind at a historically Black university.
Ryan Krull

Eager St. Louisans Overwhelm Casting Call for John O'Leary Film

3 weeks 6 days ago
St. Louis will relish any small claim to fame it can get. The 1981 film Escape From New York was filmed in St. Louis, and people still talk about. In 2009, director Jason Reitman filmed a few scenes of Up in the Air in St. Louis, and people still talk about it.
Monica Obradovic

Medical Marijuana Means $39M for Missouri Veterans Commission

3 weeks 6 days ago
For Missouri veterans, the state's marijuana programs are looking a lot like green gold. As of today, the Department of Health and Senior Services has transferred more than $29 million from Missouri's medical marijuana program to the Missouri Veterans Commission since the program's inception in 2018. Today alone, DHSS moved $13 million such funds from the medical program.
Jessica Rogen

Jewish Book Festival Brings Mitch Albom and More to St. Louis This November

3 weeks 6 days ago
When Hannah Dinkel started as director of literary arts at the Jewish Community Center last year, she imagined there would be some authors who would be way too prominent to land for the annual St. Louis Jewish Book Festival. Mitch Albom — author of Tuesdays with Morrie, The Five People You Meet in Heaven and so many other huge hits — definitely fell into that category.
Jessica Rogen

Old Town Donuts Reopens After Roach Infestation

3 weeks 6 days ago
Old Town Donuts (510 North Florissant Road, Florissant; 314-831-0907) returned to business as usual this morning after a roach infestation forced the beloved doughnut institution to close last week. On Facebook on Friday, Old Town Donuts announced the 24-hour doughnut shop was temporarily shut down because a few "unwanted guests" were harboring in a piece of new equipment. St. Louis County Health Department initiated the inspection after complaints about roaches surfaced on social media, according to the Post-Dispatch.
Monica Obradovic