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Flower Child Will Bring 'Good for You' Fast-Casual Food to Frontenac

3 weeks 6 days ago
A well-respected Phoenix-based restaurant group is bringing one of its fast-growing concepts to Frontenac — its first Missouri location. Flower Child, which is currently under construction in the previous home of a St. Louis Bread Co. at 10336 Clayton Road, right next to Frontenac Mall, has the same fast-casual vibes. But the offerings are much more California fresh than Midwestern carb-loading.
Sarah Fenske

St. Louis Restaurant Openings and Closings: February 2024

3 weeks 6 days ago
February broke our hearts a little with the closure of the beloved Sunday Best in the Central West End and Chicken Out in Kirkwood, some tasty chicken staples that will be missed (though if you find yourself in need of a Sunday Best fix, you can still find them at Citypark). But, as a mangled version of the saying goes, when God closes two chicken joints, he opens a chicken joint. Thus we are excited for the opening of the new location of Chuck’s Hot Chicken (3155 South Kingshighway Boulevard), which specializes in Nashville-style spicy bird fare.
Paula Tredway

Clayton Police Make Arrest in Moorlands Peeping Tom Case

3 weeks 6 days ago
One man's reign of voyeurism at the Moorlands apartments in Clayton is likely over. The Clayton Police Department confirms to the RFT that they arrested a person of interest relative to the numerous prowler incidents that have occurred over the last several years in the Clayton neighborhood.
Ryan Krull

Missouri GOP Moves to Remove ‘Honorary’ KKK Member from Ballot

4 weeks ago
The Missouri Republican Party announced this morning that it has begun the process of removing Darrell Leon McClanahan III from the primary ballot after a photo resurfaced showing him giving a Nazi salute next to a man in white robes in front of a burning cross. McClanahan is running for governor as a Republican. The photo and an accompanying article on the Anti-Defamation League's website had previously been the subject of a lawsuit filed by McClanahan.
Ryan Krull

Heritage House Evacuees Must Find New Housing by March 4, City Says

4 weeks ago
Everyone who knows anything about St. Louis real estate can agree on one thing: there is a dire shortage of decent, affordable housing for low- and moderate-income tenants. Which is why Richard Johnson is so mystified by the city of St. Louis’ announcement Wednesday that it will stop paying after March 4 for emergency housing for dozens of elderly and disabled people evacuated from Heritage House Apartments six weeks ago. Johnson, 65, and his wife Sheila, 67, have spent the past three weeks at a hotel near downtown St. Louis, courtesy of the city. 
Mike Fitzgerald

Dune: Part Two Tackles the Perils of Playing with Faith, Politics and Power

4 weeks ago
When it finally touched down in theaters three years ago, the most notable characteristic of Denis Villeneuve's first Dune film was probably the fact that it existed at all. A properly monumental adaptation of Frank Herbert's 1965 novel had been something of a cinematic white whale (or worm, if you will), defeating filmmakers as illustrious as David Lynch and Alejandro Jodorowsky. After several decades' worth of failed and abandoned attempts, Villeneuve (Arrival, Blade Runner 2049) and his collaborators pulled off an impressive achievement, bringing the cherished literary science-fiction tale to life in grandiose and relatively faithful fashion, all without sacrificing that essential blockbuster currency: spectacle.
Andrew Wyatt

City Condemns Patch Church Linked to Brutal Kidnapping

4 weeks ago
When news that a kidnapping had gone down at the church next door and that prosecutors alleged cult-like conditions within, Robin Jernigan was not surprised. Jernigan said she knew something bad was going to happen “ever since they moved in here.”  For the past nine years she's lived at her current home on Minnesota Avenue in the Patch neighborhood.
Ryan Krull

Missouri GOP Candidate for Governor Was Only ‘Honorary’ KKK Member

4 weeks ago
A man with a history of "honorary" membership in the Klu Klux Klan not only managed to make it on the unofficial ballot to be the Republican nominee for Missouri governor, but may even appear atop the official ballot when GOP voters vote in the primary this August.  Those revelations came to light last night when former Missouri Representative Shamed Dogan (R-Ballwin) tweeted out a screenshot showing the unofficial candidate filing list for governor posted to the Secretary of State's website. On it, Darrell Leon McClanahan III's name sits atop more well-known GOP contenders like Mike Kehoe and Jay Ashcroft. 
Ryan Krull

RFT's Logo Is Downtown St. Louis' Hottest New Piece of Graffiti

4 weeks ago
Downtown dwellers have been treated to the glorious sight of a stunning piece of art in recent weeks, thanks to a phenomenal bit of graffiti work adorning a crumbling parking garage in the heart of the city — and while we know what you're thinking, we gotta claim innocence on this one. No, the tag in question was not painted by a lawless RFT employee — our lawlessness tends to take other forms, on account of the dismal lack of can control plaguing our staff. We're betting, instead, that we have someone who writes under the name "Wonka" to blame/thank for this one.
Daniel Hill

100s of St. Louis Musicians Sign Letter Critical of KDHX Leadership

4 weeks ago
KDHX (88.1 FM) leadership has been bending over backwards of late to try to spin the turmoil that has engulfed the station for the last 12 months into a positive, with Executive Director Kelly Wells claiming in a statement earlier this month that the station is "seeing so much enthusiasm with our new direction" while Board President Gary Pierson noted that they are "so pleased to see these positive results." Meanwhile, a letter calling for new leadership signed by hundreds of St. Louis musicians started making the rounds last night. Written by Brian Andrew Marek (the Vertigo Swirl, Rubberstamp Records), Jorge A Valcárcel (Boxcar), singer-songwriter Sheila Shahpari and blues bassist Tecora Morgan, the letter has collected some 370 signatures (and counting) from fellow musicians from across all genres of the St. Louis scene in less than 24 hours.
Daniel Hill

St. Louis Weighs Fencing and Lighting Rules for Paid Parking Lots — Again

4 weeks ago
A bill making its way through the St. Louis Board of Aldermen would require the owners of paid parking lots in the city to add security features with the goal of preventing vehicle break-ins. Board Bill 44 would require all paid surface parking lots to put up fencing around the lot, control entry/exit either by a secured paid gate or by an attendant, add security lighting and more.
Kallie Cox

COVID Relief Dollars Fueled Dara Daugherty’s Slum Empire

1 month ago
Dara Daugherty allegedly made a fortune off a very simple business model: illegally renting dozens of condemned properties around south St. Louis to people with nowhere else to go.  Her sprawling boarding house operation, which encompassed 39 ramshackle houses, filled Daugherty’s pockets to the tune of $40,000 per month, according to a lawsuit the city filed against her in January. 
Mike Fitzgerald

One of the World's Best Irish Bluegrass Bands Now Lives in St. Louis

1 month ago
St. Louis has its share of musical claims to fame, and our latest is also one of our greatest: St. Louis is home to one of the top Irish bluegrass bands on the planet. We're talking about JigJam, the renowned four-piece band that formed in Ireland in 2012. The band that combines traditional Irish music with American bluegrass; the band that made its Grand Ole Opry debut last March, sharing the stage with Garth Brooks and Steve Earle; the band that plays to uproarious crowds on tours around the U.S. and lands premium spots on some of the country's biggest festivals, including the Telluride Bluegrass Festival in Colorado and, later this year, Merlefest in North Carolina and Delfest in Maryland.
Steve Leftridge

When Hollywood Came to St. Louis for On Fire, I Got Cast as an Extra

1 month ago
I can’t say I held out much hope that my application to be in the movie On Fire would come to much. Yes, the production had put out a wide call for St. Louisans to assist as extras in the film, which is based on the true story of John O’Leary, who battled back after being badly burned as a boy. But thousands had responded when just 600 or so people were needed.
Chris Schildz

Newfangled SUVs Too Hard for St. Louis' Dumb Cops to Drive, Mayor Implies

1 month ago
After months of St. Louis' police force crashing their SUVs into everything that moves — and even things that generally do not, such as buildings — city leadership has landed on a bold new explanation for the department's poor driving. No longer are imaginary dogs to blame — the problem is that the damn cars are just too difficult to drive. That's according to Mayor Tishaura Jones, who made an appearance on St. Louis Public Radio's Politically Speaking Hour on Friday afternoon.
Daniel Hill

Chicken Out in Kirkwood Has Closed Permanently

1 month ago
Just months after closing its Delmar Boulevard location, Chicken Out has also closed its remaining storefront at 10463 Manchester Road, Suite A, in Kirkwood. The closure was announced on social media. “Our dream hatched in June of 2020, in the middle of the pandemic, and our mission was to bring St. Louis a craveable chicken sando, while having a little fun,” the post read.
Lauren Healey