Missouri Auditor Scott Fitzpatrick has begun an investigation into the state’s marijuana program, vowing to assess whether regulators are operating “in a manner that is efficient, accountable and transparent.” The audit is not a routine, scheduled review.
A black-comic story of an alien invasion — or, more exactly, an alien insinuation — Landscape with Invisible Hand can’t be faulted for a lack of ambition. Through its science-fictional funhouse mirror, the film manages to reflect a number of urgent contemporary issues — primarily income inequality, but also the deformation of our behavior by both traditional and social media, the seductively dangerous lure of technology and the falsity of the market’s “invisible hand” ensuring that the common good somehow results from the pursuit of self-interest.
MONDAY, AUGUST 7. A seven-year-old boy dies in Berkeley after finding his grandfather’s gun, and a five-year-old girl dies of a gunshot wound in Belleville, Illinois.
The City of St. Louis announced today that they are one step closer to figuring out what to do with the 23 acres in north city that were once home to the jail called the Workhouse. The facility closed last year after a prolonged campaign by activists, who called conditions there "hellish." After the facility closed, the city put in place a steering committee called Reenvisioning the Workhouse to solicit community feedback and decide how the space could be best used going forward. After receiving more than 700 ideas from St. Louisans, the mayor's office announced today that the committee has narrowed the future use of the land to eight broad categories:
Mamma mia, it’s time for brunch again — and ABBA Brunch, how can we resist you? You read that right: This week brings an early afternoon foodstravaganza celebrating everyone’s favorite bell-bottom-clad Swedish supergroup to the Arkadin Cinema (5228 Gravois Avenue, 314-221-2173), and you’re invited. You know the entertainment will be top-notch, because they’ll be showing ABBA: The Movie and ABBA music videos on their movie screen throughout the proceedings.
Proper Brands just carried out the "largest single business purchase in Missouri Cannabis" when it acquired Nirvana Investments, the parent company for N'Bliss Dispensaries, 5150 N'Fusion manufacturing and Bold Lane Logistics transportation, according to Greenway Magazine. "Since the early days of the rollout of the medical program to the present day, both Proper and Nirvana have not only shared an emphasis on quality products, quality brands, quality service, and quality people, but we've worked together," Proper CEO John Pennington told Greenway.
Missourians have a powerful tool in their arsenal — they can change the state constitution by a 50 percent vote of the people through initiative petitions. Pro-choice advocates hope to leverage this in 2024 and enshrine the right to abortion in the state constitution.
Scott Miller, the founder and artistic director of St. Louis' acclaimed New Line Theater, has been on a writing tear in recent years, publishing incisive books about various aspects of his beloved musical theater, from Stephen Sondheim to Grease. "There's a growing mass market of people who love musicals, and I want to feed them the cool stuff that I've been thinking about all these years," he explains.
Video posted to social media by an auto repair shop in north city shows a St. Louis police SUV trying and failing to pull the sort of illegal u-turn that is rote for most city drivers. The video is time-stamped as having been taken this morning around 7:20 a.m. It shows a group of St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department SUVs heading south on Kingshighway in the Fountain Park neighborhood near the intersection of Cates Avenue.
Boardwalk Waffles and Ice Cream's Maplewood flagship is no more. The dessert spot is known both for delighting customers with scoops of ice cream served between two waffles as well as, more recently, aggravating landlords by not paying rent and failing to get stores up and running. Boardwalk first opened shop in Maplewood in 2017.
The newest hotel in downtown St. Louis puts new meaning on a room with a view. 21c Museum Hotel St. Louis opened this week at 1528 Locust Street, which, for 95 years, was home to a YMCA.
St. Louis is a special place (tell you something you don't know, right?). It's full of delicious food, one-of-a-kind bars, great people, and top-notch entertainment. There's also plenty of hidden gems — if you know where to look.
A St. Louis corrections officer recently charged in federal court with assaulting a handcuffed detainee was previously tasked with training other jail staff on the use of mace, court filings show. Federal prosecutors announced the civil rights charges against Direll Alexander in June, alleging that three months prior, the lieutenant “assaulted and injured the detainee while he was restrained in handcuffs and while he did not pose any threat to Alexander.” Alexander pleaded not guilty at his initial appearance in court that same month.
St. Louis' favorite cheeky gift shop is getting into the bar business. Golden Gems, the smart and feminist retailer that first opened its doors in 2018, announced its plans on Instagram last night. Owners Susan Logsdon and Amanda Helman indicated that it would be just two doors down from their shop on Locust, in Midtown St. Louis, and would be called Hidden Gem.
If you are an artist who makes "kindie rock" — that trendy portmanteau for "kid" plus "indie" — you need to have your finger on a child-sized pulse. For Mark Pagano, known to young music lovers across the St. Louis region as the kindie rock singer-songwriter Marko Polo, that part comes naturally. "I spend a lot of time with kids," he says — including his two sons, who begin fourth grade and kindergarten this month, and the students he works with as a teaching artist in the St. Louis Public Schools.
Traffic camera video shows a man behind the wheel of a pickup truck ramming into a golf cart in downtown St. Louis Sunday — and then running over the cart's two passengers when they got out to confront him. The incident occurred at the intersection of South Broadway and Clark Avenue outside Busch Stadium as fans left the afternoon Cardinals game against the Colorado Rockies. Thankfully no one was killed. Police told KSDK on Monday that the investigation into what happened is ongoing.
Thursday 08/10 Mysteries Abound
Stages St. Louis shakes up its season this year with Clue, a hilarious comedy based on the 1985 movie by the same name, which was based on the popular Parker Brothers board game.
The Riverfront Times has a new owner — but that owner may look a bit like the old one. Chris Keating, previously the chief operating officer of Euclid Media Group, announced today that he has completed his purchase of four of the eight alt-weekly newspapers previously owned by the publishing company.
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