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MONDAY, JULY 31. It’s been the hottest month in history for America’s hottest big city ….

Prosecutors in St. Louis brought assault charges this morning against Khaled Salameh, 58, for allegedly striking one of his employees at a store in the St. Louis Place Neighborhood. Salameh appears to be the same individual a 2017 Post-Dispatch article refers to as "a politically connected St. Louis businessman."

The Loop trolley found itself in a familiar jam on Saturday night. A spokesman for the St. Louis Metropolitan Police confirms that it received a call about a collision involving the trolley and a Toyota vehicle near the intersection of Lindell and DeBaliviere around 7:49 p.m. on August 5. The department said it did not have further information to share at this time.

Among the many reasons to be excited for the forthcoming 21c Museum Hotel St. Louis (1528 Locust Street), its restaurant is a convincing one. Idol Wolf, which opened July 25 for dinner service, is a Spanish-inspired spot led, notably, by Executive Chef Matthew Daughaday, recently of Juniper and Reed's American Table. Daughaday put together a menu intended to showcase a kind of Spanish cuisine not much seen in St. Louis while still being supremely unintimidating for uninitiated diners.

Funded by parking revenue collected by the city treasurer’s office, the College Kids Savings Account program aims to help city public- and charter-school families save money for college and learn financial literacy by providing students with savings accounts at Alltru Credit Union and “seeding” each with a $50 deposit. Since its launch in 2015, the city has spent about $2 million on the College Kids program, which has enrolled more than 23,000 students who live or once lived in the city of St. Louis. Students automatically enroll in the program in their kindergarten year, but they aren’t supposed to access the money until after they graduate from a city public or charter high school.

Anthony Jones remembers clearly the moment a St. Louis police officer arrested him at the 2017 Stockley protests in downtown St. Louis. Before the young officer put Jones in the back of a police van, Jones paused, and told him: “One day, you’re gonna look back and realize you’re on the wrong side of history.” 

A Metro East bank that was the site of a deadly robbery two years ago is now being sued by the widow of 56 year-old Ted Horn, the security guard killed by one of the robbers as they left the bank with stolen money. "There should have been better warnings," says attorney Gary Burger of the security protocols at First Bank in East St. Louis.

This column was first published on Ray Hartmann's St. Louis Insider Substack and is reprinted with permission. A Chesterfield man is the subject of national news media coverage today over his recent arrest in the city on child kidnapping charges. Fabian Marta, 51, stands accused by Circuit Attorney Gabe Gore of “accessory child kidnapping,” a Class A felony.

If you are reading this article, you have probably been moved by Andy Coco, a renaissance man of St. Louis media and music.  First, if you are a fan of live music, it is likely Coco’s groovy, contrapuntal bass lines have caused your caboose to undulate at any number of live shows over the last couple of decades in funk-soul outfits including Gumbohead, Hip Grease, Dogtown Allstars and the Service. 

A seismic shift is about to take place in the St. Louis restaurant scene: Elaia, Olio and Nixta, all part of the renaissance that made the city’s Botanical Heights neighborhood a food lover’s destination, are moving. Owner Ben Poremba confirmed the news to the Riverfront Times, following a Facebook post in which he announced the move on Saturday afternoon.

Fox 2 features reporter Tim Ezell announced today that he has Parkinson's disease. Ezell was diagnosed with the disease two years ago, and says that lately more people have been asking about him after seeing him leaning or showing other symptoms of the disease, so he decided to share his diagnosis publicly. He started out with a statement during the 9 a.m. newscast, where he kept his composure but seemed to get emotional at times.

Something Spoken — a radio presentation of one-act plays from the venerable Tennessee Williams — is set to return to St. Louis’ airways starting Saturday. Now in its second iteration, Something Spoken began in 2020 as a solution to live-performance restrictions during the pandemic. That meant that Tennessee Williams Festival St. Louis had to put its shows on hold, but Founding Executive Director Carrie Houk was determined to celebrate the playwright.

When Drew Hubbard opened their Webster Groves mailbox one day in July, they chuckled before a slight sense of fear landed in the pit of their stomach. A short note printed on a postcard-sized piece of paper solicited a terse request. 

At the historic Lafayette Square home of Matthew R. Kerns and Sean Gottlieb, I finished a read through of my upcoming STL Fringe show, The Final Performance of Midnight Annie, for theater guru Joan Lipkin, producing artistic director for That Uppity Theatre Company. At the beginning of January, I was approached by Kerns, St Lou Fringe president and artistic director, about headlining the festival.

The offerings at Modern Brewery & the Kings Oak (5200 Oakland Avenue, 314-788-0900, modernbrewery.com) are in constant flux. In the kitchen — new to the brewery since last summer's move from industrial digs into a sleek, remodeled space just south of Forest Park — Executive Chef Charles Hess is constantly one-upping himself with sourdough pizza, Cajun arancini, breaded-and-deep-fried cheddar grits and sandwiches such as a porchetta pastrami on pillowy housemade focaccia.

Everyone knows that it takes a lot to make the news funny, yet John Oliver has been doing just that for nearly two decades. The British comedian first came to national prominence with his first stand-up special John Oliver: Terrifying Times but he became a household name as an anchor on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, where he worked from 2006 to 2013. Oliver has been hosting Last Week Tonight on HBO for nine seasons now, but when he's taking a break from TV (which we suppose he must, due to the writers and SAG-AFTRA strikes) he does stand-up shows.

Thursday 08/03 STL Confidential Whether you're a lifelong St. Louisan or relatively new to the Lou, we guarantee you will discover something about the city at Secret St. Louis, Hidden Gems of the Gateway City, a new exhibit at the Green Door Art Gallery (21 North Gore Avenue, Webster Groves; 314-202-4071).

When Katherine Seale started researching Bonnie and Clyde for the State Historical Society of Missouri's podcast series, Our Missouri, she knew she'd find some surprises. Uncovering new knowledge is part of the job.

If you told Ben (Justin H. Min) to grow up, I imagine he’d respond with an unrelenting string of deeply personal insults kept locked and loaded in the back of his mind since the day he met you. Of course he’s grown up.

Starting just after midnight on July 12, 1973, a fire broke out at the National Personnel Record Center in Overland, Missouri. The first to notice was a group of interns, who quickly escaped and dialed 911.