A Missouri elementary school is investigating reports that fifth grade students were given assignments last week that asked them to consider the price of slaves on their hypothetical plantation — and what price to assign the slaves.

"You own a plantation or farm and therefore need more workers," the assignment stated, according to a Sunday Facebook post that included an image of the assignment.…

Not much is better in this world than a fresh warm boiled bagel — except a fresh warm boiled bagel topped with meat, cheese and a soft, runny egg.

Lucky for us, Crestwood breakfast spot Yolklore (8958 Watson Road, Crestwood; 314-270-8538) has rounded out its already delicious breakfast offerings with customizable bagel breakfast sandwiches.

Yolklore's build-your-own breakfast sandwich menu, which is now available on its new winter menu, lets you craft the brekkie sammie of your dreams. The sandwich-building process starts with your choice of bread, and chef Mary Bogacki recommends opting for one of Yolklore's bagels, which are made in-house using four simple ingredients: flour, salt, yeast and water.…

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This saucer-shaped building next to Forest Park Parkway has a long history of servicing St. Louis. Built in 1967, the space age structure at 212 S. Grand was originally a Phillips 66 station.

The unique building then served as a Naugles, and after that it became a (much-missed) Del Taco location before morphing into its current form: a Starbucks/Chipotle combination frequented by college kids from St. Louis University.

The futuristic form has been protected from blighting and demolition over the years by preservation groups.…

To Kat Kissick, the image in her Google search was unmistakable: A digital illustration of a feminine head formed by flowers and framed by a caption on top that began, "Roses are red, knowledge is power," and continued below, "Stomp out the patriarchy you beautiful flower."

She immediately recognized it as a ripoff of her own work, an illustration she'd drawn in late 2018 that had gone viral on Facebook, where it had been shared 17,000 times and from which Kissick had sold T-shirts, prints and postcards.…

In August, carjackers ambushed a man as he got out of a Mazda 6 in deep south St. Louis, authorities say.

Police believe it was a two-man crew. The passenger pointed a pistol at the Mazda owner and ordered him to give up his keys, according to court records.…

It's been a brutal week for restaurant and bar closings in St. Louis, and now, a longtime local music venue and cafe has sadly been added to the list.

Yesterday, Foam (3359 South Jefferson Avenue, 314-772-2100), one of Cherokee Street's most beloved spots, announced in a Facebook post that it will close for good after its final show on December 29. Located at the intersection of Cherokee Street and Jefferson Avenue, Foam has been a haven for local and touring artists in its artistic and cozy space for a decade.

Originally founded by Mike Glodeck in October 2009, Foam has been operated by Mic Boshans since 2014 (Glodeck still owns the building). When the venue first opened ten years ago, it helped usher in a sea change on Cherokee Street.

"I started working here the first year [Foam] opened," Boshans tells the RFT.…

It came, it clanged, and now, after barely a year of operation, the Delmar Loop Trolley is shutting down at the end of this month, on December 29.

The announcement came courtesy of John Meyer, president of the Loop Trolley Co., who told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch on Thursday that "we hope a plan will come to fruition that may allow the trolley to resume operating at some point in the near future," but added that there's actually no plan to do so and no funding to keep the anachronistic and occasionally truck-assisted transport rolling in any form. 

While a paltry number of riders have deigned to ride the 2.2 mile track, the trolley has been circling the drain of financial and operational collapse for months.…

Next spring, vinyl-themed cocktail lounge Takashima Records (4041 Chouteau Avenue) will debut in the Grove — and now, you can look forward to tasty eats to match the delicious drinks and vinyl bops.

Located inside the Chroma complex near the corner of Chouteau and Manchester avenues, Takashima Records is the brainchild of Parlor owners Sean Baltzell and Casey Colgan. For the bar and lounge's food program, the business partners are collaborating with St. Louis-area restaurateur Kurt Bellon on a concept called Izumi.…

It's the last opening weekend of the year for St. Louis theaters, with five companies opening new plays this weekend. Of course, there are also quite a few holiday-adjacent events as well.…

In August 2018, Christopher Crivolio had a terrible idea. He sent out a raft of wildly racist rejection messages from a Chesterfield-based health clinic to black job applicants citing their "ghetto names."…

Another longtime Central West End business has announced that it is closing this week, and like its neighbors, it's a casualty of the Saint Louis Chess Club's expansion plans.

After 84 years of business, Culpeppers (300 North Euclid Avenue) in the Central West End closed after service last night, as first reported by KSDK. Located at the intersection of Euclid and Maryland avenues, the restaurant first opened in 1935 and remains locally owned.…

'Tis the season for staying indoors, ideally curled up on a comfy couch with a hot cup of coffee and a good book. As of December 3, St. Louisans have a new place to do just that: Protagonist Cafe (1700 South Ninth Street) opened in Soulard quietly on Tuesday.

Operated by Laura Leister, Ameet Rawal and James Lettaus, the founders of Pieces: The St. Louis Board Game Bar and Restaurant, Protagonist Cafe is described in a release as a "literary coffee shop."…

With the holidays right around the corner, local restaurants and neighborhood associations are getting into the spirit. If you need a break from decking the halls or trimming the Christmas tree, check out one of these five food-focused holiday events happening around town this weekend.…

If you're a package thief this season, you better watch out, you better think twice — because that Amazon box under your arm might actually contain a karmic gift of poopy vengeance. 

Such was the fate of a porch pirate in the St. Louis suburb of Hazelwood. As first reported by KSDK (Channel 5), this epic tale of revenge began last week when local mom found her Amazon orders being targeted by a campaign of theft waged by a single perpetrator, whose actions were captured on the family's surveillance camera.

The mom (whom KSDK did not name at her request) was already distressed to lose her package, but when the same thief came back again only a few days later, the shit, as they say, got real.…

Cinder House has a new leader in the kitchen.

The restaurant on the eighth floor of the Four Seasons Hotel St. Louis (999 North Second Street, 314-881-5800) announced yesterday that Josh Adams has replaced Aaron Martinez.…

Forgetting to bring dessert to Thanksgiving dinner is pretty bad. Breaking into a store to grab pies and leaving some cash on the counter is worse, though.

That's the scene that the Ballwin Police Department reported on Facebook in its weekly round-up of recent crimes. Apparently, a door at the Honey Baked Ham store was left unlocked by mistake, Ballwin police Officer Scott Stephens tells the Riverfront Times, so this wasn't a case of breaking and entering.…

After more than a year of planning and almost five months of construction, Little Fox (2800 Shenandoah Avenue) will celebrate its grand opening in the Fox Park neighborhood on Tuesday, December 10.

As reported by the Riverfront Times in October, owners Mowgli and Craig Rivard want the dining experience at Little Fox to balance the best of fine-dining restaurants with more casual neighborhood eateries.…

Is it possible that Missouri Republicans might have jumped the shark, even a little bit, on the issue of abortion? That unlikely prospect was raised in polling numbers reported last week by the Missouri Times, which scored a nice scoop by publishing an internal memo it obtained from the Democratic Governors Association (DGA).…

Anthony Greene knows when he isn't wanted. Seated behind the wheel of a hulking tractor-trailer on a recent Sunday afternoon, the 45-year-old trucker looms above an expanse of parking lot behind a Love's Travel Stop near downtown St. Louis.…

During the band's heyday of 1986 to 1994, Anacrusis climbed from the ranks of north St. Louis county basement bands to a group touring the country with nationally released albums. Bringing a melange of influences to their version of heavy metal, the band was based around the core trio of guitarist/vocalist Kenn Nardi, guitarist Kevin Heidbreder and bassist John Emery, with the group rounded out by a trio of drummers in Mike Owen, Chad E. Smith and Paul Miles.…