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Mom Accused of Child Abuse Says She Felt ‘Adrenaline Rush’ Torturing Her Infant

1 month ago
Thanks to St. Louis law enforcement obtaining text messages sent by a woman residing at a shelter for homeless mothers, an infant's life may have very well been saved. Police say that Emma Rigdon, 20, who was staying at a shelter in Old North St. Louis, filmed herself on her phone abusing the young male child. Rigdon allegedly pinched and slapped the baby's leg and then placed her hand over his nose and mouth, presumably to cause intentional difficulty breathing.
Ryan Krull

The Best Things to Do in St. Louis This Weekend: April 18 to 21

1 month ago
Thursday 04/18 Cue the Comedy The very funny Shannon Fiedler is coming to the Helium Comedy Club (1151 Saint Louis Galleria Street, Richmond Heights) as part of her nationwide tour, bringing with her the hilarious impressions and observational comedy that has made her a certified TikTok star with more than 200,000 followers to her name. Fiedler is perhaps best known for her send-ups of denizens of various cities across the country — with characters including "the brash Bostonian" and "the naive Minnesotan."
Riverfront Times Staff

St. Louis' Crash Apparatus Shows the Sickness of Car Dominance

1 month ago
We are inured to the violence of our car-centric transportation system. Crashes are just part of the deal, right? As drivers we accept the inconvenience of a lane closure, perhaps the fleeting gratitude that we weren't involved this time, and we move on.
Christian Frommelt

As Cardinals Plan to Seek More Public Money for Busch Stadium, Experts Balk

1 month ago
This story was commissioned by the River City Journalism Fund. In the some two decades since the St. Louis Cardinals reached an agreement to obtain public funding for a new stadium, team leaders have touted its economic benefits for the area and described the agreement as unique in professional sports because of how much of the stadium was privately financed. Local officials often then repeat those leaders’ assertions.
Eric Berger

The Salted Lime Brings Mexican Food Favorites to Ameristar Casino in St. Charles

1 month ago
Ameristar Casino Resort Spa St. Charles at 1 Ameristar Boulevard has a new spot to get fast-casual Mexican cuisine. The Salted Lime is now open, serving an array of Mexican food favorites, including complimentary chips and salsa for the table, along with items like bean dip, guacamole, street tacos, build-your-own burritos, chimichangas, pork carnitas made with citrus- and cola-braised pork and more. They’ve also got plenty of margaritas, plus desserts like churro cheesecake and tres leches cake.
Lauren Healey

Trans Rights Activist Dylan Mulvaney Is Coming to Saint Louis University

1 month ago
Social media influencer, advocate for transgender rights, and most recently pop star Dylan Mulvaney is set to speak at Saint Louis University on Monday.  Mulvaney gained popularity on TikTok as she documented her transition in her “Days of Girlhood” series. She now has 10 million followers on the platform, a success that led her to where most St. Louisans likely know her from — a collaboration with Bud Light.
Kallie Cox

Juvenile Detention Staffer Gave Jailed Kids Weed Gummies, Police Say

1 month ago
A former staff member at a St. Louis juvenile detention facility has been charged with two felonies after two young people locked up in the facility got too high. Patrick Harris, 23, worked at the juvenile facility on Enright Avenue in the Covenant Blu-Grand Center neighborhood. According to police, Harris gave weed gummies to two individuals locked up there, both under the age of 17.
Ryan Krull

St. Charles Hostage Situation Began With O’Fallon Man Lying in Wait

1 month ago
In the moments before Terrence D. Mahone engaged in a two-hour standoff with police in a St. Charles parking garage, he lay in wait in his victim's vehicle. According to court documents filed this morning, Mahone, who is in his early 40s and lives in O’Fallon, Missouri, hid in the back of the car directly behind the driver's seat in a parking garage near several government buildings, including St. Charles’ City Hall and Courthouse. When the unidentified female victim got into her car, she started screaming, presumably upon realizing Mahone was in the vehicle.
Ryan Krull

Wrong-Way Driver Busted in Downtown St. Louis Is 8 Years Old

1 month ago
An East St. Louis woman is in custody after her eight-year-old was stopped by police driving the wrong way in downtown St. Louis, with his mom passed out in the backseat. Police say that Latonya Mayes-Gale, 28, was driving with her child in the car yesterday, but at some point told her young child to take the wheel. When police stopped the vehicle near 4th and Walnut streets, Mayes-Gale was unconscious in the backseat.
Ryan Krull

Kunce Raises Another $2.25M in Bid to Oust Hawley

1 month ago
Democrat Lucas Kunce outraised incumbent Senator Josh Hawley's campaign in the first three months of this year, though Hawley brought in more money overall when taking into consideration his allied fundraising operations.  Last week, Kunce announced that he had pulled in $2.25 million in the first quarter of 2024. Hawley disclosed his campaign's fundraising yesterday, with filings showing he’d brought in $1.9 million over that same period.
Ryan Krull

Imo’s Hot New Collab: Red Hot Riplet Wings

1 month ago
Inspired by the success of the most St. Louis-style pizza yet — Imo’s one-day-only offering of thin-crust pizza topped with Old Vienna’s Red Hot Riplets — the two beloved local brands have teamed up again to unveil Imo’s new Red Hot Riplets wings.  Back in March, Imo’s and Old Vienna created the ultimate 314 Day collaboration by giving away a bag of Red Hot Riplets with pizza orders. Guests were encouraged to sprinkle the crunchy, spicy chip on top of their crispy-crusted pizza to create the most STL-flavored packed bite imaginable. 
Paula Tredway

Pizza Via Brings Scott Sandler's Artisan Pies to the Central West End

1 month ago
After 10 collective years of running Pizzeoli in Soulard and Pizza Head in Tower Grove East — though he’s since sold both of them — Pizza Via owner Scott Sandler comes to his new restaurant at 4501 Maryland Avenue in the Central West End with a few new ideas. He’s thinking artisan crusts, he’s thinking nuts. “I love nuts on pizza,” he says before going on to talk about a marriage of ingredients that isn’t on the menu yet, but possibly will be soon.
Alexa Beattie

St. Louis City’s First Baby Box Divides Aldermen

1 month ago
What most people might assume is a topic both sides of the political spectrum can agree on led to a lengthy debate on the floor of the St. Louis Board of Aldermen this morning. The topic in question? Whether to place a baby box at a north city fire station.
Kallie Cox

Swade Cannabis Launches Infused Dinner Series at St. Louis Restaurants

1 month ago
Just ahead of the international stoner holiday 4/20, local dispensary Swade Cannabis has announced it’s launching Best Buds, a series of infused dinners held in collaboration with some of St. Louis’ favorite local restaurants and chefs. Participating restaurants include Up Late, Pie Guy Pizza, El Molino del Sureste and Indo. Each meal will utilize a new product to the local cannabis market called “Stiribles,” an unflavored, water-soluble THC-infused powder from the High Five Edibles brand that’s manufactured by Teal Labs.
Lauren Healey

St. Louis’ Leather Society Rudis Is Building a Kinky Community

1 month ago
When St. Louis Police crashed an SUV into LGBTQ hotspot Bar:PM last December, it horrified many locals — but especially the leather group that has long considered the bar its home base: Rudis. The leather scene is believed to have grown in part out of World War II biker culture. Rudis President Nathan Shepard says leather clubs historically offered a safe place for men to wear leather, and they remain a way for the community to gather.
Kallie Cox

Anti-Muslim Speech Triggers STLCC Probe of Campus Police Officer

1 month ago
An evangelist loudly preaching on the campus of St. Louis Community College-Meramec last week made hateful claims about Muslims — but it's the response by a campus police officer that has now triggered an investigation by the college. In a livestream later captured for posterity on YouTube, the street preacher, reportedly with a group called Kingdom Reconcilers, shouted that students should prepare for hell's "darkness and fire." "Many of you on this campus think your way is OK," the preacher lectured.
Sarah Fenske

Wife of St. Charles Kidnapping Ringleader Arrested for Stealing VA Funds

1 month ago
The three St. Charles County men accused in state court late last year of keeping a 20-year-old Indian man in slave-like conditions at a home in Defiance, Missouri, now face federal charges for those crimes. The wife of the alleged ringleader of the plot has also been indicted along with her husband as part of a scheme to defraud the federal government. Nitya Sattaru, who had not previously been charged with a crime, was arrested yesterday by federal authorities.
Ryan Krull

Aldermen to Focus on Workers’ Rights Beginning This Week, Green Says

1 month ago
Today concluded the 2023-2024 legislative session of the St. Louis Board of Aldermen — but that doesn’t mean they’re going on break. The 2024-2025 session begins tomorrow, and Aldermanic President Megan Green says the focus will be on protecting workers’ rights. While much of the media coverage during the session focused on bills to bring red light cameras and oversight of police surveillance tools to St. Louis — and yes, both found final approval at today’s meeting — Green says the session’s true focus was tenants' rights. 
Kallie Cox

St. Charles Hostage Situation Ends Peacefully

1 month ago
An armed man surrendered peacefully after a two-hour standoff with police this morning in a parking garage next to St. Charles City Hall. The situation that played out in the parking garage was widely reported to have been a hostage situation. St. Charles County sheriff's deputies were the first to report to the scene a little before 10 a.m.
Ryan Krull