RFT 📰

Get ready to show your pride at St. Louis PrideFest. Today, Pride St. Louis announced the popular festival’s dates and theme.

What a difference a few years can make. In April 2020, the federal government awarded a Paycheck Protection Program loan worth $1,970,487 to the partnership group that ran Northview Village Nursing Home in St. Louis.

Friday 01/19 Family Jewels While it may lack some of the magic of its fellow Jim Henson-penned Labyrinth — specifically, the magic introduced to us by David Bowie's massive hog as it tests the tensile strength of the fibers struggling to hold the crotch of his tights together — The Dark Crystal is not without its charms.

The Burney Sisters 7:30 p.m. Saturday, January 20.

If you've ever been curious about experiencing symphonic music but haven't wanted to risk the expense yet, now is your chance. Today, the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra and the St. Louis County Library announced they would be giving out free concert vouchers. Under the new partnership, anyone who has not experienced the symphony can get a voucher for two free tickets to a classical concert or four tickets to a family concert.

A new lawsuit accuses barbecue juggernaut Salt + Smoke of accidentally causing a catastrophic fire that ravaged nearly an entire block of the Central West End — and then failing to cover the costs of the condo association with whom it shared a building. The lawsuit was filed January 12 in St. Louis Circuit Court on behalf of the Euclid East Condominium Association and several related limited liability companies and board members. They say they own 11 units in the building at Euclid and McPherson.

This column was first published in Ray  Hartmann's St. Louis Insider. If jumping to conclusions were a track-and-field sport, Clayton would be favored to win state.

On December 20, about a week before he jetted off to an atoll in the Pacific Ocean, Sheriff Chris Heitman made a stop at City Hall in Belle, Missouri, to execute a search warrant. Heitman is the sheriff of Maries County, population 8,400, about two hours southwest of St. Louis.

The city of St. Louis today dropped a bombshell of a lawsuit against six Missouri residents who the city says are running a massive illegal rooming house operation involving 39 properties spanning at least nine south city neighborhoods. Attorneys with the City Counselor's Office say that Dara Daugherty and five other named defendants prey on vulnerable people by renting out portions of homes that are condemned or otherwise not permitted to be run as rooming houses.

Schlafly Beer, St. Louis’ largest craft brewery, has released a new non-alcoholic beer — that’s perfect for Dry January.  Pale Ale NA is a nonalcoholic analogue of Schlafly’s year-round Pale Ale.

St. Louis' summer of 2024 is going to kick off with a bang: Janet Jackson announced today she's coming to Hollywood Casino Amphitheater on June 21, and she's bringing Nelly with her. That last part isn't just a local thing. The "I'm from the Lou and I'm proud" rapper is actually accompanying Jackson on all 35 new stops she announced today for her ongoing tour, which celebrates the 25th anniversary of The Velvet Rope and the 30th anniversary of Janet.

MONDAY, JANUARY 8. Police in Texas announce they’ve arrested a Missouri teacher on the lam after being charged with statutory rape.

Last year, a sign on Interstate 44 near Kirkwood in St. Louis County told motorists they were driving on a highway where litter cleanup was done to honor Kevin “Rockhead” Johnson. The sign was up until a motorist recognized the name as a man executed by the state in November 2022 for the killing of Kirkwood Police Sergeant William McEntee in 2005. A social media post sparked outrage and news stories. 

The Puppy Bowl is back again for its 20th year with two St. Louis pups taking the field.  Sadie, a Humane Society of Missouri rescue, and Indigo, who lived at Five Acres Animal Shelter in St. Charles, both will be on Team Ruff where they will take on Team Fluff for the Lombarky trophy. 

This story was updated at 10:15 a.m. to reflect breaking news: Because of an ill prosecutor, the jury will not be empaneled and the trial will be pushed to March or April, with a new jury chosen at that time. Full story follows.

In its entwining of a love story and a ghost story, Andrew Haigh’s All of Us Strangers is scarcely without precedent, with forebears including The Ghost and Mrs. Muir, Truly, Madly, Deeply and, of course, Ghost.  Those films, however, involved romances between the living and the dead, with all of the inevitable complications.

The eatery Southern (3108 Olive Street) has closed its doors after more than eight years in Midtown St. Louis. The fast-casual spot pioneered Nashville-style hot chicken in St. Louis, long before national chains like Gus' opened up in town. With rising star Rick Lewis as its opening chef, the place drew rave reviews and devoted fans, helping provide an alternative to diners thwarted by the long lines at Pappy's Smokehouse next door and quickly drawing lines of its own.

In the dead of winter, it can be all too easy to spend every night on the couch, Netflixing and chilling without even having someone to chill with. If you ask us, that's a recipe for depression — but Tamm Avenue Bar (1227 Tamm Avenue) just might have the cure.

Like the late Martin Luther King Jr., Michelle Higgins is both a pastor and an activist. Senior pastor at St. John’s Church the Beloved Community in north St. Louis, she sees her job not just to feed her flock Biblical truths but to push for change.

A scooter-riding, pistol-packing, body armor-wearing Arnold man is currently facing a felony burglary charge after a botched attempt to rob a jewelry store early this morning at South County Center. Police say that a mall security guard spotted 31-year-old Jacob Cecil Scholtes around 1 a.m. on Friday, January 12, riding an electric scooter around the mall.