Prosecutors have elevated the charges against a 25-year-old man accused of assaulting a teenage McDonald's employee outside the restaurant.  Johnny Ricks, from north St. Louis County, now faces a first-degree felony assault charge, the closest charge to attempted murder permitted under Missouri law. An updated complaint filed yesterday by prosecutors in St. Louis County contains the amended allegations ..read more

Green Party Presidential Candidate Dr. Jill Stein is slated to speak at the University City Public Library on Saturday. She will speak alongside other academic and activist organizations on topics ranging from mass incarceration to factory farms in St. Louis. Stein has previously been slammed by members of the Democratic Party, who accused her of taking votes away from Hillary Clinton in 2016 ..read more

This story was first published in the Daily Egyptian of Southern Illinois University and is reprinted with permission. Southern Illinois University tenure professor Scott McClurg died April 13 after a long struggle with brain cancer ..read more

Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey launched an investigation into four companies Wednesday as part of an effort to crack down on intoxicating hemp products. The problem, according to Bailey, is the products in question — such as Delta-8 edibles and vape pens — are not clearly labeled to indicate that they’ll get you high. “When purchasing products, Missourians have a right to know if they will be subject to serious and potentially dangerous side effects,” Bailey stated in his press release, “like psychotic episodes, severe confusion, hallucinations and other life-threatening problems.”&n ..read more

A new market, deli and cafe called the Cobblestone will open soon at 701 North First Street on Laclede’s Landing. The business is owned and managed by Camille Jackson and Christopher McMenomy, who say they are on track for late April. All the cafe equipment is in place on the first floor, and some final tweaks are happening down below, where the market and deli will be ..read more

Annie’s Hope offers a free summer camp for children in the St. Louis area, but it’s probably not what you think.  While this camp does offer the fun activities associated with the concept — including crafts, canoeing and kickball — its purpose is greater, and every camper has one thing in common: Someone they love is dead. Camp Courage is an annual getaway for grieving kids and teens ages 6-18 ..read more

The opening arguments in the murder trial for accused cop killer Thomas Kinworthy began today, with both prosecution and defense agreeing that Kinworthy killed St. Louis police officer Tamarris Bohannon. "I'm going to tell you something the defense doesn't normally say in an opening statement," said Kinworthy's public defender, Anne Legomsky. "We admit it ..read more

St. Louis Ward 7 Alderwoman Alisha Sonnier took her advocacy for the unhoused community to the steps of the U.S. Supreme Court on Monday as the court weighed arguments in Johnson v. Grants Pass. The court must decide whether cities can ban unhoused individuals from sleeping outside even when shelter space is scarce. “The case is considered the most significant to come before the high court in decades on the issue as record numbers of people are without a permanent place to live in the United States,” the Associated Press reported ..read more

Across Melville Avenue from Blueberry Hill, and directly opposite Fitz’s Root Beer, Umami Seasons Hotpot has joined the Loop throng at 6602 Delmar Boulevard in University City. Umami Seasons serves Taiwanese hot pot, which is an interactive style of Asian dining (primarily Taiwanese and Chinese) where food is cooked at the table in different types of broth. Owner Poyi Liu explains that while the Chinese hot pot experience tends to be larger and noisier, the Taiwanese emphasis is on warmth and intimacy ..read more

A second video has emerged of the dust-up that occurred Friday night at a Perry County GOP event between Missouri Secretary of State Jay Ashcroft and state Senator Denny Hoskins (R-Warrensburg). This video shows Hoskins and Ashcroft outside the event, after an initial confrontation inside in which Hoskins called Ashcroft a "chickenshit" a half-dozen times. Hoskins had previously told the RFT that Ashcroft “barked off” to his wife, but during the initial heat exchange, Ashcroft retorted that whatever he uttered to Hoskins' wife, he said because Hoskins' wife "was just looking at him and I just ..read more