Subject: East St. Louis

• Terror, Terror Everywhere: Yet again, Unreal learns that truth is stranger than fiction

  March 25, 2009

• Battle of the Beats Update: Another Shooting

  September 10, 2007

• The Morning Brew: Tuesday, 4.8

  April 8, 2008

• Go! The St. Louis Weekend Calendar, August 22-24, 2008

  August 22, 2008

• Hell Hath No Fury

  March 13, 2002

• East St. Louis duo Unladylike sign with VMG/Def Jam, Move to NYC

  East St. Louis has never really had a hip-hop artist blow up nationally. Raw Resse, Beano, and Da Bangaz all had local club hits that led to record deals but little else--nothing on the level of Nelly, let alone 314 money-makers like Jibbs or Murphy Lee. The latest hope for the Eastside comes a pair of female emcees who call themselves Unladylike.   In November the pair, who go by the names Tee and Gunna, inked a record deal with Voicez, a recently created branch of Def Jam. Last month t

  January 6, 2009

• How Many Post-Dispatch Writers Does it Take to Re-Report a Story?

  Last week we mentioned the great investigative piece in the Belleville News Democrat that called into question curious payments at the Jackie Joyner-Kersee Center in East St. Louis. As the BND outlined in its Jan. 11 cover story, the charitable foundation founded by Olympic track star Jackie Joyner-Kersee paid $457,000 in recent years to her husband's private foundation, which failed to file federal income statements as required by law. Meanwhile, the Jackie Joyne

  January 19, 2009

• East Boogie Reviews Its All-Night Liquor Licenses

  flickr.com/photos/binkle76Downtown East St. LouisIllinois State Police Captain Mark Bramlett says after-hour nightclubs played a role in a dozen homicides his department has investigated in East St. Louis since 2005. And the perpetrators of those crimes are often booze-filled visitors from St. Louis.  "We're seeing an increase in violence, and it's often not from residents of Illinois who are attracted to the after-hours nightclubs," Bramlett told the Belleville News-Democrat yesterday. "Wh

  March 2, 2009

• Unladylike Gets New Video, Myspace Pimping

  A few weeks ago, we told you about Unladylike, the local duo signed to Island/Def Jam. They duo's new single and video, "Bartender," is getting promoted online, and it was added to MySpace February 27. It's now a featured video on the site.The video is filmed, partially at least, at Club Casino in East St. Louis.Throughout the video, the ladies run up a bar tab. Fuck that recession -- by the video's end, they rack up $6,000 in drinks! At the end of the night, they look bummed when they look at t

  March 4, 2009

• Thursday, March 5: Morning's Newz

  Clooney chaos continues in St. Louis! The actor and crew filmed parts of "Up in the Air" last night in a downtown office building.In other news...St. Charles police have busted several bars on the city's historic Main Street for serving underage patrons. Bouncers routinely allowed a 19-year-old police informant to enter nightclubs without checking her ID. Across the other river, in East St. Louis, police are investigating the burglary of the home of the late choreographer Katherine Dunham. Thiev

  March 5, 2009

• Friday, March 27: Morning's Newz

  Oh, baby! How 'bout those Mizzou Tigers?! My grad-school alma mater (thank you!) heads to the Elite 8 after knocking off No. 2 seed Memphis in a thrilling victory last night in Arizona. Up 24 points early in the second half, the MU Tigers held off a late rally by those other Tigers, Memphis, to win 102-91. Mizzou next plays UConn on Saturday at 4:40 p.m. St. Louis officials are on the offensive after the ACLU released a report earlier this week lambasting the city for conditions at its jails. Tu

  March 27, 2009

• Tuesday, March 31: Morning's Newz

  Three candidates for St. Louis mayor held a debate last night at the downtown library. The event was long on sound-bites and allegations, but short on in-depth policy discussions -- according to KWMU 90.7 FM. You can listen to snippets of the debate here. Federal agents have charged Robert Williams, owner of Club TV in East St. Louis, with transporting stolen property. Williams is accused of taking $100,000 worth of fixtures from a similar club that he rented on Washington Avenue in St. Louis. A

  March 31, 2009

• Last Call?: East St. Louis nightclubs under siege

  May 20, 2009

• Scripts 'n Screwz

  The New Noise
  (Villainous Entertainment)

  April 30, 2008

• Lock 'Em Down, Lock 'Em Up

  Did Lock 'Em Down Records exec Dewanzel Singleton lead a well-choreographed double life, or did the DEA finger an innocent man?

  January 9, 2008

• Funky Town

  Smokestacks, strip joints and a seriously solid tax base: Welcome to Sauget, Illinois

  January 14, 2004

• Should I take my boyfriend's parents to East St. Louis?

  October 11, 2006

• Obscurity Knocks

  CD Baby's weird and wacky Missouri musicians, "Yo! RFT Raps" talks to inBox magazine's svengali, and the Raconteurs star in this week's Download

  May 10, 2006

• Complex God

  The Constitution proves no match for Carl Officer

  May 18, 2005

• Arch Madness

  A rough guide to St. Louis

  March 30, 2005

• The Resurrection of Carl Officer

  East St. Louis’ prodigal son is back — but is he the man to save Sin City?

  March 23, 2005

• Best Bus Route

  Madison County Transit No. 18

  September 29, 2004

• East St. Louis Spoof

  A new comic novel asks: What if the ESTL seceded from the union?

  July 14, 2004

• The Man Behind the Mask

  WWE's Rey Mysterio has game to spare, Harold Ramis helps clear up a misconception, and Bill Haas shows his sensitive side; plus, Unreal lends support to a fellow muckraker injured in the line of duty

  June 9, 2004

• A River Runs Through It

  The Route 3 detour means wannabe Griswolds needn't set foot in East St. Louis

  May 5, 2004

• Best Book by a Local Author

  Made in USA: East St. Louis
  By Andrew J. Theising

  September 24, 2003

• Crunk and Disorderly

  Every Saturday night, East St. Louis explodes with one of the wildest parties you've never seen

  January 22, 2003

• A Tree Grows in Brooklyn

  A park is coming to a village of the damned

  January 8, 2003

• "You Don't Just Grouch"

  July 4, 2001

• Unsettled

  July 4, 2001

• Miles from Home

  March 7, 2001

• Best Setting

  September 27, 2000

• Collision Course

  July 12, 2000

• The Marvelous Mr. Gates

  April 19, 2000

• Through the Eyes of a Child: Coming Home

  March 22, 2000

• The Merchant of Venice

  September 1, 1999

• Black and Blue

  December 23, 1998

• East St. Louis Mayor Says City's Nightclubs Will Continue to Stay Open Late

  photo by Keegan HamiltonEast St. Louis mayor Alvin Parks said Friday that the city's bars, liquor stores and nightclubs will continue to serve alcohol until the current closing time, despite criticism.Parks doubles as East St. Louis' liquor commissioner and said nightclubs will remain open until 6 a.m. and package liquor stores until 3 a.m.The decision comes despite pressure from the East St. Louis City Council, St. Clair County law enforcement officials, and many East St. Louis residents to res

  April 27, 2009

• The FBI Was Back at East St. Louis City Hall Yesterday

  photo of East St. Louis Mayor Alvin Parks by Jennifer SilverbergThe Belleville News-Democrat reports in a brief story on its website this morning that FBI and IRS agents served a subpoena at East St. Louis City Hall yesterday afternoon and spent several hours collecting "all of the city's tax increment finance records from January 2008 to Wednesday" from the office of city manager Robert Betts.An assistant in East St. Louis Mayor Alvin Parks' office tells RFT the mayor is attending a meetin

  May 21, 2009

• RFT Feature Presentation: East St. Louis Nightclubs Under Siege

  Jennifer Silverberg Club Casino owner Cedric Taylor stands in front of his nightclub on State Street in East St. LouisOn March 19, leaders from across the metro east gathered at a news conference and demanded that East St. Louis Mayor Alvin Parks -- also the city's liquor commissioner -- make the nightclubs in his jurisdiction close earlier A week after the press conference, FBI agents raided Parks' city hall office, removing documents that the major characterizes as an investigatio

  May 20, 2009

• Setting the Record Straight: East St. Louis and National Lampoon's Vacation

  This week's feature story on the controversy brewing over nightclubs in East St. Louis includes this reference to the cinematic masterpiece that is National Lampoon's Vacation: To many [East St. Louis] will forever be the place where a goofy honky from Chicago named Clark Griswold gets his hubcaps stolen in the movie Vacation.Caricatures may depict a machine-gun-toting thug on every corner, but the sad reality is that the city is mostly desolate. Virtually every block is dotted with boarded-up

  May 26, 2009

• Wild Morning in East St. Louis: Two Shot, One Killed; Third Victim Found Dead in Rug

  Shamario Williams became East St. Louis' tenth homicide victim of the year when the 23-year-old was shot and killed around 1 a.m. this morning in the Roosevelt Homes public housing complex. Williams was a resident of the housing community (pictured below) near the intersections of North 44th Street and Bunkum Road. A second victim, described as a 17-year-old male, was also shot around the same time this morning in the housing community. He is in stable condition. Police did not know if the vict

  June 23, 2009

• Illinois State Police Write 120 Tickets in One Day In East St. Louis

  local4traffic.files.wordpress.comThe police also wrote 111 tickets in Alton.The jaw-dropping number of traffic citations comes courtesy of another one of the Illinois State Police's patented "roadside safety checks" at the freeway off-ramp at Broadway and Fourth Street in East Boogie.The BND has the impressive breakdown on the ticket stats."One person was arrested for driving under the influence and 19 were arrested on outstanding warrants. Tickets were also issued to 18 people for having o

  July 1, 2009

• Where Not to Drink and Drive this 4th of July Weekend

  flickr.com/photos/fensterbmeIt's not that we here at Daily RFT endorse drinking-and-driving. We don't. (Truth be known, we're much bigger fans of drunk jazzercising.) But for those who do plan to imbibe this three-day weekend and get behind the wheel, here's a few areas you'll definitely want to avoid. Olivette: The city sent out a press release earlier this week saying that it's ramping up its sobriety checkpoints throughout the month of July. Random motorists will be pulled over for tests thro

  July 2, 2009

• Rude Awakening: East St. Louis Residents Wake Up to Gunman Shooting Them in Bed

  And you thought that buzz on your alarm clock was a cruel way to start the day.​Attention Evening Whirl, police in East St. Louis have this week's cover story for you. It's the tale of the three adults in East Boogie who awoke Saturday to a gunman shooting them in their sleep. The incident occurred early Saturday in a home in the 2700 block of St. Louis Avenue in East St. Louis. Police responded to a call of multiple shootings around 4 a.m. When they arrived, they found two men and a woman sho

  August 3, 2009

• UPDATED: Shooting Investigation Closes Poplar Street Bridge This Morning, Initial Reports Suggest Ties to East Side Nightclub

  flickr.com/photos/bkrammeThe Poplar Street Bridge (foreground) as viewed looking toward East St. Louis. ​All westbound lanes of the Poplar Street Bridge were closed this morning at 7 a.m. for about 15 minutes as St. Louis police searched for evidence tied to a double-shooting.Details are scare but KMOV has the scoop:The shooting happened around 4:00 a.m. on Tuesday at a night club in the Metro-East.Authorities say that a 24-year-old woman was shot to death and a male victim was also shot and s

  August 4, 2009

• Former East St. Louis Deputy Liquor Commissioner Indicted on Extortion Charges

  perfectsubstitute.blogspot.com​Former East St. Louis deputy liquor commissioner Walter D. Hill was indicted yesterday on federal extortion charges, the Belleville News-Democrat reports. Hill is accused of using his position with the city to extort money, liquor, and sex. He is also accused of lying to federal investigators.A portion of the typically stellar reporting from the BND's Carolyn P. Smith:The indictment charges Hill with soliciting and receiving money and property -- including cash,

  August 20, 2009

• Saturday! Sugarhill Gang at the Missouri Black Expo

  This Saturday, the Sugarhill Gang will be performing at the Missouri Black Expo at 5:15 p.m. (MC Lyte is on at 6:15 p.m.; the concert takes place at America's Center.) Kevin Johnson has a nice interview in today's Post-Dispatch with the group's Big Bank Hank Jackson. What isn't mentioned in the piece is this nugget that Keegan Hamilton discovered in the course of reporting a story about '80s hip-hop in St. Louis: that "Rapper's Delight" likely "broke" first right here in St. Louis. Read the exce

  August 21, 2009

• The Big Bloody: Another Shooting at The Pink Slip Strip Club

  Wikimedia Commons​For the second time this month, a man was shot at the Brooklyn strip club the Pink Slip, the Belleville News-Democrat reports. This time the shooting was not deadly. Details are scarce but here's the rub:A St. Louis man was shot inside a nightclub early Sunday.According to Illinois State Police, a man was shot during a verbal fight at about 3:27 a.m. Sunday inside the Pink Slip Nightclub. The victim was Amos Blanchard, 35, of St. Louis, and he was transported to an area

  August 24, 2009

• Last Call: Mayor Suspends Late Night Liquor Sales at East St. Louis Nightclubs after Bloody Weekend

  photo by Jennifer SilverbergEast St. Louis Mayor Alvin Parks​East St. Louis mayor and liquor commissioner Alvin Parks may have finally had it with his city's nightclubs. After a bloody weekend that left four people injured or dead in two days at nightspots scattered across town, Parks says last call at the bars will be rolled back--at least for the time being-- from 6 a.m. to 1 a.m. Parks, who was at the scene of one of the murders--a fatal shooting at 3:14 a.m. at Club 2151-- when it occurred

  October 5, 2009