East St. Louis

Did East St. Louis Police Officer Show Up Drunk To Robbery, Curse At Victims?

An East St. Louis woman was not pleased to come home and find that her place had been robbed, trashed -- and set on fire. But when the police showed up, the situation only got worse. The stepfather of the woman tells the News-Democrat that the officer on the night shift who responded to the burg ... More >>

Gun Control: Dick Durbin Wants to Lower East St. Louis Homicide Rate, 18 Times U.S. Average

The homicide rate per capita in East St. Louis, Illinois, is about eighteen times the national average -- which U.S. Senator Dick Durbin says is a problem that cries for a solution. And tighter gun control, he says, is part of the answer. The Illinois Democrat brought his fight for legislation r ... More >>

Video: Dramatic East St. Louis Fire Department Footage Aims to Push Back Against Layoffs

For four months, East St. Louis firefighter Robert Schield strapped a camera to himself while on the job -- capturing all sorts of dramatic footage of fires and rescues. "It lets viewers see what it's like to wear the helmet of an East St. Louis firefighter," Schield tells Daily RFT. "Maybe it cou ... More >>

East St. Louis Police Chief Michael Floore Wants Stricter Security, Arrests At Food Stamp Office

Last week, a brawl that broke out in an Illinois food stamp office got a lot of attention -- in part, because the chaotic fight was caught in a blurry cell phone video that shows several women hitting each other and security guards struggling to keep the situation under control. Daily RFT spoke wi ... More >>

Masked Gunmen Church Robbery: Thieves Enter East St. Louis Church During Service

A Sunday church service in East St. Louis became a frightening crime scene when three masked gunmen entered the house of worship and demanded that parishioners give them their money. "These are some trying times now," East St. Louis Police Chief Michael Floore tells Daily RFT this morning. The i ... More >>

Video: East St. Louis Food Stamp Brawl Caught on Camera, Officials Consider Stricter Security

Food fight? A video of a chaotic brawl at the Illinois Department of Human Services in East St. Louis -- where residents were waiting on a food stamp line -- is making the rounds this week and now appears to have gotten the attention of local officials. In the cell phone video, on full view belo ... More >>

Banning Gang Colors is a Post-Hoc Solution. East Boogie Should Ban Single-Parent Homes

There's a war going on in East. St. Louis right now.  The forces of law and order are struggling to contain the forces of drugs, crime, poverty and desperation. The most recent solution conjured up by Mayor Alvin Parks and the cops: Ban gang colors, then lock up kids spotted on the streets duri ... More >>

State Takes Over East St. Louis Schools; Board Members Feel Decision is "Full of Crap"

It's been five years since the St. Louis public schools lost their accreditation and were transferred to the care of the state. Now the same fate has befallen the public schools of East St. Louis. The Illinois state board of education voted unanimously yesterday to dissolve the school board in East ... More >>

Silent Protest Against NYPD's Stop-and-Frisk Mimics 1917 East St. Louis Riot March

Yesterday,  thousands marched down Fifth Avenue in New York City to quietly protest perceived racial profiling in the NYPD's stop-and-frisk policy. Organizers say they made a conscious effort to mimic something that happened there a century ago: The silent march that took place in the wake of t ... More >>

New Mississippi River Bridge Could Threaten Excavation of Newly-Discovered Cahokia Suburb

Even 900 years ago, big cities had suburbs. The biggest city in North America then was Cahokia, and its suburbs stretched westward across the Mississippi River and north across most of what is now East St. Louis. We know that the Cahokians had a nasty habit of using their suburban neighbors as human ... More >>

MetroLink Train Collides with Car in Washington Park

A MetroLink train on the Washington Park-East St. Louis line collided with a car at 37th Street and St. Clair Avenue in Washington Park, Illinois, early this morning. No one on the train was injured, but the driver of the car was taken to the hospital according to reports.MetroLink's Rider Alerts sy ... More >>

Hell Hole vs. Murder City: Adjectives for East St. Louis Just Get Worse

Saturday Night Live poked some fun at East St. Louis with a political skit this past weekend that had Keenan Thompson (Good Burger, FTW), in character as ESL mayor Alvin Parks, proclaim his city to be a "hell hole." The real life Parks was reportedly not amused by the characterization.And then today ... More >>

Sen. Dick Durbin Gives Mayor Alvin Parks an Ultimatum, Parks Shrugs

​Senator Dick Durbin (D-Il) had some pointed and very public advice for East St. Louis Mayor Alvin Parks yesterday: Cut off the late-night package liquor sales and shut down the clubs at 1 a.m. and your crime rate will drop. Parks decided to not even take it under advisement, noting that those clu ... More >>

Angry Words Exchanged in Wal-Green's Checkout Line, Then the Stabbing Begins

​A 31-year-old woman was in line at an East St. Louis Walgreens with her two daughters on Tuesday morning when another woman bumped her. The bumper said "excuse me" and walked away, but bumped her again when the mother was at the counter.This time the mother told bumper to go around her because "p ... More >>

Contest: Match the Indicted Metro East Law Officer with the Crime! Win Underpants!

These boxers can be yours!​Five police officers in metro East St. Louis and a police dispatcher were indicted today on multiple crimes. Below is a description of the crimes and a photo of five of the six people arrested in the bust. First commenter to match the crime with the correct photo of the ... More >>

Miles to Go Jazztet Carries on East St. Louis' Music Tradition

Albert SamahaEast St. Louis Senior High's Miles to go Jazztet had the crowd bouncing at BB's Jazz, Blues and Soups.​The trumpet slipped in as a whisper, simmering below the bouncing bass and rattling drums, before Brady Lewis leaned back an inch and filled BB's Jazz, Blues and Soups with thick sou ... More >>

Protest Over Minority Hirings for Mississippi River Bridge On Hold This Morning

Black workers feel they should get half the labor jobs for new, $700-million bridge.​Unemployed black construction workers who planned to shut down progress on the Mississippi River Bridge today have put their protest on temporary hold. East St. Louis Mayor Alvin Parks and representatives of the M ... More >>

Mississippi River Bridge Project Employment Disparity Stings for African American Community Hit Hard By Recession

"I myself don't choose to be a third generation welfare mother. I want to work in the field that I'm trained in," says Dent.​Tiama Dent is a single mother of two children and a graduate of the Illinois Department of Transportation's Highway Construction Preparatory Training program. The eight-w ... More >>

Your Weekly St. Louis Bestseller List

Hey kids, it's time for fucking bed.​Here's your weekly St. Louis bestseller list for the week ending July 10, as compiled by the St. Louis Independent Booksellers Alliance and based on sales at Left Bank Books, Main Street Books, Pudd'nhead Books, Subterranean Books and Sue's News. Way to g ... More >>

East St. Louis Loses Only Hospital; Kenneth Hall Closing After 120 Years

The Kenneth Hall Regional Hospital in East St. Louis will close within the next three to four months.Kenneth Hall Hospital should close by end of summer.​The Illinois Health Facilities and Services Review Board voted to shutter the hospital yesterday. The facility -- founded in the 1890s -- had op ... More >>

More Video Emerges as Blackmon's Plaza Loses Liquor License Following Brawl

YouTubeDozens of people skirmish around 4:30 a.m. Saturday at Blackmon's.​New video appears at end of this post.East St. Louis officials yesterday temporarily suspended the liquor license at nightclub Blackmon's Plaza following a wild fight early Saturday morning. During the fight, captured on vid ... More >>

All Hell Breaks Loose in East St. Louis: Nightclubs Deal with Shootings, Fights

blackmonsplazaeast.comPolice say the situation got a little too hot this weekend at Blackmon's and other East St. Louis clubs.​East St. Louis police say they were under-staffed and ill-prepared to deal with a wave of violence that swept through the the city's late-night nightclubs early Saturday.A ... More >>

Hispanic Drug Gang Indicted in Southwestern Illinois; Group Allegedly Smuggled Cocaine

​Federal prosecutors in East St. Louis have charged 23 people with engaging in a criminal enterprise to distribute cocaine. Nine of the suspects are believed to have entered the United States illegally -- most by way of Mexico -- and at least four people in the group had previous been deported fro ... More >>

Manhole Covers Disappearing in East Boogie

Image viaEven these aren't safe. ​Too often we at Daily RFT just shake our heads at some new woe to have befallen East St. Louis. How about today's story reported by KSDK Channel 5: Somebody is stealing manhole covers from the city's south side. Yes. The manhole covers. Even those are getting stol ... More >>

Cops believe Reggie Allen mowed down an unarmed black man outside an east-side club more than a year ago. So why isn't he behind bars?

Club Flava: One Person Wounded in Latest East St. Louis Club Shooting

Image viaFlava Flav does not approve of violence at Club Flava​Metro east police officials have long argued that late-night violence at East St. Louis bars and clubs is largely to blame for the city's crime woes. After this weekend, the cops have yet another piece of evidence to back up their clai ... More >>

Kenneth Cany: East St. Louis Man Murdered Early This Morning Outside Cahokia

Illinois police are investigating the pre-dawn murder of a man in unincorporated Cahokia today.According to the St. Clair Sheriff's Department, the victim from East St. Louis was sitting in his girlfriend's car parked on Violet Drive (below) around 4:15 a.m. this morning when he was shot multiple ti ... More >>

Larry Maradle Jr.: Man Electrocuted Stealing Copper Part of Crime Ring

Police in Washington Park say the man electrocuted Saturday while trying to cut copper off power lines is part of a crime ring responsible for stealing metal from several sites in metro East St. Louis. The deceased, Larry Maradle Jr., was originally from Chicago. Police report that the 38-year-old w ... More >>

Middle-Schoolers Out Joyriding, Suspected of Firing Flare that Torched Home, Killed 13 Dogs

They were out joyriding in a red Dodge Charger when two kids from East St. Louis -- ages 12 and 13 -- allegedly stopped by a home in rural East Carondelet, Illinois, and fired a flare. The device caught a shed on fire with the flames quickly moving on to the home. Inside were 13 dogs -- a dozen mini ... More >>

Damario Moore: East St. Louis Homicide No. 19; Shot After Early Morning Argument at Crown Food Mart

Around 4 a.m. yesterday morning, Damario Moore pulled into Crown Food Mart on State Street in East St. Louis and parked his car at a gas pump. The 28-year-old Belleville native was walking into the convenience store when he exchanged words with a group of men standing outside the entrance. The men p ... More >>

Scripts 'N Screwz Premieres New Video for "On 10"

Yesterday, East St. Louis duo Scripts 'N Screwz premiered a new video for the song "On 10." The clip's director is Cody Stokes, who was also in charge of Old Lights' "Losing My Mind" video (which you can view here). The S'nS clip is yet another forward-thinking bit of video, thus continuing the repu ... More >>

Stealing Just Another Form of Tax-Free Back-to-School Shopping in East St. Louis

image viaHow to thwart a school security system in East St. Louis.​Illinois, alas, does not have a tax-free back-to-school shopping weekend the way Missouri does. And so a few citizens of East St. Louis have had to resort to other methods of saving money, namely breaking, entering and stealing. Me ... More >>

Arabia Moore and Darnell Turner Jr.: Couple Discovered Shot in Head in East St. Louis

The St. Louis Major Case Squad had identified the two individuals found shot to death in their heads -- possibly as they slept -- in East St. Louis. ​The victims are Arabia Moore, 20, of Belleville, and Darnell Turner Jr., 21. They were found Monday night around 11:30 p.m. lying together on a day ... More >>

East St. Louis commemorates Miles Davis' 84th birthday

East St. Louis Celebrates Miles Davis' Birthday with Jazz, Poetry -- and Cake

Christian SchaefferMiles Davis on a cake!​Earlier this afternoon, East St. Louis Mayor Alvin L. Parks threw a party to commemorate the 84th birthday of Miles Dewey Davis III, known to most as Miles Davis. The event, which took place in Parks' office, honored the jazz legend and paid tribute to ... More >>

Gunman Robs Father and Shoots His 5-Year-Old Son in East St. Louis

A five-year-old boy proved to be no match for a gun-wielding thug in East St. Louis yesterday afternoon. ​As the Belleville News-Democrat reports, the child's father had just returned to the Samuel Gompers Homes (photo above) around 2 p.m. he was confronted by an "acquaintance" with a gun.

Jemmane Whitehead: East St. Louis Homicide No. 6; Found Shot to Death in Car

East St. Louis police continue to investigate the murder of Jemmane Whitehead. Whitehead's body was found riddled with bullets Friday night around 11:50 p.m. in the 1300 block of Biosmenue Avenue (below) in East St. Louis.​

Who is Ass Clown of the Week? March 26 - April 2

A full moon always brings out the Ass Clowns.​Did you notice it was a full moon earlier this week? How else to explain the bumper crop of Ass Clowns making headlines over the past seven days? You know the rules, vote for the newsmaker whose actions or admissions this week you find to be the most d ... More >>

East St. Louis Councilmen: Not Mathemeticians, But City is Going Bankrupt

Image ViaEast Boogie will not pass go, collect $200​Two East St. Louis Councilmen say their city is on the verge of bankruptcy after a bid to borrow more than $1.5 million was denied last week. The city hoped the East St. Louis police and fire boards would lend them the cash but the agencies rebuf ... More >>

Owner of Bar "Club TV One" Now Has Lots of Time To Watch Television -- In Prison

​A Kirkwood resident was sentenced today to 60 months in prison after pleading guilty in October to transporting stolen property and possessing a mere 418 pound of marijuana in his East St. Louis nightclubRobert Williams, 46, ran a nightclub in the Central West End that closed shop in 2008 only to ... More >>

Black Man Killed At "Skinhead Nazi Strip Club" in East St. Louis. Then it Gets Weird...

Of all the places to open a nightclub that advertises "Hot Girls, Cold Beer" and supposedly only allows white people to enter, East St. Louis, Illinois has to be at the bottom of the list of likely locations. Not only is the city's population 98 percent African-American, it also prohibits "sexually ... More >>

The Big Bloody: In East St. Louis, Three Women Shot at Gas Station, Children in Vehicle

Police have arrested a man suspected of executing a triple-slaying on Saturday night at an East St. Louis Mobil station, reports KMOX.

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 ca ... More >>

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 lyin ... More >>

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 occurre ... More >>

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 ... More >>

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 -- mak ... More >>

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 ... More >>

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, ... More >>

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 ... More >>