East St. Louis

Bullies Write Homophobic Slur on 7th Grader's Neck, Attack Him, East St. Louis Mom Says

Caylend Childs, an East St. Louis seventh grader, says that he was resting his head on his desk when bullies wrote "fag" on the back of his neck -- in permanent marker. "He didn't know what was on his neck," Ruth Childs, his mother tells KTVI, video below. "All the kids were laughing at him." Sch ... More >>

Fresco Kane on 106 & Park: "I Get My Confidence From Doing it for So Long in St. Louis"

East St. Louis rapper Fresco Kane has been working in this city for a long time (you may know him as Gena). In September, we wrote about his recently finalized deal with Jermaine Dupri's So So Def records. They both made an appearance recently on BET's 106 & Park to make the introduction to the rest ... More >>

In the Galleries - Odell Mitchell Jr. Retrospective CLOSES September 3 at the SLAM

Intentional Grounding: When the state stripped his Flyers of back-to-back conference titles last year, East St. Louis High football coach Darren Sunkett seemed done for. Not so fast.

Miles Davis' East St. Louis Childhood Home Is Falling Apart

Andrew TheisingMiles Davis' East St. Louis childhood home in October 2011.​There was a deep puddle the width of the entire dirt road, so Dr. Andrew Theising, a political science professor at Southern Illinois University- Edwardsville, wheeled his car over the gravel shoulder instead. He was taki ... More >>

Miles Davis' Childhood Home Is Falling Apart In East St. Louis

Andrew TheisingMiles Davis' East St. Louis childhood home in October 2011.​There was a deep puddle the width of the entire dirt road, so Dr. Andrew Theising, a political science professor at Southern Illinois University -- Edwardsville, wheeled his car over the gravel shoulder instead. He was ta ... More >>

Jackie Joyner-Kersee Center Re-opens In East St. Louis; Finances Shuttered Center in 2009

Jackie Joyner-Kersee Center launches again. ​Two years after a Belleville News-Democrat investigation exposed questionable consulting contracts and massive debt at the Jackie Joyner-Kersee Center, the East St. Louis youth center is once again on firm financial ground. Yesterday the center re-opene ... More >>

East St. Louis Mayor Alvin Parks Tries to Be Opposite of a Grinch

Keegan HamiltonEast St. Louis mayor Alvin Parks, Jr., at a town hall meeting earlier this year.​Whatever the opposite of a Grinch is, that's what East St. Louis mayor Alvin L. Parks, Jr., is trying to be. Upon hearing that his city was planning to lay off nineteen police officers, four public ... More >>

Snack Chips, Bag of Candy Stolen in East St. Louis ATM Robbery; Cash Maybe Missing, Too

eslarp.uiuc.edu​Daily RFT just received a notice that the St. Clair Sheriff's Department will hold a 2 p.m. press conference today to address a brazen burglary this morning in East St. Louis. At around 3:30 a.m. thieves drove a stolen church van through the window of a diner attached to Emerson Pa ... More >>

Amid Controversy, East St. Louis Football Coach Darren Sunkett Invited to Elite Coaching Academy

Image via BND.comThe Army wants to help Coach Darren Sunkett be all he can be.​Despite the best efforts of the Illinois High School Association, East St. Louis head football coach Darren Sunkett will be on the sidelines this postseason.East St. Louis' outstanding quarterback/defensive back Glen Fa ... More >>

East St. Louis Football Team Cleared for Playoffs; Judge's Ruling Stays Forfeiture

prepsportswear.comFlyers cleared for lift off -- for now.​They're baaaack! For now, anyway. Yesterday an Illinois judge granted a temporary restraining order blocking a  ruling earlier this week in which the Illinois High School Association found that the East St. Louis football team violated ... More >>

Albert C. Thompson: Accused of Helping East St. Louis Liquor Official Commit Extortion

The East St. Louis liquor scandal that first came to light two years ago continues to unravel. Yesterday, the southern Illinois U.S. Attorney's Office announced that Albert C. Thompson has been indicted by a Federal Grand Jury on charges of "attempted extortion under the color of official right," wh ... More >>

Copper Thief Killed: Man Stripping Metal From Power Lines Knocks Out Power for Hundreds

A 38-year-old man died while allegedly trying to strip copper wire from power lines in Washington Park Saturday. According to reports, the man was electrocuted around 3 a.m. October 2 knocking out power for hundreds of residents of metro East St. Louis. The man's body was found a few hours later wit ... More >>

John Salley Recalls a Tarnished Evening in an East St. Louis Strip Club

​Basketball legend John Salley has been sharing some pretty wild stories of his NBA days with listeners of his podcast Spider and the Henchman. Last week the story involved a visit to an East St. Louis strip club with the stand-up comedians (and brothers) Joe and Guy Torry. The club, says Sally, w ... More >>

Francisco "Poncho" Javier-Rivera: Sentenced for Smuggling Marijuana and...Spaghetti Squash?

Image sourceHooray for healthy munchies.​On February 23, 2010 an undocumented immigrant from Sonora, Mexico named Francisco "Poncho" Javier-Rivera was stopped by police on I-70 in Madison County. The cops searched his refrigerated truck and found a load of produce -- specifically 37,000 pounds of ... More >>

Jesse and Latonya Robinson: Washington Park Couple Allegedly Stole Money Intended for Hurricane Katrina Victims

Anyone who has ever driven through Washington Park knows that the place looks like it was recently hit by a hurricane. Save for the strip clubs, the tiny village next East St. Louis is full of buildings that are burned down, boarded up and falling over.But while some of the residents probably should ... More >>

Travis Heard: Man Caught Stripping Copper from Strip Club Shot Dead in East St. Louis

Police in East St. Louis say Travis Heard, 33, was on the roof of the Colony II Theatre and Cocktails strip club around 5 a.m. this morning when he was confronted by the club's owner. Colony II Theatre and Cocktails at 4500 Forest Blvd.​Heard was reportedly ordered off the roof at gunpoint and esc ... More >>

Divas of Da Lou

7 p.m. Friday, April 2. The Ambassador, 9800 Halls Ferry Road, Jennings.

East St. Louis Homicide No. 4: Brandon Jenkins Shot Inside Club Casino

The owners of Club Casino are offering a $5,000 reward for information that leads to the capture of the person who shot Brandon Jenkins. A 22-year-old from Shiloh, Illinois, Jenkins was killed around 3 a.m. Saturday morning inside the popular East St. Louis nightspot on State Street.View Larger MapA ... More >>

More New (Local) Tunes Thursday: Loose Screwz Drops a Solo Joint

​More late-breaking new tunes to share today: Loose Screwz -- one-half of the super-talented East St. Louis hip-hop duo Scripts 'N Screwz, which we've covered quite a bit -- is releasing a solo joint, Satellites, on March 29. The first track to emerge from it is "BOOM!" and it's sick. Chaotic ... More >>

Flashback: The Evening Whirl in Spin Magazine

One of my coolest recent finds on Google books is a searchable archive of Spin magazine's entire collection -- from the magazine's very first issue (Madonna was the cover star, May 1985) through last fall's Pearl Jam interview. I happened to click randomly on the May 1986 issue (R.E.M. on the cover, ... More >>

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 I ... More >>

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 ... More >>

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 avo ... More >>

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 ha ... More >>

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 ... More >>

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 i ... More >>

Last Call?: East St. Louis nightclubs under siege

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 poli ... More >>

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 E ... More >>

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 st ... More >>

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 pai ... More >>

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?

Battle of the Beats Update: Another Shooting

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

Week of October 12, 2006

Complex God

The Constitution proves no match for Carl Officer

Arch Madness

A rough guide to St. Louis

The Resurrection of Carl Officer

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

East St. Louis Spoof

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

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

A River Runs Through It

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

Funky Town

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

Best Book by a Local Author

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

Crunk and Disorderly

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

A Tree Grows in Brooklyn

A park is coming to a village of the damned

Hell Hath No Fury

The good ol' boys at Rent-A-Center raise a white flag -- they're licked

"You Don't Just Grouch"

Helen Hudlin saw the blight in her East St. Louis neighborhood and "just got busy"

Unsettled

The only person likely to pay for killing LaTanya Mickles-Hamlin is the guy who named the alleged triggerman

Best Setting

Through the Eyes of a Child, Historyonics Theatre Company

The Marvelous Mr. Gates

You can do a lot of living in a century, especially if you get an extra five years