Subject: Federal Bureau of Investigation

• The Purloined Rockwell

  March 2, 2007

• The Ashcroft Rap

  November 21, 2006

• Gun Sales Blazin' in Lemay

  Unreal arose Saturday morning and decided to go gun-shopping. We'd been in the market for a shotgun for some time now, and well, with the economy hurtling down the shitter, it seemed like area pawn shops would be as ripe for picking as a southern Illinois apple orchard.We threw on our dirty jeans and boots, jumped in the truck and headed for Lemay, overcome with a veritable sense of patriotic duty. No more than a half-minute into town did there appear a pawn shop straight out of central casting,

  November 24, 2008

• Like Wearing Dark Suits and Sunglasses? The FBI is Hiring

  Sure the economy is bad, but at least the FBI is hiring, by the thousands, nationwide.Sadly for those aspiring to work the bank robbery cases in St. Louis, only five positions will be added to the St. Louis office, 2222 Market Street, says special agent Billy Cox.And none of those positions needed here in St. Louis are the of the special agent kind. Nationwide, the FBI is hiring 2,100 support positions (secretaries to IT to mechanics) and 850 agents.

  January 6, 2009

• Recession Could Trigger Crime Surge, So Says UMSL Criminologist

  flickr.com/photos/macwagenLaw-enforcement agencies across the nation are bracing for a spike in crime as the economy continues to plunge. This past weekend, UMSL criminologist Richard Rosenfeld told McClatchy Newspapers that history indicates that an increase in crime is imminent. "There's little question that crime rates peak during or, on occasion, immediately after a recessionary period," Rosenfeld told the newspaper chain. "And that's been the case for much of the period" after World War II.

  February 23, 2009

• St. Louis: Nation's Second Deadliest City in '08

  flickr.com/photos/poohbahThe FBI came out with its 2008 crime statistics this week. And when it comes to murder rates, our fair city has a dubious distinction. St. Louis ranked second per capita last year in the number of homicides committed in the city, with 47 slayings per 100,000 people. Leading the ranking was New Orleans, which recorded 64 murders per 100,000 people last year. Yesterday the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department issued a release noting that homicides in the city as o

  June 3, 2009

• Wednesday, April 1: Morning's Newz

  The FBI is reportedly investigating members of the Missouri House over so-called "pay-to-play" appointments for committee seats. The specter of the FBI probe prompted legislative General Counsel Don Lograsso to send a memo to all House members this week warning them not to accept "campaign contributions to yourself or others, a job for yourself or others, dinner, travel, tickets to events, etc."And speaking of FBI inquiries...East St. Louis officials held a public meeting last night to address a

  April 1, 2009

• East St. Louis Mayor: The FBI Raiding My Office Is Actually a Good Thing

  photo by Keegan HamiltonHundreds of concerned East St. Louis citizens gathered Tuesday for an "Emergency Town Hall Meeting" called by Mayor Alvin Parks Jr. to discuss the recent FBI raid of Parks' office and pending investigation and the controversy regarding the hours of the city's late-night bars and clubs.Just after the meeting kicked off -- before his constituents started laying into Parks for everything from allegations of corruption to their city's lack of a blues festival--the embattled m

  April 1, 2009

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

  May 20, 2009

• Strong Safety

  Has the NFL gone too far trying to monitor players' off-field antics?

  January 25, 2006

• The Death of Father Kaiser

  October 24, 2007

• Gunning for Gun Control

  July 4, 2001

• Rockwell Revisited

  September 5, 2007

• Test My Balls of Fury

  August 29, 2007

• A Trip to Europe

  February 1, 2006

• Cops 'n' Robbers

  Readers reopen the Rockwell Files.

  June 20, 2007

• The Rockwell Files

  June 6, 2007

• Irons in the Fire (Again)

  May 23, 2007

• The Mystery of Lloyd Gaines

  April 4, 2007

• The Purloined Rockwell

  March 7, 2007

• The Purloined Rockwell

  February 28, 2007

• Director Billy Ray takes on another liar: FBI traitor Robert Hanssen.

  February 21, 2007

• Ace Up His Sleeve

  January 24, 2007

• The Gang That Couldn't Dress Straight

  Meet the cross-dressing bank robbers who confounded cops for years

  October 12, 2005

• Capsule Reviews

  Dennis Brown and Deanna Jent suss out local theater

  March 2, 2005

• A Lute Proposition

  Pipa at the Gates of Dawn

  February 23, 2005

• Redemption Thong

  Salma's shorts get top billing in an otherwise unwatchable caper

  November 10, 2004

• Shoot First

  Baldwin and Broderick should have dodged The Last Shot

  October 13, 2004

• Letters

  Week of June 23, 2004

  June 23, 2004

• Tainted Evidence

  November 14, 2001

• Death Man Walking

  October 31, 2001

• Look Who Didn't Trust the Feds

  October 31, 2001

• Is It Safe Yet?

  October 10, 2001

• Maybe in Memphis

  May 9, 2001

• The Adventures of Rocky and Bullwinkle

  June 28, 2000

• Anti-Community Policing

  June 21, 2000

• Howard's End

  February 16, 2000

• Lost in America

  July 28, 1999

• St. Louis: No. 1 in Bad Crime Coverage

  June 9, 1999

• 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

• Hornswoggled!: Welcome to Gerald, Missourah — the town that did just fall off the turnip truck

  June 10, 2009

• FBI on Online Auction Fraud: Don't Let it Happen to You!

  flickr.com/photos/jusumCan't you imagine this headline getting read in a sonorous voice? Maybe even by McGruff? Anyway, our friends at the FBI are always eager to help us out, which is why they've sent out this press release about how to avoid online auction fraud. Now if only they could tell us how to curb that Ebay addiction.Computers, sports memorabilia, rare coins, designer fashions, and even cars. These are just a few of the items offered for sale every day on legitimate online auction site

  June 30, 2009

• Final Exit Network Not Dead Yet

  The Final Exit Network, the subject of two lawsuits, an FBI investigation and, incidentally, an RFT feature, should, technically, be out of business after a Georgia court froze its assets last March.But the group has found a way to soldier on.Writes board member Bob Levine in an e-mail newsletter:You will be happy to learn that in spite of the assaults from the Georgia Bureau of Investigation and the Phoenix police we are continuing our Exit Guide service with one limitation imposed on us by o

  July 14, 2009

• Sneakeasy, Part 1: Public Enemies and Wei Hong Bakery

  Fernando de Sousa, Wikimedia Commons Show: Public Enemies, director Michael Mann's latest cinematic man-crush on tight-lipped inscrutability and sparklingly pretty violence played out against the backdrop of the Great Depression.Food: Chinese food, courtesy of Wei Hong Bakery and Restaurant: crab rangoon, shrimp dumpling lo mein, sesame chicken, rice, coconut roll.Difficulty: Above average. Like most Chinese restaurants, Wei Hong prepares portions designed for family-syle passing and sharing, no

  July 27, 2009

• Man in "Gangsta" T-shirt Robs Local Bank

  Photos courtesy FBIWhat do you expect of a gangsta?​I tend to ignore most breaking news releases asking the public for help tracking down armed robbers. But this one about a robbery today of a Commerce Bank in suburban Webster Groves is just too good to pass up  -- if only because of the "Gangsta" t-shirt the suspect chose to wear during the heist. My question: Was the novelty shop where the robber buys his clothes all out of t-shirts that say: "Bank Robber"? Read the FBI's breaking news

  August 10, 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

• Suspect Pedals Away from Bank Robbery

  He went that way. ​This just in from the FBI...Authorities are looking for a "black male, average build and around 5'10" tall" who robbed the Midwest Credit Union on Flower Valley in Florissant bank this morning. The suspect was last seen wearing a thin white cloth wrapped around his head, dark sunglasses and what appeared to be a fake beard. If that  account isn't descriptive enough, there's also this: Following the robbery -- in which the man brandished a handgun and forced ev

  September 1, 2009

• No Exclamation Point Necessary: The Informant! gets cute with massive corporate scandal and blows the story

  September 16, 2009

• Blown to Peaces: Weather Underground leaders claimed their bombings were devised to avoid bloodshed. But FBI agents suspect the radical '70s group killed a cop in the name of revolution.

  September 16, 2009

• No Justice: We've bailed out the banks. When do we go after the crooks behind our financial collapse?

  October 28, 2009