Industries

Veolia Water Contract: Media Blitz Marks Second Phase of Dispute

When the numbers began to roll in on the eve of March 5, it became clear that Mayor Francis Slay was on his way to his fourth, record-breaking term. With the hopes of his challenger, Aldermanic President Lewis Reed, went those of the members of Dump Veolia, who had effectively turned a pending city ... More >>

Bridgeton Landfill: "Dirty Bomb" Radioactive Hazards or Irresponsible Activist Speculation?

Residents of Bridgeton, Missouri should be worried about serious potential health hazards tied to an increasingly smelly landfill. So says a coalition of environmental activists who are spreading the word about a possible "dirty bomb" or chemical threat related to radioactivity on the site. Offici ... More >>

The Six Best Craft Beer Makers in St. Louis

Gut Check has been looking back on the Riverfront Times Best of St. Louis 2012, but we're also keeping an eye on the Best of St. Louis 2013 by nominating finalists for our awards this fall. With the craft beer scene exploding across the Midwest and the recent opening of the beer emporium Flying Sauc ... More >>

Bridgeton Landfill Official: We All "Want the Same Thing: To Dramatically Reduce the Odor"

In Bridgeton, Missouri, everyone wants the same thing -- a better smelling city. So says the latest announcement from the company behind the Bridgeton landfill, which has come under fire in recent months for making the area smell so bad, residents say it can be painful. Tim Trost, area president ... More >>

Veolia Water Contract: Lewis Reed's Office Pushes Total Re-Do of Contract Process

Challenges to a pending consulting contract between the City of St. Louis and a French multinational water service company called Veolia are still coming from all sides. Activists from the "Dump Veolia" coalition will descend on City Hall this afternoon for another show of opposition; at the same t ... More >>

Hosed: A plan to overhaul the St. Louis Water Division leaves the Slay administration all wet

Photos: Seven Arch Coal Protesters Lock Themselves to 500-Pound Plant Pot, Face Arrest

Here's one way to make a scene: Lock yourself to a 500-pound potted plant inside a corporate building as others dance and sing loudly in the lobby. That's exactly what a group of activists did yesterday inside the Arch Coal headquarters in Creve Coeur. And the demonstration -- aimed at drawing atten ... More >>

Veolia Water Contract May Face Public Hearing [UPDATE]

Update: Click through for a copy of the preliminary Veolia contract. Yesterday, the Estimates and Apportionment Committee met to do its usual business and was met by a rather unusual crowd. Over 50 members of the activist group Dump Veolia showed up with handwritten signs protesting a pending con ... More >>

Watchdog Group Has Its Eye On Veolia, City's New Water Division Consultant

Earlier this week, we broke news that the St. Louis Water Division has chosen Veolia Water, a Paris-based company and the largest water services provider in the world, to guide cost-cutting at the utility. The final contract has not yet been awarded, but a longtime employee of the department provide ... More >>

French Firm, Veolia, Wins Consulting Contract with St. Louis Water Division

The St. Louis Water Division has inked a new, five-year consulting contract with a private utility service company called Veolia, and some department employees are less than thrilled with the news. The city has made no formal announcement and the contract is still in "negotiation" according to a ci ... More >>

21 Holiday Food and Restaurant Specials, Deals and Freebies

For Gut Check there's no better way to say "Season's Eatings" than with restaurant specials and deals. Much is made about overeating and weight gain during the holiday season, but really you'd be a fool not to eat free food when it's shoveled at you in the form of restaurant gift cards, BOGO special ... More >>

Anti-Coal Activists Want City to Wake Up to "Peabody Takeover"

When it comes to Peabody Energy Corp., it's hard to tell who's being naughty or nice. This week, the activist group Missourians Organizing for Reform and Empowerment has been staging demonstrations against Peabody, the largest private-sector coal company in the world, headquartered in downtown St. ... More >>

Freddie Mac Trying to Evict WWII Vet, Wife, Disabled Child; Family's Calls Allegedly Ignored

Sally Scott, a soft-spoken 65-year old, isn't one to "go out and complain about things." But that's all changed this week as Freddie Mac tries to evict her, her World War II vet husband, and their "special child" Susie--who is developmentally disabled--from their home of 12 years. Scott says she ha ... More >>

Searchable Database Released Today Lists 50,000 Bands Owed $31 Million in Royalties

SoundExchange is a not-for-profit entrusted by the Library of Congress to collect and distribute digital performance royalties for bands. That includes SIRIUS, Pandora and more. So far, it's found the rightful owner of some $1 billion in royalties, but paying up has proven a challenge. The organizat ... More >>

Russ Carnahan's Weird New Talking Mailer [VIDEO]

Representative Russ Carnahan, in the increasingly heated battle against Representative Lacy Clay, has just released a talking mailer to his constituents, calling out Clay for his remarks about PayDay Loans. Right, a talking mailer. Like one of those singing birthday cards. Except this one yells, ... More >>

Fudging The Numbers With Last.Fm

Art and life co-habitate, informing, imitating, and enriching each other constantly. Each week in Better Living Through Music, RFT Music writer Ryan Wasoba explores this symbiotic relationship. I was thrilled five-ish years ago when I found out about Last.fm, the music recommendation service that d ... More >>

A Comprehensive Guide to Record Store Day 2012

This just in: Vinyl is BACK! Now in its fifth year, Record Store Day has made its international mark, recognized by labels, bands, and collectors worldwide. Celebrating the cultural impact of the independent record store, RSD offers everything from live performances to special discounts to limited e ... More >>

Damn the Man - Save the Empire

The Seven Best Brewpubs in St. Louis

Gut Check has been looking back on the Riverfront Times Best of St. Louis 2011, but we're also keeping an eye on the Best of St. Louis 2012 by nominating finalists for our awards this fall. To see hundreds more winners and finalists, suggest your own contenders and download the Riverfront Times Best ... More >>

The Big (Tobacco-Related) Threat to Missouri's Budget You've Probably Never Heard Of

​Is anybody in America more hospitable to small tobacco companies than the Show-Me State? Not only do we levy the lowest cigarette tax in the entire nation (a paltry 17 cents per pack).  Our legislature is the only one that forces Big Tobacco to cough up payments for smoking-related health co ... More >>

USPS Begins Budget Cuts in Springfield and Cape Girardeau

​The Springfield and Cape Girardeau mail processing centers will be consolidated this year by the United States Postal Service, at a cost of 136 positions combined. Some of those jobs may be transferred to the Kansas City and Downtown St. Louis Sorting and Processing Facilities, which are assuming ... More >>

Salmonella Outbreak Brings Down Egg Mogul

​Yesterday, Gut Check related news of one disgraced egg supplier, Sparboe Farms. An activist group covertly videotaped Sparboe employees mistreating and even killing chickens under their care. McDonald's and Target have since dumped Sparboe as a supplier.Today, we return to 2010's disgraced egg su ... More >>

William K Busch Brewing Company Launches Kräftig Lager and Kräftig Light

​Last week, the World Series trophy came back to St. Louis. This week sees the return of another tradition in the Gateway City: the Busch family brewing lager beer.William K. Busch, son of August A. "Gussie" Busch Jr. and great-grandson of Adolphus Busch, this summer announced the founding of the ... More >>

Today's Inaugural China Hub Flight Gets Mascot: Ghost of Herve Villechaize

Look, boss! The plane! The plane!​Media is invited this afternoon to Lambert-St. Louis International Airport to witness the first of what city officials hope will be thousands of more cargo flights from China. The China Cargo Airlines jet is scheduled to land at 4 p.m. The governor, local official ... More >>

St. John's Mercy Loses Bid to Stop New Patients First Hospital

St. John's Mercy Health System lost in today's ruling, which will allow a competitor to build a new facility in St. Louis County.​The area's largest Catholic hospital system, St. John's Mercy Health System, has lost its bid to change the way new health care facilities are permitted in Missouri -- ... More >>

Post Offices In St. Louis May Be on the National Chopping Block

​When's the last time you sent a letter...or mailed anything at all besides a rent check? It's probably been a while; you probably do most of your correspondence online.The United States Post Office is taking notice. Today, the USPS released a list of 3,653 post offices nationwide to be studied fo ... More >>

Receding River Allows Amtrak to Restore Full Service to Kansas City

Amtrak: Now free to move about Missouri.​Amtrak will restore full service between St. Louis and Kansas City beginning Wednesday. Flooding along the Missouri River forced Amtrak to reduce its runs between the two cities earlier this month after Union Pacific switched more of its freight traffic ont ... More >>

Swollen Missouri River Forces Amtrak to Reduce St. Louis to Kansas City Service

The Union Pacific line west of Jefferson City as viewed this morning.​Flood waters along the Missouri River have forced the Union Pacific railroad to divert its freight trains to a line of track the carrier shares with Amtrak. The resulting congestion has forced the passenger train to temporarily ... More >>

Anheuser-Busch Wants to Trademark Your Area Code

Image viaAnheuser-Busch may not want to use this trademark -- but they definitely want to own it.​If brewing giant Anheuser-Busch gets its way, we won't just be living in the 314.We'll be living in the 314 (TM).The St. Louis-based brewery, now owned by Belgian conglomerate InBev, has applied for a ... More >>

August Busch IV Saga Tackled by BusinessWeek

August Busch IV gets the BusinessWeek treatment.​Cocaine! Oxycodone! A former Hooters waitress, dead in a darkened bedroom!A very bad beer baron!A BusinessWeek feature story that hit the Internets today, "Fall of the House of Busch," details the 2010 death of the girlfriend of August Busch IV, Adr ... More >>

St. Louis China Hub Called Infeasible; Won't Deliver Jobs or Flights

Look! Is that a Chinese cargo jet about to land in St. Louis, or just pie in the sky?​Air cargo consultant Michael Webber does not mince words then it comes to questioning the promises tied to the proposed Midwest China Hub at Lambert St. Louis International Airport. Webber argues that the cargo h ... More >>

1,000 St. Louis Bricklayers on Strike

city-data.comBricklayers' handiwork accents a typical St. Louis street.​St. Louis is renowned for its brick architecture, but don't expect to see a lot of new masonry going up in the immediate future. That's because as of 12 a.m. yesterday, the 1,000 members of Bricklayers Local 1 are on strike. T ... More >>

Beyond Schlafly: Three microbreweries for the St. Louis summer

Missouri Families Win Lawsuit vs. Neighbors: 200,000 Hogs, Tons of Fly-Covered Pig Poop

Who wouldn't want a few hundred thousand of these as neighbors? ​A corporate hog producer was ordered Friday to pay a total of $1.95 million to twelve families in southwestern Missouri who complained that odors and flies from the company's pig farm ruined their properties and way of life.According ... More >>

Get Ready, Arrogant Bastards! Stone Week Starts Tomorrow.

Stone Brewing Co.​ Few craft brewers have arrived in St. Louis with the anticipation and fanfare of Escondido, California's Stone Brewing. But they're here this week, bringing all the Arrogant Bastard Ale and Stone Ruination IPA we've been longing for. The beer hits store shelves and bar tap ... More >>

Six-Pack City: Six Row Brewing Company adds food to the equation

Missouri Lawmakers Want to Derail High-Speed Train

The passenger train route from St. Louis to KC as seen today and the foreseeable future.​Republican legislators today rejected an attempt to place into the state budget a provision for high-speed rail linking St. Louis to Kansas City. Last month, Governor Jay Nixon announced that Missouri would bi ... More >>

Review Preview: Six Row Brewing Company

Jennifer SilverbergBeer flights at Six Row Brewing Company​I took a break from writing reviews last week. What did I do instead? I drank beer. Specifically, I drank beer at Six Row Brewing Company (3690 Forest Park Avenue; 314-531-5600). I also tried some of the fare from the brewpub's relatively ... More >>

Record Store Day Announce 2011 Releases, Ozzy Osbourne Commands Your Attendance

​Record Store Day is a relatively new and relatively awesome Holiday. It's like Christmas for music nerds, only better -- rather than forcible family-togetherness and buying gifts for other people, record collectors are lured with live music, beer and shiny new wax into spending the day with t ... More >>

The Cover of the March 10 Print Edition

Last Collector Standing: Kate Eddens on Working at Thrill Jockey and Vintage Vinyl, and Her Musical Education (and Evolution)

Jon Scorfina​As major record labels have struggled to adjust to the new digital landscape, independent labels have thrived by sticking to the tried and true demand for vinyl. We caught up with Kate Eddens, a former employee of both Thrill Jockey records and Vintage Vinyl, at her south city hom ... More >>

Express Scripts Inc. Blasted in New SEIU Report

St. Louis-based Express Scripts Inc. is the nation's second largest "pharmacy benefit management company" -- handling an impressive 12 percent of all prescriptions in the United States through mail order and retail drug stores alike.​But the company earlier this year announced plans to close a pro ... More >>

The Truth About Walt Whitman and the North Grand Water Tower

image via​We uncovered a lot of fascinating stories last summer while we were compiling our Literary St. Louis project, and one of our favorites was that Walt Whitman's brother, Thomas Jefferson Whitman (known as Jeff), had designed and built the water tower on North Grand Avenue and 20th Stre ... More >>

Brazilian Investment Firm Buys Burger King

Image viaBurger King now has an even greater global presence!​Brazilian investment firm 3G will purchase perpetual fast-food bridesmaid Burger King for roughly $4 billion, the New York Times reports. The deal holds some (admittedly tangential) interest for St. Louis.A backer of 3G is Brazilian bil ... More >>

Fermenting Ferguson: Cork Wine Bar and Hill Brewing Company are the new kids on Ferguson's block

The Pope of Pork: In tiny towns across Missouri, old-school hog farming stages a comeback — and at tables across the nation, diners rejoice

Craptastrophe: Record rainfall has created a dung dilemma for Missouri farmers

McRib Value Meal

$5.04
McDonald's
4006 Lindell Boulevard

A Heady Heritage