Industries

Bridgeton Landfill Agreement: Will Officials Eliminate Horrible Odor, Protect Residents?

After months of controversy regarding the smelly Bridgeton landfill -- with heated debates about the cause of the awful stench and the potential health hazards -- the Missouri attorney general's office and the company behind the site have hammered out an agreement. Republic Services, parent compan ... More >>

Deschutes Brewery Brings Weeklong Craft Beer Campaign to St. Louis Beginning Today

Our beer mugs runneth over here in St. Louis. Bend, Oregon-based Deschutes Brewery, the nation's fifth-largest craft brewery, is set to commence Base Camp for Fanatics, its week-long campaign to introduce new and specialty beers through tasting events, food pairings and a chance to engage with Woody ... More >>

Bridgeton Landfill: Officials Say the Bad Smells Could Pose Future Public Health Risk

Missouri officials have released new data on a Bridgeton landfill that environmental groups say is a major concern -- not just because it smells really terrible. The new information from the Missouri Department of Natural Resources tells a very different story about potential health concerns on site ... More >>

Bridgeton Landfill: Really Awful Smell Not A Health Hazard, But Still Stinky, Officials Say

Last month, we reported on the really awful smell in Bridgeton, Missouri that was so bad, residents said the terrible stench had invaded their homes and was causing their eyes to burn. Soon after the media attention, the company behind the landfill said it was "very sorry" and that it would work to ... More >>

The Cover of the January 31 Print Edition

Hardee's Fish Slutburger to Arrive Just in Time for Lent

Long known for pressing thick, squishy burgers into the hands of famous females who are neither thick nor squishy, St. Louis-based Hardee's (a.k.a. Carl's Jr.) is mixing it up a little bit for this year's Super Bowl commercial. Fret not: It's still porn-y.

Missouri Chocolate Makers Patric and Askinosie Clean Up at Good Food Awards

The Good Food Awards celebrate food that's good in all senses of the word: tasty and ethical and responsible. That is to say, food that's all natural, made by actual people who respect animals and the environment and the seasons and the culture of the people who produce it. It's food that costs a li ... More >>

"Dump Veolia" Mounts Social Media Campaign to Halt City Water Contract

A rising tide of dissent is building against a contract between the City of St. Louis and multinational water service company Veolia. Daily RFT broke news of the deal in December after insiders at the city water division leaked memos showing that Veolia, a Paris-based company, won a contract in a c ... More >>

Anheuser-Busch InBev Gets Free Advertising -- Twice -- from the Movie Flight

Oh, those devilishly clever execs at Anheuser-Busch InBev. First, they discover that Robert Zemeckis' brand-new film Flight contains scenes where Denzel Washington's character -- an alcoholic airline captain -- swills bottles of Budweiser. Let's put that another way: They figure out that millions of ... More >>

8-Bit Pale Ale and Wreck-It Ralph

Finally, Walt Disney Animation Studios is taking a page from Pixar's illustrious animation board. On Friday, November 2, it released Wreck-It Ralph in theaters nationwide, spurring Gut Check to make a trip to Ronnies 20 Cine (5320 South Lindbergh Boulevard; 314-843-4336) in south county to catch the ... More >>

Poll: Should Anheuser-Busch InBev Keep Funding Lance Armstrong's Cancer "Charity"?

Seven-time Tour de France winner Lance Armstrong is now considered so toxic in the wake of recent doping accusations that big sponsors such as Nike and Trek are running for the hills. So too is Anheuser-Busch InBev. The beer giant used to pay Armstrong to promote Mic Ultra, but n ... More >>

The Fling's The Thing

Let them Drink Beer

USDA Forecasts Steep Drop in Corn and Soybean Crops

While we're finally getting a break from the summer heat, don't expect any farmers in the Midwest to jump for joy. Crops have been devastated by the drought, and the United States Department of Agriculture's latest production forecast reflects the damage.Corn production is projected to be down 13 pe ... More >>

Lawsuit Settled Alleging Mouse in Mountain Dew

As bizarre lawsuits go, it was the case that kept on giving. In 2009, Ronald Ball of Granite City sued PepsiCo, claiming he'd gotten sick from drinking a can of Mountain Dew.It wasn't the soft drink, though, that caused him to vomit up the neon green beverage. It was the mouse he says he found insid ... More >>

Tour de Pours

Write a Kate Upton and Hardee's Haiku, Win a Kate Upton Poster and Hardee's Gift Certificate!

We told you last month how model Kate Upton is the latest female celebrity to get all hot 'n' heavy with a Hardee's burger. Now the fine folks at CKE Restaurants, Inc., the parent company of Hardee's and Carl's Jr., have sent us a poster of Kate posing with the chain's new Southwest Patty Melt Thick ... More >>

Anheuser-Busch Test Markets Margarita-Flavored Beer

​You'd think that the brain trust at Anheuser-Busch InBev would have considered the margarita earlier. After all, the blend of tequila, lime juice and orange-flavored liqueur is one of the most popular mixed drinks in America. But, no. When the brewery first looked south of the border for inspirat ... More >>

Was a Mouse Really Found in a Mountain Dew Can? Local Lawsuit Goes Viral

​Remember Ronald Ball, the Illinois man who's been suing PepsiCo on a claim that he opened a can of Mountain Dew and found a dead mouse inside? The Madison Record broke the story a year and a half ago, followed by the Daily RFT (here and here). But yesterday, websites from the Daily Mail in Great ... More >>

Five Suggestions to Help a Struggling Olive Garden

sogoodblog.comShould this be the new face of Olive Garden?​This week, the Wall Street Journal reported some downer news regarding Olive Garden's business woes. Darden Restaurants, which owns Olive Garden, has expressed a dismal prediction of Olive Garden's sales continuing to plummet for the u ... More >>

Christmas at the Zoo

CDC Identifies Source of E. Coli Outbreak

​Romaine lettuce sold at an area grocery chain and sourced from a specific farm was the source of the E. coli outbreak that sickened dozens in Missouri and several other states earlier this fall, according to a report published yesterday by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.The report ... More >>

Wolfbräu House of Beer to Open in St. Peters

Image via​With the rapid growth of craft beer in St. Louis, it was only a matter of time before someone opened a retail store like Wolfbräu House of Beer (286 Mid Rivers Center, St. Peters; 636-242-1040). Founder Ryan Wolf describes Wolfbräu, scheduled to open the second week of December, as a " ... More >>

Report: Shooting in Wellston Leaves One Dead, Six Injured

Wellston Food Market in the 6200 block of Page.​KTVI reports that one person is dead and six other people injured this afternoon in a mass shooting, at least part of which occurred at the Wellston Food Market on Page Avenue. Developing...

Electric Bill Short-Circuits Pam's Chicago Style Dogs & More

Ian FroebDark days at Pam's Chicago Style Dogs​Pam's Chicago Style Dogs & More (6016 Delmar Boulevard; 314-721-7267) will be closed until at least Wednesday, October 26, after Ameren UE apparently turned off its power due to an unpaid bill."We do apologize, but due to an Ameren UE issue, mostl ... More >>

Just How Does a Dead Body Go Unnoticed for 12 Days in a Casino Parking Garage?

In its defense, Ameristar says its parking garages are big ones. Well, yeah, but...​A casino patron leaving the Ameristar St. Charles made a grisly discovery early today in the casino's parking garage.Hattie Bradley, 62, lay dead inside a white Ford Mustang. Authorities say surveillance footage sh ... More >>

Three Washington Strawberry Farms Busted for Child Labor Violations

Wikimedia CommonsStrawberries tended by a person of legal working age. ​E. coli isn't the only problem plaguing strawberry farms in the Pacific Northwest. Last week three Washington State strawberry farms were fined for employing children as young as six years old to work in their fields. Be ... More >>

Growin' Mobile

Budweiser Hopes "Bow Tie" Can Boosts Sales

New can: Does it Bud for you? ​We'd always heard that the beer industry was pretty much recession-proof. In good economic times, people drank because they were happy. In bad economic times, people drank perhaps even more because they were depressed. Well, so much for that, at least according to An ... More >>

Marketing Trends Miller Lite Should Jump on to Sell More Brew

Image via​Ad Age reported that Miller Lite's sales have steadily decreased, and the company cites the same factors we all blame for our everyday problems and bad moods: the stupid economy and the shitty weather. But not all beer makers are faring poorly, and bad marketing strategies might be ... More >>

Borders: The Fallout

image via​Borders has finally decided to put itself out of its misery and allow itself to be liquidated. By the end of September, all the remaining 299 Borders stores (including the six in the St. Louis area) will be gone, leaving 11,700 booksellers, baristas, store managers and corporate empl ... More >>

What's Brewing? St. Louis.

The Olive Garden's Tuscan Cooking "School" Is Real -- And So Is This Review

​Credit Eater with digging up this gem, a Reddit Q & A with an ex-manager at the Olive Garden. In it, the ex-manager reveals that there truly is an Olive Garden Culinary Institute of Tuscany, the existence of which has been the target of  much disbelief and derision.If you have a very gen ... More >>

Goose Island Sells Out to Anheuser-Busch

​ Sorry Chicago, but your craft beer star now belongs to St. Louis. Well, technically, it belongs to Belgium. It was announced this morning that Anheuser-Busch is buying Goose Island, the 23-year-old Chicago miccrobrew stalwart. (A-B has distributed Goose Island since 2006.) After the jump: ... More >>

Drunk Pulled From Illinois River

greenecountyil.com/ferry​A ferry boat operator and a brave sheriff's deputy teamed up to rescue a Calhoun County man from the icy Illinois River on Saturday. Charles Sidwell, 58, of Kampsville, sent his his 2002 Grand Cherokee flying into the river around 10:30 p.m. February 19 when he failed to s ... More >>

YouTube Removes Pro-Palestinian/Anti-Motorola Video

Two weeks ago, we told you about the local activists who busted out an anti-Motorola song-and-dance routine at the Best Buy and AT&T stores in suburban Brentwood -- and we posted a video of the performance. That video quickly drew more than 35,000 hits.Last week, however, YouTube unceremoniousl ... More >>

Express Scripts Inc to Add New Building to Headquarters

image via​You know that old saying: When one door closes, another one opens? Well, in this case, when one door opens...you decide to build even more doors to open, we guess.Not only has St. Louis-based pharmaceutical management company Express Scripts Inc. announced its intention to reverse its de ... More >>

Express Scripts Workers Shout Their Way to Victory

Kase WickmanBensalem, Penn. workers and union supporters outside Express Scripts, Inc. headquarters August 30.​Last summer, dozens of workers from Express Scripts, Inc's Bensalem, Pennsylvania facility bused to the company's St. Louis headquarters to protest the threat of their branch's closure. T ... More >>

Unwrap This

How Much Are Lobbyists Spending on Your St. Louis Alderman?

kaciestarrtriplett.comKacie Starr Triplett (Ward 6) leads the Board of Aldermen with $1,327 in lobbyist expenditures this year.​Poor St. Louis Aldermen. Sure, their $32,000 a year salary is nothing to sneeze at and roughly on par with what state reps ($36k) and senators ($31k) earn. But when it co ... More >>

Wal-Mart Expanding Local Produce Selection

Image via​First, Wal-Mart entered the market for organic produce. Now, the New York Times reports, Wal-Mart plans to expand the amount of local produce it sells. "No other retailer has the ability to make more of a difference than Wal-Mart," the retailer's president and chief executive, Michael T. ... More >>

Before Amtrak Gets Fast, It's About to Get Slow

Someone oughtta right a song about this. Oh, wait...​Beginning today Amtrak service between Chicago and St. Louis will experience several interruptions for track maintenance as part of an effort to create a high-speed route between the two cities. Passengers who use Amtrak's Lincoln Service depart ... More >>

Thirsty for Knowledge?

Looky Here

City in Bloom

Fig-get Me Not

Love of food improves the world

Sobering thought: New legislation could make it difficult to get a drink on Cherokee Street

Easy Street

Benjy Come Philately