Manufacturing Sector

Today is Free Cone Day at Ben & Jerry's!

With temperatures predicted to crest 80 degrees today in St. Louis, Gut Check could use some ice cream -- but then, couldn't we always? Today is Ben & Jerry's annual Free Cone Day, with area locations slinging free scoops of ice cream from Noon to 8 p.m. Find out where to get your free sugar fix af ... More >>

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 >>

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 >>

Ben & Jerry's "Chocolate Nougat Crunch" Ice Cream Voluntarily Recalled

The important thing to do as you hear the news in this blog post is to remain calm. Take a deep breath. Close your eyes and picture puppies frolicking in a field. Take another deep breath. Do you practice yoga? Go over into the corner and assume whatever position puts you in touch with your inne ... More >>

Bagged Salad Recall Expands Nationwide

OK, so maybe you shrugged your shoulders at yesterday's news about the FDA's warning on Korean shellfish. Fair enough. Not exactly an everyday purchase around these parts. Bagged salad, on the other hand... The FDA has announced that River Ranch Fresh Foods of Salinas, California, has expanded its ... More >>

It's Free Cone Day at Ben & Jerry's!

Today marks Ben & Jerry's annual Free Cone Day, with area locations slinging free scoops of ice cream from Noon to 8 p.m. Though many of its St. Louis stores have shuttered in the last few years, three shops still stand, and two are participating in Free Cone Day: Ben & Jerry's U. City (6380 Delmar ... 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 >>

How to Make a Chocolate-Covered Strawberry Without a Strawberry

Rick Jordan has one word of advice for Valentine's Day shoppers: "Stop asking for chocolate covered strawberries when they're out of season!" Jordan proclaims wearily from his west county chocolate store, RJ Chocolatier (14882 Clayton Road, Chesterfield; 636-230-9300). Jordan, in chocolate-making c ... 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...

Bobby Flay's Spicy Mango Six Other Diet Pepsis No One Wants

Thanks, Bobby Flay. The Spicy Mango Diet Pepsi and Pineapple Chipotle Diet Pepsi you commissioned for your "Tacos & Tequila" event last weekend most certainly increased the Patron consumption. At least PepsiCo had the good sense to not put these flavors on the mass market. They already have enough ... More >>

James Brown Is a Sex Noodle Machine

From the Department of Awesome Stuff People Send Me Apropos of Nothing, here are two ads for a Japanese noodle company featuring James Brown:

Hospitals Lose in Big Tobacco Money Grab in St. Louis Court

Just because you light up doesn't mean Big Tobacco has to share the cost of your subsequent hospital care, a St. Louis jury decided today.​After thirteen years of litigation, three months of trial and just over six days of jury deliberations, a group of 37 area hospitals have struck out in their a ... More >>

Gluten-Free Summit Planned, and Not a Moment Too Soon

freakingfitness.com​One person in 133 is gluten intolerant, and they're joining forces to hold the first Gluten Free Food Labeling Summit. The group 1in133.org will host the May 4 event in Washington, D.C., in an attempt to get legislators and food producers to follow the 2007 Food Allergen La ... More >>

Did You Buy an LCD, Flat-Panel TV Between 1999 and 2007? You May Have Been Ripped Off

Did you get snowed?​Attorney General Chris Koster announced yesterday that he has filed a lawsuit against the world's leading manufacturers of flat screen LCD panels, alleging a conspiracy to fix the prices of their products. The AG is encouraging Missouri consumers, businesses, or organizations ... More >>

Hearing in St. Louis Today into Cochran V.A. Hospital and Dirty Dental Equipment

Carnahan: Says he wants answers to "deeply disturbing" allegations. ​The House Veterans' Affair Committee is holding a hearing today in the Eagleton Courthouse looking into revelations made earlier this month that as many as 1,800 people may have been exposed to hepatitis or HIV from improperly cl ... More >>

John Legend

8 p.m. Saturday, July 3. Fair Saint Louis, Gateway Arch, 707 North First Street.

Dental Patients at St. Louis VA Hospital Could've Been Exposed to Hepatitis, HIV

​Q: What's worse than a trip to the dentist? A: A letter from the dentist telling you that his dirty dental tools may have exposed you to hepatitis or HIV. More than 1,800 veterans received such a letter this week informing them that St. Louis VA Medical Center had not properly cleaned its dental ... More >>

The Morning Brew: 3.19

​The Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species vote against a fishing ban that might save the endangered bluefin tuna. (The Atlantic) The latest in hipster dining? Food stamps. Perfect for the poor graduate student who doesn't want to do the "living on ramen thing". (Salon.com) ... More >>

FoodWire: GQ Names Kaldi's One of Ten Best for Coffee

Oliver Strand of GQ magazine has named Kaldi's Coffee Roasting Company one of the ten best places for coffee in the United States. Kaldi's illustrious company on the list includes such nationally well-known coffee purveyors as Intelligentsia of Chicago and Los Angeles and Stumptown of Portland (Oreg ... More >>

Pet Food Executive Lived Like Fat Cat, Allegedly Bilking Nestle-Purina for $250,000

Thomas Faulkner on the Purina Cat Chow diet.The former director of marketing for Nestle Purina Petcare has been indicted on fraud charges for use of his company credit card. According to the U.S. Attorney's Office, Thomas Faulkner billed the company more than $250,000 in fraudulent invoices that he ... More >>

Java Enabled's Day at the Roasters

"It smells sweet, like candy," my friend said as I extended my wrist to his nose. My skin had absorbed the caramel flavors that had been wafting around me all day like a welcome second-hand smoke. It was the smell of coffee roasting.It was a bad day to hang out near a coffee roaster -- much less two ... More >>

Speaking of Butt Heads... Cigarette Litter Annoys People Across Nation

Wikimedia CommonsThe New York Times reports today that "dozens of municipalities across the nation" have passed laws banning smoking on beaches and playgrounds, because citizens are sick of not only stepping on cigarette butts, but paying millions of dollars a year to clean them up.From the Times:

Attorney General Chris Koster: Fighting Hard for That Extra 48 Cents

ago.mo.govThis just in from Chris Koster. The state's attorney general is pleased to announce that his office received payments of $155,768,810.48 in tobacco-settlement money in April. What most impresses me is not the $155 million. It's that we have an attorney general who's willing to fight for th ... More >>

Fields of Plastic

The Plastics, My Friend, Are Blowing in the Wind

Wikimedia CommonsSwitchgrass & plastic: Not your daddy's weedCombing our fine city streets, we've all been accosted by a fluttering plastic bag chucked out of a car by some littering schmuck, and thought, yuck. Well get this: A pair of Mizzou plant scientists envision much of Missouri covered in ... More >>

Taqueria el Jalapeño Review Prompts P.R. Blitz

Wikimedia CommonsSilly me, thinking I could share my desert-island fantasies without any consequences.In last week's review of Taqueria el Jalapeño, I wrote the following:It won't surprise regular readers of this column to learn that if I were stranded on a desert island, I'd want the only restaura ... More >>

Breaking: Starbucks to Close 300 More Stores, Cut 6,700 Jobs

MSNBC reports that Starbucks will close 300 additional stores and cut 6,700 jobs, both at those closed stores and at its corporate offices. The coffee giant saw its profit drop 69% during the first quarter of its fiscal year. No word yet on where and when the closings will occur.

St. Louis Music Inc. Funeral, Saturday, December 13 at the Kat Club

Kopper does a great job explaining why the St. Louis Music Inc. Funeral show matters. The details of the gig are as follows: Saturday, December 13, at the Kat Club (1440 North Broadway, next to Shady Jack’s). Doors open at 7:00 p.m., tickets are $5 and it's a 21-plus show. Bands on the bill have m ... More >>

Who Built This City?

Maplewood is older than you think

University of Missouri biology professor Frederick vom Saal has been sounding the alarm about bisphenol A for a decade. Has he got your attention?

Jones Soda Lolcat Contest

Boeing vs. Airbus: The Winning Bird Might Be Too Big

Breaking Damn News! Frozen Pizza Recall!

Salmonella! Pot Pies! The Year of Eating Dangerously Continues...

Can You Hear Me Now?

When you dial 911 on your cell phone, there's a good chance dispatchers will have no idea where you are.

Feel Good Chocolate Diet

$24.99
Golden Grocer Natural Foods
335 North Euclid Avenue

Film Openings

Week of January 18, 2007

Broad Strokes for Lead Paint Folks

Next Big Things

The five biggest attention-getters at E3.

Best Bagels

Bagel Factory

Best Mayor

T.R. Carr Hazelwood

Doughnuts

Krispy Kreme Doughnuts

Lead Counsel

These lawyers could cash in big, but who hired them?

Really Strange Bedfellows

With good guys like this, who needs bad guys?

Doughnuts

Krispy Kreme

Cementing a Deal

A giant quarry and the world's largest cement kiln are being welcomed by Ste. Genevieve County. But the operation may leave St. Louis gasping for air.

Gun Club

Overland wasn't the only city helping put guns on the streets

Bull's-Eye

NRA's false premises are no longer protected by Smith & Wesson

Shooting Back

As gun makers stockpile money for a PR and marketing battle to convince still more citizens to take up arms, besieged cities such as St. Louis aren't taking it lying down. They're returning fire with lawsuits.