Personal Finance

Darran Kelley: Fire Chief Adds to List of Indicted Kinloch Officials

Two years after its mayor was sentenced for embezzling funds, the fire chief for Kinloch now faces similar allegations. Darran Kelley, the chief of the Kinloch Fire Protection District, was arrested yesterday and charged with three felony counts of wire fraud, one felony count of federal program t ... More >>

Happy Valentine's, Wells Fargo! Missouri Activists Deliver "You Are Racist" Cards

Update below: Nothing says Happy Valentine's Day like a "You are racist" card! And fortunately for officials at the Wells Fargo headquarters in St. Louis -- or more likely the security downstairs -- this is the exact message they will receive this afternoon as part of a protest staged by advocacy g ... More >>

Seven Local Artists to Watch in 2013

Domino's Pizza Founder Believes Contraception Is "Gravely Immoral," Sues Federal Government

It's like national pizza chains don't want our business these days. Following President Barack Obama's reelection in November, Papa John's chief executive John Schnatter threatened to cut employee hours to dodge offering health insurance under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, or, "O ... More >>

Despite Aggressive Home Defense, Help from Slay, Woman Forced from Home of 21 Years

What do you say to a woman who is losing her home of 21 years, watching as strangers drop all of her possessions in trash bags on the curb? "If anyone interferes with our movers, we're taking all of your things to the dump," a sheriff's deputy told Angelia Williams, who stood outside her Penrose h ... 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 >>

University of Corporate Greed: America's for-profit colleges leave taxpayers and students high and dry

Cap the Rate! Raise the Wage! Campaign Believes Signatures Improperly Tossed

While some politicos spent last night celebrating a clear path to the November ballot, others hit an impasse. One of them was not a candidate, but a campaign coalition calling itself Cap the Rate! Raise the Wage! The campaign wants two ballot initiatives in front of voters this fall -- one to raise ... More >>

Washington University Named Country's Most Stressful College

Stay away from the Washington University campus. According to Newsweek, their students are the most stressed out in the country. That's right -- WUSTL has risen to the top of magazine's annual list, which attempts to quantify stress levels on campus using cold hard numbers. They could have sent so ... More >>

Mayor Nathan "Charlie Sheen" Grellner Apologizes for Arrest, Isn't a Great Tipper

After being MIA for months of board of aldermen meetings, Valley Park Mayor Nathan Grellner finally showed his face last night at a raucous public meeting, showing both resignation and defiance. It's been an eventful few weeks for the 27-year-old mayor now nicknamed "Charlie Sheen." A bizarre story ... More >>

Elain Kay Young and Katherine A. Mock: Convicted of 2006 Murder for Hire

​Two rural Missouri women were found guilty of conspiracy to committ murder for hire as a tandem, despite their partnership falling apart and each woman turning on the other in court. Elain Kay Young, 57, and Katherine A. Mock, 58, face life in prison for the crime, which resulted in one man' ... More >>

Daniel Hughes: Ritz-Carlton Sexual Assault Suspect Sued By Home Insurer

Daniel Hughes' insurance company bristles at paying for his legal defense.​The company that holds the home insurance policy for Daniel Hughes, the Pennsylvania man accused of sexually assaulting a pre-teen in the Ritz-Carlton in Clayton this past March, has found himself in yet another legal battl ... More >>

State Senator Jane Cunningham Hints at Death Panels, Blocks Bill for Insurance Exchanges

​State Senator Jane Cunningham (R - Chesterfield) assures Daily RFT that she is not the "black helicopter type." Still, when reading House Bill 609 that would set up a health insurance exchange in Missouri, she came across language that reminded her of the "death panels" critics of federal health ... More >>

Harris-Stowe, Fontbonne Notch Worst Student Loan Default Rates Locally

A bad economy has sent many college grads into default on their student loans.​Nationally, the rate of former college students defaulting on their federal student loans shot up this year -- with 8.8 percent of borrowers now in default as opposed to just 7 percent last year, according to the U.S. D ... More >>

SLU Sues U.S. Department of Education

Financial aid forms don't always tell the whole story, according to federal statute​Has the U.S. Department of Education pulled a bait-and-switch by demanding that Saint Louis University fork over $2.8 million in student loans paid out by the government fifteen years ago? That's what administ ... More >>

Debt Collection Company Fights Off Missouri AG -- Again

Missouri Attorney General Chris Koster​Deception? Unfair practices? The Missouri Court of Appeals' Eastern District says those may be A-OK for a Kansas City debt collection company targeted by Missouri Attorney General Chris Koster.Why? Turns out that, per the court, the statute Koster was using t ... More >>

University of Missouri, Other MO Colleges, Hit By Veterans' Lawsuit

War is hell; trying to pay for college tuition in Missouri ain't all that easy either.​A group of military veterans is suing trustees at the University of Missouri, Southeast Missouri State University and the Moberly Area Community College, alleging that the universities systematically overcharged ... More >>

How Easy Is It to Get Into Webster University? Inmate Gets 23 Bogus Students Accepted Via Internet

Suddenly worth a lot less.​Yes, Webster University is a fine school. It's nothing like University of Phoenix and other so-called "diploma mills." Webster U. has standards. It rigorously screens its students and selects only the best and brightest. [Insert sound of record scratching here.] Yesterda ... More >>

Missouri Congressional Candidate: Don't Donate to Me

Here's a political development so shocking, it's won our prize for the press release of the day: There's someone running for Congress who doesn't want your money.Arthur Lieber doesn't want your money.​Arthur Lieber of Creve Coeur, a Democrat running for the suburban St. Louis congressional seat cu ... More >>

Belleville Dog Wins Award for Attacking Chainsaw

We have to admit, we find it hilarious when our dog attacks the lawn mower. He barks at the wheels and tries to corner the machine as if it were a squirrel or a stray kitty. How dumb! How funny!Courtesy of VPIhamboneaward.comYes, this sweet little dog tried to take out a chainsaw.​But one Bellevil ... More >>

Greedy Insurance Provider Thwarted in Attempt to Grab Chaplain's Settlement

Three years ago, a woman named Pamela Scroggins took a nasty fall in a parking lot owned by a Missouri Red Lobster franchise. Scroggins' attorney, Roger Johnson of Joplin, tells Daily RFT that his client fractured her neck -- and, to this date, is still unable to return to work.​Naturally, Scroggi ... More >>

Obamacare Litigation Update: Missouri's Vote Today Could Actually Count

Today, Missouri voters will weigh a measure that would reject a key provision of President Barack Obama's health care reform package -- the provision mandating that individuals either find insurance coverage, or pay a fine. Missouri votes on a referendum to stop Obama's plan today.â ... More >>

Trak Starz Plead Guilty to Failing to File Tax Returns

The Trak Starz -- Shamar Daugherty and Alonzo Lee -- yesterday pleaded guilty to multiple counts of failing to file tax returns. According to a press release issued: Daugherty, Lee, and their various entities, had gross income of over $4.8 million for the tax years 2003 thru 2005. None of the indi ... More >>

Governor Nixon Cuts College Scholarship Programs

Image source​In a further attempt to balance the state budget, Governor Jay Nixon cut the Access Missouri Scholarship program by $50 million, leaving a comparatively-paltry $33 million in the program's coffers. Access Missouri is the state's only need-based scholarship program, which provides ... More >>

Aaron Duncan, CEO of Duncan Group, Pleads Guilty to Pyramid Scheme

​Aaron Duncan, former CEO and owner of The Duncan Group, has pleaded guilty to yesterday to federal fraud charges involving a $3.9 million investment scheme. According to court documents, Duncan represented that The Duncan Group was involved in real estate investments, including buying, rehabili ... More >>

Missouri Representatives "Draw A Line in the Sand" On Federal Health Care Reform

Image Via Do not snort this line​The Missouri House of Representatives has launched a preemptive strike against Obamacare, passing legislation intended to make sure the Show-Me State is not affected by any federal health care reform efforts.Yesterday, the House approved a state constitution ... More >>

Ballot Initiatives for Local Police Control Cruise Through Administrative Hoops

Wikimedia Commons​Lawyer Brad Ketcher has had three ballot-initiative petitions pertaining to the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department approved by Secretary of State Robin Carnahan, her office announced yesterday.Ketcher is a political operative who led the successful 2008 ballot initiative to ... More >>

Newspaper Retirees Planning to Protest Post-Dispatch

​Post-Dispatch retirees say it's only appropriate that they received news December 7 -- Pearl Harbor Day -- that their former employer planned to stop reimbursing their medical coverage. "A great day for a sneak attack," says one member of the St. Louis Newspaper Guild, who tells Daily RFT that ph ... More >>

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

What to Expect When You're Expecting Economic Recovery

Dorothea Lange, courtesy of the Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library and Museum​In an interesting piece in the October Atlantic, Benjamin Schwarz surveys a collection of books about daily life during the Great Depression in an attempt to glean some lessons from the past about what we can exp ... More >>

The Novice Foodie: The Prix (Fixe) Is Right at Acero

Two common obstacles to people who want to explore cuisine are 1) money and 2) feelings of insecurity. St. Louisans as a whole seem obsessed with value in dining. They want a lot for their money -- ever seen the lines outside Cunetto's? -- and in this economic climate, they might not have much mone ... More >>

Richard Nixon: That First "Liberal" President Who Dared to Overhaul Health Care

​Tonight President Barack Obama will speak before a joint session of Congress in an attempt to salvage his healthcare reform initiative that -- if it were a patient -- appears close to flatlining.But if you think Obama is the first president who tried to reform this country's medical system only t ... More >>

FoodWire: La Dolce Via Joins in Health Care Debate

​Bill McClellan devoted his column this past Sunday, September 6, to telling the story of Marcia Sindel, owner of La Dolce Via (4474 Arco Avenue; website). Sindel has no health insurance, is in debt for throat surgery from two years ago and is facing two surgeries, one on her gall bladder and the ... More >>

Can't Keep Track of the Financial Meltdown? The St. Louis Fed is Here to Help

The St. Louis FedWhen did it all begin? This financial mess we're in? And what were the major events that have defined it?  A new timeline feature available on the website of the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis helps answer that. The voyage begins in late February 2007 when Freddie Mac announ ... More >>

Lee Enterprises to Post-Dispatch Employees: We Need A Big Pay Cut

Lee Enterprises, parent of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, and the St. Louis Newspaper Guild, which represents many of the local daily's employees, including most of the newsroom, have still not worked out a new contract. The current contract expires this coming weekend.Updates on the Guild website sho ... More >>

Tonight! Brighton MA at Cicero's

Post-Dispatch Parent Co. Suspends 401(k) Contributions

Brighton MA

8:30 p.m. Wednesday, November 5. Cicero's, 6691 Delmar Boulevard, University City.

Floyd Irons' Alleged Co-Conspirator Expected to Plead Guilty

Floyd Irons' Alleged Co-Conspirator Expected to Plead Guilty

Floyd Irons Pleads Guilty, Faces Prison and Up to $1 Million Fine

Floyd Irons Pleads Guilty, Faces Prison and Up to $1 Million Fine

Mi Casa? Sue Casa!

Hispanic immigrants cry foul over an alleged St. Louis housing scam

Getting Rolled

(US Bank, Clayton)

Welcome to the Cabaret

The bar is open

Blood Money

If Charlie Webb had hidden his money under his pillow, he wouldn't be in the red. Instead, he trusted banks.

Best Concept to Boost Civic Pride

St. Louis Litteracy Project

Porn in the USA

Internet smut peddlers reaped millions from unsuspecting credit-card holders. Their partner in slime was right here in the heartland.

Olive's Treasure

A retired stenographer has stashed away a fortune, but her life story is fading fast

With a Little Help From the Bank

South Side National Bank antes up $4 million for home loans for low- to moderate-income families.