South County Center

St. Louis County Police Fire Lt. Patrick Hayes, Accused of Targeting Blacks For Arrests

"Let's have a black day." "Let's make the jail cells more colorful." These are statements that St. Louis County Police Lieutenant Patrick Hayes allegedly made while encouraging other officers to specifically target black residents for arrests, the Post-Dispatch reports. Police spokesman Randy Va ... More >>

Death and Taxes: Where Your Money Goes, In One-to-Ten Percent Increments

As we grudgingly made out our income tax checks to the government last week, we felt relieved that our annual nightmare was over. Then we turned to our gas bill and noticed this printed on the bottom: "University Ci Tax: $4.30." And at the bottom of our receipt from the Brentwood Target: "Incl 1% Ha ... More >>

The 2011 Unreal News Challenge

St. Louis Malls to Open At 12:01 a.m. Black Friday

​ What am I thankful for this holiday season? That I don't work in retail. Specifically, that I don't work for any of the malls operated by CBL & Associates. Yesterday the company announced that its five St. Louis malls -- Chesterfield, Mid-Rivers, South County Center, St. Clair Square and Wes ... More >>

Family-Owned Doc Popcorn Kiosk Pops Up in South County

Julia GabbertPaige Jung, Mark Viviano, and Brandy and Randy Jung stand at the Doc Popcorn kiosk in South County Center.​ The tantalizing smell of popcorn wafts through the lower level of South County Center. It's from Doc Popcorn -- a kiosk run by Randy Jung and his family. Randy, alongside ... More >>

St. Louis Borders Closing (Finally)

image viaIs there anything sadder than an empty bookstore?​The end is here, after months of being near. To anyone who has been spending time at area Borders stores over the past week or so and seen people carrying out the shelves and the tables and other fixtures, this news should come as no s ... More >>

Wine of the Week: Alias California Cabernet Sauvignon at Kaya's Import Wine & Spirits

Gut Check loves us some wine. We want a bottle with bang and a bang for our buck, so every week we will visit a local wine shop, where an expert will recommend a good-value wine priced under $15. We'll drink some and tell you wether we want to continue -- because the only time Gut Check has our nose ... More >>

UPDATE: Borders to Declare Bankruptcy This Week

image viaIs this what lies ahead for Borders?​Update February 16, 2 p.m.: Borders in Brentwood has been spared! But on the slated-to-close list are the stores at Central Plaza in Ballwin, Chesterfield Mall and Mid-Rivers Mall in St. Peters. Along with the Brentwood location, the Borders store ... More >>

The 2010 RFT News Challenge

Are You as Poetic as Paris Hilton? Help Us Complete Her Latest Press Release.

www.parishiltonsite.netAmerica's favorite celebutante, Paris Hilton, returns to St. Louis next month (March 14) to promote her new fragrance, Fairy Dust. As you may recall, Hilton made a similar trip to the Gateway City last year when she touched down at South County Center to endorse a perfume call ... More >>

The Dresser

With his snappy threads, fancy footwork and sordid past, Vance Thompson has cut a swath through St. Louis

The Transit Authority

Bi-State is losing riders and money. Mike McGrath, who has driven a bus for more than a year, thinks he knows what's wrong.

The Last Dance

The little flower shops wound extra rolls of floral tape, and the photographers wound fresh film, and the Bosnian seamstresses stitched poufs of netting to strapless bodices. DuBourg High was planning its prom.

Base Motives

Well-heeled cities and developers keep TIF reform at bay