Springfield

Man With Crazy Face Tattoo Accused of Assault, Tells Police Dog Caused Woman's Bad Injuries

It's hard to decide what's more bizarre: Michael Eugene Campbell's mugshot or the explanation he reportedly gave to police when he was accused of assaulting a woman. First, take a good look at the mug to the right. Pretty weird, right? (Is that a bow tie!?) Now, let's review the charges against t ... More >>

The Ten Best Shows In St. Louis This Weekend: November 30 to December 4

This week's weekend post is the most balanced, evenly distributed list of picks I've yet seen in my tenure at RFT Music. Three shows Friday, four on Saturday, and three on Sunday. Perfect. As an obsessive-compulsive fan of symmetry, I am absolutely fucking delighted by this, but to be fair I get exc ... More >>

Ha Ha Tonka

8 p.m. Friday, November 23. Off Broadway, 3509 Lemp Avenue.

Girl, Hold Me: Dragon Inn 3 knows a good feeling when it finds one

The Premiere of the Dragon Inn 3 Theme Song Video, Because You Deserve a Jam Today

Dragon Inn 3 is a new Springfield band featuring Roni Dickey, Phil Dickey and Brook Linder. The first thing you should know about DI3 is that it started as a project to write a "Will Smith meets Ghostbusters" style theme song for Linder's short film Ghoul School, which not for nothing is very much s ... More >>

Dude Throws Tantrum at Springfield McDonald's

Look, when a man orders a chicken sandwich with no mayo, he wants a chicken sandwich with no mayo. But see, that's not what the McDonald's employee in Springfield heard through the drive-thru intercom on Sunday afternoon. No, the employee heard something about a chicken sandwich ... More >>

Pot Decriminalization Passes Springfield City Council; Gay Rights Will Have to Wait

The Springfield City Council had an agenda chock full of social justice issues last night and a city hall filled with citizens dying to weigh in. The items before them would decriminalize small amounts of marijuana possession and add sexual orientation and gender identity to the city's nondiscrimin ... More >>

Marijuana Decriminalization Effort Has Week to Close Signature Gap

Over a month into a signature-gathering effort in Springfield, activists for Show-Me Cannabis say they are still short about 1,500 valid names. The petition would get a marijuana-decriminalization law put before the city council at their August 13 meeting and place it before voters on the November ... More >>

Ozarks Minutemen Lose Battle on Immigration

A federal judge last week issued a preliminary injunction blocking a Springfield ordinance that would have required employers to verify the nationality of all potential employees. Earlier this year a group calling itself the Ozarks Minutemen presented the Springfield City Council with enough signatu ... More >>

Springfield Tables Red-Light Cameras Following St. Louis Judgment

​Red-light cameras in Springfield have been turned off for nearly two years following a March 2010 Missouri Supreme Court decision that found the city violated state law in the way it prosecuted people ticketed by the cameras. After weeks of negotiations, Springfield officials were hoping to once ... More >>

Ha Ha Tonka

8:45 p.m. Friday, November 25. The Firebird, 2706 Olive Street.

Askinosie's New Chocolate Drink to Benefit Filipino School

courtesy Askinosie ChocolatePresenting a package of Tableya or 232 school lunches.The do-gooding tendencies of ​Askinosie Chocolate are as much a part of the company as the chocolate itself. Owner and proprietor Shawn Askinosie has long made it a point to share the Springfield- ... More >>

The Grease Theft Round-Up

Wikimedia CommonsGot grease? Thieves do. ​Lock up your grease! It's in high demand. Again. This time, it's local. d.Dooley's 026 Grill (568 Old Smizer Mill, Fenton; 636-343-9268) owner Dan Dooley told FOX 2 that the restaurant's been hit by grease thieves seven times in the past year. St. Lo ... More >>

Let Your Kids Eat Dog Feces and The State Will Take Them Away

Image viaTo be fair, this kid looks like he got into cake. Not...something else.​Earlier this month, when cops arrived at 2771 N. Pickwick Ave. in Springfield, they noticed something kinda bad: Three kids, all under age three, all wearing only diapers, all "very dirty in appearance." That ain't so ... More >>

Missouri Woman Saved From Trash Compactor Recalls Classic Scene from Star Wars

Sanitation workers in Springfield were just about to operate the garbage compactor on their trash truck yesterday when they noticed an inebriated woman passed out among the debris in back of the vehicle. "It looks like she made a really bad decision on where to sleep," Springfield Police spokesman C ... More >>

How to Lose Friends and Injure People

Greene County SheriffNobody throws Chad R. Johnson out of a party and walks away intact. ​On Wednesday night, Chad R. Johnson got kicked out of a house party down in Springfield. The 22-year-old had been acting "disruptive," according to The News-Leader. So he left. But then he came back. With his ... More >>

Cardinals' Pitching Prospect Update

I considered going with the Timbuk 3 song -- you know the one, about the shades? -- but decided to go in a different direction. ​The present is looking a little bleak for the Redbirds at the moment. Five losses in a row, badly outplayed by the Washington Nationals, shut out by Livan Hernandez, bul ... More >>

Illinois State Senator Won't Be Charged for Punching (or Pushing?) Colleague

Mike Jacobs: Alleged puncher, or is it pusher?​Prosecutors in Springfield announced yesterday that they won't seek charges against Illinois Senator Mike Jacobs (D-Moline) stemming from a May 31 incident on the Senate floor. Senator Kyle McCarter (R-Lebanon) accused Jacobs of walking up to him afte ... More >>

Ten Guilt-Free Eats for the Rapture

Image via​You may already have heard the news that Judgment Day will take place this Saturday, May 21. If you're not Team Rapture, then you'll have until October 21 (at the latest) to suffer as the torment of a scorpion, when he striketh a man. Then, as the Lord said unto Matthew, "Blammo!" ... More >>

Freak Swarm of Bees Blocks Traffic in Springfield

Image viaWhatchoo doin', crazy bees?​And so it came to pass....A giant swarm of bees converged on a Springfield curb Thursday before the evening rush hour, causing one section of road to be shut down, according to the Springfield Police Department. "It was a large, large swarm; there were several ... More >>

Aaron Buerge, The Bachelor in 2002, Files for Personal Bankruptcy

Image viaAaron Buerge, star of ABC's The Bachelor in 2002, has filed for bankruptcy​Be glad he didn't pick ya, ladies, because this Bachelor can be unfaithful. Ask his creditors. Aaron Buerge, Springfield resident and reality star of ABC's second season of The Bachelor, has filed for Chapter 7 ban ... More >>

Show Me Clowns for Jesus Gathering in Springfield for Annual Convention

Not sure what your plans are for this weekend, but consider this:Show Me Clowns for Jesus will hold its 26th annual convention Thursday through Sunday in Springfield. Admission is just five bucks, and events include a discussion on "God's sense of humor" and a special "clown worship." Here's a video ... More >>

Bus Driver Sees Blood, Passes Out: Mayhem!

flickr.com/photos/merciIf this makes you light-headed, DON'T DRIVE A BUS​C'mon kids, sing! The wheels on the bus go round and CRASH. At about 9:20 am yesterday, a school bus was cruising through Springfield, according to the News-Leader. And then:Apparently, the driver bent down to adjust his seat ... More >>

Construction on High-Speed Rail to Chicago Underway

Amtrak's St. Louis-Chicago route, converting to high-speed...eventually.​The dream is alive! Construction on a new high-speed rail line between St. Louis and Chicago is set to begin in September and the first 90 miles -- extending from just north of Alton to just south of Lincoln but excluding ... More >>

Heart (Allegedly) Going to Play a Show in St. Louis(!)

The email Gods have shined upon me, to mitigate my disappointment over the lack of Heart at the local Lilith Fair stop: According to a press release I just received, the band is allegedly going to be playing a show in St. Louis on Sunday, August 29. The venue is listed as TBA, so this show should be ... More >>

Lobbyist For Illinois Police Chiefs: Medical Marijuana = Meth

Meth and Marijuana: a match made...absolutely nowhere.​His name is Limey Nargalenes (no, really that's his name) and he is trying to stop the Illinois General Assembly from passing Senate Bill 1381. The law would allow primary caregivers for people with "debilitating medical conditions" to prescri ... More >>

Mizzou Students Rally for Pot-Smoking As Safe Alternative to Boozin'

Image viaDude, it's SO safer​In a move that pulverizes the college kid stereotype, students at the University of Missouri - Columbia will be rallying today for marijuana. Not for its legalization, per se. But to make the argument that pot is safer than drinking. There were similar rallies organize ... More >>

Missouri Supreme Court to Weigh In Today on Red-Light Cameras

​Five years after they first began popping up in intersections across Missouri, red-light cameras are finally having their day before the state's highest court. Today the Missouri Supreme Court will hear the case of Adolph Belt Jr. a retired Missouri Highway Patrol trooper, who's fighting the red- ... More >>

Has Republican State Rep. Mike Cunningham Proposed a Bill to Save Christmas?

house.mo.gov/gallery/010203-142.jpgThe Missouri House of Representatives in Jefferson City​Missouri formally recognizes only four public holidays. Martin Luther King Day and Columbus Day, you're already familiar with. Jefferson Day (April 13) or Lincoln Day (February 12), perhaps not. And that's i ... More >>

No Matter How Shitty You Are To Your Grandparents, At Least You're Not This Guy

http://www.flickr.com/photos/waytru/ / CC BY 2.0​We know you haven't called grandma since the last holiday season, and yes you ARE an awful person. But you're no Joe Davidson Music, the 35-year-old man from Brighton, Mo., who just got sentenced to a quarter century in the slammer for literally sto ... More >>

Missouri's Very Own Albino Farm Coming to St. Louis International Film Festival

Cinema St. Louis on Wednesday announced the line-up for the St. Louis International Film Festival (tickets go on sale today), and lo and behold, one of the featured films tells a tall tale about a legendary albino farm out near Springfield.www.cinemastlouis.org​Yes, an albino farm. The property on ... More >>

Rural Missouri Man Arrested with Molotov Cocktail (Wha?)

​Who knew rural Missouri was a hotbed of bomb-throwing radicalism? Yeah, no. But according to the News-Leader, a guy down in Greene County (southwest of Springfield) just got nabbed for stealing a car, in which car authorities found a molotov cocktail. Best quote from police: "I've been on the for ... More >>

To Catch a [Southern Missouri] Predator

http://www.flickr.com/photos/coreyann/ / CC BY-ND 2.0 Recently, in the small southern-Missouri town of Crane, a blue mustang was rolling toward a carwash. Its driver - Jeffrey Dale Wommack of Springfield - was expecting to meet up with a 14-year-old girl he'd met in a chat room. Their plan for ... More >>

Hear the One About the Missouri Department of Transportation and the Nazis?

The New York Times had an interesting story this weekend about the Missouri Department of Transportation (MODOT) and its ongoing battle with racist groups that want to adopt highways. Last year the National Socialist Movement (the neo-Nazi group that rallied in St. Louis this past April) signed on t ... More >>

Right-Wing, Anti-Gay Group Planning Another Tea Party in St. Louis, Elsewhere

teapartyday.comThe American Family Association -- a Mississippi outfit known for its crusades against homosexuality, pornography and the entertainment industry -- is helping to plan a national "TEA Party Day" on April 15. TEA, according to organizers, stands for "Taxed Enough Already." The AFA says ... More >>

Lincoln Mania Continues

flickr.com/photos/neatocoolvilleCelebrate with Abe and Mary!I know what you're thinking. You're thinking, Lincoln's Birthday was last month. We've had it with the tall dude. We only care about George Clooney now.Thank you, thank you. I will be quitting my job here any day now and signing on with the ... More >>

Saturday Night in St. Louis: Dark Meat, Detroit Cobras, Ha Ha Tonka -- and An Observation

Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin, Photos, Review and a New MP3!

St. Louis 2008 shows: Dan Deacon, Early Day Miners, Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin, Health

Bodisartha

8 p.m. Saturday, November 8. Lemp Neighborhood Arts Center, 3301 Lemp Avenue

Cold War Direction and Victoria -- New St. Louis Band Alert

It Doesn't Suck!

Breathe easy, Simpsons fans.

Brain Freeze

Summer in school, summer not.

Beat Happenings

Music news you can use

Turn It Up, Mr. Prez!

B-Sides unearths some tight presidential tunes, finds the softer side of the Simpsons' notorious bully and knows way too much about the Spin Doctors

In-Town Sounds

We're cleaning off our desk for another local CD roundup

Mimosa

Chestnut's at the Adam's Mark Hotel, Fourth and Chestnut, 314-241-7400

Rick It Up

Rick Springfield knows who's the biggest badass

Diamond in the Rough

River City Rascals baseball means wacky promotions, no traffic jams, $2 hotdogs and never a bad seat

American Beauties

Don we now our gay apparel