Best of St. Louis 2017: This Is 40

This week, we're celebrating two things: the 40th anniversary of the RFT's founding and the very best of St. Louis 2017. There's a whole lot of ground to cover on both fronts.

Taking a look at the paper's history and heritage are a bevy of RFT writers past and present — including current editor in chief Sarah Fenske, former staff writers Jeannette Batz Cooperman and Joe Schuster, former editors in chief Tom Finkel and Chad Garrison and contributing writer Thomas Crone, who wrote for the RFT in the 1980s and continues to do so today.

But enough about us. In celebration of the city we just can't quit, we've also got a host of Best of St. Louis content, including 40 cheap thrills, 40 marvels and 40 flavors. Oh, and let's not forget our annual readers' poll, which includes 40 food and drink winners and another 40 in arts, culture, shopping, media, politics and the outdoors.

Finally, much as we'd normally skip right over the news in an issue already bursting at its seams, we've been overtaken by current events, which have remained as compelling in recent weeks as in any time in the paper's history. Our coverage of the disruption that's seized the metro area continues in our news section. (For the very latest, please visit our website.)

Thank you for being here to celebrate our big birthday, and thank you for reading along with us week in, week out, as we strive to cover this fascinating city and the people who call it home. We couldn't have done it without you, and we're delighted you're still here — yeah, and that we are too.