MONDAY, AUGUST 21. It’s so muggy the air feels like split pea soup. Perfect day to go back to school (not). The terrible heat is pushing people to their limits; city police say they notched three homicides in the past 24 hours, and today a woman is stabbed to death at Goodfellow and Delmar. Beyoncé, however, slays at the Dome — while the hapless Cardinals lose 11-1 in Pittsburgh.
TUESDAY, AUGUST 22. It’s so steamy, schools are canceling sports practice and even recess. Not taking the day off: Mayor Tishaura Jones, who says she’s found a way to ban AR-15s and AK-47s under Missouri law. Unsurprisingly, Attorney General Andrew Bailey disagrees, meaning this one will likely be decided in court. Meanwhile, an early morning hostage situation at the City Justice Center ends with a 73-year-old guard taken to the hospital. A SWAT team retakes control of the jail within minutes of arriving — but much bigger concerns remain about conditions under Commissioner Jennifer Clemons-Abdullah. The jail’s oversight board renews calls for her to be fired, while city officials go quiet.
WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 23. The GOP presidential candidates are debating, and while we have a certain morbid curiosity, who even has cable anymore? We’ll wait for the best put-downs to get repackaged on TikTok. Overseas, it looks like Vladimir Putin just killed Yevgeny Prigozhin, the oligarch who tried to mount a coup in June — by downing a plane with nine other people on it. Yikes.
THURSDAY, AUGUST 24. The Post-Dispatch reports everybody’s least favorite St. Louis landlord, Lux Living (a.k.a. Asprient, a.k.a. CityWide), is selling some of its holdings. Just listen to those tenants cheer! They have to do it in the dark, though: As temperatures remain searing, Ameren asks people to raise the thermostats and lower the blinds.
FRIDAY, AUGUST 25. It’s 104 degrees in St. Louis, and that is just the mercury. That makes this the hottest August 25 ever recorded in the city. Beyond that, as of today, the heat index has reached 110 for six days in a row. Happy Friday! Also, even more misery for families of transgender kids: Judge Steven Ohmer says he won’t block the state’s ban on gender-affirming care for minors. It becomes law on Monday.
SATURDAY, AUGUST 26. Bob “The Price Is Right” Barker is dead at 99. The Washington native went to college in Missouri and began his career in Springfield, so we guess we’ll claim him. RIP. Morning thunderstorms finally break the heat — but put a damper on the inaugural Evolution Music Festival, which pushes its start time back to 3 p.m.
SUNDAY, AUGUST 27. There is so much going on this weekend, we don’t even have time to kill each other. It’s not just Evolution in Forest Park (a smash hit!) and Festival of Nations in Tower Grove Park (always a triumph): The Jonas Brothers are at Enterprise Center, the Offspring and Sum 41 are at Riverport, and finally the weather is amazing enough to enjoy it. This is why we live here. Alas, the Cardinals are swept in Philly, and that is why even the Best Fans in Baseball have had enough.
