Yesterday in Jefferson City, Representative Cody Smith (R-Carthage) announced that he wanted to remove all state funding for libraries in Missouri. Smith, who is the chairman of the House Budget Committee, has submitted revisions to the state’s proposed budget for next fiscal year, including taking the $4.5 million allocated for libraries and reducing that number to zero. Smith says he’s upset that library associations are suing to stop a law that went into effect in August that bans “explicit sexual material” from school libraries.

For months, the building that’s soon to become Sado (5201 Shaw Avenue) has shown few signs of life — no “coming soon” or even a sign with the restaurant’s name on it. But looks can be deceiving: Behind the shuttered doorways of what used to be Giovanni’s, one of St. Louis’ most hotly anticipated restaurants has been taking shape. Next Tuesday, March 28, says Chef Nick Bognar, it will open its doors.

St. Louis is not to American soccer what Cooperstown, New York, is to baseball or Springfield, Massachusetts, is to basketball. The sport had already gained a foothold in the northeastern U.S. decades before a St. Louisan named Thomas W. Cahill became the primary force for the sport’s American emergence.

Jerry Cantrell w/ Thunderpussy 8 p.m.

Early in the pandemic, Rick Giordano was having a few socially distanced porch beers with his pal Kenny Snarzyk of the Crow’s Nest and musing about what St. Louis really needed. Their answer: a pizza joint where the duo could “play metal all the time.”

Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey’s quest to remove Kim Gardner from office continued today when he filed a 120-page amended petition in circuit court accusing the embattled circuit attorney of a litany of failures while in office, including a failure to prosecute a man who killed a seven-year-old. According to Bailey’s court filing, Gardner’s mismanagement has resulted in judges dismissing more than 2,700 cases. Gardner’s own office has dismissed more than 9,000 cases due to a lack of diligence, the amended petition says.

In 2020, St. Louis roots rocker John Henry released an album, Out at Sea, just as the pandemic hit.  After a series of delays, Henry was determined to find a way to play an album-release concert mid-pandemic.

Date of sighting: March 2 at 7:46 a.m. Location: Chippewa Street and Hampton Avenue

In 1995, St. Louis County prosecutor Doug Sidel won a life sentence against Gary Muehlberg for murdering an acquaintance named Kenneth “Doc” Atchison whom Muehlberg lured to his house under the pretense of selling him a car. At the time, Sidel had no idea he was putting away an infamous serial killer. At the time prosecutors had no information tying Muehlberg to other crimes, a court spokesperson says.

Much like my exes, the Saint Louis Zoo has decided it cannot handle a strong-willed individual and decided to part ways with Ben the Andean Bear. Ben, who escaped his enclosure twice during his time in St. Louis, will be moved to a zoo in Texas. The zoo is citing his “unique personality” as a reason for the move, which is code for too much to handle.