Water Damage Restoration in St. Louis, MO

ST. LOUIS — From seeing hundreds of pumpkins light up Historic St. Charles to sampling an array of burgers in Chesterfield, there are several events taking place in the St. Louis area this weekend, Oct. 26-27.

In celebration of the 59th anniversary of the completion of the Gateway Arch, visitors can meet the builders of the 630-foot tall structure Saturday from 10 a.m. to noon.

Visitors can meet and interact with the featured builders while they sign commemorative posters in the tram lobby. Posters will be available for sale for $1 in the Arch Store.

There also will be children’s activities, including the iconic Arch blocks and a craft on the mezzanine from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.

The Science Center will host a Jack O’ Lantern Jamboree Saturday starting at 5:30 p.m.

Families can enjoy dinner, participate in crafts, enjoy a magic show, watch a professional pumpkin carver transform pumpkins into masterpieces.

For tickets and more information, visit the Science Center’s website.

Historic Main Street in St. Charles will be illuminated with hundreds of eerily glowing pumpkins Saturday from 5-8 p.m.

Stores will be open late and customers can take advantage of deals. This is not a trick-or-treat event and no candy will be given out.

The city of Kimmswick will host its Apple Butter Festival Saturday and Sunday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Visitors can stroll through the streets of Kimmswick lined with hundreds of food, drink and craft vendors, including apple butter for sale.

Children’s activities include a miniature train, a petting zoo and pony rides. The event also will feature live entertainment, including bluegrass, country rock and dulcimer music.

For more information, visit the city’s website.

Saint Louis Dance Theatre will host its fall concert Saturday and Sunday.

“(Re) Claim” will feature a collection of works by a variety of artists and a solo performance that blends traditional Mexican dance with powerful emotion of the music.

For tickets and showtimes, visit the organization’s website.

An inaugural Burgerfest is Sunday at The District in Chesterfield from noon to 3 p.m.

It will feature tasty burgers, crispy fries, beer and live music.

The event is in partnership between 4 Hands Brewing Co. and Hi-Pointe Drive-In and sponsored by Sauce Magazine. All ticket proceeds will benefit the Veterans Community Project.

For more information and tickets, visit the 4 Hands Brewery website.

ST. LOUIS, Mo. (First Alert 4) - Across the St. Louis area voters are standing in long lines for the chance to vote before election day. The first two weeks of no excuse absentee voting have seen a large turnout.

“It’s a privilege and a right. And it really does make a difference,” said Denise Hartug of St. Charles, Missouri.

In St. Charles County, more than 1% of registered voters are casting ballots each day, according to county election director Kurt Bahr.

“No excuse in-person voting has exploded,” he said.

Daily voting numbers are twice as high as this time in 2020, according to Bahr. And he said between in-person voting and mail-in ballots, as many as 20% of registered voters will cast ballots by election day.

In St. Louis County some voters wait an hour-and-a-half to vote at the Lewis and Clark Library on South Lindbergh. Two issues seem to be at the top of voters’ priority lists.

“President and also for abortion rights,” said Karen Goode.

On Tuesday, 15,273 votes were cast in St. Louis County. The turnout climbed to 16,908 on Wednesday, 18,254 on Thursday and 18,608 on Friday.

At the St. Louis Board of Elections, workers have been testing and retesting vote tabulation machines.

“No machine leaves here on election day for voting that hasn’t gone through this rigorous testing,” said Matt Zakibe, I.T. director.

He said, by state law, the machines not only go through a round of accuracy tests conducted by workers but members of the public must also be allowed to randomly select machines for additional testing.

Zakibe also sought to dispel any myth that hackers could get into a vote tabulation machine to change vote totals.

“Here in Missouri part of the law is that none of the voting machines as well as any of the tabulation equipment used to make the ballots, none of it can be connected to the internet,”

Voters in St. Louis County can check the board of election’s website to find out how many people are waiting in line at each of the satellite voting locations.

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ST. LOUIS — While fall foliage has peaked in some parts of Missouri, trees in the St. Louis area are just starting to reach their peak this fall.

Leaves of hickory trees have started to turn orange and yellow, according to the Missouri Department of Conservation. Folks will find bright red and yellow-orange colored leaves on red and sugar maple trees.

Surviving ashes are showing “some of the brightest and richest color,” according to MCD.

Other trees displaying color are sassafras, Virginia creeper, dogwoods, sumacs, buckeye, black gum (black tupelo) and some sweet gums.

Black walnut and honey locust trees have already lost most of their leaves as they are some of the earliest changers, according to the MDC.

St. Louisans should keep an eye on oak trees as they are expected to turn colors soon.

For best views of fall foliage while driving, the MDC recommends Missouri Routes 19, 79 and 94. To see leaf colors while hiking, people can visit Castlewood and Don Robinson state parks and Weldon Spring Conservation Area.

Trees at Tower Grove Park and Bellefontaine Cemetery and Arboretum also produce a variety of color, according to MCD.

The MCD says peak fall color happens in mid-October when maple, ash, hickory and oak trees are at the height of their fall display.

By late October, colors start to fade as leaves drop from the trees. Fall color is finished by the middle of November, according to MDC.

The earliest to change color are sassafras, sumac and Virginia creeper, which begin in mid-September. Black gum, bittersweet and dogwood start turning by late September.

“The progression of color change usually starts earliest in northern and western Missouri and moves southward and eastward across the state,” according to MDC.

Predicting the peak of fall color can be difficult as it depends on weather during fall and also during the entire growing season.

Missourians can enjoy fall colors anywhere. MDC says to choose routes along rivers with views of forested bluffs and along ridges with scenes of forested landscapes.

Folks also can drive on back roads, take a hike or a float trip under a forest canopy on a clear blue-sky day to view turning leaves.

View colorful leaves in places with mature trees such as older neighborhoods, parks and cemeteries

For more places to view fall foliage, visit MDC Conservation Areas and Missouri State Parks.

The St. Louis Cardinals used to be the team to beat in the National League Central but they've fallen off the map over the last decade and are looking to get back on top.

Unfortunately, the Cardinals are entering a rebuilding phase that could make it challenging for St. Louis to compete with the reigning back-to-back NL Central champion Milwaukee Brewers.

To make matters worse for the Cardinals in their division for 2025, a beloved St. Louis veteran has been mentioned as a possible option for the franchise's most bitter rival.

"Still, he (Paul Goldschmidt) has enough left in the tank to garner the attention of teams this offseason," Bleacher Report's Erick Beaston wrote Thursday when discussing his predictions on several impending free agents' futures. "One such team is the rival Chicago Cubs, who will look to improve at first base, where Michael Busch had similar stats but lacks the veteran leadership and experience that Goldschmidt would bring to the organization."

The Cubs and Cardinals have one of the most bitter rivalries in baseball and perhaps all sports. Seeing Goldschmidt wear a blue and white pinstripes uniform with Chicago next season would be an eye sore for St. Louis fans.

Despite failing to help bring the No. 12 World Series title to St. Louis, Goldschmidt is a cherished fan favorite who the passionate Cardinals fan base will greatly miss if he's not re-signed this winter, which is the expectation.

However, the five-time Silver Slugger will significantly stain his six-season legacy in St. Louis if he joins the dark side and signs with the Cubs this offseason, as he's poised to hit the free-agent market for the first time in his illustrious 14-year career.

The NL Central rivals meet again on June 23, 2025, at Busch Stadium. Could that be the next time Goldschmidt steps up to the plate at Busch Stadium?

More MLB: Ex-Cardinals $28 Million Hurler Linked To Former Team; Would Reunion Make Sense?

Thousands of Missourians, many waiting in long lines, cast their ballots Tuesday as in-person, no-excuse voting began ahead of the Nov. 5 election.

Election officials expect more than 70% of Missouri’s registered voters to vote this election — and as many as one in five could cast their ballots early.

“It does feel like the floodgates opened and that people were prepared to vote today,” said Eric Fey, the Democratic director of elections for St. Louis County.

More than 15,000 people voted in-person in St. Louis County on Tuesday.

Officials with St. Louis city did not respond to interview requests.

In Jefferson County, Clerk Jeannie Goff said there was a dramatic increase — 800% — in the number of voters casting ballots on the first day of early voting compared to 2022. As of Tuesday afternoon, about 900 voters had cast their ballots — up from the 96 who voted on the first day of early voting two years ago.

“We’ve had a line all day, and people didn’t seem to mind,” she said. “They just didn’t want to stand in a line on Election Day.”

Goff anticipates the numbers will grow. In 2022, about 12,000 people voted early during the six days leading up to the November’s general election.

Polling places across St. Charles County also saw long lines, according to Elections Director Kurt Bahr. About 3,500 people voted in-person on Tuesday. That’s in addition to the voters who cast their ballots through traditional absentee voting, which requires returning a notarized ballot to the clerk’s office by 7 p.m. on Election Day.

No-excuse absentee voting continues through Nov. 4, the day before the general election.

The St. Louis County Board of Elections allows early voting at 14 sites. More information, including a list of sites and hours of operation, is available on the St. Louis County Election Board website, www.stlouiscountymo.gov.

In St. Charles County, no-excuse absentee voting is available at the election authority headquarters, 397 Turner Boulevard, in St. Peters; and at Element Church, 100 Mall Parkway No. 500 in Wentzville.

The city of St. Louis has eight sites for early voting, including the Election Board headquarters at 300 North Tucker Boulevard. You can find a list of sites on the election board’s website, www.stlouis-mo.gov.

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