Courtesy of Gee Vigna

Nicky Vigna.

On February 4, 2010, Gee Vigna and her husband discovered a horrible sight in the room of their seventeen-year-old daughter, Nicky.

"We had no idea she was using any drugs," Gee tells Daily RFT.

Nicky had overdosed on heroin. Doctors pointed to track marks on her arm.

"That was the beginning of what I would call the fight of our life," Gee says.

It's a fight that her family lost, despite their best efforts to help their daughter. On January 3, 2013, Nicky, at age twenty, overdosed again, and this time, she did not recover. Now, Gee is trying to raise awareness about the growing problem of what she says is "the silent killer" that's destroying families and communities across the country.

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Last night, three young teenage boys were shot in the Carr Square neighborhood and taken to a local hospital where they are all in serious condition.

Two of the shooting victims are fourteen years old, and the other is fifteen years old.

One of the victims told police he knew the suspect -- but only by his nickname.

They were not able to tell the police the suspect's real name or address, and the shooter remains at large.

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Students in Shearwater's first graduating class.

Shearwater High School, a public charter school geared toward dropouts and at-risk youth in St. Louis, is closing its doors after three years in operation, shedding light on the obstacles facing the most vulnerable students and the educators trying to help them graduate.

"Young people are continuing to hemorrhage out of our public-school system at an alarming rate," Stephanie Krauss, president and CEO of Shearwater Education Foundation, tells Daily RFT. "We have to figure this out."

Krauss, whose efforts RFT chronicled in a 2009 cover story on the dropout crisis in St. Louis, says that the model was just not working, and it is time to reevaluate.

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When police responded to calls for a shooting early this morning, they were already too late.

Jermaine Johnson, twenty, was lying unconscious at the corner of Darby Street and Natural Bridge Avenue, police say. He had suffered multiple gunshot wounds to his body -- and police pronounced him dead on the scene.

He is the 34th homicide victim this year in the city of St. Louis.

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Is a government ban on smoking an infringement on property rights?

That's a central question that has emerged in the city of St. Charles, which had its final of three public hearings on the so-called "Smoke-Free Air Act" last night. As we reported earlier this month, the city is in the early stage of considering some sort of smoking-ban ordinance -- and in the process is exploring what kinds of businesses might be exempt.

The debates around smoking bans have heated up in recent months at the state level in Missouri and locally in the St. Louis metro area. What could the city of St. Charles' policy look like?

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Tyson McGuire, 37.

Police say that on April 27, a man posing as a UPS delivery driver forced his way into an Ellisville home, stole a woman's jewelry, taped her to her stove and then left.

And now, officials say, they have identified the man -- but they don't know where he is.

Yesterday, St. Louis county prosecutors issued warrants for 37-year-old Tyson McGuire for first-degree burglary, stealing and kidnapping with a bail set at $250,000. For now, police say, he remains on the loose and is considered armed and dangerous.

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Busch Stadium's transformation.

It may have been totally friggin' impossible to get tickets to the Premier League's much-discussed exhibition soccer game at Busch Stadium this week, but that doesn't mean you can't get excited and watch from the sidelines!

To pointlessly whet your appetite, dear readers who will not be attending the Manchester City v. Chelsea F.C. match this Thursday, we've collected some photos below of Busch Stadium undergoing its transformation into a soccer field, which began after the Cardinals game on Sunday.

It's an unprecedented conversion: This is the first professional non-baseball sporting event ever hosted at Busch Stadium III.

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via robertboettcherphotography.com

Robert Boettcher.

Robert Boettcher, a 53-year-old homeless man in St. Louis, was recently released from prison after spending nearly two years behind bars on murder charges. He was arrested on May 3, 2011, and after many months in jail, his case was dismissed on February 11, 2013.

And now, he has won a University City photography contest.

"I was stunned. I was not expecting this at all," Boettcher, who won a local competition over the weekend, tells Daily RFT. "I was ecstatic, so happy about it."

It was a meaningful recognition for Boettcher -- who is still homeless today.

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Scott Schnuck.

In the wake of a massive security breach that left millions of credit cards vulnerable, Schnucks is now facing multiple lawsuits in Missouri and Illinois from customers and lawyers who say the company should have alerted shoppers sooner -- and should never have let this happened in the first place. The local supermarket chain has repeatedly apologized, saying it was a victim of a cyber attack, that it told the public as soon as it possibly could and that the stores are now safe for credit card use.

But if a judge agrees with those bringing forward the class-action suit -- who say that Schnucks was negligent and violated consumer laws -- how much would it potentially owe customers?

The company touched upon that question in its latest court filing, which notes that, if the suit prevailed, Schnucks could owe nearly $80 million to customers. And that's only referring to Illinois shoppers.

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A 34-year-old man leaving a St. Louis nightclub in midtown early this morning was walking to his friend's car when he heard gunshots.

He bent down to the ground to shield himself, police say, but when he stood up again, he felt a sharp pain.

He had been shot in the face.

Was this a random shooting?

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