Reeferfront Times

[WEED NEWS]

Written by DANIEL HILL

Capping off a busy summer that saw the opening of five Missouri dispensary locations under its brand, including St. Louis-area shops in St. Ann and St. Peters, Heya Wellness has rolled out two new product lines.

Building off of its successful cultivation operation, which has seen its products — including ower strains Runtz, Grease Monkey and Duct Tape — become wildly popular throughout the state, Heya has just this month begun stocking Smokiez edibles and Conte Concentrates cartridges, each coming via its manufacturing division.

The former is a partnership with the popular edible company Smokiez, which has worked with manufacturers in states across the country, including Oklahoma, Washington, California and Oregon. Smokiez products are vegan and gluten-free, and their Heya debut comes in five avors peach, watermelon, blackberry, blue raspberry and green apple. Each bag contains 100 milligrams of THC total — ten milligrams per gummy — and are manufactured at Heya’s irksville facility.

Joe Judd, dispensary director for Heya’s St. Ann location, says the Smokiez brand is one of the more popular in the entire country.

“I know that they’re either No. 1 or No. 2 in North America,” he says. “ eople are loving them they go over very well. he company is all about making sure that the consumer is taken care of, and that they have the right product for that consumer on a consistent basis.”

In addition to the Smokiez partnership, Heya has also introduced its own line of vape cartridges, known as Conte Concentrates, manufactured at its Excello loca-

tion. The one-gram cartridges debut in fruit punch, blood orange, cotton candy and pina colada avors, ranging from sativa to indica to a hybrid of each. At $80 before taxes for one gram of concentrate, these carts are on the ine pensive side, with other brands often going for twice as much at Missouri dispensaries.

“Best price point ’ve seen thus far in Missouri, at $80 for a onegram cart that’s completely full,” Judd notes. “If you look at it, it’s completely full with no bubbles, which is very rare that you’re going to see in a cart — especially in a one-gram at that price point — because a lot of half-grams right now are going between $60 to $80.”

Now, we at the Reeferfront Times know a good deal when we see one, so we picked up a onegram cart of the blood orange avor, which, thanks to a riday sale, was marked down to just before ta . A sativa-dominant concentrate, the Conte-branded cartridge clocks in at 65.38 percent THC and 10.05 percent CBD, and the instructions on the pack-

age put the dosage at one or two “puffs,” with each puff representing approximately eight milligrams of concentrate. This would mean that, theoretically, each cart should be good for 125 puffs apiece, though we haven’t been able to confirm that because such a test would basically require us to be stoned 24/7 since the date of purchase and we (unfortunately) have other things to do.

Plugged into a standard cheapo vape pen battery, the blood orange cart is smooth on inhale, with very little coughing and a bright, citrusy taste consistent with its namesake on exhale. The recommended two puffs brought an elevated but focused mood two more puffs for good measure seemed to be the sweet spot, bringing increased euphoria without muddying up the brain’s functions too much. his is definitely a sativa, and in keeping, couch-lock was not a concern. It also didn’t have much in the way of appetite stimulation, and, pleasantly, very little in the way of dry mouth. It’s a good concentrate for getting stuff done without being overly medicated or incapacitated.

In all, the new products mark yet another victory for Heya ellness in a year that’s already full of them. And according to Judd the company is just getting started, with its cultivation operation currently working on a move into the sizable St. Ann space that until recently housed the Manhattan Antique Mall.

“It’ll be 30,000 square feet of cultivation, Judd says with a palpable sense of pride. “I want to say middle of next year.” or more information and to purchase Heya’s new products, visit heyawellness.com. n

[FILM]

Written by DANNY WICENTOWSKI

The dark streets, the shuttered buildings, the nightmare scifi future — t. ouis had it all when director John arpenter featured the city’s downtown as the main setting for his action masterpiece Escape from New York. he mi of devastation and grime wasn’t a product of the city itself, but rather the aftermath of a firestorm that had a few years prior consumed si buildings and left the area near ocust treet and orth st treet looking like it had been carpet-bombed. or local filmmaker ike ualdoni — who recently released a tightly produced documentary video e ploring the t. ouis settings in the legendary film — the choice to replicate a dystopian “ ew ork in a section of downtown t. ouis was nothing short of genius.

“ was just really blown away by the resourcefulness of John arpenter, ualdoni says. “ t was just a great way to save money on the budget of the film, to go down and utilize this torn-out part of the city, and it really sold the picture.

Behind arpenter’s inspired setting was a massive fire that broke out in the vacant Heyday hoe building in t. ouis on the afternoon of April , . trengthened by gusting winds, the blaze collapsed buildings and melted windows, raging for hours as more than firefighters and fifteen trucks battled the ames. he ne t day, the St. Louis PostDispatch reported the fire’s wreckage appearing “like a bomb site. ne story said “ j agged building frames jutted out from smoldering piles of rubble and that “a charred fire truck was half covered by fallen brick.

Also on the scene were multiple Post-Dispatch photographers. hey captured astonishing, hellish images of firefighters caught within the clouds of smoke and ame — while also snapping shots from above, showing a great plume of smoke rising above ocust treet. hese aerial photos proved useful to ualdoni sing a drone, he overlaid the historic photos with the scene of the area as it is today, producing one of several striking composite images for his threeminute documentary “ here hey hot scape from ew ork.

“ always knew they shot in t. ouis, but didn’t know e actly where, ualdoni tells RFT, adding that he used one of the Post-Dispatch photos to line up his drone shot along live Boulevard near the site of the fire. oday, one of the buildings that survived the fire has become the chla y ap oom — its distinctive arched windows can be seen in Escape from New York as the hard-assed former special-forces soldier nake lisken trudges through the grim streets looking for the whereabouts of the kidnapped president’s plane. t’s one of several scenes in Escape from New York that feature obvious t. ouis landmarks, including the o heater, nion tation and the ld hain of ocks Bridge.

“ o walk around ocust treet, around the chla y building, you really can see right where they were — where that plane was, it’s a parking lot now, ualdoni says. “ n nion tation, the beautiful grand hall, you can just imagine all the extras in there and Kurt ussell wrestling that dude.

But it’s the scenes filmed against the destruction of the Heyday fire that strike ualdoni most deeply. or contemporary viewers, Escape from New York preserves visual evidence of a historic t. ouis disaster — and for the film’s director, it was the perfect way to avoid the e pense of actually shooting a movie in ew ork. n a interview uploaded to ou ube, arpenter re ected on the unusual choice of setting, noting that the area of the Heyday fire in t. ouis retained the “eastern look of ew ork ity architecture.

“ e shot at night, arpenter recalled in the interview. “ e wet the streets down so it re ected the lights, and the town let us shut off all the electricity for blocks and blocks and blocks.

“Basically what you’ve got is this shell, an empty city with a lot of bonfires and rubble in the street, he adds. “ his was the look, a dangerous futuristic look that we created. or more on the making of Escape from New York, including ualdoni’s work to match the scenes with the areas as they are today, check out the full video “ inema in t. ouis scape from ew ork, on ou ube. n

[VACCINES]

Written by JENNA JONES

Leaders of sixteen St. Louis arts organizations want to welcome their patrons back safely, and to do that, they say, COVID-19 vaccines or negative tests are a must.

Patrons of the sixteen establishments will have to provide proof of vaccination or a recent negative COVID-19 test to enter the venues.

One of the organizations, St. Louis Symphony Orchestra, detailed its COVID-19 policy in a press release. As of this past Monday, proof of full COVID-19 vaccination with a valid photo ID is required, while unvaccinated patrons — and children under twelve — must provide proof of a negative COVID-19 test. The negative test can either be a PCR test taken within three days or a negative antigen test within a day of the performance.

“While our offerings are unique, all of our area arts organizations share a commitment to strengthen our communities through the arts—and to do so in the safest way possible,” Marie-Hélène Bernard, president and CEO of the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra, said in a statement. “ The SLSO is proud to stand together with our peer organizations in service to the people of St. Louis.”

The SLSO’s policy will be in effect until December 1 and then will be reevaluated to follow the latest public health recommendations.

St. Louis Symphony Orchestra, the Repertory Theatre of St. Louis and the Sheldon Concert Hall and Art Galleries are three of the organizations that announced the requirements.

The Sheldon’s policy is in place for ticketed events, with proof of vaccination or a negative COVID-19 test within two days required. However, the vaccination policy does not apply to the Sheldon Art Galleries — including “Golf the Galleries” — private events or educational programs.

The Sheldon’s executive director, Peter Palermo, says in a press release that while the “exciting opportunity” to bring live music back weekly to the