Posts Tagged ‘kinky’

Friday in the Poconos: Benefits of a strip club; second chance for Michael Vick

Saturday, August 8th, 2009

Friday in the Poconos: Benefits of a strip club; second chance for Michael Vick

August 07, 2009
Middle Smithfield Supervisor Bob Spano is saying a strip club is a good thing. Residents aren’t buying it.

Likewise, residents aren’t happy about a plan for the Bushkill Group to buy undeveloped land from Country Club of the Poconos.

It was a tough day all around for Middle Smithfield supervisors.

Speaking of tight situations, the state budget (or lack of it) is hitting home for Monroe residents. Social service agencies are struggling to provide services and pay employees.

And school districts are waiting for more than $7.3 million in frozen state aid. That money is used for essentials: salaries, books and supplies, and transportation.

Our readers aren’t waiting to send us great summer photos. You can submit yours. It’s free and easy. How often do you hear that?

Lots going on today in Local Sports.

Pocono Mountain East High School football coach Phil Dorn says he wouldn’t hire Michael Vick. Stroudsburg’s Fred Ross would give him another chance. Even clergy leaders can’t agree. Would you hire him? Take our poll.

Fear this. Pleasant Valley’s Pat Kregeloh was the first PV player to be named first-team All-State by the Pennsylvania State Coaches Association this summer and he’s only getting better.

The Yankees meet the Sox this weekend. The first game goes to the Yanks: 13-6. One thing’s for sure with this series. We’ll have plenty of drama.

On a high note, Pocono area students learned from the best at Camp Jazz last week. Even if you can’t play, you can listen to some great music. We’ll tell you all about this weekend’s entertainment in our Pocono midday report.

Judge rules patrons can’t bring liquor to Sayreville strip club

Saturday, August 8th, 2009

Judge rules patrons can’t bring liquor to Sayreville strip club
by Aliyah Shahid/For The Star-Ledger
Friday August 07, 2009, 11:46 AM

SAYREVILLE — Patrons of a Sayreville strip club should plan on leaving their beer and wine at home, now that a Superior Court judge has dismissed an injunction he issued last month allowing the practice to continue.

‘Attendants at Yankee Stadium or Giants Stadium will be the same if beer is served or not. People are going for the game, not for the food or liquor.” — Superior Court Judge Glenn Berman

The injunction was placed on an ordinance Sayreville passed last month, prohibiting establishments without liquor licenses — except restaurants — from allowing customers to bring their own alcohol.

Greg Vella, an attorney representing 35 Club, also known as XXXV Gentleman’s Club, on Route 35, said the rule is discriminatory and singles out XXXV because of the risque nature of the business.

Middlesex County Superior Court Judge Glenn Berman, sitting in New Brunswick, ruled today that Club 35 did not demonstrate that it would be significantly harmed because of the BYOB ordinance. He said patrons go to such clubs for entertainment, not necessarily because they can bring their own beer or wine. He drew similarities between patrons at a strip club and those at a baseball game.

“Attendants at Yankee Stadium or Giants Stadium will be the same if beer is served or not,” said Berman. “People are going for the game, not for the food or liquor.”

The law, which took effect shortly after its unanimous passage on July 13, also limits the amount of alcohol customers may bring to a restaurant (enough for three people). In addition, restaurants may not charge an admission fee, membership fee, cover, corkage, or service charge. And, restaurants may not advertise that they are BYOB.

The new law also defines a restaurant as “having an adequate kitchen,” “served at tables by a restaurant employee” and “customers are provided an individual menu.”

Vella argued that XXXV has had no problems since they’ve been BYOB for two years, and that the law is subjective and an abuse of police power because officers will determine what an adequate restaurant entails.

“There’s no rational connection,” said Vella, who argued that the borough should either permit or ban all establishments that have BYOB. “It creates different classes of competition and a different class of citizens. It’s unfair competition.”

Gregory Bevelock, an attorney representing Sayreville, said the ordinance was created because the borough had problems with owners who abandoned their liquor licenses, which were in danger of being revoked and operated as BYOB establishments instead. Problems, like noise and violence, have persisted.

Bevelock also said there is no evidence that XXXV would be hurt financially because of the ordinance, and that competition is fair because the patrons of restaurants and strip clubs are not the same.

“This is based on the nonsensical notion that an all-nude dance club competes with restaurants,” said Bevelock.

Jeff Bertrand, the borough’s business administrator said the ordinance was not created to single out any particular establishment, and that some municipalities, including Wall Township and Rahway have similar ordinances.

The club is currently in litigation for allegedly violating a zoning law that states the club isn’t allowed to operate within 1,000 feet of homes or public parks.

The court will reconvene in October, when there will be a trial to determine if the ordinance is valid or not, said Vella. Until then, BYOB will be illegal at XXXV.

“We’re disappointed,” said Vella. “But, we’ll continue to fight this.”

Suspect named in killing at strip club arizona daily star

Saturday, August 8th, 2009

Tucson Region
Suspect named in killing at strip club
By Phil Villarreal
arizona daily star
Tucson, Arizona | Published: 08.08.2009

Tucson police have obtained an arrest warrant for a man suspected in the killing of David H. Tyne outside the Candy Store strip club July 30.
Police are looking for Andre “Dre” Lightsey-Copeland, 28. Copeland is 5 feet 10 inches tall, weighs 150 pounds and has brown hair and eyes. He’s considered armed and dangerous, police said.
On July 30 at 5:02 p.m., police say a man confronted Tyne inside the strip club, on South Craycroft Road near East 22nd Street. One man lured Tyne outside where the other man was waiting, and Tyne was shot. He was taken to University Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead.
One of the men drove away in a white 2005 Chevrolet Impala with Arizona license plate AFW2356 while the other man fled on foot.
Anyone who spots Copeland or the vehicle should call 911 or 88-CRIME.
Contact reporter Phil Villarreal at 573-4130 or pvillarreal@azstarnet.com

Tucson police have obtained an arrest warrant for a man suspected in the killing of David H. Tyne outside the Candy Store strip club July 30.

Detroit strip clubs face booze ban

Saturday, August 8th, 2009

Tuesday, June 16, 2009
Detroit strip clubs face booze ban
Attorney says Detroit’s threat to end liquor sales if dancers don’t cover up is all-out war

Detroit –Detroit may soon deliver an ultimatum to its strip clubs: Cover up or no booze.

The City Council on Wednesday is set to weigh a broad crackdown that would ban alcohol at clubs with topless dancing. The new rules also would stop lap dancing, close VIP rooms and force dancers to wear opaque pasties — even at dry clubs.

The rules are certain to reignite debate over the city’s 31 topless bars, and owners are vowing a fight.

“The city of Detroit has now decided they want an all-out war,” said Michael Donaldson, an attorney for All Stars and the Penthouse Club. “They cannot win. They are being totally stupid.”

But city staffers point to state and national court cases that support the legality of an alcohol ban. Richard Mack, an attorney and member of Perfecting Church, said the city must reject its status as Michigan’s strip club capital and home to 31 of the state’s 81 topless bars.

“Our goal is to do all we can within the law to root them out,” Mack said. “We don’t want the city of Detroit to be the dumping ground for lascivious behavior.”

The crackdown stems from a court battle in which a federal judge in 2007 struck down Detroit’s regulations on where clubs could open and ordered them rewritten. City staffers have recast the laws, but they have added tougher restrictions elsewhere — such as the alcohol ban. Pastors and community leaders have pushed for the changes and persuaded the council to get advice from Scott Bergthold, a Tennessee attorney who has worked nationwide to shut clubs down.

Here are some of the proposed changes:

• Alcohol can’t be served at any existing or new topless clubs. Once the City Council passes the change, existing clubs would have until their license expires, which is renewed every year, or the anniversary of the date the law was passed, to comply. A Michigan Liquor Control Commission official said Monday it’s up to the city to set those restrictions on the liquor licenses.

• Dancers would have to be 6 feet from patrons and on a stage at all times. A stage must be at least 18 inches off the floor in a room of at least 600 feet. That requirement likely would stop clubs from letting customers interact with dancers in smaller rooms, often called VIP areas.

• Dancers would also have to wear pasties..

Several council members did not return calls Monday on whether they would support the proposals. And Mayor Dave Bing’s staff said he hasn’t seen the proposals.

Rob Katzman, owner of the Toy Chest Bar and Grille, said the potential changes would put nearly all of the clubs out of business.

“You could not operate,” said Katzman, who argued that most clubs cause no problems. “You just wonder what the motivation is.”

But Mack argued the clubs lower property values and increase crime.

“Whenever they want to do their dirt, they come into the city and then return to their white picket-fenced suburban communities,” Mack said. “We want the same white picket-fenced communities.”

U.S. District Judge Julian Cook ordered the city to rewrite its rules, finding they gave city officials too much power to deny new clubs and didn’t address how long they had to act on applications. Under the old rules, clubs had to meet 15 broad criteria — including claims they wouldn’t reduce nearby property values — before the city signed on.

Cook ordered the city to revise its rules “forthwith.”

But the city has repeatedly delayed doing so. All the while, the council and mayor’s office have frozen transfers of liquor licenses that would allow clubs to open. The city is facing at least five recent federal lawsuits over its laws governing adult businesses.

CU student aims to open topless café in Boulder

Saturday, August 8th, 2009

CU student aims to open topless café in Boulder
By Amy Bounds (Contact)
Monday, July 6, 2009

BOULDER, Colo. — Boulder’s Dan Kennedy wants to open a coffee shop — but instead of competing with the likes of Starbucks by offering specialty drinks, he wants to steam up basic coffee and pre-packaged pastries with topless waitresses.

He’s looking to open a shop in August, one day a week in the morning.

Kennedy — who said he will be a sophomore at the University of Colorado in the fall after transferring from Whitman College in Washington — has placed ads on Craigslist for bouncers and women willing to work topless, saying he’s interviewing three women and three potential bouncers Friday. He’s offering to pay the women $80 to $100 for a morning.

But he said he’s still researching the steps he needs to make the cafe legal. He also needs a location. His ideal spot would be a conference room at CU, though he’s also looking on University Hill.

By offering only drip coffee and prepackaged food, he said, “There’s no license and no regulations.”

But, CU spokesman Bronson Hilliard said, there are strict regulations governing businesses on campus — plus a student code of conduct that would prohibit operating an adult business at the university.

He said students can rent conference rooms for “normal campus activities,” such as study groups. Bottom line, he said, a topless coffee shop “is not going to be allowed.”

“This is a half-baked idea,” he said.

Kennedy said CU students are a big part of his target audience, and he’s considering charging a $12 cover fee to avoid attracting a crowd just looking to ogle the waitresses.

His job listing for the bouncer says the employee “will be checking IDs to make sure they are 18 plus. Making sure topless girls feel safe and no inappropriate behavior from customers.”

He acknowledged that some people likely will object to his risque business venture.

“It’s probably going to cause a pretty big stir,” he said.

A controversial topless coffee shop in a rural Maine town drew national attention — and was burned down in June by an arsonist after just four months in business. Before the fire, the owner had received 150 applications for 10 positions.

Locally, a strip club off the Pearl Street Mall that opened in late 2007 drew concerns from zoning and building-code officials soon after it opened. The city recently looked into ways to regulate adult businesses before they opened, but the Boulder City Council has yet to agree to any changes.

The city’s options include using zoning rules to limit where such establishments could open. Some cities, for example, forbid strip clubs from doing business within 1,500 feet of a church, school, child-care center, park or other adults-only venue.

The city could decide to issue licenses to strip clubs instead, a process that could resemble the way liquor licenses are handed out now.

Mayor Matt Appelbaum said it may be worth looking at the zoning regulations and giving the community a chance to offer feedback.

“Our regulations don’t really preclude these businesses,” he said. “There clearly are locations where they are not appropriate.”

City Councilwoman Susan Osborne said she doesn’t want the council to spend time on the issue, adding that she hasn’t seen much of a market for strip clubs and similar adult businesses in Boulder.

“There are so many big things going on right now,” she said. “This would just be a distraction.”

Take me out to the strip club… Judge says play ball

Monday, July 27th, 2009

Ah, baseball.

America’s pastime. Cracker Jack. Cold beer. Hot dogs.

And body glitter?

That’s the upshot of a decision issued Friday by a King County Superior Court judge, who cleared the way for a proposed Déjà Vu strip club — adult cabaret in the court’s parlance — near Safeco Field.

Stripper’s pole meets foul pole.

Over the objections of the Seattle Mariners and the public utility that operates the field, Judge John Erlick found that the City of Seattle did not err in permitting the proposed First Avenue club.

Erlick rejected the Mariners assertion that the City Council meant to keep strip clubs at least 800 feet away from “areas where children congregate” or sports arenas. That language is absent from the city ordinance drafted after Seattle’s wholesale ban on new strip clubs was rejected as unconstitutional.

“If (the council) had intended to require dispersion from all places where children tend to congregate, it would have specifically included that language,” Erlick said Friday. “This court refuses to read words into the ordinance which do not exist in the plain language.”

During an earlier hearing, attorneys for the Mariners argued that the city had erred in permitting the club because Safeco should be considered a park or open space. One area the Mariners pointed to was a park is primarily used for bus parking; another is private property that may be developed in the future.

The proposed Déjà Vu would be on First Avenue South just south of Safeco Field, about 400 feet from the main home-plate entrance. The rear door of the club would be about 120 feet from a parking garage plaza where school buses frequently drop off students attending games.

Opponents of the club will decide in coming days whether to appeal Erlick’s ruling, said Bart Waldman, Mariners executive vice president for governmental affairs.

“We’re obviously disappointed,” Waldman said. “For now, we’re just going to absorb the opinion.”

Lauding the ruling, Peter Buck, attorney for the club owners, said the Mariners’ moralizing throughout the legal proceeding strained credulity.

Buck dismissed the Mariners’ assertions that children would be harmed by the strip club as specious.

Buck noted that a Déjà Vu club across First Avenue from Pike Place Market has done little to discourage or offend tourists there. And, like all Washington state strip clubs, the proposed facility will not serve alcohol.

The Mariners, however, do at Safeco Field.

“The Mariners mainly made a moral pitch, that this facility would be harmful to children,” Buck said. “If they were really worried about children, they’d clean up their own act.”

Erlick’s ruling marked the first serious test of the 4-year-old restrictions on where strip clubs can be. Buck praised it as showing that business owners can get a fair shake, regardless of the business they’re in.

“It means that an operation such as my client’s can rely on the law as it is written,” Buck said. “This law isn’t about someone’s moral values.”

The Mariners have 30 days to file an appeal. If the team doesn’t appeal, Buck said the club will likely open in six months.

CU student aims to open topless cafe in Boulder

Monday, July 27th, 2009

Boulder’s Dan Kennedy wants to open a coffee shop — but instead of competing with the likes of Starbucks by offering specialty drinks, he wants to steam up basic coffee and pre-packaged pastries with topless waitresses.

He’s looking to open a shop in August, one day a week in the morning.

Kennedy — who said he will be a sophomore at the University of Colorado in the fall after transferring from Whitman College in Washington — has placed ads on Craigslist for bouncers and women willing to work topless, saying he’s interviewing three women and three potential bouncers Friday. He’s offering to pay the women $80 to $100 for a morning.

But he said he’s still researching the steps he needs to make the cafe legal. He also needs a location. His ideal spot would be a conference room at CU, though he’s also looking on University Hill.

By offering only drip coffee and prepackaged food, he said, “There’s no license and no regulations.”

But, CU spokesman Bronson Hilliard said, there are strict regulations governing businesses on campus — plus a student code of conduct that would prohibit operating an adult business at the university.

He said students can rent conference rooms for “normal campus activities,” such as study groups. Bottom line, he said, a topless coffee shop “is not going to be allowed.”

“This is a half-baked idea,” he said.

Kennedy said CU students are a big part of his target audience, and he’s considering charging a $12 cover fee to avoid attracting a crowd just looking to ogle the waitresses.

His job listing for the bouncer says the employee “will be checking IDs to make sure they are 18 plus. Making sure topless girls feel safe and no inappropriate behavior from customers.”

He acknowledged that some people likely will object to his risque business venture.

“It’s probably going to cause a pretty big stir,” he said.

A controversial topless coffee shop in a rural Maine town drew national attention — and was burned down in June by an arsonist after just four months in business. Before the fire, the owner had received 150 applications for 10 positions.

Locally, a strip club off the Pearl Street Mall that opened in late 2007 drew concerns from zoning and building-code officials soon after it opened. The city recently looked into ways to regulate adult businesses before they opened, but the Boulder City Council has yet to agree to any changes.

The city’s options include using zoning rules to limit where such establishments could open. Some cities, for example, forbid strip clubs from doing business within 1,500 feet of a church, school, child-care center, park or other adults-only venue.

The city could decide to issue licenses to strip clubs instead, a process that could resemble the way liquor licenses are handed out now.

Mayor Matt Appelbaum said it may be worth looking at the zoning regulations and giving the community a chance to offer feedback.

“Our regulations don’t really preclude these businesses,” he said. “There clearly are locations where they are not appropriate.”

City Councilwoman Susan Osborne said she doesn’t want the council to spend time on the issue, adding that she hasn’t seen much of a market for strip clubs and similar adult businesses in Boulder.

“There are so many big things going on right now,” she said. “This would just be a distraction.”

Safeco Fields raunchy new neighbor, a strip club, prevails in court

Monday, July 27th, 2009

Strip clubs are back in the headlines, and they add to the cringe factor of an adult-entertainment venue opening up for lap dances next to Safeco Field, the home of the Seattle Mariners.

SEATTLE’S sleazy experience with strip clubs stirs genuine indignation at the prospects of one these degrading establishments opening so close to Safeco Field.

Last week, a King County Superior Court judge announced he could find nothing in the law or in the city of Seattle’s interpretation and application of land-use regulations to stop City Hall from issuing a business permit to Roger Forbes for a strip club in the Sodo area on First Avenue South.

Judge John Erlick worked with the law and facts before him, and his 11-page analysis indicates he was looking for mistakes, overstepping and sloppy use of words. He found none. The Seattle City Council had not used early opportunities to add stadiums — spectator-sports facilities — to the list of land uses and activities that could pre-empt or exile adult entertainment from a neighborhood.

Strip clubs in Seattle are as likely to be viewed as ersatz brothels as they are dingy gathering places for lonely men to sip overpriced soft drinks and ogle the female form. Lap dancing is prostitution by another name.

Law-enforcement issues with strip clubs have a long history, and the headlines are never dormant for long. Check out the latest round of indictments surrounding four clubs that federal charges conclude were no more than whorehouses.

Slimy dealings between strip-club associates and members of the City Council gave the community a political and campaign-finance scandal — memorialized as Strippergate — that yielded guilty pleas, stunted careers and smeared reputations.

Such is the legacy of the sex industry that will be the Mariners’ new neighbor. Baseball fans, young and old, are not going to be pleased to see the neon signs and ads promoting amateur night or the special appearance of a porn star.

The business is degrading to women. These are not victimless enterprises. Promoting base and destructive attitudes toward women is hardly a desirable welcome mat so near a signature, public-gathering place.

Is this a moralistic harangue? Yes it is. Is there a place for adult entertainment in a community? The courts all say so. Next door to Safeco Field is not the place. Somewhere in Sodo might be appropriate, but this establishment is too damn close to families and a general public that is insulted and offended by the intrusion.

Las Vegas Strip Club Bust Results in 13 Arrests

Monday, July 27th, 2009

A major bust at a local adult strip club has resulted in 13 dancers being arrested for soliciting prostitution. Police allege the dancers were doing much more than dancing.

Metro made the arrests early Monday morning. Police say busts like this, are not uncommon, but the number of arrests is what makes this one stand out.

“It’s a pretty substantial. I don’t know how many particular entertainers were working in that establishment that night but 13 is a lot of folks,” said Lieutenant Karen Hughes, Metro.

All of the female dancers were arrested for soliciting prostitution. Police say it is now up to them to post bail or wait 48 hours to make a court appearance and be released.

Hughes works with Metro’s vice squad, and would not go into detail about how the arrests were made, but says this is part of her team’s job.

“They’re out there every night, working street operations, hotel operations, book stores, anywhere where people that come to Las Vegas are going to go to find something that’s just off the radar.”

Right now, Metro says Deja Vu management is not facing any charges.

“They will check to make sure there are not any key employees who are involved in those acts, because if that’s the case, then the license will be in jeopardy.”

Deja Vu’s General Manager Bob Proden says this is the first time a bust of this size has happened in the club’s 15 year history. He says the club has received dance code violations in the past but those were eventually dropped.

Heidi Montag to Strip for 25,000

Monday, July 27th, 2009

Heidi Montag to Strip for 25,000
The offers just keep rolling in for The Hills star Heidi Montag: first it was a difficult time in the jungle for I’m a Celebrity… Get Me Out of Here which saw her emotions stripped bare, then a deal to strip her clothes to appear in Playboy and now NYC strip club Scores, recently relaunched as a “night club” has offered Mrs. Pratt the opportunity to strip onstage for five nights for $25,000.

“Since Montag recently agreed to pose for Playboy, SCORES figured the publicity-hungry starlet would jump at the opportunity to be center stage at one of New York’s most entertaining nightclubs,” the club says in a press release. Her hubby Spencer Pratt will get a front row seat as well to witness her show, if she chooses to accept the offer.

The club issued a letter to Heidi with their generous offer, via their general manager, Ed Norwick:

“Dear Mrs. Heidi Pratt,

As the nation watched you and your husband brave the jungle on “’’m A Celebrity…Get Me Out of Here’ and continue to brave the ups and downs of ‘The Hills’ and Lauren Conrad, we would like to take this time to present you with an opportunity that will allow you to be center stage—and have a lot of fun while doing so,” the letter reads.

After tooting their own strip club horn, the club adds, “As we took note that you will be posing in Playboy soon, we thought you may be interested in dabbling in yet another adventure that will most definitely expose your softer side.

As we recently re-opened after a short hiatus, SCORES would be honored to have you dance at our club on the main stage each night for five days, upon which, we will offer you a fee of $25,000.

Best,
Ed Norwick”

Your move, Heidi.