Oregon Gentlemen's Club Owner Plans 3rd Club
TUALATIN, Ore — — Randy Kaiser, owner of three adult-entertainment businesses in Oregon, plans to open a Stars Cabaret in Tualatin, similar to the Stars Cabaret & Steak House he owns in Beaverton. The business will feature adult entertainment in the “standard Oregon practice” — full nude.
A sign posted on the Out of the Blues restaurant informing passersby of the business change over to Stars Cabaret-Bridgeport and a pending Oregon Liquor Control Commission decision has caught the attention of residents.
One woman who called The Times said, “There’s going to be a lot of citizens that aren’t going to be happy with this.”
And Tualatin City Councilor Chris Barhyte agrees.
“It’s definitely something Tualatin doesn’t want at its front porch,” said Barhyte.
And this would not be the first adult entertainment club in Tualatin.
Kaiser’s business plan includes finding ways to become an intricate part of the community — something he stressed throughout his telephone interview with reporters. Several years ago, Kaiser donated $3,000 to help build the Veterans War Memorial in Beaverton. And in 2003, the Central Beaverton Neighborhood Association’s board of directors sent a letter to the city of Beaverton supporting Kaiser as a businessman during his battles with the Oregon liquor commission.
Kaiser hopes to open the Stars Cabaret-Bridgeport in November, but the liquor application could take another 60 to 90 days to process.
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TEXAS
State Judge Orders Strip Club Closed
HOUSTON — A Houston strip club shut down Tuesday after a state district judge ruled it violated a 1997 city ordinance regulating "sexually oriented businesses."
State District Judge Mark Davidson issued a temporary injunction Tuesday afternoon and ordered the club to shut down immediately. A trial in which the city will argue for permanent closure is set for Oct. 27.
"This is great news," said Bart Jones, who opposed the business along with others in the nearby neighborhood of Briargrove. "This business was a blight on the area. It wasn't a very desirable place to have near where your kids are raised and where your house is."
A lawyer for The Penthouse Club did not return calls Tuesday. An employee who answered the phone Tuesday afternoon said the club was closed because of a "gas problem."
"We'll be operating out of All Stars tonight, our sister club across the street," he said. "So, please join us there."
Davidson's order is a victory for the city, which has spent more than $1.2 million defending the city's sexually oriented business ordinance against challenges by adult-oriented businesses, said attorney Patrick Zummo, hired by the city to help it enforce the law.
"It means that this ordinance that we fought so hard to pass and prove constitutional, that it will actually work," Zummo said. "We're not through. We're looking at other locations around The Penthouse."
The city's ordinance requires sexually oriented businesses be located at least 1,500 feet from schools, day care centers, parks and churches. Challenges to the ordinance's constitutionality ended last March, when the Supreme Court declined to hear an appeal by a group of club owners.
Davidson's order stated that The Penthouse Club did not have a required permit and would not be able to get a city permit because it was within 1,500 feet of houses, a private school and the parking lots of a church and a mosque.
Last year, the city sent letters to more than 120 businesses it claimed were in violation of the ordinance, telling them to close or face fines and criminal charges.
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AUSTRALIA
Melbourne Considers Outlawing Alcohol in Strip Clubs
MELBOURNE, Victoria — Strip clubs in Melbourne's King Street could be forced to stop serving alcohol under measures being considered by the state government, which has ordered a review of venues offering adult entertainment and alcohol as part of a wider plan to crackdown on violence in the city.
Consumer Affairs Minister Tony Robinson says brothels are not allowed to serve alcohol, and the same might need to apply to strip clubs.
"Disproportionately we end up with more trouble generated from that small number, and I think in that sense the rest of the industry cops a bad wrap for things that don't necessarily happen in your standard bar or restaurant," he said.
Nightclub Owners Association president Peter Iwaniuk says the Government is attacking the industry rather than dealing with crime.
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