Approaching one year

Some of you have been e-mailing me, asking me questions like, "where are you," or "why have you disabled comments on your website?"

I have devoted a lot of time to maintaining this website, hoping to do something helpful for our community. I have done so, believing that those who oversee Wilkes-Barre Twp. planned to enforce ordinances that were enacted to protect our community from the harm caused by sexually oriented businesses. It's too late now to save EFO, but it's not too late to save the rest of the business community.

In April, this website will reach the one year mark. In that time, Wilkes-Barre Twp. has yet to enforce a single ordinance pertaining to sexually oriented businesses. Nor have they enforced the community ban on byob establishments.

I know that some will be disappointed, but I'm taking a little break from the regular updates. If Wilkes-Barre Twp. actually does something to curtail the spread of sexually oriented businesses in our community, I will be the first to sing their praises. As it stands now, I get the impression that they could care less.

Maybe I'm wrong, but I can't help feeling that the Township has spent nearly a year relying on this website to do what it should have been doing all along.

Your turn.

Headlines

Remember these headlines?

• Strip Club Fight
• Strip club raises coach concerns.
  
• W-B Twp. strip club withdraws suit over ordinances: Club 10 Plus said recently passed restrictions on all-nude dancing should not apply there.
  
• Club owner finds no lack of interest in stripping jobs
  
• Club patrons targeted by anonymous Web site
  
• Web site posts license plates of alleged strip-club visitors
  
• Wilkes-Barre Township determined to halt alcohol use at strip club
  
• Club owner defies Wilkes-Barre Township to enforce ordinance
  
• Strip club sues over W-B Twp. regulations
  
• Wilkes-barre township: Ballot question could dry up strip club
  
  This website began because of my frustration with Wilkes-Barre Twp. over their inability to prevent an all-nude strip club from opening near our mall and arena. There are always going to be people who try to bring businesses that sell sex to our communities. The job of local officials is to look out for our best interests, stay on the ball, and prevent things like this from happening.
  
  When I was first interviewed by Sue Henry on WILK, I mentioned a few things that were brushed off by some callers. I stated that strip clubs have a negative effect on businesses that are located near them. The closest business to Gentlemen's Club 10 was EFO Furniture and I stated that the club would hurt their business. Less than a year later, EFO has been forced to re-locate because people don't want to shop at a store that shares a parking lot with a strip club. I wish EFO the best and I hope that they are able to successfully re-establish their business in short order.
  
  I also stated that strip clubs encourage/promote prostitution. Guess who Gentlemen's Club 10 hired this past Spring to come as a "featured dancer"...... a woman who is one of the most widely known prostitutes in America. A woman who bragged about her acts of prostitution while on Fox News Channel's O'Reilly Factor.
  
  I stated that strip clubs influence children in negative ways. Teenagers are glued to the internet and use it almost constantly. Gentlemen's Club 10 took the time to advertise a pornographic website on their building and on Interstate 81. How many young people do you suppose took the time to visit that website? From there, Gentlemen's Club 10 started a MySpace page. MySpace is used by tens of millions of teens throughout this country. Thankfully, MySpace removed their original page because of inappropriate sexual content. Now the club has a new web presence.
  
  All this to say, that the problems associated with strip clubs don't go away without the involvement of our local elected officials and law enforcement. I recognize that Gentlemen's Club 10 has threatened repeated lawsuits against Wilkes-Barre Twp. and Township officials are probably not crazy about the thought of spending a lot of time and effort fighting them in court. Still, it would be nice to see them doing something to stop the negative effects that ALWAYS accompany sexually-oriented businesses.
  
  It would also be nice to see the Township enforcing their ordinances pertaining to sexually oriented businesses. The club's argument that they are "grandfathered in" is a very weak argument. Townships have the right to enact new ordinances when they are necessary to protect the public interest. Townships also have the right to enforce BYOB bans when local residents vote them into law.
  
  I will never understand why Wilkes-Barre Twp. lets a strip club get away with thumbing their nose at an entire community.