Jun
24
2011
The John M. McKay Scholarships for Students With Disabilities Program is intended to help struggling disabled students find accommodations outside the public school system, but the New Times shows how a lack of oversight of the private schools that receive money under the program has spawned “a cottage industry of fraud and chaos” that could see an expansion thanks to recently signed legislation that broadens eligibility for the program. #
While the state played the role of the blind sugar daddy, here is what went on at South Florida Prep, according to parents, students, teachers, and public records: Two hundred students were crammed into ever-changing school locations, including a dingy strip-mall space above a liquor store and down the hall from an Asian massage parlor. Eventually, fire marshals and sheriffs condemned the “campus” as unfit for habitation, pushing the student body into transience in church foyers and public parks. #
See the full article from “The American Independent”
Apr
15
2011
Readers, has anyone heard of this scam or of anything similar in another pleasure capital, Las Vegas? I have heard of tourists there being taken for a financial rubdown at illicit massage parlors.
See the full article from “MAARS News (blog)”
Apr
13
2011
Lauderhill postpones vote on massage parlors, adult establishments
…
The ordinance, if passed, would ban massage parlors from operating in the commercial entertainment zoning district. Because that is the only area zoned for massage parlors they would effectively be banned from operating within the city.
…
According to city documents, a few years ago police found that a business that offered massage services was a front for prostitution and closed it down. Documents also allege the city recently turned down an application for a certificate of use by a massage parlor because it was found that the owner’s wife was convicted of prostitution.
Police Chief Kenneth Pachnek said right now his department isn’t having trouble with illegal massage parlors but that legal ones have to be investigated because sometimes unlawful activity can sometimes occur there.
See the full article from “Sun-Sentinel”
Apr
11
2011
I tried to call three clubs listed on the main South Beach drag of Washington Avenue. One had no phone number I could find, one had a disconnected number and one had only an answering machine with no business name on it.
Prosecutors say at least 88 victims have been identified with total losses in the hundreds of thousands of dollars. One victim was gouged $43,000, the AP reports.
Some of the accused are being held without bail and one top operative is believed to have fled the country, the story said. U.S. Attorney Wifredo Ferrer told the AP that such scams could give “our tourism industry a black eye. We are pleased to have put this ring out of operation.”
Readers, has anyone heard of this scam or of anything similar in another pleasure capital, Las Vegas? I have heard of tourists there being taken for a financial rubdown at illicit massage parlors.
See the full article from “USA Today”
Nov
10
2010
Hollywood allows Asian massage parlor to keep mural
After spending months and thousands fighting the city, the owner of an Asian massage salon off Sheridan street has received approval to keep a mural outside her business that depicts four geishas from a Chinese fable.
The geishas are now OK, but the “crazy swirly” thing is not.
After spending months and thousands fighting the city, the owner of an Asian massage parlor off Sheridan Street has received approval to keep a mural outside her business depicting four geishas from a Chinese fable.
The city’s development review board on Thursday reversed a prior ruling that said Rui Nancy Zheng’s $10,000 mural on her All Asian Massage did not fit an adjacent residential neighborhood.
The decision came after Zheng and her attorney went before the review board and showed up with more than a dozen supporters, including next-door neighbor Matthew Eaton.
See the full article from “Sun-Sentinel”