The Times reports on the continuing saga related to the Deja Vu strip club in downtown Shreveport. A ruling Friday by the 2nd Circuit Court of Appeal effectively allows the strip club to open, provided that a certificate of occupancy is issued and not appealled. Not surprisingly, an appeal is all but assurred by the opposition if the city issues a certificate of occupancy.
The News Star provides coverage of Judge Milton D. Moore's swearing-in ceremony from yesterday (with a picture).
A 23 year-old New Orleans man was arrested on hit-and-run charges after abandoning his car on Interstate 10 near Bullard Avenue in New Orleans. Another man got out of his car to direct traffic around the abandonded car and was killed when he was struck by two vehicles that collided with one another as they approaced the abandoned car. This unfortunate set of events will likely be found on tort exams in the near future.
In a rather coincidental report, the American Press printed comments from Department of Transportation and Development Secretary Kam Movassaghi that reminds motorists to move vehicles out of traffic.
Mr. Movassaghi's press release: "In accordance with Act 401 of the 2001 Louisiana Legislature, in the event of a motor vehicle accident and no one is seriously injured, it is not necessary to wait for the police before moving your vehicle out of the flow of traffic." Fellow law students would do well to remember that the existence of this statute would not establish the young man's negligence per se.
As finishing touches are being placed on a new $2 million strip club in downtown Shreveport, legal wranglings regarding its operation are really heating up. An article in The Times, Judge takes Deja Vu under advisement, considers the opponents most recent action to block the club from opening while issues concerning the zoning of the facility are resoloved. The city's zoning policy came under fire earlier this year when plans for the 20,000-square-foot club were unveiled.
"Amid fierce debate, the Zoning Board of Appeals and the City Council ruled in favor of the club opening, arguing that a sexually oriented business could not be banned under the city's entertainment zoning.
But in the weeks following those decisions, District C Councilman Thomas Carmody submitted a long list of amendments to current city code that would have completely overhauled the city's sexually oriented business regulations and drastically changed how strip clubs and other adult-themed businesses operate. The amendments were voted down 4-3 in the last major vote for the outgoing council.
Carmody has said he will introduce a similar slate of amendments to the new council."