Well, here you go and here we go. One step closer to being just another boring e-zine. Yeah, right!

Sheridan to Testify at Woods' Murder Trial
June 26, 2001

Johnny Sheridan, also known as "Chokemaster" to readers of this website, is set to testify in July at the McKenna murder trial in which Mike Woods is charged. In an unusual turn of events in January 2000, Sheridan turned himself in to investigators for the March 1989 Horace "Big Mac" McKenna murder case and has admitted his involvement. According to sources, Sheridan openly admits to being the hired gunman who murdered McKenna. It has been reported in other media that Sheridan has pointed his finger at David "English Dave" Amos and Mike Woods, the co-owners of the Bare Elegance, Jet Strip and Valley Ball as the mastermind behind the killing.

In an exclusive interview with Sheridan, when asked about his testimony at the upcoming trial, Sheridan told zbone.me that he cannot give details about his testimony until it is over. "The prosecutors told me that I'm going to be the Mark Furman of this case because the defense is going to grill me and bring up anything and everything from my past to discredit my testimony," said Sheridan regarding the upcoming trial. "I told them I won't use the N-word," joked Sheridan.

Orange County investigator documents obtained by zbone.me show that after Sheridan turned himself in, the OC D.A. agreed to release him so that he could work with investigators to obtain evidence that Amos and Woods were involved. Sheridan wore a body wire to work everyday for 9 months while investigators listened to all conversations in real time.

After meeting with Woods while wired, Sheridan was not able to obtain enough evidence to satisfy the D.A. and was asked to try again with Amos. Sheridan was successful with Amos and both men were arrested. At that point, Sheridan was brought in during questioning to try to convince Amos to do the same to Woods, which Amos eventually agreed to do. When Amos met with Woods with a body wire, Amos was able to obtain enough evidence to satisfy the D.A. and both men were arrested.

The investigator documents obtained by zbone.me was used to generate a more detailed timeline of events which illustrate the gradual change in the situation over the years from the men meeting each other, to the current situation before the start of the murder trial.

New California Labor Code to affect lap dances
January 1, 2001

Assembly Bill 2509, which was adopted on September 29, 2000, will amend the California Labor Code to clarify that all of the money that a dancer receives from a customer for a lap dance is a tip, and is therefore is her sole property. According to one attorney familiar with this bill, "This law applies to all dancers at any club in California. That means that when a customer pays a dancer for a lap dance, the entire amount is hers to keep. The club is legally prohibited from taking any portion of the money."

A representative of a club stated that they have prepared to make changes to the tipout procedure starting on Monday, January 1, 2001. At this club, the customer will be asked to pay the "house" directly and pay the gratuity portion of the dance to the dancer. "This means we'll have to have another cashier that will take the money from the customer near the lap dance area," stated the club worker.

It is not clear at this time if any or all of the clubs will abide by the new law. Since floaters currently keep track of how much the dancer must pay the house at the end of the night, it would not be a substantial procedural change for them to collect the "fee" directly from the customers. "It's just another way to try to track the money better for the I.R.S. and make the dancers pay all their taxes," quipped a club manager.

Spearmint Rhino Charges Again
January 1, 2001

Once again, the Rhino chain has spread further by acquiring both Industrial Strip and the now closed Lacy Street Cabaret. John Gray, President of Spearmint Rhino has confirmed these acquisitions and stated that they have as of yet not determined the exact status of these clubs in terms of their names or possible re-opening.

In other Rhino expansion news, Spearmint Rhino has opened it's 6th club in England as of November and the 7th should be nearly open as of this writing. The chain has also opened 2 clubs in Moscow.

This latest Rhino club in London is the chain's largest and most expensive club to date, costing over 3 million US dollars and is 22,000 square feet in size. "The club rivals London's finest 5 star hotels and restaurants in appearance," states John Gray about his latest creation. "[We have] over 15 champagnes and 45 wines along with full nudity and no distance requirement between dancer and customer. The club on key nights is running over 125 dancers per shift," said Gray.

Dancer IC Vs. Employee Suit becomes class action
January 1, 2001

In a similar move to the story of Erin Brockovich, the pending lawsuits against 15 strip clubs has now been certified to be classified as class action. 8 of the 15 clubs are now on the class action list. They are, Bob's Classy Lady, The Gentlemen's Club, Sam's Hof Brau, Exotica, Paradise Club, Sahara Theater #3, Industrial Strip, and Lacy Street Cabaret.

This class action lawsuit is currently pending in Los Angeles county and was brought by dancers seeking payment of back wages and reimbursement from the clubs for the money taken from their lap dance money. Any dancer who danced at any of the eight clubs at any time since December 8, 1995, to the present is a member of the lawsuit and is entitled to share in any recovery the class receives.