Of all the controversies we’ve heard related to local nightclub events, this is a new one. Some local police officers and firefighters are facing scrutiny after posing with bikini-clad models outside Aldo’s Nightclub last Wednesday during a car show.
The story broke over the weekend thanks to KSEE 24. Here’s their report:
As you would expect, every news outlet in town (including The Bee) latched onto the story, particularly after the Police Chief Jerry Dyer and City Manager Mark Scott announced the incident was being investigated. Meanwhile, the story has spread all the way to Boston TV.
The pics were the work of ClubFlys, a site that has been documenting nightlife events in town for years — and is no stranger to racy photos.
Reading The Bee’s story, one quote that struck me was from ClubFlys founder Sal Hernandez, who said:
Say so long to all-ages events at Starline, one of the staples in Fresno’s live entertainment.
On Thursday, Starline was told by Fresno PD that, effective immediately, it could only act as a 21-and-up venue.
The good news: Starline management says it hopes it’s only a temporary change.
Starline’s ability to function as an all-ages venue was thrust into the spotlight after it was discovered that the driver of the SUV involved in deadly Greyhound bus accident a few weeks back had been at a dance party at Starline that night. Investigators determined that the under-age girl driving the SUV was drunk, but there’s no proof that she was drinking at Starline. Here on the site, we discussed the possible ramifications for Starline.
I’m told the rule change isn’t intended to be punishment related back to the accident. Instead, the issue revolves around Starline’s conditional use permit, which says only people 21-and-older are allowed inside the club once live entertainment starts.
You’ll be relieved to know that Fresno’s “chronic beer thief” has been nabbed on his daily trip to rip off 7-Eleven. From fresnobee.com:
Suspect in chronic beer theft arrested
A 52-year-old Fresno man was arrested this morning on suspicion of stealing beer from a 7-Eleven in northwest Fresno, authorities said.
Clerks said the man had been stealing a case of beer each day for the past 15 days and threatened them with a knife on three occasions.
Fresno police observed the man taking a 12-pack of beer without paying for it around 11 a.m. from the store at Blackstone and Bullard avenues, Sgt. Bob Lightfoot.
The man was booked into Fresno County Jail on multiple felony charges, including burglary and robbery.
What have we learned from this, kids? Wait until the po-po leave before stealing your daily case of beer.
A reckless driver who was speeding through red lights had Fresno PD on a 23-minute search today – and when they caught him, he was rapping. Or at least he was trying to.
Here’s a video, courtesy of Bee reporter Jim Guy, of the guy rapping as he gets restrained on an ambulance gurney. Just a warning, almost every word out of his mouth is foul and thus this video is VERY, VERY, VERY NSFW, but also very entertaining.
Feel safe, Fresno, the streets are safer from both a reckless driver and a wack emcee.
To me, the most interesting concert at The Big Fresno Fair is Saturday night’s show with The Game. Not because of him or his music — he’s pretty overrated, me thinks. But because of the all the scheduling drama that’s come to the fair’s “hip-hop night” and the potential for more drama on Saturday.
An interesting aside: About a week after the fair added Flo-Rida, Tachi Palace had to fill a hole in its annual car show and scheduled Flo-Rida. Upon learning the fair had also booked him, the Tachi folks ended up booking The Game. Ironically, the fair ended up with The Game too. This leads me to believe that this guy is available to do shows just about anytime.
My first reaction to hearing the news of The Game at The Big Fresno Fair was: “Wow. I wonder if Fresno PD is OK with this?” He’s not exactly the Fresh Prince. In addition to being the biggest name-dropper in hip-hop, The Game is also rather explicit and talks a lot about gang stuff.
