Strip club owner’s dog shelter named for Gingrich opens.

[Ichingcarpenter]

Last September, former House Speaker Newt Gingrich retracted an “Entrepreneur of the Year” award he accidentally presented to Dallas strip club owner Dawn Rizos and refunded the $5,000 donation Rizos made to Gingrich’s American Solutions for Winning the Future. At the time, Rizos said she would take the money to build a shelter for unwanted pit bulls. The Dallas Morning News reported yesterday that “Newt’s Nook: A Home For Pit Bulls” is now open:

A North Texas shelter for pit bulls has opened this week, thanks to a Dallas topless club owner’s contribution after Newt Gingrich’s conservative group snubbed her donation. <...>

Rizos says she decided to “make something positive out of his bad manners.”

She redirected the money to Animal Guardians of America’s sanctuary for rescued dogs in Celina, about 35 miles north of Dallas.

http://thinkprogress.org/2009/11/26/gingrich-dog-shelter/

[Raine]

1. Good cause

:thumbsup:

edit: typo

[annabanana]

2. Watch him take credit for it in upcoming election cycles. .

Newt is shameless.

[struggle4progress]

3. Sex, drugs, and city council (Dallas Observer 2000)

Federal court records reveal the connection between city council ethics and dry-humping
By Jim Schutze
Published on March 02, 2000
The $7,700 bribe paid to former Councilman Al Lipscomb wasn't about traffic cops hassling people at a bar, the way the city council and police chief make it sound. The man who paid Lipscomb was in trouble because his employees kept getting arrested for selling cocaine ... I came across that information only because I asked to go through the exhibits the U.S. attorney had prepared for Lipscomb's trial last month in Amarillo, where he was convicted of taking bribes from a taxi company ... When Lipscomb's taxi-bribe trial concluded, U.S. Attorney Paul Coggins revealed that Nick Rizos, owner of a defunct sex club called Caligula XXI on Northwest Highway, paid Lipscomb $7,700 in 1992. (Rizos has been given immunity by the feds in exchange for his cooperation) ... http://www.dallasobserver.com/2000-03-02/news/sex-drugs-and-city-council/

Hot and bothered
The city's ordinance governing topless clubs is a joke. But Bachman Lake-area residents are determined to get rid of the clubs by any means necessary.
By Jonathan Fox
Published on February 24, 2000
... The former Caligula XXI, a club half a block west from the Burch compound, burned to the ground in November after fire broke out in a rear storage area. It's unclear whether owner Nick Rizos will rebuild the club, which hosted performances by marquee porn stars such as Jenna Jameson. Even though Lipscomb appears to have illegally accepted bribes from Rizos, police brass deny they did anything wrong by acceding to the councilman's wishes that they halt "excessive" enforcement. Police Chief Terrell Bolton said that patrol officers simply stopped doing an unusual number of spot registration checks on cars in the Caligula parking lot ... http://www.dallasobserver.com/2000-02-24/news/hot-and-bothered/3

NW Topless Clubs Paid Lipscomb
Dallas Morning News Article
01/28/2000
... Mr. Lipscomb said Thursday that he had not read the judge's order and "was in the process of trying to call my attorney." He declined to comment further. Mr. Rizos' attorney, Bill Roberts, said his client was in Greece attending to his ill mother and could not be reached for comment. Mr. Roberts said Mr. Rizos did give Mr. Lipscomb money but that the payments were not bribes. Mr. Roberts said Mr. Rizos went to Mr. Lipscomb for help, received that help and "wanted to express his gratitude." Mr. Roberts said Mr. Lipscomb did not solicit the money ... http://www.neighborhoodlink.com/dallas/bnhca/genpage/744418977.html

NW Commander Eased Enforcement
Police don't plan inquiry into allegation.
Lipscomb pressured officer about club.
Federal officials say they found no criminal wrongdoing in department.
02/01/2000
By Dave Michaels / The Dallas Morning News
... Mr. Rizos also allegedly paid Mr. Lipscomb four "bribes and gratuities" totaling $7,700 in 1992, according to court documents. Mr. Rizos' attorney said his client estimated the amount at closer to $6,000 and specified that the payments were not bribes. Mr. Rizos intended the money as a means of thanking Mr. Lipscomb, his attorney said. "He comes from Greece. He thought this was expected," Mr. Roberts said last week. "He thought this is how business is done." Police officials also rebuffed a request Monday from the Dallas Police Patrolmen's Union to reinvestigate the allegations in light of revelations from the unsealed court document ... http://www.neighborhoodlink.com/dallas/bnhca/genpage/33554407.html

Friday, March 3, 2000
Insider
Late-breaking news around town
Dallas Business Journal
Divine inspiration
NORTH DALLAS -- Dawn Rizos, who with her husband Nick Rizos owns Caligula XXI, the controversial Northwest Highway topless club, says she's had an epiphany of sorts. As a result, she has decided to abandon the topless club concept at the 2828 Northwest Highway location in favor of a new business -- an as-yet-unnamed Greek restaurant. Caligula, gutted by fire on Nov. 18, has been in the news amid allegations that, in 1992, Nick Rizos paid then-Dallas City Council member Al Lipscomb to intervene with the police over enforcement at the club. Both men have denied any wrongdoing. "The night the Lipscomb story broke," Dawn Rizos said, "my car was broadsided by a truck. I decided someone was trying to send me a message, and that's when I decided not to reopen Caligula" ... http://dallas.bizjournals.com/dallas/stories/2000/03/06/tidbits.html

Daughter says parents' businesses, including topless club, built her work ethic
12:00 AM CDT on Friday, April 17, 2009
Joanne Rizos was 14 when she realized the family business was a topic for disapproving gossip across the handsomely manicured hedges of Highland Park ... Not that she really cares. To her mind, the fact that her parents own the swankiest topless club in town counts for less than the solid grounding her upbringing gave her in love, loyalty and work ethic. Publicly, Nick and Dawn Rizos are something of a local legend: the hearty, volatile Greek immigrant who married the demure daughter of two doctors. They operated a string of businesses – pizza restaurant, blues club, disco, whatever seemed to fit the times – but it was Nick's decision to open a topless bar that rocketed the family to prosperity, and notoriety ... http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/dn/localnews/columnists/jfloyd/stories/DN-floyd_17met.ART0.State.Edition2.4a719ce.html