Latest news with #Redner
Yahoo
09-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
2001 Odyssey acquires Mons Venus to carry on strip club legacy in Tampa
Full-nude club Mons Venus and its fiery owner Joe Redner helped Tampa earn the reputation as a 'strip club capital of the country." Now, 2001 Odyssey — the strip joint across the street with a spaceship on its roof — plans to carry on its legacy. 2001 Odyssey acquired the 'world-famous' Mons Venus at 2040 N. Dale Mabry Highway in January, owner Don Kleinhans told the Tampa Bay Times on Thursday. 'What's happening is we purchased the business, not the real estate,' said Kleinhans, president of 2001 Inc. 'So we have the business but (Redner) is the landlord.' The goal is to preserve the Mons Venus — with some improvements — instead of seeing an out-of-town company take over. 'For like, the last 15 years, Joe's been a buddy of ours. But it's interesting, because he was also our direct competitor, and we've always kind of worked together instead of against each other,' Kleinhans said. 'And in October, he gave me a call and said, 'Hey, listen, I think the time might be right. And I've always told him I was interested.'' Kleinhans said 2001 Odyssey will pay Redner rent as well as a consulting fee. 'It wasn't a sale. It was a management contract,' Redner said when reached by a reporter over the phone. 'I don't want to talk to you about it.' Before opening the Mons Venus, Redner was credited with launching Tampa's first full-nude club in the 1970s. Some call him the father of the lap dance. In the late '90s, he led a highly-publicized war against the city of Tampa over the 'six-foot rule,' an ordinance that required naked dancers to maintain a distance of six feet from patrons. Kleinhans has been quiet about the new management contract as his team worked to give the Mons a facelift. He wants it to be 'the same club, just refreshed.' 'It really needed modernization, and I think it was one of the last clubs in the U.S. that was operating on a jukebox,' he said. All 2,000 bulbs in the iconic Mons Venus sign have been replaced. Redner famously used the marquee to spread political messages and even chastise former Tampa Mayor Dick Greco. Other upgrades include new upholstery, lighting and sound, plus adding mirrors to 'every flat surface.' There's a private VIP room where full-nude dances will continue. The bathroom will soon get doors on the stalls, after years without them. Redner always had female leadership at the Mons Venus, so Kleinhans hired Bambi Wilde, former Miss Nude World, to be general manager. 'I think Joe Redner has allowed all of the clubs in Tampa to have the success that they have, just due to his morality and his position of fighting for the industry. And I've always looked up to Joe,' Kleinhans said. 'I just think it's very important as a world-renowned place and a Tampa landmark that the legacy continues.'
Yahoo
03-03-2025
- Automotive
- Yahoo
Left turns not enough of an issue to warrant arrow at signal on Route 222 in northern Berks, PennDOT says
At 7:53 a.m. on a weekday in mid-January, a van sits in the left turn lane of Route 222 at Route 73 in Maidencreek Township as its driver waits for a gap in two lanes of oncoming traffic. It doesn't come. Only after the traffic light changes to yellow from green is the van able to complete the turn to go west on Route 73. The driver of the pickup truck behind the van isn't as fortunate. The truck takes over the position vacated by the van and waits for the green light. At precisely the moment the light changes from red, if not before, the truck driver accelerates, turning in front of both lanes of traffic. An SUV that pulls up into the left lane about a minute later goes through the same sequence. In the absence of a left-turn arrow signal on Route 222 at its intersection with Route 73, this is how one makes a left turn — usually one vehicle at a time. Northern Berks Regional police and the Maidencreek Township supervisors asked PennDOT to include a left-turn lane when the intersection was redesigned as part of the Route 222 widening project, Police Chief James Keiser said. But PennDOT engineers said a traffic study indicated a left-turn arrow, which would create an extended red light for traffic on the main line, wasn't warranted. 'I think the turning arrow is absolutely necessary,' Keiser said. 'I see it all the time. Not only is it one lane but two lanes that you have to cross. Commercial vehicles can't take off as quickly and often have to turn on the yellow or wait until it turns red.' Nearly three years after completion of the Route 222 widening project that added lanes at the Route 73 intersection and roundabouts at two nearby intersections PennDOT engineers have reaffirmed their decision about the left-turn arrow. Executives with Redner's Markets Inc., which has its headquarters and distribution center along Route 73 just west of Route 222, asked Berks County transportation planners in the fall to consider upgrading the intersection to include left-turn arrows on Route 222. John Flickinger and Eric White addressed the Reading Area Transportation Study, a committee composed of appointed county and municipal elected officials and PennDOT representatives, at the group's November meeting. The committee, helps PennDOT decide how to distribute state and federal transportation funding for highway, bridge and transit projects in Berks. Flickinger, Redner's director of loss prevention and security, and White, director of marketing and communications, said they believe a dangerous condition exists not only for Redner's employees and truck drivers but the public. As an example, Flickinger cited a crash on Sept. 11 between a turning pickup truck and an oncoming tractor-trailer that ruptured the 18-wheeler's saddlebag fuel tanks, spilling diesel and closing the intersection for hours. White told the committee that in his daily commute he sees drivers trying to beat the light on northbound Route 222 while making the left onto westbound Route 73. Flickinger said there are turning lanes allowing for turning movements from northbound Route 222 to westbound Route 73 as well as turning lanes from southbound 222 to eastbound Route 73. However, there are no arrows on the traffic light indicating turns for the northbound and southbound Route 222 approaches to Route 73 like there are for the Route 73 approaches to Route 222. A Reading Eagle reporter observed traffic for one hour (7:45 to 8:45 a.m.) on a recent weekday. At times, drivers who were likely familiar with the challenges in completing left turns would turn while the light was green despite oncoming traffic bearing down. Others turned after the light changed to yellow, but that maneuver placed their safety in the hands of oncoming motorists, who just as often barreled through the intersection on yellow and even red. At 8:18 a.m., an 18-wheel tanker truck that was sitting in the left lane had no opportunity to turn left throughout the red-to-green-to-yellow cycle because opposing traffic continued through the yellow signal. The driver completed the turn on red without incident. A sedan behind the tanker truck assumed the rig's position and waited through another cycle, completing the turn by jumping the green signal. It was also observed that opposing motorists occasionally delayed accelerating on green to allow a truck to turn left in front of them. Heavy traffic volume at Routes 222 and 73 has prompted calls for a dedicated left-hand turn signal for traffic heading north on Route 222 and turning west on Route 73 at in Maidencreek Township. (BILL UHRICH/READING EAGLE) Despite the obvious challenges that were observed in completing the left turn, there was a conspicuous lack of vehicles stacked in left-turn lanes on Route 222. On only a few occasions were there more than one vehicle queued in the left, northbound turn lane. There were also occasional gaps in traffic that allowed plenty of time for left turns. State regulations require significantly more traffic conflict to justify left-turn signalization, which the state refers to as 'advance left turn phase' signalization. In a December letter to Flickinger formally responding to Redner's Markets' concerns, Christopher Kufro, PennDOT District 5 executive, said two separate traffic and engineering studies — one preconstruction and one post-construction — concluded the left-turn arrow is not warranted. The study encompasses left-turning volume, opposing through volume, crash data, roadway geometry, amount of green time, level of service, etc. For a left-turn advance phase to be appropriate under the criteria set forth, a study needs to identify a crash pattern that would be corrected by the addition of an advance left-turn phase, he wrote. 'A correctable left turn pattern was not identified,' Kufro wrote. The study also determines if adequate gaps in traffic are present for left-turning traffic. This is accomplished by calculating a conflict factor, which is a product of the left-turning volume and the opposing traffic. 'For this type of intersection, a conflict factor of 65,000 is required,' Kufro wrote. 'Our study identified a maximum conflict factor of 37,000, only a little more than half of what is required.' He went on to say that implementation of an unwarranted left-turn phase has proved to have multiple negative effects on an intersection: increased vehicle delays due to increased/excessive vehicle queueing on the opposing road and an increase of red light running and rear-end crashes.
Yahoo
14-02-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Where eggs rise, so will other commodities, officials say
As avian influenza continues to rattle the poultry industry and drives egg prices up to all-time highs, consumers should soon also expect to pay more for other egg-related products, officials say. Already bakery items are getting more expensive in some stores, as businesses say they can no longer absorb their rising egg expenses and need to pass them on to customers. Redner's Markets has been paying more to its bakery suppliers and recently upped its prices for those items, said spokesman Eric White. Eggs line shelves at Redner's off Route 61, Thursday, Feb. 13, 2025. (MATTHEW PERSCHALL/MULTIMEDIA EDITOR) 'The increases are not here to stay, but they're a reflection of the current market,' he said. Some additional products that include eggs as ingredients are sure to also rise in price due as a consequence of avian flu, he said. 'People are naturally upset, but they understand the cause,' he said. 'The media is covering this, so I think consumers understand that it is causing havoc with these items.' For customers who may not realize why prices are up, though, Redner's stores have set up educational materials in their egg cases to explain what is happening. Chicken breasts line a shelf at Redner's off Route 61, Thursday, Feb. 13, 2025. (MATTHEW PERSCHALL/MULTIMEDIA EDITOR) As of this week, the bird flu has not caused a rise in poultry prices in Redner's stores, White said. Avian influenza virus can spread quickly among wild birds, particularly waterfowl, and also through commercial poultry flocks, with mortality close to 100%. Affected flocks of commercial birds are destroyed. The Pennsylvania Department of Health has said that bird flu presents a very low risk to human health, and that poultry and eggs are safe to eat when cooked properly, but the threat to the industry is still high. In January, the average price of a dozen Grade A eggs in American cities reached $4.95, surpassing the previous record of $4.82 set two years earlier, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. That price is more than double the average cost of $2.04 from August 2023. Milk lines the shelves at Redner's off Route 61, Thursday, Feb. 13, 2025. (MATTHEW PERSCHALL/MULTIMEDIA EDITOR) Prices vary by location and store, though, and some customers are paying twice that much per dozen, with the USDA forecasting that prices will get worse. The department's most recent prediction last month was that egg prices will go up 20% this year, and another jump could come closer to Easter when demand for eggs is typically high. Egg price increases at Schuylkill County supermarkets vary, but locally there have not been reports of egg shortages that other areas have experienced. 'Like others in our industry, we are seeing price increases for eggs due to continued demand and a stretched supply chain related to the avian flu outbreak, among other factors,' said Giant spokesman Ashley Flower. 'We work closely with our supplier partners to keep prices low for our customers and ensure eggs are available for purchase.' Weis Markets spokesman Dennis Curtin said that since October 15, nearly 30 million laying hens — about 10% of the country's egg-production capacity — have been lost to avian flu. Specialty eggs, such as organic and cage-free, are produced in lower quantities and typically cost more than commodity eggs, but the avian flu outbreak has narrowed that price difference and boosted sales of specialty eggs, he said. 'We have held our own keeping eggs in-stock and just brought in new well-priced specialty eggs items to meet this increased demand,' he said. The growing requests for local, free-range eggs can be seen at Honey Brook Farm in South Manheim Township near Schuylkill Haven, where customers are ordering eggs even before they are laid, and the supply is regularly sold out, said owners Josiah and Angela Meck. Even smaller farms like Honey Brook, though. are feeling the impact of what's happening industry wide. The day-old chicks it buys to raise and replace hens that no longer lay eggs are now pricier and much harder for the farm to find, with some suppliers already sold out through the end of 2025, said Josiah Meck. As those costs go up, Honey Brook has been forced to bump up the price it charges for per dozen, the Mecks said. Stein's Farm Market in West Brunswick Township near Orwigsburg gets its eggs from a local farm which also recently raised its prices, prompting Stein's to increase the cost per dozen from $4.50 to $5.50 per dozen, said Josh Stein, whose family owns the business. 'We're still cheaper than wholesale,' he said. Unlike some farm stands and stores, Stein's is not yet limiting how many cartons customers can buy. When egg prices previously peaked two years ago, The Cake Pros in Schuylkill Haven was paying about double the normal rate for the eggs it bought from its distributor, said owner Eileen Williams. Now, though, the price has more than quadrupled from $70 per 30 dozen to $292, she said. Because the business uses between 90 and 150 dozen eggs per week to make its cakes, cupcakes, pastries and other items, they are now buying them from Walmart as they search for a cheaper distributor. 'One quiche alone has six eggs in it, so we use a lot,' Williams said. So far, though, The Cake Pros has not passed its increased expenses on to customers, she said. In fact, the store is giving six-packs of eggs away to customers who need them as part of the blessing boxes it distributes weekly, she said. 'We're shopping around, and trying our best to hold the line,' she said. Avian flu has forced commercial poultry farms to increase biosecurity practices, especially since a Lynn Township, Lehigh County farm saw Pennsylvania's first confirmed 2025 case of bird flu in domestic poultry. Jaindl Farms in North Whitehall Township, Lehigh County, is among the farms following biosecurity recommendations from the USDA, according to a recent article in The Morning Call. Jaindl's farm is only a few miles from the Lynn Township farm where the confirmed case occurred, and in 2022, more than 14,000 turkeys at Jaindl were destroyed after the virus was discovered there. Since the 2022 start of the outbreak, USDA data shows nearly 7 million affected poultry in Pennsylvania, spread between 37 commercial flocks and 44 backyard flocks. The most recent detections in the state occurred Feb. 7 in Lancaster and Lebanon counties, and Jan. 28 in Lehigh County. Among wild birds, a dead Canada goose found in South Manheim Township in January was the first bird in Schuylkill County confirmed to have avian influenza. Dead birds have tested positive for the virus in counties across the state this year, mostly in small numbers other than a case in Nazareth, Northampton County where 5,000 snow geese were killed by the virus, and another instance where 150 dead snow geese were found in Upper Macungie Township, Lehigh County.
