WINCHESTER, Tenn. — Authorities arrested a Franklin County commissioner on charges of drug possession and promoting prostitution after authorities said he offered money and pills to a woman in exchange for sexual favors.
See the full article from “The Republic”
NASHVILLE — State Rep. Curry Todd returned to his legislative duties today, a meeting of the General Assembly’s fiscal watchdog committee, and declined to talk with reporters about his arrest last week on charges of driving under the influence, possession of a weapon while under the influence and refusing to take a breath alcohol test.Todd, R-Collierville, stepped down Monday as chairman of the House State and Local Government Committee. He participated in today’s meeting of the joint House-Senate Fiscal Review Committee, which reviews and recommends approval or denial of large state contracts. He joined state Sen. Brian Kelsey, R-Germantown, in pushing for extension of several state health care contracts for only one year with an option for renewal rather than the flat two years requested by the Haslam administration. The committee amended the contracts between the state and health insurance companies to reflect the changes.Nashville priest honored
NASHVILLE — A Nashville priest who founded a recovery program for prostitutes is being honored by the White House.
… It makes me feel so grateful. It came out of the blue and will be a great blessing for the work. It is a great feeling to know that our work here in Nashville has had recognition nationally. One of the graduates of Magdalene said, ‘From the crack house to the White House is a pretty great journey for Magdalene.’”
In 1997, Stevens created the Magdalene program, a residential community that serves women who have survived prostitution, abuse, and/or addiction. The program serves the women for two years without cost or government assistance and boasts a 72 percent success rate for women after two and a half years.
Coinciding with the success of the Magdalene program, Stevens founded Thistle Farms in 2001 as a social enterprise that sells home and body products. The company employs Magdalene graduates as a mode of teaching practical business skills.
“It has impacted individual lives and has transformed the way Nashville looks at and deals with women who have survived lives of addiction, prostitution and violence,” Stevens said.
See the full article from “InsideVandy”
NASHVILLE, Tenn. — A Nashville priest who founded a recovery program for prostitutes is being honored by the White House.
Becca Stevens founded a residential program called Magdalene in 1997.
It offers participating women free housing, food, medical and dental care, therapy, education and job training for two years, all without government funding.
Seventy percent of the women who join are clean and sober 2 1/2 years after beginning.
Stevens will be honored at a Washington ceremony on Thursday as one of 15 “Champions of Change,” according to WPLN (http://bit.ly/nGaRs8).
The St. Augustine’s Episcopal Chapel chaplain says she hopes the recognition will inspire others to do similar work.
Recently, she’s met with groups interested in the Magdalene model from St. Louis, Atlanta and New Orleans.
See the full article from “The Republic”
By Chris Cannon
NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Reverend Becca Stevens had a vision in 1997 that would change the lives of hundreds of women in Nashville. Thursday, she will be honored at the White House for all she has done over the years.
“The vision is an old vision, it’s old stuff; to love people, and bring them into a home and have a safe place to have them,” Stevens explained.
The Episcopal priest started the Magdelene program nearly 15 year ago. It is a residential community for women who have survived prostitution, addiction and abuse.
In 2001, the Magdelene program led to the creation of Thistle Farms, a home and body products company that teaches Magdelene graduates real-life work skills.
Today, Magdelene operates six houses, where 28 women live. Thistle Farms employs 34 women, all of whom have graduated from the Magdelene program.
The Episcopal priest who started a recovery program in Nashville for former prostitutes is being honored Thursday by the White House. Becca Stevens founded Magdalene in 1997 and has been named one of 15 “Champions of Change.”
Magdalene is unique because it allows participants to stay two years at no charge. The women go relatively unsupervised and work in a social enterprise called Thistle Farms.
The success rate is better than most, with more than 70 percent staying clean after two years. Peggy talked to WPLN in 2008.
“At one time, I thought there was no hope for me because there ain’t no love out there in the streets.”
One former prostitute will travel to Washington with Becca Stevens to receive the honor and jokes that she’s gone from a crack house to the White House because of Magdalene. But Stevens says she hopes the recognition is just a spark.
Nicole “Snooki” Polizzi and Jenni “JWoww” Farley were both in Nashville, Tennessee, this week. Why would the two Jersey Shore stars head to Tennessee? Believe it or not, they were in Nashville to pimp their competing tanning products. How about a catfight over whose tan is the best!
Nothing says Jersey Shore and the Guido/Guidette lifestyle like having a “great” (read spray-on or fake) tan. It is hardly surprising that two of the show’s biggest personalities, Snooki and JWoww, have their own like for tan in a bottle. What is surprising is that they both ended up in Nashville at a trade show selling their product.
Nicole’s bottles are 100% Guidette, they come in various prints from purple to leopard print, all bedazzled. So, when one uses that bottle, they get, as Polizzi says, a “nice sexy tan like I have.” She says she wanted to have a product like her, and clearly the bottles are exactly that… an obnoxious, gaudy, blinged-out, hot mess.
See the full article from “Gather.com”
So confessed Reyna Rodriguez Rios on Thursday in U.S. District Court as she pleaded guilty to charges of running a prostitution delivery service from a house on Bob Gray Road as part of what authorities say was a massive network spanning from Nashville to Morristown to Knoxville to Louisville, Ky.
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According to the indictment, the nine defendants, all Hispanic and all but one illegal immigrants, lured Hispanic women who also were illegally in the country with the promise of legitimate work and then pressed them into service as prostitutes. The targeted clientele was Hispanic as well.
In addition to brothels set up in Morristown, Knoxville, Louisville, Ky., and on the outskirts of Nashville, the network offered prostitution delivery service to a slew of cities, including Gatlinburg, Greeneville and the Tri-Cities, records alleged.
Police said the victim originally reported that a woman came to his door, and three women entered his home and forced him to the ground. He said he was pepper-sprayed, held down with a weight bar, hit in the shoulder with a hammer and told to stay down.
He also told police that while he was held in place by one of the women, the other two ransacked the house and took more than $5,000 in property and cash.
Police later learned that the man had called the escort who had placed an ad on the website Backpage.com. After the woman, identified as Ashley McKinnon of Smyrna, and two other women showed up, they overpowered him and robbed him.
McKinnon was charged with robbery. Her bond was set at $25,000.
Police said more arrests are likely.
Backpage.com has come under fire for the illegal activity, most notably prostitution. Late last month, Tennessee Attorney General Bob Cooper joined 45 other states in demanding that the website remove its adult services section.
Police: Stripper bus for Lions game may be illegal
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By JEFF KAROUB
AP Business Writer
DETROIT (AP) – Police may put the brakes on a party bus that was apparently operating as a Sunday strip club for reveling Lions fans at a popular tailgating spot in Detroit.
Investigators believe fans tailgating before a recent Lions home game were allowed onboard the “Booty Lounge,” a large red and black bus replete with two stages, steel dancing poles, tinted windows and even a smoke machine, after forking over a $10 donation to its operators, Detroit Police spokeswoman Eren Stephens said Thursday.
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David Draper, an attorney who represents more than a dozen strip clubs in Michigan but who does not represent the bus operators, said such establishments require a special license from the city. Still, bus operators might argue that movable venues are exempt and more akin to a “one-off” event such as a bachelor party at a hotel.
See the full article from “WKRN”