Oh my I am sorry that I used the word boobie and clean in the same sentence. Oh no I am not!
It just goes to show you that another person sitting on their high horse has something to about not being golden. I have friends that work on the JPD and what really are they doing to clean up this town? Oh yeah arresting strippers and painting over gang signs. Let me stand up and clap my hands, once again have you been through the 4 ward area?oh you would have to leave the green belt to that!

ms_sassy...you are correct in your line of thinking on this issue.
I don't know the Halbach's and have never been to their place. But it appeared that a certain councilman... Paul William's had a personal agenda against them.
Unfortunately, based on the comments and votes of a recently elected councilman...McDonald..it appears they will be up against the same moralistic...rather than legal...obstructions in their latest quest for a liquor license.
That is unfortunate.
The city should address the legal issues and leave the moral issues to the church of one's choice.
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And,where were all these moralistic people previously?..Oh..at the fireworks the Halbach's so graciously paid for.

You are on to something JohnDoe!

It seems too many people have NIMBY (Not In My Back Yard) attitudes, yet WANT these places to exist...which begs the question: WHERE shall these taverns, dancers and strip clubs, etc. exist if not in SOMEONE's "backyard"? I'm of the opinion that everyone needs to re-evaluate his/her OWN morals and values, and decide which situations or activities make us happiest and ask ourselves if they are, in fact, the ones we should morally choose. We also need to re-evaluate our OWN judgmental attitudes of others and realize that not everyone has the same view of what is right/wrong, good/bad, moral/immoral, which is learned individually based on many different sources. Not everything can be easily categorized in white/black. In life there are many gray areas that should not be interpreted by a city council.

That said, the Halbachs, in my opinion, are not doing anything other than "giving the people what they want". If the "people" that go to the Halbachs' establishment are corrupt or immoral, that isn't the Halbach's fault. I still believe they are being unfairly judged, only because the Halbachs moral view may not match the present City Council's collective moral view. I am not a supporter of strip clubs, but I do go to bars from time to time and I think variety is ONE spice of life. If they were to get their liquor license, I'm not absolutely certain I would patronize their establishment, but I wouldn't avoid it because of who owns it, either.

sp: correction...jurisdictions.

"cleaning up Janesville is exactly what the police are attempting to do."
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What a joke...these same police patronize similar business' in other juridictions....

Not to point out the obvious, rude, and though you may not agree, but cleaning up Janesville is exactly what the police are attempting to do. Yes, there are other areas that need attention too but that doesn't give Halbach a pass if he is guilty of what he is accused of. If he's arrested the courts and a jury will decide that. In the meantime I can't see what possible difference it makes for the alcohol licensing committee to delay a decision on granting or denying a license until these legal issues are resolved one way or another. Halbach is making money hands over fists and I doubt he has to have this license immediately to survive financially.

the_rude_. you talk about cleaning up janesville and use boobie bar in the same sentance. if that sounds right to you you have problems.

You are kidding me Janesville wasn't made of gold before he opened the strip club. Didn't you see the downtown at all or all the shops closing in the mall and the little strip across for it? Our we really that blind to what reality is that we blame one person for turning Janesville into a poo hole? Jims and his wife own other bars beside the one that show people naked women, they are nice places to go and have a quiet time. Have you ever gone to the bars on main st? There is one that stands out in my mind that is nothing but trouble all the time. I don't see anyone through a fit about thoses. You people don't like Jim for the simple fact he did what he did when they wouldn't let him open a pub that serves food and drinks. Heck I think it is Janesville own fault for what has happened people are so stuck on their high horses they would rather blame then make a change. And I really dont think having Jim open the pub is going to make so much of a difference because there are 5 other bars in that area. I worked at one of the other bars and I never had problems from the strip club up the road.
I think that instead of blogging about how mad you are about a boobie bar, you should put you time into cleaning up Janesville.

hmmm. Well, I would agree that it wouldn't be wise to grant booze licences willy nilly to just anyone who applies.

I do believe; however, that they have been responsible bar owners with the Isabella Queen...at least I haven't heard any hullaballoo, other than screamin meemee's, of course.

Therefore, unless there are justified (and justifiable) charges against them, I believe the City Council and/or the alcohol licensing committee is just trying to play hard ball with them again.

sassy, you know plenty, but you're wrong on this one. ;-)

sounds like more of a witch hunt than "justice" to me...but what do I know...

Halbach is expected to be arrested related to the prostitution investigation. Here's the link:

http://www.gazettextra.com/weblogs/lates...

I guess I don't understand why this guy is so bad...he paid for the fireworks that I'm sure alot of you went to last year and he wants to change this place from a dirty strip club to a bar. Everytime I've met him he's seemed like an nice guy. There are already three bars within a block of down there; what is one more going to hurt? I know that people think this is going to bring on more owi's but that's that person's decision. They can always just go next door to get drunk. Once GM is gone alot of the bars near there are probably going to be screwed anyway. I say give him his license and see what happens.

ditzychick, it was just a joke. I never pass up a chance to make a "kangaroo meat" joke.

Below is my earlier post on this blog.

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I seem to recall that strip clubs were outlawed in Janesville after Screamin' Meemies opened. Though Screamin' Meemies was grandfathered in. Which means, I think, he couldn't get a license for a strip club in another location in Janesville. (Does anyone out there in blog land know for sure?)

His recent legal problems at Screamin' Meemies should close it for good. Either way, he shouldn't have a bar or strip club in that location.

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Back to present time: Does anyone know if strip clubs are outlawed in Janesville? and if Screamin' Mee Mees is grandfathered in? and can't be located elsewhere in the city?

gazettefan you must be a bar owner or a bar fly!!
Enough with the bars lets clean the city up and try to rebuild a better community that is all i am asking i dont care what restaurant we get just not another bar!!!!!

The last thing we need is kangaroo meat!!!

And I would just like to know why is it that a liquor license could just be created? If that is the case why is it that outback is still waiting??? Just print the dang license and let them start construction!!!!!!!!!!
We have very few choices for going out for a nice dinner and a few drinks, so people go to bars and get drunk, so lets make it easier. Put a bar on every corner, close the plant, let everyone get drunk and depressed and turn janesville into harlem!!!!!!!!!!!
THANKS GLAD I DECIDED TO RAISE MY KIDS HERE!!!!

I like the Idea of the strip close being traded for a liquor license!!!! I say close the strip club produce the liquor license and give it to OUTBACK!!! We have enough bars, We have enough fastfood and burger joints. Lets get atleast a red lobster or outback something PLEASE!!!!!!!!!!!

the_rude_1 Good post !!! I don't know Jim Halbach ..... But I like him. He reminds me of someone that I did work for ! THEY BOTH HAVE THE GUTS TO DO WHAT MOST PEOPLE JUST THINK OF DOING !!!

Leave it up to Jim to cause another up roar in the city of Janesville. It is not the bars faults that some person thinks that they need to drink and drive. I bartended for many years and if I thought someone had enough to drink I called them a cab(which I paid for alot of the times) or I took their keys from them.(which take some real big talking to get from a drunk) All these drunk drivers isn't a bar owners fault we really don't know if they even at a bar before they crashed and took someone eles life. I don't think that stoping bars from serving drinks and putting in breathing test is auto's is going to make a difference because you can leave your house after you have been drinking just the same as the bar, plus You can give someone 10 bucks that hasn't been drinking to start your car for you. There is no win win here. They need to get the people who have drunk driving after drunk driving ticket off the street by having harder laws made and jail time that isn't a 30 day stay. But you can't blame Mr. Jim for ever problem that comes around because there was drinking involved.
He just wants to open a place where you can go eat and have a drink with your food. It is no different then Applebees but all people see is who is the one who wants to open it and they turn it into a game for Jim to act out and make people mad till you give him what he wants. You may not like him but if you were to sit down and talk to him if you didn't know who he was, then you would be real shocked that he is a nice guy. Oh yeah never worked for him just served him many times where I worked and for the first 3 months I had no clue who he was. I just saw a nice guys come in and had a nice chat with him.

Well lets start here! People have been calling for the closure of the strip club for years. A easy solution is to allow Hallbach to open this bar. It will diffuse the prositiution problem that concerns numerous people. Another bar will not contribute to more OWI arrests, Give me a break there are allready 2 bars within 1000 feet of the location. Simple solution to the problem is allow it. Reality in todays world appears to be dissapearing at an alarming rate these days......

two people last week killed their loved ones and got arrested for vehiclular manslaughter in our immediate area...so gee....lets get MORE bars. ive never heard of boobies bouncing in someones face as the reason for an accident...unless said bouncing was while driving:) stay sober an let the boobies bounce!!

paisleysdaddy Heres a better idea... What if the auto industry started putting breath ignition locks on all of the vehicles that are built ? Just think about it ,you have to blow into it and if it shows signs of alcohol your vehicles won't start,that would be a sure way of less drunk killers driving our streets.

hannah-Sorry also... was a bad morning and took it out on you !

Better yet....How about instead of going after Halbach, we revoke ALL of the liquor licenses in Janesville with the exception of liquor stores. Force people to go home and drink. Look at how fewer OWI arrests and accidents we would have. Oh, but wait, they would rather restrict smoking in a bar as opposed to something that would lead to a possible death of an innocent person.

I thought they wanted to open a bar in the first place and that the council member had something personal with Halbach which is why they denied the license to begin with. Didn't they open the strip club to spite the council which is why they called it sreemin meemees? If I had to pick between bad and worse I think I'd rather see a bar there.

oops sorry I see what you mean now- it was a typo sorry. I didnt mean anything by it.

I never commented on your user name!

There was once this saying that if your name wasn't Kennedy or Cullen in Janesville, you were up a creek without a paddle. I never held much value in that statement. Although, I suspect that is what ol' Rev. Jim is up against here. There are much worse bar owners in Janesville and across Rock County.
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The Halbachs own a bar in the Madison area. To my knowledge, it is not a problem ridden establishment like the ones in Janesville have been (or have categorized as).
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Drama and controversy. Drama and controversy.

I think that was a typo.

hannah- I stand corrected you are right. He wanted to use Stadium Clud license.As far as you and your comment about my username... I have a real life and as you getting nasty about it you of ALL people on here should know what it feels like to be attacked. GROW UP !!!

ihavearealife- screeming meemeee has been there longer than when Stadium club burned down.

Got to agree about the commercial. If I were inclined to patroize such a place, I would avoid that one just because of the commercial.

give him the licence.... id rather see the qll the bars right next to the eyesore factory then in downtown. plus no screemin meemees means no annoying commercial.

We need not agree and I respect your opinion and thank you for a pleasant exchange of thoughts. So many of these discussions degenerate into unpleasantness.

billnewbie-After the Stadium Club burnt down he was told he could use the license in a different building so he bought the old Spring Brook.Then he was told he needed more parking so he bought the old house across the road and had that demolished and made a parking lot. In the mean time Who Cares(a bar) closes and the neighbors say that a bar would upset their peace and quite .LOL Never mind that they live across from GM were it's never quite with all the big trunkscoming in and out. Then I believe thats when Paul Williams started with too many bars in one area. That's a LOL moment also.Not too long before all this started there were 6 bars in the area ,now theres 2.I don't blame Halbach for what he did and not sure I could of done what he did either,but you have to give him credit for doing what most people just think of doing.I hope he gets the license this time and like I said before I'm sure he wouldn't keep the bar long anyways.As far as the police,city council and the liquor advisory board goes have you ever been to one of those meetings? Granted I have not been to one in a number of years but I can tell you go to one if you need a good belly laugh !! One was like they were talking to a puppy that had just pee'd on the floor.I think you and I should agree to disagree on this issuse !

The strippers and their arrests have nothing to do with my opinion on this license question. These people bought a building on speculation which has its risks, one of which is that you may not be able to use the building the way you intended when you bought it. As for who else is disqualified, I take your meaning as that since other disreputable people hold liquor licenses then these people should also be granted one. I reject that argument and would be opposed to licenses for drug dealers, tax cheats, and other miscreants in spite of their political connections. If you have evidence of what you claim, you should submit that evidence to the city council or perhaps the Attorney General's office in Madison if you think there is corruption on the city council or the police department.

billnewbie-That's funny a person that knows the bar buisness would think to open a car part store. Are you saying that if that was your money tired up in a empty building you would open a buisness you knew nothing about ?I don't know about you but I don't know anyone that could just sit on $150,000. and not make any money back.How was he suppose to make the mortgage payment ? Who eles would be disqualified in your eyes to hold a liquor license ? Drug dealers,drunk drivers people that don't pay their taxes or how about the ones that have all the police contact and a customer has brain damage from a fight that happen in the bar and ends up in the street. I personally believe we have worst bar owners in this town than the likes of Jim Halbach.You still haven't answer my question on the girls charges .

You are just going to have to live with that mystery.

Hey Bill. Just out of curiosity, have you ever been to a "strip joint"? Come on now. Be honest.

I doubt that just about anyone would do what he did. I called it extortion because that is what it was and that is why I think he's disqualified to hold a liquor license. The business could have been a car parts store, a grocery, a pizza joint, or any number of things. He made it into a strip joint, and now he wants a liquor license again and in return he'll discontinue the strip joint.

SarahB Yes most have had their charges dropped,the few that still have charges are saying that they will be dropped or reduced. I was told this by a family member of one of the girls. I did look on ccap and could only find two that still show charges.

billnewbie- As I said I don't know them,but they are in the bar buisness. What alternative kind of buisness do you think they would put in there ?I had heard about a adult book store ,would that had been better? Other than what has gone on at Screamin Mee Mees and I may have missed something,what have they done for you to say they are undesirable business owners ? If I remember correctly Jim Halbach is real good at turing a nonprofitable bar into one that makes money and sells them.I worked for a man once(in the bar buisness also) that wasn't liked any better than Halbachs,but I will tell you that this man had more compassion and understanding for his employees than anyone I've ever known.And if this person still had his bars I would work for him in a heartbeat.I have the same feelings about the Halbachs and would work for them also. I believe that this is just a personal attack that started when he gave back what the city council was dishing out to him.What do you think about MOST of the charges being dropped on these girls ? Was he or his wife ever charged with anything on this raid ? I could tell you also about the community service programs that they are involved with but I'm sure that would fall on death ears with you ,I don't think these are bad people ,he got pushed and he pushed back.Just like anyone would do in the same situation.

Have the prostitution charges really been dropped? Did I miss that news item in the Gazette? Or did the Gazette miss it too?

Was a strip joint the only alternative for a business at that site? I suspect not. Whether you call it extortion or getting nasty, the effect is the same (garbage by any other name smells just as bad). These people have proven themselves to be less than desirable business owners and the city is well within its rights to deny them a license, as the purpose of licensing such businesses is to prevent disreputable persons from running such a place.

billnewbie- The Halbach DIDN'T use extortion to get a liquor license from the city. They have a liquor license from the Stadium Club, when it burnt down Halbach wanted to use the license on Delavan Dr. and the neighbors said no they didn't want a bar in their backyard.They bought the building thinking they would open up,when all this happened thats when they got nasty(my opinion)and opened Screamin Mee Mees.I don't know these people but think about it... One buisness is lost to a fire the city tells you that you can't rebuild on that site so you buy a new place thinking you can use your $10,000.00 liquor license there...nope you can't so he opened Screamin to recoup some of his money.I have some mixed feelings on all of this but I do see the Halbachs point about the lost they have suffered ,after all he is a buisnessman.And by the way MOST all of the girls charges have been DROPPED !!!Is this just the police over reacting or jumping the gun before they had everything in order ?? Don't know what to think about this either !

I seem to recall that strip clubs were outlawed in Janesville after Screamin' Meemies opened. Though Screamin' Meemies was grandfathered in. Which means, I think, he couldn't get a license for a strip club in another location in Janesville. (Does anyone out there in blog land know for sure?)

His recent legal problems at Screamin' Meemies should close it for good. Either way, he shouldn't have a bar or strip club in that location.

These disreputable people opened the strip joint as extortion to try to force the city to give them the liquor license they want. If they are granted this license, expect a strip joint to open in a new location where the owners want to force the city to give then a license. After all, it worked once....

Janesville the city of bars can be the new logo.

As an owner, it is illogical that you would not have an inkling of what is going on in your own establishment. Even though you may not be able to watch the videos yourself 24/7, since they are recorded you could simply watch the videos taped during the busy hours or during the times that you suspected something was up. And no one that worked at the establishment ever mentioned to Halbach that something illegal was going?? I just don't believe that. Either he is a liar or totally ignorant. Either way, he he is not worthy of getting anything else from this city!

I would like to think that another business would give someone a job in Janesvilles market.... BUT come on, have Jim and Rebecca lost their minds... after the last fiasco, I hope the answer is NO. WOW, Reverend Jim, needs to put his weed down and come back to reality.

What Jim Halbach and his wife have done and/or would seemingly like to do for Janesville and the surrounding area reminds me of what Mr. Potter did for Bedford Falls in the movie "It's A Wonderful Life", when the peaceful little village is changed into the trashy town of Pottersville. When the "Reverend" doesn't get his way, he shows the city of Janesville where his heart really is and opens up a strip club. Nice.

Pardon me - a business who's employees and clients rack up 17 counts...

I don't think a business that racks up 17 counts of prostitution can be trusted with a alcohol license.

I think he is better at being a Pimp or was that his wife I forget OH well just what we need another bar for the city cops to issue OWIs from great

Rev. Jim, You have my blessing, go forth and do good things.

Once second shift is cut at GM, he must suspect business is going to slow. LOL

I assume that this is a conditional use under commercial zoning as opposed to an allowed use, or are all uses conditional under commercial?

garyprimer, the ordinance has some strict requirements, but has no restriction on the number of establishments except that an owner must have a license for each separate establishment. (It may be unconstitutional for the council to limit the number.)
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There are also zoning requirements that must be complied with, and every license must be renewed annually. ($700 originally, $150 renewal.) The licenses automatically terminate on June 30, and they probably don't expect renewal without a fight, thus this tactic.

NO WAY. They have proven they are not credible business people. Don't reward them. Shut them down.

One word: NO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

If this guy is really a REVEREND what is up with his strip clubs and antics etc. the guy is a pig and should just be shut down along with his wife. maybe a good reason not to let them have one is because they cant keep ahold of the ones they have had in the past becuae of problems- for example the bar-slum on river st. he is really still practicing or licenced REV!!!????? you must be reading and living by a different bible. not to mention 2 bars suspicially burning down. I sure more than just Williams is againt granting these people any licences. I think Janesville would be better off if they just leave janesville all together. Even though his has these videos running to his homes dont you think he should watch them AND know what is going on in his own establishment and be liable for it!

alot of business'es have camera that taped off location that doesn't mean someone sits there and watches 168 hours a week of video.All the big box stores have cameras, most taverns, schools, So unless you are 100% sure that Jim Rebecca or their staff was watchin u can't say that they were aware by video of what was going on.

Irish, Isabella isn't in the city of Janesville. Those regulations don't apply where Isabella is located.

What happened as to the arrests at halbachs other establishments he has strippers in 2 places both have had arrests and he continues to get away with "I WASNT AWARE IT WAS HAPPENING" give me a break he had cameras in the rooms and piped to his house come on get a CLUE. give him a license and let him partition a couple of rooms and video more of his demented crap to his home.By the way what did become of those charges. And " REV JIMS " maybe PIMP JIM would be a better choice.

They serve liquor at Isabella Queen and those girls get completely naked. Then again, you need a drink in you to stomach the trainwrecks that "dance" there.

Would the new sexually oriented business ordinance stop someone from opening a strip club?

What's to stop Halbach from moving the strip club to a different location if he gets a liquor license for this one?

tinkerb45, wow, you read my mind!

..just what we need, another bar.