JEFFERSON CITY from www.kcstar.com – This just in from the serendipity department: Missouri Sen. Matt Bartle won preliminary approval today on a bill placing strict new regulations on strip clubs and other adult-entertainment venues.

That name and subject should be familiar to Prime Buzzards, since Bartle, a Lee’s Summit Republican, testified just this week before a federal grand jury concerning a nearly identical bill from 2005.

What a coincidence!

Bartle, afterward, said it was indeed a coincidence.

“I’m not going to deny that the environment right now is opportune for placing this legislation before the legislature,” he said. “But it was not coordinated.”

Bartle noted that he filed the bill months ago and passed it out of committee last month, well before he knew he would be appearing before a grand jury.

In Floor debate, Bartle described at length not only the restrictions proposed, but the legal cover for them provided by court decisions in other places around country.

Among the restrictions are a ban on full nudity at strip clubs; a ban on dancers touching (no lap dances) or dancing within 6 feet of patrons; a ban on liquor sales at adult venues; and a requirement that video booths remain within a store manager’s line of sight.

The Senate’s physician for the day, sitting off to the side of the floor taking in the debate, summed up the bill this way:

“He’s against all these nekkid girls up and down I-70,” he said.

Taking the unenviable task of defending the adult-entertainment industry was Kansas City Democrat Jolie Justus, who filed an amendment seeking to exempt Kansas City from the restrictions in Bartle’s bill.

She cited the city’s strong local ordinances regulating adult businesses, the right of cities and counties to manage their own affairs and the jobs created by the industry as reasons for the exemption.

“(Cities) have shown it is possible to self-regulate on these issues,” Justus said.

She was challenged by Sen. Charlie Shields, a St. Joseph Republican whose district includes part of Kansas City’s Northland, and Bartle, who wondered if exempting Kansas City from the law would attract such businesses to the city.

“This will make Kansas City the porn capital of Missouri,” Bartle said.

Justus’ amendment was defeated on a voice vote.