Exotic Dancer

Eileen Anderson had been a fixture for 15 years at a Temple Street intersection in downtown Los Angeles, dancing in leotards to an audience of commuters and gaining some notoriety as the perennial "singing and dancing" candidate for whatever political office happened to be contested at any given time. She retired from her daily bump and grind last year when she could not win permission to park nearby. But help may now be on the way.

An exotic dancer's bodyguard convicted of voluntary manslaughter for the shooting death of a man involved in a confrontation with the performer was sentenced Friday to 16 years in state prison. Lawrence Sanchez's family sobbed as the judge handed down the sentence: six years for the manslaughter and 10 years for using a gun.

A 27-year-old woman was charged Wednesday with attempted murder, mayhem and torture for allegedly tossing a flammable liquid on an exotic dancer and setting her ablaze last week outside a Tarzana nightclub. Rianne Celine Theriault-Odom allegedly had a verbal exchange with the 27-year-old dancer outside Babes & Beer about 1:30 a.m. Feb. 5. Theriault-Odom allegedly doused Roberta Busby of Simi Valley, a single mother of two, with a liquid from a soda bottle and set her on fire. The victim remains in critical condition at Grossman Burn Center.

A 2-year-old monkey recovering from a stroke was mugged in front of a posh Fifth Avenue department store. The monkey, known as Mr. Mike, was with his owner, Anthony Agnello, 26, when the incident occurred Saturday outside of Saks Fifth Avenue, the New York Daily News reported today. Agnello and Mr. Mike have been begging on Manhattan streets to help pay for $1,200 in rehabilitation therapy for the simian. Since taking to the streets, they have managed to whittle the medical bill down to $500.

Two men were sentenced to jail terms Tuesday for beating up an exotic dancer and her driver after she refused a demand for sex, City Atty. James K. Hahn said. Kenneth Price, 30, of Newbury Park and Richard Benn, 30, of North Hollywood were convicted last week of misdemeanor battery and other charges in the Jan. 23 attack. Price also was found guilty of assault with a deadly weapon and making a death threat.

Two men were convicted of battery and other charges after they beat up an exotic dancer and her driver when she refused to have sex with one of them, prosecutors said Thursday. Kenneth Price, 30, of Newbury Park and Richard Benn, 30, of North Hollywood were convicted Wednesday of misdemeanor battery for the attack on the 25-year-old Rancho Cucamonga woman and her driver, a 22-year-old Boyle Heights man, said Deputy City Atty. George A. Schell.

BEIRUT -- A Syrian government newspaper accused Jordan of hosting training camps for opposition fighters and warned its neighbor that it was risking getting entangled in Syria's 2-year-old conflict. The rebuke printed in an editorial on the front page of state-run al Thawra newspaper follows recent U.S. and British media reports that describe Jordan as providing a place for rebels to be trained with American support. Jordan has denied the existence of such training camps. One aim of the alleged training is to create a buffer on Jordan's border that could host fighters and help handle the flow of refugees.

Roberta Busby's daughter Gabriella turned 5 recently. But the 27-year-old single mother of two couldn't join the family celebration. Busby remained secluded in an intensive care ward at the Grossman Burn Center in Sherman Oaks, recovering from second- and third-degree burns over 40% of her body. Nearly three weeks ago, she was set ablaze in what police say was a vicious attack at a Tarzana club where Busby worked as an exotic dancer.

A warm spring evening got hotter when the stand-up performance I expected turned out to be a comedy of errors. And the joke was on me. I had received notice about a show at Club 7969 featuring "Mr. Romance" -- that had to be comedy, right? Every guy I've ever met claiming to be romantic ended up being a buffoon or a clown. The club was dark, and I paused a moment at the door to let my eyes adjust.