Free Republic

NORTH SPOKANE-- Bikini Baristas in North Spokane are at the center of a clothing controversy. Some locals claim the outfits at Big Shots Espresso at Lidgerwood and Francis have crossed the line. The girls say they’re just trying to have fun at work. In fact, they were comfortable enough to let KREM 2 News videotape them at work. The owner says the girls make up to $19 an hour. But not everyone likes it. One woman says she found it shocking to see the ladies out dressed like “porn stars” and “prostitutes” trying to sell coffee. The baristas say they’ve...

Orland Park doc to put in drive-up windows ORLAND PARK, Ill. (STMW) -- A doctor plans to open a medical office in Orland Park with a drive-up window. Dr. Waldemar Nowak and his wife, Mary Jane Nowak, plan to convert the former Vito & Nick's restaurant into medical offices equipped with two drive-up bays. Traditional walk-in medical offices will be available as well. Orland Park officials said the drive-up bays will be used by patients seeking medical attention, but Dr. Nowak declined to elaborate on how the drive-ups would be used. "This is my own idea," Dr. Nowak said. The...

STOCKTON - Enjoy the sales this holiday season, because starting Jan. 1, California businesses that pay minimum wages or thereabouts say they have no choice but to raise prices on everything from pepperoni pizza to dry cleaning to a sack of potting soil. For the first time in five years, California's minimum hourly wage will increase. Since 2002, it's been $6.75, but starting Jan. 1 it will rise 75 cents an hour to $7.50, an 11.1 percent increase. "We have to raise prices," east Stockton dry cleaner Nubia Vargas said. "My customers, I don't think they will understand. They think...