Plans to build a $2.7 million topless club in a fast-growing corridor of northwest Raleigh took a hit today when the N.C. Supreme Court ruled that neighboring businesses have the right to oppose a city permit for the club on the grounds it would hurt them financially.

The decision is the latest in a three-year battle between the club's partners and neighboring businesses to the property on Mount Herman Road near Raleigh-Durham International Airport, Dan Kane reports.

The club would be called The Runway, and could seat as many as 560 people. It would be the city's first topless club in 16 years.

The Raleigh Board of Adjustment is required to approve a special use permit for such businesses. Phong Nguyen, a Raleigh doctor who practices in Virginia, and his partners won the permit in 2005. But then two neighboring businesses and a third nearby convinced a state Superior Court judge to throw out the permit.

The businesses said the topless club would cause economic hardship and reduced property values through increased traffic and an unsavory clientele.

The Christian group Called2Action has also sought to prevent the club's construction.

The N.C. Court of Appeals ruled that the businesses — Triangle Equipment Co., Triangle Coatings and the Angus Barn Restaurant — did not have standing to challenge the permit. The high court reversed the appellate court decision. Supreme Court Associate Justice Patricia Timmons-Goodson dissented from the opinion.

Nguyen has since sold out his interest in the club to David "Slim" Baucom, a Charlotte-area businessman who owns adult establishments in North Carolina and the Southeast.

The State Board of Elections is looking into people who gave money to Jim Black.

Investigators are looking into how the former House speaker got $2,000 in cash from David "Slim" Baucom, owner of a dozen strip clubs through M.A.L. Entertainment of Charlotte.

They're also investigating a $30,000 contribution from the N.C. Amusement Machine Association, a video poker industry trade group, to the Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee in 2000.

Gary Bartlett, executive director of the board, said they were simply following the leads from Black's testimony, echoing the advice of Deep Throat in the movie version of "All the President's Men."

"We're following the money," he said. (Char-O) 

Jim Black took cash from a strip club owner.

The former House speaker testified today that he also received $2,000 in cash from David "Slim" Baucom, owner of a chain of topless bars in Charlotte.

He told prosecutors that the donation was Baucom's idea. He said Baucom wanted to help Black avoid the political problems of receiving a campaign finance donation from a strip club owner.

"He said it would embarrass me," he said.

Baucom was seen by reporters clutching paperwork as he walked into a federal courthouse where a grand jury was discussing Black's case on April 21, 2006.

"I'm just here to drop some papers off," he said then.

The N&O reported in 2006 that Baucom donated $4,000 to a political action committee that represented restaurant and bar owners, which then turned around and gave $4,000 to Black.

Correction: An earlier version of this post incorrectly stated the newspaper that broke the story.