it seems like carmel, indy's ritzy suburb to the north, is the new hotspot for prostitution, if the star's coverage is to be believed. and hamilton county police have been cracking down.

it seems that hamilton county police have started reading the nuvo, flipping to the "adult entertainment" ads in the back, and sending undercover officers to try to solicit some sex. not exactly brilliant police work, but i guess it gets the job done.

this is not a fluke. yesterday, the star posted an item about a carmel housewife who was arrested for allegedly hooking from her home. (the star ran a subtly different version of the story today, which presumably also ran in the print edition.)

but then later today, the star posted a new story:

Prosecutors today charged three women at three massage parlors in the Carmel area with prostitution after a joint investigation by Hamilton County deputies and Indianapolis police.

that's four arrests in the past day, at four different locations! sounds like someone suddenly got serious about busting prostitutes in carmel.

Hamilton County Sheriff's Detective Michael Howell said the three massage parlors are among several to surface in the county in recent years, likely due to ordinances and fines in Marion County which now discourage business there.

"They're saying, man we can't keep taking these hits, so they're going to Hamilton County and the doughnut counties," said Howell. "These things are popping up everywhere."

Howell said there are about 10 studios in Hamilton County, and at least seven had advertised in Nuvo magazine, where detectives often get their leads.

yes, detective howell pretty much admitted that they get their leads from the ads in the nuvo.

so attention local prostitutes! if you've been advertising in the nuvo, you might want to be really careful in the next few weeks.

incidentally, while i was searching indystar.com for "prostitution", i got this interesting-but-unrelated result: pahrump, nevada passed an "english-only" ordinance.

In approving the ordinance this month, a town best known for its proximity to legal brothels thrust itself into the nation's immigration debate.

The fast-growing community 60 miles down a two-lane road from Las Vegas made English its official language and barred residents from flying a foreign flag by itself.

however:

Supporters of Pahrump's ordinance say its intent is to encourage assimilation, though they acknowledge it is mostly symbolic. The ordinance provides exceptions for any official communication that the federal government requires to be translated, meaning few, if any, changes.

As for the flag rules, "you can't enforce it," said Sheriff Tony DeMeo. "The flag has been considered a statement of freedom of expression. If someone wants to fly one, there's not too much you can do to tell them to take it down."

and don't miss this part:

The ordinance was approved by the Town Board 3-2 at a Nov. 14 meeting attended by only a few Hispanics.

The three politicians who voted for the ordinance were not elected; they were appointed by a Republican governor to replace board members who had retired or, in one case, stepped down after being convicted of shoplifting at the Wal-Mart. Newly elected members who take office next month said they plan to rewrite the ordinance.

how interesting that all three of the councilmembers who voted for the law were appointed by the governor. (also, i found the wikipedia entries for pahrump and nye county to be interesting reads as well.) ¶

Pahrump and (the Kingdom of) Nye (County) will forever be associated with Art Bell and his radio show in my mind. ¶