Gingrich nixes award for strip club

DALLAS, Oct. 2 (UPI) -- A Dallas strip club owner said she was disappointed when Newt Gingrich canceled a business award weeks after it was offered.

Dawn Rizos, owner of The Lodge, said she received a letter last month from the former Georgia congressman and speaker of the house last month saying his think tank, American Solutions, had chosen her bar as one of its 2009 Entrepreneurs of the Year representing Texas, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported Friday.

"This tremendous honor is a testament to your success in building your business and recognition of the risks you take to create jobs and stimulate the economy," said the letter, which invited Rizos to attend an Oct. 7 banquet at the Capitol Hill Club in Washington, D.C.

Rizos, who made a $5,000 donation to join Gingrich's Business Defense and Advisory Council after receiving the invitation, said she was disappointed when the invitation was taken back by a representative of the organization Tuesday.

"I thought it wasn't completely ridiculous that he might recognize my business," Rizos said of Gingrich. "I understand that he is a very conservative man, but I think our business is very conservatively run, too."