You probably are over concerned. And I am too. It does bother me that few people with influence are reacting to it. OTOH, how big does the lake really NEED to be?

I will not be attending the bypass function, as I believe it is on a weekend that I work.

Thanks for reading.

LVRJ reporter John L Smith arrested for DUI on Saturday night. He has worked with the RJ since 1985 and it seems he is still employed by them.

The Las Vegas 51's will extend their contract with the Toronto Blue Jays through the 2012 season.

Against ALL odds, Cloud 9 balloon is back. It was set up on Thursday and testing has begun.

Wayne Newton provided official plans to convert his house to a tourist destination. Neighbors are not pleased. As the Liberace Museum looks to close, residents are not pleased. As the Riviera Comedy club prepares to close on Oct 31, it's employees are not pleased and nobody else seems to know or care.

The Desert Xpress high speed train hit another speed bump as 5 federal agencies will have to conduct an environmental impact study for the Las Vegas to Victorville project.

The inquest has begun to see if the police officer was justified in the shooting of a man at a Costco in Summerlin. The victim had huge amounts of drugs in his system and was not acting normal at all. Still, his family continues to drag it out in the media and blame the justice system.

Paradise Road through the airport and tunnel continues to change. If you need to take that route, be sure to get the latest info and watch the signs closely.

The Love Gov, Jim Gibbons is in the hospital after falling off of a horse. NOT the kind with a W. One comment on a local media site talked about how ironic it was for a horse's ass to fall of a horse.

The Hard Rock company is suing the Hard Rock resort to have them stop using the Hard Rock name. There is concern over the negative publicity that comes from the Rehab parties at the resort's pool.

The Ritz Carlton at Lake Las Vegas has new owners and may reopen early next year. Renovations are underway.

A convenience store/gas station that had been boarded up and closed for months blew up in a very impressive explosion. Fuel from the gas station was not involved. The next day, during clean up, a body was found inside. Suicide, murder, or accident?

Las Vegas condo prices are sinking fast. $600,000 units at Trump are going for 167. $550 thousand dollar units in Turnberry are in the mid 200s. City Center is taking a 30% cut off everything and going from there. High rise condos in town start at about $120k

Sharon Angle and the other Republican candidates have to be happy to hear about John Smith. For the past few months, most of his column space has been spent trashing them. They now can argue what you would expect from some drunk.

The condo prices are amazing. You wonder when they will hit bottom. It really shows how much of the building was just pure speculation. I guess they really can't come back until the rest of the Las Vegas economy comes back and the unemployment comes down.

JMT, this " how big does the lake really NEED to be?" question is very interesting for some reason. I wonder if there has been a study in that regards?

I guess there never is much of a "too much water" concern because the overflow would most likely be used up before it reached Mexico anyway.

In regards to another subject ...,.. People and their lawyers should be responsible for all legal fees in addition to a fine when lawsuits are determined to be frivilous.


I know one lawyer who spends a lot of time in court suing others in an attempt to get rich and is known to be a pain in the butt, but they still listen to each and every claim he makes against just about everyone he's ever met because it doesn't cost him a cent and he thinks that someday he'll get lucky and get a decision rendered in his favor.

Happy Birthday Hoover Dam….75 years old on Sept 30.

Rumor has it that the M Resort has taken out it's self service soda fountains. One less reason to go to the M.

Rod Stewart to play several nights in November as he considers a resident gig at Caesars. Cher's run at the colosseum is running out fast.

Three new night clubs opened in the Fremont East District this week. In fact, the mayor and Ward 5 Councilman did the 3 ribbon cuttings all on Wednesday night. There is a new hookah cafe, a boutique lounge, and a latin themed night club.

In a unanimous verdict, Metro Police officers were justified in the shooting of the drug crazed man outside of a Costco in Summerlin this summer. The inquest is over but the man's lawyers are still playing the media circus for all the attention that they can get.

Actor Tony Curtis died in his Henderson home early Thursday morning. He was 10 years older than the Hoover Dam.

The Clark County School District has selected a new superintendent from Denver.

Hip Hop performer Bruno Mars faces drug possession charges after he was busted with cocaine. Let's see if he gets the same hand slap that Paris Hilton got.

An 11 year old and 12 year old were arrested for armed robbery, after robbing a donut shop and a Subway store. Before you feel sorry for them, the 11 year old is a registered felon.

This was probably the last week of 100 degree temps. We expect temps to drop about 20 degrees across the board very soon as fall rolls in.

Donny and Marie are entering a legal battle with producer Chip Lightman. Their show will go on but they will not renew the contract that they say expires in a few days. Chip thinks the contract continues for another 2 years.

As fall rolls in, Bellagio has rolled out it's new fall display in the conservatory. The spring display was nice and the summer display was pretty weak as it only modified the previous spring display slightly.

Bike Fest starts this week as the motorcycle convention rolls into town. In an unrelated story, a Metro police officer on motorcycle patrol was involved in a big crash at the intersection of Tropicana and The Strip on Thursday night. Everyone involved in the crash is expected to be okay.

The Love Gov is still in the hospital. No word on the horse.

This has got to be the most ridiculous story of the year, maybe even the decade. Man goes to store carrying two guns, one of them not on his permit to carry, not that it matters that much, he has four times the lethal limit of morphine and nearly the lethal limit of Xanax in his system, his behavior is erratic, an employee of Costco notices the gun and his erratic behavior and does the responsible thing and calls the cops to deal with him, Metro arrives on scene orders him to the ground, orders him to put his hands where they can see them, orders him to drop the weapon, he ignores all the orders, points the gun at the cops, cops protect themselves and all the bystanders around the place by taking him out with their weapons.

Family of crazed man with guns high on drugs and their lunatic lawyer say that Costco is the ultimate responsible party for the shooting death of their son. They stated that Metro was just the triggermen, that it was all the employee of Costco's fault for calling the cops in the first place. What's wrong with this picture, what am I missing here?

Gift Of Lights at Sunset Park has been a Christmas lights MUST SEE event in Las Vegas for the last 9 years. Clark County decided to raise it's rates to rent the park by 60%. The charity organizers that create the event have decided to cancel the event this year. Clark County claims that the taxpayers deserve better compensation for use of the park than what was being paid.

The Renaissance Festival has started in Sunset Park. Kinda makes you miss the Star Trekkies. No word if their rental contract for the park was raised by 60%. This festival is not a charity event, so they have no problem passing the costs to visitors.

An idiot did a car jacking near Sams Town, tried to rob a pharmacy near Flamingo and Eastern for drugs where the clerk shot him in the buttocks, got into a high speed chase, and ended up crashing in Henderson.

Different idiot came home and found him mom was mugged in a violent home invasion and began firing his gun into the air to get attention. A police helicopter just happened to be in the immediate area and gave him their full attention.

Grucci will do the New Years fireworks from the rooftops of 7 hotels. MGM, Aria, Planet Hollywood, Caesars, TI, Venetian, and Stratosphere will be the hotels used. New Years Eve is a Friday, so turnout is expected to be big.

Elvis impersonator, Trent Carlini was arrested this week just before a show at the LV Hilton. He is several months behind on child support and owes about $75,000 in back payments. He missed a show that night but made bail in time for the next show.

A small plane crashed near Blue Diamond Rd, south of Red Rock Canyon. The Beechcraft Bonanza carried a pilot and passenger who were both taken to a local hospital. Both occupants were in their 60s and should survive.

Penn National Gaming will buy the debt of the M resort. The $230 million of debt includes $160 million of MGM debt.

Hash House A Go Go opened it's 3rd Las Vegas location this week at the M Resort. This restaurant offers outside dining with views of the pool and the strip. They also feature a signature pancake exclusive to the M, with M&Ms on it.

Big storms blew in this week, creating flooding and mudslides in the southeast part of the valley. The marina at Callville Bay suffered extensive damage as a river of mud and debris slammed the marina, sending docks and boats scattering.

More than 40 people paid over $1000 to repel off of the Rio hotel. It was mostly celebs and other attention whores.

The movie rights to Broadway musical Jersey Boys has been sold, so we can expect it to become a movie.

43 year old Toni Braxton, who once had a show at the Flamingo in Las Vegas is filling for bankruptcy again.

Fontainebleau held an auction to sell off hotel furnishings, which many see as a sign that Carl Ichan has no plans to open the resort and will sell it off when the market recovers. On the other side of the fence, the Plaza bought up much of that furniture as it is involved in a massive overhaul plan. Few people thought that the Plaza was serious about their "temporary" closing but this is a sign that they might actually be telling the truth.

The LVA is reporting that the 3 resorts in Primm may be shutting down soon. I will investigate.

Those Clark County decision making guys are funny critters.

Now instead of collecting the Christmas 'rent', they collect nothing!

It might have been a better idea for them to have negotiated some kind of "income share" instead of 'sharing' nothing at all.

"Dose" one 'must be dumb' to gain political office? (Seems to be a requirement these days!)

Hash House a GO GO! I ate there once shortly after the demise of Michael Jackson and every employee in the place looked and acted like Michael on that sad occasion.

After a real nice breakfast, I moon-walked to the front door and got a standing ovation. ...... My 15 seconds of fame.

Fountainbleau is one heck of an ugly structure and a major monstrocity on that end of the Strip. I wonder how they ever got that building permit past the guys who approve building permits in Las Vegas.

It's big and ugly and built way too close to the Turnberry apartments causing a good number of those very expensive units to have views of a concrete wall just 'feets' away. So close ... you could hit it with a shaken martini.

10-10-10 or October 10, 2010 came and went with record weddings. More so than Valentines Day at some places. Wedding chapel owners are saying bookings are filling up for 1-1-11, 1-11-11, 9-10-11, 11-11-11, and 12-12-12.

George Maloof, owner of the Palms resort was arrested for driving under the influence of alcohol, speeding, no license, exec….

Teenage idiot stole construction pickup and was speeding. He got pulled over by motorcycle cop, then put the truck in reverse and plowed over motorcycle. Cop jumped out of the way, fired off several shots. Kid drove off, abandoned the truck, and hid in a ditch trying to put his elbow back together which was blown up by previous gun shot. Kid and cop are in hospital and are expected to be okay.

The Love Gov is still in the hospital and showing his ass after hip damage from falling off a horse last month. During a press conference, he held up a picture of his X-ray that shows the pins and wires that are now holding his hips/thighs together.

Dozens of people arrested in Operation Bad Company. The streets of Las Vegas are a little safer and the citizens of Las Vegas can sleep a little easier. These are career thugs and crooks that rob people, steal wallets and jewelry, steal cars, break into homes, etc. Most are white, many are women.

Major fire in Henderson strip mall. Businesses destroyed included a couple of auto repair centers and a business that does cremation of human bodies. Guess what? Yep, 3 of them.

The new Las Vegas City Hall building was topped off as a huge white beam signed by local dignitaries was hoisted into place. The building is located between First & Main Streets and Lewis & Clark Streets.

The largest single span bridge in the western hemisphere was dedicated this week. The Mike O'Callaghan-Pat Tillman Memorial Bridge will open to the public next week. The construction project was set back a solid 2 years when high winds tore down huge construction cranes. This is also known as the Hoover Dam Bypass Bridge.

The Nevada Senate debate between Harry Reid and Sharron Angle proved that as bad as we need a political overhaul, we are not going to get it. The childish mudslinging debate did not install much confidence for either side.

There is tour that you can do in the mountains in Boulder City where you fly down attached to a zip line. That same company is setting up a miniature version of that ride on Fremont St under the canopy. It was supposed to open on Friday, but wasn't quite ready. It should be finished sometime this week.

Ricardo's Mexican Restaurant is making the worlds largest margarita. It will be pink and some of the profits will go to breast cancer research. The rita is about 7500 gallons. The previous record was set in Las Vegas at Margaritaville.

Find the idiot. A California man went into a local strip joint last year with $10 million worth of jewelry in a bag. 30 minutes later, he gets called to a business meeting and leaves to attend the meeting. Oops, he forgot the jewelry. He left it in the strip joint. Later he goes back, and the owner of the strip joint returns the bag of jewelry. The man leaves $3,200 in cash for the owner for his honesty. The man gets back and discovers $3 million worth of jewelry is missing from the bag. He goes back to the strip joint and offers $10,000 to the person that returns the missing items…no questions asked, no cops. He tells them it's rare jewelry that can not be sold on the open market. Nobody confesses, so the man goes to police. Two thirds of the rare jewelry eventually turns up. The strip club owner, his wife (a local 3rd grade teacher) and a friend of theirs in the jewelry business is arrested. They sold it all for less than $100,000.

Did they ID the Strip club owner?

My mistake. It was a bouncer, not the owner.

Thanks, then can you name the club?

JMT, did you see the big front LVRJ photo of Lake Mead today?

Beautiful shot of a sad situation.

Spearmint Rhino.
Yes.

It has been a cold wet week with most residents getting about an inch of rain or more. This caused minor street flooding and power outages. One power outage caused a North Las Vegas City Council meeting to be cut short as they were announcing layoffs of firemen and policemen. Another outage that might not be rain related stopped gaming at the Golden Nugget downtown. All is well, now. High remp forecast for today, 68.

The Liberace Museum has closed down after over 30 years. Museum management blames the economy. Many others blame very poor management. The museum is closed and some of the artifacts will become a traveling exhibit. With a little luck, it will all come back to Las Vegas as a new museum some day.

The Love Gov has been released from the hospital.

The Hoover Dam Bypass bridge is now open. No tolls required. It will cut the Arizona to Las Vegas trip times by about an hour or more, depending on traffic.

Lee's Liquor got one step closer to opening a store in the Las Vegas airport baggage claim area. Clark County approved the plan in which they would get 15% of gross income. A vote is scheduled for November 3 of this year. Hours approved are 6am till 1am. Passengers will be able to order the liquor over the internet before arrival and have it ready when they claim their bags.

The Gift of Lights Christmas light show will move from Sunset Park to the grounds of the Las Vegas Motor Speedway according the Chamber of Commerce. Admission will be $2 per car and the show will start on Nov 19.

A 15 year old drunk girl stole her moms car and took it for a joy ride, committing numerous crimes including hit and run and she ended up crashing into someones house. Her mom went on TV to say that she hopes the law prosecutes her daughter to the fullest extent and it sends a message to other teens. That mom is a hero in my book.

The Professional Bull Riders show has begun at the Thomas and Mack center.

Always a great read, JMT! Thanks.

I loved that rain and I enjoyed the lightning show during this past week's storm, but I've never heard of any lightning deaths or damage. Any news on that subject?

Also interesting to notice that the sound of thunder is not very loud here in Las Vegas. I guess it may be due to the fact that there are relatively few hills for it to resound off of.

Now that the By-pass is open will they be closing the road over the dam? And will it really be possible for me to get to Laughlin in 20 minutes by using that new route?

No need to answer that one. I think I understand that the time savings will be due to the traffic that used to occur over the old route.

We plan to use the by-pass route on our next trip to Laughlin which may be soon due to the fact that rooms down there now start at $9 a night ( two night stay is required) including breakfast (mid-week) at the Colorado Bell and I think it's my turn to buy the apples for the donkeys.

And .... I'm definitely with you on the mom's-a-hero situation.

I liked the storms too. I think it's the most intense thunderstorms that I've seen since I moved here 6 years ago. The ingredients to a thunderstorm here are so different than what we got in Texas, I don't know what criteria affects what. I do know that the poor people that live in the storm drains come out when it rains like that, and their associated effects on civilization increases.

JMT, does anyone in LV offer 'Storm Drain Tours"?

Or does any organization ever enter those drains to feed the inhabitants or see that they are taken care of?

Or do they just rely on them to travel to the soup kitchens when they get hungry.

I''m thinking about offering some of my free time to one of the soup kitchens during the holidays. I believe it's just a matter of finding out where they are located.

Nobody does tours. And they do NOT want help or assistance. They want to be left alone and do their thing on their own schedule.

If you want to pester them anyway, you can go to the southeast corner of the Rio property, and start following the water wash. It will take you past the railroad tracks and into a huge concrete tunnel that will go under the freeway, under Caesars, across, the strip, and come out by the Imperial Palace parking garage.

Another popular area is north of downtown. If you leave the Lied Discovery Museum out the rear parking area and start up the hill, there is a huge storm drain opening just before you get to the Biltmore Bungalows. This one is real popular because of the Catholic Charities building nearby. They cleaned a lot of it up when there was a push to revitalize the cultural corridor. That was before the economic collapse.

There is a book called Beneath The Neon, that talks about life in the sewers. No big surprises in the book, but it's a good read and as close as you'll get to a tour.

Thanks for that interesting info, JMT. I did see that book recently and will now take a closer look. If I'm not mistaken I think I do recall that there was a drowning or two many years ago from that rain-water flow in the IP area.