Thanks will, I'm glad some people read this. Many of these stories would demand their own topic in better times.


On Monday night, an off duty Metro police employee was cleaning his gun when it accidently discharged and he shot a child. The kid was taken to the hospital with non-life threatening injuries.

Sandy Hacket and his wife are putting together a road show team for their Rat Pack show. Expect an east coast project in February starting in Buffalo.

Boyd Gaming is cutting entertainment costs. They are cutting out Friday from their showroom nights so the headliners will be Sat and Sun nights only. This will start in January.

Joey Scinta is thinking about retirement unless they can get a permanent gig in Las Vegas. He's tired of being on the road.

Jerry Springer started his America's Got Talent Show in Las Vegas.

Celine Dion is in talks for another run at Caesars Palace.

Beyonce signed a 10 weekend deal with Wynn. This is supposed to hush-hush while they work out a long term deal like Garth has.

Governor Jim Gibbons and Dawn Gibbons settled their divorce terms out of court without dragging their dirty laundry through the media. They sell their property in Elko, NV and their house in Reno and split the profits which should be over a half million each.
Dawn gets 25% of Jim's gross income for 5 years which is 4000 mo . She gets the 1915 Model T.
Jim gets to keep the 1914 Model T.
These term are pending a judge's approval.

Here's kind of a personal note rather than headline news. I was sweeping up trash blown in from the latest wind storm. There was a single page flyer in the trash pile advertising air duct cleaning, maid service, yard services, and a restaurant. The restaurant is an Italian place called DeStefano's that is known for jazz and old school Vegas music in their lounge. The ad had a 2fer1 coupon for dinner and a free admission to their lounge on Fri and Sat to see "The legendary star of Boylesque, Kenny Kerr". I haven't heard much out of him in the last 5 years. I think the flyer might have been a week or two old, not advertising a New Years event.

Just so that you don't think Sahara and Binions are the only hotels in trouble with occupancy space, megaresorts from the Mirage to City Center properties have many, many floors completely blocked off. Let's not forget about that new Caesars Palace tower that never opened. Binions and Sahara just get the bad rap.

New Nevada laws for 2010. No selling novelty cigarette lighters because they look like toys that will attract children. Construction workers and their supervisors now have to take OSHA training. And there are measures that allow judges to keep the mentally ill from legally owning guns. Proof of residency required to receive a state drivers license.

Ed Von Tobel passed away on Wednesday at the age of 96. Ed was one of the first original Las Vegas natives. Maybe you've seen him on one of those Las Vegas history shows on TV. A lot of Las Vegas history will now be left to historians and books without Ed.

The top news stories in Las Vegas in 2009 according to a public poll at KVVU.
1. Unemployment Crisis
2. The scandal from Senator John Ensign cheating on his wife.
3. Deaths of Metro officers
4. Dr Murray's Las Vegas connection in Michael Jacksons death
5. Death of Danny Gans

Total rainfall in Las Vegas for 2009 was 1.59 inches. Our average is 4.49 so yeah, the drought continues.

Nevada Highway Patrol set up New Years Eve checkpoints around Las Vegas and made 82 DUI arrests, 57 felonies arrests, and 2 other arrests. Metro has not released their numbers.

The first convention of the year has started. The World Series of Beer Pong. It's being held at the Flamingo. Participants are required to have a room at the Flamingo. I heard that Jay Leno has a team entered and his show will be there.

57 felonies! What the heck is going on????

Beer Pong? I have a hard time thinking this one through, however it must be an "only in Vegas thing!"

LOL, I actually watched Beer Pong at Harrah's Reno in December - might have enjoyed it more if I'd been drinking<g>, but the contestants were pretty sober and about half were taking it seriously since the finals will be held in Las Vegas. I thought it was kind of funny that the MC was the same guy that ran the poker tournament in the morning - guess he wears a couple of hats.

JMT, Good morning!

Can you 'research' on some LV newspaper articles that mention the success or the failure of New Year's weekend?

I was house sitting in LA over the holidays so I have no idea if LV was filled to capacity or not.

And how much of that "success" (if any) was attributed to the new City Center (if any)?

And did these new "abodes" do over this past holiday ..... such as Vdara, Aria, and the Mandarin?

I've very curious to see if CityCenter is drawing them in like those old 'new Strip attractions' used to.

Thanks, JMT!

BEER PONG!!!?

What the heck is BEER PONG???

Do they play "Martini Pong" yet?

If so, let me know where I can sign up!

Come to think of it..... I think I did see Beer Pong while passing through one of the downtown hotels ... but at the time I simply thought that they were in the process of cleaning those ping-pong balls.

Strange how things develop in one's mind while merely passing through and not fully observing!

.... Such as.... A $2.50 special for a beer and a Taquila shot at the Western Hotel and Casino! I only recognized that when I was showing some seriously cheap drinking friends around town recently.

Now if it was a Martini Special, I might have stopped in years earlier.

Beer Pong is a pretty gross sport and lousy excuse to drink beer. I've consumed a lot of beer in my days and it never involved a ping pong ball handled by 8 different people, rolled on the floor and bounced around the room and splashed in my beer glass. Call me a germ freak if you wish. I don't enjoy beer pong as a spectator sport and I would never play it. I think Daisy might have something in that drinking beforehand might change your outlook.

OTOH, if you want to, you can find it in a lot of bars around town. Osheas is one place where you can almost always find a game in progress or start your own. It's pretty popular at Blondies in the Miracle Mile too.

Cat Fanciers Association (CFA) Cats & Las Vegas SPCA celebrated the new year at the cat show at The Alexis Park Hotel last Saturday and Sunday. Fancy Felines from around the country had a chance to earn Top Cat status each day. Judging included the American Shorthair, Abyssinians, Sphinx, Siamese, Persian, Maine Coon, and more. There was even a category for the household pet.

Segway to....You can bet on Tiger. Really, you can. Station casinos have been taking bets on whether Tiger Woods would win a major golf event this year. First I heard was 5 to 1 favorite to win at least one. So it looks like YES at -500 and NO at +350 on the big board. Max bet is $2000 and closes at 10am on Jan 10. FWIW, I went to the Palace Station and they did not have that bet at the sports book.

Fireworks on the Blvd....Perhaps you saw the massive shootout on your local news. The story I saw on national news didn't mention stories from neighbors that the bad guy was black and hated white people, that he moved here from California two years ago and hated living here, that he lost an argument with his apt managers regarding a barking dog from a neighbor, that a fire broke out in his apartment just minutes after he left to go do his dirty deed and that the fire department ruled the fire an accident. You probably didn't hear that the bad guy ran out across the street to a school and that over 90% of the gunfire was aimed towards the school. The gunman died less than 3 feet from the school building in front of classroom windows. Good guys fired 81 shots, bad guy fired 5 shots from his shotgun. There were dozens and dozens of bullet holes in the school.

Shady Lady Ranch, a Nevada brothel, is cleared to hire male prostitutes.

Clark County is running out of money, yet they lowered the annual fees for adult newspaper machines (aka smut racks) from $100 per year to $65. Who says there's no mafia here?

New law requires all dogs and cats to be spayed/neutered. The only exception requires a $25 breeding license.

Metro arrest numbers for New Years are down from 216 to 173. Those included 103 DUIs and 38 various felonies. Lee, I can only assume the random felonies were illegal guns or drugs in the car or outstanding warrants. These numbers are in addition to the NHP numbers released last week.

One of the Luxor pipe bombers was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.

2010 was the first New Years Day without a traffic fatality since records have been kept on this subject.

New thrill ride announced for the Stratosphere Tower. The highly rumored Skyjump is official. Riders will jump off the observation deck of the tower attached to a metal line. They will fall over 850 feet. It is somewhat of a controlled freefall. Just before reaching the bottom, the line will "automatically" slow the rider down to make a "safe" landing. There is a Skyjump system already in place in New Zealand if you want to do a computer search and find more info. The system should be up and running by April of this year.

Rich Little, a famous comedian and impressionist who resides in Las Vegas is a proud US Citizen as of Friday. Rich was born in Canada in 1938.

Voting begins this Sunday for the Best Of Las Vegas RJ Poll. At least that's what the tons of email I'm getting from various local companies are telling me. Of course they are tooting their own horn telling me to vote early and often.

The Las Vegas City Council just approved an additional 2 million dollars for the Mob Museum. The money is needed primarily to insure the building is structurally safe and secure. The Mob Museum is scheduled to open in 2011.

The Happiest Mayor delivered his State Of The City address on Tuesday. He said we had our feast and now we have our famine. He is betting on the brain and cancer centers as step one to make Las Vegas a medical destination to revitalize downtown and bring Las Vegas back from economic doom. Step two is the performing arts buildup downtown. Step 3 is the arena and entertainment district in the area of the current city hall.

Harry Reid just can't keep his mouth shut. Sen John Ensign is also a huge embarrassment. Our troubled governor is no better. Dang we need a political overhaul.

The new terminal at McCarran airport is about halfway completed. It is set to open sometime in 2012. The 2.5 billion dollar project will add 14 gates and a new parking structure. Like City Center and the downtown projects, it was started in good financial times. Unlike the downtown projects, there is no need for 14 additional gates. Harry Reid says it's just what Las Vegas needs.

The November numbers are out for gaming revenue that saw it's first increase in two years. Convention numbers are stabilizing and some analysts see this as a sign of recovery. The Strip was up 8.3%, while Mesquite was down over 15%.

If you cruised around downtown long enough, you might remember the old El Cid Hotel. It had been closed for a while and was awaiting better economic times for renovation. Three separate fires in three separate rooms pretty much totaled the property on Monday night.

After several attempts to turn a profit, the Las Vegas Monorail has officially filed for bankruptcy under Chapter 11 and promises no disruption of service. Is it any surprise that the ONLY privately owned public transportation system in the United States still has not raised enough money to pay off the initial $650 million construction costs? Is it any surprise that plans still call for a $500 million extension to McCarran and other strip hotels?

Steve and Elaine Wynn were officially divorced for the second time to each other on Jan 5.

The 2010 version of Burning Man is in August. If you were planning on getting in on the first tier of ticket sales, they sold out faster than a Garth Brooks lot. There will be 2 more ticket releases before the event. Expect to pay right about $300 for a Burning Man ticket.

The Cougar convention is coming to the Trop next Friday. Insert joke here.

Rumors running stronger than ever that the Liberace Museum is about to make an announcement for relocating the museum from it's current location to the Las Vegas Strip.

Harrah's will officially take over the hotel portion of Planet Hollywood as of midnight tonight...Saturday 16JAN10.

Late Friday afternoon, a woman went through McCarran security with a gun that she was legally certified to carry. She then went to the C-gates. She used one of the restrooms in the C terminal and left the gun behind. An airport worker found the gun and the terminal went on lockdown until things were cleared up. The woman was given the gun back, not disciplined, and allowed to board her flight with the gun. Authorities would not disclose what agency she worked for that authorized her to carry a gun, such as a PD, TSA, FBI, FDA, military, off duty pilot, or sky marshall.

On Sunday, an idiot will get into a box with 50 poisonous snakes in front of Oshea's. He will stay in there 10 days and more snakes will be added. He will spend 10 days in the clear glass box with rattlesnakes, pythons, and cobras, oh my. Some people will do anything to be on TV, and in this case, it will be filmed for the Animal Planet network.

The Rio is celebrating it's 20th year with specials like $20 this, 20 cent that, 20% something else, etc. Surely it's on their website, and maybe your e-mail.

CSN, our local community college has started midnight classes.

The Harmon Theater in the Miracle Mile at Planet Hollywood has filed bankruptcy. The less than stellar shows continue.

The record rainfall for this one week has exceed the total rainfall for the entire year of 2009. Substories...a) turned to snow from the west, up through Summerlin. b) The flood control measures worked. c) flood channel flows cleaned out homeless and their trash, followed by homeless water rescues and record numbers of pedestrian hit and runs.

Carl Ichan is the winning bidder for the incomplete Fountainbleau project.

The I-15 widening project between downtown and Craig road is officially complete....10 months ahead of schedule. There's still a few cosmetic and clean up issues.

New numbers in the federal courthouse shooting. Early reports said the slain guard fired one shot. That has been revised to zero. Early reports said the assailant was shot twice, one being in the head. New reports say about 18 hits and no head shots. Early reports said the assailants apartment fire was an accident. Now they think it may have been intentional. A coroners inquest is scheduled as it is during any law enforcement shooting death. Expect numbers to be revised again.

A tourist was walking on the Flamingo pedestrian bridge to Caesars when someone asked him for spare change. Bad guy and bad gal saw money. They kidnapped the man and took him to an apartment where 2 more people beat the man severely. The bad guys got all his belongings including his room key and cleaned out his Caesars Palace room. The man escaped after the 4 bad guys were arguing on what to do with the man after they got what they wanted out of him.

The Bellagio Conservatory has removed it's Christmas decorations and is now decorated for the Chinese New Year, the year of the tiger.

The Artisan Hotel, which was having more health violations than customers now has a new owner. The new owners have big plans to clean up the property and it's image. They have revamped the Mt Charleston resort and the Gold Spike. They have also purchased the St. Tropez near the Hard Rock and plan to fix it up much like the Gold Spike. The new owners are The Siegel Group, easily recognized across the valley for it's chain of affordable hotels, Siegel Suites.

State unemployment numbers for December are out. The state was at 13% for the month of December. Clark County was slightly higher at 13.1%. These numbers are up about 1%.

Idiot in the box at Oshea's with lots of poisonous snakes is doing well. He has had some company. Magician Nathan Burton joined him in the box for a while. Miss Nevada even got in the box for a short time.

Speaking of Miss Nevada, the Miss America Pageant is gearing up for the 2010 crowning at Planet Hollywood. The girls are in town and will be in various tourist spots all week. Historically, locals who seek out free tickets have had the opportunity to attend. The pageant finale will be televised live on TLC on Saturday, Jan 30 at 8pm EST.

Between the Miss America and the Cougar Convention, there should be plenty of eye candy for the american pig this weekend.

If you must watch TV tonight, the CBS show 48 Hours Mystery could be interesting as they reinvestigate the death of Ted Binion. Sat, Jan 23 at 10pm on the east and west coasts. You may be amazed with the performance of Sandy Murphy. You can visit the CBS 48Hours Mystery website for more info.

How do you go from 2 shots to 18???

yes this is the year of tiger<G>

I thought Steve Jobs said it was the year of the Snow Leopard.

i don't have any jokes for snow leopards.fyi we do have two of the cutest snow leopard cubs at the zoo here in seattle

The Happiest Mayor In The World says that in 15 months when his term is up, he will not run for governor. Instead, he will work for the development of Las Vegas and spend time with his family who would not want to move to Carson City. His wife Carolyn MIGHT run for mayor when Oscar's term ends if there is not a suitable replacement running.

The city has been hoping for an arena or stadium. Now we have 6 major league baseball stadiums. Okay, they are little league replicas. A new little league baseball complex opened with replicas of Dodger Stadium, Wrigley Field, Fenway Park, Yankee Stadium and others. If the adults can have a fantasy playground, it's okay for the kids too.

Dan Marino's restaurant in Hooters is now the Mad Onion. Not a lot has changed. It's just a 24/7 greasy spoon.

A Florida bankruptcy court has approved Carl Icahn to buy the stalled Fountainbleau project. Carl has not made a recent statement as to what he might do with the property. Speculation is high. My guess is that he will sell it before it opens.

Rick Tabish will be released on parole on April 2. Accused, convicted, then acquitted for the murder of Ted Binion, Rick is currently serving time for breaking into Ted's underground vault in Pahrump immediately after his death and literally stealing a truckload of silver.

The on again/off again mag lev train from Las Vegas to Aneheim was not included in an 8 billion dollar federal funding for high speed rail projects. This follows federal funding for housing assistance that Nevada did not get a penny of. Both programs required paperwork that was not submitted properly. We need a political overhaul.

Andrew Dice Clay will be leaving the Riviera and begin playing at the LV Hilton's Shimmer Cabaret room.

The second man convicted in the 2007 Luxor bombing was sentenced to life in prison plus 16 to 40 years in prison.

Herbst Gaming is scheduled to come out of bankruptcy next week under new management as the whole company will be handed over to secured lenders.

A 79 year old woman was killed behind a stage at the Fremont Street Experience when her pickup truck went out of control downtown, ran red lights and impacted the stage area at high rate of speed. The woman had just dropped her son off at Fitzgeralds and probably suffered a medical condition.

I'm a little disapointed with the news this week. No bullet hole updates, no stupid people taking themselves out of the gene pool. Maybe things really are slowing down in Vegas? LOL

A question for ya, JMT!

This past week I had guests in town and we drove around a lot seeing the sights.

They all commented on how clean the streets and sidewalks were especially in the downtown Fremont Street area and the surrounding neighborhood.

And that cleanliness included the vacant lots all over town.

In fact the only dirty spots we saw were along the Strip which was apparently cleaned up the very next morning by Las Vegas leprechons whom I've never even seen. (I only see Pink Elephants but they don't clean up.)

Actually I have two (2) questions for ya .....

Is there any one city official who should be commended for the cleanliness of this city? I would assume the Mayor but I could be mistaken.

AND .....

Regarding those 301 naked lady card distributors who are lined up along the Strip passing out naked lady ads ... Does that company pay additional fees to clean up those thousands of paper cards that are tossed onto the pavement ever half hour or so? Or is that job included in out city taxes?

Will, I believe that ultimate kudos go to Clark County and the Mormon Mafia. As any resident here knows, trash service here is like no other city in the country. They will pick up almost anything curbside, trash service runs on all holidays, trash collectors are very happy and well paid, no hassles at the dump, and the list goes on and on.

Lee, the stupid human tricks seem to be best in the heat of the summer. The legal and entertainment issues can happen any time. I'll find you a stupid human trick for next week.

In regards to people cleaning up the "naked lady" cards. I have always hated to see how much garbage is on the strip around the people handing out the cards and magazines. When I was in town for New Years I was pleasently shocked when I saw a group of the card distributers actually sweeping up and disposing of the disgarded advertisements.

I believe in free speech. But, this activity is a public nuisance. Plus I think I already have one of each card (HAHA).

Yea, JM! I don't collect them cards but I do agree with the rest of what you had to say

It's a lot more fun than collecting casino chips.