Still grasping for unique news stories as winds knock the temps down about 15 degrees below normal. The good news is that the average temp has gone up.

There was that guy that voluntarily checked into a hospital with suicidal tendencies. Workers found that he had hung himself in his hospital room several hours later.

"The Dragon", the most memorable natural arch in the Valley Of Fire has died of natural causes. The rock formation collapsed due to the same natural forces that created it.

The City is still very low on money and looking at layoffs to balance the budget. They are blaming the firefighters union. This has been an ongoing issue for months.

Lady Luck may be down but not out. Plans were submitted to the city by the owners for plans to remodel the resort.

Progress is being made to the electrical power lines that ran down Flamingo in front of Caesars Palace. The old wires are gone and new wires are planted underground. Soon, the poles that held the wires will be removed, Flamingo will be repaved, and most tourist will never the notice the eyesore that once blocked beautiful views in the area. I think those wires were also the subject of a major blackout a few years ago on New Years when metallic balloons shorted out the wires.

Cher tickets have been showing up for free on the locals seat filling sites. Viva Elvis tickets are showing up at 50% off at the Tix4Tonight kiosks. I'd guess the recession isn't over.

JMT, this is only a slightly bit related,but I was very surprised by the large crowds at the Orleans this weekend. This holiday weekend and the STAR WARS SYMPHONY helped but it seemed like everyone was gambling and spending money at the slots and at the tables and I haven't seen this much activity in any LV casino in a good long while.

It was nice and I hope it lasts!

But I do hope that these local casino remember us patrons who stuck with them through difficult times if and when this economy improves!


You think they will?

The holiday kicks off pool season, and that's a big deal as you know. The World Series Of Poker started this week. There are two different UFC events too.

The casinos will never remember us until the giants collapse.

You should have saved that comment about the crowds for your Star Wars report that you are working on. Hint. Hint.

OK, thanks for the reminder, JMT.

Today (Monday. Memorial Day) I took a walk through the Encore and the Wynn to see what kind of activity they were having and it was very quiet.

The Encore was set up as if they expected a huge crowd to participate in the Encore Beach Club activities of the day, but there were no crowd standing in line. In fact there was no one standing in line.

But I was there about 1:00 PM so maybe the crowds entered earlier.

Or maybe the visitors were already lining up for the race back home.

Today's Beach Club admission was $40 for gents and $20 for the ladies even if you were a hotel guest.

I believe the Beach Club opens at 7:00 AM and closes at 7:00 PM.

Between the Beach CLub pool and the casino is a new nightclub named 'Surrender' with a pretty original and somewhat humorous but possibly provocative logo.

You can see the interior of Surrender by looking through the huge windows towards the pool. Looks like a real nice joint but nothing out of the ordinary from where I stood.

I hope you all had a pleasant Memorial Day.

Celine Dion is pregnant with twins. Insert joke here.

World Series Of Poker has started. It will narrow down to 9 players by July 17 and take a break. They will come back in November to finish.

Barbara Greenspun died on Tuesday. She was the wife of Hank Greenspun. She was in charge of the Las Vegas Sun newspaper. Her and her late husband were very dedicated to Las Vegas.

Steve Wynn might not be moving his headquarters to Asia, but he is moving half of it.

Steve Wynn is suing Joe Francis, the man who has been pestering him for years. I'm betting Steve's pockets are deeper than Joe's.

Spring has sprung and now it's summer. It's like someone flicked a switch and the cold winds are gone. We hit 95 for the first time of the season this week. Ditto for 100. Heat advisories are in effect this weekend as we approach record highs pushing 110. We last saw 100 on Sept 18 at 101 degrees. Our normal high for this time of year is 94.

Two cars of drunk kids driving around, drag racing, and shooting marbles with slingshots at other cars. They wreck and injure others.

Wolfgang Puck is feeling the economic crunch...or at least responding to it. His Brasserie at City Center is now his Pizza joint. That's probably a good move for tourist walking through City Center.

After much negative publicity, MGM is starting to pay back subcontractors. I still don't think this issue is over.

Small house fire caused little damage to home and lots of smoke that killed elderly lady and man, 42 cats, and 1 dog.

JMT, Thanks again for these 'local headlines'.

Can you elaborate a bit more on two items you briefly mentioned above?

What is the situation between Steve Wynn and Joe Francis? I have not heard anything about this before.

And ... When I recently walked by Puck's Brasserie shortly after its Grand Opening, it was just about completely empty, so does this new "Pizza Joint" mean that it will be considerably less expensive?

Have you noticed if any business in Crystals has closed shop or somewhat condensed their operations other than Wolfgang Puck's place?

JMT< I just found the following: Very interesting!

Lawsuit....It's all over a story TMZ broke in April -- in which Francis was quoted as saying, "Mr. Wynn has threatened to kill me ... He said he would hit me in the back of the head with a shovel and bury me in the desert." Francis made the alleged statement during a court hearing over a gambling debt he owes the Wynn Las Vegas.

Well according to court documents, Wynn says the "Girls Gone Wild" honcho is full of it. In the lawsuit, filed today in L.A. County Superior Court, Wynn denies all of the above -- stating he "never threatened to kill Francis, nor physically threatened him in any manner."

Wynn is suing for unspecified damages.

I started following the Joe Francis/Steve Wynn deal a long time ago. From what I can tell, Joe is just an attention whore. Therefore, the more it gets talked about, the more he wins.

I would hesitate to say that the Puck pizza place will be considerably less expensive. I have not compared menus though. I'm guessing "the public" would accept paying about the same amount for a menu they could understand versus a bunch of french names and items they aren't familiar with.

Triumph, the new show to open at the LV Hilton has pushed it's opening back to Sept or Oct because La Raf is still working on their segment of the show. If these Sigried and Roy wannabes do the same thing that they did on the Craig Furgeson show, you can find it at any magic shop in town for $50.

The Yard House opened it's second Las Vegas location at the Red Rock Resort. It's first location is the busiest business in the Town Square shopping center. The Yard House has the worlds largest selection of draft beer.

Celine Dion, who owns most of the food court across from the Coloseum venue is planning changes at the food court.

Terri Irwin, wife of the late Crocodile Hunter is still rattling cages as she looks for investors to build a crocodile experience in Las Vegas. She's a pretty persistent woman and wants to spread the dream her husband once had of an educational habitat here.

ESPN Zone will close on June 16. Disney is closing several of these chains. I guess sports bars are more common than they originally thought.

The Las Vegas Sun is reporting that Brad Garrett will open a comedy club at the Tropicana this month. It will be in the same venue and the old Comedy Stop and where Bobby Slayton tried a 4 wall deal. We'll see if he can make through the 2 year deal.

Louis Anderson will end his run at the Excalibur on August 1. Rumors say he will take over the Bonkerz Comedy Club at the Palace Station.

A 21 year old man and 39 year old woman from Arizona come to Las Vegas to get married. After a night of drinking and drugs and robbery and carjacking and high speed police chase, they get cornered in a gated community and decide back up and ram the police. They never did get around to getting married. The police shot at the car, killing the woman and injuring the man. The man is charged with murder (in addition to other charges) as a Nevada law blames the death of the woman on him because they broke the law causing her death.

The worlds only Playboy Club celebrated the 50th anniversary of the Playboy Club, which started the bunny suit clad waitresses. 50 parties at 50 cities worldwide joined in the celebration. There was a contest to crown a Miss 50 at the club that night.

The Las Vegas Classic Jazz Band that has been playing weekday afternoons at the Gold Coast since it opened almost 25 years ago has closed it's run there. No word on If/when they will play again or what will happen to the venue.

More than 50 people at a family party at a regular home, over a dozen in the back yard, and nobody paying attention when 7 year old drowns in the swimming pool.

Bryce Harper was drafted #1 to the Washington Nationals baseball club. Bryce is 17 years old and the first Las Vegan drafted #1 in any sport. He was on the cover of Sports Illustrated last year. He is a power hitter and plays catcher. The Nationals will probably play him in right field.

Nevadans voted for Sharron Angle to challenge Harry Reid. Sharron is pretty extreme and was endorsed by the Tea Party. Harry Reid ran campaign ads against Sharron's closest competition, Sue Lowden, because Harry thinks he can beat Sharron easier than Sue. Harry's attack ads of Sharron Angle have already started.

Nevadans also voted for Brian Sandoval to replace Jim Gibbons in the challenge for governor against the son of Harry Reid, Rory Reid.

OJ Simpson's case went before the Nevada Supreme Court appealing the robbery conviction should be larceny. They are also looking at many other loopholes to try to free OJ. The Supreme Court ruling could come later this year.

A man at the Colorado Belle in Laughlin was committing "suspicious activity". When police arrived to check it out, the man went outside of his room and hung on to the air conditioner....for a while, then fell 6 stories and rolled off a ledge falling another 6 feet onto the concrete sidewalk. He is is critical condition.

Summer is here. We had 110s this week. Another storm is blowing through knocking temps down 25 degrees or more. We might not hit 80 today.

I watched this kid play a couple of years ago at Las Vegas H.S. They were playing against Green Valley H.S., where lil' Cajun played when he was in high school. This kid was unbelievable, I've never seen anyone that young, in high school hit a ball like he does.

Early in the game GV was up by 2 runs, LV was at bat with 2 runners on base when this kid, the go ahead run, comes to the plate. You'd think they would walk him, nope, they pitch right to him and on the first pitch he sends the ball over the center field fence for a three run homer that put them up by a run. Bet they learned their lesson after that one.

It's a slow news week, and that's okay by me.

MGM Mirage shareholders approved the name change to MGM Resorts International. The name of the players club will change also.

Wynn and Encore laid off over 250 employees. At the same time, he converted thousands from part time to full time.

Garth announced several more fall dates. Tickets will go on sale today, 19JUN10

The ESPN Zone at NYNY has closed.

City Council approved $300,000 from the sales of Centennial license plate sales to be allocated to the Mob Museum downtown.

My ticket offer for the LA Comedy Club usually has the show at the 4-Queens downtown. This weeks LA Comedy Club offer was at Wasted Space in the Hard Rock.

A popular Reno show, Greg London's Icons, is now playing at the Riviera on the Las Vegas Strip.

Nevada's unemployment rate now leads the nation at 14%

Sir Richard Branson came to town with another surprise stunt. All he did was stand like a conductor and conducted the music to the Bellagio fountains. The reason for his appearance was celebrating new service to Las Vegas on Virgin Atlantic Airways. The show stopper was when he rode around the lake on a jet ski with a flight attendant on the back and they both fell off the jet ski as he stopped to let her off.

A big sink hole opened up at Nellis and DI, eating a car. I know it's a common news story, but it's not so common here.

JMT, how do you receive a ticket "offer" for the LA Comedy Club?

And where does one find comp't tickets for various LV shows?

Never heard of Greg London's Icons. What is that show all about?

BTW, I 've seen some definite improvement in casino visitors there past couple of weeks. Do you think we'll continue to see more visitors or has this just been a one time happening thing?

Thanks for your weekly "Local Headlines" post. It's always interesting and keeps me from investing in a LVRJ subscription.

But in an effort to not be completely dumb on LV news, I often go on-line to see what the LVRJ and the LV Sun have to report.

But you sum it up better than those pros.

Ya know Will, i check the LVRJ too, but I like jmt's spin. Or is that anti-spin?

Sorry, I don't read the RJ. I used to love it and subscribed to the daily edition when I lived in Texas. Now it's pretty sucky and the online version is just a waste of my time.

FYi to all. The RJ is getting stupid with lawsuits when quoted and linked. PLEASE, if you find a RJ article you want to talk about, just talk about it. DO NOT cut and paste. It would probably be best not to even link to it to keep us off the radar. Most of us know how to find stuff these days with minimal guidance.

Greg Londons show is pop star impersonators.

will, the freebie tickets require a Nevada ID and I get many of my comps from showtickets4locals.com. You sign up to get on an email list. There are various services that you can pay an up front fee and get tickets for no charge as they become available. ALL services have little tricks and reading the fine print and understanding what you're getting into is a must.

OK, thanks for the above info, JMT. Especially for the cut and paste info.

Have you heard anything about the free Thursday afternoon (2 PM) shows at Sam's Town? Starts this Thursday, 24 June with the following:

Clint Holmes
Domenick Allen

The stars of Menopause the Musical
Ebony and Ivory
Lena Prima
Shades of Sinatra
Jason Andrews the Magician
Fifth Avenue
Leonardo's Piano Follies

But I don't think that all the above will appear all on the same day though.

I'll do my best to check it out if I can get out that way this coming Thursday.

I've been to that many times will. I have a hard time recommending it to others as my taste in music and shows is old school.

If you like lounge shows and the Rat Pack era, you might like this show. However it's not a lounge act and it's not a Rat Pack show. It's a lot of entertainers doing small bits, so it's more of a preview and interview of high talent, low cost shows that will be playing soon.

I really like that show. With your theory of talent should be heard and not seen, I don't know if you would like it or not. Don't expect WOW factor.

The only thing I don't like about that show is lining up to get in and the seats are just standard folding chairs.

I believe the show is rebroadcast on the radio a few days later.

Thanks again, JMT.

Yea, I still don't like to watch singers sing but I really enjoy magic acts.

I'll probably go regardless just to see how it all works out. I'm the kind of guy who enjoys seeing the background and how it all works and functions.

Thanks for the review.

Stabbing on the strip. 2 smut peddlers and a guy selling illegal CDs on the sidewalk near Planet Harrahswood. What can I say?

Bad ass boys involved in the Mixed Martial Arts have been getting in trouble around town lately. The latest case at the Luxor when one of these guys was at a party and began issuing severe physical criticism to his girlfriend. One of his buddies, a UNLV football player tried to break the two up and bad ass boy beat his buddy to death. He was arrested, but released because the DA hasn't filed charges yet, pending autopsy results.

Another case where a Henderson teen gave birth at home and tried to destroy the baby. Luckily the father of the teen was a paramedic and saved the child.

The historic Moulin Rouge has lost it's final battle for survival. The Historic Preservation Society has given the okay to tear down the very few pieces that remain. I assume the temporary casino is still on schedule to open for a day next month in order to keep the gaming license valid.

Truck driver with load of bees stopped at his home in North Las Vegas to freshen up before going on to The Beehive State. The heat of the day started melting the honeycombs, the bees were not pleased and escaped to vent their anger. The fire department sprayed the cargo to cool it down and the truck driver got back on the road where ariflow cooled the load.

JMT, yesterday around noon (Friday, 25 June) I saw a huge cargo truck just about at the corner of Tropicana and Wynn Road with numerous police cars surrounding it.

That entire area wasl taped off similar to a crime investigation scene and the truck cargo compartment looked like it had exploded from the insides.

And I do mean a BIG explosion.

Any info on this?

A truck spilled some soap...aka cleaning chemicals. Since the city and county are having fire dept cut back issues in the budget crisis, they made a big deal out of it being a hazmat incident.