News
The Latest (National)
There’s Not Much About Mary!
Polite Mary Schapiro plays good-cop–good-cop, policing the plutocrats; it’s SOS for the SEC!
March 31st, 2011
Few cops are as well liked as Securities and Exchange Commission Chairman Mary Schapiro. “Oh, Mary is just a really nice, good person,” former SEC Commissioner Isaac Hunt told The Observer. “I don’t think anyone doesn’t love Mary.” Read more »
Comrade Grumpy’s Peeve of the Week
Wooly Public Radio Voices
March 31st, 2011
A fascinating story was narrated on National Public Radio last week. I know it was fascinating because it was on NPR, and I’ve heard tell that they talk about many subversive things on NPR. Unfortunately, I have no idea whom or what the story was about, because the teller of the fascinating and subversive tale had a soft, wooly voice that could not be heard over the low rumble of my red Lada hatchback. Read more »
Seven Days
The highlights of this week in your city.
March 31st, 2011
Sun 3 Watch out for all the cowboys and girls as they invade the desert for the 46th Academy of Country Music Awards. The awards will be hosted by Reba McEntire and Blake Shelton, with special appearances by presenters Nancy O’Dell and Ryan Seacrest. Performers include Alabama, Martina McBride, James Taylor and more. The event will be broadcast live from the MGM Grand Garden Arena, and tickets begin at $150 and are available on Ticketmaster. If you’re more about the music, join host Billy Cody at the ACM Fan Jam, a live concert during the show, held at Mandalay Bay Events Center and starring Sugarland, Eric Church and other favorites. The show begins at 5 p.m. and tickets start at $35 (Ticketmaster.com). Read more »
The Latest
Tweets of the Week
Compiled by @marseniuk
March 31st, 2011
@killorn While I might agree the best way to get over someone is to get under someone else, I really think that’s post-breakfast advice, Grandma. @Kass1nova Outta all the places in Vegas Lady Gaga could make an appearance at she went to Krave! #SoHomo. More... Read more »
Politics
All the Angles, for the Heller of it
March 31st, 2011
Rep. Dean Heller, R-Nev., announced a run for the Senate seat John Ensign is vacating, and Sharron Angle for the seat Heller is vacating. These are two separate-but-related facts—Heller wouldn’t have challenged a strong, popular, untainted Ensign, and his move made room for Angle to run for the House. But these matters are related in another, subtler way: which slot opened for Angle. Read more »
The Latest
Open Secret
Behind the construction barriers, gamblers play on at the Plaza
March 31st, 2011
By now, everyone’s heard about the Cosmopolitan’s secret pizzeria. There’s no sign, and it’s down a hallway decorated with LPs, but they do serve a tasty slice. Apparently, a lot of people have discovered something similar downtown—a “secret casino” with no hotel rooms, no entertainment, no restaurants, no loyalty program and no marketing offers. Read more »
Seven Questions
Jim Marsh
The iconic car dealer discusses his gambles, fixing Nevada and never getting over the barrel
March 31st, 2011
When things were so bad in Seattle in 1971 that billboards said “Will the last person to leave Seattle please turn out the lights?” the savvy Jim Marsh packed up his belongings and headed to Las Vegas, where he reopened an AMC Jeep dealership at Fremont and 17th streets that the previous owners had driven into the ground. From there, Marsh went on to become a Las Vegas legend, showcasing his dry humor both on the lot and in TV ads that he wrote himself. As his public presence grew, he also became a sharp voice in Nevada’s political discourse. Read more »
Comparison
A Tale of Two Casinos
March 24th, 2011
The Tropicana and the Sahara are a study in contrasts despite some shared history; at opposite ends of the Strip, both holdovers from the 1950s managed to survive into the 21st century. Both drifted further and further down market as they faced larger and more luxurious competitors. And, as of today, they are facing profoundly different fates. One is closing, while the other has a new lease on life. Read more »
The Latest
Scrubbed Clean
The Mob Experience offers a Hollywood version of organized crime in Vegas
March 24th, 2011
With one mob-related attraction on the Strip open and downtown’s flagship Mob Museum gearing up, this seems a city obsessed with its criminal past. New York and Chicago might have written the book on “the mob,” but Las Vegas is staking its claim on the epilogue. Read more »
Green Felt Journal
Tavern owners ponder life after football
March 24th, 2011
Should the current National Football League lockout stretch into the 2011 season—previously scheduled to begin in early September—there will be an impact on Las Vegas, even though the nearest NFL team is in Arizona. Read more »
