Character Study
Character Study
The Pony Players
May 26th, 2011
The 84-year-old New Yorker, known for his cigar-chomping speech and colorful shirts, is a staple of the casino, conducting his “business hours” there Wednesday through Friday mornings, when the book is quiet and a small fraternity—Peters and his fellow horse bettors Bob Lynn and Fred Siyufy—gets together to appreciate the sport of kings. Read more »
Character Study
Rockin’ the Stalls
April 28th, 2011
It might sound like a bad joke about disgraced Sen. Larry Craig, but it’s true: You never know who you’ll bump into in the restroom—and the coed facilities at Todd English P.U.B. are no exception. “I’ve met a lot of important people here,” says Pedro Iuli, 24, who, as a personal valet, spends his evenings in the restroom. “It’s helping out people with quality service, but I add a twist to it. It’s all in the hustle. That’s why I started rapping.” Read more »
Character Study
The Resilient Showgirl
April 14th, 2011
For about a year, Heidi Huckelberry was living the dream, dancing six nights a week alongside a cast of 80 in gorgeous costumes for appreciative audiences in a legendary Las Vegas production. But in 2005, performing a basic twist to the stage floor, she herniated two discs in her lumbar spine. The prognosis wasn’t good: Huckelberry was told to hang up her dance shoes. Read more »
Character Study
The Prodigal Star
March 31st, 2011
One look and it’s easy to tell that Ed O’Bannon is not your average car salesman. If his 6-foot-8 inch, 225-pound frame doesn’t give away O’Bannon’s former occupation as a hardwood hero, his business card (featuring a photo of him cutting down the net after he led UCLA to the 1995 NCAA title) and office décor (a framed Bruins No. 31 jersey and NBA poster) probably will. Read more »
Character Study
Class of the Mountain
March 24th, 2011
Hayley Hurt began skiing when she was 4 years old, and she’s been in love with hitting the slopes ever since. Yet when she was introduced to snowboarding about 10 years ago, her first experience was anything but pleasant. “I hated it the first time I did it,” she says. “I actually put skis back on. But my uncle talked me into doing it again, and ever since then I’ve stuck with it.” Read more »
Character Study
The Calling
February 24th, 2011
In the summer of 2001, Kimberly “KB” Berry was in her 15th year in the booming Las Vegas property management business. She was good at what she did, serving her fellow man, helping to make sure apartment complexes were running smoothly and residents were living happily. She and her husband, an Air Force search and rescue specialist who would later become a Henderson police officer, had four boys ranging in age from 2 to 20. It was a stable way of life in a stable world. Within six years, she was in her first week as a nurse at the Sunrise Hospital emergency department, assisting a doctor as he placed a catheter into a patient’s brain. Read more »
Character Study
The Love Concierge
February 10th, 2011
When visitors to Las Vegas are looking for the best restaurants to visit and shows to see, they turn to Arturo Ochoa. The 46-year-old has been helping guests at the Four Seasons plan their days and nights for more than seven years now, and he’s earned membership in the prestigious Les Clefs d’Or, which essentially mean he’s certified as one of the best of the best among concierges. After coordinating countless extravagant experiences, he knows what separates a guest’s good moments from the great ones: “We personalize everything,” he says. Read more »
Character Study
Maintaining the Power of Balance
February 3rd, 2011
Frank Simon pulls a pen from my hand and balances the ballpoint tip on his nose for 10 seconds. The act doesn’t end there as he grabs a stool at our McDonald’s meeting place and balances it on his forehead while still seated in a booth. He then swiftly fills a hotel glass with Coca-Cola and balances it on his nose as well. “Come on, come on, shake my hand,” he urges me, while the glass wobbles in place, patrons looking up from their breakfast. The affable beer- and buffet-loving Hungarian loves to work. And he does—some 200-plus balancing act shows annually around the globe. Read more »
Character study
Judgment Days
January 6th, 2011
Gary Davis, who once was the most creative judge in a town built on doing things differently, never did like to compromise. When he ran for his first political office in 1969 at age 21, his cousin told him, “The luckiest thing that could have happened in your life happened to you—you lost.” Davis didn’t stay lucky for long. Read more »
Character Study
Toy Story
December 9th, 2010
Johnny Jimenez, a frequent guest on the History Channel’s Pawn Stars, has always had an eye for discarded beauty. His father worked as a garbage man and would often bring home boxes of random odds and ends. It was Jimenez’s chore to go through the “junk” and to see if there was anything of value tucked away inside. Read more »
