The Local Newsroom
The Local Newsroom
Spiders in Love
Always wanted to see a tarantula in the desert? Now’s the time
November 18th, 2010
In the fall, a young tarantula’s fancy lightly turns to thoughts of love. Or, at least, to female tarantulas. And so that male tarantula wanders high and low in the desert, crossing Charleston Boulevard near Red Rock, skittering around Highway 160 and Pahrump, and sidestepping across Death Valley. The months of October and November are the best (or worst, if you hate spiders) times to see tarantulas around Southern Nevada and the surrounding region. Read more »
Politics
Reid learned his lesson
November 11th, 2010
With the president unpopular and stuck cleaning up the mess left by his predecessor, the midterm elections were likely to go strongly against his party. In Nevada, though, a veteran of close statewide campaigns bucked the trend, winning against an opponent too conservative for some in his divided party and with a tendency to say the wrong thing at the wrong time. Read more »
The Local Newsroom
Leaping Toward Education
High school dropout seeks to make UNLV a better school— one jump at a time
November 11th, 2010
Karla Washington has led an extreme kind of life. Back in her high school years, the now-41-year-old Las Vegas resident admits the extreme factor wasn’t always of the positive variety. Read more »
The Local Newsroom
Silicon Vegas?
A San Francisco entrepreneur sees a high-tech valley
November 11th, 2010
Can the quirky, workaholic culture of high-tech innovation take up residence in downtown Las Vegas? That’s a question Michael Tchong— a media, technology and marketing guru—plans to answer by summer. Read more »
Green Felt Journal
Gambling on debt
November 11th, 2010
It’s no secret that casino companies are more debt-encumbered now than they’ve ever been. In 1990, the average big Las Vegas Strip casino (those earning more than $72 million a year in gaming revenue), had $7.8 million in long-term debt attached to it. By 1999, that number had soared to $171.5 million. And as of 2009, the total stood at $860 million. That’s a lot of borrowing. Read more »
The Local Newsroom
Right Place, Wrong Time
The owner of a pioneering Fremont Street venue recalls his expensive lesson in nightclub economics
November 11th, 2010
Since the creation of the Fremont East entertainment district in 2002, city officials have gone to great lengths to rebrand the area as a hip and trendy pedestrian zone with cafés, clubs, bars and restaurants. In 2007, the city allotted $5.5 million for wider sidewalks and 40-foot-tall neon signs, and the Las Vegas City Council in September approved an $80,000 contract to better market the district. Read more »
Politics
What it all may have meant
November 4th, 2010
You are reading this after the election, but it’s being written before the election. That might seem to make analyzing the results difficult. Actually, it doesn’t. Some pre-election thoughts on post-election matters: Read more »
The Local Newsroom
On the Road Again
Local RV show is a sign that the economy is moving
November 4th, 2010
When the RV Super Show hit South Point hotel-casino Oct. 26-31, it was more than just a sales opportunity for some 200 new and used recreational vehicles. Sponsored by Camping World, the show was the company’s second in Las Vegas since February, following a two-year hiatus, an indication that the economy may be picking up speed. Recreational vehicles are a disposable-income splurge, the type of spending that’s the first to go and the last to recover in a recession. Read more »
Green Felt Journal
Vegas convention biz heads for cutting edge
November 4th, 2010
The business travel market has always been important for Las Vegas. But with the 2008-09 downturn in convention bookings, it’s clear just how crucial meetings are for the local economy. Recently, MGM Resorts International began a few programs that help convention guests stay connected while they’re here. Read more »
The Local Newsroom
Art of the Deal
Downtown real estate auction is house flipping’s final frontier
November 4th, 2010
It’s 9:30 a.m., the worst time of the day for Griffin Group CEO B.J. Blakeley. The door to his second-floor office in a downtown two-story building on Fourth Street is open. Employee foot traffic is steady, and everyone seems to have a question. Blakeley doesn’t shy away from answers. Somehow he stays focused on the many tasks that come his way via alerts on his two computer monitors and oversize corner plasma screen. Read more »
