The Week
The Week
Peace, Love and an Old Theater
July 12th, 2012
Everyone agrees on this much: The Huntridge Theater should be open. “It should be a place the community can go to and enjoy. Companies could rent it out for different things. You could get married there,” says Cima Mizrachi, whose family owns the 68-year-old historical landmark and the property it sits on. “Schools that don’t have a good theater on their campus could use the Huntridge,” says Dan Roberts, a member of the newly created Huntridge Foundation. “I could see banquets happening in there.” Read more »
The Week
An Idea That Shouldn’t Leave the Gate
July 5th, 2012
If anyone’s name belongs on this airport, it’s Sen. Pat McCarran’s—and not just because his legislation created the Civil Aeronautics Board, forerunner to today’s Federal Aviation Administration. As a U.S. senator, he helped obtain the gunnery school (later Nellis Air Force Base) that created the need for a new airport, and then he paved the way for its construction. Local officials named it for him because he made it possible. Read more »
The Week
They Came, They Glowered … They Left the Town Intact
June 28th, 2012
Boulder City’s famed bighorn sheep grazed as lazily as usual in Hemenway Park early Friday afternoon, June 22, oblivious to the “danger” that was just now rolling into town. A couple of miles up the road, it was the moment the sleepy hamlet’s 15,000 residents had dreaded for weeks: the arrival of scores of masked members of the Mongols Motorcycle Club for their three-day national convention. Read more »
The Week
Time to Shine
June 21st, 2012
The Concentrated Solar Thermal Power Conference and Exhibition comes to Las Vegas on June 27-28, bringing with it the trade’s top developers, suppliers and manufacturers. It also brings some important lessons for Nevada’s policymakers. Though geared toward the private sector, the conference should be an inspiration—and an education—for civic leaders and state legislators. After all, their decisions shape the development of the still-nascent solar industry Read more »
The Week
The Worst Night Ever?
June 13th, 2012
Earlier in the week, the reservation system for all MGM Resorts International hotels apparently gave up the ghost; thousands of check-ins, who had paid premium rates for such a slamming weekend, waited up to 12 hours to get their rooms—definitely something that would try the patience of even the most laid-back visitor. Then the big title fight ended with a eyeball-defying split decision for Timothy Bradley over Manny Pacquiao that left even the promoter, Bob Arum, embarrassed for the sport. Finally, the Electric Daisy Carnival had to shut down its seven main stages at about 1 a.m. Sunday because of high winds. Read more »
The Week
The Rise of the Gaming-Tech Corridor
May 31st, 2012
The gaming-testing lab BMM International announced in late May that it was moving its world headquarters from its current Eastern Avenue digs to the south-of-McCarran industrial area that’s become the city’s gaming-tech corridor—an area whose very existence defines the way Las Vegas and gambling are changing. Read more »
The Week
Unpacking Containerville
May 24th, 2012
Walking through the Fremont East entertainment district is pleasant up to a point. That point is located precisely at the southeast corner of Seventh and Fremont streets, where a trash-strewn asphalt lot provides empirical proof of just how far downtown Las Vegas has yet to go before we can even begin to call this neighborhood “gentrified.” Read more »
The Week
Sometimes, It's All About the Game
May 17th, 2012
Dancing off third base after Philadelphia Phillies lefty Cole Hamels purposefully drilled him in the back with a first-inning fastball on May 6, Washington Nationals rookie Bryce Harper saw his chance for payback. As Hamels tossed a second pickoff attempt to first, Harper shuffled down the line before accelerating toward the plate. The 19-year-old Las Vegan slid in ahead of the tag, stealing home and amassing yet another highlight in his first two weeks in the big leagues. Read more »
The Week
Appropriating Downtown, With Fries
May 3rd, 2012
There’s a new McDonald’s on the Strip, a place where you can order your Premium Southwest Salad with Grilled Chicken, accompanied by a McCafe Iced Caramel Mocha, and eat in a test-marketed atmosphere of faux-graffiti murals and faux-brick walls, loft seating and chandeliers befitting of a sophisticated urbanite such as yourself. (Hey, sophisticated urbanite: Why are you eating at McDonald’s anyway? Eh, never mind.) Read more »
The Week
Heat, Happiness and the Same Old City Hall
April 26th, 2012
Former City Councilmen Michael McDonald and Frank Hawkins—both of whom violated state ethics laws as councilmen in previous sweetheart deals—got approval for a new development using $11 million in public subsidies. They’re planning to build low-income senior housing near Decatur Boulevard and Vegas Drive at the obscenely high cost-per-apartment unit of $97,975, in a city with a glut of vacant single-family homes at a median cost of $107,000. Read more »
