Opinion
The Deal
Parlay at the Queens
February 28th, 2013
What if you knew of a really good show that you could see for $25? That’s a pretty good price, but there’s always a way to do better on a show in Vegas. So what if I told you that you could see that same show for $15? Or better yet, for $10, and maybe another one just as good at no extra charge? That’s two good shows for $10 … $5 apiece. Sold! Read more »
The Latest Thought
The Long Shadows of Vegas Hubris
Even if the Fontainebleau and Harmon are imploded, we should always remember them
February 14th, 2013
There’s been a lot of talk over the past year about what should be done with the Harmon and Fontainebleau. The former, the subject of litigation, has been decried as a public-safety hazard that should be demolished. The latter, since its purchase by Carl Ichan in February 2010, has been rumored to be slated for disassembly and implosion. Read more »
Politics
The Ballad of Two Mayors
February 14th, 2013
“A 3-Term Mayor as Brash, Shrewd and Colorful as the City He Led.” The New York Times headline above Ed Koch’s obituary captured how he exemplified New York City in so many ways, good and bad. It also describes another former mayor who’s very much alive—Oscar Goodman. A look at both careers, and the ways in which they were similar, gives us some insight into our community and its history. Read more »
Politics
How to Lose Elections and Negatively Influence People
January 31st, 2013
Campaigns seem permanent, and permanently annoying. To complain about it ignores history: Candidates always have been engaged in constant plotting. Grant Sawyer used to tell his staff when he was Nevada’s governor from 1959 to 1967 that politics and policy—or politics and governance—are inseparable. If you can’t get elected, how do you govern? If you can’t govern, how do you get reelected? Read more »
Editor's Note
Nostalgic Innovation
January 17th, 2013
As I read Geoff Carter’s roundup of the growing Las Vegas tech community, I was struck by the quiet nostalgia lurking behind so many of the Businesses of Tomorrow. Read more »
Editor's Note
The Year of Now
January 3rd, 2013
No city wants to be compared to a compost heap, but it’s a fitting—and hopeful—metaphor for Las Vegas as it enters 2013. We’ve had a malodorous five-year experience as the core of a shriveled world economy, but something strange happened along the way: The seeds of Downtown culture—planted long before Tony Hsieh came along but fortified by his largesse—took root and green shoots appeared on Fremont Street and in Symphony Park. Read more »
Politics
For Higher Education, a Fix That Kills?
June 28th, 2012
Since I labor at the College of Southern Nevada, any discussion of the politics of higher education here may seem self-serving. But Nevada’s economic recovery depends on improving education. The question is whether the cures are worse than the disease. This conclusion emerges from a set of recent events that passed by quietly in the mainstream media: the meeting of the legislative committee on funding higher education, and a discussion among Republicans that could make the funding issue moot by gutting Nevada’s higher education system. Read more »
The Deal
Bar Hall of Fame—Gamblers’ Edition
June 21st, 2012
History, atmosphere, food selection, drink prices—these are among the things Vegas Seven considered when choosing a Bar Hall of Fame. But what about the gamblers? Players have different priorities, and some bars are superior to others when it comes to pay schedules, promotions and comps. The following is by no means a complete list off Hall-of-Fame-worthy gamblers’ bars, but it shines a light on what’s necessary to make it into the pantheon. Read more »
Politics
Price-Fighting Politicians
June 14th, 2012
We recently got a lesson in how money corrupts politics, courtesy of a governor in a state where corporate cash is tipping a historical balance. And this column isn’t even about Wisconsin, where Sheldon Adelson put himself on the winning side for once by ponying up $25,000 to Gov. Scott Walker. Read more »
Politics
Touring the GOP’s Divided House
May 31st, 2012
In 1858, Abraham Lincoln ran for the Senate in Illinois and, invoking a Bible he had carefully read and often disputed, declared, “A house divided against itself cannot stand.” He was talking about slavery, but he may as well have been previewing the Republican Party in 2012—in the Silver State and beyond. Read more »
