From Cox.net: The "Heavy Hitter" is facing the wrath of a judge for missing the first day of his client's murder trial. The "Review-Journal" says Glen Lerner left a message for Clark County prosecutor Roy Nelson over the weekend, saying he was in Pennsylvania "on sabbatical," and told him, quote, "if the judge wants to sanction me, she can sanction me." Nelson provided District Judge Michelle Leavitt with a copy of Lerner's recording. Lerner was to have defended Mario Lino on charges he killed a man whom he thought was having an affair with his wife. Leavitt re assigned Lino's case to a public defender and warned she would report Lerner to the State Bar. Lerner told the newspaper he expects to be back in Las Vegas by March or possibly May. He says he's reexamining his priorities, saying he has been, quote, "living the life of a rock star for so long."

I guess he should have been living the life of an attorney. Does this mean no more commercials and will he be subjected to any kind of state bar investigation and further sanctions?

In Business excerpt:
The developer of Lake Las Vegas, Transcontinental Corp., in Henderson is in default on a $560 million loan and has until the end of the year to find buyers for its remaining undeveloped land or the development could face foreclosure, a Lake Las Vegas official said.

A group headed by investment banker Credit Suisse has, for now, waived any default obligations, after Lake Las Vegas, the lake resort community did not meet its debt obligation on a sales volume quota by Sept. 30,

Housing foreclosures, projects abandoned, Lake Las Vegas in default, Cosmopolitan in default, and the new Town Center looks to be a giant "white elephant;" will anyone doubt that the recession is already here?

Judicial Hellholes are places where judges systematically apply laws and court procedures in an inequitable manner, generally against defendants in civil lawsuits. In this sixth annual report, ATRF shines the spotlight on six areas of the country that have developed a reputation for uneven justice.
1 South Florida
2 Rio Grande Valley
and Gulf Coast, Texas
3 Cook County, Illinois
4 West Virginia
5 Clark County, Nevada
6 Atlantic County, NJ

From pg. 22 of the report:
The Los Angeles Times conducted an in-depth report on the Clark County judiciary entitled, "They're Playing With a Stacked Judicial Deck." As the paper reported: "A common perception among a dozen out-of-state lawyers interviewed about their experiences in Nevada
courtrooms is that justice in Las Vegas is just another form of legalized gambling."
Lawsuit shenanigans have increasingly tarnished the reputation of Clark County's
civil justice system. Clark County "courts are clogged with frivolous litigation and
the rolls of the state bar are spotted with unethical and incompetent attorneys."
"Indeed, frivolous class action lawsuits know no boundaries in a city that sings to
lawyers in siren song fashion."
...

As I have written before, it is so nice to know that the Times reports more on our corrupt legal system than Nevada's own media. Our newspapers seem to enjoy relaying and replaying our scandals but seem reluctant to upset the party by actually uncovering corruption, unless the players aren't part of Nevada's favorite sons and daughters club, such as former Chicagoan Lacey Thomas.of UMC "fame."

The Research 2000 poll, conducted for the Reno Gazette-Journal, found 68 percent of voters were in favor of the initiative filed by the Nevada State Education Association, which would raise the gaming tax from 6.75 percent to 9.75 percent at casinos with a total revenue of more than $1 million a month.
"That's pretty consistent with our findings as well," said Lynn Warne, president of the 28,000-member NSEA. "The (Las Vegas Review-Journal) did a poll that came in with over three-fourths in favor."

The NSEA has until May 20 to submit to the secretary of state the nearly 60,000 signatures required to put it on the November 2008 ballot. If approved by voters, the ballot question would require a second vote in favor in 2010 before it could go into effect.

"This is really bad news for gaming," said Erik Herzik, a political science professor at the University of Nevada, Reno. "They've been running their feel-good ads about 'look how much we contribute,' and nobody's buying it."

Other suspects using feel good ads to hide their questionable positions:
British Petroleum
Exxon-Mobile
Wal-Mart
Archer Daniels Midland
banks
pharmaceutical companies
insurance companies
hospitals
Mormons

Those running hate ads to make you feel bad or angry:
politicians and political action groups

Business Press reports southern Nevada office vacancies reached 12.24 percent in the third quarter amid a housing market downturn, acording to Applied Analysis, a Las Vegas-based economic research firm. The Las Vegas valley had 44.1 million square feet of office space at the end of September, and despite two million square feet worth of absorption for the year-to-date, vacancies still increased by 2.2 percent in the third quarter over last year.

Oh well...we have gotten used to seeing buildings implode here in the valley; now we get to see a whole market give it a try. And while we have these big casino projects being built, the gambling money is now going to Macau, which is using sports stars like tennis' Roger Federer and basketball's LeBron James to outstrip the Vegas Strip. Once the fire starts, we won't even have the water to put it out, but nothing is "wrong" in the valley except prostitution isn't legal according to Oscar.

Attorney General Catherine Cortez Masto has appealed a federal court ruling allowing Nevada's legal brothels to advertise. She filed the appeal with the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, stating she had "concerns about the legal standard used by the judge in determining that our state's long standing limitations on brothel advertising were constitutionally invalid."

First, the state lets everyone else advertise, including liars--I mean lawyers--and second, she is appealing before the Ninth Circuit, possibly the strangest court in the U.S. and certainly the most overturned of federal appelate courts, but in this Constitutional issue of free speech, I sure would like to know what she hopes to gain by spending Nevadans' money in the appeal, other than a clearer standard.

A Las Vegas Sun article dated August 27, the first day of classes for the Fall semester, reports;

The College of Southern Nevada is stepping up oversight of maintenance and construction work following reports by the Sun about alleged abuses at the school.
...
Former and current employees have accused [college construction chief Bob] Gilbert of using his position to arrange sweetheart deals with contractors who helped build his personal ranch estate off Kyle Canyon Road. The Nevada attorney general's office raided college offices, Gilbert's ranch and WGDL in June as part of a criminal investigation.
...
Gilbert is now on leave, which college officials say is to recover from shoulder surgery.
...
Interim CSN President Michael Richards said college officials had taken action, including closing some contracts, when circumstances showed that collusion occurred. He would not be more specific.

Richards inherited the problems this summer when former CSN President Richard Carpenter left to take a job in Houston . Carpenter told the Sun earlier this year that an internal investigation into Gilbert's activities found no actionable offense

As of yet, no one has said, "At least I'm not going to jail!" I wonder if Carpenter thought he was pulling an Atkinson-Gates by getting out of the job before an investigation included him. We know we have crooked cops, crooked lawyers, crooked doctors, crooked judges, blatently crooked politicians, crooked developers, crooked hospital administrators, crooked roads, etc. I wonder if I missed something; is there a special class that Nevadans take where some of the students learn to be ruthlessly corrupt and the rest to be unbelievably apathetic?

Dubai World, a holding company for the Persian Gulf state of Dubai, has invested $5 billion which gives it a piece of MGM Mirage and 50 percent of the 76-acre CityCenter complex under construction in the heart of the Strip. Dubai World's subsidiary, Dubai Ports World, was forced to sell its U.S. port operations after an uproar in Congress last year.

Dubai...isn't that where Haliburton has moved to?

Las Vegas Sands Corp. today reported second quarter financial results for the quarter ended June 30, 2007.

Net revenue for the second quarter of 2007 increased 18.6% to a record $612.9 million, compared to $517.0 million in the second quarter of 2006.

MGM Mirage Inc., operator of the MGM Grand, Bellagio and other casinos, announced its second-quarter profit more than doubled, boosted by a gain on the divestiture of some properties and sales of Las Vegas condominiums.

Earnings soared to $360.2 million, or $1.22 per share, versus $146.4 million, or 50 cents per share, in the previous year.

Even smaller organizations have posted gains. Boyd Gaming reported second quarter 2007 income from continuing operations of $22.9 million, or $0.26 per share, compared with $12.4 million, or $0.14 per share, in the same period 2006.

Investment in residential housing bad, oil companies and gambling good. Strange rule of thumb: when the economy sours, people gamble, when the economy really tanks, will people really gamble?

Steve Miller is reporting in his column at AmericanMafia.com that ex-Las Vegas City Councilman Michael J. McDonald is currently the subject of an IRS tax fraud investigation. A federal grand jury will convene in several weeks to hear the government's case against McDonald. An Indictment is expected soon thereafter.

Steve notes that while McDonald sat on the city council between 1995 and 2003, he was best known for being the pawn of two topless bar owners, and doing the bidding of a shady golf course developer and the local trash collection company. In eight years, he went from a $42,000 per year cop to a multimillionaire real estate developer/business consultant though he never built anything other than his own $1.75 million dollar residence, and his only known consulting job was for a little known topless joint called Pleasures that reportedly paid him $30,000 per month for his "consulting services."

For Steve's full story.

The Business Press has reported that local attorney George West III is putting car dealerships on notice to disclose all the items that go into the price of a car or face a jury.

West's campaign to force franchised car dealers to adhere to state and federal disclosure laws has already netted him and his clients three settlements in the valley, two with local Courtesy dealerships and one with Integrity Chrysler. Another two lawsuits are pending, one against Vista Chevrolet and the other against Fletcher Jones Toyota.

West says what he's found among some dealerships in Southern Nevada is the practice of hiding fees in finance agreements, which by law are supposed to be itemized both for the bank doing the financing and for the custome,r and is both widespread and easy to conceal. The pending local lawsuits are class actions, or are seeking class-action status, which could mean huge losses for the dealerships if West can prove to a jury that hundreds, if not thousands, of unwitting customers are financing cars with hidden fees attached.

Dealerships make their money, not on actual car sales, but on the extras they get buyers to agree to: extended mechanical warranties, service agreements, GAP insurance, the spray that seals a car's undercarriage, paint sealant and Scotchgard fabric protector.

Car dealers know this, West says, and routinely add the price of after-market products to the vehicle's selling price, which can mean as much as $2,000 on the base price of a new car. Often that $2,000, which is listed as a "paint sealant" or a rust-prevention package, pays for nothing more than a $40 car-wash contract, according to documents West provided.

Business Press reports a conversation with an ex-dealership worker who says. "I used to do it. I ordered the stuff, too. It was car soap and spray-on wax."

Other businesses do it also. The next time you buy furniture and and ask and pay for Scotchgarding, you will find that drinks and spills pour right through your couch and that what you actually paid for is for some company to come and clean your couch once.

Reported in several sources, including the Las Vegas Review Journal, according to his attorney, Robert Rose, former strip club entrepreneur Michael Galardi was apparently "shocked and stunned" Monday when U.S. District Judge Larry Hicks gave him a 30-month sentence even though Galardi spent four years cooperating with investigators and prosecutors.

Judge Hicks also imposed a $100,000 fine, the most allowed under the law, and ordered Galardi to pay Las Vegas and Clark County $200,000 each in restitution. Galardi also must start serving his sentence by June 22.

Judge Hicks said Galardi was the leader of a scheme to bribe Clark County commissioners for votes that benefited his multimillion-dollar strip club empire, stating, "This is one of the most reprehensible crimes of public corruption that has ever been prosecuted in the state of Nevada," None of it would have happened ... but for Mr. Galardi paying the money."

Once again a judge in Nevada has shown no understanding of the facts around him--none of this would have happened if the county commissioners hadn't been so eager to take the money. If one of them had simply gone to authorities at once about a proposed bribe, it would have been a little scandal, barely a blip on the Las Vegas corruption scene. And if this is one of the biggest crimes of corruption prosecuted in the state of Nevada, one can only wonder about the ones that got away.

Steve Miller, in his article, writes how on January 17, the Las Vegas City Council extended the temporary liquor license of Crazy Horse Too operator Mike Signorelli for another 90 days. Signorelli, who claims to be a bonafide buyer for the club, is scheduled to face the Council again on April 18 to ask for a permanent license, or face closure.

Signorelli admitted that he's not paying Crazy Horse owner and convicted felon Rick Rizzolo rent, and that he may not be able to close the purported $45 million dollar purchase for several years. He blamed his lack of cash on the high cost of illegally paying off cab drivers to bring patrons to his business.

During the January Council hearing, Signorelli's attorney, Jay Brown, who is intimately connected with Mayor Oscar Goodman and Senator Harry Reid, admitted that the topless bar is paying cab drivers to deliver customers.

Councilman Steve Ross remarked that Signorelli is "running this business outside the law" based on his admission, while Mayor Pro Tem Gary Reese emphasized that a liquor license is a privilege that must be exercised in the moral best interest of the community.

Councilman Steve Wolfson informed Signorelli that he would not tolerate any infractions of the law and ordered him to stop paying cabbies, and Signorelli and his attorney, Brown, agreed to abide by the order.

Business at the Crazy Horse immediately decreased, probably because cab drivers diverted customers to bars that paid them a bounty.

Miller reports that Signorelli is again paying for customers delivered to Crazy Horse Too, and his current pay off is $70.

But wait…here is an excerpt from an article, Cameras helping fight crime, taxi officials say,
from about 20 months ago.

A taxi driver is assaulted by a late night reveler while his companions look on from the back seat. A transient takes off in a cab left running outside a convenience store. Another man argues with a cabby over an unpaid fare and chokes the driver before fleeing. Yet another steals a taxi while the driver delivers dinner to his wife, then proceeds to rack up charges on the driver's credit cards.

All of these suspects were caught in the act in recent weeks by cameras mounted in taxis, according to the Nevada Taxicab Authority. Photos and video identifications led to the arrest of two of the suspects, while the remaining two fled to California. One was arrested on other charges, and the other still is wanted.

"The cameras are definitely working," said Rob Stewart, a spokesman with the Taxicab Authority. "It's all about case solvability."

Meanwhile, the Taxicab Authority, the taxi drivers' union and cab company owners continue to argue about proposed rules governing just how far companies can go to monitor what happens in taxis.

Really. Is that because while cameras are capturing crimes against cab drivers, those same camers might be capturing cabbies taking illegal payoffs for diverting customers to certain clubs? While the Las Vegas City Council orders Signorelli to stop paying, is it just more Las Vegas business as usual that others continue to do the same? I wonder just who has access to these videos and whether Metro's Intelligence division or corruption unit should consider viewing videos, either by polite request or subpoena. If cabbies are taking illegal payoffs, it is easy to see why the taxi drivers' union might be concerned. It appears the cameras might be working--just not only on the crimes they were intended to capture.

Reported in several new outlets, including International Herald Tribune, Golden Gaming Corp , owner of the Sahara Hotel and Casino, former hangout of the famous 1960s "Rat Pack" and the setting of the original "Ocean's Eleven" film, have agreed to sell the aging property to an investor group, including Los Angeles-based SBE Entertainment Group LLC and San Mateo, California-based Stockbridge Real Estate Funds.

The hotel was opened in 1952 by Milton Prell just outside of the City of Las Vegas, and was the sixth resort to open on the Strip.

In late 1954, the hotel hired jazz musician Louis Prima to be their late night lounge act, one of the earliest ones on the Las Vegas Strip. Along with his then wife Keely Smith and sax player Sam Butera, they created one of the hottest latenight attractions on the Strip.

In 1961, the hotel was purchased by Del Webb, who added a 24-story tower in 1963.

The resort was the site of the annual Jerry Lewis Labor Day Telethon for many years, mostly in the 1970s, and for a brief time in the 1990s.

Bill Bennett bought the property in 1995 and owned the hotel until his death on December 22, 2002. The property had since been owned by the Bill Bennett Family Trust.

photo by FlipChip/LasVegasVegas.com

A couple of current photos of the Palazzo project at the Venetian. The central tower core is almost topped out at 55 stories and the front facade is taking shape. The lower floors of the building have received the exterior finish.

photo by FlipChip/LasVegasVegas.com

photo by FlipChip/LasVegasVegas.com

Wandering around the south end of the Las Vegas strip checking out the Chinese New Year decorations I parked at the Bellagio Resort next to the Citycenter construction site. A rare event for me to be out when there is still some sunlight so I shot a couple of photos of the remarkable progress of the massive $8 billion project. Photos are current as of late Tuesday afternoon.

photo by FlipChip/LasVegasVegas.com

The Culinary Union has already begun preparing for labor talks on contracts covering 50,000 maids, food-service workers and cocktail waitresses.

The look of the players in the negotiations has certainly changed since the last negotiations in 2002.

For the casinos there are only two major players; there were four in 2002. The former Park Place Entertainment changed its name to Caesars Entertainment, which was taken over by Harrah's Entertainment, who now looks to go private with the equity firms, Texas Pacific Group and Apollo Management Group, while Mandalay Resort Group was purchased by MGM Mirage. Also, Tropicana and the Las Vegas Hilton have new owners.

On the union side the Culinary's parent organization, the hotel and restaurant-focused HERE, joined with the textile and laundry-focused UNITE.

Culinary members are concerned over the possibility of losing pensions or free health insurance, followed by the increasing cost of living.

See Hotel workers gearing up for tough contract talks.

According to documents filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission, the chief executive of Harrah's Entertainment Inc., Gary Loveman, will receive about $94 million in stock options and other bonuses if the world's largest casino buyout deal is completed.
Loveman would collect on stock options worth $80.3 million, stock appreciation rights worth $8.8 million, and restricted shares worth $4.9 million, and he can receive an additional $18.9 million, if he voluntarily quits a year after the buyout is completed.

For more see Golden Parachute article.

HSBC Holdings Plc (NYSE: HBC) was downgraded to Underweight from Neutral at JP Morgan, as the firm believes the loan loss from the U.S. mortgage business may be 20% worse than expected. They recommend investors to short HBC shares and use any rally to add short positions.

Six months ago I was receiving four applications a week for various credit cards but all applications were to be returned to one address--HSBC. Some day I will understand why companies are in such a rush to increase personal debt in this country to the point that billions of dollars are defaulted. My solution--every application was shredded and dumped.

The Casino Advisory Panel advising Britain's Dept. for Culture, Media and Sports recommended Manchester as the location for a new mega-casino. Krezner International seemed to have the best chance at building, but now Las Vegas Sands has announced they will enter the competition. The Sands is already the largest casino operation, coming out of 2006 with mega profits from its China gaming and the Venetian in Las Vegas, and they are also committed to another huge project on Hengqin Island near Macau.

Other potential bidders for the rights just might include Harrah's Entertainment, Inc. and MGM Mirage (NYSE:MGM).

For more see Rumors by Tom Barlow.

photo by FlipChip/LasVegasVegas.com

Another top level executive takes his leave from Harrah's Entertainment. COO Tim Wilcott departs today bringing to three the number of top level managers to take a hike. Flipchip has taken a look at the Las Vegas news for this first week of 2007 and posted on the Poker Prof's Las Vegas & Poker Blog.

Tim Maland, most recently the President of the Reno Hilton is moving to the public sector as Nevada's Director of Tourism. With a background in accounting and over 30 years experience in the Nevada gaming industry, Maland has worked at the executive level in both Reno and Las Vegas. Mr. Maland beat out Larry Friedman and Skip Sayre, the other finalists for the position and replaces outgoing director Bruce Bommarito. Bommarito is now the vice president of international planning for the TIA (Travel Industry Association) where he is "already being accused of showing favoritism towards Nevada Interests". [IBLV & RGJ]

Tim Maland's campaign contributions show support for Nevada politicians on both sides of the isle along with a sizable contribution to the Caesars' PAC.

In short, I could hardly ask for a more qualified and successful individual for the position, and with Mr. Bommarito at the TIA, Nevada's Tourism Industry has a bright future indeed.

photo by FlipChip LasVegasVegas.com

Harrah's Entertainment owns most real estate on the Las Vegas Strip.

Harrah's Entertainment will be sold to Apollo Management Group, the New York-based buyout firm run by Leon Black, and Texas Pacific Group for an estimated deal of $90 per share according to rumors heard on the Las Vegas Strip. The Special Committee made up of Harrah's board members has been in closed door meetings and apparently decided to accept the buyout valued at close to $17 billion. The two private investor groups' will take the casino giant private thus allowing a greater degree of flexibility without the close scrutiny of a publicly traded company. Expect an official announcement from the company within the next few days.

A buyout by Apollo and Texas Pacific has the potential to deeply impact the Las Vegas casino industry and will almost certainly involve changes for the Harrah's Entertainment owned World Series of Poker brand.

It was reported in the Boston Globe that Harrah's Entertainment spent $17.8 million to change the state constitution according to filings with the state Board of Elections, in a measure defeated by 63 percent of voters.

Save Our State apparently spent approximately $4 million to defeat the proposal, helped by nearly $1.1 million given by gaming entity UTGR Inc. DBA Lincoln Park LLC which filed its report with the board on December 5, 2006.

It was reported that Harrah's spent some of their money for pollsters; either the pollsters were incredibly inept or Harrah's incredibly spendthrifty in a vote that wasn't close enough to buy.