HAPPY NEW YEAR AND THE NINES

Las Vegas welcomes in 2005 with the help of three hundred thousand visiting party goers. The Fremont Street Experience was a sold out bash under the light show canopy while the strip was closed to vehicle traffic and opened to the thousands of people that made the trek to America’s New Year’s Eve Party. The stroke of midnight saw the largest fireworks display ever done in Vegas. The New Year’s Party under the Cloud outside the Fashion Show Mall was a sold out success.

The night of celebration went off without any major mishaps. Thousands of people partying in a safe, enjoyable atmosphere. The only problem of the night was a blown transformer that left some of the major strip properties dark or running on their backup generators. The Flamingo, Barbary Coast, Rio and Palms were without power for a time after midnight when a Nevada Power transformer quit. Reports from the totally dark Palms said the party continued uninterrupted with candlelight.

2004 was a great year for the city and the poker industry. Las Vegas saw record numbers of visitors spending record amounts of dollars while enjoying the city of entertainment. Shopping replaced gambling as the number one attraction. Las Vegas remains one of the hottest job markets in the country. The most expensive resort in the world will open in April when the Wynn is completed and the new tower at Caesars opens in September, 2005. The MGM Mirage will begin the $5 billion project that promises to take Las Vegas to the next level with hotels, casinos and residences built on the Strip. 2005 promises to be another record year for Las Vegas and it is our one hundredth anniversary. The city began the Centennial Celebration at midnight and it will continue for all of 2005.
Happy New Year!

Sometimes it can be a bit difficult to know it is New Years in Las Vegas so the Nines this week is ways to tell it is New Years in Las Vegas. This week’s Nines.

The Top Nine ways to know it’s New Years in Las Vegas.

9. Sidewalks filled with thousands of drunken tourist, no, that’s normal.
8. Casinos filled with visitors in horrible clothes and funny party hats, no, that’s normal.
7. City Hall trash cans full of empty gin bottles, no, that’s normal.
6. Crowds of curfew breaking teenagers bullying people on the strip, no, that’s normal.
5. Paris Hilton spitting mouthfuls of Champaign from the top of the Palms onto the people below, no, that’s normal.
4. Brittany Spears standing in line to buy ten pack of marriage licenses, no, that’s normal.
3. Homeland Security harassing ‘foreign looking’ tourist, no, that’s normal.
2. Crowds of girls drinking beer and flashing passing tourists, no, that’s normal.
1. There is no way to tell its New Years in Las Vegas.

That’s it for today. Tomorrow has the Week in Review and J. Santos’ “Muck It” cartoon. Happy Holidays & Stay Safe