Penny Cuddles Wiggins of Las Vegas, 56, left, leads a group down Fremont Street during the Alibi Las Vegas in Las Vegas, Saturday, Dec. 30, 2017. Joel Angel Juarez Las Vegas Re …Penny "Cuddles" Wiggins of Las Vegas, 56, left, leads a group down Fremont Street during the Alibi Las Vegas in Las Vegas, Saturday, Dec. 30, 2017. Joel Angel Juarez Las Vegas Review-Journal @jajuarezphoto
By Steve Bornfeld • Las Vegas Review-Journal
January 6, 2018 – 12:32 pm
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There are texts. Then there’s this text.
“Hi it’s Cuddles the Showgirl. Can U help me? Meet me @ the Big Heart outside Container Park (707 Fremont St.) @ 11:45 a.m./tomorrow.| Don’t be late sweetie!!!” Whatever you say, honey-bunny.
With that Friday evening missive, we’re prepped for a Saturday morning excursion into oddness called “Alibi Las Vegas,” a weekly, kooky combo platter of downtown walking tour/interactive scavenger hunt/restaurant crawl/detective challenge/street-side improv/joie de vivre soiree. Which is to say: a Vegas show that wouldn’t be caught dead in a Vegas showroom. (Nor would Cuddles.) Rather than sit, applaud and gaze at a stage, this bonkers entertainment brew, concocted in 2014, plunges us into a surreal scenario in which we wind up ferrying ill-gotten booty for a shadowy no-goodnik through our colorful streets.
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I did a similar experience in New York called ‘Accomplice,’ and I thought with all our rich history, we could have one customized to Vegas. The moment you arrive, it’s already started.
— “Alibi” creator Ivan Phillips Read more…
Updated: Las Vegas’ Self-Driving Shuttle Service Crashes In First Hour Of Service
Update: In only its first hour of service, Las Vegas’ driverless shuttle got into a minor collision with a delivery truck that was backing up.
None of the shuttle’s eight riders were injured, nor was the truck driver; the shuttle’s front bumper reportedly bore the brunt of the damage. A representative of AAA on Twitter attributed the accident to “human error.” According to an official statement posted by Las Vegas City, “the autonomous shuttle was testing today when it was grazed by a delivery truck downtown. The shuttle did what it was supposed to do, in that its sensors registered the truck and the shuttle stopped to avoid the accident. Unfortunately, the delivery truck did not stop and grazed the front fender of the shuttle.” Read entire article…
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Original post from:
theverge.com
by Andrew J. Hawkins@andyjayhawk Nov 6, 2017, 3:40pm EST
The city of Las Vegas is expanding its experiment with autonomous technology, offering members of the public free rides on a self-driving shuttle bus making stops in the city’s congested downtown. The shuttle will only make three stops on its 0.6-mile loop, but its operators are calling it “the largest self-driving pilot project in the US.”
The shuttle, which is designed by a French startup called Navya, can seat up to eight passengers, including a safety driver. So while the vehicle’s hardware and software will be handling all the driving operations, it won’t literally be a “driverless” experience.
IT WON’T LITERALLY BE A “DRIVERLESS” EXPERIENCE
The shuttle is outfitted with LIDAR, GPS, and cameras, in addition to V2I (vehicle-to-infrastructure) technology that will allow it to communicate with sensors embedded in Las Vegas’ traffic signals to better manage the flow of traffic. (The Verge’s Casey Newton recently got the chance to test out an Audi equipped with V2I technology in Las Vegas, and he found the experience to be much less stressful than usual.)
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Starting November 8th, the shuttle will begin accepting passengers at any of the limited route’s three stops located on Fremont Street and Carson Street between Las Vegas Boulevard and 8th Street. The service is operated by Keolis, the largest private transport company in France, and will also be sponsored by AAA, which plans to use the year-long project to survey rider attitudes toward autonomous vehicles.
The shuttle project is an expansion of a two-week experiment conducted by Navya and Keolis in Las Vegas last January. At the time, Las Vegas Mayor Carolyn Goodman said she hoped to have a fleet of autonomous vehicles operating in the city by the end of 2017 Read more…
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Who’s hitting Fremont Street for Halloween? Downtown is home to some of Sin City’s favorite haunts, and we’ve got lots of surprises in store, so join us for the wildest Halloween bash in the world. New this year, Fear the Walking Dead Survival. Take a look: Fremont StreetHalloweenWalking Dead Survival
A rendering of the southeast view of the Las Vegas Ballpark, being designed by HOK and developed by the Howard Hughes Corp. in Downtown Summerlin to house the Las Vegas 51s.*
This post was originally published by the lasvegassun.com
By Adam Candee (contact)
Published Tuesday, Oct. 10, 2017 | 12:33 p.m.
Updated 46 minutes ago
Years of delays and doubts about the new ballpark sought by the Las Vegas 51s vanished today with the announcement of plans for a Downtown Summerlin stadium.
Howard Hughes Corp., which acquired a controlling ownership interest in the team earlier this year, announced plans for a 10,000-seat park that will break ground by early 2018 and be ready for the 2019 season.
The Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority acquired naming rights for the stadium in a 20-year, $80 million deal approved by the organization’s board. It will be called Las Vegas Ballpark.
“With a new home in Downtown Summerlin, the future of professional baseball in Southern Nevada looks exceptionally bright,” 51s President Don Logan said. “We are confident this location, which is easily accessed from all regions of the valley via the 215 Beltway, will help grow our fan base and introduce new generations to America’s favorite pastime.”
The stadium will feature 22 luxury suites, club seats, berm seating, party zones and decks, a kids zone and a pool beyond the outfield wall.
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Howard Hughes Corp. bought 50 percent of the team for $16.4 million in March from previous partner Play Ball Owners Group, a Las Vegas-based investor group. It previously owned the other half of the club in a joint venture with Play Ball, and can donate its own land for the stadium, easing the cost of the stadium project.
HOK, a leading sports architecture firm that recently completed Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta, will design the facility. HOK was involved in plans for a Las Vegas baseball stadium in 2004 when the Montreal Expos considered moving to the valley before going to Washington, D.C.
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The team will leave Cashman Field when Las Vegas Ballpark is ready. The 34-year-old stadium is the oldest in the Triple-A Pacific Coast League (PCL) and has suffered in recent years from sewage leaks and other maintenance issues. Read more…
October’s Moon rises just after sunset and sets around sunrise, so this is the only night in the month when the Moon is in the sky all night long.
Some Native American tribes referred to October’s Moon as the Full Hunter’s Moon, as it was the time to go hunting in preparation for winter. This full Moon is also called the “Travel Moon” and the “Dying Grass Moon.” Read more about Full Moon names and meaning.
JULY FULL MOON NAMES
July is the month of the Full Buck Moon. At this time, a buck’s antlers are in full growth mode. This Full Moon was also known as the Thunder Moon because thunderstorms are so frequent during this month.
How did the Full Moons get their names? The Full Moons have descriptive names that come from Native American tribes who used the Full Moons as a sort of calendar to keep track of the seasons. The Almanac tends to use the names of the Algonquins who were prominent along the Atlantic Coast and into the interior along the St. Lawrence River and around the Great Lakes.
by Golden Entertainment, operators of the PT’s Pubs chain in Southern Nevada, is acquiring a company that owns four Nevada casinos, including the Stratosphere. (Jeff Scheid/Las Vegas Review-Journal …Golden Entertainment, operators of the PT’s Pubs chain in Southern Nevada, is acquiring a company that owns four Nevada casinos, including the Stratosphere. (Jeff Scheid/Las Vegas Review-Journal) @jlscheid
By Richard N. Velotta Las Vegas Review-Journal
June 12, 2017 – 8:01 am
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Golden Entertainment, operators of the PT’s Pubs chain in Southern Nevada, is acquiring a company that owns four Nevada casinos, including the iconic Stratosphere Casino Hotel & Tower, for $850 million.
The deal with American Casino & Entertainment Properties also includes two Arizona Charlie’s properties in Las Vegas as well as the Aquarius in Laughlin.
The transaction, announced early Monday, will include $781 million in cash and about 4 million shares of Golden stock issued to the four casinos’ current owner, Whitehall Street Real Estate Partners 2007, a real estate equity fund managed by the Merchant Banking Division of Goldman Sachs.
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It isn’t Golden’s first venture into casino operations. The company operates the Pahrump Nugget, Lakeside and Gold Town in Pahrump and the Rocky Gap Casino Resort in Flintstone, Maryland.
In addition to those properties, Golden operates slot routes with more than 12,000 machines in Nevada and Montana.
Golden is best known in Southern Nevada for its dominance of the local tavern market, operating more than 50 locations under six brands — PT’s Gold, PT’s Brewing, PT’s Ranch, Sean Patrick’s Pub & Grill, Sierra Gold and SG Bar — through its PT’s Entertainment Group.
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“This is a transformational event for our company, creating a significant gaming portfolio centered around Nevada-based casinos that, in addition to our Pahrump properties, will include two well-known Las Vegas locals casinos, a destination resort in Laughlin and the iconic Stratosphere property on the Las Vegas Strip,” Golden Chairman and CEO Blake Sartini said in a release announcing the transaction.
The biggest part of the transaction, literally and figuratively, is the 2,427-room Stratosphere and its 1,149-foot tower, the tallest free-standing observation facility in the United States. The site, technically, is just off the Strip within the Las Vegas city limits read more…
From: travelzork.com
Posted by: Marc, May 21, 2017 May has been a busy month for the corporate entity Caesars Entertainment. You can see all of the press releases here but I’ll try to share the interesting information in easily digestible bites. Let’s roll!*
Caesars Plans To Upgrade and Expand In Las Vegas
This isn’t entirely news (see Vegas News on May 7) if you read this column every week. However, old-school corporations like Caesars typically move slowly so some information is just reaching the masses. This week Caesars Entertainment CEO Mark Frissora discussed some post-bankruptcy plans with Bloomberg.
We already knew that Caesars was planning to build on the vacant land they own just off the Vegas Strip. There are 40 acres of land behind The Linq and 50 acres behind Bally’s that are waiting to be used for something. Caesars also plans to do something with the seven acres in front of Caesars Palace and up to the Vegas Strip. Please no Caesars Palace Grand Bazaar. Please.
Some of the space behind Bally’s and The Linq will be used on cheap construction like shopping and convention space. I don’t think a new hotel tower will be added to either property and was curious what the twitter world thought. Without using the name of the casinos I asked twitter what they would build on the space and received some interesting responses.
The most interesting response was from @John_Mehaffey. He thinks building something similar to Rising Sports Ranch in Mesquite, NV could make sense. I’m a sports fan so I like this idea. If a sports complex is built behind Bally’s it would be a nice sister property to The Linq and could tie in nicely with another nearby sports complex, Topgolf at MGM Grand. Caesars could even partner with Rising Sports Ranch to share in the expense of building the experience.
It seems as though Frissora and Caesars already have a plan in mind but I think the sports complex idea or a water park would inexpensively complement what Caesars offers. Keep your eyes open for more news on these developments.
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Flamingo, Caesars Palace Renovations Planned. Maybe More To Come.
Caesars plans to renovate 7,000 hotel rooms throughout the country this year. The biggest renovation scheduled right now is to 1,270 rooms at the Flamingo. Caesars Entertainment will be upgrading all of the FAB rooms at the hotel.
These rooms were renovated five years ago but were never really completed since they didn’t touch the bathroom. That renovation brought the rooms from the 1970’s to the 1990’s but not much more. The first batch of new rooms at the Flamingo will be available in November. Caesars is currently planning completion by the second quarter of 2018. You can read more about the renovations here and see the rendering video below:
As we previously mentioned, Caesars will begin renovations to 1,100 hotel rooms at the Palace Tower of Caesars Palace Las Vegas. No other Las Vegas renovations have been revealed yet, but the Indigo Tower at Bally’s could use a renovation. Perhaps that will tie together their plan for the 50-acre plot of land behind the hotel.
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Caesars Quick Hits
Richard Marx will perform “Satisfied: Only The Hits” at Flamingo from August 15 through September 2. Read more here.
A person is suing Planet Hollywood because he was frightened by a mannequin in his room. Read more here.
Cosmopolitan Evolution Continues
The latest renovations at the Cosmopolitan aren’t for just anyone. The hotel just opened 21 luxury penthouses located on the 71st through 75th floors. There’s also a new high rollers room called The Reserve on the 71st Floor. This intimate 3,200-square-foot high rollers lounge is for the highest of high rollers.
According to the Las Vegas Review-Journal, the room will have a sliding wall to create two parlors. The casino expects that gamblers in this lounge will be wagering around $1,000,000 per hand. The Cosmopolitan continues to evolve into a casino that still appeals to the cool kids while trying to open its doors to traditional casino customers. The penthouses should appeal to both, while the gaming lounge will probably only appeal to the gambler. Read more…
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“While happy hour specials per property are more plentiful on the Strip, you’re basically getting happy hour like prices around the clock at most places downtown. Some establishments do feature discounted delights, complementing the already reasonable prices.” “Here’s a quick rundown of some current offers:”
Main Street Station Triple 7 Brewery:
3 – 6pm Monday – Friday and 11pm – 2am
Discounted food, $2.50 house wine, well drinks, and 16 oz microbrews
Casino Bar
$2.50 Micro Brews 24/7
California Redwood:
4pm – 6pm
Discounted small bites, cocktails, beer and wine
Fremont
Tony Roma’s
$8.99 Prime Rib: 4:30 – 6:30pm daily
$11.99 Steak and Lobster: 9 – 11pm daily
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Golden Nugget Chart House:
4 – 6pm Monday – Friday and 10:30
$5 – $8 bites and $3 – $7 drink specials
Grotto:
2 – 6pm Monday – Friday and 10:30 – 12 Sunday – Thursday (bar only)
$5 beer, $6 spirits and wine, $8 pizza and more
Red Sushi:
4 – 6pm daily
Appetizer, sushi, and cocktail specials
Cadillac Mexican Kitchen and Tequila Bar:
4 – 7pm Monday – Friday
$3 – $5 drink specials and discounted bites
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Claim Jumper:
$6 house margaritas and bloody mary’s – all day
Plaza
Oscar’s:
4 – 7pm Daily
50% appetizers, house wine, well liquors and beer
Ladies Night 4:00 – 7:00 Thursdays
50% off the Happy Hour menu
El Cortez
Parlour Bar:
$5 “drink of the month”
“half buck wings” and pint specials: 4 – 6pm and 11pm – 1am daily
Downtown Grand
Freedom Beat:
2pm – 5pm and 2am – 5am
No specials listed
Sidebar:
10pm – 12am Friday and Saturday
No specials listed
Pizza Rock:
3 – 6pm Monday – Friday & 10pm til close daily
$3-$5-$7 Food and drink specials
Triple George Grill:
4pm – 7pm Monday – Friday (bar only)
$3 select draft beers, $5 appetizers, house wines, well liquors, and $6 featured cocktails.
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Non-Casino Establishments:
Park on Fremont:
4 – 7pm Monday – Friday
$6 appetizers & $3,$4, and $5 beverage specials
$30 all you can drink (all day)
The Perch:
3 – 6pm Monday – Friday
$5 – $9 bites, $2 off signature cocktails, $5 all beers and house wines
Evel Pie:
$5 draft beer and cheese slice (all day)
La Comida:
3pm – 5pm Monday – Friday
$5 margaritas and beers
The Smashed Pig:
10pm – 1am Thursday – Saturday
Special drink and small plate menu
Bin 702:
3pm – 6pm
$5 draft beers and $7 wines
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*These are, of course, subject to change. If you find any additional offers or notice some are no longer offered, please let me know. There is also a Strip Happy Hour page if you venture away from Fremont.
Sands Hotel Las Vegas, NV [Photo: courtesy MIT Press]
The Most American City Isn’t New York, L.A., Or Chicago
Long dismissed, this one city’s design gets the credit it’s due in a new book from MIT Press.
“Editors’ Note: In The Strip, a new book from MIT Press, Stefan Al–an architect, urban designer, and associate professor at the University of Pennsylvania–compares the evolution of Las Vegas to the cultural metamorphosis of the American dream. The following chapter is excerpted, with permission.”
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“The Strip began as an exception. But increasingly it has become a rule—in its holistically designed and multisensory environments, in being technologically wired and “smart,” in patterns of urban development, in financial practices, and in aesthetic tastes. For decades, Vegas marketed itself as an over-the-top series of urban stunts. But this seemingly outrageous behavior took advantage of fundamental changes in American society. The urbanistic role of Vegas has also taken a turn. The Strip began as essentially anti-urban, with inwardly oriented resorts located outside of the incorporated city of Las Vegas. Today, the Strip is a major pedestrian space with casinos that contribute to a larger urban experience. Vegas has now even become a model for 21st-century urbanism that other cities are seeking to emulate. Not only that, the city provides lessons for anyone called upon to create landmarks, attention-getters, fantasy environments, spectacular images, or memorable experiences. I personally witnessed the city’s impact as an architect when Chinese clients for the world’s largest tower, after a visit to the Strip, wanted the Bellagio’s musical fountains. They wanted Vegas.”
STEFAN AL continues:
From its inception in 1941, the Strip has mutated beyond even its own wildest dreams. In the 1940s, Strip developers dressed like cowboys, some packing real guns, built hacienda-style casinos that broke ground with moving neon displays as big as windmills. By the 1950s, casino builders replaced the wagon wheels with Cadillac tailfin forms, and pumped underwater Muzak into exotically shaped pools. The 1960s neon signs, as tall as 20-story buildings and as long as two football fields, were ripped down in the 1970s when the emphasis shifted to the buildings themselves, and chandeliers the size of trucks. By the next decade, the chandeliers had been replaced by a 10-story, laser-eyed sphinx and a fiery volcano spewing piña colada scent. Charmed by the world’s famous cities in the late 1990s, Las Vegas built replicas, including the Eiffel Tower, New York skyscrapers, and Venetian canals. But in the new millennium, a mere decade later, replicas were out and serious architectural originals, which housed museum-quality collections of authentic art, were in.
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If any city deserves the “Makeover Award” for the most drastic changes to its image, it is Las Vegas More…
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![Sands Hotel Las Vegas, NV [Photo: courtesy MIT Press]](https://assets.fastcompany.com/image/upload/w_596,c_limit,q_auto:best,f_auto,fl_lossy/wp-cms/uploads/sites/4/2017/04/2-the-strip-book-excerpt.jpg)