I hope you are enjoying as beautiful weather as we have been experiencing for the past week. It's hard to believe that we are coming to the end of summer and will soon have to slow down to 15 mph through school zones. These kids we're slowing down for can run faster than that, but I digress. Let's see what's happening in our town.

HARRAH'S CLOSES DEAL

I told you last week that Harrah's was on the move, looking to add to their recent Strip purchases by buying the Imperial Palace. Well, it's a done deal. It paid some $370 million for the almost 20 acres, and odds are high that it will tear down the IP to have room for its own expansion. Speaking of tearing down, the Castaways (formerly the Showboat) will soon be history. No plans for the site as yet by Station Casinos, which owns the property.

SPEED LINE

For years there has been talk about a high-speed train linking Los Angeles to Las Vegas, and that's all it's been -- just talk. But now, a bit more excitement has been generated with the news that the newly reauthorized federal transportation bill allocates $45 million for a super high-speed train.

It will be called the Maglev (don't ask me why) train, will connect our town to Anaheim and the ride would take less than an hour and a half. Sounds great, right? Until you consider that construction of this project would cost an estimated $1.5 billion, or $35.7 million per track mile. Now I'm not knocking the fed's $45 mil, but that will cover only a mile of track and by the time this thing gets off the ground, the cost will probably have risen to $50 million per mile. So don't sell your car just yet.

TROP OF THE WORLD

Here's a good deal for you. The Tropicana is offering a 3-part coupon that gives you $10 off per person, up to four, to any Folies Bergere show; $10 off per person, up to four, to their afternoon show Xtreme Magic Starring Dirk Arthur; and $2 off per person, up to four, to Titanic: The Artifact Exhibition. The first two parts are good until Nov. 30, while the last part expires Oct. 31.

MAKING A SPLASH

This is kind of interesting. The show Splash at the Riviera, that is currently celebrating its 20th anniversary with an all-new Centennial themed show, is expanding its commemoration of Las Vegas' birthday with a special benefit performance and cocktail reception on Monday, August 29 from 5:30 to 8:30 p.m. All proceeds will help fund the first-ever Las Vegas history book to be taught in Clark County schools.

The four-color, hard cover book will be accompanied by an activity workbook, targeted to fourth graders as part of Nevada history curriculum. The Las Vegas Children's History Foundation will initially produce and distribute 25,000 books to Clark County schools for the 2005-2006 school year. Additional books will be produced and distributed every year to keep up with Las Vegas' growth. By the year 2010, more than 230,000 students will have been impacted by this textbook's legacy. I think this is a great idea.

Seating is priced at $100 for general admission, (I said it was a great idea, not that it was cheap), $150 for orchestra seats, and $1,000 for a private booth that seats up to five. The pre-show cocktail reception will be held from 5:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. in the Grand Ballroom, followed by a special covered performance of Splash at 7 p.m. in the Splash Theater. You can get tickets by calling the Riviera box office at (702) 794-9433.

GRAND SLAM

Andre Agassi's 10th Grand Slam for Children will be featuring another superstar lineup when it takes to the stage Oct. 1 at the MGM Grand. Mary J. Blige, Celine Dion, Duran Duran, Earth, Wind & Fire and George Lopez are just a few of the stars already on board and David Foster will again return as musical director. This is a major event in our town and it's all for a good cause.

It's interesting to note that comedian Robin Williams, who has been a fixture at the event, will not appear this year, supposedly because of using blue material in his act. Also missing for the second year in a row is Dennis Miller, whose political comments two years ago brought on an angry outburst from Elton John during the closing act. Time to kiss and make up, guys.

Tickets are $150 and $100 (not including applicable service charges and taxes), and you can get them at the MGM Grand Garden Arena box office, all Las Vegas Ticketmaster locations (Tower Records/WOW!, select Smith's Food and Drug Centers, Robinsons-May stores and Ritmo Latino). Ticket sales are limited to eight (8) per person. You can also charge by phone, call MGM Grand Reservations at 800-929-1111, or Ticketmaster at (702) 474-4000. Or you can go to www.mgmgrand.com or www.ticketmaster.com. Is there anywhere you can't get them?

FUN FACT

Here's something you can use to impress your friends. Did you know there are 1,300 slot machines at McCarran airport and that the airport's share of the $54.4 million total slot take last year was $38.5 million. In 1985, just 20 years ago, the take was just $1.5 million.

BLOG ON

Blogs, those personal views on everything from food and fashion to politics and primates, have become increasingly more popular on the Internet, so much so that newspapers around the country now have their own blog sites. The Review-Journal is no exception, and this humble (yeah, right!) columnist is honored to be part of it. If you would like to read my blogs, called The View From Here, and those of my colleagues, Dave Berns (editor of Las Vegas Business Press) and Steve Sebelius (editor of City Life), visit www.valleyblogs.com. There's even a spot where you can respond and tell me I'm full of.....

Good luck and I'll see you on the Strip.

If you have a question or a Las Vegas experience you would like to share with my readers, please e-mail me at lennylv@cox.net. Please include your full name and the city or town where you live.