Monday, October 14, 2002
Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal

Large-scale Strip Halloween celebration unlikely to unfold in near future

A Halloween celebration which a promoter in April said would rival Las Vegas' New Year's Eve extravaganza won't come off this year, and it's uncertain whether the event will unfold in years to come.

Michael Hyams, vice president of Henderson-based New Century Entertainment Group, had wanted to close down the Strip for a large-scale celebration and parade.

Hyams earlier this year met with representatives of the large Strip casinos, Clark County officials and traffic officers from the Metropolitan Police Department in hopes of holding the event this year for the first time. It was hoped the event, known as Boo Ga Loo Las Vegas, would attract tens of thousands of tourists from around the country.

Hyams didn't return calls to his office late last week, and county officials said they haven't heard from him for several months.

Hyams still operates locally, but the business interests he was representing have since relocated to San Diego, said Ardel Jorgensen, director of the county Business License Department.

"I don't think there was much of an appetite for it," Jorgensen said. "They would have had to close the Strip down, and that would have been a nightmare, especially considering the hours that they wanted to put it on."

-- FRANK GEARY

City still won't cover costs

The city of Las Vegas still refuses to cover a portion of the nearly $15 million of unexpected cost overruns in the construction of Clark County's Regional Justice Center courthouse.

Members of the City Council in April refused to pay $3 million for the unbudgeted costs, saying delays and oversights that caused the overruns were the county's fault because it oversees the troubled project.

Deputy City Manager Steve Houchens said Friday that the city stands by its refusal, and only plans to pay the $32 million it agreed to at the beginning of the project.

"At this time, there is no desire to go beyond that figure," he said. "We need to understand what the nature of the (county's) claims are, and decide whether they are the city's responsibility. ... There will likely be quite a bit of negotiation if they do make a claim."

The city partnered with the county on the $170 million courthouse facility because it plans to relocate its municipal courts to the new facility once it's finished.

The Regional Justice Center is not only over budget, but is more than a year behind schedule.

The Clark County Commission in April expected that the city would pay for $3 million in unbudgeted costs for the courthouse.

But during a nearly four-hour review of the city's budget in April, Mayor Oscar Goodman and City Council members Lynette Boggs McDonald and Lawrence Weekly said the city should not have to pay for mistakes on a county-supervised project.

-- FRANK GEARY

Wondering how a local story turned out or what happened to someone in the news? Call the City Desk at 383-0264, and we will try to answer your question in this column.