Friday, July 02, 2004
Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal

JOHN L. SMITH: $3.13 million court judgment is enough to drive club owners to drink

The Drink Las Vegas is finished, and now former operators Michael Morton and Scott DeGraff have been ordered to pick up the tab.

A Cook County, Ill., circuit judge walloped Morton and DeGraff last month with a judgment in a lawsuit involving Drink investors to the tune of $3.13 million, including $1 million in punitive damages, as well as attorney's fees. The defendants also were hammered by the judge for filing false affidavits.

That's sure to cause a heckuva hangover.

"The court finds that punitive damages are warranted in this case for several reasons," Judge Nancy Arnold wrote in a 25-page decision entered June 18. "The wrong here unquestionably was a breach of fiduciary duty, and punitive damages are appropriate in such situations. ... There is no doubt that defendants' decision not to tell the investors ... the whole truth about the deal they were all entering was deliberate."

And things could get worse. The judge ruled the defendants must show proof of just how they used partnership funds for personal expenses. They also may be compelled to explain $1.5 million in housing expenses and cost overruns for the nightclub that was located at Harmon Avenue and Koval Lane.

Sheldon Cloobeck was notable on the lengthy list of plaintiffs in the case.

Morton and DeGraff head the Chicago-based N9NE Group, which operates the N9NE steakhouse and a nightclub at the Palms.

No word yet whether they'll appeal.

BLACKIE'S BOW: Mirage marketing master Blackie Dardeen is calling it a day after more than half a century in the Las Vegas casino business. At 86, Dardeen has earned a little time off.

Blackie and wife Wanda have been married 52 years. That, too, is cause for celebration by anyone's standards.

KOSHER POKER: Poker is everywhere these days, not only in rooms throughout local casinos, but on television and the Internet, too.

But kosher poker? That's what the characters at the Young Adult Division of the Jewish Federation of Las Vegas are calling their July 11 Texas hold 'em tournament at Sunset Station Casino.

Partial proceeds go to support victims of terror in Israel.

POLITICAL POOP: If Henderson's Scott Hove has his way, the joke will be on the Democrats and Republicans this election season. Under the pseudonym Dr. Kevin Peterson, Hove recently published the "Encyclopedia of Republican Knowledge" and its companion, the "Encyclopedia of Democratic Knowledge," in time to create a smile in a campaign year that promises to get ugly.

The slender paperbacks include chapters with headings such as "Everything Democrats Know About Economic Issues" and "Everything Republicans Know About Compassion," followed by blank pages.

Get it? They know nothing about nothing.

They're sort of one-joke books, but that's more than most comedians offer these days. They'll probably sell a million for Hove, a local pastor with an obvious sense of humor.

ON THE BOULEVARD: USA Today's ubiquitous Hal Bodley reported Thursday that Las Vegas stands behind Washington, D.C., and northern Virginia on the short list of viable locations for the future home of the Montreal Expos. Obviously, Expos players haven't been asked to vote. ... Tonight, "Dateline NBC" presents its take on the Crazy Horse Too topless cabaret, a segment that is sure to embarrass Las Vegas and make some people wonder why the controversial club, the subject of an ongoing FBI, IRS, and Metro investigation into everything from racketeering to tax evasion, is still open. The segment will focus on a case involving Kansas tourist Kirk Henry, who suffered a fractured neck outside the club and has sued owner Rick Rizzolo and others. ... Joel Moskowitz, a senior investigator with the district attorney's office, has announced his retirement. His last day is July 9. He is expected to enter the private sector as an investigator with David Groover. Moskowitz is the chief investigator on the Gary Horrocks voter fraud case, which is still pending. Word is the district attorney's office is negotiating a settlement of the case with Horrocks' lawyers, Dominic Gentile and Michael Cristalli.

Have an item for the Bard of the Boulevard? E-mail comments and contributions to Smith@reviewjournal.com or call 383-0295.