Friday, July 30, 2004
Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal

JOHN L. SMITH: Trump ready to embark on new frontier, tower over Wynn on Strip

Donald Trump across the street from Steve Wynn?

You gotta love it.

Flamboyant billionaire Donald Trump has announced that he's moving forward with the 64-story Trump International Hotel and Tower in partnership with the New Frontier owner Phil Ruffin on Fashion Show Drive, a champagne cork flight from Las Vegas Boulevard. The hotel, which will be the tallest in the state, will be located across the Boulevard from the Wynn Las Vegas resort.

Trump recently published a best-selling book and stars in the hit reality series "The Apprentice," but his Atlantic City casino holdings have struggled at the bottom line.

Despite that, Trump's name remains one of the best known in the language. If this project gets done, Trump's presence on the Strip will bring unprecedented attention to Las Vegas.

Construction is expected to begin on the 1.6-million-square-foot building by spring 2005, according to a Trump organization press release.

With The Donald officially coming to town, Las Vegas just got more interesting.

TOWERING EGOS: Trump recently met in New York with Mayor Oscar Goodman to discuss a possible development deal for downtown Las Vegas. The two also spent time discussing Trump's stardom on "The Apprentice" and Goodman's guest appearance on "C.S.I."

Goodman's wife, Carolyn, also attended the meeting and later said, "I've never been in a room with two bigger egos."

MONORAIL MOMENTS: It must have been pretty harrowing for Assistant County Manager Virginia Valentine and political pundit Jon Ralston and their children to get trapped for a few minutes after a door jammed during their recent ride on the monorail. Their contacts being of the highest sort, they called none other than Regional Transportation Commission General Manager Jacob Snow to fill his ear about their dilemma. While that's a bit like e-mailing Bill Gates if you can't get your computer program to work, they obviously weren't shy about making their predicament known.

Snow noted the incident in his recent general manager's report.

MONORAIL RIDERSHIP: Speaking of the monorail, Snow also reported a solid start for the system. He wrote, "Ridership has started strong on the monorail, stronger than we expected but not strong enough yet. Ridership is consistently hovering around the 30,000-a-day mark. They are taking in about $100,000 a day. To cover their costs they need to take in $160,000 per day."

"We're very pleased with what we've seen," Snow said Thursday, adding that riders can expect expanded hours of operation soon.

With the convention busy season approaching, the monorail is off to a good start. And just imagine how much more money they'll make when they actually start letting all the passengers exit.

FINAL SALUTE: Semper fi Dr. Jeffrey Brookman, a captain in the Navy Reserves assigned to field surgical operations with the Marines, is set to retire after 21 years of service that have seen him travel to the front lines in Kuwait, Somalia and Iraq.

And, remember, he's done it all in his "spare" time in addition to his local medical practice. Brookman will be feted Saturday night at the Navy & Marine Corps training center on the grounds of Nellis Air Force Base.

Prior to returning to Las Vegas, Brookman led a surgical unit in "the tip of the spear" of the American military effort in Iraq.

OUR ERIN: It's so heart-warming to learn that Erin Kenny, the corrupt former county commissioner, isn't suffering needlessly despite her admitted felonies. This week it was reported that Kenny and husband chiropractor James Kenny have put their house on the market for $1.25 million. The house is worth a fraction of chiropractor Kenny's new medical office building.

Surely the former commissioner is sensitive about following the rules these days and adhered to all the applicable local codes and regulations associated with home ownership.

Just to be safe, maybe we should double- and triple-check that.

ON THE BOULEVARD: Heard the one about the topless club manager who skated on a DUI arrest with a Metro officer's assistance? You will.

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