Wednesday, June 22, 2005
Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal
NORM: TI pit boss loses job over bride
Jennifer Wilbanks' stop in Vegas cost TI worker his job.
Bono and U2 shot the video for "I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For" on Fremont Street.
|
A Treasure Island pit boss was fired for going on TV and saying he spotted runaway bride Jennifer Wilbanks at the casino.
Frank Sidoris said he was dismissed 12 days after he told Fox News about the sighting on the same day Wilbanks told Albuquerque, N.M., authorities she was kidnapped.
Sidoris remains convinced he did the right thing.
"I wasn't doing anything but looking to shed some light on this," said Sidoris, 41, who had worked at TI for a year and a half and has been in the casino business for about 20 years.
"The (Treasure Island) president asked me, 'Have you ever heard of the slogan, "What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas?" ' I told him there was a national search for this woman. Everyone was assuming she was dead. What was I supposed to do, turn my head and not share this with anybody?"
MGM-Mirage spokesman Alan Feldman said, "We don't comment on employee-related issues. However, as a matter of policy, it is well known that our company has a strict prohibition of employees speaking to the news media or releasing to anyone outside of our company information about customers, real or imagined."
"I know what I saw," said Sidoris. "I have 20/20 vision. She had those distinctive eyes. She looked like Marty Feldman's daughter."
Wilbanks, in an interview with NBC's Katie Couric that aired Tuesday night, confirmed she traveled to Las Vegas, but didn't say whether she went to Treasure Island.
Bono back
Eighteen years ago, U2 hit the jackpot in Las Vegas with "I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For." Looking to get lucky in Las Vegas again, Bono, the band's frontman, is going down another avenue.
According to Variety, Bono has a set-in-Vegas film in development with fellow Irishman Barry Devlin, who produced the megahit "Still Haven't Found."
Bono and Devlin are teaming up on a comedy-drama titled "A Version of Las Vegas." The story line: An Irish musician emigrates to Las Vegas to work in a show band.
Bono co-wrote the screenplay for "Million Dollar Hotel," the 2001 film produced by Mel Gibson and directed by Wim Wenders.
U2 shot the video for "Still Haven't Found" at Fremont Street on April 12, 1987. Two months later, it hit No. 1.
The Scene and Heard
Hot spots & cool stuff: The KOMP Kegger, featuring five bands from 5 p.m. to 2 a.m., returns to the Hurricane Bar and Grill, 10420 South Bermuda Road, for the second year in a row on Thursday. The bands: Jeremy Cornwell, The Sara Patterson Band, Feverbox, Big Bad Zero and Busta Groove. Information: 407-8976 or www.hurricanelv.com ...
Sightings
Celine Dion, at the 51s-Tacoma Rainiers' game Monday night to support several dancers and cast members who sang the national anthem. ... Nicolas Cage and his wife, Alice Kim, at the 7:30 p.m. performance of "Ka" (MGM Grand) on Tuesday. ... Bad boy Stephen Jackson of the Indiana Pacers, doing a photo shoot at a Palms ballroom on Tuesday. Jackson missed 30 games for his role in the Pacers-Detroit Pistons brawl. ... Pittsburgh Steelers Hall of Famer Franco Harris, delivering the keynote speech at Kep Sweeney's restaurant entrepreneur seminar at the MGM Grand on Monday. ... Court TV, taping "Las Vegas Law," featuring defense attorney Bucky Buchanan and his wife, Gianna, this week at the Courthouse Bar and Grill. ... Las Vegas resident Phil Maloof, featured in People's June 27 issue, among "Bachelor Pads." In the article, the bed in Maloof's Beverly Hills mansion looks big enough to have its own area code ... Country star Kenny Chesney, in Pure (Caesars Palace) over the weekend.
The Punch Line
"Have you heard this rumor that Michael Jackson might be performing in Las Vegas? Although his career isn't what it used to be, I understand he's going to play Diana Ross in the legends show." -- Jay Leno
Norm Clarke can be reached at 383-0244 or norm@reviewjournal.com.
