Miss Nevada Crystal Wosik walks through a dressing room after rehearsals Thursday for tonight's 2006 Miss America Pageant. Photo by THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
James Denton turned 43 on Friday.
Regis Philbin tours Canyon Ranch spa.
Miss Nevada's controversial pro-Yucca Mountain stance was sparked by "ruthless" judges involved in the Miss America Pageant interview process, according to her mother.
"They really nailed her on the interview," said Lena Wosik. "The judges were ruthless."
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In Thursday's interview, Miss Las Vegas Crystal Wosik, who won the Miss Nevada title, was asked by one of the preliminary judges about the planned nuclear waste repository at Yucca Mountain.
Wosik replied, "It has to go someplace, and that was the best-built facility in the country," Nevada's state pageant director, Nancy Ames, told the Reno Gazette-Journal.
And if people die?
"We just have to take one for the team," said contestant Wosik, according to Ames.
Wosik's mom, an orthodontist assistant, said the interviewing process leaves no room ''for middle ground. You have to have strong beliefs, and they were putting her on the spot."
"It's a tragedy that we have nuclear waste, but it's got to go somewhere. I'm sure she'll get hate mail. I felt they should have been asking about education, not how she feels about strippers."
Her daughter, a lyrical dancer who attends Orange Coast College near Los Angeles, chose cancer recovery as her platform after her brother Bradley, 19, was diagnosed with a rare bone disease three years ago. He is in remission.
THE SCENE AND HEARD
The Miss America Pageant is getting the close attention of more than fans and media. Metro has had a special Homeland Security unit at the Aladdin, the host hotel, all week. Sheriff Bill Young said the unit is on the alert for animal rights and environmental groups "and, God forbid, anything worse." He added, "We're providing a buffer zone so we don't have an embarrassing national story." ...
Plans for the next version of the New Frontier are revealed in documents recently filed with Clark County. The 62-story, 671-foot high hotel will have a major feature fronting the Strip and a 256-foot high Ferris wheel with 32 specially designed passenger capsules, each able to hold up to 25 people. ...
Missy Ringler, head golf coach of the 12th-ranked UNLV women's team, was head coach at the University of Minnesota, and one of her star performers for three years was Karyn Stordahl, the current Miss Minnesota in the Miss America contest.
SIGHTINGS
"Desperate Housewives" star James Denton, host of the Miss America Pageant tonight, receiving a happy birthday serenade in a standing-room only press room during his news conference Friday at the Aladdin/Planet Hollywood. He turned 43 on Friday. ... Chicago Bears linebacker Brian Urlacher, in the VIP section at Tao nightclub (The Venetian) on Thursday with Amani Toomer of the New York Giants and ultimate fighter Tito Ortiz. ... Los Angeles Lakers great Jerry West, president of the Memphis Grizzlies, dining at Michael's (Barbary Coast) on Wednesday before heading off to scout the UNLV-Colorado State game. ... Regis and Joy Philbin, dining at Smith & Wollensky's on Thursday and spotted taking a tour of Canyon Ranch spa and salon facilities at The Venetian on Friday. ... NBA Hall of Famer Bill Russell, on a cell phone at The Orleans on Friday.
THE PUNCH LINE
Osama bin Laden "has three demands. That we pull our troops out of Iraq. That we pull the troops out of Afghanistan. And he wants to see actual stars on 'Dancing with the Stars.' " -- Jay Leno
