Jessica Simpson and Nick Lachey arrive for the MTV Movie Awards in Los Angeles in this photo from June 4. THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
The Jessica Simpson-Nick Lachey divorce apparently includes a custody battle over a Las Vegas luxury condo.
Palms resort owner George Maloof confirmed on Friday that Lachey recently contacted him about the 41st-floor Palms Place condo the couple committed to purchasing more than a year ago.
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"I don't think they've figured who's going to get the condo yet," Maloof said in an interview Friday at a groundbreaking ceremony for the Palms Place project.
The 1,200-square foot condo is now worth about $1.5 million, Maloof said.
More than 30 celebrities have put up deposits on condos, said Maloof, including rapper Eminem, Paul Stanley of KISS, pro wrestling icon Hulk Hogan, car racers Mario and Michael Andretti, former UNLV basketball coach Jerry Tarkanian and Sacramento Kings All-Star center Brad Miller.
REMEMBERING DAN
Dan Chandler died four days before the 2004 Kentucky Derby as Review-Journal columnist John L. Smith was in the final stretch of finishing Chandler's life story.
Smith attended the 2002 Run For The Roses with the longtime Las Vegas casino host and confirmed what he already knew.
"When it came to being the life of the party, big Dan had no peers...he was in a Hall of Fame of one," Smith writes in his just-released "Bluegrass Days, Neon Nights" (Stephens Press).
Mention a name, and Chandler had a story from his 30 years in the casino business.
One of his favorite tough-guy Vegas characters was the late Dean Shendal, a former cowboy, boxer and casino exec, who helped open Caesars Palace.
Shendal, who died a year ago, had a famous 1967 run-in with a young Steve Wynn, recalled Chandler.
They were playing doubles tennis, on opposite teams, when Wynn slammed the ball at Shendal's partner, who happened to be an 8-year-old kid.
Shendal summoned Wynn to the net and dropped him with a left hook.
Wynn got up, apologized, and the two became famous friends.
THE SCENE AND HEARD
The late Chester Simms will have his star added to the Las Vegas Walk of Stars at 12:30 p.m. today at the Flamingo. ...
Hogs & Heifers Saloon has put together its first Hog Wild for Kids charity ride on Sunday, with a ton of auction items, including neon signs and an Oscar Goodman bobblehead.
SIGHTINGS
Ricardo Mayorga, with a large party Friday at La Scala Restaurant on East Desert Inn Road, on the eve of his fight with Oscar De La Hoya. ... At "The Contender" after- party at the Aladdin/Planet Hollywood on Thursday: Sugar Ray Leonard; Tommy Hearns; Mark Burnett and his longtime girlfriend, actress Roma Downey; "Entertainment Tonight" host Mark Steines and his wife, former Miss America Leanza Cornett; "Survivor" host Jeff Probst and his galpal, Julie Berry; Bernie Yuman; Gordie Brown; and Gil Reyes. ... Damon Wayans, at Tryst (Wynn) on Thursday. ... Signing: Former heavyweight boxing champ Joe Frazier, noon to 3 p.m. today at the Fountain of the Gods, Forum Shops at Caesars.
THE PUNCH LINE
"Heather and Denise completed a rare quadfecta this week, appearing on the covers of all four celebrity gossip magazines...and the cover of Guns and Ammo." -- Jimmy Kimmel, on the feud between Heather Locklear and Denise Richards.
