West water pact temporarily voided

SAN DIEGO — A California judge on Thursday tentatively invalidated a landmark pact to curtail the state’s overuse of water and allow other Western states to claim their fair share.

Conflict in vote alleged

A construction union consortium was negotiating with the developer of a new Las Vegas city hall at the same time City Councilman Steve Ross, who is an officer of the consortium, was voting to move the project forward, according to testimony Thursday before the Nevada Ethics Commission.

IN BRIEF

CAUSE OF DEATH UNDETERMINED

MOVIES

OPENING THIS WEEK

Orleans celebrates ’12 Days of Christmas’; Tuscany has gift cards

During The Orleans‘ “12 Days of Christmas” (Sunday through Dec. 24), players receive a $25 Macy’s gift card for every 5,000 points ($5,000 coin-in; no point redemption required) earned on their Club Coast cards, up to a maximum of 10 cards per player.

Philharmonic celebrating holidays

Christmas may come but once a year, but “A Christmas Celebration” is coming twice: 2 and 8 p.m. Saturday to Artemus Ham Hall.

Revolution Lounge celebrates everything Beatles

The Beatles Revolution Lounge in The Mirage offers guests a club experience with a few unique twists. First, there’s the Beatles theme, something you’d expect from a lounge named for the Fab Four and the band’s famous song.

Ron White

Like a lot of us, Bill Engvall wishes he could take a time machine back to golden-age Vegas: “I would have loved to have been at the level I’m at now back in the ’50s and ’60s,” he noted recently. But it’s Engvall’s Blue Collar Comedy pal, Ron White, who unquestionably would have run with the Rat Pack. White understands that if it was once a matter of course to smoke and drink on a Las Vegas stage, times have changed so much you get laughs just by doing it.

Don’t Miss It

DAVE MATTHEWS AND TIM REYNOLDS

Heidi’s Picks

Heidi’s Picks is a weekly selection of restaurant suggestions from Review-Journal critic Heidi Knapp Rinella.

Crafting Characters

I understand your concerns about the terrible skill levels of our reality show culture. What has Paris Hilton ever done skillfully? Or, for that matter, Spencer and Heidi, from whatever stupid show they’re on? But many dedicated performers continue to work their butts off to get where they are.

Naught Couture

What the eye immediately beholds, the brain doesn’t necessarily absorb. Not until the third, fourth or 11th viewing. That is the maddening miracle of art. It makes you work for it.

‘The Princess and the Frog’

Dreams really do come true. At least for those of us who’ve been wishing on a star for the return of traditional, hand-drawn animation — and anybody else who loves classic Disney animation.

Alice in Chains acknowledges past while building future

Long before fronting a storm-cloud-of-a-rock band that helped define an era and sell more than 14 million records along the way, William DuVall was having Henry Rollins over to sleep on the floor of his parents’ house.

Bollywood Grill

We love the look of Bollywood Grill — the theater-esque red-velvet curtains on the windows, the filmy draperies between booths, the black linen cloths and napkins, the faux-starlit ceiling and especially the continuous loop of Bollywood classics, which were unendingly entertaining, on the big plasma screen. The owners have taken an old ’50s-style diner and done their best to camouflage its stainless-steel origins, and they’ve done pretty well.

Rao’s adds ‘Throwdown’ Feast to holiday menu selections

The Pellegrino family, owners of Rao’s at Caesars Palace, 3570 Las Vegas Blvd. South, were victorious in its recent challenge on the Foot Network’s “Throwdown With Bobby Flay.” In the wake of its victory Rao’s has added the “Throwdown” Feast of the Seven Fishes to its holiday menus.

Garth Brooks

Garth Brooks is a soccer dad — a soccer dad with a private jet.

Credit card

Gov. Jim Gibbons said Tuesday that he is looking at laying off state employees, cutting their salaries and adding unpaid furlough days to deal with a more than $50 million drop in tax revenue below anticipated levels.

Fears of an anti-American agenda are ridiculous

I don’t know local parent Holly Sweetin. I’m sure she’s very nice. But that doesn’t matter when she’s trying to impose a political agenda on the public school system.

Taxing boob jobs

In 2004, New Jersey Democratic Assemblyman Joseph Cryan had a brilliant idea. Why not tax cosmetic surgery?

IN BRIEF

Nevadans to get extended unemployment benefits

Newest Strip resorts let the sunshine in

Natural light amidst the slots is a little more common on the Strip these days, thanks to the city’s two newest megaresorts. Encore, which opened in December 2008, makes heavy use of daylight, with windows at the back of the gaming floor. And inside Aria, panels of windows line the gaming area’s margins, while skylights punctuate the VIP salons with sunshine. Other key areas, including the buffet and several high-end restaurants, also bring sunlight into Aria.

Statewide gaming win continues decline

Visitor numbers in Las Vegas increased for the second straight month, but that wasn’t reflected in the revenues produced by casinos on the Strip and statewide. Nevada fell to its lowest single-month gaming revenue total in almost six years. Gaming revenues were $800.3 million, an 11.6 percent decline compared with $904.9 million reported in the same month a year ago.

Money getting scarcer in state

The number of bankruptcy filings in Nevada continued to grow in October as more individuals and businesses sought relief from creditors because of the economic downturn.

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