Goodman marks anniversary of mob investigation

Las Vegas Mayor Carolyn Goodman declared Thursday Kefauver Day in honor of the Tennessee lawmaker who investigated mob activities six decades ago.

The proclamation honoring Estes Kefauver came on the anniversary of a Kefauver Committee hearing in a Las Vegas courthouse Nov. 15, 1950.

The courthouse has been converted into the newly opened Mob Museum.

Kefauver was chairman of the Special Committee on Organized Crime in Interstate Commerce, which held widely watched televised hearings investigating the influence of the mob in the gambling industry.

Many historians credit the hearings with cementing Las Vegas' reputation as the gaming capital of the country because it led to crackdowns on illegal gambling elsewhere in the country.