Girl with sickle cell anemia to be model of inspiration at Fashion Show

Alert the paparazzi. There's an event scheduled for Saturday that's truly deserving of the Strip star treatment.

It's not some overrated celebrity dancing on a table, but a genuine inspiration disguised as a 13-year-old girl.

Kalie D., who suffers from sickle cell anemia, will make her debut as a runway model at 2 p.m. Saturday at the Fashion Show mall in fulfillment of her Make-A-Wish request.

Before her appearance on the runway, Kalie will be suitably feted at Brannon Salon at Rock Spa inside the Hard Rock Hotel. From MAC cosmetics to a Macy's shopping spree and some genuine bling courtesy of Michael E. Minden, she'll be "all that" and then some.

From Viridian glamour shots to dinner at Maggiano's, Kalie on Saturday will be everyone's favorite supermodel.

CONCESSION QUESTION: After teaming up with HDS, the Ayala family won a lucrative McCarran International Airport news and gift shop concession this week over the giant Hudson News Group. In agreeing to guarantee $2.4 million in annual rent -- $100,000 more than the challenger -- the winning bid raises a natural question: Why aren't other similar airport concessionaires paying that much?

THE GOOD FIGHT: Vince Triggs, an advocate for the rights of the handicapped and mentally ill, died earlier this week at age 59. Triggs started the Nevada Association for the Handicapped, which later made the transition into Easter Seals.

YOUR TOWN: It's almost time for the second annual Crab Feast sponsored by Rebuilding All Goals Efficiently (RAGE) and the city's Adaptive Recreation Department. This year's fundraiser, set for noon May 19 at Children's Memorial Park, 6601 W. Gowan Road, will include an obstacle course.

TUNNEL TOWN: Talk about a new perspective on Las Vegas. City Life veteran Matt O'Brien's first book, "Beneath the Neon: Life and Death in the Tunnels of Las Vegas," takes a view of this place from the underground up.

The Huntington Press title is the freshest approach on the Vegas idea in a long time.

ALS MONTH: Whenever I think of Lou Gehrig's disease, I am reminded of the courageous fight that the late UNLV professor and author Hal Rothman waged.

May is ALS Awareness Month, and you can contribute to ALS of Nevada by dropping by Evan's Old Time Grill in Boulder City at 6 p.m. today for dinner and entertainment by Michael Miele. All proceeds from the event, tickets for which are $25, benefit the charity.

ON THE BOULEVARD: At the "going away" party on Sunday for former Crazy Horse Too topless owner Rick Rizzolo at Freddie Glusman's Ritz restaurant in Newport Beach, Calif., pals of the jiggle racket journeyman converged to give him a send-off to the slammer with a playful jailhouse theme. Rizzolo will lose his freedom shortly in the wake of a federal investigation, but it looks as if he's retained his sense of humor. ... Sports bettors continue to ruminate over last week's gambling bust in the Phoenix area with ties to Las Vegas and elsewhere. The players and agents are going to have a tough time hanging onto their money. I'm wondering what the Maricopa County Sheriff's Department is going to do with the thoroughbred it's attempting to seize from alleged bookmaker Ralph DiPiero, who is no stranger to high-stakes poker tournaments in Las Vegas. Just how hard will officials in Southern Nevada follow this investigation?

BOULEVARD II: Handicapper/promoter Wayne Allyn Root announces his candidacy for president on the Libertarian ticket today. Call it a joke, but Root's chances can't be much worse than those of Dennis Kucinich. The big question is, why hasn't Melody "Mimi Miyagi" DaMayo, who finished just out of the money in the Republican gubernatorial primary, announced a presidential bid?

BOULEVARD III: Albion Book Co., one of the community's excellent used-book stores, is closing. ... Karin Movesian has been named news director at KTNV-TV, Channel 13 Action News. She has 20 years' experience and previously was at a station in San Antonio ... The Clark County Education Association is celebrating Teacher Appreciation Week beginning Monday. Will the Legislature also celebrate the week, or will it be too embarrassed to join the party?

Have an item for the Bard of the Boulevard? E-mail comments and contributions to Smith@reviewjournal.com or call 383-0295.