Reporters’ Notebook
HERE’S A DEFENSE RICK TABISH MIGHT WANT TO CONSIDER: The devil made him do it. The evidence? The offender identification number he was assigned by the Nevada Department of Corrections begins with 666. A lawyer representing Tabish, who was convicted and later acquitted of murder in the death of casino owner Ted Binion, stuck with traditional legal arguments last week when he appeared before the Nevada Supreme Court. Tabish, who was convicted of burglary and extortion, is imprisoned at the Southern Desert Correctional Center in Indian Springs.
CARRI GEER THEVENOT
WE HERE AT WEEK IN REVIEW LOVE TWINKIES, hot dogs and pretty much anything on a Popsicle stick. Apparently many Review-Journal readers do, too.
On a Thursday segment of the Bryant Park Project show on National Public Radio, editor Tricia McKinney explained how a July 2006 R-J food story on Twinkie recipes has been the second-most e-mailed story from the paper’s Web site. She then described how to make a Twinkie hot dog, which basically involves hollowing out the sweet treat, shoving a wiener inside and sticking it on a Popsicle stick.
Host Luke Burbank couldn’t help but link Las Vegans’ fondness of Twinkie recipes to their intelligence. "Not hyper-literate in Sin City, anyway," he quipped.
Hey, Luke, don’t knock it ’til you’ve tried it.
THE LAS VEGAS CITY COUNCIL HAD HIGH HOPES FOR THE ISLAND, A MAMMOTH HIGH-RISE DOWNTOWN DEVELOPMENT, when it approved plans for it last month.
But there was skepticism, too. Mayor Oscar Goodman asked the developers to tell him when $1.1 billion in financing arrived, which was expected early this month. Goodman promised to "dance a jig of jigs" if it did.
He ain’t dancing yet. As of Thursday, the money still hadn’t arrived, but Goodman did win "a couple of grocery dollars," thanks to a bet with Mayor Pro Tem Gary Reese that it wouldn’t materialize as expected.
The Island’s developer, Dusty Buckel, declined a chance to comment Thursday and didn’t respond to phone calls Friday. Her voice mail greeting said she is "out there responding to miracles" and advised callers to "choose your miracle and create it."
ALAN CHOATE
THE TUESDAY OPENING OF NOAH’S ANIMAL HOUSE, A FACILITY SPECIFICALLY FOR THE PETS OF HOMELESS AND ABUSED WOMEN AND CHILDREN staying at The Shade Tree shelter, was a veritable cute-fest. The event included a snack table stacked with animal crackers and a huge dog bone-shaped cake. A soundtrack with "Who Let the Dogs Out?" and other canine-related tunes played throughout.
The facility has two "cuddle rooms" for people and their pets. An adorable, tow-headed Noah, the facility’s young namesake, ran around telling anyone who would listen that he was "6-and-three-quarters" years old. Oh, and the official ribbon-cutting was more of a ribbon-chewing, the "ribbon" being made of tied-together dog bones on which pooches in attendance were allowed to gnaw.
LYNNETTE CURTIS
IN A RECENT LETTER TO THE EDITOR OF THE ARIZONA REPUBLIC, PHOENIX METRO RESIDENT DAVID COMPTON APPLAUDED a September editorial by the paper — titled "Grow up, Las Vegas" — taking Las Vegas to task for its treatment of women.
"I am certainly no moralist and I enjoy good times that include imbibing in libations and wagering," Compton wrote. "But Las Vegas is a city completely out of control with grotesquely overpriced hotel accommodations and overpriced restaurants where getting in even on Monday night requires an excessive gratuity to the seating host and the rest of the staff. The numerous inconveniences that this city burdens you with are overwhelming.
"With the convention center expansion and more downtown hotels, it should be easy for Phoenix to lure major groups away from Sin City."
Compton went on to predict no pro team will ever make its home in this "Waste Dump Of Debauchery."