Walmart Foundation gives $50,000 boost to Las Vegas Zoo

The feisty Las Vegas Zoo is small, but it has made a big friend in the folks at Walmart.

Representatives of the Walmart Foundation's Nevada State Giving Council converged on the zoo Thursday morning to present a $50,000 check to benefit its Wildlife Enrichment Educational Program.

After learning of the need, Walmart employees and the company's foundation in recent months have contributed more than $100,000 to the zoo, at 1775 N. Rancho Drive.

Among the elected officials in the crowd: Mayor Oscar Goodman, County Commissioners Larry Brown and Lawrence Weekly, and Clark County School Board President Terri Janison.

Although I listened, I didn't hear one joke comparing the elected officials to any of the animals in captivity.

DALITZ DAUGHTER: Suzanne Gollin, daughter of the late Moe Dalitz, is in Las Vegas researching what promises to be an intriguing and compelling book about her relationship with her father, the Las Vegas casino legend.

METH SISTERS: Here's one to watch for those who follow the local methamphetamine epidemic. It's a federal investigation that has gone to indictment involving sisters Melba Lozoya-Mendoza and Llasmin Lozoya-Mendoza in a case alleging a conspiracy to distribute 100 pounds of meth.

THE KINGS: Elvis fans won't want to miss the Heart of the King Festival, which runs through Saturday at the Las Vegas Hilton and brings together Presley impersonators from all over the world competing for a $10,000 prize. The festival is also showing the documentary "The Heart of the King," which follows the lives of four impersonators.

GOOD SPORT: Las Vegas 51s executive Don Logan will be honored as "Sportsman of the Year" at a cocktail reception July 30 at the Palms during the broadcast of ESPN Radio 1100's "The Longest Radio Show Ever." Proceeds from the event, which will feature a performance by comic magician Mac King, benefit The Caring Place, a local nonprofit that provides support services to cancer patients.

Logan has done more than anyone to ensure professional baseball has remained part of Las Vegas. He also is active in several charitable boards.

BAD SPORT: Unfortunately, some of you will have crossed paths with former Canadian "developer" and Henderson resident Alberto DoCouto. If you have, you probably have lost money in one of his bogus mining investment schemes.

After a couple decades of bilking suckers and dreamers in Canada, Japan and the United States, DoCouto finally has agreed to plead guilty to securities fraud in connection with a $26 million con.

His latest gold mine scam involved supposedly lucrative claims in Peru.

ON THE BOULEVARD: The many friends of Vaughan Cannon Jr. will celebrate his life at 1 p.m. Saturday in Blue Diamond. Cannon was a salesman at Young Electric Sign Co., but local Brad Parry tells me his friend's name deserves to be up in lights.

BOULEVARD II: Southern Nevada has received a boost in the form of $6.2 million in federal funds aimed at preventing homelessness. Unfortunately, with hundreds of locals each week losing unemployment benefits, that homeless funding is likely to be used quickly.

BOULEVARD III: With casino man Steve Wynn buying a $23 million Plaza Hotel penthouse, tongues are clucking about how much time he'll be spending in Las Vegas in the future. Funny, but I thought he was moving to Macau. I think I know some casino dealers who would love to help him move.

BOULEVARD IV: Award-winning former Review-Journal reporter Jeff Burbank has won a Fulbright grant. He'll teach journalism in Baku, Azerbaijan, which reminds me that some guys will go anywhere to stay in this business. ... The remaining plaintiffs in the so-called "Nevada Nine" trial will return to U.S. District Court on Tuesday. Their case involves alleged harassment and job discrimination inside the state's prison corrections system.

Have an item for the Bard of the Boulevard? E-mail comments and contributions to Smith@reviewjournal.com or call (702) 383-0295. He also blogs at lvrj.com/blogs/smith.