WEEK IN REVIEW: Reporters’ notebook

WE ONCE HAD LIONS. BUT THE MGM GRAND CLOSED ITS LION HABITAT A FEW YEARS AGO.

We still have tigers — rare white ones — thanks to Siegfried and Roy’s Secret Garden at The Mirage.

Now, get ready for some bears — sort of.

Last week’s hoopla surrounding Malaysia-based Genting Group’s planned $2 billion Asian-themed Resorts World Las Vegas on the Strip included a surprise — developers want the project to house a live panda habitat.

Seriously.

Architect Paul Steelman, whose company is designing Resorts World, said Genting would approach the Chinese government and inquire about the availability of a pair of cuddly pandas for a residency on the Strip.

“If we are fortunate enough to secure two pandas, we would be more than happy to follow the strict guidelines and rules the Chinese government places in regards to a panda habitat,” Steelman said.

Mandalay Bay reportedly toyed with trying to get some pandas a few years ago, but the idea fizzled out.

If successful, Resorts World Las Vegas will need to have a line item in the budget for bamboo. According to the National Zoo, pandas consume 20 to 40 pounds of it daily.

HOWARD STUTZ

AN OFF-DUTY REPORTER NOTICED THE MAN IN FRONT of her at the supermarket salad bar was wearing a frock coat. That seemed odd — a 19th-century coat in 21st-century Henderson. Then he turned around, and the time warp was complete: Here was Abraham Lincoln (and not Daniel Day Lewis).

Who knew Honest Abe shopped at Whole Foods?

HEIDI KNAPP RINELLA

BILLS ADDRESSING OBESITY, CALORIES AND FAST FOOD restaurants are in front of the Nevada Legislature this year. At a hearing on one of the measures last week, former state lawmaker Warren Hardy, speaking for the Nevada Restaurant Association, thanked Assemblywoman Lucy Flores, the sponsor of the bill.

“She taught me that gravy is not a beverage,” he said. “I didn’t know that.”

SEAN WHALEY