OUR BLOGGERS ARE SAYING …

Saluting local legend Dolores Fuller

Posted by Carol Cling, Screen Queen:

If the name Dolores Fuller sounds familiar, it should.

And if it doesn't, it will -- thanks to a Fuller tribute scheduled for 7 p.m. Aug. 13 at the Montara Meadows retirement community, 3150 E. Tropicana Ave.

Movie fans know Fuller for her role as leading lady, on- and off-screen, to cult legend Ed Wood, for whom she co-starred in such '50s faves as "Glen or Glenda," "Jail Bait" and "Bride of the Monster." (Sarah Jessica Parker played Fuller in Tim Burton's 1994 Oscar-winner, "Ed Wood.")

Music fans, meanwhile, know Fuller as the songwriter behind numerous Elvis Presley soundtrack hits, from "Rock-a-Hula Baby" ("Blue Hawaii") to "I Got Lucky" ("Kid Galahad"), or for the record company she later founded, where she helped launch the careers Johnny Rivers and Tanya Tucker.

Read more at www.lvrj.com/blogs/vegasvoice/

Catholic Charities to reopen one of its thrift stores

Posted by columnist Geoff Schumacher:

A few months ago, Catholic Charities of Southern Nevada closed its two thrift stores, one on the northeast corner of East Tropicana Avenue and Pecos Road and the other on Rancho Drive north of Vegas Drive. Sharon Mann, community relations director, said the agency was working on its budget for the new fiscal year and, confronted with the economic downturn, didn't think it could afford to keep them operating.

But Catholic Charities recently decided it will reopen its Rancho Drive store. The building has been refurbished a bit and a new manager has been hired. The store will be back in business Wednesday, Aug. 12.

Mann notes that the Rancho Drive store "is needed in the area for a lot of people." By contrast, the East Tropicana store had to compete with thrift industry juggernaut Goodwill, which has a big store right across the street.

The Rancho store will focus on furniture, clothes and household goods, Mann said, but of course will carry a range of other items as well. It will be open from 10 a.m.-6 p.m. seven days a week.

Read more at www.lvrj.com/blogs/schumacher/

Goodman defends wall

Posted by columnist John L. Smith:

Mayor Oscar Goodman would like to put the critics of his mob museum idea up against a wall and let 'em have it. Rat-a-tat-tat.

Goodman took time this past week to give his reasoning behind the acquisition of the St. Valentine's Day Massacre wall for the museum. The massacre, of course, occurred in Chicago and not Las Vegas.

Goodman said, "All of organized crime's tentacles were the subject of the inquiry, were the subject of (Sen. Estes) Kefauver when he was out here for the hearing. And of course it goes back to Chicago. It's definitely a piece of gore, which represents the violence of the mob. It represents the inner workings of the mob, and that's all part of this. The good news is, at least as far as some people are concerned, we know the end of the story. The mob lost and law enforcement won. So, people can leave with a smile on their face."

Read more at www.lvrj.com/blogs/smith/

Las Vegas Sands settlement

Posted by gaming writer Howard Stutz:

The Review-Journal reported Aug. 1 that Las Vegas Sands Corp. agreed to pay three men $42.5 million to settle a lawsuit in June.

In the casino operator's quarterly submission to the Securities and Exchange Commission that was filed Friday, more detail was revealed.

Clive Basset Jones, Dax Turok and Cliff Cheong sued Las Vegas Sands and several subsidiaries in January 2006, saying the company breached an agreement to pay a success fee in an amount equal to 5 percent of the ownership interest in the casino operator's Macau gaming subconcession, as well as other related claims.

On June 3, Las Vegas Sands settled the matter for $42.5 million, of which $12.5 million has been paid, according to the SEC filing. Las Vegas Sands will pay the remaining $30 million next March.

The company charged the matter to its corporate expenses in the second quarter that ended June 30.

Read more at www.lvrj.com/blogs/stutz/