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Aqueduct casino

From gaming writer Howard Stutz:

Here's a screaming headline from Sunday's New York Daily News: Chinese crime connection found for Aqueduct casino bidder.

MGM Mirage is one of several gaming companies pitching to operate a 4,500 video lottery machine casino at the Aqueduct Raceway in Queens. Gaming experts expect Aqueduct to be a lucrative business opportunity, located just minutes from the heart of New York City.

In addition to MGM Mirage, Wynn Resorts, Las Vegas gaming figure Larry Woolf, Hard Rock Entertainment and Penn National Gaming are among the companies that have pitched proposals.

Now, the Daily News "has learned" (the newspaper's words, not mine) that MGM Mirage is connected with Hong Kong gaming magnate Stanley Ho, whose Macau casinos have been alleged by international law enforcement to be controlled by Chinese organized crime triads. ...

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

Replacement to be based in Las Vegas

From columnist Jane Ann Morrison:

Speculation about who might get a coveted lifetime appointment to replace U.S. District Judge Brian Sandoval turned topsy-turvy Monday morning with the news that U.S. District Judge Clive Jones is moving to Reno to take over Sandoval's cases.

Meaning, the soon-to-be-open-judgeship will be based in Las Vegas, not Reno.

So all those Northern Nevada names tossed about like confetti are likely to be scrapped and the choices become wide open to Southern Nevadans.

The choice will be made by U.S. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid ... Sandoval's resignation takes effect Sept. 15, and he is then expected to formally confirm that he is a GOP candidate for governor.

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

Foreclosed Upon Pets

Posted by Las Vegas resident Laura Tucker:

Leave the cooking to someone else and help an area animal in need at the same time, as the Applebee's location at 3501 S. Rainbow Blvd. hosts Dining to Donate on Wednesday, Aug. 26, to benefit Foreclosed Upon Pets.

Eat at Applebee's that day, and 15 percent of your check will be donated to the nonprofit organization, which is dedicated to the rescue of domesticated animals that have been abused and/or abandoned by their owners as a result of economic hardship, including home foreclosure, loss of employment, insufficient income, or death and illness. ...

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

Public employee unions

From editor Thomas Mitchell:

Sunday we published yet another story about the inability of the taxpayers to hold the bureaucrats responsible. After a series of Review-Journal articles by Joan Whitely in 2007 highlighting dozens of hotel renovations that took place without county permits or inspections, the sum total of one person was fired by the county for failing to properly carry out his duties.

It turns out, he was off the job 11 months and then was quietly returned, following an arbitration ruling, to his same job, at same pay, plus back pay, even the same phone number.

In a bizarrely worded ruling, arbitrator Peter Maydanis wrote: "In reaching this decision, the Arbitrator has considered and found that (Rick) Maddox failed to properly devote the time and attention necessary for the County to properly discharge its obligation to ensure the safety of the public using public places of accommodation within its jurisdiction. Maddox's sins of omission or commission were serious ones, when one considers them in hindsight."

But then he went on to dismiss all this by saying Maddox had never been properly trained to uncover concealed renovations, never mind that an untrained reporter was able to do so. Maydanis also wrote that "no questions of Maddox's honesty or integrity have been raised."

But you might get a different picture if you go back and read the Kessler report, an independent audit conducted by the county. It is posted on Clark County's Web site, and I also had it posted on our Web site.

In the 97-page report consultant Michael Kessler wrote: "The Building Inspectors handling these complaints were derelict in their duties by failing to properly inspect the property in question, and by falsifying the official documents indicating that the complaints were actually investigated. All indications suggest that no inspections were ever conducted."

No questions of honesty and integrity raised?

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