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DOWN FOR LOCAL DEALS? MORE THAN 25 UNLV PROGRAMS RANKED BY U.S. NEWS & WORLD REPORT The Boyd School of Law at UNLV had 15 programs ranked in the top 100 of their fields in U.S. News & World Report’s annual collection of top graduate and professional schools. The law school’s strong showing helped UNLV record 27 programs across the listing. The publication analyzes more than 2,000 graduate and specialty programs across many disciplines. The online nursing master’s program ranked seventh. The public law school’s Lawyering Process Program ranked No. 1 for the fourth straight year, helping Boyd place 60th out of 193 accredited law schools. Additionally, the Saltman Center for Conflict Resolution was ranked fifth in the publication’s dispute resolution category. The law school’s parttime juris doctor program again ranked high, in 19th place. The program offers evening courses in a fouryear program to allow students with full-time employment to earn degrees. A traditional law school program is three years. The university said other law school programs ranked in the top 100 include: health law (32), clinical training (40), contracts/commercial law (45), tax law (60), criminal law (66), constitutional law (67), intellectual property (71), business/ corporate law (73), environmental law (73) and trial law (79). Other UNLV programs to receive a top 100 ranking include: criminal justice (29), public affairs (83), sociology (84), political science (89) and English (99). Additionally, the Howard R. Hughes College of Engineering had four ranked disciplines: nuclear engineering (28), aerospace studies (62), environmental engineering (83) and civil engineering (95). –Staff
THEY SAID IT ■ “We tell officers to stay away from the neck when possible.” –Lt. Johnny Mercil, testifying in the trial of former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin, who is charged with the murder of George Floyd
UNLV’s Mojave Bloom smart solar home, the school's entry in the yearly Solar Decathlon contest, in Henderson on March 30. The solar panel at right is not part of the house but was used to charge battery-operated tools during construction. Below, team member Ryan Manthei stands at the entry courtyard. (Steve Marcus/Staff)
RESORTS WORLD TAPS ZEDD AS FIRST RESIDENT DJ
■ “The Georgia legislation is built on a lie. There was no widespread fraud in the 2020 election. Georgia’s top Republican election officials have acknowledged that repeatedly in interviews. What there was, however, was record-setting turnout especially by voters of color. What we are seeing here is politicians who didn’t like the outcome here. They are not changing their policies. They are changing the rules to exclude more voters.” –White House press secretary Jen Psaki, April 6, responding to a question about Major League Baseball’s decision to move its All-Star Game out of Georgia in the wake of a new law that makes it more difficult to vote
Through monster pop hits like “Clarity” and “The Middle” and years of headlining Las Vegas nightclubs such as Hakkasan, Omnia and XS, Zedd became one of the biggest DJs in the world. Now he’ll be the inaugural resident DJ at Resorts World Las Vegas venues Zouk Nightclub and Ayu Dayclub, set to open on the Strip this summer. “Las Vegas has become a massive part of my life. Having the opportunity to play so many shows there throughout the years has made it like a second home to me,” the 31-year-old Russian-born musician and producer (real name: Anton Zaslavski) said in a statement. “My Vegas shows have become a central hub to connect with fans, friends and artists from all over the world.” Added Andrew Li, chief executive officer of Zouk Group, Resorts World's nightlife and daylife partner: “To provide such a visionary in the music industry with a brand-new stage at the Strip’s newest resort is truly an honor, and guests can expect an immersive show experience that extends well beyond a traditional DJ set.” More DJs and artists on the Zouk roster are expected to be announced soon. J Balvin’s Neón Experience, set for September 16-19, is the first event scheduled at Zouk and Ayu. –Brock Radke
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1 THINGS THAT HAPPENED LAST WEEK
Ready to step back out into the world, but not ready to spend full price to do it? Las Vegas Weekly’s sister publication Las Vegas Magazine has you covered. Each week’s digital issue now includes exclusive discount offers for Las Vegas restaurants, shows, attractions, hotel stays and more. Locals and tourists can take advantage of on- and off-Strip deals like a free margarita with dinner at Border Grill, reduced pricing at Exotics Racing and SpeedVegas, and cocktail/ticket bundles at Area15’s Oddwood Bar and Museum Fiasco. To sign up to receive Las Vegas Magazine emailed to you—complete with its weekly discount offers—head to lasvegasmagazine. com/subscribe.
HOME PRICES RISE AGAIN The median sale price for a home in Las Vegas rocketed to $363,000 in March, another new all-time record, according to the Las Vegas Realtors trade group. The figure represented a 14% jump from March 2020 and a month-over-month increase of 2% from February’s median price of $355,000. –Bryan Horwath
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BIDEN MOVES UP VACCINE DEADLINE
NLV MAYOR SWITCHES PARTIES
With states gradually expanding eligibility beyond such priority groups as older people and essential, front-line workers, President Joe Biden announced April 6 that every adult in the country will be eligible by April 19 to be vaccinated. The previous deadline was May 1.
North Las Vegas Mayor John Lee announced April 6 that he was leaving the Democratic Party to become a Republican, citing socialist elements within his former party. Lee also noted that he voted twice for former President Donald Trump.
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IN THIS ISSUE
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Health & Wellness: Expert tips on curbing emotional eating Cover story: Ten years of Absinthe? Time flies when you're having fun Weekly Q&A: Let photographer Denise Truscello be your guide Scene: The Huntridge Theater's plans come into focus Food & Drink: Milos' new Venetian home, plus Thai secrets! Sports: How do the Golden Knights stack up against Colorado? Vegas Inc: Allegiant Air looks to emerge strong from pandemic
WEEK IN REVIEW WEEK AHEAD N EWS YO U S H O U L D K N OW A B O U T
Bailey O'Connell and Jonathan Watrous look over artwork at the Recycled Propaganda booth on April 2 during First Friday's in-person return to the Arts District. (Steve Marcus/Staff)
TACKLE EXTENDED Las Vegas Raiders left tackle Kolton Miller, a first-round trade pick in 2018, signed April 2 to a three-year contract extension worth up to $68.7 million. He's the first Raiders first-rounder to get a second contract with the team since Darren McFadden, who was drafted in 2008 and amassed 6,016 yards from scrimmage in seven injury-riddled seasons with the team.
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CHAMPIONS CROWNED
CALIFORNIA ANNOUNCES REOPENING DATE
Stanford held off Arizona, 5453, to win the NCAA women’s basketball tournament April 4, 29 years after coach Tara VanDerveer’s last title. The next night, Baylor never trailed in handing Gonzaga its first loss of the year, 86-70, in the men’s tournament finale.
California Gov. Gavin Newsom April 6 announced that on June 15, almost all of that state's pandemic restrictions will be lifted, aside from the statewide mask mandate—provided the vaccine supply is sufficient and hospitalization rates stay stable and low.
5 TOP GOLFERS Henderson teenagers Ali Mulhall and Yana Wilson were two of the eight champions at the Drive, Chip & Putt National Finals at Augusta National on April 4. Mulhall won the girls’ 14-15 age division, Wilson the 12-13 division. It was Wilson's second championship; she also won in 2019.
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Pause. “The first thing that I always recommend is to pause,” Warren says. “And I literally mean pause.” If you’re having an emotional reaction, pause and ask yourself, What am I feeling? What am I thinking? “If you can become aware of what you’re experiencing, you will be able to slow down the eating process and make much better, more deliberate choices,” Warren says. This helps break the habit of “eating almost by default.”
Question your intentions. Before putting anything in your mouth, Warren says to consider, Why am I doing this? Am I actually hungry? Is this a food choice that I’d like to make? Is this something that’s good for my body? Or, Am I completely overwhelmed and I just want to eat three Snickers bars?
How to tame the beast of emotional eating BY C. MOON REED
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f, during the pandemic, food has become your friend and fitted clothing your enemy, you’re not alone. “People are struggling with eating at record numbers,” says Dr. Cortney S. Warren, a board-certified psychologist, author and adjunct professor of psychiatry at UNLV’s School of Medicine. She says a lot of people have gained “a considerable amount of weight”—often referred to as the “COVID-20”—due to the stress and upheaval of the pandemic. When you’re dealing with acute stress, Warren says it’s “really easy to either eat more or less than you [normally] would or different kinds of food than you’re used to.” For some people, especially those who follow strict diets, the feeling that they’ve “blown it” can lead them to eat even worse. The key to getting through a trying time is to be nonjudgmental and flexible with yourself. While it’s not a healthy daily habit, Warren says that “there is absolutely nothing wrong with eating a doughnut.” She recommends adopting the mindset where you can say to yourself, “Wow, there’s a lot of stress in my life, right now. There’s a lot of change. I am going to really try to roll with it without being so hard on myself or others.” If you find yourself stress-eating, Warren recommends pulling back without beating yourself up. “Any of that negative self-commentary usually makes you feel worse and makes your eating more dysfunctional,” she says. “It’ll just snowball.” Happily, you’re not doomed to mindlessly scarf down potato chips. Warren offers practical ways out of the emotional eating trap that has ensnared so many of us during these crazy times.
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COPING WITHOUT JUNK FOOD
Keep a food (and feelings) log. Don’t worry about being super detailed; Warren says that a simple log will change your behavior. She recommends writing down what you eat, the time you’re eating it and how you’re feeling when you eat it. A few days of logging will reveal your eating patterns. “The more aware and mindful you can be of your general eating patterns, the more you’ll be able to intervene for yourself,” Warren says. “One thing you’ll also realize [via] a food-monitoring log is that the times you want to eat because of emotion will become very glaring.” Think about how you’ll feel later. When facing temptation to eat for the wrong reasons, Warren recommends considering how you’ll feel 30 minutes after giving in to that craving. For five minutes, the junk food might be very satisfying. But afterward, you’ll have a stomachache and you’ll feel guilty. If the answer is that you’re going to feel the same or worse after those Doritos, it’s probably a really bad choice, Warren says. Tackle your emotions before you eat. “As soon as you notice how you’re feeling or what you’re thinking, take some time to work with your emotions before you eat,” Warren says. You can still eat what you want, you’ll just be doing it deliberately rather than reactively. “The more deliberate we are with our eating behavior, the better we feel about the choices that we make,” Warren says.
■ Journaling. Writing can be “incredibly helpful in processing emotion and becoming more aware of yourself,” Warren says. ■ Mindfulness and meditation. When you’re having a craving, Warren says to key into your body’s sensations and try to notice where the anxiety and/or sadness is coming from. You can
use a meditation app, such as Calm, to shift focus away from the bag of chips on the counter and instead tap into your own emotional experience. Even a five-minute meditation can change your mindset. ■ Call a friend. Get social support, even if it’s just talking about what the emotion is that you’re feeling, Warren suggests.
■ Exercise. They call it a runner’s high for a reason! ■ Chew gum or brush your teeth. It can help to still have some sort of physiological sensation, so chewing gum or brushing your teeth can help people who have a craving for a sensation in their mouth. The minty, clean flavor can also make junk food less appealing.
Embrace your power. When you’re fully aware of your thoughts, feelings and behaviors, you claim the freedom and the power to make the best choices for yourself. Enjoy your indulgences. “I’m never going to tell people that they can’t eat junk food sometimes,” Warren says. “I [just] hope that when you do, you really enjoy it.” The key to happy indulgences is not to eat treats in an emotionally reactive way. Rather, indulge because “it sounds like an enjoyable, pleasant experience for you at the time.”
(Shutterstock/Photo Illustration)
If you’re used to reaching for cookies and chips whenever you feel down, it’s important to develop other coping mechanisms. “First, you need to find a way to still express your emotion,” UNLV’s Dr. Courtney S. Warren says. Here are her suggestions for ways to work through your issues that don’t involve the kitchen:
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5-MINUTE EXPERT
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BLUE LIGHT
The blue light wavelengths that come at us from electronics screens and energy-efficient LED lighting aren’t harmful on their face. In fact, according to researchers at Harvard Medical School, they can even prove beneficial during daylight hours, when they can “boost attention, reaction times and mood.” After sundown, however, those same wavelengths inhibit sleep by suppressing melatonin. In a blue light-versus-green light wavelength study, those Harvard researchers discovered that blue light “shifted circadian rhythms by twice as much [3 hours versus 1.5 hours].” And shortened sleep can lead to all kinds of bad stuff, from depression to heart disease.
GOOD CALLS How to outsmart your smartphone (and stay safe in the process) BY GEOFF CARTER
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e look at our smartphones too often. You’ve probably heard that already. According to the makers of the productivity app RescueTime, we devote an average of 3.25 daily hours to looking at our phones; many power users devote as much as 4.5 hours to them. The consequences of this smartphone addiction are increasingly well-documented and, anecdotally speaking, easy to spot: When the pandemic lifts, you’ll once again see restaurants full of diners Instagramming their meals, and concerts and sporting events full of fans ignoring the action in favor of filming it. But that disconnection from the present isn’t the only danger our smartphones pose. As it turns out, that rectangular wedge is packed with dangers to life and limb. Here are a few ways your smartphone is out to get you, and just as many methods for outsmarting it.
SURFACE GERMS
Not to put too fine a point on it, but your phone is filthy. “The pathogens that have been found on the surface of cellphones—and of course, some people are not going to want to hear this—include Staphylococcus aureus, and other species of staphylococci as well,” says Dr. Terry Else, a professor at Touro University. “Plus E. coli, and a few strains of the MRSA.” If you don’t believe that your phone could host a Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, just think about where it, and your hands, have been lately. “Part of the problem with cellphones is that you’re putting it down on all sorts of surfaces. And that’s just not only picking things up, but transferring anything that might be on the phone onto other surfaces,” including your hands and face. Luckily, these trespassers can be easily removed with a solution of 70% alcohol or an eyeglass/elec(Shutterstock/Photo Illustrations)
tronics cleaning spray that contains ethanol. “Spray it onto a cloth and then wipe the phone with it; you don’t want to spray stuff directly on your phone and ruin it,” Else says. She also recommends UV light boxes designed for the express purpose of sterilizing personal objects: “The surfaces radiate ultraviolet light, and UV radiation is quite effective in killing most bacteria.” (See this Forbes ranking of UV sterilizing devices for suggestions: bit.ly/38NCL6n.) Whatever method you use to clean your phone, be sure you do it at least once a day. While not every dirty surface will make you sick, all of them have that potential. Think about what we’ve been through during the past year, virus-wise, and act accordingly.
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The good news: There are several remedies for the blue light from your phone, and some of them are free:
5-MINUTE EXPERT
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■ Avoid looking at bright screens at least an hour before bedtime. Longer is better. ■ Get lots of exposure to bright light during the day. Sunlight is best. ■ Use your phone’s blue light filter. Nearly all recently made phones have them. If it doesn’t have one, or if you need to look at other screens just before bed, try blue-blocking glasses.
TEXTING AND DRIVING
While your car might welcome your phone—most newer cars have Bluetooth capability, at a minimum—the two machines aren’t necessarily compatible. Nevada Revised Statute 484B.165 is pretty clear on this one: “Using [a] handheld wireless communications device to type or enter text, send or read data, engage in nonvoice communication or engage in voice communications without use of hands-free device [while operating a motor vehicle is] unlawful.” In short, the legal consequences for texting, web-searching or using your phone for anything other than navigation, playing music or making handsfree calls include cash fines ($50 for the first offense and up to $250 for the third, doubling in work zones) and driver’s license demerit points. And the physical consequences range from property damage to death: According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, distracted driving causes some 3,000 fatal accidents nationally every year. (The CDC also offers up this scary factoid: “At 55 miles per hour, sending or reading a text is like driving the length of a football field with your eyes closed.”)
Fixes for this problem aren’t as easy as screen cleaners or blue blockers, because they require serious willpower. But there are a couple of ways to force yourself into a safe driving habit:
■ If your car supports a phone-interface app (CarPlay for iPhones, Android Auto for Androids), use it. It ports your navigation, calls and Spotify over to your car’s instrument panel, or if you’ve simply mounted your phone on your dash, it provides streamlined versions of the apps you use while driving and takes away all the apps that could distract you from it. (It can also read text messages to you.)
■ A slightly more extreme approach: Preset the things you’ll need for your drive—the hands-free phone headset or Bluetooth connection, the Spotify playlist—and put the phone away in a bag, your glove compartment or even your trunk. If you need to consult the phone for navigation, mount it at eye level on your dash and/or set it to issue voice instruction. Whatever else your phone has to say can wait until you’re done steering a 3,000-pound machine past other drivers who might not be looking at the road, either.
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A DECADE OF
DECADE
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The Gazillionaire (Wade Vandervort/Staff)
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Absinthe celebrates 10 years as a Vegas rite of passage BY BROCK RADKE
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t began as a curiosity before blossoming into an unlikely hit on the Las Vegas Strip, something that simultaneously mocked and celebrated its own influences and inspirations. Then at some point, Absinthe became that one thing that everyone needed to check out when in Vegas, even for those of us who are always in Vegas. Now at 10 years old, it’s a fullfledged institution, still one of the most buzzed-about shows on the Strip (even through the pandemic year) and a landmark innovation that has impacted the direction of live entertainment in Las Vegas. Edgy, alluring, outrageous, jubilant—you know what Absinthe is. But it was supposed to be something different upon landing on the Strip. Although the earliest shows and foundations of its creative company, Spiegelworld, were built in New York City in 2006, the original plan for a Vegas invasion was hatched a few years later in Miami. Founder Ross Mollison says the company was built around the notion of multiple experiences occurring in or around a spiegeltent, a large structure typically made of canvas and wood and decorated with mirrors and stained glass—a makeshift entertainment venue that can be set up and broken down in order to travel from city to city. “If you look at the early pictures from New York where we first put it up on Pier 17 under the Brooklyn Bridge, there was
a beer garden where you could sit and have a drink in this beautiful location; there were multiple artists and musicians through the day and night; we had a nightclub that would go on later with a restaurant next to it and a speakeasy cocktail bar hidden in a shipping container—and Absinthe was sort of the anchor production of all of it,” Mollison says. The varied programming and ideal location generated rave reviews and sold-out shows, and Absinthe’s initial success powered the rest of the experience. Touring it around the world was already the next step in the master plan, hitting four cities a year for three months per engagement. In Miami, Absinthe set up its tent on the beach near the W Hotel and managed to avoid disaster despite sluggish initial ticket sales and late approval from the fire marshal. Mollison met lots of interesting characters there, some of whom may or may not have been the dealmakers they claimed to be. But some guy named Jeff, who said he was building a slew of hotels, including one in Vegas, fell in love with the show and wanted to bring it to the Strip. He turned out to be Jeffrey Soffer, CEO of Fontainebleau Development, and he signed Absinthe up to be the opening resident show at the towering blue 3,780-room Fontainebleau Las Vegas. The resort famously never opened after the recession pitted its finances in 2009. (The property has changed hands and been replanned a few times, including
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ABSINTHE Wednesday-Sunday, 7 & 9 p.m., $149. Caesars Palace, 702-534-3419, spiegelworld.com.
earlier this year, when Fontainebleau reacquired the land in partnership with Koch Industries.) The recession almost killed Spiegelworld, too. When his big Vegas deal disappeared, Mollison says it was the start of a very dark period in which the company was essentially reduced to one employee fighting to resurrect that which a creative cast and crew had spent years building. “I put together this incredible presentation to pitch to all the resorts, and we ended up with a meeting with Gary Selesner at Caesars,” Mollison says. “We pitched a lot of people over the years in Las Vegas, and fortunately when we pitched Caesars, there was [Selesner] who grew up in New Jersey, understanding New York, and he
got what we were talking about.” Selesner, now president at Caesars Entertainment, gave the show a shot with a six-month deal to set up on the underutilized concrete patch on the southeast corner of the Caesars Palace site, steps away from Las Vegas Boulevard. Mollison recalls the final pitch meeting where the deal got the greenlight from casino execs as a desperate moment for the show and his company. “I remember thinking, this is everything, this is my future, and if we didn’t get it, it would be back to the drawing board. It could be years before I’d get another opportunity like this,” he says. “The person in charge of marketing was saying, ‘I hate it. I don’t think it’s on brand. We’re a five-star resort, and this doesn’t sound like a five-
star experience. But this is exactly where I was sitting when we said no to Cirque du Soleil, so my vote is we give it a go.’” Absinthe opened on April Fool’s Day 2011 in an actual, temporary Spiegeltent at the heart of the Las Vegas Strip. While the international cast of comedians, acrobats, dancers and specialty performers had already honed the cabaret-meets-circus presentation, the unique venue added some challenging wrinkles to the show’s future in Vegas. “Spiegeltents are beautiful venues that have a lot of charm to them, but a mostly wooden structure in the desert wasn’t going to be a long-term play,” says Jennie Connery, Spiegelworld’s chief operating officer who joined the
company in 2010. “When we put up the tent we have now, it was a whole different process of creating an interior space to maximize the world of a Spiegeltent but take it to another level.” The current tent, installed in the fall of 2011, is actually a permanent structure with a façade that maintains the look and feel of the world of Absinthe. After its initial run, producing partner Base Entertainment wanted to take the show inside a casino, but Mollison preferred to continue to grow at the original Caesars space. The two companies would dissolve their partnership in 2017. * * * * * Absinthe was a blast of fresh air for the Strip, but the timing of its
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(Courtesy Spiegelworld)
arrival was key to its early success, because the sagging economy meant there were few new Vegas shows and experiences at the time. And the company quickly realized it could create momentum by appealing to Las Vegas residents, actively marketing against the old adage that locals don’t spend time and money on the Strip. “We knew this needed to be here more than the six-month run. The trajectory was there,” Connery says. “Early on, we were embraced by the local community. We became that show that had good word-of-mouth—residents would recommend it to their friends who were visiting from out of town, that this was the one show we would take you to see while you’re here.” In the tent and on the stage,
Absinthe packed its shows with talented variety acts from all over the world, a rapid-fire approach guided by now-familiar characters like the Gazillionaire, the Green Fairy and co-host Penny Pibbets (or Wanda Widdles). The comedy was racy and fueled that word-ofmouth factor, while the daring acrobatics felt even more suspenseful due to the venue’s intimacy. A perfect example is the unforgettable roller-skating-in-theround act performed by sibling duo Billy and Emily England. “During one of the first dress rehearsals … going into the launch of the show in 2011, there was someone who had never seen many of the acts and hadn’t been part of the rehearsal process until this day, and they turned to me in utter
shock during that one,” Connery says. “They just couldn’t believe it, asking, ‘Are the skaters really supposed to go that fast?’” Another early act that maximized the intensity was the Esteemed Gentlemen of the High Wire, a three-man performance that took place on a tightrope just a few feet above the stage. Their skill and the audience proximity made up for the fact that the wire wasn’t so high. “It’s amazing to be in such a small, intimate setting where any seat in the house can really see that muscle being flexed, see the performers flip and curl around that wire,” says Lijana Wallenda, who helped create that original act and now heads up costume design and aerial act training and safety
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for Absinthe. She’s also a seventh-generation member of the famous Flying Wallendas family act and a fourth-generation high-wire walker who spent her whole life traveling the world and performing at different circus, fair and amusement park events before settling in Las Vegas with Absinthe. Wallenda is known for performing with her brother Nik for daredevil walks including one 25 stories across Times Square in 2019, her comeback after being seriously injured during a rehearsal two years earlier. When she launched Absinthe, it was the first time she had developed a wire act without performing in it. “When I came out to coach, I was seven months pregnant, and it was a six-month contract,” Wallenda says. “It’s crazy to think it’s been 10 years, and how this show changed my life. I’d never been so still in one city for so long after being a traveling performer my whole life. It’s been an amazing experience and so rewarding in so many ways.” Known onstage as Duo Vector, Polish acrobats Michal “Misha” Furmanczyk and Lukasz Szczerba are original cast members who also leapt at the chance to perform in Las Vegas with no inkling they would end up calling this strange city home for so long. They’d competed separately in acrobatic competitions in their home country before joining forces to create a unique act in 2008. “I always wanted to have an act where both partners are physically similar,” Szczerba says. Hand-balancing duos like this one are usually made up of a larger athlete—the base—and a smaller person who serves as the flyer. “People often ask if we are brothers, so this approach seems to be working.” Duo Vector joined Absinthe after
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(Wade Vandervort/Staff)
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Mollison saw the pair perform in Munich in the fall of 2010. He describes traveling the world and discovering new talent as a favorite part of the process, and it has become even more enjoyable as Spiegelworld has grown and become a sought-after employer in the entertainment industry. “I wouldn’t say we’ve gone global the way a show like [Cirque du Soleil’s] O is global, but certainly, we are a global brand with artists,” Mollison says. “When I first came to Vegas, artists from Germany might say, ‘Oh, you’re the guy that went bankrupt in 2008 after that show on the pier.’ We’ve been able to reposition ourselves as a big success in Las Vegas.” Because Absinthe is always on the hunt for new acts and artists, and keeping the show fresh means keeping new and old customers coming back for more, all that travel and recruitment and brand-building directly impacts what happens onstage. “It’s a marriage of both seeking out [acts] and developing them,” Mollison says. “It’s going to Berlin and seeing someone and then going to dinner and offering them a job, and then the artist gets to Vegas and you have to figure out how to make it Vegas appropriate. Then there are acts like the sway poles, which has been a dream of mine for a long time to have this show within a show, and that one we totally created; it didn’t exist anywhere.” Since they’ve been in the show the whole time, the Duo Vector guys have seen the cast evolve and understand better than most how all its pieces fit together. “I think every act has some function in the show. Some have to be showstoppers, some have to be romantic, others have to be technical, but all the ones we have now and used to have fit perfectly,” Szczerba says. “They have a specific role, and every time I see the show, I can’t believe how good it is and how the choreography and comedy all works together.” Furmanczyk calls performing in Las Vegas a dream, something that sounded too good to be true. After living that dream for a decade, he still marvels at his colleagues’ talents, explaining that he’s still stunned by the roller-skating act, for example, every time he sees it. “I think Ross’ idea is to bring the most unique acts, something you won’t see anywhere else, so when you come to the show, you’ll always be surprised,” Furmanczyk says. “It’s been uplifting for me, seeing the show grow so much, and now it’s so well-established in
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this city. To be a part of it is something we are proud of, and to see it from the inside feels really good.” * * * * * Returning to the Spiegeltent at Caesars Palace after the pandemic shut down the Strip for months also felt really good for the entire Absinthe team, but that comeback wasn’t continuous. Absinthe was one of the first major shows to bring back live performances, on October 28, reconfiguring its in-the-round venue with distanced cabaret tables for audiences of approximately 150 people in a space built for 660. Then COVID-19 numbers spiked in Southern Nevada heading into the holidays, and the state added new safety restrictions, limiting Vegas showrooms to a maximum capacity of just 50 people. Absinthe continued, hoping it would just be a few weeks, but it was a few months before restrictions loosened. The show closed for a second time in mid-December, before reopening again on March 17. Spiegelworld has maintained its prominent voice in the Vegas entertainment industry throughout the pandemic, introducing above-and-beyond safety protocols and other innovations to improve the experience and convenience for cast, crew and audience members while the show was being staged, and working to stay in touch with officials and lobby for reasonable restrictions behind the scenes. (Sometimes that effort has been public in the form of some comedic jabs on the YouTube series Vegashitshow, which launched last year.) Mollison and his team aren’t the only Vegas producers pushing for more communication and discussion about keeping entertainment alive during the pandemic, but Absinthe has emerged as a leader in that regard. “It was just pure terror, the terror of losing everything we worked so hard for,” Mollison says. “I didn’t see a road to survival, because we had been through the financial crisis, which crushed us. We’d been through September 11 and survived that. We’d taken these blows and waited for things to slowly get better. But this was an unfolding disaster that just got worse and worse. “If we took on a sense of leadership in our business, it was for survival, and out of that have come many friendships with people who are our competitors,” Mollison continues. “We never would have had conversations with David Copperfield about what are we going to do, or conversations with resorts where I don’t have shows about what they are doing. I think
(Inset) Wanda Widdles (Brenton Ho/Powers Imagery/Courtesy Spiegelworld)
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(Courtesy Spiegelworld/Powers Imagery)
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SPIEGELWORLD’S WORLD n Spiegelworld planted the seed for its current Las Vegas entertainment empire when it opened Absinthe at Caesars Palace 10 years ago. But each project that followed has been developed in its own way with its own team of creatives, building off the original brand while establishing a unique identity in every show. “I think we always try to start fresh when creating each show and go into the process with a new team putting together a new show, but we’re also always learning from every show we’ve ever done,” says chief operating officer Jennie Connery, who was working in more traditional theater production in New York City when she joined the Spiegelworld team.
this has created a great sense of strength in the entertainment industry for all of us going forward.” Time will tell, but it appears as if the Vegas shows that were able to operate under the pandemic’s extreme conditions—varied productions including X Country and Tape Face at Harrah’s, Piff the Magic Dragon at Flamingo and Extravaganza at Bally’s—have similarly stepped into a leadership role, guiding the way for the Strip’s impending full-scale return, testing the waters and taking the risks. “We had to furlough the vast majority of our employees at the beginning, and we wanted to remain in regular touch with everybody,” Connery says. “Very early on, we realized we couldn’t come back without someone exclusively focused on COVID mitigation, so we have a chief mitigation officer whose sole focus is [those] guidelines and processes. Above all, it’s been really important for us to be and feel like a safe space.” Absinthe has also developed a reputation through the years for throwing wild parties to celebrate
its anniversary in Las Vegas. There was no big celebration on April 1 this year, but every night the show has been performed since its St. Patrick’s Day return has felt like a mini celebration, one mixed with increasing measures of relief and joy. For a group of people who live to entertain, reconnecting with their audience and a community that has celebrated them for a decade means everything. “You have an idea of what Vegas is, and then when you actually get in and become part of this community, it’s just such a wonderful town and such a small place with great people,” Mollison says. “When you come as a guest, it’s this big, incredible thing, and it’s been an absolute privilege for us to survive for 10 years. “You look back at the big ones, [shows] like Folies Bergère and Jubilee! and you wonder, is that our trajectory? We didn’t feel like it was, but now, to be talking about a 10th anniversary, is incredible and doubly sweet because of the issues we had to deal with this last year.”
The latest on Absinthe’s zany sister shows
“We love the intimacy at Absinthe and condensing the audience into a space that’s relatively small, and we’ve used that in other places as well. But it’s not so much a template, and we feel like all of our shows are always changing.” Spiegelworld debuted the free-flowing Vegas Nocturne at the Cosmopolitan at the end of 2013 in conjunction with innovative supper club Rose. Rabbit. Lie., a combo that was ahead of its time, according to company founder Ross Mollison. “I think the price points and concepts were just too ambitious,” he says. “It was a very difficult set of circumstances … but it was also the most exciting thing I think we’ve built, very ambitious and fantastic.”
Nocturne closed in 2014 while RRL soldiered on with its supper club model until Cosmo announced its closure last month. Spiegelworld renovated the show space there and opened the riotous sci-fi comedy variety show Opium in 2018. That show’s comeback will now be held until the company and the resort have finished updating the restaurant space and readying a new food and beverage and entertainment concept. “To have the chance to come back and reimagine how to do it and make it a more exciting experience, now with six or seven years under the belt of learning how to do that, it’s going to be really fun,” Mollison says. “And we
are enormous fans of what they have achieved at the Cosmopolitan through the years by redoing the property and adding so many innovations.” Spiegelworld is also set to reopen its newest Vegas product, Atomic Saloon Show, at the Grand Canal Shoppes at Venetian/ Palazzo on May 5. Opened to rave reviews in the fall of 2019 in an immaculately redesigned former nightclub space, Atomic had December plans to move to the Palazzo Theater for socially distanced performances but officials opted to hold off when restrictions tightened. Now, it will be able to return to its natural home in mere weeks for an audience of 108 instead of the standard 250. –Brock Radke
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Britney Spears performs at Las Vegas' Planet Hollywood Resort in 2016. (Denise Truscello/Courtesy)
ALWAYS AIMING Photographer Denise Truscello has captured the essence of New Vegas BY C. MOON REED
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ire photo service Getty Images hosts more than 24,000 photos by Las Vegas-based photographer Denise Truscello. But that’s just the beginning of her oeuvre, not the whole of it. Truscello also shoots for WireImage, and runs its Las Vegas office. You’ll find even more of her work in national magazines like Rolling Stone, on album covers and in casino advertisements, high-fashion campaigns and private collections. Truscello has captured many of contemporary Vegas’ biggest moments—grand openings, galas, pool parties, portraits and countless red carpets. She has joined musicians on tour. And in her free time, she uses her talents to bring awareness to people in need, from refugee camps in Africa to impoverished Romani people in Italy. She also covers hard news, including the aftermath of 9/11. The longtime Las Vegan, a graduate of Bishop Gorman, Truscello spent her formative years working as a waitress and taking pictures in Paris. She learned the essence of a good picture from Europe’s great museums and by walking the streets with her late mentor, photographer Édouard Boubat. Truscello much prefers to be behind the scenes than in the spotlight, but she sat down with the Weekly to discuss her passion, her favorite shots and the time Hunter S. Thompson offered her weed.
Denise Truscello in Paris, shot by Bernard Boubat (Courtesy)
What are your main avenues right now in photography? I’m a photographer; I shoot everything. … Maybe some people think that makes you not serious or whatever. But if I see something that moves me, I’m gonna photograph it. What type of cameras do you use? My main cameras are Nikon, but then I love Leica … for black-andwhite street scenes. I’ve done a lot of music videos with Canon. And I also have a Red camera; they use it to make movies. What have you been shooting during the pandemic? I shot something for Gucci with Jared Leto, which was really cool. ... I photographed a friend’s wedding. I worked with Holly [Madison] in LA. We went to Houdini’s mansion and did a shoot there. I went to Washington, D.C., for the inauguration. … It’s been so
Hunter S. Thompson portrait, shot at CineVegas at the Palms in 2003 (Denise Truscello/Courtesy)
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THE WEEKLY Q&A
Édouard Boubat at his Paris home in 1997 (Denise Truscello/Courtesy)
ty things, with Paris Hilton ... the Kardashians. ... I shot more celebrity birth cakes than anybody; the amount of celebrity birth cakes are in the hundreds. It was pretty amazing. It hasn’t been like that for a little bit. The DJs came in and did their thing, which is great. The DJs are fun. But that was a crazy era.
helpful to have this time off, because I get to spend it with my family and my pets. And I get to look through all of my work and actually appreciate it, which I haven’t been able to do. Do you have any favorite Vegasrelated projects? For 18 months, I photographed the process of building the High Roller. I love that wheel. It was incredible working with the American Bridge [Company] workers there. You had to wear a back brace as a child to treat scoliosis. How did that color your life view? I was a loner my whole life, and this is probably why. … People just see the outside; they might just see whatever cool photography, but they don’t know everything about a person. That’s why it’s important to not judge. I used to hate this [brace, but] it reminds me of what I went through as a little kid. It was tough. But it actually makes you a stronger person, even though at the time you feel really weak. … [Imagine Dragons frontman] Dan Reynolds talks about that, because he has a back issue.
Are you working on any causebased projects at the moment? People need to accept themselves, but it’s very difficult [with] social media. So I’m working on a project [through the My Scars Are Beautiful organization] with acceptance and burn survivors and what they go through. … I photographed about 10 burn survivors in Las Vegas. We’re hoping to get them in burn units to give newly burned patients hope. What have been some of your favorite subjects to shoot over the years? The amount of experiences I’ve had because of photography has been endless. [I’ve done] 10,000 shoots in 25 years, I kid you not. I have so many hard drives. I really love everybody that I’ve worked with. An obvious answer is going to be Celine [Dion]. I love working with her. Not just the best voice but an incredible human being ... Olivia Newton John, love her … Pope Francis [on Good Friday] ... A lot of the stuff in Ethiopia … I really loved being on tour with Steven Tyler; that was fun.
You’ve been on the forefront of the Vegas entertainment scene for years. What’s your favorite era of Vegas? There was a moment—like from 2005, before it got inundated— when it was purely about entertainment and fun. There were these crazy celebri-
What’s the story behind your portrait of late author Hunter S. Thompson? Oh, my God, I love him. He actually offered me to smoke a joint, and I said no. That was for CineVegas. He had a cane and he was hitting people with it. [I was] shooting him with Dennis Hopper. Benicio Del Toro was there, as well. I was doing the shoot, and I said, “Hunter, I love you. But if you hit me, I’m gonna hit you back.” He goes, “Oh, I love you. Want to smoke a joint?” … That ended up [being] used as an obituary photo for him online [for Rolling Stone].
American Bridge workers pose during construction of the High Roller in Las Vegas in 2013. (Denise Truscello/Courtesy)
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BIG THIS WEEK
DAFT PUNK’S DISCOVERY SAMPLES This week marks the 20th anniversary of Daft Punk’s sophomore LP. Use the occasion to discover the classic songs the robots sampled to make it, detailed in this YouTube clip: bit.ly/39LMaMl.
SHOW PODCAST
FILM
BANDSPLAINING
TINA
On this Spotify-hosted weekly show, Yasi Salek attempts to unpack the musical legacies and enduring appeal of influential cult artists like MF Doom, Steely Dan, Kool Keith, My Chemical Romance and Phish, with the help of savvy cultural writers like Hanif Abdurraqib, Rob Mitchum and Meredith Graves. A recent two-parter features Bob Mehr attempting to explain the magnificent drunken catastrophe that was The Replacements. Even the theme song is consistent with the theme: It’s performed by Bethany Cosentino of Best Coast and Jennifer Clavin of Bleached. Spotify. –Geoff Carter
This HBO documentary explores the life of legendary singer Tina Turner, beginning at the dawn of her career when she was just 18. Chronicling the abuse she endured from her ex-husband, Ike, for nearly 17 years and the redemptive chapters that have followed, it’s a story of strength and resiliency that should resonate with survivors across the world. As a chart-topping comeback star and solo artist at the age of 40, Turner defied stereotypes and pigeonholing, finding success and love on her own terms. HBO, HBO Max. –Leslie Ventura
BUCKY HEARD AT THE BOOTLEGGER There might never be another voice like the late, great Bobby Hatfield, but his singing partner and Righteous Brothers co-founder Bill Medley was able to bring the act and its music back to the stage—and a Harrah’s Las Vegas headlining residency—when he found Bucky Heard. The Alabama-born singer has been making the rounds at smaller Vegas venues, and he continues a limited engagement at the historic Bootlegger restaurant and lounge south of the Strip, accompanied by Barry Manilow guitarist John Wedemeyer. Friday & Saturday, 9:30 p.m., no cover, 702-736-4939. —Brock Radke
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BIRDGIRL Picking up where the hilarious and surreal Harvey Birdman: Attorney at Law left off, Adult Swim’s new animated show is a showcase for Criminal Minds star Paget Brewster’s whipcrack comic timing. Tony Hale and Rob Delaney co-star. bit.ly/3mnaolp
OUR PICKS FOR THE WEEK AHEAD
EXHIBIT
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VIVA LAS VEGAS AT RECYCLED PROPAGANDA
BROKEN HORSES BY BRANDI CARLILE
Celebrate the slow return to Vegas’ regularly scheduled fabulousness with this group show, featuring edgy Vegas-themed paintings by gallerist Izaac Zevalking, aka Recycled Propaganda; Jerry Misko’s glittery Stardust-inspired canvases; and Mary Felker’s joyous desert paintings, highlighting Nevada’s natural side. “One of the good parts about an artist having a gallery [is] I don’t get annoyed if they make a mess,” Zevalking says. “[I’m] giving them the opportunity to do whatever they want.” Through May 29. Monday-Thursday, noon-6 p.m.; Friday, noon-8 p.m.; Saturday, 11 a.m.-8 p.m.; Sunday, 11 a.m.-6 p.m. Recycled Propaganda, 702-769-4459. –C. Moon Reed
Brandi Carlile is less defined by her genres— folk, country, pop, rock, take your pick—than by the unmistakable bigness of her voice, which can knock the wind out of you the first time you hear it. In her recently released memoir, the 40-year-old singer-songwriter reflects on her life, from a hardscrabble childhood in rural Washington state (the title refers to the discarded horses so broken they’re sold cheap, the only way Carlile’s family could afford them) to music superstardom. It’s a story of grit and success against all odds, from an artist who has found another way to use her remarkable voice. Crown Publishing, $28. –Genevie Durano
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Vegas magic is back (and ready to try new things) BY BROCK RADKE
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hen Penn & Teller reopen their two-decade-strong show at the Rio in a few weeks, it’s safe to expect it’ll be just as edgy and funny as it has always been. There will be some familiar tricks in the mix, including some classic illusions and material from earlier in the duo’s 40-plus years performing together. Other prominent elements, like the finale from recent years involving the fantastical appearance of an “elephant” named Elsie, might not be in the cards. In last month’s announcement that the show would return to the Penn & Teller Theater on April 22, Penn Jillette said, “We haven’t been onstage in over a year, so we don’t know whether the audience will be coming to see us do miracles, or just to see if we remember which way to face onstage.”
Penn & Teller (Courtesy); David Copperfield (Homer Anthony Liwag/Courtesy)
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THE STRIP Mat Franco (Denise Truscello/Courtesy)
along with Le Rêve at Wynn and Celestia at the Strat, chipped in on the changes. Magician Murray Sawchuck, who returned to action in November and is currently performing in his own show at the Laugh Factory at the Trop and as the comedy guest star in the Fantasy female revue at Luxor, has also adapted his act. “I’ve started to buy larger decks of cards, so when the audience picks a card from a distance, they can still see it,” he says. “I probably made seven or eight major changes to the show, because I’m used to working with people in the audience so much. Fortunately, I’ve built up about three hours of material, so I can use different things when we had it narrowed down to what we can do.” Piff the Magic Dragon has been onstage at the Flamingo most of the time since October, and David Copperfield, like many of his Strip peers, started up in November, paused and then returned in March. Comedy represents a huge part of Sawchuck’s act, which presents another set of challenges. “I was just talking to Carrot Top about that, because for a while, we were doing shows for just 100 people,” Sawchuck says. “If you have 100 people in a small comedy club, you can destroy. But in that 1,800-seat theater [where Carrot Top performs at Luxor] all spread out, it’s almost like everyone’s watching their own individual show, and they react individually. When one of d Da vid Copperfiel
Of course, Jillette always jokes about everything, but bringing back a big magic show in Las Vegas during the pandemic is serious business. All forms of live entertainment are dealing with specific challenges and different ways of adapting to current restrictions and altered audience expectations. But Vegas magicians are tied together by the high volume of crowd interaction involved in their presentations. The Elsie trick is special because dozens of audience members volunteer to surround the space in which she magically appears. If anyone can shift gears quickly and work around pandemic-era challenges, it’s sure to be Penn & Teller, whose creativity has been bubbling up throughout 2020’s seemingly infinite downtime. “I think it will be an all-new show,” Jillette said late last year. “Teller and I have kept within each other’s bubbles. We’ve been writing like freaks. It’s very much like the ’70s, where we’re in my living room building stuff out of cardboard and gaffer’s tape. … It’s kind of nice to be two guys in a room again trying to think of wacky stuff to do onstage.” Mat Franco also recently announced his return, set for April 29 at the Linq, and the America’s Got Talent champion-turned-Strip headliner has reportedly revamped the entire production. Producer and director Brian Burke, who collaborated with Franco on AGT and has also worked on Celine Dion and Lionel Richie’s Vegas shows,
us laughs, everyone else in our group is going to chuckle, too. It’s magnetic. When you’re onstage, you’re farther away from those reactions.” Like his close friends Penn & Teller, Mac King has been headlining his own show (at Harrah’s) for 20 years. His highly comedic, family-friendly performance is unique among Strip magic shows, and that’s part of the reason he didn’t do a lot of virtual shows during the shutdown. “It will be interesting to see what the show looks like, because before, I had so many people from the audience coming up onstage with me,” says King, who’s shooting for a comeback date of June 1 “If I went back tomorrow, that wouldn’t be able to happen. I don’t know how comfortable people will feel doing that or how comfortable I’ll feel, or if the regulations will even allow it. “My show is so interactive and so dependent upon the audience and me playing off them. It’s really hard to translate that into the virtual world. It’s not that I don’t like it, but it doesn’t feel as fun for me.”
Piff the Magic Dragon (Christopher DeVargas/Staff)
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NOISE
Kentrello (Dennis Pike/Courtesy)
OPEN BORDERS Local rapper Kentrello wants to lay his feelings bare BY LESLIE VENTURA
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entrell Austin wants people to know the man behind the name. The 26-year-old Las Vegas rapper, singer and model, who goes by Kentrello, released an EP during the pandemic, and now he’s preparing a full-length effort that speaks from the heart. “I just want to have my first album explain more about me and what’s shaped me to become who I am,” Austin says. “I have a few songs on there talking about mental health and relationships I’ve had that shaped me into what I am today, songs that are talking about how I feel like I’m kind of alone in the music industry.” That’s because, Austin says, his music doesn’t sound like anyone else’s. Ever since he wrote his first song at age 9, Kentrello has sought to set himself apart. “It could be me just being a little bit hard on myself,” he says, “but my sound and my beats are so different, so some people might think my mu-
sic sounds weird.” Austin’s Screenshot EP pairs dreamy, lo-fi synths against smooth-flowing vocals, peppered with introspective bars about his day-to-day life and relationships. “Riding down the road/Got these thoughts, trying not to let them get to my soul/But who would even know?/’Cause my smile hides everything,” he raps on “A Little More Taller.” For his upcoming LP, Rello, the MC says he’s doubling down on his beats and lyrics, while still trying to keep some of his life to himself. “It wasn’t difficult to be vulnerable,” says Austin, who uses programs like BeatMaker 3 to make all his beats from scratch. “I’ve always been open, but I do try to keep some things a secret. I don’t want people to know all of my business,” continues Austin, who says he uses his platform not to talk about how he’s feeling presently, but as a way to process how he used to feel.
“Since I’ve gotten over a lot of things and I’ve survived 2020, what I like to discuss now is how I used to be depressed,” he explains. “I almost feel like that was never me, I was just in my head. It feels good to really shake it off.” As Kentrello looks forward to recording his new album—which he hopes to have out this summer— he says he’s also excited to perform and talk to people again. “I’m an extrovert. I’m not an introvert, not even the slightest,” he says. “During the pandemic, I didn’t know who felt safe with anyone approaching them. I really just miss being an extrovert. And I’m really looking forward to performing. I have nothing standing in my way.”
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Developer J Dapper sheds light on his plans to redevelop Downtown’s Huntridge Theater BY GEOFF CARTER
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he Huntridge Theater is saved. On March 31, developer J Dapper finalized his $4 million purchase of the 76-year-old venue, ending a long bout of local anxiety over the ultimate fate of the historic structure. Opened in 1944, this erstwhile movie house, designed by architect S. Charles Lee (the architect of record for LA’s Max Factor Building, Tower Theatre, Fox Wilshire Theatre and more), has lived a number of lives before now. It has been Las Vegas’ first nonsegregated cinema; a concert venue that hosted Nine Inch Nails, Beastie Boys, The Killers and scores of others; and the unwitting subject of some 20-plus years of revitalization efforts, legal proceedings and potentially catastrophic neglect. Now, the Huntridge can begin anew. Live music will return to its stage, Dapper says. Standing in the theater’s cavernous interior—the seats, flooring and vir-
HISTORIC
tually everything else has been stripped away, leaving a large concrete-and-metal box—the developer is visibly elated. “We’ve been working on this deal in earnest for close to three years, but I’ve been wanting to get this done for 10 years,” he says. “And we’ve already done a lot of due diligence, so that part of it’s pretty much done.” On March 31, Dapper Companies released an aspirational rendering that included a restoration of the Huntridge’s iconic sign; a restaurant/brewery, located in the former bank/furniture store building next door; and a dazzling revamp of the theater’s profile, which has been altered from Lee’s design over the years by the addition of a stage dock, a fly space and, oh, yeah, a new metal barrel roof to replace the wood-framed roof that collapsed on the day of a Circle Jerks show in July 1995. But Dapper says that whatever happens with the theater, and the structures and property surrounding
it, will be influenced by the operators who sign onto the project. Finding and signing those partners will take up the first year of what he anticipates will be a three-year process. “We think that there’s really two types of tenants for this project,” Dapper says, gesturing around the auditorium. “There’s this side, which is the concert portion. We’ve already had four or five different parties showing different kinds of interests. We’ve got some people who want to run it as a concert venue, but we’ve got some groups that also want to do things in here that are a little different than concerts, things I initially didn’t consider, but I’m warming up to the idea. And I’ve had a lot of people showing interest in the food and beverage side of things.” One thing that’s certain is that the theater isn’t crumbling again if Dapper can help it. “There’s definitely environmental concerns with a building this
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PROCESS old,” he says. “The main concern is the [late 1990s] roof; you know, it looks pretty good, but you can’t be sure of it because you don’t know what’s holding that roof up. So, we did something called GPR [Ground Penetrating Radar] scanning. Our structural engineer came in, scanned all the walls and the inside and the outside, and that GPR scan told us that it’s actually really sound and in good shape. At the end of the day, that’s what we needed to know to be able to say, ‘OK, we’re going to buy this.’” Surprisingly, some of the theater’s decorative elements have survived, too. During a tour of the facility, Brad Jerbic—the former Las Vegas City Attorney who now heads up the Project Enchilada restoration project, and a vital partner in helping Dapper to secure the Huntridge—showed me the original Streamline Moderne chandeliers that hung in the lobby, two giant octagonal metal fixtures with
domed shades. They’re dirty and they probably need rewiring, but aside from that, they’re beautifully preserved and nearly as photogenic as the theater’s beloved neon sign. (And it probably goes without saying that Jerbic, who has overseen the restoration of several vintage Fremont Street motel signs in the past few years, is excited to see the Huntridge’s art deco neon lettering restored and lit.) The three-year wait for a new Huntridge Theater might seem long, but Dapper will help to fill the time by opening several new Downtown spots over the next few years. The nearby Huntridge Center will soon welcome new tenants, said to be a grocery store and diner. The Herbert, Dapper’s renovation of the former Western Cab building on Main Street and Gass Avenue, is soon to open with the first Downtown location of Great Greek Mediterranean Grill. His renovation of the former Mahoney’s Drum Shop
Huntridge rendering (Dapper Companies/Courtesy)
SCENE
building, less than a block away from the Huntridge, is pretty far along. A full, down-to-the-slats renovation of the towering United States Postal Service building at Las Vegas Boulevard and East Carson Avenue, which will include food and beverage offerings, a rooftop patio and a new, vintage-inspired post office space, is beginning construction. It’s a lot to process, especially for those of us who gave (and gave, and gave) to Huntridge resurrection efforts and gradually gave up hope as we waited an entire generation for the theater to reopen its doors. But J Dapper’s track record is solid just in the Huntridge neighborhood alone. And as Brad Jerbic has demonstrated through his renovation efforts, Downtown Las Vegas is just too stubborn to go down easily. “That’s when you have opportunity—when everybody else gives up,” Jerbic says.
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FOOD & DRINK
SEE-WORTHY
Estiatorio Milos’ seafood market (Courtesy Venetian)
4.8.21
The food’s familiar but the energy’s new at Estiatorio Milos’ new Venetian home BY GENEVIE DURANO
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n a recent evening at Estiatorio Milos’ new home on the Venetian’s Restaurant Row—where the Vegas Strip favorite now occupies AquaKnox’s former spot next to Delmonico—the evening’s undisputed star was a lobster trying to crawl out of its ice-packed spot in the fresh-seafood market. Delighted onlookers gathered ’round and took photos of the runaway crustacean, before a sommelier donned a pair of gloves and swiftly but gently put it back into place. The market, located toward the back of the restaurant, should look familiar to fans of the Greek seafood restaurant, which called the Cosmopolitan home for 10 years. And while some might be eyeing a sea bass or lobster for their evening supper, the vine-ripened tomatoes, artfully stacked on the produce counter,
Lithrini sashimi (Tim Atkins/Courtesy)
can be just as tantalizing, hinting at their role as the centerpiece of a Greek salad amid cucumbers, olives, onions, peppers and wedges of barrel-aged feta. Milos’ menu remains virtually unchanged, because let’s be real, it would be virtually impossible to improve upon chef and owner Costas Spiliadis’ concept, with its abiding culinary philosophy of using only the finest ingredients with minimal interference—meaning fish flown in daily from the Mediterranean might be prepared simply with salt, olive oil and lemon, or sashimi-style with a delicate ribbon of olive oil topped by herbs and microgreens, to let natural flavors shine through. All the Milos classics are still here and just as outstanding, along with the famed three-course prix fixe lunch ($36). The can’t-miss starter
LV W F O O D & D R I N K
ESTIATORO MILOS Venetian, 702-414-1270. Sunday-Thursday, noon-3 p.m. & 5-10 p.m.; Friday-Saturday, noon-3 p.m. & 5-11 p.m.
is the Milos Special, and it’s named such for a reason: The lightly fried zucchini and eggplant slices sitting atop creamy tzatziki and served with triangles of kefalograviera cheese are as addictive as ever. Trust us, you’ll regret not sharing one with the table. Likewise, Milos’ grilled octopus— prepared with capers, onions and Santorini fava—has ardent supporters; the tenderness of the mollusk is pure perfection. Other notable starters include grilled mushrooms, a chef’s daily selection that recently de-
livered shiitake, trumpet and oyster varieties. They’re accompanied by tri-color Holland peppers and lightly dressed with extra virgin olive oil and aged balsamic. When it comes to entrees, Milos is very much choose-your-own-adventure. Browse the marketplace and pick your fish or lobster, then select a method of cooking that calls to you. Mediterranean sea bass was recently prepared with Santorini capers, olive oil and lemon dressing, served whole at the table and then expertly filleted and portioned out by the server. Other aquatic standouts include the Faroe Islands wild salmon and bigeye tuna. And the Fish in Sea Salt is always a showstopper, whether it’s for your table or on its way to your neighbor’s. The most notable change resulting from Milos’ migration to the Venetian is the level of energy one feels during the dining experience, not just from its larger capacity, but also in its general vibe. Where the original Milos was tucked away in a corner at the Cosmo, offering a relatively subdued dining experience, its new home is a bright and expansive open space with a massive bar at its center and a bright and bustling open kitchen. One can feel the energy at the center of the action within the massive resort, which is once again seeing increased foot traffic. It feels like a good move for Milos, and the new space is well worth visiting, not just for old time’s sake but for new adventures still ahead.
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FOOD & DRINK
IN THE BAG
To subscribe, go to marketinthealley.com.
Fergusons Downtown’s subscription-based coffee club spotlights local roasters BY GENEVIE DURANO
“We choose the roaster of the month, and that roaster provides us with three types of roast, so you if you’re a person that likes a light roast, medium roast or dark roast, they’ll be able to produce that for you,” says Erica Bell, who runs the program for Fergusons. “Each month, it’s really tailored to that roaster and how they run their roast or their coffee. Once the customer builds a profile for themselves, we package up the coffee for them.” There are two sign-up options: one 12-ounce bag for $19.50 and two 12-ounce bags for $38. Subscribers can choose between ground coffee or coffee beans, and new subscribers get extra goodies like a Fergusons tasting cup, pins and more. Customers can pick up their coffee at Fergusons or have it shipped to them. “Every roaster also throws in stickers,
tasting note cards, things like that,” Bell says. “We’re making sure that we’re bringing education into the subscriptions as well.”
(Fergusons Downtown/Courtesy)
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any food-and-beverage operators around town had to pandemic-pivot their business models in order to weather the decreased foot traffic. But from such challenges came whole new businesses, many of which will continue long after crowds return to public spaces. Such is the case with Fergusons’ coffee subscription program, an offshoot of Pour in the Alley, the Downtown tasting initiative that focused on specific alcoholic and nonalcoholic beverages each month, with the mission of educating consumers and connecting them with local businesses. When the in-person gathering went on pause, Pour launched the subscription club, spotlighting one local roaster per month. Thus far, that has included Vesta Coffee Roasters, Take It Easy Coffee Roasters and Zephyr Coffee.
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BIGGER & BOLDER NITTAYA’S SECRET KITCHEN 8427 W. Lake Mead Blvd., 702-360-8885. Monday-Saturday, 11 a.m.-10 p.m.; Sunday, noon-9:30 p.m.
Neighborhood Thai fave Nittaya’s expands BY BROCK RADKE
T
he not-so-well-kept secret at neighborhood Thai favorite Nittaya’s Secret Kitchen has always been how small that kitchen actually was. How small was it? Chef and owner Nittaya Parawong likes to joke about only hiring petite cooks. It’s no longer an issue. The 11-year-old restaurant at the corner of Rampart and Lake Mead is still at that corner, but in late January, it moved into a much larger space along Lake Mead, taking over for a shuttered sushi spot. Parawong says the move was only partially caused by the pandemic. “It was a combination of things. The lease [at the old space] was up in August, and everyone knows how small the restaurant was,” she says. “With all the restrictions we were working through, distancing tables 6 feet apart and how small our restaurant was, the lower capacity would be down to only a few tables.” Parawong says she was initially hesitant to slip into the bigger room, knowing her regulars appreciate the intimate feel of the original location, and how the way it aligns with a stellar wine list and her homey, flavorful cuisine. “My main concern was, are people going to follow me when it’s not the same? But when we came here and got used to the bigger kitchen and could have more tables with people still [distanced] enough, it turned out great. I’m very happy.” Signature dishes like fried avocado ($8), crispy pork belly ($9), coconut-fried shrimp ($11), Northern-style kao soi curry noodles ($19) and grilled skirt steak and eggplant in avocado curry ($25) aren’t going anywhere, and now that the kitchen staff has found a groove, Nittaya’s will be adding new dishes like tamarind-glazed “son-in-law” quail eggs ($9) and crispy rice salad ($13). And with the reopening complete, Parawong can now focus on opening a smaller, second Secret Kitchen in the Centennial Hills neighborhood later this spring.
Thai delights await at Nittaya’s Secret Kitchen. (Wade Vandervort/Staff)
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HOW THE WEST
WILL BE WON The Golden Knights’ Stanley Cup hopes go through Colorado … and vice versa BY JUSTIN EMERSON
G
ame 7 playoff stunners have prevented the Vegas Golden Knights and Colorado Avalanche from meeting in a postseason series each of the past two years. In 2019, the infamous Cody Eakin major penalty call helped San Jose defeat Vegas and advance to the second round, where Colorado stood waiting. Then last year, a hat trick secured by relatively unknown Dallas rookie Joel Kirivanta in overtime of a second-round series killed the Avalanche’s chances of facing the Golden Knights in the Western Conference Finals. Something unexpected could prevent Vegas and Colorado from facing off once again this year, but they’ve spent most of the regular season looking like they’re on another collision course. “We’re two teams that will most likely play in the playoffs, and if we want to win it all, we’re going to have to go through each other,” Vegas forward Jonathan Marchessault said on March 25. “We’re definitely preparing toward that.” At press time, the two teams were locked in a tight battle to see which finishes atop the West Division in the regular season. Vegas spent the majority of the season in first place in the standings until Colorado recently took over the top spot. But betting odds still have the Avalanche and Golden Knights almost even as far as likelihood to come out of
NATHAN MACKINNON
the West and reach the NHL’s final four—the closest two-team race of any division in the league this season. At press time at BetMGM, Colorado was offered at +125 (risking $1 to win $1.25) with Vegas at +150 (risking $1 to win $1.50) to ultimately prevail. Every other team in the division was at least a 4-to-1 long shot. With four teams from each division advancing to the 2021 playoffs, it’s a virtual lock Vegas and Colorado will both make it. The only real questions: Who will have the top seed? And how much will it ultimately matter? Vegas has won the Pacific Division twice in three years, parlaying both those titles—and the subsequent home-ice advantage—into Western Conference Final trips, even in last year’s postseason bubble in Edmonton. This year, the playoffs are expected to return to normal with travel between cities. That adds extra incentive for Vegas to win in the division and capture home ice for a potential series against Colorado.
“You always want the easiest path in the playoffs, but as we saw last year, it doesn’t necessarily guarantee you anything,” Vegas coach Pete DeBoer says. “Big difference from the bubble is home-ice advantage and are we going to have crowds in the building? If these buildings are full, particularly ours, then home-ice advantage is a huge advantage.” The Golden Knights’ history with the Avalanche is spotty at best. Vegas destroyed Colorado in the teams’ first-ever meeting—a 7-0 drubbing in 2017— but the Avalanche won four of the following five meetings over the next two seasons, and swept the 2019-20 season matchups by a combined score of 13-4. This season, the clubs have split their six meetings. Those have included a 3-0 Vegas victory February 22, which DeBoer called one of the team’s “most complete games” of the year, but also a 5-1 loss March 25 that he called “a good, old-fashioned ass-kicking.”
LV W S P O R T S
Nathan MacKinnon, Jonathan Marchessault (AP/Photo Illustration)
JONATHAN MARCHESSAULT
Vegas is the one team in the West that’s mostly been able to hang tough with Colorado, which has compiled the NHL’s best goal differential by a wide margin. The Golden Knights have beaten the Avalanche twice in regulation, something no other team has achieved. Four of the six games between the two teams have been decided by one goal, the most recent a Vegas overtime win. In six total matchups, the Avalanche holds a +1 goal differential over the Golden Knights. “In an ordinary year, we would play Colorado three times, so it’s been interesting to play them as many times as we have,” VGK general manager Kelly McCrimmon says. “I think when we play Colorado—and I’m sure they would say the same—those games take on real significance based on the quality of the two teams.” The Avalanche’s roster is undeniably strong.
Colorado has one of the top first lines in hockey, with superstar center Nathan MacKinnon flanked by captain Gabriel Landeskog and scoring machine Mikko Rantanen. In Cale Makar and Samuel Girard, the Avalanche have two legitimate Norris Trophy contenders for the league’s top defenseman. And Colorado goalie Philipp Grubauer has garnered Vezina Trophy attention as one of the NHL’s top backstops. And that’s just the stars. The Avalanche’s bottom six forwards might be the best bunch in the league, a group that includes former Golden Knights center Pierre-Edouard Bellemare. And Colorado’s third and fourth defensemen, Devon Toews and Ryan Graves, would be many teams’ top pair. Vegas has some similar attributes. Max Pacioretty, Chandler Stephenson and Mark Stone have comprised one of the league’s best lines for two years; Shea Theodore and Alex Pietrangelo are among the best along the blue line; and goalies Marc-André Fleury and Robin Lehner have both performed among the league’s best. “Are they a top team that you could face in the postseason? Absolutely,” defenseman Alec Martinez says. “But as for thinking ahead, I don’t really do that.” Plenty of fans already are, of course. Vegas and Colorado are on pace to secure the Nos. 1 and 2 seeds in the division, and both should be favored to get past their first-round opponents, likely to be Minnesota and either Arizona, St. Louis or San Jose. The Golden Knights and Avalanche meet twice more in the regular season—on April 26 and 28 at T-Mobile Arena—for what could be decisive games in determining the division winner. Still, those clashes will pale in comparison to what comes later, if everything goes according to plan—a seven-game series in May with a trip to the Stanley Cup Playoffs’ final four on the line.
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(NHLI via Getty Images)
4.8.21
■ PLAYER OF THE WEEKLY: ROBIN LEHNER The goalie was in net for both games in which the Golden Knights earned points last week—a win over the Kings on March 29 and a shootout loss to the Wild on April 1. He allowed three total goals in those contests, running his save percentage to .941 in his first four games since returning from a concussion last month.
Report THIS WEEK’S VOTE 1. Robin Lehner 2. Tomas Nosek 3. William Karlsson 4. Alec Martinez/Brayden McNabb (tie) As voted by Las Vegas Weekly’s panel, based on games played March 22-28. SEASON STANDINGS 1. Mark Stone (31 points) 2. Max Pacioretty (25) 3. Marc-André Fleury (19) 4. William Karlsson (16) 5. Jonathan Marchessault/Alex Tuch (15, tie) 5 points for 1st place in a week, 4 for 2nd, 3 for 3rd, 2 for 4th, 1 for 5th. UPCOMING GAMES April 9 vs. Arizona Coyotes, 7 p.m. April 11 vs. Arizona Coyotes, 1 p.m. April 12 at Los Angeles Kings, 7 p.m. April 14 at Los Angeles Kings, 7 p.m.* Games air on AT&T SportsNet and 98.9-FM/1340-AM unless noted. *Game airs on NBC Sports Network. STANLEY CUP ODDS: 7-TO-1 at Westgate Las Vegas SuperBook PROSPECT WATCH: BEN JONES The 22-year-old forward scored a pair of goals in the Silver Knights’ April 2 win against Tucson—the first two-goal game of his professional career. Jones, the final pick of the Golden Knights’ inaugural entry draft in 2017, had five goals and six assists in 21 games with Henderson at press time.
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VEGAS INC BUSINESS
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Allegiant still recovering but ‘well-positioned’ to emerge strong from pandemic
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BY BRYAN HORWATH
hen recalling what many days felt like at the start of the coronavirus pandemic last year, Allegiant Air’s chief financial officer described a stom-
ach-turning sensation. “It was like being punched in the gut every morning,” said Greg Anderson, who has been with the Las Vegas-based airline for about a dozen years. At one point, the company reported burning through $2 million in cash daily as air travel essentially came to a standstill with stay-at-home orders. It’s a different story this spring, as passenger metrics are starting to creep back to pre-pandemic levels. That, officials say, is the result of many factors—especially the company’s planning. In February, according to the airline’s monthly traffic report, just under 680,000 passengers boarded Allegiant flights, up close to 130,000 from January’s total. Even that figure was still a far cry from the February 2020 total of over 1.2 million passengers, but it’s a much more attractive number than last April’s low point of 36,000. “Every airline had to dig a bit of a hole and go into debt during the pandemic, but I think we have the smallest hole. We’re well-positioned for the future,” Anderson said. The future includes expanding service to more cities, as Allegiant will have added 55 routes by the fall to serve 130 cities. Part of the company’s growth strategy revolves around what it expects to be strong demand for leisure travel, its specialty. They added stops to places such as Jackson Hole, Wyoming, and Key West, Florida. “People are talking a lot about pent-up leisuretravel demand,” Anderson said. “U.S. economists are saying that Americans have about $1.6 trillion more in savings than when the pandemic started. Yes,
international travel will probably be down, maybe for years, but we’re 100% domestic and 100% leisure.” Anderson said about 70% of Allegiant customers surveyed said they want to book a flight sometime in the next six months. Close to 60% indicated they have received at least one COVID-19 vaccination shot and that they’re primed to travel again. “As the fog of the pandemic lifts, we think there are a thousand routes available to us for future growth,” said Drew Wells, the airline’s vice president of revenue and planning. “As we get to that other side, there are going to be opportunities for us.” He also knows how important federal stimulus dol-
lars have been for the company, especially the $170 million in federal emergency relief funds—a mix of loans and grant monies—the company was promised last April. Allegiant also received paycheck protection funds, which Anderson said were instrumental in helping the airline keep its employee base intact. Another $90 million in payroll support is expected to arrive in the coming months. Despite the rosy outlook, the company is still firmly in recovery mode. To illustrate, Allegiant, a publicly traded company, recorded just over $990 million in total revenues last year, a decrease of 46% from 2019. There were, however, opportunities that popped up during the pandemic. Normally a buyer of used aircraft, Allegiant took advantage of a depressed marketplace during the pandemic, Anderson said. What had been a tight market loosened considerably, he said. In 2020, Allegiant spent just over $200 million in aircraft and engine purchases. During the fourth quarter of 2020 alone, the airline spent $94 million on the purchase of three airplanes. According to its most recent quarterly earnings report, as of December 31, Allegiant was holding about $685 million in cash and investments. “We have arguably a stronger balance sheet now than when the pandemic started,” Anderson said. “I think that’s largely a product of the sheer grit of our team members. The entire organization has been rowing in the same direction.”
An Allegiant Airbus A319 at McCarran International Airport (Steve Marcus/Staff)
Senator Cortez Masto and Senator Rosen are leading the charge to reform the broken oil and gas leasing system that puts Nevada’s public lands and wildlife at risk. President Biden, it’s time to fix the leasing system and protect our outdoors for generations to come! Learn more at: www.nwf.org/reformleasing
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VegasInc Notes Angela Collins was named chief operating officer of Nathan Adelson Hospice and was appointed to the National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization’s quality and standards committee. Collins Collins was previously the regional vice president of hospice and palliative care for Compassus. In addition, Nathan Adelson Hospice promoted Cheryl Johnston to clinical manager for its Pahrump office. In her Johnston new role, Johnston will oversee home care, triage, continuous care and transition care teams.
FNP-C, a certified family nurse practitioner; and Tuan Khuu, APRN, board certified. Credit One Bank announced three new hires to the company’s corporate leadership team: Jennifer Brand, Bivor Mallik and Jarumon Sajjachaiyanont. As vice president of corporate business Brand solutions, Brand will lead the underwriting, profit optimization and market expansion opportunities for the bank’s corporate products. Mallik, vice president of decision science and modeling, will oversee the Mallik management of Credit One’s predictive models and scorecards, as well as lead the development and enhancement of custom-built models and analytical tools. Sajjachaiyanont serves as vice president of digital solutions accel- Sajjachaiyanont eration, responsible for managing transformation efforts aligned with the bank’s digital vision and road map.
SR Construction received national recognition for two design-build projects completed in 2020. The general contractor received an Excellence in Construction Eagle Award for its exemplary delivery of the Henderson Hospital Observation and Emergency Department expansion and an Excellence in Construction Pyramid Award for the outstanding work completed on the ninth Steinberg Diagnostic Medical Imaging facility. E&E Home Watch earned accreditation from the National Home Watch Association for the second year. The NHWA was formed in 2009 to establish and maintain the highest industry standards for Home Watch and absentee homeowner services throughout the United States and Canada.
Nevada State College President Bart Patterson received a Lifetime Achievement Award during The Village Foundation’s 10th annual fundraising gala. The Village Foundation collaborates, supports and funds projects that Patterson focus on increasing achievement of challenged students.
Urology Specialists of Nevada added four health care providers to help meet the need for urologic services in the community: Jonathan Higginson, MSN FNP-C, most recently an emergency room nurse at UMC; Ernestine Ngam, MSN, FNP-C, BSN, RN, a nurse practitioner; Tina Palone, MSN, APRN,
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pany; head of marketing Paul Young of Shoe Tree Brewing Company; head of membership, sales and events Christina Ellis of Ellis Island Hotel, Casino and Brewery; and treasurer Rob Snyder of Big Dog’s Brewing Company.
De Castroverde Law Group added two attorneys to its team. Vilma Nunez joined the firm as a criminal defense and immigration attorney, and Michelle Harnik was brought on as a personal injury Nunez attorney.
Goodwill of Southern Nevada hired Andrew Gackenbach as its new vice president of retail. Gackenbach brings more than 11 years of experience working for Goodwill Industries International to the Gackenbach position. He formerly served as the innovation and growth manager and international development manager.
Clark County School District Superintendent Jesus Jara announced the selection of Analeed Du Preez as CCSD’s chief communications officer. Du Preez has more than Harnik 20 years of communications experience and currently serves as director of communications for Cardno International Development, a government contracting firm. Colliers Las Vegas announced that three of its brokers are now members of Colliers Everest Club, where they are recognized as top producers. The inductees include Dan Doherty, SIOR, executive vice McDaniel president – Industrial Division; Paul Sweetland, SIOR, senior vice president – Industrial Division; and Spencer Pinter, executive vice president – Industrial Division. In addition, Colliers welcomed Amber McDaniel, CPM candidate, as its newest property manager within the Real Estate Management Services. Nevada Craft Brewers Association relaunched with new 2021 executive board members, including president Wyndee Forest of CraftHaus Brewery; vice president Tom Young of Great Basin Brewing Company; head of legislation and industry development Linda Lovelady of Lovelady Brewing Com-
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Merrill Lynch Wealth Management appointed Didi Nicolas to market executive for Nevada. Nicolas will oversee 78 financial advisers throughout the state, who collectively overNicolas see over $10 billion in assets and liability. Kevin Graziano, professor in the School of Education at Nevada State College, received the 2021 Edward C. Pomeroy Award from the American Association of Colleges for Teacher Education. Graziano This award recognizes outstanding contributions to the field of teacher education made at a collegiate, state or national level. Valley Oaks Medical Group purchased three medical clinics in Summerlin and Henderson, with plans to keep expanding over the next few years. Led by founder and CEO Guru Charan and his business partner, Dr. Rajesh Sonani, physicians and staff provide services in pain management, arthritis and primary care. VOMG accepts most major insurances, including Medicare and Medicaid, and all locations are accepting new patients.
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