2023-01-19-Las-Vegas-Weekly

LAS VEGAS

More than just bricks and mortar, Downtown Las Vegas is built on a foundation of original thinkers. It’s a place where unexpected people, unscripted places and unconventional ideas collide. A place for uncommon people to have something in common—open minds, open hearts and open doors. It is a place wide open for business, thrills, opportunity, reinvention— ANYTHING. Whether you live in Downtown or not, it surely lives in you. WHO’S DOWN?

DOWNFORANYTHING.VEGAS

DOWNTOWN

IS NOT JUST A POINT ON A MAP. IT’S A PLACE IN YOUR HEART.

EDITORIAL

Senior Editor GEOFF CARTER (geo .carter@gmgvegas.com)

Editor at Large BROCK RADKE (brock.radke@gmgvegas.com)

Deputy Editor EVELYN MATEOS (evelyn.mateos@gmgvegas.com)

Sta Writer SHANNON MILLER (shannon.miller@gmgvegas.com)

Sta Writer AMBER SAMPSON (amber.sampson@gmgvegas.com)

Contributing Writers GRACE DA ROCHA,HILLARY DAVIS, MIKE GRIMALA, CASEY HARRISON, KATIE ANN MCCARVER, DANNY WEBSTER

Contributing Editors RAY BREWER, JUSTIN HAGER, BRYAN HORWATH, CASE KEEFER, DAVE MONDT

O ce Coordinator NADINE GUY

CREATIVE

Art Director CORLENE BYRD (corlene.byrd@gmgvegas.com)

Senior Designer IAN RACOMA Photo Coordinator BRIAN RAMOS Photographers CHRISTOPHER DEVARGAS, STEVE MARCUS, WADE VANDERVORT

DIGITAL

Publisher

ADVERTISING & MARKETING

PRODUCTION & CIRCULATION

The west rim is heart-pounding, soul-searching, bucketlist-checking adrenaline rushes you’ve never felt or seen before, including one of the largest glass cantilever bridges in the world that will have you stepping 4,000 feet out over the Grand Canyon floor. Skywalk is just one of the ways you can jolt your senses and ignite your spirit at Grand Canyon West.

SUPERGUIDE

COVER STORY

Together, the Valley’s many museums help tell Las Vegas’ unique story.

NOISE

NIGHTS

FOOD & DRINK

Miznon brings chef Eyal Shani’s Israeli street-food wonders to the Strip, while Lovelady Brewing doubles down on Henderson.

VEGAS MUSEUMS

ON THE COVER WANT MORE? Head to lasvegasweekly.com.

(Courtesy/Courtney Ware Photography) LAS VEGAS WEEKLY 7 I 1.19.23

SUPERGUIDE

MOULIN ROUGE! THE MUSICAL

When the 10-time Tony Award-winning Moulin Rouge! The Musical lands at the Smith Center this week, Las Vegas native André Ward will be performing in the iconic role of Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec—ironically, the local stage debut for the Bishop Gorman product. “I remember watching the Tonys when I was young, and Dreamgirls was on, and [thinking], ‘People that look like me are onstage? Broadway, what’s that?’ And I always wanted to pursue that,” Ward says. “I never played house; I always played New York City apartment, pretending to be an actor. I’ve never performed in Las Vegas so it’s nice to be going back this way.” His extensive stage résumé includes Rock of Ages, Pippin and The Producers, and he’s done TV shows like Pose and Inventing Anna, but the touring take on Baz Luhrmann’s Moulin Rouge film is “the part and show of a lifetime,” he says. “It’s just so big and bold and brash, and full of so much heart. It’s not often you get to do something that’s so beautiful. The taglines are ‘Truth, Beauty, Freedom and Love,’ and who can’t get on board with that?” Thru February 5, times vary, $35-$150, Reynolds Hall, thesmithcenter.com. –Brock Radke

THURSDAY

VEGAS GOLDEN KNIGHTS VS. DETROIT RED WINGS

7 p.m., T-Mobile Arena, axs.com.

NEGATIVE NANCYS

With Va Voom, Bi , Three Rounds, 9 p.m., Red Dwarf, reddwarflv.com.

LIL JON 10:30 p.m., Hakkasan Nightclub, events. taogroup.com.

CASH CASH With Kromi, 10 p.m., Zouk Nightclub, zoukgrouplv. com.

ANGIE VEE 10:30 p.m., Tao Nightclub, events. taogroup.com.

RICHIMAN & GROOVE NICE 10 p.m., Sand Dollar Lounge, thesanddollarlv. com.

(Courtesy)

FRIDAY

HEDWIG AND THE ANGRY INCH

On Valentine’s Day, Stephen Trask and John Cameron Mitchell’s Hedwig and the Angry Inch will celebrate the 25th anniversary of the show’s o -Broadway debut. The heart-wrenching musical about a transgender rock singer is more than an enduring hit, more than a story of unrequited love, more than an homage to the glam rags and soul-searching of Bowie; it’s a bright, heavy celestial object that has drawn multiple generations of brave, yearning souls into its orbit. Hedwig inspired them to get the wig outta the box, consider the origins of love and to defy their oppressors’ attempts to tear them down, and thanks to Majestic Repertory Theatre, their numbers might soon be joined. Majestic’s production, directed by Troy Heard and starring Ste an Scrogan (aka drag artist Anya Knees), will likely tease out the interactive elements of this fourth wall-breaking rockand-roll cabaret, but even in the unlikely event the cast stands stock still for the entire performance, Hedwig’s gravity remains irresistible. Thru February 26, times vary, $45-$60, Majestic Repertory Theatre, majesticrepertory. com. –Geo Carter

ADELE 8 p.m., & 1/21, the Colosseum, ticketmaster.com.

SHREK RAVE 9 p.m., Area15 A-Lot, area15.com.

JOHN GARCIA

With Steak, Formula 400, Mojave Sun, 7 p.m., Count’s Vamp’d, eventbrite.com.

DANIEL TOSH 10 p.m., & 1/21, Mirage Theatre, ticketmaster.com.

RAE SREMMURD

10 p.m., Drai’s Nightclub, draisgroup.com.

LOMBARDI

Thru 2/5, times vary, Las Vegas Little Theatre, lvlt.org.

DUKE DUMONT

With Kid Funk, 10 p.m., Zouk Nightclub, zoukgrouplv.com.

AKAASH SINGH

7:30 p.m., & 1/21, 24 Oxford, etix.com.

DEORRO 10:30 p.m., Marquee Nightclub, events. taogroup.com.

TONY ORLANDO

Thru 1/22, 7:30 p.m., South Point Showroom, ticketmaster.com.

CHRIS TUCKER

8 p.m., & 1/21, Encore Theater, ticketmaster.com.

TWO FRIENDS 10:30 p.m., XS Nightclub, wynnsocial.com.

DESERT DOGS VS. VANCOUVER WARRIORS 7:30 p.m., Michelob Ultra Arena, axs. com.

PARTY FAVOR

10:30 p.m., Omnia Nightclub, events. taogroup.com.

(Courtesy)

SUPERGUIDE

21 JAN. SATURDAY

NERD HALEN

Actor, comic and podcaster Hal Sparks—best known from Queer as Folk, Talk Soup and Dude, Where’s My Car?—is now exactly where we thought he might end up: He’s fronting a dweeby, but nonetheless dedicated, Van Halen tribute group. And while Nerd Halen doesn’t look anything like the iconic LA band, these white-shirt-andtie dweebs sure as hell have the sound down pat. Guitarist Caleb Rapoport has mastered Eddie Van Halen’s ri s and pyrotechnics, bassist Victor Broden and drummer Je Page perfectly emulate VH’s powerhouse rhythm section, and Sparks pays respectful homage to David Lee Roth’s joyful, goofball yelping, while adding his own brand of ham and cheese. (He also does a halfway decent Sammy Hagar, but you can tell he’s a DLR guy at heart.) Their love of VH is rockin’ to the core. 8 p.m., $20-$5,. M Pavilion, ticketmaster. com. –Geo Carter

VEGAS GOLDEN KNIGHTS VS. WASHINGTON CAPITALS

7 p.m., T-Mobile Arena, axs.com.

DIPLO 10:30 p.m., XS Nightclub, wynnsocial.com.

NEBULA

With Salem’s Bend, Sonolith, 7 p.m., the Usual Place, eventbrite.com.

WIZ KHALIFA 10 p.m., Drai’s Nightclub, draisgroup.com.

REO SPEEDWAGON 8 p.m., Pearl Concert Theater, ticketmaster.com.

BEER & LOATHING

IN LAS VEGAS Ft. Timm Saxton & the Room, Quid Punk Quo, The Rob Bell Project, Wayne Todd, 10 p.m., Double Down Saloon, double downsaloon.com.

KASKADE 10 p.m., Zouk Nightclub, zoukgrouplv.com.

JAZZ ARTS COMMUNITY ENSEMBLE 2 p.m., Winchester Dondero, clarkcountynv.gov.

SEAN GASKELL: THE MUSIC & MYTHOLOGY OF WEST

AFRICAN KORA 2 p.m., Windmill Library, thelibrary district.org.

CEDRIC GERVAIS 10:30 p.m., Marquee Nightclub, events. taogroup.com.

DAVID PERRICO POP STRINGS

ORCHESTRA

7 p.m., Myron’s, thesmithcenter. com.

VEGAS CHAOS

Ft. Soldiers of Destruction, Rezurex, Lean 13, Dead at Midnite, 7 p.m., Dive Bar, facebook.com/ divebarlv.

LOCAL SINGLES

With Evan Durant, Rainbolt, Turbo Time, Klutch Legacy, 10 p.m., Discopussy, discopussydtlv. com.

LMDR With Break Check, Robert Stokes, Brock Frabbiele, 8 p.m., Red Dwarf, reddwarflv.com.

(Photo by Christopher DeVargas, grooming by Imogene Marrone)

STEVE AOKI 10:30 p.m., Omnia Nightclub, events.taogroup.com.

JAN. SUNDAY

22

CANDY

With Bib, Scrutiny, Dissociate, 6 p.m., American Legion Post 8, seetickets.us.

MONDAY

JAN.

23

MONDAYS DARK

8 p.m., the Space, mondaysdark.com.

APRIL MACIE

8:30 & 10:30 p.m., Laugh Factory, ticketmaster.com.

DARREN MOTAMEDY

DUO

With Walter Johnson International Academy Jazz Band, 7 p.m., Maxan Jazz, maxanjazz.com.

NATE CRAIG

With Grant Lyon, Renee Gauthier, thru 1/25, 8 p.m., Brad Garrett’s Comedy Club, bradgarrettcomedy. com.

MORTEN 10:30 p.m., XS Nightclub, wynnsocial. com.

LAS VEGAS SINFONIETTA: MOZART’S REQUIEM 3 p.m., Clark County Library, thelibrary district.org.

GOSPEL BRUNCH 10 a.m., House of Blues, livenation.com.

JUSTIN CREDIBLE 10:30 p.m., Marquee Nightclub, events.tao group.com.

SUPERGUIDE

SWAYZE CRAYZE & FRIENDS 10 p.m., Sand Dollar Lounge, thesand dollarlv.com/lounge.

THE WHIFFENPOOFS 7 p.m., Whitney Library, thelibrary district.org.

FOR MORE UPCOMING EVENTS, VISIT LASVEGASWEEKLY.COM.

(Courtesy/Ian Hurdle & Mason Mercer)

SUPERGUIDE

24 JAN. TUESDAY

UNLV MEN’S BASKETBALL VS. WYOMING

8 p.m., Thomas & Mack Center, unlvtickets. com.

MECUM MOTORCYCLE AUCTION

Thru 1/28, 8 a.m., South Point Arena, mecum.com.

25 JAN. WEDNESDAY

MØAA

Dirty Rock & Roll Dance Party cements its reputation as one of Las Vegas’ most interesting indie promoters by booking Møaa, a solo project created by Seattle artist Jancy Rae. Drenched in dark, atmospheric dreampop and brooding, darkwave energy, Møaa serves as an outlet for Rae’s emotional conflicts and troubled past. Her debut LP, Euphoric Recall, o ers a compelling window into her psyche and has been a springboard for some awesome recent gigs, including a show with Yves Tumor in Europe and a SXSW performance last year. And if there’s a perfect Vegas venue for the moody up-and-comer, it’s Artifice. With Dark Black, Mutual, DJ Jacob Savage, 8 p.m., $10-$15, Artifice, eventbrite.com.

–Amber Sampson

THE RIGHTEOUS BROTHERS

Thru 1/26, 6:30 p.m., South Point Showroom, ticketmaster. com.

AERIAL GREY 10 p.m., Lucky Day, luckydaydtlv. com.

VACANT SKIES 7 p.m., Cemetery Pulp, cemeterypulp. com.

TAPE B 10 p.m., Discopussy, discopussydtlv. com.

BRUNO MARS 9 p.m., Dolby Live, ticketmaster.com.

SANTANA 7 p.m., House of Blues, concerts. livenation.com.

BRYAN ADAMS 8 p.m., Encore Theater, ticketmaster.com.

DJ RUCKUS 10:30 p.m., EBC at Night, wynnsocial.com.

THE COMPOSERS SHOWCASE 9:30 p.m., Myron’s, thesmithcenter. com.

CHASEWEST 10:30 p.m., Marquee Nightclub, events. taogroup.com.

(Courtesy/MGM Resorts)

Q+A

LIGHTING UP THE DESERT

BY EVELYN MATEOS

Barbara Molasky, founding president of the Neon Museum, says she was taken with Las Vegas’ lights from the start—long road trips she took from New York to visit her sister here. The view coming over Boulder Highway had been described to her as a “diamond necklace,” because of the “small cluster in the center and then strands going out—and it really did look like that,” she says.

Molasky moved to Las Vegas in August 1970. “I came for one year. It’s been a long but wonderful year,” she says with a laugh.

In 1995, while working for then Las Vegas Mayor Jan Jones Blackhurst in the neighborhood services department, Molasky came across some interesting documents from Steve Weeks, an employee of sign manufacturer YESCO, expressing concern that some of Las Vegas’ classic neon beacons might be getting ruined.

Molasky sprang into action, and her efforts eventually led to the creation of the Neon Museum, which celebrated its 10-year anniversary last October.

The Weekly chatted with Molasky and the museum’s executive director, Aaron Berger, about preserving some of Las Vegas’ iconic signs and the museum’s continued mission.

The Neon Museum’s Barbara Molasky and Aaron Berger continue to preserve—and promote— Las Vegas’ history

Barbara Molasky, founding president of the Neon Museum (Wade Vandervort/Staff)

HISTORIC ATTRACTIONS

THE WEEKLY Q&A

At the time, why did you feel it was so important to preserve these signs? Barbara Molasky: I remember as a kid having outings in lower Manhattan … There were a lot of really cool neon motels and hotels down there, and there was something very romantic about it to me. Then when I moved to Las Vegas, I had such incredible memories of the different hotels that I had gone to, because I had never seen anything like it.

It’s iconic for Las Vegas. It’s our history, and when things started to be imploded, I was just so happy that a lot of those beautiful works of art were preserved.

How many pieces are housed at the Neon Museum now? Aaron Berger: The museum has about 800 pieces, about 250 of which are on display. We have quite a number that are in storage units and storage facilities. Our goal is to work at restoring those pieces and getting them back out into public view. That’s a major initiative.

How do you think these signs help tell the story of Las Vegas? AB: There is no city—when it comes to neon—like Las Vegas. We really are iconic in our use of neon. I like to paint a picture for people about coming from Los Angeles [or] across the

desert—you see this glow of neon from 15 miles away. … And then, of course, the signs themselves tell the story of Las Vegas. When you walk through the boneyard, you’re going to learn about the stories of the civil rights movement here in Las Vegas. You’re going to learn the stories of women, the LGBT story, the story of the Latin community, the Native American story—the Paiutes—you’re going to hear all of these different perspectives that are brought to you, as told through the medium of neon.

As someone who came from the South, I was genuinely enlightened to learn the story of integration in the West, and how Las Vegas addressed integration. It was really surprising to me that that was part of the story of what the Neon Museum was telling and honestly one of the reasons why I wanted to join the team.

What’s on the horizon for the Neon Museum? AB: One of the things that you’re going to see in the beginning of 2023 is, for all the signs [around town] that are historic, some educational material is going up on the signage. … [For example,] the significance of the Hacienda horse and rider … is that this is potentially one of the first signs created in the U.S. that depicts a nonwhite person as its subject matter—not characterization. [It’s] actually showing a caballero on a palomino.

It’s an important placeholder in history, sitting at that incredibly important intersection [Fremont Street and Las Vegas Boulevard], and now we’re going to add that wonderful kind of acknowledgment of its history.

We also just completed our first year of Duck Duck Shed, a four-day celebration of Las Vegas architecture, design and culture. … Over 97% of the people who attended said that they want this to be an annual event. So we’re figuring out the pros and cons and learned lessons, but we are going to keep this going in years to come and hopefully attract more audiences to come and appreciate the architecture and culture and history that’s here.

Aaron Berger, executive director of the Neon Museum (Wade Vandervort/Staff)

HISTORIC ATTRACTIONS

A unique assemblage of local museums helps tell the story of Las Vegas

BY BROCK RADKE

There’s a trick to telling the story of Las Vegas. No matter who’s listening, they already know a significant portion of the tale. And they know it in a personal, specific way, because they’ve helped to create it through their own experiences.

“Las Vegas is the largest city born in the 20th century. The growth has been rapid and recent, so people have seen Las Vegas develop in a way people in other cities just don’t see,” says Jonathan Ullman, president and CEO of the Mob Museum. “In other major cities, the history is maybe farther away. But the people who have lived in Las Vegas or visited frequently have a lot of personal connection and stories, insider knowledge and observations.”

Ullman and the team that opened the Mob Museum in Downtown Las Vegas in 2012 had to consider that special challenge when designing their environment and programming, but it turned out to be more opportunity than obstacle. Organized crime remains one of the most notorious aspects of the city’s history, and the museum’s academic treatment of the topic has established the venue as both authority and attraction; the Mob Museum has drawn more than 3 million visitors to date and averages 400,000 from around the world every year.

“We’ve learned the audience is diverse and pretty sophisticated,” Ullman says. “There are people who come in with relatively little understanding of how Las Vegas developed or the history of the mob locally and nationally, so we’re more of a primer. Others come in with a much deeper understanding,

knowing about Las Vegas and wanting to know more, and wanting to share their own stories. We engage them where they are.”

Not unlike the way casinos and entertainment have evolved to redefine the way the world sees Las Vegas, museums in Southern Nevada continue to create distinct experiences by pinpointing specialized stories and audiences.

The Mob Museum moves deftly between celebrating Nevada Day with historical lessons and breaking down the effects of crypto-criminals at the national and international level.

The nearby Neon Museum, which also opened its current facility in 2012, offers a singular celebration of Vegas art and architecture beyond the wildly popular tours of iconic casino signs in its Neon Boneyard.

The newly rebranded Atomic Museum (see sidebar) examines the heady

and below) The Mob Museum (Wade Vandervort/ Staff)

topic of America’s nuclear weapons testing program at the Nevada Test Site with a blast of pop culture influence, a unique blend of science and history.

And those are only three of the well-defined institutions that together help tell Las Vegas’ story. The list includes more traditional, collection-based facilities like the 31-year-old Las Vegas Natural History Museum and the 40-year-old Nevada State Museum, along with others that stand out more as only-in-Vegas attractions, including the Erotic Heritage Museum, the Boulder City-Hoover Dam Museum and the Burlesque Hall of Fame.

Each venue takes a different approach when it comes to audience appeal and whether to focus on local or tourist visitors.

“It’s still this transient place where a lot of people come to work and … then go live their lives, but you also have 45 million people coming [to visit],” says Dustin Wax, a 20-year resident and the Burlesque Hall of Fame’s executive director of 11 years. “Tourists outnumber locals, and that means we’re competing with Cirque du Soleil shows, Area15, [temporary] attractions and all these really well-funded, powerful spectacles.

“We have to be really focused on the experience, on not being dusty old museums. We don’t like to talk like that,

FULL BOOM

During the 1950s, Las Vegas inadvertently became the epicenter of the atomic craze. Tourists would flock to the city, eager to catch a glimpse of the mushroom clouds blooming 65 miles away at the Nevada Test Site.

Evidence of our atomic history has been on display at the National Atomic Testing Museum for nearly 20 years. Now, the institution is refreshing its image with new leadership, a new name and new ways to tell the story of America’s most explosive era.

“Obviously, we are never going to veer from our core mission, which is this country’s nuclear testing and what it did to keep us safe,” says Rob McCoy, CEO of the recently rebranded Atomic Museum. “But when Robert Oppenheimer detonated the first experiment of ‘the Gadget,’ as we call it … it unleashed the Atomic Age. We need to tell that story side-by-side with atomic testing. That includes literature, film, music and pop culture.”

The hope is to broaden the museum’s reach by widening its scope, McCoy says. A Las Vegan who previously served as the CEO of the Neon Museum, McCoy came out of retirement to help the Atomic Museum with its new mission.

“We have three of the most distinct museums in the world that nobody else has—the Mob, Neon and Atomic,” he says. “I grew up with bombs being exploded, all the bright lights of Las Vegas and organized crime pretty much running the Strip. It was pretty much a natural fork.”

Atomic Museum visitation has more than doubled since the CEO joined in August, he says. The venue has also launched a new online ticketing system; partnered with Nevada State College, UNLV and CCSD; hosted STEM events for kids; and launched new exhibit “The Bomb Without the Boom,” focused on the way the United States manages its nuclear stockpile, and the upcoming “Spy,” which will spotlight artifacts from the Cold War and stories about U.S. efforts to spy on the Soviet Union.

Experimentation and hands-on experiences are vital to the museum’s success, McCoy says, though education remains a key priority, too.

Atomic history tends to fly under the radar in schools, he explains, and these lessons are too important to ignore. –Amber Sampson

(Left

The Atomic Museum rebrands and widens its appeal

The Atomic Museum (Courtesy)

but that’s the stereotype people have.”

There’s nothing stereotypical about the Burlesque Hall of Fame, which feels more like a museum than a hall of fame organization that inducts honorees. Located in the Arts District since 2018 but established in Las Vegas some 16 years ago, it’s billed as the only museum in the world dedicated to the history and art of burlesque, so its collection and educational mission reach beyond Las Vegas. Burlesque has almost always been considered a low-brow, adults-only experience, Wax explains, and its history hasn’t been well-preserved.

“But that history is being carried forward by the people telling the stories, doing it themselves, and it’s also women’s history, working-class people’s history,” he continues. “A lot of performers were minorities as well, so there are a lot of reasons why these stories were not preserved in a traditional way.”

The museum experience and

300-square-foot exhibition space was built around the telling of those stories using lots of photographs and a bit of humor, accurately portraying burlesque’s outsize personalities with the help of volunteers, many of whom are former or current performers. The Burlesque Hall of Fame sees some 6,000 visitors per year, and though school groups don’t bolster that tally as they do at many other museums, the experience is far from R-rated.

In a cultural landscape full of niche institutions, it might be one of the most unique. But that’s the thing about Las Vegas—it’s such a specific place, perhaps it’s best served by specific museums.

“We don’t have a City of Las Vegas history museum, which seems weird, because every city our size has a city history museum,” Wax says. “But between us, Mob, Atomic, Neon and others, together we make up the city museum.

“It’s the same with art,” he continues. “Instead [of one major museum], we have two [temporary] Van Gogh exhibits, the Bellagio Gallery, and restaurants with hundred-million-dollar collections on the walls.”

A major, stand-alone art museum for the city has long been discussed and considered, and members of the cultural community say it will happen when the time’s finally right. But a variety of other institutions help fill the gap, including UNLV’s Marjorie Barrick Museum of Art and the Nevada State Museum at the Springs Preserve. The latter is another of the region’s most unique institutions, splitting the difference between local history and culture.

“It’s probably our mission to be that bedrock museum, from the perspective that there are few that have collections in specialized storage, and also that there’s a history that’s joined,” says Hollis J. Gillespie, Nevada State Museum’s director. “It’s typical of state institutions like ours to be called general museums, but that doesn’t give you an indication of what they do.”

The Nevada State Museum remains something of an overlooked gem. The current temporary exhibit explores the influential career of architect Paul Revere Williams—his La Concha Motel lobby is now the visitor center at the Neon Museum—through the photography of Janna Ireland, while the permanent gallery exhibit focuses on the natural history of the region and how it was shaped by pioneers, railroaders, entrepreneurs and the Hoover Dam.

Next up will be a glamorous look at Liberace in May (with a big assist from the Liberace Foundation and Museum Collection, which was once its own Las Vegas venue), and the end of the year will deliver an exhibit about the Spanish Trail.

Gillespie, who has been a museum director in several other states and has run her own industry consulting practice, says the adventurous, outgo -

(Right) The Neon Museum

Burlesque Hall of Fame (Wade Vandervort/ Staff)

HISTORIC ATTRACTIONS

GIMME GIMME PUNK TREATMENT

Everything we know about the Punk Rock Museum , set to open March 10

Where is it? On the edge of Downtown Vegas at 1422 Western Avenue, “in what Las Vegas is calling ‘the opportunity zone,’” jokes Vinnie Fiorello, drummer and lyricist for Less Than Jake, and a member of the “Punk Collective” running the museum. To save you the trouble of mapping it, it’s in the industrial area wedged between the Arts District and I-15, just next door to Little Darlings.

What is it? An institution dedicated to the culturally influential, still vital musical form, owned and operated by some of the very punks who created—and continue to create—the loud and rambunctious history displayed within its walls. It will display iconic punk rarities including show flyers, handwritten setlists, items of clothing items, stage props and storied instruments you’ll actually be able to play. It will also feature a tattoo parlor, a merch shop, a chapel for weddings and wakes, and a bar run by Double Down/Frankie’s Tiki Room mastermind P Moss.

The recently announced list of museum tour guides is kinda incredible, too. Scheduled to appear are Fishbone’s Angelo Moore, The Vandals’ Joe Escalante, Agnostic Front’s Roger Miret, Bad Cop/Bad Cop’s Stacey Dee, The Germs’ Don Bolles, Rise Against’s Zach Blair, Dillinger Four’s Paddy Costello and too many more icons to name. It’s one thing to look at a nicked-up bass or a beat-to-hell leather jacket, and quite another to hear firsthand stories of how they got that way. The tours begin a bit after the museum opens, on April 1.

Who made it? It’s the brainchild of “Fat Mike” Burkett, whom you might know from NOFX or Me First and the Gimme Gimmes (or the unfortunate joke he made in the wake of the October 1 shooting, though he seems to be trying to make amends for that). Investors in the project include Warped Tour founder Kevin Lyman, skating legend Tony Hawk, ex-Germs guitarist Pat Smear and more, and the aforementioned Punk Collective comprises of dozens of musicians, historians and other eyewitnesses to punk’s “history, culture and absurdity.”

Why is it? “We’re trying to give a bird’s-eye view of [punk’s first] five decades,” says Fiorello, who hastens to add, “but I’ll be the first one to tell you that this is a living museum. There’s going to be other stories that need to be told that aren’t being told when we first open, and that’s OK, man. That, to me, is a very cool thing about the Punk Rock Museum. It’s not just, ‘Hey, here’s the Museum, and this is it.’ It will continue to grow and become more fun. There are more artifacts to be found, and more stories to be told.” –Geo Carter

(Continued from Page 21 )

ing spirit that characterizes Southern Nevada’s history is alive and well in the cultural community.

“Las Vegas is unlike any place else, and people are more willing to take risks and do innovative things to get people engaged,” she says. “I think it’s a bene t that we have so many attractions and experiential places [to compete with], because some of the technology and things happening in our casino world actually keep us on our toes. It sets the bar for people and expectations of what you can experi-

ence when you come here.

“But we’re di erent in that we’re not trying to create something like a faux Paris or New York City,” she continues. “We are the authentic experience. and that makes a di erence. But there’s room for all of that.”

From local residents to Vegas visitors, museums might not be a prominent part of everyone’s background. Several generations of Southern Nevadans grew up taking school eld trips to the Discovery Children’s Museum and the Las Vegas Natural History Museum, and today students have many more opportunities, but that’s not necessarily a universal

HISTORIC ATTRACTIONS

introduction. And certainly not every tourist plans a museum visit among their weekend priorities.

That’s where the attraction/museum balance comes in, and that, too, can be both obstacle and opportunity.

“We’re always thinking about what we’re presenting, how we can do it in different dimensions and an attraction for tourists, and create an experience that can be entertaining,” Ullman says. “At the same time, you want to be that community-gathering place, a special place for locals where you can have those richer, deeper conversations. If you’re a modern museum, you’re doing all of those things.”

Museums in Las Vegas, as everywhere else, must keep moving, which includes creating new specialized and general experiences. The developers of the Hard Rock Hotel that will soon replace the Mirage on the Strip, have indicated they plan to include some sort of music museum to the new resort. The Punk Rock Museum (see sidebar) is scheduled to open in March between the Strip and Downtown. And the City of Las Vegas has taken initial steps toward creating an African American museum and cultural center in the Historic Westside community. The real story of Las Vegas is that it’s a real place, not simply the glitzy

playground people from all over the world come to visit and explore. That evolution continues as Southern Nevada gets better at recording, presenting and preserving its history.

“There is a perception that [Las Vegas] is not historically minded, but that’s not true at all,” says Aaron Berger, executive director of the Neon Museum. “It’s a city that’s constantly innovating and reinventing itself, but there are still so many examples of great preservation taking place, even though they may not be like other cities across the country with giant historical markers. That’s not the way Las Vegas does it.”

Nevada State Museum (Wade Vandervort/ Staff)

CAN CANNABIS HELP YOUR ACHES AND PAINS?

+Cannabis has been utilized worldwide for thousands of years, according to a study published in the Pharmacy and Therapeutics journal—as patent medicine during the 19th and 20th centuries and first described in the U.S. Pharmacopoeia in 1850. The data collection on cannabis’s health benefits is ongoing, but there is a growing body of research that suggests it may be a meaningful replacement for many common medications.

PAIN MANAGEMENT

Cannabis is used by many to manage occasional and chronic pain, according to The Health Effects of Cannabis and Cannabinoids: The Current State of Evidence and Recommendations for Research, but how it works is still being explored.

The book Marijuana as Medicine? The Science Beyond the Controversy notes that peripheral nerves that detect pain sensations contain receptors for cannabinoids, and in animal testing, are believed to help block peripheral nerve pain by binding to the receptors. Cannabinoids could function similarly in humans—blocking pain receptors to provide relief without the side effects of conventional medication. Not only would cannabinoids help many with general pain management, they may also aid individuals transitioning from short-term painkiller use (such as post-surgical opioid prescriptions) to a more sustainable pain management model.

BODY ACHES

Cannabis is known for its anti-inflammatory properties and can be used orally and topically to reduce soreness. Consider cannabis to restore balance after an intense workout, soft tissue injury, or when feeling general body fatigue. CBD/THC creams or CBD bath bombs are popular topical options. Cannabis-based creams and oils may also help soothe inflammatory skin conditions such as eczema and acne.

What are cannabinoids?

Cannabis is comprised of dozens of chemical compounds called cannabinoids, which are believed to be responsible for the plant’s medically beneficial effects. Tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) and cannabidiol (CBD) are cannabinoids.

ANXIETY/DEPRESSION

Cannabis is often used by individuals who suffer from anxiety, depression and PTSD, according to a 2015 study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association. Cannabinoids found in cannabis, such as THC and CBD, may promote an overall sense of well-being and relieve stress.

While THC has psychoactive effects that many enjoy, for some, it can heighten anxiety. According to a study published by the National Institute of Health, high levels of THC can be associated with increased anxiety. For this reason, take your time when finding the dose that is helpful for you, and start slowly when dosing.

CBD is also commonly used for anxiety and does not cause psychoactive effects, making it an excellent option for those who prefer to avoid THC.

Talk to your doctor if you’re curious about using cannabis for health reasons

Each body responds to cannabis differently. Take some time to find what works for you. If you experience general anxiety or are prone to racing thoughts, try a couple indicadominant strains. If those don’t feel right, try a sativa hybrid. While indica strains are known for relaxing some consumers, others might prefer the effects of sativa-dominant strains.

Researchers have identified what different cannabinoid properties generally do, but bioindividuality is an important aspect to consider—what works for some may not work for you.

MEDICATION SIDE EFFECT MITIGATION

For some individuals, cannabis might replace common overthe-counter and prescription drugs, and it may also help manage the side effects of heavy-hitting pharmaceutical drugs, such as chemotherapy, according to a 2015 study in the Journal of the American Medical Association. Cannabis consumers report a reduction in nausea, body aches and more when undergoing chemotherapy.

1MADONNA TOUR STOP

Madonna’s upcoming 35-city Celebration Tour, which will feature “four decades of greatest hits,” will include a stop at T-Mobile Arena on October 7. Tickets go on sale January 20 at 10 a.m. at axs.com

$305M ‘DROPICANA’ INTERCHANGE PROJECT BEGINS

Large trucks driving on Interstate 15 often hit the Tropicana bridge, which is too low to reach federal height requirements.

Some fans commuting to a Vegas Golden Knights hockey game encounter traffic on the highway near Tropicana, where those heading to T-Mobile Arena exit.

And every day, Las Vegans making a commute to the other parts of the Valley are constantly sitting and waiting in their travels with traffic starting to snarl near Tropicana.

By 2025, officials with the Nevada Department of Transportation anticipate those hiccups will be lessened.

The $305 million Interstate 15-Tropicana Interchange project—affectionately called “Dropicana” by officials— began January 17 with the demolition of the bridge at Tropicana and closure

of off-ramps to accommodate the construction. Officials say the eastbound flyover at Tropicana that brings drivers to the Strip will be closed for 18 months; the westbound exit will be shuttered for nine months.

The road and bridge upgrades will come with some immediate inconvenience for commuters, especially if they aren’t aware of the many closures, officials stress.

But the two years of delays, while surely a pain to many motorists, should be worth the sacrifice to alleviate the current congestion, officials said. The project will provide more efficient traffic flow in and around the Tropicana interchange, improved travel time reliability on I-15 and Tropicana, enhanced safety for motorists and pedestrians and improved air quality, they said. –Grace Da Rocha

RECORD CITY TO CLOSE LONGTIME EAST CHARLESTON LOCATION

A Vegas institution is preparing to shutter, leaving local vinyl buyers with one fewer option for adding to their collections.

Record City’s East Charleston location, which opened more than 30 years ago, will close January 28, according to a Facebook post from the store. “Unfortunately, we were unable to reach a happy medium with our new landlord when our lease expired,” the post explained.

On the upside, according to the post, affable longtime manager Joey McDonald—who received a 2018 Best of Vegas award from the Weekly for Best Record Store Convo—will be moving over to Record City’s last remaining Las Vegas location, the familiar purple building at 300 E. Sahara Avenue.

The Charleston store will continue marking down its remaining inventory through its final day, per the Facebook post. –LVW Staff

WNBA ALL-STARS RETURN

2Las Vegas will host this year’s WNBA All-Star Game for the third time since 2019, the league announced. The game will take place July 15 at Michelob Ultra Arena at Mandalay Bay. Players will take part in the 3-Point Contest and WNBA Skills Challenge on July 14.

IN 2022, 35% OF AMERICANS PARTICIPATED IN ‘DRY JANUARY.’

LOVERS & FRIENDS LINEUP

3Missy Elliott, Mariah Carey, Pitbull, Usher, Christina Aguilera, Miguel, Nelly and 50 Cent will be among dozens of acts on the bill when the Lovers & Friends

returns to the Las Vegas

Grounds on May 6. Passes go on sale January 20 at 2 p.m. at loversandfriendsfest.com.

GOODMAN ANNOUNCES ‘DOWN FOR ANYTHING’ CAMPAIGN IN STATE OF THE CITY ADDRESS

Mayor Carolyn Goodman delivered her annual State of the City address on January 12, which included a new marketing campaign aimed at drawing more attention to Las Vegas’ Downtown area and small businesses and an update on the California-involved Interstate 15-widening project.

“During the pandemic and the most devastating shutdown, it was the small business that kept us alive, [and] struggled they did,” Goodman said. “So, this marketing campaign embraces the spirit of our city to increase support of the 20 million visitors they count on to thrive.”

Using American Rescue Plan Act funding, the campaign—“Down for Anything”—will create media featuring more than 40 local influencers, business leaders, community members, and monuments in Downtown Las Vegas, Goodman said.

Goodman also had some critical words regarding

continued delays on the I-15 project.

The $12 million California-funded project was announced by California Gov. Gavin Newsom and then-Nevada Gov. Steve Sisolak in December 2021.

Work had been expected to be completed in summer 2022 but faced delays that pushed the first phase of completion back to fall 2022, according to William Arnold, media relations manager for the California Department of Transportation.

Goodman has been a staunch critic of this lengthy project, and said she will “continue to scream and yell at California and Caltrans” for not completing it. She cited an 18-mile traffic jam on I-15 that occurred between Primm and Barstow, California, the day after Christmas.

“From Barstow to the [Nevada] state line, two lanes in each direction in this time of living is an embarrassment,” she said.

–Grace Da Rocha

EDUCATION

NEW HIGH SCHOOL COMING TO SOUTHWEST VALLEY

CCSD is a major step closer to opening its first comprehensive high school in nearly 20 years after the School Board approved an architectural design contract for a new school.

The board unanimously approved a contract worth just under $9 million with Henderson-based TSK Architects to draw up the high school planned to open in 2027 near Cactus Avenue and Buffalo Drive.

TSK’s website shows an extensive history with CCSD, with the firm designing about 15 newly established and replacement schools that have opened during the past 15 years.

The school at Cactus and Buffalo is anticipated to be around 294,000 square feet and has a tentative total budget of $220 million.

It is one of two comprehensive high schools on the capital improvement plan that CCSD has been working through since 2015.

The new school will be closest to Desert Oasis High School, which is 2 miles east, and Sierra Vista High School, which is about 4 miles north (TSK also designed Sunrise Mountain High, which was the last comprehensive high school established in CCSD when it opened in 2009). Desert Oasis and Sierra Vista have about 3,000 students each, according to enrollment data. –Hillary Davis

Las Vegas Mayor Carolyn Goodman (right) and Mayor Pro Tem Brian Knudsen at the January 12 State of the City Address at City Hall. (Wade Vandervort/Staff)

festival

Festival

UNLV guard EJ Harkless (55) reacts after missing a last-second shot in overtime against Colorado State on January 14 at the Thomas & Mack Center. The Rams beat the Rebels, 82-81, with UNLV giving up four-point leads in the final 30 seconds of both regulation and overtime. (Steve Marcus/Staff)

HOT SHOT

BY BROCK RADKE

Two highly visible developments scheduled to open along the northern portion of the Las Vegas Strip late this year have been grabbing headlines and building anticipation for years now, but Fontainebleau Las Vegas and the MSG Sphere aren’t the only major changes coming to the tourist corridor in 2023.

The transition of Bally’s Las Vegas into Horseshoe Las Vegas is well underway at center Strip, a significant effort for Caesars Entertainment that will alter the look and feel of one of the busiest intersections in the Valley. And a little more than a mile away, new upscale retail development 63 Las Vegas will finally complete the promise of MGM Resorts’ CityCenter project by putting its empty acreage to commercial use.

The original MGM Grand hotel and casino was opened by Kirk Kerkorian in 1973 on the southeast corner of Flamingo Road and Las Vegas Boulevard and has been operating under the Bally’s name since 1985. It was purchased by the gaming company now known as Caesars Entertainment in 2005 and rumored in recent years to be up for grabs, but Caesars executives announced its planned rebranding a year ago before deciding not to sell one of the resorts in their current Las Vegas portfolio (Caesars Palace, the Cromwell, Paris, Planet Hollywood, Flamingo, Harrah’s and the Linq). Caesars also continues to operate Rio Las Vegas, sold in 2019 to Dreamscape Companies.

The decision to use the Horseshoe brand, acquired by Caesars in 2004, might seem like a counterintuitive move on the Strip, where casino renovations almost always focus on new concepts. Binion’s Gambling Hall & Hotel on Downtown’s Fremont Street famously operated as Binion’s Horseshoe for more than 50 years as the birthplace of the World Series of Poker.

“One of the reasons we decided to rebrand [Bally’s] to Horseshoe is that very strong history, not only in Las Vegas but throughout the country,” says Jason Gregorec, senior vice president and general manager of Horseshoe Las Vegas,

adding that the Strip location is the 10th Horseshoe casino in the U.S. “So far we’ve heard a lot of great feedback overall, but also with our team members who all went through additional training to understand what the Horseshoe brand is about—the gambler, the biggest bets, the biggest jackpots.”

Last month, a retiring rodeo clown in town for National Finals Rodeo won nearly $500,000 at the Horseshoe, the first major jackpot since rebranding efforts began.

The 2,800-room resort is in the soft-opening phase and has recently added new venues, such as the World Series of Poker Hall of Fame poker room, restaurant Jack Binion’s Steak, and the Arcade, a traditional arcade attraction where Bally’s sportsbook resided. Other renovations include new carpet featuring the iconic Horseshoe logo and new table games and slots on the casino floor, and chef and TV personality Martin Yan’s M.Y. Asia restaurant and entertainer Blake Shelton’s Ole Red saloon will be added later this year.

The familiar Bally’s marquee on Las Vegas Boulevard is undergoing a complete rebuild and will become a 185-foot, three-sided LED sign similar to other modern marquees on the Strip. And the World Series of Poker will return to the property May 30 through July 18 after its debut at what was still Bally’s in 2022. “By then the property will be fully transitioned, 100% Horseshoe,” Gregorec says. “Having it now on the Strip where it all began at Horseshoe is very exciting.”

Shifting from gambling to more complementary Las Vegas activities, 63 Las Vegas, a multilevel retail and hospitality complex developed by Torino Companies and Flag Luxury Group, is set to open in the spring on the southwest corner of Harmon Avenue and Las Vegas Boulevard.

The project fits between the Shops at Crystals and the Cosmopolitan, utilizing the footprint of the unfinished high-rise originally built with the rest of the CityCenter development and later torn down due to construction defects.

Brett Torino, who previously owned the entire block across from CityCenter and also developed the three-story Harmon Corner restaurant and retail center on the northeast portion of the same intersection, says his company was able to purchase and develop the 63 site—overall around a $700 million project—because of COVID’s effects on the market,

along with his strong relationship with MGM Resorts.

“We are very fortunate to work with MGM and very honored they were willing to consider allowing us to develop it,” he says. “A lot has happened coming out of COVID, and the markets change so quickly.”

Among the 228,000-square-foot development’s first tenants to open will be the $20 million flagship location of Ocean Prime, a restaurant with 17 locations across the country, and the 15,000-squarefoot Museum of Illusions, a family-friendly art-based attraction with nearly 40 other venues around the world.

Torino estimates that half of 63’s tenants will be open for business by mid-year, and the center should be fully open by early 2024. Another massive LED screen, similar but smaller than the one perched atop Harmon Corner, has been broadcasting advertisements since October.

“The retail market is always shifting. A few years back it was going to be the death of retail because of the internet, but people still want to see things and clearly people have said, ‘We love experiential retail,’” Torino says. “The opportunity to have your brand showcased on the Strip is very slim, because your options are to be inside a mall or [a casino]. That’s not what we do. We develop stuff you can put your eyeballs on; the consumer can see it and not go inside a hotel.”

The developers behind both the Horseshoe and 63 Las Vegas say they are well-positioned to succeed on the Strip given the other major projects in the works, along with the pending arrival of new, massive events like the Formula 1 Grand Prix this November and the Super Bowl in February 2024.

“Every year, whether its food and beverage, new performers and residencies or something like F1, across the board these experiences continue to evolve. Clearly the consumer has voted and said whatever Vegas is doing, they’re doing it right,” Torino says. “Everybody around the world today wants a presence on the Las Vegas Strip, no matter where you go. We’re just fortunate to play a role in that.”

FANTASY LAB Fashion Show, 833855-1043, fantasylablv. com. Monday-Thursday, noon-7 p.m.; Friday & Saturday, 11 a.m.-8 p.m.; Sunday, noon-6 p.m.

THE STRIP

OTHERWORLDLY EXPERIENCE

Dreams come true at Fantasy Lab

BY EVELYN MATEOS

Under a stream of multicolored rain, the words “Time to Dream” welcome everyone ready to be spirited away into the world of fantasy. This mural by artist KiriLeigh Jones, along with several others, is set at the entrance to Fantasy Lab, an immersive experience at the Fashion Show mall that opened in November.

It’s the second Fantasy Lab location and the rst in the U.S. The original site—conceived by father-and-son team Ricardo L. Franco and Ricky Franco, who set out to use technology to deliver an uplifting experience—opened its doors in Mexico City in 2020.

Here on the Strip, Fantasy Lab ushers visitors into a whimsical lounge with murals of flowers and jellyfish and a whole area devoted to portraits of cats, dogs and rabbits in Renaissance attire. Meanwhile, ethereal songs play overhead, like Harry Styles’ “Late Night Talking.”

While waiting for your dream journey to begin, one can enjoy some light bites and drinks; the lounge serves sliders, a hummus platter, atbreads and more. The cocktails are creative and follow the dream theme, like the Hazy Morning ($18), a Ciroc coconut vodka drink with vanilla liqueur, orange juice and almond milk.

The voyage itself consists of seven

rooms: Enlightenment, Insomnia, Kaleidoscope, Nightmare, Circus, Labyrinth and Stars. The complete journey lasts for 70 minutes, with 10 minutes allotted per room, and a tour guide helps move folks from room to room.

Each puts a unique spin on the concept of dreams. Some are peaceful with a kind of ambient music that helps guests into a relaxed and meditative state, while others are a little more lively.

The Insomnia room is lled with wild patterns and neon colors. It’s reminiscent of Alice in Wonderland, with one wall covered in clocks all telling a di erent time and a bed stuck to the ceiling. Tucked away in another corner are two inviting accent chairs with a game of chess set up on a bright red round table.

On this day, our guide was particularly fond of the Kaleidoscope room. One wall is a huge LED screen that displays patterns you might see in a kaleidoscope. It also shows quirky images of jelly sh, whales and other animals.

With the abundance of immersive experiences making their way to the Strip in recent years, it can be overwhelming to choose which one deserves your time and money. Fantasy Lab has us eager to be whisked away once more.

FURTHER IMMERSION

It’s been hard to keep up with the many colorful, interactive, art-based attractions and exhibits that have been landing in Las Vegas in recent years using that big buzz phrase “immersive experience.” None are quite the same, and it doesn’t seem like we’ve reached max capacity for these things yet.

The Museum of Illusions is scheduled to arrive this spring at the new 63 Las Vegas development between the Shops at Crystals and the Cosmopolitan. With more than 15,000 square feet of classic and never-before-seen optical illusions, 3D holograms, exhibits and interactive spaces—and 39 other locations open worldwide, with more to come— this attraction could be the next great must for tourists.

And on March 30, those Shops at Crystals will host Disney Animation: Immersive Experience at the Lighthouse ArtSpace, currently home of the extended Immersive Van Gogh exhibit. Disney fans will be able enter the world of beloved films like Encanto, The Lion King, Frozen and Pinocchio in a whole new way. We might be getting tired of saying the “I” word, but we’re excited about this one. –Brock Radke

(Courtesy)

POWER OF THE SUN

BY AMBER SAMPSON

Mojave Sun makes the kind of blues-rock music you can feel in your toes. It jiggles the oorboards, awakens the senses with its desert-forged power.

The Vegas trio revels in its personal strengths, the sum of which create the spectacle dazzling the crowd at the Space on this January night, for the rst Desert Honeypot showcase of the new year.

James Dunbar (bass) and Blake Sailer (guitar) muscle through the fuzz-soaked “Hell or High Water,” while Mariah Baldwin writhes like a modern-day snake charmer, her voice gru but well-oiled, thanks to the local honey she keeps nearby at all times.

In Mojave Sun’s backstage dressing room, the 29-year-old reveals that’s how she got her nickname, Miss Desert Honey, and how she decided on the handle for her local female-fronted music showcase, launched last July. “I know so many amazing, wonderful, talented women in this town, and, I’d see them playing in little dive bars,” Baldwin says. “I wanted to help them get seen and heard in bigger venues.”

a safe place for any woman to come to be themselves and to meet other women that love other women.”

Baldwin says she has found similar acceptance in Mojave Sun, founded by Sailer in 2017. “I started playing when I was 10 years old, and the rst thing I wanted to play was ‘Master of Puppets’ by Metallica,” he says. “That’s kind of where I started my thing and went in that direction with it.”

PLANET DESERT ROCK Night 1 ft. John Garcia, Steak, Formula 400, Mojave Sun: January 20, 7:30 p.m., $25-$60, Count’s Vamp’d. Night 2 ft. Nebula, Salem’s Bend, High Desert Queen, Sonolith: January 21, 7 p.m., $18-$27, the Usual Place.

Tickets at eventbrite.com.

Desert Honeypot also represents a second chance for Baldwin, whose rst band, an all-female group, didn’t end on the best terms. The supportive series helps create “positive connections and to uplift each other, instead of competing with each other,” she explains.

“Having the support of other frontwomen through [my] experience would have made it much di erent for me. I would have felt less alone,” she says. “Honeypot is

Dunbar shoots Sailer a playful glare. “This band has challenged me for sure. I had to get a nger exerciser, man!”

Dunbar originally lled in on bass as a favor to a friend. “Mariah sent me some stu , and I was like, ‘This is groovy as f*ck,” he says. “It’s ri y, and there is sex in this music. It’s everywhere.”

The core three-piece works with rotating drummers, including A.J. Palluck from The Rhyolite Sound, who handles most of the live gigs. Mojave Sun has been recording new tracks at Palluck’s Sonic Rodeo studio, with an EP in the works.

Next up for the band: Night 1 of the two-day Planet Desert Rock fest, January 20 at Count’s Vamp’d, a bill that will also feature John Garcia, onetime vocalist for legendary SoCal desert-rock out t Kyuss, along with Steak (London) and Formula 400 (San Diego). Night 2 will bring veteran LA stoner-rock band Nebula, along with Salem’s Bend (LA), High Desert Queen (Austin) and local band Sonolith to the Usual Place on January 21.

“We’re gonna play all bangers,” Baldwin says. “We’re gonna go heavy with that.”

Sailer nods. “We’re gonna bring the heat.”

Mojave Sun

(Courtesy/Courtney Ware Photography)

MUSEUMS

NEVADA STATE MUSEUM LAS VEGAS FROM FOSSILS TO FOLIES

NEVADA STATE MUSEUM LAS VEGAS FROM FOSSILS TO FOLIES

NEVADA STATE MUSEUM LAS VEGAS FROM FOSSILS TO FOLIES

Wander among ancient fossils, colorful mineral specimens, antique slot machines, 19th-century farming tools, and extravagant showgirl costumes — artifacts which illustrate Las Vegas’ rise into the metropolitan gem we know today.

Wander among ancient fossils, colorful mineral specimens, antique slot machines, 19th-century farming tools, and extravagant showgirl costumes — artifacts which illustrate Las Vegas’ rise into the metropolitan gem we know today.

Wander among ancient fossils, colorful mineral specimens, antique slot machines, 19th-century farming tools, and extravagant showgirl costumes — artifacts which illustrate Las Vegas’ rise into the metropolitan gem we know today.

Adventure through the rich and colorful story of the Silver State as it unfolds in seven Nevada State Museums. Unearth eras marked by prehistoric giants and eons of natural splendor, experience rhythms of American Indian life and the Old West, feel the booms of mining, railroading, the atomic era, entertainment, and so much more.

CHECK OUT MORE ON NEVADA STATE MUSEUM, LAS VEGAS

LasVegasNVMuseum.org | (702) 486-5205

CHECK OUT MORE ON NEVADA STATE MUSEUM, LAS VEGAS

LasVegasNVMuseum.org | (702) 486-5205

NEVADA HISTORICAL SOCIETY, RENO

MORE THAN JUST A TRAIN RIDE

MORE THAN JUST A TRAIN RIDE

Building the Hoover Dam took more than a heroic effort… It also took a railroad. The Boulder Branch Line, built in 1931, lives on as the Boulder City Railroad’s excursion train—a scenic 45-minute, seven-mile roundtrip rail ride, located less than 30 minutes from Las Vegas.

CHECK OUT MORE ON NEVADA STATE MUSEUM, LAS VEGAS

LasVegasNVMuseum.org | (702) 486-5205

NEVADA STATE RAILROAD MUSEUM BOULDER CITY

Building the Hoover Dam took more than a heroic effort… It also took a railroad. The Boulder Branch Line, built in 1931, lives on as the Boulder City Railroad’s excursion train—a scenic 45-minute, seven-mile roundtrip rail ride, located less than 30 minutes from Las Vegas.

CHECK OUT MORE ON BOULDER CITY STATE RAILROAD MUSEUM

BoulderRailroadMuseum.org | (702) 486-5933

CHECK OUT MORE ON BOULDER CITY STATE RAILROAD MUSEUM

LOST CITY STATE MUSEUM, OVERTON

STEWARD

PRESERVING NEVADA’S STORIES

MORE THAN JUST A TRAIN RIDE

NEVADA STATE RAILROAD MUSEUM BOULDER CITY

Building the Hoover Dam took more than a heroic effort… It also took a railroad. The Boulder Branch Line, built in 1931, lives on as the Boulder City Railroad’s excursion train—a scenic 45-minute, seven-mile roundtrip rail ride, located less than 30 minutes from Las Vegas.

CHECK OUT MORE ON BOULDER CITY STATE RAILROAD MUSEUM

BoulderRailroadMuseum.org | (702) 486-5933

NEVADA STATE RAILROAD MUSEUM BOULDER CITY

BoulderRailroadMuseum.org | (702) 486-5933

DISCOVER A CITY UNEARTHED

Preserving and sharing stories of the deep roots, daring adventures, and fascinating lives of many centuries of Nevadans, the Nevada Historical Society’s archives are home to scores of materials, from photos and newspapers to hand-written memories, chronicling the riveting rise of the Silver State.

DISCOVER A CITY UNEARTHED

LOST CITY STATE MUSEUM, OVERTON

DISCOVER A CITY UNEARTHED

It’s not every day that you unearth a city. But when we did, it was a cultural treasure. Built on the actual prehistoric site of the ancestral Puebloans, the Lost City Museum tells the stories of Nevada’s first permanent residents between AD 200 to AD 1200.

It’s not every day that you unearth a city. But when we did, it was a cultural treasure. Built on the actual prehistoric site of the ancestral Puebloans, the Lost City Museum tells the stories of Nevada’s first permanent residents between AD 200 to AD 1200.

It’s not every day that you unearth a city. But when we did, it was a cultural treasure. Built on the actual prehistoric site of the ancestral Puebloans, the Lost City Museum tells the stories of Nevada’s first permanent residents between AD 200 to AD 1200.

CHECK OUT MORE ON LOST CITY STATE MUSEUM

LostCityMuseum.org | (702) 397-2193

CHECK OUT MORE ON LOST CITY STATE MUSEUM

LostCityMuseum.org | (702) 397-2193

CHECK OUT MORE ON LOST CITY STATE MUSEUM

LostCityMuseum.org | (702) 397-2193

OF A TREASURED HERITAGE EAST ELY RAILROAD DEPOT MUSEUM

STEWARD OF A TREASURED HERITAGE EAST ELY RAILROAD DEPOT MUSEUM

STEWARD OF A TREASURED HERITAGE

EAST ELY RAILROAD DEPOT MUSEUM

Roll the clock back to 1907 and explore this original gateway to the heritage of the Nevada Northern Railway. Operating within the oldest and best-preserved building in White Pine County,

Roll the clock back to 1907 and explore this original gateway to the

Roll the clock back to 1907 and explore this original gateway to the heritage of the Nevada Northern Railway. Operating within

heritage of the Nevada Northern Railway. Operating within

NIGHTS

IS YOUR AIM TRUE?

Elevated darts experience

A game of darts is a favorite English pastime, and experimenting with exciting new nightlife experiences is a must in Las Vegas. Flight Club, a social darts bar that recently opened its doors in November inside the Grand Canal Shoppes at Venetian, is already hitting the bullseye.

The concept, launched in 2015 by interior designer Alex Hobocienski and architect Ilias Soukbaev, has now spread across a dozen locations in the U.S. and U.K. The 16,000-square foot Strip version is the fourth and largest in the U.S. with 20 dart stations, tables placed throughout and a full-service bar that looks like a carousel, paying tribute to the British fairgrounds where the game originated.

Each station serves parties from two to 12 and has a dart board and three oches, or throw lines (rookie, regular and pro). There are also two long tables and a seating area for groups. Event packages are available for larger parties.

a newbie, it’s easy to enjoy the experience. It costs $16 before 4 p.m. and $18 after that from Sunday to Thursday and $20 on Friday and Saturday per person, with a 90-minute maximum.

The dart station can also be converted into a photo booth by selecting an option on the table screen. Pose with your group in front of the large screen and a few photos will be snapped. There is also the option to create boomerangs for Instagram.

FLIGHT CLUB

Grand Canal Shoppes, 702-848-4188, us.flightclub darts.com. SundayThursday, 11:30 a.m.-midnight; Friday & Saturday, 11:30 a.m.-2 a.m.

One of the tables features a screen on which players can select their game. There are six different ones to choose from, including “Demolition,” which is based on the classic game of 301. Uncertain how to play? You can watch a tutorial video which will play on a larger screen above the dartboard, so your whole party can follow along.

The system automatically keeps score for you, a la bowling, so whether you are a darts veteran or

The table screen also allows you to call for a server to order food and drinks. The specialty cocktails are all named after fun carousel animals, and I tried the Toucan ($17), a hibiscus cocktail with blanco tequila, Aperol, lemon, cocoa bitters and egg white.

The menu features plenty of shareable plates, and I opted for the Lobster Elote Dip ($21), which has all the magic of street corn, elevated by accompanying lobster and crunchy tortilla chips.

For those truly looking for a next-level experience, food packages are available.

The Caviar & Bubbles ($500) sets up the osetra roe for success, served on mini egg salad sandwiches, lobster crème fraîche blinis and seasonal oysters, all paired with a bottle of the always refreshing Perrier-Jouët Champagne.

There’s a lot to say about this place, which is good, since the first rule of Flight Club is to absolutely talk about Flight Club.

BY EVELYN MATEOS

(Photographs Courtesy)

PITA PERFECTION

Miznon takes tasty Israeli street food to the Strip

(Courtesy/Max Flatow)

BY GENEVIE DURANO

Las Vegas’ global street-food scene has an exciting addition. Miznon, which means “kiosk” in Hebrew, recently opened at the Venetian, in the space formerly occupied by David Chang’s Moon Palace. It serves Middle Eastern food from chef Eyal Shani, known as the father of modern Israeli cuisine. To date, he has 43 restaurants around the globe, and his fine dining HaSalon is set to open this year across from Miznon.

Miznon’s menu has a distinctly Mediterranean flavor profile with French influences, delivered in the form of pitas and dips, but there are distinct dishes that you probably haven’t encountered elsewhere— unless you’ve visited other locations, which can be found in seven countries, plus Boston and New York City. On a recent visit, the counter-service seats were full of CES conventiongoers eagerly attacking handheld pitas bursting with fillings ranging from vegetables to various proteins.

FOOD & DRINK

topped with melting chickpeas ($18), billed as “the best hummus that you will ever eat,” and you’ll have the beginnings of a vegetarian feast. Also consider the Bag of Green Beans ($11), prepared with olive oil, lemon, salt and garlic. Served at room temperature, it’s as addictive as a bowl of edamame at a Japanese restaurant.

Miznon is a boon to plantbased eaters, with four distinct vegetarian pitas on the menu: the Lavan ($15), with roasted cauliflower, tahini, tomato salsa, spicy green peppers and scallions; wild mushrooms ($17), an earthy concoction with scallions and sour cream; the Ratatouille ($16), with eggplant, zucchini and onions, topped with a hardboiled egg; and the falafel burger ($16), with tomato, pickles, tahini and spicy green peppers.

MIZNON Venetian, 702-607-3062, miznonvegas. com. Daily, 11 a.m.-8 p.m.

The menu, by the way, is on plain printed paper in Comic Sans font, lending an air of playfulness to the whole dining experience. It’s divided into “In-a-Pita” and “Out-of-the Pita” selections, and you’ll find that repeat visits are necessary to fully appreciate the wide-ranging menu.

To start, you need to order the Original World Famous Baby Cauliflower ($12), because it’s typed in all caps and is calling for your attention. You’ll be glad you did—you won’t be able to stop noshing on the tender, roasted crucifer, drizzled in olive oil, lightly salted and charred on top. It’s also good to take home as a leftover if you don’t want to fill up. Pair it with the hummus plate

But Miznon is an equal-opportunity omnivore pleaser, featuring grass-fed beef and lamb pitas. There’s ribeye minute steak ($19) and the familiar lamb kebab ($18). The rotisserie Broken Chicken ($16) is particularly notable, with moist chicken pieces enrobed in a za’atar spice mix. And while you might not necessarily think of seafood for a pita, there’s fish ’n’ chips ($17)—branzino with potatoes, parsley and pickles—and crystal shrimp ($17).

For all its innovative menu offerings, the two things that make a visit to Miznon truly stick in your culinary memory are the Israel-imported tahini and pillowy-soft pita. The latter is a warm carb cloud you’ll happily dip in hummus or wrap those toppings around. It redefines what you think a pita is, and you will undoubtedly keep coming back for more.

INSIDE LOVELADY’S SECOND HENDERSON LOCATION

 Successful local breweries know how to create a cozy ambiance to draw folks in for a drink or two, making them an excellent spot to catch up with friends and family. Lovelady Brewery Company in Downtown Henderson has been doing so effectively since 2016, and now the charm continues in the second location, at the Pebble Marketplace off Green Valley Parkway.

The new spot, which opened in September, is only about 10 minutes from the Water Street District. Veteran brewer and owner Richard Lovelady says the proximity was purposeful.

“In the future, we would like to do more [locations], but we want the first one to be fairly close to our home base, because you make mistakes your first time through, and you don’t want to be driving 45 minutes across town to fix

something,” he says.

Plus, folks are enjoying the new location because they don’t have to travel over to Water Street, Lovelady explains.

The Green Valley taproom is modeled after the original, featuring the same rustic décor and tabletops made from recycled Ponderosa Beetle Kill pine. At press time it offered the same brews, too, but guests will soon be able to save $2 on a glass of Silver Nites (Golden Nites at the Water Street location)

Mexican-style lager on game nights. And Lovelady says he hopes to partner with the Silver Knights to broadcast the minor league team’s games in the taproom.

Later this month, we can also expect a patio area, Lovelady says, and he hopes to begin hosting trivia and other game nights soon. –Evelyn

Mateos

LOVELADY BREWING TAPROOM 1550 N. Green Valley Parkway #315, 725-204-6663, loveladybrewing.com. Monday, 2-8 p.m.; Tuesday-Thursday, 2-10 p.m.; Friday & Saturday, noon-11 p.m.; Sunday, 10 a.m.-8 p.m.

(Christopher DeVargas/Staff)

TARGET THE DRAFT

BY CASE KEEFER

Earlier this season, former NFL tackle Tyler Polumbus shared a series of stories on social media about current Raiders coach Josh McDaniels’ disastrous tenure as the coach of the Denver Broncos from 2009-10.

The rst anecdote might have been the most un attering, as Polumbus recounted how McDaniels spoke to the team after infamously trading away promising young quarterback Jay Cutler. “Fellas, don’t worry about the QB situation,” McDaniels said, according to Polumbus. “I can turn a [high school quarterback] into an All-Pro.”

McDaniels spent his rst season in Las Vegas preaching and ultimately proving that he has moved past the arrogance and authoritativeness that sunk his time with the Broncos. Despite a highly disappointing 6-11 season, McDaniels, now 46, was much gentler and drew unanimous respect from the locker room, even in the midst of tough moments like the benching of quarterback Derek Carr at the end of the year.

But Raider fans should hope that a bit of McDaniels’ bravado remains heading into

his rst full o season with the team, at least as it pertains to the quarterback position. The immediate future of the Raiders’ franchise could depend on it.

Finding the right successor for Carr, who has been the Raiders’ starter for the past nine years, is “paramount” in McDaniels’ words and stands above every other decision to be made heading into the 2023-24 season. The best way the Raiders could address it is by drafting a quarterback and giving McDaniels a chance to show he’s truly the developmental ace he’s often purported to be.

Las Vegas holds the No. 7 overall pick in the upcoming 2023 NFL Draft, which will start April 27 in Kansas City, Missouri. That’s unlikely to be early enough to select one of the top two passers—Alabama’s Bryce Young or Ohio State’s C.J. Stroud—but it doesn’t rule the Raiders out of those sweepstakes either.

The No. 7 pick potentially gives them precious capital to move up via trade if general manager Dave Ziegler and his sta fall in love with either Young or Stroud through the evaluation process. Even if they don’t, the next two quarterbacks projected to go in the

draft—a pair of more awed but high-ceiling prospects in Kentucky’s Will Levis and Florida’s Anthony Richardson—could be available at the Raiders’ current slot.

Or Ziegler could trade down, a shrewd and favored strategy of the New England Patriots organization in which he and McDaniels built their careers, and target a fringe rstround quarterback like Tennessee’s Hendon Hooker or Stanford’s Tanner McKee.

Pair one of the aforementioned six rookies with a re-signed Jarrett Stidham, who showed more than enough ability while starting in place of Carr over the nal two games of the year, and proceed into training camp. The two could compete for the right to be the starter in Week 1 of next season.

These are the types of scenarios that would most commonly be tossed around regarding a quarterback-needy team like the Raiders, but they’ve been relatively muted in this case. The louder rumblings indicate Las Vegas will go after a free agent quarterback to step in next season.

Two of the biggest names set to be available, Tampa Bay’s Tom Brady and San

Why the Raiders should fi ll their quarterback need through the NFL Draft instead of free agency

Francisco’s Jimmy Garoppolo, have a history with McDaniels and are therefore linked to Las Vegas. The Raiders could put together a bounceback season and win with either one of them, but the cost would be prohibitive.

Garoppolo ts very much into the Carr mold as a starting quarterback who can be slightly above average at best and mediocre at worst. Garoppolo would command a contract similar to the three-year, $121 million extension Carr signed last o season.

Brady would be even more expensive on a per-year basis, though he would require a shorter-term commitment ahead of turning 46 years old before next season. McDaniels and Brady have won six Super Bowls together, so outright dismissing a reunion in Las Vegas would be unwise.

But signing a quarterback at the tail end of his career would also contradict everything McDaniels and Ziegler have vowed about building a long-term, sustainable winning franchise with the Raiders.

It might seem like Brady and Garoppolo t better within the championship window of the team’s best player and now face of the franchise,

30-year-old receiver Davante Adams, but that’s a surface-level misconception given the NFL’s rookie pay scale.

A good young quarterback is a bigger competitive advantage, because he’s locked in at a bargain price a fraction of a veteran’s rate. The Raiders also need to upgrade elsewhere on their roster— namely on all three levels of the defense—and re-sign NFL rushing leader Josh Jacobs.

They’d have ample salary cap space to attack all of those objectives with a rookie quarterback. It would be much more di cult to improve in every other area with someone like Brady taking up such a large chunk of resources.

Getting a proven commodity free agent might be the safer choice to boost the Raiders’ record next year, and that option might win out given the pressure McDaniels and Ziegler are under to show immediate progress. But a rookie quarterback would be surrounded with a more complete team, conceivably set up to contend for years to come.

There’s always a risk that a draft pick won’t pan out, but that should be minimized if McDaniels maintains shreds of the con dence he once held in himself when it comes to mentoring young quarterbacks.

Scouting the top 2023 NFL Draft quarterback prospects

Bryce Young, Alabama

The 2021 Heisman Trophy winner is the consensus best quarterback in the draft, with the only concern centered on his small frame, listed (perhaps generously) at 6-foot, 194 pounds.

C.J. Stroud, Ohio State

The two-time Heisman finalist has all the physical traits but was somewhat inconsistent in college despite playing with one of the best receiving corps ever, which included standout NFL rookies Chris Olave (Saints) and Garrett Wilson (Jets).

Will Levis, Kentucky

The Penn State transfer has far and away the biggest arm of anyone in the class but never put up very impressive numbers and struggled to stand out during his college career.

Anthony Richardson, Florida

The freight-train runner also has a monster arm and might grade out higher than any other prospect in drills at the NFL Draft combine, but he needs more time to hone his accuracy, awareness and throwing fundamentals.

Hendon Hooker, Tennessee

The dual threat, one-time Heisman Trophy favorite last season had snuck up to top-10 consideration by mock drafters before tearing his ACL late in the season, adding to concerns about him already being 25 years old entering the NFL.

Tanner McKee, Stanford

The 6-foot-6, 230-pound former top recruit checks all the boxes as a prototypical NFL quarterback, but his outmanned Cardinal teams went 3-9 in both seasons with him as the starter.

(Left to right) Young, Stroud and Richardson (AP Photos)

NOT EVERYONE WHO

TEMPORARY HOUSING IS ON VACATION, AND THIS STARTUP IS ADDRESSING THAT NEED

BY BRYAN HORWATH VEGAS INC STAFF

Yeves Perez and Daj’Anique Staples are a couple, but they’re also business partners and the brains behind a tech startup called Workbnb.

The couple, who have matching Workbnb logo tattoos, recently moved from Reno to the Summerlin area and plan to bring their company’s headquarters with them.

Workbnb, launched last year, is similar to the Airbnb guest rental concept, where vacationers can reserve short-term residential rentals through a smartphone app.

The difference with Workbnb is that it’s tailored to employers who oversee workers on nonpermanent, longterm jobs, such as large construction projects.

With Workbnb, employers can reserve housing for their workers for a month or longer.

Perez, who previously worked as a freelance marketing consultant in San Diego, noticed there was an unfilled niche for short-term rentals when his mother’s small rental business in Reno began to take off several years ago.

“My mom just had a few of these rentals, but some people with a company that was moving from the Bay Area to Reno liked her so much, they requested that more employees work with her,” Perez said. “That was in 2019, which was a big time for California companies coming to Reno.”

Soon, Perez’s mother signed a contract for the use of nearly two dozen apartments for employees of the com-

pany. She asked her son to help set up the apartments.

“She called me and said she’d already bought me a plane ticket and that she wanted me to come out and help her,” Perez said. “I figured I better do it if I ever wanted to come to Thanksgiving dinner again.”

Early last year, Perez registered Workbnb with the Nevada Secretary of State’s Office. He also took the concept through the strenuous Techstars incubator program in Tulsa, Oklahoma.

Workbnb has five employees now—Staples serves as president— but the company could soon have as

many as 25 workers, Perez said.

After growing up in Las Vegas and graduating from Centennial High School, Staples moved to Reno to attend college.

She eventually crossed paths with Perez, who convinced her to start her own short-term rental business.

“Ever since I learned about the business, I knew this was a great come-up,” Staples said. “If I knew about this at 16, I probably wouldn’t have gone to college.”

Earlier this month, Perez hosted a launch party at UNLV’s Black Fire Innovation business accelerator center

in Las Vegas.

When she heard about the Workbnb story, Jamie Schwartz, director of industry and business engagement with UNLV’s Office of Economic Development, knew she wanted to learn more about what she thought was an interesting company.

“I didn’t know that UNLV had a hospitality and tech incubator,” Perez said. “We met with Jamie and she put us on a fast track to get very involved.”

One of the first big breaks for the company came when it helped secure a two-plus-year condo deal for a construction company manager working on a freeway expansion project in Reno.

With an array of big construction projects underway or planned in the Las Vegas area in the coming years, Perez said he has no doubt there will be a continued need for temporary housing.

In addition to Las Vegas and Reno, Perez said he wants to grow the business in markets like Dallas, Atlanta, Philadelphia and Orlando, Florida.

Workbnb also recently launched a commercial that features Staples and can be seen on some streaming services.

As African Americans, Perez and Staples said they’re proud of the concept they’re building, partly because Black businesspeople have traditionally been massively underrepresented in the tech sector.

“We’re building the Workbnb empire,” Staples said. “I think what we’re doing is important because Blacks, and especially Black women, aren’t represented a lot in tech.”

Perez said the couple hope the company gains more traction in Las Vegas.

“In Reno, we were overlooked,” Perez said. “We couldn’t get contacts with the city and with the university there. There’s a bigger tech scene here in Las Vegas, and there’s more diversity here. There’s opportunity for us and we want as much as possible; we’re hungry.”

(Photo Illustration)

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MOMENTUM CONTINUES TO BUILD FOR STARTUPS IN NEVADA AS NETWORK OF ANGEL INVESTORS GROWS

BY JEFF SALING

Las Vegas has long been known as a world-class entertainment destination, making tourism and gaming the primary drivers of our economy. That’s largely true of Nevada as a whole.

Our global leadership in these industries is admirable and critically important. Yet, we have seen the challenges posed by relying solely on these industries, especially during economic downturns.

As a result, many on the state and local levels have focused efforts on diversifying the economy by attracting and fostering new businesses, especially startups in the tech sector.

Startups play an integral role in diversifying economies and building the tech industry. A vibrant startup ecosystem with a strong footing in technology—like what can be found in San Francisco; Austin, Texas; and Chicago—support new companies, generate good-paying jobs, and create generational wealth-building opportunities.

Similar trends are gaining traction in Nevada. Proof of this is StartUpNV, a nonprofit incubator and accelerator founded in 2017, focused on fostering a diverse and thriving startup ecosystem. StartUpNV enjoyed its most successful year yet in 2022.

Through its programs and associated venture capital funds, StartUpNV has invested nearly $3 million in Ne -

vada-based startups since its founding five years ago. More than half of that total was invested last year.

Ninety percent of this funding was invested in tech-related startups based in Nevada.

The companies that received the StartUpNV-related investments since 2017 have gone on to raise even more funding, totaling over $75 million.

They also created more than 450 jobs in the state—with 90% of these jobs in the tech sector.

In addition to bolstering the state’s tech industry, building a successful startup ecosystem can have a significant economic impact. According to Implan, a leading provider of economic impact data, every $1 invested as capital in a startup typically generates between $18 and $25 in economic impact over time.

So the investments raised over the past five years can have an eventual economic impact of $1.47 billion.

Beyond this impressive macroeconomic impact, the success of startups also has significant benefits on a personal level. Entrepreneurs see their dreams realized through a thriving business. Founders and the angel

investors build generational wealth for their families.

To help achieve all this, StartUpNV has focused its AngelNV program on building a bridge between entrepreneurs and angel investors through a series of educational bootcamps that teach startups how to raise venture capital and new investors how to invest in startups.

The program culminates each spring with one startup receiving a $200,000 investment from the AngelNV Conference Fund, made possible by the participants in AngelNV’s investor bootcamp, who each invest $5,000.

Now in its third year, AngelNV continues to educate more entrepreneurs, attract more investors, and raise more seed money. This is due in part to the fact that AngelNV investors need not be “super wealthy” to participate and can be at the beginning of their investment journey, such as successful professionals or retirees.

AngelNV is empowering more people, not just the wealthiest in society, to make positive returns from a modest investment while also helping local startups get off the ground and succeed.

And most of these startups are in the tech industry. In fact, recent winners of the AngelNV grand prize investment are cutting-edge technology companies.

The first was SafeArbor, a femaleowned, Las Vegas-based company that produces a smart tech-based container system for storing, tracking and processing sensitive cargo in complex regulatory spaces, such as cannabis pre-order pickup. Last year, the grand prize investment went to SeeID, which uses a wireless radio frequency network for a real-time asset tracking system.

In addition to these grand prize investments, AngelNV has exceeded its investment goals, enabling it to award investments to runner-up companies each year. Many of the AngelNV investors also form their own separate investment funds to independently invest more capital in their favorite AngelNV companies, including startups that did not win any investment directly from the AngelNV Fund.

And this year, companies receiving investments through AngelNV and other capital funds associated with StartUpNV will receive matching funds from the State Small Business Credit Initiative (SSBCI).

This increasing level of investment in Nevada-based startups is a testament to the growing level of interest to support local startups and diversify our economy, especially within the technology industry.

Now is the time to continue the momentum—to continue building a more broad-based, homegrown angel investor network for startups in Nevada. AngelNV will start its angel investor bootcamp January 24. Interested investors can get more information about the bootcamp and angel investing opportunities at angelnv.com.

Jeff Saling is executive director of StartUpNV.

In addition to bolstering the state’s tech industry, building a successful startup ecosystem can have a significant economic impact. According to Implan, a leading provider of economic impact data, every $1 invested as capital in a startup typically generates between $18 and $25 in economic impact over time.

VegasInc Notes

The Nevada Builders Alliance hired Jaron Hildebrand as its executive director.

Hildebrand has more than a decade of experience representing, leading and advocating for a Nevada professional organizations.

Carla Pellegrino, a former contestant on Bravo’s Top Chef, has joined Limoncello Fresh Italian Kitchen, 8245 W. Sahara Ave., as partner and chef. Husband and wife restaurateurs Giuseppe and Jenny Bavarese opened the restaurant in 2019. Pellegrino brings her award-winning talent and expertise to Limoncello’s menu of traditional southern and northern Italian cuisine with modern flair.

Nevada Secretary of State Cisco Aguilar announced the appointment of several staff positions. Among them: Gabriel Di Chiara, chief deputy; Maggie Salas Crespo, deputy for Southern Nevada; Erin Houston, deputy for securities; Debbie Bowman, deputy for operations; Mark Wlaschin, deputy for elections; Paul Diflo, Nevada business portal

administrator; Cecilia Heston, public information officer; Maria Tello-Magana, executive assistant.

US. Rep. Steven Horsford, D-Nevada, was sworn in as chairman of the Congressional Black Caucus.

The Public Relations Society of America’s Las Vegas Valley chapter elected its board of directors for 2023, the 75th anniversary of PRSA nationally. They are: Clark Dumont, APR, fellow PRSA, president; Dawn Merritt, APR, president-elect; Greg Chase, XMP, past president; Leslie Mujica, MPA, vice president of membership; Matthew Seltzer, APR, vice president of programs; Carlee Gettman, vice president of communications; Keval Patel, CPA, vice president of finance. Other leaders include Rina Foster, APR, a past president who leads the chapter’s engagement with college and university students; and Gretchen Papez, APR, who leads the professional accreditation.

Department of Business and Industry director Terry Reynolds announced the appointment of Nick Stosic as interim insurance commissioner at the Nevada Division of Insurance. The appointment was made

following the resignation of Barbara Richardson, who had served in the role since March 2016. A recruitment to fill the vacancy on a permanent basis will be conducted. Stosic most recently served as deputy commissioner with the division, providing oversight of the product compliance, market regulation and captives sections, while also acting as the liaison with Nevada’s insurance agents and brokers.

NAIOP Southern Nevada, an organization representing commercial real estate developers, owners and related professionals in office, industrial, retail and mixed-use real estate, announced its elected officers and directors for 2023, led by president Reed Gottesman, senior vice president and Las Vegas regional manager for Schnitzer Properties The board of directors includes: president-elect and treasurer Cassie Catania-Hsu, CBRE; secretary Julie Cleaver, the Howard Hughes Corporation; immediate past president Hayim Mizrachi, MDL Group; and directors Lisa Brady, Prologis; Shani Coleman, Clark County Economic Development; Phillip Dunning, Panattoni Development Company; Matt Hoyt, LaPour; Marianna Hunni-

cutt, Kimley-Horn; Venessa McEvoy, Cushman & Wakefield; Steve Neiger, Colliers International; Michael Newman, Compass Development; John Restrepo, RCG Economics; David Strickland, Thomas & Mack Co.; Dan Tuntland, DJT Real Estate; and Katrina Bruce, NAIOP Southern Nevada chapter executive.

North Las Vegas Justice of the Peace Kalani Hoo has been named chief judge of North Las Vegas Justice Court. His two-year term began January 3, 2023 and will be his second term as chief. Hoo has been the North Las Vegas Justice Court Department 1 Justice of the Peace since December 2012. Prior to his election, Hoo was a partner at the law firm of Eichhorn & Hoo, practicing criminal and civil law in both state and federal court.

Gov. Joe Lombardo announced his selection of Kirk Hendrick as chair of the Nevada Gaming Control Board Hendrick began his career in 1991 in private practice before transitioning to work for Nevada Attorney General Frankie Sue Del Papa. Hendrick worked in the Attorney General’s gaming division. He also worked as chief deputy for the statewide gaming division and served as the legal counsel for the Nevada Athletic Commission

DevOps Engineer (Las Vegas, NV) Pacific Specialty Insurance Company. Building and maintaining DevOps CI/CD pipeline tools like Terraform Scripts, AWS yaml files, Jenkins scripts, etc. Requirements include Bachelors (or foreign equivalent) + 5 years experience in Information Sciences, Computer Applications, software engineering or related. Employer will accept masters + 2 years experience in lieu of Bach and 5 years.

Email Resume to Susan Tarney, Manager, HR, starney@pacificspecialty.com. Apps. Must ref job #TG0058.

Hildebrand

Gottesman

Hoo

Item hanging above a crib

“Be there shortly”

Small racer in a groove 73 Grew irate

Religion in 17-Down 75 Escort in The Hunger Games

Brew colored from oxidation

Slightly amiss

Social skill 84 Pot’s partner 85 EarthLink or MSN 86 High no. for a valedictorian 87 “Is there no — this?!”

Handed over 89 Trolleys 91 All-terrain motorcycle

How Jesus walked, miraculously

Aetna alternative

What a H.S. drop out may earn

Syringe parts

Most crooked

At least one

Welcomes to one’s home

(around)

ARIES (March 21-April 19): During the next episode in the age-old struggle between the Impulsive You and the Farsighted You, the latter will achieve a ringing victory. You will also overcome the temptation to quit a project prematurely and instead push on to complete it. Plus, you will refrain from knocking your head against an obstacle in the vain hope of toppling it. Instead, you will round up helpers to produce the desired toppling.

TAURUS (April 20-May 20): You may not have a clear picture of where you’ll be going in the next five years. But in the coming weeks, a new lucidity can be yours. Life will reward you with mysterious step-by-step guidance. Now, write a short statement affirming your intention to love, honor and obey your intuition.

GEMINI (May 21-June 20): Do you believe in the existence of guardian angels, spirit guides, invisible friends or other souls that have never left you, but are available if you need their affection? Even if your rational mind tells you that none of these possibilities are authentic, you will nevertheless be the beneficiary of their assistance in the coming weeks and months.

CANCER (June 21-July 22): Among your potential strengths are empathy, sensitivity and emotional intelligence. If you choose to develop these natural gifts, they can be instrumental in helping you achieve the only kind of success that’s really meaningful for you—which is success that your heart and soul love as much as your head and your ego.

LEO (July 23-Aug. 22): Many Leos have lately had problems getting all the Illegal Folklore and Insurrectionary Fairy Tales they need. Push hard to compensate. You have a strong need for dreamy stories that appeal to the Wild Child in you. They’re essential to your mental and spiritual health.

VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22): Being afraid may have its uses and benefits. But as author Donald Miller, notes, it’s also “a manipulative emotion that can trick us into living a boring life.” Fear will be of service to you—a guide to keep you safe—about 9% of the time in 2023. Around 83% of the time, it will be a manipulative emotion not worth acting on. For the other 8%, it will be neither.

LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22): Select two sticky situations in your world that you would love to reinvent. Let other annoyances and glitches just slide for now. Then do everything in your power to transform the two awkward or messy circumstances. Proceed as if you will have to do all the work yourself. If you’re absolutely sure this involves other people altering their behavior, consider the possibility that maybe your behavior needs to shift as well.

SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21): Three out of four toxic waste dumps in the U.S. are in predominantly African American or Latino communities. Two million tons of radioactive uranium tailings have been dumped on Native American lands. Three hundred thousand Latino farm workers a year suffer from pesticide-related sicknesses. These travesties make me furious. Use your own anger constructively, by fighting fiercely and tenderly for what’s right.

SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21): Love will bring you many AHA! moments in 2023. You can’t fully prepare yourself for them—and that’s a good thing! The epiphanies will be brighter and deeper if they are unexpected. Your motivation to learn the available lessons will be wilder and stronger if you enjoy being surprised. So be ready for lots of entertaining rumbles and reverberations.

CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19): Ladybugs devour aphids, which are destructive to crops. Damsel bugs eat the pests called leafhoppers, and lacewings feed on the pernicious nuisances known as mealybugs. Metaphorically speaking, you will have experiences with bugs in the next three weeks. But this won’t be a problem if you ally yourself with the good, helpful and beautiful bugs.

AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18): Can you seek out “brain orgasms” and make them happen, or do they arrive in their own sweet time? When they occur should you surrender into them, or question whether they’re real, be suspicious of their blessings or dismiss them as irrelevant flukes? Meditate on questions like these. That will raise your receptivity to the stream of brain orgasms that life will offer you.

Previously

Job of some cooks

Dress fancily, with “out”

— -Magnon

Maglie of the old Giants

Adaptable truck, in brief 126 Corral

PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20): God is stealthy yet blatant, like a green chameleon perched on a green leaf. This is a helpful, all-purpose metaphor for you to use in the coming weeks. Be alert for beauty that is hidden in plain sight. See if you can spy the miracles embedded within the ordinary. Ask life to pleasantly blow your mind over and over again. Here’s your phrase of power: open secret

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BIG GAME VIEWING PARTY

STADIUM SWIM AT CIRCA LAS VEGAS

Plan your unique Big Game experience at Stadium Swim. Watch the game from the comfort of a reserved cabana, chaise lounge, or day bed. Or opt to relax in our 104-degree temperature-controlled pools.

BOOK YOUR SPOT AT CIRCALASVEGAS.COM