Man held in killing at Vegas Strip resort has prison history
A man arrested early Friday in the killing of one person and wounding of two others during a family argument in a Las Vegas Strip hotel room has a criminal history including felony convictions dating to 1987 and served several years in Nevada state prisons, records show. Billy Deray Hemsley, 54, was jailed on suspicion of murder and attempted murder in the 8:30 p.m. Thursday shooting that killed a man and left two women wounded at The Mirage resort, Las Vegas police said. A department statement said Hemsley was apprehended before dawn in a southeast Las Vegas neighborhood and he was booked into the Clark County Detention Center to await an initial court appearance scheduled for Saturday.
news.yahoo.comInjured Copperfield trick participant loses lawsuit appeal
The Nevada Supreme Court has upheld a jury’s findings that illusionist David Copperfield and the MGM Grand hotel-casino were not financially responsible for a British tourist’s injuries during a signature vanishing act at a Las Vegas Strip show in 2013. Gavin Cox and his wife, Minh-Hahn Cox, alleged that the multimillionaire magician, the hotel, two Copperfield business entities and a construction firm that was renovating the hotel caused permanent brain injuries for Cox when he fell while taking part in the trick as a randomly picked audience member. In a complex verdict reached in May 2018 after several weeks of testimony, the jury found Copperfield, the hotel and Copperfield’s company, Backstage Disappearing Inc., negligent but not civilly liable for Cox’s fall.
news.yahoo.comCourt date reset for 2 NFL players, 2 others in Vegas case
A judge in Las Vegas postponed until next month a hearing in an assault case involving two NFL players and two other men accused of severely beating a man at a Las Vegas Strip nightclub the weekend of the Pro Bowl. New Orleans Saints running back Alvin Kamara, Kansas City Chiefs cornerback Chris Lammons and two other defendants — Darrin Young and Percy Harris — did not have to appear in court in person Tuesday while a prosecutor acknowledged that video evidence and witness statements are still being provided to their attorneys.
news.yahoo.comMan shoots and kills 5, himself in UK's first mass shooting in decade
A young man who killed five people, including his mother, and then took his own life in Britain’s first mass shooting in over a decade had complained online about difficulties meeting women and being “beaten down” by life.
news.yahoo.comCasino giant MGM Resorts selling land to New York-based firm
A New York-based real estate investment firm will emerge as the largest landholder on the Las Vegas Strip under a $17.2 billion property deal between landholding affiliates of casino giants Caesars Entertainment and MGM Resorts International.
Las Vegas is bouncing back, but the virus is on the rise too
Fifteen months after the pandemic transformed Las Vegas from flamboyant spectacle to ghost town, Sin City is back. Tourists are streaming in again, gambling revenue has hit an all-time high, the Las Vegas Strip has its first new casino in a decade, and big concerts are starting at a gleaming new stadium. Vice President Kamala Harris was set to visit Saturday for what the White House is calling the “America’s Back Together” tour celebrating progress against the virus.
news.yahoo.comResorts World Las Vegas gets regulatory OK to open June 24
The Malaysia-based owner of one of the biggest casino projects ever on the Las Vegas Strip won regulatory approval Thursday to deal cards, roll dice and welcome gamblers when Resorts World Las Vegas opens on June 24. With praise for the $4.3 billion development and the boost it could provide in a pandemic-battered economy, the Nevada Gaming Commission granted licenses to Genting Group, based in Kuala Lumpur, and its publicly traded subsidiary, Genting Malaysia Berhad. “We look forward to seeing it open and running,” Commission Chairman John Moran Jr. said after the unanimous vote.
news.yahoo.comRestrictions easing in US and Europe amid disaster in India
Pandemic-weary travelers are returning to the skies and casinos in the United States and eating out again in Greece as the vaccine rollout is sending news cases and deaths tumbling in more affluent countries, contrasting with a worsening disaster in India.
With sale of the Venetian, Las Vegas Sands exits the Strip
FILE - This Aug. 2, 2005 file photo shows the Venetian Hotel and Casino on the Las Vegas Strip. Las Vegas Sands is selling the real estate and operations of its Venetian casino resort and Sands Expo and Convention Center to VICI Properties and Apollo Global Management in a deal worth $6.25 billion. Under Adelson, the company's focus turned to Asia years ago, where revenue eventually outpaced even the operations on the Las Vegas Strip. AdThe global pandemic broadsided Las Vegas, shuttering the Strip where Las Vegas Sands has been the biggest operator for years. The Venetian, located on the Las Vegas Strip, has three luxury hotel towers with gaming, entertainment, shopping and dining.
These senators are calling for continued financial relief through the economic recovery for American families
Capitol Hill lawmakers are working on a new coronavirus relief bill that would include new $1,400 stimulus checks and expanded unemployment insurance. Now, one group of senators is calling for the government to take that one step further and provide recurring stimulus checks and automatic unemployment insurance extensions as the economy recovers. The leaders do not specifically say in the letter how much the additional direct checks or extended unemployment benefits should be. However, they cite several reasons for continuing both forms of aid during the long-term economic recovery. Stimulus checks and enhanced jobless payments work well together, particularly due to the fact that millions are excluded from unemployment insurance, the leaders argue.
cnbc.comUS unemployment claims fall to 779,000 but job cuts grind on
Nevada's troubled unemployment benefits program has been overhauled, and a "tsunami" of claims spurred by pandemic layoffs have largely been sorted. (AP Photo/John Locher, File)WASHINGTON – The number of Americans seeking unemployment benefits declined to 779,000 last week, a still-historically high total that shows that a sizable number of people keep losing jobs to the viral pandemic. AdAll told, 17.8 million people were receiving unemployment benefits in the week that ended Jan. 16, the latest period for which data are available. One is Alfrieda Hylton, who has struggled for months to regain her unemployment aid, which ran out in September. Just 40 states were issuing checks under a separate jobless aid program for freelancers and the self-employed.
The Latest: Mexico ramps vaccination effort after new supply
California has lifted some stay-at-home orders in northern counties, while many orders remain in place where coronavirus cases are surging. The 270 million doses are being secured independent of the global COVAX facility aimed at distributing vaccines to lower-income countries. The state Health Department announced Wednesday that a man in his 60s who traveled to the UK in December has the variant. Spain has used just over half of the 1.1 million doses delivered to the country. Portugal has witnessed a record-breaking surge in coronavirus cases since it eased restrictions for the Christmas holiday.
Casino mogul and GOP megadonor Sheldon Adelson dies at 87
Sheldon Adelson, the multibillionaire casino mogul and Republican Party megadonor, has died at age 87. Adelson died from complications related to treatment for Non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, according to a statement Tuesday from Las Vegas Sands, his casino and resort company. His funeral will be held in Israel, and a memorial service in Las Vegas is planned for a later date. Starting in the late 1980s, Adelson moved into the casino business, purchasing the Sands Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas for $128 million. The purchase would launch Las Vegas Sands as a global resort brand, boasting properties in the U.S. and Asia.
cnbc.comVegas execs sue online travel firms, allege unpaid hotel tax
FILE - In this April 28, 2020, file photo, the sun sets behind casinos and hotels along the Las Vegas Strip in Las Vegas. Two prominent Las Vegas communications executives are suing more than 20 online travel companies for back taxes they say should have been paid to Nevada based on hotel room rates. (AP Photo/John Locher, File)LAS VEGAS – Two prominent Las Vegas communications executives have sued more than 20 online travel companies for back taxes that they say should have been paid to Nevada based on hotel room rates. “There’s no way the online travel companies did this mistakenly,” Rogich said in a statement. Tax cases aimed at similar practices in other states involving online travel companies, or OTCs, have met with mixed success.
Laid-off casino workers rely on Las Vegas food banks during pandemic
A mecca of capitalism and chance, Las Vegas is a cruel testament to the wide swath the pandemic and its economic consequences have cut through the lives of everyone from hotel housekeepers to airline pilots. Now, one morning each week, she drives from the town of Henderson to the Culinary Academy of Las Vegas to pick up a box of free food with Taufa. In the heart of American capitalism, the Las Vegas Strip was the hardest hit in the state. Greg Arce carries a Thanksgiving dinner for distribution during the Fall Giving Pop-Up on Saturday in Las Vegas. Veronica Ruiz distributes food at the Fall Giving Pop-Up on Saturday in Las Vegas.
latimes.comNevada facing double-bind of rising cases, limping economy
People dressed as showgirls stand along the Las Vegas Strip, Thursday, Nov. 19, 2020, in Las Vegas. But Democrat Steve Sisolak has also encouraged out-of-state visitors, the lifeblood of Nevada's limping economy, to come to his state and spend money in Las Vegas. But Democrat Steve Sisolak has also encouraged out-of-state visitors, the lifeblood of Nevada's limping economy, to come to his state and spend money in Las Vegas. On Thursday, Nevada reported 2,416 new confirmed COVID-19 cases — a record of daily new cases for the state. Visitor numbers and room occupancy rates in Las Vegas in September were roughly half what they were the same month in 2019.
Judge approves $800M Las Vegas shooting settlement
LAS VEGAS – A court on Wednesday approved a total of $800 million in payouts from casino company MGM Resorts International and its insurers to more than 4,400 relatives and victims of the Las Vegas Strip shooting that was the deadliest in recent U.S. history. MGM Resorts, owner of the hotel and the concert venue, acknowledged no liability with the settlement. Administrators of the account will be retired Nevada Judge Jennifer Togliatti and retired California Judge Louis Meisinger, with help from the Virginia-based claims management legal firm BrownGreer. Las Vegas police and the FBI determined the 64-year-old retired accountant and high-stakes poker player meticulously planned the attack and acted alone. They theorized he may have sought notoriety, but said they never determined a clear motive for the attack.
Democrats' revised stimulus bill pushes for $600 in extra weekly unemployment through January
Francis Stallings tapes signs to her car before participating in a caravan rally down the Las Vegas Strip in support of extending the $600 unemployment benefit, August 6, 2020 in Las Vegas, Nevada. Democrats are continuing their push to restore $600 a week in enhanced unemployment benefits, under a revised legislative proposal intended to juice the pandemic-challenged economy. The modified $2.2 trillion HEROES Act — a $3 trillion version cleared the Democrat-controlled House in May — was unveiled Monday. State-allotted benefits averaged $305 a week in August, according to the Labor Department. In some states, like Louisiana and Mississippi, that aid amounted to $180 a week on average.
cnbc.comMGM Resorts adopts smoke-free policy for Vegas Strip casino
LAS VEGAS – One of the last Las Vegas Strip resorts to reopen after coronavirus closures will be the first to be smoke-free, MGM Resorts International announced Monday. Moving to smoke-free is hardly a gamble, Nikodemus said: “We believe there is a high level of pent-up demand to have a non-smoking casino, especially here in Las Vegas." Nikodemus noted that smoking areas will be provided outside Park MGM, and tobacco smoking is still allowed at nearby MGM Resorts properties including New York-New York and Aria. He also pointed to MGM Resorts properties in other states where smoking is prohibited, including MGM Springfield in Massachusetts and MGM National Harbor in Maryland. Caesars Entertainment Inc. has yet to open its Cromwell and Planet Hollywood properties on the Las Vegas Strip, and the nearby Rio All-Suite Hotel & Casino remains closed.
Las Vegas ponders its coronavirus future
About 1.5 million people visited Las Vegas in March 2020 the month the crisis began compared with the more than 3.6 million tourists who visited the same time last year, according to the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority. Las Vegas is more dependent on tourism than Detroit is on auto manufacturing, said Jeremy Aguero, an analyst at the Las Vegas-based research firm Applied Analysis. Never thought cars would be missed on the Las Vegas Strip. Those whove spent most of their careers working in Las Vegas gaming industry are used to rowdy clubgoers and throngs of gamblers as part of daily life. (Brian Vander Brug / Los Angeles Times)Locals often say that Las Vegas is only as successful as its ability to reinvent itself.
latimes.com'I won't be alive to work' - Las Vegas union wants sick leave, quarantine pay
But with a dozen members dead and others sickened, the powerful union representing Las Vegas bartenders and casino employees, Culinary Workers, is not pushing for a fast-reopening. If I go back too early, I wont be able to be alive to work, said Olee Stewart, 59, a cook at Harrahs Las Vegas Hotel and Casino, who is a member of the union. The union is also asking for paid sick leave and quarantine time to those who are ill or exposed to the virus. Its a very, very tough situation for these workers, said Geoconda Arguello-Kline, secretary-treasurer of the Culinary Workers local. FILE PHOTO: Empty roads leading into and out of the Las Vegas strip are seen as the spread of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) continues, in Las Vegas, Nevada U.S., April 9, 2020.
feeds.reuters.comWynn Resorts CEO calls for Las Vegas Strip to conditionally reopen in mid- to late May
(Reuters) - Wynn Resorts Chief Executive Officer Matt Maddox on Sunday called on the Nevada governor to begin to reopen the Las Vegas Strip in mid- to late May with extensive safety measures in place, assuming the state is in line with certain benchmarks around the spread of the coronavirus. FILE PHOTO: Empty roads leading into and out of the Las Vegas strip are seen as the spread of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) continues, in Las Vegas, Nevada U.S., April 9, 2020. REUTERS/Shannon StapletonIn an opinion column here published on the Nevada Independent news website, Maddox said Governor Steve Sisolak should reopen parts of the local economy in early May. Sisolak ordered all casinos and other nonessential businesses in the state to close for 30 days beginning March 18. Wynn Resorts - which owns and operates the Wynn Las Vegas, the Encore Boston Harbor, the Wynn Macau and the Wynn Palace, Cotai - closed its U.S. properties on March 15 and 17.
feeds.reuters.comNevada to close casinos, businesses and ban dining out to stem coronavirus spread
A street performer stands on the Las Vegas Strip in Las Vegas, Nevada, U.S., on Tuesday, March 17, 2020. Bars, movie theaters and gyms should also close by noon Wednesday and restaurants should shutter their dining rooms and only offer takeout or delivery in order to stem the spread of the new coronavirus, said Gov. "Today it's clear additional steps must be taken immediately in order to slow the spread of this deadly virus in our state," Sisolak said at a news conference in Las Vegas. Though a number of casinos started to close their doors this week, the governor's sweeping order shutters Nevada's main industry, anchored by glitzy casinos lining the Las Vegas Strip. In Las Vegas, MGM Resorts International and Wynn Resorts announced earlier in the week they planned to close their properties.
cnbc.comStocks making the biggest moves after hours: MGM Resorts, Tencent Music, Amazon and more
An exterior view shows MGM Grand Hotel & Casino on the Las Vegas Strip as the coronavirus continues to spread across the United States on March 15, 2020 in Las Vegas, Nevada. MGM Resorts International Shares of the resort company were up 5% after the bell, despite a planned shutdown of its Las Vegas casino operations for Monday evening. MGM Resorts announced Sunday that it is temporarily ceasing casino and hotel operations at its Las Vegas properties because of the coronavirus. Tencent Music The music streaming service saw shares climbed 2% in extended trading after the company reported fourth-quarter earnings. Tencent Music reported revenue of $1.05 billion, while analysts polled by FactSet expected $1.01 billion.
cnbc.comMan charged in Vegas massacre ammunition case changing plea
A man plans to change his not guilty plea in a federal case alleging he illegally manufactured bullets sold to the gunman who carried out the Las Vegas Strip massacre, records and attorneys said. A hearing for Douglas Haig is scheduled for Nov. 19 in Las Vegas, according to a notice posted Tuesday. Haig's attorney, Marc Victor, and Trisha Young, spokeswoman for U.S. Attorney Nicholas Trutanich, declined to say what crime Haig will admit or what sentence he's expected to face. Haig said after his name became public that he didn't notice anything suspicious when he sold hundreds of rounds of ammunition to Paddock. Victor argued that as the only person to face a criminal charge following the shooting, Haig could not get a fair trial before a jury drawn from the trauma-scarred Las Vegas community.
chicagotribune.com58 crosses back on Las Vegas Strip on shooting anniversary
A gunman fired 1,057 rounds into a crowd of outdoor concertgoers on the Las Vegas Strip, killing 58 people. It became the deadliest mass shooting in modern U.S. history. An Illinois man drove across the country to deliver his 58 homemade crosses in honor of the victims. Two years later, Greg Zanis returned to the Las Vegas Strip, placing 58 crosses once again, CNN affiliate KSNV reported. Authorities said the Las Vegas gunman's likely use of bump stocks allowed him to rapidly spray the crowd with hundreds of bullets to devastating effect.
Loved ones honor 58 who died in 2017 Las Vegas mass shooting
"Those lives were senselessly taken," Las Vegas Mayor Carolyn Goodman told a hushed audience crowded into a garden of mementoes, photos and trees planted just days after the deadliest mass shooting in modern American history. Greg Zanis, who made wooden crosses with victims' names and photos, put them up again at the iconic "Welcome to Fabulous Las Vegas" sign. Gun control advocates say they're frustrated more hasn't been done. Two prominent gun control organizations will host a forum Wednesday in Las Vegas for 10 leading Democratic presidential candidates focusing on the issue. ___Associated Press writer Michelle L. Price in Las Vegas contributed to this report.
chicagotribune.comLas Vegas massacre anniversary sparks debate on gun control
But advocates say they're frustrated that more hasn't been done since 58 people died at a concert on the Las Vegas Strip, and that mass shootings keep happening nationwide. You can't even go to school and feel safe," said Jauregui, an advocate for gun control in Nevada. The U.S. government this year banned a device that helped the Las Vegas gunman shoot more rapidly. The Las Vegas shooting "really galvanized people who, not that they didn't feel a connection to gun violence survivors, but they just never thought it would be them and their community." Two prominent gun control organizations also will host a forum Wednesday in Las Vegas for 10 leading Democratic presidential candidates focusing on gun control issues.
chicagotribune.comIconic Sahara name returns to Las Vegas
LAS VEGAS, Nev. - A Las Vegas Strip hotel-casino made an announcement with a blast from the past as the SLS renamed itself Sahara Las Vegas. Celebrity guests walked the red carpet of the event to show their support to Las Vegas. In 2013, SBE announced that it was changing the name of the hotel-casino to SLS Las Vegas. In 2015, the Starwood Hotels & Resorts bought the Sahara and announced that one of the hotel's towers would be rebranded W Las Vegas. In 2015, the Starwood Hotels & Resorts bought the Sahara and announced that one of the hotel's towers would be rebranded W Las Vegas.