Nearly defanged by state Supreme Court rulings, Nevada's "ingredients" law—which puts restrictions on the purchase of ephedra and other cold medicines used to make methamphetamine—is getting some unexpected help. Operators of some of the Valley's biggest pharmacies—among them, Wal-Mart, Walgreens and Target—have announced they'll move items like Advil Cold & Sinus, Claritin-D and Sudafed behind pharmacy counters to further curb bulk buys and theft.
There it is on the Time magazine "Milestones" page: "Charged. Anna Ayala, 39, Las Vegas woman who was arrested last month for attempted grand larceny after claiming she found a finger in a bowl of Wendy's chili ..." OK. Fair enough. Anna Ayala, at last check, is, indeed a woman who lives in Las Vegas. But check the other entries on the page: Not a single one of them says, "Omaha man" or "Poughkeepsie girl"; one entry reads this way: "Married. Mary Kay Letourneau, 43, former elementary school teacher ..."
In discussing the woman who had the child of her sixth-grade student, then spent some time in prison and had another of his children while there, and now has married him, the magazine does not say, "Mary Kay Letourneau, Seattle-area woman, or, more specifically, "Normandy Park woman" (civic slogan: "Wonderful World of Woods and Water") or even, "former Burien, Washington schoolteacher." No. Nothing. Until the last line of the entry when we find out the wedding took place in Woodinville, Washington.
Now, the case could be made that the public is already plenty familiar with Ms. Letourneau, and it knows where she comes from, whereas it's still news, hot, ready-to-serve news, that Ms. Finger-fraud lives in Vegas. Or we could be more cynical and assume that Time thinks it's relevant that Ayala lives in Las Vegas because, well, that's where people like Ayala live.
The Smokers Club, Inc., is bringing the International Smokers Rights Conference to Caesars Palace June 27-29 for talks on tobacco regulation, political activism and public-policy issues.
Conference speakers hope to clear the air on issues such as "smoking in the movies," "smoking and civil rights" and the "legalities of smoking bans."
"This is a great opportunity to showcase the present-day threats to our basic liberties," conference speaker Chuck Muth said in a statement. "The consumer freedom themes being discussed at this conference are universal and clearly extend beyond the narrow issue of tobacco control."
It's shaping up to be a heck of a week for the late Pope John Paul II. Over the weekend the Vatican began the process of beatifying the former pontiff, the first step toward sainthood. And in Las Vegas, this weekend?
We're selling the Pope's old car! No, not the one with the bulletproof bubble glass. Try the Pope's old 1975 Ford Escort, a homely light blue sedan that the Pope used before he was, you know, God's man on earth. The Pope sold his wheels in 1996 to a German collector, who is having the vehicle auctioned off this weekend on the Strip. The Escort will be on display at Mandalay Bay for three days starting this Friday, June 3. The auction is scheduled to begin at 11 a.m. on Sunday.
Pope cruisers are becoming the rage. Last year a 1999 Volkswagen Golf once owned by current Pope Benedict XVI fetched $250,000 at auction. (Its Blue Book-suggested retail value is $7,635.) John Paul II's old ride is expected to fetch between $1 million and $5 million. Some of the proceeds are earmarked for a Polish children's orphanage in Chicago.
Rumors have been flying on Internet message boards and blogs for the past few weeks about a large-scale music festival to take place in Las Vegas (most likely around Sam Boyd Stadium) over Halloween weekend. New Orleans-based Superfly Productions, which organizes the annual Bonnaroo festival in Tennessee (this year's edition occurs next week) are the alleged perpetrators, and the purely speculative lineup includes Dave Matthews Band, Pearl Jam, the Black Crowes, Wilco and many more, mostly from the jam-band end of the spectrum.
Superfly responded to rumors with a vigorous "no comment," but Sam Boyd Stadium spokesperson Angela Gomes confirmed that negotiations for such a festival (which may or may not be called "Vegoose") have been ongoing for two years. While no details were forthcoming, Gomes said she was fairly certain that the long negotiation process would eventually bear fruit.
An official at Las Vegas Events, the local promoter, decined to comment.