Union reaches deal with 4 hotel-casinos, 3 others still poised to strike at start of Super Bowl week
A union representing hospitality workers has reached a tentative agreement with four hotel-casinos in downtown Las Vegas as employees at three other properties remained poised to strike Monday when the city kicks off Super Bowl week.
Slain Vegas shooting victims' kin to split shooter's estate
Families of people killed in the Las Vegas Strip massacre in October 2017 will receive almost all of the $1.4 million estate of the man who unleashed the deadliest mass shooting in modern U.S. history and killed himself before police reached him.
Casino 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.
US may never reach โherd immunity,โ experts say
As COVID-19 vaccination rates decline and variants become more pervasive, scientists and public health experts say the threshold needed to reach โherd immunityโ is not likely any time soon โ and we may never get there, according to a report from the New York Times.
Restrictions 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.
US 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 โ 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: No more slots as all vaccine in Miss. allotted
___THE VIRUS OUTBREAK:U.S. coronavirus deaths hit another one-day high at more than 4,300. 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. Portugal has witnessed a record-breaking surge in coronavirus cases since it eased restrictions for the Christmas holiday.
Vegas 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 โ 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. โThereโs no way the online travel companies did this mistakenly,โ 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.
Nevada 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 โ 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.
Court OK's $800M settlement for MGM Resorts, Vegas victims
FILE - In this Oct. 1, 2018, file photo, survivors return to the scene of a mass shooting on the first anniversary in Las Vegas. A judge in Nevada has 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. (AP Photo/John Locher, File)LAS VEGAS โ A court on Wednesday approved a settlement totaling $800 million 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. In various lawsuits, victims and families accused MGM Resorts of failing to protect people at the concert venue or stop the shooter from amassing an arsenal of weapons and ammunition over several days before he opened fire. 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.
MGM Resorts adopts smoke-free policy for Vegas Strip casino
LAS VEGAS โ 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: โWe 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.
58 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.
Iconic 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.