Las Vegas Vacation Blog Blog

Ladies first. After drubbing Santa Clara by 40 points in Sunday’s semifinal game in Las Vegas, the Gonzaga Bulldogs’ women’s team is ready to on Monday against Pepperine. Tipoff is 12 Noon the the Orleans Arena in Sin City, and the game can be seen live on ESPNU.

The Zags led 41-17 at one point during Sunday’s game against the Broncos and eventually won the game 87-47 in front of about 2,000 Bulldog fans. It was the Zags’ 17th straight win.

Men to face Saint Mary’s Monday night

The Gonzaga men also made it to the championship game by beating Loyola Marymount 77-62 in the semifinal game on Sunday. Steven Gray had 18 points and coach Mark Few tied with Hank Anderson as the winningest coach in Gonzaga history with his 290th victory.

The Gaels advanced to the conference championship after beating Portland 69-55. It will be the second year in a row Santa Clara and Gonzaga will play for the WCC title. Gonzaga won last year’s battle 83-58.

Monday’s game tips off at 6 p.m. on ESPN.

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Evander Holyfield, who has had fights canceled in Uganda, South Korea and Ethiopia, finally has secured his next bout in the most foreign land of all: Las Vegas.

Holyfield, who hasn’t fought in Las Vegas since a loss to James Toney in 2003, will meet Frans Botha at the Thomas & Mack Center April 10, manager Ken Sanders said Friday. Details of the long-rumored bout were finalized Friday, with Holyfield guaranteed about $1 million.

Holyfield, 47, and Botha, 41, were scheduled to fight in Uganda in Feb. 20, but the bout was canceled due to lack of financing. Both recently received one-fight licenses from the state of Nevada. Botha holds the heavyweight title for one of the lesser sanctioning bodies, the World Boxing Federation.

Sanders also shot down recent reports that a possible third fight between Holyfield and Mike Tyson was in the works.

“It’s not going to happen, not with [promoter] Don King involved, and I don’t think it’s going to happen, period,” Sanders said. “Nobody has talked to Evander or me. All we heard was Don King wanted to do it, and we wouldn’t do that with him for $50 million. Let me say this: I don’t think Tyson is ever going to fight again. But I wish he would. I think that fight would make a lot of money, but I don’t think that will happen.”

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That was no mirage Sunday at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. That really was Jeff Gordon riding around the slick, 1.5-mile oval as if he owned the place.

You remember Gordon, don’t you? Four NASCAR Sprint Cup championships. No. 6 on the all-time list with 82 wins.

So where’s he been?

Well, where he was Sunday was in cruise control, dominating a race with such precision it was as if someone had turned back the clock and it was the 13-win, 1998 championship season all over again, a season in which a vintage Gordon amassed an astonishing 19 top-five finishes during the final 20 races.

Although Gordon wound up third on the leader board following the checkered flag, he led 219 of 267 laps, the first time he’s led the field for that many laps since leading 313 laps in a win at Martinsville (Va.) Speedway in October 2003.

Gordon also led 168 laps while finishing runner-up at the second Martinsville race in 2007, a race some believe is the last time he’s delivered such a dominating run, and 173 laps in a fourth-place finish at the following race at Texas Motor Speedway. But Gordon said there is no comparison between the Martinsville and Las Vegas races.

“The mile and a half tracks are where championships are won because there’s quite a few of them,” Gordon said Monday during a brief pit stop in Phoenix, where he took part in a Jeff Gordon Day ceremony with Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer. “Having a strong team and car like that on a mile and a half to me means more than going and dominating at Martinsville.

“So in my opinion, it’s been a lot longer (between dominating races) than Martinsville.”

One thing appears certain. It appears Gordon might be ready to challenge teammate and Las Vegas winner Jimmie Johnson for NASCAR superiority.

“(Sunday) felt good,” Gordon said. “As disappointed as it was to finish third, it felt awesome to be up there. When they dropped the green flag, I was driving by guys and just pulling away.

“The 48 (Johnson) was strong. Had he gotten in front of us any time during the day, he was going to be tough as we were. We knew he was our competition. It just came down to the final pit stop.”

Gordon’s bullish run meant a nine-position jump to No. 13 in the driver standings and only reinforced what he already believed before the season’s first lap, which is he remains optimistic a fifth title hardly is out of the question.

“I really don’t have anything out there I have to accomplish,” Gordon said. “But I really want to win a fifth championship and I’d like to do it before Jimmie Johnson.

“I’ve been optimistic all winter. I feel like (crew chief) Steve Letarte and the team really has been on top of their game and is just really going that extra mile to make us better. I’ve been trying to do the same with communicating with them, working out and doing everything I possibly can.

“So I felt really good about our team just coming into the season. I feel like we ran great at Daytona (26th) and I felt like we ran great at California (20th). Then, we backed it up with a great run and finish (Sunday), where we didn’t have the finishes to show for it in the other two races. But I still felt like our performances were there. We’re definitely building momentum for this year.”

Gordon’s beliefs are a 180-degree turnaround from last season at about this same juncture, even after finishing runner-up at Fontana in February and winning at Texas Motor Speedway in April.

“Even though we won at Texas and we were strong at California, I just don’t feel like we’re going to flatten out t his year,” said Gordon, who never led the most laps in a single race in 2008 and only did it one time last season. “I feel like we’ve got some extra strengths built into the team right now and that’s going to be make us stronger.

“I felt like last year we were at our peak at the beginning of the season. I feel like this year we haven’t reached our peak yet. I really feel like we have a team that can compete with them (Johnson’s team) this year and we showed it at Las Vegas.”

Did he ever.

Mark Armijo is the former auto racing beat writer for the Arizona Republic and is now a frequent contributor to RacinToday.com

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Las Vegas Sands(LVS Quote) isn’t selling its casino in Pennsylvania, the company announced Monday, in response to rumors that Sands would be exiting the state.

In fact, the casino operator announced that it is looking to restart construction on a 300-room hotel tower in its Sands Casino Resort Bethlehem property within the next several weeks.

Last month, Sands announced that it could add table games to the casino as soon as this summer.

“With the addition of table games, Sands Bethlehem will become the most complete and convenient gaming destination for millions of New York City and northern New Jersey residents and, at the same time, enhance the profitability of the property starting in the foreseeable future,” CEO Sheldon G. Adelson said in a statement.

Last week, rumors had surfaced that Sands was looking for a buyer of the property just nine months after it opened. In the fourth-quarter, Sands Bethlehem realized a loss of $2.1 million on revenue of $57.5 million.

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Ringing in another year, Paris Hilton celebrated her 29th birthday at Tao nightclub in Las Vegas over the weekend.

Grabbing up prime seats, the former “Simple Life” star was joined by her boyfriend, Doug Reinhardt, and parents, Rick and Kathy Hilton, at the popular Sin City nightspot.

According to an onlooker, neither Paris or Doug seemed to be in a very good mood at first, but quickly got into the flow of things before the presentation of a giant birthday cake in the shape of shoe boxes.

Also in attendance at the Las Vegas bashe were Brian Baumgartner and Charles Barkley, who laughingly gave his buddy a lap dance during the course of the evening.

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President Obama is winging his way back to Washington, D.C., after a tour around Las Vegas, where he was welcomed by most everyone, it seemed - except the city’s mayor.

President Obama professes his love for Las Vegas.
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By Isaac Brekken, AP
Independent Mayor Oscar Goodman refused to attend Obama’s events or meet with the president, saying he wouldn’t do so until Obama apologized for dissing his city by saying people shouldn’t gamble with their college savings during a recession.

Here’s what Obama said earlier this year:

“When times are tough, you tighten your belts. You don’t go buying a boat when you’re trying to pay your mortgage. You don’t blow a bunch of cash on Vegas when you’re trying to save on college. You prioritize, you make tough choices.”

Speaking to the Chamber of Commerce, Obama didn’t apologize for what he said. But he made sure to say he has nothing against sin city.

“Let me set the record straight, I love Vegas - always have,” he said.

“It wasn’t meant to be a shot,” Obama said of his college savings remark. “I think everybody would agree that the only place people should spend their college savings is in college. … But I understand how hard things have been here.”

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A wax museum on the Las Vegas Strip is unveiling a statue of President Barack Obama in a replica of the Oval Office just in time for Presidents Day.

The display was shown Monday at Madame Tussauds.

The museum says the Oval Office model is its only replica of the room west of the Mississippi River. It says the model of Obama standing behind his desk with his arms folded cost $300,000.

Obama is expected to visit Las Vegas later this week.

THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back soon for further information. AP’s earlier story is below.

LAS VEGAS (AP) — A wax museum on the Las Vegas Strip is unveiling a statue of President Barack Obama in a replica of the Oval Office just in time for Presidents Day.

The display was shown Monday at Madame Tussauds.

The museum says the Oval Office model is its only replica of the room west of the Mississippi River. It says the model of Obama standing behind his desk with his arms folded cost $300,000.

Obama is expected to visit Las Vegas later this week.

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A 33-year-old Las Vegas man accused of an ax attack that left a 4-month-old baby dead and two women critically injured told police he doesn’t remember a thing, Las Vegas TV station KVVU reported.

Harold E. Montague, 33, didn’t know the woman or the boy he is accused of hacking with the blade of the ax during the rampage a little before noon Thursday on a residential street about a mile east of Las Vegas Boulevard, police Lt. Lewis Roberts said.

Montague also is accused of stabbing his sister-in-law, a mentally disabled woman, more than 20 times with a point of the ax before bursting out of a home into the street.

“We don’t know what set him off,” Roberts said after Montague was interviewed by homicide detectives and taken to the Clark County jail.

“He claims he blacked out. He said he doesn’t remember anything,” Roberts said.

Police found one of the women lying on a sidewalk and an overturned stroller nearby in the street when they responded to a domestic dispute call at about 11:51 a.m. Thursday.

The 4-month-old boy died at the scene, and the woman, who is believed to be the baby’s mother, was taken to Sunrise Hospital and Medical Center in very critical condition with what Roberts said were disfiguring face and head injuries.

Their names weren’t immediately made public.

The sister-in-law, whose name and age also weren’t released, was reported to be in fair condition at University Medical Center in Las Vegas.

Neighbors saw the attack and shouted at Montague to stop while calling 911, Roberts said.

Montague left the ax in the single-family home before police arrived, and scuffled with officers who tried to use a Taser to subdue and arrest him, said Officer Bill Cassell, a department spokesman. One police officer received what Cassell said were minor injuries that did not require medical treatment.

Montague was being held without bail on charges of murder, attempted murder and attempted murder of a police officer pending a court appearance Tuesday morning. Court officials said it was not immediately clear if he had a lawyer.

Montague was described as the caregiver for his sister-in-law, who Roberts said was stabbed repeatedly in torso, stomach and legs.

Roberts said Montague’s wife was at work and two children were in the house during the attack. Another child was at school. The children weren’t hurt.

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The Ritz-Carlton Lake Las Vegas will close May 2, FOX5 has learned.

An employee said notifications were sent out Monday morning and a hotel official confirmed the closing a few hours later.

The resort, which opened in 2003, is among the top luxury destinations in southern Nevada and recently won the AAA Five Diamond award.

Despite the accolades, the Lake Las Vegas area fell on hard times during the recession. Last year, the three golf courses within the resort were closed or went bankrupt.

USA Today said the move will put nearly 400 employees out of work.

The 348-room resort — 17 miles away from the Las Vegas Strip — is owned by Village Hospitality, an arm of Deutsche Bank, according to USA Today.

“They have decided to cease funding the hotel,” Ritz-Carlton spokeswoman Vivian Deuschl said. “We reluctantly agreed to close the hotel.” Deuschl could not say how much money the resort is losing, USA Today reported.

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After his potential megafight with Manny Pacquiao stalled, Las Vegas boxing star Floyd Mayweather Jr. has agreed to fight “Sugar” Shane Mosley at the MGM Grand May 1, according to multiple reports.

Mayweather last fought in September, when he won a unanimous decision against Juan Manuel Marquez.

Mosley was scheduled to fight Alberto Berto on Jan. 30, but the latter pulled out after he lost several family members in the Haiti earthquake. Mosley’s last fight was in January 2009, when he defeated Antonio Margarito.

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