Street Facts from Las Vegas

Tool to play The Pearl Concert Theater at The Palms in the venue’s opening month of performances.  Fans will not want to miss the chance to experience the hard-rock artists thrash chords and spread their word with theatrically laden lyrics at the country’s premier intimate concert theater. Set to perform for two nights, the concert experience at The Pearl will be one of the band’s first US dates following a successful overseas run.  Presented by Andrew Hewitt and Live Nation, tickets for Tool are $87.00 and $125.00 plus any additional box office or service fees, and go on-sale Saturday, February 10 at noon.  Doors for Tool will open at 7:00p and show time is 8:00p.

The White House Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP) announced four regional summits to focus on random student drug testing. Random student drug testing is one of the most innovative substance abuse prevention and treatment tools available to parents and educators today.  The summit dates and locations are as follows: January 24, 2007, Charleston, South Carolina; February 27, 2007, Newark, New Jersey; March 27, 2007, Honolulu, Hawaii; and April 24, 2007, Las Vegas, Nevada. Attendees will learn about existing drug-testing programs, research, technology, funding possibilities, and legal issues related to random student drug testing. The summits will engage local communities in a productive dialogue about the dangers of youth substance use and the efficacy of developing and implementing random student drug-testing programs to prevent, intervene in, and treat youth substance abuse.  “We are successfully pushing back against youth drug use,” said Director John P. Walters. “Since 2001, there has been a 23 percent decline in youth substance use, with over 840,000 fewer students using drugs. Random student drug testing can play an important role in continuing that progress. It provides youth with a suit of armor against peer pressure, enabling them to say ‘no’ to drugs. Drug testing achieves the important public health goal of reducing, preventing, and treating student drug use before it develops into addiction.”   Nearly 1,000 schools across the United States have initiated random student drug-testing programs. A locally-based, non-punitive random student drug-testing program achieves three important public health goals: (a) it deters children from initiating drug use, (b) it identifies children who have just started using drugs so that parents and counselors can intervene early, and (c) it helps identify children who have a dependency on drugs so that they can be referred to effective drug treatment.

Keith Urbans much-anticipated return to the concert stage is set for the Mandalay Bay Events Center Saturday, June 9 at 8p. The electrifying show will feature hits from Urbans recent multi-platinum album, Love, Pain & the whole crazy thing, as well as many of the No. 1 hits that have defined his career. The Wreckers, featuring Michelle Branch and Jessica Harp, will open the evenings performance.  Tickets are priced at $90, $75 and $60, not including applicable service charges and taxes, go on sale Saturday, February 10 at 10a and will be sold at the Mandalay Bay Events Center box office. Ticket sales are limited to eight (8) per person.   Members of Urbans online community, Monkeyville, will have the first opportunity to purchase tickets by visiting www.keithurban.net. The online pre-sale begins Monday, Feb. 5 at 10 a.m. and ends Friday, February 9 at 5p.   The first leg of the Love, Pain & the whole crazy World Tour begins Friday, June 8 in Phoenix before arriving in Las Vegas. The 33-city, 36-performance arena tour promises to be a world-class production. The concert will include his record-breaking songs Somebody Like You and Once In A Lifetime as well as Better Life, Days Go By, Who Wouldnt Wanna Be Me and Youll Think of Me.

Let the debate battles begin... all over Nevada starting this week will be the first of hundreds of discussions about the proposed new coal fired power plants to be built about 250 miles away from Las Vegas.  These plants, two 750-megawatt coal fired generating units, and two 500-megawatt integrated gasification generating unites are proposed on 2,500 acres of BLM land.  Of course the environmentalists do not want coal burning plants and the expanding customer base of southern Nevada want and need more power.  This should make several lawyers wealthy. 

For those of you looking for something a little different to do this Valentines Day, here it is? How about a walk on the wild side and take in the 3rd Annual Valentines Day Pajama Mansion Party? Yes, it is once again that time of the year and on February 14 from 9p until 4a will be a very unusual party located at the Mansion at The Fountains. There will be live performances and an open Bar / Food. Donations are for the Shade Tree Foundation. For complete info, call 702-966-7660.