March '08 Notes from Norm — Norm Clarke Column

Saturday 3-01-08

LV Country Club may be sold again

Las Vegas Country Club is in talks with an unidentified buyer who has interest in turning the golf course into a high-rise development in three to five years, sources said Friday.

"No offer is on the table," said a Regency Towers resident who was informed about a letter that went before the club's board of directors.

The potential buyer is believed to be from the Middle East. A sale would require two-thirds approval from the 600 club members.

One of the city's oldest gated communities, the development started as a golf course and clubhouse in the late 1960s. Residential elements, including two luxury towers, were added in the early 1970s.

Before the golf course was built, the site was a thoroughbred racetrack named Las Vegas Downs that was accessed by a gravel road off Paradise Road, according to the club's Web site. When the racetrack went into bankruptcy, investor Joe W. Brown bought the property.

Brown sold it to Marvin Kratter, who opened the club under the name The Las Vegas International Country Club. It eventually was sold to four partners of Realty Holdings: Moe Dalitz, Harry Lahr, Nate Adelson and Irwin Molasky. They renamed it The Las Vegas Country Club and made it a private club in 1971.

For decades it was home to some of the city's most influential families and entertainers, and it had an occasional mob connection. Mob frontman Frank Rosenthal had a house on the golf course, and reputed hit man Tony Spilotro was rumored to have been a resident in the towers.

Current residents include billionaire Kirk Kerkorian, entertainers Steve Lawrence and Edyie Gorme, and longtime casino executive Burton Cohen. Elvis Presley's doctor, Elias Ghanem, lived there, along with Rodney Dangerfield, Debbie Reynolds, George Carlin and LaToya Jackson.

The Scene And Heard

REMAX conventioneers will get a private sneak preview next week of the U.S. debut of Journey with new lead singer Arnel Pineda. Journey's March 8 concert at Planet Hollywood Resort was to have been their U.S. debut. But the band scheduled the REMAX appearance two nights earlier at the MGM Grand. ...

Longtime local journalist Scott Dickensheets has joined the staff of Las Vegas CityLife as special projects editor. Dickensheets has worked at the Las Vegas Sun, Las Vegas Life magazine and, most recently, as editor in chief of the Las Vegas Weekly. Dickensheets, 45, will oversee features, cover presentation and special projects at CityLife, owned by Stephens Media LLC, which also owns the Review-Journal. ...

"Mamma Mia!" star Carol Linnea Johnson will perform the national anthem before the NASCAR UAW-Dodge 400 at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway on Sunday. The race will air on KVVU-TV, Channel 5 at 1:30 p.m.

Sunday 3-02-08

LV notables also get test notices

A number of high-profile locals, who had medical procedures done at the Endoscopy Center of Southern Nevada, have also been contacted, according to sources in the medical community.

"Entertainers were among those notified," said a source. "It (the center) was the largest endoscopy group in town."

About 40,000 patients have been advised to get blood tests due to possible exposure to hepatitis B, hepatitis C and HIV, the virus that causes AIDS, because of the center's medical practices from March 2004 to Jan. 11.

The center was closed by the city on Friday under an emergency suspension order.

BRUTON'S BIRTHDAY WISH

Las Vegas Motor Speedway owner Bruton Smith celebrated his birthday on Friday at Piero's Italian Cuisine amid reports that he could get his wish soon for a second NASCAR race here.

Smith's purchase of the New Hampshire International Speedway in November would allow him to move one of that track's two NASCAR races to Las Vegas.

Smith was joined at his birthday bash at Piero's by family and friends, including film legend Ernest Borgnine; racing icon Carroll Shelby; Las Vegas car racing honcho Mel Larson; and chairman of the Vegas Entertainment Network Charles Ison and his wife, Jan, who hosted the dinner.

MEDIA UPDATE

KXNT-AM 840 will conduct a town hall meeting live Monday from 8 a.m. to 9 a.m., with Mayor Oscar Goodman and Sheriff Doug Gillespie taking questions about public school safety concerns in light of the recent shootings. Morning host Alan Stock will serve as the moderator.

The big switch is on Monday at Lotus Broadcasting: ESPN programming moves from 920 AM KBAD to the new sign-on 1100 AM KWWN; Fox Sports Radio shifts from 1460 AM KENO to 920; and ESPN Deportes Radio takes over the 1460 slot.

KWWN becomes the UNLV flagship station and the Los Angeles Lakers broadcasts will move to KENO. Local personality shows will go to 1100.


Monday 3-03-08

Harry Reid writes of 'lots of fights' Compromise wasn't in Harry Reid's vocabulary while growing up. In Nevada mining towns, you learned to fight first and talk later. Even if you were taking on the son of your elementary schoolteacher or your future father-in-law. The U.S. Senate majority leader doesn't pull any punches about his brawling reputation in his upcoming autobiography "The Good Fight -- Hard Lessons From Searchlight to Washington." The schoolteacher's son annoyed Reid one time too many. "He knew his mother would always treat him differently and this delighted him to no end," Reid said. "One day I'd had enough ... Right there in the classroom, I beat the crap out of the kid, in front of all the other students and his own mother. I did such a good job beating him up that I broke my hand on his hard head ... It hurt, but I was still pretty happy." When he informed his father, Reid said he "wasn't bothered at all that I had started the fight ... He simply said, 'Next time, keep your fist closed.' That was it. No doctor, no ice ... I got into a lot of fights after that, and I always kept my fist closed." Reid took up boxing in high school at Henderson, he writes, "so that I could channel my brawling instincts into something more respectable. But in the meantime, I got myself into more fights." The battle royale came when he was a college freshman. He and his high school girlfriend, Landra Gould, were still seeing each other, much to the chagrin of her chiropractor dad, who despised Reid because he wasn't Jewish, according to the book. "College hadn't cooled the relationship, it had intensified it. We were going to be together and there was nothing her father could do about it. Of course he didn't see it that way. She was living under his roof." The father met Reid at the door and told him to stay away from his daughter. "I was there to pick her up," Reid writes, "and he was blocking my way, talking too much. He started pushing, and I threw a punch, and then the whole mess spilled out into the front yard. It wasn't a fair fight -- he was smaller than I was ... I turned around and found Landra by my side. We got in that car and we took off." They eloped in 1959 when she was 19 and he was 20. They will celebrate their 50th anniversary next year.

Tuesday 3-04-08

Norm took the day off

Wednesday 3-05-08

De Niro recalls 'Casino' character

Two-time Oscar winner Robert De Niro is known to go to great lengths to study the character he plays.

De Niro racked up a lot of frequent flyer miles to research the mobbed-up Frank Rosenthal-type character in "Casino," the set-in-Vegas classic.

"I wanted him to be a consultant but he couldn't come into Las Vegas because he was in the 'black book,'" De Niro told me Monday night at the grand opening of AGO, the Italian eatery he co-owns with Agostino Sciandri at the Hard Rock Hotel.

"I spent time with him down in Florida and in Los Angeles, everywhere but here because he was banned," said De Niro, who won a best supporting actor Oscar in 1975 for "The Godfather: Part II" and a best actor award in 1981 for "Raging Bull."

Rosenthal, who turns 80 next year, is among the scrapbook of De Niro's most memorable characters.

The bookmaking whiz was the mob's frontman during the skimming era when he secretly ran a trio of Las Vegas casinos, including the Stardust.

REMEMBERING JOHN BELUSHI

Rob Belushi was a year and a half old when his famous uncle, John Belushi, died 26 years ago today of a drug overdose.

Most of what Rob knows about his uncle, the iconic star of "Saturday Night Live," came from hand-me-down family stories and film.

"I saw 'Blues Brothers' first and I'd watch 'The Best of John Belushi' over and over," he said Tuesday.

"I didn't know him but I have same feeling for him as many of his fans," said Belushi, a member of the "Second City" cast at the Flamingo.

He's confident Uncle John would approve that another family member is following in the family footsteps.

"Hopefully he'll be up there, looking down on me, and raising an eyebrow and saying 'you did alright, kid.'"

His actor dad, Jim, couldn't be prouder. He showed up to check out his son in the improv show late last month.

And he had a surprise Monday when the cast unveiled its new show.

"He called me and told me he was in Phoenix and he sent a telegram," said Rob. "He sends me an old-school telegram every time I open a new show because that was the way it was in show business. It's kind of a nice tradition."

But three scenes into the show, Rob heard his father's unmistakable laugh.

"I think he was letting me know he was out there."

The Scene And Heard

Members of Mike Tyson's entourage let the cat out of the bag during a visit to Pure Nightclub (Caesars Palace) on Friday. After Tyson left in the wee hours, some of his pals had some news for James Hulwi's table in the VIP section: Tyson is planning to fight Evander Holyfield for a third time. Holyfield confirmed to the British Broadcasting Co. over the weekend that he's serious about it. ...

Pure Management Group's Lucky Strike partnership with the Rio is over. "(PMG) essentially sold back Lucky Strike, after months of talks -- a business decision in the best interest of both PMG and Rio," said Harrah's Entertainment spokeswoman Debbie Munch. "It has nothing to do with the IRS raid," said PMG spokeswoman Kate Turner.

Thursday 3-06-08

Teller betting on Jillette's dancing

Penn Jillette's biggest booster sees a lot of Fred Astaire in the 6-foot-6 illusionist.

Raymond Teller, the silent half of Penn & Teller, is planning to bet $5,000 that Jillette and his professional dance partner, Kym Johnson, win ABC's upcoming "Dancing With the Stars."

Oddsmakers are giving Jillette and Johnson a snowball's chance, but Teller is convinced that they're going to waltz away with a jackpot.

Teller knows Jillette "loves a challenge," said Glenn Alai, the publicist for the Rio headliners.

Jillette isn't just throwing himself into the challenge, he's catapulting himself into the project, Alai said.

"He's already dropped 50 pounds since Thanksgiving, and he thinks he's going to lose another 25-30," Alai said.

One Las Vegas oddsmaker, John Avello at Wynn Las Vegas, has Jillette and Johnson at 30-1, the longest odds on the board.

Nevada does not allow bets on entertainment programs, so Teller is taking his bet to an offshore online betting service.

Jillette is short on dancing background, other than some dance classes he took at Ringling Bros. clown college, Alai said.

Jillette has been working with Johnson at a Summerlin dance studio for about two weeks.

The Scene And Heard

Defense attorney Michael Cristalli is taking on another client with a bad-girl rep. Cristalli, who got an acquittal for Sandy Murphy in the second Ted Binion murder trial, is representing former Miss Nevada USA Katie Rees, who was charged with resisting arrest Feb. 6 after police pulled her over about 3 a.m. Rees had a tooth chipped or knocked out in the incident, said her then-attorney Mario Torres of Tampa, Fla. She has a 7:30 a.m. court appearance Friday in front of Justice of the Peace Joe M. Bonaventure, who gained national exposure when O.J. Simpson appeared before him in connection with a September incident in Las Vegas. ...

The announcement Wednesday that actor Patrick Swayze is undergoing treatment for pancreatic cancer hit close to home for local publicist Bruce Merrin. He was actor Michael Landon's publicist when Landon announced he was diagnosed with the disease in 1991. Swayze's physician, Dr. George Fisher, said the star of "Dirty Dancing" has a "very limited amount of disease, and he appears to be responding well to treatment thus far. All of the reports stating the time frame of his prognosis and his physical side effects are absolutely untrue. We are considerably more optimistic."...

Ira Sternberg, public relations chief at the Las Vegas Hilton, was the envy of the fashion-forward crowd at the grand opening Monday of AGO at the Hard Rock Hotel. He was sporting a pair of shoes from the new Liberace line. They featured piano keys and Liberace's calling card, glitter galore. Celebrity licensing agent Michael Feder and R. Darin Hollingsworth, executive director of the Liberace Foundation and Museum, were guests on Monday's "Lunchtime With Ira, Live From The Las Vegas Hilton" and brought Sternberg a complimentary pair. ...

Overheard at Monday's news conference announcing comedy magician Nathan Burton's move to the Flamingo: talk about putting up a 60-foot high, 20,000-square-foot wrap, similar to Toni Braxton's, of Burton dangling from a straitjacket. That would be the equivalent of about 30 average-sized billboards and would cost about $150,000.

Friday 3-07-08

Kirk Kerkorian's ex called to trial

The ex-wife of MGM Mirage mogul Kirk Kerkorian, along with former Hard Rock Hotel owner Peter Morton, are among more than 100 people subpoenaed in the wiretapping trial of Hollywood private investigator Anthony Pellicano.

Lisa Bonder Kerkorian was allegedly among those wiretapped. Prominent entertainment attorney Terry Christensen has been indicted for allegedly paying Pellicano $100,000 to wiretap Kerkorian's wife at the time.

Christensen will be tried separately at the conclusion of the Pellicano trial.

Bonder Kerkorian and Morton were among the names released by the Los Angeles U.S. Attorney's Office as witnesses the government intends to call in its case against Pellicano and his co-defendants.

Pellicano was indicted on federal wiretapping charges in 2006, following a massive investigation that rocked Hollywood.

Christensen, described in court documents as a confidante of Kirk Kerkorian, formerly served as president of Tracinda Corporation, the entertainment/resort mogul's holding company.

According to court documents, Christensen, in an April 27, 2002, conversation with Pellicano, allegedly "asked defendant Pellicano what Bonder Kerkorian was discussing with her attorneys." In a May 10, 2002, conversation, Pellicano told Christensen that Bonder Kerkorian was elated after a telephone call with court mediator Debra Simon. Christensen, the indictment alleges, replied that he "would pass the information on to his client." Two weeks earlier, on April 28, Pellicano told Christensen that he was "hearing both sides" of the case, noting that, "I'm hearing her talk to Kirk (Kerkorian) too," the indictment charges.

The Scene And Heard

Four new members of the Paris-based Crazy Horse revue were announced at Tabu Ultralounge (MGM Grand) late Thursday. Judging took place at the Crazy Horse Las Vegas theater at the MGM Grand. The winners were: Elena Lee Rodriguez from Barcelona, Spain; Krystle Richeson from Virginia Beach, Va.; Polina Volchek from Moscow; and Kara McKinney from Roanoke, Va. ...

Two companies have filed liens against The Venetian and the newly opened 40/40 Club owned by music mogul Jay-Z, according to the Clark County Recorder's office. One of the liens seeks more than $170,000, and the other, by Nevada Ready Mix, asks for about $5,100. The largest lien was placed by Robert Brummet of Southland Industries for work done by Madison Grace Construction Services. Both were filed last month. The 40/40 Club opened New Year's Eve in the new Palazzo, the sister property to The Venetian. ...

Sunday's NASCAR race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway drew the highest ratings in the track's history. The 7.1 final national rating topped the 7.0 in 2002. The speedway, which opened in 1998, announced it was also the fifth most-watched non-Daytona race in NASCAR history. ...

Oscar winner Jodie Foster will be attending ShoWest next week in support of her co-star Abigail Breslin, who will be receiving the Star of Tomorrow award for her role in "Nim's Island." ...

Criss Angel, cleanshaven after months of sporting a beard, performed a double straitjacket stunt 75 feet above Bourbon Street in the heart of New Orleans' French Quarter on Wednesday night. He was filming two episodes for his "Mindfreak" show, which begins airing June 4. ...

KTNV-Channel 13 anchor Tricia Kean is getting hitched Saturday to local businessman Rick Hergott at Anthem Country Club in Henderson. They were engaged in August.

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