1137 stories by Corey Levitan
VEGAS MYTHS BUSTED: MGM Grand Fire Victims Died Because They Wouldn’t Leave Slots
This is by far the most repulsive myth we’ve had the displeasure of busting. Enough real lessons were learned from the MGM Grand Hotel fire, which claimed 87 lives on Nov. 21, 1980. Blaming some of these poor souls for their own...
Iconic Las Vegas Estate of Late Novelist Up for Auction
The palatial mansion once owned by Terry Goodkind, the late novelist behind the best-selling fantasy series, The Sword of Truth, is headed to auction later this month. The estate is located 27 miles southeast of the Las Vegas Strip, just a couple...
MGM Resorts Refutes Report Claiming Bruno Mars Owes it $50M Gambling Debt
UPDATE: Via a statement issued on Monday to the Las Vegas Review-Journal newspaper, MGM Resorts said that Bruno Mars "has no debt with MGM," adding: "MGM and Bruno's partnership is longstanding and rooted in mutual respect. Any speculation otherwise is completely false."...
VEGAS MUSIC ROUNDUP: Bon Jovi’s Sphere of Failure, Daryl and Elvis’ House
Jon Bon Jovi recently confirmed that his band, Bon Jovi, was offered a residency at the Sphere in Las Vegas and, shockingly, turned the offer down. The 62-year-old singer made the revelation during an interview this week with the web’s Ultimate Classic...
VEGAS RESTAURANT ROUNDUP: Closing Time for Margaritaville on Strip
Margaritaville on the Las Vegas Strip will close by the end of May. The X/Twitter account "Las Vegas Locally" broke the news this week, and Vital Vegas confirmed that singer Jimmy Buffett’s famed restaurant has lost its lease with Caesars Entertainment. According...
AI Takes the Wheel to Direct Traffic at Fremont Street Experience
Las Vegas is launching a pilot program that will use artificial intelligence to monitor and control pedestrian traffic at the Fremont Street Experience. A $1.4 million federal grant will be used to install the system in and around the crowded downtown tourist...
VEGAS MYTHS RE-BUSTED: Buddy Hackett’s ‘Oral Contract’
EDITOR’S NOTE: “Vegas Myths Busted” publishes every Monday, with a bonus Flashback Friday edition. Today’s entry in our ongoing series originally ran on June 12, 2023. Plenty of wild stories about the comics who headlined Las Vegas in the ’50s and ’60s are true....
New ‘Tesla Tunnels’ Approved for Musk’s Vegas Loop
On Tuesday, the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority (LVCVA) board approved two new tunnels for the Vegas Loop, Elon Musk’s underground transportation system on and around the Strip. The extension will run for two miles beneath Paradise Road, from Thomas &...
Nearly Abandoned Mall Outside Vegas Soon to Have Only One Tenant
Only two stores are left open at the Primm Mall, 40 miles southwest of the Las Vegas Strip. And one of them is about to close. When national designer clothing chain Michael Kors shuts up shop there on or around March 25...
Las Vegas Snatches Movie Industry Event from Hollywood
It’s still a long way from the “Hollywood 2.0” envisioned 18 months ago by recent transplant Mark Wahlberg. But Las Vegas just snatched a major film and TV event away from Southern California. The American Film Market (AFM) is headed to...
