Las Vegas

I am about to break one of the cardinal rules of modern mankind. I am going to tell you what happened in Las Vegas. This isn't easy for me. On the flight to Sin City, I told my girls they may see disturbing things that would seem evil and unnatural. But, no matter what they saw, what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas. And then I needed a spring break topic for my column this week. So here's “The Hangover, Part III: Caneday Family Vacation.” Though my youthful days of nocturnal casino carousing are long gone, the siren song of the craps and blackjack tables still beckoned.

GLENDALE — A parolee who allegedly robbed a woman outside a Glendale convalescent home at knifepoint is in custody after eluding police for several months, officials said. Glendale police detectives had been looking for Richard Lugo since DNA evidence retrieved from gloves used during the November robbery matched his own, Det. Keith Soboleski said. "He couldn't explain why DNA evidence was present," Soboleski said. Lugo reportedly entered the lobby of a convalescent home on the 3000 block of Montrose Avenue about 11:50 p.m. Nov. 25 and sat there as if he was waiting for somebody, Soboleski said.

Hamlet Nalbandyan GLENDALE -- The Glendale Panthers have usually had success in the Las Vegas Classic Tournament, but lady luck wasn't on the side of the locals this year. The 15-and-under boys' basketball team went 0-4 in the tournament that went from Aug. 3 to 5. The showing was the worst for a Panther team since 1995, when it lost all four games as well. The trip down to Las Vegas was a disaster as well, serving as a sign for what was to come.

The one-time owners of a tiny eight-room motel on the banks of the Colorado River must be feeling a little like the Native Americans who sold Manhattan Island for, let's say, less than today's market value. Not that these motel owners were short-changed by visionary Don Laughlin - it's just that now, four decades later, Laughlin has parlayed that $235,000 investment into a big-time resort empire that so far has drawn eight other casino/hotels to his little stretch of the Colorado.

Sin City. The City of Lights. A gambler’s paradise. Las Vegas is many things for many people. But for the students in JK’s Dance Company, Las Vegas means only one thing: dance. About 70 dancers, ranging in age from 8 to 17, have been practicing 114 numbers, two days a week, for the past four months in anticipation of the Las Vegas Encore Performing Arts regional competition in June. The rehearsal room at Revolution Dance studio, owned by Julie Kay Stallcup, was packed Wednesday with students, each wearing the dance company’s red and black uniform, comprising a red JK’s Dance Company logo-emblazoned shirt with black tights.

Recently Mark Dilbeck, president of Dilbeck Realtors GMAC Real Estate, joined members of Worldwide Employee Relocation Council (ERC) from around the country at the 2007 National Relocation Conference held at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas. Dilbeck joined Fafie Moore, owner of Realty Executives of Nevada and Arthur Sterbcow, president of Latter & Blum, Inc., realtors in New Orleans. The three panelists offered their insight into the state of the industry and the challenges and opportunities on the horizon.

Earlier this month, the US Soccer Club held its western regional competition in Las Vegas with three Flyers-AUSC Soccer Club teams dominating the competition. All three teams made it into the final rounds of their respective competitions, with two teams advancing and receiving invitations to the 2005 National Cup IV Finals (Region F-Premier) to be held in Orlando, Florida at the end of July. The Flyers-AUSC Boys Under 14 Team won the championship with a 3-1 victory over a strong Hawaii Bulls team.

The continuing saga of Glendale's Americana project took a road trip to Las Vegas this week, as Mayor Bob Yousefian gambled on his ability to bring the two sides together and stave off a costly referendum on the project. Yousefian apparently lost his bet. He was able to meet separately with developer Rick Caruso and leaders of General Growth Properties, who have mounted a fierce campaign against the project, but he could not get the sides together. The two were in Las Vegas for a convention of store executives, and Yousefian seized the opportunity for some shuttle diplomacy.

LAS VEGAS — It took Karen Darabedyan 15 minutes to introduce himself to the mixed martial arts world. After three rounds of mostly toe-to-toe battle with former World Extreme Cagefighting lightweight champion “Razor” Rob McCullough, Darabedyan emerged victorious with a split-decision victory on Wednesday night as part of WEC 44 at The Pearl at the Palms Casino Resort in Las Vegas. “I’m just really happy to get the ‘W’,” Darabedyan said.

GLENDALE — Nune Piloshyan, 17, checked her posture in Glendale High School's dance-room mirror Wednesday as she practiced her solo routine. "We're training extra hard because we want to take it to [the United Spirit Assn.] nationals," she said. Nune and the other members of the Glendale High School's co-ed dance team leave for Las Vegas on Thursday to compete in the MGM Grand Champions, a national dance and cheer competition held by the Spirit Team American Championships.

I am about to break one of the cardinal rules of modern mankind. I am going to tell you what happened in Las Vegas. This isn't easy for me. On the flight to Sin City, I told my girls they may see disturbing things that would seem evil and unnatural. But, no matter what they saw, what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas. And then I needed a spring break topic for my column this week. So here's “The Hangover, Part III: Caneday Family Vacation.” Though my youthful days of nocturnal casino carousing are long gone, the siren song of the craps and blackjack tables still beckoned.

Monica Mark   Monica Mark, February 11, 1961-December 23, 2011. After a courageous battle with breast cancer, Monica passed away peacefully at her home in Las Vegas.  Monica was born in Monterey Bay, California, and later graduated from Crescenta Valley High School.  She worked as a legal secretary for over 20 years and loved what she did. Monica was preceded in death by her parents, Thomas and Frieda Lawrence and is survived by...

A Los Angeles County Superior Court judge has agreed to review the firing of two Glendale police officers and disciplinary actions taken against a third after they took a department-issued car on a joyride to Las Vegas. In separate legal filings earlier this month, the city and an attorney representing the trio asked the court to review a Civil Service Commission decision to fire Michael Ullerich and Fernando Salmeron but not Officer Patrick Hamblin, who escaped with a demotion and 90-day suspension.

Bad blood will spill over into the octagon tonight, as featherweights Manny Gamburyan and Diego Nunes look to settle an old score in the first bout of the Ultimate Fighting Championship's UFC 141: Lesnar vs. Overeem. Headlined by a blockbuster heavyweight bout between Brock Lesnar and Allistair Overeem in the main event of the pay-per-view card emanating from the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, the night will conclude with the two mastodons weighing in at more than 500 combined pounds and lead off with two 145-pounders in the Glendale-trained Gamburyan and Nunes.

The only Glendale police officer to retain his job after taking a joy ride with two other officers to Las Vegas told investigators the incident was a “stupid prank” that he regretted, according to court documents. Last week, the Civil Service Commission voted 4 to 1 to reinstate police officer Patrick Hamblin after he was fired in March. But they voted 3 to 2 uphold earlier decisions to let go of officers Fernando Salmeron and Michael Ullerich, who had worked with Hamblin in the Community Policing Unit.

Civil Service Commissioners on Wednesday voted to reinstate one of three Glendale police officers who were fired for allegedly taking a patrol car on a joyride to Las Vegas. Commissioners voted 4 to 1 to reinstate Patrick Hamblin as a Glendale police officer, city spokesman Tom Lorenz said. He must still absorb a 90-day work suspension without pay, Lorenz added. “We support the findings of the Civil Service Commission,” Lorenz said. “It's their job to make these determinations…It's obvious in their findings; they do uphold very strong standards for employees in the city of Glendale.” Hamblin, who stopped working on April 1, will also be reduced from a Step 6 police classification to Step 3 officer, Lorenz said.

One of the world's biggest casino operators has hired Los Angeles shopping center magnate Rick Caruso to develop a $550-million retail and entertainment district in the middle of the Las Vegas Strip crowned by an enormous Ferris wheel. Caruso, who is weighing a run for mayor of Los Angeles, was tapped by Caesars Entertainment Corp. to oversee creation of the Linq, a new open-air attraction across Las Vegas Boulevard from Caesars Palace. The outdoor venue would have more in common with Caruso's Grove shopping center in Los Angeles than it would with hermetically sealed casinos.

I've had my disagreements with Assemblyman Anthony Portantino, but my hat's off to him for bucking his party by voting against the recently passed state budget. The Democratic leadership is punishing him for voting his conscience instead of what the party demanded - the price one must pay for daring to vote what's best for California, rather than what's best for Democratic politics. His political career may be over, but I salute him for risking it all for the good of California.

  Herve Vezina Herve Vezina, a Union Ironworker, died after a short illness while in Las Vegas on Wednesday.  He was 91.    He was born in Montreal, Quebec in 1919, and was an Ironworker from the age of 16.  With wife Irene, and a young family, he immigrated to the US in 1962 and was a Glendale resident for 49 years.    He is survived by his children Francyne, Francois, Danielle, and Claudine, and 7 grandchildren.  ...

Margaret Emmily McGarragh Born December 3, 1920, the second of nine children, Margaret passed away peacefully in her sleep at her home on March 10 th following a long illness. Born and raised in Prague, NE. “Marge” and her best friend, Margaret Canfield journeyed west and settled in Glendale in 1942.   While working as a waitress in Whiley’s Restaurant in Montrose, she caught the eye for one, George McGarragh, owner of the Blue Front Café across the street.