While the Las Vegas Review-Journal may think its drinking-at-CityCenter exposé is hot stuff, this report is pretty weak tea. (Assuming that one can follow the mumbling, sometimes incoherent voice-over.) Worst of all are its snide insinuations that six workers died at CityCenter because they -- or someone else -- was boozing it up. Talk about drawing a conclusion not supported by facts in evidence.

Let's review, shall we? The story involves "a handful of construction workers" (out of 7,700) and covers the period June 13-July 24. Over those six weeks, R-J staff made visits to bars near CityCenter on eight occasions, observing four incidents of drinking involving 10 workers, total. The cover-your-ass caption verbiage about "apparent construction workers" (emphasis added) doesn't inspire confidence, either.

Obviously, the thought of liquored-up ironworkers at CityCenter is disturbing in any number of ways (especially if, like me, you're ever found yourself the hood ornament on a drunk driver's car). But the rapidly anti-regulation R-J is a very poor messenger. As its own coverage has noted, this problem falls outside of Nevada OSHA's mandate. So much for the glories of deregulation.

Since R-J owner Stephens Media mandates drug testing without probable cause for all potential hires, maybe it's on some kind of temperance crusade to gin up (pardon the pun) legislation to enshrine that practice in law. (That's the central thrust of this story.)

In any case, whereas the paper's reportage of the renegade renovations at sundry Harrah's Entertainment hotels was admirably thorough, this is slapped-together stuff, trying mightily to imply a cause-effect relationship it can't factually support. The Harrah's series had eyewitness testimony, reams of supporting documents and on-site professional inspections to buttress its assertions. The CityCenter series, by contrast, is so heavily reliant on a small amount of anecdotal evidence that I still can't quite believe it made it into print.

Kansas City half-full or half-empty? Fewer people are going to Kansas City's casinos. So that's bad, right? But revenues are ever-so-slightly up. That's good, right? Well, it's good if you're Penn National or Ameristar, who are pulling business away from Harrah's and Isle of Capri in droves.

It's not surprising to see Isle bringing up the rear but I'd think a brand as strong as Harrah's wouldn't be in the same pickle (in fact, its decline is actually worse than Isle's). Then again, when it comes to riverboats, Ameristar has been one of the strongest brands around, second to few save Argosy (now owned by Penn National). Score one for the niche operators.