Concerning the QoD on December 8 [about casinos aimed specifically at a Latino market]. My wife and I make the drive from Fresno to Las Vegas twice a year and we like to go through Death Valley. We often pass by a big sign for El Sueño, in Beatty, Nevada, and wonder about it. It appears to be an abandoned casino project. Was that aimed at Hispanics?

Parking Part 4: First 6-5 blackjack, then resort fees and comped-drink tracking, and now paid parking. What's next? Admission fees for the casinos?

Parking Part 3: Does The Las Vegas Advisor have plans to start charging to park when coming to your office to get the yearly coupon book? Seems like everyone else does!

OK, we just read about the merger between MGM and Mirage Resorts [in QoDs 11/25/16], but right after that, Harrah's bought Park Place Entertainment. Can we have a history update here, please?

As of 01/01/2017 marijuana will be legal. My question is will be legal to smoke weed in a hotel-casino if you request a smoking room?

How did MGM come to acquire Steve Wynn's Bellagio, Mirage, Treasure Island and Monte Carlo hotel-casinos? Did he willfully sell these to MGM? Could you please related the full story on how this came to be?

Considering the apparent problems SLS continues to have establishing itself in the market, can we speculate that maybe tearing down the Stardust was a mistake? Outside of a smaller buffet size, what was really wrong with the old place? (Wayne Newton's act doesn't count.) Was it falling apart or just plain old? We never stayed there but did gamble there, a little.

Are there any new plans for the shrink-wrapped steel structure in front of the Venetian?

The Lucky Dragon is opening December 3. I heard it was an Asian-oriented casino. Any truth to that? I was also wondering where it is located and if there are any pictures of the casino, restaurants, floor, etc.?

I have visited Las Vegas since 1969 and moved there in 2004, now living in Pahrump since 2009. I mention all these dates for a reason. I recently explored the downtown streets in Las Vegas, searching for a business that I no longer found in the phone book but did exist when I moved to Las Vegas. I was dismayed at the state of the downtown businesses, many closed and in disarray, littered with homeless. It all seems ripe for cheap realty acquisition and renovation of downtown casino businesses. Has all hope abandoned Las Vegas or is there some positive future in the works?