We’ve been down for a day and half for maintenance but S&G is back now with a doozy of a news dispatch: The good news for Wynn Resorts is that it gets to keep its Nevada gaming license. The bad news is that it has set a record for Nevada Gaming Commission fines, hammered with a $20 million smackdown, far ahead of the previous record-holder CG Technology ($5.5 million). The irony, which did not go unremarked at 
the hearing, is that all of the truly culpable parties are getting off scot-free, having left or been asked to leave Wynn Resorts. Prime malefactor and accused rapist Steve “I’ve never had a grandmother” Wynn has had his gaming license frozen but otherwise remains unreproached for having treated his casinos like personal harems. In one case, the company had to settle with a cocktail waitress and her parents for nearly a million dollars (the involvement of the parents really makes you wonder what went down). Commissioner Philip Pro called the scandal “a failure of a corporate culture to effectively govern itself as it should.” The NGC should have listened to members John Moran and Deborah Fuetsch, who wanted a heavier fine. And it should go after the individual miscreants. At the hearing Moran asked, “Isn’t it strange that the people … that are the subject of this aren’t even in the room today?” Good question, sir. We are waiting in hope of an answer. Where are the charges against Steve Wynn, Kim Sinatra, Arte Nathan and all the other people who did too much or far too little, as the case may be?
If the NGC settlement causes anything other than agita for CEO Matt Maddox as he writes out an eight-figure check, it raises the bar for Massachusetts, where the company is accused by regulators of hushing up a 
paternity settlement and by Suffolk Downs of engaging in bribery. Encore Boston Harbor‘s license was hanging by a thread and maybe the time has come to cut it.
However, several publications think Wynn Resorts will beat the rap and the Massachusetts Gaming Commission‘s capitulation to Steve Wynn will “turn the board’s eventual ruling on Wynn Resort’s [sic] fitness into a farce.” State Attorney General Maura Healy has threatened to intervene in the event of an MGC cave-in, saying “They need to do their job, they need to do it well and to do it right, and I don’t care that a building’s been built.”
Steve Wynn, meanwhile, is rumored to be flouting his two-year noncompete clause (which still has a full year to run) by sussing out real estate on the Las Vegas Strip. Even if he 
just buys some land, that can be construed as a violation of his severance package. As for Wynn Resorts, it could be a target for activist investors, its clumsy cover-up having sent its stock from $200/share to $130.45/share. On a happier note, the company has gotten serious about eliminating the risk for sexual harassment in its workplace. Executives are now forbidden to have spa treatments and massages. In-room manicures and haircuts have been nixed. And relevant employees have been issued with “panic buttons,” to alert security if someone gets fresh.
We like that. It shows that Maddox et cie are serious about reversing the culture of corruption at Wynn Resorts. By contrast, the Republican National Committee remains in denial where Steve Wynn is concerned, all the better to hang onto $1.3 million in Wynnbux. He still has friends in the White House, too. “The fine needs to move the needle,” said NGC Chairman Tony Alamo. “It needs to ring across the entire country, outside of our borders.” Are they hearing anything in the corridors of power?
* Now that New England Patriots owner and Friend of Steve Robert Kraft has been caught on videotape consorting with practitioners of the oldest profession Sheri’s Ranch in Pahrump lost no time in stating that “The NFL needs prostitution training … The 
brothel is determined to do its part to ensure that the reputation of the NFL is never again tainted by illegal prostitution,” solemnly proclaimed the press release. “There is a rich history of athletes and sports professionals getting busted with prostitutes,” it continued. Warren Sapp immediately comes to mind for soliciting a pro during the 2015 Super Bowl — yet, for some reason, the vast majority of influential NFL figures still choose to satisfy their limitless desire for no-frills sex with an illegal hooker.”
What was Sheri’s Ranch proffering? “The sex workers of Sheri’s Ranch are willing to offer consultation services and proper prostitution training, for a relatively small fee, to the owners of NFL Franchises and all league employees. In these sessions the harlots will educate the sports world on the benefits of visiting a legal Nevada brothel.” Those benefits include pros screened for STDs, privacy and the assurance that the bordello would never spy on your tryst. It concluded with mock solemnity befitting the most pompous sports league in America, “Let’s take care of this problem before it truly does become an epidemic and ruins the reputation of another great NFL team. Contact Sheri’s Ranch and book prostitution training for your franchise today.” Isn’t this a great country?
* Congratulations, Culinary Union, on 84 years of making the Las Vegas dream a reality for workers in the casino industry. When the Steve Wynn scandal broke, who led the charge to make “panic buttons” mandatory worker equipment? The Culinary. The 
union, which represents guest room attendants, cocktail and food servers, porters, bellmen, cooks, bartenders, laundry and kitchen workers, didn’t really kick into gear until the Al Bramlet era of the mid-1950s but today it’s impossible to imagine Sin City without it. It’s been particularly good for minorities, particularly in helping them flex their muscle at the ballot box. Most (55%) Culinary-repped employees are female, 54% are Latino, 15% are Asian-American and 10% African-American. There hasn’t been a serious attempt to break the Culinary in years and even Sheldon Adelson has to pay competitive wages in order to stay non-union. Good work, Local 226.
* January flight traffic into Las Vegas was up 3%, with 3,901,625 passengers arriving and departing. The big winner was Spirit, jetting 26% higher, while Southwest and American were flat, while Delta hopped 5% upward.
