My lucky day

No, not at the slots. Thanks to Dr. David G. Schwartz of UNLV’s Institute for Gaming Research, a man who clearly reads the fine print, I’ve just found out that I won two Nevada Press Association awards. (You have to scroll waywaywaywaywaywayway down to Class IV, but it’s there.) Las Vegas CityLife swept the “Best Non-Staff Story” category, with first prize going to Rebecca Zisch — congratulations! — for “Coffee Clash.” Unfortunately, Zisch’s story appears to have been “disappeared” off the CityLife Web site.

Yours truly took third place for “The Neighborhood That Had to Die,” about a stalled Station Casinos condo development that, subsequently, turned into a $105 million writeoff (above). Quoth the citation: “The story of a housing collapse, corporate greed told on the neighborhood level. Writer painted a compelling picture of how neighbors, neighborhoods and a community suffer when greed and no planning supercede [sic] what’s best for a community. Nicely done.”

I also earned a second-place sheepskin with “Last Stand,” about the protracted — and ultimately disastrous — unionization campaign by Wynn Las Vegas dealers: “Great story about splitting tips and how this one issue has repercussions across Las Vegas/Nevada economic landscape.” Most importantly, I’m glad that the subjects of these stories resonated with the (non-Vegas) judges who deemed them worthy of recognition. It’s nice to know that one occasionally does something worthwhile.