Don't you wish you lived in whatever parallel universe is inhabited by Donald J. Trump? If you did, you could claim that your 60%+ unoccupied Trump International — which just sacked 20% of its workforce — is an incredible success.
You'd also be able to maintain that the 73 employees you let go will be rehired when (if ever) sales on the last of your Las Vegas condo units closes. Nah, they're not out looking for new jobs or anything like that; they're just putting their lives on hold until the Trumpster calls to offer them their old job back. Wouldn't you? Besides, eating is so overrated.
In Trump Land, you're also able to grant access only to news organizations whose coverage you deem acceptable. And you spew profanities at reporters whose coverage was strictly factual. Nah, the only "bullshit" here is that being spewed by the real estate magnate Spy magazine habitually referred to as a "short-fingered vulgarian."
The incredible shrinking R-J. Details of the downsized Las Vegas Review-Journal are provided by Steve Friess. The paper will be making some of its content Web-only (instead of using the Web site a "backup" of the print version) and will reduce Corey Levitan's "Fear and Loafing" column to monthly status. So it's a big step forward, in some respects. Parent company Stephens Media still hasn't come to terms with the 20th century but it's nice to see it get dragged kicking and screaming into the 21st.
Boyd Gaming roasted. While largely focusing on the spinelessness of OSHA, a Los Angeles Times piece provides further details on a grisly 2007 accident at The Orleans that claimed two lives and disabled employee David Snow. It also adds a new wrinkle to the saga, in the form of a partial cover-up of a 2001 accident.
In closing, the article notes that both Snow and the late Travis Koehler were recently acknowledged by the Carnegie Hero Fund Commission. Their heroism is unquestionable — but it shouldn't have cost them their lives or health.
And since Echelon hasn't been dogged by the myriad safety issues that cloud MGM Mirage's CityCenter, we can hope that Boyd is running a tighter ship these days. Of the big gaming operators in Las Vegas, Boyd has been the most scandal-free … until this OSHA imbroglio. It's a truly unfortunate blot on one of the cleanest eschutcheons in the casino industry.
