{"id":9551,"date":"2012-08-27T12:27:38","date_gmt":"2012-08-27T20:27:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/?p=9551"},"modified":"2020-03-24T07:19:34","modified_gmt":"2020-03-24T15:19:34","slug":"batten-down-the-hatches","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/batten-down-the-hatches\/","title":{"rendered":"Batten down the hatches!"},"content":{"rendered":"

Tropical Storm Isaac<\/strong> is charting a path<\/a> across the Gulf of Mexico<\/strong> and, with aspirations to “hurricane” status, is on a collision course with New Orleans<\/strong>, the City That Couldn’t Catch a Break. So far, Louisiana<\/strong> Gov. Bobby Jindal<\/strong> (R) — who skipped a chance to hang out with fellow casino opponents in Tampa<\/strong> in order to deal with the crisis — is displaying far greater alacrity<\/a> than his deer-in-the-headlights predecessor, Kathleen Blanco <\/strong>(D). “Party conventions are interesting, but there\u2019s no time for politics here in Louisiana<\/em>,” wrote Jindal, in one of history’s most pertinent Tweets.
\n A combination of lower winds<\/strong> (‘only’ 95 miles per hour<\/a>) and post-Katrina<\/strong> infrastructure improvements is expected to dull Isaac’s blow to The Big Uneasy. The Mississippi<\/strong> casino markets of Biloxi<\/strong>, Gulfport<\/strong> and Bay St. Louis<\/strong> could also bear the brunt of Isaac’s wrath<\/a>. However, most of the gambling houses there have less to fear from Isaac, thanks to former Gov. Haley Barbour<\/strong> (R). He expended considerable political capital to have Gulf Coast<\/strong> casinos moved onshore, a safety-first measure for which we owe him a vote of thanks — and which should lessen the impact of a 12-foot storm surge<\/a>. Neither Blanco nor Jindal has done any such thing, despite the follow-up lesson of Hurricane Rita<\/strong>, which laid waste to the economically crucial Lake Charles<\/strong> market. Jindal’s counterparts in the Bayou State are still talking things over, although Silver Slipper Casino<\/strong> has recognized that prudence is the better part of valor<\/a>. Regulators, meanwhile will “[continue] to monitor the storm<\/a>.” Oh, how very reassuring.<\/p>\n

\"\"Among industry figures, the Rapid Response Award<\/a> goes to Pinnacle Entertainment <\/strong>and CEO Anthony Sanfilippo<\/strong> for postponing the trial-run of new, $368 million<\/a> L’Auberge Casino & Hotel Baton Rouge<\/strong> (a former Jindal bete noire<\/em>), although it wasn’t so much a choice as recognition that Pelican State constabulary have bigger fish to fry at the moment. Long a-borning, the project will have to wait at least two more days<\/a>, until Aug. 29. Methinks, given a storm track that will take Isaac northward to Memphis, that Sanfilippo might do well to wait until early next month to fire up the slot machines, seeing as Mother \u00a0Nature<\/strong> is calling the shots for the nonce.<\/p>\n

Showing even greater proactivity<\/strong>, Pinnacle shuttered Boomtown New Orleans<\/em> at three this morning, local time. “With a hurricane warning\u00a0now in place and a less than certain storm track, closing allows us to\u00a0better prepare for the threat of strong winds and heavy rain<\/em>,” said GM Barry Regula<\/strong>. Pinnacle is using social media<\/a> to keep its customers posted on the evolving saga. Other Louisiana casinos are dragging their feet<\/a>, with Boyd Gaming<\/strong> the highest-profile procrastinator.<\/p>\n

\"\"Render unto Caesars<\/strong> credit for also being quick to power down operations<\/a> at Harrah’s New Orleans<\/strong> (which closes at midnight) and the associated Manning’s Restaurant<\/strong>, although it is — wisely, IMO — keeping its hotel open. Kudos to regional prexy Dan Real<\/strong> and, by extension, CEO Gary Loveman<\/strong> for making the right call and swiftly<\/a>, too.<\/p>\n

By comparison, the New Orleans Times-Picayune<\/em> couldn’t have picked worse moment to go all Conan the Barbarian<\/strong> on its ink-and-paper operation<\/a>, going to an online-first business model. This might not be a bad thing, were the Times-Picayune<\/em> to roll its savings in the printing and distribution areas into maintaining or beefing up the newsroom. However, that’s counterintuitive to how mass-media companies think nowadays, which is why newspapers are in a death-spiral business mode. That puckering sound you hear is hundreds of sphincters at the Las Vegas Review-Journal<\/em> compound. After all, then-publisher Sherman Q. Frederick<\/strong> is alleged to have opined that we were two generations away from the Internet<\/strong> gaining primacy as a news-delivery model. Squirmin’ Sherman was a good 50 years behind the times … par for his course, as I know from firsthand experience.
\n(In keeping with the Americentric navel-gazing of our national media, Isaac’s devastation of Haiti<\/strong> — including 19 deaths and 8,000 evacuees — has gone largely unremarked — with a few notable exceptions [including Reuters<\/strong> and\u00a0Fox News<\/strong>], far more attention being paid to how it will affect certain politicians’ speaking schedules this week.)
\nR.I.P. Neil Armstrong<\/strong>. You were a quiet hero and a better man than most of us, the embodiment of “the Right Stuff.”\u00a0I’ll always remember staying up past my bedtime — thanks to my Dad, who appreciated what it meant to me — to see Armstrong become the first man to set foot upon the Moon<\/strong> … arguably the most exciting moment in the history of human achievement.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Tropical Storm Isaac is charting a path across the Gulf of Mexico and, with aspirations to “hurricane” status, is on a collision course with New Orleans, the City That Couldn’t Catch a Break. So far, Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal (R) … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[60,18,117,7,140,22,84,35,33,25,8,17],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9551"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9551"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9551\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":26524,"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9551\/revisions\/26524"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9551"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9551"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9551"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}