2024-06-13-Las-Vegas-Weekly

JUNE 8, 15, 22, 29 AND JULY 6, 13, 20, 27

TUESDAY - THURSDAY

PUBLISHER

MARK DE POOTER mark.depooter@gmgvegas.com

EDITOR

SHANNON MILLER shannon.miller@gmgvegas.com

EDITORIAL

Senior Editor GEOFF CARTER (geo .carter@gmgvegas.com)

Managing Editor BROCK RADKE (brock.radke@gmgvegas.com)

Sta Writer GABRIELA RODRIGUEZ (gabriela.rodriguez@gmgvegas.com)

Sta Writer AMBER SAMPSON (amber.sampson@gmgvegas.com)

Contributing Writers GRACE DA ROCHA,HILLARY DAVIS, MIKE GRIMALA, KATIE ANN MCCARVER, AYDEN RUNNELS, RHIANNON SAEGERT, JACK WILLIAMS

Contributing Editors RAY BREWER, JUSTIN HAGER, CASE KEEFER, DAVE MONDT

O ce Coordinator NADINE GUY

CREATIVE

Art Director CORLENE BYRD (corlene.byrd@gmgvegas.com)

Senior Designer IAN RACOMA

Photo Coordinator BRIAN RAMOS

Photographers CHRISTOPHER DEVARGAS, STEVE MARCUS, WADE VANDERVORT

DIGITAL

Publisher of Digital Media KATIE HORTON

Web Content Specialist CLAYT KEEFER

ADVERTISING & MARKETING

Special Publications Editor SIERRA SMART

Senior Advertising Managers MIKE MALL, ADAIR MILNE, SUE SRAN

Account Executives LAUREN JOHNSON, GIANNA PUCCI, ANNA ZYMANEK

Sales Executive Assistants APRIL MARTINEZ

Events Director SAMANTHA LAMB

Events Manager HANNAH ANTER

Events Coordinator ALEXANDRA SUNGA

Event Sales Coordinator MELINA TAYLOR

PRODUCTION & CIRCULATION

Vice President of Manufacturing MARIA BLONDEAUX

Production Director PAUL HUNTSBERRY

Production Manager BLUE UYEDA

Associate Marketing Art Director BROOKE EVERSON

Marketing Graphic Designer CARYL LOU PAAYAS

Production Artist MARISSA MAHERAS

Senior Tra c Coordinator DENISE ARANCIBIA

Tra c Coordinator ALEX HAASE

Distribution Relations Liaison JIDAN SHADOWEN

Fulfillment Operations Coordinator CASANDRA PIERCE

Route Administrator KATHY STRELAU

GREENSPUN MEDIA GROUP

CEO, Publisher & Editor BRIAN GREENSPUN

Chief Operating O cer ROBERT CAUTHORN

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ADVERTISING DEADLINE EVERY THURSDAY AT 5 P.M.

The upgrades here include life.

SUPERGUIDE

INFEKT

With Automhate, Sisto, Hamro, 10 p.m., We All Scream, seetickets.us

SUPER SUMMER THEATRE: THE LITTLE MERMAID Thru 6/15, & 6/19, 8 p.m., Spring Mountain Ranch State Park, supersum mertheatre.org

MIGUEL

RODRIGUEZ: AND ANOTHER ONE Thru 8/24, times vary, Sahara West Library, thelibrary district.org

LAS VEGAS AVIATORS VS. SALT LAKE BEES Thru 6/15, 7 p.m. (& 6/16, noon), Las Vegas Ballpark, ticketmaster.com

DEAD & COMPANY Thru 6/15, 7:30 p.m., Sphere, ticketmaster.com

BARRY MANILOW

7 p.m. (& 6/14, 8 p.m.), Westgate International Theater, ticketmaster.com.

CUMBIA PA’ LA FAMILIA With Viaje Nahual, Philthy Dronez, Maiguai, 8 p.m., the Space, thespacelv.com

THE VIOLUTION: HEROINES & HEROES

8 p.m., Notoriety, notorietylive.com.

MARIACHI PERLA TAPATÍA

4 p.m., East Las Vegas Library, the librarydistrict.org

THURSDAY JUN 13 DO IT ALL

LAS VEGAS KAMINARI TAIKO

7:30 p.m., Summerlin Library, thelibrarydistrict. org

2 SHADOWS With Late Night Savior, Pvsher, 7 p.m., Sinwave, dice. fm.

JAN JAN & THE GENTLEMEN

5 p.m., Tivoli Village, tivolivillagelv.com

DJ SHIFT 10:30 p.m., Tao Nightclub, taogroup.com

SLANDER

10:30 p.m., Zouk Nightclub, zouk grouplv.com

DOWN & DERBY 10 p.m., Gold Spike, sk8party.com

GREETINGS FROM LAS VEGAS: GROWTH OF A CITY THROUGH POSTCARDS

Just opened last week at the Nevada State Museum at Springs Preserve and continuing exhibition through September, Greetings From Las Vegas explores the history of this destination through one of the most familiar and unheralded methods. Maybe Vegas visitors use camera phones today, but for decades a postcard was purchased to document every colorful trip to this desert oasis, and this collection of many of those postcards o ers a compelling view of the evolution of Las Vegas, bolstered by helpful historical info to fill in the gaps along the way. Maybe you’ll be inspired to ditch the phone and send a little piece of Vegas to some faraway place, continuing the cycle. Thu.-Mon., 9 a.m.- 4 p.m., $10 (or free for museum members), Nevada State Museum, lasvegasnvmuseum.org. –Brock Radke

PLAN YOUR WEEK AHEAD

FRIDAY JUN 14

FILM: I SAW THE TV GLOW

2020 GRAD SPLASH

FISHER

films as , and . (The film even

FALL BACK IN LOVE

Las Vegas didn’t get its Lovers & Friends fest, but this one-o special event at the Mack could help make up for it. R&B favorites Brandy, Bryson Tiller, Kelly Price, Lloyd, Bobby Valentino, Eric Bellinger, Sammie and Pleasure P will share the stage with comedians D.C. Young Fly, Michael Blackson, Lil Duval, Brandon T. Jackson, B. Simone, Torrei Hart, Zoie Fenty, Conceited and Justina Valentine. 8 p.m., $47, Thomas & Mack Center, unlvtickets.com. –Brock Radke

11 a.m., Stadium Swim, circalasvegas. com

JAMES KENNEDY

11:30 a.m., LIV Beach, livnightclub. com

CHARLY JORDAN

Noon, Encore Beach Club, wynn social.com

DUKE DUMONT

10:30 p.m., Zouk Nightclub, zouk grouplv.com

2 CHAINZ

10:30 p.m., Drai’s Nightclub, drais group.com

DIPLO

10:30 p.m., XS Nightclub, wynnsocial.com

10:30 p.m., Omnia Nightclub, taogroup.com

HARANA: AN EAST MEETS WEST LIVE EXPERIENCE

METRO BOOMIN

10:30 p.m., LIV Nightclub, livnight club.com

TOM & COLLINS

With Gabriel Rojas & Odaya, J.Mar & KCXEMA, 11 p.m., La Mona Rosa, posh. vip

VEGAS CITY OPERA: KALEIDOSCOPE

7 p.m., Windmill Library, thelibrary district.org

ALI MACOFSKY

7 & 9:30 p.m., & 6/15, Wiseguys Arts District, wiseguy scomedy.com

With Troy Laureta, Martin Nievera, Pia Toscano, Loren Allred, more, 7:30 p.m., Theater at Virgin, axs.com

ADELE

8 p.m., & 6/15, the Colosseum, ticketmaster.com

BRUNO MARS 9 p.m., & 6/15, Dolby Live, ticketmaster.com

DAVE TULL 7 & 8:30 p.m., & 6/15, Vic’s, vicslasvegas.com

MALE TEARS With Radio Vampire, Night Weapons, Zaya, more, 7:30 p.m., Swan Dive, eventbrite. com

Owen is a seventh-grader who feels isolated from his peers until he meets Maddy, a ninth-grader who’s ostracized for being a lesbian. The two of them bond while watching a show called The Pink Opaque, whose lead characters Isabel and Tara fight monsters with their minds. Over time, the lines between reality and fiction begin to disappear, both within the world of the film and, in a way, between the film and its audience. I Saw the TV Glow, now screening at the Beverly, is potent allegory—for what, exactly, you should discover for yourself—which director Jane Schoenbrun has crafted as a psychological thriller along the lines of such late 1990s/early 2000s Donnie Darko The Others The Matrix has a 1990s-style compilation soundtrack, featuring new music by Caroline Polachek, Jay Som and more.) This is TV you need to see at the movies. times vary, $10, Beverly Theater, thebeverlythe ater.com. –Geo Carter

WESGHOST & DIGGY GRAVES 7 p.m., the Wall at Area15, area15.com

RUSSELL PETERS 8 p.m., & 6/15, Encore Theater, ticketmaster.com.

SUPERGUIDE

SATURDAY JUN 15

WAR

8 p.m., Veil Pavilion, silvertoncasino.com

SCALP

With Clique, Auditory Anguish, The Hate, 8 p.m., Dive Bar, dice.fm

WH0

9 p.m., the Wall at Area15, area15.com

DAVILA 666

With Los Quinceañeros, Headwinds, 8 p.m., the Usual Place, theusualplace. vegas

BOXING:

GERVONTA DAVIS VS. FRANK MARTIN

5 p.m., MGM Grand Garden Arena, axs. com

LAS VEGAS ACES VS. NEW YORK LIBERTY

Noon, Michelob Ultra Arena, axs.com

BALLET FOLKLÓRICO

SOL HUASTECO

2 p.m., Whitney Library, thelibrary district.org

JUNETEENTH CELEBRATION: SONGS OF LIBERATION

2 p.m., West Las Vegas Library, the librarydistrict.org

LEO SKEPI

6:30 p.m., House of Blues, concerts. livenation.com

ALESSO

11 a.m., Tao Beach Dayclub, taogroup.com

GALANTIS 11:30 a.m., LIV Beach, livnightclub.com

KASKADE Noon, Ayu Dayclub, zoukgrouplv.com

MARSHMELLO Noon, Encore Beach Club, wynnsocial.com

WALSHY FIRE 8 p.m., Azilo Ultra Pool, eventbrite.com

ILLENIUM

10:30 p.m., Zouk Nightclub, zouk grouplv.com

AWSUMO 10 p.m., Daylight Beach Club, day lightvegas.com

50 CENT 10:30 p.m., Drai’s Nightclub, draisgroup.com

ZEDD 10:30 p.m., Omnia Nightclub, taogroup.com

DOM DOLLA 10:30 p.m., LIV Nightclub, livnightclub.com

AMTRAC 10 p.m., Discopussy, tixr.com

With Juanma, 8 p.m., Theater at Virgin, axs.com

EL YAKI & BANDA CORONA DEL REY

SUNDAY JUN 16 MONDAY JUN 17

DR. OLIVER TREE

11:30 a.m., LIV Beach, livnightclub.com.

NGHTMRE

11 a.m., Wet Republic, taogroup.com

SNAKEHIPS

10:30 p.m., XS Nightclub, wynnsocial.com

LIVING THE DREAM: INSPIRING HOPE FOR THE FUTURE

3 p.m., West Charleston Library, thelibrarydistrict.org

GOSPEL BRUNCH

10 a.m., House of Blues, concerts. livenation.com

SPITER

With Desolus, Scathen, 8 p.m., the Griffin, dice.fm

MOON, MARS, AND BEYOND! Thru 8/4, times vary, Sahara West Library, thelibrary district.org

MONDAYS DARK 8 p.m., the Space, mondaysdark.com

KT TATARA With Gene Moore, thru 6/23, 8 p.m., LA Comedy Club, bestvegascomedy. com

EDDIE IFFT With John Caponera, Kathleen Dunbar, thru 6/19, 8 p.m., Brad Garrett’s Comedy Club, mgmgrand.mgm resorts.com

DJ SOURMILK 10:30 p.m., Jewel Nightclub, taogroup.com

DO IT ALL

SUPERGUIDE

TUESDAY JUN 18

THE KING COMES HOME

The producers of the excellent Soul of Motown are bringing a new Elvis show to the place where Elvis made Vegas—or did Vegas make Elvis? We can’t remember. The King Comes Home opens June 18 for a limited engagement Tuesdays through Thursdays, a tribute show featuring international headliner and former Big Brother castmate Daniel Durston. Stellar local singing faves Paige Strafella, Joey Calveri and Patrice Petway Compton also are on board for this tour of the King’s early recordings, films, TV specials and legendary residency run at the International—hey wait, that’s this place! Times vary, $40, Westgate Cabaret Theater, ticketmaster.com. –Brock Radke

THE HISTORY OF JUNETEENTH

7 p.m., Clark County Library, thelibrarydistrict. org

PETER PAN

THE MUSICAL Thru 6/23, 7 p.m. (& 6/22-6/23, 2 p.m.), Reynolds Hall, thesmith center.com

INSIDE THE MIND OF HANS VAN DE BOVENKAMP Thru 8/20, times vary, Enterprise Library, thelibrary district.org

LAS VEGAS LIGHTS VS. COLORADO SWITCHBACKS FC 7:30 p.m., Cashman Field, las vegaslightsfc.com

CHRISTINE SHEBECK

7 p.m., Myron’s, thesmithcenter. com

HUMAN NATURE

Thru 6/20, 6:30 p.m., South Point Showroom, ticket master.com

MYTHM

With Magoh, Kayluv, 10 p.m., Discopussy, posh.vip

LADY GAGA

8 p.m., & 6/20, Dolby Live, ticketmaster.com.

WEDNESDAY JUN 19

LAS VEGAS ACES VS. SEATTLE STORM

7 p.m., Michelob Ultra Arena, axs.com

DAVID STANLEY: MY BROTHER ELVIS

RADICAL WEST

With Ilan Dvir-Djerassi, 6 p.m., Downtown Summerlin, summerlin.com.

BRIAN NEWMAN AFTER DARK 11:30 p.m., & 6/20, Nomad, ticketmaster com.

HAMILTUNES

8 p.m., & 6/20, the Space, thespacelv.com

5 p.m., Westgate International Theater, ticketmaster.com

NEVADA WOMEN’S FILM FESTIVAL

Thru 6/23, times vary, UNLV, nw est.com

GEOFFREY ASMUS

7:30 p.m., Wiseguys Town Square, wiseguyscomedy. com

— Shari S., REAL CUSTOMER

ALWAYS A NEW TRICK

Magic man Douglas “Lefty” Leferovich helps maintain “the land of the impossible”

BY BROCK RADKE

Veteran Las Vegas magician, comedian, producer and design artist Douglas “Lefty” Leferovich can currently be seen onstage with four other specialty performers at the Orleans in Late Night Magic, the show he’s been leading for more than four years (currently co-produced by Pompey Entertainment). But he’s been a force in Vegas magic for longer than that, helping other entertainers develop material and serving as the longtime sidekick in Murray Sawchuck’s magical residency show at the Laugh Factory at the Tropicana.

The Trop closed in April, but the magic continues. “I think magic always works because this is a town where people want to suspend belief,” he says. “They want to think they can put a quarter in a slot machine and win a million dollars, so why wouldn’t there be a stage with an empty box and you pull a cloth over it and there’s a tiger in it? It flourishes because for people who don’t live here, Vegas is the land of the impossible.”

Lefty recently chatted up the Weekly to talk about the end of an era at the Trop and how Late Night Magic sets itself apart.

What was it like to perform at the Tropicana right up until it closed?

I tell people I’m almost more sad about the property closing than the show closing, because Murray will move on, and the Laugh Factory I’m sure will find some other place [to reopen] because it’s a solid brand and it sold a lot of tickets. When there’s so much change in Las Vegas, it’s nice to have some things that are classic and legendary, that stay the same. Unfortunately the Trop was one of the older hotels and now it will be gone.

My coffee table in the living room is made from one of the original spotlights that was used in Folies [Bergere]. I have Tropicana posters on the wall. It will be weird to go by and see a baseball field there.

It sounds like you take pride in your connection to the Tropicana. Absolutely. I think back to when

Folies was there, and Siegfried & Roy were a guest act when they were [starting in Vegas]. Lance Burton was in Folies nine years before he opened his own show at Hacienda. There’s a long history of magic at that property, and Murray had one of the longest running shows as a headliner at the Trop.

Will you and Murray continue to work together?

I hope so. He’s done some shows recently in Australia and Sweden. We enjoy collaborating and I think there’s a good balance there, especially at the Trop where we really defined who our characters are onstage. In the rare chance something goes wrong, we know how to deal with it because we know how our characters would deal with it. When you’re working together for so many years, there’s a rapport you develop, similar to being in a band or playing sports.

Q+A

LATE NIGHT MAGIC Saturdays, 9 p.m., $30-$50. The Venue at the Orleans, magiclatenight.com.

You collaborate with other local magicians and performers, too. What have you been up to lately?

I’m currently working with Jen Kramer at Westgate and she’s putting in a new finale to her show. I worked on her show when she first opened and it’s been great to see her growth and how she’s come into her own, because she got started in smaller shows and corporate shows and has come to this full Vegas production. And when she puts something new in, it has to be her. I always take into consideration who I’m working with because it’s important to work that personality into the routine.

Late Night Magic has been onstage at the Orleans for a year now, and that’s another collaborative project.

There are a lot of different personalities. It’s different from a lot of typical magic shows where one magician has to be good at everything. We have five acts so everyone can focus on what they’re really good at and known for.

And it’s the only adults-only magic show in town. Why did you want to take that route?

There is a niche for what we do. It is late-night, edgy, dirty fun, and maybe it does [stand out] because it seems like every other magic show in town is more family-friendly. I didn’t want there to be a 7-year-old kid sitting next to you and we tell a dirty joke because I want you to be able to laugh freely, not curtail your reaction because you’re sitting next to a kid.

(Courtesy/Gabe

But it’s also different than a typical variety show where it’s host, act, host, act, because one of our strengths is how well we interact with each other. During someone’s act, two or three of the others might come out and do funny bits, and that makes it more of a show. And this venue seats about 75. It’s kind of like a European cabaret, and it’s almost like you’re on stage to see it all.

Douglas “Lefty” Leferovich in the center surrounded by the cast of Late Night Magic (clockwise from left): Hollie England, John Shaw, Bizzaro and The Shocker.

Ginsberg)

VEGAS NIGHTS.

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The Michael Jackson Estate is not affiliated, associated, or connected with “MJ Live Tribute Concert,” nor has it endorsed or sponsored “MJ Live Tribute Concert.” Michael Jackson portrayed by Jalles Franca.

Unraveling Las Vegas’ LGBTQ history and how it became a progressive place to belong

VIVA GAY VEGAS

The Las Vegas Pride Parade celebrated its 40th anniversary in Downtown Las Vegas on October 6, 2023. (Christopher DeVargas/Staff)

BY AMBER SAMPSON

From where does Las Vegas’ sense of pride emanate? Virtually everywhere. Avenues of queer expression feel downright endless in this city. LGBTQ resorts are settling into new neighborhoods, decades-old gay rights organizations are commemorating major milestones, and drag bars have become a ubiquitous rite of passage. As local LGBTQ historian Dennis McBride recently put it, “Nevada really is a wonderful place to be gay now.”

The Human Rights Campaign commended Nevada lawmakers on becoming a legislative safe space for LGBTQ rights in 2023. Everything points to a progressive way forward, and yet Nevada remains an outlier when it comes to the rest of the country. Within the last year, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) has tracked more than 500 anti-LGBTQ bills being introduced into state legislatures, and that discriminatory wave has shown little sign of slowing down.

“As I watch all this going down around us across the country, I’m asking myself, is it going to come to Nevada?” says McBride. It’s tough to imagine it would. But Nevada’s LGBTQ past hasn’t always been a source of pride. The 69-year-old McBride, who has researched and archived Nevada’s gay history since the early 1970s, re-

members all too well how demeaning and discouraging those early days were. In his 2016 novel, Out of the Neon Closet: Queer Community in the Silver State, he writes:

“Nevada’s great area and small population kept queer people isolated, while the state’s sodomy law kept them fearful and closeted. This has made the history of Nevada’s queer community, until the last quarter of the 20th century, a story of slow but persistent organization within a state culture unusually harsh in its repression.”

Nevada’s redemption arc has been decades in the making, and in some ways, it’s been revolutionary. But to appreciate how far we’ve come, it’s important to remember how we got here.

Prior to 1993, when we historically repealed our own anti-sodomy law (a decade before the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling in Lawrence v. Texas, which determined that sodomy laws were unconstitutional), Nevadans could be jailed and fined for engaging in same-sex sexual activities. When he was younger, McBride never imagined he could be arrested for loving another man. But many in Las Vegas were.

“You would park your car in the back [of gay bars] if you could, because the police would drive up

TOP LEFT

Gay Pride Banquet and Awards, May 7, 1983, left to right: Mike Loewy; Marge Jacques; Will Collins. (Photographer, Ron Lawrence)

TOP RIGHT

Three pioneering bar owners, left to right: Marge Jacques (Le Café); Ralph Vandersnick (Snick’s Place); and Maxine Perron (Maxine’s) are honored at an “Old Timers” recognition event at the Backdoor Lounge on May 24, 1998. (Photographer, Rob Schlegel)

(All Photographs on this page: Courtesy/UNLV Special Collections)

and down the streets, and if they could see your license plate, they would report it,” he says. “They caught some people that way. They’d shut down the bars. They’d raid the bars.”

Intimidation tactics like this were commonplace, bolstered by what the historian calls “a sadistic law that brought out the sadistic nature of the Metropolitan Police Department.”

The tide began to turn in the early ’70s, following the events of the 1969 Stonewall Riot in New York City. “They could still be arrested but they weren’t as

coweringly afraid as they were in the ’50s and ’60s,” McBride recalls. “Even though Las Vegas completely ignored Stonewall, we knew about it and that gave us encouragement and some fortitude.”

Las Vegas’ modestly-sized gay bar scene thrived under the cover of night, anchored by Maxine’s on Nellis and Charleston boulevards, the Red Barn near UNLV, and Le Café, one of Las Vegas’ first openly gay clubs, on the southwest corner of Tropicana Avenue and Paradise Road.

Queer heroes like Marge Jacques, owner of Le Café, fought

BOTTOM RIGHT Le Café billboard, ca. 1970s

to allow same-sex couples to dance in her club. At that time, Maxine’s was closeted, and for a while the Red Barn didn’t truly operate as a gay bar until certain hours in the evening. Le Café, by comparison, had a motto that cheekily proclaimed “Glitter and Be Gay at Le Café!” and the stars loved it. Liberace hung out there, as did Joan Rivers and Debbie Reynolds. It makes sense that the same clientele flocked to Gipsy when Jacques opened it in 1981.

“It started with it being a place for the kids that didn’t have a home, which is why it’s called Gipsy,” says Garrett Pattiani, marketing coordinator of the revived club.

“[Marge] came up with this brilliant plan. She went to the city board and she said, ‘Okay, well, you guys have your boys clubs. I want to have a club where if it can’t be a gay club and I can’t market it that way, it’ll be a club for the show kids.’”

Some 40 years later, Gipsy is one of the last original gay bars still standing in the Las Vegas gay district colloquially known as the Fruit Loop. And the community has yet to forget its impact or the groundwork Jacques laid. Pattiani, who co-founded the publication QVegas and served on the board for The Center, won’t let them.

“There’s something about knowing that when you’re in this space, this is a sacred space,” Pattiani says. “This is where the first HIV/AIDS fundraiser was held. This is where Cher, Liberace, Siegfried and Roy, even Janet Jackson [would go].”

Today, the nightclub’s new show Glitz: The Las Vegas Showkids Show recently paid tribute to the show kid era and other trailblazing LGBTQ Las Vegas icons like veteran drag performer Kenny Kerr, whose 1977 Strip show Boy-lesque bridged a significant gap between the straight and gay worlds. Back then, gay entertainment was more palatable to a straight audience when packaged as a female impersonator show. Kerr’s influence on drag helped usher it into the mainstream and open doors for future performers.

By the ’80s, Las Vegas had three significant gay organizations that stepped up: Nevadans for Human Rights, created by two transplants from Rochester, New York; the Metropolitan Community Church; and UNLV’s Gay Academic Union. Vegas’ first Gay Pride Week, held at the Moyer Student

Union at UNLV in 1983, was sponsored by that trio. The following year’s Pride celebration took place at Sunset Park, which “by today’s standards, it was very, very small,” McBride remembers. “But it was more people than we’d ever had together in one place before.”

“We were starting to make really serious inroads politically, getting recognition by legislators, local and state, and beginning to build a political base—and then that just all got destroyed,” McBride says.

The AIDS crisis hit Las Vegas particularly hard in 1983, rolling back years of LGBTQ progress as homophobes started labeling gay people as diseased and dangerous. The public, they believed, needed to be protected from them.

“Many times, people used to think that I was infected, and I was contagious because I just worked with people with HIV,” says Antioco Carrillo, executive director for Aid for AIDS of Nevada (AFAN), a 40-yearold institution in the gay community.

“You don’t come back from it easily,” McBride says of the era. “We turned inward and started learning self-reliance, and how to fight. Really fight. We didn’t really have to fight so much right before then. But this

912 East Sahara Avenue on May 30, 1998

(Dennis McBride/ photographer)

time, we were fighting for our lives.”

Carrillo arrived at the frontlines of that fight, originally working at a community counseling center, facilitating support groups for people living with HIV, before he became AFAN’s executive director. It was 1994 at this point, and “I slowly got myself involved in the whole process where people were just dying left and right,” he says.

The AIDS crisis brought out the absolute worst in people in Las Vegas. Carrillo remembers seeing people propose that HIV-positive people should be branded with a tattoo. And before Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) regulations, newspapers could print stigmatizing photos of recently diagnosed people, like a sort of screwed-up mugshot.

But as all that was happening, “we were quietly building our foundation,” McBride says. Once AIDS became less of a death sentence and medication became more readily available, the conditions were right to turn attention back to legislation.

In 1993, with the swift help of straight ally, politician and human rights activist Lori Lipman Brown, Nevada overturned its anti-sodomy law without a court order. And David Parks, an openly gay Democratic lawmaker who served in the Nevada Legislature for 23 years, helped move even more queer-friendly legislation into place.

“His enabling enabled more enabling. It gave the community more confidence. It

TOP LEFT

Las Vegas Gay Pride celebration at Sunset Park, June 2, 1984. (Photographer, Christie Young)

BOTTOM RIGHT 2002 Pride Parade (Photographer, Dennis McBride)

TOP RIGHT

Will Collins, president of the Gay Academic Union at UNLV and Pride founder, preparing for Gay Pride 1984—the first outdoor Pride celebration.

(All photographs courtesy UNLV Special Collections)

gave the Legislature and particular legislators more confidence. That’s really where that momentum really started building,” McBride says.

Las Vegas has certainly become a more progressive town. But there’s still more work to be done.

Similar to the past, transplants from other states have come to Las Vegas looking to make changes for the better. Mark Hunter and Greg Kafka, owners of the new 33-room Bent Inn LGBTQ hotel, left their boutique resort in Palm Springs to create a larger, more inclusive space in Downtown Las Vegas.

“Las Vegas is the No. 2 destination for the LGBTQ travelers and yet there wasn’t a single hotel. It just kind of blew us away,” Hunter says. “There are ones in Phoenix, there’s one in San Francisco. It made sense

to us that there was a need here.”

Due to the transient nature of the city, Kafka says the gay community here can feel “fractured,” but he’s hopeful Bent Inn can become “an anchor to a gayborhood.”

That pursuit of community and connection is more important than ever. Safe spaces will always be needed, Gipsy’s Pattiani says. “And I think they’re going to get more popular. I’ve been to many clubs in my life. I’ve worked in straight nightlife and mainstream places, and there is nothing like the energy and the freedom of a gay or queer space,” he says.

Judgment-free zones like Gipsy attract just as many straight people, he adds.

“That’s how we’ve earned our gay rights, through resilience. It’s through practicing love, it’s through practicing joy. And when people experience that space, no matter what they were afraid of, or what they thought before, it’s undeniable,” Pattiani

BELOW The Gay Academic Union (GAU), founded at UNLV in 1982,

(Ron Lawrence, photographer)

(Photograph courtesy UNLV Special Collections)

with Nevadans

says. “It changes people’s minds and changes people’s hearts.”

Though the LGBTQ community enjoys the freedoms it does now, McBride and Carrillo remind us to stay vigilant, stay engaged and stay vocal. Carrillo was one of the first Clark County residents to obtain a same-sex marriage certificate with his husband Theo in 2014. That privilege isn’t lost on him today.

“Just because right now I have the ability to call my husband ‘husband’ because we’re legally married, and the entire f**king world knew about it … does not mean that it will be guaranteed for the future,” he says. “That’s the challenge. You have to keep at it.”

“We’re learning that we’re safer than a lot of the country. That’s something we need to be very, very aware of maintaining,” McBride says. “We have to keep our eye on who’s running for office because as swiftly as things have changed here for the better, they can change that fast for the worse.”

and

together

for Human Rights

the Metropolitan Community Church, sponsored Las Vegas’ first Gay Pride celebration, noted then as the Human Rights Seminar, in May 1983. GAU members, left to right: Christie Young, David Adams, Dennis McBride, unidentified, Rick May, unidentified, Mike Loewy, Julian Martin-Perez, Will Collins, unidentified.

The Las Vegas Pride Parade on Fourth Street in Downtown Las Vegas on October 6, 2023. Last year, the parade celebrated its 40th anniversary with a Red & Wild theme. (Christopher DeVargas/Staff)

Disgusted by LGBTQ hate? B e

As far as willfully ignorant hot takes go, “Why isn’t there a straight pride month?” is top 5. It’s likely rolling out in waves on X/Twitter even now. While it’s a question that’s well worth ignoring, for the sake of absolute clarity, we’ll answer it: You don’t get a “straight pride” month because your federally guaranteed right to marry isn’t less than 10 years old. You don’t get it because you didn’t lose people you loved, perhaps even many people, in the AIDS epidemic. And you don’t get it because you’ve very likely never been discriminated against, arrested or assaulted simply for loving who you love. Pride Month exists because it was fought for and earned.

André Wade, state director of Silver State Equality—a Nevada organization dedicated to winning and upholding the rights of LGBTQ people—doesn’t think that Las Vegas, and Nevada as a whole, are innately homophobic. “I would like to think that we are more enlightened than that,” he says. But the struggle for equality in Vegas does sometimes turn ugly, as it did last winter when a 62-year-old man was beaten down in the Arts District by assailants shouting gay slurs, and as recently as last month with the deadly shooting of an 18-yearold transgender girl, Jazlynn Johnson.

There’s much more to be done, both here in

c om e a n a cti ve al l y.

Southern Nevada and across the U.S., Wade acknowledges. But he’s hopeful. He cites the 2021 passing of Nevada SB148 through the state Legislature—a bill that requires law enforcement agencies to submit monthly records of hate crimes to the Central Repository for Nevada Records of Criminal History—as a positive move and adds that local businesses and organizations have been receptive to teaching on how to stop discrimination before it appears.

“Over the past 20-some odd years, in what we call the equality movement … we’ve been doing a lot of work in talking to different institutions and providing training on LGBTQ+ competencies. That’s child welfare, juvenile justice, law enforcement, schools, health providers, the whole gamut—[getting] them prepared and ready to receive clients and have interactions in ways that are less discriminatory,” Wade says. “We’re starting to see people automatically being inclusive of LGBTQ+ folks when they’re doing their work, and I think it’s a result of all these trainings [we did] on the hospitality side.

“We have a federal grant we’re getting off the ground now that’s focused on public education around hate crimes,” he adds. “Essentially, it’s letting people know how to identify

[a hate crime], how to report it if they see it or if they’re a victim, and then giving information to the general public about numbers to call and figuring out what the reporting actually looks like.”

If you’ve witnessed such crimes or been a victim yourself, once you’re out of immediate danger, you should reach out to the LGBTQ Center of Southern Nevada (thecenterlv.org) and/or Silver State Equality (silverstateequality.org). And if you’d like to do something proactive, consider donating to these organizations, or at the very least visit Silver State’s “elections” page, where they offer pro-equality endorsements and even include a list of openly LGBTQ candidates. Do some good for your LGBTQ friends, coworkers and family members, and you can feel like you’re part of Pride Month, too.

“We want people to be allies,” Wade says. “It can be as easy as seeing something and reporting it, or helping someone who’s in distress. It could be people going into their own places of employment and advocating for better policies and procedures. And it’s also about having difficult conversations with family members. Maybe not necessarily changing people’s minds in that moment, but just starting to plant seeds.” –Geoff Carter

“We need every voter. I don’t care about you, I just want your vote, I don’t care.”

– Former President Donald Trump, speaking to supporters June 9 at a rally at Sunset Park in Las Vegas.

1 HELP AVAILABLE

WorkMoney, a national nonprofit, announced that Las Vegas-area residents can live chat with agents via workmoney.org or call or text 1-833-WRK-MNEY (1-833-9756639) for support connecting individuals to new or underutilized government programs.

HOT SHOT

Artist Joshua “Ginger” Monroe holds up a sign before a campaign rally featuring former President Donald Trump on June 9 at Sunset Park. (Steve Marcus/Sta )

City prohibits balloon releases

Las Vegas is prohibiting the outdoor release of balloons inflated with a gas lighter than air. The Las Vegas City Council, in a 4-3 vote this month, banned the outdoor release of balloons inflated with gases such as helium because of their negative effects on the environment. Council members Cedric Crear, Olivia Diaz, Francis Allen-Palenske and Nancy Brune voted for the ordinance, while Mayor Carolyn Goodman, Mayor Pro Tem Brian Knudsen and Councilwoman Victoria Seaman voted against it. According to the ordinance, any person within Las Vegas city limits cannot “intentionally release, organize the release of, or otherwise cause or allow the release of a balloon inflated with a gas that is lighter than air.” Exceptions are for scientific or meteorological purposes on behalf of a governmental agency or through a contract; a hot-air balloon that is recovered after launching; a balloon released indoors; or a balloon tied to an object that counters its ability to be lifted, according to the ordinance. The bill garnered support from NV Energy: Anthony Ruiz, government relations manager for NV Energy, explained that Mylar balloons specifically can become tangled in their power lines and cause outages. –Grace Da Rocha

BY THE NUMBERS

TECHNOLOGY ENVIRONMENT

That’s how many people were transported to area hospitals for heat-related illness during former President Donald Trump’s campaign rally June 9 at Sunset Park, according to Clark County officials.

TELEDRIVING SERVICE

Vay, an app-based teledriving service, has announced an expansion beyond the University District where it has been operating since January. The Berlin-based company’s technology allows a remote “driver” to send electric vehicles to customers who order one through the app. How it works: The driverless car arrives, and the customer then drives the car to their destination, gets out, and then the teledriver drives the car to the next destination or parks it.

Vay’s expansion includes the Strip, Chinatown and the College of Southern Nevada West

Charleston campus. According to a news release, the drop-off zone for one-way journeys is expanding to cover central Las Vegas.

“Las Vegas is one of the first cities in the world to have a driverless offering available to users across the majority of an urban center. … This is a major milestone as we’re now more widely available, across a larger area, and closer to achieving our mission to provide affordable, convenient mobility for everyone. This expansion is part of our broader mission to solve transportation challenges

2 3 AFFORDABLE HOUSING

Clark County has approved an affordable housing development for low-income seniors. The Serene Pines project, near Serene Avenue and Las Vegas Boulevard South, will offer 278 one and two-bedroom apartments designed for seniors 55 and older.

in metropolitan areas—namely parking and congestion,” a Vay spokesman said in a statement.

Vay has professionally trained teledrivers equipped with a steering wheel, pedals and other vehicle controls “developed to meet automotive industry standards,” according to the company. Car surroundings are reproduced via camera sensors and transmitted to screens at the company’s teledrive station. Additionally, road traffic sounds like emergency vehicles are transmitted to the teldriver’s headphones via microphones.

–Shannon Miller

BRINGING DISCO BACK

The world premiere of DiscoShow will be September 7 at the Linq. It will be accompanied by the opening of two new Spiegelworld bars, 99 Prince and Glitterloft, as well as the opening of the restaurant Diner Ross. Tickets are available at speigelworld.com.

DECISION EXPECTED TO EASE F1 CONSTRUCTION

The temporary vehicular bridge over Flamingo Road and Koval Lane will be reduced from four to two lanes during the Las Vegas Grand Prix in the fall, officials said June 6.

The bridge, which will be installed in mid-October and dismantled in mid-December, helps people access businesses on the interior of the track. By reducing the width of the bridge, construction and takedown times will be decreased from 10 days each to a week before and after the race, officials said.

The bridge will be placed entirely on the east-bound traffic lanes of Flamingo Road, which leaves all westbound traffic open.

Race officials said they worked with Clark County public works, Metro Police and business owners in finalizing plans for the bridge.

Randy Markin, who owns Stage Door Casino, Stage Door Liquor and Battista’s Hole in the Wall, said he wasn’t part of the discussion and hopes whoever is making decisions can do what’s best for shops situated on the race course.

The temporary bridge was taken down in February nearly three months after the race following pushback from businesses. Matters were made worse when it was discovered that a water pipe underneath the street—possibly harmed by the additional weight of the bridge—needed to be fixed ahead of this year’s race, bringing more construction.

“I’ve asked (Las Vegas Grand Prix) to work together, become part of the community, and they won’t; they do not care and it’s destroyed us, our businesses—and more businesses were worse than us,” Markin said.

–Grace Da Rocha

NOTHING BUT NET

New broadband internet options from Google and others will transform this Valley

(Shutterstock/Photo Illustration)

BY GEOFF CARTER

Broadband internet access is infrastructure. We may not think of it that way, but in principle, internet access is very similar to the highways and railways and leading into and out of this Valley: It allows our business, government, hospitality and entertainment to move and thrive. You’ve probably noticed by now that the roads and rails that feed Las Vegas don’t quite have the capacity needed to keep a growing city moving at speed, and the same is true of Vegas’ internet. But that’s about to change, and in a big way.

“When it comes to internet, we feel that communities have been underserved and overcharged for far too long,” says Ashley Church, general manager of Google Fiber’s western region. “GFiber is committed to helping all communities get access to internet that’s fast, reliable, fairly priced and open.”

Google Fiber, GFiber for short, is a broadband internet service subsidiary of Google’s parent company Alphabet. They o er four monthly internet plans: A $150 plan, which includes uploads and downloads up to 8 gigabits; a 5-gigabit plan for $125; a $100 2-gigabit plan; and a baseline, $70 1-gig plan whose price hasn’t increased in more than a decade. (Those prices include equipment rental, Church stresses.) GFiber was rst switched on in Kansas City roughly 10 years ago, and quickly spread into multiple markets including Austin, Des Moines, Nashville, Orange County and Atlanta. San Francisco, Chicago, Seattle and many others are soon to join them.

Us, too. In August 2022, GFiber announced plans to expand into Nevada, and earlier this year, they reached agreements with Clark County and the City of Las Vegas to begin building out their service in the Valley. And the truly amazing part is, Google isn’t the only company expanding into Vegas.

“We have Google, and earlier in the year an AT&T subsidiary called Gigapower [began] installing ber in the core areas of Las Vegas and then spreading out. They provide highspeed broadband to the residential homes,” says Michael Sherwood, chief

innovation o cer and director of technology for the City of Las Vegas. “There’s also another company called Teleport, which is providing business ber communications. So, there’s already been tens of millions of dollars from these companies that are going to be invested in broadband—really bringing multiple carriers to Las Vegas, which is outstanding.”

GFiber, Gigapower and the Oakland-based Teleport will join a marketplace of residential and business internet providers in Southern Nevada that already includes Cox Communications, Lumen Technologies, CenturyLink, ISP.net (formerly LasVegas. Net) and various others. But this ood of new broadband options will likely transform the o erings of those companies, driving them to adjust their pricing or upgrade the speed and capacity of their services.

By the end of next year, the broadband-to-highway capacity comparison will scarcely t. The former will far outstrip the latter, transforming not only this city’s ability to draw technology-focused businesses, but the people who work for them.

“All of these investments really bring a lot of opportunity,” Sherwood says. “Remote workers are huge for the city. With remote work, you could work for Microsoft out of Seattle but live in Las Vegas. And if you don’t have the right broadband speeds, you can’t get there. So, we’re really excited that to have Google, Gigapower, companies that are [already] here like Cox, Lumen. … You know, Las Vegas is going to be one of the most highly connected cities in the United States.”

And unlike our highway problem, the cost of increasing Vegas’ broadband capacity won’t involve taxpayer money or give rise to a bumper crop of orange cones. “This is a privately nanced investment,” says GFiber’s Church, adding that the buildout, once underway, should move relatively quickly thanks to a process called micro-trenching, which involves the use of a piece of equipment called a rockwheel that cuts a thin trench into asphalt streets—generally between 1 and 5 inches wide, and about 20

“We’re going to have the high-speed connectivity we need, [and it’s] going to play into economic opportunities as well as educational opportunities.”

-Michael Sherwood, chief innovation officer and director of technology for the City of Las Vegas

inches deep. A duct is laid inside, the ber cable is pulled through it, and the channel is covered.

“It basically digs the hole, vacuums out the dirt and lays the ber, basically all in one pass. It’s an amazing process,” Sherwood says. “They might lay a whole street or a neighborhood in a day, compared to the old way of doing it, where they had the big trench and they laid in the conduit. They don’t have to do that anymore.”

“Right now, we’re currently in the design and engineering phase of the project,” Church says. “We will begin submitting build permits with the city, water and county very soon, and upon approvals we’ll start the construction process. As that network becomes available, it will then be opened up for residents on a rolling basis ... We expect the rst customers to have some of that selection sometime mid-next year.”

For now, we wait. If you’d like updates on when GFiber or Gigapower may come to your part of the Valley, you can get updates by submitting your street address at ber.google.com/cities/clarkcounty or att.com/local/ ber/ nevada/las-vegas. In the meantime, while we’re idling in construction trafc on I-15 or watching track being laid for the Brightline high-speed rail line, we can at least imagine what this Valley will be like when it’s well and truly connected to the rest of the country.

“We’re going to have the high-speed connectivity we need, [and it’s] going to play into economic opportunities as well as educational opportunities,” Sherwood says “People live where there’s great amenities. We already have some of the best sporting and entertainment venues. Now we’re going to have some of the best connectivity options available in the United States, from the biggest providers.”

The west rim is heart-pounding, soul-searching, bucket-listchecking adrenaline rushes you’ve never felt or seen before, including one of the largest glass cantilever bridges in the world that will have you stepping 4,000 feet out over the Grand Canyon floor. Skywalk is just one of the ways you can jolt your senses and ignite your spirit at Grand Canyon West. Plan your adventure today.

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THE R&B MONEY TOUR WITH KERI HILSON & CARL THOMAS

SUNDAY | JUNE 23

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FRIDAY | JULY 5

IL DIVO

SATURDAY | JULY 6

SATURDAY JULY 13

Get to know Vegas’ hardcore band Khasm ahead of their record release show

What’s funny about Vegas’ local music scene is its resemblance to sports leagues, where its top players trade like playing cards, constantly hopping onto new projects with each other. Local hardcore band Khasm came to fruition through these means in 2021, when guitarist and vocalist Jett Stotts envisioned forming a band with a heavy sound that embraced a diversity of genres.

Leveraging his years of involvement and experience in music, Stotts tapped a few long-time friends, one who played alongside him in World Tension, while the others hailed from adjacent musical realms. Since then, Khasm—consisting of Stotts, Gabriel Brownotter on bass and vocals, drummer Jack Phelan, and guitarist Erik Kline—has experienced a surge of success, not just locally, but on a global scale.

“We’ve been involved in the local hardcore and metal scene

for so long individually, and the amount of support Khasm has gotten is kind of crazy,” says Stotts. “Traditionally, it’s tougher to get out of Vegas [as a band] but to see the love we’ve gotten from the East and West Coast and the touring opportunities is cool—we actually went to Mexico earlier this year and we’re going to Canada next month.”

Khasm released a demo in 2022 via Outlook Fanzine, a self-titled EP in 2023 and just last Thursday released their much-anticipated sophomore EP, Theater of War. Rooted in hardcore, Khasm’s sound delves deeper into the influences of New Orleans sludge bands like Eyehategod, Acid Bath and Crowbar, while also paying homage to the raw energy of ‘90s Northeast hardcore.

Their creative process reached new heights when they recorded the new EP with Ryan Bram at Tucson, Arizona’s Homewrecker Studios. Homewrecker provided the exact equipment Khasm needed to achieve their specifically desired sound. Remarkably, they utilized just one amp—an obscure ‘80s Randall RG100, favored by the bands that inspired them. With that unique studio setup, the EP resonates with a monumental presence. Or, as Stotts puts it: “It sounds huge.”

Khasm musically snarls at its listeners in the best way, the intense fusion of brooding sludge riffs and melodic upticks breed-

ing a unique balance of sound that fills a void we didn’t know we had. Vocally, Brownotter and Stotts serve up low pitched lyrical screaming that gives off a spiteful spirit that you can’t help but shout back to, once you’ve learned the words.

Theater of War is not only a culmination of Khasm’s career to this point, but also a representation of Vegas. The brutal opening track “Galvanized” features members of local band Thousand Wayz 2 Die on vocals, and Dustin Shaw, founder of Blackpath Booking, sings a part on “Contra.” Stotts says, “There’s a lot of Vegas love on the record because we always have to represent—especially since we travel more, we make sure to put on for Vegas wherever we are.”

Khasm is scheduled to take the new bangers on the road this summer, and to kick off the run, they band is giving local fans the first taste at Eagle Aerie Hall on June 19, alongside LA’s Pull Your Card, Thousand Wayz 2 Die, Scrutiny and Blush Hour. This gig is not only guaranteed to rouse the moshers but will also be marking a new chapter for Khasm’s growing presence in hardcore.

THE STRIP

Interactive show Particle Ink reinvents itself at Luxor

BY GEOFF CARTER

When Particle Ink: Speed of Dark opened in an Arts District warehouse in spring 2022, it was with the caveat that its run would end in the fall. “Dawn goes down to day/Nothing gold can stay,” as the poet Robert Frost wrote. Knowing beforehand that this imaginative collage of projection-mapped animation, laser light effects, augmented reality, puppetry, dance, acrobatics and performance would simply disappear after a time put a melancholy shade on the experience. Visitors wanted to linger in that portal to the “2.5th dimension” for as long as they possibly could.

They needn’t have fretted. From the beginning, the producers of Speed of Dark—the“mixed reality” entertainment company Kaleidoco and Vegas-based visual art collective The Light Poets—envisioned the show as a first peek into an ever-expanding Particle Ink universe. Now that portal has reopened, this time at Luxor, with Particle Ink: House of Shattered Prisms. And while the producers, granted an unlimited run and much more space, have made some thematic and storytelling changes to the Particle Ink experience, they’ve held onto what made the original show so dazzling: The superb visual surprises waiting in every new room and every unexplored corner.

The basic notes of the story remain intact. Over the course of an hour, and through the show’s variety pack of story-

PARTICLE INK: HOUSE OF SHATTERED PRISMS

Thursday-Sunday, 7 & 9:30 p.m., Monday & Wednesday, 7 p.m., $65. “Wanderlust” daily, 11 a.m.-5 p.m., $25. Luxor, particleink.com.

(Courtesy/Particle Ink)

telling mediums, a heartbroken artist struggles to mend his broken heart. He’s aided by “Lumins,” light creatures who materialize and vanish through walls and objects, and menaced by “Ink,” a black-robed acrobat who sometimes appears on stilts. The story is narrated by a hand puppet who’s carried around, so to speak, by a mystery figure with a top hat for a head… Look, to be completely honest with you, I’ve had trouble following the story at both Particle Ink installations, even though it’s both narrated by that puppet and literally spelled out on the walls. House of Shattered Prisms is at once both fairy-tale direct and elaborately layered. But it moves briskly. Ushers and characters lead the audience from room to room, where they’ll find performers and technology working in close partnership. A performer emerges from a bathtub and performs some wild breakdance moves; a dancer with an umbrella twirls in a laser-light “rainstorm”; another performer falls into an alternate dimension via projected animation and some deft aerial work. The music, by multi-instrumentalist Sky White Tiger (Louis Schwadron), provides dreamy accompaniment to every unexplained event. Your senses are rarely left wanting for something to delight them. Smartly, this new manifestation of Particle Ink offers two experiences— the show I just (kind of) described and a daytime “Wanderlust” experience, which allows visitors to explore Particle Ink’s rooms and hallways for just $25. It’s a good way to interact with the show elements you may not have time to play with while following the Lumins around—in particular the hand mirrors, which are actually augmented reality viewers that place Particle Ink’s animations in real space. And the “spray paint” cans allow you to tag the walls with pure light and color.

A lot of talented people have poured their efforts into Particle Ink: House of Shattered Prisms, some of them originally from Cirque du Soleil productions or other large-scale interactive shows like New York’s Sleep No More. They’re the real heroes of Particle Ink: What happens when you give the world’s most expensive coloring book to artists who’ve spent their lives striving to color outside the lines? The answer is now at Luxor, and it’s ready for you to come in and make your mark.

ART

DESIGN DILEMMA

Digital artist

James Bousema on the trouble with AI and art

BY GABRIELA RODRIGUEZ

Art is the purest form of the human experience. It’s a reflection of how we grow, connect and see the world.

So what happens when a computer program tries to pass off its “art” as authentic? How deep are corporations willing to dig the hole of bogus media for the sake of frugality? And how can working artists stand against the expanding presence of artificial intelligence?

Local digital artist James Bousema has been questioning and navigating these issues as AI has become the new norm for working artists. “The storm of AI tech is here,” he says.

Bousema, a UNLV graduate with a degree in drawing and painting, has over a decade of professional experience and specializes in creating work influenced by fantasy, mysticism, horror and heavy metal. Now as a full-time freelancer, his client portfolio includes prominent names like the Las Vegas Raiders and Vegas Golden Knights, Magic: The Gathering and Harley-Davidson.

His unique digital drawing techniques give his work a natural feel that’s often mistaken for traditional art, making it highly sought-after—especially in the metal and underground scene. He’s created art for heavy hitting bands like Metallica, Municipal Waste, SpiritWorld and Exodus, to name a few.

“These programs are doing exactly what they were designed to do,” Bousema says, but the issue lies with the increasing prevalence of AI-generated imagery in entertainment and workplaces. The ease of creating instant art at a low cost is already having negative impacts on artists making a living from their craft.

“You’re going to see it everywhere from commercials to movies,” he notes, citing A24’s recent movie Civil War, which used AI art for its posters. Initially, viewers didn’t realize the promos were AI-generated until they noticed discrepancies in details—a sign that it’s becoming harder to distinguish human-made art from artificial

creations.

Bousema points out several tells for identifying AI-generated work, such as inconsistencies in hands, fingers and eyes, as well as mismatched reflections and illogical object placements. In the music scene, he’s also observed a surge in AI imagery on album covers, tour posters, and music videos. “Half the flyers I see for shows now are AI with some gritty filters over it,” he says.

Although frustrated with this trend, he understands the predicaments bands face, given the accessibility and affordability of AI art for promotional purposes. This leads to thinning job opportunities and a decline in quality.

“Thankfully, there’s been a lot of pushback in the underground scene,” says Bousema. “There’s an appreciation for realness and authenticity and AI art reeks of the exact opposite of that.”

When asked about the sustainability of these programs, Bousema admits they are here to stay.

“You can’t put the genie back in the lamp because ultimately, profit reigns supreme,” he says.

The lack of legislation around AI images, which can’t be copyrighted, complicates the situation. Artists are forced to sue over the use of their copyrighted work being used to train these programs, but the developing legal landscape remains challenging.

Bousema suggests AI technology should include opt-in and opt-out options for artists to control how their work is used in training these programs. He points out that there is potential for artists to earn residuals from their work this way.

Ultimately, Bousema remains hopeful. He believes that the desire for authenticity and ethical consumption among young people will preserve the appreciation for human-created art.

“I would a million times rather see a sh*tty flyer done by a kid who doesn’t know how to draw,” says Bousema. “Those human imperfections and that use of skills are unique to a person.”

Battle Worn by James Bousema. (Photos and art courtesy James Bousema)

FOR LOCALS, BY LOCALS

Social Station brings elevated comfort food to Henderson

BY BROCK RADKE

After opening a ashy ne-dining restaurant at the Fashion Show on the Las Vegas Strip with NFL legend Emmitt Smith, the Leverage Hospitality team decided to turn its attention to locals and one of its favorite neighborhoods.

The result is the new Social Station, a Henderson restaurant and bar at Eastern and Horizon Ridge focused on comfort food, seasonal

ingredients and warm service.

“We wanted it to be very casual, inexpensive, the kind of neighborhood restaurant where you go for a lunch meeting on a Tuesday, a date night on a Friday, and bring the kids on Sunday,” says Leverage founding partner Kelley Jones.

The company debuted Emmitt’s, a new American steakhouse, shortly after the Super Bowl and

that project is attracting halfand-half locals and tourists, Jones says. Emmitt’s is completing construction of its second- oor beer garden and plans to open that part of the experience soon.

The 2,500-square-foot Social Station takes a di erent direction, one better suited for Henderson diners. “I don’t know if the Valley was ready 12 or 15 years ago for that more curated restaurant experience, because everything was dominated by chains,” Jones says. “If you go up and down the Eastern

Avenue corridor where we are, there’s still a lot of chains and lots of di erent ethnic cuisine.

“We wanted to create an American comfort-food restaurant. Our menu was developed by asking people, ‘what’s your go-to comfort food?’”

The answers were not surprising, but the creativity applied to those popular dishes at Social Station has resulted in a large number of returning guests in the eatery’s opening weeks. Reuben egg rolls ($9) transform the sandwich

The Hangover Burger at Social Station (Courtesy/Social Station & Cocktails)

favorite into a crispy, craveable appetizer. The carrot hummus with lamb sausage ($15), served with pita and topped with sumac and feta cheese, evolves a familiar dipand-nosh experience.

Top-selling entrees include: Beef Bourguignon ($23), a gussied-up beef stew with a flavor boost from bacon; crispy pork ribs ($22) with mac and cheese and green beans; and pan-roasted salmon ($25).

Jones notes the most expensive dish on the menu is the New York strip steak frites ($27).

FOOD & DRINK

A meze platter from Ortikia (Courtesy/Jeff Green)

DINING & DRINKING NOTES

Ortikia opens, 1228 Main teaches baking and more Vegas food and beverage updates

SOCIAL STATION

10624 S. Eastern Ave. Suite S, 702-816-2124, socialstationlv.com.

Monday-Thursday, 11:30 a.m.-9 p.m.; Friday, 11:30 a.m.-10 p.m.; Saturday, 10 a.m.-10 p.m.; Sunday, 10 a.m.-9 p.m.

Sandwiches and salads round things out for lunch and dinner, and the brunch menu offers vanilla French toast with blackberry compote ($11), steak and eggs with crispy hash browns ($26), and a caprese frittata ($14), plus much more.

“We envisioned a modern-day Cheers, bringing true hospitality and warm, personal, engaging service back to Las Vegas,” Jones says. “We’ve already got people who’ve been there multiple times. We’re starting to see regulars and we want them to know us by name.”

 One of our favorite F&B lists, the annual Esquire Best Bars in America piece recognizes two local watering holes this year: Collins at the Fontainebleau and Downtown’s Liquid Diet Cheers! And leave that tab open.

Titan Brands Hospitality Group has opened the Valley’s third Hussong’s Mexican Cantina in Henderson at 3440 St. Rose Parkway.

Green Valley Ranch Resort has opened Ortikia Mediterranean Grill, a new concept from Blue Ribbon Restaurants. The menu offers salt-baked and grilled seafood, rotisserie meats and vegetables, a crudo bar and Greek-inspired appetizers. It’s open Sunday through Thursday 5-10 p.m., and Friday and Saturday 5-11 p.m.

Ayya Hospitality’s Mexican restaurant Siempre, J.B. is set to open at UnCommons on July 3. Ayya’s concepts include Pine Bistro and Crust & Roux, and the company recently appointed former Wynn Las Vegas chef Min Kim as partner and head of food and beverage and global expansion.

Venetian is set to open the

third location of California cuisine concept Gjelina, a staple of Venice Beach, later this year. The resort also recently announced Michelin-starred Korean steakhouse Cote will open its first West Coast concept next year in the Waterfall Atrium area.

Celeb baker and chef Buddy Valastro will expand with Buddy V’s Pizzeria at the Forum Food Hall at Caesars Palace, slicing it up this summer.

1228 Main in the Arts District has launched bread-baking classes led by head baker Noel Rosello, hour-long sessions at 3 p.m. on select Wednesdays running into September. The $60 ticket includes wine, snacks, a Q&A, recipe card and a small container of sourdough starter. Reservations can be made at 1228mainlv.com/ food-series

La Cave Wine & Food Hideaway at Wynn has closed for a remodel and is scheduled to reopen in late summer.

And speaking of late summer, save the date: PT’s Taverns annual Chicken Wing Eating Contest returns on August 4. –Brock Radke

Raiders putting a lot of trust in Antonio Pierce protégé Jack Jones going into next season

BY CASE KEEFER

Several Raiders players came out publicly in support of then-interim head Antonio Pierce in the two weeks after the end of last season while team owner Mark Davis conducted a search for the next permanent coach.

Cornerback Jack Jones was not among them. That was mostly because the 26-year-old Jones had already repeatedly made his admiration for Pierce known ever since joining the Raiders last November, but also because he could barely bear to think about it.

That’s how badly Jones hoped Pierce would remain in Las Vegas.

“I’m going to be honest, it was nerve-wracking for me,” Jones said after a recent practice. “It was like, ‘Man, I hope.’ I was praying.”

Prayers answered.

Davis’ decision to remove Pierce’s interim tag meant Jones would work under Pierce’s tutelage for a virtually unprecedented seventh season encompassing his high school, college and professional careers.

Pierce famously coached Jones for two years at Long Beach Poly High School before recruiting him to Arizona State and then pushing the Raiders to claim him off waivers late last season.

Keeping Pierce always looked like the route to Jones earning the biggest possible share of opportunities heading into next year, and this offseason put an exclamation mark on that belief.

Despite expectations and rumors to the contrary, the Raiders neither selected a highly rated defensive back in the NFL Draft nor signed an established veteran in free agency. That leaves Jones as their bona fide No. 1 cornerback headed into training camp in late July in Costa Mesa, California. It also makes him one of the most important players on the roster, a highly unusual role for a player to find himself in just months after getting released by his original team, the New England Patriots.

Jones flashed potential with the Patriots after being taken in the fourth round of the 2022 NFL Draft, but his tenure was dotted with off-the-field incidents, including most notably an arrest on weapons charges at Boston’s Logan Airport last offseason.

“We want to have some consistency of things and we’re trying to iron Jackie out a little bit all the time,” said Raiders assistant head coach Marvin Lewis, who also worked with Jones at Arizona State. “He’s a very talented player, and I’ve had the pleasure to tell him, ‘Jack, it’s been five years now. Let’s move on, let’s get this moved to step B. We’re still on step A.’ He has a knack for making football plays, but I think it’s just still in the process of learning to be a pro day in and day out.”

The Raiders recently wrapped up the early portion/first month of its allotted practice schedule with mandatory minicamp from June 11-13 at their Henderson headquarters, where Jones was routinely one of the most attention-grabbing players.

Las Vegas’ defense mostly outperformed its offense during portions open to the media, and the unit wasn’t shy about its success. Jones was one of the loudest and liveliest defenders celebrating big plays, from his own pass break-ups to would-be sacks from the likes of edge rushers Maxx Crosby and Malcolm Koonce, if contact was permitted.

“Man, Jack’s a character, I love it,” new cornerbacks coach Ricky Manning Jr. said. “It’s funny because my wife and I always discuss this—he kind of looks like Nick Cannon to me. Everybody loves Nick Cannon, right? And Jack Jones, everybody loves him. He’s a good character guy, hungry, but he believes in second chances and being able to be here and have people that care about you.”

Splash plays and their ensuing swagger endeared Jones to the Raiders’ fan base immediately last year.

He had interceptions returned for touchdowns in back-to-back games,

first in a record-breaking 63-21 thrashing of the LA Chargers, and then a shocking Christmas Day upset of the Kansas City Chiefs when he jumped a ball thrown by Patrick Mahomes.

Lewis has no doubt more big moments like that will come this season, but he’s more concerned about how Jones will respond to them. The play after the highlights were an issue last year, according to Lewis, as Jones would lose focus.

Lewis used one example in a Week 18 win against Denver, when Jones broke up a pass in the end zone on one play and then “didn’t move,” the next.

That’s the type of lapse that can’t be tolerated from a team’s top cornerback. The Raiders technically have another cornerback every bit as skilled and important as Jones, fourth-year veteran Nate Hobbs, but he’s established and at his best playing in the slot.

That means Jones will often have the most challenging assignments on the outside, and will also be tasked with helping along the likes of up-andcoming cornerbacks like second-year player Jakorian Bennett and rookie Decamerion Richardson.

Barring a late free agent addition, Bennett and Richardson will compete with veteran Brandon Facyson for the third starting cornerback spot, on the outside opposite of Jones.

“I’ve always looked at myself as a leader from high school all the way up,” Jones said. “I felt like I had some guys, some players looking up to me that I’m taking under my wing. So, as far as me stepping into that role, it’s not big for me, it’s just regular.”

Jones has stood out at every stop where he’s been coached by Pierce, emerging as one of the top high school recruits in the country and then turning into an All Pac-12 player at Arizona State.

He doesn’t see any reason why the NFL would be any different. Jones plans to repay Pierce’s and the Raiders’ confidence in him in a big way this season.

“I believe I’m a premier corner already,” Jones said. “I’m not really concerned about what (the media) say, respectfully. I just go out there and ball.”

A LETTER FROM OUR EDITOR

Lawyers are critical aids in many of life’s most di cult and complicated challenges. Whether a person is experiencing changes in family dynamics, settling a housing dispute, su ering from a serious injury, managing a business or facing any other trying circumstance, it is very important to have trusted legal representation.

Knowing that there are so many lawyers to choose from in Southern Nevada, we have created this list as a starting point for anyone seeking an advocate for their speci c needs. Every year we send a survey to thousands of practicing lawyers in Clark County to seek their recommendations. Each of the attorneys on this list was nominated by peers in the industry and then checked by our sta to ensure that he or she is in good standing with the Nevada State Bar.

The result is the 2024 Top Lawyers list, organized by areas of law. This catalog details some of the most exceptional and prominent lawyers in the region.

Thank you to all the attorneys who spent valuable time to nominate and honor their colleagues. We recognize this contribution to the community and extend our heartfelt appreciation for your help in honoring these Top Lawyers.

We would also like to express our gratitude to the lawyers on this list for the years of education and experience they bring to their representation of the individuals and businesses in Southern Nevada.

It is the hope of our team at Vegas Inc that anyone in need of justice and fair representation can use this publication as a resource to nd a trusted ally for any legal need.

Sierra Smart Special Publications Editor

Appellate

Kelly Dove Snell & Wilmer 702-784-5200 swlaw.com

John A. Fortin

McDonald Carano, LLP 702-873-4100 mcdonaldcarano.com

Pat Lundvall

McDonald Carano, LLP 702-873-4100 mcdonaldcarano.com

Abraham Smith Lewis Roca 702-949-8200 lewisroca.com

Eric Walther Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck, LLP 702-382-2101 bhfs.com

Bankruptcy

Ogonna Brown Lewis Roca 702-949-8200 lewisroca.com

Blakeley Griffith Snell & Wilmer 702-784-5200 swlaw.com

Ryan Works McDonald Carano, LLP 702-873-4100 mcdonaldcarano.com

Business Litigation

Emily Dyer Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck, LLP 702-382-2101 bhfs.com

Frank Flansburg Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck, LLP 702-382-2101 bhfs.com

John A. Fortin

McDonald Carano, LLP 702-873-4100 mcdonaldcarano.com

Alex Fugazzi Snell & Wilmer 702-784-5200 swlaw.com

Pat Lundvall

McDonald Carano, LLP 702-873-4100 mcdonaldcarano.com

Robert McCoy Kaempfer Crowell 702-792-7000 kcnvlaw.com

Patrick C. McDonnell Michaelson Law 702-550-7611 michaelsonlaw.com

Dan Waite Lewis Roca 702-949-8200 lewisroca.com

TOP LAWYERS 2024

Cannabis

Charles Gianelloni Snell & Wilmer 702-784-5200 swlaw.com

Dennis Gutwald McDonald Carano, LLP 702-873-4100 mcdonaldcarano.com

Briana Martinez Kaempfer Crowell 702-792-7000 kcnvlaw.com

Civil Rights

John A. Fortin McDonald Carano, LLP 702-873-4100 mcdonaldcarano.com

Andréa Vieira The Vieira Firm 702-820-5853 thevieirafirm.com

Construction

George Ogilvie McDonald Carano, LLP 702-873-4100 mcdonaldcarano.com

Consumer Protection

J. Christopher Jorgensen Lewis Roca 702-949-8200 lewisroca.com

Patrick Reilly Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck, LLP 702-382-2101 bhfs.com

Sophia Romero Maier Gutierrez & Associates 702-629-7900 mgalaw.com

Criminal

David Chesnoff Chesnoff and Schonfeld 702-384-5563 richschonfeld.com

Kendall S. Stone Pitaro & Fumo, Chtd 702-623-5185 fumolaw.com

Family

Jennifer Abrams The Abrams & Mayo Law Firm 702-222-4021 theabramslawfirm.com

Bob Dickerson The Dickerson Karacsonyi Law Group 702-388-8600 thedklawgroup.com

Elder

John Michaelson Michaelson Law

702-550-7611 michaelsonlaw.com

Ammon Francom Michaelson Law 702-550-7611 michaelsonlaw.com

Environmental

Robert E. McPeak Fennemore 702-692-8000 fennemorelaw.com

Josef Karacsonyi The Dickerson Karacsonyi Law Group 702-388-8600 thedklawgroup.com

Brandon Leavitt Leavitt Family Law Group 702-747-6984 leavittfamilylaw.com

Emily McFarling McFarling Law Group 702-766-6671 mcfarlinglaw.com

Neil M. Mullins Naimi Mullins Law Group 725-444-7185 naimilaw.com

Jason Naimi Naimi Mullins Law Group 725-444-7185 naimilaw.com

Amber Robinson Robinson Law Group 702-527-2625 familylawyerlasvegas.com

Gaming

P. Gregory Giordano McDonald Carano, LLP 702-873-4100 mcdonaldcarano.com

Dennis Gutwald McDonald Carano, LLP 702-873-4100 mcdonaldcarano.com

Glenn Light Lewis Roca 702-949-8200 lewisroca.com

Karl Rutledge Lewis Roca 702-949-8200 lewisroca.com

Scott Scherer Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck, LLP 702-382-2101 bhfs.com

Sonia Vermeys Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck, LLP 702-382-2101 bhfs.com

Insurance

John R. Bailey Bailey Kennedy, LLP 702-562-8820 baileykennedy.com

Jason H. Weinstock Law Office of Jason H. Weinstock, PLLC 702-699-5336 jhwlawoffice.com

Immigration

Margo Chernysheva MC Law Group 702-258-1093 immigrationlawnv.com

Jocelyn Cortez GWP Immigration Law 702-737-7717 gwp.law

Malani Dale Kotchka-Alanes Lewis Roca 702-949-8200 lewisroca.com

Alexander R. Vail Law Office of Alexander R. Vail 725-221-5998 vailimmigrationservices.com

Intellectual Property

Michael J. McCue Lewis Roca 702-949-8200 lewisroca.com

Lindsey Williams Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck, LLP 702-382-2101 bhfs.com

Meng Zhong Lewis Roca 702-949-8200 lewisroca.com

Labor and Employment

Daniel Aquino McDonald Carano, LLP 702-873-4100 mcdonaldcarano.com

Kristen Gallagher McDonald Carano, LLP 702-873-4100 mcdonaldcarano.com

Jennifer K. Hostetler Lewis Roca 702-949-8200 lewisroca.com

Swen Prior Snell & Wilmer 702-784-5200 swlaw.com

Personal Injury

Julia Armendariz

Panish Shea Ravipudi LLP 702-560-5520 panish.law

Brett Carter Bertoldo Carter Smith & Cullen 702-505-8115 nvlegaljustice.com

Sean Claggett Claggett & Sykes 702-957-1675 claggettlaw.com

Brice Crafton Deaver Crafton 702-385-5969 deavercrafton.com

Dawn Davis Snell & Wilmer 702-784-5200 swlaw.com

Steve Dimopoulos Dimopoulos Injury Law 702-473-1981 stevedimopoulos.com

Craig W. Drummond Drummond Law Firm 702-366-9966 drummondfirm.com

Joseph Gutierrez Maier Gutierrez & Associates 702-605-7576 mgalaw.com

Jonathan Hicks Hicks & Brasier 702-628-9888 lvattorneys.com

G. Dallas Horton

G. Dallas Horton & Associates 702-820-5917 gdallashortonandassociates.com

Neal K. Hyman

Law Offices of Neal Hyman 702-477-0042 nealhyman.com

Josef Karacsonyi The Dickerson Karacsonyi Law Group 702-388-8600 thedklawgroup.com

Ace Lakhani Ace Lakhani Law 702-814-4000 acelakhani.com

Dustin Marcello Pitaro & Fumo, Chtd 702-623-5185 fumolaw.com

Ian McMenemy McMenemy Holmes 702-874-4878 mcmenemyholmes.com

Jennifer Morales Claggett Sykes 702-957-1675 claggettlaw.com

Tim Mott Valiente Mott 702-919-6768 valientemott.com

Mike H. T. Nguyen Nguyen & Associates, LLC 702-999-8888 thenguyenlaw.com

Nick Pomponio Pomponio Injury Law 702-888-3887 pomponiolaw.com

Tyler Watson Schnitzer Johnson & Watson Chtd. 702-222-4183 sjwlawfirm.com

Waleed Zaman ZT Law Group 702-842-4242 ztlawgroup.com

Public Interest

Richard Scow Clark County District Attorney's Office 702-671-2525 clarkcountynv.gov

David Stoft Clark County Water Reclamation District 702-668-8888 cleanwaterteam.com

Tara Teegarden Clark County Water Reclamation District 702-668-8888 cleanwaterteam.com

James Urrutia LJU Law Firm 702-707-9433 thelju.com

Andréa Vieira The Vieira Firm 702-820-5853 thevieirafirm.com

Real Property

Andrew Gabriel

McDonald Carano, LLP

702-873-4100

mcdonaldcarano.com

Brooke Holmes

Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck, LLP

702-382-2101 bhfs.com

Rebecca Miltenberger

Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck, LLP

702-382-2101 bhfs.com

Christopher Molina

McDonald Carano, LLP

702-873-4100

mcdonaldcarano.com

Mandy Shavinsky

Snell & Wilmer

702-784-5200 swlaw.com

Jamie Thalgott

Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck, LLP

702-382-2101 bhfs.com

Securities

Maximilien Fetaz

Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck, LLP

702-382-2101 bhfs.com

Ellen Schulhofer

Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck, LLP

702-382-2101

bhfs.com

Tax

Cody Noble

McDonald Carano, LLP

702-873-4100 mcdonaldcarano.com

Scott Swain

McDonald Carano, LLP 702-873-4100 mcdonaldcarano.com

Estate/Probate

Martin Manke Michaelson Law 702-550-7611 michaelsonlaw.com

Cody Noble

McDonald Carano, LLP 702-873-4100 mcdonaldcarano.com

Scott Swain

McDonald Carano, LLP 702-873-4100 mcdonaldcarano.com

Michael Whittaker

McDonald Carano, LLP 702-873-4100 mcdonaldcarano.com

TOP LAWYERS PROFILE

Craig W. Drummond is a personal injury attorney based in Las Vegas. Drummond began his legal career as a Captain in the U.S. Army JAG Corps, where he served on active duty representing the United States in courtrooms around the globe. In 2007 he was deployed to Iraq, and then Captain Drummond was awarded with the Bronze Star Medal.

The Drummond Law Firm was established in 2010. Drummond Law Firm focuses on personal injury cases, providing legal representation to individuals who have been harmed in vehicle collisions, improper security cases and other incidents caused by the negligence or deliberate actions of another party. His military background led to his nickname "The Captain," inspiring the slogan CALL THE CAPTAIN®.

Craig W. Drummond's extensive experience includes several groundbreaking cases that have influenced legal standards in Nevada. Drummond's impressive history reflects his exceptional legal skills and e ectiveness in the courtroom by securing substantial settlements and verdicts for his clients.

If you need a strong advocate to represent you, Craig Drummond is the attorney you need. Contact THE CAPTAIN at 702-CAPTAIN or DrummondFirm.com

ILLEGAL GAMING HAS POTENTIAL TO PREY UPON A VARIETY OF VICTIMS

BY KATIE ANN MCCARVER VEGAS INC STAFF

Illegal gaming comes in many shapes and sizes, from offshore, online casinos and sportsbooks to unregulated slot machines and much more.

Chris Cylke, senior vice president of government relations at the American Gaming Association, said illegal gaming often lures users through brand recognition, generous promotions, better odds, the ability to gamble with cryptocurrency and more. Educating people on the risk of engaging with such illegal gaming, however, is a major part of combating it, he said.

“There’s a view by some that gambling is a victimless crime if you go with some of these operators, which is certainly not the case,” Cylke said. “In truth, people are putting themselves at risk by sending their personal financial information to an unregulated entity. There’s no transparency around where the money that goes to these sites ultimately ends up.”

As the legal gaming marketplace has matured, a key source of frustration is that operators who have invested in paying the proper taxes, obtaining the necessary licensing and jumping through other bureaucratic hoops are having to compete alongside an extremely robust illegal market, Cylke said.

A 2022 report from the association estimates that bets exceeding $510 billion with illegal and unregulated gaming operators cost their legal counterparts more than $44 billion in gaming revenue.

Since the rapid legalization of sports betting in a slew of jurisdictions nationwide, illegal sports betting has gone down considerably, Cylke said. Online casino gaming, or iGaming, is the biggest vertical for illegal gambling, with more than $337 billion changing hands, per the AGA’s report.

There’s a level of consumer education that needs to take place, Cylke emphasized.

“Most people will only … have heard that, ‘Hey, sports betting (or) iGaming was just legalized in my state,’” he said. “And so, when they go online to a search engine like Google and say, ‘Hey, I want to bet on sports,’ a lot of times, the results that they get from their query will direct them toward illegal sites.”

While some people may accidentally utilize illegal sites—which can be hard to differentiate from legal sites—others may choose offshore gaming because they don’t

want anyone to know what they’re doing, said Alan Feldman, director of strategic initiatives at the UNLV International Gaming Institute.

One of the biggest issues with illegal gaming is that there is absolutely no mandate for operators to incorporate consumer protections, he said. Another is that it’s harmful at the state level, taking tax revenues that should be funneled into the local economy through legal gaming and sending them offshore instead.

Per the association’s 2022 report, state governments lost $13.3 billion in tax revenue due to illegal and unregulated sports wagering.

“I’m hoping that, at the very least, every state with legalized gambling is going to acknowledge that they are being harmed by this,” Feldman said. “Forget what it’s doing to Draft Kings or MGM or anybody else. If … you have legal sports betting, then the whole idea of that is to generate tax monies to be used for the public good. Every dollar that goes offshore generates zero.”

Feldman emphasized the need for the implementation of technology and software that can identify and block illegal gaming online.

“Nevada is leading the way already on this,” he said of combating illegal gaming, pointing to examples like GeoComply, a Vancouver, Canada-based fraud detection company whose U.S. headquarters are in Las Vegas. “There are Nevada-based companies that are working with us at UNLV and on their own in trying to develop systems that can be put into place to make this all a smoother, more regulated environment.”

Despite legislative language that has directed the U.S. Department of Justice to make combating illegal gambling a priority—particularly offshore—Cylke said it’s disappointing there haven’t been more indictments and convictions of illegal gaming operations, or more robust efforts to shut down some of their sites.

“Our main thrust over the past couple years has been really prodding the Justice Department and the federal government to take a more aggressive stance toward the biggest online, offshore sportsbooks and casinos,” he said. “And we feel like we’re making progress, but we’re not going to be satisfied until we see indictments and other action being taken by the government.”

VEGAS INC NOTES

Henderson’s Department of Economic Development was recognized as an Accredited Economic Development Organization by the International Economic Development Council. It is one of only 81 organizations worldwide to earn this honor. In addition to leading to the team to this accreditation, director of economic development and tourism Jared Smith is also a Certified Economic Developer—a distinction achieved by only about 2% of economic developers in the country.

Kevin Murray, manager of housing and justice systems, community solutions for SilverSummit Healthplan, a wholly owned subsidiary of Centene Corporation, has been elected to serve as a board member for the Southern Nevada Homeless Continuum of Care. Murray leads SilverSummit’s justice and housing programs and has spearheaded several important initiatives, including partner-

WEIGHT LOSS PROGRAM SEMAGLUTIDE

ing with agencies like Las Vegas Rescue Mission and Salvation Army of Southern Nevada for emergency shelter collaborations. As a member of the board, he will contribute to the coordinated and regional approach in planning and providing services to combat homelessness and promote affordable housing solutions.

Select Health announced Jason Worthen as the new president for the Desert Region, overseeing operations in Southern Nevada. Worthen joined Select Health in November 2022 as Medicare assistant vice president, then served as vice president of government programs. As region president, he will be responsible for the development and execution of strategic initiatives across all aspects of Select Health’s activity in the health insurance market in the Desert Region. Prior to joining Select Health, Worthen served as the senior vice president for

Medicare programs nationally for Steward Health Care and as regional vice president at Steward Health Care.

Three attorneys at Pisanelli Bice —managing partner Debra Spinelli , partner Jordan Smith and associate Tyler Stevens —will receive the honor of inclusion in Nevada Business Magazine ’s 2024 list of Top Rank Attorneys, showcasing the top respected attorneys across Nevada, voted for inclusion by their peers.

Adam Bult will join Carrie Johnson as co-chair of Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck’s litigation department. Bult’s practice focuses on complex commercial and construction disputes handling high-stakes, complicated litigation matters. He is also a member of the firm’s PRIDE group as well as co-chair of the firm’s recently launched sober affinity group, Brownstein Pathways.

HELP WANTED

Barrick Gold of North America, Inc. seeks Analyst, Group Supply Chain in Henderson, NV to drive consolidated analysis of Barrick’s Global Supply Chain for perfrmnc mngmnt, strategy dvlpmnt & consolidated analysis. Req’s a Bach’s degree in Business, Statistics, Info Sci, Info Systems, or rltd field. Req’s 5 yrs of post-bach’s exp, which must incld some exp in specific skills. To apply, email resume to NGM_Hiring@nevadagoldmines.com