Las Vegas Hilton

Casino operator Park Place Entertainment Corp. said it agreed to sell the Las Vegas Hilton to Los Angeles real estate developer Ed Roski Jr. for $365 million in cash, receivables and assumed debt. Roski, president and chief executive of closely held Majestic Realty Co., will pay $300 million for the property and equipment and about $6 million for working capital, Park Place and Roski said in a statement.

Odds are, things could change in a hurry. Miami's Big Three might not look quite as formidable to Las Vegas bookmakers who have tabbed the Heat the early 2012 NBA title favorite if Chris Paul and Dwight Howard leave their respective teams. Paul, the New Orleans point guard purported to be on the trading block along with Orlando's Howard, appears to be in play for a handful of teams, including the Lakers and New York Knicks. "There's so many variables," TNT analyst Kenny Smith said when asked for his championship picks in a lockout-shortened season.

Victims of a 1981 fire that killed eight people and injured 198 others at the Las Vegas Hilton agreed Tuesday to a $22.8-million settlement from more than 40 defendants. Attorneys gathered before U.S. District Judge Paul Goldman to sign final papers guaranteeing the payment, minus attorney fees, to 109 plaintiffs. Six other people--security guards at the resort--settled separately for a total of $50,000.

The Las Vegas Hilton has a sweet special good through the end of the year: Rooms start at $49.95 for a midweek stay and come with such extras as drinks, breakfast and a discount on gift shop purchases. The deal: The Escape to Vegas package includes a room, two free cocktails at the hotel's Tempo Lounge, two free breakfast buffets, two free passes to the fitness center and a 15% discount in the hotel's gift shop. It's good for midweek stays; a two-night minimum is required.

A federal jury found Friday that the Las Vegas Hilton failed to provide adequate security at the 1991 Tailhook convention, and ordered the hotel chain to pay whistle-blower Paula Coughlin $1.7 million. Coughlin held her attorney's hand as the verdict was read. Her mother, sitting in the front row of the courtroom, wept. The jury determined that the hotel and the Hilton corporation acted with malice, so the panel will return Monday to deliberate punitive damages.

Entertainer Wayne Newton, who gave up $500,000 in pay to honor picket lines at the Las Vegas Hilton, was scheduled to return to the resort's stage Tuesday night to work the final week of a three-week engagement. The move comes after Newton tried unsuccessfully to get Musicians Local 369 and five Las Vegas resorts to settle a summer-long strike.

Newton Hospitalized: Singer Wayne Newton, 49, is in a Las Vegas hospital suffering from what a spokeswoman says is walking pneumonia. Newton checked himself into the unidentified hospital Monday afternoon, a day after finishing a monthlong engagement at the Las Vegas Hilton. He is expected to be released by Friday.

Hilton, Viacom Unit Plan Las Vegas Attraction: Hilton Hotels Corp. and the Viacom Inc. unit Paramount Parks will unveil plans Tuesday to build an entertainment attraction in Las Vegas. The joint project will be a permanent multimillion-dollar installation, adjacent to the Las Vegas Hilton, said Marc Grossman, Hilton's senior vice president. He declined further comment.

Los Angeles developer Ed Roski Jr. filed a lawsuit accusing Park Place Entertainment Corp. of bad faith after the casino operator said that Roski had failed to complete the purchase of its Las Vegas Hilton property. Roski agreed in July to buy the Las Vegas Hilton for $365 million. But Park Place Entertainment said it has halted efforts to sell the hotel-casino and "intends to pursue its legal remedies" because Roski missed a Saturday deadline to complete the acquisition.

Gamblers know going in that the bright lights, marble tile floors and hospitable employees in this city are paid for on the broken dreams of bettors. That's part of the pull that keeps them coming back -- the challenge of beating the Man. However, on Oct. 25, Week 7 of the NFL season, the corporate types running the mighty Las Vegas sports books found themselves trapped in the unpleasant reality many have experienced in Sin City -- paying out far more than planned and begging for mercy.

When the band Mosaic performed a showcase for fans and Vegas hospitality-industry insiders on a recent Saturday, its six members stood on the stage that probably every performer recalls as the one where Elvis spent his Vegas reign. "There used to be tables on the floor, and now there are rows of seats.

When you talk to insiders about what 2009 holds in store for Las Vegas, most answers are given a significant caveat: "All else being equal." Therein lies a problem: No one knows how Vegas will be able to return to business as usual, given the troubled economy and the debt and plunging stock values of the companies that own the tourist corridor's resorts.

Thousands of fans of the "Star Trek" movie and television franchise are converging on Las Vegas to send off the 10-year-old attraction Star Trek: The Experience, which closes Monday with a decommissioning ceremony. The Las Vegas Hilton attraction has drawn more than 3 million visitors since it opened in 1998, a spokesman said. It offers a place to inhabit all six versions of a TV franchise that spanned almost four decades and spawned 10 movies. The attraction's owner, Cedar Fair Entertainment Co., and the Hilton, its landlord, couldn't agree on terms for a new lease.

No matter how hard the casinos try, you won't get a live-action stadium experience watching pro football games in Las Vegas: no collective sigh of relief when the opposing team shanks a field goal in overtime; no tidal waves of joy when the home team snags an interception; no leggy cheerleaders (usually). Not to worry.

Kitchen workers and bartenders are scheduled to vote today on a tentative contract with the Las Vegas Hilton hotel-casino, according to union officials. The agreement with about 1,800 members of Culinary Workers Union Local 226 and Bartenders Union Local 165 is the latest in a series of contracts negotiated with Las Vegas Strip employers since the previous accord expired June 1.

SEPTEMBER Sept. 16-19: Dennis Miller, Desert Inn. Sept. 17-18: Carlos Mencia and George Lopez, Riviera. Sept. 19-26: The Righteous Brothers, Orleans. Sept. 21: Larry Gatlin, Mirage. Sept. 21: Collective Soul, House of Blues. Sept. 22: The Radiators, House of Blues. Sept. 23-26: Legends of Motown--Temptations, Freda Payne/the Marvelettes, Caesars Palace. Sept. 24: David Sanborn, House of Blues. Sept. 24: Loretta Lynn, Texas Station. Sept.

SHOPPING for that perfect G-string? Seeking the definitive NBA tipsheet -- or a zebra-striped chaise longue shaped like a platform shoe? Maybe so, maybe not. But isn't it great to know there is a town where all these things can be found at the drop of a feather boa? Ditto for the shopper whose tastes run toward the more conservative. Say you're in the market for his-and-her four-wheelers with attached gun racks, or a personal recording of Barry Manilow cover tunes featuring ... you.

To hear Mayor Oscar Goodman tell it, this city of extravagance has everything: the best hotels, the best entertainment, the best retail shopping, the most spectacular events. But the one sign of a major league city that it lacks is, well, a major league team. The mayor wants to fix that -- and he thinks playing host to Sunday's National Basketball Assn. All-Star game will help his city's case. The NBA has never played its showcase game in a city without an NBA team.