Las Vegas Nv

This city may seem like a circus in its own right, but to performers who specialize in impossible contortions and riding silk ropes while defying gravity, Las Vegas is the epicenter of reckless courage and derring-do.

A tiger attacked magician Roy Horn in the middle of a Friday night performance of "Siegfried & Roy" at the Mirage hotel and casino in Las Vegas, authorities said. Horn, who turned 59 on Friday, was reported in critical condition at University Medical Center, where he was admitted into surgery. "The tiger went for his neck, then drug him offstage," said Andy Cushman, who was in the audience for the 7:30 p.m. performance. "He looked like a rag doll."

Don't get me wrong. I like gambling and the crazy night life of Las Vegas. But I have a limited appetite for losing money in smoke-filled casinos. So when a friend mentioned skiing just a short drive from Las Vegas, aside from the curiosity of schussing down a mountain in the middle of the desert, it seemed like the perfect complement to the cacophony of the Strip. Ski Vegas, a slightly different take on the surf-'n'-turf vacation.

FBI agents burst into Jaguars -- an upscale "gentleman's club" a couple of blocks off the Strip -- just as the shift was changing in the early afternoon and the strippers were in their dressing room getting ready for the next performance. Hearing the commotion outside his office and fearing a fight had broken out in the lounge, the club manager jumped to his feet, threw open the door -- and found two agents pointing guns at him.

This was the end of Martina Bauhaus' job interview for one of the most sought-after positions in town: She put on black velvet high-cut briefs and a tight, low-cut bustier. When her name was called, she walked out of the fitting room to pose in front of a mirror--and half a dozen silent, staring men who measured her up like cattlemen at a livestock auction. She didn't get the job. "Maybe," said the slender 28-year-old, "they didn't like my body in their outfit."

If you've never spent a winter in Las Vegas, you'd think that the only time it got cold was when you were standing directly under an air vent. Yet there really is a time when travelers can bring a jacket to Vegas and wear it -- outside. Would you expect it to be at a frozen lake in the desert though? Vegas can be over-the-top weird, but come on, a frozen pond?

I never have liked to gamble. I'd rather squander money on something tangible. So when I go to Las Vegas, I spend as little time as possible in the casinos. But I like the hotels, and I like the glitter of the Strip. And I like the roller coasters. There's also a fine dam view nearby. With a double upgrade coupon from an Avis ad, I was able to rent a premium car for the trip for the price of an intermediate. Toss in the weekend rate and it cost $134.

AFTER years of fantasizing about eloping in Las Vegas and then years of driving by the little chapels in town, I realized my lifelong dream of exchanging vows in a Sin City chapel wasn't so appealing. Why? Because most of the chapels advertised on the Internet are on the very northern end, or seedier side, of the Strip.

If the allegations against Elizabeth Halverson are true, then the judge often handled her staff with the temperament of a toddler. Her former bailiff said he was forced to heat and serve her lunch, check the temperature of her ice water, brush lint from her robe, help her put on her shoes, massage her neck and cover her with a blanket before her nap. An assistant said Halverson, of the 8th Judicial District Court, made her answer questions -- under oath -- about courthouse gossip.