Kimo’s Vegas

WELCOME TO Kimo’s Vegas … The Player’s Edge!

THESE BOOTS ARE MADE FOR … a parade? On Jan. 14, the Miss America contestants will show off their state-themed shoes in a walking parade outside the Paris Las Vegas’s Arc de Triomphe. The parade is an old Miss America tradition that began when the Misses used to ride in convertibles wearing comfortable shoes that didn’t match their gowns. After some heckling from the crowd … the rest, as they say, is history. Miss America will give up her crown the following day at the Planet Hollywood.

GET THAT NEW casino smell Dec. 15 when the Cosmopolitan, the newest addition to the Vegas skyline, opens featuring a 100,000-square-foot casino. Inside, check out the “gambling cabanas” complete with couches and credenzas. Commemorate your visit by hitting the Art-o-Mat (old cigarette) machines that dispense small works of art for $5.

THE FUTURE of the high-class Harmon Hotel is still up in the air. The yet-to-be-completed City Center hotel is being examined for safety. One of the possible scenarios is tearing it down and starting all over again.

NEW VEGAS VERBIAGE: “see-through casino” … That’s what Steve Wynn is calling the unfinished projects on the Strip.

Regulators have no rules about unfinished structures, but that may not stop the billionaire from suing over the visual blight.

WE’VE ALL SEEN those huge signs that cover the side of casinos such as the Rio, Luxor and Tropicana. Vegas lawmakers are considering regulations to limit the signs, known as wraps. Guess we weren’t the only folks to notice the oxymoron of a city that prides its architecture only to cover it with advertising. However, people have been known to request a room in Donny or Marie’s smile at the Flamingo.

CONGRATS TO everyone who joined the fun at last month’s “All Hawaii Class of ’58’s 70th Birthday Celebration” in Las Vegas.

THE RULE OF THREE … For the third time in three years, McCarran International Airport reported a passenger-count increase. Let’s hope that rule gets broken a little sooner.

MORE SIGNS … For the first time in five years, the unemployment rate in Las Vegas has declined.

A COUPLE OF MONTHS AGO, Paris Hilton got caught in L.A. and Las Vegas with some powder … not the face kine, but the kine you pu in sai your nose. She pleaded guilty and was issued a suspended sentenced, a fine and mandatory community service. True to form, the heiress began her civic duty wearing a yellow T-shirt with “Hollywood Los Angeles Beautification Team” on the back, red designer shades and black stilettos.

THE WEATHER WISE GUYS are saying “The weather outside is frightful …” They are predicting record low temps earlier than normal this year. Ya gotta love Vegas in the winter.

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