For those who have been following the saga of the wonderful Huntridge Theater building I have good news.

As many of you know, I have been working with the Save the Huntridge Steering Committee which includes Brian Paco Alvarez, Jack LeVine and Pam Hartley.  Over the last few months we have been working with Eli Mizrachi, the owner of the building, in  attempts to find a solution to saving the building.

Eil visited Southern California where there are a number of old movie theaters that have been saved and undergone adaptive re-use.  When he returned to Las Vegas he was inspired by what he saw and began working with an architect on new plans. 

We met with Eli earlier this summer and he showed us the plans.  They are wonderful and we encouraged him to have a public unveiling so that he could begin to build support for the project.

Well, that part of the puzzle is becoming a reality. 

On Wednesday, August. 13th at Rainbow's End, 1100 E. Sahara Avenue, Eli will unveil the plans.  From 6:30 - 8:00 pm, the public and the press can stop by, see the plans and learn more about how this wonderful building can be saved.

So, if you love this building, we hope to see you there!

Late Breaking news,

State Senator Dina Titus will be joining our panel this evening on the history of Atomic Testing in Southern Nevada!

This will be an incredible evening of history told by those who were here and witnessed it.

Don't miss:

 

In the Shadow of the Bomb

Thursday, August 7th

Las Vegas Springs Preserve


We look back at the years of nuclear testing at the Nevada Test Site with nuclear scientists and workers as well as those who watched the early morning blasts from Las Vegas.

An engrossing evening of history and memories from two men who worked at the Nevada Test Site, scientists  Al O'Donnell and Roger Staley.

Sen. Richard Bryan was a young teenager growing up in Las Vegas during the above ground testing years and he will talk about waking up in the early morning hours to experience the detonations.

Nate Schwartz owned a bar "Prospector's Headquarters" that was a supply store  for uranium miners.

So come and learn about the history of above-ground testing and living in the shadow of the bomb.

Thursday, August 7th
Las Vegas Springs Preserve

7:00 pm

$12 admission

We hope to see you there!

According to the Las Vegas Review Journal:

Robert Maheu, long known as the right-hand man to Howard Hughes, has died. He was 90.

Maheu died Monday night after an undisclosed illness, a spokeswoman for his oldest son said.

From the Las Vegas Sun:

Robert Maheu, the longtime confidant of Howard Hughes, has died at age 91.

Maheu, a former FBI agent, served as Hughes' right-hand man and alter ego for 13 years. Maheu moved to Las Vegas from Los Angeles in 1966 when Hughes relocated to the top floor of the Desert Inn, which Hughes purchased when hotel management asked him to leave that year in time for New Year's Eve crowds.

“We weren’t gambling and we were tying up their best rooms — they were justified in trying to kick us out,” Maheu recalled in a 2004 interview with the Las Vegas Sun.

Maheu was born in Waterville, Maine, in 1918. After graduating from the College of the Holy Cross in Worcester, Mass., in 1950, he joined the Federal Bureau of Investigation. During World War II he posed as a German sympathizer.

In 1947, Maheu established his own investigative company. He also worked for the Central Intelligence Agency. He later admitted: "The CIA was my first steady client, giving me 'cut-out' assignments (those jobs in which the agency could not officially be involved)." This work brought him into contact with Howard Hughes, and in the late 1950s Maheu worked for him on a freelance basis. This included intimidating would-be blackmailers and obtaining information on business rivals.

Maheu began full-time work for Howard Hughes in 1966. He moved to Las Vegas, where he ran Hughes's casinos. Maheu explained later what his role was in the operation: "When he came here, he wanted to tie up all the property on the Strip to develop it properly. He didn't want it to be honky-tonk or like Coney Island. Hughes was a catalyst in the city cleaning up its act."

After losing his job with Howard Hughes in 1970, Maheu established a new company in Las Vegas called Robert A. Maheu and Associates. In 1993 Maheu published the book, "Next to Hughes," an autobiography written with Richard Hack.

In 13 years serving with Hughes, where he held the billionaire's power of attorney and spoke on Hughes' behalf for all public purposes, Maheu saw Hughes two times.

Maheu had battled cancer and heart problems. He would have turned 92 in October.

From the Las Vegas Sun this morning comes this sad news:

Whenever Dunes Hotel show producer Frederic Apcar returned to Europe to visit friends, he always called Las Vegas home.

“My dad always joked that he wanted to be cremated and have his ashes scattered over the Las Vegas Strip,” Frederic Apcar Jr. said.

The son was called home to Las Vegas from Panama, where he was producing a show, because his father had suffered two heart attacks. When he walked into the hospital room Friday, his father recognized him, Frederic Jr. said Sunday. “He saw me, he got excited, and then the next day he gave up.”

Frederic Apcar Sr. died Saturday. He was 93.

Funeral services have not been scheduled, according to Palm Mortuary.

When Dunes Hotel owner Major Riddle wanted to bring a touch of class to the Strip in the 1960s, he approached Apcar, a famous Parisian dancer, to produce a French extravaganza in Las Vegas.

Riddle saw Apcar and his wife, Florence, dancing in the “Folies Bergere” production in Paris and brought them to Las Vegas. Apcar persuaded Line Renaud, star of “Casino de Paris,” to move to Las Vegas. But first they had to convince Henri Varna, the show’s Parisian producer, that it was the right move.

After the 84-year-old Varna won three consecutive jackpots — on a nickel, a dime and a quarter — he agreed to allow Apcar to open a production of “Casino de Paris” at the Dunes in Las Vegas on Dec. 23, 1963, Apcar Jr. said. The show made Renaud an international star and Apcar a fixture on the Las Vegas Strip.

Before mounting a French spectacular in the main showroom, however, Riddle tested Apcar’s production abilities. Apcar opened “Vive Les Girls” in the Parisian Room at the Dunes in 1961, and it became one of the longest running shows on the Strip.

After he began dancing and producing spectacular stage shows in Las Vegas, including “Bare Touch of Las Vegas,” “Hot Streak” and “Showbiz,” Apcar spent the rest of his life here.

In 2006 Apcar received a lifetime achievement award from the Nevada Entertainer/Artist Hall of Fame at UNLV.

Born on Sept. 16, 1914, in Paris, Apcar began working at age 12 to earn enough money to follow his dream of performing; he worked on docks, as a coal stoker and as a bartender’s assistant. At 16, he became a chorus boy in the “Folies Bergere” in Paris. He graduated from College Jules-Ferry in Paris.

In addition to his son, Frederic, Apcar is survived by his second wife, Olga, and a daughter, Elisabeth, also of Las Vegas.

For more on the history of the Dunes and Apcar click here

In the Shadow of the Bomb

Thursday, August 7th

Las Vegas Springs Preserve


We look back at the years of nuclear testing at the Nevada Test Site with nuclear scientists and workers as well as those who watched the early morning blasts from Las Vegas.

An engrossing evening of history and memories from two men who worked at the Nevada Test Site, scientists  Al O'Donnell and Roger Staley.

Sen. Richard Bryan was a young teenager growing up in Las Vegas during the above ground testing years and he will talk about waking up in the early morning hours to experience the detonations.

Nate Schwartz owned a bar "Prospector's Headquarters" that was a supply store  for uranium miners.

So come and learn about the history of above-ground testing and living in the shadow of the bomb.

Thursday, August 7th
Las Vegas Springs Preserve

7:00 pm

$12 admission

We hope to see you there!