Fat Herbie’s rise and fall

Second of two parts. Part One looks at Herbie Blitzstein’s murder twenty years ago. Herbert “Fat Herbie” Blitzstein was born…


A late Mob hit in Las Vegas

First of two parts. Part Two looks at Blitzstein’s criminal activity in Las Vegas. By the mid-1990s, death had claimed…


Castro revolution had major effect on Las Vegas

This is the third of three blogs on the death of Fidel Castro. Part one looks at the harsh blow Castro dealt…


Howard Hughes and nuclear testing

When the reclusive billionaire Howard Hughes arrived in Las Vegas 50 years ago this month and took up residence on…


What Moe Dalitz didn’t say to Kefauver

“Well, I didn’t inherit any money, Senator. … If you hadn’t have drunk it, I wouldn’t have bootlegged it.” Many…


Gangster-built Golden Nugget turns 70

By the late summer of 1946, Guy McAfee was the best-known big shot in Las Vegas. McAfee, 58, had spent…


Fifty years ago, Jay Sarno opened Caesars Palace and changed the face of Las Vegas

When hotel developer Jay Sarno unwrapped his innovative Caesars Palace hotel-casino for a prolonged grand opening party on August 5,…


Virginia Hill: ‘Queen of the Mob’ was no one’s pushover

Third in a series of profiles for Women’s History Month. On March 24, 1966, passersby walking on a footpath beside…


Did Frank Matthews get away with it?

Written: February 3, 2016 It was the first week of January 1973. Frank Matthews and his young girlfriend had just…


Slaying of singer Barbara McNair’s Mob-connected husband in Las Vegas remains a mystery since 1976

Who killed Rick Manzie, husband of popular singer and actress Barbara McNair, in the couple’s Las Vegas home 39 years…