Yes, but is there anything wrong with the governor of Nevada honoring “clitoral resources”?
Restaurateur Guy Fieri has made a career of promoting questionable eating habits, shall we say. So it’s only appropriate that he occupies pride of place at Linq. Sitting right on the Strip, Guy Fieri’s Vegas Kitchen & Bar will presumably offer much the same kind of cuisine that got Fieri roasted but good in the pages of the New York Times. After all, celebrity chefs don’t conjure up brand-new concepts for Las Vegas when they can import what worked for them somewhere else. In Fieri’s case, the kind of of cardio-destruct “comfort” food he promotes has become synonymous with Vegas, so putting him front and center just makes sense, from both a symbolic and business standpoint.
It won’t exactly make a Profile in Courage. Kansas Gov. Sam Brownback permitted a bill easing certain casino hurdles to become law. He didn’t append his John Hancock, however, citing “reservations about state ownership of casinos in general.” (Kansas’ casinos are wards of the state lottery board.) At the center of the legislation is a casino site in the southeast portion of the state for which Kansas’ government has been unable to find any takers. After years of futility they’re lowering the mandatory capital investment to $50 million and the upfront fee to $5.5 million, from $225 million and $25 million, respectively. The 22% tax rate stays in place, however.
It will be interesting to see if the lowered cost of entry brings back Penn National Gaming. The latter had been awarded the casino license in 2008 but abandoned its plans, scared off by a tribal casino across the road, just inside Oklahoma. Penn had a difficult relationship with the Kansas Lottery Board for a while, but the passage of time — and Penn’s successful stewardship of a casino at the Kansas Speedway — may bring with it a newfound amity.
With a great location right on the Strip I think Guy Fieri’s restaurant should do real well. It seems like every time I turn on the Food Network his show Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives is on, so this free publicity should also help.