John Katsilometes on a star-studded event of a different sort celebrated over the weekend in Las Vegas

Monday, Feb. 19, 2007 | 7:29 a.m.

Stars abounded in Las Vegas over the weekend, among them Shaquille O'Neal, Kobe Bryant, Dwayne Wade and Jack Weinstein.

Jack Weinstein? Indeed. He can really handle the rock.

Dishing out stars in the same manner as Jason Kidd deals assists, the Las Vegas Walk of Stars honored Weinstein, the longtime Tower of Jewels owner, at a private dinner Saturday night at the Stirling Club at Turnberry Place. Weinstein's induction, celebrated on the event of his 80th birthday, was held just two days after the ceremony honoring Sammy Davis Jr. at the Riviera.

About 150 supporters turned out to celebrate with Weinstein, who moved to Las Vegas in 1961 to open his first store on Fremont Street between Third and Fourth streets. Today he operates Tower of Jewels outlets at six Las Vegas locations, including the 20,000-square-foot manufacturing plant and headquarters on East Sahara Avenue, where Weinstein still works at least a couple of hours each day.

Weinstein was inducted for his humanitarian work - the Walk of Stars makes allowances for dignitaries who do a lot of good stuff. And Weinstein certainly qualifies, as he and his wife, Nancy Weinstein, have for years been involved with the American Heart Association, Child Haven and the American Cancer Society. As part of the ceremony, Weinstein was also honored as the YMCA's Man of the Year. Friends and dignitaries who took the mike to introduce Weinstein included Wallace Beinfeld, Dan Pharmer, Marvin Freedman, Sandy Peltyn, Ygal Hausman, Jeffrey Stern, Maxx Sellek and Ed Swindle.

"It just overwhelmed me," said Weinstein, who knew in advance of the Walk of Stars honor but not the award from the YMCA. "It was probably the biggest surprise of my life."

NoteMart

Sidewalk entrepreneurs got an early start on All-Star Sunday. Seven hours before tip-off, pedestrian salespeople working the walkway in front of the IHOP on Las Vegas Boulevard North were offering somewhat authentic-ish NBA All-Star T-shirts and hats for $10. ...

The chatter about JACK 100.5 FM, which is performing reasonably well in Las Vegas, prompted me to give the no-format, no-DJ station a tryout. I can report that JACK is fun - for about a week. But after the third spin in four days of the Bay City Rollers' "Saturday Night," I retreated to KNPR. ...

On our menus: Binion's Steak House is offering chicken fried lobster (that's pressed Australian lobster breaded and pan-fried) for $49.95. ...

The NBA All-Star Weekend Mix-Of-Cultures Award goes to the Beatles-themed and Cirque du Soleil-designed Revolution Lounge at the Mirage, which on Saturday night hosted an event featuring DJ Joel Madden, angst-ridden rapper 50 Cent and former "Dancing With the Stars" sensation Mario Lopez. ...

The table's getting hot! In the latest edition of BusinessWeek, Patrick Michaels, an environmental sciences professor at the University of Virginia, comments, "Saying that humans have a significant role in (global) warming is like saying there's gambling in Las Vegas." ...

Orange alert: Hooters celebrates its one-year anniversary Friday. Thus, we recast this line from Harrah's headliner Rita Rudner, who says of the hotel, "They have a poker room, and a poker again room." ...

Life is good: Reader on voicemail reports a Cadillac (no year or model specified) with the plate, M8S4LIF.