John Katsilometes on how a TV weatherman fired by KTNV two years ago found a new job in a familiar town

Thursday, March 15, 2007 | 7:18 a.m.

Embattled broadcaster Rob Blair seems to have weathered the storm.

A shade over two years after he was fired by KTNV Channel 13 for using a racial slur during a weather report, Blair has been rehired by KHSL Channel 12, the CBS affiliate in Chico, Calif.

He starts work at 5:30 a.m. Monday during the early morning broadcast and will also appear weekdays at noon. Blair worked at the Chico station for three years before being hired by KTNV.

"People here have really supported Rob," KHSL News Director Trisha Coder said in a phone interview Wednesday afternoon. "We've been running promos all week and have had nothing but positive feedback."

Blair worked for just three months at KTNV, but still managed to spark a veritable hailstorm during his brief stint at the ABC affiliate. During a newscast on Jan. 15, 2005, Blair inserted the word "coon" into Martin Luther King Jr.'s name when giving the forecast for Martin Luther King Jr. Day. The word was substituted for "King." Blair apologized on air three times for the remark, saying he had let the word slip unintentionally as he stumbled through the report.

The controversial broadcast aired on a Saturday morning, and by the end of the weekend the station had issued a statement announcing Blair had been fired. He has not worked in the media since, and was toiling in sales in Los Angeles when the Chico station brought him back.

"He's very modest and humble," Coder said. "He just made a mistake. We don't see it as part of a pattern."

NoteMart

Our favorite French horn-playing radio personality, Beth Lano, is leaving KSTJ 102.7-FM to join the expanded orchestra at "Spamalot Las Vegas." Her final day on the air is Friday. The orchestra is adding four strings and two horns, bringing the total number of performers to 14 ...

Moments from an implosion: An hour before the shell of the Stardust was brought down Tuesday morning, Echelon Resorts President Bob Boughner said he expected Echelon Place (which will break ground in June and is expected to open in 2010) will be a force on the Strip entertainment scene. Echelon will have a 1,500-seat showroom and a 4,000-seat venue, and shows will be booked by AEG Live ... Several dozen former Stardust customers were bused over from the Orleans to watch the event. They were easy to spot, as each VIP was given new Orleans jackets, which were dusted over by the end of the show ... As the crowd scrambled to escape the giant plume created by the implosion, one guy called out, "Don't be a dusthole!" ... Hilton exec Ira David Sternberg, a veteran of Vegas implosions, brought his own silk mask ... On hand was director John Landis, filming a documentary about Don Rickles, who performed several dates at the Stardust ... As Boyd Gaming Chairman and Chief Executive Bill Boyd stepped off the stage to allow his four grandsons, Taylor, Joseph and William Boyd and Sean Johnson, to hit the plunger to set off the pyrotechnics, he made a final statement: "Good luck." ...

Hammer time: Don't try to get into Polly Esther's at the Stratosphere tonight. The nightspot won't be open to the public until 9 p.m. Friday. The mantra "construction delays" is the reason ...

In response to an item in Tuesday's column , Orleans headliner and accomplished big-cat handler Rick Thomas says he has requested a few dates off simply to rest. Thomas performs three shows each weekday at the Orleans and says, "If I take no days off, I have no life." NASCAR weekend was customarily slow for the show, but Thomas says he expects a busy summer ...

How does this place stay open? The marquee on El Cortez reads, "March Giveaway - Free Robe And Towel." ...

But he really loves premium unleaded: Reader reports a plate on a green Hummer, IDH82BU.