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Business and Economy

Golden Gate owners hit rock bottom — for heating and cooling systems: May 21, 2013; By Ed Komenda; Greg Stevens saw opportunity 475 feet below the Golden Gate Hotel & Casino. That’s where the engineer and co-owner of the 107-year-old Fremont property decided to draw the heating and cooling power needed to keep beer and slush drinks cold at the casino’s OneBar.

Complaints about reflexology clinics could result in closer oversight: May 21, 2013; By Conor Shine; Complaints about misleading advertising and hidden charges at reflexology clinics around the valley have drawn the attention of Clark County commissioners, who decided Tuesday to consider tighter regulations on the health establishments.

Pro-business group: Raise gas taxes for highway projects: May 21, 2013; By Richard N. Velotta; A pro-business group working to diversify Southern Nevada’s economy is advocating legislation that would lead to a gasoline tax increase. The Las Vegas Global Economic Alliance announced today that it is backing legislation that would enable Clark County to raise gasoline taxes.

Caesars Entertainment announces changes in executive positions: May 21, 2013; By Ed Komenda; Caesars Entertainment has appointed a new president of hospitality. Tom Arasi comes to the role after a stint with Las Vegas Sands. His responsibilities include food and beverage, hotels, nightclubs and nightlife in Las Vegas.

Guilty fraud plea in $5.6M Las Vegas embezzlement: May 21, 2013; Associated Press; A Las Vegas man has pleaded guilty to fraud charges in connection with the embezzlement of $5.6 million from the prominent builder of residential high-rises in the Vegas area over nearly five years. Rocco Lazazzaro pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit wire fraud at the Florida-based Turnberry Associates.

Plumbing disasters, liquid fireworks, reverse vending machine — it's what's new at RECon: May 21, 2013; By Eli Segall; It’s tough getting people’s attention at RECon, the retail industry trade show, with its 30,000 people and 1,000 exhibitors. But repair guy Ray Salzer has found a way: fart sounds and plumber’s cracks.

In dispute with Culinary, UFC counters with attack site of its own: May 20, 2013; By Ed Komenda; After two years of battling the Culinary while fighting to legalize the sport in New York, the UFC’s counter jab comes in the form of a critical website aimed at exposing the union’s “smear campaign,” the company said.

Joe Downtown: Local Motors CEO visits Las Vegas: May 20, 2013; By Joe Schoenmann; One of the newest businesses to gain support from VegasTechFund is Local Motors. Founded five years ago, Local Motors uses crowdsourcing to help in the design of a car, motorcycle or other type of vehicle. John Rogers Jr., president and CEO, last week was in downtown Las Vegas, where VegasTechFund is headquartered. The fund is a tech investment group whose partners include Zappos CEO Tony Hsieh.

Joe Downtown: Doughnut shop, tavern, offices may be in mix for former John E. Carson Hotel: May 20, 2013; By Joe Schoenmann; Work last week began on the interior demolition of the John E. Carson Hotel, 124 S. Sixth St., purchased a year ago and now part of the realm of the Downtown Project.

Key events involving Yahoo and its performance: May 20, 2013; Associated Press; Yahoo has reached a deal to buy online blogging forum Tumblr for $1.1 billion, the latest acquisition under CEO Marissa Mayer. Yahoo is paying mostly cash for Tumblr and expects to complete the deal by the end of the year. Here are key events involving Yahoo Inc. and its performance in recent years.

Yahoo looks to regain its cool with Tumblr deal: May 20, 2013; By Michael Liedtke, Associated Press; After falling woefully out of fashion, Yahoo wants to be cool again while catering to the capitalistic demands of its shareholders.

Some Pacific Coast League stadiums will be tough for proposed Summerlin project to match: May 20, 2013; By Ray Brewer; Building the "finest Triple-A facility in the country" might be easier said than done for the new ownership of the Las Vegas 51s minor league baseball franchise. Some of those other stadiums are pretty impressive — even the cookie-cutter ones of similar design.

My case for ‘The Amazing Race’: May 20, 2013; By Richard N. Velotta; Looking around Las Vegas’ Friendly Ford dealership, I almost felt sorry for the scores of people who had arrived to audition for “The Amazing Race.”

Practice makes perfect: Learning to speak without fear in the business world: May 20, 2013; By Paul Delos Santos; Public speaking is essential in the business world, not to mention many other careers. Avoiding it can hurt a person’s ability to network, close doors to promotions and new job opportunities and hinder an upward trajectory in the corporate world.

Gamble on house calls pays off for pharmacy: May 20, 2013; By VEGAS INC staff; To compete with the giant chain pharmacies, Well Care Pharmacy decided to focus its business model on free delivery service anywhere in Las Vegas or Henderson.