Joe Downtown - Las Vegas Sun News

Freeman White III, director of production at Fremont East Studios in downtown Las Vegas, is taking his new film, "Five Thirteen," to distributors and buyers at next week's Cannes film festival.

Joe Downtown: Fremont East Studios producer shopping new film to crowd at Cannes: May 10, 2013; By Joe Schoenmann; Freeman White III has come a long way since his first film, a documentary about buffalo grass. Next week, he’s bringing “Five Thirteen,”a film five years in the making, to Cannes for the international film festival to show to potential buyers and distributors.

The Golden Gate's classic shrimp cocktail.

Joe Downtown: Golden Gate not scrimping on National Shrimp Day: May 9, 2013; By Joe Schoenmann; There may be nothing more “Vegas” than the shrimp cocktail. Well, that is after gambling, neon signage, diminishing water resources and the mistaken belief that prostitution is legal here.

An entry sponsored by the R.O.S.E. Foundation makes its way down 4th Street Saturday during the annual Helldorado Parade.

Joe Downtown: Helldorado Days heralds Vegas' Wild West past: May 8, 2013; By Joe Schoenmann; Computer chips easily outnumber cowboys in Downtown Las Vegas, especially as startup founders and coders find sanctuary around East Fremont Street, soon to be the backyard of dot-com retailer Zappos. But Zappos aside, Las Vegas’ persona remains firmly grounded in the Wild West myth, and downtown’s Helldorado Days, a multiday celebration of the the West’s rugged reputation, fits right in.

The Strip’s casinos and complexes like CityCenter might not be built for us, but Downtown’s are increasingly catering to locals.

Joe Downtown: Urban transformation could make Las Vegas for Las Vegans: May 8, 2013; By Joe Schoenmann; Las Vegas Strip casinos aren't there for locals, but more and more, Downtown development is.

Joe Downtown: Project 100 hiring for transportation positions: May 8, 2013; By Joe Schoenmann; Project 100, the ambitious multimodal transportation system beginning in downtown Las Vegas, is seeking several people to fill a variety of new jobs.

The Gold Spike casino and hotel, seen from Fourth and Ogden streets, in downtown Las Vegas.

Joe Downtown: Slots making brief reappearance at Gold Spike: May 7, 2013; By Joe Schoenmann; The Gold Spike reopened this week with a surprising addition: slot machines. Technicians on Tuesday morning wheeled some 10 or more machines out of a truck and onto the floor of the business, which closed April 21, less than a month ago after being purchased from Siegel Group Nevada Inc. by Downtown Project investors. After the sale was completed, Tony Hsieh, Zappos CEO and one of the Downtown Project partners, said it would not reopen as a casino.

Joe Downtown: Ceremony to honor El Cortez for inclusion on National Register: May 7, 2013; By Joe Schoenmann; One of Downtown Las Vegas’ oldest residents, the El Cortez, will be honored for winning a listing on the National Register of Historic Places. Mayor Carolyn Goodman and Councilman Bob Coffin will headline a ceremony at 4 p.m. Thursday to unveil a commemorative plaque at the hotel/casino. The city's oldest hotel to continuously operate under the same name, the El Cortez became only the second Las Vegas casino on the nation's cultural preservation list in February.

The East Fremont Street district is seen at sunset Wednesday, April 3, 2013.

Joe Downtown: Unannounced First Friday street-closing creates chaos, bar owner says: May 7, 2013; By Joe Schoenmann; “It was ugly” is how one business owner described Friday night in the Fremont East Entertainment District. “It felt dangerous,” said another. And "it" might have been encouraged by the city closing a portion of Fremont Street during and after First Friday activities. The First Friday art show/street fair is one of downtown’s biggest successes, driving 25,000 to 30,000 people to an area near Charleston Boulevard and Main Street on the first Friday night of each month.

Bartender J.C. Kelley pours a couple of sodas about an hour before the doors closed for the final time April 14, 2013, at Gold Spike in Downtown Las Vegas. Gold Spike is reopening Monday, May 6, 2013, as a bar and restaurant.

Joe Downtown: Casino-less Gold Spike opens Monday; old pizza place to get new life: May 3, 2013; By Joe Schoenmann; Less than a month after it closed, the Gold Spike will reopen Monday as a bar and restaurant with a large area once devoted to slot machines now home to games such as pool, darts, Golden Tee video golf and shuffleboard.

Vendors are set up in the Arts Factory parking lot during First Friday in Las Vegas on Friday, October 5, 2012. First Friday celebrated it's tenth anniversary this year.

Joe Downtown: First Friday, by the numbers: May 3, 2013; By Joe Schoenmann; I remember bits and pieces of the first First Friday in downtown. The October 2002 night was chilly. Someone had set up a small table with wine, crackers and cheese inside the Arts Factory. Maybe 200 people, more or less, were there. Unlike today, no food carts or vendors were on the street.

Joe Downtown: Playboy TV brings South American beauties to Atomic, Gold Spike: May 2, 2013; By Joe Schoenmann; Playboy models from Buenos Aires invaded downtown this week, filming Wednesday night for Playboy TV at Atomic Liquors and Thursday afternoon at the Gold Spike. Kent Johns, Atomic owner, said Playboy TV was doing “secret spots” shoots in Los Angeles, San Francisco and Las Vegas.

Due to a power outage in downtown Las Vegas, security at the Regional Justice Center were not able to allow people in Thursday, May 2, 2013.

Joe Downtown: Court hearings off, slots on during power outage: May 2, 2013; By Joe Schoenmann; A nearly hour-long power outage left portions of downtown, including some government buildings and at least two major casinos, in the dark Thursday afternoon.

The festival spirit: Boulder City band Same Sex Mary, performing at a Life Is Beautiful showcase.

Joe Downtown: Life is Beautiful commercial shoot showcases the vibrance of Downtown: May 1, 2013; By Joe Schoenmann; The festival's video will air in early June.

Joe Downtown: How's this for mixology? Stops on pub crawl feature science topics: May 1, 2013; By Joe Schoenmann; The federally funded space shuttle program ended three years ago, a move that opened the door a little wider for private investors to do their own space exploration. David Knight, described as a “filmmaker/investor/entrepreneur” will talk about that Wednesday at the “Las Vegas Science Crawl” that begins at 6 p.m. in the Construction Zone speaker trailer.

Joe Downtown: Developer might act on need for mid-priced apartments downtown: May 1, 2013; By Joe Schoenmann; With downtown Las Vegas about to see an influx of 1,300 Zappos employees in a few months, a major local developer is considering construction of a large, mid-priced residential apartment building a few blocks off Fremont Street.

Joe Schoenmann doesn’t just cover downtown, he lives and works there. Schoenmann is Greenspun Media Group’s embedded downtown journalist, working from an office in the Emergency Arts complex.

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