Erin Ryan

Staff Writer

Erin got her first newspaper job in 2002 thanks to a campfire story about Bigfoot. In her award-winning work for weeklies, dailies and magazines throughout the region, she has crawled inside the heads of Pulitzer winners and urban vampires, played Scrabble with nudists, flown an airplane and eaten seven pickles in four minutes. She does not believe in nut grafs.

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Story Archive

Not you, too, Cheryl Tiegs! More on the 'SI' Swimsuit Edition debate: Monday, Feb. 20, 2012; The battle over the 'itsy-bitsy red bikini' (and the girl wearing it) rages on.
Weekly Q&A: Gourmet purveyor Brett Ottolenghi dishes on food as art: Wednesday, Feb. 15, 2012; Changing Las Vegas, one ingredient at a time.
In the wake of scandal, are past good deeds worth anything?: Wednesday, Feb. 15, 2012; Weekly raises the question in wake of the Kathleen Vermillion debacle.
Competitive mountain bikers jockey for cash and notoriety at Bootleg Canyon: Wednesday, Feb. 15, 2012; Bootleg Canyon has eaten many a rider alive, but some of America’s best will be on hand this weekend.
Go bald (or give some green) to fight childhood cancers at Ri Ra: Friday, Feb. 10, 2012; Have a pint, dig on some Celtic rock, and fight disease while you're at it.
Nothing says lovin' like 'batteries included': Thursday, Feb. 9, 2012; Vibrating forest creatures and a flasher named Columbo.
Rugby and its 'gloriously brutal contact' comes to town: Wednesday, Feb. 8, 2012; Forget football, with all its padding and rules about where you can hit.
UNLV’s Solar Decathletes are creating the house of the future: Saturday, Feb. 4, 2012; Green and off the grid, this home has a shot at international glory.
Southwest Airlines celebrates 30 years in Las Vegas with a humorous Twitter contest: Wednesday, Feb. 1, 2012; Las Vegas was the 15th city added to the company's route map, originally drawn by Southwest's cofounders on a cocktail napkin.
The slings and arrows of at-will employment: Wednesday, Feb. 1, 2012; And one of those arrows is appearance discrimination.
'Travel + Leisure' gives Las Vegas yet another doubtful list ranking: Wednesday, Jan. 25, 2012; And apparently, people in Las Vegas are rude.
Are celebrities and average Joes treated the same by the legal system?: Wednesday, Jan. 25, 2012; Local cases-in-point: Bruno Mars and Paris Hilton.
Hofbrauhaus & Pete's Dueling Piano Bar: A night of sudsy serenades and love taps: Wednesday, Jan. 25, 2012; "The bachelorette sucking booze out of a fishbowl brought me back to Earth, to the cigarette smoke and the Texans exuberantly spanking each other..."
Would you vote for a guy named Peg Leg Liver Jones?: Wednesday, Jan. 25, 2012; Making politics even more of an inexact science.
Finally! Brunch and porn stars come together at First Food & Bar: Thursday, Jan. 19, 2012; I didn’t know there was such a thing as emo porn, but I’m pretty sure it spices up a plate of breakfast mini-burgers.
Searching for Will Hunting behind the craps table: Thursday, Jan. 19, 2012; Are craps dealers math geniuses? Maybe.
Weekly Q&A: Shanna Moakler puts her brains and beauty behind Miss Nevada USA: Wednesday, Jan. 18, 2012; The former beauty queen hopes to turn the next Miss Nevada USA into a star.
Breaking the rules and the restaurant model with Jolene Mannina: Friday, Jan. 13, 2012; Good cooks don’t follow recipes, and great ones know when tradition could use a good kick in the ass.
HPD books three teenage suspects for involvement in paintball 'shooting spree': Wednesday, Jan. 11, 2012; “The three suspects did not have any reason for the attacks."
Dennis Rodman announces plans to start a topless women's basketball league: Wednesday, Jan. 11, 2012; Yes, you read correctly...topless.
Academy of Country Music Awards show details and star power revealed: Tuesday, Jan. 10, 2012; The ACMs let some shiny cats out of the bag about its springtime awards bash. Meow.
Skin is Charlie Spencer's business: Monday, Jan. 9, 2012; When Swedish contortionist twins came calling, Charlie Spencer didn’t even flinch. The “old man” of Studio 21 Tattoo Gallery has worked on rock stars, actresses, doctors, artists, firemen, footballers and the Qatari prime minister’s personal bodyguard.
Armchair psychoanalysis of your shameless love for FM radio gold: Friday, Jan. 6, 2012; Erin Ryan loves her some popular jams. Do you?
Alex Epstein, Executive VP, El Cortez: Wednesday, Jan. 4, 2012; The 27-year-old is breathing hipness into the historic Downtown hotel-casino.
Brian Hedlund, UNLV microbiologist: 12 to watch in 2012; Wednesday, Jan. 4, 2012; He's out to find the future of energy, one thermophile at a time.
Who is Epic Beard Man?: Wednesday, Jan. 4, 2012; A guy in a fanny pack punching, hurling and donkey-whipping everyone in sight.
Weekly Q&A: Studio 21 tattoo artist Charlie Spencer: Wednesday, Jan. 4, 2012; The local tattoo artist discusses whiners, profundity and hot, naked chicks.
Hyde Bellagio is a feast of contrasts: Tuesday, Jan. 3, 2012; A peek inside one of the Strip's newest nightclubs.
Las Vegas rings in the New Year with a pyrotechnic orgy: Wednesday, Dec. 28, 2011; Eight Strip properties are participating in the fireworks show this year, the newest addition being the Tropicana.
Good at beer and bad at bowling?: Texas Star Lanes has a league for you; Friday, Dec. 23, 2011; Texas Star Lanes has a league for you.
Dolphin training can't help but bring out the kid in you: Friday, Dec. 23, 2011; I dreamed of this moment. Forever. And all I can think about is Miley Cyrus asking how to “get a dolphin” for her swimming pool. I want so desperately not to be that girl, but I can’t deny the thrill of this — the startling black eyes, the lissome bulk, the conical teeth in the smiling jaw like perfect, dangerous pearls.
Pizza ... in a boat: How hungry do the words "pizza gondola" make you?; Wednesday, Dec. 21, 2011; How hungry do the words "pizza gondola" make you?
The moment of truth: Weekly writer Erin Ryan remembers when Santa got real: Wednesday, Dec. 21, 2011; "She told me there were so many kids and so many toys that even with an enchanted sleigh, Santa couldn’t possibly fit everything on-board and deliver all in one night."
The toddy: hot or iced, the old-fashioned tincture soothes the soul: Tuesday, Dec. 20, 2011; "A little bourbon, a little lemon, a swirl of honey and hot water—everything is right again."
Into the wild with the real-life heroes of Search and Rescue: Tuesday, Dec. 20, 2011; Looking down on a 12,000-foot peak through the gaping side of a helicopter, I breathe the coldest, thinnest air I have ever breathed. Somewhere out there, three hikers and a dog are willing us to see them.
Into the wild with the real-life heroes of Search and Rescue: Thursday, Dec. 15, 2011; Somewhere out there, three hikers and a dog are willing us to see them, to spot their molecule of color on Mount Charleston’s miles of November snow and shadow ...
Fluffy buns and fist bumps at Slidin' Thru's first restaurant (without wheels): Saturday, Dec. 10, 2011; Ricardo Guerrero imagines a movement of "mini burgs" across America.
In search of the elusive buckle bunny: What the hardware says about the woman; Friday, Dec. 9, 2011; Light hits every rhinestone on her hips, and her hair swings in time to the click of heels that have never seen dirt.
On the lookout for buckle bunnies in Las Vegas: The ladies drawn to rodeo competitors — and their belt bling — aren't all groupies; Friday, Dec. 9, 2011; Light hits every rhinestone on her hips, and her hair swings in time to the click of heels that have never seen dirt. You can’t miss the cut of her jeans or the cinched-on hardware, which looks heavy, real, borrowed. Maybe she won it with her own sweat. But chances are she did what Buckle Bunnies do — charmed it off a cowboy.
The fate of unclaimed property: Nevada's annual Safe Deposit Box Auction: Wednesday, Dec. 7, 2011; A gold Cartier watch and an antique IOU for 10 pounds of rice were among the items auctioned off.
Q&A with Mary McElhone, Deputy for Unclaimed Property: Discussing the annual Safe Deposit Box Auction; Wednesday, Dec. 7, 2011; The state official discusses the annual Safe Deposit Box Auction.
Millions in undelivered tax returns remain with IRS due to 'mailing address errors': Wednesday, Dec. 7, 2011; Didn't get last year's return? You might have filed an incorrect change of address form.
Congress lifts ban on inspections of horse meat: Wednesday, Dec. 7, 2011; Yes, horse meat. Horse meat for human consumption.
Herman Cain’s cartoon attack on bureaucrats, electric cars and rubber gloves: Friday, Dec. 2, 2011; The good, the bad and the WTF.
Drinking the dolphin Kool-Aid at the Mirage's Trainer for a Day attraction: Wednesday, Nov. 30, 2011; Swim with the animals and more as part of the new attraction at Siegfried & Roy's Secret Garden and Dolphin Habitat.
Sign of the economic times? Meth cooks book hotel rooms: Wednesday, Nov. 30, 2011; Metro Police arrested a man the Monday before Thanksgiving for setting up shop at the company's Las Vegas Boulevard location.
Onyx Theatre's 'Santaland Diaries' brings us a steamy cup of holiday cynicsm: Wednesday, Nov. 30, 2011; In 1992 David Sedaris read his essay, “The Santaland Diaries,” on National Public Radio, simultaneously introducing himself to America and cementing his place in our hearts as one of the prickliest, shrewdest, most wry comic voices ever.
When playing bingo, don't forget 'lucky Elvis': In the trenches with the die-hard daubers at Palace Station; Wednesday, Nov. 30, 2011; Bingo players come from all walks of life, and they all think they're going to win today
The home school revolution: What parents who teach their own children want you to know; Sunday, Nov. 27, 2011; In a manicured corner of suburban Las Vegas, the rebellion is sipping coffee, nibbling watermelon and talking politely about the state of education. “My mom is not for home schooling, so I brought her,” the young mother next to me says. She and Grandma are here for answers, the truth about an education alternative still shaking off dust from its underground past. Home school has been legal nationwide for almost 20 years, but Grandma’s arms are crossed, her jaw set. She wants to grill the resident experts because she cares about her family. Under the stern resolve, I see fear.
Holiday specials that have nothing to do with mall Santa: Thursday, Nov. 24, 2011; Special deals, events and ways to give for an inclusive, off-kilter holiday.