Joe Schoenmann

Story Archive

Joe Downtown: Slotzilla zip lines tested with dummies as attraction sets to open: Wednesday, April 9, 2014; No one is saying exactly when Slotzilla will open, but project managers and engineers are this week testing 175-pound dummies on each of the four lower lines of the zipline attraction at the Fremont Street Experience. Lonnie Reed, principal of Themed Development Management, categorized the ride’s testing as some of the most ...
Joe Downtown: Cars towed, spirits dampened on First Friday: Tuesday, April 8, 2014; A tiny dirt lot in downtown Las Vegas became ground zero for bewildered vehicle owners who found their cars had been towed. Downtown resident John Delibos pulled into the lot and found ...
Joe Downtown: New online magazine hopes to be ‘go-to reference site’ for fashion in Las Vegas: Thursday, April 3, 2014; A new online magazine and blog focusing on all things fashion-related in Las Vegas launched today. Called FashionFeedLV.com, it is the creation of founder ...
Joe Downtown: Electric Daisy promoter told to stay away from his downtown clubs: Thursday, April 3, 2014; Pasquale Rotella, whose Insomniac Inc. puts on the popular Electric Daisy Carnival in Las Vegas, has been banned by the city from visiting...
Joe Downtown: There are signs enthusiasm for the new Downtown has started to fade: Wednesday, April 2, 2014; Is happiness being delivered or are downtown developers just patting themselves on the back?
Joe Downtown: Add another to list of businesses departing Container Park: Wednesday, April 2, 2014; Yet another Container Park business will be leaving, this on the heels of the four other businesses announcing they'd vacate the recently opened downtown development by …
Joe Downtown: Officials toast opening of Bier Garten at the Plaza: With its abundance of plants and lawn, site is touted as 'a place to escape the concrete jungle'; Tuesday, April 1, 2014; On a windy and cool night suitable for an Oktoberfest party, the mayor, ex-mayor and dozens of drinkers foisted beers, and a martini, to the grand opening of Bier Garten, an indoor/outdoor bar/eatery at the Plaza. “It gives people a place to escape ...
Joe Downtown: The Atomic to host demo for 3D TV, minus the glasses: Tuesday, April 1, 2014; But The Atomic, one of the oldest bars in the city, will this week bring something to its customers that is at the forefront of visual technologies. Wednesday from 4-8 p.m. the bar will showcase ...
Joe Downtown: Group lauds Container Park as it pulls plug on 3 shops there: Tuesday, April 1, 2014; Three businesses operated by Future Restaurant Group are moving out of the Downtown Container Park, just a few months after ...
Joe Downtown: Group working to preserve Huntridge memorabilia opens office: Monday, March 31, 2014; The Huntridge Foundation, which seeks to preserve items from the Huntridge Theater’s past, is opening its office and kicking off its “Memory Project” starting Friday. The new office is in ...
Could horse-drawn carriages make a comeback in Las Vegas?: Sunday, March 30, 2014; New York City's mayor calls them inhumane, but some in Las Vegas think horse-drawn carriages can work fine here ...
A guide to downtown Las Vegas’ open container laws: Sunday, March 30, 2014; There is a web of rules governing where and what you can legally drink downtown. Don't worry, we've untangled the web ...
Joe Downtown: Container Park to host monthly music series: Friday, March 28, 2014; When musician Sheryl Crow plays at the Container Park next Friday night for roughly 1,000 people, it will be something of a milestone for East Fremont Street. Crow has been in the business for decades and...
Joe Downtown: Metro Lt. and poet Harry Fagel finds inspiration in the area he patrols: Wednesday, March 26, 2014; The police officer has published two books of poetry and has read to fellow officers during briefings ...
Get to know Las Vegas from natives: Sunday, March 23, 2014; Stories of the kids of mobsters who went to public school and drove expensive cars blend one into the other. But it pays to listen, if only because it tells you something about Las Vegas ...
Law firm’s building is the biggest new thing downtown: Sunday, March 23, 2014; Tony Hsieh isn't the only one putting his mark on the downtown Las Vegas landscape. “This facility will be a wonderful resource for the community, especially to students at the Boyd School of Law,” Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said about the $18 million Robert T. Eglet Advocacy Center, which is described as ...
Joe Downtown: Streets to close for burning of Life Cube: Thursday, March 20, 2014; The streets will be closed downtown Friday night in the vicinity of the Life Cube, which will be set ablaze, along with thousands of written goals and wishes. The Life Cube is the manifestation of...
Joe Downtown: The boundaries of Downtown Las Vegas are as fluid as its reputation: Wednesday, March 19, 2014; Where is Downtown Las Vegas? That depends on who you ask, and why you’re asking.
Joe Downtown: Harvard students look to apply lessons in Las Vegas: Monday, March 17, 2014; Harvard Business School students looking to connect the real world of downtown Las Vegas with an entrepreneurial idea they’ve spent the last few months developing want feedback from Las Vegas residents at...
Joe Downtown: Don't call it a cult--Zappos, at its core, is just like any other business: Wednesday, March 12, 2014; "No one is being 'brainwashed.'"
Joe Downtown: Plug pulled on music events leading up to Life Cube burning: Tuesday, March 11, 2014; Six nights of music leading up to a widely heralded, public performance art exhibit in downtown Las Vegas is likely to be canceled because...
Joe Downtown: Does state's lawsuit hinder Huntridge momentum?: Friday, March 7, 2014; The Nevada Attorney General's Office has sued the current owners of the historic Huntridge Theater, alleging they broke various covenants and must repay...
Joe Downtown: Metro officers ready to walk the beat around East Fremont: Thursday, March 6, 2014; Aside from the Strip or inorganic commercial developments that prohibit vehicular traffic to satisfy tourists, Las Vegas doesn’t have much for people who simply want to walk the neighborhoods. But redevelopment on East Fremont Street is making parts of downtown so walkable, Metro Police are about to embark on a new method of patrolling there. Officers downtown are going to start ...
Joe Downtown: Upper-floor Container Park tenant is shuttering store: Wednesday, March 5, 2014; The owner of Alios, an architectural and entertainment lighting business, said he got “great exposure” by being at the Container Park, even though his third-floor location gets little visitor traffic. Todd VonBaastians discusses another possible reason business wasn't booming at the outdoor mall.
Joe Downtown: Downtown Project takes over another building, but this time it’s different: Wednesday, March 5, 2014; Plans filed with the city for yet another Downtown Project development stand out immediately for one detail.
Joe Downtown: Southern Wine’s First Friday sponsorship could signal bigger changes: Wednesday, March 5, 2014; Could the monthly arts and culture festival relocate to Fremont East?
Joe Downtown: East Fremont getting its grocery store … sort of: Tuesday, March 4, 2014; It finally looks like something of a grocery store is coming to east Fremont Street. Plans for a combination grocery store/restaurant at 611 Fremont St. were submitted to the city and will be considered Tuesday by the Planning Commission. A Mexican restaurant and a deli/market used to share the 6,500-square-foot spot until they were forced to move last year; Downtown Project became the new tenant after their leases expired.
Joe Downtown: ‘Pawn Shop Live!’ moving to the Riviera: Monday, March 3, 2014; A stage production inspired by the hit reality TV show “Pawn Stars” is moving from downtown to the Strip.
Restaurants, cafes that hit sweet spot: Sunday, March 2, 2014; Some business ideas are immediate hits. Some take time and more attention to detail before they catch on. Others seem dead on arrival.
In the “immediate hits” category ...
Joe Downtown: Performers get together for unrehearsed, late-night show: Friday, Feb. 28, 2014; Early Friday morning, a lithe woman with a body fat of, let’s say zero, hung from netting high above the stage of downtown’s new Inspire Theater. Magenta, then blue, then white lights were projected on and behind her, as technical crews yelled incremental instrumental changes back and forth.
Joe Downtown: Special showing of ‘Ghostbusters’ in memory of star Harold Ramis: Thursday, Feb. 27, 2014; There may be no better way to commemorate the life of comedic filmmaker and actor Harold Ramis than a showing of “Ghostbusters” at a downtown Las Vegas park.
Joe Downtown: Historical society crowdsourcing for not-so-famous Las Vegas photos: Wednesday, Feb. 26, 2014; Some of the pictures the society already has are ones you may not have seen before: Elvis checking into the Sahara a day before “Viva Las Vegas” shooting began; Liberace standing by his car talking to a priest; and Lloyd George as a young man in 1947.
Joe Downtown: A rooftop Wranglers arena at the Plaza could be just what Downtown needs: Wednesday, Feb. 26, 2014; The hotel-casino has eight months to turn its roof into a hockey rink.
Joe Downtown: New logo graces the Huntridge, signaling project's progress: Monday, Feb. 24, 2014; Until today, little new information has emerged about renovating the historic Huntridge Theater. But late this morning, a crew with a hydraulic cherry picker began to erect a massive square banner on the building.
Joe Downtown: Former food trucker has her hands in fundraiser, reality TV gig: Friday, Feb. 21, 2014; A former Las Vegas food truck operator turned festival-food honcho may be on the verge of reality TV stardom in a show featuring a food trucks-and-chefs competition she started some two years ago.
Joe Downtown: Special events create conundrum when they limit access for business customers: Friday, Feb. 21, 2014; The third annual Color Run on Saturday morning is a fun event for runners, who end the race covered in a rainbow of colored powder sprayed on them at different intervals over a course of about three miles. But the run, one of at least a half dozen planned to wind their way through downtown over a few months, along with various parades also using downtown as staging area, aren’t always planned with local businesses in mind.
Joe Downtown: Project seeks to help homeless in a more organized manner: Thursday, Feb. 20, 2014; Metro Police are about to embark on a new initiative meant to lessen the intensity of traffic and criminal activity in a downtown area growing increasingly congested with homeless people. What’s happening, said Metro Capt. Shawn Anderson, is that people who want to help the homeless will drive to the area to drop off food, clothes or other items near North Main Street and Foremaster Lane.
Joe Downtown: One year in, Rangers take it to the streets — with ukuleles: Wednesday, Feb. 19, 2014; Downtown Project's Rangers don't carry cuffs or guns, but they are trying to create a smile pandemic.
Joe Downtown: Alcohol-related issues downtown continue to spill into City Hall's lap: Tuesday, Feb. 18, 2014; A Fremont Street Experience retailer on Wednesday could lose its right to sell beer and wine, and it may be just the beginning of an effort by city officials to stem the tide of booze-related businesses opening downtown.
Joe Downtown: Tech library at Emergency Arts logs off: Friday, Feb. 14, 2014; The usr/lib, one of the first places to establish the idea that, beyond casinos and bars, downtown could be home to those interested in the tech industry, has closed.
Joe Downtown: Concert to benefit Las Vegas Rescue Mission: Friday, Feb. 14, 2014; A benefit concert to collect new or slightly used clothing for the Las Vegas Rescue Mission will take place Friday, Feb. 21, at Backstage Bar and Billiards at the corner of Fremont and 6th streets.
Joe Downtown: Downtown Project’s growth left some young employees underserved: Wednesday, Feb. 12, 2014; Two 20-somethings who came to Las Vegas for DTP may move on before their two-year fellowships end.
Joe Downtown: The Attic heads north on Main Street, hopes customers will follow: Wednesday, Feb. 12, 2014; in 1992 when Mayra Politis founded The Attic, a vintage clothing store, South Main Street was a place few people visited. Fortune shined on Politis’ unique shop, however, when a national commercial aired during the final episode of the No. 1 TV show of the time, “Seinfeld,” and business boomed. After a transformer explosion closed The Attic, she has reopened the shop in another location, and the hard work begins persuading Las Vegans to visit the store north of U.S. 95.
Joe Downtown: This weekend, downtown Las Vegas will be a zoo: Monday, Feb. 10, 2014; Hoping to raise enough money to help keep open the only zoo in Clark County, Zappos.com will host some 70-plus animals this weekend on its downtown campus.
Joe Downtown: Life Is Beautiful festival announces another change in leadership: Monday, Feb. 10, 2014; More changes are happening in key positions in the redeveloping and rebranding of downtown Las Vegas, this time again with the Life Is Beautiful festival. Andrew Donner, festival CEO, announced today the appointment of a new chief operating officer for the festival, Josh Ripple, who replaces Ashley Goodhue.
Joe Downtown: Looking to get your house cleaned? There's an app for that: Friday, Feb. 7, 2014; Technology isn’t there yet: Robots still can’t clean your home floor to ceiling. But a new downtown-based business called Maidly, about to launch in March, promises to at least make it easier to book a cleaning service.
Joe Downtown: Hsieh says Downtown Project not a charity, can't solve every community problem: Friday, Feb. 7, 2014; Community and downtown Las Vegas have been inseparably linked by the Downtown Project since its inception two years ago. But months after removing "community" from its slogan of core values — community, co-learning, collisions — and adding "connectedness," the Downtown Project now has removed all references about a "return on community" from its website.
Joe Downtown: Charles Ressler’s social media experiment is making dreams come true: Wednesday, Feb. 5, 2014; His #dreamMakers Twitter idea has taken off—to the tune of thousands of followers.
Before the burn: Downtown's Life Cube an inviting canvas for artists: Tuesday, Feb. 4, 2014; Downtown’s Life Cube is taking on a, well, life of its own. The 24-by-24-foot wooden cube was built last week on a poured concrete slab in the middle of the “llama” parking lot on the north side of Fremont Street between 9th and 10th streets. As soon as it was done, artists and non-artists started to paint its whitewashed walls. The upper half is being reserved for muralists, perhaps as many as 20 of whom will add their own flourishes to the cube.
Joe Downtown: Container Park proving to be major draw downtown: Monday, Feb. 3, 2014; With two months of operations under its belt, the Container Park outdoor mall on Fremont Street is doing better than expected, Downtown Project spokespeople say.