It's been a long time coming, but the case against former County Commissioner Erin Kenny in the G-Sting political corruption scandal came to a close Wednesday morning. Kenny was sentenced to 30 mo…

Contaminated hot dog chili sauce is being blamed for sickening four people with botulism. The government is warning consumers to throw out 10 ounce cans of Castleberry's, Austex and Kroger brands …

Governor Jim Gibbons declared a state of emergency in Nevada due to the wildfires burning across the northern part of the state. This comes as our nation's wildfire alert is raised to its highest …

Back In April 2002, the filmmakers of the hit summer animated hit Ratatouille traveled to Paris to study the look, the feel and the food of the city, the setting of the film. They fell in love with restaurateur chef Guy Savoy, who subsequently opened his sole American location at Caesars Palace. At the time of that visit five years ago, Michelin had just awarded the restaurant with a third star, so the filmmakers wanted to better understand what that means for a restaurant. They also studied Guy Savoy as a chef-driven restaurant—et voila that study became Gusteau’s in the movie rather than a proprietor-driven establishment.

Chef Guy Savoy allowed the filmmakers into the kitchen to take photos and video and observe meal service. They also enjoyed meals there and closely watched the front of house at work. Chef Savoy contributed to their research process and became a key relationship for the production throughout the making of the film. As a result Chef Savoy wound up voicing the role of a restaurant patron in the French version of the film. The patron is the same role voiced by Chef Thomas Keller of Bouchon fame at the Venetian in the American version. Both chefs get to ask in their different languages about what is new on the menu, which results in he film’s hero serving his version of Sweetbreads à la Gusteau. The Pixar filmmakers also spent time at Keller’s bistros and bakery in the wine area around Yountville, California.

My chef friend, Roy Yamaguchi, opened his original Roy’s restaurant in Honolulu back in 1988 and whenever I had long-haul flights to “Down Under” or “Far East” I’d always place a big take-out order for him to deliver to the plane on its Hawaii stop-over to brighten up the jetlag journey! So it was fun to play catch-up with him here when he celebrated two anniversaries: his first Vegas restaurant opened in Summerlin six years ago and his second on the East Side five years ago.

The James Beard award-winning chef flew in to celebrate with guest chefs from other local restaurants paying him tribute by cooking in his kitchen!! Joseph Elevado from Social House at TI, Kenny Magana from Wolfgang Puck’s Spago, Michael Jordan from Rosemary’s restaurant (PHOTO) and Vegas partners Percy Oani and Brandon Konishi

Roy who has 38 of his restaurants around the country told me next up he’ll open in Miami, San Diego and Anaheim Hills and he’s begun looking for space in Beverly Hills where his career first started. He’s just opened a second Roy’s in Honolulu on Waikiki Beach and his new line of salts, spices and oils is doing blockbuster business on the Home Shopping network.

Former boy-band star Lance Bass threw a summer bash/going away party to celebrate his upcoming six-month New York City stay where he is joining the cast of Hairspray as Corny Collins.

Always a fan when he is Las Vegas, Lance made a special request to have cupcakes from The Cupcakery for his party .The busy bakery shipped 15 dozen cupcakes to the revelers and included were a specially designed dozen for the new Broadway star congratulating him on the new role. Our photo shows the spell-out of HAIRSPRAY complete with the signature blue bouffant hairdo! Cupcake aficionados included Hilary and Haylie Duff, co-host Anna Faris of “Scary Movie” and “Friends”, co-host Maggie Lawson “Psych”, Brandon Routh from “Superman”, Chris Pratt of “Everwood” and “O.C.”, Steve Eurkel- Jaleel White, Danielle Fishel from “Boy Meets World” who once dated Lance, Jonathan Togo from “CSI: Miami” and Justin Long aka Mac of the Mac and PC commercials for Mac computers who is also in the latest “Die Hard” movie.

A weekend of hard-core endurance motorsports kicks off tonight on Fremont Street but moves to the tracks of the LV Motor Speedway for Friday and Saturday tough-stuff racing. A fan-friendly 1.5-mile desert “chunk of Baja” racecourse has been constructed specially for the event.

It’s also attracted a number of the world’s best desert racers including some of our very own Strip hotel executives! Vehicles and trophy trucks will go on display at the SCORE Pit Stop on Fremont Street at 6 p.m. tonight where fans can get up-close with their favorite race-drivers. Since the Terrible Herbst are entered in the races where the winners claim the Terribles Cup, it’s natural their brand is everywhere—including the introduction of TerribleVision with a 16’ X 26’ LCD screen bringing the live race action from throughout the course and scenes and interviews from the pits even more up-close and personal. Terrible’s Fireworks shows will explode each night during to the second intermission. The tightly-timed, three-hour, 15-minute event has added an exhibition event each night as the increasingly popular new Trophy-Karts with drivers from 8 to 12 years old make their Las Vegas debut.

At 5 p.m. each night, early-arriving fans will be able to participate in the popular pre-race driver autograph party .The first 2,500 fans each night will receive a miniature replica of the No. 19 Terrible Herbst Motorsport SCORE Trophy-Truck, the winningest truck in the history of the SCORE’s marquee racing division. Reflecting the nature of the sport, family ties will be very evident in this SCORE race as will be the fact that several drivers will race in multiple vehicles. The entry list includes several fathers and their sons, as well as brothers, cousins, wives and there are also three female drivers of record entered. There are also seven racers who have entered in two vehicles each. Las Vegas brothers Ed and Tim Herbst, who race together in SCORE Trophy-Truck, have each entered a vehicle in Class 1-2/1600. Brothers Bryan and Cody Freeman, of Las Vegas, are entered as driver of record in Class 1-2/1600 and SCORE Lite respectively

Celebrity racer Jesse James, Sunset Beach, Calif., who is married to superstar actress Sandra Bullock and star of the old Monster Garage TV series, will race for the first time in this event, driving his No. 54 West Coast Choppers Racing Chevy C1500. Action sports television announcer Cameron Steele, another celebrity SCORE regular, has entered two classes. Max Theriot is a budding 18-year-old Hollywood actor and one of the top racers in Class 1 this season and has four major film credits, including this summer’s hit Nancy Drew, where he plays the hometown boyfriend of the lead actress. MGM-Mirage head honcho Bobby Baldwin is at #96 while his son B.J. is in the #1 position for the trophy-truck challenge. Rival MGM executive Bill McBeath of the Bellagio is at 91.

It’ll be a 4 a.m. start for NBC star Al Roker when his Today show broadcasts live from The Venetian next Tuesday for three hours. Audience admission lines will begin forming at 12 a.m. midnight on Tuesday, July 24 at the bridge leading to Doge’s Palace. All engaged couples as of the beginning of this month could attend and submit applications for the “Today Throws a Martha Stewart Wedding” series. Many segments during the three-hour satellite transmission will honor the spirit of weddings including a giveaway of 50 wedding dressers in a Venetian Vegas version of “The Running of the Brides.”

The first 50 eligible brides to line up with a completed application will participate in the wedding dress grab. Venetian celebrity chefs David Burke and Tom Moloney of Aquaknox will prepare wedding entrees and desserts for the NBC remote. In addition many of the famed Venetian street performers including stilt walkers in traditional wedding attire, jugglers and serenading gondoliers will be featured. Although the show is live back to the East Coast because of the 3-hour time difference it will be rebroadcast on local KVBC Ch 3 at 7 a.m. our time! I’ll be talking to my old friend, Al Roker later this morning and we’ll have his interview here on Monday as he flies out to Vegas for the wedding special! Cameras for the ambitious broadcast will be set up inside St. Mark’s Square, in The Venetian Poker Room and outside featuring the exterior of The Venetian.

Bring it on—they are already to rumble! A rock’em sock’em slugfest is underway between the two top talent agents booking rock acts for arch rivals the Palms and the Hard Rock. The head-to-head war has been slowly heating up but in advance of the Video Music Awards coming to town the weekend after Labor Day it will explode. Each hotel is determined to up the ante over the other to claim supremacy, as the big business fall season gets real rough and tough.

I spoke to one Hard Rock executive who confirmed, “We will do what is necessary to do to hold onto our long legacy as the best and most important home for rock in Vegas. When it comes to war there can only be one winner left standing.”

While the Palms loads its ammunition at the new Pearl concert theater with such heavyweight names as Fergie, Godsmack, REO Speedwagon, Poison, 311, Kid Rock and Hiliary Duff in August plus the Smashing Pumpkins and Maroon 5 this fall the Hard Rock fires back with the Dan Band, INxS Deep Purple, and follows with BB King and Al Green over Labor Day weekend and in direct challenge to the VMA weekend rocking all over town will feature Incubus, Snoop Dogg, Angels and Airwaves and best British female singer, Lily Allen, immediately followed by Sinead O’Connor. The MTV Video Music Awards will relocate from New York for the first time to Vegas to broadcast live from the Palms on Sunday September 9.

“The fans get the best of this battle” one entertainment executive told me. “Two giant rock promoters will slug it out and Vegas will get the biggest and best names every weekend this fall. Nobody seems to care about how many dollars are guaranteed to the star-rock attractions because they both want to win the war.” The triple-threat tension over the talent escalated when Palms resort-hotel mogul George Maloof lured away the Hard Rock’s former booking operator, Andrew Hewitt, to ensure his new Pearl concert theater was a superstar attraction. The Hard Rock promptly joined forces with AEG Live, as its exclusive promoter of all booking activities there. It is one of the largest concert promotion and touring companies in the world and its recent tours have included Justin Timberlake, Prince, Bon Jovi, Nickelback, Rod Stewart, Paul McCartney, Christine Aguilera and Celine Dion and Elton John’s concerts at Caesars Palace. My contact at the Hard Rock summed up: “It’s going to be one helluva fall rock war”

Congratulations to radiology student Breanne Ashley who won the 2007 Miss Hooters International pageant. She beat out 128 rival Hooter girls in the event televised live from the Planet Hollywood resort-casino to Hooters restaurants around the world via closed-circuit satellite.

Judges, including John Salley and Rodney Peete from FOX TV’s “Best Damn
Sports Show Period” and Tom Arnold, gave high marks to Breanne for “her incredible bubbling personality”. The show was hosted by their sports-co-star Chris Rose.

Still crying in shock and disbelief seconds after last year’s winner, Michelle Nunes of Vegas crowned the new champion, 20-year-old Breanne told LUXE LIFE: “I’m trying to stop crying. I was in such shock I couldn’t even remember my own name and number when they called it out. I still didn’t believe it until Michelle put the crown on my head.

“My mom encouraged me four years ago to go to work at Hooters to earn money to put me through radiology classes. She also told me to enter the pageant. I didn’t think I stood a chance but I came thinking that at least I’d be on TV for a second or so. Now look what happened: I won the entire thing. The girls are getting prettier and prettier every year. I didn’t even know why I was here because I didn’t think I’d make it. I kept worrying my face wasn’t pretty enough and my body not good enough with all the competition. It’ll take until tomorrow when I wake up to realize its actually true.

“I guess the judges liked my smiles, my personality and my confidence. Now my goal is to travel the world for the next 12 months and wind up on billboards and on TV. Ever since I was five years old I dreamed of one day being on television—and now that dream will come true.”

Breanne, a runner and four-wheeling enthusiast from Newnan, Georgia, won $50,000 and will be the Hooters spokesperson for the next 12 months. She will also be featured in a Cosmopolitan magazine cover layout. Breanne has already been seen in the Hooters calendar and is featured on the Hooters playing cards.

Will last year’s winner Michelle Nunes now return to her former job as a blackjack dealer at the Hooters casino here? “It’s been an incredible year for me, a wonderful experience but now I’m off to Hollywood,” she told me. “I’ve got a lot of opportunities for TV and movies so I’m planning a successful show-business career.”