Las Vegas Strip
going dark for Reagan

June 10, 2004

LAS VEGAS – The glamorous lights of the Las Vegas Strip will be darkened here tomorrow night to honor late President Ronald Reagan.

Las Vegas Strip plans 3-minute outage

It’s only the seventh time in modern history casino operators have taken part in an intentional blackout, the last of which occurred three days after the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks on the U.S.

The planned three-minute outage is slated to commence at 9 p.m. tomorrow, which has been designated a national day of mourning.

“I think this would give us the right type of recognition and illustrate what this community is really about,” Mayor Oscar Goodman, who proposed the dimming, told the Las Vegas Review-Journal.

America’s 40th president died Saturday in California after a decade-long battle with Alzheimer’s disease, and thousands of people have been turning out to pay their final respects.

Reagan joins the likes of President Kennedy and frequent Las Vegas headliners Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, George Burns and Sammy Davis Jr. in receiving the lights-out honor.

Street view of Las Vegas Strip

Don Snyder of the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority called Goodman’s proposal “a wonderful idea,” reports the Review-Journal, and said his company’s local properties, which include the Stardust and three downtown Las Vegas sites, would be willing to take part.

Caesars Entertainment also will turn down its lights.

“We are going to accept the LVCVA’s invitation and participate,” Caesars spokesman Robert Stewart told the Las Vegas Sun. “Regardless of politics, it’s a show of respect for the office.”

Additionally, owners of Harrah’s, Rio, and the Venetian expressed support for the tribute.

Important special offer!

“Hand of

Providence: The Strong and Quiet Faith of Ronald Reagan,” by Mary

Beth Brown, is now available from WorldNetDaily.