Kimo’s Vegas

Suzy Favor Hamilton. Photo from Kimo Akane

WELCOME TO Kimo’s Vegas … the Player’s Edge!

HAPPY NEW YEAR and welcome to the time the Mayans didn’t think was worth considering …

THREE-TIME gold medalist Suzy Favor Hamilton admitted that after her Olympic career, in addition to her roles as mom, motivational speaker and Realtor, she worked as a prostitute in Las Vegas, Los Angeles and Chicago. Using the alias Kelly Lundy, she worked for an escort service for $600 an hour. She says, “I realize I have made highly irrational choices and I take full responsibility for them. I am not a victim here and knew what I was doing.” … Now, that’s some baggage.

SPEAKING OF: George Flint is a Nevada brothel lobbyist and a minister … anyone else see some irony here?

ACCORDING TO Mark Robinson (the fact checker) … In 1971, Mustang Ranch was the first legal brothel in Nevada. Prior to that, it was licensed and operated as boarding houses.

ONE OF THE major hassles with travel is lugging (is that why we call it luggage?) your belongings through airports. Bags Inc. has a solution now offered at more than 200 hotels nationwide. The first downtown Vegas location to offer the portage service for your stuff is the Plaza. If you’ve got a ticket on Southwest, Delta, United, American, U.S. Airways, JetBlue, WestJet or Virgin Atlantic, you can drop your bags at their counters and, voila!, a lot less lugging! For $10 per piece, you won’t see you’re road gear until you arrive at your destination airport … For $30 for the first bag ($40 for two, and $50 for three) they’ll deliver it to your home or office. And you don’t have to stay at the Plaza to use its service. Not downtown? No worries. Bags Inc. also has check-in counters at the MGM Grand, Mandalay Bay, Luxor, Harrah’s and the Riviera. For outgoing service, you can make the drop at Las Vegas Convention Center and McCarran Rental Car Center.

THERE’S A slot machine tax in Nevada of $2 per machine that is levied quarterly to the purveyors of establishments that deploy the one-armed bandits. The revenue generated from this funds programs to help people with gambling problems. Isn’t it ironic that the problem the state agency responsible for teaching people that they don’t have enough money to gamble is it doesn’t have enough money to teach people that they don’t have enough money to gamble.

NO ONE REALLY knows how many people move to Vegas every year… however, the Department of Motor Vehicles believes it has a good idea. In 2011 it received about 60,000 surrendered licenses and IDs.

SEVEN OUT … After 13 years in Vegas, the Amazing Johnathan is saying aloha to Sin City, in a split that’s not as ugly as that of Kim Kardashian and Kris Humphries. The shocking comic said on his Facebook page: “Yes, we have ended our run in Vegas after 13 years. That is plenty long enough. I get it. Even after playing there for three months, there were still more signs advertising acts that weren’t even playing there anymore. It was death for me. There were NO signs to even tell people where the room was.” Auwe!

FOLLOW US on Twitter, like us on Facebook and get the latest Vegas news online at KimosVegas.com and every week here in MidWeek. Send me your Vegas questions, mana’o, photos and reunions to Kimo@KimosVegas.com.