Las Vegas tourism to hire terrorist analyst

Las Vegas tourism to hire terrorist analyst

LAS VEGAS — Tourism officials in Las Vegas plan to hire a terrorist intelligence analyst in part to assure conventioneers that they will be safer in Las Vegas than if they meet in other cities.

The board of the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority approved about $480,000 in funding for the next three years for the position.

The analyst will work under Las Vegas police in the Southern Nevada Counterterrorism Fusion Center.

Officials say they will spend more than $148,000 to fund the job next year, with increases based on merit and cost of living.

Authorities say they know of no specific major terrorism threats uncovered in Las Vegas.

Magazine names top new restaurants

NEW YORK — Restaurants in San Francisco, Cambridge, Mass., Chicago and Austin, Texas, are featured by Bon Appetit in the magazine’s annual September restaurant issue.

The restaurants appear on Bon Appetit’s list of 10 of the country’s best new restaurants, along with a recommended dish.

They are:

UBar Jules, San Francisco, lamb with preserved lemons

UNo. 7, Brooklyn, N.Y., pumpkin-seed-crusted tofu

USpring Hill, Seattle, black cod with fennel chowder

UHungry Mother, Cambridge, Mass., cornmeal-crusted catfish

UMado, Chicago, clam and calamari seafood stew

UFeast, Houston, braised beef with fresh pears and ginger

UCakes & Ale, Decatur, Ga., citrus arancine (rice balls) with pecorino cheese

UOlivia, Austin, Texas, milk-braised pork shoulder

UWoodberry Kitchen, Baltimore, spiced pear flatbreads

UThe Greenhouse Tavern, Cleveland, potato-crusted goat cheese tarts

Report: Hotel plans will stall due to visitor drop

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico — A new report offers a bleak outlook for the Caribbean hotel industry.

PKF Hospitality Research says the region’s hotels had an average drop in profits of 16 percent in 2008 and there will be “further profit deterioration” this year.

The report finds steep discounts and special offers have not offset a 4 percent decline in visitors to the tourism-dependent area.

The report also predicts that about 50 planned hotel projects will likely be delayed because developers are struggling to get financing.

It noted a number of hotels have been forced to close, including the Four Seasons on Great Exuma in the Bahamas.

Columbia Gorge Hotel expected to reopen

HOOD RIVER, Ore. — The historic Columbia Gorge Hotel is expected to reopen in September, according to The Oregonian.

Nobody bid for the property during a foreclosure auction in July, leaving it in the hands of its mortgage holder, Shorebank Pacific.

ShoreBank, which set $4 million as the minimum bid, has retained North Pacific Management Inc. to run the hotel built by timber tycoon Simon Benson in 1921 as the “Waldorf of the West.”

Associated Press