Las Vegas Direct Magazine

Las Vegas News and Events (November 7, 2009)

Live Main Event blog: Fans filing into Rio

Sat, 07 Nov 2009 19:14:00 -0000 - Excitement is in the air at the Penn & Teller Theater in the Rio as less than 30 minutes from now, the dealer will shuffle the cards and the 2009 World Series of Poker Main Event final table will be under way. The building should be a lot calmer by then. Right now, it’s chaotic. The line of spectators waiting to get in stretches all the way back to the convention ballrooms in the Rio. Considering this theater holds less than 2,000 people, some fans are going to come away disappointed at not getting a chance to catch the action.

Temperature to hit 80 today in Las Vegas

Sat, 07 Nov 2009 15:36:00 -0000 - This will probably be the last day of the string of 80-degree afternoons in Las Vegas.

Take Five: Getting to know Colorado State

Sat, 07 Nov 2009 10:30:00 -0000 - Three weeks into the 2009 season, a regular season meeting down the road between UNLV and Colorado State had all the makings of deciding who lands one of the Mountain West Conference’s last bowl bids. That still could be the case, but it’s just not as certain. Not by a long shot.

Warning signs missed?

Sat, 07 Nov 2009 10:06:00 -0000 - There are more questions than answers about the horrific shooting rampage Thursday at Fort Hood that law enforcement officers say was carried out by Maj. Nidal M. Hasan, an Army psychiatrist.

Boulder City weighs first electricity rate hike in 20 years

Sat, 07 Nov 2009 10:05:00 -0000 - Boulder City residents and businesses might see an increase in electricity rates starting Jan. 1, if the City Council passes a proposed resolution.
City officials are proposing the rate hike to help pay for increased contract prices with NV Energy estimated to cost the city about $4 million over the next year.

The spirit of America

Sat, 07 Nov 2009 10:05:00 -0000 - The Navy’s newest ship made its first visit to New York City on Monday in what was a moving tribute. The ship, scheduled to be officially commissioned the USS New York today, stopped in the Hudson River, adjacent to ground zero, and fired a 21-gun salute. Sailors and Marines, some in tears, lined the decks and silently saluted.

Big Bird at 40

Sat, 07 Nov 2009 10:04:00 -0000 - When it first launched in 1969, “Sesame Street” was an innovative attempt to improve children’s television. The show, using animation and skits designed to teach children, featured a big yellow bird and a cast of fuzzy Muppets who lived alongside humans on a city block.

U.S. economic recovery will take time

Sat, 07 Nov 2009 10:03:00 -0000 - Regarding Richard McCord’s Oct. 29 letter to the editor, headlined “Incurring deficits no way to spur growth,” in which he called for the private sector to be “unleashed to do what only it can do — create jobs”:
I am reminded of two periods in recent and not-so-recent history.

Don’t play down Republican wins in governor’s races

Sat, 07 Nov 2009 10:02:00 -0000 - Why are the Republican victories at the statewide level indicative of local politics and the New York congressional district victory a positive vote for President Barack Obama’s presidency?

Medicare increase doesn’t make sense in this economy

Sat, 07 Nov 2009 10:01:00 -0000 - The Las Vegas Sun’s Wednesday report, “Their stories heard on the Hill,” which included discussion of health care premium shocks, hit home with me this week in a way that will hit seniors in the Las Vegas Valley.

Gorman ready for Palo following 56-15 pounding of Cheyenne

Sat, 07 Nov 2009 10:01:00 -0000 - First-year Bishop Gorman coach Tony Sanchez had barely finished making his way through the postgame handshake line before proclaiming — to no one in particular — that it was now officially ‘Palo week.’ Of course, that’s in reference to the Sunset Regional semifinal showdown which is now set up for next week between Gorman and rival Palo Verde, who slaughtered the Gaels last year in the regional finals, 50-14. Gorman did its part to set up the rematch by unloading on Cheyenne on Friday night, 56-15.

Medical board rejects deal for doctor accused of malpractice

Sat, 07 Nov 2009 10:00:00 -0000 - The Nevada Board of Medical Examiners rejected Friday a proposed settlement with a Henderson physician linked by authorities to the deaths of eight patients after prescribing them narcotic painkillers. The proposed agreement with Dr. Kevin Buckwalter called for him to plead guilty to three counts of malpractice, pay a $4,000 fine and allow the board to revoke his license to practice.

Freddie Roach talks tough; Manny Pacquiao backs it up

Sat, 07 Nov 2009 10:00:00 -0000 - Freddie Roach has earned a reputation as boxing’s finest trainer. More than this, in recent years Roach has become a master of psychological gamesmanship. Roach has developed a knack for making just the right remark to get into the heads of his opposition before a fight, for playing those mind games — “pushing the barriers, planting seeds,” as ringside color commentator John Lennon put it.

Day of the Dead festivities bring cultures together

Sat, 07 Nov 2009 10:00:00 -0000 - In the biggest single-day event in the Springs Preserve’s two-year history, thousands of Las Vegas Valley Hispanics and others rubbed shoulders, stood in lines together and otherwise swarmed the site’s 180 acres Nov. 1, drawn by a Mexican tradition known as the Day of the Dead.

Construction nears standstill

Sat, 07 Nov 2009 10:00:00 -0000 - Research firm Applied Analysis reports nine commercial projects of consequence under construction off from the Strip in Southern Nevada. Once most of those projects wind down next year, development will essentially cease, one analyst says.

County considers suing over travel Web site room taxes

Sat, 07 Nov 2009 10:00:00 -0000 - As other parts of the country win tens of millions of dollars in court judgments against online tourism companies, Clark County commissioners are talking about following suit. At issue is the amount of hotel room taxes paid by online travel sites.

Wranglers pull out narrow victory

Sat, 07 Nov 2009 08:30:00 -0000 - At least the Las Vegas Wranglers are consistent — consistently inconsistent that is.
For the third consecutive weekend, the Wranglers answered a Thursday night loss with a Friday night victory as Las Vegas narrowly edged the Bakersfield Condors 2-1 in front of 4,062 fans at the Orleans Arena.

Del Sol rallies without top rusher to win Southeast title

Sat, 07 Nov 2009 08:00:00 -0000 - Running back Dezerick Reed has been the Del Sol High football team’s No. 1 option offensively every game this fall. But in one of the Dragons’ most important games of the season on Friday night, they had to rally without their top performer. Reed was benched after drawing a personal foul on a late hit in the second quarter against a player from visiting Coronado.

Legacy beats Spring Valley for first playoff win

Sat, 07 Nov 2009 07:30:00 -0000 - Late in Friday night’s Sunset Regional quarterfinal, Legacy quarterback Devin Weidemann dropped back to pass.
He rolled to the left, looked to the right, felt pressure from behind and unleashed a high, arching 60-yard pass.
“I just cocked back and fired it,” he said. “And I had my doubts.”

Canyon Springs beats Chaparral, headed to playoffs

Sat, 07 Nov 2009 06:57:00 -0000 - Tyler Ward threw for more than 150 yards and Devin Rimmey rushed for more than 100 as Canyon Springs closed its regular season with a 67-18 victory against Chaparral.

Finding Cheap Airfare 

The Wall Street Journal Online
By Scott McCartney

Web Sites Offer New Features To Help Users Time Purchases To Get a Better Travel Deal

When the price of an airline ticket can change several times a day, it’s hard to feel secure about locking in the lowest fare. But several Web sites are adding features intended to help you feel confident about the price you’re paying.

FareCompare.com offers historical prices for trips in 77,000 markets in the U.S. and Canada — data that haven’t been available before to consumers. Farecast.com goes a step further, using sophisticated data-mining techniques to predict whether prices for a particular trip are likely to go up or down over the next week. Kayak.com now has a feature called Buzz that shows the best prices found by other Kayak users on the most searched destinations over the past 48 hours.

Airlines monkey around with ticket prices as much as three times a day for domestic itineraries and prices can change on international trips as often as five times a day. What’s more, fares on a particular flight can change quickly — up or down — as seats sell or remain empty. A lack of sales can prompt airline computers to offer more seats at a lower price.       

“You need to know what a decent price is,” says Rick Seaney, chief executive and president of FareCompare. “Consumers should be more educated about purchases.”

Booking air travel is increasingly a self-service business, with airline Web sites taking a bigger share of bookings and growing even faster than online agencies such as Expedia, Travelocity and Orbitz. They all provide lots of prices, but little historical context. In a way, sites like FareCompare, Farecast and Kayak perform the functions of a good travel agent, who would often track pricing changes and know how to spot deals. Since the Internet has turned many consumers into their own travel agents, the new online tools can help them make better buying decisions.

FareCompare shows the lowest prices offered by month for the next 11 months in any U.S. market, and offers a “Fare Trend” graph showing whether the lowest prices have been increasing, decreasing or holding steady. You can quickly see whether prices in that market bounce around or stay consistent. And with the current prices, FareCompare offers a one-star to four-star rating of how good the offering is compared with past prices. (see below for a sample prediction of how airfares will change for Aug 11, 2006-Aug 14, 2006).

The lowest price available for a round-trip ticket in September between Boston and Miami, for example, was priced yesterday by FareCompare at $198 (not including taxes). That’s expensive compared with last year, when the lowest price available for September 2005 was $158. But prices were higher in April, May and June, according to FareCompare. The Web site showed American dropped its lowest price on that route by $80 two weeks ago.

With FareCompare, it takes a few clicks to get available prices on specific dates since the site first offers lowest price in a month, then prices broken down by week. Drill a bit deeper, and you can break down prices by airline on the same route. While Delta Air Lines has consistently charged about $400 for its lowest advance-purchase round trip between Atlanta and Cincinnati over the past three months, prices at Continental Airlines yo-yoed in that market between $100 and $400 in the same period, according to FareCompare. Delta offers nonstop service between its two biggest hubs; Continental offers only connecting flights.

FareCompare, a Dallas company that started doing sophisticated travel data-crunching for businesses then decided to add a consumer site, has accumulated 22 months of prices. The site also tracks first-class and business-class fares, and is a quick way to find “Y-Up” fares — coach tickets that get you automatic first-class upgrades.

You can’t book tickets at FareCompare, Farecast, Kayak and other such referral sites such as SideStep. One click will send you to an airline Web site or other vendor for booking.

Farecast.com grew out of a University of Washington professor’s research into whether air fares were rational, meaning could they be predicted with data-mining computing that looks at historical patterns and recent changes. It’s like forecasting the weather. While far from perfect, Farecast believes it can make accurate forecasts.

Farecast spent three years developing its system, which crunches huge amounts of data including indicators of airline inventory, pricing history and consumer demand. Farecast doesn’t replicate the “yield management” systems that airplanes run, which try to maximize revenue generated by each airline seat. Instead, Farecast evaluates price movements over time — what happened to the actual prices airlines posted.

“We’ve identified over 100 indicators of what air fares will do, some intuitive and some not so obvious,” says Chief Executive Hugh Crean.

So far, Farecast is running only in a public “beta” test mode, with about 120 markets into or out of either Seattle or Boston. By year end, the Seattle-based company says it will be running with all domestic markets available. Farecast breaks fares down by airlines, as well as by time of day.

Farecast takes into account special events like a convention or graduation, seasonal travel patterns, and both pricing and inventory trends. It doesn’t factor in external pressures like the price of fuel, which has forced airlines to trim flight schedules and raise ticket prices. But it does pick up those trends from the price and inventory changes.

Farecast won’t be able to forecast events like the entry of a low-cost carrier into markets, or retaliatory pricing wars between airlines when one carrier dumps cheap prices into a market trying to punish a competitor, or at least voice displeasure with a sale somewhere else. Mr. Crean notes those are the exceptions and that most pricing is surprisingly rational.

Still, Mr. Seaney of FareCompare says his company has tried data-mining and predictive techniques, and found airfares were difficult to predict. “A lot of times it is just random. Someone does a sale, and that triggers a whole series of events,” he said.

Bob Harrell, president of consulting firm Harrell Associates in New York, says air fares follow the laws of supply and demand, and that consumers can rarely know what demand will be. The sites “address an issue that is quite vexing to travelers: Book now or book later?” he said.