Lewis cites Vegas shooting in final essay
CIVIL rights legend John Lewis referred to the Route 91 Harvest festival shooting on the Strip in a posthumous essay published Thursday morning in The
New York Times.
Lewis wrote:
“If we are to survive as one unified nation, we must discover what so readily takes root in our hearts that could rob Mother Emanuel Church in South Carolina of her brightest and best, shoot unwitting concertgoers in Las Vegas and choke to death the hopes and dreams of a gifted violinist like Elijah Mcclain.”
The 23-year-old Mcclain died while being detained by police last summer in Aurora, Colorado.
Lewis submitted the finished piece July 15, just two days before his death, with the condition that it would be published on the day of his public funeral. Former President Barack Obama delivered the eulogy during the service in Atlanta.
Read Lewis’ essay, under the title, “Together, You Can Redeem the Soul of Our Nation,” on the Times’ website.
Nevada Gov. Steve Sisolak tweeted to thank Lewis for remembering Las Vegas in his final essay.
Layoffs at Boyd
The owners of the hotel that inspired The Killers’ album “Sam’s Town” has dropped its entertainment division.
Boyd Gaming, which owns 10 locals-friendly casinos, has swept out its entertainment employees as part of companywide layoffs this month.
Effective July 14, the Boyd entertainment division has been terminated. Company spokesman David Strow declined to specify how many staffers were let go in the company’s widespread layoffs. But sources familiar with the terminations indicate some 40 employees on the Boyd entertainment team were let go.
The company reopened all of its Las Vegas properties on June 4, with no live entertainment on the books.
Boyd operates Sam’s Town on Boulder Highway, which enjoyed a shot of newfound fame as the title of The Killers’ 2006 release. The band also performed a 10th-anniversary concert at the hotel in September 2016.
Boyd’s signature venues include the Orleans Showroom (where such stars as Neil Sedaka, Air Supply and impressionist Frank Caliendo have headlined); Suncoast Showroom, which has presented such locals favorites as Earl Turner, Zowie Bowie, Frankie Moreno and a rotation of rock tribute bands; and Access at Aliante, which has headlined classic rockers Lindsey Buckingham, April Wine and Great White.
Osborne’s OK
Bellagio mainstay David Osborne is being inducted into the Oklahoma Music
Hall of Fame on Saturday. The artist dubbed “Pianist to the Presidents” is scheduled to play a socially distant concert at Coleman Hall in his original hometown of Miami, Oklahoma.
“Music has opened a lot of doors for me,” says Osborne, an ivory tickler at Bellagio since 2007. “It was the vehicle to achieve goals. I still strive to be the best at it.”
Before arriving on the Strip to play Caesars Palace, and later Petrossian Bar at Bellagio, Osborne earned his bachelor’s degree from Oral Roberts University in Tulsa, Oklahoma. He’s also a graduate of Miami High School in Oklahoma.
Osborne has performed a total of 67 events for Presidents Jimmy Carter, Ronald Reagan, George H.W. Bush, George W. Bush, Bill Clinton and Barack Obama .He played his first show for Donald Trump last December.
Osborne is especially close to the Carters. He headlined Jimmy and Rosalynn’s dual birthday party (his 94th, her 92nd) last August at First Baptist Church in Americus, Georgia. Osborne continues to perform in rotation at the
Petrossian Bar, his mix of classical and pop selections representing rare live entertainment on the Strip.
‘Invictus,’ Lewis and Faw
Tybrefaw , a 12-year-old devotee of civil rights legend John Lewis, recited the poem “Invictus” at Lewis’ funeral in Atlanta on Thursday. In 2018, after the young man read Lewis’ biography, his family drove seven hours from their home in Johnson City, Tennessee, to meet Lewis. They joined Lewis on a Selma, Alabama, march commemorating the 53rd anniversary of “Bloody Sunday.” Faw brandished a sign reading, “Thank you, Rep. John Lewis. You have shown me how to have courage.”
The two most recently chatted over Facetime on Lewis’ 80th birthday.
In a circuitous turn of events, Faw is connected to Las Vegas through the great vocal group and Mirage headliners Boyz II Men. On July
18, the day after Lewis’ death, Boyz II Men’s Nathan Morris watched CNN coverage of Faw’s pilgrimage. After learning Faw was an only child of a single mother, Morris set up a Gofundme account to help fund Faw’s education.
“He wants to grow up and make a difference,” Morris wrote on the Gofundme page, “He wants to be a congressman and follow in the footsteps of the late John Lewis. We can’t afford this light to burn out before it has a chance to shine.”
The original Education Fund for Tybre Faw goal was $75,000. To date, Morris’ site has raised more than $84,000.
John Katsilometes’ column runs daily in the A section. His Podkats! podcast can be found at reviewjournal.com/ podcasts. Contact him at jkatsilometes@reviewjournal. com. Follow @johnnykats on Twitter, @Johnnykats1 on Instagram.
As of 9 p.m. Thursday:
1. 22-year-old arrested in double homicide in central Las Vegas
A 22-year-old man has been arrested in the fatal shooting of a man and woman early Wednesday in the central Las Vegas Valley. 2. Health district updates guidance on COVID-19 testing
The Southern Nevada Health District said it no longer recommends people who tested positive for COVID-19 be tested again
3. Metro lieutenant dies after battling coronavirus
Erik Lloyd, who had served with the Metropolitan Police Department for nearly 30 years and helped families of fellow Clark County police officers hurt or killed in the line of duty, died of COVID-19.
4. Nevada adds more than 1K new COVID-19 cases as death toll tops 800
Nevada recorded 1,018 new cases of COVID-19 and 21 more fatalities over the preceding day as the death toll in the state surged past 800, according to data posted Thursday.
5. $200M settlement announced over bankrupt Tonopah solar project
The Department of Energy on Thursday announced a settlement to recover
$200 million in taxpayer funds from Tonopah Solar Energy, a first-of-its-kind Nevada solar project that never showed a profit and frequently was offline.