NEWS & NOTES

Cirque du Soleil, synonymous with Las Vegas entertainment for 25 years, has “temporarily” laid off about 95 percent of its workforce worldwide due to the coronavirus pandemic, and shut down all its iconic Vegas shows. The company will extend medical coverage for affected employees during the layoff period and “prepare for rehiring as soon as productions are allowed to resume.” • Atlantic City’s change-of-government referendum has been postponed from March 31 to May 12 because of the coronavirus. A political action committee, Atlantic City Residents for Good Government, proposes changing the city’s government from its current mayor-council form to a council-manager form. The PAC, chaired by casino labor president Bob McDevitt, circulated a petition that garnered more than 3,000 signatures from residents. • The National Association of Broadcasters announced Friday it will not reschedule its 2020 Las Vegas show, which was originally scheduled for mid-March, then pushed to April 18-22 at the Las Vegas Convention Center. In a statement, NAB said it had reached “the difficult but unavoidable conclusion” that it could not reschedule the 2020 show, which had an economic impact of $153.3 million in 2019, according to the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority. • Detroit’s three casinos have donated unused fruit, vegetables, dairy products, prepared foods and snacks to local food pantries. MotorCity Casino is donating 6,000 sanitizing wipes and 8,000 gloves to bus drivers, and Greektown Casino has offered its facility for makeshift treatment facilities or drive-up screenings. • A person who visited the Isle of Capri Casino Hotel in Boonville, Missouri just hours before the property closed, later tested positive for the coronavirus. Governor Mike Parson ordered all 13 casinos in Missouri to close at midnight on March 17. The order at that time set March 30 as the date to reopen. • All nine of Atlantic City’s casinos have delivered unused food to organizations such as the Community Food Bank of New Jersey, the Atlantic City Rescue Mission, the Salvation Army and the Boys and Girls Club of Atlantic City. • Melco Resorts & Entertainment has fired 23 dealers for using fraudulent medical certificates to apply for sick leave. Melco employees are made aware when they’re hired that such actions are punishable by immediate termination. • A small fire broke out on the second story of the shuttered Trump Plaza parking garage near Atlantic City’s Boardwalk. City officials have been pressing property owner Carl Icahn to demolish the former casino property, which has been closed since 2014. • Due to the lack of business and fears of a coronavirus outbreak, hotels across Nepal have shut down, as well as the Tara Casino at the Hyatt Regency. Nepal has seen a severe decline in the inflow of foreign tourists due to the coronavirus. • Three Ohio gaming halls, Jack Casino, Jack Thistledown and MGM Northfield Park have collectively donated more than three tons worth of food to the Greater Cleveland Food Bank to help residents affected by the Covid-19 outbreak. Casinos and racinos in the state will remain closed indefinitely. • The Atlantic City Convention Center has been made available for a federal government with space for 250 beds due to the Covid-19 virus. The Federal Emergency Management Agency hospitals are a precaution, said New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy. • The Gold Eagle Casino in North Battleford, Saskatchewan, part of the Saskatchewan Indian Gaming Authority, has donated more than 1,000 pounds of food to the local food banks after closing in response to the coronavirus pandemic. • Gaming operators that hoped Hokkaido, Japan would reconsider its decision to bow out of the integrated resort race have conceded defeat. Mohegan Gaming & Entertainment has closed its local office, and Rush Street Japan Gaming will soon follow suit. Pro-IR advocates had hoped to persuade Hokkaido Governor Naomichi Suzuki to reverse his decision not to participate. • MGM Resorts International is donating $1 million toward the MGM Resorts Emergency Relief Fund. The fund provides employees and their families with short-term relief in making payments or to meet obligations during unexpected hardships and emergencies, the company said in a statement. The $1 million pledge also applies to full-time employees, on-call employees and those facing layoff, separation or furlough. • Nearly 36,000 pounds of food were donated by Connecticut’s two tribal casinos, Foxwoods and Mohegan Sun, to a food bank in New London. •   The Macau government has ordered suspension of activity at a worksite for Phase 3 expansion of the casino resort Galaxy Macau after three people died and four were injured in the collapse of scaffolding there last week. Galaxy Entertainment said in a statement that it has “tasked the contractor to conduct a thorough review of all safety measures on the construction site and ensure all related rules and regulations are strictly abided by all relevant parties.” • Flight operations in Las Vegas were in a holding pattern last week as McCarran International Airport’s air traffic control tower remained closed. The tower shut down after a controller tested positive for Covid-19 virus the week before. • 1-800-GAMBLER, an addiction treatment group based in West Virginia, continues to offer services to the 2 percent of Americans who might have a gambling disorder, despite the coronavirus lockdown that’s closed casinos and video lottery outlets.