NEWS & NOTES

Resorts World Catskills has been issued a temporary conditional certificate of occupancy by the town of Thompson, allowing the casino resort to conduct on-site employee training and relocate some management offices to the property ahead of a February opening timed to cash in on Chinese New Year. The largest of the four commercial casinos licensed by the state of New York, the $1 billion venue will feature more than 2,100 machine games, 150 table games, a 332-room hotel and non-gaming attractions that include a 2,100-seat events center and a golf course.  •  A pay dispute involved workers building protective steel-reinforced barriers on the Las Vegas Strip has prompted the Clark County Commission to postpone its approval for the installations to be extended. The Nevada Foundation for Fair Contracting said Muller Construction paid three concrete finishers $6-$7-an-hour less than the prevailing wage for government contracts under Nevada law. To date, Muller has installed 800 of the barriers, which are designed to protect pedestrians from motor vehicle attacks.  •  The University of Nevada, Las Vegas has slated a January 25 grand opening for a new $59 million home for the William F. Harrah College of Hospitality. The 93,500-square-foot, four-story Hospitality Hall, as it’s called, features a high-tech kitchen, student-run café, a PGA Golf Management learning center, a 120-seat auditorium and numerous meeting and office spaces.  •  Nevada sportsbooks generated $528 million in bets in November, an increase of 5.4 percent from November 2016 but down from the $565 booked in October during the Major League Baseball playoffs. Profit was down $11.5 million for the month, mainly due to baseball losses and a spate of spread-covering wins by NFL and college football favorites.  •  A U.S. Bankruptcy Court judge in Reno, Nevada, has approved an agreement that allows Lake Tahoe’s Cal Neva Resort & Casino to be acquired by Lawrence Investment, an entity controlled by Silicon Valley billionaire Larry Ellison. The Cal Neva, best-known in the early 1960s as a celebrity playground under Frank Sinatra’s brief tenure as owner, was closed in 2013 for renovation and reopening by out-of-state investors but funding difficulties forced the project to seek bankruptcy protection. Lawrence will pay $35.8 million for the casino and its supporting facilities, which include a small hotel.  •  Full House Resorts (Nasdaq: FLL) has filed a universal shelf registration statement with the Securities and Exchange Commission to cover possible future offers and sales of up to $125 million in common stock, debt securities, warrants, rights, purchase contracts or units, or any combination of those securities, over a three-year period.  •  Las Vegas’ off-Strip Tuscany Suites & Casino has completed a redesign and renovation of its 716 suites with new furniture, carpeting and fixtures, artwork, desk space for business travelers and faster in-room wifi. The $5 million project was launched in 2015.  •  Italian-American restaurant and nightclub Lavo Singapore opened on the rooftop of Marina Bay Sands on New Year’s Eve. The venue, a collaboration between MBS and U.S.-based entertainment firm the Tao Group, kicked off with a party hosted by actor Jamie Foxx.  ●  The Macau Canidrome dog racing track will close in July. An unidentified association is reportedly leading a $6 million campaign to adopt out hundreds of Canidrome greyhounds.  •  The National Indian Gaming Commission (NIGC) will hold several tribal consultation sessions across the nation this month, and in February, mainly at tribal casinos, to keep an open dialogue with tribal nations as called for in the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act. The topics of the consultations will be (1) Proposed changes to Management Contract process; (2) Audit Submissions; (3) Management and Sole Proprietary Definition.  •  As part of its $170 expansion, Pala Casino Spa and Resort has opened Bar Meets Grill, a new restaurant located it what was formerly the CAVE lounge and restaurant. It will offer casual California cuisine for lunch and dinner including Shrimp Cocktail, Stuffed Mushrooms, Seared Ahi Tuna, Baked Prosciutto and Mozzarella, Fried Calamari and Avocado Fries. The underground wine CAVE will continue to operate.  •  Turf Paradise in Phoenix, Arizona said last week it will suspend phone betting on its races as of January 9, a practice the legislature approved three years ago. At that time lawmakers approved of phone betting, but required that the bets be placed manually over the phone rather than through mobile apps or online. The Turf Paradise said it was losing money on this arrangement. It says it will lobby the legislature to approve of a more modern process.  •  Anti-gambling crusader Kathy Gilroy is being called a hypocrite after she admitted to Chicago Tribune reporters that she won $25,000 in a charity sweepstakes, and that she regularly enters sweepstakes contest. While she justified her participation by saying she didn’t spend her own money to enter, she was in fact one of the most vocal opponents of the Queen of Hearts raffle organized by the Veterans of Foreign Wars in Illinois, which she viewed as illegal under gambling laws. She has been instrumental in shutting down raffles and other charity events statewide.