✍️ Caesars averts strike with Culinary deal

✍️ Contract High

Caesars Entertainment has tentatively agreed to a new five-year deal with the Culinary Union, averting a threatened strike at its nine Strip properties. At press time, MGM Resorts and Wynn Resorts were widely expected to follow suit. [KVVU]

👋 Jara Pressure Intensifies

More high-profile Jara love — and by “love” I mean “calls for him to resign” — as Senate Majority Leader Nicole Cannizzaro adds her voice to the chorus seeking the departure of CCSD superintendent Jesus Jara. [Las Vegas Sun]

🏢 Downtown’s Recovery Praised

An economist speaking in Las Vegas this week credited the city’s downtown for bouncing back from the pandemic more quickly than many other downtowns. But buried in that praise is a warning: It indicates that Las Vegas doesn’t have a concentration of “professional” workers, the very people downtown will ultimately need in order to diversify its economy. [Review-Journal]

• Additional: The limits of Tony Hsieh’s vision for downtown. [City Cast Las Vegas 🎧]

🚯 Lake Trashed

You can tell Lake Mead is popular by the amount of trash people discard in and around it — 27,000 pounds have been picked up this year. Fun fact: Any litter that’s more than 50 years old must be left where it is; it’s an artifact now. [KLAS]

• Speaking of the lake: The problem with damming the Colorado. [City Cast Las Vegas 🎧]
• Speaking of stuff in the lake: Those bodies. The mob’s work? [City Cast Las Vegas 🎧]

🪖 New Leader

Col. Amy Klima has become just the third female brigade commander in the Nevada National Guard history — and the first to command the guard’s largest brigade. [Review-Journal]

⚛️ ‘Atomic Life: Shaken & Stirred’ | Today | 6 p.m.

Author Cecelia Tichi (“Midcentury Cocktails: History, Lore, and Recipes from America’s Atomic Age”) discusses the history, culture, and booze of the atomic era. Sponsored by The Atomic Museum. [Atomic Motors Classic Cars & Motorcycles, Henderson; $39]

• Related: If you want to keep that atomic vibe going, here are some local spots even Oppenheimer might approve of. [Hey Las Vegas 📧]

🎤 ‘Voices Raised for Vets’ | Today | 7 p.m.

Drawing on military-themed selections from Broadway and opera, Opera Las Vegas salutes those who have served. [Winchester Dondero Cultural Center, Desert Inn and McLeod; free]

🎶 ‘The Drowsy Chaperone’ | Today-Friday | 7:30 p.m.

A 1920s-style musical that’s also a “masterful meta-musical” that spoofs the genre’s tropes. Presented by Signature Productions. [Summerlin Library; $25-$35]

🧷 Punk Rock Reunion | Friday | 8 p.m.

A reunion of old-school Las Vegas punkers, including MIA, Anti-Vision, Triple Ripple, and more (though no Boba Fett Youth; sorry fans!). [Backstage Bar & Billiards, Fremont East; $20]

🐎 Las Vegas Days Rodeo | Friday-Saturday | Various times

Once the Helldorado Rodeo, these two days of yeehaw are meant to honor Las Vegas history while also being a fully sanctioned pro-rodeo event. Bull-riding, steer wrestling — all the things. [Plaza, downtown; free]

🖼️ ‘The Xhibition’ | Saturday | 4 p.m. to 4 p.m.

It’s a very Vegas cultural mashup — art in a strip club. It’s organized by Beverly Chillz, Amber Nicole, and frequent City Cast contributor Brent Holmes. In addition to art and adult vendors, there will be performances and, we’re told, chicken wings. [LVLV Gentlemen’s Club, see map; $11.11]

Where to Eat on Date Night

Al Mancini, creator of the Neon Feast app, joins host Dayvid Figler and executive producer Sonja Cho Swanson on our podcast to hook up listeners with great date-night dinner suggestions at different price points, from casual to trying-to-impress. Take notes, singletons!