🏜️ A $100 fee at the Grand Canyon

🏜️ Foreigners Face a Big Fee at the Grand Canyon

Come see the natural wonders of America — and bring your passport, I guess. The Department of the Interior is adding a $100 fee for foreign visitors to the Grand Canyon and other national parks — effective January 1. [Associated Press]

• Is this “America-first-pricing” a good idea during a period of flat tourism? City Cast Las Vegas tackles the question in the latest Friday news roundup, plus escalating health care premiums and why Strip casinos don’t like to offer bingo. [City Cast Las Vegas 🎧]

🤔 Too Many Events in Vegas?

Well, maybe this week. Las Vegas was in contention to host the World Cup Draw (happening today in Washington, D.C.), but was too busy with the National Finals Rodeo and Amazon Web Services re:Invent conference happening at the same time. [Nevada Independent]

• The rodeo got underway without a hitch last night at the Thomas & Mack despite concerns about herpes 😳 No, it has nothing to do with those afterparties, but a virus affecting competitive horses in Texas. So far, so good in Vegas, although the South Point cancelled a few of its own rodeo events as a precaution. [Las Vegas Review-Journal]

🪧 Protestors Disrupt Airport Activity

The Culinary Union kicked off a 24-hour protest at Harry Reid International Airport this morning in support of food service workers seeking a new contract. This comes less than 48 hours after picketers blocked the busy intersection of Tropicana and University Center, angering airport motorists and using the power of road rage to shine a spotlight on their cause. [KLAS]

☎️ Nevada Vs. Robocall Spammers

Maybe AI will finally become useful for stuff like curing cancer and blocking robocalls. Since it hasn’t happened yet, Nevada Attorney General Aaron Ford is cracking down on four major phone service providers, investigating why customers in our state continue to receive all that spam — even when on so-called “do not call” lists. [KVVU]

😃 Hey, news junkies!

It’s time for the latest Hey Las Vegas news quiz. The questions are based on stories featured in the newsletter over the past week. Have you been paying attention?

Here’s the first question to get you started:

Which casino is bringing bingo back to the Strip?

• Circus Circus
• Sahara
• The Vanderpump Hotel
• Treasure Island

Next week is our annual City Cast Las Vegas Neighbors winter campaign. If you’re sick of AI slop, fake videos, and misleading clickbait, it’s the perfect chance to support what we do here — local news and local views by a team who lives here and cares about the community as much as you do.

Details to come next week, but if you join now, you’ll skip all those extra emails and get early access to our brand-new City Cast Las Vegas beanie 👀

Stay warm and keep the fire burning for local journalism 🔥