In las Vegas this week a little girl who had been sexually abused on camera by a convicted sex offender was found safe with her mother. The little girl was abused on camera and las vegas police had to make a decision of whether or not to release the tape in order to help find the person guilty of the crimes against her. Some people belierve police revictimized the victim by releasing the tape, Lead investigator Tony Demeo said that they had never seen a case like this before and that they only wanted to find the victim to make sure she was safe.

She was identified after news media aired pictures of the girl taken from the video tape. She was found safe and sound and the suspect was also identified. Some people will say that the officers should not have released this tape with such graphic abuse of a child on it. I feel like they did the right thing because they found the girl and they were also able to get a suspect. The safty of the child right now should out wiegh anything else.

Las vegas was originally built by mormons as a fort halfway between Salt Lake City and LA. In the late 1800's it became a mining town. Hoover dam was built in 1931 this brought many lots of people to the city and in the same year gambling was legalized. There is a parrallel in the growth of Las Vegas as Tourism and entertainment became the mainstay many government facilities were buitl in and around the area. In 1960 Las Vegas had 65,000 people in a 25 squrae mile radius. The main source of income for the city was and still is tourism and entertainment. Hotel and casino, strip malls, and food and beverage consumption, including alcohol which im sure contributes to the crime rate. Las Vegas is the largest metropolitan city in the US that was founded in the 20th century.

In Desert Springs hospital in Las Vegas Nevada there is a man in a coma. His name, or place of birth is unknown, and he is being sued. The hospital is sueing him and the attorney generals office because they believe he was in the federal witness protection program and has racked up at least 75000 in hospital bills over the last 2 years. Hospital officials either want him taken out of thier care or for his bills to be paid. A hospital in Uruguay has agreed to take him in only if the US verifies his identity which they havent done so far because he was supposedly in the witness protection program. What a story, it speaks 1. about the state of our health care system in the US, we have the best health care professionals in the world and millions of people who cannot acces the services because our healthcare system is a ridiculous maze of insurance agancies and buaracratic red tape. 2. he could be treated but the FBI refuses to give up his identity, which I understand on the one hand but on the other they should then pay his bills. 3. people in the United States will sue anyone at anytime for anything, we are a lawsuit happy society and some of the money wasted in many frivelous lawsuits could be better used in the field of helthcare.

For my topic I will start with the crime rate and types of crimes that go on in Las Vegas. Las Vegas is ranked as the 88th best place to live in the US by forbes magazine it is also ranked 1st in net migration and 3rd in job growth among cities with at least 100,000 residents. According to the census for the year 2000 Las Vegas reported 63,000+ arrests, the statistics also indicate that sometimes offenses are not reported so the number may by higher. Larceny is the most populous crime at 30000 incidents, burglary is second at 13000 motor vehicle thefts at 11500 robbery 4000 aggravated assaut at 3500 rape at 597 and murder at 109. Studies are currently being done to try and link cities with gambling venues to increased crime rates.

The economic influences in this city are capatalism at its best, people with lots of money invest in business ventures in this city and eventually make tons of more money. The majority of the profits turned by these disgustingly rich people are made off of the working class people who sink thier money into casinos hoping to hit one big one so that they can then be rich and can exploite other people instead of being exploited themselves. Although most of them dont realize they are indeed being used, they come and go and donate to no particular cause quite willingly.

OJ charged in Vegas

OJ Simpson was arrested and questioned in regards to an armed robbery that happened in a Las Vegas hotel this week. Apparantly armed men stormed a hotel room where sports paraphanelia was being held for auction. The men took items by force before leaving with no injuries being reported. OJ later said that he simply took items that belonged to him, because he didnt want people making money off of him if he wasnt going to get a cut. He also said there were no weapons and that he didnt break into the room. Also this week the family of Ron Goldman appeared on Oprah to discuss thier releasing of the book "If I did it," which supposedly tells how OJ would have killed Ron and Nicole Simpson, the book was originally supposed to be released by a publisher who would pay OJ royalties but the rights to the book were awarded to the Goldman family by a federal judge. I wonder if this effected OJ's decision making process this week?
The 2007 VMA's were also held this week at the Palms hotel and casino owned by the Maloof brotheres of Albuquerque NM. Lots of lip-syncing by people with little talent and lots of fans.

http://www.lvrj.com/news/9638447.htmlHere are some of the current news events in las vegas: A group of young men calling themselves the "311 Gang" have been responsible for numerous acts of violence in the city. Aggravated assaults, and attempted murder are among the crimes commited by this group who is using 311 as a reference to the Klu Klux Klan. In a trend that seems to be growing in criminal cultures they have been videotaping thier activities and assaults which has helped police arrest and convict numerous members of this group over the last year. I have included one of the clips there are more if you go to the link I have provided.

A standoff between residents and the government building the Yucca Mountain depository where nuclear waste will be stored underground came to a hault as drilling once again took place using more then 191,000 gallons of water for a project most people are strongly opposing.

There are many myths surrounding Las Vegas. It is after all Sin City, many think the mafia still controls most of it but through government intervention the control was shifted to the private sector many years ago, also many believe it is a city of wealth, this is not true. It is like the rest of the country the top ten percent have all the money, the rest of the people are working class or worse just trying to make it.