Las Vegas

LAS VEGAS - In one room, a ghastly photo wall of bloody, uncensored images showcases the mob's greatest hits. In another, visitors are taught to load a revolver. And for when a gun just won't do, a collection of household items - a shovel, a hammer, a baseball bat, an ice pick - show the creative side of some of America's most notorious killers. Sin City is honoring one of its earliest relationships with the grand opening of a museum dedicated to the mobsters that made this desert town.

After a week of inspired music-making and grateful audiences, the Philadelphia Orchestra arrived in good, chatty spirits at the Las Vegas airport, the midpoint of its current U.S. tour, with rows of slot machines and gaudy-clothes shops unsuccessfully beckoning en route to the baggage carousels. Once on the bus to the Regent hotel, however, everyone fell eerily silent as the city's skyline came into view. Even youthful cellist Bob Cafaro, always eager to share his stash of health food with the other players, quit passing around his bag of organic raisins.

Merle Haggard is playing the Golden Nugget, the Oak Ridge Boys are at Caesar's Palace and Charlie Pride is at the Desert Inn. But, of course, that's all academic to two City Council members who will be spending the next several days in Las Vegas. They will be attending seminars and workshops on such topics as "Capital Ideas for Infrastructure Financing," and "Facilitating Compliance with Title III of Superfund. " Council members Joan L. Krajewski and Ann J. Land leave today for the National League of Cities annual convention, being held in Las Vegas through Wednesday.

The best thing that happened to the University of Nevada at Las Vegas basketball team this week was the worst thing that could happen to Las Vegas. Or, more specifically, UNLV's ascent to the Final Four means a real financial loss for the gambling capital of America. "On the one hand, the whole town is going crazy for the team. Everyone is excited," said Keith Glantz, director of the Palace Station race and sports book. "On the other hand, this isn't exactly helping the betting and sports- book industry.

The Oakland Athletics still are throwing snake eyes in their temporary home in Las Vegas. Melvin Nieves's RBI bloop single in the 15th inning gave the visiting Detroit Tigers, who earlier blew a seven-run lead, a 10-9 win yesterday over winless Oakland in a game that featured five homers. The Tigers' Travis Fryman and the Athletics' Scott Brosius each homered twice. Bobby Higginson also connected for Detroit in a game that lasted 4 hours, 47 minutes. "We need to win a game, period," Brosius said.

If Hollywood maintains the current rate of burned-out-cop movies through the year, we are going to need an urn in the local cineplex by midsummer. Following in the cinders of Number One With a Bullet and Lethal Weapon comes Burt Reynolds in Heat - and there is a sparkle to his performance that's been sorely missed in his recent films. In Heat, Reynolds is a private bodyguard, rather than a sullen detective as played by Robert Carradine and Mel Gibson, but the odd blend of enforcer and ennui is pretty much the same.

Fans, family and the famous bade farewell to Liberace yesterday at a funeral service in Las Vegas, tearfully singing his theme song, "I'll Be Seeing You," at a church near the glittering Strip where he performed for five decades. More than 1,000 people, including Rich Little, Debbie Reynolds, Robert Goulet and Donald O'Connor, crowded into St. Anne's Roman Catholic Church. "He loved his work, he loved his audiences and they knew it," Goulet said in the eulogy. "His entertaining was his way of returning to the people the gift that was given to him. " The crowd included Liberace's sister Angie, and his sister-in-law, Dora Liberace.

Spirit Airlines will begin daily nonstop flights to Las Vegas from Philadelphia International Airport on April 25. The Miramar, Fla.-based carrier earlier announced it will begin daily service to Dallas-Fort Worth on April 4, and seasonal nonstop flights to Myrtle Beach, S.C. on April 25.     - Linda Loyd

A mother and son who are wanted in a Las Vegas homicide may have fled to Philadelphia, investigators said. The FBI is helping the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department search for Michelle Costello, 43, and her 19-year-old son, Peter, who police believe left Las Vegas after the Sept. 20 slaying of Costello's husband. Authorities have not released the cause of death or the name of the victim, who was the son's stepfather, Las Vegas police Detective Jason McCarthy said. Neither Michelle nor Peter Costello has a violent criminal record, McCarthy said.

Reputed mob soldier Nicholas Milano, who has been a fugitive since July 1987, was apprehended Tuesday night in Las Vegas after he was spotted earlier in the day with a longtime friend of convicted Philadelphia mob boss Nicodemo Scarfo, Philadelphia police said. Milano, 28, a former resident of the 2500 block of Clarion Street, remained in custody last night in Las Vegas after a federal magistrate ordered his immediate return to Philadelphia. Defense attorney Oscar Goodman, who represented Milano during the court appearance, said in a telephone interview last night that Milano did not contest his return to Philadelphia because "he knows he's going to be found not guilty back there.

Middleweight Gabriel Rosado spent an extra day in Las Vegas before flying back to Philadelphia on Monday afternoon. He grabbed a cheesesteak on Monday night and remained busy Tuesday morning making sure his dog, Max, stayed on the porch. But home has failed to lessen the sting of Rosado's controversial split-decision loss on Saturday to J'Leon Love on the Floyd Mayweather-Robert Guerrero undercard. The 27-year-old Rosado (21-7) felt he dominated Love, took away his jab, and allowed his opponent to have just one strong round.

Five members of a Southern California family were killed in southern Nevada when their van was rear-ended by an 18-year-old driver who was later arrested on suspicion of driving under the influence, authorities said. The dead were among seven family members who were in the van, authorities said. The other two - the 40-year-old female driver and a 15-year-old boy - were hospitalized in critical condition. Jean Soriano of California was booked into the Clark County Detention Center after he was treated and released at University Medical Center in Las Vegas, Nevada Highway Patrol Trooper Loy Hixson said.

LAS VEGAS - Matt Kenseth won on his 41st birthday for his new Joe Gibbs Racing team, barely holding off Kasey Kahne for his third victory at Las Vegas Motor Speedway on Sunday. Kenseth earned his 25th career victory in just his third start in the JGR Toyota after leaving Roush Fenway Racing in the offseason. He took the lead away from Kahne out of a late restart and fended off Kahne's Chevrolet over the final laps, adding another trophy to his Las Vegas victories in 2003 and 2004.

LAS VEGAS - Kenneth Cherry Jr. was an aspiring rapper who moved from the Bay Area to Las Vegas to pursue his career. His music videos online show him cruising the Strip in his Maserati. Michael Boldon was a family man and taxi driver who hailed from Michigan and loved fast cars. The two men's lives - along with that of an unidentified passenger in Boldon's cab - ended in gunfire, a fiery crash, and an explosion before dawn Thursday on the neon-lit Strip. As investigators Friday tried to find the gunman in a black Range Rover SUV who triggered the chain of events, families and friends tried to grasp the finality of it all. "Right now my heart is breaking," said Cherry's great aunt, Patricia Sims, of Oakland, Calif.

A recent poll conducted by travel-dating website MissTravel.com showed a 22 percent increase in the number of members joining in search of a travel companion to accompany them on their business trips. But where is the best place to close the deal, and a date? Here is the site's list of Top 10 Destinations for Business and Romance. 10. Miami 9. Paris 8. Rio de Janeiro 7. Beijing 6. Barcelona, Spain 4. Las Vegas 3. Dubai 2. New York City 1. San Francisco

LAS VEGAS - Kenneth Cherry Jr. was an aspiring rapper who moved from the Bay Area to Las Vegas to pursue his career. His music videos online show him cruising the Strip in his Maserati. Michael Boldon was a family man and taxi driver who hailed from Michigan and loved fast cars. The two men's lives - along with that of an unidentified passenger in Boldon's cab - ended in gunfire, a fiery crash, and an explosion before dawn Thursday on the neon-lit Strip. As investigators Friday tried to find the gunman in a black Range Rover SUV who triggered the chain of events, families and friends tried to grasp the finality of it all. "Right now my heart is breaking," said Cherry's great aunt, Patricia Sims, of Oakland, Calif.

LAS VEGAS - Bullets were flying from a black Range Rover at a gray Maserati as the vehicles raced toward a red light on the Las Vegas Strip. Beneath the neon lights, police say, the Maserati ran a red light at one of the Strip's busiest intersections and smashed into a taxi that exploded into flames early Thursday, killing the two people inside. Three more cars and a utility truck collided at the crossroads home to Bellagio, Caesars Palace, and Bally's, leaving at least six more people injured as the Range Rover sped off in the predawn darkness.

WASHINGTON - The Labor Department says unemployment rates fell in 290 of the nation's 372 largest metro areas in November compared with the same month a year ago. Rates rose in 68 cities and were unchanged in 14. The number of metro areas with unemployment rates above 10 percent fell to 47 from 70. The biggest annual decline was in Las Vegas, where the rate fell to 10 percent from 13.3 percent. Midland, Texas, reported the lowest rate, at 3.1 percent. Yuma, Ariz., and El Centro, Calif., had the highest rates, at 27.3 percent and 25.5 percent, respectively.

Spirit Airlines will begin daily nonstop flights to Las Vegas from Philadelphia International Airport on April 25. The Miramar, Fla.-based carrier earlier announced it will begin daily service to Dallas-Fort Worth on April 4, and seasonal nonstop flights to Myrtle Beach, S.C. on April 25.     - Linda Loyd

Las Vegas Sands Corp., the company controlled by billionaire Sheldon Adelson, is seeking a buyer for its casino in Bethlehem, Pa., according to people with knowledge of the situation. The Las Vegas-based company is asking as much as $1 billion for the property, the second-largest casino in the state based on gambling revenue, said the sources, who asked not to be identified because the matter is private. A deal is not certain. Efforts to sell the casino have been complicated by price and potential buyers involved in other deals.