Residents living on a historic golf course here in Las Vegas may have to say goodbye to its lush green lawns and sand traps. Investors bought the property last year and want to build houses on it.

But people who live they they'll fight the developers tooth and nail before they let that happen.

Many of the neighbors bought the home because of the great view. Now they say they'll do anything to keep the bulldozers from coming in and taking it away.

It all happened right here. The beautiful backdrop for DeNiro's movie “Casino.” He's golf's biggest icon today, but in 1996, a then 20-year-old Tiger Woods won his first pro tournament here.

Scores of other big names like Arnold Palmer and Tom Kite have also chipped a tee or two right on the pristine greenbelt at the Las Vegas National Golf Club.

“The history that's behind this course is amazing.” Dave Caldwell lives near hole 9. “I was used to living 20 years in a one bedroom apartment with a beautiful view of Manhattan. But it was such a small space – that when I moved here, I traded a one bedroom apartment for a lovely home on a beautiful golf course.”

Caldwell is one of hundreds of residents who are angry with the course's new investors who could turn the historic golf club into a 485-home development.

“To me it's like buying an ocean front property, and they take away the ocean. Or you buy a lakefront home and they decide, somebody comes in and says, 'I'm taking out the lake,' ” said Caldwell.

One of the investors, John Knott, says the golf course isn't making enough money. Although he does have some ideas to try to bring in cash, if it fails, the National Golf Club could replace the carts with bulldozers.

“I mean, could you imagine bulldozers and 500 homes going back here. I can't imagine that. I don't think we would live here if that happened,” said homeowner Cab Bennett.

Hundreds of neighbors who line the course are doing everything to save it — from making signs pleading to save the course to a website – SaveTheCourse.com.

Caldwell says they won't go without a fight. “I will handcuff myself to a tree and live there until the authorities come and throw me off. Not just for myself, but for the whole community.”

Besides its historic value, residents also say there are disclosure issues because they were never told the golf course could be replaced by homes.

The community is meeting Tuesday night at 6:30 p.m. at the Cambridge Community Center to talk about how to save the course and plans to raise money for what they believe may be a long legal fight.

Investors are going to try and keep the course and bring in money. If that doesn't work, they will go to Plan B, which is to build the homes. However, the slumping housing market could put those plans on hold at least for a while.

Email your comments to Reporter Tedd Florendo.

Local businesses are capitalizing on the worldwide attention given to the O.J. Simpson trial.

The Courthouse Bar and Grill in particular has been seeing a lot more patrons, and have drink and lunch specials that reflect what all their regulars are talking about.

SLIDESHOW: The O.J. Simpson Trial Begins

“We have an O.J. special. It’s orange chicken over rice with two cuffs and a shot of O.J.,” Bartender Renee Fountain said.

She explained where most of her extra business this week is coming from.

“Bystanders, people that are possibly going to be on the jury, people just down here trying to get in front of the courthouse for media attention,” Fountain said.

If there’s one thing running rampant downtown right now, it’s the attention grabbers — locals who are promoting their websites, their products, and themselves.

For example, Joe Pepitone has been walking the streets of downtown for 11 years wearing a barrel and carrying a tall sign outlining his own battle in the courts. He makes sure cameras see him at every big event he can get time off for.

“For years I’ve been trying to get the media and the media never really gave a story.  It’s been in the news and all, but I had to seek my own (publicity). So the last O.J. case is when I came and got national news, and everybody started coming to me wanting to know what happened,” Pepitone, also known as ‘Big Pep’ said.

The beginning of O.J.’s trial was quiet compared to the preliminary circus, but people like Connie Boules of Flip My Lidz, handicapped entertainer ‘Moondog’ and Cathy Mulbihill (cleverly disguised as Wonder Woman) got the attention they wanted anyway.

Investigators here are working to figure out what caused a fire that happened just after 2 a.m. Thursday at the Landrover Dealership on Sahara and Decatur.

Two trailers were fully involved by the time firefighters got there.

It took 26 firefighters a little more than an hour to put the fire out. No one was hurt.

The Las Vegas City Council voted to approve new tougher penalties for graffiti vandals.

The new rules mean several changes. First, fines will increase for first, second and third offenses. Also parents of vandals under the age of 18 will be responsible for paying those fines.

And anyone over the age of 18 will lose their drivers license for anywhere from six months to two years. The new penalties should take effect sometime next week.

Wednesday night, the third Hispanic Citizens Academy will get underway.

Metro police says registration and orientation will be held at 6 p.m. Wednesday at Clark High School on 4291 Pennwood Ave., near Arville.

The academy will last eight weeks and will be taught every Wednesday from 6 to 9 p.m. beginning on Wednesday Sept. 10. 

The academy will be taught in Spanish by Spanish speaking employees of Metro.

Mass layoffs are reasons why the unemployment rate in our state is at a 15 year high. Last month, unemployment hit 6.6-percent, meaning, nearly 95,000 people are out of a job.

Military veteran John Shober isn't letting the dwindling job market get the best of him. “I'm trying to get a job in the culinary field. I just got out of culinary training.”

But he needed a little help, so he stopped by the Foundation for an Independent Tomorrow, also known as FIT. “I never knew this existed, and I have been out since '06. I just heard about it recently, and I'm following up on it and see where it will take me.”

He's not the only one. Rows and rows of people are in the same situation, says FIT program director Jake McClelland. “People who are either out of work or who are employed at a job where they're not making a wage that's high enough to support a family without public assistance. We help find either a job or a better paying job.”

FIT relies on grants to keep helping people like Shober but not a lot of people know about FIT.

“I don't think there are a lot of people who know about services or about us. People are struggling on their own and not knowing where to turn when there's places like FIT,” said McClellan.

FIT also cross trains its clients. “The construction industry, we're seeing a lot of layoffs. A couple of months ago, our big one was people who are in the mortgage housing industry. People who were lenders are being laid off,” said McClellan.

Shober is using FIT to work on being the perfect fit someday at his dream job of running a kitchen at one the Strip properties.

“This program wants to help us, put in the right direction. A lot of other places it seems like you are just a number,” said Shober.

FIT is free, but you do have to reach some minimal requirements, like being 18-years-old or older, and an American citizen. For more on FIT and the requirements, click here.

Safety advocates are coming at full speed, pushing transportation officials to do something about the county's bus stops. In six years, 11 people have been hit and killed while waiting at bus stops.

Just last month, Robin Wynkoop's mother was hit and killed and another woman lost both legs when a truck slammed into the bus stop at Boulder Highway and Flamingo.

The driver's been charged with DUI, but the victims' families are still demanding transportation officials move bus stops back and put up protective barriers. Now disabled riders are joining the fight, pushing transportation officials to do something to make bus shelters safer for people in wheelchairs.

Disabled passengers say there is no room. It's a problem at many bus stops. The space is tight for people – what about people in wheelchairs? Could they roll through without rolling in the street?

“I am 87-years-old; the only way I can get around is on this,” said William Roger. When he hits the road in his motor chair, it's smooth sailing until he gets to a bus stop.

“They don't allow you enough space to travel in front of them,” said Roger. “When you get old, there is no space for you.”

He and other wheelchair-bound riders have to squeeze their way through. “You're in danger if you're not careful,” said Roger.

“Nineteen inches to get through — “39 they are illegal a risk,” said Chris Christoff. He and Citizens For Better Transportation have been fighting to improve safety. He says thousands of Clark County bus stops violate the ADA rules.

“They are depriving people of having a safe bus stop,” said Christoff. Space is the problem.

According to the Americans With Disabilities Act, public bus stops are supposed to have at least five feet for wheelchairs to move around. A local bus stop at Sahara and 6th St. only has a little more than two. They are also supposed be 12 feet away from the curb. At this bus stop, the measurements are all wrong.

At this bus stop they have all the space they need to make this compliance. So why don't they?

“Because they don't want to spend the money,” said Christoff.

“Safety of the public is paramount,” said RTC General Manger Jacob Snow. He says they've already replaced 70 bus shelters and are working to fix 900 more by next year. But many of the bus shelters have no space to move.

“In situations where we can't move them, we are going to have to do it on a case by case issue,” said Snow. 

Answers — not good enough for Christoff. He questions why bus shelters like that one haven't been moved. “All of this should be pulled back to here,” he said.

RTC officials say it's going to take time. William Rogers hopes time is on his side. “When you get up to the bus stop, you have to be very careful,” he said. 

Right now, RTC officials are meeting to try and come up with a solution to fix the problems at valley bus shelters. The bottom line is money — and time to fix it all. But safety advocates are threatening to call in the government to shut bus stops down if action isn't taken soon.

Email your comments to Reporter Travell Eiland.

The latest Las Vegas tourist numbers have been released and they are down again. Three-percent fewer people visited Las Vegas in June compared with a year ago.

But gaming revenue during June was way up downtown, on the Boulder Strip and in North Las Vegas.

Gaming revenue has declined in four of the five months recorded this year. June showed more gaming revenue for some casinos and more tax money collected by the state for the first time since April.

That could trickle down to fewer state budget cuts. For months the economic news has been grim for southern Nevada casinos. Visitors still make Las Vegas a top destination, but executives for the mega casinos on the Las Vegas Strip say those folks are spending less.

Now executives in other Clark County casinos are starting to sing another tune. New Nevada Gaming Control numbers show gaming revenues up everywhere, except the Strip and Laughlin.

Downtown gaming revenues increased more than 10-percent.

The last time Vinitia McDowall visited Las Vegas, she saw the last car drive down Fremont Street before the city closed it to traffic. Now she's back to see the changes and try her luck.

“If you don't have the money to come and lose, don't come because you are going to lose part of it,” she said.

And the June numbers reflect that, just not on the Strip.

So why are they seeing more people off the Strip? According to Mike Darley, GM at Fitzgeralds, it's a combination of things, “I am hoping that all the ingredients that we have Downtown are really coming together and people see the true value down here.”

First renovations are sprucing things up. He says the hotels are more Walkable and the casinos are more affordable.

His casino just started $3 blackjack on Saturdays. Room rates are about half of what is offered at most of the mega-casinos.

“We have been fine — enjoyed our two or three days here. We probably will come back,” said McDowall.

The casinos downtown are willing to cut their room rates to get heads in beds. They hope that those people also stay to gamble here. We'll see of the increases hold.

Email your comments to Reporter Edward Lawrence

More than 400 men and women turned out to test to become Metro police officers Tuesday. That's nearly twice the normal turnout.

“Do I think economic times has something to do with it? Sure, we are hiring when a lot of people are not hiring,” said Sheriff Douglas Gillespie. He says the starting salary and benefits are a good enticement during hard economic times.

New officers start at $54,000 a year. But Metro recruiters say only one out of every 10 candidates who showed up to test Tuesday will actually make it to the police academy six months from now. That's only 41 out of 411.

Sheriff Gillespie says crime across the valley is finally trending down again — and fewer people are dying on our roadways. So why do we need more money for more cops now?

Because Gillespie says to combat crime in a growing community — you have to prevent it — not just respond to it — and that requires a proactive approach to policing.

More than 400 job seekers packed Cashman Center — to find out if they have what it takes to become a Metro police officer. For UNLV graduate Matt Seccombe, a career in law enforcement isn't just a steady paycheck in an uncertain economy — it's a way of life in his family.

“My dad's been with LAPD for 23 years, my uncle for 35 years. It's something I grew up with and I have a lot of friends at Metro now, and they say nothing but positive things about it,” he said.

Seccombe is already among the 200 people expected to pass Tuesday's personal history questionnaire and two-hour civil service written exam. But recruiters say about 75-percent of these candidates will fail the physical fitness test, oral boards, psychiatric evaluations or background investigation that follow.

That leaves only about 45 recruits who'll actually make it to the 25-week long police academy. And that's why Metro is having to recruit all the time now.

“We're testing 10 times a year,” said Sgt. David Orr of Metro Recruiting.

Sheriff Gillespie says by July of next year — 2009 — Metro will have hired 600 new police officers using half of the funds provided in the sales tax increase approved by voters back in 2004.

“We're seeing crime down in our valley right now compared to this time last year,” he said.

But Gillespie says Metro's current ratio of 1.8 officers to every 1,000 permanent citizens still isn't enough to combat crime in our growing community.

“To be proactive — to stop cars, stop people, go into businesses, talk to citizens and drive through neighborhoods. I believe if we get up to two officers per 1000 citizens, then we'll be able to do that,” he said.

Metro says it will be putting the pedal to the medal on its recruiting efforts for the next few years at least.

For more information about the salary, benefits and qualifications needed to become a Metro officer, click here.

The 2008 Star Trek Convention at the Las Vegas Hilton has brought costumed fans to the strip from all over the world. 

SLIDESHOW: Trekkies United!

This year’s convention is open through Sunday August 10th and is the last convention to be held at The Hilton while the Star Trek Experience ride is still operating.