Four construction workers were taken to the hospital this morning after falling 30-feet at the Fontainebleau Las Vegas hotel/condo project. They are listed in stable condition.

The men have non life-threatening injuries and OSHA is investigating the accident. According to Scott Allison with the Clark County Fire Department, the men were working on top of a partially-constructed wall that collapsed. Parts of that wall fell onto the workers. Other workers used a crane to remove the debris from the men. The accident happened around 8:45 a.m.

Fontainebleau Las Vegas is located on the Las Vegas Strip, north of the Riviera.

One construction worker was killed on the project this past summer and another one was recently injured. In August, three floors of the parking garage collapsed, no one was hurt.

The project which began construction in early 2007 is slated for completion in late 2009.

Besides the rain, Las Vegas will see tens of thousands of tourists hit the Strip for a big and busy weekend. The National Finals Rodeo is underway at the Thomas and Mack Center with some 40,000 spectators in town.

Plus there's the much anticipated fight between undefeated champions Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Ricky Hatton.

Normally, this weekend is dead for Las Vegas, but with boxers and cowboys in town, it should be anything but boring.

The National Finals Rodeo brings in at least 40,000 out-of-towners. Add in the cowboy Christmas and numerous country music performances, and it'll be a $50 million weekend for the valley.

But the money doesn't stop there. The welterweights are in town. Brit Ricky Hatton steps into the ring at MGM Grand Saturday night to face Las Vegan and “Dancing With the Stars” fave Floyd Mayweather.

With Hatton unbeaten, 4,000 Brits are expected to fly in for the fight. Not to mention the $21 million anticipated in bets alone.

People who live in Las Vegas know that more money brings more traffic. So, avoid Tropicana and the UNLV campus unless waiting is your game of choice.

This will be a huge weekend for events in Las Vegas. It's also a weekend residents may want to avoid the Las Vegas Strip. Thousands are expected to flock to the valley for the National Finals Rodeo.

The second performance of the NFR starts on Friday at 6:45 p.m. Already people are showing up to enjoy the experience.

One major thing fans are doing all over Las Vegas is spending money. This 10 day event will bring in just under $53 million in non-gaming revenue for the valley. That's a lot of sales tax money and tips being paid. NFR fans eat out at local restaurants, see shows on the Strip and shop at valley retailers.

A big hit is always the Cowboy Christmas gift show at the Las Vegas Convention Center.

Julie Silcox, from northern Utah, is spending ten days in Vegas. She loves the rodeo because her son is a competitor. He finished second in bull riding last year. She also uses the trip as an excuse to buy gifts.

“We do a lot of Christmas shopping down here. Look forward to it every year,” she said.

Kirk Romney comes to town for the entire event. He just picked up the official belt buckle for this year's National Finals Rodeo. It cost him $750.

“When I come in, I'm usually here for 11 days. For the whole finals,” he said.

And there are 42,000 other people just like him spending money all over the area.

The NFR will be in town until Sunday, December 16.

Email your comments to Reporter Edward Lawrence

While thousands have flocked to Las Vegas for the rodeo, thousands more are here for Saturday's boxing matchup between Floyd Mayweather and Ricky Hatton. Even though Mayweather lives in Las Vegas, it's Hatton's fans that are making all of the noise.

Thousands of visitors from Great Britain have been arriving in Las Vegas over the past couple of days, many coming to local spots and spending big money.

Not only is the fight a major draw to Las Vegas, but just like rodeo fans — these visitors say the shopping here is a bargain they can't pass up.

Visitors from Great Britain are not hard to find or hear for that matter. They're all over the Las Vegas Strip — here to support fighter Ricky Hatton. An estimated 20,000 international visitors are here just for the fight and most don't have tickets.

The British Eyewitness News talked to say the current exchange rate between the pound and the U.S. dollar is another plus to this trip. The pound is worth a lot more here in the States.

Jill Bailey, here from England said, “We've already spent a fortune on clothes, perfume — it's just completely different.”

Roy Leeming, also here from England said, “It's brilliant. English support in everything, whether it's futbol, cricket — it's fantastic.”

Some visitors say they've dished out thousands to be here and that doesn't include the Christmas shopping they still want to take advantage of before going back home.

The Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority doesn't have any estimations on that because they don't keep track of boxing match numbers and how many people it brings in. But keep in the mind, this fight sold out in 35 minutes — so it shows just how eager these fans are to be here.

Because it is such a far trip to Las Vegas, many of the fans we talked to say they have plans on staying for a while, not just the weekend. Some of the fans even say they've spent $6,000 to be here.

Fight fans from the U.S. and Britian are here to see one huge matchup. Two undefeated fighters, Floyd Mayweather, Jr. and Ricky Hatton square off Saturday.

Of course, before fight night is the weigh in. Mayweather and Hatton hit the scales Friday afternoon. The two meet Saturday for the WBC and Ring Magazine Welterweight titles at 147 pounds.

Hatton is from the UK and an estimated 20,000 European fans are flying in for the bout.

Many fans don't have tickets, but they're here to take in the action, and take advantage of cheaper prices in the United States.

A $17.7 billion purchase of casino giant Harrah's Entertainment by private equity buyers Apollo Management and Texas Pacific Group — the world's largest casino buyout deal — has won preliminary approval from Nevada regulators.

The state Gaming Control Board's unanimous vote for the deal, already approved by several other states in which Harrah's operates, now goes to the board's parent Nevada Gaming Commission. That panel will take final action Dec. 20.

Control Board members backed the big going-private deal after being assured by the buyers that they intend to continue pumping funds into Harrah's and that the investors they represent — typically private and public pension funds, endowments and institutions — are top-notch.

Gary Loveman, chief executive of Harrah's, will stay on in that role.

Stockholders are getting $90 a share and the company gets $6 billion in new equity. Its debt load increases to $25 billion but Control Board Chairman Dennis Neilander said he's not concerned about the leverage increase given Harrah's stable management and the prudent manner in which Apollo and TPG have operated.
  
(Copyright 2007 by The Associated Press.  All Rights Reserved.)

Students who are set to graduate this year from UNLV's engineering program competed against each other Wednesday to see who could make the most innovative designs.

Some of the year-long projects include a parental keyboard alert system, unmanned aerial vehicles and home cooling alternatives.

Twenty teams took part in the event, all vying for the $2,500 grand prize.

“The main intent of this competition is to improve their creativity. We want students to build commercially-viable products. We want a Bill Gates out of this one day. Hopefully it'll happen in the next 10 years,” said professor Rama Venkat of the College of Engineering.

The winners will be announced Thursday. The school is adding a tech commercialization minor to help engineering students learn how to market their projects.

Governor Jim Gibbons has offered his support for a tuition hike at the University of Nevada in Reno and Las Vegas.

That's according to Jim Rogers, the chancellor of Nevada's university and college system.

Rogers and Gibbons met Monday to discuss the governor's request from all departments that they submit plans to cut 8-percent from their budgets.

Gibbons has said he will not raise taxes.

Rogers sought to exempt higher education from any cuts but Gibbons says he's opposed to that, so Rogers asked for support for a tuition hike if necessary.

(Copyright 2007 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)