The $1.9 billion Palazzo casino-resort, developed by Las Vegas Sands Corp., is set to celebrate its grand opening from Thursday to Saturday.

It includes a concert featuring Motown superstar Diana Ross. By the grand opening, roughly 2,300 of the 3,068 rooms are expected to be available, while 50-percent of the shopping mall's tenants will be in business.

It is the first new property on the Las Vegas Strip since the April 2005 opening of Wynn Las Vegas.

(Copyright 2008 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)

The Nevada Gaming Control board looked at the possibility of sanctioning internet gaming Friday. The regulators commissioned a study by UNLV to gauge interest amongst Nevada residents in gambling over the internet.

The Internet Gaming Prohibition Act bans the financial transaction on games of chance for people in the United States — Nevada regulators say not so fast.

“There is some ability or there is some argument that now there is an exemption to the federal law,” said Gaming Control Board Chairman Dennis Neilander.

It's the same exemption that allows the wagering on horse races and only applies in states where betting on horses is legal, like Nevada.

Neilander says, gaming companies and technology companies have pressured regulators to license internet gambling web sites based in Nevada. “A number of these groups have said, “Why don't you look at regulating it just for Nevada?”

The companies made claims that a majority of Nevadans gamble over the internet, so the Gaming Control Board commissioned the UNLV study to find hard facts.

Professor and director of the UNLV's Gambling Institute, Bo Bernhard conducted the study. He says 65.4-percent of people in Nevada just don't care about gambling online.

The study also shows only 3.7-percent of people in Nevada have gambled online in the past five years.

“As it stands right now it appears to be a relatively low prevalence behavior,” said Bernhard.

Gaming regulators decided to wait and see if interest increases among Nevada gamblers. Even though it may be legal for Nevada regulators to sanction online sites in Nevada, they say they will commission the study again only if there is a major national policy change on internet gambling.

Email your comments to Reporter Edward Lawrence

A wall has collapsed at Project CityCenter. According to the Clark County Fire Department, four people were taken to University Medical Center.

Three people had back injuries and one person was shaken up. None of the injuries are life-threatening.

MGM Mirage Inc. spokeswoman Yvette Monet says the 25-foot-tall, 150-foot-long wall, located near the main hotel tower, fell at about 1 p.m.

Monet says the workers would have been on the north side of the wall and in the worst case, would have ridden on top of it on its way down.

In addition, two cranes collided into each other — one was a CityCenter crane — the other was from Cosmopolitan. Operator error was cited as the reason. While there were no injuries, a worker says it's a big engineering mess.

The site has some 5,000 workers on the job. MGM Mirage plans to open the $7.8 billion CityCenter casino resort in late 2009.

(Copyright 2008 by KLAS-TV and The Associated Press.)

One of the most successful musical performances is hanging around Las Vegas a little longer than expected. “Mamma Mia” announced it is now staying at Mandalay Bay until January 2009.

Originally, the hit show was scheduled to go dark this August after more than 2,300 performances.

There's another milestone for “Mamma Mia.” They are celebrating their five year anniversary for playing Las Vegas on Feb. 13.

Air travel might not be as safe as some federal officials want you to believe. In a new NASA study, pilots claim many more close calls than originally reported.

The FAA found that over the last fiscal year, North Las Vegas Airport had 11 runway incursions, or close calls, putting them at the top of the national list. McCarran had six.

The NASA study reveals those numbers may be only half of what is really happening.

McCarran is one of the busiest airports in the country. Planes from all over the world fly here every day. They come and go, but sometimes there's trouble on the tarmac.

Sharon Barrett says air congestion has crossed her mind. “I've looked out my window and seen some airplanes and they feel rather close.”

The Federal Aviation Administration releases information about mishaps for McCarran, North Las Vegas and every other airport in the country.

But try to read NASA's new $11 million, 16,000 page study on air safety, and good luck. The study asked 30,000 pilots about the safety of our skies. NASA knows the answer, but they're not talking.

“To me, if you are spending taxpayer's dollars, you better come up with a worthy report for that money,” said Representative Shelly Berkley.

Berkley says NASA needs to take out the cryptic comments and scrambled numbers and come clean about aviation safety.

“If you don't want to scare the American people, you need to be honest with them. What does the report say? How can we improve it? How can we do better? What are the pilots saying?” adds Berkley.

They're questions only NASA has the answers to.

“The air traffic controllers have been warning us — warning us that our air travel is a disaster waiting to happen. Do we really want to wait for that disaster? Do we want one of those near-misses to turn into an accident?” said Berkley.

She doesn't want to be an alarmist — she just wants passengers to know they are as safe as they can be.

“I keep telling myself that. You're safer up there than on the ground,” said traveler Patty Dodge.

It's said the report contains surveys from pilots who talk about near collisions, bad directions and problems with specific airports. But this is old information taken from 2001 to 2004. The study took three years to compile.

If the name McCarran ever appeared in this study, it's been redacted by NASA.

Email you comments to Reporter Aaron Drawhorn

The state budget crisis continues to get worse and now we are learning how deep the cuts could go. University officials met at UNLV Monday to finalize $60 million in cuts system-wide — and students, professors and staff will have to pay – one way or another.

UNLV is slashing $20 million from the budget. Class sizes are going up, teacher pay is going down and students may have to pay more to get less.

They have protested, they have booed and now college students across Nevada are going to have to brace for serious cuts and some new fees.

“The student is going to have to pick up more and more of the cost,” said Chancellor Jim Rogers of University of Nevada. He and the rest of the Board of Regents approved plans Monday for sweeping cuts. That could mean stuffed classrooms, delayed merit pay for teachers and millions in new fees. Rogers says it is the reality of the hemorrhaging budget.

“But that's a fact of life,” said Rogers.

UNR and the College of Southern Nevada won early approval for $5 extra in surcharge fees for each credit hour. Student leaders say that would amount to hundreds of dollars and would not work at UNLV.

Adriel Espinoza, UNLV student president said, “What happens if we give a surcharge and it doesn't work out? Do we just give an extra surcharge from $5 to $20 because it didn't work out the first time?”

UNLV President David Ashley says students will go elsewhere if college is too expensive. “We want to make sure that cost of attending a class is not prohibitive, that we don't create a barrier for them to participate.”

Instead, UNLV will increase class size and potentially eliminate small programs. Ashley says delaying merit pay for teachers has wide support. Better that than hurt students.

“We felt that the students had already made a substantial contribution,” said Ashley.

And that sentiment will hopefully keep the universities afloat — and keep students from fleeing someplace else.

The regents need approval by the legislature for any of this though. They will vote on that later this month. And regents could also expand fees to include UNLV in early February. Students may be safe — but only for now.

Email your comments to Reporter Jonathan Humbert.

One of the most successful musical performances is hanging around Las Vegas a little longer than expected. “Mamma Mia” announced it is now staying at Mandalay Bay until January 2009.

Originally, the hit show was scheduled to go dark this August after more than 2,300 performances.

There’s another milestone for “Mamma Mia.” They are celebrating their five year anniversary for playing Las Vegas on Feb. 13.

The future of technology is invading Las Vegas Monday morning. The Consumer Electronics Show takes over the Las Vegas Convention Center for the next four days.

SLIDESHOW: Consumer Electronics Show Hits Las Vegas

The show fills all two million square feet at the convention center and will showcase the newest and coolest technology and electronics from around the world.

Organizers are expecting a big turnout this year – 140,000 people and 20,000 new products. Brands like LG, Sony, Microsoft, Apple, American Airlines and General Motors will all be showing and buying many of these products will be household items within a few years.

“From digital entertainment, gaming to the home theater, technology is all pervasive and so the various aspects of our exhibitors and what they have to show are gonna bring all the latest products to consumers this year,” said Tara Dunion of the Consumer Electronic Association.

None of the products are available to buy Monday but some will actually be in stores later this week. The CES show is not open to the public but rest assured, you'll be able to buy most of the top technology by the end of the year.

For more information on the show, click here.

The biggest electronics show in the world opened Monday in Las Vegas. The Consumer Electronics Show displays tomorrow's greatest gadgets and technology. This year, there is a big emphasis on environmentally-friendly products.

There are all kinds of gizmos as well as 140,000 convention attendees. This convention is so big, it's hard to know where to start. So let's look at something we all have — televisions.

Panasonic has one of the largest booths. They are going green as a company. By 2010, all Panasonic televisions will cut back the amount of power used by 50-percent because of new technology. Their televisions will use 75-percent less power in the years beyond that.

Already, their plasma televisions cut back on the amount of toxic materials used for construction. The new sets will also not be made with any lead. At the moment, a 36-inch plasma set has about 70 grams of lead in it.

“It offers the customer a couple things. One, a dollar savings off their energy bill. Plus a peace of mind, I think, as they think about their impact on the environment,” said David Thompson, Panasonic Director of Corporate Environmental Affairs.

That green also translates to the power strip used for television sets.

This summer, Belkin will sell a surge protector with the ability to turn off outlets no longer being used. When you turn off the T.V., it still uses a significant amount of power. Turning off the outlet means an overall savings on the energy bill.

What's better — the surge protector has a remote control so you won't have to dig back behind something to the strip. Saving a little power here and there, multiplied by everyone, adds up.

There are 2700 companies at CES covering more than 1.85 million square feet of convention space.

Email your comments to Reporter Edward Lawrence.

An attempted robbery and car jacking quickly turned into a police chase and shooting.

Police say David Hanson and Marie Bertinelli have a history of breaking the law and may be involved in more crimes — all to fuel their drug habit.

It's at the Welcome to Las Vegas sign that this all began. Two women taking a picture say that a couple approached them and tried to take their keys and steal their car.

They were able to fight them off but police say this was just the beginning for these two criminals.

“The male had stolen her camera and attempted to steal her car and in the process had taken her car keys with him,” said Metro Lt. Mark Reddon.

Police say the night was not over for Bertinelli and Hanson. Once officers arrived, they took off down The Strip, leading Metro on a chase.

Then the couple decided stop the car and fight officers.

“As soon as the patrol vehicle came to a stop, the suspect put it into reverse and backed into the police vehicle — in a ramming type technique. It was at that point the male subject exited the vehicle and fired one round toward or at the officer,” adds Reddon.

The car took off again, leading the chase to the Emerald Suites Hotel. That's when officers were able to catch Bertinelli.

“When the female was finally stopped she did give up with out any kind of struggle or any kind of resistance,” said Reddon.

Her passenger jumped out of the car and lead officers on a foot chase through a neighborhood. After awhile he also decided to stop fighting.

“He was located by K9 and when he was located he also surrendered with out incident,” said Reddon.

Metro is now trying to connect the couple to other crimes in the valley — including several robberies and a forgery scheme.

Both Bertinelli and Hanson have long criminal records including narcotics, battery and theft.

Now they are being charged with attempted murder with a deadly weapon, for hitting the officers, robbery and evading police.

Email your comments to Reporter Amanda Hernandez