Las Vegas’ biggest food festival is back this year with more delicious delights than ever before! More than 50 chefs will be at Uncork’d, as well as 30 sommeliers, and there will also be 31 events to attend, all packed into four days, from May 10 to May 13, 2012. Uncork’d is by Bon Appétit, and has gained popularity over the past couple of years as one of the best food and wine festivals around. Over the past five years, Uncork’d has been held over Mother’s Day weekend.

Some famous chefs on the list of over 50 that will be at the festival include Alain Ducasse, Todd English, Charlie Palmer and Guy Savoy. These chefs just also happen to have restaurants in Las Vegas.

Tickets to Uncork’d have gone on sale, and can be purchased at the Uncork’d website www.vegasuncorked.com. Ticket prices range from $75 to $295, and the prices are based on what events guests choose. The priciest event ticket comes in at $295, for Guy Savoy’s “dinnertime decadence” event.

Interestingly enough, food trucks will also be part of the Uncork’d festival. To get a taste of food truck delights, festival attendees will find many of the best food trucks around will be parked on the roof of the Bellagio’s parking garage.

This is an ultimate foodie event that should not be missed! Get your tickets today!

Last week, two former business partners of Harvey Whittemore sued him, making claims that Whittemore embezzled money from their joint-venture companies. Whittemore is a well known Nevada developer and lobbyist. The two former business partners are brothers Thomas Seeno, and Albert Seeno Jr..

Harvey Whittemore decided to retaliate, and has since the hit the Seeno brothers with a federal lawsuit alleging racketeering, and also claiming that he and his family were repeatedly given death threats as part of an extortion plan hatched up by the brothers. Whittemore’s attorney said that the Seeno brothers, as well as Albert Seeno Jr.’s son Albert Seeno III, conspired to defraud him, as the father and son Seenos threatened to kill his family if he did not follow what they told him to do.

Wednesday’s lawsuit says “This is a case involving racketeering and extortion based on threats of death and severe bodily harm made by Albert Seeno Jr. and Albert Seeno III, against attorney and businessman Harvey Whittemore and his family.”

It looks like this is going to get messier and messier, especially for the Seeno’s as the suit alleges that they are associated with organized crime networks, as well as known to be associated with felons. They have also been under investigation by the FBI and IRS, and have been raided by the FBI, IRS and the Secret Service.

Today, the final deal to relocate Zappos to downtown Las Vegas was unanimously approved by the Las Vegas City Council.

Zappos company corporate campus will soon be located at the current Las Vegas City Hall complex at 400 Stewart Avenue.

The city staff will be moving into a new City Hall building at 495 South Main Street around the end of this month. The grand opening of the new City Hall will take place on March 5, 2012.

Commenting on the big move and work involved with this transaction, Mayor Carolyn Goodman said “This was a huge effort.” The deal was complex, as it involved a lot of  money, and eight acres of city property.

The old City Hall will undergo an extensive renovation over the next 18 months, to the tune of $40 million. Currently, Zappos has 1,200 employees, but officials have said that when the company finally does move in to their new corporate office in Fall 2013, they are expecting that number to increase to 2,000 employees.

Bossiness can expect to benefit big time when Zappos finally makes their move. When Zappos moves in, the city should expect that to make a significant economic impact to Las Vegas’ downtown.

Now there’s going to be even more reason to go downtown in Las Vegas.

Since last Spring, three guests staying at the Luxor unfortunately developed Legionnaires’ disease. Recently, one of the three guests died as a result of getting the disease, according to the Southern Nevada Health District.

It was reported by health district officials that the other two guests who also got Legionnaires’ disease had cases that were not fatal.

In Spring 2011, the health district conducted an environmental assessment on collected bulk water samples from the Luxor. This was done after being prompted when the first two cases of Legionnaires’ Disease came about at the Luxor.

Despite there being two guests who had gotten the disease, the water samples did not detect Legionella bacteria after being tested. That being said, because the resort’s water did not seem to pose a risk to exposing their guests to  Legionnaires’ Disease, that was the end of it, and both patients luckily recovered.

The third case of Legionnaires’ Disease did not end well for the third victim. The victim has stayed at the Luxor in December, and the disease came about later in the month.

Since then, the health district has conducted a new environmental investigation looking at Luxor water samples. These samples tested positive for the Legionlla bacteria, officials said, which is the cause of Legionnaires’ Disease.

This year, the 47th Annual Academy of Country Music Awards will be held at Las Vegas’ MGM Grand, on April 1^st, 2012. Award nominations will be announced this Thursday.

If last year’s Annual Academy of Country Music Awards is an indication of how good this year’s awards show is going to be, then guests and attendants are going to be in for an amazing show, with outstanding performances from country music stars.

This year, the 47th Annual Academy of Country Music Awards will be hosted for the second year in a row, by Reba McEntire and Blake Shelton. The awards event will take place at the MGM Grand Garden Arena as well as the Zac Brown Band at Mandalay Bay Events Center, with the second annual ACM Fan Jam. Both hosts will be at both venues hosting.

This year, the highlight of ACM will be the performances by Jason Aldean, the Band Perry, Kenny Chesney, Lady Antebellum, Martina McBride, Rascal Flatts and Kenny Rogers as they collaborate with the legendary to Lionel Richie.

Last year, one of the highlights of the night was the performance of “Walk This Way” with Steven Tyler and Carrie Underwood.

Tickets went on sale today, so get them before they’re gone!

MGM Grand is going through a massive overhaul, closing down their iconic Lion Habitat, and now, closing down Studio 54. Since the announcement of the closure of Studio 54, Las Vegas’ Hakkasan Ltd. and Angel Management Group have announced their plans for the replacement of Studio 54, which will be a new night club, as well as restaurant.

Known as a big name in the international dining industry, Hakkasan Ltd., will enter Las Vegas at the MGM Grand. Hakkasan Ltd. had great plans for Las Vegas at Fontainebleau Las Vegas before they fell through, but now they’ll finally be able to accomplish setting something up in Las Vegas.

Angel Management Group of Las Vegas and Hakkasan Ltd., have been collaborating on the concept for the MGM Grand, which includes a Michelin-starred luxury dining brand, as well as a luxurious and lavish nightclub.

Both companies shared in an announcement about the changes being made “The transformation will expand the size of the former (Studio 54) venue, creating an indoor/outdoor space with unparalleled views of the famed Las Vegas Strip.”

This will also be the first location that Hakkasan Ltd. has ever incorporated a lavish nightclub.

The new nightclub and restaurant is scheduled to open in December.

President Barack Obama has landed in Las Vegas! He arrived at the McCarran International Airport today. His trip started off in Phoenix, and Air Force One safely arrived at McCarran International Airport just before 6:40 p.m.

President Obama is on a five day, three state tour to discuss job creation, as well as promote income equality and manufacturing jobs.

Mayor Carolyn Goodman had the opportunity to greet President Obama this evening, and she talked to the president for a few minutes, welcoming him to Las Vegas again.

Last time Mayor Goodman gave President Obama a Las Vegas souvenir, which was a mayor good luck chip. She also gave the president a few extra chips to give to his daughters.

This time around, Mayor Goodman gave the president a little lapel pin in the shape of the iconic Las Vegas welcome sign. The pin also lights up. Besides sharing a little souvenir, and a friendly embrace, Mayor Goodman took the opportunity to share what was on her mind, speaking on behalf of Las Vegas.

Mayor Goodman brought up critical topics such as foreclosures and the mortgage crisis, and asked him to help free up money from private lenders. In response, the president shared that in his State of the Union address that there is a plan to help Americans whose home values have declined.

The end of January marks the end of the first month of 2012, and also the end of MGM Grand’s Lion Habitat. The lion habitat, which is considered to be an icon of MGM Grand is permanently closing its doors on January 31^st. The lion habitat opened in 1999, and has been a free attraction since then.

No word has been released from MGM officials on what will replace the lion habitat area, which is a 5,000-square-foot, glass-encased structure, worth a cool $9 million.

MGM Resorts began a huge remodel of the MGM Grand back in October 2011, with a budget of $160 million. It is expected that the tremendous undertaking will take about a year, so the pricey remodel should be completed just in time for October 2012. It seems like the MGM Grand is going to be going through a massive overhaul of a remodel, with each of the main tower’s 3,570 hotel rooms, as well as the 643 suites getting a makeover.

It won’t just be the rooms and suites getting a makeover though, as the rest of the property will also be remodelled, from the casino floor, to the restaurants, to the clubs, and even the showrooms.

MGM Resorts spokeswoman, Yvette Monet commented on the massive remodel of the MGM Grand, saying “That is part of an overall property-wide renovation project. There are going to be significant changes in the casino and hotel.”

Hopefully these changes are for the good. In the last couple of years, many hotels and casinos have undergone remodels to breathe new life back into the properties. The latest resort to finish a remodel was the Bellagio.

Coming to Las Vegas next week, is President Barack Obama! The president will be swinging by Las Vegas on one of his stops through the West and Midwest.

President Obama will arrive in Las Vegas on Wednesday, January 25^th, and stay overnight, departing the next day. No further details about the trip and the stop over have been released, except that the president’s visit is official White House business.

Vice President Joe Biden will pay a visit to Reno’s Galena High School on Thursday, January 26^th to talk about college affordability.

Although the president and vice president’s stop over in Las Vegas is not part of the official 2012 re-election campaign effort, the visits are likely going to gain some Democratic voters just before the Republican presidential field arrives in Nevada in early February.

Before making his arrival in Las Vegas on January 25th, the president will make stops in Cedar Rapids, Iowa and Phoenix. After staying one night, the president will leave Las Vegas and make his way to Denver, and then to Detriot, before finally retuning to Washington, D.C.

President Obama’s last visit to Las Vegas was in October, a few days after the Republican presidential candidates held a debate there. During that time, President Obama unveiled a new housing plan.

A California man was bit by a dog on the Las Vegas Strip last week, at a pedestrian overpass. Since the incident on January 11, Clark County Animal Control has been on the lookout for the dog or owner, and has been able to locate either of them. The owner was a woman who was on the overpass begging for money.

Since the incident, the committee examining problems on animals has sped up its evaluation on banning pets on the Las Vegas Strip. A sense of urgency kicked in after the incident. A proposal by Commissioner Chris Giunchigliani will be considered to ban animals from the Las Vegas area that are not vaccinated, neutered or spayed. As for animals that accompany guests at animal-friendly resorts, or accompany residents of the Strip, they are exempt.

A man named Temple Stratton identified the owner and dog from a January 3^rd edition of the Las Vegas Sun, where they were in a story about the proposal to ban animals on the Las Vegas Strip.

Terry Murphy, a political and marketing consultant as well as a member of the committee said “We’d like to deal with this right away and not tie it up in all the larger issues that we have.”

For the time being, Animal Control is keeping an eye out for the woman and the dog, as well as patrolling the overpass in case they make a return.