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Prudential Americana Group Is Filing For Bankruptcy

One of the largest residential real estate firms in the Las Vegas valley, Prudential Americana Group, is filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. The reason they give for doing this is so that they can reorganize their debts while continuing operations.

They company, which didn’t file the paperwork as of Tuesday, has 1,200 sales executives operating and has positive cash flow. However, the owner Mark Stark has said the Prudential Americana Group, which is the seventh largest real estate firm nationally in the Prudential network, needs to have the bankruptcy court protection so that they can restructure their debt.

Stark has also said that they are focused on business as usual. He said that the bankruptcy filing is only for debt restructuring and that they continue to grow market share.

The good thing is that the bankruptcy filing will not affect the 3,000 exclusive listings that Prudential Americana has in Southern Nevada. Stark has projected that the company is possibly the biggest residential real estate company in the area. They have 15 percent share of all the local home resales. Brokers who work under the Prudential Americana name also sell new homes and commercial real estate.

Prudential Americana Group is the second big real estate firm that has filed for bankruptcy protection in recent months. In August, Jimmy Dague, who is the president of Vision Properties who is doing business as Century 21 Advantage Gold, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.

When Vision filed for bankruptcy they had reported $1 million in assets and $1.8 million in liabilities. The company has said that it had $54.6 million in gross income for 2005. Vision also reported its gross income fell to $40.3 million the following year and then to $15.8 million in the first eight months in 2007. The brokerage’s web site had reported that they had 500 agents.

Prudential Americana’s problems started in October 2004. Stark had borrowed the money to buy the company when residential real estate was exploding and home prices were rising quickly.

Stark had bought 75 percent of the company that he didn’t own from his partners and Prudential Real Estate, which is the national franchisor. To pay for the buyout, Stark borrowed $22.5 million from the Salt Lake City-based Zions Bank, which is an affiliate of Nevada State Bank, and the Peninsula Capital Partners from Detroit.

Zions, which is still owed $4.9 million out of the $10 million that was borrowed in 2004, is in the first position among the company’s lenders. Peninsula is actually an unsecured lender and was only receiving interest payments, pending a later balloon payment.

When Stark bought the company, he had anticipated a slump in the local real estate loan market would follow the explosion that sent home prices rising, but he had not anticipated the magnitude of the drop.
When the real estate market, Zions pulled the trigger on a loan agreement provision and they also ordered Prudential Americana to stop making payments to Peninsula. After that Peninsula executives pumped up the interest rate on their loan to 19 percent from an average 15 percent.

Prudential Real Estate said that they would take assume the Las Vegas real estate company’s debt but Peninsula would not accept the company’s terms. Prudential Real Estate plans on providing financing to Prudential Americana during their bankruptcy.

Kevin Dubrow Found Dead In His Las Vegas Home

Early Sunday morning, Quiet Riot singer Kevin Dubrow, who was 52 years old, died at his Las Vegas home. This silenced one of metal’s most distinctive voices that they had.

The cause of death has not been determined yet. An autopsy is being done along with toxicology results which could take up to six to twelve weeks to determine the cause of death, which is what is being reported by Clark County coroner’s spokesperson Samantha Charles.

Police arrived at 4800 Mountain Valley Road, which is where Dubrow was found dead, in response to a phone call that was made to go and check on Dubrow’s well-being, which is being reported by Las Vegas police. Dubrow was pronounced dead at 5:20 p.m.

Tony Bonnici, who is the general manager for Las Vegas rock radio station KOMP-FM where Dubrow worked as a morning drive-time host for about a year starting in 1996, has said that the rock world has lost a real character when it comes to Dubrow. Bonnici went on to say that Dubrow lived the rock ‘n’ roll world to the max.

Craig Williams, who is a KOMP DJ, who also lived with Dubrow for some time and was the co-host of his morning show, had said that Dubrow was a real wild man and was a lot of fun to be around. He went on to say that Dubrow enjoyed partying, eating good food, and staying up late. Dubrow had a strong personality.

Dubrow’s huge presence, razor-sharp tongue and hoarse yet tuneful howl is what helped Quiet Riot become one of the biggest metal bands in the world with their third disc, 1983 “Metal Health”. That album sold more than 5 million copies in the United States and gave the band a few hit singles on the charts.

Dubrow was the group’s snarling front man, a madman who always wore multi-colored suspenders and who founded the group in 1975 with guitar player Randy Rhoads but this was before he was lost to Ozzy Osbourne’s band. Rhoads later died in a plane crash in 1982.

After commercial success struck, Dubrow quickly received a reputation for his partying ways.

In 1995, though, he moved to Las Vegas. Dubrow then got clean and starting to try to reform his reputation as an arrogant rock star that was prone to verbally assaulting his head banging peers.

It was said that Dubrow was sober for years. He had become a health fanatic who ran every day and ate healthy.

Though Quiet Riot never matched their success with “Metal Health” and Dubrow was kicked out of the band in the late 1980s but later rejoined and the band remained a fixture on the road. Dubrow will be missed by many people.

Blush And Pure All In One Night

Last Tuesday, November 13, my roommate, Jenna, and I went out to two different clubs in the same night. It was a little hectic but we had a lot of fun.

The first club we went to was Blush which is in the Wynn. Our friend Keith had a table there because his new job wanted to promote that they will be opening up soon. So, he needed two females to come with him and of course he thought of the two most fun girls he knew, which would be Jenna and I! I’m just kidding, but he did invite us to go with him. Jenna and I arrived earlier than Keith, so we went to Cartier to look around. I found some things that I would like to have but I’ll just keep dreaming! Finally, Keith arrives and we have to wait in line for our table for a little bit, not very long at all. We walked into the club, got a stamp, and headed for the bar right away. There are tables set up everywhere and when you walk in you realize that the club isn’t that big. It has candles everywhere and the lighting is pretty dark. They have a DJ that is set off to the corner, so you really don’t even notice the DJ at all. We go to the bar, which is on your left when you walk in and we ordered three vodka cranberries, which is my drink of choice. There were three bartenders and our bartender was a female who made our drinks right away. Keith paid for them and handed them to us. I took a sip and realized that I was pretty much just drinking cranberry juice and I wasn’t the only one that realized this. Keith takes our drinks back and asks the bartender to put more vodka in. The bartender tells him that she can’t because the cameras will see that she did that and she will get in big trouble. Keith gets really mad and Jenna tries to calm him down and talk to the bartender. She ends up talking to a different bartender and she pours more vodka into our drinks. We then go over to our table which is somewhat outside. There is no roof over our heads, so they have heat lamps set out on the patio. It was really nice and I never even realized that it was cold out. The heat lamps really worked. Keith’s other co-workers showed up with a bunch of girls and Jenna and I danced the night away. We love to dance and the DJ was playing some really good music. I think we stayed there for an hour and half or so and then we left.

We ended up going over to Caesar’s Palace because we were going to meet one of Jenna’s friends Jeremy over there. He also had a table in VIP at Pure and he wanted us to join him. Travis Barker, who use to be in the band Blink 182 and had a show on MTV, was suppose to be there to celebrate his birthday but he ended up canceling. Anyway, I was starving, so we ended up eating at the Augustus Café because I needed something in my stomach if I was going to drink anymore. The sandwich was good but we ate really fast. We met Jeremy over by the entrance to Pure and proceeded to go in with him. All the bouncers and waitresses knew Jeremy, so we got lead right to the VIP area. We didn’t get to go right to our table and I can’t tell you why because I never asked and no one ever told me but they gave us a bottle of champagne while we waited. It was really good champagne, another one of my drinks of choice. We finally got lead to our table which had a couch/bed next to our table. It was really nice. We were over-looking the dance floor and so we could see almost the whole club. I really enjoyed it. Once again Jenna and I danced and the DJ there was really good too. I have to say if I was going to go to Pure again I would rather go VIP because then you aren’t fighting people to dance. You have your own space and it isn’t crowded. Plus you have a waitress to go get anything you want. That is really nice. Needless to say I liked Pure better than Blush that night.

Claim Jumper: A Great Restaurant

My boyfriend, Donnie, and I went out to eat on Saturday night to a restaurant that was called Claim Jumper. It was over by Henderson in a really nice area. We had to make reservations and they were at 8:30 p.m.

We walked in and had to wait for a little bit, so we went to the bar and Donnie got red bull vodka and I just ordered water. We probably only waited about five minutes to get a table but we shouldn’t had to wait at all because we made reservations. Anyway, we got to the table; our waiter didn’t come for another five minutes. By then we had both decided what we wanted. I ordered the black bowtie pasta, which had chicken, spinach tortellini, bowtie pasta, and a cream sauce in it. Donnie ordered the filet mignon with baked sweet potato and a biscuit with honey butter. We also ordered an appetizer of calamari, which is fried squid.

The restaurant was pretty big. It looked like a log cabin inside. They had antler chandeliers and a fire place in the middle of the restaurant. The restaurant was rather noisy since there were a lot of people eating there. The calamari came and it was the biggest calamari I’ve ever eaten. They brought it with cocktail sauce. The calamari was excellent. Then probably 15 to 20 minutes later our food came. My pasta was absolutely delicious. The cream sauce was to die for. It also came with cheese garlic bread that was amazing. The only thing that sucked was that I couldn’t finish it, so I had to get a to-go box but then I got to enjoy it the next day too. It was even good reheated. I thought the food was so good, I would definitely go back again. The waiter was very attentive and friendly. I liked the atmosphere; it kind of reminded me of Minnesota because of the woodsy theme. The prices weren’t that bad either. I would recommend this restaurant to anyone.

A Short Trip To Tao

Thursday night we went to Tao, which is in the Venetian, because one of our friends was celebrating that he got a new job. I’ve never been to the Tao but I’ve heard it is really busy and everyone always tries to go there. The one thing that sucked was that parking was horrible. They are doing construction right next to the Venetian, so traffic was ridiculous. So, we had to park over at Treasure Island and walk across the street to get to the Venetian. Now, here is the thing, I didn’t want to go out last night. I was really tired and just not in the mood to get dressed up, do my hair and make-up, and go fight people to get into a club. I also didn’t want to spend a lot of money to get into the club and pay for expensive drinks. I actually was not in a good mood last night but I went anyway.

We got to the Tao around 11:40, I think. The line wasn’t horrible but there was still a line to get in. Now once again I had been told that if you get there before 11 p.m. you can get in free. If you don’t then you have to pay $30. Well, right there that turned me off because like I stated before I didn’t want to spend that much money. So, now I’m thinking how long am I going to have to wait to get into a club that now I have to pay $30 to get into. I’m not very happy at this point, so now I just want to go home. My roommate Dan meanwhile is starting to feel sick to his stomach. My other roommate, Jenna thinks we at least need to say hi to our friends that are there that we came to celebrate with. The only thing is, is that we can’t get a hold of them. They are not answering their phones. At this point I just want to go home. The line hasn’t moved much, people are leaving because they are sick of waiting and I still just don’t want to be out. Finally, we all decide this just isn’t worth standing around, so we are going to leave. Jenna wants to talk to the bouncer to see how we can get in faster for next time. She goes and talks to him and the next thing I know she is telling me we are going into the club to say hi to our friends that we are suppose to meet. The bouncer gave him her card and gave us free admission tickets to go say hi.

We walk into the club and it is pretty dark, just like every other club there is here, but on our right and left there are bathtubs filled with water, rose petals, and a floating candle. I think it looks pretty cool. We give the cashier lady our tickets and then get a stamp on our right wrist. We proceed to walk into the club and I notice on the first floor there are tables and you can hear the music but the first floor is mainly a restaurant. You go up the stairs to the second floor and the first thing you see is a table that people are drinking on. Then when I turned the corner I saw two women in lingerie on a table giving one another a back massage. I found it kind of weird but this is Vegas and all. Anything goes. We finally get into this big room and there is a huge dance floor with a dj booth and the music is blaring. There are two dancers on the stage in the front of the dance floor. We finally find our friends and say hi. I’m looking around this club and there is a third floor, there are more bathtubs with girls in it this time and all I can see that they have on is rose petals on their nipples. Going out of the club I see that there is a bird cage that I’m sure girls dance in. We literally were in the club for maybe five minutes and left. It was really crowded and really loud in the club. I would probably go back to it just because I didn’t get to spend much time there. It looked like it could be a fun club but I’m thinking it is probably really crowded too. I hate that but I’ll give the Tao a chance to prove me wrong. So, at this point I can’t give the Tao a real review because I didn’t stay long enough. Stay tuned and maybe I will have a better review!

O.J. Simpson’s Preliminary Hearing Starts Today

O.J. Simpson is back in Las Vegas after almost two months after he allegedly did an armed robbery at Palace Station. It is being said that this is the largest preliminary hearing in Clark County. Simpson arrived at the Regional Justice Center sometime just before 9:30 a.m. in a black hummer. His hearing was scheduled to start at 10 a.m. He was encircled by lawyers and police when he was going to the courthouse. He was also greeted by many reporters and curious onlookers.

Bruce Fromong, who was one of the two memorabilia dealers that Simpson is being accused of robbing, was scheduled to be the first witness that was going on stand today. Fromong testified that he was in the Palace Station hotel room because he was suppose to meet an anonymous buyer when Simpson and others came busting into the room yelling and accusing Fromong of stealing the items that he was going to sell.

Las Vegas has been planning for the hearing for weeks. National newspapers, television and radio stations have come from all over the country to cover this hearing and now they are all at the Las Vegas Regional Justice Center. Court officials have met with members of the media on Wednesday to tell them the courthouse procedures.

This preliminary hearing is to determine if there is enough evidence to bring Simpson to trial for the robbery at the hotel room in September 2007 at Palace Station. Simpson will get his chance before the judge on numerous charges that are against him, which include first degree kidnapping, robbery and assault with a deadly weapon.

The state is expected to have eight witnesses testify at the preliminary hearing, which will include the three men who have already accepted plea bargains in exchange for their testimony against Simpson.

Simpson and two co-defendants are all facing twelve criminal charges, which are all felonies except for one. The charges they are facing are: conspiracy to commit a crime, conspiracy to commit kidnapping, conspiracy to commit robbery, burglary while in possession of a deadly weapon, two counts of first degree kidnapping with use of a deadly weapon, two counts of robbery with use of a deadly weapon, two counts of assault with a deadly weapon, and two counts of coercion with the use of a deadly weapon.

A whole witness list for Thursday has not been released but it is expected that Metro investigators and several of Simpson’s former co-defendants will be testifying in court today.

Metro police will be closing Lewis and Clark Avenues between Third Street and Casino Center for the hearing. These streets will not be available to park on either. Parking could be very difficult because the metered parking lot that is next to the courthouse is also closed.

Court officials are saying that if you have business at the courthouse Thursday or Friday you are suppose to use the north entrance that is off of Lewis Avenue while the hearing is going on.

Darren Mack Pleads Guilty

Darren Mack, who was on trial for killing his wife and attempting to kill the judge that was handling their divorce case, plead guilty to first-degree murder and entered a so-called “Alford plea” today. An Alford plea is when a defendant acknowledges that there was enough evidence to convict them but they don’t admit guilt.

The defense was about to call witnesses in the trial when testimony was to begin on October 24th for the former wealthy owner of a Reno pawn shop, who is Mack.

As part of the deal for his plea agreement, he will serve life with parole on the murder charge of his estranged wife. The sentencing was scheduled for the morning of January 17 and18. Mack’s attorneys have agreed to this deal with the condition that if the judge doesn’t give Mack the agreed upon sentence, they have the opportunity to take back the plea and make the case go back to trial. Judge Herndon has said that he will go along with the agreed upon sentence that is part of the deal.

The announcement of the deal came after an hour of discussion with Mack’s family, who spent the morning huddled in the courtroom.

There is a possibility that Mack will be sentenced between two to 20 years for the attempted murder charge. This is an enhanced charge because there was a deadly weapon that was involved when the crime was committed. The enhancement means that the judge can decided to double the sentence on that charge.

Mack was on trial for the death of his estranged wife, Charla, at Mack’s townhouse in south Reno, he stabbed her to death, and for the attempted murder of the Washoe Family Court Judge Chuck Weller, who was their divorce judge. Mack shot the judge sniper style through the third-floor windows in the judge’s chambers. The judge did survive. On June 12, 2006 this all happened.

Mack has admitted to shooting Weller to the judge of his case, Judge Douglas Herndon. The reason he invoked the complicated plea was because of his intent. Mack had also at one point pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity to the attempted murder charge.

LAX Nightclub Sucks, Body English Rocks

On Halloween night my roommates and I decided we wanted to get dressed up and go out to the clubs. We planned on going to LAX at the Luxor, so we called to get on the guest list for 10 p.m. We got ready and went to a friend’s house for a little bit. We stayed there later than we intended to but our friend knew someone that worked at LAX, so he said that he would call him and he could get us right in without having to wait in line. All we had to do is when we got there we had to call Aaron back and he would call someone at the club to meet us and let us in. We left our friend’s house and got to the club, we valet our car, and called Aaron. He said he would call someone and we should meet them at the re-entry line at the club. We went over to the re-entry line and started asking bouncers if Aaron had talked to them. The bouncers were real pricks, saying they didn’t know an Aaron and that we needed to back up. They started pushing my roommate Jenna and just being totally rude to her. They wouldn’t even listen to what she was trying to say to them. Finally, after talking to four or five different bouncers, getting the same response from all of them, we decided to call Aaron back. He said that if they were being difficult about the whole thing that we should just screw it and go over to Body English and the Hard Rock instead. I decided that I didn’t want to wait around to see if we could maybe get into LAX, so I suggested that we go over to Body English. So, instead of spending money at LAX, we left because I was sick of getting pushed around and yelled at. So, if you think that knowing someone that works at LAX is going to get you in faster, then you would be wrong. All it does is seem to piss the bouncers off even more and they get really pushy with you. I’m not a huge fan of LAX to begin with though. So, maybe my opinion is biased. I think the set up is all wrong, the club is way too crowded and they have no room for all the people that they let in.

So, we went over to Body English, which I said before is at the Hard Rock. Finding parking kind of sucked but we finally got a parking spot. We walked into the casino and had to walk around it to get to the club. There were a lot of people waiting to get in and they were all dressed up. We went to the exit for the club and started talking to one of the bouncers there. He said we could get in if we paid the hostess. We scrambled to figure out how much money we should give the hostess, when another guy came out by us and said that we could go in. He then gave us free admission tickets and his card, so that if we wanted to go to Body English again all we had to do is text him before 8 and he would get us on the guest list. So, we got into the club and it is pretty dark and the music is blaring, it is techno, so if you like that kind of music this is your club. There is a sitting area to your left when you get down the stairs and to your right is the whole club. There are two levels in the club. The top level there is a bar on the left and VIP tables to the right. It circles all the way to the end of club, so there are a lot of VIP tables. There are stairs that will take you down to the level that has a huge dance floor in the middle and a bar in the back. There are also VIP tables to the left and right of the dance floor. The bartenders are quick and they make the drinks really well. The music is really good but I find techno to sound all the same. They also have dancers that are near the DJ booth, there are usually only two of them dancing at a time. The atmosphere was really fun and lively. They had costume contests going on last night. There were three different contests going on. They had best costume, scariest costume, and sexiest costume. They gave away a nice amount of money for these costumes. There were some really great costumes at the club. There was one guy that was dressed as a transformer. It lit up and everything, it looked so real that my roommate Jenna didn’t think there was an actual person in the costume, she thought it was part of the decorations of the club. There was a guy dressed up as Napoleon Dynamite, priests, Facebook, and many other things. It was such a good night. We ended up partying with a birthday party that had a VIP table. They were a lot of fun too. Everyone was in a good mood, no one was trying to fight anyone at all. The best thing about Body English was that it wasn’t super crowded. You could still dance when you wanted to and you weren’t always bumping into people. You could get a drink when you wanted one also which is very important. I would go back to Body English any night.

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