Page 32 - ARUBA TODAY

A32 FEATURE
Thursday 5 OcTOber 2017
After massacre, Las Vegas gets back to beers, slots, shows

By TIM DAHLBERG gun range where the spe-
Associated Press cial of the day was $29 to
LAS VEGAS (AP) — The fire an AK-47.
fountains at the Bellagio Most shows played as
casino went off like clock- usual Tuesday night. That
work, the water swaying included magician Penn
and pulsating in time to Jillette of Penn and Teller,
Lee Greenwood’s “God who canceled his Monday
Bless the USA.” night performance at the
Two faux showgirls in pink Rio.
headdresses tried to hus- “We took our show off last
tle a few dollars off tour- night to be respectful, but
ists gathered to watch. those people that were
A group of men drinking shot, they didn’t want the
beers stopped briefly to world to stop,” Jillette said
ogle the action and take while donating platelets at
pictures. a blood center. “Nobody
Just days after a gunman wants the world to stop
killed 59 people at an out- when there’s a tragedy.
door concert, the party in They want it to go on.”
Las Vegas seemed to be Some 43 million people
back on. visit Las Vegas every year,
“I feel like we kind of and there’s no shortage of
mourned yesterday,” said things for them to do.
Tre Marino, a landscaper In this Tuesday, Oct. 3, 2017 photo, Elvis tribute artist Eddie Powers poses for a photo with new- The latest UFC pay-per-
from Asheville, North Caro- lyweds Rob and Kelly Roznowski after he married them at the Welcome to Las Vegas sign in Las view will go on as sched-
Vegas.
lina, who was playing ta- Associated Press uled Saturday night on the
ble shuffleboard Tuesday Strip, and the Los Ange-
evening with friends at a feel it every day,” said ter and other supplies to a in the cabin for $30 more. les Lakers play a practice
bar across from the MGM Mickey Ori, a teacher who family assistance center. In front of Planet Hollywood, game in the same arena
Grand hotel. “We were was visiting from Israel with For the thousands of peo- where Jennifer Lopez can- the next day.
definitely a little down yes- her husband, Smadar. ple who were only visiting celed a series of shows Next Tuesday, the city’s
terday and just hung by “But the show must go on. Vegas, the show went on. beginning Wednesday out first major league pro team
the pool. We’re not going to let ter- Celine Dion played to a big of respect for the shooting starts home play.
But this is Vegas.” rorists dictate our lives.” crowd at Caesars Palace, victims, a sidewalk booth The NHL’s Vegas Golden
It’s not as if the famous Strip The people who live in Las and the “Ka” show at the was offering temporary tat- Knights will be joined in a
ignored the massacre by Vegas started lining up to MGM Grand was sold out toos that wash off in five few years by the NFL’s Las
a 64-year-old retired ac- give blood only hours after for the night. People lined days. Next door, two older Vegas Raiders in a new
countant who killed himself the attack. There were still up at a discount ticket men walked by a replica $1.9 billion stadium just off
as police closed in. lines at blood centers on booth outside Bally’s to get of the Eiffel Tower, wear- the Strip.
The black-trimmed ho- Tuesday, even as authori- seats for Donny and Marie ing baseball caps reading The city will probably
tel marquees asked for ties put out the word that Osmond, and those look- “Vegas High Roller” and adopt some new restric-
prayers for the victims and there was enough blood ing for a good time on the “Vegas Virgin.” tions on traffic into hotels
offered thanks to first re- for everyone. cheap could get into the In an incongruous moment, and casinos.
sponders. A GoFundMe account for “Crazy Girls” show for $43. a mobile billboard truck But just as the city rebound-
A small makeshift memo- the victims raised $8.2 mil- A loop on the giant High inched by with a big color ed from a 1980 fire at the
rial was set up outside the lion in two days, and peo- Roller observation wheel sign flashing an invitation MGM Grand that killed
Bellagio and at the famous ple drove truckloads of wa- was $22, with an open bar to visit Battlefield Vegas, a 85 people, leaders are al-
roadside sign that wel- ready promising to come
comes tourists to “fabu- back from this.
lous Las Vegas.” And there It’s a place they hope will
were far more police of- keep appealing to people
ficers than usual, with a like Larry and Mary Louise
handful clustered on the Sutherland, a couple from
sidewalk in front of almost the small town of Picpou in
every resort. Nova Scotia.
But in a place where nor- They were sitting outside
mal is sometimes hard to the New York-New York
define, little else seemed casino after spending the
amiss. This is a city built on previous day in their hotel
adult fun, where on any room because they were
given day several hun- afraid to go out in the
dred thousand visitors are wake of the shooting.
looking for a good time. “This was on our bucket
Many were finding it again, list,” said Sutherland, an
whether eating at a nice iron worker.
restaurant, seeing a show “This place is amazing to us.
or gambling, even while We’re just from a little town
the attack was still fresh in and it’s all overwhelming.”
their minds. “I feel for the victims,” he
“It’s really hard because quickly added.
we know how people feel In this Tuesday, Oct. 3, 2017, photo, a tourist has her photo taken on a statue at the Luxor hotel with “But we had to make the
the Mandalay Bay in the background in Las Vegas.
after losing someone. We Associated Press best of it.”q