MGM Mirage seeks 12,000 workers for Vegas project (Channel NewsAsia)

LAS VEGAS, Nevada: Amid the worst economic downturn in decades for this gambling haven, gaming giant MGM Mirage began taking the first of 12,000 job applications Monday for a new multi-billion dollar development.

New rooms provide reasons for optimism (Las Vegas Sun)

Although pessimists don’t expect Las Vegas’ Strip economy to fare better in 2009 than it did in 2008, there are rays of hope that Vegas’ tourism industry will improve this year. The reason: Las Vegas thrives when resorts open. Just look back to when Luxor and Treasure Island opened in 1993 and when Bellagio, Mandalay Bay, the Venetian and Paris Las Vegas opened in 1998-99.

Vegas' 2009 forecast (Los Angeles Times)

Uncertain convention season, safe shows and CityCenter mark Vegas' calendar amid tough economic times. When you talk to insiders about what 2009 holds in store for Las Vegas, most answers are given a significant caveat: "All else being equal."

Wynn's Encore steals the show (The Salt Lake Tribune)

Las Vegas » Is this the worst moment ever to open a fancy new casino? You're entitled to wonder that, given that Steve Wynn's 2,034-room, $2.3 billion Encore took its first bets in late December in the middle of a national financial nervous breakdown.

Crapped out? Vegas still offers fun at low stakes (Pittsburgh Post-Gazette)

LAS VEGAS -- Things are noticeably quieter on the Las Vegas Strip these days, and casinos usually known to boast excess are dropping prices to cope with a bad economy that has hit Sin City particularly hard. ...

EXECUTIVE SNAPSHOT (Las Vegas Business Press)

Jerry Stanley's involved in some dirty business. Through his two companies, Soil-Tech and Native Resources, Stanley makes his living keeping the dust down and restoring disturbed land across the Las Vegas Valley.