'Fun' Cities Forbidden for Federal Travel

Dean Heller, Shelley Berkley fight for the government's right to party

(NEWSER) - No one is actually talking about outlawing government travel to Las Vegas or Reno in the wake of the GSA scandal, but a pair of Nevada lawmakers want to ban such a banning, just in case. Sen. Dean Heller and Rep. Shelley Berkley are putting forward bills in their respective chambers making it illegal to ban travel to any particular US city, USA Today reports. More»

Hint: California and Florida show up a lot

(NEWSER) - It's a rough time in general to sell your home, but some places are (far) worse than others. Richard Florida rounds up the 20 worst for the Daily Beast , with nine of the regions in California and six in Florida. Here are the top 5:

1. Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario, Calif: One of the nation's largest neighborhoods with negative equity.

Sin City bad match for chastened America

(NEWSER) - Las Vegas has spent years feasting on its naughty image, but Sin City is going hungry in hard times, BusinessWeek reports. Home prices are at half their 2006 peaks, and unemployment has hit a lofty 9.1%. Vegas is reminding businesses that it’s still an attractive convention destination, but to little avail. Companies are going elsewhere “for no reason other than Las Vegas is viewed as overindulgent,”said a Wynn executive, More»

Brothel owners see taxes as insurance to keep them legal

(NEWSER) - Nevada's brothel owners are offering to fork over tax money to the state to help cover its debts—but legislators are reluctant to increase the state's involvement in the $50-million-a-year sex business, reports the New York Times. Nevada's 25 legal brothels pay hefty taxes to their home counties, but are currently only charged a $100 license fee by the state. Some owners see the taxes as protection against any future attempts to challenge their legal status. More»

Advanced date, knotty demographic make state key for Dems

(NEWSER) - Just hours before voting begins in Nevada, its newly bumped-up caucuses are more crucial for Democrats than South Carolina's primary, blogs Sasha Abramsky of Mother Jones. Yes, Nevada has powerful unions, but it's more complex than that: outlying areas are conservative and rural, and the state is a third non-white. "For the Democrats, there’s a lot to play for in Nevada," Abramsky writes. More»