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Centennial spurs national ? nd I always thought the biggest smoke blowers w ere located at City Hall. ® o t so this week. Thanks to Jocal attorney Dan M arkoff, residents arid other visitors to Frem ont Street w ill ring in the Centennial weekend with a Iri^oke-belchirig railroad en |in e. To watch the tourists gawk at the iron horse is ^ Ivorth the trip by itself. ^ W h ile you’re in the Se&hborhood, check out the I n t e r n village. It’s more gppiniscent of the H otel Last iio n tie r than the Fremont plfeetT rem em ber, but it’s a |gtrth y effort. N a t io n a l TALK: Turning 100 pm its advantages. Suddenly, e ||n National Public Radio is giving scandalous Las Vegas a p ile respect. NPR’s popular iP ’alk of the Nation” show hit l i e valley Thursday with local historians and certified rildrtimers participating in the eoat-to-coast broadcast. John L. Smith : W# Atomic Testing Museum official Troy Wade and Community College of Southern Nevada historian M ichael Green told the story of the positive impact of nuclear testing in Southern Nevada. Yes, positive. Very positive, in fact. “And it also ends up being a tourist attraction, as only Las Vegas can do,” Green said. Which begs the question: Where have you gone, M iss Atomic Bomb? I ' 1 * , . i Glorious celebrations Of 1 histrir^, clilture arid class' don’t come along every day in Las Vegas. When they do, it’s only right that they be duly noted. I’m not talking about this weekend’s Las Vegas centennial celebration, which is sure to attract thousands. I’m talking about the 20th anniversary of the Tap House, where against spund financial advice I have been investing my retirem ent money for two decades. I call it the 401Keg plan. But that’s another story. The neighborhood sports bar on W est Charleston Boulevard celebrates its double-sawbucks anniversary from noon to 6 p.m. Sunday with an indoor/outdoor party and barbecue. With entertainm ent provided by the Swollen Blues band and several animated regular and were not just blowing smoke custom ers, all proceeds from carnival gam es w ill go to local charities. FRANKIE'S FIX: Nevada Black Book member Frank M asterana, whose career as a bookmaker spans more than half a century between Las Vegas and the Caribbean, today finds him self in prison in Youngstown, Ohio, in connection with yet another illegal gambling conviction. V CHESNOFF'S ODDS: Sports book wags are losing bets all over Las Vegas this week after predicting that criminal defense attorney David Chesnoff wouldn’t make it to his 50th birthday. Chesnoff celebrates his half-century * tonight at Pure inside Caesars Palace. With as many prosecution eneriiies as Chesnoff has made over the years, I have to wonder who is going to taste his birthday cake. It’s just a rumor, but I heard the FBI is handling all the photography for the party. Of course, several of G hesnoffs biggest clients have failed to RSVP, so it appears they won’t be able to make it. They’re still vacationing at governm ent expense. SPARRING WITH STERLING: Eva Futch, widow of the late great trainer Eddie Futch, is too polite to lace up boxing gloves, but she is attempting to knock out promoter Sterling McPherson over his Thursday party at Pure to announce the debut of his “Drama” boxing television interview series. A party invitation notes that the gathering w ill “honor” Eddie Futch, but little Eva is smoking about the lack of respect her late husband is actually receiving. “He deserves so much more than this, than to be used as a decoy by an unscrupulous boxing promoter,” she writes. Her protests aside, it looks , as if M cPherson has a winner i on his hands. & ? |||1. s f;j l . i ffl|| ON THE BOULEVARD: 1 High-profile handieapper Wayne Allyn Root defines f irrepressible. P.T. Barnum didn’t promote like this guy. Now he’s starting his own reality TV series. N ext thing J you know he’ll announce his | mayoral candidacy.... Downtown street preacher John 3:16 Cook continues to shout the good word from his } wheelchair. “I want to get back out in the streets,” says Cook, who suffers from various m edical maladies and a badly bruised reputation. “I’ve been laid up for three years. I’ve always dreamed when I go, I’d go out of this life handing a sandwich to som e poor bastard.” Have an item .for the Bard of the Boulevard? | E-mail comments and contributions to Smith@reviewjournal.com or call 383-0295.; I f & . g & o g *