Station Casinos Fireworks, Miley Cyrus Highlight July 4 in Las Vegas

Independence Day celebrations are taking shape in Southern Nevada. Station Casinos is celebrating its 45th anniversary, and Miley Cyrus is set to appear at Resorts World Las Vegas. The Plaza Hotel and Casino also is planning to set off fireworks during the first week of July.

The first Station Casinos fireworks show is scheduled to begin at the off-Strip Palace Station Hotel and Casino on July 1 at 9 pm, according to the company website. The Palace Station is on Sahara Avenue just west of the Strip.

On July 4, fireworks will be launched at the company’s Red Rock Casino Resort and Spa and the Green Valley Ranch Resort Spa and Casino. These Independence Day shows will begin at 9 pm. 

The Red Rock property is about 15 miles west of downtown Las Vegas. It is near Las Vegas Ballpark, home of the Las Vegas Aviators, the Oakland A’s Triple-A farm team. The Green Valley Ranch property is about 17 miles south of downtown Las Vegas.

Each Station Casinos fireworks show will be live-streamed on the company’s social media sites.

The Palace Station s interesting history includes its early years in the 1970s, when it was known as the Bingo Palace. Among its owners was Carl Thomas, a once-prominent Las Vegas casino operator later imprisoned on a skimming conviction. 

In 1978, Thomas was heard on government surveillance audio in a Kansas City home, explaining to Mafia leaders how skimming works in Nevada casinos. The term “skimming” refers to illegally removing pre-taxed gambling revenue from the casino. 

During this era, money was skimmed from several Las Vegas casinos and sent to Midwestern syndicates, including the Civella crime family in Kansas City.

In 1983, Thomas was convicted of skimming from the Tropicana Las Vegas on the Strip. Also convicted were eight organized crime figures from Kansas City and Chicago.

Thomas became a government witness in another trial and was released early from prison. He died 1993 at age 60 in a single-vehicle rollover in Oregon.

Also on July 4, Resorts World Las Vegas is set to host a fireworks show from its site on the Las Vegas Strip. Resorts World was built on the northwest end of the resort corridor where the now-demolished once stood. For a brief period in 1976, Carl Thomas oversaw the Stardust.

Resorts World opens on June 24. At its Independence Day fireworks show, the resort will project Miley Cyrus’ performance on one of its exterior light-emitting diode screens. Cyrus is scheduled to perform at the Ayu Dayclub inside the resort.

Also during the first week of July, the in downtown Las Vegas is planning fireworks shows to celebrate Independence Day and its 50th anniversary.