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26-462: Joseph M. Smoot hitched a ride from lawyer Hank Greenspun to get from New York City to Las Vegas. He claimed to have helped build tracks in California and Florida which turned out to be untrue. The track was built to be a major horse racing facility on the south side of Las Vegas. Smoot funded the track by convincing 8000 shareholders to give him $ 2 million. "Old Joe knew a track wouldn't have

52-671: A homosexual . Greenspun became further entrenched in domestic politics when allegations were made that he held blackmail information against prominent Democratic presidential nominees. On June 17, 1972, Virgilio González , Bernard Barker , James W. McCord, Jr. , Eugenio Martínez and Frank Sturgis were arrested while placing electronic devices in the Democratic Party campaign offices in an apartment block called Watergate , in Washington, D.C. It later emerged that people working for President Richard Nixon wanted to wiretap

78-458: A Democratic candidate for president. E. Howard Hunt and G. Gordon Liddy believed Greenspun possessed incriminating information on Edmund Muskie , and wanted to capture the documents in a joint operation with billionaire Howard Hughes 's security team. The operation fell through because Hughes's team refused to go further. As Greenspun was an avowed Republican, it was assumed that Greenspun would use his political influence and connections to sway

104-460: A UK and Northern Ireland based company which later was acquired by Decca Records . In 1986, The Independent Broadcasting Authority (IBA) invited private sector companies to apply for a new television franchise via satellite. In an attempt to win the bid and operate The Direct Broadcasting by Satellite System , Electronic Rentals Group was acquired by Granada Limited for an estimated £450M. The acquisition helped Granada Television to be awarded

130-429: A chance and he said so when he came here in 1946," Greenspun later said in his biography. After the construction was delayed well past its original opening date, Smoot published an apology in a local newspaper. Smoot and two others were charged with felony embezzlement after he could not provide receipts for missing $ 500,000. A trustee was appointed by a federal judge to run the track. Smoot remained indicted until he

156-580: A dinner party hosted by Maureen Black (née Peres) daughter of Harold Peres of Solomon and Peres and wife of British businessman Roy Keith Black . As a young man, Greenspun became closely involved with Benjamin "Bugsy" Siegel and the work he was doing to reopen his Flamingo casino. Greenspun worked as the Flamingos's publicity agent. Following the murder of Siegel in Los Angeles in 1947, Greenspun renewed his interest in his Jewish heritage and became

182-497: A middle school in the Henderson, Nevada opened in 1991 in honor of the two. Roy Keith Black Video Library Blockbuster LLC Video Library California Western School of Law Mingei International Museum The Right Honourable Phillip Oppenheim The Right Honourable Dame Jill Black Phil Solomon (music executive) of Major Minor Records Mervyn Solomon, founder of Emerald Music and Officer of

208-610: A prominent figure in supporting the struggle to establish the State of Israel . In 1947, when the Haganah was already in armed conflict with Arab forces, Greenspun shipped machine guns and airplane parts to that organization (which later became the core of the Israel Defense Forces ). This was a violation of the U.S. Neutrality Acts , a crime for which Greenspun was arrested and ultimately convicted on July 10, 1950. He

234-692: The Green Valley Ranch, Resort and Spa with interest being held through The Greenspun Corporation . Greenpsun started the first TV station in Nevada, KLAS-TV , in 1953. Greenspun ran for Governor of Nevada in 1962 , but was defeated in the Republican Party primary by Oran Gragson . In 2008, SGP Media produced the feature documentary about the life and times of Hank Greenspun, narrated by Anthony Hopkins . In 1944, he married Northern Ireland native Barbara Joan Ritchie, who also

260-598: The Leisure Division was run by Alan Christopher Cowell MC along with companies like Camping Gaz Gola Sporting Goods . He is the nephew of Sir Adolph Weiner of Viners Cutlery, who headed a prominent silversmith family in Sheffield and was knighted by the British monarchy . His wife, Maureen Black (née Peres) is the daughter of Harold Peres, legendary music producer and record distributor of Solomon and Peres ,

286-627: The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire Roy Black (30 October 1927 – 28 December 2009) was a British-born businessman, known for his work at Electronic Rentals Group, a UK public company during the 1960s in Dublin , Ireland specialising in television rentals. By 1970, ERG was the world's second largest Electronic Rental Company in the world with operations in 22 countries. From 1967 to 1973, ERG owned Gola and

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312-630: The Swaziland Television Authority Rentals (STAR). In 1982, Black moved to San Diego , California, US, where he owned and operated Video Library , which later became known as Blockbuster Inc . In retirement, he served as a member of the board of directors of the Mingei International Museum and was California Western School of Law 's chairman of the board of Trustees from 1991 to 1994, and continued to serve as chairman Emeritus . In 1995, he

338-679: The conversations of Larry O'Brien , chairman of the Democratic National Committee . The Watergate scandal developed from this incident, leading to wide-ranging investigations, Congressional hearings, and steady media coverage for the next two years. On May 23, 1973, McCord admitted that this group (known as the " Plumbers ") had been involved in several covert activities. This included a plot to steal documents from Hank Greenspun's safe. McCord testified that Attorney General John N. Mitchell had told him that Greenspun had in his possession blackmail type information involving

364-603: The election. Immediately after Greenspun's death, his family entered the Sun into a joint operating agreement with the Las Vegas Review-Journal . As a result, the Sun operated as an afternoon daily from 1990 on. Beginning in October 2005, under an amended joint operating agreement, the paper began delivery with the morning Review-Journal as an insert. Greenspun formed The Greenspun Corporation to manage

390-528: The family's assets. Greenspun was also heavily involved in real estate , acquiring most of the western portion of Henderson, Nevada for a development that eventually became Green Valley . Much of the original seed money for the real estate investment was acquired through a loan from the International Brotherhood of Teamsters . His family controls the majority of this land and associated real estate developments, including golf courses and

416-682: The fifteen-year franchise. In 1978, Black with his adult son Anthony Black and family moved to Johannesburg , South Africa to help establish broadcasting throughout Southern Africa. In 1978, Black's ERG subsidiary, Vision Hire, along with King Sobhuza II of Swaziland , founded the Swaziland Television Broadcasting Corporation (STBC). From 1978 to 1979, the Swaziland Government positioned television satellites toward South Africa to provide anti-Apartheid broadcasting to South Africa. Black

442-477: The season was scheduled for 200 laps. The race was won by three-time USAC stock car champion Norm Nelson after darkness shorted the event to 111 laps; it was his only NASCAR win. He led the final 106 laps in a Chrysler owned by 1955 championship owner Carl Kiekhaefer . Nelson won the race by two laps. USAC held a 250 lap USAC Stock Car race which it co-sanctioned with Automobile Racing Club of America (ARCA) on November 29, 1959. The race

468-424: The third day to replace the ticket booths. The track was rapidly losing money, so the board closed after operating 13 days. It opened back up in 1954 to host quarter horse racing but closed after seven weeks. Three major auto racing event were held on the track. In 1954, an American Automobile Association (AAA) Champ Car event was held at the track, followed by a 1955 NASCAR Grand National race. The final race

494-589: Was Jewish . They had four children: Brian Greenspun, president and editor of the Sun and chairman of The Greenspun Corporation; Daniel Greenspun, president of the Greenspun Media Group and vice president of the Sun ; Susan Greenspun Fine, member of the Anti-Defamation League Board; and Jane Greenspun Gale, animal-rights activist . Barbara died in 2010 at the age of 88. Barbara & Hank Greenspun Junior High School,

520-457: Was a United States Auto Club (USAC) Stock Car event in 1959. The American Automobile Association held its final Indy Car race of the 1954 season on November 14. The 100-mile (160 km) event was won by season champion Jimmy Bryan . 16 cars started the race and six of them were unable to return after being involved in a second lap wreck. The track's only NASCAR event was held at the 1-mile dirt track on October 16, 1955. The 43rd event for

546-624: Was awarded an Honorary Juris Doctor . Later that year, California Western School of Law opened the Black Family Law Library in his honour. His wife, Maureen, is the cousin to Phil Solomon of Major Minor Records and Mervyn Solomon MBE , founder of Emerald Music . In 1970, Black and Solomon sold Major Minor Records to the EMI Group for a reported £10M. For many years, Black and the Solomon Brothers were among

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572-454: Was considered a silent player in the fight against Apartheid . In 1983, the government of the Kingdom of Swaziland nationalised Black's privately owned company. The company had a monopoly in all television gadgets or equipment, as a result, the government also acquired and operated Vision Hire. With the change of the television station from STBC to STVA, the name of Vision Hire was changed to

598-458: Was fined $ 10,000 but received no prison time. On October 18, 1961, President John F. Kennedy granted Greenspun a pardon . Upon Greenspun's death in 1989, former Israeli Prime Minister Shimon Peres called Greenspun "a hero of our country and a fighter for freedom". Greenspun began a feud with Republican Senator Joseph McCarthy in 1952, publishing several articles attacking him as a demagogue . He also wrote articles accusing McCarthy of being

624-487: Was found dead in a hotel room two years later. On September 4, 1953 the track was opened named the Las Vegas Jockey Club. Ticket booths and tote boards did not work properly and only one entrance discouraged customers. Customers had to wait one hour in traffic to park and some went home without attending. 8200 customers attended in the first day and the board of directors closed the track for two weeks after

650-601: Was shortened to 147 laps on account of darkness; Fred Lorenzen won the race after starting from the pole position . 16 of 35 starters finished the race. The board decided to destroy the track. It divided the land into four parcels and it is occupied by the Westgate Las Vegas , Las Vegas Convention Center , and part of the Las Vegas Country Club . Hank Greenspun Herman Milton "Hank" Greenspun (August 27, 1909 – July 23, 1989)

676-683: Was the publisher of the Las Vegas Sun newspaper. He purchased the Sun in 1949, and served as its editor and publisher until his death. Greenspun was also a prominent real estate developer in the Las Vegas Valley . Greenspun was born into a Jewish family in Brooklyn , the son of immigrants from Russian Congress Poland . During World War II , while stationed in Northern Ireland , Greenspun met his wife, Barbara, at

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