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NORM: He's no neighborly Mr. Rogers of TV






Clean-freak Jim Rogers has gone ballistic again.

The mercurial owner of KVBC-TV, Channel 3, and university system chancellor sent a former Employee of the Year executive packing this week after he found clutter in an attic closet.

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  • Creative services assistant Sharon Phalon-Smith, a 10-year employee and former assistant to the news director for five years, was terminated Tuesday without severance pay, she confirmed. Health insurance for her family ends in two weeks.

    Rogers had recently sent down an edict saying he wanted the station cleaned up and ordered a mandatory newsroom meeting to make it clear he meant business.

    That meeting was at 1 p.m. Dec. 27, a busy news day because of the assassination of Pakistani opposition leader Benazir Bhutto.

    Rogers came through the building Monday, and an e-mail was sent out that "he was very happy with the building," Phalon-Smith said.

    Then came word that there was an issue with the back attic, where accounting records were kept, along with some of Phalon-Smith's promotional items, she acknowledged.

    Phalon-Smith and a co-worker went back and "cleaned it up spic and span," she said.

    She was dismissed without explanation a day later. "I've been in tears for days," she said. "I had to tell my kids I was fired."

    She broke down during the interview and specifically requested I write that I had called her for comment, not the other way around.

    "I was a loyal, loyal employee," she said.

    The irony, she added, was that "I gave tours talking about what a great and generous man he was. I was his No. 1 cheerleader."

    Rogers was "not available, and he's not going to talk about personnel issues," said KVBC general manager Lisa Poe-Howfield.

    THE SCENE AND HEARD

    With headliner Danny Gans' 10-year contract with The Mirage expiring next year, I hear he's being courted for an extension. ...

    Tip of the Week to the Consumer Electronics Show crowd: If you want to see a really impressive TV, check out the ginormous 160-square-foot screen at Jay-Z's 40/40 Club at the Palazzo. It's the ultimate sports bar, with bleacher seating for 200 in front of the screen and dancing areas on the lower level of the 1,800-capacity club.

    SIGHTINGS

    Michael Jackson and his three children, Prince Michael I, Paris and Prince Michael II (aka Blanket), taking an after-hours tours of Madame Tussauds Las Vegas (Venetian) on Monday night. They showed up about 9:45 p.m. and made stops for photos in front of the wax icons, including Jackson's. He asked to see the newly arrived Evel Knievel figure, which was in the studio where repairs are made. ... Jackson's ex-wife, Lisa Marie Presley, in Tao's ultralounge (Venetian) on Tuesday, the 73rd birthday of her late father. ... Actor Kevin Costner, spotted dining Monday with a group of 30 at N9NE Steakhouse (Palms). ... Legendary rocker Alice Cooper, shopping Tuesday night at Elton's Men's Store at Mandalay Place (Mandalay Bay). ... David Caruso of "CSI: Miami," at N9NE Steakhouse on Tuesday night. ... "American Chopper" star Paul Teutul Sr., shopping Tuesday at the Hard Rock retail store. ... Pamela Anderson, on "The Tonight Show with Jay Leno" on Monday, promoting her new movie. ... Members of the Penthouse Pets, delivering a birthday cake to Jet VIP host Marklen Kennedy, at Jet (Mirage). The Pets are in town for tonight's opening of The Penthouse Club just off the south end of the Strip and will be making appearances around town. ... Damon Wayans, hanging out at the 40/40 Club (Palazzo) Tuesday night during a Google and YouTube.com party and also at Jet in the VIP section. Also in the Jet VIP section: musician Ryan Cabrera, baseball slugger Frank Thomas, and Jeff Beacher, dressed as Elvis. ... At CatHouse (Luxor), checking out the competition: Robert Frey of Pure Management Group, dining at one table; at another: Andy Masi and Andrew Sasson of The Light Group.

    THE PUNCH LINE

    "Wolf Blitzer wanders on set screaming, 'Top story -- daddy's drunk!'" -- From David Letterman's Top Ten Signs You're Watching Bad Election Coverage

    Norm Clarke can be reached at (702) 383-0244 or norm@reviewjournal.com. Find additional sightings and more online at www.normclarke.com.



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    carl wrote on January 20, 2008 06:56 PM: Children that charge large amounts of money to attend they're performances, should not be allowed to order room service at the MGM and not "TIP"


    vernon p smuckers wrote on January 19, 2008 07:49 AM: This woman sounds like a sloppy sis to me!


    Marina wrote on January 14, 2008 06:23 PM: Check this out:
    google this:

    richard-carpenter-watch.blogspot.com/2007/11/still-banned-at-csn.html

    Then look on the left side of the screen and click on 'Tazzie's Tattlepage' Hilarious stuff about Rogers by some CSN or UNLV prof, I think.


    molly wrote on January 12, 2008 06:11 PM: what a dirtbag! This man should really get a grip. He has loyal employees and fires them for clutter? Someone check his head please!


    sonja Rado wrote on January 11, 2008 04:55 PM: Incredible! Apparently Rogers thirst for cruelty and bullying is boundless. CSN was raided by the Nevada Attorney General on 6-13-07 and Rogers nor the BOR thought it necessary to fire the people responsible for the mismanagement and corruption within CSN. It’s too bad that Rogers lacks the guts to call for an audit of CSN finances, no it's easier to pick the pockets of faculty and students and pretend that the raid did not occur.

    When this so-called maverick leader finally kicks-the-bucket, his epitaph should read: “He was the worst Chancellor know to the Nevada System of Higher Education.”



    ? wrote on January 11, 2008 04:37 PM: first of all the person who said u were god, ur a freak! but sharon is a good person and always did the best she could for that stupid old fart! she was always defending him! i would know because i see her everyday and whenever his name comes up in a convorsation, she would say that he is good man! now that he has done this, it proves that he is a horrible man and that he fired a great person! well he is in for it now!!!!! he doesnt know who he is playin with.


    Are you for real? wrote on January 11, 2008 11:58 AM: Mr. Rogers, You are a multi-millionaire businessman. What are you doing inspecting attics? Is the University System Chancellorship not giving you enough to do? Stop micromanaging and get to work. Ms. Smith is better off without you. You should be ashamed. Go get em Sharon!


    Jay wrote on January 11, 2008 10:59 AM: It's good to be king.

    Please continue to vote for politicians and practices that allow the powerful to get bigger.

    Keep dreaming that you, too, will one day be a millionaire and not have to pay taxes.

    (funny how the public airwaves are actually OWNED by people like him)



    Enough with this Station Already! wrote on January 10, 2008 06:57 PM: The place stinks from the ground up. The following points could be argued from conversations based on current and former employees:
    Star struck, power hungry Jim uses his TV stations to push his personal and political agenda to rub shoulders with fools like Ted Kennedy and Mike Douglas.

    His henchmen attorneys censor news content based on the financial impact it will have on the station so Jim can maintain his cash flow and subsequently, political influence.

    He leashes attorneys so vile that one assistant's name was discovered in the famous quick fix Halverston file and "somehow" that employee remains while hard working, loyal employees are dismissed when he has a flash of anger.

    Rounding out the Sunbelt dream team is a president who pushes an unproven and in my opinion unsound medical agenda based on his own personal struggle and when it's resisted he engages in a misdirected vendetta!

    The only question that needs to be asked is: Why hasn't KVBC's license been investigated or scrutinized more closely? Will someone please un-KORK the truth!


    Peter wrote on January 10, 2008 06:33 PM: Re: Jim "Not in MY neighborhood" Rogers... Sharon, I was recruited for a job in a Las Vegas Bank a couple of years ago, and the employees from top to bottom feared this old fart... so I was fortunate that I stayed my course. A "friend" confirmed to me that he was beyond nasty as a person. He really should not be managing people. Like my kid says, "stikck a french fry in his eye!" On to better things, Sharon, best of luck!!!


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