Joe Schoenmann

Downtown Las Vegas Reporter

A native Wisconsinite, Joe earned a journalism degree to get out of college early but wanted none of the craft after graduation. Need for a job landed him at small Wisconsin weeklies before moving to Las Vegas in 1997. He has been recognized for his magazine profiles and his investigative stories that exposed police bias against minorities.

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Call Joe at 702-455-6175.

Story Archive

Joe Downtown: With development creeping east, the Bunkhouse no longer feels far away: Wednesday, April 3, 2013; The Bunkhouse was purchased by the Downtown Project in January.
Joe Downtown: Life is Beautiful festival announces dates, schedules lead-in events: Wednesday, April 3, 2013; The two-day downtown Life Is Beautiful festival – a celebration of music and food – is scheduled for Saturday and Sunday, Oct. 26 and 27, and organizers have begun to put together some mini-events leading up to the fall festival on Fremont Street.
Joe Downtown: Meet the first couple to be married at Denny’s wedding chapel: Wednesday, April 3, 2013; A couple from Ames, Iowa, will be the first to exchange wedding vows in a Denny’s when they get married Wednesday at the national chain’s restaurant on Fremont Street.
Joe Downtown: Teslas on order for public use in rideshare program: Tuesday, April 2, 2013; A futuristic mural in the mayor’s office of old City Hall used to depict a "Jetsons"-esque city with flying cars zipping down Fremont Street.
Joe Downtown: Cambridge grad students to offer expertise to the Plaza: Monday, April 1, 2013; First came Venture for America’s college graduates, several of whom were hired by Downtown Project for two-year stints to study, learn and help startup businesses. Then a few weeks ago, 14 students from the University of Iowa in a class devoted to "reimagining" downtown Las Vegas spent their spring break here and will return this summer. Now students from Cambridge University – yes, that Cambridge, the second-oldest university in the English speaking world – are getting in on the act.
Joe Downtown: Salon owners see uptick in business as more workers head downtown: Monday, April 1, 2013; A downtown salon’s desire to hire eight stylists by the end of the year is being fueled by a resurging economy and the influx of workers to the area. Staci Linklater and James Reza, owners of Globe Salon, 900 Las Vegas Blvd. South, will stage auditions for new stylists from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Monday, with the goal of hiring on new people to meet the salon's growing demand, they said.
Joe Downtown: Parade of characters in Las Vegas has new venue – East Fremont Street: Monday, April 1, 2013; One more sign that the Fremont East Entertainment District is starting to come of age: Those superhero and other characters that populate the Fremont Street Experience were seen last weekend near Fremont and Sixth streets.
Joe Downtown: Former YouTube executive to speak about 'community': Thursday, March 28, 2013; “Community” is word coming into vogue in downtown Las Vegas due to efforts of Downtown Project to create and strengthen community in an area where virtually none previously existed, along the eastern stretches of East Fremont Street. Late Friday afternoon, a man who worked nine years at Google and its subsidiary, YouTube, will talk about how the world is not only smaller because of Internet video sharing, it’s creating more awareness and forcing a redefinition of “community.”
Joe Downtown: If you're drinking downtown, be sure you bought it there: Thursday, March 28, 2013; It isn’t illegal to have open containers downtown, notes Officer Charles Stuart, who will talk about the issue to local media Friday. But it is illegal, he said, if the alcohol is not purchased from a downtown establishment.
Downtown Project pieces together its $93 million llama: Thursday, March 28, 2013; The purchase of downtown — well, a good bunch of it, anyway — is almost complete. Downtown Project insiders call the mass of land stretching over several blocks from Las Vegas Boulevard to Maryland Parkway “the llama,” because that’s what it sort of resembles from space.
Joe Downtown: Longtime Metro officer to lead Downtown Rangers: Wednesday, March 27, 2013; A Metro Police sergeant who has become a familiar face downtown will retire Monday then go to work overseeing the new Downtown Rangers program.
Joe Downtown: Is Downtown too insular for its own good?: Wednesday, March 27, 2013; It was stunning to watch a local creative look over both shoulders before talking to me about what’s going on Downtown. “I don’t think they really want to hear anything negative,” he said, sitting at the bar of the Beat coffeehouse.
Joe Downtown: Irish musician, fourth-grade artist team up for fundraiser: Wednesday, March 27, 2013; A local fourth-grade artist and an Irish folk music legend are teaming up Easter Sunday for an art show and concert to benefit Casa de Luz, which serves the poor in downtown’s Naked City.
Joe Downtown: Iowa students leave Las Vegas to work on task of making 'an impact, an impression' on downtown: Wednesday, March 27, 2013; Fourteen University of Iowa students involved in a class called “Reimagining Downtown” are finished with their spring break in Las Vegas. Now they're focused exclusively on creating something that benefits downtown Las Vegas.
Joe Downtown: Danger is who, not what, she is: Tuesday, March 26, 2013; The seafoam-rimmed sunglasses and matching bow in her blond hair aren’t right. If you have to put a finger on the problem, it’s her name. “Krissee DANGER.” The name doesn’t fit the glasses and ribbon. It doesn’t fit the person. There appears nothing dangerous about her. Don’t believe me: Take the word of the people she meets almost daily giving tours for the Downtown Project, where she takes visitors even into the private sanctum of Tony Hsieh’s condo on the 23rd floor of the Ogden.
Joe Downtown: Web-savvy consultants have work cut out for them with city's site: Sunday, March 24, 2013; By pushing services onto the Internet that used to require a visit to City Hall, Las Vegas – like other cities around the country – is trying to make life easier through technology. But also like other cities, Las Vegas’ website is so hard to figure out, many of the services city residents might want to use – downloading documents or filling out forms online, for example – either don’t exist, are hard to use or nearly impossible to find.
Joe Downtown: Bartending contest touts bringing 'the Strip to Downtown': Friday, March 22, 2013; A bartending contest in the Fremont East Entertainment District? Can a roaring volcano, German tiger tamers and dancing waters at the El Cortez be far behind?
Joe Downtown: Legislative committee to take up bill seen as vital to downtown: Thursday, March 21, 2013; Fear is growing among downtown supporters that if a bill to extend the life of Las Vegas’ redevelopment agency fails in the Legislature, downtown’s ongoing revival could face a serious setback.
Joe Downtown: As work comes to temporary stop on Container Park, tenants begin to come into focus: Thursday, March 21, 2013; Though work on the downtown Container Park came to a stop this week, the array of businesses that will make it home is coming into focus. The mall-like structure at Seventh and Fremont streets will increase by up to 30 the number of new businesses downtown when completed.
Joe Downtown: Mint 400 events stirring traffic changes downtown: Thursday, March 21, 2013; With the annual Mint 400 off-road race back this weekend, several streets already have been closed down around Fremont Street for race-related events.
Joe Downtown: Is Romotive's departure a sign of the future?: Wednesday, March 20, 2013; Romotive took a $500,000 investment from Tony Hsieh, built itself up, and is leaving town.
Joe Downtown: Fremont District, city ready to welcome off-road race enthusiasts: Wednesday, March 20, 2013; To accommodate Mint 400 race attendees and partiers downtown, the city wants people to know there will be plenty of parking available over the weekend.
Joe Downtown: Rangers stand ready to provide assistance: Wednesday, March 20, 2013; Armed with tiny body cameras and dispensing advice for free, members of a street-level concierge service known as Downtown Rangers are the newest additions to the Fremont East Entertainment District.
Joe Downtown: Statewide business startup contest finalists named: Of the 12, seven are from Reno area, five from Las Vegas; Friday, March 15, 2013; Judges have selected 12 business startup finalists to vie for a $100,000 prize offered by the state’s economic development division and private donors. Project Vesto announced the finalists Thursday.
Joe Downtown: For de facto business center of downtown, nothing beats The Beat: Thursday, March 14, 2013; Thursday morning at The Beat. Just another busy day at the unofficial center of downtown business.
Joe Downtown: Stephen Siegel sees diamonds in the rough: Wednesday, March 13, 2013; The businessman is renovating 247 apartment units.
Joe Downtown: Reno PR firm opening satellite office downtown: Monday, March 11, 2013; A Reno public relations firm is adding an office in the Emergency Arts building on Fremont Street, aiming its focus on the growing tech startup business environment in Las Vegas.
Joe Downtown: Insight of the week: Thursday, March 7, 2013; Downtown as seen through the eyes of Tom Haskins, 56, who moved here from Seattle last week after reading about downtown’s redevelopment.
Joe Downtown: Plan to cut Percent for the Arts program sparks debate: Thursday, March 7, 2013; For well over a decade, art has been part of the planned rebirth of downtown Las Vegas. So it came as something of a shock to downtowners a few weeks ago when Las Vegas Councilman Bob Beers suggested eliminating the city’s Percent for the Arts program.
Joe Downtown: Following up on recent columns: Wednesday, March 6, 2013; Downtown is a whirlwind of activity. Take a moment to take stock!
Joe Downtown: Obsession, Def Leppard and Zappos combine to spell success for businesswoman: Saturday, March 2, 2013; Claire Jane Vranian’s obsession with fashion and feathers, combined with an innate need to be creative, led to an association with Joe Elliott, lead singer for the iconic ‘80s rock band Def Leppard, and success in the clothing business.
Joe Downtown: City says plans for Wi-Fi moving forward: Thursday, Feb. 28, 2013; Within the next several months, Las Vegas will unveil free wireless Internet access in a limited downtown area. Jace Radke, city spokesman, said free Wi-Fi would be activated in two phases: The first phase will include an area bound by Charleston Boulevard on the south, U.S. 95 to the north, Interstate 15 to the west and Eighth Street to the east.
Joe Downtown: Livestream allows free viewing of TED Conference talks: Wednesday, Feb. 27, 2013; So a choreographer, serial entrepreneur, nuclear scientist, food engineer, futurist, cancer-detector inventor, multisense designer and violinist all got together one day. And the punchline? There isn’t one. This is actually happening and you can watch it all via livestream video in the downtown Construction Zone speakers space, 158 S. Seventh St., through Friday.
Joe Downtown: 36 Downtown developments you should know about: Wednesday, Feb. 27, 2013; It’s been just over two years since Zappos CEO Tony Hsieh announced the movement of his headquarters from Henderson to Downtown. In that time, Downtown has changed—greatly in some areas, more slowly in others—and growth and interest in Downtown business has outpaced predictions made before the Zappos declaration in late 2010.
Joe Downtown: Hackidemia to put youths' imaginations into high gear: Thursday, Feb. 21, 2013; Stefania Druga is only 26 but has lived around the world and, more intriguingly, knows how to make a battery from a lemon, extract DNA from strawberries and create her own video games. Over two hours this weekend, she will help kids make their own video games from scratch using free software, play with graffiti, create a conducting circuit from dough and do other fun tasks that have a scientific bent.
Joe Downtown: The call of Downtown persuades successful professionals to uproot their careers: Wednesday, Feb. 20, 2013; For Michael Downs, former vice president of operations at Bellagio, Downtown Las Vegas used to barely register on his day-to-day radar. Yet downtown is his new work home. He’s shed the suit and tie for, on most days, jeans and a hoodie as the new executive vice president of operations for Downtown Project. Like Downs, others are drastically changing their lives to become part of the Downtown community.
Joe Downtown: Fremont Shoes sets sights on downtown manufacturing plant: Wednesday, Feb. 20, 2013; Craig Adkins has spent decades creating efficiencies in production lines for a variety of companies; his latest job was as vice president of fulfillment services for Zappos. About a year ago, Adkins started working on a plan to start yet another venture — bringing shoe manufacturing, not just shoe distribution, to Las Vegas. With support from the Downtown Project, an investment group that includes Zappos CEO Tony Hsieh, Adkins expects his shoe-manufacturing business, Fremont Shoes, to open by the end of the year.
Joe Downtown: Decades-old safe discovered in Atomic Liquors yields only old receipts: Monday, Feb. 18, 2013; New owners of Atomic Liquors on Fremont Street, one of the oldest free-standing taverns in Las Vegas, finally opened a floor safe discovered months ago during remodeling.
Joe Downtown: Amazing Johnathan trades stage for design studio: Monday, Feb. 18, 2013; The Amazing Johnathan, who performed his twisted brand of comedy-magic on the Strip for more than a decade before giving it up late last year, is going into a new line of work. Johnathan Szeles, who grew up in Michigan, says he is going to be redesigning the Las Vegas Club, a casino at Main and Fremont streets. Szeles, who last fall installed the Screamont Experiment, a permanent haunted attraction, in the casino, said he had been asked to do a redesign based on the premise of “fun.” Szeles said he can’t give specifics right now. “All I can tell you is they want me to design the place and make it ‘FUN,’” he said, adding that “they like my ideas and asked me to help. That’s all.”
Joe Downtown: Ecomom and the stresses of entrepreneurship: Wednesday, Feb. 13, 2013; Matthias Galica flew to Las Vegas for an answer. He hoped being in the same city, in the same coffeeshops, seeing the same people that Jody Sherman saw would provide some solace, resolve the question that had dogged him for more than a week.
Joe Downtown: City’s four-day week has some Downtowners frustrated: Wednesday, Feb. 6, 2013; "Thursday is the new Friday," according to one Downtown businesswoman.
Joe Downtown: Former politician now engaged in 'Art of Free Law': Wednesday, Feb. 6, 2013; The oddity of a free legal clinic in Las Vegas isn’t defined by the fact it sits under a tent in the middle of First Friday, a downtown monthly fest for art, entertainment and food. Some advice-seekers might appear odd, such as the bearded lady from a cancelled television show, but that’s not it, either. What puts The Art of Law Free Legal Clinic in a different realm is attorney Matt Callister, the man who started it. Talk to 10 people and you’ll likely get 10 different descriptions for the guy.
Joe Downtown: Rideshare of future in the works downtown: Tuesday, Feb. 5, 2013; Imagine a world without cars. Zach Ware asked some 300 people to do just that, then told them how a system of bikes, electrical vehicles, buses and, yes, a helicopter, should be in place by this fall to allow those living downtown to get by without their own car.
Joe Downtown: Organizers seek OK for 'Life is Beautiful Festival': Tuesday, Feb. 5, 2013; City leaders next week will consider plans to turn a vacant, three-acre lot on Fremont Street into the home of the Life Is Beautiful Festival, a Downtown Project-supported event scheduled for October.
Joe Downtown: Business activity under way farther east on East Fremont: Friday, Feb. 1, 2013; Businesses are slowly moving farther east on Fremont Street. Airstream 2 Go just signed a lease for land at 123 N. 10th St., at Ogden Avenue, where current-model Airstream trailers and trucks to tow them will be available for rental.
Joe Downtown: Las Vegas becoming less a phase and more a home for many: Wednesday, Jan. 30, 2013; Most Las Vegans came from somewhere else, but feeling ownership of Las Vegas is on the rise.
Joe Downtown: University of Iowa students to help 'Reimagine Downtown': Saturday, Jan. 26, 2013; University of Iowa lecturer David Gould has created a course that links Las Vegas and Iowa City because of what’s happening downtown; it might not look like anywhere in Iowa, but downtown’s community-oriented redevelopment is the perfect landscape for Gould’s class, Reimagining Downtown.
Joe Downtown: Social-networking developer sees future in amateur sports: Friday, Jan. 25, 2013; Amateur sports is a $20 billion U.S. industry and some 2.3 billion people participate in amateur sports worldwide. In Las Vegas alone, thousands of people, young and old, play soccer, kickball, football, softball, baseball, basketball and more.
Joe Downtown: Theater dedicated to LGBT-themed films to open: Thursday, Jan. 24, 2013; Many people know about the the 2005 movie, “Brokeback Mountain,” a story about a romantic relationship between two modern-day cowboys that won three Academy Awards. But there are so many movies involving the lesbian/gay/bi/transgender lifestyle that a gay nightclub under construction downtown will include a theater devoted to LGBT movies.
Joe Downtown: 'Sorceress' Sarah Nisperos and the origin of Tony Hsieh’s Downtown dream: Wednesday, Jan. 23, 2013; Get to know the person who steered the Zappos CEO to Downtown Vegas.

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Joe Schoenmann

Downtown Las Vegas Reporter

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