Mob Museum Now The National Museum of Organized Crime & Law Enforcement

Nothing personal, Las Vegas. It's just business.


The Mob Museum is now known as the National Museum of Organized Crime & Law Enforcement -- swapping its original Las Vegas title for one more reflective of its content, museum officials said.

The museum, which is scheduled to open Feb. 14, 2012, to coincide with the 83rd anniversary of the St. Valentine's Day Massacre, will tell the story of organized crime as it affected the entire country, not just Las Vegas.

That isn't to say Sin City's mob stories are lessened in any way, said Jonathan Ullman, the museum's executive director. Prominent mob figures had a higher profile in other cities nationwide, including Chicago and New York.

"You really cannot tell this story without addressing larger national content," Ullman said. "We cover Prohibition, immigration and the evolution of the criminal justice system. We believe our name should reflect our status as a world-class museum and a foremost venue for an informal education on this subject matter."

The name change is showcased on the museum's website, themobmuseum.org. The decision was finalized in August and "embraced by representatives at the city, the museum board and other key stakeholders," Ullman added.

"We hope it's not perceived as a slight on anyone in the local community," he said. "There's a great deal of community pride in this venue."

Former Las Vegas Mayor Oscar Goodman, who used to work as an attorney representing reputed organized crime figures and was involved in bringing the museum to the area, said he welcomed the change. "It should be more expansive," Goodman said. "I think it should be called the international museum. As we got into this whole project, we saw this is an international story of folks coming from foreign lands into the United States as immigrants and becoming a part of what was referred to as organized crime."

Goodman added that no one should consider the change negatively. "This is a great thing," he said.

The $42 million Mob Museum will be dedicated to the history of organized crime and the law enforcement that hunted mobsters for decades. It is expected to draw 600,000 visitors annually once it opens at 300 Stewart Ave.

The Depression-era building is a historic former federal courthouse and post office included on both the Nevada and National Registers of Historic Places.

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Roberto Saviano, Author of Naples Mafia Book "Gomorrah", Wins PEN/Pinter International Writer of Courage Award.

Italian writer Roberto Saviano, who has lived under police protection since penning 2006 bestseller "Gomorrah" about Naples' mafia, has won the PEN/Pinter International Writer of Courage Award.

Saviano, 32, shares the award with Briton David Hare, who is perhaps best known for his work about British institutions.

Each year a British writer is honored with the PEN/Pinter award, established in 2009 by literary and human rights organization PEN in memory of Nobel Prize-winning playwright Harold Pinter, alongside another writer who has been persecuted for expressing his or her beliefs.

"Roberto Saviano took on the Neopolitan mafia, first in the novel Gomorrah and then in the film made from it," playwright Hare said at an awards ceremony in London on Monday.

"He did so at great risk to his own safety. My hope in sharing my prize with him is that a measure of recognition from PEN may, in however small a way, make his life easier."

Saviano, now living in hiding following threats to his life, sent a message expressing gratitude.

"When you feel that so many need to see, to know and to change, and not just to be entertained or comforted, then it is worth it to carry on writing," he said in a statement released by organizers.

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John Gotti Movie Starring John Travolta is Placed on Hold

John Travolta’s upcoming movie about the notorious Gotti family has been put on hold due to financial issues, according to a report.

The Hollywood actor is due to star as late Mafia boss John Gotti, who died in prison in 2002, in upcoming movie Gotti: In the Shadow of My Father, alongside his real-life wife Kelly Preston and Al Pacino.

Filming is slated to begin in January ahead of a 2012 release date, but a new report suggests production has been put on hold. Showbiz411.com reports work on the project has come to a halt and won’t resume until more financing is secured.

A source tells the website, “If (producer) Marc Fiore doesn’t come up with money this week, and doesn’t show that more is coming, and that he’s really secured financing, it could all fall apart.”

The film’s producers are also facing a legal battle with Goodfellas star Joe Pesci, who is suing bosses at Fiore Films over allegations he was offered a $3 million deal to play Angelo Ruggiero, an associate of Gotti, but was later told he would be given a smaller part.

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