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Las Vegas morning update for Thursday, June 8th

1. Two downtown Las Vegas casinos will open temporarily to preserve gaming licenses. The Las Vegas Club and Mermaids casinos must have casino play on the floor for at least 8 hours every two years to preserve a gaming license. United Coin Machine will set up slot machines in the two casinos in late June to help maintain the license.

2. Federal prosecutors announced Wednesday that two dozen reputed Russian mobsters and associates were arrested on racketeering charges. Razhden Shulaya, the alleged leader of a Soviet mafia syndicate, was arrested in Las Vegas and is accused of running gambling, stolen goods and protection rackets in several states. Thirty-three defendants in total were charged in the indictment.

3. A Las Vegas judge posted and removed a doctored photo of herself with Dwyane “The Rock” Johnson. The photo was posted on Heidi Almase’s campaign Facebook page Tuesday night before it was quickly removed. Almase’s campaign manager Jennifer Barrier says she is close family friends with Johnson, but did not have authorization to post the image.

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