shop online at www.missourivalleyshopper.com August 6, 2019 • Page 9 The Bookworm ‘Elvis In Vegas’ Hits The Right Notes “Elvis in Vegas” by Richard Zoglin c.2019, Simon & Schuster $28.00 / $37.00 Canada 297 pages Cherry, cherry, cherry. That’s what you want to see, as you reach for the lever and take another spin. Or is it a little ball in a slot you’d like better, or the right number from a deck of cards? When you’re in Vegas, baby, anything can happen even, as in the new book “Elvis in Vegas” by Richard Zoglin, breathing life in what seemed nearly dead. His first time in Las Vegas was not his idea. And it wasn’t a good idea, either. It was the spring of 1956 and Elvis Presley’s star was rising. Teenage girls screamed for him onstage and he’d already been a “regional phenomenon” when he recorded his first mainstream single, “Heartbreak Hotel.” That record was at the top of the charts when his manager, Colonel Tom Parker, booked Elvis at the New Frontier hotel but there was one problem: Vegas show-goers in 1956 were more middle-of-theroad and middle-aged. To them, rock & roll was just a fad. That was Elvis’ first show on a Las Vegas stage, and it would be his last for more than thirteen years. In the meantime, the city grew up and out. During the 1950s, says Zoglin, every major (and many minor) stars from Hollywood, Broadway, and the sporting world performed in Las Vegas, onstage or in lounges, or they came just to hang out. Singers honed their crafts and made their marks, actors offered unremarkable stage shows that were nevertheless sold out, and “Rat Pack” practically became a household term, while rock & roll bands came but didn’t stick around. The city’s population swelled to fifty-nine thousand citizens by 1960 and some twentythousand tourists visited each day, while Elvis Presley made movies that, at the end, were box-office busts. He’d always loved Las Vegas for its glamour and fun. He’d been there many times, had even gotten married there, and it was the perfect place for him to perform, which was something he loved best. He signed a contract, put together a band, chose two back-up groups, and practiced. And on July 31, 1969, he stepped onstage… Elvis Fans Unite! Read this book but be sure to share. “Elvis in Vegas” has something for almost everyone inside. Author Richard Zoglin does, indeed, write about Presley in his early career, but he does it with a difference: while there’s a strong but thin thread that ties the first pages to the last half of this book, the middle half offers a lively, nostalgic, cowtown-rags to high-roller-riches tale of not just a city, but of entertainment itself. The ascent and descent of many careers are wrapped up in Las Vegas history, and Zoglin tells the stories with an insider’s feel and a sense that what happened fifty or sixty years ago is still great gossip. Fans will hunka-hunka burnin’love this book, while readers who are too young to recall Elvis’ comeback but old enough to appreciate Sin City will enjoy it, too. “Elvis in Vegas” is a great summertime read. You can bet on that. Rounds, Tester Introduce Legislation To Streamline Education Benefits For Vets WASHINGTON — U.S. Sens. Mike Rounds (R-S.D.) and Jon Tester (D-Mont.) are introducing bipartisan legislation to provide timelier education benefits to student veterans across the country. Excessive bureaucracy at the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) has caused significant delays in education benefits to veterans participating in the VA Work-Study Allowance Program. The program allows student veterans— whether on campus, at VA facilities or at other veterancentered organizations— to earn money at a second job while getting an education. Rounds and Testers’ G.I. Bill Work Study Improvement Act of 2019 streamlines the processing and administration of VA benefits through the VA Work-Study Allowance Program, providing veterans with timelier benefits. “For years, the VA’s workstudy program has been a great benefit to veterans seeking to help other veterans through onthe-job training,” said Rounds. “But under the current system, many students are waiting weeks to get paid for their work, and some aren’t receiving paychecks at all due to administrative delays in processing at the VA. Our legislation streamlines the program to make certain student workers are getting paid on-time and in-full. Work-study programs are a great way to earn some extra cash while working toward a degree. Our bill makes improvements to the VA’s work-study program to better serve the needs of our service members transitioning into civilian life.” “Student veterans often work multiple jobs to make ends meet, and we should be making it easier, not harder, for them to access the benefits they’re owed by the VA,” said Tester. “Our bipartisan bill cuts down bureaucratic inefficiencies and invests in our future by getting Montana veterans better access to the benefits they need while they get an education.” Specifically, the G.I. Bill Work Study Improvement Act reforms the process and manner in which work-study payments are made to participating student veterans. It also authorizes payments to schools based on their usage of work-study funds from previous semesters. Paintings Returning To Mead Building PHOTO COURTESY OF DAKOTA TERRITORIAL MUSEUM Mead Cultural Education Center. Check out our calendar Preparations are being made to return some of the his- of events at www.meadbuilding.org, or you can stop out toric paintings that once hung in the buildings of the at the Mead Cultural Education Center at 82 Mickelson Yankton State Hospital. Thanks to a partnership with the Drive. Our summer hours are Monday-Saturday 10amUniversity of South Dakota, beautiful paintings by Louis 6pm (closed Wednesdays) Janousek and other well-known artists will once again and Sunday 1pm-5pm. Ofgrace the walls of the Mead Building. The exhibit will be fice hours are Monday-Friopen to the public Riverboat Days weekend. Join us that day 8am-5pm. weekend for a Vendor Fair and take advantage of our • Horse Arenas free-will donation admission weekend. If you are • Private & Commerical interested in participating Drives in the vendor fair, contact • Great Parts • Great Warranty Heidi at programs@mead• Unpaved Roads building.org to sign up. On-Hand & In-Stock! 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