A new shopping district, which already features mega sporting goods retailer Scheels, has announced the coming of 26 more stores to the 148-acre complex called Legends at Sparks Marina on Interstate 80, just east of Reno.

A ribbon-cutting is scheduled June 18 that will kick off a round of celebrations, concerts and other events into August. Legends’ long-range plans call for a casino resort and theaters.

Nationally known retailers such as Kenneth Cole, Sketchers USA Outlet, Fuddruckers, Osh Kosh B’Gosh and Guess Factory Store, among others, will join Best Buy, Target, Jazz and A Louisiana Kitchen already at the site.

The 295,000 square-foot Scheels, billed as the world’s largest all-sports store, features a wide range of sporting goods for golf, hunting, fishing, biking, skiing, water sports, running gear, shoes and fashion sportswear in an entertaining atmosphere that includes a Ferris wheel, aquariums, a fudge shop, deli....

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The annual Best of the West Nugget Rib Cook-off has begun in downtown Sparks and the ribs are ready to eat. My friend Sterling was there earlier today, around 1:30 in the afternoon, taking the ribs in for lunch. He was also kind enough to use Twitter to send his reviews of the various rib selections to anyone following. Here they are:

• BBQ Company
• Back Forty
• Bourbon Q
• Desperado

Add your own reviews, thoughts, or just fun by using the text #ribs08 to your own Twitter posts from the rib cook-off. You can see what everyone is saying by doing a search on Twitter for #ribs08. Enjoy the Best of the West Nugget...

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Mel Meier encourages her Chihuahua Ox across the finish line. Photo by Charlie JohnstonIt’s a rat! It’s a furry remote controlled car! No, it’s a Chihuahua, running as fast as its four-inch-long legs can carry it. About 150 of the diminutive dogs raced Saturday and Sunday in the ninth annual Bully’s Sports Bar and Grill Chihuahua Races at the Pyramid Way and McCarran Boulevard location in Sparks to raise $2,100 for the SPCA (Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals).

As a newcomer to this odd spectacle (if any Chihuahuas are reading this, please don’t take any offense, I am referring to your owners) I had no idea what to expect. The images that haunted my thoughts leading up to the event were of a bunch of ear-piercingly yappy, shivering canines swarming around the floor...

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John Ascuaga’s Nugget, located in Sparks, Nevada, will screen movies from the Banff Mountain Film Festival on April 1 and April 2, 2008.

The Banff Mountain Film Festival celebrates the outdoors, including climbing, mountain expeditions, remote cultures, and the world’s last great wild places.

The screening will happen on both nights and be shown on multiple screens in the room to ensure a great view no matter where you are. There will also be a raffle to benefit the Nevada Land Conservancy.

Tickets are available through the Nugget’s website or by calling the ticket office.

More information:

• John Ascuaga’s Nugget
• Banff Mountain Film Festival
• Nevada Land Conservancy