Was Danny Gans doing a Rush Limbaugh impression when he died?

Was Danny Gans losing his hearing? Did the musical impressionist's reliance on powerful pain medication lead him to partial deafness, on the same road taken by conservative strongman Rush Limbaugh?

The story that Danny Gans had been reaching out to numerous doctors and specialists in the Las Vegas area because his longstanding use of pain medications was causing him to lose his hearing is one of the saddest and most tragic elements in the untimely death of this great, unique entertainer on May 1st.

"What could be worse for an impersonator than to not hear voices well?" asks one reporter who is working on other stories his editor deems far more important. "I don't have a doctor's name or know if he ever saw a specialist or if this is just more of the surrounding buzz. I just have gossip."

"The story's out there. A lot of stories are out there," says another source.

Limbaugh, the talk radio host, underwent cocchlear implant surgery in 2002 to correct unexplained deafness that some have related to his illegal abuse of painkillers like Oxycontin (studies have shown that "rapid hearing loss, even deafness, in some patients who are misusing drugs" like Vicodin and Oxycontin).

It's not known if Danny Gans had Oxycontin, known as the "hillbilly heroin," in his system when he died. Clark County Coroner Mike Murphy would not what, if any, other drugs or alcohol were involved in the 52-year-old Gans' death beyond hydromorphone, known commercially as Dilaudid, and on the streets as "drug store heroin."

The deafness lead is one of many that are swirling through Clark County, and that we are pointing out to the paid Las Vegas reporters who are either trying to justify the budgets of their television news departments, or save their unwieldy backward-thinking newspapers from folding completely.

Many of these same journalists had intimated that they were waiting respectfully and responsibly for weeks until the coroner issued the toxicology report with the cause of Gans' death.

As it turns out, Mike Murphy's controversial "toxic reaction" gobbledygook was not the starting gun for a hungry group of journos eager to get to work as soon as the official work confirmed what they already knew, but, sadly, an excuse to close the lid on a Pandora's Box of citywide scandal.

In the hours following the announcement, local editors allowed reporters and columnists to vent their frustration in their coverage, but the lack of strong reportage in response to obvious questions, combined with the tidbits they've dropped but not followed up on, have led to a vacuum that's far more expansive than the one created by their malfeasance in the weeks following Gans' death on May 1st.

To that end, we've been seeking an interview with Steve Friess (right), the local comp queen and freelance writer who often covers Las Vegas for the New York Times and who attacked us for asking questions about Gans' death in the days following the tragic and shocking event. Friess has gone to the mattresses in the days since the coroner's report confirmed what we had reported-- and what we had revealed exclusively was common knowledge in the Las Vegas Review-Journal newsroom. After writing a cursory item for the Times, he's run away from the story he helped try to cover up.

Steve Friess has blocked our email access to his website, so we were forced to reach out through his censored comments section. He responded to our request this afternoon, but ignored the topic at hand:

"Hey. I just saw your latest attempt to appear on my blog. I actually DID think you had gone away. Didn't see you at the press conference and nobody's told me to look at your site in a while, so I figured you had dropped the matter finally.

"Good luck to you and thanks for a wild ride.

"sf"

Odder than Friess' expectation that the "wild ride" is over, is his claim to have thought we'd "gone away," as he's been posting anonymous comments to our Gans items, most along the lines of this one--

"This source is obviously invented. It fits to neatly with your crackpot theories-- it's too perfect. And Steve wynn would never call the paper over this. That's conspiracy theory fantasy silliness. In the real world of journalism, such a call would become the news. Nice try hoping to be relevant!"

-- claims that our sources are not real and that our staff is writing any post comments that are not negative.

One such comment stands out this evening. "Jody in LA" responds to our post, and to a fellow commenter who'd claimed her earlier comment had been written by a "loser" Tabloid Baby staffer:

"Hey Loser, I guess you've never used the Google news function.

Fact is that I did find this site via Google. A few weeks ago I entered Danny Gans and hit the "news" function on the upper left hand corner. That pulls up the latest stories, blogs etc on the internet.

And I'm guessing due to the lack of coverage on this story (in other words, MSM in Vegas dropping the ball), this site must have come up pretty high for me to have found it.

What is really strange is the lightweight articles, even after the coroner's report. Hell, the coroner's report is odd. Adverse reaction? I guess that's one way to describe an OD. Sounds like it's tailored made for a big insurance claim. And dilaudid for chronic pain? I asked a friend of mine who is a Pharmacy Tech and he said that they almost never see scripts for it. In CA it requires a special prescription form in triplicate to get it. He said it is EXTREMELY strong - way more than vicodin or oxycodone, which are usually prescribed for serious chronic pain.

Then the doctor's statements about a 5 year old script and his searching of the NV and CA prescription database and findings of no script within 3 years - and he spills his guts about all this to the newspaper? Hello HIPPA?

Everything about this death and the coverage (or should I say coverup) is strange - very strange. We're supposed to believe that a multi-millionaire health fanatic - who wouldn't eat a spoon of yogurt or an egg 2 days past their expiration date - randomly took a 5 year old expired narcotic, that he just happened to keep on hand all these years in the medicine cabinet, and dropped dead.

All that's missing from this story is a clown car."

And that is from a civilian.

"Denied. No surprise." Prying? Or lying? Las Vegas Review-Journal editor can't wait to close the books on the Danny Gans story he can't tell

LAS VEGAS - “It was not a well-kept secret among his friends. We all knew Danny Gans was a drug addict.”

A source within the newsroom of the Las Vegas Review-Journal was talking this weekend about the case the newspaper staff was not allowed to investigate.

“And no one was surprised by the coroner’s announcement. But he was really cool. Because it wasn’t a homicide, all he had to do was list what killed him. Who knew what cocktail Danny was on when he died?

“Tabloid Baby was spot on. Every time. You had it right every step of the way. But our hands were tied. None of his friends or coworkers would go on the record. They were afraid they'd lose their jobs. And Steve Wynn was putting so much pressure on the paper…”

If it’s difficult to be a journalist at the Las Vegas Review-Journal, imagine how hard it must be to be the editor, knowing his stature diminishes a bit every time he’s forced by outside pressures to make it seem as if the paper’s crack investigative reporting team is trying its hardest to bring “justice” in the untimely death of the Las Vegas Strip headliner, while everyone who works for him knows he’s settling back comfortably after dodging a bullet from advertisers and casino magnates whose boots he licks.

Long tall Tom “McCloud” Mitchell, the Review-Journal’s fussily mustachioed Stetson-sporting editor, kept his reporters away from the Gans story for 39 full days, making any reporting— and it turns out investigation— off limits, beyond laudatory comments from the likes of Steve Rossi— until the Clark County coroner found a way to acceptably cloud the cause of death that everyone in town knew was fait accompli. (On May 13th, we reported that Review-Journal reporters and editors believed Danny Gans succumbed to painkillers; on May 25th, Marshal Mitchell called us "anonymous plagiarizing gnats.")

Seems the unwritten rule at the Review-Journal is that a reporter waits obediently for the public officials to hand him a statement, then gets to work and asks politely for more crumbs. When the crumbs are denied, the reporter must throw his hands in the air and walk away.

In the case of the Dilaudid overdose of Danny Gans, controversial Clark County coroner Mike Murphy took 39 days to come up with a delicately-parsed explanation of the clean-living entertainer’s death that threw up the admission that Gans had died “accidentally” from a “toxic reaction” the powerful opiate also known as hydromorphone, while pointedly leaving out all other details and refusing to answer other questions, including the amount of the “drug store heroin” found in the tissue samples, whether Gans had needle marks on his body, who prescribed the drug, or what other drugs-- including steroids-- were in Gans’ tissues.

Change the headline

After reporting the very controversial findings, the Review-Journal did its part in helping the coroner explain away the many unanswered questions-- and change the headline at the time, "Findings in death of Danny Gans leave questions," by digging up a local doctor who claimed he’d prescribed Dilaudid to Gans five years ago.

The doctor’s, and by association, the Review-Journal’s official, “magic bullet” theory: Gans had stumbled upon the old bottle in his medicine cabinet on May 1st, inadvertently popped a Dilaudid or two and died.

The effect of the tall tale, titled “DOCTOR SAYS DANNY GANS WOULDN’T ABUSE DRUGS,” worked as intended: newspapers around the world picked up the story and a new factoid was added to the Danny Gans death coverup:

Associated Press:
Doctor: I wrote prescription for Danny Gans’ drug

MSNBC.com:
Doctor: I wrote prescription for Danny Gans

Honolulu Advertiser, San Jose Mercury News:
Doctor says Vegas entertainer Danny Gans had old prescription

Behind the scenes, Las Vegas Review-Journal reporters know better. Legendary tough-talking columnist John L. Smith expressed his skepticism yesterday in the buried blog section of the paper’s website:

“I’ve received a number of calls from people who claim Gans wasn’t always the clean-living guy his friends have described in the days since his death.”

“A number of calls?” Surely, the calls had begun long before the coroner’s press conference on Tuesday.

Surely, the tough guy columnist followed up on them.

Surely, he and the rest of the Review-Journal news team had been gathering information and following up on leads all along, ready to publish them as soon as the coroner had his say. Few stories in the so-called Sin City could be juicier than that of the secret double life of a charismatic, enigmatic star who built a reputation and industry on an anti-Vegas, holier-than-thou evangelical Christianity and family values ticket.

"Denied. No surprise."

We’d hoped that the Review-Journal would finally show its hand with a big spread in today’s Sunday edition.

It did not.


Instead, there was an “opinion” piece from editor Tom “McCloud” Mitchell, essentially a reprint of a blog post from earlier this week, in which he actually declares the Gans case to be closed, and makes it seem that once again, his investigation is being stymied by the coroner.

It should be noted that McCloud’s columns are usually accompanied by this photo:


Here is the editor's photo for this particular whopper:


Notice that Tom Mitchell is not wearing his cowboy hat, most probably because he realizes his column violates Tenet #3 of The Cowboy Code:

“He must always tell the truth.”

The column is entitled:

We pry because the dead can't speak for themselves

“The day after the coroner announced that the death of impressionist/singer Danny Gans was accidental, the Review-Journal received a reply to our public records request for Gans’ toxicology report. 

No surprise. Denied.”


Tom Mitchell explains that coroner “cited a 1982 opinion from then-Attorney General Dick Bryan” that maintains the confidentiality of medical records beyond the grave. He describes the decision as “bizarre,” “fashioned out of vagaries and sleight of hand,” and adds:

“…The living can speak for themselves. No one can really speak for the dead.

 Nothing against the coroner’s conclusion in the Gans case, but if the toxicology report were allowed to be inspected by an independent medical examiner, might not another opinion be found? Now the case in closed. No one, so far as we will ever know, will be found culpable or contributory. 

Gans can’t speak for himself. Who will?”

“No surprise… denied” is disturbingly similar to brings to mind the "The word is… No word”, the LVRJ lead of June 4th, when the paper wrote that the coroner still had no answers to Gans’ mysterious death, and that the Review-Journal would wait patiently until he did.

On Tuesday, Tom Mitchell sent a reporter to a news conference, reported what the coroner said, sent in the standard request for the complete report, was turned down and now wipes his hands of the matter. As far as he's concerned, the story’s over.

"We pry."

You pried?

“Now the case is closed. No one… will be found culpable or contributory.”

Now the case is closed?

”Gans can’t speak for himself. Who will?”

Who will?

The case is never closed as long as a journalist keeps it open (we learned that from those third-rate burglaries at that office-apartment-hotel complex hotel in Foggy Bottom back in ’72).

Who will speak for Danny Gans?

That’s your job, Tom.

You pried?

You didn't pry. You and the rest of the Las Vegas news media transcribed, paralyzed by the notion that it was somehow improper to pry until the coroner announced his official finding. Once that happened, you asked, but didn't tell.

The case is closed? Not by a longshot. There’s another major revelation about Danny Gans that we know you and your reporters know about.

Bet we beat you to it.

Tomorrow.

Las Vegas news media sat on their hands for 39 days and allowed coroner to create confusion in Danny Gans death case

The Las Vegas Review-Journal definitely got it wrong in the above headline about "the real Danny Gans."

The real Danny Gans died from taking Dilaudid, which is the trade name for Hydromorphone, a narcotic and an opiate which is eight times stronger than morphine and known on the streets as "drug store heroin."

Mike Murphy, the Clark County Coroner who announced the cause of Danny Gans' death, would not release the amount of the drug found in Gans' blood. He would not say whether Gans had a prescription for the painkiller. He would not release the name of Gans' physician. He did not use the word "overdose" because "overdose" is not an official medical term in describing the cause of death.

Danny Gans used the drug for "chronic pain syndrome." It's unlikely that the fatal dose of drug store heroin was his first.

It's very clear that statement by the coroner was crafted very carefully to satisfy many interests beyond Gans' family. Words were chosen to be arranged in order that they could not be proven inaccurate but by their very arrangement would confuse, misdirect and mislead.

It's also clear that some of the delay in announcing the cause of the death of Danny Gans was to allow more than five weeks to pass, and to allow bits of misinformation to take hold.


That Danny Gans may have been a hiding a drug problem is a sad, yet unsurprising story. Each of us has a public life, a private life-- and a secret life, no? In the case of a man whose unlikely success relied on an image of wholesomeness, athleticism, spirituality and Christianity, and who had connections to not only the corporate world but the lucrative business of "Born Again" evangelical Christianity, it's understandable that those around him and those who profited from him would try to protect his image in death.

What's inexcusable is that the local news media were party to the coverup.

The local news media allowed six weeks to pass without reporting what they knew about the secret life of Danny Gans, sitting on their hands and information for 39 days before going into make-up and catch-up mode, working to set the record straight-- when they know it will always remain clouded because of their deliberate inaction.

Book Deal

We reported on May 13th that sources within the newsroom of the Las Vegas Review-Journal suspected that Danny Gans' death was related to an addiction to painkillers. The Review-Journal did not report that, nor did they report any details of the circumstances of Gans' death beyond those released in a police statement and by Gans' manager Chip Lightman and his boss, Steve Wynn.

The paper's gossip columnist Norm Clarke did report on May 7th that the Review-Journal's publisher had made a deal with Gans' manager and family to publish his hagiographic "autobiography"-- and planning "a mid-May ad campaign to allow people to reserve copies." That would be one conflict of interest that might cause mustachioed cowboy editor Thomas Mitchell to pull back the reins on coverage.

Editors of the Las Vegas Sun, which outsiders might believe to be a competing newspaper but is owned by the Review-Journal's publisher and mainly an Internet entity, put an obvious hold on Gans coverage after its columnist John Katsilometes wrote on they day Gans died:

"Gans’ physical appearance started to seem unnatural, his bulk suggesting the use of supplements."

Katsilometes never wrote about the subject again, until Wednesday's paper, when writing about the coroner's news conference, he fairly exploded with what he had holding back for so many weeks:

"Officially, the explanation has been made public. But the discussion of Gans’ death likely won’t cease for some time, as observers remember his reputation for missing shows for somewhat unexplained reasons. One of the questions tossed out today was if any steroids were found in Gans’ system. Murphy responded that the only drugs identified were those who contributed to his death -- the painkillers. The questions will continue, the rumors probably won’t abate."

Ralph Fountain/Las Vegas Review Journal photo

Questions and Rumors

Had members of the local news media done their job-- reporting what the paramedics found at the scene of Gans' death, what Gans' associates, coworkers, friends and enemies had to say about his lifestyle, and what they actually knew about the facts of his life and death-- there might not be "questions" and "rumors" today.

To paraphrase one commenter on this site: Real reporters don't wait to get their answers from news conferences. They question why their bosses pull them off hot stories.

The sad details of Danny Gans' death are no longer our concern. The sordid doings of the evidently corrupt Las Vegas news media are, and we will follow up in the days to come, beginning with the media members who took action to shut down this site because we were asking questions about Gans' death.

Developing...

Coroner's Dilaudid finding confirms our report that the Las Vegas news media was covering up what they knew about the life and death of Danny Gans

Leila Navidi/Las Vegas Sun

"'The scuttlebutt in the Review-Journal
newsroom is that Danny Gans was
addicted to painkillers. The editors
and writers all know about it," says
one source who has impeccable
credentials in the Las Vegas media.
"Why aren't they reporting it or
investigating it? You know this town.'"

--TabloidBaby.com, May 13th, 2009

The media post mortems following the announcement of Las Vegas superstar Danny Gans' cause of death has only begun, but word that the supposedly clean-living musical impressionist died from a reaction to the powerful opiate Dilaudid confirms our reports that the Las Vegas news media was covering up what it knew about Gans' life, habits and cause of his untimely demise on May 1st.

We reported on May 13th:

"LAS VEGAS -- Call it 'The Danny Gans death coverup.'

"Sources close to the newsroom of the Las Vegas Review-Journal tell TabloidBaby.com tonight that editors and reporters at the newspaper have information that leads them to believe they know what killed the superstar headliner at 52, but they refuse to report or investigate the case-- or even address the speculation and rumors that have spread through this city like bad luck since Gans' manager acknowledged them over the weekend.

"'The scuttlebutt in the Review-Journal newsroom is that Danny Gans was addicted to painkillers. The editors and writers all know about it," says one source who has impeccable credentials in the Las Vegas media. 'Why aren't they reporting it or investigating it? You know this town.'"

"...A separate source tells TabloidBaby.com that paramedics who arrived to find Gans dead in his bedroom in the early hours of May 1st also 'found numerous prescription bottles around the bed.'"

In a carefully-worded and somewhat misleading statement that was crafted with utmost sensitivity to Gans' family, bosses and insurance concerns (especially with the word "accidental") the coroner refused to address whether steroids or other prescription drugs were found in Gans' system.

The reasons behind the media coverup, including the active disinformation campaign by Gans' close friend, beauty queen-turned-TV entertainment reporter Alicia Jacobs and her executive producer's partner in an unrecognized same-sex marriage, Vegas writer and comp queen Steve Friess (left), will be explored in the days to come.

Despite spin from coroner and Las Vegas media, the sad truth remains: Danny Gans died from using Dilaudid, the opiate favored by Elvis & Anna Nicole

Las Vegas Sun

Impressionist Danny Gans’ death was accidental and the cause
was hydromorphone toxicity due to chronic pain syndrome,
Coroner Mike Murphy announced this afternoon.
Hydromorphone is a synthetic opiate
more commonly known as Dilaudid.

--Las Vegas Review-Journal

Danny Gans was a superstar. Danny Gans was a family man. Danny Gans was an athlete. Danny Gans was an exemplar of Born Again Christian values that were part of his official biography and a major art of his appeal. Danny Gans was the wholesome, corporate clean standard bearer of Las Vegas Nevada, a resort destination known the world over as "Sin City."

Whatever pain and human frailties this man endured, he realized he had to endure in private. And after he died, unexpectedly, unexplainedly, on May 1st, in his home, the media in his town kept his secrets, deciding to not report about the prescription drugs found by paramedics in the room where his body was found, the rumours of steroid use that were rampant throughout entertainment circles, or any hint of human weakness.

So the long-delayed announcement today by coroner Mike Murphy that Danny Gans died because of "hydromorphone toxicity due to chronic pain syndrome," the phrasing was deliberate, the language was perfected to Clintonesque perfection to disguise the sad reality:

Danny Gans died from the use of Dilaudid, hydromorphone, an opiate narcotic used to treat severe chronic pain, the drug a favorite drug of Elvis Presley, and a drug he took on the day he died, as well as the drug favored by Anna Nicole Smith.

Two reporters for The Las Vegas Review Journal reported on the death this morning with a lead that reflected the whitewashing, tone favored by editor Tom "McCloud" Mitchell, but a second line that was a journo's demand for clarity:

"Impressionist Danny Gans’ death was accidental and the cause was hydromorphone toxicity due to chronic pain syndrome, Coroner Mike Murphy announced this afternoon.

"Hydromorphone is a synthetic opiate more commonly known as Dilaudid."

At his press conference Tuesday, the coroner was Danny Gans' greatest defender, insisting, "This was not drug abuse. What I’m trying to be clear about is, we have an issue involving Mr. Gans’ health and the hydromorphone, and as a result of a combination of those issues, Mr. Gans succumbed to his health condition.”

Mike Weatherford and Brian Haynes summarized his findings in the Review-Journal:

"Dilaudid was 'a factor in exacerbating those risks' of his pre-existing conditions, hypertensive cardiovascular disease and polycythemia, a thickening of the red blood cells often described as 'the opposite of anemia.'"

They added, pointedly:

"Dilaudid's analgesic potency is from two to eight times that of morphine, but it is shorter-acting and produces more sedation than morphine, according to the Drug Enforcement Administration."

The coroner would not report what other drugs were found in Gans' body. “We are trying to respect (the Gans family's) privacy and treat them appropriately as we deal with all families... They’ve been very good to work with.”

Sadly, it is Chip Lightman, Gans' manager, who led the charge to protect his client's reputation through these six weeks of mystery, who for once is left without spin, flailing and asking if his client was on the powerful narcotic because of shoulder surgery in November.

“Could they have given him that during his recovery? I don’t know where he would have gotten (Dilaudid) from but from his doctor, that’s all I could figure.”

Where did Danny Gans get the Dilaudid?

Did he have a prescription for the drug?

Why, if Danny Gans had a heart condition, would he be prescribed a drug that could lead to a heart attack?

Was this really "accidental"?

How could Las Vegas' symbol of clean-living Christianity fall to the same toxicity that brought down Elvis and Anna Nicole?

With the coroner's conclusions, the story of the death of Danny Gans is only beginning to unfold...

Death of Danny Gans leads some to question the existence of God

Does the death of Danny Gans
prove there is no God?

That is the latest question to arise from the mysterious demise of the clean-living, Born Again Christian who was the unlikely biggest star in the so-called "Sin City" before his heart stopped suddenly and, thus far, without explanation, on May 1st-- and it's just another fascinating thread in the story being ignored by the lamestream Las Vegas media, be it out of a misguided sense of respect to his family, under orders from casino magnates, plain old laziness in the baking heat of the desert oasis, or some other unexplained lapse in journalistic judgment.

"Christian blogger" Toni Denis points out the phenomenon on her Dove and Snake site this weekend:

“Gans, known to be a family man, died suddenly on May 1 from an unknown cause. I searched today to see if there was any update on what caused his early death at age 52, because it often takes at least a month for toxicology reports to be completed. Instead of getting any clarification, I discovered a debate on God raging on an entertainment blog.

“Apparently Gans was a born-again Christian who made his beliefs part of his act, something truly unique in a place like Las Vegas. The blog debates were with tinged a mixture of grief and anger, as well as contempt toward the religious who mentioned this fact…."

Indeed, dozens of people have begun an Internet debate on religion, Christianity, the afterlife and the very existence of God after Paula Neal Mooney wrote on her site:

“I feel sorry for Danny Gans’ wife and three children — I seriously pray they can be comforted right now thru their pain, in knowing that Danny Gans’ was a born-again Christian whose act was in line with his faith…”


A very condensed version of the debate follows (read the entire thread here):

carla tigner: I saw Danny Gans in his last performance Wed. night. I was so moved by his profession of his faith during his show in a town where most don’t believe in God. I was so moved that I prayed for him during the show. When my husband and I left all we could talk about was how great it was that a Godly man was using his gift for the glory of God. We were so sad when we woke up Friday morning to the news of his sudden death but we also knew he was in Heaven. Later we learned that was his last show and that he had read a passage of scripture before the show to his band and then prayed. They said he prayed before every show. I am so grateful and thankful God allowed me to see and experience this Godly man’s gift. We serve an awesome Savior, Jesus Christ and I am thankful for the witness Danny Gans was and will continue to be!

Deb: ok, didn’t know really about his faith in God, only when he spoke to Larry King he said he prayed with his wife about the move to LV. Then I read above, the media has not said anything about his faith. They always seems to leave some like that out, you know it might offend someone...

Diana Roberts: I’m sending my prayers and warm wishes to Danny Gans family… I am glad that he was so spiritual. I truly believe that God blessed him with all this talent…

Sam Pinterpe: if danny gans was such a good christian and god is so
wonderful, why did He end gans’ life at 52?

Sallie: Danny died because he was human; he accepted Christ as his savior and therefore has eternal life. I used to not understand faith and acceptance of tragedy, but now believe God does have a plan for us, but we are human. Illness, violence and death are human ventures... My point: I’m not a practicing Christian, but one could make the argument, why did God allow his own Son to be tortured on the cross 2000 years ago at the age of 32? But I think the point of Christianity—and all the great religions—is about eternal *spiritual* life. The time we have here is temporary… If Mr. Gans was truly a Christian, then he is—if you believe in the tenets of Christianity—in eternal life now and we are the unlucky ones.

Ron: You damn Christians are so naive and stupid, you’re all on a par with the Jihad idiots who believe they’ll get a slew of virgins in heaven after they implode themselves with a suicide bomb. Religion has been the root cause of EVERY major war that’s been fought on this planet. All religion and their gods are manmade fantasy and wishfull thinking, invented by primitive characters eons ago. Nobody wants to die permanently — but sadly we all do. And praying to Jesus Christ and accepting him as your “savior” isn’t going to make one damn bit of difference. Pray all you want … no one is listening. Face it — Jesus Christ is about as real as Santa Claus, the Easter Bunny, and the Tooth Fairy… Why is it so taboo in this day and age to shuck the final fairy tale — belief in an afterlife?


Theresa: To Ron:
 Obviously you’re not only an atheist, but you’re an UNEDUCATED atheist. While Jesus Christ may or may not by the “saviour,” he is a bit more “real” than the Easter bunny. You can read about the “man” in a little book called the “Bible.” 
Oh and as for Santa Claus, actually he DID exist. Our modern day Santa Claus has his roots in St. Nicolas who was a man who really did exist. He gave little children who were in need gifts. 
So, while you are more than entitled to believe in a supreme being or not I think you make yourself look like a moron by stating “with authority” that Jesus was as real as Santa Claus or the Easter Bunny...

T.C.: Dito what Ron Said!!!!!

Paula Mooney: Luke 16:23-31

Jenaaa: Ron and TC - I feel sorry for you! I will be praying for you.

Ron: There may or may not have been a historical Jesus, but he never proclaimed himself to be the “Son of God” — his followers did that on his behalf. LONG after he was dead. If Jesus Christ was alive today, he would be SHOCKED that he was even remembered 2,000+ years after his death — let alone that he is being deified as the “Son of God”… Faith is BLIND, and opinions are like a$$holes — everybody’s got one. Ron: Jesus save me from the Christians!


Dominick: Ron, mmmmm, let me guess. You were educated at Cambridge, and read your doctoral dissertation on theological ambivalence in the post modern era, yes? And I’ll also bet that you were most certainly on the debate team, where you roundly trounced your opposition by calling them ‘morons’ and arguing that ‘opinions are like ashles, everyone’s got one’ also correct? 
Unfortunatley Ron, there are highly educated individiuals who have spent their entire professional careers struggling to come to terms for or against your position with serious, academic debate...

Bart: Praise the lord and pass the collection plate! MONEY is the answer to why anyone would want to continue the belief in the bible.

Ron: Right on… I have visions of the ghost of Tammy Faye months and months after her death standing on a cloud knocking on the gates of “heaven” still waiting for Jesus to open the door. “Hello, Jesus … are you there? It’s me,Tammy Faye. Hello, Jesus …. hello … hello???….”

Megan: How sad that some non-believers use a site dedicated to remembering a loving, moral, decent human being like Danny Gans to spew their vitriol… Danny deserves all the love and respect we have to offer him on this site. He was truly loved by all who knew him. He was a good man. Las Vegas was so blessed to have him among us.

Ron: Oh, is this discussion about Danny Gans? Seems he got lost in the shuffle. Get it? Vegas — shuffle — cards … Ha,ha. Knock Knock — Hello, Jesus — are you home? Knock, knock, knock … hello? Jesus — are you there??? Knock, knock, knock, knock, knock …

Carol: Ron, “There is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is death.” Proverbs 14:12. Suggested reading: The Case for Christ by Lee Strobel, a former aetheist; also, How Good is Good Enough? by Andy Stanley. You mention Tammy Faye Bakker. You don’t want to find out that she was right, and you were wrong…

Ron: ‘Scuze me — but there are umpteen hundred religions or more around the world that we know of. They all have their own gods and goddesses. Jesus is just one of many, so he needs to stand in line with the rest of them. Being right or wrong about the belief in an afterlife just shows the absurdity of faith. I repeat — FAITH IS BLIND!! NOBODY KNOWS what happens after death until they experience it for themselves. PERIOD.

BJ: you are all so lame.
DANG I wish I had caught a Danny Gans show when I had the chance!! so young… i’m sad for his fam

Carol: “Nobody knows what happens after death until they experience it for themselves. PERIOD.” Well, then it is too late, and then the choice one has made will have eternal consequences–eternal life or separation from God. He has given us a free will, so the choice is ours.

Ron: Yes that’s right, Carol. Nobody knows what happens after death until they experience it for themselves. That’s a friggin’ FACT! Nobody wants to die permanently, so primitive man made up a way for himself to be eternal. Gods and goddesses were created by ANCIENT man to explain away the things that he did not understand. SCIENCE is much more experienced in doing that…

Carrie: No use in arguing over religion! Religions are ALL based on faith, period. If you choose to believe in a higher power, believe and don’t care what others say…

Ron: Very well put. I had enough of that Catholic crap — mind CONtrol and obviously sexually frustrated priests and nuns, while attending years of parochial school myself. Go to hell because you ate meat on Friday? Puh-leeze — who determines that? The bishops, the cardinals,and the Pope?? Did Jesus say that? No more than he ever said that he was the son of God. His followers said that on his behalf AFTER he was dead. And another thing for you born again Christians out there. Where do you draw the line? Man is just a higher form of animal … so do your dogs, cats, pets, and the bugs you step on go to hell because they didn’t accept Christ as their saviour? Answer me that one.

Juicy: Ron, 
To answer your question about dogs, cats, pets and bugs… we as humans have a soul where they would not…

Kevin: First of all, there is no where in the bible that says that everyone who does not accept Christ will go to hell. What it does say is that those who reject Him will be rejected by Him. It also says that every man shall give account of himself to God... Oh, and by the way, Jesus Christ is the only one who foretold of His resurrection and followed through with it which is confirmed by over 500 eye witnesses at the time… Perhaps getting the name of God in the forefront is why Danny Gans died. God desires a relationship with His free will creation. Yes, He is sovereign and no, He doesnt do things our way and doesnt ask our opinion, but maybe Danny Gans died so Ron could begin a search for God and come to know Him…

alisa: I agree with Kevin. Danny’s death may be serving a higher purpose than his life. I was so fortunante to see Danny (live) and I was so moved by not only his talent but his mention of family and his faith in God. While a lot of men are putting fame and fortune first Danny put God and Family first and I believe that is why he was so blessed with a wonderful career and a great family. You can say why did God let him die so early but I can say wow he was so blessed to have accomplished all he did and have the opportunities that he did...

Daniel: …Back to the subject at hand. I have wanted to see Danny Gans for years but something always came up to not go. On Valentine’s Day I got married in Las Vegas and my new wife and I saw Danny Gans. Something I always wanted to do. I raved to everyone in my presence what a great performer he was and the excellent show he put on. Danny moved you emotionally with discussions of his family and his goal to be closer to him, his good fortune to be given his opportunity to entertain. He brought you up with the high energy songs he did, he made you laugh, he made you cry. To hear he passed away seems inconceivable. 
With apologies to Ron, who I’m sure I will offend by saying this horrible statement, I wish that God blesses Danny Gans and his family.

Ron: You see what a hot topic this is? It’s because there is no definitive solution or right or wrong in this back and forth debate… Rise from the dead after three days? Ask magician Criss Angel — he probably knows how it’s done. Criss Angel can walk on water too. In fact he mimics several Christ-like theatrics all the time, including ascending into the heavens.

Dana: Hey Ron, take a good look in a mirror. You are one ugly man… Such a direct contrast to Mr Gans and what his life stood for, what he believed and how he hoped to leave this world a better place. Who put you up to this blog? Why in the world would you even want to be a part of this? Are you sick of being so ugly? Maybe that is a good question for Danny and his God...

MJK: unfortunately, i tend to agree with the better part of what ron is writing here… what if ron’s right?... i think way more people are afraid of burning eternally in hell after they die than anything else, so to play it safe they accept jesus christ as their saviour … just in case.

Ron: That’s another thing you can THINK about. How can a “soul” burn eternally in hell? Is it noncombustible?


Paula Mooney: Ron, just please stop fighting God and pray. The Almighty will win in the end. Why even tempt finding out how a soul could burn eternally? Who would even want to risk that? Carol: Ron, I come in peace. Those of us who have posted regarding Christian beliefs aren’t doing so because we have to win an argument. We truly believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, and we have the right to defend our faith, just as you apparently feel the need to refute it…

Alisa: This is for Ron.. So you do believe in God since you say we all have a God given brain. That’s a start but you have a long way to go….IMAGINE how you will feel if you are wrong and you end up in a firey hell for eternity…

Ron: alisa, I said “God” given brain. Note the quotation marks. I don’t know if there’s a God, or a heaven, or a hell. NOBODY does. But analyzing the facts available and putting everything into its proper perspective, I’m more inclined to believe that there IS NO God or heaven or hell.

Steve: After reading every post, I agree with EVERYONE. You believe what you believe. Who cares what other people think?

Steve: And by the way, Danny Gans. What a great entertainer and great person. I saw him in Vegas and really enjoyed. He will be missed.

Mike: Internet religion debates, wow! A Man dies and everyone goes into a religion frenzy. This site was supposed to be centered around the death of Danny Gans, not who believes in God and who doesn’t. Simple fact, approximately 88% of America believes in God, 12% does not… Let it go already. As for Danny Gans, I saw his show last November and he was superb! He was a truly talented person and is a headliner on the Vegas strip who will be greatly missed!

Carol: Jesus is still the biggest mover and shaker of them all!!

Sue: If I might bring things back on track here. I regret not seeing Danny Gans when he was with us.

ME: Oh…BTW…let’s not forget the basis of this stream of chatting…GOD Bless Danny Gans’ soul and his family’s while they mourn their loss…

Tim: I have read all of these comments and find a stimulating debate that will never be resolved, but the reason I came to this site was in an effort to find out what was the cause of Danny Gans death. Has that been determined? He was a great entertainer and seemed to be a fine person. I saw his show twice and would have gone again. He was relatively young and supposed to be in good health. When will we know what happened?

Ron: I don’t know what happened to Danny Gans either. Perhaps he had some congenital defect all the time that finally took him out, like whatever happened to John Ritter and the little girl from the Poltergeist movies…

There you have it. This explosive turn in the aftermath of the song-and-dance man who one local newsreader referred to as "religious leader goes far beyond the more obvious issues ignored by Las Vegas Fourth Estate, including questions whether another apparently clean-living religious exemplar led a double life, the economic impact of his show closing, the conflict of interest inherent in the city’s newspapers’ deal to publish Gans’ official “autobiography,” or any of the numerous rumours that are the talk of Clark County.

Adds Toni Denis: “What I found interesting was the lack of an open mind on the part of the anti-religious. Certainly that's the easiest position to take, since faith is required of the other, but I wonder why it's so threatening to someone in this context, and why at least one poster thinks that belief is simply "fire insurance" for Hell. They are missing out on the bigger picture.”

Developing…

Congratulations! "Hooker for Jesus" Annie Lobert gets married (by Danny Gans' pastor in Danny Gans' church)

Congratulations to Tabloid Baby pal Annie Lobert, who got married last night.

Annie was a star of The Michael Lohan Reality Project produced by our pals at Frozen Pictures. She was the woman who comes to Michael Lohan's hotel room and refuses to sit on the bed with him (below).

Annie married a guy named Oz Fox, who's a guitarist with the Christian rock group, Stryper.


Annie is a former Las Vegas call girl who turned her life over to Jesus Christ and started the organization, Hookers for Jesus, which tries to save women from the sex and slave trades. Annie often goes into the streets of Vegas to minister directly to the hookers. She is also a terrific, emotional evangelizing public speaker and a really warm, nice person.

Annie and Oz were married at The Church at South Las Vegas by evangelizing minister Benny Perez.

Tabloid Baby readers will recognize the church and preacher from our Danny Gans coverage. The Church at South Las Vegas was Danny Gans' church and Benny Perez was one of Danny Gans' pastors.

Week Six: "I can't say he took steroids. All I noticed was the change in appearance as others have. For me, it was the size of his head increasing."

quote: Down Charleston Blvd
photos: 3) Steve Marcus/Las Vegas Sun 5) Robin Leach 6) Leila Navidi/Las Vegas Sun

Down Charleston Blvd: The only Las Vegas journalist doing his job in the Danny Gans case is an anonymous blogger who puts the paid hacks to shame

Living in Las Vegas, it would be nice to open up the morning paper, pull the weekly "alternative" paper out of the box, switch on the TV news or even turn to Twitter to find the latest on the story that everyone in town is interested in, has been affected by and has an opinion about.

Unfortunately, in the case of the mysterious death of entertainer Danny Gans on May 1st, the supposedly competitive members of the news media have circled the wagons, gone to the mattresses and deliberately, offensively ignored the story, avoided investigation, allowed Gans' close friend to whitewash the details and agreed as one to wait patiently as a controversial coroner takes his sweet time coming up with an answer to what killed the supposedly strong performer at 52.

No one in Las Vegas is tackling the biggest story to hit Sin City in this young century (think about the ties to the Las Vegas economy, construction, water supply, tourism and the growing evangelical powerbase).

No one, that is, but a man with a blog called Down Charleston Blvd.

We first got in touch with the mysterious web journo in the early days of our own investigation. Down Charleston Blvd went farther on a limb than any other source, suggesting that Gans may possibly have been murdered.

FindAGrave.com

His recent posting, dated on the one-month anniversary of Gans' untimely death, is the type of story we'd expect to see in a newspaper or alt-weekly-- if today's crop of "alt-weaklies" lived up to the name. Some excerpts from Danny Gans Mystery Runs Deep:

One Month Later…

The mystery continues to grow larger, and as rumors are quashed or lose ground, new ones spawn from this dark uncertainty. Due to the fact that news and details are extremely scarce; Rumors, rumblings, and things that were overheard are sprouting up like weeds...

People want to know what happened, and when there are contradictions, and strange/odd things happening it only makes the mystery grow larger, deeper, and gives it life.

We all know everyone has a side of themselves that most rarely see. Often a darker side.

Gans is well know as a man of unflinching faith and conviction, passionate about performing, and even more passionate about his fans. A charitable celeb that didn’t donate for the publicity, a father, a husband, a friend, and said to be the best at all three.

As much as we want to believe that there were no dark secrets, no drugs, steroids, affairs, and so on; That he (Gans) just died of something unforeseen, something perhaps related to high blood pressure. You’d think we would have found that out by now if that was the case. You’d think….

We have received many requests to address some of the more possible and/or popular rumors that have been circulating. Since Gans had many fans across the world and details are scarce outside of Vegas... heck, they are even scarce here if you read the Las Vegas Review Journal or Las Vegas Sun (both owned by the same company by the way)

Did Danny Gans Kill Himself intentionally, accidentally?

You have a friend/pastor saying he was depressed, down in the dumps the day he died. Yet you have his family saying he wasn’t depressed. Danny’s religious faith was deep, in one way this knocks down the suicide theory but if his image was just a long ongoing front... drastic things can become the result...

Did Danny overdose, have a bad reaction to Drugs and/or Steroids?

...It has been speculated that Gans may have used steroids to help overcome the injuries while playing baseball and may have been using to keep up his act as he got older. Whether it has been all these years, occasionally, or just recently has been debated amongst insiders.

...Last year, The Albany County District attorney David Soares launched a probe that indicated performers Mary J. Blige, 50 Cent, Timbaland, Wyclef Jean and actor Tyler Perry had allegedly ordered steroids or human growth hormone from doctors and pharmacists targeted in Soares’ investigation.

Was Gans using and did his heart become so weakened that he died or could have their been another similar reaction? or did he perhaps take too much? We contacted the Clark County Coroner’s office about this directly, and asked about rumors that there were marks on Gans’s body possibly indicating ‘track marks’ – or that needles were used by Mr. Gans. The coroner’s office denied these rumors...

Friends and associates have been said to believe that Gans was hiding his usage of steroids, and noted his facial characteristics changing as it took effect on him.

One Friend we spoke with shared an awkward moment he had with Gans when he told Danny that his head was getting big. “He (Gans) took it figuratively he said, but I meant literally." he went on to say “I can’t say for sure if he took any kind of drugs or steroids and I honestly think if he did, very and I mean very few people knew about it; All I noticed was the change in appearance as others have, for me it was the size of his head increasing..."

As more and more rumors point to Gan’s using steroids, at this stage it seems to be the strongest theory as to what may have caused Gans to suddenly die at age 52.

Talks of murder dim, but lingering

The rumors of Gans being murdered haven’t completely diminished here in Sin City. They have only altered and shifted in possible details.

At first people thinking money being the factor, now have gone more towards rumors of Gan’s having an affair. The woman rumored that Gans was possibly having an affair with? Why Alicia Jacobs of course.

...in the exclusive interview with Tabloid Baby (here) Alicia said in response to the rumors of her and Gans having a relationship

“No. Oh my gosh, no,”
“We were just very great friends.”

But you have a few out there saying something was odd about them. Those ‘few’ people have said that when seen together, they looked like a couple, or at least Alicia made it appear that way. “It was obvious how incredibly charmed she was by him” said one source. One source going as far as to call her “Gan’s biggest groupie." The rumor of them having an affair has stuck around especially when Alicia shared her story about Gan’s giving her a bible, inscribing it, and how she cherished it every night. Plus other comments and Television appearances she has made seem to only add fuel to the rumor...

As we reported early on, this appears to be the weaker rumor that still happens to be floating. Although Metro (LVMPD) has stated that they do not suspect foul play, a Metro source told us that “This early in the game, Metro will say that, even if they do suspect it. I know it’s not ruled out at this point"

So where are the Feds in all this?

...At the time of this posting, the FBI had not gotten back to us.

So we wait… As irritation, and suspicion grow fiercer and it becomes clear that the delay in the Toxicology Results do not fit the time frame of other reports on other cases here in Las Vegas. Fans of Danny Gans along with writers/journalist (who are actually touching the story) share the frustration and anger. I’m sure even Mr. Gans’ family are eager themselves to find out. This mystery begs to be closed but something about it indicates that we may be far from it…

****

And there you have it. Pretty simple, really. A local journalist serves his readers, engages them in a dialogue and responds to their questions, chases down rumours that have swept through the Ls Vegas area like bad luck.

Bravo, Down Charleston Blvd.


Shame on Tom "McCloud" Mitchell (above), Steve "Comp Queen" Friess (left) and every other paid newsman or newswoman who's avoided this case or participated in the coverup, whitewashing and image-burnishing.

NOTE: An FBI source told Tabloid Baby two weeks ago that the FBI is not involved in the Danny Gans case.

Developing...