GamingWire September 27,2002


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COLUMN: NORM!

Local stripper who saw Entwistle last finally tells her story

By NORM CLARKE
GAMING WIRE
  LAS VEGAS -- Alison Rowse, the local stripper who was with The Who's John
Entwistle the night he died at the Hard Rock Hotel, has gone public.
  Rowse, 32, told London's Daily Mail on Sunday that she called the front
desk for help after Entwistle stopped breathing. She tried mouth-to-mouth
resuscitation and was later whisked out through an underground entrance.
  The self-professed groupie, who grew up in Salt Lake City, left work
early at Deja Vu strip club on the night of June 26 to see if she could
meet The Who bassist after a Hard Rock employee called her to say Entwistle
was at a hotel bar.
  When she located Entwistle, he invited her to join him, his manager Cy
Langston and art gallery owners Bill and Laura Eveleigh of Fort Collins,
Colo.
  Entwistle invited the group to his room, where he doodled on an art pad.
  Rowse told the Mail she spent the night with Entwistle but did not see
any illegal drugs. "There was a big pill box with his heart tablets and
vitamins by the bed but I didn't see him take any. He wore hearing aids in
both ears and took those out and put them on a bedside table.
  "He kept going to the bathroom but he didn't offer me any drugs and I
didn't see him take any.
  "He told me his left shoulder was hurting. Looking back maybe we should
have taken that as a sign."
  A big sign of trouble, Rowse said, was when she woke up and heard him
snoring, but when she returned from the bathroom he was not breathing.
  The Clark County coroner's office ruled Entwistle's death was cocaine
induced.
  Rowse, who goes by the stage name of Sianna, said she will have to quit
stripping in Las Vegas because of the publicity. British newspapers
traditionally pay upwards of $100,000 for such exclusives.

The Scene and Heard
  USO frontman Wayne Newton on Fox News this week on whether he would
entertain the troops in Iraq: "Not only would I go to Iraq, if I was
allowed to lead them (U.S. troops), I would lead them." ...
  Among the silent auction items Saturday at Andre Agassi's Grand Slam for
Children (MGM Grand): FAO Schwarz will play host to a sleepover for 12
children in Los Angeles. Los Angeles Lakers star Shaquille O'Neal will read
a bedtime story to the kids. ...

Mayor Oscar Goodman is hoping for a payoff from his recent meeting with
political strategists/political commentators James Carville and Paul
Begala: more invitations to join the major cable TV shows to push Las Vegas
issues. ...
  A reader writes regarding the mention here of last week's wedding of
KLAS-TV, Channel 8 weekend anchor Colleen May and KVBC-TV, Channel 3
financial planner Steve Budin: "I was proud that Colleen and Steve decided
to go to Tora Bora for their honeymoon. I was surprised that the U.S.
government would give them access to a location like that. I am sure they
will have a memorable trip." Tora Bora? Frantically, I checked what I had
written. Luckily, I had written Bora Bora or I'd be job hunting in Walla
Walla. ...
  All most lawyers want is a level playing field. They got one Saturday so
there will be no excuses for the first lawyers vs. law students softball
game and fund-raiser at 10 a.m. at UNLV's Eller Media Softball Stadium.
Gloria Sturman, president of the Nevada State Bar, will coach the team of
prominent attorneys and Student Bar Association president Paola Armeni,
former XFL cheerleader for the Las Vegas Outlaws, will coach a team made of
14 student organizations. Many sidebars are predicted.

The Punch Line
  "If there was one game scheduled -- Earth vs. Klingons -- with the fate
of the universe on the line, any person with his wits about him would have
Johnny U. (Unitas) calling the signals in the huddle, up under center, back
in the pocket ..." -- Frank Deford, Sports Illustrated.

Norm Clarke's column appears Sunday, Monday, Wednesday and Friday. You can
reach him at 383-0244 or norm@reviewjournal.com.