MGM Mirage has bought nearly 35 acres on the north Strip — from Circus Circus to Sahara Avenue — with an eye toward creating a second mega-project to match its Project CityCenter on the south end. The company paid $575 million for the acreage, which has been unoccupied since 1960, when the El Rancho Vegas burned to the ground. Counting MGM Mirage-owned Circus Circus, the new land gives MGM approximately 100 contiguous acres to work with, compared to the south-side CityCenter, which will occupy 66 acres when completed. No official announcement or timeline for the north-side construction has been announced.

More moola: Speaking of the original CityCenter, MGM Mirage has announced that it is increasing the size of the project, already the biggest construction undertaking in Las Vegas history, by 670,000 square feet and $400 million. This raises the price tag for the south Strip's CityCenter to $7.4 billion.

Beardless: Las Vegas restaurants and chefs were shut out of this year's James Beard Awards. A few chefs with Las Vegas connections, including Joel Robuchon (restaurants at MGM Mirage) and Thomas Keller (Venetian), were honored, but none for their restaurants in town.

Colosseum headliner: It's official. Bette Midler will replace Céline Dion as the resident performer at the Colosseum, Caesars Palace's 4,100-seat theater, after Dion's run is up. Beginning next February, Midler will play five nights a week for 20 weeks in each of the next two years, with ticket prices ranging from $95 to $250 per seat.

Q. Last week you wrote about live gambling by the pools. How about a list of casinos with topless sunbathing?

A. The following have verified that they have plans to host some version of European-style sunbathing (which is Las Vegas code for topless) this summer. Note that some are open to hotel guests only: Mandalay Bay (Moorea Beach Club), Mirage (Bare), Venetian (Tao), Stratosphere (Beach Club 25), Caesars Palace (Venus), Wynn Las Vegas (Sunset European), and a just-announced venue on the roof of the Flamingo, called Go Pool.

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