The recently closed Clarion casino, on Convention Center Drive just east of the Strip, will be imploded Jan. 13, clearing the way for a planned "mixed-use resort." The new owner, Lorenzo Doumani, who paid just $22.5 million for the 6-acre property, plans to hold an implosion party at 12:01 a.m. It will be the first Las Vegas implosion since the O’Sheas parking garage in 2012 and the first casino implosion since the New Frontier in 2007. Doumani is the son of Ed Doumani, who had ties to several casinos, including the Tropicana, and was one of the principal financiers of the movie "The Cotton Club."

Taxi fare increase: The Nevada Taxicab Authority has approved an increase of just over 8 percent. The result will raise the initial fare to $3.45 from $3.30 and add 2 cents for each one-thirteenth of a mile thereafter ($2.86 per mile, as opposed to the current $2.60). The wait-time charge will also be raised by $2.40 an hour, but the airport-pickup fee from McCarran will remain at $2. When the rate change goes into effect, Las Vegas will have the second-highest taxi fares of any tourist city in the nation (behind Honolulu).

Food court closed: The Cypress Street Marketplace, the food court at Caesars Palace, has closed abruptly. Word is it’s for remodelling, but details are vague. If all is as portrayed, it will reopen in "early 2015."

Dining Dynamos: Restaurant Business magazine’s list of the top 100 successful independent eateries in the U.S. includes 20 Las Vegas restaurants. No. 1 on the list is Palazzo’s Tao Asian Bistro, with a whopping $64.6 million in sales. Sister restaurant Lavo is in fifth position, generating $24 million.

QUESTION: Is there anything to the rumor that Jennifer Lopez will take the place of Celine Dion at Caesars Palace?

ANSWER: The possibility of a J Lo residency is real, but probably not at Caesars. Word is she’s close to signing a deal for a one- to two-year stint at Planet Hollywood, where she’d share time with Britney Spears.

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