Las Vegas: Flu knocks singer down, not out
Forced to cancel a show for the first time in 14 years, flu-stricken Celine Dion is chipper again, cheered up by one of the world's youngest Elvis impersonators.

Dion was bedridden on doctor's orders Thursday suffering from gastroenteritis and dehydration, but she returned to The Colosseum at Caesars Palace on Friday.

Dion started feeling under the weather on Wednesday and wore a mask on the 25-minute drive to work when Las Vegas was enveloped in smoke from the California wildfires. Ever the trooper, she went ahead and did the show, but afterward "she had breathing problems, a high fever and was very weak," Angelil said.

Dion made a quick recovery from only her second cancellation in 20 years. The last time she had to cancel was in 1989, Angelil said, when a voice crisis nearly led to surgery.

The international singing star is eight months into a three-year deal with Caesars Palace.

Bingo halls want NYS to "butt" out
Local bingo halls said the New York State smoking ban that began in July has cost them tens of thousands of dollars that previously went to local schools and charities. Workers say profits are down 50 percent this month. On a Tuesday night in September 2002 about 143 people played at Bingo World in Greece. Only 79 showed up on the same night this year.

Bingo World has made some changes to help keep smokers. Now there's a ten minute intermission for the smokers to come outside. But workers fear that once the cold weather hits, the smokers would rather stay home than come out in the cold. The bingo hall has added a 10-minute intermission for smokers, but some players say that once the cold weather comes, they'll go elsewhere rather than standing outside.

Dozens of smokers have already stopped playing. They can't win a lot of money because the pot isn't big anymore.

Until the ban went into effect, Wyona Valcom has played bingo and smoked at Bingo World almost every day for 20 years. "I won't be here. I will go up to the casinos where the Indians let you smoke. I will go to Canada where they let you smoke. I will go to a country that doesn't infringe on my rights," she said.

The Monroe County Health Department said it has fined one out of the five bingo halls in the area for breaking the rules. The five bingo halls in the area have asked the health department to waive the ban for them. Officials there said that smoking can only start up in bingo halls again if the law is changed.