Seven Questions

Few Las Vegans have made us prouder to call ourselves Las Vegans than Greg Anthony. At a time when UNLV was commonly depicted in the national press as an outlaw institution in an outlaw city, Anthony was a standing rebuke to our critics: local kid, solid student, congressional intern, vice chairman of the Nevada Young Republicans.

It’s been awhile since Eva Longoria looked forward to a birthday this much. The petite Desperate Housewives star, who turns 36 on March 15, has had quite the tumultuous few months. In November, she filed for divorce from her husband of nearly four years, NBA star Tony Parker, alleging infidelity. In January, she was dealt another blow when her restaurant Beso—an offshoot of her successful Hollywood venture of the same name—and nightclub Eve had to file for bankruptcy protection, and the venues are embattled in lawsuits involving former partners. This didn’t stop Longoria from renovating the club, located in the Crystals mall at CityCenter, for its recent one-year anniversary. She’s hoping that Vegas along with continued dedication to her philanthropic causes will get her new year off to positive start.

It was chance that Mix 94.1’s Mercedes Martinez ended up on the radio. As a student at the University of Colorado, Martinez needed an internship credit, and rather than stay in her field of study, pharmacy, she decided to venture into something she thought would be fun, radio. Martinez stayed on the air and now finds herself on one of the top morning radio shows in the country with her on-air counterpart of almost 14 years, Mark Diciero, and their ever-present producer, J.C. Fernandez. Mark and Mercedes in the Morning consistently earns the top rating spot in the city, and Martinez has become one of the top women in media in Las Vegas.

Professional BMX rider TJ Lavin, 34, has made it a point to keep his home here; the Las Vegas native just can’t seem to get comfortable anywhere else. The dedication helped Lavin get through one of the most challenging times of his life. On Oct. 14, while competing in the Las Vegas stop of the Dew Tour, Lavin crashed, breaking his wrist and fracturing the bone around his eye socket. He was rushed to the hospital and put in a medically induced coma. His injuries came just one day after his fellow Las Vegas BMX rider, Ty Pinney, suffered a similar incident for which he is still hospitalized. Lavin, who is out of the hospital and on the road to a full recovery, says the outpouring of support from locals for himself and Pinney has been overwhelming, and is yet another reason for the hometown guy to stay put.