most elaborate resort in California, a labyrinth of wonders displayed in a lake-laced, international-theme park dotted with fancy hotels. But the environmental blueprint endorsed Tuesday by the City Council also calls for surrounding the resort with palm-lined boulevards, cavernous parking garages, improved sewers and storm drains.

Has Wall Street's once-favorite casino operator lost its hot hand? That's the question dogging Circus Circus Enterprises, the Nevada gaming giant that has helped lead Las Vegas' transformation from Sin City to family resort. Last Thursday, Circus' stock plunged $2.25 a share after the company said the general manager of its new Luxor hotel/casino in Las Vegas, William J. Paulos, had quit. Friday, the stock eased further, losing 37.5 cents to $36.50.

A Tokyo-based developer's decision last week to scale back its $500-million resortand luxury housing project in Monarch Beach was in part a response to pressure from its Japanese lenders to quiet local opposition. The Japanese banking consortium that developer Nippon Shinpan Co. Ltd. hopes will finance the project recently warned that it might back out if the plan is opposed by local residents concerned with the fate of one of Southern California's last undeveloped seaside properties.