Gaming briefs for Sept. 15, 2003

Monday, Sept. 15, 2003 | 11:06 a.m.

Disputed anti-casino ad airing

PORTLAND, Maine -- A disputed anti-casino advertisement is now airing on all television stations in Maine.

Casinos NO! made minor revisions to satisfy the concerns of the operator of NBC affiliates in Portland and Bangor, spokesman Dennis Bailey said. The state's other TV stations are continuing to run the original ad.

The first TV ad by critics of the proposed $650 million casino resort in Sanford examines the wording of the casino bill. It suggests that if Maine voters approve the referendum, the casino law could be changed only by the tribes and that detailed financial records would be confidential.

Casino supporters have attacked the ad.

Voters to decide on gambling

MASON CITY, Iowa -- Area clergy circulated a letter opposed to gambling in advance of Tuesday's county referendum on casino gambling.

Proponents, led by Mason City businessman and former Mayor Tom Jolas, say casinos contribute to the local economy in the form of jobs, taxes and required donations to local charities.

A letter signed by 32 area ministers says gambling can lead to social ills -- a get-rich-quick mentality, the potential for bankruptcy, crimes induced by gambling debts or gambling addiction and family problems.

"Inevitably, wherever organized gambling goes, it is accompanied by high rates of alcoholism, suicide, drug abuse, depression, child neglect and abuse, crime and divorce," the letter says.

Gambling "takes advantage of the weakest in society for the benefit of a few -- a very few."

Jolas, who proposed the idea to the Cerro Gordo County Board of Supervisors in May, said many benefits would flow from a casino.

"It would bring in conventions. It would spur other projects. It would drive retail sales higher. It would bring in more stores," he said.

The Iowa Racing and Gaming Commission currently has a moratorium on building more riverboat casinos in Iowa, but many public officials think the commission will lift the ban.

Oneidas considering casino

SYRACUSE, N.Y. -- The Oneida Indian Nation of New York is "exploring" plans to build a new casino and hotel just outside of Chicago, a tribal spokesman said today.

A team of Oneida officials last week toured a 60-acre site near Markham, Ill., about 20 miles south of Chicago, Oneida spokesman Mark Emery said.

"We are just exploring possibilities. Looking at property is part of that," Emery said.