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St. Pe says casino execs confident about rebuilding

Thursday, Sept. 15, 2005 | 9:57 a.m.

JACKSON, Miss. -- Mississippi Gaming Commission chairman Jerry St. Pe says casino executives are assuring him their companies plan to rebuild in coastal areas hit hard by Hurricane Katrina, but it could be months before the first casinos reopen, even in temporary locations.

In a telephone interview Wednesday, St. Pe told the Associated Press that the executives he's spoken to this week in Las Vegas want Mississippi to change its laws to allow casinos to be built on land rather than only over water.

St. Pe said "there are differences of opinion" among industry executives about how far casinos should be allowed to go inland.

"I have heard nothing other than a commitment to remain and in the future have an even larger presence on the Mississippi Gulf Coast," St. Pe said. "I view that as extremely encouraging."

Mississippi legalized dockside casinos in 1990, limiting them to already touristy areas on the waters of the Mississippi River or the Mississippi Sound. The first casinos opened in 1992.

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