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Friday, August 31, 2012

Maine: What they don't tell you....



New Maine casino nets nearly $10M in 1st 2 months

By Clarke Canfield
Associated Press / August 30, 2012
 

PORTLAND, Maine—Maine's newest casino had revenues of nearly $10 million in its first two months of operation, while revenues at the state's other casino in Bangor have fallen since the new casino opened.
Oxford Casino opened June 5 in the western Maine town of Oxford and had net revenues -- the amount lost by gamblers [local Maine residents] -- of $9.8 million in June and July combined. It paid nearly $4.1 million in taxes, according to the Maine Gambling Control Board.
 
Those numbers are strong, and revenues from the casino's table games are nearly double what was projected, said Clyde Barrow of the Northeast Gaming Research Project at the University of Massachusetts-Dartmouth. In July, the casino was winning an average of $2,471 per table game per day.


 



[When it is said that each Slot Machine permanently removes +1 job from the local economy, this is why. Clyde ignores the COSTS.]

"We had originally projected them to start out at about $1,300 per table per day and gradually ratchet up to $1,700," Barrow said. "Those numbers are comparable to Atlantic City."

[This tells you that Clyde's projections are merely guesswork - sometimes he's right, sometimes he's wrong.]



 

Oxford Casino is planning to add 10 more table games and hundreds more slot machines in October, said spokesman Scott Smith. It now has 529 slots and 12 table games including blackjack, craps and roulette.

"We're off to a very a good start," Smith said.

Net revenues at Bangor's Hollywood Casino, about 120 miles from Oxford, totaled $5.5 million in July, down from $5.9 million the same month in 2011. Hollywood Casino has 923 slot machines and 16 table games.

Some of the fall-off can be attributed to the opening of Oxford Casino, said General Manager John Osborne. This July also had fewer weekend days, the busiest days of the week, than 2011.

There's a lot of curiosity about Oxford Casino, but it's too soon to determine its long-term effect on the Bangor facility, he said.

"We believe long-term customers will still frequent their casino of choice, and we hope that will be Hollywood Casino in Bangor," he said.

It would be surprising if Hollywood Casino didn't feel any effect of the Oxford opening, Barrow said.

"That was always projected to be the case because they were going to siphon off some of the convenience gamblers in the immediate area around Oxford," Barrow said. "For a small facility,

Hollywood draws people from much further distances that would normally be the case, but that's because people don't have any alternatives. Once alternatives are presented to them, convenience gamblers will go to the closest facility."
 
Members on the Gambling Control Board are interested in seeing the impact the Oxford facility will have on Hollywood Casino, said Patrick Fleming, executive director of the board.

"We are looking at those numbers and will be making some comparisons, but we don't have a whole lot of data at this point," Fleming said.


http://www.boston.com/news/local/maine/2012/08/30/new-maine-casino-nets-nearly-months/vF2sZtnq7zqcjXCBRfaHoK/story.html


What they don't tell you --


There are + 40 articles about Maine HERE. [Click on 'Older Posts' to see additional.]

From: Casinos kill more jobs than they create


...surveys show that more than 95 percent of the patrons at Hollywood Slots are Maine residents, not tourists.

In other words, that money was already in Maine's economy, nothing was added. Instead of spending it downtown at retail shops, restaurants, car dealers and other businesses, people just ended up losing it in the slot machines.

That’s not economic development; that's just a shell game. Economic cannibalism.

To illustrate this, it would have been worth pointing out that between 2005 — the year Hollywood Slots opened — and 2009, consumer retail spending in the Bangor region declined, according to the state Planning Office.


 Biddeford is doing better economically without a casino than Bangor is with one.

As for the increase in crime, the story mentions a single case of embezzlement — a woman who stole $40,000 from her employer and lost it all playing the slots. But it fails to mention an even bigger case just a few weeks ago — a Holden woman who was convicted of stealing $400,000 and losing it all at Hollywood Slots. Or the apartment manager in Portland who stole more than $200,000 in rent collections and gambled it away at the Bangor casino.

There are other cases too, and probably many others that we don’t know about. Do the public officials who gloat about all the revenue the city collects from the casino feel good about the fact that a sizable portion of it comes from stolen money?

The Bangor police chief is correct that over the past 20 years, Bangor’s crime rate has gone up and down. But what is important to note is that the nearly 40 percent increase in Bangor’s crime rate between 2005 and 2009 — the highest increase of any community in Maine — occurred at the same time that the crime rates in other Maine cities — Portland, Lewiston, Auburn — declined.




Springfield Ignores Conflict






Questions arise over Springfield casino consultant

August 31, 2012
 
BOSTON—The gambling consultant hired to help Springfield assess four casino proposals is the registered lobbyist in Illinois for two of the companies competing in Springfield, raising questions about the fairness of the process.
The city has hired the Chicago law firm of Shefsky & Froelich.
 
Illinois state records show that Shefsky & Froelich is the registered lobbyist of MGM Resorts International and Penn National Gaming, two companies seeking casino development rights in Springfield.
 
An official with another company vying to build a casino in Springfield tells The Boston Globe he's "concerned" about the relationship.
 
Springfield officials as well as Shefsky & Froelich Chairman Cezar Froelich said the process is transparent and the team advising Springfield will have no interaction with its employees working for MGM and Penn in Illinois
------
Information from: The Boston Globe, http://www.boston.com/globe


http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2012/08/31/questions_arise_over_springfield_casino_consultant/?rss_id=Boston.com+--+Local+news


Springfield casino consultant a lobbyist for MGM, Penn National Gaming


08/30/2012



The gambling expert hired to help Springfield assess as many as four casino proposals is the registered lobbyist in Illinois for two of the firms competing in Springfield, raising questions about a potential conflict in the high-stakes competition.

Springfield Mayor Domenic Sarno on Monday outlined the city’s strategy for evaluating the competing casino projects, relying in large part on advice from the Chicago law firm of Shefsky & Froelich, which the city hired in July as a consultant on gambling issues.

Illinois state records show that Shefsky & Froelich is the registered lobbyist of MGM Resorts International and Penn National Gaming, two gambling giants seeking casino development rights in Springfield.

MGM last week unveiled plans for an $800 million casino and entertainment emporium in Springfield’s South End. Penn National had confirmed it intends to build in the North End, on land where the Republican newspaper and the Peter Pan bus terminal currently stand.

Two other casino companies are also preparing bids in Springfield — Ameristar, which owns land east of downtown, and Hard Rock International, which has not yet announced a site but has been working to land a downtown location.

Only one resort casino will be licensed in Western Massachusetts.

“We’re obviously very concerned,” said Troy Stremming, a senior vice president for Ameristar, when asked about the relationships between the city’s consultant and two of his competitors. “We would hope the advice to the mayor and the city would be unbiased and would come from an organization without any connections to any applicant.” He questioned “how someone could be independent if they are the current lobbyist for another applicant.”

Stremming said he was unaware of any public announcement in Springfield that the consultant currently works for MGM and Penn National in Illinois. A spokesperson for Hard Rock could not be reached.

The Sarno administration, in response, said the consultant disclosed its relationships in bid documents, which are public records on file with the city, and in interviews with city officials.

Springfield City Solicitor Edward M. Pikula said the Shefsky & Froelich team advising Springfield will have no interaction with its employees working for MGM and Penn in Illinois.

“We discussed ‘walling off’ any of the firm’s employees handling those matters from being involved with the scope of services provided under the contract with the city, and the consultant agreed to do so,” said Pikula, by email. “The city is confident that the advice it receives from its consultant will be unbiased and is confident that the public credibility of the process will not be undermined by these relationships.”

Shefsky & Froelich has vast experience in the casino business, representing a number of other gambling firms in Illinois as well as companies in other industries, according to state lobbying records. Shefsky & Froelich is familiar with Massachusetts, having advised the City of Taunton in negotiations with the Mashpee Wampanoag over plans for a tribal casino in that community. It has consulted on gambling issues for the states of Colorado, Michigan, Illinois and Ohio, according to Sarno’s office.

Shefsky & Froelich has listed MGM as a lobbying client in Illinois every year since 2001; the firm has listed Penn National as a client each year since 2003.

The firm’s chairman, Cezar Froelich, downplayed his company’s ongoing service to MGM and Penn, as “standard legal regulatory work that’s not a huge amount of dollars.”

“We don’t see it as a conflict,” Froelich said in a telephone interview from Illinois. “The fellow who does that work is walled off from us, which we represented to the city.” He said his firm “has never talked to Penn or MGM or any other company about any of the activities in Massachusetts, either formally or informally.”

“Our work is 100 percent transparent — everybody will see what is going on, and the final decision-maker is not me; the final decision-makers are the mayor and the city council.”

Froelich, who has represented his company at public events in Springfield, acknowledged that he personally represented MGM and Penn, as well as others, in the early 2000s in the pursuit of a casino license in Illinois.

“The only way you become an expert in the business is to do a lot of work for a lot of different people,” Froelich said. “We’ve had the same questions asked in Illinois because we represent two cities here and in those cases we simply advised the cities that we represent a tremendous amount of clients in the business: manufacturers, investment companies, etc. And in each case the city has said, ‘No problem. That’s what we want. We want an expert.’ ”



Mark Arsenault can be reached at marsenault@globe.com. Follow him on Twitter @bostonglobemark



Atlantic City: Ignoring the failures of Predatory Gambling



Atlantic City epitomizes the failures of Predatory Gambling.

The false promises of economic development that never happens, destruction of local businesses, creating low wage jobs that fail to provide adequate wages should serve as an example.



Unemployment has consistently been higher in Atlantic City.


Unemployment Plagues Atlantic City Outside Tourism District [SERIES]

This is the second part of a five-day series exploring Atlantic City’s revitalization efforts. Read the full series here.
Atlantic City is known for its opulent casinos, world class entertainment, and high end shopping.

However the reality of the city is much different for residents living only blocks outside of the Tourism District-many of who find themselves struggling to find employment.

Spencer Platt, Getty Images

The US Bureau of Labor Statistics lists unemployment in the Atlantic City-Hammonton above twelve percent for the year 2012. That’s above the State average (just over 10%) for the same year and well over the national average (over eight percent).

Atlantic City Mayor Lorenzo Langford (BLS) believes as a whole the city is on the upswing however, noting the major economic and employment boons the opening of the Revel Casino, International Festival, and Concert’s at Bader Field have been.

Revel’s impact on the employment landscape of Atlantic City can’t be overlooked, from June 2011 to June of this year the city gained almost six and half thousand jobs in the leisure and hospitality industry according the BLS. [It should be noted that Revel is Anti-Union, hasn't provided the jobs promised and was taxpayer subsidized.]

For a city that was built on gaming, it is not surprising over fifty five thousand of the cities’s employed work in the Leisure and Hospitality Industry. However with gambling revenue in a steady decline, many of the cities working class residents struggle to find employment.

“It’s really hard out here I’m a grandmother raising a grandchild, I raised all my children and its hard to get work. ” notes one resident of Maryland Avenue.

She laments though the state has invested a lot of public money within the Tourism District, the residents just a few hundred feet away from the boardwalk haven’t seen any of thought.

“Not for the residents, every back in Maryland is looking for employment and unemployment is terrible”.

Mayor Langford acknowledges there are issues with unemployment, however he feels a lot of that comes down to personal responsibility on the part of the residents.

“It’s not realistic to expect that you’re going to have zero unemployment …There is a part of the population, who are not in the position to be gainfully employed.”

One of the issues many residents had is the casinos may provide jobs, but many of the positions are temporary or season and pay wages under ten dollars an hour-a struggle for anyone trying to support themselves.

Drew, a resident living not far from Bacharach Blvd where the mayor’s office is, struggles to maintain his life on track. He says with so many ways for a person to get in trouble, finding legitimate work is paramount.

“We need some more jobs, there’s been a little bit of increase in the job opportunities but we could use a little bit more work all year round not just the summer time.”

Langford says the nature of Atlantic City as a resort city means casino’s and hospitality will always be the primary industry.

“You’re not going to have heavy industry lets say. That’s not compatible, so you try to have the best that you can with what you’ve got. ”

He notes what can be done to help out of work residents is make sure that qualified people are putting themselves in a better position to be employed.

“At the same time, we need a better relationship with the employers who would give Atlantic City [residents], who are qualified, preferential status and give them the first shot at these jobs that become available. ”

The Mayor does believe industries, such as warehousing, can be introduced into the city, and could offer an alternative industry.

“It’s an industry that pays a decent wage, and certainly if you go again to the Atlantic City that I grew up in, we had the Main Paper company, we had most of your soft drink companies bottling companies here, All of those warehousing cottage industries provided decent livings for Atlantic city Residents and I think we can go back to that. ”

New business is an issue residents feel they are left out of the loop on. While the CRDA has spent a lot effort to attract companies from around the state (and the world) to settle in Atlantic City, the ideas of local small businesses aren’t given as much credence.

“For those who want to open businesses here in Atlantic City, they might have grown up here, lived here all their lives, have ideas,” says a local resident. However the problem falls down to funding

“Depending what it is that you want to do, you will need the funds to do it so they need guidance.”

Mayor Langford, however, retorts that Atlantic City is not any more difficult to start a business than anywhere else. Noting that it requires “a certain acumen”.

“It’s easy to say let’s start some small businesses but starting a business is a function of supply and demand wherever you can find that demand, if you can provide that supply then you got a shot to open that business and be successful. But if you open your business in a place where there is no demand, you’re bumping your head against a wall. ”

However he contends his office is open to its constituents who want to open up shop in AC.

“You show me the person who wants to start a small business, we’ll talk about whether it makes sense or not and I’ll do all I can. ”
 
 

Denying Crime in Atlantic City


For decades, CRIME in Atlantic City has been denied when statistics proved otherwise.

The Gambling Industry doesn't want you to know that CRIME increases where Gambling, Casinos, Slot Barns and Racinos are present.

Crime A Major Issue For Atlantic City Resurgence [AUDIO]

This is the third part of a five-day series exploring Atlantic City’s revitalization efforts. Read the full series here.

One of the focuses of the Casino Reinvestment Development Authorities Master Plan for Atlantic City’s Tourism District was to create a “clean and safe” environment for visitors to enjoy.
 
Atlantic City Clean & Safe Initiative map
Atlantic City Clean & Safe Initiative map (Ilya Hemlin, Townsquare Media NJ)
 
However, the city extends far beyond the shadow of the gaming halls and residents feel crime is one of the issues that continuously plagues their home.

Tom Gilbert was appointed the Head of the Tourism District and as part of the Master Plan launched one an intensive initiative to address the crime. Cameras with facial recognition software, license plate readers, and added police force has done wonders in providing security to visitor’s of the Tourism District. However, outside of the purview of the CRDA, crime remains one of the most prevailing factors that Atlantic City natives worry about.

According to statistics compiled by the Federal Bureau of Investigation for 2010, homicides were more commonplace in Atlantic City than in any other major casino market except Detroit.



Those statistics may seem frightening however Mayor Lorenzo Langford notes that despite the perception, crime has continually gone down.

“About two years ago, I got a report from the chief, he was the acting chief at the time, and the overall crime rate in Atlantic City had gone down for nineteen consecutive years. ”

Residents living in FEAR -

While that may be the case, many residents say crime is still a very real and very dangerous threat to their lives-especially for parents.

I’m going to be afraid someone is going to be shooting and hitting my babies,” says one young father living on Artic Avenue. Another grandmother who lives in the cities North Maryland Avenue neighborhood says she is constantly reminded of the danger.

“You have to watch out for shots sometimes. I’m scared to sleep at night I stay up all night with my grandbaby.”

Langford on the other hand believes a lot of the reputation the city receives is due to unfair media scrutiny. [Denial!]
“All you need is to have one sensational gruesome act committed and that dominates the landscape for the next six months.”
 


He and other officials are quick to point out Atlantic City has a population of around forty thousand that balloons several times over during the summer season. Warren Massey, former chairman of the Atlantic City Housing Authority and community activist, says outsiders are often responsible for the crime in Atlantic City.

“When you compare how small we are with the kinds of crimes that are taking place, I think a lot of that can be attributed to the fact that we have people coming into this city who don’t live here who commit a lot of these crimes also.”

Since the CRDA began its Master Plan for the Tourism District class two police officers have been brought in to patrol the area, joining the three hundred and thirty Atlantic City Police Officers. Mayor Langford notes the CRDA’s ambassadors also help keep a presence of order within the tourism district and casino security as well as transit police has been cooperating with the City to keep visitors feeling safe.

Langford is happy with the current cumulative police force, and says they have no plans to expand their department. He notes “you can’t have a cop on every corner” and they have everything they need in place.

“It’s up to the man upstairs and human nature to determine where crime is going to go.”

Massey however feels the issue with the current police force isn’t the personnel, but rather the deployment.

“They have always had issues with deployment, and they don’t seem to be able to get that together. I don’t understand why.” Noting there isn’t nearly enough police throughout the residential areas of the city.

He doesn’t count out the responsibility of the community to do its part, acknowledging there needs to be an effort to have more community policing that can work in conjunction with ACPD.

“The residents need to be a part of the growth; they have to be a part of the growth. If they’re not a part of the growth then you can’t expect anything to happen.”

However, Massey says the police department and the Mayor need to do a lot more to build a relationship with the public.

“They have to stop making residents feel like we don’t belong here, because when you get that kind of feeling inside of you, then you don’t give a damn.”


http://nj1015.com/crime-a-major-issue-for-atlantic-city-resurgence-audio/


Clock Is Ticking On Atlantic City’s Redevelopment

This is the first part of a five-day series exploring Atlantic City’s revitalization efforts.
http://nj1015.com/clock-is-ticking-on-atlantic-citys-redevelopment/

 

Rape, Robbery conviction at Tropicana






Posted: Thursday, August 30, 2012           
MAYS LANDING — Three Burlington County men were found guilty of robbing a couple last year in the parking garage of the Tropicana casino and hotel in Atlantic City.

The Atlantic County jury also convicted two of the defendants of aggravated sexual assault of the female victim, the Atlantic County Prosecutor’s Office said Wednesday.
Brandon Cooper, 22, of Beverly; Brent Johnson, 22, of Burlington City; and Leon Peterson, 19, of Lumberton, were convicted of first-degree robbery of the Freehold couple on May 28, 2011.

Cooper and Johnson were also found guilty of the robbery and rape of the female victim. They face up to 60 years in state prison when Judge Albert Garafolo sentences them Oct. 1, Assistant Prosecutor Seth Levy said.

Peterson faces up to 20 years.

All three sentences will be subject to the state’s No Early Release Act, ensuring the men serve at least 85 percent of their terms before being eligible for parole.

The couple were robbed and assaulted about 4 a.m. in the Tropicana parking garage. Upon arrival, police were informed by security that two males had fled the scene and were inside an elevator, authorities said.

Police officers went to the elevator and, when it opened, arrested the two men, later identified as Johnson and Cooper.

Johnson was found to have a BB gun tucked into his waistband, authorities said. Peterson, who was also spotted by security, was arrested later.

The male victim, whose name is being withheld to protect the identity of the female sexual assault victim, was found bleeding in the hotel. He told police he had been punched and kicked in the face and head during a robbery, and had been separated from his female friend, according to the Prosecutor’s Office.

Upon locating the female, police were informed that the two men had sexually assaulted her, authorities said.

After an extensive investigation, Cooper, Johnson and Peterson were charged.

During the weeklong trial, which began last Tuesday, the defense argued that due to a poorly conducted investigation, police had failed to discover that other parties had committed the crimes.

http://www.phillyburbs.com/news/crime/burlington-county-men-convicted-in-rape-robbery-at-tropicana-in/article_8d5cc3d5-d076-59e0-9e7a-3a584a50b296.html

Thursday, August 30, 2012

Not known for 'heavy lifting,' Boston Herald uninformed!

Dave Wedge, in the article below, quoted Chip Tuttle, failing to ask about the statistics.

Dave, Could you do your homework, please?

Where did the positive drug tests and horse deaths originate?

Commissioners mum on visit to Suffolk Downs


By Dave Wedge

http://www.bostonherald.com/news/regional/view.bg?articleid=1061156782

The current lab is not accredited, officials said.

Suffolk Downs’ chief operating officer welcomed the new oversight and said horse doping — which was recently the subject of congressional hearings — has not been an issue at the East Boston track.

“We’re very proud of our safety record here,” Chip Tuttle told the commission. “We take great pride in that.”

 

Chart below indicates 14 Drug Positive, 53 HORSES DEAD in Massachusetts!



Mangled Horses, Maimed Jockeys

The new economics of horse racing are making an always-dangerous game even more so, as lax oversight puts animal and rider at risk.

 
 

Tracks and Incident Rates

Five of the seven tracks with the nation's highest rates of breakdown and injury are in New Mexico. Four tracks are unaccredited, and enforcement of drug violations is relatively lenient.

Incidents per 1,000 starts
Albuquerque
10.0
Ruidoso Downs
13.9
Sunland Park
12.8
SunRay Park
9.8
Zia Park
12.6
Avg. of all tracks
5.2


Additional information:

chart

article:

killing horses


http://middlebororemembers.blogspot.com/2012/04/massachusetts-53-horses-dead-14-drug.html

A Survey of Horse Deaths
More than 3,000 horses died during racing or training from 2009-11 according to a New York Times survey of 29 racing states. Highlighted states do not require pre-race inspections of horses and do not perform post-mortem inspections on horses that die while racing or training.


























































StateDrug positivesDeaths
Arizona
107
50*
Arkansas
13
No data
California
296
635
Colorado
68
14
Delaware
53
90
Florida
366
150-160*
Idaho
No data
No data
Illinois
171
140
Indiana
58
65
Iowa
50
46
Kentucky
258
86
Louisiana
291
268
Maryland
69
79
Massachusetts
14
53
Michigan
71
14
Minnesota
222
34
Montana
5
10
Nebraska
64
47
New Jersey
105
106
New Mexico
115
349
New York
159
366
Ohio
406
122
Oklahoma
149
119
Oregon
64
45
Pennsylvania
195
243
Texas
168
108
Virginia
38
20
Washington
21
60
West Virginia
210
233
* Estimates. Actual practice and adherence to regulatory requirements varies widely from state to state.
 
 

Wednesday, August 29, 2012

DRUNKS!



We're mighty appreciative that DRUNKS are finally being removed from our roads, at least temporarily. 

What does that say?

Because of a federal grant, roads are finally being adequately patrolled?

This after Beacon Hill ratified FREE ALCOHOL that will fill our roads with DRUNK GAMBLERS ???





Are there any establishments that will have their licenses suspended for turning DRUNKS onto the streets, making each of us an innocent target ???



Massachusetts Drunk Driving Deaths


From: http://www.statewideinterlock.com/massachusetts_law_and_regulations.htm


13 arrested at Abington drunk driving checkpoint
By Erin Shannon
Posted Aug 28, 2012


A sobriety checkpoint on Route 18 yielded 13 arrests Friday night.

The 13 arrests were made by the combined efforts of the Abington police and the state police, according to Abington Police Chief David Majenski.

The checkpoint was part of the “Drive Sober or Get Pulled Over” mobilization by the state Executive Office of Public Safety and Security, according to a press release by Abington police.

During the checkpoint at Cape Cod Lumber on Washington Street every vehicle was greeted briefly by an officer, said the release, which was posted on the Abington Police Department’s official Twitter account.

Among the eight drivers arrested by the Abington police were seven first-time offenders and one second time offender.

The Abington Police Department joined 128 other law enforcement agencies statewide in support of an intensive crackdown on impaired driving which will continue until Sept. 3 as part of the national Drive Sober or Get Pulled Over mobilization, funded by a federal grant administered through the EOPSS.

Abington police were also one of 24 departments in the state to receive a Silver Award of Excellence from the EOPSS on Friday as part of the 2012 Massachusetts Law Enforcement Challenge.


Read more: http://www.enterprisenews.com/topstories/x1718135457/13-arrested-at-Abington-drunk-driving-checkpoint#ixzz24qS9Gz8d

More Manure, California-style


Unlike any other industry, the Predatory Gambling Industry constantly seeks new ways to justify its existence with phony claims of BENEFITS, ignoring the STEEP COSTS.

From: A dicey move?


According to the California Attorney General’s office, problem and pathological gamblers cost California $1 billion per year, while officials in Indiana, after an exhaustive review, estimated the cost of serving each problem gambler at $2,500 per year. This would add up to well over $750 million in costs for Massachusetts.

Study shows Indian gaming pumps $7.5 billion into state economy


George Winship/Anderson Valley Post
Win-River Casino's General Manager Gary Hayward, 44, stands outside the casino. Win River and Redding Rancheria were part of a study by the California Nations Indian Gaming Association that shows how much money Indian gaming provides to the state and local communities.


George Winship/Anderson Valley Post Win-River Casino's General Manager Gary Hayward, 44, stands outside the casino. Win River and Redding Rancheria were part of a study by the California Nations Indian Gaming Association that shows how much money Indian gaming provides to the state and local communities.

A study of 13 of California's 33 federally recognized tribal casinos — including Redding Rancheria's Win-River Casino — shows the $7.5 billion economic clout annually of such establishments statewide as Gov. Jerry Brown is contemplating next month expanding by two the number of Indian casinos.

Commissioned by the California Nations Indian Gaming Association, the study by Beacon Economics, released on Wednesday, calculates 52,000 jobs were created and nearly $515 million in taxes and revenues generated by tribal casinos during 2010. Those studied included a cross-section of large and small casinos in urban and rural markets with a range of amenities such as hotels, restaurants, retail businesses and entertainment venues.

Of the 52,000 [LOW WAGE] jobs, 30,000 come from operations within the casinos. The study estimates tribal gaming creates an additional 22,000 jobs in the broader economy [This is a phony claim if they are NOT directly employed. How many local jobs were cannibalized? What other business justifies itself like this?], putting the industry on par with the state's non-residential construction industry, which accounts for about 53,000 jobs and the apparel manufacturing industry, with 56,500 jobs.

"California tribes made a promise to California voters. ... We would provide jobs for our people and our neighbors. We would be good neighbors sharing responsibility for services like fire and police and environmental protection as well as supporting nonprofits and public entities that contribute to the quality of life in our regions," said Daniel J. Tucker, chairman of the tribal association.

"This is our first report card and I am proud of it," Tucker said of the study.

The California data were compared with a 2010 study compiled by the National Indian Gaming Commission of 422 tribal government gaming operations throughout the United States that generated almost $30 billion in gaming revenues with California accounting for more than 26 percent, or $6.9 billion, of those revenues, Beacon Economic found.

Because the casinos are located on sovereign, federally recognized Indian reservations, the tribes do not have to pay income taxes on revenues derived from casino operations. Still, the Beacon Economics report says that Indian gaming activities generate about $465 million in tax revenues to the state through income and payroll taxes paid by employees and through sales and property taxes from off-reservation facilities.

More than 80 percent of casino employees are non-tribal members, according to the report, and earn an average salary of $33,400 [another phony claim! You can't accept 'averages' without producing an index of distribution and how many workers earn minumum wage] ,usually with benefits, more than double the average salary of California workers in the hospitality industry. Economists estimate the tribal gaming industry produces $1.4 billion in direct wages for its employees.

The study purportedly dispels several common misconceptions of tribal government gaming in regards to economic factors, said Chris Thornberg, a founding partner of Beacon Economics.
One misconception — that economic benefits come at the cost of higher crime and other harmful social consequences — was dispelled by a separate study published in the April 2000 edition of the Journal of Gambling Studies and conducted by Jonathan B. Taylor, Matthew B. Krepps and Patrick Wang, he said.

That study surveyed 100 communities across the United States, including 24 with a nearby non-Indian casino and 16 with tribal government gaming. The research concluded that instead of creating or increasing negative social impacts such as crime, the introduction of tribal government gaming served as a development tool benefiting the tribe and non-Indian neighbors because such casinos are traditionally located in rural, non-developed areas.


More horse manure! Patrons merely take the crime and 'social costs' back to their California communities.




A more recent (2009) study by the National Conference of State Legislatures was also cited: "In addition to relieving the state of its obligation to provide services to a particular group of state citizens that frequently may be 'hard-to-serve' because they reside on reservations in a remote, rural area, tribally administered programs also can benefit both (tribal and non-tribal) governments by meeting the specific needs of tribal citizens and using their particular cultural philosophies in the design of their programs."

In fact, many tribal governments with casinos provide public and social services on and off tribal land to members and non-members, the Beacon Economics study shows.

An example of that is Redding Rancheria, which employs more than 600 people and operates a large day-care and Head Start program, a regional nutrition program and recently expanded its health care and dental center, said Maria Orozco, public relations director for Redding Rancheria [subsidized by undisclosed federal tax dollars].

Since Redding Rancheria and the Sycuan Band of the Kumayaay Nation near San Diego were two of the original tribal nations to help jumpstart the Beacon Economics study, each will be featured in a series of television advertisements produced for the gaming association, she said.

Ads featured in the 'Strengthening Our Fabric" campaign include shots of several Shasta County businesses and government service providers including brief vignettes with Anderson's new police chief, Michael Johnson, and members of the Happy Valley Fire Protection District, Orozco said.

Both agencies have both received grants from Redding Rancheria.

Anderson Police Department received $71,400 for an incident command SUV and a portable roadside messaging board from funds paid into the statewide Indian Gaming Fund to mitigate impacts caused by tribal gaming.

Local grant applications are then processed by Redding Rancheria's Local Community Benefit Committee and paid out through the State Special Distribution Fund, Orozco said.


http://www.redding.com/news/2012/aug/12/study-shows-indian-gaming-pumps-75-billion-into/

Chris Christie defines failure


Atlantic City defines the failure of Predatory Gambling.

You might consider reading this to enlighten yourself if you're still a misguided supporter --




Unwilling to assess the disaster,  Governor Chris Christie  is promoting sports betting and internet gambling that will target the poor, suck discretionary income from the local economy and spread the community destruction evidenced in Atlantic City, yet he promotes his tenure as Governor of the failed state as success?

A successful argument could be made that the costs of Predatory Gambling is what put New Jersey where it is.




Christie is pushing for internet gambling and sports betting [known to cause match fixing  and corruption around the globe], subsidized Revel with taxpayer $$$ [which will eventually file for bankruptcy], 'de-regulated' the Gambling Industry [known for its corruption] to balance the budget on the backs of the poor.

A few days old, but I think very worth re-posting in light of Christie's speech last night -- when you hear calls for painful solutions and shared sacrifice, remember who is actually being asked to make sacrifices and who isn't:

"Also, while much of his [Christie's] program involves spending cuts, he has effectively raised taxes on low-income workers and homeowners by slashing tax credits. But he vetoed a temporary surcharge on millionaires while refusing to raise the state’s gasoline tax, which is the third-lowest in America and far below tax rates in neighboring states. Only some people, it seems, are expected to make sacrifices."


The Comeback Skid
By PAUL KRUGMAN

Published: August 26, 2012

There will be two big stars at the Republican National Convention, and neither of them will be Mitt Romney. One will, of course, be Paul Ryan, Mr. Romney’s running mate. The other will be Chris Christie, the governor of New Jersey, who will give the keynote address. And while the two men could hardly look or sound more different, they are brothers under the skin.

How so? Both have carefully cultivated public images as tough, fiscally responsible guys willing to make hard choices. And both public images are completely false.

I’ve written a lot lately deconstructing the Ryan myth, so let me turn today to Mr. Christie.

When Mr. Christie took office in January 2010, New Jersey — like many other states — was in dire fiscal straits thanks to the effects of a depressed economy. Unlike the federal government, states are required by their constitutions to run more or less balanced budgets every year (although there is room for accounting gimmicks), so like other governors, Mr. Christie was forced to engage in belt-tightening.

So far so normal: while Mr. Christie has made a lot of noise about his tough budget choices, other governors have done much the same. Nor has he eschewed budget gimmicks: like earlier New Jersey governors, Mr. Christie has closed budget gaps in part by deferring required contributions to state pension funds, which is in effect a form of borrowing against the future, and he has also sought to paper over budget gaps by diverting money from places like the Transportation Trust Fund.

If there is a distinctive feature to New Jersey’s belt-tightening under Mr. Christie, it is its curiously selective nature. The governor was willing to cancel the desperately needed project to build another rail tunnel linking the state to Manhattan, but has invested state funds in a megamall in the Meadowlands and a casino in Atlantic City.
[Revel is floundering and will eventually file bankruptcy.]

Also, while much of his program involves spending cuts, he has effectively raised taxes on low-income workers and homeowners by slashing tax credits. But he vetoed a temporary surcharge on millionaires while refusing to raise the state’s gasoline tax, which is the third-lowest in America and far below tax rates in neighboring states. Only some people, it seems, are expected to make sacrifices.

 
But as I said, Mr. Christie talks a good (and very loud) game about his willingness to make tough choices, making big claims about spending cuts — claims, by the way, that PolitiFact has unequivocally declared false. And for the past year he has been touting what he claims is the result of those tough choices: the “Jersey comeback,” the supposed recovery of his state’s economy.

Strange to say, however, Mr. Christie has told reporters that he won’t use the term “Jersey comeback” in his keynote address. And it’s not hard to see why: the comeback, such as it was, has hit the skids. Indeed, the latest figures show his state with the fourth-highest unemployment rate in the nation. Strikingly, New Jersey’s 9.8 percent unemployment rate is now significantly higher than the unemployment rate in long-suffering Michigan, which has had a true comeback thanks to the G.O.P.-opposed auto bailout.
Now, state governors don’t actually have much impact on short-run economic performance, so the skidding New Jersey economy isn’t really Mr. Christie’s fault. Still, he was the one who chose to make it an issue. And even more important, he’s still pushing the policies the state’s recovery was supposed to justify.

You see, all that boasting about the Jersey comeback wasn’t just big talk (although it was that, too). It was, instead, supposed to demonstrate that good times were back, revenue was on the upswing, and it was now time for what Mr. Christie really wants: a major cut in income taxes.

Even if the comeback were real, this would be a highly dubious idea. By all accounts, New Jersey still has a significant structural deficit, that is, a deficit that will persist even when the economy recovers. Furthermore, the Christie tax-cut proposal would do very little for the middle class but give large breaks to the wealthy.

But in any case, the good times are by no means back, and neither is the revenue boom that was supposed to justify a tax cut. So has the very responsible Mr. Christie accepted the idea of at least delaying his tax-cut plan until the promised revenue gains materialize? Of course not.

Which brings me back to the comparison with Paul Ryan. Mr. Ryan, as people finally seem to be realizing, is at heart a fiscal fraud, boasting about his commitment to deficit reduction but actually placing a much higher priority on tax cuts for the wealthy. Mr. Christie may have a different personal style, but he’s playing the same game.

In other words, meet the new boaster, same as the old boaster. And pray that we won’t get fooled again.

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/08/27/opinion/krugman-the-comeback-skid.html





Photo: Gov. Chris Christie is endorsing Mitt Romney at the Republican National Convention tonight. Share this if you think America can do better than Team Not-Quite-Last-Place.


Sometimes, you need the common sense to get out of the muck!




New Jersey adds D.C. lawyers to arsenal as it prepares to defend sports-betting law

Posted: Monday, August 27, 2012            

New Jersey is bringing on two top Washington, D.C. lawyers — including one who argued on behalf of George W. Bush in 2000 — to defend against a lawsuit seeking to block the start of sports betting in the state.

Theodore B. Olson, who argued in front of the Supreme Court following the contested 2000 presidential election, and Matthew D. McGill, a fellow partner at the Washington-based Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher law firm who successfully drafted briefs in 10 Supreme Court victories, filed paperwork with the U.S. District Court in Trenton on Monday asking to defend New Jersey.

The National Collegiate Athletic Association, National Basketball Association, National Football League, Office of the Commissioner of Baseball and the National Hockey League filed the lawsuit seeking to overturn a New Jersey law that runs counter to a federal act prohibiting sports betting in all but four states. Those states — Nevada, Delaware, Oregon and Montana — allowed some form of sports wagering prior to the enactment of the federal Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act in 1992.

Lawyers on both sides have been jockeying for position through multiple letters filed with the federal court since the complaint was filed earlier this month. Lawyers are scheduled to participate in the first court meeting on the lawsuit today — a conference call with Judge Lois H. Goodman intended to set a timetable for the rest of the case.

The sports leagues are asking the court to make a quick decision on the case, while the state’s lawyers say the proceedings shouldn’t be rushed.

“(T)here is little time before the state begins to carry out its threat to award sports gambling licenses in violation of federal law,” Newark-based William O’Shaughnessy wrote in a letter filed Friday with the court on behalf of the plaintiffs.

Meanwhile, state Attorney General Jeffrey Chiesa wrote in a letter filed Aug. 17, “The state’s opportunity to defend this important matter should not be abridged, nor is there a basis for plaintiffs to insist that the court rush in rendering judgement.”

The five sports leagues argue the court has enough information — mainly the existence of the federal law and related past court cases — to render a quick decision and, if necessary, issue an injunction to block the start of sports wagering in New Jersey.

State lawyers counter that prior court cases are different from New Jersey’s argument, and that the state should be given sufficient time to present its evidence and facts before any decisions are rendered. They argue the state doesn’t anticipate awarding any licenses before Dec. 1.

At the same time, the state has not revealed how it intends to defend against the lawsuit, making references only to a possible constitutional argument. Lawyers said in documents that they intend to dispute whether the sports leagues are the right ones to bring the lawsuit and would suffer “irreparable harm” — something that money could not overcome — if sports wagering were to commence in New Jersey.

Olson and McGill specialize in constitutional law. Olson lists the Commerce Clause — a clause in the U.S. Constitution regulating commerce among states — as one of his specialities on the bio listed on the law firm’s website.

The case is being widely watched by lawyers and legal analysts across the country.

Brian Porto, a law professor and deputy director of the Sports Law Institute in Vermont, said he isn’t surprised that the NCAA is part of the suit because it has tried relentlessly to discourage gambling on college sports.

With college-age kids who are not paid, some of them poor and surrounded by coaches who pull an income, the temptation is greater to get involved in gambling, Porto said.

“The NCAA is scared to death of that sort of thing happening,” he said.

http://www.pressofatlanticcity.com/news/breaking/new-jersey-adds-d-c-lawyers-to-arsenal-as-it/article_9f3385d2-f088-11e1-9661-0019bb2963f4.html

There is NO Wizard! Just pull the curtain back.

Governor Slot Barns Patrick was promising the Pokassett Tribe a Slot Barn in Freetown behind closed doors at the same time he made promises to Bob Kraft.





Such a deal! How'd that go for ya?





Lawmakers, Governor Slot Barns, the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe, proponents, blinded union supporters haven't figured out who they got into bed with.....yet!







In the pretense that somehow we would be different, legalize Predatory Gambling and achieve different results, Beacon Hill invited Genting into the Commonwealth with no scrutiny, no background check, no oversight. And wait until the Town of Mashpee realizes it got screwed!



There is no Wizard! Just pull the curtain back.

Thank You

August 27th, 2012
Dear Tribal Community,

Thank you! A heartfelt thank you to everyone who made one of the most wonderful days for the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe possible!

On Thursday, we were honored to welcome Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick for a celebration of our groundbreaking Tribal-State Compact, the unique partnership between the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe and the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, and the bright future we are creating with job opportunities, economic development and revenue for our Tribe and our neighbors in Southeastern Massachusetts.

Our Tribal community really came together to make our traditional clambake and celebration a huge success. Thank you to the Tribal Council, Elders Council, Elders Committee, Natural Resource Commission, Youth Tribal Council, Clan Mothers, Eastern Suns, the Elders Judiciary Committee and many others for your support, assistance, and spirit of cooperation. Thank you also to Chief Vernon Silent Drum Lopez, Medicine Man Ear Soaring Eagle Cash, Princess Keturah Peters, jessie little doe and the Summer Turtles Language Campers, Elders Council Chairman Bill Pocknett, and the Lopez Family for their participation in a joyful ceremony. [Paid for by Genting with funds that will be re-paid with usery rates of interest.]

It was so good to see our family working together and all pitching in to create such a beautiful event. I know the Governor was touched by his visit, and we were really able to show him the pride, the emphasis on family, and the strong community we have here in Mashpee. Please view more photos of our Day of Celebration with Governor Deval Patrick here.

Later in the day, our Elders helped start a new chapter in our Tribe’s history by breaking ground for our Government and Community Center. The new Government and Community Center will provide space for community gatherings, elder activities, youth activities, sports/wellness programs, among many other services for many decades to come. This first-of-its-kind project for the Tribe provides a place and a way for the Tribe to continue to expand the services it offers, benefitting [sic] tribal members, American Indian/Alaska Natives and its neighbors in southeastern Massachusetts. The groundbreaking was a celebration of how far we have come and our great plans for the future, and I thank our Elders for leading us in the groundbreaking ceremony. You can view photos of the groundbreaking here.

Kutaputunumuw;
Cedric Cromwell
Qaqeemasq (Running Bear)


http://mashpeewampanoagtribe.com/blog/?p=306

The article below appeared at the height of Genting's pursuit of Florida, the site was immediately hacked and the article disappeared. Beacon Hill lawmakers were sent this article and it was widely circulated and ignored. They don't want to know the truth.


Genting Connected to Islamic Extremists?

Genting is the current Gambling Investor supporting the Mashpee Wampanoag lifestyle.

Genting Connected to Islamic Extremists?

The money rush is on. A shady, but well-heeled Asian casino gambling giant swoops into town, buys an outdated office facility and valuable underlying real estate from the Miami Herald and launches a multi-million dollar campaign to approve non-Indian casino gambling in Florida and put a license on the former Miami Herald tract.

Kuala Lumpur-based Genting has multinational operations in tourism, resorts, gambling, plantations, power generation, and oil and gas. Genting’s market capitalization value, or net worth, reached $46 billion at the end of last year — making it one of Malaysia’s largest companies.

The Miami Herald suspends their normally skeptical eye, conducts no due-diligence on their new Chinese friends from Malaysia and their newspaper becomes a public relations machine for a client they don’t even really know.

Every glad-handing semi-corrupt politician in Miami-Dade and the City of Miami with their hand out will be jumping on the Genting gravy train. Genting is a target for every con-man lobbyist/political consultant/PR man which Miami-Dade County abounds with.

Recently a group of “Community Leaders” were flown to South East Asia including visits to Genting casinos in Malaysia and Singapore. Genting refuses to disclose the names of “Community Leaders” – including elected officials – who were flown to South East Asia in a private luxury jet and wined and dined at 5-Star resorts reserved for high-rollers in the Asian gaming world.

World Resorts Genting, also known as Genting Highlands, opened in 1965 and is the company’s flagship resort in Malaysia. The resort features Malaysia’s only land-based casino, six hotels, three theme parks, a convention center, and numerous restaurants and nightclubs, among other attractions.

Resorts World Sentosa, which opened last year in Singapore, features one of the world’s most expensive casinos, six hotels, a Universal Studios theme park and a Marine Life Park, among other features. The Florida Delegation visited both, reportedly racking up more than $790,000 worth of hotel, restaurant, spa and entertainment costs in both 5-Star resorts.

Genting has retained a team of slick lobbyists including Jonathan Kilman, with the law firm of Foley & Lardner. Kilman’s partner, Chris Kise, is under investigation for erasing email records generated during Governor Rick Scott’s Inauguration. The missing emails are thought to contain correspondence exposing the business dealings of Kise and Scott’s political adviser Enu Mainigi. Scott has ordered the FDLE review. Kise insists the emails were erased accidently. Foley and Lardner’s influence in the Governor’s office is not likely to be strong in 2012.


Before it’s over, expect that Genting, their lobbyists, and other retainers, will lavish the Republican Party of Florida and other selected party redistricting vehicles with millions of dollars. They’ll even buy Governor Rick Scott a golden toilet seat for the Governors mansion is he wants!

Genting, the Asian casino giant, does not hold a casino gaming license in any U.S. jurisdiction that has serious regulation. New York State requires relatively little scrutiny in the contract Genting has with the State of New York to operate slot machines at Aqueduct Racetrack.

Genting made millions of dollars as the money-men behind two controversial Indian Casino gaming developments in the Eastern United States. In both cases, Genting operations were directed by G. Michael Brown, a former New Jersey Attorney General who was later charged with embezzlement and cocaine use in the Seneca Tribal Court.

Brown was charged with putting various mistresses on the casino payroll and using casino funds to pay for luxury condominiums, imported sports cars and expensive jewelry for them. Brown famously drove a 4-door sedan owned by the Seneca Tribe through the picture window of a Niagara Falls resident while driving drunk.

Genting was the financier of the Seneca Niagara Casino Hotel in Niagara Falls, New York. Genting charged the tribe an exorbitant 28 percent interest rate, potentially in violation of the Indian Gaming Regulations under the Bureau of Indian Affairs. Genting also stayed in the deal for almost 15 years when they were legally limited to five. Seneca Tribal Council members have testified that armed Chinese thugs showed up to collect Genting’s money when tribal lawyers pointed out that Genting was violating the law.
All of this became known to the U.S. Senate Select Committee on Indian Affairs, which held hearings and launched an investigation into corruption in the Indian gaming industry in the United States. But what the Senate Committee found out about Genting was even more disturbing: an apparent pattern of multi-million dollar payments to Islamic extremist organizations in Malaysia who most definitely are not friends of the United States of America.

U.S. Senate Special Committee records regarding Genting and their financing of multiple Islamic-based organizations in Malaysia are classified. Some U.S. Senator needs to launch an investigation to determine whether Genting has relationships that would make their holding a casino license in Miami (a money machine) inappropriate. U.S. Senate staff investigators should get a firm understanding of Genting’s questionable relationships in Malaysia and China.

Genting executives told Senate investigators at the time that the millions of dollars funneled to various Islamic extremist organizations known to finance jihad were made under direst and viewed as a cost of doing business for a Chinese businessman in heavily Islam-run Malaysia. Investigators had reason to be skeptical when photos of K.T. Lim and North Korean dictator Kim Jong-il surfaced. The Senate investigators also obtained photos of Lim socializing with at least two Islamic figures wanted by the United States for terrorist activities.


Senate investigators were also interested in K.T. Lim’s relationship with Stanley Ho, the Asian casino magnate who has been identified as a member of the Chinese Triad, the Chinese crime organization, by the U.S. Justice Department and by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police. Ho has been denied a casino license in every jurisdiction except in Macau and North Korea. Genting has refused to address their business dealings with Ho and his company Shun Tak Holdings Ltd.

While the Miami Herald is telling us that Genting boss K.T. Lim is a brilliant businessman, he could be one of the largest funders of Islamic terrorist activity in Asia. Instead of giving press conferences to the Miami Herald, perhaps K.T. should be interrogated under subpoena by U.S. Senate lawyers.

The Miami-Dade politicians who suck up Genting’s food, drink and accommodations and support Genting’s development will jump off of them like rats when they learn where a substantial portion of Genting’s profits in Florida may be going. Just because Genting has a lot of money doesn’t mean that they are suitable to operate casinos in the United States based on their associations and business practices.

Neither Governor Rick Scott, nor Senate President Mike Haridopolos will agree to casino gaming without a local county referendum. Perhaps Miami’s Cuban voters should decide whether they want to approve a casino for a foreign company who could be financing Al-Qaeda and the Taliban.

Nothing short of full disclosure of all the finances and holdings of Genting should be required under Florida casino regulation. If they deny ties to radical Islam only full disclosure will verify this claim, a protection the public requires.

New Jersey Casino Control law is considered the toughest in the country and is the model for casino regulation in the rest of the country. Nevada’s regulations are similar, but the process in that small state is “more political.” Florida’s casino regulation must not and cannot be lax. We need to know far, far more about Genting and their friends before they get a casino license in Florida.
 

 

For another view:
The Mashpee Wampanoag's Malaysian Investors
 
There are ~ 190 articles on this link: GENTING   [click "Older Posts" at the bottom to view additional posts]
 
 
Reel Wamps
WampaLeaks
The Genesis of Foxwoods

Not being able to mortgage the reservation land limited who would finance the project's $60 million first phase. The tribe found Genting Berhad, a Malaysian company traded on the Hong Kong Exchange and owned by Goh Tong, a Chinese national. Their collateral became the right to take over and run the casino until they got their money back if the loan defaulted.
At the wildly profitable Aqueduct in New York --
Genting brings in own staff, lays off lifetime employees

Beacon Hill rushes to embrace scandal

Worth reading:
Mashpee Wampanoag tribe financial scandal broadens; Senate legislation still includes Cromwell preference