Ex-Chukchansi Casino boss gets prison term
By John Ellis / The Fresno Bee
A former general manager of the Chukchansi Gold Resort & Casino was sentenced Friday to two years in federal prison for embezzling more than $50,000 from the Madera County gambling operation.
Jeff Livingston, 51, also was ordered to pay $52,400 in restitution to the casino and serve three years of probation after his release.
U.S. District Judge Lawrence J. O'Neill, who handed down the sentence, ordered Livingston to start serving his term by Oct. 31.
"I did wrong," Livingston said to O'Neill. "I'm here in court because a jury of my peers found I did wrong."
Still, Livingston – a former Fresno resident who now lives in Las Vegas – asked for probation instead of prison. His attorney, federal defender Marc Days, said his client's actions were an "aberration" and not part of his overall character.
"The question is, is prison necessary for Mr. Livingston?" Days asked.
O'Neill left no question that the answer was "yes." He noted that Livingston currently is employed, but has not paid any restitution to Chukchansi. He also said Livingston has yet to admit wrongdoing.
Livingston – a former deputy sheriff in Broward County, Fla., who was named the casino's general manager in 2005 – was convicted by a federal jury in June on six counts of mail fraud and three counts of theft by an officer or employee of a gaming establishment on Indian land.
During a five-day trial, prosecutors Ian Garriques and Kirk Sherriff contended that Livingston used a corporate credit card to embezzle at least $48,500 from the casino between October 2006 and January 2008.
Among the thefts were a Hawaiian vacation package, a golf package, a diamond necklace and autographed sports and music memorabilia, prosecutors said.
On Friday, Garriques sought a 30-month sentence – "or higher."
Morris Reid, chairman of the Picayune Rancheria of the Chukchansi Indians, which operates the Coarsegold casino, told O'Neill that Livingston was a trusted employee.
His "betrayal of trust," Reid said, was not against a person or a corporation, but against a community that is trying to better itself.
Dan Casas, legal counsel for the Table Mountain Rancheria – which operates a tribal gaming casino in Fresno County – came to the hearing to speak on behalf of Chukchansi, which is competition in the Indian gaming world.
He didn't get a chance to speak, but said he intended to thank the federal government for its work in protecting tribal gaming from unscrupulous people.
[In other words, the taxpayers pick up the tab for a profitable Sovereign nation that pays no taxes.]
"It's something that affects all tribes," Casas said of Livingston's actions.
Saturday, September 24, 2011
Illinois: No casino gambling on state fairgrounds
Letter: No casino gambling on state fairgrounds
Remember how politicians said the lottery would help education? Now, Springfield legislators want to put a casino at the Illinois State Fairgrounds and want you to believe it will help the fair break even. Don’t be fooled again!
With talk of a Springfield casino in 1994, 90 percent of Sangamon County voters approved a citizen referendum asking for a vote before gambling was expanded in the county. We need to speak out now while we still can. There is a big difference between betting on horse racing five days a year during the state fair and gambling on slot machines seven days a week, 365 days a year.
Slot machines account for 87 percent of the revenue at Illinois’ riverboat casinos. SB 744 also allows racetrack casinos to have slot machines that simulate table games, thus turning every slot machine into a virtual table game. SB 744 will transform the fairgrounds racetrack into a land-based casino.
The National Gambling Impact Study Commission found the presence of a gambling facility within 50 miles doubles the prevalence of problem and problem gambling. A casino in Springfield will increase crime, bankruptcy and addiction in surrounding communities, too.
If you do not want casino gambling at the state fairgrounds, call Sen. Larry Bomke (782-0228) and Rep. Raymond Poe (782-0897) and ask Gov. Pat Quinn (782-6830) to veto SB 744.
— Anita Bedell, executive director, Illinois Church Action on Alcohol & Addiction Problems, Springfield
Remember how politicians said the lottery would help education? Now, Springfield legislators want to put a casino at the Illinois State Fairgrounds and want you to believe it will help the fair break even. Don’t be fooled again!
With talk of a Springfield casino in 1994, 90 percent of Sangamon County voters approved a citizen referendum asking for a vote before gambling was expanded in the county. We need to speak out now while we still can. There is a big difference between betting on horse racing five days a year during the state fair and gambling on slot machines seven days a week, 365 days a year.
Slot machines account for 87 percent of the revenue at Illinois’ riverboat casinos. SB 744 also allows racetrack casinos to have slot machines that simulate table games, thus turning every slot machine into a virtual table game. SB 744 will transform the fairgrounds racetrack into a land-based casino.
The National Gambling Impact Study Commission found the presence of a gambling facility within 50 miles doubles the prevalence of problem and problem gambling. A casino in Springfield will increase crime, bankruptcy and addiction in surrounding communities, too.
If you do not want casino gambling at the state fairgrounds, call Sen. Larry Bomke (782-0228) and Rep. Raymond Poe (782-0897) and ask Gov. Pat Quinn (782-6830) to veto SB 744.
— Anita Bedell, executive director, Illinois Church Action on Alcohol & Addiction Problems, Springfield
Former Illinois Governor: Say no to more casinos
Ex-Gov. Walker to current Gov. Quinn: Say no to more casinos
MICHAEL SNEED
Forgeddabout it!
Former Gov. Dan Walker, 89, has some advice for Gov. Pat Quinn: Stop a move to build a casino in Chicago!
“It’s outrageous” Walker said. “Thousands of innocent people get hurt by casinos: mothers, children and old people who become victims of gambling addictions.
“What are Mayor [Rahm] Emanuel and [House Speaker] Mike Madigan and [Senate President] John Cullerton thinking? If Gov. [Pat] Quinn signs this legislation on gambling, we’ll be second only to Nevada in gambling.”
† The upshot: Walker, who was Illinois governor from 1973 to 1977, is so strongly anti-casino, he tells Sneed he has just completed writing a book, The Unique Illinois Quartet: Gamblers, Mobsters, the Machine and Corrupt Pols.
† The backshot: Yipes! In case you are wondering what cachet a former convict has to write a book about corruption, Walker — who served 18 months in prison for a bank fraud conviction in 1987 unrelated to his time in office — has spent decades doing good works and penning more than a dozen books.
† The buckshot: “Backing a casino continues to spread the already too prevalent feeling in Illinois that gambling is OK,” he said. “It encourages people to look the other way and corruption goes with it. Trust me. It’s bad business for Illinois.”
† Back story: Walker says his book details the history of gambling in Illinois from the time of the Mississippi saloons in the 1800s to the present. “It’s a very sordid story, but it’s fun.”
MICHAEL SNEED
Forgeddabout it!
Former Gov. Dan Walker, 89, has some advice for Gov. Pat Quinn: Stop a move to build a casino in Chicago!
“It’s outrageous” Walker said. “Thousands of innocent people get hurt by casinos: mothers, children and old people who become victims of gambling addictions.
“What are Mayor [Rahm] Emanuel and [House Speaker] Mike Madigan and [Senate President] John Cullerton thinking? If Gov. [Pat] Quinn signs this legislation on gambling, we’ll be second only to Nevada in gambling.”
† The upshot: Walker, who was Illinois governor from 1973 to 1977, is so strongly anti-casino, he tells Sneed he has just completed writing a book, The Unique Illinois Quartet: Gamblers, Mobsters, the Machine and Corrupt Pols.
† The backshot: Yipes! In case you are wondering what cachet a former convict has to write a book about corruption, Walker — who served 18 months in prison for a bank fraud conviction in 1987 unrelated to his time in office — has spent decades doing good works and penning more than a dozen books.
† The buckshot: “Backing a casino continues to spread the already too prevalent feeling in Illinois that gambling is OK,” he said. “It encourages people to look the other way and corruption goes with it. Trust me. It’s bad business for Illinois.”
† Back story: Walker says his book details the history of gambling in Illinois from the time of the Mississippi saloons in the 1800s to the present. “It’s a very sordid story, but it’s fun.”
Arrest in Fatal Taj Mahal Carjacking
Final suspect arrested in carjacking and slaying at Atlantic City casino parking garage
By LYNDA COHEN and JOEL LANDAU Staff Writers
pressofAtlanticCity.com
ATLANTIC CITY — All three suspects in Sunday’s deadly carjacking from a casino parking garage are now jailed on $1 million cash bail each.
Raheem Simmons, 18, was arrested by members of the New York and New Jersey Federal Marshal’s Fugitive Task Force before 4 p.m. Friday outside an apartment complex in Camden.
“This is what happens when people cooperate,” Atlantic County Prosecutor Ted Housel said shortly after the last man was taken into custody.
Simmons was staying at an apartment on South Eighth Street in Camden that was not his own when he was apprehended, Housel said at a press conference at Trump Taj Mahal Casino Resort. Housel did not say whose apartment it was.
Simmons is expected to appear in court Monday to hear the charges against him — felony murder, murder, carjacking, kidnapping, theft, robbery and weapons offenses.
Simmons, Eric Darden, 20, and Phillip Byrd, 20, all of Camden, are accused of forcing a Middlesex County couple to drive at gunpoint from the parking garage before 8 a.m. Sunday to an alley off the 500 block of Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard, where they were shot.
Sunil Rattu, 28, of Old Bridge, was killed with two gunshots to the head. His girlfriend, Radha Ghetia, 24, of Parlin, was shot in the upper body and has since been released from the hospital.
The prosecutor said the investigation is ongoing. Housel declined to comment on whether any physical evidence recovered at the scene of the crime links any of the suspects. He added he does not believe the weapon used in the crime has been recovered.
As the case progressed, Housel introduced new information in near-daily press conferences, including showing video footage Monday of three “persons of interest” as they came up a stairwell from the Taj Mahal. The next day, murder warrants were issued for the three Camden men, after witnesses came forward to say they had been seen staking out other casino garages earlier in the day.
“They thought other garages were easier targets,” Housel said.
During the press conference Housel reiterated the importance of people coming forward to help authorities solve crimes.
“If you give us information … we will find those persons and bring them to justice,” he said. “If you want justice you have to come forward.”
Byrd was arrested Tuesday night at his home in Camden.
On Thursday, Darden went to his attorney’s Haddon Heights office, where he surrendered to police. But he was without lawyer Ron Helmer on Friday when he made his first appearance in court, telling Superior Court Judge Bernard DeLury: “For the time being, I’m going to be represented by a public defender.”
A call to Helmer was not returned.
Officials say the quick arrests are proof crimes can be solved when everyone works together.
“It’s a great combination of technology, excellent police work, public cooperation and not letting geographical boundaries get in the way of us going after the bad guys,” Tourism District Commander Tom Gilbert said.
He and Atlantic City Deputy Police Chiefs Ernest Jubilee and Henry White have been insistent that boundaries set by Gov. Chris Christie’s Tourism District do not affect how the town is policed.
The three men are believed to be members of the Fruit Town Brim Bloods, according to a flier distributed among law enforcement.
Simmons has no prior adult record. He turned 18 two months ago.
The Prosecutor’s Office worked with several agencies — including the U.S. Marshalls, FBI, Camden City and Atlantic City police departments, New Jersey State Police, corrections officers and the Camden County Prosecutor’s Office — during the investigation.
“There is a feeling of pride in all the great work all the agencies did,” Housel said.
By LYNDA COHEN and JOEL LANDAU Staff Writers
pressofAtlanticCity.com
ATLANTIC CITY — All three suspects in Sunday’s deadly carjacking from a casino parking garage are now jailed on $1 million cash bail each.
Raheem Simmons, 18, was arrested by members of the New York and New Jersey Federal Marshal’s Fugitive Task Force before 4 p.m. Friday outside an apartment complex in Camden.
“This is what happens when people cooperate,” Atlantic County Prosecutor Ted Housel said shortly after the last man was taken into custody.
Simmons was staying at an apartment on South Eighth Street in Camden that was not his own when he was apprehended, Housel said at a press conference at Trump Taj Mahal Casino Resort. Housel did not say whose apartment it was.
Simmons is expected to appear in court Monday to hear the charges against him — felony murder, murder, carjacking, kidnapping, theft, robbery and weapons offenses.
Simmons, Eric Darden, 20, and Phillip Byrd, 20, all of Camden, are accused of forcing a Middlesex County couple to drive at gunpoint from the parking garage before 8 a.m. Sunday to an alley off the 500 block of Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard, where they were shot.
Sunil Rattu, 28, of Old Bridge, was killed with two gunshots to the head. His girlfriend, Radha Ghetia, 24, of Parlin, was shot in the upper body and has since been released from the hospital.
The prosecutor said the investigation is ongoing. Housel declined to comment on whether any physical evidence recovered at the scene of the crime links any of the suspects. He added he does not believe the weapon used in the crime has been recovered.
As the case progressed, Housel introduced new information in near-daily press conferences, including showing video footage Monday of three “persons of interest” as they came up a stairwell from the Taj Mahal. The next day, murder warrants were issued for the three Camden men, after witnesses came forward to say they had been seen staking out other casino garages earlier in the day.
“They thought other garages were easier targets,” Housel said.
During the press conference Housel reiterated the importance of people coming forward to help authorities solve crimes.
“If you give us information … we will find those persons and bring them to justice,” he said. “If you want justice you have to come forward.”
Byrd was arrested Tuesday night at his home in Camden.
On Thursday, Darden went to his attorney’s Haddon Heights office, where he surrendered to police. But he was without lawyer Ron Helmer on Friday when he made his first appearance in court, telling Superior Court Judge Bernard DeLury: “For the time being, I’m going to be represented by a public defender.”
A call to Helmer was not returned.
Officials say the quick arrests are proof crimes can be solved when everyone works together.
“It’s a great combination of technology, excellent police work, public cooperation and not letting geographical boundaries get in the way of us going after the bad guys,” Tourism District Commander Tom Gilbert said.
He and Atlantic City Deputy Police Chiefs Ernest Jubilee and Henry White have been insistent that boundaries set by Gov. Chris Christie’s Tourism District do not affect how the town is policed.
The three men are believed to be members of the Fruit Town Brim Bloods, according to a flier distributed among law enforcement.
Simmons has no prior adult record. He turned 18 two months ago.
The Prosecutor’s Office worked with several agencies — including the U.S. Marshalls, FBI, Camden City and Atlantic City police departments, New Jersey State Police, corrections officers and the Camden County Prosecutor’s Office — during the investigation.
“There is a feeling of pride in all the great work all the agencies did,” Housel said.
Son Allegedly Kills Parents To Pay Gambling Debts
Son Allegedly Kills Parents To Pay Gambling Debts
Author: A. Mitchell
In a horrific story involving gambling addiction and murder, a Tel Aviv man has been arrested by Israeli police a month after his parents were found brutally murdered in their Jerusalem apartment.
At around 8pm, Saturday, August 14th, Noah Maoz, 64, and his wife Nurit, 60, had returned home after visiting neighbors the Neeman’s house, when three hours later one neighbour said he was awoken by a woman screaming, with the Neemans also confirming they heard the noises.
The following morning, the Maoz’s bodies were found by one of the couples’ three sons, Nir, who went to check on his parents who had failed to turn up to their work that day.
Now, one month later, his 28-year-old twin brother Daniel Maoz has been arrested suspected of having murdered his parents in an attempt to collect an inheritance in order to clear his heavy gambling debts.
Daniel Maoz is known to have had a gambling problem and was helped out and financially supported by his parents and siblings in the past.
Two years ago, Daniel apparently swore never to return to gambling again, but he is now believed to owe hundreds of thousands of shekels in gambling debts, which may possibly have been the cause of the apparent argument he had with his father that fateful night.
At first Daniel told police he was in Tel Aviv that night, but with increasingly mounting evidence changed his story to having had dinner at his parents’ home, and returning from their restroom to see a a man had murdered his parents.
He said he subsequently fought with the man, who managed to escape, before then going off to play poker with friends until 1 am, and returning to his parents apartment later to clear his tracks lest he became a suspect in the double murder.
Daniel’s friends later confirmed that he was acting very suspiciously that night, had asked several questions about the police’s ability to track cellphones, and had a knife wound on his hand and blood on his shirt.
Defending his client in court, lawyer Ariel Atari, said Daniel Maoz was innocent and that; “A man who sees his two parents on the floor, murdered, doesn’t always behave in the most rational way.”
Other Related Articles
Mum Blows Son’s Cancer Fund At Casino
Slots Addict Jailed For Stealing $45k From Mother-In-Law
Gambling Grandma Steals £272,000 From Travel Agency
Priest Possessed By The Demon Of Gambling Addiction
Author: A. Mitchell
In a horrific story involving gambling addiction and murder, a Tel Aviv man has been arrested by Israeli police a month after his parents were found brutally murdered in their Jerusalem apartment.
At around 8pm, Saturday, August 14th, Noah Maoz, 64, and his wife Nurit, 60, had returned home after visiting neighbors the Neeman’s house, when three hours later one neighbour said he was awoken by a woman screaming, with the Neemans also confirming they heard the noises.
The following morning, the Maoz’s bodies were found by one of the couples’ three sons, Nir, who went to check on his parents who had failed to turn up to their work that day.
Now, one month later, his 28-year-old twin brother Daniel Maoz has been arrested suspected of having murdered his parents in an attempt to collect an inheritance in order to clear his heavy gambling debts.
Daniel Maoz is known to have had a gambling problem and was helped out and financially supported by his parents and siblings in the past.
Two years ago, Daniel apparently swore never to return to gambling again, but he is now believed to owe hundreds of thousands of shekels in gambling debts, which may possibly have been the cause of the apparent argument he had with his father that fateful night.
At first Daniel told police he was in Tel Aviv that night, but with increasingly mounting evidence changed his story to having had dinner at his parents’ home, and returning from their restroom to see a a man had murdered his parents.
He said he subsequently fought with the man, who managed to escape, before then going off to play poker with friends until 1 am, and returning to his parents apartment later to clear his tracks lest he became a suspect in the double murder.
Daniel’s friends later confirmed that he was acting very suspiciously that night, had asked several questions about the police’s ability to track cellphones, and had a knife wound on his hand and blood on his shirt.
Defending his client in court, lawyer Ariel Atari, said Daniel Maoz was innocent and that; “A man who sees his two parents on the floor, murdered, doesn’t always behave in the most rational way.”
Other Related Articles
Mum Blows Son’s Cancer Fund At Casino
Slots Addict Jailed For Stealing $45k From Mother-In-Law
Gambling Grandma Steals £272,000 From Travel Agency
Priest Possessed By The Demon Of Gambling Addiction
Opposition cautions on new gaming regulations
In an interesting commentary on the global expansion of GAMBLING, prohibiting food, drink, and drunks to protect the 'vulnerable' is certainly curious.
Opposition cautions on new gaming regulations
The opposition has cautioned against the social impact that new gaming regulations might have on families.
In a statement yesterday, social policy spokesman Carmelo Abela called on the government to say how it planned to protect vulnerable people before new lottery and gaming regulations come into force.
“The Labour Party doesn’t rely just on the laws but it is imperative that all the administrative measures and regulations are enacted so that the laws are observed by all,” Mr Abela said.
He said it was worrying that the government was going to liberalise sports betting, which would introduce gaming parlours under a new guise.
In a reaction, the Finance Ministry said the new regulations included safeguards for vulnerable people which would ensure that the gambling takes place in “protected places, away from places frequented by children, young people and other vulnerable people”.
“These regulations, which were also agreed upon by the Opposition when discussed, establish the distance these places have to have from centres and place frequented by children, including schools, catechism centres, churches, sporting facilities and playing fields among others,” the ministry said.
The ministry added that the new places would be under surveillance all the time, while sale of food and drink would be prohibited. People under the influence of alcohol would not be allowed in.
Opposition cautions on new gaming regulations
The opposition has cautioned against the social impact that new gaming regulations might have on families.
In a statement yesterday, social policy spokesman Carmelo Abela called on the government to say how it planned to protect vulnerable people before new lottery and gaming regulations come into force.
“The Labour Party doesn’t rely just on the laws but it is imperative that all the administrative measures and regulations are enacted so that the laws are observed by all,” Mr Abela said.
He said it was worrying that the government was going to liberalise sports betting, which would introduce gaming parlours under a new guise.
In a reaction, the Finance Ministry said the new regulations included safeguards for vulnerable people which would ensure that the gambling takes place in “protected places, away from places frequented by children, young people and other vulnerable people”.
“These regulations, which were also agreed upon by the Opposition when discussed, establish the distance these places have to have from centres and place frequented by children, including schools, catechism centres, churches, sporting facilities and playing fields among others,” the ministry said.
The ministry added that the new places would be under surveillance all the time, while sale of food and drink would be prohibited. People under the influence of alcohol would not be allowed in.
Friday, September 23, 2011
Lambert: Blackmail for casino support
Lambert: Blackmail for casino support
The MetroWest Daily News
MARLBOROUGH —
The Massachusetts Cultural Council has solicited from recipients of its funding implicit favorable comment for casino legislation in Massachusetts. The Council expects passage of the bill will provide arts and non-profit cultural organizations in the state new revenues from expanded gambling. How much and for how long is not stated, but "several million dollars could result" for the Council Investment Portfolio (CIP). That portfolio consists of grants to the various cultural organizations.
For taking the requested action on casino initiatives, grant applicants will get "credit" (sic) in their present and future funding requests. How "credit" affects MCC action on the funding applications can only be guessed from the Council e-mails on casino legislation. Recognize the "credit" ploy for what it is: plain and simple political blackmail. Write your legislator tacitly supporting the casino provisions or risk rejection of your grant applications for funding.
However, as to funding from casino revenues, experience with similar other legislative promises in the past recommends caution. Over the years, state government has reneged on its promises to devote specific revenues to particular interests.
Sales tax receipts were originally supposed to be wholly directed to the support of public education. But portions have since been diverted elsewhere.
Billions extracted in settlements with tobacco companies were meant for anti-smoking campaigns and off-sets for medical expenses incurred by the state in the treatment of tobacco sickened citizens. Significant portions of those revenues have been directed elsewhere.
Editorial boards have minimized the rates of gambling addiction in the population and praised elements in the proposed casino legislation providing payments for the treatment of addicts. The editors did not (do not) mention that in the current recession the treatment and casino funding therefore have been sharply reduced elsewhere and even eliminated (Wall Street Journal). Massachusetts is likely to do the same in future downturns and fiscal distress.
But unkept promises aside, it is disappointing that the MCC would seek to benefit from predations on the very populations MCC serves and the cultural values it wishes to advance. Arts, drama and music require discipline, hard work, skill and craftsmanship. Gambling instills a counter-culture elevating all the contrary behaviors. One would think MCC would be more squeamish about the sources of its money. Apparently it is not. Accordingly, it submits to the political bribery and thuggery employed in the advancement of casino legislation.
JOHN P. LAMBERT,
Marlborough
The MetroWest Daily News
MARLBOROUGH —
The Massachusetts Cultural Council has solicited from recipients of its funding implicit favorable comment for casino legislation in Massachusetts. The Council expects passage of the bill will provide arts and non-profit cultural organizations in the state new revenues from expanded gambling. How much and for how long is not stated, but "several million dollars could result" for the Council Investment Portfolio (CIP). That portfolio consists of grants to the various cultural organizations.
For taking the requested action on casino initiatives, grant applicants will get "credit" (sic) in their present and future funding requests. How "credit" affects MCC action on the funding applications can only be guessed from the Council e-mails on casino legislation. Recognize the "credit" ploy for what it is: plain and simple political blackmail. Write your legislator tacitly supporting the casino provisions or risk rejection of your grant applications for funding.
However, as to funding from casino revenues, experience with similar other legislative promises in the past recommends caution. Over the years, state government has reneged on its promises to devote specific revenues to particular interests.
Sales tax receipts were originally supposed to be wholly directed to the support of public education. But portions have since been diverted elsewhere.
Billions extracted in settlements with tobacco companies were meant for anti-smoking campaigns and off-sets for medical expenses incurred by the state in the treatment of tobacco sickened citizens. Significant portions of those revenues have been directed elsewhere.
Editorial boards have minimized the rates of gambling addiction in the population and praised elements in the proposed casino legislation providing payments for the treatment of addicts. The editors did not (do not) mention that in the current recession the treatment and casino funding therefore have been sharply reduced elsewhere and even eliminated (Wall Street Journal). Massachusetts is likely to do the same in future downturns and fiscal distress.
But unkept promises aside, it is disappointing that the MCC would seek to benefit from predations on the very populations MCC serves and the cultural values it wishes to advance. Arts, drama and music require discipline, hard work, skill and craftsmanship. Gambling instills a counter-culture elevating all the contrary behaviors. One would think MCC would be more squeamish about the sources of its money. Apparently it is not. Accordingly, it submits to the political bribery and thuggery employed in the advancement of casino legislation.
JOHN P. LAMBERT,
Marlborough
Thursday, September 22, 2011
Conroy: Casinos are a loser
Conroy: Casinos are a loser
By Tom Conroy/Guest columnist
The MetroWest Daily News
SUDBURY — Last week, the Massachusetts House of Representatives voted to authorize the development of three resort casinos and one slot parlor in Massachusetts. As I have said before, I do not believe that this is the right direction for Massachusetts, and I spoke out against this legislation on the floor of the House to urge my colleagues to vote against the bill. Unfortunately, the majority of my colleagues voted in favor of this legislation, and the Senate is expected to pass this bill soon, and the Governor is expected to sign it into law.
Expanded gambling in the Commonwealth is being touted as a jobs bill, yet there is a better way to create better jobs in better industries that are better for Massachusetts.
I have consistently opposed the legislature’s proposals for expanding gambling in the Commonwealth. In 2008, I wrote a detailed, 20-page report analyzing the qualitative and quantitative costs and benefits of Governor Patrick’s initial three resort casino proposal.
The cost-benefit analysis I did shows that expanding gambling in the Commonwealth is not a winning proposal for the people of Massachusetts. The costs are consistently understated, while the benefits are frequently overstated in terms of both revenues and jobs. We only have to look at other states’ experiences of late — check out Nevada, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and others — to see that expanding gambling in not a winning economic proposition.
During my tenure in the legislature, my top priority has consistently been preserving and increasing local aid to municipalities in order to support education, public works, and public safety. The cost-benefit analysis I did shows that three resort casinos in Massachusetts could steal from the lottery approximately $200 million that gets distributed as local aid to our towns.
That could put at risk hundreds of thousands of municipal employee jobs across the state: teachers, firefighters, police, public works employees, and others. We shouldn’t be gambling with local aid by moving forward with casino gambling.
When all the costs are tabulated, including the added costs of a new state government bureaucracy, new infrastructure needs, enhanced public safety efforts, and social costs, it is not clear that even the highest revenue estimates will be enough to substantially offset the costs associated with these proposals. I filed an amendment that would protect local aid by requiring the casino and slot parlor licensees to offset any cannibalization of lottery revenues/local aid, but the amendment was rejected as overly pessimistic.
I also oppose expanded gambling because it will have a devastating effect on small businesses across the Commonwealth. Supporting an industry that will undermine our state’s biggest job creators while offering an uncertain and unstable revenue source is not a smart economic policy for Massachusetts.
I believe that instead of gambling with our Commonwealth’s economy in such a fragile economic climate, we should be focused on investing in industries that are exportable — such as high-tech manufacturing, life sciences/bio tech, and renewable energy — and that fit the Massachusetts brand. In addition, we could create as many as 200,000 jobs over five years if we were to address the billions of dollars of unmet public transportation and infrastructure needs we have in this state.
Despite my consistent opposition to expanded gambling in 2008, 2010, and this year, at least four of my ideas to strengthen protections for casino employees, casino patrons, local communities, and local aid were included in the final casino legislation that was approved by the House of Representatives this session.
I hope that you will take the time to contact your state senators and the governor to share your perspectives on expanded gambling legislation, as this bill is moving quickly through the legislative process.
Tom Conroy is state representative for Lincoln, Sudbury, and Wayland and can be reached at Thomas.conroy@mahouse.gov or 617-722-2430.
By Tom Conroy/Guest columnist
The MetroWest Daily News
SUDBURY — Last week, the Massachusetts House of Representatives voted to authorize the development of three resort casinos and one slot parlor in Massachusetts. As I have said before, I do not believe that this is the right direction for Massachusetts, and I spoke out against this legislation on the floor of the House to urge my colleagues to vote against the bill. Unfortunately, the majority of my colleagues voted in favor of this legislation, and the Senate is expected to pass this bill soon, and the Governor is expected to sign it into law.
Expanded gambling in the Commonwealth is being touted as a jobs bill, yet there is a better way to create better jobs in better industries that are better for Massachusetts.
I have consistently opposed the legislature’s proposals for expanding gambling in the Commonwealth. In 2008, I wrote a detailed, 20-page report analyzing the qualitative and quantitative costs and benefits of Governor Patrick’s initial three resort casino proposal.
The cost-benefit analysis I did shows that expanding gambling in the Commonwealth is not a winning proposal for the people of Massachusetts. The costs are consistently understated, while the benefits are frequently overstated in terms of both revenues and jobs. We only have to look at other states’ experiences of late — check out Nevada, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and others — to see that expanding gambling in not a winning economic proposition.
During my tenure in the legislature, my top priority has consistently been preserving and increasing local aid to municipalities in order to support education, public works, and public safety. The cost-benefit analysis I did shows that three resort casinos in Massachusetts could steal from the lottery approximately $200 million that gets distributed as local aid to our towns.
That could put at risk hundreds of thousands of municipal employee jobs across the state: teachers, firefighters, police, public works employees, and others. We shouldn’t be gambling with local aid by moving forward with casino gambling.
When all the costs are tabulated, including the added costs of a new state government bureaucracy, new infrastructure needs, enhanced public safety efforts, and social costs, it is not clear that even the highest revenue estimates will be enough to substantially offset the costs associated with these proposals. I filed an amendment that would protect local aid by requiring the casino and slot parlor licensees to offset any cannibalization of lottery revenues/local aid, but the amendment was rejected as overly pessimistic.
I also oppose expanded gambling because it will have a devastating effect on small businesses across the Commonwealth. Supporting an industry that will undermine our state’s biggest job creators while offering an uncertain and unstable revenue source is not a smart economic policy for Massachusetts.
I believe that instead of gambling with our Commonwealth’s economy in such a fragile economic climate, we should be focused on investing in industries that are exportable — such as high-tech manufacturing, life sciences/bio tech, and renewable energy — and that fit the Massachusetts brand. In addition, we could create as many as 200,000 jobs over five years if we were to address the billions of dollars of unmet public transportation and infrastructure needs we have in this state.
Despite my consistent opposition to expanded gambling in 2008, 2010, and this year, at least four of my ideas to strengthen protections for casino employees, casino patrons, local communities, and local aid were included in the final casino legislation that was approved by the House of Representatives this session.
I hope that you will take the time to contact your state senators and the governor to share your perspectives on expanded gambling legislation, as this bill is moving quickly through the legislative process.
Tom Conroy is state representative for Lincoln, Sudbury, and Wayland and can be reached at Thomas.conroy@mahouse.gov or 617-722-2430.
Wednesday, September 21, 2011
“The Smartest Guys Not in the Room”
From our friends at Stop Predatory Gambling - worth reading in its entirety --
Today we released “The Smartest Guys Not in the Room” report. It is an incredible list of gambling operators, slot machine designers and public officials who profit from and promote government's predatory gambling program, but who don't gamble themselves. It’s a quick but memorable must-read. You can find it here on our website.
Why don’t most predatory gambling operators and promoters lose their own money gambling? Because the government policy of casinos and lotteries is based on deceiving citizens into thinking they can win money, despite the mathematical certainty they will lose their money over time. The more frequently they gamble, the more money they will lose.
It is like Ken Lay, the infamous CEO of the failed energy giant Enron, raising the hopes of thousands of his employees by telling them their retirement funds invested in the company are safe, while at the same time he was selling millions of dollars of his own company stock before it tanked.
If they did gamble regularly like those citizens in Philadelphia who are now losing their money in casinos more than 200 times a year, they would understand why government needs to get out of the predatory gambling business. Because as former three-term New York Governor Mario Cuomo once said, “Anyone who has ever seen the problems gambling creates for families could never be in favor of establishing casinos.”
I am asking you to please share "The Smartest Guys Not In the Room" with your email list and any social networks you participate in like Facebook and Twitter.
If you support our efforts to educate America about why government needs to get out of the predatory gambling business more than ever, please donate today.
Thank you,
Les Bernal
Executive Director
Stop Predatory Gambling Foundation
Today we released “The Smartest Guys Not in the Room” report. It is an incredible list of gambling operators, slot machine designers and public officials who profit from and promote government's predatory gambling program, but who don't gamble themselves. It’s a quick but memorable must-read. You can find it here on our website.
Why don’t most predatory gambling operators and promoters lose their own money gambling? Because the government policy of casinos and lotteries is based on deceiving citizens into thinking they can win money, despite the mathematical certainty they will lose their money over time. The more frequently they gamble, the more money they will lose.
It is like Ken Lay, the infamous CEO of the failed energy giant Enron, raising the hopes of thousands of his employees by telling them their retirement funds invested in the company are safe, while at the same time he was selling millions of dollars of his own company stock before it tanked.
If they did gamble regularly like those citizens in Philadelphia who are now losing their money in casinos more than 200 times a year, they would understand why government needs to get out of the predatory gambling business. Because as former three-term New York Governor Mario Cuomo once said, “Anyone who has ever seen the problems gambling creates for families could never be in favor of establishing casinos.”
I am asking you to please share "The Smartest Guys Not In the Room" with your email list and any social networks you participate in like Facebook and Twitter.
If you support our efforts to educate America about why government needs to get out of the predatory gambling business more than ever, please donate today.
Thank you,
Les Bernal
Executive Director
Stop Predatory Gambling Foundation
Massachusetts: 12th Bristol Election
There are many reasons for the election results and it
should be noted that Keiko Orrall was ANTI - Slot Barns.
She came out early in the campaign and won attention
for her opposition.
In addition, Senator Pacheco endorsed Roger Brunelle,
a union activist. Unions got the Senator elected and anti-
union sentiment is growing.
There are local grumblings about the Senator's failures
to assist Middleboro residents in the resolution of their
difficulties in a senior mobile home park and much
else. Remember seniors vote in high percentages!
Former Rep, Canessa, who had vacated this seat,
stepped forward and assisted.
The Senator's name is also connected to the Probation Dept.
scandal.
As for me? Senator Pacheco has been so blinded by the Fools'
Gold of Slot Barns, he turned his back on me in a public forum
after a "Shill" made a comment about supporting Predatory
Gambling. Then the Senator left Gardner Auditorium as I
got up to speak after I endured listening to the Senator invoke
the name of his "Patron Saint of Slot Barns" repeatedly and
misstate facts.
The Senator has stopped listening and is losing support as a
consequence.
There is also widespread local anger about the tactics Marsha
Brunelle (the candidate's mother) employed to silence public
comments when she was Chairwoman of the Board of Selectmen
and local condemnation has been voiced.
It is my understanding that during a public debate, the candidate
packed the audience with carefully scripted questions for which he
was prepared and when asked an unscripted question, he
fumbled. I witnessed his previous employment of that tactic.
Yes, it's about corruption, but is this the first "ANTI-CASINO"
vote as well?
should be noted that Keiko Orrall was ANTI - Slot Barns.
She came out early in the campaign and won attention
for her opposition.
In addition, Senator Pacheco endorsed Roger Brunelle,
a union activist. Unions got the Senator elected and anti-
union sentiment is growing.
There are local grumblings about the Senator's failures
to assist Middleboro residents in the resolution of their
difficulties in a senior mobile home park and much
else. Remember seniors vote in high percentages!
Former Rep, Canessa, who had vacated this seat,
stepped forward and assisted.
The Senator's name is also connected to the Probation Dept.
scandal.
As for me? Senator Pacheco has been so blinded by the Fools'
Gold of Slot Barns, he turned his back on me in a public forum
after a "Shill" made a comment about supporting Predatory
Gambling. Then the Senator left Gardner Auditorium as I
got up to speak after I endured listening to the Senator invoke
the name of his "Patron Saint of Slot Barns" repeatedly and
misstate facts.
The Senator has stopped listening and is losing support as a
consequence.
There is also widespread local anger about the tactics Marsha
Brunelle (the candidate's mother) employed to silence public
comments when she was Chairwoman of the Board of Selectmen
and local condemnation has been voiced.
It is my understanding that during a public debate, the candidate
packed the audience with carefully scripted questions for which he
was prepared and when asked an unscripted question, he
fumbled. I witnessed his previous employment of that tactic.
Yes, it's about corruption, but is this the first "ANTI-CASINO"
vote as well?
Tuesday, September 20, 2011
Massachusetts: Beacon Hill, A Caricature of Itself
Governor "Slot Barns," House Speaker "Racino," and Senate President "Ca-Ching" negotiated a back room deal for the proposed 'Slot Barn' Legislation.
(Folks, for $500 million, you get a "Slot Barn," not some elegant promised Destination Resort Slot Barn, or as Senator Tucker described it: "Slots in a Box.")
Governor "Slot Barns" agreed to support an INDEPENDENT COST BENEFIT ANALYSIS and developed amnesia after his re-election, betraying his own party because his sights are clearly on higher office.
Governor "Slot Barns" promised Native Americans he would support a Tribal Slot Barn in Freetown.
It is highly plausible that Governor "Slot Barns" made promises to Bob Kraft, which explains his devotion to that pedestrian bridge.
Few represent the arrogance of Beacon Hill better than Rep. Kathi-Anne Reinstein, as my favorite nosy neighbor Gladys represented her.
Beacon Hill has become nothing more than a caricature of its corrupt public personage so blinded and out of touch with public perception that they fail to recognize the ugly image.
(Folks, for $500 million, you get a "Slot Barn," not some elegant promised Destination Resort Slot Barn, or as Senator Tucker described it: "Slots in a Box.")
Governor "Slot Barns" agreed to support an INDEPENDENT COST BENEFIT ANALYSIS and developed amnesia after his re-election, betraying his own party because his sights are clearly on higher office.
Governor "Slot Barns" promised Native Americans he would support a Tribal Slot Barn in Freetown.
It is highly plausible that Governor "Slot Barns" made promises to Bob Kraft, which explains his devotion to that pedestrian bridge.
Few represent the arrogance of Beacon Hill better than Rep. Kathi-Anne Reinstein, as my favorite nosy neighbor Gladys represented her.
Beacon Hill has become nothing more than a caricature of its corrupt public personage so blinded and out of touch with public perception that they fail to recognize the ugly image.
To be sure, there are many fine lawmakers who conduct their research and represent their constituents - but not enough as reflected in the most recent House Slot Barn vote. So much for back room deals and arm twisting.
Representatives willingly caved to House Speaker "Racino" and his rewards to those who genuflected to the leader's commands, knowing additional pay, chairmanships, larger staff and larger offices were the reward for obedience. How pathetic to lack the courage of your convictions over personal rewards?
The 3 Musketeers of Vested Interests can't even pass the expanded Bottle Bill - simple enough because they're too busy having their egoes stroked by Lobbyists and preoccupied with another phony Gambling Bill. There's much else that have been ignored or negotiated in back room deals.
It's time to overcome the exclusion of Massachusetts voters and consider expanding the Open Meeting Law.
The Beacon Hill Rodents who flourish in the dark won't let this pass, but let's ask for its support. And remember their opposition in November.
Beacon Hill Committee Weighs Public Records Changes
BOSTON — A legislative committee is considering a number of changes to the state’s open meeting and public records laws.
If passed, several bills being filed will make it illegal to shut reporters and the public out of government and nonprofit corporate meetings.
Sen. James Eldridge says it will also require all government agencies to give people access to details on things such as their own criminal history.
“Right now it’s very easy for state agencies to deny this information when it’s requested by members of the public, and we want to make it as transparent and accessible as possible,” he said.
One bill mandates all government record-keeping become electronic to improve access while cutting cost and waste.
Dear Senator Donnelly and Representative Kocot, and committee members:
Reforming the Open Meeting laws, G.L.c. 30a Section 18 et. seq. to ensure that the Great and General Court and Constitutional Officers are also subject to the Open Meeting laws of the Commonwealth has become a critical matter to the citizens of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.
Every other governmental organ, whether it is the Boston City Council or the Arlington School Committee is subject to open meeting laws so as to protect the public against corruption, and protect those who govern from undue temptations behind closed doors.
Open meeting laws, crafted so as to protect but not unduly burden, are necessary to regain the public’s trust and confidence in government. There have been many scandals where money influences those who govern, those who spend tax payer dollars, and those who hire. A well crafted Open Meeting law would have prevented many, and perhaps all of these scandals.
The public is outraged, and rightly so. A Speaker convicted of taking money to influence contracts, a Probation Commissioner indicted for allegedly selling jobs, laundering of campaign funds, legislation drafted with no public hearings or cost benefit studies - all of these events could only happen because the legislature and Beacon Hill are 100% exempt from any and all open meeting laws and regulations.
To regain taxpayer and voter confidence, Beacon Hill must include itself in G.L.c. 30A, with the definition of "Public Body" being amended to insert the words "General Court and all constitutional officers" after the word "town".
Respectfully submitted:
Deborah Sirotkin Butler, Esquire
cc:
Sen. James T. Welch, Rep. James M. Murphy, Sen. Susan Fargo, Sen Michael J. Rodrigues, Sen. John F. Keenan, Sen. Bruce F. Tarr, Rep. David M. Nangle, Rep. Michael D. Brady, Rep. Jason M. Lewis, Rep. James J. Lyons, Jr., Rep. Kevin Aguilar, Rep. Kate Hogan, Rep. Edward F. Coppinger, Rep. Steven L. Levy
GAMBLING DEBTS NEARLY DROVE ME TO SUICIDE
GAMBLING DEBTS NEARLY DROVE ME TO SUICIDE
Snooker legend Willie Thorne lived a double life
By Jane Symons
To fans he was Mr Maximum, the genius with a cue who repeatedly racked up perfect scores. But when he stepped out of the limelight he was consumed by doubts, depression and despair.
His legendary love of gambling had grown into an addiction and as the years went on, his hand-eye co-ordination began to fail — perhaps a warning sign of the cataracts he was to develop.
As he reveals in his new autobiography, Taking a Punt On My Life, the days of big earnings were slipping away and the bookmakers, money lenders and taxman were closing in.
“I found it very easy to pretend nothing was wrong but as soon as I was home and the door closed behind me, I just slumped into a chair and vegetated.”
Then one Monday afternoon in 2002, Willie decided to take “the coward’s way out” and swallowed as many sleeping tablets as he could lay his hands on. “I just couldn’t face life, I couldn’t face being a failure,” he admits.
Depression and insomnia have been lifelong companions but Willie Thorne found it impossible to talk about his feelings
“It all seemed very easy and very natural, as if I was preparing for a good night’s sleep – except the number of pills I was swallowing was enough to ensure it would be the last night’s sleep I would ever have on this earth.”
It wasn’t a sudden decision. “The thought of killing myself had been in my head for a while.” In a Bangkok hotel he had stood in his top floor room looking out of the window - but not for the view. “I was thinking to myself, that if I had enough courage I could jump.”
Looking back, he says: “I was a coward, I was a coward for not doing it, then later I was a coward for not doing it properly.” Now, he says he was a coward for ever thinking he could leave his children, wife Jill and his adoring mother in such a selfish way.
Luckily when his 11-year-old stepson James returned from school he realised something was wrong and Willie was rushed to hospital. “My eyes opened several hours later and immediately started filling with tears.”
Depression and insomnia have been lifelong companions but Willie found it impossible to talk about his feelings. He almost picked up the phone to call Samaritans and a few months before his suicide attempt Willie spoke to his doctor about feeling stressed and having trouble sleeping. But he gave no hint of an increasingly desperate struggle to juggle his debts and the daily thoughts of death.
In the months following the suicide attempt, he was prescribed Prozac but decided therapy was not for him. Having his demons dragged into the daylight and coming clean about the extent of his gambling debts and depression, have been his way of working through it.
It’s not an approach he recommends and his advice to anyone else struggling with depression is: “Go and seek help”. He says: “It’s almost too embarrassing speaking to family or friends, even though they love you more than anyone but at least talk to your doctor.”
Willie still has down days, and bears the scars of those dark years. “It was incredibly stressful and I’m paying for it now. I had a mild stroke last year and to be honest, I’m surprised I didn’t have one before. I was living on my nerves.”
The stroke hit in the middle of a thank you speech at a charity event. “I realised I had started slurring my words and was all over the place. It had been a long week and I just apologised explaining I was tired.” As he returned to his seat, his stepson James, now a young man, told him: “Do you realise that for 30 seconds you just mumbled, you made no sense at all?”
It is probably the second time James has saved Willie’s life because when they got home he mentioned the incident to his mother. Jill, a speech therapist, realised it could be serious.
“She insisted I went to the doctor who said my blood pressure it was the highest could be and sent me straight down to hospital to have a scan.” It revealed Willie had suffered a mini-stroke. He was prescribed statins and pills for hypertension and told to lose weight.
Like all the celebrity contestants, Willie lost some weight during his brief, but memorable, stint on Strictly Come Dancing. He loved the show and has just two regrets — being voted off so early and strutting his stuff on the dancefloor at the end-of-show party. He had only just come out of plaster after breaking his leg in a golfing accident and after waking in pain the following day discovered he had broken his leg again.
The past few years have been a difficult time for Willie, his brother Malcolm, to whom he was incredibly close, was having treatment for cancer of the throat. “He had been to the doctor’s on five or six occasions because he could not get rid of this cough. The doctor kept giving him cough stuff. By the time it was diagnosed it had spread to his lungs.”
Malcolm, who managed a snooker hall had chemotherapy and radiotherapy “which knocked him sideways”, but earlier this year he died, with his wife and Willie by his bedside.
“It is so unfair,” Willie says. “Malcolm was never a smoker and had never been a drinker. He was a passive smoker in that he worked in snooker clubs which were thick with it. Roy Castle got it from passive smoking too but why didn’t I?” he asks with perhaps a touch of guilt. “Some of the clubs I played in the early years you could barely see the other side of the room. Why does it get some people and not others?” he asks.
Then he answers his own question. “I might not have been a lucky gambler but I have to realise that in so many other ways, I am a very lucky man.”
To order Taking a Punt On My Life by Willie Thorne (Vision Sports Publishing, £18.99) with free UK delivery, call 0871 988 8367 (10p/min from BT landlines) with your card details, or send a cheque payable to Express Newspapers to: The Express Bookshop, PO Box 200, Falmouth, TR11 4WJ or order via www.expressbookshop.co.uk
Snooker legend Willie Thorne lived a double life
By Jane Symons
To fans he was Mr Maximum, the genius with a cue who repeatedly racked up perfect scores. But when he stepped out of the limelight he was consumed by doubts, depression and despair.
His legendary love of gambling had grown into an addiction and as the years went on, his hand-eye co-ordination began to fail — perhaps a warning sign of the cataracts he was to develop.
As he reveals in his new autobiography, Taking a Punt On My Life, the days of big earnings were slipping away and the bookmakers, money lenders and taxman were closing in.
“I found it very easy to pretend nothing was wrong but as soon as I was home and the door closed behind me, I just slumped into a chair and vegetated.”
Then one Monday afternoon in 2002, Willie decided to take “the coward’s way out” and swallowed as many sleeping tablets as he could lay his hands on. “I just couldn’t face life, I couldn’t face being a failure,” he admits.
Depression and insomnia have been lifelong companions but Willie Thorne found it impossible to talk about his feelings
“It all seemed very easy and very natural, as if I was preparing for a good night’s sleep – except the number of pills I was swallowing was enough to ensure it would be the last night’s sleep I would ever have on this earth.”
It wasn’t a sudden decision. “The thought of killing myself had been in my head for a while.” In a Bangkok hotel he had stood in his top floor room looking out of the window - but not for the view. “I was thinking to myself, that if I had enough courage I could jump.”
Looking back, he says: “I was a coward, I was a coward for not doing it, then later I was a coward for not doing it properly.” Now, he says he was a coward for ever thinking he could leave his children, wife Jill and his adoring mother in such a selfish way.
Luckily when his 11-year-old stepson James returned from school he realised something was wrong and Willie was rushed to hospital. “My eyes opened several hours later and immediately started filling with tears.”
Depression and insomnia have been lifelong companions but Willie found it impossible to talk about his feelings. He almost picked up the phone to call Samaritans and a few months before his suicide attempt Willie spoke to his doctor about feeling stressed and having trouble sleeping. But he gave no hint of an increasingly desperate struggle to juggle his debts and the daily thoughts of death.
In the months following the suicide attempt, he was prescribed Prozac but decided therapy was not for him. Having his demons dragged into the daylight and coming clean about the extent of his gambling debts and depression, have been his way of working through it.
It’s not an approach he recommends and his advice to anyone else struggling with depression is: “Go and seek help”. He says: “It’s almost too embarrassing speaking to family or friends, even though they love you more than anyone but at least talk to your doctor.”
Willie still has down days, and bears the scars of those dark years. “It was incredibly stressful and I’m paying for it now. I had a mild stroke last year and to be honest, I’m surprised I didn’t have one before. I was living on my nerves.”
The stroke hit in the middle of a thank you speech at a charity event. “I realised I had started slurring my words and was all over the place. It had been a long week and I just apologised explaining I was tired.” As he returned to his seat, his stepson James, now a young man, told him: “Do you realise that for 30 seconds you just mumbled, you made no sense at all?”
It is probably the second time James has saved Willie’s life because when they got home he mentioned the incident to his mother. Jill, a speech therapist, realised it could be serious.
“She insisted I went to the doctor who said my blood pressure it was the highest could be and sent me straight down to hospital to have a scan.” It revealed Willie had suffered a mini-stroke. He was prescribed statins and pills for hypertension and told to lose weight.
Like all the celebrity contestants, Willie lost some weight during his brief, but memorable, stint on Strictly Come Dancing. He loved the show and has just two regrets — being voted off so early and strutting his stuff on the dancefloor at the end-of-show party. He had only just come out of plaster after breaking his leg in a golfing accident and after waking in pain the following day discovered he had broken his leg again.
The past few years have been a difficult time for Willie, his brother Malcolm, to whom he was incredibly close, was having treatment for cancer of the throat. “He had been to the doctor’s on five or six occasions because he could not get rid of this cough. The doctor kept giving him cough stuff. By the time it was diagnosed it had spread to his lungs.”
Malcolm, who managed a snooker hall had chemotherapy and radiotherapy “which knocked him sideways”, but earlier this year he died, with his wife and Willie by his bedside.
“It is so unfair,” Willie says. “Malcolm was never a smoker and had never been a drinker. He was a passive smoker in that he worked in snooker clubs which were thick with it. Roy Castle got it from passive smoking too but why didn’t I?” he asks with perhaps a touch of guilt. “Some of the clubs I played in the early years you could barely see the other side of the room. Why does it get some people and not others?” he asks.
Then he answers his own question. “I might not have been a lucky gambler but I have to realise that in so many other ways, I am a very lucky man.”
To order Taking a Punt On My Life by Willie Thorne (Vision Sports Publishing, £18.99) with free UK delivery, call 0871 988 8367 (10p/min from BT landlines) with your card details, or send a cheque payable to Express Newspapers to: The Express Bookshop, PO Box 200, Falmouth, TR11 4WJ or order via www.expressbookshop.co.uk
Trusted probate trustee gets prison for stealing
Trusted probate trustee gets prison for stealing
Written by
Greg Moran
SAN DIEGO — In her role as one of the most highly regarded private fiduciaries in the county, Teresa Laggner was appointed scores of times by the probate court to oversee trust accounts, conservatorships and estates.
Teresa Laggner, a private fiduciary, is shown in February before pleading guilty in federal court in San Diego to stealing thousands of dollars from client trust accounts to fund a gambling addiction. On Monday, she was sentenced to 18 months in prison. — John Gastaldo She built a reputation for scruples and integrity, known for being exacting and meticulous when it came to accounting for the millions of dollars she had control over.
But unknown to those same lawyers and judges was the state of Laggner’s personal life, as disorganized and chaotic as her professional life seemed precise and ordered.
That other life was revealed in federal court Monday when Laggner, 56, was sentenced to 18 months in prison for draining hundreds of thousands of dollars from client trust accounts over the course of a single year. The money was used to feed a voracious gambling habit at local casinos, where Laggner racked up more than $1 million in losses over the past four years.
She lived in squalor in what her lawyers described as “an unclean, unsafe hoarding condition” in her Lakeside home. Entire rooms were closed off because they were overstuffed with trash and possessions. The master bathroom was unusable.
Laggner’s daughter said the home was full of dog feces and urine, and it was “unwise” to open the overstocked kitchen pantry because the food inside had gone rancid.
Defense lawyer Dana Grimes contended that the disarray in Laggner’s personal life was a symptom of her deep depression and long-suppressed mental anxiety. Her first husband physically and emotionally abused her, according to court papers. When he came home he would don white gloves and inspect the house for cleanliness. If it was dirty, Laggner was punished.
That marriage ended in divorce, and Laggner eventually built up her business as a private fiduciary. These positions are regulated by the state Department of Consumer Affairs, but that agency does not have any investigators to monitor the work of fiduciaries.
Laggner was appointed to oversee dozens of trusts, a power that gave her the authority to open bank accounts for the trust assets under her management. Last October, she was overseeing a combined $20 million in assets.
Prosecutors said she would transfer funds from the trust accounts into her personal accounts via online banking. Money was then transferred to her players account at Barona Casino & Resort, where she played almost daily.
At first, prosecutors pegged the losses from the trusts at $1 million. On Monday, that amount was lowered to $471,000, Assistant U.S. Attorney Christopher Tenorio said. The difference comes from $600,000 in fees that Laggner was entitled to have for managing one large estate.
U.S. District Judge Larry Burns was skeptical about the size of those fees, but Tenorio told him that they were properly paid out according to the terms of the trust.
Like all fiduciaries, Laggner was required to be bonded when taking on an estate, and insurers will likely have to make the trusts whole.
Laggner has been diagnosed with depression and — not surprisingly — having a gambling addiction. Burns said he was sympathetic with her plight but that did not justify or excuse taking advantage of her position with the court and the trusts of the people whose money she oversaw.
Since charges were filed in January, Laggner has been working with the courts to provide accounting for the cases she worked on. The court had immediately suspended her when learning of the charges.
Tenorio said Laggner’s cooperation led the government to seek a lighter sentence than called for and asked for a two-year term. She had faced a minimum of 37 months in prison.
Grimes said Laggner should be given probation.
Burns disagreed and said a prison sentence would send a signal to others.
“A sentence in this case sends a shot across the bow to other fiduciaries who might have their thumb on the scales,” he said.
Written by
Greg Moran
SAN DIEGO — In her role as one of the most highly regarded private fiduciaries in the county, Teresa Laggner was appointed scores of times by the probate court to oversee trust accounts, conservatorships and estates.
Teresa Laggner, a private fiduciary, is shown in February before pleading guilty in federal court in San Diego to stealing thousands of dollars from client trust accounts to fund a gambling addiction. On Monday, she was sentenced to 18 months in prison. — John Gastaldo She built a reputation for scruples and integrity, known for being exacting and meticulous when it came to accounting for the millions of dollars she had control over.
But unknown to those same lawyers and judges was the state of Laggner’s personal life, as disorganized and chaotic as her professional life seemed precise and ordered.
That other life was revealed in federal court Monday when Laggner, 56, was sentenced to 18 months in prison for draining hundreds of thousands of dollars from client trust accounts over the course of a single year. The money was used to feed a voracious gambling habit at local casinos, where Laggner racked up more than $1 million in losses over the past four years.
She lived in squalor in what her lawyers described as “an unclean, unsafe hoarding condition” in her Lakeside home. Entire rooms were closed off because they were overstuffed with trash and possessions. The master bathroom was unusable.
Laggner’s daughter said the home was full of dog feces and urine, and it was “unwise” to open the overstocked kitchen pantry because the food inside had gone rancid.
Defense lawyer Dana Grimes contended that the disarray in Laggner’s personal life was a symptom of her deep depression and long-suppressed mental anxiety. Her first husband physically and emotionally abused her, according to court papers. When he came home he would don white gloves and inspect the house for cleanliness. If it was dirty, Laggner was punished.
That marriage ended in divorce, and Laggner eventually built up her business as a private fiduciary. These positions are regulated by the state Department of Consumer Affairs, but that agency does not have any investigators to monitor the work of fiduciaries.
Laggner was appointed to oversee dozens of trusts, a power that gave her the authority to open bank accounts for the trust assets under her management. Last October, she was overseeing a combined $20 million in assets.
Prosecutors said she would transfer funds from the trust accounts into her personal accounts via online banking. Money was then transferred to her players account at Barona Casino & Resort, where she played almost daily.
At first, prosecutors pegged the losses from the trusts at $1 million. On Monday, that amount was lowered to $471,000, Assistant U.S. Attorney Christopher Tenorio said. The difference comes from $600,000 in fees that Laggner was entitled to have for managing one large estate.
U.S. District Judge Larry Burns was skeptical about the size of those fees, but Tenorio told him that they were properly paid out according to the terms of the trust.
Like all fiduciaries, Laggner was required to be bonded when taking on an estate, and insurers will likely have to make the trusts whole.
Laggner has been diagnosed with depression and — not surprisingly — having a gambling addiction. Burns said he was sympathetic with her plight but that did not justify or excuse taking advantage of her position with the court and the trusts of the people whose money she oversaw.
Since charges were filed in January, Laggner has been working with the courts to provide accounting for the cases she worked on. The court had immediately suspended her when learning of the charges.
Tenorio said Laggner’s cooperation led the government to seek a lighter sentence than called for and asked for a two-year term. She had faced a minimum of 37 months in prison.
Grimes said Laggner should be given probation.
Burns disagreed and said a prison sentence would send a signal to others.
“A sentence in this case sends a shot across the bow to other fiduciaries who might have their thumb on the scales,” he said.
Gambling addict guilty of fraud
Gambling addict guilty of fraud
By Tracy McLaughlin - Special to the Examiner
MIDLAND — A Midland bookkeeper who pilfered almost $1 million from her employer should do hard time in a penitentiary, a Crown attorney insisted on Monday.
Michele Walter, 48, managed to steal $973,990 in a sophisticated scheme of deception from almost the day she was hired as a bookkeeper for Morden Construction Inc., a family excavation and road building business based in Midland.
Walter, who has pleaded guilty to fraud, sat at the front of the court and hung her head as her lawyer told the court how she was driven by a gambling addiction and couldn't stop herself from stealing the money over an eight year period from 2000 to 2008.
"Ms. Walter is ashamed, embarrassed and humiliated by being involved in the justice system," said defence lawyer Ray Morehan.
"Her actions weren't motivated by greed —she was driven by addictions."
Court heard Walter's Casino Rama player's card showed she gambled away $750,000.
"She rationalized that she would win and be able to pay it back," Morehan said.
Court heard Walter also spent the money paying off personal credit card debts.
It wasn't until the company began some restructuring when one of the owners, Brian Morden, made plans to retire, that the stolen money came to light.
At first, the deceit drove a rift into the Morden family when fingers began pointing at each other.
A search warrant led to the homes of family members, but a further search warrant to the home of the bookkeeper turned up the ugly truth; Walter had been siphoning the money into her own husband's business, Omni-Cad designing and drafting, so that she could then withdraw the money for herself.
The Crown noted Walter has shown no remorse and has made no efforts to pay back even a dime to the Morden family.
"Ms Walter went to great lengths to deceive her employers — it was a sophisticated level of fraud," said Crown attorney Michelle Levasseur, who also noted the report from a probation officer noted that Walter would come to appointments under the influence of alcohol.
While her lawyer is asking for house arrest, the Crown is asking for three years in a Federal prison.
Outside court, Walter's family jeered at reporters as well as the victims, Brian Morden and his wife, Lynn, as they left the court.
Justice Michael Harpur will sentence Walter on Oct. 21.
By Tracy McLaughlin - Special to the Examiner
MIDLAND — A Midland bookkeeper who pilfered almost $1 million from her employer should do hard time in a penitentiary, a Crown attorney insisted on Monday.
Michele Walter, 48, managed to steal $973,990 in a sophisticated scheme of deception from almost the day she was hired as a bookkeeper for Morden Construction Inc., a family excavation and road building business based in Midland.
Walter, who has pleaded guilty to fraud, sat at the front of the court and hung her head as her lawyer told the court how she was driven by a gambling addiction and couldn't stop herself from stealing the money over an eight year period from 2000 to 2008.
"Ms. Walter is ashamed, embarrassed and humiliated by being involved in the justice system," said defence lawyer Ray Morehan.
"Her actions weren't motivated by greed —she was driven by addictions."
Court heard Walter's Casino Rama player's card showed she gambled away $750,000.
"She rationalized that she would win and be able to pay it back," Morehan said.
Court heard Walter also spent the money paying off personal credit card debts.
It wasn't until the company began some restructuring when one of the owners, Brian Morden, made plans to retire, that the stolen money came to light.
At first, the deceit drove a rift into the Morden family when fingers began pointing at each other.
A search warrant led to the homes of family members, but a further search warrant to the home of the bookkeeper turned up the ugly truth; Walter had been siphoning the money into her own husband's business, Omni-Cad designing and drafting, so that she could then withdraw the money for herself.
The Crown noted Walter has shown no remorse and has made no efforts to pay back even a dime to the Morden family.
"Ms Walter went to great lengths to deceive her employers — it was a sophisticated level of fraud," said Crown attorney Michelle Levasseur, who also noted the report from a probation officer noted that Walter would come to appointments under the influence of alcohol.
While her lawyer is asking for house arrest, the Crown is asking for three years in a Federal prison.
Outside court, Walter's family jeered at reporters as well as the victims, Brian Morden and his wife, Lynn, as they left the court.
Justice Michael Harpur will sentence Walter on Oct. 21.
Another Fatal Carjacking in Atlantic City
Vehicle sought in deadly abduction at Atlantic City casino garage
By Jacqueline L. Urgo
Inquirer Staff Writer
MAYS LANDING, N.J. - Sunday morning's deadly abduction of two Middlesex County residents from the garage of the Trump Taj Mahal Casino Resort - the same place where a North Jersey man was carjacked and later murdered last year - was a "random crime of opportunity that could have happened anywhere," Atlantic County's top law official said Monday.
Three men suspected in the latest killing "cased" several casino garages before choosing the Taj Mahal, Prosecutor Theodore Housel said during a Monday news conference. It was "mere happenstance" that two fatal carjackings occurred at the casino within 16 months, he said.
Police are looking for a 2003 gray Saturn Ion with New Jersey tags UTN-66U that may be connected to the crime. The vehicle was reported stolen in Haddonfield late last month, Housel said.
Housel released a grainy surveillance-camera video that shows the suspects, believed to be in their 20s, creeping up a stairwell in the concrete parking garage about 8 a.m., moments before they accosted Radha Ghetia, 24, of Sayreville, and Sunil Rattu, 28, of Old Bridge, near their vehicle. The pair were robbed at gunpoint of what Housel described as an insignificant amount of cash.
The two friends were apparently forced into their vehicle, although no video of the abduction exists, he said.
Accompanied by the suspects and with Rattu in the backseat, Ghetia was forced to drive several blocks to Warren Webb Way, a residential alley that runs parallel to busy Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard.
Neighbors called 911 around 8:26 a.m. to report hearing shots fired. Police found Rattu dead from gunshots to the upper torso and an off-duty firefighter who lives nearby tending to Ghetia, who also was wounded in the upper body. Ghetia was listed in good condition at AtlantiCare Regional Medical Center in Atlantic City on Monday.
Housel would not say whether Ghetia had been able to provide any useful information about the attack. Nor would he say whether the suspects had been captured on surveillance videos at the other casinos, which he refused to name.
"It could have happened anywhere . . . Philadelphia, a casino in Connecticut, or Bethlehem, Pa. These are crimes of opportunity committed by individuals who think there is money to be made," Housel said.
In May 2010, Martin Caballero, 47, of North Bergen, was carjacked in the Taj Mahal garage moments after arriving in Atlantic City to celebrate his daughter's birthday. His body, which had sustained multiple stab wounds and blunt-force trauma, was found in a field about 15 miles from the resort several days later. Craig Arno, 45, of Atlantic City, and Jessica Kisby, 25, of Egg Harbor Township, are awaiting trial in the case.
Asked about security at the Taj Mahal and the resort's other casinos, Housel described it as good. A special Atlantic City Police security detail is routinely assigned to the Taj Mahal, usually overnight, but it was off-duty when the Sunday carjacking occurred, he said.
"I truly believe it is a random coincidence this happened here," Housel said. His best advice to casino patrons, he said, is that they pay attention to their surroundings at all times.
Video of Persons of Interest in A.C. Carjacking Murder Released
By Jacqueline L. Urgo
Inquirer Staff Writer
MAYS LANDING, N.J. - Sunday morning's deadly abduction of two Middlesex County residents from the garage of the Trump Taj Mahal Casino Resort - the same place where a North Jersey man was carjacked and later murdered last year - was a "random crime of opportunity that could have happened anywhere," Atlantic County's top law official said Monday.
Three men suspected in the latest killing "cased" several casino garages before choosing the Taj Mahal, Prosecutor Theodore Housel said during a Monday news conference. It was "mere happenstance" that two fatal carjackings occurred at the casino within 16 months, he said.
Police are looking for a 2003 gray Saturn Ion with New Jersey tags UTN-66U that may be connected to the crime. The vehicle was reported stolen in Haddonfield late last month, Housel said.
Housel released a grainy surveillance-camera video that shows the suspects, believed to be in their 20s, creeping up a stairwell in the concrete parking garage about 8 a.m., moments before they accosted Radha Ghetia, 24, of Sayreville, and Sunil Rattu, 28, of Old Bridge, near their vehicle. The pair were robbed at gunpoint of what Housel described as an insignificant amount of cash.
The two friends were apparently forced into their vehicle, although no video of the abduction exists, he said.
Accompanied by the suspects and with Rattu in the backseat, Ghetia was forced to drive several blocks to Warren Webb Way, a residential alley that runs parallel to busy Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard.
Neighbors called 911 around 8:26 a.m. to report hearing shots fired. Police found Rattu dead from gunshots to the upper torso and an off-duty firefighter who lives nearby tending to Ghetia, who also was wounded in the upper body. Ghetia was listed in good condition at AtlantiCare Regional Medical Center in Atlantic City on Monday.
Housel would not say whether Ghetia had been able to provide any useful information about the attack. Nor would he say whether the suspects had been captured on surveillance videos at the other casinos, which he refused to name.
"It could have happened anywhere . . . Philadelphia, a casino in Connecticut, or Bethlehem, Pa. These are crimes of opportunity committed by individuals who think there is money to be made," Housel said.
In May 2010, Martin Caballero, 47, of North Bergen, was carjacked in the Taj Mahal garage moments after arriving in Atlantic City to celebrate his daughter's birthday. His body, which had sustained multiple stab wounds and blunt-force trauma, was found in a field about 15 miles from the resort several days later. Craig Arno, 45, of Atlantic City, and Jessica Kisby, 25, of Egg Harbor Township, are awaiting trial in the case.
Asked about security at the Taj Mahal and the resort's other casinos, Housel described it as good. A special Atlantic City Police security detail is routinely assigned to the Taj Mahal, usually overnight, but it was off-duty when the Sunday carjacking occurred, he said.
"I truly believe it is a random coincidence this happened here," Housel said. His best advice to casino patrons, he said, is that they pay attention to their surroundings at all times.
Video of Persons of Interest in A.C. Carjacking Murder Released
Monday, September 19, 2011
Government-created gambling addicts are not equal citizens
Worth reading in its entirety:
Government-created gambling addicts are not equal citizens
We are told the public benefit of government’s gambling program is to “create jobs” but the results show it creates far more gambling addicts than jobs. According to the Illinois Gambling Board 2010 Annual Report, the number of people who have put themselves on a “self-exclusion” list to help them stay out of casinos because of gambling addiction – about 8,300 – is over 20% more than the number of people employed by the casinos – about 6,900.
Government-created gambling addicts are not equal citizens
We are told the public benefit of government’s gambling program is to “create jobs” but the results show it creates far more gambling addicts than jobs. According to the Illinois Gambling Board 2010 Annual Report, the number of people who have put themselves on a “self-exclusion” list to help them stay out of casinos because of gambling addiction – about 8,300 – is over 20% more than the number of people employed by the casinos – about 6,900.
Sunday, September 18, 2011
A real pain in the neck
A real pain in the neck
By Yvonne Abraham
Excuse me while I adjust my neck brace. I’m getting spasms just from looking at some legislators’ casino votes.
In 2008, House members were dead-set against expanded gambling in Massachusetts. Led by Speaker Sal DiMasi, a casino opponent, they demolished Governor Deval Patrick’s casino dreams, 106 votes to 48.
On Wednesday night, led by Speaker Bob DeLeo, a slots evangelist, lawmakers embraced casinos - by an even bigger margin, 123 votes to 32. Scores of former opponents were among the yea voters, including some who had trafficked in anticasino fire-and-brimstone three short years ago.
It was a festival of flipping that actually began a year ago when a slew of casino opponents caved. The reversals have been sharp enough to cause whiplash. Now, bringing casinos here is no small thing. Once we’ve done it, we can’t undo it (or control it either, but that’s another column). The industry will transform Massachusetts forever.
So, I can’t imagine legislators took last week’s roll call lightly. I can’t believe their votes were based on anything but the merits of the issues and the dictates of conscience. I mean, they wouldn’t vote with the speaker on something this important just to remain in his good graces, right?
Well, Representative Ellen Story would.
When the Amherst Democrat and gambling opponent first flipped last year, she made no bones about her motivation, now that she has cracked DeLeo’s leadership circle.
“This is the bill he has cared about more than any other bill,’’ she said. “My sense is that there may well be consequences for people voting against this bill - particularly people in his inner circle.’’
Is Story the most honest politician on Beacon Hill, or a favor-currying outlier? I called some other House flippers to find out. Oddly enough, only two called back. Amazingly, both told me the risk of disappointing DeLeo had no influence on their votes, last year or last week.
One was John Scibak, a South Hadley Democrat who voted no three years ago because he feared we would have problems with compulsive gambling. (We will: Michael Jonas, in CommonWealth Magazine, points out that casinos depend on problem gamblers for a whopping 35 percent of their take.)
Scibak’s was not “a philosophical change,’’ he insisted: The bill he voted for includes support for gambling addicts. And in a rotten economy, it promises more revenue - much of which is currently going to Connecticut.
Peter Kocot opposed casinos three years ago because he worried they would eat away at the state lottery. But he said the new legislation will make sure casinos push sales of state lottery tickets
Besides, “things have dramatically changed since 2008,’’ said the Northampton Democrat. Like Scibak, he cited the economy, and cuts to services he cares about.
DeLeo himself voted to scuttle casinos under DiMasi. He may be less of an arm-twister than DiMasi, but the speaker benefits from decades of proud Beacon Hill history, which has schooled legislators from both chambers in the art of favor-seeking contortionism.
I wish I’d heard back from Michael Costello, because I’d like to know why he reversed himself so dramatically. Three years ago, the Newburyport Democrat was vehemently opposed to casinos, for reasons that were recession-proof. He worried that legalizing casinos here would force New Hampshire to follow suit, and that his constituents would head north to gamble, leaving his area with the negative effects of gambling and few of its benefits.
Speaking on the House floor in 2008, Costello said the state had weathered tough economic times before, and could do so again without resorting to casinos. He cast his stance as a courageous one, going against the wishes of unions. “We gotta take tough votes here, folks,’’ he said.
Few took the tough vote Wednesday. But I’m sure it was for all the right reasons.
Ouch! Please pass the Ben-Gay.
By Yvonne Abraham
Excuse me while I adjust my neck brace. I’m getting spasms just from looking at some legislators’ casino votes.
In 2008, House members were dead-set against expanded gambling in Massachusetts. Led by Speaker Sal DiMasi, a casino opponent, they demolished Governor Deval Patrick’s casino dreams, 106 votes to 48.
On Wednesday night, led by Speaker Bob DeLeo, a slots evangelist, lawmakers embraced casinos - by an even bigger margin, 123 votes to 32. Scores of former opponents were among the yea voters, including some who had trafficked in anticasino fire-and-brimstone three short years ago.
It was a festival of flipping that actually began a year ago when a slew of casino opponents caved. The reversals have been sharp enough to cause whiplash. Now, bringing casinos here is no small thing. Once we’ve done it, we can’t undo it (or control it either, but that’s another column). The industry will transform Massachusetts forever.
So, I can’t imagine legislators took last week’s roll call lightly. I can’t believe their votes were based on anything but the merits of the issues and the dictates of conscience. I mean, they wouldn’t vote with the speaker on something this important just to remain in his good graces, right?
Well, Representative Ellen Story would.
When the Amherst Democrat and gambling opponent first flipped last year, she made no bones about her motivation, now that she has cracked DeLeo’s leadership circle.
“This is the bill he has cared about more than any other bill,’’ she said. “My sense is that there may well be consequences for people voting against this bill - particularly people in his inner circle.’’
Is Story the most honest politician on Beacon Hill, or a favor-currying outlier? I called some other House flippers to find out. Oddly enough, only two called back. Amazingly, both told me the risk of disappointing DeLeo had no influence on their votes, last year or last week.
One was John Scibak, a South Hadley Democrat who voted no three years ago because he feared we would have problems with compulsive gambling. (We will: Michael Jonas, in CommonWealth Magazine, points out that casinos depend on problem gamblers for a whopping 35 percent of their take.)
Scibak’s was not “a philosophical change,’’ he insisted: The bill he voted for includes support for gambling addicts. And in a rotten economy, it promises more revenue - much of which is currently going to Connecticut.
Peter Kocot opposed casinos three years ago because he worried they would eat away at the state lottery. But he said the new legislation will make sure casinos push sales of state lottery tickets
Besides, “things have dramatically changed since 2008,’’ said the Northampton Democrat. Like Scibak, he cited the economy, and cuts to services he cares about.
DeLeo himself voted to scuttle casinos under DiMasi. He may be less of an arm-twister than DiMasi, but the speaker benefits from decades of proud Beacon Hill history, which has schooled legislators from both chambers in the art of favor-seeking contortionism.
I wish I’d heard back from Michael Costello, because I’d like to know why he reversed himself so dramatically. Three years ago, the Newburyport Democrat was vehemently opposed to casinos, for reasons that were recession-proof. He worried that legalizing casinos here would force New Hampshire to follow suit, and that his constituents would head north to gamble, leaving his area with the negative effects of gambling and few of its benefits.
Speaking on the House floor in 2008, Costello said the state had weathered tough economic times before, and could do so again without resorting to casinos. He cast his stance as a courageous one, going against the wishes of unions. “We gotta take tough votes here, folks,’’ he said.
Few took the tough vote Wednesday. But I’m sure it was for all the right reasons.
Ouch! Please pass the Ben-Gay.
Massachusetts: Lost Local Businesses
Officials fear casinos could kill local theaters
Music acts could be lured away
By Johanna Seltz
The South Shore Music Circus cut its season short this summer because of Tropical Storm Irene, but local officials worry that resort casinos coming to the state could inflict more lasting damage to the 60-year-old entertainment venue by sweeping away its acts.
“From the Legislature’s perspective, the whole casino bill is being proclaimed as an economic development package - and we need to ensure that it remains just that, and not an economic destruction package,’’ said Cohasset Town Manager Michael Coughlin.
The South Shore Music Circus - a theater in the round under a tent - “drives the engine of the local economy,’’ Coughlin said. “People come into Cohasset for a show, they’re filling up at the local gas station, buying things in our convenience stores and supermarkets, going to our restaurants. On more than one occasion people move here because they saw an act [at the Music Circus] and fell in love with the community.
“We truly need that to be protected from the great sucking sound that could be a large casino,’’ he said.
The fear is that smaller theaters, like the South Shore Music Circus or the Cape Cod Melody Tent, won’t be able to compete for bookings with the casinos, which can afford to pay entertainers far more because their shows don’t need to make money, said Ted Carr, chairman of the Cohasset selectmen. Instead, they’re used to draw people to the casinos for the core business of gambling, he said.
The shows are “a loss leader for them, a tool to get people in,’’ said Troy Siebels, executive director of the Hanover Theatre for the Performing Arts in Worcester. “The dollars are earned at the tables.
“We already are losing business to Connecticut casinos and our concern is, if there are three more [in Massachusetts], it could be the end of us.’’
The local performance centers have banded together to lobby for protections in the casino legislation before the Legislature. The goal is to limit the number of seats in casino theaters so they’re either very small or so large that places like the Music Circus couldn’t afford to bid for those acts anyway, according to Vincent Longo, chief operating officer of both the South Shore Music Circus and Cape Cod Melody Tent. Both theaters have about 2,250 seats.
“It just levels the field slightly,’’ he said. “The casinos don’t have most of the money; they have all of the money.’’
The Performing Arts Center Coalition wants to restrict casino theaters to less than 500 seats or more than 5,000. Longo said House members appeared to favor limits of less than 1,000 seats and more than 3,500. The Senate still has to weigh in on the issue.
“It’s not a perfect solution,’’ Siebels said. “There will certainly still be instances where [the casinos] take an act away, but they won’t do it 200 times a year.’’
But Larry Bonoff, former owner of Rhode Island’s Warwick Musical Theatre, worried that the protections might not be enough. His theater closed in 1999 - the land now houses a Lowes home improvement store - six years after Foxwoods Casino Resort in Connecticut opened its 1,500-seat Fox Theater with a performance by Frank Sinatra.
“My venue was 3,300 seats, and they built a venue half the size and offered twice the money,’’ Bonoff recalled. “The loyalty of the acts can only go so far. It becomes impossible to compete against.’’
The South Shore Music Theater, which employs 105 people each summer, is owned by a nonprofit organization, South Shore Playhouse Associates. But it voluntarily pays Cohasset about $32,000 in property taxes annually, according to town records.
Music acts could be lured away
By Johanna Seltz
The South Shore Music Circus cut its season short this summer because of Tropical Storm Irene, but local officials worry that resort casinos coming to the state could inflict more lasting damage to the 60-year-old entertainment venue by sweeping away its acts.
“From the Legislature’s perspective, the whole casino bill is being proclaimed as an economic development package - and we need to ensure that it remains just that, and not an economic destruction package,’’ said Cohasset Town Manager Michael Coughlin.
The South Shore Music Circus - a theater in the round under a tent - “drives the engine of the local economy,’’ Coughlin said. “People come into Cohasset for a show, they’re filling up at the local gas station, buying things in our convenience stores and supermarkets, going to our restaurants. On more than one occasion people move here because they saw an act [at the Music Circus] and fell in love with the community.
“We truly need that to be protected from the great sucking sound that could be a large casino,’’ he said.
The fear is that smaller theaters, like the South Shore Music Circus or the Cape Cod Melody Tent, won’t be able to compete for bookings with the casinos, which can afford to pay entertainers far more because their shows don’t need to make money, said Ted Carr, chairman of the Cohasset selectmen. Instead, they’re used to draw people to the casinos for the core business of gambling, he said.
The shows are “a loss leader for them, a tool to get people in,’’ said Troy Siebels, executive director of the Hanover Theatre for the Performing Arts in Worcester. “The dollars are earned at the tables.
“We already are losing business to Connecticut casinos and our concern is, if there are three more [in Massachusetts], it could be the end of us.’’
The local performance centers have banded together to lobby for protections in the casino legislation before the Legislature. The goal is to limit the number of seats in casino theaters so they’re either very small or so large that places like the Music Circus couldn’t afford to bid for those acts anyway, according to Vincent Longo, chief operating officer of both the South Shore Music Circus and Cape Cod Melody Tent. Both theaters have about 2,250 seats.
“It just levels the field slightly,’’ he said. “The casinos don’t have most of the money; they have all of the money.’’
The Performing Arts Center Coalition wants to restrict casino theaters to less than 500 seats or more than 5,000. Longo said House members appeared to favor limits of less than 1,000 seats and more than 3,500. The Senate still has to weigh in on the issue.
“It’s not a perfect solution,’’ Siebels said. “There will certainly still be instances where [the casinos] take an act away, but they won’t do it 200 times a year.’’
But Larry Bonoff, former owner of Rhode Island’s Warwick Musical Theatre, worried that the protections might not be enough. His theater closed in 1999 - the land now houses a Lowes home improvement store - six years after Foxwoods Casino Resort in Connecticut opened its 1,500-seat Fox Theater with a performance by Frank Sinatra.
“My venue was 3,300 seats, and they built a venue half the size and offered twice the money,’’ Bonoff recalled. “The loyalty of the acts can only go so far. It becomes impossible to compete against.’’
The South Shore Music Theater, which employs 105 people each summer, is owned by a nonprofit organization, South Shore Playhouse Associates. But it voluntarily pays Cohasset about $32,000 in property taxes annually, according to town records.
Atlantic City Union Casino Workers Face Poverty
So much for those low wage casino jobs! Are you watching, Beacon Hill?
He said his current $5.26 hourly wage would be rolled back to $4.50 under the casinos' proposal. In addition, he would have to pay $1.20 per hour toward his health care and 83 cents for pension and severance benefits. In all, he estimates he would lose more than $5,000 in income annually.
Local 54 casino workers union fights prospect of pay cuts in weak economy, more competitive gaming market
By DONALD WITTKOWSKI, Staff Writer pressofAtlanticCity.com
ATLANTIC CITY - Local 54 of UNITE-HERE, the city's largest gaming union, fears the casinos' desire for wage and benefit cuts could unravel the promise that was made when legalized gambling began in the resort in 1978 - that workers would have relatively high-paying jobs.
"It's clear to me that the industry has definitely walked away from its commitment to both the state and the local economy that these would be good-paying jobs with good benefits," Local 54 President Bob McDevitt said. "It's really up to the community and the union to hold their feet to the fire to make sure they don't do that."
Casino waiter Tony Davila fondly recalled the 1990s, when Atlantic City's free-spending gamblers showered him with generous tips and he was earning between $800 and $900 per week.
Contrast those days with the downtrodden casino market now. Davila, who works at the Plate restaurant at Trump Taj Mahal Casino Resort, said the big tippers are long gone and he is pulling in $400 to $500 weekly.
"My daughter wants to go to college, but I'm not able to save anything," said Davila, 45, of Atlantic City. "Between my car payment, food, bills, and rent, I just can't save any money. We're struggling."
Atlantic City's casinos are struggling, too. In ongoing contract negotiations with the labor union that represents Davila and thousands of other casino service workers, the gaming industry is pushing for financial concessions that could dramatically alter the pay structure in the nation's second-largest gambling market.
Gaming analysts say the proposed austerity measures reflect the realities of Atlantic City's slumping casino industry. The lucrative 1990s that Davila spoke of were prior to the arrival of casinos in surrounding states. Competition, among other factors including the economy, has caused Atlantic City's gaming revenue to plunge from $5.2 billion in 2006 to $3.6 billion in 2010, a decrease of 30 percent.
"All the prior union contracts were negotiated in a monopolistic environment in Atlantic City," said Harvey Perkins, executive vice president of Spectrum Gaming Group, a casino consulting firm based in Linwood. "Subsequently, as we all know, Atlantic City no longer has a monopoly on East Coast gaming. So it's reasonable to assume, given the market dynamics that currently exist, that some economic adjustments may have to take place within the contracts."
Local 54 is negotiating new contracts with 10 of the city's 11 casino hotels. Borgata Hotel Casino & Spa is not involved in the talks because its contract with Local 54 runs through 2012.
Contracts at nine of the 10 casinos expired Thursday. Resorts Casino Hotel is negotiating a new labor agreement following its change of ownership last December but is not facing a deadline. For now, the union says it is willing to continue to bargain, putting any possible strike plans on hold.
However, Local 54 has been staging mass demonstrations at Resorts during the negotiations to protest steep wage cuts made by the new owners. The union is worried that Resorts' lower pay scale - called "poverty wages" by McDevitt - could ripple through the entire gaming industry and serve as a model for other casinos.
"We're going to ratchet up the pressure at Resorts to get them in line," McDevitt said.
Dennis Gomes, co-owner and chief executive officer of Resorts, criticized the union's tactics. Resorts, he said, retained most of the existing workers when the new owners took over and paid Local 54 members at union rates.
"If it's a case of poverty level, then their system is flawed and their contract is flawed, because they negotiated with the entire industry," Gomes said. "It's ridiculous the position they're taking. As far as I'm concerned, it's propaganda."
Local 54 represents 14,000 casino employees, including waiters, cocktail servers, bartenders, cooks, housekeepers, and other service workers. Casinos are demanding that Local 54 members - now earning an average of $12 per hour - accept a 25 percent wage cut, McDevitt said. Local 54 workers also are being asked to contribute to their health care and pension benefits for the first time ever.
"We haven't agreed to any concessions yet," said McDevitt, who suggested the casinos should instead cut costs in other ways that would not affect the livelihood of Local 54 members.
Davila is at risk of losing even more money if casinos succeed in their pursuit of wage and benefit concessions. He said his current $5.26 hourly wage would be rolled back to $4.50 under the casinos' proposal. In addition, he would have to pay $1.20 per hour toward his health care and 83 cents for pension and severance benefits. In all, he estimates he would lose more than $5,000 in income annually.
"People are very nervous," Davila said of Local 54's members. "We've never paid for health care. That's one of the things the union takes pride in, making sure the casinos pay for health care."
Casino executives have declined to discuss any specific contract proposals while negotiations continue. Perkins, however, said the gaming industry simply cannot afford higher labor costs in a shrinking marketplace.
Atlantic City's gaming revenue has declined 36 straight months, and there is little to suggest a market recovery anytime soon, even with the scheduled May grand opening of the new $2.4 billion Revel casino, Perkins added.
Local 54 members are not the only casino workers to suffer. Unions representing trade workers such as operating engineers, painters, and carpenters agreed to wage concessions in contract negotiations earlier this year.
"We go through it all the time. It depends on the environment," said Will Pauls, president of the South Jersey Building and Construction Trades Council. "Even in the building trades in the last couple of years, we have given back some things. If the market's down, you try to help out the businesses you're dealing with. Hopefully, in a few years, the market gets better."
McDevitt, however, drew distinctions between the skilled trade workers and Local 54's members, who largely hold unskilled jobs and depend on tips for most of their income.
"The trades bargained a series of concessions, but there's a huge difference between the level of work my members do and the level of income my people make," McDevitt said. "A tradesperson gets paid a significantly higher wage than a service person."
Davila, a casino worker since 1989, said he depends on tips for 70 percent to 80 percent of his earnings. He explained that his tips have been dropping in recent years, as gaming customers have tightened their spending or simply no longer come to Atlantic City because of casinos in neighboring states.
"Things were lovely in 1989. The tips were good, the money was great," he said. "Now, the tips aren't the way they used to be. We also have competition from Pennsylvania, Maryland, and New York. Before, you would go to Atlantic City to gamble or to Las Vegas to gamble. People have other places to go to now, so it's hurting Atlantic City."
He said his current $5.26 hourly wage would be rolled back to $4.50 under the casinos' proposal. In addition, he would have to pay $1.20 per hour toward his health care and 83 cents for pension and severance benefits. In all, he estimates he would lose more than $5,000 in income annually.
Local 54 casino workers union fights prospect of pay cuts in weak economy, more competitive gaming market
By DONALD WITTKOWSKI, Staff Writer pressofAtlanticCity.com
ATLANTIC CITY - Local 54 of UNITE-HERE, the city's largest gaming union, fears the casinos' desire for wage and benefit cuts could unravel the promise that was made when legalized gambling began in the resort in 1978 - that workers would have relatively high-paying jobs.
"It's clear to me that the industry has definitely walked away from its commitment to both the state and the local economy that these would be good-paying jobs with good benefits," Local 54 President Bob McDevitt said. "It's really up to the community and the union to hold their feet to the fire to make sure they don't do that."
Casino waiter Tony Davila fondly recalled the 1990s, when Atlantic City's free-spending gamblers showered him with generous tips and he was earning between $800 and $900 per week.
Contrast those days with the downtrodden casino market now. Davila, who works at the Plate restaurant at Trump Taj Mahal Casino Resort, said the big tippers are long gone and he is pulling in $400 to $500 weekly.
"My daughter wants to go to college, but I'm not able to save anything," said Davila, 45, of Atlantic City. "Between my car payment, food, bills, and rent, I just can't save any money. We're struggling."
Atlantic City's casinos are struggling, too. In ongoing contract negotiations with the labor union that represents Davila and thousands of other casino service workers, the gaming industry is pushing for financial concessions that could dramatically alter the pay structure in the nation's second-largest gambling market.
Gaming analysts say the proposed austerity measures reflect the realities of Atlantic City's slumping casino industry. The lucrative 1990s that Davila spoke of were prior to the arrival of casinos in surrounding states. Competition, among other factors including the economy, has caused Atlantic City's gaming revenue to plunge from $5.2 billion in 2006 to $3.6 billion in 2010, a decrease of 30 percent.
"All the prior union contracts were negotiated in a monopolistic environment in Atlantic City," said Harvey Perkins, executive vice president of Spectrum Gaming Group, a casino consulting firm based in Linwood. "Subsequently, as we all know, Atlantic City no longer has a monopoly on East Coast gaming. So it's reasonable to assume, given the market dynamics that currently exist, that some economic adjustments may have to take place within the contracts."
Local 54 is negotiating new contracts with 10 of the city's 11 casino hotels. Borgata Hotel Casino & Spa is not involved in the talks because its contract with Local 54 runs through 2012.
Contracts at nine of the 10 casinos expired Thursday. Resorts Casino Hotel is negotiating a new labor agreement following its change of ownership last December but is not facing a deadline. For now, the union says it is willing to continue to bargain, putting any possible strike plans on hold.
However, Local 54 has been staging mass demonstrations at Resorts during the negotiations to protest steep wage cuts made by the new owners. The union is worried that Resorts' lower pay scale - called "poverty wages" by McDevitt - could ripple through the entire gaming industry and serve as a model for other casinos.
"We're going to ratchet up the pressure at Resorts to get them in line," McDevitt said.
Dennis Gomes, co-owner and chief executive officer of Resorts, criticized the union's tactics. Resorts, he said, retained most of the existing workers when the new owners took over and paid Local 54 members at union rates.
"If it's a case of poverty level, then their system is flawed and their contract is flawed, because they negotiated with the entire industry," Gomes said. "It's ridiculous the position they're taking. As far as I'm concerned, it's propaganda."
Local 54 represents 14,000 casino employees, including waiters, cocktail servers, bartenders, cooks, housekeepers, and other service workers. Casinos are demanding that Local 54 members - now earning an average of $12 per hour - accept a 25 percent wage cut, McDevitt said. Local 54 workers also are being asked to contribute to their health care and pension benefits for the first time ever.
"We haven't agreed to any concessions yet," said McDevitt, who suggested the casinos should instead cut costs in other ways that would not affect the livelihood of Local 54 members.
Davila is at risk of losing even more money if casinos succeed in their pursuit of wage and benefit concessions. He said his current $5.26 hourly wage would be rolled back to $4.50 under the casinos' proposal. In addition, he would have to pay $1.20 per hour toward his health care and 83 cents for pension and severance benefits. In all, he estimates he would lose more than $5,000 in income annually.
"People are very nervous," Davila said of Local 54's members. "We've never paid for health care. That's one of the things the union takes pride in, making sure the casinos pay for health care."
Casino executives have declined to discuss any specific contract proposals while negotiations continue. Perkins, however, said the gaming industry simply cannot afford higher labor costs in a shrinking marketplace.
Atlantic City's gaming revenue has declined 36 straight months, and there is little to suggest a market recovery anytime soon, even with the scheduled May grand opening of the new $2.4 billion Revel casino, Perkins added.
Local 54 members are not the only casino workers to suffer. Unions representing trade workers such as operating engineers, painters, and carpenters agreed to wage concessions in contract negotiations earlier this year.
"We go through it all the time. It depends on the environment," said Will Pauls, president of the South Jersey Building and Construction Trades Council. "Even in the building trades in the last couple of years, we have given back some things. If the market's down, you try to help out the businesses you're dealing with. Hopefully, in a few years, the market gets better."
McDevitt, however, drew distinctions between the skilled trade workers and Local 54's members, who largely hold unskilled jobs and depend on tips for most of their income.
"The trades bargained a series of concessions, but there's a huge difference between the level of work my members do and the level of income my people make," McDevitt said. "A tradesperson gets paid a significantly higher wage than a service person."
Davila, a casino worker since 1989, said he depends on tips for 70 percent to 80 percent of his earnings. He explained that his tips have been dropping in recent years, as gaming customers have tightened their spending or simply no longer come to Atlantic City because of casinos in neighboring states.
"Things were lovely in 1989. The tips were good, the money was great," he said. "Now, the tips aren't the way they used to be. We also have competition from Pennsylvania, Maryland, and New York. Before, you would go to Atlantic City to gamble or to Las Vegas to gamble. People have other places to go to now, so it's hurting Atlantic City."
Gambling addiction turns ex-executive to a car thief
Gambling addiction turns Bangalore ex-executive to a car thief
By DNA Correspondent
Police have arrested a former executive of a multi-national company on the charges of stealing cars—a crime he used to commit to finance his vice of gambling.
The accused has been identified as Yathish Kumar, 31, a resident of Magadi Road. Police have recovered six cars from him. Police said he was addicted to gambling in horse races and had lost a large amount of money because of it. He had borrowed money from several persons and had also pledged his car for Rs50,000 to a real estate agent.
It was then that he decided to make easy money by stealing cars. He started to work as a part-time driver and made duplicate keys of his two employers’ cars. Later, when the cars were parked in the owners’ houses, he stole them with the help of the duplicate key. Then he pledged those cars, got money and lost it again in gambling.
By DNA Correspondent
Police have arrested a former executive of a multi-national company on the charges of stealing cars—a crime he used to commit to finance his vice of gambling.
The accused has been identified as Yathish Kumar, 31, a resident of Magadi Road. Police have recovered six cars from him. Police said he was addicted to gambling in horse races and had lost a large amount of money because of it. He had borrowed money from several persons and had also pledged his car for Rs50,000 to a real estate agent.
It was then that he decided to make easy money by stealing cars. He started to work as a part-time driver and made duplicate keys of his two employers’ cars. Later, when the cars were parked in the owners’ houses, he stole them with the help of the duplicate key. Then he pledged those cars, got money and lost it again in gambling.
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