Casino News Today

Gov. Deval Patrick traveled to New York to discuss a book deal during the Legislature’s final deliberations on his casino proposal, leaving the legislation for dead as he worked on plans to publish an autobiography, aides confirmed last night.

Patrick left the state last Thursday as lawmakers gathered in the State House for a final debate on the casino plan. The night before, the governor acknowledged the legislation was doomed and accused House Speaker Sal DiMasi of railroading it to defeat.

Aides previously declined to discuss the governor’s reasons for traveling to New York, telling reporters that the trip was scheduled in advance to deal with “personal business.”

But last night, after receiving several calls from the media, a spokesman for Patrick released a statement acknowledging that the governor was meeting with publishing executives about a book deal.

“Governor Patrick visited New York last week to discuss with interested publishers the possibility of publishing a book,” Joe Landolfi, senior communications adviser to Patrick, said in an e-mailed statement. “The governor will release the details of any agreement when it is finalized.”

Patrick’s personal story includes overcoming personal adversity as he grew up on the South Side of Chicago to go on to work in the Clinton administration and high-powered corporate posts, and to become the first black governor of Massachusetts.

Landolfi said the governor’s absence did not affect the outcome of the casino proposal, which was widely said to be on its deathbed when a key committee vote turned against the governor after one representative switched his vote at the last minute.

“The governor worked tirelessly up to the day of the vote to persuade House members of the merits of the economic development potential of his casino initiative and to further encourage members to debate the legislation in full on the House floor,” Landolfi said.

The political fallout from the casino vote continued yesterday when Patrick was quoted in The New York Times [NYT] saying DiMasi should be “called out” for allegedly strong-arming members into defeating the proposal.

Patrick aides said the governor made the comment amid furious maneuvering over the casino proposal last week, but that the Times held the story until yesterday.

DiMasi and Patrick made a concerted effort to compliment one another during a press conference on transportation reform yesterday, seeking to downplay the acrimony that has made newspaper headlines in recent days.

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ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. - The City Council will try again next week to enact a total ban on smoking at the 11 Atlantic City casinos, nearly a year after a partial ban was enacted limiting smoking to no more than 25 percent of the casino floor.

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ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. - The City Council will try again next week to enact a total ban on smoking at the 11 Atlantic City casinos, nearly a year after a partial ban was enacted limiting smoking to no more than 25 percent of the casino floor.

Councilman Bruce Ward said Friday he will introduce a measure at next Wednesday’s council meeting to ban all smoking on the casino floor. He said three others on the nine-member council have said they will support the measure and that he is close to convincing a fifth member to sign on.

“There has been a year of compromise, and the public health issues are compelling,” Ward told The Associated Press Friday. “It’s really time to cut bait here and let’s go forward.”

ncilman Bruce Ward said Friday he will introduce a measure at next Wednesday’s council meeting to ban all smoking on the casino floor. He said three others on the nine-member council have said they will support the measure and that he is close to convincing a fifth member to sign on.

“There has been a year of compromise, and the public health issues are compelling,” Ward told The Associated Press Friday. “It’s really time to cut bait here and let’s go forward.”

In February 2007, the council was poised to enact a total smoking ban, but backed down in the face of intense opposition from the casino industry, which feared it could lose as much as 20 percent of its revenue and as many as 3,400 jobs.

The council then adopted a compromise ordinance requiring at least 75 percent of the casino floor to be nonsmoking.

Joe Corbo, president of the Casino Association of New Jersey, did not immediately return a call seeking comment Friday.

The law also required the gambling halls to build permanent, walled-off, ventilated areas, although no deadline was imposed on them to complete the work. None has even started such an enclosure.

“There’s no chance it’s going to be implemented,” Ward said. “It’s clear that’s not going to happen.”

Ward cited a ruling last month in which a state worker’s compensation judge determined that years of breathing secondhand smoke at the former Claridge Casino Hotel gave a dealer lung cancer.

Michele Holcomb, a spokeswoman for the American Cancer Society, said she hopes the total ban passes this time.

“We still have thousands of workers who are still not protected from secondhand smoke and are exposed to illnesses including cancer,” she said.

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Maryland — In a sign that the debate over expanded Massachusetts gambling may not be over yet, the Mashpee Wampanoag tribe is unveiling a first glimpse at what its proposed $1 billion casino in Middleboro might look like.

Even as the dust settles on Beacon Hill after the defeat of Gov. Deval Patrick’s casino plan, the tribe is publicly releasing a site plan detailing the layout of its proposed casino.

The move comes in advance of a key meeting on the tribe’s casino plan by the Bureau of Indian Affairs, which will hold public hearing Tuesday in Middleboro. If the tribe gets BIA approval, it can offer bingo slot machines without the state’s OK.

The tribe wants federal permission to turn hundreds of acres of land it controls in the Southeastern Massachusetts town into “sovereign territory” on which it can build a casino.

A tribal spokeswoman says the Legislature’s lopsided defeat this week of Patrick’s resort-casino bill has no impact on the Wampanoags’ plans.

“The tribe has been on a federal track (and) it plans to continue on that track,” spokeswoman Amy Lambiaso said.

A site plan the Wampanoags have just released shows a large, boxy casino, a hotel and a parking complex on one side of a 500-acre-plus Middleboro tract.

The main building includes 240,000 square feet of gaming space and a 15- to 18-story, 1,200 room hotel, according to the plan.

Retail space and an event center are also in the works, as are 6,500 planned parking spaces in a nearby garage and at other locations on the site.

The plan also shows connections to and from Route 44 just 900 feet away. There’s also an 18-hole golf course that would likely be built as part of the development’s second phase.

All told, plans call for the casino complex to have a payroll of 5,000 and include 4,000 slot machines and 125 table games.

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FORMER Death Row Scot Kenny Richey has been barred from his local casino before he loses all his money.

He said has been gambling hundreds of pounds during late night games of black jack and roulette.

After revealing he lost £1000 in one visit, the casino has now banned him stating they have a “social obligation”.

The 41-year-old, who spent 21 years on Death Row before being released in January, says he has been victimised and has now joined another casino instead. Mr Richey, who lives in Dalry, said bosses at the Circus Casino in Fountain Park called him in for a meeting after reading of his losses.

He said: “In the last few weeks I have won £740, £700, £400 and £3000. Over all I am about even.

“After it was reported that I’d lost a grand, the casino told me they were cancelling my membership, saying they had a social responsibly to do so.”

Circus Casino said they couldn’t comment for confidentiality reasons.

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