CasinoWatch

Casino stoppers plan public meeting; Task force examines Mohegan Sun's $1B proposal

Stop the Casino meeting

The Public is Invited
ACasinoFacts.org general meeting is scheduled for Thursday, Marsh 6 from 6 to 8 p.m. in lower level of the Middleborough Public Library (lower level), located on the corner of Peirce St. and N. Main St. (Rt 105), Middleborough, MA.
   The public is welcome. Topics to include: Status of the proposed Mashpee Wampanoag Resort Casino in Middleborough and the environmental issues surrounding the project. For more information you can go to our website at www.casinofacts.org, call and leave a message @ 508-471-5019 or e-mail. Task force looks hard at casinos
Likely impact on towns, school systems studied

MONSON— State Rep. Todd M. Smola, R-Palmer, said this weekend that with Gov. Deval L. Patrick’s casino legislation heading for the Joint Committee on Economic Development for study and hearings, a debate on the bill may well not come before this fall.  If that’s the case, communities that might find themselves in the neighborhood of a casino have plenty of time to weigh the pros and cons, and fully investigate the impact a casino next door might have.

Already Mohegan Sun has proposed building a $1 billion resort casino on 150 acres across from the Palmer exit of the Massachusetts Turnpike.  That is what gave rise last September to the Western Massachusetts Regional Casino Task Force.  “We’re not for it. We’re not against it. The task force is neutral and its goal is to fully evaluate the economic and social consequences such a project might have on our communities,” said Edward S. Harrison, selectman and chairman of the task force.  Discussion among officials of the towns surrounding Palmer will continue when the task force meets at 7 p.m. Wednesday in the Monson Free Public Library...  Telegram. 
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Massacusetts appoints casino consultants 
Outside bidding process used to select independent report on proposed casinos
 
The contentious Massachusetts debate on whether to accept Governor Deval Patrick's proposals for three land casinos in the state took an interesting turn last week with the announcement that an outsourced expert report had been commissioned by the state.  Opponents of the governor's proposal immediately criticised the move, claiming that the governor was hiring a pro-casino firm in a preemptive strike. But administration officials said the firm is independent and stressed that it was hired through an outside bidding process. Despite having extended the period when groups could bid on the contract, Spectrum Gaming of New Jersey was the only group to respond.
 
The firm is being paid $189 000 by the state to analyse the governor's plan to license three casinos in Massachusetts and is expected to complete its study within two to three months, reports the Boston Globe.  But Casino Free Mass, a coalition of organisations opposed to casinos, called on Patrick yesterday to rescind the contract, alleging that the organisation is biased.
 
"This is just another example of how the casino industry tries to control the information and rig their games," Doug Bailey, a spokesman for the group, said in a written statement. "This study, whatever it says, will be dead on arrival"...  Online-Casino.com.