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STATE-BY-STATE
NEWS UPDATE: CONNECTICUT Police Detective Sgt. Joseph
Sherbo said at the scene, "There are at least 20 of them here, maybe
more still running around." According to Sherbo, no one was at the
kennels and police officers kept the dogs safe in the parking lot until
kennel workers arrived to retrieve them. It is not known how the greyhounds
escaped. FLORIDA Biddix said Sports Palace has been looking for a buyer for more than a decade, but it recently signed on with Sun Land Realty of Florida Inc. to formally list the 136-acre property, which is zoned for commercial and light industrial uses. Sports Palace is part of Buffalo-based Delaware North, a privately held $2 billion-a-year company that operates dog tracks in several states. According to the Division of
Pari-Mutuel Wagering, paid attendance at Melbourne dropped during the
last five years by more than 48 percent - from 32,784 in the 1998-99 fiscal
year to 16,887 in the 2002-03 fiscal year. Tallahassee: An audit of the state's pari-mutuel industry concluded that the industry is no longer able to pay for the cost of regulation and other required obligations after a decade or more of steep decline. The audit by the Office of Program Policy Analysis and Government Accountability, which was released Oct. 20, said attendance had dropped at dog and horse tracks and jai-alai frontons from 14.4 million in 1990-91 to 2.8 million in 2001-02, an 80 percent decline. The amount of taxes, fees and fines paid by permit-holders [racetrack owners] has dropped from $110.5 million in fiscal year 1990-91 to $34.9 million in 2002-03. Recommendations aimed at keeping
the industry viable included: expanding gaming options by adding video
gaming machines in existing facilities; reducing part-time employees;
relaxing the regulation of Silax, a diuretic that may enhance racehorse
performance; and eliminating the $446,500 distributed to the each of the
state's 67 counties regardless of size or population. This amount was
frozen by the Legislature in 1980, with anything above the counties' total
share of $29.9 million going to the state. In the past several years,
the state has had to take money from the general fund to pay the counties
their share and to pay regulatory costs. IOWA During the 2000 season, 20 greyhounds in the Yates Kennel sustained broken legs and another 10 to 15 of their dogs had to be removed from racing because of other injuries. In November 2000, Bluffs Run officials told the Iowa Racing and Gaming Commission that they would not offer a 2001 contract to the Yates Kennel, publicly stating that its greyhounds performed poorly. The kennel claimed poor track conditions caused the dogs' injuries and that statements made by track officials were malicious and damaging to its reputation. Defendants in the lawsuit were the Iowa West Racing Association, a nonprofit group that holds the state license to operate Bluffs Run, and Harvey's BR Management, which operated Bluffs Run at the time. Nevada-based Harrah's Entertainment Inc. currently operates the track. During 2000, Bluffs Run had
a total of 136 greyhound injuries, including 20 greyhound deaths. Between
Jan. 1, 2003 and Sept. 23, 2003, Bluffs Run had 60 greyhound injuries,
including nine deaths, state records show. Dubuque: The Dubuque Racing Association, the nonprofit license holder of Dubuque Greyhound Park and Casino, announced its approval Dec. 19 of a $15.6 million expansion project for the facility. The plan calls for the casino to increase from 12,000 square feet to 27,000 square feet. An additional 400 slot machines would be added, bringing the total to 1,000. The association would pay about $6.1 million and a seven-year loan would cover the remaining $9.5 million cost of the project. In other news, the Dubuque track and the Iowa Greyhound Association have reached agreement on a one-year contract establishing purses for greyhound owners. Under the agreement, the track will pay 8 percent, or $3.3 million, of its post-tax casino revenues to supplement greyhound purses. Total payouts are contingent
upon the outcome of an impending Iowa Supreme Court ruling expected in
January. If the high court overturns its original decision on Iowa's two-tiered
taxation system, the state's three racetrack casinos would see their tax
rates increase from 20 percent to 36 percent. KANSAS In mid-November Las Vegas-based
tribal consultant Fred Gillmann said the tribe is now eyeing other sites
farther south of the track. Gillmann said he belatedly realized it wouldn't
be fair to expect Woodlands patrons "to drive by our slot machines
to get in the door." TEXAS Gulf Greyhound Partners Ltd.
claims in the lawsuit that Beckwith "knowingly participated in the
scheme" to defraud the track and that he "encouraged Barros
to secure more and more moneys to finance his extravagant lifestyle."
Beckwith, who lives in Maui, Hawaii, was not charged with any crime in
connection to the embezzlement. The lawsuit, filed in October, asks that
Beckwith be required to locate missing funds and make restitution to the
dog track. VERMONT Company president Jeff Kleiser confirmed Oct. 28 that the film studio was looking to expand, but emphasized that its discussions about the track were preliminary. "It's something we have been investigating," Kleiser said. The company's digital animation and special effects production studio is now housed at the Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art in North Adams, just over the state line. Gov. James Douglas vowed to help move the project forward. "I think this would be a great fit," he said. "The negotiations are incomplete at this point, so we don't know exactly what role the state will play." Tietgens said that cooperation from the governor's office was crucial to the potential deal. Kleiser-Walczak "will require financial assistance and assurances that permits will be forthcoming," Tietgens said. Green Mountain opened as a thoroughbred track in 1963 and was converted to greyhound racing in 1977. An expose´ of appalling kennel conditions and greyhound neglect at the failing track published by The Burlington Free Press Dec. 13, 1992 led to the track's closure two weeks later. Tietgens bought the track at auction the following year for $250,000. [Editor's Note: In April
1995 a grassroots legislative campaign led by Scotti Devens, founder of
Save the Greyhounds Dogs! outlawed dog racing in the state. The bill was
signed by then-Gov. Howard Dean. Dean is currently seeking the Democratic
Party's presidential nomination; as of year-end, Dean was the front-runner
in the eight-candidate field.] WEST VIRGINIA The Wheeling Island track is located in Ohio County, which received a $1.7 million cut from the track's net revenue in 2002; the city of Wheeling received $918,000. The racetrack operates more than 2,000 video lottery machines. The kennels were moved 12 miles away to Beech Bottom in Brooke County in mid-2001with the approval of the racing commission. Racing Commission chairman George Sidiropolis is seeking a legal opinion on the matter from the West Virginia Attorney General's office. "If the commission erred in approving the kennel relocation it should be returned to the appropriate grounds," Sidiropolis said. William Watson, an attorney
acting as special counsel for the Brooke County Commission, said he plans
to file his lawsuit during the first week of January. Once that happens,
he warned, "The track's only recourse will be to petition for a local
option election in Brooke County. Given local hostility to this facility,
it is not likely to pass." WISCONSIN Dairyland vice-president Roy Berger said the track would pursue a lawsuit filed in 2001 claiming that casino-style gambling violates the state's constitution. Berger said track owners would not drop the suit because it is possible the casino project will not go through. The lawsuit is scheduled for oral argument before the Wisconsin Supreme Court Jan. 27. we're interested in that." Menominee Tribal Chairwoman Joan Delabreau said the casino would bring thousands of jobs to Kenosha and hundreds of thousands of visitors to the area. Kenosha Mayor John Antaramian said, "Any time we can pull in jobs The tribe is working with Kenosha businessman Dennis Troha, who will act as the casino's developer. Troha was an investor in a previous unsuccessful attempt to convert the track into an off-reservation casino. Connecticut's Mohegan Tribe will lend money to the project and sit on the development board. The Menominee Nation's plan
is contingent upon local, state, and federal approval. Gov. Jim Doyle
must approve the proposal before the U.S. Department of the Interior gives
final approval, a process that could take up to two years.
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