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STATE-BY-STATE
NEWS UPDATE: ALABAMA According to the president of the Community Bankers Association of Alabama, the state's banking system has undergone dramatic changes in the past year, feeding interest in starting more homegrown banks. If regulators approve the application, the bank could open in mid-2005. Bryant owned the infamous Coeur
d'Alene dog track in Idaho for seven years until allegations of horrific
greyhound abuse reported in The Spokesman Review led to the track's closure
in 1995. Idaho banned greyhound racing the following year. ARIZONA [In the mid-1990s, the Arizona
Legislature granted the failing racing industry hardship tax credits.
As a result, the Apache and Tucson dog tracks have not paid any pari-mutuel
taxes in the last seven years. Ten years ago, the state's three dog tracks
paid $7.3 million in pari-mutuel taxes. - Ed.] Yuma: Southern Arizona Greyhound Racing Inc. announced in mid-December that it would not renew its live racing permit for Yuma Greyhound Park, which expires Dec. 31, 2004. "We had our hopes for awhile that we, at some point in time, could bring live racing back," said Max Dunham, the track's general manager. Dunham blamed competition from nearby Indian gaming casinos for taking "live racing away from us." The track will continue to operate as an off-track betting site. Yuma Greyhound Park opened
in 1960 and ceased live racing in 1993. In January and June of 1990, two
separate cases of abandonment - one at the track's kennel compound and
the other at a racing kennel outside of Yuma - claimed the lives of at
least 50 greyhounds. CONNECTICUT Arganese filed a revised zone-change request Dec. 2. "I have gone through the application and tightened it up in order to meet the needs of the board," he said. The zoning board accepted two new plans from Arganese Dec. 29 and scheduled a public hearing for Feb. 3, 2005. The proposals call for adding a provision to town regulations allowing resort-recreation districts and designating 130 parcels off Interstate 393 for inclusion in such a district. A majority of board members ruled that the revised plans are substantially different from the original proposal. Board member John Meyer and alternate Sue Hatfield argued that there were no significant changes. "The biggest change is that uses that would be allowed by right will now be allowed by special permits," Meyer said. "But, they are still the same uses." Arganese and Karen Keeland,
vice president of the Plainfield track, initially announced the project
at a press conference held June 3, emphasizing that the dog track would
be an integral part of the project, and that Arganese's company, New England
Raceway, would eventually assume operation of the failing Plainfield track. FLORIDA Lee County planners are expected to take up to eight months to review the project before issuing a recommendation to either approve or deny the rezoning request. If approved, the proposed development then goes before the zoning board and the Bonita Springs City Council. Councilman David Piper said,
"I'm all for progress, but I think we need to make sure the infrastructure
is able to support the densities that are being asked for. Eventually,
you're building gridlock, and you can't do that." Melbourne: Dallas-based EPO Holdings, an investment-management partnership that purchased Melbourne Greyhound Park in August for an undisclosed sum, received permission from the County Commission in late October to open a card room. Last year, the Legislature passed a law that allows card rooms at tracks and frontons. The law requires county approval before the state Division of Pari-Mutuel Wagering will consider the application permit. Live attendance at the Melbourne
dog track has dropped 56 percent since 1999. EPO partner Bob Grammen said,
"Dog tracks have declined. Card rooms are a stable and viable option." IOWA The expansion will add about
100,000 square feet of space to the property, two-thirds of which will
be new casino space for 1,900 slot machines. Casino table games, such
as blackjack and craps, will be allowed for the first time. There are
also plans to refurbish the greyhound track. The project is expected to
be completed in March 2006. RHODE ISLAND Daniel Bucci, former chief executive officer and general manager of Lincoln Park, and Nigel Potter, chief executive officer of Wembley, were indicted Sept. 9, 2003 in U.S. District Court in Providence following a 24-month investigation by the U.S. Attorney's Office, the FBI and the Rhode Island State Police. The pending criminal trial
centers on an allegation that Bucci and Potter conspired to pay up to
$4 million to the law firm of McKinnon & Harwood in exchange for "official
favors," specifically legislative approval of an additional 1,000
video lottery terminals for Lincoln Park and for keeping a Narragansett
Indian casino proposal off the state ballot. Neither Daniel V. McKinnon,
long-time attorney for Lincoln Park, nor his law partner and former Speaker
of the House John B. Harwood have been charged in the case. [Please see
the Fall and Winter 2003 issues of GNN, available online at www.greyhoundnetworknews.org,
for background information-Ed.] WEST VIRGINIA Hurricane Ivan, one of four
hurricanes to strike Florida's Gulf Coast, also severely damaged Pensacola
Greyhound Park in the Florida Panhandle. Damage to the racing surface
and the mechanical lure closed the Pensacola track for months. VERMONT Progress Partners principals include Jim Paqua, Steven Sonnenblick and brothers Richard Hein and Robert Hein. The four partners have backgrounds in construction, real estate and architectural design. The former racing oval is considered a "sacred place," said Hein and Paqua, and is expected to remain intact. The track may be used for equine events, such as Morgan horse shows and polo matches. Green Mountain opened as a thoroughbred track in 1963 and was converted to dog racing in 1977. An exposé of appalling kennel conditions and greyhound neglect published by The Burlington Free Press Dec. 13, 1992 led to the track's closure two weeks later. John Tietgens of Clarkdale
bought the track at auction in 1993. In the last few years, several purchase
proposals have fallen through, including a plan to open a casino and another
to return horse racing to the track. Save the Greyhound Dogs! mounted
a successful letter-writing and telephone campaign urging local and state
officials not to allow racing or gambling at the defunct track. STGD!
founder Scotti Devens led the grassroots legislative campaign that banned
dog racing in Vermont in April 1995. Pharmaceutical Alert
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