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STATE-BY-STATE
NEWS UPDATE: ALABAMA Whetstone filed a motion July 2 asking Circuit Judge Robert Wilters to hold Patterson without bond. At a July 6 hear-ing, Patterson's court-appointed defense attorney Harry Smith said his client was not a flight risk. Wilters denied Whetstone's request and kept the bond at $7,500. Patterson at one time owned a kennel at Pensacola Greyhound Track where Robert Rhodes worked as a security guard. Prosecutors have described Patterson as the go-between for kennel owners and trainers who sent slow dogs to Rhodes' farm in Lillian for disposal. Rhodes, who admitted killing 2,000 to 3,000 racing greyhounds over a 40-year period, died last year before he could be prosecuted for felony animal cruelty. Whetstone said Patterson's presence significantly improves the state's case against the other three Florida defendants-John "Willie" Smith, Ursula O'Donnell and Paul Discolo Jr. Lawyers for the three filed a motion to dismiss the cruelty charges, but the judge has not yet ruled on the motion. No trial date has been set for Patterson. [Editor's Note: The Rhodes
case appeared in GNN's Summer 2002 issue, available at www.greyhoundnetworknews.org] CONNECTICUT Arganese and Karen Keelan, executive vice president of the Plainfield track, emphasized that the dog track, which has been in operation since July 1976, would be an integral part of the project. "I believe the racetrack and the dog track would have good synergy," Arganese said. He indicated his company, New England Raceway, would eventually assume operation of the dog track, but neither he nor Keelan would comment on when that might occur. "We didn't begin talking until three weeks ago," Keelan said. Arganese acknowledged he has no firm commitments from NASCAR officials, but failed to mention he had been warned in writing by NASCAR not to link them to him. Update: Arganese told the Norwich Bulletin in early August that he would file an application with the Planning and Zoning Commission by mid-month to create a commercial/entertainment zone in the area around Plainfield Greyhound Park. Although he did not disclose any details, he said his company has reached an agreement to acquire about 500 acres near the dog track and is working on acquiring an additional 300 acres. The project will require approval
from the Inland Wetlands and Watercourses Commission and the state Department
of Transportation before actual construction can begin. FLORIDA EPO will continue live racing
at the seasonal track and has applied for a license through Florida's
Division of Pari-Mutuel Wagering. The sale is "very good news,"
said Patrick Biddix, Melbourne's president and general manager. The track
employs 120 people during the November to April live racing season. IOWA In February, the Iowa high court reaffirmed its June 2002 ruling declaring the two-tiered system unconstitutional. The ruling meant that the state owed the tracks approximately $150 million in overpaid back taxes plus interest. The tracks agreed to forgive the debt in exchange for being allowed to add table games to their slot machine operations. In other news, the Iowa Racing and Gaming Division June 10 voted 4-1 to lift a moratorium on issuing new casino licenses that was imposed in 1998. The commission's action followed the passage of legislation earlier this year that established multimillion-dollar fees for new gaming licenses and authorized the state's greyhound tracks in Dubuque and Council Bluffs to add table games to their slot machine operations. Voters in six counties - Palo Alto, Worth, Black Hawk, Wapello, Franklin and Webster - have passed local referenda to allow casino gambling. Black Hawk County, home of the defunct Waterloo Greyhound Park, has three plans on the table for the city of Waterloo: one for a downtown casino, a second for an Isle of Capri casino at the Lost Island Water Park, and a third that would revive dog racing and add a casino to the long-closed Waterloo track. The commission will hold a
series of public meetings in different cities throughout the state before
deciding on the number of new licenses it will issue. It also set a Nov.
10 deadline for new license applications. Dubuque: The Dubuque Greyhound Park and Casino recently announced a $28 million expansion project that will add 46,000 square feet of casino space to accommodate 1,000 slot machines. The Iowa Racing and Gaming Commission earlier this year had approved a $15.6 million expansion for the racetrack. "We think what this plan does is to make better use of the space we have available to us and provides for more opportunities down the road than the earlier plan," said Dubuque's general manager Bruce Wentworth. Recent legislation lowering tax rates for the state's racetrack casinos and allowing the operation of table games such as roulette and craps "allowed the casino to dream bigger," Wentworth said. The plan also includes a $12 million, three-story 110-room Hilton Garden Inn and a national chain restaurant on a one-acre site adjacent to the racetrack casino. Wayne Biggs, who heads up a group of local investors called Dubuque Casino Hotel, LLC, said, "Our goal is to have it be the premier high-level hotel in the city of Dubuque." The Iowa Racing and Gaming
Commission unanimously approved the Dubuque expansion, including the hotel
project, at its July 15 meeting. KANSAS The compact would allow the tribes to build a $210 million destination casino complex in Wyandotte County. The tribes have purchased 80 acres of land near the Kansas Speedway and plan to build an 80,000-square-foot casino and a 250-room hotel on the site if the compact is approved. The speedway is less than five miles from The Woodlands dual dog and horse track. The existing tribal gaming
compacts do not give the state a share of casino profits. The Kickapoo
and the Sac and Fox are willing to give the state between $40 million
and $60 million from the Kansas City casino. Wichita: Richard Boushka, 69, an original partner in The Woodlands dual dog and horse track in Kansas City and a former Olympic champion, was sentenced April 13 to 70 months in federal prison on two counts of bank fraud and one count of making a false statement to obtain a loan. He also received five years for one count of omission of material information in the sale of a security. Both sentences will be served concurrently, without parole, to be followed by five years of supervised release. U.S. District Court Judge Wesley E. Brown also ordered Boushka to pay $3.3 million in restitution to shareholders of the American Bank, now Hillcrest Bank, in Wichita and $1.75 million to O'Connell Engineering and Financial, Inc. He was to be sentenced in March 2003, but his attorney filed seven motions to delay the sentencing hearing. Boushka owned 40 percent of
The Woodlands from the time it was built in the late 1980s until 1994,
when it was sold to a California firm. The track was later sold at auction
after seeking bankruptcy protection. WISCONSIN The existing dog track would remain open throughout construction, with a renovated clubhouse converted into a temporary gaming facility. The first phase of construction includes the casino, theater, restaurants and a parking structure. The second phase includes construction of the hotel, conference facilities, retail shops and more restaurants. The tribe will develop the casino project with Kenosha developer Dennis Troha and the Mohegan Tribe of Connecticut, which will serve as an investor in the project. The proposal requires the approval of Gov. Jim Doyle and the Bureau of Indian Affairs. Pending federal and state approval, the tribe expects the first phase to be in operation by June 2007. The Menominee's casino proposal
includes only games covered under the 1998 compacts. Table games, such
as blackjack, poker, craps and roulette, approved in 2003 compacts by
Gov. Jim Doyle, are facing legal challenges in state and federal court.
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