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STATE-BY-STATE
NEWS UPDATE Spring 2005: ALABAMA Following his arrest by Baldwin County District Attorney David Whetstone, Rhodes implicated four Florida kennel operators and trainers - John "Willie" Smith, Ursula O'Donnell, Paul Discolo Jr. and Patterson - who brought greyhounds to Rhodes's farm to be killed, according to investigators. Statements made by Rhodes were the heart of the prosecution's case, but Rhodes died unexpectedly in June 2003. Lawyers for Smith, O'Donnell and Discolo filed motions to dismiss the charges against their clients in April 2004, arguing that it would be unfair to allow Rhodes's statements to be used against their clients because they would not have an opportunity to cross-examine him. Whetstone argued that Rhodes's statements should be allowed under an exception to Alabama's hearsay rule since Rhodes and the others participated in a continuing criminal conspiracy. In early January, Wilters ruled in favor of the defense. In light of the judge's ruling, Whetstone said he would not have enough evidence to prosecute the defendants and requested the charges be dismissed. [See GNN Summer 2002 online
for details of the Rhodes killing-field case. - Ed.] FLORIDA Legislation allowing extended
hours of operation and higher stakes at racetrack card rooms went into
effect in August 2003. At the time, Harry Olsen, manager of the Daytona
Beach dog track, said, "It's another revenue stream for a dying industry." Melbourne: More than 100 people were lined up outside Melbourne Greyhound Park Jan. 17 awaiting the opening of the track's temporary 10-table poker room; 700 more poured in during the next 12 hours. "It's turned out to be overwhelming," said track general manager Patrick Biddix. A permanent 40-table room was scheduled to open in April after completion of a $3 million renovation of the facility's 16,000-square-foot second floor. Melbourne recently switched
from a six-month live racing season to a year-round schedule, which allows
the track to offer poker year-round. Under current regulations, greyhound
tracks must have a performance of at least eight races a day in order
to have card rooms. Biddix said, "The greyhound crowd and the poker
crowd are absolutely the same customers. I believe one will feed off the
other." IOWA The agreement requires the racetrack casino operation to pay 8 percent of its post-tax casino revenue to supplement purses, which is the money paid to greyhound kennel operators. Based on DRA figures, the track will pay out $3.62 million in casino revenues to supplement purses and another $175,000 for stakes races, an increase of $859,000, or 31 percent, from last year's agreement. "The word supplement starts
to lose its dictionary definition to me when the supplement is nine times
higher" than the pari-mutual payout, said Bruce Wentworth, general
manager of the track. The casino operation posted $1.46 million in net
income last fiscal year, but the greyhound racing side of the business
posted a loss of $873,000. Waterloo: The Iowa Racing and Gaming Commission March 23 concluded two days of presentations from gaming companies and community leaders on ten proposed casino sites throughout Iowa, including three competing proposals in Waterloo. The National Cattle Congress (NCC) and the Meskwaki Indian Tribe presented their $45 million development plan to reopen the defunct Waterloo Greyhound Park as a combined casino and dog-racing facility to be called Black Hawk County Greyhound Park and Casino. Waterloo native Lorenzo Creighton, president of the New York New York Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas, is spearheading the project. The NCC operated the dog track for ten years until bankruptcy forced its closure in 1996. The Greater Cedar Valley Alliance, a countywide economic development organization, endorsed two of the three casino plans for the Waterloo-Cedar Valley area - the Isle of Capri Casino and the downtown Cedar Landing Hotel and Casino - but not the NCC-Meswaki proposal. University of Northern Iowa President Robert Koob, who chairs the alliance board, said the endorsement was based on a study by Wells Gaming Research of Las Vegas, Nevada. The study concluded that compared to the NCC-Meswaki proposal, the Isle of Capri and Cedar Landing projects would provide more jobs, yield a higher tax return to the community and have a broader economic impact. The alliance hired the gaming research group to conduct a study on the economic impact of each of the three Waterloo proposals. Gaming commissioners toured
the ten proposed casino sites in seven cities in early April. The five-member
commission is expected to decide May 11 whether to grant licenses to any
or all of the ten applicants, but analysts agree that only one casino
license will be given to Black Hawk County. MASSACHUSETTS Anne Collins, executive director of the Division of Professional Licensure, which oversees the vet board, said Kippenberger's case was "the worst veterinary case we've ever seen. The board was clearly shocked with the level of negligent treatment." Kippenberger, a board member of the National Greyhound Association, is also head of the Massachusetts chapter of the American Greyhound Council. As such, he wrote the opposition language that accompanied the 2000 ballot question to ban dog racing in the state. His argument against the measure stated: "Greyhound racing in Massachusetts has an excellent record. No violations of animal welfare regulations have been documented." Kippenberger's license has
been on probation since 1999 after the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency fined
him $15,000 for security and record-keeping violations involving steroids
used on racing greyhounds. WISCONSIN A state council of stewards made the determination after an inspection in January. "They fined him $200 and then went back a few days later and were still unsatisfied with the conditions, so they fined him $2,000 and suspended him," said Scott Larrivee, a spokesman for the Department of Administration. The 90-day license suspension
began Feb. 5. Division of Gaming officials also recommended that Jachimowski's
license be revoked. The license revocation, which is a lifetime ban, is
pending before the gaming division, Larrivee said. Hudson: The U. S. Supreme Court Jan. 10 declined to hear an appeal by three Wisconsin tribes that challenged the governor's authority to block them from turning the defunct St. Croix Meadows dog track into an off-reservation casino. The decision lets stand an appeals court ruling that upheld the power of governors to approve off-reservation casinos under the federal Indian Gaming Regulatory Act (IGRA) of 1988. Immediately after the Supreme Court's refusal to hear the appeal, Mark Goff, spokesman for track owner Fred Havenick, said the proposal is dead. One month later he said, "The partnership has not made a decision to abandon pursuing a casino on the site." Goff said it would be "premature to say what approach will be taken" regarding the site, but said Havenick remains steadfast that the land was developed as a track, which is a gaming business and should remain so. Nancy Bieraugel, who organized
community and business opposition to the casino proposal, said, "The
community is even less compatible than it was before. Hudson doesn't have
the infrastructure for a casino. But we've been battling this for more
than ten years, and we'll do it all over again if we have to." Kenosha: Officials of the city, Kenosha County and Menominee Nation March 28 signed an agreement outlining how the Indian tribe would reimburse local governments for services and lost tax revenues if Dairyland Greyhound Park is placed into tribal trust for a proposed $808 million casino. The project requires the approval of the U.S. Bureau of Indian Affairs and Gov. Jim Doyle. Tribal chairman Michael Chapman and casino developer Dennis Troha said they were pleased with the intergovernmental agreement and expressed optimism about the federal review process. "I think we are filing a quality land-in-trust application and a high-quality environmental impact statement," Troha said. The proposed casino would have 3,100 slot machines, a 500-seat entertainment venue, and 50,000 square feet of retail space. The project's second phase includes a 400-room hotel, conference center and spa. The Menominee also would run the greyhound racetrack operation. An economic impact study commissioned
by Milwaukee-area business and community groups and the Forest Lake Potawatomi,
who operate a casino in Tama, projected that the economic loss to the
Milwaukee area could climb as high as $1 billion through the loss of 2,000
jobs if the proposed casino in nearby Kenosha is built. |