Casino Gambling

Howard County Executive Charles Ecker, County Council Chairman Charles Feaga and other local county Republicans have laid their cards on the table: They oppose casino gambling, and they don't want it anywhere in Maryland.Especially not in Howard County.Mr. Ecker, Mr. Feaga and two other council members -- Republicans Darrel Drown and Dennis Schrader -- recently wrote a letter to Gov. Parris Glendening urging the state's chief executive to keep casino operators out of the state.The two Democrats on the Howard County Council, Vernon Gray and Mary Lorsung, did not sign the letter.

Moving to Maryland has been a learning experience for Chad Barnhill, general manager of the Horseshoe Baltimore Casino that will fill the sweeping vacant lot currently greeting drivers coming into the city on Russell Street. At home within the walls of a casino - he's worked for Caesars Entertainment since graduating from college in 1994 - this is the first time he's overseen the building of a new facility. When he's not meeting with city officials regarding building permits, he's addressing neighborhood associations concerned about what plopping a casino near their houses might mean.

The Broadneck Federation will sponsor a forum tomorrow on casino gambling in Maryland at Broadneck library, 1275 Green Holly Drive.Gerald Evans of Harvey's International will discuss the benefits of casino gambling, and Bernard Horn of Maryland NOcasiNOs will talk about the disadvantages. The federation will take a straw poll at the end.The federation's business meeting will be at 7 p.m. The forum will be at 7:30 p.m.

The course is "Introduction to Casino Gambling," but upon entering the classroom, one might be tempted to place a bet at the roulette wheel, the craps table or any of the other table game layouts. As he stared at the roulette wheel, Christopher Lamb of Elkridge, a student who has taken one week of the Anne Arundel Community College course, could scarcely contain his excitement at the thought of working in a casino. "It is an amazing game, just on gambling and chance, and who knows where the ball is going to land?

Area residents are invited to a discussion on legalizing casino gambling in Maryland, at 7 p.m. tomorrow at the Glen Burnie United Methodist Church,The Anne Arundel County Coalition Opposed to Casino Gambling was formed to address proposals to permit a limited number of casinos and riverboat gambling throughout the state.A task force has scheduled several open hearings to gauge public opinion before the issue is debated in the General Assembly in January.The church is on Crain Highway at Second Avenue, S.E.Information: 761-4381.

Gov. Parris N. Glendening pledged yesterday to veto any bill this legislative session to legalize casino and riverboat gambling in Maryland, in effect slamming the door on such efforts until next year.He urged state legislators to resist the lure of easy money promised by 29 bills that would bring gambling to casinos and riverboats in different parts of the state. The issue needs more study first, the governor said."I believe very strongly that we should pause before taking any hasty action that could endanger Maryland's quality of life.

A nine-member task force, with a majority of its members appointed by the governor, wouldbe asked to study the future of legalized casino gambling in Maryland under a bill approved by a House committee last night.The proposed Joint Executive-Legislative Task Force to Study Commercial Gaming would be made up of two state senators, two delegates and five public members appointed by Gov. Parris N. Glendening in consultation with the Senate president and House speaker. The governor also would designate the chairman.

Gambling is the child of avarice, the brother of inequity and the father of mischief. -George Washington, Letters, Jan. 15, 1783 IN THE spring of 1994, Baltimore Mayor Kurt L. Schmoke appointed me to what came to be called the Baltimore Casino Gambling Commission. The charge given to the group by the mayor was to decide whether casino gambling would be good for the city. The commission was chaired by a local judge and included a faculty member of the University of Maryland Law School, myself and several other prominent members of the community.

United Methodists are mounting a vigorous campaign to stem what their leaders call a "raging flood" of efforts to bring casino gambling to Maryland."We want to explore every option possible in halting this spreading menace," the Rev. Warren Ebinger, pastor of Severna Park Methodist Church, said yesterday."

COLLEGE PARK -- What do members of the clergy, restaurateurs, racetrack owners, horse breeders and bus operators have in common?Yesterday, they represented the unlikely coalition of people opposed to casino gambling in Maryland.In a sometimes emotional hearing before the gambling task force set up by the state legislature and Gov. Parris N. Glendening to study the issue, opponents attacked proposals to legalize casinos, often alternating between moral and economic arguments."We're a smorgasbord," acknowledged state Sen. Christopher J. McCabe, a Montgomery Republican, co-chairman of Marylanders Against Casinos, a recently formed statewide organization of the disparate interests opposing casinos.

This time last year, the Maryland General Assembly was mired in anger and confusion. The House and Senate were feuding over taxes and casino gambling. Senate President Thomas V. Mike Miller and House Speaker Michael E. Busch were butting heads. Lawmakers were heading into the final day without even having passed the budget - the one task with which they are charged in the state constitution. It took two special sessions to clean up the mess. This year, legislators will begin the session's final day Monday having already passed an array of landmark legislation - repealing Maryland's death penalty, adopting one of the nation's toughest gun laws, raising the gas tax for the first time in two decades and signing off on a $1 billion plan to rebuild Baltimore's crumbling schools.

There appears to be yet another reality check for those who thought that casino gambling would save horse racing in Maryland: twice as many horses were euthanized at Maryland race tracks last year (21) as in the previous year. Apparently track conditions and animal care regimens have not changed;  speculation is that with slot gambling responsible for larger purses, more horses are being raced in less than perfect condition. Casino gambling was supposed to be the panacea for Maryland's woes. Yet we have new and higher taxes, and now the animals are paying, too.  Marjorie Schulenburg Laurel

Maryland voters should understand what they are getting with casinos Having recently relocated to Baltimore from Connecticut where I lived for 20 years within a 15-mile radius of the country's two largest casinos, I hope to give some insight into what Maryland can expect if Question 7 passes. Both the Mohegan Sun and Foxwoods Casino, which is owned by MGM Grand, are located in southeastern Connecticut. Prior to their arrival, the region was struggling to maintain a vibrant economic base.

With all the screaming and scandal and nonsense over a possible casino at National Harbor, has no one asked how many casinos we need here in Maryland ("Baltimore casino names manager," Sept. 26)? Once upon a time this nation produced products that could be sold for profit and the generation of tax dollars. Today, while politicians allow the steel industry in Maryland and across America to die, they fall all over themselves building casinos that generate no products and rely on income earned in other lines of work.

As Maryland politicians wrangle over holding a special session to expand gambling, the state's newest casino surged out of the gate, reporting revenue of more than $1 million a day in its first month. Gambling operations at Maryland Live Casino brought in $28.5 million during the facility's first 25 days, or nearly 70 percent of the state's total gaming revenue in June, the Maryland Lottery announced Tuesday. The operation's gross gambling revenue was $359.27 per day per machine — a figure that lottery director Stephen Martino expects to decline in the coming months.

Michael E. Busch is speaker of the Maryland House of Delegates. But he's also the only Democrat among three delegates from the highly competitive 30th Legislative District in Anne Arundel County. So on the issue of casino gambling, Busch faces one of those dilemmas that no politician can find comfortable. The chief opponent of a casino in Prince George's County, which the House  has so far blocked, is  the owner of the Maryland Live Casino at Arundel Mills  -- not in Busch's district but in his home county.

The Annapolis city council, which postponed a debate on a resolution condemning casino gambling in Maryland at its last meeting, will take up the matter tonight at City Hall.The resolution, sponsored by Alderman Louise Hammond, urges the state legislature to block the establishment of casino gambling in Maryland. The issue is expected to come up next month when the General Assembly begins its 90-day session.Last month, a state task force urged the governor and state legislators not to permit casinos in Maryland.

AMONG BALTIMORE hoteliers, restaurateurs and leaders of major tourist attractions, two words have become the subject of endless debate and considerable anxiety: casino gambling.As the General Assembly prepares to decide whether to legalize casino gambling, tourism industry leaders say, few have a bigger stake than the hotels, attractions and restaurants. Would casino gambling prove an economic boon, as lobbyists promise, or divert money from other attractions?Would casino gambling help or hurt the city's image as a tourism spot widely viewed as a pioneer in transforming a moribund downtown area into a destination?

A letter to Governor O'Malley: When you first assumed office, you made it clear that you favored bringing slot gambling back to Maryland as a way to raise revenue for the state. Many citizens were against legalizing this exploitive activity which has historically been associated with crime. Yet when the General Assembly refused to go on record as being for or against the measure, it went to referendum as Question 2 on the ballot in 2008 and passed. Then many individuals in Anne Arundel County voted for the measure, assuming that a slot casino would not really affect them and that it might keep taxes lower, an idea which you and others strongly promoted.

Harford County Executive David Craig says he wants the county to be considered as a future casino gambling site. Craig sent a letter Monday to the chairman of the governor's recently appointed work group to consider gaming expansion that was created in the wake of last month's Maryland General Assembly special session in an effort to break the logjam over passage of the state budget. The panel will be looking at possible future gaming sites beyond the five approved in 2008, as well as allowing table games in addition to slots.