Casino

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.

Gov. Parris N. Glendening may think he has quelled the rush to legalize casino gambling in Maryland, but he'd just be fooling himself.Since the governor's announcement last week that he would veto any gambling legislation that reaches his desk this year, high-priced influence-peddlers in Annapolis haven't lowered their profiles or halted their efforts to romance the General Assembly into approving casinos. On top of that, a Virginia developer says he will be submitting to the governor within a month plans for a giant Indian-run casino that would employ 2,000 workers on Will's Mountain near Cumberland.

LOS ANGELES -- Hoping that its musical motif proves as alluring to gamblers as it does to diners, the Hard Rock Cafe America will break ground on a 325-room Las Vegas rock 'n' roll hotel/casino in the spring, the company announced."

A Washington-area labor organization poured $2.7 million into the fight for gambling expansion during the General Assembly's special session last month, according to its disclosure statement. The total reported by the Washington Building & Construction Trades Council, an umbrella organization of labor unions, was far greater than any other company or organization that had reported its spending by midday Monday. The council's spending, done in the name of Building Trades for National Harbor, came in a winning cause as the legislature passed legislation putting the questions of whether to allow table games and a new Prince George's County casino on the November ballot.

It's not hard, after visiting National Harbor, to see what the fuss is all about. The sprawling, gleaming development along the Potomac River in Prince George's County boasts expensive stores, a half-dozen hotels, highway access and convention traffic — a combination that has sold many on the idea that it could become Maryland's most lucrative casino location. "On the East Coast, this would be the best site," said County Executive Rushern Baker, who adds that he is otherwise no fan of casino gambling.

Gov. Martin O'Malleyexplained his headlong push for expanded gambling in Maryland as an attempt to end debate on the issue once and for all - at least for as long as he is governor. But the legislature may have sabotaged that hope through an amendment that gutted Mr. O'Malley's effort to ban campaign contributions from gambling interests. There can be no doubt about the gambling industry's influence in Annapolis after the legislature passed an expansion plan that is more lucrative for the casinos than the state by a ratio of 13-1.

When 2 a.m. came Friday, the sound of coins hitting metal — electronically replicated, of course, since the slot machines pay out with a printed ticket — continued at Maryland Live casino. About 1,000 people stayed where they were, plugging money into the video terminals and ordering drinks. Terry Cohen of Randallstown was there to celebrate the new schedule that will keep the casino open 24 hours a day. "There's nothing to do around here at night," she said. "The town shuts down.

On the November referendum ballot on casinos, there should be one ballot for table games (yes or no) and a separate ballot for a sixth casino site (yes or no ). If there are no table games in Maryland I certainly will go to Atlantic City, where I can get rebates and food. Another casino in Maryland won't draw me and other players. If casinos don't offer table games, Baltimore should be the only casino in Maryland. Frank F. Braunstein, Pikesville

A nationally known chef, a Maryland-based entertainment venue and three restaurants will round out the offerings at the Cordish Cos.' planned casino at Arundel Mills mall, company officials announced Thursday. The announcement comes as the battle over slots at Arundel Mills, in which both sides have spent a total of nearly $6 million, enters its final weeks. Anne Arundel County voters will decide on Nov. 2 whether to allow Cordish to construct a 4,750-slot casino on a parking lot at the mall.

The casino gambling industry has been working quietly in Annapolis, signing up lobbyists and plotting a strategy, in advance of a big push to convince elected state officials that casinos will do wonders for Maryland. So far, many state officials have taken a wait-and-see attitude as the task force led by former Sen. Joseph D. Tydings continues its inquiry into the possible effects of casino betting. No one in a position of power at the state capital has seemed ready, willing or able to try pushing back against the industry.