National Public Radio affiliate KNPR, which occasionally airs news programming between endless bouts of mendicancy, is currently in its second week of rattling the tin cup on air. Which meant that, while morning-TV viewers may have been watching an ABC News report about gas prices shooting past $4/gallon, and families having to choose between food and fuel, KNPR was asking local schoolteachers to dig into their pockets to keep Prairie Home Companion and its ilk on the air. At a time when people are having to give up driving altogether, I think it would only be decent of public radio and TV to cut back on their "more, more, more" money-mantra.

Then again, they're no more out of touch than the Washington resident who says not to worry, "We are in a slowdown."

Tell that to some of the hundreds of recently cashiered casino workers. And if people are cutting back on driving and eating, it's a lead-pipe cinch they're not putting the savings into a slot machine. These are scary times.

Good news for Harrah's. OK, so maybe the bulletin from Macao wasn't so encouraging, but Horseshoe Casino, in Hammond, Ind., is preceding well ahead of schedule and is on track for a 3Q08 opening.

Roulette and reggae. Federal endorsement of Jamaica's first legitimate casino is expected today. It's a 3,000- to 4,000-room Montego Bay project, to be built and owned by "an international group with a good track record of developing hotels and casinos."

Hmmmmm ... sounds like MGM Mirage. Or maybe Wynn Resorts. Perhaps even Kerzner International (whose joint-venture partners include MGM) or Melco PBL. Who am I leaving out?

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