Overruling Massachusetts Attorney General Martha Coakley (D), a Bay State court has issued an injunction allow signature-gatherers to keep collecting voters’ John Hancocks on a petition to repeal 2011’s casino-enabling legislation. Considering the land purchases, to say nothing of the upfront fees casino developers have had to pay, we agree with Coakley that a repeal would be an unfair “taking.” It could also economically disastrous, what with casino legalization back on the table in New Hampshire and expansion of gambling at Twin Rivers, in Rhode Island, drawing heavily from the Boston market. Now Bishop Douglas Fisher has thrown his crozier into the ring, restating opposition to casino development in western Massachusetts. We know Fisher is doing what’s right by his conscience but can’t share his apocalyptic scenario.
To the east, Beantown mayoral candidates are using Steve Wynn as a piñata. State Rep. Martin J. Walsh simply wants more money for Charlestown. Opponent Daniel F. Conley wants it stopped outright, although he apparently supports close-to-home Suffolk Downs. Splitting the difference is City Councilor John R. Connolly, who would try to stop the Everett project if Wynn doesn’t pony up big bucks for Boston. Now that outgoing Mayor Thomas Menino has shifted his stance to a Wynn-tolerant one, the onus is on Wynn Resorts to get a deal done before, say, Conley or Connolly can get into office and mess it up.
Wynn’s other big, domestic-policy initiative, a casino in Philadelphia is encountering a complication. Native American and other historical artifacts may underly a portion of the casino site. This is far from a deal-breaker (SugarHouse went through the same thing) but it could significantly slow down development and might be a strike against Wynn as the Pennsylania Gaming Commission weighs applications.
It’s no more “simulated sex acts, narcotic use, masturbation and strap-on genitalia” at The Act, in Palazzo. While Las Vegas Sands is still trying to evict the club, finding it a little too risqué for Sin City, Judge Susan Scann has blue-penciled large portions of what The Act can mimic onstage. Deprived of nearly half of its simu-sex, The Act is now “a small, little nightclub on the third floor that nobody can find … [with] no differentiating factors from any of the other nightclubs on the property,” moaned attorney Pat Lundvall. As for our image as the debauchery capital of the world, The Act is but a pallid echo of its progenitor, The Box, in New York City. Live sex acts and nudity are permissible there, as they are not in Clark County. I wouldn’t take anyone to see The Act but it’s not on Sands-owned property, so it’s of some concern that Scann would give Sheldon Adelson veto power over what his neighbors present.
