Driving Arkansas Forward, the initiative to legalize casino gambling at four Arkansas locations, looks like it will score a come-from-behind victory in less than a 
week. Early polling had it down, 41% to 48%, but it’s now turned the tide, 49% to 43%. Issue 4 would convert Oaklawn Jockey Club and Southland Racing Corp. into racinos, and open the path for bidding on casinos on as-yet-undecided sites in Jefferson County and Pope County. Just for the record, S&G favors a “yes” vote on the issue. Financial projections — always to be taken with a gran of salt — have the four casinos producing $12o million in annual tax revenue, 55% of which will be dedicated to the state general fund.
* In a heartening progress report on Resorts World Las Vegas, the Las Vegas Review-Journal has an update: 35 of a projected 60 stories having been completed in skeletal form. And that’s without a full complement of construction workers, who will be laid on 
later. Genting Group is still shooting for a late-2020 opening. Judging by the lack of activity at The Drew (11 years behind schedule and counting), Resorts World should have a clear runway. It needs it. Genting is spending more on Resorts World LV than has been expended on any casino-resort to date. Genting spokesman Michael Levoff attributed the delay, at least in part, to Genting having “spent a considerable amount of time perfecting” its design for the site. Speaking of which, Lucky Dragon Casino having bitten the big one, it remains to be seen whether Genting sticks with the slavish chinoiserie of Paul Steelman‘s original design. And we still don’t know what Genting was high on when it predicted the Chinese government would just fork over some pandas to swelter in the Vegas heat.
* Congratulations to Wynn Resorts on its acceptance into the EPA‘s Green Power 
cadre, the only Nevada casino to make the green elite. Wynn made the cut in part for its 160-acre solar farm and partly for generating 75% of its power from renewable sources. That puts Wynn up there with Apple, Microsoft and Starbucks. “We are proud to be the national leader in green energy use in the hotel industry, proving that integrating large-scale energy efficient measures can be done in a way that only enhances the guest experience,” said Chief Sustainability Officer Erik Hansen.
On a non-Wynn note, entrepreneur Rosalie Bingham has launched an initiative to flip the script on Las Vegas‘ endemic gluttony ($700 million/year on fossil fuels, epic food waste and the largest landfill in America) to a positive narrative. Bingham is the inventor of the Anaerobic Digester System or “Green Machine,” which claims to 
convert waste into drinking water and clean power. NV Energy is said to be kicking the tires of the Green Machine, the exact nature of which is somewhat cryptic. “Like other renewable energy sources, this project will begin with a higher kilowatt-hour-cost than that of the existing dirty energy. However, we expect the Anaerobic Digester kilowatt-hour-cost to decrease quickly, because it is not subject to weather like other renewable energy sources. This extra cost would either be covered by the community, charitable donors who believe in the project, and/or the casinos that see value in helping the community become energy independent,” says the Green Machine’s PR firm. That’s quite an assumption but don’t accuse Bingham of thinking small.
* One doesn’t think of Zimbabwe as a casino hotbed but sports books are on the rise and Internet gambling is getting off the launch pad. The trouble for online punters is that betting sites don’t accept the Zimbabwean dollar, forcing conversion to the U.S. dollar in order to have a flutter. “Most of the operators that accept Zimbabwe-based players boast licenses from highly reputable jurisdictions such as the UK and Malta,” reports Iharare.com. In a scenario familiar to Americans, the national lottery — established 28 years ago — has left horse betting in the dust. Zimbabwe is also a friendly jurisdiction in terms of its taxation: 10% of winnings at the ponies and 15% for casino winnings. At those rates the industry should continue to grow in popularity.
