Arkansas‘ evolution into a casino state is coming with surprisingly few growing pains. Which is not to say there isn’t a burden of expectations on the new properties. $350 million Saracen Casino Resort will be expected to alleviate the woes of a county where the poverty rate is a staggering 23.5% and 
unemployment stands at almost 6%. Pine Bluff Mayor Shirley Washington is aware of the pitfalls that can come with casino development. “In the research that I’ve done to see why casinos weren’t working in some other places, they said it was because there was nothing else to do, like in Tunica, for instance,” she told a newspaper. “So we feel like there will be people who will come to the casino but there’ll be people who will travel with them who will want to go to restaurants and to other amenities that we will develop as we move forward.” Let’s hope such development can be accomplished outside the casino, or else a giant sucking sound will be heard.
* Casinos are addicted to resort fees. That’s essentially what Caesars Entertainment CEO Anthony Rodio admitted in a recent investor. 
Unfortunately he didn’t go so far as to roll any of them back, although he indirectly acknowledged customer ire. “Over time, at some point there’s going to be the straw that breaks the camel’s back. I don’t think we’re there yet, but I want us to be very judicious and cautious about taking those rates any further. It’s certainly a revenue stream that’s hard to walk away from and it’s been accepted at this point, but we’re getting pretty high.” Some of us would debate whether resort fees have been “accepted” or that the breaking point hasn’t been reached, especially with Las Vegas Strip revenues languishing. Hilton and Marriott are already in the hot seat for hidden charges. What Radio said is a step in the right direction but we doubt he’s going to take any action other than punt the issue to putative successor Tom Reeg for disposal.
* God forbid a state should outlaw dog racing. That’s what Florida did and now track owner Christopher D’Arcy is yelping that it’s an unconstitutional “taking” of his property. He’s suing the Sunshine State for damages, including the loss of dogs worth $50K apiece. “The state of Florida, through
Amendment 13, imposed such a severe burden on the private property rights of plaintiffs (D’Arcy and the kennel) that it amounts to a per se taking that completely deprives plaintiffs of all economically beneficial use of the property,” whines the lawsuit, which flies in the face of a 69% voter mandate last November. The litigation will hinge upon a concept called “inverse condemnation,” in which property is not actually confiscated but rendered valueless. The precedent on which the track will be relying will be the “Pregnant Pig Case” in which an amendment banning gestation crates for pigs was overturned. The Florida Greyhound Association, a co-respondent in the lawsuit, is using it to gain leverage with the state for compensation to disposed dog owners. Some would call that a shakedown.
* The mass murders in Dayton and El Paso set off reverberations in still-shell-shocked Las Vegas. Calls to the Vegas Strong Resiliency Center immediately increased. “That happens a lot after a mass shooting.” said behavioral health coordinator Terri Keener. In the wake of the Mandalay Bay Massacre, a whole host of victim-outreach sources have been made available, bringing some good out of evil. The civic response is certainly a lot more impressive than anything we’ve seen done at a national level. ‘Nuff said.
* Carpetbagging on the new expansion of gambling in Illinois, giant Potowatomi Hotel & Casino, of Milwaukee, proposes to plant its luggage in Waukegan. Of course, this is a naked attempt to protect Potowatomi’s southern flank but that doesn’t mean it will be rejected. The Forest County Potawatomi Community characterized Waukegan “an area rich with tribal history and in the heart of Potawatomi treaty lands,” which is a nice way of saying that it’s already tribal acreage and wouldn’t have to be taken into trust by Uncle Sam, considerably expedited the casino-development process. The casino would sit upon a 32-acre parcel of land that the city is holding expressly for that purpose. Mind you, the Potawatomi favor some tribal casinos more than others, having tried to keep the Menominee Indian Tribe of Wisconsin out of Kenosha (successfully, if memory serves). They’re supremely well-qualified to run a casino but the opportunism is a bit brazen for our tastes.
