Rolling the Dice

Coverage of casino licensing and the gambling referendum

Women — can’t win without ’em

By Jack Sullivan Election 2012, Elections, Gateway Cities 0 Comments Oct 18, 2012

Everyone seems to be going after the women’s vote. But nobody, it appears, knows exactly what the “women’s vote” is except that they want it and it’s key to being elected. Women, after all, have consistently turned out in larger numbers than men for the presidential election since 1980. Mitt Romney and Barack Obama are(...)

Casino could redevelop Springfield

By CommonWealth Staff Municipal Government 0 Comments Aug 22, 2012

MGM, proprietor of such upscale resorts as the Bellagio and the Luxor in Las Vegas, is making a run for the Western Massachusetts casino license. The company today will unveil plans for what amounts to a massive redevelopment of three downtown Springfield city blocks. Plans will include gambling facilities, an “entertainment district” featuring restaurants, performance(...)

South Coast casino fears

By CommonWealth Staff 0 Comments Jul 17, 2012

For years, South Coast politicians were the lonely voices in the gambling wilderness. Even when legislative leadership stood solidly against legalizing casinos in Massachusetts, politicians from the state’s southeastern region would reliably push the issue, arguing that the area was in desperate need of large-scale investment, and casinos were as good a bet as anything(...)

Tribe and tribulation for Indian gaming

By CommonWealth Staff 0 Comments Jun 19, 2012

Since Gov. Deval Patrick signed a law authorizing casino gambling last year, a giant contradiction has been hanging over the race for the state’s three casino licenses. The law carves out a license for the Mashpee Wampanoag tribe in the state’s southeastern region, provided the Legislature and the state gaming commission are confident in the(...)

Rhode Island rolls the dice

By CommonWealth Staff 0 Comments Jun 15, 2012

If the tensions in Massachusetts over casino legislation seemed high, it’s really nothing compared to the time Rhode Island is having trying to stem the impending financial calamity that will come with expanded Bay State gambling. As it was becoming clear that Massachusetts would pass gambling legislation last year, Rhode Island lawmakers approved a referendum(...)

Get used to it: casino sparks are flying

By CommonWealth Staff Municipal Government 0 Comments Apr 24, 2012

The fight over casinos in Massachusetts is becoming less of a metaphor every day. Today’s Sun Chronicle reports on a dust-up between the Plainridge Racecourse, a harness racing track pursuing a slot machine license, and a Plainville resident who opposes gambling. The resident, Thomas Keen, said Monday that the track’s lawyers are threatening to sue(...)

Brimfield casino site not worth the stakes

By CommonWealth Staff Municipal Government 0 Comments Mar 28, 2012

Can’t get there from here. MGM Resorts International finally threw in its hand and decided to walk away from a $600 million project to build a hilltop gambling mecca in the small western Massachusetts town of Brimfield. The prospect of 3,000 jobs, a figure almost equal to the population of Brimfield itself, also vanished. MGM(...)

The casino gamble

By CommonWealth Staff 0 Comments Mar 19, 2012

If you’re a state leader or a casino mogul lustily eyeing the gambling licenses up for grabs in Massachusetts, did you smile giddily or break into a cold sweat when reading yesterday’s New York Times Magazine cover story on the rough times at Foxwoods, the Connecticut mega-casino whose lunch we are supposed to be preparing(...)

With casinos, all politics is political

By CommonWealth Staff Growth and Development, Municipal Government 0 Comments Dec 21, 2011

If, as Barney Frank says, “Government is the name we give to things we choose to do together,” politics must be the name we give to things that advance our own agenda and self-interest while putting a flamethrower to competition that might injure our priorities. Less than a month since Gov. Deval Patrick signed the(...)

The Download: Cracking down on gambling

By CommonWealth Staff Current Affairs, Massachusetts Legislature, Municipal Government 0 Comments Apr 8, 2011

As everyone knows, slot machines and casino gambling haven’t been approved by the Massachusetts Legislature. But what most people don’t know is that devices that closely resemble slot machines have been popping up in small shops across the state for the past few years, sidestepping the legal ban by masquerading as sweepstakes. Some of the(...)