Bingo bounces back in Bama
By Tom Baxter
Southern Political Report
December 2, 2009 — Tuesday was a big day for bingo in Alabama, setting up an expected showdown between electronic bingo proprietors and Gov. Bob Riley. Country Crossing, the Dothan entertainment park which has been the center of a long-running controversy, opened with a bevy of country music stars on hand and 1,700 electronic bingo machines which Riley has declared don't meet the standards set for legal bingo by a state court last month. On the same day, a bingo parlor in White Hall which was shut down by an anti-gambling task force and was the issue in last month's court ruling reopened with redesigned games which require players to announce when they've won rather than cashing in automatically. It's not clear whether the two openings were coordinated, but they are likely to lead to another test of the state's gambling laws. Riley has taken the position that any electronic machine is illegal under state law, which allows the more traditional sort of bingo in 18 counties. -- Gambling was in the news in Arkansas as well. The state's new lottery has been a financial success in its first two months, but in testimony before a legislative committee today, Sen. Sue Madison, D-Fayetteville, will call for an interim study to repeal it. Madison says the state already gets revenues from the state's poorer citizens through its tobacco and alcohol taxes, and is adding a further burden with the lottery. -- A co-founder of the Blue Dog coalition, US Rep. John Tanner (D-Tenn.) announced he's retiring next year. That's bad news for the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, which will have to recruit a new candidate for the Middle Tennessee district which has been safe Democratic territory throughout Tanner's 11 terms. Follow Tom Baxter on Twitter. |
