Lord Jeffery Inn, Wednesday morning
So I'm half thinking Amherst Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Tony Maroulis ordered up this picturesque weather as a backdrop for today's luncheon presentation at Amherst 's iconic Lord Jeffery Inn for a hot topic more centered on Springfield, but certainly casting ripples that will be felt in our little town: Casino gambling.
Mohegan Sun CEO Mitchell Etess, representing one of the four major players who ponied up $400,000 to vie for a lone gambling license reserved for Western Mass will be giving the keynote address.
The public is invited and Mr. Etess is expected to approach the podium around 12:30 PM.
It will be good for Mass to have casino gambling. State tax revenue will fill the coffers, jobs will be created, and other businesses will prosper. I look forward it. Hope they build it someplace other than Springfield though.
ReplyDeleteSafe bet Mr. Etess will be making the case for Palmer.
ReplyDeleteIf casinos were a good idea, then Vegas would be the place to live. It's not. The schools are in the crapper, the crime is high, and the housing is in the tank. It's not the answer. But...go ahead, you won't listen.
ReplyDeleteThey are not building Las Vegas. These are stand-alone mini-entertainment centers. Many states have them. I've been to a few in NY and they are just fine.
ReplyDeleteThey don't raise crime. Las Vegas isn't near the top one hundred high crime cities, not even in the top 100. Chelsea mass is number 11 and they don't have a casino.
No, they don't cause schools to fail. Las Vegas was recently voted one of the worst cities for schools. But not because of casinos. Rather because of teacher tenure rather than performance, the recession, the same high drop out rate of minorities as it is in most large cities, and a bunch of other reasons that have nothing to do with casinos.
And no, casinos don't take away people's housing. Before the recession, Nevada led an unprecedented era of growth for a nearly a quarter century. And prior to 2008, Nevada had the nation’s fastest growing state economy for 25 years. The state also led the U.S. in population growth and job creation.
No casinos don't do anything you claim they do. They simply offer another niche of entertainment.
Your example of Las Vegas and its "ills" sounds more like pure ignorance than anything else. Typical for NIMB (Not in my backyard).
Any major city in the US suffers the same issues as Las Vegas, casino or not. And no, they are not building Las Vegas hear, not even Mohegan, just a hotel with smaller more efficient gambling floor.
Well, you wear your ignorance like a shirt. I've lived in Lawrence, KS, Reno and Vegas, NV, Palo Alto, CA, New Canaan, CT, Devon, PA, Ft. Lauderdale, FL, Winsor Locks, CT, and now Amherst, MA. So I know what I'm talking about. It's not that I don't want one in my backyard. That's not the point. It's that they don't solve the state's money problems or the schools money problems, they just make more problems. You are a blow hard.
ReplyDeleteBangor, Maine is the classic example of why this is bad news. Bangor now has "Hollywood Slots" and all h*** has broken out in the city.
ReplyDeleteAll kinds of problems that no one wants to talk about - but are real. And this is the consequence of what they did.
Kind of an ignorant statement Ed...
ReplyDeletehttps://bangordailynews.com/2010/10/18/business/bangor-crime-rate-highest-in-the-state/