Start making sense; Walker dodges a bullet

“Indianapolis is making it impossible to run cities,” complains Hammond Mayor Thomas McDermott Jr., who’s nettled by a proposal to eliminate the $3 admission fees Indiana casinos pay on behalf of their customers. The port authority of Hammond is run almost entirely off such fees from Horseshoe Hammond. The fee cancellation that’s got McDermott nettled is part of a generally sensible package of reforms proposed by a study committee of the Indiana General Assembly, which also recommended moving riverboat casinos ashore and permitting live dealers at racinos. These ideas ran into an iron-fisted snit by Gov. Mike Pence (R) who, through some tortured form of reasoning, deems them an expansion of gambling.

The two Majestic Star vessels, in Gary, would be particularly happy to see the Assembly’s projected changes put into action. They’re the only riverboats in the state that still have to carry a crew and rough weather means they have to cease operation. Majestic Star CEO Pete Liguori wants to build a $135 million casino next to Majestic Star’s hotel, but he must particularly buck Pence’s disfavor. Liguori does have the support of Northwestern Indiana Building & Construction Trades Council Business Manager Randy Palmateer, who says, “Building a land-based casino would be a nice, sizable project, especially as the BP Whiting Refinery expansion project has wound down.” And, as McDermott notes, the state is working off of 1993 laws and “the industry has evolved and it’s time for us to take the next step.”

* Although the ruling is not definitive, Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker (R) has suffered at least a temporary setback in his attempts to mollify both the Forest County Potowatomi and the Menominee Nation. The Bureau of Indian Affairs has nixed an agreement whereby Wisconsin would make the Potowatomi whole for financial losses caused by a theoretical Menominee casino in Kenosha. Since the deal would have allowed the state to slough that obligation off onto the Menominee, the BIA objected, saying it would “”shift to the Menominee the significant financial burden of preserving all of the Potawatomi monopoly profits.”

While the Potowatomi were quick to vow court action, Walker spokesman Cullen Werwie was exquisitely noncommittal, saying, “The rejection of this compact amendment should not be interpreted as a step toward Governor Walker rejecting or approving the proposed Kenosha casino … we will continue to have discussions and negotiations with interested parties.”

The Menominee were exultant, saying the BIA’s action “removes this attempt to extort $100 million from the taxpayers of the state and clears the way for Gov. Walker to negotiate a new compact with the Menominee that addresses any of the budget concerns the state might have.” We don’t see Walker doing any victory dances, however.

* Hammering another nail in the coffin of horseracing, Atlantic City Race Course will close later this week. Gov. Chris Christie‘s withdrawal of state subsidies is blamed for pushing the track over the brink. Ironically, owner Greenwood Racing also owns the highly lucrative Parx Casino raceway outside of Philadelphia. Look for more Garden State race courses to go Atlantic City’s route if they can’t get slots, “instant racing” or sports betting.

* I never thought of Batman as much of a high roller but he’s one of several DC Comics icons being sublicensed by Melco Crown Entertainment to spice up Studio City, in Macao. Holy VIP rooms!