Results tagged “casinos”

Bite Size News, September 18: Two Big Bands Edition

  • With Steven Tyler recovering from his fall, Joe Perry is mad, and the future of Aerosmith is uncertain. Perry had already commented on the fall. [AP via Boston.com]

A Commonwealth of Casinos?

Does approving and building casinos guarantee new revenue? No. Ask Rhode Island.

--So NOW Sal DiMasi wants to strike a deal on gambling? Guess we've learned one thing during the recent DiMasi stories. What happens in the State House stays in the State House. [Boston Herald]

Last week Governor Deval Patrick took "personal days" as the casino plan he had been pitching for six months was going down in flames. Today the Associated Press reveals that during that time Patrick was out of state pitching an autobiography to New York publishers.

MBTA General Manager Dan Grabauskas isn't the only one saying that we're broke. The entire state is broke and in even bigger trouble that you might think. Yes, we're talking "broke-ass." If you thought we were in a budget crisis, wait until you read today's paper.

Last week, all of the talk was about Speaker of the House Sal DiMasi's demolition of Governor Deval Patrick's casino plan. He was credited with spearheading the movement against what had been the highest profile piece of the governor's plan to boost the Bay State economy.

--More from the pillow fight!

After six months of political posturing and economic predictions, it appears that King Sal, Speaker of the House Sal DiMasi, will continue to reign over a Commonwealth free from casino wealth.

For this one green day every year, Southie becomes the center of Boston's cultural and political life, and the Dropkick Murphys get more work than Eliot Spitzer's call girl. (Cue rimshot/hysterical laughter.)

We can barely muster the energy to post again about the great 2008 casino debate. If only we could focus on the important issues facing our society, like the profound need for healthier donuts.

On Tuesday we wrote about how Governor Deval Patrick's intellectually lazy casino job creation numbers gave ammunition to the skeptical of gambling Speaker of the House Sal DiMasi. Yesterday, however, Patrick got some good news from the Chamber of Commerce, who released numbers much more helpful to his cause.

The Commonwealth's Speaker of the House Sal DiMasi has long been seen as the biggest obstacle in the way of Governor Deval Patrick's plan to build three luxury casinos in the Bay State. DiMasi lived up to that reputation yesterday by delivering a blistering attack against the governor's projections for how many jobs the initiative would create.

--So, just how many new construction jobs will the casinos proposed by Governor Deval Patrick create? He said 30,000. An independent analyst says no way: "... building three casinos at a cost of $1 billion each in Massachusetts would create a total of 4,000 to 5,000 new construction jobs for the duration of the building period, probably three years." [Boston Globe]

The Commomwealth's Speaker of the House, Sal DiMasi, is well-known for his opposition to Governor Deval Patrick's casino plan. There's no turning back now.

While some Bostonians dismiss the Herald as a tabloid rag, we read the paper everyday. There's often more energy and swagger on the cover of the Herald than in whole sections of the Globe.

Another week, another political clapfest. Governor Deval Patrick's State of the Commonwealth may have lacked the drama (what are the firefighters going to do?) and surprise (dismantling busing) of Mayor Menino's State of the City, but it did showcase Patrick's trademark optimism and plans for progress. Now how are we going to pay for it?

It's unfortunate that yesterday's Herald gave huge play to a superficial analysis of Detroit's casinos and their similarity to Governor Deval Patrick's gambling vision. Bostonist was tough on the piece, which made up for its lack of evidence with a few anecdotes and general confusion.

There's nothing like a loud, baseless Herald story to get the morning started right. Today's tabloid trumps Heath Ledger's death with, "BUSTED! Deval Casino Plan's Just Like Michigan's... And They Lost $10M Last year." This Bostonist happens to be wearing a Detroit Tigers cap and sweatshirt as we type this, but we don't need Michigander bias to be dismayed by the lack of evidence in their piece.

-- When the homeless meet gentrification, the homeless get treated like shit. Shocker. [Boston Globe]

-- Call him Governor Patrick-agressive. Deval Patrick unveiled his 2009 budget, and it had a little surprise. $300 million of revenue is set to come from taxes on three casinos that do not yet exist. Patrick wants to license casino gambling in Massachusetts but faces heavy opposition in the legislature. It's a battle he has already won in his own mind. Nearly half -- $124 million -- of the speculative funds will shore up a projected lottery shortfall. [Boston Herald]

Governor Deval Patrick pitched his casino proposal yesterday at the State House.

According to official record, Middleborough is going to get a casino. On Saturday, voters said that they want the casino offered by the Mashpee Wampanoags. Here's what the town will get in exchange for the casino: "At least $11 million a year plus $250 million for road, sewer and other infrastructure improvements." But, although they approved the casino from the Wampanoags, they voted down bringing casino gambling into town. The "yes" vote was binding. The...

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