State News
Kansas: Two casino proposals advance; two delayed
The Associated Press
TOPEKA, Kan. — The Kansas Lottery Commission endorsed two competing plans Wednesday for a new state-owned casino in the Kansas City area but delayed action until next week on a pair of proposals for a casino south of Wichita.
The commission approved proposed contracts for Wyandotte County for a project backed by Penn National Gaming Inc., of Wyomissing, Pa., and another from a partnership involving Kansas Speedway, the NASCAR track in Kansas City. The panel’s unanimous votes forwarded the agreements to a state review board that is set to pick one applicant before the end of October.
The Lottery Commission has the power to block proposals from moving forward because, under the 2007 state law authorizing the casinos, the Lottery will own the rights to the new games. The arrangement is unique for non-tribal casinos in the U.S., but the Kansas Constitution does not allow privately owned casinos.
The commission postponed action until Tuesday on the two proposals for Sumner County in south-central Kansas so that the Lottery’s staff has more time to review financial information for a group of developers behind one of them.
Foxwoods Development Co., of St. Louis, originally had a proposal competing with another from a partnership involving Kansas investors and two former executives of Las Vegas-based Mandalay Resort Group. But Lottery officials said Monday that they’d combined forces to push only the Foxwoods plan.
“We just got some additional financial information,” said Ed Van Petten, the Lottery’s executive director.
A proposal from Lakes Entertainment Inc., of Minnetonka, Minn., is competing with the Foxwoods plan.
Last year, the casino review board picked a partnership involving Harrah’s Entertainment Inc., to build a casino in Sumner County. But it dropped its plans in November because of the economy, forcing the state to restart the selection process.
Meanwhile, the Kansas City area is considered Kansas’ best casino market, though four casinos already are operating on the Missouri side. Kansas officials hope to draw business away from them and tourists from outside the metro area.
Last year, the Kansas casino review board also picked the Speedway-backed partnership to build a $680 million hotel-and-casino complex overlooking the track’s No. 2 turn. But the partnership backed away in December, saying it had to retool its plans because of the economy.
The new proposal for the speedway’s Hard Rock Hotel and Casino would cost $521 million.
“We’re anxious to get in front of the review board,” said Jeff Boerger, the speedway’s president. “We have a lot of respect for Penn. We believe we’re going to have a fight on our hands.”
Penn’s proposed Hollywood Casino would cost $539 million to build, with construction in two phases, like the speedway plan. Penn’s site, about 2 miles north of the junction of Interstates 70 and 435, is near the speedway.
A Penn spokesman did not return telephone messages Wednesday.
Like the speedway partnership, Penn also has won a contract in Kansas before, for a casino in the state’s southeast corner.
But Penn abandoned its project there in September, two months after the Quapaw tribe opened a casino in just across the Oklahoma border. No new applicants have come forward.
- State News
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Audit: $108,000 taken from Missouri Veterans Commission
JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. — A former employee of the state auditor’s office embezzled nearly $108,000 while working as an accountant for the Missouri Veterans Commission, the state auditor alleged Monday.
Stacy Griffin-Lowery was fired by the Veterans Commission in March 2008 and pleaded guilty three months later to a misdemeanor theft charge. She repaid the state $17,665, the auditor’s office said.
But Missouri Auditor Susan Montee on Monday accused Griffin-Lowery of swiping an additional $90,192 by getting reimbursed for cash advances and purchases made on her personal credit card. -
Race in Kansas’ 2nd District could heat up for GOP incumbent
TOPEKA, Kan. — A conservative Kansas legislator said Monday he will announce in a few weeks whether he will challenge freshman U.S. Rep. Lynn Jenkins in the Republican primary.
State Sen. Dennis Pyle’s actions in recent months suggest the Hiawatha farmer, who’s served in the Legislature since 2001, is running against Jenkins in the Aug. 2 primary. He set up a campaign organization in November and has a Web site featuring a brief video of him on his farm, asking viewers for support. -
Oklahoma tea party leaders, lawmakers envision militia
OKLAHOMA CITY — Frustrated by recent political setbacks, tea party leaders and some conservative members of the Oklahoma Legislature say they would like to create a new volunteer militia to help defend against what they believe are improper federal infringements on state sovereignty.
Tea party movement leaders say they’ve discussed the idea with several supportive lawmakers and hope to get legislation next year to recognize a new volunteer force - Missouri: Senate panel cuts $500 million from proposed budget JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. — A Senate committee declared Thursday that it has sliced more than $500 million from Missouri’s proposed budget for next year — meeting a target set by Gov. Jay Nixon to bring it in balance.
- Kansas: Wichita-area casino in doubt after governor’s decision TOPEKA, Kan. — A proposed casino south of Wichita was in doubt Thursday after Gov. Mark Parkinson refused to grant its developers a regulatory reprieve. Partners in the $225 million Chisholm Creek project wanted to delay a state board’s decision on their plans.
- Oklahoma: Groups oppose education spending initiative OKLAHOMA CITY — A coalition of business and labor groups said Thursday it will work to defeat a ballot initiative to dramatically increase spending on public education that coalition members said would devastate the budgets of many other state services and possibly force tax increases.
- Missouri: Gov. Nixon affirms support for tuition freeze COLUMBIA, Mo. — Missouri Gov. Jay Nixon has no plans to sit idly while lawmakers consider whether to preserve a tuition freeze deal he assembled before the state’s dire financial status was fully known.
- Kansas: Agency uses YouTube to illustrate road woes TOPEKA, Kan. — It’s one thing to hear about potholes and state budgets. It’s another to see how the two are connected. That’s part of the thinking behind a new video presentation on YouTube this week from the Kansas Department of Transportation.
- Oklahoma: Pathologist says girl’s throat might have been cut OKLAHOMA CITY — A 7-year-old girl who was found dead in Oklahoma near the body of her suspected kidnapper likely died after her throat was cut, an independent pathologist said Wednesday, the same day the child’s funeral attracted hundreds of mourners.
- Missouri: Court overturns Arrow Rock hog ruling JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. — A Missouri appeals court on Tuesday overturned a ruling that blocked a proposed hog farm from expanding near Arrow Rock.
- More State News Headlines
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Audit: $108,000 taken from Missouri Veterans Commission
JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. — A former employee of the state auditor’s office embezzled nearly $108,000 while working as an accountant for the Missouri Veterans Commission, the state auditor alleged Monday.
