From Missouri Digital News: https://mdn.org
MDN Menu

MDN Home

Journalist's Creed

Print

MDN Help

 MDN.ORG: Missouri Digital News
MDN Menu

MDN Home

Journalist's Creed

Print

MDN Help

 MDN.ORG Mo. Digital News Missouri Digital News MDN.ORG: Mo. Digital News MDN.ORG: Missouri Digital News
Help  

Casino Losses Protested

February 25, 1997
By: Susan Batt
State Capital Bureau

As the Missouri legislature considers whether to lift the limits on gambling time and financial losses, one West St. Louis County woman told her family's story.

Susan Batt reports from Jefferson City.

Story:
RunTime:
OutCue: SOC

When her husband lost the family's money on riverboat casinos, Liesa Hartin says she had to go on welfare to feed her children, but that was not the hardest part.

[189K WAV file - Leisa Hartin]

Actuality: Liesa Hartin
RunTime:
OutCue: "...obsession with the gambling boats."
Contents: The material problems were not as hard as watching the man she loved become a degenerate. He even sold his wedding ring for money to gamble.

Hartin says her family is working through the problems since her husband returned from rehab last week.

From Jefferson City, I'm Susan Batt.

Casinos are asking Missouri representatives to lift many of the limitations on gambling operations. Susan Batt has the story from Jefferson City.

The proposed bill removes any limit on how much a person could loose while gambling.

This comes just five years after Missouri voters approved riverboat casinos with limitations. Steve Taylor is the Executive Director of Casino Watch and says this is unfair to the voters.

[110K WAV file - Steve Taylor]

Actuality: Steve Taylor
RunTime:
OutCue: "...when it was voted upon."
Contents: It would be a mockery of the constitution and the people's will to change what the voters were promised.

Casino owners say the bill is necessary for Missouri casinos to compete with those in surrounding states.

From Jefferson City, I'm Susan Batt.