Sun coverage: Slot machines in Md. -- baltimoresun.com

August 29, 2008

Slots attack on 2 fronts

Gambling opponents attacked the wording yesterday of a coming referendum to legalize slot machines on two fronts, with two groups asking the courts to intervene and one demanding that the Maryland State Board of Elections change the ballot language.

August 28, 2008

Slots foes ask rewrite

Slots opponents proposed alternative language yesterday for a voter referendum on November's ballot that would legalize slot machine casinos across the state.

August 26, 2008

Slots opponents drafting suit over ballot wording

Slots opponents are drafting a lawsuit to challenge the wording of a ballot question that will be put to voters in November on whether to legalize slot-machine gambling at five locations in Maryland.

August 19, 2008

Slots ballot wording is criticized

Opponents of slot machines in Maryland decried the wording of a ballot question to legalize expanded gambling yesterday, saying it was crafted to garner more votes.

August 17, 2008

To OC, slots present threat, opportunity

The dusty harness track in Berlin, with its minor-league charm and horse-and-buggy night races, is no threat to the tourism juggernaut on the beach five miles away - and that's just how Ocean City business and political leaders want to keep it.

August 15, 2008

Slots foes may contest ballot text

Slots opponents said yesterday that they are contemplating a lawsuit to contest the wording of a November referendum on whether to allow the establishment of 15,000 slot machines at five sites across the state.

August 6, 2008

Racing subsidies could leave Md.

A November slots referendum designed to keep millions in gambling dollars from going to nearby states would, if approved, likely end up sending millions in tax revenue to out-of-state racehorse owners, according to a new analysis by a taxpayer advocacy group.

July 20, 2008

Wealth driving 'No' vote on slots

Stewart Bainum Jr., who fought the Maryland lottery as a state lawmaker, left politics more than two decades ago. But the multimillionaire and hotel magnate is still playing a role in the debate over gambling in Maryland - he recently cut a $10,000 check to an organization that's working to sway voters against slot machines in the November referendum.

July 15, 2008

Anti-slots groups reject gaming money

Groups fighting the legalization of slot machines in Maryland said yesterday that they don't intend to take money from gambling interests and that both sides need to reject such contributions to have a fair debate.

July 9, 2008

Land deal lays base for slots in Cecil County

A national casino operator has secured a deal with one of Cecil County's largest landowners that could pave the way for a slots parlor just across the Interstate 95 tolls in Perryville if voters approve November's gambling referendum.

July 4, 2008

Pa. firm seeks land here for casino

A national casino operator from Pennsylvania is close to securing an option to purchase Cecil County property near Interstate 95 for use as a slot machine gambling venue if voters this November approve the devices in Maryland.

June 28, 2008

2 sides on slots to have booths at fair

All's fair at the State Fair, the opposing sides of the slots fight agreed yesterday.

June 22, 2008

Math behind slots is open to debate

The state's November referendum on slot machines could come down to whose math voters believe

June 20, 2008

Two Anne Arundel councilmen enlist in anti-slot machine campaign

Two Anne Arundel County councilmen joined a statewide campaign yesterday urging residents to vote against a November referendum to legalize slot machines, saying that expanded gambling at Laurel Park would have a devastating impact on quality of life in the county.

June 18, 2008

Video poker crackdown due

Comptroller Peter Franchot announced yesterday a broad crackdown on video poker machines at Maryland bars, saying the tax collector's office would use its authority to enforce alcohol laws to pressure liquor-license holders to get rid of the "for-amusement-only" devices that he says are mostly operated as illegal slot machines.

June 16, 2008

Slots an issue at fair

The Maryland State Fair is usually a forum for cotton-candy vendors and kids in 4-H clubs showing off livestock - not political controversy.

May 30, 2008

Eyeing slots help, Chuckas takes Md. Jockey Club reins

Tom Chuckas spent his first official day as the president and chief operating officer of the Maryland Jockey Club in meetings, only to emerge yesterday to questions about his vision for the sport in Maryland.

April 16, 2008

Commission: Put slots at Laurel, Ocean Downs

The Maryland Racing Commission yesterday urged the state to place slots at Laurel Park and Ocean Downs, the only two tracks eligible under legislation approved during a special General Assembly session last year.

March 18, 2008

Official focuses on bar games

Comptroller Peter Franchot is pushing for Baltimore City and Baltimore County to stop providing licenses for thousands of video gambling machines that critics allege make illegal, "under the table" payouts in area bars and restaurants.

March 16, 2008

Teachers union backs slots referendum

The state teachers union voted late Friday night to support voter approval of slot machine gambling in a November referendum, the union announced yesterday.

March 16, 2008

Lawmakers focus on slots spending

Lawmakers in Annapolis are moving to tighten up campaign reporting requirements for the November referendum on legalizing slot machines, as both sides gird for what's expected to be a free-spending battle to win voters.

March 14, 2008

Miller presses teachers for help on slots

Senate President Thomas V. Mike Miller has told the leaders of the state's powerful teachers union that they need to support a November referendum to legalize slot machine gambling or be prepared for severe cuts in education funding.

March 13, 2008

Panel votes for ban on slots-like devices

A Senate committee voted almost unanimously yesterday to advance a bill seeking to ban slots-like video gambling machines that have proliferated throughout Maryland, setting the stage for the full Senate to take up the measure today.

March 12, 2008

Gansler issues ruling on gambling devices

Many of the electronic gambling machines that have proliferated across the state in recent months are illegal, according to an opinion released by Attorney General Douglas F. Gansler's office Monday.

March 6, 2008

Electronic bingo backed by strong lobbying push

Electronic gambling machines - devices that resemble slots - have been proliferating in rural Maryland counties recently, in part because of a concerted lobbying effort by their manufacturer.

March 4, 2008

Franchot urges ban on video gambling machines

Comptroller Peter Franchot, who has long opposed the expansion of gambling in Maryland, called on lawmakers today to approve legislation that would ban video gambling machines by next year.

March 4, 2008

Tracks balking at slots campaign

Maryland's pro-slots forces are planning an eight-month campaign for a referendum on expanded gambling that they say would fix the state's budget problems and save horse racing. But those who stand to benefit most - the state's racetrack owners - are balking at the effort and saying that they might not participate in the push for the ballot measure.

February 27, 2008

Bingo devices under threat

They look like slots, they play like slots, they pay out like slots, and they have proliferated for years under a legal loophole.

November 3, 2007

Slots plan is picked apart

Maryland lawmakers grilled aides to Gov. Martin O'Malley yesterday on his plan to allow up to 15,000 slot machines at five locations, raising questions about the proposed sites, local approval and the impact on the state's two thoroughbred racetracks.

November 3, 2007

Slots lose luster at Fla. track

Gulfstream Park, South Florida's major thoroughbred horse-racing track, installed slot machines last year, rows and rows of them. And gamblers came.

October 31, 2007

City's eye on slots site

An 11-acre warehouse district south of Baltimore's sports stadiums would become the home of a new slots facility under a proposal by Mayor Sheila Dixon's administration that officials said could cut city property taxes, The Sun has learned.

October 31, 2007

Majority favor slots

Anne Arundel County residents' opinions are decidedly mixed on Gov. Martin O'Malley's tax proposals to balance the state budget, with strong majorities favoring raising taxes on businesses and high-income earners but opposing increases in the sales and car-titling taxes, according to a new survey.

October 17, 2007

A vote on slots called odd bet

Around the country, ballot measures to allow slot machines or casinos usually fail, according to experts who study the issue.

September 26, 2007

O'Malley betting on slots

Reviving one of the most hotly debated issues in Annapolis, Gov. Martin O'Malley said yesterday that he will push for legalized slot machine gambling as a way to close Maryland's $1.7 billion budget gap, help the state's struggling horse industry and preserve open space.

August 15, 2007

Report makes case for Md. slots

The O'Malley administration released a report yesterday that concludes slot machines are necessary to protect Maryland's racing industry, giving the strongest indication yet that the governor intends to make expanded gambling part of his plan to close a projected $1.5 billion budget gap.

November 19, 2006

Slots measure still has the look of a loser

The joke for a while on the campaign trail was that Maryland voters who didn't want slot machines had two choices for governor: Montgomery County Executive Douglas M. Duncan, who opposed them, and Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr., whose repeated attempts to legalize them routinely ended in failure.

Sun coverage: Slot machines in Md.