A crucial deadline

Then again, I guess it wouldn't be called a deadline if it weren't crucial, right?

"After a series of starts and stops, the future of the proposed North Shore casino faces its most critical deadline this week. The state Gaming Control Board must decide whether to approve transferring the Pittsburgh license from Don Barden, who was unable to complete financing, to a group headed by Chicago billionaire Neil Bluhm. Mr. Bluhm said last week that Credit Suisse, which had given Mr. Barden a $200 million bridge loan to get the project started, could force the project into bankruptcy as early as Wednesday. Mr. Bluhm said he's willing to take over the project and keep all of Mr. Barden's commitments but won't act on the bridge loan payment until he is sure his group has the license."

... Here's a tidbit you may not have known -- "deadline," in its original usage, is a reference to the sprawling Civil War military prisons, which often weren't really prisons at all, in that many of the prisoners weren't confined by walls or iron bars. Instead, prisoners-of-war were informed of the rough perimeter of the camp. If you crossed that "dead-line," you were literally shot dead. It's not known whether the current, newspaper-ish meaning of the word arose from the Civil War usage, or evolved separately.

... While we're at it: casino, 1744, "public room for music or dancing," from Italian casino, dim. of casa "house," from Latin casa "hut, shed," of uncertain origin. The card game is attested by that name from 1792.

... And: gamble, 1726 (implied in gambling), from a dialectal survival of M.E. gammlen, variant of gamenen "to play, jest, be merry," from Old English gamenian "to play," from gamen (see game). Or possibly gamble is from a derivative of gamel "to play games" (1594), itself likely a frequentative from game. 

Enough with the book learning.  

... The latest: "Mayor Luke Ravenstahl and Allegheny County Chief Executive Dan Onorato will meet with top Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board officials [Tuesday] to discuss the status of the stalled North Shore casino project. Mr. Onorato wants to know when the board will decide whether to transfer the Pittsburgh slots license, awarded to Don Barden in December 2006, to a new group headed by Chicago billionaire Neil Bluhm, spokesman Kevin Evanto said. 'I think he wants some basic answers. He wants to know the timeline they're operating on, some idea when they might have a full board meeting to approve or reject or whatever they're going to do with Mr. Bluhm,' Mr. Evanto said. 'Obviously it would be in everybody's interest to have a decision sooner rather than later.'"

Or at least it would be in Neil Bluhm's and Don Barden's interest.

... Oh, wait -- maybe it would be in everybody's best interest:

"What if the deal falls through? And what about the money promised for the Pittsburgh Penguins' new arena? WTAE Channel 4 Action News reporter Bob Mayo has confirmed that Pennsylvania taxpayers are the bill payers of last resort if the casino doesn't help pay for the arena ... 'All the revenue streams that support the arena financing are back-stopped by a commonwealth lease of the new facility. That would guarantee that the debt payments will be made,' Rendell spokesman Chuck Ardo said Friday."

... While we were out last week, the P-G's Tom Barnes checked in with Neil Bluhm and followed up on Rep. Dwight Evans and his conversations with two gaming board members, conversations that were possibly forbidden under state law:

"State Gaming Control Board Chairwoman Mary D. Colins said she didn't feel 'intimidated or threatened' by a 60-second phone call from state Rep. Dwight Evans, who stressed the importance of continued black ownership in a planned Pittsburgh casino." 

Recession-proof

Still don't believe that Don Barden's troubles are shared by casinos across the country?

"The realization -- after years of steady, healthy gains -- that the gaming industry isn't immune to the distress of a troubled economy couldn't have come at a worse time for Massachusetts. 'It's ugly,' Andrew Zarnett, gambling analyst with Deutsche Bank AG of New York, said of the revenue losses and declining stock prices that have thrown the industry for a loop. 'There's an overall uncertainty in the economy and gaming is feeling the impact. It's really bad.' From southeastern Connecticut to Atlantic City to Las Vegas, gaming operators are pulling in less revenue, leading to dramatic declines in stock prices for many of the companies that would be interested in developing the types of resort casinos envisioned by Gov. Deval Patrick."

Or the types of casinos envisioned by Gov. Ed Rendell. We're not saying the national troubles mean the state gaming board should cave to Barden & Bluhm -- but we understand why the duo is holding a gun to the gaming board's head in the first place.

Odds and ends

Casino revenue means reduced property taxes in Lancaster ... Who wants to operate a casino in Kansas? Anybody? Anybody? ... Courts will ultimately settle whether Indians can run a casino in Buffalo, N.Y. ... More on the new push to build a casino near Gettysburg, Pa. ... Illinois has been fighting the gambling slump by allowing for "tighter" slot machines.

Good to know that Pennsylvania isn't the only state dealing with a casino operator with alleged mob ties:

"Macau's oldest gambling company acknowledges its policies to prevent money laundering may not be working. It admits the possibility its patrons, in collusion with employees, may be cheating or committing fraud ... These are not your typical corporate disclosures. Then again, SJM Holdings isn't your typical casino company. It's controlled by Stanley Ho, a colorful and controversial Asian gambling magnate who for years has fought allegations he has ties to the Chinese mob. Now, the filing has become the latest in a long list of items New Jersey investigators are scrutinizing as they determine whether to sign off on MGM Mirage's partnership with Ho's daughter, Pansy, for a $1.25 billion Macau casino."