BANGOR – The manager of Hollywood Slots at Bangor estimated Thursday that one out of every 100 customers has a problem with gambling. During a talk at Husson College, Jon Johnson, general manager of Hollywood Slots, responded to two questions about gambling addiction. Most of… Read More
    BANGOR – Hollywood Slots may continue to stir controversy among local residents, but its promise to stimulate the economy and contribute to the construction of a new Bangor Auditorium was well received by the local business community during a talk Thursday. An audience of 118… Read More
    “Slot machines are the crack cocaine of gambling,” says Lee Thompson, president of the Maine Council on Problem Gambling. The combination of relatively small stakes, immediate gratification and an insular environment – no windows, no clocks – is extremely seductive, she said. And because they… Read More
    REDWOOD SHORES, Calif. – Engineers at PureDepth Inc. spent years developing tools for helping the military plot 3-D maps of war zones, eventually licensing top-secret technology to the U.S. Air Force and Navy. But the Silicon Valley startup hit the jackpot in October when it… Read More
    INDIAN ISLAND – The Penobscot Nation chief says his tribe’s loss of high stakes bingo revenue to the Hollywood Slots racino in nearby Bangor is making it difficult to provide essential services to tribal members. As a result, the tribe is trying through legislation to… Read More
    BANGOR – The price tag for Penn National Gaming Inc.’s permanent slots complex has jumped from $90 million to $131 million, according to a year-end financial report released Thursday. Penn National Chairman and CEO Peter Carlino attributed the roughly $40 million increase to higher construction… Read More
    Following is how the $21 million in taxes generated at Hollywood Slots has been divided up: . Revitalization of harness racing industry: $3,543,235 to supplement harness racing purses at commercial harness racing tracks and agricultural fairs; $1,062,970 for additional purses for special “sire stakes” races… Read More
    PLEASANT POINT – Gov. John Baldacci should hold his nose, turn his head and allow a tribal racino initiative to go into effect, former tribal state Rep. Fred Moore urged Thursday. On Tuesday, backers of a tribal racino initiative learned they had successfully completed their… Read More
    BANGOR – Plans by Hollywood Slots at Bangor’s parent company to build a $90 million gambling complex across Main Street from Bass Park cleared several city hurdles Tuesday night. Penn National Gaming Inc. now is waiting for the state transportation and environmental permits it needs… Read More
    Even before Penn National Gaming Inc. opened its temporary racing casino in the former Miller’s Restaurant on Bangor’s Main Street, anti-gambling concerns forecast that Bangor would see a spike in crime, gambling addiction, bankruptcy and other social ills. On the surface, little appears to have… Read More
    As part of an effort to assess what Bangor can expect for crime now that it is host city to the state’s only slots facility, the Bangor Daily News consulted law enforcement officials in three other states with racinos. Here’s what they had to say: Iowa… Read More
    AUGUSTA – In 2003, Mainers rejected by a 2-to-1 ratio a proposal by Maine’s Indian tribes to build a casino in the state, while approving a racino – a combination slot machine parlor and racetrack – in Bangor by just under 30,000 votes out of the nearly 515,000… Read More
    BANGOR – Hollywood Slots at Bangor’s first-year anniversary celebration on Saturday nearly doubled the racing casino’s usual weekend attendance. “We had over 4,200” patrons, said spokeswoman Amy Kenney on Sunday. googletag.cmd.push(function () { // Define Slot var slot_sizes = [[300,250]]; var new_slot_sizes = []; var… Read More
    BANGOR – One year ago today, hundreds of Mainers lined up outside the former Miller’s Restaurant on Main Street for a glimpse of the state’s first slots facility, which made its debut with a Tinsel Town-style grand opening that featured celebrity look-alikes, searchlights and champagne. Read More
    AUGUSTA – Slot machine players at the state’s only racino in Bangor are having an impact on state lottery revenues, Maine Lottery Director Dan Gwadosky told members of the state revenue forecasting commission Tuesday. “There is only so much disposable income to go around,” Gwadosky… Read More
    BANGOR – The Holiday Inn-Civic Center on Main Street apparently is closing at the end of the month as part of plans to construct a permanent $90 million gambling complex at the site, even though company officials are denying the news. When calling to inquire… Read More
    BANGOR – City councilors on Wednesday night authorized a final lease agreement between the city and Bangor Historic Track Inc., the Penn National Gaming Inc. subsidiary gearing up to build a $90 million gambling complex across Main Street from Bass Park. The Pennsylvania racing and… Read More
    BANGOR – City councilors this week approved a request to rezone the site Penn National Gaming Inc. has picked for its $90 million permanent gaming facility. The 9-acre site at issue, referred to as the Riverside Block, encompasses all the land between Lincoln and Dutton… Read More
    WASHINGTON – At some Indian casinos, they’re not playing your grandmother’s church basement bingo anymore. Now the game is video bingo, played at blinking, whirring consoles virtually indistinguishable from slot machines. Slots are subject to state approval and limits. Bingo machines aren’t. googletag.cmd.push(function () {… Read More
    BANGOR – The project budget for Penn National Gaming Inc.’s permanent gaming complex has grown from $72 million to $90 million, members of the company’s development team said Wednesday during a briefing for city officials. “That’s not driven by our development agreement with the city;… Read More
    The Maine Gambling Control Board has made a wise move in proposing a moratorium on further expansion of slot-machine gambling. In a non-binding resolution, the board called for a breathing spell to judge the impact of the 475 slot machines at Bangor’s temporary Hollywood Slots and the expansion… Read More
    BANGOR – Though they agreed that the expense was a legitimate one, city councilors who met Monday as the finance committee expressed concerns about raiding the city’s recently established racino revenue fund. City councilors established the fund last October, about a month before Penn National… Read More
    PORTLAND – The Portland Eagles Club, which was the target of an 18-month undercover investigation by Maine State Police, was fined $60,000 and stripped of its gambling license after pleading guilty Monday to three counts of aggravated unlawful gambling. The club, which was accused of… Read More
    AUGUSTA – The Maine Gambling Control Board agreed Wednesday to join with the state Office of Substance Abuse for the delivery of counseling services to compulsive gamblers. The counseling services, which aren’t yet available, are mandated by LD 1829, the state’s slots law. The services… Read More
    AUGUSTA – If you’re looking for an issue that separates Maine’s seven gubernatorial candidates, gambling is a safe bet. Neither Gov. John Baldacci nor his Republican re-election challenger Chandler Woodcock is a fan of casino gambling, but that’s about all they agree on. googletag.cmd.push(function ()… Read More
    BANGOR – While that large hole being dug on Main Street might look a little like Bangor’s version of Boston’s Big Dig, it actually is part of the groundwork that must be done in anticipation of Penn National Gaming Inc.’s permanent racino. The permanent Hollywood… Read More
    BANGOR – The leaders involved in the effort to develop a $72 million gambling complex across Main Street from Bass Park have crossed the finish line. All of the essential documents pertaining to Penn National Gaming Inc.’s permanent racino project, including purchase and lease agreements,… Read More
    AUGUSTA – A $2.125 million Megabucks lottery ticket was purchased in Maine, the Maine State Lottery announced Thursday. The winning ticket from Wednesday night’s drawing was purchased at Highland Variety in Westbrook, which will receive a $21,250 bonus, the lottery said. googletag.cmd.push(function () { //… Read More
    BANGOR – A pair of excavators made quick work Tuesday of the Main Street Inn, knocking down pieces of wall and later grabbing mouthfuls of debris with jagged metal teeth to be loaded onto trucks for a trip to the local landfill. The small, two-story… Read More
    When a casino opens, the local crime rate remains steady at first but begins to rise after two or three years, according to a survey by two economists covering all 3,165 counties in the United States. Their findings are worth considering as gambling continues to… Read More
    AUGUSTA – The chairman of the Maine Gambling Control Board took steps Wednesday to give credit where credit is due. “I don’t believe the governor’s ever been given the credit he deserves,” George McHale, who also heads the Maine Harness Racing Commission, said after a… Read More
    RUMFORD – A Rumford man’s plan to bring casino gambling to Oxford County has caused a stir in this paper mill town. A Web site for Evergreen Mountain Enterprises displayed a call for volunteers to help collect thousands of petition signatures needed to force a… Read More
    Jobs created: 130 (120 full-time with benefits) Estimated annual payroll: $5 million googletag.cmd.push(function () { // Define Slot var slot_sizes = [[300,250]]; var new_slot_sizes = []; var has_banner = false; for (var i = 0; i < slot_sizes.length; i++) { if (isMobileDevice()) { if (slot_sizes[i][0]… Read More
    BANGOR – A Pennsylvania-based gaming and racing company’s plans for a $70 million-plus racino across Main Street from Bass Park remain on course, according to several key players. The gambling complex, which would house 1,500 slot machines, would replace the company’s temporary facility, which opened… Read More
    BANGOR – More than seven months after the five-member Maine Gambling Control Board lost one of its members, its ranks are close to being replenished. Gov. John Baldacci has nominated Cushing Pagon Samp to the board seat vacated last August by Jean M. Deighan of… Read More
    MASHPEE, Mass. – The Mashpee Wampanoag tribe, whose ancestors greeted the Pilgrims to the Atlantic shores, was given preliminary approval of the federal recognition it had been seeking for three decades, according to the tribe and a Massachusetts congressman’s spokesman. The ruling from the Bureau… Read More
    AUGUSTA – A portion of the proceeds from Hollywood Slots in Bangor are going to be invested in further improvements to the harness racing facilities at Bass Park, the gaming facility’s general manager said during a meeting Thursday of the Maine Gambling Control Board. According… Read More
    AUGUSTA – Parliamentary jockeying continues over calls for a tribal racino in eastern Maine. The Maine House of Representatives and Senate have been at odds over whether a new bill addressing the subject should be developed in committee. On Wednesday, the Senate refused to budge,… Read More
    AUGUSTA – Maine’s Passamaquoddy Tribe made good on its pledge Monday and turned in more than 61,000 petition signatures in an effort to place the question of a Washington County racino before the voters in November. Election officials at the Maine Secretary of State’s Office… Read More
    AUGUSTA – A razor-thin, 17-16 Senate vote against creating a new tribal racino bill prompted a flurry of private meetings Thursday as proponents attempted to keep the proposal alive and encourage another vote next week. Without debate and with two members absent, the Senate voted… Read More
    AUGUSTA – While legislative leaders conferred Wednesday with Passamaquoddy tribal leaders on a new racino bill, gambling opponents were preparing another campaign to defeat the legislation. A joint order of the House and Senate is expected to be approved today requiring the Legislature’s Legal and… Read More
    CALAIS – A group hoping to bring a tribal racetrack casino to Washington County is paying people to circulate petitions that would put the proposal out to statewide referendum in November. The Washington County Tribal Track Coalition group was in Calais on Wednesday signing people… Read More
    AUGUSTA – Assistance for people with an addiction to gambling was among the issues discussed last week by members of the Maine Gambling Control Board. Making sure such help is available is among the board’s charges. Work to that end began several months before the… Read More
    According to the year-end report for Hollywood Slots at Bangor, which opened its Main Street gaming facility to the public on Nov. 4, 2004, a total of $60,252,671 has been wagered so far on the facility’s 475 slot machines. The report shows that Hollywood Slots’… Read More
    AUGUSTA – With the annual gambling industry slowdown now here, attendance at the Hollywood Slots at Bangor interim facility has evened out, General Manager Jon Johnson said Thursday during a meeting of the Maine Gambling Control Board. “Business has leveled off. It’s not slow, but… Read More
    INDIAN ISLAND – Gaming opportunities may be increased at Penobscot Indian Nation’s Sockalexis Bingo Palace if bingo officials see a significant increase in interest with the arrival of slot machines a few miles away. Although no decision has been made, General Manager Miles Francis said… Read More
    Nov. 18, 2002: Representatives of Capital Seven LLC, a Nevada-based company owned by entrepreneur Shawn Scott, present proposal for $30 million racino project for Bass Park during Bangor City Council committee meeting. March 23, 2003: City schedules local June referendum seeking permission to have slots… Read More
    According to the first-month financial report for Hollywood Slots at Bangor, which opened its Main Street gaming facility to the public on Nov. 4, a total of $28,527,347 was wagered on the facility’s 475 slot machines during November. Players received a total of $26,559,027, according… Read More
    BANGOR – Since it opened about a month ago, Hollywood Slots has been busy, with customers pumping more than a million dollars a day through the machines and the parking lot full most days and evenings. Businesspeople say it’s not rocket science that this should… Read More
    Back when Las Vegas was just a dot in the desert and Hollywood was still a good place to grow bananas, you could put a nickel in a slot machine in Bangor, Maine, and win 50 cigars. Storm clouds were gathering on the horizon, however, as the county… Read More
    Backers of a tribal racetrack casino in Washington County are making a heavy push for a statewide vote on the issue, collecting more than 20,000 signatures last week, organizers say, toward securing a spot on the 2006 ballot. “We are committed, and we will deliver,”… Read More
    AUGUSTA – Penn National Gaming Inc. plans to open its doors to bettors on Nov. 4, two years to the day after voters passed the 2003 state referendum that legalized slot machines at Maine’s commercial harness racing tracks. During a Tuesday meeting of the Maine… Read More
    BANGOR – Members of the Maine Gambling Control Board have said in no uncertain terms that they won’t assume oversight of any forms of gambling other than slots unless asked to by state lawmakers. “At this point in time, we need their direction,” Chairman George… Read More
    BANGOR – Penn National Gaming Inc.’s efforts to open a slots facility on Main Street ran into a problem Wednesday, after members of the Maine Gambling Control Board found themselves unable to issue one of Penn’s slot machine distributors the permanent license it was seeking. Read More
    AUGUSTA – Opponents of slot machines in Maine have turned to former Gov. Angus King in search of leadership after correctly concluding that Gov. John Baldacci had no interest in repealing existing laws allowing limited casino gambling in the state. Fred Kilfoil of the Scarborough-based… Read More
    BANGOR – After having witnessed the barrage of slots-related bills that went before state lawmakers last session, city councilors are calling for a three-year waiting period before any substantive changes are made to existing state law. A resolve urging the state’s legislative and executive branches… Read More
    BANGOR – It’s crunch time for Penn National Gaming Inc. With the opening of its Hollywood Slots in Bangor about three months away, renovations at the former Miller’s Restaurant on Main Street are in full swing. The former restaurant, which overlooks Bangor Waterfront, has been… Read More
    CALAIS – A petition effort to bring the question of building a racetrack-casino in Washington County to a statewide vote got off to a strong start this weekend with proponents collecting signatures in Calais and Topsham. Proponents had not tallied the signatures collected by late… Read More
    AUGUSTA – The chairman of the Maine Gambling Control Board on Thursday established a subcommittee that will spend the next several months researching and writing a report on the status of gambling in Maine. George McHale of Orrington appointed the three-member subcommittee during a board… Read More
    JUNEAU, Alaska – The main sponsor of an initiative proposal to bring video poker to Alaska is the mother of a controversial racetrack owner who has pushed for gambling initiatives in other states, including Maine. Victoria Scott said her son, Las Vegas investor Shawn Scott,… Read More
    The winding roads of Washington County feature some of the state’s most difficult terrain. But the twists and turns along rocky coastlines and rolling blueberry barrens pale in comparison to the turbulent path through Augusta of a plan for a tribal racetrack casino in Down… Read More
    Although it has won strong support from Augusta lawmakers, a plan for a racetrack casino in Washington County faced an uncertain future Thursday after falling one vote shy in the Senate of the supermajority demanded by Gov. John Baldacci to fend off his looming veto. Read More
    AUGUSTA – Penn National received initial approval Thursday to bring five slot machines to Bangor this fall for training purposes. Penn hopes to conduct the training at the former Miller’s Restaurant and Post Time off-track betting parlor on Main Street, where the company is gearing… Read More
    AUGUSTA – After nearly two hours of talks with Gov. John Baldacci on Tuesday, tribal leaders emerged from the Blaine House unexpectedly cheerful, despite no change in the governor’s intention to veto their plan for a racetrack casino in Washington County. “Fruitful and positive,” Passamaquoddy… Read More