CAPE WILL SURVIVE LOSS OF RIVER CASINO

Riverboat gambling will probably not be coming to Cape Girardeau anytime soon.

In late September, Boyd Gaming Corp. offered for sale 10 parcels of land it owns in downtown Cape Girardeau. The move basically assured the fact that Boyd doesn't intend to bring a gambling boat to town.

The news is far from unexpected and not all bad.

Cape Girardeau's road toward riverboat gambling was bumpy from the start. It took two elections to pass the local gambling option, and even then the vote was decidedly close.

The promise of economic development was certainly appealing. But others wondered and worried about a moral erosion that gambling might bring.

The state also had a hand in Boyd's ultimate decision.

The Missouri Gaming Commission still has a moratorium on issuing new licenses on the Mississippi River south of St. Louis. The commission has concentrated on urban-area casinos -- where the most gamblers are likely to be. The only licensed granted south of St. Louis has been in Caruthersville.

There is no indication when the state may again grant another license in this part of Missouri.

Cape Girardeau is lucky that its economic well-being is broadly based. It doesn't depend on one company or industry. The city will survive and flourish despite the loss of Boyd. The same might not be the case for Caruthersville or Metropolis, Ill., which both depend heavily on gambling revenues.

Statewide, riverboat gambling has changed markedly since first approved by voters in November 1992. It was sold as a tourist attraction, with boats to traverse the rivers. But all excursions have been eliminated, and the new casinos are land-based developments at the river's edge.

The debate continues over lifting the $500 loss limit, and it may be just a matter of time before that promise also is broken.

Although Boyd has pulled up stakes, the city has benefited from its presence here. The city received $250,000 from the gambling company. About $100,000 covered expenses incurred to prepare the gambling contract. The rest went into city coffers.

The five-year contract signed by the city of Cape Girardeau and Boyd last spring still remains intact. That means the city can't negotiate with any other gambling firm.

In November 1993, Cape Girardeau citizens approved riverboat gambling. The city now walks away from the gamble with $250,000, a measure of disappointment about the loss of a boat here and a somewhat cynical view of the state's gaming commission.

As the song goes, you have to know when to hold them and know when to fold them. Boyd Gaming has folded the hand on its Cape Girardeau operations. It may be the safest bet of all.

HIGHWAYS NEED MORE REGIONAL FOCUS

A proposed Interstate-66 project won't come through the Highway 34 corridor from Cape Girardeau to Van Buren. That's the determination of Joe Mickes, chief engineer of the Missouri Department of Transportation.

Apparently there is confusion in the highway department's own ranks about I-66. MoDOT's district office in Sikeston had suggested the state would look at the Highway 34 corridor as a possible route for an interstate.

East-to-west access between Paducah and Springfield needs to be improved. But these pressing improvements shouldn't be pinned on a coast-to-coast highway that may never be realized.

The state is also sorely deficient in a good central route that would provide better access to Jefferson City, Lake of the Ozarks and Columbia.

The list goes on and on.

Local highway needs must remain the top priority.