CASINO CAN OPERATE IN KENTUCKY WATERS

CAIRO, Ill. -- Players Club International won't have to take Cairo Mayor James Wilson up on his offer to let the group's riverboat casino dock on the west side of Fort Defiance State Park here.

Kentucky Attorney General Chris Gorman has eased his stance on the Illinois/Kentucky border dispute and will permit the riverboat casino to operate on parts of the Ohio River as long as no gambling is taking place.

Until late last week, Gorman insisted that the casino would be in violation of Kentucky law any time it entered Kentucky waters because of the possession of casino gambling equipment.

On Friday, he said the "no gambling equipment" law applies only if there is an intent to use the equipment in Kentucky, adding that the only way that Kentucky would have the ability to confiscate gambling equipment would be if the Illinois riverboat actually engaged in gambling in Kentucky.

However, the controversy over the long-standing border dispute still exists.

In 1991, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled Kentucky's boundary extended to the 1792 low water mark on the Illinois side. The states still are debating exactly where that mark is and a court-appointed special master could decide on the line by April, when the casino is scheduled to start operation.

Similar Kentucky disputes with Indiana and Ohio have been settled using the 1792 mark, which gave each state a minimum of 100 feet of the river from the low water line.

"We would let Players Club International dock here until an agreement on the river border is reached," said Wilson Tuesday, adding that Metropolis residents would be invited "to come for the riverboat gambling here."

Fort Defiance is located at the confluence of the Ohio and Mississippi rivers.

Cairo was the first Southern Illinois community to apply for the gambling license for a riverboat casino.

"Players Club International and Marvin Ornstein were involved in the application," said Wilson, who headed the city's promotional efforts for a license. "But, when Ornstein withdrew, Players Club applied for a license at Metropolis."

Cairo withdrew its application for a gambling license in November 1990. The city's chances of obtaining a license for riverboat gambling are "a dead issue" now, said Wilson.

"I think all of the licenses are taken," he added. "Even if they weren't, they wouldn't issue another license this close to Metropolis."

The new boat for the Metropolis operation is being built in Louisiana and is expected to be completed by early March. The casino will have to travel up the Ohio River from Cairo to Metropolis.

David Fishman, president of Players Riverboat Casino, said the company is moving ahead as planned on the project.

"We believe that from all the documentation that we've seen from maps that we will be within our Illinois territorial bounds here," he says. Preliminary investigations show that the Supreme Court ruling will give Illinois about 100 feet of water."