CASINO DEVELOPER CHOSEN FROM SIX AT CARUTHERSVILLE

CARUTHERSVILLE -- Aztar Corp. of Scottsdale, Ariz., has been selected by Caruthersville city officials to develop a riverboat gambling casino on the Mississippi River in this Pemiscot County community.

"We had six proposals," said Don Lloyd, director of economic development at Caruthersville. "The city council heard oral proposals from five companies last weekend, and we had one written proposal."

A total of 21 companies had contacted the city since voters approved riverboat gambling by a 2-to-1 margin. The city's decision came Saturday, just 32 days after the election of June 8.

"We were interested in getting things under way as soon as possible," said Lloyd. "The new development will provide 400 to 600 new jobs.

This will be the first floating casino for Aztar, a publicly traded company that also owns Trop World in Atlantic City, N.J.; the Tropicana in Las Vegas; and the Ramada Express in Laughlin, Nev.