Casino proposal near Branson losing at ballot

ROCKAWAY BEACH, Mo. -- Hopes for a casino appeared to be slipping away as early election returns Tuesday night showed voters across Missouri rejecting an amendment to the state's constitution to allow a casino in Rockaway Beach.

With 48 percent of the vote counted, the amendment was failing 56 percent to 44 percent, according to unofficial results.

The amendment's supporters said allowing the casino on Rockaway Beach's downtown waterfront would breathe new life into a fading tourist town. Opponents said amending the constitution to allow the casino would damage the family atmosphere that draws 7 million tourists to nearby Branson.

Residents in the town of 577 people remained steadfastly optimistic, however. They packed the Beach House Cafe, one of the few thriving businesses on the main thoroughfare, to nibble on chips and chicken wings and watch the election returns.

"There is so much electricity that has been generated about this for months," said Chuck Walters, who helped rally residents behind the idea. "Today, the voltage is turned up to 220. You can feel it in the air."

A year in the makingWalters and fellow businessman Denny Howard first raised the casino idea four years ago after becoming frustrated at watching their neighbors struggle to make ends meet. They've been laughed at and criticized many times since. But the two agreed they were not going to disappoint residents, who were counting on the casino to bring year-round employment with health benefits to the town.

"It's down to chewing finger nails time," Howard said. "We've done everything we can do. Now it's up to everybody else."

A dozen miles away in Branson, a couple hundred opponents of the amendment gathered at a Golden Corral restaurant were not willing to claim victory.

"I'm spending a lot of time in prayer," said Pete Herschend, who owns Herschend Family Entertainment and has led the fight against the amendment. "I'm very encouraged, but we have a long way to go."

Herschend said he regretted that the election has divided the two towns.

"It has absolutely nothing to do with Rockaway Beach," he said. "It's about putting an end to the spread of casino gambling."