STATE SHOULD GIVE SCOTT CITY AN ANSWER

If Lady Luck Gaming Corp.'s proposal to put a gambling casino on the Diversion Channel some two miles from the Mississippi River doesn't comply with Missouri's Constitution, the Missouri Gaming Commission should say so and put an end to Scott City's hopes of getting a riverboat close to I-55.

By letting Lady Luck's application linger for four years, the gaming commission has done nothing but give false hopes to those who would like to see a casino in the area, especially Scott City officials who are interested in the economic benefits that would be derived.

The Scott City Council wants a yes or no answer and can't seem to get one. Scott City Councilman Kevin Greshem has pushed the commission to act on the issue. He made a trip to Jefferson City last month to ask the commission for a decision, but the panel wouldn't say when or even if it will act on the application.

It is obvious that the site proposed by Lady Luck -- on the channel near I-55 more than two miles from the Mississippi -- is in conflict with the state's boats-in-moats measure approved last November. The measure amended the Constitution to permit gambling casinos in artificial moats within 1,000 feet of the closest edge of the main channel of the Missouri or Mississippi rivers.

The gaming commission's executive director, C.E. Fisher, said the issue is whether the site can be considered part of the river. It would be a far stretch of anyone's imagination to consider the site a part of the river, and the commission should say so.

Fisher also said the commission is concerned that if it approves new casinos, which it isn't doing, competition from the new ones might cause economic hardships on existing casinos. The closest to Scott City is Casino Aztar at Caruthersville, the only gambling boat in Southeast Missouri.

The lack of action and Fisher's comments pretty well make it clear that the commission has no intention of approving Lady Luck's application. Lady Luck realizes it and hasn't pushed the issue before the commission. If it was genuinely interested in a casino at or near Scott City, the Las Vegas-based gambling corporation would be at the commission's door at every opportunity with a plan for a gambling boat that would comply with state law. Instead, Lady Luck has let the issue die.

The gaming commission should do the same thing by denying the application so that Scott City can concentrate on other matters.

The Missouri system: just get rid of rules

The gaming commission did make one decision last month: It allowed casinos in eastern Missouri to present plans on how they would implement open boarding without dismantling the integrity of the $500-per-cruise loss limit and collection of admission fees that generate money for the state and local governments.

If the commission is satisfied with the plans, open boarding could be a reality in eastern Missouri by summer's end. That means gamblers could be playing aboard riverboat casinos for as long as they want. Current rules allow them to board for the first 45 minutes of each two-hour "cruise," and once they leave the casino floor they can't re-enter during the two hours.

The casinos have pushed for open boarding ever since they came to Missouri. If this pilot project sails, you can bet the commission will allow it statewide.

There are countless violations of the loss-limit rule now, and open boarding will open the door to even more lax enforcement of the rule, as one commissioner aptly pointed out.

The decision, however, is in keeping with the commission's outlook on gambling: If the rules can't be enforced, get rid of them.