YES GROUP SPENDS $66,884 ON RIVERBOAT GAMBLING ISSUE

JACKSON -- The Yes Group, a committee formed last June to spearhead a second effort to win approval of riverboat gambling in Cape Girardeau, spent a total of $66,884 on its successful campaign for the Nov. 2 election.

Campaign reports covering the period from Oct. 22 until Dec. 1, on file with the county clerk's office in Jackson, showed that the committee wound up with a surplus of $377 after all bills were paid. The money was contributed to the Downtown Merchants Association, which contributed $11,000 to kick off the effort in June.

During this reporting period, the Yes Group collected $43,267 and spent $43,021.

By comparison, Citizens Against Riverboat Gambling showed total receipts and expenditures of $9,111. During this final reporting period, the committee raised $1,336 and spent $3,127.

The largest contributor to the opponents during the period since a report due seven days before the election was Marjorie Deimund, who donated $500.

For the Yes Group, the largest contribution during the period came from Market Direct, Inc. of Jackson, Miss., which provided about $30,000 to the effort.

The Downtown Merchants Association contributed another $2,000 to the cause. Other major contributors for the period were: Hecht's Stores, $1,000; Century 21 Key Realty, $750; H.G. and Rhoda Reeves, $300; and Kidd's Oil, $250.

During this reporting period, proponents of the issue spent $23,206 on television advertising, $8,371 on radio ads and $7,895 on newspaper ads.

The opposition committee's largest expense for the period was $1,331 for radio ads. The committee also spent about $640 for newspaper ads, $538 for copying materials, $361 for signs and $144 on postage.

After rejecting the local option for riverboat gambling in June, voters approved the measure in November.

In the first campaign, the Boyd Group, a Las Vegas based company hoping to locate a boat in Cape Girardeau, bankrolled the entire $169,000 cost of the campaign.