YESS GROUP KICKS OFF GAMING CAMPAIGN

The Yes Group for riverboat gambling will officially kick off its new campaign during a "River Boat Rally" to be held at the Show Me Center Friday.

The riverboat gambling issue will appear on the Nov. 2 election ballot in Cape Girardeau.

"Our invitation is to anyone interested in bringing riverboat gaming to Cape Girardeau," said Evelyn Boardman, a spokesperson for the Yes Group, which was founded following the defeat of the issue earlier this year.

There is no charge to attend the rally, which gets under way at 6:30 p.m.

"We'll have live band entertainment, drawings for prizes, `Yes' signs and lapel pins, and voter registration," said Boardman. "People are also urged to bring their entries for the `Name the Boat' contest."

Cape Girardeau voters rejected riverboat gambling during a June election by a narrow, 53 to 47 percent, 5,506 votes to 4,940. In another June vote, a riverboat gaming issue passed overwhelmingly in Caruthersville, 1,238 votes to 597 a 67-33 percent margin.

The Yes Group, which was organized the day following the June election, collected more than 3,500 names on a petition to place the issue on the Nov. 2 ballot.

"Numerous voters told us they didn't vote in June, because they thought the issue would pass easily," said Boardman. "We wanted a second chance at it."

The Cape Girardeau vote in June was the culmination of a campaign by proponents of the issue lauding the economic benefits of a floating casino on Cape Girardeau's riverfront.

On the other side, opponents decried the immorality of gambling and said a riverboat would be an economic siphon in Southeast Missouri.