GEPHARDT LOBBIES FOR 3RD DISTRICT CASINO

If House minority leader Richard Gephardt, D-St. Louis, has his way, the St. Louis area will get another gambling casino -- this one in the 3rd Congressional District Gephardt has represented for so long. The head of the Missouri Gaming Commission says there is a strong possibility the state will allow it.

"The consensus is that the St. Louis area will support another casino," said Mel Fisher, executive director of the state gaming commission. Fisher spoke recently at a south St. Louis County economic development forum sponsored by Gephardt, who represents that portion of the county. At the forum, Gephardt called on state officials to bring gambling to his district. "I urge you that any new site be in the 3rd Congressional District," Gephardt said. "We need it for jobs. We need it for schools. We need it for our children. We need it for our future." Proposals for new casinos in Gephardt's district include Ste. Genevieve, Kimmswick, Lemay and Oakville.

Fisher said state officials aren't considering expanding gambling in any other part of Missouri.

We would hope that neither Ste. Genevieve nor Kimmswick will see its quaint and abundant charms defaced by the addition of a tacky riverboat casino. If larger communities to the north want to go that route, so that Gephardt's constituents won't have to face the 15-minute drive that now confronts those who want to gamble, there probably isn't anything stopping them. Nothing, that is, but good sense.

Beyond the question of locating a new casino, there is the question of the gambling industry's increasing influence with our government. Gephardt is only one among many who travel out to Las Vegas to accept donations from the gambling industry. There are Republicans who do the same. Missourians will some day have to decide how much they want their politicians influenced by the gambling industry.