The City’s Road to Ruin

Today is a dark day. While memorial services are being held at Fort Hood, St. Louis is “celebrating” the opening of River City Casino Boulevard, a $23.8 million roadway paid for by Pinnacle Entertainment which will lead to the new $380 million casino development slated to open next spring.  (http://stlouis.bizjournals.com/stlouis/stories/2009/11/09/daily14.html) Casino owner, Pinnacle, has paved the way for more family and economic devastation as local officials gloat over the economic impact of the road project. There is an interesting irony with this opening when, on its eve, Pinnacle CEO Daniel Lee resigned after publicly threatening a St. Louis County councilman. (A Missouri Gaming Commission investigation is underway as to the nature of those threats. http://stlouis.bizjournals.com/stlouis/stories/2009/11/09/daily1.html?surround=lfn) I suppose Pinnacle is jealous over its St. Louis riverfront monopoly.  St. Louis is on the road to becoming another Atlantic City and perhaps even surpassing its per capita casino count. “Casino wars” may also become part of the ongoing saga as River City Casino and the potential Riverview casino battle for St. Louis headlines. Look how we are investing our dollars, time, and energy! The casino industry is dominating the business and news headlines as they battle for dominating the St. Louis market–and using billions in gambling losses to pay for it all.  Is it really worth the cost–economically and socially? Is St. Louis on the road to ruin?  Indeed it is a dark day.