The Boston Globe from Boston, Massachusetts • B5

Metro B5 WEDNESDAY, JUNE 9, 2010 THE BOSTON GLOBE Hearing on casino bills a long, heated affair Jeffrey E. Hartmann (second from right), executive vice president and chief operating officer of Mohegan Sun, waited his turn to testify at yesterday's casino hearings. The heated proceedings lasted more than six hours. users "look like they're high on cocaine," said Hans C. Breiter, a psychiatrist at Massachusetts General Hospital and a specialist in brain imaging.

Casinos rely on compulsive gamblers for most of their profits, said Senator Susan C. Tucker, an Andover Democrat and a staunch gambling opponent. The hearing stretched over more than six hours as witness after witness testified. It is not clear, however, if anyone succeeded in persuading the sena- New plan to allow casinos in R.L Bill avoids need for amendment By Eric Tucker ASSOCIATED PRESS PROVIDENCE Rhode Island voters would decide whether to expand gambling in their state by allowing its two slot machine parlors to become full-scale casinos, under a bill debated yesterday. The bill before the House Finance Committee seeks a refer-endum on whether to allow casino gambling at Twin River in Lincoln and at Newport Grand.

The two parlors offer video lottery terminals but not the live blackjack, poker, and craps games found at traditional casinos. The committee heard testimony but took no immediate action. The bill's supporters say that gambling would spur economic development in the fiscally slumping state. They also say it is important to keep pace with neighboring states, such as Connecticut, where the Foxwoods and Mohegan Sun casinos are major destinations, and Massachusetts, where lawmakers yesterday debated a proposal to license three casinos. The original version of the Rhode Island bill sought a constitutional amendment to permit privately owned and operated casinos.

But lawmakers weighed a new version yesterday that they said would eliminate the need for an amendment by putting the state, rather than a private operator, in control and operation of the casinos at Twin River and Newport Grand. The revised legislation would authorize the state to determine the number, type, and placement of table games, collect all receipts, and define the rules and odds for authorized casino games. The casinos would need statewide approval and the backing of voters in either Lincoln or Newport. In 2006, voters rejected a proposed constitutional amendment that would have allowed the Narragansett Indian tribe to join with Harrah's Entertainment to open a casino in West Warwick. Barry Flynn, a Newport resident, urged the committee to reject the legislation, pointing out that voters have spurned previous efforts to expand gambling.

He compared casino proponents to children who badger their parents so they can get what they want. "It's your responsibility to be grown-ups now and follow the will of the people as stated," Flynn told the committee. "They're hoping that they're going to just bore the state voters into some kind of catatonia or lack of interest, and then it'll get passed eventually. That's what I'm afraid you're going to do." The Rev. Eugene McKenna, president of Citizens Concerned About Casino Gambling, said he was concerned that the bill had been altered late in the process to avoid the need for a constitutional amendment.

"All of a sudden, and it is suddenly, we find out that maybe there's a legal loophole where we don't need to have a constitutional amendment. We can do it some other way," McKenna said, adding that the proposal should be better vetted and "take lots and lots of time" to consider. CASINOS Continuedfrom Page Bl for both sides to voice their arguments for what could be one final time before the Senate votes and the issue is settled behind closed doors by House and Senate negotiators. Union workers, dressed in orange T-shirts that declared, "Casinos Now! Jobs Now!" packed the State House's largest hearing room, cheering those who spoke in favor of casinos and booing those opposed to them. Haynes, his voice booming, asked the workers a series of questions intended to dramatize the need for the jobs that casinos would create.

"Anybody unemployed here?" he asked, as the workers' hands shot up. "Anybody been unemployed more than six months? Anybody been foreclosed on? Anybody worrying about mortgages?" Then he jabbed a finger at the members of the Senate Ways and Means Committee. "That's the pain and suffering that exists in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts," he said. "You stand between the future of these people behind me, either a good future or a bad future. Do the right thing." Mayor William A.

Flanagan of Fall River, who is working with the Mashpee Wampanoag tribe to build a massive gambling complex in his city, said 18 percent of his city's residents are unemployed, the highest rate in the state. "As a mayor, it's getting tougher and tougher to create jobs," he said, and legalizing casinos will help. Gregory P. Bialecki, Patrick's secretary of economic development, told the senators that he generally supports their bill, citing its similarities to the three- AQUINNAH Continuedfrom Page Bl BioPark and a resort-style destination casino," said Naomi Carney, chairwoman of the Aquinnah Wampanoag Gaming Corp. and a member of the tribal council.

She asserted that the Aquinnah tribe would be able to build a casino swiftly if Massachusetts legalizes development of such facilities this year. But state officials questioned the viability of the Aquinnah proposal, saying the tribe does not have the same legal standing to build a casino as the Mashpee tribe. Gregory Bialecki, secretary of housing and economic development, said the Aquinnah, based on Martha's Vineyard, waived its right to build a casino on sovereign tribal land in an agreement it signed with the state in 1985. "That agreement is binding and legally enforceable," he said. That point is significant because the Aquinnah and other tribes have long argued that federal law gives them the right to build on tribal land even if state officials do not grant them a license to do so.

Though the tribe's land is on Martha's Vineyard, it contends that it could put Fall River land into a federal trust and build a casino on its own. But the Aquinnah, state officials said, surrendered that right by signing the 1985 agreement. By contrast, the Mashpee Wampanoag tribe has not signed such an agreement, a fact Senate lawmakers cited in recently filed legislation that reserves one of three casino licenses for an Indian tribe. The Senate is expected to vote on the gambling bill later this month. If passed, it must be reconciled with a differ- Rival tribe AQUINNAH no an ng I.

nt id- says its casino would be better for Mass. '11111 are allowed to do anything or are allowed to do anything on co JEf fiw 'IjiL. -j-'B ro' ftH ed: JifeAflr JM nH I I JOHN TLUMACKIGLOBE STAFF River site was displayed near Naomi Carney, chairwoman of the pri to in hit are way. said that road edge JONATHAN WIGGSGLOBE STAFF tors to change their minds. Indeed, Senator Stanley Rosenberg, an Amherst Democrat who helped write the Senate's casino legislation, opened the hearing by telling those in at-tendance that the issue had "been debated literally for decades" and that "every point of view, every study, has been heard, vetted, and considered." Michael Levenson can be reached at mlevensonglobe.com.

trust lands which is legal within the Commonwealth of Massachusetts," Bennett said. He also pointed out that two prior governors, Republicans Paul Cellucci and William Weld, entered into compacts to allow the Aquinnah build a gaming facility on land trust. But those projects ultimately roadblocks, some of which still standing in the tribe's In addition to the legal issues facing the Aquinnah tribe, Mayor William Flanagan of Fall River yesterday that he has concerns about the location of the tribe's proposed casino, adding it would need considerable improvements and is on the of a wildlife reserve. Flanagan has signed an agreement with the Mashpee tribe to build a casino complex on city property Fall River sold to the last month. "The Mashpee's proposal is light years ahead of the Aquinnah proposal," Flanagan He said the Aquinnah tribe been unable to identify a financial backer for its project, while the Mashpee tribe has support from a Malaysian firm has built casinos across the globe.

Bennett and the Aquinnah leaders said they have had discussions with numerous investors, but could not publicly identify them yesterday. "There's a lot of funding for casino gaming, including for the Aquinnah," Bennett said. "Funding is lined up. It's just not an issue." Casey Ross can be reached at crossglobe.com. tool.

"It's one thing to read from a book about the Revolutionary War, but it's special to actually hold a document connected to it," said Eugenio, who tested her pupils on their knowledge of the time period, including another document that originated about 16 years before the receipt, the Declaration of Independence. Student Colin Lamasney, 10, said of the Bates document, "I actually got excited in a weird kind of way because it was so old." Brian Ballou can be reached at bballouglobe.com. don't believe that's the way we should be going as a state." Natasha Dow Schull, a cultural anthropologist at MIT, told the panel that slot machines are designed to maximize profits by getting people to gamble quickly, up to 1,200 times an hour, so they enter "the zone" in which they care not about winning but about continuing to gamble. Casinos are based "on problem machines and problem business practices," she said. Brain scans of slot machine The Aquinnah tribe's lawyer, Richard Bennett of the Boston firm Bernkopf and Goodman, said the tribe intends to pursue construction of a casino whether it gets a license from the state or cal Society.

Bates, a resident of Shaftsbury, was in a company led by Captain Bigelow Lawrence. According to the document, Bates traveled 55 miles and received a payment of 1 pound, 18 shillings, 4 pence for 15 days of service in the Continental Army. He paid a debt of 19 pounds, 19 shillings, 11 pence. Bates died on Aug. 23, 1808, at the age of 63 and was buried in East Hill Cemetery in Williams-town, Vt.

It is unknown where Bates served in the army. It is also unknown how the document made Vf 1 ffl fejEHOSED V9 1 -1 jBristoK Vv SOURCE: ESRI, TeleAtlas casino legislation Patrick introduced in 2007. Even though the economy has suffered since then, "Massachusetts still remains a strong and attractive market for casinos," he said. Opponents of casinos, vastly outnumbered, warned that casinos would drive up crime, cannibalize small businesses, and prey on vulnerable gamblers. Casinos are "a fancy way of putting a tax on the poor," said Senator Sonia Chang-Diaz, a Jamaica Plain Democrat.

"I just ent gambling law passed by the House of Representatives earlier this year. Any final bill would also need the approval of Governor Deval Patrick, a casino supporter. The issue of Indian gambling rights was one of several key issues discussed yesterday during a lengthy hearing at the State House on gaming legislation. The Aquinnah introduced their proposal outside the State House immediately before the start of the hearing. "Bristol County and Southeastern Massachusetts is our home territory and we want to continue to provide jobs and economic development for our region and the Commonwealth," said Cheryl Andrews-Maltais, chairwoman of the Aquinnah tribe.

real. Eugenio then called Bill Power, Peabody's Historical Society president. Power scrutinized the document and, based on his expertise honed on evaluating other Colonial-era letters, authenticated it. "It is authentic, right down to the words and letters they used," Power said. The letter was used instead of in words such as "af-figns" and "ufe" and "faid." Most of Bates's life remained unknown yesterday.

He was probably a farmer who answered "the alarm of 1780," a call for militia, said Paul Carnahan, librarian of the Vermont Histori- An artistic rendering of the Fall Aquinnah Wampanoag Gaming ent gambling law passed bv the ier Iso ng ey ite he ro- ise h- ur and Cheryl Andrews-Maltais of the Aquinnah tribe. tril Prnvidpnnp i i lie tribe 7 miles Aq sai AQUINNAH CASINO fin kaM River th UA. 8l gic Mi 03 JVv. OLD FALL RIVER RD tril r-J-l ide aaron atencioglobe staff said. has that tribal Peabody teacher makes a Revolutionary discovery not.

He argued that Bialecki and other officials are wrong in asserting that the tribe is blocked by its prior agreement. "Under federal statute, they its way from Vermont to Peabody. And there are only guesses now as to how Bates's receipt landed on the shelves of the classroom. Eugenio and the school's principal, Madeline Roy, believe it may have been part of a "show and tell" by a former student. The school opened in the 1954 and still holds a collection of past assignments, such as a papier-mache pueblo that appears to be decades old.

Eugenio, who found the document while preparing to move her classroom to the second floor, said she will hold onto it for now and plans to use it as a teaching 1- DOCUMENT Continuedfrom Page Bl feeling it was real." The letter appeared to be a record of a payment to Continental Army soldier Jonathan Bates and the discharge of a debt owed by Bates. Eugenio gave the find to one of her students, Kito Ntchobo, 10, and sent him to Ed Blaus, the fifth-grade social studies teacher. As Ntchobo walked to that classroom, Eugenio called Blaus. "I told him to look at it and tell me what he thought," Eugenio said. Blaus called back, telling her that he thought it was JOANNE RATHEGLOBE STAFF Michelle Eugenio said her heart raced when she found the sheet preserved in plastic on her classroom shelves.

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