The Kansas City Star from Kansas City, Missouri • 29

wwwVANSA5riTYrhM STAR BUSINESS WEEKLY tuesdaymarch2S 2o6b ITE1 CASINO: Contracts called illegal Prairie Dog merging would benefit from its co-development and co-marketing agreements with the SchUtter-' bihn Vacation VHage theme park which is being financed in part with state STAR bonds Likewise die Legends gam- bling project has a business and is well as with The Legends at Village West shopping district adjacent to the proposed casino site that also received state or local tax benefits including STAR bonds The lawsuit alined that die Legerids and speedway projects -each received public financing assistance and also benefited land obtained through Hninwt rinmain nr th thrwt of eminent domain proceedings Wyandotte Unified Government last year also removed the proposed casino land from die speedway's special tax district TO reach RJdc Aim call 816-234-4785 or sand e-mail to relmtRstarxofn FROMM of Americans for Pnospait confirmed last week thathis -group was part of a coalition' funding the lawsuit He could not be reached Monday The lawsuit alleges that pro- jects proposed by Pinnacle Entertainment Legends Sun and a partnership including Kansas Speedway and the Coidbh Co are each "inextricably inter with adjacent developments that received previous tax-increment fmancingstate-approved STAR bond projects or some other public expendi-ture and as such "are part of the same overall development According to casino law: "No revenue bonds tax-in crement financing or similar financing shallbe used to finance any part of any lottery gaming' enterprise or any racetrack gaming It also states: "No state ork- cal tax abatement shall apply to any part of any lottery gaming enterprise OT any racetrack gaming The statute also prohibits the useof a eminent domain power to acquire land used for gambling Unclear is whether those pro- visions are prospective or retroactive 1 which prompted lottery -director Ed Van Petten to seek a formal legal '-opinion- The attorney office earlier this month declined to consider the question citing the likelihood of litigation overthe same question Spokesmen for the three would-be casino developers all have maintained that no public funds have or would flow to The lawsuit alleged that each of the projects would have "a -coordinated business and mar-kedng that would reap some benefit from prior public assistance to associated projects project it said By JENNIFER MANN Th Kansas Oty Star Ttozzolo Communications Group and Prairie Dog ahealth-care marketing firm founded and run by Phil Smith are joining forces As a part of the deal Smith will join board and will continue in his creative responsibilities in die needy merged firm All five of Prairie Dog's employees will join TYozzoloi Prairie Dog plans to continue its op-eratkms in Brookside and will move to headquar-ters in downtown Kansas City later this year' The deal with Prairie Dog is expected to dose on March 31 -Items were not disclosed Ttozzolo bad revenues of $63 -million last year and expects: -2008 revenues of about $8 million with the addition of Prairie Dog''--''- our approach to health-care marketing is work- Smith Said in a release Prairie Dog needs a partner who can take us to the next level and the level after that Health care is a great ruche and no reason we be the dominant national Prairie Dog has worked with over 100 hospitals and is now working with about 2S indud-i ingHCA Midwest is an outstanding opportunity for us to teamup with an industry leader chief executive Pasquale Ttazzolo said in a release "I have long admired the work done by Prairie Dog and when Phil and I got to talk- ing we knew this would be a great fit" To reach Jennifer Mann call 816-234-4453 or sand e-mail to JmamKgtertircofn IHNI 'UHV Give us a call We can help protect your business from fraud by watching over your back office and matching all payments with the right payees We am also provide you with the latest cash-management systems and treasury tools to help you increase productivity without using more of your resources Trust Commerce for added efficiency and security Commerce Bank 816-234-2658 0 5 IstefFioIvi nd corcZcfTome by ar trademarks of Common: BarKsharefTlnCX 2008 COMMERCE BANCSHARESTlN JM.