We hope that today’s “READERS FORUM” will provoke honest and open dialogue concerning issues that we, as responsible citizens of this community, need to address in a rational and responsible way?

WHAT’S ON YOUR MIND TODAY?

Todays“Readers Poll” question is: Do you feel that the City Of Evansville and West Baden/French Lick should receive the exact amount of money if the legislature approves “Sports Gaming”?

Please go to our link of our media partner Channel 44 News located in the upper right-hand corner of the City-County Observer so you can get the up-to-date news, weather, and sports.

If you would like to advertise on the CCO please contact us at City-County Observer@live.com

FOOTNOTE:  Any comments posted in this column do not represent the views or opinions of the City-County Observer or our advertisers.

by INDAINALAWERS .com

Lindsey Erdody and Indianapolis Business Journal Staff

Hoosiers are one step closer to being able to place legal bets on sporting events.

The Indiana Senate approved a comprehensive gambling bill Tuesday afternoon by a 38-11 vote.

The legislation would legalize sports wagering, let horse-track casinos add table games this year as opposed to waiting until 2021 and allow two Gary casinos to move—one to a nearby interstate site and the other to Terre Haute.

Senate Bill 552, authored by Republican Sens. Mark Messmer of Jasper and Jon Ford of Terre Haute, now moves to the House for consideration.

“Senate Bill 552 is a once in a generation opportunity to reset the casino industry in Indiana,” Messmer said.

One of the significant parts of the bill that has received little attention at the Indiana General Assembly is the ability to place bets on sports, like professional basketball or football games.

The bill would allow mobile sports wagering after an individual signs up in person at a casino or off-track betting facility, such as Winner’s Circle in downtown Indianapolis. It does not provide an integrity or royalty fee for professional sports leagues, but it would require official league data to be used for in-game bets only.

Supporters of legalizing sports wagering argue that it’s a way to oversee what’s already happening illegally and generate possibly millions of dollars in tax revenue for the state. According to the American Gaming Association, $107 billion is wagered illegally on sports every year.

As for the casino shuffling, the bill would allow Majestic Star I and Majestic Star II to relocate out of Buffington Harbor on Lake Michigan—something Gary officials have been advocating as they try to clear the area for other development projects.

Spectacle Entertainment—a company founded by some of the same investors that operated Centaur Gaming before it was purchased by Caesars Entertainment—is in the process of buying both casinos. It has said it wants to move one of the casinos to the Interstate 80/94 corridor in Gary and the other to Terre Haute.

The bill would allow that to happen, but it would create a competitive process to determine which casino operation could open a facility in Terre Haute, so Spectacle wouldn’t be guaranteed permission to move forward on that location. Other casinos would be allowed to use unused gambling “positions” from their existing casinos. The state caps the number of gambling positions at each location but some casinos fall under the number.

The bill also would remove the two-license limit on the number of casinos an individual company could control in order to make that competitive process possible for some operators that already have two casinos.

At least one other casino operator—Rising Star’s owner, Las Vegas-based Full House Resorts Inc.—has expressed interest in opening a casino in Terre Haute.

Messmer said the competitive process is important in making sure Terre Haute and the state get the best project possible. The Indiana Gaming Commission would be responsible for selecting the best proposal.

The Senate Appropriations Committee eliminated that competitive process from the language last week, but the full Senate agreed to add it back in on Monday.

The Senate also added back subsidies that would be paid to communities that might suffer after the Gary casinos move. The language would cover East Chicago, Hammond, Michigan City and Evansville. Provisions to support preservation and maintenance of West Baden Springs Hotel, which is part of the French Lick Casino Resort complex, and the Indiana Horse Racing Commission’s breed development funds were also added back into the bill on Monday.

But it still wasn’t enough support for some lawmakers. Sen. Vaneta Becker, R-Evansville, said the funding would stop after three years and doesn’t directly support Tropicana Casino or its owner, Eldorado Resorts Inc.

“I don’t think it’s fair to leave us high and dry after three years,” Becker said.

Becker was one of the 11 votes against the legislation and the only senator to speak against it.

The bill faces an uncertain future in the House, where Speaker Brian Bosma has repeatedly said he sees the proposal as an expansion of gambling.

Senators supporting the legislation disagree.

“I don’t see this as an expansion of gaming,” Sen. Eddie Melton, D-Gary, said. “I see this as an opportunity to leverage our existing assets.”

 BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – For the first time in school history, both Indiana University men’s and women’s swimming and diving teams captured the Big Ten Championship in the same season.

The Hoosier men won the team’s 27^th Big Ten title and third-straight conference crown, a feat not accomplished since 1983-85. The IU women’s squad won the team’s sixth Big Ten championship, the first for the team since 2011.

At the conference championships, the two Indiana teams combined to win 20 Big Ten titles and 38 medals overall – both league-best totals. The Hoosiers combined to win six of the 10 relays at the Big Ten Championships and three of the six diving events.

Individually, Vini Lanza became the first man in Big Ten history to be named Swimmer of the Championships for the third-straight season. The senior won five conference titles on the week, along with a pair of silver medals.

The Hoosiers also had a pair of divers earn the highest honor possible in the Big Ten, as both Jessica Parratto and James Connor were named Diver of the Championships. Parratto won the 1-meter and platform dives, as well as a bronze medal in the 3-meter. Connor made the most of his week, taking gold in his two events, the 1-meter and 3-meter dives. On the men’s side, IU has had the Diver of the Championships six of the last eight seasons.

Indiana also had a league-best 15 swimmers and divers named First-Team All-Big Ten, three more than Michigan.

Lilly King ended her Big Ten career with three more league titles, winning both the 100 and 200 breaststroke events for the fourth-straight time. King also helped Indiana win the women’s 200 medley relay for the second-straight year. In her gold medal win in the 100 breast, King broke all the records, posting the fastest time in history with a mark of 55.88.

Combined, the Hoosiers set one American record, one NCAA record, three Big Ten records, six Big Ten Meet records, seven school records, and six pool records. The teams also amassed an impressive 14 NCAA A cuts, 186 NCAA B cuts, 31 NCAA Zones qualifying scores and recorded 136 career-best performances.

Up next for the Indiana University men’s and women’s swimming and diving teams will be the NCAA Championships later this month in Austin, Texas.

The No. 2-ranked Hoosier men will look to build on a tremendous showing at the 2018 NCAA Championships, where the team won four NCAA titles en route to a third-place finish, the best for the program in 43 years. For the third-straight season, Indiana finished as the top Big Ten team at the NCAA Championships – the best stretch for IU since accomplishing the feat for 15-straight seasons from 1964-78.

On the women’s side, King will look to win her fourth-straight NCAA crown in both the 100 and 200 breaststroke events. As a team in 2018, the Hoosiers (8^th Place) posted the program’s third-straight top-10 finish at the NCAA Championships for the first time since accomplishing the feat from 2008-10. The top-10 finish was the ninth in school history.

Be sure to keep up with all the latest news on the Indiana men’s and women’s swimming and diving teams on social media – Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.

—

Scott Burns