You really have to love Alabama…
Various county, city and Country Crossing officials gathered with the media at 10 p.m. Tuesday in a special Houston County Commission-called press conference to discuss ways to block a raid, expected to occur early Wednesday morning at Country Crossing, by Gov. Bob Riley’s anti-gambling task force.
Commission Chairman Mark Culver said he had information that a raid was to be conducted between 3:30 a.m. and 4 a.m. Wednesday at Country Crossing. Officials said they plan to ask Country Crossing to close its doors tonight to avoid the raid.
Country Crossing developer Ronnie Gilley said he would comply with that request and reopen Wednesday.
In the meantime, county officials are seeking an injunction to block the Anti-gaming Task Force from raiding the 1,703-machine bingo facility; Papers were being prepared Tuesday and are expected to be filed early Wednesday.
The local officials knew this was coming eventually, they had to. And it was a very smart move on their part to avoid the kind of incident that happened in White Hall by shuttering the doors. Now, we’re all headed back to court.
In case you aren’t aware of the Governor’s Anti-Gaming Task Force or Country Crossing...follow the links.
UPDATE: A judge has signed a restraining order against David Barber and fellow members of the taskforce. Country Crossing expects to re-open, but has not announced a specific time.
UPDATE 2: The Governor’s office has offered it’s side of the story, with spokesperson Todd Stacy having particularly harsh words for Houston County Commissioner Mark Culver,
“It is shocking and disturbing that a county commissioner who swore an oath to uphold the laws of this state would stand in the casino door and block a law enforcement investigation by state police,” Stacy said.
”This kind of behavior from public officials evokes memories of the rampant public corruption and crime that accompanied the proliferation of illegal gambling in Phenix City in the 1950s,” Stacy said.
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NEW TWAY Blog Post: Country Crossing Shuts Down to Avoid Planned Raid by @GovernorRiley ’s Taskforce http://j.mp/87tLol #alpolitics
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[...] Country Crossing Shuts Down to Avoid Planned Raid by Governora s Taskforce Various county, city and Country Crossing officials gathered with the media at 10 p.m. Tuesday in a special Houston County Commission-called press conference to discuss ways to block a raid, expected to occur early Wednesday morning at Country Crossing, by Gov. [...]
Media coverage frames the dynamic, here, as wiregrass jobs vs. partisan politics.
http://www2.dothaneagle.com/dea/news/local/article/judge_signs_order_to_stop_country_crossing_raid/120104/
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That’s a great sell by Ronnie Gilley to the local media, but hardly the only way to frame this story. I’ll be interested to see if the Governor has any comment soon on the situation down there. I think his folks will have a very different take on the situation.
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TWAY Blog Post Updated with the latest from early AM on Country Crossing http://j.mp/87tLol #alpolitics
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Can anyone explain to me the difference in the Machines in Country crossing and the Machines in Quincy 7s at Victoryland.
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They both believed they had made the necessary modifications to comply with the Supreme Court ruling, as of last month,
http://blog.al.com/live/2009/12/casinos_revamp_gambling_machin.html
The governor hasn’t said he won’t raid Victory Land as well.
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Matter of fact, the Governor is on record as saying the Victory Land machines are illegal.
For grins, goto the Foundation Center and look up the IRS-990 for Cornerstone Cornerstone Outreach Inc, who runs the White Hall bingo hall. Lots of money to be made in software licensing.
Hmm.. GNU charity bingo software?
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McGregor’s thugs need to be stopped. The casinos have too much power to pay off law enforcement for their own personal use. It’s obvious that McGregor is the main financial contributor to County Crossing and all he is trying to do is expand his empire while robbing from the poor. How can a used car salesman like Ronnie Gilley afford to open such a large business with out the backing of “Uncle Milton”. Charity Bingo? Yeah right…. What has he done for Shorter? They don’t even have a decent library. How is this man helping the people? And then right after Christmas he lays off 250 employees…. The man has done lots of construction in the past and never laid off that many people. Keep trying to sell your story Milton but I am not buying it.
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Bob Riley is right. McGregor has a huge invested interest in Country Crossing and is getting far to powerful to be able to pay off all of these government officials. He needs to be shut down. Check out this picture of Gilley (Country Crossing Owner) and McGregor. They look like best friends to me…. http://s911.photobucket.com/albums/ac320/bamamama2010/?action=view¤t=mcgregor_giley.jpg
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