CHARLES TOWN — They won’t be jingling until at least 2011, but slot machines in Maryland already have some Jefferson County leaders worried.
The county gets $2.7 million a year — nearly a quarter of its budget — from revenues at the Charles Town Races and Slots.
Commissioner Jim Surkamp says the county may need to slow down capital improvement projects.
Delegate-elect and track employee Tiffany Lawrence says there likely will be an impact because so many Charles Town gamblers are from out of state.
But she says the county needs to rely on more than one industry.
Maryland voters legalized slot machines with a constitutional amendment Tuesday.
It allows casinos in Baltimore; in Anne Arundel, Cecil and Worcester counties; and at Rocky Gap State Park in western Maryland.
West Virginia
Some Jefferson leaders fret over idea of Md. slots
- West Virginia
-
-
Tomblin expects miner drug testing approval
Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin said Thursday he believes lawmakers will quickly come to agreement and pass his proposed mine safety legislation, including a provision that calls for mandatory drug testing of coal miners.
-
Autism law in jeopardy, supporters warn
West Virginia’s new law extending health care coverage to children with autism may not do what its supporters intended, and a fight is brewing with insurers over pending legislation on the subject.
-
Main says violations at U.S. coal mines down in 2011
Coal operators across the country are changing the way they work, and mines are becoming safer, but the head of the federal Mine Safety and Health Administration said Thursday there are still too many who “don’t get it.”
-
‘Cracker’ chase enters waiting phase
West Virginia’s hunt for a multibillion-dollar chemical plant has come down to talks between potential investors and private property owners, Commerce Secretary Keith Burdette said Thursday.
Burdette told The Associated Press that the two companies that each want to build a massive “cracker” facility in the Marcellus shale region are negotiating with owners of potential sites. -
Fix for W.Va. retiree health costs passes Senate
West Virginia’s Senate moved Wednesday to tackle one of the state’s biggest funding shortfalls, a $5 billion liability stemming from public retiree health care costs, unanimously passing a proposal from Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin.
-
MSHA officials: U.S. coal mine safety is improving
Federal regulators said Wednesday the nation’s coal mines have made huge strides in safety, pointing to a dramatic reduction in the number of accidents and injuries in the nation’s single largest district in southern West Virginia.
-
Three states offer big tax breaks to lure Shell Oil plant to region
Pennsylvania, Ohio and West Virginia are trying to top each other with the sweetest package of tax breaks for Shell Oil Co., which plans to build a huge new petrochemical refinery in the region.
But some are questioning why there’s been so little public discussion over exactly what’s being offered, and how the deals would impact communities and the region. -
W.Va. Senate kills bill on magistrate education
The Senate killed a bill that would require elected magistrates to earn at least an associate’s degree, likely ending efforts this year to increase education requirements for the officials.
-
Penn State scandal spurs sex abuse bills
All adult West Virginians would be required to report suspected sexual abuse to the police under a bill working its way through the Legislature.
-
Lack of candidates will shape many W.Va. legislative races
West Virginia ended its candidate filing period Saturday, but the results of more than 50 of this year’s legislative races are already largely decided, according to a review by The Associated Press.
- More West Virginia Headlines
-
Tomblin expects miner drug testing approval
