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Caesars' Mall Casino Idea Met with Scorn

MINNESOTA – As reported by the Minnesota Star Tribune: "Caesars Entertainment, a Las Vegas casino conglomerate, met Minnesota-Not-So-Nice on Tuesday.

"'For you people at Caesars Palace: You are not wanted in my community. We don't want you'" sneered Sen. Bill Belanger, R-Bloomington, during a Capitol hearing on a proposed casino at the Mall of America.

"…Mark Juliano, president of Caesars Palace, was testifying before the Senate Taxes Committee as part of two days of hearings on gambling bills. Caesars has proposed 5,000 slot machines and 160,000 square feet of casino at the mall, which Juliano described on Tuesday as 'the premier location in the nation for a new casino.'

"…The committee vote will come at a time when many observers are seeing it as increasingly unlikely that any gambling proposal will pass this year.

"…But that did not diminish the drama Tuesday.

"…The bill under consideration, sponsored in the Senate by Pat Pariseau, R-Farmington, does not specify the Mall of America as the site, and it would set up a process for competitive bidding for a license to operate in the state. Several Bloomington legislators have attempted to introduce bills to keep the proposal away from the mall, prompting an incredulous Pariseau to remark: 'How do you know I don't want it in Lakeville? We have a little land down there.'…"

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