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Iowa Commission Reveals License Winner

IOWA – As reported by the Waterloo Cedar Falls Courier: "The Iowa Racing and Gaming Commission this morning voted, 4-1, to give a gambling license to the Cedar Valley Gaming Co.'s proposed casino near Lost Island Adventure Park south of town.

"However, the commission discussion and vote was a nail biter. It was not certain whether Waterloo would get any license until the last commissioner voted, because one commissioner, Kate Cutler of Council Bluffs, initially picked the Cedar Landing Hotel & Casino site downtown and another, Michael Mahaffey of Montezuma, voted against granting any licenses.

"Only when commission chairman Diane Hamilton, who spoke last, gave her final choices, was the outcome certain.

"'We were wondering where we were going to get our third vote,' said Don Hoth, president of the Black Hawk County Gaming Association, promoting the Isle of Capri/Lost Island project.

"…In the final official commission vote, Cutler voted with the commission majority, for a 4-1 vote in favor of Isle of Capri/Lost Island; a site in Worth County in north-central Iowa; the Wild Rose project in Emmetsburg in Palo Alto County and a project in Riverside in Washington County south of Iowa City. Mahaffey cast the only vote against that motion.

"The Biloxi, Miss.-based Isle of Capri has touted its location at the intersection of U.S. Highways 218, 380 and 20 and its proximity to the existing Lost Island Adventurepark as creating a regional tourist draw. Promoters have said the proposed $98 million project would benefit from the IOC's deep pockets and ability to reinvest in the casino and 200-room hotel…"

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