"Protesters simulate casino traffic impact
A group of casino gambling opponents took to the streets of Palmer in their cars to protest a proposal to put a casino there. About 75 cars, many with signs reading "casino traffic" in their windows, drove around downtown for an hour Saturday, to simulate the congestion they say would come with a casino. Ronald Masnicki of Palmer, who participated in the protest, said he saw people having trouble exiting side streets and a gas station near where the owners of Mohegan Sun want to build a $1 billion gambling complex. Another 140 people held up pro-casino signs in a counter-demonstration. They say the increased tax revenue and estimated 3,000 permanent jobs are worth more traffic in town (AP)."
Yeah, somehow the town is divided even though most local polls show overwhelming rejection of the idea.
"For casino opponents, an unlikely ace in the hole; Small-town activist presses fight against industry" by Michael Levenson, Globe Staff | March 20, 2010
Kathleen Conley Norbut, a fast-talking 49-year-old mother, former selectwoman, and mental health counselor from Monson, has become the improbable public face of the opposition to expanded gambling, as founder of the group United to Stop Slots in Massachusetts.
From that perch, she is trying to stop a multibillion-dollar casino industry eager to break into Massachusetts, an army of well-paid lobbyists pushing the cause, and a growing number of lawmakers who believe gambling will bring much-needed jobs and economic development.
“If there’s a David-and-Goliath story, this is it, because that industry is predatory,’’ Norbut said in an interview. “They’ve got deep, deep pockets behind them. I’m small peanuts. I care about small businesses. I care about my communities.’’
Yup, and that is why we DO NOT WANT THOSE BLOOD-SUCKERS here!!!
****************
She has made her presence felt. Since forming United to Stop Slots on the Fourth of July last year, Norbut has successfully pushed the state Democratic Party to adopt a resolution opposing slot machines, helped persuade the governor to endorse her call for a new economic analysis of gambling, and organized an anticasino rally at Faneuil Hall with former governor Michael S. Dukakis.
“She certainly has made an impact,’’ said state Representative Daniel E. Bosley, a North Adams Democrat and a leading casino opponent in the Legislature. “It’s hard to find people on both sides who aren’t reactionary. They have a moral objection to slots, or they’re very libertarian. She really has done her homework, and is really energetic.’’
You can BE BOTH, since LIBERTARIANS also believe in LOCAL CONTROL!!
Related: The Big Boss Bosley
Btw, he's not running for reelection.
In some ways, Norbut, who has not been active in prior fights over gambling, is an unlikely figure in the casino debate. She has no personal story of a family member addicted to gambling, nor moral qualms about gambling. She first got involved in the issue in 2007, she said, when the operators of Mohegan Sun Casino in Connecticut proposed building a casino in Palmer, which borders Monson, the town 30 minutes east of Springfield, where she has lived for 23 years and was serving on the Board of Selectmen. Norbut said she was concerned the casino would ruin the town’s rural character, drive up crime and addiction, and strain local services.
Yup.
“I didn’t choose the cause,’’ Norbut said. “I really feel like this cause chose me to be the champion. I wasn’t looking for a hobby. I’m married. I have a 13-year-old. I have elderly parents. I have a career. It started by caring about the community.’’
That's how I ended up here.
As she began researching the issue, she became convinced that a casino was bad not only for Monson, but for the state because, she believes, casinos cannibalize other businesses and burden taxpayers with additional social and economic costs.
“It’s long-term economic drain,’’ Norbut said.
Yup, gamblers and casinos eventually go broke.
Supporters of expanded gaming counter that the state is missing out on thousands of jobs and millions of dollars as gamblers flock to out-of-state casinos. The last time casinos were debated, in 2007, the group Casinofacts.org, led by residents concerned about a proposed casino in Middleborough, helped organize the opposition. Bosley, state Senator Susan C. Tucker, and then-House speaker Salvatore F. DiMasi helped galvanize opponents in the State House....
Bosley and Tucker are preparing to leave the Legislature, and DiMasi, a powerful casino foe, has been replaced by DeLeo, a longtime supporter of expanded gambling whose district includes two struggling racetracks.
And now you know why Sal was run out; let's face it, fellow citizen, they are all as corrupt as sin up there on the hill.
The changes have thrust Norbut into a newly prominent role in the ranks of the opposition, helping lead a nonpartisan, nonprofit group that includes partners such as the Massachusetts Family Institute, a socially conservative group....
Yeah, heaven forbid you would partner with social conservatives here in the same-sex marriage haven of the world.
I guess that's why the Boston Globe bashing starts:
She can also be polarizing.
Like the Globe is one to talk!
Their whole paper is predicated on polarizing all who are not Jewish.
In a private briefing with lawmakers last week, Norbut hotly debated state Representative Kathi-Anne Reinstein, a Revere Democrat and ardent supporter of slot machines whose district includes Wonderland Greyhound Park.
Oh, you see whose toes she stepped on; thus, the rip job in the (sorry to say it, but true) Jewish press.
“We’ve clashed heads, and the impression I get from her is that she’s not very fond of me,’’ Reinstein said. “I obviously disagree with a large percentage of what she says, and I feel like their side is using absolute fear tactics when it comes to this issue, and that’s not fair.’’
(I'm so stunned and sick of the hypocritical you-know-whos waving bloody shirts)
Norbut said it is the pro-casino crowd that has used fear to push its agenda.
It's called the PROMISE of JOBS!!!
“I’ve had retired police officers tell me to watch my back; I’ve had verbal threats from a top AFL-CIO official,’’ Norbut said. “Maybe it was a warning. He said, ‘If you ever run for office again, we’ll remember.’ ’’
“It’s not easy,’’ Norbut added. “I’m not a thick-skinned person.’’
Sounds like TERRORISM; however, it never is when you support the agenda in the agenda-pushing papers.
Norbut, the third of six children of a Marine who fought in Iwo Jima, is tough, however. She and her husband, a carpenter, lived in a tent for six months while they cleared trees and built their home from scratch.
This fight, she says, will also require a lot of heavy lifting, but she has no intention of giving up.
You go girl!
“I have no issue with anyone who wants to get on a bus or a plane and go and do their thing,’’ she said, referring to gamblers traveling to casinos. “But it becomes my business when it impacts my property tax, my community, and the society that my child is going to live in.’’
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Related: Basketball Breakfast Report
I'm going to really miss watching that team.
