Storybook casino would aid
poorest suburbs
As reported by The NWI Times

CHICAGO - They want to steal from Indiana and give to the poor.

A coalition of south suburban leaders Friday proposed a Robin Hood-style casino complex in Country Club Hills that would share its profits only with 18 lower-income Illinois communities and their schools.

The United Southland coalition announced plans to build a massive casino, hotel, shopping and entertainment complex on more than 250 acres bound by Cicero Avenue, 167th Street, Pulaski Road, and Interstates 57 and 80.

The casino aims to reclaim some of $1.25 billion in wagers Illinois residents lose each year to Indiana casinos, Welch said. Its innovative revenue-sharing plan would bring much-needed dollars to economically depressed communities and their schools.

Municipalities with average family incomes of $50,000 a year or more were not invited to join the coalition, Welch said.

"We talked to communities in need," he said. "This is one of the poorest areas in the nation. They don't like to admit it, but Robbins and Ford Heights are the two poorest cities in the U.S."

Country Club Hills would receive 15 percent of the profits and schools would get 25 percent, he said. The remaining 60 percent will be divided among the other 17 municipalities.

Casinos Promote Flu Shots
As reported by The Casino Wire

Several health organizations in the U.S. have made use of casinos, with their highly elderly populations, to conduct flu and pneumonia immunization programs. Seniors, who are at an increased health risk from the influenza virus and its complications, account for as much as a third of all casino visits.

Susan Peak, the wellness coordinator at the Visiting Nurse's Association of Central Connecticut, says the casino is "an ideal place" to administer flu shots, and both health care workers and casino spokesmen say promoting flu shots for patrons and employees is good for business. The casino - with thousands of people in an enclosed space handling chips, money and slot-machine levers - is an ideal environment for viruses to easily spread from person to person. "It costs $18 for a flu shot, and over $1,000 for a day in the hospital," says Peak. Her association administered inoculations at Mohegan Sun Casino in Connecticut Wednesday afternoon. Some casino patrons paid $18 for the shot, while others used Medicare or private insurance to cover the vaccination. Others used 18 casino credits earned from The Player's Club.